RP Adventures of the Tar'Vas Siblings

Remi Pilea lead the twins through the Lamingoa'kas and stopped in front of a door. She turned to the Neshaten."This is the Tin-Ta'a's cabin. He felt that this was a more casual place to talk."

She pressed the call button on the intercom, "Sar, Remi here with our two visitors. Are you ready to receive them?"

A deeper voice came across the intercom. "Thank you, Kindly send them in."

Remi pressed the door control. "I'll be waiting for you here You may enter." she said motioning for them to enter.

Bar'del glanced at her brother before smiling and walking through the door, she was confident with the whole of the situation. Her brother Zu'Rel was far less so. It could have been his training, or just his untrusting, suspicion nature, but he followed just a hair behind his sister with his hand laying loosely over the pummel of his sword.

"Hello" The older sister chimed out smiling brightly at the commander of the ship.

Qaehi stood by the small table in the room. The 2.1 meter tall Qaktoro had brown fur with white stripes. He acknowledge the two with a slight nod of his head. "Greeting. Please take a seat." he said to Bar'del. He looked at Zu'Rel and more importantly where his hand was. "I do not know about your customs, but here it is considered rude to enter a person's personal space with a hand on a weapon."

Glancing at her brother Bar'del glared at him and shook her head. "Please forgive my brother he forgets from time to time he isn't in the military anymore." she turned back and smiled to Qaehi, "old habits die hard for him, I think he still sucks his thumb at night too..."

Grumbling a little Zu'Rel crossed his arms over his chest and tried to salvage what little bold stance he could possibly have with the Commander with his sister belittling him so.

Qaehi let out a deep bass chuckle, "You do well to your family's honor to be protective of your sister. But we are here to be parlay, so weapons are not necessary." he took a seat and spoke "Lights 25% power, let's make our guests comfortable Safti."

The lights in the cabin dimmed to a much lower level, and the sounds of life system switched to the night sounds of a forest.

Zu'Rel bowed his head a little acknowledging the point before slipping into a seat. even with the lights dimmed he never took his light vision glasses off, instead his eyes just adjusted. It was a habit he had picked up in his training, it allowed for seeing in even lower light then most of his colleges.

The sister on the other hand pulled her's down around her neck as if it was a scarf. "Thank you very much, and the sounds are so lovely on your ship."

In the lower light a small holographic display showed several felines, some with Qaehi and some without. It was easily to see this was probably family.

"I prefer the night sounds of the woods. They remind me of home and my family." he picked up a glass of water on the table and took a drink. "Remi explained that you are looking for passage to another world. She mentioned working passage to be precise. Do you wish to go to a Clan world or would you prefer we take you to one of the worlds of our allies?"

"We would like to get passage to a world where we can buy a small ship of our own." the brother responded a little more warmly then his actions had first portrayed. "We have a bit of money, and we will be willing to pay for our passage, but working for you all will help us save enough to buy a ship."

The female nodded quickly, "I'm a psychologist, if I can help out here with any of your crew..." She looked at her brother for a moment then more slowly she continued, "We can also tell you more about our people, nothing that will cause them any issues... but stuff that would help with your trading with them."

"That is what Remi had relayed to me. Such information would be worth more than just your passage, so you would wind up with gold Odawinai in your pockets as well. So we are looking at a trip to the Amatai Star Empire. I have several shipment containers bound for there. Trade information will be extremely valuable. It will help us make more profitable trades." He picked up a datapad and looked at it for a moment. "Our next stop is one of our colony worlds. Which will give you a chance to see some of our culture? After that we will be heading to the Amatai capital. They have several sky harbors and you should have no problem with purchasing a vessel."

He took another sip of his water, "Although there will be one more urgent matter that we will need to address. Which is ensuring that you can consume our food stuffs safely?" He turned towards the intercom. "Safti, contact the embassy and see what they have on compatibility."

He looked back at the two twins. "Unless you have tha kind of information from your medical training." he said to Bar'del.

Digging in his pocket the retired Intelligence officer pulled a candy bar looking item from his pocket. "We brought a lot of these, We hoped to have enough to make it until we can get our ship and restock, but you person that brought us aboard said that they have been told the food is fine, but the alcohol might be an issue to be careful about."

"Ah that makes things simpler. That looks like our emergency rations. Most of our food is not processed, but prepared as needed. If that is like our rations, the food should be a much better experience." he said with a chuckle.

"It tastes like fiber-packing, chews about as easily." Bar'Del chimed in with. "I think we can risk your foods if it is alright. My brother thinks that if it is good enough in the field it is good enough elsewhere, but I couldn't even choke it down in basic training..."

Rolling his eyes under his goggles Zu'Rel groaned, "It is perfectly edible... Just need to drink something with it."

"Our survival instructors, consider Giana'alio to be one of the best motivators for students to learn to forage. Mind you its edible, but there is nothing to sink ones teeth into."

Qaehi stood up, "Well, then it is now a simple matter of adding you to our roster, we will pay you folks 42 OW each per week. Remi will give you each a datapad translated into your language about ship operation, and other relevant information. She will also see to arranging quarters."

"Sir.. um.. how long will we be traveling? and how much is 42 OW?" Zu'rel asked, his sister embarrassed of him asking such a rude question as money.

"The exchange between our people is even, so 42 OW would equal 42 RN. Depending on the market and traffic. We should make Amatai in 6 weeks." Qaehi replied.

Remi Pilea lead the twins through the Lamingoa'kas and stopped in front of a door. She turned to the Neshaten."This is the Tin-Ta'a's cabin. He felt that this was a more casual place to talk."


She pressed the call button on the intercom, "Sar, Remi here with our two visitors. Are you ready to receive them?"


A deeper voice came across the intercom. "Thank you, Kindly send them in."


Remi pressed the door control. "I'll be waiting for you here You may enter." she said motioning for them to enter.


Bar'del glanced at her brother before smiling and walking through the door, she was confident with the whole of the situation. Her brother Zu'Rel was far less so. It could have been his training, or just his untrusting, suspision nature, but he followed just a hair behind his sister with his hand laying loosely over the pumel of his sword.


"Hello" The older sister chimed out smiling brightly at the commander of the ship.


Qaehi stood by the small table in the room. The 2.1 meter tall Qaktoro had brown fur with white stripes. He acknowledge the two with a slight nod of his head. "Greeting. Please take a seat." he said to Bar'del. He looked at Zu'Rel and more importantly where his hand was. "I do not know about your customs, but here it is considered rude to enter a person's personal space with a hand on a weapon."


Glancing at her brother Bar'del glared at him and shook her head. "Please forgive my brother he forgets from time to time he isn't in the military anymore." she turned back and smiled to Qaehi, "old habits die hard for him, I think he still sucks his thumb at night too..."


Grumbling a little Zu'Rel crossed his arms over his chest and tried to salvage what little bold stance he could possibly have with the Commander with his sister belittling him so.


Qaehi let out a deep bass chuckle, "You do well to your family's honor to be protective of your sister. But we are here to be parlay, so weapons are not necessary." he took a seat and spoke "Lights 25% power, let's make our guests comfortable Safti."


The lights in the cabin dimmed to a much lower level, and the sounds of life system switched to the night sounds of a forest.


Zu'Rel bowed his head a little acknowledging the point before slipping into a seat. Even with the lights dimmed he never took his light vision glasses off, instead his eyes just adjusted. It was a habit he had picked up in his training, it allowed for seeing in even lower light then most of his colleges.


The sister on the other hand pulled her's down around her neck as if it was a scarf. "Thank you very much, and the sounds are so lovely on your ship."


In the lower light a small holographic display showed several felines, some with Qaehi and some without. It was easily to see this was probably family.


"I prefer the night sounds of the woods. They remind me of home and my family." he picked up a glass of water on the table and took a drink. "Remi explained that you are looking for passage to another world. She mentioned working passage to be precise. Do you wish to go to a Clan world or would you prefer we take you to one of the worlds of our allies?"


"We would like to get passage to a world where we can buy a small ship of our own." the brother responded a little more warmly then his actions had first portrayed. "We have a bit of money, and we will be willing to pay for our passage, but working for you all will help us save enough to buy a ship."


The female nodded quickly, "I'm a psychologist, if I can help out here with any of your crew..." She looked at her brother for a moment then more slowly she continued, "We can also tell you more about our people, nothing that will cause them any issues... but stuff that would help with your trading with them."


"That is what Remi had relayed to me. Such information would be worth more than just your passage, so you would wind up with gold Odawinai in your pockets as well. So we are looking at a trip to the Amatai Star Empire. I have several shipment containers bound for there. Trade information will be extremely valuable. It will help us make more profitable trades." He picked up a datapad and looked at it for a moment. "Our next stop is one of our colony worlds. Which will give you a chance to see some of our culture. After that we will be heading to the Amatai capital. They have several sky harbors and you should have no problem with purchasing a vessel."


He took another sip of his water, "Although there will be one more urgent matter that we will need to address. Which is ensuring that you can consume our food stuffs safely." He turned towards the intercom. "Safti, contact the embassy and see what they have on compatibility."


He looked back at the two twins. "Unless you have that kind of information from your medical training." he said to Bar'del.


Digging in his pocket the retired Intelligence officer pulled a candy bar looking item from his pocket. "We brought a lot of these, we hoped to have enough to make it until we can get our ship and restock, but you person that brought us aboard said that they have been told the food is fine, but the alcohol might be an issue to be careful about."


"Ah that makes things simpler. That looks like our emergency rations. Most of our food is not processed, but prepared as needed. If that is like our rations, the food should be a much better experience." he said with a chuckle.


"It tastes like fiber-packing, chews about as easily." Bar'Del chimed in with. "I think we can risk your foods if it is alright. My brother thinks that if it is good enough in the field it is good enough elsewhere, but I couldn't even choke it down in basic training..."


Rolling his eyes under his goggles Zu'Rel groaned, "It is perfectly edible... Just need to drink something with it."


"Our survival instructors, consider Giana'alio to be one of the best motivators for students to learn to forage. Mind you its edible, but there is nothing to sink ones teeth into."


Qaehi stood up, "Well, then it is now a simple matter of adding you to our roster, we will pay you folks 42 OW each per week. Remi will give you each a datapad translated into your language about ship operation, and other relevant information. She will also see to arranging quarters."


"Sir.. um.. how long will we be traveling? And how much is 42 OW?" Zu'rel asked, his sister embarrassed of him asking such a rude question as money.


"The exchange between our people is even, so 42 OW would equal 42 RN. Depending on the market and traffic. We should make Amatai in 6 weeks." Qaehi replied.


=====


Three weeks later.


The Lamingoa'kas emerged from the most recent tunnel, and began approaching the Sotâka Ruomâqi. The massive structure grew rapidly as the ship closed. The ship was a speck compared to the mass of the home of the clan. Forty two miles across and the Lamingoa'kas was approaching at a high speed. The ship then started making its approach. Music began playing from the ship speakers; the music playing was the HSC homecoming song. Since the emergence to normal space all of the external view ports were open.


Remi looked at the forward screen on the bridge. "It is good to be back home. I love seeing what our people achieved hanging in space there before us." She tapped a few keys on her console. "Well, we have a buyer for our cargo. At a price higher than we anticipated. Looks like our 'guests' are proving to be worth their passage."


Qaehi looked at Remi, "Yes, Siamaka was smiling on us the day they beckoned. I will be saddened to see them leave. But the insight they have given us will provide us with more profit for a while." he replied.


He picked up the intercom. "Bar'del, Zur'rel. Please come to the bridge."


Qaehi sent a message to the Sky Harbor control, it included their ship's complement as well as their cargo. He also put in a request for standard refurbishment for the ship.




The Siblings were keeping to themselves, when the ship left the tunnel. He had been sitting on the floor sharpening his sword and cleaning his equipment. it was a form of meditation for Zur'rel. With each scrap of his blade along his passed sharpening paper, caused a bit of his nerves to escape, and his tight muscles across his neck letting go.


His sister on the other hand had a pair of headphones on, as Bar'Del tried to shut out his scrapping so she could continue reading the steamy smut novel she had loaded onto her tablet at the last Neshetan station.Not that she really cared for the style of writing or thought it was all that good, but it was a great way to burn some time between little jobs the large felines had her do.


Hearing the Intercom chime with their names, the younger brother took a moment to wipe his blade down with a oiled rag before tossing it onto his sister's face. "Hey they are calling us...: he grinned as his blade slide back into its sheath.


"What the..." Zur'Rel growled before hearing him. "Crap." She got up and quickly tore off her lounging cloths and pulling a spare dress from her bag. "You think we are near one of their worlds?"


Doesn't look like it." He was staring out of the view screen in their room at that huge ship station thing before them. "It is incredibly big... I didn't think people built on this scale..."


Buttoning her dress's top. Bar'Del looked out and let out a marveled sigh. "It is grand... Come on let's not let our host wait." She grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the cabin towards the bridge.


As they walked Zu'Rel fixed his sword so that it hung there correctly. It was item of pride, the blade was a custom job that he himself designed and then helped with the forging. "I wonder what it is?" He asked his older sister as they walked on to the bridge. He made sure his hand wasn't on the pummel of his sword. It was a hard practice to break.


Qaehi turned to the door as the Neshaten entered the bridge. "Welcome, I thought you two might like to see the home for most of the Clan. This is the Sotâka Ruomâqi, or World Station in your language." he said with a warm smile.


Remi motioned for them to move to the front of the ship. "When the exodus arrived here there was nothing here but a dream. It took more than 120 years to build most of the main structure. It is capable of supporting over 1 billion of our people."


"If you like I can probably take you on a tour of some of the main sections." she offered.


"You have that many living there?" Zu'Rel asked, he really didn't believe so many people could live in a build location in space. "that would be something worth the time. How long are you going to be docked here?"


His sister though was busy working on the myriad of problems that would arise having so many people living enclosed like that. There had to have artificial skies and large open spaces where people could feel like they weren't trapped in a metal box n the stars. She had thought about writing a paper on the long term mental health issues when she was still aboard the Gamtrosha. Now though she might have to make her brother travel to different stations and the like to investigate the larger universe's ways of keeping their residence sane.


"No, with the start of colonization, the population has dropped, But then there has always been a certain percentage of our people who spend most of their time on ships. We will be here for four to five days. The ship is going to be refurbished, and our current cargo transferred." Remi replied.


"Then there is the matter of finding some cargo to take to Heart." Qaehi added. "While we are here, you will be my guests at one of the hotels in our city states, Matu'ka upper. it is where I stay when we return. My punla has several homes, and they always offer to let me stay. But I only take them up on that offer it is festival time."


"Also by staying at the hotel, you will have ready access to the many offerings, stores, dining places, art exhibits."


Breaking her thoughts, Bar'del smiled, "That sounds wonderful Thank you!" She figured her brother wouldn't care for the arts, he could always go shopping and see if he could find a few things that would keep them busy for the next leg of their trip. That is, if he could stay out of trouble. "Um.. would there be someone we could bother to accompany us... so we don't get lost or make any social faux pa's?"


"Well, Remi and I will be around. And several of the crew, but most hotels also have services for guests. Those include tour guides and such. And given that now other races are visiting, they offer help with that as well."


Remi paused for a moment, "Well, most likely some of my family will be coming to visit. I could probably ask if one of them would like to show you around. They would have a better idea of some of the newer things." She offered.


Before his sister could thank them and make sure he was escorted, Zu'Rel chimed up, "I don't really think we'll have that many issues. I was trained to be able navigate places..." He didn't continue that part of that training was to infiltrate and not get lost in enemy installations.


"I know but you should take a um.. local along with you to help you find things for efficiently." She tried to convince him, hoping that he didn't accidently cause problems.


"Well, that is an option as well." Remi replied. "At most hotels that accept non-clan members, they will have devices that will translate clan to your language, and also provide a map and directions to anything on the pad."


The ship continued to approach the station and the lighting on the bridge changes. "The Harbor has control of navigation Sar," the ship's Brain commented.


Falling quiet both the siblings didn't want to interrupt after the announcement. They didn't know how the docking systems of the their hosts worked. The brother watched intently how the operation worked, while his sister stood there watching the station grow bigger and bigger in the view screen. She worried how their first adventure on a foreign station was going to go.


Qaehi stood up. "Only military or fighting ships are allowed to approach under their own control. We civilian vessels get brought in remotely. Of course that works out because if they scratch the paint. The harbor pays to fix it." he said with a deep chuckle.


"When you go to leave, I will give you a ship's transfer card. That will allow you to make electronic transactions. I will also give you some spending cash that you can use for incidentals. This will not be coming from your earnings. You are my guests, so it is incumbent upon me to provide for you."


"Please don't feel the need to do that for us." Bar'Del said quickly. "You are doing a lot for us bringing us out of our space and showing us everything that is out here before us."


Her brother quickly agreed. "Plus you have fed us and gabe use such a large cabin. And now putting us up in a hotel. We already are so indebted to you."


Remi shook her head, "First, it is considered rude to decline the hospitality of your host. Just so you know. Second, you are crew aboard the ship, so as such you get food and a cabin. Third, you said you want to purchase a ship once we get to our final destination. Well, if you spend the money you are earning, you won't have enough. Fourth, both the Tin-Ta'a and I enjoy spending our money to spoil people, or on people we feel could use some spoil."


She held out her arms away from her body and bared her teeth, "I stand with teeth bared and arms wide. Which in in our culture means. I speak without deception. So the matter is closed. What you do with the transfer card and cash is up to you. It is not like we are going to hold a weapon to you and say, SPEND." she said relaxing her stance with a grin.


Both of them taking their mild scolding with due humility. "Yes Sir." Zu'Rel got out feeling like he already had screwed up, even though he was just agreeing with his sister. Who on the other hand was making mental notes on how this culture worked and how generous they were.


"Thank you." She said shyly. "you are most kind to your possible future business competitors. Not that we would intentionally attempt to compete with you." Bar'Del smiled "We hope to take long cargo runs to new places each time to explore more."


Qaehi chuckled, "We have a saying when it comes to competition. Having competition ensures one keeps one's claws and teeth sharp. There is plenty of opportunity for making a profit. Those who do not challenge themselves may still make a profit, but they will not maximize the blessings they can earn." He looked at the console. The ship was inside the cavernous docking area and being moved to its berth. "Well you should go and pack what you want to take with you for the next few days. Also when we all disembark, we will pass through Anoka Saalfofi. It is mandatory for all coming aboard the World Station. You've been through it before with the ship. But the station barriers are a bit more potent. Just hold your breath before you step through and you'll be fine."


Nodding, the sibling started off the bridge. Zu'rel paused at the hatchway, "Will I be allowed to carry my sword with me? Or will I have to leave it aboard here?" His hand dropped down to the blade, but not in a threatening manner, but rather one of possessiveness of his blade.


"Most members of the clan carry some sort of blad with them when out in public. So you will fit right in. I'm sure you know how to use it, and drawing a blade with obviously evoke a response depending upon your specific actions." Remi answered..