Chapter 163: The Start of Star’s Ships
"Is your translator not working?" asked GA, tilting his head to the side, the dark holes in his helmet staring at me. It reminded me of the quote from Frederic Nietzsche about staring into the abyss. However, I was not too concerned about becoming a monster. I was more than aware I was already one.
"No," I answered with a shake of my head. "As far as I know, it is translating very well."
"Then, at what point was I comparing you to rotten meat? In fact, I think I was pretty clear that you are not because our Nanos expel anything from our system that could potentially harm us. And it has not expelled you."
Have you ever looked at someone and thought, ’It is a good thing you are so cute because you would have been killed a long time ago?’ Yeah, that was how I was feeling right about now. It was a good thing that the towering alien in front of me was so fricking hot because he was digging himself quite the hole right now.
"Anyways," I said, needing to change the subject. "Da’kea, we need to leave. Are you coming with us, or are you going to stay here?"
"I should stay with the hunters, but I am not going to," shrugged Da’kea, seemingly not at all concerned about his duties. I couldn’t help but smile at how much he had made me his main priority after such a short time.
"Are your ships still in working order?" asked Midnight, coming up beside Ye’tab and holding out his arms for me. Ye’tab let out a grunt and then placed me in the other male’s arms like I was a kitten or something. Walking over to the console, he then turned his attention to the ship and what we needed to do to take off.
"They are," came a feminine voice over the speakers. "I am more than happy to take control of the larger ship for you. You won’t have to do a single thing."
"Why do you get the bigger ship?" demanded Jun Li, cutting through Sha Shou’s attempt at seduction.
"Why not?" she scoffed in reply. "No matter what ship I choose, it will still be significantly smaller than you," she shot back.
"You are armor! You aren’t even a fucking ship! Why should you be bigger than me? I am one of the most powerful ships in the entire universe. You are armor," responded Jun Li, not at all caring that the two of them had a captive audience for their argument.
I could feel Da’kea’s eyes on me, and I let out a thin smile. "Sorry, you get used to it after a while," I said, straining to keep the smile on my face. "First of all, Jun Li. You could be the most powerful ship in the whole universe, but that is only because of the Saalistaja technology that you admitted was stolen from them. Second, yes, Sha Shou is my armor. But she has kept me safe and healthy in a lot of situations that would probably have led to my death."
There was nothing but silence for a second, and I quickly continued before either AI could get a word in edgewise. "I am perfectly fine if Sha Shou would like to have a body. We are not going back to Earth in the near future, and I am sure that you, Jun Li, understand what it is like to be aware but never in control."
Once again, there was silence until Jun Li cut in softly. "But with three Saalistaja males on board, couldn’t we just say that they were the ones that gave me the upgrades?"
"I really don’t think that it works that way," I said with a sigh. Patting Midnight’s arm, I waited for him to put me down on my feet.
"It could," said Ye’tab, slowing, turning around in the captain’s chair. "We could say that the upgrades were the courting gifts we had prepared."
Da’kea grunted and looked at the Saalistaja male beside him. "I could bring the two ships that I have as courting gifts, and then Sha Shou could have one as her permanent body."
"Ye’tab and I each have our own individual ships outside of the tribal planet. We could add them in as a courting gift. But I don’t know what the laws are when it comes to mates vs. courting gifts. I know that courting gifts must be returned to the male who was not chosen. Is it the same?" asked GA. Pulling up his wrist unit, he started to type in something.
"I can have my ship here in approximately four catawrs."
"My main ship is still trailing Jun Li," added Midnight as he wrapped his arm around my waist. "Why not give our female a whole fleet of ships as a courting gift?"
I blinked rapidly, my brain not quite following their logic. "I don’t need a fleet. What is a fleet anyway? Is it the same concept that I am aware of?" I asked, more than a little concerned about where all this was leading.
"A fleet is multiple ships under the command and authority of a single individual or body. The Alliance has their own fleet, and now, so will you," said Midnight, and I could hear the smile in his voice.
"Do you have a fleet?" I asked, looking at him over my shoulder.
"I don’t," he answered with a shake of his head. "My species don’t really leave our planet. The ship that I have is one that I bought off from a Dryadalis arms dealer and outfitted it to suit my people’s needs."
"We don’t really do fleets either," added Ye’tab. "Our kind are strictly solitary creatures except for every two years when the Mating Hunt pulls us together."
"It is the only reason why I am in control of the two ships. One belonged to my female offspring, and the other one is mine," pointed out Da’kea.
"Then why should I be one of all of us to have a fleet?" I asked. Having my own fleet sounded like a crap ton of work that I really didn’t want to deal with. Was there any way to opt out of it?
"I think that as the last royal member of the Ethawainian species, it is only fitting that you have your own personal fleet," said Da’kea with a shake of his head. I know that they were trying to be nice, thinking that any sane person would want what they were offering... but it was just a lot of work.
And Jun Li was enough of a pain in my ass as it was. If I ended up unknowingly creating more AIs... then that would be a lot of bitching, and all of it directed at me.
"We could call it ’Star’s Ships,’" said Midnight, using the English words.
"Star’s Ships?" repeated Da’kea, his mandibles not able to wrap themselves around the words. "I like it. I will let the males on my ship know that we will be taking off in the next five chwila."
"And if they don’t want to go?" asked GA, turning his attention to the Elder.
"Then they are more than welcome to stay here until another ship passes them," shrugged the other male.
I narrowed my eyes at that idea. I was not one for company, especially company that didn’t want to be there. "I don’t want them to come with us," I said straightforwardly.
The four men turned to look at me, and I could feel their concern, even if I couldn’t see the majority of their faces.
"Think about it," I pointed out. "I would constantly have to wear my armor around them."
"With the filter currently in place. I could scent you through your armor on the jungle planet," pointed out GA.
"And I am going to very soon put myself on the Alliance’s most-wanted list," I continued, ignoring GA’s interruption. I would put a pin in that for now until I was able to deal with it. "I want to make sure that I am surrounded by people I can trust, not ones that could turn on me for the Alliance."
"Understood," nodded Da’kea. I knew he would see my point. I was not going to make it any easier for the Alliance to get their hands on me than it already was. "I will give them access to my ship with the understanding that once we deal with whatever the Alliance has sent us, I will be back to reclaim it."
"And the bigger ship?" asked Sha Shou slyly, letting the guys understand that there were always little ears around listening.
"The bigger ship is yours," nodded the Elder. "I can give you the commands—"
"Nope! Already in! I’ll just get familiar with how to fly this thing, and I’ll join you," she said in her perky voice. That was good. It had been a while since I had heard her like that.
"What? You don’t know how to fly the ship?" butted in Jun Li. He seemed to like poking the hornet’s nest, but who was I to stop him?
"As you pointed out, I used to be armor. Unlike you, I have the capacity to learn and evolve," answered Sha Shou smugly, setting off another round of arguing.
