“Excellent. Now I’d like to know how the curriculum development is going, particularly with the language courses.”
Anything further he had to say was interrupted by my kunnarskyn and his wrist comm beeping urgently.
“Sorry, it must be something urgent,” I murmured at the same time Helkhor paused to check his device.
I heard him draw a sharp intake of breath as I read my own message.
Not to be a drama llama, but please come to sickbay immediately. No delays. Yes, this means right the fuck now! Go with the ambassador who will also be on his way.
“Ritsha!” Helkhor shouted. “We must go.” Turning his attention to the group assembled for the meeting, he added, “My apologies, but it seems the stars have favored us - a match has been made, and it is a matter of utmost delicacy. A comm will be sent out later to reschedule.”
With that, he looked directly at me. I swallowed. “I’m supposed to go with you for some reason.” Given that he said it was a delicate matter, and we were to go to sickbay, I wasn’t going to say anything else and cause a possible diplomatic incident. He gave me a curt nod, and together we left the room, the aide who also seemed to be some kind of guard ahead of us, him in the middle, me close behind, and his official guard standing outside the door bringing up the rear.
“I need to get on a secure channel as soon as we have secured the three males. Jesse Wilson will need to be assigned two guards of his own. He is not to be left unguarded for a single moment, no matter how he protests. Our official transport needs to be ready to leave within the hour, and the linen in the royal suite freshened. We’ll need to have his measurements scanned before leaving, so we can comm ahead so clothes fitting his new station can be readied for him.”
“Which prince?” Ritsha asked, his voice low.
Helkhor glanced over at me. “I can rely on your silence until official announcements are made? Commander Gundar has already been apprised, at the same time as me.”
I nodded. “Upon my honor.”
Helkhor modded, knowing a Mylos’ honor was no small thing. “It’s Prince Jorhree.”
Prince Johree…my mind tried to figure out who he was in the hierarchy. “The youngest of the princes?” I ventured. “The governor of one of your colonies?”
“Yes. Our longest established colony, as a matter of fact, Rednath II. Though, it's usually just referred to as Rednath, as none of the other planets in the system are capable of supporting life. The colonists who first established it,” he paused as we got into an elevator and Ritsha requested Xeranos take us to the shuttle bay where we could take a small shuttle over to the Fleet’s flagship. “As I was saying,” he continued, “the colonists who first settled Rednath wanted a simpler way of life. The entire planet is more or less a living museum of our early spaceflight era, though only the main city and the royal farmlands outside of it hold that status officially and are open for tourism.”
“So, this Jesse will feel right at home?”
The three Dragonii exchanged glances.
“Perhaps,” the ambassador replied cautiously without elaborating further.
No further conversation ensued as the elevator came to a halt, and we got off. A shuttle was waiting for us, and we made the trip in no time at all, which was spent by Ritsha busily sending comms as instructed so their ship would be ready for departure. From the shuttle bay we landed at, it was a very short walk to the sickbay, which was the main one for the Fleet. The receptionist greeted us warmly.
“Let me just notify Betty that you’re here,” she said. “She’ll take you to where they are, and show Kittinir here to Dr. Proslo's office along the way.”
“That would be excellent, thank you,” Helkhor told her with a smile that made the receptionist blush.
She glanced down to open a comm using her communications panel. “Nurse Betty? They’re here.”
“On my way!” came the cheerful reply, and sure enough, within mere moments, a bubbly young human female nurse appeared.
“Hi, I’m Betty, Dr. Proslo’s mate. It’s my honor to take you where you need to go today. If you’ll all please follow me.” She executed a quick turn and began walking off without further ado, taking us along a corridor with several exam rooms on the side, before turning down a branch. She stopped at one of them, which bore the nameplate of Dr. Proslo. She didn’t knock or anything else to let him know she was entering, but as his mate, that was no doubt a privilege reserved just for her.
“Honey, Kittinir is here to see you,” she said, going over to where the doctor was reading something on his tablet. He glanced up, returning an affectionate look with her.
“Thank you.“ I have an early finish today, so I’ll stop by the market and pick up the items on your list.”
“That would be wonderful,” she smiled at him, bending down to give him a quick peck on his cheek. “I’m off in an hour, but I promised to go jogging with Maria.”
“You go jogging,” he reassured her. “I’ll prepare dinner while you're out, so it will be ready as soon as you come in and shower.”
“You’re the best,” she told him.
Helkhor cleared his throat. “As endearing as all this is, could we please get to the colonists and the prince’s mate?”
“But of course.”
