---Water---
I’m still ruminating on the footage I saw earlier as I ride Victor’s shoulder through the halls of Citadel’s ODR.
I find myself wondering what R’qal would do if we discovered a band of hundreds of hermit R’qali who had been living in isolation, outside the Clanlaw since before it was even established, the way we lived [2 million years] ago.
I don’t know what we would do but I can confidently say that, no matter how clear they made it that it was what they wanted, leaving them to their own devices would not be considered… much less establishing an entire agency to make sure they were left to their own devices!
I’m not sure what the crueller approach would be… dragging those Human’s, kicking and screaming, into Terra’s 28th Century or letting them be?
On the one claw, one must assume that their isolationism is based on faulty assumptions about what modern society looks like and how it operates and, surely, they would be glad to be part of it if they knew the truth?
On the other, that would involve taking the choice away from them… which may make them so resentful that they would be incapable of appreciating the benefits…
I suppose, it’s somewhat the same as the few hundred planets, like Tuun’s cradle, that refuse membership in the Galactic Union. I think it’s a mistake but I would never advocate for invading them to force them to join… if there were a Parliamentary Debate about that issue, I would enthusiastically throw my support behind the noninterventionists.
“Ah, Mistress Miyazaki… and the crew of the Bright Plume, I presume?” interjects one of a slightly nervous looking pair of employees who have just appeared ahead of us “You’re a little early.”
“Yes… well…” smiles Emiko “…It seems that between myself and these two here…” she gestures at me and Victor “…we managed to do a little too good of a job impressing on everyone the need for punctuality(!)… We found ourselves all gathered in the shuttle bay with time to spare so decided to set off a little early.”
“Well… most of your new crewmembers haven’t arrived yet… Mr Bak and I were just on our way to fetch the Oceanographer… would you like one of us to lead you to the gymnasium?”
“Actually, Mr…” she leans to check his nametag “…Kasongo, I was wondering if I might have a little talk with Miraala, first?… I was… prevented from talking to her at her embassy the other day.”
“That’s fine, Mistress, but…” Kasongo looks at the crowd behind us “…I don’t know if it’s advisable for such a large crowd to go into that room… Would it be acceptable if I lead everyone else straight to the gym and let my colleague take you to the Aquarium?”
“My bodyguard will have to come…” she says with effortless charm “…and these two as well.” she indicates me and Victor.
“That’s fine…” nods Kasongo “…there’s space for the four of you.”
With that he takes the lead of the rest of the group and Victor, Emiko, Ms Hunter and I are lead away by Mr Bak.
We descend a set of stairs to a subterranean floor that will certainly be below the water level of the canal outside the entrance.
I presume the Osiyul woman must have come in through an aquatic entrance that runs under the street outside.
We come into a room, at the far side of which is a plexiglass wall, holding back crystal clear water.
If that plexiglass were to suddenly vanish, even the Terrans would be killed by the force of the liquid impacting them!
Inside the tank floats a Human wearing a breathing mask and diving suit and holding a large collar in her hand.
To our left, there is a chamber, containing a [1.7m] tall, egg shaped object with a flattened bottom and a top that has been sliced off at an angle.
Then, she emerges.
Over [3m] long from tail tip to the front of her nose, swimming forward, horizontally, her skin is light blue, except for the bulbous finger tips of her two, four digit hands, her patches of smoky periocular skin and her belly skin so pale it’s almost white.
Her back is lined with spines and she wears no clothing.
She has no legs and, where they would be on a Human, instead has a large, muscular tail, ending in a horizontal fluke, like a Terran Cetacean.
The places on her head where a Human would have ears bear instead hydrodynamic fins.
Her eyes are a piercing blue colour with [W] shaped pupils and her neck sports eight long slits, four on each side.
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She orients herself vertically in the watercolumn, looking down at the Terran in the tank with her.
The two greet eachother by swivelling their respective forearms in mirrored 90° arcs in front of their chests, after which, they have a brief exchange of signs, though not using any grammar I recognise from Galactic Basic Sign Language.
The Terran woman hands the Osiyul the collar, which, after a brief moment’s hesitation, she affixes around her neck over her gills.
The attendant Terran then gestures to the chamber with the enormous, bisected egg in it and the larger woman drifts over to it.
Somewhat awkwardly, she slides the fluke of her tail into the opening at the top and then fans her arms upward to slide the rest of her body into the device, up to her waist.
Experimentally, she directs it up, down, backward, forward, left and right before signalling a presumable ‘OK’ to the woman behind her.
The attendant seals the far door, isolating the woman in the chamber.
She looks slightly nervous as the water level drops from the ceiling, lower and lower, until her head breaches its surface.
She does not immediately begin to suffocate.
The aquarespirator collar seems to be functioning as intended.
The egg shaped object she’s currently inside of does not begin to sink when it looks like it should.
In fact, the waterlevel manages to reach all the way to its base and then keep going without its position in space changing at all.
Her hoverchair is also functioning as intended.
The airlock now completely empty, the nearside door opens.
Mr Bak steps forward, performing the same arm swivel as the woman in the tank did before switching to his own sound medium language to say “Welcome to the Citadel ODR, Ms Miraala. It’s a pleasure to have you here.”
Her facial expression is unreadable as she signs in the direction of the group.
Having no vocal chords, there is no voice onto which her translated meaning can be layered. However, the metatextual information provided along with her translation informs me of what I already knew. She is a well spoken young woman with (by my species’ standards) a decidedly masculine softness to her mode of speech.
“I am pleased to be given this opportunity…” she turns to Emiko “…You are the one I was to meet the other day?”
Stepping forward with a remorseful grimace, Emiko answers “Yes. My sincere apologies for failing to attend… Circumstances conspired against us.”
Her tone is flagged as mirthful as the aquatic woman signs “‘Circumstances conspired against you’ is a way that only a Terran would describe an assassination attempt(!)”
There is a general chuckle at that.
“So… Ms Miraala, there’s a lot to discuss, disclaim and otherwise brief you on: Most of it will be stuff you can hear about at the security briefing we’re all about to receive but I just thought I would allow Tcakqaal here to have a brief chat with you about the accommodations we’ve made for you on the ship, if that’s alright.”
“Of course.” responds the soft spoken woman, politely turning her attention to me.
Despite her large size, the height she loses from her lower body being folded inside her hoverchair means that I’m talking down to her from my perch atop Victor’s shoulder.
I consider hopping down to ground level out of respect but that might make talking even more difficult, given the obstacle to eye contact presented by her mobility device.
I decide to stay where I am and address her from Victor’s shoulder.
Extending my wings and dipping my head in a respectful greeting, I address the woman “It shall be my pleasure to accommodate you aboard my ship, Ms Miraala. However, I’m sure you are already aware that it is a vessel primarily designed for terrestrial vertebrates, who breathe an oxygenated, gaseous atmosphere… As such, the accommodations for aquatic species are… not as comprehensive as they could be.”
Her tone is flagged as warm and understanding as she signs “Nothing I’m not used to, Captain… Though, I understand my quarters will be waterfilled, at least?”
“Indeed… We already have two Rethijj crewmembers who require habtanks, so it was a relatively simple matter for my Maintenance Officer to convert one of the rooms to be watertight for you and my Chief Custodial Officer to rig you up a water purification and oxygenation system… Unfortunately, regulations wouldn’t have allowed for the airlock to have protruded into the hallway so, that means, your quarters will have slightly less living space than most.” I say, ruefully.
“The last airbreathing ship I was on expected me to wear one of these the entire journey…” she says, tapping her respirator collar “…Even constantly moisturising my skin, I had a bad case of xeroderma by the end of that trip… This arrangement is a marked improvement over that one!”
“That sounds awful… My Engineering Lead has explained to me what happens to her skin if she fails to apply her water retention gel to an area of it when moving through air for any significant period… It certainly doesn’t sound like something I would like to force you to tolerate!… If you experience any issues at all with the hygiene or water quality in your quarters, please do not hesitate to bring it up either to myself or Chief Custodial Officer Glark… If you notice any structural issues, then either myself or Maintenance Officer Bam are the ones you need to talk to.”
Her sharp featured face takes on a warm expression as she signs “I certainly will, Captain. Thank you.”
“Alright then, shall we make our way to the gymnasium?” smiles Emiko.
There is a general chorus of agreement as the six of us present turn to make our way back up the stairs.
Ms Miraala’s hoverchair is buffeted a little as each step causes it to jump [20cm] or so higher in the air in a way that looks moderately uncomfortable.
“You might be able to change the settin’s on that…” opines Victor “…there’ll be one called something like ‘gradients’ that you can play around with an’ see if it’ll make stair climbin’ any smoother…”
“I’m sure she has used one before, Victor.” says Emiko with a wry smirk.
“Yeah, OK… sorry… Just, in my line of work, I’d rather give an unnecessary piece of advice than not give one that might’ve been useful.” answers the man, throwing up his hands in concession.
“Thank you for the advice.” signs the aquatic woman, tactfully not clarifying whether it was necessary.
With Mr Bak leading the way, we navigate the ground floor halls and eventually find our way to a set of open doors into a spacious room.
I see the group that was lead here by the other attendant, Kasongo, I see a few of the new additions to the ODR contingent aboard, I see some ODR employees.
I see no sign of the individual who made it necessary to hold this briefing in such a spacious, high ceilinged area.
Mr Bak is the first one past the threshold and starts in surprise as his head whips up at a 45° angle to his left.
Forewarned by the man’s reaction, Emiko exhibits no surprise as she follows his gaze and warmly greets “Ah, Mr Ro’oo’u’ouu… I’m very glad to see that you made it.”