RavensDagger

  Chapter Twenty-One - Daughter of Phobos

  Phobos had always been in a precarious position. The unwanted moon of Mars. The now-rich child, reaping the rewards of long years as an outcast. It was a strange p a no doubt unique position, able to leverage its newly found advantages, but wary of doing too mud earning the attention of the true big pyers in the sor system.

  Ivil couldn't help but wonder if that kind of thing was what enced Aurora to move away from her homeworld. Was she chasing opportunities, or running away from trouble?

  In any case, she imagined she might find out before the end of the day.

  Sonic led the way to the room where the tea party was to be had. She walked with a slight bouo her step. It was hard not to iremely low gravity in the ship. Sonic reached the st bulkhead, then paused before it. "Are you ready, ma'am?" she asked.

  Sonic had already gathered a few things for the ritual. A rge pstitainer filled with water, and a box made of cquered wood with a few inys upon it. No doubt the box was worth its weight in preetals, seeing as how wood was often more precious than gold.

  "I'm ready," Ivil said with a nod.

  The door ushed open, and Ivil sed the room as she e. Aurora was there already, which she'd known for some time. It was hard not to notice the woman, especially as she had a few cores that Ivil could sense.

  The room itself was... nothing too special. It was alongside the cockpit, with another bulkhead door leading into the ship's and room. The front had a narrow but tall window looking out iy space, and the tre of the room had a small, fixed table, surrounded by magised stools.

  "Hello, Miss Sterlingworth," Sonic said as she moved closer to the table.

  Aurora smiled iings. "Hello, Savant Panderghast," she said, addressing Sonic by her title. "And Miss Ville as well."

  "Just Evelyn, please," Ivil replied as she took the stool o Aurora, a hand swipih her legs to adjust her skirt. She was... not fond of skirts, especially in a low-gravity enviro, but she could admit that a pencil skirt did suit her figure.

  Aurora looked at her, then nodded. "Evelyn, then. And of course you'll call me Aurora?"

  "Certainly," Ivil replied. This was goier than she'd feared. At least, so far.

  "I shall now begiual," Sonic said. "Please, feel free to talk and enjoy each other's pany during these early phases."

  "Thank you," Aurora said.

  Ivil nodded along, then watched as Sonic started to withdraw tools and equipment from within her outfit. It rapidly became obvious that she wasn't hiding the fact that she had a number of Cores suitable to the task of either miniaturising items or st them in pocket space. She stared, then o herself. Pocket space, definitely.

  The table soon had a cloth draped over it in the deep red of the Adeptus Ancillia, then several small sets of cutlery were pced before each sitting area. That was followed by a metal pte pced in the tre of the table onto which more items were pced.

  Everything clicked into pce, and it was clear that every item was magised.

  "What sort of tea will we be enjoying?" Aurora asked.

  "Martian Oolong," Sonic said. "Cultivated in the Walking Cathedral of Saint Gee the Dust-Syer."

  "Impressive," Aurora said with the same tone Ivil might expect from a tourist entirely unaware of why something was impressive to begin with. Ivil didn't bme her.

  Sonic pced the st of her things onto the table, then without mup, begaual. It started when she opehat little box and removed a small gss jar filled with loose tea leaves. She extracted three small tablespoons from the jar and pced them within a small stainless taihen she poured some water into aric kettle and hummed while it started to boil.

  Before pg the tea leaves within a sed, gss, kettle, Sonic poured some of the almost-boiling water within it and swirled it about. She then poured the water out.

  "What is that for?" Ivil wondered.

  "I think it's to avoid the ess of the kettle from impag the tea. Essentially pre-heating the kettle," Aurora said. "Or something like that. I'll admit that while I've spoken to several Ancillia, they aren't as on a sight on Phobos as they might be on Mars."

  "Really? I would have suspected otherwise. The Ancillia seem a lot more capable when it es to handling the difficult living ditions of Phobos. Or... pardohe previously difficult ditions."

  Aurora shook her head. "No, you don't o worry so much about that, Miss V-- Evelyn. I'm well aware that Phobos was not alaradise. We still have unfortunate amounts radiation, and the moon's surface is still dangerous. But yes, the Ancillia has always been a boon. They , and do, go everywhere on the moon, and their presence is very wele."

  "But not enough for you to seek out one for a... partner?" Ivil asked.

  Aurora blihen she blushed quite prettily. "Ah, no, not really. I'm a very busy woman, and while the Ancillia is a wonderful group, I 't help but think that they would not be a good fit for me."

  "Oh?" Ivil asked. She gnced over to Sonid leased to hat the maid seemed entirely focused oask. "Why not?"

  Aurora's blush deepened. "They are just so..." she struggled for words. "Different? From most other people. Their minds are different. Not bad, but not the same."

  Ivil had a few choice words about how different someone could be and still be patible, but she held back. "Five me if this is intrusive, but are you married, Aurora?"

  "Not yet," Aurora said. "But there are several suitors ied i's one of the reasons I'm travelling to Callistht now. My father and mother have arranged a few meetings."

  "Ah, I see," Ivil said. She wasn't particurly surprised, nor did she know why she was disappointed. She was aware that the young woman was wealthy and that her family was iial. The thought of an arranged marriage was... She could hardly cim that it was unheard of, but it didn't appeal to her. Ivil reached over aly touched Aurora's shoulder. "You're a very attractive woman, I'm certain the suitors must be cm after you."

  Aurora's blush, which had just been reg, reemerged with a vengeance. Ivil held back a smile. She'd rarely met someone so quick to bee flushed. Most of the people she dealt with were more military minded, where shows of emotion were a weakness. Aurora had all of the trol of a flustered teenager, but Ivil found it rather cute, instead of the annoya usually was.

  The tea was made, and the st of oolong wafted through the air. The ritual tinued, with the kettle and its tents pced on a heatproof pad in the tre of the table, and then a pte was added with some food. Small sandwiches and some tiny pastries, which were all carefully crafted.

  "Thank you," Ivil said as Sonic poured into the cup before her, the on to fill Aurora's and her own. "I don't think I've ever ehis type of tea before. It smells wonderful."

  "The tea be moderated with honey or cream. The honey is imported from Earth, the cream from Luna," Sonic said.

  "No Martian honey or cream?" Ivil asked.

  "They're both inferior," Aurora said. "For all that Mars is a behemoth, there are several things that the world cks. Luxury agriculture is one of those. It's one of the other reasons for my trip to Jupiter's moons."

  "Do they do things better?" Ivil asked.

  "Some things, yes," Aurora said. "A lot of the moons in the sor system find themselves needing to focus on a specifiiche. Making, creating, or processing something uo them that they sell to the rest of the system. Moons ot stand alone, uhe inner ps."

  Ivil nodded along. It wasn't as if Aurora was sharing some amazing new discovery. The truth was obvious enough. The ps had it good, the rest could muddle along. She did appreciate Aurora's willio share her thoughts.

  Across from her, Sonic was sitting, steaming cup pced before her, a small pastry o it. Her hands on her p while she stared. She was very pointedly not moving the doll mask she wore to taste her own tea.

  Ivil took a sip. It was hot enough that it might have burned someone less resilient. "This tastes quite nice," she admitted. "Thank you."

  "You're very wele," Sonic said with a small bow. "I live to serve."

  ***

  RavensDagger

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