Chapter 14

"Sponsor Elizabeth, you have a visitor at the door," intoned the AI.

"And, who, pray tell, would that be?" answered Elizabeth.

"Prince Andrew."

"Then by all means, open the door and bid him enter. AI, in future, would you please simply say, 'Prince Andrew is at the door and wishes to enter, '"

"Acknowledged."

Elizabeth went to the foyer and found her brother standing there. She gave him a hug and kiss on the cheek. "Come in, come in. I'm glad to see you."

"Well, yes, I'm rather glad to see you, too," replied Andrew, waving his hand up and down her length.

They settled into opposite sofas in the living room. "You know I've always liked being undressed. This is my home now, and no one remains who will tell me otherwise."

"I did know that, Elizabeth, and this is your home. I trust you will dress before leaving the pod?"

Elizabeth said, "I am still mulling that. I'm just as glad you've come to visit. I would like your thoughts. What is the dress code in your pod?"

Gail entered the room and approached them. The Prince turned to her, acknowledging her presence. "Your Highness. May I offer you some refreshment?"

"Hello, Gail," the Prince responded. "It's nice to see you again - all of you." Gail blushed furiously. "We were just discussing dress codes. No, thank you, to the refreshments."

"Don't be nasty, brother," chided Elizabeth. "Gail is the least comfortable of us in the nude. Now, in performance of her duty, she must present herself for your inspection. I thought you were rather rude."

"Well, I was at that, Gail," said Andrew, "and it was completely uncalled for. Please accept my sincere apology. My sister's appearance rather took me off of my gait and I'm having a bit of trouble recovering."

Gail murmured assent and quickly withdrew.

"I do regret my behaviour." Andrew told his sister. "You do know about young men, and hormones, and all that?"

"I have had repeated lessons over the past day," she grinned. "Or, rather, I have observed repeated lessons."

"So you haven't, shall we say, crossed the threshold yet?"

"Not yet, dear brother. But I shall not suffer that circumstance very much longer."

"Inasmuch as this is your parade, how is it that you have been delayed?" asked Andrew.

Elizabeth answered, "It's rather a long story. On the whole, things are going swimmingly. But I would like to return to the original topic."

"Oh, yes," said Andrew, "nudity outside your home. The authorities are still struggling to get families shifted between two transports, and that sort. A large number of sponsor groups were simply made to camp out in various public places while the mess was being sorted out. We were really very lucky. R-H-I-P, I suppose, was invoked here to get us stowed in our own pods so soon."

"Yes, yes, Rank Hath Its Privilege," answered Elizabeth. "I thought it because of concerns by the marines over our security. We have been guarded our whole lives, no matter how remote your rank as heir. Somehow, I persuaded myself that that had been left behind with the rest."