Kira knelt on the bed with her hands resting in the sill of the large portal overlooking her small bed. Phobos and Deimos glimmered faintly in the foreground of the red, green, and blue planet.
What a view, Kira thought to Allison. Mars began to shrink below her rapidly as the large cargo ship accelerated beyond low Mars orbital altitudes and approached the hyperspace initiation distance.
Yes. Enjoy it now. No telling how long it will be before we see Sol System again, the AIC said.
True. What now? Kira thought and then yawned. Almost simultaneously her stomach growled. It had really been a long hard day.
Food perhaps? Maybe a shower and then a nap? Kira's AIC had long taken care of her human counterpart since back during her training on the 'Farm' and the AIC knew that she often would be too missionoriented to take care of the essentials. That was what AICs were for. That was what best friends were for. And Kira and Allison had been through a hell of a lot in the years they had worked together for the CIA.
Good idea. We'll take it slow. After all, it sounds like we'll be in this ship a full long month, at least. Plenty of time to snoop around. Kira looked around at the little room. It reminded her of the room she and a classmate in college had shared on a sea cruise that she had taken in the Caribbean on Earth. That cruise hadn't been the time she'd lost her virginity, but it had been the time she was most free and uninhibited in her life. There were some fun memories there and Kira couldn't help but smile and nod from the emotions that were triggered by them. College had been a lifetime ago it seemed.
The room was about three meters wide and about five deep. The bed stretched across the end of the room by the outer bulkhead where the large oval portal allowed for great views of space. There was a Martian oak changing table and a pine desk on the right side and there was a small couch opposite those, leaving just enough room to squeeze between them. There were three drawers in the changing table. Kira rummaged through the drawers and found basic female essentials including undergarments and socks. In the desk was a notescreen that had a schedule of meals, laundry pickups, and a list of virtual entertainment programming channels. There was also Elise's AIC email address scribbled on it with a note to link to her for dinner plans.
Past the furniture was a closet on the right with a full-length mirror for the door. Opposite that was a three- quarter ornate, yet small, bathroom. The little bathroom was typical of staterooms. There was just enough room to squeeze in it and use it, but not enough to loiter around in it for a long period of time. The accommodations were far better than those that she had seen on the Navy supercarrier she had recently been on, but they were far from Earth's version of comfortable. On the other hand, they were quite luxurious for interstellar travel.
Kira stuck her head in the closet and noted that it was full of clothing that as far as she could tell was her size. Her e-suit pack was stored at the bottom of the closet as well as several pairs of shoes ranging from athletic gear to dress heels.
Allison, have you linked to Elise's AIC yet? Kira asked and pulled off her clothes. She had been through a hard day and wanted to get out of the worn Seppy BDUs.
Yes.
She requests that you meet her for breakfast in the morning to discuss realigning your talents to duties onboard the Tangier I.
Good. I'm glad she didn't want to meet tonight or I'd have to take some stims. Kira yawned again. She could go without sleep for several days without too much difficulty, but today had been unusual and had taken a lot of energy. She really need to shower, eat, and sleep. The radiation treatment had given her a pounding headache all day long and was wearing her down like a bad case of the flu.
Actually, she did request that. But I told her you were incoherently tired and grieving the loss of your brothers. She understood. The memory trigger brought tears to her eyes and she felt an overwhelming urge to cry. Kira sniffled lightly and dried her eyes. Her AIC was specifically designed to trigger her hypothalamus with appropriate emotional response to her cover story. The emotions seemed as real to her as the ride in Lieutenant Commander Jack Boland's fighter plane did and more immediate to her than the memories of her carefree Caribbean cruise from her college days.
Okay. Then I'm taking a shower. Why don't you order me some food? However it is that we do that. The BDUs hit the floor as she kicked the soiled and worn red Martian camouflage into the closet with her left foot.
Instructions for ordering are in the notescreen, but I can take care of it.
You know what I can't figure out? Kira opened the bathroom door and stepped through the very narrow opening.
What is that?
How in the hell do millions of Separatists just up and leave the system without any military action or at least some of them getting stopped? This diversion that Elise mentioned must be one hell of a diversion. The toothbrush on the sink was new and Kira had to remove the safety seal from the small plastic box. She placed the small one centimeter cube in her mouth and activated it with her tongue. The cube instantly expanded and filled the front of her mouth with tiny microfiber bristles that crawled across her teeth removing plaque, microbes, and stains as Kira chewed on it. With each chew a refreshing burst of spearmint flavors and germ-killing fragrances filled her mouth. She spat the toothbrush back into the box and paused to watch it curl the bristles back into a cube, a scene that had amused her since she was a little girl. Some memories would always be more real than others. Kira then drank a cup of water using the small clear plastic reusable cup from the dispenser on the edge of the sink.
We do have news channels and I've downloaded some summaries into your screen but we are about to jaunt to hyperspace and will lose live feeds. I've been screening some of it. Take a shower and I'll catch you up, Allison said. Kira had pulled back the shower curtain and was about to step in. The warm water and steam filled the room and felt so inviting on her naked skin. Kira moaned slightly at the thought of how good a hot shower was going to feel.
We're about to jaunt? Kira reached over and slapped the water off.
Yes.
Shit, why didn't you say so? Do we still have an internet connection?
Yes.
