Not even a week after the end of the battles in Cortez, Orbital Spa & Cruise announced the re-opening of the resort planet within the next few weeks. The damages at the docking ring and the mooring fixture were only minimal, and they were only deactivated because of the evacuation. As such, the repair ships didn't take much time to get the planetary access points back online, crews were stationed again and the first shuttles of OSC moved from Liberty back into Cortez. There was much to do for the personnel. The focus was now on the secondary islands, where the OSC employees took care of the infrastructure - after all, the secondary islands were where they were living on. After that, the primary islands needed to be checked.
And then there were the tertiary islands. They were smaller than the primaries and secondaries, and mostly for the people who lived on the planet aside from permanent guests and employees. The tertiary islands were where the families of the employees and the few quote-unquote native Curacaoans lived. Those that were born here, and with that didn't have a citizenship of Liberty or Bretonia or anywhere else.
Ezrael was one of these people. The athletic man with the long black hair was still sitting in the cockpit of his Hussar-class fighter, the Attractive.Rover. The cockpit was open and the warm coastal air of Curacao was filling his lungs. Finally again. He sat in the pilot seat, leaning back, his eyes closed, just breathing in and out. There was so much satisfaction in being back here. Of course there was still the chance of Gallia managing to get a grip on Cortez again, but he didn't want to think of that scenario. Right now, he was just here, on his homeworld.
"Are you coming?" the 24 years old rheinlandian boy yelled up. "This is awesome! And so hot!"
Ezrael chuckled. Noel was from Hamburg, from Neu Altona, which was one of the colder areas of the already rather cold planet. This was quite the opposite, and the first time he was in a tropical region. "Yeah, I'm coming."
The young boy's eyes weren't used to such brightness, and Ezrael didn't feel much different. Lights on a starship simply weren't as merciless and powerful as the sunshine of Cortez' blue star. Noel held a hand over his forehead to give his eyes a bit of shadow. He also closed one eye, the other only half open. "What's that scent?" he asked, looking over to Ezrael, who was climbing down the ladder of the Hussar's cockpit.
"The flora has been growing uncontrolled for the past few months. Chances are there are plenty of new baby chiwis running around as well," Ezrael answered, mentally admitting that the exotic scent was weirdly strong. Not unpleasant, though. Reaching the ground, he looked up at the cockpit as the ladder was retracting again. He exhaled, then turned around to look at his protege. "Welcome to Curacao, Noel. That's my homeworld." Reaching for the zipper of his Apahanta suit, he pulled it down to the lower belly and began to wrap the loose top of his uniform around his waistline. Feeling the hot sun on his, by now, pale skin felt like showering in warmth. His eyes took in the view of the surroundings. "It's usually more crowded. With more young people, at least here. The fat people usually remain at the primary islands, close to the casinos and what not."
"Where are the people who lived here?" Noel asked, surprised at Ezrael freeing his upper body. With a bit of hesitation, he began to undo the upper half of his suit as well.
"Forcefully evacuated. OSC said they can't protect all islands with shield domes and thus focused on the most important ones. The tertiary islands aren't part of those, and OSC couldn't allow any people to die on this planet just because of stubbornness. So they were moved to either Baden Baden on OSC's cost or to Denver in Liberty. Dead people are bad publicity." He moved closer to Noel and patted his shoulder. "I've bought a new house on this island. Prices are kinda cheap when OSC doesn't know if Gallia returns here anytime soon. I'd like to go there first, if that is fine with you."
"Uh, you're the captain, and I literally don't know anything about this area. So yeah, let's go."
There was something about the atmosphere that made Noel just as happy as Ezrael was. They both smiled. The cooling wind was mixing the scent of the exotic plants left and right with the smell of the coast.
With most landing pads offline and unmaintained, at least in this region, Ezrael simply landed at the first-best spot not too far away from the object he had bought on the neural net. It was a short walk. With all the pretty houses and villas around, Noel had no idea that one of them was where they were moving to. They looked expensive as hell. And then he remembered that Ezrael had made billions by selling information, technology and weaponry.
The realization came. This was what Ezrael had bought? Noel's lips formed a perfect o at the sight, and he didn't hesitate the explore the area. Ezrael merely smirked, watching Noel moving around in awe. "How much did you have to pay for this?" Noel asked him, looking at the pool. Why was the water not dirty? Automated filtration system? Why wasn't anything here dirty? He looked over to the porch, where two robots were standing in their loading stations. That was probably the answer.
"Does it matter?" Ezrael only gave him back. "I'm not sure whether the local markets are open already. Probably not. I have two KSRs in the cargo hold, they will bring some supplies here I brought from the Apahanta. So we won't starve."
"This is so fucking awesome!" If only the heat was a bit less intense. How did Ezrael deal with that? Noel moved over to the porch and into the shadows, where he looked through the windows into the house. "You used to live like this?"
"Kinda," Ezrael replied and followed Noel. The boy didn't know how to open the door, so that was up to him. "My parents had a bigger villa. They themselves didn't really live there as they were mostly living on the primary islands. I lived there with the service personnel. They took care of everything I needed until I wanted, well, a bit more autonomy. That being said, having people know I was the one who lived in such a villa was useful to get attention from women."
"I can imagine," Noel sounded and chuckled. "If giving head to you was all it needed to spend some time in such a villa, I'd do it as well."
Ezrael frowned for a moment while typing in the access key to unlock the door, then gave Noel a slightly suspicious look. "You slut."
With a slight blush on his cheeks, Noel chuckled again. "Oh come on, Ez, tell me you never seduced or slept with a woman to get something from it."
The Curacaoan opened the door and moved in, not commenting on that. The first woman he thought of was Victoria Knight. The second was Enma Loyola, as that probably helped at some point with the Core as well. And keeping Maren happy meant she was not whoring around anywhere else or doing weird infected things. And Sombra was literally obsessed with him, surely because of that kind of interaction as well. And Sherry was also more motivated to do all the administrative things on the Apahanta while he was having fun on planets when he fed her with a bit of love. This kind of thought was something he encountered quite often lately. He had become quite manipulative.
"There are plenty of free rooms here, so make yourself comfy wherever you want. The pool should be fine. I'll look if we have some sunblock here. Your skin is not used to the sun here, although the UV radiation is rather low on Curacao." Ezrael sat down on the couch. The feeling of being here was insane. Even with this place being new, it was Curacao. It was his world.
The two Kishiro Service Robots had arrived, bringing the sealed containers into the big house. In the meantime, Ezrael had jumped into the pool. The water was cool, feeling like heaven on the skin after the heat of the sunshine. Doing a few rounds, he stopped only when he suddenly heard loud music from inside. Noel had plugged his PDA to the music system and a relaxing chillout mix began to play.
The boy stepped out of the house and glanced at the pool, where Ezrael was coming closer to the edge, to lean with two arms on the hot floor while expectingly smirking at him. "It's a hot day, Noel. You should come here and cool off a bit, too."
"Uh, I didn't bring bathing trunks. Maybe we can get some later?" he asked the Curacaoan with an apologetic look while a drop of sweat was dripping from a strand of hair.
"I didn't bring any either," Ezrael returned in a dry way. "Just get in naked."
Looking around, Noel first hesitated. The area was walled off, sure. Some houses in the neighbourhood were a bit taller, and there were a few ships moving in the sky. Sighing, he pulled his uniform down and slipped out of it. Then he stepped into the sunlight, just in the same moment as an OSC Grizzly Freighter passed the island's airspace from behind. Surprised, Noel looked up at the ship. Instinctively, one of his hands moved to his crotch, covering it from possible accidental voyeurism."Well, that's just excellent."
Ezrael merely chuckled and watched Noel approaching the pool. He noticed how the boy was hesitating, and then entered the cool water. The Rheinlander remained in the shallow area, kneeling to cover himself up to the neck in the water. After a while, Ezrael realized something. "Noel, could it be that you never learned to swim?"
Rolling his eyes, Noel exhaled, slightly ashamed. "Well, uh, it's not like there is much opportunity on Hamburg to learn it, and for what even. And my parents never wanted to pay for the public pools. And then, well, space."
"We'll need to fix that. Can't have you live here with us without being able to swim," Ezrael said and moved closer to him.
As the lean naked man approached him, Noel gave him a baffled look. "What do you mean, live here with us?"
"Well, if I should ever settle down with Maren, it'll be here. What do you think are all these rooms for? One for you, one for Leon, one for Sombs, one for Simone, one for Maren, one for me. And, well, bedrooms and others." He stopped infront of Noel, the water merely reaching to his hips.
"We'll all live here, together?" the young boy asked, not having expected that. Surprise written in his face, he looked up at the Curacaoan.
"Yeah." Ezrael frowned slightly at him. "If you want, that is. Can't force you to live on this planet, obviously."
"We're really going to live here at some point?" Noel asked again. "I, uh, never even thought of that possibility. I thought I'd spend the rest of my life on the Apahanta. Hopefully a long life," A smile formed on his lips. "But Curacao..."
Ezrael gave him a lopsided look. "Noel, you're part of my family. Just like Sombs and Leon, and Maren. And if you stay together with Simone, she'll be with us as well." He smiled. "It's still in the distant future, though. For now, we'll just get to enjoy this as vacation. A few days off, you know. But later, we will live here." For a moment, he remained quiet, just enjoying Noel's countenance. The boys eyes got slightly wet and he blinked frequently, averting his view. "Oh, and Dinah." Another short break. "Oh, fuck, and of course my child, and probably Abigail as well. Not sure how all of that will work out, but I will need to get used to the thought of being a father in a few months."
Noel remained silent for a while. This was changing everything. He glanced up into the sky, where a few more OSC shuttles were cruising around. The music was still running. He noticed how Ezrael was kneeling down in the water, right next to him. He took Noel's hand and pulled him closer to the little stairs, as he wanted to sit there with him. "We'll live here like a family, Noel. Without any worries." He then corrected himself. "Don't quote me on the latter, though. I'm sure fate will make sure we'll always have some things to worry about. Another war, drama with women, another forgotten consequence of something we did in the past."
Noel smirked at Ezrael, leaning in for a firm hug. "I really don't know how to thank you..."
Smiling contently, Ezrael just returned the hug.
More and more shuttles were landing on Curacao. More and more OSC personnel were returning, repopulating the tertiary and secondary islands. More and more lights were turning on as the blue sun was hiding behind the horizon. The beaches were mostly empty. Here and there were a few OSC people, taking a break and enjoying the evening, just like Ezrael and Noel did, both laying on beach towels, lower bodys covered by their Apahanta suits. The star clusters of Cortez were shining bightly, well visible with the bare eyes in the night sky. The Harlow and her escorts were in the orbit, the hulls reflecting some light from the sun. It was still very warm, and the wind was very pleasant to the skin.
"Ez, can I ask you something?" Noel sounded, staring up at the Harlow.
The Curacaoan was halfway dozing off already. There were a few torches burning all over the place, the flames dancing in the wind. The scent added up nicely. "Sure."
"What are your plans for the Apahanta?" the boy asked, turning his head slightly in his direction, still looking at the Harlow.
"Huh. Where did that question come from?" Ezrael returned, smiling slightly while opening his eyes.
"I mean, I know what our priorities are. Surviving, and then looking for opportunities to make money, to keep the numbers black. But, you know, what else?"
Ezrael needed a moment to think about it. Then he raised a hand and pointed into the sky directly above them. Noel's eyes followed the pointer, but Ezrael wasn't pointing at anything specificly. "We go everywhere, look at everything and have adventures. We're the only people who can do that."
Noel moved to lay on his side, to face Ezrael. "Are we?"
The Curacaoan chuckled and nodded slightly. "We are now finally in a position that allows us to do that. In the past three years, all we did was trying to survive, make money, upgrade the ship. We even managed to build this network of connections and supporters. We have a cool crew, we are armed to the teeth and well defended. We don't need to worry about the Nomads, and we stay out of the wars of other people. And thanks to all the billions I've made by selling the stuff we found, we don't need to worry about maintaining the ship and the crew, at least in a monetary sense. We can buy what we need, if we can't make it ourselves."
For a moment, Ezrael smirked at Noel, before he looked up into the sky again. "I recently remembered something. When I was a child, I asked my father why he and mother were working in space, with their little subsidiary of OSC. Why not simply work on Curacao, which is the paradise of Sirius. Why would one leave this world? When I asked that, he didn't know how to explain it. He asked my mother whether she could explain it. And she sat down with me, a book in her hands, and she started to read out loud. The adventures of Sinbad."
"Sindbad?" Noel asked, using the rheinlandian version of the name.
"Yes. She said she grew up with these stories as well. They are old, originating from ancient earth's arabian culture. Of course these stories and the characterization of Sinbad have been revived over and over again in more modern variations. I know there are some holomovies and a series, and a cartoon from last century. I didn't pay much attention to it in the recent years. But a few days ago, I realized where we are right now. And what we have. We can go wherever we want and have our own adventures. I feel a bit like Sinbad when I think back of what we went through in the last three years since the desertion of the Apahanta from the Core. All the people I've met. All the battles. All the... well, let's say I got in touch with Sirius' different cultures. And women. Of course not everything was good. At one point I lost half of the crew. But these setbacks only made us stronger. The crew is skilled now, in a good shape, and the ship is still one of the most modern ones."
He rolled on his side as well and glanced at Noel. "Many months ago, I made a trade with a man called Cassius Richard. I gave him some technology he would have gotten anyway, and in return, he handed me the encrypted data cache of a Cult of Technology ship. He didn't know what it was or how to access it. But we do, because we have referential values. We can access that data cache, and I did so for many months, since we have it. It contains so much data, that I had to randomly pick some point to start working with. As it turned out, I opened an encrypted folder containing more than one thousand hyperspace coordinates. The Apahanta probed many of these coordinates, and we found out most of them are leading to locations in Sirius. Some don't. They lead somewhere else."
Noel's eyes grew a bit bigger. The implication he just made was exciting. "Gallia?"
Ezrael chuckled again. "And more. I would like to see what is beyond what mankind explored. For just a few days. Then we can return back to Curacao. And do another jump. We are the only ones that can do this, Noel. And I want to see what is out there. Maybe we even find the guys who built the Dyson Sphere."
"Or death."
The Curacaoan looked at Noel for a moment, just to be met with a cheeky grin. "I don't plan to die anytime soon. And I won't let anyone else on the Apahanta die."
Deepest night. It didn't really mean much, as the sun was still at the horizon and would remain there for a few hours before rising again. A result of the island's location, Curacao's rotational axis and Cortez' unique blue sun.
Plenty of puffy blankets and pillows lay on the floor in the living room, directly infront of a couch. While it was almost dark outside, with only Cortez shining through the clouds, the TV's lights were flickering. Ezrael seemed to be sleeping already, laying on his side on the makeshift castle of blankets and pillows, only his pelvis covered by a bit of white blanket. Noel was not far away, leaning against the pillow-cushioned lower end of the couch, similarly unclothed but his legs wrapped in the fluffy white of a blanket. Another pillow on his lap, ontop of it a PDA. Unable to sleep, the young boy typed a message to his love.
"Hey Simone!
How are you? I hope you're not too bored on the Apahanta. On the other hand, I hope the ship didn't get into another battle.
Curacao is pretty cool. Or, well, hot. It's really hot here, I'm sweating all day the moment I leave the shadow. The house has air conditioning, so it's cool in here. Ez has taught me how to swim. Just the basics, but at least I can survive for a while in water now. I felt kinda stupid for not having learned how to swim in 24 years.
We've made it ourselves comfy here in the living room. Even the night on this planet is quite warm, so the windows are all open and the AC is running. Ez is sleeping, and I can't yet despite being quite exhausted. I'm watching an anime here right now, but since it's night, there are those sexy ads coming up. So I thought I rather write you instead of looking at hotline milfs.
We've been at the beach at well, and Ez was surfing. I took a picture of it.
He later tried to teach me how to surf as well, but we realized I can't learn everything in just a day. He however took a picture of me as well, so I can at least pretend I was surfing.
Sadly, he then stumbled over the picture ediging options of the PDA. So here is what he did with that picture.
Anyway. I'll try to get some sleep now. Ez wants to do a hoverbiking trip with me tomorrow, maybe even some camping. I hope you are fine on the Apahanta, Simone. Maybe he'll allow you to join us soon. He said, if we're staying together, you'll live with us on Curacao at some point, together with Ez, Sombra, Leon and probably half of the crew as well. And children. Maren, Dinah, and since Ezrael will become a father soon, that child as well. He said that is something for the distant future, though, as he wants to do a bunch of things before we can settle down. And Curacao is still close to the warzone, so I try to not get too excited.
Thinking of you, Simone.
Hugs and kisses!"
Message sent. Noel then rubbed his eyes and looked up at the TV screen. More sexy commercials advertising the services on Curacao's primary islands, making very clear how far these services would go. About to turn off the TV screen, as it was difficult to focus on sleeping when the fantasy was fed, he noticed that Ezrael was looking at him from where he lay. He then looked back at the TV screen, then back to Ezrael. "I wasn't touching myself!"
"You think I would care?" Ezrael merely returned in a half-sleepy tone. He then smirked at the boy. "Texting with Simone?"
"Well, I sent her a message. She's probably sleeping. And I don't think she'll return much more than a drawing." Boobs were jiggling on the screen. Noel idly looked at it. "I've told her about my day here, that you taught me how to swim and what we do tomorrow. And that you said we might live here at some point. I wonder whether she would want that."
The Curacaoan closed his eyes again, his head sideways on the puffy pillow. "It'd probably be her first time on a planet. Even on a small island she would meet more people than she did so far in her entire life. It'll be difficult for her to adjust to the cultural traits of Curacao, but then again, she is almost immortal. So she will need to learn and make experiences anyway."
The commercials were currently praising all the kinds of massage one could get to enjoy on the primary islands. Cute and sexy women in various outfits were performing in various methods of massaging on well equipped oiled young men. As Noel wanted to turn it off, one got a happy end. He hesitated for a moment and looked at Ezrael in a questioning way. "I didn't know OSC was actually encouraging this."
"The demand was there, and if it wasn't allowed and done professional, there would have been a black market. People come here for all kinds of sinning, Noel, and sex is obviously one of the most requested services. As I said, OSC does that in a professional way, with skilled personnel and set guidelines both for personnel and costumers. No slaves or anything," Ezrael explained.
"Huh. Who would have thought." And then the screen turned black. Noel put the PDA away and lay down again, a bit closer to Ezrael. There was a cooling wind brushing over his skin. Looking past the Curacaoan, he glanced outside. And then realized the windows and doors were wide open. That was slightly unsettling, if he was honest. "Aren't you a bit worried about leaving the windows open at night?"
"Nope," the man replied. After a while he realized, by opening his eyes, that Noel was staring at him, expecting a more elaborate answer. "There is pretty much no active crime on Curacao. Whoever does anything questionable gets banned from the planet, or bountied and killed by licensed bounty hunters. And we have security robots here, so intruders wouldn't get far. Don't worry."
"What about insects?" Noel asked.
"There aren't any. There are just a very few insect types on very few islands, because OSC installed point defense lasers against them. Tourists don't like insects, so they get shot down. The insects, that is. The flora has evolved without insects in first place, as Curacao was originally only populated by awkward maritime life. Nothing you see on other worlds, so OSC uses that for tourism as well. The moment you enter the unfiltered waters, the fauna goes batshit crazy."
"Really? I thought there was no life at all on this planet except for what mankind brought here." Noel sighed. "So way different from Hamburg, really."
"This planet is a paradise, Noel, and OSC made it even better, together with Planetform. Hundred years ago, there were no filtration systems on the planet, so people couldn't go surfing or get into the water as it wouldn't really be good to the skin. And swallowing it would make you sick very quickly. Now we have filtered zones around the islands, with big shield barriers that prevent the filtered water to mix with the unfiltered." Sighing, Ezrael closed his eyes again. "Noel, get some sleep. You'll understand how things work here soon enough."
"Uh, okay. Good night, Ez."
"Good night, Noel."
And with that, Noel closed his eyes, trying to sleep. It took a while, and he frequently opened his eyes again, simply to look either at Ezrael or past him out of the windows to see the night sky of Cortez. So many new things, so many differences about this planet. He liked it. If things really were as idyllic as Ezrael describe them, it was no surprise he was this obsessed and happy about being back here.
The morning brought the transition from blue to bright yellow light as the photons made their way through the atmosphere. A sight unique to Curacao. Noel slowly opened his eyes, feeling more than just refreshed. Waking up after a nice dream was always nice. Waking up after having a nice dream, just to live a nice dream, was even better. The air was already warm and the windows were wide open. Looking around, the 24-years-old boy spotted Ezrael at the door. He was still naked, which made him wonder for a moment, but he then saw him giving instructions to a delivery robot.
As Ezrael turned around, he smirked at the boy. "Ah, hey. Good morning, Noel!" Setting himself in motion again, he disappeared in the general direction of the kitchen. Noel simply remained where he was, a lazy smile on his face, just gazing around. Everything here felt nice. But then again, it was his first night planetside since his very teenage years. A few minutes passed, and Ezrael returned from the kitchen, his hands holding a tray of food. It was still a bit awkward, the entire nudity-thing, Noel felt, but strangely freeing. Placing the tray on ground right next to Noel, where the blankets were still providing a soft cushion beneath them, Ezrael sat down as well. "Here, breakfast. You'll need to drink a bit more than usual when you're on Curacao."
Two glasses of mango juice, a small plate with two waffles, two bowls of fresh cold fruit salad, two sandwiches and a glass of cold milk. "So, you dreamed about Sombra?" he asked him, with a big grin on his lips while leaning in to lay on his side. One arm was supporting his head, the other grabbed one of the mango juice glasses and lead it up to his lips.
Noel gave him a questioning look, slightly blushing about what he got asked. "No?"
"Huh. I could swear you mumbled her name over and over again while sleeping." Ezrael was still grinning in a way that would indicate he was 100% sure about it. Noel however simply took the glass of milk and took a sip. It was nicely cold. "It's not like you can control what you dream about, so don't feel bad for, uh, rolling with the punches."
"I have Simone. That's the only woman I should be dreaming about," the boy sounded quietly, remembering some moments of what he had dreamed about.
"I'm sure she appreciates that loyalty. Or would, if she understood the concept behind it. Not sure whether she does." He took a sip of his orange juice. "Anyway, there is no crime in at least thinking about other women, even if you're in a monogamous relationship. I mean, you've looked at some naked women last night on the TV as well. And I'm sure Simone has been exploring the neural net as well. It's not like there are no ads for certain things everywhere."
Sighing, the rheinlandian boy nibbled on a waffle. "What are we going to do today?" he asked the Curacaoan before taking another bite of the waffle.
"Changing the topic, eh? Must have been a wild dream..." There was that cheeky grin again, only to be met by a frown from Noel. "I want to cruise over to Miramar City and check out whether our main store is alright. That robot out there just delivered one of my hoverbikes and the equipment we'll need. Will probably take around an hour to get there, and then we can check out Miramar. It's a pretty city, with many colorful houses and wide open areas. You'll love it."
"You think it's a good idea to travel like that?" Noel asked him before taking a big sip of the mango juice.
"It's safe and fast. There is almost no traffic on Curacao right now and there are plenty of designated hoverbiking lanes that lead from island to island. No obstacles, no big waves. Believe me, it's fuckin awesome." Ezrael had taken one of the fruit salad bowls and moved to lay on his back for the sake of eating. "There is something addicting about high speeds and going anywhere you want. About feeling the wind getting broken by your machine. And there is a certain satisfaction from riding your own machines. The sound of the engine, the smell of it. The vibrations. I don't know, it's simply awesome. Hard to explain, you just have to live it."
"I guess," the boy merely replied, not quite keen to join him in doing something as risky as hoverbiking. It sounded dangerous, up to 450 km/h on something rather vulnerable. One obstacle in the way could literally rip them apart. Or what if the engine goes offline while they are on the water? Leon had warned him about these things, and had told him about Ezrael's past regarding hoverbiking. That it was sheer luck he never had an accident while partaking in both legal and illegal races.
But then he gazed into Ezrael's eyes. This handsome face was shining as it was talking about hoverbiking. This selfesteem and joy. Maybe Leon was just exaggerating about it. After all he was a rather fearful engineer, while Ezrael was a fearless lucky charm on two and a half legs.
There it was. Shiny metallic white and black, polished Nagano leather seat, enough horse power to reach the very limit of bearable speed on an open vessel. Noel eyed it carefully, but mostly watched Ezrael checking the vehicle for flaws. He did it in an almost fanatical way, inspecting every single part of it, with gentle touches he would otherwise target women with. The rheinlandian boy sighed quietly, his heart already beating faster in anticipation of what was ahead of him. For a while the fact that he was wearing a custom made hoverbiking leather suit was putting him at ease. There was something special about this. Perfect fit, cooling fibre on the inside, sexy black and green on the outside. Being friends with an influental billionaire really was cool. When else did one get expensive outfits tailored to the very own body measures. And he was allowed to keep it. Looking at his gloves with awe in his eyes, he remembered what this was about.
"And? Is everything alright?" Noel asked the man at the hoverbike. Ezrael was kneeling infront of it, a hand on the seat, the other hand stroking a metallic part, almost caressing it. "I bet Sombra would be jealous if she saw you touching the bike like that."
"Sombra would love to be in your place right now, Noel. In the first years of our relationship, we used to cruise around quite often. She learned already back then that she would need to share me with these things, and other women. Luckily she is the best woman Sirius ever gave birth to, so she learned to do that." Ezrael slowly moved up and leaned against the machine while throwing a glance at Noel. "I think everything is fine. We'll do a few slow runs around the island, so you don't need to be worried. And if everything is as it should be and you're fine with it, we'll do the ride over to Miramar. The KSR already put everything we need into the cargo box. We could literally start right now, if you want."
Gulping, Noel picked up his helmet and stepped a bit closer to Ezrael. He wore a similar suit, in black and blue. The Apahanta's colors. The Curacaoan met Noel halfway and took the helmet from him, placing it on Noel's head. "You should see an HUD now. Also, the helmets are connected with each other via neural link, so we can talk without a problem while we're moving. Everything okay?"
Noel took a deep breath. "Seems fine. I can see everything, and the HUD shows fuel status, component status, mini-map and such. Even shield status of suit and hoverbike."
"Good!" It was time to launch. Ezrael put on his helmet, then jumped on the hoverbike, leaning forward as much as possible. "Come. Put your arms around me as tight as possible when we go, okay?"
"Okay..." His heart was beating even faster. Joining Ezrael on the bike, he embraced him from behind, pressing his body against his while looking slightly over his shoulder to see what was ahead of them.
"When I take a turn, you'll need to shift your weight together with me, okay? Otherwise this doesn't work. Don't worry, you won't fall off. This is super safe and there is nothing that can happen to you. I'll be careful, alright?"
"I'm not afraid, Ez. Just go already." Yet Ezrael felt a very strong hug from behind. It made him smirk.
"And off we go!" It was the moment of truth. The point of no return. Adrenaline was rushing through both bodies as the vehicle began to hover over the ground. As Ezrael had told him, he was very careful, not only because of Noel but because he didn't ride a hoverbike for months. 40 km/h. 70 km/h. 100 km/h. 150 km/h. And then, after a few runs around the island, they moved out to the open water. The shields of the vehicle became visible every now and then as the wind resitance put kinetic force onto it. 200 km/h. Ten meters over the water. No soul in sight. Just Ezrael and Noel on this very fast vessel.
Noel's grip didn't get weaker at any point, but he began to understand what this was about. The speed. He was almost lying on Ezrael's back, his head facing the side. The islands were passing by. Here and there were single boats, here and there some people at the beaches. Some freighters in the sky. A liner. The cooling system of the suit was keeping them almost dry, a few pearls of sweat forming on their foreheads and under the arms from the tension. The sounds of the wind and the engine were addictive, like vicious purring. It was like Ezrael had told him.
Another night on Curacao. It had cooled down a bit, and despite having enjoyed the hoverbiking, Ezrael was enjoying the little break a bit more right now. The sun was long gone, and the Cortez Clusters were shining bright in the sky. Noel and his mentor sat at a rocky cliff. Water was waving against the shore, while the wind was carrying the maritime scent to the two men.
"I really can't blame you for being obsessed with this planet," Noel said quietly. The mood was serene, almost melancholic. He knew they couldn't be on Curacao all the time. That made being here pretty special. "The more you show me, the more I fall in love with Curacao. It's absolutely magical."
The water was crystal clear, and the bioluminescent coral reefs in the distance were well visible, with a certain blur. The young boy wondered whether they were artificially engineered or natural. Ezrael just took a deep breath, taking in the uniquely scented air of the coast. "Maybe we can settle down here at some point permanently. I just need to get rid of the bounty. Or the Overwatch. Not sure what is easier to pull off," Ezrael said, smirking at his protege. "It'll happen at some point. But until then, we need to stay in motion."
"I sometimes forget that. The bounty." He scratched his nose. "How did you piss the Order off? What they write there in the bounty listing doesn't make any sense. Looks like they are bad informed or just look for a cheap reason to get you killed."
"Eh-he, that's happens when you are trying to be a good ally," the Curacaoan man began. "We've been quite okay with the Order, actually, with some at least neutral contacts to them. Those contacts all disappeared, though. We've repelled Nomads in Delta, Minor and Iota together. In fact, the Apahanta never shot an Order vessel before the desertion. After that, there were only two occasions. One was the defense of Port Carthage in Omicron Delta, a Zoner installation near Freeport 11. The other was a job the BAF and SIS hired us for in Tau-31, against an Osiris and a Geb. We've won the battle in Tau-31. Weeks later I got informed about a bounty of ten millions on my head."
"Shit, then." Noel scooted a bit closer and leaned against his shoulder. "But they won't get you. I'll team up with Leon and try to upgrade the personal shield generator. Just in case it should ever be necessary."
"Luckily I'm surrounded by people with big brain thingies." Ezrael put an arm around the boy. "There is something we need to talk about, though, Noel. I'd like to think of us always having luck, but we need to be realistic."
Sighing annoyed, Noel looked unfocused at his lap. "Is it about Simone?"
Ezrael nodded, humming in confirmation. "In retrospect, I sort of regret having listened to Maren. Sending you to her was an idea that sparked out of her chaotic brain. Don't get me wrong, Noel, I'm happy for you and her and I hope for the best for the two of you." He paused for a moment. "Weird things are going on, though. We don't know what Simone's purpose as artificially created human is. I can only guess, based on deduction, and these guesses aren't in your favor."
"I know."
"Dr. Martinez' goal, according to herself, is to defeat the nomads on their own plane of existence. Psionics, according to her, are able to fight them on that plane. She herself might be a psionic, or something along that line. She said it herself. Or hinted. And then we find out about Simone and Dinah developing psionic affinity, very suddenly. Both of them. We know Simone and Dinah are bot artificially created. Engineered psionics. Chances are Dr. Martinez is creating an army, and Simone and Dinah are part of it without knowing it yet. Now while it seems that Dinah sort of has a free will, Simone doesn't seem to make use of hers. I guess the only time she did was when she saw you and, well, you two did it."
"You think I didn't think about that?" Noel asked him, looking up at Ezrael's face. "Being with her is weird. It is very, uh, raw. She doesn't know about any social constructs or any form of social etiquette. She wants to hug? She comes to me and hugs me. She wants something else? She does things to get something else. She can't talk, but she understands me and can read-"
"Noel, I do know she can talk. You think I don't check the internal sensors?"
The boy sighed again. He often forgot about the fact that Ezrael and Sherry knew about everything that was going on on the ship. And they had to. "I'm not sure how to handle this, to be honest. I've been thinking about talking with her about it. Asking her about her own opinion. Not just that, though, but also because, well, the other thing."
"The other thing?" Ezrael asked.
"Sombs."
"She's just teasing you. A bit jealous, nothing more."
Noel gazed up at Ezrael. "Uh," he sounded quietly with a questioning expression. "Y-you don't know what happened?"
"Something happened?" Ezrael asked curiously. Noel nodded after short hesitation. "Did you betray Simone?"
"Uh, I don't think I did? I mean, I didn't do anything with her, with Sombra I mean. It's just, uh, she, eh. Well, uh." Moving a little, he signaled Ezrael to take his arm off the shoulder. "She was showing clear intentions, if I may say so. Like, very clear. And I'm really not sure where betraying begins, because if thoughts and dreams count, I have a problem. Or, well, does it count when she kisses me on the shoulder? I don't know. I didn't return anything. It's tempting, though, which is a problem. Women are difficult."
Ezrael chuckled. "That they are. Have you talked with Simone about her?"
"I literally just told you I didn't. That's how we got into that topic, Ez."
"Right," Ezrael sounded, placing a hand on Noel's thigh. "So, you do like Sombra that way?"
Noel blushed, which was however not visible in the night. He swallowed, then looked over to the glow in the water. "Who wouldn't..."
"I mean, beyond female attractiveness? I know you two spend much time together. I also know you two consume some synth weed once a month. It's obvious she is interested in you, which is good."
The boy shook his head. "Well, we get along a bit too well, yes. But, you know, I'm happy with Simone, and I can't just do it like you with all the women at the same time. Simone deserves better."
"Yes, she does. I'm glad you think like that. It's just..." Ezrael took a deep breath, pausing before continuing. "I don't know how to say it in a way that doesn't sound inappropiate, but maybe you get what I try to say. If Simone turns out to be problematic, like, changing to her negative or if she needs to leave the ship because of Dr. Martinez, and just in that very case, I would appreciate it if you took care of Sombra. Because she deserves better as well. And the kind of better she deserves is something I can't give her. Because I can't risk Maren becoming unhappy, and I'm going to be a father soon, which is already making her unhappy."
Noel blinked at him. "That certainly did sound awkward as fuck, but I think I understand what you're saying. Nevertheless it's a batshit crazy topic." The boy lowered himself to lay down in the grass. He looked up into the night sky. There was a giant warship in the orbit. Crayterian Deimos. Well visible with bare eyes. "Women are weird."