Gabriel lay on the bed, his hands behind his head, squinting at the ceiling. He was deep in thought and barely noticed as Madeline came out of the shower and plopped down.

“Still no name?” She asked him, a towel over her shoulder.

“Naming a spaceship is harder than I expected,” Gabriel said. It had been two days after the inspection and Gabriel had tried to explain Star Trek, Star wars, and whatever other sci-fi he remembered to get some help finding a name.

“Understandable,” Madeline said while drying her head.

“Titanic? no, that ship sank, likely a bad choice. Enterprise? probably not,” Gabriel mused. “Any suggestions?”

“None, this one is all on you,” Madeline grinned and settled down, laying her head on his shoulder.

“Thanks...” Gabriel sighed. “The… no, I got nothing.” He sighed and rubbed his face. “What do you Zilgi name your ships?”

“We include size class, general-purpose, and either a number or name. For example… Transport 3 Titanic,” Madeline said. “But this is not a Zilgi ship and you’re not Zilgi. What do humans name their ships?”

“Anything really,” Gabriel said. “A friend of the family had a boat called The unsinkable 3.” Madeline snorted as Gabriel continued. “Otherwise they can be named after people, places, or other… well I don’t think there are any rules.”

“So you have every option available to you,” Madeline said.

“I guess,” Gabriel said and sighed again. “If we hadn’t just gotten up, I would sleep on it.”

“You still have time,” Madeline said and ran her fingers through her damp fur. “I know we have nothing today, but was there anything planned for tomorrow?”

“Selecting a name, deciding on a plan of operation… and I think that’s it.”

“What do we get to decide?”

“Not much I expect, maybe we’ll just get to hear the plans Krihana has cooked up.”

“Yeah, should we lay in bed all day today or get some breakfast and go out?”

“Breakfast in either case,” Gabriel said and sat up. “Maybe we should get something done, work out at least.”

“Yeah, probably,” Madeline said in agreement and got out of the bed. “Though we can get some training done in bed as well. It’s been a few days.” She leaned down and kissed him, then lightly nibbled on his lower lip.

“You make a good point,” Gabriel said, he put his hand on her hips, just as his stomach rumbled. “...Breakfast first?”

“Yeah, I’m hungry as well,” Madeline chirped. She very deliberately brushed against him and swayed her butt as she walked over and grabbed a sweatshirt. “You coming?”

“Temptress,” Gabriel muttered with a smile and grabbed a shirt.

Breakfast was as usual a mix of just about everything. Gabriel chose bread and various spreads and cold cuts. Madeline picked something akin to beans and sausage. Gabriel was getting used to being stared at by this point. Over the last few days though, some attitudes had changed. There was much less hostility. Still some hesitation and caution, but most looked curious. As one would seeing a new alien for the first time Gabriel supposed. All this assuming he could read expressions correctly at a glance which might be a stretch.

Still, he had more important things on his mind. In particular the red and green alien across from him that was licking her lips seductively. They both quickly finished their breakfast before Madeline grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the elevators. They quickly headed to their room and shut and locked the door.

Madeline pulled off her sweatshirt and threw it on a chair, she sat down on the bed facing him, “You know I have to take another shower after this, hope you can make it worth it.”

“I’ll do my best ma’am,” Gabriel said with mock seriousness. He threw his shirt over his shoulder and walked over.

Madeline smiled and put her hands around his neck, pulling him down on top of her, “See that you do,” She chirped and kissed him. Gabriel got his knees under him and let a hand wander up her shirt. Madeline moaned softly and pulled at his shirt.

“Easy,” Gabriel chuckled, “Let’s take it slow.”

Madeline feigned a pout, “Not going to take me like a wild savage alien then?”

“... I mean,” Gabriel began. Madeline began chirping again and kissed his neck.

“Fine, but we can go slow without clothes,” Madeline relented and pulled at his shirt again.

“I can’t really argue with that,” Gabriel shrugged and pulled his shirt off. Madeline ran her hands down his chest and stomach.

“Now my turn,” Madeline said and stretched her arms up. Gabriel began pulling up her shirt, kissing her stomach as he went. He pulled the shirt up over her head but stopped at her hands, keeping them pinned over her head. “Mhm, do I get tied up and taken after all?”

“Wasn’t planning on it,” Gabriel said and pulled the shirt tighter around her hands, “But we can give it a shot.”

“Do I get to tie you up next time?” Madeline asked and wrapped her legs around his back.

Gabriel grinned, “Do you need to? you still seem in control.”

“That’s irrelevant, now kiss me,” Madeline said.

“Gladly,” Gabriel said and did just that. They kept it up for a few minutes while Gabriel's free hand was caressing her body, provoking soft sounds and moans.

“That’s good, now lose the pants,” Madeline more or less commanded.

Gabriel released her hands and sat up, undoing his pants, “The Endeavour!” He exclaimed.

“What?”

“The ship! The Endeavour,” Gabriel said again. “The Human Endeavour?”

“Did you...” Madeline paused for a second before breaking into chirping so hard she put her hand over her stomach. “I… I love you, Gabe.” She said catching her breath.

“I love you too,” Gabriel grinned back and peeled off his pants, “So?”

“What?” Madeline asked, wiping away tears and giggling.

“The name?”

“It’s good, yeah, I like it,” Madeline said smiling broadly and undoing her pants. “It’s just the timing, now help me with this.”

“Yeah, of course,” Gabriel laughed and reached down, taking another opportunity to plant kisses as her pants came off.

An undetermined amount of time later, Gabriel once again sat on the bed, staring at the ceiling. The Endeavour. He liked the name, but maybe it needed something more. Like the Terran Endeavour, or maybe Human was better after all. He would give it some thought. Maybe naming after his family would not be a bad choice either. Walker De León? De León Walker?

Though his mother had taken his father's name when they married it still sounded quite good. Walker De León would mean from León though. And while Gabriel had visited several times, he had never lived there. Still, his mother's family lived there, maybe they still do, a few generations later.

Madeline stepped out of the shower, wearing only a towel that she was currently using to dry her head. Gabriel quickly broke out of his thoughts to stare at his alien lover.

“What?” Madeline asked as she caught him staring.

“Just wondering if we have time for another round,” Gabriel mused.

Madeline chirped, “I’ve just taken another shower, maybe tonight.” She dressed and sat down on the bed, brushing her tail. “Are you getting bored with all this waiting or is it just me?”

“Not just you,” Gabriel said and rubbed his face. He moved over and took the brush from Madeline. She let him brush away and picked up her pcu.

“I know we are leaving in three days, but as nice as it is going shopping or eating at restaurants, I want to go to space,” Madeline sighed and leaned against him.

Gabriel smiled and kept brushing, “I know how you feel, while space travel can get boring, it’s still space travel.”

“Yeah, arriving at a new planet is hard to beat. Still, this might be our last free day until we leave, we should do… something,” Madeline said.

“I agree, but I’m new to space, what do we have to choose from?”

“Well… I don’t know,” Madeline shrugged, “Should we ask Cani and Sen’Chakar if they want to do something? Deana is still in jail right?”

“Yes to the second question,” Gabriel said. “She gets out when we leave, and we can ask. I haven't seen them since we landed.”

“Take a shower, I’ll call them,” Madeline said and grabbed the brush again. Gabriel obeyed and headed off. A refreshing shower and beard trim later he walked out and began digging through his new Union clothes. Madeline was typing on her phone but looked busy. Gabriel selected a pair of black pants similar to Chinos and a V-neck shirt that was popular, or so he was told.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“Right, so Sen’Chakar has accepted a role on the ship, as your guard I’ve been told. Cani is the third pilot as well if you hadn’t heard,” Madeline said as Gabriel pulled on his shirt.

“I hadn’t, that’s good news.”

“Sen’Chakar is however busy for the day, and said he might be free later after dinner, Cani is free and said available for whatever, as long as it ends with alcohol.”

“So we have to end the day in a bar?” Gabriel asked.

“Yep,” Madeline said. “There is a game center not too far from here, maybe we can try some of them.”

“Oh? what kind of games?”

“I guess similar to those old arcade games you talked about. No, maybe not. You pay and receive a booth where you can play virtual reality—that was what you called it right?” Madeline asked. Gabriel nodded and she continued. “Yeah, so VR games. I think you can order food and drinks as well. But no alcohol.”

“We can go there after lunch then,” Gabriel said. “Do you think anyone else is free?”

“Everyone else we know is on work hours, maybe after dinner,” Madeline said.

“Right, of course, what time is it?”

“About a movie-length until lunch,” she said.

“Subtle, what do you want to watch?” Gabriel chuckled.

“The second part of that crime mystery we watched earlier.”

“The Roniean one or the Kirini one?” Gabriel asked and tried his best to navigate the screen on the wall.

“Kirini.”

Gabriel found the movie even better than the first one. The Kirini liked to split their movies into two hours parts which meant the first was more to set up the premise and introduce the characters. This second part was when the action and mystery began. They were also good at subtle hints and letting the audience come to their own conclusions. Gabriel had always been annoyed at moves that treated their audience like idiots. He always liked the phrase show, don’t tell.

“That was good,” He said after it finished, “I almost missed the hint about the damaged jacket.”

“Yeah, that was sneaky,” Madeline agreed. Her pcu pinged, “How about lunch?” she asked looking at it. “We’ll meet Cani at the game center after.”

“Sounds good to me,” Gabriel said. They ate a quick lunch at the hotel restaurant, Gabriel chose a light salad, in case the VR games induced some motion sickness.

“Excuse me.” Gabriel looked up from his meal to a pair of Quizeaterans.

“Hi, can I help you?”

“I apologize if we are bothering you, but may our son take a picture with you, he is trying to get one with every race you see,” the male finished.

“Oh, sure, that’s fine,” Gabriel said smiling but made sure not to show teeth.

“Does he have one with a Zilgi?” Madeline asked.

“I’ll bet he does not have one with a human and a Zilgi,” Gabriel said.

“No to both,” The male said and waved his son over. “He will be bragging about this to everyone for weeks I think.”

A smaller Quizeateran walked over with an object that was likely a camera. He looked a little unsure but handed the camera to his father.

“So, should I strike a pose?” Gabriel asked happily.

Madeline chirped and got out of her chair to kneel beside the kid, “Let’s get the more common one out of the way first,” she said and faced the camera. Her fur ridge rose, showing her race's version of a smile, a gesture she used less and less around Gabriel. The father took a picture and Madeline turned to Gabriel.

“My turn?” Gabriel asked. He kneeled as well, “Should we get a professional picture, a funny one, or both?” He gently asked the kid.

“Um, both please,” the kid answered carefully. Madeline stayed for the first picture, then moved out of the frame for the second, while Gabriel did his best to look happy without too much of a smile.

“Right, now for the funny one, what should we do?” Gabriel asked and rubbed his chin. “Wanna ride on my shoulders?” The kid nodded and Gabriel smiled. He leaned down and picked him up, placing him on his shoulders. The father took the picture and while showing his kid, the mother walked up.

“Thank you, that was kind.”

“No problem, I’m happy there are at least some willing to talk to me,” Gabriel said. “I think there are still some bad rumors floating around.”

“I will not deny that, but we will tell our friends they are false. Now, we’ll leave you to your lunch, sorry for disturbing you,” She said and bowed. Gabriel and Madeline returned the gesture and the family walked off.

“That was nice,” Gabriel said and sat down to finish his salad.

“Yeah, but we should get going if we want to meet up with Cani,” Madeline said and finished the last of her meal. Gabriel quickly did the same and they started down the street towards the game center. It was relatively close, meaning about a 20-minute walk. When they reached the building Cani was waiting outside on a bench.

“There you are, right on time,” She said and stood. She shook hands with both of them. “It’s been a while.”

“Yeah, it’s been a strange few days,” Gabriel said.

“That I can agree with,” Cani said. “Shall we? there is a new game I want to try out.”

They headed into the game center and got a room, the room itself had two areas for VR, a section with couches and a table and two screens showing each player's perspective separating the play area from the seating area.

“Cool,” Gabriel said.

“Yep,” Cani said and pointed to one area, “Now get those glasses on, we’re going into battle,” She grinned.

Gabriel walked over and found several boxes on the wall, “So, what do I do?”

“You need to select a pair,” Madeline said and walked over. “I suppose Roniean glasses will fit best, or maybe Kirini.” She opened two boxes and handed Gabriel two pairs. Kirini fit better as Ronieans had quite a bit broader noses. The glasses were see-through but clumsy and narrowed his vision. Then, after Cani had selected a game, a controller resembling a rifle popped out.

“You know how to shoot right?” Cani asked him.

“Yep, so what is this game?”

“Standard shooting game hit the red silhouette and don’t get shot.” She pressed a button on her controller and Gabriel’s glasses darkened before a screen turned on. The resolution and frame rate were excellent, though the graphics were simplified. The walls were grey without much texture, same with the cover and ground. But it was simple enough to dodge and shoot, and Gabriel found it fun. It turned out to be a cooperating shooter, where some weak points on enemies were only visible for one player.

It did take a death or two for Gabriel to get into it and figure out everything but after that, it was smooth sailing.

“That was fun,” Gabriel said after they died on the boss on level 30.

“Yeah, more challenging than the previous game,” Cani said. “But we did well, now I need a drink.”

“My turn then, Gabriel are you good for another game?”

“Yep, what are we playing?”

“I only recognize one, so that,” Madeline said and pulled on glasses. The game was a rhythm game where orbs appeared that needed to be touched on beats. Gabriel had fun punching and kicking the orbs and they played several songs before Madeline called it. “Alright, that’s enough for me,” she said fanning her face.

“Yeah, I could use a break,” Gabriel agreed. They joined Cani on the couch and ordered drinks. “So, Cani, what have you been up to?”

“Well, after giving my statement to the security after Deana was arrested I needed to spend some time getting my ship properly stored.” She sighed and shook her head. “Very annoying that. This city is compact and they don’t have many hangars that it could sit in for any length of time. Then I visited Deana a few times, talked with Sen’Chakar a bit, and did some maintenance on my ship. Finally fixed some small problems that were bugging me.”

“So not as unproductive as we have been,” Madeline said smiling.

“I’ve kept busy, but I haven’t arranged a ship to Roniean II in search of kidnapped humans,” Cani countered.

“Fair point,” Madeline said. “But I suspect those plans were underway before we came here. At least part of it.”

“It did seem that way yes,” Gabriel agreed. “I’m happy you decided to join us on the trip.”

“Well, I’m not swimming in credits.” Cani shrugged. “Besides, I never got to take Deana on that date. But speaking of dates, I hope you two have had one.”

“Well,” Gabriel began and looked over at Madeline.

“Somewhat,” Madeline said. “We had a double date that served to arrest some thugs that were causing trouble. Was fun though,” she admitted. “But we have had some private movie dates.”

“Nothing wrong with those,” Cani nodded. “About the only one you can have on a ship, at least if you want it private.”

“Then we need to buy more movies,” Madeline said just as her pcu pinged. “Oh, Sen’Chakar can join us for dinner.”

“I know a great bar,” Cani said and sat up straight. “They serve Roniean and Cecaiampal alcohol,” she said excitedly.

“So Cecaiampals enjoys a drink as well?” Gabriel asked.

“Yes, correct me if I’m wrong but they, us Roniean and Kirini are the only ones that had to make alcoholic drinks to kill germs right? Long before space travel I mean.” Cani asked Madeline.

Madeline shrugged, “That sounds correct, we technically used a poison to kill germs, gives other races a stomach ache if they drink too much.”

“Right, same with Igris. Though I suppose alcohol is a poison,” Cani said. “But I’m not well versed in early civilizations. Not my own and less everyone else's.”

“We fermented drinks as well, though I supposed you already guessed that,” Gabriel added. “I would like to try some different stuff later though.”

“That can be arranged, I will recommend stuff for you,” Cani grinned. “But now, back to the games.”

They played several different games, all were made to be played in a stationary area, and while the area did sometimes change, there were no running around. But, as Gabriel was just getting used to it, that suited him just fine. When the time for dinner approached, they headed out and met up with Sen’Chakar at a bar that Cani recommended. The clientele were mostly Ronieans, Cecaiampals, and the occasional other race.

“Been busy?” Gabriel asked Sen’Chakar.

“Yes, I’ve given my statements about the… s” He paused for a moment, no one seemed to be listening in but his head moved slightly side to side. Gabriel assumed he was looking around, but with no visible pupils that were hard to see. “About the gang and location where we found ourselves. I have also been in contact with my old employer and explained the situation. And of course, began preparation to join you on the trip.”

“Not that I don’t appreciate you joining us, but don’t you have friends and family back home?” Gabriel asked him.

“I do, more friends and less family. Though this is important, and not something I will let go of, they would want me to do this.”

Gabriel nodded, “Alright, I just don’t want to force any of you on a trip you don’t feel like taking. Cani, you said you weren’t going into danger again. Maybe not with those words but still.”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m staying on the ship,” Cani said grinning. “With all the guards, it will be safe. Unless the Roniean government sells us out that is. However, allowing criminals to attack a Union Ambassador’s ship will mean a lot of trouble and very heavy fines and restrictions that I hope they want to avoid.”

“What if they are sneaky about it?” Gabriel asked. Cani shrugged and took a sip of her drink.

“Every civilized dock has guards, usually quite a lot of them, especially Ronieans. We combine our space docks with our version of Union Security.”

“I see, so attacking a docked ship is equal to attacking the local Security force?”

“Yeah, sort of. They are right next door. If you are very sneaky I suppose you could get on board a ship and cause some trouble, but if they are alerted, you can't escape.” Cani shrugged, “I mean in theory, we have scanners for weapons and such as well.”

“Well, I feel better about the trip,” Madeline said and held up her glass, “To the Endeavour,” she said.

“To the Endeavour!” Gabriel said, raising his glass. “The stand-in name for our ship!” He added as Cani and Sen were giving him looks.

The rest of the evening was filled with drinking, pleasant conversations, and good food. They eventually said goodby, Sen’Chakar taking Cani back to the hotel where they both had been places and Madeline and Gabriel walking back to their place.

Gabriel would be busy the next few days and couldn’t wait. He was getting restless and wanted to get going. The sooner they left, the sooner they could find Victoria. Though he had to admit, going with Justicars and security members was the smart choice. He sighed and squeezed Madeline's hand as they walked. She leaned on his shoulder and they enjoyed the weather, the scent of rain was in the air but no drips fell before they entered their room and turned in for the night.