Tephe's mother, Pevaphio, marched quickly through the halls of the Terran imperial palace, causing people in front of her to quickly move aside in order to let her pass.
Upon reaching Empress Victoria's room, Pevaphio entered without knocking before angrily asking, "Where is my daughter?"
"Senator Pevaphio, welcome. I believe you know my grandfather." Victoria said as she rose to her feet and indicated the elderly looking Terran male sitting opposite her.
"Senator Ororis, I didn't realise you were here, it's a pleasure to see you again," Pevaphio said politely.
"Ah, Pevaphio, it has been too long, please call me Michael, I am, after all, no longer the Terran senator for the universal senate.
"Of course, Michael, I'm sorry if I interrupted your conversation."
"No problem, no problem." Michael said with a smile before continuing, "It is, after all, because you're looking for your daughter."
"I'm afraid I have some rather troubling news for you in that regard, Senator Pevaphio." Victoria replied before continuing, "It seems your daughter has run away 'again'?"
"Excuse me?" Pevaphio asked with a frown before Victoria went on to explain what happened.
"You mean to tell me that my daughter is somewhere out in space on a strange man's ship?"
"Indeed, though Diva's Rowena and Lorelie are both with her, so I don't think you have too much to worry about."
"That damn brat." Pevaphio cursed angrily
"First, I'm unable to speak to that man about becoming my bodyguard, and now I find out that she's run off with him."
"Oh? You planned to make that man your bodyguard? How interesting." Michael replied.
"Initially, I only planned to test to see if he was indeed worthy; however, after hearing how he defeated so many bounty hunters all alone and six TISF ships, I was indeed going to offer him the position."
"How interesting, after hearing what my granddaughter here has just told me about him and now this, I am also interested in meeting this boy."
"Unfortunately, because of the reasons I just spoke to you about, I anticipate he will leave our galaxy soon."
"What! And go where?" Pevaphio asked with concern.
"While I can't say for certain until he streams again and Tessa can inform us, I can nevertheless make an educated guess that they will travel to the Oasis Galaxy."
"Oh, and what brought you to that conclusion?" Michael asked.
"Tessa has told me that Diva Lorelie has successfully hired him as her bodyguard.
Since she plans to tour the universe and perform her new genre of music, it would make sense to start with her own race."
"I see," Michael replied with a nod.
"Why not perform in this galaxy first since she is already here?" Pevaphio asked curiously, causing Victoria and Michael to exchange a glance.
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"So how do we go about reaching the Oasis Galaxy?" Adam asked shortly after Stacey and Rowena left to have their private talk.
"Oh, I know, I know," Tephe said as she waved her hand in the air like a pupil in school.
Adam laughed before saying, "Please answer the question, Miss Tephe."
"We need to take the jump gate from here in the Sandanar Galaxy to the one in the Oasis Galaxy," Tephe replied proudly.
"Well done, Tephe, that is indeed correct, though I expect, as a dragon, you have never taken a jump gate before," Lorelie replied.
"No." Tephe said while shaking her head before adding, "As a dragon, I can travel through subspace directly."
"Wow, that's cool, but what's the benefit of taking a jump gate?" Adam replied, making Tephe smile and stick her chest out proudly, which in turn caused Lorelie to giggle before she explained.
"The main benefit is for smaller ships that are incapable of subspace flight themselves because they lack a subspace drive; a jump gate allows them to travel through subspace.
For larger ships that have a subspace drive, the benefit is that it allows much faster travel than with a ship's own subspace drive while using far less fuel. While small class ships just use the jump gate to travel in subspace, larger ships use it in conjunction with their own subspace drive to allow even faster travel."
"They're still slower than when a dragon like me travels in subspace, though," Tephe added proudly.
"You're faster than a ship in subspace?" Adam asked in amazement, which only made Tephe smile even more and stick her chest out further.
"Dragons are one of the few species able to travel in subspace without a ship, though all species that can are faster than a ship in subspace," Lorelie answered.
"I see, so where is this jump gate? And are we going to have issues using it since it's in Terran-controlled space?"
"I believe it's around three hours flight from Terran Five in FTL, though it will indeed be guarded by a TISF fleet, unfortunately," Lorelie replied with a frown.
"I figured as much." Adam replied with a sigh before looking at Tephe and saying, "Sorry, Tephe, but we will have to use the jump gate next time."
"Ok," Tephe replied before standing up and moving towards the food dispenser, where she ordered more chocolate ice cream.
"Spector, how long will it take us to travel to the Oasis Galaxy using the subspace drive?" Adam asked.
"Since it is the next galaxy over and travel in subspace is much faster than in FTL, I calculate it will take roughly six days to get there," Spector replied.
"That's an impressive speed for a ship's subspace drive," Lorelie said with mild surprise.
"It just goes to show how far away Earth is since it took two years to reach here," Adam commented.
"While travel to the Oasis Galaxy is possible, it will use up the last of the fuel for my subspace drive." Spector suddenly stated.
"Oh, that's right, I was supposed to look into refuelling you while we were in this galaxy," Adam said as Spector's comment reminded him that she had once mentioned that the distance between the Milky Way and Sandanar Galaxies was so great that it would use up the majority of the subspace drive fuel.
"You can easily acquire more fuel once we reach the Oasis Galaxy," Lorelie informed them.
"That's good to know. Please remind me when we get there so that I don't forget again." Adam replied with slight embarrassment.
"I will be sure to," Lorelie replied with a warm smile.
"I suppose we should inform Stacey and Rowena that we are about to jump into subspace."
"No need, we just heard you," Stacey replied as she and Rowena walked back into the mess hall.
"Is there anything you need to finish up in this galaxy before we depart?" Adam asked Rowena as she sat opposite him, next to Lorelie, while Stacey took the free spot beside him.
"No, I originally only came to show my support for Lorelie and because Tephe was making her debut. Reuniting with my granddaughter has already been far more than I expected to achieve while here." Rowena replied happily.
"Very well, Spector set course for the Oasis Galaxy and activated the subspace drive when ready," Adam ordered.
"Affirmative, calculating route to the Oasis Galaxy."
"Calculation complete."
"Activating condition green and dropping out of FTL," Spector stated as she de-cloaked before dropping out of FTL.
"Bringing the subspace drive online."
[Entering subspace in 3]
[2]
[1]
As Spector was counting down, the five of them saw out the window of the mess hall that the space in front of Spector was distorting slightly before it seemed to split open, revealing a dark hole that had lightning flashing around the edges.
[0]
The five watched as Spector passed through the artificial subspace gate, causing what appeared out of the mess hall windows to be complete darkness.
"We have entered subspace travel; time to the Oasis Galaxy is estimated at six days, 3 hours and 39 minutes."
"Now what do we do for six days?" Rowena asked.
"How about playing some games?" Stacey suggested.
"Games? What games?" Tephe asked with excitement.
"Here, let me show you." Stacey said as she led Tephe towards the location where the Bintendo was set up."
"I trust your talk with Stacey went well?" Adam asked Rowena.
"It was certainly informative, and I have much to think on and research; however, you shouldn't feel concerned about the next time she comes to feed on you," Rowena replied.
"That's good to know." Adam replied with a smile before asking, "I have been told that Brood only feed once a month. Is that correct?"
"Did it feel so good that you can't wait to experience it again?" Rowena teased.
"Is it that obvious?" Adam replied while scratching the back of his head.
"It's normal, those lucky enough to be chosen by us Brood all want to experience it again, it's especially so for those who we take as a mate, as feeding from the neck gives a much greater reaction than feeding from the wrist."
"Honestly, it sounds like something you could easily get addicted to," Adam replied.