Tiri Comes Home
"Did you enjoy your time at the spa?" I asked Tiri, once we were back on the Anubis's shuttle craft. I piloted us back up to my ship.
"Yes." Tiri said. "It was a nice break after that extremely tiring breeding season."
"That's good, I am very glad." I said.
"Did you bring the children?" Tiri asked.
"No, since we aren't running under operational conditions." I said to Tiri.
"Still, you should have brought the children." Tiri said. She was perched on her traveling box, a lavishly appointed pet carrier lined with velvet over quilting and piled with satin and velvet pillows.
"Most sentient life forms would be very honored if the flag ship of Catro-Katrarian Black Fleet, the empire's main fleet, was sent to pick them up."
Since I paid for the bulk of the ship during initial construction but the empire pays for upgrades and maintenance and the like, which entitles me to use it as my personal transport every now and then, as long as I paid for the crew's time...particularly since the outbreak of peace.
"I don't bring the children on transport runs because there aren't any horses for them to take care of and they get ansy without the horses." I said. I hadn't quite managed to explain to her that my two adopted "children" were actually a pair of immortal dampire (half vampire, half mortal)who weren't going to look to age much beyond 8 or 9 years old and who both had pasts that made them leery of traveling without the horses that made them feel safe. I know, it probably makes me a bad mother, but I would rather leave my children with the village worth of people they are used to and are as trusting of as I think they will ever be than to drag them alone on a transport run to Earth that is a week there, a week back and upset all their routines in the process. My horses wouldn't be very happy about being taken on a non-operational run, the ships stables are nice but they prefer the base's stables with its two bedroom apartment sized stalls and huge tracts of grass land to run and play in that the base's stables open onto.
"I really wish you had brought them...and Shar'sha." Tiri said. "You could have at least brought Shar'sha along. I want my hand maiden."
"The minute she heard I was going to pick you up from Casa De Wyrm health spa, she started doing aerobatics like she was on wyrm nip. The Anubis's pilot, the fleet's best pilot of ships and fighters, saw this and started to turn green so she was banned from the ship for fear of making the officer flying too ill to pilot the ship." I explained, knowing it sounded like an excuse. When I am on my ship, I spend the bulk of my day on the bridge and my wyrms like to stay with me. Reth, on occasion, will pretend that he commands the ship everyone now and then and my bridge crew is more than will to humor him. Shar'sha also likes to stay with me and her acting like she is on wyrm nip...is going to result in half or more of my bridge crew going to sick bay. That isn't workable at all.
...
After a few more days...and a few more arguments, we got back to Tauru'Reng'Gou, my "super secret" (ie, the annoying elements of the Empire's government can't find me but all the people who actually know what is going on militarily can reach me at a moment's notice and we are very close to any action since we are very close to the border) planetary base.
"So what was it like?" Shadowdancer asked.
"Relaxing." Tiri said. Shar'sha was snuggled up against Tiri. "Very relaxing."
"Things have been quiet here." Shadowdancer reported. "You haven't missed anything."
"That's good." Tiri said. "Now, I am going to go make sure my nest isn't dusty and then go to sleep.
"I kept it just the way you left it." Shar'sha said.
"Good." Tiri said.
I watched all of this with amusement. Tiri is definitely the queen of the Squirm, no doubt about it.
"Good night everyone." Tiri said, flapping off to her nest on the top of my bookshelf. Shar'sha followed her. I hear a bit of russling as Tiri moves a few bits of her nest of fabric, fur and leather scraps. I watch her and Shar'sha settle down for the night. Nice to have the queen home.
