Far from all known human systems, and across the galactic core, laid a small red nebula alone in space. With two curved tendrils growing off the sides, it resembled a mighty bull’s head. Somewhere inside one of these tendrils burned a bright white star. It had four planets, each with a number of moons. No life existed on any of it.

Instead, near a small dense rock covered in ice in the winter, and boiling hot in the summer, was a large colonial outpost, a massive station the size of a city. This station was Gtiri. It hovered like a rogue satellite around Itrea, the second planet from the star.

Gtiri was a small colony for the Aratids, home to two hundred thousand, and the resting place of the space station Nerus. Nerus was a one hundred floor space station and simultaneous star ship.

A joint effort between fifty different species, designed by fifteen, constructed by twenty and supplied and manned by the remaining, the Nerus housed the Initiative Program, and would soon house one hundred different species from across the galaxy. A design of its specificity and size had never been attempted before. It was the crown jewel of the Aratid’s achievements. The Nerus took ten full years to complete, but now it was ready to launch.

The space around Gtiri was the starting point for the Initiative’s voyage. Just outside the system was the quantum jump point. From there, ships had been arriving for days, parking themselves in empty space drawn out for the different species. They were all waiting for clearance to approach the Nerus.

Among the dozens of ships was the Voyager 8. It had jumped into the system days ago, waiting in orbit somewhere near Cautlus, the outtermost planet, for approval to join the station. Since the Initiative was so large, Nerus needed time to sterilize and refit some of the docking bays for the different species’ ships. Though mostly complete, the station still had some things in need of attention.

All of the species destined to board the Nerus hadn’t arrived yet, nor would they for some time. Some months would pass befor the Iniatiative would fully be ready. The species arriving now were those high in the pecking order.

The Voyager 8 was one of two Voyagers to arrive early, the first already on the station. In the coming weeks, the other Voyagers would join them, as would the rest of the humans enlisted to serve aboard the Nerus itself.

However, the lag between arrival and joining the station had been prolonged further by Captain Carter himself. The Captain thought it beneficial to arrive earlier than expected so he could give the crew some much needed Physical Training, as well as extra disciplinary drills. By the exhausted looks on their faces, and mild grumblings behind the Captain’s back, the crew loved all the strenuous training.

“Ma’am,” A passing crewmate chirped respectfully as Juno passed through the crew hall. She was still sleepy eyed. Her duties had just started.

“Specialist. What’s your name?” She asked without stopping.

“Malcom, ma’am.” She tried to work that into her brain. Putting the crew’s name to faces was an exercise she’d taken seriously since they’d left.

Climbing the ladder out of the crew quarters, Juno headed for the Flight Deck.

Juno climbed up onto the flight deck. Captain Carter had retreated to his cabin. She was the commander of the Voyager now.

“First Officer on deck,” Second Officer Koffi notified the crew. No one saluted while they were doing their jobs. It was just a notification.

Second Officer Koffi was a small woman, skinny with thick hair wrangled tightly into a fuzzy bun. She wore the pure black officer’s uniform and wore it well. At the moment, she was engaged with her tablet and looking over gauges on a panel near the deck entrance.

As Juno stood up from the entryway Koffi’s deep brown eyes fell on her. “Ma’am,” she started. “No changes. Still on the waiting list for travel.”

“Estimated time to dock?”

“It’s in the air ma’am. We’re here early, and we aren't a priority. I’m not hopeful it’ll be anytime soon.”

“Can’t you just lie on the forms?” Juno joked.

“If only, ma’am.” Koffi was Second Officer, meaning she was third rank on the ship. Technically, Second Officer was third in line in succession, though succession only. The Second Officer didn’t actually outrank any other officer, or specialist.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“How are you, Koffi? Staying together I hope.”

“Yes, ma’am. PT hasn’t killed me, yet.”

“You come from a military background, don’t you? Shouldn’t you be used to it by now?”

“Speaking candidly ma’am, the Captain’s training is harsher than I’m used to.” That’s an understatement. The way Carter drove his crew gave Juno another reason to be grateful for her position. She was exempt from the grueling training the crew suffered on a daily basis.

“Tough it out a little longer. He might let up when we find a routine.” He probably won’t.

“Yes ma’am.”

“What’s it looking like out there? Any news?”

“No ma’am. Comm officers report chatter from nearby ships. Satellites over Cautlus are buzzing. Had a May boy fly by. That was exciting.” A May Boy was a safety drone. It was operated by an AI, and spent most of its time whizzing through space looking for anomalies, out of orbit satellites or ships in distress.

Because the Quantum Buoy was nearby Cautlus, the May Boy stationed there had dramatically more traffic than normal. The little drone was probably running haggard, investigating heat signatures, communication beacons, and other new phenomenon. I wonder what an Aratidian May Boy looks like.

“At least it’s boring. Anything is better than getting shot at.” Juno kicked herself for saying that. Being around so many civilians on the ship had made her realize how much she referenced the Marines. They must be sick of that by now.

“I guess you’re right ma’am.” Juno parted from the Second Officer a bit annoyed with herself. Some habits were harder to kick than she’d like.

The Top Deck was a large half orb-like room. Twenty or so crewmates worked here, operating panels and computers covering the walls. The floor was open and flat. At the center of the room a large circular platform raised three pilots up a deck. This was the Flight Cabin. Seted behind large data screens in chairs, surrounded by blinkin electronics, were the three pilots of the Voyager. They looked busier than anyone on the ship.

Buttons, levers, flickering lights, gauges, switches, wires, pipes and tubes littered the walls of the Top Deck. It was a mess of technology that Juno was happy she didn’t have to mess with. Juno walked to one of the displays. A young woman was present looking over some numbers.

“Ma’am.”

“Can you show me Cautlus again? I’m getting a lil sick of being inside.” Her stomach danced with the vibrations of the Voyager. She wasn’t used to the constant movements smaller ships made. It felt like they were little hyper kids hopped up on sugar and unable to sit still. For some miserable reason Juno was stuck along for the ride.

“Yes ma’am. Of course,” the young lady said. She pushed buttons then pressed something on a device on the table. It was a small tablet-like device.

“Give me visuals of Cautlus for the First Officer.” Without much thought Juno patched into her conversation with her Glass.

“Got it. A couple moments while we change optics,” a man said on the other end. Juno found the display it would pop up on.

“A couple moments, ma’am.”

“I heard,” Juno told her. The young woman suddenly went stiff. There was a moment of uncomfortable silence until the man returned.

“Oh, by the way, I enjoyed our little sleepover in the crew quarters last night. You think we can do it again?” he said slyly. The woman’s eyes went wide and red flushed over like she were cooking in an oven.The wrath of the First Officer would be upon her.

Juno, face twisted in disgust, eyed the young woman with distaste. She refused to make eye contact, the poor girl. She was as stiff as a board.

In the crew quarters? Gross. Maybe her sickness was affecting her, but Juno would normally have loved to chew out a crew member. As Gunnery Sergeant, it was her favorite thing to do. Presently, her energy was elsewhere.

Maybe I’m just a softy. This would be a long mission… years long. Juno couldn’t expect her crew to go that long without human companionship, not that they should do it so blatantly. In short, this would happen again. But, there had to be some kind of disciplinary action taken, for the unsantized sex, and for using important comms for personal issues while on duty.

So what should I do? Chastise them in front of the crew? Punish them? If Carter learned of this, he’d kick the woman off the ship probably. What would he do to her if he found out she protected them? What to do, what to do?

“You there?” The guy asked.

“Shut. Up.” the young woman said. Juno turned to her, finally.

“I know this isn’t exactly a military detail, but knock that shit off. If you’re gonna do it, do it on your own time. This is a tightly run ship and everyone here needs your full attention,” she chastised. The woman breathed an uneasy breath, hoping that was all she’d get off with.

“Yes, ma’am. Sorry ma’am.” She sounded sorry too, ashamed even. They were fortunate Juno had a lot on her plate. There was an awkward cough on the other end of the transmission.

“Bringing up the image now,” he said without another word.

The image appeared onscreen. There wasn’t much to see. The white star was faintly shining behind Cautlus, lighting up only a slim crescent of the dull planet. They were on the wrong side so most of Cautlus was a black starless orb. Juno was disappointed.

“Was that the First Officer?” The man asked. The woman ended the transmission briskly.

“Idiot,” she said, spitting the words to herself. Juno left her behind.