CHAPTER 9 - DELIVERY

The voices echoed in humans' heads, whispering both doom and sweetness. Meanwhile, for the two relmai present on the ship, the resonant tones shifted and whined. Nevertheless, it was tolerable, considering training and acclimatization, though the feeling of vertigo never went away.

An arrangement had been made, with Jamaad's permission: since the warp was not too long, and the FTL system could be maintained and optimized by only Patch and a few engineers, thus squeezing out the required few extra percents of performance, non-essential crew were given the OK to… party. Albeit without alcohol, of course, to Artur's chagrin. He allowed this because it was as good a distraction as any.

The small entertainment room was absolutely packed with people, who did not mind the warp-induced distortions or powered through them. Of course, without gravity, everyone chaotically bounced around, colliding with walls, furniture, and each other. Pounding music thumped from a makeshift boombox that Radd Grant rigged up, while colorful lights attached to the shelves and walls pulsated, keeping up a rhythm. They were the only illumination, as the regular lights were turned off. Thus, darkness alternated with light every second or so, punctuating the brief cascades of the beat that underscored the beeps and boops of the melody. This was Kuw's idea.

She spun around together with Rachel, holding her by the hands. The relmai's bushy tail was straightened out, frequently brushing and slapping against things and people.

"Is it like this on your homeworld?!" Rachel shouted.

"Yeees and nooo! Our parties are much louder! Much more bright! Much more colorful! Much more dense!"

Rachel swerved deftly, dodging the weighty foot of some bulky genemod like a cat dodging a newspaper. "Egads! I think I'd die. Are you sure Elektra won't get any extra work from this?"

"We're all adults wearing rugged uniforms, I doooubt it! Anyways, I'm a bit surprised ya joined us here," Kuw said, tilting ninety degrees, "Aren't ya supposed to be watching the sensors?"

"What is there to watch, we're in warp?"

"The yacht? Ya were so worried about it. It was about to jump when we did."

Rachel shook her head and laughed. "Think about how light works. They're behind us so they're outpacing their own image. I only have business being on sensors during warp if we're passing through a known bad route and can collide with shit."

"Well the bubble breaks relativ–"

People stopped shouting and singing along to the music, and Rachel just closed her eyes.

"Kuw. We don't talk about that. Horrible luck. I'm not even that superstitious, and I don't Einsteinize. You never Einsteinize while the ship is in warp. Understood?" The catgirl said.

"Sooorrry! Not in my habit yet."

Artur was in the corner, zero-g-dancing alone, and lamenting how he nearly injured everyone else he tried to dance with– despite being sober! The Canid did not hear Kuw's exchange with Rachel, and wasn't aware that the old StarNavy superstition was being violated, so the sudden wave of spatio-temporal distortion that washed over him was a total surprise. It was like his brain was given a nice, firm squish and then let go, followed by the rest of his body. Just the usual intermittent interference, no big deal. The ship probably hit a microasteroid, which was vaporized by the bubble. He kept on dancing.

***

Elektra's console showed no signs of injury to anyone from the jolt. The ship kept moving along, as if nothing had happened.

Patch was something resembling anxious. Or, at least, the 'concern' value in its personality quantum-matrix had just spiked. Its many miniature 'hands' pressed various buttons at a blinding speed. No damage detected. The concern value reduced as quickly as it increased. Patch was very convinced that its electronic brain, brought to life by qubits instead of regular bits, was superior to squishy organic brains, which lacked the precision and predictability afforded by synthetics.

"I thought this route was surveyed already," Elektra said, "I wasn't expecting an impact."

"The microasteroid likely drifted into the path after a ship was last passing through," Patch intoned.

Jamaad, meanwhile, was in his private quarters. A small room, with rather soft lighting making its bare metal walls seem almost cozy. A desk, a lamp, a chair, a bed, a dresser, all made of aluminum. It was all rather spartan, despite him being the highest-ranking commanding officer. The captain's datapad was resting on a small stand with a regular keyboard attached, and he was typing away at it. A private log, detailing the journey so far. He regretted starting it this late. In it were some rather unfiltered opinions: the Admiralty is full of incompetents and/or idiots; Artur is showing ever-so-slight hints of improvement, but Elektra is right to be concerned about him; the snail was a stupid idea but he simply did not have the heart to give Rachel flak over it; and that the chohjozra are a rather unpredictable and fickle species, and that perhaps the route should have been different, but it was too late now.

***

The rest of the jump went without any issues. Kyrrhtazh was actually a very well-populated system, being between the frontier and the core of the Nrukhrizchaa. Koumanlan actually 'cut' into chohjozra space, because of (what used to be) Terran expansion in the region during the Age of Stellar Colonization, now many decades past. The borders in space were now as set as they were in Europe during the Age of Protests and earlier, though of course they were three-dimensional, porous, and fuzzy.

Jamaad and Artur were in the CIC, alongside a sleepy Rachel.

Even leaving aside the shining cluster of ships and satellites around the ocean-world of Irrhhya, there were even more signatures visible than in Flamerider. However, nearly none of them were human or relmai.

Several ships of the chohjozra Starguard pulled in closer, seeming to scan the Pheidippides as thoroughly as was possible from a distance. They chattered amongst themselves, which became apparent from encrypted communications picked up by its military-grade sensors, but did not hail the scout.

"This planet looks nice," Rachel said, zooming in on the display, "Shame we're just going to the outermost station."

Artur scratched his head. "Why is it Kyrrhtazh Station 01 if it's the furthest one? That previous one was literally the first and only one in the system."

"The chohjozra have a weird tradition where they keep changing their stations' designations so that whichever one is the most distant from a planet, or from a star, is the first. Why? I have no idea. Aliens work in their own ways," Jamaad said.

"How long will we stay?" Rachel said.

"Less than five hours," Jamaad responded, "won't take long to unscrew the dishes and swap theirs in. You'll have time to meet that lady and hand her the slime. She better cough up the money. Whatever a human is doing here…"

***

The outpost was far enough away that by the time the ship began its rendezvous, not only did Rachel have her nap, Jamaad and Artur were already properly asleep. Kuw was in command, with Rachel and Patch to her sides.

Kyrrhtazh Station 01 was much smaller than FE-01, with a smaller habitat ring and thinner pillar. It was a rest stop rather than a habitat. The ships attached to its two narrow stardocks, and the ones circling around waiting for their turn, had one difference from human and relmai vessels: they were oddly stout. They almost resembled early-space-age conceptions of what alien starships looked like… but unlike solid flying saucers, these were still wireframe clusters of girders, spherical fuel tanks, and broad engines, with habitat modules nestled somewhere inside. There was some flexibility in engineering doctrine, after all. In order to allow docking clearance, their airlocks were attached to their sides. Additionally, their hulls were painted with golden spirals and branching lines, punctuated by myriads of tiny glinting gems.

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"Their repair arms look unsuited for servicing elongated starships, as opposed to broad ones. For a moment, I felt a worry, but it was replaced by confidence in the engineers who can service habs stuck so deep inside a web of girders," Patch said in monotone.

"Right," Rachel said, "Kuw, love, can you call them up?"

The screen blinked into motion. On an ornate, multicolored, embroidered mat lay a scaly, dark green creature reminiscent of an alligator, but with eight taloned legs. He was slightly over two meters long. The four front feet more resembled hands, and at the end of the chohjozra's tail was a stubby, slightly deformed fifth hand. A large yellow beak, like a toucan's except slightly blockier and serrated, dominated most of his face, accompanied by two greenish-blue eyes with W-shaped pupils, as well as dragon-like ear fins with pearlescent bands. His limbs had a lot of bulk, but his body was slim and flexible. The chohjozra did not wear any clothes except golden jewelry such as bracelets on every limb, earrings through the fins, and a necklace with a ruby pendant, but this nudity was not obscene in the slightest.

The alien reptile's eyes were half-closed, and he looked rather bored as he twirled some indeterminate spherical object between two talons. The room behind him was very different from the Terran quartermaster's: dark, with mist in the air and moss growing inside grooves in the walls, amid blinking lights. Other chohjozra scurried about, moving between consoles and in and out of hatches.

Kuw repeated her canned introduction once again, but did not elaborate on her mission, only saying it was important.

"Thiss iss Chief-Civilian-People'ss-Adminisstrator Khkirrezyi of Lutnkhyar sspeaking. I musst admit, I have not sseen Terran ssailorss in… a long time," the reptile said in heavily accented, monotonous English, looking Kuw right in the eyes and squinting as his tail lashed from side to side, "We have room for your vessel… but there have been ssome incidentss of terrorisst and sspy activity in the passt year… we musst inspect your sship for ssusspiciouss cargo."

Rachel's face assumed an expression that essentially said 'are you fucking kidding me?'.

Kuw kept composure. "But consider! We are a military ship. We have all the credentials. Have you, kind sir, ever heard of a StarNavy scout doing contraband runs?"

Khkirrezyi was unfazed. "According to the people'ss edict of our ssacred Nrukhrizchaa'ss All-Akeruh Coalition For Presservation Of Equity And Faith, we musst inspect your sship for ssusspiciouss cargo."

Rachel thought, "Is this guy an alligator or a donkey? Who pissed in his cereal? Bug cereal, of course…"

Kuw was deep in deliberation. This situation reminded her of that game she saw humans play, called 'puncher' or similar. Fold and definitely lose an extra hour or two, and more importantly risk almost certain damage to important components by the infamously clumsy chohjozra, or take a gamble by raising and either save time or get barred access altogether, thus missing both the money and the upgrades? She was shaking from the anxiety. Jamaad was just snoozing in his quarters, unaware… at least Artur is too, so he won't come and try to strong-arm the administrator.

Kuw nervously bunched up her hands and furrowed her magenta eyebrows at the camera.

…

"Our mission is crucial to the continued safety of the Alliance. Including the Chohjozra Nrukhrizchaa. Here are all the logs, here are all the credentials," she pressed a few buttons and sent a folder of various files to the station, "You will regret rummaging through our ship, and so will the Council. Let us dock."

Khkirrezyi squinted, then hissed, his trifurcated tongue extending from his beak for a second. He then used the ball in his claws to seemingly navigate a computer interface. He clearly was deliberating, too, looking through the files Kuw sent.

…

"Who… do you think you are, relmai…? But we chohjozra appreciate a dedicated verbal standoff, ssomeone sstanding their ground… hmm… You may dock. You may also sskip cusstomss."

"Thank you!"

"Pleassure talking to you…"

With a clank, the scout ship docked with the chohjozra station, fitting as snugly as it did onto the Terran-made ones. Connectors were standardized not just across the Alliance, but across almost the entirety of the Oval. Even if you were in the space of the weirdest conceivable neutral civilization, you could dock as easily as if you were just a few lightyears from home. The standard was a very neutral one: the wavelength of the cosmic microwave background, multiplied by two to the power of ten. Everyone could benefit from the commercial and logistical benefits afforded by such an arrangement.

Kuw stayed behind to negotiate and haggle for the sensors, while Rachel, Patch, and the recently-awoken Elektra boarded Kyrrhtazh-01 to look for Sofia, with Specks' box in the sensors officer's pocket.

"Hmmm… oh dear, it looks like that guy– Nicholas is his name apparently– gave me only his own number, not any contact info for Sofia," Rachel scrolled through her datapad as they passed through the airlock.

"Is she even on the station?" Elektra said.

"If you had calculated likely follow-up events, you could have avoided this issue," Patch stated.

Rachel facepalmed.

The internal-facing door of the port opened, revealing the station's interior. The lighting was dim, resembling the twilight in its color and lack of brightness. The corridor of the zero-g central pillar was slightly wider than the previous stations', but a more noticeable difference was that various alien plants seemed to grow in special nooks and crannies that snaked and split across the walls like wrinkles on an old person's face. Besides circular access hatches, there was a lot of gilded furniture with no purpose obvious to humans, including what looked to be abstract, carved idols dedicated to some of the million chohjozra deities. The atmosphere was breathable, but was very hot and humid, almost like a sauna. Droplets of water could be seen dancing in the air, glistening like stars on the canvas of space. It smelled like a swamp.

There was no sign of Sofia, only a few chohjozra who glanced at the group, only to then continue going about their business.

"Nevermind, I can't last six hours in this bog," Rachel said.

"Scared of some humidity?" Elektra chuckled, "Can't live underwater like me, eh?"

"I hate water," the catgirl smiled, revealing her fangs.

Elektra pushed away from a wall, taking care to not crush even the smallest plant, and waved to the nearest chohjozra, who seemed to be passing through.

"Hello! Have you seen a human named Sofia anywhere here?" she said.

The alien gave her a blank stare and let out a series of hisses, clicks, and growls, then turned around and continued floating down the hall.

"Oh. I guess people here don't speak English. I guess we'll have to look for her the regular way."

Rachel sighed. "Okay, this place isn't so fucking huge that we won't scour most of it within six hours. I'll need a nice, long, gel-and-water-wasting shower after."

Right as the two genemod women were about to go deeper into the station, Patch made a pinging sound to attract their attention. "I want to inform you that both of you currently have miniature computers capable of accessing the combined wealth of thousands of years of sapient knowledge in your pockets. I also want you to realize what that circumstance implies."

Rachel and Elektra looked at each other, then reached to retrieve their datapads. After flagging down another chohjozra, Elektra turned on the translator app and repeated her request. These same sounds emanated from the pad's speakers, and were replied to by the reptile-like alien, which caused words in perfect Standard Terran English to resound after a slight delay.

"Hello. I know Sofia. She is currently located in Room 39 in the habitat ring's motel-section."

"Thank you!" The same sequence of translations then occurred to receive a farewell.

A short elevator ride later, the three were at the door. It was circular, but large enough for a human to pass through if they crouched a little, and composed of petals like a camera's aperture. Rachel knocked on the door.

"Oh, hey there!" Sofia said. She was a very thin woman with white skin and shoulder-length black hair. She received the box from Rachel. "I didn't expect you to get here so soon," the human continued as she opened it and took Specks out. Despite the snail's protests in the form of squeaking and hissing, she pried open one of its mouths with a finger, took something tiny out, and put the creature back into the box. Specks immediately curled back into its shell, silent.

"What did you do?" Rachel said.

Sofia frowned. "Curiosity killed the cat. Do you want the dosh or not?"

Rachel sighed. "Of course we do."

A transaction was made by swiping datapads together, and the door aperture closed. Before it finished doing so, Sofia started typing something out on her pad.

"Why am I getting bad vibes from her?" She said, "Sofia didn't try to scam us like that other guy, I got the money, but she just acted like she was hiding something."

"Me too, Rachel, me too…" Elektra shook her head.

Everyone went back to the ship, after buying souvenirs in the form of various authentic but cheap and small paintings in the rough, angular chohjozra style.