Page 82 of Tis the Season for Tentacles
As we’re finishing up, she pulls out a strange tank and a bag holding water and… a fish?
Felix gasps. “You brought Wanda!”
“Of course, I brought Wanda. There’s no way I was going to leave your beloved pet behind.”
Felix gives her a big smacking kiss on the cheek and grins. “Thank you. You are seriously the best. Just wait until you meet Cosmo. I hope he and Wanda get along.”
“The picture you sent me when we texted the other day was adorable. I can’t wait to make friends with him.”
“We also have many wonderful cats aboard our ship, beloved by Thekmis,” Kheph adds enthusiastically. Today, he’s wearing hisMeowy Catmasshirt and a Santa hat.
Gemma gives him a sincere smile. “That’s cool. I like cats too. We’re pretty much a pro-animal family.”
Finally, we have Gemma’s vehicle emptied of all her belongings, and she leans in to put the key in the ignition, then leaves the door unlocked when she closes it.
“Don’t worry,” she tells Felix. “I have someone coming to pick it up later, and they said they’ll take it with them for good. People will do weird shit to get a good deal, especially on a car these days.”
“You really are on top of things,” Felix marvels. “Nana would be so proud.”
“I think so too.”
We all make our way onto the ship and help Gemma move her things to the room that will be hers.
Luna got it all prepared for her in advance, and I’m not surprised to see she chose the room next to hers.
“I’m right next door if you need anything,” Luna says, licking her lips, which Gemma can’t seem to stop staring at.
Hmmm. I think there’s going to be a lot of love in the air this Christmas season.
We give Gemma a tour of the ship, and she goes into raptures when we get to the medical bay. Sasha stays pressed against Kheph’s side, smiling indulgently while he and Luna spend quite a bit of time explaining all the machinery and equipment to her, most of which is substantially more advanced than what she had available to her on Earth.
But based on her questions, I get the impression that Gemma is a quick study and will no doubt master most of it quite fast.
While she’s chatting away with the others, Felix presses into my side, and I wrap an arm and tentacle around him before leaning down to kiss the top of his head.
“Happy early Christmas,” I tell him. “Was it a good surprise?”
“The best. I never thought…” His voice fails him for a second. “I was really starting to worry we might not be able to make this happen.” He gazes at his sister in gratitude. “She’s truly remarkable, you know.”
“I have gotten that impression, for sure.”
He nods to himself. “Let’s make sure we do all we can to help her adapt and get comfortable. I want her to enjoy traveling the universe with us.”
I study her and Luna, who has inched quite a bit closer to Gemma, her green tentacles straining as they try not to touch the human woman.
“Oh, I don’t think we have to worry about that too much,” I murmur.
Eventually, Khephren informs us that we need to, quote, “get the hell out of Dodge before the Alliance notices us” and we take off.
I can breathe a little easier once we’ve left Earth’s orbit and are heading en route to our next destination.
But then my moment of harmony is shattered.
“It’s time for the Christmas Eve Extravaganza,” Khephren announces with glee. “Let us all adjourn to the movie theater.”
Felix blinks in surprise. “There’s a movie theater on the ship? How did I not know that after all this time?”
I try not to groan, having an awful notion about what thisextravaganzais going to entail.
