1: Enter the Dreamer

Folder: Please Respond

Meeting Invite: R. Nova of Shurwinn

INCOMING: Nayth Carmidee

SENDER: Ryst Nova

SUBJECT: Living Foods From Shurwinn Research and Training Centre

Sunshine greet you Minister Carmidee,

Will you join me for dinner at Juanna’s on the Terrace at 7:00pm on July 13th, 2737?

Sunshine,

Ryst Nova

So, Ryst Nova wanted to marry a Galactic Minister, did she? And Rahel had sent me her invitation because it was from Shurwinn. Years ago, I had told him to stop sending me the invites. This was the first one in four years he'd sent me. One did not turn down invitations from Shurwinn. Because Shurwinn didn’t send invitations. Intriguing. There was recon attached.

The pertinent details: R. Nova, Starlend born, had immigrated to Shurwinn four years ago. Interesting timing. Born into Novaceuticals. Acrid stench filled my nostrils. Not a literal stench, the one I smelled when I saw rotten corporations. But R. Nova had broken from Novaceuticals taking only a small portion of what should have been billions in inheritance at age fourteen. Well educated. Accomplished Medica. Then an unexplained relocation to Shurwinn. Rahel had embedded five R. Nova videos, and below the videos, a brief overview of a P. Madrano. Shurwinn citizen. Augment. Remarkably successful self-made Production Designer. There were two more embedded videos of P. Madrano's. I returned to the top of the page and started reviewing R. Nova’s videos, listed in order of the number of views.

Video: “We Have Friends In All Nine Galaxies,” 72 billion views

My Summary: Only academics could take what should have been a party and turn it into a snooze-worthy discussion of dessert recipes. What is baklava?

Video: “Baklava is a Health Food,” 94 billion views

My Summary: Decidedly domestic. Ask chef to import baklava. The real kind, not the uncooked version. Flaky, buttery pastry sounds delicious.

Video: “Are We Sleeping Together?” 275 billion views

My Summary: Refreshingly honest.

Video: “The Normal Monk,” 759 billion views

My Summary: Hilarious, but I don’t get the jokes.

Video: ”The Very Normal Thank You,” 837 billion views

I added 5 more views to their billions. A silk robe the color of my skin slid from an olive shoulder, soft yellow light caressing the curve of her neck as I slid my hands over her belly and traced my lips down her neck. She glided across the bar, and I paused the video, eyes narrowing. Perfect lighting. The way the soft light caressed her shoulder. . . Sultry lighting. Professional; not a stunt. The bar tender? Definitely an actor. The patrons? Probably all hired help. Jasen and Alen?

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

I opened Rahel’s larger recon file and found Jasen and Alen. Boutique animation firm. Top tier of the galaxy for their size. Propelled into fame by this very video. My eyes narrowed further. Who exactly were these people, and what did they want with me?

Did Jasen and Alen and P. Madrano put Dr. Nova up to this stunt? Plaster her all over the stream in a flurry of fringe for their own fame? It was dead sexy. It was also hilarious. Jasen and Alen looked genuinely shocked and horrified. And they all laughed like they were the best of friends. It was the type of video you wanted to watch over and over because you wanted to be part of the joke too. You wanted friends like that.

My jaw worked, and I rolled all this information through my mind, trying to find the connections. What did any of this have to do with me? With Carmidee Hospitality? The Shurwinn weren’t going to ask me to build a hotel on their isolationist sphere. So, what did they want? Was Madrano the mastermind of this little foursome? A triple business launch. Markedly successful. Time to watch the rest of the videos.

Video: “The Boring Blacker,” 35 billion views

My Summary: Great electronica beat. Don’t get the joke.

Video: “Irony— it happens,” 331 billion views

A shirtless Madrano stood against a white backdrop. I felt myself bouncing as a drumbeat rang out. My Florian self rose up, wanting to dance around the room. What kind of drum was that? Marvelous drum. It was a marvelous drum! The electronica started and Madrano moved. No, he didn’t move. He was grace itself. The dancer in me began to smile in appreciation, but that other me, the dual Level Niner, forced the dancer aside with narrow eyes and a tight jaw, watching Madrano. His smile said unbridled joy and celebration. But his body wasn’t a man’s; it was flowing water. He moved even more deftly than my sister Freya— heretofore the only dojo opponent who gave me pause. I watched Madrano, and I didn’t’ see the dance. I saw the truth: that man was a knife, and if we clashed, he’d slide between my ribs.

Madrano, what are you planning now? What are you putting R. Nova up to, and what does it have to do with me? I had too much to loose to make a mistake now. Not just for my family, not just for the millions of employees of Carmidee Hospitality. But because I was closer than I’d ever been to the reason I’d done it all. Four years. Too much was at stake to slip up now.

Video: “The Very Normal Thank You,” 837 billion views

My Summary:

Seductive.

Hilarious.

Suspicious.

Video: “Irony— it happens,” 331 billion views

My Summary: Dangerous.

OUTGOING: Nayth Carmidee

RECIPIENT: Ryst Nova

SUBJECT: Living Foods From Shurwinn Research and Training Centre

Accepted.

Yes, R. Nova. I’ll meet you for dinner. Minister Carmidee will figure out exactly what Madrano has drug you into this time. You’re pretty, and he knows it and isn’t afraid to use that to get into my orbit. But you’ll go to dinner with Minister Carmidee, not Nayth. Enjoy the boredom.

Clad in black trousers, my hand reached for the dusty blue-green tank. I hesitated, but there had only been one choice, hadn’t there? The tank slid over my head and was tucked in. The kurta followed. It was a relic of a Sturm long-past. The galaxy said war had ended a millennia ago, but on Sturm, we kept the military alive in fashion— richly brocaded silk jackets that harkened back to our warring history. This one was solid black silk, heavily embroidered in red and gold, complete with forty small buttons up the front. I smiled at my reflection. Every inch said “Galactic Minister.”

The back of my closet spoke the truth about the lie I was wearing. It was a dedicated section to Floria, and every time my mom and Freya came to Sturm, I had new clothing from Floria and another lecture from my sister. “Iqui, if you’d just get out of those stodgy kurtas, you’d relax long enough to go on a date. I know some beautiful men. Or, is it women? More than one at a time? Or heavily augmented? Or robots? Fucking clouds, brother, are you into robots? Is that what it will take to get you to go on a date, for fuck’s sake?”

I was not into robots or anything else. I was into one person, and Freya wouldn’t know about it until I found her. Freya could never be allowed to see “The Very Normal Thank You” or I’d find myself married before I knew what had hit me. Oh hells, what was I thinking? Freya was probably one of the 837 billion viewers of that damn video and an adoring fan of Dr. Nova’s. No, Freya could never be allowed to know that I’d watched it. Clouds! The moment I set foot in Juanna’s on the Terrace, everyone in Sturm would know I was on a date with the Shurwinn woman. Freya would know about it before I left the restaurant.

Madrano, I will strangle you with my bare hands.

Wait, what was that? A smile on my face? Perfect! That was the secret. Now I had a way to get through dinner: every time I wanted to glare daggers at Ryst Nova and demand answers from her, I’d remember strangling Madrano with my bare hands and smile warmly instead.

image [https://img.wattpad.com/13e40394bc81589b5e56c2b502452a704cf52977/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f33796c7769313968355633594e413d3d2d313535353437393633332e313834653264643364616232383133653131373633343030333430342e6a7067?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280.jpg]

Galactic Minister of Hospitality, Nayth Carmidee.