Neutral Space(28)

“What is it?”

“For your wedding, men give them to women as a symbol of their marriage. I bought it for Thris but she saw one somewhere else, and now I’m having one custom made. Just don’t tell my sister.”

“Shouldn’t I pick one out?”

“If you have the opportunity you won’t hurt my feelings. At least this will give you an idea or something to fall back on.” I nodded.

“Thanks, Aya.” I headed for the door.

“Jackson, I’m going to have to tell Thris.”

“I understand. We’re leaving tomorrow.”

“For a human, you’re not so bad.”

“The same to you, oh and your uncle's cruiser is in the lot behind the opera house.” I pocketed the necklace and tossed him the box.





Chapter 11





W



e picked up the ship and packed our few bags inside before heading to the lake house. It was late by the time we reached it, but Kheda insisted we take a walk at least part way around it. She carried her shoes in one hand and held my hand in the other. It reminded me so much of Micea. I asked her about the ship as we headed back. I knew it was a human craft and nearly 30 years old, but I had no idea how she’d gotten it. It was built for long trips in space.

She said she found it at a scrap yard and bought it. It cost her three months wages and Aya countless more money for her to fix it. But she insisted it was for the sheer love of repairing it that she did it. She said she’d modified and upgraded the engines and changed the beacon code. So the ship, for all practical purposes, was unregistered. No wonder she wanted it so badly. Knowing her work, too, it was bound to be fast.

We went inside for our last good night's sleep together, at least for a while. She led me up a floating staircase that came out of a wall of windows to the upper floor. There were four bedrooms upstairs. We went through the last door, and I was surprised to see pictures of her and her family. “Was this your room growing up?”

“My favorite. We came here every summer.” I wandered around her room glancing at the different pictures. “How old were you here?” I held up one of her and a trophy.

“12, I won a sharpshooter competition. By then, I’d already decided to join the army in my brother's place.” She had medals and pictures of her and her family in all sorts of competitions. There was one picture, though, that seemed out of place. A little girl in a red Kelsairan gown and too much makeup wearing jewels. “What’s this?” I asked.

“Give it back.” She reached for it.

“I just asked a question.”

“I won a pageant when I was a girl, all right?”

“You won a beauty pageant?”

“It wasn’t.”

“It was.”

“My mother’s idea.” She said, snatching away the photo.

“I think it’s great. Who would have guessed?” I teased as I held her close.

“That was 30 years ago.”

“30? But you were what, five then?”

“I was six, Jackson; I’m 36. Didn’t you know? I joined the army when I was 21 and have been in for 15 years.”

“But you don’t look…”

“Of course not, Kelsairans live longer than humans. How old are you, anyway?”

“26 I joined when I was 18.”

“Ten years; is that a problem?”

“No, I just didn’t realize.”

“Let’s go to sleep. We need to get an early start.”

“Just promise that you won’t lose that dress.”

“I won’t now let’s get those lenses out.”

I was human again the following morning. Kheda packed the supplies to change me back neatly with her makeup. I made some coffee to drink as I began to pack the ship and took the first load out. The interior wasn’t what I was expecting. Last night, I’d only seen the cockpit, and it was bare essentials, but the rest of the ship was lavish. The bedroom had a large bed and even drawers for storage. The covers were soft, and there were plenty of pillows. The bathroom had plenty of light and an artificial plant. The kitchen was no less homey. The table had a tablecloth, and the flat steel doors on the cabinets had been changed out with glass. There was a cooling unit for fresh food and even a range which was a luxury on a small ship. There was no doubt that Aya was used to a comfortable lifestyle. I’d be sure he wouldn’t get this back for a while; he owed his sister that much.

I brought in the next load as Kheda ate her breakfast. I went in to eat mine as she opened the floor-safe downstairs. I looked around the open room. Two massive sofas sat on exotic rock floors that were highly polished. A metal table sat between them with a sculpture on top. That room joined the kitchen that had warm, red woods and green stone. All of the appliances seemed high-end, and everything was expensive right down to the knives. I finished my coffee and my breakfast before putting both our dishes in the washer. We waited a few minutes for them to wash and I put them away. Kheda already made her bed, so we were good to go. She closed the safe and put the rug back down.

“Did you get what you needed?”

“Yes, we should go. Thris is bound to be mad at Aya, and he’ll tell her about us.”