Chapter 2: Christina Dalenwald

Chapter 2:
Christina Dalenwald

 

“THAT TAKES CARE of the paperwork,” Bruno declared. “I’m sorry to trouble you, Lady Christina.”

“Oh, no,” Chris replied. “I should be saying that to you.”

Her awakening meant there was a lot of bureaucracy at a government office to deal with. We had finished all the work on our side, but she’d had some to do herself. I did consider sneaking out with her before anyone from the Port Authority returned, but that would only cause more trouble, so we called Bruno and the others instead.

Bruno and his subordinates took notes on how Chris felt when she woke up, explained that she would be under my protection for a while, and gave us a quick rundown of the space-rescue laws relevant to our situation.

Chris had mentioned that her mother was shot and her father had helped her escape with the resolve to die himself, but she said nothing about Balthazar Dalenwald’s plot. She must have known that telling Bruno and the others would do nothing to help. It was just a family feud between the Dalenwalds, after all, and it

wasn’t up to her to make it public; it was up to her grandfather, the count.

“I would like to call my grandfather, Count Abraham Dalenwald, but…”

“Of course,” Bruno answered. “The best we can do for interstellar communication is a holo-message, but it is possible. Do you know his address?”

“Yes, sir,” she replied. “I would like to include my guardian in the message. We have some family matters to discuss, so I would like for us to be the only ones who see it.”

“That’s just fine. We have a holo-message recording room you can use for privacy, and we will immediately encrypt the contents of the message.” Bruno shot a quick glance at me, probably wondering why I got to be included in family matters. He then gestured to his subordinates, who left, presumably to set up the room.

Holo-messages were pretty much the same as video calls. The only difference was that they displayed a three-dimensional image.

“His residence is on the third planet of the Dexar System,” Chris said. “Count Dalenwald of Dalenburg. His communication code is ADK-4330208.”

“Good, good. Just a moment… It seems the message will take five days minimum to send,” Bruno said as he typed the information into his tablet.

“That’s a long time,” I mused.

“Messages sent within a star system are much faster, but when they need to travel thousands of light-years away, well…even using hyperspace communication and gateways takes quite some time,” Bruno answered with a shrug.

Gateways were basically man-made wormholes that were fixed in place, allowing things to move hundreds or thousands of light-years in an instant. It was similar to hyperdrive, which used hyperspace as a sort of high-speed highway to go faster than light. The difference was that these wormholes literally warped you to your destination.

The theory behind them was something like bending space and poking a hole in it, then connecting two points, but I didn’t really understand it. All I knew was that gateways were strictly controlled by the empires who owned them, so they weren’t easily used by mere mercenaries.

As it would take a whole five days to send the message, the fastest Chris’s uncle could get to the Cierra System would be ten days. Add in the preparations and gathering staff and supplies for the journey, and it was starting to look like we would be spending at least two weeks together.

“Five days…” Chris sighed. “Then Hiro’s duty will be done before my uncle can come to pick me up.”

“Don’t worry,” I said reassuringly. “Do you think I’m cruel enough to throw you out into the world all alone?”

“I thought you’d say as much.”

“She’s a wily one, isn’t she, Bruno?” I smirked.

“Leave me out of this!” As an upright worker for the Empire, he likely wanted to avoid offending a noble.

He guided us to a mostly white room. Its walls were adorned with square tiles about thirty centimeters on each side with a black point at the center of each—probably sensors for the holo-message cameras. There was a console set up in the middle of the room, with a basketball-sized blue ball buried in the front of it.

“This is my first time recording a holo-message,” I said.

“Is it truly?” Chris asked.

“Maybe sending messages to faraway acquaintances isn’t much of a commoner thing? I’m told a lot of people never leave their colonies.”

“I see… You may be right.”

As far as I knew, the only ones who left their colonies for other star systems were mercs like me, cargo ships, outlaw-like scavengers, actual-outlaw space pirates, merchants and firms who traded between systems, and members of the military. Oh, and maybe researchers.

“Let’s get to it, then. One and done, right? What should I talk about?”

“I will explain the situation, and then I’ll introduce you. As long as you offer a short introduction, you’ll be just fine.”

“Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” I looked over Chris’s shoulder as she operated the console. Hm, the controls seem simple enough. I don’t see any major differences from the video cameras I’m used to.

“Let us begin recording now. Hiro, stand behind me, to my left.”

“Understood.”

Numbers appeared on the blue ball when Chris pressed a button, signaling the start of a countdown. When it reached zero, the recording began.

“It’s been a long time, Grandfather. It’s me, Christina. I’m sorry to have worried you, but I am safe. I was amazed to learn that three months have passed since our ship was attacked. My father ejected me from the ship in a cold-sleep pod, and I’ve just awoken. I’m sending you this message from a holo-message recording room in the Cierra System’s Port Authority office. The man standing behind me is Hiro, the man who recovered my pod. He is a member of the mercenary guild. I’m told he found my pod amid space pirate cargo. If not for him, I would have been awoken by the pirates and put through unthinkable horrors. In two ways now, I owe him my life.” Chris then nodded in my direction.

I nodded back, stepped forward, and turned to the blue ball. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Captain Hiro. As Lady Christina mentioned, I belong to the mercenary guild. My mercenary rank is silver, and I own the small battleship Krishna. As is my responsibility, I will be protecting Lady Christina for the coming week. I will use whatever is at my disposal to protect her until you are able to retrieve her, even if it takes longer.” I put a hand to my heart and bowed.

Chris’s hand touched my hip. Taking that as a signal, I straightened and stepped back.

“Though you have not met him, I believe Hiro is trustworthy. At least, I’m certain he isn’t one of my uncle’s men.” She took a deep breath. It was time for her to implicate her uncle.

“Grandfather, my uncle was the one who ordered the attack on us. They dressed themselves like pirates, but my father knew at a glance that the ship belonged to Balthazar. After our cruise ship was disabled, the men who invaded us were much more organized than pirates, and they were suspiciously focused on my family. My mother took a bullet for me, while my father fought valiantly to protect me as the pod left the ship. After my escape, I imagine he…” Chris paused and shook her head. “I expect my uncle is after me now. Hiro knows the circumstances, and he has promised to protect me. I will entrust my life to him but seek your help as well. I hope you consider this plea.” She bowed, ended the recording, and shivered, her hand still on the console, perhaps feeling heartbreak or renewed terror at the thought of her uncle hunting her.

I couldn’t let her suffer, so I gave her a little pat on the back. “Let’s go, Chris. I’ll show you around the ship.”

We had to explain everything to Mimi and Elma. Also, Chris only had the clothes on her back, so we would have to get her the daily essentials. She was a little shorter than Mimi, but Mimi’s clothes wouldn’t fit her body. Elma was too tall for Chris to wear hers. We’d have to buy her clothes. I didn’t want to go out too much, but it was unavoidable.

“Okay.” Chris turned around, wiping away tears. She’d taken something out of the console—probably whatever device the holo-message was stored on.

“I wish I’d brought a handkerchief. Sorry for not having the presence of mind to bring stuff for you.”

“Ha ha! A knight must learn to be gentlemanly. You’ll need some practice, Sir Hiro.”

“The road to knighthood is tough, huh?” I chuckled. “Anyway, once we send that holo-message, we should meet up with Elma.”

“Who is Elma?” Chris cocked her head; she must not have remembered Elma from the first time she’d woken up.

“She’s one of my two crew members,” I explained. “Elma is an elf woman with more mercenary experience than me. She lost her ship, so for now, she’s in my crew.”

“A woman… Oh. I recall you said you had two female crew members?”

“Yeah. The other one is Mimi; she’s learning to be an operator. The poor girl is an orphan. We met each other a while back, and she ended up on my ship. If you want to know more about them, you should probably ask them.” I didn’t want to share anything I wasn’t supposed to.

“So you do have two women on your ship.”

“Uh, yeah. Again, ask them.”

Chris looked calm, but for some reason, I felt intimidated, as if a giant snake were staring me down. It can’t be… Am I being overpowered?

“Hm, very well. We noblewomen are open-minded. You could call it a man’s nature, I suppose.”

“Er…?”

She didn’t seem as intimidating now, but her choice of words was weird. Maybe because of her age, she wasn’t used to interacting with men she wasn’t related to.

We spoke to one of Bruno’s subordinates outside the room and had him guide us back to Bruno, where we made the preparations to send the message and finish up our time with the Port Authority.

“Where is Elma?” Chris asked on our way out.

“In her last message, she said she was heading to the mercenary guild…” I pulled out my handheld terminal and opened the messaging app.

AAAAAAHHH! You’re gold rank nooooooow!

Her funny little one-eyed alien was now shooting a beam from his eyes, mowing down an entire city.

Uh, okay?

 

***

 

“So…” I began.

I sent Elma a message saying that I was going back to the ship with Chris, and we left the Port Authority building. Immediately, I noticed how many pedestrians there were and how many of them were staring at us. What? Is it so weird for a merc and a high-class lady to be seen together?

On the outside, it was very close to looking… Actually, it did look bad. But we had similar hair and eye colors, so maybe we had a chance of looking like siblings?

Or are our facial features too different?

“What’s the matter?” Chris, standing beside me, casually took my hand.

Reassured by the sight, the eyes gathered on us began to dissipate.

“Nothing. Uh… It’s not nothing, I guess, but…”

“Hm?” She looked up at me curiously.

Aww, cute. I mean…no, not cute! I’m innocent!

“I just think…your uncle’s underlings might have eyes on us,” I said, and she stiffened, apparently having not considered the possibility. She clung to my arm and looked around nervously. I hated to scare her without good reason, but telling her now would keep her alert. “Elma is better in situations like this. I can do ship fights and power armor, but fighting bare-handed is not my thing.” I touched the laser gun at my hip; if things got really bad, I’d have to use it. “Though I doubt they’ll come at us in a place this populated,” I added. “Let’s just be careful. Once we get back to the ship, we’ll have the advantage.”

“Okay!” she chirped, grabbing my hand again. It was important to hold hands in order to prevent any surprise kidnappings.

“Let’s go.” We nodded to each other and started walking. I was amazed she wasn’t crying; noble girls might have been prepared for these types of situations. She looked like the preteen she was, but her calmness was more mature, which was helpful.

“I don’t know if we’re being tailed,” she said, worried.

“Me neither. I don’t think I would lose in a shoot-out, but there’re too many people. The thought of someone hiding in the crowd and getting too close to us scares me. I guess I should’ve trained for situations like this.”

“Is Elma used to situations such as this?” Chris asked, looking up at me.

I nodded. “Kinda. It’s more like she’s more suited to them than me in general. Her long ears aren’t just for show, and she’s a good brawler. I should have learned martial arts or something.”

“I recommend swordplay. A knight must have a sword, no?”

“I’m not interested in being a real knight, but…swordplay, eh? Would that help me? I’m not too sure about bringing a sword to a gunfight.”

The high-emission lasers shot from guns moved almost at the speed of light. They landed as soon as you fired, so as long as you aimed right, dodging was impossible.

“The best swordsmen can use their swords to defend themselves from laser gun and rifle fire. The best of the best can even reflect the lasers back.”

“That’s insane.” I looked at Chris, silently asking if she was telling the truth, and she nodded.

What is this, some Galaxy Wars craziness? Holy cow. I do not wanna be up against someone like that.

“A lot of nobles receive brain implants to improve their cognitive function,” Chris explained. “As a side effect, their thoughts are accelerated.”

“Wow, really?”

“I can’t be too sure of the specifics, as I don’t have an implant yet, but they say the sensation is like slowing down time. My father told me that’s what allows them to deflect lasers and swing their swords faster than the eye can see.”

“Hmm…?” Isn’t that the same thing that happens when I hold my breath? If I held a sword, maybe I could do the same thing. Not that I’m planning on it. “So I shouldn’t assume I have the advantage just because I’m using a gun and the other person is using a sword?”

“Exactly. My uncle is a master of dual-blade combat.”

“I’ll be very careful around him.” With my sense of danger renewed, we headed back toward the Krishna. I had to slow down so Chris could keep up, which meant we hadn’t made it very far. She had short legs, so I couldn’t really blame her.

“I’m sorry for slowing you down,” she said.

“You can’t help it, so try not to worry. Do you want me to carry you?” Chris looked light, and I had been working out every day since coming to this universe, so I could get her back to the Krishna with ease.

“Th-that would be rather embarrassing…”

“For sure. Anyway, let’s hurry. Once we turn left up there, it’ll be straight ahead.”

“Okay. I’ll do my best.” Chris sped up slightly, and I kept pace.

I kept my eyes peeled, staying on guard—and made eye contact with a police officer. “Damn, it’s the pigs,” I groaned.

“Oh?”

“He’s coming over here!” My heart rate skyrocketed. Is this love? No. I’m just terrified that I’m about to get arrested.

“Erm, Hiro?” Chris raised an eyebrow.

“What?”

“Why not just give him the reference data that the Port Authority issued to you?”

“Good idea!”

He asked a lot of questions, but once he compared my data with the data issued by the Port Authority, he nodded and offered to escort us back to the ship. I’d really thought I was done for back there, but we made it there safely.

 

***

 

“My name is Christina, but please, call me Chris.”

“Hi, I’m Mimi! Nice to meet you, Chris!”

“Name’s Elma. Good to meet you.”

Mimi and Elma had been waiting when we arrived at the Krishna. Once the policeman had seen the welcome party, he’d nodded to Chris and gone on his way. Good work, my man.

At present, we were making official introductions in the cafeteria. Mimi seemed happy to meet someone closer to her in age, as she was outright beaming. I was older than Mimi, and Elma was older than me. At least by a generation, certainly.

“What?” Elma glared at me, having figured out what I was thinking as I looked at her; maybe her ears were sensitive enough to hear my thoughts.

“Nothing.”

“Erm… Are those two okay?” Chris asked, noticing the tension between us.

“They’re fine,” Mimi said kindly. “Trust me, they’re really good friends. Elma’s just a little bit frustrated since Hiro was promoted to gold rank today.”

“I’m not frustrated.” Elma turned away from me, puffing out her cheeks a little.

Man, I wanna poke those cheeks. But I won’t, or else she’ll break my finger off.

“What is this ‘gold rank’ referring to?” Chris tilted her head.

I guess noble girls wouldn’t have any reason to know about the mercenary ranks, so I should… You know what, I’ll let Elma explain.

Elma whipped around excitedly, and I decided to keep quiet. “The mercenary guild has five ranks: iron, bronze, silver, gold, and platinum.” She raised one hand, slender fingers extended. “Iron ranks are full-on newbies. They don’t have much experience in battle, and their ships probably suck. Most of the time, they help guard merchant ships and do some transport work. At this stage, you’re basically just flying around, going to stations, and trying to get experience anywhere you can.”

“I see.” Chris was listening intently.

I realized that I hadn’t had a chance to explain Chris’s circumstances. I decided to do it after Elma finished her explanation. As Elma continued, I sat Chris down at the table and started making a light meal and some tea for all of us. Custard ought to do it, I thought, unsure how Chris was feeling. Our lovely high-performance automatic cooker, the Steel Chef 5, made godly food.

“Once you reach bronze rank,” Elma said, “you’re a proper fledgling. Most people upgrade to ships that can handle battle, so they get counted as a real fighting force. Still, it’s hard for a single ship to take on multiple pirates at once, so most will either form a squad with other mercs or make a temporary party during pirate-killing missions.”

“Master Hiro destroyed a lot of pirate ships when he was bronze rank,” Mimi said.

“Yeah, he committed rank fraud.” Elma glared at me, and I shrugged.

I didn’t do anything! Really, it was all thanks to the Krishna. To this day, nobody had even broken through the shields. But maybe it was partially thanks to me, since I hadn’t done anything stupid enough to put the shields in unnecessary danger.

“Then, you’ve got silver rank. That’s where you find most mercs. Get enough experience in bronze rank, and if your guild recognizes you as skilled, you’re promoted to silver. There’s a big difference between newbie and veteran silver ranks, though. We veterans have more experience, and once you’ve been a merc long enough, you get a strong ship and strong gear. Some people say silver rank should be divided up more, or that the conditions to promote someone to silver should be stricter.”

“And you’re silver-rank, Elma?” Chris asked.

“That’s right! I’m a silver-rank veteran.” Elma puffed out her chest, all proud.

“Though she’s part of my crew for now, since she lost her ship,” I said.

“Ugh… Yeah, it happens. As long as I’m alive, I’ll make it work.” Elma looked away. To be fair, she was totally right.

“Then what is gold rank like?” Chris asked, urging the conversation forward.

Elma gathered herself and continued, “Gold-rank mercenaries are people beyond veterans. Rake in more experience, kill a lot of space pirates, keep at the bounty-hunting grind, take a really difficult simulation test, and then you can join the ranks of the top mercenaries. Only a handful can be promoted to gold rank—not even 5 percent of all mercs are gold rank.”

“Wow, 5 percent. I’m a pretty big deal.” I smirked. Considering how many mercenaries there were, 5 percent had a whole new meaning.

“Yeah.” Elma rolled her eyes. “You’re a big deal. Getting gold rank means the guild thinks you’re a first-rate mercenary. Mercs aren’t exactly low on the social ladder, but gold-rank mercs are worth attention from nobility, the military, and bureaucracy. Generally, people would say a gold-rank mercenary can do a large-scale pirate-killing of over thirty ships alone.”

“Pssh. Easy peasy.”

“I think you could defeat more than fifty pirates,” Mimi said.

“As long as I don’t have to fight them head-on, anything goes.” The Krishna’s shields were strong, but they still had a limit. I wouldn’t want to deal with fifty ships at once, though. I would separate them all, pick off the medium crafts, and then start going at the smaller ones.

“Finally, platinum rank,” Elma said. “Only thirteen mercs have earned it. They say only the most successful of the gold ranks get promoted. Kinda like gold rank, the platinum-rank requirements aren’t widely publicized, but if you can go into any battle, win big, and come home safe, then you have the makings of a platinum-rank mercenary.”

“Do you think Master Hiro could do it?” Mimi asked.

“Oh, totally,” I bragged. “I so could.”

“They say platinum-rank mercenaries have a lot of political sway. I don’t know if it’s true or not, but I hear nobles have tried to use their authority to boss some platinum-ranks around and gotten wrecked in the process.”

“Sounds fake to me.” Even the highest-ranking mercs in the guild couldn’t have that much authority, right?

“Yeah, whatever. Anyway, you’re gold rank now. Congrats.”

“Weren’t you mad enough to burn a city to the ground?” I teased.

“I’m not mad, okay?! I’m just jealous!”

“Aww. My rank being higher doesn’t change the fact that you’re the senior merc. Isn’t that riiight, oh, senior of mine?”

“Are you messing with me? It feels like it. You’ve got nerve, bub.”

“Gaaaah?!” Elma’s arm snapped out and coiled around mine like a snake. In an instant, she had me in an arm lock. She was too fast; I didn’t even have a chance to react.

“Elma, that’s enough…” Mimi said, trying to calm the raging elf.

“Th-they do get along, don’t they?” Chris asked, chuckling nervously.

“Tch! Don’t get carried away, Hiro! You’re good at flying your ship and fighting in power armor, but don’t forget who’s better in hand-to-hand combat!”

“I’ll take that to heart…” I said. “By the way, Miss Elma, I made some sweets while you were talking. Perhaps you would like to partake?”

“Sure, why not?” She shrugged. “Go get them.”

“Y-yes, ma’am.”

Heh. That’s right, be all smug. I’ll make you cry later tonight. Dark, vengeful desires swirled in my heart as I brought the custard and tea to the table. “It’s a bit early for dinner, so how about some snacks?” I offered. “Let’s talk about Chris’s situation while we eat.”

“Okay,” Chris replied.

“Her situation?” Elma looked suspicious.

“Um?” A question mark practically floated over Mimi’s head.

Yep, we have a whole star system’s worth of trouble on our hands. Get ready for this, girls.

 

***

 

“Hic! Chriiis!”

“Mmph?!”

After hearing Chris’s story, Mimi started crying and hugged the little girl. It was a nice gesture, but Chris was nearly suffocated by Mimi’s ample bust.

“This sounds like a whole galaxy’s worth of trouble.” Elma sighed as she rescued Chris from Mimi’s embrace.

“Aww, Chriiiiiis!” Mimi pressed her face to Elma’s shoulder and continued to wail.

“So we’re keeping this girl for…two weeks minimum?”

“Seems like it,” I answered. “We have to protect her.”

“We’re definitely getting wrapped up in something bad, aren’t we?”

“Yes.” If I were Chris’s uncle, I’d do anything in my power to get rid of her, no matter the cost. He’d already gone after her parents; not expecting him to finish the job would be downright silly. “Elma, there’s actually something I need from you.”

“What is it?”

I turned to Chris. “You kept a record of the holo-message, right?”

“Yes, sir. It’s right here.” Chris pulled a thin, quartz-like plate from her pocket.

Is that how they store information? It’s really pretty.

“Can you copy this?” I asked Elma.

“Yeah, sure, I can probably duplicate it.”

“I want to send this to Chris’s grandfather using as many methods as possible. The Port Authority sent it to him, but it might be intercepted by her uncle along the way, and I want to have a backup plan.”

“Gotcha. I’ll copy it and use every method I can think of to send it to Count Dalenwald. That’s all you need?”

“Yeah. Spare no expense and put it all in my name.”

“Just as soft as ever, huh?” She smirked.

“That’s not it. The count and his granddaughter will owe me a favor, and if we can protect her, I see big rewards in our future.”

“Yeah, yeah. If you say so.” Elma grinned at me.

She sees right through me, doesn’t she? I can’t help it; I could never abandon a cute girl in need.

“Do you have any connections that could help?” I asked.

“Yeah, a few. It’ll just take some time.”

“Guess that’s a given. As long as one of them gets through, we win.”

“I have some decent ideas, though I don’t know if they’ll work.”

“Let’s see where it gets us. If your methods don’t work, we’ll find another.”

The simplest option would be to kill anyone who chased us, including Chris’s scummy uncle if possible. Not that I expected it to be so easy.

“First things first: What’s their first move?” I asked.

I figured shutting ourselves in the Krishna would be safest, though things would be easier if we could communicate directly with Chris’s grandfather. It seemed odd that a universe with such advanced technology would have such inefficient communication methods.

“If Chris’s uncle is as dangerous as you say, then I wouldn’t say we’re safe in here,” Elma said. “What if someone poisons the food we order? Or they could put a bomb in our resources, and bam, we’re dead.”

“Would they go that far?”

“There’s no reason not to. We would probably be better off using pirate cargo to stock up instead of shopping in the colony.”

“Wow. I’ve never thought of killing pirates for food and resources.” But they did drop food and water pretty often, didn’t they? Going to other star systems for groceries might be worthwhile too.

“Regardless, we need to make the first move,” Elma declared. “I’m off. Chris, I’ll need that storage device. Also, can you tell me his communication code?”

“Yes, thank you. His code is—”

“Careful,” I warned. “They probably already know Chris is here.”

“Yeah, I know. Don’t worry about me.” After receiving the device and the code, Elma left the Krishna.

What needs to be done around here?

“Mimi, could you help Chris get her sleeping arrangements settled?”

“Yes, sir.”

After Mimi and Chris left, I started thinking about what fighting Chris’s uncle might look like. Hmm… I doubt we’ll be doing any sumo fighting. Fighting without power armor, scheming, and assassinations aren’t really my specialty fields. You know exactly what my specialties are, though.

“How do I lure them out?” I wondered aloud. The moment I started thinking, my eyes were drawn to the tablet Mimi left behind. On its display was an advertisement for the Cierra System’s many resorts. I was suddenly inspired. That might not be a bad idea…

“Maybe having pursuers wouldn’t be so bad after all.” A grin crept over my face as I muttered to myself in the empty cafeteria.

 

***

 

While I borrowed Mimi’s tablet and looked around the resort planets’ brochures, the girls returned to the cafeteria, having found a place for Chris to sleep and finished their tour of the ship.

“Heya,” I said. “Sorry, I decided to look at these brochures on your tablet.”

“Oh, it’s okay. Is now really the time to think about vacation, though?” Mimi asked.

I smiled. “You’d think not, but it might actually be the perfect time.”

“Really?”

“I can’t say for sure yet; we can talk about it when Elma gets back.”

“Understood!” Mimi said. “Oh, Chris and I were talking. Should we really wait for her grandfather to come to us? What if we tried to go to him instead?” Mimi cocked her head, and Chris stared at me.

“I thought of that too, but I didn’t look into it too much; it just didn’t seem logical before.” I returned Mimi’s tablet to her. “Let’s explore it now. Open the Galaxy Map—it was the Dexar System, right?”

“Yes, Dexar,” Chris answered.

Bruno had said it would take five days for a message to go through hyperspace communication and gateways. If my calculations were correct, and I remembered the map, physically getting to Dexar would be really annoying.

“Chris, I need you to remember: Did you use any gateways to get to the Cierra System?”

“Oh!” She gasped.

“Why do you need to know that?” Mimi asked.

“Look at the Galaxy Map and you’ll see. Find the shortest route from here to the Dexar System.”

“Hm…? Very well. I’ll give it a try.” Mimi worked on her tablet, her brow furrowed. Before long, her eyes widened with shock. “E-excuse me? It says it will take forty-two days just to get there.”

“Wow. That’s farther than I thought.”

“Why is it so far? One-way communication takes five days, and it would take two weeks for her grandfather to arrive, right?”

“It’s a question of whether you can use gateways.”

“Oh!” Mimi clapped her hands together in realization.

To use gateways, you needed the Empire’s permission. The Imperial Fleet’s ships and nobles’ ships, along with travel cruises, scheduled flights, and sightseeing ships, could use them, but mercenaries like us couldn’t get permission that easily. Chris could help us on that front, but if we threw out requests with her name on them, her uncle Balthazar would be on our tail in seconds. And the routes to each gateway were likely littered with traps, making them a risky option.

Depending on how desperate her uncle was, it was possible that we would be totally unable to even get close to one. We could slowly make our way to the Dexar System using hyperlanes, which would probably be safer. Hyperlanes were arranged in a grid pattern, so there was more than one route to the Dexar System.

For Balthazar Dalenwald to achieve his goals, he would have to finish Chris off and keep her grandfather, Count Abraham Dalenwald, in the dark about his nefarious plot. That would actually be pretty dang difficult. He would want to finish Chris off as soon as possible to try to keep her message from reaching Abraham—otherwise, he was done for. In that case, taking our time to prepare would be dangerous. Given how cornered he was, he would probably do anything in his power to get to us.

“Mimi?”

“Yes, sir! What do you need?”

“Get us a reservation on a resort planet. There are three in this system, right?”

“That is correct. Which should we choose? And, erm, should we not talk to Elma about it first?”

“I’ve been thinking about it, and I figure acting as soon as possible is the best course of action,” I said. “Go for all of them.”

“Huh?” Mimi looked bewildered.

“Send requests to all of the planets. Make sure you pick multiple travel agencies and reserve docking spots all over the place. The more, the better.”

“Umm, that’s going to cost a lot of money. Why do you want so many reservations?”

“To try to throw the enemy off. Here’s my plan: We make multiple reservations on resort planets and prepare a bunch of places to stay. Then, we go toward the resort system in plain view, prompting the enemy to attack. I’m confident we won’t lose as long as we’re in the Krishna. Once we deal with anybody following us, we can be on our way. The enemy will have to check every single place we have reservations at, so that’ll buy us time. Meanwhile, Elma uses her connections to send info to the count.”

I spread my arms out as if to say, So, what do you think? Both Mimi and Chris tilted their heads in contemplation. It was kinda cute how they did it in sync.

“I think it could work if we can defeat the people following us,” Mimi said.

“What about the cost?” Chris asked.

“I’ve got 17,000,000 Ener, so that’s no problem.”

“Hmm?” Chris cocked her head again. The sum didn’t seem to mean much to her. What could you expect from a sheltered noble?

“It looks like hotel expenses in the resort galaxy are 10,000 to 30,000 Ener per person. I think we’ve got more than enough, even if we get a ton of them. Besides, I’m planning to bill Count Dalenwald for the expenses, plus my bodyguard fee.” The hotel expenses weren’t ideal, but we had to be happy with what we had.

“Do you need to make more than one hotel reservation?” Chris wondered. “As long as we can defeat any pursuers, they won’t be able to bother us no matter where we stay, no?”

“Under any other circumstances, I’d agree with you, but what happens if the enemy is willing to do anything to get to you? They could use illegal methods to extract information from the travel agency. I think it’s best to have a few decoys to make sure we’re safe.”

“I see…” Mimi paused, thinking. “But they can’t touch us while we’re in a hyperlane, correct? Instead of spending all of that money, would it not be safer to simply use hyperdrive over and over?”

Hiding in hyperlanes was a totally viable idea, and I hadn’t thought about it. My thought process was the product of my experience in Stella Online. Hyperdrive was instant when one was in-game, but in this universe, it took hours and hours, and unlike FTL drive, hyperdrive couldn’t be interdicted. For buying time and staying safe, it was kind of perfect.

“That is a great idea, but there’s the problem of resupplying. After our resupply in the Arein System, we came here without stopping once.” We couldn’t have foreseen our current troubles, and we were eager to enjoy our vacation, so we hadn’t thought about making another stop along the way.

“Hmm… Yes, going more than two weeks would be impossible with our current reserves. Shall we stock up first?” Mimi asked.

“If Elma’s right, then stocking up in this colony will be risky, but we can try to go to a neighboring system and resupply there. Also, while we won’t be attacked in hyperdrive, it’s possible for people to ambush us as soon as we drop out, kinda like when we came to this system.”

“Urk. Yes, that is true.” Mimi frowned as she recalled the space pirates who’d attacked as soon as we reached the Cierra System.

Would we be better off if that hadn’t happened and we hadn’t met Chris? She would still be in big trouble if we hadn’t, so I was going to call it a good thing.

“Urgh… I have nothing to add to this conversation.” Chris sighed in frustration. Unlike Mimi, who had been on the Krishna for some time now, Chris was still ignorant of mercenary work. She wouldn’t be able to offer much help in these talks.

“We can talk about all the details when Elma gets back,” I said. “But for real, we’re going to have to consider the possibility of close-quarters combat. I’d better go check my equipment.”

“I will help!”

“Um, let me help too!”

The two raised their hands. I’d rather not have help, since there’s a lot of dangerous stuff in there. Mimi might have to use it at some point, though, so I should let her familiarize herself with it. “Mimi’s fine. But Chris, why do you want to help?”

“I can fight when the going gets tough!” Chris wrung her little hands, mustering up her valor.

If that happens, we’ve failed as bodyguards. But I’ll find something simple for her to learn, even if I have no idea what will actually be useful against her uncle.

The three of us went to the cargo hold. Though we mostly used it for its intended purpose, it also served as storage for weapons and power armor, as well as the laser launcher from the bioterrorist attack on Arein Tertius, Elma’s laser rifle, and some other ground-combat weapons.

“Wow, it’s incredible,” Chris said, awestruck. “Are all of these weapons?”

“For the most part, yeah,” I said. “It’s almost all dangerous, so don’t touch anything carelessly.”

“Yes, sir.”

I started checking the gear. You already know about the power armor and laser launcher, so let’s start with the laser rifle. It had more power, output, and range than a laser gun, as well as rapid-fire capabilities, making it better in every way. One could freely change its magnification level, and it came with a multi-scope that had a night-vision mode and an infrared-sensor mode, making it useful for long-range sniping.

It was more unwieldy than a pistol, so you couldn’t lug it around the city. Some colonies had banned carrying them outright. Even in ones where they were legal, you could expect to be stopped and questioned by every policeman who saw you, since laser rifles were a little too big for “self-defense.”

The next weapon I checked was…a ball. Not the kind you could throw at little aliens to catch ’em all—it was a kind of grenade that used light and sound to disorient someone. Kind of like a stun grenade. Let’s call it a shock grenade, actually. Press the button, throw it, and it shocks everything in a five-meter radius.

Traditional explosions in spaceships and colonies could lead to major trouble. Blowing a hole in a structure like that would kill everyone inside. In Stella Online, shock grenades were used in place of the frag grenades from other games, though I didn’t yet know if the same was true in this universe.

I gave the girls simple explanations on both the laser rifle and shock grenade. We couldn’t test them inside the ship, so I had them hold the rifle with the safety on and throw dummy grenades around instead.

Next, I taught them how to use rescue nanomachines. They weren’t weapons, but they came in a syringe that looked like a gun. When it was pressed against a wounded person and the trigger was pulled, the nanomachines would relieve pain and perform first aid. They wouldn’t keep someone injured alive if they kept pushing, but it could potentially save them from dying. That is, assuming it wasn’t an instantaneous death. We would prefer to never have to use the nanomachines, but things happened, and it was best to be prepared, right?

“You’re better off knowing how to use rescue nanomachines and shock grenades for now. That’ll help with support, at least,” I said.

“Yes, sir.” Mimi saluted. “I will practice my throws!”

“I’ll practice too,” Chris said.

“The grenades are really strong once you can aim accurately and around cover. They’re simple to use, so I’d be more comfortable with these in your hands than laser rifles.” They couldn’t use the grenades if the enemy was too close, but if the enemies got that close to Chris, we were in trouble. “Remember where we keep these, and if the time comes, come and get them. Don’t take them to your room, though. They’re too dangerous.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Understood.”

Neither Mimi nor Chris was the type to make mischief, so I doubted I would have to worry about them.

While I finished looking over the gear, my handheld terminal dinged. Mimi received a notification on her tablet as well, so it must have been a message from Elma. I pulled my terminal from my jacket pocket and read the message.

They’re already following me.

Well, that was fast. Had they already IDed us? We should’ve expected as much, especially if they had eyes in the Port Authority.

I asked: What should we do? Do you want me to come and get you?

I’m fine. They won’t attack me in a crowded place. I just can’t believe they acted so fast. No rest for us, huh?

Would it be too dangerous to resupply?

Too risky, I’d say. I’m gonna get back there ASAP. Would hate to get attacked right now.

Gotcha. Be careful. Turn on your location sharing and make sure you can send an SOS.

Understood.

With that, our text conversation ended. Chris’s uncle really did act fast, and it was becoming clear that we needed to do just the same.

 

***

 

About ten minutes after our text conversation, Elma returned to the Krishna. “I’m back,” she announced.

“Hey! Good to see you’re safe.” I tried to give her a hug, but she avoided it. Why?!

“What’s your deal?”

“I was worried.”

“It’s not worth worrying over. Jeez, you’re too kind in some ways and not kind enough in others.” Elma grinned wryly and gave me a little hug and a peck on the cheek.

What is this fluttering in my chest? It feels like we’re playing the wrong roles here. Gah, how did this sad little elf make my heart skip a beat?!

“What?” she demanded. “Look at me.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Doesn’t seem like nothing.”

“It’s nothing!”

Elma tried to circle around me so she could see my face, but I kept it hidden and headed to the cafeteria.

“Oh? Elma, welcome—” Mimi paused. “Um, what’s happening?”

“Hiro’s acting all shy. He can be surprisingly cute sometimes.”

“I’m not shy!”

“Weren’t you worried about me?” Elma teased.

“No, I wasn’t.”

“That’s not what you were saying a minute ago.” She circled around me again, smirking.

What an annoying woman. But I’m a big boy, so I won’t cry!

“Hiro here is adorable, isn’t he?” Chris giggled.

“This is a new side of him,” Mimi chimed in.

They were dogpiling on me, but I refused to give in.

“Anyway!” I said, changing the subject. “Let’s work on our plan. Time is of the essence right now, and we don’t want the enemy getting the initiative; that would spell disaster.”

“Yeah, yeah, okay.” Elma rolled her eyes. “Do you have a plan, then, big guy?”

“I have a few, though I’m not totally confident in any of them. First…” I told Elma all about what Mimi, Chris, and I had talked about and asked for her opinion.

“Luring them out and taking them down doesn’t sound like a bad idea,” Elma replied. “Taking down their spies in general is the best plan. We’re stuck under their surveillance if we stay here, so going out into space is a good strategy.”

“The problem is resupplying, then.”

“Yeah. Our current supplies won’t last us two weeks. If we can get to the resort planets, we might be able to resupply there. We’ll have to be wary, but they can’t possibly be in all of the resorts. If our only objective is resupplying, then honestly, going two systems over would be best.”

“Two?”

“Two,” she repeated. “They might have their claws in neighboring systems. There are three systems surrounding this one, but once you get two systems over, you have a lot more options. They probably can’t cast their net out quite that far.”

“I see.” I hummed thoughtfully. Elma’s explanation made sense. “Okay. Should we give up on the resort planets, resupply two systems over, and then start hiding in hyperspace?”

“That’s the hard part. Moving around will leave a more obvious trail, so defeating our pursuers and then running to the resort planets could be the safest idea. They have great security.”

“Huh. How great?”

“They host powerful people from the Empire, nobles, and sometimes even foreign VIPs. The security level is really high. If some terrorist incident happened there, it would be a major blow to the Empire’s prestige.”

This was news to me. The heightened security wasn’t mentioned in the brochures. Talking with Elma was definitely the best way to strategize.

“So no lazy resort vacation, huh?” I sighed.

“Yep… Chris’s grandfather is going to pay our expenses, right?”

“Erm, I will try to persuade him as best I can,” Chris said. She didn’t have any real authority, so trying to persuade him was the best she could do.

“What kind of budget should we work with?” I asked Elma. “Maybe 3,000,000?”

“That’s a little much… How much was it per person for two weeks?”

“Between 20,000 and 60,000 Ener,” Mimi answered. “There is no real maximum in the expensive places, but that is the average range.”

“Four people would be 80,000 to 240,000, then,” Elma calculated. “Include dummy reservations at all three grades for each planet, different travel agencies, different facilities, and put them all in different names. About 80,000 Ener for two weeks in Mimi’s name, 160,000 in my name, and 240,000 in Hiro’s name. Multiply by three, and that’s one 1,440,000 Ener. Should be enough, right?”

Mimi grimaced at the sum. “That is some extravagant spending…”

I wasn’t sure if my math was correct, but I thought that would be about 144,000,000 yen. Spending that much in Stella Online would get you a beginner multi-role ship or battleship, though it would not cover customizations and insurance in case you got it totaled.

“That’s nothing to a count of the Empire.” Elma smirked. “He’d pay that in a heartbeat to protect his adorable little granddaughter.”

“Do nobles really have that much money?” Mimi asked.

“They can move way more money than us. You could say a merc’s valuation of money is close to a noble’s.” Elma shrugged at her.

I think my perception of money is the same as when I played Stella Online…though I guess it wasn’t exactly normal to begin with.

“I’m having trouble wrapping my head around that amount,” Chris interjected. “That is a lot of money, is it not?”

“Yeah, it is. At your age, you might not have a noble’s inflated view of money yet. You’ve probably never spent your own money, have you?” I asked, prompting a nod from Chris. Girls her age weren’t exactly spending a lot of time shopping. Everything she had would’ve likely come from her parents or servants. “Okay. So we book nine resorts in total, and then we only use one of them?”

“No, let’s actually book one more: a classy resort. Might as well round out our expenses at 2,000,000. The four of us can share 560,000 Ener on a two-week trip.”

“That’s a lot for two weeks…” I shuddered—56,000,000 yen would be 14,000,000 per person—1,000,000 yen per night. Since I was an average guy in my past life, I never could’ve imagined spending so much.

“Don’t worry; as long as Chris’s grandfather pays up, it’s free!” Elma said.

“That’s a big ‘if.’ Let’s hope he’s a kind man. But hey, even if he doesn’t pay up, I’ll just consider it a mental health trip for the crew. A very…very expensive one.”

“You have this ship and the skills to make a lot of money, so get used to it,” Elma replied. “You don’t want people thinking you’re stingy.”

“Really? Are you sure you’re not frivolous for being able to spend two million so easily? You must be a rich girl. And stop that nonchalant whistling!”

Elma looked away, trying to brush me off. But if she didn’t want to talk about it, then I wasn’t going to drag it out of her.

“Still, it will be difficult for common folk to carry out a high-cost plan…” Mimi frowned, working on her tablet.

Oh, of course there’s a problem. I guess I should expect as much from a universe with an aristocracy.

“It’s cool,” Elma reassured her. “I have connections.”

“Seriously? What are your connections?” I asked.

“Every good woman has her secrets.”

“Every good woman…”

“Has her secrets?”

Mimi and Chris almost seemed to be taking notes from the smug elf. Elma was a good woman, sure, but I didn’t think they would grow up to be quite the same as her. Well, who knows? Maybe Chris will.

“Let’s leave it at that,” I decided. “Can I leave the reservations to you? Pull the money from my account as needed.”

“Sure, but what are you gonna do?” Elma asked.

“I’m the captain, so I’ll leave the boring paperwork to my crew and hang out with Chris.” I puffed out my chest.

Elma glared daggers at me, but I’d never been any good at paperwork. Planning out the resort trip wasn’t quite my thing either. As I was the only man in a group of four, I figured the girls should pick things they enjoyed.

“True,” she said. “I wouldn’t want to entrust the planning to you.”

“I don’t think it’d be that bad…but okay. As your personal operator, I will do my very best!” Mimi said.

Honestly, if I were in charge of our itinerary, it would be two straight weeks of eating meat. I wonder if I could drink carbonated soda on a resort planet. Ooh, now I’m getting excited!

 

***

 

Chris and I left Mimi and Elma in the cafeteria and headed to the cockpit. Mimi hadn’t shown Chris the cockpit on their tour, so I decided now was as good a time as any.

“Wow. Is this the cockpit?”

“Pretty great, right? That’s the main pilot’s seat. Have a seat, if you’d like.”

“May I?” Chris’s eyes glittered with childlike glee.

“Absolutely. You won’t get many opportunities to sit in the pilot’s seat of a small battleship, so take this chance.”

“Okay. Thank you!” Chris sat in my usual seat. She was way too small for it, but if I adjusted the seat, she might be able to just reach the console and controls.

“Let me adjust the seat right quick.”

“Okay!”

I messed with the seat to move it closer for her. I wasn’t worried about getting it back to how I liked it, as my data was programmed in, so I could return it with the click of a button.

“There. Wanna try flying it?”

“Huh?! M-me? Fly this?!” Chris looked up at me, wide-eyed.

“You’re not gonna actually fly; it’s just a simulation.” I sank down into Elma’s copilot seat, messed with the controls to pull up my data, and optimized it for my comfort. Then, I activated simulator mode.

“Wooow…” A simulation space appeared on the main monitor, so elaborate that it was nearly indistinguishable from reality. Chris was stunned by the sight, sitting in wide-eyed amazement.

“Let’s start with basic controls.”

I booted up tutorial mode. It gave her a simple lecture, starting with starting the ship. Once someone finished the tutorial, they could pilot the ship fairly well, if nothing else. I’d already had Mimi run the tutorial a few times so she could pilot the ship if Elma and I were out of commission.

Following the directions of the simulator, Chris did her best to clear the tutorial. Using the inertia control system, the simulator could even produce the feeling of accelerating and decelerating, making for a heck of a realistic experience.

“Wh-whoa!” Chris yelped.

“Calm down. It comes with an auto-balancer, so if you lose control or go into a spin, you can return it to neutral and the ship will stabilize.”

“O-okay!” Sweat rolled down her brow as she slowly got a feel for the controls.

I praised Chris more and more as she mastered each basic maneuver.

“Nice. You’re good at the fine movements.”

“That was a smooth turn. Keep it up.”

“Cool, you’re used to turning. Next, try to get the ship to the marked spot. Ooh, yeah, good stuff.”

I’m the positive reinforcement kind of guy; nobody minds a compliment, and it’s important to keep up motivation. After about thirty minutes, when she had finished the tutorial, we stopped the simulation.

“That’ll do it,” I announced. “Good work.”

“Thank you! But I feel like I can do more.”

“You might not think so, but controlling a ship takes a lot of concentration, especially the first time. You’ll feel plenty tired soon, trust me.” I wiped some sweat off of Chris’s brow with my fingers.

Only then did she notice her current state, blushing as she wiped the rest away with a handkerchief. “E-erm, could you perhaps keep your distance from me for now?”

“You don’t have to be embarrassed, but you can go take a shower if you want.”

Chris shrank away and nodded slightly.

I led her to the showers, taking her through the cafeteria, where Elma and Mimi were still working.

“Uhh, Hiro?”

“Master…Hiro?”

I suddenly realized what Chris and I must have looked like. She was red-faced and sweaty, eyes cast downward in shame, and we were keeping an awkward distance between us.

“Oh, er, n-nothing happened,” I stammered. “I just had her practice a bit, since she was interested.”

“Practice what?” Elma looked at me so coldly, I was sure I’d freeze to death.

Gaaah! I should have taken a moment to choose my words more carefully! “Piloting the ship! I didn’t do anything wrong!”

“Master Hiro…” Mimi looked at me sadly.

I seriously didn’t do anything weird! It was easy to guess what they were imagining, but they were wrong. “I am not a crook!” I protested.

It took a mountain of effort to convince them of my innocence.

 

***

 

“You can see why I’m pissed, right?”

“It was our bad, okay?” Elma offered.

“I’m sorry…” Mimi said.

After clearing up the misunderstanding, I was still livid. I knew Elma and Mimi didn’t trust me, since I was a sex machine, but it hurt that they thought I would ever touch a little girl, let alone one I was meant to protect. I thought Chris was cute, yes, but not in that way at all.

“Can’t you trust me a little more? Remember, I didn’t do anything to Serena when she was vulnerable, and I’m not gonna do it to Chris either. Besides, I imagine I’d get arrested in seconds if I touched any noble girl.”

“I have no rebuttal…” Elma admitted.

“Yep…” Mimi said.

Doing anything of that nature to Chris would be ridiculous. She was even tinier than Mimi, and I wasn’t that much of a monster. While I was being showered with apologies, Chris was taking her shower. It was only thanks to her that we’d cleared all this up.

“Let’s just leave it at that,” I sighed. “But seriously, girls, trust me a little more.”

“All right.”

“I’m sorry.”

They bowed their heads in apology. It wouldn’t be very nice to keep harping on it, and they’d learned their lesson by now. “Anyway, let’s hear your reports. How’s progress?”

“Sure,” Elma started. “We got the reservations, so we can stay for two weeks starting the day after tomorrow. We were also able to get the total within the 2,000,000 Ener budget.”

“Handling so much Ener at once was nerve-racking. My hands shook so much…” Mimi said. She looked totally exhausted and haggard.

Mimi valued money like an average person would, and Elma’s attitude toward it suggested she’d come from a rich background. On top of that, she was a mercenary, so she didn’t hesitate to pay out large sums of money. How reliable.

“We might have to entrust expensive shopping to you in the future, Mimi, so try to get used to it,” I said. New ship purchases, customizations, and the like would take millions of Ener before you knew it.

“I’ll do my best…”

“How should we pass the next two days?” I asked.

“Good question,” Elma replied. “We should make sure the enemy knows we’re preparing to leave. If we want to take them all down at once, then it’s better to be open and brazen instead of doing things in secret.”

“But what should we do specifically? You were too scared to resupply as part of our preparations, right?”

“Yes. The enemy will know that Chris has told us everything by now, and that we’re on high alert. If they get the chance, they’ll go all out. Boring as it sounds, hiding in the ship might actually be the best idea.”

“Will we only be waiting today and tomorrow?” Mimi asked. “Two days doesn’t sound so bad.”

“Agreed,” I chimed in. “We’re stuffed in here longer than that during hyperdrive, anyway.” With Chris around, we wouldn’t be able to live how we normally did when we were stuck on the ship; not even I was crazy enough to indulge in degeneracy with her around. “By the way, what kind of place are we staying at? I skimmed over the brochures, but I didn’t check out the more expensive ones.”

“Oh, yes. Hmm…” Mimi hummed thoughtfully.

“What’s the point of knowing everything before we get there?” Elma shrugged. “That ruins half the fun.”

“Running around not knowing anything is just as bad. I’m Chris’s guardian for now, and I would feel more comfortable knowing what to expect,” I said with my own shrug.

Elma reluctantly agreed and glanced over to Mimi. Understanding the look, Mimi turned to her tablet. “We will be going to the ocean planet, Cierra III. The planet’s surface is over 80 percent water, and it has nothing resembling continents. For the most part, the land mass is made up of scattered islands.”

“I see. How do they manage that?” Smaller islands couldn’t possibly have staff from the resort company present all the time, right?

“They use management AI on larger islands not suited to be resorts, and androids and robots under the control of the AI take care of the people staying there. Security is taken care of by unmanned drones and guard robots.”

“That sounds like a really bad time if the AI gets hacked,” I mused.

“It’s not that easy to hack them,” Elma argued. “The positron AI that manages the planet apparently has airtight security. You would need two positron AIs of the same level to crack it.”

“Is that how it works?”

“Yep. Like I said before, the resort planets host imperial nobility and foreign VIPs. They’re going to go all out on security, trust me.”

Fair, fair. It did sound safe. “If it’s an ocean planet, then that must mean we can enjoy some seaside fun, right?”

“Yes!” Mimi was delighted. “We will be residing on an island of average size, with space for the Krishna to land. If anybody other than us approaches the island, they will be given a warning and then subjected to forceful removal.”

“Whoa, that’s scary.”

“There are laser launchers disguised as cliffs, guard robots underground and in the water, and the like. Honestly, attacking a guest would be suicidal,” Elma said.

“The security is scarier than I expected…” I shuddered. “But we get a whole island, huh? That’s good.” I had no idea how big an average-sized island was.

“It’s the plan you paid for,” Elma told me. “We can sunbathe on the beach, swim in the water, take nature walks, play around with cute little alien animals, and more.”

“Ooh. Sounds like fun.” I was interested in the alien animals. Hopefully, they wouldn’t be like facehuggers or angry gremlins, or any of the other cute-but-dangerous creatures from movies. Imagine: you see something that looks cute, and then its jaw unhinges and it has four sets of teeth.

“The brochure says there’s fresh seafood and delicacies from nearby planets too,” Mimi added.

“Sounds right up your alley, Mimi.”

“It does!” Her eyes sparkled as she imagined never-before-seen space delicacies.

Fresh seafood, eh? Let’s hope it’s something I can stomach the look of. Although, as I am a dyed-in-the-wool Japanese man, I think I’ll be able to enjoy any kind of seafood.

We rejoiced over our coming resort plans, spending Chris’s first day on the ship in a festive mood.