Chapter 36: Missing Socks

After the dinner was over, my security detail escorted me back to my suite.

I got a coffee and sat on the terrace, thinking about the evening. I’d professed my love for a princess whom I didn’t love. We faced all number of ambassadors and dignitaries. I hoped I was doing the right thing. At the moment, I was unsure.

It was time to arrange a backup plan, so I called the manufacturing facility on my communicator.

“This is Captain Brian calling the Baglogi manufacturing facility.”

“Hello, Captain.”

“I’d like you to build me a scout size vessel, in case I need to leave in a hurry.”

“Ship said you might call and what you might require. I have a scout vessel in progress. It should be ready shortly.”

“Thank you,” I said. Then I closed the call. I should have known Ship would anticipate my needs.

Later, the princess arrived. She fetched a beverage and sat beside me.

“Congratulations, Brian. This evening went well.”

“I’d monitor the Gobers. Do they have grounds for extradition from Dentra?”

She pulled out her communicator and spoke into it briefly.

“Don’t worry, it’s taken care of.”

“Thank you.”

I didn’t know Dentra (the language), so I didn’t know what she’d said. Perhaps a Royal Highness could convince an Imperial Majesty to back down.

I sipped my coffee, wondering if she’d like to start a coffee plantation here on Dentra.

“Brian, we’ve set the wedding date for two weeks from now. That gives our guests enough time to travel to Dentra.”

“What do we do until then?”

“Our staff will handle most of the preparation. You and I should make some public appearances.”

“Fodder for the news vids?”

“Exactly. Your valet will ensure you’re awake and dressed in the right clothes in time.”

“This is something new for me. I prefer to dress myself.”

“Talk to him, and perhaps he can select your clothes. You can then dress yourself,” she said.

I smiled.

About a day later, the hyper drive went offline and Ship decelerated to sub-light speed. Everyone was in the main bridge for the event.

“Attention, we’ve arrived at the Zulu Omega system,” said Ship.

“Send out probes and scan the system.”

“Confirmed. Our historical records describe a race occupying the third planet.”

“There’s no sign of vessels in the system. I’m picking up a faint distress call from the third planet,” said Laine.

“That settles it. Take us to the third planet. Gather information on the inhabitants,” said Jem.

“Yes, Commodore,” said Cathy.

Ship advanced towards the third planet.

This was our third appointment today. Nazira (I’d stopped calling her the princess, at least in private) and I were visiting a children’s hospital. My staff had created some Captain Brian action figures to hand out to the children. The action figures each came with their own coffee mug, which I found amusing.

Nazira showed off her ring to the staff and the press. She explained it was a custom to give a ring. She also told them how I rescued her from a stasis capsule.

I whispered to Nazira, “We’re quite popular here.”

“I told you, you’re a folk hero. You saved me more than once.”

Soon, our security detail told us it was time to go. We said goodbye to everyone and got into our ground transport.

“Attention, we’re now in orbit around the third planet,” said Ship.

“Scan the planet. Hail the planet in response to the distress call.”

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

They studied the results of the scan on the tactical display.

“Commodore, no response to our hail. The scan shows no life signs.”

“Is the distress call still active? Perhaps it’s automated.”

“Confirmed, it’s most likely an automated distress call.”

“Where’s it coming from?”

“The origin is from below the planet’s surface.”

“Interesting. Laine, what do you think?”

“The information we get from orbit is limited. We’d have to visit the planet for more.”

“Yuhi, do you sense a presence down there? Any threats?”

“No Commodore. I can’t sense any living beings there.”

Jem looked at everyone.

“My first gut reaction would be to leave this planet. There’s no living beings to save.”

“Cathy and I could visit the surface to get more information,” said Laine.

“Agreed, but any sign of trouble you leave.”

“Yes, Commodore.”

This evening we’d invited a few guests for dinner at the palace. My valet had arranged an outfit on my bed for the event.

“Thank you,” I said to him. We’d had the talk about dressing myself. He took it rather well.

I dressed and left my suite with my security detail to meet Nazira.

“Brian! Ready?” she asked when I arrived.

“Ready as I can be.”

We entered a medium-sized dining room. Our guests were already waiting for us.

I didn’t know who these people were, but Nazira did. I let her make the introductions.

“Senator Christian, nice of you to come. May I introduce Captain Brian, my betrothed,” she said.

“An honour to meet you, Senator,” I said.

“Likewise, Captain. Your service to Dentra is a matter of record.”

“And this is Chancellor Larry and Senator Taylor,” said Nazira, gesturing to two other beings.

“I’m honoured to meet you both.”

They both smiled and nodded their heads.

We continued with introductions, then we took our seats for dinner. The food was delicious this evening, although our guests kept me busy with questions. I could understand how the princess kept her figure with all the distractions.

Senator Christian asked me about the Baglogi Alliance. That let me talk about something familiar.

Eventually, the dinner ended, and Nazira and I bid good night to our guests. I was glad the event was over, as I was tired of all the talking.

Nazira walked with me back to my suite.

“You did well this evening. Those were the most vocal opponents of our marriage. I think you convinced them.”

“Do they actually get a say in a royal marriage?”

“Not usually, but my position was weak without you. With the public appearances, we should have most opinion in our favour.”

“I’m glad to see it all moving in the right direction.”

“With your help, it should continue so.”

Cathy and Laine took the shuttle to the planet’s surface.

The shuttle landed softly, like on a cushion.

“That’s strange,” said Cathy.

“Let’s check outside and find out what’s happening,” said Laine.

“Just a minute. The shuttle’s sinking!”

Cathy turned on the anti-gravity and lowered the shuttle’s mass until it stopped sinking, but ‘floated’ on the surface.

“I can’t afford to lose the shuttle or we’re stuck on this planet.”

Laine nodded.

Cathy called Ship on the communicator.

“We’re down safe on the planet surface. The surface is soft, so I used the anti-gravity to keep the shuttle from sinking. We’re about to check outside.”

“Understood. Be careful you don’t sink yourselves. Keep us updated,” said Jem.

Laine held her stun gun in her right hand as she stepped through the airlock.

“All clear.”

Cathy followed her outside. The terrain was soft, like a really deep carpet. She sank part way past her ankles, but it wasn’t like quicksand.

“This is intriguing. It’s like a really deep shag carpet.”

The terrain seemed to absorb all sound. Even her voice sounded muffled.

“What is it?” said Laine. Cathy picked up an item made of fabric.

“It looks like a sock to me.”

Laine picked up several items. “They’re all socks. They covered the whole planet in them.”

Cathy examined several socks. “They’re all odd socks. No matching pairs.”

The socks had risen to their knees, or rather, they’d sunk deeper into the socks.

“We’re sinking! We best return to the shuttle while we can,” said Laine.

Fortunately, they were still close to the shuttle. It took some crawling to reach the airlock and climb back inside.

“Cathy, it’s not safe to go outside, or we’ll sink.”

“I agree. Let’s update the Commodore.”

She called Ship on the communicator.

“Commodore. The planet’s surface is all socks. I don’t know how deep it goes. The surface is unsafe to walk on,” said Cathy.

“In that case, return to Ship immediately. We can discuss further once you return.”

“Acknowledged, Commodore. On our way back.”

Laine reached out via the airlock and grabbed a handful of socks. “I want a sample for analysis.”

Cathy increased the anti-gravity, and they lifted off. Soon, she used thrusters to climb into orbit.

Cathy piloted the shuttle back into the shuttle bay. The outer door closed, and the bay re-pressurized.

“We’d best take these socks through decontamination,” said Laine.

“Agreed.”

Soon, they were back into regular jumpsuits and carried their sample of socks to show Jem and Yuhi.

“The surface is covered with socks like these?” asked Jem.

“Yes. There are millions of them. We saw no landmarks or places not buried under them,” said Laine.