The dreaded INBOX
11 Oct 2020Creamy Goodness III
“Yes dear, I’ll come along once I’ve seen if I can find that Ao chap. I’m so happy you’re alright” answered a still dreamy Creamy. He sat up and looked around for Nerys, he was surprised to find himself in his room completely alone. The Doctors’ voice was telling him that she had escaped with Jason and Amata, that’s when he realised Nerys was just a message on repeat. The disappointment was nothing compared to the fleeting moment when he felt he had woken up with Nerys, and knowing she was safe far away from Citi Getaway was very comforting.
“How long have I been asleep Ninette?” asked Creamy while he enjoyed a stretch. A little pain in his knee made him jolt.
“Environ huit heures monsieur” The computer correctly anticipated Creamys’ next question. “Mademoiselle Nymei’s message est arrivé il y a près de huit heures”
“Oh jolly good, she got back to me very quickly” Creamy happily rubbed his hands together “Put some thrust back on please Ninette, I can’t stand dealing with the morning without a bit of gravity”
Once he felt some weight, Creamy got up and dealt with the bathroom routine before putting on the work-out suit that came with the zero-G gym. He noticed his bad knee was still a little swollen, but not as painful now he’d had a proper sleep. Ninette was unable to give Creamy a workout as the new ship didn’t have the bio-monitoring systems installed, so Creamy had to pick his own exercises. The soft patches he had found around his gut neck and legs made Creamy pick cardio; after all, it had been a while since he had access to a gym.
By the time he was on the rowing machine, he was awake enough to deal with the rest of his messages. Ninette had filtered all the junk, but Creamy still had a very full inbox. Having Ninette bin all the party invitations and past flames “just catching up” made what was left of the list was much more manageable. He cringed a little when he saw his mother and farther had each sent a communication, and added their messages to the Later box that he almost never opened. An inquiry from the cruise liner company his neighbour owned piqued his interest.
“Ha! Got an offer to be Entertainments Manager and Evening Show Host aboard a passenger carrier going between the Bubble and Colonia; generous retainer too. What do ya think of that Ninette?” Creamy didn’t wait for an answer. “Send The Bitch of Blades a *Thanks very much, very interested, let ya know soon as* sort of response. That’s one worth keeping on the back burner what?”
”Tout de suite monsieur. Trente-trois minutes avant la période de refroidissement” informed Ninette.
“Half an hour? I was looking forward to stretching out shortly, now this set feels uphill” huffed Creamy “Well, as I got time, maybe we can track down the chap that helped Nerys escape. It seems they mislaid…” Creamy did his best to remember the name of the guy in the big smelly coat and failed. “The little one… He mentioned he had a bolt hole on a carrier don’ch know”
“Le nom du monsieur était Ao si vous parlez de la personne mentionnée dans le message des médecins. Avez-vous d'autres informations que je pourrais utiliser pour vous aider dans votre enquête?” said the computer with the endless patience of a robot.
“Ao! That’s the fella” Creamy let a long exhale flap his lips. “Well it was quite a busy hour or so, I don’t know how much more I can tell you about… him. Umm, he’s a smoker with a big blue coat like the clerics back home, aaand he’s got a thing for bags full of tools. Oh, and he’s alright with manners for a little ruffian type. At least he was far more personable than Amata and .. the other chap was”
Creamy kept rowing while Ninette asked questions designed to help Creamy dig into his memory until she had enough information to start a search that had a good chance of positive returns.
“Ya know, now you mention it.. “ said Creamy in the tone of someone imparting great wisdom “ he did have badges on his coat if that counts for anything? I saw my landladies’ eagle at once, and some other winged thing. They both played second fiddle to a dogs’ head, like a Collie or an Alsatian looking a bit huffy”
By the time Creamy was stretching out with low gravity Pilates, Ninette had plenty of canine and lupine insignia connected with Zachary Hudson and Princess Aisling Duval to show her charge.
“That’s the one” exclaimed Creamy when Ninette displayed a black wolf's head on a blue background. “An angry Alsatian if ever I’ve seen one. Shame it’s not a collie; beautiful animal. Always overlooked for bigger breeds. Well done old girl, I’d be useless without you”
“Il semblerait qu'Ao soit connecté à la flotte spatiale Black Wolf, monsieur. Au moment où vous avez terminé dans la salle de bain, j'aurais dû retrouver l'un de leurs transporteurs s'ils en possèdent un qui se trouvait dans la zone du système Inara”
“Black Wolf? That’s a bit cliché isn’t it? Bah! Who am to judge, I’m not part of a galactic gang with their own carrier; and the chap did jump into the middle of a problem when the doctor and I needed help” said Creamy feeling real gratitude.
He didn’t want to think of what could have happened if no one was there to help at the bottom of the Fairytales’ boarding ramp. Creamy started peeling off his gym kit.
“The steam room is just the thing Ninette. Can you prepare a morning invigoration imbibement for me sweetness?” asked Creamy in the manner of a child asking for a slice of cake.
“Non je ne peux pas. Ce navire n'est pas équipé du matériel nécessaire pour la cuisine ou des extensions logicielles de nutrition” said the computer.
“Oh bugger, I’ll have to make my own drink then. It’s not the end of the stars now is it? I’ve been looking forward to this steaming since I entered that old motel. Can you keep the humidity at seventy percent please Ninette?”
“Non je ne peux pas. Ce navire n'est pas équipé..” Creamy interrupted the Personal Assistant Program.
“Alright alright, I get it. I’ll sort out your missing systems and upgrades once we dock somewhere high tech”
Once Creamy was steamed and cleaned, he made his way to the cockpit to respond to Nerys’ message. On opening the communications panel himself, Creamy saw he still had a few massages to sort. There was a message from someone that had been sent around the time Creamy was running from the Inara system. The sender was not a name he recognised.
“Ninette, can you check this message for .. bad things?” finished Creamy lamely.
“Non je ne peux pas. Ce navire n'est pas équipé du matériel necessaire…” started Ninette.
“Oh come on Ninette! You have to be able.. No no, I’m sorry old girl. Make a note of the systems and software we’re missing and add it to the automatic maintenance request when we dock. I’ll risk this message in case it’s a lead on who is after the Doctor”
Creamy tapped his teeth while he read the message from Ender. He chuckled when Ender asked if he remembered Ellen. Even without the violent attack and interesting way Ellen had chosen to try and restrain Creamy, he would remember her. Creamy even remembered the young woman he was chatting to when Ellen inserted herself into their conversation.
The whole thing sounded like a trap, but there was a chance of seeing Ellen again and she already knew Nerys. If Ender was a friend of Ellens’, she could be reliable support and Creamy didn’t think Ellen was the type to send someone to set an ambush. Ellen would probably rock up and try to take Creamy down with a rusty spoon. Smiling at the memory of his very physical introduction to the Imperial-hating woman, Creamy dictated a message for Ender.
As if I would forget the enchanting Ellen. That fine woman sheared wisdom as well as a memorable embrace. I just so happen to be in an uninhabited system currently. If you would care to come along, I would gladly evaluate your offer.
Regards LCG
“Ninette, send our current location to Ender with that message please. I’ll put a little more distance between us and the drop in point so we have plenty of time to run if Ender is not alone. Now, take another message for Nerys please”
Dear Nerys
I’ll join you at the station you indicated very soon, but first I feel I should try to locate the gentleman that assisted us. One can’t leave a chap out in the cold after he put himself between us and danger.
I’m am gladdened to hear you and the others are unharmed and out of danger. Do endeavor to stay that way and I will see you very soon.
Warmest regards LCG.
Creamy pointed the A Knight of Goodness at the systems distant secondary star and entered supercruise then dropped the drive to half power.
“Êtes-vous prêt à essayer de contacter Ao monsieur?” asked Ninette. Her algorithm had decided there was a high chance Creamy had forgotten he actually needed to try and find Ao.
“Oh yes of course old girl. Have you found anyone from the Space Dogs I can contact to ask about.. .the chap?” enquired Creamy with enthusiasm.
“Ils sont appelés la flotte spatiale Black Wolf, monsieur. J'ai localisé un transporteur, le Bwsf-01 Star Wolf, qui a de fortes chances d'être la base d'opérations mobile de la flotte spatiale Black Wolf. Ce serait un bon point de départ, monsieur.”
“Oh yes, Black Wolf not star dogs, silly me. If you found their carrier, someone on that thing has to know where .. . our man has got to. Open coms to them if you please sweetness, I’ll see what I can find out”
Ninette opened interstellar communications and didn’t inform Creamy that she had added two more items to the automatic maintenance request list. His account was healthy enough to pay for everything so far. A man answered the hail, he sounded quite young and somewhat set upon.
“Greetings commander, you have reached communications aboard the star wolf, what is the purpose of your call?”
“Ar, yes” said Creamy as brightly as he could manage. “I’m looking for …one of your chaps. He’s about that big..” said Creamy holding his hand level with his chest “..Um no that doesn’t help you, I mean sort of nipple high. Ha that’s no good either is it?”
“Err” said the man on the other end of the coms
“No, he’s blond, or maybe sandy. Stinks like an old ashtray thanks to a coat he wears that must have been personally tailored or it would sweep the floor on a chap that close to the ground”
Creamy paused for a moment while did his best to remember Ao’s name, but then another detail came to his mind.
“Oh, he looks like he argued with his wife while she was carving the chicken. Do you have anyone on board like that old boy?”