Tessa's POV:
As we entered Taureen's home, I eagerly went to greet Mom, Dad, and Dirk – although I kept a careful eye on Soranto. He wasn't going to be sneaking away on me this morning...
Soranto wasn't wearing his armor. As far as I could tell, he was pretending this was a normal day where he left me with Taureen. The thought of him leaving for the day didn't bother me too much – nothing like the thought of him leaving me here for the night did. The chance to see where he worked was too tempting to pass up though.
It was probably going to create another new trend in our schedule, although I could let him sneak out successfully next time. Maybe. It depended on how interesting his job was.
Soranto finished talking with Taureen and began quietly walking towards the door. Aeria watched in amusement as I aborted my landing on the end table and took off after him. Just before he reached the door, I landed on his shoulder pad and trilled innocently at him. I perked my ear tufts up and tilted my head cutely, trying to charm him into letting me come.
Taureen appeared in the hallway behind us. "Do you have everything you need?"
"I packed the normal supplies as a precaution. Well, Tessa, you are going to be in for a surprise today..."
I stood up straighter and chirped happily. This was quite promising; everyone was taking this right in stride without a comment. Even Soranto wasn't trying to make me change my mind.
"Call if you run into any issues, although it will probably be easier to contact Aeria today if you need to meet with someone."
Soranto nodded. "I will, although I don't think I will have any trouble."
It was almost strange to leave Taureen's house and not see any of the guards waiting along the sidewalk for us. A small shuttle dropped down onto the street beside us, and we got inside.
It quickly sped off into the air and brought us to our destination. The building seemed plain enough, although I could see a lot of strange machines in the parking lot beside it.
As we went inside, several Kymari did double-takes when they spotted me. I briefly wondered what life would be like if our scales were camouflaged browns or greys instead of such bright colors. It would probably make a lot of things much easier.
"Your little friend decided to tag along today?" a woman asked.
"Seems that way. It could become a frequent occurrence."
"I can't see anyone here complaining about a bond animal's presence."
"They would just be wasting their breath if they tried."
She chuckled and waved him towards one of the doorways. "Get going. There is a shuttle waiting for you outside in bay five. Take whatever supplies you think you might need."
He went through the door indicated and easily navigated the series of doors and hallways. This place was a complete labyrinth. I had never been in a building this confusing before – not even when we visited Aeria's parents. If Soranto hadn't been walking along without a hint of confusion, I would have been much more worried.
One of the doors finally led us to a room full of equipment. Soranto picked up a large duffle bag from beside the wall before walking up and down the rows as he selected bits and pieces. Some things, like scanners, I could identify. Many of the small pieces were likely replacement parts or other tools.
The bag was mostly full by the time we left the room. After more hallways and junctions, we exited the building.
"Huh," Soranto murmured. "A private express shuttle. They must really want that spaceship fixed."
Soranto got into a small, sleek shuttle meant for long distance travel. It quickly gained altitude and began flying much faster than any shuttle I had ever been in before.
Soranto chuckled as I gazed out the window with wide eyes. "With luck, the Captain will lend us this shuttle for our trip home. Don't get too used to it. This type is primarily used for space travel between spaceships and other planets."
I flicked an ear back at him, but didn't look away from the swiftly passing scenery. It made me wonder how fast spaceships could go. How far was it between planets? I didn't know, and the Blood Memories didn't put things into relative terms. There was a lot of distance between them, though, and this planet was unusually remote.
Leaning closer to the window, I could see that the ground was getting closer. Much closer. This shuttle had better slow down before it tried landing or it was going to resemble my first flight.
Buildings suddenly appeared below, and our speed dramatically decreased. We weren't nearly as low as I had expected, but now I could see we were heading towards a huge spaceship that was sitting on the ground just outside the city.
The shuttle slowed more, then twisted while dropping almost straight down. It landed with precision beside the ramp. I flexed my fingers and toes, only now realizing that I had been digging my claws into the shoulder pad rather hard.
As we exited the shuttle, two Kymari were walking down the huge spaceship ramp to meet us.
"Glad you could make it, Soranto. Who is your little friend?"
"Hello, Vrake. This is Tessa. She is currently in a transition phase, and she insisted on coming along this morning."
"I've heard a lot about their potential. Any fire lizard is always welcome aboard. Let's see if the two of you can get this warship space-worthy again."
"The mainframe would be a good place to start. I want to see if I can get the unusual readings to appear on a few different testers."
"Right this way."
The two continued talking as we walked up the ramp and down a lot of hallways. I examined the hallways in keen interest, although I wasn't seeing much difference between this ship and the training rooms.
To be fair, there were no hidden traps, and I seriously doubted I would find any trace of a crawler or sicora on this spaceship. We passed a surprising number of Kymari, all of whom had armor and weapons.
We entered a large room that was different from any other I had seen before. At least a dozen Kymari were sitting in chairs in front of massive desks with hundreds of buttons and controls. I gawked at the strange projections above each desk.
The Kymari occasionally touched parts of the light, causing them to brighten, before the image changed. How they passed through parts of it to reach other areas behind was fascinating. Not only did they have the controls on the desk, but they also had the three-dimensional light one as well.
Soranto ignored them as he went to a desk along the wall and put his bag on it. Kneeling down, he pried off a few panels on the side and began hooking up some of the stuff he had brought with him.
He looked over at the other people sitting at the desks. "I want to see how many systems are affected. Power to shields, please. Without activation."
One of the Kymari touched a few buttons.
"Thanks. Activate upper portions of the shields if it's safe. Okay, it looks like the shields aren't affected. Power to weapons, without activation."
