Page 38 of No Strings Attached

“I’m really not thinking in quite those terms. I’m wondering this: if we stayed together, what would be our purpose?”

“What do you mean? Survival of course!” Acken boomed.

She shook her head, “Survival is just an imperative of every living being. We would need a purpose that informed ourdecisions and actions. I have an idea for one, but I don’t know enough about the state of the galaxy to know what is possible. That’s why I asked Caussus to come along. I need an education.”

Acken leaned forward onto his knees, “Tell us this worthy purpose, Queen Vi.”

Vi blew out a disgusted breath and waved him away, “Enough with that ‘queen’ shit. Ok, I’m thinking that we have an opportunity to influence the way people are treated. We were all captured to be sold at a fucking auction, like the lives we were living were of no importance. I’m assuming that we weren’t going to be sold cheap, either, which means it is the rich and powerful in the galaxy driving this situation from the top down. I was going to be a fuck toy. Malachite was probably going to be broken apart and made into jewelry. Caussus was going to endure a life of servitude to rich assholes. You were probably going to be taken to some awful fighting pits.”

Acken muttered, “Wouldn’t be the first time.”

Vi ignored him. “And look at the Trallians: they’re just treated like an almost disposable workforce, but they have all the positive qualities that you look for in people of good character. Loyalty, courage, compassion. It’s despicable that they are regarded as lower life forms to be used, abused, and discarded.”

Acken sat back and stretched his arm around the back of the sofa before saying, “I think you value one specific Trallian most of all.”

She blushed deeply, but then screwed up her courage and said, “Yeah, OK, let’s deal with that. I have feelings for Bobby. How does that make you feel? Disgusted?”

Acken blinked at her, then simply said, “Jealous,” and Caussus nodded.

“Oh.”

After a moment of awkward silence, Acken said, “Look, little she-beast. In order to have influence, we need to have power.In order to have power, we need to have money. And even if we had both, it is an uphill battle to change the ways of the galaxy. Slavery exists on a myriad of levels throughout most of the planets.”

Vi thought for a moment, then said, “But we do have some power. The power of all of us together. That must be unique, right? Imagine if I walked into a gathering of the rich and powerful with an entourage of you, an Ophidian, and a Garoxian. Wouldn’t heads turn and my words make an impact?”

Acken nodded thoughtfully, “I do not know of anyone in the galaxy who walks before such a unique guard force. You would be a formidable queen. But not as formidable as one with ships, weapons, and armies.”

Vi shrugged, “Eh, those can be acquired. Yesterday, we didn’t have an asteroid. Anyway, the Queen of Oz needs to win hearts and minds on her own merits. Only after that will we want to drop big rocks on the holdouts.”

“Oz, Madam Vi, is a terrific name for our little asteroid,” Caussus said, smiling.

She narrowed her eyes thoughtfully at him, then said, “Stand up, over here.”

He did, then she went to stand beside him, linking her arm in his. They were almost the same height, the same skin tone, and looked the same species. His striking white hair and her striking black hair added an eerie element to the pairing.

She asked Acken, “What do you think?Kingand Queen of Oz? Especially in outfits of the same fabric.”

Acken considered, then nodded slowly, “You are a very striking couple. Incredibly beautiful to behold. You are each very lovely alone, but somehow the two of you are ethereally beautiful together. That kind of beauty can also be wielded as power in this galaxy.”

Vi gave Caussus a pat, and they both sat down. She noticed him blushing, deeply. “OK, so we can fake the power, that just means we need a lot of money. To change the galaxy,” she said, laughing tiredly. “Give it to me straight, how do you both feel about that purpose? Thatmission?”

Acken regarded her, but Caussus spoke first, “Madam Vi, your decision to consider us all in the same situation in those cages, to trust us and include us, and your behavior since we acquired the asteroid, they have…well, they have been unprecedented for me. I have never seen fairness, or kindness, or compassion such as that. It is my fervent wish that more beings in this universe who have also never experienced it have that chance. It would be my honor to support you in such a mission.” Malachite pulsed brightly while Caussus smiled, looked down, then looked back up at her mischievously, “And my duty, of course, as King.”

Acken brayed out a startled laugh, moved to clap Caussus on the back again, then thought better of it, before saying, “And mine, as Chief Warrior! Now of course, I love a good fight, but a fight for what is good and right in the universe, that does sound like a noble purpose. And I must admit, every time I have doubts about you and your plans, you prove me wrong!”

“Well,” she smirked, “don’t expect my luck to hold out forever. OK, so king, queen, chief warrior. Those are all fake titles that we present to the universe. Before we get home, I want us to have a long conversation about our organizational command structure. Acken, you declared me in charge yesterday, but while I was missing, you took control. I’m glad of that…grateful, even. So, if you’re going to make me Captain of this crew, I think I’m going to insist that you be Second-in-Command. We’re going to need a command structure that works as well on a ship as the asteroid, as well as one that works when we’re on space stations or planets pretending to be in other roles.”

Acken nodded, “As your second, I will think about the command structure needed and we can talk about it on the way home.”

Vi smiled wearily and gratefully. Malachite stood and moved to the bridge controls. Acken followed his movements, then turned back to Vi and said, “He’s accessing communications. Probably letting the ship from Dim know that we are in route.”

Vi said, “Well, this seems like a great place to stop talking and find the food they sent with us.”

Caussus stood and retrieved a box full of delicious things the Trallians had prepared for them while Malachite headed back toward the interior of the ship.

Vi noted, “He probably doesn’t want to watch a bunch of disgusting organics ingest things,” and laughed.

After eating, since Malachite hadn’t returned, Vi stretched out on her side of the sofa for a nap. But she didn’t fall asleep; instead, she found herself thinking of Bobby and their strange relationship.

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