Brentili'ik stood on the hoverlift that was suspended twenty meters over the crowd and watched as the crowd roared in approval. They lined the wide avenue of the capital city, stood to either side of the roadway that led from the starport to the military base only two miles away.

She could see the leading edge of what they were cheering for approaching.

Confetti fluttered down around her, onto the crowd, onto the street. She could see signs being waved by excited beings, see even broodcarriers excited by it all. Podlings were being lifted on shoulders so they could see better as the leading ranks approached.

Headquarters Company of Headquarters Brigade of the First Telkan Marine Division.

They weren't in power armor, but instead were in standard adaptive camouflage. All marching in perfect lockstep, parade ground precision, as they moved down the avenue. As they passed Brentili'ik's hoverlift a shout by the leader had them all turn their heads to face her. Arms moved and they saluted as they passed by.

She barely noticed. Her eyes were for the second Telkan going by, the one behind the one carrying the flag of First Telkan Marine Division.

Her husband.

Vuxten.

To Brentili'ik he looked tired. He was back to a cybernetic ear without any artificial covering. His cybernetic eye and his sole remaining biological eye were rimmed by white fur. He had white down the sides of his muzzle.

He looked tired.

He looked battered.

He looked amazing.

"look podlings look daddy is there" Synthal'la said, the normally quiet broodcarrier excited. The podlings all squeaked and bounced up and down with excitement.

"vuxten look tired" Ilmata'at said. Brentili'ik put her hand on the broodcarrier's shoulder.

She watched as the troops of First Telkan Marine Division marched by, showered with confetti, excited civilians waving and cheering. It seemed to go on and on, but finally the last of them went by and Brentili'ik sat down. She felt exhausted from waving and smiling, when all she wanted to do was go home and curl up with her husband.

She had missed him.

The hoverlift moved quickly to the capital building and from there she walked to her office, escorted by security guards and a Telkan that was so generic as to be almost instantly forgettable. She wasn't surprised to see that she had no less than fifty priority messages and nearly a dozen Telkan all waiting to talk to her.

What did surprise her was the fact there was a large Terran female with brown skin, dressed in leather and fur, with a sword on her back that was held securely with a restraining device to keep it in the sheath, waiting in the office with a large smile.

The fact the female Terran was hugely pregnant was no lost on Brentili'ik.

When she sat down she looked at her Intelligence Chief.

"Who's the Terran woman?" Brentili'ik asked.

Her Chief checked his implant and made a face. "Uh, it's odd. Her Grace Khoonkeenadee, the Arch-Duchess of Relflagen, Lady of Magic and Beauty, the Arcane Will of King Nganto, She Who has Birthed a Hundred. It's appended with 'Call me Keena' at the end," he said.

"What does she want?" Brentili'ik asked. The words had sounded strange and had left the taste of iron across her tongue.

"She says that this is a diplomatic visit. That as a visiting head of state she felt that protocol required her to present herself to the ruler of the system and the Telkan people," her Intelligence Chief said. He shook his head. "That's the gist of what's about a five minute statement full of flowery language."

"And the sword?" Brentili'ik asked.

"Nanite infused hyper-sharp weapon," the Intelligence Chief said. "Security interlocks prevent it from being too far away from her. She agreed to submit to physical lockup of the weapon."

Brentili'ik sighed. "Send her in first. Let's not cause a diplomatic incident."

The Intelligence Chief nodded, touching his implant as he sat down in his favorite spot. A chair slightly out of the way that he seemed to vanish into.

After a moment the door opened and the Terran woman entered.

The first thing that struck her was the woman's sheer presence. It rolled off of her and seemed to fill the room, like she was much larger than her physical body. The second thing was how round the Terran woman's stomach was. Her strange vest with fur lined breast support cups was unlaced to let her stomach stick out. Brentili'ik noted that the woman's belly button was poking out. The third thing was how large she was. Heavy muscle and bone, wide shoulders, thick arms and legs.

The woman gave a strange motion which Brentili'ik's datalink told her was a 'curtsy' before standing up straight.

"A pleasure to meet you, Planetary Director," the woman said.

"A pleasure to meet you, Your Grace," Brentili'ik replied.

The woman smiled, her teeth startlingly white. "Call me Lady Keena, Planetary Director."

Brentili'ik nodded. "What do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" she asked.

"As I am a guest on your planet, I will require lodging. The assignment of proper lodging will prevent me from having to carve out my own place on the planet as honor and duty would demand," Lady Keena said.

"There are plenty of hotels," Brentili'ik said.

Lady Keena shook her head. "As the ruler of this planet, of these people, of this region, you must apply your authority and power and assign me a place to stay," she looked down. "It needs to be close to the military base as I have obligations to several of your people, as well as close to a forested area."

Brentili'ik nodded, closing her eyes for a moment. She sent a quick message to her secretary. "That can all be arranged."

"I thank you, Lady Brentili'ik," the Terran said. She smiled again. "You live up to the loving descriptions I have heard."

"Uh, thank you?" Brentili'ik said softly. "Is there anything else I can do for you? Perhaps make an appointment at the hospital for your upcoming birth?"

Lady Keena shook her head. "No. There is some time yet before he will be born," her face softened. "He is a sleep right now, dreaming. Soon we will meet, he and I."

"Well, Lady Keena, I'm very busy, I'm sure you understand," Brentili'ik said. "One of my aides will ensure that you have proper lodging."

"Thank you," Lady Keena said. She moved over to the door, opening it. She paused for a moment. "I will see you soon, I think," she said, then moved through the door.

Brenti'ilik sighed and she shook her head. "Next problem," she said.

---------

The day seemed to take forever to Vuxten.

First, they'd all formed up on the tarmac in the hangar just outside the vision of the front gate of the space port. Then they'd marched in formation down the main avenue to the military base.

When he'd called out "Eyes RIGHT!" so that everyone could see his wife, his heart had leaped into his throat.

She had gray on the sides of her muzzle, on the tips of her eyes, and around her eyes. She looked tired, careworn, and a little sad.

She looked wonderful.

Synthal'la and Ilmata'at had been there, waving, no hint of shyness as they held up the podlings so they could see too.

It had taken everything he had not to run to their arms.

Instead he had kept marching, the entire two miles. The people cheering so loudly it was a physical thing, the confetti raining down, the screaming in joy and the excitement of the crowd. By the time he'd marched two miles, through the gates of the military base, he felt like he had been fighting in armor for a week.

Then it was accountability, make sure everyone was present. Then turning in weapons, armor, running inventory, making sure that everyone understood it was a one week block leave for the entire division (not him, though, he only got 24 hours), getting everyone's locations.

Three Telkan Marines and their greenies had rented a big pink ground-car and were going to be on the road for a month.

471 and a handful of other greenies were going to go surfing on a beach at one of the nearby resorts. The idea of the little green mantis on a waxed fiberglass board out in the surf for some reason made Vuxten smile.

Finally he was done. It was almost 0100 hours, he had to be back at 0600 hours the day after tomorrow, but still, it meant he could spend some time with Brentili'ik and everyone else.

When he left the office he was startled to see two Telkan's of average appearance, wearing formal suits, waiting for him.

"Captain Vuxten?" one asked.

"Yes?" he asked, tensing slightly.

"We're your escort home," the other said.

"I'm going to need to see some ID," Vuxten said. His retinal link was only listing them as "John Doe Telkan".

"And you are right to ask," the first one said. He held out a billfold with the ID showing.

TELKAN INTELLIGENCE SERVICES was under the Telkan's picture. Vuxten checked the ID number against the post security database and it came back clean almost immediately.

"I can walk," Vuxten said, stepping outside and putting on his hat. He tugged the bill down so it was only two fingers above his nose at the angle of his muzzle.

"No, sir," one said. They'd shifted around and Vuxten had lost track of which one was which.

"Why not?" Vuxten asked.

"You've been moved off post. Your family resides in the Planetary Director's mansion now," the other said. He motioned at the hovercar. "We'll be escorting you."

Vuxten checked over the two men at the door of the car, seeing they popped up with Telkan Planetary Security.

He sighed and got in, sitting silently as the car lifted off. It banked and he stared down at the lights of the military base as the car moved into the air lanes. He stayed silent the whole way. Down below the lights and bustle of the capital's streets seemed weirdly calm to Vuxten.

Finally the car swooped down and landed on the roof parking port.

So much for just walking up the walk and opening the door, Vuxten thought as he got out. People in suits saluted him as he walked to the elevator and took it down to a well decorated hallway. There was carpet on the floor and pictures of various Telkans on the wall.

Vuxten sighed and looked around. A quick query showed that his wife was in bed with his broodcarriers, the podlings old enough to sleep in their own room. Oddly enough there was a tag that read "Flopsy" for some reason in with the podlings.

He didn't recognize the name but he was just too tired to really care.

The door opened quietly at his touch and he moved in nice and slow, sitting down in the chair. He reached down and untied one boot, setting it the side, then unlaced the other. He leaned back and yawned, promising himself that he'd get up in just a second.

-----------

"brennie vuxten here" Ilmata'at said softly, shaking Brentili'ik away.

Brentili'ik's eyes snapped open and she looked around.

Vuxten was asleep in the chair. One boot off, one boot unlaced but still on his foot. He was slumped down in the chair, head back, mouth open, snoring slightly.

"Get the littles," Brentili'ik told Synthal'la softly. The broodcarrier nodded and climbed out of bed, hurrying over and slipping out the door.

Brentili'ik put on a nightgown and looked at her husband as she slowly moved over to him.

She could see the stress even when he was asleep.

The children came in, the little podlings squeaking with excitement. Flopsy came in with them, bounding around them, making happy noises. Flopsy didn't understand exactly why everyone was so happy, but they were happy and that meant he was happy.

"Husband," Brentili'ik said softly, reaching out and touching Vuxten's hand.

She knew she was tensing, the same with Ilmata'at and Synthal'la, part of all three of them believing it might all be a dream that would dissolve at any second.

Vuxten jerked upright in the seat, his hand reaching down to his waist, his other hand bunching into a fist. He blinked and looked around, confused for a second.

"Welcome home, beloved," Brentili'ik said.

Vuxten stood up, reached forward, and grabbed his broodcarriers and wife into a hug.

He heard a barking noise and felt something rubbing against his leg. He looked down to see a little canine, like the FIDOs only smaller, with big floppy ears, had pushed into the hug and was rubbing its face against his leg.

"And who is that?" Vuxten asked.

"Flopsy! Come here," one of the older podlings, her missing ear and eye grown back thanks to Confederate medical techology, said, holding out her arms.

The little creature barked and ran over to the podling, its tail wagging furiously.

"Flopsy," Brentili'ik said.

"flopsy is a dog" Synthal'la said softly.

Vuxten closed his eyes and leaned into the hugs, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly.

It was good to be home.