---Departure---
I stand atop Victor’s shoulder with Fluffy at his side. His hand is placed between her ears, scritching absently, as we walk.
Kas, Dr Saabir, Dr Gomes and a… familiar looking woman walk on her other side.
On our right, walks Emiko Miyazaki with Ms. Hunter a few paces behind her, wearing ridiculously heavy looking armour, coloured silver and teal with royal blue gauntlets. The only parts of her skin that are visible are the area around her eyes and mouth, her nose and cheeks being protected by guards that jut from the helmet she wears.
It has been explained to me that there was an attempt made to place the armour on the hovertrolley, with her and Emiko’s other possessions, but that overloaded it… it must be as heavy as it looks!
Turning his head to the one member of the group that I’ve not been introduced to, Victor says “I really enjoyed your playing in the piazza the other week! I take it you’re Amahle Nxele?”
Ah, she was the [busker]… who played the sad songs…
Seeming surprised to be addressed she turns her head to Victor “Uhm… yes, that’s me… I remember you two… you stopped to listen… and both tipped, right? Thank you.”
Victor waves a hand “You played really well and I enjoyed it… thank you!… It looks as if congratulations’re in order! Who was it that asked?”… what’s he talking about?
The three of them all reflexively move their respective right hands to their lefts, drawing my attention to the matching rings they wear on their second to last finger.
Kas smiles smugly “I asked…”
The other two look slightly embarrassed.
“Forgive my ignorance but… asked what?” I probe.
“Kas popped the question, Cap. They’re engaged.” answers Victor, turning his face up to mine.
I have to think for a moment before I’m able to make sense of that.
“I thought… aren’t Terrans monogamous?” I ask, uncertainly.
Victor chuckles and answers “Mostly we are… but you know our general attitude is ‘live an’ let live’! Polys ain’t hurtin’ no one, so we ain’t gonna tell ’em they gotta conform to monogamy ’cause they’re offendin’ our sensibilities(!)” before turning back to the three and saying “Good luck with the weddin’, you three!”
They smile appreciatively.
I think for a moment before saying “I’m sorry to have to take Kas away from the two of you for so long… will you be alright without her?”
Dr Saabir smiles, sombrely “It’s… not ideal… but… we’ll call whenever our schedules all line up and she has FTLcom signal… it’ll give us time to plan the wedding… We might even shop around for a clinic to get a child from, though that’s not certain yet.”
“Are… are you not able to have children naturally?” I ask, slightly unsure if I’m being rude.
Kas laughs “We could! Amahle and I could get our reproductive cycles reactivated, very easily, and Luul could father a child with either of us… but we’ve all agreed that that’s not how we want to do it. If we’re going to have kids we want ones that are an equal mix of all three of us. Our kids… not mine and Lu’s or Ami’s and Lu’s… Mine, Ami’s and Lu’s… can’t do that the natural way…”
I chew that over for a bit.
Dr Gomes turns to Victor “You really don’t mind about me taking Gloam? I know Fluffy is OK with it but…”
Victor shakes his head “I can’t imagine a better home for him! Luul’s told me about all the prima donnas you’ve had to chase off! Sorry about that… If you’re happy to take him and Fluffy’s happy with you takin’ him, I’m happy. Honestly, the only reason I didn’t suggest you or Luul adoptin’ any of ’em, myself, was ’cause I assumed, if it was feasible, you’d suggest it… didn’t want to pressure you!”
Dr Gomes looks pleased and there is a brief silence as we walk.
After a while, Emiko says “I’m glad that we’re finally going to be underway!… I don’t believe ‘mirkbeast weaning’ has ever been given as an official reason for delay before(!)… Probably ever, not just as long as the ODR has existed… I know it’s only been a week since the last of the other arrangements were made but… that is a week in which, however unlikely, the species may have died out from one thing or another…!”
Kas whips her head to Emiko and says “Can you talk about that with these three here? They’re not under NDA!”
Emiko smiles “They’re not idiots, are they? I’m sure, even if you didn’t tell them, they were able to work it out… as long as they don’t go selling the story to a tabloid site or bandying it about the galnet… well, there'll be no need for ODR officers to knock on their door… will there?”
She just spoke so sweetly yet, from the look on Drs Gomes’, Saabir’s and Ms. Nxele’s faces, it’s clear that they understood the threat!
Turning her attention to me, Emiko asks “You’re certain about the stops? Xīn de Qín, Neonesia and Nova Fennoscandia? If you divert us around any of those it will cause delays as we’ll either need to wait for the personnel, currently making their way to those planets, to meet us on another or find replacements for them.”
I smile and look forward, at the gates of Bahari ya Kaskazini, coming into view “Quite sure, Emiko… no need to fret…” causing a satisfied nod from her.
“I assume I’ll have the opportunity to meet the three I haven’t yet, at the party tonight?” I query.
“You should do, I’ve made it clear that it will be a good chance to get to know the crew so they oughtn’t to hide in their rooms on Deck 4(!)” she answers.
“Good… I’ll look forward to it…”
We reach the gate and are surrounded by an escort of, fully armed and armoured, soldiers who walk us across the barracks’ grounds. It’s… a little ironic that they’re willing to allow a mirkbeast to roam freely about town, with only Victor to guard her, but here, in the place on the planet where she’d most quickly be neutralised if she were to suddenly rampage, she needs a full guard(!)
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We enter the hangar and, before we begin climbing the boarding ramp, Kas hugs her [fiancé] and [fiancée] goodbye… with not a few tears.
We board the ship, waving goodbyes at Drs Saabir and Gomes as well as Ms. Nxele.
“I have to get to the Bridge to take us up but the rest of you can stay here to wave them off as we ascend, if you like.” I say, addressing the group.
There are smiles and nods, from all of them, as I make my way through the Starboard side door.
Emiko and Ms. Hunter have no one to wave goodbye to but make no move to leave…
They probably want to admire the view, as we take off.
---later---
“Captain on Bridge!” sings Twila as I walk through the door.
The Bridge crew stand and render their respective species’ salutes. I dip my head and slightly extend my wings, indicating them to return to their posts.
I always felt such pomp a little unnecessary on a civilian ship but was overruled by my Clanmother, on the question of whether to do away with it.
I step atop the Captain’s perch and have my Communications Officer patch me through to local Aerospace Control.
“This is Captain Tcakqaal of the Bright Plume, requesting permission to take off.”
“We hear you Captain, sending a route out of system now.”
The route appears on the display in front of me and, doublechecking that there are no issues with it, I lock it in.
“Route confirmed.”
“Confirmed, you are cleared for take-off.”
Twila begins our ascent out of the hangar and the Zanzibari vista is visible for a few minutes, outside the front window, before we angle upwards and begin our atmospheric exit.
I’ve greatly enjoyed myself on this planet… I wonder if I’ll ever return…
---that evening (ship time)---
Having brought the ship to warp and made my way from the Bridge to the central section of Deck 0, I enter the Canteen to see it crowded with nearly every crew member.
With the new additions, Humans are now the single most numerous species aboard.
It’s interesting to see how they dominate the room.
Emiko holds court over a crowd composed of about 9 different species, Ms. Hunter stood close behind her (thankfully out of her armour… I would hate to think how much more uncomfortable she’d make people, if she were still dressed like that(!)). Victor and Tuun seem to be acquainting themselves with what I presume to be the ODR’s gardenworlder contingent from Zanzibar. Lt. Loper is talking animatedly to Kwijj and Jjop, about something. The Zunberis are having a pleasant chat with the Shings and a few others. Dr Mink is sitting nearby, wearing what seems to be her trademark glower. Krish and Hasiakh are sitting with Sha’anza, Igthan, W'ham B'ham and Hamtonio… laughing about something. Even Sha’anza seems at ease! She’s typically one of the more anxious members of the crew.
Then my eyes alight on a table at which sit three… Humans? Certainly two of them are Human… but the third?… She looks the wrong height to be an adult… but the wrong proportions to be a child… not that there should be a child on a mission like this(!)
They aren’t talking with anyone, even eachother… let’s fix that.
I make my way to the table and raise my wing in greeting “Hello you three, I don’t believe we’ve met… might I join you?”
Seeming a little taken aback, they nod an assent and gesture to the empty stool.
“Niyol Hatathli.” says one.
“Cường Phan.” says the second.
“Olga Petrikov.” says the third… The very short one I’m not entirely sure is the same species as the other two.
“Tcakqaal… A pleasure to meet all of you.” I answer choosing to forego my Clan name and rank, in the interests of modesty.
I turn my attention to Ms. Petrikov and carefully start “Forgive me but… are you a Terr…”
“Yes, I’m Terran. Yes, I’m Human. Yes, I’m Homo sapiens. Yes, I’m an adult. It’s called ‘achondroplasia’ or, more generally, ‘dwarfism’. Yes, I could get it treated with gene therapy. No, I don’t want to.” she interrupts, wearily.
“I sincerely apologise, Ms. Petrikov… I didn’t mean to offend you.” I say. This is clearly a sore spot for her.
“It’s fine… It’s just… I have to have the same conversation with everyone I meet… the same questions, every time… I know it’s not your fault… gardenworlds tend to produce very genetically homogenous populations and gardenworlders tend to correct all irregularities with intervention so you’re not used to people who look so divergent from their species’ norm. Don’t worry about it. It’s more insulting when I have to have the conversation with Terrans!”
I choose not to ask why she does not wish to be treated, what with the difficulty she must face for being shorter than me, in a society where most people aren’t [achondroplasic]. Given the exhausted way she answered the rest of my questions before I’d asked them, it would probably be irritating.
Instead I ask “What is your profession, Ms. Petrikov?”
It’s very unusual that I have to ask the job title of a person aboard my ship… This is the first time I’ve had anyone employed aboard, that I didn’t personally hire!
“I’m an analyst, when we get to AG10790263b it’ll be my job to lead the interpretation of all the data we get back from the orbital scans and ground team… I won’t be going down myself(!)” she winks.
I nod.
“What about you two? Mr. Hatathli? Mr. Phan?”
“Well… we're observers from the UTC’s Humanitarian corps. It’s… our job to treat any injuries, make sure this species gets treated humanely and report any incidents and violations to the GU, ODR and UTC.” responds Phan.
“I’m sure we’ll appreciate your efforts. Our existing medics… wouldn’t be cleared for deathworld excursions(!)” I say, mirthfully.
Hatathli leans conspiratorially across the table to me and says “Hey, Tcakqaal… How much do you know about the Captain?”
I am about to say that I am the Captain… but stop myself… this might be interesting…
“A fair bit… why? What have you heard?”
“I heard she gave Mistress Miyazaki a telling off during the briefing!” laughs Hatathli.
“I heard she’s the original pilot of the ODR’s Security Officer programme. I heard that the last week we’ve been waiting to set off was because there was a mirkbeast at the uni that she was waiting to bring aboard!” adds Phan.
“I heard she rode that mirkbeast to the rescue when they fought those pirates they brought in(!)” laughs Ms. Petrikov “You can’t believe everything you hear!”
“All true…” I state with some amusement at the look of disbelief that instantly falls over their faces “…though, in her defence, the mirkbeast was brought onto the ship by CSS Taylor… she was originally very against keeping it and only reluctantly agreed, after he pointed out that the rules allow any and all pet types that are not actively aggressive to sapients and… well the first time she escaped confinement… she proved herself tame… just about(!)”
All three of them look back at me with deathworlder distrust.
“How do you know all that?” asks Petrikov.
“Well… I’m very [plugged in] to the goings on aboard this ship… the Captain and I are quite close(!)”
Furrowing his brow, Hatathli asks “What’s your job… Tcakqaal?”
Just then, Victor shouts “Cap!” causing every pair of eyes facing me to widen… mine twist into an amused smile.
“I see you’re makin’ friends…” he says, drawing up to the table.
“Just so, Victor… these three and I were just discussing your… unorthodox choice of companion animal(!)” I respond, still mirthful.
“Oh? They were askin’ about Fluffy?” he turns his attention to the others, smiling “You’re all welcome in Triple M, any time you wanna meet her!”
“Victor…” calls Tuun from across the room.
“Oop, gotta go! Seeya ’round!” he smiles turning to leave.
They stare disbelievingly from his back, as he walks away, back to me.
It’s a rather euphoric feeling to have [pulled the wool over the eyes] of a table full of Terrans!
“We’ve been tricked, we’ve been backstabbed and we’ve been, quite possibly, bamboozled(!)” laughs Hatathli.
“Indeed you have been(!)” I nod.
“Why didn’t you tell us you were the Captain?” asks Phan.
“I was interested in the candid things you’d say when you didn’t know… I hope you can forgive the deception…” I say with a Terran [wink]
“I can’t believe a gardenworlder just managed to trick all three of us.” sighs Petrikov “Astonishing!”
Still smiling, I answer “Don’t feel too bad… According to Mr. Taylor… I have the dubious distinction of being an honorary deathworlder(!)”
I stand to leave before turning back to them “If you wish to be astonished some more… well… you might try mingling a little… gardenworlders might surprise you(!)… You’re a little… unapproachable… huddled in this corner like this(!)”
With three looks of mild embarrassment, they begin getting up from the table to make their respective ways toward groups they might mingle with.
I hope they get on well enough with everyone…
It could be a long voyage otherwise(!)