Si's Solar Salvage Ch. 04

<"A Terran? That is highly doubtful."> the man said.

<"We shall see."> Staci replied. <"I don't remember being pregnant before. I thought it was best to come here.">

He nodded and said, <"We will escort you to the space-port on Genia.">

<"Thank you,"> Shiva replied. <"Staci is very important to us.">

<"Staci?"> the man asked, <"You don't remember your true name?">

Staci shook her head, <"I've been gone a long time.">

The two guards stayed in position as the commander turned and passed through the barrier. Once he was through, they turned and followed him. The rest of the squad remained as they were - guns at the ready - until the three passed through their group. They fell in behind their leader and covered his retreat as he returned to their cruiser.

Once he was aboard, the ship called out for the Old Timer to follow. Shiva eased them in behind the ship. She estimated that they had two hours before they'd be landing. The crew members used that time to shower and make themselves presentable for whatever welcome awaited them.

Once the Old Timer landed, the cruiser headed off-planet - presumably back to their post. The crew stepped off of the ship to find two Genians waiting. The first appeared to be a liaison of some sort. The second was some kind of medic.

The handler greeted the group and asked Staci for permission to take a DNA sample. She consented and the other person stepped up with a hand-held device. He took the sample, checked the screen, and nodded to the woman.

<"Follow me, please."> she said, as the medical person jogged on ahead.

They had moved into the main concourse of the spaceport when the medic came running back up. He whispered something to the guide. She turned to their group and said, <"We need to wait here.">

Two more medical staff appeared, took samples from Staci, chattered together, and then all three disappeared once more.

The delay continued. Si and his group were getting more and more nervous. When a squad of soldiers in fancy uniforms came jogging in and set up defensive positions around the area, Shiva and the others surrounded Staci and went into a defensive stance.

<"Stand down."> A commander said, walking towards their group.

<"What's going on?"> Shiva asked.

<"We are simply securing the area before the queen arrives. You are in no danger unless you threaten her majesty. Please place your weapons at your feet.">

The guide had turned to look at them when the guard spoke. Her eyes were as big as saucers as she saw what they were doing. <"Please listen to him,"> she told them. <"He is a member of the queen's guard.">

Shiva nodded, stood, took her knives and pistol out, and laid them to the side of her left foot. The others did the same.

The guard nodded and said, <"Sorry about that. Just remain where you are. She's nearly here.">

He held up his hand and gave a signal - which was relayed by a guard towards the rear of the perimeter. As soon as the sign was passed along, a larger group of guards, surrounding a female who was, obviously, very important, escorted the dignitary towards their party.

The guard who had spoken to Shiva stepped forward so that he could still watch the group but also face the new arrivals. He saluted the lead guard of the new group - who returned his salute. Once he'd been acknowledged, he dropped to one knee and faced the female at the center.

The group stopped. The queen pushed her way through the guards. They hadn't expected that, and quickly moved to let her pass. She stepped up to where Shiva and Si were standing in front of Staci.

<"May I?"> she asked.

Shiva glanced at Si and the two of them stepped over their weapons to move out of her way.

The regent stepped up to Staci, looked her over, and asked, <"Do you remember me?">

Staci returned the examination and said, <"I'm not sure. I'm very sorry, your majesty.">

The woman opened her arms, inviting Staci to embrace her, the guide gasped. Staci stepped into the woman's hug. The woman held her tightly, crying softly.

<"Are you okay?"> Staci asked her after a moment.

<"I never thought I'd see you again,"> the monarch replied. <"You were stolen from me almost 200 years ago. You were just a child.">

<"A child?"> Staci asked.

<"My youngest daughter,"> the woman said, sniffling.

<"What is my name?"> Staci asked, after taking a minute to think it over.

The woman held her at arm's length, her eyes wide. <"El'a"> the woman told her. <"Welcome home, little one.">

Turning to Si, she said, <"Are you the one who's been sticking his dirty dick in my little girl's pussy?">

The guide gasped, once more, her eyes closed tightly, her face pointed at the floor.

Si glanced at the nervous guide and then nodded to the queen.

<"What is your name, Terran?">

<"Si,"> he replied.

<"That ear-piece translates my speech?"> she asked, pulling El'a to herself again.

He nodded once more. He gestured to Shiva.

<"I haven't figured out how to translate his speech to your tongue, yet, Majesty. I apologize but he'll need me or one of the twins to translate - as will our other human crew-member.">

Turning back to Si, El'a's mother said, <"I apologize but my medics will need to test you both - to figure out how you were able to give me a grandchild.">

Si nodded.

<"My defense commander said your ship is unique,"> suggesting a question without asking one.

<"It is a salvage-tug, Majesty,>" Shiva answered, <"We use it to remove wrecked or destroyed ships - to clear the space lanes so that travel can resume.">

<"Well, then, my people may have some work for you, if you are willing. They use standard freighters for those tasks. It is most inefficient and time-consuming.">

<"I have developed a team of droids that can clear most ships off in less than an hour.">

<"No shit?!"> the queen gasped.

The guide whimpered. The queen looked to her and said, <"You may return to your duties, young one. Thank you for your assistance.">

The girl never looked up. She thanked the regent as she curtsied - and then hurried away.

After a couple more minutes of the queen holding El'a and speaking to her softly, the guard captain stepped up to where the queen could see him.

<"Are we holding the space-port hostage, captain?"> the queen asked, humorously.

<"I would not state it quite that way, Majesty,"> he replied, matching her tone.

<"Come,"> the queen commanded, <"Let's go somewhere where our reunion won't impede galactic commerce and travel.">

<"Our weapons?"> Shiva asked, glancing down.

El'a's mother looked to where the android was indicating. <"I trust I have nothing to fear from your people?"> she asked.

<"So long as you do nothing to threaten El'a,"> Shiva replied, smiling.

The queen barked in laughter and said, <"Good! Grab your things and let's be on our way.">

Turning to the captain, she said, <"They will walk with me. Treat them as your equals unless any of them give you a reason to do otherwise.">

<"Very good, Majesty,"> he said, nodding.

~~~

They exited the space-port and walked for several blocks - before coming to a large structure that could only be the queen's residence.

They passed through the main entrance where a squad of soldier saluted.

From there, they passed through one or two more guarded doorways before the queen led them to a private sitting area, free of external windows. The guard captain posted a squad outside of the door and dismissed the others.

After a medical team was brought in - with a portable body-scanner and other equipment - the queen asked the captain to step outside.

<"My queen,"> he protested.

<"My daughter will need to remove her clothing for this,"> she told him.

He glanced from El'a to the queen and nodded, leaving the room.

El'a's mother turned to look at her. <"The others?"> she asked.

<"We are all intimate, mother."> El'a told her.

The queen's eyes got wide and her daughter giggled.

<"Your laughter is music to my ears, little one,"> her mother said, hugging her once again.

Over the next few hours, El'a and the crew answered the queen's questions and they learned a little more about each other. Occasionally, a member of the medical team would beg forgiveness and interrupt for some process or procedure - and then return to their instruments. The queen turned away, politely, whenever Si was required to disrobe or give a sample.

Eventually, one of the medics brought a stack of reports to the queen, bowed, and turned away. The group gathered their things and tapped on the door, alerting the guard captain that they were ready to leave.

When they cleared out, the captain returned. When the queen looked at him, he shrugged but stationed himself by the door. She waved away his concerns.

She sat down and the others sat as well. They stayed quiet as she poured over the information she had been given.

<"Captain?">

<"Majesty?">

<"Come, join us. Relax. You might as well hear this - as it will affect your duties.">

<"He hurried over and took a knee beside her.">

When she glanced at him, unhappily, he grimaced and said, <"I have my duties, Majesty.">

<"You do realize that I can order you to kill yourself, right?"> she asked.

He shrugged, smiled sympathetically, but didn't move.

She sighed, loudly.

<"The medical team has confirmed that this is El'a, my stolen child. Her DNA is largely unchanged. She is, indeed, with child and that child is the result of her union with the Terran."> The queen looked at Si and smiled. <"The doctors don't have a lot of experience with Terran DNA but they've noticed some anomalies. They believe long-term exposure to radioactive food products caused some kind of mutation. Their theory is that this mutation gave him the ability to alter his semen to be compatible with El'a's egg. They are uncertain about other abilities he might have developed.">

"He healed me," Mary said.

The queen looked at Mary - and then Shiva.

<"We believe he can heal by placing his hand on the injury. We have one or two ...">

<"Rita, too,"> El'a said.

<"Two or three instances where we believe he performed a healing.">

<"You've seen it?"> El'a's mother asked her.

She nodded.

<"Guard captain, your knife,"> she ordered.

He looked at Shiva, pulled out a dagger, held it by its blade. The queen took hold of the grip and he released the weapon to her control.

Mary stepped up and held out her arm.

The queen looked at her, nodding her thanks but turned to her daughter and asked, <"Has he healed you or just Terrans?">

<"Terrans so far, mother,"> El'a replied.

The queen nodded her thanks to Mary but turned to the guard.

<"Your arm, please.">

He removed his vambrace and turned his arm to expose the soft underside to her.

<"My apologies,"> she told him, before stabbing the blade about an inch into the side of his arm - avoiding the arteries.

Genians don't bleed like Terrans do - so the blood almost immediately coagulated - but the injury was obvious. The queen looked to Si. He stepped over, knelt beside the man, and placed his hand on the wound.

<"Hot,"> the guard said, after a moment. <"Better,"> he said, a minute later.

Si removed his hand. The arm looked as it had before. The guard captain flexed the muscle and then prodded the spot where the queen had stabbed him. He looked into her eyes and shrugged. She returned his knife.

<"Keep that between us,"> she told him.

He nodded as he sheathed his knife and put his arm-guard back in place.

<"The doctor says you're about a month along,"> the queen told her daughter. <"I hope that you will not force me to use my queenly powers to require you to remain here until my grandbaby arrives.">

El'a looked at Si who grinned and shrugged.

<"Where would we stay?"> El'a asked.

<"I would be delighted for you all to remain, here, in the palace, with me. We will find you a suite of rooms where you can have your privacy. I would like to share some time with you, in the evenings, but I will not intrude and I have my regular duties to attend to while we wait for my grandchild to arrive.">

El'a looked at Si and he smiled, helplessly, and shrugged again.

<"You said something about finding some work for Si?">

<"He would not stay and rest?"> the queen asked.

<"He likes to stay busy,"> her daughter replied.

The blue-gel regent leaned forward, rubbed her daughter's stomach, and said, <"I can tell.">

Even the guard captain laughed at that - although he covered his mouth as soon as he did.

<"Captain, please see that Si and his crew are given as much work as they would like. Inform the quartermaster to set him up an account and pay him at the same rate as any of the others who do this work.">

<"Begging your pardon, your majesty,"> Shiva asked, <"but will those others be mad at us for stealing their work?">

The guard captain cleared his throat. The queen nodded for him to speak.

<"Those who have been assigned this task don't like to be off-planet - at the mercy of pirates. This situation also creates more headaches for our planetary security forces - defending them. You would actually be doing all of us a great service if you could eliminate the need for Genians to perform this work.">

"Can I stay with El'a?" Mary said. "You don't need me."

<"Mary would like to stay with El'a,"> Shiva translated. <"The rest of us will go with Si. The twins haven't done this since they became self-aware. This will give them a chance to see if they enjoy the work like I do.">

<"That would be lovely,"> the queen said. <"El'a will have someone she trusts nearby and I will have two little girls to spoil.">

Mary smiled brightly and the queen pulled her into a hug.

El'a wrapped her arms around both of them, giggling.

When the queen released them, Si and the androids hugged the girls good-bye and then followed the guard-captain. He placed someone in charge of the queen and then hurried to hand Si and his crew off to the right people - making sure that the queen's instructions were carried out.

~~~

Shiva set a waypoint at the palace so she knew she could get them back when they returned. She also asked the guard what time he thought they would be expected back.

Several hours later, the four salvage-workers returned to the palace - and were directed to their new living quarters. A guard escorted them through the unfamiliar passageways - and introduced them to the retinue who were assigned to the suite of rooms that El'a and her family had been given.

There was a bedroom with a huge bed, a sitting area, a modest kitchen with a big dining room, a huge hot-tub, a shower big enough for all of them to frolic, and a huge walk-in closet that was already filled with clothes to fit them all.

They found El'a and Mary in the hot-tub. The girls didn't know how long they'd soaked but Mary looked like a pink prune.

Mary and El'a got dressed as the salvage crew showered and changed.

There was a knock at the door and Shiva went to see who it was. It was El'a's mom - dressed more casually but looking just as regal. She joined them in the sitting area and informed them that dinner would be arriving soon. She would not be able to eat with them the next night because she had a visiting dignitary to entertain - but she'd be able to spend the evening with them that night.

They sat in the sitting area to chat.

<"The commander of my planetary defense force informs me that you have successfully cleared all obstacles and debris within their normal range of operations.">

Si shrugged and nodded.

<"We'll sweep a little wider tomorrow, Majesty."> Shiva promised.

<"My accountants were stunned speechless - except for their director - who argued that we should decrease what we're paying to have sectors cleared.">

<"What did you tell him?"> Shiva asked, her eyebrow quirked.

<"I told him that you were only filling in for today and that it was going to be his job tomorrow. He was immediately much less concerned about how much we were spending.">

<"My cruiser captains are absolutely ecstatic that they are no longer plagued with endless adjustments to their flight-plans to avoid hitting something. They didn't believe you'd completed the job that quickly and spent the last couple hours trying to find something you'd missed.">

<"Our scanners are focused more on a micro-view than macro - but we could have - theoretically - missed something.">

<"Obviously, they found nothing. They're up there, now, racing each other back and forth across the sectors - like kids who've just earned their driver's permits.">

There was a knock at the door and - at the queen's call - a guard stepped in to report that the caterers had arrived. The queen directed her guests to move to the dining area.

~~~

An hour later, they had finished the feast the queen's chefs had prepared. The android disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a box, plates, forks, and a carafe of cold milk.

<"What's this?"> asked the queen, when she saw how excited Mary was.

<"Rita's homemade coconut cream pie,"> El'a said. <"I had forgotten we stuck it in the cooler.">

<"I was checking the stores - since we don't know how often we'll be back to the ship - and spotted it. I thought we'd eat it before it wastes away.">

<"We're just lucky Mary forgot about it as well."> Ruth commented.

The salvage-crew laughed.

Shiva cut it into eight pieces and the twins served everyone.

<"Oh my!"> the queen said after her first bite. <"The slight bitterness of the bottom contrasts with the sweetness on top - and the crunch adds dimension to the creamy middle. This is delightful! Can I take the last piece to my chefs - to see if they can replicate this?">

Mary looked torn - until Shiva told her that their only chance of having pie, over the next several months, depended on that last piece going to the chefs. She finally sighed loudly and nodded. The queen patted her on the shoulder, sympathetically, and giggled.

When the queen's workers returned, to collect the leftovers and the dishes, she pulled one of the girls aside, whispered a stern set of directives and sent her off with the only remaining piece of Rita's creation.

As they moved to the sitting area to chat, El'a asked about her sisters. Her mother informed her that her siblings had been married off to foreign dignitaries - to seal economic agreements. The queen hugged her youngest daughter tightly and whispered that El'a was the first one who had given her a grandchild. She stated that it was unlikely that any of the others would be able to get pregnant. Si muttered something about glowing-sawdust and his crew-members giggled, thinking about all of the times he had complained about that old food-fabricator in the Fool's Errand.

The queen inquired as to whether she could ask a personal question and El'a nodded. She directed her attention to Si and he nodded as well.

<"You touched his mind?"> she asked her daughter.

<"When he first found me, yes.">

<"Your connection told you what forms he found pleasing?">

El'a nodded.

<"Can I see?">

El'a's form changed to Staci, Sarah, and Candi. <"This form was an attempt to draw less attention to our group ..."> she said, as she changed to Gwen. <"... but it didn't work.">