(Visual Reference: )

  The cascading beauty shining in through the viewport put Tamiyo in a reflective mood. The colorful clouds of expanding gas and dust took shape like clouds in the sky, but in colors no cloud could hope to achieve. Oranges, reds, yellows, golds—all painted on a backdrop of blue and violet. The shapes looked like various pieces of clay—shaped and formed in no particular order to become a shape completely unrecognizable and beautiful.

  She thought they were magnificent.

  Tamiyo found herself thinking about everything that had happened since she left Batist, since she had fled Conservatory space—and how she would soon return there. The thought didn’t frighten her, though.

  She brought with her women as beautiful as the nebula she currently observed—and about as safe to touch if you didn’t have permission. Lacravida, d’moria, even another CIPHER like herself. Women that had become the first friends she had ever known besides Walter—closer than that now.

  They were her sisters.

  And she had brothers too:

  Brolgar, the d’moria who spoke affection through gourmet meals. Inelius, probably the most grounded and loyal man Tamiyo would ever meet. Elias, their deadly sniper’s own sleeping beauty.

  She’d stopped feeling strange about him still being around in his cryo pod. Compared to everything else in her life, Elias was arguably normal. She currently sat piloting the most advanced starship in the entire galaxy powered by a mysterious cosmic particle that was also fused to the cells of a man sleeping down below.

  Which brought Tamiyo’s thoughts to her last brother. The biggest one—8,000 years old, slightly awkward, but kind. And caught between the galaxy’s greatest battle with sexual frustration and the kind of power that could kill a planet.

  Tamiyo stared absently, mouth agape. “Oh, there’s some pink in that nebula as well.” She startled herself, hearing her own voice after unintentionally slipping into a trance of reminiscence. Then she laughed quietly, thinking about how outclassed anyone in the Conservatory would be if they were stupid enough to get in their way.

  Tamiyo ensured the autopilot was engaged, then stood and stretched. It had been a little over 14 hours since they fled The Bastion of Libertas, this was only the second time she’d left her seat—the first being to grab a snack and run to the restroom. It was time to see how everyone was settling in.

  She walked aftward, out of the large cockpit and down the stairs, which turned 180 degrees halfway down and exited into the operations center on Deck 2. The room felt taller than the deck above, with cool light from the massive holographic galaxy map casting long shadows across the consoles. All other lights in the ops center had been dimmed low to allow Riza to sleep.

  Elias’ pod was hooked to the ship’s power, tucked up against a wall and secured where Soren had set him. Riza was curled atop the pod, a blanket draped over her, using her arm as a pillow. Her head was less than a foot from the face of the man she loved, separated only by the thick, reinforced glass.

  Tamiyo scanned Riza then walked over and crouched down next to her.

  “Hey,” she said quietly.

  Riza’s eyes slowly opened, not unlike a lioness rousing from slumber.

  “Have you eaten anything?” Tamiyo gently asked.

  Riza wiggled her head back and forth.

  Tamiyo just smiled at her. Then she tucked the blanket tighter around Riza and began stroking her long ear with two fingers. “I’ll go find you something.”

  She could have taken the main staircase to go down to Deck 3, but her whimsical subroutine requested she seek alternative methods of traversal. Walking towards the front of the ship, Tamiyo located a floor hatch she had spotted during her time studying the vessel. She opened it, revealing a ladder she could climb down.

  Tamiyo leaned her head down into the hole. The smell of warm bread and spices hit her nose, and she could faintly hear footsteps shuffling. She needed to scout further to confirm what lay below. The decks of the ship were about four feet thick to accommodate for all of the maintenance and infrastructure, but that also made it perfect scouting height for her—she was 5’4”.

  She went down the hatch head first and hooked the tops of her feet along the floor ledge above. Her head poked out of the ceiling just enough to peek at the room below.

  It was a little larger than the common rooms they had used aboard the Liberty Union vessels. There was a big window at the front of the ship that looked out into the expanse, but it could also be dimmed so they didn’t have to stare into space. Little else was currently in the room, but one corner did have a large kitchen setup. Brolgar was currently in it, his back to her as he stocked the provisions he’d brought along.

  “Lass, what’r y’doin?” he drawled without turning.

  Tamiyo narrowed her eyes. “How did you know I was here?”

  He gestured to the glass front of one of his coolers. “Saw yer reflection. That hair o’yers is betrayin yer stealthy efforts.”

  Tamiyo looked upwards—at least from her perspective—but really her eyes moved toward the floor. The top of her head, her eyes, and probably her antennae were only barely poking out of the ceiling. But her long blonde and pink hair was dangling well down away from her, exposing her position.

  “Damn.”

  She let herself drop and landed like a cat on all fours. She quickly stood and strode over to Brolgar. “Do you need a hand?” She started taking boxes from the nearby crate and handing them to him.

  “If ye would like,” Brolgar answered. “Though, aren’t y’spost t’be flyin’ the ship?”

  “Yep.” She continued handing him boxes.

  It was hard to see his mouth through the thick beard, but she saw him smiling with his eyes. He didn’t press further.

  After they emptied the crate, Tamiyo said, “Oh hey, I need mama food.”

  “O’course,” Brolgar nodded. He reached under a counter and pulled out a stashed food warmer. It had a dozen flatbread wraps in neatly folded parchment paper. He handed her two, along with a small thermal canister full of the warm, spiced cider Riza had been addicted to for the last three weeks.

  “Brolgar,” Tamiyo said with a warm smile. “This team would fall apart without you.”

  She turned and left the room, exiting out into a hallway with five bedroom doors on each side. The ship was incredibly spacious, each of the 20 bedrooms had ceilings, beds, bathrooms, and showers all built large and sturdy enough for lacravida comfort. After what they discovered about the origins of non-humans in The Cradle, Tamiyo suspected Enderfield had designed the ship specifically large enough with the lacravida in mind.

  The staircase was at the aft end of the hallway, but right as Tamiyo was passing the last set of bedroom doors, the one on her right slid open.

  Soren stood there, staring at her with wide eyes as if he wasn’t expecting to see anyone. Tamiyo froze. After a moment, she activated her eye scanners.

  “Hey—” he began to protest.

  His heart rate was elevated, even for Soren, someone whose BPM normally rested much lower than the average human.

  She leaned to look around him. Aurania sat on the edge of the bed, face flushed, the subtle outline of arousal visible through the robes across her chest. It was no secret that they were attracted to each other, but something was different.

  Aura’s heart rate was also elevated, as was her respiratory rate and oxygen saturation. Her readings showed spikes in dopamine, oxytocin, adrenaline, and norepinephrine—albeit the latter two were already declining. There had been a recent peak in endorphins, and her pupils were dilated.

  She just had an orgasm.

  Tamiyo looked at Soren with a huge, proud smile. She tucked the thermal canister under her arm, then jumped up and patted him on the head. “Good boy. Take a wrap. Go shower.”

  He looked back at her like he had no idea if she was teasing or being sincere.

  “Here,” Tamiyo held a wrap out to him. “Seriously. Go shower. You smell like Liberty Union sweat and Aether Dust.”

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  He took the wrap with a hint of playful insult on his face, but walked out and into the adjacent bedroom.

  Tamiyo walked over to Aurania, still grinning. “Moooorning.” She held the remaining wrap out to her. “You must be hungry.”

  Aurania stared at her, eye-level even though she was sitting and Tamiyo standing. Her tongue was pressed to the inside of her cheek and she was trying to hide the grin on her face—but there was no hiding that flush. She finally took the wrap and muttered, “Thank you.”

  “You're welcome,” Tamiyo said with a tilt of her head. After Aurania had taken her first bite, she asked, “Did his powers get in the way?”

  Aurania borderline glared as she slowly chewed, but after several moments, she silently nodded.

  “Damn,” Tamiyo exhaled. “Still, glad you guys were able to have some fun.” She looked off towards nowhere in particular as she thought. “Maybe there’s a way this ship can help? Like siphon off some of his excess energy?”

  Aurania’s brow creased. “Is this something you’re really comfortable helping with?”

  Tamiyo returned an innocent gaze, her head tilting the opposite way this time. “Sure,” she shrugged. “I may not like sex, but I know you all do. I appreciate the concern though.”

  “Of course,” Aurania said, then took another bite.

  “I’m a personal care CIPHER, Aura. My job is to care for my family.” She smiled warmly.

  Aurania returned a caring look and said, “I do really appreciate how much you’ve stepped up since Piria. We all do.”

  Tamiyo cocked an eyebrow, scanned her once more, then smirked. “You need a shower too.”

  Raine strode past the open bedroom door, chiming a friendly, “Good morning!”

  Aurania looked at Raine, then back to Tamiyo. “Isn’t your job also to fly the ship?”

  Tamiyo turned and walked toward the door with a playful huff. “Everyone’s making a fuss.”

  She returned to Brolgar and said, “I need two more wraps. Morning Raine!”

  The purple-haired CIPHER was waiting for a couple of Brolgar’s wraps herself. “Hey you. Want me to take over flying?”

  “Yeah, head on up when you finish eating. I’ll be up shortly.”

  They grabbed two wraps each and walked back down the hall together. Raine entered the bedroom she and Inelius had claimed, 2nd closest to the staircase on their left. Back up on Deck 2, Riza had flipped to lay on her other side so her back was to the ops center, but she looked no more conscious than before. Tamiyo took the lid off the thermal canister, leaned over Riza, and blew the scent of cider towards her nose.

  Her ears twitched almost immediately. Her head perked up and she looked back, sniffing.

  “Morning, Mama,” Tamiyo said.

  At first, she only responded with, “Mmm.” But then she sat up, stretched, and swung her legs down to face Tamiyo. “Thank you,” Riza said, taking the food and drink.

  Tamiyo started munching on the other wrap, leaning back against one of the railings that surrounded the holographic map projector. “Growing that kid is really taking it out of you.”

  Riza shot her a tired look. “How the fuck has Samara done this twelve times?”

  Tamiyo laughed. “You guys are kind of built for it. Literally.” She looked around the Aether Dust fueled starship to accentuate her point. “Still, you’re not exactly the average lacravida.”

  “I will take that as a compliment,” Riza sighed.

  Tamiyo tore the remainder of her wrap in half and handed one to Riza. “Here, I’m gonna go check on the others. Finish eating and then go pick a room. I’ll have Soren move Elias down there.”

  Riza didn’t even pretend to not want the extra food. “Do any of the rooms have a bath tub? I just want to soak and sleep.”

  Tamiyo thought for a second. “Hmm, no. But I’ll go see if Brana can work some magic and turn one of the showers into a tub, this ship is pretty versatile.”

  “You know I’m leaving once we get to Nox, right?”

  “Yeah,” Tamiyo stood and headed towards the front of the ship again. “But that just means I can claim your tub for myself once you’re gone.”

  Crawling head first back down the floor hatch, Tamiyo abruptly poked her head out of the ceiling in the large room. “Hey!”

  Brolgar jumped. “Wh—what, lass?!”

  “Where’s your cousin?”

  “Probably down below! Tis not m’job t’keep track of her!”

  “WELL WHAT IS YOUR JOB?!”

  “T’MAKE YOU ALL FOOD!!!” Brolgar blustered.

  “WELL YOU’RE DAMN GOOD AT IT!!!”

  Tamiyo had been trying to learn the d’moria method of loud communication she frequently observed between Brolgar and Brana.

  He beamed back at her, shoulders shaking as he chuckled.

  “... can you help me down?” Tamiyo asked quietly. “Last time I almost hit my head.”

  He sauntered over and climbed up the ladder. The ceilings were ten feet above the floor and, being a d’moria, Brolgar stood less than half that tall. When he was close enough, he reached out a hand and she grabbed on. He provided just enough of a balancing point she was able to let her weight drop, flip right side up, and fall down to the floor.

  She lost her balance and landed on her butt.

  “Thanks, Brolgar!” She jumped up and headed for the hallway.

  The ship was fully equipped to support a team for long-haul excursions—comfy beds, spacious hygiene setups, ample water storage with very efficient filtration and waste disposal. Deck 3 even had a nice clothing care unit tucked behind the staircase and elevator—although it had taken Tamiyo a minute to figure out how the ancient yet advanced machinery operated.

  The bedroom immediately on Tamiyo’s left as she exited the large room was claimed by Brolgar. He was pretty good about cleaning up after himself, but the same could not exactly be said for the rest of the team. The Liberty Union had some nice laundry suites Raine had utilized to help support the team, but with them off on their own now, Tamiyo felt the need to lend a hand.

  She walked to the middle bedroom on the left and lightly knocked. When she got no response, she just opened the door. Violet was still in bed—she was reading a book and had some relaxing music playing through a speaker on the bedside table. It made Tamiyo realize how good the soundproofing was in the vessel—she hadn’t heard any noise at all before opening the door.

  Violet looked up, “Oh hey Tamiyo, everything good?”

  “Yep!” Tamiyo answered as she stepped in. “Don’t get up, I’m just doing a clothes run. Where’s your—oh.” She spied Violet’s leather skirt and worn robes splayed over the back of a chair. Grabbing them, she walked across the hall to Amalia’s room.

  She didn’t even bother knocking.

  When the door opened, she was face-to-face with Amalia on her way out.

  “Oh hey!” Amalia said.

  “Hi,” Tamiyo said with a simple, flat smile. She held a hand out, palm up. “Dirty robes, please.”

  Soren and Aurania were both still showering so she stole their garbs without them noticing. Inelius was the last one on this Deck but she figured Raine would grab his stuff. She dropped the pile of clothes in the laundry room and headed downstairs. She could clean everything up once Raine took over flying.

  Deck 4 was closer to the engine room—the hum of the ship’s Aether Core pressed faintly through the well-insulated bulkheads. The air carried a cooler, emptier feel here, with fewer rooms in use and no one cooking. The bedroom layout mirrored Deck 3—the two closest to the stairs were Brana and Veolo’s. She could visit them on the way back up though, so she continued down.

  Deck 5 was the lowest, though the ceilings were easily the tallest. The air smelled faintly of oil and the deckplates felt cooler, even through her boots. It was primarily a large storage bay that took up the bottom of the ship. The stairs exited out to an area that was set up as a gear storage and workshop.

  “Brana!” Tamiyo yelled happily.

  The red-headed d’moria looked up, her two thick braids swaying over her shoulders. “Hey Tamiyo.” She went back to her task, hunched over a workbench.

  Veolo was finishing up a workout at the far end of the cargo hold so Tamiyo just left her alone.

  “Whatcha working on?” Tamiyo asked, leaning up against the workbench.

  “Oh, nothing too crazy. Violet has a tendency to damage the magazines of that fancy gun of hers, so I’m just beating one back into shape.”

  Tamiyo cocked an eyebrow at the magazine. Brana was ‘beating’ it back into shape with a set of tiny, intricate tools. The d’moria woman was amazing when it came to any mechanical work.

  “How hard would it be to build Riza a bath tub?”

  Brana glanced up. She frowned, shrugged, and went back to the magazine. “Not too hard, we should have the stuff around here for it.”

  “Awesome!” Tamiyo turned to leave. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked over her shoulder. “You eat yet?”

  “Yyyep.”

  “When do you think you can start on that bathtub?”

  “Ask nicely.”

  Tamiyo’s shoulders dropped. “Ahem.” She cleared her throat. “BRANA! ARE Y’GONNA GIT OFF YER LAZY ASS AND BUILD THE DAMN TUB OR DO I HAVE T’YANK UP THERE BY YER BRAIDS!” She tried her best to match Brolgar’s drawl.

  Brana cracked a wide smile. “I’ll build the damn tub when you actually fly the damn ship! Get out of my workshop you pink fuckin’ fairy-bot!”

  Tamiyo smiled and stuck her tongue out. Then she noticed Veolo walking toward her to go upstairs.

  “What are you doing?” Veolo asked suspiciously.

  “Scanning you.”

  “Your eyes aren’t lit up.”

  Tamiyo activated her scanner to sell her story.

  As soon as Veolo passed by, Tamiyo jumped onto her back, then pointed up the stairs. “Onward! Your workout is not finished! To the cockpit! Someone needs to fly this damn thing!”

  Veolo laughed and grabbed Tamiyo’s legs to support the piggyback ride. “You’re in a good mood today.” She began climbing the stairs.

  “We have freedom, V, the day is good.”

  She pulled away from Veolo as they were halfway up the first set of stairs. “This may have been a mistake. You are very sweaty.”

  “Do you want me to set you down?”

  “No quitting!” Tamiyo pointed forward again.

  She made a mental note to grab Brana and Veolo’s wash later as the silver-haired lacravida carried her all the way up to the cockpit.

  Raine was already up there waiting.

  “Thanks V!” Tamiyo said as she climbed down.

  Veolo’s hooves clicked rhythmically as she quickly descended back downstairs, leaving the CIPHERs alone in the cockpit. Raine was reclining comfortably in the co-pilot’s chair. “Everyone settling in pretty well?”

  “Yeah, looks like it,” Tamiyo slid into her chair and checked the scanners. “Most of them are relaxing at the moment. There’s a bunch of crates still need unpacked and sorted but they’ve earned a rest.” She looked over at Raine. “How’s Neels?”

  “Sore. He beat his hands up pretty good during the exit. And apparently Aura threw him out a window.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. I mean I guess Soren caught him, but still.” She laughed. “Ok, how do I fly this thing?”

  Raine had spent most of their time studying the ship trying to wrap her head around the engineering logistics. The CIPHERs were sharing notes, but they had compartmentalized tasks for efficiency prior to their escape.

  “Alright,” Tamiyo started, hands hovering just above the controls. “It’s just like The Ghost of Mandachor. Except bigger. And faster. And more advanced. And the cockpit isn’t at the front.”

  “So completely different?”

  “Exactly!”

  Tamiyo started explaining from the basics.

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