Lorelie sat alone at the desk in her room aboard Spector, where she used her uniband to access her contacts list, after which she called someone and sent the connection to the console on her desk, which projected a holographic screen once the call connected.
“Lorelie, darkling, it's been too long.” Handsome male said as soon as the holocall connected.
“Hello, Jacques”, Lorelie said with a warm smile.
“Darling, why didn’t you call me sooner? I saw your performance for the Terran celebration on the universal subspace network, and then on The MMM Show, you word magnificent sweetie.” Jacques praised happily.
“Thank you, Jacques, I’m happy to say the performances did indeed go well.”
“Go well? Darling, you're understating the effect your new genre of music is and will have; you of all people understand this. Also, why did you tell me about your new music genre? It’s not like I can't keep a secret.”
“I have my reasons, which I will explain to you when I see you.”
“Are you returning home, sweetie? Oh, this calls for a celebration. I will book us a table at Metgar, you know, Diva Metgar always insists on cooking for you personally when you visit his restaurant.” Jacques proposed with excitement.
“That would be lovely, but please arrange a table for six as I will be bringing friends.”
“Of course, you must mean Diva Rowena and the dragon princess, along with the host whose ship you're travelling aboard that Diva Rowena mentioned.”
“That’s correct, however didn’t just call you regarding this, my ‘friend’ has a business proposition for you.”
“For me? Sweetie, you know I’m only a small-time swimwear producer here on Oceana Seven, why would a friend of yours be interested in doing business with me?” Jacques asked curiously.
“I believe he has an idea on a new kind of swimwear you can introduce and sell, as for why it’s you, well, it’s because he asked for a trustworthy friend who deals in clothing and I recommended you.”
“Oh, Lorelie sweetie, you're too good to me.”
“It gets better, if you accept his business offer, then the new line of swimwear will be modelled by Rowena and me.”
“Indeed?” Jacques replied with surprise before asking, “While Diva Rowena modelling some of my goods is already a dream come true, why are you doing it? You have never done modelling before.”
“My ‘friend’ has given me and Rowena ideas on how we can improve our popularity and get individuals who aren't our fans to take notice of us.”
“Really? It seems this friend of yours is just full of interesting ideas.”
“More than you know,” Lorelie replied with a smirk.
“Well then, I look forward to meeting this friend of yours. Any idea when you will arrive?”
“We should enter orbit in around five to six days.”
“So long?” Jacques asked with surprise.
“Because of the TISF’s attitude towards my friend, he didn’t want to take the risk of using of trying to use a jump gate.”
“Ah, it makes sense then. Still, what the TISF did was outrageous.”
“Rowena, contacting twice in only a few hours, to what do I owe the honour?” Lady Erkath asked with a smile as she appeared on a holographic screen above the console in Rowena’s room.
“Come now, Erkath, you know very well that I was contacting Malgath earlier and not you,” Rowena replied with a bemused tone.
“Well, whatever, to what do I owe the pleasure of this call? Could you possibly be calling me to arrange that meal we spoke about earlier?”
“In a way,” Rowena replied before asking. “Can you make a detour and meet me on Oceana Seven?”
“That shouldn’t be an issue, plus it gives me a reason to go there and drink some God's Oasis. But can I ask the reason?”
“My host has requested your presence to discuss a potential business partnership.”
“Business partnership?” Erkath asked with new interest. “Would this host be the one whose ship you're travelling on and the same one who gave you those interesting clothes. Sweats, I believe you called them?”
“The one and the same. He has a suggestion on how your company can increase its sales.”
“Interesting. And do you believe that his idea has merit?”
“I would say so. After all, it was his suggestion for me and Lorelie to appear on The MMM Show via holocall, something that Xer-verse is still talking about.”
“I see your point. Very well, I will alter course and head for Oceana Seven. I will contact you once I arrive.” Erkath replied before ending the holocall.
As soon as the holocall ended, Rowena’s relaxed facade crumbled as she started to shiver slightly.
“What’s wrong with me? Ever since I met Adam on the shuttle, my blood has become unstable, and for some reason, it keeps getting hot. What is this?”
After several minutes, Rowena finally managed to get her body back under a semblance of control before she used her uniband to holocall another contact and send it to the console on the desk before her.
“Mistress,” Rachel said as she picked up the holocall.
“Rachael, return to the Nosferatu family home on Darah Five and collect a package from the family head. After that, deliver it to me on Oceana Seven.” Rowena instructed.
“Yes, mistress,” Rachael replied.
“Good girl,” Rowena replied with a smile before ending the holocall and finding another contact that she soon called.
This time, the holographic screen showed the image of a male Brood when the holocall connected.
“Rowena, why are you calling all of a sudden?” The male Brood asked.
“Asema, I am sending my familiar to meet you as I need you to give her a data drive containing everything the family has concerning the history between our race and the Terrans, specifically on the time just after our races first came into contact with each other,” Rowena said.
“What on Darah do you need that for?” Asema asked.
“Just for a research project about the history of our two races that a friend asked me to help out with,” Rowena replied.
“Whatever, just have your familiar collect the data drive from the front gates security checkpoint,” Asema said before ending the holocall.
“Still such a supremacist, you won’t even meet Rachael because she’s not a Brood,” Rowena commented as she shook her head.
“Where are those two?” Tephe asked curiously.
“At a guess, busy enjoying each other's company,” Rowena replied with a smirk.
“Still? It’s been all night.” Lorelie asked in amazement.
“Better get used to the idea,” Rowena replied, causing Lorelie to roll her eyes with a slight blush.
“Why couldn’t we all enjoy each other's company together?” Tephe asked innocently, causing Rowena and Lorelie to share a glance.
“Sometimes those in a relationship like time alone together,” Rowena explained.
“Oh,” Tephe replied, not understanding.
A few minutes later, Stacey stepped into the mess hall while stifling a yawn before saying in a tone that showed she had not fully woken up yet. “Morning.”
“Good morning, sleepy head,” Rowena replied with a chuckle before asking. “Is it just you? Will Adam be joining soon?”
“He’s still… unconscious,” Stacey replied in embarrassment.
“Is Adam ok?” Lorelie asked with apparent concern.
“Did something happen?” Tephe asked.
“Again?” Rowena asked with a sigh while shaking her head before adding.
“I told you to control yourself lest he get addicted.”
“He’s fine,” Stacey replied before explaining.
“I ended up feeding a bit too much on Adam’s blood, which caused him to lose consciousness.
Spector said there's nothing to worry about and just needs to rest until his body recovers enough blood.”
“That’s good,” Lorelie said with relief.
“Also, I wasn’t planning on feeding on him at all, I mean, it hasn’t even been a month, it just happened.”
“I know you have only just started feeding, and it’s at an age far older than most of our race, but you need to learn to control the urge to feed on Adam, granddaughter. If not for your sake, then for his.” Rowena advised.
“I understand,” Stacey replied.
Rowena studied Stacey closely for several moments, causing her to feel uncomfortable.
“What?” She finally asked after not being able to take the stare any longer,
“You’ve changed again,” Rowena commented, causing Lorelie and Tephe to focus on Stacey more closely.
“You're right, I didn’t notice at first, as it’s such a minimal change, but your eyes are slightly redder,” Lorelie commented.
“Wow, a small part of your black hair turned red, Stacey. Did you dye it?” Tephe asked.
“Something like that,” Stacey replied as she went to the food dispenser to get some breakfast.
“Did they grow again?” Rowena asked.
“Slightly,” Stacey replied.
“Did what grow?” Tephe asked curiously.
“Tephe, when someone is not making something obvious, it usually means that they don’t want to reveal it. In those cases, it’s best not to ask and to mind some privacy.” Lorelie explained gently.
Tephe nodded in understanding after contemplating Lorelie’s words.