Page 50 of No Strings Attached

The kitchen staff broke the awkward silence that followed, coming into the room, and setting up a simple but wonderful breakfast. They ate companionably for a while, then continued.

All of the Trallians had agreed to join them as paid employees after yesterday’s talk, except the hostage taker who was now in snake guy’s cell. Acken was going to have Qlu’s ship ready for travel and assign a Trallian crew from the cargo ship teams, so they would be prepared to leave for a space station within the next couple of days to start trying to monetize some gemstones.

Caussus had arranged to have the kitchen staff make simple, portable, but ample morning and evening meals to feed everyone on the asteroid. The food would be set up by a certain hour twice per day, and everyone could drop in during that time to get one. This council would have their morning meals delivered here. The Ophidian and the Garoxian were both satisfied with fish for the time being, although they still held each’s last special meal in reserve. There was currently at least a month’s worth of food on the asteroid for everyone, using the two meals per day plan.

Trak was going to gather up all the asteroid defense Trallians and learn the asteroid’s defensive and offensive capabilities, then brief everyone. They had received confirmation from 75% of the buyers planning to attend the auction that they were no longer on route or planning to arrive.

Vi wanted to know which space station they were going to try with the gems, then to learn everything she could about that station’s operations. They would need to present themselves to the station manager in their royal capacity and would need to figure out the best way to handle that. Acken said he would bring that information tomorrow morning.

She told them about Bobby’s interest in designing their clothing and jewels, and everyone seemed surprised by that, but satisfied with her decision. She planned on spending her day today between Mister Beastly and snake guy, seeing if they could be brought into the crew or if they needed to be taken home.

Then…I’m going to see how many times I can bring you to orgasm, and I’m not going to stop until you beg me.

Maybe not even then.

Vi found Mister Beastly looking ridiculous, his giant, furry body perched on a Qlu-sized stool and hunched over a computer monitor in a little room off the garden cavern. Since he hadn’t seen her, yet, she went into Qlu’s quarters and pulled out some of the huge pillows and took them back to him. He was happy to see her, and delighted with the pillows, which he used to create a nice little seat and backrest against the wall that still had him at the right height for the monitor. He was enormous, nearly still eye level with her as she stood and regarded him. She gazed into his cat’s eyes and smiled.

“Whatcha doin’ in here, Mister Beastly?”

He pointed at the monitor, then made a swiping finger motion in the air, and the screen changed. It showed a vertically divided picture, a line down the middle. One side had characters from the standard notation, the other side was blank. The whole screen was blue. He pointed at the side with the characters, and the computer said “blue.” Then Mister Beastly made a growling sound, and the empty side of the screen shifted at the same time she heard a bing sound. Then Mister Beastly pointed at that side of the screen. Vi heard the computer repeat the growling sound that Mister Beastly had just made.

She looked at him in open-mouthed wonder, “You’re making a translation of your language?!” Vi clapped her hands and threw her arms around his neck. “I can’t wait to talk to you!”

He patted her back and when she pulled back, he smiled at her. Then he made a motion in the air that produced a new screen, empty of images, colors, or notation. He activated the left side then pointed to the script on her left breast. She looked down, remembering that Bobby had stenciled her name there in phonetic characters.

She said, “Violet.”

Then Mister Beastly growled, “Aye” and the screen binged again.

He pointed to himself, and Vi said, “Mister Beastly.”

He made a strange series of glottal sounds and the screen binged again.

“That’s your name?” She tried to reproduce the sound but did a terrible job. Mister Beastly looked amused, then pointed at the left side of the screen and the computer played back Vi’s voice saying, “Mister Beastly.”

“Yeah, OK, point taken. You don’t want me butchering your name.” She gave him a chagrined smirk and he patted her on the head in the fatherliest gesture she had experienced since losing her own. Tears threatened behind her eyes. She wrapped herself around Mister Beastly’s huge bicep and hugged it, which was easier than trying to get her arms around the beast himself.

“Do you understand me, Mister Beastly? Or Acken? Or the Trallians?”

“Yes,” he growled, in English, tapping his ear.

It took her a minute to process her shock. “Your translator knows Garoxian? And translates the other languages for you?”

“Yes.”

She mused, “It must have been modified on your planet, then, since no one else has your language available. Can you take the translator out and just load it into the computer, so you don’t have to do this word-by-word?”

“No.”

Just then two Trallians entered the room, toting between them a huge half-barrel sized container of live fish in water. Mister Beastly growled.

Vi smiled at the terrified Trallians and said, “That means ‘thank you’ in his language. Don’t be afraid.”

They looked at her in shock and, when Mister Beastly said, “Yes,” swiveled their heads around to him in total astonishment.

Vi kept nodding, “He’s very grateful that you’ve provided him with this food, and so am I. Thank you from me, as well.”

The Trallians just gaped and slowly backed out of the room.

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