"You can live reasonably comfortably on base level," Nick said. "Free housing, food, clothes, toiletries, interface access and the equivalent of free-to-air TV—but I want to travel."
"Not to mention watch that hilarious show about those kids trying to get into the Setari-linked school here in Pandora," Alyssa added. "Anyway, Kaoren’s…interestingly honest when you ask him important questions. And he told us we’d be giving KOTIS a massive headache if we worked somewhere KOTIS couldn’t easily control access to. That we’re too close to Cass not to be a potential security risk for her."
"I get that whenever I try to take off alone," Sue commented. "Someone might kidnap me and try to use me for leverage, blah, blah, blah."
"Kaoren actually suggested setting up a smallholding," Alyssa went on. "Farming, with a couple of KOTIS greensuits to guard us. Which…no. I’ve never met a plant I couldn’t shrivel within a month, and I get too anxious about sick animals to want to be looking after a few thousand of them. We also wanted something where we’re in easy reach of the Setari islands—Maddy’s only just started making friends here. I’m not going to move her."
"When Kaoren suggested KOTIS next, it didn’t seem like any better of an idea," Nick said, with a faint sigh. "Guns, saluting, even killing monsters—that’s not my kind of thing. But Kaoren pointed out that now that they’ve figured out a better way of exploring the deep space of the Ena, KOTIS is transitioning from Organisation for saving us from dimensional destruction into planetary exploration, security, and settlement. NASA on steroids. They’ve only just started using drone shoals in the Ena, and have already catalogued five hundred planets. It can’t be long before they stumble across more habitable ones."
"Suddenly this becomes understandable," Sue said. "So KOTIS is going to transmogrify into a combo of Space Patrol and Galactic Survey? That sounds so completely awesome I’m almost tempted to sign up myself. Do you think they need official photographers?"
"Do you think dawn push-ups would be involved?" Laura put in.
Sue grimaced. "You’re right. I wouldn’t last a week. But I can live in hope of forming my own rag-tag band of misfits. You up for acquiring a ship and skirting the near side of the law with me Laura?"
"Running risky trade deals in the face of KOTIS disapproval?" Laura suggested agreeably. "Having tense confrontations over the rights to alien ruins, but helping our antagonists out occasionally with pesky space pirates and first contact situations?"
"We can be the thorn in KOTIS' side," Sue said, with enthusiasm.
Almost on cue, Laura received a channel request over the interface. Her heart thumped, hard, and she felt just a little ridiculous as she silently answered.
"Gidds."
"Laura." The interface-transmitted voice—a combination of mental projection and sub-vocalisation—struck her every bit as deeply as it did in person. "I hope you’re well?"
"A little overwhelmed," Laura said, only a touch ironically.
"The session I’ll be attending next is one of the first public discussions of the Triplanetary’s approach regarding Earth. It can be viewed on this channel." He sent her a link, paused a moment, then added: "These are preliminary sessions, to allow those who wish to contribute to air their views. They are not those who will make the decisions."
"I—thank you for letting me know."
"I’ll see you next week."
"Turns out there’s plenty of jobs in KOTIS that are a lot more interesting than guarding and/or shooting things," Alyssa was saying as Gidds cut the link—reminding Laura that he was famously abrupt. "Some we don’t have a chance in hell of getting—we’re way behind on the science track—but even with all their tech, they still need administrators, quartermasters, cooks, that kind of thing. On ships. That’ll be going to brand new planets."
"Qualifying for which is going to take us long enough, from the sounds of it, that we’ll be able to stick around Pandora to be with Maddy at least until she starts university or something," Nick added.
"First stop adulthood exams, next the final frontier!" Sue said, lifting an imaginary glass in a toast. But with her usual flawless instinct, she was studying Laura keenly. "What’s so distracting?"
Laura sent them all the link, and that killed amusing side discussions and turned the trip back to Arcadia into an uncomfortable shared viewing session. The people of Muina had found quite a lot of reasons not to open any kind of relationship with Earth, even if a way to it was found through the Ena. Earth was violent. Earth was complicated. Earth had more than twice the population of the entire Triplanetary.
"Nothing particularly unexpected," Sue commented late that night, over a glass of their latest random sample of Muinan alcohol.
"Gidds said this was a public opportunity to participate—the decision-makers would come much later."
"That did have an air of angry windbags about it, didn’t it? Not that a lot of them don’t have a point. So Serious Soldier has been in touch?"
"Just to point out the session."
"He looked tired."
"Yes." Gidds had been sitting next to the session convener, but if he’d contributed, it had only been on private interface channels. His posture had been as perfectly upright as ever, but there’d been shadows sketched beneath his eyes.
"If anything, it made him even more fanciable."
"Yes," Laura agreed, and wondered if she could survive another week of only thinking about Gidds Selkie.
Chapter Eight
Laura had not slaved over a hot stove for hours, but she’d taken more care than usual with the evening meal, and was just heading for a quick shower when she received a channel request from Gidds—and had her mood killed by a last-minute cancellation. After a fortnight of anticipation, Laura could not quite avoid a noticeable pause before she managed a light: "Another time then."
"I am very sorry, Laura," Gidds said. "I know this must mean wasted time and effort for you."
Laura glanced back at the kitchen, mentally shrugged, and said: "Julian will enjoy it. Can we reschedule?"
"I’m assigned to Arenrhon for the rest of the week—a location outside the teleportation network."
Of course he was. "Tell me, do you have the concept here of a nightcap?" She’d used the English word, and so added: "That is a late evening drink, before retiring."
"Duzig," Gidds said, and then took one of the Sight Sight tangents she was coming to recognise: "What is the relevance of headgear?"
Laura laughed. "We’re going to go down a lot of side roads if you want to get into English etymology."
"I would enjoy that," Gidds said, perfectly seriously.
"I expect I would too," Laura said. "As for nightcap…" She paused, checking her e-dictionary for confirmation, and then said: "Nightcaps were worn in cold places when going to bed—it seems the name transferred to a warming drink taken before bed."