Sparrow opened her eyes; this was unusual, there was nothing to see in her pod in any case - all the telemetry she needed was projected directly on to her retina by her interface. Still today was special and she had decided to enjoy the faint light of the capsule that was there to manage her vitamin D levels. There was nothing to see of course - just bare metal visible faintly through her suspension fluid and the motivators attached to her limbs that ensured she had sufficient exercise to remain healthy and useful throughout her likely two centuries of functionality.

She thought briefly about that long length of time - extended further by her time in the slip - and then dismissed the notion. Today was special she repeated to herself, it was her fifth commissioning date. She knew she probably had a birthday - there was still no substitute for the human womb - but if her surrogate had ever told her what it was she’d have been too young to remember as she had been put into training when she turned six months and stayed their dormant, whilst her brain was filled with all the complex algorithms, instructions and protocols she had been designed to receive that enabled her to pilot the Whittington through the slip. That had taken nearly ten years to upload and embed on her neural network.

The Whittington was her first ship and she enjoyed talking with the Ship’s AI when they weren’t navigating the slip; but today was different, it was her commissioning date and the Captain was throwing her a party in the Wardroom where she’d be allowed to project herself. She’d only been allowed to project herself a dozen or so times and most had been on her commissioning date. She enjoyed talking to the officers and ratings who she was allowed contact with on the Whittington - a score of engineers and med techs who kept her functioning and of course Chief Engineer Liu.

Sometimes, however, in her darker moments not even the deep virtual world of the Intranet and conversations with her fellow pilots could settle her. But, today was different; not only was it her commissioning date but a new officer was coming aboard to escort a Honourable. She had never met an Honourable who wasn’t an officer before but felt sure the Captain would be obligated to invite her to dine in the Wardroom tonight.

She started to prep her projection for the evening. She knew from her conversations with Ms Liu, Chloe: that she was small (necessary to remain comfortable in the pod and therefore designed in), with curly black-brown hair and unusually pale skin, probably of Scottish gene stock (Celtic and Pashtun genetic profiles being particularly amenable to nano-editing and therefore making up the vast majority of the Corporation pilots). She arranged the projection’s hair into a neat bun and then tweaked her proportions to those she felt most pleasing. She of course had never seen herself properly in the dimness of the thick suspension fluid, every time she was removed from her pod she had been under anaesthesia; officially to spare her from any disconnection trauma but in reality because modified humans were not allowed non-projection contact with ordinary humans apart from a tiny number of medical emergencies where contact was unavoidable, by international treaty. This didn’t bother her, which slightly bothered her - something she worried about from time to time, after all, she’d been designed for nothing to bother her.

She thought about this as she selected her number one dress, nothing less would be permitted in the wardroom tonight with an Honourable on board. She selected the standard dress shirt and the dark navy blue reefer jacket with six silver buttons and a wreathed version of the Corporation’s coat of arms on the bottom of her arm denoting her Warranted status, and finally a matching mid length skirt and black tights. Finally she created a black handled sword, scabbard and sword belt and strapped it around her projection’s waist. She smiled inside her pod as she viewed her projection. She thought how lucky was she had been assigned to the Whittington with Captain Hernandez, an usually liberal figure to have risen so far in the Navy, projection was normally only allowed in the slip, where most of the ships officers preferred to communicate with a visible manifestation of herself rather than the interface during the nerve wracking passages through it, or at the discretion of the Ship’s Master. Most Masters did not make use of this discretionary power but Captain Hernandez always exercised it on her commissioning day and sometimes even on public holidays.

Despite being technically the most senior warrant officer on board most pilots did not get invited to project at social occasions. Most of the time projection, according to the other pilots she had talked with in the intranet, was only allowed when in the slip; the uncanny folded dimension that contained the majority of the universe’s mass and connected each part of it with every other. Through it ran ephemeral channels of empty space where humanity’s ships could dive out of real space and into this dark and silent maelstrom.

Although the slip had been known to humanity since the late 21st century it had taken another two centuries for humanity to develop the technology - her - to exploit it for faster than light travel. Initial attempts to pilot via AI had failed when it became clear that quantum instability rendered the powerful quantum computers used in real space ineffectual; so far no one had been able to establish why it was only within quantum computers this effect manifested. Still that mystery had led to her creation - a human modified to have the incredible twitch reactions and intuition needed to navigate the constantly changing channels through the slip - any contact with antimatter would immediately annihilate the ship and contact with normal matter usually had the same effect; a crippled ship in the slip was already lost.

She considered this as she made the final tweaks to her projection and settled her peaked cap on her head. Then in an instant she projected herself to just outside the wardroom door and instructed the ship’s AI to open the doors for her, although technically she could just walk through them, she always did her best to put everyone at ease by acting as much like a regular human as she could.

“Good to see you Ms Sparrow,” no pilot had a surname, said Captain Hernandez with an air of actual sincerity behind the words. Sparrow smiled as she saluted the commissioned officers sat round their side of the table with the Captain in the centre. There was Lieutenant Commander Desai, the ship’s executive officer, relegated from his usual seat on the Captain’s right, which had been left empty, to the left hand one - a gruff older officer who she could tell wasn’t comfortable with her projected presence but did his best to hide it. Then there were the amassed ranks of the ship’s lieutenants 11 of the 12 of them (the Twelfth Lieutenant being forced to stand Watch as required even for a docked ship) seated in order of seniority around the captain and XO, with another single seat, on the far end of the senior officer’s side of the table, usually occupied by the Captain of Marines. On the other the junior officers and the other Warrant Officers with wardroom privileges - the Master of Arms, the Watch Captains (or in non-navy speak - the technical division heads), the Purser, the Chief Engineer, the Master at Arms, the Lieutenant of Marines and the small complement of Doctors on board; who were technically civilian staff but were afforded the privileges of an officer. In the centre an empty chair reserved for the senior Warrant Officer - her; a quirk from before the modified humans treaty had been ratified and when pilots had been able to project freely.

Next to her seat was the Chief Engineer - Chloe Liu - a tall woman with shoulder length jet black hair that she wore loose against all regulations and common sense - who was perhaps the only person other than Captain Hernandez who was genuinely comfortable with her presence and one of the few people ever to see her physical form. It was her descriptions on which Sparrow had based her projections for each of her commissioning days. Sparrow couldn’t really express it as such but Ms Liu had let Sparrow slowly develop a friendship with her, borne first out of the fleeting glimpse of the Chief Engineer monitoring her final disconnections from the pod before the anaesthesia took hold and the diagnostic conversations she held with her every time she awoke. After a year these small interactions led to a tentative text message into the interface which started what were now regular conversations between the Chief Engineer and a form of her projection modified to appear on video feeds.

Finally, crammed in around the short sides of the table were the seven midshipmen thought most likely to pass the Admiralty Officer Examinations, who largely kept to themselves enjoying the opportunity to imbibe far greater quantities of rum than they got in their tot.

“Thank you for allowing me to join you tonight Sir,” she said smiling whilst walking slowly to her chair before unavoidably passing through it and arranging herself in a seated position hovering almost undetectably above the chair.

“It’s our pleasure Ms Sparrow, it would have been most remiss not to celebrate your commissioning date,” replied the Captain, “it appears our new Captain of Marines may be having difficulty with his charge and is delayed a few minutes. I hope you don’t mind postponing the formal start of proceedings.”

“No problem at all Sir,” she answered - although formal proceedings hadn’t started she noticed that XO Desai had ordered the Captain’s steward to uncork the Captain’s wine and most of the guests had already started proceedings - formal or not. She smiled quietly to see her officers and midshipmen enjoying themselves in a way they never could in the slip - the only time she saw most of them as she usually hibernated in real space and had no real use there.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

After a few minutes a red and yellow jacketed man entered the room. The colours clashed horribly with his mid-toned brown skin and thick greying black beard she thought, he looked tired and old, clearly approaching the end of his career. Accompanying him was a young woman in the most beautiful dress she had ever seen, its light green tones perfectly complimenting her fair skin and long straight chestnut brown hair. She walked with an air of natural confidence and strode immediately towards the seat next to the Captain. The Captain of Marines hesitated until a subtle nod from the XO indicated he could also approach the table.

“Permission to come aboard Sir,” Amir said by rote.

“Permission granted Captain of Marines,” replied the Captain, “welcome aboard.”

“I stand ready Captain,” he replied with the final phrase of the formal welcome before continuing, “and may I present to you the Honourable Lady Ellis, Captain.”

“Welcome Lady Ellis, I trust the ride up the elevator wasn’t too uncomfortable,” the Captain turned to smile at her dinner companion, “I hope you’ll excuse us; normally an occasion like this would be in your honour but it is our pilot’s commissioning date which we always celebrate on this ship.”

“It would be my pleasure Captain Hernandez,” replied the young woman still smiling but the light faded from her eyes, “and please call me Harriet for the remainder of our voyage, Lady Ellis is my mother.”

“Of course Lady Harriet,” replied the Captain, pausing before shifting her gaze to Amir, “and it would be most impolite of me to not also extend a warm welcome to our new Captain of Marines, Mr Amir Choudary.”

“It’s an honour to serve with you Captain, this seems a very fine ship, at least to the eyes of an old soldier like myself,” he replied as warmly as he could.

“Well I hope you have had a recent eye test Mr Choudary - my crew and I certainly try to keep things that way. In any case now we are all assembled and in the spirit of honest fellowship I am pleased to say our celebrations have officially begun. Welcome aboard Lady Harriet, Mr Choudray and Happy Commissioning Day Ms Sparrow.”

With that the XO signalled to the Steward and the first course was brought in. Of course Sparrow’s projection couldn’t eat and her real self’s nutritional requirements were all present in the suspension fluid. Still she enjoyed being able to sit next to Ms Liu and opposite the Captain.

“Happy Commissioning Day, Sparrow,” smiled the Chief Engineer, indulging in informality only the Chief Engineer could get away with.

“I’m so pleased you were able to attend Ms Liu,” Sparrow replied, she had often desperately wanted to address her friend by her name. Chloe - her peer at least in the navy’s official hierarchy - but her programming wouldn’t let her.

“You certainly look dashing tonight Sparrow,” smiled the engineer, “number one dress suits you well.”

“Thank you Ms Liu, it’s only thanks to you that my uniform has anything to suit,” she laughed back.

“I hope you are enjoying real space - have you gone to look at the Earth and stars yet?”

“No Ms Liu, I am only permitted to operate my projection in real space at the Captain’s invitation. It was most clear that proceedings would start at 7pm until late.”

“Well Sparrow my dear, I shall take you to see them before it is too late tonight.”

“Thank you Miss Liu, I should like that very much,” she said beaming.

“It is good to see a smile on your face Ms Sparrow,” interjected the Captain causing both warrant officers to startle, with an equally wide smile on her face. The Captain was such a rare thing in a member of the Honourable Class in that she would even consider speaking socially with a modified human. Sparrow still couldn’t believe her luck she had been assigned to her command. It was clear, from the glares she was giving her, that Lady Ellis didn’t share the Captain’s tolerant view. This didn’t bother her - it couldn’t - even if it was a reaction she was used to from the rest of the crew.

“Thank you Captain for doing this, it makes me most happy to be amongst my fellows.”

“I wish you could enjoy our fellowship more often Ms Sparrow, sadly appearances are everything, even for one so out of favour with the Admiralty as myself.”

“I would not wish to cause you injury Captain, I can return my presence to my pod immediately,” the smile fading from Sparrow’s face for the first time as she realised why such a capable Captain of her experience was stuck in a third rate ship of the line, barely more than a frigate.

“Do not be ridiculous Ms Sparrow, it’s your commissioning date and it must be marked as per the fine traditions of the Navy. A toast if you will ladies and gentleman to our pilot, Ms Sparrow.” This roused a hearty cheer, which she knew sadly probably had more to do with the copious amounts of alcohol that had already been consumed in the first fifteen minutes of the party than genuine affection for her. Still she didn’t mind, how could she, and enjoyed the brief moment of accolade. “And of course a toast to our honoured guest, the Lady Ellis,” the Captain quickly added; hoping the breach of decorum had gone unnoticed. This drew an even louder shout of acclamation from around the room, although she noticed Ms Liu wasn’t quite as enthusiastic a toaster as she had been for Sparrow and her smile returned. Unexpectedly once the clamour had faded down the next voice was the Lady Ellis’.

“So Ms Sparrow, you are responsible for piloting us through the slip?” she asked, a condescending inflection placed heavily on each word.

“Indeed my Lady,” she replied, “it is my function.”

“In one so young, it is surprising to have such a responsibility, do they not have to train you?”

“My lady, it is my fifth anniversary of my commissioning date. I have successfully navigated the slip five hundred and sixty seven times since my commissioning. In biological terms I believe I am the equivalent of a fifteen year old in terms of my physical development. But I assure you my training was completed adequately or else I would not be here,” she added, reflecting briefly on the culling of those who didn’t accept the designs weaved into their brains by their programmers. She knew her own assessment had been consistently near the borderline for acceptance, not that she had any knowledge of that at the time; she had looked it up, out of what must have been curiosity, one day three years ago.

“That is reassuring Ms Sparrow,” the other girl replied still haughtily.

.

“Indeed,” the Captain said, trying to restore a cheery tone to their conversation, “Ms Sparrow is one of the best pilots I’ve worked with in my career. Her reaction speed is exceptional even by the standards of modified humans. We could be in no safer hands my Lady.”

“Then it is surprising she was not posted to one of the Navy’s flagships?” Lady Elis continued, ignoring the comments the Captain had made to her.

“Well my Lady, the Naval Logistics Squadron is not regarded as the most diligent of all the Service’s divisions, I imagine Ms Sparrow’s presence is due to a combination of the good luck imbued in the fabric of the Whittington and benign neglect by the Logistics Squadron,” the Captain, chuckled to herself.

“Well I commend you on your excellent fortune dear Captain,” Lady Ellis smiled.

“Alas not my good fortune but the Whittington’s my lady,” beamed back the Captain, “else I would be a commodore by now. No it is the Whittington that has all the luck. Did you know, my lady, that she has survived more engagements and passages through the slip than any other ship of the line.”

“I did not, well that certainly explains her archaic design,” she said, the false smile returning to her face, “I completed advanced level engineering last year and a design of this sort hasn’t been used in nearly ninety years.”

“My lady, if you’ll excuse me lady, but we never mention the Ship’s age, she would be terribly embarrassed,” laughed the Captain, “but I can assure you that this old lady can hold her own against any ship in the cosmos.”

Quickly the talk turned away from her, and she and Chloe were able to return to their own conversation. She enjoyed listening to Chloe talk about which of the ship's systems were giving her trouble today and Sparrow was able to offer her own thoughts as she let her consciousness engage with the interface and delve deep into each system’s telemetry, the interface allowing her to do in seconds what would take Chloe hours. Still it was a skill she could only offer to Chloe in real space; in the slip all her attention had to be on the ship’s controls as she navigated its treacherous paths. And in any case although she could draw the data quickly, she couldn’t interpret it as well as Chloe - the older woman was clearly her intellectual superior (after all intelligence in pilots to a degree didn’t matter - not compared to their twitch reaction speed) - but she encouraged Sparrow to discuss her own theories and conclusions.

Later as the meal wound up Chloe asked the Captain permission to take Sparrow to the observation lounge to the obvious horror of Lieutenant Commander Desai and Lady Ellis; the only ones other than the Captain in earshot who hadn’t passed out at the table like the Master of Arms. In spite of this the Captain gave Chloe permission.

“Just get her home before bedtime,” the Captain called after them with a final laugh.