Hanging Seven

I couldn't help that giggle, and Ziggy's skin rippled amusement.

"That's settled then," I said, clapping my hands and smiling. "You will be our guests for the week, and in return, you will teach Ziggy to surf."

"Cool bananas," Ziggy said, completely unexpectedly.

We all looked at him. Me. Bruce. Snowy. Security-Major Chu. Karmen. Security-Captain Han-Smythe. The press pool rep broadcasting live. The travelers nearby.

Everyone.

"I am studying colloquial Aodalyian slang," Ziggy said. "Is this correct context please?"

"Bloody oath it is, mate," Snowy said. "Ya' nailed that one, Sir."

Captain Han-Smythe laughed.

"Brilliant," Karmen said. "Cut ABC coverage please." After a second she added, "We're not live now and the dignitaries are waiting, Stardust, Beak Commander." She glanced at Snowy and Bruce.

"Thank you, Mr. O'Day, Mr. O'Donoghue. Stardust and Beak Commander Yai!lith have to meet a number of dignitaries and give some speeches. You can accompany Jenny here to Bondi and the house, she'll make all the arrangements for your accommodation for the week, and we'll see you there this afternoon."

"Where's Danny?" I asked, looking around. There he was, talking to a little Aodalyian girl, both of them really excited, and she was holding one of his tentacles, with half a dozen other kids all crowding around.

"Here, mommy," he said. Then, "goodbye, Yin-Ling, I have to go now."

"Goodbye Danny," she said, giving that tentacle a last little stroke.

"You have to go to the house with Jenny now, Danny," I said. "This is Bruce and this is Snowy, they're going with you and Jenny, and they'll be staying with us and they'll be teaching you and daddy to surf. Now hurry with Jenny, mommy and daddy have to make some boring speeches."

"Okay, mommy," little Danny said, smiling happily.

"Be good for Jenny, Danny," I said, giving my little one a quick hug and a kiss. "Mommy and Daddy will be there in two or three hours."

"Yeth mommy," little Danfeng lisped, his skin mottling with the patterns of understanding. Such a smart little boy. "Jenny says there's a jacuzzi at the house. Can I swim?"

"Of course you can swim, Danny," I said, nodding to Jenny. "Just don't frighten Jenny by staying underwater too long, okay?"

"Yeth, mommy," little Danny said, his little tentacles wrapping around one of Jenny's arms. "I'll be good for Jenny."

"See you soon, Danny," Ziggy's vocoder spoke as a couple of his tentacles writhed over little Danny, colors flashing happily.

"Will you swim with me later, Dad?" Danny asked, his own tentacles writhing excitedly.

"Of course I will, Danny," Ziggy said. "And we will learn this surfing together tomorrow with Bruce and Snowy."

"Yaaaaaaay," little Danny squealed excitedly, and he was chattering away to Jenny as they moved off with their own security team, Bruce and Snowy being shepherded along behind, looking a little bemused.

"ABC's rocketing up the ratings, Stardust," Karmen said, leading the way now, security once more moving with us. "They're replaying your invitation to Bruce and Snowy. Viewer response is uniformly positive, even higher among the native minority. We're going to arrange pool media coverage of the surfing lessons. We have a request for Danny to appear on Skippy the Bù Shí Dài Shǔ...it's an old Aodaliyan TV series that we apparently resurrected for children, really popular here, and I just got a request from the Governor asking if you and Beak-Commander Yai!lith could appear on Línjū later this week, with Ky-Lee Ming-Oh."

"Línjū?" I asked. Neighbors? "What's that?"

"It's another network series," Karmen said. "Predates the Hegemony, really popular with everyone, and Ky-Lee's, well, she's the most popular actress and singer in Aodaliya. And the Governor..."

"Accept," I said, because I did know a big part of Ziggy and my role was public relations.

"Done," Karmen said, thirty seconds later. "Ziggy's also been asked to give a talk on the Battle of Zhuolu to the graduating class of the Aodaliyan Province People's Militia Military College, that's at some place called Duntroon. No idea where that is. Wasn't in my briefing. We need to review that request before accepting."

"Okay," I said, because I did know all about the Battle of Zhuolu.

Everybody in the Chinese Hegemony knew about the battle of Zhuolu. It was taught in all the schools now, and it'd all happened back when I'd just started high school, three or four years before I'd even met Ziggy. The first big Spider attack. Back when I lived dirtside, before mom and dad had moved to New Beijing, it'd been all over the news, day after day after day. We'd had settlers on the planet, military forces as well, building space fortresses and fortifying the system as a forward base, because by then we'd run into the Spiders, and the military knew about the threat. Just, no-one understood how bad that threat was, and the Spiders had attacked before we were ready.

The Peoples Liberation Army Navy (Space) had been fighting a desperate battle to hold off the Spiders, the media was full of it, because it'd been a horrible surprise, and the Spiders just swarmed into the system, and the PLANS hadn't been able to hold them at the warp point. Their ships pushed ours back, all the way back to the planet that we were on, and their landers kept breaking through in swarms, getting down to the surface, and our Marines on the ground had been dying like flies to hold the perimeter while our transports evacuated the civilians.

I still remembered how horrible it'd been to watch the media reports, and then the Heptapods had arrived out of nowhere through a warp point we didn't know about. Back then, we'd had no idea who they were, and they'd had no idea who we were, but as soon as they saw the Spider spaceships and landers, they'd attacked them, and they couldn't talk to us, and we couldn't talk to them, but it didn't matter to them. We were fighting the Spiders, and that was all they needed to know.

I'd seen the clips, everyone had, how they threw themselves into the fight in space, and then their landers burned down through the atmosphere, nobody knowing what was going on, and the Heptapod Space Marines in their battle armor had flowed out of those strange landers and lanced into the Spiders like buzz-saws on steroids.

They hadn't turned the battle round, there hadn't been enough of them or of our own Space Marines left to do that, but they'd died alongside our Hegemony Space Marines, holding that perimeter until the Navy ships had got our surviving civilians out, and their landers had evacuated some of our civilians, and their Marines and ours had been all mixed up at the end, but they'd fought the Spiders and died alongside our men, dying to protect a species they hadn't even known existed before they popped out of warp space and into that system.

Ziggy had been one of those Space Marines, on his first big training exercise, and every single Heptapod Space Marine in his Battle-Tentacle, every one of them except him, had died in the fighting. Ziggy had attached himself to the remnants of a PLANS Space Marine Company and been evacuated with them. I guess if anyone could talk about Zhuolu to our graduating Officer Candidates, it was Ziggy.

"We'll go through all these this evening," Karmen said. "And here we are...down here and let's join the Premier of Xīn Nán Wēi ěr shì on the dais. The gentleman beside him is the Mayor of Xī-ní, he's a friend of your dad's and arranged the house down on Bondi Beach. Don't mention the house at all. I just forwarded you the agenda..."

"Okay, I have it," I said, calling up my own speech as the Governor smiled at Ziggy and I, and began to speak.

"We'd like to welcome our distinguished visitors from New Beijing, Beak Commander Ziggy Yai!lith, of the Heptapod Space Navy Marine Corps and the first of our Heptapod fellow warriors, fighting the fascist and speciesist paper spiders, to visit Xī-ní, and together with Beak Commander Yai!lith, we welcome his wife, Comrade Citizen-Major Stardust Wong-Yai!lith of the New Beijing People's Militia and an expert on Heptapod-Human relations....."

Well, I was married to Ziggy. Married for five years now, so I guess I better be an expert...

"We're on the news, Stardust. Come and watch," Ziggy called from the jacuzzi the following morning. That latest vocoder he was using sounded way more natural. They'd really improved tremendously over the year he'd been away on his last mission to (redacted), even if the laughter function was still wonky.

Ziggy was relaxing, and taking care of our little one. Little Danfeng Wong-Yai!lith (which made my dad really happy, because we'd named little Danny after him) was darting around the jacuzzi, occasionally popping up for air that he didn't really need because of his gills, but he knew it made mommy feel happier when he did, laughing happily and splashing his dad with his hands as he kicked his feet and swam with his little tentacles.

That'd been a relief, when he was born, that he was almost human, except for that chameleon skin and those tentacles and the gills, because he could breathe water too. I was still happy it'd been a Cesarean though, because nobody had been sure what those tentacles would do when he was born and thinking about him pulling his way out hadn't been exactly reassuring. They were pretty strong, and he swam just as well as his dad.

Little Danny did enjoy his daddy time, now that his daddy was back from that last mission to (redacted), where they'd beaten the exoskeletons off of those horrible Spiders and liberated one more planet. Ziggy didn't talk too much about the mission, but I knew it'd gone well, the news had been full of it. Now he was back with me, his fighting days finally over, re-assigned for the next few years at least to the embassy on Luna as the military attaché of the Water Paths of the Heptapods to the Chinese Hegemony, and me? I was officially working part-time now as a Translator, attached on behalf of the Chinese Hegemony to the Heptapod Embassy.

We even had our own Embassy Tunnel, a beautiful one with an outside dome, and access to a small swimming pool shared with other Heptapod Embassy staff. It was lovely, but right now, we weren't there. Ziggy had a lot of R & R time due, after almost a year away on that last mission to (redacted), and we were using it and we were settling in to the house across from Bondi Beach, in Xī-ní.

Anyhow, you do know Xī-ní, right? Used to be called Sydney, back before Australia voted by 99.9% to join the Chinese Hegemony a hundred years ago and became the province of Aodaliya. Xī-ní's a lovely city, built around that beautiful harbor with that old harbor bridge and that lovely old Opera House where they put on those wonderful traditional Chinese Operas.

Personally, I was from Gold Mountain Province, over on the other side of the Pacific, and even though I'd lived on Luna, in the New Beijing burrow, since I was seventeen, I was still a New Shanghai girl at heart, although I didn't like to remember why we'd had to leave New Shanghai, but that was long in the past now, although every now and then I wondered rather sadly if Security-General Zhao was still alive. It would've been dangerous to ask though, so I never had. He had taken advantage of my youth and naivety, but I did still remember him rather fondly. Old Zowie and I, we'd had a lot of good times together.

Anyhow, enough of those old memories. I liked Xī-ní already. It wasn't all military like Gold Mountain Province, which bordered the Second American Republic, which was always a little bit of a worry. Mind you, before I'd met Ziggy I had dated some fascists from the Second American Republic, up in New Beijing, and they'd actually been rather nice and not at all the scary racist fascist oppressor of the working class monsters the media made them out to be, but I'd never said that to anyone except Security-Major Chu, who'd been a Captain back then, and my Security control, because Security back then had been enthusiastic about any information those scary racist fascist oppressor of the working class monsters shared with me when we were out on those dates.

After I'd met Ziggy, well, things had changed quickly, we'd been married five years now, and honestly, this was our first real vacation together and I did plan to make the most of it. I'd checked, and there was a Louis Vui-Tong branch here, and those knock-offs just weren't the same. Maybe later in the week? I'd ask Karmen to arrange it, along with dinner at one of those lovely seafood restaurants near the waterfront, down by the old bridge. Ziggy would like that. He did enjoy his fresh seafood, although I'd have to mention no cuttlefish or octopus in sight. He'd seen them once at that Kowloon Blues restaurant in Novy Hong Kong, up on Luna.

Have you ever seen a Heptapod cry? It's awfully sad, with those huge eyes the size of side-plates welling enormous salty tears. I'd felt so bad about that. Turned out the equivalent for us would be like seeing babies being eaten. Bad, huh? So yeah, nothing remotely squid related.

"Wow, we're on the morning news?" I said, slipping into the jacuzzi and nestling into Ziggy's tentacles.

Good thing I'd decided to wear a bikini for breakfast, because I was sure Ziggy would be in the jacuzzi. He did like water, which made sense of course, because h

Heptapods were amphibious, at home in water and on land, but they did originate in a water-based environment, and that was where their eggs were laid and hatched. Their young, those that survived, attached themselves to adults and followed them up onto land as they developed sentience, and of course my Ziggy was no exception.

"It's our speeches from last night, Stardust," Ziggy said happily, watching himself behind the podium, looking wonderful in his silver and black formal harness and wearing that Scottish kilt he'd worn for our wedding, which really suited him, two of his tentacles gesticulating as he spoke rather movingly about the joint Hegemony-Water Paths campaign against the Spiders, and how our joint human-heptapod militaries were winning victory after victory against the common enemy.

"Great speech, Beak Commander," Karmen said, watching from the doorway. "The Party leadership is very pleased with the effect it's already had on Aodaliyan public opinion and support for the war."

"As for yours, Stardust, we're apparently already seeing an overnight increase in online applications for the Space Marines as well as the Militia. It's been a great start, the party is really excited and they're thinking about asking you both if you'd like to stay for a couple more weeks and do a public speaking tour around Aodaliya. No rush to decide though."

"Where are Bruce and Snowy? I asked. Jenny had settled them in yesterday, and they'd taken her and little Danny down to find a surfboard suitable for him. They said they'd had a harder job finding one big enough for Ziggy, and they'd ordered a custom build overnight.

"Off picking up Ziggy's surfboard," Jenny said, pouring herself a cup of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. "Would you like some, Stardust?"

"Yes please," I said, gratefully taking the mug from her when she passed it to me, carefully avoiding Ziggy's tentacles.

The Party really did look after their high-ranking members and we were all making the most of it. I did wonder if dad would be able to get some of those Blue Mountain beans shipped up to New Beijing for me.

"I've got a couple of girls already on the job that we lined up as dates for them, Stardust," Karmen said. "Bing-Bing and Ting-Ting, just sent you their profiles. They know the story and they're off with Snowy and Bruce now. Promote assimilation, and a lot of Aodaliyan girls really go for those blonde guys, right Captain?" She winked at Captain Han-Smythe, who was pouring himself a coffee.

He grinned back, and the way they were eyeing each other, I figured there was one New-Beijing girl who was keen on some assimilation with the native Aodaliyan minority, although Captain Han-Smythe was half and half.

"We'll just promote it a little," Karmen added. "Make a point wherever we can that native Aodoliyans are citizens of the Hegemony, just like all us Chinese, and we should all do our best to live and work together in harmony."

"Breakfast is ready, Comrade Citizen-Major Wong-Yai!lith," the lovely blonde Aodaliyan girl who had been organized for us by the Mayor said, wheeling in a large trolley with dish after dish on the top, and an aquarium full of live fish beneath. "Authentic Xī-ní dim-sum, and, uh, ma'am, what should I do with the fish?"

"Let's put the dishes on the table, Daphne," I said, smiling. "Well back from the jacuzzi. We can eat there and the fish can go into the jacuzzi but stay back. Ziggy splashes a bit sometimes. He does enjoy fresh fish. And do call me Stardust, please."

"Of course, Stardust," Daphne said, dimpling.

"Can I eat breakfast with daddy please, mommy?" Little Danny slithered up wetly onto me and cuddled into my shoulder, his little tentacles curling over me.

"How about eating with your mom first, and you can have some fish with me for dessert, Danny," Ziggy said, his skin mottling the gold and sunset red of affection for young, with the nuances that said direct egg line descendant and close social group membership as well as senior male exercising responsibility for guidance of juveniles. "I'll save some good ones for you."

"Okay, dad," little Danny said. "Is that shrimp dum-sum? I love shrimps." He was already bouncing out of the jacuzzi and drying himself down. "Here's your towel, mommy," he added, his skin showing the patterns of respect for elders, along with eagerness to be of assistance, and respect for direct egg-line mother.

"Thank you, Danny." Such a wonderful little boy. "Now, eat lots. You'll need lots of energy from swimming."

"Hi everyone," Snowy said, leading the way, Bruce and those two Chinese girls following him in. "We've got Ziggy's board, and a couple more for Bing and Ting. We got one for you too, Stardust, in case you wanted to surf too."

"Ohhh, thank you," I said. "Come and have some dim-sum everyone."

Of course the press were already there as we crossed the road for the beach, Ziggy carrying that monster Malibu board of his. Bruce and Snowy had theirs, and little Danny carried his own. It was a bit of a struggle for him, but he insisted.

"A surfer carries his own board, Danny," Bruce had told him, so he did.

"You too, Stardust," Karmen said. "Make this look good. You don't have to actually surf or anything. Just have it in the background." She'd grinned. "Bing and Ting are going to help give the press lots of eye candy."

I'd smiled. They would, their bikinis were as tiny as mine and they'd both said they could surf. Me. I'd give the press all the bikini shots they wanted, lying back on my beach chair sipping chilled water and slathering on enough sunscreen to make sure I stayed a beautiful pale, without even a hint of that horrible sun-tanned brown that would make me look like a peasant from the rice paddies.

"And let the interviews begin," Karmen said, once she had us all in position on the beach. "Let's see, we'll start with Aodaliyan Broadcasting. Hi Kelly, you're up first."

And off we went....

Three hours later, interviews done, I was finally lying back on that beach chair, gratefully sipping chilled water under the shade of a giant beach umbrella.

"Daphne will bring lunch across for everyone, Stardust," Karmen said. "I'm heading back to the house to go through my inbox. It's backing up. I'll let you know if it's anything urgent."

"Thanks, Karmen," I said, rather gratefully. Who knew vacationing could be such hard work. Some of those questions...