Page 15 of Pirate By Parrot

“I will eat anything you don’t. I require three of these trays as I need more stuff.” She smiled. “They don’t make fruit with extra density.”

Annabelle asked, “You really mean to collect a ransom for me?”

“A reward. I will collect the reward, pay your bill at the Citadel, and then you have a number of places that will do wonders at helping you work through your trauma and become more yourself again.”

Annabelle blinked. “What? I thought you wanted the money.”

“What would I do with money? I can’t settle on any world with normal gravity. I have no idea what species I am compatible with, and I have my bird for company. I am good with Vendari Station. It’s quiet. I can exercise without someone staring at my ass, and Lunar Base sent me all of my favourite music. I am really content here.” She smiled. “I know I look weird, but I really want you to be somewhere and happy. I... know what that kind of trauma can do to a person, and to experience it more than once would send you into a spiral. So, Ves has been looking at Guardian bases and spas since they are closer, and a few look likely as good places to get yourself therapy, healing, and decide on your next move.”

“Just like that?” Annabelle was sipping at her green soup. “This is really good. My compliments, Ves.”

“Thank you, Specialist. Marko and Mel are honest critics.”

Mel chuckled and began to eat in earnest.

Annabelle smiled and continued with the soup, moving on to the bread and then the other dishes. “Why did you turn the gravity down?”

“Because I don’t want my first human contact out here to be in flatland. I need way more gravity than you to function normally.”

She got up and picked up her second tray, putting the firsts in the cleaning slot.

Mel sat and continued eating. “I spend about an hour and a half per day just consuming food. None of the denser offerings sit well with me. Apparently, there are fruits to help with that, but we don’t have them here.”

“Well, if this works, I will help you do high-gravity research.”

“Thanks.”

Ves said, “I can tell her what she needs to know.”

Mel snorted. “But, sometimes, I am in the middle of things before I think to ask.”

“Right. I will have a vessel prepared for you in twenty hours. I have received several answers to our query, but you will be forwarded the reward, and Specialist Norel will have a place to recover on Rai.”

“Why is that familiar?”

A display projected in front of her and Annabelle as an aerial shot went in on a lush green world with minimal tech. When the population was highlighted, Annabelle blinked. “Is that...”

“It looks like a combo of Admaryn and a very powerful species. The pointy ears give the elves away every time. There are two Terrans on the surface, now related by marriage, more or less. One is a Reset like I am, and the other is from the first wave.” The women were highlighted in what were more kimono-like clothing than anything else. Each was standing with a local that had the stamp of the Guardians, and Fade had four children, all grown and standing near her.

“Wow. Those are tall kids.” Annabelle stared. “I have seen a few Terrans with kids but never with them already grown.”

“The file says that Fade’s children are in Guardian training for planetary and extra-planetary defense.”

“What file?”

“Uh... Ves, are you doing that thing again?”

“I am.”

“Oh, Annabelle, you are seeing the image, and I am getting the intel from the files that Ves has accessed. It’s something he’s been practicing.”

“How?”

“Oh, I was lying on the deck, and before they woke me up, he jacked my brain full of implants. It’s an attractive arrangement on a scan. Even Marko thinks so because two of them are hers, but the ones between us are a little awkward and at will.”

Annabelle blinked. “They did what?”

“Ves needed to communicate with me, and I didn’t speak his language, so he had to download mine from my mind. By the time I woke up, I had a headache but was speaking what I thought was English but turned out to be Vendari.”

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