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

==Farther Up and Farther In==

===Jake's Growing Up===


As lunch rolled around, the group assembled in the Captain’s Hall, where the usual flustered glances at their sparring injuries were made, and the Captain and Venus made their traditional small talk.  While recounting more of their adventure on Nocturne, however, the ship’s Astropath suddenly departed without a word.  Freya, the most Warp-seasoned of the five teens, provided a rational explanation: the ship was receiving a high-priority message.

“That would be likely,” Roemer said.  As he turned back to his food, however, the Astropath burst back in, rushing to his side.  Though the Captain flinched when the eyeless psyker leaned over to him, his discomfort vanished as the man started to urgently whisper.  “…I see.  Well, I’m afraid all we can do is hope we get dispatched,” he said back.

“As you say, Captain,” the Astropath said, ignoring his half-eaten sandwich and heading back out the door.

“May I ask?” Venus posed, all politeness.

“A distress call from a world along the Void Walks trade lane.  A Space Hulk has emerged in-system, and the Merchant fleets are cut off,” Roemer said.  “We’re a long way out, however, so I expect we won’t be called up.”  He lifted his cutlery again.  “Sorry to disrupt,” he said.

“Certainly not, I would be more displeased if you didn’t let urgent news disrupt a meal,” Venus said.

Almost as soon as the meal was over, Remilia excused herself and made for the O-Club.  Just as she arrived, however, she paused with her hand on the hatch frame.  After Haarlan’s observation the previous night, did she really want to be seen hovering around Kines?  A simple recording of her sparring was one thing, an affair was entirely another.

She hesitated.  Closing her eyes in thought, she weighed her options.  After a moment, she decided to postpone a reunion until she could be seen to do so with the others.  She sighed heavily, turned away from the inviting room, and went back up to her cabin.

As she arrived, she swung the hatch open, glancing over the vacant chamber.  Clearly, Kines had made his escape while she had been at lunch.  She hoped he had managed to arrive at the bar without raising suspicions, for both their sakes.

Footsteps down the corridor behind her snapped her attention up.  She looked back to see Venus and Jake returning to their own cabin.  “Hey, Remilia, you up for another game tonight?” Jake asked as they drew closer.

“Uh…possibly, I don’t know if I’m in the mood for more poker,” she confessed.

“We can try something else.  Ratscrew, euchre, ascendency, your call,” he said.

“You know, actually, I think I just want to turn in a bit early,” Remilia said evasively.

Jake grinned patiently.  “Mm hmm.  If you say so…” he said, opening his own hatch.

That evening, Jake sat down in front of the small group of officers that had gathered around his table in the O-Club.  “Gentlemen, welcome,” he said.  He opened the leather case, passing out some chips.  “Values are on the chips.  Opening ante is one credit, we max at four hundred.”

The officers nodded, taking their chips.  Jake glanced around the room, noting the absence of Remilia.  Shaking his head, he stood.  “All right, gents, I’m just going to grab a drink, then we can start.”  He walked up to the bar, grabbing the ice water Kines had already put out for him.  The Lieutenant was in high spirits, clearly.  “Thanks, Chuck,” Jake said.  He leaned forward conspiratorially as the Lieutenant opened his mouth for a greeting.  “I think she just wants to avoid scheming political officers,” he whispered.

Kines stared, flushing a bit, but nodded as if nothing of import had been said.  “I’ll be back several hundred credits richer,” Jake said a bit louder, walking back to his table.  Freya was hovering next to his seat as he returned.

“Sure you don’t want to be learning the trade?” she asked slyly.  “There’s plenty of room on the dartboard.”

“There’ll be plenty of time for that later, my audience awaits,” he replied, dealing the first hand.

Venus paged through the terse message from home.  She had received it only a few minutes before, with an urgent tag from the Astropath.

“Under attack, huh.”  She swore under her breath in Old Nocturnean.  “Naturally.  We’re vacationing on Death Worlds, and he’s the one who gets attacked by Orks.”  She read a bit more, shaking her head.  “He’s a tough kid, but…well.  He’ll be fine,” she said to herself, rising to her feet in the empty cabin.  She checked the message’s send list.  Roemer had already received it.  “Good.  Wouldn’t want the Astropath cutting corners.”  She dropped the slate on the bed and thought their options over.  Fenris was only seventeen light-years from the Void Walks.  From there, if they pressed the Warp Drives flat-out, they could be at Seadelant in four days.  If she had to, she could use her authority as a Lady Primarch to just requisition a ship to take them back to Terra, though she suspected that Freya would be the one doing it.

She lay back on the bed, thinking.  How would it be wisest to handle this?  Pius could watch his own ass, of course, and with the whole Fourth Grand Fleet mobilized, it’s not like there were other reinforcements to send.

After nearly five minutes of silent contemplation, she let out a shaky breath.  “There’s nothing.  I can do…literally nothing.”  Venus closed her eyes and slowly massaged them.  “…I need a drink.”

She leaned up in her seat and turned the slate off.  She slid her sandals on and walked out of her hatch, head hung low.  She nearly bumped into Remilia coming out of her own cabin.  “Oh.  Hey,” she said distractedly.

“Hi.  Something wrong?” Remilia asked.

“Seadelant, the world where Julius Pius stopped over on his way to Macragge, is under siege by an Ork Waaagh,” Venus said simply.

Remilia stared.  “…Fuck.  Did he make it out?”

“No.”  Venus shrugged.  “Nothing we can do but hope.”

Her blond cousin looked down at the deckplates.  “It’s getting worse out there, isn’t it?”

“It is.”  Venus sighed again.  “Want to go get a drink?”

“Well…I’m worried that if I go down there too often, I might get Chuck in trouble,” Remilia confessed.

“As opposed to the first leg of the trip, where we went every day?” Venus pointed out.

“You were there.  Haarlan saw us.”  Remilia shuffled a foot.  “I’m just nervous.”

Venus nodded patiently.  “It doesn’t have to be something you do every night, you know.”

Remilia looked up at her in surprise.  “Really?  You and Jake aren’t…I mean…”

“Oh my god, every night?  I’d break in half!” Venus giggled.  “Trust me, it’s fine.  If you’re worried, just go chat with him.”

“All right.”  Remilia smiled awkwardly.  “Let’s go.”

Jake watched another officer plod away in defeat, grinning to himself.  “All right, who’s in?” he asked.

“Eh, I’ll cut my losses,” one of the two remaining officers said, pushing his chips away and taking his money out of the pot.  The last one looked a bit doubtful, but stayed in the game.

“I’ll keep going,” he said, chipping in.

“All right.”  Jake anted up and dealt.  His hand was horrible.  Two, five, seven, ten, ace, all four suites.  He kept his face impassive.

“I’ll check,” the lieutenant said.

“Check,” Jake said, tossing in the two, five, and seven.  He dealt the other man a few cards and picked up his own.  A six, a nine, and another ace.  Excellent.

The other man reached for his chips, but paused.  Jake raised an eyebrow.  Was he losing his nerve?

Venus’ warm hands slid over his shoulders.  “Hey.  How’s the game going?”

“Swimmingly,” Jake pointed out, gesturing at his pile of chips.  No wonder the lieutenant had hesitated.  Seeing a Primarch’s Daughter was probably pretty new to him.  “You want to play in the next game?”

“No thanks, I just need a drink.”  Venus kissed the crown of his head and walked up to the bar.

Jake turned back to the lieutenant, who was staring at his girlfriend with a mixture of awe and attraction that put a smile on Jake’s face.  “You in?” he asked.  The lieutenant shook himself and threw his cards away.  “All right,” Jake said, sweeping up the pot.

Remilia sat at the bar, smiling at Kines.  “Hello, Lieutenant.”

“Hi, Remilia.  Just water?”

“The mildest whiskey you’ve got, actually,” Remilia said.

Kines winced.  “Oooh…sorry, ma’am, but this is a Navy ship.  No drinking under eighteen.  Not even for you.”

Remilia frowned.  “Oh.  Right.”  She shrugged.  “Lemonade then.”

“Fresh out, sorry.  Orange soda again?” he asked apologetically.

“Sure.”  She caught the bottle, noting that he was acting completely nonchalant.  Was he not interested in another night?  She wondered how to ask discreetly.  Before she could, however, he swept his hand across the bar to mop up some condensate and quite deliberately brushed her hand.  She left it where it was and he did it again, this time accompanying it with the slightest shake of the head, and a cheerful wink.

She smiled to herself.  He was interested, but unavailable.  That was fine.

“Lieutenant, do you have any matches?” Jake called over from his nearby table.

“Matches, sir?  To light a cigarette?” Kines asked.  “Sorry, we don’t allow smoking here.”

“No, not to smoke.  Just to try something,” Jake said, scooping up the last of his money.  The final officer sat back in his chair, miserable.

“Uh…yes,” Kines said slowly.  He grabbed a book of paper matches.

Jake finished packing up his poker set and walked over, cash in his bulging pockets.  “No, no, I mean wood matches.  Stick matches.”

“Maybe, why?” Kines asked.  Jake grabbed the cardboard box of kitchen stick matches from him and pulled one out.

With the eyes of the surrounding crowd firmly affixed to him, Jake struck the match and immediately pressed it to the side of his hand.  He held his hand flat, slowly dragging the match along the underside of his palm, and pulled it out the other side.  He puffed the match out and showed his hand to the viewers with a taunting grin.  He was completely unscathed.

Venus blinked.  “Okay…I’m partially fireproofed, how did YOU do it?” she asked as the crowd made various noises of disbelief and appreciation.

“I learned this trick from my father, who insisted we have a box of them in the apartment even though we didn’t have a gas stove.  Where he got them, I’ll never know,” Jake said, pulling another match out.  He struck it again and dragged it along his hand once more, and again he pulled it back unscathed.  “Anyone want to try to figure it out?” he asked.

Remilia smiled into her soda.  He had certainly gained quite a bit of confidence since the road trip had started.  It looked good on him.  Kines took advantage of the distraction to lean over and catch her eye.  “Haarlan’s on my case.  Does he know?”

“Yes.  He’s been ordered not to do anything,” Remilia whispered back.

“OW!”  A lieutenant beside the bar lurched back, cradling his hand.

Kines closed his eyes.  “Damn the Munitorum.”

“Chuck, we can still meet.  Just don’t go to the commissary,” Remilia whispered.  “I have more…you know.”

“Okay.  Not tonight.  Tomorrow?” he whispered.

“I’ll be there,” she finished with a coy grin.

“How do you DO it?” the injured officer said, staring at Jake’s hand.

“Like so,” Jake said.  He lit a third match, placing it to his hand.  “Fast.  Don’t give it time to heat up.  Move constantly, don’t pause,” he said, doing so.  “Then pull it away immediately.  Move it along the lifeline on your palm, follow the crease,” he said.  He pulled it away and blew it out.  “Easy.”

“Where do you learn all this shit, Lord Seager?” the officer asked.

Jake smiled.  “From my father and friends in middle school.  We got up to all kinds of crazy stuff in Tetra.”

“Tetra?  You mean Terra?” the officer asked, putting an ice cube on his hand.

“No, Hive Tetra, on Terra,” Jake corrected, sitting down at the bar.

“Oh…” the officer trailed off.

Jake resignedly shook his head.  “How about you?  Where are you from, Lieutenant?” he asked Kines.

“Oh, I’m from Totnis, a completely irrelevant little agri-world out in the middle of Solar, about ninety light years from Terra,” Kines replied. “Joined up to see the galaxy and get away from the homestead, you know.”

Alex wandered over from the dartboard.  “Did you get to pick which Legion you served?”

“Nope, you pick which career path you want and they assign you to a ship.”  Kines wiped down the bar and took the matches back.  “I like the Tide, though.”

Alex sat down too, swigging his drink.  “Ever seen combat?”

“Nope.  And, frankly, if the bartender’s actually fighting someone, we’re all boned,” Kines said with a laugh.


===Quiet In the Library===


As the group retired – with lingering looks for a few – Alex took a detour to the ship’s tiny library, citing the need to get something new to read before bed.  As he arrived at the deserted little room, he settled down in a seat by the back bulkhead and stretched out.  He was hoping Freya wouldn’t have been here, and she wasn’t.  As much as he appreciated her company, he needed to think this one through alone.

The faint ticking of his wristwatch was the only sound.  He tilted his head back and thought over his mother’s latest message.  He still hadn’t told her about the argument with his father.  He wanted that to be something she didn’t worry over while he was off on the trip.  He would have to tell her eventually, of course.  That wasn’t even open to debate.  Beyond the obvious, he would be living with her between college semesters, unless his living situation with Freya drastically changed.  That wasn’t unappealing of course, but then, he was in a cynical mood.

Alex pulled a scrap of plastic out of his pocket.  It was a small data chip, containing the address to which his mother was going to be moving once the old house sold.  She had taken great pains to assure him that his possessions would go with her, and he could keep or sell them at his leisure when he got back to Earth.

Hive living.  THAT would take some getting used to.  He craned his head back, his heart clenching.  Even the most luxurious and spacious home in the hives cost less than a home in the surface cities, of course.  Hell, the new place might actually be nicer.  But the fact remained: she was going to be living in the hives.

Jake was living proof that that wasn’t inherently bad, of course.  Jake also came from a large, loving, supportive family with connections to the Mechanicus and several prestigious colleges.  Alex’s mother had none of that.

Alex groaned in the darkness of the room.  What choices did he have?  Aside from the money in his pockets, which of course he had spent dry on Nocturne, he had nothing.  A few small accounts on Terra in his name instead of his father’s, maybe, but the hundreds of millions of credits in his accounts in his father’s name were effectively gone, now.  Not to mention the billions of credits in his father’s empire.  He hadn’t intended to become his father, certainly.  He didn’t want to become a grave robber.  If he had taken control of the business, he might have even sold the writ for tens of billions of credits and lived like a god on any world of his choosing.  With Freya, without her, a life of infinite luxury either way.
He grinned bitterly.  Now he was going to be stuck playing rugby forever, without a credit to his name, unless Freya…

Well.  As much as the idea of spending a very great deal more time with her was becoming more and more appealing, he couldn’t impose on her like that.  Leman Russ may have been one of the richest people in the galaxy, but Freya was the penny-pinching sort.  Until a few days prior, that had been an advantage.

He leaned forward in his chair, staring at the deck.  “What the hell, Dad…” he whispered.

“Alex?”

Alex surged upright.  Remilia was standing in the hatch.  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt,” she said, backing out.

“Wait,” he said.  She paused.  “You can come in.  Looking for some light reading?” he asked with a forced grin.

“I was.  I’m out of movies and games on my slate.”  She walked over to him and glanced over the row of books beside him.  “I didn’t know you were into architecture.”

“Uh, I was just sitting here,” Alex said.  “I wasn’t reading those.”

“Oh, okay.”  She hesitated.  “…Do you want to be alone?”

“Not any more,” he said.  She sat down next to him.  “Can I ask you something about what you talked about with me before?” he asked evasively.

“What was that?”

“How…I mean, what are you going to say to your father when you see him again?” he asked.  “I didn’t want to pry, but it looks like Dad and I are going to have a bit of a slugging match over the accounts he opened in my name when I was a kid.  If I know him, anyway.”

“Oh.  I’m sorry, Alex, money problems are a pain,” Remilia sympathized, as if the daughter of the fifth richest being in the known universe could talk.  Alex ignored the bitter sense of irony.  “If it helps, I think Dad and I are going to be able to talk when we get home…what do you want to know?”

“Well…what’s your mother like?  I’ve never met her,” Alex said.

“She sits on about a dozen boards.  Charities, companies, a housing concern.  She’s never home, really, and considering her job, she has the worst sense of time prioritization I’ve ever seen,” Remilia said.  “But…I wasn’t really fair to her before I left, either.  I should make a point of talking to her directly before we head off to school,” she noted under her breath.  “What about your mother?”

“Before they divorced, Mom was a paper-shuffler in his businesses.”  Alex sighed.  “She found work as a paralegal on Terra, but without the interest from Dad’s accounts keeping her afloat, she’s basically going to have to sell it all and move into the hives.”

“Oh.”  Remilia rubbed her hands idly.  “Well…is that so terrible?  The uppermost spires are pretty comfortable…and if she could paralegal for firms on the surface, she could work at any firm in the hives, I’m sure…”

“Not the point.  You know they only divorced two years ago?” Alex snorted.  “I don’t even remember a specific argument.  They just fell apart.  Dad didn’t blame me, and I don’t think Mom did, but she resented that I spent so much of my time away from them both.”

Remilia looked down.  “I’m sorry.”

“Why?  It’s not your fault.  Hell, Dad was buying and selling arm candy like it was going out of style.  It’s his fault.  Mom couldn’t tolerate his infidelity, he thought she was a stifling old bat.”  He shook his head.  “Can I ask how your parents act around each other?”

“They love each other.  More than me, or at least it feels that way.”  Remilia squeezed her hands.  “We’re a matched set, aren’t we?”

“We are.”  Alex finally smiled.  “If this were a trashy romance holo, we’d be falling into each other’s arms right now, solving our problems with musical scenes.”

Remilia laughed.  “And then babies and horrible sequels ever after.”

Alex laughed too, and the mingled sounds were a catharsis for both.  “Speaking of…hey, on a nicer subject.  It’s good to see you smiling again,” Alex said.

Remilia flushed a bit.  “I’m worried.”

“What?  About Kines?  He’ll be fine, if Venus told Haarlan to back off.  Did she?”

“Yeah.”

Alex shrugged.  “Problem solved.”

“Yeah, but I kinda want this to be more than a summer thing, you know?” Remilia asked uncomfortably.

“But it can’t be.  If you got him transferred, it’d destroy you in the press, right?” Alex asked reasonably.  “Just enjoy the time you have.”

“I guess…but it’s disappointing,” Remilia confessed.

“Freya wasn’t my first girlfriend, I wasn’t her first boyfriend.  Finding the right combination of person and timing takes a few tries,” Alex counseled.  “Venus was the lucky one.  Most people don’t get it right the first time.”

Remilia looked up at him.  “So just use this as a springboard for the next one?  That’s a little callous, isn’t it?”

“Not at all.  You’re going to a great liberal arts school for four years.  Plenty of time to find someone right for you,” Alex said.

She stared at him, before looking away and thinking it over.  “I guess you’re right.”

Alex stood.  “Well.  Thanks.  I feel a little better.  Have you written home since we got aboard?”

“No, and I don’t think I will unless something changes, since I think Mom is taking off for some conference and Dad is taking the Phalanx out to New Damascus to sortie the fleet.  Not that you heard that from me,” she said drily.  “No point in writing to an empty house.”

“I’m writing home tonight,” Alex said.  He looked around at the stacks.  “Might as well find something good as long as I’m here, though,” he added.

“What do you like to read?” Remilia asked, rising to her feet.

“I like old speculative fictions.  You know, the ones that tried to guess what the galaxy would look like when the Crusade was over.”  Alex grinned as he paged through some titles.  “They’re all so hilariously wrong.  How about you?”

“I was just here to see what caught my fancy.”  Remilia glanced through the romance section and chuckled.  “The fact that the number of trashy skin books is larger than the non-fiction section on a mixed-sex crew is distinctly amusing.  I don’t know why.”

Alex selected a tome and made for the hatch.  “All right…I’ll see you tomorrow, Remilia,” he said.

“Night, Alex,” Remilia said, still browsing.


===Pillow Talk===


The next few days passed quickly as they made their way through the Warp.  Sure enough, Haarlan didn’t seem to be pressing his case, and what he thought of the situation nobody asked.  Kines’ fears proved unfounded.

As they traveled on, both teens found their time spent as much with just talking as anything physical.  To Remilia’s distinct surprise, she found herself looking forward to it.  One late night, the two of them turned to a topic Remilia had had in her mind since before Nocturne.

Remilia was lounging in a chair in the corner of her cabin, listening to Kines describe his own family.  “Lotta ex-military, you know.  SDF mostly.  Nobody important, but we were there,” Kines said, lying on his back on the bed.  He was staring at the overhead and thinking aloud.  “I was drafted up to the Navy against my will.”

“Really?  Conscripted in peacetime?” Remilia asked.

“Yep.  It’s a ten-year tour, too.”  Kines shrugged.  “It sucks, but it’s good money, and the Navy paid for my degree, so I’ll land on my feet when I’m out.  Eighteen-month accounting degree,” he explained.

Remilia smiled at him over crossed knees.  “Was college fun?”

“No.  They rush us through so fast.  It was really annoying.  No time to enjoy anything.”  He peered at her, upside-down.  “You’ll get to take your time.”

She looked at his inverted face.  “Do you ever think about staying in?”

“Never.  I’m going to go home and get back on my feet.  Family, business, whatever.  Don’t get me wrong, I like my job, but this isn’t the life I chose.”

Remilia nodded, bracing herself for her next question.  “Can I ask about your sister?”

Kines hesitated.  “Well…I guess.  She was...seventeen months younger than me.  She was a lonely sort, her whole life.  I thought she just liked solitude, but it was more than that.  She was just so…scared all the time.  She never told anybody…didn’t want to be a bother.”  Pain crossed his face as the memories came back.  “Damn it…her name was Sophia.  We were close enough together that she wasn’t really a ‘little’ sister, but…”

“You don’t have to tell me,” Remilia said softly.

Kines shook his head.  “No…I should say it.  Kept it under a lid for years.”  He looked up at her again.  “How long have you been…I mean…”

“I stopped, Chuck.  I haven’t touched it in months,” Remilia said.

“I believe you.”  He looked away from her at the overhead again.  Why did the Navy hate putting central lights in VIP cabins?  It made no sense.

“But…I started when I was ten,” she confessed.  His eyes went wide.

“''Ten?''”

“Is that odd?”

“It’s…Sophia was fourteen.  I was just surprised.  That seems…young.”  He sighed.  “But what do I know?”

Remilia crossed the cabin to sit down next to him.  “I was so confused.  It hurt, but…part of me loved it.  The part that’s…not really human,” she admitted.

He looked up at her.  His face was impassive.  “What do you mean?”

“I’m not human, Chuck.  Simple as that.  Part of an Astartes’ DNA is in me.  And he was a…bit of a masochist.”  She turned to meet his eyes.  “I’m not ashamed of it.”

Kines looked away.  “I didn’t know.”

Remilia ran her hands over her arms.  “I can remember them.  Each one.  I have an eidetic memory, we all do.”

“Then why do it more than once?” he asked.

“I guess there’s…nothing like the moment.”  She rubbed her hands over her arms again, idly.  “I suspect that’s true for most things.”

He propped himself up on his elbows.  “Did it help, at all?”

“Well…believe it or not, I thought it did.”  She smiled faintly as she remembered her impetus for stopping.  “Then Magnus the Red, Lord of Prospero, Arch-Mage of the Scholastica Psykana, and doting uncle, scared the living shit out of me with the knowledge of what my future would look like if I didn’t stop.”

“Your family’s pretty good at that, I bet,” Kines said.

She lay down beside him and rested her head on his shoulder.  “He told me what I was doing, and he scared me straight.  I owe him a lot.”

“What did he say?” Kines asked.

Remilia closed her eyes.  “That’s for him to say.”

“Remilia…”

She hesitated.  Magnus had told her that the fate that people who gave in to such self-torment suffered was a horrific one, in the Warp.  The afterlife.  Kines’ sister had killed herself.

“I’m sorry, Chuck.  I don’t want to share that.  It’s not for me to say.  I don’t even understand all of it,” she said, which was at least partially true.

He glared at her from a few inches away.  She looked back, sad but resolute.  He finally relented.  “I guess it’s too late to matter,” he grumbled.  “Anyway.  My parents…they didn’t understand.  They thought she did it for attention.  The doctor said she was just so scared of everything…she thought it was a way out.”

Remilia hugged him sideways.  “You don’t have to say anything more about that.  What’s the rest of your family like?”

“My dad’s ex-SDF.  Patrol boat officer.  My mother was a farmer, so was dad after he retired.”  Kines looked over at her again.  “How about you?  Any other siblings?”

“Well…”  That brought her up short.  He didn’t know about her unique family?  “I’m an only child, but my cousins have been there since the very beginning.  I’m closer to some than others, of course,” she said.  She rolled off of his arm and sat up against the bed, cradling his head in her lap.  “Do you want to know about them?”

“Sure, I’d love to.”

Remilia thought about the lengthy roster and smiled.  “Well, Freya and Venus you’ve met.  Let’s see…besides them, I think I’m probably closest to Roberta.  She’s Roboute Guilliman’s daughter.  She’s the bookworm where I’m the athlete, but other than that, we’re pretty alike.”

Kines pondered that.  “Any you don’t get along with?”

“Well…I used to be on pretty rough terms with Hana.  She’s the one the tabloids love,” she added drily.  “You know, the one with the leather and welts on her hands?”

“Ah yeah, she’s hard to miss,” Kines chuckled.

“She was a bit of bully when she was younger, but she’s a lot more mature now.”  Remilia pondered the others.  “Farah Manus.  She’s a lot of fun.  She’s the one who can pull off the bubbly and energetic without being annoying bit.”

“Are her hands really augmetic?” Kines asked.

“Yeah.  I think you’d like Angela, too, she’s the one with the wings,” Remilia said.

“Wait, those are real?” Kines asked.

“…You’ve never seen a picture of Sanguinius?” Remilia asked.

“Well, yeah, but I thought they were part of his armor,” Kines said, staring up at her.  “They’re real wings?”

“Yeah, they’re real.  He can actually fly.  She can’t, not without a jetpack.”

“That is so cool,” Kines said.  “Are any of them psykers?” he asked.

Remilia paused.  “That’s kinda personal, you know?  I mean…I can’t imagine one of them would mind, though.  Miranda.  She’s Magnus’ daughter.  She’s a psyker, an amazing one.”

“That’s cool too.”  Kines hesitated.  “I had an uncle who was a psyker.  The black ships came when he was eleven.  My mother never saw him again.”

“Yeah…well, Miranda was already on Terra, so she just stayed there to train.  She barely needed it, though, her control was so fine already.”

“Hmm.”  He met her eyes.  “Are you a psyker?”

“Oh hell no, I’m no psyker,” she laughed.  “None of the three of us you’ve met have any psychic power at all.”

“Me neither.”  He narrowed his eyes.  “So...any others you don’t get along with?”

“Sort of, but I don’t want to badmouth them behind their backs, you know.”

“Can I ask a bit more about life on Terra?” he asked her from her lap.

“Sure.  What do you want to know?”

“Did it ever just…hit you?  Just the idea that ‘Oh fuck, I’m the granddaughter of the most important person in galactic history?’” Kines asked.

Remilia chuckled.  “Sure.  Once or twice.  Then you go to a high school as one of a class of a thousand, and suddenly I had to work for everything I did.  Not that I hadn’t before, but the tutors and teachers we had as kids kinda coddled us.”  She shook her head.  “I don’t really blame them, but it made high school sort of a slap in the face.

She squeezed his hands under his head.  “So, are we living up to your preconceived notions?”

Kines laughed.  “Better.”

“Better?”

“Yeah.  You’re people, not just pictures.  That’s better.”

She blushed a bit and squeezed his hands again.  “I rarely get to ask.  How exactly does the average solider of the Imperium see us?”

“I dunno, I’m a sailor.”  He flinched as she swatted his ear.  “Ow!  Okay, fine.  For the most part, people are kinda nervous about you, really.  In person, anyway.  Nobody knows how to act around you.  You’re so far above us in rank that people really can’t reconcile your age with your power, you know?” he said.

“Yeah, I noticed.  I meant when we’re not around,” Remilia patiently explained.

“Ah.  Well…the policy against unauthorized holos is pretty severe, so for a few of you, we don’t even know what you look like.  There’s always the tabloids, but still.  Not gonna lie, the weeks after Lady Morticia was shot were pretty wild, with all the news coming in.”

“That’s sweet.”  She smirked.  “Did you pick favorites?”

Kines froze.  “Wow, there’s a loaded question.”

“Hahah!  I’m not judging.”  She stage-whispered her next words.  “I already won.”

Kines chuckled.  “Well…sure we did.”

“Oooh, who did you all pick?” Remilia eagerly demanded.

“Lady Isis, most of the time.  Those eyes…mmm.  Man could get lost in those.  And, believe it or not, Lady Furia.  What can I say, the guys feel they have to show some backbone,” Kines chuckled.  “Me, I honestly don’t remember picking a favorite.”  He smiled up at her again.  “And like you said, you won.”

“Yeah.  Well, Isis is pretty spoken for,” Remilia said, feeling a bit of a pang as she thought of Julius, still trapped in the path of an Ork horde.  No word had come from Seadelant for a while.  “Furia’s actually spoken for a few times over,” she joked to fill the air.  “Your crewmates are shit out of luck.”

“Ah, well.  No ring on your finger,” Kines said in satisfaction.

“Very true.”  She hesitated.  “You know, we’re probably not going to be able to see each other after summer.”

“I know.  It’s a bum deal, but that’s life in the Navy.  It’ll be worth it, as long as Haarlan doesn’t throw me out an airlock the moment Venus is off the ship,” Kines said.

“He won’t, don’t worry,” Remilia said.  “He won’t disobey her.”

“He’s honestly not so terrible, he just has a rulebook up his ass,” Kines sighed.

“So I’ve observed.”  They sat in silence a bit longer, before Kines finally sat up.

“Thanks, Remilia.”  He stood from the bed, stretching.

“You’re going back to your bunk?” Remilia asked.

Kines sighed.  “I think so.  Sorry, but after talking about Sophia, I’m just not…well, you know.”

She winced.  “Sure.  But I think I’d prefer it if you stayed here,” she said.

He looked over at her.  “Really?”

“Yeah.  Just spend the night.”  She smiled up at him.  “If you want.”

He paused.  “Well…sure, why not?  You’re more comfortable than a bunk,” he said slyly.

“I’d hope so!” she giggled.  She started getting undressed as Kines wandered into the bathroom.  “Do you have to share a bay with the other Lieutenants?” she asked.

“Yeah, it’s a pain.  At least the male ones, female officers get their own bay.”

“How do you keep from getting each other pregnant on the ship?” Remilia asked.

“We don’t, basically.  More future crewers,” Kines said through the open door.

She stared through the door as he started on his teeth.  “Are you for real?”

“Sure.”  He tilted his head back to look at her.  “That surprises you?  Some of our tours last twenty years, with up to a full year in the Warp at a time.”

“Yeah, but…wow, that’s kinda mercenary, isn’t it?” she asked.

“It’s not like anyone’s being coerced,” he reasoned.

She shuddered.  “I’m so glad I’m not in the Navy, then.”

He smiled as they switched places.  “It takes some getting used to.”

“Any little Charles’ running around?” Remilia asked, not joking in the slightest.

“Hah!  Nope, not one,” Kines said.

Remilia shook her head.  “That’s quite a relief.”

He laughed as he stripped his outer clothes off.  “You and me both.”  He slid into bed, dimming the lights, and felt her warmth join him a moment later.  “All right.  Good night, Remilia.”

She pecked him on the cheek.  “Night, Chuck.  See you tomorrow afternoon.”

===Hail the Fang!===


As the ship emerged on the outermost edge of the Fenris system, Freya was already fidgeting.  She paced her cabin, grinning broadly, as Alex watched from the chair, amused.  “I know I’ll have a ton of shit to do, ceremonies to undertake, who knows what else…but fuck!  I just want to throw myself in a snowbank!” she said.

Alex laughed.  Her good mood was infectious.  “I admit, I want to see what it looks like.”

“It’s beautiful!  Forests the size of continents, animals so big you can ride them around!  And the FOOD!” she squealed.  “Sauroch was great and all, but until you rip a chunk off a mammoth bull and roast it over a fire, you haven’t had real steak.”

“I’ll pass, thanks,” Alex said.  “I’m glad you’re so fired up.”

“Argh, seventeen hours before we land!” she moaned.  “I’m going to be half-dead by then!”

“No, you’re not,” Alex chided.  “Go burn off some vibes in the gym, or write a letter to whoever’s in charge over there to let them know we’re coming.”

“Oh, yeah, good call, I don’t even know which Lord is running the show right now, with all these deployments,” Freya said, snatching up a slate.  She quickly turned it on and brought up her messages.  “Nothing?!  Argh, do they not know we’re here?” she huffed.

“I’m sure they knew.  You should write the presiding Wolf Lord and let him know the situation,” Alex pressured.

She grumbled at the perceived waste of time, but obeyed.  She dropped into a seat and started talking the moment the slate was ready.

“Hail the Fang.  I am Blood Princess Freya Russ, aboard the Salamander Legionary Fleet Vessel Iron Tide out of Nocturne.  I would address the Wolf Lord who reigns,” she said, the rough Juvjk flowing naturally from her lips.  Alex listened carefully.  He had never heard her speak it for more than a word at a time.  “I await your word…and I am eager to be back amongst my Wolf Brothers.”  She tapped the transcriptor and sent it off, making sure to have had the right language selected first.

As soon as the message was sent, she sprang back to her feet and resumed her pacing.  Alex shook his head.  “Baby, that was supposed to calm you down.”

“But now I’m waiting for a message too!” she said, wringing her hands.

Alex sighed.  “Hey, Freya…what did you say in Fenrisian before?”

“Oh, I said hail, it’s Freya, who’s running the show, it’s good to be back…simple stuff, nothing vital,” she said.  “And the language’s proper name is Juvjk.”

“Where do you speak it?  I never hear more than one word or so from you,” Alex said.

“Oh, that’s what Mom and I speak at home,” Freya said.  “Dad speaks it, of course, but he spends so much more time around people who aren’t Fenrisian, he just speaks Gothic most of the time.”  She smiled, surprisingly shyly.  “Did you like it?”

“Well…yeah, I just couldn’t tell what you were saying,” he said.  She nodded happily.

“I could teach you a few words, but it’s a complex language.  You’d have to study for a while to be fluent.”  She bounded over to him and perched on the armrest of his seat.  “You’re going to love this!  I’ve been waiting to be back for seven years!” she declared.

“How many times have you been here?” Alex asked.

“Four, counting this one.  When I was born, when I saw seven, and when I was ten,” Freya supplied.  She drew up her shoulders with an eager squeal.  “I can’t wait!”

Alex grinned.  She was ecstatic.  Her enthusiasm was lifting his own ennui a bit, too.  “Freya, baby, if you’re that impatient, go round up the others and tell them what you told me.  Tell them about the Fang or something.”

“I should, shouldn’t I?” she asked.  She clapped her hands together.  “Right.  Yes.  This.”  She sprang up from his armrest once more.  “Oh, and um…Alex,” she said, suddenly a bit bashful.  “How do I put this…”

“What?” Alex asked, leaning forward.

“The, um…the Wolf Brothers will…I suspect they’ll like you, but if you don’t want to get barracked a bit…we may have to restrain ourselves,” she admitted.

“I figured,” Alex chuckled.  “Ah, well.”

“Not mad?”

“Nope, I was wondering how to overcome several thousand Space Wolf noses on the way here and gave up,” Alex resignedly said.

She pecked him on the lips.  “You’re my hero.”  She straightened up and nearly skipped over to the door.  “Be right back.”

Minutes later, the other teens were sitting in the room, watching Freya pace and gesticulate.  “First things first, don’t call them Space Wolves.  Call them The Rout, or Sons of Fenris if you want to sound pretentious, or the Vlka Fenryka if you know the language,” she said.  She paused for a deep breath.  “I still haven’t heard back so I have no bleeding idea who’s in charge, but the correct form of address is ‘Wolf Lord’ whatever, not Brother-Captain like it was on Nocturne and Terra.  I suspect that you’ll all be invited to dine at the Grand Table when the time comes, and you’re more than welcome to do so, but it would even scare me a bit if I hadn’t done it a million times before, so if you want to eat somewhere more private you can.  In fact, I think maybe you should.  The older guys will appreciate you being there, but the younger Brothers might think you’re intruding on what’s supposed to be the most comradely and personal part of the daily routine aside from the actual prayers at the start of the day, and…” she paused again for a breath.

“Freya, Freya, it’s okay, chill out,” Remilia urged.

“Right, sorry.”  She blew out an anxious breath.  “Sorry, I’m just so amped up!” she groaned.  “This is something I’ve wanted for seven years!  I can’t WAIT to show you guys everything!”

“Well, you’ll have twenty seven days, so take your time,” Jake pointed out.

“Didn’t you say you were worried that we’d have nothing to do?” Venus asked.

“Well…true, after the first week or so…” she deflated.  “Shit.  I think we should probably have all of our stuff transferred down to our rooms, just in case.”

“We were going to do that anyway, Freya, the Tide is leaving to go stomp Orks, remember?” Venus pointed out.

“Right.”  She rubbed her forehead.  “Hah.  I should ask if Fenris’ star has a supercharging effect like Nocturne’s does,” she muttered.

Venus chuckled.  “Maybe, but I kinda doubt it.”

“Oh yeah…how are you feeling?” Freya asked, glad for the distraction.

“Oh, I’m fine, it wore off days ago, I barely even noticed,” Venus shrugged.  “I just woke up normal.  How about you?  All brushed up on your Juvjk?” she asked with a smirk.  She knew Freya was fluent.

“Hah!  ‘I’m just fine, Princess Venus, how’s your Nocturnean?’” Freya asked in Juvjk.

“Great, thanks,” Venus said in Gothic.

Freya started.  “You understood what I said?” she asked in astonishment.

“Nope, it was just a guess,” Venus confessed, as Remilia rolled her eyes.  “Hard to imagine both languages started on Earth.  They’re so different.”

“Yeah.  I’m sure all of the Rout you speak to on Fenris will be fluent in Juvjk and Gothic, though, so no worries,” Freya said.  “One thing, though, I should warn you about the meals.  Everything has a side of alcohol with it, as much for ritual as anything else; it takes a lot to get a Wolf drunk.  So don’t drink anything that isn’t water.”

“And test the water to make sure it’s not vodka?” Alex drily asked.

“Bah, real connoisseurs like alcohol with flavor to it,” Freya scoffed.  “Now, one last thing before we arrive, don’t talk about the other Legions unless you’re asked.  The Rout doesn’t take to some of them as well as others, and I don’t want you guys getting dragged into Legion politics.  If you’re not sure, let me field it, all right?” she asked.

“Who do the Wolves…Rout not like?” Jake asked, confused.  “I never see you arguing with any other Royal Daughter.”

“That’s sweet, Jake, but we’re not our fathers.  Magnus and Dad can’t stand each other, and Lion and Perturabo both get under his skin like crazy, the old dingus,” Freya muttered.  “So…just stay respectful of the other Legions and don’t talk shop, and I’m sure you guys will feel right at home.”

“Freya, you sound almost worried,” Venus said quietly.

She shrugged.  “Well…the Rout dislikes their barbaric reputation amongst the other Legions, but I’d be lying if I said they were as…welcoming as the Salamanders were.  The people here are proud and competitive, and I think it’d be wrong of the Wolves not to try to welcome you, but they won’t be too receptive of you guys making a vacation out of this.  Venus and Remilia, you two might be called upon to do some small ceremonies as long as you’re here.  Nothing huge, but other Primarchs don’t come to Fenris much; depending on which Lord is running the show, they may want to do a thing.”

“Well, that’s fine with me as long as we get to see the side of Fenris that you look forward to so much; goodness knows I made you guys sit through some crap back home,” Venus said.

“I’m not really the ceremonial type,” Remilia admitted.  “What are you talking about, exactly?”

“Well…I’ll be called upon to address the Wolf Lords in residence, of course, but you won’t be there for that.  You’ll be there more or less as a representative of the Emperor if you’re called upon at all,” Freya said.

“What?  Freya, I didn’t know we were going to be told to be representing someone!” Remilia exclaimed.

“No, no, not like a Senator or anything, you’ll just sit and be talked to, you won’t have to say much at all,” Freya soothed.  “I mean, on the other times I’ve been here they skipped the ceremony entirely a few times.  Seriously, I’ll make it very clear you’re here for yourselves, not a Legion or Grandpa.”

Her cousin glared, clearly unconvinced.  Venus looked from one to the other, her eyes muted and thoughtful.  “This doesn’t feel fair,” Remilia grumbled.  “You promise we won’t have to do anything political?”

“I swear.  If it’s really a problem, I can insist you be left out, though I don’t know how well they’ll take it.”

Remilia shook her head.  “Fine.  Whatever.  I didn’t bring anything more formal than what I wore to the dinner, though,” she said.

“That’s more than enough, trust me.  Venus won’t even have to wear that drake outfit,” Freya said.

Venus snapped her fingers.  “Damn.”




[[Category:Warhammer High]]