And that was another thing. He was an actual, self-aware entity, like Commander Data only his ‘body’ was the ship. Mind-effing-blowing!
“Mitch?”
“Jolar? What’s happened?” He sounded worried and he’d left less than half an hour ago. What could possibly have happened?
“The quartermaster will be sending some men by later this morning to help you pack up our things.”
“What?” Surely I hadn’t heard him correctly. “Where are we going?”
“Umm…” He lowered his voice now, obviously speaking to someone else. “I think I messed up telling him. He sounds upset.”
“Mitchell, is it?” came a crisp voice I recognized. I’d heard his voice in news broadcasts before, along with Commander Gundar’s. “I’m Lieutenant Commander Sachuu and I am very sorry for the short notice. Your mate has been assigned to me personally and will be commissioned once he completes the prerequisite officer training modules and passes the exam. In the meantime, he has been promoted to Acting Ensign and as such, regulations require your family to be housed in officer’s quarters.”
“Oh, wow! Jolar! You’re being made an officer and going to work with the lieutenant commander himself? I am so proud of you, baby!” The endearment slipped out and I realized I’d said it, and in front of his work colleagues and a superior, only afterward. I found I didn’t give two shits. It’s not like I was a warrior myself, so there!
“Thank you, Mitch…Mitchell,” Jolar replied.
That was when it occurred to me that he’d called me Mitch not once, but twice before reverting back to Mitchell. I liked the sound of the nickname from him. No one else had ever shortened my name that I could recall, not even my mother when I was small. This was something that I could claim to be a between-me-and-him thing. I made a mental note to tell him so later. But for now…
“There’s only one school on the ship right? We’re not changing ships are we?” I asked.
“No, it’ll be the same ship, since it’s the flagship and we’re working with the L.T.C.,” Jolar replied. “They also promoted Klora so I get to keep working with him.”
“There is only the one school,” Sachuu added.
I was over the moon for Jolar. Klora was his best friend at work and he wasn’t going to lose that as they were advancing together. That was awesome!
“Thank you, I was worried in case I had to tell our son he was going to have to change schools and make new friends,” I replied. “So, guys are coming to pack and move us, and I’m guessing they’ll let you know our new address?”
Jolar laughed. “Yes, I will be notified of where to find our new home.”
“Cool. I’ll let the school and Larry’s mom know too, as soon as I find out myself.”
“I have to end the call now,” Jolar said, sounding regretful. “The L.T.C. is about to brief us on the other cases we’ll also be working on.”
That sounded like it could be a lot, but I knew my man was up to the task.
“Okay, bye, love you!”
“I love you too,” came the reply.
“Transmission ended,” Xero announced.
My mouth dropped open in horror. The first time I actually said the ‘l’ word to him, and I did it so casually, over a radio transmission, while he was at work.
“Damn it!”
I knew I had to make it up to him. I also needed to make sure Neal was happy and excited about the move. I knew he’d lived here in these quarters ever since social services flew him up to be fostered pending his adoption. That had been barely more than a year ago, and he’d been shuttled between two foster families and a group home prior to that, so I didn’t want him to feel unsettled.
“His room will need to be unpacked first,” I said aloud, going into Neal’s bedroom. Wall stickers depicting Lilo and Stitch adorned one wall. That gave me an idea.
“Xero, are we allowed to paint the walls?”
“The walls can be tinted to different colors by adjusting the color spectrum to the desired shade.”
“Um, using paint?”
“No. You select the shade and I alter its appearance using nanites. Less mess.”
