“They do not. If they end up mate matched, they will go where they and their mate decide - either to a colony to establish their claim or wherever the Dragonii currently resides. It is their choice as mates to make. If they are not mate matched, they agree to go to the colony and work with the settlement office there to find a good fit for them. And if they also seek to be potentially matched with a Mylos, they likely will be allowed to defer their colony transition until they have completed their chosen course of study.”
”And if they end up matched to a Mylos?”
He shrugged. “I suppose they will be allowed to decide the same as if matched with a Dragonii. I do not truly know. These things are no doubt some of what we will have explained to us.”
I nodded. “Yeah, or it’s one of the kinks to be ironed out.”
“As you say.”
An idea struck me just then, as I saw the turn up ahead that led to the local SPCA. I knew it well, having adopted Floof from there after my big Army fail. I also made a habit of coming by once a week to take a shelter dog out for a walk. “Turn right up here. We don’t have to be at the center real soon, do we?”
“We have about an hour. The shuttle leaves at six, and I was told to stop and pick up some dinner for us both along the way. I thought perhaps burgers from Checkers would be alright.”
“That sounds great. We should have just enough time. Pull in there,” I said, pointing.
“This is the shelter,” he said, looking upset. “Are you surrendering your companion?” ”No, no!” I hastened to reassure him. “You sounded like you had two very specific cats in mind, and we’re here so you can go get them since you won’t be able to this weekend.”
He smiled, his entire face lighting up. “Yes, I do. You think we have time?”
“Yep,” I replied. “I’ll sit in the lobby with Floof while you go get them and fill in the papers. I can order ahead so the food will be ready for pick up at the drive-thru.”
He pulled into a parking space and quickly told me what he wanted to eat as we walked inside. I settled into a chair and opened the app as he spoke to the receptionist. He followed her through a door, and I scrolled through the app, quickly finding his request and deciding on my own. I winced at the price, but hey, I was an employed man now with a steady job, and this was not the last of my funds until I had more gig money. I paid and then played Mah-jong on my phone in between talking to Floof, who did not like being here at all. I was on my second game with about half the tiles cleared when he reappeared holding two cardboard carriers.
“Thank you,” the receptionist said to him. “We were starting to think they’d end up office cats here. Instead, they get a happily ever after with you, and we get a fantastic way to end our day!”
I tucked my phone into my pocket and stood, picking up Floof. I swallowed, seeing the time on the clock on the wall.
“We’re gonna be late. Maybe we should skip picking up the food,” I suggested, certain that twelve minutes was not time enough to get to the fast food outlet, go through the drive-thru to pick up our order, and make it to the Scholarship Center.
“That’s not an issue,” Jimmy replied, as I pushed the door open to let him through. “I let Xeranos know we ended up a little behind and why.” His cheeks pinkened. “They said they would wait for us and that it was fine. They were very happy to know the reason for our tardiness, and I was told I should have mentioned these two when they were sending me to get you.”
I grinned back. “Great. Let’s go grab some chow then. I’m starving.”
7
KITTINIR
I was only mildly surprised to discover several other officers had been called in to report and were seated. I didn’t recognize any of them, but the Fleet had over a dozen ships plus the personnel stationed here on planet, so it wasn’t as if I was likely to know most of them. Not to mention, I’d gone straight to my assignment at the university more or less, with less than a week spent shipboard, and that was for orientation.
One of them grinned at me, brushing back floppy brown bangs out of his eyes as he addressed me. “You get called in over a supposed bad DNA sample, too?” he asked. ”Ah, so that’s the story they called everyone in with?” I grinned conspiratorially back. ”Yup,” he replied. “Which I thought was weird, because since when does that ever happen?”
“I must admit I was rather taken aback, seeing as the machine sequences it and Xeranos records it, so the sample itself is superfluous.”
”And destroyed immediately after sequencing,” another male interjected, approaching. “I’m Lieutenant Gofryth, and I’m in charge of this Center. Now that you’re all here, I’m free to explain why you’ve actually been called in. As you may recall, recently, one of our officers took his bride on a honeymoon to the edge of charted space, where they encountered an AI swarm that believes it is still fighting a long ago war. Upon further contact with the species in that region who reached out to assist us during the incident, it came to our attention that the parties responsible for raiding the Dragonii settlements originated from there.”
”What? You mean like refugees turned pirates?” a red headed male asked.
“More like the start of that war was caused by one group raiding the colony worlds of another, and upon their space stations and worlds becoming decimated, they sent out colony ships of their own, settled down, and the members of the fleet who’d enjoyed the raiding became full on pirates and mercenaries.”
“What does this have to do with us?” the floppy haired male who’d first greeted me spoke this time.
“Politics,” was the unexpected reply. “Those responsible for the raids were seen off, and with the Dragonii joining the Alliance, we’ve all contributed patrol ships to the new border that the Dragonii claimed space has provided. But, both the space station incident during our officer’s honeymoon and our Fleet’s own Dragonii officer finding his mate here, the Council and the humans have come to a new agreement I must apprise you all of before it becomes public.”
”Oh, this should be good,” a black-haired male with piercing blue eyes muttered.
Gofryth continued on as if he hadn’t heard. “Simply put, you’re all to wrap up your affairs here and arrange for the remainder of this term’s classes to be taught remotely. I’m afraid you’ll have until five p.m. local time to do so before reporting back here. That’s not 5 p.m. tomorrow, but the day after, so in two days’ time. I apologize for the short notice, but I was notified just before you were as well.” He took a deep breath. “If it makes any of you feel better, after you all are back with the fleet, I have to report in with the rest of the Center officers to Brussels, where we are all being trained in the new joint Mylos-Dragonii mate Program Protocols.”
“So, what you’re saying is the Dragonii maneuvered the attention on their species to negotiate their own mating treaty,” I drawled.
