The Black Steel RP. Rated R.

[Mikoto]

Sophie had silently finished refamiliarizing herself with the controls and had adjusted the Firestorm's position to optimum firing range. Akraya's scans were right on the mark. It looked like the mothership had been designed with a series of smaller secondary generators to act as emergency life support shelters in the case of total main power failure. They'd be all right like that for nearly a week, she estimated from the power output.

Then, just about as she was about to order a weapons-lock on the engines and dead power generator when Pedras reported that someone aboard the mothership was attempting to hail them. Sophie blinked in surprise and frowned. "Well that's unexpected." She remarked out loud, buying herself a few seconds to think about it. If she was being offered a chance of diplomacy she decided she had to take it.

"All right Pedras, let's answer that hail." She instructed. A moment later a fuzzy image came onscreen. Although Sophie didn't recognise the alien at all, Pedras would recognise it as Beta. Then it began talking in its own language of clicks and whistles, none of which she understood. "I have no idea what it's trying to say." Sophie confessed.

[Jim Gamma]

Pedras quickly put the hail through, then realised Beta clearly hadn't had time to find the translator he'd asked for earlier - or didn't know how to use it. The alien was begging for mercy, pleading with the ship's crew not to destroy them.

Responding in the same language he'd been using, Pedras answered, "My captain does not understand this language, but I'm working on setting up our translation device. I will translate what I can myself as our ship's computer analyses this language."

He quickly punched in a few commands to pull the language - an obscure one, not normally contained in translation databases - from the Prakeshi shuttle's computer as a basis for forming a full translation matrix, and turned to the captain.

"This alien was experimenting on me whilst I was a prisoner, Captain. His species were unaware of the sentience of those they captured. He was on his way to retrieve my translator when Sylen's team rescued us; from what he's saying, I think he wishes to offer surrender, on whatever terms we request.

"These beings are just looking for a new home - this is one of two motherships, they're all that's left of the species. We... I was the first being of another race that they managed to communicate with."

As he spoke, a signal light flashed on, letting Pedras know that the communicator should now be able to perform basic translations. The result would be stilted, and they'd have to be careful with similar-sounding words, but Pedras could augment the translation with his own understanding.

He switched the translation to the main speaker, then addressed the alien, this time speaking Basic. "Our translator is switched on. Do you understand me?"

"I... understand," the alien answered, hesitantly. Pedras was pleased to see that the programme was working as expected.

"Captain Guerrin, our leader, can hear you, and I have translated your previous words."

"Captainguerrin," the alien answered, "My people did not know the evils we were committing. Please... we beg you for mercy."

[Jim Gamma]

Akraya blinked in surprise when they received a hail. Just before the captain ordered Pedras to answer, she wondered quietly, "Now they want to talk? Of course they do... no other choice." She tried to resolve the image on her sensors, or even add some extra power to boost the communications signal, but there wasn't much she could do.

Pedras relayed the alien's words, then finally got a translation working. The alien sounded desperate, as well it might. Akraya's immediate reaction was to accept the surrender, and negotiate terms later, but she knew that they had to be certain the aliens weren't going to hurt any other races that happened to get close to them. She also wanted to be sure this wasn't some kind of ruse, so she redirected a little bit of her scan to the area near the makeshift airlock, but saw no aliens approaching.

Indeed, every alien whose life-signs she could read was practically stationary. No-one was rushing to repair the ship, no-one was in the control centre she could just about detect in its centre, and no-one was massing for a counterattack. "No obvious signs of deceit, stalling, or anything," she advised the crew quietly, out of range of the audio pick-up.

[Chatty]

Jessan was very surprised when they received the hail, and even more surprised when the alien asked for mercy, claiming not to have understood that they had been committing evil? He was of two minds of that. Either the alien was telling the truth or it was scrabbling desperately to save its life. "Looking for a home. Well, there are better ways of finding a home than what they were doing."

[Santaman]

Crimson and Djo were in the kitchen, life on board was always moving and food needed to be made.

"You not get eye fixed?"

Crimson shrugged.
"Yeah, but not now, I am quite happy to stay away from anything medical right now."

Djo nodded.
"Can look at it here, have tools plenty." He said while pointing at his knives.

"You sadistic old dwarf!" Hissed Crimson.

Djo just grinned.

[Mikoto]

Sophie carefully listened to everything Pedras told her while he performed a little communications' miracle and got a working translation matrix so she and the alien could understand each other. She couldn't blame it for making a final last-ditch attempt to save its life and she reluctantly concluded there were good reasons to spare the mothership. Surely not all the aliens aboard were responsible for the hostile actions and kidnapping of her crew. If it were indeed a city-ship as the design suggested then there would inevitably be innocent civilians and families aboard.

"Very well." Sophie began, making sure to speak her words slowly and clearly to make it easier for the translation programme. "I accept your surrender. However, some of you have committed crimes against the laws of my species and I require them to face legal judgement and punishments for their actions by our laws." She explained clearly and simply. "We come from an alliance of different species. If you are willing to cease all kidnappings and hostilities, our governments may be willing to negotiate with you and help you find a home."

Sophie glanced at the alien onscreen. "What is your response?" She asked. While waiting she looked around at her bridge crew. "Do any of you specifically object to accepting their surrender?" She asked. "We can take the senior officers who ordered the kidnappings, and those aliens that shot at us and survived, to court." She suggested.

[Chatty]

Jessan thought about what Sophie had said after she accepted the alien's surrender. He had been about to start targeting the ship to destroy it, but then the overture of surrender had come through. "Well, none of the captives has been permanently harmed. I think if we can take the guilty parties and help the others find a home, I'll go for that." He didn't know what Kellen or Daxia would say, but he would probably guess that they would either be on the fence or want the ship blown to tiny bits.

[Jim Gamma]

Akraya watched her captain in diplomatic action, impressed by the way she quickly outlined her terms of surrender, and the specific conditions - essentially taking legal action against the perpetrators directly, rather than resorting to violence when they didn't have to.

Since the captain had asked for objections only, she stayed silent, waiting patiently for any response from the bridge crew. She had a feeling that if Crimson were here he'd object, but he was in the kitchen, cooling off - she almost let out a brief staccato chuckle at the idea of getting cooler in a kitchen, a room designed for generating and controlling heat - and she didn't expect the rest of the crew to voice too many concerns.

***

Pedras waited for a moment before commenting, "As long as we have an assurance that there will be no further kidnapping, testing and so on, I think I'd be content with the perpetrators being put on trial." To Beta, he added, "I can promise you that the trials would be fair, unbiased and fact-based; that's how the Alliance operates."

[Mikoto]

Sophie waited for a few moments while the alien onscreen seemed to consider it's limited options. It spoke to some over the other aliens in the background of the single room it was currently in before returning its attention to the screen. It listened when Pedras spoke in particular before finally responding. "We agree to those terms." It announced. "We surrender, and I along with the surviving individuals responsible will gather together and signal you when we are ready to be taken into custody."

Sophie nodded faintly-more an unspoken gesture since the alien probably wouldn't recognise human body launguage. "Understood. We will signal law enforcement ships to come and take the prisoners. We will also signal for a ship of diplomacy to begin formal contact between our peoples." There was no hesitation on Beta's part now. "We will wait for your ships. Thank you for allowing my people to live." Then it cut the channel and soon the image on the bridge monitor returned to its normal depiction of what was ahead of the Firestorm. "Well then." Sophie glanced over at Pedras.

"Will you launch a long-distance communication probe with a report of what happened and a request for FTA law enforcement and first contact ships to arrive at these coordinates ASAP please?" She asked him. The probe would transit to hyperspace and arrive at the nearest FTA planet before broadcasting her message to the appropriate channels. This journey would at least take several hours and she knew it. Still, that time would be gratefully received by the Firestorm crew to recover and relax before relief arrived and they could carry on with their survey mission.

[Jim Gamma]

Pedras had already anticipated the need for a probe, and only needed to programme in the message. "Probe launched," he announced a few moments later.

He glanced over at Araya, who was tracking it on sensors, then back at his own monitor. It was hard to believe that a nonviolent solution had been found, but gratifying.

*****

Araya kept watch on the probe as it went to hyperspace, then confirmed its departure for the crew. She knew they'd be waiting here for a while, so she recalled her scans of the equipment on the base, and the non-compete automated analysis.

Generally, the aliens were well behind the FTA, but she did see some innovative design work that might make for some fun engineering side-projects, though given the current situation she would hold off, lest she inadvertently destabilise the fragile peace. Archiving the work for later, she resumed monitoring the star system.

[Chatty]

Jessan sat back in his chair and breathed a sigh of relief. The aliens had surrendered and separated off the ones responsible for what had happened. And the FTA would help the rest of them find a home suitable for their unique species. It was a good ending. Everyone won.

He watched as the probe launched and flew its way back to FTA territory. Once the backup ships arrived, they could go about their original mission of exploring this new territory.

Perhaps they could even bring these aliens up to date eventually. Most of the stuff they had was horribly out of date compared to the FTA species.

[Santaman]

Djo kept Crimson away from people and decission making and even manages to get the large man to go to sickbay to get his eye fixed.
Djo was confident that T'Sarrina could even handle the type of eye Crimson had been given.

"You go, people scared to see you in dark, Djo even peel potato!"

Crimson gave him a glare but barged out of the kitchen and made it to sickbay where he waited for T'Sarrina.

[Mikoto]

Sophie ensured that the Firestorm was at a complete stop facing the alien mothership at a range where the Firestorm's weapons could still be used if the aliens decided to betray them. But her gut told her that they wouldn't. By turning itself and any others who survived the firefights with the Black Steel crew in, it was preserving the only chance the others of its kind would survive. Privately she had to admire Beta's courage to sacrifice itself to the punishment of unknown aliens for the rest of his species.

She wondered if there would be a chance of alliance or even possible FTA membership somewhere in the future. That was all pure speculation, she reminded herself as she sank into the pilot's chair and relaxed her muscles which she hadn't even realised were tensed. For now First Contact Protocol indicated she was to minimize further contact with the aliens to reduce the chances of offending them or else breaking the fragile peace that had been brokered. No doubt the ambassadors and diplomats would arrive eagerly with the security force ships to begin negotiations for real.

"I admit." Sophie said companionably to the rest of the crew on the bridge. "A part of me is still struggling to believe we actually pulled off a semi-peaceful solution. I'm glad we did though, while I'm perfectly capable of going through with violent decisions I do prefer diplomacy." She admitted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Crimson entered the infirmary abruptly, Sylen sat up from where he had been idly cuddling T'Sarrina and his hands went straight to his rifle while one of his tentacles reached for his pistol. It was an entirely instinctive movement after years of having it drilled into him as a soldier when surprised by someone or something he didn't entirely trust. Then his conscious brain kicked in and remembered Crimson was an ally, a member of the crew and he relaxed, taking his hands and tentacle off his weapons. "Greetings Crimson." He greeted politely. "Have you come to have your cybernetic eye fixed?" He asked.

[Santaman]

Crimson nodded at Sylen.
"Yeah, that sadistic wrinkled dwarf cook has been a pain in the rear long enough for me to get it fixed." He said casually while greeting T'Sarrina.
"Also people staring at the red eye is uncomfortable, mildly amusing too though."

Of course he had noticed Sylen going for his guns, and he understood the instinct all too well, it came with the profession, sooner or later it would become an automatic function.

"I've brought all the specs sheets, schematics and everything else that came with it." He continued while placing a data stick on the desk.

"I should have gone for the military version back then but nightvision and head up display make the brain interface ten times as expensive." He grinned.

[Chatty]

T'Sarrina glanced up sharply when Crimson barged into the infirmary. She hadn't missed that Sylen automatically went for his guns. She was a bit slower, but she wasn't a soldier like he was, trained to react like that. Still, she smiled in her best bedside manner when he handed her the stick with the specs of the eye. "Well, I'm sure it would have been worth the cost if you'd had it. Those sound like some useful additions." She then studied the data while she had Crimson lie on the exam table. When she had gone over everything, she and Talia scrubbed up and she worked on his eye, aided by the other doctor. After some time, she stepped back. Since he wouldn't have felt too much during the repair, she hadn't needed to give him more than a local at the site. "All right, I think that'll do it."

***********************

Jessan relaxed at the weapons station once he was sure this wasn't some kind of elaborate trap to get them to let their guards down. He had been ready to unloose everything they had if it was, but it seemed Beta was willing to submit to their laws with the others in order to save what was left of its people. He could admire that. In the same situation, he might even do the same. "It is good to be able to negotiate our way out of a situation rather than blast our way out. Saves lives and property." To ally with them after this mess would be interesting. He wondered if they could help them find a compatible world to live on so they wouldn't be stranded in space anymore.

[Jim Gamma]

As soon as the shift ended, Akraya headed straight to the mess hall. She was hungry, but that wasn't why she paid the room a visit. Approaching Djo, she quietly asked him for a special recipe, something that she'd tried a few times in the past few weeks, and he quickly whipped up two dishes as she'd requested.

She carried them - with covers over to prevent spillage and reduce the smell, which she knew some of the crew weren't keen on - along the corridor to sickbay, where she found Sylaise still lying in bed. Stiyl was tending to her, and seemed a little surprised by Akraya's presence.

"I've heard that familiar smells can help bring someone round if they're comatose," she told the genioset by way of explanation. "Sylaise has been out for a long while, and I bet she'll be hungry when she wakes up."

"You could be right," Stiyl answered, ushering the avian into a chair. "I'll get some trays - you can leave Sylaise's on the side for her. If it gets cold, I'll handle the clean-up."

Akraya sat down and ate slowly, telling her friend what had happened with the aliens in a low voice, wondering if she was alert enough to hear her, somewhere inside her unconscious mind.

She barely noticed Pedras walk past on his way to the critical care unit.

***

Pedras hadn't been to see Squa for a few days, what with all the activity on the Firestorm and the alien ship, but he knew T'sarrina could be rather busy at the moment, and wouldn't want him interrupting. He went first to his quarters to check on the egg-like object they'd retrieved some time ago, then down to sickbay.

Akraya was present, talking quietly to Sylaise, eating a bowl of that strange stew the Relaxal had introduced her to. There was another bowl on the side, untouched, clearly intended for Sylaise if she should wake; he knew it would stay warm for a while, and could be safely reheated later if necessary.

He also spotted Crimson getting his eye fixed, but gave the big man a wide berth on his way to the critical care unit. Squa was exactly as he had been a few days ago, but it felt different, somehow. Perhaps it was his dreams whilst he'd been drugged, or maybe too much time had passed, but he felt... ready to let his friend go. He wasn't going to treat Squa as if he were dead, but he now realised that he might never get the Gliesian back.

Sighing, he turned and walked from the room.

[Mikoto]

The silence inSylaise' mind was broken by a single voice talking to her. And at first she didn't understand it beyond the use of her own name. Impulsively she focused on it and listened carefully. Then gradually the words and understanding came along. A friend of hers was talking to her and telling her about how they rescued other friends from some aliens after damaging the mothership. Suddenly Sylaise remembered the aliens that had felled her whilst she fought them and without realising it her whole body twitched.

Things were coming together fast now as she could smell one of her favourite Relexal stews as well as what she recognised as Akraya's voice. Finally Sylaise opened her eyes and looked around quickly, then she relaxed as she recognized Akraya, Stiyl and the familiar surroundings of the infirmary. "Hey Akraya." She greeted quietly even as her stomach rumbled due to the smell of the nearby stew.

[Jim Gamma]

"Thank the Winds," Akraya breathed as Sylaise slowly regained consciousness. "You had us worried there. How do you feel?"

Stiyl had noticed Sylaise's return to consciousness and moved quickly to her side, in case he was needed; together, he and Akraya eased her into a sitting position, whereupon the Ariesse, hearing Sylaise's stomach rumble, whisked the trolley table round so she could easily reach the bowl.

"Eat slowly," Stiyl cautioned. "Your stomach has been empty for a while, you don't want to shock it with too much hot food in one go."

[Santaman]

Crimson nodded and smiled when his eye came back online, he could see the self test run for a few seconds and the red glow was now gone.

"Its working flawless again, thank you very much." He said thanking T'Sarrina and her team.
"Glad to have depth perception again." He continued while looking around sickbay.

[Chatty]

T'Sarrina smiled at Crimson when he thanked her. "You're welcome. If you have any problems I'll be here."

She then went over to Sylaise to check on her, as she had finally woken up. She seemed to be none the worse for the adverse reaction to the sedative in her system. "Nice to see you awake." She smiled at their newest team member, noting the good appetite as she tucked into the soup Akraya had brought her. After making sure she was well on her way to recovering, she went back over to the sofa and sat with Sylen while Crimson headed out of the infirmary. Everything was much better now. They had their crew back, the mothership was helpless and they might be forging an alliance with the crystalline people.

[Mikoto]

Timejump: One month later.

Time Stamp: 11:37am

The aliens kept their word and remained docile, patiently awaiting the FTA ships that arrived several hours after the Firestorm launched the communications beacon. One Diplomatic Corps ship consisting of diplomats from all the FTA races and two Relexal police ships as they'd been the closest by to respond. Sophie and her crew explained what had happened and updated the universal translator matrix so they too could speak to the aliens. True to his word Beta handed itself in along with the other surviving aliens that had shot at the Firestorm crew. They were promptly arrested and placed in the brig of the police ships. And even as the Firestorm flew away to resume its survey mission.

The two weeks that followed proved the surveying worth the effort as they found a second world suitable for Mikoatty colonization as well as several ore-rich mining sites in neighbouring systems. It would be a good area for a new interstellar civilisation to establish itself. The Quaylaran Mikoatty were delighted with the results the Black Steel brought back and immediately set claim to the two planets and local area. Colonization began almost immediately and the Firestorm was hired for the next two weeks helping to ship materials and colonists out to the two new worlds.

But as of five days ago the shipping job for the Mikoatty had been completed and Sophie had allowed six days of shore leave for her crew after the trouble they'd had with the crystalline aliens. The Firestorm was parked at the spaceport in Furst City still on Quaylar Four. Today was the final day of shore leave and tomorrow they would return to the stars, hopefully with a new job to do.

For Sophie's part though, shore leave was over. She was at the newly established mercenary guild hall checking the board postings for possible jobs for the Black Steel and catching up on the latest news and gossip on the other parts of the known worlds from fellow mercenaries or mercenary-captains. It made her smile to see a generous sprinkle of Mikoatty mercenaries at the Guild Hall. The rebels were truly spreading their wings and trying out different lives.

Then one particular job notice board caught her attention. It was a job from the Dynamic Engines corporation, a business that manufactured luxury spaceships and high-end engine and ship parts. Some of which could be found in the Firestorm's engines and weapons. DyEn had a reputation for very high quality stuff-a reputation well deserved. Sophie was on their exclusive client list because she bought new parts from them on a regular basis. A chance to do a job for DyEn intriegued her so she went over to the board and read it in detail.

They wanted some very rare, expensive and high end engine parts delivered discreetly from one of their manufacturing plants on the industrial world of Kabial, to one of their biggest retail outlets on Siraxa, the most populus Relexal colony world. The size and amount of cargo would fill the Firestorm to the point of bursting but she knew she could manage it. "This will do nicely." Sophie remarked half to herself as she got out her notepad and took down the details of who to contact to offer her services.

[Mikoto]

Daxia was out on the streets of Furst City shopping with Kellen. Though it had been a month since he had been abducted and they'd mostly recovered from the trauma, she still sometimes felt uneasy about leaving him behind anywhere. Their connection to each other seemed stronger than ever. Even as they walked their tails were firmly twined together and she held his hand for the sheer pleasure of it. Daxia stopped by a market stall and quickly bought some Mikoatty sweetmeats that were difficult to find on non-Mikoatty worlds.

She was stocking up to make sure her favourite native snacks would always be on hand. The sweetmeats were an aquired taste and few non-Mikoatty liked them. When the shopkeeper looked slightly puzzled at her due to the amount she was buying Daxia smiles. "Going offworld on a long trip." She explained glibly as she paid him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sylen was content to remain in the quarters he shared with T'Sarrina as it was the only place where the environmental settings were attuned perfectly for the moist, humid atmosphere the Di'Lekks preferred with their soft damp scales. The furniture was entirely of native woods and materials to their homeworld and thus adapted for such a moist environment. As it was, he was entirely comfortable snuggled up on the sofa watching interstellar television.

[Jim Gamma]

Akraya had enjoyed the last few days of shore leave, particularly since she'd been able to explore the stores with several of the crew. Right now, she was with Pedras in one of the many parks.

Or, more correctly, Pedras was in the park. She was soaring above it, dancing around and enjoying herself. So, too, was Desuko, who'd braved her claustrophobia to fly out from Kaltor on a human-owned spacecraft. Between them, they'd attracted quite the crowd of onlookers, both Mikoatty and human, and had decided to put on a display from Desuko's class - though it was pared down so the two of them could complete it.

Swooping low once more, Desuko right behind her, Akraya alighted on the grass, just as a toddler broke loose from her parents. Akraya's only warning was a call of "BIRDIE!" followed by little hands grabbing at her legs.

The parents rushed over, apologising profusely. Akraya glanced down at the child, and saw the tail and gold skin, then cocked her head. "Mikoatty," she replied to the child, who saw fit to start giggling.

"Wanna fly," the girl begged. "Wanna be a birdie!"

"You can't be a bird," the mother told her. "You don't have wings."

"No, but we do," Desuko replied. "Akraya, what do you think?"

It took Akraya a moment to realise that Desuko intended to take the child into the air. "No... I don't think that's wise," she cautioned, as the same realisation dawned on the mother's face.

"We can harness her to one of us, using a stretcher," Desuko suggested. "They're used all the time for carrying injured Ariesse."

"Who are usually unconscious, and not likely to overbalance you," Akraya retorted. "Anyway, it's not just our decision." Taking in the parents, she cocked her head once more in inquiry.

"If... if it's safe," the mother ventured. "She's got this... thing about birds, ever since the Ariesse agreed to a combined colonisation effort... I'm so sorry..."

Akraya sighed and clacked her beak. "Fine. But this is going to be the securest harness ever."

Ten minutes later, Desuko was airborne, shadowing Akraya, ready to catch the girl if she was dropped. "Twice round the park," Akraya called, so the mother could hear as well. "Then we land."

[Santaman]

Crimson looked down on the local arms dealer, the Mikoatty male was feeling uneasy by the rough looking human but after a few words he found out that the man simply wanted to do business.
Reading the list of items did make him feel uneasy again because some of it was quite illegal and especially the total amount of items was making him shake his head.

"What do you need with all this?" He said while again shaking his head. "Are you planning to overthrow the government of a small planet?"

Crimson scratched his beard and took paper back.
"I can't see what the problem is, yes its a bit much but after calculating the amount of ammo we've spent so far this only covers the used stock."

"Its not the ammo, that is all fine and well but reloads for portable ship-to-ship missile launchers?" The Mikoatty usually only had to deal with rational people who enjoyed hunting and sometimes security firms, the human in front of him however behaved like dragging ship-to-ship missiles around was as normal as ordering a cup of coffee.

"So no on the missiles, yes on the ammo?"

The Mikoatty nodded.
"Yes, the ammo I can suply, the other items you need to find elsewhere."

"Ah well, no worries mate, just have the stuff delivered to the spaceport."

Djo appeared and looked at the paper while eating something that Crimson couldn't identify.

"Got your food?" Crimson asked.

The old man nodded and offered Crimson a piece of whatever he was eating.

Crimson shook his head and told Djo about the ammo and the non obtainable items.

"You need to ask military, Djo fish for contacts."

Crimson grumbled and payed the Mikoatty arms dealer.

[Chatty]

Kellen enjoyed the outing with Daxia as they wandered around Quaylar Four and picked up Daxia some sweetmeats. He liked the way the colony had flourished in their absence after he and Daxia incited them to rebel and form their own independent colony. He had his tail twined around hers as she paid for her sweetmeats, then he looked up to see Akraya and Desuko putting on a performance, after which they harnessed a Mikoatty child and took it flying.

"That looks fun." He mentioned to Daxia, continuing to watch them. This place was getting so much nicer. He was glad they had purchased some land and were having a 'retirement' home built so that they could 'retire' here whenever they decided to start a family.

*********************

Jessan was walking around with Sophie as she looked for a job for them since they needed something. They had gone shopping first, and he had picked up the odd part or two that they might need later. Also, he bought some of Sophie's favorite beverages and snacks for her.

Now she was looking through the mercenary boards and seemed interested in something from Dynamic Engines, a parts manufacturer that they used from time to time when he needed to upgrade the Firestorm. Now they wanted someone to haul some very nice engine parts for them. Engine parts that he wouldn't mind trying to integrate into Firestorm's engines. And Sophie was taking down the information, so maybe he'd get to test out those parts for them while they delivered them.

***********************

T'Sarrina was quite content to snuggle with Sylen in their quarters while no one needed them in the infirmary and everyone else was out shopping. Perhaps she would go out in the evening with Sylen when the temperature would be a bit more tolerable for her. She didn't need any supplies, and Sophie didn't need her to help pick out any jobs.

She sighed in contentment in Sylen's arms, and their tentacles were twined around each other in the intricate knot they both preferred. "This place has really begun to develop a personality all its own since they declared their independence, hasn't it?"