“Cai!” Nyx hisses as they wake from VR, “Yer not gonna be runnin’ from that!”

  Cai takes off his VR ring, “Yeah… What can I say, I like well-endowed women.”

  Nyx crosses her arms, “No men were bein’ there either. Yer bein’ sleepin’ with that whole dum place?”

  Cai shakes his head, “Sex is password locked on the Donati’s VR because people abused it too much. The only one who knew the password disappeared with Earth. So no, no sex.”

  Nyx wonders why she’s so angry. The men of the Az Gaper slept with women all the time, so it’s not like she didn’t know men liked that kind of thing, even if she wanted nothing to do with it herself. Mostly because if she did, she worried the men would think she was open to it and try to get her to do it with them, even with the risk of a half-Felis baby.

  “Oh… so then why?”

  “Well, I’m still a guy. Even I like looking at pretty women.”

  Nyx looks down at her chest, “Does that mean… yer thinkin’...”

  “Nyx, no! I think you’re plenty cute. It’s just I have a type… I mean… it’s more about personality, right? Like, if I like a woman it doesn’t matter… well… I guess looks do matter a little. But if she’s got a terrible personality,” gravity slowly returns, showing they’ve left FTL, “I don’t care what she looks like. And those women are just programs. Simulations. It’s just that the Donati learned what women I like and before I knew it, every woman it created was like that, and I obviously didn’t mind…”

  Nyx guessed it made sense, “Hmph!”

  Nyx! Why are you being so hostile?

  Cai chuckles awkwardly, “Anyway, if it bothers you, I’ll have the game use a normal range of women…”

  She puffs out her cheeks, “Just be doin’ what yer wantin’.”

  Cai sighs and gets out of his sleeping sling, “Donati, modify my custom game so the women are naturally sized.” He turns back to her, “And I was married for thirty years, I know that attitude when I see it. You’re definitely not fine with it and… and I think I know why.”

  It surprised Nyx that he actually did it. Normally, people ignored her enough to never notice her feelings.

  Cai stops next to her, “Okay… it’s time to talk to Sandel Colony. Do you want to watch or leave the room? They’re… well… they’re probably going to be pretty hostile, especially if they see you.”

  Nyx’s mood changes immediately, “I’ll be watchin’ but bein’ quiet.”

  She’s still upset at Cai, but she knows how important this is.

  Cai puts a hand on her head, “Listen. All I want to say is that no matter what you saw in the simulation, I think you’re cute too.”

  He gets a distant look and touches the area above his heart.

  “Cai. Yer touchin’ somethin’ under yer shirt.”

  Cai reaches into his shirt and pulls out a necklace. There are two gemstones, one brilliant white, and the other brilliant yellow, “The white one is a diamond made using my wife’s ashes. It’s why I recommended doing it to your friends. It’s…” He clutches it and takes a deep breath, “It’s like she’s always with me, next to my heart.”

  Nyx looks at the diamonds. Cai’s memories of his wife. Did that mean the other was someone else he lost, “What is that yellow one bein’?”

  He shakes his head, “I… It was my daughter Melodi. She died when she was twelve years old. Got hit by a car while coming home from visiting her friends. She didn’t die right away, and we saw her die in the hospital.” He takes the yellow diamond and rubs it between his thumb and pointer finger, “It’s been almost three hundred years, and I still see her hooked up to machines and covered in bandages as if it happened yesterday. Losing Faith, my wife, was hard, but she lived a long life. Melodi… she…” He shakes his head, “Listen, now isn’t the time.”

  Nyx’s anger is now completely gone. He’d lost people he loved too. At his age, it was probably normal but she could still tell it hurt him.

  She then wonders what his daughter and his wife were like. He mentioned having a son too. What was their family like when they were all still together?

  Cai takes a deep breath, “Okay… I better call Sandel Colony. I’m sure they’ve seen us on their sensors by now, and they’ll get testy if we wait too long to contact them.”

  Nyx moves to Cai’s bed. She should be out of sight of the camera from here, “Call those dum Felis hatin’ bustuds.”

  Cai chuckles, “I still can’t get over how silly ‘dum’ and ‘bustuds’ sound as swear words.”

  Nyx scowls, “Just be callin’ the dum colony.”

  Cai sits at the desk, “Donati, send a message to Sandel Colony saying we wish to speak with the governor about an important matter over a secure line.”

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  Nyx says nothing as she waits.

  Cai taps a finger on the desk, “Now we see if they ignore us or have a low-level secretary reply.”

  There’s a reply a moment later, and they hear a woman’s voice, “Donati, this is Sandel Colony, your request is granted. Transferring you to the governor’s office on an encoded channel.”

  Cai presses a button, “Understood.”

  He gives Nyx a nod, and soon the desk’s holo projector comes to life.

  A woman’s face appears. She’s old. Easily the oldest woman she’s ever seen. Of course, Cai was older but had altered genes. And the elderly died before reaching this age in the deep.

  Her face was sharp, and she looked like she perpetually scowled judging by the surrounding wrinkles framing her furrowed eyebrows. Her eyes were brown and had a thing made of glass and metal over them. She had gray hair pulled back in a tight bun.

  The old woman speaks in a voice that Nyx feels fits her age, “Donati, this is Heidi Frommeyu. I’m the secretary to Governor Fenwick. State your business.”

  Cai looks nervous and takes a moment to speak, “Um… I’m Cai Halley of the long-range exploration vessel the Donati. I’ve come here to discuss a matter I’ve… uh… come across. It involves Sandel Colony, but it’s… uh… it’s sensitive and I’m not sure we should… uh… discuss it over even a secure channel.”

  Heidi does something offscreen as he talks, and Nyx sees her eye twitch whenever Cai stutters.

  She reads something: “Cai Halley, captain of the LE Donati.” She looks at him, “You’ve been around for a while, Mr. Halley. I see you were one of the first pilots of the pre-FTL explorers. Test pilot for the first class of FTL explorers. And discovered one of the first terraformable worlds.” She sits back, “But you haven’t been seen since you brought your crewmates back nearly a hundred years ago. Tell me, how could a man who has ignored the plight of his fellow humans for nearly a century have found after returning? And why should we care?”

  Nyx can tell Cai is uncomfortable, “Um… Well… Yeah, I know I’ve been gone a while, but…” He shakes his head, then blurts out, “I found evidence of a group doing genetic alterations and that they are hiding in Sandel Colony!”

  Nyx sighs deeply at Cai’s statement. He’d been so sociable with her. Why was he having such a hard time now?

  The old woman raises an eyebrow, “Mr Halley, I don’t appreciate you wasting our time.”

  Cai rubs his forehead before speaking again, “Listen, I’m worried that the group in question is listening to us. If… uh… if they’ve been here for years, then… Okay, I found one of their test subjects. When I did a DNA test on her to check her health, I found extensive genetic modifications that didn’t exist before Earth disappeared. She was also born on Barnard Station four or five years before the attack there.”

  The woman’s eyes narrow slightly at the mention of Barnard Station.

  Cai continues, “We went there, and with her help we found a laboratory hidden in one of the station’s two hydrogen storage blisters. The group wiped all the computers before they left, but the young woman remembers a scientist mentioning them running to their base on Mars. We did find recordings of the test subjects if you want them as evidence.”

  “Mr. Halley. You come here with some wild claims. We have records of every citizen of our colony, including their DNA profiles. We also closely monitor Mars for illicit activities and would know if anything or anyone was doing anything untoward. However, we will take your records of her DNA and any video you have of the station and potential subjects. If we find it worthy of our time to look into this, we’ll get back to you.”

  Cai nods and glances at Nyx, “Got it. Donati, send Nyx’s DNA profile, the nursery video logs of Nyx and her siblings, and the recording from my suit of our time in the Barnard Station’s secret lab.”

  She looks at something offscreen again, “We’re getting them now, Mr. Halley.” She leans forward, “And may I speak with this ‘Nyx?’”

  Cai glances at Nyx, “What do you think?”

  Nyx flattens her ears. This woman makes her nervous, “I’ll do it, goddum it!” She breathes.

  Heidi does something off-screen as Nyx walks behind Cai, “Yes… Known pirate and part of the Brown Beard crew aboard the Az Gaper.” She scoffs, “Pirates and their terrible naming sense…” She looks at Nyx, her eyes lingering on her ears for a moment and a slight curl of disgust barely noticeable, “A Felis. One of the last pure-blooded ones. But if you’re right and someone is making more… Her records start shortly after the Barnard Station attack fifteen years ago. No known parents, and appeared three to four years old.” She looks up, “This aligns with your story. If there was a secret group growing Felis children, it would explain why we have no records of her before then.” She looks directly at Nyx, “Tell me what you remember from before your time with the pirates.”

  Nyx is nervous under Heidi’s stare. It’s like the woman is looking through her, “It was bein’ me and seven other Felis kids. They were bein’ my siblings. We were doin’ dum tests and were gettin poked and bein’ scanned. When the pirates were attackin’, I was runnin away and the cap’n took me.”

  She nods, “I see. And the other children?”

  The memories of her siblings floating in the room return to her mind, and she feels her ears fold back.

  Cai cuts in before she can answer, “Disposed of during the attack. The videos we sent show them when we found them, and the act itself.”

  Nyx didn’t remember seeing the recording of her siblings’ deaths. She had checked the end, but it didn’t show that.

  Heidi pauses as she watches something, then her face grows dark, “We will have the video analyzed to ensure it’s not a deep fake. If it’s legitimate, then we will go from there. If it’s fake, we will blacklist you from all future communication. Sandel Colony, out.”

  The hologram blinks out as the call ends.

  Nyx turns to Cai, bristling, “What the spark! Why were you keepin’ me from knowin’ there was video of… of…”

  Cai pats her head, “Of your siblings being executed? Do you really want to see that video? If you really want to watch it, I won’t stop you, but yeah, I had the Donati hide it from you.”

  Nyx grits her teeth and folds her ears back, “Goddum it!” She takes a breath and tries to relax herself, “Yer bein’ right Cai. I’m not wantin’ to see it right now.”

  She growls.

  Cai rubs behind her ears and it feels so good, “Listen, I’ll make it so you can watch it. I just didn’t want you to stumble on it while you were reliving your memories with them.”

  Nyx nuzzles Cai’s hand, “Thanks. I’m not bein’ ready to be seein’ that.”

  Cai scratches her ears, and she purrs as she continues to nuzzle his hand and climbs into his lap. He really is too good for someone he just met, like her. She hates it that she thinks this, but a part of her still feels that it’s only a matter of time until he betrays her. Ear scratches notwithstanding.

  Had fifteen years as a pirate and four as a test subject really made her so distrustful of people? Why couldn’t there be people out there who helped people just because they could?