SoHS: Chapter Four, concluded
Commander Blacksailor continues to dig holes to trip in. He's going to have work rather hard to pull himself out of them at this point.
* * *
She tracked down Lady Salli in her office, which was attached to her personal quarters overlooking the arbor. A light rain was coming down when Ali arrived, prompting Lady Salli’s retreat to the enclosed space. Ali quickly summarized her investigation into the missing truck, and what it likely meant.
“So we have one or more pirates taking heavy equipment. Why do that?” Lady Salli asked.
“Moving equipment, or people, overland a great distance. Or maybe stealing something else, like food from the hydroponics farm,” Ali offered. “It’s got a fusion plant and off-road suspension, so as long as they’re careful and don’t hang it up on anything, it’ll keep going until the tires fall off.”
“Why wait until now? The colony has been under construction for over six months.”
“That I don’t know, milady. But I can’t imagine it’s for anything good.”
Lady Salli nodded. “I quite agree. What is your next step going to be?”
Before Ali could answer, Lady Salli’s intercom beeped, and her personal secretary announced, Forgive the interruption, milady, but Commander Blacksailor would like to speak to you and Ms. Waterfarmer.
Lady Salli frowned, but replied, “Send him in.”
Blacksailor entered, giving Lady Salli a quick bow before saying, “Forgive the intrusion, milady, but I was just checking in on Ms., er, Waterfarmer.” His tongue twisted when he said her old alias, obviously wanting to substitute her supposed family’s name.
“She’s right here, as you can see,” Lady Salli informed him coolly. “You’ve already put that indenture band on her leg. Aren’t you able to find her with it?”
“Well, yes. The thing was I saw that she went straight from your office to the marked construction zone, then her stress levels spiked and she came back here.” He shrugged. “I was worried.”
“Wait, you’re able to get biometric readings off this thing?” Ali asked.
“Of course. It’s a criminal tracking band, so it’s designed to give a warning if it looks like the wearer is about to put themselves in deeper trouble.”
“Is that absolutely necessary, Commander Blacksailor?” Lady Salli asked frostily.
“Er, well, it can be shut off, I suppose,” he admitted.
“You do that,” she said. Lady Salli waited a moment for Blacksailor to tap a command into his hand comp, then continued. “As for what was agitating Ali, she’s found evidence that a pirate, or group of pirates, survivors from the Red Vixen’s attack on Lady Margo’s base likely, have stolen a large truck from our colony’s vehicle pool. We need to track it down. As our resident Patrol officer, I’m certain you’ll want to pitch in to help.”
“Of course,” Blacksailor agreed. “But I’m forced to admit there isn’t much I can do. My singleship is a fast transport, not a survey vessel. Her sensors aren’t good for much beyond stellar navigation and landing guidance. You’d want a dedicated survey vessel for a groundside search.”
“We don’t necessarily need a large vessel, milady,” Ali put in. “We’ve got the survey crews you hired to create a topographical and resource map of the area here. With your permission I can ask them to pull one of their airborne drones of its survey duties, and start quartering the area around the colony to look for the truck’s tracks, so we can find where they’ve taken it.”
“Do so then,” Lady Salli agreed. “We should track down the perpetrators as quickly as possible, before they can steal anything or perhaps cause worse trouble.”
“Yes, milady. I’ll get on it.”
“Is there anything you’d like me to do?” Blacksailor asked.
Lady Salli’s voice grew chilly again. “I think you’ve done quite enough so far. As my solicitor pointed out to us, we should actually be interacting with you as little as possible.”
Taking the hint without needing further bludgeoning with it, Blacksailor mumbled something about seeing to his liaison office and fled. When he was finally gone, Lady Salli let out a long sigh. “I don’t know whether he’s really your brother or not, Ali, but I’m finding that male vastly irritating.”
“Sorry, milady.”
Her expression grew pained. “Please don’t apologize to me, Ali. Not about him, not about anything. You don’t deserve any of this.”
Ali didn’t bother correcting her, instead saying, “I’ll talk to the survey team leader and get that drone reassigned.”
“Don’t go yet.” Lady Salli stepped closer to her. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. I mean, all right I’m upset about the whole situation but I can’t do anything about it right now. All I can do is attend to my duties and hope things work out.” She caught her lip briefly between her fangs. “I really hope I don’t have to leave you though.”
“I don’t want you to go either.” Lady Salli took another step closer, her posture tensing, seeming to make a decision. Then her arms wrapped themselves Ali’s waist, pulling the smaller, younger vixen against her as her nose buried itself in Ali’s shoulder, breathing in deeply. Ali froze up for a moment, reflexes fighting with desire, before she relaxed and matched Lady Salli’s embrace, rubbing her nose in Salli’s neck fur, breathing in her scent, their bodies pressed together, warm in each other’s arms. The moment seemed to hang in space and time, a moment of grace and peace that put all of the tension and fear Ali had been feeling behind her.
“Don’t let me go,” Ali whispered softly, closing her eyes, letting Salli’s scent fill her, sooth her.
“I won’t, Ali. I swear on my word of honor I won’t.”
* * *
She tracked down Lady Salli in her office, which was attached to her personal quarters overlooking the arbor. A light rain was coming down when Ali arrived, prompting Lady Salli’s retreat to the enclosed space. Ali quickly summarized her investigation into the missing truck, and what it likely meant.
“So we have one or more pirates taking heavy equipment. Why do that?” Lady Salli asked.
“Moving equipment, or people, overland a great distance. Or maybe stealing something else, like food from the hydroponics farm,” Ali offered. “It’s got a fusion plant and off-road suspension, so as long as they’re careful and don’t hang it up on anything, it’ll keep going until the tires fall off.”
“Why wait until now? The colony has been under construction for over six months.”
“That I don’t know, milady. But I can’t imagine it’s for anything good.”
Lady Salli nodded. “I quite agree. What is your next step going to be?”
Before Ali could answer, Lady Salli’s intercom beeped, and her personal secretary announced, Forgive the interruption, milady, but Commander Blacksailor would like to speak to you and Ms. Waterfarmer.
Lady Salli frowned, but replied, “Send him in.”
Blacksailor entered, giving Lady Salli a quick bow before saying, “Forgive the intrusion, milady, but I was just checking in on Ms., er, Waterfarmer.” His tongue twisted when he said her old alias, obviously wanting to substitute her supposed family’s name.
“She’s right here, as you can see,” Lady Salli informed him coolly. “You’ve already put that indenture band on her leg. Aren’t you able to find her with it?”
“Well, yes. The thing was I saw that she went straight from your office to the marked construction zone, then her stress levels spiked and she came back here.” He shrugged. “I was worried.”
“Wait, you’re able to get biometric readings off this thing?” Ali asked.
“Of course. It’s a criminal tracking band, so it’s designed to give a warning if it looks like the wearer is about to put themselves in deeper trouble.”
“Is that absolutely necessary, Commander Blacksailor?” Lady Salli asked frostily.
“Er, well, it can be shut off, I suppose,” he admitted.
“You do that,” she said. Lady Salli waited a moment for Blacksailor to tap a command into his hand comp, then continued. “As for what was agitating Ali, she’s found evidence that a pirate, or group of pirates, survivors from the Red Vixen’s attack on Lady Margo’s base likely, have stolen a large truck from our colony’s vehicle pool. We need to track it down. As our resident Patrol officer, I’m certain you’ll want to pitch in to help.”
“Of course,” Blacksailor agreed. “But I’m forced to admit there isn’t much I can do. My singleship is a fast transport, not a survey vessel. Her sensors aren’t good for much beyond stellar navigation and landing guidance. You’d want a dedicated survey vessel for a groundside search.”
“We don’t necessarily need a large vessel, milady,” Ali put in. “We’ve got the survey crews you hired to create a topographical and resource map of the area here. With your permission I can ask them to pull one of their airborne drones of its survey duties, and start quartering the area around the colony to look for the truck’s tracks, so we can find where they’ve taken it.”
“Do so then,” Lady Salli agreed. “We should track down the perpetrators as quickly as possible, before they can steal anything or perhaps cause worse trouble.”
“Yes, milady. I’ll get on it.”
“Is there anything you’d like me to do?” Blacksailor asked.
Lady Salli’s voice grew chilly again. “I think you’ve done quite enough so far. As my solicitor pointed out to us, we should actually be interacting with you as little as possible.”
Taking the hint without needing further bludgeoning with it, Blacksailor mumbled something about seeing to his liaison office and fled. When he was finally gone, Lady Salli let out a long sigh. “I don’t know whether he’s really your brother or not, Ali, but I’m finding that male vastly irritating.”
“Sorry, milady.”
Her expression grew pained. “Please don’t apologize to me, Ali. Not about him, not about anything. You don’t deserve any of this.”
Ali didn’t bother correcting her, instead saying, “I’ll talk to the survey team leader and get that drone reassigned.”
“Don’t go yet.” Lady Salli stepped closer to her. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. I mean, all right I’m upset about the whole situation but I can’t do anything about it right now. All I can do is attend to my duties and hope things work out.” She caught her lip briefly between her fangs. “I really hope I don’t have to leave you though.”
“I don’t want you to go either.” Lady Salli took another step closer, her posture tensing, seeming to make a decision. Then her arms wrapped themselves Ali’s waist, pulling the smaller, younger vixen against her as her nose buried itself in Ali’s shoulder, breathing in deeply. Ali froze up for a moment, reflexes fighting with desire, before she relaxed and matched Lady Salli’s embrace, rubbing her nose in Salli’s neck fur, breathing in her scent, their bodies pressed together, warm in each other’s arms. The moment seemed to hang in space and time, a moment of grace and peace that put all of the tension and fear Ali had been feeling behind her.
“Don’t let me go,” Ali whispered softly, closing her eyes, letting Salli’s scent fill her, sooth her.
“I won’t, Ali. I swear on my word of honor I won’t.”