Distant Stars of Unfathomed Wonder (closed for seraph_nocturne)

[Nouh_Bdee]

With a low whoosh, the doors slid open. The warm tones of the shipboard light lent an almost orange hue to the light gray hair and pale skin of Ambassador Lotine. The woman was in her fifties, and well respected, though her penchant for making trouble for her superiors might’ve been why she had a moderately undesirable position such as Ambassador. Nevertheless, she greeted Tiare with a warm smile.

“I appreciate you being willing to consider coming on as temporary personal protection.” She leaned back in her chair and cupped her chin in the claws of one slender, graceful hand. “It’s hard to find someone with your experience willing to take such an extended trip off-world.”

A steward brought over a tray with two low tumblers filled with bouldermelon wine poured over a few ice cubes. The sweet, fermented pink juice looked nothing like the ugly gray fruit it came from, but it was a delicacy found on the light side of Magna Vox. Lotine thanked the steward and took a sip while her tail idly flicked back and forth.

“Remind me your name, if you don’t mind. Miale, was it?” Lotine’s smirk might’ve suggested that she knew it wasn’t Tiare’s real name, but she wasn’t pushing.

The lounge was quiet; a small room on the diplomatic vessel. The ship was fast, one of the felai’s fastest, but even so Ambassador Lotine was right: it would be a long trip for a felai. It would take only a few hours for the currently docked ship to get far enough away from Magna Vox to start its jump, and less than a day to jump to Earth, even if they needed multiple jumps. But, this was the most momentous diplomatic voyage of felai history, and who knew how long it would take to reach an agreement with the humans? Ambassador Lotine would need personal protection for the duration of the talks, and with a new director of security for the Office of Ambassador that looked a little fuzzy on the ears for Lotine’s liking, she wanted to outsource it to a contractor.

At least the humans had shared their AI Translation Implant technology, otherwise this whole ordeal would be interminable.

“So, how can I convince you to take the job?”

 

[SeraphNocturne]

The lengthy, thick silvery-blonde locks of Tiare’s hair were tamed and french-braided to drape over her shoulders, with her snowy ears tipped in black disrupting the neat, professional appearance. She wore the same sharply pressed charcoal jacket and slacks that marked felai spacefarers while docked in orbit or stationed on Magna Vox, sans the pendant along her breast designating any noticeable rank. Her lightweight silvani armor was already in processing to be stored aboard the ship. Well before her meeting with the Ambassador, she made up her mind… much to the annoyance of her youngest brother, Atuzen, who’d lost a bet amongst her brothers in regards to who’s turn it would be to oversee her wander-lust habits. She was going on this voyage; her sisters, brothers, and the Dana herself be damned.

For once it seemed asking forgiveness for it would be far better than asking permission.

It had been nothing short of impossible and months long pleading to convince the Monarch and Council to grant her permission to undergo travels to their nearest neighboring planet of Delov for trade-talks and to discuss amongst them the knowledge they had of the exploration habits of man-kind. It had come with marvelous discovery, watching the violet hued planet even from orbit and encountering the Golori had only instilled in her a greater desire to experience the cosmic world to the fullest. She waited now with butterflies dancing about her stomach, until the rapid shifting of the vessels doors announced at last Ambassador Lotine finally arrived.

She was older than Lotine by several centuries, yes, though it was always impossible to tell. Age was difficult to note among felai beyond physical maturity, their way with words or behaviors were really all that gave that away. Perhaps age was almost as hard to gauge a felai’s gender for that matter, if one didn’t happen to rely on the pheromones of heat cycles—and to lend your senses to that kind of focus to an acquaintance was beyond rude. She feigned the part of young and energetic all the same, rising to stand and bending at her waist as was only respectful as the Ambassador made her entrance. A shy smile pushed onto her lips, the silvery rich tones of her voice echoing her excitement, her wide golden eyes settling eagerly on Lotine with her pupils the size of saucers. Excited was an understatement.

“That’s right, madam Ambassador—Miale ne Vanaesa. My mother designed the earliest of the fleet cruisers. It, ahm… w-well, she was only slightly disappointed I opted for the Military Branch in Aeronautics and Spacefaring, over the Arts. I only figured we have too many artists and hardly enough warriors among the stars.” Tiare’s long tail arched, the sleek furred tip curling into a question mark echoing her energy. What she told Lotine of 'Miale' was certainly true, if such a felai had ever existed. Vanaesa ne Korraine was indeed a pioneer among the A.S. program, but she had dedicated far too much of her long life to space travel, and none at all into rearing kits.

Tiare seated herself casually, gesturing for Lotine to do the same just across from her. “You’ve no need to convince me at all. I’ve waited no small count of decades for this opportunity.” She cleared her throat at that, attempting to word herself keenly, taking the tumbler of bouldermelon wine to sip tenderly as she tried not to betray her experience or truthful identity.

There was no great store of photographs of herself anywhere. Tiare had always avoided the digital captures and she had several siblings both male and female who looked both identical or worlds different than she did; there were no telling traits between them to mark her as sibling nor royalty. One wouldn’t know unless they knew her name, or happened to spend a great deal of time in the Palace in the depths of the Capital City where her youthful likeness was woven into glowing Anor spider-silk tapestries displayed in the great halls.

It was no small surprise that there were few numbers of females of their kind among the space-farers in general, and less of them bothered to rank themselves so lowly as to enlist among the military. Surely she must strike Lotine as eclectic for her life path and choices at the least, but perhaps the young Ambassador would see the curious initiative she showed in it. What use were the cerebral gifts the females of their race were born to if not applied to combat practices or bringing glory and pride to their people?

Ah, her mother might bristle her tail and hiss at her thoughts and insist that she reminded her of the world before the war. Tiare’s ears flickered back a moment in her annoyance before she ripped her thoughts from the disapproval of the Dana, pushing the smile back onto her full lips.

“What I know of humans is that they are… unpredictable sorts. Quite clever, and quite dangerous by that right. That’s rather well known among most of the natives of our star-system, isn’t it? All the more reason to have a capable felai defending you. It would be my honor to accompany you to Earth, Ambassador Lotine.”

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

Ambassador Lotine smiled and nodded. “Wonderful. I hope it’s an enriching experience, in addition to the work. We ship out in the morning, so report back here first thing, with all you’ll need for the journey.”

After some brief business giving Tiare all the relevant information on the job: what they knew about the flight plan and destination, that she would be in charge of the Ambassador’s security, able to make decisions about where they go and who they’re accompanied by, and all the equipment and personnel that would be available to her; Tiare was dismissed.

The next day, she was introduced to the crew, and everything she brought with her was stowed in her cabin. The craft lifted off smoothly, and began the warp process without complication, just as Ambassador Lotine’s official head of security was reluctantly sitting down next to Tiare with information on the human delegation.

“Finally, Ambassador Suarez himself. Apparently he served in their military two decades ago, but that’s quite a long time for their species. He’s not expected to have kept up to date with any kind of combat training.”

She showed her an image of a rotating pinwheel of a space station in orbit around Earth. “This is the UNAS Fleiderburg. It’s the most prominent orbital station in Earth’s atmosphere. This is where the ambassadors will begin their talks. We still have time to send a message if there’s any changes you’d like to request?”