Scenes From Space

Chapter Thirty-Nine: A Meal

A light beeping alerted Kuzzon. He waved the beeping away and pulled on a navy formal jacket with orange detailing. He tipped the rest of his wine into his mouth. I did the same and without further words we left his rooms for the dining hall. I didn't even try to keep track of our turns. One, Kuzzon's ship was large. Two, I was busy trying to breathe through my red light trigger.

Kuzzon slowed to a stop before a junction of metal halls. I breathed in heavily and closed my eyes. I let out a breath slowly. I blinked my eyes open. Kuzzon looked ever so slightly anxious around the eyes and like a confident Prince everywhere else.

"You good?" I asked.

He nodded. "You?"

"Almost never," I answered with a nervous laugh. He nodded again and we turned left at the junction which led us to a short hallway with see-through, double doors and the end. The doors were opened from the inside by two Waseatryn staff.

The dining room was lavish. There was a huge table in the center, decorated with a red tablecloth and a shimmering orange runner. The plates were the navy of the Collective uniforms and the centerpiece was a cascading bouquet of blue and silver flowers. There were four staff in the room: two doormen and two waitresses. The waitresses were human. I relaxed my face after it tightened. A waitress with a long blonde braid carried over a tray with glasses. Kuzzon took two off the tray, handed me one and directed me over to where his crew was standing in a casual semi-circle.

"Crew," Kuzzon greeted. "This is Representative Guinevere, please treat her as the exchange deems appropriate.

"Representative, this is Nartayah, Heatheroon, Jein, and Fuhnereen," Kuzzon introduced.

"It's great to put names to faces," I said with a smile and a polite nod. Nartayah was the Waseatryn girl that I previously shot. Heatheroon was the girl with a tail. Jein was the furred Waseatryn man and Fuhnereen was the non-furred man. They nodded back to me.

"Prince," Nartayah began. "The Commander is set to arrive shortly. The kitchen has prepared a four course meal of small tasting, vegetables, roast, and sweets. The meal will be served with the traditional Waseatryn wine Kiruk. If there is anything that you'd like to change, now is the time."

"Thank you, Nartayah," Kuzzon said. "Unfortunately, I cannot change that this meal has to happen at all so let's just rush through the meal as quickly as we can." I hid my smile behind my glass and watched as Kuzzon's crew expressed their humor with smiles or light snickers.

One of the doormen cleared his throat so we all turned to the door to wait. I gripped my glass a little tighter. The Commander appeared behind the glass doors. And fuck shit, fuck. I reached up and pulled the elastic from my hair quickly. I shook out the braid. Kuzzon glared at me.

Commander Zymerian walked through the open doors. That purple-skinned, four-eyed bastard. 'Don't go anywhere, don't go anywhere, don't go anywhere' repeated in my mind hissed in his hauntingly nasal voice. I swallowed as the present came back into focus.

"And, of course, Commander, you've caught us in the middle of an exchange," Kuzzon said. I forced a polite smile onto my face despite my reluctant cheeks. What did Kuzzon call me earlier? A consummate professional. That was me. A consummate professional.

"This is Representative Guinevere," Kuzzon introduced. "And Representative, this is Commander Zymerian."

"A pleasure," I lied with a nod. I glanced away at the table to see the waitresses setting up the first course. Kuzzon gave Nartayah a look and she quickly diverted the Commander's attention and led him over to the table.

"So, you took out the braid I specifically asked for," Kuzzon whispered. He put a light hand on my back to lead me to the table.

"I am familiar with the Commander's tastes and I don't want them to apply to me," I whispered back. Kuzzon pulled out a chair for me and I slid in gracefully. Kuzzon took his seat at the head of the table with me to his right and the Commander across from me. Nartayah was beside the Commander with Jein beside her. Next to me was Heatheroon followed by Fuhnereen. On the plate in front of me were four sushi-like things. I looked back over to Kuzzon to wait for him to either speak or take the first bite.