Imperial Orders

♕The Ship♕

Tuofah decided that it was best not to express her suspicions for the moment. 

After all, there was no telling what the boy was doing in his secret room. For all she knew, she was on a spaceship with a dangerous criminal. 

Possibilities swam her mind as she followed Nut through the scratched-up wooden door. 

Was he a drug dealer? 

An assassin? 

A Djaren? 

The final prospect scared her the most. After all, it fit the situation almost perfectly. Although they had been defeated in the Celatysian War and the Emperor and his Ministers had assured the people that they were no longer a significant threat, it was common knowledge that groups of Djareny still prowled the cities of Homina, committing petty crimes and occasionally kidnapping humans.The Djareny were taller and more slender than their human neighbors, and were known to be deceptively wealthy. This would explain both the boy's appearance and his ability to so freely give out a hundred thousand Marks to a wanted Tactile. 

The Djareny had also developed the technology to hide their telling horns while among humans, and usually traveled in small bands of five to ten. 

Did that mean that the Peenutz were Djareny, too? 

Tuofah looked carefully at Nut, unable to believe that the small, wide-eyed girl was a member of the most destructive race in the history of the known universe. 

If she wanted to prove her theory, she would need much more information. It was not yet time to be thinking about it. 

"This is the bedroom," Nut smiled, gesturing to the space around her. Two wiry bunk beds that looked like they could fall apart any second were jammed against one of the walls, and a single mattress occupied the remaining space in the room. Like the hallway they had just exited, every inch of available space was occupied and the patchwork floor was less than beautiful. 

"Nice," Tuofah said weakly, not wanting to hurt the little girl's feelings. She probably wasn't responsible for the appearance of the ship, anyhow. "So, how many rooms are there?" 

"Just three: this one, the cockpit, and the hallway outside, which is where we spend most of our time," she shrugged. 

Either the kid was an incredible liar, or she didn't know about the secret room, either. 

Tuofah wished she could touch Nut's hand and know for sure whether or not she was telling the truth, but that would make it obvious that she did not trust the Peenutz. She could not afford to let the boy know that she was onto him. 

"So, why are you guys called the Peenutz?" Tuofah asked in a feeble attempt to start a conversation. 

"Why not?" Nut shrugged, sitting down on the nearest bed with a bounce.

That certainly wasn't the response Tuofah had been expecting. 

"I don't know...it's just a strange name, I guess. I was just a little curious." 

"Dot named us, when she was five," Nut giggled. "She didn't know how to spell all that well, then. When we first got together, we were just a couple of Reloriose orphans off the street. Hugo wanted us to have a name. He said it'd make us an official group. Naturally, he selected Dot to pick it. She's always been his favorite, you see. He asked her to write down what she wanted us to be called on a scrap of paper. She tried to write 'peanuts,' but she spelled it totally wrong. Hugo thought it was adorable, and just left it the way it was."

"I see," Tuofah nodded slowly, trying to absorb every detail of the Peenutz' history. Any information that was related to them had a chance of being useful in the future. As she filed the facts away for later use, one detail struck her as odd. She recalled the boy referring to the Peenutz as "Koot, Dot, Nut, and Fish." There hadn't been anyone named...

"Hugo?" she frowned. "Who's that?"

"Our boss," Nut said. 

"He told me his name was Arafien Tyllanie." 

"No, it's Hugo Lennez Pearce, and he's delusional," Nut laughed. 

"Nice to know," Tuofah replied. 

"Speaking of names, mine's Naomi Lea." Nut rose from the bed, reaching out to shake Tuofah's hand. "Please, only call me Nut when Hugo's around. I think his little Auricle nicknames are absolutely stupid."

"Sure thing, Naomi," Tuofah grinned, shaking Nut's hand. "And I'm Tuofah Lynnstrijker."