A wave of relief washed over Kir as she felt Harrison’s presence again in her mind. She’d tried not to worry, but she couldn’t help it. He was on his own for the first time, and he hadn’t even been in space for a full day. Anything could have happened. For all she knew, proximity to empire could reset his armour and steal him away. But it hadn’t. Nothing had happened, at least nothing bad. Kir breathed out a sigh of relief and leaned against a nearby wall. 

And then he mentioned Serenfolia, and it threw her for a loop.

[i] “Serenfolia is X’hondria’s sister planet,”[/i] she explained. [i]”The empire took it after X’hondria. I can tell you the whole story when you get here.”[/i]

Kir shared her memories to him of the hangar and where exactly to find the ship, adding at the end, [i]“See you soon, Harr.”[/i]

She quickly grabbed the bag she had stashed with the clothes, leaving it out on a counter in the kitchen to unload later. She hadn’t been expecting company, so she hadn’t bought enough for more than herself and Harrison, but thankfully the kitchen was already pretty well stocked for whoever owned and crewed the ship, so they’d have enough to get by for a few days at least.

Abandoning the kitchen, she peeked into the cockpit to find Zev lounging comfortably. A progress bar was slowly creeping across the screen in front of him while he waited.

“What are you doing?” Kir asked.

“Clearing the ship’s logs. Everything except the most recent manifest. Cargo’s already loaded for a job, so I figure we can finish it, dump the ship and buy a new one,” Zev turned his chair to look at her. 

“What’re we hauling that is going to get us enough for another ship?” Kir raised an eyebrow.

“Smuggling pays, sweetheart,” he shrugged. “Where’s your friend?”

“On the way, and he seems to have made a friend himself.”

“This ship maxes out at four. I hope he doesn’t pick up anymore strays on the way,” Zev teased lightly. 

“Guess we’ll have to buy a bigger ship,” Kir shrugged mockingly, and they both laughed.

“So, I take it we’re friends now, too?” Zev asked, seeming genuine.

“Sure,” Kir nodded. 

“Do friends get to know your name, or do I have to keep coming up with increasingly more uncomfortable nicknames until you have no choice but to tell me?”

“Kir a Ka’illit,” she stated. 

“Oh, a full name. You really one-upped me there!”

“Aenids only have one name,” Kir pointed out.

“Maybe I’ll be Zevrath a Ka’illit one day,” he tipped his head.

“Don’t get your hopes up, fungoid,” she smiled sheepishly. 

“Got a boyfriend back home? He doesn’t have to know about us,” he teased. 

“No, nothing like that,” she chuckled. “I like ‘em a little more warm-blooded than you.”

“And I don’t like an easy woman,” he shrugged playfully.

Kir turned slightly, hearing footsteps coming up the cargo ramp, and her smile widened. She could tell it was Harrison, and she cast a glance back at the Aenid, “He’s here. Come and meet him?”

“Well, we can’t take off for another few minutes anyway,” Zev glanced back at the progress bar on the screen. It was almost complete, but they had time. He stood to his full height, head almost brushing the ceiling. Kir had been away too long. She realised this as she craned her neck to look up at him as he stooped to get through the doorway. “Let’s see who I have to thank for liberating such a fine specimen of X’hondrian biology from the clutches of the empire.”

“Not the empire - technically I liberated myself. Earth.”

“No kidding?” He paused, looking back at her with clear surprise. “Thought that place was a myth.”

“So did I till I landed face first in the American southwest.”

“Huh. You really are full of surprises, aren’t you?” he turned back to walked down toward the cargo bay.

Kir trailed behind him, nearly plowing into his backside as he stopped dead when he saw the enforcer armour. An arm shot out, immediate tucking her behind him as he inched back a bit. His other hand flew down to the weapon at his hip, only for Kir to quickly clamp hers over it to keep him from drawing.

“Wait! Zev, wait! That’s him!” She cried.

“That’s [i]him[/i]? You didn’t say he’s an enforcer!” He exclaimed defensively, clearly freaked out.

“He’s not,” she pressed, her voice flatter this time as if to stress how serious she was.

“Honey, you might need to get your eyes checked…” Zev muttered to her, still not relaxing.

Trying to peek around Zevrath’s hulking form, she waved at Harrison, “He’s harmless, I promise. You can power down the armour, Harr.”