Rainbows and puppies

Posted on Wed Dec 29th, 2021 @ 7:31am by Captain Natacha Patani

Mission: Tales from the other side of the Mirror
Location: Domed colony in the Randeer System
Timeline: Somewhen
778 words - 1.6 OF Standard Post Measure

The room looked as if it could belong to any teenage girl living in an upper class residence in late twentieth century North America. The wall was covered with posters of rainbows and unicorns, puppies and kittens, and any other animal that could be considered excessively cute and cuddly.

The room was dominated by a canopy bed made of some thick, rich reddish wood. There were at least a dozen multicolored veils covering the bed. The bed had a couple of dozen stuffed animals on it of varying sizes, each more adorable than the last.

In the center of the bed was a young woman and a Pomsky puppy. The young woman was wearing white underwear, the color of which brought attention to her flawless olive skin. Her underwear was designed more for revelation than restraint, and anyone seeing her curves would certainly appreciate that fact.

The young woman was holding the puppy to her face, giggling and rubbing her nose to the puppy's. The puppy was obviously enjoying the attention, licking the young woman's face at every opportunity. This in turn made the young woman giggle louder.

The young woman looked up at a corner of the room, and it was like someone turned off a switch. Her face showed no trace of emotion. Except her eyes. To call the look in her eyes 'baleful' would be a major understatement. The look in those eyes promised all sorts of death and destruction to anyone who was unfortunate enough to fall under their gaze.

Almost a kilometer away, two nondescript men were watching the scene play out on a screen. As soon as the woman looked up at the camera, one of the men hurriedly turned off the screen. The other man chuckled at his associate's reaction.

"What?" the first man objected. "No matter where we put those cameras, she always senses them."

"She's just very perceptive," the second man countered. "She's a psychic null. A lot of Randeerians are."

"I don't care what you say," the first man insisted. "She knows when we're watching." The first man nodded at the PADD the second man was holding. "What do the revenues look like for the month?"

THe second man frowned. "Not good. She killed the El-Aurian too fast, so we won't be getting views on our site. I thought he was supposed t9 be experienced!" the second man said accusingly.

The first man shrugged. "More than six hundred years as a mercenary and as a freeman warrior in games across the Quadrants. I would have thought he would have lasted longer."

"He insulted her when he entered the arena," the second man answered. "Usually that just makes her more playful, but she took the insult to heart this time. She killed him that fast because she wanted to make a point."

"Maybe we could set her up with a pair of those Marada warriors again," the first man suggested. When he saw the look of confusion on his friend's face, the first man elaborated. "The insectoids she fought a couple of months ago. They were jumping around like grasshoppers. The two she faced were from their warrior caste, and insisted on wearing hoods with slits for their eye pods, any time they weren't in combat."

"Marada, right," the second man said with a nod. He then shook his head. "After that last battle, none of the Marada queens will put up any warriors without a hefty security deposit, which we'll lose as soon as they get killed. And I don't want to buy two Marada warriors at a hefty price for a one and done."

"We could buy a couple of Marada warriors," the first man mused, "and run them on a separate circuit until we get a profit on them, then set up a match with her."

The second man rubbed a finger under his lower lip. "That's a possibility. Also, I might have a line on a Frankenstein." The first man's eyes lit up immediately. The second man lifted a cautionary hand. "I said might. The first fight certainly "brought in the ratings."

"You could tell she was fascinated with him," the first man agreed. "It's why she let the fight go on for as long as it did. You could almost believe she wanted to let him live."

"Only if you didn't know her better," the second man said with a shudder. "By the by, do you have the numbers on the prince's legal actions?"

The two men continued the discussion of their business matters while a kilometer away, a young woman and her puppy slept peacefully, cuddled together without a care in the world.