Flix and Flox prepared to distribute the dreams they had recorded, a moment after getting their bearings from being dumped on the floor, that is.

  Sheena and Bethany both got their own dream, along with the other woman's, in the same ideablast. Gotta give them credit, those two ladies did a swell job of parsing. Bethany took about five seconds, and Sheena seven and a half. Much improved over their first incoming ideablasts.

  Bethany turned bright red from all the Rexes she'd left scatted around both their dreams. "Oh stars and stones! Sheena stop them!"

  But it was too late, the noodly menaces had already bolted out the door. Stun-locking your opponent by forcing them to parse an embarrassing image, classic mind magic move.

  They met the Nuphidri in the hall and let her know what they had learned about their elders.

  "Fascinating." The Nuphidri said, from just outside their room, about ten seconds after she got blasted. She poked her head inside, "Sheena, are you older than me?"

  "Maaaaybe?" Sheena said, voice raising an octave.

  "Fascinating." She had a towel in hand and was headed to the shower before she settled down for a meditation session.

  The Nuphidri don't sleep... exactly. They enter a meditative state of lower brain activity, and sorta zone out for a while. However, unlike humans (and half-elves), they snap back to reality in an instant when their meditation ends, or is disturbed. No groggily coming around slowly, no need for caffeine to get started, just on again.

  Nuphidri turned to leave, but paused and turned back as she continued to understand what she'd been shown. "Bethany, I think your step-mother is actually evil. What with these... revelations, we might have to kill her and her husband."

  "I- uhh... yeah, maybe." Bethany put a hand on the wall to steady herself. Nuphidri might be right.

  "I think, she didn't expect the Pirate Queen to publicly broadcast that she'd enslaved you. Seems to me, we were supposed to die." Sheena said, still trying to force the shirtless greased up Rex from her mind's eye. "I suspect the only reason she bought us all was because of the immense social pressure. Nobility has obligations. Well played, Pirate Queen; we got to live, and become collared adventurers."

  "So, do we kill the current Lady Chiandra to get Bethany back her title and lands?" Nuphidri asked. "Baroness Bethany Chiandra has a nice ring to it."

  "Uhh..." Sheena preferred to have breakfast before she thought about the morality of things. "I think, maybe figuring out a way to expose her. Getting her and her vile husband thrown in jail might be the better move, morally speaking. Also, we're gonna need some serious mind magic training before we face them, I think."

  "Yes..." Bethany clenched her jaw as the unlocked memories she saw on stage integrated into her self. She remembered being attacked. Violated with mind magic. "Step-father, Jahred needs to die. We'll see about step-mother... No, Irena."

  She'd decided to call them by their names from now on; now that she was going to kill Jahred.

  "Let me know the morally acceptable goal after I shower," Nuphidri said, "and I shall help us plan toward that end."

  "Okay... we'll come up with some sort of a plan, after we eat and you shower. See what we can legally accomplish. Maybe Sadao can help us there." Sheena stretched, and stood up, "Let's see what the boys have to-"

  The comm clicked on, there was laughter. Bob and Lucas were in hysterics. Rex, was laughing too, but not quite as hard.

  Eventually the laughter settled, and Bob said, "Ohhh, gracious me. Ladies, thank you so much for the dance of the sugar plum Rexes. I needed that."

  "I'm going to cherish those memories." Lucas tacked on, wiping tears from his face.

  Bethany turned bright red in her quarters; Rex did the same on the bridge.

  "Well, I did warn you all about the dragons," Bob laughed some more, "I am glad to know Sadao the Sorcerer is still alive... though I'm starting to suspect I slept a bit more than a thousand years, he looks old as fuck."

  "Sadao the Sorcerer?" Sheena scoffed, "That old-ass elf doesn't do magic in real life. That was just stress dreaming."

  "Pfft, as if!" Bob somehow blew a raspberry without lips, "That old man is probably the only wizard alive who could stop Yorna in a straight up fight, if she went rogue. Skill beats raw power, if you have enough of the latter to play, anyway. Good thing we already know her True Name, cause even one of you guys could stop her with that... though, not if she got to you first. I cannot believe you guys wander around unMonikered in this age. You know... now that I know Sadao is alive..."

  "Bob, what are you doing?" Lucas asked.

  "Asking for a faster ride, fuck all this slow travel, I know he can pull us in faster."

  "What? No, no, no!" Sheena said, scrambling out of her bedroom and running to the bridge. "I don't want to owe him-"

  "We're being hailed on tight subspace band," Lucas said. "It's Sadao."

  "Wait for me, please!" Sheena shouted as she raced, barefoot to the bridge.

  She arrived on the bridge, still in her pajamas, and Rex opened the comms.

  "Hey, Sadao!" the big man said, "How'd you know where we were to shoot that tight beam? I thought this ship was sneaky? And ain't it real hard to hit a ship at warp?"

  "It is dear, man. Telepathic targeting is still more accurate than any technological wonder in the last few thousand years. By the way, Robert, it has been thirteen millennia, give or take a few human lifespans, since you went to sleep."

  "I was supposed to snooze for one, maybe two millennia! What the hell happened?"

  "Wars, sentient beings being very stupid. A few adjustments to the laws of magic. It's been forever, my old friend, what hasn't happened?"

  "Ah, I see. Fair point. I've missed a lot," Bob said. "Any good TV since I've been sleeping?"

  "Yes," Sadao gave a sensible chuckle. "I'll tell you all about the best stuff you missed, later."

  The dragons floated up into view, looking for someone with hands to pet them. Flox hovered by Sheena's head, doing his best to be cute. Flix did likewise to Lucas.

  "Is that what I think it is?" Sadao asked, and both people reached up a hand to scratch the dragons under their chins.

  "Oh, yeah!" Bob said. "We met the Dragon Scion, her name is Yorna. She and Flux hatched a couple little dudes before he left. I suspect there will be more dragons hatching soon. I do hope you're ready. Ya had plenty of time."

  "I am ready, Robert, for millions of them."

  Sheena opened her mouth to speak, but a sharp look from Sadao told her, 'Adults are speaking. Shush, child.' So she just kept scratching her dragon.

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  "Great!" Bob kept talking, "'cause we set loose the Dragon Scion on the Pirate Queen, and these fine folks think she has a whole clutch of eggs."

  "Oh, splendid coincidence, I've been meaning to end that vile creature's existence... just been a bit distracted with all the golems and other somesuch and stuff that I've been up to. Been trying to figure a way to off her without outing myself, or totally destabilizing the region. She brings a level of horrible order that's better than the horrible chaos before her. Ahh well, guess we're all in for interesting times now. The Space Dragons are returning." Sadao pushed some buttons on his console and said, "Chrysaora, I'm going to open a supra-warp tunnel to you. Do be dears, don't tell anyone I can do this."

  "A what now?" Bethany had reached the bridge too, also still in pajamas. She had a couple snack packs of S-Meat jerky someone had made, and handed one to Sheena, who tossed Flox to Rex so she could eat in peace.

  "Think of it like a extra-long range tractor beam." Sadao smiled... he never smiled. "You'll be here in four hours. Please ensure you're dressed before you come aboard my station. If you have any further questions, I'm sure Robert can answer them."

  He cut the comm line.

  "We're going waaaay faster than the ship goes," Rex said.

  "Yeah, buddy!" Bob said. "Just don't turn off the warp bubble 'til we get there, or Sadao will take more drastic measures, I'm sure."

  "Creep anyone else out the way he smiled?" Sheena said.

  "Does he not smile anymore?" Bob asked.

  "Not really." "Stone-faced." "Dour old sourpuss." "He's a grumpy-gus, but he's nice."

  "Huh? Wonder why he's smiling now?" Bob knew, but he wasn't sharing.

  The crew grew quiet... Bob savored the awkward silence on the bridge. It was the most delicious thing to him, just now, making the crew squirm. If he could eat food, maybe he wouldn't have to satisfy his appetites this way.

  Just because the comms had cut, didn't mean Bob and Sadao weren't still catching up. Telepathy can be instantaneous across any distance, if one knows the old tricks. Bob had to send all their dreams to Sadao, for fun, and Sadao had to brief him on what was really important when they'd both enjoyed the ballet.

  Sadao would have ideas for the whole, Bethany's step-mother, situation. Also, an educated guess about Rex's true origin.

  The Nuphidri walked up to the bridge, "I thought you'd be talking about the... What happened?"

  "Bob called Sadao, somehow. Now we're in a supra-warp conduit. Be there in four hours." Sheena said, pinching her brow.

  "Ah, I see." The Nuphidri stood there a moment, soaking in the continued silence, and then, because she hadn't seen Sadao smile, she asked, "Sheena how old are you in human-years?"

  "Uhh..." She thought about it, figured out an answer in her head, shuddered, and stuffed some jerky in her mouth, "Mrrrrm... hundred and forty-something...ish."

  "How ish?" Bethany asked.

  "I dunno hrmmrm ish years," Sheena stuffed jerky in her face, but pushed it aside to clearly say, "Let a lady have some secrets, please."

  Lucas and Bethany were both realizing that Sheena really hadn't aged a day in the eight years they'd been together. Rex, meanwhile, was realizing that some of the things he'd been doing in that dream of Bethany's were things he might actually like to try in real life, some of the stuff he did in Sheena's too. Maybe not the part where he was hunted for sport.

  "Well, speaking of secrets," Nuphidri said. "I have some to share, as the little fellows will not be able to take them from my mind, for I do not sleep, as you do."

  "But, why?" Lucas asked.

  "Because fair is fair." Nuphidri gave a light 'curtsy' sort of move. Her top half was capable of scrunching down in a way. Without bending her legs, she could become shorter, and then pop back up to full height. "I shall tell you, what I first thought I should not, and then we will all have shared."

  "Ohhh! Story time!" Bob said, quietly patching in Sadao.

  Lucas pushed a few buttons, to open the ships internal comm systems. "I gotta whiz real bad. I was gonna wait for the relief shift... but please, story time. I'll mute the bathroom mic." He dashed off the bridge.

  "Well, First of all I am not truly a Nuphidri. By which I mean, I am not of the original mother hive. I am from a secret colony world. Most non-hive minded beings find it rather unsettling to know that the mother hive has children on other worlds. We tend to all pretend to be true Nuphidri, but in truth, I am of Nuphidri Katherine, of Ten-ch'werks."

  "The Killitoot farm world?" Sheena asked.

  "The same. My true mother hive was given the name by Captain Siscard, of the Federation Star Ship Ten-ch'werks on stardate 3578.7.23."

  "Are the stardates still based on the old Earth Gregorian calendar?" Bob asked. Nuphidri nodded, so he asked another question. "What is today's stardate?"

  "16245.4.15." Sheena said, looking at nearby console.

  "So, Nuphidri, how long did it take your mother hive to become the world of Ten-ch'werks?" Bob asked, and before he let her answer he piled on some more, "And do the children send messenger bodies back to the first mother? Are you all still one hive, or a bunch of separate planet sized hives?"

  "Planet sized hives are individuals, but also share critical information with the others, so that we can maintain the masquerade, all pretend to be only the first mother. There were one hundred and nine worlds with Nuphidri hives large enough to be considered planet hives, and more still growing at my creation. My mother hive was one of the earliest, yet she took a thousand years for her world to start sending out bodies of it's own. The it was poorly chosen."

  "Why's that?" Sheena asked.

  "Because Nuphidri hives try our very best not to disrupt the natural ecosystems of planets. On Ten-ch'werks, the hive is buried deep, where no life had lived before. It lives deep, and is unknown to the killitoot on the surface. We did ensure they named it correctly. Nuphidri bodies like mine are mildly telepathic, not enough to communicate, but enough to register, and resist mind magic naturally."

  "The whole hive can influence things for the surface dwellers a fair bit more than that, can't it?" Bethany was beginning to see why this was top secret information. "Though I guess it was an easy sell in this case, since Ten-ch'werks is the ancient Killitoot hero that invented the crossbow."

  "Certainly." Nuphidri blinked her third eye, then her lower set, nervously. "So... All important secrets shared, yes? Any more questions?"

  "Do we have to call you Katie now?" Rex asked.

  "No."

  "Whew, that was gonna be weird."

  Lucas scratched his head, "Is what you told us when we first met true? That you'd been meditating in the dark there for fifty years?"

  "Yes. I figured treasure hunters would arrive eventually, and I was right, you did; lucky me." The Nuphidri smiled, a very artificial and practiced action for her species, but she meant it in the sense it was received. "The crew I had crashed with on the other side of the continent with was long dead. Disease mostly, not much gets to the Nuphidri immune system. When I had buried the last of them in the ground or burned their body according to the traditions of their people, or salted them and jerk them for travel rations, as they had wished..."

  "Wait what?!" Sheena shouted.

  "I jest." Nuphidri said.

  Bob started cackling, and slowly, everyone else did. After they settled down Nuphidri continued.

  "When I had followed all due ritual and protocol and was alone, I left. Drawn by something... far away, tugging at my psychic sense. It led to the door of that treasure tomb, buried deep underground. I think it was the staff Sadao purchased from us on returning to his station. If I recall, it paid off the Chrysaora."

  "Yeah, that was a surprising price for a gnarly stick." Lucas said, walking back onto the bridge, and closing the comms.

  "Was it a white yew staff with a notch through the middle of the gnarl up top?" Bob asked. "Or was it the black one with the smooth polish, and a red vein in the gnarl at the top."

  "The first one," Rex said, "but that other one sounds gnarly too."

  "He is." Bob laughed. "Those staves are just as much alive and aware as me, only, as you say, gnarly sticks. They'll love that. I'm telling if we ever meet them. The pinnacle of space adventure staff appreciation remains, gnarly sticks."

  "AHEM! I have another question," Sheena said. Nuphidri nodded, so Sheena asked "If no one had ever come, would you have eventually taken over the planet? You had tendrils of mycelium all throughout that chamber."

  "Ahh, I was not born with a spore, so I cannot colonize a world. I am a messenger form, modified into a science form by my destination. I was malformed and could not merge with my destination. So I reported all I could verbally, and through what means we have available for such... failures. A corrected replacement was sent." The Nuphidri paused a moment to linger on herself as a failure. "I was told to go adventure, spread the good name of the first mother hive. I joined a crew, and then another, and on my third, which you humans say is the charm, we crash-landed on the world where you found me."

  "Hmm. Well I knew I liked you from the very first day you stepped on the ship," Rex said. "But did you get hungry down there meditating for fifty years?"

  "I would have eventually starved after five or six hundred years in the state you found me. However, I could have stood up before then and returned to the surface to fatten up before going below once more."

  "Hey, we're slowing down?" Rex reported. He was still paying some attention to their now decreasing ludicrous speed.

  "Oh good!" Bob said, "We're almost there."

  "I thought you said we had four hours!" Sheena almost shouted, sudden panic at being unshowered and under-dressed.

  "Sadao had four hours." Bob said, and when they didn't get it he rolled his eye lights, "You guys, we're in a Supra-warp tunnel. There's time compression inside. Who wants a fast travel trick to feel like it takes forever?"

  "AGGHHH! Four hours isn't forever!" Sheena shouted. "Bob, no, ROBERT! I am fucking soooo mad at you right now! You should have warned us!"

  The dragons trilled in excitement at the angry people sounds.

  "Yeah, how mad? You gonna do something about it?" Bob goaded her further.

  "You're basically as indestructible as the codpiece right?" She asked, suddenly calm.

  "Kill him later," Bethany said. "We're dropping out of warp at Sadao's now."