Sayeeda awakened on warm sheets so smooth they felt liquid against her tan skin. The dinner the previous night had been sumptuous in the extreme. Courses of seafood, ground fowl and other delicate meats competed with pastries, shaved chocolate and pies filled with sweet tart berries. The feast had been paired with wines of a dozen styles and worlds of origin, all of which would have cost as much as Sayeeda would have made in a month, or six months when she had been a Captain in Andor’s Armored. Gabriella and Gredorius had toasted their daughters return from her ‘travels’ and thanked her ‘friends’ for conveying her home safely and for their ‘loyal service’ whilst she had been away. It was obvious that the fact Indra had been kidnapped was being kept quiet for political reasons, though Sayeeda neither knew nor cared what the were. Junebug did not know much about wine, but she did know a lot about drinking and after eight or nine toasts it all tasted pretty much the same.

Unfortunately the aftereffects were also similar. Sayeeda let out a groan and rolled over to curl up in the fetal position. She was dressed in her bra and the formal silk skirt she had worn the night before and had a vague memory of marching arm and arm down the hallway to her suite with Taya who was expansively detailing her claim to the ancient and defunct throne of Fornax. After a few minutes she marshalled the will to crack open an eyelid.

The room was sumptuously appointed with high ceilings and floors that seemed to be sheets of solid marble, though that was doubtlessly a cast rather than a natural occurrence. Tall arches looked out over a balcony with a stunning view of the sea and the steep drop down to the beach. There was a slight shimmer around the edges of the archways, a tell tale sign of sophisticated force fields that kept weather out without compromising the aesthetics.

Vases of fresh cut flowers stood on ornately carved wooden furniture, apparently out of the same fir trees that lined the mountainside. A side board of expensive looking liquor lined one wall, above which were a series of old fashioned paper books. On the bedside table lay a silver platter on which sat a high end but otherwise perfectly normal drug infuser. A folded card beside it was marked ‘use it in good health’. Sayeeda made an undignified scrambled for the infuser, pressed it to her wrist and triggered it. There was a sharp hiss as the contents pumped into her veins. Anti-hangover cures varied tremendously throughout the galaxy and Sayeeda had tried many, but for personal choice an alcohol kelator paired with a hydration agent and a non-narcotic analgesic, couldn't be beat. She felt better almost immediately and within a minute or too she was on her feet.

The room was equipped with a large bathroom including a hot tub and a shower. She luxuriated under cool water, allowing it to wash the dust of Hahn away. It felt like the first time she had been clean in weeks and she spent a good twenty minutes allowing the water to dispel the last of her hangover.

“Sayeeda?” came a call from the main room. Sighing she terminated the shower sequence and wrapped a towel around her waist and chest, and quickly towled her hair dry. She stepped back into the main room to find Neil waiting in the antechamber.

“Whats up?”