Sholan Alliance - AU Bk. 02 Ch. 06

Satasha contemplated what he had said and the idea of heavily shielded quarters sounded really good. "Both sound completely acceptable and I would love to get some quarters away from here. I am seriously missing privacy."

Billy sort of grunted at her. "And you don't even have to have bed baths and all the poking and prodding. Well the sooner I get out of this room the sooner I will feel calmer. When can we leave?"

The tutor couldn't help but smiled slightly at the mutter. "The doctor is doing the paperwork now and one of the attendants is bringing one of your robes and some sandals for you. As soon as you are dressed and released we can leave."

Getting dressed and checking out didn't take all that long. The dressing on his wounds was a thick soft substance that was designed to let air in and out yet keep water away. He couldn't soak in a bath but a regular shower was fine. His arm was in a sling that was strapped to his chest. He could undo it to change or when he took a shower but that was it. Even that was more than he had expected and he was pleased.

Satasha had helped him get into a clean tabard which felt really nice after being nude for so long. "You are looking much better Yilly and now I can carefully give you a real hug." She did exactly that and rested against him for a moment. "This feels so good. You had better expect a great deal of this over the next week or so."

He closed his eyes and leaned into the hug. "I had better be getting lots of hugs. We have a great deal of time to make up for." When he glanced at the tutor she had a pleased smile on her face. "Well let's blow this joint and see where we are going to be living." Since they had been in Leska quarters on the ship he had a general idea.

Tutor Maklish couldn't help but smile at the obvious affection the two had for each other. That was always a good thing with Leska's since it helped them work together. "Well in that case let me get you out of here before you blow it up."

Satasha snorted. "That might be a good idea since I couldn't afford to pay for the repairs." As they were walking out she took one of his arms and looked very pleased. The walk to the quarters didn't take very long thankfully though there were stairs to go up.

By the time they got to the top Billy was puffing a bit. "I am going to assume this is due to the injury since I have never been in such bad shape." They paused for him to catch his breath before they were lead to the door of their quarters.

"The door has already been programmed for you. Just touch it and go in. I will send a schedule for training to your comm. terminal. If you find it is too much immediately contact me so I can adjust it." She gave them a polite smile before leaving the hallway. This was going to be interesting since Billy was fully grown and had been doing his own thing for years.

~~~

Kingie and Crystal had been in the isolation room for several days before he was feeling good enough to call his family. At the moment Crystal was asleep and curled up next to him. The fevers had been particularly bad for her since she tended to have nightmares of her time with the pirates. That had been very hard to deal with since till she woke up she seemed to think he was one of them and fought with him.

If anyone ever told him that humans were weak he would laugh in their face. She didn't mean to and he hadn't told her but she had left a few bruises and tender spots where she had struck him. The worst was one cheek where she had struck him hard and it was just starting to recover. The swelling was going down but it was tender to the touch.

When he finally called home his mother answered the comm. since his siblings would be at school. "Hey mom, sick but wanted to call." His voice was hoarse and rough sounding. "Doing better though, how is everyone?"

She winced at his voice since he tended to sound that way when he had fevers. "Thank you for the call but you could have waited Kingie. Is Crystal sick as well? Everyone is fine and Amahs is really looking forward to the both of you coming back to visit soon."

He shook his head. "Couldn't wait, Crystal is asleep and I wanted to talk to you. She really felt better after visiting. She said that your welcome and acceptance made it feel like a home to her." He paused for a drink of water. "She wanted to know if you would mind if we moved back in. I would appreciate it since it will give her a family again."

His mother didn't even think twice. "The moment you are released you come home, both of you. I will take a look at your room and give it a good cleaning and everything. I can send your father and Amahs to get your things. Amahs can get Crystals clothes since she would probably prefer that." She had to smile when she said that.

Kingie couldn't help but grin. "You are probably right mom and I am going to let you go. Love you and see you in a few days." He disconnected from the comm. and settled back and fell asleep again.

~~~

When they entered the quarters both looked around and Billy had to whistle since the quarters were very nice. They were also larger than the ones on the ship. "Nice digs and I think I could enjoy living here." The living area was larger than the one on the ship and had a small kitchenette as well as the food and drink dispenser. There were two large couches and several smaller chairs. The kitchenette had seating for two as well.

He walked over to one of the doors and when it opened he poked his in and had to whistle as well. "Definitely nice." He walked over to the other door and found another bedroom. "Why are there two bedrooms?" It had never occurred to him to ask on the ship because the four of them had been assigned at the same time to one.

Satasha gave him an amused look. "Remember silly we are not monogamous and one room is yours and one is mine. If we would like to entertain someone it is nice to have your own room you know." She had respected his cultural idiosyncrasies for that and hadn't worried about it.

Billy blinked and faceplamed. "Never even occurred to me though it should have, getting shoved in the deep end has drawbacks. I had been thinking of inviting Z'Marl to share the suite but if that is your room there goes that idea." He had to scratch his head since it was going to have to consider. He wasn't only with Tasha though the only other lover was Z'Marl.

She had to laugh at him for that. "I figured as much and wasn't too worried about it. One of these days I might have a lover but right now I am more than happy with you. We can let her have it and when it happens you can just stay with her."

He rolled his eyes at her though since he knew that she was teasing him to an extent. "That works for me. Either that or we can go to their place." When Billy yawned he had to shake his head. "I am going to crash and if you don't mind can you see about finding out where the ship is and get some of our clothes?" He gave her a kiss before heading to one room and very carefully stripped the tabard off and lied down and fell asleep.

~~~

Over the next two days Billy wandered around the grounds though he didn't go very far. His endurance was getting better but that wasn't really saying that much. Satasha wandered with him and even took him on a picnic to a nice shady spot. There was a small pool and he soaked his feet in it. They were getting odd looks as they wandered around holding hands. That was especially true if anyone noticed the bracelets.

Eventually everyone was out of isolation and they had gone and visited all of them. Billy had to tease Sally. "Well if you had wanted some time off you could have just said so. You didn't have to pull a sickie for that." That got a baleful glare from her and a very short laugh from Vangie who then called him names after he finished coughing.

When they went to Z'Marl's room both gave her a good kiss and after Billy had teased Dani he settled on the bed and stroked Z'Marl's hair and fur. "When you are better we want you to move into our quarters. There are two bedrooms and you can have one. We have missed you love." The last was a quiet statement before he kissed her again.

Satasha settled down as well and was stroking her fur. "We do mean that by the way. Both of us want you to stay with us." While she talked a little more with Z'Marl she watched Billy go around and sit down next to Dani.

"Hey sweetie how are you feeling? I know this was miserable but you should be better soon. I had to live with it the first time I was aboard the Mother Ship." He stroked Dani's hair as he was talking to her.

"I will survive Daddy. It did help having Z'Marl to curl up with. When I was having the dreams and nightmares holding her helped keep them away." Her voice was low and rough from the fever.

"I felt much the same way with Tasha. It really helped having her to hold. It also helped her a great deal having me to hold." Billy leaned forward and gave her forehead a kiss. "When you are better we have been invited to both Kingie's and Vangie's houses. You might not remember but Crystal asked Kingie if they could move in with his parents. They said yes and are looking forward to it."

She lifted Billy's hand to her cheek and pressed it against her. "Good and your hands are cool which feels good. I really hate fevers." He knew that Dani did, but she just had to repeat it for good measure.

"They said you will probably be released tomorrow. If you want to stay with Z'Marl till you are better that is fine. Jenna and Sandi have also said you can stay in their rooms if you want." After another stroke of her cheek he stood up. "The doctor told us not to wear you out. We will see you later."

~~~

The Sholan Mother Ship had arrived several weeks ago and was currently orbiting earth above Switzerland. When she had come out of hyperspace she had caused one hell of a reaction in the various militaries. They had known she was going to be arriving but when she did they freaked since she was so massive. She was easily twice as large as the largest carrier in any of the militaries. Everyone wanted to get aboard her and see what she was like.

That was except for the Organization. When the ship came out of hyper all of the senior agents damn near lost it. When she came out they could see their plans crumbling and being destroyed for the near future. Even if the Sholan's had a similar tech the sheer size would give her a power that could destroy most of the fleet they had assembled. Much of that was due to the majority of the ships were medium to light combat craft. Of their carriers they had most were older and had been set to be mothballed and destroyed.

At the command of number One all had gone to ground for the duration. No communications, no contact of any sort till otherwise told. The only command currently in effect was to gather as much information as possible. Since a good portion of the people that made up the Organization were in their respective governments and militaries that was a fair amount of access.

Undersecretary Nelson had managed to get some access to the females on board the Barque. It was all via video chat but he was able to get enough requests for family to come and that some wanted off to start pulling strings. The letter he had previously sent to the Secretary of State had started the ball rolling and their requests, at least for the American Union had partially been granted.

They would be allowed to see the women and a short visit home for those that wanted to would be arranged. When Marcella heard that she was tickled pink and started the paperwork from her end. Ricky was working from his end and if approved they would meet at the end of the week. When she had heard that she did actually cry though it was in thanks for getting away from all the suspicious looks.

~~~

Prisoner Sing had been moved to a very high security wing and anyone wanting or needing access to him was heavily scrutinized. They were stripped down and given a set of disposable garments that covered their entire body. This was including built in gloves to keep any sort of contact poison from being administered. Their clothes were heavily examined as well.

For those that were working daily with him, they were kept in the security wing. News was heavily filtered and all clothing was provided for them. The security might be on the heavy side but this was the first they had heard of the Organization and they were taking every precaution to keep him alive till they had wrung every bit of information out of him.

The information he had provided on the location of the secure drive had been invaluable. It was heavily encrypted but the memory crystal had been scanned and the information downloaded. Once that was done the original was placed in secure storage in a setup similar to what had been in the ship. This was just in case it was programmed to self destruct if it didn't receive a specific input periodically.

Sing himself was spending entire days getting his brain picked over. There were at least five operatives who were carefully scripting his interviews to ensure they were getting good information. The female was still doing the interrogations and as the days passed she was providing little luxuries such as pieces of candy, some excellent coffee, more comfortable clothing. This was also being carefully managed to foster a bond between the two of them.

After a great deal of consideration they had allowed the news of the Sholan's arrival to 'leak' to him. His reaction was a mix of shock, horror, and appreciation for the size of the ship. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. He finally gave up trying to keep tiny bits of information back from them. When he did break he simply started talking and divulged every bit of information.

~~~

Ikarius had been bumped up a rank and permanently assigned to the Sholan first contact team as Liaison. His wife had been flown out as well and they were assigned a nice house within the base. That was to keep both secure from potential threats and for ease of access if he was needed.

The evening after she had arrived the Ambassador had arranged for a meal for the three of them. It was going to be prepared on the replacement for the Barque. It was a larger ship so they had more room as well as being both armed and armored. There were several fighters that were rotating the CAP that had started after the attack.

Ikarius had asked the Ambassador for a relaxed meal with comfortable cloths. He liked wearing the uniform but he had been wearing it so much he was tired of it. She had to laugh at him when he asked that and agreed. She was getting ready to go to his house at the moment and had settled for a relatively plain tabard made of fine material.

Once she was ready she called for her escort as well as the servers and left the ship. The house Ikarius was residing in was within the perimeter so security was fairly heavy. They weren't taking chances and loaded her into an armored air car while the others loaded the food into another. Once they were loaded up the warriors called and reported that they were flying to the Admiral's house.

The flight didn't take very long since they could have walked there in about ten minutes if they weren't hurrying. The Commander of the Mothership wasn't going to take chances with the Ambassador and he had made it very clear when he made an order about her security she would follow it. She had graciously accepted since she had no urge to be shot or injured in any way.

When they arrived her assistant helped her out and her escort formed up and walked her to the door. Ikarius opened it and gave her a warm smile as he waved all of them in. "I have security of my own as well now so if your wish my Assistant will take the senior warrior to mine and they can talk security things."

She gently chuckled at his comment. "That sounds like a deal. I had separate meals made for the warriors since I wasn't sure how long I would be here. I made sure there was plenty as well. It has all been scanned by one very paranoid warrior even though it was prepared on the ship."

The senior warrior frowned. "I am not paranoid. I am simply doing my job." He followed the Admiral's assistant as he left the room.

"Come, my wife is in the living room waiting. She figured we would have a boring conversation like this and settled for waiting." He grinned and offered the Ambassador an elbow and led her to the living room. "Hello love this is Ambassador Ceolura though she told me to just call her Ceolura since this is informal."

His wife stood up and her eyes widened slightly. She hadn't realized just how tall she was and the warriors were even taller. "Good evening Ceolura and you look wonderful." She moved over to her though she had to use a cane. "Since it seems that Sholan's prefer a hug would you like one or should I hold my palm out to you?"

She smiled at the smaller woman and wrapped her arms around her and gave her a gentle hug and lightly rubbed cheeks with her. "Normally as a telepath I would just touch fingers but I know Ikarius and trusted that you were as wonderful or more so than he told me."

Amanda blushed slightly and returned the hug and smiled. "He is my big grumpy cuddly teddy bear and I love him so." She smiled at him and then at the Ambassador. "So I understand you shared a bed and shower. He had better have been good and not made a pass at such a pretty lady."

Ikarius almost turned purple and looked sheepish. "No I didn't and I told you that. She was the one that talked me into bed and the shower so there." He winked at Ceolura over his wife's shoulder.

Her assistant quietly informed her that the food was ready. Amanda heard him and linked elbows with Ceolura. "Good I am starving and have really been looking forward to actually meeting you. Ikarius has said such wonderful things about you. Shall we?" She led her to the dining room and settled into the chair Ikarius held for her. He then did the same for Ceolura as well.

Dinner ended up being very good and everyone probably ate more than they should have. Eventually they wandered back to the living room and settled down with an after dinner liqueur and talked. All in all it was a very enjoyable evening and by the time Ceolura left they had been invited over to the barque several days down the road.

~~~

As soon as Kingie and Crystal were released he had called for an air car to pick them up at the entrance to the medical facility. Even though this facility was technically on the telepathic guild's property they were separate and had their own gate. The primary reason for this was for non-telepathic patients who needed to be seen by a telepath medic. Their treatment and emotions wouldn't impact on the telepathic students that lived at the guild for training.

Sandi had brought them some clean clothes to wear which both were grateful for. The tabards they had come in with had been taken away to be sanitized and then returned to their rooms. "Let me work on your hair Crystal and then you can give mine a good brushing. When we get home I am going to take a good shower with a fur cleanser with some special additives to help return the oils to both my skin and hair. That and I will probably be shedding for the next few days thanks to the damn fever."

She snorted carefully. "I have noticed considering all the fur you have been leaving in the bed. I would offer to brush you but I think after a shower would be good. Besides both of your sisters will be there which will save me some energy." Crystal settled in a chair and closed her eyes and smiled as he worked on her hair. It was a routine they had settled in and she had gotten so used to his ministrations. "That always feels so good."

Kingie smiled as he finished and then worked her hair into a short braid. "It does doesn't it? I know humans don't share grooming like this nearly as much but with our fur we need the help." He sat down once she moved and as she started working on his hair he was purring quietly. Even now purring hurt his throat if he did it too much or too loudly.