Needless to say, it took a very long time for the studio audience to calm down enough that Malgath could speak.
“Well, this certainly is a surprise, one most welcome not only by me but by everyone here,” Malgath said, causing the studio audience to burst into cheers once again.
“But to what do we owe the pleasure, and could you not have thought of a way to contact me without almost causing me a heart attack?”
“Yes, sorry about that.” Rowena apologises before continuing, “But would your uniband have notified you if I had contacted you any other way?”
"No, but you could have called the studio," Malgath replied.
“And would your show's producer really have considered allowing us to suddenly appear when your show no doubt already had a preplanned schedule? Speaking of which, I should apologise to Erkath for interrupting her interview section.”
“Think nothing of it, Rowean, it’s been too long since we last spoke,” Erkath replied.
“Indeed, it has. We should go for a meal soon and catch up.” Rowena suggested.
“That would be wonderful, but I have to ask, what are you wearing?”
“Oh, these?” Rowena replied, looking down at the clothes they were wearing before explaining. “They are a type of clothing called sweats, they're surprisingly comfortable for when you just want to lounge around the house.”
“I’ve never heard of such a thing,” Erkath replied.
“That's not surprising; none of us had heard of them before either, until our host recommended them to us.”
“Your host?” Malgath asked.
“Yes, he’s the owner of the ship we are on and who Lorelie here has hired as her bodyguard for the time being.
Because we left Terrana Five in such a hurry and under such unusual circumstances, none of us had time to pack any clothes of the like. Luckily, our host was able to use his ship to fabricate us different types of clothing, and one such clothing is these sweats, which come from his home world.”
“How interesting,” Erkath replied.
“Indeed, and I’m interested to know more about this host of yours. I’m assuming he is the one the TISF were truly after and also the one who attacked and destroyed the Bounty Hunters Guild building on Terrana Five?” Malgath asked.
“You're correct.” Rowena replied before quickly adding, “And before you ask, no, he is not interested in appearing on your show to answer questions; however, he has given me permission to answer certain questions on his behalf.”
“Very well, then would you kindly explain to us what exactly happened, from your host's point of view?”
“Of course.” Rowena replied before she went on to explain how her host ship had been first intercepted on its way to Terrana Five before explaining everything that happened on Terrana Five from Adam’s perspective.”
“You mean to say that the TISF put a bounty out on your host, and because of this, he was attacked when he went to hand in some completed bounty missions and collect the due rewards.
After which he managed to escape, retaliate by destroying the guild building and then not only successfully evading the TISF but destroying six of their ships, including a cruiser?” Malgath enquired.
“That about sums it up,” Rowena replied.
“Well, while most things do add up to the reports we have received from our sources, we knew nothing of this bounty the TISF placed on your host.
Do you know the reason for the bounty?"
“Unfortunately, he never had the chance to find out, so you will have to ask the TISF for the exact reason; whether they give it to you is another story, however.”
“Very true.” Malgath agreed before asking, “So is this the reason you contacted me so suddenly and when I’m hosting my show?”
“Not at all, as I mentioned before, I am contacting you to set a new precedent for Holochat Shows.”
“Yes, you mentioned that previously. Care to explain?”
“Well, my host gave the marvellous suggestion of conducting an interview over holocommunication .”
“Has such a thing ever been done before?” Erkath asked as the audience murmured about the idea.
“Not that I’m aware of.” Malgath replied while shaking his head before adding, “But it’s certainly an interesting idea. Are all three of you interested in giving an interview?
“Lorelie and I are open to it; however, I don’t think Tephe is quite ready for that yet.”
“That's slightly disappointing but understandable,” Malgath replied.
“Well, perhaps a song from Lorelie’s new genre of music will cause you to forget your disappointment.”
As soon as Rowena suggested that Lorelie would sing for them, both Malgath and Erkath showed excited looks while the entire studio audience went ballistic once again.
Backstage, the crew for The MMM Show were going crazy because of the impromptu appearance of the three unplanned and unannounced guests.
“What the hell is Malgath doing accepting a holocall in the middle of a live show?” The producer asked angrily.
“Well, the circumstances were very unusual, sir.” One of the staff members replied.
“I don’t care, have him end the call at once and return to the scheduled interview with Lady Erkath.”
“But Lady Erkath doesn’t seem to mind at all.”
“Did you not hear me? Do what I say.”
“Yes, sir.” The staff member said, and just as they were about to perform the instructed task, another voice spoke up, saying.
“Director Elashor?” The assistant asked curiously.
“What is it, Elashor?” The producer asked angrily.
“Let the show continue as is, Ayen. This will significantly boost our ratings.” Elashor answered.
“But it’s against procedure; nothing has ever happened before,” Ayen replied.
“Eacatly. We are exploring new ground, and if it goes well, we will set a new precedent, and our show will go down in history.”
“But….” Ayen was about to reply when they heard Rowena mention Lorelie performing a song, causing the studio audience to go ballistic.
“Do you really want to prevent Diva Lorelie from performing a song? Think of the consequences and the bad press the show will receive if we refuse to allow people to hear her new music.” Elashor advised.
“Fine,” Ayen replied after a sigh.
“Good man.” Elashor said to Ayen before turning to the assistant and saying, “Contact the Holochannel and advise them that we want to extend the show's running time longer than normal because of this unforeseen development. I doubt they will refuse once they know the situation if they don’t already.”
“Yes, director.” The assistant said before rushing off to complete the task.
“Diva Lorelie is offering to sing us one of her new songs?” Malgath asked after the studio audience finally calmed down once again.
“I am,” Lorelie replied with a bright smile, causing the audience to cheer again.
“That is most unexpected and welcome, Diva Lorelie. Might I ask if it's one of the songs you performed at the Terran celebration or if it's something entirely new?”
“It will be an entirely new song called ‘Golden’ that I have never before performed in front of anyone,” Lorelie replied, causing the excitement in the studio to peak.
“Well, this is certainly an honour,” Malgath replied with a smile before turning towards the studio audience and cameras.
“Ladies and gentlemen, though this situation is most unprofessional and unexpected, it has nevertheless turned into something that we have all been longing for, a chance to listen to more of Diva Lorelie’s new genre of music.
Please allow me to welcome to The MMM Show, performing her new song for the very first time, the inventor of what is being labelled on Xer-verse as Lorelie’s Genre and the now number one Diva in the music category.
Ladies and gentlemen singing ‘Golden’ for the very first time.
The microcam followed Lorelie as she stood up from the couch she was sitting on before walking towards a more open space in the mess hall.
Adam, Stacey, Rowena and Tephe watched with anticipation as Lorelie closed her eyes to focus and calm herself.
This was not the first time she had performed in front of an audience, not just the other day at the celebration, she had performed in front of tens of thousands of people live, including prominent figures from the universe.
However, this was the first time she had performed in front of Adam, someone she had come to realise she was, in fact, attracted to after speaking with Rowena about him. That alone made her more nervous than ever before, but also made her want to put on her greatest performance to date.
She took a few seconds to calm herself as the audience in front of her, in the studio, and all those watching live on the universal subspace network waited patiently.
Finally, after a few seconds, she accessed her uniband and had it play the music she wanted through the Spector's high-quality speakers and as the first line of the song came, she began to sing for the man she had fallen for.
“I was a ghost, I was alone.”