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Day 6.1 - much, much later - 590 words
A quick, very spoilery scene from many years in the future to put me over 5,000 words before noon.
Galatea, main spaceport receiving bay
Approx. standard year 1050 AB, second morning
Dasa & Ruth.
Ruth was waiting at the ramp and pulled him into a tight hug. Then she pushed him back with one hand and said, "You *bastard*. 'Cross palms and exchange blood,' you said, 'and they'll let you share my citizenship.' You didn't tell me it was a *marriage* ceremony!"
"Didn't I?" Dasa asked, grinning and scratching his ear. "I could have sworn. Sorry, I spend a lot of time alone these days --"
"We weren't even dating!" Ruth said.
"We were dating! Weren't we? I thought that *was* dating --"
"And *then*," Ruth added, declining to take the bait, "And then you send me off to the planet run by your ex-girlfriend --"
"Rafi's running the planet now? Really? How did she manage *that*?"
She thumped him hard on the chest. "As soon as we get the chance we're having a *proper* wedding. With a rabbi and a canopy and my sister griping in the background."
"Hey," he said, grabbing her hand and turning it over to show the long-healed scar across the palm. "It's not actually legally binding anywhere except Thalassa. And you were the one who said we needed someone on the planet, and it was the fastest way. But I'm sure the doctors here could even get rid of the scar if you asked--"
Ruth raised her eyebrows. "We're still having that real wedding someday. Now, how was the trip to Earth? Short version."
He dropped her hand and grabbed his duffel. "It was interesting."
"Not that short."
He shrugged the bag over his shoulder while Ruth grabbed the smaller one. "My check-in and report at HQ went well. I gave them the abridged report and they gave me a raise and no unusual questions, and I'm pretty sure they won't manage to trace my trip back, as long as you made sure Rafi would back me up on Thalassa."
"And they just let you run off to Galatea afterward? With your ship?"
"Well, see, um. That's where it gets kind of complicated," he said, and glanced at her sidewise. "See, I went to visit one of my old clutch-sibs afterward, and there was this thing with this teenage girl and a tomcat and a vast goverment conspiracy and I may have ended up bringing in the planetary minister for cultural affairs," he added in one breath.
"Oh," said Ruth.
"I think it'll be all right. But it's kind of a long story. The gist of it is that she asked for me to be assigned as a special investigative agent, and Commonwealth Command agreed. So I get to keep the rank and my ship but she wants me to keep doing what I've been doing. Mostly. Which might work out well." They'd wandered to port security and he turned backward to wait while she slid through the scan. "So, how was Thalassa?"
"Interesting," she returned with a grin. "There's some unusual things going on there, you're right. I left Rafi and her kids with a bunch of research to look at, but I'm not sure how useful it'll be. Have you ever been through the Sanctified Wasteland of Unusually Vivid Hallucinations?"
Dasa coughed. "Yes. Um. That's kind of how I ended up with Rafi as my ex-girlfriend. Actually. It's ... kind of a long story."
She pushed open the gate to main street. "Well, you'll have to tell me that whole story someday. Rafi wouldn't."
"Yeah, someday," he said, and found himself grinning.
Galatea, main spaceport receiving bay
Approx. standard year 1050 AB, second morning
Dasa & Ruth.
Ruth was waiting at the ramp and pulled him into a tight hug. Then she pushed him back with one hand and said, "You *bastard*. 'Cross palms and exchange blood,' you said, 'and they'll let you share my citizenship.' You didn't tell me it was a *marriage* ceremony!"
"Didn't I?" Dasa asked, grinning and scratching his ear. "I could have sworn. Sorry, I spend a lot of time alone these days --"
"We weren't even dating!" Ruth said.
"We were dating! Weren't we? I thought that *was* dating --"
"And *then*," Ruth added, declining to take the bait, "And then you send me off to the planet run by your ex-girlfriend --"
"Rafi's running the planet now? Really? How did she manage *that*?"
She thumped him hard on the chest. "As soon as we get the chance we're having a *proper* wedding. With a rabbi and a canopy and my sister griping in the background."
"Hey," he said, grabbing her hand and turning it over to show the long-healed scar across the palm. "It's not actually legally binding anywhere except Thalassa. And you were the one who said we needed someone on the planet, and it was the fastest way. But I'm sure the doctors here could even get rid of the scar if you asked--"
Ruth raised her eyebrows. "We're still having that real wedding someday. Now, how was the trip to Earth? Short version."
He dropped her hand and grabbed his duffel. "It was interesting."
"Not that short."
He shrugged the bag over his shoulder while Ruth grabbed the smaller one. "My check-in and report at HQ went well. I gave them the abridged report and they gave me a raise and no unusual questions, and I'm pretty sure they won't manage to trace my trip back, as long as you made sure Rafi would back me up on Thalassa."
"And they just let you run off to Galatea afterward? With your ship?"
"Well, see, um. That's where it gets kind of complicated," he said, and glanced at her sidewise. "See, I went to visit one of my old clutch-sibs afterward, and there was this thing with this teenage girl and a tomcat and a vast goverment conspiracy and I may have ended up bringing in the planetary minister for cultural affairs," he added in one breath.
"Oh," said Ruth.
"I think it'll be all right. But it's kind of a long story. The gist of it is that she asked for me to be assigned as a special investigative agent, and Commonwealth Command agreed. So I get to keep the rank and my ship but she wants me to keep doing what I've been doing. Mostly. Which might work out well." They'd wandered to port security and he turned backward to wait while she slid through the scan. "So, how was Thalassa?"
"Interesting," she returned with a grin. "There's some unusual things going on there, you're right. I left Rafi and her kids with a bunch of research to look at, but I'm not sure how useful it'll be. Have you ever been through the Sanctified Wasteland of Unusually Vivid Hallucinations?"
Dasa coughed. "Yes. Um. That's kind of how I ended up with Rafi as my ex-girlfriend. Actually. It's ... kind of a long story."
She pushed open the gate to main street. "Well, you'll have to tell me that whole story someday. Rafi wouldn't."
"Yeah, someday," he said, and found himself grinning.
no subject
But i dont' think i understand anything about what his trouble with his spaceship was...
The concept of a blood-bonding is pretty cool though. That many years in the future and you marry by mingling fluids. Just like in the good ol' days! ;)
Congrats on 5,000!