CHAPTER 12 - SLUGS

"Are you okay?" Jamaad pulled Kuw from under the blanket. She was in a daze.

"Eeeeeh? Yeees I aaaaam!" the relmai stammered as she stumbled up from the cot and pulled him into a hug.

Elektra stepped in. "Sir, I think the biogel caused a strange psychological reaction in her. It could be an allergy, or could just be relmai biochemistry interacting with this new formula. But at least her wounds have healed, see?" She turned her empathic powers in an entirely new direction: optimizing her facial expression and tone of voice to make sure the captain didn't suspect a thing.

"Hmm, looks like it," Jamaad squinted at Kuw's ear while patting her on the back. Indeed, the hole had fully mended itself, as if nothing had happened. Some cartilage was peanuts compared to what the miracle-material could really do: while regrowing limbs and digits on the spot was too dangerous, it was often used as a substrate for growing new arms, legs, and organs for transplants.

"Yeeeeees…"

The captain sighed. "Not fit for command, are you?"

Kuw nodded. Her long tongue hung out.

"Well then, it's not your fault. Chief Medical Officer Elektra, is everyone else healed?"

"Yes, I'm in the process of discharging them all, just going to make sure nobody got hurt during the swings. By the way, I caught Kuw up on all the happenings, Rachel forwarded everything to me and I reassured her everything was okay after we blinded the kjee."

"Alright. After you do so, you're in command. Kuw should still go to the CIC."

Kuw was not too whacked to realize that Elektra's perfidy had just saved her– and the CMO– from at best a heavy reprimand and at worst a demotion. With a thumbs up lobbed in the doctor's general direction, she pranced towards the ladder down to the CIC, stopping to stare at a lamp for a few seconds before bonking her head on a random gauge several times. Jamaad shook his head and went the other way, towards his quarters.

***

"Raaaacheeeel," Kuw bleated as she crashed down onto the seat beside Rachel, quietly purring as she pulled her into a kiss.

"...what happened to you dear?"

"Noooothing," the relmai giggled, "where are we going noooow?"

"Right, I don't think anyone told you. Tyakuaa, in the Bquaa Collective," Rachel said.

"Oh, the sillies? The less booooring kseldani act-alikes?"

Rachel took a moment to parse her statement. "Hm. I suppose they have a similar society, yes. Vaguely hive-minded. But unlike the kseldani they have actual emotion-sharing. And their emotions aren't dull. And they don't destroy their planets' ecologies or breed like rabbits."

"Yes! I actually like them moooore than the ksel! They actually have fuuun instead of staring at walls for entertainment," Kuw said.

"I suppose. They're kind of dead weight compared to the kseldani though. Unlike them, they don't really contribute much in the Space Cold War. At least the kseldani build ships and the like for everyone."

Kuw was already distracted by something else. She looked intently at the map of the Oval. "Huuuuh. If we took two juuumps to exit the Terran frontier, why are we spending oooone jump at every whole civilization?"

"Are you okay, Kuw? The nature of travel means our routes go through the edges of frontiers, often protrusions in them. Koumanlan was a panhandle. The chohjozra were an exception because of astrographic quirks. Kjee? Also a kind of panhandle. Meanwhile, the Federation is… more round, and New Arizona isn't actually that close to the edge" Rachel said.

"Just thiiiinking," the relmai leaned back so far that she nearly fell out of the seat.

The comms screen pinged. The same kjee ship that called earlier was trying to connect again. Kuw, of course, answered.

V-tey-e did not even get the first word in. "Helloooo! How does it feel liiike to BE LEFT IN THE SPACE DUST?! To be EATING OUR EXHAUST LIKE YOUR MISSILES DID?!" Kuw screamed into the microphone of her headset.

"Interloping relmai, we must inform you that–"

"And I muuuust inform you that you are a MORON! Veeery important information. And I heard– a little bird told meeee– that your emperor SLEEPS WITH A–"

Two retractable-clawed hands slapped the intoxicated negotiator's muzzle shut, in the same manner that a wrangler would subdue a crocodile.

"I apologize, V-tey-e, we, uh, are having issues. Let us go. We mean you and your civilization no harm. There's a reason we didn't fire lethals at your ships," Rachel tried her best to substitute for the now-irrational Kuw.

The kjee captain shrieked. "You tell lies! There will be great, grave consequences for your trespassing!" the synthesized voice dubbed over.

Before Rachel could respond, communications were closed.

"What the hell happened to you?"

Kuw looked her in the eyes, her tongue stuck out. Before she could explain (or not), Elektra entered the room, Patch in tow.

"I must now inform you of bad news, you three wonderful female organics…" the robot stated coldly, once Elektra perched upon the central seat, "…it appears that the overdrive and rapid evasion maneuvers have damaged our engines more than I had anticipated. Jamaad and Artur have already been informed, but please take this condition into account during all actions."

Elektra frowned. "Is this fixable?"

"No. Correction: yes, but not without weeks or months of work, meaning that repairing this engine damage is off the table until the mission is over. However, the current extent of the damage does not affect acceleration, as it is restricted to the rotational gimbals and related systems."

"I'm a doctor not an engineer. Can you explain what that means?"

"Enabling 'Terran colloquial expressions' module… Our turning rate is 'fucked'."

Rachel could be heard sighing, at the same time as Elektra. Maybe Jamaad's gambit was, in fact, a blunder.

"Ugh, at least the engines had the courtesy to break after they were most needed. Hopefully we won't need to do this again," the sensors officer said.

***

18 Apr 2231

Rachel and Elektra's shift lasted the entirety of the transit out of Hxet-ktee, and went without a hitch. The other kjee ships gave the Pheidippides a wide berth, too afraid to engage. They were quite the skittish species by nature.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Kuw's influence had worn off by the time the bubble went up again and she went to sleep, but during the mid-shift meal three hours before, even the burdock-like miuswak tasted like the finest gourmet meal to her. The paper-like texture exploded into a cavalcade of different tastes, touches, smells, and sights. Kuw still pined for her colorful homeworld, though: proper food would have been an even better experience.

When the warp ended, it was still supposed to "officially" be Elektra's time in command, but she felt very tired after everything that happened and working essentially one and a half shifts, so she went to rest alongside Rachel and Kuw, who were beginning to wake up. Patch ended up taking command of the third shift while Jamaad and Artur were still asleep. She correctly figured that Jamaad wouldn't blame her, considering the extenuating circumstances.

Rachel dashed into the CIC, groggy and mumbling something about her sleep schedule being in free fall since the mission started, then ran a system scan. Tyakuaa was actually larger than Sol, and its two yellowish-orange dwarf stars cast a bright glow upon its six planets. One of them was a swamp-world, and judging by a telltale swarm of ships and satellites, a major colony was located there. When the image was zoomed in, the web-like glow of clustered semi-submerged cities became apparent.

The ships, meanwhile, were all civilian. Not a single hint of a Starguard vessel, and not a single military ship or base either. Freighters and liners leisurely cruised between planets and stations, without a care and without defense.

"How do they defend against pirates?" Elektra said, catching a quick look at the screen.

"For a bquaa it's unthinkable to ever put profit above others' lives, so they have no pirates," Rachel replied.

"But what about less scrupulous species raiding them?"

Rachel scanned one of the freighters. "They all have weapons. Weak ones, but still. Enough to dissuade piracy."

None of the bquaa vessels paid any attention to the Pheidippides, at least at first. This would have most likely been a fairly dull leg of the journey, if not for an unusual event. After about an hour of quiet acceleration, one of the starships, Green Drop of Sweet Void-Water II, pulled closer, close enough to open communications. It was a 'hiveship' according to its transponder, a quite unusual designation by human standards, and was roughly spherical in shape, with a solid hull dotted with lots of antennae. This was a large deviation from most other species' shipbuilding standards, but was good at resisting impacts from space debris. The reason why this was so much more important, despite the added mass, was soon revealed.

A now-sober Kuw was called in to respond.

On the other end of the transmission was a creature resembling a slug, but proportioned almost like a snake, perhaps one-and-a-half meters long. Their tan, wrinkled, slimy skin was dotted with constantly-shifting black splotches. The bquaa's sinuous body smoothly transitioned into a wedge-shaped snout with two large, almond-shaped pitch-black eyes and no other apparent features. Four smooth, tapering tentacles on their torso functioned as manipulators.

They had absolutely nothing identifying them as the captain of the Green Drop, and indeed, several other bquaa of varying colors seemed to share that spot, slithering around between consoles with curved screens and round buttons, frequently clambering over each other and taking each others' place. The room was the most cramped and humid command room that any of the crewmembers had ever seen. If the inside of the chohjozra station was almost like a sauna, the inside of the bquaa ship was not 'almost'. There was no moss on the walls, however, but there were many colorful, smooth patterns.

"We knew you knew this ship when we got close, but not our purpose: we carry thousands of people between worlds to be settled," the tan bquaa gurgled, and an androgynous synthesized voice translated to phonetically correct yet syntactically mangled English, "we have a very main ask: on our ship we have one bquaa, human-talk name can be said as Blup, who is now sick with Shriveling Pox, no symptoms. Big problem: very infectious illness, risk of spread in comfy space, deadly if not asymptomatic, no cure on ship, can't be put into alone time for enough time, alone time makes us die. Upside: Shriveling Pox gone within two days of being happy and healthy in dry air, no known between-species spread. Proposed solution: you, aliens, take Blup on board, keep them not alone, then drop them off at next close bquaa ship. Stakes: over three thousand bquaa lives and healths. Critical!"

"Hello!" Kuw then repeated the usual introduction, "We might be able to help you, but I need input from the acting captain first, after all we are a military ship on an important mission," she beckoned Patch over to the comms screen. Meanwhile, she thought about the possibility of a new friend from a new species. The bquaa were known to be as friendly and sociable as relmai.

The robot aimed its speakers and microphones at the viewscreen. "I must inform you that we cannot fulfill your request. The policy of the Terran StarNavy prohibits such ferrying of civilians."

The many bquaa seemed very distraught and confused by Patch's refusal.

It continued talking. "In order to save more lives, may I suggest euthanization of–"

Kuw's eyes widened as the confusion grew into enraged chattering and hissing. "Noooo! Whyyyy would you even say that? You lost your marbles! You're heart–"

The door opened with a creak, and Elektra jogged in, huffing and puffing. "I can't sleep after all. What is the commotion here?"

Kuw hastily explained everything and played back the logs… including Patch's 'suggestion'.

Elektra absolutely flipped out. "Patch! What in God's name are you saying? Even leaving aside basic decency, the Hippocratic Oath compels me to help!"

The CMO pushed the now-sulking robot aside as she sat down at the comms panel. "Please do not mind Patch. I am the real acting captain. We will take Blup with us… wait. Rachel? For how long will we stay in bquaa space according to the map?"

"One more jump!"

"Right. 'Blup' can stay with us. Please do not panic. What about food?" Elektra said.

"We can eat dense paste," the tan bquaa said, "Doesn't weigh much. A bag will be given, to last two days. We also don't weigh much, mostly water, more water than humans and relmai."

"Alright!" Kuw said, "We are happy to help."

Aside from altruism, this choice also avoided a diplomatic accident. Kuw struggled to imagine the fallout from letting three thousand bquaa die by inaction. The bquaa were already somewhat chafing under the Alliance, due to their reputation as dead weight, but outright murder at the hands of the Terran astromilitary would likely have sent them over the edge…

***

The two ships approached, in a trajectory that would not take away much speed from the Pheidippides, and all non-critically-busy personnel who were awake waited for the doors of the docking port to open, including the whole CIC crew minus Jamaad and Artur, who still slept. And open it did. Despite the airlock system doing its job, there was still a gust of warm, humid air as Blup slithered in. The two vessels then undocked, and the acceleration increased yet again.

They were very dark gray, almost black, with greenish stripes, and somewhat thinner and narrower than the other individuals of their species. Some kind of rubbery, translucent sleeve threaded with wire covered their body up to their upper torso, where the tentacles started. Blup carried a white satchel on their back. A silvery external BCI, resembling a five-pronged headset minus earpieces, was mounted on their snouted 'head'.

"Hi!" a synthesized voice greeted, in tandem with Blup's mouth movements.

"Welcome aboard," Elektra said, stepping forward, "just a heads up, this is not a passenger ship, you're technically not even supposed to be here, so we have no accommodations. But I will try to help you to the best of my ability."

Blup slid closer and coiled up in front of the crowd, tilting their head. "What you think we bquaa would need besides sapients to talk to?"

"Truth be told, I don't know much about your species and your culture. Tell me if you want anything."

The bquaa curled around Elektra's leg. "So you don't get my question? Should Blup tell you of how we live?"

She did not try to shake free, and instead gently stroked the guest's head. "Sure."

Before Blup could say anything, Kuw looked at Jacinth. "I know a loooot about these folks, relatively speaking, but I'll let them explain."

"We bquaa have nothing. Need nothing but talk. Prefer friends. Sometimes watch-y or play-y stuff. But not made by not-bquaa. Not-bquaa stuff not fun, feels lonely."

"Lonely how?" Elektra said.

"Most not-bquaa stuff is made to enjoy alone. Do you not see the issue?"

"Not really."

Blup looked very confused by these two simple words, then switched to visible anxiety bordering on panic. "Just please don't leave Blup alone," they said after a few seconds of pause, "leave someone to sit with Blup! What Blup meant to say is– being alone crushes us."

Patch silently watched and judged. What an irrational and immature species. If someone was to sit with this unwanted guest, for whom Patch did not have even an imitation of empathy, that someone was not to be it.

"Well, nobody is currently injured," Elektra glanced at the four recently-discharged crewmembers, "So I think I will be free to humor you after my command shift is over."

Radd Grant was the first of the humans to speak up. "Hey, I have actually never met one of yours before." He then looked to Patch, "Sir, I request permission to show Blup around the ship."

Quantum thoughts resonated through the robot's personality core. Emulated disdain was weighed against the possibility of the newcomer learning to respect the ship and its systems, so that they don't cause chaos…