The jump had lasted shorter than a blink of an eye. The bigger scare was that the whole coil control console was flashing red and blaring an alarm to the background of the rattling of loose panels and the screaming plasma torch drive. First, she cut the mains: "Cluster-Klabauter-Cloth, standby."

The engine status bar went back to a yellow outline and the noise and vibrations ceased. The coil panel still flashed and blared angrily. The red was reflected everywhere in the dark cockpit.

"Switch the coils back from capacitors to mains!" Ken commanded.

She grabbed and turned the heavy switch back to the fusion mark and immediately the coil control went to an angry orange background and the alarm was silenced. A quick glance showed no other panels flashing for attention. All the tension left her, she went limb.

"Congratulations on your first jump." And when she was not immediately replying, "Are you ok?"

"Fine now. The alarm, uh." She panted heavily and was happy for a thinsuit with inbuilt facilities.

"Now get us back to celebrate”, he smiled.

"Give me a few moments, please.” She inhaled deeply a few more times and turned to the screens again. First, she checked their position. The station lay now quite a bit aft. They had jumped almost 0.05 pc. Hence, she rotated the ship and then used the navigation thrusters to get closer to the station. She only ran them at 25 % power which was their maximum efficiency and they already gave a nice 0.15 g. The better efficiency at low g was an excellent reason for not using the noisy main drive. Because every stronger acceleration meant blowing more expensive xenon into space.

A quick calculation showed that they would be back in about 0700 or 0750, if she saved a little more fuel. Given their reserves, saving fuel would be a good idea.

"Flight control to hull 472, what is your status?"

Ok, she had forgotten flight control and was now overdue.

"Hull 472 to flight control, jump was successful. Returning on own power on a direct path to the shipyard airlock 1. Request clearance until 4250."

"Flight control to hull 472, good news. No traffic scheduled on your side, choose any vector. On planetside, a shuttle will arrive in 0082."

"Hull 472 to flight control, thank you."

She rotated the ship so the station and the planet were both visible. Ken also looked out of the window.

"Here, you can switch the autotrim to first order, one notch further. That will keep the current acceleration." Their hands touched on the screen. It was the first time they had touched each other. It felt like an electric shock and not because of static charges even her sweaty fur had built up in the thinsuit. Her adrenalin had been spent and her stupid instincts suddenly cried for attention. Also in the small cabin, the scent of the mouldy filters had lessened with extended circulation, but the male scent had become stronger. A male for her own. She shivered.

Ken had no idea. "What has happened?"

"You", she whispered, "I am alone with you, a male and, uh," she sighed, "I am spent, I want you, stupid cat genes. I, harr."

"Rerra, stay with me", he sounded really worried, "Come talk. Please."

"Talking is hard. Your scent", she slurred.

"Put on your helmet, now!" He did as well.

She followed his command without thinking. Stale air from the tank and her own stank purged any male smell. Slowly her mind was able to focus again on the ship.

"Is it really that hard?" he asked, muffled through the helmet.

"No experience with humans. Maybe the stress was too much. I am ok now." Barely ok.

"Ok, we have some time, so let’s go down on the new warnings?"

Right, there were quite some. Oh, the first one was a little serious. They had lost the second and last z-down thruster portside back. She would have to be extra careful about manoeuvring into the station.

"I see the shuttle", Ken interrupted.

She looked up from the screen and through the window. Indeed, a tiny bright dot with a white vapour trail was visible just above the planet. It moved very slowly from here, looking almost like a meteor frozen in the atmosphere. She followed its progress until the shuttle was hidden by the station. They would probably arrive at a similar time. But the shuttle would dock on the outer ring and they would be near the rotating centre.

"Say, is there also an automatic docking function?"

"No, but I can take over any time."

She shook her head. "No, I am not sure when I can fly the next time. No, I will do it. I am fine now."

"Rerra, you've handled her very well. But, if you need any assistance, do not hesitate to ask. Please."

She nodded and went further through the list. One fusion core coolant pump power distributor had fried. Although the temperature looked fine, she set the new power limit to 10 %. They would not need that much power to reach the airlock. All the other items were not important right now. Many were from broken systems she knew from the start. And the vibrations from the main drive had reset some subsystems so she cleared those warnings again.

Not only her adrenalin was spent, but the initial excitement was overlaid by unfulfilled expectations: The stars had called but she had not been able to answer. Yet.

Another warning popped up, xenon was at 3 %. Which should be still enough.

Time seemed to pass slowly after the jump. Every 0100 she contacted flight control. To pass the time, she went through the docking checklist, even though they would not dock. She still needed something to distract her from Ken. Just because he was still there, scent or not. So she switched off the autotrim even if their flight path would become a little less straight. Finally, flying again required her full concentration. And going full manual, she got a better feeling for the final approach.

Hence, she had forgotten everything around her when the station filled their outside view. She was the ship. Even with the missing aft thruster, she could match rotation and get on the vector. The xenon alarm sounded again, they had dropped below the 1 % mark.

They slowly drifted into the wide airlock. She held them steady in the centre and finally fired the thruster to push them down until the clamps of the shipyard engaged. She powered down the fusion core and switched to backup power. One system after the other went to cold shutdown.

The backup power sent a lower power level warning.

"Penny, what about the UDA?"

"Working on it", came Penny’s voice.

An alarm sounded and then the ship went dark. They had run out of backup power.

She switched her helmet lamp on and put on her gloves. "If the fusion core would have lost power?"

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"Yes, same. These suits were for a reason. Come."

"Penny, forget about the UDA. We are out of power and will EVA through the lock."

"As you wish", Penny sighed, "Take the personal airlock rotationwise."

Ken went first into the airlock. It could be vented manually, he showed her the two valves to either open to the inner ship or to the outside. Not that one could confuse them with the icons and text in five languages as required by law.

0020 later she was also next to him on the top and sailed with a wide jump onto the ground. She was not long enough on the station yet and did not factor in that the station rotated further while jumping despite just landing a ship on it. Thus, she had built up quite a momentum when she landed on all fours, not at all elegantly as real cats are supposed to do it. No, she nearly bashed into the far wall. Before Ken could send something over her radio, she went into the shipyard's personal airlock.

* * *

Only Penny was waiting on the other side.

She took off her helmet and gloves. "Penny, do you have a suppressant?"

"No, I took mine this morning. You went out without?" Penny’s look got even grumpier.

"Never used one before", she sighed, "I thought I could do without. I really hate that my brain almost shuts up. Free will, what a joke."

Penny shook her head slowly. "You have an iron will, Rerra, I wouldn’t have lasted a tenth. Feeling better?"

"Yes, thanks." She took another deep breath, bringing the familiar smell of the shipyard and Penny's too. "Yes, and the stars were great."

"I know, each time I do a test jump".

"The stars, it was so tempting to try to get to them. Just jumping a little longer. Penny, what?"

"I am so happy for you. 25 years ago that could have been me", Penny sniffed.

"Oh, Penny!" But a thinsuit was not suitable for hugging. Thus, she just nuzzled her while fighting to get out of the clingy thinsuit in almost zero g.

The airlock cycled again. Ken nodded to her and rushed past as fast as he could move in the low gravity. He was unscrewing his helmet while getting into the lift. "Please see me at my ship soon", he shouted from the closing doors.

Seeing Ken's awkward gait when rushing by brought again a smile to Penny's face. "You’ve tormented this nice human too, you know."

"Not on purpose", she sighed, "I am so grateful for him."

"You should be. If he did not have family, he would be yours", Penny grinned.

"Ah, Penny. Let me shower and then I clean the suit. I stink and the excitement, I had ugh."

Penny smiled knowingly. "We all had it done one time or the other."

"Rerra, congratulations", Trina's voice came from the PA, "you can take off today as well, celebrate the evening. I have to work tonight. And Rerra, first thing tomorrow is filter duty. And the Terendiptis must fly in three days."

Penny muttered something incomprehensible.

"Aunt order."

Rerra sighed with Penny.

* * *

She had gone back to her cabin to change into her most conservative set of clothes, somewhat imitating the business look she had seen on Ken when they met first: The long black trousers and a loose long-sleeved white blouse, which she had worn for her graduation ceremony. Below she wore a slightly padded bra to show absolutely nothing.

On her way, she bought an inhaler. It felt like a defeat. But she had no willpower left to be in the company of 5 males confined on a ship. At the checkout, she registered the inhaler to her ID. Unless she had a special permit, no new inhaler for her for 50 days. She was not overly worried that the 16 doses would not be enough. Ken would leave soon, and she was rather looking forward to meeting Lead again.

She inhaled one dose while she waited for the lift. The suppressant left a bitter aftertaste. She still took a second. Now, this should keep her sane even through a male striptease. Although she had trouble imagining either Ken or Lead doing this. Not that she would complain …

She got off as usual at the lowest public level as if she was going to the shipyard which had its entry at its uppermost level in the 0.2 g zone. But now her destination was Ken's ship which was still docked there since unloading.

A bleary-eyed member of Ken's party was already waiting outside of the docking port for her. Maybe it was the suppressant, but compared to Ken, his male scent was weak.

"Hello, Rerra, I suppose?"

"Hello, yes, indeed."

"Kevin, nice to meet the cute cat that almost got Ken."

She blushed, had she really left that impression on Ken? It had not been one-side pheromone-driven instincts? That was all so new and confusing. "I have no interest in compromising him", she answered diplomatically.

He nodded. "Don't worry, it is just, you know, he comes here for business, not, er. Gets him a lot of teasing back home too. And I must say, apart from the head and tail, you look almost human."

She was unsure if that was a compliment. "Er, I thought formal business wear … "

"Don't worry, I have seen enough naked cats in the last two days. I consider you a nice change. Ken is just in the shower. Do you want to come in or wait here?"

"If it is ok, I would like to see the ship."

He shrugged. "Don't expect much, it is small, just a short-range freighter." He keyed in the code and the heavy freight hatch slid upwards.

In the shipyard, she had already been inside of five different freighters. However, compared to them, this one was almost factory-fresh. She was sure that if checked, all sealed screws were still untouched. The air smelled fresh, even better than on the station. But even it could not remove the heavy male undertone. She could identify five males and could even single out Ken. Thanks to the suppressant, it did not affect her mind. "So you are a crew of five?"

Kevin was surprised. "Yes, five, ah, the restaurant. But not a crew, this is Ken's ship. I work for Ken, usually doing the innersystem jobs. The others are business partners."

"If you do not mind, I would like to see the living space on such a new ship."

"Oh, she is already around for 15 years. Anyway, come." They went to the mess which was quite spacious.

Kevin continued to explain. The ship was built for freight and occasional passengers. For the latter were the two double bunk cabins. Kevin showed him his cabin. His cabinmate, Yu, was sleeping and did not stir at all.

"Alcohol, sex, and drugs, not necessarily in this order", Kevin said after he had closed the door, yes, a real door, not a hatch. "The sex part was exhausting enough for me. And with five people, I am the second obligatory C class pilot. Want to see the cockpit?"

She nodded and followed him up. At the bottom of the stairs was the pilot's cabin. In the cockpit at the top was only a single and rather small screen with six multifunctional control sliders below it and no outside windows. But the projection of the outside view on the wall was spectacular. It was as if they stood on top of the ship. Top-notch, and much better than anything she had seen in the shipyard.

"Have a seat!" Kevin invited her.

She didn’t need a second invitation, trying hard not to show teeth while smiling and hopped on the pilot chair. And landed hard on her tail. She still smiled.

"Yarn, may I introduce Rerra, also class C pilot."

"Welcome Rerra, please insert your ID into the scanner." The starfield faded at one position to show an open box which destroyed the illusion of a panoramic view. The ship ID had a childish voice, somewhat matching her unusual name. But what did she know about human names for real? "Eh, Yarn, I am just visiting."

"Rerra, I see. You have an interesting voice."

"Yarn, she is a cat."

"Rerra, may I use my camera?"

"Eh? Yarn, yes, of course." Privacy from AI was new to her.

A camera icon floated in front of the stars. But no further reaction came from the AI.

Then Ken climbed up the stairs and the AI asked, "Ken, should I cease recording?"

"Yarn, at your discretion. Hello Rerra, welcome on Yarn."

"Ken, er, I am very impressed by your ship. And I brought the money. Please scan my wallet." Her fingers trembled slightly as she held out her pad.

Ken took out his pad and ran it over hers. "Dear Rerra, the Sagan Melorian II is now yours. I will change the ownership certificate back at home since I do not want to compromise Trina. Officially, you bought her on Sergarch. The courier should give you the documents in five to ten days. But let me send you the key codes."

"No hurry with the documents, there is still some tiny bit of work left. Maybe just a year?"

Ken smiled. "I have full confidence in you. And you are young, so what is a year? The galaxy will soon be yours to roam."

She smiled toothfully which made Kevin retreat a little. Guiltily, she notched it down.

Ken laughed. "Ah, Rerra, I have just known you for two days but you almost feel like family. Yarn, can you take a picture, please! Come Kevin."

"Ken, my view is on the screen."

"Yarn, just record."

They all side-hugged and smiled.

"Yarn, thanks."

Ken turned to her again. "You are holding up well. Sorry, this was not to tease you."

She took out the inhaler. "I bought a suppressant. I want to be in command, not my body."

He nodded. "Thank you Rerra, nice that you came in person. Let's go down."

He started climbing down the stairs, and she followed. Then he rummaged through the drawers in the galley and came with a package of tea.

"I am such a bad host but with our test jump, we have fallen far behind our schedule. And they will charge hefty for docking extension."

"Yes, they surely do. No problem. When is your departure window?"

"In 0450, so please take this tea and think of us when brewing it yourself. And working on the Sagan."

"Thank you", she smiled and stood up; they really had to prepare.

Ken raced ahead to the entrance. "I will send you a message when I come next time. And if you get the Sagan ready before, then visit me. I want to see her flying, I will pay for your fuel."

"Ken", she said and when he turned to her, she hugged him front to front. It felt so nice, she did not want to let go. But she forced herself. "Thank you. And I will pay myself."

"There are more cats needed like you", Ken sighed, "my pleasure. Take care."

"You too, take care!"

And with that, Ken hit the panel next to the entrance and the outer sealing lid slowly slid down. Soon, the indicator next to it showed that the ship's hatch had closed too and the access tunnel was now evacuating.

She was pretty sure that they could not access the cameras on this deck and thus could not see her standing at the docking port. Nevertheless, she waited until the indicator changed from occupied to empty. Ken's scent still lasted a little longer on her.