Page 43 of No Strings Attached

“What?” She said, with exasperation. “Can’t Bobby and I have a little privacy in the bedroom?”

“Actually, Madam Vi, I believe we were surprised that you would give all of us access to this room and the gems in the safe.” Caussus said, and they all nodded.

She shrugged. “Trust is trust. I wouldn’t expect you all to assume the levels of responsibility and authority that we’re talking about without trusting you to access our resources. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves, since we haven’t even filled Trak in on what’s happened, what we’re planning, or the role we’re hoping he will play. So, let’s get comfy, shall we?”

She sat tiredly, then looked at Trak for a moment and asked, “Is there anything to eat?”

They ate a large meal, delivered within minutes by the kitchen staff, as they all sat and discussed the situation. Vi had been amused by Trak’s shock at their new situation and even more profound astonishment at the position they proposed for him. She watched him grow ever-so-slightly taller as it got through to him and pride filled him. It was heartwarming, she discovered,and she regarded him with an easy smile. He noticed her smiling at him and his expression changed to something she couldn’t read.

After the talk had died down, Vi excused herself to the bathroom but let out a short squeal just inside the bedroom, seeing what was laying on the bed waiting for her. Acken came charging into the room a second later to protect her, looking around in every corner for the danger.

She pointed to the bed, “Look! Panties!”

There was a stack of at least 10 panties there next to a pile of neatly folded, brand-new coveralls. She unfolded one and held it up. It had definitely been made to fit someone her size. She flipped it around—no tail hole! The left breast of the coverall and the left side of the panties both were marked in a series of symbols in that galactic standard language she had already seen.

She pointed to it and asked Acken, “What does it say?”

“Vuh-aye-o-let,” Acken read, frowning. “It is phonetic notation.”

She hugged a pair of coveralls and panties to her chest, then breathed, “Bobby.” She turned and shouted toward the sitting room, “Hey Caussus, do you want to borrow one of my new coveralls, so your ass isn’t hanging out?”

Caussus entered the bedroom, eying the panties and the coveralls, then smiling. “Yes, Madam Vi, I should be delighted to cover my ass.” He stripped off the too-big coverall right there in front of them and reached for one off her pile. “I shouldn’t think anyone will ever confuse me with you, even though I bear your name on my garment.”

Vi looked at Acken, as much to stop staring at Caussus’s naked body as anything else, and said, “You know, I think we should do this for everyone. Get their names printed on their clothing. Ideally, for me anyway, we could get their names printed in both this,” pointing at the notation, “and my language. Otherwise,it will take me a very long time to learn all the names of the Trallians. I do have a lot of trouble differentiating them, except for Trak and Bobby.”

Acken opened his mouth, but Caussus answered, “I shall see to it, Madam Vi, but it may be necessary for you to produce the notation in your language for each name so that we may copy it.”

Vi nodded and smiled at him, ran into the bathroom, and stripped down to don her new panties and coverall. Bobby had seen the ones hanging in the shower that she had rinsed out after her dream of him in the garden. He had seen those, realized that it would please her to have new ones, and made them for her while she was gone. Not to mention the coveralls without the tail hole. She couldn’t wait to see him. Andthankhim.

They started the tour with the rooms leading off of the garden, waving at the snake guy who was slithering around the branches of a large tree a few yards away. They made their way through the kitchen and storerooms,impressively full still, Vi thought and noticed Caussus straighten and take special note of various things she wasn’t seeing. Next, the security system room, with which Acken was already familiar, and finally, Qlu’s suite of rooms.

They were outfitted much the same as his ship, she thought—optimized for orgies. She wondered aloud if they could be sterilized, then used for more comfortable quarters for some of the Trallians whose jobs kept them in this main cavern, like the kitchen and security system staff. She certainly didn’t want to stay in there, and she knew that the Trallians preferred to sleep in a room together. Caussus nodded his head, and she mentallyrelinquished it to him. She was starting to really see the appeal of ceding authority to her trusted crew.

Back in the garden chamber, they discussed replacing at least half of the plants with food-producing crops, in addition to the fruit trees and berry vines already growing. There was more than enough space to have both a nice garden area to enjoy being in and a series of nice garden crops to enjoy eating. Caussus nodded again and took it for himself.

The left branch off the main cavern led to the cage room, where a single Trallian was in the control room preparing to feed Qlu. They watched the monitors, sound off, as Qlu raged and spat and threw himself at the bars while the Trallian calmly pushed his bag of kibble over to him, then left the cage room and returned to them. Vi’s eyes fell on the lone occupant that remained from their group of captives, Frankenstein-cyborg-monster.

She pointed him out to Acken and said, “We can’t forget about that guy. I think Qlu can wake him up to consciousness, but we still don’t know how his body gets turned on and off.”

Acken had nodded and told her he would see what they could find out, so she let that go, too.

Back to the right branch off the main cavern, they came across the kibble manufactory first. It was horrible, with overcrowded fish vats that made Vi want to cry. The fish were processed into slurry, mixed with other barely food-grade stuff, then dried into kibble pieces.

Vi turned to Trak, “Is fish the main diet of Trallians?”

He shook his head, “No, we’re omnivorous. Qlu just used fish because of how quickly they can be bred and raised.”

She thought about it, wondering if they could continue using fish as protein—in fish form, not slurry form—while setting up some kind of aquaponics system. They had two large bodies of water at their disposal, so they could at least give thefish something more humane in terms of living conditions. Although she thought a little longingly about the heated pool and private grotto that she and Bobby had enjoyed, wondering if she was prepared to give it up in the interest of the asteroid’s sustainability.

She turned to Caussus, “You and I need to have a long talk about the possibility of aquaponics, taking these fish into the garden pools.” He nodded and she went on, “We also need to see if fish will meet Mister Beastly’s and snake guy’s food needs. I don’t ever want us to run out of food for those guys.”

Everyone nodded, looking serious.

The next room was the fabrication cavern. Trak told them that almost anything could be fabricated there: parts, materials, garments, weapons. Acken and Trak got into an animated sidebar while Vi and Caussus wandered around, looking at the various machines and stores of raw materials. There was every kind of metal, from base to precious. They found a section of the room that held bolt after bolt of beautiful fabrics, which made both their faces brighten. Caussus showed her a row of 3-D printers that would work with any medium.

Finally, they were ready to move on, and Trak said, “The last areas are the cargo ship hangar and the bunkroom. Acken, you said you wanted to see the bunkroom last, but I really think it’s probably past time that we go in there and free Bobby.”

All heads snapped toward him, and Vi said, “Free him from what?! WHAT’S HAPPENED TO BOBBY?”

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