image [https://i.imgur.com/R7JPTzf.jpg]

Agozi arched her back and let out a soft and prolonged moan as the climax washed over her. Kaz’s hands and mouth continued to work her body affectionately for a while longer until he apparently decided she’d had enough, which prompted her to tilt her head up slightly and peer down at Kaz, who sat in a kneeling position in front of her bed.

“That's it?” she asked, the look of disappointment on her snout palpable.

“We’ve been at it for hours as is, and you’ll be falling out of heat soon,” Kaz replied as if his devotion to their lovemaking constituted some serious and professional activity.

Mevik didn’t mate often but made their seasons feel endless when they did. Juggling his professional commitments and their intimate moments had been a trial for Kaz. Agozi for her part was drunk on euphoria. Or at least she had been. Alas, Kaz spoke the truth. Her hormonal condition would shortly return to equilibrium.

Her face lit up with a bemused smile.

Guess there's always next time.

Kaz let go of her thighs and rose to his feet.

“We need to be on the bridge soon.” His demeanor and tone had already reverted to his standard professional self. “Dress quickly.”

Agozi rose and settled on the bed's edge.

“Can't shake off that uniform for a moment, eh?”

“One must uphold standards at all times.”

“Would the sky fall if you loosened up once in a while?”

“We've already taken liberties these past few cycles,” Kaz replied. “Rest assured, my focus has been solely on your intimate organs.”

The chuckle that followed from Agozi carried more chagrin than joy, something both her snout and whisker motion made plenty obvious.

“And there you go, proving my point!” she said, making a Mevik hand sign indicating annoyance. “Do you ever not see our intimate moments as just another tick on your checklist?” She rose from the bed and took several steps towards him, stopping just a few feet away. Her whiskers fluttered, and her voice took on a playful note. “I'm a bit more complex than your bog-standard mission assignment, you know.”

“Your earlier moaning seemed to disagree,” Kaz replied, apparently oblivious to his curt choice of words.

Agozi's whiskers vibrated with bemusement and her ears perked slightly. Her lips indicated a desire to speak but she hesitated several times.

“You're quite the piece of work…” she said whilst returning to her seat on the bed, positioning her elbows on her thighs and directing her puzzled snout towards the floor.

Just as Kaz's lips and whiskers hinted he was about to speak, the buzz of his communicator drew their eyes to his crumpled uniform on the floor, amid their other clothes.

Kaz made his way to the clothes, bent down to get his communicator, and took the call. After ending it and switching it off, he stood and faced Agozi.

“We're leaving slipspace earlier than anticipated.,” he said. “This discussion will have to wait.”

A tad annoyed but seeing no cause for objection, Agozi made a sign of understanding.

“All essential hands are converging on the bridge,” Kaz said as he dressed in his uniform. “I'll make my way there. Join promptly once you're prepared.” As he neared the door intending to leave, he stopped short by the doorframe. “Before I go…” he said without looking at her, his voice having taken on a slightly bitter edge. “The episode involving Snikers...” His whiskers jerked irately for a moment. “Ensure there's no recurrence of such an event.”

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The cloud of bliss that had enveloped Agozi for the last several days dissipated instantly, leaving behind a raw, biting feeling. Her eyes became slits, her lips hinted defiance, and her agitated whiskers moved sporadically.

“Want to run that by me again?” Agozi wasn't oblivious to Kaz's sentiments, but there was something about his chilling delivery that irked her in ways she couldn't pinpoint. Her evident hurt made Kaz stop in his tracks, just short of leaving through the door. “Did someone put a thorn in your tail or something?”

For a moment, Kaz remained silent, then turned, locking eyes with her, his snout betraying no hint of amusement.

“I had every right to address it that way.”

The mood quickly lost its joviality.

Kaz eased his grip from the doorframe. With a solemn look, he turned to face her, and then steadily walked toward her.

“Agozi, we're far from the academy now. Snikers isn't just another voice you can disregard.” There was a marked seriousness in his voice. “Don't let Snikers' demeanor fool you. He’s relentless and has a reach beyond ours. Another affront to him, and you might see your career ending abruptly.”

As Agozi processed the warning, a hint of unease appeared on her snout, but it vanished almost immediately.

“Look, I’ve danced with my share of high noses,” she said. “I joined to ditch the snobby charade, not to be reminded of it.”

“You might think you know his type, but Snikers isn't from the same cloth as your past acquaintances,” Kaz said, his tone growing serious. “Underestimate him at your peril.”

Agozi gave a moment's thought to the warning before swiftly dismissing it.

“How's he any different?” she asked, appearing indifferent. “Trust me, one uppity snob is just like the next.” She paused. “Look, I get it that you like to style yourself as being the one with the practical knowledge, but this is one domain where I’m just shrewder than you. You wouldn’t get it because you’re not—”

“High-bred enough?” Kaz interrupted irately.

An uneasy silence hung momentarily.

“All I was trying to say was—"

“I grasped your implications, Agozi. Clearly.” It was evident Kaz was annoyed, and his tone grew even graver. “And you're off the mark. Your privileged world has insulated you from the darker aspects. You seem to think that your kind has some idyllic moral compass. That's not the entirety of it. The influential have their ways of obscuring what they'd rather the world not see.” His voice took on a bleak and skeptical edge. “No one code governs everyone, Agozi. Not even under the same roof.”

Agozi seemed taken aback by the sheer bluntness, but her snarky demeanor quickly came back.

Though in truth, Agozi's tolerance frayed at the edges as she grappled with the accusation in Kaz's tone. She got that he wasn't pinpointing her bloodline specifically, but she couldn't shake off the sting of his phrasing.

“Do they serve that level of cynicism at the bar now?”

Kaz curled his lip irately.

“This isn't a matter to be taken lightly.”

“You're seeing shadows where there aren't any.”

“I'm laying it out as I see it.”

Agozi was gearing up to say something when the buzzing from Kaz's communicator interrupted.

“Kind reminder that your presence is anticipated on the bridge in approximately fifteen minutes,” the alarm spoke in a soothing digitized voice.

They shared a short, uncomfortable silence, just staring at each other.

“Meet me on the bridge.” Kaz pivoted and left through the door.

*****

They stood near viewport where they gazed into the empty slipspace void.

Slipspace was less a tangible location and more a conceptual dimension that demanded intense mental gymnastics to comprehend. Agozi, despite her smarts, hit a wall trying to grasp it. Same went for most other bright minds out there, save for select Langan brainiacs and, to a somewhat lesser degree, the Pretenti.

In addition to the new enigmatic race, it seemed.

The wreckage might've been devoid of an intact slipspace drive, but with its position out in the galactic boonies you'd have to be blind to miss the implications.

This made the prospect of first contact quite exciting. In the thousand years in which the Union had existed as a spacefaring civilization, none besides the Langa and Pretenti had been successful in innovating slipspace technology independently, with all other civilizations merely adopting their technology. Encountering a third spacefaring faction made up the most major historical development in centuries.

“Attention!” echoed the loudspeaker. “The ship will exist slipspace in five minutes. All crew personal, please prep for real-space entry.”

Agozi's ears perked up.

The atmosphere on the bridge felt tense. Those crewmembers not confined to their workstations gathered in front of the viewport. Everyone’s eyes were now glued firmly to the viewport.

“Dropping out of slipspace in five…four…three…two…one…”

Agozi’s whiskers twitched in anticipation.

“Entering real-space!”

Crossing dimensional borders wasn’t an instantaneous process. It took the ship several minutes to re-materialize inside real-space. Gradually, the bleak and featureless void of slipspace gave way to more vivid imagery.

“Transition complete!”

The viewport looked clean and sharply defined now that the Minboa had fully completed its transition. The images displayed evoked astonished responses from all across the bridge, and it wasn’t long before whiskers and snouts alike began jerking uncontrollably.