“My, my, look who we have here…” a voice came from behind Frank who turned to look and was ‘pleasantly’ surprised.

We just so happened to gaze upon the smiling countenance of Selessa. She was out of her uniform jacket and wearing, much to Frank's shock, much less, little more than a silver sash across her bare chest with some form of identification badge. Carrying a plate of food herself. Frank immediately stood.

"Oh, um, Security Commander, it's a pleasure to see you again." He bowed slightly. "Please join me." He stepped around the table and pulled the chair from underneath.

"Please, just Selessa." She pulled the just aside further, seeming to prefer sitting atop her wound tale. "Such politesse is a touch unexpected."

"Hmm." Frank considered as he sat. "I wouldn't be able to live it down if I didn't show make an attempt to have proper manners when enjoying a meal with someone of your status."

"Some kind of human tradition, I take it?" Selessa asked.

"Not entirely wrong," Frank said with a smirk. He glanced at her plate seeing what looked comparable to thinly cut slices of raw meat, then noticed she was doing the same. "To what do I owe this pleasant company for a meal?"

"Nothing really. I just so happened to have a meal prior to starting my shift. I saw you sitting here alone and thought I might as well join you for a short time."

"I thank you, Selessa," Frank nodded his head slightly. "How long have you been stationed at this, well, station?"

"For only a few years. I must say, seeing you, a new species, bringing the Ambassador back. Something like that hasn't happened before."

"It was honestly, more happenstance than anything else," Frank explained.

"Hmm... Would you like to know what I think?" Selessa glanced at Frank who raised an eyebrow. "This is something right out of a legend." She tittered lightly. "And your's has much more to go."

"A legend?" Frank asked.

"Yes, a legend, something out of a fairy tale. We Serpens LOVE legends, and I think your's will be an interesting one to follow."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Huh..." Frank scratched his chin. "I'm not so sure about that. Just happened to be in the right place at the right time."

"My, my..." Selessa narrowed her gaze at Frank ``Don't you know that's how all the best legends start? Not by force of a decree, but by that of one following their own code. And here I am at the beginning of the story." Her smile expanded further, Frank finally seeing her teeth, and more importantly, 4 sharp but stout fangs and she grabbed a piece of meat from her plate and swallowed it down.

"To see the start of a legend like those of old is delectable," she said, flicking her tongue out, clearing the juice from her lips. Her gaze remained fixated on Frank. Eyes, to Frank, if they were that of a regular snake, seeking their next meal. The silence was broken by a strange beeping.

"Oh, no." Selessa breaks her trance, grabbing at a communicator tucked in the pocket of her sash. "I gotta hurry!" She consumed the last couple of pieces of meat from her plate. "I do hope we can chat again, Frank. I would love to hear of some human legends."

Frank watched Selessa grab her plate, place it on a tray on the counter, and felt relief after she left, glad he wasn't the next meal. 'She was kinda cute,' he thought as he moved back to his steak, that's now cooled quite a bit, but that didn't detract from the taste in the least. Once he finished, he left the buffet and found a seat on the promenade looking out a viewport into the void.

He watched through a rotation or two of the ring noticing no stars were matching any known constellations. Even from where he picked up Lelith and her crew, you'd still be able to match a constellation or two. But from here, nothing was familiar, that's when it hit him, a bit more than he'd like. He was nowhere near home. His sister's mention of being four months out at the fastest speed played in his head. It made him realize that for the first time, he was truly separated from his kind.

He went from knowing humans were the only sapient life to only being a small player in a much larger game in two weeks. His pale blue dot of a home was so far gone, that he wasn't entirely sure he could see his home star's light from here. His breath quickened, trying to hold back the brief shudder of panic at the realization. No, he still had something to do, and he still had a place to return. He thought back to what Selessa said. He's still at the beginning of his story, and he wasn't going to let this story pass him up, he was going to take it in both hands, with all the power he had.

'Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.' The phrase drifted into his mind, he was effectively in the abyss now, and as it stands, stranded, as his ship was being modified. He was on his own, really and truly for the first time, and it scared the shit out of him. He may have dreamed of a grand space adventure, but this was real, it was here and now.

He removed the flask from his belt and took a deep drink, letting the rum burn as it flowed. His nerves began coming back down. He wasn't sure exactly what brought on the mild panic attack, he just knew that for the moment he needed something he was familiar with, he needed to get to his ship. He finally stood, wobbling slightly, and made his way back.

Once back on his ship, he was almost fully back to his senses. He tried playing out the time prior to the freak-out and couldn't place just what it was that caused it. He just stripped down the bulk of his gear and laid back on his bunk, juggling the thoughts before sleep took him over.

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He woke up in the middle of the night as if it made a difference. He got up and stripped the remainder of his suit, deciding to give it a good cleaning, along with a recharge of the tank of his pack that he forgot to slot back. He made some coffee and sat at the galley table after starting his bit of laundry. Absent-mindedly, he pulled up the 'Epic of Gilgamesh'. Just how long has it been since he last read it. An evil king, a wild man, a friendship made, an adventure taken, a victory had, and a return home.

'Let's hope that Lelith isn't as evil...' He muttered to himself. 'And perhaps I'll try not to slap a goddess with my meat,' he chuckled.

The hope of rescuing a fallen friend, a failure, a redemption, and an ultimate loss but gain of self. Thinking about it, he seemingly was on that 'hero's journey, though for profit. However, to be fair, it can be as much a motivator as justice or spite.

He worked out for a short while before bathing and getting ready. After donning his gear, he made quick work of the Denver Omelet meal pack hopefully ready to get moving for the day.