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in all of their names. Parsons, first and foremost, must be asked, though he might show up anyhow, to ensure that I did not drink myself paralytic and end up on the launch pad in an unfit state. But I thought with deep pleasure how my crew would respond to the kind of entertainment that my family was accustomed to enjoying.
    The cards arrived within an hour from the imperial stationer, who was used to spur-of-the-moment parties within the compound. Each of the thick, cream-colored envelopes was embossed with the name of the invitee. With the mailbot waiting, I sorted out those meant for my crew and kept them. I decided that I must deliver those invitations in person. I wanted to see the happiness on all of their faces.
    The reality, though, was a trifle different than I anticipated. My crew, gathered together in the common room on base, received their invitations with some bafflement and disbelief.
    “You’re inviting us?” Nesbitt said, his ruddy skin flushed to brick redness. “You want us to serve drinks or something?”
    “Only to yourselves,” I assured them. “I want you to be my guests. We are setting out as a company for parts unknown. Therefore you must attend my gala.”
    “It’s the night before we launch,” Anstruther said, reading the date.
    “Can you think of a better time to schedule a going-away party?” I asked.
    “Well, we have to be up pretty early the next morning, sir,” she said.
    “Then depart from the festivities when it seems appropriate for you,” I said. “But if you don’t come, I will feel as though I have cheated you out of an experience that you deserve.”
    “That’s really nice of you, my lord,” Nesbitt said, his ebullient voice hoarse with emotion. “I dunno . . .”
    “I think it’ll be a blast,” Oskelev said, flipping the card up so it cartwheeled in the air. She caught it. “It’s a yes from me.”
    “Me also. What garment style?” Redius asked, the coral-red scales on his forehead glowing with interest. Like me, he was a bit of a dandy. I admired the clothes he wore while on leave. “New tunic favored with decorative tail accessory bought.”
    “Dress uniform, of course,” Plet said, severely. The others looked deflated.
    As one, they turned to look to me for guidance.
    “Alas,” I said. “She is right. You are on active duty.”
    “I don’t mind,” Anstruther said, pulling her suddenly drooping shoulders erect. “We couldn’t compete with your relatives anyhow.”
    “No, indeed, you can’t,” I said, with an expansive gesture. “You are useful members of society, and they are not.”
    Leaving the others to buzz over the antique style of printing and the quality of the cardstock, I pulled Plet aside. Though my crew members were immune to the charms of me and my family, I still needed to protect them from my cousins’ sometimes harsh sense of humor.
    “I have prepared a dossier on my cousins, with a list of their most frequent hijinks that they pull in the presence of those who do not belong to our genetic blueprint,” I said. We touched viewpads, and the file on mine transferred to hers. “This will help you counter their inevitable jokes on newcomers. For the more egregious attempts, find me or Parsons. We will deal with my cousins from a different level.”
    “Thank you, sir,” she said.
    I breathed a sigh of relief as I was able to check two more responsibilities off my list.
    “Very well!” I said. “I will see you four days hence!”

    My crew looked trim and professional in their dark blue dress uniforms, though I had to admit they did seem a trifle out of place in the Edouardo V garden of the Imperium compound. Though I brought them in past the gate personally and introduced them to several acquaintances and friends, such as my personal tailor and the wonderful woman who ran the local public archive, they clung together like waifs. It broke my heart to see the normally ebullient and self-sufficient spacers of the Imperium navy