Max headed to his position in the waiting room, as he was part of the wedding party and would be standing beside General Yaakov’s best man.
Nobody else was there except the bridesmaids when he arrived though, and Max began to worry. If the Kepler patrol ship which was carrying the best man was delayed it would be a real shame. He knew that they were cutting things very close to get everyone together for this event, but Max had really hoped this would work out perfectly.
Just before the party arrived, the scream of a shuttle on rapid approach filled the air, landing just outside the venue, and Max heard the laughter as something happened that amused the guards.
He ran to the back door to make sure that nothing was going wrong, only to find Uncle Lu and an old man in a Kepler General’s uniform running across the field, putting on their tuxedos as they went.
[Someone, please send a vehicle to go get them, they’re in the wedding party.] Max ordered, and a cargo cart raced out of the building toward them.
Once the cart arrived at the building, a big man with a completely bald, but heavily tattooed head jumped out in a Kepler Military Dress Uniform, covered in accolades.
“You throw a hell of a party here on Rae 5, don’t you? We met up with this miscreant and his cargo ship on the way over, but we couldn’t land for the last half hour because of the orbital fireworks. It’s good to meet you, Commander Keres, I am General Pell of Kepler Imperial Command.
It seems that we were fated to meet eventually. Inquisitor Ming called me to this sector to help put down the Rebels and their dealings, then your staff contacted me about the General’s wedding. We have been friends forever now, and it would have been a shame to miss the old man retiring and getting married.”
Thinking that this huge tattooed man was a good friend of the Nobility-loving General Yaakov was a strange concept, but since he also knew Uncle Lu, who was so deeply classified within the Kepler hierarchy, he must be who he claimed to be.
“I’m glad you could make it on time. We didn’t tell Yaakov that you were coming, just in case you couldn’t make it on time. He will be overjoyed to know that you’re here when he arrives.” Max informed the General, who burst into laughter.
“He doesn’t know? Oh, that’s even better. I can’t wait to see the look on his face.” General Pell wheezed, as he tried to get his laughter under control.
“I see we weren’t the only ones with that idea.” An elderly woman’s voice chuckled, and the trio of groomsmen turned to see who had spoken.
It was clearly a Tarith woman. That face and size couldn’t be anyone else, but Max didn’t recognize her.
“Isabella Tarith. The bride’s great-grandmother. My ship arrived last night from a trading expedition into Death Wind Territory. She doesn’t know that we are here yet, but her entire extended family is here, not just the few who were on vacation on Kepler Terminus during this last mission.” The old woman explained.
That was even better. The tradition was that the couple would walk down the aisle together, under the crossed blades of a line of light mecha making an arched roof, so they would only see all of the newly arrived guests of honor once they made it to the pulpit where they would be saying their vows.
Molly came through the waiting room with Dave and the kids headed for their reserved seating in a box above the main hall, where the kids wouldn’t get trampled or disturb the likely raucous revelry of the ceremony.
“Is it just me, or are there a lot of guns here for a wedding?” Molly asked Max with a very concerned look.
“It’s tradition. The Military wears their sidearms, the Reavers all carry a ceremonial weapon of some sort as well, plus the Mecha that are here as part of the decorations. Nobody in their right mind would try to disrupt this sort of a wedding with anything less than a planetary invasion force.” Max agreed.
“I’ve seen a lot of things over the years, dealing with foster kids, but this wedding is way above and beyond. Just the fireworks could have bought a hundred houses back on Kepler Terminus.” She sighed with her eyes sparkling in envy.
“Well, let us know when you’re ready to settle down and I will see what we can do.” Max winked at the Social worker, who laughed off his offer and led the kids upstairs.
That was when Max realized that one very, very important thing had changed, and he had entirely missed it.
Dave walked in with the kids.
Dave hadn’t walked since he left the Infantry.
“So it was successful?” Max asked, giving his old friend a hug to hide the happy tears in his eyes.
“Worked perfectly. I’m still having issues moving correctly, but Nico got me set up well enough that I can at least walk and sit today. She dragged the Doctors out of bed last night and moved the surgery forward so that I could be here for the wedding. The venue isn’t wheelchair friendly, and I didn’t want to have to ask someone to carry me up the stairs.” Dave replied, stepping back to show off his new limbs.
They were biomechanical replacements and looked like the real thing, they even had natural flesh growing over them from what Max could see when Dave lifted his pant leg a little.
“How much did they have to do?” Max asked.
“Hip bones, legs, and a spine through ribs brace to deal with the added stress. Once I’ve built up muscle again by moving around it won’t really be necessary, but it’s implanted, so it won’t hurt anything. The batteries in the legs should be good for a year before recharging, so there are no worries about my legs going dead in the middle of the day either, like with those cheap augments from the slums.” Dave replied with a smile, very pleased with the quality of the work.
“It’s time. They are almost here, we should head for the stage.” Isabella Tarith reminded them, and Dave shook hands with Max, then headed up to meet with Molly and the kids.