[Captain Nathaniel Brand]

The tests all came back positive and the sentient was, according to the Meldren researchers, extremely capable when it came to fighting other sentients. For now I could place less worry on the apparent sentient infestation back at home and focus on the next thing in my massive list of shit to deal with. Worrying about the results of the situation back there was not my current job, at least now I have a plan for protecting the people here if the home team didn’t come out on top.

The next most pressing matter was what my Pioneer managed to do in the short time he was here. In the first 24 hours that kid managed to strike up friendly relations with high-tech aliens, somehow wrest us control of the whole system barring their home planet, piss off an entire race of war-hungry goat people and in the same stride become a hero for a bunch of other alien races. He was supposed to be holed up in a galactic prison right now, but Governor Sind let me know that he had probably already given them the slip and was heading here right now.

It was a mess, but it was one that I could work with. I’d have to make Dominique our poster boy for public relations whether he liked it or not since he already managed to score positive attention from numerous governments. If we could solidify those admirers of his as allies and start making a network of united powers, we could create a safety net to rely on in the event that help is needed back at home. The biggest problem with this plan was that those races may not be too eager to team up with us just yet considering we are at the brink of a war with the people they all historically lost to. They probably weren’t looking for a round 2 and getting them to move might be a slog depending on how stingy the Grahtonians wanted to be.

My ship is currently in low orbit and mostly non-operational since all non-essential functions were shut down while the sentient was being evaluated. Thanks to the circumstances that affected the Pioneer and our inconceivably early arrival to the destination, none of the colonies have been prepared outside of one city. The hundreds of thousands of people in cryosleep on the ship are liabilities until they can be transferred to finished habitations with online defense systems. The city that was already built could technically fit everyone on the ship, but I wasn’t keen on putting all of my eggs in one basket when we could go under fire at any moment.

I didn’t have the leeway to go out there and provide aid for my Pioneer. I wasn’t too worried for him, that man had a mostly good head on his shoulders when it came to staying out of sight and evading the consequences of his actions. I needed to worry about myself in case some less-than-agreeable company decided to show up. As long as I can get the weapons systems up and running-

“Captain, a warp signature has been detected”

________________

[Pioneer Dominique Reynolds]

The space station we decided to refuel at was a bit on the smaller side and had its age shown on display. The ship we left on didn’t have enough charge for a full trip to the Meldren system, nor did it have much of anything else. While I could technically make it there conventionally without having to eat, not only would it take too long but I also definitely wouldn’t be happy about it. Plus, there was also Dokchara to worry about.

Even if I wasn’t the only human in this entire sector of the galaxy, my face was recently plastered on every network and media platform. Fortunately, the emergency evacuation suits worked by covering the user and forming up based on their body shape. The head parts for these suits were domes of completely tinted glass to accommodate a multitude of races, but it also worked nicely as a way to hide my identity. I could pass off as some tall bipedal race without much suspicion.

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

“This might be a long shot, but refueling isn’t free and I’m not jumping at the opportunity to gouge out my savings…”

“I have a currency card that the Meldren Governor gave me, but I’m a bit worried about spending Meldren money out here, might put a target on our back.”

“That’s fine, I can wire the money from that card to mine and nobody would suspect anything, at least for a while.”

After Dokchara finished talking with the station crew about refueling and supplies, we left the docking bay to look for somewhere to eat. The bay exit led straight to the station’s commercial district and it wasn’t too long before we found a place with not many people so we could avoid attention, the “Stray Lounge.”

Considering the name of the establishment, I walked in expecting to find something like those old Bars on earth, and while there was indeed a bar and bartender, there was also a waiter, so this place could pass off as a restaurant. We sat down and had menus handed to us along with some water. I was thankful that they hadn’t gone with digital menus since it’d be a hassle to navigate to it with my head computer on top of attracting weird looks.

Seeing them offer pure ethanol as an option would have caused me to choke on my water if I didn’t have a synthetic throat. I get that biologies are varied beyond extremes and that to some people, that may as well just be water but how could something like that even taste good? It wasn’t even flavored.

I decided to get a drink from the inoffensive list since I’d rather not stumble across the one drink that was capable of melting metal or anything. I let Dok order the food since he was the hungry one here and he knew better about what this stuff meant than me. It seemed like a slow day for the place, as there were only a couple people at the bar and a group of three at one of the other tables, so the food and drinks were prepared almost immediately.

“...Is it weird if I prefer the food back at the prison?”

“I’m with you on that one. After all, that prison was meant for high-society criminals, so the food was pretty good all things considered. Comparing that to this veggie mash is a bit of an unfair fight.”

“It’s so strange to me how prisoners were treated in there, why are those criminals given extra benefits just for being politicians and executives at one point?”

“It’s not talked about much, but I’m guessing it's not a coincidence that extra funding goes into that place for a reason, ya know? ‘A buddy in crime got caught, guess I’ll throw them a bone’ or something like that.”

“...Yeah that mess is way above my pay grade. At least the drinks here are nice, no alcohol in prison even for the guards is such a drag, ya know?”

“Can you even get drunk? Actually, can you even properly taste anything if all your sensors are implants now? How do you even know you're tasting it right?”

“Same goes for you pal. Tell me, what’s the actual difference between a natural bodily function and a man-made one meant to mimic the same outputs?”

“...What?”

“I mean, our “natural” parts are the result of evolution sticking with whatever worked the first time and running with it, regardless of the actual efficiency when compared with every possibility. Replacing something like that with a synthetic piece that was formed by the intelligent mind instead of nature’s course, is there a technical downside? Do you really believe that the natural, organic wiring that circulates your blood is as efficient as can be?”

“Dom, what the fuck are you talking about?!”

“...Hey look, I know those guys!”

I decided to put my attempt at inducing a mid-life crisis down for later when I saw a breaking news appear on the screen that was playing an infinite ad roll. The topic happened to be none other than the disappearance of a new race’s ambassador as well as a Moqango guard followed by a statement from the Grahtonian Government claiming to take the investigation into their own hands.