Vex

Wet season came in with a ground-shaking thunderstorm that erupted in the dark early-morning hours, sending Kiraz whimpering into a thoroughly startled Pirum's arms: it was several moments before he got his fear under control and pulled away from the bewildered Hassinan, face flushed almost as red as his mane, and hid under the sleeping fur…
That had been five days ago, five days of relentless pounding rain and bitterly cold, blustering winds. The zn'hre had been effectively confined to quarters: those needing to leave the warmth for any length of time were of necessity forced to have an Elite Saiyan skilled in the employment of ki-shields with them. Even 'raadiin - who generally gritted his teeth and put up with it, pulling on extra under-bodysuits and taking frequent hot drinks to keep his temperature from falling too far - was unable to leave Guard HQ for more than an hour before being ordered back under shelter. And there was only so much you could do, indoors, with a bunch of high-spirited, high-ki, energetic youngsters. Tempers were beginning to fray.

Zh'leet looked up from the dressing she was applying to the gash on Br'yaan's crested head and glared daggers at the two hostlings standing guiltily before her, hands clasped behind their backs.
      "And just what did you think you were doing?"
      Zha'haavok glanced at his sire-sib. Zha'honee licked his lips nervously.
      "We're sorry."
      The aging brood hissed at them.
      "Don't think I won't tell your sire. You really have gone too far this time…"

'haavok and 'honee, the mischief-makers. Zh'leet sometimes felt as if half her life was spent either trying to keep them out of trouble, or repairing the damage they caused before anyone found out. Like that time they rewired the maintenance unit in the suite…

After that first cold season in the expanded suite, the newly-appointed palace caretakers had arranged for special heating to be installed in the family's wing - an interesting assortment of individually-controllable underfloor, piped, and radiant heaters guaranteed to keep the temperature at a comfortable level for the zn'hre, at any time of year. At the same time they had refined and improved the refrigeration units for the cold store, much to Zh'leet's delight: she'd been very annoyed that some of her tastiest concoctions had spoiled during the hot season.
The wet season was nearly over, and the heating in the suite was operating at a low level, just enough to be cosy for the zn'hre (which meant a little too hot for the Saiyans, but they were used to it by now…). Classes had finished, mid-day meal was over, and everyone had dispersed to their afternoon activities. Jagung had escorted Zha'haarak over to the medlabs for a thorough checkup, during a break in the rain, and Zh'leet and Br'yaan had taken the rare event of an empty suite to visit the Alien Quarter, Zh'leet in search of some newly imported fruit she'd heard of, and the tz'een simply for a change of scenery.
'haavok and 'honee arrived back to find a deserted suite…

"'M bored."
      'honee yanked hard on his sire-sib's long thick plait, earning himself a thump in the stomach. 'haavok glowered.
      "What we goin' to do now?"
      'honee gazed around the suite, frowning. They'd spent a happy hour hiding various bits and pieces of their siblings' clothes and belongings, filled several pairs of boots with liquid cleansers from the bathroom, and arranged spiky lumps of rock under the sheets of a couple of the side-room beds - unpleasant surprises for the next people to use them…
      He eyed the comm unit in the corner… then shook his head. Neither of them wanted a repeat of the consequences the last time they'd touched it: papa could be truly frightening when he was angry. Plus it had taken Manzano several days and quite a lot of R'ren'nkh'ian jewels to placate the Highmost Lord of Armaments of Gree, on Rersest, one of the Empire's more… troublesome member worlds. 'haavok and 'honee had pleaded ignorance - they'd thought they'd found their way into some sort of game when the battle plans had flashed up on the screen…
      'honee winced, remembering papa. No, best not touch the comm unit…
      'haavok sprawled on his stomach on the disarrayed sleeping platform - disarrayed due to their spending a few energetic minutes bouncing around on it - and joined his sire-sib in looking around the room, his eyes brightening when they reached the door to the cold store.
      "Let's get something to eat."
      'honee considered this for a moment, then grinned, standing up and hauling his partner-in-mischief with him.
      "Yeah!"
      Zh'leet kept the cold store well-stocked and immaculately tidy, the simple utensils she and Br'yaan used to prepare the family's first and last daily meals, and any required snacks, spotlessly clean and stored safely in retinal-pattern-locked drawers - essential after the time 'honee had got his hands on one of the sharper knives and nearly hacked off his struggling sire-sib's plait (not to mention coming perilously close to other parts of his body...) The flash-searer and grill were also locked, Zh'leet having had nightmare visions of crispy hostling fingers and prolonged stays in Vinas' lab. But the refrigeration cabinet was accessible, with its jugs of fruit juice, ready-prepared meat, fruit, herbs and seasonings, and jars of various syrups and liquid flavourings…

The store was considerably less neat by the time they'd piled platters with interesting-looking items and carried them through to the common room. As they ate, trying different combinations of foods and flavours, 'honee's attention had been caught by the cover of the maintenance control unit. He nudged 'haavok.
      "What d'you think that is?"
      'haavok frowned.
      "Don't know." He smirked at his sibling. "But we could find out!"
      Setting aside their half-eaten food, they'd worried at the cover for a few minutes, until 'honee hissed and used ki to cut around the bolts holding it to the wall. Then they peered inside…
      Switches… and lots of bits of cabling… some strange small black boxes… 'haavok poked at one, jumping when it came loose, wires sticking out of the side. He glanced at his sib, a smirk slowly quirking his lips.
      "Heh…"

Three guards behind her, Br'yaan beside her, Zh'leet walked back into the family's wing, damp from the renewed rain but satisfied, the tz'een and the Saiyans weighed down by the parcels, packages and sheaves of strange but aromatic foodstuffs the brood had discovered in the vast tented market at the centre of the Alien Quarter. She was already planning a variety of new dishes for the palace caterers to try out…
      A blast of frigid air hit them all as the inner door opened. Zh'leet swung to stare at her companions, eyes wide.
      "What the…?"
      Veendi scowled and loped into the suite, his breath making white clouds before his face.
      "Heh - someone's been playing with your heating controls."
      Shivering, the brood hastened to the internal comm unit, contacting the palace caretakers immediately, and within minutes an engineer - an Abliminarian - had arrived, tools in all six hands.
      By then the guards had placed their packages in the cold store - which was no longer cold, much to Zh'leet's dismay - and departed, leaving the brood, wrapped in a sleeping fur, to panic to Br'yaan, and to Hraphinenis as s/he lifted the maintenance cover to peer at the damage from cochleate eyes.
      "Xmmmmmmm…."
      Zh'leet, jumping from foot to foot, hissed impatiently.
      "Can you fix it? You must fix it, before the Ssii'irin arrives back! It's far too cold in here for him…"
      "I xan fixx. Xome onexave xanged the componentx around." S/he turned back to the panel, hands moving too fast for the brood to see what s/he was doing. Moments later there was an audible 'click' and the temperature of the room began to rise, swiftly and steadily. Zh'leet breathed a sigh of relief and dropped the fur, hurrying to the cold store where an equal but opposite temperature change was taking place. Closing the door, she turned back to the Abliminarian, scowling.
      "Can you tell how it happened?"
      Hraphinenis whistled pensively.
      "Wx deliberate." S/he handed the cover to the brood. "Xee? Hax been xut."
      Yes, thought Zh'leet, glowering at the jagged edges. By ki. Now I just wonder who could have done that…
      Hraphinenis bolted a new cover over the unit and left, just as Jagung and Zha'haarak returned. The Saiyan regarded the brood, frowning.
      "Something wrong, Zh'leet-san?"
      She forced herself to smile brightly.
      "Oh no, Jagung-san. All's well. Would you both like something to eat?"
      The suggestion went down well, and the brood vanished into the now-cold cold store, muttering dire threats under her breath…

However, 'haavok and 'honee had been properly contrite - one thing to their credit, they never lied about having done any of the things they got up to, though they didn't often volunteer the information - and no harm had been done except to a few jars of preserves that had to be ditched, so she'd let the matter pass without more than a verbal scolding.
And all was, relatively, calm - until ribbit-spawning time…

Ribbits were amphibious, large, six-legged, slimy, ugly, horribly smelly and very very noisy. Fortunately they weren't too common, but they did like clean water, and there were a handful of palace gardeners with the specific duty of making sure they didn't get into the garden pools - and disposing of them quickly and surely if any did manage it.
'haavok and 'honee were on their way back from a light training session in one of the smaller arenas, and walking for once: Radittsu had said they needed more physical exercise. And as it happened, a number of ribbits had managed to get into one of the main palace pools, and were being hunted, grabbed and thrown into large tubs by the gardeners allocated to the job. The zn'hre, perpetually curious, had taken a detour to see what all the noise and fuss was about…

Papa had not been at all amused when the whole family had to move into a temporary suite while the ribbits were removed from the beds, the bathing pool - and the pipes and filtration unit that serviced it - the cold store, the cupboards, the balcony…

And so it had continued, pranks, practical jokes and irritations large and small. It wasn't that the siblings were actually bad, thought Zh'leet exasperatedly - just incredibly thoughtless, mischievous, and with no conception of the consequences of their actions. She wondered what to do about it, but hadn't come up with any good ideas. In the meantime Zha'haabron had spoken to them, and for a while that kept them under control - but it never lasted.
      And now this.
      "Why? Why did you do such a stupid thing?"
      'haavok bit his lip.
      "It wasn't meant for Br'yaan, haani. We… we thought 'raadiin would be first home…"
      And yes, Zh'leet agreed silently, 'raadiin would have easily deflected the large, heavy rock the two had balanced precariously over the inner door. And yes, 'raadiin would normally have been the first through that door. This time, however, it had been the tz'een.
      'honee eyed Br'yaan anxiously.
      "Will… will he be all right, haani?"
      The rock had knocked the tz'een unconscious and gashed his head badly: Zh'leet would call for a medic once she was sure he wasn't going to lose too much blood. She glared at the young zn'hre.
      "I don't know. He's badly hurt, thanks to your stupidity."
      "What has happened?"
      The siblings blanched as Zha'haabron's low voice hissed the question: the king had arrived back silently and was now frowning at Br'yaan over his sirelings' heads. Zh'leet sighed, and opened her mouth to explain - but 'haavok beat her to it.
      "It was our fault, papa."
      "Indeed. You had better tell me what you've done." As the youngsters, heads bowed and shoulders slumped, walked over to a floor cushion, Zha'haabron eyed Zh'leet.
      "Do you need assistance?"
      Zh'leet shook her head, resting a hand on a sturdy tz'een shoulder as Br'yaan groaned, his eyes flickering open.
      "I think he will be fine - hard headed, the tz'een. I'll have a medic check him over anyway, my Ssii'iin."
      The king nodded.
      "Please ensure that you do." Breathing a sigh, he turned to the hostlings, sitting cross-legged before them.
      "… I'm listening…"

*They need something to keep their minds occupied.*
      Zha'haabron nestled back into his bondmate's embrace, gently stroking the long tail wrapping his hips.
      **Do you have any suggestions?**
      Radittsu inclined his head, kissing the zn'hre's neck.
      *We know they're bright. We know they like taking things apart and putting them back together…*
      Zha'haabron's "Heh" was wry. The Saiyan chuckled.
      *All right - they would enjoy putting things back together if they knew how… Why don't we let them spend some time at the library? There's a small army of computer maintenance techs there, and always something going wrong with one or other of the machines…*
      **You're suggesting we let them loose in public? Can you imagine the havoc they could cause in such circumstances?**
      Radittsu shrugged.
      *Yes, I can. But if they were monitored all the time… if it was made very clear to them the seriousness of the task… I think they'd enjoy the responsibility.*
      The king blinked.
      **They have shown no sense of responsibility to date**
      *But they've never really had to, have they?*
      **I suppose not…** He sighed. **This is really my fault. I should have been more aware of the problem**
      The Saiyan hugged him tightly.
      *Zkai'da, with all your own responsibilities you can hardly be blamed!*
      Zha'haabron frowned.
      **Nevertheless they are my sirelings. And I have not paid them enough attention**
      Radittsu sighed and nuzzled his claim mark. There was little point in arguing when his bondmate was feeling guilty about something…
      *Then let's try and put things right. Shall we see about the library? Leteetza can handle the initial enquiries, if you like…*
      **Do you seriously think it's a good idea?**
      The Saiyan nipped his earlobe.
      *Yes. I do.*
      **Very well. But only for a short time, to start with. And if there are any problems at all we will cancel the arrangement**
      *Of course…*

Leteetza had eyed her aijin as if he'd suddenly grown an extra nose.
      "You're suggesting we let those little horrors loose in the library?!"
      Radittsu shook his head.
      "No, of course not. They'll be monitored at all times." He scowled. "Look, we know they enjoy learning, don't they?"
      The female had to admit that was true. The only time the pair seemed to behave was in class, and their work was generally very good.
      "So it's a fair wager that they'll enjoy learning something practical, isn't it?"
      She had to agree that it was a possibility. Radittsu smirked.
      "Let's give it a go, shall we?"

Accordingly, two days later, 'haavok and 'honee accompanied Leteetza to the library and were introduced to Puul, the Feeodoreean in charge of the overall smooth operation of the place. He in turn handed them over to Fengrathis and Jrondrathen, the Abliminarian techs who serviced the information storage and retrieval systems of the massive institution, and for several days the youngsters followed their mentors, watching and learning as various parts of the system were overhauled, repaired or replaced. After seven days the Abliminarians allowed their charges to help with the task, watching closely as they performed simple repairs, and the zn'hre had proved themselves surprisingly adept.
      But it wasn't the hardware with which they found an affinity…
      Within twenty days the zn'hre had come up with a programming refinement that increased the speed and capacity of the database - somewhat to the resident tech team's irritation. And although they didn't lose their penchant for practical jokes - which now came in the form of visual puns and harmlessly-looping data screens for users of the library - it wasn't long before Puul had to admit they would be a true credit to his operation, and happily agreed to take them on until further notice.
      'haavok and 'honee had found their niche. The interest that Gh'xaan had first sparked, on R'ren'nkh'ia, during FullMoon, had finally borne fruit.
      The family were very relieved…