FALAHA'S JOURNEY Into Pleasure | 18+

2. FALAHA

The general meeting with the Rjg and the High Command, the longest one prior to the major kennar Gathering that happened once in many years, was over and I was heading to drop some items on Gal Runagh before catching up with my spouses at BIOME. The last two weeks had been extremely full for us three: a lot of preparation before the Gathering and other issues to sort out before our ship left Kan Diona.

I didn't take my father's place in Defense, though he was well into the thirteenth year of his fifty-year penalty. Instead, I acquired my own Seat for the Explorer branch, and it was my second year on the job. However, Father continued his involvement with the High Command indirectly, from the shadows, being too valuable a person for the Rjg to dismiss easily. Civil Defense and Emergency Corps sure have grown in numbers in the past years, much more than Explorer and Research branch. Yet the latter didn't shrink compared to the pre-war period, which was a good sign.

My brother had been accompanying me instead of the Eaters today, at their request, yet no matter how protective and loving my little Ainne was, I was at my limit: I would absolutely plaster his mouth with tape to stop him from calling me Shorty at every corner. He adored that word, standing a couple of heads and more taller than me while being six years younger. I had grown a bit taller, probably reaching my terminal height by now, but so had he, and he still has years of sprouting ahead!

Ainnean and I were approaching my ship's active transport gate when we heard noises from people furiously arguing over something, and eventually we saw what I had been observing since it had begun: another reason to pay a prompt visit to my ship and sort things out.

Leru and Neve were warding off a large and loud Danna man in his attempts to enter Gal Runagh, stating that he had business with this ship's Commander. The man seemed more or less courteous at first, but when my crew continued to reject his demands, he began downright harassing them. That didn't intimidate Leru or Neve, however, and both held their ground, giving him a taste of his own broth. Both parties appeared equally skilled at name-calling, but Medan slang was so inappropriately perfect for this task, it made me and Ainne grin at the sharp-tongued regnas who stubbornly refused to cut the guy some slack, infuriating him further. The hot-headed intruder didn't see me approach and stop a few steps behind him, barely holding back from kicking him in the sack. The women saw us but didn't give away our presence.

My recognition system gave me the name and status of this heinous, foul-mouthed creature in worn underwear and flip-flops: Wardan Breannhenn, at the ripe age of seventy-three. His father's warship had been undergoing maintenance since last week several shipyard blocks from mine. Breannhenn was a big and powerful kennar on a par with Korredhann, and Wardan turned out to be the eldest son of their current Head. He hadn't come alone and from where we stood I could see his people at my shipyard block's entrance, diverting the Peacekeepers' attention from the commotion up here. Sleeping Baro, the two Medan women, and Tagai with his and Leru's small daughter were the only people present aboard Gal Runagh at this time. No wonder he hadn't properly been shown to the exit. Yet my interference wasn't necessary, since Tagai, annoyed by this rude male, stepped out of the ship to back up Leru. It was our Baal's emergence that gave the harasser second thoughts and me a perfect chance to get rid of him fast, before the situation got out of hand.

Signing my brother and Tagai to stay put without a word, I summoned several Peacekeeper units. High-status or not, the trespasser had no appointment with me, he was being disrespectful to my extended household members who were also my crew, and he was blocking my way. To my ship.

To my pleasure and to the women's relief, he was harshly escorted out within a couple of minutes. Yet he wasn't apologetic. He even continued shouting threats, now at me—threats that sounded like an awful attempt at courtship, and which included but were not limited to me 'needing a good, mature man to put a young woman like me into my place'—until the Peacekeepers had to revert to bloodless violence to shut him up. I shrugged and reminded him that I was exactly where I belonged and it was he who had found himself in the wrong place, so these friendly Peacekeepers were kindly helping him to find his way back. My ship was docked at the Falgh-Fargann port-side of Kan Diona. His family's shipyard space began further down the way.