Quest for Onepus - Part 4

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It’s been a while. Here’s a little re-cap: Larson was alone on his ship when Tawni sent an SOS. A few days after having saved her, she brought a stranger on board to see how she and Larson could help him. Larson was angry at Tawni, but ended up inviting Able Ryson and his family to dinner. After contemplating his own motives for having invited the Rysons to dinner, Larson wonders how upset Tawni really is with him…

I knocked on her door and she sarcastically asked, “Who is it?”

I smiled and answered, “Lieutenant, when you get a moment, can I speak with you on the bridge?” She didn’t answer. A few minutes later, she came to the bridge.

What should I have said? “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been so harsh with you.” There. I said it.

“Oh, Larson, you do care!” she hugged me.

I cleared my throat. “I hope you have something nice to wear because I invited the Rysons to dinner.” She was beaming. Her face was lit up like the after-glow of a dead star. I scowled, or at least I tried to. “And I was wondering… if maybe you wanted to make dinner?”

“I thought you’d never ask!” She almost skipped – practically floating – off to the kitchen, but I called her back.

“Tawni, it’s my ship,” I reminded her.

“I know. I’m sorry. And I won’t commit mutiny anymore, I promise,” she smiled. I smiled back. What can I say? She had an infectious smile.

I followed Tawni to the kitchen, where she was already taking down pots and pans, stirring spoons and knives and, of course, the food. I watched for a few moments. She looked comfortable, natural in a kitchen, even though mine wasn’t exactly state-of-the-art. Not to mention the food I kept – though a very large supply – was unimaginative and bland, I’m sure. What she would make of it was a mystery to me. It occurred to me that she was unaware of my presence. Finally, I broke the silence.

“I don’t know how you’re going to mask the taste of poison with the food I have,” I joked.

She stopped whatever she was doing, turned around to look at me and raised an eyebrow. “Oh, I’ll come up with something,” she played along. “I’m trying to figure out how much I’ll need to feed eight. I used to do this all the time…” Her voice trailed off as she went back to her magic-making.

“Eight?” I asked. “Aren’t there only five of them.”

“Well, yeah,” she answered distractedly. “But Able’s wife is pregnant, so…”

“She is?”

“You didn’t know?”

“No, I guess… I guess Mr. Ryson didn’t mention it,” I replied. Why hadn’t he told me? Maybe he thought it would sway my judgment? Maybe he forgot… but he had told Tawni.

“Maybe you intimidate him,” Tawni suggested, as if reading my thoughts.

“Me?” I had never thought of myself as intimidating. I had certainly never meant to be that way.

“Yeah, you,” she said gently. “Even I felt intimidated at first, and that doesn’t often happen.”

“Oh.” I didn’t know quite know how to respond to that.

In what way was I intimidating? I know I had gotten angry at Tawni, but she seemed to have gotten over that quickly. So what was it that made me seem intimidating? What characteristics did I possess that created such an illusion?

I went to my quarters to put other clothes on. Ones that made me look less like a captain. While I was there, I examined myself in the mirror. Did I look intimidating? I kept my dark hair short so that it wasn’t a bother to me. I had dark, intense eyes and I didn’t smile much. I also had a tall stature and broad shoulders. That all probably played a role in my intimidation factor. I tried smiling, but I couldn’t make it real enough to be a likeable smile. Maybe that was it. Maybe I needed to smile more.

I returned to the kitchen and greeted Tawni with a smile. Her smile undoubtedly outshone mine. Then she looked me up and down.

“Captain, you look great.” And just as quickly, my smile turned back into a scowl. “I’m pretty much done here, so I’ll just go get changed.”

I went to the beaming room to get my guests. After making contact with Able, I beamed them all on board. This time, Able and I shook hands.

“Cap –” he corrected himself, “Larson, this is my wife, Blessing.” I couldn’t help noticing; she wasn’t just pregnant, she looked ready to give birth any moment. “My children, Rahli, Cammer and Annia.”

Rahli, the oldest boy, had his hands on Annia, their daughter’s shoulders. Cammer, the younger boy, stood with his mother who was now smoothing a piece of his hair back. I smiled at them. They were a beautiful family. All had blond-streaked hair and bright bluish-green eyes.

The older boy had quiet eyes and a calm demeanour while his two younger siblings were full of energy. Annia was smiling up at me, her whole face practically glowing. Cammer fussed with his hair until it was worse than before. Blessing absent-mindedly stroked it back again. Rahli seemed to be sizing me up. I guess he decided I was okay. Following his father’s lead, he stepped forward and shook my hand. The two young children each shook my hand as well. Finally, Blessing came forward.

Taking my hand, she said, “It was very kind of you to invite us to dinner, Captain. Thank you.”

I was so overwhelmed by this charming family that I didn’t know what to say, nor did I correct Blessing’s misuse of the word ‘Captain.’ “Tawni made it,” I told them lamely. “She should be joining us soon.”

I lead them to the dining hall, and when we got there, everything was laid out. Seven seats around the table, plates, delicious-smelling food. Tawni was there, waiting expectantly. She was dressed in a long, shimmery green dress that offset her dark, shiny hair and seemed made just for her.

She came over and went to each one, placing her hand on each of their left shoulders and bowing her head slightly. I vaguely recognized the greeting, but I couldn’t place its origin. Tawni seemed oddly comfortable in this formal role. She was certainly making a good impression on my behalf. She even seated us specifically. Me at the head. Able, Blessing and Cammer on my right. Herself, Rahli and Annia on my left.

Conversation flowed easily between Tawni and the Rysons. She even got the quiet Rahli to open up a bit. Everyone seemed quite taken with her. Having Tawni there took away any tension I felt and put less pressure on me to find out about this family. I also discovered things about her that I didn’t know. Not that there was a whole lot that I already did know about her.

“Tawni, that is a wonderful dress,” Blessing complimented. I had to agree with her, it was wonderful. “The design is fascinating.”

“Well,” Tawni explained, “Onepians are very concerned with presentation so their fashion industry is incredible.”

My head shot toward her. Had I missed something?

“So you’re from Onepus then?” Blessing asked, sounding delighted.

Tawni looked briefly at me, then back at Blessing, before responding quietly, “Yes, I am.”

That was the last thing I would have expected. But as I looked at her, I knew she wasn’t lying. She had no reason to. It just surprised me, that’s all. That did explain the dress, the greeting, all the formality. But it didn’t explain Tawni. Why wasn’t she on Onepus now, with her family, her brothers?

Lost in my thoughts, I missed part of the conversation. I was brought back when Able asked, “So, how long have you two known each other?”

Tawni smiled, but I answered before her for fear of what she might say. “Only a few days.”

Of course, she just had to give an embellished explanation. “He rescued me. You see, my cruiser had lost life support…” and she proceeded to tell the whole story.

I was just taking a sip of water when Annia asked, “Was it love at first sight?”

Well, I started choking. I’m sure I looked quite a sight. Tawni started patting me on the back, but I could tell she was trying hard not to laugh. There was a snicker, then another one and before long, everyone but me and little Annia was laughing.

Blessing wiped a tear from her eye and tried to look serious as she said, “I’m so sorry, Captain Larson. Are you okay?”

“Quite alright,” I replied. “And please don’t call me captain.” Then the whole thing struck me as ridiculously funny. Hilarious, actually. I started laughing and soon everyone joined in. But Annia was still confused.

“What’s so funny?” she asked.

“Oh, nothing, dear child.” I didn’t really know how to explain.

“It’s just that…” apparently, neither did Tawni.

“You can’t just ask people questions like that, Ann,” Rahli supplied, laughter still in his voice.

“How about dessert?” Tawni asked before the situation got out of control. How had Tawni managed to make dessert and out of what?

“Let me help you get it,” I stood up.

When we got to the kitchen, Tawni didn’t move to get anything ready. She simply looked at me while a slow smile spread across her face. Oddly enough, I would have given anything in that moment to know what she was thinking.

“What?”

“Nothing,” she said mysteriously, shaking her head.

Read Part 3 here
Read Part 5 here