Luxea and I washed and cleaned each other very thoroughly. We limited ourselves to only hands, by mutual agreement, because if we had used our lips and mouths like we both wanted to, there was no way in the universe that I was going to be able to keep my promise to Lashina or my promise to Luxea to not get involved with her.

The last one made us both laugh, since we were naked in the shower together and were currently washing each other as we rubbed and touched each other all over. I had only just barely managed to not use any Presence techniques on her, because she had been adamant about not making her feel too good. I thought that was a bit of a disservice for her, and she countered that she couldn't do the same to me and it wasn't fair. I told her that life was never fair and she agreed as she still refused.

We finished up and I got dressed in my uniform power armor and blast shield, then I loaned her a robe and walked her to her room so she could get changed as well. We went and checked on Rhubin and he was still asleep, so we woke him up. Roughly. He was grouchy and in a bad mood, so Luxea and I got breakfast and brought it to him. He was in a better mood after that and then we opened up the ship's main hatch and the cargo area.

“Just in time!” Kitch said as he and his SAR crew came into the docking bay. “We were about to storm your ship to get your lazy asses up!”

I chuckled. “You could have just called.”

“Where's the fun in that?” Tessa asked, and several of the men laughed. “We're on decompression duty again today.”

“Well, it is the most fun.” I said, and she grinned.

“That's my view, too.” Tessa said. “Oh, before I forget.” She pulled something out of her pocket. “The captain said to give you this.”

“What is it?” I asked and took it from her. It was a little metal star of brass with a pin on the back.

“Civilian Medal of Valor.” Tessa said with a huge smile. “Your life saving bag idea let the crews yesterday save over fifty people with severe injuries that couldn't fit into a standard spacesuit.”

“But... it was just an idea. You were the one...”

Tessa took another one out of her pocket and pinned it to her uniform above the pocket. “Mine is the military equivalent and has a gold star in the center of the brass.”

I nodded and pinned mine in the same spot.

“Let's load the ship up!” Kitch said and the crew went to get the proper supplies.

“Rhubin, get the ship prepped and ready to go. Luxea, check the other ships and see where they're going, so we don't double up and check the same wrecks.”

“We're on it, sir!” Rhubin and Luxea both gave me sloppy salutes and huge grins.

“Stop that!” I said and grabbed their shoulders, then turned them around and gave them a little push. They laughed and went back into the ship and I went with the SAR crew to help load up the ship. We all worked hard for the next six hours, took a two hour break, then worked for another six hours. By this time, a lot of the rescued personnel had formed their own search and rescue teams and the operation had expanded almost exponentially.

There were now three booster crews working to get the cleared wrecks out of the debris field and out of the way of the other ships, and nearly two dozen rescue ships and twice as many crews working on them to save people. Our ship couldn't handle very many at once, with only so many passengers inside and so many in the cargo hold. So, while we made a lot more trips back to the station to drop survivors off, we were still finding and rescuing more people than anyone else.

Kitch and his crew were more than happy with that situation, and didn't mind that they were forced to stay behind when my ship had to dock and stay there for another ten hours to let Rhubin, Luxea and myself rest.

“I'm tempted to hop over to one of the other ships to keep going out; but, working with you has kind of spoiled me.” Kitch said. “The way you can just go through a wreck and find people is amazing. It saves my crew so much time when we don't have to waste it by checking every compartment one by one.”

We went back into the ship and locked everything down after that, then I went to my room and got a shower. I had barely left the bathroom when Luxea came in wearing my robe and shut the door.

“I half expected you to come right here while I was showering.” I said, and she chuckled.

“I thought about it.” Luxea said and climbed onto the bed and pat the spot in front of her. “I already had my fantasy shower with you, so I don't want to be greedy.” She said and picked up her hair brush.

I sat down and she started brushing my long hair. “We didn't do much past fondling each other and that was your fantasy?”

Luxea put her arms around me from behind and gave me a quick hug, then let me go and kept brushing my hair. “Oh, I wanted to do more... a lot more... but, we both know we can't.” She said. “I only have another six months to wait, and then... maybe...”

“Do you think you can stand to wait that long?” I asked, and she sighed. “Ohazith wouldn't come onto the ship because she said she wouldn't have been able to resist.”

Luxea caught her breath and I felt her arms back around me, then she rested her chin on my shoulder. “You can't keep blaming yourself.”

“Yes, I can.” I said. “I actually wanted to stay on the long haul so I could be alone while everyone else went to the resort; but, I knew I wasn't trusted enough to be left there by myself so I went, too.”

“Oh, sweety.” Luxea said and turned her head and kissed my cheek, kissed it again, then sighed and hugged me tighter. “Remember what you said when you asked me to stay on the ship.”

I sighed myself and rubbed the scars on my chest that surrounded my heart. “Yeah, I remember.”

“You were meant to meet her.” Luxea said and rubbed the side of her face on mine. “I can't say that she... she was supposed to...”

“I know.” I said. “So many things could have changed how that played out; and yet, it happened the way it did and that's how things ended up.”

“Yes, and you'll always remember her and what you learned that day.” Luxea said. She put her hand on mine and we both caressed the scars.

I nodded and took a deep breath. “Do you want to sleep here again?”

Luxea didn't answer as she moved her hands up to my face and turned my head to face her. She stared into my eyes for several moments, then she gave me a brief kiss. It wasn't passionate, or needful, or even platonic. It was a nice middle ground and I felt the potential there for it to become a lot more, if I wanted it to be. That alone was comforting, because she didn't try to push or manipulate me when she very easily could.

I used a hand to caress the cheek of her face and closed my eyes as I gave her a kiss back that was very similar, except that I held it for a little bit longer. When I broke the kiss and looked at her, she gave me an almost imperceptible nod and put the hairbrush down. We moved up on the bed and climbed under the covers, and she didn't bother with the pretense of trying to stay away from me.

Luxea cuddled in and draped her arm over my chest and put her leg over mine, and I put my arms around her and held her close. After a few minutes, she was fast asleep and I felt her Presence start to recharge from its diminished state. I thought about helping it, then realized I didn't have to make a conscious decision to do that, then smiled as a small wisp of Presence flowed out of my chest and into hers. Both mine and hers grew slightly brighter, so I closed my eyes and used several mental techniques to meditate, relax, and then sleep.

We found less and less people during the next shift, until we came to the large wreck that Luxea had seen the shuttle flying around. When we were close enough, detectors on the search and rescue crews started beeping at them.

“Back off! BACK OFF!” Kitch yelled over the suit com to Rhubin. “It's a major radiation hazard!”

“Luxea was right, then.” I said, and he looked at me. “We saw this thing a couple days ago and the whole back section was gone. She said they either lost it, or didn't eject the reactor in time and then lost the section.”

“Yeah, that would do it.” Kitch said, and everyone's faces became sad. “You're lucky you didn't try to rescue them or you would be dead, too.”

“Yeah.” I said and switched to a private channel and called Luxea. “Hey, are you okay?”

“I'm... I'm fine.” Luxea said. “You were right not to try.”

“That's what Kitch just said. We'd all be dead if we did.”

“I'm glad we didn't, then.” Luxea said and I felt the Presence waver.

“I'll give you a hug when we break for lunch.” I said, and that made her chuckle sadly.

“I look forward to it.”

The SAR crew and I finished the first shift and went back to the station for lunch, and I was true to my word and gave Luxea a hug in front of everyone. None of them questioned it, since they all knew about the large ship full of dead people. We requested that one of the booster teams add additional rockets to it and send it right into the star, rather than into a stable orbit.

The captain of the station and the government, all three members of it, agreed wholeheartedly, and the wreck was sent on its way. All work stopped and we all watched as it floated to its final destruction. When its icon disappeared from the navigation plot, a collective sigh ran through the crowd and everyone saluted. Then we all got back to work.

We had found a lot of the enemy ships and treated them the same as if they were normal ships. Either fortunately or unfortunately, none of them were found alive, so we didn't have to worry about making a holding pen or keeping prisoners fed and alive. What wasn't generally known was that they died from self-inflicted laser pistol wounds and their computers were wiped clean. The booster teams were instructed to send them into a different orbit than the fleet ships to keep them separate.

It took a week to search everything, even though after four days we had stopped finding anyone else alive. It was a relief for everyone when the last bit of wreckage was sent on its way towards the inner orbit near the star, so now all that was left was to clean up all the miscellaneous debris that still lingered around the area. Despite everyone urging us to help, we had gone far and above the original job we had been hired for. Cargo delivery. Plus, our ship was not designed to handle wreckage removal.

Luxea wouldn't tell me how many credits we had made delivering cargo and supplies all week, so I knew it must have been a lot. When we went back to the station after the last search, we were invited to dinner with the government. Luxea had somehow managed to have dress clothes for Rhubin and myself to wear. I tried to ask her where and when she had gotten them, and she wouldn't say.

“Make sure you take it out of our shipping fees.” I whispered to her as she helped me put on a really weird looking fancy grey suit with odd bulges and protrusions sticking out all over the place. “Then again, this thing looks horrendous.” I said and looked in the mirror. “I'm docking your pay instead.”

Luxea laughed and slapped my shoulder. “It's the height of fashion on Chofaris.”

“How come you don't have to wear this?” I asked as she reluctantly tied my hair up into a ponytail so that it wouldn't cover the suit, which would have defeated the purpose of wearing it.

“I'm going to be dressed in something much better than grey.” Luxea said as she picked some fluff off of what I thought was a lapel. “Now go wait outside the main hatch for me.”

“Are you sure you don't need any help?” I asked and looked at the suit I was wearing. “I definitely needed your help putting on this thing.”

Luxea chuckled. “No, I can handle it alone.” She said and walked with me over to the door of my room. “Just don't laugh when you see me.”

“What? Like you just laughed at me?” I asked as we left my room.

Luxea smiled and gave me a little wave, then walked down the hallway to her own room. I went over to the main hatch and saw that Rhubin was already outside and talking to some of the SAR crew members. He wore a similar suit to mine, except it was dark blue and didn't have as many bumps or protrusions.

“Oh! The joke's on you, too!” Rhubin said and laughed.

“Ha. Ha.” I said and walked over to him. “Then again.” I saw that no one else wore the weird suits and were dressed in their fancy uniforms, even the women. “Maybe it is a joke.”

It took nearly twenty minutes before I heard the main hatch of the ship open and I turned around to look. I caught my breath as Luxea stood there in what looked like a normal red dress, except she also wore a pair of orange and red wing-like things on her back. As she walked over to me, I saw that the dress was actually more than just cloth. Little lines of something were in a distinct pattern over the surface of the cloth, and lightly glowing orange energy flowed over it.

“Bwa-ha-HURK!” Rhubin started to laugh at her and I gripped his throat with a Presence Hand to shut him up.

Luxea's dress only revealed a little bit of her cleavage because of the high cut of the cloth and the designs, and the dress went right to the floor and had a train behind it in the same pattern as the wing-like things. All of it had flowing orange energy lines and drew the eye right up to her face. Her blonde hair was teased out and she had added some red and orange streaks to it to complete the outfit.

“Wow.” I said, and her face flushed to a deep red.

“Hunter, you're choking Rhubin.” Luxea said without taking her eyes off of my face.

“He started to laugh.” I said and absorbed the Presence Hand. “It's not nice to laugh at a lady.”

Rhubin coughed for several moments. “I'm really glad... you're not into... casual killing.” He said and rubbed his throat as he looked at us. “When did you two start...”

“We haven't.” Luxea and I said at the same time, which made us both smile. It was then that the docking hatch into the station opened and a man in a similar suit to Rhubin's stepped in.

“We are now receiving guests.” He said in a haughty voice, then turned around and left.

“Well, now we know what kind of dinner party this is.” I said, and everyone looked at me with curiosity. “It's the brass kissing their own ass party.”

Everyone was quiet for a moment, then they all burst out laughing.

“Brass kissing their own ass! HA!” Kitch barked a laugh. “I like it!”

The SAR crews chanted it as we all left the large docking bay and followed the man that came to get us. They all stopped chanting as the man ahead of us stopped walking and turned towards a set of double doors. He pushed the button and stepped into the room, then he waved the people in front in. He said everyone's full names as they passed and I hung back as I felt Presence around the man.

“Hunter, what is it?” Luxea whispered.

“I'm just wondering what he's going to call me.” I responded.

“What do you... oh, he's not reading the names and is reading the people, is he?” Luxea asked, and I nodded slightly. “I'll handle it.” She said.

“But...”

“Trust me.” Luxea said.

I trusted her a lot, so I nodded and she smiled sweetly at me as she took a half-step ahead. Just before it was our turn to step into the room, she leaned over to the man and whispered in his ear. The man's eyes widened for a second, took a quick breath, and nodded slightly.

“Members of the Fast Courier Cargo and Transport Company, The Wave. Hunter, Rhubin, and Luxea.”

Everyone had noticed the different style of introduction, and I held an elbow out to Luxea. She gave me a beautiful smile and took the offered elbow, and the three of us stepped into the large reception room. Tables of food lined the walls, and it was immediately apparent why the civilian men's suits looked the way they did and Luxea's fancy dress fit right in with all the other civilian women and what they wore.

There were fish people in attendance.

Actual, honest to god, humanoid fish people. Some had huge eyes and big lips like a fish, with big fins for ears and occasionally on the backs of their heads like a mohawk hairdo. Others were more human-like, yet had large wing-like fins sticking out of their backs and had large lips. I glanced at Luxea and looked at her lipstick, and I saw that she had exaggerated her own lips to appear slightly larger. I looked back at the crowd and saw that the males had bulges and protrusions like the civilian suits the human men wore and the female fish people all had similar fins and tails like the civilian dresses the human women wore.

“Hunter!” A woman's voice cut through the chatter of the room and I looked in that direction. Uzahne waved to me to come over, and I led Luxea and Rhubin over to her. She wore a dress just as ornate as Luxea's, except it was blue and had yellow energy flowing over it. Ahaen next to her wore a green dress and didn't look happy about that, and Sheph on her other side wore a yellow dress and was happily chatting with one of the human-looking female fish people.

“You look very handsome.” Uzahne said as she looked up at me.

“I'll accept that compliment, considering our current company.” I said.

The female fish person stopped talking to Sheph and turned to face me. “Is our current fashion not to your liking?”

“I needed help getting into this thing, so just for that alone I'd pass on wearing it.” I said and glanced around. “I'm a little surprised that you and your people aren't insulted and think we're mocking your appearance by dressing like this.”

The female fish woman gurgled a laugh. “At first we did think that, then we realized it was flattering to have others try to make themselves look more like us.”

“I didn't know that.” Uzahne said, and the female fish person gurgled again.

“We only met a couple of days ago. We will need much more time to exchange stories and get to know each other.” The female fish person said and held a webbed hand out to me. “Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Olugaell.”

I didn't hesitate as I took her hand and held it. “Call me Hunter.” I said and glanced at her hand in mine, then I looked back at her face and smiled. “Please forgive my ignorance about proper protocol. How should I greet you and treat the delicate hand I now hold?”

She gurgled a little louder this time. “Aren't you just delightful?”

“She's the new First Minister of the native species on Chofaris.” Ahaen said, a little crossly.

“We've already started to appoint new members to the lost government.” Uzahne said with a quick glare at Ahaen, then she smiled. “Olugaell has graciously accepted the position.”

“I might not have if I knew the duties it entailed.” Olugaell said with another gurgle laugh. “I'm joking, of course. We lost a lot of our own people when the capital city was destroyed and I'll do everything I can to help the planet recover from this disaster.”

Everyone went quiet for several moments at those words.

“You're still holding her hand.” Ahaen said into the silence.

“That's because I still don't know what to do with it.” I said with a grin, and Olugaell gurgled a laugh.

“Then I shall educate you.” Olugaell said and lifted our hands to chest height with our palms touching. “Spread your fingers.”

I did that and she spread hers, then she turned her hand a little so my fingers slid between hers and touched the webbed part.

“Now wiggle your fingers.” Olugaell said and I did that as she wiggled hers. “It doesn't work as well if you don't have webbed hands; but, that is the proper greeting.”

“Should I just approach with my palm facing out ready for that?” I asked, and she shook her head.

“Always wait for one of my people to initiate, or you could insult them by expecting them to accept a formal greeting from your non-webbed hand.”

I nodded my head in understanding. “Thank you for teaching me.”

“I'm glad that you asked instead of trying to crush it in a death grip.” Olugaell said with a big smile, then she turned her head to look at Luxea. “Is the one on your arm your mate?”

“No.” Both Luxea and I said, which made us both laugh.

“I'm promised to another.” I said, and Olugaell nodded.

“Then this will only be a nice dinner and not a wonderful one.” Olugaell said with a sly smile.