Empyrean Iris Story Collection Vol. 3

A Missed Appointment

Sunny was half asleep, lulled by the gentle humming of the life support as she was enveloped in a gentle pool of blue light. Lights blinked on the shuttle' control panel, but Sunny didn't dare touch anything. The entire flight had been automated using thousands of hours of flight information taken from Adam's own flight experience, augmented ever so slightly by Ramirez's experience.

Sunny did not know how to fly. Though she was a more than passable engineer , somehow the operation of vehicles still managed to escape her. Or perhaps she could have been fine at operating heavy machinery were it not for her first instruction by Ramirez shortly after Ka was born, which had resulted in her somehow flipping a hover vehicle. She wasn't sure how it had happened, and though Ramirez assured her it was partially his fault, she had refused to drive anything since.

She wasn't willing to put Kay in that kind of danger.

Speaking of Kay.

He sat cuddled in her arms now, half asleep in the dim blue light. His big green eyes were half hooded and droopy, but when she looked at him he offered a sleepy smile nuzzling his head closer against her chest. She lifted him up a little so he could rest his head against the softer skin rather than the hard carapace.

He made the nuzzling motion again cheek pressed against the base of her throat; eyes mostly closed.

He yawned, and what came out what the soft chirping of a Drev infant rather than that of a human baby.

She patted his back, nostrils filling with the smell of him as she took another breath. He didn't smell so much like a baby anymore, that weird kind of sweet swore milk scent, but rathe.... Well it was hard to describe. It was a mixture of her smell and Adam's smell, but with the added benefit of freshly cleaned clothes.

The ship was cool but not cold, even so she kept him warm in his fuzzy giraffe footie pajamas and tiny beanie, both provided by his grandmother who offered her skills to make the specialized clothing that kay required.

He still had not fallen asleep though his eyes drooped with every second. Kay loved riding in the shuttle. He loved car rides and train rides, and tram rides. She imagined he enjoyed just about every moving vehicle that had ever bothered to inch forward. She wasn't sure if that was remnant of his father's enjoyment for fast jet's, but it certainly made long trips with him bearable. While other little ones screamed and cried for being forced to sit and do nothing for hours on end, Kay floated off into a sort of partial sleep , all the more quiet if he was being held.

Another reason that the shuttle was automated.

There was a soft beeping noise, and Sunny leaned up in her seat to take a look at their navigation.

The ride wasn't very long. Just a short warp gate to Anin.

The longest part of the trip was going to be steadying their shuttle into a gentle orbit before lowering themselves down to the planet. Sunny shifted nervously in her seat. It had been a long time since she had seen her brother Kanan. Shortly after his return from the Makers, and the visit with his wife , he had been in higher spirits. He ahd been there for the birth f Kay, but shortly after he had traveled to Anin to take on what remained of Dzara's abandoned ones.

Dzara would have done so herself, but a sizable chunk of her group had taken up their esidence on Arcadia, and required a leader. She had been shuttling herself back and forth for the past few months in an attempt to be there for everyone, but there was only so much she could do, and Dzara was not someone who traveled well.

The problem had sort of fixed itself overnight when Kanan had offered his services.

He had grown a lot since the beginning of everything, and the deep sadness which he held for the death of his wife Nehchal was a thing of the past. Ever since being able to hold her in his arms again he had described a feeling of quiet contentment overtaking his life with the knowledge that he would see her soon, and that their separation was simply that, a short period of time which would end with them being together forever.