Editing Story:ROAD TRIP! (Warhammer High)/Part Two (section)

===Recuperating===

Venus guided both boys into the lifts and hit the button for their floor.  Before the door could slide shut, however, a man outside slid a hand into the closing gap. “Just made it,” he sighed.

Freya tapped the Open button and he slipped in.  “Thank you…oh.  Your Highnesses,” he said, inclining his head politely.  “Adjutant Governor Enike, at your humble service.”

“Ah, Governor, nice to meet you,” Venus said, shaking his hand.  “I expect we’ll see each other at the dinner tonight, then.”

“Indeed.”  The Governor peered at the two swooning men at the back of the car.  “Are your companions well, your Highness?”

“No,” Alex managed.  “You people are tough as nails to survive in this heat.”

“Where are you from, Sieur?” Enike asked.

“Terra,” Jake supplied for both.  He wasn’t looking dead on his feet any more, but he was still looking pretty grim.

“Ah.  Yes.  That would do it,” the Governor said unapologetically.  “Well.  Good thing you’re here in winter time, eh?” he asked.  Jake boggled.

The lift opened, and Enike walked out.  “See you tonight, your Highness,” he said, bowing out now that he had room to do so.  As the lift doors closed, both men rounded on Venus.

“Winter?!” Jake asked.

“Yeah, it’s the dead of winter outside.  Didn’t you wonder why so many people had long pants on?” Venus asked.  Alex slumped back against the cool metal of the elevator.

“You people are insane,” he muttered.

“I will admit, any colony group that looked at Nocturne and concluded ‘Yep, that’s a good idea!’ was probably high on something,” Venus said.  “But then, the planet was nicer in the ancient past.  There were actual forests in some places.  We should fly over the Petrified Forests if we have time.”
The doors parted.  The group walked back to their rooms.  Jake flopped unceremoniously down on their bed the moment he unlocked the door.  Venus walked in behind him and gestured at the air conditioner.  As the frigid air wafted over his prone body, he groaned into the covers.  “Outstanding.  Thank you, baby.”

Venus sat down on the mattress next to his head.  “Are you going to be all right?”

“I need to change and shower, badly.  But…yeah.”  He turned his head to stare at her shapely backside.  “Listen…baby…I’m sorry about before.”

“What do you have to be sorry for?” she asked.

“I may have sounded like I can’t appreciate what Nocturne means to you.”  He sat up.  “I’m saying I didn’t mean to insult you by saying you were addicted to the feeling of coming home.  That’s all, really.”

She nodded once.  “No apologies necessary.  You’re right.  It did feel like a physical change.  The one who needs to be sorry is me.  I didn’t even think of how a hiver’s body would react to the ambient heat here.”  She squeezed his hand.  “I’m afraid this month is going to kind of suck.”

“I brought thermo gear.  I just wasn’t expecting to have to wear it in the cities.”  He kissed her on the forehead and squeezed her hand back.  “Are we both done feeling sorry?”

“I think so,” Venus said.

He squeezed her hand again.  “Great.  Make-up sex?”

“Oh, shut up,” she sighed, melodramatic.  “Go have a shower and cool down.  I’m going to go explore the town a bit.”

“Will you be all right by yourself?” he asked as she stood.

“Sure.  There’s a plainclothes detail with me.  And Remilia and Freya will be coming with me,” she said.  “I’ll be back after dinner.  This isn’t a hotel, exactly, but they house dignitaries all the time here, so just order room service.  Or, hell, come to the banquet if you want.”

“I didn’t bring anything formal,” Jake pointed out.

“Mmm.”  She looked back at him as he wearily peeled his shirt off.  “You’ll let me know if the weather really is too much, right?”

“I will.  It’s the gravity and pressure that are making it unbearable, really.  The air in here now isn’t bad at all,” he said.  “But with heat on top…”

She pursed her lips, trying to think of a solution.  None came to mind.  “Well…I’ll be back as soon as I can get away from the dinner.  You might want to just watch some holovision or maybe write a letter to your parents.  Didn’t you promise that you were going to write when you arrived?”

Jake nodded.  “I did.”  He turned to the bathroom, and Venus took a moment to admire his back.

“Alex’s workout routine did you a turn,” she said approvingly.

“Yeah, I’ve lost six pounds since we left Terra,” Jake said.  “Probably gained it back with lunch, though, oof.”

“Hah!  Well, working out in 1.3G would be hard on your system, so if you guys go to the gym in the basement, take it easy, all right?” she asked.  She grabbed her wallet and slid it back in her pocket.

“Is that where it is?  I’ll let him know.”  Jake paused with his hand on the bathroom door.  “You go have fun.”

“I will.”  She blew him a kiss and closed the door.  Remilia wandered out of her own room, looking freshly scrubbed.  “Hey!  You want to go out shopping for a while?” Venus asked.

Remilia thought.  “Uh…sure.  That sounds fun.  Shopping for what?”

“Oh, just hitting the city.  It’s hardly Startseite, but I want to see what people on my planet wear and eat and do for fun,” Venus said eagerly.

Her cousin nodded.  “I’d love to.  Freya in?”

Venus listened for a moment, heard the telltale sound of someone putting shoes on from Freya’s room.  “I think so…yep,” she said as Freya opened the door.

Remilia looked at her.  “You heard her coming?”

“I heard her get her shoes on.  You didn’t?” Venus asked.

“I didn’t hear a thing,” Remilia said, an odd tone in her voice.  “Must not be used to the air pressure yet.”

“What’s up?” Freya asked as she wandered up to the others.

“We’re going shopping, I think.  You ready to go?” Venus asked.

“I’m in!” Freya exclaimed.  “What’s that about hearing something?”

“I heard you getting ready to come out,” Venus said.  “That’s odd, apparently.”

“Well…it wouldn’t have been odd on Terra,” Remilia allowed.  “Maybe you’re just used to Nocturne already?”

“I guess,” Venus said.  “Anyway.  We passed some stuff I’d love to check out on our way to the restaurant.  Where do you want to go first?”

Freya thought for a moment.  “That little market on the first street we passed, I think.”

“Works for me,” Remilia said, putting her cousin’s preternatural hearing aside.

Jake stepped out of the shower, toweling off.  The steam in the bathroom wasn’t dispersing, even with the fan at full blast.  He opened the door into the bathroom, and the mist started to clear.  With a sigh, he finished drying and grabbed some clean clothes.  “Volcanic worlds, man.”

Bathroom rituals accomplished, the tall hiver walked into the main room and pulled his slate out.  He tapped a few runes on the front of it and dropped it on the bed.  “Record,” he said aloud.  The slate’s screen blinked and a large red circle filled the middle of the screen.

“Hey, Mom, Dad.  We’re safe on Nocturne.  We’re on the closest thing the planet has a to a formal capital, Hesiod.  It’s incredible, you guys.  The sun here is RED.  The sky looks like blood.  The clouds are blue.  It’s fucking opposite day up there.”  He stood in the middle of the bedroom speaking clearly for the transcription package.  “The flight was fine.  I took exquisite pleasure in unnerving the senior crew with my humble origins.  They never see it coming.  Apparently you need to be a noble to date a Primarch’s daughter, who knew?”  He crossed his arms, thinking of the flight.  “You would have liked a lot of the guys we met, though.  The actual ride was smooth, except for the Warp transitions.  Those completely sucked.

“We’re safe and sound, though,” he continued.  “Alex has been a complete bro.  He’s given me all kinds of workout advice.  Lost six pounds in nine days, fuck yeah.”  He grinned at the slate. “Not much else to do on a ship.”

“I dunno if Venus has already sent home a message, but if she didn’t…you guys need to see the speech she gave the people here.  It was breathtaking.  And that uniform!  Holy shit, you guys, that uniform of hers is fucking awesome.  I seriously need to get one of those.”  He paused as someone rapped on the door.  “Pause,” he said aloud.  When the slate beeped, he walked to the door and peeked out.  Alex was waiting outside.

Jake opened the door.  “What’s up, man?  I’m composing a message for my parents,” he said.

“Shit, sorry,” Alex said.  “I can come back.”

“What’s up?” Jake repeated.

Alex sighed and walked in.  “Jake…this shit is out of hand.”

“What?” Jake asked.

“This weather is going to fucking kill us.  What do we do?” Alex asked, slumping into a chair by the door.  “I’ve seen athletes drop from heatstroke in this weather without even getting hit, man.  Terrans can not handle this planet.”

“And this is winter,” Jake added.  “I don’t know.  Genetic conditioning is all I can think of.”

“You can’t afford that,” Alex pointed out.

Jake closed the door.  “I know.”

Alex sighed heavily.  “All I can think is that we stay on the ship.”

“For a MONTH?  Not acceptable.  We’d be wasting a fortune in Navy assets just moving from surface to space that many times, and I’m not trusting my soul to a fucking teleporter,” Jake said emphatically.  “I say we gut it out as long as we can, and if it’s really unbearable, we stay on Prometheus.”

Alex squinted at him.  “Jake, when I was in freshman year, I saw a junior on the soccer team fall over, out like a light, in practice.  We all ran up to him.  He was out from heatstroke.  When he woke up in the hospital, he said he remembered feeling over-heated and dizzy.  How did you feel in the street today?”

“Pretty much like that,” Jake admitted.

“Right.”  Alex fidgeted.  “Look…we all brought thermoprotective kit.  I thought I’d only use it in the deserts, but…”

“Yeah.”  Jake glanced over at the thermo gear in his bag.  “Yeah.  We wear it around, then.”

“It’ll be a little embarrassing, but it’s better than hospitalization,” Alex said.  “Well.  Anyway.  I should let you get back to your letter.”

“Unpause,” Jake said aloud.  “Sorry about that, guys.  Alex just dropped by to say something.”

“Uh, hi, Seager family,” Alex chuckled.  “Alex Carlin here.  Dunno if we ever met.”  Jake winked at him as he stood up to go.

“Shit weather aside, Nocturne itself is amazing,” Jake said as Alex walked back to his own room.  “The people here live so closely with the Salamanders.  It’s not a thing like back home with the Imperial Fists.  We had breakfast with a few Salamanders this morning, and they were just chatting with us like…well, like normal people.  It was great.”  He glanced at the timer on the slate’s screen.  “I don’t want to take up more than my fair shot of Astropathic time.  So…I guess I’ll talk to you later.  Goodbye,” he said.  “Stop.”

He bundled the message and hit Transcript.  In a few seconds, the slate beeped, and the transcription popped up on the screen.  After fixing a few errors, he tapped into the line on the wall, grateful for having the master suite, and sent it off to the Astropathic temple in Aethonion.