‘The Pride of Shinden is in port for routine maintenance,’ Ruben replied. ‘Our parents asked that I attend tonight and my captain saw no reason to deny the request.’
‘The Pride of Shinden?’ Nava asked. ‘That’s a battleship, isn’t it?’
Ruben raised an eyebrow. ‘It is, Nava Ward. One of five in the ASF.’
‘Brother Ruben is a gunnery officer,’ Mitsuko supplied. ‘He’s training to be a strategy specialist.’
‘Hm,’ Ruben said, ‘and, as such… Please don’t take this the wrong way, Suki, but why have you taken a first-year student in the support stream as your bodyguard? The family could have–’
‘Nava is a friend,’ Mitsuko said, ‘and will not disrupt things at school by her very presence. Beyond that, she is perceptive, fast, and merciless. Her combat skills are easily better than the majority of the students in the school and quite on a par with most of the security personnel our parents employ. Since you know so much about her, I can’t believe you haven’t reviewed the recording of her duel with Devin Girard, so I’m surprised that you’re questioning my decision.’
Ruben glanced down at Michiko, who was watching the exchange with interest, and clearly decided that he was not going to go into details regarding the duel in front of a child. ‘I watched the video and read the report. I… suppose you have a point. If our parents trust your choice, I doubt it’s a bad one.’
‘Thank you. Let’s get inside. You and Michiko have more cloth to keep the cold out than we do.’
‘Of course.’ Ruben turned and started for the house. Michiko took Mitsuko’s hand in a grip which brooked no argument and they set off together, Nava bringing up the rear. ‘Mother and Father would’ve been here to greet you, but…’
‘I’ve been involved with organising something like this before. I understand. Is there anyone here I should know about?’
‘Hm…’ Ruben glanced back toward Nava. ‘Uncle Spencer is here.’
‘Has he started drinking?’
‘Probably.’
‘We can handle him. Anyone else?’
‘Nobuyuki and Rhianna Greyling are here.’
‘Really?’ Mitsuko sounded surprised.
‘Yes. I mean, they’re good people, for Greylings, but you should know they’re here.’ An interesting choice of phrasing. Nava decided to ask more about the Greylings when she had Mitsuko alone.
They entered the house through a door which only opened when Ruben passed his ketcom over a sensor. The security seemed reasonably solid. Inside was a corridor which led away in two directions and seemed to be a throughway with no doors off it. Ruben turned to the left and stopped, turning to face the newcomers.
‘I’ll leave you to get settled,’ he said. ‘Michiko, let your sister and her friend get changed in peace.’
‘But–’ Michiko began and then pressed her lips firmly together. She was not going to object further, but she was not happy either.
Mitsuko dropped to one knee to bring her eyes down to her sister’s level. ‘Are you being allowed to stay up for some of the party?’
‘Until ten o’clock.’
‘In that case, you’ll see me and Nava for a couple of hours before then, and we’ll be here in the morning too.’
‘Okay.’
With that sorted out, Mitsuko led the way to the right and into a wing of the house with two floors. Up a flight of stairs and then along another corridor – this one with doors on it – they ended up in a small suite of rooms which, it turned out, were Mitsuko’s rooms. There was a large bedroom with double bed, a separate dressing room with a walk-in wardrobe attached, a bathroom easily larger than Nava’s apartment at the school, and even a small kitchen.
Nava looked around, came to a conclusion, but then asked anyway since she wanted no confusion. ‘Where am I sleeping?’
‘In my bed,’ Mitsuko replied. ‘Just to be clear, I’ll be sleeping in it too. Before you ask, yes, my parents are perfectly happy with that arrangement.’
‘If you say so. You said you’d have something for me to wear?’
‘It should have arrived. We have a fabricator facility on-site. I sent the requirements yesterday, so your outfit should be waiting in the dressing room. Oh, I asked for something which would go with those wonderful boots of yours. You can keep them on.’ As she spoke, Mitsuko set off into the dressing room and Nava followed. It had a dressing table with an array of makeup products on it and a couple of bench-style seats, and the door to the walk-in. On one of the seats was a box and Mitsuko pointed to it. ‘That’ll be your dress. I’ll go find something suitable in my collection.’ And she vanished into the wardrobe, leaving Nava to handle her own clothes herself.
Nava opened the box – formed of recyclable plastic – and immediately wondered whether Mitsuko was trying to trick her. And if there was no subterfuge, then she had to wonder what sort of party she was going to. The box contained a dress and some panties, both in black which did go with her boots. The panties were mostly a lacy fine mesh with a strategically placed panel obscuring the most important area. That would have been bad enough, but the dress was composed primarily of mesh too, meaning that the panties were going to be visible under it. When she pulled the garment out to get a better look, it turned out to be a short, sleeveless design with a wide vent at the front and a pair of opaque panels which would cover her breasts. Part of her breasts since the vent would leave a lot of cleavage and her navel on display. What was Mitsuko thinking? Well, what the Hell.
The boots had to come off so that Nava could take off her leggings, so she started from naked and pulled on the new outfit before putting her boots back on. Then she turned to a huge mirror which took up a substantial portion of one of the
