The Mullinix Book 1: Ascension

  Chapter 24 - A Nice Awakening

  Medoferro woke up to find Marina’s red mop of hair lying on his chest. It took him a few seconds to remember what had happened the night before, but the warmth of Marina lying against him reminded him fairly quick. He smiled and ran his fingers through her smooth hair for a moment as he enjoyed the feeling.

  Eventually he had to move a little, stretching his well-used muscles to get his blood flowing a little again. Marina shifted a little when he moved, but didn’t wake up completely. Even though most of her weight was on him it wasn’t that big a burden, as she was significantly smaller than he was.

  A few minutes later the door opened and Medoferro nearly panicked, though it was only Sascha, one of the women he met last night from the house staff. She put her finger to her lips and smiled at Medoferro, walking in to leave a couple cups of tea and some morning pastries on the table.

  She scurried out of the room almost as fast as she came in, leaving them alone again. Medoferro could smell the pastries, but didn’t want to dislodge Marina in order to get them. It took a few moments for hunger to override the urge to stay put before he slid over to take one of the pastries.

  Marina slid over on to her back and opened her eyes while Medoferro ate one of the pastries. He picked up a second and silently offered it to her, taking a bit out of it himself once she shook her head no. She smiled and watched him eat, still feeling pretty good herself about the way things had gone the night before.

  "How are you this morning?" Medo asked her after putting down the second pastry, "Sleep well?"

  "Soundly," Marina agreed, "For what little time we slept."

  "Me too," Medo nodded, "So what is next?"

  "They’re probably letting you have some time before putting you in the wringer," Marina said as she pulled herself up and stretched a little, "You’ll probably spend the next few months either tagging along with Iggy or Massy."

  "No more formal classes?" Medo asked, a little surprised.

  "You won’t need them," Marina said, shaking her head, "What you go through here will be more than enough. Expect to spend a lot of hours listening to boring people with boring problems, all of which want something from you."

  "Sounds nice and dreadful," Medoferro grunted, "Why did I take this job again?"

  "Because the fringe benefits are nice," Marina grinned, "I didn’t hear you complaining too much last night."

  "True," Medo chuckled, "I guess it is a case of perspective. As long as I don’t have to do it alone I can live with it, I think."

  "As long as I’m around you’ll never be alone, Medo," Marina promised, "We’ll make sure this doesn’t fall square on your head."

  "Thanks," Medo said, "I appreciate that."

  "Can you pass me some tea," Marina asked him, "I need to wake up too."

  Medoferro nodded and poured her some tea, passing her the glass when he was done. He then stood up and looked for his clothes, but instead of finding them he found two robes folded neatly on the table across the room. He scratched his head and picked out the larger of the two and put it on, surprised to find that it fit fairly well. He looked at Marina, who was giggling a little bit.

  "Sascha or Emilie probably came in while we were sleeping," Marina explained, "Your clothes are most likely already in the closet. They were working on that last night while you were suffering out there on stage for the procession."

  "I’ve never had anyone clean up for me in my life," Medo said, sighing a little, "If I’d known it would make…"

  "Don’t worry about that," Marina said, "This is what we do for a living, remember? You run the country. We clean up the mess."

  "Lovely," Medo said, "Sounds like fun. What’s in it for you?"

  "Much like we discussed last night," she said, "A safe living and people who care for me."

  A knock on the door interrupted the conversation. Medo went over and peeked out to see Massimaferro standing outside. Marina pulled the blanket up a little bit and nodded at Medo that it was ok to let him in.

  "You ready for your first full day as a Mullinix?" Massy asked him and nodded at Marina, "Morning Marina."

  Marina smiled and waved at him. Medoferro was still a bit confused by the familiarity that everyone seemed to have in this place. Everyone seemed to know what was going on, yet nobody seemed to care. It was like it was expected, something that was pretty well unheard of where he came from.

  "I guess," Medo shrugged, "Where do we start?"

  "You and Iggy will go over some of the formalities," Massimaferro told him, "There are things that will need to be done to get you ready. He may even start you on the what-if scenarios."

  "What are those?" Medo asked him.

  "Basic logic exercises," Massy chuckled, "They can be fun and Iggy is a much better teacher than I am. You will probably be doing a lot of one on one learning with him."

  "Where does that leave you?"

  "Someone has to watch the country," Massy sighed, "I will spend most of my time hearing cases and handling the orders for the deployments in the south."

  "How long does this go on?" Medo asked, wondering how long he’d be doing this.

  "Until we figure you’re ready for something else," Massy chuckled, "Tali made me continue the logic exercises for nearly two years because I was so thick headed. I’m betting you’ll probably get through them in a few months because you’re a lot quicker with that sort of reasoning than I was."

  "Sounds like a whole lot of fun," Medo frowned, "I was hoping for something at least interesting."

  "The strategy games will do that for you," Massy grinned, "I’ll probably play some of those with you. What I lacked in logic I made up in strategic thinking. Within weeks of starting the war games I was routinely beating both Tali and Iggy. I’ve been handling most of the military elements for twenty years now because Iggy hates it."

  "Whatever works," Medo nodded, "What other formalities?"

  "I’ll let Iggy go over those," Massimaferro said, "I’ve got session in ten minutes and I want some coffee before that. I figured I’d check in on you before I go in. I have a whole pile of cases to deal with and wire conferences with the Colonel down in Cirrus."

  "I think I’ll take a day with Iggy over that," Medo nodded, "If that’s all right with you."

  "You’ll spend enough time with me soon enough," Massy chuckled, "Before long you’ll be sitting in on cases watching what I do and what Iggy does if he does them. So eat up and go get some tea or coffee before you see Iggy."

  "Will do," Medoferro nodded, "Where do I do go for that?"

  "I’ll show you," Marina promised, "Right after we get cleaned up."

  "Enjoy, Medo," Massy grinned, "See you tonight at dinner, most likely."