As the elevator doors closed, Jeph rolled his eyes and glanced over at Nene. “Okay, you were right,” he admitted. “Sneaking in was a good idea.”
“Yup,” she agreed with a faint smile. “I wonder how Chris is going to react to the fact he’s got reporters sitting outside the hospital to catch a shot of him.”
Jeph snorted. “I’m going for ‘baffled disbelief’. And are they really reporters if it’s Nuygen out there?” he asked.
“Oh, be nice,” Nene scolded, slapping him lightly on the shoulder. “You know most of them are competent. Blame their editors for sending them here.” She shrugged, swapping the bag she was holding to her left hand. “And they’re mostly only here because Kate won’t tell them where the Professor and Miyu are locked up.”
“Smart woman,” Jeph mused as the doors opened and they stepped out. “You do realize we’re probably going to need to sneak Chris out of here,” he noted as they walked down the hallway, ducking around a trolley.
Nene shook her head. “You heard what Kit said about his biomod,” she replied, holding up the bag she was carrying. “While I doubt I can talk him into the dress yet, I can still make him look enough like any girl on the street those reporters won’t even blink.”
Despite his friends confidence, Jeph still looked skeptical. “You do realize that Orion’s aren’t exactly common, right?” he pointed out. “While you were running those errands for Kitbash, I asked Geo to do some quiet poking around online. Going by official records-”
“-such as they are, and what there are of them,” Nene quipped.
“There’s half a dozen in the Federation, maybe another three on Venus, and the Supers might have a few.” He very carefully did not mention the stories he’d heard about there being another one on Candy Apple Red’s. Some grenades should be left untouched. “And there are none at all here on Ganymede.”
Reluctantly, Nene nodded. “Okay, fair point. But still, we only need him to go unnoticed until we’re clear of the hospital,” she argued. “So as long as he doesn’t catch the eye-” she paused, knocking on the door.
“Who is it?” called out a soft, unfamiliar voice.
“Someone hunting down a friend of theirs to tell them off,” Nene replied.
“Well, get in here and grump at me, I know I earned it,” she called back. Nene smirked at Jeph, opened the door and walked inside.
As the door closed automatically behind them, both Nene and Jeph stopped and stared at the green skinned woman in front of them. She was tiny, well below five feet, but with impressively proportionate curves that the hospital gown somehow failed to hide. Shiny green-black hair reached down past the small of her back, framing a soft, expressive face. Blushing at their stares, she smiled and waved nervously. “So, how do I look?” she asked.
“She is not just walking past the reporters,” Nene said mildly.
“Not a chance,” Jeph agreed.
Chris’s blush faded as she looked between the pair. “Reporters? What do you mean repor-” her question was cut off by a squeak of surprise as Nene dropped her bag, stepped forward, and pulled the smaller woman into a tight hug.
“Don’t you EVER do that to me again,” she whispered, voice tight with emotion.
Relaxing slightly into the embrace, Chris returned the hug. “Sorry Nene. Didn’t mean to scare you,” she replied quietly. The two men in the room gave each other bemused looks, until Nene broke the hug and stepped back, looking her friend over again.
“Well then,” she said, smiling thoughtfully. “I definitely like the new look. And I approve of the size. It’s nice being the tall one for a change.” Chris, who struggled to come up to the other womans chest, rolled her eyes in amusement. “So, if your checkup’s all done…” She glanced over at Jack, who snorted in amusement.
“For the time being, but if you’re going to stick around Ganymede for a bit, I’d like to schedule a follow up examination for next week,” he commented. Chris nodded, and the doctor managed a satisfied smile. “Excellent. I’ll send you an email with all the details,” he said, bowing to her and Nene. “Ladies. Antilles.”
“Take care Doc,” Jeph said, moving out of the way and letting the man leave. Turning back to Chris, he shrugged slightly. “So, how’re you holding up?”
“Not screaming yet?” Chris replied with a wry smile and a wave of her hands. “Fair warning, I’m gonna want to pick your brain later on how you deal with this.”
“I only do it part time,” Jeph pointed out.
“I’ll take what I can get,” she replied, then changed the subject. “Now, you’ve hinted at it, the Doctor hinted at it, Kitbash said there was a lot going on, even if she was focusing on more immediate issues,” she mused. “And frankly, I’m running out of patience.” Placing her hands on her hips, she gave her friends a rather impressive glare. “So, if someone would care to explain just what I missed already…?”
Looking from her to each other, Jeph and Nene both grinned. “Help her get dressed,” Jeph suggested, stepping past them to the window, moving the curtain slightly to look at the street outside. “I’ll talk. Don’t worry, I won’t peek.”
Retrieving her bag from where she’d dropped it, Nene gestured at Chris’ hospital gown. “Off with it. Don’t give me that look, I’ve seen it before,” she added gently.
“While you and the Professor were fighting,” Jeph explained, “a lot of people panicked. Myself included, I fully admit. I had the Blue Midgets get out of the line of fire, a lot of other ships did too. What can I say, people worry when the Professor gets unhinged.”
“According to Kit, there wasn’t much damage,” Chris commented, removing the gown.
“Yeah, but everyone was expecting it,” Nene replied, looking her over and clamping down on her envy. “Here, put these on. Don’t worry, they’re handwaved to fit. Now, as if everyone in Serenity Valley freaking out wasn’t bad enough, not only did you have those people recording the fight, we also had a few AIs come and see what all the fuss was about.”
Chris paused, eyes widening. “They broadcasted it, didn’t they?” Nene nodded and the Orion winced. “How bad is it?”
Keeping his eyes on the media van outside, Jeph sighed. “It was a slow news day, so a good percentage of the solar system, including Earth” he admitted. Behind him, Chris managed a pained whimper. burying her face in her hands. “Yeah, sorry… you’re kinda famous now.”
“I hate it already,” she moaned, looking back up. “Nene, I’m going to need a hand with this part.”
“Kinda figured…”
“So, everyone heard about or watched the fight. And now the Professor’s been arrested, what next?” Chris asked.
Laughing bitterly, Jeph let the curtain drop closed again. “Everyone’s lost their minds. The SMOF mail list is overflowing. Some places have banned the Sol Bianca’s entire crew, there’s a few seriously talking about putting a bounty on his head, so on and so on.” He suppressed a grin as the bra Nene had provided the other woman adjusted itself to fit, getting a girlish shriek from the Orion. “It’s all the usual short term panic nonsense,” he admitted. “I haven’t had the time today to check the mailing list properly, but I got the impression people were starting to calm down and think again.”
Gathering her composure, Chris shot a glare Nenes way, which utterly failed to stop her giggling. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t this really a local matter?” she asked.
“More or less, although your Australian citizenship means they’ve got a few things to say on the matter,” Nene managed to say. “Pants?”
“Thank you. At least I can work these out…”
“Yeah, it’s a local matter that’s made the system wide news, which is why there’s reporters outside waiting to get a shot of you, or drag a statement out of you,” Jeph noted. “I’m figuring we sneak you out, let you get your bearings first.”
“I appreciate that,” Chris smiled. “If I can’t stay out of it, maybe I can at least try not to get in anyones way.” She squeaked slightly as she did up the last button on the jeans and they promptly shrank to fit her. “Nene, how much of your wardrobe uses this trick?” she asked, giving the girl a teasing grin.
Matching the grin, Nene replied “Not as much as you’re thinking, and it tends to be Jephs wardrobe that does it anyway. Comfortable?”
“Yeah… feels a bit odd in places, but I don’t think anythings changing that right now. Where’s a shirt?” Putting that on, and grumbling at getting her hair through the rather large (by her scale) neck hole, she considered the situation. “He was aggressive, ordered a violent reaction, and wasn’t willing to negotiate… but at the same time, he saved my life.”
“They’re waiting for him to wake up,” Nene noted. “Mayor Reilly’s arranging for a psychiatric analysis, or what passes for one with him. I don’t think he’s going to just put him on trial and throw him out an airlock. It’s safe to turn around.”
Turning, Jeph got his first look at Chris in street clothes. Nice legs in light blue skinny jeans that made denim paint look like over sized track pants, an impressive hourglass figure shown off well by the jeans and plain white t-shirt that had reshaped to hug her curves. “Yeah, keeping you unnoticed isn’t going to be easy,” he said dryly. “You could probably cause traffic accidents standing at an intersection.”
“Not something I want to think about just yet,” Chris replied, blushing again, before kneeling down to recover the shoes and socks Nene had brought. “You got a plan to get me out of here?”
“Yup,” she agreed with a faint smile. “I wonder how Chris is going to react to the fact he’s got reporters sitting outside the hospital to catch a shot of him.”
Jeph snorted. “I’m going for ‘baffled disbelief’. And are they really reporters if it’s Nuygen out there?” he asked.
“Oh, be nice,” Nene scolded, slapping him lightly on the shoulder. “You know most of them are competent. Blame their editors for sending them here.” She shrugged, swapping the bag she was holding to her left hand. “And they’re mostly only here because Kate won’t tell them where the Professor and Miyu are locked up.”
“Smart woman,” Jeph mused as the doors opened and they stepped out. “You do realize we’re probably going to need to sneak Chris out of here,” he noted as they walked down the hallway, ducking around a trolley.
Nene shook her head. “You heard what Kit said about his biomod,” she replied, holding up the bag she was carrying. “While I doubt I can talk him into the dress yet, I can still make him look enough like any girl on the street those reporters won’t even blink.”
Despite his friends confidence, Jeph still looked skeptical. “You do realize that Orion’s aren’t exactly common, right?” he pointed out. “While you were running those errands for Kitbash, I asked Geo to do some quiet poking around online. Going by official records-”
“-such as they are, and what there are of them,” Nene quipped.
“There’s half a dozen in the Federation, maybe another three on Venus, and the Supers might have a few.” He very carefully did not mention the stories he’d heard about there being another one on Candy Apple Red’s. Some grenades should be left untouched. “And there are none at all here on Ganymede.”
Reluctantly, Nene nodded. “Okay, fair point. But still, we only need him to go unnoticed until we’re clear of the hospital,” she argued. “So as long as he doesn’t catch the eye-” she paused, knocking on the door.
“Who is it?” called out a soft, unfamiliar voice.
“Someone hunting down a friend of theirs to tell them off,” Nene replied.
“Well, get in here and grump at me, I know I earned it,” she called back. Nene smirked at Jeph, opened the door and walked inside.
As the door closed automatically behind them, both Nene and Jeph stopped and stared at the green skinned woman in front of them. She was tiny, well below five feet, but with impressively proportionate curves that the hospital gown somehow failed to hide. Shiny green-black hair reached down past the small of her back, framing a soft, expressive face. Blushing at their stares, she smiled and waved nervously. “So, how do I look?” she asked.
“She is not just walking past the reporters,” Nene said mildly.
“Not a chance,” Jeph agreed.
Chris’s blush faded as she looked between the pair. “Reporters? What do you mean repor-” her question was cut off by a squeak of surprise as Nene dropped her bag, stepped forward, and pulled the smaller woman into a tight hug.
“Don’t you EVER do that to me again,” she whispered, voice tight with emotion.
Relaxing slightly into the embrace, Chris returned the hug. “Sorry Nene. Didn’t mean to scare you,” she replied quietly. The two men in the room gave each other bemused looks, until Nene broke the hug and stepped back, looking her friend over again.
“Well then,” she said, smiling thoughtfully. “I definitely like the new look. And I approve of the size. It’s nice being the tall one for a change.” Chris, who struggled to come up to the other womans chest, rolled her eyes in amusement. “So, if your checkup’s all done…” She glanced over at Jack, who snorted in amusement.
“For the time being, but if you’re going to stick around Ganymede for a bit, I’d like to schedule a follow up examination for next week,” he commented. Chris nodded, and the doctor managed a satisfied smile. “Excellent. I’ll send you an email with all the details,” he said, bowing to her and Nene. “Ladies. Antilles.”
“Take care Doc,” Jeph said, moving out of the way and letting the man leave. Turning back to Chris, he shrugged slightly. “So, how’re you holding up?”
“Not screaming yet?” Chris replied with a wry smile and a wave of her hands. “Fair warning, I’m gonna want to pick your brain later on how you deal with this.”
“I only do it part time,” Jeph pointed out.
“I’ll take what I can get,” she replied, then changed the subject. “Now, you’ve hinted at it, the Doctor hinted at it, Kitbash said there was a lot going on, even if she was focusing on more immediate issues,” she mused. “And frankly, I’m running out of patience.” Placing her hands on her hips, she gave her friends a rather impressive glare. “So, if someone would care to explain just what I missed already…?”
Looking from her to each other, Jeph and Nene both grinned. “Help her get dressed,” Jeph suggested, stepping past them to the window, moving the curtain slightly to look at the street outside. “I’ll talk. Don’t worry, I won’t peek.”
Retrieving her bag from where she’d dropped it, Nene gestured at Chris’ hospital gown. “Off with it. Don’t give me that look, I’ve seen it before,” she added gently.
“While you and the Professor were fighting,” Jeph explained, “a lot of people panicked. Myself included, I fully admit. I had the Blue Midgets get out of the line of fire, a lot of other ships did too. What can I say, people worry when the Professor gets unhinged.”
“According to Kit, there wasn’t much damage,” Chris commented, removing the gown.
“Yeah, but everyone was expecting it,” Nene replied, looking her over and clamping down on her envy. “Here, put these on. Don’t worry, they’re handwaved to fit. Now, as if everyone in Serenity Valley freaking out wasn’t bad enough, not only did you have those people recording the fight, we also had a few AIs come and see what all the fuss was about.”
Chris paused, eyes widening. “They broadcasted it, didn’t they?” Nene nodded and the Orion winced. “How bad is it?”
Keeping his eyes on the media van outside, Jeph sighed. “It was a slow news day, so a good percentage of the solar system, including Earth” he admitted. Behind him, Chris managed a pained whimper. burying her face in her hands. “Yeah, sorry… you’re kinda famous now.”
“I hate it already,” she moaned, looking back up. “Nene, I’m going to need a hand with this part.”
“Kinda figured…”
“So, everyone heard about or watched the fight. And now the Professor’s been arrested, what next?” Chris asked.
Laughing bitterly, Jeph let the curtain drop closed again. “Everyone’s lost their minds. The SMOF mail list is overflowing. Some places have banned the Sol Bianca’s entire crew, there’s a few seriously talking about putting a bounty on his head, so on and so on.” He suppressed a grin as the bra Nene had provided the other woman adjusted itself to fit, getting a girlish shriek from the Orion. “It’s all the usual short term panic nonsense,” he admitted. “I haven’t had the time today to check the mailing list properly, but I got the impression people were starting to calm down and think again.”
Gathering her composure, Chris shot a glare Nenes way, which utterly failed to stop her giggling. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t this really a local matter?” she asked.
“More or less, although your Australian citizenship means they’ve got a few things to say on the matter,” Nene managed to say. “Pants?”
“Thank you. At least I can work these out…”
“Yeah, it’s a local matter that’s made the system wide news, which is why there’s reporters outside waiting to get a shot of you, or drag a statement out of you,” Jeph noted. “I’m figuring we sneak you out, let you get your bearings first.”
“I appreciate that,” Chris smiled. “If I can’t stay out of it, maybe I can at least try not to get in anyones way.” She squeaked slightly as she did up the last button on the jeans and they promptly shrank to fit her. “Nene, how much of your wardrobe uses this trick?” she asked, giving the girl a teasing grin.
Matching the grin, Nene replied “Not as much as you’re thinking, and it tends to be Jephs wardrobe that does it anyway. Comfortable?”
“Yeah… feels a bit odd in places, but I don’t think anythings changing that right now. Where’s a shirt?” Putting that on, and grumbling at getting her hair through the rather large (by her scale) neck hole, she considered the situation. “He was aggressive, ordered a violent reaction, and wasn’t willing to negotiate… but at the same time, he saved my life.”
“They’re waiting for him to wake up,” Nene noted. “Mayor Reilly’s arranging for a psychiatric analysis, or what passes for one with him. I don’t think he’s going to just put him on trial and throw him out an airlock. It’s safe to turn around.”
Turning, Jeph got his first look at Chris in street clothes. Nice legs in light blue skinny jeans that made denim paint look like over sized track pants, an impressive hourglass figure shown off well by the jeans and plain white t-shirt that had reshaped to hug her curves. “Yeah, keeping you unnoticed isn’t going to be easy,” he said dryly. “You could probably cause traffic accidents standing at an intersection.”
“Not something I want to think about just yet,” Chris replied, blushing again, before kneeling down to recover the shoes and socks Nene had brought. “You got a plan to get me out of here?”