Page 28 of Jorhee

Today should have been an easy day. Wander over to meet the new family arriving, check the wedding supply inventory was as ordered, and the rest of the day free to spend with Jesse, relaxing. We were in the middle of doing just that, enjoying a lazy brunch in the media room, watching another episode of what he called ‘The OG Little House’ when the comm came.

“Sir, the boss told me I needed to ask you to come over to the mainframe room,” one of the spaceport workers said, forgetting to identify himself by name.

“Did he say why?” I asked testily, aggravated with yet another interruption to our personal time.

“Um, no, but I’m pretty sure it has to do with the two new Tyridium engineers who just arrived.”

I sat up straight, pausing the vid. “The freighter has arrived already?”

“Kinda? It’s not the one with your stuff on; it’s another one, and it didn’t so much as arrive as send a small landing craft down with them. They, uh, weren’t expected, he said to tell you.”

Jesse placed a hand on my arm. “Sounds like they need you to go check this out. I’ll clear these away and come join you.”

I nodded. “I’ll be there shortly.” I ended the comm, and then, addressing Jesse, I said, “Just leave those for Rosie and get your boots on.”

He set the plates down and glanced at what he was wearing. “I am not going out there wearing only a pair of cow print sleep pants and a t-shirt that says, ’Moo!’ on it.”

I grinned at him over my shoulder as I opened my bedroom door. “Well, it’s not my fault you won’t be ready when I am. Some of us shower and get dressed first thing in the morning.”

“It was supposed to be a lazy day!” he protested. “We were supposed to have until right before dinner!”

I chuckled, sitting down on the bed to pull my boots on.

I came out to find him glaring at me, wearing the same clothes, but this time with a pair of soft brown suede short boots on his feet.

“Indoor/outdoor slippers,” he said. “And nobody better laugh at my PJs.”

My lips twitched. “I’m sure those will be the last thing on their mind.”

Or maybe not, as several crewmembers aboard the Corsair looked him a bit wide-eyed as we hurried past.

“Where to?” Kiprr asked.

“Got a comm about the mainframe room.”

The mainframe room was located under the spaceport building, designed to survive an explosion should a catastrophic event occur at the spaceport, such as a crash or, stars forbid, an attack. It wasn’t difficult to find - to get to it, one simply went through the door marked “Maintenance” and through a second door on the far side that claimed it was for heating and cooling systems access. Which was also true, but the stairs in there led down to bombproof doors that protected Bob from unwanted visitors. I placed my palm on the access panel, and the door unlocked with a hiss before sliding open.

Inside, we found two Tyridium techs and Kaelor standing there simply staring at each other. He looked immensely relieved when he saw me.

“Ah, here he is!” He gave me a bow. “Your Grace, as you’re aware, the two previous Tyridium techs left four days ago. These two arrived unexpectedly, stating they were here to do an inspection.”

“Greetings, Prince Governor,” one of the Tyridium said, inclining his head.

I was sure this was simply a case of miscommunication. “You are here to check over Bob’s installation? Is this because of his new penchant for jokes?”

Another nod. “We requested to meet with him.”

I eyed the box the second Tyridium was carrying.

“He’s not caused any mayhem or disruptions, so there’s no need to adjust his programming,” I said, not liking the idea that they might decide his personality quirk was a fault.

Both of the Tyridiums looked offended. “Not an intervention decreed by the Mother’s Rules of Protocol. This is a meeting.”

“I think they mean they actually wanted to come here where Bob’s main consciousness resides to actually just say hi to him,” Jesse said softly.

“Yes.” Both Tyridium nodded.

“Oh!” This wasn’t work related at all for them. This was cultural. “Yes, by all means.” I cleared my throat. “Bob, you have visitors.”