Poppy and Val were unable to hide their disappointment, soRodin took pity on them and tossed a couple of pregnancy books onto the tablefor them to read. Poppy had to admit that the What to Expect book wasfull of information she didn’t know. For instance, were they getting all thenutrients the baby needed to grow right? She wasn’t sure how the replicatorworked but assumed that some of the ingredients were legit. At the very leastshe hoped she wasn’t feeding her baby space slime disguised as a hamburger.
Busy flipping through the books, the women were surprisedwhen the door chimed two hours later. They hadn’t realized how much time hadpassed as they’d been chatting about their futures.
“My butt can definitely tell how long we’ve been sitting,Poppy. I think one of my cheeks fell asleep,” Val joked while rubbing herbehind.
“No kidding. I think my foot is asleep too. Remind me torequest some cushions for these pieces of space plastic they call chairs.”Picking up the books and tucking them away from prying eyes, Poppy then went tothe door to answer it, to be greeted by two warriors she did not rememberhaving seen before.
“Hey, guys, do you need to see the doctors?” Poppy asked asshe stepped aside to let the men into the med center. Usually when a warriorarrived, he came in with something bleeding from a sparring session that hadgotten out of control, but these two appeared fine.
“We are here as an escort for Poppy.” One held out his handto shake.
“I’m Poppy and this is Valerie,” she said, shaking the firstwarrior’s hand and smiling.
“I am Cannon and this is Leo.”
The warriors smiled back at both of the women while shakinghands for longer than necessary. Poppy thought she should maybe suggest ahuman-warrior relations class to teach them how to shake hands properly.Handshakes with the new guys always seemed either too quick and jarring, orhard and slow. Filing that away to talk to Wheaton about, she hollered toRodin.
“Rodin, I’m heading out for the day. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He mumbled a goodbye from the second room, and Tamin pokedhis head out of the first room.
“Later, gator. Tomorrow I’ll bring donuts.”
Tamin smiled at the promise of a treat and waved back.
Oh, the warriors hadn’t mentioned escorting Val back to herapartment.
“Can Val come too? I would appreciate it if you could walkher home once you’re done with me so she doesn’t have to wait for anotherescort,” Poppy asked.
Both men nodded as one but only Cannon spoke when he said,“Of course.”
Poppy grabbed her bag and swung around to speak to Val. “Youready to blow this popsicle stand?”
Both men seemed worried by what she said.
“It means leave. I asked if Val was ready to leave.” Withthat said, she linked her arm through Leo’s and walked with him out the door asVal followed, talking to Cannon.
Leo stiffened slightly when she touched him but startedchatting with her as soon as she started with her “get to know you” questions.Poppy was so engrossed in talking to Leo and finding out what type of warriorhe was she didn’t realize they were on an unfamiliar floor. She paused andlooked around. Gripping his arm, concerned that they had gotten lost, shestopped in her tracks and caused Val and Cannon to bump into them.
“Are we going to Val’s first?” Poppy asked.
“Ummm, Poppy, I’m only one floor beneath you. This is acompletely different part of the ship,” Val replied, sharing in the confusion.
Leo shook his head at the women. “We were instructed toescort you here, not your quarters, Poppy.”
Poppy noticed more warriors here than she usuallyencountered while walking the halls. Most were carrying parcels or bags andseemed to be moving very quickly. In fact, most of the warriors paid noattention to the women, which was strange as Poppy was used to the stares ofinterest she got when moving about the ship from one place to another.
“Where is ‘here’ exactly?” Poppy asked while continuing towalk, this time at a slower pace.
“The intake floor. We received orders from the Council thatyou were to have a meeting here and they sent us to escort you. During themeeting, you will be briefed on life on Phaeton Prime and how to adjust.”Nodding behind him at his friend and Val, he added, “We will escort Val to herquarters once you have been dropped off.”
For some reason, Poppy’s Spidey-senses started tingling. Thewarriors seemed nice enough but not knowing where she was going was triggeringsomething inside her. That combined with not having heard from Wheaton allmorning didn’t sit well. Trying to remember where they were walking and how toget back if needed, she started paying attention to the symbols on the doorsshe passed. This was one of those times she wished she could pull out the cheatsheet Dathrow had drawn for her.
Reaching the door to their apparent destination, Poppy hopedto see Wheaton on the other side of it, but was disappointed when she was showninto an empty room.
“We were told to have you wait here, Poppy,” said Cannon. Heturned to Val, who had followed Poppy into the room, and held out his arm forher to take. “We can now take you to your apartments, Valerie.”
Seeming uncomfortable with the situation, Val looked fromwarrior to warrior and then back at the empty meeting room. “Actually, I thinkI’ll wait here with Poppy and keep her company. After all, I’ll be going toPhaeton Prime too, so any information she needs then I’ll need as well. I’llhave the next escort take me back to my rooms when they walk Poppy back.”
Both of the warriors seemed fine with her request. Bowing quicklyin unison, they nodded at each of the women.
“It was nice to meet you, Poppy,” Cannon said.
“And you too, Valerie,” Leo added, then turning as if he hadforgotten something, he paused. “We were told that there is an antibiotic thatyou need to take. It’s there on the table. It’s just a precaution. You shouldfind a pill inside the small cup.”
Walking to the table at the back of the room, he picked uptwo medicine cups from a
