“I’ll send them through the innards of the ship,” the room said. “They won’t ever be outside. Shall I fetch them for you?”
“Uhh,” I said, “I mean, make sure they are ready and want to go? Don’t just suck them into the wall without warning.”
“They’re both ready. I’ve already asked and they’ve agreed to come.”
“Okay,” I said, “send them over then.”
It only took a few moments. A hole opened in the wall, and first Weapons was spit out into my room, followed shortly by Emissary.
Weapons was wearing…Goddesswhat was she wearing?
It was a short skirt made of pleated leather. The skirt had metal studs on it too, almost like it was meant to be armor rather than a skirt. The skirt showed off her legs and thighs, which were thick and strong, but her skin was soft and smooth—which I now knew was an extremely feminine trait. Her top was somehow even more ridiculous than mine. It was like a metal armor, but it didn’t cover her boobs all the way, and her cleavage spilled out like mine—except she clearly was not wearing a bra. The “armor” was sleeveless, but Weapons wore metal bracers on her biceps and forearms, and her shoulders were covered with studded armor as well. She grinned at me, but her eyes widened as she looked me up and down and really took in my outfit.
“What the hell are you two wearing?” Emissary asked, looking us both over and laughing.
Emissary wasn’t dressed like a woman from Eden, but her outfit was definitely the most subtle out of the three of us. She wore a skirt, but it wasn’t especially short, and she wore a jacket over a blouse. It had little metal pieces on it to hold it shut rather than smart fabric. Her skirt and jacket were blue, while her blouse was a neutral grey. The blouse didn’t show her cleavage off like my outfit or like Weapons’ outfit, but the blouse was tight enough that it did nothing to hide her form. She was very clearly not wearing a bra, as her jacket was open enough that her nipples were prominently visible through the thin cloth of the blouse.
“The ship told me that this is what most modern human women wear,” Emissary said, thumbing the little metal buttons on her jacket, “I like these little old-timey touches. It feels classy.”
Emissary’s eyes looked up at all the crap on top of my head. “Airlock, I can’t tell if you’re justwayclassier than me, or if…”
“Or if you’re wearing a fruit bowl on your head,” Weapons said.
“You’re one to talk!” I said, pointing at her ridiculous outfit. “What the hellisthat, Weapons? I’ve never seen armor cover so little of a woman’s body. If someone hit you with a sword, it would cut your tits off!”
“I look hot,” she said. “The ship told me that it pulled this outfit from Earth’s history. This woman’s name was Xena, and she was a warrioranda princess. So the armor worked for her.”
“Women weren’t allowed to be warriors on Earth,” Emissary said, “the ship must be mistaken.”
Weapons shook her head. “There was a video of it. I saw Xena taking on three men and winning. She even did a backflip over their heads, and she did this battlecry too…”
“How was there a video?” I asked. “I don’t think they had video back in…whatever time period that was.”
None of us were especially clear on Earth’s history. We knew famous women like Sojourner Truth—who Weapons was named after—or women like Rosa Parks and Joan of Arc, but we never really understood how they fit into the larger tapestry of history. High Command had told us that a lot of the archives had been damaged and scrambled, but I was starting to doubt that was true. More likely than not, they just liked us being in the dark.
“I”m wearing this,” Weapons said, meeting my eyes, and then turning defiantly toward Emissary. “I want to look as hot as possible so I can get the strongest Khetar to pick me, but I don’t want to look like…like Airlock.”
I shoved her playfully. “You bitch.”
“Breakfast is ready,” the ship said.
We turned and saw a table where there had been no table, and it was covered with food and drinks.
We sat down, though it took me quite a bit of fiddling and maneuvering to sit down with my big poofy dress, and when I sat down the corset jabbed uncomfortably into my skin.
I hadn’t realized it until I sat down, but I wasstarving. Without even thinking about it, I was shoving food into my mouth. The ship suggested I smear some jam on the little biscuits, which helped with how dry they were.
After a few minutes of just pounding down food, I looked up and saw the other two just staring at me with mischievous looks on their faces.
“You seemreallyhungry, Airlock Eve,” Emissary said.
Weapons grinned. “You must have been really active last night. Why don’t you tell us all about that?”
“Look,” I said, talking with my mouth full, “I don’t want to bias you two toward any one decision.”
“We’ve already decided,” Weapons said. “We’re going to fuck. We’re tainted, so we might as well fuck.”
Emissary blushed and looked down. “Don’t talk like that. It’s gross.”