C: First Dance

Brendan removed his vest, which carried the Eks corp symbol, and then led Rafaela along the major pathways of the station. To her surprise no one they passed seemed to notice him especially. Even though her bi-colored hair still drew second looks from many, few people were doing more than glancing at the prince.

No one made exclamations about the prince and his princess, or tried to stop them as they moved away from the announcement venue. No Eks Corp Security team tried to follow them either. She was a bit surprised, and unaccountably relieved when she realized that he was probably leading her to her ship.

Her anxiety increased again when they finally reached the section that she had automatically mapped into her memory library when she'd left her ship with the Eks Corp Security team.

Brendan glanced at her as they made the next corner, and then turned to look her over. "Are you okay? You said that you wanted to visit your ship."

"I'm okay," Rafaela replied quickly.

Asking one question seemed to have opened up a chance to ask a dozen more in his mind, as he asked her about her mother's ship. She told him about how it had been holed between systems, how her mother had survived, and about the repairs that they'd made right before the race. His expression went from interested to neutral, as though something she'd said had put him off, and he didn't ask anything else until they reached the beyonder scout's airlock.

Rafaela scolded herself silently over her reluctance to ask what she'd said about the ship as she scanned the lock for any obvious changes. There was nothing visible, so after a moment she opened it.

Brendan said suddenly, "I'd like to see your ship myself, once you've satisfied yourself that it hasn't been messed with."

She paused in the airlock entrance and looked at him. He didn't look like anyone important with the garment over his arm folded to hide its identifying logos. His medium brown hair and average face were pleasant but not striking.

"You seem pretty certain that they didn't mess with it?" she suggested.

He shrugged, but then tilted his head in one direction, and then another. His eyes moved to point more directly toward the observation points that he was indicating at the same time. Rafaela stiffened as she realized that Eks Corp Security had her ship under guard.

"It is looking likely that the team that was taking you away from me believed that they were just following orders," he said neutrally.

Rafaela would have stiffened at his words, if she weren't already tense. If that turned out to be the truth, she'd probably killed people who weren't actually committing any crime.

"I have not found any reason to believe that those watching your ship have tried to do anything to it. Although it apparently locked itself up, and has refused to allow any other Eks Corp Security officer entry after your fight," he added.

They both looked at the open airlock for a moment. "I'll come back for you," she promised a bit grudgingly.

Brendan shrugged, but didn't try to follow her.

--

After the airlock closed behind her, her ship began voicing a stream of complaints.

"I need environmental supplies. Reaction mass. You were unconscious for over a day," the system complained.

Rafaela interrupted, "Did anyone place anything in here again?"

The system let go of its irritated complaints far more quickly than a human, and explained, "Not that I have detected? The previous additions were all removed by another Eks Corp Security pair, right after you left."

She surveyed the small cabin herself, but couldn't see any changes, which left her feeling a little uneasy. "I brought someone with me who'd like to come aboard," she announced after a moment.

"Prince Brendan?" the AI asked with interest.

"Yes, how…" Rafaela began.

"He's still waiting outside," her ship's system explained a little smugly.

Rafaela frowned and asked her question anyway, as she opened the airlock back up. "How'd you know he's the prince?"

There was a brief pause before the ship answered, as though it were taken aback. "His identity is being broadcast on several channels, and his physical form matches the data where you identified him in the video streams."

"Come in," Rafaela invited Brendan as the outer hatch slid out of the way again, without commenting on her ship's answer.

The Prince of Eks Corp smiled at her, and a little jolt zinged through her almost as though she'd suffered a minor shock. "Thanks," he said simply, as he stepped forward.

Even though he was smaller than anyone else who'd ever stood within the beyonder ship's cabin with her, Rafaela felt like he crowded it uncomfortably. There wasn't room enough to get more than an arm span or two away from each other. His eyes searched the cabin as though he were surveying every centimeter.

Even though Rafaela had just done the same thing herself, the action irritated her, and she asked rather sharply, "What are you looking for?"

He blinked in surprise, and raised an eyebrow as he replied, "I've never seen this style of beyonder ship before. I guess that I'm looking for anything that's different." His expression was a bit wry as he admitted, "But it seems pretty standard for a small single occupant craft."

"The interior panels have all been replaced with local ones," she admitted after a moment.

"I, um, you've got a locally manufactured experimental system core as well?" Brendan prompted.

"Yes…" she agreed. Of course he would have access to that information if he had full access to her registration and the investigations from the previous station.

"Greetings Prince Brendan," her ship piped up.

Rafaela blinked. She'd thought that the system wouldn't speak to others unless ordered to.

"Hi, I'm very curious about your abilities," he replied quickly.

"I am very capable," the AI replied proudly, without giving any details.

Brendan blinked, and Rafaela took pity on him and told him, "The beyonder system enjoys wordplay."

"In our language?" he asked warily.

"In every language it has registered, as far as I can tell," she replied a little dryly. It took her a moment, and perhaps his doubtful glance, to realize what he'd meant, "It didn't speak the common tongue we use when it arrived, its primary language was set to English."

"English," he repeated, and the word sounded surprisingly normal.

"You're familiar with it?" Rafaela asked with surprise.

"Not exactly," Brendan prevaricated.

"The corporation royals generally have most of the historic common tongues registered in their genetic memory libraries, according to the data I've gathered," her ship informed her.

Her mouth opened, and then shut, and she swallowed. Of course English must have been the common tongue in her mother's original system. Her brow wrinkled as she remembered her parents telling her that they'd had to find an older shared common tongue in their memory libraries.

"I've read the report my father wrote after he interviewed your mother," Brendan explained after a moment.

Her eyes widened as she asked, "Can I read it?"

He blinked at her, and then shrugged. "Probably? You'd just need to ask the king."

Rafaela would have taken a step back if there'd been room, and her stomach complained that the effective centrifugal pull in the docked ship was not at an ideal level. He'd said she'd just need to ask the King of Eks Corp so casually.