Chapter 28

The conference room was packed with reporters and their bulky equipment. Pac stood in the corner next to Bainthaurneth who was sitting, waiting for Charles Cavendish to join them. She was pleased she had some time to process the unbelievable news about what had happened in the Bishojo system. It was confirmation the Tarakonas were untrustworthy, and she was very pleased she had taken the appropriate steps to protect her beloved planet.

She took a deep breath to focus on the coming event and ran through the steps in her mind, making sure she wouldn’t forget anything.

“There he is!” exclaimed a reporter when Charles stepped into the room.

Bainthaurneth stood to welcome the man and instantly noticed he was in shock. She grabbed his hand and said softly, “Great that you’re here. Let’s get this over with.”

He managed to smile, although it was clear it took quite some effort for him to do so. He sat down and she gracefully followed.

“Good afternoon,” she said firmly, “we are here together to confirm each other’s respect. The Bishojan society appreciates the compassion the Cavendish family has displayed and gracefully accepts the token offered. To strengthen the agreements of our intensions we are happy to sign the declaration of intent.”

Charles cleared his throat and spoke with a steady voice, “As always; well spoken, Queen Bainthaurneth. I’m pleased we have come to an agreement. Please allow me to offer our token to you and the Bishojan society, Your Majesty.”

He fished the tablet out of his pocket and pressed his thumb on the designated area to authorize the transaction of the two properties. A clear beep was audible and as soon as he handed the tablet to Bainthaurneth the cameras clicked several times while flashes lit up the room.

The thrill of being photographed so many times made her eyes sparkle. Gracefully she accepted the tablet and flicked through the pages, quickly scanning to ensure it was the same document she was about to sign.

“Thank you, Mr. Cavendish,” she said warmly as she pressed her thumb down. The tablet played the well-known sequence of happy tones, indicating a successful transaction.

Bainthaurneth didn’t wait for the cameras to stop taking photos and activated her tablet to initiate the authorization protocol. Theatrically she pressed her thumb on the tablet’s DNA reader. The little beep was hardly audible because of the racket the cameras were making and the noise rose to a crescendo when she handed the tablet to Charles.

“Hereby,” she said loudly to overcome the irritating clicking of the cameras, “I have signed the declaration of intent.”

Charles accepted the tablet and as he allowed his DNA to be scanned by the device, he said a little subdued, “I accept the declaration and I have signed it.”

She knew she had to act fast and grabbed his hand to shake it firmly. She had covertly slipped the credit stick into his hand and as she pulled him into a hug, she made sure her face was hidden from the cameras.

“Thank you, Charles,” she whispered, “Make sure you arrange something soon, to pick up your son.”

She pulled away to look into his eyes, which were as big as saucers. She winked as she said, “Take care Charles.”

She turned to face her Talian guard who instantly moved towards the door. She waved to the reporters and said, “Thank you all for being here.”

“Queen Bainthaurneth, what are your plans? Are you going stay on Earth for a bit longer?” Asked a reporter.

“Perhaps another time,” she responded with a forlorn smile, “I really love your planet but I’m afraid Bishojo needs me. It was lovely being here.”

She looked at the Talian giant who stood just outside the door and knew it was safe to leave the room. She looked at Charles once more who stood there rigidly watching her leave.

“How much was on your credit stick, Sarah?” asked Bainthaurneth while the hover car steered onto the busy highway going towards the space port.

“Oh, not that much. A couple of hundred credits, just enough to book a hotel and have dinner at a decent restaurant.”

The Queen laughed as she pulled the platinum credit stick out of her bra and showed it to Sarah. “I guess I can buy you a few dinners with this one.”

“Oh my god,” she whispered, “you swapped it with mine?”

She nodded. “We are going to need it to fix up the space hub.”

Sarah’s eyes became bigger. “The Tarakonas? Oh my god, Bri! Did they attack Bishojo as well?”

Bainthaurneth shook her head as she said soothingly, “The cowards only attacked the space hub. But they have lost almost their entire fleet.”

Suddenly, Bainthaurneth remembered the Tarakonan communication device Charles had given her and fished it out of her bra. As she gave it to Pac she said, “You might want to investigate this. It is supposed to be a communication device the Tarakonas gave to Charles.”

“Thank.” Pac grumbled as he carefully put it away.

Only then did it finally sink into her brain; everything had worked out as she had planned.

“By Bisha!” she gushed happily. “We have done it!”

She pulled Sarah into her arms and said sincerely, “I’m so glad you were there to help me.”

Sarah patted softly at her back as she replied, “I saw how you played with the cameras. You were magnificent. I’m sure you’ve made every man’s and woman’s heartbeat go faster. You are a natural talent.”

Bainthaurneth chuckled softly as she remembered the thrill that coursed through her body. “It was fun.”

Sarah laughed. “Oh, come on Bri,” she said with a knowing smile, “I’ve seen that look before.”

Bainthaurneth gasped when Sarah pulled her closer to whisper in her ear, “Too bad you have to wait a bit longer.”

Only then she felt the subtle hunger that suddenly bloomed into full desire. She moaned softly and whispered back, “You are so bad.”

Sarah bit the Queen’s earlobe. “I’ll make sure you’ll sleep well, Your Majesty.”

I replayed the press conference once more to see what had actually happened. It was clear that Charles Cavendish had lost everything. It was hard to hear the confirmation melody of the most important contract, but I could make it out in the background of the annoying cameras that were constantly taking photos. I studied Charles’s hand after Bri shook it and I had to admit I could hardly see when he dropped the credit stick in his trousers.

I still didn’t understand why Bri wanted to pay the money back to the Cavendish family. As far as I could see, they’d manipulated and indoctrinated the Bishojan society in a very bad way.

I felt strong fingers massaging my shoulders and I knew it was Cirin. “I just got a message from the space hub that they successfully fought off a Tarakonan attack,” she said a little shaken.

I had totally forgotten about them and I assumed Charles had told them to back off. It proved again the Tarakonas were not to be trusted. I was happy we had taken the threat seriously and that the decision was made to man all turrets. “Bloody hell! I hope there were no casualties.”

“No,” she sighed, “but the Pronorian had to intervene to finish those bloody Tarakonas off.”

I turned around to see her disturbed expression. “Why do I get the feeling the Pronorian are not that popular?”

“They are not that bad, but they have enormous chips on the shoulders and that makes it somewhat difficult to please them.”

I nodded slowly as I understood Bishojo wasn’t out of the fire yet. The coming weeks was going to be challenging.

“Did you get any news from Bri?”

Her enthusiastic grin was infectious which made me smile as well. “She wants to learn Chess from the master.”

I huffed. “Oh, come on Cirin. I’m pretty sure that isn’t what she had said.”