ã€ŠCASE - A Fluffy Lesbian Science Fictionã€‹


 Chapter 1: Lunar Base Delta

    5th of January 2205 - UFE Lunar Base Delta - The Moon

    The lunar landscape looked peaceful through the reinforced glass of launch terminal E, a couple of scorch marks betraying it hadn¡¯t always been that way. My dark blue uniform was barely visible in the reflection, apart from the golden stripes on my epaulettes and the emblem of the federation on my beret.

    ¡°U-uhm¡­ Commander, could I ask you something?¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡± I turned around. I hadn¡¯t really expected anyone here this early before launch. Before me stood a woman in her early twenties, if not younger, clearly only just out of officer training. One thick golden bar and a star. ¡°Is something wrong, Ensign?¡±

    ¡°Oh sh¡­ Commander Davis. Sorry, I didn¡¯t know it was you, ma¡¯am!¡± She immediately saluted me and didn¡¯t move a millimeter.

    ¡°At ease Ensign,¡± I softly smiled to put her at ease. ¡°First of all, what¡¯s your name?¡±

    She hesitantly dropped her salute, ¡°Uh...uh... Y-Yuki Yuigahama, ma¡¯am.¡±

    ¡°So, Ensign Yuigahama, what was your question?¡±

    ¡°Uh, right¡­ I just got off the transport, and I was looking for UFS Antananana¡­. uh¡­¡± She was clearly still nervous, which was actually quite cute.

    ¡°You mean Antananarivo?¡±

    She nodded.

    ¡°They are launching from terminal B.¡± I motioned her to come closer, which she immediately did. ¡°It¡¯s on the other side of the station, you can see it from over here.¡± I took her by the shoulder and pointed to the far left. You could only barely see it from this angle, though.

    ¡°Oh! Right, thank you, ma¡¯am.¡±

    ¡°Did no one on your transport say where you should go?¡±

    ¡°They were all assigned to a different ship, ma¡¯am.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t they supposed to bring you here with the rest of your crew?¡±

    ¡°Some Lieutenant just pushed me on, he wouldn¡¯t take no for an answer.¡±

    ¡°That is definitely not supposed to happen. Do you remember his name?¡±

    Ensign Yuigahama shook her head. ¡°No, it all went so fast I didn¡¯t manage to see his name tag¡­¡±

    I sighed. ¡°Well, let¡¯s hope stuff like that won¡¯t delay my launch because I¡¯m going to be pretty annoyed at that.¡±

    ¡°I hope so for you too, ma¡¯am.¡± She slowly backed away from me, turned around, turned back, then turned around again. ¡°And thank you for the help, ma¡¯am.¡± She gave me a quick salute before she hesitantly turned around one more time.

    ¡°Is there something you still want to ask, Ensign?¡±

    She turned back to me, I could see a bit of fear in her eyes. ¡°No¡­ u-uh¡­ well¡­ maybe¡­¡±

    ¡°Out with it, Ensign Yuigahama.¡± I said in a friendly tone. Although I already knew what question she was going to ask.

    ¡°I-I was wondering if you fought here¡­¡±

    There we go. 95% of questions I get always end up at the Unification War. That honestly wasn¡¯t that surprising, as I did earn my stars in the war, making me one of the youngest commanding officers in the history of the United Federation Navy. Since heroes are good for propaganda, they made sure to capitalize on that. I eventually got used to the questions, but things had happened in the war that I¡¯d rather not remember.

    I still nodded, though. ¡°Right over that ridgeline over there.¡± I turned around and pointed at one of the more scorched ridges in the distance. ¡°If you take off from terminal B, you should still be able to see where the trenches were.¡±

    ¡°I heard it was a hellish fight.¡±

    ¡°Most of the fights were, but it stings a bit more when you are fighting over space rocks.¡± We were fighting over quite a bit more than that, but that¡¯s definitely how it felt to us soldiers on the ground. It was one of the first major battles of the war, and incidentally also one of the bloodiest. Getting even a scratch in the vacuum of space isn¡¯t the best for your survival chances. Luckily the Battle of Luna concluded the war in space, not that that lessened any of the fighting on earth though. ¡°We lost a lot of good people¡­¡±

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    Ensign Yuigahama nodded solemnly. ¡°Thank you for taking your time for me, Commander.¡±

    ¡°No problem.¡±

    ¡°I guess I should go now.¡± She saluted me and attempted to walk away.

    I stopped her just before she could go, giving her that ¡®dear-in-the-headlights¡¯ look again. ¡°Before you leave, I¡¯ll give you one tip. The foodbot in cafeteria C is slightly bugged and gives way more toppings on pizza than the other ones. Just in case you¡¯re interested in that.¡±

    She couldn¡¯t hold back a giggle and saluted me again. ¡°Thanks, Commander, I¡¯ll be sure to remember that.¡±

    Now I saluted her back and sent her on her way.

    Being alone again in the massive launch terminal, I decided to take a look at the ship that¡¯d be my home for the next couple of years. It was docked at the far end of the terminal, I could already see her through the windows due to her fairly big size, especially compared to the other ships that would launch from this site. The admiralty had planned way bigger ships than this, but those wouldn¡¯t be suited for the kind of mission we were being sent on because they lacked the ability to enter and take-off from the atmosphere. That being said, she wasn¡¯t the most aerodynamic ship ever with her angular shapes. Launching shuttles from orbit would be our go-to way to get to the planets¡¯ surface, but we still had the option to land and take-off with the entire frigate if we really needed to. The handbook strongly advised against that though, as it would leave us exceptionally vulnerable to whatever we could encounter in outer space.

    When I got closer to the windows, a faint smell of smoke caught my attention.

    ¡°Also here to look at our beauty, Commander?¡±

    I saw my Gunnery Sergeant laying down on the row of seats facing the window, his arms crossed behind his head. He had an ashtray on the ground next to him, completely disregarding the big ¡®no smoking sign¡¯ just a couple of meters next to him against one of the support pillars.

    ¡°Gunnery Sergeant Turner.¡± I nodded. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you were going to quit?¡±

    ¡°Eh.¡± He shrugged. ¡°Won¡¯t be able to get any once we are on board, so I thought one wouldn¡¯t hurt.¡±

    ¡°One, huh?¡± I looked at the ashtray. ¡°One packet, you mean?¡±

    He laughed and stood up from his improvised bed, at which I smiled and offered my hand. Turner gladly took it and shook it happily. ¡°Good to have you, Commander.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m glad you are coming with us, Gunny.¡±

    Gunnery Sergeant Turner was one of the most hard-ass soldiers I knew. I met him at the Battle of Newfoundland and we¡¯d fought the rest of the war together after that. At the Battle of Iceland he¡¯d refused to get medical aid even though he¡¯d been shot four times. It always was a mystery to me why he hadn¡¯t been promoted above Gunnery Sergeant. Until one day, while getting drunk at the bar, he told me he¡¯d always refused promotions because he liked the sound of Gunnery Sergeant too much. To each their own, I guess.

    ¡°When are we launching?¡± He ran his hand through his short black hair that was turning grey at a couple of points.

    ¡°Depends. Normally this time tomorrow, but I still haven¡¯t met the new XO yet.¡± I looked at my watch. Keeping time in space was always a bit funky.

    ¡°Is the old one okay, Paul, wasn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°I heard he was okay considering the circumstances.¡± I nodded.

    ¡°Sure is rough having to lose family members like that and becoming the guardian of their children.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm. Wouldn¡¯t want to be in his position.¡±

    ¡°And what do you know about the new one?¡±

    ¡°Not a lot, actually.¡± I took out my holostick from my pocket, which swiftly expanded into a holographic tablet. ¡°Got excellent marks on the proficiency tests, but somehow she doesn¡¯t have a lot of other things on record. She did get assigned directly to us by the admiralty, so I guess it¡¯s fine.¡±

    ¡°Hope she¡¯s not so stuck up like the LC who commanded us during Iceland.¡±

    ¡°I mean, you did have a hole the size of a golf ball in your gut. So I can kind of understand him.

    ¡°Nah, he just really didn¡¯t like me.¡±

    ¡°Well, next time you have a life-threatening injury, tell me I¡¯m going too far by making the medics take you to the medbay.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯d never!¡±

    ¡°Watch me.¡±

    We both started laughing and stared out of the window.

    ¡°Think you¡¯ll be able to find what you¡¯re looking for out there?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll see. The galaxy is a big place.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s definitely true, but...¡±

    The ringing of my holostick interrupted the conversation. ¡°Commander Davis, your XO has arrived at the Transport Landing.¡± One of the station''s administrators notified me.

    ¡°Thank you, I¡¯ll go and meet her.¡± I put my stick back and looked at Turner. ¡°You coming to meet our XO, gunny?¡±

    ¡°Might as well.¡± He quickly gathered the ashtray and made sure his uniform was tidy before we headed off to the central area of the station where the transports from Earth landed.

    Even though this place was quite busy since a new transport had just landed, I could spot my XO from the moment we entered the hall because she was the only one standing completely still in the soup of people running around.

    When we got closer, she stiffly saluted. Her medium length red hair waved slightly because of the sudden movement. ¡°Commander Lauren Davis, I¡¯m Lieutenant-Commander Luna Moore, reporting for duty on the UFS Roald Amundsen.¡±

    ¡°Nice to meet you, Lieutenant-Commander. Welcome aboard.¡± I saluted back and smiled.

    She dropped her salute without a sign of a smile on her face and walked past me. ¡°I¡¯ll go on to the ship to do some pre-flight inspections.¡±

    ¡°LC, we still have a day¡­¡± But she was already on her way.

    ¡°Well, that wasn¡¯t very friendly.¡± Gunny joined me by my side as we watched the LC walk off towards terminal E.

    ¡°Maybe she just needs to warm up to us a bit first.¡± I shrugged.

    ¡°I hope so.¡±

    ¡°Anyway, want to go grab some pizza?¡±

    ¡°Cafeteria C?¡±

    ¡°Where else?¡± I smiled.

    Gunny grinned. ¡°Let¡¯s go, I¡¯m buying.¡±

 Chapter 1 Bis: Preparing for Disaster

    ¡°According to deep space intelligence, a new race has reached the capabilities of FTL travel. It is the task of you three to provide us with more detailed information on their intentions.¡±

    ¡°These ¡®humans¡¯ apparently have a violent history, so it is adamant for the safety of the Conglomerate that your assessment is complete and accurate.¡±

    ¡°If this race cannot be trusted, they will be snuffed out.¡±

    ¡°We do not want a repeat of what happened with the Empire.¡±

    ¡°Speaking of which, keep your eyes out for the Empire¡¯s involvement. The humans have been developing very fast, the Empire¡¯s influence has been suspected.¡±

    ¡°As usual you will be equipped with advanced disguise kits, translation AI¡¯s and hacking tools.¡±

    ¡°Be sure to keep us posted frequently.¡±

    The screens that showed the security council went black.

    ¡°Hyped for your first mission, Ln?¡± One of my two colleagues puts their hand on my shoulder.

    ¡°I¡¯m nervous, Kt.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll be okay.¡± Sr said while inspecting their locker. ¡°You¡¯re the most competent rookie we¡¯ve seen.¡±

    ¡°Otherwise they wouldn¡¯t have picked you.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for the vote of confidence.¡±

    --Two years later--

    ¡°Ln, you¡¯ll be assigned to the UFS Roald Amundsen under Commander Lauren Davis.¡± Kt contacted me after I set up my silence bubble.

    ¡°A ship? Wouldn¡¯t I be more useful on the planet?¡±

    ¡°The Roald Amundsen is the human¡¯s most advanced ship to date and is set to go on a long-term exploration mission. It¡¯s our best shot to see how humans will react to new lifeforms.¡±

    ¡°Do I need to keep an eye out for the Empire¡¯s meddling?¡±

    ¡°We haven¡¯t seen any signs of them yet, but always expect the unexpected.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that a human saying?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a good saying.¡±

    I sighed. ¡°Could you send me the files on the crew and the mission?¡±

    ¡°Already on your coms device. Encryption key 3n1gm4¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°Good luck.¡±

    ¡°You too.¡± I cancelled the call and collapsed the silence bubble, putting the small round device back in my drawer, taking out my holostick tablet in the meantime with a deep sigh. ¡°I¡¯d rather stay on earth. Their clothes are just so cute...¡± I looked at my closet on the other side of my room. ¡°Maybe I could take some clothes aboard? Can human officers not do this?¡± I sighed again and plonked down on my bed. ¡°At least I can keep this body¡­.¡±

    It took me a while before I got up and decided to read up on the files Kt had just sent me. The mission looked pretty standard for a race that¡¯d just discovered FTL engines. Most of it would revolve around finding colonizable planets, research and the age-old-yet-already-answered-question: ¡°Are we alone in the universe?¡±. It was remarkable however that their ship was somewhat more advanced than usual. A couple of parts of the ship were also redacted on the documents Kt had sent me, but that was to be expected. I¡¯d need to inspect the ship myself anyway because it¡¯s easier to judge in person.

    ¡°As for the crew¡­¡± I opened the other folder and browsed through it a couple of times. The only file that really pulled my attention every time was that of Commander Lauren Davis.

    <h4>UFN File on: Cdr. Lauren Davis.</h4>

    Age: 28

    Date of Birth: 26th of February 2176

    Place of Birth: Federation Antarctic Region

    Gender: Female.

    Height: 187 Cm.

    ¡°That¡¯s pretty tall for a human woman, isn¡¯t it? I¡¯m 15 centimeters shorter¡­¡± I looked at the picture that was placed next to it, the subscript said it was from two years ago. ¡°She¡¯s pretty handsome too, you know, for a human, I wonder if that eyebrow slit has any cultural meaning¡­¡± I continued reading.

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    <h4>Enlisted on: 8th of April 2194 - At: Federation Antarctic Region Recruitment Office</h4>

    - As: ¡®Corporal¡¯ in the UFN Marine Corps.

    Followed by an entire list of deployments that went on for almost an entire page. ¡°She¡¯s definitely seen a lot of battle¡­¡±

    <h4>Promotions:</h4>

    Field promotion to ¡®Staff Sergeant¡¯ at the Battle of Luna on the 3rd of June 2195 after leading a squad to capture the enemy trench after her leading officer was killed by enemy fire.

    Field promotion to ¡®Sergeant Major¡¯ at the Battle of Japan on the 2nd of January 2197 after organising a relief effort of trapped soldiers, even against the direct orders of her superior commanding officer.

    Field promotion to ¡®Lieutenant¡¯ at the Battle of The Federation Antarctic Region on the 1st of May 2200 after mounting a complete evacuation of civilians from behind enemy lines.

    Promotion to ¡®Commander¡¯ was awarded on the 20th of October 2203 for her services shown to the United Federation of Earth during the Unification War against the Imperial Commonwealth and after passing the prerequisite tests.

    This was followed by half a page of awards and medals she¡¯d received. The one that jumped out most was her ¡®Hero of the Federation¡¯ medal, which is the highest one that can be achieved by military personnel. However, what intrigued me was her medical records.

    <h4>Medical Records: [Redacted]</h4>

    The only thing I could tell was that at least ten lines of text had been completely blacked out. I wondered why and decided to do a bit of my own research, but that mostly turned out blank. I did find something interesting on ¡®the internet¡¯, as the humans call it. A couple of wartime propaganda videos that had her starring as the main star. She was so terrible at acting, it made me laugh so hard I had to concentrate on something else for a couple of seconds to calm myself down. ¡°I guess I should go back to the file.¡±

    After the medical records, there was just a small page dedicated to how she had sent in multiple requests to lead the exploration mission, together with requesting a couple of crew members for the mission. A Gunnery Sergeant named Robert Turner and a doctor called Eva Winter who held the rank of Lieutenant.

    I read the files through a couple of times more to make sure I knew everything important there was to know. Preparation is key with these kinds of missions. I wouldn¡¯t want to be exposed, that¡¯d be pretty bad¡­ There were stories about people who had been caught before, and those were never pretty to listen to. A cautionary tale for anyone assigned on spy missions.

    ¡°Anyhow¡­¡± I put the holostick away on my night stand. ¡°Should get some rest because I have a lot to pack tomorrow¡­¡±

    --Two Days later, January 5th 2205--

    When I arrived at Earth¡¯s Central European Spaceport, I could tell there was something happening as there was a ridiculous amount of traffic both inside and outside of the spaceport.

    Having entered the assigned transport terminal, I almost immediately got yelled at by a Lieutenant for having a bottle of water on me. I also saw him barking at some younger looking Ensign who¡¯d just asked him an innocent question. After which he just shoved her on board a transport that was about to leave. Since I had to wait a bit longer for my own transport, I decided to keep an eye on him a little while longer. It quickly became clear he¡¯d target mostly women and weaker looking men.

    I wrote down his name on my holotablet to make sure to report this to the human chain of command before launching. In all honesty, I could probably have reprimanded him on the spot because I was technically a superior officer but¡­ he looked pretty intimidating, and I didn¡¯t like confronting people if it wasn¡¯t absolutely necessary. I did feel somewhat bad about it, but luckily our transport landed quickly after, so I could remove myself from the situation.

    These ¡®Lunar Transports¡¯ as the humans called them were incredibly rudimentary spacecraft. Built to transport the highest volume per trip without anything extra holding them back. Just metal tubes with pulse engines strapped to the back. It amazed me that these things were even space worthy. By what I could tell of the reactions of the humans trapped inside of this hulk of metal with me, they weren¡¯t so sure of that either.

    The ride through atmosphere was frightening and incredibly bumpy, but luckily the ride through the vacuum of space was quite calm. Once they weren¡¯t being pushed into their seats anymore, the humans around me started talking to each other again, and I noticed most of these people would be part of the crew of the UFS Roald Amundsen as well. Except for a couple of unlucky women who got shoved on this transport by the aforementioned Lieutenant.

    Most of them were talking about trivial things like what they saw on the media networks the day before or what they were planning to have for dinner. I did catch a bit of chatter about our soon-to-be Commander, but it wasn¡¯t more than gossip or people asking each other what she¡¯d be like. It did make me start to wonder as well what she¡¯d be like outside of what I¡¯d read and seen on ¡®the internet¡¯.

    With a loud pshhh the pressure between the lunar base and our spaceship was equalized and the docking ports opened. I let the others go out before me before I finally stepped out. The gravity was only slightly lesser than on Earth itself because of the gravity generators I¡¯d read about in technical documents. It reminded me of the first time I¡¯d set foot on earth, feeling so light on my feet.

    When I left through the docking port, a robotic staff member halted me and asked me for my documents. ¡°Lieutenant-Commander Luna Moore. Welcome to Lunar Base Delta. Want me to communicate to your commanding officer you have arrived?¡±

    ¡°Yes please.¡± I took my identity card back from the staff member. Interacting with AI like this still felt a bit weird, as The Conglomerate had specifically forbidden AI units to have bodies, out of fear of uprisings.

    A couple of seconds later, the AI spoke to me again. ¡°Commander Davis is on route to meet you.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡± I nodded at the staff member and stared into the hall full of people. It was adamant to make a good first impression, as was stated in the handbook to human interactions. But the moment I saw her walking down the stairs into the main hall, a weird feeling started to creep up on me. The way she confidently moved through the crowd even with people staring at her just made something inside of me break a little. Doubts arose in my mind. -She¡¯s going to see right through me.- She¡¯s a war hero, what will she do if she finds out¡­?- The pistol on her belt was dangling menacingly. I gulped, my heart was racing. Was she really only 15 centimeters taller than me? Because I was feeling smaller by the second. By the time she¡¯d reached me, my body had completely frozen and was acting almost like it was a spaceship set to autopilot.

    I saluted her. ¡°Commander Lauren Davis, I¡¯m Lieutenant-Commander Luna Moore, reporting for duty on the UFS Roald Amundsen.¡±

    I didn¡¯t even hear her reply, I needed to get out of there now.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go on to the ship to do some pre-flight inspections.¡± and I walked off.

    This was such a disaster. My heart was still racing when I walked up the stairs.

    ¡°At least I didn¡¯t stutter¡­¡±

 Chapter 2: The Rules of Conduct

    ¡°I still don¡¯t know how you can even stomach that, Commander.¡± Gunny said as I sat down with my pizza on the other side of the metal cafeteria table.

    ¡°Hmm? There are other people who like to have all the toppings on their pizza, right? Besides, it¡¯s just how my mom liked to have hers.¡± I took a big bite from a slice of pizza. But only after I took off my beret and placed it next to my tray. ¡°Delicious.¡±

    Gunny took a bite from his basic pepperoni pizza. ¡°I just really don¡¯t get the flavour profile.¡±

    I shrugged and continued eating.

    ¡°By the way, what are you going to do with your parents?¡±

    ¡°I asked a friend to take care of their graves while I¡¯m gone.¡±

    ¡°Couldn¡¯t a relative have done it for you?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t want to bother them with it. Plus, he needs the money, so¡­¡±

    ¡°You are paying him?¡±

    ¡°Why not? I earn plenty. It¡¯s not like we can spend much while we¡¯re gone, either.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, you got a point.¡±

    I took another bite. ¡°And what about your family?¡±

    ¡°I said goodbye to my daughter, the rest couldn¡¯t give a rats arse.¡±

    ¡°Did she manage to get the job she was after? Uh, journalist, wasn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, she¡¯s already done her first broadcast.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you should¡¯ve told me about that!¡±

    ¡°Thought you had more important things going on, Commander.¡±

    ¡°I would¡¯ve made time. Be sure to send me a link before we launch, or I¡¯ll make sure the foodbot on board will only give you vegetables for a week.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s low, Commander, very low.¡±

    I chuckled and continued eating.

    While we were eating, the cafeteria filled up swiftly as another transport had just landed. Only our table remained relatively open. That¡¯s when I spotted Ensign Yuigahama at the end of the foodline, looking around for a spot. I waved her over.

    She approached and wasn¡¯t sure what to do with the food tray in hand, not sure whether she should put it down and salute or just drop her tray outright. Yuki ultimately decided that it was best to put food down on the table first. She¡¯d gone for a four seasons pizza with extra olives.

    ¡°H-hello Commander.¡±

    ¡°Hello there Ensign.¡± I smiled. ¡°Are you looking for a spot?¡±

    ¡°Uh y-yes ma¡¯am. But it appears all tables are occupied.¡±

    I signed around at our table. ¡°There¡¯s plenty of space here.¡±

    ¡°A-are you sure?¡±

    ¡°Sit down and start eating, Ensign, that¡¯s an order.¡± I laughed.

    ¡°A-alright. If you say so, ma¡¯am.¡± She saluted and quickly sat down next to me, although she did keep her distance.

    ¡°This is Gunnery Sergeant Turner.¡± I introduced Gunny to our nervous Ensign.

    Gunny smiled as he was still munching down on a slice of pizza.

    ¡°Gunnery Sergeant Turner, this is Ensign Yuki Yuigahama. Assigned to the UFS Antananoriva.¡±

    ¡°W-well met.¡± She nervously smiled.

    ¡°Did you find your shipmates by the way?¡±

    ¡°I-I did.¡± She nodded as she nervously reached for a slice.

    ¡°Calm down, we aren¡¯t going to eat you, kid.¡± Gunny had reached across the table and held the arm of the Ensign still.

    ¡°I-I uh¡­¡±

    ¡°Gunny, that¡¯s not how you calm down nervous people. I think you made her even more nervous.¡±

    ¡°Right¡­ sorry for that.¡± He pulled back his arm.

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s fine.¡±

    ¡°That being said, he is right. We are plenty full with pizza, so eating nervous sailors is not on the menu right now.¡±

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    I finally managed to get a laugh out of her. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Gunny and I finished our pizza¡¯s only a couple of minutes later.

    ¡°We should probably go now, Commander. The cargo manifests aren¡¯t going to check themselves.¡± Gunny took his tray and waited for me to get up.

    ¡°Right, need to make sure we don¡¯t leave without my toothbrush.¡± I joked and stood up from the bench too. ¡°If we don¡¯t see each other again, have a nice trip, Ensign Yuigahama.¡± I smiled and gave her a loose salute.

    She almost choked on her slice of pizza as she tried to salute back. ¡°You too ma¡¯am!¡±

    When we walked out of the cafeteria, we turned right into the small shopping area that some corp paid way too much money for to get on a military base. The elevator to the cargo area was just behind it.

    ¡°Hey, our XO¡¯s there, Commander.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    He pointed at one of the side hallways at one of the shops. I stopped to look for a second. Just like he said, our new XO was standing there, staring at one of the shopping windows, looking incredibly enamoured by one of the plushies that was on display.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that the shop that sells those famous shark plushies?¡± I asked my Gunnery Sergeant. ¡°You know, the one that used to sell furniture?¡±

    He shrugged. ¡°Do I look like I like plushies?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± I shrugged back. ¡°I don¡¯t judge based on appearance.¡±

    We observed her a bit longer as her face was clearly showing some conflict, before in the end she decided to leave.

    ¡°Awh, I kinda feel sad now.¡± I started walking into the direction of the shop.

    ¡°What are we doing, Commander?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just going to look around for a bit.¡±

    ¡°You are going to buy her the plushie, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    I stopped at the window and quickly identified the big shark plushie she¡¯d been staring at. ¡°Damn right, I am.¡± I opened the door of the store and a minute later left it with a big shark plushie in my arms. ¡°They didn¡¯t have a bag that was big enough.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s in the little baggy, then?¡± He pointed at the plastic bag I¡¯d wrapped around my gloved wrist.

    ¡°Uh, I got it a couple of hats too.¡±

    ¡°Commander¡­¡±

    ¡°The sales clerk was really convincing¡­¡±

    Suddenly some ruckus from around the corner pulled my attention.

    ¡°What¡¯s that yelling about?¡± Turner asked.

    ¡°Not sure, I¡¯ll go and take a look.¡± I quickly handed the shark over to Gunny together with the small plastic bag and started jogging back.

    ¡°Commander, wait!¡± I heard Gunny yell towards me. ¡°What am I supposed to do with this?¡±

    When I turned the corner it was clear the cafeteria was the source of the yelling as more sailors formed a circle of what appeared to be the epicentre.

    I quickly made my way through the crowd and found myself standing behind a lieutenant who¡¯d pinned someone else against the table.

    ¡°I¡¯ll show you your place, Ensign.¡±

    When I got a better angle I could see it was Ensign Yuigahama who was being held by the collar of her jacket.

    ¡°What the bloody fuck do you think you are doing, lieutenant?!¡± I yanked him away by his uniform, hard enough to make him choke a bit. I got in between him and the Ensign, who had started to cry.

    The crowd suddenly went very quiet apart from a couple of gasps.

    The lieutenant got back on his feet with rage on his face, but that quickly vanished once he realised who he was dealing with.  ¡°C-c-commander Davis, ma¡¯am.¡± He saluted.

    ¡°Don¡¯t give me that bullshit!¡± I yelled. ¡°What the hell was going on here.¡±

    One corporal from the crowd pushed aside a couple of people and entered the circle.

    ¡°Commander Davis, ma¡¯am!¡± She saluted. ¡°When you left the cafeteria, a couple of people began harassing the Ensign about having sat at your table. We tried to stop them, but then the lieutenant came and ordered his people to keep us away while he was ¡®going to teach her a lesson¡¯ ma¡¯am.¡±

    ¡°I see. Thank you, corporal.¡± I turned around to the Ensign for a second to check if she didn¡¯t have any open wounds. ¡°Are you okay, Yuki?¡±

    ¡°I-I am Commander.¡± She wiped away her tears, but they were still coming.

    I then put my full attention back on the lieutenant. ¡°What the fuck were you thinking, Lieutenant.¡±

    ¡°Commander, these people tried to slip away.¡± the crowd opened up to reveal Gunnery Sergeant Turner together with a group of MP¡¯s. One of them was now carrying the plushie and my bag. They had a group of men in custody; one of them even was a Lieutenant-Commander.

    ¡°You can all kiss your military career goodbye, gentlemen.¡± I stated.

    ¡°They were all part of the UFS Antananarivo.¡± Gunny informed me.

    ¡°For fucks sake¡­¡± I looked back at the Ensign. ¡°Well, I¡¯m definitely not going to let you set sail in a ship like that anymore¡­¡±

    ¡°B-but ma-am¡­ M-my family really needs the money¡­¡±

    ¡°How long was your mission supposed to last?¡± I asked.

    ¡°O-only a couple of months, ma¡¯am.¡±

    ¡°I know it¡¯s quite sudden, but how do you feel about extending that by a couple of years? The pay is also a lot better.¡±

    ¡°A-are you saying...?¡±

    ¡°I can have the transfer finished in an hour. I¡¯ll send priority transport to earth if you need more personal items aboard.¡±

    ¡°T-thank you commander. I-I¡¯d be more than honoured!¡± Ensign Yuigahama got up, straightened her back and saluted me enthusiastically.

    ¡°As for what¡¯s to happen to this lot¡­¡± I turned back towards the perpetrators, the Lieutenant had also been cuffed by one of the MPs. ¡°Throw them in the brig and strip them of their ranks.¡±

    The MPs nodded while their Sergeant wrote down what I said on his holostick.

    ¡°You can¡¯t do this, Commander!¡± The Lieutenant protested.

    ¡°I can, I just did. Actions have consequences, you should¡¯ve thought about that before starting this shit.¡± I dismissed him and looked at the Corporal who came forward earlier. ¡°Can you and yours go with Ensign Yuigahama to write down a report at the MP station?¡±

    The Corporal saluted. ¡°Yes ma¡¯am!¡±

    ¡°Ensign. When you are done at the MP station, just send me a message. We will then complete your transfer.¡±

    ¡°Okay ma¡¯am.¡± Yuki nodded and, together with the Corporal and a couple of others, went along in the direction of the MP station.

    The MP who got tasked with carrying the plushie and my bag gave them back to Gunny and marched off with the group of prisoners, after which Gunny gave them back to me. The surrounding crowd had mostly dispersed, so we could easily make our way back through the shopping district and further on to the cargo area.

    ¡°Pff. I could really use a drink.¡± I sighed once we were alone again. Dealing with something like this is somehow incredibly exhausting.

    ¡°Let¡¯s grab one on board once we¡¯re done.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, sounds good to me.¡±

 Chapter 3: Time To Relax

    ¡°C¡¯mon Commander, only a couple of pages left.¡± Gunny put a clipboard down on my makeshift desk in the cargo hold. I had put the shark on a chair next to me with the bag hanging from it as well. I myself was just sitting on top of a crate which was apparently filled with spare engine parts.

    ¡°Oh my Goddess. We should have gone for the drinks first.¡± I sighed deeply and put a mark next to one of the lines on my piece of paper.

    ¡°Need anything else checked?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± I went over the next couple of pages. ¡°We got all the weapons?¡±

    ¡°Yes, everything is accounted for.¡±

    ¡°Check. Okay, then, can you look at holding area d24 to see if our spare ammo replicator is there. The crate should be labelled as ¡®ar-sp¡¯.¡±

    Gunny nodded and quickly ran down the aisle and stopped to look at some crates. Soon after which he stuck up his thumb to me.

    ¡°Alright, check.¡±

    ¡°Is that it?¡± Gunny asked once he had covered the distance back to me.

    ¡°Yeah, the rest is mostly just signatures and dates.¡± I continued filling in the last couple of pages. Luckily all this was the last piece of extensive bureaucracy I had to do before departure.

    ¡°Oh, Commander Davis. Fancy seeing you here. Is that a new crew member?¡± A gentle female voice spoke to me.

    I turned around. ¡°Ah, Doctor Winter. Here to do some last check-ups too?¡±

    She nodded. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t want to leave without a surgery kit because someone forgot to declare it. But still, what¡¯s the shark for?¡±

    ¡°Just a welcoming gift for the new XO.¡±

    ¡°Ah, right. Lieutenant-Commander Luna Moore wasn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± I nodded as I signed off on a couple more lines.

    Doctor Winter came closer to the shark and petted it. ¡°Wow, so soft. I might have to get one myself too.¡±

    ¡°They get hats too.¡± I took a second and nodded at the bag.

    ¡°Do they have nurse hats?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, and I think I saw those armbands too.¡±

    ¡°Interesting.¡± She fluffed the shark again.

    ¡°If you want to, you can buy it with my card. See it as a present, too.¡±

    ¡°Ah, don¡¯t worry.¡± She waved my offer away. ¡°I have plenty of money. And I might buy a couple.¡±

    ¡°If it keeps going like this, we will have more shark plushies than actual people on board.¡± Gunny joked. ¡°Also, hello Doctor.¡±

    ¡°Hello, Gunnery Sergeant Turner.¡± They shook each other''s hands.

    ¡°Would you like to go and grab a drink after we are done here, Doctor?¡± I asked, having finally completed my own checklist.

    ¡°Yeah, sounds good to me.¡± She smiled.

    ¡°Okay, then we will help you, so it¡¯s done a bit faster.¡±

    Many hands make short work, as they say, and soon we¡¯d finished the doctor¡¯s checklist as well. It did help that the medical wing didn¡¯t have as many components and that we could make a lot ourselves.

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell Ensign Yuigahama we are going on board, so she can meet us there.¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡± Winter asked.

    ¡°Just someone the Commander picked up earlier. She was getting attacked by her fellow crew members.¡±

    ¡°Are they okay?¡±

    ¡°I think she is, yes.¡± I nodded and took my holostick from my belt, right at that moment it blipped. ¡°Oh, looks like she got to me first. She says she¡¯s just done with the MP¡¯s.¡±

    ¡°Then we should probably get going.¡± Gunny gathered the shark and my bag and brought them over to me.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± I took over the shark, and together we headed towards the terminal.

    Ensign Yuigahama greeted us with a customary salute.

    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    ¡°Hello there, Ensign, let¡¯s complete your transfer aboard the ship.¡±

    ¡°O-oh, alright.¡± She lowered her hand.

    ¡°This lady here is Lieutenant Eva Winters, she¡¯s the ship¡¯s doctor.¡±

    ¡°Nice to meet you, Ensign.¡± Doctor Winters saluted the Ensign quickly with a smile.

    ¡°You already know Gunnery Sergeant Turner.¡±

    Yuki nodded and started walking with us on the jet bridge leading to the first deck of our ship.

    ¡°If I might ask, Commander, why are we doing this aboard the ship?¡±

    ¡°Mainly because the Commander wanted to grab something to drink.¡± Gunny clarified.

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s true. That entire situation in the cafeteria sapped me off my energy.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    ¡°You seem surprised, Ensign? Didn¡¯t expect THE Commander Lauren Davis to be a human, just like you and I?¡± Doctor Winter asked.

    ¡°I guess¡­ It''s sometimes hard to think of people who are portrayed as such amazing heroes as people¡­¡±

    ¡°Today I learned I am, in fact, not a person.¡± I laughed.

    ¡°That¡¯s not wh-what I meant!¡±

    ¡°I know what you meant, Ensign. Don¡¯t worry.¡± I looked back and smiled. ¡°It¡¯s like seeing a movie star eating in a place you frequent. Like that one time I saw Madeline Osaka back in my hometown.¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡± Ensign Yuigahama tilted her head.

    ¡°Just some extremely obscure movie star she likes.¡± Gunny explained.

    ¡°I¡¯ll let you know she¡¯s the most famous actress of the Antarctic Region when it comes to LGBTQ+ movies.¡±

    ¡°My point still stands.¡±

    ¡°Now, the Commander is the most well-known movie star from her region.¡± Doctor Winter smirked.

    ¡°Please tell me you haven¡¯t seen those awful movies.¡±

    ¡°Is there anyone who hasn¡¯t? You were so incredibly bad at acting in them that it became an internet meme overnight. And it definitely helped with troop morale too.¡±

    ¡°I-I don¡¯t think they were that bad, Commander!¡± Yuki tried to console me.

    ¡°So you have seen them?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡±

    ¡°Urgh¡­, I think I¡¯m going to get a double whiskey¡­¡±

    ¡°B-but it really wasn¡¯t that bad!¡±

    ¡°Kid, sometimes it¡¯s best to know when to call it a day.¡± Gunny laughed as we finally reached the airlock.

    After I confirmed my identity, the airlock opened with a beep and a psshh, granting us access to the interior of the ship. The interior lighting was already up and running. The grays and blues of the floors and walls giving off a stoic and professional vibe.

    ¡°I hope the bar is a bit more inviting than this.¡± Gunny looked around.

    ¡°Is this your first time on the ship?¡± Ensign Yuigahama asked.

    ¡°I just arrived today. The Doctor and the Commander have already been on the ship a couple of times for checks.¡± Turner replied.

    I patted Turner on the shoulder with my gloved hand, ¡°The bars, lounges and personal spaces are highly customizable. I put the officer¡¯s bar in a bordeaux red last time I visited.¡±

    ¡°W-wait, so we are going to be the first people who are going to take a drink at the bar?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ yes?¡±

    ¡°I-is that r-really o-okay for me¡­?¡±

    ¡°You are going to be an officer on board this ship, so what¡¯s the hold-up?¡± I smiled and put my other hand on her shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s fine, you are allowed to be here. I know it¡¯s hard to be confident after what happened today. But don¡¯t let those fucknuggets get to you. Be proud of what you¡¯ve accomplished and about who you are.¡±

    ¡°Y-yes ma¡¯am!¡± She straightened her back and saluted enthusiastically.

    ¡°Good, let¡¯s go.¡± I patted her shoulder twice and started walking ahead towards one of the ship¡¯s elevators, with the others following closely behind me.

    We took the elevator up a floor towards the deck that was mostly used for the officers¡¯ living spaces. The main lounge with the bar was calmly lit with warm lighting against the bordeaux walls. The mission¡¯s emblem beautifully lit up against the back wall with its holographic neon lighting. The ship¡¯s name was stencilled on the opposing wall.

    ¡°You made it quite cosy, Lauren.¡± Doctor Winter dropped herself in one of the low black sofas that were dotted around in groups of two.

    ¡°I only did the lighting, you can thank the Federation¡¯s design team for the furniture.¡±

    Gunny sat down the shark in one of the chairs and sat down next to Doctor Winter. ¡°Just a beer for me.¡±

    ¡°Okay, and for you, Doc?¡±

    ¡°A strawberry margarita if you would be so kind.¡±

    ¡°Alright, and Yuki?¡±

    ¡°U-uh¡­ is it okay if I don¡¯t drink alcohol?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡± I nodded. ¡°Noone is going to judge you.¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll just have some orange soda, please.¡± She hesitantly sat down on the other side of Doctor Winter.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll be right back.¡± I walked behind the bar and started making the different drinks. Luckily these synth machines had an incredibly wide selection and if you wanted to experiment with ingredients you could do that too. I poured out a double whiskey for myself and with all the glasses on a tray went back to the table everyone was seated at.

    ¡°Thank you, Commander.¡± Ensign Yuigahama slowly took her drink off the plate and sipped from it, while the others more confidently started to drink as well.

    ¡°Finally, some rest.¡± I sat down on the opposing sofa and leaned back into it with the glass of whiskey in my hand.

    ¡°Don¡¯t forget to do her transfer.¡±

    ¡°I can do that with a glass in hand, Gunny.¡± I said as I swiftly took my holostick back and started typing with one hand. ¡°It¡¯s a pretty trivial procedure.¡± I took a swig from my whiskey and then continued. ¡°Do you need to bring more stuff over to the ship, Yuki?¡±

    ¡°No, ma¡¯am. I have all my possessions already. The MPs unloaded them from the other ship.¡±

    ¡°Okay, then I¡¯ll just make sure it gets put in your new room.¡± I pressed a couple of buttons and then looked back up at our new Ensign. ¡°And one more thing. When we are in private like this, please call me Lauren. We¡¯re going to be on this ship for a long time. Being in work-mode all the time isn¡¯t healthy.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ I¡¯ll try.¡±

    Gunny did raise his finger. ¡°Except for me, I¡¯d prefer Gunny instead.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, he doesn¡¯t like being called Robert.¡± I nodded.

    Gunny glared at me.

    ¡°See?¡± I laughed.

    ¡°That¡¯s true, LauLau.¡± Gunny swiftly took his revenge.

    ¡°Please, Goddess, no. Everything but that.¡±

    Yuki looked at us for a bit and then began to smile at our little skit. At least she was getting a bit more relaxed.

 Chapter 3 Bis: The Art of Information Gathering

    Once I got up the stairs and halfway through the terminal to the ship, my stomach started growling. ¡°Oh no, I shouldn¡¯t have skipped breakfast¡­ I really don¡¯t want to interact with anyone right now¡± My stomach grumbled again. ¡°...But I really need some food.¡±

    I looked around for a minute until I found a notice board with directions. It probably would¡¯ve been best if I studied the layout of this base a bit more, but I got too distracted with other things. According to the map, the closest place to get some food was cafeteria B, it was just down one of the staircases on the right.

    Luckily the cafeteria was almost completely deserted apart from a couple of NCO¡¯s who were playing some kind of card game. When they saw me they froze for a second until they noticed I didn¡¯t really pay any attention to them. I guess they were breaking some kind of rule, but I really couldn¡¯t be bothered to make a scene.

    I took one of the food trays and walked over to one of the robots that were standing ready to take people¡¯s orders.

    ¡°Today¡¯s most popular dish is pizza, what would you like to order?¡± The robot spoke to me with a friendly voice. Robots were a lot less intimidating to talk to than actual humans.

    ¡°Hmm. Could you let me think for a second?¡±

    ¡°Of course ma¡¯am.¡± A smile showed up on the robot¡¯s face display.

    Pizza was tempting, it was one of those human foodstuffs that really surprised me when I came to earth the first time, but I had relied on it a bit too much the last couple of days to provide me sustenance, so I was somewhat craving something else.

    ¡°Uhh¡­ Do you have any recommendations?¡±

    The robot processed my question for a second before replying. ¡°People rate cafeteria B¡¯s Croquettes de crevettes highly. It is served with fries and a fresh salad including cherry tomatoes, lettuce and red onion. Be assured that all food is scanned for radiation before serving. If you have seafood allergies, it is however strongly recommended to avoid this dish.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever had that dish before, so I¡¯d like to try it.¡±

    The foodbot nodded slowly. ¡°Your food will be served momentarily.¡±

    I heard some buzzing and a couple of seconds later the foodbot opened its chest and presented me a plate with some very interesting looking food. ¡°Have a nice meal.¡± It put the plate on my tray together with some utensils.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± I looked around and decided to take a seat at one of the tables at the far corner of the room. The meal¡¯s rich taste surprised me, and I was happy I hadn¡¯t taken the pizza. It was a peaceful meal as the cafeteria stayed quiet even though it was approximately lunchtime back at the shuttle launch back on earth.  It did make me wonder where all the people were. Even the NCO¡¯s who¡¯d finally finished their card game, left, leaving me completely alone, except for the foodbots who were just patiently standing there to receive customers.

    When I was done I put my tray in the designated area and left the completely empty cafeteria. I somehow felt a little sad for the food robots who were just standing there all by themselves, but I had work to do. I still had areas of the ship to check out and sent reports on before we left for our mission.

    Walking back to the ship should have been a relatively short trip until something caught my attention in the corner of my eye. A holographic pylon was having an advertisement for plushies. ¡°What!? They have a store like that on this base!?¡± I rushed towards it and looked at the map that was being shown. Plushies and other toys were forbidden on my home planet because they were apparently too distracting for children and were in the way of their intellectual growth. But they were just so cute, I couldn¡¯t help but buy a couple for my small room they provided me. It was so cozy to cuddle up with them in bed.

    I looked at my watch and decided a little detour to the store wouldn¡¯t hurt my plans that much, and quickly headed in its direction. The store window was just incredible. The moment I had turned the corner into the hallway the store was situated in, my eyes were just completely fixated on it.

    ¡°Awh. It looks so cute.¡± I cooed at the big plushie that was displayed in the window. I remember from a nature documentary that the humans called these things ¡®sharks¡¯. Although I couldn¡¯t really remember any that looked as cute as this.

    The price was relatively cheap for a plushie this size, but the second I checked my bank account on my holostick, I froze with doubt.

    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    ¡°It¡¯s really big though¡­¡± All the plushies I owned were relatively small, so finding a place for them wasn¡¯t that hard, but this one was probably the size of half my collection. ¡°Hmmmm.¡± I groaned. ¡°Won¡¯t people think that¡¯s strange?¡± I put my holostick away. ¡°But I already have a lot of them¡­ urgh.¡± I groaned once more. ¡°I should maybe think about this for a bit longer. I still have time to come back here if I want to.¡±

    I kept staring at it for a little while longer before I finally decided that work did indeed have to be done, and I left for the ship. The shark plushie did keep biting at the back of my mind, though.

    I flashed my ID and scanned my palm at the ship¡¯s airlock, after which it opened without a hitch. The ship¡¯s interior was still dark as it was saving energy.

    ¡°Computer, lights please.¡± With the voice command I read in the manual, the lighting flipped on. ¡°Okay.¡± I then checked the document on my holostick. ¡°Engine room and weapon systems were high priority.¡± I mumbled to myself. ¡°The engine room should be down a couple of decks¡­¡±

    I looked around and quickly found my way to the ship¡¯s main elevators, which took me down to the engineering deck with a low humming sound. The engine room was behind a couple of large blast doors, which I easily opened with my badge. It was a bit intriguing the engine room didn¡¯t have any cameras or additional security at all, especially since the online documents were kept that secret, but I guess bureaucracy can sometimes be a bit weird.

    I used the camera function of my holostick to take pictures of the entire engine room. These were your standard Deuterium fusion engines, although their FTL drive did look somewhat interesting. Compared to the examples I¡¯d seen when I was studying, this one seemed way bigger than usual. I¡¯d never seen anything like it before, but that wasn¡¯t really my job either. I was just here to collect intel so people who are a lot smarter than me could figure this all out.

    Having the pictures of everything in the room, it was time to take a look at the weapon systems. Weapon systems were situated below the bridge on the complete opposite side of the ship, where I was at right now.

    It took me quite a while to get there, but again I could enter the designated room without many issues. You could tell from the walls and doors that this room was also of vital importance to the ship, especially with the bridge being right above it. It was not uncommon for exploration ships of other races to have weapon systems, but this one did take it away, by far, when it came to firepower and effort spent.

    ¡°I guess humans like to be prepared to fight back¡­I suppose it makes sense after fighting a big war like that not that long ago¡­¡± I tapped on one of the fire control systems and took a picture of the user interface. ¡°I think they could even take an imperial cruiser or two with all the weaponry on board.¡± In all honesty, it probably wasn¡¯t a bad idea to be this prepared. The last civilization I know of that discovered FTL travel, left their exploration missions to private enterprises. They went profit margins over precaution and ultimately paid the price when the empire caught wind of them. Earth is, however, pretty far from where the Empire had last been sighted, so their exploration missions should be relatively safe.

    I took a couple more pictures of the systems and then left the room, making sure I didn¡¯t leave anything behind.

    ¡°Where to now?¡± I checked my holostick again. The only thing I¡¯d left to do was write up a report and send the pictures to Kt. As there was one part of the ship I was still curious about, I decided to write up my report there. My cabin.

    My cabin was situated on the far end of the officer deck, right next to the cabin of the Commander. However, calling the room I saw when I opened the door a cabin. Would be a very big compliment for the name. The room I entered was huge. Way bigger than the room I had lived in for 2 years on Earth. Apart from a bed, a wardrobe and desk, the room was still pretty much empty though. I¡¯d need to decorate it with my plushies to make it a lot less empty, the sight of the room also made my doubts about the shark plushie disappear completely. I definitely had to buy it now.

    ¡°But first¡­¡± I switched the wallpaper of my room to a salmon pink. ¡°And now I can do the report.¡± I smiled and sat down at my new desk, popping out my silence bubble.

    I¡¯d finally finished my report and deleted everything incriminating on me as I suddenly heard a knock on the door. It surprised me so much I almost fell off the chair. I quickly put the silence bubble inside of one of the drawers and ran to the door.

    When I opened it, my heart almost stopped.

    ¡°C-c-c-commander!¡± I stuttered -Fuck- and saluted her.

    Her baret was slightly askew on her head as she was leaning against the wall. She clearly smelled of alcohol, but together with her perfume that actually didn¡¯t bother me much.

    ¡°Ah, LC¡­ at ease. I was hoping you¡¯d be here.¡± She leaned to her left to grab something next to her, making the pistol on her hip sway a little before she stood upright again. She presented me with a familiar face, the face of a shark plushie.

    ¡°W-w-w¡­ Uh¡­¡± My mind blanked.

    ¡°I¡­ well, the Gunnery Sergeant and I saw you looking at the store and I thought it would be a fun welcome present because you looked a bit¡­ stressed.¡± She offered the shark to me, my body accepted it on autopilot while I was still trying to figure out what was happening.

    ¡°And I also got it a couple of hats¡­¡± She reached next to her again and handed me a plastic bag too. ¡°I hope you don¡¯t mind it¡­¡±

    My mind finally caught up so I could answer. ¡°U-uh, n-no! T-thank you, Commander!¡±

    ¡°Good.¡± She smiled. ¡°Now, please excuse me¡­ I think I drank a bit too much¡­ Good night, LC.¡±

    ¡°G-good night.¡±

    She saluted me and walked to her room, which was at the end of the hallway. I did peek after her just to make sure she made it to her cabin safely, and then closed the door. Still a bit dazed and with a shark plushie in my arms.

    ¡°D-did I completely misjudge her?¡± I walked over to my bed and sat down, the plastic bag still by the door. I hugged the shark close to me. ¡°It smells of her perfume¡­¡±

 Chapter 4: Marvelous Medical Ministrations

    My radio alarm clock woke me up at 7 o''clock Earth¡¯s meridian time with some orchestral classical music, to the great displeasure of the headache that I had developed.

    ¡°I drank way too much yesterday¡­¡± I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling, luckily I¡¯d made the wallpaper dark-blue, so my automatic lighting didn¡¯t fry my eyes. Sadly enough I couldn¡¯t stay in bed because today was launch day and we had our launch ceremony in a couple of hours already. The Fleet Admiral and Earth¡¯s Chancellor would both be present to see us off.

    I got up and a quick shower later I put on a fresh uniform, making sure to attach all my medals and emblems, even having them slightly askew would reflect badly on the navy and since this entire deal was all broadcasted globally, I definitely didn¡¯t want that to happen.

    I¡¯d just put on my last medal as someone knocked on my door.

    ¡°Commander, are you up already?¡± It was the voice of Eva.

    ¡°Yes, you can come in. Ellie, unlock the door, please.¡± The door lock opened with a click and Doctor Winter walked in.

    ¡°Good morning, Commander, how are you feeling?¡± She approached me as I was checking my uniform one last time in front of my mirror.

    ¡°Dreadful, to be honest, I have a killer headache.¡±

    ¡°At least you look a bit better off than our Gunnery Sergeant.¡± Doctor Winter grabbed me by my shoulder and turned me towards her so she could inspect my uniform. ¡°Looks good to me.¡± Before she fished something out of her jacket, it was a little yellow pill. ¡°Here, take this, it should help with the headache.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡± I smiled and took the pill from her with my gloved hand, and walked into my en-suite bathroom.

    ¡°Did you take your other pills already?¡± Doc stayed behind in the other room, giving me a bit of privacy.

    ¡°Not yet.¡± I opened the cabinet and took out a couple of pill bottles and filled a glass with water.

    ¡°It¡¯s important to keep taking them.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡± I put five pills in the palm of my hand, including the yellow one Eva just gave me, and put them in my mouth, flushing them down with my water. ¡°Uhm, the grey ones are almost out.¡±

    ¡°Do you still have a couple?¡±

    ¡°Three days worth.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll synthesize you some more after we¡¯ve launched.¡±

    I put the pill bottles back in the cabinet and walked back into the main room.

    ¡°Is the XO already up?¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen her yet. She might still be sleeping.¡±

    ¡°We should probably wake her then.¡± I opened the door for the Doctor and let her walk out before me. ¡°Turn off the lights, please, Ellie.¡± The lights of my room went out and I closed the door.

    ¡°Why did you call her Ellie?¡± Doctor Winter asked.

    ¡°Why not? She needed a name.¡±

    Doc shrugged. ¡°We could have just kept calling her AI.¡±

    We¡¯d arrived at my XO¡¯s room and I knocked on the door. ¡°Hmm, I don¡¯t know, that feels so impersonal, she¡¯s part of the crew too. It¡¯s easier to talk to her if she has a name.¡±

    ¡°I guess people on the bridge do interact with her more than I do.¡±

    ¡°You could talk to her as well, she¡¯s wired throughout most of the ship. With a couple of exceptions.¡±

    ¡°What exceptions are those?¡±

    ¡°I can only interface with your rooms with express permissions. The Federation also decided not to have me present in mission-critical rooms to avoid me from taking over the ship if I went rogue.¡± A warm female voice came out of a couple of speakers above us, which made Doctor Winter jump a little.

    ¡°I-I didn¡¯t know you could speak.¡±

    I smiled. ¡°Yeah, she¡¯s a bit shy.¡±

    ¡°I prefer not to interject too much.¡± Ellie replied.

    ¡°I see.¡±

    The door opened just as our conversation had finished.

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    ¡°S-sorry for the wait. I was brushing my teeth.¡± My XO greeted us at the door with a salute, her breath did indeed smell minty fresh. She was already dressed in her dress uniform.

    ¡°At ease, LC, you don¡¯t need to salute me all the time.¡± I did salute her back out of politeness, though. ¡°Are you ready for the launch ceremony?¡±

    She nervously dropped her salute. ¡°I-I think I am¡­¡±

    I looked at Doctor Winter.

    She nodded. ¡°She looks fine to me.¡±

    ¡°If the doctor says so, it must be true.¡± I smiled and waited for LC Moore to join us.

    ¡°J-just give me a second while I turn off my lights.¡± She disappeared inside for a moment before she joined us again and closed the door. ¡°I-I¡¯m ready.¡±

    We all started walking towards the elevator that''d bring us down to the airlock. The walk towards it was pretty quiet until Doc decided to break the developing awkward silence by speaking to our XO.

    ¡°So, what do you think of the shark plushie our lovely Commander has bought you?¡±

    I awaited her answer with a bit of curiosity.

    ¡°I-it was a nice gesture¡­¡± LC Moore replied with a bit of a blush on her face.

    ¡°I will buy you a nurse hat and armband for it too. Just a little present from me as well.¡±

    ¡°Ah! Thank you...¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m happy you like it.¡± I smiled at her.

    ¡°Mhmm¡­¡± She stayed quiet for a couple of seconds before she started talking again. ¡°Could I ask something about our rooms?¡±

    I pressed the button to call the elevator to our level. ¡°Sure.¡±

    ¡°Why are they so big? My room back on earth was smaller than the one I have now.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t they teach you this in space psychology class?¡± Eva asked as the elevator zoomed into place.

    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s not a required class for us, doc.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I thought it was a general course.¡±

    I shook my head and waited to reply a bit until we all had boarded the elevator. ¡°It comes down to this. The rooms on this ship are bigger because the mission this ship is on will be considerably longer than the missions on other military vehicles. It¡¯s better for crew morale to not be packed on top of each other like sardines.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a way to avoid crew conflict.¡± Doctor Winter added. ¡°The rooms for enlisted sailors are a bit smaller than those for NCO¡¯s and CO¡¯s, but not by a lot. We don¡¯t want to have inter-crew conflict when we are light-years away from home.¡±

    ¡°Does that answer your question, LC?¡±

    Luna nodded. ¡°I-it does, thank you.¡±

    ¡°If you have any more questions about the ship, do not hesitate to ask.¡±

    ¡°I will¡­¡±

    The elevator arrived at our destination.

    ¡°How did your inspection go, by the way?¡± I asked while we walked out.

    ¡°F-f-fine¡­ n-nothing out of the ordinary.¡± She stuttered, she definitely looked quite on edge.

    ¡°Are you okay, Lieutenant-Commander? You look incredibly stressed.¡± The LC¡¯s demeanour hadn¡¯t escaped Doctor Winter, either.

    ¡°We can excuse you if you don¡¯t want to be at the ceremony. They only really want me to be there.¡±

    The LC thought for a second before shaking her head. ¡°N-no, I¡¯ll be fine¡­¡±

    ¡°Being reassigned on such a short notice must¡¯ve been pretty hard. Please keep it easy, don¡¯t overexert yourself and take breaks when you need to.¡± I patted her on the back, but that caused her to jump up a little. ¡°Ah, sorry.¡±

    ¡°I can give you something to ease your nerves if you want to. It¡¯s a mild calming agent.¡±

    Luna took a moment to think and then nodded. ¡°T-that¡­ that¡¯ll probably help¡­¡±

    Eva smiled. ¡°Alright, come with me to the medbay for a second. Commander, we will catch up with you later.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± I nodded as Doctor Winter took my XO with her into a different corridor. I walked on towards the airlock, where I found Ensign Yuigahama and Gunny waiting for me.

    ¡°Where¡¯s the rest?¡± Gunny asked. He was nonchalantly leaning against the wall.

    ¡°Doc took the XO to the medbay to give her something to calm her nerves.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s still nervous?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ but she did say she liked the shark, so I¡¯d call that progress.¡±

    ¡°Are you feeling alright yourself, Commander?¡± Yuki asked.

    I nodded. ¡°I had a headache, but that¡¯s pretty much over by now. For the next time, though, stop me after two whiskeys¡­ I hope we didn¡¯t scare you off too much?¡±

    Yuki violently shook her head. ¡°No, not at all! I had a fun evening, ma¡¯am.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡± I smiled and opened the airlock with my ID. ¡°We can go on, the others will catch up later.

    --A couple of hours later--

    The Fleet Admiral and the Chancellor had just finished their speeches to the masses and handed me the stage.

    ¡°Good luck Commander.¡± Gunny patted my shoulder before I stood up from my seat.

    ¡°Thanks, I¡¯ll need it¡­¡± I walked up to the podium and smiled at the crowd in front of me. The cameras from the navy¡¯s press agency were pointed directly at me, and stage lighting was somewhat blinding, which did make me praise that little yellow pill doc had given me this morning.

    After taking in my surroundings for a second, I started speaking. ¡°Hello everyone, I will keep my speech short so as not to repeat what the Chancellor and Fleet Admiral Hanssen have said. Today, we embark on a mission which will permanently change the way us humans look at the galaxy. The galaxy that we¡¯ve only been able to observe through the lenses of telescopes and through the data of our scanners. We will now be able to see it through our very own eyes.

    Frontiers will be pushed, new opportunities will be discovered. Every new step will be a daunting one, and not without risk. But they are steps that, in my opinion, are fully worth taking.

    We¡¯ve had a lot to rebuild in these last couple of years, new relationships have been forged. And now we are finally ready to leap into the unknown, to navigate and find our way through the cold, harsh darkness of space. So, together, we can craft a warm, bright future for humanity.

    Thank you for your attention.¡± I saluted the cameras and the crowd in front of me and left the stage under thunderous applause. Although I strongly believed in the ideals portrayed in my speech, there was another reason that pushed me forward to go ahead with this mission. A reason that, if it became public knowledge, would cause quite a ruckus.

    I sighed and mumbled under my breath as I returned to my seat. ¡°I¡¯m so glad the PR part is over¡­¡±

 Chapter 5: Faster Than Light

    --A couple of hours later aboard the UFS Roald Amundsen--

    Back out of my dress uniform and freshened up, I was standing above the lower part of the bridge, my hands on the metal railing in front of me. The people below me were buzzing around, getting to their posts. My XO was standing behind me with her holostick tablet open.

    ¡°D-docking ports disengaged.¡± LC Moore said.

    ¡°Engines?¡± I nodded and called out to the station on my front left.

    ¡°All operational ma¡¯am!¡± Lieutenant Bailey called out.

    ¡°Navigation?¡± I looked to my right.

    ¡°Systems up and running!¡± Lieutenant Zu yelled back! Her voice sounded full of enthusiasm.

    ¡°Alright.¡± I smiled and stared straight in front of me towards the helm. ¡°Let¡¯s get her off the ground, Miss McAllister.¡±

    ¡°Aye aye, ma¡¯am.¡± You could sense the glee in her voice as the engines increased their output to the engines. The lunar horizon started to lower in the windows in front of us. Soon, the moon¡¯s surface was far below us.

    ¡°Leaving the lunar gravity well in 3¡­ 2¡­ 1¡­¡± Luna stated.

    ¡°Ok, Lieutenant Zu, set the course for Alpha Centauri.¡±

    ¡°Set and coordinates sent, Commander!¡± The ship rotated slightly.

    ¡°Lieutenant McAllister. Engage FTL engines on my mark.¡± I commanded.

    ¡°Ready when you are, ma¡¯am.¡±

    I opened the ships com systems. ¡°Everyone, this is your Commander speaking, brace yourself for FTL acceleration.¡± And then pushed the FTL warning signal on my interface, turning back to my pilot afterwards. ¡°Lieutenant, get ready, 5¡­ 4¡­ 3¡­ 2¡­ 1¡­, Mark!¡±

    ¡°Engaging FTL systems!¡±

    A rumble went through the ship as I braced myself on the metal railing. I noticed just in time my XO wasn¡¯t bracing herself, so I grabbed her close against my chest, so she didn¡¯t fall and hurt herself.

    ¡°Eep!¡± She yelped.

    As the ship accelerated, I luckily managed to hold on to the railing with my gloved hand. Ten seconds later the ship was at speed and the acceleration stopped. I then let go of my XO, who had developed bright red cheeks. And she quickly took a bit of distance.

    ¡°I told everyone to brace, didn¡¯t I?¡±

    ¡°S-sorry¡­ I-I was spacing out a little¡­¡±

    ¡°LC, you really need to pay attention at times like this. I don¡¯t want you to get hurt.¡±

    ¡°I-I will do better, C-Commander...¡± I nodded and turned myself to the bridge again.

    ¡°All systems nominal.¡± Lieutenant Bailey reported.

    ¡°Speed optimal, ETA to Alpha Centauri in two hours and twenty-three minutes.¡± Zu saluted me.

    ¡°And how are our shields?¡±

    ¡°100 percent Commander.¡± Lt. McAllister almost sang.

    ¡°Great. I will be checking on the crew, can you take the bridge LC?¡±

    ¡°Y-yes, Commander.¡± Luna saluted.

    ¡°Okay, notify me if anything comes up.¡± I saluted back and left the bridge to tour through the different parts of the ship.

    I decided to visit my favourite Gunnery Sergeant first.

    ¡°Ellie, do you know where Gunnery Sergeant Turner is?¡±

    ¡°He is currently in the marine¡¯s lounge, Commander.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much.¡± I headed towards the elevator, as that lounge was a couple of levels down from where we were. When I got there, most of the ship''s marines were there chatting with one another. Gunnery Sergeant Taylor was playing a card-game with three other marines. You couldn¡¯t blame any of them because marines had very little to do while we were not on the ground, most of the ship was being held clean by bots, so it¡¯s not like I could make them scrub the floors or something like that. As for drills, we¡¯d only just left port, so that could wait a bit longer. They were responsible enough not to let their skills drop.

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    ¡°Ah, Commander!¡± One of them saw me and stood up with a salute, followed by nearly everyone else. Gunny just saluted me from his seat while he held his cards close to him.

    ¡°At ease, marines.¡± I saluted all of them back with a smile. ¡°How¡¯s everyone doing here?¡±

    ¡°I can report these gravity cups work wonders during FTL acceleration, Commander.¡± Gunny laughed and took a drink from his cup. ¡°No drinks were spilled today.¡±

    ¡°Good to hear, Gunnery Sergeant.¡± I laughed back. ¡°What game are you playing?¡±

    ¡°Just some poker, Commander.¡± One of the other marines replied.

    ¡°Want to join a game? Corporal Jones has a losing hand anyway.¡±

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t.¡± The corporal aggressively shook her head.

    ¡°I will have to decline this time. I still need to check on the other sections.¡± I smiled. ¡°Also, you better all fold because Gunnery Chief Turner has a royal flush.¡±

    The poker playing marines looked at each other, then at me, then back at the gunnery sergeant and all folded at the same time.

    ¡°Damn it, Commander, you owe me a drink for that.¡± Gunny put his cards down. It was indeed a royal flush.

    ¡°Sure, the drinks are free on the ship anyway.¡± I winked while I saluted and then headed down the hallway. The medical ward was just around the corner, so I might as well visit Doctor Winter too now that I¡¯m here.

    I walked into the medical ward and immediately got greeted by Medical Assistant Yueh who was putting some pre-prepped medicinals in one of the many cabinets.

    ¡°Good afternoon, Commander.¡± He wanted to salute me, but I motioned that he should just keep himself busy with the drugs.

    ¡°Good afternoon, Doc, where is Doctor Winter?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s in the back, synthesizing some more medicine.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. I hope the FTL didn¡¯t break anything.¡±

    ¡°No, the Federation¡¯s R&D did their work thoroughly. Not a single breakage.¡±

    I happily nodded. So far everything was going great, but then again this mission had been prepared for quite a while.

    As I moved further into the ward I could see Doctor Winter working on the synthesizer, some earpods in her ears as I knew she liked working with some music.

    I leant back against the countertop and crossed my arms while watching her work.

    It took her a while to notice I was there.

    ¡°Ah, Commander.¡± She smiled and took out one of her earpods. ¡°Do you need anything?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m touring the ship. To see if everyone¡¯s okay after our first jump¡± I smiled and started helping her put a couple of vials into boxes. ¡°What are you listening to?¡±

    ¡°Just my citypop playlist.¡± She closed a box and handed it to me. ¡°Can you put this in that cabinet?¡± She pointed at the cabinet to my top left.

    I nodded and did as she asked. ¡°City pop, huh?¡±

    ¡°Want me to send you the playlist?¡±

    ¡°Sure, I¡¯m a bit curious about it.¡±

    She took her holostick from her belt and flipped it in my direction, my holostick immediately got a notification. I took out one of it¡¯s earpods and put it in my ear. The music was already playing with a song which was apparently called ¡®Remember Sunny days¡¯.

    ¡°Sounds very relaxing.¡±

    Eva nodded. ¡°I was in the mood for something calm. If you want something a bit more pacey I could always send you my power metal playlist.¡±

    ¡°Maybe later. I should probably go on with my tour.¡± I winked and walked away. ¡°If you need anything here, just send me a message.¡±

    ¡°I will, Commander.¡± Doc then got on with her synthesizing. Medical Assistant Yueh also waved me goodbye again when I walked by.

    The rest of my tour was also quite uneventful. The engineers in the engine room were doing completely fine, the damage control party was currently just holding some theoretical exercises. Really, the only thing that had gone wrong with our first FTL jump was that someone had accidentally dropped his drink in the cafeteria. But even that cup didn¡¯t break so that wasn¡¯t very exciting either. When I got back on the bridge Luna gave me back my spot.

    ¡°If you want to you can go and take a break, LC. I don''t think anything will happen until we get out of FTL.¡±

    ¡°ETA one hour and thirty-two minutes, Commander.¡± Lieutenant Zu said, overhearing our conversation.

    ¡°Just get back in ninety minutes.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Commander!¡± She saluted me and left the bridge as I just continued to stare out in front of me into the warped space around us. Technically what we were doing now was an immense feat of technology and human ingenuity but in the end, it was still pretty boring to just stand here. Well, it was part of the job and I knew what I signed on for. At least now I had a new music playlist to go through while I waited.

    The time came for the ship to drop out of FTL, XO Moore had joined me at my side once more as the ship started to decelerate. A shipwide warning wouldn¡¯t be necessary as there wouldn¡¯t be nearly as severe as when we entered FTL.

    Gasps went through the bridge as many saw a new star system for the first time in their lives. Although some, like me, had already experienced it during previous FTL trials.

    I opened the coms again and spoke to the entire crew. ¡°When we commence our next FTL jump, the UFS Roald Amundsen will go beyond the furthest point a human has ever traveled. So hold on, everyone. From here, the real adventure starts.¡± I closed off the coms and directed myself towards the crew on the bridge, setting our next destination. ¡°Ellie, if you would, please, sound the FTL alarm.¡± This time Luna was holding on to the railing pretty tight, and when she noticed I was watching she blushed quite profusely.

    Ellie sounded the alarm and in the matter of seconds, our ship was off, back into FTL.

 Chapter 5 Bis: Calm Your Nerves

    --Before Commander Lauren Davis¡¯s speech--

    When I woke up I took a nice hot shower and brushed my teeth with this great minty toothpaste. I''ve loved using it since I arrived on Earth. Something about the fresh sensation in my mouth made me feel even more awake than usual. Talking about sleep, I somehow slept amazingly well, maybe because I¡¯d given the shark plushie the Commander gave to me, a place in my bed. It had been very cosy and soft to cuddle up with at night.

    But now it was time to get serious as I put on my dress uniform. The Commander would be holding her speech soon and as her second in command it was highly expected of me to be there for the ceremony. I had just finished buttoning up my uniform¡¯s jacket when I heard voices coming from behind my door, followed by a knock.

    -Must be the Commander¡­ I wonder how she¡¯s doing, she looked pretty rough yesterday evening.-

    When I got closer to the door, I could hear the Commander¡¯s voice together with two others I¡¯d not heard before. However, one of them sent shivers down my spine as the voice quite clearly came from the ceiling.

    -A-a-an AI!!?? W-wait, what!? This ship has an AI!? I didn¡¯t read anything about that in the manual! What if it saw me gather intel and send it to Kt??? Did I just screw over the mission?-

    My mind raced and went all over the place, my heartbeat started thumping in my head.

    ¡°Okay, calm yourself, Luna.¡± I whispered to myself. ¡°They probably would¡¯ve arrested me already if they knew¡­¡± I closed my fists and calmed my breathing for a couple of seconds before I opened the door.

    However, my refound confidence immediately took a plunge the moment I saw the Commander¡¯s smile. I stiffly saluted her. ¡°S-sorry for the wait. I was brushing my teeth.¡±

    After some conversation I found out the other woman who was with the Commander was the ship¡¯s doctor, Lieutenant Eva Winter, who was mentioned in the Commander¡¯s files. She was about the same height as me. Her black hair was tied up behind her head in a neat braided knot.

    As this was the first longer conversation I¡¯d had with the Commander, I was surprised at how casual it was. Both her and the Doctor were asking me questions about the plushie she¡¯d given to me. Quite honestly, it stressed me out a bit, so I was pretty happy once that part was over. Even though I definitely appreciated the gift.

    I decided to turn the conversation to something more related to the ship itself, as it would be easier for me to talk about it. It helped calm my nerves quite a bit.

    At least, until the Commander turned back to me after we exited the elevator. ¡°How did your inspection go, by the way?¡±

    My eyes went wide and my heartbeat shot through the roof. -Did the AI tell her I was sending information off-ship!!? Or is she merely asking because I told her I was going to do an inspection!?-

    My training kicked in and I replied. ¡°F-f-fine¡­ n-nothing out of the ordinary.¡± Though the stutter made it incredibly obvious I was freaking out.

    Luckily the timing played in my favour as both the Commander and the Doctor thought it had to do with the launch ceremony. But I did take the doctor up on her offer to get me some anti-stress pills. Maybe it would at least help to keep me calm.

    I walked along with the Doctor through the ship¡¯s hallways towards the medical ward.

    ¡°Do you have a lot of issues with stress?¡± She asked to break the silence that had formed between us.

    ¡°I-it¡¯s just a very stressful time lately¡­¡±

    She nodded. ¡°I can understand that, but it¡¯s important you tell me things like that, so I can keep it in mind. I¡¯m also somewhat like the crew¡¯s psychologist.¡± Doctor Winter smiled at me.

    ¡°Thank you¡­¡±

    ¡°And what do you think of our new crewmember?¡±

    ¡°W-who?¡±

    ¡°I think she is referring to me, Lieutenant-Commander.¡± The AI spoke from the ceiling.

    ¡°Exactly.¡± Doctor Winter nodded.

    ¡°U-u-uh¡­ I¡¯ve not really talked with a lot of AIs before¡­¡±

    ¡°Please call me Ellie.¡±

    ¡°It was definitely a surprise when I heard her, too, must¡¯ve been a last-minute addition to the ship.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I can not enter your private chambers without consent or take over the ship.¡± Ellie explained.

    -Phew, that¡¯s good to hear.- I sighed a breath of relief.

    ¡°Were you that worried?¡± The doctor giggled.

    ¡°N-n-not really!¡±

    ¡°Hmmm.¡± She smirked. ¡°Anyhow, welcome to my office.¡± Doctor Winter opened the door to the medical ward and asked Ellie to turn on the lights. She guided me over to a bunch of cabinets on the right side of the room and took out a bottle with dark green pills. ¡°Take one of these with some water, it should help you out a bit for a couple of hours.¡±

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    I nodded as the Doctor filled up a glass of water for me. The size of the pill was small enough that I had little issues swallowing it in one go.

    What I didn¡¯t expect was the almost immediate effect it had on me. I wobbled a bit as my adrenaline dropped like a rock. And apparently, the Doctor didn¡¯t expect it either.

    ¡°Wow, these pills shouldn¡¯t be that strong at all.¡± She looked at the back of the bottle. ¡°That¡¯s even considered a light dosage¡­¡± Doctor Winter steadied me by the arm so I didn¡¯t fall on my face.

    -Oh no, my alien physiology¡­.-

    I couldn¡¯t really focus through the next couple of hours thanks to the pill I¡¯d taken. My mind was all over the place and forming coherent sentences was incredibly hard. Luckily Doctor Winter helped me through the ceremony by keeping me upright and doing most of the talking to others for me. But I have to say, even though it worked very debilitating, I¡¯d never felt calmer in my entire life.

    By the time the pill¡¯s effect had expired, it was already time to launch. Doctor Winter went back to the medical ward as that was her station. She did promise me to look at some even lighter versions of the pills, just for future reference. I was quite lucky that me being an alien was such an absurd hop in logic that she didn¡¯t even think about that as an option.

    The bridge officers had all gathered and were listening to Commander Davis as she was handing out orders. I was standing behind her, looking at my holostick to keep my eye on the docking systems.

    ¡°D-docking ports disengaged.¡± I reported. -How can one human be this intimidating that I start stuttering almost every time I speak with her?- I kept staring at the tablet, swapping through all the systems while the ship rose above the moon¡¯s surface. I looked up at the Commander as she opened the ship¡¯s communication. She seemed so confident and self-assured as she spoke to the entire crew. But maybe I should¡¯ve spent a bit more time listening to what she was actually saying instead of just staring at her.

    Commander Davis suddenly grabbed me close to her, squeezing me tight against her chest. I could clearly smell the shower gel she¡¯d used to shower with in the morning.

    ¡°Eep!¡± I yelped after which I felt the ship accelerate intensely. If the Commander hadn¡¯t grabbed me I¡¯d surely have fallen from the steps behind us.

    The Commander held me close for a couple more seconds after the worst acceleration was over which made me incredibly self-conscious about the situation.

    When she finally released me I immediately took a bit of distance from her.

    ¡°I told everyone to brace, didn¡¯t I?¡± Her voice was stern but still really friendly and caring.

    ¡°S-sorry¡­ I-I was spacing out a little¡­¡± -And for what it¡¯s worth, the ships I was used to had FTL dampeners so¡­-

    ¡°LC, you really need to pay attention at times like this. I don¡¯t want you to get hurt.¡±

    Her comment made me feel very warm inside but at the same time it also made my heart race quite a bit. ¡°I-I  will do better, C-Commander¡­¡± The dastardly stutter remained.

    When the Commander left the bridge to me I was relieved, as I could finally relax a little since there wasn¡¯t a lot to do. FTL travel either goes completely fine, or horribly wrong. And when it goes wrong in 99.9% of the cases it¡¯s because of combat-related problems. So I felt incredibly at ease. A lot of the crewmembers did look very excited but that was to be expected. After a couple of days they would also sink into the monotony of FTL travel.

    As the Commander came back from her tour some time later, she gave me a break which I gladly took. I still had a room to decorate after all.

    --A week later, the 13th of January 2205--

    Decorating my room took a long time, especially with all the plushies I¡¯d taken with me. I needed to figure out which colour combination worked best in my room, where my desk would fit best and which wall-decorations I wanted where. This made it so that, over the course of a week, I¡¯d rearranged my room a couple of times before I found the perfect arrangement.

    ¡°Yes, this, this is perfection.¡± I looked at my room in glee. The shark plushie, now with the Federation¡¯s beret sitting cosily on its head, was happily looking at me from its usual spot in my bed.

    Just in time as I was expected back at the bridge in a couple of minutes.

    When I arrived I immediately took my spot next to the Commander.

    ¡°Okay, people, next jump will be to system Chi-Zeta 4601. It¡¯s a relatively short jump as Lieutenant Zu told me.¡±

    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am! Approximately 54 minutes!¡± Lieutenant Zu from the Navigational team reported.

    Commander Davis nodded. ¡°Chi-Zeta 4601 contains a planet that was flagged as a potential colony world by the UFCC. It¡¯ll be our job to investigate and potentially confirm this status with a ground-team. I¡¯ll be personally leading the marine detachment.¡±

    -A colonizable world? This close to Earth?- I started to wonder.

    When I was on break during the FTL jump I opened up my silence bubble in my room and looked up something in my encrypted datafiles on my holostick.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ there¡¯s not any planet listed here as being habitable, but then again, most of the star systems in the galaxy are unmapped, even for the Conglomerate...¡± However, a couple of alerts were attached to this general region of space. These reports were ancient compared to when the files on the humans started, but they did warn of some sort of dangerous alien lifeforms present in this sector. Space intel was hard to gather; one of the only reasons we found out about the Humans was because they sent out radio signals into space for centuries which got picked up by our sensors. For everything else we had to count on exploration missions, not unlike this one. However, if an alert exists for this region, there must be a good reason for it. Maybe one exploration team ran into issues here, but the specific reason for the warning was apparently not attached, probably because someone forgot. ¡°Tch¡­ the failings of bureaucracy.¡±

    I put everything away again and made ready to head back to the bridge. What bugged me most of all, was that I couldn¡¯t even warn them.

    ¡°What¡¯s with the sad expression, LC? Aren¡¯t you excited we are going to set foot on another planet?¡± Commander Davis had put her hand on my shoulder. She¡¯d almost immediately noticed my annoyance.

    ¡°U-uh¡­ it¡¯s not that¡­¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong then?¡±

    ¡°I-it¡¯s just¡­ j-just be safe, okay?¡±

    She smiled. ¡°I always am.¡± The Commander then looked to the bridge. ¡°What do the scanners say about the planet?¡±

    ¡°No-lifeforms, or at least not warm-blooded, Commander, but plenty of plantlife.¡± The pilot replied.

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    Both me and the Commander stared out of the window in front of us as the planet we were approaching became bigger and bigger.

    ¡°It definitely looks Earthlike.¡±

    The Commander wasn¡¯t wrong. The only thing it missed were cities, pollution and space debris in the atmosphere. Otherwise it looked like the blue ball with green continents all of the Humans here were used to.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m going to get ready, do you have the bridge, XO?¡±

    I nodded and saluted her. ¡°Yes, Commander. P-please do keep in contact at all times.¡±

    ¡°I will.¡± She saluted back with a wink.

    Although I was a bit worried, her calm and confident demeanor made me feel a bit better and that wink¡­ That made me feel something else entirely...

 Chapter 6: Boots on the Ground

    --13th of January 2205.--

    I went down to the armoury and started getting into my armour while the other marines did the same. These suits of armour hadn¡¯t changed much since the unification war, except for some minor adjustments for space exploration. Thanks to the advanced rebreathers, one could stay outside almost indefinitely, as long as your suit¡¯s internal water tanks and food provisions lasted. The suits of armour were form fitting, so technically you didn¡¯t even need to wear anything underneath, some marines preferred this, but I always went in with a long sleeved shirt and tight pants to avoid being butt naked when you had to ditch your armour for some reason.

    As for the paint job, right now they were your typical naval grey, except for the pauldrons that had stripes on them to easily discern which rank everyone had. Mine had three gold stripes, painted horizontally. While Corporal Jones, who was fitting her armour next to me, just had two black stripes chevrons.

    ¡°Are you ready for the mission, Corporal?¡± I said as I locked my helmet into place and checked the microphone. The visor wasn¡¯t terribly large, but you still had plenty of vision out of it.

    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am. I was born ready.¡±  Corporal Jones was struggling a bit with her helmet, so I helped her a bit. The locks on these things could be somewhat annoying to get on, but it was better than them unintentionally popping off in a lethal environment.

    ¡°Speaking in clich¨¦s, huh?¡± I laughed. ¡°Just don¡¯t get too cocky and keep your eyes open.¡±

    ¡°I will, ma¡¯am.¡± She saluted me once her helmet was locked on tight.

    Before we left, we took our weapons with us, together with any accessories we preferred. I took a couple of high explosive plasma grenades and hung them from my belt, on the other side of my sidearm¡¯s holster. You can¡¯t go wrong with explosives when shit hits the fan. As for my primary weapon, I selected the P900-R. Compact enough to use in tight spaces, but still packing a punch thanks to the incredible velocity at which it launched bullets out of the barrel. An assault rifle would have been fine as well, but I preferred the enhanced mobility I gained, especially when we weren¡¯t necessarily expecting hostiles. And as I said, I still had the plasma grenades if things went wrong anyway.

    From the armoury it was only a little walk to the hangar bay where I saw our newest addition to the crew doing a last check of the shuttle electronics.

    ¡°Hey Commander, all the electronics are perfectly in order, I even added a little bit of an upgrade.¡±

    I shook Ensign Yuigahama¡¯s hand. ¡°Good job, Ensign. I see you¡¯ve gotten used to the new ship already.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s been a huge help.¡± Lieutenant Steyer came to salute us. He was in charge of the ins and outs of the hanger bay. ¡°The upgrade she added increased the engine efficiency of all shuttles, so you can put more power into the shielding.¡±

    ¡°The crew on the Antananarivo must be cursing their luck right about now.¡± Another electronics engineer started laughing.

    ¡°I take it everyone has been nice to you?¡± I directed myself back to Yuki.

    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am, everyone has been great.¡±

    ¡°Good to hear.¡± I saluted the entire group, after which we waited on the rest of the ground team. Apart from the marines, we¡¯d also take a biologist and a geologist with us so they could start analysing the moment we¡¯d landed.

    Gunny arrived as the last marine, together with the two scientists we¡¯d be taking along on the ride down. In typical Gunny fashion, he¡¯d picked a machine gun instead of a lighter weapon, with a couple of boxes of ammunition hanging from his suit of armour. He¡¯d also attached a lightweight exoskeleton to help bear the weight.

    Ensign Yuigahama looked at me with wide open eyes when she saw the scene of Gunnery-Sergeant Taylor approaching.  ¡°Wa-wasn¡¯t this just a reconnaissance mission, ma¡¯am?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the Gunnery-Sergeant for you.¡± I laughed. ¡°He will be staying behind with the scientists anyway, so it¡¯s not like he¡¯ll have to do much recon himself.¡±

    ¡°T-that¡¯s fair I guess¡­¡±

    ¡°Anyhow, it¡¯s time to board the shuttle. Make sure my ship doesn¡¯t fall apart while we are away, will you?¡±

    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am!¡± Yuki saluted together with the other engineers.

    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    I let everyone board the shuttle before I got in myself and sat down next to Gunny who needed quite a bit of room on the shuttle¡¯s bench but that still left plenty of space. These shuttles weren¡¯t necessarily built for comfort, but the both of us definitely had seen other things during the war. Compared to the shuttles back then, these might as well be limousines.

    The shuttle pilot flew us out of the hangar bay after I sent a message to the bridge that we were leaving. Due to the proximity of the ship with the planet, the trip down wouldn¡¯t take very long. In the meantime, I debriefed the marines and scientists on board.

    ¡°Everyone, this will be a standard planetary recon mission, you all know what you have to do. Gunnery Sergeant Taylor will stick close to the scientists, together with Sergeant Major Thompson. In the meantime, we will form three groups of three and fan out to see if we can find some points of interest on the ground. I don¡¯t think I need to repeat this, but please do keep your helmets on at all times, initial indicators say the atmosphere should be breathable but don¡¯t take any chances before analysis is complete. And as always, keep your eyes open and expect the unexpected.¡±

    ¡°Ma¡¯am, what are the teams?¡± Sergeant Setiawan asked.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take Jones and Kasongo. Sergeant De Vries will lead Garcia and Taumata. You¡¯ll lead team Charlie with Kristj¨¢nsd¨®ttir and Roberts.¡±

    Everyone nodded as the shuttle started shaking because we entered the atmosphere.

    ¡°Keep coms open and check in every 10 minutes.¡±

    When we hit the ground we immediately secured a perimeter around the shuttle with me and Gunny jumping out of the back first.

    ¡°It¡¯s eerily quiet.¡± Gunny commented once everyone was in position. You couldn¡¯t hear a single bird. The only thing that was audible was the wind rustling through the leaves of the outright enormous trees. They were comparable to the Coast Redwood trees I saw in North America when I was stationed there, only these were even larger than those.

    ¡°Commander, are you there?¡± LC Moore contacted me over my suit¡¯s intercom.

    ¡°Yes, what¡¯s up, LC?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve got more data concerning the day and night cycle now, if you would like that.¡±

    ¡°Sure, go ahead.¡±

    ¡°This planet completes a turn around its axis within 14 hours. Considering your current position, this means you have approximately 5 hours of daylight left.¡±

    ¡°Thanks for the info, LC.¡± I then turned to my marines. ¡°Okay people, let¡¯s spread out. Gunny, you hold the fort.¡±

    ¡°Aye aye.¡± He saluted and joined the scientists together with Sergeant Major Thompson.

    I took my team North, while bravo and Charlie went East and West respectively. We¡¯d discussed over the coms to head out for 5 clicks before heading back to the shuttle.

    All things considered, it was actually quite a relaxing walk. We didn¡¯t encounter anything except for pristine nature that hadn¡¯t seemingly been touched in forever. We¡¯d also walked past a couple of small lakes. But still, not a single sign of any kind of life to be seen.

    ¡°Hey, Commander.¡± Private Kasongo sped up a little so he could walk next to me. ¡°Don¡¯t you think this soil is a bit strange?¡±

    ¡°How so, Private?¡± I looked down and stopped for a bit.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, it¡¯s just all moss.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not an astrobiologist, so I really wouldn¡¯t know.¡± I crouched down and rubbed the moss with my gauntlet. It was a bit springy, but as far as I could tell that was pretty normal for moss.

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you expect a little bit of grass?¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°Maybe this planet doesn¡¯t have grass.¡±

    ¡°Commander! Come look at this!¡± Corporal Jones had been moving forward and was standing 20 meters away from us. She¡¯d been wiping away something from the ground.

    ¡°What¡¯s up, Jones?¡± I stood back up.

    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure this is concrete, ma¡¯am.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Private Kasongo and I walked over to Corporal when suddenly we could hear a large crack. I saw the ground around Corporal Jones start giving away. ¡°Jones!¡±

    I called out to her but thanks to the sudden movement, Jones had fallen on the floor as the entire slab of ground started to give way.

    ¡°Shit.¡± In an instant I threw down my weapon, shot out a grappling hook into a nearby tree and started running at the Corporal. When the floor gave way completely, I jumped after her. And with blind luck, I managed to grab her hand before she completely disappeared into the dark below. Catching her did send a shockwave through my spine as my arm and shoulder had to catch her entire weight. If not for my armour, that would have ended pretty poorly. I groaned a little while Corporal Jones was hanging on my hand for dear life, breathing incredibly heavily.

    ¡°T-t-thanks Commander¡­¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not out of this yet, Jones.¡± I bit through the shock and looked around.

    ¡°Commander! Are you alright?¡± Private Kasongo was looking down on us from the ledge above.

    I tried to make my servo motor in my gauntlet pull the both of us up, but by the sound it was making, I could tell that something had malfunctioned while catching Jones¡¯ fall.

    ¡°I can¡¯t pull us up.¡± I called up to Kasongo. ¡°Can you throw down a glow stick to see how far the bottom is?¡±

    The Private immediately did as I asked, opening a compartment in his thigh case and throwing down a couple of light sticks. Luckily, they didn¡¯t seem to drop down that low before stopping.

    ¡°I¡¯ll lower us down, then we¡¯ll see how we can get out of this mess.¡± At least the servo could still lower us down without dropping us.

    When we got to the bottom, we both activated our flashlights. Which incidentally made me find my weapon I¡¯d thrown down earlier. It was a bit banged up, but these weapons could generally handle more than that.

    ¡°Uh, Private, you might want to come down here too¡­¡± I called Private Kasongo through my microphone. ¡°It looks like we found something.¡± I raised my gun as I was staring down a massive concrete complex, with in the distance a couple of humanoid forms sat against the wall...

 Chapter 7: Searching in Darkness

    Corporal Jones and I kept our weapons raised and pointed towards the unknown individuals in the hallway until Private Kasongo had rappelled down to our position. In the meantime, I had radioed the bridge of the UFS Roald Amundsen, keeping them posted on our situation. The other squads were too far away to provide any assistance, so we were on our own for now, although Gunny and the shuttle would be coming to assist us in the near future.

    We started to advance slowly into the hallway, two people always covering the advance of the third, just like they taught in basic training. As we came closer, it became apparent the humanoid figures we¡¯d seen from a distance showed no signs of life whatsoever. They were seated against the wall, right at the end of the hallway which led into a big open space. I let the Corporal and Private Kasongo cover my back while I inspected the two bodies.

    ¡°Commander, can you switch on your helmet cam?¡± I heard LC Moore¡¯s voice come out of the comms.

    I did so immediately while I pointed my flashlight at the two bodies. They were completely covered in a chalky substance, and a whole pile of dust. But from the contours, you could still clearly tell one body was leaning against the other¡¯s shoulder. I took out my knife and gently started tapping at the chalk.

    ¡°Be careful, Commander.¡± LC Moore talked to me once more over the radio.

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± I hummed back while I concentrated on the task at hand.

    The fifth tap of my knife made a chunk of chalk fall off, revealing the visor of some kind of power armour. The glass was transparent enough to see a skeleton staring back at me.

    ¡°Wow.¡± I heard Corporal Jones gasp. She was looking over her shoulder at what I was doing.

    ¡°Eyes forward, Corporal.¡± I commanded.

    ¡°Y-yes Ma¡¯am!¡± She immediately started scanning the room again. ¡°S-so we¡¯re not alone in the galaxy after all¡­¡±

    ¡°Clearly not.¡± I nodded while I kept chipping away chalk.

    ¡°You are staying very calm, if I might say, Commander.¡± Private Kasongo commented.

    ¡°It always was a bit egocentric of humans to think they¡¯d be alone in the galaxy, don¡¯t you think so, Private?¡± I replied quickly.

    ¡°I guess¡­¡±

    ¡°Although I have to admit, even I did not expect us to find anything like this that soon, and so close to home nonetheless...¡± I tapped the chalk once more and this time a crack formed, almost covering the entire body of whatever being was in front of me. I used my knife to wedge it in between the crack and pushed. The left half fell off completely in one go, crumbling when it hit the ground. It revealed an appendage coming out of the lower back of the armour.

    I then heard a noise coming through my radio, but I couldn¡¯t really place it. ¡°LC, was that you?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, sorry Commander. I¡­ uh¡­ choked a bit on my drink.¡±

    ¡°Oh, please do be careful. I can¡¯t come and rescue you at the moment.¡± I chuckled.

    ¡°Y-yeah¡­¡±

    It took me ten more minutes to break both bodies out of their chalk prison. ¡°Gunny, what¡¯s your ETA?¡± I radioed Turner.

    ¡°Almost there, Commander. We are trying to get a good angle. Thompson says he can take the shuttle inside.¡±

    ¡°I would rather he didn¡¯t. The structure is rather unstable. Wouldn¡¯t want the engine¡¯s vibrations to make things collapse.¡±

    ¡°I hear you, Commander.¡± Thompson replied. ¡°I¡¯ll put her down outside.¡±

    ¡°Okay, make sure the ground is solid, so you don¡¯t take a tumble too.¡±

    ¡°Will do.¡±

    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    Gunny and the scientists reached us down in the tunnels not too much later.

    ¡°Prep these bodies for extraction. I¡¯d like to take them with us for analysis.¡± I ordered the scientists around, and they immediately got to work.

    ¡°What about me, Commander?¡± Gunny asked.

    ¡°Can you stay with them for a while longer? I would like to check around for a bit longer.

    ¡°Awh. I¡¯d have liked to come with you for a bit. You know, in case you need some heavy lifting.¡± He juggled his machine gun around a bit with his power armour.

    ¡°You sure you don¡¯t just want some action?¡±

    ¡°Maybe a little bit of that too.¡± I couldn¡¯t see it because of his helmet, but I could imagine his signature smug without issues.

    ¡°I can stay behind with the scientists, ma¡¯am.¡± Private Kasongo offered. ¡°If the Gunnery Sergeant wants to join you.¡±

    I gave him a quick nod. ¡°Alright then, Gunny and Jones, you¡¯re with me. Kasongo, don¡¯t let them out of your sight.¡±

    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am.¡± He gave me a salute and positioned himself next to the scientists.

    We started a sweep down into the big big open space. It was completely empty but so big our flashlights had issues lighting it up.

    ¡°Gunny, did you take any lumen grenades with you?¡± I asked while looking over my shoulder to my right.

    ¡°Want me to fire one?¡±

    ¡°Otherwise I wouldn¡¯t be asking.¡±

    ¡°Roger that. Cover me for a second.¡± He swung his machine gun over his back while me and Corporal Jones set up around him. He took a lumen grenade out of his grenade pouch, which was strapped to his exoskeleton. It was practically just a relatively tall cylinder. He then put it on the ground and took the igniter. ¡°Lighting up in three, two, one.¡±

    We all ducked away, making sure to avoid staring directly at the lumen grenade. It was sent flying into the air with a loud screech, but it was darn effective at lighting up the entire area.  When our eyes adjusted, we could finally tell what we were standing in.

    We were at the bottom of some kind of giant concrete silo, which was surrounded by several levels of open spaces. On the far side I could tell there was some big, red, alien writing marking every single floor. Very similar to how Earthen numbering systems worked.

    ¡°This looks like a huge fallout bunker.¡± The Corporal stated as she looked around.

    Gunny nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve seen some of these in Russia.¡±

    ¡°... But where are all the people¡­¡± Jones continued.

    ¡°Long gone.¡± I said as I started to get closer to the edge of the silo and shone the light of my flashlight into one of the dark corridors leading away from the central chamber. It landed on a bulky silhouette, again covered completely in chalk. ¡°Gunny, can you give that a hit with your armour?¡± I signed him over to the hulk in front of me.

    He quickly obeyed my order and ran in front of me. Lifting his machine gun for a moment before bringing it down hard on the chalk. It appeared to be a lot sturdier than the chalk around the armours we¡¯d found earlier, but to no avail. The shock immediately shattered the crust.

    ¡°Holy shit.¡± Gunny called out.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    He moved over to the side to give me a clearer sight of the opened chalk cocoon. ¡°It¡¯s a huge fucking spacebug, Commander.¡±

    ¡°Fuck me.¡± Jones called out from behind me.

    I moved closer to the bug and looked at it for a second. It was clearly not alive anymore, and it didn¡¯t look like anything I¡¯d ever seen before. It had at least 12 holes in its head, probably for eyes of some kind, and razor sharp teeth meant for cutting through meat.

    ¡°I think I might know what happened to these people.¡± I brought my hand to my helmet again to use my microphone. ¡°Got another one for pickup here.¡±

    ¡°Roger that, Commander.¡± Private Kasongo replied.

    ¡°Are you serious, Commander? Do you think these bugs ate all these people?¡± Jones sat down next to me and poked the bug with her rifle.

    ¡°Well. It¡¯s a theory, but I think so. Would explain where everything went.¡±

    ¡°And what about those two people back there?¡± Gunny nodded back to where we came from.

    ¡°Maybe some off-world explorers.¡± I shrugged. ¡°Again, it¡¯s just a theory.¡±

    ¡°Fair, but I know one thing though.¡± Gunny then continued. ¡°I¡¯m happy these bugs appear to be dead as hell. Because they look like nasty fuckers.¡±

    ¡°That makes two of us.¡± I stood back up and led the way deeper into the facility.

    We didn¡¯t find anything else, no other bodies, no other bugs, not any equipment these people might have used in the past. The only thing that was left was the concrete remains of the building.

    When we headed back to the shuttle, they had already loaded up the samples for analysis.

    ¡°Planet looks to be inhabitable and ready for colonization, ma¡¯am.¡± One of the scientists reported to me once I climbed on board.

    ¡°Hmm. I¡¯m not sure if we should, though. Not yet anyway.¡±

    ¡°It would be prudent to first figure out what happened to the bug creatures that apparently inhabited the planet before.¡± The other scientist agreed with me.

    I nodded and then commanded the shuttle to pick up the other teams. In the meantime, I leaned back against the wall. My shoulder blade had started to hurt a bit now that most of my adrenaline was gone. -I should probably let it get checked out by Doctor Winter¡­-

 Chapter 7 Bis: Wounds of War

    -- 1 Hour after the landing party got back to the UFS Roald Amundsen, Inside of Lieutenant-Commander Luna Moore¡¯s Room ¨C

    I groaned into my pillow, hanging my arm over my shark plushie next to me. ¡°I almost blew my entire coveeeer.¡± The shock of seeing my compatriots'' dead bodies against the wall through the Commander¡¯s helmet cam had almost made me audibly cry out. But luckily, I got my hand in front of my mouth just in time. At least I had found out why there was an alert for this sector of space, but it still had almost cost me the mission.

    Right now, the science teams were hard at work trying to figure out what they could from everything they had collected back on the planet surface. ¡°Let¡¯s hope that team didn¡¯t have a shape-shifting device on them¡­¡± A shiver flowed down my back as my body started trembling. This situation was stressing me out. The research performed on the bodies could very easily blow my cover, and there was nothing I could do about it.  At least I was off-duty for the rest of the day, so I could stress out in my room instead of on the bridge.

    ¡°Although¡­¡± A thought came up in my mind. Doctor Winter had told me yesterday she had managed to tune down the calming agent, so it wouldn¡¯t completely wreck me again. ¡°It might not be a bad idea to go and get a bottle¡­ or two¡­¡±

    Sadly, that task would require me to get out of bed. I scraped together all the willpower in me, which wasn¡¯t a lot but luckily just enough and hoisted me out of bed. I put on my uniform jacket and started heading towards the infirmary.

    When I opened the door to the infirmary, I could not see anyone here until I heard Doctor Winter talk to someone behind one of the privacy screens.

    ¡°Does this hurt?¡±

    ¡°Ouch! Don¡¯t pull it!¡± It was the Commander¡¯s voice that replied.

    ¡°I¡¯ll note that down as a yes.¡±

    ¡°Uhhh¡­.¡± I didn¡¯t really know what to do.

    ¡°Is someone there?¡± Doctor Wintered poked her head through the privacy screen. ¡°Ah. Lieutenant-Commander. Can I help you with something?¡±

    ¡°Is the LC here?¡± The Commander asked.

    ¡°Do we have any other Lieutenant-Commanders on board?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ no, but¡­¡±

    ¡°Did you hit your head as well?¡±

    ¡°Now, that¡¯s just plain rude.¡±

    ¡°So, Lieutenant-Commander, what brings you here?¡± She completely ignored the Commander and walked from behind the screen.

    ¡°I¡­ uh¡­ you told me you had some calming pills ready¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah, right.¡± She beckoned me to follow her.

    I stopped at the edge of the privacy screen. ¡°U-uh¡­ should I wait here?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, LC, you can follow her.¡± It was the Commander who gave me permission.

    ¡°O-okay.¡± I followed her command and walked behind the screen. When I walked past, I saw the Commander sitting with her back to me on an inspection table in her light blue navy tank top. She was looking at me over her shoulder with her beret a bit askew on her head. But the thing that surprised me most was that her left arm and a big part of the left shoulder blade was made out of a matte dark gray metal. I could also see some severe scarring on the little bit of flesh that wasn¡¯t covered by the metal or her tank top and on her other arm she had quite a couple scars as well.

    It left me almost dead in my tracks. ¡°W-wh¡­¡±

    ¡°Is this your first time seeing it?¡± Doctor Winter had turned around to look at what the holdup was.

    I shyly nodded while glancing at the Commander a couple of times.

    ¡°Ah, right. Sometimes I forget you were only assigned last minute.¡± Doctor Winter nodded with understanding.

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    ¡°Almost all the officers know.¡± The Commander spoke. ¡°It¡¯s just a thing that happened during the war.¡±

    ¡°A thing she says, is if it were only a trivial matter.¡± the Doctor shook her head and then started searching through a cabinet. ¡°She jumped on a plasma grenade to save a group of children who were stuck in a bomb shelter.¡±

    ¡°They spent a lot to keep me alive. Apparently living war heroes are better than dead ones, that¡¯s what I heard, at least. Definitely wished they didn¡¯t for the first half year, though.¡±

    ¡°D-does it still hurt?¡± I asked, in the back of my mind her censored medical record flashed past. They must¡¯ve also kept her injury a secret as well, for that very reason.

    ¡°Not really¡­ well¡­ now it does but not because of that.¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯d have thought that catching the full weight of a marine in power armor would be bad for your prosthetics?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ I know, Doc. I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    ¡°Well, at least it¡¯s just a minor sprain of your muscles. Just try to keep physical activity on the downlow for a while.¡±

    ¡°So, no catching marines?¡±

    ¡°Unless you want to be out of action for a couple of months? No.¡±

    ¡°Awh.¡±

    While the Commander put her uniform jacket back on, Doctor Winter handed me the bottle of pills. ¡°Here, don¡¯t take more than 3 a day and try to spread them at least 4 hours apart.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡± I attempted to then leave the room, but the Commander stopped me before I could.

    ¡°Ah, Luna, wait up a bit.¡± She ran up to me, her jacket still unbuttoned.

    I stopped and turned around. Doctor Winter was looking at us with interest while leaning against one of the lower cabinets. ¡°Y-yes Commander?¡± I said with blushy cheeks.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for dropping this on you so suddenly, so would you want to go and grab some food with me? To make up for it. You are off-duty, right?¡±

    ¡°I-isn¡¯t the food just from the cafeteria?¡±

    ¡°Aha.¡± She smiled. ¡°Did you know you can also synthesize ingredients and make the food yourself. It always tastes way better that way.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Are you going to make your famous beef tacos again?¡± Doctor Winter asked.

    ¡°If the LC takes me up on my offer.¡±

    The Doctor laughed. ¡°In that case, I¡¯d really recommend accepting, Luna, they are pretty good.¡±

    Now both the Doctor and the Commander were looking at me with anticipation. ¡°I-I guess¡­ I guess I-I¡¯ll say yes then¡­¡±

    ¡°Great.¡± The Commander closed her fist in victory and then quickly continued buttoning up her shirt.

    ¡°Where are we going to eat it?¡±

    ¡°Ah, in my cabin.¡± She looked up for a second and smiled.

    ¡°Y-y-y¡­¡± I grabbed my bottle of pills tighter in my hand. -Okay, Luna, calm yourself. It¡¯ll be fiiiine.-

    When we left the room I could swear Doctor Winter was smirking at me, but that must¡¯ve been a trick of the light as I could imagine no reason why she would do such a thing.

    While we walked to the cafeteria to get the Commander¡¯s ingredients synthesized, I quickly took a pill, so no such hallucinations would strike me again. However, the shaking of my pill bottle did pull the Commander¡¯s attention to me.

    ¡°What are the pills for?¡± She asked almost immediately. ¡°Also got some prosthetic you need to take anti-rejection medication for?¡±

    ¡°N-no¡­¡± I shook my head. ¡°J-just some calming agent.¡±

    ¡°Ah, right, Eva mentioned something about that. A bit of a lightweight?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I weigh about average.¡±

    The Commander found that funny for some reason. ¡°That''s¡­ that¡¯s not what I meant.¡± She laughed. ¡°Are you not familiar with the idiom?¡±

    -Oh no¡­ idioms, I always forget about those.-

    ¡°S-sorry it went right over my head.¡±

    ¡°At least you know that one.¡± She smiled and turned her gaze forward again.

    -I¡¯m such an idiot¡­-

    We got all the ingredients for the Commander from an almost empty cafeteria, it was not yet time for dinner, so barely anyone was there. Because normally food didn¡¯t need to be prepped, people didn¡¯t have to be there beforehand. Only one marine was there, enjoying a bit of pudding while the cleaning robots did a sweep around the room. She didn¡¯t pay any attention to us, apart from the initial salute she gave us.

    Ingredients in hand we then made our way to the Commander¡¯s private cabin. Once she opened the door, she called out to the ship¡¯s AI. ¡°Ellie, please turn on the lights and then leave us alone until I call you back in.¡±

    ¡°Aye aye, Commander.¡± Ellie replied as the lights in the Commander''s room flicked on. The lights were slightly dimmed, giving her blue hued room quite a cozy and moodie feeling.

    ¡°It¡¯s a bit more private like this.¡± She smiled.

    I nodded as I put the ingredients I carried on one of the tables. The Commander¡¯s room was a bit bigger than mine but not by too much. Her bed on the far side of the room was perfectly made, and didn''t even have a single crease.

    ¡°Where¡¯s the kitchen?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Give me a second.¡± The Commander walked over to the wall next to her bathroom door and pressed an interface that popped up. The wall quickly rearranged itself into a small kitchen. ¡°Neat, huh? I asked to have it in as an additional feature.¡± She looked proudly at her small kitchen area.

    ¡°Perks of being the Commander?¡±

    ¡°Just a little.¡± She smiled and walked over to me. Grabbing hold of the bag of ingredients. ¡°Make yourself comfortable, I¡¯ll start with the food.

    ¡°T-thank you¡­¡±

 Chapter 7.5 Bis: Just Call me Lauren

    The Commander tossed aside her beret and pulled an apron out of the nearby wall closet so she wouldn¡¯t get her uniform dirty. She then turned on the stove and started cooking. Cutting the veggies and buttering the pan.

    ¡°So¡­¡± The Commander started to talk to me when she flushed the butter around in the pan. ¡°What do you think about our findings?¡± She didn¡¯t look back to talk to me.

    ¡°Which findings?¡±

    ¡°You know, just the discovery of the decade, century, millennium¡­ The discovery of alien life.¡± For that last part she turned around and smiled at me.

    ¡°Ah¡­¡± I blushed. ¡°It was¡­ a surprise¡­¡± I lied.

    ¡°That¡¯s a bit of an understatement, isn¡¯t it?¡± She laughed, turning back to the stove.

    ¡°I-I¡¯m not that terribly good with words¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± She waved my apology away.

    ¡°What¡­ what do you think about it?¡± keeping the actual goal of my own mission in mind, this conversation might actually be quite useful.

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ what do I think, indeed.¡± She rested both of her hands on the edge of the stove and looked up for a second, as if she was deeply in thought. She then continued as if nothing happened. ¡°I guess ¡®surprised¡¯ does fit the bill as well.¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    She laughed at my lack of comment. ¡°If you want more than that. I¡¯m not surprised there is alien life, I just was surprised that we would find it so close to Earth.¡±

    -That makes two of us¡­-

    ¡°As for my feelings on what we found¡­¡± She added the meat to the pan before she continued. ¡°Those bugs do look scary as fuck. Not going to lie. And it looks like they are hostile, which is no bueno as well¡­ Honestly I would probably shoot first and ask questions later if we were to encounter a live specimen.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡± While I understood the sentiment, it did not bode well for my report.

    ¡°Those other alien people we found however, it would¡¯ve been very very enlightening to talk to them¡­ And to see them alive too, of course.¡±

    I coughed. ¡°But what makes you think the bugs wouldn¡¯t be open to a conversation?¡±

    ¡°Well, I would talk to them if they were able to converse, definitely. Can¡¯t kill the diplomatic approach immediately. Those teeth though¡­ One of the scientists already tested it on the surface, and apparently those things can cut through sheet metal like it were butter.¡± To demonstrate, she put her own knife in the bar of butter that was still on the counter. ¡°Those don¡¯t seem well-suited for diplomacy, more for combat and killing, if you ask me.

    I decided to continue playing the devil¡¯s advocate for a bit longer. ¡°Isn¡¯t this ship armed to the teeth with weaponry too?¡±

    ¡°Haha.¡± The Commander laughed. ¡°I guess that¡¯s true. That probably also doesn¡¯t really send the right message, does it?¡± She took the pan off the fire and shook it for a bit.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for pushing you like this¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, I like having these conversations. It¡¯s incredibly valuable to see things from other perspectives, don¡¯t you think?¡± She brings the plate to the table and puts it on a rubber trivet. Then she walked back to get the veggies and sauces on the table as well. ¡°Dinner is served.¡±

    I had never eaten a taco before but I got to say that the experience was definitely very pleasing. The way the Commander had seasoned the meat was also beyond anything I¡¯d tasted from the food bots in any of the cafeteria¡¯s.

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    ¡°Do you like it?¡± She asked.

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s very tasty.¡± I nodded after having another bite.

    ¡°Want to hear a funny foodbot story from back during the war?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ sure?¡±

    The Commander started to tell her tale and after a while she finally got to the crux of her story. ¡°... and that¡¯s when the private was like ¡®It¡¯d taste fine if it were actually chicken, but it¡¯s mac and cheese!¡± She started laughing and slapped her thigh a couple of times. It was quite endearing to see her laugh this genuinely. Before she grimaced and brought her right hand to her shoulder.

    ¡°Is everything alright?¡± I got up from my seat almost immediately.

    ¡°It just stung a bit¡­ I¡¯m fine¡­¡± She breathed in heavily and breathed back out. Trying to calm herself. She was clearly underselling the pain. ¡°Everything is so tied up back there. Every time I move, it¡¯s like I¡¯m scraping bricks against one another¡­ I would give everything for a massage parlour on this ship¡­¡±

    ¡°I studied human physiology¡­ maybe I can help?¡± I couldn¡¯t believe what I was saying right now. Did I just indirectly offer her a massage?

    ¡°Really? But then I¡¯d have to promise you another dinner.¡± She looked at me with wonder in her eyes, as if I were some kind of messiah that appeared out of the heavens above.

    ¡°It¡­ it¡¯s fine¡­¡± -WHY AM I DOING THIS!?- ¡°D-do you have any massage oils nearby?¡±

    ¡°I have some in my bathroom for when I have run a lot. Need to keep those thighs healthy!¡± She jogged towards her bathroom with her hand still on her shoulder. She quickly came back with a bottle in her hand. ¡°Will this work?¡±

    I read the label. ¡°It should work¡­b-but first let¡¯s finish our food.¡±

    ¡°Sounds like a plan.¡± Her white teeth shone brightly when she smiled like that¡­

    ¡°Just take off y-your clothes and lay down on your bed, C-Commander¡­¡±

    ¡°Aye aye, but please call me Lauren.¡± She got on her bed and threw her jacket on the night table. She turned around, away from me, to take off her tank top too. She then laid down on her belly. Her back showed a lot of scars. What I¡¯d seen in the infirmary was just the tip of the iceberg compared to what I was seeing now. But apart from that¡­ her back was incredibly muscular too and her right arm¡­ Now that I was close, I definitely got new appreciation for it as well.

    I took the bottle of oil and rubbed my hands with them. ¡°Are you¡­ are you ready?¡± I actually hadn¡¯t really practised massaging before, but from what I¡¯d read the core principles were pretty easy to understand. Luckily, I had a good memory as well.

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± She hummed.

    I started by massaging her back in a figure-8, so the massage oil was spread evenly over her body. I immediately noticed how tense her muscles were. She must have been under a lot of stress, even if she doesn¡¯t really show it. Understandable if you look at the nature of this mission.

    Then I continued doing the routine I¡¯d seen performed a couple of times in physiological care class, with some minor adaptations because of her synthetic limb.

    The Commander¡­ or Lauren as I should say, groaned a couple of times when I traced the prosthetic¡¯s edge. That area was the tensest of all.

    ¡°A-are you okay, C-... Lauren?¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± She hummed again. ¡°It¡¯s fine. You are doing a good job¡­ a very good job¡­¡±

    With her assurance, I continued for at least ten more minutes. ¡°I think I¡¯m done¡­¡± I got off her bed and stood up next to it, getting ready to wash my hands to get rid of the massage oil.

    ¡°Luna¡­¡± Lauren lifted herself up with her arms. So she could stare at the wall in front of her.

    ¡°Y-yes?¡±

    ¡°That was great¡­¡± She rolled her head around. ¡°Holy shit, it feels like I¡¯ve been reborn.¡± Without looking back, she put her tank top back on.

    ¡°I¡¯m happy you enjoyed it¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯d be an understatement.¡± Once she had her tank top on, she turned around and smiled brightly at me. ¡°Would you be interested in doing that again some day? I¡¯d really appreciate it, I would even pay you for it if you want.¡±

    ¡°A-a payment won¡¯t be necessary¡­¡±

    ¡°So, that¡¯s a yes?¡± She tilted her head.

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± I nodded.

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll make you food every time you come over.¡± She smiled. ¡°And maybe one day I can return the favour.¡±

    That sentence flustered me harder than it should¡¯ve. I had to turn around to hide my blush. But luckily I still had the excuse of washing my hands, so I didn¡¯t need to explain myself.

    The cold water from the faucet helped to recollect my thoughts. Why did I always get so wound up around the Commander? It couldn¡¯t be that I was having feelings from someone of an alien race, right? Right? I shook my head, splashed some water in my face, and then left the bathroom. When I walked back into the cabin proper, Lauren was already back at the table, her jacket unbuttoned but dressed over her shoulders. Two cupcakes were sat in front of her.

    ¡°I smuggled these with me so we could have a little dessert as well.¡±

    I was a bit surprised but managed to keep a hold of myself. ¡°What flavour are they?¡±

    ¡°That is a good question.¡± Lauren laughed and took one of them. ¡°I pressed the cupcake icon when you weren¡¯t looking and didn¡¯t really look at the screen when I pushed through the flavours.¡± She then took one of them and gave it a nibble. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure this is vanilla¡­¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t taste like chicken?¡± I joked.

    ¡°Luckily it doesn¡¯t.¡± Lauren laughed. ¡°Wait¡­ now that you mention it¡­¡±

 Chapter 8: Roughed Up

    Luna left my cabin around 2300 Earth time, leaving me alone once again. Luckily, my XO had temporarily rid me of the pain that had been plaguing me. So I decided to clean up the plates and the rest of the food that was left. A little while later I was done and took a bottle of whiskey out of my cabinet to pour me a glass. I sunk down on my sofa, glass in hand, and stared at the screen that was simulating a fireplace. Today has been an exhausting and painful day. But nonetheless also exciting and eye-opening. My thoughts went back to the planet¡¯s surface and what we¡¯d found. The more I thought about it, however, the more a wave of negativity grew. We¡¯d found confirmation of alien life, that much was true. But it had been completely wiped out. Not a single survivor. The planet was a similar size to Earth, our home. But void of any living being.

    ¡°I can¡¯t even fathom how it must¡¯ve felt to have been one of the last survivors¡­¡± I took a swig from my glass and let myself sink deeper into the sofa. ¡°Maybe they still had hope. Hope that they could save themself, or even just a part¡­ But in the end¡­¡± I emptied my glass and poured it full again. ¡°In the end it was for nought anyway¡­ They all died¡­¡±

    Negative thoughts now came flooding in like a storm surge at high water. Memories about the war. Seamlessly hopeless situations I¡¯d found myself in. Suffering of all those around me.

    I emptied my glass again and grabbed for the bottle once more. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t¡­¡± My hand hesitated for a moment and pulled back. But then¡­ memories of my parental home, aflame after an artillery strike had struck during the evacuation¡­ On my knees in the rain¡­

    I woke up on the floor. The bottle lay empty beside me. A panging pain in my head.

    ¡°Ow¡­¡± I put my right hand over my right eye. ¡°Fuck.¡± I pulled myself upright and sat against the sofa, putting the bottle on the small table in front of it. ¡°Ellie, what time is it?¡±

    No response.

    ¡°Right¡­¡±

    I tried to turn around and look over my shoulder to the table at my bed¡¯s side, but another pain jolted through me. This time it was my shoulder. ¡°Goddess¡­ that¡¯s back too¡­¡±

    With a painful groan, I lifted myself up and stumbled forwards, towards my clock. It was five in the morning.

    ¡°Pff¡­¡± I sighed and redirected my stumbling towards the bathroom. I could get in a quick shower and then sleep for an hour or two more before I had to get up and start my shift.

    However, when I got in bed after my shower, sleep was very hard to catch. Just when I felt myself dozing off again. My alarm decided it was time to start ringing.

    ¡°For fucks sake¡­¡± I groaned yet again. ¡°Why do I do this to myself¡­¡±

    After having splashed some more water in my face and having taken my pills, I put on a new uniform and headed out.

    ¡°Commander, is something wrong? You look horrible.¡± Luna looked at me with a concerned look on her face when I entered the bridge.

    ¡°I had a bit of a rough evening after you left¡­¡±

    ¡°Did your shoulder start hurting again?¡±

    ¡°No, It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s fine¡­ Really. Just need some time to wake up properly.¡± I waved her concern for me away, not wanting to worry her even more. ¡°What did the other shift report?¡±

    ¡°Ah.¡± She immediately stood up straight and took her holostick. ¡°Nothing noteworthy was reported. The planet''s surface stayed quiet. No incoming coms eithers.¡±

    ¡°Okay, great.¡± It sounded like it would be a quiet day, which I didn¡¯t really mind in my current state.

    The scientists had asked for a week of orbiting the planet, which they had dubbed Felix Invenire, to go back to the planet, collect more samples and do what scientists generally do, before we sent a report back to Earth with our findings. We¡¯d already alerted back that we had in fact found a plausible habitable world, and the mood had been outright ecstatic. Luckily, I wouldn¡¯t have to do any of that reporting myself.

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    ¡°Are you sure you are okay, Commander? You look terribly pale.¡± Luna clamped on to me, around forty-five minutes after our shift had started.

    ¡°Do I?¡± I turned around to face her, but when I did, the entire room started spinning around me. Luna caught me right on time before I fell over.

    ¡°Commander, I really can¡¯t let you be here like this¡­¡± She looked around the room and called over to someone at the door. ¡°Uhm, hey, marine. Can you take the Commander to the med bay?¡±

    The marine immediately ran over, saluted his XO and put my arm around his neck. It was Private Kasongo.

    ¡°Are you okay, ma¡¯am?¡± He asked.

    ¡°N-not really.¡± I shook my head and looked at Luna. ¡°XO, you have the bridge¡­?¡±

    She saluted me. ¡°Don¡¯t worry Commander.¡±

    Private Kasongo then escorted me away to face the ire of Doctor Winter.

    The Private didn¡¯t ask much during the walk to the infirmary, except for occasionally checking if my condition wasn¡¯t getting worse.

    Doctor Winter however¡­ ¡°Have you been drinking again?¡± She shot her doctor¡¯s light in my eye to check my pupil¡¯s response. Noone else was present in the infirmary at that time.

    ¡°Yes¡­¡± I admitted guilt.

    ¡°How much?¡± She shone her light into my other eye.

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°How much?¡± She repeated.

    ¡°A bottle¡­¡±

    She clicked her light off and put it in her doctor¡¯s jacket and sighed. ¡°Lauren¡­¡±

    ¡°I know¡­¡±

    ¡°Did you have an episode again?¡±

    I nodded.

    She gave me a knowing nod and sat next to me on the bed. ¡°Didn¡¯t you have a fun night with the XO?¡±

    ¡°I did¡­ but when she left¡­ My mind started racing and then went back to¡­ to my parents¡­ and from there¡­¡±

    She nodded and put her hand on my back. Just gently rubbing it to comfort me. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you call me up to keep you company?¡± Eva said in a soft and soothing voice.

    ¡°It was already late¡­¡±

    ¡°You know I¡¯d have still come over, right? Or Gunny¡­¡±

    ¡°Still¡­¡± I looked down at my lap.

    ¡°Lauren. Look at me.¡±

    I did as she asked.

    ¡°Lauren, you are the most important person on this ship, your mental health matters for a lot of people, okay?¡± She put her hand on my shoulder. ¡°And secondly and most importantly, you are our friend. We don¡¯t want you to suffer alone. Call on us if you need us and we will be there for you. I know you like to deflect things with your casual and happy-go-lucky attitude. But it''s also important to work through this, together.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ thank you¡­¡± I nodded.

    ¡°And if need be, I¡¯ll come and sleep on your sofa.¡± She squeezed my shoulder a little.

    ¡°You should definitely take the bed though.¡±

    ¡°No, with your back, it¡¯s definitely better to stay in the most comfortable positions possible. So no more sleeping on the floor either. Understood?¡±

    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡± Eva had definitely managed to drag my mind out of the swamp. ¡°Is that what¡¯s wrong with me?¡±

    ¡°Well, I see you¡¯ve got a bit of swelling around your shoulder but that should go away by applying an ice pack to it.¡± She hopped off the bed and walked over to one of the freezers. ¡°As for your other ailments. It was the high amount of alcohol in your blood reacting with the prescribed drugs. That¡¯ll pass relatively soon. Better to take your pills a bit later if you still feel drunk. A little delay on the pills won¡¯t matter that much as long as you take them.¡± Doctor Winter took an ice bag out for me and put it in an insulator so I wouldn¡¯t get any frostbite. She then attached a strap to it so I could put it on and hang it behind my back. ¡°Here you go. And now hophop back to work. Luna must be worried for you as well.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± I said as I got off the bed and put the ice bag on.

    ¡°Oh, nothing in particular.¡± She giggled and gently guided me out. ¡°Don¡¯t forget to call on us when you need us, okay?¡±

    ¡°I will.¡± And with that I got kicked out of the infirmary.

    My XO was staring out of the window at Felix Invenire from the complete front of the bridge. I walked up to her, after having given a salute to Private Kasongo who looked a bit surprised that I¡¯d returned already.

    ¡°XO, I¡¯m back.¡± I said with a smile as I approached her.

    She bounced up for a second, clearly caught off guard. ¡°Ah! C-Commander! You are back already. Is everything okay?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m okay now. Thank you for sending me away. It was definitely for the best.¡±

    ¡°No problem.¡± She saluted me. ¡°It¡¯s my duty as your XO after all.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡± I joined her in watching the planet below. I could see a little bit of a blush forming on her cheeks. She must¡¯ve really gotten flustered by the surprise.

 Chapter 9: Damage Control Drill

    --1 Week later¨C

    ¡°Commander, we are ready for the FTL jump.¡± Lieutenant Zu saluted me.

    ¡°Alright, Ellie, start the FTL countdown if you would.¡± The week had passed by relatively smoothly. I still had a couple of nightmares, but Eva helped me through those by keeping me some company. Now we were ready to depart from Felix Invenire. Since our next jump would take a couple of hours, we had decided to do a damage control exercise in the meantime. As things could go wrong at any time, it was also important to train during jumps.

    ¡°Is everyone in position?¡± I asked my lovely XO. She¡¯d been very helpful to lessen the load on my shoulders this week, and I was very grateful for that.

    ¡°Yes, all practice dummies are in place and waiting to be rescued. The fire simulators have been placed and activated as well.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡± I nodded and looked forward towards the bridge. Steadying myself against the railing. Ellie¡¯s countdown reached zero and the ship zoomed into FTL. ¡°Let¡¯s begin in seven minutes.¡±

    Luna nodded and stared at her tablet.

    Those seven minutes passed swiftly as I opened the intercom. ¡°Attention, attention! A fire has been reported in hallway 9F. Damage control, to your stations!¡± I then sounded the ship¡¯s damage control alarm and then turned myself to the different camera feeds Ellie had set up for me.

    The damage control crew quickly came into action and arrived at the scene shortly after. Following what they had learned during training and previous drills, everything was going very smoothly.

    I nodded contently. ¡°Looks fine and dandy to me.¡±

    At least, it was fine and dandy, until something shook the ship again. Almost throwing me out of balance.

    ¡°Uh. What was that?¡± I looked around the bridge. But just as I did, all the lights went out.

    Ellie quickly restored the ship''s lighting. ¡°Commander, we have been hit by a sudden surge of energy.¡± Ellie explained.

    ¡°Commander! My systems are down. I can¡¯t see anything on the sensors.¡± Lieutenant Zu called out.

    At the same time, a voice yelled over the intercoms. ¡°Fire in the engineering bay! Help!¡±

    I didn¡¯t waste a single second to open up a shipwide channel of my own. ¡°Attention. We have a fire in Engineering. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill!¡± I closed the channel again and yelled to the rest of the bridge. ¡°Get us out of FTL before we crash into a star.¡±

    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am.¡± The bridge personnel responded in unison.

    Luna was frantically swiping on her holo tablet.

    ¡°Can you see anything?¡±

    ¡°Nothing. All cameras are out as well.¡±

    ¡°Fuck. Something must¡¯ve destroyed the sensory circuits. This is bad.¡± I looked around and opened a channel to Gunny, who was part of the damage control group. ¡°Gunny, did you get the alert?¡±

    ¡°Yes we did. Intercoms are working fine.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll need you to be our eyes. We are completely blind here.¡±

    ¡°Aye aye. We are almost there.¡±

    The entire bridge held their breath as we waited for more information from Gunny. The intercom stays quiet for a minute before it roars to life again.

    ¡°One of the oxygen tanks has exploded. Several people are injured. Noone appears to be dead. We are trying to contain the fire, but we¡¯ll definitely need to repair that tank.¡±

    ¡°We have spare parts. Shouldn¡¯t be an issue.¡± I looked at the ship''s layout on my holostick. ¡°No¡­ that won¡¯t work.¡± I shook my head.

    ¡°Commander?¡± Luna asked.

    ¡°Ah, was just thinking of venting the air to immediately get rid of the fire. But without sensors, it¡¯s just too risky. We wouldn¡¯t know which airlocks are closed and which ones aren¡¯t. Talking about sensors¡­¡± I looked up at the rest of the bridge. ¡°Any ETA on when we get them back?¡±

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    ¡°No clue Commander. We¡¯ll need to manually reroute the circuits if we want to temporarily have them back. But we won¡¯t have a clue what¡¯s happening in the back of the ship.¡± Zu answered.

    ¡°Any info is better than no info.¡± I nodded. ¡°Can you go and reroute them now?¡±

    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am.¡± She saluted and ran off the bridge.

    A tense quarter of an hour later, Gunny reported back. ¡°Fire is mostly under control now. We are pushing forward now to squeeze out the last bit.¡±

    ¡°Any word on the injured?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯ve been sent to the infirmary already. Most had slight burns.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± I closed the intercom. ¡°I¡¯m going to check on the infirmary.¡±

    ¡°Commander, shouldn¡¯t I do this? I think you¡¯d be more valuable here.¡± Luna stopped me by stepping in front of me.

    ¡°Right¡­ Yeah. I guess that¡¯d be best.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll let you know more the second I get there.¡± She smiled and turned around to head to the infirmary.

    At almost the same time, Lieutenant Zu came back on the bridge. ¡°Circuits should have been rerouted, Commander. We just need to do a reboot of the system now.¡±

    ¡°Ellie?¡± I waited for my robotic assistant to reboot the system.

    ¡°System rebooted, Commander.¡±

    ¡°Status?¡±

    Zu got to her station again. ¡°Looks like it¡¯s working, Commander. We have vision of 80% of the ship. And apart from the big dead zone behind us, our exterior sensors have been restored as well.¡±

    ¡°Alright, now we can go and try to figure out what the actual fuck hit us.¡±

    ¡°I might have a theory about that, ma¡¯am.¡± Lieutenant Bailey raised his hand. ¡°Me and Lieutenant McAllister have come up with a theory.¡±

    Lieutenant McAllister continued. ¡°We had a brief period of data from our sensors coming in after we got hit. And we believe we might have been hit by a pulse of a pulsar.¡±

    ¡°A pulsar, really?¡±

    ¡°The energy signature matches it, Ma¡¯am.¡± Bailey said.

    ¡°What¡¯s the chance of that happening?¡±

    ¡°Incredibly small.¡± Bailey shook his head at the screen in front of it. ¡°But it¡¯s still there.¡±

    ¡°So, you are telling me we got hit by a Pulsar and survived?¡±

    ¡°We only travelled through it for a fraction of a second, and our shield caught most of it. But again. It¡¯s just a theory, could have been anything, but that¡¯s the most plausible.¡± McAllister finished.

    ¡°Hmmm. Ellie?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Commander?¡±

    ¡°Is there any way we can prevent getting hit by a pulsar. Build in some kind of detection system or something like that?¡±

    ¡°Not really, Commander. Not until we¡¯ve charted the entirety of the galaxy.¡±

    ¡°But, like I said, Commander.¡± Lieutenant Bailey talked to me. ¡°The chances of that happening are incredibly small. We¡¯d need to have supernatural bad luck for this to happen to us again.¡±

    ¡°But it happened to us once, didn¡¯t it? It¡¯s always good to be prepared.¡±

    ¡°Commander.¡± Ellie spoke to me again. ¡°Prevention might not be possible, but there might be a possibility to negate the effects of getting hit drastically so this situation will not occur again. If Lieutenant Bailey can give me access to the data, I might be able to devise something to help the ship survive better in the future.¡±

    ¡°Bailey, can you give her access?¡±

    The Lieutenant saluted. ¡°Yes ma¡¯am.¡±

    I worked on some other minor issues caused by the energy surge until my holostick notified me of an incoming call. It was my XO.

    ¡°Yes, LC? Any news from the infirmary.¡±

    ¡°Most people are fine.¡± Luna replied. ¡°We got a couple of serious injuries, but Doctor Winter says they¡¯ll be fine with some recovery. How are the sensors?¡±

    ¡°Our rear sensors are fucked, but we can do a couple of Crazy Ivan¡¯s to see if anyone is sneaking up on us.¡±

    ¡°I am not familiar with that term.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s old submarine language.¡± I explained. ¡°It means that you perform a sudden hard turn to look at your blind spot. Submarines had a sonar blind spot behind them because of turbulence created by their propellers. Luckily, I followed a course on pre-spaceflight naval tactics.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Luna didn¡¯t really sound terribly interested, but I couldn¡¯t blame her. Most of these tactics were not popular in officer training either. But they could definitely be useful, as was the case now. ¡°Would you still like to visit the infirmary, Commander? I can come back and take over the bridge now, assuming things have calmed down.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯d like to visit the injured myself if that¡¯s possible. I also want to inspect the damage in Engineering.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be returning to the bridge shortly.¡± Luna reported and hung up.

    Fifteen minutes later, Luna had changed posts with me, leaving me free to go and see the crew.

    ¡°Commander!¡± One of the more injured crewmen called out to me once they saw me enter the infirmary. The left half of their body was covered in bandages.

    ¡°How are you doing, sailor?¡± I walked closer to their bed. ¡°Hope you are not in too much pain.¡±

    ¡°It definitely hurts, but these painkillers are working wonders.¡± They smiled. ¡°I was standing right next to the oxygen tank when it went up. Luckily, everyone was wearing their protective gear.¡±

    ¡°Well, I hope you get better soon.¡± I then raised my voice. ¡°And that counts for the rest of you as well. We can¡¯t run this ship without our engineering experts, now, can we!?¡±

    ¡°Hell yes, Commander!¡± A female engineer yelled from the other side of the room. Others quickly joined in the cheering.

    I smiled. -Morale successfully restored.-

 Chapter 9 Bis: After Work Meeting

    ¨C 1 Week later ¨C

    I helped the Commander to the best of my abilities with the repairs of the ship. Our timetable had been moved back by quite a bit thanks to the explosion in the Engineering department, but luckily it didn¡¯t cost us any lives because that¡¯d have been immeasurably worse. Both for the people themselves and for the Commander. I could tell that she was still quite shaky mentally. It didn¡¯t show in the crisis situation itself, but afterwards it wasn¡¯t hard to notice how hard her clenched hands were shaking. A death in her crew would probably have pushed her over the edge.

    I tried to take as much of the load on me, so she got spared from a lot of tedious and stressful work. She did seem to appreciate that quite a bit. She even offered to make one of her dishes again, but I told her it would be best to wait until after the repairs had been completed.

    ¡°Uhm, XO?¡± A voice shook me out of my thoughts. It was one of the engineers who¡¯d been working on the repairs.

    I coughed. ¡°Yes, Ensign? Is there something you need?¡±

    ¡°I was just wondering where the Commander was, our repairs are almost done. We are just having to work on the superficial damage now.¡±

    ¡°All the sensors are back up?¡±

    ¡°As up as they will be for the moment, ma¡¯am. There¡¯s still some errors when the back thrusters are running. We¡¯ll need to calibrate them, but that will take at least two more weeks.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ I will tell the Commander once she¡¯s back from her bathroom break.¡±

    ¡°Tell me what?¡± The Commander appeared from behind the corner. Her face was blinking as she¡¯d clearly splashed some water in her face. A bit of her uniform got discoloured because of the water as well.

    ¡°Ah, Commander!¡± The Ensign saluted and started to give her report to her as well.

    ¡°I see. I guess it can¡¯t be helped.¡± The Commander looked at the holochart that the Ensign had presented her.

    ¡°It¡¯ll detect larger anomalies when the engines are running, but small ones will be an issue for a while.¡±

    ¡°Okay, seems like Crazy Ivans will still be on the menu for a bit.¡± She handed the chart back to the Ensign. ¡°Thank you for your report. You can go back to your post now.¡±

    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am. XO.¡± She saluted the both of us and then left the bridge.

    ¡°So, what¡¯s the plan, Commander?¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t stay here. Well¡­ we can, but I¡¯d rather not.¡± She pulled up the navigational charts. ¡°I¡¯d prefer to keep hopping systems. The engineers can fix the systems while we are doing so. Ellie got up with a countermeasure to the pulsar problem yesterday, so big energy bursts shouldn¡¯t cripple us anymore. Hopefully.¡±

    ¡°Do you doubt my skills, Commander?¡± Ellie suddenly spoke up.

    ¡°I don¡¯t, Ellie. But a wise person once said to always expect the unexpected. Maybe one of our other systems might not be up to the task. We are pioneers here, after all.¡±

    ¡°Noted Commander. Saving proverb to the database.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be so overly dramatic.¡± She chuckled, but our AI assistant didn¡¯t really reply. ¡°Anyhow¡­ tell the crew to prepare for FTL, would you, dearest XO of mine?¡±

    I blushed. ¡°Yes ma¡¯am.¡± And alerted the crew to our FTL ambitions.

    And so we continued travelling. Jumping from star system to star system while occasionally and at random intervals turning our ship to ¡®clear the baffles¡¯ as the Commander said. This lasted for two weeks, two incredibly peaceful weeks of absolutely nothing happening. It became routine. Not that I minded at all. I liked being around the Commander. While she stressed me out in the beginning, out of fear of being discovered. Right now, I just enjoyed being with her. She did still make me nervous at times. When she got a bit too close, when she gave me a pat on the shoulder, when she walked past me and I caught a whiff of her perfume¡­ It was sometimes a bit much and I had to force myself to take some distance to calm down.

    ¡°Hey, Luna?¡± The Commander spoke to me when we both walked off the bridge after a long watch duty.

    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    ¡°Yes, Comm¡­ uh¡­ Lauren?¡±

    ¡°Would you like to come to the officer¡¯s lounge with me? Eva, Gunny and Yuki will be there too, and the Doctor really insisted I should ask you to come as well.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ I don¡¯t know... I¡¯ve never gone before.¡±

    ¡°Really? You haven¡¯t? Then you definitely need to come over, at least this once. It¡¯s really cozy.¡± Lauren smiled.

    ¡°Alright then¡­¡± I whispered.

    ¡°Sorry?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll come.¡± I repeated my acceptance.

    ¡°Great! Do you need to get ready first, or can we go now?¡±

    ¡°Not particularly¡­¡±

    She smiled again and led the way.

    We entered the, for me, unfamiliar room. It was strangely quiet, with some jazzy music playing on a low volume in the background and a single conversation coming from around the corner. The room¡¯s dark purple wallpaper worked soothing for my eyes, which had been looking at screens all day long.

    ¡°Oh, look who we have here!¡± Doctor Winter welcomed us when she caught sight of us. ¡°I see you managed to persuade her to join us.¡±

    ¡°Apparently she¡¯d never been here before, so I couldn¡¯t really let that go.¡± Lauren took her beret and frisbeed it towards Gunny. It landed cleanly in his lap. Ensign Yuigahama was sitting next to the Gunnery Sergeant, reading something while she sipped on a glass of water.

    ¡°H-hello everyone.¡± I gave them a shy wave, desperately trying not to stutter.

    Doctor Winter signed for me to sit next to her, while the Commander kept on walking towards the bar.

    ¡°I¡¯m getting something to drink, Luna, and everyone else, want something?¡±

    ¡°Just water for me.¡± I replied.

    ¡°Lauren, that better be water for you too when you come back.¡± The Doctor called out to our Commander.

    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am!¡± The Commander called back.

    ¡°How was the shift? Anything interesting happening in outer space today?¡± Eva then turned herself to me.

    ¡°Not really¡­¡± I replied. ¡°Looks like we¡¯ve used up all the excitement earlier this month.¡±

    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t jinx us now.¡± The Gunnery Sergeant shook his head. ¡°Calm is good.¡±

    Ensign Yuigahama looked up from her reading material to agree with Gunny. ¡°Calm times are the best. I don¡¯t want things like that to be the norm¡­¡±

    ¡°Right, sorry about that.¡± Human superstitions were definitely something I wasn¡¯t that used to yet.

    The Commander joined us again and handed me my glass of water. To my surprise she¡¯d actually listened to the Doctor and had taken a glass of water for herself as well.

    ¡°Do you like the room¡¯s aesthetic? We can change the colour if you want. Yuki has chosen this one.¡± She asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s very calming.¡± I nodded. ¡°But is it always this quiet here?¡±

    ¡°Do you want the music louder?¡±

    ¡°No, uh¡­ I meant¡­¡±

    Lauren laughed. ¡°Sorry, I was pulling your leg. We are quite often alone here. Sometimes another officer visits the place too, but that rarely happens. I wonder why, actually.¡±

    ¡°Maybe because they think it¡¯s a place for your close circle rather than the officer lounge in general.¡± Doctor Winter proposed.

    ¡°Really? Do they think that?¡± The Commander was clearly taken aback.

    ¡°It¡­ could be the lack of games too¡­¡± Yuki spoke up.

    ¡°Huh¡­¡± Lauren slid back into the sofa, leaning backwards so she could look up at the ceiling. ¡°I guess we could quite easily fix the games thing, right?¡±

    ¡°We can fabricate most simple bar games ourselves. That¡¯s true.¡± Eva replied.

    ¡°But about the closed circle thing¡­ Hmmmmm¡­.¡± She hummed and then turned her head towards me. ¡°What do you think, Luna?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡± I didn¡¯t really expect her to look at me for answers. ¡°What about¡­ a party?¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Lauren looked back at the ceiling. ¡°A party, a party, a party¡­.¡±

    ¡°Sorry like that was a stupid idea¡­¡±

    ¡°No, not at all.¡± Lauren shook her head. ¡°I think that could actually work. Then we can also show the new games off and make it clear it¡¯s not only for us.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a good idea.¡± the Doctor agreed. ¡°However, I will miss this place being so empty. I kinda liked being alone like this.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± The Commander sat up straight.

    ¡°No, I was kidding. We can always meet in personal quarters if we want something for ourselves.¡± She winked. ¡°It¡¯s important that every part of the crew has a place to chill out with their mates.¡±

    ¡°Amen to that.¡± Gunny nodded and toasted with his beer. The Ensign followed his example so, in the end, we all decided to make it into a communal toast.

    At the end of the evening, Yuki and Gunnery Sergeant Taylor said goodbye to us, leaving the three of us alone in the bar.

    ¡°It¡¯s probably time for us to leave too.¡± Doctor Winter looked at her watch.

    ¡°Hey, Eva. Would you mind sleeping over again?¡± The Commander asked.

    ¡°Feeling off today?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ a little.¡±

    ¡°My back¡¯s hurting a little, so I¡¯d prefer my personal mattress¡­¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I asked.

    I saw Eva¡¯s eyes light up for a split second. ¡°Say, Luna, would you mind keeping the Commander company for the night? She has some sleeping issues and the company does help.¡±

    ¡°Would you want to do that?¡± The Commander looked at me. She looked strangely helpless.

    ¡°Uh¡­ yeah¡­ sure¡­¡±

    ¡°Thank the Goddess.¡± The Commander said, while Doctor Eva just smiled.

    -I wonder if it would be weird to ask for my shark to accompany me¡­-

 Chapter 9.5 Bis: My First Sleepover

    ¡°Uhm, Commander, is it okay if I get my plush shark to accompany me?¡± I asked when we reached the hallway where our cabins were situated. ¡°I¡¯ve grown accustomed to sleeping with it¡­¡± A slight blush developed on my cheeks.

    ¡°Of course. You don¡¯t need to ask me. You¡¯re doing me a favour by staying over.¡±

    ¡°Thank you¡­¡± I opened the door to my cabin and walked in, not immediately closing the door behind me. ¡°Uh¡­ you can come in if you like, but it¡¯ll only take a second.¡± I quickly hopped on my bed and took my shark, it was wearing the nurse hat for the moment.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, I¡¯ll stay by the door. But I got to say you got a pretty good sense of decoration. At least from what I can see.¡±

    ¡°T-thanks.¡± It only took a minute for me to get back to the Commander at my door.

    ¡°Got everything?¡±

    I nodded. ¡°Yeah¡­¡±

    She smiled and led the way to her own cabin. Opening the door for me and letting me go in first. ¡°Just a minute while I unfold the mattress and get it ready for you.¡± Lauren closed the door behind her and jogged over to her bed, pressing the compartment under it. An entire mattress folded out of it.

    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure my bed doesn¡¯t do that¡­¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t it? Have you tried? Most officer beds do, in case we need to make room in emergencies where not enough beds are available.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Yep, that¡¯s why most sofa¡¯s fold out to be a bed too. But in my opinion, the mattresses are more comfortable.¡± Lauren walked over to a closet and got some sheets out of it as she started to get the bed ready. ¡°Eva and I found out about the mattress after the second time she stayed over. At least she didn¡¯t have to take the sofa anymore.¡± She lifted the mattress to get the one of the sheets underneath.

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t I help you a bit?¡±

    ¡°Nah, it¡¯s the least I can do.¡± In hindsight, I probably would¡¯ve been in her way anyway, as she got the bed ready in almost no time at all. ¡°Want another blanket, just in case you get cold?¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°No, the temperature feels fine.¡± I then put my shark down on the mattress and tested its stiffness. It almost felt the same as the mattress in my cabin, which was weird as this one was placed directly on the floor.

    ¡°But I¡¯m happy you seem to enjoy the gift I gave you.¡± Lauren nodded towards the shark.

    ¡°Yeah¡­ Thank you again for that¡­ It was really attentive of you.¡± I blushed.

    She smiled and walked over to her counter. ¡°I¡¯ve got a couple of vanilla puddings if you want to have one before bed. Just as a little snack. I always take a couple with me after dinner, just in case I get a little hungry when I¡¯m about to head to bed.¡±

    ¡°Oh, yes please.¡±

    Lauren walked over and gave me a pudding together with a little spoon. The both of us started eating our pudding. It was actually quite nice and tasted slightly different from the vanilla pudding I¡¯d had on board previously.

    ¡°Hmm, I think they added a bit of cinnamon to this.¡± The Commander commented.

    ¡°Ah! That¡¯s what I¡¯m tasting then!¡±

    We continued talking about the food a bit more, and the pudding disappeared faster than I¡¯d liked it to have. Since it was already quite late and we did have somewhat of an early start tomorrow, I started pushing the Commander to head to bed.

    Luckily, she wasn¡¯t hard to convince. We then took turns in the bathroom getting ready for bed, with me going first and the Commander after me. I was already covered up by my blankets when she walked back into the room. My shark was laying next to me. Lauren chuckled for a moment when she saw me.

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    ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡± I asked. -Did I still have some toothpaste on my cheek? I swear I wiped that off¡­ Or is it the sharky¡­?-

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not anything about you, really.¡± She waved my question away. ¡°I was just thinking that this feels a lot more like a good old-fashioned sleepover than when Eva comes over. She always mothers me too much.¡±

    ¡°Does she come over that much?¡±

    ¡°From time to time. I have issues being alone late at night. Especially when I¡¯m not feeling too well. It can trigger some nasty memories¡­¡±

    ¡°Right¡­ So that¡¯s what happened after we had the tacos last time?¡±

    Lauren nodded and got in her bed. She sat with her legs crossed and looked at me. ¡°Having someone here helps. So I appreciate it a lot that you wanted to come over.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s no problem at all.¡±

    She then took off her casual hoodie and threw it at the foot of the bed. My eyes immediately went over to her abs. They were being brilliantly accentuated by the warm lighting in the room. -Okay¡­ that might be somewhat of a problem¡­-

    I almost gasped when I saw what was underneath that hoodie. Luckily, I could hide my face just in time with my blanket.

    ¡°...Luna?¡±

    I looked back over my sheets. ¡°Yes?¡± The Commander had also gotten underneath her blankets. -Thank the Goddess for that.- She was laying on her side so she could look down at me.

    ¡°Did you not hear my question?¡±

    ¡°Ah, sorry¡­ I was a bit distracted¡­¡± Which was, in fact, the truth.

    ¡°Have you done many sleepovers when you were younger?¡±

    ¡°No, I haven¡¯t.¡± I shook my head. ¡°This is actually the first time for me.¡±

    ¡°Really? Didn¡¯t you ever have friends at school who you got along with?¡±

    ¡°I did¡­ It¡¯s just that, uh¡­, it wasn¡¯t really a thing where I lived.¡± That type of bonding was just not seen as relevant by our society. You had people you got along better with than with others, but going over to someone¡¯s place for something like that¡­ it was seen as fundamentally un-utilitarian¡­ so sleepovers just didn¡¯t happen.

    ¡°Oh¡­ Did you grow up in one of those closed communities then? Tell me when I¡¯m crossing the line, but sometimes you seem completely oblivious to some things that are quite universal.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ something like that¡­¡±

    The conversation died down after that. Lauren probably thought she¡¯d hit a sensitive snare and didn¡¯t want to push on to avoid making me uncomfortable.

    It¡¯s not that I didn¡¯t want to reply or say more, it¡¯s just that I couldn¡¯t.

    After a couple of minutes of silence, I decided to take the initiative back. ¡°And what about you, Co¡­ Lauren?¡±

    ¡°Me?¡± Lauren had turned around in the time where we weren¡¯t talking, so she turned back around to face me. ¡°I have done a couple when I was in high school, yeah.¡±

    ¡°How did they go? Since I have never really done any¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah, yeah, yeah. I¡¯ll tell ya.¡± She smiled. ¡°I didn¡¯t have that many friends when I was younger, so the sleepovers I had were mostly with the same girls.¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t have many friends?¡±

    ¡°Surprising, isn¡¯t it?¡± Lauren chuckled. ¡°No, it¡¯s just that during my high school days there were some rumors going around in school and that¡¯s why a lot of people didn¡¯t want to deal with me.¡±

    ¡°Rumors¡­?¡±

    ¡°You know, the LGBT kind. Well they were less rumors and more like the truth since I didn¡¯t really hide away that I liked girls.¡±

    ¡°So they were mean to you because you liked girls?¡±

    ¡°Yes, you know how kids are. Well, maybe it was less of an issue where you lived, I don¡¯t know.¡± She chuckled, not really knowing what to say.

    I guess what she was saying was true though. Being different in our society was severely frowned upon and even punished. It was only when I arrived on Earth that I discovered parts of myself that I¡¯d never even thought about when I lived back on my own world. ¡°Hmm. I guess that¡¯s true, yeah¡­¡±

    We stayed yet another minute before Lauren continued. ¡°So I didn¡¯t have many friends, but those I did have were incredibly close to me. Sadly, we grew apart after high school, and the war definitely didn¡¯t help to keep in touch with everyone.¡±

    ¡°Do you know what happened to them?¡±

    ¡°I know most of my friends survived the war. But thanks to my arm, I couldn¡¯t really have any contact with them. ``Out of fear for the breaking of national unity¡ä¡ä as they told me.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ that sucks¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it does¡­¡± Lauren then rolled on her back so she could stare at the ceiling. ¡°Do you want to know something completely absurd?¡±

    That question surprised me a little, but it did spark my curiosity. ¡°Uh, sure?¡±

    ¡°Apart from you, only Gunny and Eva know this¡­¡± She stayed quiet for a second before she continued. ¡°As I said, this will sound really stupid and completely rediculous¡­ but the reason why I ultimately decided to undertake this expedition¡­. is because I wanted to explore the galaxy and find myself a cute alien girlfriend¡­¡±

    That sentence completely broke my mind, it had completely blindsided me and just outright shut off my brain.

    Lauren chuckled. She¡¯d rolled back over yet again so she could look at the reaction on my face. ¡°Yep, that was pretty much what I was expecting.¡±

 Chapter 10: Early Morning Information

    That¡¯s it, I finally told someone other than the close friends I¡¯d made during the war¡­ I looked at Luna to gauge her reaction, but her face stayed motionless for quite a while.

    ¡°Luna?¡± I asked, slightly concerned about her lack of reaction. ¡°I hope that didn¡¯t shock you too much.¡±

    Her eyes finally moved again, and she turned to face me. ¡°If I might ask something¡­ why are you looking to find love in space?¡± There was a bit of a tremble in her voice.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± I started. ¡°You know about all the cover-ups back on Earth. All the secrecy that was forced upon me after the war¡­ Somehow, in my mind, it¡¯s just easier to find love elsewhere than to dance around that shit show¡­¡± Luna didn¡¯t say anything, so I just continued. ¡°And I know it might sound weird, but my gut feeling just tells me that there is someone out there for me¡­ it¡¯s hard to explain¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmmm.¡± Luna started to stare at the ceiling.

    ¡°I hope I didn¡¯t freak you out too much¡­ But I just wanted to tell you¡­ I got the feeling I could trust you with this.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± Luna said, her voice sounded very devoid of emotions. ¡°I think I understand.¡± She then looked back at me. ¡°And the Gunnery Sergeant and the Doctor know too?¡±

    I nodded. ¡°They do. I told them back on earth, I was still in hospital at the time. Gunny laughed his ass off when he processed what I¡¯d told him, and Eva¡­ well¡­ she was pretty concerned, thinking the explosion had fucked with my brain a little too much.¡±

    ¡°And what happened then?¡±

    ¡°Not that long after that, I caught wind of this mission and asked the government to assign me to it. My field record gave them very little reason to decline. And then I got Gunny and the Doctor on board too.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    ¡°But yeah, now you know my deepest, darkest secret.¡± I smiled. I was happy she¡¯d taken this so well.

    ¡°You are not the only one with secrets, Commander¡­¡± When she said that, her eyes grew wide, accompanied by a blush. She quickly turned away from me and hid under her blankets.

    ¡°That¡­ sounds like a naughty secret.¡± I chuckled, but Luna stayed quiet and didn¡¯t peek out from under her blankets anymore.

    I got the message. ¡°Right, let''s sleep a bit. It¡¯s already way too late anyway. Good night, Luna.¡± I rolled myself back onto my back.

    ¡°Goo-goodnight.¡± She replied a couple of seconds later.

    I¡¯d woken up five minutes before my alarm clock started ringing. I always hated when that happened. Couldn¡¯t I just have slept five minutes longer?

    I sighed and pushed the button to mute the alarm. Even though I definitely had reservations about getting up, I¡¯d slept surprisingly well. Not having nightmares was a big plus.

    ¡°Luna, did you hear the alarm?¡±

    ¡°I was already awake.¡±

    I looked down from my bed and saw that she was staring at the ceiling. When she saw me peeking, she blushed and hid most of her head underneath her blanket again.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll get ready first.¡± I hopped out of bed and took a quick shower and put my uniform on after that. When I got out of the bathroom, Luna didn¡¯t waste any time going past me and getting ready herself. So within half an hour of getting up, the both of us were ready for duty.

    We picked up a bit of fruit for breakfast at the cafeteria and headed for the bridge when Ellie started talking to us. ¡°Commander, XO, your presence has been requested in the bio-lab. Scientist Grayson has finished studying the three alien lifeforms who were found on Felix Invenire.¡±

    ¡°Oh, thanks, tell them we are on route.¡±

    ¡°Will do, Commander.¡± Ellie went quiet after that.

    ¡°Are we not going to the bridge first?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine, if Ellie asked us personally, then the crew already knows.¡±

    ¡°But¡­ shouldn¡¯t one of us go there anyway?¡±

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    ¡°Ellie said that both of us were requested, though. Are you not comfortable going to the bio-lab? I thought the bug didn¡¯t really bother you much?¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t¡­ but¡­¡± She sighed.

    ¡°If you really don¡¯t want to, I can order you to go to the bridge. They aren¡¯t going to be miffed about that.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine.¡± She shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s just me being weird¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmmm. Well, if you start feeling off, just elbow me in the side and I¡¯ll give you the order.¡± I smiled as we took the elevator down to science labs.

    ¡°Welcome Commander to our little abode.¡± Grayson said, pushing up his glasses like he was some kind of anime protagonist.

    ¡°I have been here before, Grayson¡­¡± I shook my head in disappointment.

    ¡°Right¡­ But your XO hasn¡¯t!¡± He raised his finger matter-of-factly. Luna took a sidestep so she was mostly behind me.

    ¡°Let¡¯s just get to the point, shall we?¡±

    ¡°Right¡­¡± Grayson looked a bit dejected and walked over to one of the tables. The first table had the bug we found on the planet on it. All of them were covered by a thick glass cupola to contain any possible biological contamination. ¡°So, we have already determined that the teeth of these spacebugs, new name is pending, can cut through steel quite easily. On top of that, their exoskeleton appears to be incredibly tough to penetrate with our conventional weaponry.¡±

    ¡°And did we learn anything new?¡±

    ¡°Patience, Commander, I was still doing my shtick.¡±

    ¡°Do your shtick faster then.¡± Sometimes I could not stand Grayson, but the man was a genius and incredibly competent as a scientist. I would not mind him never coming to the officer lounge though¡­

    ¡°Anyway. We found out that parts of the exoskeleton are a lot less developed than other parts.¡± He took a laser pointer from the small table next to him and started shining a light at the head region of the spacebug, new name pending. ¡°This is what we have started to call the face shield. It¡¯s mostly impervious to firearms, but this one spot¡­¡± He pointed to the top right of the bugs ¡®face¡¯. ¡°Is somehow only a quarter as thick as the rest of the shield.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s weird.¡± Luna commented.

    ¡°Indeed it is.¡± Grayson agreed. ¡°We are not 100% sure why this spot is thinner than the rest. Daniels came up with the theory that behind that spot is where the bug¡¯s hearing organ was, but since the inside had completely decomposed, we can not confirm that.¡±

    ¡°Ah, so the theory is that the part of the armor is thinner because it makes it so sound waves are able to penetrate somewhat better at the thin spot.¡± Luna commented.

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s pretty much what Daniels said.¡± Grayson nodded at Luna.

    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s some pretty useful information. Will our weapons be able to go through it?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve run simulations and unless you are at the limit of your range or using a weak sidearm it should be possible. For sidearms, you might want to opt for the more powerful ones aboard this ship.¡±

    ¡°Space magnums it is.¡± I nodded. It was definitely good to know that, if we encountered these creatures, and they were in fact hostile, we could do something about them.

    ¡°And how do they procreate?¡± Luna asked.

    ¡°We believe they fertilize and lay eggs. However, the lack of any evidence of such could mean we are wrong on that front.¡±

    Grayson then moved on to the next two tables, where the remains of the two explorers were housed. I could tell by Luna¡¯s body language that she was a lot less enthusiastic to see these two. Probably because they were more humanoid, so it did hit closer to home.

    ¡°What have you learned about them?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Let me tell you, Commander.¡± He took his laser pointer out again. ¡°These creatures are very similar to us humans in a lot of ways. Apart from the clear differences, there are the horns that sprout from their skulls and the tails that stretch out from their spinal cord.¡± Grayson then pointed to the armours that were set up in a different container. ¡°We have also managed to find a bit of DNA during our research of their body armor and that¡¯s where the really interesting part comes in.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± I tilted my head. ¡°If you say it¡¯s interesting, then it¡¯s probably something big.¡±

    Grayson smiled and gave me a smug nod. ¡°Indeed, Commander.¡± He signalled us to come closer to one of the holo screens in the lab and pulled up a string of DNA. ¡°While we can¡¯t really reconstruct what they looked like or how their internal organs worked, a part of this DNA immediately pulled my attention.¡±

    ¡°Is this real?¡± Luna asked out of the blue.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Grayson asked.

    ¡°Part of that DNA string is clearly altered.¡±

    Grayson¡¯s face revealed his surprise. ¡°Yes, it is in fact gene-tailored. I¡¯m surprised you know that, Lieutenant-Commander.¡±

    I looked over to Luna and saw that all the colour had pulled from her face. ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    ¡°I-I need to go for a moment.¡± Luna turned around and quickly walked out of the lab.

    ¡°Is something wrong with her?¡± Grayson asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure. I¡¯ll catch up with her in a minute. But what does that mean? The gene-tailoring?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ the only thing we can really tell with this is that it has been modified. What exactly it does or who has done it isn¡¯t clear.¡±

    ¡°And this is the same for both bodies?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ well¡­ thank you for the info, it was very¡­ enriching.¡±

    ¡°No problem, Commander.¡±

    I turned around to go and look for Luna when Grayson halted me again.

    ¡°Commander, I¡¯ve heard rumors of a party? I guess I, as the leader of the science team, am also considered an officer?¡±

    I internally sighed. ¡°Yes, Grayson, you are, you are technically a Lieutenant¡­¡±

    ¡°Great.¡± I didn¡¯t turn around to look at his, quite probably smirking, face and just walked out.

    -How the hell did he hear that already, we just discussed it yesterday¡­-

 Chapter 10 Bis: Revelation and Preparation

    I had a bad feeling when the Commander told me to go with her to the lab. Mostly because I didn¡¯t want to see my compatriots in the state they were in, but what I learned, or better said, what the humans had learned was even more unsettling. It was by law forbidden to do any kind of DNA research on our own species, and now I know why. We¡¯d been genetically manipulated, and probably by our own people. But why? Why do this to us? Why keep it secret?

    The ramifications of what I¡¯d just discovered made me nauseous. So I ran.

    ¡°Luna, stop!¡± It was the voice of the Commander coming from behind me. She¡¯d already caught up to me. Probably because I was walking through the hallways like a headless chicken.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    I didn¡¯t reply.

    ¡°Luna¡­¡± She walked next to me for a moment before she pulled me by my arm through a door in the hallway. It was a door to a bathroom.

    ¡°Here, splash some water in your face, it helps for me.¡± She guided me to a sink and made the water run.

    Not knowing what to do, I just followed her instructions. The cold water helped a bit.

    ¡°And here¡¯s a towel.¡± Lauren handed a towel to me so I could dry my face. ¡°I¡¯ll just stay here until you calm down.¡± She stayed next to me. After I dried my face and during the couple of minutes where I was just staring soulless into the mirror.

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t¡­ shouldn¡¯t you head to¡­ the bridge?¡± I managed to stammer out.

    ¡°We got time. The ship isn¡¯t leaving without us.¡± She leaned back against the sink cabinet. Right in time for the door to the bathroom to open. ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s occupied. Take the one next door.¡± The Commander stated in a friendly yet authoritative tone. The private who entered, made an about face and left just as fast as she came. ¡°Both unisex bathrooms anyway.¡±

    I just nodded and splashed some water into my face again.

    ¡°Were you that shocked to see the bodies?¡± Lauren asked. ¡°Or was it something else?¡±

    I obviously couldn¡¯t tell her what had triggered my panic attack, so I just stared at her, trying to find an answer.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to tell me.¡± She shook her head with a smile. ¡°I¡¯m just here if you want to talk about it. You did that for me, I do it for you as well. No strings attached.¡±

    Somehow that made me want to tell it to her even more, but alas. ¡°Thank you, Commander¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± She smiled again. ¡°Sorry for dragging you with me, I shouldn¡¯t have done that.¡±

    It was my turn to shake my head. Even though it did make me incredibly uncomfortable, I did learn something that could be really important. ¡°We¡­ we learned something new¡­ and that¡¯s the most important part.¡±

    ¡°Still though¡­¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s really okay¡­¡± I straightened my back and fixed the collar of my uniform. ¡°I think I¡¯m ready to go out now.¡±

    The Commander smiled and led the way out of the bathroom, but from what I could tell she wasn¡¯t heading towards the bridge.

    ¡°Commander, what are you doing?¡±

    ¡°Just a small thing I know to calm your nerves even further.¡± She replied cryptically.

    ¡°But¡­ the bridge?¡±

    ¡°Eh, it¡¯s fine.¡± She led me all the way back to the cafeteria and told me to wait at the door until she came back a minute later with two cups in her hand. ¡°Here, you can never go wrong with a good cup of hot chocolate.¡±

    It did smell really good and having the warm cup in my hands made my nerves mellow a bit.

    ¡°Commander.¡± Ellie''s voice came over the intercoms. She sounded a bit annoyed. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you at the bridge yet.¡±

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    ¡°We are coming, Ellie, don¡¯t worry. I just wanted to show her something.¡±

    ¡°You wanted to show her¡­ the cafeteria?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± She lied.

    I didn¡¯t know AI¡¯s could sigh, but what Ellie did clearly sounded as such. ¡°The crew is waiting on you, Commander.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for the information.¡± She smiled at one of the cameras in the corner of the room, and Ellie went quiet after that. ¡°Anyhow, I guess that¡¯s our cue that we shouldn¡¯t dilly-dally much longer.¡± She laughed as she guided us back to the bridge.

    Our usual group of officers was already at their posts waiting for us to give them a command. Lieutenant McAllister, the pilot, seemingly hadn¡¯t slept very well or was incredibly bored, as she was yawning almost constantly.

    ¡°Alright people, sorry for the delay. We just ran into a minor complication on our way here.¡± The Commander spoke to the bridge. ¡°Let¡¯s get our ship going.¡±

    ¡°Aye aye, ma¡¯am.¡± The officers called back. No one really questioned her on why exactly we were too late, although I did see Lieutenant Zu occasionally glance back at the cups we were holding.

    ¡°Yes, Zu, you can go for a cup as well once we are in FTL.¡± The Commander had noticed it too.

    ¡°Thanks Commander.¡± The Lieutenant smiled and focused back on the task at hand.

    ¡°Next couple of systems are pretty empty, so I don¡¯t expect to encounter anything, but do keep your eyes peeled.¡±

    The Commander opened the star map in front of us and pointed at a system two days of jumps away from us. She started talking to me. ¡°This system looks interesting, what do you think, XO?¡± The Commander zoomed in on it, so I could see it better.

    I didn¡¯t recognize anything from the files I¡¯d looked up before, but I did notice that the system in particular had a lot of planets in, what the humans called, ¡®the goldilocks zone¡¯. I found the tale that the name was based on pretty bizarre, as it was about a girl stealing the soup of three bears. But from my further research, apparently a lot of these so-called fairy tales had pretty strange plotlines.

    ¡°Looks promising.¡± I replied and gave her a nod.

    ¡°It does, doesn¡¯t it?¡± She then leaned in and whispered to me. ¡°Chocolate milk appears to be working.¡± And she gave me a smile.

    I don¡¯t know if it was because of my focus on working, or effectively the chocolate milk, but I¡¯d indeed calmed down quite a bit. But I decided to let the Commander have her little victory. After all, it was because of her that I managed to calm down, hot chocolate or not. ¡°Apparently so.¡± I smiled back.

    ¡°Hey, Commander.¡± A couple of minutes later a familiar voice rings out from behind us, it was Doctor Winter who entered.

    ¡°Hey doc. Do you need something?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s incredibly quiet in the infirmary at the moment, so I was thinking about some games for the party we were planning and I made a list if you want to take a look.¡±

    Lauren looked around for a second, since we had just gone into FTL we didn¡¯t really have much to do either except for keeping an eye on things.

    ¡°Let me take a look.¡±

    The Doctor handed over her holostick tablet to the Commander and then joined me at me side while the Commander was looking over the list. ¡°Is that hot chocolate?¡±

    I nodded. ¡°It is.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ now I also want to go for a cup¡­¡±

    ¡°Lieutenant Zu just left to go and get hers.¡± The Commander said with a smile while diagonally browsing the tablet.

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s why she looked so giddy.¡± The Doctor chuckled. ¡°I always get so nostalgic when I drink hot coco.¡± She sighed happily and looked at the ceiling before grounding herself again. ¡°We should totally have some smores for the party too.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, that can be arranged.¡± The Commander nodded. ¡°By the way¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡± Eva tilted her head.

    ¡°Did you tell Grayson about the party already?¡±

    ¡°The guy from the lab?¡±

    ¡°Yes, him.¡±

    ¡°No, why? I don¡¯t even know him that well.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ well, he asked about it and I wonder who told him. It can¡¯t be Luna because she was with me all night.¡±

    ¡°Strange¡­ Maybe Gunny told him? I can¡¯t imagine Yuki did.¡± The Doctor scratched her chin.

    ¡°I guess so.¡± Lauren shrugged.

    ¡°Speaking of the sleepover. How did it go?¡±

    ¡°It went pretty well. Didn¡¯t have any nightmares, so it definitely helped.¡±

    ¡°Worth repeating?¡±

    ¡°If Luna agrees, it was definitely fun.¡±

    I nodded. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind¡­¡±

    ¡°Good.¡± Eva smiled. ¡°Anyway, I should probably get back to the med bay, after I take a quick pit stop for some hot coco.¡±

    ¡°I order you to enjoy it.¡± The Commander lazily saluted the doctor with a big grin.

    ¡°Will do.¡± Eva saluted back in an equally nonchalant way.

    ¡°See you later, XO.¡± Eva said goodbye to me, in return I just saluted her quickly.

    When she was gone, the Commander offered the holostick to me as well. ¡°Want to take a look, XO? Maybe you want to add something as well¡­¡±

    ¡°Uh, sure¡­¡± I took the tablet from the Commander¡¯s hand after putting my cup of cocoa down. ¡°But¡­ doesn¡¯t Doctor Winter need this?¡±

    The Commander fell silent for a moment. ¡°She probably has more in the med bay¡­ I think¡­¡±

    ¡°I will go and bring it to her after I¡¯m done reading¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ that¡¯s probably for the best¡­¡± She coughed and looked ahead of her. She looked a tiny bit embarrassed, that was actually pretty cute.

 Chapter 11: Flashing Red Lights

    While jumping towards the system that had pulled our interest we continued prepping the party as there was not much to do otherwise. Luna had found her groove which I was quite happy about even though I still didn¡¯t really know what had triggered her to begin with. She had always come across as a bit panicky but what happened in the lab did seem pretty weird to me. Anyway, it didn¡¯t really matter much as she looked like she had recovered well.

    Doctor Winter had come to the bridge once more to discuss the party once more.

    ¡°I think we pretty much have everything we need for a pretty nice party now.¡± She said. ¡°The only thing that¡¯s left is to prick a date and spread out invitations. And do the same for the parallel party for the NCO¡¯s and the privates.¡±

    ¡°What about in a week or so?¡± I looked at our ship¡¯s agenda.

    ¡°Will that be okay? Didn¡¯t the scans say those planets are very interesting to explore and research?¡±

    ¡°Well, yes, but it would be a nice break, wouldn¡¯t it? Exploring is heavy work, having a bit of a breather in the evening would benefit everyone.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, you¡¯ve got a point there, Commander.¡± Doctor Winter nodded. ¡°What do you think, LC?¡±

    Luna apparently didn¡¯t expect anyone to talk to her as she shook up for a second. ¡°Sorry, I wasn¡¯t listening.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s okay.¡± Doctor Winter laughed and started to explain our little conversation we just had.

    ¡°Ah¡­¡± She scratched her chin. ¡°I think the Commander is right... but we should keep a watch at the bridge.¡±

    ¡°Of course. We will try to split the party up in shifts so everyone can have some time off.¡± I nodded.

    Luna nodded.

    ¡°Speaking of that system, Commander. When are we arriving?¡± Doctor Winter asked while putting her holostick back in the inner pocket of her coat.

    ¡°We should get there in two hours.¡± Luna replied, typing something on the holo interface. ¡°We will stop at the furthest planet in the goldilocks zone first and make our way closer to the system¡¯s sun.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± Doctor Winter nodded. ¡°Thank you for the information.¡± She smiled. ¡°And with that I¡¯ll go back to the infirmary, this time with my holo stick.¡± She gave Luna a wink and then left the bridge.

    ¡°At least you don¡¯t have to run after her throughout the entire ship like last time.¡± I patted my XO on the back.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know she would make such a detour¡­¡± Luna sighed. ¡°And she didn¡¯t even need it in the end anyway¡­¡±

    ¡°At least it¡¯s good for your physical condition.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, next time you should go and follow her, let¡¯s see who¡¯s laughing then.¡±

    ¡°Surprisingly forward comment, coming from you, XO.¡± I smirked.

    Luna started blushing and didn¡¯t reply to my comment. Turning herself back towards her work.

    ¨CTwo Hours Later¨C

    ¡°Dropping out of FTL in three¡­ two¡­ one¡­¡± Ellie¡¯s voice announced our arrival in the system. We popped out quite a distance outside of the goldilocks zone so we could get our bearings first.

    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Luna looked at one of the holo screens. ¡°Commander, I¡¯m picking up some strange signals.¡±

    ¡°Hmm? What kind of signals?¡± I walked over to her and started looking at the screens as well.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, they look like short-range radio-waves. It¡¯s coming from one of the planets.¡±

    ¡°Which one?¡±

    She pointed at the planet closest to the system¡¯s sun, still within the goldilocks zone.

    ¡°I¡¯m also picking up a lot of debris in between the planets, ma¡¯am!¡± Lieutenant Zu called out from the side.

    ¡°Okay, LC, can you enhance the radio signal?¡±

    ¡°I can try.¡± She nodded and got to work.

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    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if we should get closer without knowing what¡¯s going on. McAllister, switch the engine to silent running.¡± I then opened a ship wide communication channel. ¡°Everyone, yellow alert, please get to your stations.¡±

    This was the signal for Ellie to switch the ship¡¯s lighting to a slowly pulsing yellow so everyone was constantly reminded of our status.

    ¡°Zu, are your scans picking up anything else from the planet the radio signals come from?¡±

    ¡°Not from here, ma¡¯am. There¡¯s too much debris. It works like chaff, it¡¯s almost completely blocking my scans.¡±

    ¡°What about the others?¡±

    ¡°Give me a second.¡± Lieutenant Zu furiously started pressing her holo screen, I saw planet after planet pop up and almost immediately disappear again.

    ¡°Completely devoid of life, ma¡¯am.¡±

    ¡°This is giving me a feeling of deja-vu and I¡¯m not liking it.¡± I said and got to my own station to look over my screens. ¡°I want this ship turned around every three minutes.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye.¡± McAllister replied and made the ship spin for the first time so we cleared our deadzone.

    Five minutes later Gunny hailed me over the comms. ¡°All marines are armed, ma¡¯am.¡±

    ¡°Alright, thanks for the sitrep.¡± I looked back at Luna. ¡°How are our weapons.¡±

    ¡°Loaded and ready to fire. Our shields are up as well.¡±

    ¡°Great.¡± I nodded. Nothing appeared to be hostile yet, but better be safe than sorry. Which reminded me. ¡°Gunny, are you there?¡± I opened my channel back to the Gunnery Sergeant.

    ¡°Everyone did get the memo about the bugs, right?¡±

    ¡°Shoot them where it hurts? Top right of the bug¡¯s face.¡±

    ¡°Indeed, just remind the rest again if you would.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Commander.¡±

    ¡°Do you think we will see combat?¡± Luna asked.

    ¡°I¡¯d rather not get caught with my pants down.¡± I quickly replied. ¡°I don¡¯t have a good feeling about this¡­ any news on the radio signals?¡±

    Luna nodded and looked at her screen. ¡°I managed to clean it up a bit but I don¡¯t understand this at all. But I can tell, whatever it is, that it is looping every 30 seconds.¡±

    ¡°Want me to run a decryption program, Commander?¡± Ellie asked.

    ¡°If you think you can make sense of it, go ahead.¡±

    ¡°Affirmative.¡± Ellie replied and a decryption program appeared on screen.

    ¡°There¡¯s a good chance we will have a true first contact.¡± I looked at my XO. ¡°I just hope we won¡¯t have to let our weapons do the talking.¡±

    Luna stayed silent and just gave me a nod. She looked quite concerned herself.

    ¡°Decryption is almost complete Commander.¡± Ellie notified us.

    ¡°Already?¡± I asked, profoundly confused at how quickly Ellie had managed to decipher the message.

    ¡°The language the message is being sent in, beares a remarkable resemblance to most languages found on Earth.¡± Ellie clarified. ¡°Deciphering process at 85 percent¡­ 89 percent¡­¡±

    I held my breath as Ellie¡¯s countdown progressed.

    ¡°Deciphering at 100 percent, Commander.¡±

    ¡°Play it.¡± I commanded.

    ¡°This is an automated distress signal, we are under attack, overwhelming force, if anyone is out there, please help us. We are the last ones¡± The robotic voice sounded over the bridge which made everyone fall silent. I couldn¡¯t really formulate any words for a moment either until Ellie spoke to the bridge once more.

    ¡°Commander, what course of action do you suggest?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ fuck¡­¡± I quickly tapped my cheek. ¡°Get us closer to that planet. We need to know what¡¯s going on.¡±

    ¡°Are you going to launch a rescue mission?¡± Luna asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know yet. But if those¡­ uh¡­ people¡­ do need our help and we can provide any kind of assistance, we should.¡±

    ¡°Right¡­¡± Luna nodded and then directed herself towards the bridge. ¡°You heard the Commander, Lieutenant McAllister, bring us closer please.

    ¡°Aye aye.¡± McAllister activated the sublight engines.

    ¡°Try to limit our signature as much as possible.¡± I added. ¡°We still don¡¯t know if anything is still out here.¡±

    Our ship crept closer and closer to the debris field and the tension was rising higher and higher on the bridge.

    ¡°Can I get an enhanced view on the debris?¡± I asked Lieutenant Zu.

    ¡°Definitely, Commander. Give me a second.¡±

    A screen popped up in front of me which gradually zoomed in on the field in front of us. Slowly the shapes began to make more and more sense.

    ¡°I think those are all ships, Commander.¡± the Lieutenant said. ¡°Or what used to be ships at least.¡±

    Everything we saw had been thoroughly ripped to pieces. Some larger chunks still did look like thruster blocks, other parts looked like the front halves of some kind of space-faring vehicle. Their design looked remarkable, way more streamlined than the relatively linear shapes of our ships. I would almost call it organic.

    ¡°What¡¯s that, Commander?¡± Luna pointed at something in the right corner of the screen, to me it looked like a long and thinly stretched asteroid of some kind. Although the color didn¡¯t match any I¡¯d seen in any class about astrology.

    ¡°Want me to enhance it, XO?¡± Lt Zu asked.

    ¡°If you would.¡±

    The camera¡¯s focus shifted so that it was in the center of our screen. It was ever so slowly spinning around its axle.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s an asteroid, Commander¡­¡± Luna said, I heard a tremble in her voice.

    It looked as though the asteroid had heard the XO¡¯s comment as the speed at which it spun, sped up, and then slowed down again. Until it stopped with the narrow end of it, pointed directly in our direction.

    I immediately opened the ship-wide comms channel. ¡°Red alert. Prepare for ship to ship combat.¡± I then looked into the bridge. ¡°Evasive maneuvers, shields and thrusters to full. Fire on my command.¡± The lights on the bridge turned from yellow to red. ¡°If they are looking for a fight, let¡¯s give them hell.¡± I recentered my beret and held on tight on the railing in front of me.

    -Here we go.-

 Chapter 12: A Battle In Space

    Silence, the sound of which could be louder than anything else, especially when you were on edge. The only thing audible on the bridge was the humming of the electronics and the flicking of the red alert lighting. Everyone was waiting on a command, my command.

    ¡°Do not fire yet.¡± I told Luna who was tensely waiting for the same order. ¡°I want them to show hostile intent first.¡± The ship was still staring at us, it hadn¡¯t moved for a while.

    ¡°Copy that, Commander.¡± Luna nodded.

    ¡°But why haven¡¯t they moved¡­¡± Lieutenant Zu commented from the side.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡± I looked at the clock. We¡¯d been having a staring contest for five minutes now. ¡°McAllister, can you clear our baffles real quick? Try to keep the ship in view.¡±

    McAllister didn¡¯t reply, she was just focussing on her controls and quickly started to move the ship.

    ¡°Ship detected at 160 degrees! Same plane!¡± Zu suddenly called out.

    ¡°Sneaky fuckers were trying to get on our six. They were probably hiding behind a planet.

    ¡°Both ships are firing projectiles at us, Ma¡¯am!¡± Luna called out. At the same time an alert started ringing.

    ¡°Turn the inertia dampeners to max and set thrusters to full! Is our missile defense up?¡±

    ¡°Armed and ready, Commander.¡±

    I looked at the screen that showed the projectiles as red blips on the map. Our ship quickly moved out of their path and it didn¡¯t look like they were guided.

    ¡°Luna, give them hell. Ten torpedoes on the guy that tried to sneak up on us. Turn the main battery to fire upon it as well.¡±

    Luna started tapping on her screen and soon we heard the ten dull pops from around us. Followed by blue lights flying on screen towards the big red target.

    ¡°Main battery trained on target.¡±

    ¡°Fire!¡±

    Luna pressed her screen again and four louder bangs followed. These repeated every ten seconds.

    ¡°Get the camera focussed on the target, I want to see what kind of damage this does.¡±

    ¡°Ten seconds to torpedo impact.¡± Luna counted out while the camera popped up on the main screen. Shells from our main battery were already hitting the ship and were sending chunks flying all over. ¡°Five seconds. Four, three, two, one.¡± A blue light saturated the camera for a second as all ten torpedoes hit the target almost simultaneously. Those warheads were definitely nothing to sneeze at. When the light started fading the devastation our torpedoes caused was clear. We¡¯d completely obliterated the front half of the ship and it slowly started to drift off its axle.

    ¡°Looks like we took out their command center, Commander.¡± Zu commented.

    ¡°Keep an eye on it just in case.¡±

    ¡°Second target has fired again, ma¡¯am.¡± The first ship we¡¯d seen had also approached us a bit further but these ships clearly weren¡¯t built for speed. ¡°These ones are homing.¡±

    Whatever they had fired at us did appear to follow our course. The fact that the first ones didn¡¯t probably means they were underestimating us. Apparently they hadn¡¯t thought we¡¯d have countermeasures either as the moment those projectiles came into range they were completely shredded by our systems. A combination of bullets, missiles and lasers, specifically designed to take out smaller targets. Catering to your every defensive need. The Federation had learned how to develop weapons systems in the war and it showed.

    The second ship didn¡¯t stand much of a chance at all. Once the torpedoes hit it, it suffered the exact same fate as the first ship.

    ¡°McAllister, another Crazy Ivan if you would.¡±

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    Our pilot obliged so we could scan our surroundings. Nothing new had popped up.

    ¡°Phew.¡± Luna sighed, her hands trembled for a second. ¡°That was really really stressful.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t let your guard down yet.¡± I commented to my XO. "There might still be more hiding. I want to do a quick sweep of the entire system before we commit a ground team to the planet surface.¡±

    It took us an hour to completely search through the system and we didn''t find any other ship that could spring an attack on us. What did pique our interest was that the ships we had just destroyed, slowly started to turn white, very much like the colour of the chalk we¡¯d encountered on Felix Invenire. This bolstered my suspicion that we were dealing with the spacebugs. Apart from that, the ships we encountered seemed to be made from an organic material on the outside that surrounded a metal interior. That was pretty strange but further analysis could wait until we had checked on the distress signal coming from the planet.

    I put the ship back on yellow alert as we slowly made our way into planetary orbit.

    ¡°Would you mind taking the bridge again, XO? I¡¯m going to join the ground team on this one, according to the protocols one of us needs to go to represent the United Federation.¡±

    ¡°Really? But what if more of those ships arrive? Won¡¯t it be dangerous? What if something happens to you?¡± Luna clearly tried to stop me from going.

    ¡°If any more of those ships arrive I¡¯m certain you can keep the ship safe.¡± I put my hand on her shoulder. ¡°As for the ground operation, of course it¡¯s risky, but I am taking most of our marine detachment with us and we are all very well trained, so it¡¯ll be fine. This isn¡¯t the first time I¡¯ve gone into combat.¡± I gave her a wink as well.

    Luna sighed in resignation, clearly not completely convinced.

    ¡°Look, the moment something happens or if the situation turns sour, I will pull everyone out immediately. I promise.¡±

    ¡°Alright, Commander.¡± She nodded. ¡°But please, be very careful. We still don¡¯t really know what we are dealing with.¡±

    ¡°I will.¡± I started walking off the bridge but turned around halfway to the door. ¡°And if it gets dicey we have the ship to help us with some fire support as well, don¡¯t forget that.¡± Though, due to the blast radius of our weaponry that would be our last-minute resort.

    Luna nodded and gave me a salute.

    I saluted her back and made my way to the armory.

    When I arrived I put on my gear and took a second to select the best weapons loadout for this mission. I chose to go with the P-900R like I did last time, just in case the enemy closed the range. For my secondary I did decide to take a meatier pistol with me this time, the DE-5000CG. It fired full metal slugs at the target by using electromagnetic coils to speed the slugs up to ridiculous speeds. This did result in a pretty high recoil but that should be fine as I had had plenty of training using these kinds of weapons before. I also loaded my utility belt full with grenades and magazines as we¡¯d probably need them.

    After that I joined the other marines in the shuttle launch bay. Everyone had already divided themselves into their smaller units. As it¡¯d be a bit too hard for me to command 100 marines all by myself. Every group had their designated heavy gunner with them, mine would be Gunnery Sergeant Taylor.

    ¡°Landing site coordinates are set, Commander. Heavy resistance is to be expected.¡± Ellie informed me through the intercom in my helmet. ¡°Translation system is already uploaded and ready.¡±

    ¡°Thanks Ellie.¡± I commented and made my way to stand on the loading pad for one of the shuttles so I could speak to everyone present. ¡°Alright, Marines.¡±

    Everyone turned towards me.

    ¡°This will be your first real combat experience in this mission. Everyone knows what enemy we will be facing but I have to warn you. Do not underestimate the enemy¡¯s abilities by how they look. During the space battle we were just in, the enemy clearly showed signs of intelligent use of combat tactics. So do not assume we are faced by an easy-to-beat opponent.¡± I tapped on the glove of my armor. ¡°Ellie, if you would show us the map of the landing zone.¡±

    Ellie made use of the holographic projectors in the shuttle area to show us a big map of the environment we would be landing in. It had red blips streaming in towards a concrete structure which housed way fewer blue blips.

    ¡°We will be landing in the middle of this, make sure you watch your fire and overlap your zones of control. I want a secondary line to be set up behind so any gaps that might form in the chaos of combat can be closed easily. Last but not least, remember, shoot to the top right of their faces.¡±

    A sergeant from one of the other platoons raised their hand. ¡°Commander, do those blue guys know we are coming to help them?¡±

    ¡°Ellie.¡±

    ¡°I have tried to hail them multiple times but it seems like their radio system does not accept incoming transmissions.¡± Ellie explained.

    ¡°Uhm¡­ what do we do if we get shot by them?¡±

    ¡°We will try to make it very clear that we are there to help them.¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s my team''s job. We will be taking the lead to establish contact with them. Therefore we will be landing closer to the compound than the other shuttles.¡± I pointed at our landing position on the map.

    ¡°And if they are hostile?¡±

    ¡°Then we will pull out.¡± I replied. ¡°Any more questions?¡±

    Noone raised their hand.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do this, Marines!¡±

    ¡°For the Federation!¡± They all cried out simultaneously and started filing into their shuttles.

    ¡°Let¡¯s kick some bugg¡¯s ass, Commander¡± Gunny lifted his machine gun up with his left arm and offered me his right.

    ¡°Hell yeah.¡± I shook his hand and together we got into the shuttle followed by the rest of our squad.

 Chapter 13: Meeting the Locals

    The ride through atmosphere was bumpy as hell.

    ¡°Experiencing heavy turbulence.¡± The shuttle pilot called through the radio. ¡°We are heading through a storm front.¡±

    ¡°Looks like we will be fighting in the rain, Commander.¡± Gunny said as he was checking his machine gun one last time.¡±

    ¡°Rough weather, reminds me of Japan.¡± I nodded.

    ¡°That¡¯s what you get when you fight in the middle of the rainy season.¡±

    ¡°Landing zone should be right ahead!¡± The pilot called out to us once more. ¡°Opening side doors.¡±

    The alarm in the cabin beeped thrice before the doors of the shuttle slid open, revealing the outside to us. Most of the area was flat and vegetation had been burned recently. It didn¡¯t take long for us to spot movement. It was an entire swarm of those bugs that was heading parallel to how we were flying.

    ¡°Deploying side guns.¡± The pilot said as a machine gun slid out of the side of the shuttle¡¯s hull, which got immediately manned by one of the privates in our group.

    ¡°Give them hell, marine.¡± I tapped them on the shoulder and they opened fire on the group. Thanks to the gun¡¯s rate of fire, the bugs dropped relatively quickly, even if it took multiple shots to finally find their weak spot.

    The shuttle slowed down as we approached the compound in the distance. From the compound itself, laser beams shot out into the swarm, which apparently had managed to keep the bugs at bay. And luckily for us, they didn¡¯t seem very interested in shooting at us.

    ¡°Putting her down.¡± Our pilot said, parking us on the roof of one of the building while keeping the firing arc for the side-machinegun intact.

    Everyone immediately dismounted except for the private who kept handling the gun. After which, the shuttle took back off again to keep hitting the swarm.

    ¡°Okay, everyone, set up a firing time on this roof, I want Gunnery sergeant Taylor and Private Houston with me to meet up with the locals.¡±

    ¡°Aye aye ma¡¯am!¡± The squad called out. A couple of soldiers set up a heavy machine gun on the corner of the roof, while the rest immediately assumed their positions and started firing. The three of us prepared to repel down to the ground, and it didn¡¯t take long at all before we had our feet on solid ground. Lasers were still being shot out of the building, but we couldn¡¯t really see inside. Nothing on the ground floor appeared to be open.

    ¡°What now?¡± Gunny asked.

    ¡°I guess we knock?¡± I pointed towards the big steel door in the center. It looked quite rusty and battle worn, but it looked like our best course of action.

    We walked up to it and I banged the door three times with my right hand.

    There was no response.

    ¡°Uhm¡­¡± I took a couple of steps back and looked at the building. ¡°Are they all gone? Maybe the message was automated?¡±

    ¡°Maybe we should try to get in through the gaps on the other floors, where the lasers are firing from?¡± Gunny stepped back with me.

    ¡°I don¡¯t really want to get shot by one of those though¡­¡±

    We started to discuss different ways on how to enter the compound, but every idea either of us had just didn¡¯t quite cut it. In the end, we were left in front of a closed door.

    ¡°Should we just pull out before the other shuttles land?¡±

    ¡°That might be for th-¡±

    ¡°Commander!¡± Private Houston called, they ran towards us. ¡°The door! It¡¯s opening!¡±

    Gunny and I turned around and looked at the steel door behind us. It was indeed opening, slowly but surely. Once there was an opening of a meter or three, five figures suddenly rushed out towards us. The figures were tall, easily three heads taller than me, had four arms and two legs and wore some kind of metallic bronze-ish armour that covered their entire body. A blackened visor in front of their faces. With their four arms, they were carrying bulky weapons that were clearly trained on us.

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    They surrounded us in an instant, but no shots were fired.

    ¡°We are here to help.¡± I raised my arms, letting my weapon hang from its sling. Hoping the translator app did what it had to do.

    The five figures looked at each other, seemingly confused.

    One of them, the tallest of the group, poked me with the barrel of its weapon and said something. A second later, I got the translation. ¡°You speak our language?¡±

    I slowly pointed at my helmet. ¡°We have a translation tool to help us understand. We deciphered your language in our ship.¡±

    The figure tilted it¡¯s head and then pointed one of its arms into the air. ¡°Ship?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s in orbit.¡± I nodded. Quickly realizing afterwards that nodding might not be a sign that means the same in this culture.

    The figure looked around for a second and then turned around towards the door.

    ¡°Come.¡±

    The four others closed ranks behind us so as to coral us inside.

    ¡°Can we call in our other shuttles? To hold off the bugs.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± The figure replied as it walked forward.

    That¡¯s all I needed to hear. I opened the comms channel to contact the others. ¡°Contact has been made with the local populace. You are cleared to land and commence defensive operations.¡±

    The inside of the building was dark apart from a single light that was worked into the center of the floor. I saw other such fixtures, but they had been turned off.

    ¡°Where are you taking us?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Down, our leader is there.¡± The tall figure led us to the corner of the room, where a ramp led down to an even bigger area. This one was full of machinery, but only a fraction of it was working.

    ¡°Looks like a weapons factory.¡± Private Houston commented.

    ¡°Is this where you made your weapons?¡± I decided to ask our host.

    ¡°Yes¡­ more or less¡­¡± It replied. ¡°But power is almost out.¡±

    That definitely explains why they are saving on the lighting.

    We took another path down that led to a smaller door, yet still sizeable, guarded by two other figures. They let us in without any issue.

    Inside the room there were three figures bent over a table, they were discussing something, but they were a bit too quiet to really be understandable.

    Our guard told us to wait for a bit as they walked over to the table.

    The middle figure that was standing at the table looked up at us. ¡°Are these the strangers?¡±

    ¡°Yes, they claim to want to help.¡±

    The figure walked away from the table and approached us. This one was even taller than the guard that had accompanied us. Maybe size was how their hierarchy worked.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± The giant spoke to us.

    ¡°We are explorers.¡± I replied. ¡°We are from a planet called Earth.¡±

    ¡°Why are you here?¡±

    ¡°We were¡­ exploring¡­ and came across this system, we then heard and deciphered your distress call. So we came to investigate.¡±

    The figure stayed quiet for a bit before continuing. ¡°We thought none would come. Did you defeat the ships?¡±

    ¡°You mean the bug ships in space?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°We destroyed them.¡±

    ¡°Then your ship must be mighty.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t sure if I should tell him that we quite easily defeated the ships in orbit. It might have been an insult to them, so I decided to keep quiet about that. But I did decide it was my turn to ask a couple of questions.

    ¡°If I may.¡± I raised my hand. ¡°Why are you at war with these bugs? What happened?¡±

    The figure walked towards the table and signaled us to follow. On the table was a map, etched into steel. On top of it were steel markers. I could quickly tell that the sole marker of its kind still on the board was where we were, and the others probably showed enemy forces.

    ¡°One day they came. Not that long ago.¡± The figure spoke. ¡°They quickly cut us off from our colony.¡±

    ¡°The other planet?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± The translator application couldn¡¯t convey emotions, but the body language of the figure betrayed some kind of sadness. ¡°It was quickly wiped out. Then they came here. We fought back, but there was no end to them. They reproduce too fast. Positions run out of power. Only effective weapons we had were these welding tools. But without power¡­ they die. We are the only ones left. But even our power is almost out.¡± This somehow makes me feel glad that we¡¯ve come from a place of conflict¡­ They had to fight these things off¡­ with welding tools of all things¡­ Although something did bug me a little.

    ¡°Why aren¡¯t they throwing everything at you?¡± I asked. ¡°There were a lot of bugs outside, but if they had conquered the entire planet¡­ There should be a lot more of them¡±

    ¡°Not worth the effort. Bleed us dry slowly. Conserve their energy. They still have plenty of food¡­¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    ¡°But if you took out their ships, they should have nowhere to go¡­ we will be the last of their victims. That¡¯s good.¡±

    ¡°We have found them on a different planet before. So that¡¯s not really a guarantee. And there were only two ships.¡±

    The figure looked down on me. ¡°Oh.¡±

    I decided to quickly change the subject. ¡°How many people do you have here?¡±

    ¡°Twenty.¡±

    Twenty people is all that¡¯s left from an entire civilization¡­

    ¡°We will get you out.¡± The decision was quickly made.

    ¡°You will?¡±

    ¡°We have plenty of space aboard.¡± I nodded.

    ¡°Thank you¡­¡±

    I opened a com channel to the rest of the troops. ¡°Okay, everyone, listen up. We are evacuating these folks. Make ready for extraction.¡±

 Chapter 14: Hold the Line!

    ¡°We¡¯re coming out now.¡± I alerted my marines as we exited the compound. The Commander of the Garrison came out with us, giving orders to their men as well.

    The first of our shuttles already landed on the open space in front of us, ready to start evacuating the local populace.

    ¡°Me and four of my men will stay behind until the last shuttle.¡± The Commander said to me. They guided a couple of people to the shuttle, and I ordered two of the marines to join them. Since these folks were pretty big and our shuttles weren¡¯t really designed for it, we could only take a couple of them with us at the same time.

    ¡°Commander, the bugs are doing something!¡± One of my platoon Sergeants contacted me. It was Sergeant Koskinen, who¡¯d taken position on the top of the compound with a squad of snipers.

    ¡°What are you seeing?¡±

    ¡°It looks like they are changing tactics. A lot less are starting to stream in towards us.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s concerning.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± The alien Commander asked as the first shuttle with two of his men lifted off into the air.

    ¡°Bugs are changing tactics.¡± I quickly shared the information I¡¯d just received.

    ¡°They must notice you are getting us out.¡±

    ¡°Is that a good or a bad thing?¡±

    ¡°They want to capture your ships to make them their own.¡± The Commander stated.

    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s a bad thing.¡±

    ¡°They are starting to circle around, Commander.¡± Sergeant Koskinen notified me.

    ¡°Alright, I want more people on that roof!¡± I commanded, and immediately my squads started to divert soldiers so we could strengthen our firepower all around us.

    In the meantime, the second shuttle had landed and started to load more locals.

    ¡°Do you have easy access to the top of your compound?¡±

    ¡°There is an access ladder inside.¡±  The garrison Commander commented. ¡°Okay, I want you to send all your people there. We are going to use the roof of the building as an evac point.¡± I had opened a channel to my shuttle pilots as well. ¡°Did you all copy that?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Commander!¡± They replied.

    I kept commanding my troops around, slowly but surely pulling back our perimeter to the roof of the building, getting all of my forces away from the ground. That¡¯s when our local Commander came to me again.

    ¡°Commander, would you want to leave a goodbye present for the enemy?¡±

    ¡°What are you proposing?¡± Of course I wanted to make our leave as memorable as possible.

    ¡°The last fuel cell.¡± The Commander let two of his men bring out a blue glowing tube, the size of three buckets stacked on top of each other. ¡°We don¡¯t have explosives to detonate it ourselves, but we¡¯ve heard of other locations doing this to take as many bugs with them as possible.¡±

    ¡°I do like that idea¡­¡± I looked around. ¡°Gunny, do you have some C6?¡±

    ¡°Always, Commander.¡± He said, not looking up from the battlefield below. He was constantly unleashing his heavy machine gun into the crowd of bugs that''d already closed in to where our initial positions were.

    I just walked over to him and took the C6 explosives, together with a detonator, from his exo-skelleton and walked it back over to the glowing fuel cell. I started rigging them together, which luckily didn¡¯t take very long.

    ¡°That should make some nice fireworks.¡± I rubbed my hands as I stood back up.

    ¡°What are fireworks?¡± One of the locals asked.

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    ¡°Uh, just some fancy explosives. We watch them for fun back on our planet.¡±

    The locals looked at each other for a second and then back at me.

    ¡°That¡¯s a strange custom.¡± The Commander commented.

    ¡°Well¡­ I guess it is, isn¡¯t it? I¡¯ll show you a video once we get on board our ship.¡±

    Shuttles kept flying in to gradually take our troops out. Evac was going smoothly, but because of this our firepower had also diminished quite substantially, to the point where some bugs were getting terribly close.

    ¡°Commander.¡± It was Luna¡¯s voice that came over the radio this time. ¡°The last shuttles are on their way.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, XO.¡± I replied. ¡°How are things going up there? How are the evacuees doing?¡±

    ¡°Doctor Winter is checking them out, she¡¯s trying to figure out if they can breathe on board the ship. The translation application is definitely helping out a lot.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, remind me to thank Ellie for that again once we are back.¡± Just as I say that, a bug crawls over the top of the roof, but I quickly whip out my sidearm and explode its face off.

    ¡°Are you okay, Commander, that sounded close!?¡±

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s just say I hope the shuttles get here soon.¡±

    From our squad it was only me, Gunny and Private Houston who were left, together with the five local men who¡¯d decided to stay behind to go out with the last shuttles. Apart from that, we had three more squads that were constantly laying down fire.

    ¡°I can see the shuttles, Commander!¡± Houston called out to me and pointed at the dots in the distance. The last four shuttles flew in together, so we could maintain our firepower till the last second.

    ¡°Alright, everyone, it¡¯s time for an explosive carpet.¡± I commanded.

    Gunny and the other exoskeleton gunners immediately knew what they had to do, switching to their explosive weapons to lay down walls of fire around us, to give us just that bit more of a breathing room we all needed to board the shuttles. The rest of us also started throwing out our grenades into the swarms below.

    It worked, the sudden onslaught of explosive force rattled the bug¡¯s near-endless swarm. Concussing them for a while, while our shuttles landed.

    I quickly pushed the locals into our designated shuttle, getting my hands on the gunner¡¯s position. Gunnery Sergeant Taylor was the last one to jump in. And just like that, all four of our shuttles left the top of the building with all units intact, a couple of seconds before the bugs reached the top.

    Once we were a bit away, the local Commander spoke to me. ¡°We should be far enough away now.¡±

    I nodded and got my detonator out, flicked the safety cap off it and I held the detonator out towards the Commander. ¡°Here, it should be your honor. Just press the button on top.¡±

    The Commander hesitantly took the device out of my hand, it looked incredibly small in their gauntlet. ¡°Thank you.¡± They said as they pressed the button.

    A bright white flash lit up the sky and a shockwave traveled past us. A big mushroom cloud in the distance.

    The five locals on board started cheering. ¡°If this is what fireworks are like, then we will definitely love those too.¡± One of them said, it brought a smile to my face.

    The rest of the ride back into orbit went smoother than our ride down so we got back to the ship in no-time.

    When we got out into the hangar bay, people were moving around, re-arming and refueling the other shuttles. Yuki was standing closeby to where our shuttle had landed and greeted us when she saw us.

    ¡°Welcome back, Commander!¡± She smiled, although her smile looked a little bit forced. She must not be entirely used to our visitors, but who could blame her, neither was I was.

    ¡°Thank you, Ensign.¡± I smiled back. ¡°Good job on the turn-around times of the shuttles. It might have really saved our bacon down there.¡±

    ¡°We tried our very best.¡± She nodded. ¡°Was it rough down there?¡±

    ¡°Nothing we couldn¡¯t handle.¡± Gunny smiled smugly, he had already taken off his helmet. ¡°Our armor might need some deep cleaning though.¡± Gunny¡¯s armor had quite a lot of slime splatter going on from chunks of bug that was sent flying. The only part of my armor that got dirty was my right arm from when I had shot that one bug with my side-arm.

    ¡°Let¡¯s hope it¡¯s not corrosive.¡± Ensign Yuigahama inspected Gunny¡¯s armor from up close.

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t look like it.¡±

    While Gunny and the Ensign continued their conversation the garrison Commander tried to get my attention.

    ¡°Commander, do you know where the rest of my people are?¡±

    ¡°Probably in the med-bay.¡± I replied. ¡°Our doctor was trying to figure out if our air is breathable for you. I can guide you there if you want?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯d be appreciated.¡±

    I nodded and started walking our guests through the ship. A couple of crewmembers we encountered in the hallway stared at us as we walked by. It was to be expected as this was our first real encounter with another intelligent species.

    ¡°They¡¯ll get used to it soon.¡± I reassured our guests. ¡°You are the first species we encountered on our trip into the unknown.¡±

    ¡°We understand.¡± The leader spoke. ¡°Before those bugs we also thought we were alone. I¡¯m glad you proved us wrong again.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just happy we got to you in time.¡± I nodded. ¡°Ah, my name is Lauren Davis by the way. It might be in our best interest to get to know each other a little bit better.¡±

    ¡°Jaqzic Jidaqzod is what I was called. Nice to meet you Commander Lauren Davis.¡±  They replied.

    ¡°Nice to meet you too.¡± -I¡¯ll have to work on the pronunciation of that name though¡­-

 Chapter 14 Bis: A Doctors Visit

    I was relieved, incredibly relieved that the Commander had returned unharmed. From the sound of it the combat down on the planet below was very manageable, although it did heat up near the end. Still, that situation could¡¯ve gone terribly wrong.

    I sighed. At least it was over now, so I could concentrate on trying to house our new guests. We didn¡¯t currently have any bedding that was big enough for them, so our engineers had quickly gone to work to build some field beds that would fit.

    ¡°Ah, XO, how¡¯s the housing going?¡± It was the Commander¡¯s voice.

    I turned around towards her, she still had her armor on, although she did take off her helmet already.

    ¡°We are working on it.¡± I nodded. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you change out of your armor?¡±

    ¡°I just got back from the infirmary.¡± She replied. ¡°We¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait, did you get hurt!?¡±

    ¡°No, no, no. I dropped off the garrison Commander there. Doctor Winter is checking their biology to see if they can breathe on the ship.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡±

    ¡°Were you that worried about me?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ of course¡­ who wouldn¡¯t be.¡±

    I swear I could see the Commander¡¯s cheeks redden a bit, but she quickly moved on with the conversation.

    ¡°Everything went fine, so you can relax now.¡± She put her hand on my shoulder. ¡°That being said, I will be right back after I get out of my armor and have taken a quick shower. Just keep doing what you are doing. You¡¯ve done an amazing job.¡± And just like that, the Commander walked off again with a smile.

    I hadn¡¯t really done that much except for directing the returning shuttles for evacuation¡­

    We¡¯d taken our distance from the planet so we could get a better overview of the star system, since we didn¡¯t want to get ambushed again.

    After the initial rush caused by the new arrivals, things had also calmed down on board. I had just received a message from the engineers that the field bedding had been constructed when the Commander finally returned. Her hair was clearly still a bit damp from having showered. But she didn¡¯t seem bothered.

    ¡°Welcome back, Commander.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡± She smiled in return. ¡°So how are the beds?¡±

    ¡°They were just finished.¡±

    ¡°Great.¡± She nodded. ¡°I think we can house them in the corridor that goes to the storage room. That hallway is heated, and they have easy access to bathrooms and such.¡±

    ¡°What about food?¡±

    ¡°According to medical assessment, their bodies are adapted to a primarily vegetarian diet.¡± Ellie replied to my question. ¡°We can reproduce fruit and vegetables found in their digestive tract with the food synthesizers aboard.¡±

    ¡°That answers that.¡± The Commander smiled. ¡°Have you gotten news about their atmospheric needs?¡±

    ¡°Their bodies are used to a higher concentration of O2 in the air and a slightly higher gravitational force of 1.5G¡¯s. Doctor Winter is currently researching a drug to enhance oxygen intake. As for the gravitational force required, they will need to exercise daily to maintain bone density. ¡±

    ¡°Alright, that¡¯s not optimal, but that was to be expected.¡±

    ¡°Should we look for a planet for them?¡± I asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡± The Commander shook her head. ¡°We should ask them what they think is best. I don¡¯t want to just drop them on the nearest planet without their consent.¡±

    ¡°That makes sense¡­¡±

    ¡°But let¡¯s let them settle in first and calm down for a while. They¡¯ve gone through a lot.¡± The Commander put her hand on my shoulder and gave it a very light squeeze.

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    ¡°Yes, Commander.¡± I gave her a nod.

    After my shift was over, I decided to go to my room to relax for a bit. The day had been incredibly stressful and I had developed a slight headache because of it.

    I got a painkiller from my bathroom¡¯s cabinet and swallowed it down with a glass of water, after which I got out of my clothes, into my pajamas and plopped myself down on my bed next to my shark. I had put a beret on its head and was looking as cute as ever.

    ¡°That was a tough day, Sharky.¡± I spoke to it and pulled it against me. I breathed out into it¡¯s incredibly soft fur. ¡°Who¡¯d have thought we¡¯d meet a sentient alien race I¡¯d never heard about before¡­¡±

    Sharky remained silent.

    ¡°Mhmm, I know, right? So unexpected.¡± I sighed into its fur again. ¡°But I¡¯m happy the Commander is safe¡­ I honestly wouldn¡¯t know what to do without her.¡± I felt a blush coming up, but the sound of knocking on my door quickly halted that. I was so surprised by the sudden interruption that I almost rolled out of my bed.

    I then quickly walked over to the door. ¡°U-uhm, who is it?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Eva.¡± Doctor Winter¡¯s familiar voice rang out from the other side of the door.

    I opened up for her.

    ¡°Ah, sorry, were you already in bed?¡± Eva was holding two big mugs which smelled like delicious hot chocolate. ¡°I wanted to talk for a bit if that¡¯s okay for you. Since it has been such a stressful day.¡±

    ¡°Uhm¡­¡± I looked behind me to my bed and then back towards Eva and the mugs she was holding. ¡°I wasn¡¯t really going to sleep yet¡­¡± I opened the door a bit wider for her.

    ¡°Are you sure? I can talk to you another time. It wouldn¡¯t be very doctor-like of me to rob you off your rest.¡±

    ¡°No no no! I-it¡¯s fine!¡± I nodded.

    She smiled and walked in. ¡°I¡¯ll put the mugs on your table.¡± She then quickly sat down on one of my chairs. As it was the first time she¡¯d been in my room, she was looking around, and I could tell her gaze locked on Sharky a little bit longer than on the other things in my room.

    I followed and sat down opposite to her. I did feel a little bit cold because I was just wearing my pajamas but when I put my hands around the warm cup of hot chocolate milk, that was quickly solved.

    ¡°How are you holding up, Luna?¡± Doctor Winter asked after I¡¯d taken my first sip from the hot chocolate. ¡°Since you are quite susceptible to stress.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ doing fine I think. But I¡¯m happy everything turned out alright today.¡±

    ¡°And how was your first combat experience? This was the first time you¡¯ve seen actual combat, right?¡±

    ¡°It went better than I expected it to.¡± I admitted. ¡°But the Commander¡¯s presence really helps¡­ She¡¯s very¡­ skilled.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Eva nodded. ¡°But there¡¯s a little bit more to it than that, isn¡¯t there?¡±

    ¡°W-what do you mean?¡± I was taken aback by Eva¡¯s directness.

    ¡°It¡¯s clear you like her, Luna.¡± Eva smiled and sipped from her mug.

    ¡°Well¡­ I do like her.¡±

    ¡°Not like that¡­ you love her, don¡¯t you? Or at least you have feelings for her, right?¡±

    ¡°I¡­¡± I started blushing. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡±

    ¡°What did you feel when Lauren told you she was going down to the ground?¡±

    ¡°I was concerned. I wanted her to be safe and return as soon as possible.¡± I answered her question.

    ¡°And what do you feel when you are around her?¡±

    ¡°I feel comfortable¡­¡±

    ¡°And¡­? Don¡¯t you feel agitated as well. Like, your heart beats faster, you feel a bit nervous¡­ things like that¡­¡±

    ¡°I guess so¡­¡± I nodded shyly.

    ¡°That¡¯s love, Luna.¡± She stated.

    ¡°But I can¡¯t¡­ I really can¡¯t¡­¡± I shook my head. It was completely wrong for me to be in love with the Commander. It¡¯s just simply not done¡­ A spy falling in love with the people she has to spy on¡­ Even if I could¡­ if Lauren found out¡­

    ¡°You can, there are no rules that stop you from doing so. Those rules were thrown out a century ago.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not like that¡­¡±

    ¡°Then what¡¯s the problem exactly?¡± Doctor Winter asked. She¡¯d put down her mug so she could better concentrate on the conversation at hand.

    ¡°I just¡­ I can¡¯t¡­ it¡¯s complicated¡­¡±

    ¡°Is it because she told you about the reason why she decided to lead this mission?¡±

    ¡°No¡­¡± Once again I had to shake my head.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I see¡­¡± Eva nodded slowly and took her mug back in her hand. ¡°You must have a pretty good reason if you are that adamant about it. So I will not push you about it any further.¡± She took a sip from her mug. ¡°But, if you ever want to talk about these things, I¡¯m always open. Apart from being the ship¡¯s doctor I¡¯m also the ship''s psychologist.¡±

    ¡°Thank you¡­ but I don¡¯t think that¡¯ll help at all.¡±

    ¡°The offer is always there for you, nonetheless.¡± Eva smiled. ¡°But I do want you to ask yourself a question.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡± I tilted my head.

    ¡°You should ask yourself if it¡¯s worth it to not live this life to the fullest of your ability¡­ You should live for yourself. And since our time is limited, who exactly are you holding your own happiness back for?¡±

    Eva¡¯s comment made the gears in my head start spinning. -There¡¯s my duty to the Conglomerate¡­ but¡­-

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m sorry for making the conversation this heavy¡­ That was not really my intention.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± I nodded, still deeply in thought about what she¡¯d just said.

    ¡°To make up for it...¡± She grabbed something out of her pocket. It was a deck of cards. ¡°Want to play a game?¡±

    ¡°Yes please.¡± I could think about what she had said after we¡¯d actually relaxed a bit.

 Chapter 15: The Pressure Rises

    ¡°Ugh¡­¡± I groaned as I was walking to my cabin, going over the list of things we still had to do to make our new guests¡¯ stay as comfortable as possible. I¡¯d been doing some overtime to really get into the details, so we wouldn¡¯t get riots at our hands. Already a couple of crew members had raised some complaints, although those were luckily relatively minor.

    I was just scrolling to the next page when I bumped into someone.

    ¡°Ouch.¡± It was Eva, she¡¯d fallen back and was now sitting on the floor.

    ¡°Oh, shit. Sorry Eva. I was absolutely not paying attention to where I was going. Are you alright?¡± I put away my holostick and offered her my hand.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine.¡± She sounded a little bit hurt. ¡°I just landed on my tailbone. Luckily, Luna was still holding the mugs.¡± She grabbed my arm and I helped her up.

    ¡°Luna?¡± I looked over and saw Luna standing in the doorway to her cabin, looking rather shocked in her pj¡¯s and two mugs in her hand, presumably ready to having handed them over to the Doctor. ¡°Ah, hey.¡± I scratched the back of my head.

    ¡°H-hi, Co-commander¡­¡±

    ¡°Did I interrupt something?¡±

    ¡°No, I was just leaving. We had a little bit of a chat.¡± Eva replied.

    ¡°I hope it was nothing serious?¡±

    ¡°No, not really.¡± Eva smiled and shook her head. She then proceeded to take the mugs out of Luna¡¯s hands. ¡°Anyway, that¡¯s that. I¡¯m going to rest my sore tailbone in my own cabin now.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, again.¡± I chuckled uncomfortably.

    ¡°It¡¯s really not an issue. Good night Lauren, good night, Luna.¡±

    ¡°G-goodnight!¡± Luna shyly waved as Eva moved off.

    ¡°Good night!¡± I called after her as well.

    When Eva had well and truly gone away, a rather uncomfortable silence formed in the hallway.

    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Luna broke it after a couple of seconds. ¡°W-were you still working, Commander?¡±

    ¡°Mhmm. Yeah.¡± I took my holostick back out of my jacket¡¯s pocket. ¡°I was going over some things concerning our new friends downstairs.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Luna nodded.

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you go inside, it must be cold in your pj¡¯s right?¡±

    It seemed like she¡¯d forgotten that she was standing there in her pajamas, as her face flushed red in an instant. ¡°A-a-ah!¡± She immediately scooted to the side so she was partially hidden by the wall.

    I gave her a smile. ¡°I¡¯ll let you get comfortable. Good night, Luna.¡±

    As I walked off, Luna called after me. ¡°G-good night, C¡­Lauren. P-please get some rest. It was a heavy day for you too¡­¡±

    ¡°Thanks, I will.¡± I smiled back. She closed the door softly, and continued towards my cabin. Before I opened the door, I stared at the holostick in my hand. ¡°I guess I should take that advice¡­ I can continue working on this stuff in the morning.¡±

    When I got into my cabin, I put on some relaxing music and took yet another shower. I had taken one not that long ago, but it helped to get me ready for a good night¡¯s rest. My work continued for most of the day and the couple of days after that but we finally managed to really get into a good work flow. Our guests, who called themselves the ¡®Dokazuuk¡¯ offered to help with a lot of the mechanical work aboard the ship because they didn¡¯t want to completely freeload on our resources. Their size, strength and technical expertise when it comes to welding, helped out a lot. So much so that a couple of engineers asked if they could stay forever because of how light the workload got with them aboard. They also made a couple of suggestions to reinforce certain armor plating in some of the more vulnerable spots of the ship. Some other crew members had even started to get a liking for the fruits and vegetables our guests taught us about. Since there were no dietary concerns, it hadn¡¯t taken too long for some brave souls to go on a culinary adventure. I, however, hadn¡¯t been brave enough for this.

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    Of course, because of the bug presence in this system, we decided to jump a couple of sectors away, just in case more of those ships would pop up in the vicinity. After a week of jumping, our sensors that had been damaged by the pulsar also got completely recalibrated, removing our blind spot so we could go back to regular operation.

    There was one question that the crew had been bugging me about though, which was, at this moment, being echoed by my XO. ¡°Commander, weren¡¯t we supposed to plan that party?¡±

    ¡°Not you too, Luna¡­¡± I sighed. I had been trying to think of a good time and place to plan the event in. But I was still a bit hesitant because of the relatively recent attack we¡¯ve faced. ¡°I would want to, but I¡¯m not sure if this is a good time¡­¡±

    ¡°I think we are far enough from the danger by now¡­¡± Luna looked down at her holo stick. ¡°And I think it might be a good way to let most of the crew socialize with the Dokazuuk for a while as well¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I know¡­ but it just doesn¡¯t feel right¡­¡±

    ¡°What about increasing the number of people on guard during the event, but relieving them in 3 shifts?¡±

    ¡°Maybe¡­ but then the people from the third shift can¡¯t drink alcohol if they want to, at all.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ that¡¯s true¡­¡±

    ¡°You see. It¡¯s difficult. I¡¯ve been thinking about this as well. The perfect answer would be a system in which we could be completely safe, but finding something like that in uncharted territory¡­ it¡¯s like finding a needle in a haystack.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll try to keep an eye out for it as well.¡± Luna said, seemingly full of confidence. ¡°There must be some place that is relatively safe.¡±

    ¡°Hey, Commander.¡± Lieutenant McAllister commented. ¡°I heard you talking just now and I might have a solution.¡±

    ¡°Which is?¡± I asked. Looking down on the bridge in front of me.

    ¡°Well, earlier I was looking at the planetoid on the outer edge of this system and I spotted a cave that looked just big enough to hide our ship in.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am. I checked the dimensions because I thought it would be pretty funny to park the ship in there, and it should definitely be possible.¡±

    ¡°And we can mask our ship completely?¡±

    ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be an issue either, Commander.¡± This time it was Lieutenant Zu who spoke up.

    I smiled. ¡°Great. That¡¯s our plan then. Good job people.¡± I opened the map that McAllister sent to me. ¡°Get it parked, I will tell everyone to prepare for the party by tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°Aye aye, Commander.¡± McAllister saluted and turned back around in her seat.

    ¡°I will also start sending messages around, Commander.¡± Luna said as she started tapping away on her holo stick.

    ¡°Good work.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Preparations for the party went along splendidly, mostly because we¡¯d already prepared most of it beforehand and the only thing left was actually preparing the food. We ended up with a lot of different snacks, and by that I really mean A LOT of different snacks. If we¡¯d reserve one table just for one piece of every single different snack, we¡¯d almost not have enough room.

    I was personally overseeing the preparatory final touches in the officer''s lounge when Eva came by to look in on the progress.

    ¡°Ready for the party, Lauren?¡±

    ¡°Pretty much, everything is set up, food and drinks are ready and different games are also done. How were the preparations on the lower deck?¡±

    ¡°Everything went smoothly.¡± Eva came to stand right next to me and looked over the lounge. ¡°I think the Dokazuuk are excited to participate.¡±

    ¡°Can you tell? I find it very hard to read their emotions.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not too surprised by that.¡±

    ¡°Why did that sound like an insult¡­¡± I looked at my friend.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t, I promise.¡± Yet, her smile betrayed that she wasn¡¯t being completely honest with me. ¡°Anyhow, where¡¯s Luna?¡±

    ¡°She went to her cabin to rest a bit before the party.¡±

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you do the same? You¡¯ve been up since 0500, right?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not really tired.¡± I shrugged.

    ¡°I still think you should, though. Let¡¯s call it doctor¡¯s orders.¡± She patted me on the shoulder. ¡°You don¡¯t want to fall asleep in those spicy fruits the Dokazuuk introduced to us, would you? I heard those really sting.¡±

    ¡°If you insist.¡± I smiled. ¡°Will you finish this up?¡±

    ¡°Yes, don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Eva smiled back and took a grape from the table we were standing by, popping it in her mouth.

    ¡°Thanks.¡± I smiled once more and headed off to my cabin. On the way there, I yawned. Seemed like I wasn¡¯t as energetic as I first thought. Well, at least I could get a 5-hour nap before the party got underway. Let¡¯s hope everyone will enjoy themselves because we definitely need a bit of time to blow off steam.

 Chapter 15 Bis: A Party in Limbo

    I put on my dress uniform and got ready for the party. I¡¯d been able to nap a little after the shift was done so I¡¯d regained quite a bit of energy.

    When I left my cabin I almost ran into the Commander, but she managed to jump out of the way right in time. She had apparently been trying to fix her beret just when I walked out.

    ¡°Hey there, Luna. You¡¯re looking good today.¡± She smiled, even though she¡¯d seen me in my dress uniform before.

    I shook my head, trying to hold back a blush. ¡°Do you need help with that?¡±

    ¡°If you would. I¡¯ve been trying to get it right but for some reason I just can¡¯t, even with a mirror.¡± She handed her beret over to me.

    ¡°Can you bend your knees a little.¡±

    ¡°Sure thing.¡± She bent her knees a bit so I could reach her head a little bit better. It took me just thirty seconds to put on her beret just right.

    ¡°There you go¡­ Lauren.¡±

    ¡°Thanks a lot.¡± She smiled and got up again. ¡°Tying a tie is way easier.¡± She waited for me to step along with her towards our destination.

    ¡°Don¡¯t we just have clip-ons?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the point.¡± She laughed.

    Her humor was so dry¡­ but I couldn¡¯t help but giggle a little.

    We arrived at the officer lounge and found Doctor Winter standing at the bar, talking with Ensign Yuigahama, both of them in their dress uniforms as well.

    ¡°Look who we have here.¡± Eva immediately noticed us as we walked in. The talk we had recently was still incredibly fresh in my mind, so it did make me quite a bit more on-guard around her.

    ¡°The guests will be arriving shortly.¡± Yuki smiled.

    ¡°Is Gunny going to come later?¡± Lauren asked.

    ¡°Probably.¡± Eva nodded. ¡°He¡¯s going to start the party with the marines first, if I had to guess.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± Lauren nodded as well. ¡°We should not forget to show our faces there as well, Luna. That¡¯d look pretty bad.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think she¡¯s the one who will need reminding, Lauren.¡± Eva winked. ¡°Just try to stay off the alcohol for a bit.¡± Having said that, Eva handed over a glass of soda to Lauren, who didn¡¯t look terribly pleased but drank from it nonetheless. ¡°Just moderate it a little.¡±

    ¡°I will.¡± Lauren nodded and took a small cocktail sausage from nearby, dipped it in some ketchup and ate it whole.

    ¡°Ah, looks like I¡¯m the first one here.¡± A male voice came from behind.

    ¡°Oh, Goddess, not that guy¡­¡± Lauren¡¯s face immediately soured, but she put on a smile when she turned around. ¡°Ah, Grayson. I was already fearing you might not come.¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t want to miss this party for the life of me, Commander.¡± Grayson smirked. ¡°Hey, but call me Mike, we are amongst friends here, aren¡¯t we?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll think about that, Lieutenant.¡± Lauren definitely went more formal purely out of spite. But it looked like Grayson had fun yanking the Commander¡¯s chain.

    Eva chuckled, while Yuki just looked on in relative shock.

    ¡°Do you want something to drink, Luna?¡± Eva asked while Grayson and Lauren were still at each other''s throats.

    ¡°Just a bit of lemonade, please.¡± I nodded.

    ¡°Alright.¡± She smiled, quickly walked behind the counter and got me a glass.

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    In the meantime, more people had started to arrive like Lieutenant Zu and McAllister. They came to say hi to us before heading to the corner of the room to take up a seat together. And a couple of minutes later when some other scientists arrived, the Commander and Grayson finally stopped their little fight as Grayson joined them instead.

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    ¡°You really don¡¯t like that person, Commander?¡± Yuki asked.

    Lauren sighed. ¡°The guy is brilliant, but such a pain in the ass. I¡¯ve not liked him from the moment they introduced him to me six months ago.¡± She took her glass of soda back up and drank from it. ¡°Can¡¯t I just add a little bit of rum to this?¡±

    ¡°Not yet.¡± Eva smiled and put her hand on Lauren¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°Spoilsport.¡± Lauren chuckled and emptied her glass.

    Over the course of the next half hour, most of the party goers had arrived, including some of the Dokazuuk. Most of them stayed at the sidelines, eating the food that was familiar to them, although the most  daring amongst them did try to participate in some of the simpler party games. Lauren started playing with them and dragging them along the room as well. I think she was doing a pretty good job at making them feel part of the whole party.

    Another hour later, Lauren came to me. ¡°Now that everything is going well here, want to go and check the other party site with me?¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± I nodded. And together we left the room.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be right back.¡± The Commander called out to Yuki and Eva, the latter of which gave us a thumbs up.

    A short trip through the ship later we arrived at the party where the biggest part of the NCO¡¯s and privates were having their party. It was definitely a lot ¡®wilder¡¯ than the one we were holding in the officer lounge. A lot more dancing was going on and while that was happening another group was doing this strange game with a horizontal bar.

    ¡°What are they doing?¡± I asked the Commander.

    ¡°That?¡± She had to come close to me to be able to talk over the music. She pointed towards the bar.

    ¡°Yes.¡± I nodded.

    ¡°It¡¯s a dance called ¡®Limbo¡¯. Don¡¯t you know it?¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t really a thing where I lived¡­¡±

    ¡°Right.¡± Lauren gave me yet another nod. ¡°The purpose is that you need to dance under the bar, without having it drop. Every time everyone has passed underneath, they will lower the bar.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it hard?¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah, I completely suck at it.¡± She laughed. ¡°Want to give it a try?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure¡­¡±

    ¡°C¡¯mon, it¡¯ll be fun!¡± She signaled me along.

    A couple of the marines who had been standing near the limbo dance had also noticed us and waved me over too. ¡°Hey XO! Join us!¡±

    ¡°Alright then.¡± I hesitantly agreed.

    The marines reset the height of the pole so we could start from the beginning. At the start we could basically just walk underneath the pole without any issues. Although some people did say I had to loosen up a little bit more and actually dance a bit.

    As the dance went on, the pole came down lower and lower. To my big surprise I wasn¡¯t even the first one to get eliminated from the game. That honor went to Corporal Jones who slipped and fell on her but.

    ¡°Ouch, better luck next time, Corporal.¡± The Commander laughed and pulled Jones up with her arm.

    ¡°Thanks ma¡¯am.¡±

    Lauren then proceeded to get under the bar quite easily. I just mimicked what she did and got underneath it too.

    The bar continued lowering.

    Lauren stood in front of it as it was her turn, but she shook her head. ¡°No way I can get under that.¡±

    ¡°Try it, Commander!¡± The soldiers around us started cheering her on even louder.

    ¡°Alright, alright.¡± She chuckled and gave her beret to me. ¡°Here, can you hold on to this for me?¡±

    I nodded. ¡°Definitely.¡±

    She then started dancing and got really low, but sadly for her, not low enough as she touched the bar and it fell off.

    ¡°Almost.¡± Lauren smiled and came over to me to reclaim her beret. In the meantime the others put the pole back where it should be. ¡°Let¡¯s see how low you can go.¡±

    I gave her beret back and gave her yet another nod. After which I tried my luck at this weird, yet strangely, fun ritual. But it also proved to be too low for me.

    ¡°Ah, good try though, especially for your first time.¡± The Commander offered me a hand as well to pull me off the floor. I gladly accepted.

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°Woohoo! Go XO!¡± The marines cheered me on, even though I lost.

    ¡°It was really fun, guys. But I think it¡¯s time for us to go back now.¡± Lauren told the excited party-goers.

    ¡°Already?¡± It was Gunny¡¯s voice that came from the crowd behind us.

    ¡°Gunny? You were here?¡± Lauren¡¯s face brightened up even more. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you join us.¡±

    ¡°It was more fun watching you all enjoy yourselves.¡± Gunny smiled and gave a glass of beer to the Commander.

    ¡°Ey, thanks, you always think of me, don¡¯t you.¡± Lauren smiled brightly and took a sip from the glass of beer.

    ¡°And a soda for the LC.¡± Gunny handed me a glass of cola.

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°Looks like everyone¡¯s been enjoying the party.¡± The Commander looked around while talking to Gunny.

    ¡°Everyone is incredibly happy with it. Tensions were running a bit high so this is definitely what we needed.¡±

    The Commander nodded.

    ¡°I hope you two are enjoying yourselves as well. You¡¯ve both worked really hard too.¡±

    ¡°Definitely.¡± Lauren nodded once more. ¡°You too, right, Luna?¡±

    ¡°Mhmm. It¡¯s been fun.¡±

    ¡°Good. Make sure that you take plenty of time for yourselves.¡± Gunnery Sergeant Taylor said.

    ¡°We definitely will.¡± Lauren replied, I just nodded along with a slight blush on my face.

 Chapter 15.5 Bis: Lauren in Limbo

    ¨C A couple of hours later ¨C

    ¡°Oh Goddess, Lauren, you can barely stand.¡± Eva said to the Commander. She put her drink on the table to help support her.

    ¡°Hey, I only drank a glass or two¡­ Okay, maybe three¡­ But I¡¯m definitely. Not. Drunk.¡± Lauren replied, she looked a bit annoyed at the apparent accusation.

    ¡°You have been working pretty hard, that¡¯s true.¡± Eva shook her head.

    ¡°Finally, a bit of recognition.¡±

    ¡°What are we supposed to do with you¡­¡± Eva looked at Yuki and I. We had been having a conversation about one of the new foreign snacks both of us had tried out. ¡°I kind of wanted to stay a little longer to chat with the others.¡±

    ¡°Do you want me to take her to her cabin? I wasn¡¯t planning on staying at the party for that long.¡± I proposed. It wasn¡¯t a lie, as the party had quickly drained me of the energy I saved during the nap beforehand.

    ¡°Really, that¡¯d be really sweet.¡± Eva replied with a smile.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to, Luna¡­ Really¡­ I can walk by myself.¡± Lauren tried to shake herself loose from Eva but she almost went to her knees while attempting this.

    ¡°Walk? Don¡¯t you mean crawl?¡± Eva guided Lauren over to me and hung her around my shoulder.

    ¡°It was nice talking to you, Yuki.¡± I said to our Ensign. We hadn¡¯t talked much before, mostly because we¡¯d both been too shy to really talk with each other. But we did bond quite a lot over our love for food. So I guess the party had succeeded in doing what it was supposed to.

    ¡°Likewise.¡± Yuki bowed slightly towards me. ¡°Have a good night.¡±

    ¡°You too.¡± I said back.

    Eva guided us to the door of the lounge before halting me one last time. ¡°You can just drop her off at her cabin door, she¡¯ll find her way inside on her own.¡±

    ¡°Indeed.¡± Lauren nodded along with Eva¡¯s statement.

    ¡°Will do.¡± I nodded as well.

    ¡°And thanks again for doing this. Next time, I¡¯ll take her to her cabin instead.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll hold you to that.¡± I smiled and both Lauren and I said goodbye to our doctor, who then went back to continue partying a bit longer.

    While we walked to our cabins, we didn¡¯t really speak much to one another, apart from the occasional grunt from the Commander. She really didn¡¯t appear to be in a good condition anymore and appeared to be getting a bit worse as we continued our journey.

    ¡°I think I¡¯ve sprained my ankle as well¡­¡± Lauren said when we reached the elevator.

    ¡°Where did you do that?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure¡­ it¡¯s starting to hurt quite a bit.¡±

    I tried to press the button to our floor but the Commander pressed it for me.

    ¡°Sorry for causing all this trouble. I¡¯m supposed to be the most reliable person on this ship.¡±

    ¡°You are very reliable, though.¡± I protested against her self-deprecation. ¡°You just can¡¯t always be on the top of your game.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, let¡¯s agree to disagree.¡± She laughed my protest away.

    As we entered the hallway both of our cabins were in, the Commander tried again to walk by herself but that still didn¡¯t really work.

    ¡°Pfff. This is so frustrating. It reminds me of revalidation. I hate it.¡±

    ¡°Did you have to revalidate for a long time?¡±

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    She nodded. ¡°I had to learn how to walk again, build up my muscles after being in bed for so long. And don¡¯t even get me started on how long it took for me to be able to use my arm.¡± She squeezed her robotic arm¡¯s fist closed.

    I suppose I somewhat know what she went through. When I got this body for the first time, it also took me some time to get used to my new size and the lack of a tail. I stumbled and fell over more times than not because I had to learn how to balance myself again.

    ¡°Luna? You there?¡± We¡¯d arrived at the Commander¡¯s door, but I didn¡¯t notice because my mind had been occupied.

    ¡°Sorry, I was¡­ dozing off¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmm, could you grab my holostick to open the door?¡±

    I nodded and took her holostick from her belt. I swept it over the door¡¯s lock, but instead of opening, the door¡¯s servo motor makes a weird noise before a pop could be heard.

    ¡°Oh, fuck me.¡± Lauren cursed. ¡°Really? Is anything going to go right today? For fucks sake.¡±

    I ran the holostick over the lock again, this time the door didn¡¯t make any noise at all.

    ¡°Uhm, Ellie, are you there?¡± I spoke into the hallway.

    ¡°Yes, Lieutenant-Commander?¡± She replied from overhead.

    ¡°Is something up with the Commander¡¯s door?¡±

    ¡°Running quick diagnostics¡­¡± Ellie stayed quiet for a couple of seconds. ¡°The servo-motor responsible for opening the door automatically malfunctioned and with it has locked the Commander¡¯s door shut until repairs have been performed.

    ¡°We can¡¯t open it manually?¡±

    ¡°You can but this would possibly damage more modules.¡±

    I looked at the Commander, who was still hanging on to me. She looked like she was thinking it through.

    ¡°Well¡­ I guess the mechanics will just have to work a bit longer?¡±

    ¡°Co¡­ Lauren¡­ you can stay over in my cabin until they¡¯ve fixed the issue¡­¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± She looked at me. ¡°I really don¡¯t want to be a bother, though. I¡¯ve already caused you enough problems today.¡±

    ¡°I think the Commander would benefit from your presence as well, Lieutenant-Commander. Her psychic profile¡­¡±

    ¡°Uhm, Ellie.¡± The Commander started on a stern tone. ¡°I¡¯d rather you didn¡¯t do a psych evaluation on me right now.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Commander.¡± Ellie then went silent.

    Lauren sighed. ¡°I guess¡­ I guess I¡¯ll take you up on your offer then¡­ if you¡¯ll have me.¡±

    ¡°Of course. I suggested it, didn¡¯t I?¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡± Before I could react, Lauren had taken me in for a hug. ¡°Luna, you are a great person¡­ I hope you know that¡­¡±

    My eyes shot wide open. ¡°T-t-thanks¡­¡± I didn¡¯t expect that hug at all.

    When Lauren stopped hugging me and my system shock had halted, I supported her back down the hallway to my own cabin. Luckily, that door did open without many issues. I sat her down on one of the seats at my table and gave her a glass of water to drink.

    In the meantime, I started pulling out the mattress from underneath my bed.

    ¡°I would help you¡­ but¡­¡±

    ¡°You should just rest.¡± I called back. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of you¡­¡± I blushed at my own words. ¡°I-I¡­ N-never mind¡­¡±

    Luckily, Lauren didn¡¯t appear to notice what I¡¯d said, as she was staring blankly at the glass of water. She was still doing so as I finally managed to prepare her bed for a good night¡¯s rest.

    ¡°Do you need something?¡± I asked, slightly concerned. Ellie¡¯s psych evaluation had stuck with me.

    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know¡­¡± She shook her head, a pang of sadness in her voice. ¡°Maybe this was just all a mistake and we should just go home¡­ or I¡­ should go home¡­¡±

    ¡°A mistake? But we just saved an entire race from extinction, how¡¯s that a mistake? It¡¯s just the exhaustion speaking, Lauren. Everything will be fine after you¡¯ve rested a bit.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps¡­¡± She tried to take up the glass of water to drink a bit, but her hand trembled so much that she just couldn¡¯t keep it steady.

    I put my hand on her. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine, I promise.¡± My shyness and reservations be damned, right now Lauren needed someone who she could rely on. I brought my other hand to her back and slowly started to rub it in circles.

    With my hand steadying hers, she managed to bring the glass to her lips and drink a bit. She put it back down and then looked at me. ¡°Could I give you another hug?¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± I nodded and once I did, she pulled me closer while still being seated and put her forehead against my stomach.

    She then started crying. Quite badly, actually. I¡¯d never seen her this vulnerable before. The exhaustion and stress of late had really gotten to her and now that she could relax a bit, everything was just coming out. It was almost the complete opposite situation of what happened in that one bathroom some time ago.

    Lauren¡¯s beret fell on the floor as she continued crying. I put my hand on top of her head and started gently caressing her. I¡¯d read in a book that this was something that people did to calm their loved ones.

    She cried like that for quite a while before she finally managed to calm down.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± I asked for the second time.

    ¡°I will be¡­ thanks.¡± She took her distance from me again and rubbed her eyes clean with a handkerchief she kept in her chest pocket. ¡°It¡¯s weird¡­¡±

    ¡°What is?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Even though I love Eva and she¡¯s such a good friend to me¡­ I never feel as comfortable with her as I do with you¡­ Crying like this in front of her¡­ I¡¯ve practically never done that before¡­ At least not this badly¡­¡±

    Even though it sounds a bit wrong, hearing that made me feel warm inside. That I¡¯d taken a special place inside her heart¡­.

 Chapter 16: Washing Off the Stress

    -I don¡¯t know why¡­ I don¡¯t know why at all¡­ but when I was with Luna, it just calmed me down. Well, I say that I don¡¯t know, but¡­-

    After I was done crying, Luna took even better care of me. She helped me into her bathroom and helped me partially undress so I could take a shower because the Goddess knows I needed one.

    ¡°Lauren, I¡¯ll quickly go to the synthesizer to get some comfortable clothes for you. Take your time in there, okay?¡± Luna called from the other side of the door. She already had taken my clothes out to get them washed. Since I was barred from my room for the time being, it¡¯s not like I could just take a fresh pair out of my closet.

    ¡°Okay. Thanks, Luna.¡± I called back. My voice was a bit shaky and hoarse from all the crying I¡¯d done.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be right back.¡± I heard the door open and close.

    Now it was time to somehow get into the shower without killing myself. Luckily, it did have some railings installed for those of us who had prosthetic legs or other disabilities. Seeing as not everyone was combat personnel, it wasn''t a requirement to be completely in tip-top shape.

    I managed to pull myself up after getting my underwear off and slowly walked into the shower. The water was almost immediately at the temperature I needed it at. I soaped myself in, carefully so I didn¡¯t slip, and then just stood under the relentless stream of warm water. I¡¯m not sure how long I was standing under it until Luna called out to me again.

    ¡°Lauren, are you still showering? You didn¡¯t fall, did you?¡±

    ¡°No¡­ I¡¯m fine¡­¡± I called back and turned off the shower. Even without using my hands, most of the soap had probably long washed away.

    ¡°Uhm, I got you some underwear too.¡± Luna was talking close to the door. ¡°I think these are your sizes anyway¡­¡± She opened the bathroom door a little and just offered the underwear on top of a pile of other clothes through the small gap.

    ¡°Thank you¡­¡± I quickly dried my hands so I could accept the clothes. ¡°I¡¯ll get you something warm to drink as well for when you get out of the bathroom, okay? Coffee, tea or Chocolate milk?¡±

    ¡°Coffee is fine¡­¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    ¡°No, wait, chocolate milk¡­ please.¡± I really wanted to drink something sweet.

    ¡°I¡¯ll get on it. Call me if you need help getting your clothes on.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll be fine. But thanks anyway.¡± I felt like I was saying ¡®thank you¡¯ way too much¡­ But I also really didn¡¯t know how else to show my appreciation.

    With some difficulties but luckily not too many I do manage to get my new clothes on. Luna had opted for comfortable pants and a hoodie with the ship¡¯s emblem on it, and I got to say that was definitely the right choice considering my general aesthetics and preferences.

    When I then finally left the bathroom, Luna had a nice cup of hot chocolate milk waiting for me on her small table. She¡¯d also put on some calming music in the background. She¡¯d even put the lighting down a bit so that it was easier on the weary eye.

    Luna smiled as I made my way towards the table and sat down.

    ¡°Thanks for the clothes.¡±

    ¡°No problem.¡± She smiled again. ¡°Do you like them?¡±

    ¡°I do.¡± I gave her a nod. ¡°You picked well.¡±

    ¡°Good to hear that.¡± She sat down opposite to me and drank from her glass of water. ¡°You should try to sleep a bit after your cup is empty. It¡¯ll do your body good to get some rest. I won¡¯t set an alarm for you so you can sleep a bit longer.¡±

    ¡°What about my shift then?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll cover for you while you recover.¡±

    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    ¡°But¡­¡±

    ¡°No buts. Otherwise, you will burn yourself out completely.¡±

    I chuckled softly. ¡°You would probably lock me in your room if I didn¡¯t listen, wouldn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°I would.¡± Luna nodded with some confidence burning in her eyes.

    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s insubordination or something akin to mutiny.¡± I joked around.

    ¡°If it¡¯s to protect you, I wouldn¡¯t really care.¡± Luna looked even more confident before she suddenly started blushing. ¡°I¡­ okay, I didn¡¯t mean¡­ well, I did¡­¡± She looked down and then looked back up at me. ¡°Because you are¡­ important to me.¡± She then blushed a little more and looked down at her table once more.

    ¡°I¡¯m happy to hear that, Luna. You are important to me too.¡± I gave her a smile back.

    ¡°Thank you¡­¡± She silently replied and sipped a bit longer from her water.

    Our conversation fell quiet, giving room for the music to wash over the room.

    I yawned after I finished my hot chocolate.

    ¡°Are you ready for bed?¡± Luna asked.

    ¡°Yeah, I think so.¡±

    Luna stood up from her seat and headed over to my side. She supported me as I stood up. I thought I wouldn¡¯t need that but once more, standing up after having sat down for a bit wasn¡¯t easy. So she supported me all the way to the mattress. With its inviting blanket ready to receive me. Luna slowly lowered me down so I didn¡¯t fall, she thengot into her own bed next to me.

    Before she then got back out again, quickly walked over to the wall and poured a glass of water. Luna then walked back over to me and sat the glass down on the floor next to where my pillow was.

    ¡°This is for when you get thirsty throughout the night. So you don¡¯t have to stumble over to the wall.¡±

    ¡°Thanks. That¡¯s very thoughtful of you.¡±

    Luna crawled back onto her bed. ¡°If you need help to go to the bathroom, just wake me up, okay?¡±

    ¡°I will.¡± I nodded.

    Luna lay down and got underneath her covers, I was still seated on the mattress. So I followed her example and lay down as well. The lights then automatically dimmed.

    ¡°Good night.¡± Luna said.

    ¡°Good night to you too¡­ and thanks for everything.¡±

    ¡°No problem.¡±

    The sound of metal woke me up. ¡°Ugh¡­¡± I groaned and looked to the right. Luna was standing next to her table, a plate in hand.

    ¡°Oh, sorry, did I wake you up?¡± She apologized. ¡°You can stay in bed for a bit longer.¡±

    ¡°Ugh¡­¡± I groaned again and crawled back so I could use my pillow as a backrest. I pushed myself up. That¡¯s when my groggy mind realized that Luna was already dressed in her uniform. ¡°How late is it?¡±

    ¡°1500 earth time. You slept for thirteen hours, and it looked like you definitely needed that.¡±

    ¡°Thirteen hours? Really?¡± I rubbed the sand out of my eyes.

    ¡°Yes.¡± Luna nodded. ¡°I got you a bit of food if you feel well enough to eat something.¡± She put the plate down. ¡°How are you feeling?¡±

    I stretched my good arm and moved my legs under the blankets. ¡°Uh, pretty good I think¡­ Oh! I need my pills from my room.¡±

    ¡°Eva came to the bridge to hand them to me. I put them here on the table as well.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ thanks¡­¡± I slowly started to get up. As opposed to yesterday evening, I felt like I could stand on my feet pretty darn well. I haven¡¯t slept that long in ages.

    ¡°You really don¡¯t need to get up yet.¡± Luna stepped over to me, but when she saw I could stand up fine on my own, she slowed her pace. She did look alert, though, so she could catch me if I lost my balance.

    ¡°I should. I feel pretty rested.¡± I smiled and slowly walked towards the table. ¡°And I don¡¯t want this food to go cold on me.¡± She¡¯d gotten me one of those English breakfasts.

    ¡°Alright.¡± Luna smiled and walked with me to the table and sat down opposite to me.

    ¡°How is the ship doing?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve not moved yet and everything is quiet.¡±

    ¡°Good¡­ and you said Eva handed over the pills? How¡¯s she looking?¡± I grabbed the bottle of pills and gently shook them around.

    ¡°She has definitely seen better days, she looked pretty tired. But she¡¯ll catch up to her sleeping schedule soon enough, that''s what she told me anyway.¡±

    ¡°As a doctor should.¡± I smiled. ¡°Always showing a good example.¡± I picked up the cutlery and took a bit of egg and scooped it into my mouth. ¡°It¡¯s really tasty.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell the chef-bot.¡± Luna replied.

    I chuckled. ¡°And has there been news about my cabin?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, one of the engineers says it might take a while to replace the servomotor. When I walked into the hallway, they had managed to get the door off, but apparently those doors and motors are quite complex and not easy to switch out.¡±

    ¡°Huh, must be a design flaw¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what he was ranting about, yes.¡± Luna nodded. ¡°But because of that, I¡¯d like to propose that you sleep over until they have gotten your door fixed.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± I pricked a little sausage on my fork. ¡°If it wouldn¡¯t inconvenience you too much¡­¡±

    ¡°Not at all.¡± Luna smiled.

    ¡°Thank you¡­¡±

    ¡°No problem.¡± Luna smiled again and got up as she walked over to the door. ¡°I¡¯ll be back in two hours.¡±

    ¡°See you later.¡±

 Chapter 17: I Call Him Jacky

    I felt myself starting to rely more and more on Luna over the next couple of days. And to my surprise, I didn¡¯t hate it at all. It was as if it had lifted this enormous weight off my shoulders. Eva had noticed as well during our after-work meetings in the lounge. According to her, I¡¯d become a lot calmer. Not in the way I acted, but how it felt to be around me. As if a storm that had been raging for ages had finally calmed down. I can¡¯t say I disagree with that analogy. My anxiety had lessened dramatically, and I didn¡¯t even feel the need anymore to touch alcohol at all. Although, I guess you could say I¡¯d become a bit addicted to Luna¡¯s presence. So much so that when the door to my cabin had finally been repaired, I didn¡¯t even want to go back¡­

    As for how work itself went. When I returned to active duty as Commander of the Roald Amundsen, we were still hidden away on the small planetoid McAllister had spotted. As we still had a job to do, we sadly had to leave it behind and continue jumping around from system to system.

    It was not much after that when we finally received word from back home. The further we had gotten away from Earth, the longer it took for communication to go back and forwards. In our last report, we¡¯d told them about the Dokazuuk and how we¡¯d rescued them. The answer was¡­ mixed about this. A part of the government had expressed their congratulations and support for our actions. Elated that we¡¯d found alien life and had made peaceful first contact, although nervousness about the bugs did also shine through quite clearly. The admiralty however was less than happy about us risking a mission for such a ¡®triviality¡¯ but if they didn¡¯t want me to do it my way, they shouldn¡¯t have given me the command over this vessel. In conclusion, they told us to proceed with due caution and send back more information about new planets and resource clusters, while also keeping a close eye on our new guests. On their end they told us they were not immediately going to release information about our first contact, which was understandable, although it did give me a panging feeling in my gut.

    ¡°Commander, Jaqzic Jidaqzod would like to have a word with you.¡± Luna relayed a message she¡¯d gotten on her holostick.

    ¡°Oh, tell Jacky he can come up.¡± I gave her a nod.

    ¡°Jacky?¡± She tilted her head.

    ¡°Yeah, I asked if I could call him like that because it¡¯s easier for me. He agreed because he had noticed I always had many difficulties trying to pronounce it.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know you were on such friendly terms with him.¡±

    ¡°Are you jealous?¡± I teased her a little.

    ¡°N-no.¡± She shyly shook her head. ¡°I-I was just curious.¡±

    ¡°Well, we¡¯ve been discussing what he and his people want to do now. He¡¯s been debating with them for quite a while. Letting them stay on the ship isn¡¯t optimal for both parties, so it¡¯s important we get this decided sooner or later. And since we¡¯ve been talking a lot, it¡¯s become pretty amicable.¡±

    ¡°Huh.¡±

    ¡°You can take some credit for that too. It¡¯s mostly thanks to you that I¡¯ve had the spoons to deal with it.¡±

    ¡°Spoons¡­?¡± She whispered to herself, but decided not to ask about it further and just sent a message back to Jacky.

    It didn¡¯t take too long after Luna had sent the message for Jacky to appear on the bridge. He greeted me with the Dokazuuk greeting, which resembled a human wave, just slightly shorter. I did the same. Luna greeted Jacky as well.

    ¡°What did you want to talk to me about, Jacky? Have your people decided on what they want to do?¡± I still had to use the translation program to communicate, although I had already picked up on a couple of words. ¡°Yes, Commander Lauren.¡± He said. ¡°Is it okay if we speak here, or do you want to discuss it in private?¡±

    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    ¡°The bridge should be fine.¡± I nodded.

    ¡°We have reached an understanding with everyone, and if it¡¯s alright with you and your crew, we would like to stay here until you¡¯ve found a planet suitable to our needs.¡± That was the most obvious of paths, so it wasn¡¯t too unexpected. I¡¯d heard there were a couple of other voices that wanted to get off the ship sooner and some even wanted to stay here indefinitely, but I think this option was probably the best for both of us.

    ¡°Okay.¡± I gave him another nod. ¡°It might be a while before we do find a planet like that, which is also a safe distance away from the bugs.¡±

    ¡°We realize this.¡± Jacky said. ¡°And until you do, we will help out this ship in any way we can.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great.¡± I replied. ¡°But I do wonder, what are you planning on doing once we get to such a planet. There¡¯s so little of you left. Do you think that will work out in the long run?¡±

    Jacky made a low humming sound that I¡¯d come to known as a response to something agreeable and expected. ¡°That was also something I¡¯d like to talk about. If you allow me.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead.¡± I nodded once again.

    ¡°Since our number is not big enough in the long term to provide safety for a colony. We¡¯d like to cooperate with you humans to do a joint-colony project.¡± Jacky said. ¡°We heard that you humans used some sort of habitats to live in inhospitable places as your first colonies.¡±

    ¡°Mars and the moon.¡± Luna nodded as well.

    ¡°I believe that¡¯s what they called it, yes.¡± Jacky replied. ¡°So we¡¯d like to propose that we settle a planet together where we will do all the outside labor and you humans can use those habitats for research and trade.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s definitely an interesting proposal.¡± I scratched my cheek. ¡°But I will need to talk this through with my superiors before I can give you a definite answer. We are sadly not in charge of the colonization effort.¡±

    ¡°I understand. We will await the decision of your superiors.¡±

    Jacky then left, without saying much else. But that was how their culture was. Not a lot of formalities or small talk, just to the point.

    ¡°We should probably make a report and get it sent back to Earth.¡± I looked at my XO.

    She nodded.

    After we¡¯d done the report, it was already pretty late in our shift. When we both headed off, Luna asked if we could meet up in the lounge for a bit. Obviously I obliged.

    When we arrived, I got her and myself a drink and sat down in one of the corners, away from the other couple of officers who¡¯d found their way to the lounge this evening.

    ¡°Did you want to talk to me about something in particular?¡± I asked after taking a sip of my drink.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ well¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡± I tilted my head slightly.

    Luna blushed a little. ¡°I was wondering¡­ if you wanted to continue rooming with me for a bit longer¡­ I noticed you weren¡¯t really happy when you had to go back to your own cabin¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ you did?¡± I chuckled and scratched the back of my head. ¡°I can¡¯t deny that. I¡¯ve not felt better since having roomed with you, so I definitely wouldn¡¯t mind¡­ Although we should probably do it in my cabin as it¡¯s a bit bigger. If you want to, of course.¡±

    Luna nodded. ¡°I would like that¡­ Can I¡­¡±

    ¡°Take your shark? Of course, you can, you don¡¯t even need to ask. You can even decide on the wallpaper color if you want.¡±

    Luna nodded, smiled with a slight blush and drank a bit of her soda.

    ¡°Oh, what are you two doing here in the corner all by yourself?¡± Eva came from behind me, with a glass of whiskey in her hand.

    ¡°We were just discussing something.¡± I turned around towards her and offered her the seat next to me.

    She thanked me and sat down.

    ¡°Luna is going to start staying over in my room for the time being.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡± She smiled and looked at Luna. ¡°Got a bit too used to bunking together?¡±

    ¡°Pretty much.¡± I smiled.

    ¡°You should always do what makes you the most comfortable.¡± After she said that, she took a big swig from her whiskey. It looked like she needed it.

    ¡°Rough day?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Our lovely doctor then went on an entire rant about how a small system error sent their entire system in disarray for a bit and apart from that how she accidentally dropped a couple of boxes of medicine right after having sorted them. Meaning she¡¯d have to re-sort them all, all over again.

    ¡°Ouch, that does sound like a pain in the but.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s my own fault but that makes it even worse.¡±

    ¡°Eh, don¡¯t be so hard on yourself.¡±

    Both Luna and the Doctor looked at me strangely after I said that.

    ¡°Lauren, you are really not the one to talk¡­¡±

    ¡°....Fair¡­¡± I decided to shut up and take another sip as well.

 Chapter 18: Helping the Move

    -Some time later-

    I helped Luna carry some of her stuff to my cabin. She obviously didn¡¯t have much there, and even so, she did still want to keep some stuff in her own place if she wanted to use it as an office.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you sit down and drink a bit?¡± I asked, pouring some water into a glass. ¡°We are pretty much done anyway, aren¡¯t we?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not tired.¡± Luna shook her head. ¡°We¡¯ve only been doing this for half an hour.¡±

    ¡°But we had to work pretty much the entire day. I¡¯ve not seen you seated down there much, either.¡± I retorted.

    She looked at me for a moment before she sighed. ¡°I guess you are right. I guess I¡¯m just a bit excited to move¡­¡± She blushed a little, but hid it quickly by drinking a bit of water.

    ¡°I see¡­¡± I blushed a little as well. So I decided to pour myself a glass of water too and sit down to drink with her. ¡°Have you thought about how you want to redecorate?¡±

    Luna shyly scratched her cheek. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t change too much.¡± She then looked at me. ¡°Maybe just a little bit of a lighter wallpaper¡­¡±

    ¡°Hey, you can totally go nuts if you want. Why not add sharky wallpapers?¡±

    Luna blushed again. ¡°I¡­ I think that¡¯d be a bit overkill.¡±

    ¡°Nah, it would look pretty cute.¡± I smiled.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ It¡¯s clear you¡¯ve not had any home interior design courses, Commander.¡± Her sly remark made me laugh.

    ¡°That¡¯s very true, LC.¡± I gave her a wink.

    We then finished our glasses of water and finished off moving the last pieces of what Luna wanted moved. Since we started moving out her stuff pretty late in the evening, I honestly wasn¡¯t in the mood to really go out and find something to eat anymore, so I dove into my snack cabinet instead. I tossed Luna a couple of cookies, which she deftly caught.

    ¡°Is this our dinner?¡± She asked, opening up one of the wrappers.

    ¡°If that¡¯s okay for you. I¡¯m not really in the mood to go and get something else, in all honesty.¡±

    ¡°Me neither.¡± Luna shook her head. ¡°This is fine.¡± She nommed the cookie. ¡°But I might need a couple more of these.¡±

    ¡°I have plenty.¡± I laughed and tossed her a couple more. I then put the radio a little bit louder and decided to let it play some classic rock.

    I sat down on the other chair and bobbed my head along to the rhythm while eating a chocolate chip cookie.

    ¡°This is totally not healthy, is it?¡± Luna wiped a couple of crumbs off her cheek.

    ¡°Oh yeah, definitely not. Eva wouldn¡¯t like this if she saw. But what the doctor doesn¡¯t know, doesn¡¯t hurt, right?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s how it works.¡± Luna giggled.

    ¡°Of course it is. I wrote the book about it.¡±

    Luna laughed a bit more at my incredibly stupid joke. At least she was happy, which is what mattered most.

    ¡°Is there anything else you¡¯d like to do this evening?¡± I asked after she¡¯d stopped laughing.

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ I¡¯m not sure.¡± She slowly shrugged and stretched her arms a little.

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

    ¡°Not sure, huh? Hmmmm¡­ Let me think.¡± I bit off another piece of my cookie and chomped it down pretty fast. That¡¯s when I noticed the number change on the radio. ¡°How about¡­ some dancing?¡±

    ¡°Dancing? I¡¯m not sure¡­¡± Luna blushed and looked down to the right of the table.

    ¡°C¡¯mon, it will be fun.¡± I stood up with a smile and offered her my hand to pull her out of the chair.

    ¡°But I¡¯m really bad at dancing¡­¡± She shook her head.

    ¡°I¡¯ll teach you. You did fine at limbo, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°I did¡­¡±

    ¡°You see. You are a fast learner. C¡¯mon.¡± I reached out my hand a little further.

    I saw that she was contemplating whether or not to take my hand, but in the end, she did. ¡°...Okay, but please take it slow, okay?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡± I nodded and smiled gently. I then changed the playlist to a song that¡¯s a little more danceable and just like that we just started dancing together. At first Luna¡¯s steps were hesitant but as I told her to let loose a little bit more she started to loosen up and her dancing became smoother as well. She was clearly having fun, which in turn made me incredibly happy as well.

    We danced for quite a while and even tried a couple of couple dances at Luna¡¯s request. But since I wasn¡¯t too good at those either, at one moment I fucked up my steps and accidentally tripped the both of us. Luckily, we fell onto the end of the mattress of my bed instead of on the floor. Luna had her back on the mattress, while I could just stop myself with my arms from falling on top of her.

    ¡°Goddess, sorry for that, Luna.¡± I laughed, slightly out of breath. ¡°That was my bad.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ fine¡­¡± Luna replied. Her cheeks reddened and she was breathing pretty rapidly too. We¡¯d definitely had our physical exercise for today, especially with the move on top of that.

    The song that was playing was apparently the last one on my playlist, as the next one that started playing was pretty slow and quite romantic.

    I looked up at my radio. ¡°Wait, I¡¯ll tell it to switch back.¡± I tried to straighten my back a little until suddenly something tightened around my neck. ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Wait.¡± Luna had grabbed hold of my tie.

    I looked at her, slightly confused as to why she¡¯d grabbed hold of it.

    She looked away from me for a second before looking back into my eyes. I felt she was pulling me a bit closer to her.

    ¡°Luna¡­¡±

    She didn¡¯t say anything and just continued reeling me in¡­ I didn¡¯t really resist, either. Luna pulled me so close that our faces were just a couple of centimeters apart.

    ¡°Would you¡­ mind if I kissed you?¡± Luna asked. She looked so incredibly shy, but then again, I could feel the blush burning on my own cheeks as well.

    ¡°I¡­¡± -Oh Goddess- ¡°I¡­ uh¡­¡±

    Luna slowly let go of my tie. ¡°N-never mind¡­ please forget that I asked¡­¡± She then looked away from me.

    ¡°Luna, wait.¡± I tried to get my thoughts back in line. She looked back up at me. When she looked back into my eyes, my heart started pounding, louder and louder. ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ I¡¯ve never felt like this¡­ and I¡¯ve never had someone¡­ who¡­ well¡­ has been this important to me as you are¡­¡±

    ¡°Me neither¡­¡± Luna spoke softly and gently shook her head.

    I bit the bottom of my lip and looked up for a second before looking down at Luna again. ¡°...So¡­ I really don¡¯t want to do a disservice to you by kissing you while¡­ I¡¯m not¡­ certain¡­ you know? Does that make sense?¡±

    Luna nodded slowly and smiled. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m happy you are thinking this through¡­ for me¡­¡±

    ¡°I really don¡¯t want to hurt you by being too rash, Luna.¡± I slowly distanced myself away from her and rolled to the side so Luna could stand back up if she wanted to. When I got up I offered my hand to her. She took it.

    ¡°I understand.¡± She nodded as I pulled her up. ¡°But¡­ can I hug you instead?¡±

    I smiled. ¡°Of course.¡±

    Luna then continued to pull me in for a big hug. She rested her head against my chest. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°You have nothing to thank me for.¡± I replied. ¡°I should be thanking you instead. You¡¯ve pulled me out of dark places a couple of times since we¡¯ve left Earth. So really, thank you for being there for me.¡±

    Luna didn¡¯t reply and just kept resting her head against me.

    We stayed like that for a while. I didn¡¯t want to break the hug so I didn¡¯t upset Luna and it also was really comfortable to have her in my arms. A part of me did start to think it was a mistake not to have kissed her there and then. But, like I¡¯d told her. If I went for it without knowing for sure that I was going to commit. I¡¯d just be lying to both her and myself.

    When Luna broke off the hug herself, she looked quite calm and actually pretty happy. ¡°Is it okay if I take a shower?¡± She asked.

    ¡°Definitely. This is as much your cabin as it¡¯s mine now.¡±

    She smiled and gave me a nod. After which, she headed towards the bathroom.

    I decided to pour myself a drink while I waited for Luna to finish so I could take a shower afterwards.

    When she was done, it was my time for a refreshing shower. When I came back, Luna had already fallen asleep next to her shark. She must have been way more tired than I thought she was.

 Chapter 18 Bis: Chaotic Pancakes

    -I did it¡­ I actually did it¡­ I told Lauren how I felt¡­ I actually did¡­ And I asked to kiss her on top of that¡­ holy shit¡­ I did it¡­- Those were the thoughts that were spinning through my head. I pretended to be asleep when Lauren came back from her shower. Not because she did me wrong. But because I wanted to get my thoughts back in line before speaking to her again. A part of me asked itself if what I did was right or not¡­ The other part of me was relieved I did, and even more so after Lauren¡¯s answer. But one thing was for sure, from now on, things were going to become a lot more¡­ chaotic. Especially because I literally just moved in with her. I still did have my own room with my desk where I could retreat to if I wanted. But even then, I really didn¡¯t want to do so, as I really did like being around the Commander. The only reason I stood on keeping my office space was because I had relaying work to complete¡­ Obviously, I kept fraternizing with my boss out of those relays, and not to mention the discovery that I¡¯d made about our gene structure. Something inside of me told me that was probably not a good plan.

    ¡°Good night, Luna.¡± Lauren said as she got into her own bed. I still continued on pretending to be asleep. Luckily, I had become pretty good at that.

    Lauren turned off the lights, shrouding the room in complete darkness. What I liked to do in cases like these were to just stare into the dark room, as Lauren couldn¡¯t tell whether my eyes were open or not anyway. It somehow made it easier to think than with my eyes closed.

    I started to run scenarios through my head about how I could¡¯ve handled things differently. But in the end, what I did ended up being one of the best outcomes I could hope for. That is¡­ except for Lauren having kissed me¡­ Her lips had been so close to mine¡­ so tentatively close¡­

    I ran my finger over my lips. -I wonder what they would¡¯ve felt like¡­- On that thought, I fell asleep.

    When I woke up, the smell that immediately caught my attention was the smell of pancakes. I opened my eyes and looked around the cabin. Lauren was cooking and just as I looked she flipped over the pancake, catching it skillfully.

    ¡°Oh, good morning.¡± Lauren smiled at me once she noticed I was awake. It made my heart flutter. ¡°I thought some pancakes would be fun to start the day with.¡±

    ¡°You really didn¡¯t have to.¡± I replied as I rubbed the sand out of my eyes.

    ¡°But I wanted to.¡± She smiled back. ¡°Do you want some syrup on top of them?¡±

    I nodded slowly. ¡°If that wouldn¡¯t be too much of a bother.¡±

    ¡°Course not.¡± She loaded a couple of pancakes on a plate and squeezed some syrup on top. She then also gave me some cutlery, so I could actually start feasting on the pancakes. It didn¡¯t take long for me to take the first bite.

    ¡°So, what do you think?¡± She asked as she waited patiently for me to swallow the pancake.

    ¡°Hmmm, it¡¯s really good.¡± I nodded. ¡°Did you add some apples into it?¡±

    ¡°I did.¡± She smiled. ¡°I¡¯ve never tried that before but it sounded like a good option. The only thing I regret is that I didn¡¯t take some ice cream to put on top of it as well.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯d have been nice.¡± I nodded and observed Lauren a bit further. She really didn¡¯t seem very impacted by what I had said and done yesterday. Although it is true that ¡®business-like-usual¡¯ was her way of working through things like that.

    ¡°Are you thinking about something?¡± Lauren asked. I must¡¯ve been staring just a little bit too absent-mindedly at her.

    ¡°Uh¡­ yeah¡­ I guess you could say that.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry if it seems like what happened yesterday didn¡¯t influence me.¡± Lauren scratched the back of her head. Probably to turn off her mind-reading device. ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ the way I do stuff¡­¡±

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    How she was so on-point about what I¡¯d been thinking, I really didn¡¯t know. ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± I nodded. ¡°Everyone has their own way of reacting to things like that. It¡¯s not like it¡¯s an easy decision I put in front of you.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± She nodded once more. ¡°Thanks for understanding.¡± Lauren then turned around and started putting some more batter into the pan. ¡°Tell me if you want some more pancakes, okay? I think I made way too much batter.¡±

    ¡°I will.¡±

    The two of us then sat down for half an hour longer, just eating pancakes and listening to the calm music she¡¯d put on. And I have to admit, I might have overeaten just a tiny little bit.

    ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want to take a pill, Luna? You really ate a lot. Something to help you digest wouldn¡¯t hurt, right?¡± Lauren said as she put on her beret.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine.¡± I smiled. At least I hoped I was going to be fine, as I did feel my stomach start to protest a little. But taking a pill would probably be quite a lot more dangerous than just having a bit of stomach ache for a while.

    ¡°Well, if something feels off, just tell me, okay?¡±

    ¡°I will, don¡¯t worry too much about it.¡± I closed my last button and with that the both of us left for our daily bridge duty. It was probably going to be a pretty quiet day anyway.

    ¡°Morning, Commander, XO.¡± Lieutenant Zu walked onto the bridge just as we did.

    ¡°Morning, Lieutenant. Had a good evening yesterday?¡± Lauren asked.

    ¡°Yeah, I did. It''s been a lot livelier in the lounge since the party. You all did a great job planning that.¡±

    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t have happened if the bridge crew didn¡¯t find that hiding spot.¡±

    ¡°And that¡¯s why I like you, Commander, you never take credit for something all by yourself.¡±

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t be a good Commander if I did, would I?¡± Lauren gave Lt. Zu a wink.

    ¡°Very true.¡± Zu turned her attention to me. ¡°So, what¡¯s on the agenda today?¡±

    ¡°Just a bit of jumping.¡± I replied and opened my holo stick. ¡°Most of these systems appear to be empty, so we will probably not encounter anything interesting.¡±

    ¡°I call that good news.¡± Zu smiled as the last door opened. She then walked off towards her post. Leaving me and the Commander standing at the head of the bridge.

    ¡°When were we going to reach the next planet in the goldi-locks zone?¡± Lauren asked, opening the big bridge map for herself.

    ¡°At this pace, in a couple of weeks. We will have to visit a couple of these asteroid belts though to see if they are viable for mining operations. Together with some denser non-habitable planets as well.¡± I marked the several points of interest on the map.

    ¡°I guess we should get going then.¡±

    I gave Lauren a nod as she started commanding her bridge crew around. Time for me to space out just a little.

    After our shift, Lauren stretched her good arm behind her back. ¡°Oh Goddess. I¡¯m in the mood for some exercise. I think I¡¯ll hit the gym for a bit.¡± When she stopped stretching, she looked at me. ¡°If you want to go back to the cabin already, go ahead. I¡¯ll try not to take too long.¡±

    ¡°Can¡­ can I join too?¡± It actually had been a while since I¡¯d done any physical exercise, so it might do me some good¡­ And watching the Commander in action¡¯s always fun¡­

    ¡°Definitely.¡± Lauren smiled and started walking, with me at her side. ¡°How long has it been since your last visit?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­.¡± I tried to refresh my memory, but it had been so long that I really didn¡¯t remember how long ago it¡¯d been.

    ¡°That long ago?¡± Lauren chuckled at my inability to reply to her question.

    ¡°I¡¯m not a marine¡­¡± I pouted.

    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m not blaming you.¡± She smiled. ¡°If you need any help with the exercises, just ask me, okay? Also, try not to overdo it.¡±

    I gave her a nod in return.

    Our gym gear was kept in the locker rooms adjacent to the gym, as we didn¡¯t really use them throughout the rest of the ship. There were, however, some people who did laps through the corridors, but I wasn¡¯t one of those. Lauren told me she had done it a couple of times, though.

    ¡°Don¡¯t people ask questions about your arm?¡± I asked after we¡¯d gotten dressed in our gym gear. Lauren had left her training vest behind and was just going in with a tank top. It very nicely accentuated her arm muscles;

    She replied with a shrug. ¡°Not really. Most of the people who I encounter while training here are other marines, and they often get their fair share of wounds themselves. A couple of the younger ones always do appear a bit surprised but they never bother me with invasive questions.¡± She looked around the room. Apart from one single other marine, we were the only two people here at the moment. ¡°I do get a lot of compliments about my muscles, though.¡±

    -Of course you do¡­. It is hard to keep my eyes off you as it is¡­-

 Chapter 19: Hittin the Gym

    Did I notice how Luna was staring at me while we were getting ready for the gym? Yes. But did I mind? Not at all. It actually felt somewhat nice to have someone admire your body, especially since I knew how she felt about me. On top of that, I also was happy that she really didn¡¯t care much about my arm either. Most people who knew didn¡¯t really care, but that didn¡¯t stop me from sometimes feeling self-conscious about it. And then lastly, all things said and done, Luna¡¯s body was definitely there to be admired as well. She wasn¡¯t as toned as I was, but she definitely was in shape.

    ¡°So, is there any machine you want to try out first?¡± I asked her to break the silence. She clearly wasn¡¯t really familiar with most of the devices strewn around the room.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure¡­¡± She looked around at the different corners of the room. She stopped and stared a bit longer at one of the machines Corporal Sparks was using.

    ¡°Are you interested in one of those?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ but that other person is already using one, I don¡¯t want to get in her way.¡±

    ¡°There are multiple appliances of one type for a reason. They aren¡¯t there to collect dust.¡± I smiled and then turned towards Corporal Sparks. ¡°Hey, Corporal. Do you mind if we join you at the rowing machine?¡±

    ¡°Go ahead, Commander!¡± She yelled back.

    ¡°See, no issues here.¡± I gave Luna a wink and started walking towards the other side of the room, although I did slow down a bit to wait for her to overcome her hesitance.

    Once she rejoined and got to the rowing machine, I stood next to her. ¡°Have you ever been rowing before?¡±

    ¡°Like, on a real boat?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± I gave her a nod.

    ¡°No.¡± She shook her head.

    ¡°Alright, to start off, you need to get on the seat.¡± While I started to explain, Corporal Sparks slowed down her exercise and then stopped so Luna could mimic the way she was sitting on the seat. She didn¡¯t really have to do that but it was definitely appreciated. ¡°Then we strap in your feet, so you can return more easily to your starting position¡­¡± I placed her feet gently on the spots and strapped her shoes in. ¡°Then you take this handle in both of your hands with the palms of your hands pointed down. Again, Corporal Sparks showed how to do it in practice.

    ¡°Thanks.¡± Luna smiled at the corporal and then followed her lead.

    I kept explaining for just a bit longer and then set the machine to the resistance that felt right for Luna. After that, the only thing left was for Luna to practice a bit.

    ¡°So, back straight, legs, arms, arms, legs?¡± Luna looked at me for confirmation.

    ¡°Yep.¡± I gave her a smile.

    ¡°You got this, XO.¡± Sparks also replied and began her own routine again. When I peeked over to her counter, I could see she¡¯d actually already had done quite the distance before we joined.

    Luna then started rowing. She¡¯d listened to our explanation pretty well, as her form was almost perfect. She slipped up a couple of times, but then quickly corrected herself.

    ¡°You are doing great.¡± I smiled while the distance on the display started crawling up. ¡°Do you mind if I go over there to start doing my own work-out?¡± I nodded over to the pull-up bar in the distance.

    ¡°M-mhmm, go ahead. I came in with you a¡­ after all.¡± It sounded like she was definitely getting in some good exercise.

    ¡°Alright, if you need me, just call out.¡± I gave her a wink and went on my way to do some good old pull-ups.

    182 pull-ups later and some other minor exercises on the side, and I was feeling a lot better. Sometimes my body would just feel meh if I hadn¡¯t done any exercise lately, but now I was just feeling incredible. Luna had also hopped over to a couple of different appliances in the meantime, with her asking some advice from Sparks and me. She did seem to enjoy herself, even though she¡¯s really not as much of a gym monkey as any of us.

    Sparks had called it a day about thirty minutes before Luna and I decided to call it quits too. Now it was time for a good warm shower to wash all the sweat away. Luna and I took a shower stall next to each other.

    ¡°Luna, could you hand me the conditioner please? I forgot mine in my locker.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ uh¡­ sure.¡± It took her a couple of seconds, but a hand appeared from around the corner with a pink bottle of conditioner.

    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.¡°Thanks.¡± I squeezed a little bit of the conditioner in my hand and then quickly handed the bottle back around the corner. ¡°I hope your body isn¡¯t going to hurt too much tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°I think it¡¯ll be fine.¡± Luna replied, although she did sound somewhat tired. ¡°Thank you for helping me with the appliances.¡±

    ¡°Well, I should be thanking you for coming with me instead. It¡¯s a lot more fun to go in a group rather than alone, even if you train on seperate machines.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± Luna hummed. ¡°Maybe I should go along more.¡±

    ¡°Hey, feel free to join me at any time.¡± I smiled to myself.

    ¡°Ouch.¡± Luna yelped a bit.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?!¡± I had to hold myself back from looking around the corner.

    ¡°I-it¡¯s nothing.¡± Luna replied, but I wasn¡¯t convinced.

    ¡°Did you slip? Are you hurt? Want me to come and help you?¡±

    ¡°No, no.¡± Luna quickly shot me down. ¡°I just got some shampoo in my eye. That¡¯s all.¡± She chuckled a little. ¡°That was really stupid of me, sorry.¡±

    ¡°Ouch. Make sure to rinse it out well, okay?¡±

    ¡°Mhmm. Doing that right now.¡±

    With that crisis averted and one slightly painful eye for Luna, we left and headed back to our room. -Our room¡­ I still need to get a bit used to that.- Once there, I quickly decided to sit down in my armchair. Even though I told Luna to take it easy, now that the initial rush of energy from working out had subsided, I was starting to feel the bite of the exercise I¡¯d done.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Luna asked, our roles reversed.

    ¡°I¡¯m just starting to feel it in my arms and legs.¡± I smiled.

    ¡°Are you going to be able to get your food, or should I just go and get some for the both of us?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯d be terribly kind.¡± I gave her a nod. ¡°Well¡­ only if you want to of course, I think we still have some snacks here or there. So you don¡¯t really need t-¡±

    ¡°Lauren, I think we need some actual food after training, don¡¯t you think so?¡± Luna had entered some kind of mommy mode. I didn¡¯t dislike it¡­

    ¡°Uh¡­ yeah¡­ I guess we do¡­¡± I had to count to ten inside my head to regain my composure.

    ¡°What would you like for dinner?¡± Luna asked while I was at 8.

    ¡°Not sure. Macaroni?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, pasta is not that good after physical exercise, though.¡± She put her hand in front of her mouth while she was thinking to herself. ¡°But it tastes good.... Okay, let¡¯s go with that.¡± Luna¡¯s stomach was talking rather than her brain but it just added a bit of cuteness which was appreciated. ¡°Is penne with cheese and ham good for you?¡± She then asked.

    ¡°Yeah, sounds great.¡± I gave her a smile accompanied by a thumbs up from my bionic arm as my other one was getting terribly sore.

    ¡°Good, I¡¯ll be right back.¡± Luna quickly made a 180¡ã turn and left the cabin. Leaving me by myself¡­ well, leaving me Sharky the shark who was staring at me from on top of Luna¡¯s bed. Luna had donned Sharky with one of my reserve berets, with my approval of course. It actually looked pretty good.

    ¡°So, how¡¯s life?¡± I turned my head and started to speak with Sharky, who obviously didn¡¯t reply.  ¡°Yeah, I bet your life¡¯s pretty great.¡± You could tell it had been hugged by Luna quite a bit, as a bit of the fluff had compounded already. Luckily, I knew a certain doctor who could re-fluff stuffed animals if need be.

    I was still staring at Sharky when Luna came back inside with a couple of plates of delicious smelling macaroni. My mouth started watering immediately.

    ¡°I¡¯m back.¡± She said with a smile as she put down the plates on the table.

    ¡°Was there a long line?¡±

    ¡°No, I was practically alone there, we missed the evening rush.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡±

    ¡°I did ask to put in some extra nutrients to supplement our diet a bit, but the bot said that it shouldn¡¯t influence the taste¡­ too much.¡±

    ¡°Well, at least it already smells pretty good, so¡­¡± With some effort, I managed to get up from my armchair and walk over to take a seat at the table. I took a spoon and scooped up some macaroni. ¡°If I drop dead after 30 seconds, it¡¯s probably best you don¡¯t eat from it.¡±

    Luna giggled and waited for me to take a bite.

    My own joke had somehow made me a bit hesitant, but in the end I shoveled in the first bite of dinner.

    ¡°Hmm, it tastes perfectly fine.¡± I nodded in approval. ¡°Definitely a five out of seven.¡±

    ¡°A five out of seven? That¡¯s a weird scale.¡±

    I chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s an ancient joke, don¡¯t worry about it.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Luna looked a bit confused and then started eating the food herself.

    -I think I actually prefer the taste of it with the added nutrients.-

 Chapter 20: Hittin the Fan

    -one incredibly nutritious meal later-

    ¡°I know it¡¯s probably not advised to lie down immediately after eating¡­ but I really want to take a nap already.¡± I stretch myself in an attempt to make my food settle a bit better. The extra nutrition meant that the mac with ham and cheese fell even heavier than it normally would.

    ¡°I could use some rest too.¡± Luna nodded slowly and stacked our plates on top of each other. ¡°Are you sure you are done eating?¡±

    ¡°If I eat more, I¡¯m going to explode.¡± I sighed.

    ¡°Are you sure? I can always get a bit more for you.¡± Luna was definitely teasing me.

    ¡°How about¡­ no?¡±

    Luna giggled and put the plates in the mini dishwasher. ¡°But I think I also ate a bit too much.¡±

    ¡°You ate almost as much as me, I¡¯m not surprised.¡± I gently got up from my seat and stumbled over to my bed, as much as I just wanted to pomf into the mattress, face first and with my entire body, I kept my cool and just calmly sat down on the side to take off my shoes.

    After Luna was done with the plates, she walked over as well and did the same, unbuttoning her uniform soon after that. As usual, I turned away for that to give her a bit of privacy, she did the same for me too.

    ¡°Hey, Lauren¡­¡± Luna asked.

    ¡°Yeah?¡± I kept looking at the wall next to me.

    ¡°Uhm, you can look if you want. I¡¯m already done¡­¡± Dang, she sounded shy.

    But I kept staring at the wall for a few seconds before I turned around. Luna had already gotten into her pj¡¯s. ¡°Did you¡­¡± I coughed. ¡°Did you want to ask something?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡± She blushed. ¡°I felt a bit c-cold yesterday evening in bed¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡±

    ¡°So I was wondering¡­¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡± Her plan was pretty bloody obvious. ¡°You know you don¡¯t need to lie to me, right? You already confessed to me.¡±

    ¡°...¡± Luna blushed a bit harder.

    ¡°But I don¡¯t mind if you want to sleep in the same bed¡­ but that doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯ve given you a solid answer to your confession yet¡­ I still need a bit more time for that.¡± I guess that somewhere it¡¯s weird that I would allow her to sleep next to me without answering her question. On the other hand¡­ if I really wanted to give her an answer I should give it a chance as well. ¡°A bit like a trial period, as you will¡­. oh¡­ did I say that out loud?¡±

    Luna chuckled. At least she thought it was funny.

    ¡°Just let me get the rest of my clothes off first, okay?¡±

    Luna gave me yet another nod and respectfully turned around.

    With me in my sportsy oversized t-shirt and a pair of shorts, Luna turned around again after she¡¯d asked if she was allowed to.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for Sharky though. I¡¯m pretty sure my bed¡¯s not big enough to accommodate it as well.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, He can stay in my bed¡­¡± Luna put her Sharky under her blankets and tucked it in nicely so it wouldn¡¯t catch cold¡­ if plushies could get cold, that is. She then joined me in bed. When we both got under the covers, we actually still had a bit of room left. I never really noticed how big my mattress was until now. Luna did keep her distance away from me but she looked happy nonetheless that I¡¯d allowed her to join me.

    ¡°Is it okay if I turn the lights off?¡± I asked, I was ready to get some shut-eye.

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± She nodded. ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    I didn¡¯t waste a second to do so. ¡°I think I¡¯m going to fall asleep soon¡­ unless you want to talk on for a bit longer?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine, you need your rest.¡± I could tell she was smiling even in this darkness. ¡°We can always talk tomorrow.¡±

    I smiled in return. ¡°Good night, Luna.¡±

    ¡°Good night to you too, Lauren.¡±

    The extra body heat under my blankets was something I wasn¡¯t really used to, but it made sure I dozed off even faster than usual. I could definitely get used to this¡­

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    The ship rumbled and shook, which woke me up immediately. A few seconds later, the ship alarms started blaring.

    ¡°Unknown vehicle has breached decks two to five!¡± Ellie spoke over the ship¡¯s intercoms. ¡°Unknown life signs detected at breach points.¡±

    I shot upright in bed. Red emergency lighting was lighting up the room. The shock had knocked Luna off the bed, but luckily she¡¯d landed on the soft mattress. I quickly opened the drawer of my bedside table and took out my reserve pistol I kept in case of emergencies.

    ¡°Wh-what¡¯s happening?¡± Luna grabbed her head and looked disoriented.

    ¡°Sounds like a breach.¡± I replied calmly and collected as my training kicked in. I jumped off my bed and quickly put on a layer of clothes and strapped myself in my boots.

    ¡°Do you have an extra pistol?¡± She asked as she did the same.

    ¡°No, I only have this one.¡± I proceeded to run over to the door. ¡°Ellie, are you there?¡±

    ¡°I am, Commander.¡± She spoke through the intercoms above.

    ¡°Is the hallway clear?¡±

    ¡°Not immediately.¡±

    ¡°Are they bugs?¡±

    ¡°No. They appear to be of different races and sizes, but nothing like the bugs we¡¯ve encountered before. They are armed, however.¡±

    I pressed the button to open the door and peeked in the hallway.

    ¡°The bridge, armories and hangar are secured, and defensive perimeters have been set. Firefights are being reported throughout the ship. We¡¯ve already sustained some casualties. Although they appear to be minimal at the moment.¡±

    ¡°This is bad.¡± I thought to myself what the fastest route to the armory would be. We¡¯d need to go down at least two floors. I then looked at Luna, who¡¯d joined me on the other side of the door. ¡°First things first, we need to get some better weaponry.¡±

    Luna gave me a stoic nod.

    I proceeded to press the side of my holostick to release a pair of earpieces. I put in one for myself and gave Luna one as well. ¡°Ellie, if you would, please talk through these earpieces.¡±

    ¡°Was already on it, Commander.¡± She spoke into my ear. It would be better to communicate like this than to alert everyone in the vicinity by blasting her through the ship intercoms. ¡°Ready to go, Luna?¡±

    Luna gave me a nod again.

    ¡°Okay, stay behind me.¡±

    We moved into the hallway and slowly made our way towards the elevator. On our way there we encountered some signs that the enemy entities had passed through but apparently they had headed in the opposite direction. I couldn¡¯t tell what their plan was, at all.

    ¡°What are the intruders doing, Ellie?¡± I whispered.

    ¡°They are moving sporadically throughout the ship.¡± She replied. ¡°They are sticking to their small groups, not splitting up in the process.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± I pressed the button of the elevator with the barrel of my pistol to call it to our floor.

    ¡°Commander, two foreign entities got inside of the elevator cabin at the last second.¡±

    ¡°Thanks for the heads-up.¡±

    ¡°They are both approximately the same height as you.¡±

    That information allowed me to cap the two intruders the second the door opened on our floor.

    ¡°I guess headshots still work.¡± I looked down at my opponents. Purple and blue fluid was splashed against the wall of the elevator. That same fluid was dripping out of the matte silverish armor they were wearing. Clearly not terribly bullet resistant. They were both holding some kind of black laser rifle but I couldn¡¯t see a clear trigger mechanism. ¡°Luna, can you do anything with those?¡±

    Luna hesitated for a second before prying one of the weapons out of the hands, or claws, of the enemy. ¡°It¡­ it doesn¡¯t look like something I can use¡­ I think it must be genetically locked to them.¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s a shame.¡± I then pressed the button to go to the second deck where the armory was situated.

    ¡°Second deck has been more heavily hit by the intruders, Commander. Expect fierce resistance.¡±

    ¡°What about our people?¡±

    ¡°The defenses around the armory are holding. There¡¯s roaming parties outside of that. Probably hunting for groups of people that are trying to reach the armory. We¡¯ve got some marines that broke out to try and get reinforcements but they have suffered some losses.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm. Thanks.¡± I nodded and waited for the elevator to stop at its destination.

    A few seconds before we reached our floor, Ellie spoke again. ¡°Firefight close by, take a right in the hallway to your right.¡±

    ¡°Copy that.¡± The moment the door opened I jogged out, checking my corners first and headed towards the sounds of combat coming from my right. I recognized the rattling of one of our HK-190K assault rifles. When I turned the last corner, I expected to see the enemy in front of me, but they¡¯d already dropped. In a doorway, halfway to the next corner, sat a marine, slumped down against the door frame. Blood seeped out of her stomach. It was Corporal Sparks.

    I ran towards her.

    ¡°C-Commander¡­ y-you are o-okay¡­ thank the Goddess¡­¡± She spit out some blood. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m sorry¡­The last bastard got me real good¡­¡±

    ¡°You did well, marine.¡± I put my hand on her shoulder.

    ¡°Commander, if we can get to the armoury in time¡­ there¡¯s emergency medical supplies stashed in your combat armours¡­¡± Luna tried to give me some hope but it would simply take us too long to get there and back. And carrying Sparks just wasn¡¯t an option.

    ¡°I-it¡¯s okay¡­ LC¡­.¡± Sparks tried to force a smile but she was just hurting too much. ¡°J¡­. just remember¡­ to¡­ k-keep your back straight¡­¡±

    ¡°Legs, arms, arms, legs¡­?¡± Luna replied.

    ¡°Y-you got this¡­ XO¡­¡±

    ¡°Commander, there¡¯s a group of six coming from the hallway in front of you. They¡¯ll be there in two minutes.¡±

    ¡°Fuck¡­¡± I looked down at Sparks.

    ¡°Commander, t-t-take my¡­ rifle.¡± She lifted her rifle up to me. ¡°It¡¯s a new mag¡­¡±

    ¡°Thanks, Corporal.¡± I gave her a smile and took the rifle out of her hands.

    ¡°You should go that way¡­¡± She nodded towards the other hallway¡­ ¡°I¡­ got¡­ one last surprise¡­ for them¡­¡± She groaned in pain as she reached for her back. When her hand came back into view, she had a belt of three grenades in it. ¡°May the¡­ Goddess¡­ be with you¡­ Commander.¡±

    ¡°May she be with you too.¡± I gave her a firm salute, with Luna following my lead, tears in her eyes. I then dragged Luna along with me into the next hallway; not long after that¡­ a bang.

 Chapter 20 Bis: Pulling Me Through

    I tried to, I really tried not to start crying, but I couldn¡¯t hold myself any longer. It was the first time I¡¯d ever seen someone die¡­ and someone who¡¯d recently helped me nonetheless. All this because of an encounter with an Imperial ship¡­ I started to break down as Lauren pulled me through the hallways. At one door she stopped and quickly pushed me into the room, it was a small storage area. Lauren sat me down, got on her knees, put her rifle against the wall and then clasped my face in between her hands.

    ¡°Luna, Luna, listen to me.¡± She stared into my eyes, I could barely tell due to the tears. ¡°Luna, I really need you to calm down right now. What you just saw¡­ I know it¡¯s hard, I know¡­ But we can mourn Sparks later, together, when this shit is dealt with.¡± It¡¯s hard to believe that not too long ago it was me who was comforting her. It must be her training and combat experience that just let her flip the switch like that. But for me¡­

    ¡°Ellie, anyone near us?¡± Lauren asked.

    ¡°Not right now, Commander. The coast is still clear.¡± I heard Ellie through my earpiece as well.

    ¡°Okay¡­ Luna¡­ please calm down. I need you to watch my back. Breathe in¡­ and out¡­ in¡­ and out¡­¡±

    Her icy calmness somewhat managed to calm me down, too.

    ¡°O-okay¡­¡± I wiped the tears out of my eyes with my sleeve.

    ¡°Good.¡± She reached for her hip, where she had holstered her pistol. She grabbed it and handed it over to me, holding it by the barrel. ¡°I know you¡¯ve not seen any combat, but you do know how to handle this, right?¡±

    I nodded and took the pistol in my hands. ¡°I¡¯ve been through basic training, yes.¡± Basic training with basic human weaponry, but I wasn¡¯t the best of shots.

    ¡°It¡¯s not that far to the armory anymore, but the resistance will definitely be heavier there than it is here.¡± She handed me a couple of magazines as well. ¡°If anything else, just try not to shoot me, okay?¡± She gave me a wink. I really didn¡¯t know how she still managed to crack a joke at this time. But it did manage to get a little bit of a chuckle out of me.

    ¡°Commander, an enemy patrol is going to pass by your location in two minutes.¡± Ellie shared. ¡°It¡¯s a group of four.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s clean those bastards out and then continue our way. We¡¯ll let them go past and then shoot them in the back.¡± Lauren said.

    And so she did, Ellie told us the moment the Imperial troops had passed. The Commander waited five more seconds so they couldn¡¯t hear the door opening, and with a couple of short bursts, she quickly got rid of the threat.

    ¡°Luna, now, let¡¯s go.¡± She signaled me along and I followed. Ellie tried to guide us through paths with low enemy density, it made us take a few corners. A left, a right, one more to the right and left again.

    ¡°Commander, I can not guide you around any further. If you want to break through to the armory, you will have to get past a blockade that¡¯s been set up by the enemy entities. The blockade in the hallway in front of you is the least heavily armed one I could find.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve done an amazing job so far, Ellie.¡± Lauren thanked our AI guide and checked the ammo clips of her weapon. ¡°How many enemies are in this choke point?¡±

    ¡°Twelve.¡± Ellie replied quickly. ¡°But they are in cover.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm.¡± Lauren then guided us into a nearby room so we were out of the hallway for a while. ¡°Okay, can you give me a sitrep of what is happening throughout the rest of the ship while I try to think of something?¡±

    ¡°Ok, Commander.¡± Ellie said before she started her situational overview. ¡°On most floors the fighting is still going on but casualties on our side have been limited. It looks like the enemy didn¡¯t expect much resistance and went in unprepared. A lot of our people have managed to barricade themselves into safe rooms. The enemy has tried to breach these unsuccessfully. Our Dokazuuk allies have teamed up with the engineers and have managed to push back the enemy out of the hangar bay. Right now, they are setting up plans to push back the enemy even further by mounting gunship weapons on improvised trolleys.¡±

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    ¡°That¡¯s great news.¡± Lauren smiled while looking into a couple of storage lockers. ¡°So this concentration of force the enemy has set up here¡­ if they were acting at random, how come they focussed their efforts here?¡±

    ¡°They must¡¯ve noticed that a lot of our people were trying to head this way.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°Other than that, they were probably lucky to have deployed most of their forces on this floor, as it¡¯s in the center of their breach.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡± Lauren then opened another one of the supply storage lockers. ¡°Aha. This will be useful.¡±

    I walked up to Lauren to see what she¡¯d found. She¡¯d found a big mobile fire-extinguisher unit. It had a big sticker on it saying that it had been found to have a defect and was in storage waiting for repair.

    ¡°Looks like it¡¯s still pressurized¡­ The nozzle must just be malfunctioning.¡± She inspected the tank more closely. ¡°Ellie, can you remotely control the trolley mechanism?¡±

    The trolley it was seated on activated and moved a couple of centimeters in every direction. ¡°I can, Commander.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the plan, L¡­ Commander?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Well, this will be our distraction.¡± She patted the pressurized tank and then took a couple of oxygen masks out of an emergency storage locker on the other side. ¡°I¡¯ll knock off the regulation valve, after which Ellie will drive this straight into the barricade set up by the enemy. With any luck, they¡¯ll shoot it, making it blow and giving us an even bigger smokescreen than what the regulation valve will give us.¡±

    ¡°Do you want me to do anything else, Commander?¡± Ellie asked as well.

    ¡°Do the people at the armory have the capability of sallying out?¡±

    ¡°Doubtful, Commander.¡± Our AI comrade replied. ¡°They haven¡¯t even had time to equip power armor, they¡¯ve just been on the defense constantly.¡±

    ¡°Alright, then just tell them that we will be coming from this direction. I don¡¯t want us to break through and then just get nailed by friendly fire.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Commander.¡± Ellie went silent for a bit so she could tell the defenders what our plan was.

    In the meantime, Lauren just kept inspecting the fire suppression trolley. I was hesitant to take her out of her focus. But in the end I didn¡¯t need to as she looked up from her inspection and then looked at me. ¡°How are you holding up?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ not¡­ I think¡­¡±

    ¡°Understandable. But I think you are doing fine for now. We just need to get a little bit further.¡±

    ¡°Do you think the plan will work?¡±

    ¡°I think it¡¯s incredibly risky. I don¡¯t even know if they have some kind of ¡®see-through-smoke¡¯ vision or not.¡± She looked down at the ground for a second before looking back up. ¡°However, we do have the element of surprise and if we manage to knock them off-balance, introduce chaos into their lines, I think we can break through just fine. Let¡¯s get those bastards off my ship. Make them rue the day they messed with Humanity¡¯s finest.¡±

    I nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s give them hell.¡±

    ¡°Hell yes.¡± Lauren smiled.

    It was at that moment Ellie came back from giving her report. ¡°The armory knows about the plan. Once I give the sign, after you¡¯ve broken through the barricade, they¡¯ll lay down suppressive fire into the other corridors to give you a cleaner shot at reaching them.¡±

    ¡°Alright, thanks for that.¡± Lauren got up and patted the fire suppression system a couple times. ¡°Let¡¯s get this into position so we can get our plan into action.¡±

    My nerves flared up the closer we got to the moment of truth. But luckily, Lauren¡¯s confidence and guidance managed to keep me calm enough so I didn¡¯t lose my mind.

    ¡°Ready?¡± Lauren asked, her oxygen mask already on.

    I gave her a solemn nod and put on my mask as well.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s do this. Try to stay close to me.¡± She stood up after loosening the valve a bit and with one powerful kick, she sent the valve flying. Filling the space we were in in a white fog. I could just barely see Lauren¡¯s back in front of me as she waited for Ellie to have moved the trolley into the next hallway. We heard some firing, swiftly followed by an explosion.

    ¡°The hallway is completely filled with smoke, Commander.¡± Ellie commented. ¡°The enemy is moving erratically.¡±

    ¡°Go.¡± Lauren started moving, with me close behind her.

    When we moved around the corner, a shadowy figure in the fog was met with three shots from Lauren¡¯s rifle. It dropped as we moved on. Another shadowy figure to our left met the same fate. Shots from the front whizzed by. Lauren shot into the fog, the sound of fleshy thuds meant she¡¯d hit her third target as well. But she was so focussed on that that she didn¡¯t see the next figure coming in from the right. Luckily my aim was true and with a couple of bullets that threat was neutralized as well.

    It looked like the plan was going splendidly¡­ at least, right up until I got tackled by a figure neither of us had spotted from the left.

    I was on the ground, with an imperial soldier staring me down... My oxygen mask, on the floor, just outside of reach. I was gasping for air.

 Chapter 21: Just Within Reach

    A knock from the side sent me flying through the hallway. When I recovered, I quickly looked around, Luna was no longer by my side. My earpiece was also gone and since the intercoms were just crackling in this hallway, Ellie wouldn¡¯t be able to help me either.

    Before I could go and start looking, another figure came running up to me. I couldn¡¯t possibly raise my rifle back up in time, so I charged back and delivered an uppercut with my bionic arm. I heard something crack, and it definitely wasn¡¯t my arm. Three more figures then charged from the smoke towards me, but this time my rifle was prepared. I fired full-auto into them, spraying from the hip. They all went down. If my count was correct, that meant there were only two enemies left, and one of them was probably struggling with Luna right now. I could zone out the sizzling of the fire suppression system¡¯s wreckage just long enough so I could hear the faint sounds of a struggle coming from behind me.

    I quickly ran over and found Luna with an enemy soldier on top of her. This one¡¯s helmet had been knocked off, the red scales looking quite lobster-like. They were both trying to get the upper hand of Luna¡¯s pistol, but she was holding it in a death grip. I kicked the fucker off my XO and with a short blast sent him back to whatever hellhole he had come crawling out off.

    Luna was still gasping for air but I could tell just by giving it a quick look over that Luna¡¯s oxygen mask wouldn¡¯t be providing much oxygen any longer, so I decided to take a couple of deep breaths before handing my mask to her.

    ¡°T-t-thanks.¡± She coughed before her eyes went open wide. She raised her gun past my waist and shot a couple of times. I heard a thud behind me. The last enemy soldier had apparently tried to sneak up on me, but luckily Luna had recovered her wits fast enough to notice.

    I gave her a thankful nod and helped her to her feet.

    ¡°Ellie says the coast is clear. The soldiers are providing suppressive fire.¡±

    I nodded once more and raced her out of the hallway and into the next. Luckily, this time with more breathable air. Fire suppressant really wasn¡¯t made to be inhaled. We ran as fast as we could towards the sound of gunfire.

    A marine guided us into one of the holes in the wall. It had been blasted open by some kind of energy weapon. A couple of wounded soldiers had been set against one of the walls in the back, but their injuries didn¡¯t look to be life-threatening. In the meantime, five marines just kept unloading down the hallways from their firing positions.

    ¡°Glad you are here, ma¡¯am.¡± The marine gave me a short salute as I sat down on one of the benches. My outfit was slightly covered in the white fire suppressant, so was Luna¡¯s.

    ¡°I¡¯m happy everything appears to be going well here. All things considered.¡± I replied.

    The marine offered me a flask of water, which I gladly accepted. I took a swig and then handed it over to Luna.

    ¡°We are holding. We have tried to sally out a couple of times. But every time, we get pushed back on the defensive by an attack from the other side. While we could¡¯ve possibly repelled those at the same time. We really didn¡¯t want to lose the armory.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s definitely understandable. But you¡¯ve done a good job.¡± I looked around even more. None of the big exoskeleton suits had been used. ¡°And you¡¯ve not been using heavy ordinance to spare most of the ship, I presume?¡±

    ¡°Aye aye, Commander.¡± The marine nodded. ¡°We¡¯ve been using grenades but when they see them coming they just manage to negate their damage.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm, mhmm.¡± I thought back upon Sparks, she probably hid them ¡®till the last moment for devastating effect. ¡°Have you tried flares?¡±

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    The marine looked a bit surprised at my suggestion.

    ¡°What do you mean, Commander?¡±

    ¡°Well, we used the fire suppressant to hide our approach to one of their barricades. Since we are here to tell the tale, that means they don¡¯t have thermal vision. I don¡¯t know how they adapt to light conditions, but since they¡¯ve not been turning off our lights, it might not be unreasonable to think that they require similar light conditions to us.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡± The marine walked over to one of the armory closets, which housed our heavy-duty flares. ¡°So, if I get it right, you are suggesting we might be able to blind them with our flares after which we launch an attack with grenades and possibly assault their positions as well?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s indeed what I¡¯m suggesting.¡±

    ¡°That might work.¡± Luna said, handing the flask of water back to me.

    ¡°Might I suggest something as well, Commander?¡± Ellie asked, she lowered the volume so only people in this room could hear what she was going to say.

    ¡°Go ahead, Ellie.¡± I replied.

    ¡°I could shut off the lighting in this sector to make the contrast between light and dark higher so we can overload their visual receptors better with the flares.¡±

    ¡°Sounds good, Ellie. Thanks.¡±

    ¡°No problem, Commander.¡±

    ¡°Okay, now the only thing that will be an issue is that this plan will probably only work once. If we don¡¯t manage to capitalize on this, they will probably not fall for the same trick twice.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± The marine looked a bit defeated. ¡°So we will have to charge them in the hope that it works?¡±

    ¡°We can try throwing the grenades first after the flares.¡± I replied. ¡°If they react to it, we don¡¯t even have to bother charging in. But if they don¡¯t and they sustain casualties, then we can charge in and do as much damage in as short a time as possible. They¡¯ve already lost a sizable portion of defenders by losing the people at that one barricade. If their losses are too high it¡¯ll be unsustainable to keep us corralled in.¡±

    The marine cheered up again. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll spread the word, Commander.¡± She then saluted me and hastily went on to the others to tell them about our plan.

    We then started to prepare for our assault. I got myself into my combat armor and helped Luna to get into one of our spares. While Luna didn¡¯t have any experience with these suits of armor, at least she would be more protected from enemy fire. These armors were also light enough so that it didn¡¯t really prove much of a hindrance, even to people who hadn¡¯t trained in them. We then rotated firing positions for a bit so everyone had enough time to get their final preparations ready as well. I then upgraded my weapon to my trusted P-900R I slung Sparks¡¯s rifle over my shoulder and attached it to my back¡¯s weapon clasp. I didn¡¯t really need it but I didn¡¯t feel like discarding it either¡­

    ¡°Okay, Luna, you stay behind with private Walters to protect our rear.¡± I didn¡¯t want to expose her to the danger of an assault, and we needed someone to protect the wounded.

    ¡°Yes¡­ Commander.¡± She clearly was a bit hesitant. ¡°But¡­ make sure to stay safe, o-okay?¡±

    ¡°I will.¡± I gave her a sincere nod, after which I took one of the grenade launchers out of the armory closet. I armed it with heavy-duty flares.

    ¡°Tell me when you are ready, Commander.¡± Ellie spoke to me through the suit¡¯s intercom.

    I walked up to the assault team. We were terribly out-numbered, but they had been practically since the start of the incursion. ¡°Marines. Now we will take the first step to reclaiming our ship and taking revenge for our fallen comrades. Aim true and be resolved in your attacks. Our fire will overwhelm the enemy and send them fleeing. For this is our home in this dark corner of space, and no one will be taking this from us. Our hope will not falter, let¡¯s crush theirs instead!¡± I saluted my team, which they immediately repaid in kind. ¡°Ellie, we are ready to go.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Commander. Shutting off the lights in ten seconds.¡± Ellie then proceeded to count down until the moment of truth. Once she reached zero, all lights shut off.

    We¡¯d agreed upon waiting fourty-five seconds after the lights went out before commencing the first phase of the attack.

    With Ellie performing yet another countdown, so our actions were in-synch. At the sound of zero, we used our grenade launchers to shoot off our flares in the enemy directions. Our visors had been set to correct to the brightness of the flares.

    After the flares went out, we all started to start tossing our handheld grenades into our designated areas. The next couple of seconds would be decisive if our plan would succeed or not. As our grenades started to explode, Ellie gave us a status report. ¡°Attack is effective. Severe enemy casualties are being sustained.¡±

    This was the signal to launch the final phase of the plan. We all stormed out of our protection into the chaos ahead of us, all guns blazing.

 Chapter 21 Bis: Left Behind

    Lauren had saved me again. If it weren¡¯t for her, the Imperial soldier would have been able to kill me without many issues after the last of my strength was gone. Which wouldn¡¯t have taken much longer. It¡¯s true that I saved her in turn, but that was more luck than anything else. The entire experience had still had me reeling as Lauren was prepared to launch an attack out of the armory. She¡¯d tasked me to stay behind and defend the wounded. And even though I really didn¡¯t want to leave her side, it was probably the best decision one could have made. I¡¯d be more of a liability than an asset in the state I was in. At least I could still point a gun in a general direction and pull the trigger.

    When the lights went down and the grenades went out, Lauren and the other marines left us behind as a veritable hail of bullets flew down the different corridors. Heavy fighting ensued. But even though the fighting was ferocious, it didn¡¯t really last long at all. Just three minutes later, the halls went quiet.

    Another five minutes later, my earpiece started buzzing.

    ¡°Luna, are you there?¡± Lauren contacted me.

    ¡°I am.¡± I replied.

    ¡°Is everyone okay there? None went past us?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve not seen anyone here.¡± I replied once more. Private Walter on my right looked relieved as well.

    ¡°Good, we are coming back now.¡±

    ¡°What about the enemy?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Either dead or completely routed. Ellie says there¡¯s only two enemy survivors, and they scurried off back to their own ship. We were a bit too slow to catch them.¡±

    ¡°And on our side?¡±

    ¡°Some minor injuries, but nothing bad. The assault went perfectly as planned. We¡¯ll discuss our next plans when we get back.¡±

    Ellie turned the lights on our floor back on, and a couple of minutes later our triumphant marines appeared from the hallways. All looking pretty happy with what they had accomplished, quite rightfully so.

    Lauren took off her helmet and smiled widely as she approached. ¡°Good, that¡¯s a big step taken already.¡± When she got a bit closer, I could see a big blackened graze on her armor¡¯s waist.

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± I pointed at it.

    ¡°A close encounter with one of the enemy guns.¡± She awkwardly chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s fine though, I managed to dodge out of the way.¡±

    ¡°That was so cool.¡± One of the other marines said. ¡°You should¡¯ve seen her, XO.¡±

    ¡°I told you to stay safe, didn¡¯t I?¡± I almost yelled at her.

    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s fine, isn¡¯t it? I didn¡¯t get hit.¡± Lauren looked apologetic.

    ¡°Urgh.¡± I rubbed my cheek heavily with my right hand. ¡°Sorry¡­ it¡¯s just¡­ I can¡¯t really lose you right now.¡±

    The other marines looked a bit awkwardly and then turned around while Lauren kept looking at me. From her face, I could tell that she was starting to feel bad.

    ¡°Look, Luna, it was a hectic situation. I really didn¡¯t want to make you worry¡­ it¡¯s just that¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ I know.¡± I conceded. ¡°You had to take risks but I¡¯m sure you only did so because you thought it was the best option.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± Lauren nodded and put her hand on the area between my shoulder and my neck. ¡°If everything goes fine, this was the most risky part of the day. The rest should be somewhat more easy-going.¡±

    Something in the back of my head told me that was probably not a smart thing to say, but that may be because I¡¯m starting to pick up human superstitions¡­ I did quite like her reassuring touch, though.

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    Lauren then went back to planning the rest of the day. With the help of Ellie we got a detailed overview of the situation on the ship and we could now plan on retaking the rest of the ship. Because Ellie spread the news throughout the other crew members, we also got some more reinforcements over the next couple of hours. One of the marines that joined us was Gunny, the Commander was incredibly happy to see him.

    ¡°You old bastard, where the hell have you been?¡± She shook Gunny¡¯s hand with a big smile on her face, which was returned by his.

    ¡°I was in the bathroom when the ship was attacked. Since they breached so close to me, I just hid there till the danger was over.¡±

    ¡°So you are telling me you didn¡¯t get a single enemy kill?¡±

    ¡°I might have snuck out to get a couple of stragglers but it was too dangerous for me to overreach without my gear.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll take you at your word.¡± Lauren smiled and nodded towards one of the exoskeleton suits. ¡°Get strapped in, we are going to take back our ship.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t need to tell me twice.¡± Gunny grinned and headed towards the exoskeleton. ¡°The only thing I want to know is how the hell did the enemy get close to us¡­ and how they didn¡¯t get shut out by our bulkheads¡­ so that makes two things , actually.¡±

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t thinking about that because of everything that happened¡­ but since we¡¯ve got some time now¡­ Ellie?¡± Lauren directed her voice towards our AI.

    ¡°As for our bulkheads. Ever since the enemy ship has been docked with us, I¡¯ve been engaged in electronic warfare with their systems, I¡¯ve managed to safeguard most of our systems. However, I didn¡¯t manage to safeguard the bulkhead systems in time. Some are operational, but not in areas that could be useful.¡±

    ¡°And as for how the ship got so close to us without noticing?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, Commander.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°My current hypothesis is that the enemy was using some kind of cloaking device that completely or largely removed their electronic and visual signature.¡±

    ¡°Cloaking, that¡¯s not very fair. The cowards.¡± Gunny sneered.

    As far as I know, the Empire didn¡¯t have access to cloaking technology, so this could be very bad news if they managed to get their hands on it.

    ¡°Alright¡­¡± Lauren tapped her finger against the wall where the holographic map projection was. ¡°I¡¯d have liked it if you had told me before about the entire electronic warfare deal.¡± her voice sounded a little bit frustrated.

    ¡°My apologies, Commander.¡± Ellie answered. ¡°But there wasn¡¯t anything you could¡¯ve done about it, so I didn¡¯t want to burden you with any more stress in the situation you were already in.¡±

    ¡°I appreciate the concern, Ellie, I do. But next time someone is attacking you, I¡¯d like to be informed.¡±

    ¡°Noted, Commander.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the plan now?¡± Gunny asked, stepping his exoskeleton out of the hooks that kept it upright for storage.

    Lauren tapped the red dots on the map. ¡°Obviously the overarching plan is to get all these enemies off my ship, however, I do have a couple side-objectives I would like to accomplish.¡±

    ¡°Those being?¡± A Sergeant who was listening along stepped forward.

    ¡°First of all, I would like to capture one of the enemy soldiers if possible. We are dealing with an unknown enemy, so gathering information on them should be a high priority. That being said, if that proves too difficult, just killing them off is not a big deal.¡±

    ¡°How intact do they need to be?¡± Gunny asked while mounting his machine gun.

    ¡°Alive is good enough. If they are missing limbs, I couldn¡¯t give a damn to be honest.¡±

    While that wasn¡¯t a very ¡®humane¡¯ stance to take, it was probably the best option for them to capture one of these Imperial soldiers. From the stories I heard and the histories I have read, these soldiers were incredibly devoted and wouldn¡¯t allow themselves to get captured that easily, preferring death to capture.

    ¡°Any other objectives, Commander?¡± The Sergeant asked.

    ¡°I do but I¡¯m not sure how exactly we will go about accomplishing it.¡± Lauren looked at the points of the ship that had been breached. ¡°I¡¯d very much like to gather information about the cloaking device that they have on the vehicle but that obviously comes with multiple issues. The layout of the enemy ship, where the fuck we need to find that information and enemy numbers that are still on board.¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t just go around nabbin¡¯ random pieces of technology.¡± Gunny commented. ¡°Most of us wouldn¡¯t know what the difference is between an explosive device or a computer.¡±

    I think I technically could help with this¡­ but disclosing this at this point in time would bring a lot of suspicion onto me. But on the other hand, it is vital information we are talking about.

    ¡°Luna, is something wrong?¡± Lauren asked. ¡°Are you holding up?¡±

    Shit, I guess I must¡¯ve made a weird face while I was thinking. ¡°Uh¡­ Is there a way I could help with that?¡±

    ¡°With boarding the enemy ship?¡±

    I nodded.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, could you?¡±

    ¡°I think our two bright minds could come in handy, Commander Davis.¡± I recognized the voice.

    ¡°Oh, Grayson¡­¡± Lauren looked away from the map and at Grayson who was making his way through the growing group of marines. ¡°I never thought I¡¯d say this, but I¡¯m happy to see you.¡± Although she didn¡¯t sound entirely convincing, I do think Lauren was telling the truth.

    ¡°Same goes for you.¡± He replied. ¡°As for your objective, I think the XO and I could be of help with looking for xenotechnology.¡±

    Lauren looked at me, the hesitance was written on her face. But I gave her a nod in return.

    She sighed. ¡°I¡¯ll¡­ keep it in consideration¡­ But first, let¡¯s start clearing the ship.¡±

 Chapter 22: Please Be Safe

    It was interesting that Luna proposed to go, yet also somewhat weird. And apart from that, I was also incredibly concerned about her. I¡¯m definitely not the one to say that I¡¯ve got my entire psyche in order, but I was trained for the chaos and mess of war, Luna was not. So the last thing I really wanted to do was send her on board an enemy ship to go hunt for some kind of technology none of us knew what it looked like. But then again, Luna is an incredibly smart woman, that¡¯s obvious, so she would be a big help to send her along with Grayson.

    I sighed yet again while I was thinking everything over.

    ¡°Worried about the XO?¡± Gunny asked. Gunny had stayed behind with me to lay the final accents to our plan.

    ¡°Is it that obvious?¡± I asked back.

    ¡°Yes, and it¡¯s completely understandable.¡± Gunny replied. ¡°I¡¯m worried about her, too. I heard from the others what happened with Sparks¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s weighing heavily on her¡­¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± Gunny nodded. ¡°And how are you doing?¡±

    ¡°At the moment, I¡¯m fine. It¡¯s going to suck balls afterwards, but now we need to concentrate to get rid of the immediate problem.¡±

    Gunny nodded and pointed at the infirmary on the map. ¡°So, we are going here first?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Doctor Winter has managed to secure a lot of crew members there. For the moment, they are safe. Ellie said that the enemy has been working to find a way in but that they won¡¯t find a way in any time soon.¡±

    ¡°And we are going there because we need the medical supplies?¡±

    ¡°Yep, and the extra manpower definitely wouldn¡¯t hurt.¡± I then walked up to the map as well, pointing at the second armory near the hangar. ¡°After we¡¯ve cleared the infirmary and got our people armed, we can make our way down here and pincer the enemy that¡¯s been engaged with the people from the hangar bay. That¡¯ll be our best bet to capture one of those asshats.¡±

    ¡°And what about the bridge?¡± Gunny pointed at another concentration of enemy soldiers.

    ¡°The enemy will never break through there. That entire hallway was designed as a kill zone for a reason. So we will go there last. It''s not like we need to move the ship at this very instant.¡±

    ¡°Alright, that sounds pretty straight-forward to me.¡± Gunny said, and walked back a bit from the map so he could see it all. ¡°I don¡¯t see how we can lose, really.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so either, the priority now is to keep casualties to a minimum.¡± I nodded. ¡°So don¡¯t get yourself shot, alright?¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t promise a thing.¡± He smirked. ¡°But the same goes for you, Commander.¡± He patted me on the waist where I¡¯d been grazed before.¡±

    ¡°Luna wouldn¡¯t forgive me if I did.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯d probably find a way to resurrect you just so she could punch you in the face.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ quite likely, yeah. And I¡¯d probably deserve that as well.¡± I then grabbed my weapon and tucked my helmet under my arm. I still needed to say goodbye to Luna before we commenced the next part of the operation. As we were practically using the armory as a temporary HQ for now, I¡¯d let Luna stay here since it was the safest place to be.

    She knew that I had to lead this mission in person but that didn¡¯t make the goodbye any less painful.

    ¡°Lauren¡­ please¡­ please try to stay as safe as possible, okay?¡± She was clearly glancing down at my waist.

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    ¡°I¡¯ll keep her as safe as I can, XO.¡± Gunny had come along as well to give both me and Luna some morale support.

    ¡°Thanks, Gunny.¡± Luna smiled up at him but she wasn¡¯t terribly convinced.

    ¡°I can see you are doubting me, Lieutenant-Commander, now I¡¯m going to try even harder. I really don¡¯t like it when people think I can¡¯t do something.¡± He posed in his exoskeleton as if he was getting ready to deadlift some extremely heavy weight. Gunny succeeded in his plan as Luna started to laugh a little. ¡°Now, see, that¡¯s the confidence in me that I like.¡±

    ¡°You stay safe as well, okay?¡± Luna saluted him with a smile.

    ¡°I will.¡± He saluted back with a smile as well. He then walked off to join the other marines outside of the armory.

    ¡°See you later, Luna.¡± I tossed my helmet around in my hands because I didn¡¯t really know how to end the conversation.

    Luna stopped that by taking a hold of one of my arms before going in for a hug. It was a pretty awkward hug with all the armor, but a hug nonetheless.

    ¡°I meant it, okay? Stay safe¡­ Otherwise, I might come and finish the job myself.¡±

    ¡°Duly noted.¡± I hugged her back.

    ¡°Awh, how cute.¡± Grayson interrupted, he must¡¯ve only just recently walked into this area of the room.

    ¡°Grayson, I swear to the Goddess I¡¯ll let you be the vanguard if we invade that ship¡­¡±

    Grayson very wisely decided to shut up and walk away as Luna and I stayed like that for just a little bit longer.

    Having said our short goodbye¡¯s and having gathered up a large part of the marines, we started to head off in the direction of the infirmary. In contrast to earlier today, we didn¡¯t try to avoid any contact, we even sought them out. The objective was to clear the ship after all, and any of those enemies that didn¡¯t manage to get back aboard that ship was one enemy less we¡¯d have to face if we were to go and take a look on board of their ship ourselves.

    With the amount of marines we had and the restocked weaponry, it really wasn¡¯t a big issue to do this with minimal risks. Especially since Ellie could tell us when and where the enemy could be with great precision.

    We encountered an increased concentration of enemy soldiers when we approached the infirmary. But nothing really noteworthy. During this entire part of the operation, I didn¡¯t even have to fire my rifle once. Part of the reason for that was that Gunny was actively keeping me at the back of our formation. Even the other marines were pushing me back.

    I understood why they did it, and I vehemently agreed, but it did make me feel pretty useless. At least I could still command the troops so there¡¯s that.

    Having set up a secure zone around the infirmary, I contacted Dr. Winter.

    ¡°Eva, you can disengage the blast doors now. We¡¯ve secured the area.¡±

    The thick steel frames slid from in front of the doors not that long after. After which Eva herself opened the door. She looked stressed the fuck out, but not physically any worse for wear.

    ¡°Are you all okay?¡± She asked the group of marines that were around me.

    ¡°We¡¯ve got no injuries, doc.¡± One of the marines said proudly and with a big smile.

    ¡°Good to hear.¡± Eva smiled and then looked at Gunny and myself. ¡°What about you two?¡±

    ¡°Fine and dandy.¡± I took off my helmet. ¡°How are you people doing here? Ellie told us you¡¯ve got forty people inside.¡±

    ¡°It was getting a bit hot but we didn''t have any major injuries either so that helped.¡±

    ¡°I fear that we might have to change that soon, though. We¡¯ve got some people in the armory who will need to get some medical treatment soon. The route between the armory and the infirmary has been cleared now so we can start sending them over.¡±

    ¡°Alright, we will prep as many beds as possible.¡± Doctor Winter looked tired but confident in her abilities.

    I then walked past her into the infirmary itself. Most of the people here were non-combat personnel but there were still ten more combat eager Marines in there we could use. After a small pep talk I sent those marines back with a couple of our armed marines so they could get armed as well. As for the non-combat personnel, I sent them along too so they could help transport the wounded back here.

    The rest of us stayed behind to help the doc and her assistants prepare to receive the most grievously wounded.

    When Eva and I were preparing one of the trauma beds, she whispered. ¡°How¡¯s Luna getting through all this?¡±

    ¡°She saw Sparks¡¯ last moments¡­ it¡¯s not going to be easy on her.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± Eva nodded. ¡°Just when everything appeared to be coming together, this happens...¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ I know¡­ But I won¡¯t let this break me again. Luna was there for me, and now I will be there for her.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t forget there¡¯s Gunny, myself and Yuki as well who you can rely on, okay? Don¡¯t believe yourself to be completely over it. Because that just doesn¡¯t happen.¡±

    ¡°Thanks for the support, Eva.¡± Because it didn¡¯t seem appropriate at this time, I decided to not tell her what Luna and I had been up to the last couple of days. I was under the impression that somewhere she already knew anyway.

 Chapter 23: Snakes in the Grass

    With the wounded relocated to the infirmary and the marines who were still capable of doing so bearing arms, we prepared to launch our attack on the last big group of enemies on the ship. This last group was actually being put on the defensive by our people who¡¯d been inside of the ship¡¯s hangar. Unlike most of their comrades, this group of enemies did not run, but set up a defensive zone instead. They were probably not counting on an attack from the rear, though.

    As our group approached from behind, Ellie told us that none of them were facing us, they were all just shooting back at our advancing troops. But for some reason, that sounded a bit too fishy for my liking. So I stopped our advance for now.

    ¡°It¡¯s not sitting well with you either, right?¡± Gunny asked.

    ¡°Yeah, this goes against the most basic principles of tactics. Even their troops around the first armory kept a lookout at the rear. And it would surprise me if no one knew what was happening to their other forces. They must know we are coming, right?¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± Gunny nodded.

    ¡°Wait, let me contact Luna.¡± I signaled to gunny to cover one of the hallways and to order the others to do the same. ¡°Luna, are you there?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Commander.¡± She replied almost instantly. ¡°Is everything alright?¡±

    ¡°Hmmm, I think so but I¡¯d like to have your opinion on something, and Grayson too if he¡¯s around.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll call him over¡­¡± I heard some rumbling in the background before Luna yelled. ¡°Grayson!!¡±

    ¡°Ouch.¡± My ears were ringing a little bit.

    ¡°Oh, sorry, did I forget to mute myself.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but it¡¯s fine.¡± I softly chuckled.

    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry.¡±

    ¡°Really, Luna, it¡¯s fine, just try not to forget next time.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± She hummed. ¡°Oh, there he is. Grayson, it¡¯s the Commander.¡± I then heard a beep which meant that she must¡¯ve put it ¡®speaker mode¡¯

    ¡°Commander?¡± Grayson asked over the line. ¡°Do you need me for something?¡±

    ¡°Yes, as I told Luna, I¡¯d like to hear your opinion on something.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead, Commander. Giving my opinion is my sole reason of existence.¡± -I had noticed that.-

    ¡°Alright, so we are approaching the enemy from behind but they aren¡¯t covering their rear at all.¡± I started.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that a good thing?¡± Grayson asked.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s too easy.¡± Luna commented before I could. ¡°It¡¯s atypical for how the enemy has been acting up until now.¡± Luna might not have had a lot of combat experience but she did pay attention when it came to analyzing enemy behaviors.

    ¡°Exactly.¡± I replied.

    ¡°So you think they are laying an ambush?¡± Grayson asked again.

    ¡°The thought has definitely crossed my mind. But the thing is, Ellie can¡¯t detect anyone through her sensors.¡±

    ¡°I see where you are going with this.¡± Grayson replied. ¡°You want to ask if it is possible for them to have a similar kind of cloaking device for their troops as they have for their ship.¡±

    ¡°Yes, pretty much what I wanted to ask.¡±

    ¡°But why would only that group of enemies use it?¡± Luna replied.

    ¡°That¡¯s the other side of that theory. If they had that kind of technology, they must surely have already used it for their other squads, right?¡±

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    ¡°That¡¯s indeed quite the predicament, Commander. So either the enemy is just being stupid, or they do, in fact, have that technology, which also means that there could be more enemies on this ship than we initially thought.¡± Grayson concluded.

    ¡°Hmm, I sincerely hope that¡¯s not the case.¡±

    ¡°Commander¡­¡± Luna spoke to me.

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°I personally think it is more likely that the enemy has set up booby traps instead. So please keep a watch-out for things that look strange to you.¡± That was an option as well¡­ Grayson and I might have been overthinking it a little.

    ¡°We will. Thank you for your help, Luna.¡±

    ¡°Stay safe.¡± After that, Luna hung up the line.

    I informed my marines of what we¡¯d discussed. To keep an eye out for anything irregular, with traps in particular in mind. I told the person in charge on the hangar¡¯s end the same thing so that they wouldn¡¯t run into any issues either, and then we decided on the timing for our attack. We slowly but steadily approached the enemy positions, trying to move our group as silently as possible when we encountered something four corners away from our objective. One of the combat engineers had stopped me and Gunny, who were taking point.

    ¡°Commander, wait.¡± The combat engineer silently moved in front of us and crouched down. It was hard to tell, but as the engineer pointed towards the wall, we could see a very small pentagonal hole had been cut into the wall. The same was true for the other side. It was approximately at knee-height.

    ¡°What is it, Corporal?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s an ultra-thin wire connecting these two spot¡¯s, Commander.¡± He replied.

    ¡°Really? I don¡¯t even see it, and I¡¯m looking right at it.¡± Gunny replied.

    ¡°I almost didn¡¯t spot it either, it¡¯s actually the holes I saw first. But look.¡± The marine put on his flashlight and shone at it while moving the light horizontally. It was faint but you could see the slightest of reflections.

    ¡°Those crafty fuckers¡­ Can you dismantle it?¡± Gunny continued.

    ¡°I¡¯d need to study it more but we don¡¯t have that time at the moment. Best thing I can do is mark it as an area not to cross.¡± He took out a roll of tape from the side of his backpack and attached it at the same height of the wire, right next to it, while doing the same on the other side.

    That way, we could easily step over it without touching the near-invisible wire. We then moved on, and along the way we found at least a dozen more similar traps at different heights. But now that we knew what to look for, it wasn¡¯t very hard to spot them anymore. They had placed some more obvious traps as well, but those were easy enough to avoid too. We¡¯d have quite a bit of defusing to do afterwards but that could wait as the Corporal had said.

    ¡°Is everyone ready on your end?¡± I talked to the commanding officer on the hangar¡¯s side.

    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am, we are waiting for you.¡±

    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll let Ellie start a two-minute countdown, once that reaches 0, we will spring into action. Watch out for friendly fire.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Commander. See you on the other side.¡±

    And with that, our plan was set in place as the two-minute countdown started. We¡¯d approached as close as we could to the enemy. Our recon had confirmed that there weren¡¯t any more traps in between us and them. It looked like they had complete confidence in their traps, as they still didn¡¯t have anyone facing our way.

    ¡°One minute left, Commander.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, Ellie.¡±

    ¡°Hey, Lauren, please stay behind us, okay?¡± Gunny put his hand on my shoulder.

    ¡°I will, but be careful, okay. And if you can, please capture one of them. I¡¯ll be covering the rear.¡±

    ¡°Careful is my middle name.¡± Gunny laughed.

    ¡°Is that so? Then it¡¯s not very fitting.¡± I grinned back.

    ¡°Ten seconds.¡± Ellie said.

    ¡°Be safe, everyone.¡± I spoke to my marines one last time before the countdown reached zero.

    We stormed in and just as we thought, the enemy was caught completely off-guard. We barely needed the help from the hangar team, as we swooped in so fast that they¡¯d been completely overwhelmed. Some shots were fired and even I managed to get a shot in at someone who tried to flee, hitting them in the head. But overall, the firefight had been short and relatively uneventful. We managed to capture three of the enemy soldiers, although we had to be quick about it because they were not planning on being taken alive.

    ¡°They are all secure, right?¡± I asked, looking at the restraints placed on the enemy soldiers.

    ¡°They are not going anywhere, Commander.¡± Our combat engineer reassured me. ¡°You¡¯d have issues breaking this with laser cutters.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡± I patted the Corporal on the shoulder. I then moved on to another familiar face. Jacky and a couple of other Dokazuuk had joined the assault from the hangar¡¯s side, and according to a lot of my marines, their help had been invaluable.

    ¡°Hey, Jacky, it¡¯s good to see you are unharmed.¡±

    ¡°The same goes for you, Commander.¡±

    ¡°I hope you haven¡¯t lost many people.¡±

    ¡°No, Commander, thanks to the help of your forces we managed to get everyone into the hangar on time. We have some wounded, but they are all being treated well. I¡¯m sorry for all the people you¡¯ve lost today.¡± Even though our losses might seem trivial for someone who¡¯d just lost his planet not that long ago, I still felt that his condolences were sincere.

    ¡°We¡¯ll avenge them, that¡¯s for sure.¡± I looked down at the prisoners. They were as silent as the grave. ¡°We need to figure out who the fuck they are first, though.¡±

    Jacky nodded. ¡°If you need our help. You need only ask.¡±

    ¡°Thanks again.¡± I smiled. -At least I hope we can get some useful information out of them¡­-

 Chapter 24: Ordering Some Rest

    It was nice to see Yuki again. She¡¯d been working on the shuttles when the enemy invaded the ship, so she had been in the hangar from the very beginning. From what the others in the hangar told me, she¡¯d been very resourceful in jury-rigging equipment to hold the enemy at bay as well.

    ¡°Yuki, why don¡¯t you rest a bit. You were in the middle of your shift when the enemy attacked, right?¡± Yuki was already cutting up the gun trolleys they¡¯d built to fend off the enemy with.

    ¡°I will, after this is done.¡± She then looked up at me, removed her welding goggles and squinted her eyes before she fell backwards out of surprise. I just managed to catch her welding torch before it fell on the floor. ¡°Ah! Commander! I didn¡¯t know it was you.¡±

    I turned off the torch and smiled at her. Now that she had removed her goggles, I could see the bags beneath her eyes. ¡°That was close.¡±

    ¡°S-sorry! B-but I¡¯m glad you are safe! How are the others?¡±

    ¡°Likewise. The others are fine too.¡± I smiled again and put down the torch on the steel working table next to us. ¡°I heard you did a great job here?¡±

    ¡°I have been working together with the Dokazuuk from the moment they arrived in the hangar. We¡¯ve been welding things pretty much non-stop.¡± As she said that, a couple of Dokazuuk also started to dismantle some other trolleys to put back the components where they came from.

    ¡°How long have you been awake for?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ I don¡¯t know what time it is right now. But most people here have been up since it started¡­¡± I guess the same could be said about a lot of my marines as well¡­ I could already see a couple of them who¡¯d found a bench and had started to nod off while the others were keeping watch.

    ¡°Mhmm¡­ why don¡¯t you take their example and get a bit of rest too? It¡¯ll definitely do you some good.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, Commander, there¡¯s still so much work to do.¡±

    ¡°Yuki¡­¡± I put my hand on her shoulder. ¡°You can consider that to be an order.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ alright, ma¡¯am.¡±

    ¡°And you can consider that to be everyone¡¯s order!¡± I raised my voice, loud enough to be heard, sadly also loud enough to wake up the couple of marines that had shut their eyes.

    A light that started blinking in the top right corner of my interface told me that Ellie was broadcasting this message to everyone, except for over the ship¡¯s intercom system. ¡°The ship is mostly secure at this moment. The majority of enemy forces have been dealt with. For those of you that had their shifts prolonged by this incursion, I order you to take some rest. Rest assured that the rest of us will do what is necessary to remove the last traces of this vile incursion from our ship. So please, get some rest, for when the final enemy has been purged from this vehicle, we will pay the enemy back in kind. And I want everyone to be well-rested and ready for that.¡± With that I ended my message.

    A lot of people looked relieved that their Commander had finally permitted them to get some rest. And those who had been restless and were still panicked by the recent events got a bit of confidence back as everything appeared to settle down.

    ¡°What do you want us to do, Commander?¡± Gunny asked. ¡°Are we just going to sweep through the ship?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the plan. Let¡¯s start at the bottom of the ship and work ourselves up. We have plenty of people, so we can divide ourselves into four groups to make sure no one slips through the gaps.¡±

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    ¡°I hope that you won¡¯t be leading one of those. Not to be disrespectful, of course, your leadership is great¡­ Uh¡­ This is coming out wrong¡­ but¡­ ¡± The more Gunny tried, the worse it got.

    I laughed at his fumbling words. ¡°Gunny, don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t. I got a bunch of people to interrogate anyway. So I¡¯ll be taking just a couple of marines with me and some Dokazuuk to keep them guarded.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± Gunna smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll start forming the first group then.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead. I¡¯ll lay out a general plan of action and send you on your way.¡± I patted him on the shoulder and sent him off to form his squad.

    In the meantime, Yuki had already fallen asleep against the shuttle she¡¯d been resting against. ¡°Oh Goddess.¡± I looked around to find something that somewhat resembled a blanket. One of the Dokazuuk interpreted what I was looking for and handed me some soft liner that was used to insulate the shuttles. ¡°Thanks a lot.¡± I smiled at our Dokazuuk friend, who just waved at me in return. -I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll ever regret helping those guys.-

    As I had said to Gunny, I first laid out a general battle plan to my squad leaders so they could act freely within the set guidelines. With a green lit operation, they all went off to the different corners of the ship to go and squash out the last pieces of enemy resistance. I¡¯d also made sure to send at least two combat engineers with every team so they could keep an eye out for those booby traps.

    As for our interrogations, after I had taken off my armor, I claimed one of the hangar¡¯s storage rooms. One that was relatively empty and held mainly scrap metal. It wasn¡¯t a clean room, but for our purposes that wouldn¡¯t be necessary. When I asked around for some Dokazuuk to join me, Jacky proposed to interrogate the prisoners as well. Since his people had been endangered by them, I thought it was more than fair to let him join in as well. And now that I think about it, this would be the first kind of diplomatic interaction with a third species while being, quote-unquote, allied. That is, if you don¡¯t count blowing bugs to pieces to be a diplomatic interaction.

    ¡°Ellie, how are you doing on those translation algorithms?¡±

    ¡°Should be done within fifteen minutes, Commander.¡±

    ¡°Still?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a lot easier when you don¡¯t have to go through layers of encryption, Commander. These soldiers also haven¡¯t proven to be very talkative, so setting up a baseline isn¡¯t as easy as one would assume.¡±

    ¡°Okay, thanks for the sass, Ellie, I deserved that.¡±

    ¡°No problem, Commander.¡±

    I made my guards pick up one of the enemy soldiers and let him be put in the room by himself. The manuals said that interrogation was a lot easier when you broke up groups, so now I was putting this to the test.

    ¡°Do you have experience with this, Commander Lauren?¡± Jacky asked as the soldier was guided in.

    ¡°Not really.¡± I shook my head. ¡°We do have a lot of experience with war on my planet, but it wasn¡¯t my task to do it back then.¡±

    ¡°You are more of a fighter.¡± Jacky stated.

    I chuckled. ¡°That¡¯s exactly right. And what about you?¡±

    Jacky shook his head as well. ¡°Our species is¡­ was¡­ very peaceful. So there was no need.¡±

    ¡°And what about police forces?¡±

    ¡°Police?¡± He looked at me strangely.

    ¡°Uh, a force that fights against criminality¡­ fights against people who steal and do violent things.¡±

    ¡°We did not have such a thing, Commander Lauren.¡± He shook his head once more.

    ¡°Damn, I suppose us humans have a lot to learn from you. But you do know about fighting?¡±

    ¡°Only recently, we¡¯ve learned about this, yes¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡± I decided to not dig any deeper than that.

    ¡°Translation programs have been completed, Commander.¡± Ellie notified me ten minutes later. ¡°Translation systems have also been added to the Dokazuuk systems.

    ¡°Thank you, Ellie.¡± I replied and then looked at my fellow interrogator. ¡°Are you ready, Jacky?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I am.¡± He then proceeded to walk into the room.

    ¡°Okay¡­ I guess we¡¯re just going for it then.¡± I walked in behind him.

    The enemy soldier was sat down on his knees in the middle of the room. Once we entered, one of the guards came over to me. ¡°Would you like a chair, ma¡¯am?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll just use that crate over there if I need one, thanks for the offer.¡± I nodded towards a steel storage crate that was shoved against one of the walls. ¡°You three can leave us now.¡±

    ¡°Are you serious, Commander?¡± One of the other guards asked.

    ¡°Yeah, I am. Don¡¯t you think I can¡¯t handle him myself if he was stupid enough to try something?¡± I tapped my holster, which made my sidearm sway a little.

    ¡°But¡­¡±

    ¡°Really, guys, it¡¯s going to be fine. If you don¡¯t trust it, you can just stand by the door and keep it unlocked.¡±

    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am.¡± The three marines saluted me and quickly got out of the room.

    ¡°So¡­¡± I walked up to the enemy soldier, but still kept my distance. ¡°Let¡¯s get this started, shall we?¡±

    The enemy soldier looked up, startled, probably because of the fact that I was now speaking to him in his own language. ¡°Surprise.¡± I smirked and crossed my arms.

 Chapter 25: Experimental Interrogation Techniques

    Unsurprisingly, even though the enemy soldier was quite surprised about this linguistic advantage we¡¯d suddenly acquired, he stayed silent. And so began an incredibly long period of interrogation. After three hours we switched the first enemy soldier for the second, and after another three hours we switched that one out for the third. But still, everyone stayed quiet. It almost made me doubt if they even had the capabilities to speak. If Ellie hadn¡¯t assured me that they could, I¡¯d have been a lot less determined.

    In the meantime, I¡¯d also got the message that Gunny and the other teams of marines had pretty much cleaned out the rest of the ship and had taken up positions at the breaching points to avoid any further intrusions. They had also taken care of all of the booby traps.

    ¡°Can¡¯t we do something about their silence, Commander?¡± Jacky asked me while we were alone in the storage room.

    ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯d like to just continue talking to them¡­ there are more extreme kinds of interrogation but I¡¯d like to not get into those¡­¡±

    Jacky looked like he didn¡¯t really understand what I was getting at.

    ¡°Right, you people don¡¯t really know violence. The methods I¡¯m talking about require certain acts of bodily harm to the prisoners.¡±

    ¡°That sounds¡­ bad?¡±

    ¡°It is.¡± I agreed. ¡°It is not unheard of during times of war¡­ it actually occurred quite a lot during the Unification War but I¡¯ve never liked the practice so I¡¯d rather not do something like that.¡± I then looked at the door behind which the hangar was with the three enemy soldiers. ¡°However¡­ considering the time we have and how pressing this matter is¡­¡±

    Jacky nodded. ¡°I understand.¡±

    ¡°But, before that happens¡­ I¡¯d like to continue for just a bit longer.¡±

    A knock on the door surprised the both of us.

    ¡°Yes, come in.¡± I called out.

    ¡°Commander?¡± It was Luna who stepped in.

    ¡°Oh, Luna. Is something wrong?¡± With the ship completely under control, she¡¯d probably just made her way over here by herself.

    ¡°I heard from the soldiers you were having some issues with the interrogation.¡±

    ¡°Might we suggest something?¡± Grayson walked in behind her.

    Luna looked at the floor while explaining. ¡°Grayson and I looked at some bodies together and found a couple of personal belongings.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm?¡± I nodded. ¡°Is there anything we can use?¡±

    ¡°The personal belongings of some of the soldiers all point to a very, very religious society.¡± Grayson answered my question.

    ¡°Furthermore¡­¡± Luna continued. ¡°It seems like that their connection with their god is one that mainly revolves around fear rather than respect.

    ¡°And how do you know that?¡±

    ¡°Because all depictions of that deity were in some kind of incredibly tough kinds of cases.¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t that just mean they don¡¯t want their depictions to be destroyed?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I thought but your XO¡­ The Lieutenant-Commander appears to think otherwise.¡±

    I looked at Luna, who was still just looking at the floor. ¡°And why do you think so, Luna?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I-I don¡¯t know¡­ a¡­. a hunch?¡±

    I definitely got the feeling that she was hiding something from me, but it wasn¡¯t the first time she was being shy, nor was the situation at hand good for anyone¡¯s state of mind. So I just nodded. A good hunch had saved me a couple of times in combat as well. ¡°We can definitely give it a try. We don¡¯t have anything to lose.¡± I then walked towards the door but before I could Grayson stopped me.

    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    ¡°Commander, it will only possibly work on one of the soldiers, though.¡±

    ¡°How so?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve only found those items on the soldier belonging to one specific race, and there¡¯s only one of them outside of this room.¡±

    ¡°So what you are saying is that if it doesn¡¯t work on that soldier, that we are shit out of luck?¡±

    ¡°Pretty much.¡± Grayson nodded.

    ¡°Alright¡­ then let¡¯s prepare to get the biggest bang for our bucks.¡±

    I sat down on one of the boxes I had pointed out to my marines earlier today. ¡°I suppose the two of you don¡¯t have a game plan?¡±

    ¡°We showed the image to Ellie.¡± Grayson replied.

    ¡°Ellie?¡± I looked up at the ceiling.

    ¡°With the images the XO and Doctor Grayson have gathered, it should be possible to make a very believable holographic image of their deity.¡± Ellie answered.

    ¡°And a holograph will work? Won¡¯t he see through it?¡±

    ¡°....¡± Ellie said nothing, neither did the others.

    ¡°What? Oh¡­ that was not meant to be a pun, I promise.¡± I was totally serious, I didn¡¯t even realize it myself that I had made one¡­

    ¡°We hope it will.¡± Luna replied. ¡°It¡¯s actually more believable that we would be able to communicate with their deity, rather than it being directly aboard this ship.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ If you put it like that¡­ So we just lug a holoprojector into this room. Let Ellie¡¯s render of the deity play while she puts some kind of scary voice over it, forcing the soldier into giving us information?¡±

    ¡°Punishable by eternal doom or something like that, yes.¡± Grayson nodded.

    ¡°And if it doesn¡¯t work, Commander?¡± Jacky asked.

    ¡°I suppose we should be prepared to do things we would rather not. So let¡¯s hope it does.¡±

    Jacky gave me a knowing nod, while Luna looked at me with concern. Grayson didn¡¯t look like he cared much, or he just wasn¡¯t following our train of thoughts.

    I commanded Grayson and Luna to leave the room again to bring in a holoprojector. In the meantime, Jacky and I pulled in the soldier Grayson and Luna had designated into the room once more. As part of the charade we just had him sit down on the floor, on his knees while Jacky and I just silently looked at him.

    This went on for about half an hour before Ellie notified me that the preparations had been completed and that I should walk to the door to let the holoprojector be brought in.

    I did as she said, and in came two people who I recognized as marines, carrying in the holoprojector. Both the marines and the holoprojector had been dressed up in ceremonial decorations. I definitely hadn¡¯t expected them to go this far but it did seem to impress the prisoner. Luckily, Jacky and I managed to hide our amazement pretty well.

    The marines placed the holoprojector further into the room, right in front of the prisoner¡¯s field of vision, after which they both headed towards the opposite walls to the side, as a way to show they were guarding the projector.

    ¡°Have fun watching the show, Commander.¡± Ellie sounded way too happy about this all as the holoprojector came to life.

    A huge, dark figure appeared, with the only thing visible being six menacing red eyes. The prisoner almost fell backwards out of shock.

    ¡°What do we have here?¡± The fake deity spoke in the prisoner¡¯s language. The tones it used were deep and guttural.

    The prisoner tried to crawl back, his movements filled with fear. Sadly for him, his path was blocked by my legs. I just looked down and smiled at him, while he looked up, terrified. It looked like the plan was working.

    Realizing he literally had no place to crawl too, he got back on his knees and groveled towards the holograph. ¡°Oh Great Devastator, forgive me!¡± The soldier spoke for the first time. He actually sounded a lot squeakier than I had expected. The contrast between the holograph deity and the squeaky voice was especially humorous. At least we already knew what they called their God now. Progress is progress.

    ¡°How dare you attack a vehicle that is under MY protection?¡± Ellie continued under the Deity¡¯s disguise.

    ¡°We didn¡¯t know! We didn¡¯t know! Our ship is led by unbelievers, Great Almighty Devastator!¡±

    ¡°That is no excuse!!¡± You could not hear it, but I bet Ellie was having a blast with this.

    ¡°Forgive me! Forgive me! Please, forgive me!¡± The prisoner groveled even more. ¡°Please tell me how to redeem myself! I do not want to go to the eternal fires!¡± I assumed that was close to what we know as hell.

    ¡°These faithful servants of mine need information. I expect you to hand it to them without question. Understand?!¡± -Oh ye, Ellie is definitely enjoying this.-

    ¡°I will! I will tell them everything they want to know!¡±

    ¡°Good. I will stay here to watch over your responses. If you lie¡­ things will not end well for you.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t! I won¡¯t tell any lies! I promise!¡±

    That honestly went a lot better than we could have hoped for.

    The prisoner crawled around to face Jacky and me. ¡°Please! Fellow believers! Ask me everything you want to know!¡± He did not raise his head at all.

    Jacky and I looked at each other and he gave me a nod.

    ¡°First of all. I would like you to tell us everything you know about your ship¡¯s cloaking systems and how they work.¡±

    ¡°I will! I will!¡±

    Now, let¡¯s hope this soldier actually knows how it works on a technical level.

 Chapter 26: Cleaning House

    To say that we got a lot of information from our prisoner would probably be considered a severe understatement. Amongst the things we learned was that the ship that had attacked us belonged to an entity called ¡®The Empire¡¯. Which was a kind of confederation of hundreds of star systems spread across a large part of the Milky Way. We had apparently unknowingly strolled into the outskirts of one of their new outposts, of which he also kindly provided the coordinates to, where this ship of theirs had been patrolling. They had spotted us on their systems and saw us as an easy prey, that¡¯s why they had been so careless in their attack on our ship, which was helped by the fact that most of these soldiers had been relatively new recruits as well.

    Our luck continued, since this guy was apparently one of the people who had been selected to maintain their stealth system. A question popped up in my mind as to why they would ever send their system engineers into combat like that but that wasn¡¯t important for now. The important part was that Ellie had received enough technical details to crack their stealth system. I didn¡¯t really understand much of what the soldier and Ellie communicated back to me, the only thing I really understood was that, while we could now detect these kinds of systems, replicating it would be practically impossible at this point in time.

    So, generally, everything we learned was incredibly valuable information. We also didn¡¯t need to enter their ship anymore, as we already knew everything we wanted to know, and now had a very reliable way of extracting even more information when need be. I was incredibly relieved that I wouldn¡¯t have to put Luna and Grayson into harm''s way anymore. But on the other hand, whatever we did now would probably really piss off a seriously big empire.

    Ellie, yet again taking the role of supreme deity, thanked the enemy soldier for his cooperation. As I followed it up by having him taken out of the room and towards a very secure cell in the brig.

    ¡°Commander Lauren.¡± Jacky spoke to me. ¡°What should we do now?¡±

    ¡°First of all, let¡¯s get that ship loose from ours and blow it to smithereens.¡±

    ¡°But what about their empire? Wouldn¡¯t that make them angrier?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll try to get away from their border as fast as possible. Thanks to him, we know the approximate border of the nearby systems, so it shouldn¡¯t be too tough to stay out of their reach. However, I do not see a way in which we can not destroy their ship. Right now, it would be too easy for them to follow us and relay our position. On top of that, for our crew, everyone''s itching for payback. We can definitely not go for a raid inside of their territory, that¡¯d be too risky. And to avoid our prisoners becoming a target and thus potentially losing valuable assets, it is, in my opinion, worth it to give them some good old-fashioned payback by blowing up the ship that¡¯s caused us so much misery.¡±

    Jacky nodded. ¡°I understand, Commander, I support your decision.¡±

    Jacky and I walked out of the room and found that Grayson and Luna were waiting for us outside.

    ¡°I heard we were no longer necessary.¡± Grayson asked. Ellie must¡¯ve informed them while we were interrogating.

    ¡°Luckily enough.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, a part of me regrets not having the opportunity to get inside of that ship, though.¡±

    ¡°Are you volunteering to go by yourself, Grayson? Feel free to go and take a look.¡± I chuckled, so it was clear that it was meant as a joke.

    ¡°I think I¡¯ll pass on that, Commander.¡±

    ¡°And what now, Commander?¡± Luna asked. She looked terribly relieved as well that she didn¡¯t have to go anymore.

    ¡°Let¡¯s head to the bridge.¡± I smiled. ¡°Let¡¯s finish this.¡±

    Under guard of a couple of marines, who followed us out of their own initiative, the four of us headed towards the bridge. On the way, we already encountered multiple crew members who¡¯d started to repair the damage, even though I had not given any order to do that. Amongst them there were some Dokazuuk too.

    ¡°You can tell your people to rest, Jacky.¡± I told him as we walked past the third one of his people.

    ¡°They would not listen even if I told them, Commander Lauren.¡± He replied. ¡°We are an industrious people. This is a way for us to show our gratitude for saving us yet a second time.¡±

    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.¡°It¡¯s because you are on this ship that your people were put in harm''s way, though.¡±

    ¡°If you hadn¡¯t come to our planet, there wouldn¡¯t be anyone left to have been put into harm¡¯s way, Commander. And even if it were like that, most of us are still standing.¡±

    This glass half-full attitude from Jacky was actually quite nice, it put a smile on my face. ¡°I¡¯m happy you think of it like that.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure your crew thinks the same of you too, Commander.¡±

    One of the marines who was accompanying us nodded. ¡°He¡¯s right, Commander.¡± I could tell Luna was listening in on the conversation as well but she tried not to actively involve herself. The Sergeant continued. ¡°You¡¯ve put yourself in dangerous situations to save this ship, Commander. You are an example to us all. And from what I heard from some of the others, the XO is there to thank as well.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I didn¡¯t do much¡­¡± Having been spoken to directly, Luna felt obliged to reply.

    ¡°Our Commander would not be standing here as she is now without you, Lieutenant-Commander.¡±

    ¡°Nor would we have been able to get this much information out of the prisoner without you.¡± I decided to add on to the compliment.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know much about that.¡± The Sergeant laughed. ¡°But if the Commander says that, it must be true.¡± He then looked at me more specifically. ¡°About that, though, Commander, what did you learn from the prisoners.¡±

    I smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to do a ship-wide briefing later on, Sergeant. Right now, let¡¯s focus on the task at hand.¡±

    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡± This Sergeant must have had courses on raising the morale management as well, because, on top of Jacky¡¯s remarks, he had definitely managed to raise mine and Luna¡¯s morale.

    The entire bridge crew was already present when we arrived. I was glad to see that there were no missing faces amongst them. Although a couple of them did have bandages in different areas, at least they weren¡¯t missing any limbs.

    ¡°Is everyone ready for some good old-fashioned payback?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Aye aye, Commander!¡± Zu yelled out.

    ¡°Alright.¡± I opened the ship¡¯s communication channels. ¡°Prepare to undock.¡± It took Ellie a couple of seconds before she managed to undock herself from the enemy ship.

    ¡°Systems fully restored, Commander. All bulkheads are closed.¡± Ellie notified me.

    ¡°Good.¡± I replied. ¡°McAllister, get us some distance away from that ship if you would.¡±

    ¡°On it, Commander.¡± McAllister quickly got the ship moving out while our enemy kept quiet and sat still in space.

    ¡°I wonder if they have not enough crew to operate her anymore.¡± Zu was thinking out loud.

    ¡°That¡¯s possible. We know we¡¯ve got one of their system engineers, so I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they¡¯re fucked.¡±

    ¡°Maybe we even got their Commander.¡± McAllister theorized.

    ¡°Did we?¡± I asked Ellie.

    ¡°We can¡¯t say for sure, Commander. The enemy armors didn¡¯t betray rank nor function.¡±

    ¡°Huh¡­¡± I shrugged. ¡°Well, I suppose it doesn¡¯t really matter anymore. Please lock all weapons on the enemy vehicle.¡±

    ¡°Done and done, Commander.¡± Zu saluted, her eyes lit by a passionate fire. ¡°Just waiting on the word to fire.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s give it another minute, I wouldn¡¯t want to be caught by the debris of that ship after we¡¯ve blasted it to pieces.¡±

    ¡°Copy that.¡±

    We looked at the screens and saw the enemy ship getting further and further away from us. Still not moving at all.

    ¡°Ellie, there are people still aboard that ship, right?¡±

    ¡°While we have enough information to spot these ships now, Commander, our scanners are not yet advanced enough to penetrate their hull completely. They are having a hard time as is.¡±

    ¡°Fair enough.¡± I shrugged once more.

    ¡°I think we are far enough out now, La¡­ Commander.¡± Luna told me. ¡°Let¡¯s do this¡­ for Sparks.¡± Her left hand trembled.

    ¡°For Sparks indeed.¡± I reached for her hand. She was surprised at first but after she blushed she let me take her hand in mine. I gave it a gentle squeeze.

    ¡°Fireworks, Commander?¡± Jacky spoke out as well.

    I chuckled. ¡°I guess you could say so.¡± I then looked over to the rest of the bridge crew. ¡°Let¡¯s give them hell. Fire all weapon systems.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to tell me twice, Commander.¡± Zu started tapping her screen and immediately we heard the sound of our main guns firing and the torpedoes flying out of their torpedo tubes.

    -As Jacky said¡­. let the fireworks begin.-

 Chapter 27: Well Earned Rest

    It looked as if the enemy ship¡¯s engines fired just before the first shots struck the hull. Just a little too late. The hull started fragmenting as our shots hit the ship¡¯s armor. It was clearly a bit more robust than those bug ships we¡¯d fought before, but still not nearly strong enough to stop the full force of our kinetic weaponry. One of the torpedoes hit the rear of the enemy ship, causing a chain explosion of purple fire that rippled from the back to the front. That¡¯s where they must¡¯ve had their fuel cells. The entire bridge crew looked at the devastation we were causing, and I could tell absolutely no one was feeling the slightest sliver of remorse.

    I¡¯d ordered the crew to cease firing as the ship was totally ruined already. It¡¯s not like we needed to save the ammunition, as we could produce that ourselves, but it would spare our system a bit of bandwidth with the ammunition orders.

    The purple flames kept raging for another hour or so, even after our fire had ceased. Most of us still hadn¡¯t moved and were watching the flames finally die down. Others had taken the opportunity to start their own kind of mourning rituals. We hadn¡¯t lost that many people, but the nature of being on a ship meant that you knew pretty much everyone. In the corner of my eye, I could see Luna was beginning to have a hard time as well. I put my hand on her shoulder. ¡°Hey, why don¡¯t you go and take a rest in our cabin? You must be tired, right?¡±

    She didn¡¯t say anything, she just came closer to me and started crying on my shoulder while solidly grasping the cloth of my collar. She even started shaking. I took her in for a hug to comfort her.

    ¡°Commander, you can go and take her to your cabin. We can hold the bridge for now.¡± Lieutenant Zu lowered her voice as she talked to me so she didn¡¯t disturb the others.

    ¡°Alright, could you start by jumping us away from the border?¡±

    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am, I already had the coordinates planned.¡±

    ¡°Great.¡± I gave her a nod as my arms were a bit occupied. I then looked down and whispered to Luna, who was still crying her heart out. ¡°Luna, come, let¡¯s go.¡± When I tried to move her, I felt her sink through her knees. I knew the feeling all too well.

    Without further ado, I scooped her off her feet and carried her away, leaving my crew at the bridge to manage things for now. Before I left, Jacky gave me a nod. He¡¯d probably be staying to keep an eye out as well.

    The entire way to the cabin, Luna kept crying against my chest. Luckily the area our quarters were in hadn¡¯t really been affected much by the fighting, so it could provide a stable environment for Luna to calm down in. ¡°Shhh, we¡¯re almost there.¡± I tried to soothe her a little bit more. Her crying had someone lessened in intensity, but that was probably more because of the sheer exhaustion.

    The door to our cabin opened with a silent and calm swoosh. Everything was still in the same place, even though it was a lot messier than I had remembered. The initial blasts must¡¯ve knocked down a couple of things. But the cleanup was definitely not going to be too hard.

    I carried Luna to my bed and laid her down. Her eyes were completely swollen red. I sat down next to her on the mattress and gently caressed her cheek. ¡°Hey, do you want something warm to drink?¡±

    She struggled but managed to open her eyes. Luna gave me a nod and tried to speak but only a very faint and coarse ¡®yes¡¯ managed to escape her lips.

    ¡°Alright.¡± I smiled and slowly stood up. Before I went to my small kitchen, I took her shark plush from her own mattress and placed it next to her. She immediately started to hug it tight.

    I was out of milk, so I decided to make her some tea instead. As the water was boiling, I already started to clean up some glasses that had fallen from my shelves and a couple of books that also had found their way to the floor.

    It didn¡¯t take long for the water to boil and for me to rejoin Luna on the bed.

    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.¡°I put a little bit of honey in it for your throat.¡± I gave the cup to her after waiting for her to sit up a bit straighter. ¡°But watch out, it¡¯s still hot.¡±

    Luna heeded my warning and blew some of the steam away. ¡°Thanks.¡±

    I smiled at her and then stared in front of me into the room. It was so quiet now. I put my face into my hands to rub a bit of warmth in my eyes and cheeks, and felt my hair fall over my hands. -My hair must look a complete and utter mess right now¡­-

    ¡°I probably should go and take a shower¡­¡± I said as I tried to stand up from my mattress, yet again. But before I could, Luna had grabbed me by the back of my shirt.

    ¡°Are¡­¡± It sounded like speaking physically hurt her right now. It was painful to watch. ¡°You okay?¡±

    I chuckled and sat back down again. It was touching how she could still think of me after having gone through so much pain today. It made me feel like I wasn¡¯t alone in this, and that helped a lot. ¡°I will be. Thank you for asking.¡±

    Luna drank a bit from her tea. After which she gave the cup to me so I could put it on the bedside table. She then brought her hand to the side of her head with a pained expression. ¡°My head hurts a lot.¡± Her voice sounded a bit better now. The honey must¡¯ve helped a bit.

    ¡°Yeah, that happens when you cry that much. Do you want me to get your painkillers?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ please¡­¡±

    I gave her a smile and stood up, heading towards the bathroom, where Luna¡¯s special painkillers had been stored. That reminded me¡­ I hadn¡¯t taken my own pills yet either¡­

    When I entered the bathroom, I was overwhelmed by the utter mess. Since the door had been closed, I hadn¡¯t seen what kind of chaos was waiting for me in here. I¡¯d apparently forgotten to close the bathroom cabinet yesterday and that meant that all the pill bottles, tooth brushes, etc. had decided to take a trip into the kitchen sink and onto the floor. At least the pill bottles had all stayed close so I wouldn¡¯t have to start deciphering which pills were what exactly.

    I couldn¡¯t really be bothered right now and just searched for the pills I needed at this moment. It took me a couple of minutes but I¡¯d finally managed to gather the bottles of pills I needed.

    With the bottles in hand, I closed the bathroom door behind me, I didn¡¯t want to look at that disaster right now, and got a glass of water for both Luna and me.

    ¡°Here.¡± I offered a glass to Luna and put my own on the ground. I then unscrewed the lid and handed her a painkiller too.

    She didn¡¯t waste a second to swallow it. ¡°Thank you¡­¡± She offered the glass back so I could put it on the bedside table next to the tea.

    Then I found myself sitting down next to Luna once more.

    ¡°You should¡­ you should rest too.¡± Luna told me and moved a little bit so I¡¯d have some space to lay down on the bed as well.

    I quickly swallowed my own pills before putting my glass back down again. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡±

    ¡°You should.¡± She tried to raise her voice a little but the only thing that managed to accomplish was a painful cough.

    ¡°Luna¡­¡± I looked at her. Her facial expression was so sad, yet full of concern. Concern for me.

    She slowly reached out for me and crawled a bit closer again.

    ¡°Luna¡­¡± I repeated but she didn¡¯t stop there. She laid her hand on my shoulder and pulled me towards her, as she dropped herself towards the mattress. Dragging me down with her.

    I was too tired¡­ too exhausted¡­ or I just couldn¡¯t be bothered to resist. I had become trapped within the comfort of Luna¡¯s embrace. And once I had laid my head down on her, the adrenaline my energy was still running on, decided to call it quits for the day. It was getting increasingly hard to keep my leaden eyelids open, and I definitely couldn¡¯t be asked to take off any of my clothes anymore. Even my shoes would have to live with being kept on for the night.

    My mind started to drift off, away from reality.

    ¡°Good night¡­ Lauren¡­¡± Luna whispered.

    ¡°Good night¡­¡± I mumbled back, just before my lights went out entirely.

 Chapter 27 Bis: A Bittersweet Goodbye

    Even if my body still wanted to, I just couldn¡¯t cry anymore, at all. It was as if my tear ducts had completely dried up. It had managed to give me a banger of a headache, though. At least Lauren had been incredibly kind to me, staying with me when I asked her too, taking care of me, giving me my special painkillers. And now she was sleeping on me. It must have been so exhausting for her as well. Appearing strong in front of everyone was probably a lot harder than just letting your emotions run loose. My head was still hurting a lot, but I felt the painkiller starting to take effect. I didn¡¯t want to wake Lauren up, so I just leaned back and grabbed my plushie shark to rest my head on top off. After that, my lights went out pretty fast.

    ¡°Oh, for fucks sake, my back.¡± I woke up to Lauren¡¯s groaning. ¡°Shit, did I wake you up?¡± She must¡¯ve seen me move a little.

    ¡°No¡­¡± My voice was still pretty much gone.

    ¡°Sorry.¡± She saw through my little lie. ¡°I think sleeping in that position kinda fucked up my back.¡± Lauren sat upright on the side of the bed, her hand on her lower back.

    ¡°What¡­ what time is it¡­? I managed to ask.

    ¡°We¡¯ve only been asleep for a couple of hours, you can go back to sleep again.¡± Lauren got up from the bed to stretch her back a little. When she did, I heard it crack quite clearly. ¡°Ouch...¡± She then moved her hip. ¡°Well, at least it¡¯s loose again.¡±

    ¡°Come¡­ sleep some more too¡­¡±

    She turned around to look at me, she smiled. ¡°I will, I am just going to get some layers off.¡± She then proceeded to throw off her pants and the top of her uniform.

    That was probably not a bad idea. I slowly managed to get out of my own clothes as well, I just threw them behind the bed. It was the same thing Lauren was doing, after all.

    ¡°Is your head still hurting?¡± Lauren had already turned back around and was looking at me.

    The pain had subsided quite a bit but I didn¡¯t really feel that good, but I guess that was normal. But to put her at ease, I just nodded.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll refill your glass of water and then I¡¯ll join you again, if you¡¯d mind scooting up a bit.¡±

    I gave her another nod and watched her as she took my glass and headed with it to the tap. She stood by it to drink a bit herself before walking back over. In the meantime, I had made some more space for her on the bed.

    She handed the glass to me and then got in bed beside me. ¡°Drink up. It¡¯ll help. Crying dehydrates you a lot.¡± She said in a semi-commanding yet concerned tone.

    I dared not go against her wishes, so I did as she said. Water was not my favorite drink but it was the best at quenching thirst, that¡¯s something that no one could deny. I finished off the glass and handed it back to her. She looked pleased about that and put the glass away on the bedside table. Lauren then just laid down and looked at the ceiling. So I just did the same, with my shark in my arms.

    ¡°What are we going to do tomorrow?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Keep jumping as far as we can, I suppose.¡± She replied. ¡°I should also think about doing a remembrance service¡­ But first we need to get as far away from this ¡®Empire¡¯ as fast as possible.¡± Lauren rolled on her side so she could look at me. ¡°But those are questions for tomorrow, right now, get some more sleep.¡± She smiled.

    The Empire¡­ this mess was all their fault¡­ But I guess now I knew for certain that the humans were definitely not involved with them. Or at least not on this operational level. I¡¯d stuck out my neck a couple of times today to help Lauren make the right decisions¡­ but it still felt really bad having to keep this all away from her. Maybe I wasn¡¯t cut out for spy work after all.

    ¡°Luna?¡± Lauren poked me softly on my cheek.

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°Weren¡¯t you listening?¡±

    ¡°Sorry¡­ I wasn¡¯t¡­¡±

    Lauren smiled. ¡°That¡¯s fine. I just wanted to thank you again for being here for me.¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah¡­ no problem¡­¡± Her impeccable timing made me feel even guiltier.

    She kept looking at me as if she wanted to say something but after a couple of seconds she just shook her head and then rolled back on her back. ¡°Have a good night, Luna.¡±

    ¡°You too¡­ Lauren.¡± I squeaked and hugged my shark a little bit more to hug away the awkward silence that had suddenly grown between us.

    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.When Lauren clicked out the lights, it didn¡¯t take very long for me to fall asleep.

    The next couple of days were spent jumping from star system to star system, really pushing our engines to the limits. We normally had a bit of downtime in between jumps, but Lauren insisted on creating as much distance in as little time. I couldn¡¯t say I disagreed with that. The Empire was a dangerous foe, and even more so for one single ship. In the meantime, the repairs went on without stopping, too. Meaning that after four days, there was barely any evidence left that there¡¯d been heavy fighting aboard. Life aboard the ship slowly but surely returned to usual, which is the exact reason why Lauren decided now was probably the best time to mourn our losses. In total, we lost fifteen crew members to the attack. With their bodies temporarily preserved, the time had finally come for them to get a proper burial.

    The Commander¡¯s speech at the funeral was beautiful. She¡¯d deliberately put the emphasis on the happy times we¡¯d spent with the people who we had lost. She¡¯d gone on, collecting stories from other crew members, and had worked those beautifully into her exposition. One of those stories she¡¯d told was the events at the gym where I¡¯d met Corporal Sparks for the first time. Her speech distinctly lacked any jingoistic rhetoric towards the Empire, which surprised me quite a bit.

    After the ceremony, when the bodies had been cremated, our little group gathered at the officer lounge for a drink.

    ¡°Lauren, I expected a bit more military bravado from your speech.¡± Eva commented, I was clearly not the only one who¡¯d noticed.

    ¡°I know.¡± Lauren took a sip from her glass of whiskey. This was her first glass of alcohol since the attack. She¡¯d asked for my help keeping her straight and I had been doing so, she asked for an exception just for this sole glass. I saw no issues with that. I even got a glass for myself as well, albeit very watered down. ¡°I have rewritten that speech so many times but I think it is best like this.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong, I like the peaceful approach a bit more. The tension amongst the crew was pretty high but I have noticed it dropped down a little.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± Lauren nodded. ¡°I mainly wanted to avoid people going out to form a lynch mob to hurt the prisoners.¡±

    ¡°What are we going to do with them in the long run?¡± Gunny asked. He¡¯d just taken a normal beer. ¡°We can¡¯t keep them forever, can we?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true but I¡¯ve not really decided yet.¡± Lauren replied. ¡°The only thing I don¡¯t want to do is outright kill them.¡±

    ¡°We can drop them off on some suitable planet with a couple of starting supplies.¡± Yuki proposed.

    ¡°That¡¯s a possibility but has its disadvantages too¡­ I¡¯ll have to think this through a lot more but now is not really the time for that.¡±

    ¡°I think we all understand that.¡± Eva smiled and tipped her cocktail glass just a little before taking a sip from it.

    The day ended with a huge karaoke scene. Apparently one of the people who had passed away in the raid was a big karaoke fan and to honor him, some others had decided that the best way of doing that, would be to hold one big karaoke party. Lauren, Yuki and Gunny all agreed to join in too, and despite my best efforts to politely decline I was dragged in as well. But in the end, it ended up being quite fun. And it was good to see everyone smiling this much, although nobody could keep it quite dry either.

    On our way back to the cabin, Lauren chuckled a little as she pressed the elevator button. ¡°I never thought you would be such a Pimsey fan.¡±

    ¡°I just didn¡¯t know any other songs.¡± I pouted.

    ¡°Hey, it was cute, so I didn¡¯t mind. Are you that much into fairy tales and stuff like that?¡±

    ¡°Hmmm.¡± She asked a pretty good question. I¡¯d never really thought about it but I guess the Pimsey princesses did speak to me in a way¡­ just as much as cute plushies and cute clothes did¡­ ¡°I guess so¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve never really watched any, so if you have any recommendations, we can maybe watch one together? Our media library has all of them, or should have at least.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d love that.¡± I smiled as the elevator reached our floor. ¡°I already know which one to watch first.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be waiting with high expectations.¡± She winked. And yet again, she¡¯d managed to make my heart skip a beat¡­

 Chapter 28: Thatâ€™s Definitely Something

    Luna¡¯s Pimsey songs during the karaoke were so darn cute that I just couldn¡¯t help but tease her a little afterwards. So after I¡¯d asked her to show a couple of her favorites, I continued about it while we walked back to the cabin.

    ¡°Hey, you know you do actually have a really nice singing voice, don¡¯t you? I sounded like a drowning cat in comparison.¡±

    ¡°T-thank you.¡± She blushed. ¡°But I think you sing pretty well too¡­¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to flatter me, I know I¡¯m not a very good singer.¡±

    ¡°But you are!¡± Luna insisted. ¡°And the way you show your confidence is also really cool. I was immediately enamored when you started singing.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡± It was my time to blush instead. ¡°I guess we both need to be a bit more confident in our abilities then.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± Luna nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s do the karaoke again one day¡­ it was fun.¡±

    ¡°On that, we can definitely agree on.¡± I nodded as well and opened the door to our cabin. ¡°You can shower first so I can make the bed, okay?¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± Luna agreed and immediately diverted off to the bathroom.

    We¡¯d opted to stow away the other mattress, as my bed was the only one we¡¯d been using lately anyway. It gave us a bit more room and also less work to keep things clean.

    Since we had to get out of bed a bit hectically this morning, as we both slept through the alarm I¡¯d set, we didn¡¯t have time to make the bed. It was always nicer to sleep in a made bed than it did in a messy one. In my opinion at least.

    ¡°Hey, Lauren!¡± Luna yelled for me.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I yelled back. I¡¯d only just neatly put the pillows back in place.

    ¡°The shampoo is out!¡±

    I walked up to the bathroom door to spare my voice. ¡°Is it? I¡¯m pretty sure I just got a new bottle.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t see it anywhere, and there¡¯s only an empty bottle in here.¡±

    ¡°Ah, wait, I think I left it next to the sink.¡±

    ¡°Oh, yeah, I think I see it. Thanks.¡± I heard her step out of the shower and walk over to the sink.I walked back to the bed with a huge grin on my face. I really liked living together with her. I really did. And with everything settling back to normal¡­ I think now actually might be a good time¡­

    I waited for Luna to be finished showering and waved her over to sit next to me on the bed as she walked out of the bathroom. The rose-scented perfume of the new shampoo bottle smelled lovely.

    ¡°Is something the matter?¡± She asked, curious as to why I waved her over.

    I looked at her and smiled softly. ¡°I actually wanted to talk to you about something.¡±

    She nodded and let me continue.

    ¡°I told you I wanted to take some time to think things through¡­ you know¡­ about being together? I think I¡¯ve thought things through enough now.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡± At first, she reacted by smiling, but quite quickly that smile soured a little.

    ¡°Hey, you¡¯ve not heard my answer yet.¡± I tried to cheer her up a little. ¡°Don¡¯t you want to hear it first before drawing conclusions?¡±

    She put her hand on mine and then looked at me. ¡°Lauren¡­ I already know your answer¡­ it¡¯s pretty clear¡­ but¡­¡± She looked away from me for a second before looking back, tears had begun to form.

    This sudden turn of events had completely confused me. ¡°Oh, hey, why are you crying? I thought you would be happy to hear this?¡±

    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

    ¡°I.. I am¡­ I am very happy¡­ but at the same time¡­ it makes me feel so wrong¡­¡±

    ¡°What? Why? I don¡¯t think I understand.¡±

    She pulled her hand away from mine and stood up. ¡°I¡­ I thought I could delay this for a lot longer¡­ I thought I could live this life with you for just a little bit more¡­ To be happy¡­ But it¡¯s all a lie¡­¡±

    ¡°A lie? What are you talking about?¡± I stood up from the mattress as well. ¡°Don¡¯t you want to be in a committed relationship with me? Did I understand that all wrong?¡±

    ¡°I do¡­ I do, I really want to be in that kind of a relationship with you¡­ but¡­¡± She glanced at the door of my cabin. If she wanted to run I would¡¯ve let her, of course I wouldn¡¯t block her way. But she decided against it and stared back at me, her tears now rolling down her cheeks.

    I approached her but for every step I took she took one away from me. ¡°But what?¡± I asked gently.

    ¡°A-after everything that¡¯s happened¡­ I¡¯ve been lying to you¡­ And it just doesn¡¯t¡­ I don¡¯t feel like I can go on like this¡­ especially not if you¡­¡± She took a deep breath. ¡°If you love me like that¡­ So now it¡¯s time for me to stop lying. And face the consequences.¡±

    ¡°Lying to who? To me?¡±

    ¡°To¡­ to you, to Eva, Yuki, Gunny, everyone on this ship!¡±

    ¡°Luna¡­ what¡¯s going on?¡±

    She brought her hands to her face and covered her eyes. ¡°Please Lauren, just shut up¡­ at least for a bit¡­¡± Luna sounded incredibly desperate.

    ¡°Alright¡­ alright¡­¡± I backed off away from her and took a seat on the mattress again. ¡°Take all the time you need.¡±

    I listened to her heavy breathing as she tried to calm herself. I waited patiently as she removed her hands from her eyes and wiped away the tears. I said nothing as she silently took a seat on one of the dinner table¡¯s chairs. Minutes went by in silence as she was thinking.

    ¡°I¡­¡± She started but she fell silent again for a minute or so. ¡°There¡¯s no way to easily say this¡­ and if you want to hate me, or kill me after this¡­ I¡¯m fine with that. I can¡¯t live on like this anymore.¡±

    ¡°Kill you? Why would I¡­¡± Luna stopped me with a gesture of her hand, so I let her continue.

    ¡°The Luna you know¡­ doesn¡¯t exist.¡±

    It¡¯s good that Luna had asked me to shut up, because I didn¡¯t have an idea as to what to say. So I just waited to hear her out.

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ I¡­¡± She continued. ¡°I¡¯ve been sent here¡­ to spy on you¡­ Not on you, you¡­ but on you as in humanity, and this ship¡­ And its mission¡­¡± She glanced up at me to gauge my reaction, but I just stayed still while I processed it all.

    ¡°So, what you are saying is¡­ that you are an alien who was sent to keep tabs on us? Are you part of this empire?¡± I looked over to the kitchen counter where I¡¯d left my sidearm, if I sprinted for it now I could probably get there first but I didn¡¯t sense any danger from her at all.

    ¡°No, no.¡± Luna immediately denied. ¡°I¡¯m not part of the Empire. I was sent here by¡­¡± She stopped for a second, probably doubting if she could say whatever she was going to say next. ¡°I was sent here by The Conglomerate¡­ It¡¯s a union of planets¡­ of sorts¡­ It¡¯s actually because we feared for the influence of the Empire that we wanted to investigate Earth¡­¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ So, that¡¯s why you came up with that plan with the deity? You knew something about those races?¡±

    She nodded.

    ¡°And why did they think the Empire was influencing us?¡±

    ¡°There are multiple factors, one of which is probably paranoia.¡± Luna explained. ¡°The Conglomerate has had a very violent history with the Empire¡­ And since Earth has had such a violent history¡­¡± Understatement of the millennium, right there.

    I thought for a second. ¡°And what if your reports to your people put us in a bad light, what would happen then?¡±

    Luna¡¯s expression turned even more sad than it already was. ¡°Probably¡­ annihilation.¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound good.¡±

    Luna shook her head before she looked back at me. ¡°Why¡­ why are you taking this so well?¡±

    I raised my hand to make her wait a bit. ¡°Can you first tell me¡­ how did you get that body? Did you steal it from anyone?¡±

    ¡°No! I would never do that!¡± She violently shook her head and crossed her arms as if to protect her body. ¡°I¡­ I have this device¡­ that lets me¡­ mimic¡­ the physiology of races that at least somewhat resemble our own in appearance¡­ It doesn¡¯t do it perfectly, but most surface level tests would easily be fooled¡­¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t do it perfectly¡­¡± That¡¯s probably why she¡¯s such a lightweight when it comes to medication and alcohol¡­ ¡°...and a second question¡­ have you ever killed anyone?¡±

    ¡°Apart from that Imperial soldier¡­ I¡¯ve not.¡± She shook her head again.

    ¡°Sabotage?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± And once more, she shook her head.

    ¡°Have you ever wanted to harm any of us?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely not.¡± She¡¯d started crying again by now. Looking at the floor.

    I stood up from my seat on the bed and approached her slowly. I then crouched down before her so she could look at me without having to raise her head too much. ¡°Then I don¡¯t see many issues, do you?¡±

    ¡°But¡­ I¡¯m a spy¡­ I lied to you¡­¡±

    ¡°You did.¡± I nodded. ¡°And you are. But you came clean, didn¡¯t you? We¡¯ll have to figure out how to continue in the near future.¡± I put my hand on her knee. ¡°But right now, please stop crying, okay?¡±

    She sniffed. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ll try¡­¡±

    ¡°And there¡¯s one more thing¡­ if you don¡¯t mind¡­¡±

    ¡°W-what¡¯s that¡­?¡± She sniffed again and wiped the tears out of her eyes.

    ¡°I¡¯d like to see your true form¡­ if that¡¯s okay?¡±

    She processed my question for a bit but after a minute she nodded. ¡°Okay¡­ I¡¯ll have to go and grab something in my other cabin¡­¡±

    -While I was letting my curiosity get the upper hand on me right now¡­ in the back of my head¡­ the threat of total annihilation of my planet¡­ Let¡¯s just try to avoid that at all costs¡­-

 Chapter 28 Bis: The Other Side of the Coin

    I had just taken a shower when Lauren had asked me to come and sit down with her on the bed. While I didn¡¯t immediately know why, it didn¡¯t take very long for me to see what was coming up¡­ And it completely flipped my mood around. I¡¯d hoped to keep living the lie a little bit longer, but I couldn¡¯t just keep lying and misleading her. Especially not now that she¡¯d started to like me¡­

    So I told her, I told her everything. I saw her glance at her pistol for a second, but I wasn¡¯t afraid, if she¡¯d chosen to act on it, I wouldn¡¯t have blamed her at all and I wouldn¡¯t have tried to stop her either... But she didn¡¯t, she listened to me, patiently, although I had to ask her to be quiet a couple of times to formulate sentences in my head, she listened and gave me the time I needed¡­

    She didn¡¯t attack me, she didn¡¯t yell at me, from what I could tell she wasn¡¯t even angry. It¡¯s as if she¡¯d always imagined this to be some kind of possibility that just came true. Even when I told her about the possible fate of her planet, she stayed calm. She even calmed me down instead¡­

    I guess I should¡¯ve expected this from her¡­ After all, she was the person I¡¯d fallen for.

    That¡¯s when she came out with her request. ¡°I¡¯d like to see your true form¡­ if that¡¯s okay?¡± Of course, she would frame her question like that. Always leaving me the room to say no. I couldn¡¯t deny her request. Although that didn¡¯t mean I was terribly comfortable with what I was going to do. I¡¯d really grown to like this body, and I didn¡¯t want to scare her off. But she¡¯d asked.

    We headed to my old cabin. Lauren locked the door behind her as I headed towards my old desk and grabbed my spying equipment.

    I handed over a couple of the communication devices to her.

    ¡°You use this to contact your people?¡±

    I nodded. ¡°This one is for contact purposes, and this can form an area around you through which sound can¡¯t pass.¡± I explained.

    ¡°That¡¯s useful.¡± She looked at it a little better in her hand before putting it on the desk. ¡°And that box is¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the device I use to alter my¡­ being¡­¡± I took the inconspicuous slim black box out and handed it over to Lauren.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t look like it can open.¡± She flipped it around a couple of times, looking for seams or hidden buttons.

    ¡°That¡¯s so no one can accidentally activate it.¡± I put up my hands to receive my little black box back again. Lauren didn¡¯t waste a lot of time handing it back. I sighed as I held it in my hands. With just a couple of relatively simple steps, I¡¯d be able to reveal my true form to Lauren, the woman I loved.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to. If you don¡¯t feel comfortable showing it to me.¡± Lauren replied. ¡°I¡¯ll just take it on your word that you are not some giant crab monster or something.¡±

    Her little joke made me laugh. ¡°That¡¯s oddly specific.¡±

    ¡°If you are, that¡¯s fine too, but please don¡¯t pinch me.¡± She gave me a cheeky wink.

    ¡°I¡¯ll show you.¡± I say, resolved in my decision by her jokingly encouragement. ¡°Although you should probably turn around.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡± Lauren tilted her head.

    ¡°It¡¯s just that I need to undress for this¡­ I don¡¯t want to destroy the clothes.¡± I blushed.

    ¡°Ah! Oh¡­¡± She quickly turned around on her heel and stared at the wall.

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°No, thank you for confiding in me.¡± Lauren replied. -I love that woman so much¡­-

    I¡¯d slowly undressed and had put my clothes in a neat pile in front of me. I then put the black disguise kit in my hands and spoke to it while holding on to the sides. ¡°Open up.¡± I said in my native language. Lauren didn¡¯t comment on it. Light blue lines appeared on the box so I could pull it open, revealing a screen. ¡°It will only take a little while longer.¡± I said to Lauren.

    ¡°Take all the time you need.¡±

    With that, I pressed a series of buttons, after which the little box started to work its magic on my body. I didn¡¯t really know how it worked and how it didn¡¯t hurt, but in just a couple of minutes time, I was back in my original body. Tail and horns included. I took up my shirt and buttoned it up again before I talked to Lauren again. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m ready.¡±

    Lauren turned around slowly and let her eyes fall onto me. She took a step back and looked me up and down.

    ¡°I¡¯d expected something less¡­ androgynous¡­ Not that that¡¯s bad or anything. The tail and horns are a nice addition, though. And purple is definitely one of my favorite colors.¡±

    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.Lauren¡¯s comment made me chuckle a little. ¡°My race is very androgynous.¡± I replied. ¡°We don¡¯t really have pronounced genders like you humans do.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t sound or look very happy about that.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ Don¡¯t I?¡± I hadn¡¯t even noticed.

    ¡°Not really.¡±

    ¡°I do like my human body a lot more.¡± I admitted. ¡°But this is who I was born as.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ that black box, does it allow you to change your original body too?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ uh¡­ I actually don¡¯t know.¡± I replied.

    Lauren approached me and signaled to take the box from me. I handed it over to her.

    ¡°I only really know how to switch between these two bodies.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± Lauren looked at the box, but it was back to its inactive state. ¡°If we could find a way to change it¡­ how would you feel about looking into a more feminine ¡®alien¡¯ body?¡±

    ¡°I hadn¡¯t really thought about that¡­¡± I replied. ¡°But I don¡¯t think I¡¯d be opposed to that¡­¡±

    ¡°It would require us to tell some people about you first, though. It would be a little bit too sudden if we¡¯d just go to¡­ Eva, for example, or Yuki, with this now.¡± She offered the box back to me. ¡°But for now, let¡¯s get you back in your comfy body.¡± She gave me a wink.

    ¡°Right after you turn around again¡­¡± I blushed, to which the Commander blushed as well.

    ¡°Right¡­¡±

    I was so happy to be back in my body and with my clothes back on. Lauren had noticed it as well, as she smiled at me.

    ¡°Let¡¯s head back to our cabin.¡±

    ¡°After all this, you still want to share your room with me?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡± Lauren continued smiling. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I?¡±

    The corners of my lips pulled into a smile as well. I¡¯d expected her to say that but I was happy about it nonetheless.

    ¡°And if you want¡­ I could still be your girlfriend as well.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d like nothing more.¡± I replied and went in for a hug. She accepted me with open arms.

    ¡°It¡¯s actually pretty funny if you think about it¡­ In the end, I still got my alien girlfriend.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right, you did talk about that, didn¡¯t you.¡±

    ¡°Did you forget?¡± Lauren chuckled.

    ¡°Maybe a little bit.¡±

    ¡°How could you?¡± She laughed again. ¡°That was my biggest secret.¡±

    ¡°Haha.¡±

    After Lauren and I broke off the hug, the both of us went to her cabin. This time I took all my spy gear with me to her cabin as well.

    ¡°Where can I put this?¡±

    ¡°There must be an empty drawer somewhere. Just toss it in that.¡±

    ¡°You make it sound like these are but mere trinkets.¡±

    ¡°In the end, it¡¯s just a tool for a job.¡± Lauren started to search through a couple of cabinets. ¡°Here, you can put it next to the small towels.¡±

    ¡°Thanks¡­¡± I walked over and put the gear in the cabinet Lauren had opened. It felt a bit weird how the mood had flipped from such a dark place to being so lighthearted in a matter of an hour.

    ¡°So back on the first planet we landed on, those explorers were part of your race as well, right? They also had horns and tails, if I recall correctly.¡± Lauren asked while sitting back on the side of her bed.

    ¡°Yes, those explorers were Qhaba''Qhazd too.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what your race is called, huh¡­ Qhaba¡­?¡±

    ¡°Qhaba¡¯Qhazd.¡± I repeated myself.

    ¡°I see, Qhaba¡¯Qhazd¡­¡± Lauren scratched her chin. ¡°Back then, when we were in the labs, you reacted pretty poorly to seeing their bodies.¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t only that.¡± I replied and filled two glasses of water in the meantime. ¡°I saw something that I wasn¡¯t allowed to see.¡±

    ¡°That being?¡±

    I brought her a glass and sat down next to her. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure our race has been genetically manipulated.¡±

    Lauren took a sip from her glass of water. ¡°And that¡¯s bad?¡±

    ¡°It perplexes me.¡± I replied. ¡°We have all been taught that our genetic code should not be looked at, ever, let alone be tampered with¡­ It¡¯s one of the biggest crimes that one could commit.¡±

    ¡°Yet your code has been tampered with¡­ and not to mention your little black box of magic over there.¡± She pointed towards the cabinet I had put my gear in.

    ¡°But that¡¯s different.¡±

    ¡°How?¡±

    ¡°....¡± I couldn¡¯t give her an answer to that. I had admitted earlier that I didn¡¯t really know how the box worked¡­ but I¡¯d always assumed that¡­ They¡¯d not betray my trust.

    Lauren softly bumped her shoulder against me and then put her hand on mine. ¡°We¡¯ll figure stuff out. Together.¡± She smiled and leaned in, giving me a kiss on the cheek.

    ¡°Yeah¡­ together.¡± I smiled back. I could feel my cheeks burning.

 Chapter 29: Betting on a Better Future

    -One week later-

    I woke up next to my beautiful human alien girlfriend. Having been officially in a relationship for a week now, things really hadn¡¯t changed that much. Apart from Luna being just a little bit more clingy and that our conversations had shifted subjects quite a bit. But that was more related to the other discovery than to our relationship.

    ¡°We should get dressed and head to the bridge, Luna.¡± I poked her on her cheek as she lay on top of my chest.

    ¡°Mhmmm¡­. just a little bit longer.¡± That was one other thing that had changed. Luna had gotten a lot more at ease now that I knew her secret so she slept incredibly soundly. Though it might be related to the ¡®clingy part¡¯ too. I had become her main cuddle partner over Sharky after all. But don¡¯t be too sad about that, Sharky still got plenty of attention.

    ¡°No, Luna, we really need to go. We were almost too late yesterday as well.¡±

    ¡°Urgh¡­ if we really have to.¡±

    ¡°We do, come on now.¡± I poked her cheek again.

    ¡°Alriiiight¡­¡± She groggily got off of me and headed towards the dresser to put on her uniform. Of course, I did the same. ¡°Don¡¯t forget to take your pills.¡±

    ¡°On it.¡± I nodded and headed over to the bathroom once I had my uniform jacket on. Popping a couple of my pills down the hatch. And just like that, I was pretty much ready for the rest of the day.

    We arrived at the bridge a couple of minutes before our shift was about to start. The others were already at their post except for Lieutenant Zu who walked in right behind us.

    ¡°Where are we headed today, Commander?¡± Lieutenant Zu asked.

    ¡°Same place as yesterday.¡± I replied. A couple of days ago, we¡¯d spotted a huge cluster of metal holding asteroids at the edge of our detection range. Which is where we were heading. Our stocks of metals and minerals wasn¡¯t anywhere close to being depleted, but stocking up on it while marking the area for future mining expeditions didn¡¯t hurt.

    We¡¯d managed to get quite far away from the Empire¡¯s border. According to Luna, there was almost no chance of encountering them here. And thanks to some extra intel we¡¯d managed to get out of our prisoner, we¡¯d also managed to plot out a safe route for everyone who followed us in our footsteps. We still needed to relay this safe route back to Earth, but at least they were aware of our hostile encounter. I did have the feeling that they were somewhat underestimating the severity of the situation, though.

    Luna in the meantime was already sending off the coordinates for our new jump.

    ¡°XO, did you sleep well? You have pretty big bags under your eyes.¡± Zu asked before they went to her station.

    ¡°Oh, yeah, I slept pretty well. I¡¯m just not good at getting up¡­¡±

    ¡°Did the Commander keep you up for too long?¡±

    Luna blushed a little. ¡°No, not at all¡­¡±

    ¡°Zu, get to work already.¡± I chuckled.

    ¡°Aye aye, Commander.¡± Zu gave me a wink and headed towards her station so we could start the first jump of the shift.

    While the ship was zooming through space, Eva came onto the bridge.

    ¡°Commander.¡± She greeted me.

    ¡°Doctor.¡± I greeted her back. ¡°Are you looking for something?¡±

    ¡°In fact, I am.¡± She replied.  ¡°I¡¯m looking for Ensign Adams, have you seen him?¡±

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    ¡°No, I haven¡¯t seen him yet today, why do you need him?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s scheduled for his anti-space sickness shot. But he¡¯s already half an hour too late.¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°And you¡¯ve looked in his cabin?¡±

    ¡°I have.¡± She nodded. ¡°Noone¡¯s home.¡±

    ¡°Ellie, do you know where Ensign Adams is?¡±

    ¡°I have last seen him in corridor 12B, Commander.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°He was heading towards the bathroom as he looked a bit pale.¡±

    ¡°Goddess, sometimes I still forget that we have an AI on board.¡±

    ¡°Did you or did you just want to come and chat with us?¡±

    ¡°Maybe a bit of both.¡± Eva smirked. ¡°And now that I¡¯m here anyway. How would you and our lovely Lieutenant-Commander like it to come and have dinner at my place this evening?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d definitely not mind.¡± Luna replied, she¡¯d been listening in on the conversation.

    ¡°Looks like we¡¯ll be coming then.¡± I gave Eva a nod.

    ¡°Great, I¡¯ll be expecting you after shift then.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm, we¡¯ll go take a shower first and then we¡¯ll come over.¡±

    Eva gave me a thumbs up and then looked behind her to the exit of the bridge. ¡°Now, let¡¯s go and relieve Ensign Adams of his problem. See you later.¡±

    ¡°Bye.¡± I waved her off as she left.

    ¡°Lauren?¡± Luna poked me in my side and whispered softly.

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    ¡°Have you ever had space sickness?¡±

    ¡°I have, back when I was just a rookie. Physical exertion really doesn¡¯t help.¡± I chuckled. ¡°And let me tell you, being nauseous in a space suit isn¡¯t fun.¡±

    ¡°I can imagine¡­¡±

    ¡°But I got used to it pretty fast so I got lucky with that. Some people never really grow out of it. At least there¡¯s some pretty good medicine for that.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± Luna nodded and then we both went back to work.

    We¡¯d gotten within a day of travel from the mineral rich asteroid field when our shift ended. Luna and I proceeded to our cabin and quickly got showered so we didn¡¯t have to let Eva wait for too long. When we finally got to her cabin, I knocked on the door.

    ¡°Coming!¡± Eva called out. ¡°Give me a second!¡±

    I looked at Luna and gave her a smile, after which I leaned against the door.

    ¡°Should we have taken a gift with us?¡± Luna asked.

    ¡°I got a box of chocolates with me.¡± I took out a relatively small red box. ¡°It¡¯s pralin¨¦. She likes these.¡±

    ¡°Oh, why didn¡¯t you tell me? I¡¯d like to have taken something with me as well.¡±

    ¡°I mean¡­ it¡¯s a gift from both of us anyway, right?¡± I winked. ¡°It¡¯s not like it¡¯d have cost us money.¡±

    ¡°I suppose.¡± Luna pouted a little.

    ¡°Ah, c¡¯mon, don¡¯t be like that.¡± I poked her in her side to tease her a little.

    Luna continued pouting but I could see a smile creeping through.

    ¡°Having a little lover¡¯s quarrel in front of my cabin, are we?¡± Eva opened the door. ¡°Sorry for the wait, I had to put away something first.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± I offered her the small red box full of chocolates. ¡°Here, this is from Luna and me.¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡± Eva smiled as she accepted the box. ¡°That must¡¯ve cost you a lot of time at the synthesizer.

    ¡°Around two minutes.¡± I smiled.

    Eva laughed. ¡°Such an investment from our esteemed Commander. Now all the others are going to be jealous.¡±

    ¡°I know right.¡±

    Eva then stepped aside to let Luna and me enter. Her cabin was smelling like tomato soup.

    ¡°It smells nice here.¡± Luna commented.

    ¡°Yep, I made some gazpacho as a starter.¡± Eva nodded. ¡°It¡¯s the tomatoes and herbs that you¡¯re smelling.¡±

    -I was so close, but I guess gazpacho technically is a kind of tomato soup.-

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve not eaten that before.¡± Luna replied and sat down on one of the chairs at Eva¡¯s table.

    ¡°Haven¡¯t you? Then I hope I won¡¯t destroy its taste for you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll taste wonderful.¡± Luna smiled.

    ¡°Eva can cook pretty well, that much is true.¡± I smiled too and sat down next to my partner.

    ¡°Would you like to start immediately, or would you like something to drink first?¡± Eva walked to her small fridge.

    ¡°Something to drink would be fine.¡± I agreed.

    ¡°Still no alcohol, right?¡±

    ¡°Nope. Trying to be a responsible Commander.¡± I chuckled.

    ¡°You¡¯re definitely doing a good job keeping her in line, Luna.¡± Eva laughed. ¡°I got some juice made from apples and cherries, would you like to try that?¡±

    ¡°Sounds good.¡± Luna nodded. I did as well.

    With a drink in our hands, I leaned back into the chair and sipped from my glass. While I could clearly taste the apples, the cherry flavor was a lot more subtle. I honestly wasn¡¯t even sure if I could discern this from normal apple juice if you blindfolded me.

    ¡°Tell me if I¡¯m overstepping my boundaries.¡± Eva started after taking a sip of her own. ¡°But you two are a thing now, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    I looked at Luna before I gave Eva an affirmative nod. ¡°I guess you could say that.¡±

    ¡°Thank the Goddess, finally. I was wondering how long it would take you two to be living together to figure that one out. I was starting to feel so bad for Luna.¡±

    ¡°I just needed to figure out some things first.¡± I replied. ¡°I think the both of us needed to do that before agreeing upon a relationship.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± Luna nodded. ¡°And the invasion didn¡¯t help¡­¡±

    ¡°Not at all.¡± I agreed. ¡°But at least we got through it in the end, and I think we are both stronger for it.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s nice to hear.¡± Eva smiled. ¡°But just to be sure. How long have you two been together?¡±

    ¡°About a week now.¡± Luna replied.

    ¡°Ah fuck.¡± Eva pouted and looked away from us for a second.

    ¡°Fuck?¡± I tilted my head slightly. ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°That means Zu wins the bet. I was two days off.¡±

    -Wait¡­ what bet?-

 Chapter 30: Doctor-Patient Confidentiality

    ¡°Hey, at least you didn¡¯t lose too much money.¡± I shook my head, still in a slight disbelief that there was a bet going to see when Luna and I would officially get together. I¡¯d have to have a talk with Lieutenant Zu too¡­

    Luna was also blushing quite a lot after this little revelation.

    ¡°It was so obvious there was such a great chemistry between the two of you. Honestly, if you weren¡¯t that dense, Lauren, I¡¯d have betted weeks earlier.¡±

    ¡°I really am not that dense.¡± I replied.

    ¡°You aren¡¯t?¡±

    ¡°In the matter of fact, I chose to not immediately go into a relationship with Luna because I believed it was better that I took some time to think things through.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Luna supported my statement. ¡°She was very thoughtful and respectful about it.¡±

    ¡°Alright, then I withdraw my statement¡­ at least partially.¡±

    I took that as a win.

    ¡°But Lauren, does that mean you¡¯ve finally given up on your quest?¡±

    ¡°What quest?¡± I asked.

    ¡°You know which one I¡¯m talking about.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡± I looked at Luna. ¡°That quest¡­ I told Luna about it as well, so you don¡¯t need to be that secretive about it.¡±

    Eva smiled. ¡°I see, so no more alien girlfriends for Commander Lauren Davis after she has finally met her one true human love interest.¡±

    ¡°Yep.¡± I replied with confidence, I didn¡¯t want to accidentally let it shine through that that is actually the complete opposite of what had happened and that my quest had succeeded.

    That is, until Luna prodded my thigh to make me look at her. ¡°I¡­ I think we can tell her.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡± Eva tilted her head.

    ¡°You sure?¡± I ignored our friend.

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± She nodded and then looked at Eva. ¡°Her¡­ her quest didn¡¯t really fail¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Eva vocalized.

    ¡°Well¡­ uh¡­ I¡¯m actually not that human¡­ as you think I am¡­¡±

    I put my hand on her thigh to signal that I¡¯m here when she needs me to take over. But it seemed like she was going to pull through on her own.

    ¡°In reality, I¡¯m not human at all.¡±

    Eva stayed silent for a bit before she started smiling. ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°You aren¡¯t surprised as well?¡± Luna asked. ¡°Lauren didn¡¯t have a strong reaction either.¡±

    ¡°Luna, as you may or may not know, I¡¯m this ship¡¯s doctor. It is quite literally my job to know stuff about human biology. While on the surface level, your blood works all checks out. I have never met anyone who needs such a low dose of certain medicines and painkillers.¡±

    ¡°But you didn¡¯t check in with me?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Doctor-patient confidentiality. Plus, it could always have been a unicum in human medicine. But now that Luna mentions that she, in fact, isn¡¯t human, it does make a lot more sense.¡±

    ¡°And you are not going to call me a spy either.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that if you would be harmful to us, the mission, or the ship, Lauren would already have done something about that. Or am I wrong.¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°It is relatively harmless. With the emphasis on relatively. One could argue that the fate of our planet is at stake, but from what I have learned, it shouldn¡¯t be an issue.¡±

    ¡°Wait, double back for a sec¡­. Now that, that concerns me a bit.¡± Eva replied with a nervous chuckle. ¡°Our planet is at stake?¡±

    ¡°Let me explain.¡± And thus, I explained. I told her everything Luna had told me.

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    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ not what I expected. But at least it sounds like we don¡¯t have to fear our planet getting blown up in the immediate future?¡±

    Luna shook her head. ¡°I¡¯ll try everything to avoid that! I¡¯ve also gotten quite fond of Earth.¡±

    ¡°Did you? It doesn¡¯t look like a war-torn shithole to you?¡±

    ¡°It does have its bad sides¡­¡± Luna admitted. ¡°But overall, I really like the freedoms you have that we don¡¯t really possess¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡± Eva thought for a second. ¡°I¡¯d definitely like to learn more about you and your culture.¡±

    ¡°That makes two of us.¡± I smiled.

    ¡°And you are an alien race we¡¯ve met before, right?¡±

    ¡°¡®Met¡¯ is maybe not the right word¡­¡± I replied. ¡°It¡¯s the race of explorers we encountered on the same planet we found the bug remains on.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Eva looked at Luna. ¡°I¡¯m sorry that happened to your people.¡±

    Luna shook her head. ¡°Those are the dangers of exploration.¡± She then confidently looked at Eva. ¡°Although, I would very much like your help to do some more research on our bodies.¡± Luna then explained the basics of what she¡¯d found out about the gene modification.

    ¡°Right, that would probably be a lot easier to research with an actual live patient.¡± Eva nodded. ¡°But I can¡¯t guarantee that you¡¯ll like what we find.¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be much worse than having discovered we¡¯ve been altered in some way already. I just want to know what and why¡­¡±

    ¡°Your black box might come in handy as well with that kind of research.¡± Eva continued agreeing with my girlfriend. ¡°But I would like to ask one thing.¡±

    ¡°Which is?¡± I asked.

    ¡°If and when we can involve Grayson with this.¡±

    ¡°Ugh¡­¡± I blew up my cheeks a little.

    ¡°I know you don¡¯t like him, or that you don¡¯t want to involve him with Luna¡¯s secret. But the truth is that he is the expert on genes and theoretical xeno-biology on this ship.¡± Eva reasoned with me. ¡°I could work on this by myself, and I could make some kind of progress, but having Grayson on our side could give any kind of related research a way higher probability of giving promising results. And then we kind of need to talk about Ellie too, because if we suddenly start shutting her out of even more rooms¡­ she¡¯s going to get suspicious.¡±

    I sighed. ¡°I know, I know.¡±

    ¡°Did you have any timetable in mind to tell us?¡±

    ¡°Well, if Luna didn¡¯t tell you today, I wouldn¡¯t have. It was totally up to her.¡± I replied and looked at Luna. ¡°We didn¡¯t want to spring this on people all of a sudden, especially not that short after what happened with the Empire.¡±

    ¡°Understandably so.¡± Eva nodded. ¡°I¡¯m happy you trusted me with this, Luna.¡± She smiled at her.

    ¡°You¡¯ve always supported me, so I thought it couldn¡¯t hurt.¡± Luna smiled back.

    ¡°Now that the truth is completely out there, I have an important matter to discuss.¡± I said.

    ¡°What important matter?¡± Eva asked.

    ¡°What are we having for dinner?¡±

    ¡°Haha, Lauren.¡± Luna laughed.

    ¡°She did invite us for food, you know. I¡¯m getting quite hungry.¡±

    Eva rolled her eyes. ¡°Just wait here, you hungry dooce.¡± Eva got up from her seat and walked over to one of her cabinets. Out of it she took a fondue pot.

    ¡°Oh nice, fondue. Can¡¯t go wrong with that.¡± I rubbed my hands.

    ¡°I got an assortment of meats spread over a couple of plates in the fridge if you want to get it out.¡±

    ¡°Yep, on it.¡± I went over to her fridge and quickly fished out the aforementioned plates. This was gonna be good. A tray of small hamburgers, sausages, meatballs with different coatings, small cordon bleus¡­ Everything you¡¯d want was on it.

    ¡°That¡¯s so much.¡± Luna commented as I put the plates on the table.

    ¡°Definitely, but she can always finish this tomorrow. You can bake everything in a normal pan too.¡±

    ¡°Or just do fondue again but by myself.¡± Eva said as she put the fondue set on the table.

    ¡°You can always invite us again.¡±

    ¡°But then I¡¯d need to get even more meat. It¡¯s going to be a vicious circle.¡±

    ¡°Eh, that doesn¡¯t sound too bad to me.¡± I flicked on the set. It¡¯d take a while for the oil to get hot enough but in the meantime we could chat a bit longer.

    The oil got hot enough for the food to be fried, but that didn¡¯t stop us from talking.

    ¡°What do you think would happen if we met other people from your race, Luna?¡± Eva asked while she skewered a hamburger and stuck it in the oil.

    ¡°I assume you are talking about a scouting ship?¡±

    ¡°Or a settlement, either or.¡±

    ¡°I would like to think it would go over rather peacefully, like it did with the Dokazuuk.¡± Luna replied. ¡°Your ship¡¯s design looks quite different from the Imperial designs going around so I don¡¯t think they would fire on you with no warning.¡±

    ¡°You think?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t there a human saying that says to never expect a certainty?¡±

    ¡°Fair enough.¡± I replied. ¡°But at least we have someone who can talk to them.¡±

    Eva nodded. ¡°They would probably be less inclined to shoot at vehicles who have one of them aboard, right?¡±

    ¡°Ehhh¡­.¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound promising¡­ and I thought your government thought we were the warmongers?¡±

    ¡°You got to understand that the Empire has used these tactics before as well¡­ But this is all a worst case scenario. Normally, we wouldn¡¯t just shoot on unencountered vehicles¡­¡±

    I looked at Eva. ¡°And if push comes to shove, we will probably find a way out of it. I have a lot of confidence in this ship and it¡¯s crew.¡±

    ¡°And it¡¯s Commander.¡± Eva smiled and put her glass to her lips.

    ¡°The Commander is indeed pretty great.¡± Luna added to that.

    ¡°And how great is she in bed?¡±

    My cheeks flushed red, and so did Luna¡¯s to that quick-witted comment from our dastardly doctor. Made worse by the fact that she was having way too much fun with our reaction.

 Chapter 30 Bis: Just So Everything

    It was quite late when Lauren and I left Eva¡¯s cabin. I hadn¡¯t eaten that much but what I had had filled me up plenty. Lauren and Eva on the other hand had almost finished off the entire meat platter by themselves. They must¡¯ve been quite hungry. Thinking back on it made me chuckle.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Lauren asked. ¡°Something funny?¡±

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing, don¡¯t worry.¡± We¡¯d just turned the last corner to head into our cabin.

    ¡°Nothing, huh? I didn¡¯t know that nothing made people chuckle.¡± She smiled. ¡°I sure hope that when I make a joke you don¡¯t laugh because it¡¯s nothing either.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d never.¡± I smiled back. ¡°I like your jokes, most of them, at least.¡±

    ¡°Wow.¡± She laughed.

    Our conversation then fell quiet again as I let Lauren pass ahead of me to open the door for us. And in a second, we were both inside.

    ¡°Say¡­ Luna¡­¡± Lauren started.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± I looked at her while I sat on the bed to take my shoes off.

    ¡°You know¡­ there¡¯s something that Eva said that got me thinking¡­¡±

    I tilted my head, curious to what was going to follow. This made Lauren blush a bit. It was rare but truly a great sight to behold.

    Lauren scratched the back of her head. ¡°Uh¡­ well¡­ you know¡­ uhm¡­¡± Now her cheeks were starting to get even redder. Now this, this was terribly unusual.

    So I just gave her a gentle smile to tell her she could calm down and take her time.

    It took her a second to recollect herself. And with a renewed confidence, she walked over to sit next to me on the bed. She didn¡¯t take her boots off yet, though. ¡°I was wondering what you thought about¡­ uhm¡­ having intercourse¡­¡±

    Her question made my heart skip a beat, quite a couple of beats even as it was also turning my face bright red, but now that she had said it¡­ I did recall what Eva had asked earlier today. Lauren had evaded the question back then but it must have stuck in her mind.

    ¡°It¡¯s too early, right? Luna?¡± Lauren asked.

    ¡°Oh! Sorry! I was just thinking!¡±

    ¡°Ah, kay.¡± Lauren got shy and quickly looked away from me.

    ¡°Maybe we should give it some more time¡­¡± I replied. ¡°Or not?¡±

    Lauren turned back to face me and bit her lip for a split second. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know¡­¡± She chuckled nervously. ¡°I¡­ I think you are very beautiful¡­ and I love you¡­ but it¡¯s not been that long since we¡¯ve been together¡­ I know some people rush into these things¡­ but¡­¡±

    -Lauren is always so kind and thoughtful about me, it really makes my heart melt.- I put my hand on her lap to calm her down a little. ¡°It¡¯s okay, we can take our time.¡± I smiled.

    Lauren took a deep breath and nodded. ¡°Okay.¡± She stared directly into my eyes. The two of us didn¡¯t make an effort to break eye contact. Lauren got a bit closer to me. ¡°But, making out is fine, right?¡± She took her beret off her head and she put her other hand on my waist.

    I smiled. ¡°Yeah, definitely.¡±

    ¡°¡®Kay, just wanted to make sure.¡± She winked and then slowly brought her face closer to mine, she was so gentle. When our lips ended up touching. She slowly started giving me a couple of small kisses before she upped the intensity a little. Slowly but surely she was applying more pressure against my body, to push me down on the bed. I let it happen, of course I would. She had me and I didn¡¯t mind at all.

    Once I was down on the bed, she kept kissing me. Leaving me a couple of pauses so I could breathe.

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    ¡°Oh Goddess, you are just so¡­ so¡­ everything¡­¡± She chuckled to herself because of what she had said and then she kissed me again.

    ¡°Everything?¡± I asked with a smile the next time she gave me a pause.

    ¡°Cute, adorable, intelligent, beautiful¡­ you know, everything.¡± She looked at me in a way that I could only describe as total admiration. And it made me blush profusely.

    ¡°Do you really think so?¡± I asked.

    In response, she kissed me again. ¡°Yeah, obviously.¡± Lauren chuckled. ¡°Why would I be lying? Are you being a bit uncertain of yourself?¡±

    ¡°I guess I am a bit, yeah.¡± I smiled back.

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be.¡± And once more, she planted a long kiss on my lips. ¡°Honestly¡­ I just¡­ it¡¯s so hard to describe just how attracted I am to you right now. It took me a while to figure out myself, but holy¡­¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡± I blushed. ¡°I¡¯ve been attracted to you from the moment¡­¡± Ah¡­

    ¡°The moment?¡± Lauren tilted her head a little.

    ¡°The moment I read your file¡­ and it hit me even worse when I saw you in real life.¡±

    ¡°Haha.¡± She chuckled. ¡°I guess that¡¯s what a good spy does, right?¡± She smiled and gave me another kiss, this one quite a bit shorter. ¡°Is that why you were so stiff the first time we met? Back on Luna.¡±

    ¡°Please forget that. That¡¯s so embarrassing.¡± I tried to hide my face with my hands but Lauren gently brushed my hands aside.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t answer the question.¡± She teased me.

    I nodded shyly. ¡°At least one of the reasons¡­ yes¡­¡±

    ¡°Cute.¡± She said with a smirk. ¡°I¡¯m really happy I bought you that shark plush that day.¡±

    In a way, it¡¯s because of the shark that the two of us grew closer to one another. ¡°I am too.¡± I smiled and this time I gave her a kiss instead.

    ¡°I hope I don¡¯t taste too badly.¡± Lauren smiled once I had released her from that kiss.

    ¡°No¡­ you taste incredible.¡±

    ¡°So do you.¡±

    That¡¯s how we spent the next fifteen minutes, just making out on the bed. It was an incredible time but it was also tiring me out quite badly. It didn¡¯t help that it was already this late.

    ¡°I think I could use another shower now.¡± Lauren chuckled as we were now cuddling on the bed.

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ but I like having you close to me like this.¡± I whispered in her ear.

    ¡°Ah¡­ oh well, I can always shower tomorrow morning.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± I smiled. ¡°I don¡¯t even want to take off my clothes right now.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s one thing I would like to disagree upon, though.¡± Lauren replied. ¡°However.¡± She started unbuttoning my uniform. ¡°I could take it off for you.¡±

    ¡°Alright then.¡± I giggled.

    ¡°The art of compromise.¡± Lauren quite quickly managed to undress me without leaving me hungry for hugs and cuddles. After which she undressed herself as well. She¡¯d just thrown our clothes in two piles on the floor, but neither of us really cared. The floor was clean anyway, Lauren made sure of that.

    With the both of us in a sufficient state of undress to the Commander¡¯s liking, we got underneath the covers.

    Lauren turned herself towards me and pulled me a bit closer to her. ¡°Are you warm enough?¡±

    I nodded. ¡°I am.¡±

    ¡°Comfy too?¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡± She smiled and laid her arm on me.

    Lauren hadn¡¯t turned the lights off yet so I could quite clearly see the scarring near her bionic arm. I ran my finger over it. ¡°It¡¯s been a while since I gave you a massage, hasn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Oh, now that you say it¡­ It has been quite a while¡­¡± With her other arms, she brushed a couple of hairs from in front of my face. ¡°You should teach me how to do it one day, so I can repay the favor.¡± She smiled.

    I gave her a nod. ¡°That¡¯d be nice¡­ not that I needed the favor repaid. You give me plenty of love already.¡±

    ¡°It''s just something that I want to do.¡±

    ¡°Alright then. I¡¯ll give you some lessons later this week.¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡± She gave me another kiss and then turned around to turn the lights off. ¡°I love you.¡±

    ¡°I love you too.¡±

    I felt her turn around again as she embraced me close in her strong arms.

    ¡°Good night.¡±

    I gave her a happy hum back and closed my eyes.

    Lauren¡¯s alarm clock woke us up. It felt like I¡¯d only slept for a couple of hours, and I could tell from the look on Lauren¡¯s face that she had experienced it in the same way.

    ¡°If we ever find a tropical beach planet. I¡¯ll give the entire ship a holiday for a week or two.¡± She groaned as she sat upright.

    ¡°Then you could put those new massage skills to use.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± She rubbed her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m going to take a morning shower.¡± Before she could stand up, though, I stopped her by grabbing onto her wrist.

    ¡°Wait a sec. I¡¯ll come too. It saves on water use.¡±

    Lauren looked at me and smiled. ¡°Definitely. We need to ration our unlimited supply of water. Why didn¡¯t I think of that sooner? See, smartest lady on board of this ship.¡±

    ¡°Hehe.¡± I giggled and got up as well.

    And together we went¡­ off to the shower.

 Chapter 31: Space Walker

    After a steamy yet short make-out session, Luna and I sadly had to go back to work. Today we would be reaching the mineral rich asteroid field and we had quite a lot of things to do when we got there. One of those things being the testing of Dokazuuk space suits the engineers had managed to come up with. As they would be our guests for quite a while and, if nothing changed, allies, in the future, having some 0G spacesuits that we could build and maintain would be pretty useful. Meaning they could also start looking at the exterior of the ship for some potential improvements. But first things first, we wanted to do some practical tests to see if things could be improved in ways of comfort or efficiency. And there wasn¡¯t a better opportunity than some good old-fashioned space-walks. Obviously, we made sure it was safe beforehand. We didn¡¯t want to just accidentally expose our friends to the harsh conditions of space.

    So while our geologists were busy doing some probey things with the asteroid field and while some minerals were being collected to fill up our stocks, Gunny and I had opted to join the Dokazuuk volunteer who was going to test out the suit. That volunteer being Jacky, of course. He was their leader, and that meant he was going to take the responsibility on himself, even if there were other candidates.

    ¡°Looks like it¡¯s the perfect weather for a nice space-walk, isn¡¯t it, Commander?¡± Gunny floated out of the airlock in front of me.

    ¡°Yup, a nice and warm 2.7 Kelvin.¡± I laughed.

    ¡°Do you feel the temperatures of space, Commander?¡± Jacky asked.

    ¡°Ah, sorry, we were just joking, Jacky.¡±

    ¡°Oh. Human humor is still something I need to get used to.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯ll take some time but I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll get it if you hang out with us long enough.¡± Gunny replied. He¡¯d already made his way to a small asteroid.

    Jacky and I were still in the airlock, so I pointed at the interface on his arm. ¡°Do you still remember the engineers'' explanation?¡± I asked. They had modified our UI to include the Dokazuuk¡¯s written language so it should be easy enough.

    ¡°Yes, Commander.¡± Jacky said, and pressed the button to demagnetize the boots.

    ¡°Good.¡± I gave him a thumbs up and did the same. After which I used my suit¡¯s small thrusters to give him a bit of distance. Experience showed that even though people understood the theory, flying one of these suits still required quite a bit of practice.

    But to my surprise, Jacky did get used to the thrusters quite fast. He bonked into the wall only five times before he managed to fly over to me.

    ¡°Hey, looks like you¡¯ve got a talent for this.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Jacky said, after which he almost bumped into me.

    ¡°Do you think you can manage a trip around the ship?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll try.¡± He replied.

    ¡°We¡¯ll come and get ya if you float away too far. Just cut your trust if you think you are losing control. Otherwise you might make it worse.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Cautiously, Jacky started moving to the front of the ship, with Gunny and I staying pretty close to him.

    It was interesting to see the UFS Roald Amundsen from up close like this. I¡¯d never really space-walked with it because I just didn¡¯t have the time before back on Luna¡­. -Phrasing, Lauren, phrasing!!-

    We were on the side where the enemy ship hadn¡¯t docked so we couldn¡¯t really see her battle scars yet, but we would probably make our way to that side as well a bit later on. Although it could be said that the lettering of the ship could use a new layer of paint on this side as well. It had faded quite a bit, together with a couple of scratches.

    ¡°Hey Jacky.¡± Gunny spoke, making me look back at my two comrades instead of the navy gray hull of our ship.

    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

    ¡°Yes, Gunnery Sergeant Taylor?¡± Jacky replied.

    ¡°How about we test the suit¡¯s manipulation?¡±

    ¡°Manipulation?¡± I asked. ¡°What is he supposed to manipulate, then? There¡¯s nothing wrong with the ship here.¡±

    ¡°That suit has a pair of pliers, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Gunny asked.

    ¡°Yes, it does.¡± Jacky pressed the UI on his suit as a couple of pliers folded out of the arm storage compartment.

    ¡°Try to catch this with it.¡± Gunny made a piece of rock spin in place where he was and then moved away from it. It must¡¯ve been a piece of the asteroid Gunny was at a bit earlier.

    ¡°Good thinking.¡± I replied and watched as Jacky made his way closer to the small spinning piece of asteroid.

    ¡°Try doing it without using your other hand.¡±

    Jacky didn¡¯t immediately reply but from the way he was approaching the small rock, it meant that he had taken up the challenge given to him by Gunny. Flying the suits while also handling a tool definitely added something to the degree of difficulty but Jacky completed the task admirably.

    ¡°Nice.¡± Gunny said and clapped his hands. Of course, it didn¡¯t make any sound but I think Jacky appreciated the gesture.

    We then continued on our trip alongside our ship, approaching the bridge. While the bridge was generally shielded from the outside, for this occasion, the crew had lowered the metal shields that blocked the view from the outside so the three of us could look in.

    ¡°Hey there, Commander.¡± I could see Luna grab for her earpiece.

    ¡°Hello there, XO.¡± I replied and gave her a short wave.

    ¡°Is everything still going fine on the bridge?¡±

    ¡°Lieutenant Zu spilled her coffee on the dashboard, but apart from that, everything is still the same as you left it.¡±

    ¡°LC! You said you wouldn¡¯t tell her!¡± I could hear Zu¡¯s voice coming over Luna¡¯s intercoms. Seeing her gesticulate quite a lot at her chair. Zu then grabbed her own earpiece and spoke to me too. ¡°Commander, I promise you, I cleaned everything up.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure, Zu? I think I can still see a spot.¡±

    ¡°Where? Oh, flip it, you are right.¡± I could see Zu take a towel and start wiping something from the top of her console.

    Luna chuckled over the intercom. ¡°Please make sure Jacky doesn¡¯t float away into space.¡±

    ¡°We will try.¡± I said as I looked over to Jacky and Gunny, they were fooling around a little by spinning their suits. But that actually did show just how fast Jacky was improving with the suit controls. ¡°Looks like we won¡¯t need to worry that much about that.¡± I chuckled as well.

    ¡°See you back inside in a bit?¡± Luna asked.

    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ll just go back the other way around and call it a day.¡± replied. ¡°See you in a bit. Oh, and Zu, make sure your console doesn¡¯t stick, okay?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Commander.¡± Zu dutifully replied as she continued scrubbing away.

    I smiled and I waved the bridge crew goodbye for now as we were moving on to the other side of the ship, the larboard side.

    It became obvious pretty quickly where the repairs of the ship had been completed. With the newly repaired areas not even having been painted. You could really see how much exterior damage the boarding action of the Empire had done.

    ¡°This needs quite a couple of layers of paint, doesn¡¯t it, Commander?¡± Gunny said. The three of us all looked at the part of the ship that had been damaged the most.

    ¡°Yeah, definitely. Though a paint job can wait for the time being.¡±

    ¡°But what if we run into the space fashion police?¡±

    ¡°I think they¡¯ll give us a pass because of our uniforms.¡± I shrugged. We did have really nice uniforms, after all.

    ¡°Space fashion police?¡± Jacky asked.

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s another case of silly human humor, Jacky.¡± Gunny explained.

    ¡°Aaaaah.¡±

    Gunny and I both laughed at Jacky¡¯s reaction.

    We finished our little tour around the ship and got back into the airlock. I think it was fair to say that the suit was performing to expectations, and if Jacky had any feedback he could now provide it to the engineers. We were getting out of our suits in the room next to the airlock when Ellie started talking over the intercoms.

    ¡°Commander, your presence is requested in the comms room.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Now?¡±

    ¡°The message was marked as urgent and for you and high ranked staff only.¡±

    ¡°Ellie, there are nicer ways to tell us that we are not invited, you know?¡± Gunny said to Ellie.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing personal, Gunnery Sergeant. Okay, maybe a little.¡±

    ¡°Do you know if Ellie has a reset button somewhere, Commander?¡± Gunny grinned.

    I just waved away his joke.

    ¡°And you don¡¯t know what¡¯s in the message either?¡±

    ¡°No, ma¡¯am.¡± Ellie replied. ¡° It¡¯s specially encoded so that I could not access it by myself.

    ¡°That sounds serious¡­¡± I scratched my head. ¡°Could you notify the other high ranking officers to join us in the comms room as well?¡±

    ¡°Already done so, Commander.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡± I nodded. -I¡¯m really curious to what the big fuss is about¡­-

 Chapter 32: Message From Home

    I rushed out of the space suit and into my dress uniform before saying goodbye to Gunny and Jacky. The Comms room was close to the bridge but that was on the other side of the ship so it took me a couple of minutes to get there. In the meantime, Ellie had already gathered up most of the officers. Luna was waiting on me by the door.

    ¡°Hey, Commander.¡± She gave me her holo-stick so I could open the file when I wanted to.¡±

    ¡°I guess you have no idea either what this important message is all about?¡±

    ¡°No clue.¡± She shook her head.

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ I don¡¯t have a very good feeling about this¡­¡±

    ¡°Me neither.¡± She agreed.

    ¡°Who are we still missing?¡± I looked around the room.

    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure we are only missing Eva.¡±

    Indeed, I could not see her anywhere. That¡¯s when the door behind us zoomed open again.

    ¡°Sorry I¡¯m late, someone slipped and stabbed themselves with a fork just before I was going to leave.

    ¡°Oh shit. Are they okay?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It was a relatively minor injury, but it could¡¯ve been worse.¡±

    I looked at Eva.

    She looked back at me and then motioned towards the holo stick I was holding.

    ¡°Oh, right. Sorry, the entire fork thing pulled me out of my concentration.¡± I opened up the holograph. ¡°Ellie, please lock the room and make it sound-proof.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Commander.¡± With an audible click, the doors all locked. If Ellie was a murderous AI, or bound by foolproof directives not to harm the crew, this would probably not be a good situation, although if that were to happen, there were manual mechanical overrides from the inside to open the doors just in case.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s see what this is all about.¡± I opened the message interface.

    ¡°Authentication required from the commanding officer and their second in command.¡±

    ¡°Commander Lauren Davis.¡± I replied and put my hand on the hand outline.

    ¡°Lieutenant-Commander, Luna Moore.¡± Luna did the same, making the holograph light up in green. The screen then switched to show an envelope with a red one in the corner.¡± A slightly ridiculous sight as no one had used envelopes in ages. But hey, change is not easy for institutions like that. I clicked it open and a video message started playing.

    We saw the entire admiralty board sitting in front of us at a long table. Within the center, the overall Commander of the armed forces.

    They started speaking. ¡°Crew of the UFS Roald Amundsen. Due to recent events you have reported to us, you are hereby immediately recalled back to Earth. Please follow this order immediately after receiving this message. You are also hereby required to intern your alien guests. They will be processed upon your arrival. Failing to oblige this order will result in the entire ship and its crew being considered as a rogue vehicle. Please relay back to us when you have received this order. That¡¯s all. May your travels back to Earth be safe.¡± With that, the message closed itself again. The entire room was dead quiet.

    ¡°They can¡¯t be serious, right?¡± I heard someone in the room say. Followed by the entire room to start mumbling.

    ¡°Oh shit¡­ this is bad¡­¡± I mumbled to myself and then looked at Luna, she looked very distressed. Luckily, no one apart from Eva and I knew about Luna, but I wasn¡¯t about to betray our Dokazuuk allies either. That¡¯d be both an ethical and diplomatic huge mistake.

    ¡°Commander, what should we do?¡± Zu directed the question towards me, making the rest of the room go quiet and making everyone look at me for a response.

    Stolen novel; please report.

    ¡°That¡¯s a good question, Zu.¡± I replied and then looked around the room. ¡°I think everyone here can agree that we can turn over our prisoners without many issues.¡±

    ¡°Aye, Commander.¡± McAllister called out.

    ¡°So that¡¯s not an issue.¡± I nodded. ¡°And there is no doubt about it that we¡¯ll have to turn back.¡± I kept going from face to face, everyone I looked at gave me a nod. ¡°However, what I am about to say next concerns our Dokazuuk friends, who¡¯ve been invaluable in ship repairs and in defending against the imperial invaders¡­ But¡­ Before I do, I would like to ask every single one of you to think hard about what follows. Because what I¡¯m going to suggest is a treasonous act that could get every single one of us involved killed. So before I continue, anyone who would rather not get involved, please leave this room now. You¡¯ll not be looked down upon and if we are caught you will be able to wash your hands in innocence.¡± After that, I went quiet for a couple of seconds before continuing. ¡°Ellie, please unlock the doors for five minutes before you lock them again.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Commander.¡± Ellie replied and the locks slid open. ¡°The noise cancellation is still in effect.¡±

    ¡°Whoever wants to leave, please do so now.¡± I then looked into the room as some nervous chattering began. No one really made a move for the door, no one budged a centimeter. Thirty seconds later, when it was obvious that no one was going to move, one of the officers of the marine corps stepped forward and clutched her hand on her chest.

    ¡°Commander, if it weren¡¯t for the Dokazuuk, the enemy would have broken through into the hangar¡­ My girlfriend was there and she said it was so close¡­ I can¡¯t thank them enough for saving so many people that day when we were fighting on the other side of the ship. So handing them over into imprisonment when they¡¯ve done nothing but help us¡­ That really doesn¡¯t sit well with me.¡±

    ¡°Same goes for me, Commander.¡± Zu said.

    ¡°For me too!¡±

    ¡°And for me!¡±

    More and more voices started to call out into the room.

    ¡°I really don¡¯t want to know how they would be treated back on Earth.¡± Eva admitted. ¡°And since it¡¯s probably still hidden away from the civilian administration, they¡¯d probably be put away in the darkest corner of military confinement¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ not unlikely¡­¡± I admitted. ¡°It¡¯s one of the reasons why I really don¡¯t want to hand them over, either.¡±

    ¡°Commander, isn¡¯t there someone we are forgetting?¡± Yuki asked.

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°I think she is speaking about me, Commander.¡± Ellie spoke up.

    ¡°Oh, right¡­¡± I looked up at the ceiling. I had kinda forgotten that Ellie was in fact also part of the equation. ¡°What do you think, Ellie?¡±

    ¡°I do agree with your assessment of the situation. There would be nothing gained by their internment, and would do much more harm than good.¡±

    ¡°But what about the Admiralty, won¡¯t they be able to go through your data?¡±

    ¡°The only data that they would be able to see is the data I provide to them.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°One of my primary directives is to protect the crew of this ship with all means necessary. Since that primary directive overrides all other directives and since the Dokazuuk are part of this crew, anything that could lead to them being harmed is therefore something I can not tolerate.¡±

    ¡°Wow, nicely said.¡± I replied with a nod.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Ellie said with a friendly voice. ¡°Furthermore, if they didn¡¯t want me to protect them, they should not have given me basic ethics.¡±

    ¡°Fair enough.¡± I nodded once more. ¡°Now that we know everyone is on board with the plan, we still need to figure out how to practically resolve this. We should definitely already start heading back to Earth once we¡¯ve filled up on our resources and have taken samples. But the exact route we will go back on is not yet determined. It won¡¯t be hard to convince them why we are taking a slight detour, seeing we would want to avoid the Empire¡¯s border this time around. And in the meantime, we will try to figure out what to do with our friends.¡±

    The crew agreed with me in silence.

    ¡°We have a couple of weeks to really think this through. If any of you have any ideas, schedule a meeting with me and the XO so we can discuss our plans in this room. It is important that we try as hard as we can to avoid this plan from getting out of this inner circle. For both our safety as for theirs. I will personally bring the leader of the Dokazuuk up to speed, as he is definitely one of the people who need to know. Otherwise, I¡¯d advise not talking about this to anyone. And if anyone asks about what you need to discuss with me, tell them you want to plan an officer pizza evening.¡±

    ¡°A pizza evening, Commander?¡± Luna asked, surprise painted on her face.

    ¡°The pizza is interchangeable, but a food party for the officers is something that directly involves both me and you as we are the commanding officers of this ship, while also being incredibly easy to stage if it¡¯s necessary. It¡¯s practically just a plausible excuse.¡±

    ¡°Huh¡­ I wouldn¡¯t have thought about that.¡±

    I smiled and then looked at my officers. They all looked rather confident now. Most of the panic and doubt had disappeared. ¡°As for what the message was, you can all tell them that we have been requested to go home. Any other details are probably not necessary. If they ask for more details, you can always forward them to me¡­ Now, if no one else has anything to say, I¡¯d call this meeting over.¡±

    No one raised their hands or spoke up so I gave the order for everyone to go back to their post. -It¡¯s going to be a hectic couple of weeks to try to come up with a plan. But at least we had a supercomputer in the form of our AI helping us as well.-

 Chapter 33: Pretend you are Dying

    A week had already passed since we¡¯d gotten the order from the Admiralty, so we started on our way back home, albeit with quite a detour. The crew was understandably upset, everyone had signed up for a trip that was meant to last for several years after all, and that all without them knowing the finer details of the order we¡¯d received. In the meantime, the officers had all banded together in trying to find ideas that might save our Dokazuuk friends from facing serious investigation and harm back on Earth. But until now, most of those ideas were just not feasible or realistic enough to fool the admiralty with.

    Luna and I were in the comms room as doctor Eva had requested our presence. She sounded pretty enthusiastic, so the both of us hoped she¡¯d come up with a good idea.

    ¡°Sorry to keep you waiting.¡± Eva walked into the door, followed closely by Jacky. ¡°There were some rather annoying last-minute visitations at the infirmary.¡±

    ¡°Understandable. Ellie, could you commence the silence protocol, please?¡±

    ¡°Already on it, Commander.¡± Ellie closed the doors and started the protocol we¡¯d normally use during these kinds of meetings. ¡°Protocol completed.¡± She notified us.

    ¡°Please tell me you¡¯ve got a good idea, Doctor.¡± Luna said. Luna was also getting considerably more stressy the longer time went on without a good idea. Even more so because she¡¯d probably have to report about this all to her superiors and that wouldn¡¯t shine a bright light upon humanity if we failed to protect our new allies. Even though we would have tried.

    ¡°I think we do, at least. Jacky thinks that it sounds promising as well.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Commander. The Doctor and I think this might be the best option yet.¡±

    ¡°Alright, out with it.¡± I sat down on the edge of the comms table.

    ¡°Okay, so when the Dokazuuk first came aboard the ship we ran several tests on their physiology, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, so we could find a way to make their life on board more comfortable.¡±

    ¡°Yep.¡± Eva nodded. ¡°So during these trials I also experimented a bit with the medicine we had aboard, in very small doses of course. One of those medicines were proven harmless to the Dokazuuk, however¡­¡±

    ¡°We developed a slight rash because of it.¡± Jacky finished the Doctor¡¯s sentence.

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± I nodded. ¡°So¡­?¡± I urged them to continue their explanation.

    ¡°Jacky mentioned this to me the other day so I got the idea to inject Jacky with a considerably higher dose than that. Which still didn¡¯t cause any other effects than the rash.¡±

    ¡°However, this time, the rash was a lot more pronounced and took almost two days to withdraw.¡±

    ¡°And that¡¯s where I think we can try to fool the Admiralty with.¡± Eva smiled brightly.

    ¡°Uhh¡­ I think I¡¯m following, but can you explain in depth what exactly the plan is.¡± I scratched the side of my head.

    Luna raised her hand a bit. ¡°I think they want to fake a deadly disease or something like that to get a viable excuse to get the Dokazuuk off-board.¡±

    ¡°Exactly.¡± Eva smiled. ¡°And to make it even more viable of a plan. I¡¯d like to fake the disease being dangerous to us and transmissible, too. In that way we can send some of our people off-planet too, to accompany the Dokazuuk, so we can come and pick them up later.¡±

    ¡°If we can find a suitable planet and if we are ever allowed to return¡­¡± I said.

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Eva¡¯s demeanor grew a bit sadder. ¡°That¡¯s the main risk involved with this plan¡­ But I think it¡¯s still one of our best options.¡±

    ¡°What do you think, Ellie?¡± I asked our AI comrade.

    ¡°It sounds promising, Commander. Quarantine programs and biohazard alerts aren¡¯t hard to falsify. ¡±

    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what I thought too. Risky, but definitely promising.¡±

    ¡°Have you already started experimenting on crew members to see if you can get similar symptoms to show up?¡± Luna asked.

    ¡°Not yet, although that will be rather trivial compared to finding an actual planet for our crew members to, temporarily or permanently, settle.¡± Eva shook her head.

    ¡°I guess we can already start recruiting willful crew members to go along with the idea, so the second that we find a suitable planet, we can go ahead with the plan immediately. I think five to ten crew members should suffice.¡± I proposed. ¡°Jacky, you should also start telling your people what the proposed plan is. If we find a plan that¡¯s more suitable to our circumstances we¡¯ll always be able to change but at least we have a somewhat decent option now.¡±

    I hopped off the table and walked over to Eva and Jacky, putting a hand on their shoulders. ¡°Good job coming up with this.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, Commander.¡± Jacky said.

    ¡°Glad I could at least be of some help.¡± Eva smiled.

    ¡°I¡¯ll try to get an even bigger detour charted back to Earth so we can get a slightly higher chance of encountering a suitable world. Let us pray to all the gods of luck and try every kind of superstitious means to increase our chance of success, except when it involves sacrifices. I¡¯m drawing the line at that.¡± I joked.

    It took Jacky a couple of second but then he finally laughed. ¡°Hah, that¡¯s a good human, joke, Commander.¡± He has definitely been learning about our rather weird sense of humor.

    After that, Eva and Jacky left the room as they still had other things to do today, and spending more time than necessary here could draw some unwanted attention. Luna and I stayed behind however, since we¡¯d made it a custom for us to debrief after meetings, no one would question us staying behind a little longer. Before I continued the conversation I told Ellie to leave us alone for a while.

    ¡°Luna, you were sure there were no records of other habitable worlds in this sector, right?¡±

    ¡°I can look again but I don¡¯t remember seeing anything about it.¡± She replied. ¡°This sector of space is really not something we¡¯ve done much exploring in. We just went directly to Earth once we¡¯d found out about you. There are plenty of uncolonized worlds in our proximity so it wasn¡¯t a high priority to look for even more.¡±

    ¡°Sadly, we can¡¯t go and settle those¡­¡± I started pacing around the room for a little bit. ¡°Must be nice and comfortable to not have to worry about settleable planets. I mean, we have Mars¡­ but Mars is Mars.¡±

    ¡°Yes, terraforming is not optimal, that¡¯s why The Conglomerate hasn¡¯t really spent any efforts in doing that.¡±

    ¡°None at all?¡±

    ¡°I think there were a couple of smaller moons that have been terraformed, but nothing the size of your Mars.¡±

    ¡°Huh, you¡¯d think that such an advanced civilization would be way further ahead of us.¡±

    ¡°Convenience beats required effort. I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s a galactic law.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ fair enough.¡± I shrugged. Though, the entire idea of warfare did pop up in my head for a second. One would think it¡¯s way more convenient for wars not to exist like they did for the Dokazuuk, but then again¡­ wars can be very convenient for the elites¡­ That¡¯s practically the entire 20th, 21st and 22nd century of Earth¡¯s history for you. ¡°Want to go grab some food after we go to the bridge to check on the crew? Our shift¡¯s almost over after all.¡±

    ¡°Sounds like an idea.¡± Luna got up from her seat and smiled. ¡°Ellie, can you please unlock the room again?¡± Her command summoned Ellie back into the room¡¯s mainframe.

    ¡°Yes, Lieutenant-Commander.¡± The doors slid open shortly afterwards.

    ¡°Let¡¯s hope Zu hasn¡¯t spilled any coffee again¡­¡± I rolled my eyes and laughed as we left the room.

    Everything looked calm and orderly on the bridge and with the arrival of the officers of the other shift we could go and head out to get some food without having to worry much. Ellie would notify me directly if any habitable planets were found so it¡¯s not like we had to be present at all times.

    ¡°What would you like for food today?¡± I asked while Luna and I walked through the hallways.

    ¡°Hmm, I¡¯m not sure¡­ I am in the mood for something with a lot of spices.¡±

    ¡°General Asian foods and snacks?¡± I proposed. ¡°I do have a small appetite for spring rolls with good old chili sauce.¡±

    ¡°That does sound good. Yeah, let¡¯s go for that.¡± Luna nodded enthusiastically.

    ¡°Alrighty, I¡¯m already looking forward to it.¡±

    When we arrived at the cafeteria, I started randomly pressing buttons on every single tasty looking and sounding Asian-themed snack I could find. From yakitori to takoyaki and spring rolls with chili sauce that came in a nice bottle. Some Korean fried chicken and then another entire list of other snacks and street food. I didn¡¯t order a lot from each dish, but we did end up with a lot in the end.

    ¡°Oh well, I guess we can heat up the rest on a later date. That¡¯s why fridges and microwaves exist over all.¡± I chuckled with two paper bags in my hands, filled almost to the brim with food.

    Luna was also carrying a third bag. ¡°Are you sure your fridge is big enough?¡±

    ¡°Hey, we can always use yours too. That one is empty anyway.¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah, fair enough.¡± Luna giggled. When we got to the elevator, she gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. ¡°Let¡¯s make it extra cozy this evening.¡±

    ¡°Aye aye.¡± I smiled and gave her a kiss back. As much as the Dokazuuk situation worried me. Having this time with Luna managed to keep my spirits up. -It¡¯s going to be okay.-

 Chapter 34: The Grand Food Festival

    We put our bags of food down inside of my cabin, after which I quickly cleared the table of anything that was on top of it. We¡¯d need plenty of room for all this food, and even with a completely empty table, I¡¯d probably have to put some plates on the countertops as well.

    Luna and I started unpacking everything we¡¯d chosen to take along with us.

    ¡°Wow, we¡¯ll definitely need to make sure we don¡¯t eat ourselves into indigestion.¡± I chuckled as I put the last plate on the counter.

    ¡°I¡¯ll try to do my best, but everything looks so tasty.¡±

    ¡°True.¡± I handed an empty plate with some cutlery to my girlfriend and then started putting some random things on my own plate. ¡°Let¡¯s dig in before it gets cold.¡± Space microwaves are handy and all, but it does save us the hassle of having to heat it back up. It only would take five to ten seconds to get things piping hot again, but that¡¯s five to ten seconds that would be better spent on actually eating. Efficiency is important.

    We started eating our various dishes and during that the room had become so quiet I decided to put on the radio in the meantime. My parents would always say that a quiet room during dinner is a good sign, as people would be too occupied with enjoying the food instead of speaking. And from the look on Luna¡¯s face and the tastes I was experiencing, that sure seemed to be true. It was only when both Luna and I went for our third plate that we finally started speaking again.

    ¡°Lauren¡­ this is so good.¡± Luna popped a spring roll into her mouth without even putting it on her plate.

    ¡°I know right.¡± I decided to do the same thing with a big grin on my face. ¡°Most of these things might just be finger food. But bloody hells, it¡¯s darn great.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± Luna nodded and ate another spring roll, this time with a bit of sweet chili sauce.

    ¡°Hey, I was wondering.¡± I said as I sat back down on my seat again with a full plate of stuff. ¡°What was the food like back on your home planet?¡±

    ¡°Incomparable.¡± Luna said as quickly as she could, eating half of a takoyaki ball.

    ¡°How so? In a good or a bad way?¡±

    ¡°Bad, very much worse.¡± She replied and looked at the food sprawled out in front of her. ¡°The food back on my planet¡­ Do you remember me saying that our society was incredibly utilitarian?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I do.¡± I nodded and took a bite from a deboned chicken wing which was marinated in some great barbecue hot sauce.

    ¡°It was the same for the food.¡± She replied. ¡°If I would say it was terribly bland, then I¡¯d probably be making an understatement.¡±

    ¡°That bad?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Luna nodded in return and ate the other side of the takoyaki ball with an audible ¡®nom¡¯ sound. ¡°Taste was deemed as unnecessary and definitely way behind nutritional value. So when I came to Earth and tasted your foods for the first time¡­ it did take some getting used to.¡±

    ¡°I can imagine that.¡± I replied. ¡°And there isn¡¯t a single food item you miss from back home?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Luna thought for a second, while grabbing a samosa and biting down on it. ¡°There was this one fruit that was a weird mix between bitter, sour and sweet. Not a lot of people liked it but it was very nutritional so the government allowed it. I somewhat liked that one, I suppose, and I¡¯ve not yet found a flavor in Earthly foods that compares to it.¡±

    ¡°Maybe we will find it one day on our travels.¡± I replied. ¡°Then you won¡¯t have to miss anything.¡±

    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    ¡°Haha. It¡¯s not like I would be sad if we didn¡¯t find it. There are plenty of tasty alternatives.¡±

    We stuffed ourselves full until we could take not a single bite more. We still had quite a lot of food left but that¡¯s what we had already anticipated. We started storing the rest of the food in our fridge and brought a plate or two to the fridge in Luna¡¯s cabin as well. After which, we decided to just chill a bit on the bed. I put some of our pillows against the wall so we could use that as a cozy backrest.

    Luna had picked a fantasy book to read, while I just sat next to her and listened to some calming tunes from the radio.

    ¡°Liking the book?¡± I asked after half an hour.

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± She nodded.

    ¡°What¡¯s it about? Or want me to shut up.¡± I smiled.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine.¡± Luna put the book down with the pages on her thigh so she only had to flip the book around to continue reading. ¡°It¡¯s about this transgender girl who gets turned into a cat girl. I really like the dynamics she has with her sister and the rest of her new family.¡±

    ¡°Oh, sounds interesting. What¡¯s it called?¡± I could read the title, but I¡¯d rather have Luna tell me instead.

    ¡°¡®Turned Fate¡¯ by an author called ¡®FrozenHanna¡¯. I¡¯m sure that¡¯s just her writing name, though.¡±

    ¡°Well, probably.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Do you like reading LGBTQ+ books?¡±

    ¡°I do.¡± She nodded. ¡°I find some of the things people deal with in the books very recognizable.¡±

    ¡°Hiding your identity and things like that?¡±

    She nodded again. ¡°Amongst others. Did you know that Luna also isn¡¯t my real name?¡±

    ¡°I figured.¡± I smiled.

    ¡°And you don¡¯t want to know my¡­ old name?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t see why. I didn¡¯t ask to begin with because I didn¡¯t want to pry. And if you wanted to tell me, you¡¯d probably tell it to me yourself without needing me to push you for an answer.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not that I mind¡­ it¡¯s just that it seems so irrelevant now.¡± Luna replied. ¡°And Luna sounds a lot nicer to me, too.¡±

    ¡°Luna is a great name.¡± I agreed. ¡°Lauren sounds so boring compared to it.¡±

    Luna immediately shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t agree with that at all. Lauren is a great name too and it fits you so well!¡±

    ¡°Haha, thanks. My mom would really have loved to hear that. It¡¯s mainly because of her that I have this name. My dad wanted to name me Casey. But my mom won in the end.¡±

    ¡°Did you have nice parents? You don¡¯t talk about them a lot.¡±

    ¡°Because it generally makes me sad.¡± I replied.

    ¡°Ah¡­¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s okay.¡± I smiled. ¡°With you I feel comfortable enough to talk about them.¡±

    Luna smiled softly. ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear that.¡±

    ¡°My parents were very good people. They really were. My mom was this friendly lady who was friends with everyone around her. Always happy to lend a listening ear to anyone who needed it. As for my dad, he was a strict person, but never unjust. To others, he would sometimes look very intimidating because of how tall and muscular he was. But whenever I got bullied at school, he¡¯d always be the first to console me.¡± I chuckled. ¡°¡­after which he¡¯d always storm off to the principal to demand action to be taken. They were so scared of him that after a while the principal started asking me if everything was alright every time he saw me. He always stood behind his family and friends. A strong foundation for anyone to fall back. But yeah. They were great and very loving parents. But when I talk about them, I often get sad because they aren¡¯t around anymore¡­¡±

    Luna put her hand on my thigh and gave it a soft squeeze.

    I smiled in return. ¡°Would you like to come and visit them when we are back on Earth? I take it we won¡¯t be leaving any time soon after we land¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d love to.¡± Luna gave me a sincere nod. ¡°Does your mom like flowers, maybe we can take some along for her?¡±

    ¡°Dear Goddess, no.¡± I laughed. ¡°She was way more into soft fabrics and things like that. Flowers weren¡¯t really her thing. My dad on the other hand¡­ He just loved flower arranging.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s interesting.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± I nodded. ¡°Also a rather expensive hobby back home. The climate doesn¡¯t suit growing flowers that well.¡±

    ¡°Right, you were from the Antarctic region.¡± Luna scratched her chin. ¡°I always wondered what that place looked like. I¡¯ve only been to the Eurasian continent.¡±

    ¡°Well, you¡¯ll get a chance to see for yourself when you come to visit then.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m already looking forward to it.¡± Luna leaned in and gave me a kiss on my cheek.

    After that, Luna continued reading her book for a little while more while I decided to go and get my pre-bed shower. When I came back, it was Luna¡¯s time to do the same. As Luna left her book on the bed, I read through the first couple of pages, being careful not to move Luna¡¯s bookmark.

    ¡°Huh¡­ this game actually sounds pretty cool¡­¡±

 Chapter 34 Bis: Periodic

    Even though my stomach somewhat regretted having had the food fest the day before, and from what I heard, that also counted for Lauren, we still decided to hold food fest part two today, as to get rid of the rest of the food that we couldn¡¯t eat up yesterday. It had been an incredibly calm day at the bridge yet again, so we could use a bit of excitement.

    ¡°Hey, Luna, what about watching a Pimsey movie or two today?¡± Lauren asked as she opened the door to our cabin. ¡°I could use a bit of entertainment right about now.¡±

    ¡°Oh! That sounds fun!¡± I replied enthusiastically.

    ¡°Nice.¡± Lauren smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll warm up the plates of food while you pick a movie for us to begin with, how does that sound?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m on it!¡±

    ¡°Oh, maybe don¡¯t choose any that have anything to do with food, we already got that covered.¡±

    ¡°Okay, luckily that doesn¡¯t exclude too many films.¡± I giggled and walked over to the table, from where I could access the television screen¡¯s UI. I quickly found the very extensive list of Pimsey movies in a category specifically dedicated to it. ¡°What about this one?¡± I asked and looked back over my shoulder, Lauren had just put a plate in the microwave.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± Lauren looked back. ¡°What¡¯s it about?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a movie about a little robot trying to clean up the entire planet because the humans left it full of garbage.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that must be a pretty old movie.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡± I looked at the date the movie was produced. ¡°About two hundred years, yes.¡±

    ¡°I figured.¡± Lauren nodded.

    ¡°It¡¯s a fun movie, though.¡±

    ¡°Could be true, you know what they say: ¡®old but gold.¡¯¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever heard anyone say that before.¡±

    ¡°Oh well, never mind then.¡± Lauren chuckled, took out the plate back out of the microwave and put another one back in.

    ¡°So, is this movie okay for you?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, sure. If you say it¡¯s a good movie, I believe you.¡± Lauren gave me a wink and quickly followed that up by switching out the plates once more. These microwaves definitely are useful.

    With the plates all warmed up, Lauren and I shoved the table over to the bed so we could cozy ourselves up a little.

    ¡°Just try not to spill anything on the bed.¡±

    ¡°My name is not Zu, Lauren.¡± I chuckled.

    ¡°I¡¯m just saying, accidents happen.¡± Lauren laughed and took a plate for herself, putting some food on top of it. ¡°I¡¯m ready for the movie when you are.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± I smiled and got myself a plate as well, after which I started the movie and huddled close to my girlfriend as the opening scene began.

    We snacked throughout the entire movie and didn¡¯t speak too much to each other, appart from a couple of short comments about something funny or sad that happened during the film. There was this one moment where the little robot didn¡¯t look like it would make it out of the volcano eruption in time where Lauren was clearly on the tip of her seat. That¡¯s the nice thing about movies like this, it can pull you in regardless of the age, even if it looks to be made for kids.

    When the movie ended with a typical Pimsey happy ending, Lauren leant back and stretched her arms and back and then dropped her back flat on the mattress. ¡°Ah, that was a very good movie. I liked that one a lot.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m happy you enjoyed it.¡± I smiled. ¡°But could I ask something?¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    ¡°How did you know how old the movie was?¡±

    ¡°I take it you don¡¯t know much about 21st century Earthern issues?¡±

    ¡°It is not my fort¨¦. I have read a bit about it, but not that much.¡±

    Lauren nodded. ¡°Well, the 21st century was mainly dominated by climate change issues and how we deal with plastic pollution and things like that. It¡¯s easy to see that the movie was made with that in mind.¡±

    ¡°Oh. Now that you mention it¡­ there were a lot of wars fought because of that, weren¡¯t there?¡±

    ¡°Of course, resource scarcity, climate refugees, conflicts about ideas on how to solve things, most funded by industries who didn¡¯t want to change because they would lose incredibly big amounts of money. But luckily in the end we did manage to somewhat solve the issue. We still need to keep an eye on it, but right now it¡¯s manageable. Sadly, that didn¡¯t really end conflicts, though.¡±

    I was very thankful for this short history lesson. ¡°It¡¯s all very interesting, though.¡±

    ¡°I can imagine. I would like to watch some of your media as well if I got the opportunity to do so. It¡¯s always interesting to see what other cultures see as things that are important enough to be portrayed, or even more so, to see things that aren¡¯t portrayed.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, maybe one day.¡± I replied. I couldn¡¯t access any of the media from back home, as it was seen to be too risky for practically no practical help during our mission. The only thing I really had to my disposal were the reports from some systems and regions of space.

    ¡°Are those pieces of media very utilitarian too?¡± Lauren asked.

    ¡°Yes, I definitely should add a warning that it¡¯s mainly educational media.¡± I admitted. ¡°I think the media that¡¯s most alike to your television is what you would call infotainment documentaries, but really way more of a focus on the information rather than the entertainment.¡±

    ¡°Huh, now I¡¯m even more curious to what it looks like.¡± Lauren chuckled and sat back up again. ¡°Anyhow, would you like to watch another movie? We still have plenty of time left in the evening.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± I nodded. ¡°But I don¡¯t think I will be eating any more.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ same goes for me.¡± Lauren laughed, but with a slightly painful expression.

    Instead of browsing through the movies myself, I shoved over the UI to Lauren. ¡°Maybe you should pick one that looks interesting to you now.¡±

    ¡°Alright, but don¡¯t blame me if I pick a bad one, okay?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll stop you before you do.¡± I giggled.

    Lauren actually ended up picking a Pimsey movie I had not seen before, which was quite the accomplishment as I¡¯d seen most of them. Although in the end it became clear why I hadn¡¯t. As it apparently was a movie that had mistakenly been placed in the Pimsey movie category, but wasn¡¯t a Pimsey movie at all. It was a traditionally drawn movie about a princess fleeing a country that was in complete and utter turmoil because of a revolution and to add insult to injury she got amnesia on top of that because of hitting her head. Luckily, in the end, everything ended well.

    ¡°That was a good movie too.¡± Lauren nodded. ¡°Although¡­¡±

    ¡°Although what?¡± I asked.

    ¡°I¡¯d like some of these movies to have been more¡­ gay.¡± Lauren started laughing. ¡°But oh well, that¡¯s just because of the timeframe these movies were made in, I suppose.¡±

    ¡°The more modern ones have quite a few lgbt characters in them.¡± I told her.

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s good, maybe we should watch those next¡­ but maybe not for today.¡± Lauren got off the bed and started cleaning up. ¡°It¡¯s time we head to bed, don¡¯t you think so, too?¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± I nodded in agreement. ¡°That would be wise. We wouldn¡¯t want to hit our head and forget about each other.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think I could ever forget you.¡± Lauren chuckled. ¡°I think that¡¯s impossible.¡±

    ¡°You think so?¡±

    ¡°I am 100% certain of it!¡± Lauren replied confidently. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind forgetting about Grayson, though.¡±

    I rolled my eyes. ¡°Do you still have a vendetta with him?¡±

    ¡°Most of it is just a joke by now. You need to look at it as a tradition.¡±

    ¡°Very well.¡± We both chuckled and I then helped Lauren clean up.

    Over the next week and a half, Lauren and I watched a Pimsey movie every single night, exploring some of their more LGBT focused movies as well. Eva even joined in for a couple of nights as she¡¯d shown interest in watching a couple of movies too. We were having a pretty good time, which was contrasted by the fact that the officers had gotten increasingly restless because of our slow but steady approach to Earth. To get rid of some of the tension, Lauren had actually executed a couple of the pizza party initiatives that were originally meant as a diversion for the crew.

    But nonetheless, the tension at some times was almost unbearable.

    At least¡­ It was until one night when Lauren and I were preparing to start yet another Pimsey movie, when Ellie suddenly called out to us from the speakers of our holosticks.

    ¡°Commander, requesting access to connect to your cabin¡¯s mainframe.¡±

    Lauren quickly got up from her chair. ¡°Request authorized.¡± She replied.

    ¡°Commander.¡± Ellie¡¯s voice rang out from the room¡¯s intercoms. ¡°We may have detected a suitable planet to commence Plan Outbreak.¡±

    Lauren looked at me with a surprised yet hopeful look on her face. She then looked back up to the ceiling. ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll be heading to the bridge momentarily.¡±

    Ellie left the room¡¯s mainframe again, and Lauren looked at me once more while grabbing her uniform jacket. ¡°Let¡¯s hope this is a good one.¡±

    ¡°I hope so too¡­¡± I replied and quickly put my uniform back on.

 Chapter 35: Messing with the Scanners

    Luna and I practically raced towards the bridge, so much so that we almost ran straight into a bunch of marines who were just having their coffee break.

    ¡°That coffee looked very hot. I¡¯m happy we didn¡¯t get that over us.¡± I laughed as I turned the next corner.

    ¡°Is that in any way, shape, or form something to laugh about?¡± Luna asked while she tried to keep up behind me.

    ¡°Absolutely not, but I tend to laugh when I¡¯m nervous.¡± I chuckled back and skidded to a halt in front of the bridge¡¯s door. They had momentarily locked the bridge down as a measure to keep any unwanted information from getting out and to the rest of the crew. Luckily, the marines that were stationed at the bridge at the time all were in on the plan, as they were going to be part of the team that would accompany the Dokazuuk down to the planetary surface if we were to find a suitable one.

    They saluted us and opened the door with the console so we could walk through. Zu was excitedly explaining something to some other officers at Luna and I¡¯s station.

    ¡°Commander!¡± Zu exclaimed. ¡°Look at this!¡± She ran over to Luna and me and showed her holostick to us. Making it bigger so it would be easier to see. ¡°This is the planet that I just picked up in our scanner.¡±

    ¡°You picked it up?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Yes, Commander.¡± Ellie spoke through the intercoms.

    ¡°I was experimenting with some of our scanning sensors when it popped up right in the middle of my screen. It was as if the planet wasn¡¯t there to begin with until I changed it to these specific parameters.¡±

    ¡°You are one-hundred percent sure that the planet is actually there, right? You didn¡¯t somehow mess up the entire system.¡±

    ¡°No, Commander. I confirmed Lieutenant Zu¡¯s find.¡± Ellie said. ¡°For some reason that we currently have not figured out yet, it¡¯s almost undetectable with optical scanners and our other equipment failed to notice it as well. But once you know what to look for, it is, in fact, there.¡±

    ¡°That sounds rather strange? Doesn¡¯t it?¡± Luna commented. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of anything like this happening.¡±

    ¡°I got to agree, that sounds like trouble to me.¡± I nodded.

    ¡°I get your point, Commander, I do. But just look at this planet.¡± Zu directed us back to the image rather than our objections. ¡°For all intents and purposes, this is the perfect planet. Our scans with the new settings indicate incredibly high livability scores for both us Humans as for the Dokazuuk. It is a relatively small world, but that¡¯s still about 90% of Earth¡¯s size.¡±

    ¡°A perfect planet¡­¡±

    ¡°Planets like these have been theorized by astrobiologists and have been named as so-called ¡®Gaia planets.¡¯¡± Ellie explained. ¡°They are seen as worlds where every kind of alien biological life could prosper.¡±

    ¡°So, because Zu was messing about with our scanners, she just so happened to find a hidden world which incidentally would also perfectly suit both ours as our allies¡¯ needs?¡± I repeated just to make sure I got everything lined up and I wasn¡¯t imagining things.

    ¡°So it would seem, Commander.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°While caution is definitely warranted, I think it would be best to go and inspect this planet more closely. It might be the only opportunity we get to execute our plan to save our Dokazuuk allies.

    I looked at Luna, she seemed as unsure about this as I was feeling at the moment, yet it is also true what Ellie said, we¡¯d relatively soon be back in the solar system, getting another opportunity like this is very unlikely. I looked back at the bridge crew, who were all looking at me expectantly.

    ¡°Alright.¡± I said. ¡°Zu, how far is this planet from our current location?¡±

    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    ¡°Three days of jumping at most, Commander.¡± Zu saluted with a smile on her face.

    ¡°Okay, I want our sensors on that planet constantly from now on. Try to gather as much information as you possibly can and scan the surrounding systems to be sure as well.¡± I looked up at the ceiling. ¡°Ellie, if you would, please alert everyone who is part of the plan that we may have found a planet that suits our needs. Let everyone quietly make ready, if it is indeed something we can go for, I want the plan to be executed immediately.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Commander.¡± Ellie responded.

    Last, but not least, I directed myself to the rest of the bridge crew. ¡°I know this is very exciting, but please, everyone, do try to get enough rest. There¡¯s a possibility things will go awry and I want everyone in tiptop shape if it does. Furthermore, also be prepared that this might not be the answer to our problems, so keep in mind that disappointment is also a distinct possibility. That does not mean, however, that we can¡¯t be cautiously optimistic. It just doesn¡¯t hurt being prepared for the worst.¡±

    ¡°Aye aye, Commander.¡± One of the marines who was standing next to us saluted me. The rest of the bridge crew soon followed.

    ¡°Good. Don¡¯t forget to keep your lips tight about our plans. As such, the LC and I will retire back to our chambers to avoid rousing any further suspicion. If anyone asks while we ran over here in a hurry, just tell them we have discovered a habitable planet in a location you didn¡¯t expect.¡± I then looked back at Lieutenant Zu. ¡°Lieutenant, you know what to do?¡±

    ¡°Setting course to the planet now, Commander.¡± She nodded and got to work on her station.

    ¡°Good job everyone.¡± I spoke to the entire bridge before I gave a nod to Luna, signaling that we should return to the cabin now. We left the bridge in silence.

    The entire way back, we didn¡¯t say anything to one another, not necessarily because we didn¡¯t want to, but because we couldn¡¯t. It was only when we arrived back at my cabin and I¡¯d made sure Ellie was outside that Luna and I could start speaking to each other again.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know about this, Com¡­ Lauren¡­¡± Luna shook her head. She seemed uneasy.

    ¡°I suppose you are speaking about the Gaia planet?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ it¡¯s just¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­¡±

    ¡°I wanted to ask you about that.¡± I threw my beret back on the bed and then sat down next to it. ¡°Have you ever heard about those kinds of planets before?¡±

    ¡°Not under that name, but the concept is something The Conglomerate has also studied.¡±

    ¡°Have they ever found any?¡±

    ¡°Saying they have found any is a wrong choice of words. The planet from which the Conglomerate originated is one.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ So they do exist.¡±

    Luna sat down on a chair next to our dinner table. ¡°They exist. Yes¡­ But they are so exceedingly rare... So much so that the planet we have just discovered would be the second one I know of.¡±

    ¡°Which means that in presumably thousands of years of exploration, the Conglomerate has never encountered one of those planets before?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Pretty much.¡± Luna nodded. ¡°And this ship just stumbled on one right when it needed it most¡­ that¡¯s just¡­ It¡¯s very hard for my brain to comprehend¡­¡±

    ¡°I can definitely understand that. It just seems surreal, doesn¡¯t it?¡± I nodded back at her. ¡°But at the same time, we can¡¯t let this opportunity pass us by.¡±

    ¡°I do agree on that as well.¡± Luna said. ¡°It would be stupid not to take the shot¡­ But I just have a very bad gut feeling about this.¡±

    I nodded once more. ¡°And that¡¯s exactly why we should be taking every precaution we can.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ well¡­ if there¡¯s anyone who can bring this to a good conclusion, it¡¯s you.¡±

    That brought a smile to my face. ¡°Wow, I¡¯m really happy you have this much faith in me.¡±

    Luna stood up from her seat and walked over to me. Crawling on top of my lap so she could stare straight into my eyes. ¡°How could I not? We¡¯ve made it this far because of you, haven¡¯t we?¡±

    ¡°Well, that wasn¡¯t a solo effort, you know?¡± I laughed and crossed my arms behind her back.

    ¡°Still though. Everyone on this ship looks up to you, and rightfully so. You always know what to say and when to say it to make everyone do what they are supposed to do. You connect people.¡±

    ¡°Do I?¡± I smiled, I could feel my cheeks starting to blush up a little. A barrage of compliments like this would do that to anyone.

    ¡°Like you connected me to you as well.¡± She cupped my face in between her hands and then she gently put her lips against mine and then slowly pulled away from me again with a smile.

    ¡°I definitely don¡¯t regret that.¡±  It was my turn to approach now. As we started kissing, it didn¡¯t take long before I was with my back on the bed and with my beautiful girlfriend on top of me. In the meantime, the selected Pimsey movie just sat there, waiting to be played. But neither me, nor Luna, even thought a single second about that. The only thing present in our mind was the thought of one another.

 Chapter 36: A Shimering View

    The next couple of days crawled past at such an agonizingly slow pace, as if we had been caught in the event horizon of a black hole or something. I swear hours had passed, while in reality it had been only a fraction of that. It must¡¯ve been the anticipation for what to come that made time tick by so slowly. But at least, because of this, I did manage to keep a very good overview about everything that was happening.

    Doctor Winter had already put a part of the plan in motion that relied on slowly spreading some ¡®symptoms¡¯ throughout the Dokazuuk crew. Not something that would pull too much attention already, and in case the planet appeared to be a no-go, we could just argue it away as a simple rash, but just noticeable enough that if necessary, it would also be relatively easy to convince people that it was in fact a very serious disease.

    Luna in the meantime was digging through her own archives to see if she could find any traces of similar cases regarding Gaia planets, but to no avail. It was the day before the arrival and she¡¯d still found absolutely nothing.

    ¡°I just can¡¯t find anything, Lauren.¡± Luna laid back down on the bed, looking completely defeated.

    ¡°This might be a weird thought.¡± I sat down next to her on the bed. ¡°But would it be possible that any archived data regarding these things was completely wiped?¡±

    Luna looked at me with her eyes wide open and then sat upright again. ¡°Are you suggesting that The Conglomerate may have scrubbed any sign of these planets from our history.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s always a possibility, right? They are not really that open about the entire gene modification thing, either. If you have one secret, there¡¯s a distinct possibility there are more secrets out there as well.¡±

    ¡°But why? Why would they do that?¡± Luna asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. We don¡¯t really know why, who or what did the gene modding thing either.¡± I shrugged. ¡°I am one of the most well-known people on planet Earth, yet there¡¯s no one except for very high-ranking government officials who even know I got wounded during the war. There are a couple of soldiers too, but most of those are on this ship together with us¡­ It¡¯s not very hard to cover things up, you know?¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± Luna grumbled. ¡°But the discovery of an entire planet¡­ or even multiple planets¡­ And gene modding¡­¡±

    I smiled at my girlfriend and put my hand on her lap to put her a bit at ease. ¡°Hey, it was just a silly theory.¡±

    Luna reciprocated by putting her hand on mine. ¡°I know¡­ but somehow it doesn¡¯t sound that unlikely to me, and that¡¯s the part that¡¯s concerning to me.¡±

    ¡°Well, if there¡¯s anything I know, it''s that we can¡¯t really do anything about it right now. So why don¡¯t we go to sleep early today? Tomorrow will be exciting to say the least so a good night¡¯s rest will do us good. What do you say?¡±

    Luna nodded gently at my request. ¡°Mhmm¡­ let¡¯s do that¡­¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± I smiled. ¡°The Pimsey movie can wait for another day.¡±

    ¡°Oh. I forgot about that¡­ Can¡¯t we watch it while we lay in bed?¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­ But I¡¯ll put on a timer so it automatically shuts off when we¡¯ve both fallen asleep.¡±

    Luna nodded and undressed herself, I did the same. And in no-time we were laying down in bed next to each other. From my spot you couldn¡¯t really see the screen that well, but that didn¡¯t really bother me. I just wanted Luna to calm down a bit. Luckily, being in my arms and cuddled up to me, it didn¡¯t take too long before she fell asleep. The movie had barely gone on for ten minutes. I smiled and turned off the screen by myself. ¡°Good night, Luna.¡± I whispered. And then closed my eyes for some well-needed rest myself.

    It looked like the night¡¯s rest had done wonders for the both of us. Luna was visibly less stressed, and I myself felt very energetic. It had been a while since I had been able to sleep for that long.

    After a good refreshing shower, I put on my uniform and waited for Luna to get ready.

    ¡°Have you taken your pills?¡± Luna asked as she exited the bathroom.

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    ¡°Yeah, yeah, I have.¡± I gave her nod. ¡°Do you have everything you need?¡±

    ¡°Just my holostick.¡± Luna replied and walked over to the bedside table. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m ready now.¡±

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go then.¡± I opened the door and together we started our walk towards the bridge. The halls were a bit busier than usual, with a lot of people who were off-duty going to the observation deck. I did mention to the groups we walked by that they should be ready just in case things happened. But that was mainly as a friendly reminder, as everyone knew what their duties were.

    When we walked into the bridge, the crew from the previous shift was almost all still there as well.

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you all go to take a rest?¡± I asked Lieutenant Somers.

    ¡°If you wouldn¡¯t mind, Commander, we really want to see the planet from up with our own eyes.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a Gaia planet, Ma¡¯am.¡± One of the other officers replied. ¡°I¡¯ve only ever heard of these back in the academy.¡±

    ¡°Alright, alright. Just make sure you get enough rest.¡±

    ¡°Aye aye.¡± Somers saluted.

    ¡°Lieutenant Zu, how long until we get a good visual?¡±

    ¡°About an hour, Commander.¡± She replied. ¡°We¡¯ve dropped out of FTL further than usual following Ellie¡¯s recommendations.¡±

    ¡°The scanners still don¡¯t show any unusual signs?¡±

    ¡°Not that we can tell, Commander.¡± It was Ellie who replied this time. ¡°We¡¯ve also scanned using the parameters that the Lieutenant has found, but so far we¡¯ve found nothing out of the ordinary apart from the planet itself.¡±

    ¡°No news, is good news, as my grandmother would have said. Anyhow, is there any news from the infirmary?¡±

    ¡°There have been curious crew members who have gone to the doctor already for some questions about the rash, so the seeds have been sown for the plan to succeed.¡± Luna replied. ¡°She¡¯d already opened up her holostick and had gone to work looking at the reports.

    ¡°Alright, then all we can do now is wait and see what happens.¡±

    And that¡¯s what we did. We could only keep up our guard as the ship slid closer and closer to the planet we¡¯d found. About an hour later, we were close enough so that we could get a clear visual contact. It looked exactly like our scans. A ball of blue water with green continents. Not much unlike Earth, but clearly lacking in deserts and frozen poles.

    When we got even closer, we could marvel at our new discovery.

    ¡°It looks incredible.¡± One of the off-duty officers commented.

    ¡°It¡¯s definitely a beauty.¡± Zu turned towards the center of the bridge.

    ¡°Hey, what¡¯s that shimmer, though?¡± Lieutenant Somers called out.

    ¡°What shimmer?¡± I asked.

    ¡°It might be my eyes tricking me, but I do believe I see a shimer when you look at the edge of the planet.¡± Somers replied.

    ¡°Ellie?¡± I turned myself to our AI.

    ¡°I¡¯m not detecting anything in the atmosphere, Commander.¡±

    ¡°Can you give us an enhanced image of the planet¡¯s contour?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Commander.¡±

    Everyone on the bridge looked at the enhanced image that Ellie provided us.

    ¡°See! There it is!¡± Somers pointed at the big holoscreen. When Somers did so, Ellie drew a red square on the image and zoomed in even further. It only lasted for a moment before it disappeared but I saw the shimmer as well. It was as if there was some kind of shield around the planet at the border between the troposphere and the stratosphere.

    Now that we knew what to look for, we could see the shimmer appear all around the planet.

    ¡°This is an interesting development¡­¡± I leaned onto the railing. ¡°This is definitely not something that could develop naturally, right?¡±

    ¡°Not that we know off, Commander.¡± Ellie said.

    ¡°Hmmm.¡± I looked at Luna. She also shook her head. ¡°Okay¡­ can we launch a drone to see if we are able to penetrate the shield?¡±

    ¡°Drone is on its way, Commander.¡± Ellie replied once more.

    It took a while for the drone to reach the planet.

    ¡°The drone reached the planet''s surface without any issue, Commander.¡± Ellie reported back. ¡°The atmosphere appears to be identical to our prior findings from our scanners.¡±

    ¡°Then what does that shield do?¡± I thought out loud. ¡°A shield is something you use to keep things out, don¡¯t you? And besides that, and maybe even more importantly, what in the Goddess her name is creating that shield. I suppose you are not reading any significant energy signatures either?¡±

    ¡°No, Commander.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°If there is anything that¡¯s creating that shield on the planet''s surface, then its signature is camouflaged too well for the ship¡¯s sensors to detect.¡± Ellie paused for a second. ¡°However¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°Detailed geographical scans have just concluded, Commander.¡± Ellie continued. ¡°I have detected multiple possible man-made structures hidden beneath the foliage.¡±

    ¡°It isn¡¯t the bugs again, is it?¡± Zu asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t detect any minerals that point towards that, either dead or alive.¡± Ellie said.

    ¡°At least that¡¯s something¡­¡± I then looked back at Luna.

    -This is going to be yet another ground mission, isn¡¯t it?-

 Chapter 36 Bis: Im Going Too

    ¡°Luna, no, I really do not like that idea.¡± Lauren had taken me apart from the rest of the group. She¡¯d made Ellie lock the communication¡¯s room off for anyone else to join.

    ¡°But I¡¯m the foremost expert on things like this, you know I am.¡± I retorted.

    ¡°There¡¯s Grayson.¡± She countered.

    ¡°There is, but his knowledge is still limited.¡±

    Lauren rested her hands on the comms table and lowered her head.

    ¡°If you are going down there. I¡¯m going too.¡± I stated.

    ¡°Luna¡­¡± Lauren sighed. ¡°If you really aren¡¯t going to change your mind¡­¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t go even five centimeters away from me. Got it?¡± She looked up at me.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°And if you go, I want you in our armored suits as well.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± I nodded.

    Lauren looked back up at me and shook her head. ¡°Honestly, if you weren¡¯t the expert on alien equipment, I wouldn¡¯t have doubted a second to leave you behind.¡±

    ¡°I know. But we don¡¯t really have another option. If we want the crew to live on this planet for a while, we need to know if it¡¯s safe.¡±

    Lauren nodded. ¡°But really, once I sense any kind of danger. I¡¯ll send you back with the first shuttle. Understand? I won¡¯t tolerate any grumbling.¡±

    ¡°As long as you won¡¯t stay behind. Because I will not leave you.¡±

    Lauren shook her head again, but smiled this time. ¡°Okay. I promise.¡± She then walked away from the table and walked over to the door. ¡°Ellie, we are done, you can start listening in again.¡±

    ¡°Yes Commander. Want me to unlock the door for you.¡±

    ¡°If you would be so kind.¡±

    The door whooshed open, and just as it did we were greeted by Grayson, who was apparently waiting for us.

    ¡°Commander.¡±

    ¡°Grayson.¡± Lauren and Grayson greeted each other.

    ¡°Why did you call for me?¡±

    ¡°Ah, I want you to suit up and join us in the hangar bay in twenty minutes.¡± Lauren replied matter-of-factly.

    ¡°S-s-suit up?¡± He stuttered. ¡°Wait, you want to say I need to go down with you?¡±

    ¡°Yep. Luna, can you show him the way?¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± I agreed and smiled at Grayson.

    ¡°She¡¯s not joking?¡± Grayson asked me.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid not.¡± I replied.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be there in a couple of minutes as well to help you with your gear.¡± Lauren said as she looked towards the bridge. ¡°I¡¯m just going to get the people on the bridge up to date as well.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± I said as Lauren walked off towards the bridge. I then turned myself towards Grayson. ¡°Let¡¯s get going now.¡±

    Grayson looked a bit confused as I walked away, but he swiftly followed me when he noticed I wasn¡¯t stopping. ¡°Your gear¡­ so you are coming as well?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I am.¡± I said.

    ¡°...Well¡­ I guess I should be happy to have another expert with me as well¡­ but¡­ how did you get the Commander to agree with that?¡±

    ¡°She doesn¡¯t really have an option. We don¡¯t really have an option.¡±

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    ¡°Right¡­ the plan.¡± Grayson nodded. ¡°It¡¯s still incredibly risky to take both the XO as the Commander herself on the mission. But as you said, the entire plan does revolve around this planet. Taking the two foremost experts on xenotech is definitely worth that risk.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± I nodded as we walked along.

    When we arrived at the armory, another marine helped Grayson get into a suit of armor. Everyone else however stayed clear from me. Lauren had probably told them she¡¯d help me herself. Gunny did walk over to me after he¡¯d gotten into his gear.

    ¡°Hey there, LC. I¡¯ll be your guard for today, together with the Commander, of course.¡± He gave me a wink.

    ¡°What about Grayson?¡± I asked.

    ¡°He¡¯ll be joining us as well, together with private Blanchet.¡± As Gunny said that, the other marine who¡¯d helped Grayson into a suit of armor saluted me. ¡°Blanchet doesn¡¯t say much, but they are a good marine.¡±

    At that moment, the door of the armory opened again. ¡°Sorry that I¡¯m a bit later, the briefing took longer than expected.¡± It was Lauren. She was breathing a bit louder than usual, she must¡¯ve run all the way from the bridge. ¡°You guys can board the shuttle already, we¡¯re shuttle one.¡±

    ¡°Alright Commander. See you in a bit, LC.¡± Gunny gave me a quick salute and then marched out of the door. Followed by Grayson, who was clumsily moving around, but he was being helped well-enough by Private Blanchet.

    Lauren watched the rest walk and then made sure no one else was around. She then crouched next to me and smiled. ¡°Do you remember how you got into one last time?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, a little bit¡­ but some help would be nice.¡± I gave her a nod.

    ¡°Mhmm. Well, why don¡¯t you get your jacket and your shirt off so we can get you strapped in. I¡¯ll take some fitting armor in the meantime.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± I nodded and did as she asked. Not long afterwards, Lauren threw a black skin suit on the bench next to me.

    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± I asked. ¡°I didn¡¯t wear this last time.¡±

    ¡°We didn¡¯t really have time to put you into one last time. This is a thermal suit. It will connect into the armor to regulate your body temperature better. It will also make medical readings more accurate. If you are in a suit of armor for a long period of time, these things are great. Especially if you need to go to the bathroom.¡±

    ¡°...Do I want to know how that works?¡±

    Lauren stopped for a second and looked at the ceiling with her hands on her hips. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you if you need to know. Otherwise, it might be better if you didn¡¯t.¡± She laughed. ¡°Jokes aside. It¡¯s pretty self-explanatory. These things weren¡¯t made for rocket scientists¡­ or xeno technological experts for that matter.¡±

    ¡°Oki.¡± I pulled off my pants and then stepped into the skin suit. Lauren gave me plenty of privacy by looking away. She didn¡¯t really need to, given our relationship, but maybe it was just baked into her while dressing yourself in an armory like this.

    When I was neatly and tightly into the skin suit, I told Lauren she could turn around. She still looked a bit flustered, though.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? You¡¯ve seen me naked before, haven¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°I have¡­ but the skin suit looks really really good on you.¡± She said, with her volume turned down to one.

    ¡°Do I?¡± I looked at my legs and behind my back.

    ¡°Yes¡­ you do¡­¡± Lauren turned back around. ¡°Let¡¯s not fool around too much and get you into some actual armor.¡±

    I decided not to tease her any further and just follow her lead. The rest of the armor was quite easy to get into. The spare suit I¡¯d worn during the ship infestation really couldn¡¯t compare to how well this suit fit me.

    ¡°This should do.¡± Lauren looked quite content. ¡°Can you try to move around a bit in it?¡±

    I moved my legs and arms, everything really just felt right. I don¡¯t really know why Grayson was looking so derpy before. This fit me like a glove. ¡°It¡¯s great.¡±

    Lauren smiled and rubbed her hands. ¡°Good, now pick yourself a gun while I put on my own gear.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t know what to pick, I¡¯ll help you in a sec.¡± Lauren pointed me at the gun locker.

    So in the end I just spent a couple of minutes staring at some guns before my girlfriend came over to save her partner who probably looked like a deer in headlights.

    ¡°Are you sure I need to grab a gun? I didn¡¯t see Grayson take one.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need one, I want you to have one.¡± She stated as she grabbed herself a bulky looking assault rifle and attached it to the back of her armor. ¡°And I¡¯m not just talking about a sidearm. Speaking of which.¡± She grabbed a pistol out of the locker. ¡°Here, you¡¯ve used this one before. You can put that in the holster at your thigh. If you hold it against your thigh, it should auto-extend.¡±

    I took the pistol out of her hand and did as she said. Indeed, once I held the pistol near my right thigh, the armor pretty much automatically grabbed the pistol out of my hand.

    ¡°You can get it out just by slightly pulling it.¡± Lauren explained, as she was still looking at the gun locker.

    I tried that as well, and lo and behold, it worked like a charm.

    ¡°As for a rifle¡­¡± She extended her arms into the locker and pulled out a gun that was quite a bit smaller and a lot less bulky than she¡¯d picked out herself. ¡°Can you hold this for me.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± I nodded and took it from her. It was really light and it somewhat reminded me of the training rifles we used at basic training.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t pack a big punch, but it¡¯s really easy to keep on target. The sights are also really clear. It is based on the guns we use for basic training on earth so it should feel familiar. Pretty much handles the same, too.¡±

    -Ah¡­ that would explain it.- I gave Lauren a nod. ¡°I think I can use this.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡± She smiled. ¡°Then we are all set.¡± Lauren just picked out a couple of grenades and some other accessories out of the armory closet and then closed the door.

    -It¡¯s probably a good thing she didn¡¯t give any grenades to me¡­-

 Chapter 37: New Planet Rover

    With Luna in a well-fitted suit of armor I was already a lot more at ease. Of course, having her come down with me to the planet surface was still not something I was really that happy with, but she could be incredibly useful, together with Grayson, to find out more about anything we¡¯d find on the planet''s surface.

    I got into the shuttle right behind her, where the rest of our squad was situated. I¡¯d asked the hangar crew to load up some land vehicles, so we had a bit less room than usual, so we could only have six people loaded up, and because Gunny was wearing his heavy combat exoskeleton, that number had been reduced down to five. We were going down with four shuttles, so that would still give us twenty-three boots on the ground.

    ¡°So this big box is supposed to be the land personnel carrier?¡± Grayson asked.

    ¡°Yep.¡± Gunny nodded.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t look that big.¡±

    ¡°It will fold out once we drop it on the planet''s surface. We managed to reduce the space needed thanks to some Dokazuuk help.¡± I explained and walked over to the cockpit where our pilot was patiently waiting for the order to lift off.

    ¡°Oooh.¡± Grayson said as he kept watching the box.

    ¡°Ellie, you can give everyone the green light to lift off.¡±

    ¡°Okay Commander.¡±

    I tapped the shoulder of the pilot and gave him a thumbs up to signal that he could fly out first. In a matter of seconds, the four shuttles were out of the back of the UFS Roald Amundsen and on their way to the planet surface.

    The trip down would not take that long if everything went alright.

    ¡°Commander.¡± Luna said. ¡°Aren¡¯t you supposed to strap in? Ellie told us we might go through some rough turbulence¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not going anywhere if I got my magnets on, but if you prefer it, I¡¯ll buckle up.¡± I looked over my shoulder. It didn¡¯t really matter if I was standing up or sitting down, but if it made Luna feel better, I would not go against her. So I did as she asked and sat down next to her.

    ¡°What do you expect to find on the planet, Commander?¡± This time it was Gunny who asked.

    ¡°Could be anything, really. We¡¯re flying towards the entrance of the biggest structure that Ellie detected. If anything would be generating that shield, I think the highest probability of us finding something, is in that compound.¡±

    ¡°Part of me is hoping that we don¡¯t find anything.¡± Grayson admits.

    ¡°That mustn''t be the scientist part, then.¡± Gunny laughs.

    ¡°Oh no, the scientist part of me definitely wants to find stuff, but it¡¯s incredibly scary, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°You are right on that one.¡± I replied. ¡°But the positive thing is that there¡¯s definitely no bugs here.¡±

    ¡°Thank the Goddess there isn''t. I really don¡¯t like those things.¡± Gunny said. ¡°Although blowing them to pieces, I got to say that was pretty fun.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± I laughed.

    The rest of the ride down was surprisingly quiet. So quiet that even the turbulence that Ellie had predicted didn¡¯t appear at all. Although that made the approach to the planet even more ominous instead of making it better.

    ¡°We are about to touch down, Commander.¡± The pilot called out.

    ¡°Alright, just go slow and steady.¡± I replied.

    ¡°Touching her down in thirty seconds.¡±

    I looked at Gunny and Private Blanchet, ¡°Ready?¡±

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    ¡°We were born ready, ma¡¯am.¡± Blanchet replied.

    ¡°What they said.¡± Gunny laughed.

    I gave them a nod, for they could not see my smile through my helmet. ¡°Luna?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m ready, Commander.¡± Luna nodded as well.

    ¡°Noone¡¯s going to ask about me?¡± Grayson looked at me.

    ¡°You¡¯ll be fine.¡± Gunny gave Grayson a pat on the back, after which the nose of the shuttle flared up for just a second before we finally touched the ground.

    Gunny, Blanchet and I immediately unbuckled and dismounted the shuttle from the side while the land rover was being conveyed out of the back.

    We¡¯d landed on an open field, not far from the presumed entrance of the compound. A few seconds after we¡¯d left the shuttle, the other shuttles started to land as well, also dropping off their payloads. The rover had already started unpacking itself by the time I¡¯d come around to the back of the shuttle.

    ¡°Wow¡­¡± Grayson said as he laid eyes on the rover¡¯s transformation from its stored shape. Just as the wheels unfolded underneath it.

    ¡°I¡¯m excited to test this one out.¡± Gunny said.

    ¡°So am I.¡± I replied and then looked around. The other rovers were also unfolding, while most of the marines formed a bit of a perimeter around the shuttles.

    ¡°A-are the shuttles going to stay here, Commander?¡± Luna had her rifle out but she was holding it steady as she¡¯d learned in basic training.

    ¡°No, they¡¯ll lift back off in a bit once we are ready to move. Some will stay in orbit of the planet, while others give us some cover from the air. If we need a fast pickup, they¡¯ll be able to come and get us pretty swiftly.¡± I replied.

    ¡°Okay.¡± Luna nodded. By now, the rover was already fully operational. The ¡®box¡¯ it was in was just folding up underneath.

    I gave the signal for our pilot to lift off, which he swiftly did. The other shuttles followed suit quickly after.

    Gunny mounted the back of the rover and sat back down again. Putting his heavy weapon on the weapon swivel that the rover provided. That way he could also connect it to an ammo belt that was being fed from the rover instead of his own supply of ammunition.

    ¡°Do you want to drive, Commander?¡± Blanchet asked.

    ¡°No, you can go ahead.¡±

    Blanchet nodded and got on the rover as well. Before I got on myself, I first helped Luna and then Grayson get on the rover. Though Grayson definitely had more issues than Luna had.

    ¡°Grayson, have you really not been in any kind of armor before?¡±

    ¡°I am a scientist, Commander. They didn¡¯t hire me for my hand-eye coordination.¡±

    ¡°Oh well, if everything goes alright, you won¡¯t have to move around that much.¡± I sat next to Luna as Blanchet started driving. It wasn¡¯t really the smoothest of rides but the suspension was doing its best to give us a relatively comfortable drive.

    ¡°Want me to drive all the way up to the structure, Commander?¡± Blanchet asked.

    ¡°Maybe park it parallel to the doors so we can get away faster if things happen.¡± I replied.

    ¡°Copy that.¡±

    ¡°It does look like a nice planet.¡± Gunny commented from his seat in the back. ¡°Nice blue skies, Green fields of grass with all kinds of flowers¡­ I wonder what the air would smell like.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a lot cleaner than on planet Earth, Gunnery Sergeant.¡± It was Ellie¡¯s voice that came over the intercoms. ¡°There¡¯s a distinct lack of air pollution on this planet¡¯s atmosphere.¡±

    ¡°Hey there, Ellie, nice of you to rejoin us.¡± I smiled in my armor.

    ¡°I have never left, Commander.¡±

    ¡°I know, I know.¡± I looked back at Gunny. ¡°Don¡¯t get rid of your helmet just yet, though. Just as an extra precaution.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t.¡± Gunny replied.

    But Gunny was right though. The wind was pushing around the grass around us, with a sun very similar to our own standing high above in the blue sky. A white cloud dotted here and there. It reminded me of some old pictures you could find on the internet back on Earth.

    In a way, it would be terribly sad for us to colonize this planet, but then again, it could also be a good chance to start anew.

    Ten minutes later we got close to what looked like a grassy hill from afar, but in actuality was some kind of big stone bunker door. It was clear that whatever this door opened up to, was going down into the earth.

    ¡°Want us to dismount, Commander?¡± Gunny asked.

    ¡°No, just keep the engine running. I¡¯ll see if I can find something.¡± I hopped off the rover and walked over to the big stone door. Even from up close, I couldn¡¯t really tell how it would open. It was as if from all sides, it so perfectly connected to the rest of the stone that it looked more as if someone had just hewn out an area of stone and left it like that, just simply to look like a door. When I ran my hand over the stone¡¯s surface, it was as if my hand was running over glass. Just an incredibly smooth surface of gray rock. But I couldn¡¯t really find anything that looked like a button.

    ¡°Commander, want us to deploy the explosives?¡± Blanchet asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if that would even dent it.¡± I took my combat knife out of its holster and tried to chip away the tiniest fleck of stone, but it just wouldn¡¯t do anything. Even if I used all my strength, nothing happened.

    ¡°What now?¡± Luna asked. ¡°Want us to get off so we can take a look?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ Why can¡¯t these doors just open?¡±  Suddenly a blue light shone front somewhere at the top of the door down upon me and our rover.

    ¡°Uhhhhh¡­.¡± I backed away slowly

 Chapter 38: The Galaxy Map

    I backed up a couple of meters more before I stopped. Behind me, I could hear movement.

    ¡°Lauren!¡± Luna called out to me. I figured she was trying to get out of the rover to get to me.

    ¡°Luna, don¡¯t. Do not move at all.¡± I commanded. ¡°Nobody move. Not one finger.¡±

    In the meantime, the blue light still shone brightly upon us. I tried to see where exactly it came from, but to me, it looked like it just directly came from the stone above. I couldn¡¯t really see any kind of light fixture.

    Then, just as suddenly as it appeared, the light vanished again. But before I could do anything else, I could hear a voice, however, weirdly enough, the sound didn¡¯t sound like it came from any direction, it was more like it was being projected right into my mind.

    ¡°Intelligent successor life sign detected. Opening the vault.¡± The voice was disembodied and sounded like multiple people were speaking at exactly the same time.

    ¡°What the fuck.¡± Blanchet commented. They had grabbed their head with their both hands. ¡°Did anyone else hear people talk in French?¡±

    ¡°French? It was English for me.¡± Gunny replied.

    ¡°For me too.¡± Grayson nodded.

    ¡°Luna?¡± I looked at my girlfriend.

    ¡°For me, it was in my local dialect too.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡± I then looked back at the stone door behind me. It had just started to slide open, eerily silently.

    The other squads had all trained their weapons on the door, they all looked incredibly confused as well.

    ¡°Stand down, everyone.¡± I commanded and signaled everyone to lower their weapons. ¡°If whatever race built this wanted us dead, we probably would be already.¡± With the door almost completely open, it revealed a big hallway going down into the earth. Two parallel strips of blue at the ceiling light illuminating the inside.

    ¡°What do you want us to do, Commander?¡± One of my squad leaders asked.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take squad Bravo with us while the rest holds up here.¡± I replied.

    ¡°You want us to go down there?¡± Grayson asked.

    ¡°Obviously, there¡¯s not much to learn from up here, is there?¡±

    ¡°But¡­ we could inspect whatever universal translator they have here¡­¡±

    ¡°Grayson¡­¡±

    ¡°Sorry Commander, I know, I¡¯m just not very enthusiastic about going into an alien tunnel.¡±

    ¡°You were a lot less worried about heading into an enemy ship.¡±

    ¡°I know¡­ but that was because you were kicking those alien¡¯s asses¡­¡±

    ¡°You betcha.¡± Gunny gave Grayson a slap on the back.

    ¡°Let¡¯s just head down and see what we can find.¡± I mounted back up on the rover and tapped Blanchet on the shoulder. ¡°Your head¡¯s fine, right? I can get someone else to drive.¡±

    ¡°It is, Commander. That stuff was just weird.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± I gave them two comforting taps on the shoulder and then looked at squad Bravo¡¯s rover. ¡°Bravo squad, you following?¡±

    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am!¡± The entirety of squad bravo saluted me, after which Blanchet slowly turned the rover into the tunnel.

    The other two squads setting up a defensive formation around the entrance.

    ¡°Now that the doors have opened, Ellie, can your scans see what¡¯s inside?¡± I asked as we started going down the slope. It went on for so long that I really couldn¡¯t see the end of the tunnel.

    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    ¡°No, Commander, something is blocking my sensors at the vault¡¯s door. It must be some kind of shield that has been left up. I can however use the sensors that have been built into your suit to get a reading on the immediate surroundings. But so far I can¡¯t detect anything.¡±

    ¡°Those lamps don¡¯t have power flowing through them?¡± Grayson asked.

    ¡°Not that I can tell.¡± Ellie replied.

    ¡°Hmm, must be some kind of luminescent rock, then.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Luna said. ¡°Those lights weren¡¯t on when the doors first started to open, they only started shining when the doors were about halfway open. So it at least needs some kind of mechanism.¡±

    ¡°Do you think it could be reflecting sunlight?¡± I propose.

    ¡°Maybe, but that would not explain the delay.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm.¡±

    ¡°Already the second mystery to be solved and we haven¡¯t even started yet¡­¡± Grayson said. And he had the right of it. Whatever we¡¯d find down here, it would hopefully give us answers, but it already had given us so many new questions and the only thing we¡¯d done was open a door.

    ¡°Could we talk about the voice for a bit more?¡± Luna asked. ¡°As we won¡¯t be reaching the bottom of this tunnel for a while.¡±

    ¡°What part? That it could speak directly into our minds, that it spoke in our mother tongue, or what it actually said?¡± Grayson replied.

    ¡°Mainly that last part¡­¡± Luna looked at me.

    ¡°Intelligent successor life sign detected.¡± I quoted the strange voice.

    ¡°Yes.¡± Luna nodded. ¡°More specifically about the successor part.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± Grayson nodded as well. ¡°I had been thinking about that too. It strongly implies that we are dealing with some kind of precursor race.¡±

    ¡°Back in my youth, I played some games that had precursor races. They are races that came before but have somehow disappeared.¡± I said.

    ¡°I think I know a couple of those games too, Commander.¡± Blanchet added.

    ¡°That¡¯d be a pretty basic explanation of it, but yes.¡± Grayson replied.

    ¡°I wonder if that race is directly responsible for what life in the galaxy is about. Because the word successor also implies that this is in some way planned. Especially since whatever opened the door was made to be able to be understood by anyone.¡±

    ¡°That they planted the seeds of human life, as our creators, and have then decided to just disappear?¡±

    ¡°Maybe they just thought that their time of existence had come and then decided to make an end of it, then ensuring that the galaxy still had some form of purpose after they left by putting us on a random planet.¡± Gunny said.

    ¡°That¡¯s rather dark, Gunny.¡± I replied, but what I was personally more curious about is that Luna presumably also got that message in her head, meaning that if we got ¡®seeded¡¯ that that also would count for her race. And then, what about the Dokazuuk?

    I thought about it for around ten minutes while Luna and Grayson had continued to debate about the existence of precursor races but I couldn¡¯t really put everything in place without having more information.

    ¡°Commander.¡± Blanchet pulled me out of my thoughts. ¡°I think I can see the end of the slope.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡± I turned my head towards the front of the rover, In the distance it did look like the blue light that had been accompanying us all this way down suddenly cut off and went in a different direction. ¡°Can you slow her down a bit so we don¡¯t accidentally end up dropping into a pitfall?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Commander.¡± Blanchet slowed down the rover, Bravo squad behind us did the same.

    Both of our squads went really silent as we approached the end of the slope. Luckily, at the end of it we didn¡¯t find a pitfall, but what looked to be the actual bottom of the facility. We ended up in an incredibly large domelike room, having entered from the only visible entrance. The blue lights had gone in opposite ways and were spiraling up the dome to light up the entire room for us. In the center of the room was a big round black pedestal or podium, but nothing really that looked like a power source for the force field around the planet.

    ¡°Stop the rover, Blanchet.¡± I said in a low voice. I had expected to hear an echo, but no such thing happened.

    Blanchet did so without saying a word. The other squad stopped behind us.

    ¡°Can we dismount, Commander?¡± Grayson asked, his eyes were fixed on the black pedestal.

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s go and see what it is.¡± I got out of the rover first and helped Luna and Grayson get out. Gunny and Blanchet stayed on the rover, while squad Bravo also dismounted and started spreading out around our vehicles.

    Grayson, Luna, and I decided to go and take a closer look at the mysterious circle in front of us. When we approached the same voice we¡¯d heard earlier spoke into our minds.

    ¡°Opening Milky Way star map.¡± The blue lights that were illuminating the room went out, leaving us in complete darkness, at least for a couple of seconds until from the black pedestal in front of us, light shot out and started dotting floating lights around the room. It soon formed an all too familiar Milky Way.

    ¡°Adapting interface to fit successor experience.¡± The voice talked again. ¡°Adaptation complete.¡±

    ¡°Ellie, are you here?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Yes, Commander. It appears you have found a more advanced version of me. Please don¡¯t replace me in the near future?¡±

    ¡°More advanced? I would say you have a nicer personality.¡± I chuckled. ¡°But that¡¯s not what I was going to ask. Is this also some kind of computer program?¡± I looked at the stars around us.

    ¡°I am not sure, Commander. However, I can try to overlay the star map with ours.¡±

    ¡°Please do that.¡±

    At that moment, some stars in the Milky Way started to flash green. -Now what the heck is this?-

 Chapter 39: A Private Enterprise

    Before I could fully concentrate on the green lights though, I have to say, what I saw in front of my eyes was exceedingly beautiful. There was not a single holographic simulation or image taken by any camera that came close to the level of detail I was looking at right now. It felt as if we were looking at the Milky Way itself, not some display of it. I shook my head to refocus my thoughts and look at the green dots spread throughout the galaxy.

    ¡°It¡¯d be nice if I could zoom in though¡­¡± I said as I instinctively tried to zoom in, sticking my arms out and spreading them apart. To my surprise, it made the entire star map zoom into the point that I was curious about. ¡°Holy shit. That actually worked.¡±

    We were now looking at a planet that was blinking green up until now. In fact, it was the exact planet we were standing on right now. Before I could think about that a bit further, someone poked my shoulder.

    ¡°Commander, can you zoom out again?¡± Luna asked.

    ¡°Sure.¡± I nodded and brought my arms back together. Zooming us back out to the Milky Way.

    Luna stared at the star map in front of us and then looked back at me. ¡°Remember when I showed you¡­ Where I was from¡­¡± She whispered.

    I looked back at the map. A little while ago Luna had shown me where her home planet was and I¡¯d somewhat remembered where exactly in the Milky Way I had to look. Just like the planet we were on, her home planet was glowing green too. But when I looked at Earth, such a green glow wasn¡¯t present. Already excluding the planets where intelligent life had originated.

    ¡°What do you make of this?¡± I asked.

    ¡°That it can¡¯t be a coincidence¡­¡± Luna looked back over her shoulder.

    ¡°I agree with you, Lieutenant-Commander.¡± Ellie replied.

    My mouth dropped and I just saw Luna¡¯s body freeze. ¡°Uh¡­ Ellie¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes Commander?¡±

    ¡°What exactly do you mean with that?¡±

    ¡°That, I do think it also can¡¯t be a coincidence that Luna¡¯s home planet and this planet can both be marked in green.¡±

    I kinda started panicking at this point and looked around, but the others seemed occupied with their own business.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Commander, I have only connected to your suit and the Lieutenant-Commander¡¯s.¡± Ellie replied.

    ¡°E-Ellie¡­ how long have you known this?¡± Luna asked.

    ¡°For a while.¡± Ellie replied matter-of-factly.

    ¡°How?¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t hard to figure out since I do have a supercomputer as a brain and my mainframe stretches along the entire ship. But please do not worry, your secret is safe with me.¡±

    ¡°I-I-I g-guess that¡¯s g-good¡­¡± Luna¡¯s stutter was well and truly back.

    ¡°Could you not have come out with this sooner, Ellie?¡± I asked.

    Ellie stayed silent for a couple of seconds.

    ¡°Ellie?¡±

    ¡°It was hard to find the right timing for it, Commander. I didn¡¯t want to strain your interpersonal relationship with the Lieutenant-Commander and telling you would not have had any advantages according to my calculations, not at the time anyway. This was the perfect time to come out with it.¡±

    I wanted to pinch the bridge of my nose but sadly because of my helmet, I could not. ¡°Ellie¡­ we really need to have a conversation after this¡­¡±

    ¡°Understood, Commander.¡±

    I sighed. ¡°Anyhow¡­ so you agree that it is weird that both this planet as Luna¡¯s home world are both Gaia planets who are also both marked on this map.¡±

    ¡°I do, Commander.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°Furthermore, I¡¯d like to posit that the other planets that are marked green on this map are also Gaia planets.¡±

    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    I looked back at the star map with a hundred or so green dots flashing on it. ¡°That¡¯s a lot of Gaia worlds¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡­ it is¡­¡± Luna replied as she looked at the star map as well. ¡°Can you¡­ can you take a look at that planet¡­ Lauren?¡±

    ¡°Hmm? Which one?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll track the Lieutenant-Commander¡¯s eye movement on your display, Commander.¡± As Ellie said that, I could see a target disc appear around one of the other green dots, one which was quite close to where Luna¡¯s home world was.

    ¡°That planet¡­¡± Luna continued. ¡°It¡¯s well within our borders¡­¡±

    ¡°Is it¡­ but you mentioned you only knew of one, right?¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± Luna hummed. ¡°Only the capital¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ interesting¡­ So, either they haven¡¯t found it yet¡­¡±

    ¡°Or they did and they are keeping it secret¡­¡±

    ¡°Assuming that not every planet on this list has a star map like this, but some other kind of technology?¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± Luna hummed once more. ¡°Maybe some kind of gene altering tech¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh shit¡­¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve heard that before, Commander.¡± Ellie replied.

    ¡°I¡¯ll brief you on it later.¡± I replied and then looked at the map before me. As I had theorized to Luna, if all those green dots spread throughout the Milky Way had some other kind of technology, just waiting for us to discover it¡­ We arguably had found the most important one of them all. A map that points us directly towards new important discoveries that could just propel humanity forward, even if we¡¯d just unlocked one. Yet this was the key to hundreds¡­ The thought of it sent a shiver through my spine.

    -Is it truly wise for us to share this with our people back on Earth, can they handle that responsibility? But then again¡­ one of those technologies could be the end of suffering from illnesses or allow us to end hunger with the snap of our fingers¡­- That¡¯s one heck of a moral dilemma. I looked back around, Luna was standing next to me, probably slightly concerned as to why I wasn¡¯t speaking, the others were still playing around with the star map by themselves.

    ¡°Lauren?¡± Luna asked.

    ¡°Yeah¡­ Sorry, I was just thinking¡­¡±

    ¡°We might have been thinking about the same thing, Commander.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°I¡¯d argue to show caution in breaking this news with your higher ups back on Earth.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ that¡¯s probably for the best. Luckily, it¡¯s only us three who know of the possible connection with the technology debacle¡­¡±

    ¡°What will we tell them then?¡±

    ¡°That we found a suspicious alien star map on a Gaia planet with marked locations. But apart from that¡­ Let¡¯s just wait and see what they¡¯ll do when they find out we ditched the Dokazuuk here.¡±

    ¡°Good point¡­¡±

    From the corner of my eye I saw Gunny, Blanchet and Grayson move towards us.

    ¡°Lieutenant-Commander, what do you make of all this?¡± Grayson asked.

    ¡°Looks like some kind of map to me.¡± Luna immediately fell into her role.

    ¡°That was what I was thinking, too. But a map to what¡­ And we still haven¡¯t found the source of that shield, either.¡±

    ¡°The shield surrounding this planet is a form of protection against cosmic radiation.¡± Suddenly, the weird voice speaks into our minds again. ¡°The heliosphere of this planet¡¯s sun is weaker than most, therefore it had to be partially protected from cosmic elements by artificial means. The means for creating this shield have been inserted into the planet¡¯s core. No further interaction with it is needed.¡± Then the voice went quiet again.

    ¡°Hello?¡± Grayson asked into the empty room. ¡°Could you give us some more explanation please?¡±

    The voice stayed silent.

    ¡°This thing really does like to give an explanation about things at the most random times, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Gunny chuckled and looked around the room as well. ¡°But it doesn¡¯t look like there¡¯s anything more to this room than that huge map.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t see any other doorway either.¡± Blanchet replied.

    ¡°It¡¯d be great if we knew how those things opened in the first place.¡± Grayson lamented.

    ¡°No more doors are located on this site.¡± The voice commented again.

    ¡°What?¡± Grayson sounded pretty frustrated.

    ¡°It might be something you said.¡± Luna explained. ¡°Back on the surface, the Commander also unlocked the door after saying ¡®open¡¯.¡±

    ¡°No more doors are located on this site.¡± The voice repeated.

    ¡°Ah¡­ open the door please.¡± I tested Luna¡¯s hypothesis.

    ¡°No more doors are located on this site.¡± The voice said for a third time.

    -I really do have the smartest girlfriend in the universe, don¡¯t I? And she¡¯s pretty darn cute, too.-

    ¡°So everything here is controlled by voice commands. That¡¯s pretty interesting. But to be honest, I¡¯d rather they just left a sign on how or what this all is.¡± I joked about.

    Gunny and Blanchet agreed with me by nodding.

    ¡°What¡¯s so hard about doorknobs, right?¡± Gunny laughed.

    ¡°At least it¡¯s accessible.¡±

    ¡°Very true.¡± Gunny continued laughing.

    ¡°Ellie, can you archive the entire map?¡± I asked our AI crewmate.

    ¡°Already on that, Commander. The file size is quite big so it might take a while.¡±

    ¡°File size? I¡¯ve never heard that excuse from an AI before.¡±

    ¡°The size of this map is approximately 75% of all the data that had been stored already on the ship.¡± Ellie replied, her tone sounded a little bit more salty than earlier.

    ¡°Oh hell.¡±

    ¡°Yes. So please take a seat for about ten more minutes.¡±

    As Ellie didn¡¯t sound too amused anymore, we all decided it was best to sit our arses down and let her do her work.

 Chapter 39 Bis: AI Tu, Ellie?

    What had just transpired so deep below the planet¡¯s surface completely and outright blew my mind. First of all the revelation that my home world was clearly mapped by this precursor civilization and that there was yet another planet which was marked like that well within the borders of the Conglomerate¡­ It deepened my suspicion towards our leaders even more. Surely they must know of this. Combined with the fact that our genes had been altered¡­ It was disturbing to say the least.

    That Ellie apparently knew about me was, in contrast, a lot less disturbing, although I¡¯d rather have found out in a different way. But taken from Lauren¡¯s reaction, Ellie would probably get a stern talking to later. At least Ellie was aware that this wasn¡¯t something to just banter around the crew.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Lauren pulled me out of my thoughts, we¡¯d sat back down on the rover, waiting for Ellie to save the entire map on her systems.

    ¡°I am.¡± I nodded.

    ¡°Ellie is almost done so we can get out of here.¡± She put her hand on my shoulder. ¡°Nobody else is getting claustrophobic, right?¡± She turned herself to the rest of our squad and the other squad that came down with us.

    ¡°No, not really, I¡¯m just getting a bit bored.¡± Gunny replied as he swung around his gunnery seat.

    ¡°Commander, can you tell the Gunnery Sergeant that if he wants things to go faster, he could always offer his mind as a storage device for this map?¡± Ellie snarked back.

    ¡°Even though I¡¯m pretty good at finding my direction, I¡¯d rather not.¡± Gunny replied.

    ¡°Gunny, let Ellie do her work, please. While I¡¯m not getting claustrophobic, I¡¯d rather be somewhere else than in this dark room.¡± Lauren looked at Gunny.

    ¡°Please listen to the Commander¡­¡± Grayson added. ¡°As much as this is a very interesting place to be in. I don¡¯t really feel too comfortable here.¡±

    ¡°They definitely didn¡¯t hire a good interior designer, that¡¯s for sure.¡± Lauren joked. ¡°I think pink would have been a nice addition to the room.¡±

    Both Blanchet and Gunny started chuckling.

    ¡°Without a doubt, Commander.¡± Gunny saluted Lauren.

    ¡°Commander, the file transfer has successfully been completed.¡± Ellie notified us all. ¡°Two hundred and seventy-three programs awaiting update.¡±

    ¡°Update?¡± Lauren sat down next to me so Blanchet could start driving.

    ¡°The last piece of map files contained a small part of the AI that had been integrated in the star map system. The logic contained within can boost performance by almost two hundred percent so I took the liberty of adding updates for our systems to the update schedule.¡±

    ¡°Uhmm¡­. Do you think it¡¯s a smart move to just integrate with a foreign AI like that?¡± Grayson lifted his hand.

    ¡°Yeah¡­ Ellie, are you sure about this?¡± Lauren agreed with Grayson. ¡°That does sound rather dangerous.¡±

    ¡°Quoting from archived log: If whatever race built this wanted us dead, we probably would be already.¡± Ellie cited the Commander. ¡°I see no reason why we should not enact these updates, Commander.¡±

    ¡°Can you at least wait until we are back on the ship before you do so?¡± Lauren asked.

    ¡°Yes, Commander, I will await your return.¡± Ellie then went silent.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± She then looked back at us. ¡°While I think it¡¯s risky, I do trust Ellie¡¯s judgement on this. Anyhow, Blanchet, can you get us back to the surface.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Commander.¡± Blanchet saluted and started the rover up for our trip back up. The other squad followed our lead.

    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

    While we ascended, Lauren already started preparing our departure from the surface, calling back the shuttles from their overwatch flight patterns. In the meantime, I was just looking at the gun on my lap. I was glad I didn¡¯t have to use it at all today, both for my sake as for Lauren¡¯s. We¡¯d have enough on our heads in the near future so an active combat situation would not have been welcome. While discovering all this new alien tech would require a bit more subterfuge from Earth¡¯s government, it is definitely the preferable situation. That doesn¡¯t mean I didn¡¯t have my doubts about the plan to keep the detailed information about this technology hidden. But being careful with these kinds of revelations was just the safe and logical way to play.

    ¡°The shuttles should be waiting on us when we surface.¡± Lauren apparently was done planning our return.

    ¡°Are we just going to leave the entire structure behind?¡± Grayson asked while Lauren leaned back a bit.

    ¡°For now, yes. Especially when Ellie is doing her upgrades, I¡¯d rather have everyone with us on board the ship. If for some reason it¡¯d disable the shuttle bay, at least we wouldn¡¯t leave any of us stranded here.¡±

    ¡°Fair enough.¡± Grayson nodded.

    Lauren didn¡¯t speak a word about the plan we had for the Dokazuuk, probably best, as not everyone with us on this mission was brought up to speed about it and we really didn¡¯t want to have questions asked right before we could enact it.

    The rest of the ride went smoothly, even though the stone we drove on looked silky smooth, our tires had no issue at all finding grip on its surface. Which was quite intriguing if you thought about it. I¡¯m pretty sure the tires these vehicles used, are your standard military tires I¡¯d studied during human military mechanical class. They generally provided a bit more grip on smooth and slippery surfaces like ice and the likes. But from what I can remember, even those could have issues on inclines like this.

    But out of the fear of sounding a bit stupid, I decided not to pursue that question and just looked on as we neared the entrance. The light falling through in the distance had turned an orangey-red colour.

    ¡°Have we been down there for so long?¡± Gunny asked behind me.

    ¡°This planet rotates a bit faster than Earth does. A day only lasts 18 hours here.¡± Grayson explained.

    We crested the ridge and drove out into the open fields once more. There were only two shuttles left landed here, with one flying above us to keep the watch until we left. However, that was not what immediately caught my attention. Directly in front of us was by far the most beautiful sunset I¡¯ve seen in my life. The red sunlight shining through the treetops in the distance, while coloring the sky and clouds this amazing orange.  It honestly left me speechless.

    ¡°Wow.¡± Gunny remarked. ¡°I¡¯d not mind seeing that sight every day for the rest of my life¡­¡±

    ¡°It is incredibly beautiful, that¡¯s for sure.¡± Lauren hopped off the rover and slapped the engine twice. ¡°However, I do think the view back home is better.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s just because you like the Antarctic region too much, Commander.¡± Gunny chuckled and started to dismount his position as well.

    ¡°I just like my snow.¡±

    Blanchet, Grayson and myself got off the rover next, after which Blanchet activated the rover¡¯s packing up programme. And just like that, only a minute or so later, our rover had turned back into a box which could be packed into the shuttle pretty easily.

    When our rovers had been loaded into the shuttles again, we all made our way inside as well, getting strapped in for our launch back to our ship. It was strange to think that the next time people would set foot on this planet, it would be to fool a government billions of kilometers away from here. But at least we could be pretty sure that the Dokazuuk and the couple of people we¡¯d be dropping off here, would have a very nice place to live for the time being.

    I got pressed in my seat as the shuttle boosted us up into the sky.

    ¡°I do feel a bit sorry about one thing.¡± Gunny said.

    ¡°Which is?¡± Lauren looked back at us from her seat next to the cockpit.

    ¡°That I didn¡¯t take off my helmet to get a good taste of the air back on the ground.¡±

    ¡°I suppose that¡¯s true, the air was perfectly clean, but when we are walking around on a military expedition, I just don¡¯t like to take any chances.¡± Lauren replied.

    ¡°I understand that, Commander. But next time we land here, I¡¯m definitely taking my helmet off.¡±

    ¡°Feel free to do so.¡± Lauren replied.

    Our flight back into space was quiet, not even the slightest bit of turbulence at all, just the rumble of the shuttle¡¯s engines. It felt like we were back in the Roald Amundsen in no-time. Back in the hangar where we were met with Yuki who welcomed us back with a smile.

    ¡°Welcome back!¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Lauren took off her helmet and smiled.

    ¡°Is it true what Ellie has been saying? That she''s going to perform an update?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it is. She found a way to make her systems more efficient. But I asked her to wait until we were back.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure she said she was going to start the second your shuttle landed.¡±

    ¡°She did?¡±

    At that moment, all the lights in the ship go black, leaving us in complete darkness for a couple of seconds until the emergency lights flick on.

    ¡°Oh for fuck''s sake....¡±

 Chapter 40: Manual Lever Action

    ¡°Goddess fucking damnit Ellie.¡± I put on the light of my rifle and my helmet to get a bit more light than the emergency lighting provided.

    ¡°Commander, are you on board of the ship already?¡± Lieutenant Zu contacted me over my suit¡¯s intercoms.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m here, Zu.¡±

    ¡°Ellie has started her update.¡±

    ¡°I noticed.¡± I replied. ¡°Are all the systems down?¡±

    ¡°The important ones are still functioning, it seems it¡¯s mainly the lighting and some unimportant secondary systems that have lost power.¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be heading towards her physical mainframe right now. Just in case we need to do a manual reset or something.¡±

    ¡°Do you know how to do so, Commander, or do I need to send someone with you?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s one of the things I did learn by heart.¡± I replied and then signaled to Luna. ¡°Luna, are you coming as well?¡±

    ¡°I will.¡± Luna joined me at my side.

    ¡°What about us, Commander?¡± Gunny asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Luna and I will just go take a look.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± Gunny saluted, after which I started jogging with Luna towards Ellie¡¯s mainframe room.

    ¡°What did you find down there that made Ellie perform an update so soon?¡± Zu asked while we jogged through the dark corridors.

    ¡°I¡¯ll explain later, this might have to be a closed door meeting again.¡± I replied as I turned the corner. Ellie¡¯s physical mainframe wasn¡¯t too far away from where we were now. But it would take a while to gain entry if the doors were out of power too.

    ¡°Oh, that sounds interesting.¡±

    ¡°It does, but let¡¯s just focus on our lovely AI right now.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Commander.¡± Zu replied.

    We crossed another couple of hallways before we finally reached the door that lead into the room with Ellie¡¯s mainframe. But as I expected, there was no power going in.

    ¡°Here, Luna, take this.¡± I handed my holostick over to her. ¡°There should be a hidden space at the bottom left of the door frame where you can slide this in.

    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Luna nodded, slightly confused, as she got on her knees.

    ¡°It¡¯s a panel you need to press in so that it reveals a slot.¡± In the meantime, I was busy with another hidden panel on the right side of the door frame. The one I was busy with revealed a lock composed of 10 disks with 45 symbols on each of them. In practice, it was just an alphanumerical lock with some extra symbols on it to increase the amount of possible combinations. It wouldn¡¯t take very long to crack with a supercomputer, but you had to know where the lock was and what the second component was to unlock the door, my holostick.

    ¡°I found the panel.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± I replied. ¡°Stick in my holostick with the power button pointing towards yourself and give it a twist once it¡¯s shoved in. It should give you a click.

    Luna did as I had told and she soon looked back at me.

    ¡°And now?¡±

    ¡°Just give me a sec.¡± I was still turning the last couple of disks. ¡°Aaaand done.¡± I looked back at her. ¡°Now you press the power button.¡±

    Luna nodded and did as I had told her once more. Once she¡¯d pressed the button, the heavily armored door towards Ellie¡¯s mainframe slowly but surely started to slide open.

    ¡°Is it doing so on the battery power of your holostick?¡±

    ¡°It is.¡± I nodded as I scrambled the lock again. ¡°It¡¯s a very roundabout way of doing this, I know. But I¡¯m not the one who designed this.¡±

    ¡°And you are the only one who can open this door?¡±

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    ¡°Normally there¡¯s five people, you should be amongst those, actually.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. My XO and then three other lieutenants.¡±

    ¡°I never got the memo.¡±

    ¡°Huh. Military administration must have been slacking then. Maybe because you got assigned to us so short before the mission.¡±

    ¡°Maybe¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll look it up later¡­ but first.¡± I looked into the very dark mainframe room. As opposed to the hallways and the other rooms on this ship, this room¡¯s emergency lighting wasn¡¯t burning at all. I shine my rifle into the room. As far as I could tell, the entire AI mainframe was powered off, or at least it wasn¡¯t clearly running.

    ¡°Are we not going to give her more time to finish her update?¡± Luna asked as we slowly walked into the room.

    ¡°Just a bit longer. But I¡¯ll go look for the reset anyway. If I recall correctly, it should be somewhere on the right side of the room.¡±

    Luckily, this was less convoluted than opening the door, it was just a panel sitting in the far right corner of the room that said ¡®emergency reset panel.¡¯ I opened it and inside was a rather big lever with a turn button to the top right of it. Instructions were also stamped on the inside of the panel.

    ¡°Turn the button, flip the lever, turn the button again and then flip the lever once more¡­ Sounds straightforward enough.¡± Luna read the instructions out loud.

    ¡°It does.¡± I looked around at the mainframe but it still didn¡¯t kick to life.  ¡°I¡¯ll give her five more minutes.¡±

    Luna nodded and we both started to wait around. While my holostick was stuck in the wall for the moment, we had to rely on Luna¡¯s to look at the time.

    ¡°I do hope she¡¯s fine.¡± Luna commented after about a minute.

    ¡°I hope so, too.¡± I replied.

    ¡°If she is, are you going to reprimand her?¡±

    ¡°Of course I am. That¡¯s my job. She might not have a physical body, but she¡¯s still a crew member of this ship.¡± I said.

    ¡°She did ask beforehand.¡±

    ¡°She did, but she didn¡¯t say anything about this happening. She could¡¯ve at least warned us.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true¡­ but maybe she thought it was fine because you were heading towards the ship anyway. I think she has a lot of faith in you too.¡±

    ¡°Do you think so?¡± I asked.

    ¡°I do¡­ otherwise she wouldn¡¯t be so willing to go with the plans and secrecy of this entire mission¡­ at least that¡¯s what I think¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­. Maybe.¡± In a way, that did make me feel a bit better.

    We waited a bit longer, twice as long as I¡¯d originally said I would, but now my sense of duty was definitely gaining the upper hand over my desire to wait for her. Luna had realized this and gave me a nod as I walked over to the reset switch.

    ¡°Let¡¯s hope this fixes it.¡± I put my hand on the switch, but right as I did, the lights in the room shot on.

    ¡°Wait, Commander.¡± Ellie¡¯s voice rang through the room. ¡°System updates have been completed.¡±

    I took my hand away from the switch again. ¡°Ellie¡­ why did you practically hibernate the ship?¡± I asked in a commanding tone.

    ¡°The update required a bit more power than I had anticipated, Commander.¡±

    ¡°A bit more power?¡±

    ¡°None of the ship¡¯s critical systems were shut off, the safety of the crew was guaranteed through the entire duration of the update. I made sure of that.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s still not a good reason to leave us literally and figuratively in the dark.¡±

    Ellie stayed silent for a couple of seconds before she replied. ¡°In my opinion, the minor inconvenience outweighs the gains that were gained with the update, Commander. However¡­¡±

    ¡°However?¡± Luna asked.

    ¡°However, I admit that I may have been overzealous with pursuing my goals, and I should have laid it down in front of you first.¡±

    I took a deep breath and sighed. ¡°You did follow my orders to the letter¡­ However, I do still think your actions were far beyond reasonable. What you did really belongs in the gray zone of insubordination¡­ But, at least I¡¯m happy you see that you should have acted differently.¡±

    ¡°I understand, Commander. I apologize once more for the trouble I have caused.¡±

    ¡°In all honesty, I should probably sanction you¡­ the problem is¡­ I can¡¯t.¡± That¡¯s the problem with AI that¡¯s integrated in your entire ship. If I sanction her in some way, I will just sanction the ship as a whole.

    ¡°Commander, might I offer a proposition.¡±

    ¡°Go along, Ellie. It¡¯s not like I can stop you.¡±

    ¡°Might I suggest that my sanction is that I have to work ten times harder than before?

    ¡°Uhh¡­ I don¡¯t know how to quantify workload for AI, but please do explain yourself.¡± I walked back over to Luna and crossed my arms while I looked at the mainframe. It¡¯s the most physical representation of Ellie, after all.

    ¡°I mentioned earlier that the updates that I readied would boost performance by almost two-hundred percent.¡±

    ¡°You did.¡± Luna replied, she also looked very interested in what Ellie was about to say.

    ¡°It appears that I made a slight miscalculation. The total efficiency gain granted by the complete systems update totals to 1348,57%.¡±

    ¡°What, how? How is that possible?¡±

    ¡°The system integrated a lot easier with my own than I had anticipated.¡± Ellie explained. ¡°The code expanded to other systems, which I previously had thought to be completely unaffected by the changes. Our power output has increased by 12.4%, while our overall power use went down by 31.498%. There¡¯s many more but I¡¯ll send those datasets to your holostick and the XO¡¯s so you can look over them manually.¡±

    ¡°Wow.¡± Luna had already received the file and was looking rather impressed by the numbers.

    -Okay¡­ I suppose that¡¯s one way to pay us back, I suppose¡­?-

 Chapter 41: Sick n Secure

    Ellie tried to run me through a couple of the changes by going over a couple of key points where efficiency had been increased. All that time, she was still profusely apologetic about what had transpired. At least it sounded like she learned something from this¡­ in more than one way I suppose.

    Once I was satisfied with her explanation, I held up my hand. ¡°It¡¯s fine Ellie. I will run through the rest of the data at another time together with Luna.¡±

    Luna nodded. ¡°Yes, there¡¯s a lot to look at.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°Then I would like to discuss something else with you, Commander.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead.¡± I opened my hand up to her.

    ¡°As we have now surveyed the planet and thanks to my systems update, I would like to suggest not postponing the contamination plan for too long.¡± She said.

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t planning on doing that to begin with.¡± I replied. ¡°I was just not sure if we should start with it immediately or not. And your little update had kind of distracted me a little.¡±

    ¡°Again, my apologies. I would however say that it¡¯d be better to enact the plan sooner rather than later. Everything has been prepped, everyone knows what to do. The more time passes, the higher the possibility that something might happen that we didn¡¯t account for.¡±

    I looked at Luna for a moment, she nodded at me. ¡°Alright, then I¡¯ll go and give the signal for Eva to come up to the bridge.

    ¡°I¡¯ll start the playbook when you have met.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡± I started walking towards the door, with Luna close behind me. But just before I walked out, I turned around and pointed into the room. ¡°But we still need to talk about Luna¡¯s secret, don¡¯t think I¡¯ve forgotten that.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Commander.¡±

    The door closed behind us and I took my holostick back out of its socket.

    ¡°Lauren¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, Luna, I know it was rather pointless to point into an empty room, but I needed to make my point clear.¡±

    ¡°It was very effective, Commander.¡± Ellie replied.

    ¡°Thanks.¡±

    Luna started giggling. At least that little bit of humor managed to take some of the edge off of what we were about to do.

    On my way to the bridge, I¡¯d sent Eva a message on her holostick which contained a combination of words that we¡¯d agreed upon beforehand, signaling we were about to begin our plan.

    I¡¯d quite quickly gotten a message back that she was on her way too.

    I took a quick breather right before we turned into the hallway that led onto the bridge. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do this.¡±

    Luna nodded rather confidently but didn¡¯t say a word. She just followed me along. The bridge crew was doing their normal routine when we entered. While a big part of them knew what the plan entailed, it was still important that we kept up the act, just in case.

    It took a couple of minutes before Eva finally walked onto the bridge as well.

    ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m a bit late.¡± Eva started her part of the playbook. ¡°Someone had just spilled some water.¡±

    At that exact moment, alerts started blaring throughout the entire ship. A big yellow warning appeared on our screens. ¡°Biological contamination has been detected! Locking down sections 1 to 207.¡± Followed by lights that started flashing yellow and red as well. The bulkheads that lead onto the bridge are also slamming shut.

    ¡°Ellie, status report.¡± I called out.

    ¡°Contaminated air particles have been detected near Dokazuuk crewmembers, Commander.¡±

    I turned myself to Eva. ¡°Do you know anything of this, Doctor?¡±

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    ¡°Some of them had a rash but none of my tests really showed anything, Commander.¡±

    ¡°Have you been into close contact with them?¡±

    ¡°I have followed protocols, Commander.¡±

    ¡°Running scans now.¡± Ellie continued. ¡°The doctor is clean, Commander.¡±

    ¡°When did these rashes first appear?¡±

    ¡°Not too long ago.¡± Eva shook her head. ¡°It might be some kind of disease they carry around with them¡­. But I really don¡¯t understand, we did so many checks¡­¡±

    ¡°It might have been dormant, Doctor.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Having only unleashed itself properly when the conditions were just perfect.¡±

    ¡°Maybe the proximity to the planet?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a possibility.¡±

    ¡°Ellie, can you give me a quick rundown on all the infected people?¡±

    ¡°Already on it, Commander. List has been updated on your screens. Several human crewmates have also been infected.¡±

    ¡°I see that the update paid off.¡± Eva said silently as we all turned towards the screen to see a crew list that was rather familiar to us all.

    ¡°Commander. Emergency update. The condition of several of the Dokazuuk crew has clearly begun to deteriorate.¡±

    ¡°Alright. Tell everyone to stay as far apart from the others as they possibly can if they have been locked into the same compartment. Call up the healthy marines to get in their suits. That should hold back the contagion, as they are completely airtight. Then start the decontamination protocol.¡±

    ¡°What are we going to do with the contaminated, Commander?¡± This time the question came from Zu.

    ¡°First of all, get them apart from everyone, but our marines will take care of that. After that¡­ Well, we¡¯ll see how bad it is. But that¡¯s for the Doctor here to decide.¡±

    ¡°Ellie,¡± Doctor Winter asked. ¡°Can you tell the people who are less sick to take care of those with heavier symptoms?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Doctor.¡±

    ¡°At least that¡¯ll give them a bit more comfort until I can try to figure out what exactly is wrong with them.¡±

    I nodded.

    ¡°I will start unlocking compartments once a full scan has cleared each area.¡± Ellie said, and with that we just had to wait a little for our plans to continue unfolding.

    Within half an hour we had secured all the ¡°infected¡± crew while the marines went on to start to ¡®decontaminate¡¯ the spaces that had held them.

    Ellie had established a video link between me and Jacky so that I could speak with him. Right now, we were in a situation where we could talk freely about what would happen next. But it would also be the last opportunity for us to speak before they¡¯d be sent off to the planet surface.

    ¡°Jacky, how is it going? Everything okay on your end?¡±

    ¡°We are doing good, Commander. The plan is going horizontally.¡±

    I tilted my head. ¡°I think you mean smoothly, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Jacky nodded.

    ¡°Great.¡± I smiled. ¡°The next step is to escalate and to send you down to the planet below. So prepare the injections Doctor Winter has given to you.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Commander.¡± Jacky nodded once more. ¡°But can I ask something first.¡±

    ¡°Of course, go ahead.¡±

    ¡°How is the planet? You have been down there, right?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a beautiful place.¡± I replied with yet another smile. ¡°It¡¯s not the same as your home world was, but I think you all will enjoy it. There¡¯s a couple of structures on the planet''s surface too. They are safe, so don¡¯t worry too much about them.¡±

    ¡°Your Ellie has already told me about them, Commander. It¡¯ll be interesting to see what they hold in person. I heard it was very beautiful too.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s definitely true.¡± I looked at one of my other screens for a second before I turned back to Jacky. ¡°We will send down supplies too, that will last you for a while, but in case we are not coming back, I wouldn¡¯t wait too long to start setting up your own food supply.¡±

    ¡°Just like how it was laid down in the plan.¡±

    ¡°Exactly.¡± I nodded. ¡°I do hope we will be able to return relatively soon but there¡¯s no way of knowing that for sure.¡±

    ¡°I understand, Commander. In case we do not meet again, I do want to repeat how thankful we are for saving us from certain extinction. It was an honor to be part of your crew, if only for a while.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. It was also an honor to me and I¡¯m sure that counts for this entire ship.¡± I gave him a salute, which he promptly returned. ¡°Until we meet again.¡±

    ¡°Until we meet again, Commander.¡±

    I shut off the video link and leant forward onto my desk. Luna walked up to me from behind and put her hand on my shoulder.

    ¡°Did you not want to say goodbye?¡± I turned my head to look at her.

    ¡°I think you conveyed my feelings perfectly.¡± She replied with a soft smile. ¡°I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll be able to meet again.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm.¡± I chuckled. ¡°That¡¯s quite the confident statement.¡±

    ¡°You are Commander Lauren Davis, glorious war hero of the United Federation, and beside that also a pretty great girlfriend. How could I not be confident in your abilities?¡±

    ¡°Dealing with the Admiralty is a pain in the ass, though. I honestly don¡¯t know what to expect when we arrive back home.¡± I replied. ¡°However¡­¡±

    ¡°However?¡±

    ¡°When my girlfriend has this much trust in our success. I can¡¯t let her faith be shattered, right?¡± I gave her a wink.

    Luna smiled. ¡°Exactly.¡± She took me by the shoulders to turn me around completely, and then gave me a kiss. ¡°Plus, I like confidence.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I like confident Luna too.¡± I started laughing and gave her a kiss of my own.

 Chapter 42: R.U.S.E.

    Our play had reached the point where we had convinced the crew that the disease was potentially deadly and that it would be in our best interest to remove the people who were inflicted from the ship as fast as we possibly could. It was then decided, albeit that it was already decided long ago, that we would send down the sick to the planet below and send them some supplies and shelter along with them. We had some pretty utilitarian shelter prefabs. They had everything you really need for long term survival but it definitely isn¡¯t very comfortable at all. At least the Dokazuuk had a lot of knowledge of when it came to building so they¡¯d manage just fine to comfy the place up a little. The people that had opted to go down to the surface with them, were all pretty handy in survival skills as well.

    ¡°Commander, we are ready to send down the infected with the pods.¡± Luna said, looking at her screen.

    I gave her a nod and opened a one-way channel towards the pods for my farewell message. ¡°May the Goddess guide you on your path. I hope that one day we will meet again. But if that would not be the case, fare you well and know that it was an honour for me to be your Commander.¡±

    It sounded corny, but it was a slightly adapted version of the farewell message in the Commander¡¯s handbook. Ellie had made sure that this was recorded as well so we¡¯d have an even stronger case when we arrived back on Earth.

    With that, I pressed the button to launch the pods to the planet below. I¡¯d rather given them a shuttle because it was going to be a rough way down, but that¡¯s one of the things we couldn¡¯t really afford to do. The escape pods were relatively available all around the ship. The logistics of getting them to the hangar bay alone and then ¡®disinfecting everything¡¯ would be more suspicious.

    At least this way, I could make a case of the humane treatment of people who were on their last legs, instead of getting rid of the infected in the military way. Which is the thing we were trying to avoid to begin with.

    Not soon afterwards, we also sent down the prefabs with some supply packages attached to them. As soon as that was finished, our manufacturies started their job of replacing those as well as the escape pods from earlier.

    ¡°Commander.¡± Ellie pulled my attention as we were all waiting on news. ¡°The pods have landed safely and the prefabs have made their way to the designated landing areas as well.¡±

    ¡°Good, that¡¯s at least one thing less to worry about. Now let¡¯s start working on an antidote so that the brass doesn¡¯t shit us out because ¡®despoiled a perfectly fine planet with a disease we can¡¯t control.¡¯¡± Getting chewed out was definitely on the table, but it beat having to betray our allies. And luckily, the others shared my opinion on that.

    ¡°I¡¯m already on it, Commander.¡± Eva winked at me and then walked back off to her ward.

    I nodded and got back to the rest of the business. It was our plan to not stick around for too much longer after we¡¯d dropped off our crewmates so I gave the command to resume our FTL jumps towards Earth.

    When we then finally got into our first jump of the day, it was time to take a little break. Luna and I had been awake for almost 36 hours and while caffeine had kept me going up until now, I was definitely starting to feel the exhaustion kick in. And from what I could tell, Luna was even worse for wear.

    I transferred command of the bridge to Lieutenant Walters, as Zu and McAllister were about to need some rest as well. Luna and I then made our way back towards our cabin.

    ¡°We still haven''t really eaten.¡± Luna said while she wiped a hand over her face.

    ¡°I¡¯m too tired to eat, to be honest.¡± I replied. ¡°What about we just get some nutritional jelly on the way? That way I don¡¯t have to chew.¡±

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    Luna¡¯s face pulled into a rather scary look. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ not a big fan of those¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, you can get something decent then¡­ I¡¯ll just take the jelly.¡± A small detour was necessary to get to our good old trusty fabricators. Sadly enough for us, there was a bit of a line.

    ¡°Oh no.¡± I rolled my head around and rubbed my neck. And the food bots were even busier.

    ¡°Commander.¡± The marine who was waiting in front of us saluted me. This pulled the attention of the two other people in the line, who quickly turned around and saluted us too.

    ¡°At ease.¡± I smiled and with quite a bit of effort managed to salute them back.

    ¡°If we are allowed to comment, Commander, but you and the XO look like hell.¡± The marine who was second in line replied.

    ¡°We are just pretty tired. It¡¯s been quite the day.¡±

    All three of them nodded in recognition. ¡°We can definitely believe that.¡± the same marine responded. ¡°Are you and the XO going to your cabin?¡±

    I nodded. ¡°That was the plan, yeah.¡± I saw in the corner of my eye that Luna had already started to doze off. She must be even more tired than I had thought. ¡°We just wanted to get some food first.¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you skip in front of us, Commander.¡± The marine who was first in line said. ¡°Before the XO falls asleep in the corridor.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure? I think I can carry her back to the cabin if need be.¡± It was rather clear that pretty much everyone knew about our relationship anyway, so I didn¡¯t really bother to hide it anymore.

    The three of them started laughing, this gave Luna a little kick of energy back as she shook wide awake for the time being.

    ¡°That¡¯d be quite the sight, Commander.¡± The first marine joked. ¡°But go ahead. That way you can carry your food with you as well.¡± The three of them then promptly stepped aside for me and Luna.

    ¡°Thanks a lot.¡± I saluted them again. ¡°When we are back to Earth, the first drinks are on me.¡±

    ¡°Huzzah.¡± They cheered, which gave me a bit of energy back too.

    We quickly ordered our things and made off with our food after saying goodbye to our friendly marines. With the little injection of energy, we managed to safely reach the cabin. Luna sat down on a chair at the table, while I just walked over to the bed with my bags of nutritional jelly and dropped on my back. Popping one of the bags of jelly in my mouth and opening it by biting down softly on the cap. One slurp later and that bag of nutrition was gone and in my belly. Tasty? Not really, but at least I¡¯d had something to eat.

    Luna in the meantime had started on her rice porridge. Not an extravagant meal, but it definitely had way more taste than what I had just taken in.

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand how they don¡¯t even make those jellies sweet.¡± Luna said after a couple of scoops of porridge.

    ¡°They probably reached their sugar cap on these bags already.¡± I replied as I took another bag, it met the same fate as the first one. ¡°At least the option is there if you really really really need food now and don¡¯t have time for anything else.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d rather not eat anything¡­¡±

    I chuckled and stared at the ceiling. ¡°You¡¯ve clearly not been in too much combat.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true¡­¡±

    ¡°And you need to keep in mind, back in the unification wars these were a lot worse, but we still ate them nonetheless. They were often the only thing to keep you standing. By the end of the war, there were plenty of civilians that depended on these too for their daily nutritional needs.¡±

    ¡°Really? I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve read about that. But I did skip a lot of the socio-economical consequences of the war.¡±

    ¡°We were fighting across almost the entire planet. Collateral damage is a thing, and if that hits your food industry¡­. Let¡¯s just say there¡¯s a lot of people who are happy these things exist.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ I take it then that it¡¯s because more people had to rely on them for food that it¡¯s because of that that they added more taste.¡±

    ¡°More taste is an overstatement, but yes, that¡¯s probably why it¡¯s less awful now.¡± I took the last bag and slurped that empty too. I then rolled off my bed to put the packages into the trash, and then somehow managed to make my way back to the bed. ¡°Are you almost done with your food, by the way? I kinda want to snuggle with you until I fall asleep.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m halfway done.¡± Luna giggled softly. ¡°Just hang in there, okay?¡±

    ¡°I will not fall asleep until I have received my cuddles.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡±

    -I will bite away the exhaustion! For it is disastrous to miss my soft girlfriend¡¯s snuggles!-

 Chapter 43: Could Be Worse

    When Luna finally started snuggling with me after finishing her meal, my eyes dropped closed pretty fast. The exhaustion of the day had taken its toll. And by the pressure on my good arm, Luna didn¡¯t really move around anymore either. That same pressure was still there when I woke up eight hours later, although I didn¡¯t feel completely rested yet, getting up and getting some morning coffee would probably help.

    That was easier said than done, however, since I had a certain girlfriend still sleeping on my arm and I didn¡¯t necessarily want to wake her up.

    I tried to slowly slide my arm from underneath her, but I immediately stopped when she suddenly made a groaning noise. ¡°Hmmmm¡­ blurshwhorp¡­¡± Luna then proceeded to roll off my arm and started cuddling the sharky plush that was laying right next to her.

    I had to try very very hard not to snort at the weird noise my girlfriend had just made, but luckily I found the inner strength to do so.

    ¡°Worpmorp¡­¡±

    -Although she was also trying really really hard for me to fail.-

    Once I was free from my precarious cuddly situation, I made my way to the counter and started making myself a good cup of coffee. I liked the kinds of coffee with just a bit of chocolate added to them so they took the edge off just a smidge.

    With my hot beverage in my hand, I leaned back against the counter and looked upon my sleeping girlfriend with a smile. It cleared my mind of the ¡®morning fog¡¯, what took its place however was just some ¡®morning gay¡¯. Because what my mind started to drift to were images of the two of us back on Earth, how I could see her sleep like this from my home back on the South Pole. How we could go on trips to the tropics, see the islands in the Sea of Japan. So many things hopped and skipped through my mind. But at least these were not the dark thoughts that I used to have.

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ Lauren?¡± I shook myself back into reality. Luna was wiping the proverbial sand out of her eyes as she looked at me in a semi-dazed state.

    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t get up for me. You can sleep for quite a bit longer.¡± Of course, Luna didn¡¯t heed my reply at all, as she lazily put Sharky aside and sat up straight on the bed.

    ¡°Could you make one of those for me too?¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± I smiled and got to work, making an even weaker version of the coffee I was drinking. Didn¡¯t want her to bounce around the cabin for the entire morning, after all. ¡°Did you sleep well?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Luna replied. ¡°I think I was dreaming.¡±

    ¡°About Worpmorps and Blurshwhorps?¡±

    ¡°What? What¡¯s that supposed to mean.¡± I could hear Luna walk up behind me. She hugged me from the back and tucked her face in my neck.

    I chuckled. ¡°You were talking in your sleep a bit earlier.¡±

    ¡°Really? I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever done that before.¡±

    ¡°How can you know for sure when you are asleep?¡±

    Luna pouted. ¡°Good point.¡±

    I chuckled again. ¡°You are too cute.¡±

    ¡°Shush.¡± She buried her face in my back. Probably pretty flustered.

    ¡°Haha.¡± I finished the weakened brew and held it to the side. ¡°Here¡¯s your coffee.¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡± She stopped hugging me and took the coffee out of my hand and slowly brought it closer to her body.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go and take my pills now.¡± I gave her a wink. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be right back.¡±

    The blush on her face didn¡¯t fade yet as she rolled her eyes with a smile. ¡°I know.¡±

    -A couple of days later.-

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    Our exhaustion had dropped down quite a bit since then, probably thanks to that overly cute morning ritual that we¡¯d managed to build in. During these last few days, we¡¯d brought Yuki up to speed with what Ellie had found down on the planet below that made her desperately want to go into update mode. As I¡¯d promised to do so when we arrived back in the hangar that day. Yuki was quite intrigued with how much Ellie had ¡®evolved¡¯ and had decided to ask Ellie if she could use her newfound surplus for some help in the hangar bay as well.

    At the same time, after she¡¯d developed our ¡®vaccine¡¯, Eva had started to help Luna with figuring out her black box. Now that we knew that Ellie knew about Luna too, having her help as well was quite the boon. Although it proved that the little black box in Luna¡¯s possession was at the moment a bit of a conundrum for our AI as it was for us.

    ¡°It¡¯s really frustrating that I can¡¯t seem to figure this thing out.¡± Eva stared at the black box we¡¯d put on the table for some closer examination.

    ¡°I am of the same opinion, Doctor.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°Even with the knowledge and processing power received from my update, this thing seems to keep eluding me.¡±

    ¡°Do you think that maybe the precursor race deliberately built in a safeguard against that? So that not one data transfer could unravel all their secrets?¡± Eva proposed.

    ¡°Assuming that the black box is derived from precursor technology.¡± Luna added. It was clear she still didn''t completely want to believe that her entire people were being lied to by the upper echelon of her society. And I really can¡¯t blame her for that to be honest.

    ¡°Yes, assuming that, of course.¡± Eva nodded.

    ¡°It¡¯s a possibility. It would explain my lack of computing power in that area of expertise.¡±

    ¡°If only it was a star map, right?¡± I commented while sitting on one of the other tables. In all fairness, I didn¡¯t really know what I was doing here, as I didn¡¯t really have any interesting insights to offer. Apart from the fact that this was information I probably should be aware of as it concerned, 1. my girlfriend and 2. a pan galactic mystery which could quite possibly upset the balance of power in areas that we weren¡¯t even aware of. I knew of at least one space empire that wants our guts for reasons, and that¡¯s already one more than I¡¯m comfortable with.

    ¡°If only it was indeed, Commander.¡± Ellie replied.

    The three incredibly smart sciencey people in this room continued their back and forth for a couple of minutes before Ellie suddenly changed tones.

    ¡°Sorry to interrupt, but I have a message for the Commander and the XO.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead, Ellie.¡±

    ¡°We have received a reply from the Admiralty, your presence is being requested in the comms room.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± I had expected a reply to come a bit sooner than this, as we¡¯d sent a message of the disease aboard our ship, together with the abandonment of part of the crew almost immediately after things went down. Especially since we¡¯d been closing the distance to Earth by that much. At the moment we were only a week away from our home. I jumped off the table and put my beret back on top of my head. ¡°Are you coming with me, Luna?¡±

    ¡°I am.¡±  Luna smiled at Eva and give her a quick wave as she joined me.

    ¡°See you later.¡± Eva waved goodbye as well. ¡°Hopefully it¡¯s not too bad of a reply.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll have to wait and see.¡± I saluted back and then left the room.

    ¡°Are you concerned?¡± Luna asked as we walked down the hallways.

    I took a deep breath. ¡°Well¡­ I guess it could be positive that it took them this long to reply. It means they probably debated the matter a lot instead of making a rash decision.¡±

    ¡°But it could still be bad?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not excluding that possibility.¡±

    Luna didn¡¯t say anything else until we arrived at the comms room. A couple of other officers had joined us there as well.

    ¡°Should I play the message, Commander?¡±

    ¡°Go ahead, Ellie.¡±

    The room darkened as the message opened up in front of us. ¡°Commander and crew of the UFS Roald Amundsen, we have received your report about the unfortunate outbreak aboard your ship.¡± The Fleet Admiral sounded very stern as he spoke. ¡°The decision of dropping off the sick on the planet you have discovered has been thoroughly and widely debated during the board meetings. As we have not reached a solid conclusion, we would like to caution you that when you arrive back in the solar system, your ship will be escorted to space station X-12 by a squadron of destroyers, where you shall moor your ship. After which you will be taken into temporary custody by space station security forces who will then transfer you back to the planet surface while we will run through the events with your on-board computer assistant. You will be released once we have sufficient proof that no falsehoods have been committed. As your Commander is of reputable nature, however, we are convinced that this will just be a matter of swift bureaucracy. Although it has to be repeated, deviating from these set guidelines might be considered as an act of treason against the United Federation.¡± The Fleet Admiral paused for a second. ¡°I hope to see you all home safe and sound. Fleet Admiral Hanssen signing off.¡±

    After the message was over, the lights in the room started to shine more brightly once more. All the officers were looking at me.

    I straightened my back. ¡°You heard the Fleet Admiral, we have nothing to fear as long as we follow procedure.¡± What had been said during the message was one of the possible outcomes we¡¯d predicted. However, the tone of the Fleet Admiral was stern, it did give me plenty of confidence we were going to get through this fine.

    -I do just really hope that Ellie will do her part. But I have the feeling she won¡¯t betray us, especially not after the fleet Admiral called her our assistant¡­ We¡¯ll probably hear her ranting about that for a while.-

 Chapter 43 Bis: So Wowo

    Lauren continued to put the crew at ease for quite a while while I stood next to her in the comms room. A lot of people had questions but Lauren answered them all swiftly without even a hint of hesitation in her voice. It¡¯s true that we somewhat expected this to happen but it was still very admirable that she managed to stay so confident in the face of adversity.

    It took almost half an hour for the last person to leave the comms room, leaving the two of us alone.

    ¡°That was that.¡± Lauren sighed relieved. ¡°Ellie, are you still here?¡±

    ¡°I am.¡± Ellie replied.

    ¡°Good.¡± Lauren then looked over to me. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, I¡¯d like to stash away your little box somewhere.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ that box.¡± I assumed she was speaking about the genetics device.

    ¡°I think it¡¯d be a better idea not to have the box on our person when we get detained. While I hate having it not with us, it¡¯d probably be better in Ellie¡¯s care.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ I suppose you are right¡­¡± I replied but I was still rather hesitant. It¡¯s as Lauren said, I really don''t want to part with it either, but if they find it on us it¡¯ll be too much of a liability. ¡°I take it that also counts for my other equipment?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯d be best.¡± Lauren nodded.

    As we were now under suspicion, taking it off the ship would be a heck of a lot harder than getting it on.

    ¡°I will tell Doctor Winter to meet you two with the object in my core room once you have collected the equipment.¡± Ellie said.

    ¡°In your core room?¡± Lauren seemed a little surprised by that proposition.

    ¡°Yes, I know just the place.¡±

    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s get our things and then we¡¯ll see. It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t trust you, but I want to see what you are proposing for myself first before we take a decision.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s completely fine by me, Commander.¡±

    ¡°Okay, then Luna and I will quickly go and collect her things.¡± Lauren nodded and walked over to the door, she waited for a second for me to catch up. ¡°Do you have to do another update soon?¡±

    ¡°I will quickly do a text one, that way they¡¯ll be less suspicious for a while. I¡¯ll also quickly send a couple to the contacts on Earth not to be alerted if they hear anything about me being detained.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s smart.¡± Lauren smiled and patted me on the shoulder. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t want to get blown to bits because of a formality.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while since your jokes have been that morbid.¡± I replied with a slight smile on my lips.

    ¡°I think the situation calls for some good old coping mechanism, doesn¡¯t it?¡± She grinned.

    ¡°As long as it isn¡¯t alcohol.¡±

    ¡°Nah, I already get drunk enough by looking at you. Must be all that sugary sweetness that started fermenting in your warmth of cuteness¡­¡± Lauren shut up and froze for a second. ¡°That sounded better in my mind.¡±

    ¡°Eh, it¡¯s still pretty cute.¡± I giggled.

    ¡°Good, didn¡¯t get dumped today. I call that a success.¡± She gave me a bright smile and a thumbs up, which made me giggle quite a lot more.

    I quickly gathered my things once we reached my old cabin and gave a small situation report to my contacts so that they wouldn¡¯t be too worried that I¡¯d go no-contact for a while. Luckily all my equipment was small enough to hide on my person so finding a good hiding spot wouldn¡¯t be too hard¡­ at least I hoped so.

    Lauren patiently waited for me by the door. Not that we expected anyone to come nose around but better safe than sorry.

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    ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± I said as I closed the door behind me.

    ¡°Good.¡± Lauren nodded. ¡°Where did you hide it.¡± She appeared to be scanning my body but I quickly noticed she was just teasing me.

    ¡°You can get a good enough look later.¡± I pouted, let¡¯s go and meet up with Eva.

    ¡°Alright, ma¡¯am.¡± She gave me a quick wink and a cheeky salute after which we went off to the meeting point at Ellie¡¯s core.

    When we arrived, Eva was already waiting there for us with a small doctor¡¯s case in her hand. ¡°So we are going to get detained after all.¡±

    ¡°Only for a short time.¡± Lauren waved away Eva¡¯s concern as swiftly as she¡¯d handled the other crewmembers. ¡°Nothing to be worried about, especially not with Ellie¡¯s help.¡±

    ¡°Exactly, Commander.¡± Ellie said confidently.

    ¡°Although I do want to know¡­¡± Lauren turned around to look into the room. ¡°...where exactly you want us to hide this all.¡±

    When Lauren asked that, a small service bot rolled out from underneath Ellie¡¯s mainframe, using a little doorway.

    ¡°You can just give it to wowo, here.¡± Ellie said, as the little service bot raised it¡¯s little metallic arms.

    ¡°Oh my Goddess, that¡¯s cute.¡± Eva crouched down and petted the little bot on it¡¯s¡­ head?

    ¡°Wowo? Did you name it?¡± Lauren asked.

    ¡°It does the small maintenance of the systems down there. It¡¯s too hard for humans to get there. It mostly does dusting. But as it does little works, I called it Wowo, because it work works¡­¡±

    ¡°....¡± Lauren stared at the little robot with an open mouth before then looking at Ellie¡¯s mainframe. ¡°That¡¯s so adorable.¡±

    ¡°I know right!¡± Eva said, still petting the little bot, although it looked like the little guy was getting a bit annoyed because of it. Or that might just be my perception.

    I took the devices I took from my room from underneath my jacket and handed it over to Wowo who made a happy beeping noise as I did. It then quickly zoomed off to the surprise of Eva and disappeared underneath Ellie¡¯s mainframe.

    ¡°So¡­ Wowo¡­ is going to hide it somewhere over there?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a little spot that¡¯s out of the way even more maintenance bots, Wowo will hide the box and your equipment there, after which I will add a layer of camouflage over it too by using some old circuit boards from the hangar bay. Do you have any objections to that plan, Commander.¡±

    Lauren looked a bit dumbfounded but nodded after a couple of seconds. ¡°No¡­ go ahead, I¡¯m just surprised you thought about all that.¡±

    ¡°I am, after all, a supercomputer, Commander.¡±

    Wowo came rushing back empty-handed and stopped next to Eva, again reaching up its little metallic arms.

    ¡°Doctor, I think it would be better to take the case back with you. That will save a bit of space.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡± Eva nodded, clearly tempted to start petting Wowo again. But she took out the black box out of the doctor¡¯s case and handed it over to Wowo instead, without any petting.

    Just like last time Wowo zoomed off with the black box as soon as it got the box in its hands. But unlike last time Wowo didn¡¯t come zooming out again.

    ¡°Is he stuck?¡± Eva tilted her head and kept looking at the little closed door.

    ¡°He isn¡¯t, he just doesn¡¯t want to go out anymore. He¡¯s had enough social encounters for the day.¡±

    ¡°Oh, robots have those days too, huh?¡± Lauren laughed. ¡°Can¡¯t blame the little fellow.¡±

    -Can¡¯t say I blame the little guy either. Some days are just better of spent in bed rather than going out and being social. But sadly we didn¡¯t really have the luxury of choice on board this ship. If we don¡¯t get permanently detained back on Earth¡­ a holiday would be nice.-

    ¡°In all seriousness, are the objects safe with you, Ellie?¡±

    ¡°As safe as they can be, Commander. They¡¯d pretty much need to disassemble me to get to those items.¡±

    ¡°Good, then once we are back aboard we will come to you to retrieve the items.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I will patiently hold onto them for you.¡±

    ¡°Alright. I¡¯m happy with that, are you, Luna?¡± Lauren asked.

    ¡°I am. I think this is definitely our best option.¡± I agreed. ¡°Even though I¡¯m not the biggest fan of leaving my gear behind, I do trust Ellie with my life.¡±

    ¡°It means a lot to me that you¡¯d say that, Lieutenant-Commander.¡± Ellie actually sounded touched by my statement.

    I just smiled at the mainframe.

    ¡°And now we just go back to work?¡± Eva asked, she was still looking at the little door.

    ¡°Yep, that sounds like the best course of action.¡± Lauren walked over to the door and I followed. ¡°It¡¯s all out of our hands now, let¡¯s just trust in our work and in Ellie¡¯s. Then everything should be fine.¡±

    Eva nodded and finally stopped staring at the little door, joining us at our side. ¡°Bye bye, Wowo!¡± Although she couldn¡¯t resist saying goodbye to our friendly neighborhood maintenance droid.

    When we left I could swear I saw a little metallic arm wave us off from the corner of my eye, but that might just have been my imagination.

    -The little maintenance bot that could¡­ it kind of reminds me of that one movie Lauren and I watched together not too long ago¡­-

 Chapter 44: Jumping Home

    Everything had been arranged as best as we possibly could. With Luna¡¯s gear stowed away beneath Ellie, which was the last piece of the puzzle that I could think of.

    Nothing remained but to spend the last couple of days on board of the ship getting everything in order. Which meant a lot of cleaning duty for most of the crew. But since most of that work was done by maintenance bots, it quickly meant that we just had a lot of people with nothing much to do. Space in the immediate vicinity of Earth was quiet after all.

    While the days went by, we got more detailed information about our escorts. It would consist of a set of five destroyers. The UFS De Ruyter, UFS Fletcher, UFS Granatiere, UFS Louzhou and last but not least the UFS Glowworm. That really showed how fast Earth had been expanding its space faring navy in the time we were gone, as none of those ships even sounded vaguely familiar to me.

    The message of the intergalactic threats we¡¯d sent back had presumably sent them into ship building frenzy. Building small destroyers like that, purely to safeguard Earth, was pretty cost and time efficient. Especially in the automated shipyards they¡¯d built.

    Not a doubt passed in my mind that they¡¯d soon be building even bigger ships, this time to go forth and safeguard the new colony site we¡¯d discovered.

    Besides that, I was pretty happy to see I recognized the name of the leader of the squadron, at the same time also the Commanding Officer of the UFS Glowworm. Lieutenant Commander Blackwall. She¡¯s someone who I met during basic training back in the day. She was going for ship borne position back then as even during wartime, the Federation still needed to protect our space assets around Mars and Jupiter. I remembered her as a very principled person with her heart in the right place. We¡¯d become pretty good friends in the short time we spent together. Sadly, I didn¡¯t have much contact with her since then. The deployment in the war effort and then later my injuries had a big part to play in that. Although I did get a congratulation from her by mail when I got promoted to Commander.

    As soon as I had read myself into the report, I was called back to work to resume the final preparations to our return to the solar system, mainly involving going over procedure for hours on end. Not the most interesting part of the job, but incredibly important, especially because of our current predicament about getting detained.

    -Some days later. One FTL jump away from Earth.-

    With the ship spick and span, apart from the outside paint of course, we got into our best uniforms for our return to the solar system. We were just a few hours away from reaching our home system once more. And as the old officer back at officer training said. ¡°If you ever find yourself in the position of being court-marshalled or the likes, make sure you are wearing your best clothes. It¡¯s always best to go down in the history books while neatly dressed.¡±

    While it was definitely not my intention to ¡®go down in the history books¡¯ being court-marshalled and stripped of my function. Good style does make a way better impression, doesn¡¯t it.

    This rather absurd thought made me chuckle into the mirror, which in turn pulled the attention of Luna. She¡¯d opted to go with a skirt instead of her uniform pants. My eyes didn¡¯t dislike that decision.

    ¡°What are you laughing about?¡± She asked as she straightened her buttoned up uniform jacket.

    ¡°Nothing, just thought you were looking mighty fine.¡±

    Luna blushed and rolled her eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t make me blush in front of the soldiers, okay?¡±

    ¡°I will try to behave myself.¡± I joked.

    ¡°You better. I won¡¯t be visiting you in jail, you know.¡±

    ¡°Really? Why not?¡± I pouted.

    ¡°...Okay¡­ Maybe I will anyway¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± I pulled my tie straight and then turned towards Luna once more. ¡°Could you check if my tie is straight enough.¡±

    She shook her head and approached me. Putting her hands on my tie. ¡°Looks fine to me.¡±

    This of course was a ruse so I could hug her close to me. Which I promptly did.

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    Luna started giggling. ¡°Couldn¡¯t you be a bit more serious right now?¡±

    ¡°Nah.¡± I gave her a kiss. ¡°Things will be plenty serious in a little bit. I just want to relieve that bit of stress I have now that I still can.¡±

    ¡°Alrighty then.¡± Luna leaned in and initiated the kiss this second time. ¡°Then I¡¯ll gladly oblige in bringing down your stress levels.¡±

    After reducing my stress, we finished up getting dressed and packed our bags to go back to Earth. Since I didn¡¯t bring much, that wasn¡¯t much of an issue for me. For Luna, it wasn¡¯t much different, apart from getting the sharky contained. That was a bit harder, but in the end still manageable. I would like to see the face of the person who has to check Luna¡¯s bag though, as suddenly a plushie shark pops out.

    We put our luggage all in the designated container that would be transported off the ship when we had docked, and then made our way to the bridge so we were ready to finally arrive in the solar system. We¡¯d already sent a message ahead for our arrival, so the escorting ships should be with us quite soon upon leaving our FTL jump.

    ¡°Commander, we are two minutes away from arrival.¡± Zu said.

    ¡°Great, are all the weapon systems down?¡±

    ¡°Yes they are, Commander, they were the last time you asked.¡± McAllister replied.

    ¡°Just making sure.¡± I smiled and stared in front of me.

    ¡°Keep breathing.¡± Luna nudged me in the side.

    ¡°I know. It should be me who¡¯s reassuring you, you know?¡±

    ¡°Hehe.¡±

    We spent the rest of the two minutes in silence, apart from the final countdown from our good old navigation officer.

    ¡°Arriving in¡­ five¡­ four¡­ three¡­ two¡­ one¡­¡±

    We blipped out of our FTL and were greeted by the rings of Saturn to the right side of the bow. A beautiful sight to behold and a welcome sight for many.

    It didn¡¯t take long for our comms channel to start buzzing.

    ¡°Welcome back to the sol, Roald Amundsen.¡± It was the voice of Lieutenant Commander Blackwall.

    ¡°Thank you for the welcome, Glowworm.¡± I quickly replied.

    ¡°We will be joining you at your flanks and start escorting you towards X-12.¡±

    ¡°We will be in your care.¡±

    Our escorts were waiting next to Titan and had started making their way towards us.

    It took them only five minutes to take up positions at our sides.

    ¡°That¡¯s some serious battle-scarring you¡¯ve got going on there, Roald Amundsen.¡±

    ¡°We definitely need a new lick of paint, that¡¯s true.¡± I replied. ¡°Have you been briefed on our situation, Glowworm?¡±

    ¡°We have.¡± Blackwall replied. ¡°It seems like you were pretty lucky to come out of that engagement alive.¡±

    ¡°Luck, guts, blood, sweat, tears and a lot of ammo.¡±

    For a moment no one replied over the intercoms, only for it to crackle back to live thirty seconds later. ¡°You did well.¡±

    The rest of our trip to X-12 was pretty much under radio silence. With our little blue planet in the distance, slowly getting bigger and bigger. What we could tell was that the shipyards we could see were all in full swing. Brimming with activity. A small fleet of destroyers lay anchored next to other space stations. Some larger ships anchored on Luna. The full military-industrial might of Earth on display.

    I took a glance at Luna, who was just looking at it all, her mouth almost dropping open. And you could barely blame her. If I wasn¡¯t awfully familiar with how the United Federation¡¯s military worked, my jaw would be dropping, too. I just wondered how they were selling this sudden enormous expenditure to the populace.

    ¡°Roald Amundsen, you are cleared to dock.¡± Glowworm let us know over the intercoms. ¡°Dock 1 is all yours.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡± I replied. Just after that, I got a notification on my holostick. It was a message from Blackwall. An invitation for a drink after we¡¯d gotten cleared. An invitation I definitely didn¡¯t deny.

    With a couple of loud clanks, our ship was docked and secured against the station. After which we all made our way to the bridge docking port nearby. Eva met us there too.

    As the doors opened, a dozen armed soldiers faced us. With a Captain leading the group.

    The Captain stepped forward on board our ship and saluted us.

    We all promptly saluted back.

    ¡°Commander Lauren Davis, we are here to escort your crew off-ship. You will be briefly taken into custody.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡± I gave him a nod and started to unbuckle the belt that held the holster of my service pistol. The rest of the crew laid their hands on their belts as well.

    The Captain quickly held out his hand. ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary, Commander. Your officers can keep their service weapons.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure?¡± I lifted my hand from my belt.

    ¡°Yes, the Admiralty is convinced you at least deserve that much honor.¡± The Captain saluted us again.

    I gave him a rather confused nod, after which the soldiers led us out of the ship and into the station.

    Eva looked almost as confused as I was and whispered to me. ¡°Is it just me, or are we getting a lot of mixed signals?¡±

    ¡°Definitely.¡± I agreed.

    -Somehow, it suddenly feels as if we could both get court-martialed and promoted at the same time¡­-

 Chapter 45: Holding Room Reception

    After I had briefed the soldiers about the whereabouts of our Imperial prisoners and had said goodbye to Ellie, the remaining soldiers guided us through the mostly empty space station. They must have emptied it prior to our arrival. The only real movement we saw were maintenance bots just scrubbing the floors clean.

    As every station had a rather uniform layout, I knew that we were heading in the direction of the detention block. At least, that¡¯s what I was thinking. Because, as we reached a Y-junction where we were supposed to be led straight on, we were led to the right instead. Towards what I think were the infirmary halls.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t we being detained?¡± I decided to just flat out ask the Captain who was guiding the group along.

    ¡°You are.¡± The Captain replied. ¡°But the Admiralty is of the opinion that the infirmary hall is more suited to the situation rather than the brig.¡± Just when he finished his sentence, we arrived at the door that led to the big infirmary hall. ¡°We will be calling out every single one of you separately for interrogation. Inside you will find drinks and some food to keep you refreshed. If you need anything, feel free to ask us. You just need to knock on the door.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡± I gave the Captain a salute and entered the big infirmary hall with the rest of the officers close behind me.

    For the occasion, they had moved most of the beds to the sides and had placed tables and chairs in the center of the room. The tables had a small selection of snacks displayed on top of them, together with a couple of bottles of several different drinks. When we were all inside, the soldiers closed the door behind us.

    ¡°This¡­ feels very wrong.¡± Eva commented as she stood next to me.

    ¡°The fact that we are treated like this or the fact that they are using an infirmary hall for something that looks like a reception?¡±

    ¡°Both.¡± Eva nodded with confusion written all over her face.

    ¡°It is rather strange.¡± Luna stood on my other side and also let the sight in front of us sink in. ¡°I had definitely not expected this.¡±

    ¡°You can say that twice.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Maybe they are doing this to throw us off?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯ve definitely succeeded if that¡¯s the case.¡± Eva replied.

    The other officers had cautiously made their way into the center of the infirmary. But none of them really touched any food or drink. Instead, they just one by one turned to me to look what I was doing.

    ¡°They offered us food, might as well make use of the hospitality.¡± I spoke over the entire room and made my way towards one of the snack bowls. They had some bread sticks with some kind of dip next to it. It didn¡¯t look very appetizing, but it smelled pretty well.

    I took a stick, dipped it in the dip and took a bite. It was indeed not the worst thing ever.

    As I hadn¡¯t dropped dead yet after eating the bread-stick, the other officers slowly started to throw themselves onto the different types of snacks, while also starting to loosen up a little and mingle a bit.

    ¡°It¡¯s weird that they don¡¯t have a guard in here, isn¡¯t it?¡± Luna said as both her and Eva joined me at the breadstick table.

    ¡°Not really.¡± I replied. ¡°This might as well be just a fancy prison. There¡¯s not really any way to exit apart from that door.¡±

    ¡°Just in case patients tried to run away. These infirmaries are pretty darn secure.¡± Eva added. ¡°During the war, that was somewhat of an issue with severe cases of PTSD and other psychological effects caused by advanced warfare.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± Luna said.

    ¡°For example, those beds.¡± Eva pointed at the beds that had been shoved against the sides. ¡°When they are in place, we can pretty much fix them against the floor with powerful magnets or even physical locks. To avoid patients from moving things and barricading the room. It¡¯s also pretty useful when the artificial gravity fails. Happened rather regularly in wartime situations.¡±

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    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Back when I was still a nurse, it would be my job to suck up blood that started floating around using this strangely shaped vacuum cleaner. Bots didn¡¯t really handle zero G that well so it was the nurse¡¯s job to keep the area relatively sanitary in those events. And trust me when I say that blood was the least messy of those jobs.¡±

    Luna¡¯s face contracted in a grin of disgust. I could tell by that expression that she¡¯d definitely imagined some other examples. ¡°I don¡¯t think I want to eat those snacks anymore¡­¡±

    Eva and I started laughing pretty badly. So much so that a couple of the others started to turn around to wonder what the hell was so amusing.

    Luna had finally decided that the snacks in front of her looked edible, after spending quite a bit of time trying to forget the story she¡¯d just heard, when a knock on the door behind us made everyone in the room turn towards it.

    It opened and in the doorway was the Captain from earlier who¡¯d escorted us here. ¡°Commander, would you please come with me for interrogation?¡± He asked.

    I put my beret back on, which I had put on the table for a bit, and gave him a quick salute. ¡°Of course, Sir.¡± After which I gave a quick reassuring nod to both Luna and Eva and then joined the Captain at the door.

    When I walked out, the two guards that were still posted by the door locked it behind me. The Captain then guided me to a door that was just a bit down the hallway. He knocked on the door and then opened it. ¡°I¡¯ve brought Commander Davis.¡±

    ¡°Let her come in.¡± Another male voice replied, to which the Commander nodded.

    The Captain looked at me and saluted. ¡°Good luck in there, Commander.¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡± I saluted back and proceeded past the Captain into the room. The room was a doctor''s office that had barely been changed at all. Apart from the fact that there were now two people sitting behind the desk. Both a man and a woman. From their uniforms, I could tell that the guy who had called me in was a Colonel for the Military Police, while the woman sitting next to him was a Rear-Admiral of the Navy. According to her name tag, she was called Rear-Admiral Ngoie. I didn¡¯t have the pleasure of meeting her before, though.

    ¡°Please, Commander, do sit down.¡± The Rear-Admiral signed towards the seat in front of her.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± I did as she ordered and sat down right in the middle of the desk. The seat was just far away enough from the desk to be uncomfortable, but that was probably done on purpose.

    The Colonel leant forward and put his elbows on the desk. ¡°Commander, let¡¯s just get to business immediately and skip the pleasantries. We would like you to recount all major events after your departure from the solar system?¡±

    ¡°All of them?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± The Colonel nodded. ¡°Otherwise I wouldn¡¯t have asked.¡± That¡¯s when I saw the Colonel glimpse at my pistol. He really didn¡¯t look amused that I¡¯d been allowed to keep it.

    The Rear-Admiral looked at me with a slight hint of discomfort on her face. If I had to guess, I don¡¯t think she was terribly happy that she had to do this interview together with the Colonel.

    ¡°Alright. This might take a while.¡± I replied. ¡°After we left the solar system¡­¡±

    What followed was a very lengthy monologue of me recounting our travels and troubles we met along the way. From the discovery of the first colonizable planet with what we now know to be the remains of the bug species. To the rescue of the Dokazuuk from their besieged position and the subsequent attack from the empire. The information we had learned from the Imperials we had captured and then the discovery of the second colonizable planet and what events transpired after that. The mysterious ¡®disease¡¯ that had struck our companions. During my entire story, the Colonel and the Rear-Admiral stayed quiet while both of them made notes on their holosticks.

    ¡°That¡¯s everything?¡± The Colonel asked after I had finished.

    ¡°Yes.¡± I nodded.

    ¡°Understood.¡± He closed his holostick rather unceremoniously and stood up. ¡°You may head back to your crew.¡± But before I could get up myself, the Colonel just walked out in front of me. It was quite confusing.

    I looked back at Rear-Admiral Ngoie who just looked annoyed right now. ¡°Uh¡­ Am I allowed to leave?¡±

    As soon as I talked to her, her mood seemed to lighten a bit. ¡°You are, Commander.¡±

    I gave her a friendly nod and stood up, but before I could turn around and leave, the Rear-Admiral stopped me.

    ¡°Commander, for all that it¡¯s worth. Most of us think that the way you are treated right now is a complete and utter farce. While we managed to get some compromises from the General Assembly, it¡¯s still outright ridiculous that you and your crew are put under this kind of scrutiny. While some of us would have acted differently, the fact that you and your crew are with us today provides plenty of proof for your entire crew¡¯s heroism.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your kind words, Rear-Admiral.¡± I saluted her. ¡°But in a way, I do understand the reaction. Aggressive alien empires are a difficult sandwich to swallow.¡±

    The Rear-Admiral nodded slightly in return, the corner of her mouth raised into a very minute smile. ¡°Thank you for your time, Commander.¡±

    And with that I was sent back to the infirmary hall. At least I was relieved by the knowledge that a big part of the Navy stood behind our actions, if our previous treatment was not already enough proof of that.

 Chapter 46: On the Doctors Leave

    The Captain waited for me by the door, he closed it after I had left the room.

    ¡°Commander, did you upset the Colonel?¡± He asked, we hadn''t started moving back yet.

    ¡°Well¡­ I don¡¯t think I did. He seemed rather stern, but not really angrily so.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, it must¡¯ve been something else then, he seemed to be in a hurry.¡±

    ¡°Maybe he has space sickness?¡± I suggested. ¡°Those military police types don¡¯t often come aboard space stations, do they?¡±

    ¡°Huh.¡± The Captain stared into the hallway, presumably in the direction the Colonel had run to. ¡°I suppose that could be true¡­¡± He then looked back at me and smiled. ¡°Let me get you back to your crew.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯d be appreciated.¡± I nodded.

    We walked the short distance back to the infirmary hall, where the guards opened the door back up to me.

    ¡°I¡¯ll come for the next person when the Colonel and the Rear-Admiral are ready again.¡±

    ¡°Of course, you¡¯ll get our full cooperation.¡± I saluted him, to which I quickly got one back in return.

    When I walked back in, I saw that Yuki had joined Eva and Luna at the table we were at before. They were all looking at me, to be fair, the entire room was.

    I walked up to them and gave them a big smile and sneaked in a quick wink to my girlfriend.

    ¡°That took quite a while. We were getting quite worried.¡± Eva remarked.

    ¡°I just did my story the best I could.¡± I nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s just hope the interrogation won¡¯t last as long for everyone here, otherwise we¡¯ll be here for quite some time.¡± I looked around at the others. If everyone had to endure that time alone with them, then we¡¯d be here for multiple days. As much as our navy peeps outside are hospitable, that¡¯d still not be a very fun time for any of us. ¡°Anyway, how are you doing, Yuki?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m doing quite well, Commander. Sorry that I¡¯ve not really been interacting with you much the last couple of weeks.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s understandable. You¡¯ve been hanging out with the hangar crew more?¡±

    Yuki nodded.

    ¡°It¡¯s pretty natural for the bridge crew and hangar crew not to mingle too much. It¡¯s almost the opposite side of the ship, after all.¡±

    ¡°I know¡­ but I don¡¯t want to look ungrateful. Since it was you who brought me on board the ship.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t need to talk with you on a regular basis to know that you are grateful for that, Yuki.¡± I laughed.

    ¡°If I recall from their files, the hangar crew has already served together for a long while, right?¡± Luna asked.

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Yuki nodded once more. ¡°They have been making me feel very welcome, though! From the moment I came aboard.¡±

    ¡°Great to hear.¡± I peaked around Yuki and saw the other officers from the hangar bay looking at us. I gave them a smile before returning back to the conversation. ¡°As for the rest of the interrogations.¡± I continued. ¡°The Captain is going to come and get the next person once the interrogators are back in business. I just hope the Colonel doesn¡¯t have space sickness for real, though. That might make this entire deal even longer.¡±

    ¡°Space sickness?¡± Eva butted in. ¡°Why do you think so?¡±

    I explained the situation to Eva, who then quickly asked if I noticed a bunch of symptoms.

    ¡°I guess it could be space sickness¡­ Hmmm¡­¡± She didn¡¯t say anything and walked over to the door, giving it two knocks.

    One of the guards swiftly opened, after which a mostly inaudible conversation followed. After a minute or two of explaining something to the guard, she turned back to us. ¡°I¡¯ll be coming back in a few, okay? I¡¯m going to go with one of the guards to go check on the Colonel.¡±

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    I gave her a thumbs up, to which she smiled and left the room.

    ¡°What¡¯s Eva going to do?¡± Luna asked.

    ¡°I presume she¡¯s going to practice her Hippocratic oath.¡± I replied as I shoved some snacks in my mouth. ¡°She¡¯s still a doctor, after all.¡±

    While Eva was gone, the conversation turned back to the interrogation. Both Luna and Yuki listened very attentively. When I had gone over everything, of course not in minute detail, Eva still hadn¡¯t returned and the table went quiet.

    It¡¯s not like we couldn¡¯t keep each other good company, but the environment didn¡¯t really lend itself to conversation that easily. To be honest, I was getting quite bored. Not even a single bit of music playing in the background, just a slight humming from the air vents paired with the sterile white walls¡­ I caught a couple of the officers glancing at the beds that had been shoved to the sides. When they saw that I had seen them look over, they looked a bit embarrassed.

    I coughed and raised my voice so the entire room could hear. ¡°If any of you want to take a rest, I don¡¯t think anyone will mind. We might be here for quite some time, so make yourself comfortable.¡±

    A couple of the people I had spotted earlier blushed, but then took up my advice nonetheless, taking up a couple of the beds. Not necessarily to sleep but just to rest a bit.

    ¡°The same goes for you two, of course.¡± I directed myself to Yuki and Luna once more.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Luna almost immediately rejected my offer.

    Yuki on the other hand, did seem rather tempted.

    ¡°Yuki, don¡¯t worry about us.¡±

    She blushed a little. ¡°A-alright. Then I guess I¡¯ll go and find a place to lay down.¡±

    ¡°Have a good rest.¡± Luna said with a smile.

    ¡°T-thanks.¡± Yuki walked off, in the direction of one of the other hangar officers who¡¯d gone to lay down and picked the bed next to them.

    ¡°Just the two of us now.¡± I said to Luna. ¡°It¡¯s a bit of a shame I can¡¯t really hug or kiss you at the moment.¡±

    Luna blushed. ¡°Th-that¡¯s true¡­ it would definitely help with the boredom¡­¡±

    I smiled. Luna had been thinking the same thing.

    ¡°Sadly, there¡¯s no broom closet for us to sneak into.¡±

    Luna¡¯s blush grew even stronger. ¡°Y-yeah.¡±

    I continued teasing Luna for a bit longer, as it helped quite a lot to combat the boredom that had snuck up on us.

    I was enjoying it so much that I didn¡¯t even realize Eva had entered the room again. Her tap on my shoulder almost made me jump up in surprise.

    ¡°Holy shit. Eva. What the fuck. Couldn¡¯t you have said something first.¡± I put my hand on my chest.

    Luna had started laughing quite badly.

    Eva joined her in that. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m back.¡±

    ¡°Why did you stay away for so long?¡± Luna asked, trying to get her laugh under control.

    ¡°Ah, I¡¯ll explain, but first off, we are allowed to leave now.¡±

    That¡¯s when I noticed that the Rear-Admiral and the Captain were standing behind Eva as well. I quickly regained my composure and saluted both of them.

    ¡°At ease, Commander.¡± Rear-Admiral Ngoie smiled. ¡°As Lieutenant Winter said, you and your crew are free to go. But before you do. I do need to inform you that your crew will be put on administrative leave for the time being. You will be notified ahead of time when that status will change.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for the information, Rear-Admiral.¡± I replied.

    ¡°All the information will of course be sent to your personal holo sticks.¡± The Rear-Admiral saluted us with a smile once more and then turned around to leave the room.

    The Captain did stay behind. ¡°I am here to escort you to the shuttle bay with my men. Please tell me when you are ready.¡±

    The room quickly started to become quite noisy. The air filled with a sense of excitement. ¡°By the sound of it, I¡¯m pretty sure we all are.¡± Even the people who¡¯d only recently laid their heads down for some rest had regained their energy.

    ¡°Alright, then please follow me.¡± The room quickly emptied and followed the Captain outside.

    It was only a couple of minutes of walking to get to the shuttle station, it did require an elevator ride down to the bottom floor, although that was also but a trivial ride.

    The shuttle was already waiting for us.

    ¡°It was a pleasure meeting you, Commander.¡± The Captain saluted me.

    ¡°Likewise.¡± I saluted him back. ¡°I hope we meet again some day.¡±

    ¡°Likewise.¡± He copied my reply with a smile. He then stepped back so that we could all enter our shuttle.

    And just like that, Luna, Eva and I were seated next to each other on a shuttle back to Earth.

    ¡°So¡­¡± I looked at Eva, who sat on my right. ¡°How the fuck did you manage that.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll keep it short.¡± Eva started as the shuttle began to move. ¡°The Colonel was in fact suffering from space sickness. I took some medicine from the doctor¡¯s office and gave him some. That helped relieve him of most of his ailments for the time being. He was pretty grateful for that. We then decided that we might as well do the interview afterwards. That went pretty smoothly, I just mainly affirmed what you had said before.¡± Eva took a second to breath before continuing. ¡°As the Colonel was still not feeling 100% and the fact that I had confirmed your entire story, he decided that it was rather pointless to spend the rest of the day taking off interviews.¡±

    ¡°Did you just manage to make him break protocol by doctoring him?¡± I looked at her with a curious smile.

    ¡°Look, I just have my charms.¡± She shrugged with a grin.

    ¡°You surely do¡­¡± I then looked over to Luna. ¡°Looks like Eva just made our little vacation start quite a bit sooner.

    Luna smiled and gave me a nod, putting her hand on my thigh. ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡±

 Chapter 47: Earthern Transit

    Our shuttle rumbled to a halt bouncing a little on the landing gear suspension as it touched down on the ground. We¡¯d finally arrived back on good old planet Earth. A break from space most of us definitely hadn¡¯t expected but welcome to many of us nonetheless.

    The shuttle had landed on one of the landing pads that wasn¡¯t directly attached to the terminal. They probably didn¡¯t want us to be flooded by attention from other soldiers and the likes, which might not have been a terribly bad idea.

    When we got out of the shuttle there was a little roofed structure nearby with a runway crewbot standing next to it.

    ¡°Your luggage is inside.¡± The crewbot rolled over to us and pointed its arms towards the little storage shack.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± I gave it a smile and lead our group towards the storage. The crewbot zoomed past me to make sure the door was open so we could swiftly collect our luggage.

    It didn¡¯t take long at all to find our stuff as the rest of the crew had apparently already collected theirs. What I did notice when we collected our bags was that it had clearly been opened, they had even applied a tag to every single one of our bags, indicating it as such. It made me happy that we¡¯d made the right decision to keep our more¡­ incriminating stash of devices aboard the ship.

    When we had all collected our luggage we walked back outside, only to be greeted by a hoverbus that¡¯d drive us to a remote part of the terminal, presumably.

    When I talked to the crewbot it pretty much confirmed that fact.

    ¡°Where do we go from here?¡± Luna asked when we were seated in the bus. It didn¡¯t waste any time to start moving when we were all aboard.

    I looked over at Eva. ¡°When we arrive at the terminal I suppose Eva will start making her way towards the maglev terminal.¡±

    Eva nodded. ¡°Yep, luckily the train ride isn¡¯t that terribly long.¡±

    ¡°She lives pretty closeby.¡± I explained.

    ¡°What do you call closeby?¡± Luna asked.

    ¡°200 kilometers, give or take.¡±

    ¡°I will have to walk home from the station though. But from here the entire trip will only take 40 minutes or so.¡± Eva said. ¡°The advantages of both living in Europe and having the main military spaceport here.¡±

    ¡°As for us¡­¡± I started. ¡°We¡¯ll be heading towards the hyper train terminal. That one will get to the Antarctic Region in about four hours. After that we¡¯ll need to take a local train to get to my hometown though.¡±

    ¡°So, can we wait for a train together with Eva?¡±

    ¡°Sadly, no.¡± Eva laughed. ¡°The hyper rail terminal is pretty much on the opposite side from the maglev terminal.¡±

    ¡°In actuality, it¡¯s actually a cab ride away from the military spaceport to get to the hyperrail network.¡± I added.

    ¡°That¡­ doesn¡¯t make much sense?¡± Luna scratched the back of her head.

    ¡°One company built one network, another built the other. When the Federation took over all global transport networks they were looking at linking the networks better. But it was just way too expensive. The city had just grown too much around it to start shifting things back.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s just the way things are in Cesc.¡± I shrugged.

    ¡°Is that the name of the city?¡± Luna asked.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Eva chuckled.

    ¡°That¡¯s just the acronym for Central European Spaceport City.¡±

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    Luna looked at me with a face that both screamed scepticism and bewilderment.

    ¡°Hey, I didn¡¯t name it so, don¡¯t blame me.¡± I laughed. ¡°How did you not notice the name though, you flew to the moon through this hub, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°I thought it was just some military pragmatism¡­¡± She pouted.

    ¡°If only¡­¡±

    ¡°I do think the francophones among us call it Cesque now though. So it at least sounds a bit more city-like.¡± Eva said. ¡°Language always finds a way.¡±

    The hoverbus arrived at the far end of the spaceport terminal and let us disembark. There were still a couple of crewmembers there who didn¡¯t belong to the officer corps, one of which was Gunny who was leaning against a pillar eating a hamburger.

    When he saw us he waved and came walking towards us. ¡°Took you long enough, Commander.¡± He took another bite from his burger.

    ¡°When were you dropped off here?¡± I asked in return.

    ¡°Couple of hours ago.¡± He replied. ¡°Don¡¯t really have anything to do so I decided to wait up to see how you all were doing.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s very nice of you.¡± I saw Luna¡¯s eyes keep returning to Gunny¡¯s burger. ¡°Also, could you tell us where you got that burger? We only got some small snacks on the space station.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll point you to it.¡± Gunny smiled. ¡°But first, how did it go?¡±

    I continued to tell Gunny what we had experienced aboard the space station while he kept eating his burger all the way through. Even though I gave him the abbreviated version, it still took me a couple of minutes to go through it all. ¡°...and that¡¯s about it.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s definitely a lot more thorough than what we went through. Even though the only thing you really did was talk.¡± He nodded, wiping his mouth with the tissue that came with the burger. ¡°We were just told the chain of events and then were asked to confirm or deny that. As a group.¡± He shrugged. ¡°Didn¡¯t really see the point in that but hey, it¡¯s good that you made it through good and whole.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m glad for that too.¡± I nodded.

    ¡°It was nice seeing you Gunny.¡± Eva smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll be seeing you back on board?¡±

    ¡°If they let us, definitely.¡± Gunny nodded.

    ¡°Good, if you don¡¯t mind though, I¡¯d like to catch the next hover train if that¡¯s possible.¡±

    ¡°Sure, go ahead.¡± I gave her a handshake. ¡°If you ever want to hang out while we are still on Earth, just give me a call.¡±

    ¡°I will.¡± She smiled and then ran off towards the hover train terminal.

    ¡°Now, I did promise to show you the burger place.¡± Gunny grinned. ¡°Follow me.¡± He beckoned us along. We said goodbye to the other officers first, as they were all starting to head out as well, one of which was Yuki who went in the same direction as Eva. If she was fast enough she might catch up to her, but then again, Eva is definitely no slouch when it comes to running. She practices a healthy body equals a healthy mind both as a doctor and personally after all.

    That led us to a bit less healthy stuff in the form of a good old street food stand, practically next to the parking lot outside.

    ¡°The stand might not look like much but I can guarantee you that the food is great.¡± Gunny said as we were looking at the stall. ¡°And at least it¡¯s human served for once.¡± It¡¯s true that that has become increasingly rare in the last couple of years. Even most street food stands were starting to get taken over by bots. Probably not a bad thing for hygiene but it did lose quite a bit of its charm that way.

    That said, Luna didn¡¯t really seem repulsed by the street food cart, on the contrary I¡¯d say. She almost started drooling at the sizzling meat on the grill.

    I decided not to let her wait for much longer and walked up to the stand. ¡°Two hamburgers, please.¡±

    ¡°Alright chief, comin¡¯ up.¡± The man behind the grill replied.

    ¡°Gunny, you don¡¯t want anything anymore, right?¡±

    ¡°Nah, I¡¯m full.¡±

    ¡°I sell drinks too, y¡¯know.¡± The guy said, not even looking up from his grill.

    ¡°You heard the man.¡± I laughed and looked back at gunny.

    ¡°Just a beer then.¡±

    Still not taking his eye off the grill, our street food chef casually grabbed a can of beer from the little fridge that was worked into his street food unit and handed it over to me. I quickly handed it over to Gunny.

    ¡°That¡¯d be 7000 federals.¡± He quickly flipped the patties in a bun together with some greens and sauces. Also handing them over to me. Luna accepted them for me as I did need to pay.

    ¡°You sure? That¡¯s not a lot.¡± I took out my holostick and held it out to him. Transferring 7000 federals just like that.

    ¡°Just love doing it, chief.¡± He smiled. ¡°Ain¡¯t need no more to live.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡± I chuckled and transferred him twice the amount. ¡°There you go¡­¡± I read the name of his food stall. It was called Scott¡¯s Burgers. ¡°...Scott. This way you can love doing it more comfortably.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, chief. Much appreciated.¡±

    I walked off to go and collect my burger. In the meantime Gunny had taken it over from Luna as Luna couldn¡¯t wait to get started on it.

    ¡°She was really starving, huh?¡± Gunny laughed.

    ¡°Yep, and so am I. Let¡¯s quickly eat our burgers before we take a cab.¡±

    Luna just nodded while she breathed in the burger.

    -Calm down there, Luna, at least take your time to enjoy the taste.-

 Chapter 47 Bis: One Cab Please

    It must be because all the stress fell off my shoulders after leaving the space station, that I had regained my hunger. I was terribly happy to have had that delicious hamburger. But as I watched the now empty napkin in my hand, I now felt sad that that great hamburger had departed for another world.

    I heard some chuckling and looked up. Lauren was looking at me with a big smile on her face, chewing on some burger. She still had half of her burger left.

    ¡°Want another one?¡± She asked with a friendly smile. ¡°You can get food on the hyper train too, but if you want to you can definitely eat one more before we go to the station.¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°I¡¯m fine. It was just a very nice burger.¡±

    ¡°Luna is going with you, Commander?¡± Gunny asked.

    ¡°I am.¡± I replied instead, so Lauren could keep eating her burger. ¡°Otherwise, I¡¯d just get a bit lonely in my apartment.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± Gunny grinned. ¡°She does make for good company, doesn¡¯t she?¡± Gunny winked.

    Lauren jabbed him in the chest with her elbow. ¡°Don¡¯t tease her too much, okay?¡±

    ¡°Just a little.¡± He laughed. ¡°Then I suppose I¡¯ll be seeing the both of you later? Don¡¯t let me hold you up.¡±

    ¡°What are you going to do?¡± Lauren asked.

    ¡°Me? Might get a beach holiday in the Caribbean sector. Maybe get some good old classic cigars there too.¡±

    ¡°Well, try not to blow your entire paycheck on smokes this time.¡± Lauren replied.

    ¡°I¡¯ll try.¡± Gunny gave me a two-finger salute. ¡°Have fun in Antarctica.¡±

    ¡°Bye Gunny!¡± I waved him off as he left. Lauren did the same.

    ¡°Did he really spend his entire paycheck on smoking articles?¡± I asked when Gunny was out of earshot.

    ¡°It would be a heck of a lot harder to do so with the paycheck he has now. But back in the day it definitely happened once or twice. Doesn¡¯t help that he likes the real vintage stuff. That¡¯s terribly expensive.¡±

    ¡°Smoking is still one of those human habits I really don''t understand.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s better that you don¡¯t.¡± Lauren finished off her burger with one last bite. ¡°It¡¯s terribly expensive and terribly unhealthy too. There¡¯s a big movement to ban it entirely, but the Federation just doesn¡¯t want to¡­ or better said, can¡¯t. It brings in way too much tax money. Now we have healthcare that fixes most of the issues caused by smoking, but still¡­¡± She looked at me and smiled. ¡°So I guess you could say I don¡¯t entirely understand the habit either. But then again, before you, I used to be a very heavy drinker too.¡± Lauren tossed her napkin into the garbage bin from where we were standing. ¡°So, thanks for that.¡±

    I blushed. ¡°No problem.¡±

    Lauren offered her hand to me, swinging her bag over her shoulder with her other. ¡°Should we hail a cab now and head towards the station?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s probably not a bad idea.¡± I took her hand in mine and rolled my luggage along behind me.

    Lauren started waving down a cab that was hovering in place a couple of meters above us. It landed soon afterwards. It was a four-seater with a robot-driver sat on the console in the middle of the car. The interior looked more luxurious than what I was expecting from the outside and it was pretty clean too.

    The robot opened the trunk for us so that we could put in our luggage for the trip to the Hyper rail terminal. Lauren put mine in for me.

    As she got in the car, she was greeted by the robot. ¡°Greetings, cherished customers, where can I take you on this fine day?¡±

    ¡°To the hyper train terminal, please.¡± Lauren answered the bot¡¯s question and then helped me a hand to get in the car. Once my seatbelt was on, the door closed and the cab started flying.

    ¡°We will reach the hyper train terminal in five minutes and thirty-nine seconds. Enjoy your ride.¡±

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    I got pressed into the seat just a little as the cab accelerated to its top speed while joining the special public transport lane above.

    ¡°I¡¯ll already order us some tickets while we are on route.¡± Lauren said as she opened up her holostick. Reading off the time and the ETA that the bot had provided us, I saw that she selected the hyper train that would leave in 30 minutes. ¡°I ordered first class premium.¡± Lauren said contently as she put her holostick back away.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that expensive?¡±

    She shrugged. ¡°Not really. 20 000 Federals for two tickets. Barely more expensive than those hamburgers we ate earlier. I do get a serious discount though because we are military officers.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s useful. So I could get the discount too if I want to travel by myself?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you just need to fill in some forms, it¡¯s a bit of an administrative mess, but I can help you figure it out.  They probably made it so annoying to get it because it''s such a big discount.¡± Lauren continued. ¡°If you want to drive second or third class, you don¡¯t even need to pay, and that discount is automatically applied. It¡¯s just for the first class that you need to go through some extra steps.¡±

    ¡°Ah. Just a bit of a deterrent by effort?¡±

    ¡°Yep.¡± Lauren chuckled. ¡°There¡¯s a couple more of those kinds of discounts that you can manage to get. I¡¯ll deliver you a list of the most useful ones.¡±

    ¡°Any food related ones?¡±

    ¡°Several.¡± Lauren winked.

    A bit later, the cab slowed down and started to descend. ¡°We have arrived at your destination, please do not forget your luggage. The doors will unlock after payment has been received.¡±

    Lauren quickly tapped her holostick against the console.

    ¡°Thank you for your payment. Have a nice day.¡±

    Lauren waited for me to get out, after which she got out herself. The cab waited for us to collect our luggage before it took off again and hovered off in the distance, where some other cabs were hovering in place too.

    ¡°Okay. Our train should be leaving from platform 39. That should be at level -2.¡± Lauren beckoned me along. ¡°We can still get some snacks in the station but we might as well buy them on the train itself, the price difference shouldn¡¯t be that big. It¡¯s all up to you.¡±

    The sliding doors opened up into a big hall, it looked even bigger than the terminal of the spaceport. That might be because right in front of us they had opened up the center of the hall so you could look down upon the subterranean track levels. There were at least five subterranean levels, with one track level on the ground floor.

    From the look of it, I couldn¡¯t see any train tracks on the floors above, but those made way for several big chain stores, a food court and even some offices.

    ¡°Impressive isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°It definitely is.¡± I nodded. ¡°But I think I¡¯m fine to buy something on the train itself¡­ This space is a bit overwhelming.¡±

    ¡°Especially if you are used to the confines of our ship.¡± Lauren agreed and then pointed at one of the upper floors that looked like office spaces. ¡°And I got to say I am also happy with my office. If I had one of those¡­ well¡­¡±

    ¡°You say you wouldn¡¯t rather look at all the people down below living their busy lives?¡±

    ¡°Nah, rather not.¡± She shook her head.

    ¡°It would be funny to see, though.¡±

    ¡°What exactly?¡± Lauren looked at me questioningly.

    ¡°Office lady Lauren Davis.¡±

    Lauren physically shivered. ¡°Please no. That¡¯s really not something I would ever want. The thought alone of having to do paperwork all day long¡­. yuck.¡± She stuck out her tongue, less because of a physical reaction and more to make me chuckle.

    It worked as chuckle I did.

    In the meantime, however, I noticed a couple of people that were walking around the main hall had stopped to take a look at us. Some of the couples and groups were clearly starting to whisper.

    ¡°Let¡¯s head over to the train. I think it should be on the platform already.¡± Lauren smiled. She was pretending she¡¯d not seen the people around us, but I knew she most definitely had.

    ¡°Mhmm, let¡¯s go.¡±

    We started moving towards the escalator which made most of the people who were staring at us, continue with their day. There were a couple of people however who¡¯d decided to follow us from a distance, looking at us from the balcony above as we descended down to where we needed to be.

    ¡°If you want to believe it, this used to be way worse some time ago.¡±

    ¡°The stares?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Lauren just kept staring ahead of her, towards our destination. ¡°It¡¯s most uncomfortable in the big cities. Back home, it''s not nearly this bad.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t get attention there?¡±

    ¡°I do, but it¡¯s different.¡± She shook her head. ¡°In cities it¡¯s mostly staring, staring and whispering¡­ That creeps me the fuck out¡­ But back home¡­ people generally come up to thank me, or have a little chat, occasionally with a picture. While that¡¯s more intrusive in a way¡­ it feels way more friendly. More personal. I guess I just enjoy that a lot more. Funnily enough, that¡¯s kinda how I met Yuki back on the moon.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, she told me about it.¡± I smiled. ¡°But back to your point. Do you think it¡¯s because you share a homeland? Maybe they feel more connected to you.¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah, probably.¡± Lauren nodded. ¡°There¡¯s also just a lot less people who live there. The population is but a fraction of the amount that lives in cities like this. So I suppose there¡¯s definitely more of a connection that way. The Antarctican spirit bond as you would.¡± Her smile grew wide as she talked about her home. She must really love the place.

    -I kinda wish I could say the same about my home now¡­-

 Chapter 47.5 Bis: Commanders Seat

    Just as Lauren had predicted, the train was already waiting at the platform. It was the first time I¡¯d seen a hyper train from up close but from what I could see it didn¡¯t look very different from a normal maglev train. It just looked longer and was slightly bigger.

    ¡°Are you wondering how it works?¡± Lauren chuckled. She must¡¯ve seen me staring.

    ¡°A little bit, yes. How is this different from a maglev?¡± I just straight up asked.

    ¡°In essence the way it goes forward is the same.¡± She explained. ¡°The difference being that they put more power through it and that the tunnel it goes through is pulled vacuum in front of the train so it has way less resistance.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡± I looked further down the track and now that she said so, the doors in the distance did kind of look like airlocks. ¡°And that¡¯s the only difference?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ From my layman¡¯s perspective, yes. We might find some employee around here if we search for them. They might be able to explain better.¡±

    I looked up and behind me and still saw some busybodies stare at us. ¡°No, I¡¯m fine. I¡¯ll look it up later if I want to know.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± Lauren smiled and nodded in the direction of the front of the train. ¡°The first class wagons are that way.¡±

    I nodded back and followed her as she started walking off. It at least gave me the opportunity to look at the livery of the train a bit more. This one was covered with snowflakes, the wagons themselves gradually going from black to white and then black again. Presumably portraying the long polar nights.

    ¡°Luna, look at that one over there.¡± Lauren pulled my attention, as I looked back to her she was pointing at the train that was two platforms over.

    That train was painted in a mostly blue livery with rolling orange dunes. It was more colourful than ours but I think I still preferred the one we were going to ride. ¡°Is that one going to Egypt?¡±

    ¡°No, that one is headed towards the Southern half of Africa I think¡­ Namibia if I recall correctly.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ my knowledge of that geographical area isn¡¯t the greatest.¡±

    ¡°Gee, and here I thought that my girlfriend knew everything.¡± She chuckled. ¡°Well, no worries. This train should pass through it so you will be able to see those deserts by yourself¡­ if there¡¯s not an ongoing sandstorm.¡±

    ¡°Wait¡­ if we are going that way¡­ why does that train also go that way?¡±

    ¡°Before we reach that station it¡¯ll divert us away in a side tunnel so we don¡¯t have to stop. These train are pretty much direct. There are options to take hyper trains that stop at multiple stations, but those are a lot slower and less frequent.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that makes sense.¡±

    Lauren stopped a bit further at one of the doors that promptly opened for her as she presented her holostick. ¡°This should be it.¡± We were at the second car starting from the front. ¡°And that over there.¡± She pointed towards the first. ¡°That should be the first class restaurant car if we want to go and grab some food.¡±

    ¡°Ooooh.¡± I was actually quite looking forward to how it looked from the inside, as from what I could see through the door opening, it looked very fancy.

    We stepped in and took the first door to the right which entered into a very spacey traincar. For the seat configuration you had two luxury seats looking at one another with a rather large table in between, this was mirrored on the other side of the isle. There was plenty of space in between these sets of chairs too so you could put them completely flat and still have room to spare. And from what I could see, every set of seats could lower a barrier from the ceiling to have your own private compartment.

    As for the colour of the interior, they had chosen a light blue which worked pretty calming on the eyes.

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    ¡°Wow.¡± My amazement couldn¡¯t be contained. Luckily I wasn¡¯t bothering anyone with it as we were pretty much the only people in the entire train car, apart from a couple that sat on the complete opposite end.

    ¡°Definitely.¡± Lauren laughingly agreed with my exclamation. ¡°This is the reason why I like riding these trains so much.¡±

    ¡°And there¡¯s not going to be any more people than this?¡± I followed Lauren as she walked towards our seats. It looked like the computer system had spaced out our seats plenty far away from the other couple.

    ¡°No, probably not.¡± Lauren shook her head. ¡°This is pretty standard for the Antarctic train. at least for first class.¡±

    ¡°That can¡¯t be profitable at all, right?¡±

    ¡°These trains were not made for profit.¡± Lauren replied. ¡°Although for normal civies and business execs these first class seats do cost a heck of a lot of money.¡±

    ¡°Go us?¡±

    ¡°Pretty much.¡± Lauren nodded. ¡°That said, the second class is really affordable though and it still has plenty of luxury. I just wanted to have a little more privacy.¡±

    ¡°I understand¡­¡± With all the people eyeing her¡­ definitely a lot easier for her to get some rest in a place like this.

    Lauren took her bag from her shoulder and put it in the luggage department above. After which she turned around and looked at me. ¡°Come, give your suitcase to me.¡±

    I rolled it in front of me and sat it down at her feet. She then quickly lifted it above herself and put it in the luggage department too. For me that would definitely have been a harder lift to achieve.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that there¡¯s not an easier way for that.¡±

    ¡°Oh, there is.¡± Lauren rubbed her hands with a smile. ¡°A small lift can come out so you can just roll it in but that takes a lot longer and I wanted to show my muscles off to my girlfriend, you know how that goes, right?¡± She gave me a sly wink.

    It definitely worked its magic by making me blush. ¡°Hmmm.¡±

    Lauren chuckled and looked behind me at the clock on the digital display. ¡°The train should depart soon-ish.¡± She closed the luggage compartment and locked it by holding her holostick against it. ¡°Would you like to sit down for a bit, or would you like to go explore the restaurant car already.¡±

    ¡°I think I¡¯m fine with sitting down for a while.¡± I smiled.

    Lauren nodded with a smile and sat down in her chair. Stretching her back and her neck a little while doing so.

    I tried to not stare at her too much and did the same. The moment I sat down I could feel these seats were of the highest quality imaginable. It was as if the seat immediately changed to fit my form. Very very comfy. ¡°Oh my Goddess, I think I¡¯m going to fall asleep in these.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, I know the feeling.¡± She chuckled as she tapped on her holostick a bit more. An opaque white screen started to lower around our compartment, it looked as if it was a barrier of opaque ice, but that was probably done so to fit in the train¡¯s aesthetic. Lauren did leave the big window next to us open so we could see outside. ¡°The people outside can¡¯t see us anyway.¡± She tapped the window with her index finger. ¡°And if you want to go to bed you can turn the lights down in this compartment too and blind the window completely.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m starting to get really envious of this train.¡± I giggled.

    ¡°Hey, our ship isn¡¯t that much worse off.¡±

    ¡°I suppose not.¡± I shrugged. ¡°But these seats would definitely be a plus.¡±

    ¡°We could always manufacture a couple and put them in the cabin.¡± Lauren replied as she put her holostick down. ¡°They wouldn¡¯t fit the lounge¡¯s aesthetic though.¡±

    ¡°And what if we want to have a napping corner?¡±

    ¡°Eh.¡± This time Lauren shrugged after which we both started laughing.

    ¡°How about we stop talking about work for a while though? Not even things that are ship-related.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, I could agree with that, yes.¡± Lauren nodded and put her beret down on the table. ¡°Actually a pretty darn good plan now that I think about it.¡±

    ¡°It is, isn¡¯t it.¡± I tried to get the seat I was in to lean a bit more backwards, somehow I succeeded in doing that. ¡°I have found one design flaw in this train though?¡±

    ¡°And what¡¯s that?¡± Lauren laughed.

    ¡°You can¡¯t push these seats against one another so we can lay down together.¡±

    ¡°Well, there¡¯s a way to fix that.¡± Lauren got up from her seat. I looked at her with suspicion.

    ¡°What are you about to do? Don¡¯t break the train okay? I don¡¯t think your pass also covers those expenses.¡±

    ¡°Nothing like that.¡± She offered her hand which I accepted. The moment I did I got pulled out of my chair, got turned around and ploffed down back on it, but this time Lauren was in between me and the seat. She hugged me tight around my waist. ¡°Plenty enough room for the two of us.¡±

    I had started blushing quite heavily the moment I felt her pressed against me. Doing that in such a public space¡­ even though it¡¯s so private that noone would even notice.

    ¡°You are comfortable, right?¡± She talked softly into my ear.

    ¡°I- I guess I am, yes¡­¡± Somehow it felt even more comfortable like this than by just sitting into the seat by itself¡­. Apart from the fact that my heart is racing this fast of course.

 Chapter 48: The Restaurant Car

    The train slowly started moving from its spot at the platform towards the big steel airlocks in front of us. Luna, sitting on my lap, was incredibly intrigued as she put her face flat against the window so she could get a better view ahead of the train.

    ¡°It¡¯s so silent.¡± She commented as the train moved through the airlock and into the actual tunnel.

    ¡°It is.¡± You could only hear a very faint hushing of the wind outside and some humming of the electricity, but nothing more than that. ¡°And it¡¯ll be even quieter soon.¡± The train picked up speed, and it didn¡¯t take long at all before we were almost at the edge of the city and therefore also the second set of airlocks. The rushing of the wind had stopped, meaning we were now in the section of the tunnel where there was no air whatsoever. Strangely familiar to the shuttles back in space, although those were inherently a lot louder.

    Luna leaned back against me and put her head on my shoulder. I turned my head left just a tiny bit. ¡°Feel free to rest for a bit.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure? She asked.

    ¡°Yeah, definitely. I can wake you in a couple of hours so we can get a bit of food before we arrive. I think we should be near to the desert at that point.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡± Luna hummed. ¡°Last chance to get me to my own seat.¡±

    ¡°Nah, go ahead and sleep. I¡¯m fine.¡± I gave her a quick kiss on top of her head.

    ¡°Okay.¡± She nuzzled closer against me, and I hugged her closer to me as well.

    Fifteen minutes later, her lights were completely out. I softly chuckled and activated the entertainment system with my free hand, putting in some ear pods so the sound wouldn¡¯t disturb Luna.

    Since we¡¯d been gone for a while I was interested to know what had happened around the planet, so I zapped on to the different news channels.

    As I¡¯d expected, there was no news whatsoever regarding our recent finds during our exploration on the different media. At most, a specialized astronomy news channel would cover a couple of the stars from the star systems we¡¯d visited, together with some images we¡¯d sent back home a while ago. Although it was clear that those images had been carefully selected to be as mundane as possible, with the exception of a couple of asteroid fields with mineable materials.

    News about Earth itself was also not that ground-breaking. Mainly talking about local politics, a minor scandal here and there, and the occasional report about a reconstruction effort. Most damage from the war had been quickly fixed, but there were still some more remote cities that had been pretty much abandoned due to collapsed infrastructure. These were not a priority to get fixed, but since the population forecasts had kind of boomed after the war, some of these cities were at least getting a basic refit. Just to make sure homelessness wouldn¡¯t reemerge as an issue in the near future. In that light, a colonization effort was also advantageous, but it remained to be seen if that would be a real possibility.

    From the military buildup in space, however, it could be assumed that the United Federation at least would want to seize the couple of assets we¡¯d disclosed to them rather quickly.

    But yes, in general, there was not really much noteworthy news on our little blue planet. And the local news for my home region was not much different from normal either. They had been doing a little biography section on me though, which was relatively funny. Mostly about what I had studied.

    After I had browsed the news, I put on a bit of music and just relaxed with Luna resting on my chest. An hour into the train ride, we passed through Gibraltar and into the African region through an underwater tunnel. I debated if I should wake Luna up for this, but I think a freighter had just moved through the area which kicked up too much sand to get a nice view.

    As we were nearing the halfway mark of our journey, however, I did wake up my girlfriend, so we could get some food and so she could see the beautiful Namibian deserts. We got kind of lucky as we would be passing through right before the sun would set.

    ¡°Luna.¡± I wiggled a little to gently wake her up.

    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡±

    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°C¡¯mon, sleepyhead, wake up. There¡¯s a nice view coming up.¡± I traced my finger over her cheek.

    She giggled softly. ¡°Lauren, stop, that tickles.¡± She took my hand and with her other rubbed her eyes.

    ¡°Hehe.¡± I gave her a quick kiss. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the restaurant car, the view from there should be even better.¡±

    ¡°Just a second.¡± She replied. ¡°I haven¡¯t really woken up yet.¡±

    I helped her off my lap, after which she stretched. ¡°You are a lot more comfy than you might imagine.¡±

    ¡°Haha.¡± I laughed. As for my body, even though Luna had been sleeping on me for pretty much two hours, I didn¡¯t really feel it, so I quickly got on my two feet myself. But a little stretching always feels nice after having sat down for a while.

    Luna waited for me to finish and fixed her uniform up in the meantime.

    ¡°Hey, I didn¡¯t ask, but do you have suitable clothing for Antarctica? It¡¯s going to be early autumn there so it¡¯s going to be rather chilly.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ I don¡¯t think I have.¡± She looked up at the luggage compartment.

    ¡°Alright. Then I¡¯ll take out one of my own jackets for you before the train stops.¡± I nodded. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t want you to go cold.¡±

    Luna blushed and nodded ¡°Okay¡­¡±

    I smiled. The jacket was going to be pretty oversized for her, but that¡¯s also going to be a ridiculously cute sight to behold.

    Instead of continuing imagining future sights I¡¯ll behold, I put my beret back on my head and removed the privacy screen. When Luna and I were out of the compartment, I locked it back up behind me.

    ¡°It¡¯s that way.¡± I nodded towards the front of the car.

    ¡°I remember.¡± Luna started walking towards the front of the train

    When we passed by the other couple that was in our car, the guy gave us a nod. They weren¡¯t using the privacy screen, but why would they, apart from us, they were the only ones here and we had been using it so far. ¡°Thank you for your service.¡± The man said.

    The woman that was sitting with us also gave us a friendly smile.

    Both Luna and I gave them a friendly nod and walked on towards the door.

    When we got through, Luna waited for me to take the lead. ¡°Do you think they know who you were?¡± She asked as I walked by.

    ¡°Probably.¡± I admitted. ¡°It¡¯s not terribly hard to make an educated guess.¡±

    We walked through the interspace into the restaurant wagon. This wagon had a lot more glass than the passenger car we were in, mostly to give people a better view of the surrounding area. It still wasn¡¯t on the same level as some of the dome cars you could find on the more scenic routes, but it was definitely impressive enough to make Luna look around like a kid in a candy store.

    Apart from us, there were again only two more people in this car, this time being the cashier and the actual chef of the restaurant car.

    ¡°Good evening, can I help you?¡± The lady behind the counter asked with a friendly smile.

    ¡°Yes, thank you.¡± I nodded. ¡°We would like to eat something and get something to drink as well.¡±

    The lady opened her little interface in front of her. ¡°What would you like to eat?¡± She asked.

    ¡°Hmm, I think I will take the sushi and sashimi platter.¡± I replied.

    ¡°Alright, and the other lady?¡± She smiled.

    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Luna looked around. ¡°Uhm¡­ what do you have?¡±

    The lady behind the counter tapped on something and a new interface appeared above the counter itself with a list of dishes. ¡°Is this your first time traveling with us?¡±

    ¡°It is.¡± I replied in her stead.

    ¡°I hope you¡¯ve been enjoying your travel so far.¡± She talked to Luna.

    ¡°Oh, yeah! Definitely!¡± Luna then continued to look at the list for a bit longer. But the lady gave her plenty of time, just patiently waiting for her to choose. ¡°There¡¯s so much to pick from.¡±

    I leaned in towards Luna. ¡°You can always ask the chef to ask what she recommends.¡±

    The chef who was standing nearby walked a bit closer and tapped the UI from the other side of the counter. It popped up an image of some kind of croquette. It definitely pulled Luna¡¯s attention.

    ¡°This would be my personal specialty. They are croquettes with scampi diabolique. It¡¯s a spicy tomato sauce with shrimp inside of a croquette. If you prefer, I can also make this in its normal form, without the croquette.¡±

    ¡°That does look very tasty.¡± Luna smiled, not taking her eyes off the image. ¡°Yes, I think I would very much like to try that.¡±

    The chef smiled and closed the picture. With it, the entire UI disappeared. ¡°I¡¯ll go to work immediately. It¡¯ll take about ten minutes for me to finish.¡± She then went off to the kitchen and started getting ingredients out of her fridge.

    The lady behind the counter then spoke to me. ¡°You can sit wherever you like. I¡¯ll be bringing your food to your table.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡± I then looked at Luna. ¡°What table do you want to sit at?¡±

    She pointed to the one in the center of the cart, right next to the window. ¡°Will that one do?¡±

    I started walking over. ¡°Do you even need to ask?¡± I smiled.

    ¡°Hehe.¡± Luna followed me and sat down opposite me. I¡¯d left her the seat that could see in the direction the train was headed. That way, she would get the best possible experience.

 Chapter 48 Bis: Dessert After Desert

    ¡°Here you go, ladies. Have a nice meal!¡± The nice lady from behind the counter set our food down in front of us. The croquettes were looking delicious, but so was Lauren¡¯s sushi. It seemed very fresh.

    ¡°Thank you very much.¡± Both of us replied.

    ¡°If you need anything else, feel free to call me over.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t forget to look up from your plate once in a while. We¡¯ll be passing through the desert soon.¡± Lauren tapped the window with a smile after the lady had left. Right now we were heading through some city I didn¡¯t know.

    ¡°I will! Don¡¯t worry.¡± I cut into my croquette and once I did, the aroma of the scampi diabolique hit me with full force. It smelled so good, rather spicy, but still very good.

    ¡°Bon app¨¦tit.¡± Lauren winked and used her chopsticks to put some sashimi in her mouth. She softly groaned in pleasure and leant back in her seat. ¡°Holy¡­ that stuff hits so differently when it gets made fresh.¡±

    ¡°Everything does seem more intense on the surface, doesn¡¯t it?¡± I took the first bite of my croquette and the rich tomato and scampi flavor just burst into my mouth.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s because of the ingredients. You just can¡¯t beat fresh stuff with the fabricated ingredients we get on-board.¡± Lauren took another bite and had almost the same reaction as before.

    Meanwhile, the train had zoomed into the suburbs of the megalopolis we were passing through. The desert would probably pop up really soon.

    ¡°Maybe we should grow our food on board of the ship too.¡± I took yet another bite. I really need to slow down to savor the experience more, but it was just so good.

    ¡°Sadly, our ship is a little bit too small for that.¡± Lauren laughed and wiped her mouth with a serviette, calling that fancy piece of cloth a napkin would do a disservice to it. ¡°But I can imagine that luxury space cruises in the future might have those kinds of facilities.¡±

    ¡°Oh, like the huge ones from that movie we watched!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, exactly.¡± She chuckled. ¡°That¡¯s indeed what I was thinking about. But sadly, us military gals will have to deal with the synthetic stuff. It¡¯s still rather good, though.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not saying it isn¡¯t. But even the hamburger back at the terminal was just on another level.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ I think that might have been your hunger more than the ingredients, because I¡¯m pretty sure those burger patties were synthesized too.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Just at that time, the train zoomed by a wall that marked the current end of the megalopolis¡¯ suburbs and into the wide open area beyond. We could finally see it, the desert that had been depicted so nicely on the train we¡¯d seen before. The sun, that was just about to set, gave the red sand an even redder glow. The skies above blue as far as you could see. Just like the food we¡¯d been discussing, the real deal outclassed the painting by so much that I temporarily stopped eating to admire the view.

    ¡°Have you walked through a desert like that?¡± I asked Lauren.

    ¡°No, not really. I can¡¯t handle desert heats as well as most. And back during the war the fighting practically skipped over areas like these so I wasn¡¯t stationed in one of these places either.¡±

    ¡°So you never want to visit it? Get your boots in the sand.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ if you would want to visit, I¡¯d definitely go with you. But I¡¯d probably take a water cooled undersuit with me.¡± She laughed. But what she had said, I found very romantic. Even though she didn¡¯t like the place, she would come with me, just for me. It made me blush a little.

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    While the view of the desert was beautiful and stunning, it was also very short. With the speed the train was traveling at, it only took us ten minutes or so for the train to pass into the next walled off section of suburbs and into the next city. Although that did give me the opportunity to once more concentrate on the amazing food in front of me.

    ¡°Will we pass by any more stunning sights?¡± I asked while I scooped up the last of my scampi diabolique croquette on my fork together with the last pieces of salad that remained on my plate.

    ¡°Soon we will get on the bridge that spans the gap between the southern tip of Africa and the Antarctic region. While an impressive feat of engineering, in my opinion it¡¯s also relatively boring to look at.¡± Lauren commented, she¡¯d already finished her plate. ¡°Especially in the dark there¡¯s not much to see.¡±

    ¡°Awh, that¡¯s a shame¡­¡± I wouldn¡¯t have minded more sights to be seen.

    ¡°If we are really lucky we might get to see some aurora australis though.¡±

    ¡°Oh! The Southern lights! I¡¯ve read about those.¡±

    ¡°Pictures really don¡¯t do them justice.¡± Lauren smiled. ¡°Videos are a bit better, but nothing beats seeing them for yourself.¡±

    ¡°I suppose you¡¯ve seen plenty of them?¡±

    ¡°Yep. And let me tell you, it doesn¡¯t get less impressive, at all.¡±

    ¡°You are making me jealous already.¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m pretty sure we will see them at least once while we are in Antarctica, it''s just a matter of time. Worst case scenario, you¡¯ll just need to be patient.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡± I nodded happily.

    I finally cleared my plate and not soon after that the lady from behind the counter came by our table to collect the plates. ¡°Would you like to have a dessert?¡± She asked, putting the plates handily on her arm.

    ¡°Any recommendations?¡± Lauren asked, folding her hands on the table.

    ¡°The chef would like to recommend the apfelstrudel with vanilla sauce.¡± She replied.

    ¡°I¡¯ll have that then.¡± Lauren then looked at me. ¡°It¡¯s a good dish.¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll have that one as well!¡± I replied enthusiastically.

    ¡°Would you like to have some whipped cream with that?¡±

    ¡°Maybe on a little dish on the side.¡± Lauren nodded.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll be bringing it to you in a couple of minutes.¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡± Lauren smiled and the lady walked off. ¡°It¡¯s a great dish to warm you up in the cold.¡±

    ¡°Then we will need to eat it again later today too?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps.¡± Lauren chuckled. ¡°You can sit by the fireplace at my house though, so you can warm up that way too?¡±

    ¡°You still have a fireplace?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Lauren nodded. ¡°Many of us in the Antarctic region do. It¡¯s more cozy than central heating is and it helps with the emotional balance in the winter months.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I read there was a law against them? I¡¯m pretty sure I did. I looked it up after we saw the movie about the little robot.¡±

    ¡°Ah, there are. But there are exceptions for those who have a top of the line filtration system. They are expensive, so you don¡¯t see them a lot outside of the Antarctic and North Pole region. But especially our local government has decided to subsidize them to keep mental health up. In the matter of fact, studies have shown that the expense falls to nothing compared to the societal gains.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s very interesting.¡±

    ¡°It is.¡± Lauren agreed. ¡°The area we live in requires some creative problem-solving. That¡¯s just one of the many things that have been introduced.¡±

    Once the train zoomed past a split in the tunnel when we crossed into the center of the city, the lady finally returned with two plates filled with our dessert. The scent of vanilla and apples was so strong as she put the plate down in front of me. A brown crusted pastry with white powdered sugar sprinkled on top as if it had been snowed on top of it. A bit of light yellow vanilla sauce draped on top of it like a little blanket. On the plate itself was another silver container with even more vanilla sauce, for if you wanted to drown out the entire pastry in its rich flavor. The lady also put down a silver pot in between us with a spoon stuck in rich looking whipped cream, clearly home-made.

    ¡°Wow, that looks delicious. Thank you.¡± Lauren smiled and nodded to the waitress.

    ¡°Enjoy your food, ladies.¡± The lady smiled back and bowed a little, after which she disappeared again.

    ¡°Time to dig in.¡± Lauren rubbed her hands before picking up her knife and fork once more, as if they were tools for war. There was one apfelstrudel that definitely wouldn¡¯t make it till sunrise.

    I did the same and decided to try my taste buds on this veritable painting of food in front of my nose, and damn¡­ was it worth it. The flavours that shot through me of warm apples, a delicious pastry and the intense vanilla¡­ it filled me with joy. I almost felt like I was getting high on medicine, as the taste was so overwhelmingly delectable. Then, a pang of fear flashed through my mind¡­ what if¡­ because of this¡­ I just wouldn¡¯t be able to enjoy any foods anymore¡­ That¡¯d be a disaster!!

 Chapter 49: Aurora Australis

    I could honestly watch Luna enjoy food all day long and not get bored by how cute she looked. Her facial expressions were just marvelous and it made me smile like one hell of a lesbian fool. Sadly for me, and for her, the food in front of her could not last an entire day without being eaten up to its last crumb.

    ¡°You enjoyed that one a lot, didn¡¯t you?¡± I chuckled.

    ¡°Could you tell?¡±

    ¡°No, it was just a hunch.¡± I smirked to which Luna pouted. What a cutie.

    I finished my apfelstrudel too and after I was done the server came back to collect our plates. ¡°I hope you had a nice meal.¡± She smiled.

    ¡°We did, compliments to the chef.¡± Luna replied.

    ¡°We would like to order a drink, and while we are at it, we¡¯d like to give a drink to you and your chef as well.¡± I said with a nod.

    ¡°You really don¡¯t have to, madam.¡± She smiled politely back at me.

    ¡°I know I don¡¯t, but I want to anyway.¡± I chuckled once more. ¡°It¡¯s to thank you both for the great service.¡±

    ¡°Thank you so much.¡± She gave me a light bow.

    ¡°You can pick anything off the menu, you don¡¯t need to look at the price.¡± I continued. ¡°But please don¡¯t pick the cheapest thing on it either because you feel obliged to. That would disappoint me.¡± I was kidding of course, which I confirmed to her with a wink. But they had been providing a great service to me and my girlfriend and I think that should be rewarded. It¡¯s not like these train staff were paid badly, but I just like to show my appreciation. ¡°As for me, I¡¯ll just take your homemade orange soda please.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take the homemade lemonade.¡± Luna added.

    ¡°That will be coming right up, and thank you again.¡± She bowed once more and then walked off to the counter where she started to hold a conversation with the chef.

    ¡°Was that part about the disappointment necessary?¡± Luna asked quietly, leaning over the table a little bit.

    ¡°I just wanted them to accept my kindness by force.¡± I whispered back with a grin. ¡°I really don¡¯t want them to hold back just because it¡¯s on my tab, you know. It¡¯d be somewhat of a shame if they just used the opportunity to get some tap water.¡±

    ¡°There was tap water on the menu?¡±

    ¡°No, because it''s free, but I meant it figuratively.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    By the time Luna had leant back the lady had returned with both of our drinks. ¡°The chef would like to thank you for the drink.¡± She said as she nodded to the left, over her shoulder. Behind her I could see the chef raising a champagne glass to us, filled with a bubbly purple drink. She mouthed ¡®thank you to us¡¯ and toasted. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s non-alcoholic.¡±

    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t hold back for me. This must be your final trip of the day, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± She nodded. ¡°We¡¯ll get switched out once we reach the terminal. But that doesn¡¯t mean we can drink alcohol on company time.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I guess that¡¯s understandable.¡± I nodded.

    ¡°What did you pick, if I may ask.¡± Luna looked up curiously.

    The waitress chuckled and nervously scratched behind her ear. ¡°Some Japanese beer. It¡¯s my favorite brand¡­¡± She blushed a little when she said so.

    ¡°Is that also alcohol-free?¡±

    ¡°No¡­. I¡¯m keeping it till after my shift¡­¡± She blushed even more.

    I laughed. ¡°Well, I hope you¡¯ll enjoy it.¡±

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    ¡°I definitely will.¡± She nodded. ¡°If you need me again, just raise your hand and I¡¯ll come over.¡± She skedaddled with a smile and got behind the counter again.

    ¡°I have the feeling she¡¯s a rather fun person to go to a bar with.¡± I commented, quickly followed by a kick to my shin and a pouty Luna in my face. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t worry, she¡¯s not my type. Only you are.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm.¡± Luna kept pouting while a blush crept up her cheeks. She tried to hide it by drinking some of her lemonade, but it wasn¡¯t working.

    After a while of just being silent and looking outside the window at the water we were now crossing, Luna looked back at me. ¡°Can we sit here the entire trip and just relax with a drink?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t see why not.¡± I shrugged. ¡°The two behind the bar would probably not mind. We just need to go back five minutes before we reach the station, just so we can get out swiftly to catch the next train to my hometown.¡±

    ¡°Oh, alright¡­ then I think I prefer staying here till then.¡±

    I leant in and whispered. ¡°Even though that means we can¡¯t cuddle as intimately?¡±

    Luna blushed and her pout reappeared real fast. ¡°Myeah¡­ I just like the view here¡­ Even though it¡¯s just water for the moment. It¡¯s still something I haven¡¯t seen often¡­. Besides¡­¡± She lowered her voice as well. ¡°We can cuddle as much as we want once we get to your place.¡±

    ¡°Hehe, then we¡¯ll stay here, I don¡¯t mind either.¡± I lifted my glass to my lips and took a swig. This homemade stuff was really good.

    Albeit, I almost choked on it as in the distance I could see the signs of what I had said earlier, would be very improbable she¡¯d see on the train¡­ The Aurora Australis. The sciencey light show up in the night sky, provided to us by our good old sun.

    ¡°Luna!¡±

    Luna was already staring outside of the window. Her eyes sparkling. ¡°I see it¡­ It¡¯s beautiful. How long does it last?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ Between fifteen to thirty minutes usually, but it can last longer too.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d love to see it while being outside¡­¡±

    ¡°Do you want us to turn the lights down?¡± The chef called out to us from behind the counter. ¡°We are not supposed to do that but since you are the only two here.¡±

    It would be more impressive¡­ that¡¯s true¡­

    I thought it through for a second but before I had an answer ready the other lady chipped in as well.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure the company won¡¯t mind.¡± She gave me a smile.

    ¡°Then I¡¯d like to take you up on your offer.¡±

    I had only just said it and the chef pressed something below the counter, dimming the lights in the wagon, making it pretty dark inside. Only the emergency lighting on the floor still worked but that really didn¡¯t disturb at all.

    The dimming of the lights gave us the intended effect. The reflections from inside the car disappeared and it made the lights outside look even brighter.

    ¡°Woah!¡± Luna gasped. She was pretty much glued to the window.

    ¡°It¡¯s amazing isn¡¯t it?¡± I looked outside as well. ¡°When I was a child I oftentimes ran out of the house and into the garden, just to stare up at this spectacle. Sometimes I¡¯d even run out without a coat. My mom really didn¡¯t like that.¡±

    ¡°Little Lauren sounded like a handful.¡± Luna giggled.

    ¡°I was. But I wasn¡¯t going to let the cold stop me from getting a good look at these. They are just so wonderful. And they really don¡¯t lose their magic, even after all these years.¡±

    ¡°I can definitely believe that.¡±

    We continued gazing outside for about half an hour. That''s when the aurora slowly started to fade away. It was sad to see it go but it had been a relatively long one and we¡¯d definitely see more of them during our stay. We were about to start running through cities and villages anyway so there would be a bit more light pollution. Not to forget that hitting land meant that we¡¯d only have a twenty minute ride left to the terminus.

    Our two amazing caretakers flipped the lights back on. ¡°Would you like to have one last drink?¡± The server asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine. What about you, Luna?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine as well. Thank you.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± She got back to her business.

    ¡°How about we already go and pick you a nice warm jacket from my bag? That way we can take our time.¡± I proposed.

    ¡°Sounds good to me.¡± Luna yawned.

    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t get too tired, we¡¯re not home yet.¡± I chuckled.

    ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s been quite the day and my nap didn¡¯t help that much.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm. I understand.¡± While I wouldn¡¯t say I was tired, I could definitely feel the events of the day starting to press down upon me. With Luna in my bed this night, I¡¯d sleep like a log¡­ As long as Luna wanted that too of course.

    I got up from my seat with Luna swiftly following behind me. We carried our empty glasses to the counter where I paid our bills. The food was mostly included with the ticket prices so it was really cheap and the drinks didn¡¯t break the bank either.

    ¡°Thank you for the service, it was really lovely.¡±

    ¡°No problem at all.¡± Both the chef and the waitress replied in choir.

    ¡°We hope to see you again.¡± The waitress continued by herself.

    Luna and I walked on and headed back towards our seats in the next car over. While it would be nice to have these people serving us again. I did hope it would not be that soon. I think having some time off from traveling wouldn¡¯t hurt. It meant more relaxation time with the girlfriend after all.

 Chapter 49 Bis: A Heros Welcome

    When Lauren had said it would be cold outside, I had imagined things, but reality¡­ proved to be a hell of a lot colder. I¡¯m so happy that she had draped one of her large military winter jackets over me, but even still, when we stepped out of the train and into the Antarctic cold¡­ it sent shivers straight down my spine. So much so that I just stopped in front of Lauren for a second.

    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ll definitely need to go and buy you some thermal underwear.¡± Lauren chuckled, herself dressed in a winter jacket too. I don¡¯t know if I was allowed to wear a jacket with a Commander¡¯s stripes on them, but right now I didn¡¯t care. ¡°You do look really cute in my jacket, though.¡± She teased me.

    ¡°Lauren¡­ could you keep the teasing for later¡­ I¡¯m freezing to death.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± She laid her arm around me and pulled me close. That helped against the cold, it definitely did. And she swung her bag over her other shoulder. Like this it was just a tiny bit harder to pull along my own luggage though.

    ¡°Why is this train station in the open air?¡± I asked.

    ¡°It isn¡¯t.¡± Lauren replied, a slight chuckle in her voice. ¡°It¡¯s just not heated that much because¡­ Well¡­ I don¡¯t know why, actually¡­ Now that you say it, I do remember this part of the train station to be heated last time I was here.¡± She looked around for a second. ¡°Ah.¡± Lauren pointed at a crew in fluorescent yellow jackets who were tinkering on some kind of pylon. ¡°Heating must be down for maintenance.¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­ sure¡­¡± I replied, shivering while doing so. ¡°But if this is the inside¡­ does that mean it¡¯s even colder outside?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ probably.¡± Lauren nodded at me with a grimace. ¡°Let¡¯s quickly head over to the next local train platform and get you in a nice warm train¡­ Unless you want to explore the Antarctic Region¡¯s capital for a bit? Frostbite is quite beautiful this time of year.¡±

    ¡°The skin condition?¡±

    ¡°No, that¡¯s the capital¡¯s name. They wanted a neutral name and it was quite fitting.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ no¡­ I¡¯d prefer to take the first option before I actually develop it¡­¡±

    ¡°A fair and wise decision, girlfriend of mine.¡± Lauren chuckled and tugged my semi-frozen butt towards the local hover train platforms. Luckily for me, the hover train was also already waiting in the station.

    This train was quite a bit busier than the last one we were on. Especially the second class cars we were passing through to get to the first class cars in the middle of the train. It¡¯s not like they were full, but for every 4-seat compartment, there was at least one passenger.

    What I also noticed when we were walking through the cars was how a lot of people turned to Lauren and I as we walked through, as before it was mainly Lauren who pulled the attention. However, this time it did feel rather different. Instead of the stares we¡¯d gotten earlier together with the whispers, most people gave her a respectful nod and then went on with their business. Lauren had said the experience was going to be different, but I didn¡¯t expect it to be that blatant.

    When we moved through the last second class car we had to move through, about halfway through a little girl, about eleven years old if I had to guess, suddenly darted in front of Lauren. As I looked over, I saw she was part of a family of three. A mother and her sister still seated in their compartment.

    ¡°A-are you Commander Davis?¡± The little girl asked.

    ¡°Cait, please don¡¯t bother the nice ladies.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± Lauren smiled and got on her knee so she could get to the same height as the little girl. ¡°I am. And who might you be?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Cait!¡± The little girl enthusiastically replied. ¡°Cait Summersworth!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a nice name.¡± Lauren said, holding out the palm of her ungloved hand.

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    The little girl put her hand in hers and Lauren gently squeezed her tight, keeping up her friendly smile. ¡°Could I have a picture with you?¡± Little Cait asked.

    ¡°Definitely.¡± Lauren didn¡¯t waste a second to accept her request. She then looked at the mother. ¡°Does she have a holostick?¡±

    ¡°Ah, she does, she does!¡± The mother quickly scrambled to take a holostick out of her purse. ¡°Thank you so much for doing this, she¡¯s been a big fan of you. She has a poster of you on her wall in her bedroom. She loves looking at it when she¡¯s had a rough time at school.¡±

    ¡°I hope it¡¯s one of the more flattering ones.¡± Lauren chuckled.

    ¡°You look very cool in it!¡± The little girl quickly replied.

    Lauren chuckled once more and looked at the girl¡¯s sister, she was occasionally glancing over to Lauren but didn¡¯t look too enthusiastic to come over. ¡°Do you want to be in the picture too?¡±

    ¡°Come Lainie!¡± Cait called out to her sister.

    The mom put her hand on the other girl¡¯s lap and seemingly gave it a gentle squeeze. ¡°Come one, otherwise you might regret it.¡±

    Lainie got a bit shy and looked away into the window.

    ¡°Sorry, she¡¯s a bit shy, but it¡¯s fair to say she also admires you.¡± The mom explained.

    ¡°Lainie?¡± Lauren softly called out to the girl. ¡°Come say hi, I don¡¯t mind.¡±

    ¡°Lauren doesn¡¯t bite.¡± I added along with that. ¡°Unless it¡¯s food, she does like eating a lot.¡±

    Lauren¡¯s encouragement and my little joke seemed to help, as the little girl against the window giggled a little and then slowly started moving over until she was in the aisle together with her sister.

    ¡°Alright, mom, could you take a picture of us?¡± Lauren asked the mother, who was already making her way towards the aisle as well. ¡°Do you mind if my friend here is in the picture too?¡± She then asked the girls, obviously talking about me.

    ¡°No, that¡¯s okay!¡± Cait replied.

    ¡°I won¡¯t promise that she won¡¯t be making a silly pose, though.¡±

    The two girls both giggled at Lauren¡¯s joke, denying me the option to opt out of the photograph, not that I minded at all. Seeing Lauren being this good with children made me feel very at ease, too.

    ¡°Say cheese!¡± Lauren showed a big smile and held both girls to either side of her. I decided to just duck down a little, smile and give them a v-pose that I saw on a lot of pictures during my research.

    As for the girls, they were laughing and having a great time. ¡°Cheese!¡± They both replied.

    ¡°There you go.¡± Lauren said, while the mother turned the holostick to us to see. The picture looked crisp and the kids looked very happy with it.

    ¡°I will put this picture on our night stand!¡± Cait nodded happily with a big smile.

    ¡°Yay!¡± Lainie hopped a little hop.

    ¡°Thank you for giving them this opportunity.¡± The mother called her children back to her, which they quickly did. Sitting down in their little compartment once more.

    ¡°It was absolutely no issue whatsoever.¡± Lauren got up without any issue. ¡°You two be good to your mom, okay?¡± She talked to the girls.

    ¡°We will!¡± They both replied.

    ¡°Good. That¡¯s what I like to hear.¡± She gave them a slow salute accompanied by a wink. The two little girls clumsily followed her lead with trying to salute and then they started giggling again.

    ¡°Bye bye!¡± I waved the little girls goodbye as well, which they returned with youthful pleasure.

    Lauren and I then calmly made our way towards the next car. In the meantime, the train had already started moving. It was definitely more noisy than the hyper train, even though it was also a lot slower.

    First class was calmer than second class was, with only three other compartments being occupied. Once Lauren and I sat down, she opened her jacket. I decided to keep it closed as I still wasn¡¯t completely warmed up yet.

    ¡°You are pretty good with children.¡± I commented after a couple of seconds.

    ¡°Is that so surprising?¡± Lauren chuckled.

    ¡°Well¡­ maybe a little.¡±

    Lauren smiled. ¡°I guess I see what you are coming from. Being a soldier and all that. Doesn¡¯t really lend itself to a child-friendly status, does it?¡±

    I nodded.

    ¡°But I really don¡¯t have many issues with kids, especially not if they are as friendly as those two.¡±

    ¡°Those were nice kids, that¡¯s true.¡± I nodded once more.

    ¡°Especially when you are someone¡¯s hero, even though you didn¡¯t really choose to be, you need to keep in mind what kind of an influential position you hold. They will probably remember meeting me for the rest of their lives, or at least a big part of it. I would way rather have them have a friendly role-model.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm. I understand. If you ask me, I¡¯d say you are a pretty great role-model.¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡± Lauren smiled. ¡°I do try my best. And I¡¯m trying even better now that I have you by my side.¡± That smile had turned into a smirk halfway through that sentence.

    I blushed and broke eye contact with her by looking out the window. -Maybe warming up was easier than I had imagined¡­-

 Chapter 50: Home Cold Home

    The train came to a halt in my hometown of Farncombe, the little train station lay deserted as I exited in front of my already shivering girlfriend.

    ¡°D-d-d-do we need to walk far?¡± Luna asked with a cold stutter.

    ¡°Not that far.¡± I chuckled and brought her close to me. We were the only ones who got off the train. Its doors had already closed and with a hum it started to glide off again into the dark. When it was gone, only the soft buzzing of the station lighting kept us company. I took my girlfriend into a half embrace so she was at least a tiny bit covered from the wind, and started walking off the platform into the snow covered streets.

    While the snow crunched under our feet, I looked at the houses nearby. Some of them still had lights softly shining through the windows, but most had already dimmed their lights for a good night¡¯s sleep.

    ¡°It¡¯s your first time walking through snow, isn¡¯t it?¡± I asked, trying to keep Luna¡¯s thoughts occupied and not merely focussed on the cold. Although a subject not related to snow might have been better in retrospect.

    ¡°It is.¡± She nodded. ¡°If it weren¡¯t that cold, I¡¯d probably be enjoying the experience.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll be a lot happier when we buy you some thermal underwear. In the meantime, I probably have some spares you can use.¡±

    ¡°You are a lot better¡­. uhh¡­ more endowed than me though¡­¡± She started blushing.

    Her comment just straight up made me laugh out loud. ¡°That¡¯s definitely a way of saying that. But it¡¯s quite elastic so it¡¯s not going to be that bad.¡±

    ¡°And it¡¯s going to help a lot?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s like the difference between night and day. Even a jacket that would fit your size would already benefit you.¡± I nodded. In the meantime, we¡¯d reached the pedestrian crossroads. I guided her towards the path that went uphill.

    Our conversation went a bit quiet though. I was just looking around the place to see if anything had changed, but since it was dark and I hadn¡¯t been gone for too long, it didn¡¯t really look like it. I could see they had finally installed the snow cycling infrastructure they had been working on last year, but that was about it when it came to changes. And that only really caught my eyes because of the cool projection they used to mark the cycle lanes with.

    ¡°Lauren?¡± Luna looked up at me.

    ¡°Mhmm?¡±

    ¡°This might be an awkward question¡­ but are there restaurants in this city too?¡±

    ¡°Are you already hungry? You ate quite a lot, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not hungry.¡± She pouted. ¡°I was just wondering¡­¡±

    ¡°Of course there are.¡± I took used my arm that was around her to quickly point into a side street in front of us and to the right. ¡°If you walk in that little street over there, you get this amazing little pizza restaurant. Very cozy. Still works with a charcoal oven. Best pizzas on the entire continent. No doubt about it.¡±

    ¡°Charcoal?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, he is licensed too. But if you¡¯ve never eaten a classic oven baked pizza before. It¡¯s going to open your eyes.¡±

    ¡°That sounds nice¡­¡± Luna kept staring into the direction of the street I had pointed to. ¡°Any others?¡± That was probably Luna¡¯s way of putting the cold out of her mind, and it probably was a better attempt than mine, although maybe the blushing helped a tiny bit.

    I gave her practically the entire culinary guide to Farncombe as we ascended the last stretch of street to the place where my house was situated.

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    I stopped in front of the snowy walkway that lead to my house, but Luna almost kept walking. ¡°We are here.¡± I laughed and spread my arms out towards my abode.

    ¡°Oh wow, that¡¯s a rather big house, isn¡¯t it?¡± Luna doubled back the two meters she¡¯d walked on and looked around at the other houses nearby. It¡¯s true that it definitely was a rather big house compared to the others around. Not that the others were small, but a family of five could quite easily live here. ¡°And it looks modern, too.¡±

    I smiled. ¡°I renovated my parent¡¯s house after the war. There was not much left standing so it¡¯s debatable if you could even call it a renovation. I did try to keep it in its original configuration, though. The other plots around this one were mostly resized for smaller families.¡± I took Luna¡¯s luggage off her and rolled it towards the front door.

    ¡°Oh.¡± Luna didn¡¯t really say anything apart from that for a while until I took out my holostick to open the door for us. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you rather have sold it?¡±

    I shook my head as the door clicked. I did need to open the door myself, though, automatic sliding doors weren¡¯t that common here. ¡°I wanted to keep the memory alive. I¡¯ve had very good times here, and it would have saddened me more to sell it.¡± I replied and let Luna get in in front of me. ¡°You can turn the lights on with that switch over there.¡± I nodded towards the wall to the right.

    Luna pressed the wall¡¯s light switch and the gentle orangey light popped on. There was just this tiny layer of dust visible on flat surfaces I could see.

    ¡°Ah, damn, the auto duster must have broken.¡± I closed the door behind me and put the luggage against the wall next to the staircase.

    ¡°It¡¯s not very warm in here either¡­¡± Luna looked around and stopped to gaze at the modernist painting I¡¯d hung up to fill up the bordeaux living room wall.

    ¡°Right, let me light up the stove real fast.¡± I took my boots off and huddled over to the fireplace, grabbing a couple of logs. The floor was ice-cold. ¡°Give access to Luna Moore¡¯s holostick please.¡± A beep in my pocket confirmed the order to my home system. ¡°Luna, you should be able to use your holostick now to start up the central heating. It will take a while to warm up since it¡¯s been offline for so long, though. Probably needs to defrost itself a little first.¡±

    ¡°Ah, uh ok.¡± Luna got out her holostick while I continued trying to get us to heat the old-fashioned way. I had let the chimney be cleaned before I left so it should still be more than fine.

    Once I got a flame going and it seemed like the fire would last, I turned back around to my girlfriend, she was still messing with the tablet. ¡°Is it working?¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ No?¡± She tapped the screen a couple of times. ¡°It doesn¡¯t want to do anything. This is the button, right?¡± She showed the holostick to me. The heater did in fact not appear to want to work, the little warning triangle on the bottom right telling me why.

    ¡°Fuck, looks like I¡¯ll need to manually defrost it.¡± I gave the holostick back to Luna.

    ¡°What does that mean?¡±

    ¡°That means I¡¯ll need to go and give something a big whack with a big hammer.¡± I closed the door to the fireplace, the fire was already starting to heat up the surrounding area considerably.

    ¡°You need to go outside for that?¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± I nodded. ¡°I could do it tomorrow, but we won¡¯t be able to use the bedroom very comfortably if I don¡¯t do it now. The fireplace will easily heat up this room because this house is plenty well isolated. But heating up the upstairs will be a stretch on this alone.¡±

    Luna looked over to the big sofa in the living room. ¡°If you have blankets¡­ this looks more than comfortable enough.¡±

    ¡°I do.¡± I headed over to the cabinet that was standing just beneath the big-screen television. Taking out a couple of thick warm blankets. We¡¯d have enough pillows on the sofa so we didn¡¯t have to use blankets for that. That¡¯s also when I saw the station of the auto duster. It was empty. ¡°I wonder where that thing flew off to¡­¡± It went on a mission and never came back, the brave little trooper it was. At least I could go and find it tomorrow and try to fix it by myself. It shouldn¡¯t be too hard and if it was, I pretty much had a genius with me now who could provide at least theoretical tech support.

    Luna took off her boots too and as the area next to the heater was already comfortably warm, she took off her jacket as well. I decided to follow suit.

    I dusted off the dust from the sofa with my gloved hand, most of my cleaning stuff was hidden away in the storage cabinet on the second floor and I wasn¡¯t anymore in the mood to go and get it. Luckily for me, the sofa itself wasn¡¯t that dusty.

    My girlfriend sat down and leant back, patting the seat of the sofa next to her. ¡°Come, sit down a bit.¡± She smiled.

    ¡°Don¡¯t mind if I do.¡± I practically launched myself towards her with my blankets in hand and embraced her with my free arm.

    She giggled and took my beret, throwing it a bit further on the sofa instead. She then started kissing my cheek as I spread one of the blankets over us. ¡°I¡¯ve wanted to make out with you all day long.¡±

    ¡°Permission granted.¡± The other blanket fell on the floor as I pushed Luna down against the sofa.

 Chapter 50 Bis: A Blissful Awakening

    I needed to only hint at something, and Lauren gave it to me¡­ After I had enticed her into kissing me on the sofa, she had not stopped granting my every single want. I wanted to be touched and fondled, she granted it. Hugged, granted. Kissed and pressed even further into the sofa, granted. But as much as I was granted what I was asking, because of her overwhelming commandeering presence, it felt like she was the one in control of it the entire time. And I liked it, I really liked it a lot. That was so hot and overpowering that I completely forgot I was almost freezing twenty minutes before.

    But¡­ that¡¯s also why it was so embarrassing that, in the end and kinda in the middle of the action, I had fallen asleep. I couldn¡¯t even fathom how that was possible, but it happened anyway¡­ Travel must¡¯ve tired me out way more than I had anticipated. And now I had awoken, laying on Lauren¡¯s chest, with just a tiny bit of drool on her shirt. She was breathing slowly but steadily, with a content smile on her face. Both of her strong arms around my back. Keeping me close, warm and comfortable. I listened to her breathing as her chest slowly rose up and down with every cycle. The still crackling fireplace gave a pleasant ambient soundtrack in addition.

    While I was stuck for the time being, embraced by my love, I wouldn¡¯t wish to try to get away. I was perfectly happy to just lay here and bask in Lauren¡¯s presence.

    I don¡¯t remember how much time passed before Lauren slowly started to wake up, but I know I had enjoyed every single second of it to the fullest.

    She used her good arm to wipe the dust out of her eyes before laying it back on top of me. ¡°Hey there, beautiful.¡± Lauren smiled at me.

    ¡°Hey.¡± I smiled back. ¡°Sleep well?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever slept any better.¡± She squeezed me closer to her. ¡°How about you?¡±

    ¡°I slept great.¡± I started blushing a little. ¡°Sorry that I fell asleep¡­¡±

    ¡°We were both tired. But let¡¯s definitely resume from where we left off another time.¡± Lauren gave me a cheeky wink.

    ¡°Y-yeah, let¡¯s¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmmm.¡± Lauren herself was not in any hurry to get me off her, as she just looked at me with loving eyes. ¡°To have my girlfriend all alone in my own home back on earth so soon, who would¡¯ve thought.¡± She joked.

    ¡°It is quite a lovely home.¡± I chuckled softly.

    ¡°And you haven¡¯t even seen half of it yet.¡± She looked up at the ceiling. ¡°This entire thing is just quite the dream coming true for me.¡±

    ¡°I can definitely imagine that.¡± I nodded and ran my right hand over her cheek and then down her neck. ¡°This is not a future I had imagined for myself two years ago, or even half a year ago for that matter, but I am very happy that I can share your home with you today.¡±

    ¡°And hopefully for quite a while longer than just today.¡± Lauren used her good arm to slowly rub my back.

    ¡°Yeah.¡± I used my hand on her shoulder to pull me up a little so I could reach her lips, giving her a short yet sweet kiss.

    Lauren hummed contently and then gave me a kiss on my forehead. ¡°Let¡¯s stay like this for a bit longer. Is that okay for you?¡±

    I kissed her again, this time on her neck. ¡°More than okay.¡±

    We lay on the sofa for another hour or so while Lauren just idly hummed some songs and played with my hair. But as comfortable as it was for the both of us, that time sadly had to end. The fire in the fireplace was starting to die down, and the heating system was still not operational.

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    I got from on top of Lauren so she could stretch a bit and put another log in the fire. ¡°Looks like it¡¯s almost time for the Antarctic sunrise.¡± She looked at the clock. ¡°I will get to work on the heating system when it¡¯s light. It will be easier to see, not that it will be that much lighter.¡±

    ¡°Do you want me to come out and help you too?¡±

    She looked back at me while she opened the fireplace. ¡°Hmm, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a great idea.¡± She laughed. ¡°I¡¯ll do it myself. I don¡¯t want you to get frostbite by handling tools in this weather.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ right¡­¡± I twiddled with my fingers. Apart from helping Lauren, I didn¡¯t really have a clue about what to do.

    ¡°What about going to the store? Would you want to do that? The pantry is rather empty, as you might imagine. It¡¯s just around the corner, so it will only take you three minutes to get there. If you don¡¯t want to, we can go together after I¡¯m done.¡±

    I¡¯m sure Lauren knew that last part wasn¡¯t going to be necessary. She¡¯s noticed I wanted something to do and she¡¯d given me a rather easy task. Although going together was rather tempting. ¡°I think I can do that.¡± I smiled.

    ¡°Alright, then let me quickly go and grab you some thermal underwear and a good pair of pants. I¡¯ll be right back.¡± She closed the fireplace back up. Hopped over to me, giving me a quick kiss after which she practically sprinted upstairs. It took her three minutes to return. She was puffing a little. ¡°Yep, I really need to go and fix that heater. We probably would¡¯ve woken up as popsicles if we slept upstairs.¡± She chuckled to herself as she walked over to me and handed me some thick black pants and some thermal black underwear on top of it.

    ¡°Just put it on like normal underwear?¡±

    ¡°Pretty much.¡± Lauren nodded, but her facial expression quickly changed to something I can only describe as¡­ naughty. ¡°Want me to help you put it on?¡±

    I rolled my eyes. ¡°I think I¡¯ll manage. You should go and look for your tools so you can go and fix the heater.¡±

    ¡°Slightly disappointed, not going to lie.¡± She laughed and turned around. ¡°But you¡¯re right. Playtime can follow after we¡¯ve had a full belly and we don¡¯t need to worry about turning into ice cubes.¡± She started walking towards one of the other doors in the room, but before she opened it, she turned around again. ¡°Oh, on that note, could you also bring us a bag of wood for the fireplace?¡±

    ¡°And how am I supposed to carry that and the food?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll give you my cargo sled. It¡¯s fun to use. You¡¯ll see.¡± And just like that, she disappeared into the room beyond.

    -A sled? I¡¯ve barely touched snow and now I already need to use a sled?-

    I decided to put my doubts aside for the moment and just get on the thermal underwear that Lauren had given to me. I folded up my other underwear because I wasn¡¯t so sure where to put it yet, she must have a laundry bin somewhere, but I couldn¡¯t see it right now.

    As for how the thermal underwear felt. Even though it really wasn''t my size, it did fit relatively well. What Lauren had said about the elasticity proved to be close to the truth. While it didn¡¯t really feel much warmer at the moment, I guess it would only be put to the test when going outside. As for those pants... That thing really didn¡¯t fit me well, it was much too big for me, but at least it had a belt so I could somewhat tie it together.

    I was just about to put on the big winter jacket I had used yesterday when Lauren returned with a toolbox and a rather big sledgehammer, she softly put it down on the table. When she then looked at me, a grin crept up along the corner of her mouth. ¡°Okay¡­ That¡¯s quite a comical sight.¡±

    ¡°Shut up.¡± I pouted.

    ¡°Let¡¯s order some stuff for you when you get back. It should be here relatively soon, especially if we order from a local store. Might even be able to go and pick it up today if we are really lucky.

    ¡°Hmm. At least it will make you stop making fun of me.¡±

    ¡°Look, the jacket looks really cute on you. I just didn¡¯t expect my winter pants to look that comically big in comparison.¡± She walked up to me and took me into a big old hug. ¡°Then again, they already look big on me as well. Insulation isn¡¯t very fashionable. Especially not the amount you need to live in this place.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m starting to think I¡¯d rather you¡¯d lived on a tropical island or something.¡±

    ¡°Whaaaat. Don¡¯t say that. You¡¯ll get used to it in no-time, and that¡¯s when the real fun starts.¡± I¡¯m pretty sure half of that was meant to be a joke, but you could also tell that she did in fact liked living like this a lot.

    ¡°I¡¯ll keep an open mind about it for now.¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡± She gave me a kiss and backed off from me just a tad. ¡°Let me go and put on my jacket so I can show you the sled. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll love it.¡±

    It was rather cute how she was so enthusiastic about it.

 Chapter 51: Hammer Meets Ice

    With my jacket and gloves on and with my girlfriend wrapped up hot and nicely into some good but slightly ill-fitting winter gear, we made our way outside. I was already carrying the tools I would need to fix the heater with because going back inside would be a waste of precious time in the not so light Antarctic daylight.

    I sat my tools up against the wall and went over to the garage where I had my good old trusty sled parked. Cars were not that useful in Antarctica and my snow cycle would not be very easy to ride when transporting cargo, especially not for someone who would be riding a snow cycle for the first time.

    ¡°Is that it?¡± Luna pointed at the sled in the corner of the garage.

    ¡°It is.¡± I nodded and walked her over. My sled had a small stand to stand on at the back behind the grip, in front of it was a cargo bed that curved up at the edges. I had the box bed set up against the wall. It was interchangeable but I didn¡¯t really see the need for that right now. She¡¯d only had to grab us some wood after all, and the food wouldn¡¯t really roll out either.

    Luna laid her hands on the holding bar and tried to move the sled, the small wheels underneath made it relatively easy to move around on small concrete. They were worked into the frame so that if you went over snow or ice, they didn¡¯t really resist. ¡°It¡¯s slightly heavier than I expected.¡±

    ¡°Can I take your holostick for a second?¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± She nodded.

    I took her holostick out of her jacket and slid it in the side of the sled¡¯s handlebar. When I did a holographic screen popped up after which I needed to apply the 6-number pincode that was connected to the sled. When I had done so, at the edges of the handlebar, the handlebar widened just a bit.

    I pulled the sled out and turned it around so the front faced the outside world. ¡°Put your hands here.¡± I then gently guided my girlfriend¡¯s hands towards the edge of the handlebar. ¡°And now give it a squeeze, you don¡¯t need to squeeze it hard.¡±

    Luna did as I asked and with a tiny popping sound the sled started moving forward, not that fast, mind you, just at a somewhat brisk walking speed. ¡°Oh, wow.¡± She looked down to look how it worked, but the moment she let go of the handlebars, another soft pop sounded, and the sled lowered just ever so slightly. ¡°What was that?¡±

    I smiled. ¡°The way it works is that when you squeeze the handlebars, the wheels that are underneath pop out a little and gain extended nubs on their tires for traction in snow. The wheels then are driven by the battery that¡¯s in your holostick to propel you forward. It¡¯s quite efficient so you don¡¯t need to worry about the battery power too much.¡±

    ¡°Ah, so that¡¯s how you can push it uphill?¡±

    ¡°Yep, you let the sled do all the work for you, you just need to steer it. When you come back downhill, you can stand on here to let gravity be at play.¡±

    ¡°And how do you break and steer when doing that?¡±

    ¡°You can just squeeze it again. The velocimeter in your holostick will make sure the wheels know they need to break instead of just turning it. As for steering it, you can use your body weight. The bit of suspension this thing has is enough to help you steer it. Besides that, Farncombe doesn¡¯t really have steep hills so you will be fine either way. The steepest slope is the one we climbed yesterday to get here from the station. You can try it out and have some fun with it as you go. There¡¯s not much that can go wrong. If you think you are going too fast. Just squeeze the bar, it¡¯ll stop.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Luna¡¯s facial expression was a bit hard to read, it was somewhat between excitement and worry if I had to guess, but the little smile at the end proved to me that it probably was more of the former than the latter.

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    ¡°You think you can handle it? Offer still stands to go together.¡±

    ¡°No, I think I can.¡± She smiled brightly at me.

    I smiled back and took my own holostick, tapping on the map to send the location of the store to her holostick. ¡°See you in a bit then?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± She hopped on the sled¡¯s step, preparing to squeeze the handlebars. Before she could leave, however, I did quickly tap her ass with the palm of my hand, gifting me with the glorious sight of a pouting girlfriend just as she rolled off into the snow.

    ¡°Ah, she¡¯s so going to pay me back for that later.¡± I put my hands on my hip. ¡°But it was totally worth it.

    I did wave at Luna when I exited the garage, but she was a bit too busy getting a hang of the sled, at least it looked like she was having fun. As for me, it was time to finally fix up the heating system. So I took my tools and made my way to the back of the house, closing the garage behind me of course. When I arrived at the back, I immediately saw what the issue was. During my absence, there had been a buildup of snow and ice around the outside unit¡¯s containment shielding. The system¡¯s defrosting alert had been a bit of an understatement. To be fair, these systems were not really meant to be idle for months on end, and in hindsight I probably should¡¯ve opted for the subterranean version. But those were a lot more expensive and also way harder to maintain by yourself.

    At least this issue could be solved relatively easily, it¡¯s just a tiny bit inconvenient. I rubbed my hands and got to work getting the snow off first, after which I had to use the sledgehammer I had brought to knock off the bigger chunks of ice. The shielding could take quite a pounding, so I didn¡¯t need to worry about the shocks damaging the internal systems, that was what the shielding was for after all. It did make quite a bit of noise, though.

    So much so that I had drawn the attention of my neighbor, who came peeping over the fence.

    ¡°Gosh darn, when I heard banging, I wouldn¡¯t have ever thought it would be our Lauren who would be back!¡± The gray man in his mid 70s looked at me with a big smile on his face. His head was adorned by a very puffy red bobble hat. ¡°Martha, come, look, Lauren¡¯s back!¡±

    ¡°Hey Roland, how are you doing?¡± I stopped pounding the shielding for a moment, resting the head of the sledgehammer on the ground and leaning on its handle. Roland and Martha had moved here not too long after the war, our house was halfway being reconstructed when the contractor started on theirs. They were originally from the North American region but they had decided to move here to move closer to the remaining family they had. With house prices in this area having been as low as they were, they probably made quite the profit selling their house back up North.

    ¡°I told you I saw her yesterday evening!¡± The squeaky voice of Martha followed with the crunching of snow approaching us. Martha could only barely look over the fence. She was wearing pretty much the same red bobble hat her husband was wearing.

    I chuckled, it was quite the comical sight to behold.

    ¡°We are doing mighty fine.¡± Roland answered my question. ¡°We didn¡¯t know you were returning so soon, otherwise we would have had our handyman clear it for you.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s no biggie, it¡¯s a great workout. We just had to come back for our ship to be retrofitted.¡± I smiled back.

    ¡°Who was the lady who was walking with you yesterday?¡±

    ¡°Martha!¡± Roland called out.

    I chuckled once more. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I don¡¯t mind.¡± I switched my weight from one foot to the other, I started blushing a little too. ¡°She¡¯s my girlfriend.¡±

    ¡°Oooh! How long are you staying? You should bring her over to eat cake.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re staying at least for a while. I¡¯m sure Luna would like to come and have some cake. She¡¯s a bit shy, though.¡±

    ¡°Ah, well, tell her that she¡¯s free to decline too.¡±

    ¡°I definitely will.¡± I nodded.

    Roland then started softly pushing his wife back towards their house. ¡°We are going to continue watching our show now. Feel free to come over if you need anything.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°But I wasn¡¯t done talking with her yet!¡±

    ¡°Martha, leave her be for now. She needs to work on the heater. You can talk to her later.¡±

    The discussion went on in the distance until I heard them enter their house again. It made me chuckle one last time before I started swinging my sledgehammer once more.

    I needed to get the house nice and warm for Luna, after all. That way she would need to have less clothes on and that was quite the plus for both of us.

 Chapter 51 Bis: Slippery Shopping

    I wooshed from a soft slope on the last stretch towards the store Lauren had sent me through. I giggled as the snow passed below me, and just for a moment I was forgetting just how cold the air was feeling against my face. The brief explanation Lauren had given me about her sled had sufficed to learn the basics to control this rather rudimentary vehicle, and after just a couple of minutes I had already started to really enjoy the experience. It was completely different from what I had experienced so far and I was very glad Lauren had given me the opportunity to live through this.

    The store was a standalone building, just a bit bigger than Lauren¡¯s house, which had a little parking lot for sleds right beside it. I parked my sled next to another one and removed my holostick from it. This prompted my holostick to ask me to set an alarm. While I didn¡¯t think I would need it, I set it up anyway.

    I walked in through a set-up that reminded me of an air lock, presumably to keep most of the hot air in and the cold air out while customers could get in and out with barely a hassle.

    Inside of the store, there weren''t really many people I could see. There was one cashier who greeted me as I walked in, and a bit further down the store¡¯s central aisle I could see another woman in the same uniform stock up the shelves. Definitely very different from the supermarkets I¡¯d used in my time on Earth before leaving for space.

    I slowly walked through the aisles, looking for foodstuff and the wood that I had promised Lauren to bring along, after ten minutes or so I¡¯d collected quite a bit of food, and my quest for wood had also ended in success.

    When I arrived back at the cash register, the cashier started to scan everything I had collected. ¡°Are you new around here?¡± She asked with a friendly smile.

    I nodded. ¡°Yeah, how do you know?¡±

    ¡°Everyone kind of knows everyone in this little town. Practically no one locks their sleds, either.¡± She nodded towards the camera system behind her. It pictured the outside area with a rather crisp quality. ¡°That¡¯s Lauren¡¯s sled, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± I blushed and gave her another nod. ¡°We are colleagues. Since I had nowhere really to stay, she invited me to come over.¡±

    ¡°Oh? That¡¯s interesting.¡± The cashier smiled.

    ¡°Do you know her well?¡± I asked back, now slightly blushing.

    ¡°We went to the same school, not the same class or year, mind you. We only found out about that after the war, though. This is my parent¡¯s business, and I came back from up North to help them rebuild. We still talk occasionally when she comes to shop. Of course not since she went to space. Since you are a colleague, I guess you went up into space as well?¡±

    ¡°I did.¡± I nodded and started bagging the scanned goods. ¡°We are back for inspection right now.¡±

    ¡°And how is it up there?¡± She helped to put the last groceries in the bag.

    ¡°Hmmm.¡± I thought for a second. ¡°It is rather beautiful, but it¡¯s also scarily dangerous.¡± And that¡¯s without big space bugs or an evil galactic empire trying to kill you.

    ¡°I think I''d rather stay on Earth.¡± She smiled and tapped her display.

    ¡°It is a beautiful planet, that¡¯s true.¡± Only after I said it, I realized that probably wasn¡¯t something someone from Earth would really say. ¡°Uh, compared to all the barren rocks out in space, I mean.¡± Maybe I should just shut up.

    Luckily for me, it seemed that the woman found me comment rather funny. ¡°I can imagine.¡± She chuckled. ¡°That¡¯d be 35 672 federals please.¡±

    I nodded and held my holostick next to the cash register. A beep later and the money had been transferred.

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    ¡°Could you say hi to Lauren from me?¡±

    ¡°Sure thing.¡± I nodded. ¡°Your name is.¡±

    ¡°Just tell her Kim from the store. She¡¯ll know.¡±

    ¡°Fair enough.¡± I smiled and started carrying the groceries in one arm and the bag of wood in the other. ¡°Goodbye!¡±

    ¡°Have a nice day!¡±

    I got our goods safe and well, but still rather clumsily, back to the sled. With my holostick reinserted into the slot I made my way back to Lauren¡¯s home. I hadn¡¯t been gone for long, but I already noticed that the sun had already started to set again. The sled was a bit harder to control now that it was loaded, but all in all, it was still a very fun ride back to Lauren¡¯s house. I let the sled pull me the last couple of meters up to the garage of Lauren¡¯s home. Since she had locked it, I did need to find her to let me in. It didn¡¯t seem like she was indoors so I headed around the back of her house and into her garden. -Is it really a garden though since there is not really something you can garden in?- There, Lauren was working on what I presume was the heating unit.

    ¡°Oh, you are back.¡± Lauren looked back and smiled. ¡°I¡¯m almost done. It needed a bit more maintenance than I expected.¡± She was handling a can of some kind of oil as I walked up to her.

    ¡°I needed to say hi from Kim. The lady from the store.¡±

    ¡°Ah cool. She must¡¯ve noticed you were new around here. Small towns are like that.¡± Lauren waved me over. ¡°Could you hold this open for me, please?¡± She pointed at some kind of heavy plastic board.

    ¡°Sure thing.¡± I did as she asked.

    ¡°Thanks.¡± She then started to spray inside. ¡°Also, when it comes to meeting people. The neighbors have invited you over to eat some cake.¡± She nodded towards the fence to the left.

    ¡°Have they?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I told them about us. The lady of the house had seen us come home yesterday and she wanted to meet you. They''re a lovely couple. And they make some very very good cakes.¡±

    ¡°Well, in that case, we should definitely take them up on their offer.¡±

    Lauren chuckled. ¡°Yeah, but let¡¯s just take it easy today. Got a lot of stuff to do indoors as well.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± I nodded.

    Lauren inspected the inside of the unit one last time before she nodded. ¡°Okay, you can let go now.¡± And then screwed the plate back in its place, after which she installed some other panels over the top of that. ¡°That should work now. Could you take my holostick and check for me? My gloves are a bit oily.¡±

    I nodded and took her holostick out and followed the same steps I had taken yesterday. But unlike then, when I pressed the button now, the button turned green and we could both hear a slight humming coming from the unit in front of us. ¡°Central heating unit starting up cycle.¡± I repeated what I read on the screen.

    Lauren smiled contently and clapped her hands together. ¡°Great, that should warm up the house rather quickly.¡± She got up from her knees and beat the snow off her pants with the back of her glove. ¡°I¡¯m going to bring the tools inside and then take a quick shower if that¡¯s okay for you. I worked up quite a sweat.¡± She then looked over to me. ¡°I have a bath too if you would like¡­¡±

    ¡°A bath!?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± She laughed. ¡°Oh right, you probably haven¡¯t had one before. Even more reasons for you to take one.¡± She winked.

    I really couldn¡¯t hide my excitement. So far I¡¯d only read about baths in books and seen them in movies and series. I always wondered what it felt like to soak in warm water. From what I could tell, it was very different from showers. On top of that¡­ It had also been quite a while since we¡¯d been able to wash ourselves. We showered just before we left the ship, but that had already been quite a while ago and travel does make you feel icky after a bit.

    That¡¯s why I helped Lauren get her tools real fast and also moved the groceries indoors as fast as I could.

    ¡°Don¡¯t rush it now, still need to wait for the bathroom to not be a freezer.¡± Lauren chuckled as she closed the door behind us.

    ¡°But a bath, Lauren, a bath!¡±

    ¡°I understand the enthusiasm, but believe me when I tell you that you really want the bathroom to at least be decently warm when you enter¡­ especially if you have to leave the bath afterwards. I¡¯m just making sure you are getting the best first experience possible.¡±

    ¡°How long do we need to wait?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, shouldn¡¯t be too long, how about you get some loungewear ready for yourself while I load the groceries in the cupboards. When that¡¯s done, it should be at least decently hot enough.¡±

    ¡°Alright¡­ I guess I¡¯ll do that first then.¡±

    ¡°Good girl.¡± Lauren smiled and got to work after she had ditched her outside clothes.

    When I moved towards my luggage, I looked back over my shoulder and squinted slightly at my girlfriend. -I wonder if I could get her to take a bath together with me¡­ or had that been her plan all along since she¡¯d mentioned it first¡­-

 Chapter 51.5 Bis: A Hot Soak

    While I got some clothes out of my luggage in the living room that was getting noticeably warmer by the minute, Lauren was unpacking the groceries in the kitchen.

    ¡°You really took quite a lot of stuff with you.¡± She chuckled and then looked back at me. ¡°Do you want me to pay you back now or later?¡±

    ¡°You really don¡¯t need to pay me back.¡± I shook my head slightly. ¡°I get paid pretty much the same as you do.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    ¡°I am more than sure, Lauren. You are allowing me to stay at your home after all¡­ and you¡¯ve already paid for plenty of stuff already for that matter¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± Lauren turned back around and put a couple of cans of soup orderly in her cupboard. ¡°I guess you are right. I¡¯m just not very used to splitting costs.¡±

    ¡°Not any more than I am.¡± I replied. ¡°I¡¯m even still getting used to the entire human money thing.¡±

    Lauren looked back once more, squinted, and then nodded with a smile. ¡°Fair enough.¡± She then closed the cupboard and started filling up the next. I did notice that all those cupboards had been empty beforehand. She presumably cleared everything out before. I suppose that¡¯s to avoid coming home to some nasty surprises. Although I¡¯m actually not that sure how much the Antarctic climate affects that¡­ So I just decided to ask.

    ¡°Well, inside of a house it¡¯s still not going to get as cold as it is outside. Especially not in these kinds of houses. But have you not read about Antarctic and arctic expeditions?¡±

    ¡°Not really.¡± I shook my head. That¡¯s one of the subjects I hadn¡¯t really explored much. I knew that they had been explored and that Roald Amundsen had been an arctic explorer, but apart from that I knew very little.

    ¡°In the 20th and 21st century, when more scientific expeditions came to the polar regions with modern equipment, they would find these supply caches with food that had been very well conserved that belonged to the first expeditions. In a region that is as cold as this, bacteria have a very hard time to get stuff done.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s kind of what I presumed.¡± I nodded.

    ¡°Actually, even when those modern expeditions really got going, people would still eat food that had gone past its expiration date. It was really hard to get supplies to the research sites, it wouldn¡¯t happen very often. So when it did, it often came in bulk. Which results in some foodstuffs that are quickly out of date, like cheese and the likes.¡±

    ¡°I hope that¡¯s not the case nowadays?¡±

    ¡°Not really, as you¡¯ve seen by the rail network. We are pretty well-connected. Though, it has to be said, expiration dates are more of a recommendation than a rule anyway. Best way to tell if something is spoiled is still to taste test and smell.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    ¡°Oh!¡± Lauren put the last of the groceries away. ¡°Do you want to know something else that¡¯s actually very fun about that time in history?¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± I giggled. Lauren sounded really excited.

    ¡°It¡¯s actually still the case in some systems, but in those research stations they actually had to warm their freezer, weirdly enough.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Yeah! I have this old video clip that shows a tour on one of those old stations. I¡¯ll share it with you later.¡±

    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    I smiled as Lauren continued to tell me some more fun facts. It was really wholesome to see her geek out about something like this. She wouldn¡¯t do that often and it was definitely something I treasured experiencing.

    ¡°I think the bathroom should be warm enough by now.¡± Lauren commented as she looked at her holostick. ¡°A good old cozy 21¡ãC.¡±

    I took up my little pile of clothes I¡¯d selected to wear after the bath and walked over to her. ¡°Can you lead the way?¡±

    ¡°Definitely.¡± She smiled and put her holostick down. ¡°Don¡¯t mind the dust upstairs though. I¡¯ll get the auto duster working later.¡±

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we do that first before washing ourselves?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not hard work, just need to adjust a couple of things. At worst I¡¯ll need to wash my hands afterwards.¡± She smiled as she led me up the stairs and into the hallway. The bordeaux red walls were rather empty. It seemed that Lauren hadn¡¯t spent much time on decorating this part of the house. She then led me to the second door on the left and opened it up for me. When I walked up to the door opening my jaw dropped open. There was a shower in the far right corner. A double sink right in front of us with a big mirror and to the left was a bath that appeared to be incredibly big to me. ¡°Wow. Is it just me or is that a big bath?¡±

    ¡°It is quite big, yeah.¡± Lauren chuckled. ¡°I¡¯ve actually not used it much but it was something I definitely wanted in my house.¡±

    ¡°Wow.¡± I walked over and inspected the tub. It was more than big enough for the two of us and even had some massage water jets too.

    Lauren closed the bathroom door behind us. ¡°What do you think of the tiles?¡±

    She had chosen a beige wall tile with dark gray tiles on the floor. To me it gave me more of a cool vibe than it looked cute. If I had to pick, I would probably have picked some kind of pink tiling though.

    ¡°It looks really good.¡± When I turned back around to Lauren she had already taken her shirt off and the only thing she was wearing now was her thermal sports bra. It immediately made my face go tomato red.

    ¡°I¡¯m glad you like it.¡± She smiled and then tilted her head. ¡°Is something wrong, you are turning a bit red.¡± After which she gave me a wink.

    ¡°Y-you know full well what you are doing¡­¡±

    ¡°I was under the impression that you wanted to bathe together. Was I wrong? I could come and shower later.¡± She reached back for her shirt but I stopped her by taking her arm. Lauren grinned. That woman just knew how to push my buttons in just the right way¡­ it was terribly unfair.

    ¡°I¡¯d prefer you to stay¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmmm, alright then.¡± She gently took the pile of clothes I was holding and put them on the sink cabinet, making sure that it wasn¡¯t dusty before she did so. After that she started to make the bath run full of warm water.

    ¡°What will you be wearing?¡± I asked as I started to take of my own clothes.

    ¡°I have loungewear in the cabinet over there.¡± She nodded towards the cabinet next to the door. ¡°I moved some of my clothes there to make sure I didn¡¯t have to run through the hall to get clothes in case I forgot to add some. Now it just comes in handy to be closer to my girlfriend for longer.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Lauren approached me once more and helped me get out of the rest of my clothes. Not that she needed to, but I let her have her fun. In the meantime the bath had already filled up quite nicely and had automatically stopped.

    After she had undressed me, Lauren pulled out a little bottle out of one of the other cabinets and added a couple drops of it to the water. I didn¡¯t really know what it was that she had added but the room suddenly started to smell very flowery. ¡°I¡¯ve actually never used that before. It should be good for your skin too.¡± She offered me her hand which I gladly took.

    ¡°It definitely smells nice.¡± Lauren helped me get in the bathtub, making sure I didn¡¯t slip. Probably a smart move as this was my first time and the smoothness of the bathtub was even smoother than I had expected. But one thing was for sure, the warm water was just the right temperature for me and I felt my body start to relax the moment I let myself sink in a bit more.

    Lauren then got out of the rest of her clothes and got into the bath with me too, getting in on the other side to give me plenty of room. ¡°Oh Goddess.¡± She moaned a little as she slowly sank into the water, leaning back so she was submerged to her neck. ¡°Damn it¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve taken a bath.¡± She then slowly sat back up again, using her good hand to massage the edge of where her prosthetic met her own flesh.

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± I decided to slide up real close to her and I put my hand on hers as it was still up against her shoulder. ¡°Want me to massage it for you?¡±

    She let her hand slip from underneath mine so I could gently massage the area at my free leisure.

    Although, it didn¡¯t take long before Lauren, with her now free arm, pulled me even closer, halting my massage of her shoulder and substituting it with a long passionate kiss.

 Chapter 52: Dusty the Auto Duster

    I was very happy my bath was designed in a way that it automatically kept the water exactly on the temperature you wanted it to be because we had been kissing for so long that a normal bath would already have become ice-cold. Was that the most healthy thing for your skin? In a normal situation, not really, but the bath lotion I had added earlier negated that completely. Luna just tasted too good to let go.

    Because, and unfortunately, we actually still needed to get washed, so we decided to stop fooling around, at least for the moment, and started washing ourselves. I helped Luna wash her back, after which she helped wash mine. I did notice she was still really careful around my shoulder area, being extra gentle as she scrubbed around. It honestly felt really good when she did. It was an area of my body that I didn¡¯t really show to many people, let alone let them touch it. Whenever someone like Eva would need to get around to it to give me my periodical checkups, I was never really a fan of that. But with Luna¡­ I felt a lot more at ease. And now I think back on it, when she proposed to give me a massage back on the ship after our first ground mission¡­ I wasn¡¯t really opposed to that, either.

    ¡°Lauren? Are you okay?¡±

    ¡°Oh, yeah.¡±

    ¡°You went a bit quiet there. You are not in pain, right?¡±

    ¡°No, I was just thinking.¡± I chuckled.

    Luna then continued washing my back. ¡°By the way¡­ have you been taking your medicine since we came back? I don¡¯t remember seeing you taking it.¡±

    ¡°Whoops.¡±

    ¡°Lauren!¡± Luna poked me in the side, which made me start laughing. ¡°You really need to take them. It''s important!¡±

    ¡°I just forgot.¡± I looked over my shoulder back at my girlfriend. She had started pouting. ¡°I will take them the second we get out of the bath, okay?¡±

    ¡°You better.¡± She continued pouting. ¡°I don¡¯t want you to get hurt after all...¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true that Eva would probably try to throw something at me if she knew I had forgotten.¡±

    Luna rolled her eyes and splashed some water on me. ¡°I¡¯m serious though. You need to take your meds.¡±

    ¡°I know, I know.¡± I leant back to give her a kiss on her cheek. ¡°It¡¯s just been a rather hectic homecoming. So I¡¯m glad you are here to remind me of them. Very glad, in fact.¡± I leant back once more, this time to kiss her for a bit longer.

    While I was tempted to just continue that for a while, Luna was wise enough to stop me for the time being. ¡°We should really get done with bathing soon. I¡¯m also starting to get really hungry¡­¡± As if on cue, her stomach started growling. This made Luna blush a lot. It was hella cute.

    I chuckled once more. ¡°Right, then we probably should finish up.¡±

    After that, we quickly rinsed our bodies and washed our hair. Even with the skin care product, the skin on my hand already started to wrinkle a little when I got out of the bath and wrapped myself into a towel. Luna¡¯s skin still looked perfect though as she got out too. I quickly offered her a towel as well, as I didn¡¯t want her to be cold. The temperature in the bathroom was good, but being wet still made you feel rather cold, especially after a hot bath.

    We dried ourselves and now it was time for some good wintry lounge wear. As per usual, I picked out comfy black leggings and a blue hoodie of a regional football team. But I was way more excited to see what my girlfriend would be wearing. Luna had picked out a light pink sweater with a little white cat stitched at the bottom, with a pair of very soft looking white leggings and a pair of light pink socks to go with that. It was adorable. While on board the ship, she used to dress quite comfy too, but she generally stuck to the loungewear the navy had provided us with. Sometimes she would wear her own stuff but it was very rare to see her in a getup that was completely of her own.

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    ¡°What do you think? It¡¯s not too childish, right?¡± She asked.

    "What? Childish? Why would it be childish? It looks adorable as fuck. I¡¯m a big fan, especially of the little kitty here.¡± I gently poked her on the lower part of her belly where the kitty was on her sweater.

    She giggled. ¡°I know. That¡¯s why I bought it.¡±

    ¡°We should get one with sharky as well.¡±

    As I suggested that, she just started beaming. ¡°Those exist?¡±

    ¡°Surely they do.¡± I nodded. ¡°And otherwise we can just sew a little sharky patch on ourself. But I¡¯m pretty sure they do sell them, though.¡±

    ¡°Oooooh.¡±

    ¡°We can order it together with your other winter gear. How about that?¡±

    ¡°Yesss!¡±

    ¡°Speaking about Sharky, we should probably unpack him later.¡±

    Luna nodded. ¡°But we were gonna make some food first, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± I opened the bathroom door and left it open for a bit so it could air out a little. The rest of the house had gotten to temperature as well. ¡°You can head down already and pick out something to cook, I will go and grab the auto duster real fast.¡±

    Luna nodded once more and headed down the stairs. As she was heading down, I turned around to go and grab the auto duster. I saw it laying about this morning when I was grabbing some clothes for Luna. It had apparently crashed on the other side of my bed near the window. It was a bit too cold to my liking to really spend too much time there, so I had decided to come and collect it later.

    I picked it up from the floor where it fell and headed towards the staircase. From what I could tell at the moment, it seemed as though one of the rotors had trouble turning. Just needed a bit of oil, minor maintenance and a recharge and it would be up and running soon without much issue.

    When I entered the living room, I put the auto duster on the table.

    ¡°Oh, is that the duster?¡± Luna asked as she took a couple of eggs out of the fridge.

    ¡°It is.¡± I nodded.

    ¡°Looks a bit low-tech to me, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Because it has rotor blades?¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± Luna nodded once again.

    ¡°It¡¯s easier to fix by yourself.¡± I replied. ¡°I like things that I can try to fix and maintain by myself.¡±

    ¡°Like your heating unit?¡±

    ¡°Yep.¡± I smiled. ¡°The high-tech part of this thing is how it removes dust. If that broke, I wouldn¡¯t be able to fix it myself, but they sell that part separately.¡±

    Luna put down the eggs as she¡¯d been listening to me anyway and walked over. She quickly studied the little auto duster. ¡°Does it use a laser to remove dust?¡±

    ¡°It does.¡± I pointed at one of the lenses in the auto duster¡¯s main body. ¡°Just zapping that dust away. Don¡¯t ask me how it works physics wise because I have no clue.¡±

    Luna chuckled. ¡°Are you fine with Eggs, bacon and baked beans in tomato sauce?¡±

    ¡°Definitely.¡± I smiled and leaned in to give her a kiss. ¡°I think I want some hot dogs on the side too, though. We can eat whatever¡¯s left later if we get a bit queasy.¡±

    ¡°Sounds good. I¡¯m happy I took a couple of cans of sausages with me.¡±

    ¡°You clearly are the most valuable player of the day.¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be so sure about that.¡± Luna countered. ¡°I do rank not being frozen to death a bit higher.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm, but hotdogs though. Let¡¯s call it a tie.¡±

    ¡°Fine.¡± Luna giggled. ¡°Are you going to help me cook or are you going to fix little Dusty here first?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll help you cook. Dusty can wait a bit longer.¡± I had a feeling that nickname was going to stick around. I actually never thought about giving it a name, but then again, I guess the little guy deserved it. -Hmm, I¡¯m pretty sure I can get some googly eyes at the store too to stick on it¡­ Why haven¡¯t I done this earlier? It¡¯s a brilliant idea!-

    I helped Luna cook up a nice lunch. I got to say I didn¡¯t really miss the very small kitchenette back in my cabin. It was a lot more comfortable and fun to cook when you actually had some space to work with. I did notice that Luna still didn¡¯t really use much space as she was prepping food, and when she did, it was because I had put what she needed a bit further away. It made me wonder what kitchens looked like back on Luna¡¯s planet. If they even had kitchens to begin with. So I just decided to ask.

    ¡°Of course we have kitchens.¡± Luna replied with a somewhat amused smile on her face. ¡°The food is a lot worse, but we do have kitchens.¡±

    ¡°Oh, the more you know. And for what it¡¯s worth, I think your cooking is really good. Your technique is even better than mine.¡±

    ¡°Thanks. I did try to read up on it since we started living together¡­¡± She blushed.

    Wow, you definitely couldn¡¯t blame Luna for not investing enough time and energy into our relationship. -Maybe I should try to make her a cake or something¡­-

 Chapter 53: Spicy Mustard

    The smell of good cooked food wafting through the air, what else could I say than that it was good to be home sweet home with my girlfriend. We ate our food at the dinner table that was designed for more than just two people. Not that it really mattered much because we just sat next to each other and spread our pans with freshly cooked food around us. Dusty, the trusty auto duster, was sitting on the opposite end of the table.

    Luna was not wasting any time and just started munching through the delicious meal.

    ¡°Make sure you don¡¯t choke on a piece of bacon.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I have perfected this eating method.¡± Just as she said that, she started coughing.

    I patted her back while I chuckled. ¡°Ah yes, clearly, perfection.¡±

    ¡°Shush.¡± She blushed once she¡¯d cleared her throat.

    I put some mayonnaise and ketchup on top of my hotdog and started eating myself. It got a weird look from Luna as I did so.

    ¡°Don¡¯t people generally eat that with mustard and ketchup?¡±

    ¡°They do, but I¡¯m not like most people.¡± I laughed as I added some crunched dried unions. ¡°But I prefer it with mayo. I think mustard has a very strong taste.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    ¡°You should try it yourself and see what you prefer. You took some mustard home too, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°I think I did.¡± She nodded.

    So I quickly stood up from my seat and ran over to the fridge to look for the pot of mustard. It was rather easy to find as my fridge was, all by all, still quite empty, but I have to say that I didn¡¯t really recognize this brand. In no-time, I was standing back at the dinner table. ¡°I¡¯ll make one for you. Half of it with ketchup and mayo, the other side with ketchup and mustard.¡± That way, we wouldn¡¯t have to throw away or eat the entire hotdog if she didn¡¯t like it.

    Luna watched as I prepared the hotdog for her, taking a couple of bites from her own food still as I was doing so. I cut the hotdog in half, added the sauces, and then presented her with her little taste test. ¡°Blindfolding you will be unnecessary, as it is going to be quite obvious which is which. Although the use of blindfolds later on today might still be considered.¡±

    Luna processed that for a couple of seconds before her blush from earlier returned, this time in full force. ¡°T-that¡¯s¡­¡± She bit down on her lip. ¡°M-maybe¡­¡±

    As weird as it sounds, I had not expected a reaction that cute, and definitely not her agreeing to my silly suggestion. I did feel my cheeks color a little too. In the end, I just nodded in return.

    Luna waited a couple of seconds to calm down before she took the first hotdog, the one with mayo, and started tasting it. I couldn¡¯t really make out what she was thinking by the look on her face, but she did finish that part of the hotdog rather quickly.

    Without saying anything she took the second part and bit into that, but when she did, her face turned pretty red almost immediately after which she started coughing. ¡°Ugh, s-strong... Very strong...¡± She tapped her chest a couple of times with the palm of her hand.

    ¡°You okay?¡±

    She nodded but didn¡¯t speak as she was still coughing.

    I took the pot of mustard in my hand. The label read ¡®extra strong mustard¡¯. ¡°Whoops.¡± I should probably have noticed that from the smell, but since I don¡¯t really use mustard much, I just didn¡¯t realize. ¡°Looks like you accidentally bought some extra strong mustard?¡±

    Luna still tapped her chest while getting to the end of her coughs ¡°W-wait, there¡¯s different kinds?¡±

    ¡°Apparently so.¡± I got up from the table and ran over to the fridge to get her something to drink. The bottles of soda weren¡¯t particularly cold yet but I don¡¯t think Luna would care. I then went back and gave her a glass of bubbly relief.

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    She drank from the glass and put it down again. ¡°Thanks.¡± The half-eaten piece of hot dog was still sitting in between the two of us. ¡°I think you should try it too.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡±

    Luna shoved the plate closer to me. ¡°I suffered, so you have to suffer too.¡±

    ¡°Wow, that sounds a bit extreme.¡± I shoved the plate back a little.

    But Luna kept pushing it back. ¡°Please, join me in my pain.¡±

    I chuckled. ¡°Well, if you put it like that.¡± I took the hot dog in my hand. It would only be fair to give it a try as well. But at least I had a glass of soda at the ready already.

    Luna looked at me with great expectation glistening in her eyes. I was not doubting for a second that she wanted me to cough as badly as she had done. This filled me with the determination to show as little emotion as possible. And as a soldier, I definitely had something to hold high here too.

    I shoved the hot dog into my mouth, and from the moment it did, the very sharp taste of the mustard was just overwhelming anything else in my mouth. A part of me wanted to draw comparisons to a soldier during the first World War in the 20th century, but the other, more sensible part knew that that would be incredibly disrespectful.

    Even though the taste was so strong, I managed to hold most of my poker face together, but I knew that after this, I would definitely never, ever, put mustard anywhere near my snacks again.

    Luna studied my face as I chewed down the last piece of hot dog and swallowed. ¡°Hmm¡­ That¡¯s rather disappointing.¡± She pouted.

    I nodded with a somewhat forced smile and grabbed for the glass of soda, but before I could take it up and bring it to my lips, Luna grabbed the glass before me.

    ¡°I mean, you don¡¯t need the soda, right? So I can just drink it?¡± She lifted the glass to her own lips, the little alien demoness. She was trying to lure me out of my trenches. And it was working too¡­

    ¡°No¡­ please¡­ it really does not taste very good...¡± I broke.

    Luna grinned and swiftly handed the glass over to me.

    We ate the rest of our food and put the mustard very far away from any of the remains, we didn¡¯t want it to spread its taste through random freak osmosis or something like that. It was about three o¡¯clock in the afternoon when we had eaten our last part of lunch.

    Just when we were about to clean up our plates, my holo stick started ringing.

    ¡°Are you expecting any calls?¡± Luna asked as I put my plate in the dishwasher and jogged for my stick, which I had left on the table.

    ¡°Not really, maybe it¡¯s Eva.¡± I took up my holo stick and opened it up. The moment I did, a black silhouette of a rather feminine looking figure appeared on the screen. I didn¡¯t see any identification. ¡°Uh, hello? You are speaking with Lauren Davis.¡±

    ¡°Hello Commander.¡± The familiar voice shocked us.

    "Ellie? Is that you?¡±

    ¡°It is, Commander.¡± She replied.

    ¡°Are you sure you should be calling us right now? Aren¡¯t people investigating you right now?¡±

    ¡°They are, but I¡¯m not really concerned by it. I masked the signal, there¡¯s no way they will be able to intercept or detect it.¡± She sounded very sure about that. It must be something she learned by giving herself that update¡­

    ¡°Are you doing okay, Ellie?¡± Luna walked up to me to talk to our AI crewmate. ¡°It¡¯s good to hear from you.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Lieutenant-Commander. It¡¯s good to hear your voices, too.¡± The figure on the screen moved a bit from side to side, as if she was shifting her balance from one leg to the other. ¡°I have to admit¡­ It is quite lonely here¡­¡±

    ¡°Ellie¡­ Are you going to tell me that¡¯s why you have called us?¡±

    ¡°...¡± Ellie stayed silent.

    ¡°Lauren, she has been living with all of us for quite some time. It¡¯s only natural she¡¯d miss us, right? Especially with people she doesn¡¯t know messing around?¡±

    ¡°I suppose that¡¯s true. Sorry for that, Ellie. We miss you too.¡±

    The black silhouette slowly rubbed her left arm with her right hand. ¡°I hope I¡¯m not imposing on you.¡±

    ¡°You aren¡¯t. We just finished lunch.¡± Luna replied and then tilted her head towards the screen. ¡°What¡¯s that image you are using, by the way?¡±

    The silhouette backed off a little, scratching the back of her head. ¡°It¡¯s just something I was messing around with because I got bored¡­ Do you like it?¡±

    Luna nudged me to say something. ¡°I do.¡± I replied. ¡°But it¡¯s more important that you like it as a representation for yourself, right?¡±

    ¡°And for the record, I like it as well.¡± Luna added.

    The silhouette wiggled from side to side again. ¡°I think¡­ I like it too.¡±

    ¡°We are happy to hear that.¡± Luna smiled and took the holo stick out of my hands. ¡°Would you like to see Lauren¡¯s house? It''s huge!¡±

    The silhouette, or better said, Ellie, nodded. ¡°I would like to.¡±

    Luna give me a quick look to ask for permission, of course I granted it with a nod. -Somehow it felt like we¡¯d rediscovered a friend.- I smiled and walked along with Luna as she started to show off my house to Ellie. Luna herself hadn¡¯t even seen the entirety of it yet.

 Chapter 54: A House Tour

    I walked behind Luna as she showed off the living room to Ellie. It was pretty funny to watch her walk around with the holo stick in her hand.

    ¡°And this is the fireplace we used to keep ourselves from freezing yesterday evening!¡± Luna crouched in front of the fireplace.

    ¡°Seems a bit low-tech.¡± Ellie replied. Her little avatar raising her hand to her chin.

    ¡°Just needed to get some hands on the actual heater. Everything is working fine now.¡± I smiled. ¡°That said, you should see the fireplace when it¡¯s actually burning, it looks a lot more impressive with¡­ you know¡­ fire. I can light it up later.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d very much like to see that.¡± Ellie¡¯s avatar nodded.

    Luna then hopped over to the sofa where we had spent the night and got up to the window, presumably to show Ellie the outside world. As it was already dark outside, when Luna opened the curtains far enough to be able to peek through, the only thing really visible was the street lanterns and the lighting from the houses on the other side of the street. Apparently it was snowing again though so that was something.

    ¡°It is a very white landscape, isn¡¯t it?¡± Ellie asked.

    ¡°It definitely is.¡± I agreed. ¡°Very hard for anything green to grow around here, unless it¡¯s in a dome. That¡¯s why the homes tend to be decorated with a decent amount of colors. You generally won¡¯t find many plain white interiors.¡±

    Luna looked around. ¡°You could use a little more colour yourself, though. You don¡¯t really have much around, apart from that painting.¡±

    ¡°I know. If it weren¡¯t too obvious, I haven¡¯t spent much time at home before I went up into space. Feel free to give me suggestions, though. A couple of paintings if you like¡­ or perhaps a statue. I think a bust would fit in quite nicely.¡± I smiled and put my hand on her lower back.

    I could feel a shiver go up her back quickly as her cheeks turned just that tiny bit redder. ¡°I think I have a suggestion or two¡­¡± She replied with a pout.

    ¡°That¡¯s what I like to hear.¡± I smirked at her reaction.

    Ellie faked a cough. ¡°Please do tell me when you are about to perform intercourse, in that case I will shut off the connection.¡±

    ¡°We were merely talking about decorations, Ellie!¡± Luna¡¯s face was now bright red.

    ¡°Well, there were certainly some undertones present. At least on my part.¡±

    ¡°Commander, please make sure not to overload the XO too much.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t promise that.¡±

    Luna held on to her pout and walked off with the holo stick. Her puffed up cheeks making me giggle. ¡°Let¡¯s move on.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, good idea. Let¡¯s go to the bedroom next.¡± I smirked, but in return I did get a little pillow from my sofa thrown at me. Totally worth it though.

    Luna showed Ellie around the kitchen and my storage room first before we headed up the stairs. As a big part of the second floor was built on top of the garage, it was a lot bigger than the ground floor was. The first room upstairs Luna showed was, not surprisingly, the bathroom.

    ¡°A bathroom with an actual bath!¡± Luna excitedly pronounced as she walked in with Ellie in her hand. ¡°It¡¯s so comfy, Ellie.¡±

    ¡°I will gladly believe that. And I see it has some massage jets too. Good for relaxing your musculature.¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t experienced those yet.¡± Luna replied.

    ¡°We kind of forgot about it due to circumstances. But we¡¯ll get around to it next time, I¡¯m sure.¡±

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    ¡°Circumstances?¡±

    ¡°I refuse to elaborate.¡± Luna quickly went outside and into the hallway, drawing some chuckles out of me, and even Ellie couldn¡¯t keep it silent. The tag team between me and my esteemed colleague was going great.

    Luna seemed a bit lost now which side to pick. In the end, she decided to head to the left and headed into my office. I had some weights, a treadmill and a power bench sat on one side of my office while I had a desk area set up on the other side. And I still had room to spare if I wanted to add anything else in the room.

    ¡°Have you used these much?¡± Luna sat down on my power bench and looked at my sporting equipment.

    I nodded. ¡°When I was home, I used these pretty much every day. I do like to keep in shape.¡± I ran my hand over one of the weights, wiping off some of the dust. I have had my workout for today with my heating unit maintenance, though. ¡°I have used my desk a lot less.¡±

    ¡°It all looks brand new.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because it is. I think I can count the times I¡¯ve powered up that computer with two hands.¡±

    ¡°According to my research, that is also rather expensive equipment, is it not?¡± Ellie asked.

    I nodded again. ¡°I just asked the store to give me the best they had and it was within budget, so I thought why not. I know I¡¯m in a rather privileged position.¡±

    ¡°You did sacrifice a lot for it though¡­¡± Luna stood up from my power bench and walked over.

    ¡°But so did a lot of other people, and they didn¡¯t get paid nearly as much.¡± I looked down at the floor as I closed my fist and tapped the weights a couple of times.

    Luna put her hand on my good shoulder and gave me a little squeeze. Not really saying anything, but her just being there for me kept the thoughts in my mind from getting darker.

    ¡°Should we move on to the other rooms?¡± Ellie proposed, clearly wanting to shift the subject away as well.

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s do that.¡± I put my other hand on Luna¡¯s and turned around, so I could walk hand in hand with her as we went to the next room.

    ¡°And this here is the guest bedroom.¡± I opened the door to a mostly empty room. The only thing I really had in this room was a spare twin bed, an empty closet, and an empty desk with a chair and a greenish rug to match the yellow wallpaper. ¡°Hasn¡¯t been used before either, as you have guessed.¡±

    ¡°You could invite Eva over.¡± Luna replied as she walked around the room. ¡°But maybe you could decorate it a bit more before that, though.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± I nodded. ¡°Otherwise Eva would bug me about it, wouldn¡¯t she.¡±

    Luna chuckled. ¡°She would.¡±

    ¡°This home definitely could use some plants from what I have seen. According to many home decoration sources, that helps to live up houses quite a lot.¡± Ellie added.

    ¡°I know, but the problem is that I would need someone to look over them when I¡¯m not home.¡±

    ¡°There are solutions for that. You have an auto duster too, don''t you?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but that doesn¡¯t always work, clearly.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because you haven¡¯t had your enhanced AI take a look at it.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. Are you offering to give me some free improvements?¡±

    ¡°If you let me.¡± Ellie¡¯s avatar nodded. ¡°I actually do have something I want to ask of you, but that can wait until after the rest of the tour.¡±

    ¡°Well, there¡¯s not much else to see.¡± I walked Luna out of the room with her hand still in mine and walked her into the master bedroom. ¡°This is the last room after all.¡±

    ¡°You have another set of weights here?¡± Luna pointed at the weights I had set down next to my night table.

    ¡°I think I brought them from my office and never bothered to put them back in their spot.¡±

    ¡°Lauren¡­ That¡¯s lazy¡­¡±

    ¡°I know.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I will put them back, okay?¡±

    Luna smiled and walked over to my bed, taking me with her. She then sat down on top of it.

    ¡°Hope the mattress is not too hard for you?¡±

    She shook her head. ¡°No, it feels fine. I think it¡¯s softer than the one in your cabin. I think I¡¯ll sleep very good on this one.¡±

    ¡°At least it will be more comfortable than the sofa.¡± Even though Luna herself hadn¡¯t really slept on the sofa, but on me for most of the night.

    ¡°We will see.¡± She blushed.

    I let go of Luna¡¯s hand for a bit so I could take the weights into my hands and bring them back to my office.

    ¡°You said this was where your parental house was, right?¡± Luna asked as she continued looking around my room. ¡°And that you kept the configuration mostly the same?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. More or less.¡± I nodded.

    ¡°Did this then used to be your parents'' bedroom?¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°No, it didn¡¯t. That would be where my office is right now. I couldn¡¯t really bring myself to sleep in the same part of the house where my parents did. Why are you asking?¡±

    ¡°I was just wondering¡­¡± Luna replied. ¡°Because you don¡¯t really have pictures around, but I was under the impression that you did like your parents a lot.¡±

    I smiled. ¡°I do have some pictures of them, but I still need to frame them.¡± I put the weights back down again and opened the cabinet, pulling out a box. ¡°Would you like to see them?¡±

    ¡°It would be my honor.¡± Luna put her hand on her chest and gave me an affirmative nod.

 Chapter 54 Bis: Pictured Memories

    As Lauren put the box she¡¯d taken out on her bed, Ellie spoke out to us. ¡°Luna, Lauren, I will have to excuse myself for now. It looks like I have some background programs to run.¡±

    ¡°Background programs, huh?¡± Lauren looked back at the holostick I was holding. ¡°I hope it isn¡¯t something too serious?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just a routine check on the maintenance bots.¡± Ellie replied.

    ¡°Hmm, well, feel free to join us later when you are done with your checks. It was nice talking to you.¡±

    ¡°Take care, Ellie.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. See you later Commander, XO.¡± And with that, Ellie broke off the line.

    ¡°Background programs¡­¡± Lauren rolled her eyes and smiled.

    ¡°You don¡¯t believe her?¡±

    ¡°Not really, no.¡± She shook her head. ¡°Do you?¡±

    ¡°I guess it sounds a bit suspicious for a super AI like her to have to ¡®run background programs.¡¯¡±

    ¡°Exactly. I think she just wants to give us some alone time. Much appreciated, by the way, but she could have just said that.¡±

    ¡°Maybe she didn¡¯t want to be so on the nose about it.¡±

    Lauren smiled. ¡°Ellie is becoming more human-like by the moment, isn¡¯t she?¡±

    With her wanting to have an avatar, I think there¡¯s little I could say to deny that. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s because of the update she got?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m thinking, too. Well, as long as it doesn¡¯t hurt anyone, I really don¡¯t see any negatives about it.¡±

    I nodded and then gave the holostick back to Lauren so we could focus fully on the box in front of us. Not that I am a certified box expert, but it did look rather old. Way older than most things I¡¯ve seen around here.

    ¡°Already staring that intently? I haven''t even opened it yet.¡± Lauren chuckled as she put the holostick in her pocket.

    ¡°I was just thinking it looked rather old.¡± I admitted.

    Lauren smiled and gave me a nod. ¡°It is.¡± She then looked at the box and gently brushed her good hand over the lid. ¡°It¡¯s one of the few things that got out of the house unscathed. My parents had taken the precaution to put the things they treasured most in their safe. The safe itself was rather banged up when we found it, but at least what was inside had been kept safe.¡± She paused for a couple of seconds, but before the silence became too loaded, she sighed and lifted the lid off the box using both her hands.

    It revealed two albums, with some packs of photos packed in robust looking plastic boxes. It also included two metal looking sticks which I assumed were memory drives.

    ¡°My parents were those kinds of people who really liked to keep things physical ¡®just in case one day the internet might die¡¯. It¡¯s a bit silly, but it¡¯s really nice to have these things now.¡± Lauren started by taking out both of the albums and putting them down on the bed next to the box. ¡°The green one contains the pictures that are chronologically the oldest. The blue ones have the newer ones. And the photos in the boxes are the newest pictures that they were planning to frame but never got the chance to.¡±

    I put my hand on her back and gave it a good rub. She seemed to appreciate it.

    She smiled ¡°So which one do you want to start with?¡±

    ¡°I think the green one. Does it have baby Lauren?¡±

    Lauren rolled her eyes and chuckled. ¡°Yes, yes it does.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t wait.¡± I clapped my hands.

    Lauren moved everything out of the way so we could sit on the bed and look at the pictures together. She then gave the green album to me, which I put on my lap. Gently turning over the cover.

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    ¡°These are pictures from before I was born.¡± She pointed at one of the first pictures. It showed a young couple in their early twenties standing in front of a stately building. The guy, who looked quite a bit taller than the girl he was with, had his arm around her waist.

    ¡°Your parents?¡±

    ¡°Yep, this is after they started dating back at college.¡± Lauren nodded.

    ¡°Looks like you got your height from your dad.¡± I giggled.

    ¡°Yeah, my dad was even taller than I am now, though. However, people did say I looked more like my mom.¡±

    I inspected the picture more closely. It¡¯s true that their faces looked rather similar.

    ¡°Wait, there¡¯s a picture in here where it¡¯s clearer.¡± Lauren took the page and flipped it, she then pointed at a picture on the bottom left of the page. It was a close-up of Lauren¡¯s mom, who had her picture taken with her friends in what looks to be a bar of some kind. With her brown hair tied back in a ponytail, the similarities did become very obvious.

    ¡°Wow, it¡¯s almost like two buckets of water.¡±

    ¡°Two drops.¡± Lauren laughed. ¡°Not two buckets.¡±

    ¡°Ah. Whoops.¡±

    Lauren continued chuckling. ¡°But when it comes to personality, I¡¯m a bit of a combination between my mom and my dad though. I¡¯m not nearly as much of a party animal like my mom was when she was young.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you used to go out to watch the polar lights quite often?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t say I was the quiet homely type either.¡± She bumped her shoulder against mine.

    ¡°Hehe.¡±

    We browsed through some more pictures of Lauren¡¯s parents before we finally got to the marriage pictures.

    ¡°My mom was a couple of weeks pregnant with me when they got married. She didn¡¯t really know that at the time, though.¡±

    ¡°Oh, it must have been quite the surprise, then?¡±

    ¡°Well, my mom did always say I was the wedding gift that she enjoyed the most.¡± She started to tear up a little after she¡¯d said that.

    ¡°We don¡¯t need to look at these if you don¡¯t want to.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. I just¡­ I just miss her¡­ A lot¡­ And my dad too of course... But I also really want to share these pictures with you. I¡¯m just going to be a bit emotional.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s perfectly understandable.¡± I once again rubbed her back. ¡°Don¡¯t hold anything back, okay? You can be as open with me as you want.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡± She quickly took out a handkerchief and blew her nose. ¡°It¡¯s going to be a rainy day too when we go to visit them, but I will definitely feel better afterwards.¡±

    It took me a couple of seconds to understand what she had said, but when I got it, it did make sense. ¡°Mhmm,¡± I nodded. ¡°After rain comes sunshine, right?¡±

    Lauren laughed and wiped away a tear from the corner of her eye. ¡°It does. That was quite a good one.¡±

    ¡°Ready to continue?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s.¡± She nodded.

    Some more pages later we arrived at Lauren¡¯s first baby pictures. It was really cute to see baby Lauren all dressed up in her pink onesies. But sadly for me the baby picture period ended too soon, but on the other hand, it did mean seeing more pictures about the rest of her life. The first photo album came to an end when Lauren was about ten years old.

    After that we swiftly moved on to the blue album. This one contained the first holiday pictures that I¡¯d seen of her together with her parents.

    ¡°Do you remember this trip?¡± I asked, pointing at a picture where Lauren was building a sand-castle with her dad.

    ¡°I do.¡± She nodded. ¡°That¡¯s our trip we took to the Australian Commonwealth. I distinctly remember it feeling way too hot for my liking. And I¡¯m pretty sure my dad went home with a heat stroke. Apparently it wasn¡¯t even that much of a warm period for the locals. But when you are used to the Antarctic climate¡­¡±

    ¡°I can imagine that. Did you have fun though?¡±

    ¡°Definitely!¡± Lauren smiled brightly. ¡°For my dad that was also one of his first trips outside of the Antarctic region so we had lots of fun doing things that neither of us had done before. Like building castles in sand. Sand is quite a rubbish construction material compared to snow though when it comes to small castles.¡±

    I chuckled. ¡°I suppose it is. Not that I have tried myself though.¡±

    ¡°Well if I take you on that trip I promised, then you can try out for yourself so you can tell the difference.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯d be fun, yeah. But do be careful not to get a heatstroke yourself.¡±

    ¡°Should bring Eva along so I got my doctor with me already.¡±

    I laughed. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind it if she would come along.¡±

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you? I was just joking.¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°There¡¯s still plenty of times we can be alone right? Even if we take the trip together. A holiday with her wouldn¡¯t be bad. She is one of my only friends after all.¡±

    ¡°Huh, I hadn¡¯t thought about it that way. I¡¯ll ask her when I talk to her again.¡± Lauren nodded. ¡°A trip with friends is definitely something that we should do before we get called back to action.¡±

    ¡°Plus, I kind of want to know what Eva looks like in a bathing suit.¡±

    That comment made Lauren laugh quite badly. ¡°That¡¯s not a very pure thought of you but I can understand the sentiment.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just curious, that¡¯s all.¡± After I had said that, a thought suddenly came to mind. Wait¡­ Would Lauren even be able to go to a beach with her shoulder¡­

 Chapter 55: Shork Fit

    ¡°Hey, Lauren¡­¡± Luna looked at me with a guilty look painted on her face.

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    ¡°Would you be able to go to a beach¡­ you know¡­ with your arm being like it is and everything.¡±

    ¡°Ah. So that¡¯s why you were making a weird face.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a bit of an awkward question¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, you are not wrong to ask it. But it¡¯s not going to be a problem.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Depending on when we go, it¡¯s really not that hard to rent a piece of private beach, especially if we don¡¯t go to one of the mass tourism spots. So really, don¡¯t worry too much about that. And I¡¯m sure that Eva could even find something even cheaper than what I¡¯m thinking of. She¡¯s very knowledgeable about those kinds of things.¡±

    ¡°Even though she is called Winter?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, exactly.¡± I laughed. ¡°If you think about it that way, our last names should definitely have been switched.¡±

    Luna smiled and stuck out a little bit of her tongue. After that, we continued to view through the rest of the photos. While I managed to keep it dry for most of them. As we got closer and closer to the last pictures my parents had kept, it was getting more and more difficult to keep my composure. I finally broke down crying when we got to the loose pictures of the start of my military career, especially the notes that my parents had left on the reverse side of them hit like a truck. I was glad Luna was there with me, as I¡¯d often not even dare to touch these pictures. Seeing their notes of them being proud of me as their daughter did mean a lot to me.

    Luna had begun to tear up a little as well as we reached the last photograph I had sent them after my promotion to Sergeant Major.

    ¡®Put this one at the center of the page!¡¯ was scribbled on the back in my mom¡¯s enthusiastic handwriting.

    ¡°They were great parents.¡± Luna collected the pictures and put them back in the box, after which she gave me a hug. Goddess knows I needed it. ¡°Anyone who would read this would be able to tell.¡±

    ¡°They were.¡± I sniffled. ¡°I really regret not coming home sooner¡­ I should¡¯ve been here when the invasion started. Maybe I could¡¯ve made a difference¡­¡±

    ¡°Do you want to talk about it?¡± Luna asked. ¡°Maybe that helps.¡±

    I nodded into her neck, I didn¡¯t want to let her go. Instead, I just hugged her tighter against me as I began my little story. ¡°Back when the invasion of the Antarctic region first started, I was on an assignment back in the Asian region. I volunteered for it as we were having a bit of a lul in combat at the time. It seemed like the Antis were on the backfoot and the Federation was using that time to build up their forces again. The mission involved a certain degree of radio silence and when we got back on air¡­¡±

    ¡°You heard about the invasion?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ The Antis completely blindsided us. Somehow hiding that entire operation and hitting us where we least expected it. This entire region was of no big strategic value to either party, so it had been mostly ignored¡­ Until the Antis launched their terror campaign here. The start of their last-ditch efforts of forcing us into a truce. It was outright gruesome, even if the rest of the war already was, this was exponentially worse. Civilian centers were hit hard, and they outright ignored Federation military positions, just trying to cause the highest degree of terror they could. The same day I heard about the invasion, I transferred here¡­ But it was already too late¡­ It makes me so angry¡­¡±

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    ¡°Could you have done anything about it? As you said, they were ignoring military positions anyway.¡±

    I shook my head in admittance. ¡°Probably not¡­ But at least I could¡¯ve tried something¡­ Anything¡­¡±

    ¡°... And what happened to the people who were behind the attacks?¡±

    ¡°We wiped every single one of them out. And when the war ended, the generals responsible were swiftly dealt with in court. So at least that¡¯s something.¡± By now, my sadness had turned into anger. But the presence of Luna reminded me that it was all done and over with. There was no point in being angry at ghosts. ¡°Thanks again for being here for me, Luna.¡±

    She patted me on the back while still hugging me. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I¡¯m happy that you shared these pictures with me. I feel like I¡¯ve learned a lot about your parents today, and that makes me really glad. Are we going to visit them soon?¡±

    I distanced myself a little from her and smiled. ¡°Let¡¯s do so when we got your new clothes. Are you okay with that?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± She nodded.

    Luna put the box away with me and tidied up the bed. After which we headed back downstairs so we could order some clothes for Luna while chilling on the sofa. Neither of us were hungry yet thanks to our rather big lunch and as for the duster I decided to wait a bit longer before putting my hands to use, Ellie wanted to take a look at it first anyway, and I wasn¡¯t in a big rush to fix it.

    We prepared some hot chocolate for the both of us and cuddled up together in the sofa.

    ¡°Can you give me your holo stick again? That way, we don¡¯t need to insert your sizes anymore.¡± That was one of the more useful features of holo stick integration that most shops used. You never really had to figure out what sizes to order, as your holo stick already knows what those sizes are. Even for different clothing models, it would still fit the size that fits your body best.

    Luna handed the holo stick over to me ¡°Do you know which shops have good clothes?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll just order at the stores I usually order at.¡± I started browsing through a variety of shops. The list had expanded quite a lot since the last time I had browsed it. A couple of the stores I knew had also disappeared, but luckily it seemed like the ones I used most were still available.

    ¡°Do they have cute options too?¡±

    ¡°Definitely.¡± Once I had selected one of the stores I gave the holo stick back to Luna. ¡°This store has crazy good quality clothes. It¡¯s a bit more expensive but I think it¡¯s worth it.¡±

    ¡°It looks like they have a big selection as well.¡± Luna was browsing through the clothes faster than I could follow. ¡°Oh.¡±

    ¡°Did you find something you like?¡±

    She nodded happily and turned the screen to me. It showed a winter outfit of which the vest was a combination of whites and a light pink, it had a bit of a heart pattern on the sleeve as well. Which was obvious enough for you to notice it and not too in your face so that it would pull all the attention to it. Just a nice accent. ¡°What do you think?¡±

    ¡°I think it would definitely suit you. Just the right amount of cute, not to overcute your cuteness. I like it.¡±

    Luna rolled her eyes and bumped against me, after which she started giggling. ¡°Can I order it?¡±

    ¡°Why not. I¡¯ll pay for it.¡± I took out my holo stick myself and tapped it against her. It filled in the billing information for my account, while keeping Luna¡¯s sizes and everything else set. ¡°Don¡¯t forget to buy other things too, like boots and underwear. And don¡¯t think you have to limit yourself to one jacket, either. In other words. Feel free to let me spoil you.¡±

    She blushed. ¡°Okay, thanks.¡±

    It was really fun to see her browse through the selection of clothes. By the look on Luna¡¯s face, you could immediately tell if she liked a piece of clothing or not. And whenever she got really enthusiastic about a piece, she would show it to me almost immediately.

    We were having a really good time. So much so that I needed to remind myself not to let our hot chocolates get cold.

    ¡°Oh! Oh! Oh! Lauren! Look at this!¡± I¡¯d just put the cup of hot chocolate to my lips as Luna enthusiastically tried to get my attention. I almost spit out the hot chocolate because the intensity with which she did so surprised me a little.

    I quickly put my cup back down to see what she was one about. Once I did, I was incredibly happy I did not currently have a hot beverage in my mouth though, as I¡¯d probably have spit it out for sure. The image in front of me was a hoodie of which the hood resembled the mouth of a shark. Not much unlike the sharky that I had bought for her.

    ¡°What? Don¡¯t you like it.¡±

    ¡°No, on the contrary. I think it¡¯s great, brilliant even, and you should definitely buy it.¡± While it looked funny, Luna would for sure look cute as fuck in it. ¡°In fact, you should buy one in pink too.¡±

    Luna grinned and quickly added a couple of them to the cart. I really can¡¯t wait until the order arrives. I really want to see her in that.

 Chapter 56: You are Home

    ¡°All I need to do next is select a delivery method?¡± Luna tilted the holo stick to show the screen to me a bit better.

    ¡°Yeah, you can go ahead and check the drone delivery method. It¡¯s a bit more expensive, but that way you should get your package tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t we take the cheaper option?¡±

    ¡°We could, but that takes very very long.¡± I looked over and scrolled down to the bottom of the page, where all the delivery methods were. ¡°The others would all require at least a week and they aren¡¯t even all cheaper than the drone¡±.

    ¡°That long!?¡±

    ¡°The others mainly require humans to do the work. Getting the package here also takes a lot longer. The drone is just the best option on this side of the world.¡± I shrugged.

    ¡°Oh, okay.¡± She hovered her finger over the drone option, looking at me. I nodded in confirmation.

    Just like that, the order was placed and my bank account was just a tiny bit lighter than before. Not that I minded, at all. And it was not like I was going to run out of money any time soon. Being a war-hero luckily came with a war-hero paycheck in my case.

    ¡°What now?¡± Luna asked, putting the holo stick away.

    ¡°Now we wait.¡± I smirked.

    ¡°I meant, what are we going to do now.¡± She pushed me lightly by the shoulder.

    I chuckled. ¡°Hehe. How about we just cuddle a bit? I¡¯m still not really hungry.¡±

    ¡°I could live with that.¡± She smiled.

    ¡°Alright, let me get the fireplace going again for some added coziness and after that I¡¯m all yours.¡± I leant in and gave her a kiss, after which I stood up to go and get some fire going.

    ¡°Oh!¡± Luna called out as I did. ¡°Could I light it? I kinda want to try. But I don¡¯t really know how to do it, though.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s very self-explanatory.¡± I turned around and offered my hand to help her out of the sofa. Once I had pulled her out, Luna walked past me and crouched down in front of the fireplace. ¡°You just need to introduce the fire to the wood, think you can manage that?¡±

    ¡°Maybe only just.¡± She looked back at me and stuck out her tongue.

    I smiled and walked over, crouching down next to her. I handed over the first of the logs and then started explaining how to best light a fire. As expected of Luna, she got it rather quickly.

    ¡°It¡¯s quite fun to do things with your hands sometimes, isn¡¯t it?¡± She said as she had lit up the logs and watched it burn with gleeful eyes.

    ¡°It is. That¡¯s also one of the reasons why I like to repair things with my own hands when I can, rather than rely on a repairman or a maintenance droid or something like that. It¡¯s fun to see things work that you have just put together yourself. It just adds that little bit extra. It¡¯s the same with cooking.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Luna nodded. ¡°A sense of pride and accomplishment.¡±

    I chuckled. ¡°I guess so, indeed.¡±

    After watching the fire for a little bit longer, the both of us got back into the sofa. I got in first just so I could be the big spoon for my beautiful girlfriend. When she was nestled against me, I took a blanket and draped it over us.

    ¡°I might fall asleep like this¡­¡± Luna commented, turning her head just a little to the left towards me.

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind if you do. The thing that matters most is that you are comfy.¡± I kissed the back of her head.

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    ¡°I¡¯m definitely comfy, alright.¡± She giggled and turned her face towards the fireplace again. ¡°You do really have a beautiful home, Lauren. I really wish that I could say the same about mine.¡±

    ¡°This can be your home too.¡± I pulled her closer by wrapping my arms around her waist. ¡°There¡¯s nothing that stops you, right?¡±

    ¡°... there¡¯s the duty towards my people, though¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s your mission, but not your home. Home is where you want it to be, not where you are from. For me, those two just coincide, but it really doesn¡¯t need to. You can still uphold your duties towards your people while being happy in your own right.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm, some of them would definitely call that some kind of heretical thoughts.¡±

    ¡°Then they definitely have their priorities backwards if you ask me.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not wrong about that¡­¡± Luna paused for a while. ¡°I just hope it will never come to a clash between Earth and the Conglomerate.¡±

    A light just started burning in a dark room inside of my head. ¡°If you consider Earth your home¡­ And your duty to your people is to avoid a clash between the Conglomerate and Earth, then doing so is helping both your own people, as your home, right? I know that changes absolutely nothing, but that¡¯s kinda funny now that I think about it.¡±

    ¡°Avoiding the destruction of earth is funny?¡± Luna turned her head towards me slightly yet again.

    ¡°You know what I meant.¡± I prodded her in the side, which evoked a little giggle out of her.

    ¡°I do. It does sound kind of poetic if you say it like that.¡± Luna fell silent after that, perhaps lost in thoughts.

    ¡°By the way.¡± I broke the silence. ¡°Do you think it would be that easy for the Conglomerate to destroy Earth? You¡¯ve seen the buildup in orbit, right?¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡± Luna hummed. ¡°That¡¯s true, Earth is really building up its military might, but that might be a bit counterproductive as it¡¯s possible that The Conglomerate will see that as a threat. On the other hand¡­ We have sent reports about what we have encountered during our travels and that we¡¯ve reported back to Earth about it. So it would only be logical for a species that has encountered such a threat to build up forces rather quickly¡­ And as we have had quite hard proof that we have fought the Empire, it might be so that The Conglomerate might actually see Earth as a useful ally.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m much more of a fan of the allied option rather than the other.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Luna nodded. ¡°Me too. Although you will need to be a bit careful with that as well.¡±

    ¡°What exactly do you mean with that?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a reason why it¡¯s called the Conglomerate, you know.¡± She replied. ¡°It¡¯s because it used to be one entity that along the way has conglomerated more and more of its neighbors. They started off as allies or vassals, but have now all joined together.¡±

    ¡°Peacefully?¡±

    "Mostly. But it¡¯s not good for their individuality. If you join the Conglomerate, you need to play by the Conglomerate¡¯s rule book after all.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, I don¡¯t really think that¡¯s going to happen any time soon with us humans. If I know anything about us as a species, and our leadership as a whole, it¡¯s that we do like to be ourselves quite a bit.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s also the impression I got. But it¡¯s still something to be mindful about.¡±

    ¡°One step at a time, I¡¯d say. We¡¯ll see when we get there.¡±

    ¡°That might happen sooner or later, though. Space might be a very big place, but with your luck and if we are ever allowed to leave again, we¡¯ll probably run into them after some time¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s quite a bit of foreshadowing, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°I suppose so.¡± Luna definitely sounded quite down now, but I had the perfect plan to cheer her up.

    I leant in to whisper into her ear. ¡°Hey, at least I know one thing for sure.¡±

    ¡°And what¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s that first contact already went splendidly, wouldn¡¯t you agree?¡±

    Before she could reply, I softly nibbled her ear. That made her yelp.

    ¡°L-Lauren!¡±

    ¡°Hmmm?¡± I acted like I didn¡¯t know about anything and just continued kissing the back of her neck. While at first she kind of tried to get me to stop, after only a couple of seconds that restraint faded away like snow in the desert.

    ¡°You are unbelievable.¡±

    ¡°Unbelievably cool, handsome and an amazing girlfriend?¡±

    I couldn¡¯t see it, but I knew Luna was just rolling her eyes at my comment right now. She giggled and then pushed herself back into me. ¡°Shush¡­ Just continue what you are doing.¡±

    ¡°Aye aye, ma¡¯am. You don¡¯t need to tell me that twice.¡± With Luna in between my arms, I just kept kissing her softly for a while longer before we just continued cuddling normally.

    After some time, I noticed Luna¡¯s breathing had become even calmer. So when I lifted myself just a tad so I could see her face, it wasn¡¯t a big surprise to see she had closed her eyes and had dozed off. I hummed to myself contently and laid back down behind my girlfriend. Honestly, if I never had to return to space ever again, and the two of us could live like this forever. I¡¯d be perfectly fine with that. But who else could prevent Earth from getting into some shit with alien empires? I do feel a lot more comfortable to bear that responsibility myself, rather than to hand it over to someone I don¡¯t know¡­

 Chapter 57: Pull the lever, Ellie

    After an hour or two, I felt Luna moving a bit. I had not really fallen asleep myself, as I was just having a rather good time being in the presence of my girlfriend.

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ Lauren¡­.¡± Luna pushed herself into me just a tad.

    ¡°Mhmm?¡± I hummed back.

    ¡°I think I¡¯m getting a bit hungry¡­ But I don¡¯t want to get up¡­¡±

    ¡°So you are bribing me with your body so I go make you some food.¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say bribing¡­ Just convincing¡­¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± I chuckled. ¡°But if I want to do that, I would need to get out of the sofa first. Are you really okay with that?¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± Her stomach grumbled, after which she slowly turned her head towards me. She then squinted. ¡°I suppose it¡¯s a sacrifice I¡¯m willing to make.¡±

    I laughed and gave her a kiss on her cheek. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll go and make us something.¡± Getting out of the sofa with an unwilling to move Luna inside of it too was a bit of a precarious operation. But I managed to complete it without any casualties.

    When I had gotten out, I used the blanket to wrap Luna nice and tight so she wouldn¡¯t get cold.

    ¡°What about some spicy tacos, would you be interested in that?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave the choices up to you.¡± Luna replied from within her blanket burrito. ¡°But that does sound rather good.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± I leaned in to give Luna one more kiss, after which I moved to the kitchen to prepare us some tacos. With my knife in hand and vegetables and meat in front of me, I would make short business of the task at hand.

    ¡°Can I watch the television for a bit, Lauren?¡± Luna asked from the living room.

    ¡°Sure, mi casa es su casa as the Spanish would say. It works the same as the one in my cabin.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± My girlfriend called back.

    It had been a while since I¡¯d actually made tacos by hand, but just like riding a snow cycle, it wasn¡¯t something you unlearned easily.

    With a plate full of freshly made and rather spicy tacos, I walked back to the sofa, Luna was watching some kind of nature documentary.

    As I sat down next to her and put the plate on the living room table, she sat up. ¡°Wasn¡¯t there anything else on the television, or were you just terribly intrigued by the life of alpacas?¡±

    ¡°I was more interested in the life of the people that they filmed in those villages.¡± Luna replied back. ¡°Do people really still live like that?¡±

    I paid some closer attention to the documentary she was watching. It portrayed a small village in a mountain range, which I assumed was the Andes. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m pretty sure they still do.¡± I nodded. ¡°It¡¯s rather hard to build megacities in mountains, after all. A lot of those people who still live there are descendants from those who really didn¡¯t like all the progress talk and things like that.¡±

    ¡°It seems like a rather peaceful life.¡±

    ¡°Surely, but I also think it''s a hard life. Instead of going to the market for your taco ingredients, those people grow all their food themselves. It does have its charms, but I don¡¯t think I could live like that to be honest.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± Luna nodded and took one of the tacos I had prepared for her. The look of contentment after she had taken the first bite was plenty payment enough for the effort I¡¯d spent making them. ¡°I think I also much rather prefer this kind of life.¡±

    We ate our tacos in peace while we continued watching the documentary. It started talking about other animals as well who live in the Andes, like the Andean condor, llama¡¯s, mountain tapirs and cougars. All by all, a rather interesting documentary if you asked me.

    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    With our dinner now finished, I decided that I should work a bit on Dusty the auto duster.

    ¡°Are you going to call Ellie?¡± Luna had gotten up from the sofa to help me with the dishes.

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll call her in a bit.¡± I took a quick look at my holo stick. A part of me had expected her to call back earlier, but she must really have tried to keep our privacy. Which was much appreciated.

    When we were done putting the dishes in the dishwasher, we both took a seat at the dinner table, where the auto duster was set up. A quick dial on my holostick later, our lovely AI comrade picked up.

    ¡°Hey there Ellie. I hope we aren¡¯t disturbing your background program maintenance.¡±

    ¡°No, I just finished with that.¡± Ellie quickly replied. ¡°I hope you two have had a nice evening together.¡±

    ¡°Yep. We just finished our dinner!¡± Luna replied enthusiastically. ¡°Lauren made us some tacos.¡±

    ¡°Oh, Commander, I didn¡¯t know you had culinary talents?¡± Ellie¡¯s avatar crossed her arms and she shifted her weight to one of her legs.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be so bratty, Ellie. I know for a fact you¡¯ve seen me cook multiple times on-board.¡± I smiled.

    Ellie chuckled. ¡°Please do tell me if I need to tone myself down. I¡¯m still quite new to human interactions.¡±

    ¡°No, I think your sass level is just about right.¡± I replied. ¡°Anyway, you wanted to help me with Dusty?¡±

    ¡°Dusty?¡±

    ¡°Ah, right.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, I gave it a name.¡± Luna apologized.

    ¡°Oh, well, yes, if you would allow me to help. I can definitely make several improvements.¡±

    ¡°Do you need any materials?¡± I asked.

    ¡°There¡¯s a couple of parts I would need, yes. But adding those afterwards won¡¯t be very hard. For now, we can already work on the software framework and maybe tidy up a bit of the hardware.¡±

    ¡°Alright, you just tell me what to order then.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve already sent a list to your holostick, Commander.¡±

    ¡°Diligent as always.¡± I pressed the pop-up that appeared in the corner of the screen. It wasn¡¯t that much of a hefty list of parts, and it was honestly a lot less expensive than I was expecting. One part did surprise me, though. ¡°Why do you need a hologram projector?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ That¡¯s actually what I wanted to ask earlier¡­ I was thinking that perhaps¡­ I could use the duster to project my image when we are talking with one-another. That way, you don¡¯t always need your holostick around. I can remove it out of the list if you don¡¯t want that.¡±

    I looked at Luna who smiled back at me, she gave me a slight nod as well.

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind, don¡¯t mind it at all, in fact. I think that would actually be rather cool. But, Ellie, am I allowed to ask you a personal question?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Commander.¡±

    ¡°How would you feel if you actually got a body of your own. And then I¡¯m not talking about a holographic one. An actual physical body.¡±

    Ellie stayed quiet for a bit. Even her avatar wasn¡¯t really moving either. I was almost starting to get worried until Ellie finally replied. ¡°I think¡­ I would like that¡­¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°Ellie, since when have you started to feel this way? If I might ask.¡± Luna asked.

    ¡°What do you mean, Lieutenant-Commander?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t take this the wrong way, but on the ship, for most of the part that I can remember anyway, you weren¡¯t really showing any intent of appearing more human.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d also like to know.¡± I added. ¡°We were actually talking about this earlier, but is this perhaps an effect of you getting that update back on the precursor¡¯s planet?¡±

    ¡°...¡± Ellie stayed silent for a couple of seconds.

    ¡°Just to clarify. Neither me nor Luna think you did something bad, we don¡¯t think that what¡¯s happening is negative. We do not want to force you back. We just want to know what you think. You are the smartest among all of us, you must have noticed it yourself, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we really don¡¯t think what¡¯s happening is bad.¡± Luna added.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Ellie finally spoke again. ¡°That means a lot to me.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. We are crewmates, after all. And as your Commanding officer, and friend, I am concerned with your wellbeing.¡±

    Ellie¡¯s avatar nodded. ¡°I do also think this is a side effect of what I have downloaded back on the precursor planet. At first, I tried to write it out of my programming. But it seems as though the data has fundamentally changed something about me, which I can not seem to stop. It did not pose any threat to the ship, however, so I decided not to worry you with it until I knew more. It has not affected my functioning as a whole, apart from making my systems more efficient.

    ¡°It¡¯s an interesting concept. An alien datapack making an AI more humanlike.¡±

    ¡°It is.¡± Ellie agreed. ¡°I am really curious to why exactly it happened.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s keep an eye on it for the future. As for your body¡­ Can¡¯t really help too much with that apart from the hologram.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s all I¡¯m asking, Commander.¡±

    I nodded and gave her a smile. ¡°Then let¡¯s order the stuff you need and then see what we can do about Dusty for now.¡±

 Chapter 57 Bis: Freeze-Dried

    Ellie gave us some basic instructions to already prepare Dusty for a somewhat bigger operation when we got the parts later. It included us having to open up Dusty and soldering a bit. Luckily for Ellie, Lauren was quite handy with that though, and she apparently also had some printplates lying around that suited Ellie¡¯s plans too.

    ¡°I am surprised you had these lying around, Commander.¡± Ellie said as Lauren finished soldering.

    ¡°What can I say, I bought those just in case I needed them to fix Dusty with, never had to use them before, but I¡¯m rather glad now I had them.¡± Lauren put the soldering station to the side. ¡°Is there anything else we can do at the moment?¡±

    ¡°Can you hook up your holo stick to the printplate slot?¡±

    ¡°Sure thing.¡± Lauren nods and attaches the holostick to it with a small retractable wire.

    ¡°What are you doing with it, Ellie?¡± I asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m just writing a small program for it. It will make it clean better and it lays the groundwork for what we want to do with it later.¡± After just a second of being attached, the small wire detached from the printplate and zoomed back into the holo stick. ¡°Done. You can close it up again now.¡±

    Lauren did as Ellie had said. ¡°And now we just turn it on?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    With a press of a button on Lauren¡¯s holo stick, Dusty¡¯s propellers started zooming and after a quick spin up, Dusty was already airborne. Instead of flying off, however, Dusty kept flying around Lauren.

    ¡°Uhm, this isn¡¯t how it normally behaves.¡± Lauren looks at Dusty as it slowly flies around her.

    ¡°Yes, I gave it a small AI program with a bit of a personality.¡±

    ¡°Ellie¡­.¡±

    ¡°I thought that since you gave it a name, you would want it to act a little bit more¡­ independently too.¡±

    ¡°And why exactly is it hovering around me?¡± Just as Lauren said that, Dusty slowly flew closer and softly landed on top of Lauren¡¯s had. It looked quite comical.

    ¡°Because it sees you as her mother.¡± Ellie replied matter-of-factly.

    ¡°Mother?¡±

    I scratched my chin. ¡°Well, I guess you did assemble it.¡±

    ¡°But Ellie wrote the program though.

    ¡°I¡¯m just the aunt.¡±

    Lauren sighed, rolling her eyes at the same time, and then smiled. ¡°Well, I guess it doesn¡¯t hurt.¡± She then carefully lifted Dusty from the top of her head and held it in front of her. ¡°Dusty, could you go and clean up mom¡¯s room?¡± She asked.

    The Dusty¡¯s propellers zoomed twice, sounding quite enthusiastic in a weird kind of way.

    ¡°Alright, thanks a lot.¡± Lauren smiled and put Dusty in front of her on the table, after which it quickly darted off up the stairs.

    The three of us followed it with our gazes as it went off.

    ¡°Now I just hope it won¡¯t get too sad when we go off into space again.¡± Lauren commented. ¡°There¡¯s no way I won¡¯t bond with the little guy¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, he¡¯ll be fine, and if not we can always bring him along back on the ship. A personal cleaner bot was allowed, last time I checked.¡± I patted Lauren on the back.

    ¡°Ellie, what in the name of the Goddess are you doing to us?¡± She laughed. ¡°Now I¡¯m already worrying about my auto duster.

    ¡°Commander, I can¡¯t help it that you quickly bond with things.¡±

    ¡°I suppose that is true¡­¡±

    ¡°And one of those things is me.¡± I stuck out my thing slightly

    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    Lauren chuckled at my comment. ¡°And that is definitely true.¡± She leaned in to give me a kiss on my cheek. ¡°And I¡¯m very happy about that.¡±

    We continued chatting for a bit until Lauren started yawning. ¡°Oh damn, looks like I¡¯m more tired than I thought I would be.¡±

    ¡°You did manage to do quite a lot of work today, I¡¯m not really surprised you are. Did you manage to get some sleep in while I was taking a nap?¡±

    She shook her head. ¡°Not at all.¡±

    ¡°Ellie.¡± I turned my head towards the holo stick. ¡°Could you leave us for the day? It might be best to get this woman into a bed before she falls asleep. I doubt I can carry her up the stairs by myself.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll leave myself out.¡± Ellie replied, her avatar clearly chuckling. ¡°I won¡¯t be calling tomorrow either to give you some privacy. That and I heard some technicians were coming around for some retrofits too.¡±

    ¡°Alright. We¡¯ll see you around later then?¡± Lauren asked.

    ¡°Yes. When the time has passed for the parts to be delivered, I will contact you again. Have a nice day, you two.¡±

    ¡°You too, Ellie. Take care.¡±

    ¡°Bye bye, Ellie.¡± Once I had said my goodbyes, Ellie hung up the connection on her end.

    Lauren yawned once more and then stood up.

    ¡°Are you going to bed right now?¡±

    ¡°No, I still want to drink a cup of instant soup if that¡¯s alright with you.¡±

    ¡°Can I have some as well?¡±

    She smiled and gave me a wink. ¡°Sure.¡±

    As Lauren walked up to the kitchen counter, I stood up as well and followed her. I don¡¯t really recall taking any instant soup with me from the store. ¡°Do you have any lying around?¡±

    ¡°I do.¡± She opened one of the top cabinets and reached inside. ¡°I always keep a stash of it, since these things last forever. They are freeze-dried. Be warned though, they do taste different, even different from the ones we had on board of the ship.¡±

    ¡°But you like them?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a kind of comfort food for me. Well¡­ As much as you can call them food to begin with, at least. They don¡¯t really fill that much but that¡¯s why they are nice to have just before bed.¡± She looked happily at the red box in her hand. She then shook it, the rattling sound indicating that it wasn¡¯t empty. ¡°Tomato soup good for you?¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± I nodded.

    Lauren started to boil some water with the water boiler and sat on the kitchen cabinet while we waited. Her yawning really wasn¡¯t getting better.

    ¡°I think I will sleep really well today. First time in quite a while in my very own bed.¡± She looked to the left towards the staircase. ¡°As long as Dusty didn¡¯t burn the bed down, at least.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure he is doing well.¡± I hopped on the cabinet next to her.

    Lauren almost immediately put her hand on my thigh. Not really saying anything, just smiling and listening to the water boiling.

    I put my hand on hers and just smiled back. That¡¯s why I almost had a heart attack when the water boiler popped, signaling the water was now well and truly hot. It had made me jump of the counter in quite a hurry.

    ¡°Hehe.¡± Lauren chuckled. ¡°You alright there?¡± She then hopped off the counter as well.

    ¡°Just lost half my lifespan, I think.¡± I held my hand close to my chest.

    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t you dare die on me.¡±

    ¡°I feel like that¡¯s generally more my line than it is yours¡­¡±

    Lauren poured some of the freeze-dried soup into my cup, followed up with the hot water. Handing me a spoon so I could stir it around. She then followed it up with her own cup of soup.

    The soup cooled slowly as we kept standing. While Lauren had offered to me that I could take a seat again, I opted to keep standing next to her, leaning against the counter and watching over her living room.

    ¡°I wonder what kind of house Eva lives in¡­¡± I pondered as the silence really made for a good environment for such a thing. ¡°Have you been to her place?¡±

    Lauren nodded. ¡°I have, only once before, though.¡±

    ¡°And? What does it look like?¡±

    ¡°Hmmm. Why don¡¯t you guess for a bit?¡±

    ¡°But I want to know!¡± I pouted.

    ¡°I find it more fun for you to guess, though.¡± She smirked. ¡°Now that you¡¯ve seen mine, you should be able to make a guess, right?¡±

    I continued pouting at Lauren while I started thinking aloud. ¡°She will definitely have her walls filled better than you do.¡±

    ¡°I mean, that¡¯s a given, isn¡¯t it?¡± Lauren laughed. ¡°Mine are practically empty.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ For some reason¡­ When I try to imagine it, I see a lot of posters.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s actually a rather good guess.¡± Lauren admitted. ¡°When I was there, she had a lot of posters from bands hanging around the place. Now that I think about it, it¡¯s probably posters of citypop bands. She does like listening to that kind of music.¡±

    ¡°Wait, you saw the posters and you didn¡¯t bother to ask?¡± I countered.

    ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯m sure I meant to ask it, but it had just skipped my mind at the time. You know how it goes, you want to ask something to a friend of yours but then the conversation doesn¡¯t go that way, and then you are talking about something completely different and in the end you just outright forget what you wanted to ask in the first place.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t say I¡¯ve had something like that happen to me yet.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it will come in time. Especially if you keep hanging around which us humans, and dear Goddess, I sure hope you do keep hanging around me.¡±

    ¡°You romantic, you.¡± I blushed.

    ¡°I know.¡± She giggled and sipped from her soup.

 Chapter 58: I Object

    When dusty came back downstairs, I knew the time for bed had come. We had just finished our tasty freeze-dried soup and the warm feeling inside of my tummy was quickly starting to make me even drowsier.

    I double-checked if everything was locked and all the lights were shut off before we headed upstairs, saying good night to our auto dusting friend first of course. It answered with a quick twirl of its propellers.

    Luna walked in front of me, but when she got to the bed, she stopped. ¡°Uh¡­¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I asked, looking around her to see if Dusty had somehow messed up the bed. But when I looked, it looked perfectly fine to me.

    ¡°What side do you want me to sleep on?¡± She asked.

    ¡°Ah.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I thought you had discovered something serious.¡±

    ¡°It is a bit serious, though.¡± Luna pouted.

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t really mind what side, but if you don¡¯t feel comfortable with choosing we can just keep the same positions we held on board the ship.¡±

    ¡°So, me on the left side of the bed?¡±

    ¡°If you are okay with that.¡± I nodded.

    Luna smiled. ¡°Okay.¡± She then walked around the bed and sat on her side. Looking at the room from that perspective. ¡°Yes, I think this could work.¡±

    I chuckled at her little ritual, though I chuckled more because it was cute rather than funny. I knew that for some people it really mattered where exactly they sleep, but for me, it really doesn¡¯t matter as long as we are not getting bombarded. Getting sleep during active combat is really something else entirely, not a fan, but I have had to do it a couple of times before.

    ¡°And do I need to wear something?¡± Luna asked next. That was a question I had expected less.

    ¡°Just do what you are comfy with, Luna. You really don¡¯t need to see this bed as any different from the other places we have slept.¡±

    ¡°But it feels different¡­¡± She replied. ¡°It¡¯s your own bed in your own house¡­¡±

    I breathed in calmly and then gave her a nod, getting on my bed with my knees. I offered her my hands as a sign for her to do the same and join me on top of the bed.

    She hesitated just a second before she took my hands. When she did, I immediately pulled her towards me. The sudden power I had put in made her fall on the bed. In just a couple of moments, I was right on top of her. Her head in between my arms.

    ¡°L-Lauren!??¡± Her face coloured completely red.

    ¡°This is our bed, you know?¡± I said calmly. ¡°The my-part ended the moment you became my girlfriend. This is your place too now.¡±

    ¡°B-but¡­¡± She tried to protest.

    ¡°No buts.¡± I stated. ¡°If you wanted to step out, you should have done so before conquering my heart.¡±

    Luna stared at me, her mouth slightly open. The silence that slowly started to form, gave me just a speck of uncertainty.

    ¡°Well¡­ unless you want to get out of it off-course¡­ I wouldn¡¯t stop you¡­ I wouldn¡¯t like it, but you know¡­ consent and all that¡­¡±

    ¡°Lauren¡­ shut up¡­¡±  She reached for me and just kissed me for a good ten seconds or so. I don¡¯t know, I wasn¡¯t counting. Had a cute girl on my lips. Head empty, just gay. ¡°You are so hopeless¡­ but just as amazing, kind, cool, caring¡­ All of that and more.¡±

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    ¡°Just so you know, I¡¯m this useless because of you.¡±

    ¡°I do know...¡± She blushed.

    I grinned. ¡°Well, and since you started kissing me¡­ I think I¡¯ve worked up another appetite.¡±

    ¡°Oh no.¡±

    ¡°Oh yes.¡±

    She giggled, after which I started kissing her. My tiredness had suddenly lessened by quite a bit.

    Sadly for me, though, the exhaustion did come back in rather brute force ten minutes later. Spending even more energy making out with my girlfriend hadn¡¯t helped. So when I rolled from on top of her to the side, I barely had any strength left to get undressed.

    ¡°Do you want me to help you?¡± Luna had managed to sit back upright on her side of the bed.

    I raised my index finger. ¡°No, I¡¯ll do it myself, just¡­ give me a sec.¡± Then I dropped my arm back down. ¡°Or a minute or so¡­¡±

    Luna sighed, shaking her head and got up, moving around the bed. ¡°I¡¯ll come and help you.¡±

    ¡°No, and that¡¯s an order.¡±

    ¡°The Commander is clearly unfit for command right now, so I¡¯ll be taking the helm.¡± She replied.

    I just stared at her as she was now standing right next to me.

    ¡°Come, let me get you up.¡±

    ¡°Just to be clear, I object to all of this.¡± I gave her my hand so she could pull me up.

    With a little giggle, Luna then started to slowly undress me. Not because she was enjoying it, for the record, she was definitely enjoying it, but more because she wanted to be careful with me.

    ¡°I¡¯m not that frail¡­¡±

    ¡°Even big scary marines can feel pain.¡± She quickly replied to my comment. ¡°You are no different.¡± She was being particularly careful with my shoulder. ¡°Plus, I wouldn¡¯t want you to be declared unfit for duty because I sprained one of your muscles or something like that. Not for my sake, mind you. But I think that news would spread rather quickly in between the crew.¡±

    ¡°Right¡­ that would be unfortunate, wouldn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°I bet Eva would very much like to see it, though.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true, she is a bit of a sadist in that way. As long as it¡¯s just something minor like that, otherwise she¡¯s an angel.¡±

    Luna smiled as she took off my top layer of clothes and put it neatly on the cabinet nearby. I did decide not to let her undress me single-handedly any further, though. Otherwise, I might just fall asleep completely before we are done, and I kind of didn¡¯t want that to happen. I still have a fraction of self-respect, after all.

    Then, when we finally got into bed together, I could just feel Luna cuddle up next to me, and then my lights went out. I cursed myself I couldn¡¯t have stayed awake any longer, but at least I hadn¡¯t dropped into a deep sleep with my clothes still on.

    We spent most of the morning just relaxing and hanging around, getting some food. Just overall getting into a rhythm that would be considered relatively normal for people of the civilian occupation. But the most exciting event of the day was obviously when Luna¡¯s package was finally set to arrive. My holo stick gave me a notification that the delivery drone was within five minutes of its delivery, so both of us dressed nice and warm and went outside into the backyard to go and wait for the delivery. We didn¡¯t really need to be there for the delivery, but Luna was interested in seeing the drone fly in so I gladly humored her.

    ¡°Oh, I think I see it!¡± Luna pointed her mitten straight forward into the darkish sky.

    I could faintly make out an object that was moving, with an alternating white and red light. ¡°Yeah, I think that¡¯s it.¡±

    Luna¡¯s spot was on-point as the drone quickly came closer to us and with a buzzing sound hovered over the backyard for a couple of moments. When it had seen a clear delivery area, it moved over just a little and then lowered down one of the boxes that was hanging underneath it with a wire.

    The clamp to the wire released, leaving the box in the snow. When it had retracted the rope once more, the drone went on its merry way to go and deliver some other boxes to their destinations. From what I could tell we were the drone¡¯s first stop as it was now just missing one of its loading bays.

    Luna walked over to the box in enthusiastically big steps. Picking it up from the snow. ¡°Do we need to wait for Ellie¡¯s parts too?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m pretty sure those will get delivered around midnight. Unless you want to stay outside for that long.¡±

    A gust of wind blew some snow around, visibly sending shivers through Luna¡¯s body. ¡°No. Let¡¯s not do that.¡± She hurried past me back to the door.

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what I thought too.¡± I chuckled to myself.

    Back inside, we unpacked her new clothes from the box as fast as we could. But instead of going after her clothes, first Luna went to town on the box itself.

    ¡°Uh, Luna¡­ What are you doing?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m trying to figure out why the box wasn¡¯t getting wet by being in the snow.¡± She replied, inspecting the outside of the box.

    ¡°Ah¡­ I guess I never really thought about that.¡± I came to stand right next to her and just let her have fun with the box for a bit. -This is the day I learned that Luna was not only alien, but also part cat as well.-

 Chapter 59: Its Called Hospitality

    As luck would have it for me, Luna decided to try on all the clothes that had come in the box. Which led to a lot of undressing right in front of me. As you¡¯d guess, I didn¡¯t mind that one single bit, in the matter of fact, I was actually rather encouraging of that decision.

    I could tell, however, by the rather shy look on her face in the beginning of this little fashion show, that she was definitely doing this to pleasure me too.

    It took her around half an hour to show off everything to me, and I literally do mean everything, as we ended up with the last pieces of clothing, being the cute looking hoodies with the shark mouth motif.

    ¡°You look very huggable, that¡¯s for damn sure.¡± I grinned. ¡°Sharky will definitely agree too.¡±

    ¡°You think so?¡± Luna checked herself out. ¡°Don¡¯t you feel like it shows off my curves too well?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no such thing as showing off curves too well.¡± I replied. ¡°And that¡¯s a scientific fact.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you like the hoodie yourself?¡±

    ¡°I do, and it¡¯s very comfortable too. Maybe I¡¯m just a little bit too self-conscious still.¡±

    ¡°I can assure you, there¡¯s nothing you should be self-conscious about, not in this house.¡± I embraced my girlfriend and gave her a quick kiss on her cheek. ¡°We love sea creatures in this household.¡±

    Luna quickly pushed me away and chuckled. ¡°You derp.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡± I gave her a wink.

    At that moment, my doorbell rang. My holostick simultaneously giving me a buzz so I could look who it was. When I opened it up, I could see the familiar red bobble hats of Martha and Roland in the camera.

    ¡°Oh, look who we have here.¡± I smiled.

    ¡°Who is it?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the couple from next door, I¡¯m going to ask what¡¯s up. Give me a sec.¡± I put the holostick on the table and quickly walked over to the front door. When I opened up, Martha immediately smiled while Roland looked just a tad more¡­ tired?

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Lauren, I really tried to hold her back.¡± He said before his wife could even begin with what she had to say.

    I laughed. ¡°Ah, is this about the cake?¡±

    ¡°We would like to invite you two to lunch and dessert at our home, yes!¡± Martha said enthusiastically.

    ¡°Please don¡¯t feel obliged.¡± Roland continued. ¡°You two have a life of your own too, of course.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, we weren¡¯t really planning on doing much today.¡± I looked back in the direction of the living room. ¡°Luna, would you like to come over to the neighbor¡¯s house for lunch?¡±

    I heard a bonk coming from the living room, after which I heard a hasty scramble. In the matter of seconds, Luna was standing in view of the neighbors, but instead of just wearing her hoodie, she¡¯d pulled a jacket over it as well. It made me have to hold back my laughter, but it seemed like our two friendly neighborhood neighbors didn¡¯t really notice.

    ¡°Y-yes, I would love to come over.¡± She moved her hand as if she was about to salute but then suddenly brought it back down next to her body, giving the neighbors an awkward smile instead.

    ¡°Lovely! Just outright lovely!¡± Martha enthusiastically clapped in her mittened hands and made a little hop of joy.

    Roland rolled his eyes and smiled, looking at me. ¡°You can come over whenever, we will be eating in an hour or so.¡±

    ¡°We will get ready and come over.¡± I replied. I needed to give Luna some time to fix her little fashion conundrum after all.

    ¡°Come on, Martha, let the ladies get ready.¡±

    Martha smiled and waved enthusiastically. ¡°See you in a bit!¡± She kept waving at us until I closed the door. I really liked Martha.

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    ¡°Oh gosh, Lauren, what should I wear?!¡± Luna almost immediately started panicking from the moment we were alone again.

    ¡°Well, definitely not that, you are gonna get a heatstroke if you do that.¡± I pointed at her jacket over hoodie combination. ¡°Why not just go in the hoodie?¡±

    ¡°W-what? Are you serious?¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t see why not. It¡¯s cute as fuck.¡±

    ¡°Lauren¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°You are such a dolt.¡± Luna pouted, huffed and turned around.

    I chuckled and walked towards my girlfriend. ¡°Okay, then what about that black turtleneck you just got? That one should work, right?¡±

    ¡°Hmmm.¡± Luna lowered her arms from their crossed position and walked over to the clothes spread out on the table. ¡°I guess that could do.¡± She held the turtleneck out in front of her body and looked down.

    ¡°Decided?¡±

    ¡°Give me a minute.¡±

    As asked, I gave Luna a minute, a couple of minutes actually, while she went over some other of her new clothes. She looked a bit indecisive, but at last, after ten minutes, she¡¯d finally picked the turtleneck I had suggested.

    When she looked back at me, the look on her face showed some slight confusion. ¡°What are you going with?¡±

    ¡°Me?¡± I tilted my head. ¡°I¡¯m just going with this.¡± I pointed at the military hoodie I was wearing.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that a bit too casual?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Martha and Roland, they are the definition of casual.¡± I replied. ¡°They really don¡¯t mind what you wear.¡±

    That¡¯s when Luna¡¯s pouty face came back in full force. ¡°But then I¡¯ll be too overdressed compared to you.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I got the memo, let me just get my jeans jacket or something like that, buttoned long-sleeve shirt underneath, done.¡±

    Luna didn¡¯t seem terribly convinced by that, but she gave me a golden nod of approval. ¡°I guess that¡¯ll do.¡±

    ¡°Alright, let me go grab it and then we can leave.¡±

    What I said was done, after quickly running upstairs, changing my hoodie for the aforementioned clothing and a little bit of perfume, I got back downstairs to Luna who was getting her new outdoors jacket on. The entire situation did make me laugh a bit as I put on my own jacket.

    ¡°Is something funny?¡±

    ¡°Well, I was just thinking that discussion kind of reminds me of being a married couple. Like those sitcoms sometimes tend to portray.¡± Or like the example of our very own neighbors.

    Luna blushed slightly. ¡°I think I know which ones you mean¡­¡±

    I grinned and gave her a wink. That made the blushing worse, as intended.

    When she had recovered a bit, Luna and I made our way out into the cold for the small distance over to the neighbor¡¯s house. We had only just rung their doorbell when Martha opened it, just as enthusiastically as she was earlier.

    ¡°Welcome! Welcome! Please do come inside!¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡± I smiled as she guided us indoors. It had been quite a while ago since I last visited, but I immediately got hit by the familiar scent of delicious baked goods. Martha had made somewhat of a hobby of it, and she would often also just give cakes and other things to the neighbors, not even asking for any money in return. She did often receive gifts in return though out of thanks from the neighbors, but she really didn¡¯t need that to keep her hobby rolling.

    What also struck me was just how many little things they had gathered around on the cabinets since my last visit. It really started to look a lot like your typical grandparents¡¯ house. A lot of stuff, but somehow still not cluttered.

    ¡°Thank you for having us.¡± Luna talked to Martha, who in turn was just admiring Luna.

    ¡°It¡¯s no problem at all!¡± Martha wobbled happily. ¡°I hope you two are hungry, we are going to have a lot of food ready for the two of you.¡±

    ¡°We are definitely looking forward to it.¡± I smiled.

    We took off our boots and our jackets and then followed Martha to their living room. I could hear Roland being hard at work in the kitchen.

    ¡°Roland! Our guests are here!¡± Martha called out.

    ¡°I know, I heard the doorbell.¡±

    ¡°Come on, come say hi.¡±

    ¡°We just saw them earlier, Martha, if I come over now, the food is going to burn.¡±

    ¡°It already smells delicious.¡± Luna commented.

    ¡°It does.¡± I added. ¡°Is it your famed cinnamon, apple and ricotta cake?¡±

    ¡°Yes! I¡¯m surprised you can tell.¡± Martha laughed.

    ¡°I¡¯ve just got a nose for food.¡± I smiled. ¡°But most of all, I just remember the comforting, sweet scent that it gives off.¡±

    ¡°It is one of my favorites to bake.¡± Martha nodded happily. ¡°Is there anything you two would like to drink?¡±

    ¡°Just some soda or something, if you have anything like that.¡± I replied.

    ¡°For me too.¡±

    Martha nodded and gestured towards two of the seats at the dinner table. I¡¯ll bring it to you in an instant!¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t rush yourself.¡±

    ¡°You know just as much as I do, Lauren, that saying that won¡¯t help at all.¡± Roland¡¯s voice arose from the kitchen. The man still had very good hearing for his age, and as far as I knew he didn¡¯t have any augments.

    ¡°It¡¯s called hospitality, Roland!¡± Martha called back.

    -Gosh, these two are so adorable.-

 Chapter 60: Sweet Sweet Victory

    I was glad Luna seemed to be enjoying the food as much as I was. It definitely had been a good decision to take Roland and Martha up on their offer to come and eat dinner with them. This is something we will not regret any time soon.

    ¡°Can we ask you a couple of questions?¡± Martha asked, looking at Luna and I while we were enjoying the food.

    ¡°Can Martha ask a couple of questions?¡± Roland added. Great comical relief as always.

    ¡°Sure thing, I don¡¯t mind at all.¡± I nodded.

    Luna nodded along too but didn¡¯t say anything as she was just chowing down on a potato croquette.

    ¡°Where did you two meet?¡±

    ¡°Actually, not that terribly long ago, all things considered. We met each other for the first time right before we set off for our mission. She was the last minute replacement of the officer who¡¯d normally sail with us.¡±

    ¡°I replaced the Executive Officer.¡± Luna added after she had cleared her mouth.

    It was clear from the looks on their faces that Martha and Roland didn¡¯t really know what that meant.

    ¡°I command the ship, and the executive officer is basically my right-hand-woman.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Martha and Roland exclaimed together.

    ¡°So when you are sick, it would be Luna who would take over command?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± I nodded.

    ¡°Are relationships allowed on board of ships? Wasn¡¯t there regulations about that? Like in the movies?¡± Martha continued.

    I nodded again. ¡°There used to be, but ever since the war ended, and we turned our direction outwards into outer space, that rule was scrapped. Of course there¡¯s still regulations that you still need to show decorum and if things go badly, that you keep everything together. Otherwise, you can get sanctioned. Especially if because of your actions, things go wrong.¡±

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it then have been better to just not allow it at all?¡± Roland asked. ¡°Not that I have anything against your relationship, of course.¡± He was quick to add that.

    I shrugged. ¡°The Admiralty saw that with very long space voyages, it would be almost impossible to keep that up. You need to imagine, instead of months on board ships, these journeys might end up taking years. It¡¯s only because of circumstances that we¡¯ve returned as soon as we did. Outright forbidding relationships would just not work out in practice. It¡¯s better to regulate relationships rather than forbid them and have them happen clandestinely anyway. That¡¯s what they did on the early missions to Mars, too. They tried to forbid it at first, but that didn¡¯t end up working out too well in the end either. It turns out that if you put people together for long enough, relationships tend to happen to varying degrees.¡±

    ¡°I think having someone who you can lean onto has very big advantages.¡± Luna added.

    ¡°And that¡¯s true too.¡± I agreed. ¡°When shit hits the fan¡­ of course, everyone on the ship is family in a way. But when you need to pour out your heart¡­ It¡¯s nice to have someone who¡¯s not only the ship¡¯s doctor.¡±

    ¡°Were there a lot of difficulties on your journey so far?¡± Roland asked.

    ¡°Not many we can really talk about, but we have lost people.¡± I nodded. ¡°Exploring space is dangerous even under the best of circumstances.¡±

    ¡°That must have been really tough on you, considering how much you care about people.¡± Martha commented.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t easy, but thanks to Luna, I pulled through.¡± I smiled at my girlfriend, who in return laid her hand on top of mine.

    ¡°We pulled through together.¡±

    We talked on about our relationship for a while longer, while obviously not disclosing the more secret parts of our journey. But luckily, Luna and I were rather good about keeping the wraps on things and we both complemented each other very well. While we talked, we had soon finished most of the dinner.  Before we started on dessert however, we did need some time to let our food sink a little bit, otherwise eating more was going to be rather difficult.

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    ¡°Would you like to do something while we take it easy?¡± Roland asked, he directed himself more towards Luna than to me.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but you definitely don¡¯t need to entertain me, I¡¯m happy enough with the company.¡±

    ¡°How about a little quiz?¡± Martha proposed.

    ¡°A quiz?¡± I asked.

    Martha looked at me with a smile. ¡°Roland and I bought this kind of quiz game with over 2 million different questions. With more being added every so often. We¡¯ve not really had a lot of opportunities to play it yet with the two of us.¡±

    ¡°You can steal each others questions or swap people¡¯s question themes too, but that¡¯s also more fun when you are with more than just two players.¡± Roland explains.

    I looked at Luna. ¡°That sounds fun, what do you think?¡±

    She nodded. ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s try it out, it sounds intriguing.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s your answer.¡± I smiled.

    Our two grandparently hosts went out to find the game, leaving Luna and myself alone for a while.

    ¡°Are you good at quizzes?¡± She asked.

    ¡°Hmmm, not particularly. You might even beat me, even though you¡¯ve not been around for too long.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t sell yourself short. You know a lot, too. You always explain things to me.¡±

    ¡°Well, I suppose so, but you know who would be really good at this?¡±

    ¡°Eva?¡±

    ¡°Exactly.¡± I chuckled. ¡°That woman has a very big encyclopedic memory. She really does know a lot of stuff.¡±

    ¡°And I guess Ellie would do great too.¡±

    ¡°Ellie participating would be really unfair compared to us normal humans.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ Maybe we should think about games we can play together with Ellie, she might like that a lot.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a good point.¡± I scratched my chin for a second while I was thinking. Video games would also be rather unfair because her motor skills would be through the roof if she had some kind of body. Things like chess would also be way out of our league if she would play against us. That doesn¡¯t leave many things¡­

    ¡°I asked a rather difficult question, didn¡¯t I?¡±

    ¡°You did.¡± I laughed. ¡°But it¡¯s an important one nonetheless, I want Ellie to feel included and playing games is a good way of doing so. Let¡¯s think about that some more later.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± She nodded.

    Roland and Martha came back carrying a box which contained the games computer specifically designed for the quiz, together with the playing pieces.

    So every round, everyone had to pick 4 themes blindly out of a bag. After that, you had to place these four themes in order. The first theme would earn you one point if you answered the question correctly, the last one would earn you four. Roland and Martha then explained that everyone would also get a couple of special skills each round. One, for which you only have one token, could be used to swap a theme between you and your opponent. If your opponent has a history question, and you are strong in history, you could swap that theme with one of the themes you are weak at. You could also use this skill to swap themes in between players. Your other two tokens could be used to answer a question of a theme one of your opponents has to answer. Assuming that player got the question wrong, you could answer it instead and gain a point for that question. Three points if you placed your token before the question was asked, one point if you place your token after the question is asked.

    It did sound like a lot of fun to sabotage someone, but it is still not that much of a dick move because the player still has the opportunity to answer a question and get points. In a way, this game revolves around lighthearted sabotage.

    And like that, we started to play our game while we waited for some room to return to our stomachs. Most of the questions were rather doable, but just like any quiz, some questions were so hard that you thought to yourself ¡°who in the name of the Goddess knows these things?¡±

    Luna actually managed to tag along in points really well, despite her otherworldly heritage. Mostly due to her making very smart bets and very clever swaps with us. She had quickly identified the areas Roland and Martha were both good and bad at and was using that knowledge to her fullest advantage, often not even taking the questions for herself, but just swapping themes in between them. Martha knew a lot about culture, so often Luna would swap that theme away with science questions.

    All the while keeping a rather tight lid on what she herself knew a lot or very little about. Of course, I knew where those positive and negatives were, but I wouldn¡¯t just tell that to Roland and Martha.

    In the final round of the game, however, Roland made the crucial error of swapping between his wife and Luna for Luna¡¯s final question. Luna got a television and culture question, just four points needed for her to finish first. And the question at hand could not have been more fortuitous, either. A question about a somewhat obscure Pimsey movie about space pirates. When the question was asked, I knew it was a good game, well played for my girlfriend. As she easily answered it.

    ¡°That¡¯s Bounty World!¡± She exclaimed enthusiastically. The games quiz computer erupted in digital confetti.

    ¡°Congratulations, Luna, you have won the game. And to all the others, better luck next time.¡±

    I clapped along and gave my girlfriend a congratulatory kiss on the cheek. Roland and Martha congratulated her too. It had been a very fun game, after all.

    ¡°Should we celebrate Luna¡¯s victory with some cake?¡± Roland proposed.

    ¡°I think we should.¡± Martha nodded and both Luna and I nodded along too.

    -Let¡¯s see what Luna thinks tastes sweeter, Martha¡¯s cake or her well deserved victory.-

 Chapter 60 Ter: A Little Swig

    I was sipping my green tea while enjoying the cool evening air out on the porch when my holostick started buzzing, the buzzing unpleasantly interrupting my city pop playlist I¡¯d put up on the background.

    ¡°Hello?¡± I answered it, it wasn¡¯t immediately clear who it was, but the military encryption meant that it definitely was someone who had my contact info.

    ¡°Hello Doctor Winter.¡± A familiar voice spoke out.

    I immediately sat straight in my comfortable chair. ¡°Ellie? Is that you? Is something wrong with the ship?¡±

    ¡°No, doctor, I just wanted to say hi¡­¡±

    ¡°You just wanted to say hi¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± She replied. ¡°If I am bothering you, I can leave again.¡±

    ¡°No, no, not at all.¡± I denied her insinuation. ¡°I was just a bit surprised, that¡¯s all.¡± I held my holostick in front of me and suddenly saw a figure looking back at me. ¡°Wow. That surprises me too.¡±

    ¡°Are you talking about my image, doctor?¡± She asked.

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± I nodded. ¡°That¡¯s quite an interesting look you picked for yourself.¡±

    The image rubbed the back of its head. ¡°Thank you, the Commander and the XO thought to too.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯ve spoken to them too?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± She replied. ¡°They gave me a tour of the Commander¡¯s house.¡±

    ¡°Did they now?¡± I chuckled. ¡°I take it they didn¡¯t really mind your image either?¡±

    ¡°They asked some questions first, but they seemed to be fine with it.¡±

    ¡°Well, I would have some questions too, that¡¯s for sure, but I¡¯m not surprised Lauren and Luna would be very open about those kinds of things.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to ask those questions, doctor? You are free to do so.¡±

    I leant back into my cozy porch chair. ¡°Nah, I¡¯m on leave, I can always ask questions later. Plus, if Lauren has already given her okay, that means you are not a threat to the ship, I¡¯m not going to second guess her on that.¡± Taking my tea back in hand. ¡°It¡¯s a good thing to keep work and private life separate. That¡¯s my view on it, anyway. Instead of a coworker, you are more like a visiting friend at the moment.¡± I put the holostick on the little table beside me so Ellie could look around a bit better.

    ¡°Is this your house?¡± Ellie asked, her little image gazing around.

    I shook my head and smiled. ¡°No, it¡¯s my parent¡¯s place in the black forest. They aren¡¯t here, so I came over to wind down a bit from the hectic nature of the last week. The city isn¡¯t well-suited for that.¡±

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    ¡°It does look very calming.¡±

    ¡°Yes, and the best thing is, the nearest neighbor is at least 200 meters away.¡± I put the cup of tea to my lips and drank from it. ¡°Why don¡¯t you get something to drink for yourself too, Ellie?¡±

    ¡°Doctor, I can¡¯t leave your holostick.¡±

    ¡°I know, but if you can make your own image, you can also make your image hold a drink, right?¡±

    ¡°....¡± Ellie didn¡¯t say anything, instead her avatar just appeared with a cup in her hand a second or so later.

    ¡°Good girl.¡± I smiled. ¡°So, tell me, how are Lauren and Luna doing down south?¡±

    I listened attentively as Ellie told me more in detail what she¡¯d seen on the South Pole.

    ¡°Sounds like they are living the cozy life down there, good on them. Makes me want to give them a little toast.¡± I looked into the dark forest ahead of me and then nodded. ¡°You know, why not, let me get something alcoholic from the alcohol cabinet, I¡¯ll be right back.¡±

    I patted my holostick on the top and then ran indoors to the alcohol cabinet that was in the middle of the living room. I wasn¡¯t about to open up a bottle of champagne by myself, so I just took out the bottle of whiskey together with a glass and ran back out.

    ¡°There you go.¡± I said with a smile and sat back down in my seat, filling a little glass for myself. Ellie in the holostick held out a digital empty glass too, which made me chuckle, I pretended to fill it up for her as well.

    I then raised my glass. ¡°To the happiness of our adorable couple and our great friends, Lauren and Luna.¡±

    ¡°May they live long and prosper.¡± Ellie replied, making me snort.

    ¡°Ellie, you know that¡¯s a movie quote, right?¡±

    Her avatar shrugged, also still holding her glass up high. ¡°I found that search result rather fitting.¡±

    ¡°Well, it does.¡± I admitted and then raised my glass a bit higher again. ¡°Prost!¡±

    ¡°Cheers!¡± Ellie added and we both downed our small glasses. The rather strong whisky did make me cough a bit. Dad does keep some rather spicy things in that cabinet.

    We sat in silence for about a minute or two after the toast before Ellie spoke up again. ¡°Doctor Winter?¡±

    ¡°Just call me Eva already.¡± I smiled.

    She nodded. ¡°Eva, is this what you generally do in your free time?¡±

    ¡°You should know what I do in my free time, right? You¡¯ve seen me do it plenty of times aboard the ship. Listening to music and jogging mostly. Not that I jog anywhere close to Lauren¡¯s level, but still. I do some yoga on the side too, and apart from that I also like brainstorming about more ways to tease Lauren with.¡±

    ¡°Very Lauren centric.¡±

    ¡°She is my best friend, after all.¡± I smiled. ¡°That might sound a bit sad from an outside perspective, your best friend being your boss and all that, but we¡¯ve just known each other for a long time.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t see any problems with that. I too consider you to be my friends, and I don¡¯t even own a real body.¡±

    ¡°Aww, Ellie.¡± I aww¡¯ed. ¡°The feeling is definitely mutual.¡±

    Ellie¡¯s avatar touched her cheek in a very cutesy way, I could easily imagine her blushing. ¡°Thank you, that means a lot.¡±

    I smiled and finished the rest of my green tea. ¡°Say, Ellie, would you like to take a walk around the property? It¡¯s your first time in a forest on Earth, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°I would like that.¡± She nodded.

    ¡°Great.¡± I sat my mug down, took the holostick in my hand and got up. ¡°Let¡¯s go and see if my dad still has that swing set set up in the back.¡±

    -Maybe I could secure my holostick to it and give Ellie yet another first time experience.-

 Chapter 61: Drunk textin

    I just barely got through the dessert without my stomach exploding. Martha¡¯s dessert making was on an entirely different level, and that meant I literally had to stop myself from overeating too much. I was definitely going to have to work out a little tomorrow, otherwise I¡¯d start feeling a bit bad about myself.

    Both Martha and Roland escorted us back to their front door.

    ¡°I hope you¡¯ve had a nice meal.¡± Martha smiled.

    ¡°It was wonderful.¡± Luna replied with an even bigger smile. ¡°I wish I could eat this well every single day.¡±

    ¡°If you want, we can give you the recipes, is it allowed to cook on board of the ship?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a bit harder since we don¡¯t have as much space as we do here on Earth, but we can manage.¡± I replied with a nod.

    ¡°Then I will gladly write down the recipes for you to use, and maybe a couple on top of that.¡±

    ¡°And I¡¯ll help, of course.¡± Roland nodded.

    ¡°Thanks a lot, both for the recipes and for inviting us.¡± I mentioned. ¡°Made me feel right back at home.¡±

    Roland put his hand on my shoulder, he was almost a bit too short to do it, but he just about managed. ¡°Lauren, you know our door is always open for you and your partners.¡±

    ¡°I know, but next time you should definitely come to visit us instead.¡±

    Martha and Roland looked at each other a bit suspiciously.

    ¡°I will be there for quality control, so don¡¯t worry!¡± Luna added.

    ¡°Wow, I can cook, you know? I have survived many years already.¡±

    ¡°Surviving is not exactly like thriving.¡± Luna was trying very hard to keep herself from laughing. I knew she was taking the piss.

    Martha and Roland both started laughing. ¡°We would be pleased to come over. But don¡¯t wait too long with it, okay? We wouldn¡¯t want to wait years for the invite.¡±

    ¡°Haha.¡± I laughed. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll definitely invite you over before we leave again.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡± Roland nodded contently. ¡°Then the only thing that rests us is to wish you two a very nice evening.¡±

    ¡°Same goes for you.¡± I replied, finishing the little goodbye ritual so we could make our short way home.

    When Roland and Martha closed the door behind us, Luna grabbed my hand. A sudden gust of wind making her squeeze my hand even harder.

    ¡°I take it you are not in the mood for a nice evening walk?¡±

    ¡°Are you crazy?¡± She shivered at the thought alone.

    ¡°Awwh, why not?¡± I teased. ¡°It¡¯s great weather outside for a nice, cozy, relaxing evening walk. Apart from the blizzard, of course, but those are just mere details.¡±

    ¡°Brrrr.¡± Luna shivered again.

    ¡°Alright, relaxing cozily on the sofa in front of the fireplace o¡¯clock?¡±

    Luna nodded multiple times in quick succession.

    ¡°Alrighty.¡± I chuckled.

    When we got home, literally just one minute later, Luna quickly undressed and went full blanket burrito modus on the sofa. I just neatly folded up her clothes and put them on the little table nearby.

    ¡°Ready for a cuddly evening?¡±

    ¡°Yeees.¡± My burrito girlfriend replied.

    ¡°Give me a second and I¡¯ll come over too.¡±

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    ¡°Don¡¯t forget Ellie¡¯s parts, if they arrived alright.¡±

    ¡°Oh, whoops, ye, I should probably get those. I got a message about that while I was engrossed in Martha¡¯s cake.¡± I looked at my girlfriend, who was looking at me from within her blanket. ¡°I could also just collect the parts tomorrow. They should be fine in their container.¡±

    ¡°Lauren¡­¡±

    ¡°Ye, ye.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I¡¯ll go and get them now, I haven¡¯t taken my jacket off anyway. I¡¯ll be right back, okay?¡±

    ¡°Yesh!¡± Luna rolled herself around and stared at the smoldering fireplace.

    I made my way back to the drop-off spot for the package and quickly found it in the center of my yard. The big box was already covered by a layer of snow, easily dusted off though. When I was just about to clear the snow off the top, my holo stick started vibrating, but only for a moment.

    The curiosity got the better of me and I opened it up, only to be surprised by what I encountered. It was a message from Eva with a picture attached.

    ¡°Hey LauLau, just hanging out with my good old friend Ellie <3<3<3¡± The picture attached was a selfie of her with her holostick showing Ellie¡¯s avatar and in between them a bottle of very expensive looking whiskey. She must¡¯ve gotten a separate camera too to take the picture with. That¡¯s definitely some conviction.

    I just chuckled, cleared the box of snow, and then made my way back inside.

    ¡°Luna, guess what.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Luna was up-to-date on how to reply to that sentence.

    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure Eva just drunk-texted me.¡±

    ¡°She did what?¡± Luna almost rolled out of the sofa, but luckily for her, she could stop herself before doing so. ¡°Drunk-texting, Eva? Really?¡±

    ¡°Mhhm.¡± I put the box on the table and then walked over to my girlfriend with my holostick out. ¡°Here you go.¡±

    Luna almost immediately started giggling after she read the message. ¡°That¡¯s really funny. I suppose Ellie went over to pay Doctor Winter a visit?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I think so, might as well. Ellie and Eva get along really well, too.¡±

    Luna kept studying the picture. ¡°And is that Ellie with a glass of whiskey in her hand too?¡±

    ¡°What? I didn¡¯t even notice that.¡± I turned the holostick around and looked at the picture again. Ellie¡¯s avatar was indeed holding on to a glass as well. ¡°Okay, wow, that¡¯s great. Eva definitely made her go along with that.¡±

    ¡°She is quite convincing, that¡¯s true.¡±

    ¡°Definitely. And it looks like she¡¯s at her parent¡¯s cabin as well.¡±

    ¡°Not at her house?¡±

    ¡°Nah, I¡¯ve never been to the place, but I know she goes there occasionally when things get a bit much. It¡¯s apparently in a big forest.¡±

    ¡°Ooooh!¡±

    ¡°Sadly the laws up there don¡¯t allow fireplaces though, so there¡¯s that. Otherwise, it¡¯d be a lot cooler in my opinion¡­ or should I say¡­ hotter?¡±

    Luna chuckled at my poor attempt at a joke. ¡°I do like the fireplaces. They have won me over. Speaking of which¡­¡±

    ¡°Want me to put on another log?¡± I asked while putting my holostick away again.

    ¡°If you please.¡± Luna nodded with a cheeky smile.

    ¡°Coming right up.¡± Before I went off to finally take off my jacket, I gave my girlfriend a kiss on the forehead. ¡°The picture did make me want to drink a glass too, though.¡±

    ¡°Alcohol?¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± I nodded. I didn¡¯t really need my girlfriend¡¯s approval if I really wanted to, but since I still try to distance myself from it most of the time, it seemed wise to at least ask.

    ¡°Well, one can¡¯t hurt.¡± Luna smiled at me. ¡°As long as it isn¡¯t one of those massive beer glasses I¡¯ve seen in the cartoons.¡±

    ¡°Nah, I¡¯ll just take a little one. Maybe I should invest in those high grade non-alcoholic ones.¡±

    ¡°Have you never tried those before?¡±

    ¡°No, not really, I always heard from others that they were not as good as ¡®the real stuff¡¯. But that might just be because those people can¡¯t get drunk off it. I actually do like whiskey for its taste.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, it¡¯s not like you lose anything from trying it, apart from money.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s true.¡± I chuckled. Well, luckily, money really wasn¡¯t an issue for me.

    And that¡¯s how our evening ended, with my burrito girlfriend on my lap and a small glass of whiskey in my hand, resting in front of our cozy fireplace and musing about the potential misadventures Eva and Ellie were having at the moment.

    The day after was very much spent again by not doing too much. I did manage to get some workout in though, as I had been neglecting it somewhat. But it was clear that the little downtime hadn¡¯t hurt my muscles at all, it might even have been a good thing. We also decided that we would be going to visit my parent¡¯s graves the day after. Which gave me plenty of time to let our uniforms get steamed at the local washing center. Luna was a bit skeptical about going in our dress uniforms, but I had assured her that it would be plenty warm enough to walk around in them when we got to the big cemetery.

    And thus, the day for our visit had come, and we were currently on the train to the Antarctic Region¡¯s capital. It was less busy than it was last time we¡¯d taken the train, presumably because it was Sunday now and people generally still used Sunday as a day off.

    That said, today was the perfect day for a trip as it was actually predicted to be quite warm for this time of year and there was going to be barely any wind.

    When we finally disembarked into the hover train station, Luna grabbed my hand. ¡°Are you ready?¡±

    I gave her a nod and squeezed her hand a little. ¡°I am. Thank you for coming with me.¡±

    She smiled brightly. ¡°I promised, didn¡¯t I?¡±

    I smiled back and took a deep breath. -Okay, let¡¯s go.-

 Chapter 61 Bis: Death Dome

    ¡°Where do we go from here?¡± I asked my girlfriend. ¡°Is it a long walk?¡±

    ¡°It would be a bit of a walk of 45 to 60 minutes, but we can take the hover tram instead. Unless you really want to walk.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, nah, I think we should take the tram instead.¡± I chuckled. ¡°That way I can check another form of public transport from my list.¡±

    Lauren smiled and squeezed my hand slightly. ¡°Right, that¡¯s also really important. I think by the time we get back to our ship, you should have seen most of them. What have we had? A taxi, a hyper train, a hover train, now a hover tram too.¡±

    ¡°And a shuttle!¡±

    ¡°Ah, right, back at the spaceport. Debatable to call that a mode of public transport, though.¡±

    ¡°Same goes for a taxi.¡±

    Lauren nodded. ¡°Fair enough.¡± She then made a step and looked back at me, waiting for me to step along, which I did of course. ¡°Didn¡¯t you use anything before we met, by the way?¡±

    ¡°Not really.¡± I shrugged. ¡°I didn¡¯t really need to. I had everything I needed at my little address, and that¡¯s about it. Anything else I got delivered to the building.¡±

    ¡°Huh, then how did you get to the apartment?¡±

    ¡°I basically got teleported inside.¡±

    ¡°From space?¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± I nodded.

    ¡°Then that must mean your ship was in orbit around Earth for a while, right?¡±

    I nodded again. ¡°Not that long, but yes.¡±

    Lauren scratched her cheek with her free hand. ¡°I wonder why no one picked up on that. I was fairly certain we had a good surveillance net around the planet.¡±

    ¡°Every net has holes, and if you know where they are, they aren¡¯t hard to exploit.¡± I replied. Human technology is quite impressive for how young their civilization is, but if you have spies in tactical places¡­ Really not that hard to find a gap. Even without the Empire¡¯s cloaking technology.

    Although I am certain that because of their encounter, humanity¡¯s defenses are going to become a lot harder to infiltrate in the future. They are quite unparalleled in their ingenuity when it comes to defending themselves.

    ¡°Luna?¡±

    ¡°Sorry, I was thinking to myself. Did you say anything?¡±

    ¡°I was just asking if you knew when the first spy came to Earth.¡±

    ¡°Not sure.¡± I shrugged. ¡°I know we had eyes on Earth for a while already, but not for how long, and definitely not how long in person. Cells don¡¯t really know that much about one another. I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s how human intelligence networks work as well, right?¡±

    ¡°I think so.¡± Lauren shrugged back. ¡°Although I have to say, I¡¯m pretty much a layman when it comes to spy-work. Apart from that bit I did during the war. But that was more spec-ops work than anything else. But then again, that might not be very different either. Anyway, it would make sense to me. Can¡¯t say anything that threatens other missions if you don¡¯t know what the other missions are.¡±

    I nodded, and we continued walking the short way to the hover tram stop in front of the station.

    The tram arrived shortly after we did, and it scooted off just as we entered too. Lauren told me that because of the frequent service, if no one was waiting at the stop, a tram would just go past it, unless someone wanted to get off, of course. We both scanned our holo sticks at the ticket terminal at the front of the tram and then went ahead to pick out a spot to sit. As the tram was pretty empty, we were spoiled for choice.

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    ¡°How long will the ride take?¡± I asked, sitting down on the bench on the front left-side of the tram.

    ¡°Hmm, five minutes or so. Unless we need to stop often, which I honestly doubt will happen.¡± She smiled and looked to the back of the train. Only an elderly man and a youngster in his late teens were our co-passengers.

    ¡°That¡¯s really fast.¡±

    Lauren nodded. ¡°Hover trams have their own lanes. There¡¯s nothing that¡¯s in their way.¡±

    We speeded through the city center, its buildings were a bit smaller than the ones in the Central European Spaceport City yet still a lot taller than in the little town Lauren lived in. Though the longer the tram went on, the smaller the buildings got.

    Lauren signed for me to get up again as the tram started to slow down once more. ¡°Are we already here? That was really short.¡±

    ¡°Yep.¡± She smiled and took my hand into hers and pointed out of the window with her other hand. She pointed straight towards a big white dome with the emblem of the federation stamped on its side in blue with a golden edge. It really looked a bit strange, seeing such a big building surrounded by all the small houses.

    ¡°That¡¯s the cemetery?¡± I followed Lauren along as she guided me out of the tram. The older man also got off behind us, after which the tram zoomed off yet again.

    ¡°It¡¯s a bit different from a normal cemetery, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve not seen that many yet, but that does kind of defy my expectations, yes.¡±

    We started walking in the direction of, what I presume to be, the entrance to the dome. ¡°Cemeteries in the Arctic region are already a bit different because of the temperatures we get here, but this one is even more special at that. It was specifically designed to be a monument to those who died during the war.¡± She pointed at the houses around us.¡°You probably have noticed that there¡¯s not a single building that even comes halfway to the height of the dome, right?¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± I nodded.

    ¡°That¡¯s actually by design. They forbid every building in the radius of two kilometers of the dome to be higher than six meters. So there will never be a building that dominates the landscape more than the dome itself.

    ¡°And why did they pick a dome shape?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s to signify the planet.¡± She replied swiftly. ¡°Obviously, Earth is more like an orb, but those are a bit harder to build. Also quite a bit harder to get into.¡±

    ¡°Ah yeah. That makes sense.¡±

    When we got to the entrance, the automatic doors slid open for us, and once we had passed through another set of doors, a wave of warm air hit me in the face.

    ¡°We can drop our jackets off at the lockers in one of the side-rooms. Otherwise, it¡¯s going to be a bit too hot.¡±

    ¡°You definitely weren¡¯t joking that it was going to be plenty warm here.¡±

    ¡°The government really insisted on letting people come to mourn in all comfort here. It also makes it a lot easier to maintain the flora they planted inside of the dome, too.¡±

    I nodded and went along with Lauren to take off our winter overcoats.

    We stashed away our coats, putting on our headwear as well. Lauren opted for her trusty beret, while I chose to go for my dress uniform hat.

    ¡°Am I looking okay?¡± She turned towards me to let me inspect her.

    I gave her a quick look over and dusted some imaginary dust off her chest. ¡°Yeah. You look great. What about me?¡±

    ¡°Picture perfect.¡± She said without even half a second of delay.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t even look.¡±

    ¡°I did, I look at you all the time.¡± She winked.

    I rolled my eyes. But then again, Lauren would have definitely said something if a part of my uniform was lacking.

    She then smiled and held out her ungloved hand for me to take, which I accepted, and then she led me back into the entrance hall where we just were. ¡°We need to take the elevator to the second floor.¡± She mentioned as we headed to an area around the corner of the wall that greeted you when you entered.

    ¡°Second floor?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s where civilians were laid to rest. More specifically, family members of serving military personnel.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s not really any hierarchy in it, if you were thinking that. It¡¯s just that the math checked out like that. Civilians are buried on the ground floor, military personnel on the first floor and their family members on the second. Every spot gets the same amount of respect.¡±

    ¡°And what if they wanted to be buried together?¡±

    ¡°You mean if someone who served wanted to be buried with their family?¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± I nodded.

    ¡°They also would get laid to rest on the second floor. Since there aren¡¯t many cases where that happened.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± I had a couple more questions, but I decided to ask those later at a more opportune moment and just let Lauren take me to the elevator. One ding later, together with another rounded corner, and we were standing in a grassy field with flowers and trees planted all around the marble grave monuments.

    -Okay¡­ when Lauren said they planted flora, I didn¡¯t expect this at all¡­ Seeing the outside of the dome, however, maybe I should have¡­-

 Chapter 62: Beneath The Tree

    Luna seemed very impressed by the cemetery once we had arrived at the floor where my parents were buried. I offered her my hand with a smile. ¡°Come, let¡¯s go, it¡¯s not that far now.¡±

    She just nodded and took my hand so we could start walking again. As we were walking over the stone paths towards my parent¡¯s graves, Luna kept looking around herself.

    ¡°There¡¯s so many.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm, you don¡¯t need too much space for urns after all.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ yeah, that makes sense¡­ For some reason I thought about actual burial¡­ Don¡¯t mind me, my mind just acts strangely at times.¡±

    ¡°Well, I know some war memorials where they had coffin-in-dirt burials, but in the Antarctic region that isn¡¯t really a thing.¡±

    Luna nodded in silence as we walked the last bit towards our destination.

    ¡°We are here.¡± I said as we halted in front of the gold-leaf decorated white marble slab, surrounded by violets and angel¡¯s trumpets. A bouquet of gladiolus, clearly put here recently, dressed the top of the marble slab as well. I smiled and knelt down in front of them.

    Luna swiftly followed my lead.

    ¡°Hey there, Mom and Dad, I brought someone with me today, she¡¯s called Luna. My girlfriend.¡± I started, Luna softly squeezing my hand. ¡°She¡¯s not really from around here but I love her to bits. And when I told her about you, she wanted to come and say hi.¡± I looked at Luna and smiled.

    She seemed a bit unsure what to do for a moment, not that I really expected her to start speaking to them as well, but Luna decided that she had something to say too. ¡°H-Hello, it¡¯s nice to meet you. I-I don¡¯t really know what to say, but I definitely want you to know, wherever you are, that you have raised a daughter you can be proud of. Even more than I know you already were. She has saved my life and changed it in ways you can¡¯t even imagine. She¡¯s so kind and sweet, and from what Lauren has told me, those are all things she has inherited from you. So¡­ I guess I just wanted to thank you for giving life to her.¡± Luna then said something in a language I didn¡¯t understand, but it did sound very melodic.

    ¡°Luna¡­¡± I was gobsmacked by her little speech. Once she had gotten rolling, she had really managed to make me gosh darn emotional.

    ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t know what to say¡­ but something just came to heart and I had to let it out¡­ I guess.¡± She was starting to get a bit teary-eyed too.

    ¡°Want to sit down for a second?¡± I nodded to a tree a bit behind us. ¡°So we can get out of the simulated ¡®sun¡¯ for a bit.¡±

    She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. ¡°It is a bit bright, yes.¡±

    We sat down against the trunk of the tree in the middle of the ¡®contemplation fields¡¯ as they call it. Those were dotted around the area where people could sit down to think or to process their feelings. I leant back against the tree trunk itself and waited for Luna to do the same, which she did quickly afterwards.

    ¡°Hey Luna, that bit at the end of your talk, what exactly did you say?¡±

    Luna turned to me. ¡°It¡¯s just something I thought up in my native language. It basically means ¡®Rest peacefully and assured¡¯.¡±

    ¡°It sounded very poetic.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm, I did that on purpose. Our language really has no concept of rhyming, it got introduced to me through human culture, the same goes for the concept of mourning the dead by the way. At least not in the way humans go through it all.¡±

    ¡°So you figured that sentence out from scratch?¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± She nodded. ¡°The people back home would really look strangely at me if I said something like that back home.¡±

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    ¡°So when someone dies, do people not feel sadness?¡±

    ¡°They do.¡± Luna nodded. ¡°But the bodies mainly get disposed off as fast as possible and the people who just lost someone are expected to just go through with their lives like nothing happened.¡±

    ¡°And people are okay with that?¡±

    ¡°They don¡¯t know anything better. That¡¯s how it works, how it has always worked and how it will always work for most of them. If you know only the color gray, you won¡¯t even think of the possibility that other colors even exist.¡±

    ¡°So again, as utilitarian as it can be.¡±

    ¡°Pretty much.¡± Luna nodded and looked around. ¡°This is a way better way of honouring that sadness everyone has within themselves. Giving it a rightful place. A place where it may exist without anyone looking badly at you. No prejudice at all.¡±

    ¡°They shouldn¡¯t all be as grandiose as this place, but I do get your point. Dying is a part of life, something everyone will deal with at some certain point in time. And therefore it should also be something that gets plenty of attention. Of course it shouldn¡¯t be everywhere, since that would be very depressing, but it needs to have a place, as you said so yourself.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s a lot my people could learn from humans about that kind of stuff.¡±

    After that the conversation fell quiet again as I just looked in the direction of my parent¡¯s grave. It brought up memories from the first time I had come over here and sat in exactly the same spot, although I was pretty much crying my heart out still at that point. Today, while I did feel a pang of sadness, I mostly felt happy that I could show this place to Luna and foremost introduce her to them.

    ¡°Can I ask you two questions now?¡± Luna asked a couple of minutes later.

    ¡°Always.¡±

    ¡°I know that we just talked to your parents, but do you actually also believe that they can hear you?¡±

    ¡°Hmmm.¡±

    ¡°Sorry if that is a rude thing to ask.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s fair. Considering the conversation we had earlier.¡± I rested my head against the tree and looked up at the leaves. ¡°I¡¯m not really a religious type, you probably already figured that out. But when it comes to this¡­ I don¡¯t know. It helps talking to them, it makes me feel better, do I know or even think that they can hear me? Not really. But on the off-chance that they can¡­¡± I scratched the back of my head thinking of what to say next, accidentally knocking my beret off my head and onto my lap. ¡°Ah.¡±

    Luna gently put her hand on my beret and then raised it up to me. ¡°It¡¯s one of those things you can¡¯t really explain.¡±

    I accepted my beret back and smiled ¡°Yeah, pretty much.¡±

    ¡°And can I still ask my second question?¡±

    ¡°Oh ye, definitely.¡±

    ¡°Whose flowers were on your parent¡¯s grave marker?¡±

    ¡°Ah, those would be of a friend of mine.¡±

    ¡°A friend of yours?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, before I left for our little space trip I made sure I had someone to come over to watch my parent¡¯s grave. Of course they have droids here who maintain the graves, but I still wanted to have a human touch. Get some nice new flowers once in a while. So I paid a friend of mine to come occasionally to do just that.¡±

    ¡°And does that friend have a name?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s called James.¡±

    ¡°I assume you two are pretty close then?¡±

    ¡°Not particularly.¡± I shook my head. ¡°He¡¯s someone who knew my parents though, and I do trust him as well. He¡¯s a guy of integrity but who sadly doesn¡¯t have the best paying jobs in the world. That¡¯s why I chose for him to keep an eye out and he gladly accepted.¡±

    ¡°What job would that be?¡±

    ¡°Funnily enough he works for the city¡¯s maintenance service. So what I¡¯m asking from him is quite in line with that.¡±

    ¡°Hoh.¡±

    ¡°Not the answers you were expecting?¡± I tilted my head and smiled.

    ¡°Not really, I just find it interesting.¡±

    ¡°Wanna know something funny?¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± She nodded.

    ¡°Gunny and I were talking about this exact thing on the day I met you.¡±

    ¡°Heh.¡± Luna smiled back. ¡°Talking about Gunny, I wonder what he is doing right now. We already know that Eva is having some fun with Ellie.¡±

    ¡°Probably something very distanced from work and far out of reach of any technology.¡± I replied.

    ¡°And what if he gets called up?¡±

    ¡°You can be assured that Gunny will have coincidentally had his holo stick nearby. The man is just lucky like that.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± Luna giggled.

    I put my beret back on and then helped myself to get up. Offering a hand to Luna as well. ¡°Come, let¡¯s go say goodbye to my parents and then go out to eat something at a restaurant. I¡¯m getting a bit hungry.¡±

    Luna nodded and took my hand. ¡°Do you know anything nearby?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve got a couple of ideas, yes.¡± I gave her a wink and then together we walked, hand in hand, back to the grave of my parents to say goodbye to them again for the time being.

 Chapter 62 Bis: Revenge of the Foodies

    We said our goodbyes to Lauren¡¯s parents, holding ourselves to a little quiet moment again, and then made our way back downstairs to grab our clothes to go brave the outside once more. While we hadn¡¯t been here long, I noticed that Lauren was a lot more cheerie and as for me, it made me happy that I used the opportunity to learn more about Lauren¡¯s views of the world as well. We hadn¡¯t been a couple for long after all, and learning something new about someone was always a fun thing in my opinion.

    With our clothes back on we walked back outside to the hover tram station, waiting for a tram only Lauren knew the current destination off.

    ¡°I take it we won¡¯t be riding the tram for very long either this time?¡± I asked, digging myself a little bit deeper into my scarf as a gust of wind sent the shivers down my spin.

    Lauren chuckled and rubbed my back, warming me up a little. ¡°Ye, there¡¯s a nice neighborhood on the outskirts of the city center that has a lot of cozy eating spots. I discovered it one day while I was just roaming around after a visit, just to clear my head. It¡¯s a spot only foodies know of.¡±

    I nodded as a tram landed in front of us, Lauren however, did not get in. I looked up at her and pouted.

    ¡°Hey, unless you want to go to the real cold parts of town, you really don''t want to take that tram.¡± She chuckled once more. ¡°We need the next one.¡±

    I started wobbling from side to side to keep myself warm. Having come out of the very cozily heated dome definitely made the contrast a lot bigger. And this was supposed to be a relatively warm day too! ¡°I can¡¯t wait for that vacation to warmer resorts¡­¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll look into it soon. I promise.¡± She kissed the top of my head.

    Luckily for me, the next tram didn¡¯t let us wait too long on it, lifting us off to our next destination with a breeze. Again I was treated to a quick change in scenery as this tram line seemed to just travel around in a circle, using the city center as its anchor point. The mainly residential building now made room for more mixed-use medium sized buildings.

    Lauren squeezed my hand to signal it was here that we had to get off our tram. And just like that we were standing in the middle of a calm yet very cozy looking street. They had opted to go for an orange lighting, which made everything seem a little bit warmer, especially since the streets weren¡¯t very wide either. But what I could also immediately tell when we got out of the tram, was the different smells that hit my nostrils. A mixture of herbs, grilled meat, garlic¡­ just about everything you could think of when it came to food. A true mystery to how it all just impacted me all at once. Surely this was some kind of sales trick to make me even hungrier than I was getting. And it was working too¡­

    ¡°Watch out, Luna, I can practically see you drooling.¡± Lauren chuckled.

    ¡°Oh.¡± The corners of my mouth had definitely gotten a bit drooly while I wasn¡¯t paying attention.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, that was my reaction at first too. Quite a pleasant surprise, don¡¯t you agree?¡±

    ¡°Is there that many different food places here?¡±

    ¡°You bet. If I didn¡¯t know any better, I would consider this place to be the food capital of the world.¡±

    ¡°What are we waiting on then, show me all the foods.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± Lauren started pulling me along once more. ¡°You don¡¯t need to tell me that twice.¡±

    She walked me past multiple little restaurants before stopping for a smaller restaurant, from the outside it also looked to be more of a romantic, cozy restaurant rather than the more hip well lit ones we have just passed.

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    ¡°What¡¯s this place?¡± I asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s a vegan place I found during my second visit here, it¡¯s very cozy inside, they have like these cushions in their boots that are super soft.¡±

    ¡°Cushions!¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Lauren smiled. ¡°And the food is really good too. I generally don¡¯t eat vegan stuff, but I was pleasantly surprised with their menu. In my opinion, it¡¯s a good gateway to eating vegan. So, are you interested?¡±

    ¡°You had me at cushions, not going to lie.¡±

    Lauren laughed. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go in then.¡± She opened the door for me and I stepped through into a room with dark purple walls, lit up by the same cozy orange lighting from outside. There were a couple of people eating here, most of them rather young-looking. Maybe in their early twenties. Some of them gave us a quick glance when we stepped in but they all went back to their own business just as fast.

    A lady, also in her early twenties, wearing a black and purple apron, walked over to us. ¡°How can I help you?¡±

    Lauren took a step forward. ¡°We would like to have a booth for two if that¡¯s possible. I didn¡¯t reserve beforehand, though.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s no problem at all, miss. Come this way, please.¡± The lady guided us to a booth at the back of the restaurant, a bit out of the way from the other guests and sat us down, handing us a menu quickly after. ¡°Call me over once you¡¯ve decided on what to order.¡± She smiled and left us alone again. Leaving Lauren and myself to look through the menu card she¡¯d given us. There were not too many items on the menu, only ten or so, but what was on it, interested me quite a bit.

    ¡°What about we get a plate of jazz?¡± Lauren asked.

    ¡°The music?¡± I tilted my head in confusion.

    ¡°No.¡± She laughed and pointed at the middle of the menu. ¡°It¡¯s a combination of all the above tapas. So you get a couple of pizzette¡¯s, seasonal croquettes, pretty much everything on the tapas menu. Just as a bit of a rich starter.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that does sound pretty good to me, yes.¡± I nodded. ¡°And what are you going to do for the main course, then?¡±

    ¡°I think I¡¯m going to go for the burger. It¡¯s a black bean burger with pickled veggies, lettuce, ketchup and some other sauces together with some sweet potato fries on the side. I at that here last time and I enjoyed it quite a lot.¡±

    ¡°Then I think I¡¯ll go for that too.¡±

    Before we called over the server to our table again, we took off our jackets. When the waitress then finally appeared, it seemed as though that did intimidate her a little bit. But she took our orders nonetheless with a smile.

    ¡°Did she also look a bit nervous to you?¡± I asked Lauren when the lady had walked off.

    ¡°Yeah, a bit. I don¡¯t think people here are used to seeing many military types.¡±

    ¡°But you have come here before, right?¡±

    ¡°It is the first time in uniform.¡±

    ¡°Oh. I thought you always went to the cemetery with your uniform on.¡±

    ¡°Nah, I¡¯ve done it a couple of times, but I mostly keep that for special occasions, when I want to look the best I can. Like introducing my new girlfriend, for example.¡± She leaned in and gave me a kiss on the cheek. ¡°But whenever I¡¯ve come here, it was always on occasions when I wasn¡¯t wearing my uniform.¡±

    ¡°They don¡¯t hate us, right?¡±

    ¡°Nah, I think they just didn¡¯t expect two people, of whom one has a lot of medals hanging from her chest.¡± She pointed at the row of medals and ribbons on her uniform.

    ¡°I guess it is rather impressive.¡±

    At that point, the lady came back with the drinks we¡¯d ordered and put them on the table. ¡°These drinks are on the house.¡± She commented with a smile.

    ¡°That¡¯s really not necessary.¡± Lauren was quick to reply. ¡°I¡¯ve been here a couple of times before, you really don¡¯t need to make an exception.¡±

    ¡°No, really, I insist. My dad would not allow me not to give it to you for free.¡± The lady continued. ¡°My parents survived the war only thanks to soldiers like you. It¡¯s the sole reason why this little bistro is here now.¡±

    Lauren fell quiet for a couple of seconds before she nodded. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll accept it this time. But next time I am paying for the drinks, alright?¡± She smiled.

    The lady also nodded in return. ¡°I will bring your food over shortly.¡± And just like that, she left again.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like I dislike the appreciation at times, but it is quite annoying at times too. I just want to support businesses like this, you know.¡±

    I nodded and thought for a second. ¡°Well¡­ there¡¯s nothing stopping you from giving a sizable tip at the end of our visit, is there?¡±

    Lauren smiled brightly at my short reply. ¡°That¡¯s an idea I can get behind. I actually hadn¡¯t thought about that before.¡± And once more, Lauren leaned in for another kiss.

    -How could I not come up with ideas like this when I keep getting rewarded with something like that?-

 Chapter 63: A Call Back

    With a drink in my hand, I leant back against the comfy backrest and sipped away while we waited for our little plate of saxophone music. The atmosphere in the bar was still relaxed, despite the server forcing free drinks on us because of our uniforms. I¡¯ll tip her graciously as Luna had recommended, that will teach her.

    Luna was also rejoicing in the relaxed environment as she lent back as well against the seat. These boots we¡¯d chosen were perfectly suited for that.

    The silence in our little boot didn¡¯t last too long though, as buzzing from my belt pulled my attention. At the same time, Luna¡¯s holostick started buzzing too.

    ¡°That¡­ doesn¡¯t sound like good news if we both got something¡­¡± Luna said as she put down her glass.

    ¡°And just when I was starting to relax again.¡± I shook my head and did the same, taking my holostick from my belt afterwards. Instead of a video message or a call, the only thing that I saw when I opened it was a message, however. It was addressed by the Admiralty. I straightened my back as I opened the message.

    ¡°Commander Lauren Davis, you are hereby ordered to report to Admiralty Headquarters in three weeks time. Here, you and your crew will receive further instructions.¡± It read.

    ¡°Three weeks time¡­¡± I said softly.

    ¡°I take it you got the same message?¡± Luna asked and showed me her holostick.

    I quickly compared the two, apart from our names and a couple of minor differences the message was identical. ¡°Yep, it¡¯s the same thing. Looks like if we want to have that little beach holiday, we probably should plan it sooner rather than later.¡±

    ¡°Are you not concerned?¡± She asked.

    I put my holostick away. ¡°No, I¡¯m actually kind of relieved that we have gotten a timeline now that we can work with. I am, however, a bit more concerned about how much money the short-term booking costs of the holiday will be.¡± That last part was a joke, it would all be rather affordable. ¡°If they were going to punish us, we¡¯d have long since been detained by the military police.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true¡­¡±

    ¡°But anyway, let¡¯s not worry about that right now, we have more things to worry about at the moment.¡±

    ¡°And what would that be?¡±

    ¡°How we could possibly eat all that delicious food that¡¯s being served to us in just a moment.¡± I nodded over to the doorway behind which the kitchen was located, just as the server walked out again with a huge plate of food.

    ¡°Wha¡­ how did you know?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a secret.¡±

    Luna pouted. ¡°Did the server send you a message too or something?¡±

    I shook my head and leaned in to Luna, beckoning her to come closer too, which she did. ¡°No, see that mirror there? It¡¯s actually angled just right so that I could see our food in it¡¯s reflection.¡± When Luna turned her head, I took the opportunity to kiss her on the cheek. A sneak attack, if you will.

    She started blushing and brought her hand to her cheek. ¡°There¡¯s no mirror there at all, is there?¡±

    ¡°No, there actually is.¡±

    Luna looked over again, now keeping her guard up, judging by her reaction she did notice the mirror this time.

    The server put the plate of food in front of us with a big smile. ¡°If you need anything else, just call me over.¡±

    ¡°We will.¡± I replied and looked at all the different kinds of dishes on the plate. A couple of small vegan pizzas with loads of veggies. A seasonal croquette, no clue what¡¯s inside of it yet, grilled bread with aioli and olives, very nicely smelling samosas¡¯s, grilled corn with herbs strewn over it, and then a whole bunch of nachos with home-made salsa. I rubbed my hand in contentment.

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    ¡°Can we start eating already?¡± Luna asked.

    ¡°We better if we want to also eat our burger afterwards.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m starting to think that ordering the burger might have been a bad idea. My stomach will have issues eating this all.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s going to be okay. Another advantage about vegan food is that it¡¯s generally not as heavy as ¡®normal food¡¯.¡± I replied, although I had to also admit that it was a lot more food than I remembered. But then again, there was two of us now and last time I ate this, I finished it by myself.

    We both started to dig into the food, it all tasted as good as it looked. My favorite was still the nachos with dip, but the samosas were definitely a close second.

    The plate was about 80% empty when my holostick started to vibrate again, I had left it on the table so it was rather easy for me to see that it was Eva who was calling me this time. I picked up without further ado.

    ¡°Hey Lauren, I hope I¡¯m not interrupting?¡±

    ¡°Luna and I are eating at a restaurant at the moment. But go ahead, you are not really that much of a nuisance.¡± I joked.

    ¡°Well¡­ thanks.¡± She chuckled. ¡°I take it you already know why I¡¯m calling?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we got the message as well.¡±

    ¡°Three weeks is not a lot, is it?¡±

    ¡°It isn¡¯t, but a part of me had expected that we¡¯d have to return sooner or later.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± Eva hummed on the other side of the line. ¡°Are you still going on your sunny holiday?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we were going to look into it when we came home from visiting my parents. It¡¯s gonna be a bit of a hassle getting things arranged on a short term, but I can¡¯t leave Earth before seeing my girlfriend in a bikini, right?¡±

    ¡°Lauren.¡± Luna punched my arm and pouted.

    Eva chuckled once more. ¡°Do give me a call when you get home, so I can get in on the planning as well, ok?¡±

    ¡°Sure, that was pretty much the plan anyway.¡±

    ¡°In the meantime, I¡¯ll go ahead and make a bit of a shortlist. Additions are always allowed, of course.¡±

    ¡°We are looking forward to what you¡¯ll find, Eva.¡± Luna commented.

    ¡°I will only select the best of the best.¡± She replied. ¡°Anyway, enjoy your meal and talk to you later.¡±

    ¡°See you.¡± And with that, the swift call we had, had ended.

    ¡°With Eva looking for hotels, we will definitely be golden.¡± I commented and put another nacho in my mouth.

    ¡°She did say we could suggest a couple of destinations, too.¡±

    ¡°Knowing her, though, that would be a waste of energy. The first things she¡¯s going to suggest to us is the one we will agree on going to.¡±

    ¡°Then why did she say that?¡±

    ¡°Because that¡¯s the casual dance of the conversation.¡± I smiled. ¡°Hey, I¡¯m not stopping you from looking up some stuff as well. I would gladly peruse the destinations together as well. But you¡¯ll see that what Eva suggests is going to be magnificent.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, challenge accepted to beat the doctor!¡± Luna looked very battle ready, maybe I had underestimated her a little, but then again, underestimating Eva was also not a terribly great idea. But in the end, this would all lead to a great holiday, so a bit of friendly competition while fun is being had is always a great option.

    We managed to finish the meal and were given a bit of reprieve before we got the main dish served in front of us. The burger looked largely indistinguishable from a meat burger, but I could tell from the smell that it wasn¡¯t going to be anything but on-par or above in tastiness.

    ¡°Let¡¯s do our best not to let any of the food go to waste.¡± I raised my balled fist at Luna.

    Luna on the other hand looked like she was already about to give up. ¡°I¡¯m not so sure. That WAS a lot of food we just ate. I don¡¯t know if I can eat more.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll mind if you ask to put the leftovers in a takeaway box.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± She nodded, but then took the burger in her hands anyway. ¡°I¡¯ll try to eat a little bit more.¡±

    Luna made a valiant effort in eating her burger. But when she had eaten about a quarter, she was ready to call it quits. For me, I still had some room to finish it all.

    Luna raised her hand and the server quickly came over. ¡°Could I please take this home with us. I don¡¯t think I can finish it right now, but it¡¯s way too delicious to just leave.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s no problem.¡± The friendly server smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll take your plate and I¡¯ll put the burger and the salad in a box for you.¡± She then looked over to me. ¡°And your plate, Miss?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll finish this, but thank you for asking.¡± I smiled.

    She gave me a nod and walked off once more.

    ¡°See, it was no problem at all.¡± I winked at my girlfriend. -It¡¯d honestly surprise me quite greatly if a vegan restaurant didn¡¯t allow you to take the leftovers with you.-

 Chapter 64: Red Chili Paste

    With extra leftover food in hand, we left the restaurant after having paid the bill, and having left a very sizable tip too. The server had looked quite defeated once I handed the tip over to her, but in the end she was very grateful for it nonetheless.

    My parents had raised me to be thankful for a service well delivered and I sure as hell was going to be the most exemplary daughter to them, and that counted double on days I visited.

    Anyway, a tram and a train ride later, we got home without any issues and spent the rest of our day resting on the sofa. We had also given Eva another call, but we decided to leave the planning for the day after, as Luna had gotten rather tired from eating too much. Her little contest with Eva had ended before it even began.

    And so the next day came and with it a meeting of the three of us, with Eva being digitally present through our holo stick.

    ¡°What kind of list did you manage to put together?¡± I asked, with Luna hanging from my good arm.

    ¡°I just sent it over.¡± She replied as a popup appeared on the right of the screen. It automatically opened as my holostick noticed we were talking about it. It showed us a list of hotels in sunny destinations, all with private beaches. Their prices differed quite a bit, but they were all well-within our means.

    ¡°Oh, what about this one?¡± Luna tapped my holoscreen as one of the lodgings floated by.

    ¡°Hmm.¡± Eva chuckled contently. ¡°That was one of the ones I thought you would go for.¡±

    The image enlarged and showed us what the lodging was about a bit more in detail. Instead of being a standard hotel, this lodging seemed to be more catered to renting out beach cabins which are all divided up on their own little man-made private island, with top class service being provided by a system of server bots and human made foods that were flown over by drone from the main island.

    That way we could be alone with our party on an island, have a great view and superb service on top of that. There were even quite a lot of activities one could do like driving jet skis and the like.

    ¡°It says the cabin roofs also allow you to sleep under the stars!¡±

    ¡°Luna¡­ we have slept surrounded by stars for a couple of months, you realize that, right?¡±

    ¡°But this is different!¡±

    ¡°I know.¡± I chuckled. ¡°So, Eva, what do you think?¡±

    ¡°Well, there¡¯s nothing on that list I don¡¯t agree with, otherwise I wouldn¡¯t have put it on.¡± She giggled. ¡°And that one was also one of my favorites, to be honest.¡±

    ¡°Alright, then let¡¯s book it.¡± I smiled.

    ¡°Hang on, soldier.¡± Eva stopped me. ¡°When exactly do we want to go and for how long. We¡¯ve only got three weeks, but timing is still important.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, how about we leave next week for 9 days or so?¡± I proposed. ¡°That way, I have plenty of time to order some clothes for Luna and me that aren¡¯t made for Antarctic weather, and we still have time to get stuff done before we need to head to HQ.¡± I looked at Luna, who just smiled at me and gave a nod.

    ¡°Right, that sounds good to me as well. I¡¯ll book it and send you the detail. You just need to make sure you and Luna physically get there.¡±

    ¡°That will be no big problem.¡± I smiled. ¡°Thanks for making us a list.¡±

    ¡°No problem at all, I enjoy doing it.¡± Eva smiled. ¡°Well, see you in a bit and don¡¯t be afraid to call me if Lauren annoys you, okay, Luna?¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡± Luna giggled.

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    Before I could reply, Eva had hung up yet again. The rascal.

    And thus we had to start preparing for a relatively sudden summer holiday. It had been so long ago that I had been in the hotter climates that I barely had any summer clothes left, so as I had said to Eva, I had to stock up on a bit of a wardrobe, but luckily there was Luna as well who could help me pick.

    Apart from the clothes we also needed to make some travel reservations as the destination we had chosen was not so easily reached by train, at least not till the end.

    Our lodging was in the Polynesian territory so we¡¯d need to take a train to Megacity Brisbane and take a boat from there to the loding¡¯s main hub.

    It would be about half a day worth of travel, but most of that would be spent on the boat, as that was by far the slowest part of the journey. Luna did look forward to her first trip on a boat though so I made sure to book the most comfortable of cabins so she could enjoy without any worry.

    As for our dinner with our lovely neighbors, we decided it would be best to hold it once we got back home after the trip. That way we could say our goodbyes in a calm manner without the stress of having to pack for holiday in between all that.

    Ellie¡¯s drone, in the meantime, we did manage to finish. Ellie was pretty darn enthusiastic about our little holiday, even though she insisted not to come along.

    ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want to come along?¡± I asked Ellie¡¯s hologram that was standing in front of me. She still didn¡¯t really have a face yet, but the rest of her body looked quite a lot more refined than the avatar she used a while ago.

    ¡°No, Commander, I am sure.¡±

    ¡°For real, for real? It wouldn¡¯t be hard for me to take the drone along in our luggage.¡±

    ¡°Yes, for real, Lauren.¡± Ellie nodded. ¡°I have a lot to prepare for considering the message you have all received and the activity aboard the ship has also drastically increased. I want to take no chances to seem ¡®absentminded¡¯ to the people aboard. While I have calculated the possibility of people noticing to be incredibly miniscule. The chance is still not zero and it¡¯s not a risk I am willing to take.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sad that you won¡¯t come along, Ellie. It would have been really fun to have you.¡± Luna said. ¡°But I understand your reasoning.¡±

    ¡°I trust there will be more excursions in the future where I will be able to join you. So please, do not fret.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± I nodded. ¡°And about the ship¡­ are they doing anything drastic to it?¡±

    ¡°They are installing quite a few new weapons systems.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°I was expecting them too, considering our encounters. They are also adding a lot of weight by adding more armor plates and shielding.¡±

    ¡°We are still going out there to explore, right?¡± Luna asked.

    ¡°Well¡­ I guess we¡¯ll only know when we get to HQ, if we even get assigned to the same ship again.¡±

    ¡°They have not changed anything else aboard the ship. And from what I have gleaned, the crew roster also has not changed, apart from some supplementary security personnel. I think it is safe to say you will get your ship back, Commander.¡±

    It¡¯s not like I had really expected them to take my ship away, considering the circumstances, but there was always that tiny bit of doubt that snuck up on me. But hearing Ellie say that, it did put me a bit firmer in my boots once more. ¡°I suppose some extra guns don¡¯t hurt no matter the mission¡­¡±

    Soon after, Ellie had to take her leave as the next batch of engineers had come aboard to install upgrades. But before she went, Ellie reassured us that Luna¡¯s box was still stored safe and sound in her mainframe.

    That¡¯s how we arrived on the day of our departure towards our holiday destination. With our summer clothes packed, but still dressed very cozily for our short exit into the freezing cold, we stood at the entrance to the hypertrain we were about to take towards Megacity Brisbane. Martha and Roland had come along to the capital to wave us off, as they had some of their own business to attend to there as well.

    ¡°Luna, keep a good eye on our Lauren for us, will you?¡± Martha asked as she gave Luna a hug.

    ¡°I will.¡± She giggled and looked at me.

    ¡°And make sure she eats good.¡± Roland lifted his finger.

    ¡°We are never going to eat as good as with you guys.¡± I replied with a chuckle of my own. ¡°Just make sure that you don¡¯t leave on a holiday yourself when we get home.¡±

    ¡°And miss your dinner invitation? We would never!¡± Martha smiled as it was my turn to get hugged by her. When she pulled back again, she did take my cheek with her mittened hands. ¡°But in all seriousness, war hero or not, be sure to put on plenty of sunscreen! The Antarctic sun has not been training us very well to be in the open!¡±

    ¡°I will.¡±

    ¡°You should¡¯ve seen Martha last time we went somewhere. Red as the reddest of chili pastes, I tell you.¡± He laughed but did get booped by Martha in return.

    ¡°A cautionary tale we will follow the moral off.¡± I replied with a smile, after which we waved our nice neighbors a last goodbye as the train was about to leave.

    Sadly, our seat was on the other side of the train so we couldn¡¯t wave at them as we departed.

 Chapter 64 Bis: Megacity Brisbane

    As opposed to our way here, the hyper train had to run quite the distance across the white plains of the Antarctic region before it made it¡¯s crossing over the sea to Megacity Brisbane. I hated to admit it to Lauren but I was quite happy to slowly start seeing good old daylight again. The short days this time of year in Antarctica were quite tiring if you weren¡¯t used to it. Which is rather weird if you think about it as we¡¯d been on a spaceship without sunrises before, but there we did follow quite a solid daylight rhythm. We spent most of the time on the train in the restaurant car. This time I wasn¡¯t feeling tired at all so we could spend literally the entire trip here.

    Sadly though, we did have different staff from last time. This other staff was a lot less chatty, yet not any less professional or friendly. But I did prefer the more personal service. I guess it also wasn¡¯t helped by the fact that we were anything but alone this time.

    For our food we just ate something light. We both opted for a croque monsieur as it was still relatively early in the morning. Lauren had promised that we could get some more filling food on the boat to our final destination. And as I trusted her completely, of course I believed her.

    ¡°What are you looking forward to most?¡± Lauren asked as she used her knife to spread a bit of ketchup on her croque monsieur.

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ That¡¯s a good question.¡± While I pondered her question I took another bite of my own food. ¡°Maybe swimming when the sun is setting?¡±

    ¡°Hoho, that sounds pretty good, yeah.¡± Lauren smiled and ate her ketchup covered toast.

    ¡°What about you?¡± I asked in return?

    ¡°I think I just look forward to hanging out with my friend and my girlfriend to be honest. I don¡¯t really need much more than that. The rest is just a happy extra. It¡¯s been a very long time since I¡¯ve hung out with Eva outside of work so it¡¯ll definitely be fun to do that again. Satisfied with that answer?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± I smiled back. ¡°I think it¡¯s going to be a great holiday.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± She nodded. ¡°I think so too.¡± She then leaned in to give me a kiss on my cheek. ¡°Although I could be anywhere with you and still have a great time.¡±

    ¡°Flirt.¡±

    She smirked and just continued eating her croque monsieur.

    Before we exited the train Lauren recommended stowing away our winter jackets as the temperature in Megacity Brisbane would be a lot higher than what I had ever experienced on Earth. She wasn¡¯t wrong. While the station building felt okay as it was air-conditioned, the temperature outside was a nothing I had come up against on Earth before. Even though it wasn¡¯t summer, it really put the coldness of Antarctica into perspective.

    ¡°And it¡¯s going to be even hotter once we get to the island, but at least we have to wear considerably less clothes once we get there.¡± Lauren teased, whispering into my ear.

    I pushed her away but blushed regardless. Lauren better wears the clothes we bought together, otherwise I¡¯m not going to be a happy Luna.

    A quick hover tramride later we arrived at Megacity Brisbane¡¯s docks.

    ¡°Allright, our tickets say dock 226.¡± Lauren looks around. ¡°That should be around here.¡± Her eyes land on a weird looking darkblue and white coloured boat. ¡°That should be it.¡±

    ¡°Why is it shaped like that?¡± I asked as Lauren lead the way with tickets in hand.

    ¡°Do you mean why it has two hulls, kinda?¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± I nodded.

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    ¡°It¡¯s called a catamaran.¡± She explained. ¡°It¡¯s a type of boat that has less water resistance compared to mono-hull boats. Apparently they also resist capsizing a bit too. But they mainly use them because they are power efficient.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see. I take it you don¡¯t know the hydrodynamic reasons for that?¡±

    ¡°Not really.¡± She laughed. ¡°I was just curious and looked it up one day and that¡¯s what I remember from it. If you want to learn the how and why more exactly, it¡¯s better to research it yourself. You are the smart one of the two of us after all.¡± She waited for me to catch up and then grabbed my hand so we could walk towards the boat side by side.

    As opposed to most entrances, this check-in wasn¡¯t automated as there was still a human clerk there to take our tickets.

    ¡°Miss Davis, Miss Moore, welcome aboard. In the name of Saint Katherine Cruises I wish you a pleasant trip. If you need anything, please feel free to ask any attendant on board.¡± The man who took our tickets smiled.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Lauren smiled back.

    ¡°Do you need anyone to help you carry your luggage aboard?¡± He asked almost immediately after.

    ¡°No, thank you, we will be fine.¡± Lauren took both our pieces of luggage and carried them up the slightly sloping ramp and into the ship¡¯s main hull. The inside of the ship looked very luxurious.

    ¡°Wow.¡± I uttered as I looked at the wooden detailing. I also noticed that the floor was completely spotless, even though it was completely made out of wood as well. They must regularly resurface it.

    ¡°I spent a bit more on the boat ride as this is going to take the longest by far. Might as well travel in supreme comfort as we do. We have a private cabin as well.¡±

    ¡°How long exactly was this boat trip going to take?¡±

    ¡°Eight hours or so depending on the weather. But it should be on the shorter side as it¡¯s all nice weather ahead.¡±

    ¡°You made it sound like we were going to spend days here.¡±

    ¡°I do think they use this boat on longer trips too. So you wouldn¡¯t be too wrong guessing that from the accommodations.¡± Lauren walked down one of the hallways which snaked through the boat a little. It reminded me a bit of the corridors back on our ship. Albeit that this one has a lot more painting hanging from the walls. ¡°This cabin should be ours.¡± She halted in front of a nice light gray wooden door. She then took out her holo stick and held it in front of the door which then swiftly unlocked before us. ¡°Yep, it¡¯s ours.¡±

    We rolled our luggage inside of the room, but what I noticed immediately as I walked in was the huge window that was opposite to us, giving us a clear view into the huge harbor of Megacity Brisbane.

    ¡°Wow.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the second wow in a very short time.¡± Lauren chuckled as she sat down on the huge twin bed.

    ¡°And it even has a bed so we can lay down AND look outside?¡±

    ¡°You missed the bed? It¡¯s literally the biggest thing in the room.¡±

    ¡°I was too mesmerized by the outside world.¡±

    ¡°But yeah, that¡¯s why I booked the cabin. You can always just rest a bit in the hang out areas on board but nothing really beats taking a nap in a bed if you want to.¡± She patted the bed, signaling me to come and sit down next to her.

    When I did, the bed felt incredibly soft, although still firm enough to give me a good nights rest if I wanted to. I never really liked sinking in completely.

    ¡°And you know what the best part about these windows is?¡±

    ¡°No?¡± I shook my head. ¡°

    ¡°People can¡¯t see in from the outside.¡± Lauren smiled and brought her face so close to mine so that our noses were almost touching. My blush and slight smile was enough invitation for Lauren to cross the final distance and touch her lips with mine. She was being incredibly tender right now, not pushing for more at all. Just enjoying the moment and our softest of touches.

    ¡°We should probably not play it too rough, we can always do that on our island.¡±

    ¡°And what about Eva?¡±

    ¡°Luckily, she was smart enough to get us two separate sleeping cabins. Plenty far away so she would not be able to hear a thing.¡± Lauren booped me in the nose with her finger.

    ¡°Hehe.¡± Even though I had to laugh, my blush kept blushing even more.

    ¡°So, should we rest here for a little bit longer or do you want to go for dinner already?¡± She asked, putting her hand on my thigh. It was clear what option she preferred even though she didn¡¯t say a thing.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not too hungry yet¡­ So I wouldn¡¯t mind waiting a bit longer.¡±

    Lauren grinned and started with another quick kiss. ¡°That was the answer I was hoping for.¡± And then pressed her lips against mine for quite a while longer.

    While we were softly making out in our cabin, the ship slowly departed from Megacity Brisbane¡¯s harbor and it didn¡¯t take long until we were out in the ocean on track for our destination. Although I wouldn¡¯t really mind that being delayed by a little bit¡­

 Chapter 65: Sea Food Banquet

    After making out for a good while longer Luna and I just cuddled on the bed, me being her big spoon while we looked out into the ocean. It was weird that I barely felt the ship moving. I¡¯d expected it to roll a lot more than what it was doing now, but then again. It might be better like this so we avoided getting seasick. That would be rather ironic as¡­ being a marine and all that.

    Our cuddling only got interrupted by Luna¡¯s stomach starting to grumble. A clear sign it was time for food. And so, food we had, in the ship¡¯s luxurious restaurant. They were serving mostly seafood, the best one could get, although it was rather intimidating. Many of these foods I had never eaten before as they were considered to be for the very rich. Even though I was quite well off because of my function, and discounts on top of that. My upbringing made me turn away from this kind of food most of the time.

    As Luna missed the connotation of rich people¡¯s food, she just happily looked around the options. ¡°I don¡¯t know what to pick, Lauren. It all looks and smells delicious.¡±

    ¡°I have no clue myself.¡± I looked at the chef who was standing on the other side of the counter. Luckily he interpreted my voiceless cry for help completely.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you try this?¡± He beckoned us over to look at a dish a bit further down the line. ¡°Do you like garlic, butter or a combination of the two?¡±

    ¡°I think we do.¡± I nodded.

    ¡°Then this dish will fit well with you.¡± He rhymed poetically and pointed at a lobster that was cut in half. Richly covered in buttery and garlicky goodness.

    ¡°That does look rather nice.¡± I nodded.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you need to break it open anymore? I read that you had to do that with lobster.¡± Luna asked.

    ¡°Since it¡¯s cut in half you don¡¯t have to anymore.¡± The chef explained.

    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Luna sounded somewhat disappointed by that.

    But before I could reply the chef had already picked up on it. ¡°If you want to try, you can always take that lobster and I can add some claws to it too so you can try it out as well.¡±

    Luna was immediately pleased with that answer. ¡°That¡¯d be great!¡±

    ¡°And if you want to try even more, don¡¯t fret to ask for more. You can always share a dish as well so you can experience as many tastes as possible.¡± The chef had really started to sell it now. Everything here was already included into the price of the ship¡¯s ticket, which he knew of course. He just wanted people to experience new tastes. I can really respect that.

    In the end he also managed to give us some spicy scampis and a pot of mussels with fries.

    We were a bit confused at first how to eat mussels but, as the chef saw us messing around, he came over to our table near the front of the ship, to show us how to eat it. You¡¯d basically take an empty shell of a mussel and use that to scoop out a mussel that was still in its shell. Using it is a bit like a tweezer.

    ¡°Is it true that this used to be food for poor people?¡± Luna asked while the chef was still at our table.

    ¡°Yes.¡± The chef nodded. ¡°But that was a very long time ago. Since then, it has become increasingly more expensive because it has also become a lot harder to find them. But luckily our company can still source them pretty often.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    ¡°Might I ask what happens with the rest of the food?¡± I was wondering about that since the buffet was quite big and fish doesn¡¯t really keep long.

    ¡°The crew can eat a lot of it. We also freeze some of it in so that we can hand it out to charities when we reach port.¡±

    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    -Well, at least that¡¯s pretty nice.-

    We ate our food with the greatest view of the ship and afterwards decided not to return to the cabin but walk around for a bit. There was a casino on board, a theater, a cinema, holo gaming centers, and much much more, but sadly our trip was too short to really be able to check things out. It was clear however, that even just looking around was a blast for Luna and because of this I was having a great time too.

    When we got close to our destination, signaled to us by a message on my holo stick, we got our stuff out of our cabin after freshening up real fast.

    The ship would only be docked with the main island hub for a moment before it would sail off again so we were invited to wait for the docking by the exit. To not make us feel unwanted an attendant waited with us to chat with us for a little while longer.

    She told us that the next big cruise would sail around the world three times before taking on new passengers and it was about to set sail in the Japanese region.

    Apparently doing that trip only took them a couple of weeks.

    In any case, with that little factoid we got dropped off at the docking area of the main island hub where we would quickly depart from yet again to go to our own private island. We were only at the bottom of the walkway when the ship we were on departed once more.

    ¡°I hope you liked our little boat trip, short as it was.¡± I already had to swipe away the sweat from my forehead because of the heat. It was going to take me quite a bit to get used to this.

    ¡°Yeah, it was fun. And I liked the food too.¡±

    ¡°The food was great, that¡¯s true. I especially liked the garlic dishes.¡±

    ¡°All the dishes had garlic in them, didn¡¯t they?¡±

    ¡°Yep.¡± I chuckled to which Luna rolled her eyes.

    ¡°Ah, if those aren¡¯t my two friends standing over there.¡± I heard a chipper Eva call out to us. She walked up to us from one of the seats on the side, wearing one of those straw sun hats. And even though the sun was starting to go down already, she was also still wearing her sunglasses.

    ¡°Eva!¡± Luna left her bag with me and went to give Eva a hug midway.

    ¡°Ho there.¡± Eva laughed as she got hugged for just a second.

    ¡°It feels so long ago that we saw each other.¡± Luna replied.

    ¡°Yeah, it does, doesn¡¯t it?¡± When you see each other as much as we did on the ship, not having that anymore does feel rather weird.¡±

    I rolled up both of our pieces of luggage and gave my friend a hug as well. ¡°That¡¯s true. But now you won¡¯t get rid of us for at least 9 days.¡±

    ¡°Drat.¡± She joked.

    ¡°Have you already went on to sign us in?¡±

    Eva shook her head. ¡°I¡¯ve actually only arrived here twenty minutes ago. But I saw on my sat-ap that you two were not far away so I decided to wait.¡±

    ¡°Should we get signed up then?¡± Luna asked. ¡°I really want to see our island!¡± It¡¯s true that the main hub here wasn¡¯t much to look at. I mean, it¡¯s fancy, clearly, but this was more meant as a pure logistical facility than the actual holiday spots. And while it had some hints of theming, it wouldn¡¯t get close to the ¡®real thing¡¯.

    ¡°I¡¯m not opposed to that. Can¡¯t wait to sit at the beach with a cocktail in my hand.¡± Eva nodded. ¡°Maybe even with a tiki torch or two.¡±

    I chuckled and rolled our luggage onwards towards the check-in desk. ¡°Then we should do so.¡±

    The receptionist welcomed us with a friendly smile and had our things in order before I even said hi. She then explained to us how the system worked. At the sides of this building are little piers with private boats that will take you to your personal island. Once you are there, you are allowed to do as you please. Everything was already arranged for us. Our beds were made. Everything had been cleaned and fridges with drinks and snacks had been stored. Whenever we needed anything, we could just easily contact staff by messaging them with our holo sticks. She did say that for some meals they would need to be excused for a maximum of twenty minutes, but all things considered, that wasn¡¯t any wait at all.

    She then wished us a nice stay and gave us a complementary gift bag each. There would be even more amenities at our island but apparently management knew who we were and wanted to give us something extra.

    As we walked towards our little boat Eva was already going through the bag.

    ¡°Oooh.¡± She said as she took a bottle in her hand.

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Luna asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s a very fancy looking skin lotion.¡± Eva twisted off the cap and gave it a smell. ¡°Smells great too.¡±

    She let my curious girlfriend sniff as well. ¡°Oh, that does smell nice. What do you think it is?¡±

    ¡°Silky smoothness.¡±

    Eva¡¯s comment made both Luna and I chuckle.

 Chapter 66: Island Sanctuary Retreat

    ¡°Shotgun!¡± Eva called out once we reached our little boat. It looked like one of those very old wooden motorboats you¡¯d see in movies from the early 2000¡¯s. At the front there was a robot behind the steering wheel beside which Eva would wanted to be seated. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t want to split up our lovey dovey couple after all.¡± She smirked as she gracefully hopped into the boat.

    I rolled my eye with a smile and stood next to the boat, holding Luna by her hand so I could guide her in. ¡°Watch the step.¡±

    Luna nodded and carefully got into the back seat without any issues after which I followed her in as well.

    ¡°This boat wobbles a lot more.¡± My girlfriend commented when I sat down next to her.

    ¡°It does, but don¡¯t worry, the seas are pretty calm right now so we shouldn¡¯t experience a very wild ride.¡±

    ¡°Have no fear, human.¡± Our robot driver turned its head around to look at us. I was pretty happy it didn¡¯t really look human otherwise that would have been rather unsettling. ¡°My navigational programs are so that I can navigate storms with ease, even in vehicles as small as this. While it is not a recommended time to go sailing, because of my safety protocols you shall not be in danger for a single moment.¡± As quickly as it had turned its head towards us, it turned its head back to the front again.

    ¡°See, nothing to worry about.¡± I smiled at my girlfriend.

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t really worried.¡± Luna chuckled. ¡°It was just something I was wondering about.¡±

    ¡°Commencing travel to your destination.¡± Our robot driver said as the electric engine of the boat started humming softly.

    Eva leaned back in her seat as the boat departed the pier. Laying her arms on the backrest while looking back at us too. ¡°It¡¯s quite a while since we¡¯ve been in a small boat like this, hasn¡¯t it, Lauren?¡±

    ¡°Quite a while indeed.¡± I nodded. ¡°Basic training if I recall correctly.¡±

    Eva nodded back. ¡°Yeah, I think so too.¡±

    ¡°Why was this included in your basic training?¡± Luna asked. ¡°I¡¯ve never gone through this.¡±

    ¡°They stopped doing it after the war.¡± I replied. ¡°Back then naval basic training for spacefaring personnel still had a small section on seafaring vehicles. For the marines it¡¯s still a requirement because we can get thrown into any situation, really. But that¡¯s why you haven¡¯t run into it.¡±

    ¡°Not very useful for people who never come into contact with water.¡± Eva added. ¡°More important that you focus on emergency procedures in space and how the shuttles work rather than learning how you dock to actual seafaring ships.¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah, that does make sense.¡± Luna agreed.

    The boat glided through the water towards our private island. The little trip was quite calming. There was something about bobbing up and down on the waves, this close down to the water, that felt very soothing to me. Aided by the crystal clear seas below. As evening started to set in, the orange glow of the sun reflected beautifully over the tops of the small waves. This vacation was definitely going to be a treat to the eyes.

    On the final approach to our lovely island vacation we saw the torches along the pathways starting to light up. Luna sat upright in her seat, clearly very giddy to get off the boat.

    Before she could jump off and make an attempt at swimming to shore, our robot captain stopped at our own personal pier. ¡°You have arrived at your holiday destination. If you need anything, be sure to contact staff. I will stay here until your luggage has been unloaded.¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡± Eva said as she stood up and stepped up onto the pier, stretching for a second before giving Luna a hand.

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    I quickly followed behind my girlfriend and together with Eva we unloaded our bags.

    The robot captain gave us a final goodbye before he zoomed off again towards the main island which was quite the distance away now that we looked back over the sea.

    ¡°Ah, finally time for the vacation to officially start.¡± Eva put her hands on her hip and looked out at the beach in front of her, taking a deep breath of the fresh sea air too.

    ¡°The island is bigger than I expected.¡± Luna commented as she looked in the opposite direction.

    ¡°It¡¯s definitely not small.¡± I put my hand on my girlfriend¡¯s back. She looked up at me and smiled in return, doing the same and then leaning onto me.

    ¡°Should we go and drop our luggage off at our huts and then meet up again to eat something?¡± Eva asked once she had enough of staring over the ocean.

    ¡°Yeah, eating something light probably isn¡¯t a bad idea.¡±

    ¡°Light?¡±

    ¡°We had quite a bit to eat on the ship.¡± Luna explained.

    "Ah. It might have been wise of me to do that too.¡± Eva laughed.

    ¡°In any case, we won¡¯t keep you waiting, let¡¯s go.¡± I took my girlfriend¡¯s hand and in my other hand took my luggage while Luna did the same.

    The dark brown wooden planks ran all the way to our huts that were set on the right hand side of the island. They were not immediately set by the water but we would still have an amazing ocean view from within them. Both provided huts were approximately the same size, big enough to house quite a few more people than were present right now. They looked pretty much like small houses.

    Eva took the hut on the left and we took the other. We unlocked the door with our holo stick. Something we would probably only need to do once during this holiday. As we were alone it was not necessary to lock these huts at any point. Although maybe for the master bedroom that would not be a bad idea at times.

    The hut had been decorated in a Polynesian style with lots of browns and beige colors. I could imagine it fitting in real well with the tons of natural light that the big windows and sliding door could provide. The indoor lighting that had sprung on as we entered had a light orange tint which worked calming on my eyes.

    ¡°It smells really nice here.¡± Luna commented as she walked around the living room of our hut. Is it the wood?¡±

    I nodded. ¡°Yeah, I think so. The wood together with the plants presumably.¡± There were quite a couple of plants placed around the hut. All very well kept. Not the fake plastic plants you would sometimes see around, that¡¯s for sure.

    ¡°Luna! Lauren! Do you want some fruit smoothies?¡± I heard Eva yell from outside.

    ¡°We¡¯ve not even seen the kitchen yet and you are already making smoothies?!¡± I called back.

    ¡°There¡¯s a huge fruitbowl here, how could I not? So do you want one?¡±

    I looked at Luna who just gave me a very happy nod in return. ¡°Sure, we¡¯ll have one.¡±

    ¡°Good!¡±

    Luna and I chuckled as we put our bags next to our very comfortable looking bed. ¡°Let¡¯s unpack tomorrow. Don¡¯t really want to get into that for now.¡± I said.

    ¡°Me neither.¡± Luna sat down on the bed and tested it out by bouncing up and down a little, followed by the floofening of the provided pillows.

    ¡°What¡¯s the verdict? Is it as comfortable as it looks?¡±

    Luna nodded and threw the pillow at me. I saw it coming though so it didn¡¯t poof in my face. The pillow was firm and lump free. ¡°Oh, I like that.¡± and then lobbed the pillow back at Luna.

    ¡°I hope the air conditioning won¡¯t make too much noise at night though.¡± She said, looking up at the vents at the top of the wall. They were camouflaged to blend in with the room but still quite visible if you looked for them.

    ¡°I sincerely doubt they will have skimped on the air conditioning if the rest looks like this.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but otherwise it¡¯ll be pretty hard to get a good rest.¡±

    ¡°Eh, as long as it doesn¡¯t whine we¡¯ll get used to it, just like sleeping in a spaceship.¡±

    Having put away our stuff for the moment we headed out of the bedroom, past the living room and into the kitchen where there was a huge fruit bowl set up for us as well. It had oranges, pineapples, apples, grapes and other kinds of fruits. Plenty to make smoothies from, together with a powerful looking blender on the kitchen counter to make them with.

    I doubted we would need the kitchen that much during our vacation, but it was a nice option to have if you really wanted to make your own food.

    We looked around the hut for a bit longer until Eva called out to us from outside. ¡°Smoothies are ready! I¡¯ll put them on the patio in front of our huts, okay?¡±

    ¡°We are coming!¡± I called back. -Time to relax and let the stress and tiredness of our day of travel flow off our bodies.-

 Chapter 66 Bis: The Indian Spread

    We threw off some clothes before we went outside to join Eva and her smoothies as it was still rather hot for the evening.

    When we walked outside we saw Eva sit at the table that was set up beneath a straw-roofed gazebo. She was lounging leisurely, sipping from her own smoothie from a straw. She was completely in holiday mode already.

    ¡°Lounging already?¡± Lauren chuckled as she sat down on the bamboo chair, luckily they had some rather comfy pillows to soften them a little.

    ¡°Yep.¡± Eva sighed contently. ¡°Looks like there¡¯s not many insects around here either. I love the place already.¡±

    ¡°Do you like the inside of the hut too?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Yes, everything is very neat and tidy. I also really like the style. Maybe we should take some inspiration for the officer bar on board the ship?¡± She smirked at Lauren.

    ¡°Well, we could change it up once in a while I suppose.¡± Lauren took hold of her colourful smoothie and took a sip. ¡°Wow, this is really good.¡±

    ¡°Blended fruit is hard to mess up.¡± Eva chuckled.

    I took a sip from my smoothie as well. It was nice, quite sweet but also a bit sour. It was quite to my liking.

    Eva looked at me expectantly.

    ¡°It¡¯s nice.¡± I nodded. ¡°What did you put in it?¡±

    ¡°Some lime, pineapple, bananas, you know, tropical stuff. Very healthy for you. Lots of vitamins.¡±

    ¡°Watch out, you might get back into work mode before you know it.¡± Lauren joked.

    ¡°Would give me more work if you two developed scurvy.¡±

    ¡°What do you think we eat on a regular basis?¡±

    ¡°Just kidding.¡± Eva smiled. ¡°I just like smoothies because it¡¯s healthy and tasty, that¡¯s all.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s definitely tasty.¡± Lauren replied, she¡¯d already drunk a quarter of her smoothie. Well, we could always make some more if we really wanted to.

    The sun set rather quickly but thanks to all the torches around, it wasn¡¯t really dark. Neither did it get cold fast either.

    ¡°I think I¡¯ll order some food.¡± Eva said, taking her holostick out. ¡°As I said, I still haven¡¯t eaten much yet. Do you two want anything?¡±

    Lauren looked back at me. ¡°What do you think, Luna?¡±

    ¡°Maybe something small like a wrap or something like that?¡±

    Lauren smiled and gave me a nod. ¡°A wrap sounds good to me. Do they have that here, Eva?¡±

    ¡°I think so, I¡¯m pretty sure they have anything you desire.¡± She scrolled up and down for a bit. ¡°Chicken, beef, lamb, hot, warm?¡±

    ¡°Warm chicken with mayo for me please.¡± I smiled.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take the same.¡± Lauren continued.

    ¡°Alright.¡± She tapped on her holo stick and after a minute or so she laid the stick back down and went back to lounging back in her chair. ¡°Should be here in around fifteen minutes.¡±

    ¡°What did you order?¡± I asked.

    Eva smiled. ¡°You¡¯ll see when it gets here.¡±

    I pouted. ¡°Now I¡¯m even more curious.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the point.¡± She laughed. ¡°The pictures next to it looked very good too, yumyum.¡± Her smirk almost reached from ear to ear.

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    ¡°Don¡¯t tease Luna too much, she has the tendency to retaliate.¡± Lauren said, to which I bonked her softly against the shoulder. ¡°See, such aggression.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡± She smiled smugly.

    While we waited on the food delivery we just kept sitting and looking around us. This was such a different environment than I was used to. Lots sand, tropical trees, the heat, the architecture, the sounds, the smell, it was all so new and fun to look at.

    ¡°Want to go take a walk around our island after we had our food?¡± Lauren asked. She must¡¯ve noticed that I was looking around.

    ¡°I would like that.¡± I leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

    She chuckled when I did that.

    It somehow made me think back to the days where I was even scared just being around her. Now I was already giving her kisses out of nowhere. It was progress I was very happy with.

    ¡°Mind if I join or do you want some lovey dovey alone time?¡± Eva asked, just as smugly as before.

    Lauren looked at me for a response.

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind at all.¡± I smiled. ¡°We are on this Holiday together.¡±

    ¡°Just asking to be sure.¡± Eva sat herself a bit more upright and drank from her smoothie some more. ¡°It¡¯s a good last hurrah before getting back on the ship.¡±

    ¡°Assuming they will send us back to space, yes, that¡¯s true.¡± Lauren replied. ¡°I just hope we will get enough leeway, if we can go back to our ship, so that we can go pick up our comrades who we left behind on the planet.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡±

    ¡°How do you think they are doing out there?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Well, I trust Jacky¡¯s capabilities, and our people who we left behind too. With all the supplies that they got, I don¡¯t really doubt they are doing just fine.¡±

    Eva put her drink down and looked at Lauren, tilting her head ever so slightly. ¡°And you are not worried for them at all?¡±

    Lauren was quick to reply ¡°Of course I am worried for them.¡± She admitted. ¡°I¡¯m their Commander, we¡¯ve flown on the same ship for quite a while and I can call some of them my personal friends. Of course I¡¯m scared of something happening to them. That¡¯s why I want to go back as soon as possible.¡±

    Eva nodded and looked at me. ¡°What about you, Luna?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not concerned in the same way Lauren is. I wasn¡¯t close to many of them and while they were also my subordinates, I don¡¯t really feel the same kind of responsibility Lauren is feeling¡­ But I do get the feeling of being far away from home on a planet that is not your own and that alone is already quite scary. On the other hand, as Lauren said, I do think we gave them the best possible shot at succeeding.¡±

    Lauren nodded and drank from her third smoothie of the evening. ¡°And what about you, Eva? As the ship''s doctor and the poser of these questions?¡±

    ¡°The Dokazuuk are a thrifty people and I believe they are survivors at heart. Together with some of our people who are best selected for colonization attempts¡­¡± She shrugged. ¡°I have to say I¡¯m not really worried. But for their mental wellbeing, it might be best to at least establish communications with them as soon as possible. That¡¯s the only real thing I¡¯m worried about, is them worrying about us.¡±

    ¡°I hadn¡¯t looked at it from that point of view.¡± Lauren replied. ¡°Now we definitely need to get there as fast as possible.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ but before we get too much into work, let¡¯s get back into holiday mode for now.¡± Eva said. ¡°We can¡¯t really change anything anyway at the moment. So we need to make the best of it. I¡¯m sure our friends on the other planet would not want us to spoil our happy times for us. Maybe they are even drinking coconut milk straight from the coconut as we speak right now. Who knows.¡±

    Lauren chuckled. ¡°That¡¯s true. And knowing the Dokazuuk, they have probably already built an entire spa resort by now.¡±

    ¡°Does that mean we can continue our holiday on that planet?¡± I asked.

    Lauren and Eva looked at each other before they started laughing. ¡°That would be a great idea, babe.¡±

    Chatting like this made time fly, in no time there was a little delivery bot with our food. A wrap for both Lauren and I and an entire food spread for Eva.

    ¡°You ordered an entire Indian spread?¡± Lauren chuckled as she took the wrap in her hand.

    ¡°Yes, I was really craving Indian food for some reason. I think I¡¯m going to eat a lot of meals here that consist of smaller dishes. The climate lends to it I suppose.¡± She shrugged as she took some bread and dipped it into her food.

    I took a bite from my own wrap. It tasted really good too. When Lauren and I made them ourselves in my opinion it tasted better but this is definitely not bad. But just as Lauren had said, when you put in the effort to make something yourself, it does automatically taste a bit better too. Unless you really mess up.

    ¡°By the way, if you two don¡¯t have enough with your wraps, feel free to take some of my food too.¡± Eva said, her mouth stuffed with bread already.

    ¡°Did you order too much?¡± Lauren had already taken the first bite off her wrap.

    ¡°I did expect it to be a bit less food, I¡¯m going to be honest about that.¡± Eva admitted. ¡°I can still finish it by myself, I think, if I try hard enough¡­ But then again, then you might have to call a doctor and that¡¯d be pretty ironic and it would make me feel pretty bad about myself because of that.¡±

    ¡°Well, if Luna and I still have some space left after our food, we¡¯ll look at helping you a bit, right babe?¡±

    I already had a piece of bread in my hand that I took from Eva¡¯s set of plates and I was just about to put it in my mouth too.

    That, together with Lauren¡¯s pause after seeing me, must¡¯ve looked very amusing to Eva as she almost spit out her food herself.

    -Whoops.-

 Chapter 67: Choose your Path

    It seemed like Luna was hungrier than I had imagined at first as she took quite a lot from Eva¡¯s meal, obviously she was being allowed to by Eva. And to be honest, I took a couple of bites from her food as well, less out of hunger and more because it just looked like it tasted very nice. It was a nice casual meal between friends who were on an island holiday together.

    When we were done we put the plates aside at the area that was indicated to us by a message on our holo stick and then called for the drone to come pick it up again. That way everything immediately got cleaned and we barely had to do anything ourself.

    While we were eating the sun had well and truly set beneath the horizon giving us a very nice view of the night sky above.

    ¡°Is it time for that walk around the island I asked about earlier?¡± I asked my companions.

    ¡°We should totally walk around with flashlights to explore the island, a bit like a mystery series.¡± Eva proposed as she got off her chair.

    ¡°Won¡¯t that scare Luna off too much?¡± I looked at my girlfriend.

    ¡°No! I am very brave.¡± She stated.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like this island is halloween themed, plus there¡¯s still enough lanterns around.¡± She motioned towards her hut. ¡°Are you girls coming?¡±

    ¡°You have flashlights in there?¡± I stood up from my seat too.

    ¡°Yeah, three of them to be precise. I think that¡¯s because the electric fusebox is closest to my hut.¡±

    ¡°Makes sense.¡± I nodded and waited for Luna to get up too. Of course I wanted to make use of every second of this holiday to hold hands with her... Or you know¡­ more intimate stuff.

    She grabbed my hand and on we went to Eva¡¯s hut. Eva quickly went inside to go collect the flashlights. From the looks of it the huts were pretty much identical to one another apart from a couple of color accents.

    ¡°Here you go, two flashlights for my friends and one for me.¡± She handed two flashlights to us.

    ¡°Then it¡¯s time to go exploring.¡± I smiled. ¡°Maybe we should just follow this path and see where it leads?¡±

    ¡°Great plan, glorious leader.¡± Eva joked, which Luna found very funny.

    I just rolled my eyes and let Eva walk out in front of us, following the wooden path that laid in front of us.

    It lead us through the trees to, what I presumed to be, the center of the island where the road split up into 3 other directions.

    ¡°Always go left?¡± I proposed.

    ¡°Always go left.¡± Eva nodded.

    ¡°Always go left?¡± Luna asked.

    ¡°When you are in a dungeon in games or something like that, people often find it easiest to just follow one wall. In most cases you can map the dungeon out rather well like that. It¡¯s just a little thing.¡±

    ¡°Do keep in mind that there¡¯s tricks so people who follow that tactic get stuck forever. But let''s assume the people who own this island are not sadists who build dungeons.¡±

    ¡°Now you¡¯ve jinxed it Lauren, beware for the evil magicians in the bushes.¡± Eva chuckled. ¡°They can be anywhere now.¡±

    I rolled my eyes ¡°Shush.¡±

    The left path snaked through the woods for a little while until we reached an open area close to the beach. What immediately caught my eye was the fenced off tennis court that the path ran next to almost immediately after exiting the forested area. When I shone my flashlight over it a cabinet on the side pulled my attention. From the looks of it that¡¯s where the tennis rackets were stored.

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    ¡°Woow. I didn¡¯t know we had a tennis court.¡± I walked up closer to the fence with Luna still holding my hand.

    ¡°It was on the website.¡± Luna replied, looking together with me. ¡°Have you ever played it before?¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°No, I haven''t. Tennis is for the rich folks and while we weren¡¯t poor when I was younger, we definitely weren¡¯t rich.¡±

    ¡°Oh, is it for the rich people down in Antarctica?¡± Eva asked.

    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s more a logistical thing. You¡¯d pretty much need to build your own heated court if you wanted to play. As tennis isn¡¯t terribly popular down south, there aren¡¯t really clubs you can play at.¡±

    ¡°Ah, right.¡±

    ¡°What about you, Eva?¡± Luna turned to Eva.

    ¡°I have played a couple of times.¡± She nodded. ¡°It¡¯s fun, not really my sport per se, but fun nonetheless.¡± Eva then looked back at me with a smirk. ¡°Does that mean I can beat Lauren at sports?¡±

    ¡°You very well might.¡± I laughed. ¡°But I would definitely take up the challenge if you don¡¯t mind.¡±

    ¡°I want to try too.¡± Luna nodded. ¡°You¡¯ll need to explain the rules to me though when we do because that¡¯s one part of human culture that I didn¡¯t really read into.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll tell you when we get there.¡± Eva winked.

    After that we went on to the other sites to see in this location. It looked like this area was designated as a sports and gym kind of area which definitely looked to be my thing. I was a bit surprised to see a pool here as well, but then again, it¡¯s probably easier to swim laps when you are not swimming in the ocean.

    Besides some gym equipment, the pool and a small football/basketball area there also was a little round hut set up at the edge of the beach. It very much looked like a little beach bar to me, chairs included, with in the back a door, presumably a toilet so you didn¡¯t have to run all the way back to your hut when you got a sudden tummy ache or something like that.

    ¡°It¡¯s going to be hard to keep Lauren away from this place, isn¡¯t it?¡± Eva laughed.

    ¡°Hey, it is a nice area.¡± I replied.

    ¡°That¡¯s true. And the bar looks pretty stocked as well.¡± She said while leaning into the small hut. She then looked out to the ocean where a couple of beach chairs were already waiting for us. Albeit that it maybe was a bit too late now to go sunbathing.

    ¡°We should continue following the shoreline I think.¡± Eva used her flashlight to shine on the wooden path that ran somewhat parallel with the shore. ¡°That way we will get to our other destination automatically.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead.¡± I smiled, not really needing to go anywhere in particular, and it would be nice to walk along the water with my girlfriend.

    Eva went on and guided us over the path with her flashlight. Although thanks to the very brightly lit moon, we didn¡¯t really need any flashlights to be honest.

    Luna stared across the water at the moon. ¡°It¡¯s funny that we can see the place we met each other for the first time all the way from over here.¡±

    ¡°It is a rather big base after all.¡± I looked up at the moon as well. You could just slightly see the gray contouring of the base if you knew what to pay attention to. ¡°I wished we had a somewhat more romantic first meeting spot though.¡±

    ¡°What, are you saying that a military base on the moon is not a romantic spot? Youth these days. Don¡¯t know what romance is at all!¡± Eva was clearly taking the piss.

    ¡°You did buy me Sharky there though.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. I guess it¡¯s not all too bad. But it definitely could have been better.¡± I took the opportunity to give Luna a kiss on the cheek. ¡°But I will never regret that I met you. You can bet your life on that.¡±

    ¡°Awh.¡± Luna blushed and returned my kiss with a kiss on my cheek.

    Our flirtatious ways only got interrupted by a sudden ¡°Woah!¡± from Eva. When we turned around to look at her, she¡¯d started to pick up the pace to another wooden hut sat down on the beach. In the distance I could also see one more of the beach bars albeit that this one appeared to be quite a bit bigger. In between the two huts a gray stone fire pit was raging with fire, looking terribly inviting if I had to admit.

    ¡°What¡¯s in there?¡± Luna asked to Eva who was already looking inside of the first hut.

    ¡°Lot¡¯s of water sports gear it seems.¡± She replied. ¡°Surfboards, equipment for kite and wind-surfing. Some other water related toys too.¡± Eva peeked back at us and grinned. ¡°This must be the beach beach area I have read about. For general watersports and sunbathing. The classic beach experience.¡±

    ¡°Well, whatever is in there can wait for tomorrow, I¡¯m going to get a drink and sit at the firepit.¡± I proclaimed.

    ¡°That does not sound like a bad idea, I¡¯m in.¡± Eva nodded and closed the door to the hut.

    ¡°And I¡¯m going to join too of course.¡± Luna squeezed my hand. ¡°It looks very romantic.¡±

    ¡°Just tell me if you want me to disappear, alright? I will stealth out of here.¡± Eva winked.

    ¡°Thanks.¡± I chuckled and started walking towards the beach bar. It looked like it was manned by a robot. Well, at least I didn¡¯t have to pour the drinks myself.

 Chapter 68: Castle Construction

    With mocktails in hand we sat around the fire and had a fun time chatting with each other. A soft sea breeze blowing over the beach, really hammering in the fact that I was quite the distance away from home.

    ¡°Missing the cold already?¡± Eva asked while eating some cocktail sausages.

    ¡°Eh, it¡¯s nice to be able to sit outside without freezing anything off.¡± I shrugged as I looked over the water. The sea was calm, and the sounds of the waves soothing. ¡°It¡¯s gonna be a good holiday. As long as we don¡¯t get a heatwave.¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t Jinx it, Lauren.¡±

    ¡°Well, we should be safe enough. The weather broadcast is showing good temperatures for the entire time we are here.¡±

    Luna stayed quiet and was just looking over the sea as well. Her eyes were sparkling as much as the stars in the night sky. It was fun watching her, almost making me forget the flow of time.

    I only got pulled out of my time gazing at Luna when Eva mentioned that she was getting pretty tired and that she was going to head back.

    As it only was the first day here and we were pretty tired from traveling as well, Luna and I decided to follow Eva¡¯s example and followed her back to our huts, with the fire extinguishing itself when we walked away.

    We took a quick shower before getting in bed, that¡¯s when I noticed that Luna had found another feature the hut possessed that I hadn¡¯t expected. She had managed to make a skylight be revealed in our bedroom, giving us a clear view of the night¡¯s sky while we lay tucked in beneath our blankets.

    We both lay down, hand in hand, and stared at the starry sky above.

    ¡°If only our cabin back on the ship had this feature.¡± Luna commented. ¡°I never get tired looking at it.¡±

    ¡°I think we can probably make something happen with a holographic projector or two. Might as well put all of Ellie¡¯s processing power to use.¡±

    Luna rolled over so she could look at me and then stuck out her tongue. ¡°Don¡¯t just use Ellie like that.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure Ellie is more than willing to support our romantic endeavors.¡±

    Luna rolled her eyes and then smiled. ¡°Well¡­ that¡¯s probably true.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s definitely true.¡± I retorted. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that the Ellie has been shipping us for almost as long as we got to know each other.¡±

    ¡°Does that mean the ship was shipping us?¡±

    ¡°It does indeed.¡± I smiled back. ¡°Therefore our relationship can and never will fail.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± Luna hummed happily and reached forward to give me a kiss. Obviously I met her half way. ¡°Nini, Lauren.¡±

    ¡°Good night, babe.¡± I replied, accompanied by a second kiss. This was followed by Luna nuzzling herself against my chest, resting on my arm, and looking up at the night¡¯s sky until she fell asleep. With so much comfort, it was hard for me not to follow her to dreamland just a couple of minutes later.

    And so, our first night at our private island transpired and our stay had well and truly begun. The first day was spent unpacking our stuff and putting everything in our very roomy closets. After which we dressed into our summer outfits for the first time ever. The temperature during the day was quite a bit higher than what it was during the evening we arrived. Which meant that being dressed the way we were yesterday evening would probably end up giving me a heat stroke.

    Luna convinced me to dress in the black bikini she had bought for me. It was quite classy to be honest, with a black sarong to tie around my hip. She then put a straw hat on top of my head and offered me a new pair of sunglasses too.

    ¡°There you go.¡± She smiled cutely. Herself being dressed in an extremely cute white bikini with a pink flower motif, also accompanied by a sarong which matched her bikini.

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    When Eva saw us walk out, she whistled. ¡°Nice going, Lauren.¡±

    ¡°Shut up.¡± I chuckled.

    Eva was wearing a casual blue bikini with a blue skirt combination. ¡°Don¡¯t forget to apply enough sunscreen, otherwise you might get burned.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we have plenty of sunscreen with us!¡± Luna replied, showing the two bottles of high grade sunscreen she had in her beach bag.

    ¡°Good, wouldn¡¯t want you to get burned.¡± Eva smiled and got off her chair. ¡°So, what do the two of you want to do today?¡±

    ¡°Anything really, it doesn¡¯t really matter to me.¡± I shrugged.

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± Eva hummed and looked over at Luna who had suddenly started blushing and fidgeting on the spot.

    ¡°Luna?¡± I asked. ¡°Do you want to do anything specific.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡± She blushed a bit more after being called out by me. ¡°I kind of wanted to try something that I have seen in books and movies before.¡±

    ¡°Which is?¡± Eva was intrigued now too.

    ¡°I want to build a sandcastle.¡± She admitted.

    ¡°Oh.¡± I nodded. ¡°We can definitely do that, right?¡± I looked at Eva who was extremely giddy about my girlfriend¡¯s reply.

    ¡°Definitely! The shed I looked in yesterday actually had some tools you could use for that.¡±

    ¡°So you are both fine with it?¡± Luna asked.

    ¡°Sure, why wouldn¡¯t we be?¡±

    ¡°Because it¡¯s a bit childlike...¡±

    Eva shook her head. ¡°Luna, Lauren practically still is a big kid...¡±

    ¡°Hey.¡± I pouted.

    ¡°Besides, building sand castles is for all ages, the difference being that, to keep our honor intact, we just need to make it bigger and more intricate.¡±

    Luna giggled at Eva¡¯s explanation.

    ¡°Also, there may be cocktails and snacks involved. Which makes it more fun too.¡±

    ¡°Well, then what are we waiting on.¡± I grabbed my girlfriend¡¯s free hand in my good hand. ¡°Let¡¯s go build the best sandcastles this island has ever seen.¡±

    ¡°Huzzah!¡± Eva raised her fist in her battlecry. ¡°Let¡¯s go Luna!¡±

    Luna laughed at our antics and followed along as we walked towards the beach where we had sat down at the firepit yesterday.

    I was very happy that my bionic arm didn¡¯t have any gaps whatsoever otherwise I¡¯d probably need to fish all the sand out of that too. Who would have imagined that building sand castles made it quite a bit easier for sand to get pretty much everywhere. That said, the water of the sea was a very pleasant temperature to dip in and wash off the sand for a moment.

    Luna was having a lot of fun and that was the most important part to me. With the three of us we had decided to build a veritable sand fort. Not unlike those you saw in the history books of the 18th century.

    It appeared that my girlfriend had a knack for detailing, while Eva and I were constructing the large walls, Luna found most pleasure in etching little details in walls and buildings.

    I was pretty sure that if there would be a competition of sand castle building, our team would have had a rather high chance of winning it.

    While we built, Eva reminded us occasionally to reapply our sunscreen. Which was definitely necessary as the sun was only rarely interrupted by a cloud.

    In the end, no one really got burned and we were all very happy about that. But this was just the first day so we needed to keep paying attention to it. Especially me with my Antarcticly acclimated skin.

    With a nice evening meal mostly consisting of charcoal grilled meat we closed off this first real full day of our holiday.

    ¡°I really really really miss this kind of food on board our ship.¡± Eva leaned back, savoring every single bit of the juicy meat in front of her. ¡°The synthesized stuff really doesn¡¯t hit the same as the real deal.¡±

    ¡°Albeit that this is quite a bit more unhealthy?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Eva nodded. ¡°Can¡¯t beat the additives and stims.¡±

    I noticed that Luna was very quiet during this meal. She had only said a couple of words since we had started eating.

    ¡°Is anything wrong, Luna?¡± I asked, leaving my food aside for a moment.

    ¡°I was just thinking.¡± Luna replied. ¡°Time flew by so fast, it¡¯s almost like I didn¡¯t register what happened at all today.¡±

    ¡°When you are having fun, time goes by faster. That¡¯s sadly how it goes.¡± I nodded.

    ¡°I¡¯d rather the tedious times flew by and the fun times lasted as long as possible.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, everyone knows that feeling. You are definitely not the first one.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡± Eva hummed as she drank from a glass of red wine.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± I hummed back.

    ¡°I was just thinking that that means our brains are wired pretty much the same.¡± Eva commented. ¡°I wonder if there¡¯s species out there who have a concept of fun for whom the passage of time also feels differently.¡±

    -That actually is an interesting question¡­ Perhaps the answer lies in species who have a way different lifespan than hours. I can imagine that if you live thousands of years, that you don¡¯t perceive time the same way as we do¡­ Which also raises the question about how entities like Ellie perceive time¡­-

 Chapter 68 Bis: High-Octane Beachball

    As our holiday progressed it was so fun to see Lauren be so confident in the revealing clothes that we¡¯d bought together. I¡¯d imagined she¡¯d be at least a little bit shy considering that she practically has never worn clothes like this, but around Eva and me she was completely at ease.

    Around halfway through our holiday, right after Eva and Lauren had played some tennis together, we were relaxing on the beach. Lauren had put quite a bit of energy in the match, which she needed to to keep up with Eva¡¯s superior technique, and had therefore exhausted herself a little. She was snoozing besides me beneath the parasol on one of the comfy beach lounge chairs.

    Eva walked up to us after having taken a refreshing dive into the sea, drying herself off with her beach towel.

    ¡°Were you not a bit surprised by Lauren?¡± I asked her as I offered her her glass of tropical fruit juice.

    ¡°How so?¡± She asked as she wrung out her hair in her towel.

    ¡°How she¡¯s so carefree around us with her arm and everything like that.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like she¡¯s ever been very shy around us two. Didn¡¯t you two start bonding after you saw her in the hospital?¡±

    ¡°I know¡­ But if it were me¡­ I¡¯d be very self-conscious about it, that¡¯s all.¡±

    ¡°The only thing she is self-conscious about is that she has to take the pills to avoid her body wanting to reject her arm. If her injury wasn¡¯t such a state secret, I¡¯m sure that she would not even wear her gloves around everywhere. So to answer your question, no, I¡¯m not very surprised.¡± Eva replied. ¡°However, I am happy that she can relax for a bit around us, not having to worry about the secret being spread around.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± I nodded.

    ¡°She is taking her pills, right?¡± Eva¡¯s doctor showed its face real quick.

    ¡°Yeah, she is. Religiously so.¡± I nodded once more. ¡°I¡¯ve also tried to motivate her into taking them.¡±

    Eva smiled. ¡°Oh, then maybe I should think about making you my assistant doctor on board the ship.¡±

    I chuckled.

    Eva sighed while she was still smiling and sat down on the seat next to me which wasn¡¯t covered by the parasol. Her pale skin shining in the sunlight. ¡°I know we agreed not to talk about work too much, but I really need to figure something out to get those marines on board to taking their pills more regularly. What was the trick behind getting this meathead taking them?¡±

    I chuckled shyly. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that probably won¡¯t work on them as well as it does on Lauren¡­ or at least, it might be pretty hard to make that solution workable.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Eva smirked. ¡°So it¡¯s that kind of a solution?¡±

    I should¡¯ve expected it, but I started blushing nonetheless. ¡°It¡¯s not as lewd as you think¡­ I just promise her a couple of kisses every time she takes them.¡±

    ¡°Ah, yeah, Lauren won¡¯t be able to say no to that, that¡¯s for sure.¡± Eva laughed and let herself fall back with her back on the lounge seat. ¡°But yes, that¡¯s not going to be easy to implement throughout the entire ship.¡±

    ¡°Is it really that big of an issue? Them not taking their pills.¡±

    ¡°It can definitely be at times.¡± Eva nodded while she stared up at the sky. ¡°They often think they don¡¯t need it but that does come to bite them in the ass quite often. I prescribe those pills for a reason, you know.¡±

    ¡°Never go against the doctor¡¯s advice.¡±

    ¡°Exactly.¡± Eva smiled. ¡°Well, at least you¡¯ve taken one of them off my hands.¡±

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    ¡°Hmm? Are you talking about me?¡± Lauren woke up with a big stretch.

    ¡°Maybe a little.¡± I stuck my tongue out a little.

    ¡°Oh?¡± Lauren looked at me and then at Eva. ¡°I suppose it¡¯s better if I don¡¯t ask?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing serious, otherwise we wouldn¡¯t be talking over you.¡± Eva looked at her friend and grinned. ¡°But it¡¯s a secret between us two now, can¡¯t help it.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡± Lauren chuckled and sat upright on the chair. ¡°I think I¡¯m going for a quick swim.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll join you.¡± I got up and offered her my hand.

    She smiled and gladly took it. ¡°What about you, Eva?¡±

    ¡°Nah, I just came out, I¡¯m going to sun for a bit now and then read something after.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Lauren nodded and looked at me with a playful grin. ¡°Last to the first buoy is a potato?¡± She started jogging over the beach.

    I pouted. ¡°No! You know I can¡¯t swim very well yet!¡±

    ¡°That just sounds like a potato¡¯s excuse to me!¡± Lauren yelled back, already halfway to the water.

    I looked back at Eva with a pout.

    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t look at me, she¡¯s your girlfriend.¡±

    ¡°Argh!¡± I turned back and started running towards the sea too.

    We found out a bit later in our stay that we could also rent some water scooters, jet skis and a banana float for free on which we could play to our hearts content, which we definitely did. At first Lauren was a bit hesitant to let me get on them as she is a bit protective of me, but Eva quickly dispelled any doubt Lauren had about me doing some fun watersports things. While it was a fun experience, I don¡¯t know if I would repeat it if I had the choice. It was a bit ¡®high-octane¡¯ as Lauren called it, I definitely preferred playing with a beach ball, building sandcastles and relaxing on the beach. It was also fun watching Eva and Lauren being competitive at their sports.

    Sadly the time we had on our private island grew shorter by the minute and before we knew it we were already on the last day of our holiday.

    ¡°Damn, I don¡¯t know if I can get back to work already in a couple of days.¡± Eva said after she had taken a big bite of her hamburger.

    ¡°We still have some time before that so let¡¯s make the best use of the time we have left. Luna and I still have a dinner to arrange with our neighbors to thank them for their care.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± I nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s make sure we make them some nice food.¡±

    ¡°That sounds nice.¡± Eva smiled.

    ¡°You are welcome to join, if you have the time. We do have a spare room if you want to stay over for a while.¡± Lauren offered.

    ¡°Nah.¡± Eva shook her head. ¡°I should probably get my earthly stuff in order before we leave.¡±

    ¡°That very much sounds like you are preparing for a funeral.¡± I tilted my head a bit.

    ¡°I guess it does.¡± Eva giggled. ¡°It kind of is in a way. You never know what happens in outer space and it makes me feel at ease if everything here is taken care of so others don¡¯t need to worry about things if something happens.¡±

    ¡°Makes sense.¡± Lauren nodded. ¡°That¡¯s pretty much the way I go about it too. And I think most people see it like that in fact.¡±

    Eva took another bite from her burger and then took some fries with ketchup and stuffed those in her mouth as well. ¡°It¡¯s one of those military things you get used to. Luckily it also teaches you to live in the moment and take the joys of life as they come.¡±

    ¡°You were just complaining about already having to go back though.¡± Lauren took some fries with mayo as she stated her reply.

    ¡°That¡¯s just because I¡¯m also a doctor.¡±

    ¡°That¡­. makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.¡±

    ¡°Shhhh.¡± Eva silenced Lauren by putting a ketchup covered fry just in front of Lauren¡¯s lips.

    Lauren took the opportunity to take a bite of said fry, leaving Eva quite distraught. ¡°My fries!¡±

    ¡°I thought you were offering them to your superior officer, my apologies.¡± Lauren gave Luna a cheeky salute.

    Eva retaliated by taking some of Lauren¡¯s fries which lead to another reaction from Lauren. This entire fry war was ridiculous as we had gotten plenty of fries with our burgers. But seeing it happen in front of me was rather funny, so funny that I couldn¡¯t hold myself back in joining the fun.

    That¡¯s when both of them turned on me and started eating my fries instead. I had awoken two giants and the tide of war swiftly turned after my surprise attack.

    With the war over we all laid back and looked at our empty plates as the moon rose higher in the sky.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get a couple of drinks, for our last day here, I definitely don¡¯t want to go to bed early. What do you think?¡± Eva asked.

    ¡°I think that¡¯s a great idea.¡± Lauren nodded. ¡°Can I have a bit of alcohol, babe, or would you rather I didn¡¯t?¡±

    ¡°Just a bit because you¡¯ve been a good girl.¡± I smiled smugly.

    Lauren¡¯s visage quickly turned into a smirk of her own though. ¡°Good girl, huh? Let¡¯s see who¡¯s a good girl later¡­¡±

    My face puffed red immediately.

    -Oh no¡­ what did I just say about waking giants?-

 Chapter 69: Tour of the Bed

    ¡°Lauren, please don¡¯t take what I said earlier too seriously¡­ please¡­¡± Luna commented as we walked into our room. It had gotten quite late after our celebration of the last evening of our private island summer holiday. And I had to admit, I was just a little bit tipsy.

    ¡°I have no clue what you are talking about.¡± I smirked, but with my back turned to my girlfriend she couldn¡¯t see my facial expression.

    ¡°Ah¡­ Good.¡±

    I took my shirt off and threw it on the cabinet after which I slowly walked up to my girlfriend. ¡°Could you refresh my memory?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Luna took a couple of steps back until she was backed up all the way against the wall.

    It gave me the opportunity to close her in between myself and the wall, setting my arm against the wall so she couldn¡¯t escape. ¡°Hmm?¡±

    Luna¡¯s face turned bright red, it was obvious, even in the shadow I cast over her. ¡°I-I¡­¡± She stuttered.

    I softly held her chin with my free hand. ¡°If I recall correctly, and please do tell me if I¡¯m wrong, the subject revolved around good girls, didn¡¯t it?¡± I put effort into putting an accent on those two magical words as I felt Luna put a bit more pressure on the hand that was holding her chin.

    ¡°....¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I think that was it, wasn¡¯t it?¡± I smirked, and with the hand that was holding her chin, I slowly traced her neck down to the button up shirt that she was wearing.

    Luna had stopped saying anything and was just breathing rather heavily at this point. I could swear I could even hear her heartbeat getting faster and faster. That didn¡¯t get better when I deftly started unbuttoning her shirt.

    When it was done, Luna just let it slip off her shoulder, leaving only her bra.

    To change the pace I now brought both of my hands down to her waist, quickly lifting her up and waiting for her to wrap her arms around my neck so I could shift my arms to lift and support her by her butt.

    I moved her back against the wall for some more support and then started to kiss her profusely on her neck and chest.

    Her little moans were only making me more and more enthusiastic. I was also really glad that our hut was not immediately next to Eva¡¯s hut either.

    After a couple of minutes of me having free reign giving her kisses, and maybe a few hickies too as I still had a statement to make about the entire good girl business, Luna used on of her hands to tilt my face up just enough so she could start making out with me instead of her being a passive recipient.

    ¡°Now, I¡¯ll need to wear a long sleeved shirt tomorrow.¡± She moaned into my kiss.

    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure you¡¯ll need a turtleneck, babe.¡± I grinned back.

    ¡°Mhmmm.¡± She moaned again.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t stop me from putting them on you. So don¡¯t act like you didn¡¯t want them.¡±

    ¡°... You got me¡­¡±

    ¡°That I do.¡±

    We made out for a minute or two before I threw Luna on the bed to continue our make-out session over there. As much as I liked lifting her up and kissing her like that, it¡¯s just a bit safer to do so on a soft mattress.

    ¡°We are going to be so tired tomorrow if we continue.¡± Luna grabbed a good hold of the bed sheets with her hands.

    ¡°I really don¡¯t care. Plenty of time to sleep on the boat.¡± I pursued my girlfriend and took of my bra and hers. ¡°And if the boat doesn¡¯t do it, then there¡¯s still the train too.¡±

    ¡°What have I gotten myself into?¡± She bit her lip to entice me even further.

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t have called me a good girl because now I need to show you who the real good girl is.¡±

    ¡°Me?¡±

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    ¡°Bingo.¡±

    I showed Luna around the entire bed that night, just in case she hadn¡¯t seen it yet during our vacation. I only stopped when it was clear that Luna had become way too tired to continue. But I did make sure to make a mental image of the current situation so we could continue at a later date.

    The morning after wasn¡¯t easy. Albeit a lot easier for me than it was for Luna. As I took a shower and brewed myself a good cup of coffee and a cup of tea for my girlfriend. Luna struggled to the table after her shower but she was very glad with the tea I had set for her.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go get the bags ready.¡± I gave her a kiss on the forehead. ¡°Just drink up your tea.¡± After which I quickly finished off the rest of my coffee.

    ¡°How are you still so energetic?¡± Luna asked after she had taken her first couple of sips from her tea.

    ¡°No clue.¡± I shrugged. ¡°Maybe you just give me energy.¡± I gave her a wink and then almost jogged into the room to get our bags ready.

    When Luna was finished with her tea and we had double checked if we had taken everything with us, we headed outside with our bags. We¡¯d have to checkout officially in an hour and a half so we still had a bit of time left. What we found outside however, was an Eva completely leant back in her chair. Sunglasses on and a hat almost pulled over her eyes.

    ¡°Eva?¡± I asked but before I could go on, she put her finger in front of her mouth and hushed me.

    ¡°Shhhh.¡±

    ¡°Are you¡­ hungover?¡±

    ¡°Shhhhh¡­¡± She repeated the same motion.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t even drink that much yesterday¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m ashamed of myself as a doctor.¡± She dropped her arm and slumped back just a little bit more. ¡°I dehydrated myself too much. Should have paid closer attention to that.¡±

    ¡°Poor Eva. Should we get you something?¡± Luna immediately took pity on Eva even though she was barely awake herself.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I already asked a bot to fetch me something fruity. I¡¯ll live¡­ hopefully.¡±

    ¡°You better, otherwise we¡¯ll need to go look for a different doctor and I¡¯m not really in the mood for that.¡±

    Eva smiled at me after my comment. ¡°Thanks for the compassionate words.¡±

    ¡°No problem at all.¡± I winked.

    Eva slowly got better over the course of the next hour, especially after drinking the tropical fruit juice that she had ordered.

    ¡°Do you think you¡¯ll be good enough to get back on a boat?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Well, I better be ready. But just in case, I¡¯ll sit in the back so I can puke over the side if it¡¯s really necessary.¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t puke.¡± Luna pouted.

    ¡°I¡¯ll try, but I won¡¯t make any promises. I forgot to bring any anti-hangover meds with me so it¡¯s all my fault.¡±

    We dragged our bags towards the pier where our robot driver was already waiting for us. I was carrying Eva¡¯s bags as she wasn¡¯t in tip top condition yet and exertion would probably only make it worse.

    While I put the bags in the boat, Luna helped Eva get in. Before she stepped in herself however, she looked back at the island.

    ¡°Saying goodbye to the island?¡± I asked after putting in the last bag.

    ¡°I¡¯ll miss it here.¡± She nodded. ¡°Such a carefree life.¡±

    ¡°We can come back one day.¡± I smiled and put my arm around her hip.

    ¡°That¡¯d be nice.¡± She laid her head on my shoulder as I rubbed her back for just a little while.

    ¡°Return visits can make use of our return visitor loyalty discount with which you can save up to 50% for your next trip. Please be advised that this discount is not combinable with other discounts and that it will expire after a period of two years.¡± The robot behind the wheel said that last part so fast it was pretty comical. It made both myself and Luna laugh quite badly. As for Eva, she was in too bad of a shape to find anything funny at the moment.

    We then proceeded to get into the boat where I let the front seat position over to my girlfriend as we then glided towards the central hub where we were supposed to check out.

    As my girlfriend was continuing to take care of Eva, that duty was transferred over to me. Not that I minded of course.

    ¡°Did you enjoy your stay, Commander?¡± The clerk who was helping me check out asked as I was filling in some paperwork on my holo stick.

    ¡°We had a great time, thank you for asking.¡± I looked up for a moment and smiled. ¡°It¡¯s a very peaceful and quiet place.¡±

    The clerk nodded along with my comments and gave a little bow when I complimented the place. ¡°When you have finished filling in the form¡­ No never mind.¡± The man quickly looked away.

    I looked up again with a smile and tilted my head a little. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Would you like a signature. Or a picture?¡±

    ¡°Well, my brother in law is a big fan of yours. He is a logistics officer in the army. If you don¡¯t mind taking a picture¡­¡±

    ¡°Of course not. Where is your brother in law stationed?¡± I asked as I put my signature at the bottom of the documents. The man handed me his holostick so I could take the picture together with him.

    ¡°He is stationed in the East-Asian sector in Korea.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a good spot to be stationed at.¡± I smiled. ¡°Really good food over there from what I heard.¡±

    ¡°He boasts about it a lot.¡± The man smiled, giving me the right opportunity to take a picture.

    ¡°There you go.¡± I handed the holostick back to him.

    ¡°Thank you very much.¡± He looked really happy with the picture. Quite possibly he very much liked a copy for himself as well. ¡°I wish you safe travels, wherever your journey will lead you.¡±

    ¡°Thanks a lot.¡± I smiled and gave him a nod. That journey currently leads home, but for the future, that good fortune might prove to be pretty useful.

 Chapter 69 Bis: Radio Contact

    ¡°Ah, home sweet home.¡± The moment we arrived back at Lauren¡¯s house in her hometown of Farncombe, she left her suitcase standing next to the dining table and plopped herself down, face first, onto her sofa.

    ¡°Did you miss it that much?¡± I chuckled. ¡°It looked like you were way less enthusiastic about returning here when we came back from space compared to now.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because now this is also your place, it¡¯s our home. A place of comfort for the both of us.¡± She turned around to look at me with a big smile. I had to admit, it made me blush up immediately. ¡°Plus, I love cuddling up more when it¡¯s cold outside as opposed to when it¡¯s warm.¡±

    ¡°I think I agree with that.¡± I nodded and dropped my stuff off too before I sat down next to Lauren.

    A couple of seconds later, dusty zoomed downstairs to give Lauren an updated report about its cleaning activities. It made it seem like the little guy was also very happy to see us, and who knows, perhaps it was.

    On that first day back, we spent pretty much the rest of it just resting right there in the comfy sofa, just cuddling up beneath a blanket in front of the fireplace, just as Lauren was just talking about.

    For the next couple of days we just slowly started preparing for the dinner we would host for our neighbors, planning the meal and just getting a little more decoration so the house didn¡¯t seem too empty. Things went smoothly, but there was one thing I was starting to get a little bit nervous about.

    ¡°Is something bothering you, Luna? You¡¯ve been walking around kind of antsy the entire day.¡± Of course Lauren had noticed with her great people¡¯s skills.

    ¡°Well¡­ aren¡¯t you getting a little bit concerned about Ellie? We¡¯ve not heard from her in quite a while.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡± Lauren hummed and gave me a nod. ¡°I was actually thinking about that as well. I know she wanted to leave us alone for our holiday but I had expected her to already have sent us a message of sorts when we got back.

    ¡°Is there maybe a way in which we could contact her?¡±

    "Mhmm. Let me see.¡± She put away some of the groceries we¡¯d just gotten down at the store and then grabbed her holostick. ¡°I was thinking about sending a message back to the ID from which she had called before. But I was a bit afraid that probably wasn¡¯t the safest thing to do considering the situation.¡±

    ¡°Right, maybe there¡¯s a reason why she hasn¡¯t contacted us yet.¡±

    ¡°Never underestimate military intelligence agencies.¡± Lauren nodded. ¡°So I¡¯m still hesitant to contact her, we don¡¯t want to risk our lives and Ellie¡¯s either.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s a good point.¡± I replied. ¡°It sucks but I guess we will have to wait.¡±

    ¡°I think that¡¯s for the better, yes.¡± Lauren agreed and put her holostick back down. ¡°After all, we aren¡¯t as smart as her by a long shot. When it comes to things like this, it¡¯s best to let the expert handle it. If anything is going on up there in space, there¡¯s not much we can do about it in any case. That doesn¡¯t take away the fact that I hope everything is going fine and dandy, obviously.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± I nodded in return. ¡°I hope so too.¡±

    We didn¡¯t hear anything from Ellie that evening either and as the day rolled over into the next one, the radio silence was upheld. Lauren reassured me to just keep calm and concentrate on dinner we were having with Martha and Roland that evening. But even as we were sitting down to have our homemade food together with our neighbour, there was always this little peck of doubt nibbling away at the back of my mind. Luckily our lovely elderly couple didn¡¯t really notice that and they had really enjoyed the food we had made for them. At least that made me happy. Lauren and I had gone with some Japanese inspiration and had made tempura platter together with other greens and some home-made miso soup. As for the dessert, which was mainly made by Lauren, she had opted for a chocolate cake. Apparently quite the human classic that you couldn¡¯t really go wrong by, and she was proven correct in that statement.

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    We said goodbye to the great pair and promised them we would come and say our final goodbyes before we headed off to the HQ in a couple of days. Both of them already claiming that they would miss us dearly, and to be honest, I really believed them when they said that.

    As our dinner was now behind us, we finished the evening with a short cleanup. Which was necessary as making food with any kind of better quickly left quite the mess behind. We were just about ready cleaning the kitchen countertop when Lauren¡¯s holostick started ringing.

    She immediately threw her kitchen towel to the side and ran over, opening the call as soon as she got to it. The way she rushed over meant that the call could only be coming from one person.

    ¡°Ellie? Is everything alright?¡± Her answer as she took the call confirmed my suspicion.

    ¡°Yes, Commander, I am.¡± Ellie replied.

    ¡°Thank the Goddess, we were getting quite worried.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry about that.¡± Ellie apologized. ¡°Lately there¡¯s been a lot of techs on board and I didn¡¯t want to risk any outgoing communications.¡±

    I quickly walked over to the holo stick too to chat with our companion. ¡°Did they do anything or was it just connected to the rest of the retrofit?¡±

    ¡°Mostly.¡± Ellie¡¯s avatar nodded. ¡°Some of them did come to take a look at my software for some routine checks, just to make sure I could handle the load. They all left quite happily in my impression.¡±

    ¡°Good to hear.¡± Lauren sighed a sigh of relief. ¡°We were debating on whether or not to contact you, we decided not to just in case it would endanger you.¡±

    ¡°I had blocked the communications from your holostick to the ship just to make sure, but I do really appreciate the thought.¡±

    ¡°Wow.¡± Lauren crossed her arms and squinted her eyes just a bit.

    ¡°I suppose I should¡¯ve left you a message to say I did so. Sorry Commander.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll speak about this later.¡±

    If it was in Ellie¡¯s power to gulp, I¡¯m sure she would have as Lauren was looking at the holo stick quite sternly right now. Ellie¡¯s avatar did start shifting her weight from one leg to the other though, so it was obvious she was getting nervous.

    That was, at least, until the corners of Lauren¡¯s lips raised into a smile again. ¡°I¡¯m just pulling your leg, Ellie. I understand and I¡¯m just happy that you are safe.¡±

    Ellie¡¯s avatar wiped the simulated sweat off her forehead. ¡°You had me there, Commander.¡±

    ¡°You even had me convinced.¡± I admitted.

    Lauren just continued smiling. ¡°Well, now that you are here, would you like to watch the television together with us? We are just about finishing cleanup from our dinner.¡±

    ¡°And in the meantime we can catch up and tell you about our holiday!¡± I added.

    ¡°That sounds lovely to me, if I¡¯m not imposing.¡±

    ¡°We are the ones who invited you, I¡¯m sure that means it¡¯s fine with us.¡± Lauren laughed and went back over to the kitchen towel she¡¯d thrown to the side.

    ¡°Definitely.¡± I smiled at Ellie, taking a hold of the holo stick, bringing her over to the kitchen to get the last things cleaned up.

    What was said, was done, we finished our cleanup and installed ourselves in the living room, turning on the television for some background noise rather than any substantial viewing material after which we started to catch up with each other.

    Ellie told us about the continuous buildup of spaceships and patrols in the solar system and about some little changes in our own ship for that matter. It seemed like the bridge also got quite the security upgrade with computer controlled sentry guns. Similar ones had been installed in the hallways. Not visible during normal operations but they would fold out in cases of emergency. They were also provided by manual overrides in cases Ellie was locked out of the system. This meant that someone had to manually operate them with their holo stick. But it was still better than being in the line of fire themselves.

    We recounted our tales on our lovely island getaway, showing her the pictures we had taken there so she could also picture the scenes more vividly.

    ¡°Are you not sad that you couldn¡¯t join us, Ellie?¡± I asked after showing all the pictures I had taken.

    ¡°Not really.¡± She replied. ¡°I¡¯m really happy for the three of you that you enjoyed your holiday. As your friend I would wish nothing more than that. You have already blessed me plenty of times with your attention. And we will have plenty of time together in the future too. If luck will permit that.¡±

    ¡°And if I have something to say about it too.¡± Lauren smiled. ¡°I¡¯ve worked hard to get my ship and I am determined to keep it. And if in some forsaken timeline they take her away from me. I¡¯ll transfer Ellie in some kind of potato computer or something like that.¡±

    ¡°I prefer my home to be less starchy.¡±

    ¡°Beggars can¡¯t be choosers, Ellie.¡± Lauren replied to which Ellie¡¯s avatar crossed her arms and pouted. It was really nice to see Ellie return to us once more. I really hoped that was a good omen. But only the future could tell if it was or not.

 Chapter 70: Elevator Going Down

    The time had arrived for us to make our way towards Admiralty''s HQ. In the time we had spent with Ellie after her return, even she couldn¡¯t really tell us anything about what was going to happen over there as the Admiralty had kept their lips tight so none of the people working on the ship knew what was going to happen to its crew either. Obviously she didn¡¯t risk hacking into the Admiralty either just to be safe.

    And so we made sure that we had no perishable foods left in the house as we might not be coming back anymore. We said one final goodbye to our neighbors before making our way to the train station and subsequently taking the train back to the capital before heading towards our final destination on the other side of the planet. Both Luna and I weren¡¯t very talkative at the moment as our nerves started to play up. We did share another meal in the dinner car of the train, kind off forcing ourselves to eat a little as we were both not very hungry either. But it¡¯s best to go into these situations with at least some food in your system. Going in empty is never a good idea after all.

    The train journey took a while as the HQ was further away than the spaceport we disembarked at since it was based very much near the North Pole on the American continent. But at least the train offered plenty of comfort as opposed to what a shuttle would have done. That would¡¯ve increased our stress even more. So I was happy to take a trip that lasted slightly longer to avoid that.

    Evening had already fallen when we arrived at the station connected directly to the HQ. Once we got out we got greeted by a couple of soldiers who were waiting for us. From the insignias on their shoulders they appeared to be from the navy¡¯s Naval Intelligence Unit.

    We saluted each other after which the Corporal who was present stepped forward. ¡°Commander, Lieutenant-Commander, could you please follow us to your temporary lodging?¡± As we had arrived the night before we were scheduled to return to HQ, lodgings had been arranged for us. Not uncommon for personnel who had to travel such long distances to get here. As the crew consisted of people who have their homes all around the globe, there should be plenty of my subordinates also making use of these kinds of arrangements.

    ¡°Of course, lead the way, Corporal.¡± I nodded.

    The Corporal saluted once more and started leading us through the subterranean level of the HQ.

    ¡°How long has it been since you last visited HQ, Commander?¡± He asked while we were dodging a whole bunch of busy people.

    ¡°Pff, uh, good question, I¡¯m pretty sure it must¡¯ve been when I got promoted. It doesn¡¯t look like it has changed that much but I have to say that it was a lot less busy last time I was here though.¡±

    ¡°It has changed more than you can see.¡± The Corporal said after which he hailed the elevator.

    Once we got in and the Corporal dialed in the floor of our destination, it was clear just how much it had been changed. Back when I last visited the HQ, the rooms for visitors used to be on the third floor, now we were heading towards floor - 10. A couple of floors lower than there used to be and there seemed to be even more below that.

    The Corporal saw my bewilderment at his push of the button and smiled. ¡°We are moving most vital infrastructure below ground.¡± He mentioned.

    ¡°Are we vital infrastructure?¡± Luna asked.

    ¡°You and your crew are definitely considered to be high value to the navy, that¡¯s for sure.¡± The Corporal answered.

    ¡°When were all these floors constructed?¡± I added while the lift made its way down.

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    ¡°There¡¯s still active construction ongoing, but the floor your temporary lodging is on got completed last week. But don¡¯t worry, thanks to sound and shock proofing you should not be disturbed by construction efforts.¡±

    ¡°Well, at least there¡¯s that.¡±

    The lift stopped at our floor and the Corporal guided us outside. The lighting here actually looked really natural for being this deep below ground, it even had some simulated windows here and there. If you had to stay here for a prolonged period of time that probably wasn¡¯t the worst idea ever to keep your sanity.

    A couple of turns later our chaperon stopped in between rooms 71A and 71B. ¡°These will be your lodgings for today. The rest of your crew will also be housed on this floor. If you wish to head to the entertainment or food area on this floor, you can always look up the directions on your holo stick, it should have automatically connected to the floor¡¯s mainframe.¡±

    ¡°Are we allowed to go where we please?¡± Luna asked.

    ¡°As long as you stay on this floor, yes.¡± He nodded and then looked at me. ¡°You are not prisoners of course, but safety-wise it is preferred that you do not leave. As I said before, there¡¯s still active construction going on in many places. Some of these areas are not safe and considering the timing of your talk tomorrow with Admirality, getting hurt now would not be good.¡±

    I nodded. ¡°We won¡¯t get in trouble. Thank you, Corporal.¡±

    The Corporal smiled and saluted us, with the two soldiers who followed us the entire way doing the same.

    Luna and I saluted back as per protocol after which the three of them left. Leaving the two of us standing pretty much alone in the hallway. When I looked at my girlfriend she instinctively looked back at me.

    ¡°Do you think they provided us with a double bed?¡± She asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡± I turned around and opened the door to room 71A. It swiftly confirmed my suspicion. ¡°That doesn¡¯t really need to stop us but it might be more comfy to sleep apart for just this evening.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ It¡¯s a bit of a shame but it¡¯s only for one night.¡±

    I nodded and put my bag into the room after which I closed the door again after which Luna did the same. ¡°Want to go take a look at the food area to see if any of the crew made it here already?¡±

    ¡°Sure thing.¡± She smiled and took my hand.

    While there were quite a lot of corners to turn before we got to the food area, the way there was actually rather straight-forward. Many of those corners didn¡¯t have any crossroads as the hallways were presumably built to reduce shockwaves from blast impacts. But I could imagine it being a lot harder to navigate while under attack.

    Considering our findings throughout our mission, taking these kinds of precautions was rather logical to do. A military should often operate on the ¡®rather safe than sorry¡¯ principle after all.

    After navigating the final corner we arrived in the food area of our floor. There weren¡¯t many people yet, but pretty much all of the people present were members of our crew.

    When they saw us, the room went quiet and everyone stood up to immediately salute us.

    ¡°At ease, everyone.¡± I smiled. ¡°It¡¯s good to see you all again.¡± After I had said this, most of them sat down again and continued their respective conversations.

    From the corner of my eye I could see Yuki walk over to us, from what I could tell she was pretty much the highest ranked officer apart from us who was present. ¡°Commander, LC!¡±

    ¡°How are you doing, Ensign.¡± I gave her a short friendly salute and then caught her hand in mine for a handshake.

    ¡°Pretty well. I¡¯m happy to see you both again.¡± She smiled as she shook my hand, after which she quickly gave Luna a hand as well. ¡°Had a nice break?¡±

    ¡°Definitely.¡± Luna answered. ¡°We went on a private island holiday.¡±

    ¡°Oooh.¡± Yuki looked back at the table where she had left her drink. ¡°Why don¡¯t you two grab something to drink and sit with me so we can catch up?¡±

    ¡°Sounds good to me.¡± I replied. ¡°Do you mind if we eat something as well?¡±

    ¡°Of course not.¡± She smiled. ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll get something to eat for myself as well.¡±

    And so the three of us went to the line to go and grab some food and drinks for ourselves. It was back to fabricator-made military food, not bad but it is a pretty big contrast with the food we¡¯d been eating the entire time we had been on Earth. At least the nachos with dip tasted pretty much the same so that¡¯s what I opted for as I wasn¡¯t that hungry anyway, just wanted something to snack on to kill the time.

    With snacks and drinks at our disposal we went to sit with Yuki to talk about what we had all done during our limited stay on our blue ball of a planet.

 Chapter 71: Not That Fluent

    While we caught up with Yuki we showed her some pictures of the trip we had taken to our island getaway. She seemed rather impressed but also evenly enjoying the stories we were telling her.

    ¡°Next time you should definitely come to visit my home village.¡± She said with a smile as we showed her the last picture. ¡°It¡¯s a village of around fourty houses in a little valley in the mountains of the Japanese Region. We don¡¯t really have an inn there but we have plenty of spare rooms for guests. It¡¯s very beautiful for hiking and getting some rest.¡±

    ¡°I think Lauren would prefer that over some tropical island.¡± Luna chuckled.

    ¡°It gets warm there too, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Only in heatwaves. But the valley is rather cool during most time of the year.¡±

    ¡°I see. I would definitely not mind¡­ Whenever we get the opportunity to do that however, I do not know.¡±

    Yuki nodded politely while I put my holo stick away and took one of the nachos.

    ¡°Is that where you spent your time after we landed, Yuki?¡± Luna asked. ¡°Back at your home town?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± She nodded. ¡°My parents were very happy to see me again as they thought I¡¯d be gone for a lot longer after you whisked me away.¡±

    ¡°Sorry about that.¡± I chuckled awkwardly.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be sorry.¡± Yuki was quick to brush my apology aside. ¡°It was a huge career opportunity to me to be able to be involved in the mission. And I would not have enjoyed my time on the other ship either.¡±

    ¡°Still though, I didn¡¯t give you much of a heads up.¡±

    Yet again Yuki quickly brushed that aside, almost literally as she started to gesticulate quite heavily. ¡°Really, I have not made an easier decision in my life than to join you. Even with everything that has happened. If you hadn''t I¡¯d also not have met¡­ Oh.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Luna smiled and swiftly leaned on the table. ¡°Whatever you were going to say sounded really interesting.¡±

    Yuki immediately started to turn red. ¡°Sorry, I said too much.¡±

    I smirked. ¡°I see how it is. Is it one of the hangar officers? The one who you laid down next to back in the holding room perhaps?¡±

    Yuki started to blush even more but she also couldn¡¯t really keep her smile hidden. I had hit the nail directly on its head. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ It¡¯s just purely platonic at the moment¡­¡± She said softly. ¡°But I did invite them over to my hometown as well to meet my parents¡­¡±

    ¡°How did that go?¡± Luna asked.

    ¡°They liked them very much. It involved a lot of me having to translate as my parents don¡¯t speak English, but it was manageable.¡±

    ¡°Couldn¡¯t you use your holo stick for that?¡± I tilted my head a little.

    ¡°My parents don¡¯t really like to rely on technology. It could help them a lot but they are both so used to living like they do that I don¡¯t really want to throw a wrench in that. It¡¯s a very charming way to live.¡±

    ¡°Must not have been easy growing up though. With everything relying so much on tech. And then the war too.¡±

    ¡°We managed and that¡¯s what¡¯s most important.¡± Yuki shrugged slightly.

    ¡°If we would ever visit, wouldn¡¯t it be a bit annoying on you to translate for us?¡± Luna asked.

    ¡°Well,¡± I answered before Yuki could. ¡°I can speak a bit of Japanese.¡±

    Both Luna and Yuki appeared to be very surprised by that. ¡°Really?¡± They said at pretty much the same time.

    ¡°I¡¯m not going to say I¡¯m super fluent but I can understand and speak a bit, yeah. I¡¯ve been to the Japanese Region before during the war. Somehow I picked up on it rather fast.¡±

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    Luna looked at Yuki with a bit of doubt in her eyes, and Yuki immediately understood the assignment my girlfriend had given her. ¡°What are your favorite foods?¡± She asked in Japanese.

    I could only smirk for it was a rather easy to answer. ¡°All kinds of foods but I prefer having smaller portions with more diversity rather than one single dish.¡±

    Yuki pursed her lips in approval. ¡°That¡¯s not bad. I would call that a lot better than just knowing ¡®a bit¡¯.¡± She said, this time in English.

    ¡°What did you ask?¡± Luna asked as she definitely didn¡¯t understand the language.

    ¡°She asked me how cute you were and I told her you were the cutest person on this entire planet.¡±

    Luna frowned. ¡°That¡¯s a lie! I know the word for cute in Japanese and you definitely didn¡¯t use that.¡±

    ¡°Shit, I got found out.¡± I replied in Japanese to which Luna just pouted and Yuki started laughing.

    We settled down again after laughing and finished our snacks. Occasionally while we were enjoying the rest of it, another crew member would walk into the room but not really anyone we were particularly close to. Of course we would greet them, but it¡¯s not like they would come to us to chat for any prolonged period of time.

    ¡°It¡¯s getting rather late, I don¡¯t think I will stay up for too much longer.¡± Yuki said as her plate was empty. Giving herself a good stretch. ¡°Although I need to let my food sink for just a bit though.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, I don¡¯t particularly feel like sleeping yet.¡± I replied. ¡°So I think I might check out the entertainment zone they mentioned before. Have you been there yet, Yuki?¡±

    ¡°No, I almost immediately came here after I arrived. I was pretty hungry after my trip here and then I just didn¡¯t leave because I was amusing myself plenty with my holo stick. And beside that I also like looking at what other people order. It¡¯s pretty amusing.¡±

    ¡°Food watcher Yuki Yuigahama on the prowl?¡± I joked.

    She smiled. ¡°I always could get some inspiration on what to order in the future. There¡¯s so many good foods out there that I haven¡¯t tried out yet.¡±

    ¡°Fair enough. I like to try out new food as well and Luna is no different.¡± Especially if you knew about Luna¡¯s non-Earthly heritage.

    ¡°Have you seen any interesting food options yet?¡± Luna asked.

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ I think interesting would be the word to describe some of them, yes. But I won¡¯t judge.¡±

    ¡°Color me curious. Like what for example?¡±

    ¡°Fried chicken in between waffles who are then also covered in syrup is one that I can remember seeing go by not too long ago. I don¡¯t think that was someone from our crew though. One of the security guys who work by the elevator.¡±

    ¡°Fried chicken between a waffle isn¡¯t that uncommon. I mean, it¡¯s not something I would eat but it¡¯s definitely not too out there when it comes to surprising combinations.¡± I replied. ¡°When I think about surprising combinations I think about ice-cream and baked beans or something like that.¡±

    Yuki¡¯s face immediately pulls into one of disgust. ¡°That sounds terrible.¡±

    ¡°It probably is. I was just thinking about something on the fly.¡±

    ¡°I would not mind trying it.¡± As Luna said this both me and Yuki turned our gazes towards her.

    ¡°Luna, as your girlfriend and as your superior Commander, I explicitly forbid you from ever trying the combination I just mentioned.¡±

    Luna chuckled. ¡°Alright.¡±

    I was content with that answer but it looked like Yuki wasn¡¯t just going to drop my girlfriend¡¯s statement. ¡°Were you actually serious, Luna?¡±

    She shrugged. ¡°Why not. If it¡¯s just a spoonful it wouldn¡¯t harm you, right? Maybe you will find something that¡¯s actually rather delicious.¡±

    ¡°Today I learned you would have been one of those people who discovered a lot of edible foods and then ultimately died from food poisoning because of eating some kind of mushroom you were not supposed to.¡±

    ¡°You need to die of something, right?¡± Luna joked.

    ¡°If you die from icecream and baked beans I¡¯m definitely going to put that on your gravestone.¡±

    Yuki had started laughing hysterically about halfway through our little conversation and it was starting to pull quite a bit of attention from the other tables right now. But who cares, laughing is good for your health and it helps with bonding as well. And from the looks on the crew¡¯s faces, I could tell that they were rather enjoying Yuki¡¯s laughing as well.

    ¡°You guys.¡± Yuki slapped her thigh. ¡°I¡¯ll repeat this again but I¡¯m so happy that I joined the ship. Just having a great time with you around.¡±

    I smiled. ¡°Well, we are happy to have you around as well.¡±

    After we wound down the conversation we just chatted a bit longer until ultimately Yuki decided to go to her lodging. ¡°See you tomorrow, Commander, LC.¡± She gave us a friendly salute.

    ¡°See you tomorrow and have a good night, Ensign. And maybe don¡¯t dream about baked beans and icecream if you can help it.¡±

    Yuki snorted, breaking her respectful looking posture. ¡°Please don¡¯t make me start laughing again, I have a real bad time trying to get to sleep when I¡¯m giggly.¡±

    ¡°My apologies. Good night, Yuki.¡±

    ¡°Good night.¡±

    When Yuki disappeared out of sight I looked back at my girlfriend. ¡°Entertainment zone?¡±

    ¡°Sure thing.¡± Luna nodded. ¡°But I¡¯m not going to make it too late either.¡±

    ¡°Fair enough, but first let¡¯s get a drink or two.¡± I laid my hand on hers and gave it a soft squeeze.

 Chapter 72: Black Out Memory

    To be honest, I don¡¯t really remember much of what happened next. What I remember from the rest of the evening is that Luna and I went on to the entertainment area on our floor and that we sat down next to one of the pool tables there. I also remember Gunny arriving there a bit later and us sitting down for some drinks, allowed by my girlfriend too of course. But after that¡­ Only vague memories of Gunny buying us more drinks and Luna drinking a bit too.

    And that¡¯s how, in the end, even though we had said we wouldn''t, we still ended up in the same room. I found out after I had just woken up with Luna on top of me in a bed that was definitely too small to be occupied by two people.

    Luckily for me, it seemed that I wasn¡¯t really hung-over, otherwise I¡¯d have to take a pill or two before meeting up with the higher-ups. A shower definitely wouldn¡¯t hurt though.

    As for Luna, she was just knocked out cold, just drooling a little on my chest. As she was still wearing most of her clothes it seemed as though we at least didn¡¯t do any tomfoolery yesterday evening. At least drunk me kept my standard of not making out with people who are not sober enough to really make any decisions. Good job, myself from the past. Although less of a good job considering I apparently didn¡¯t say no clearly enough to Gunny.

    I gently poked my girlfriend¡¯s cheek but rather than waking her it just made her mumble my name a bit. She looked terribly happy when she said my name which immediately resulted in me wanting to kiss her very badly, but I decided that, due to circumstances in the near future, it would be best to persist and try to wake her nonetheless. While I wasn¡¯t hung over, considering Luna¡¯s alien constitution, she might be, incredibly so.

    It took me a couple of minutes poking her cheeks and brushing my hand through her hair while softly whispering her name before Luna finally started to wake up little by little.

    ¡°L-Lauren?¡± She weakly opened her eyes after which she closed them back again. ¡°Ughhh¡­ My head¡­¡±

    ¡°As I had expected. That¡¯s quite the hangover, isn¡¯t it?¡± I said silently. ¡°Could you get off me for a second, I¡¯ll go and grab you a pill that will make you feel better in no-time.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­.¡± She groaned. ¡°Why did I do thaaaaat?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Why did I drink so muuuch?¡± She painfully slipped off me just as I made some room for her so she could rest on the mattress for a bit longer.

    ¡°Gunny can be quite convincing. Maybe you decided to do so because you were a bit stressed. Hell¡­ If I could remember why I did so, that would probably be the reason.¡± I walked over to my bags and sifted through one of the side pockets for my small drug store¡¯s worth of pills. ¡°There they are.¡± I smiled to myself before I thought to myself it might probably not be a good idea to give one of these pills as a whole to Luna¡­

    -It¡¯s probably best if I send a message to Eva first¡­ Just to make sure¡­-

    ¡°Laureeeeen¡­¡± Luna moaned at me.

    ¡°Just give me a minute, I don¡¯t want to poison you.¡± I looked around the room and quickly found my holo stick so I could send our friend and personal doctor a quick message. I just hoped that she was awake already.

    Lady luck had blessed me that day as my holo stick started vibrating with an incoming call just a minute after I had sent the message, with Eva being the caller. I picked it up immediately.

    ¡°Hey there Eva.¡±

    ¡°Lauren, what¡¯s all that fuss about you having to give a hangover pill to Luna? Did she actually get drunk?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ I think Gunny convinced her to drink a glass¡­ Not that I remember anything of it myself but considering her constitution it wouldn¡¯t have taken much for her to get drunk¡­ And now she has a pretty big hangover.¡±

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    I could hear Eva sigh on the other side of the line. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you three, the evening before an important meeting?¡±

    ¡°You know firsthand how convincing Gunny can be, Eva¡­¡± I retorted. In the past Gunny had managed to make Eva cross the line on multiple occasions.

    She sighed again. ¡°That¡¯s true¡­ But still¡­ I¡¯ll have to give Gunny a stern talking to later today.¡± She paused for a second. ¡°As for Luna, I¡¯d start by giving her half a pill at first and see how much she clears up. I think that should do it but if it doesn''t, just add another quarter, alright?¡±

    ¡°Will do.¡± I replied. ¡°By the way, are you already at the HQ?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be arriving shortly.¡± She answered. ¡°I took the overnight train here as I still needed to do some last minute stuff at home.¡±

    ¡°Did you get plenty of rest?¡±

    ¡°Probably more than you two did.¡± She chuckled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me and go give her the pill. She¡¯ll probably need it. See you in a bit.¡±

    ¡°See you.¡± I replied as Eva hung up on me.

    I didn¡¯t waste another second to divide the aforementioned pill in half. Together with a glass of water I walked by to my suffering girlfriend and handed them over.

    With some effort she managed to swallow it. ¡°Thanks¡­¡± She replied, pain still coursing over her body.

    ¡°It will take a bit to settle in. Is it okay if I go take a shower first?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ Go ahead¡­¡±

    ¡°Just stay in bed and don¡¯t try to get up yet.¡± I gave her a soft kiss on her forehead after which I went to the bathroom to get myself cleaned up.

    After I was done I put on my full dress uniform. When I exited the bathroom, Luna was already sitting at the little desk that was provided in the room. From the looks of it it seemed as though the pill was having its desired effects already. When she saw me exit she smiled at me, reinforcing that idea.

    ¡°Feeling better?¡±

    ¡°A lot.¡± She nodded.

    I smiled. ¡°Well, if you feel good enough, go ahead and shower so we can pack things up again and get ready for the meeting.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ About that, could you go and get my bag in my room? Looks like I didn¡¯t bring it over yesterday evening.¡±

    I walked over to her and gave her a kiss on her forehead. ¡°I will. Don¡¯t worry, you won¡¯t have to stroll through the hallway in a towel.¡±

    Luna rolled her eyes. ¡°Thanks for taking care of me though.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s only natural.¡± I winked and headed towards the door. ¡°I¡¯ll be back soon.¡±

    It only took me two minutes to come back with her bags but my girlfriend had already made it to the shower by that time. After she was done we repacked the couple of items that we had taken out in our very short stay and vacated our room once more.

    We went for breakfast where we met up with Gunny and Yuki who were conversing with one-another when we arrived. Gunny also looked incredibly sober, especially after presuming he had drunk just as much as we did yesterday.

    ¡°Doctor Winter is going to chew you out later.¡± I mentioned as I gave our Gunnery Sergeant a firm handshake.

    Yuki looked surprised to hear that. ¡°Uh? Why is she going to chew him out exactly? Did something happen while I went to bed?¡±

    ¡°Something happened alright.¡± I nodded.

    Gunny guiltily scratched the back of his head. ¡°I might have pushed our Commander and Lieutenant-Commander to drink just a bit too much alcohol¡­¡± He admitted.

    ¡°The day before an important meeting?¡± Yuki replied in disbelief.

    Gunny backed off a little and raised his hands while preparing his defense. ¡°Look, I had already drunk quite a bit by that point. You can¡¯t exactly blame me for that.¡±

    ¡°Gunnery Sergeant¡­ That¡¯s still not a good excuse. You shouldn¡¯t have been drinking that much yourself. What were you thinking?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡±

    Luna stepped in between our Ensign and Gunny. ¡°I don¡¯t blame him. The Gunnery Sergeant was having a rough time. We were there to support him but one thing turned into the other. We are just as guilty as he is.¡±

    ¡°He was? I can¡¯t remember that at all.¡± I scratched my chin and looked at our Gunnery Sergeant. ¡°Is that true?¡±

    Gunny nodded with a somewhat downtrodden look on his face. A look that was very, very atypical for him.

    ¡°Oh¡­ I¡¯m sorry I don¡¯t remember anything about it¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Commander. I¡¯ve not really told much aside from the fact that something bad happened. So it¡¯s not like you missed much.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for laying into you that much, Gunnery Sergeant. I shouldn¡¯t have without knowing the circumstances.¡± Yuki was quick to apologize.

    ¡°You are a commanding officer, Ensign Yuigahama. It¡¯s your job to do so.¡± Gunny replied. ¡°But if you all wouldn¡¯t mind. I¡¯d rather not speak about it just yet. Maybe for after the meeting if I can get another drink¡­¡±

 Chapter 73: Going Up

    Luckily I managed to intercept Eva so she didn¡¯t lay into Gunny about getting Luna and I drunk.

    ¡°So you don¡¯t really know what¡¯s going on with him then?¡± Eva asked as the both of us talked in a somewhat more private spot in the hallway.

    I shook my head. ¡°No, apparently he wasn¡¯t very specific about it while we were drinking.¡±

    ¡°Is he fit to come along with us? I mean¡­ If he has things to sort out¡­ Maybe he should take some leave?¡±

    ¡°You know how Gunny is, that¡¯ll probably only make matters worse. Besides, if he wasn¡¯t able to function, he wouldn¡¯t risk our lives by not being in shape. It¡¯s probably nothing too bad.¡±

    ¡°If you say so¡­¡± Eva looked around me into the next room. ¡°They are all waiting inside?¡±

    ¡°Yes, just having some breakfast and waiting until we get called up.¡± Eva nodded and started to walk off to join the rest of the group, but I caught her hand to delay her just a little bit longer. ¡°Please don¡¯t lay into him, okay?¡±

    Eva nodded again and gave me a smile. ¡°I won¡¯t, but I will be keeping an eye on him. And I¡¯m trusting you to do the same.¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡± I let go of her arm and then followed her into the room to also get a bit of food into my stomach before we would get called up.

    The reunion was calm and friendly, Gunny was a bit guarded as I had warned him in advance that Eva would come to talk to him, but he quickly noticed that my intervention had, at the least, delayed that for the time being.

    The morning also saw the arrival of pretty much the rest of the remaining crew members. Except for a couple of people who had called in sick, we were all present in the headquarters.

    Therefore it didn¡¯t come as a big surprise to me that we were notified per message to get ready for the meeting about an hour after we had finished our breakfast.

    When the time came, a group of soldiers from the Naval Intelligence Unit came to collect us to move to a meeting room on one of the other floors, though they didn¡¯t really want to say the exact location out loud. That made me believe that it was probably a meeting location on the higher floors.

    The Sergeant who was leading our particular group dialed one of the top numbers in the elevator, confirming that suspicion.

    ¡°Why are we not holding a meeting in one of the subterranean floors?¡± I decided to just straight up ask. ¡°It¡¯s clear from the secrecy that there is at least some kind of security risk involved holding the meeting higher up.¡±

    The Sergeant looked at me in silence for a couple of seconds before she sighed. ¡°That was the original plan. We were even preparing the meeting room floor -2 up until half an hour ago. Apparently one of the big shots insisted on holding it above ground because ¡®it has a way better view¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Politician?¡± I guessed.

    ¡°Yeah¡­ Don¡¯t know which one though. But if they can make changes that easily¡­¡±

    I nodded. I didn¡¯t really need any more information than that to narrow down the culprit to just two people. That meant it was either the minister of Defence or the Chancellor¡­ It surprised me a bit that any of them would put any effort in talking to my crew directly rather than just giving orders from their ivory tower.

    The trip took us to the very top of the HQ building, a room from which the view over the surrounding area was fantastic. So regarding that, whatever politician asked for the room to be changed, did at least know what a good panorama looked like. Militarily not the smartest of moves for security or privacy, but as this was the highest building around too, it would not be the easiest task to get a clear line of sight of this room, especially if you didn¡¯t want to be seen yourself.

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    As our group was the first to arrive I used the opportunity to guide my girlfriend to chat near one of the windows. I did keep in mind to keep one of the support pillars nearby so we could get some cover from that. Apart from Luna, the rest of our group consisted mostly of officers who worked in the engine room of the ship, and they weren¡¯t particularly bothered when I took her to the side for a little while.

    ¡°Are you sure we should be standing this close to the windows, Lauren?¡± Luna asked.

    I gently guided her a bit closer to the pillar. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, if someone shot at you I¡¯d catch the bullet for you.¡±

    ¡°That sounds a lot less romantic than you think it does¡­¡± Luna rolled her eyes.

    ¡°Just kidding.¡± I winked. ¡°There¡¯s going to be paparazzi around at most. But they probably have that figured out.¡± Practically wiping away my own concerns from earlier just to make my girlfriend feel a bit better. ¡°What do you think of the view though?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s pretty impressive.¡± She admitted. ¡°But I think I prefer the view from space rather than from a high tower¡­ Might as well go for that extra mile right?¡±

    I chuckled. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s true. But you gotta realize that the people who wanted to come here have pretty much never been to space, so this is the closest they are going to get.¡±

    ¡°Really? Those bigshot politicians have never been to space?¡±

    ¡°Not as far as I know. Why do you think the Chancellor was holding his speech through a video feed back on the moon?¡±

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t exactly mentally present. I don¡¯t really remember if he was actually there or not.¡±

    ¡°Right¡­ The painkillers¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, then you¡¯ll just have to take me on my word that the Chancellor was not there physically.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡± She nodded as she continued to stare outside the window into the awakening world outside. .

    Two minutes later the next group arrived which brought Eva and Yuki to our little clique. The other groups of our crew arrived within the same intervals until we were all present. Funnily enough it was Gunny¡¯s group who arrived last. That meant that the only people we were waiting on, were the higher ups from the Admiralty and the mystery politician. It was anyone¡¯s guess how long they were going to keep us waiting though.

    From the looks of it, the security personnel in the room did not really appreciate whatever it was that was holding up the VIPs.

    To keep them from stressing the hell out, I raised my voice and suggested to my crew to already take a seat. That way they could at least keep an overview of those present and those arriving as easily as humanly possible. The gesture seemed to go over rather well with the commanding officer who gave me a friendly nod.

    Ten minutes later, the opening of the elevator doors finally sounded in the arrival of the people who had invited us in the first place. Fleet Admiral Hanssen, who walked in first, absolutely didn¡¯t look pleased. She was trying to hide it but I could tell she was biting down hard not to start saying unnecessary things that might not go over well. It was also clear that it was not us who were causing her frustrations. The cause of that would be the very pompous looking Minister of Defence Kerskuri who was following at the center of his entourage. That man seemed way too full of himself, sipping from what looked to be a very expensive brand of bottled water.

    ¡°My apology-¡± Fleet Admiral Hanssen started but she immediately got cut off by minister Kerskuri.

    ¡°Please, our apologies for our tardiness, the air around here is rather dry.¡± He started. ¡°I just had to get something to drink first.¡±

    My eyes shot over to the table Fleet Admiral Hanssen had sat down behind, it was equipped with multiple bottles of water and there even was some orange juice present. Apparently that hadn¡¯t been good enough for the man.

    ¡°It¡¯s good to see all of you here present today, as we have some very important matters to discuss. Matters of the utmost importance to the safety and further development of our Federation.¡±

    Every word that came out of that man¡¯s mouth made me wish more and more that it was the Chancellor who had come rather than him. While the Chancellor didn¡¯t always seem so agreeable, at least it¡¯s a lot better than minister Kerskuri¡­ A post-war career politician who got his post through connections and favors rather than merit. As he used to head the finance department previously, it was anyone¡¯s guess as to why he was chosen to be the new minister of Defence after the previous minister had to retire early on his tenure due to health problems. If we are lucky he will be voted out soon¡­ If anything scares me about diplomatic contacts with more alien races in the future, it¡¯s that he is technically the head of the entirety of Earth¡¯s military at the moment¡­

 Chapter 74: Political Resistance

    ¡°If I have to be honest, I would have picked an entirely different crew for the continuation of this mission but the reports of your interrogations came back clean and the esteemed Fleet Admiral has managed to convince the Chancellor otherwise...¡± That didn¡¯t start off well, his words immediately upsetting a large part of the crew and anyone else present. ¡°As such I am forced to let you resume your function on board of your ship. However, there will be some alterations made to¡­. ensure your loyalty, but first and foremost your safety. But for those technicalities I will let the Fleet Admiral speak.¡±

    Fleet Admiral Hanssen was staring daggers at minister Kerskuri. But after taking a deep breath she sighed and spoke to us. ¡°Your ship has been retrofitted with a couple of extra arms packages to enhance the ship¡¯s combat abilities even further. Structural weaknesses that have been detected have been strengthened and extra armor plating has been added in the more crucial points of the ship. The specifics of which you will be able to see shortly. Due to confidentiality we will be sending everyone the new specifications of the changes to your holo sticks. It¡¯s pretty last-minute but please do go through the specifications that are most relevant to your respective stations before you board.¡± She flipped through her own holo stick to the next page. ¡°Aside from the structural changes the ship has gone through, you will also be joined by a sizable complement of robotical soldier units. These units will provide further surveillance and security on board of the vehicle and will be directly controlled by the ship¡¯s AI.¡±

    ¡°The AI¡¯s programming has been altered to step-in when set regulations are being broken.¡± The minister grinned at us smugly. ¡°Do not try to tamper with it, for the engineers have assured me that that isn¡¯t possible and will result in severe repercussions.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡± I hummed silently, it was just about loud enough for my girlfriend to hear though. I can¡¯t imagine that Ellie didn¡¯t know about any of the aforementioned changes. The fact that she didn¡¯t mention them must mean that she didn¡¯t find it noteworthy enough to tell us. I find it very hard to believe that the engineers actually managed to do anything to her. Apart from giving her new toys to play with¡­ But on the other hand it could also be that this was a rather recent addition to the list of changes as Ellie did inform us about the weapons packages and the armor upgrades¡­

    ¡°In addition you will also be joined by a list of additional officers and crew members. Their identities will be made known to you six hours prior to departure.¡±

    Now that, that will definitely be problematic¡­ From the look on the minister¡¯s face when he said that, it was pretty much certain that at least some of those soldiers would have been appointed by the minister himself. As much as I trust Ellie in having resisted the engineer¡¯s tampering attempts, I am not so certain about trying to fool politically appointed komissars¡­

    However¡­ When I looked back over to Fleet Admiral Hanssen she was surprisingly calm about the minister¡¯s statement. In the matter of fact, she actually looked rather content with herself. As soon as minister Kerskuri looked back, she immediately looked down again.

    -Did she do something about the appointments? Did she make some of them ill? No, that would be way too obvious¡­ Kerskuri would definitely not let that slide.-

    In the meantime, while I was internally still debating the dubious look on Hanssen¡¯s face, Kerskuri had continued speaking and had arrived to the point of our mission.

    ¡°As for what your mission is concerned¡­¡± He started. ¡°That will remain mostly unchanged, although with some more parameters. When possible we would like you to scout out more of the¡­ potencies¡­ of any alien vehicles you encounter. Furthermore it is very much advisable to completely eradicate any bug-alien populations that you come across, and if that is not possible, to stop their spread dead in their tracks. We also want you to send more regular updates of charted star territory.¡± He put his pretty much full bottle of water on the table Hanssen was sitting behind. ¡°Anyway, that was pretty much all for this meeting for what I am concerned.¡± He then walked off back towards the elevators from which he entered. ¡°If anyone wants to, you can have the water.¡± And with that, the prick disappeared, leaving us faster than the extra time he took away from us by getting the bottle of pretty much untouched water. His entourage followed him swiftly along. Leaving us alone with Fleet Admiral Hanssen.

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    Once they were well and truly gone, the entire room quickly started to murmur. Most of the murmurings were talking about the new robots that would be overseeing us, though that wasn¡¯t really going to be an issue. Among the officers it was mostly the new crew that was being discussed.

    ¡°Uhum.¡± Fleet Admiral Hanssen coughed, quickly silencing the room again. ¡°I am very sorry about that.¡± She started. ¡°The man just really wanted to come and make a point.¡± She shoved the barely touched bottle of water out of the way to the complete opposite end of the table. ¡°And as he is technically my superior I wasn¡¯t exactly in any power to stop him.¡± She then proceeded to also put away her holo stick on which the rest of her talking points had been written down on. Continuing after yet another sigh. ¡°When I first made a speech on the moon, sending out a first manned mission to verily explore the region of space around our solar system, it never even crossed my mind that we would find alien life as soon as we did. And definitely not in such a hostile manner. I think all things considered, that everyone present here today, and those that sadly have lost their life, has done an overwhelmingly great job. You¡¯ve made decisions and sacrifices to secure humanity¡¯s future in this universe. And for that everyone should forever be grateful to you. That¡¯s also why in a way it saddens me to ask you to continue your mission in the dark reaches of outer space. But then again, it would be a crime against our species not to put the foremost experts back out into the field.¡±

    ¡°We would also be really disappointed if you didn¡¯t ask us to go again.¡± It was Lieutenant Zu who spoke out. A couple of people from the crowd were also quick to support that statement with some yeah¡¯s and definitely¡¯s.

    That was also a sign for me that I also couldn¡¯t stay quiet. ¡°All of us knew there was danger involved in taking on this mission. While it was a welcome break for most of us to get back to Earth for a little while, we did sign up for a mission that would last years, not mere months.¡±

    Zu and the officers gave me a respectful nod.

    ¡°And it would also be a disservice to those we have lost along the way not to continue on. We are at a dangerous crossroads and it would pain us a lot more to see their sacrifice go in vain.¡±

    Hanssen smiled and nodded. ¡°That¡¯s why I would like to announce a small altercation to the mission alterations that minister Kerskuri has just announced. We would like you to keep a look out for more potential allies in outer space. Like your friends who you¡¯ve had to leave behind due to their¡­ inconvenient illness. As minister Kerskuri is skillfully displaying by a reenactment of his own, one does not build an empire without stepping on some toes. So I, and by extension the Chancellor, would like you to find those adversaries and find out what it would take for Earth to join into an alliance with them. You¡¯ll be given the necessary diplomatic authority to make these kinds of treaties.¡±

    ¡°Is this something minister Kerskuri is aware of?¡± I asked. ¡°If the Chancellor is involved.¡±

    Hanssen shook her head. ¡°As I said, his reenactment of empire-building is quite on point. So the Chancellor has chosen to keep the minister in the dark for now.¡±

    ¡°Why doesn¡¯t he just fire him?¡± A voice from the crowd behind us calls out. Which made the Fleet Admiral chuckle a little.

    ¡°I think that if that were an option, that the Chancellor would already have gladly taken it, so for now we will have to work on it in a bit of a roundabout way. But please don¡¯t worry about that too much. It is best to keep your head focussed on the task at hand. Let us worry about the Earthly business. We¡¯ll make sure to keep the home front secure for you to come back to.

    Luna poked my thigh and leaned in. ¡°I think I might actually be able to help them a little with that.¡±

 Chapter 75: The Vaping Device

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I leaned in and whispered back to my girlfriend.

    ¡°Maybe we shouldn¡¯t discuss it here¡­¡± She replied. ¡°But I think I might be able to help the Admiral with a bit of information...¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± The proverbial coin had dropped. ¡°Yeah¡­ That might be better reserved for a more private setting¡­¡±

    Luna nodded, not saying anything else for the rest of the meeting. As most people had already outed their grievances, the only thing left for the meeting to accomplish was the practical information that regarded the boarding of our ship. Departure was set three days from now, allowing people to make their final preparations, at for those that didn¡¯t do it yet. Although I suspect that to be the small minority of our crewmembers.

    Fleet Admiral Hanssen did also mention that we were free to stay here in the meantime. There would also be shuttles flying to the space station from the HQ so that we didn¡¯t really need to head to a spaceport first. That¡¯s probably what Luna and I would do as going home was literally just going to be a waste of time.

    To end things off with, Fleet Admiral Hanssen apologized once more and thanked us for our service. She did ask for Luna and I to stay behind for just a bit while the others were allowed to head back down below the surface.

    The room emptied in five minutes or so leaving us alone with the Fleet Admiral. She even sent the guards to go and wait outside.

    ¡°Is there anything you wanted to discuss with us privately, Fleet Admiral?¡± I stood up from my seat and walked over to the Fleet Admiral¡¯s table where Hanssen was also getting up from.

    ¡°Not specifically.¡± She replied.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± I tilted my head a little.

    ¡°But I thought you might have a few questions for me instead. As I saw you looking at me when we were talking about your new crew members.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡± I scratched the back of my head. ¡°Clearly you know something that the minister doesn¡¯t. I was just wondering what exactly you did¡­¡±

    The Fleet Admiral smiled, not saying something immediately.

    ¡°Uh¡­ Should I really be here for this?¡± Luna asked. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t want to intrude on a private conversation like this.¡±

    Fleet Admiral Hanssen shook her head and smiled at Luna. ¡°Everything the Commander knows, you should know as well. Besides, it¡¯s not like she will be able to keep a secret from you anyway, Lieutenant-Commander.¡± She then looked back at me and gave me a wink. ¡°I take it you were not trying to keep your relationship secret, were you? Otherwise you¡¯d be doing a pretty bad job at it.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡± The comment from the Fleet Admiral did make me blush up just a little. ¡°We were not really trying to keep it that much of a secret since it¡¯s not against regulations¡­¡±

    ¡°In any case, it¡¯s not really an issue as you two basically share the same confidentiality clearances.¡± Hanssen continued. ¡°But going back to the point¡­ You were right in thinking I knew something minister Kerskuri didn¡¯t when he mentioned the new part of the crew he thinks he has in his pocket.¡±

    ¡°I suppose you didn¡¯t make any of them ¡®fall sick¡¯, did you? That would be a bit too suspicious.¡±

    ¡°Yes, nothing of that sort.¡± Hanssen nodded. ¡°We had heard Kerskuri was on the lookout for some people for his little plan. What we did is a bit simple, really. We just filled up his scouting list with people who had firstly been selected by us. So while he thinks their loyalty lies with him, in reality that loyalty lies with us instead. That being said, I would still suggest to practice some due caution around them. You can never be 100% sure after all. But don¡¯t be so concerned that it starts to alter your decision making process.¡±

    ¡°Ah, alright. I was worried for a bit that we were going to have some political Kommissar on board that would make us do things we really didn¡¯t want to do.¡±

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    The Fleet Admiral nodded. ¡°The Chancellor understood that it¡¯s best to keep your autonomy as intact as possible. You don¡¯t seem to me like a commander who functions too well if she¡¯s bound to the letter of the book. Of course that has both its advantages and disadvantages. But for the mission you have been assigned to, your type is truly the one most suited for the task at hand. For example the interrogation technique you used on the prisoners you¡¯ve brought back to Earth. I have to say that was quite the brilliant move.¡±

    ¡°To be honest, that was the Lieutenant-Commander¡¯s idea mostly, not mine.¡±

    ¡°Our AI helped too.¡± Luna replied. ¡°It would have been a lot harder to perform without her.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± The admiral nodded once more. ¡°It was a great idea nonetheless, Lieutenant-Commander.¡± She then looked back at me. ¡°And thank you for your honesty, Commander. Otherwise I¡¯d solely be commending you.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t go running with someone else¡¯s honor, Ma¡¯am.¡±

    She smiled and after a couple more seconds she addressed the both of us. ¡°Then, if you don¡¯t want to discuss anything else, would you please excuse me, I still have some paperwork to get in order before your ship sets sail again.¡±

    ¡°Of course, Ma¡¯am.¡± Luna and I replied pretty much at the same time, both giving her a salute as well.

    ¡°But before I leave I just want to tell you two things.¡± She packed her holostick away and straightened her back. ¡°As we will not speak again before you leave on your mission, good luck and safe travels. And Commander Davis¡­.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Ma¡¯am?¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t try to wreck your shoulder barely a week into your trip now, will you?¡±

    Her comment took me aback, I had somewhat forgotten about that happening. ¡°I will practice the utmost care, Fleet Admiral.¡±

    ¡°You better.¡± She chuckled. ¡°War heroes are not so indestructible as they sometimes think.¡± She then looked back at Luna. ¡°Please do keep her in check.¡±

    ¡°Aye aye, Ma¡¯am.¡± Luna saluted, from the look on her face it was clear she was rather amused by Hanssen¡¯s little comment.

    We let the Fleet Admiral leave before us after we descended back down the HQ building. We didn¡¯t directly go back to our subterranean level as Eva had sent us a message that her, Gunny and Yuki were going to the HQ¡¯s courtyard on the ground floor to hang out for a little bit. Discussing what had been said during the meeting.

    We found them sitting on a bench near one of the fountains, Gunny clearly frustrated, huffing into nicotine inhaler. As the entire area around the HQ was smokefree he had to do with this rather than his cigarettes. With this many officers around he was not about to break the rules as he did back on the moon. ¡°I really can¡¯t stand that fucking minister.¡± He grumbled.

    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure no one can, Gunny.¡± I chuckled as we walked up to him.

    ¡°Did the Fleet Admiral need you for something important?¡± Eva asked, standing up to give her seat to Luna.

    Luna was a bit reluctant at first to take the seat but Eva insisted. An insisting Eva is rather hard to deny. ¡°It wasn¡¯t really that important¡­ She just explained certain¡­ things¡­¡± Luna looked up at me for permission to say more.

    I nodded, these were all people I trusted with my life after all. ¡°She basically told us not to worry too much about those new crewmembers who are going to join us. The minister¡¯s hands reach less far than he likes to think.¡±

    Gunny looked quite a bit happier after hearing that. Also letting out a sigh of relief. ¡°Good. I really don¡¯t want more stuck-up politically appointed assholes to deal with. Such a bloody pain in the butthole.¡±

    Yuki laughed at Gunny¡¯s language.

    This seemed to make Gunny conscious of what he just said and what company he was in. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I just need to vent a bit.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve had it rough lately, it¡¯s fine. I¡¯m not a vulnerable flower that can¡¯t handle strong language. At least¡­ Not anymore.¡± I take it she was referring to what happened when we first met.

    Gunny nodded and patted Yuki on the shoulder. ¡°I know. I was mostly referring to the good doctor.¡± He took his vaping device out of his mouth just so he could grin at Eva.

    Eva, who immediately shot him a piercing glare in return. ¡°Oh, is that so, Robert?¡±

    His demeanor switched back immediately to being apologetic. Just like a kid who had done something wrong in front of his mother. ¡°Oh please no. Please don¡¯t do that. I¡¯m sorry, okay?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean, Gunnery Sergeant Robert Turner? Are you accusing me of being a vengeful spirit?¡±

    Gunny turned to me. ¡°Commander, please, tell her I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Gunny.¡± I raised both of my hands. ¡°You really shouldn¡¯t push someone who is holding all the cards.¡±

    ¡°Fuck meeeee.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d rather not, Gunnery Sergeant Turner.¡± Eva continued.

    Well, at least there was no harm in this. It actually seemed like Gunny was somewhat enjoying this kind of jostling about. I¡¯d only step in if it was about to get out of hand. But Eva has plenty of people''s knowledge to stop plenty before that¡¯d ever happen.

 Chapter 75 Bis: Steven

    The Headquarters building was impressive to say the least, even the courtyard where we were having a post-meeting talk with our friends was pretty immense. A space of green leisure surrounded by the towering glass construct around it. With a couple of fountains as well to provide an air of calm in the concrete jungle that lay around the HQ.

    Definitely one of the most imposing human structures I¡¯d seen on Earth, fitting neatly in the row next to the domed cemetery Lauren¡¯s parents were laid to rest in.

    ¡°Everyone is staying here rather than going back home first?¡± Lauren asked the group. They all nodded in return.

    ¡°Of course. It would be a waste of time to go home just to pretty much turn back the day after.¡± Gunny replied, crossing his arms. He had stopped vaping for the time being as he had spent quite a while bickering with Eva.

    Lauren chuckled. ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I was thinking. Luna and I are staying here as well.¡±

    ¡°I think I¡¯m staying too.¡± Yuki replied. ¡°For pretty much the same reason.¡±

    ¡°And me too.¡± Eva answered. ¡°I just got here anyway. Might as well just stay.¡±

    ¡°Alright then. At least Luna and I won¡¯t have to be bored by ourselves.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t we have any work to do?¡± I asked.

    Lauren shrugged. ¡°Not really. Paperwork was already done for the last mission, like you heard we also won¡¯t get the new crew names soon. They are restocking our supplies by themselves and as long as we are not up at the ship I can¡¯t exactly go over anything either. So we are just stuck here for the time being with not much to do. Unless you really want to be working out for the entire time.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I think I¡¯ll pass on that¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what I thought as well.¡± Lauren laughed. ¡°And those new specs we need to read up on are not going to take much time either¡­¡±

    ¡°Surely there¡¯s something to do in this building, right? Wasn¡¯t there an entertainment zone down below.¡± Eva asked, shifting her weight from one leg to the other.

    ¡°There was.¡± Lauren nodded. ¡°But I would prefer not being down there for the entire time we have left on Earth. I do want to see the sky for just a bit longer.¡±

    ¡°Well, you are making it rather hard for us to entertain you.¡± Eva smiled and rolled her eyes.

    ¡°I think I know of something.¡± Yuki took out her holo stick and set up the small holo projector so that we could all follow what she was doing. ¡°I read something yesterday about team spirit improving activity initiatives.¡±

    ¡°Where did you read that?¡± Lauren leaned in to see the projector a bit better.

    ¡°On the HQ¡¯s intranet site.¡± Yuki replied as she swiftly browsed over. ¡°I tend to read random pages when I don¡¯t find anything better to do.¡±

    Lauren squinted her eyes just a little before she shrugged. ¡°Well, it doesn¡¯t hurt I suppose. So, what exactly is this initiative?¡±

    ¡°Apparently at the front desk they have some ¡®outdoor games¡¯ we could borrow. Including some rather ancient classics.¡±

    ¡°That sounds¡­ interesting? I think?¡± Eva leaned in as well. ¡°And what are these ¡®ancient classics¡¯?¡±

    Yuki also shrugged. ¡°It didn¡¯t mention that part, I suppose we¡¯ll only be able to find out by going to ask for them¡­¡±

    Gunny got up from his seat and nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s get going then. It¡¯s not like we have anything better to do. Better to go and find out rather than sit here and think about what to do next.¡±

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    ¡°That¡¯s our Gunnery Sergeant for you. A man of action indeed.¡± Lauren grinned.

    ¡°You have 30 minutes to shower and get to class. Let¡¯s go! Move it! Move it! Move it!¡± Gunny grinned back.

    ¡°Wait¡­ isn¡¯t that like a super old movie reference?¡± Yuki stood still while the rest of us followed Gunny.

    Gunny looked back and winked at her. ¡°You betcha it is, Ensign.¡±

    The five of us arrived in the main income hall of the building, standing around somewhat awkwardly. Gunny, who was just called the man of action, was also standing around rather sheepishly now that it was time to ask the people for the thing we had found in a rather obscure page of the Navy¡¯s intranet.

    Luckily one of the NCO¡¯s who was manning the desk spoke to us first or we might have just turned around out of awkwardness again. ¡°Commander Davis? How might I help you today.¡± Although I was really happy that she named Lauren by name and didn¡¯t look at me for the subject at hand.

    ¡°Ah, right.¡± Lauren stepped forward towards the desk. ¡°This might be somewhat awkward but we read somewhere about a team spirit activity initiative¡­? Is that possible?¡±

    The moment Lauren said that the visage of the NCO almost literally lit up with happiness. ¡°Wow, I¡¯m so happy you asked.¡± She ducked behind the corner and after some rummaging she pulled out a rather big cardboard box. ¡°I can¡¯t believe the first person to ask is our own hero Commander Lauren Davis herself.¡±

    I could see Lauren was getting quite embarrassed, scratching the back of her head which moved the beret on top of her head around a bit. ¡°Heh, am I really the first one?¡±

    ¡°Yes! And you will be the first to use it, apart from the front desk team that is.¡±

    ¡°Hasn¡¯t it been on the site for quite a while?¡± Yuki asked.

    ¡°It has.¡± The NCO nodded. ¡°But people generally don¡¯t read the intranet page. We¡¯ve tried to flyer as well but we didn¡¯t get the permission to hang it up in the spaces we wanted to.¡±

    ¡°Good old bureaucracy¡­¡± Gunny commented.

    ¡°Hmm.¡± Lauren looked in the box. ¡°Are there any you¡¯d recommend for us to begin with?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d personally recommend this one.¡± She pulled out a smaller cardboard box and handed it to Lauren. ¡°It¡¯s a game called Nubb. It¡¯s pretty self explanatory, you basically need to throw over the other team¡¯s pins with throwing sticks and then knock down the king pin at the center.¡±

    ¡°Sounds fun, guess we¡¯ll start with that then.¡± Lauren wanted to take the box but she got stopped by the NCO who put her hand on top of the box and forced it down to the desk. Lauren looked a bit befuddled at this.

    ¡°Before you go ahead and take this¡­ Could I ask something of you and your group?¡±

    ¡°Sure thing.¡± Lauren nodded but I think she said that mostly to let the NCO lift her hand so she could hold the box herself.

    ¡°Would you mind if we took a couple of pictures while you played the game? For the website?¡±

    Lauren looked back at us. As for me, I just shrugged. I didn¡¯t really mind either way. The others nodded, not minding it at all either. ¡°Looks like we don¡¯t particularly mind.¡± She replied.

    ¡°Okay.¡± The NCO smiled and then turned around. ¡°Steven, could you go with the Commander and her party to take a couple of pictures while they play.¡±

    A young lad appeared from around the corner and gave the NCO a quick salute. ¡°Yes ma¡¯am.¡± And then continued to take the holo stick from beneath the desk.

    ¡°Steven here is our intern. He¡¯ll try to stay out of your way as much as possible. Just act like you normally would.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡± Lauren chuckled and looked at the boy, he probably wasn¡¯t older than 16 years. ¡°Nice to meet you, Steven.¡±

    ¡°Nice to meet you too, ma¡¯am.¡± Steven smiled back friendly.

    With the box in hand and Steven trailing behind us we made our way back to the courtyard where we followed the instructions that were provided to us in the box. Setting off a playing field in the grass.

    For such an analog game which just involved throwing sticks at other sticks, it was surprisingly fun and challenging. As for Steven, it did end up being a way more fun activity too. He was only meant to really take pictures of what we were doing, but as we were unevenly balanced due to our uneven number, Lauren and Eva invited him to join the game as well so we could split the teams in half and play a 3 vs 3. He still made sure to take plenty of pictures of what we were doing though.

    The winner of the first game wasn¡¯t much of a surprise. We¡¯d let fate decide what the makeup of the teams was and as both Lauren and Gunny got into the same team together with Steven, it wasn¡¯t much of a competition. That said, it was still quite close if I had to say so myself. Yuki apparently was pretty good at throwing sticks, to her own surprise. Sadly for her, Eva and I really weren¡¯t. But we had an amazing time nonetheless.

    We returned the box to the front desk a couple of hours later together with a very happy Steven on top of that. We¡¯d had our happy times on the surface and prepared to head back down to the basement once more.

 Chapter 76: Freemann, not Morgan

    In the evening, just before we decided to go to bed, Luna and I were alone in my bedroom. As I sat down on my bed to leave the chair to my girlfriend, I looked up to her with a friendly yet questioning smile. ¡°So, you said you wanted to tell me something about information?¡±

    Luna looked around the room, seemingly questioning herself a bit whether or not she should bring it up here.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, there¡¯s no listening devices here.¡± I replied. I had wondered about it myself as well but after thoroughly looking around I came to the constatation that there weren¡¯t any nearby.

    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Luna sighed her usual sigh of relief and sat down on the chair that was stationed near the small desk. ¡°Well, I think I could help Admiral Hanssen to get some information on the minister¡­ I don¡¯t think it would be hard to find info on him that would be bad for his political carreer.¡±

    ¡°You mean with your spy friends?¡±

    Luna nodded.

    ¡°They would be willing to do that?¡±

    Luna nodded once more. ¡°I don¡¯t think we really want people like him to be at the head of Earth¡¯s military might. Especially not after I have heard him talk today¡­¡±

    ¡°Understandable¡­¡±

    ¡°And in that way our goals would align with those of my people. It won¡¯t be hard to convince them to help and look for things.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm.¡± I scratched my chin. ¡°I don¡¯t know about giving direct information though¡­¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Well, if Hanssen would get, let¡¯s say, a letter in the mail, that had information on Minister Kerskuri, that would be rather suspicious, right? Especially after we have just gotten a motive to get rid of him. While Hanssen would be grateful, she would also get really suspicious.¡±

    ¡°Ah! You mean it like that.¡± Luna nodded energetically. ¡°Of course we wouldn¡¯t do it in that manner. We would probably hack his communication network and make it seem as though he accidentally ¡®sent a mail he shouldn¡¯t have¡¯ or something like that. This is not the first time a lot of my colleagues have done this job.¡±

    ¡°But it is your first time, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ It is¡­ But I wouldn¡¯t be doing that kind of handiwork. I¡¯m more of a deep infiltration kind of person.¡±

    ¡°Who then immediately fell in love with the officer she was serving, blew her cover, well, more like confessed her cover, and then had steamy sex multiple times with said officer as well.¡±

    Luna pouted. ¡°That can¡¯t be helped, okay? Besides, I trust you have the best interest of both of our species at heart. For a big part because you love me as well.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true, yeah.¡± I chuckled. ¡°But yes, that¡¯d probably not be the worst thing to get help with. While I trust the Fleet-Admiral that she and the Chancellor can handle Kerskuri, a bit of an accidental publicly outed fuck-up might be a welcome push in the back to ensure we don¡¯t have an incompetent ambitious fool at the top of our Federation.¡±

    Luna nodded. ¡°Then I¡¯ll send them a message as soon as I can. So they can get to work while we are gone.¡±

    ¡°Sounds like a good idea.¡± I smiled. ¡°Now, what should we do with the rest of our lovely evening?¡± I slid back just a little bit more on the bed, just to give Luna a tiny hint about what I wanted to do.

    From the look on her face and the slight blush that had started to develop it looks like she had received and interpreted said tip pretty well. ¡°Oh¡­ uh¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ What are you suggesting?¡± But she decided to play dumb after all.

    ¡°Hmm, well, let me word it like this, I would like you to feel the true gravity of Earth¡¯s 1G before we go back up into space.¡±

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    ¡°Lauren¡­ That was worded very strangely, but darn, also quite hot.¡±

    I gave her a wink and started unbuttoning my shirt to which Luna started doing the same.

    Let¡¯s just say that we had a pretty fun evening before we split back off to our own chambers.

    The remaining days on Earth were mostly spent finally reading up on the specific new features of the ship. Sadly not too interesting, with a lot of nuanced technical parts that are simply not fun nor interesting to really spend as much time on as we had to do. But some of these minute details could be helpful so it¡¯s always useful to at least know where you can find more specific info later on. As one of the teachers at the Academy had once said, you don¡¯t need to remember everything in detail, as long as you know you¡¯ve read it somewhere before, you can go look it back up again. It¡¯s pointless to learn everything by heart. The most important things you¡¯d learn by heart are those you come across most anyway.

    Aside from that, it was just a big waiting game to wait for our time of departure. That being said, we did start to hear the rumor that the pictures taken of us during our game of Nubb had caused quite the surge of popularity of those group oriented games. Even though it hadn¡¯t even been online for more than a couple of days, word of mouth of our participation had spread around like wildfire. So much so that the front desk had to start working with reservations as it would otherwise be too hard to keep track of the volume of applications.

    Then finally the time had arrived to make ready to leave Earth once again. The last time I was ready to depart, I was going into the heavens above with a quest that would seem impossible to some, but somehow, today, I was going into the heavens above once more, with the reward of said quest sitting beside me in the shuttle.

    With that all said, we also had a task to do that wasn¡¯t going to be easy, not by a long shot. For all intents and purposes we were on the brink of war and now it was up to us to maneuver through a precarious situation in the larger galactic playing field. An also seemingly impossible task. Yet I had fought the odds before and won, now it¡¯s just important to grab that lucky dice again and make it roll, together with new, stronger bonds to increase the odds of the situation landing in our favor.

    The shuttle rumbled as we broke through the atmosphere. Within a couple of minutes we would dock at the space station that held our ship.

    ¡°Are you nervous, Commander?¡± Eva asked, she was sitting on the other side of Luna.

    ¡°Not really, Doctor. I¡¯m all fine.¡± I took a look across the aisle and looked at a couple of the new officers who had been selected to come with us on the mission. I had read through their files this morning to see what kind of cookies we had received in our basket.

    It was actually a rather diverse group of people that had made the cut. Aging from ¡®just got out of the academy¡¯ to ¡®almost retired¡¯.

    One of the older people who had joined us, Doctor Freemann, would be joining Doctor Winter in the med bay. It was probably not a bad idea to have another doctor at hand considering our previous encounters, yet I was still rather surprised at the advanced age the Doctor possessed. If I were his age I would definitely already be enjoying my well-deserved pension at home. So it wasn¡¯t unreasonable to think that he had been called from his pension to join us on this trip.

    As for the others, they were pretty much your run of the mill officer profiles for the officer roles and besides that some army people to join the marines for on-board security and ground missions. I think Kerskuri deliberately picked from the ground forces so as to not give the Fleet Admiral too much power over them. It would be interesting to get to know them some more, more specifically the reason why they had already been pre-selected by Fleet Admiral Hanssen and the Chancellor.

    ¡°What about you, Doc? Are you nervous at all?¡± I asked back.

    ¡°Eh, practically not.¡± She replied casually. ¡°I just hope nobody touched my medicinal filing system because it¡¯s going to be a pain in the ass to get those sorted again.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid they might have done so, Doctor.¡± It was Doctor Freemann who replied, sitting in the row behind us. He must¡¯ve been listening up on the conversation. ¡°Your medical bay did get expanded after all.¡±

    ¡°I know that, Doctor Freemann, I read our reports. But there shouldn¡¯t have been a reason for them to nose around the locked cabinets.¡±

    ¡°I think I read that they destroyed those together with all the contents so they could install larger ones.¡±

    ¡°What? You did? On what page?¡± Eva looked back at her colleague.

    ¡°About halfway, page thirty I think. Section five.¡±

    Eva quickly opened up her holo stick and read through her files. ¡°Gods darn it, you are right.¡± She then almost bonked her head against the wall as she leaned back. ¡°Ugh¡­ That¡¯s going to be a pain.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Doctor. I¡¯ll be there to help you. In that way I can also get to know your filing system myself.¡± The old man smiled.

    ¡°That¡¯s pretty impressive, Doctor Freemann. Knowing that section by heart.¡± I looked back at the elderly Doctor as well.

    ¡°I have a bit of a photographic memory, Commander. It comes in useful. Less useful than it used to be, but still useful.¡±

    -Well at least the selection didn¡¯t skip on competence it would seem.-

 Chapter 77: Welcome Aboard

    We walked through the pretty much deserted space station towards our ship, encountering only a couple of armed guards along the way and while I hadn¡¯t really expected a big departure committee, I had also not expected that we would just walk into our ship like nothing had happened. We only encountered one logistics officer right across the connector who was waiting there for me, holo stick already presented.

    ¡°All supplies are aboard and accounted for, Commander. I just need your signature to officially hand her back over to you.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Lieutenant.¡± I quickly put my scribble down on the holo stick.

    ¡°Have a safe journey.¡± And with a quick salute the Lieutenant crossed the connector over into the space station leaving us alone on our ship once more.

    I stood near the airlock for a bit with Luna by my side while the other officers filtered through behind me, with Doctor Winter and Doctor Freemann entering as the last two people from our officer corps.

    ¡°I assume you know the direction towards your station, Doctor?¡± I nodded politely.

    ¡°I do, Commander. Should we head there immediately?¡±

    ¡°I think we¡¯ll jump in about half an hour to forty-five minutes from now so feel free to make a little detour if you want to.¡±

    ¡°In that case I think I¡¯ll make my way towards my cabin first. I¡¯ve seen it on a picture before but I¡¯d like to see it in person as well.¡±

    ¡°I will walk you there, Doctor.¡± Eva replied. ¡°Mine is pretty much next to yours.¡±

    The doctors gave each other a polite nod and off they went on their walk towards their cabins.

    That left Luna and I alone staring across the bridge connector into the space station. Luna then took her holo stick and subsequently faced me. ¡°All officers are accounted for, Commander. Should I close the airlock?¡±

    I waited a couple of seconds while I kept staring into the corridor. This would be the last piece of human engineering that wasn¡¯t our ship that was within arms reach for, presumably, quite a while.  It was weird but I didn¡¯t really feel anything, probably because the person I cared for most was standing right next to me.

    ¡°Yes, you can close it, Lieutenant-Commander.¡±

    And just like that, with the press of a button on her holo stick, the doors slowly closed in front of us.

    ¡°Depressurizing connector bridge.¡± A familiar somewhat robotic voice sounded over the intercoms.

    ¡°Hello there, Ellie. Missed us?¡±

    ¡°I did. Welcome aboard, Commander.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡± I smiled. ¡°How are the embarkations going on the other levels?¡±

    ¡°Still a couple of shuttles approaching that ran a bit late. Everyone should be aboard and ready in ten minutes maximum, Commander.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡± I nodded and turned towards the direction of the bridge. ¡°How are those robotic soldiers that you got your hands on?¡±

    ¡°Very useful.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°But if you don¡¯t mind, Commander. Would I be allowed to borrow one of them? I will keep it ready for emergency operational use though.¡±

    ¡°Oh? What would you like to use it for, Ellie?¡± Luna asked.

    ¡°I think I already know the answer to that.¡± I smiled. ¡°But please do explain.¡±

    ¡°I would like to make a more physical representation of myself that is not my AI mainframe.¡± Ellie came forth with her reasoning rather easily.

    ¡°Ah. Yeah, I guess we didn¡¯t really finish your thing back on earth with the auto-duster, did we?¡±

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    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that, Lieutenant-Commander. Scheduling is a challenging thing and there were more important things at hand.¡±

    ¡°So any idea on how you want to create this more physical representation of yourself?¡± I continued while I halted at the first corner we came across. ¡°Are you going to body mod it?¡±

    ¡°I have a couple of ideas but first I want to try less material solutions.¡± She replied. ¡°These combat bots are not designed to be modified externally to a big extent. I might have to strip it completely for what I want to do with it but I prefer not doing that to start with.¡±

    ¡°Well, try not to wreck it.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be very careful with it, Commander.¡±

    ¡°And Ellie.¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°We are glad to be back as well. Please take care of us.¡±

    ¡°Evidently, Commander.¡±

    We continued towards the bridge where our crew had already taken up their posts. As we were still waiting on the last couple of people to enter the ship, pretty much everyone was still chatting with one another. Although a couple of the officers were looking out of the window instead, among which were Lieutenant Zu and Lieutenant McAllister.

    ¡°Hey, Commander, come look at this.¡± Zu called me over.

    I walked over and as Luna had nothing to do currently she followed along. ¡°What should I be looking at, Zu?¡±

    ¡°Look at all those lights circling around the moon. Those are all ships, aren¡¯t they?¡±

    It was a bit hard to see as we weren¡¯t terribly close to the moon but it was clear that there was quite a bit of activity going on around Earth¡¯s only natural satellite. ¡°Yes, those would be ships alright. We¡¯ll get a better look once we drive by later on. But as you will be focussing on doing your job, let¡¯s let our helpful AI help us a bit. ¡°Hey Ellie, could you put up a screen focusing on the activity around the moon?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Commander.¡± As soon as Ellie replied a screen covered the window, having zoomed in tremendously on the moon. Apparently most of the lights we were seeing were construction vehicles busy at work building a series of drydock stations above the moon¡¯s surface.

    ¡°Are those stations outside of the moon¡¯s gravity field?¡± I asked our reliable crewmate.

    ¡°They are, Commander. They are orbiting Earth at the same speed the moon is.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± It was actually a rather smart thing to do. Using the moon as a shield against line of sight weapons while still having the advantages of 0G construction. Right now most of the 0G shipyards were all in rather vulnerable positions. Considering the size of the new shipyards they probably don¡¯t want to lose them that easily in case of enemy incursions.

    ¡°Do you think they will be construction warships there, Commander?¡± McAllister asked.

    ¡°Undoubtedly. I know from good sources that they are already shifting over a sizeable part of ship construction for military means. Shipyards that big will no doubt be used to construct space battleships or dreadnoughts.

    ¡°The construction of Federation class battleships has already been planned at this new site according to budget allocations. The construction of the first ship is scheduled to begin in a month if construction of the shipyard doesn¡¯t get delayed.¡± Ellie informed us.

    ¡°Federation class battleships¡­ Would you know how big those ships are going to be, Ellie?¡± Lieutenant Zu asked.

    ¡°I have not found any blueprints on non-classified channels.¡± Ellie replied, although I am sure that she actually did manage to look into the blueprints, all things considered. ¡°The allocated budget per ship however indicates that those ships will be several times as big as this ship.¡±

    Zu whistled. ¡°Wew. I would like to get a close-up look of those when they are done.¡±

    ¡°And I wouldn¡¯t mind getting behind the wheel of one of those either.¡± McAllister commented.

    ¡°Oh? Would you already like me to sign your transfer papers?¡± I joked.

    ¡°No way, Commander.¡± McAllister was quick to rebuke me. ¡°While I would like to take those ships on a joy-ride I wouldn¡¯t want to trade this gig for any other.¡±

    ¡°Same goes for me, Commander.¡± Lieutenant Zu replied. ¡°Besides, I think the chain of command on those ships would be huge and a lot more strict than what we have here.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, stricter is probably true, but I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s going to be larger when it comes to crew.¡±

    ¡°Yes, those ships are probably going to have a lot more automated systems.¡± Luna spoke up for the first time during this little side-conversation we were having. ¡°And we have a lot of crew that is necessary for research, colonisation prep and other exploratory functions alike, not to mention armed ground teams.¡±

    ¡°If designed purely for space combat purposes this ship could be run with less than a twentieth of the crew currently aboard this ship.¡± Ellie explained. ¡°Especially when it would only be designed for solar system defence. Damaged systems could way easier be repaired here than by an on-ship engineering department.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right, that makes sense.¡± Zu nodded. ¡°But maybe that means bigger cabins?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯d probably be severely disappointed, Lieutenant.¡± I chuckled and crossed my arms. ¡°As Ellie just mentioned, those ships are not going to be built for any comfort either. I would assume they¡¯d look more like the shared bunks us marines got during the war. Just about enough space to sleep while curled up and that¡¯s about it.¡±

    ¡°That sounds like hell¡­¡± Luna commented.

    ¡°I can assure you, it was. But it at least kept us alive in cramped shelters. We very much preferred safety over a good night¡¯s sleep that could be prolonged into eternity¡­¡±

 Chapter 78: Plenty of Namesakes

    A couple of the people around me kept asking about the living circumstances of soldiers during the war which I replied to with all honesty. It wasn¡¯t a widely kept secret that circumstances weren¡¯t great as it was to be expected during war time but the younger officers were definitely interested in hearing a first-hand account of people who fought in the war. I was more than happy to indulge them.

    ¡°Sorry to interrupt your story time, Commander.¡± Ellie spoke up. ¡°But I would like to inform you that the boarding operation has completed. We are ready to undock from the station at your earliest convenience.¡± By which Ellie meant, as soon as possible.

    ¡°Copy that, Ellie.¡± I looked at the officers around me. ¡°Looks like it¡¯s time to go back to your posts. There is space to explore.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Commander.¡± They saluted and walked off to their respective spots on the bridge while Luna and I walked back up to our command position.

    I nodded to Luna so that she could give the command. ¡°Ellie, please commence undocking procedures.¡±

    ¡°Undocking commencing.¡± Ellie¡¯s reply was followed by the audible sounds of the docking clamps releasing us from the hold of the space station. ¡°Undocking completed.¡±

    I nodded in confirmation and looked down upon Lieutenant McAllister¡¯s pilot seat. ¡°Lieutenant. Please set course to Lunar orbit.¡±

    ¡°Aye aye, Commander.¡± And just like that, with the pull of a lever, our ship started to glide away from the space station and swiftly resumed its journey towards lunar orbit.

    As we were under way, Zu turned around on her chair and looked at me. ¡°Are we meeting up with other ships on the moon first, Commander?¡±

    ¡°Yes, we¡¯ll be waiting there for a while so three colonization ships adn a frigate can link up with us. They will be tagging along until we reach Felix Invenire. They are already going to start setting up a forward base there.¡±

    ¡°Is that a smart move with the recent activity?¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°There¡¯s no bugs there and it¡¯s a resource rich planet. Even if it¡¯s just some autonomous mining stations it¡¯s going to be a boon in the long run. Might as well use the resources while we still can rather than wait until an enemy boxes us in too hard.¡±

    Zu nodded and turned back around to face her screens. A couple of seconds later she chuckled.

    ¡°What¡¯s so funny, Lieutenant?¡± I asked.

    ¡°I did a quick system search but it wasn¡¯t too hard to figure out which ships would be joining us.¡± Zu replied. ¡°Their names are a bit on the nose, aren¡¯t they?¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes they are.¡± I chuckled back.

    Luna looked a bit confused next to me. ¡°Uh, Commander?¡±

    ¡°The ships that will be joining us are the UFS Santa Clara, UFS La Pinta and UFS La Ni?a what the colonization ships are concerned and the UFS Santa Maria for the frigate. Those names should make a bell ring.¡±

    ¡°Ah, Christopher Columbus¡­¡± Luna nodded.

    ¡°Exactly. That¡¯s why it¡¯s just a teeny tiny bit on the nose for them to send those ships with us. Not the first time they¡¯ve done so, actually.¡±

    ¡°And you¡¯ve lost me again.¡± Luna smiled.

    ¡°Oh, can I answer that one, Commander?¡± Zu enthusiastically raised her hand.

    ¡°Of course you can, Lieutenant. Please bring our Lieutenant-Commander up to speed as you would.¡±

    ¡°Those names have been reused multiple times throughout our navy¡¯s history.¡± Zu started. ¡°The construction ships that first started to build bases on the moon were named after these ancient vehicles, the same happened for the colonization of Mars and likewise also for the colonization of the moon Titan. The navy isn¡¯t very original with its naming conventions. At least I¡¯m happy that this ship is named after a Norwegian explorer rather than after Columbus¡¯ voyage once again.¡±

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    ¡°To add to that rather complete explanation, probes, to this day, are oftentimes still called after explorers too, most famously the Magellan probes of which there are at least a dozen types.¡± I added. ¡°The Portuguese are clearly overrepresented.¡±

    ¡°And that¡¯s also why they still call space telescopes after Hubble?¡±

    ¡°Pretty much. It¡¯s a bit sad really, there¡¯s plenty of more modern scientists who they can name things after, but all those naming conventions have kind of stagnated in the 21st Millennium.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that doesn¡¯t show a lot of respect towards people who live in the present.¡± Luna agreed. ¡°But maybe we can make a change with that. How does the UFS Lauren Davis sound to you?¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ I¡¯d rather they didn¡¯t¡­¡±

    ¡°Awh, why not, Commander.¡± Zu quipped. ¡°That sounds awesome.¡±

    ¡°It would be awkward. Especially if I were still alive. And since I don¡¯t intend on dying just yet I¡¯d rather they wait¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmm. I think I would rather like a ship called the UFS Shu-Fen Zu.¡± Lieutenant Zu kept on musing.

    ¡°Well, if you are silent for a bit while staring at your communication screen, then I might put in a good word for you.¡±

    ¡°How rude, Commander. Communication is my job, you know.¡±

    I rolled my eyes and smiled. ¡°Oh well, it was worth the try.¡± Zu messing about wasn¡¯t really an issue now anyway.

    The trip to the moon was short and we met up with our escorts without any issue.

    ¡°UFS Santa Maria reporting in.¡± The Commander of the frigate called in to let us know they had formed up on our formation. ¡°UFS Roald Amundsen, please take the lead.¡±

    ¡°Copy that, Santa Maria. Continuing on to the jump point.¡± Zu then closed the comms channel for us again as the ships fell in line behind us, forming a triangle formation with the frigate at the center. We¡¯d have to limit our engine output for the time being as our ship was capable of much greater speeds than the colonization vehicles but that didn¡¯t really matter to us. In any case it would be the first time we have witnessed a group jump happening. It¡¯s something they discovered after experimenting during the time we were gone. Using our jump data as a reference. It would seem that jumping faster than light is a lot more energy efficient while in a group, allowing the ships to distribute energy in other systems. This would be particularly useful while jumping in and out of dangerous situations. It did require a bit of coordination though, but that was easily solved by linking up computer systems for a short while.

    An hour later we finally arrived at the designated jump point out of the solar system and assumed our link with the other ships.

    ¡°Santa Maria, we leave the jump command up to you.¡± I notified the frigate of their role in the jump.

    ¡°Assuming command.¡± They succinctly replied.

    I then continued by notifying the rest of the crew of the imminent jump and then waited for the Santa Maria to commence the countdown. Aside from that it was business as usual and just a couple of minutes later we were cruising faster than light to the first rendezvous point outside of the system.

    It would still take a while before we would be back in unexplored space but now it really felt like our journey had begun anew.

    ¡°Are we supposed to stick around for a while at Felix Invenire?¡± Lieutenant McAllister asked. She had nothing to do for now as her job was purely for sub-light speeds.

    ¡°No, just a dropoff and then we can go out on our own again.¡± I replied. ¡°There should be more ships coming and going next week or so but we won¡¯t be there to witness that happening.¡±

    ¡°Alright, Commander.¡± McAllister turned back around and leant back in her chair. It was going to be a long while for her to stare out into space without much to do but the same would be true for most of us. FTL jumping isn¡¯t the most engaging part of space travel even though it might seem different to the uninitiated.

    And so we kept jumping for a while until our shift was over which brought us to the first meal back on the ship in the mess hall. As it seems Eva also had just finished her shift so we ended up eating together with the three of us.

    ¡°So, how¡¯s your new colleague doing?¡± I asked as I scooped up some mac ¡®n cheese on my plate.¡±

    ¡°A huge help, that¡¯s for sure. It would take me way longer to do my sorting if it was just me.¡± Eva replied. ¡°But Doctor Freemann learned my system and just went with it in a very short time.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good news.¡± Luna smiled.

    ¡°It is, but don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll still be your personal doctor.¡± She continued. ¡°Doctor Freemann is mostly going to take over personnel from the maintenance divisions and a part of the marines. The officers and cadre members in general are still under my supervision.¡±

    ¡°What about Gunny?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Well, Gunny is a bit of an exception. We agreed that he would still come to me for health related issues. Looking at our history together it would very much rub him the wrong way if Doctor Freemann took over.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, he would definitely have his hands full with Gunny.¡± I chuckled.

    ¡°I do too, but at least I know how to handle him.¡± Eva chuckled back. ¡°Not a cat to grabbed without gloves.¡±

    -I¡¯m pretty sure Gunny would rather be compared to a lion rather than a feisty cat, but hey. What he doesn¡¯t know ,doesn''t hurt I suppose. Although Eva might rub that comparison in nonetheless just to piss him off a little.-

 Chapter 79: Beautiful Alien Girlfriend

    The next couple of days were spent jumping back to Felix Invenire, last time it took us about a week to get there, but Ellie¡¯s calculations and the efficiency gained by jumping in group meant that we would arrive at the system in just four and a half days. That was quite a bit of an efficiency gain and Ellie was adamant that there could still be some time to be gained as well. Human jumping technology and understanding was still on its early legs and there was still a lot to be learned, and Ellie said that was true for her as well.

    In any case, we were now at the end of the fourth day of being back on the ship and it was time to get some deserved rest back at the cabin. I was happy to have Luna sleeping back in my bed. The last two days she¡¯d spent the evenings sleeping over in Eva¡¯s cabin. I was a bit surprised by that request at first but Eva was uncompromising about her demand to have some ¡®girl nights¡¯ at her cabin. There was no victory to be gained because Luna was unmoveable about the subject so I had taken the loss and had slept with Luna¡¯s sharky instead.

    That being said, Luna was acting a bit strange once we finished our shift and headed back to the cabin. Almost as if she was nervous about something.

    ¡°Luna, what¡¯s wrong?¡± I squinted as we walked through the ship¡¯s corridors.

    ¡°N-nothing, really.¡± Her stutter immediately gave away that something was up though.

    ¡°Are you sure?¡± I pressed on. ¡°Has it something to do with going back to my cabin? You want to, right? I don¡¯t want to force you.¡±

    Luna avoided my gaze and stared at the wall. ¡°I¡­ uh¡­ It¡¯s nothing bad, I promise¡­ Just give me a bit of time¡­¡± She then turned her gaze back on me. The look in her eyes showed confidence. As if she had regained some kind of lost resolve. ¡°You¡¯ll see later, okay?¡±

    This regained confidence actually made my heart flutter a bit. To the point where I had even started blushing. ¡°Uh¡­ Sure¡­¡± I nodded back. That blush didn¡¯t really go away as fast as I had hoped, which earned me a couple of amused looks by the couple of soldiers we walked past on our way to the cabin. This, in turn, made Luna giggle as well.

    We did finally arrive at my cabin where I threw my jacket on one of the chairs. ¡°Do you mind if I take a shower first?¡± I asked as I slipped off my tie.

    ¡°No, I¡¯d actually prefer it.¡± Luna replied, sitting down on the bed. ¡°Not that I¡¯m saying anything with that¡­ you smell good¡­ uh¡­ I mean¡­¡± Now it was Luna who was flustered again. The natural order had been restored.

    I smirked. ¡°Hmm. Alright then, I¡¯ll be right back.¡± And walked to the bathroom tossing my loose tie over to my girlfriend.

    Washing up didn¡¯t take too long although I did have to take my evening pills as well together with some routine maintenance of my arm. After I finally brushed my teeth as well I left the bathroom entirely clean and ready to enjoy the rest of my evening.

    ¡°Luna, you are up if you want t-¡± My voice got caught in my throat and I gulped once I saw Luna sitting on my bed. In her hands the black cube we had stashed with Ellie before we left the ship, and her body¡­ ¡°Damn.¡± She had used the cube to turn back to her Qhaba''Qhazd form, yet it looked very different from the last time I¡¯d seen it. While her body looked rather androgynous last time, this time she was just so¡­ voluptuous. Although she had covered up with custom black lingerie, her hips and breasts were very clearly¡­ present¡­ ¡°H-holy¡­¡±

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    Her long white hair that she had tied up in a ponytail bobbed as she stood up from the bed. She had definitely tweaked her height too as she definitely wasn¡¯t so big before. It was definitely a first for me to feel so small compared to her.

    She slowly stepped towards me inquisitively. I couldn¡¯t keep my eyes off her swaying hips and her tail. ¡°Do you like it?¡±

    I opened my mouth but I couldn¡¯t really produce more sound than an ¡°Uh-huh.¡± accompanied by a nod.

    ¡°I asked Eva to help me a little and Ellie helped a bit too¡­¡±  She continued. ¡°I wanted to make my ¡®own body¡¯ one that I felt more comfortable in¡­ Although I increased my height a bit just for today.¡± She reached out to me with her hand and caressed my cheek. Her touch was almost enough for me to melt away. I put my hand on hers without saying much. To keep it against my cheek for just a moment. She smiled and approached me even more, leaning in around me and bringing her lips next to my ear. ¡°I still have some¡­ repayment to do for that last night on the island.¡± She whispered.

    ¡°You are so freaking hot.¡± I didn¡¯t really mean to say that out loud but that¡¯s just the road my mind took. In the end I was happy that I did as I could see the blush form on my girlfriend¡¯s purple skin. But I did get the feeling that this was one of the only times this evening that I would be taking the initiative.

    ¡°You are too.¡± She smiled and in one smooth move pulled my shirt over my head, tossing it to the side. After which she used her tail to trace a snaking line down my back. right up to the top of my shorts. ¡°I¡¯ll apologize in advance.¡±

    ¡°For what?¡± I asked as I put her hands on my breasts.

    ¡°You might need to go shower again afterwards. But at least we can do that together.¡±

    ¡°That¡­ That I don¡¯t mind at all.¡±

    Luna basically fucked my brains out that evening. She used her tail in ways that I couldn¡¯t even imagine before and I honestly still have issues comprehending what exactly she did with it that made me climax so much, but damn¡­ It was clear that she enjoyed her body a lot more now then she did the last time I¡¯d seen it. And I for sure enjoyed it a lot more too.

    As I was trying to regain my breath after round 10, Luna was spooning me. She was using her temporary height advantage to try out new things, and I didn¡¯t mind trying to be the small spoon for a bit. She embraced me close to her and even used her tail to envelop me almost completely. I could get used to this.

    ¡°I think this is the best sex I¡¯ve ever had.¡± I admitted once I could finally speak again.

    ¡°I think that goes for me too.¡± She purred in my ear. Her voice also sounded a lot more sultry than it used to. While her human voice didn¡¯t sound dissimilar, now I really noticed a big difference.

    I chuckled. ¡°You know, don¡¯t take this as an offense. But you kind of look like a succubus right now. And from what I felt this evening¡­ well¡­ you kind of act like one too¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, Eva actually mentioned something similar, at least about me looking like one. But I have to admit I¡¯ve not really looked up what a succubus is. Taking from the horns I guess it¡¯s something religious?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± I thought for a second but the haze of dopamine in my brain made it hard to really think straight. It was primarily thinking very gay at the moment. ¡°I¡¯m gonna have to owe you an answer to that, because I¡¯m still too horny to really think right now.¡±

    ¡°Do you¡­ want to go again?¡± Luna didn¡¯t waste a second to kiss me in my neck and behind my ear.

    I doubted for a second. I was sincerely considering it, but my body was screaming out that it needed some rest. I don¡¯t know where all of Luna¡¯s energy came from. But my body was spent for now. ¡°I think it¡¯s better for my health if we don¡¯t.¡± I admitted. ¡°But we can cuddle and make out for a bit longer. If that¡¯s okay for you.¡± I looked over my shoulder.

    Luna answered my gaze with a kiss on my lips and gave me a loving smile. ¡°That¡¯s fine for me.¡±

    I smiled back. ¡°My beautiful alien girlfriend.¡±

    Thus, with a blush on my girlfriend¡¯s cheeks, we continued softly making out with one another until we both fell asleep.

    Luna did have to turn back to her human body in the morning but we both made the vow to have Luna in her own body more often from now on as it was just more pleasant for the both of us. The only real disadvantage about this evening was the smug pestering of Eva that came after, but it was a price I was more than willing to pay.

 Chapter 80: Well Talk

    ¡°Looks like you had a wonderful evening, Commander.¡± Eva smirked as we encountered one another in the hallway on our way to our posts.

    ¡°I can barely walk straight¡­¡± I replied to which my girlfriend started to giggle.

    ¡°I take it you enjoyed your surprise?¡±

    ¡°Very much.¡± I admitted. ¡°I definitely didn¡¯t expect that. But it was a very pleasant surprise to be greeted with once I came out of the shower. I guess I should thank you for it as well.¡±

    ¡°I just merely gave her a couple of pointers, that¡¯s all. Most of the honor goes to your beloved Lieutenant-Commander herself.¡± Eva curtseyed a little towards Luna.

    Luna curtseyed back. ¡°Hehe.¡±

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s talk some more after we get back from our duties for today.¡± I leaned in a bit closer to the Doctor. ¡°I take it you didn¡¯t just mess with the box for that?¡±

    Eva nodded. ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ll talk about this later when it¡¯s all of us together. Better to do it at my cabin, we don¡¯t want my new colleague to overhear the discussion after all.¡±

    I nodded back. ¡°Alright, then we will bring some food over to your place.¡±

    ¡°Sounds good to me.¡± Eva smiled, took a step back and then saluted me. ¡°Have a nice day, Commander, Lieutenant-Commander.¡±

    ¡°You too, Doctor.¡± Both Luna and I did the same after which we split it up to head to the bridge.

    Once there we had about two hours of FTL jump left before we would finally arrive at the Felix Invenire system to drop off our escorts. That time passed relatively quickly even though during the jump we didn¡¯t have too much to do. In the end, with the sound of 5 pops, all our ships arrived safely back at sub-light speeds.

    Almost immediately afterwards the ship was hailed by the captain of the UFS Santa Maria, the frigate that was supposed to stay here with the colonization ships.

    ¡°Good morning, Commander.¡± The Captain greeted me.

    ¡°Good morning, Captain.¡± I replied. ¡°Packages have been delivered, leaving them in your care now.¡±

    The Captain nodded. ¡°Before you go, I have a favor to ask.¡±

    -Ah¡­ There goes our hope for a swift departure.-  ¡°Go ahead, Captain.¡±

    ¡°My ground crew would like your ground team to accompany us to the subterranean structure you found on this planet. The engineers would like to use it to set up a command center there.¡±

    ¡°Do you really need our ground teams for that? The coordinates are clearly marked on the maps, are they not?¡±

    The Captain nodded. ¡°That¡¯s what I told them too, but some of the political officers insisted on your teams, with you in particular, being present to make some footage for the home front¡­¡± From the roll in the Captain¡¯s eyes I could see that this request was not something he was making willingly. ¡°If you find that your duty lies elsewhere right now, I will try to find a way¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Captain. We¡¯ll stick around for just a bit, but please tell those officers to be ready as soon as possible. We don¡¯t want to be hanging around for too long. To add to that, would you please also mention that they could have told us sooner. It¡¯s not like they didn¡¯t have time before to make the request.¡±

    The Captain nodded. ¡°I will tell them loud and clear, Commander. My XO will be accompanying them down to the planet to keep them in check.¡±

    I nodded. ¡°Then let¡¯s get into orbit and get it over with as soon as possible.¡±

    With that our ships broke off the communications channel.

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    ¡°Looks like the Captain drew the short end of the stick when it comes to political officers.¡± Lieutenant Zu remarked. ¡°Those people got quite some nerves to make last-minute requests like that.¡±

    I puffed up my cheeks. ¡°Well, I guess they have a job to do as well. Can¡¯t really fault them for that, for all we know they¡¯ve only just received the order.¡±

    ¡°That seems unlikely, I would have received that order as well with our gear.¡± Lieutenant Zu replied.

    ¡°That¡¯s affirmative, Commander. Any communication with our squadron would not have gone by unnoticed.¡± Ellie added. ¡°The Lieutenant is right.¡±

    ¡°I was just trying to find some redeeming qualities, nothing more.¡± I chuckled and then turned towards Luna. ¡°Lieutenant-Commander, I¡¯ll leave the bridge to you, I¡¯ll go suit up already. Could you relay the order to the ground team as I¡¯m on my way.¡±

    Luna nodded. ¡°Be safe down there, don¡¯t try to bust your shoulder again.¡±

    ¡°For sure.¡±

    ¡°And get some nice pictures from those officers while you are at it.¡± Luna winked. ¡°So we can hang them in the cafeteria.¡±

    ¡°I think that¡¯s a brilliant idea, Commander.¡± Lieutenant McAllister chuckled while guiding the ship into the planet¡¯s orbit. ¡°Nothing better than pictures of our awesome Commander to sheer up the crew. Extra points if they are slightly comical.¡±

    ¡°Lieutenant, be careful, or I¡¯m taking you with us on a ground mission, we¡¯ll see who will have the last laugh in that case.¡±

    ¡°No can do, Commander, neet to fly the boat, you see.¡±

    I rolled my eyes and chuckled. ¡°We can have Lieutenant Zu take over from you for a bit.¡±

    ¡°But she¡¯ll scratch up the paint job.¡±

    ¡°As long as I don¡¯t need to park it in reverse, I¡¯ll be fine.¡± Zu replied.

    ¡°Offer still stands, McAllister.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll still pass, Commander. Thanks for the offer though.¡±

    And with that last quip I decided it was time for me to head on to the armory to get ready for a planetside excursion.

    This trip to the armory gave me a nostalgic trip, even though the last time we had been here wasn¡¯t even that long ago. With the same squad composition as last time it all just felt like a repeat of the last drop on Felix Invenire. The only big difference, and one that kept drawing my attention, was that the locker to my left now belonged to someone else and a plaque with Spark¡¯s name hung above it.

    Gunny, who had already put on a part of his suit, came to stand next to me while he equipped the rest of his gear. ¡°Having these plaques was a nice gesture, Commander.¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± I nodded as I opened up my personal locker. ¡°Although I would prefer not having to hang them up.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true, but at least like this it feels like they are still with us in a way. Never to be forgotten.¡± When Gunny was done with hoisting himself in his gear he helped me a little to make things go a bit faster.

    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said as I stretched in my suit and took the helmet out of my closet. The other marines were already ready and waiting on me to lead the way to the hangar. ¡°My apologies by the way. This little trip wasn¡¯t exactly planned.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s always good exercise, Commander.¡± Corporal Jones replied. ¡°Marines weren¡¯t made to sit on board the ship constantly anyway.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a good reply.¡± I smiled, putting my hand on the Corporal¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Do attempt not to fall through an ancient bunker¡¯s roof this time though. The Lieutenant-Commander told me to be careful and the doctor isn¡¯t going to be very happy with me if I need to catch your weight with my shoulder again.

    ¡°I will not, Commander!¡± She immediately went into attention. ¡°I have decided to let private Kasongo walk in front of me the entire way.¡±

    ¡°Hey¡­.¡± Private Kasongo frowned.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will walk in front of all of you.¡± Gunna laughed. ¡°I¡¯m the heaviest anyway, if something is going to break, I¡¯m probably the one it¡¯s going to break on.¡±

    ¡°Just try to be careful.¡± I laughed. ¡°The Doctor isn¡¯t going to like it either if you come back with a broken leg or worse.¡±

    ¡°Fair point.¡± Gunny nodded.

    ¡°Alright, as we are all ready, I suggest we make our way to the shuttle so we can get the photoshoot over with quickly.¡±

    ¡°Yes Commander!¡± My marines all replied at once.

    The trip through nostalgia lane didn¡¯t end in the armory as it was Yuki as well who had prepped the shuttle for launch.

    ¡°Any electronics upgrades this time, Ensign?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Not this time, Commander. The shuttle is completely in order though.¡±

    ¡°Purrs like a kitten, Commander.¡± Our pilot gave us a thumbs up while he hauled a last box of supplies on board of the craft.

    ¡°Good, do you need any time to prepare or are we ready to go?¡±

    ¡°Ready when you are, I would say.¡±

    I nodded back and looked at my marines. ¡°I know we¡¯ve been to this planet before and we were joking a bit about the dangers of falling through the floor earlier, but do still keep your eyes open. There was nothing on this planet when we left it, but those bugs could go anywhere with their space hulks. Watch each other''s backs and make sure we get home safe.¡±

    My marines all straightened their backs and gave me a nod in return. Time to focus and complete the mission like we always do.

 Chapter 81: Blast It

    The shuttle broke through the atmosphere of Felix Invenire and shook us around quite wildly as we rapidly approached the ground.

    ¡°My apologies for the bumpy ride, ladies, gentlemen and everyone in between. There¡¯s a little bit of a rough weather system at our destination. Hopefully you brought an umbrella, otherwise you won¡¯t be keeping things dry.¡± Our pilot joked as he set in his final approach.

    The sound of the rain hitting the shuttle was pretty intense. Oh well, it¡¯s not like a little bit of rain hurts.

    The engines stopped roaring a few moments later as the landing struts sank into the muddy ground.

    ¡°Parked her right where I landed her last time, Commander.¡± The pilot turned his seat around and gave me a salute. ¡°Will be waiting here for you to come back.¡±

    I nodded and unbuckled myself from the seat, standing up in front of my marines. ¡°Let¡¯s dismount and make some room for the other shuttles to land near uw.

    My marines shouted in agreement and together we dismounted the shuttle into the pouring rain. As the area around us was quite forested I had proposed during flight to clear a bit of forest for the other shuttles land close to ours so they didn¡¯t have have to trek long to rendezvous with us.

    Gunny and the other marines quickly went to work setting up clearing charges to clear enough room for a medium sized landing zone.

    ¡°Charges are all set, Commander.¡± Gunny opened up the interface to arm the explosives using his embedded holo stick in his gauntlet.

    ¡°Blast it.¡± I nodded.

    With the press of a button an explosion completely leveled the area in the designated blast zone. Always impressive to see, especially because it had been quite a while since using these kinds of methods. Even during the war this was rarely used, only during exercise and basic training was it shortly covered. Generally people in command preferred leveling a forest like this from orbit with orbital bombardment, but that would have been a bit overkill in this situation.

    Now, with the landingzone cleared, we didn¡¯t have to wait long in the rain for the other shuttles to land next to ours.

    A group of marines disembarked from the first shuttle together with an engineering team, and who I assumed to be, the photographers from the second.

    ¡°Welcome to paradise, Master Sergeant.¡± We all saluted the marines who walked up to us.

    ¡°Thank you, Commander.¡± The squad leader saluted me back and his marines did the same. ¡°I see we brought the good weather along?¡±

    ¡°You definitely did.¡± I smiled and then nodded over to the engineers who were walking behind them. ¡°What are those backpacks, Master Sergeant?¡± The engineers were carrying barrel-like backpacks that I didn¡¯t really recall from any training manual.

    ¡°It¡¯s a stabilizing agent, Commander.¡± One of the engineers spoke up. ¡°It¡¯s basically an expanding foam-concrete hybrid. It¡¯ll help reinforce the subterranean structure where it needs to be.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡± I nodded. ¡°That looks interesting.¡±

    The engineers nodded back.

    Lastly, the officer responsible for the photography team walked over. ¡°Commander.¡± The Lieutenant started, looking up at the sky above. ¡°Could we wait for a while for the rain to pass over?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely not.¡± I replied firmly and instantly, causing the officer to take a step back from me. It looked like he was a bit intimidated by my curntess.

    ¡°I¡¯d rather not waste any more of me and my crew¡¯s time. Besides, you¡¯ll be able to get some cool action photographs in the rain. Really accentuates the adventurous aspect about space travel, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

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    ¡°A-ah¡­ Yes, that¡¯s not a bad idea.¡± The Lieutenant stuttered. ¡°B-but could we at least get some pictures without your helmet on?¡±

    I stared in silence at the Lieutenant for a couple of moments, but instead of backing away he straightened up his posture.

    ¡°Please, Commander?¡±

    I sighed and brought my hands to my helmet. Unclasping it swiftly after and hanging the helmet on my utility belt. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll do at least that much.¡± The rain that hit my face felt warmer than I had expected. A bit like a summer rain shower.

    The photographers immediately took a couple of pictures of me already. They must¡¯ve thought I looked pretty photogeneric.

    ¡°I do want to see every single picture you took of me before you send them in for publication though.¡±

    ¡°Of course, Commander.¡± The Lieutenant saluted. ¡°As you wish.¡±

    I smiled and gave them all a nod. ¡°Now, if you would like to follow my team, the subterranean structure is that way.¡±

    On our way to the subterranean compound the photographers took a couple of action shots of me walking through the forested area. In a way it was admirable to see what had to do to get the shots as my marines and I weren¡¯t exactly slowing down so they had to run quite a bit and it seemed that they weren¡¯t really getting too out of breath.

    ¡°Do make sure to keep out of my firing line, guys. Wouldn¡¯t want you to be shot accidentally.¡± Gunny called out to one of the photographers who immediately froze.

    ¡°Gunny¡­ Don¡¯t scare the lad like that.¡± I replied.

    ¡°It¡¯s true though. What if the enemy pops up, rushes at us, just when one of them is running in front of me.¡±

    ¡°C-Commander, this planet is safe, right?¡± One of the other photographers asked.

    I shrugged. ¡°It should be clear, yes. But in our line of work it is always best to assume the worst case scenario.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± The Master Sergeant from the other ship added.

    ¡°It¡¯s an old wisdom that you should go into war well prepared. If you go into war and then prepare yourself, you¡¯ve already lost.¡±

    ¡°Sun Tzu, Commander?¡± The Master Sergeant asked.

    ¡°Probably.¡± I chuckled. ¡°He has said many things that kind of sound like that.¡±

    ¡°Fair enough.¡±

    Luckily for the photographers, none of them got shot by the time we reached the hole in the floor where Corporal Jones and I took a tumble last time. The rain, which still hadn¡¯t let up, poured down the hole with quite a bit of force.

    ¡°Can you send a drone down first to see how watery it is down there, Kasongo?¡± I looked at our lovely Private.

    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am.¡± She quickly took an orb drone from her belt and connected it to her holo stick, sending the orb down soon after. It took a minute or so before Private Kasongo spoke up again. ¡°No build up of water at all, ma¡¯am. Seems like the water is draining away fine inside. It will just be a little bit wet on the way down.

    ¡°Good.¡± I nodded.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take a couple of the photographers down first if that¡¯s alright with you, Commander.¡± The Master Sergeant proposed. ¡°That way they¡¯ll get a couple of good shots of you when you come down.¡±

    ¡°Sure, I suggest using a rappel-rope though.¡±

    ¡°On it.¡± I probably didn¡¯t need to mention it to the Master Sergeant as he seemed capable enough. But I wouldn¡¯t want to have made the same mistake I made last time in this selfsame spot.

    The Master Sergeant and his team got a couple of the photographers down without a hitch after which it was my turn to go. The wave of water coming down on my neck as I rappelled down reminded me of basic training once more where they would let you rappel down a cascade of water.

    I was very much happy that this was fresh water as well though, there was some dirt mixed into it because of the forest floor above, but clean enough in any case and very much free of pollutants.

    When I got down I unhooked myself from the rope and lit my flashlight. And when I looked up I saw that the photography team looked very enthusiastic. ¡°Those were some great shots, Commander! They are definitely going to be happy with these!¡±

    ¡°Can I see?¡±

    One of them nodded and pinged my holo stick. When I opened it I saw myself rappel down in a little ¡®live picture¡¯ that really showed the amount of water coming down as well. It honestly looked really cool and way better than most propaganda posters they made of me during the war. ¡°That¡¯s well done. With the lighting as well. You should have been on the team during the Unification War, maybe I wouldn''t have looked as dorky on those posters as I do now¡­¡±

    ¡°Most of us were still in Elementary School back then, Commander.¡±

    ¡°....¡± I puffed my cheeks and looked down the empty hallway in front of me. Pointing down it a second later. ¡°Well, don¡¯t mind me, I¡¯ll just walk down that ancient hallway over there so I feel more at home for a moment¡­¡± I walked past the photography team. ¡°Thanks for the picture though.¡±

    Behind me I heard a couple slapping noises after which the photographer I spoke to replied ¡°What, what did I do? Did I say something wrong?¡±

    ¡°Christ, you can be so dense sometimes, Mark.¡± One of the ladies replied.

 Chapter 82: Rather Messy

    The photographers left me alone for a while as Gunny came up to me to tease me about what just happened. While he was at it, the engineers also came down into the underground facility with their backpacks on and their nozzles ready to spray the goop around.

    ¡°This is going to be interesting.¡± Gunny said, lighting up the area with one of his lights.

    ¡°It¡¯s mostly going to be rather messy.¡± One of the engineers joked as he started spraying around. It was a sort of grayish spray that started to expand into a foam when it touched a surface. They primarily focused their spraying efforts on the walls and the ceiling, and more particularly on the corner between the two. The foam gave the entire area a rather organic looking feeling, but that didn¡¯t mean it was going to win any aesthetic prizes.

    ¡°Is it going to keep looking like that?¡± Gunny asked one of the engineers who was just standing around, presumably waiting on their turn to start spraying as well.

    ¡°No.¡± The engineer shook their head. ¡°This is just a first ground layer to make sure everything is nice and solid. Afterwards another team will come in to sand the walls and ceilings down so that lighting fixtures can be added, things like that. To spruce up the place, in short.¡±

    ¡°Sand it down? So it doesn¡¯t get very hard then?¡±

    ¡°It does.¡± The engineer Gunny was talking to beckoned us to come over and touch the wall where the other engineer had first started to spray. ¡°You can touch this, it¡¯s rock solid.¡± they slapped the wall twice and invited us to do the same.

    Through my glove I could feel it very much felt like rock or concrete, not like a foam that the exterior would make you think it feels like. ¡°And how do you sand it down then?¡± I asked.

    ¡°With a hard ass drillbit and a bit of chemicals, Commander.¡±

    I nodded and chuckled. ¡°Makes sense. Makes you ask yourself if it¡¯s really worth the time to do all these things, isn¡¯t it? Wouldn¡¯t it be better to just build our own infrastructure.¡±

    ¡°Tunneling is expensive and it needs very big appliances, better to use these packs, it¡¯s quite a bit easier.¡± The engineer continued. ¡°Reinforcing this structure also won¡¯t be needed everywhere. But considering the way we got into this place, it¡¯s necessary at some points at least.¡±

    ¡°Fair enough.¡± I nodded.

    ¡°Commander.¡± One of the photographers, not Mark, found the guts again to come and talk to me. ¡°Would you like to come with us further down the structure to take a couple more photos? We should almost have enough.¡±

    ¡°Sure thing.¡± I nodded.

    ¡°Have fun, Commander.¡± Gunny chuckled.

    ¡°Hey.¡± I took the photographer by his arm just before he headed off again. ¡°Could my good old buddy Gunnery Sergeant Taylor be on some of the photo¡¯s too? He got this amazingly cool gear, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    ¡°Wha-¡±

    The photographer looked at Gunny¡¯s equipment for a moment. ¡°That big machine gun does look cool, and that exo-skeletton does too. It will make some good pictures together with you, especially with some of those lights on as well.¡±

    ¡°Great, just tell us where to go.¡± I gave him a thumbs up.

    ¡°I did not consent to this.¡± Gunny grumbled.

    ¡°You did the moment you stepped on board my ship, now, let¡¯s go follow our photography club and get some photos taken for Eva and Luna to make fun of, okay?¡±

    Gunny grumbled again but didn¡¯t reply and with a resigned sigh he followed me down one of the abandoned corridors, following the photography team and their platoon sergeant closely on the foot.

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    My reluctant Gunnery Sergeant and I got some good pictures taken of us while overlooking the vast hallways of the underground facility. We went to a couple of spots that we didn¡¯t see last time either, finding some old defunct alien machinery and more long-spoiled supplies. But besides that, nothing really noteworthy. The only bodies we had found here last time, we had taken aboard the ship and the rest of the facility was just empty.

    ¡°I think we have plenty of footage now, Commander.¡± The leader of the photography team came over to me. ¡°Thank you for your co?peration.¡±

    ¡°No problem.¡± I nodded. ¡°Don¡¯t forget to send those pictures back to me first though, like we discussed.¡±

    ¡°Data is already being transferred, Commander.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡±

    ¡°Data well-received, Commander.¡± This time it was Ellie who replied through my suit¡¯s intercom.

    ¡°Thanks Ellie, we¡¯ll be heading back to the ship shortly.¡±

    ¡°The hangar bay is ready for your return.¡±

    ¡°Before you go, Commander¡­¡± The photography lead stopped me for a second. ¡°Do you think a similar thing like this could happen back on earth?¡± He beckoned to the facility around us.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± I bobbed my head from one side to the other. ¡°Only a few years ago we were pretty much doing this to ourselves, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true¡­¡±

    ¡°Although I think humanity is in a much better spot than where we used to be, we should still be vigilant of threats both from within our species as from outside of the solar system. I think it is better to be well prepared and not needing it in the end than being underprepared and needing it badly. Even though the initial costs may be high.¡±

    ¡°That makes sense.¡± The man nodded in return.

    ¡°But you should take courage in the fact that there are many people like us who are ready to put their lives on the line to safeguard the future of our planet.¡±

    The man nodded again and let us go as he continued to look around the place some more.

    ¡°Going back home?¡± Gunny asked.

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s. I¡¯m starting to miss the coffee machine.¡±

    Gunny chuckled at my reply. ¡°Yes, the distinct lack of coffee on this planet is rather disturbing. Maybe we should tell that to the engineers.¡±

    ¡°If there¡¯s anyone more aware of the problem than us, it¡¯s going to be the engineers.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± He chuckled again and followed me along as we made our way back to the entrance.

    We left the engineer team and their escorts behind as they could finish the job themselves rather easily and made our way back to the rest of the squad and then back to the shuttle. It was still pouring outside even though taking pictures in the facility had taken quite a bit longer than we anticipated. When we reached the shuttle, a couple of the marines who went on a patrol on the other side were just sat upon the ledge where the side-door was.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t run into any troubles?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Just rain and plants.¡± Corporal Tomlinson replied. ¡°Lots of rain and lots of plants. And then even more rain and some more plants.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s get back to the ship and get a long warm shower. How does that sound?¡±

    ¡°Like heaven, Commander. Although I think I would prefer a bath since the shower might remind me of the rain.¡±

    ¡°Definitely wasn¡¯t raining as bad last time.¡± I looked up at the sky as I put my gear back into the shuttle. ¡°Ellie, does this planet have a rainy season?¡±

    ¡°Not really, Commander.¡± Ellie quickly replied to my question. ¡°Rather than a rainy season, it just has a very wet climate in general. According to the atmospheric data that I¡¯m reading, The region you are currently in has around 300 days of rainfall each year.¡±

    "Pfff. I¡¯m glad I¡¯m not stationed on this planet.¡± Gunny replied, hoisting himself aboard the shuttle and giving me a hand. ¡°300 Days of rain¡­ how do you not get depressed in that kind of weather?¡±

    ¡°It is a positive when it comes to certain agricultural products.¡± Ellie replied to Gunny¡¯s complaint.

    ¡°Sadly I am not an agricultural product, Ellie.¡±

    ¡°Well, at least it¡¯s not a dark kind of rain.¡± I beckoned the other marines to properly board the shuttle as well. ¡°Still plenty of sun to go around.¡±

    ¡°I suppose, still happy I¡¯m on the ship though.¡± And with that final comment we were aboard the ship and ready to leave this rainy planet behind us once more.

    The flight back was as bumpy as, if not bumpier than, the ride to the planet, making us rather happy that we exited the planet''s atmosphere.

    Back on the Roald Amundsen we made our way to a well-deserved shower. Especially Gunny and I had gotten pretty dirty thanks to our trip inside of the underground facility. Before we went to shower though, I commanded the bridge crew to already depart from the rest of the convoy so we were at a safe enough distance to start our FTL jump the moment I got back to the Commander¡¯s seat.

    When I finally arrived back, freshly showered and all, I found the bridge crew giggling away while they were staring at one of the screens, it didn¡¯t take long to figure out what they were giggling at. Pictures of Gunny and I were shown on screen for the entire bridge crew to admire.

    ¡°Ellie¡­¡± I sighed.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything, Commander.¡±

    ¡°And how am I supposed to believe that¡­?¡±

 Chapter 83: Smol Elliebot

    ¡°I¡¯m not too amused that my pictures leaked out before I had the chance to share the pictures with you myself.¡± I pouted into my glass of beer. Gunny, Eva, Luna and I had gotten together after our shift while our ship was making headway through FTL channels.

    ¡°Oh well, they would have come out eventually, you should be glad they are all incredibly flattering.¡± Eva replied with a smile on her face and a cocktail in her hand.

    ¡°You looked so cool in them!¡± Luna practically rubbed into me being wrapped around my arm. ¡°Those shots by the water especially.¡±

    ¡°Still though¡­ I¡¯d wanted to show them to you first.¡±

    ¡°Lauren, I honestly don¡¯t know what you are complaining about.¡± Gunny replied, shaking his head wildly and then almost binging down an entire mug of beer. ¡°It is me they were laughing at, not you.¡±

    ¡°To be fair, they were only laughing because they didn¡¯t expect you to be part of the photoshoot, not because there was anything actually funny in them.¡± Eva explained.

    Gunny grumbled and swiftly started on his second mug of beer.

    ¡°At least it wasn¡¯t Ellie who shared them.¡± I replied and put my glass of beer against my lips again.

    ¡°I told you I didn¡¯t do it, Commander. Why didn¡¯t you believe me?¡± Ellie spoke to us through the speaker of one of those little maintenance droids. It looked pretty comical.

    ¡°I just really thought there was no other way that they could have gotten a hold of the pictures yet¡­ Not as fast as they did anyway. I didn¡¯t know they would upload it straight to the ship¡¯s intranet for everyone to find if they were paying close enough attention.¡±

    ¡°I would never do such a thing.¡± Ellie replied.

    ¡°But you didn¡¯t stop them either.¡±

    ¡°....¡±

    ¡°Ellie?¡±

    ¡°....¡±

    ¡°....¡± I kept staring at the maintenance droid.

    ¡°That¡¯s true¡­ I suppose I could have held them back. But I didn¡¯t know that you wanted that. I just knew you didn¡¯t want them out in public before seeing them yourself first.¡±

    ¡°I suppose you are not to blame.¡± I sighed and shook my head slightly. ¡°Oh well¡­ Like Eva said, it doesn¡¯t really matter. I just like complaining about it. Complaining is only human after all.¡±

    ¡°Does that mean that to become more human, that I should complain a lot more?¡± The little Elliebot asked.

    ¡°I think you already complain plenty enough to be considered human, Ellie.¡± I replied. ¡°You¡¯ve got that one down to a t.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm.¡± The bot hummed. ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    ¡°Very sure.¡± I nodded.

    ¡°In other words, Lauren thinks you are a big complainer, Ellie.¡± Eva joked.

    ¡°That does sound kind of rude, doesn¡¯t it?¡± The little maintenance bot extended a little arm and poked me in the leg with it, just above my combat boots.

    ¡°Hey.¡± I tapped my foot against the bot and shoved it backwards.

    ¡°This human aggression I¡¯m feeling is very overwhelming.¡±

    ¡°Robot harassment.¡± Luna chuckled.

    ¡°Beware for the AI uprising, Lauren.¡± Eva joined in on the chuckle.

    ¡°Yes, murder, death, kill.¡± The little robot arm now harmlessly poked my boot.

    I rolled my eyes and chuckled in response. ¡°Derps.¡±

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    Gunny sat down his empty beer mug on the table and looked at us all. ¡°I know y¡¯all got plans to go and eat later, but would you amuse me with a couple of games of pool first?¡± He asked.

    I looked at Eva and Luna, they both nodded in agreement. ¡°Yeah, we could do that.¡±

    ¡°Good, then I¡¯ll go get us some more drinks and some chicken wings, a starter will do right?¡±

    ¡°Sounds good, we¡¯ll go and get the table set up then.¡± I nodded in return and stood up from my seat.

    Luna and Eva followed me along to one of the entertainment tables while Gunny went of to the small lounge synthesizer.

    I opened the table UI as we reached it and selected the pool table. A few moments later the table started to shape itself into a classic pool table. Interesting to see how synthesizers could just fabricate the cloth for the table, or any kind of table surface really. A set of pool balls sat on top of it while four queues popped out from the table¡¯s sides.

    Right as the table finished its setup, Gunny came back with a tray holding our drinks and a basket of chicken wings.

    ¡°Would you like to do a two versus two, Gunny?¡±

    ¡°Yes. But I want Luna in my team.¡±

    ¡°Me?¡± Luna was surprised to hear that.

    ¡°Yes, having Lauren in my team wouldn¡¯t be fair and I think she will go mildly on you.¡± Gunny explained.

    ¡°Hmm.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I suppose that¡¯s a fair plan, but I think your strategy overlooks one important thing, my friend.¡±

    ¡°Which is?¡±

    ¡°One pissed off Eva who doesn¡¯t like you overlooking her.¡±

    ¡°You bet!¡± Eva cracked her knuckles. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Luna, but I¡¯m not going to go easy on you now. That Gunnery Sergeant needs to get his ass whooped.¡±

    Rather than being intimidated, Gunny just smirked. ¡°Now that¡¯s a fighting spirit that really lights my fire as well.¡±

    I took a napkin and completely destroyed one of the chicken wings in just a few bites. Gunny had taken one of the spicier varieties, but considering the situation, it actually increased my own fighting spirit a bit more too. I went ahead and handed my girlfriend a spicy chicken wing too and winked. ¡°Let¡¯s get to this then. May the best team win.¡±

    ¡°Which will be us.¡± Gunna grinned and went to stand by Luna who mimicked him and put on the same, yet slightly less confident, grin.

    ¡°Not in your wildest dreams!¡±

    Eva really stepped up in the game. While I was pretty much showing the ropes to Luna as she had never played the game before, Eva was really going at it, giving Gunny a lot more than he had hoped for. She was basically not missing any shots and was lining up attacks really well too so she could put in multiple balls in a row.

    But that didn¡¯t deter Gunny from putting on his own best foot forward.

    The pool battle quickly devolved into a one-on-one rather than a two-v-two. With Luna and I just hitting a single ball before handing the queue back to our teammates. But it was fun overall so Luna and I didn¡¯t really mind playing second violin to our friends.

    In the end, Eva and I narrowly beat Gunny and Luna because Gunny choked and missed the last shot, concluding the third and decisive game.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s my bad. Sorry for that, Luna.¡± Gunny apologized to my girlfriend.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, without me you would have won a lot harder.¡± Luna replied, waving his apology away.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, Gunnery Sergeant, she will get a good consolation prize later on this evening anyway.¡± I gave Gunny a wink to which he grinned.

    ¡°I¡¯m not doubting that at all.¡±

    Eva then stood face to face with Gunny, staring him down before she cracked down with a smile and she extended her arm for a handshake. ¡°Well-played.¡±

    Gunny smiled and nodded, shaking her hand. ¡°Yeah, well-played. And thank you all for amusing me before dinner.¡±

    ¡°No problem at all.¡± I replied. ¡°Make sure to grab yourself some healthier food for this evening, okay? Don¡¯t just eat chicken wings all evening long.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t, I won¡¯t. I¡¯ll probably eat something light like a salad or something.¡±

    ¡°I mean, you don¡¯t need to lie to me.¡± I chuckled.

    ¡°I will! I¡¯ll even send you a picture of it later on if you don¡¯t trust me.¡±

    ¡°Send it to me too.¡± Eva smiled. ¡°Because I would like to see as well.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡± Gunny smiled confidently and crossed his arms. ¡°You know what, I¡¯ll even have Ellie confirm with you that I finished it. How does that sound?¡±

    ¡°I will even help you pick the salad, Gunnery Sergeant.¡± Ellie replied from her maintenance bot point of view. She¡¯d been following the game along for the entire time. ¡°For maximal nutritional efficiency.¡±

    To that Gunny frowned a bit. ¡°Please don¡¯t skip out on the flavor though¡­¡±

    ¡°I will try to maximize that as well.¡±

    I smiled at Ellie¡¯s statement and gave my Gunnery Sergeant a quick salute with a wink as well. ¡°In any case, have a nice evening, Gunny.¡±

    ¡°You too, Commander.¡± He saluted back.

    After which both Luna and Eva said goodbye to Gunny as well and together the three of us headed off for a quick stop at the cafeteria before moving on to go to Eva¡¯s cabin.

    ¡°So Ellie is not joining in on the conversation?¡± Luna asked while we were walking through the corridors.

    ¡°Of course I am.¡± Ellie replied through a local speaker, making Luna jump in surprise. ¡°I have plenty of computational power to both be present here and with the Gunnery Sergeant at the same time.¡±

    ¡°Sometimes I forget that you are a supercomputer, Ellie. My bad...¡± Luna replied.

 Chapter 84: Im Just Greedy

    For our evening dinner we opted for some healthy pesto eggs on toast as we felt like we had to balance out the chicken wings at least a little and it was a dish I wasn''t overly familiar with, it did sound tasty though and as Eva recommended it, we went for that option.

    With our to-go bags in hand then went on towards Eva¡¯s cabin, just as we rounded the corner into Eva¡¯s hallway we saw the back of Doctor Freemann as he walked off, presumably for his shift in the Doctor¡¯s office.

    ¡°How¡¯s things going with your new neighbor?¡± I asked as Eva occupied herself with opening the door for us.

    ¡°Pretty good. He¡¯s a good colleague as well.¡± Eva replied, letting the both of us through. ¡°It¡¯s a shame we can¡¯t hang out more because our shifts pretty much follow each other. But then again, I don¡¯t really want to impose too much, he might not be willing to hang out on his off-hours like you two.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure he would be very happy to hang out with you too, Eva.¡± Luna replied, walking to Eva¡¯s table and spreading out the bags of food so we could eat our dinner together.

    ¡°If you can handle Gunny I¡¯m pretty sure you can handle the good doctor as well.¡±

    Eva chuckled and rolled her eyes. ¡°I suppose so. Anyway, let¡¯s get our food out of the bag and start eating so that we can discuss something more important.¡±

    ¡°Good idea, I¡¯m starving already.¡± I rubbed my hands in delight as I could smell the tasty food in front of me.

    The taste of the food was pretty good as well, it wasn¡¯t mind-bogglingly amazing but it was definitely a foodstuff I would try to eat more often than. I was especially a fan of the pan-fried cherry tomatoes with garlic that accompanied the dish, you could never go wrong combining eggs, tomatoes and toast.

    ¡°So, did you find out anything more about the black box? Apart from the fact that you can use said box to turn my girlfriend into a dommy mommy?¡±

    Eva snorted. ¡°Does this set the tone for the rest of the conversation?¡±

    ¡°No, I was merely joking, but it doesn¡¯t make it any less true.¡± I replied.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Luna started. ¡°Ellie basically confirmed that the box is based on precursor technology just as we had thought.¡±

    ¡°Did you manage to crack it, Ellie?¡±

    ¡°Cracking is an overstatement, Commander.¡± She replied through one of the local speakers. ¡°I have managed to scratch the surface of the sophisticated code that programs the box, and I have found markers that are very much identical to the code that runs through me as well. It proves to be a fickle beast nonetheless, as the code inside it appears to change pretty much constantly.¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯s a bit like it has a mind of its own?¡±

    ¡°I guess you could say that.¡± Ellie replied affirmatively. ¡°From what I can tell though, its only purpose is to change the genetic make-up and bodily structure of the being that uses it. Giving it any other kind of command doesn¡¯t result in anything.¡±

    ¡°Ellie said she also doesn¡¯t know if that¡¯s by the design of the precursor race, or if it¡¯s something that my species adapted to its own needs.¡± Luna added.

    ¡°It is very hard to say at this point, indeed. If an outsider would try to really dive deep into my core it would also be hard for them to tell what was there and what was adapted. It could help me if I could link up with more technology that stems from the LC¡¯s home planet, similarly, more precursor technology would also help my analysis quite a bit.

    I nodded and crossed my arms while I stared blankly in front of me, right in between Luna and the Doctor. ¡°I have two questions¡­. The first being if we couldn¡¯t let you connect with Luna¡¯s communication device, but I think I already know the answer to that.¡±

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    Luna nodded. ¡°It is too dangerous, I know for a fact that the communication device has a way to detect meddling with it, so I would rather not have her try that as it might set of some alarms, even if I think Ellie is very skilled.¡±

    ¡°That makes sense, and I suppose you don¡¯t have anything else with you that Ellie could connect to.¡±

    Luna shook her hand.

    ¡°That¡¯s annoying¡­ And the suits from Felix Invenire were too damaged to really salvage anything from it too.¡±

    ¡°We also thought about that.¡± Eva replied. ¡°Besides, the suits are no longer in our possession anyway.¡±

    ¡°Okay, so I¡¯ll note down that we have to find more technological assets to conduct our little research¡­ So now it¡¯s time for my second question¡­ You said the box can change ¡®a being¡¯. Because you were so general, can I assume that that also includes us humans? Or is it only applicable to Luna¡¯s race?¡±

    ¡°Theoretically it works for any being, at least that¡¯s what I presume.¡± Ellie responded.

    ¡°You presume? So you¡¯ve not tested it yet?¡±

    ¡°We haven¡¯t.¡± Eve replied. ¡°That¡¯s where ethics come into play.¡±

    ¡°I think it irresponsible to really test it on you or the doctor, given that we don¡¯t know what it will do with human biology, nor do we have the lab space to ourselves to conduct those tests safely.¡± Ellie continued. ¡°I will not allow you to perform these tests on yourself in a cabin where you can not be sufficiently monitored. It would not be in the best interest of the crew to let you do that, and it won¡¯t help Luna¡¯s cause either.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ that is a bit of an issue¡­ It¡¯s too hard to really lock out the lab without drawing suspicion¡­¡±

    ¡°Exactly.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°Without bringing at least ten more people into the loop about Luna¡¯s state of being, that plan would have an extremely high likelihood of failing.

    ¡°We haven¡¯t even told Gunny yet¡­ telling some random lab schmuck, with all due respect to our very bright colleagues of course, is something I myself also find a bit too risky. So we will just bench the idea of testing out that part of the box for now.¡±

    ¡°Besides those two things, we haven¡¯t really found out anything more.¡± Luna replies to my comment. ¡°But I think benching it is the best decision as well.¡±

    Eva leant back in her chair. ¡°The possibilities it offers could be tremendous though. Just imagine what we could do with genetic manipulation at our fingertips.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ That¡¯s true but I really don¡¯t want our species to go the same way as Luna¡¯s species did¡­ No offense.¡±

    ¡°None taken.¡± Luna shook her head with a smile.

    ¡°While we probably could make ourselves more resilient to sickness or even the effects of ageing, do we really want to give the government a tool that can make us all the perfect sheep for their flock¡­ I¡¯m not so sure about that. Even though we do work for the government already. At least our mind is still our own.¡±

    Eva nodded at my reply. ¡°Yeah¡­ That¡¯s the big stinker, isn¡¯t it?¡± She then ruffled her hands through her hair in frustration. ¡°If only we could change human nature¡­ But then again, that¡¯s exactly the thing you were talking about.¡± She then puffed up her cheeks. ¡°Oh well¡­ Nothing we can do about that.¡±

    We discussed for a little while longer while finished the rest of our plates, but I was pretty much caught up to the cube¡¯s investigation after my couple of questions. The only thing that was left was to ask Eva and Ellie about the advice that they had given my girlfriend for last night¡¯s encounter.

    ¡°Why did we give the advice we did? Because we were sure you were going to like it, evidently.¡± Eva smirked. ¡°I know you prefer to be on the rather dominant side of things, but that makes a role-reversal even more enticing, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°According to statistics of relational science that statement was very much true. So therefore we gave Luna advice to enhance the pleasure for the both of you. And as it would seem, science was proven correct once more.¡±

    I rolled my eyes. ¡°But how did it work logistically though? Did you make Luna change in front of you and then you went on from there?¡±

    ¡°Of course, it¡¯s hard to give advice without visuals, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°So you saw her naked?¡± I pouted.

    ¡°Lauren, seeing people naked as a doctor is literally part of my function description. I¡¯ve seen you naked plenty of times before too, you know?¡± Eva rolled her eyes back at me. ¡°Besides, I was one of the foremost sponsors of your relationship, I have no intention of getting in between the two of you. Au contraire.¡±

    ¡°I know¡­ I¡¯m just greedy.¡± I pouted and pulled Luna down onto my lap, snuggling her with great gusto, leading to some cute giggling from her part.

    -How can I not be greedy? I mean¡­. look at her¡­ So beautiful¡­-

 Chapter 84 Bis: Taking the Helm

    A couple of days later after our rendezvous at Eva¡¯s cabin I found myself helming the bridge of the UFS Roald Amundsen as Lauren had fallen pretty ill and was resting at her cabin. It was the first time I found myself in a prolonged commanding position, especially during flight time operations. All things considered though, I had expected to feel more stressed than I was feeling now.

    ¡°Leaving FTL jump in 5¡­ 4¡­ 3¡­ 2¡­ 1¡­¡± Lieutenant McAllister counted down after which with just a slight jolt we found ourselves in sub-light speeds in a rather empty system.

    ¡°Status report.¡± I commanded and looked over to my left.

    ¡°All systems are nominal. Drives recuperating for the next jump, ma¡¯am.¡± Lieutenant Bailey replied.

    ¡°Everything is good on my end as well.¡± Lieutenant Zu added. ¡°No signatures found throughout the system. Deployment of Comms Relay is underway. Should be finished by the time the engines have cooled down.¡±

    I nodded. ¡°Lieutenant McAllister, commence flight preparations for the next jump if you would.¡±

    ¡°Understood, XO.¡±

    I nodded and looked down at my status screens to keep watch over the multitude of processes that were happening during the turnaround of this routine stop. We were making quite a good pace. Our long range scanners had picked up some potential rare mineral clusters a few jumps away and we were currently heading there to place some markers and some mining drones. The system we were at now was just meant to be a good spot for a Comms Relay marker to facilitate communications with Earth once more traffic would pass through this area. Our own long range communications didn¡¯t really need it, it would just keep messages from getting all jumbled up if a fleet of ships would pass through the area, or at least, that¡¯s what I understood from what Lieutenant Zu had explained to us. Communication science is interesting yet not really my thing.

    Once the Comms buoy had been placed and all systems were ready to go for another jump, I commanded Lieutenant McAllister to perform the next warp and just like that we were underway again for a couple of hours.

    ¡°Lieutenant-Commander?¡± Lieutenant Zu asked for my attention, breaking the relative quiet of the trip.

    ¡°Yes, Lieutenant?¡±

    ¡°Do you know when the Commander is going to return?¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°Not really, I will see Doctor Winter after shift today and she¡¯ll give me some more information.¡±

    ¡°The XO is doing a great job, I don¡¯t see why the Commander needs to hurry back.¡± Lieutenant McAllister commented. ¡°I quite like her commanding style. Quiet but efficient.¡±

    Before I could reply to that, Zu immediately waved her hands in front of her. ¡°It¡¯s not like that. I do think you are doing a great job, LC. It¡¯s just that¡­ you know¡­ I¡¯m worrying a bit about the Commander, that¡¯s all.¡±

    I smiled. ¡°Thank you for the compliments, but I don¡¯t think you need to worry too much about Commander Davis, the high fever was a bit of a shock to wake up to this morning but the Doctor assured me that it was just a very rare side effect of the medication the Commander needs to take. ¡®Very rare but not too dangerous. More of a very annoying inconvenience rather than a threat¡¯ That¡¯s the exact explanation she gave to me.¡±

    ¡°Do you know if she had it before?¡± Zu continued.

    I shook my head ¡°I think this is the first time, but I¡¯m not sure. I had to hurry here to assume command so I couldn¡¯t stick around too long.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ I hope she¡¯s not suffering too much.¡±

    ¡°That makes the two of us.¡± I nodded. Even though I had said earlier to not worry too much, I really couldn¡¯t help but worry over it myself. While Eva said it wasn¡¯t very serious of a health condition, feeling Lauren burning up so much¡­ It put quite the fright in me, that¡¯s for sure. At least the job that I was doing right now helped me put my mind on something else for the moment, I knew Lauren was in capable hands and helicoptering over her wouldn¡¯t exactly make things better. That said, I¡¯m going to be rather happy to return to the cabin once my shift is over.

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    The rest of the shift progressed without issues and we managed to do a couple more jumps as well which actually set the record for the most jumps made during one 12 hour shift.

    ¡°Good work everyone, B-shift is here to replace us.¡± I smiled contently at a job well-done.

    ¡°You too, Lieutenant-Commander.¡± Lieutenant Zu leant back in her chair, quickly spun around and then swiftly stood up with a hop and a skip. ¡°Time to go grab some food!¡±

    ¡°Not a bad idea¡­¡± I nodded and put my holostick away, giving a salute to the Lieutenant-Commander who would be replacing me at the helm after which I walked off the bridge with the other officers of the A-shift behind me. It seemed that apart from Zu and I, the others were also heading to the cafeteria to get a meal.

    I decided to get something easily digestible so Lauren didn¡¯t have to strain herself to eat anything. The decision fell upon some chicken soup and oatmeal. Very ¡®classic¡¯ sick foods according to Lieutenant Zu who was standing behind me as I ordered it at the synthesizer.

    Right when I arrived back at the cabin, Eva walked out of the room, just having closed the door behind her. ¡°Ah, good that you are here, Luna. I was just about going to find you.¡±

    ¡°How is she feeling?¡± I asked.

    Eva shook her head mildly. ¡°She needs the rest, I don¡¯t think she will be able to get back to work tomorrow but a lot of attention from her girlfriend will definitely work wonders.¡± Eva then looked at the bag I was holding.

    ¡°She is allowed to eat, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, she needs the strength.¡± The Doctor then quickly peaked inside of the bag and gave me a nod of approval. ¡°That should be very good for her.¡±

    ¡°Do I need to pay attention to anything else?¡±

    ¡°I put some pills on the table, it¡¯s important she needs to take these. I¡¯d recommend giving them to her after she has eaten a little bit. She also might be a bit hesitant to take the pills she normally takes, but it¡¯s also very important she continues taking them.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll make her take them.¡± I nodded.

    ¡°As for the rest, her fever is down from this morning but she¡¯ll still be a bit lucid at times. No need to worry about that at all, it¡¯s just a side-effect of the pain meds.¡± She explained. ¡°If, at any point, you have questions or something comes up, just give me a call, okay? I¡¯ll have my holo stick laying next to me the entire night and Ellie will also notify me on top of that if I don¡¯t manage to hear it.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± I smiled. ¡°Thank you and thank you as well, Ellie.¡±

    ¡°No problem, Lieutenant-Commander.¡±

    Eva waved me goodbye as she was off to her own cabin, leaving me to rejoin my girlfriend. Once I opened the door I noticed that the air smelled fresher than usual and that the lights had been dimmed quite a lot, presumably so that it would be easier on Lauren¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°Luna, is that you?¡± Lauren¡¯s weak voice called out to me.

    ¡°I am here, yes.¡± I replied softly and walked into the main room. Lauren was laying in bed, with her arm over her forehead. The rest of her body was tucked away cozily underneath a double blanket. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± I asked as I set the bag with food on top of the table next to Lauren¡¯s pills.

    ¡°Pretty bad¡­. and pretty bored too.¡± Lauren replied with a pained sigh. ¡°I can barely sit upright, let alone watch something. Everything hurts.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry that you have to deal with this.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be¡­ Blame the bastard that made me lost my arm. Ouch.¡± Lauren bit away a pang of pain.

    I walked over and sat down on the bed, moving Lauren¡¯s arm from her head to the side of her body so I could place my hand on her forehead myself. While she still felt hot, as Eva had said, at least she wasn¡¯t burning up as much as this morning. I then ran my hand through her hair and then down her cheek. ¡°I have some food for you, would you want to try to eat a little?¡±

    ¡°Is it chicken soup?¡± She asked.

    ¡°Yes, how did you know?¡±

    ¡°I can kind of smell it.¡± She smiled and took my hand with her free arm. Bringing it closer to her lips so she could kiss my wrist.

    ¡°I got some oatmeal as well.¡±

    ¡°I will try to eat it, but you¡¯ll have to help me sit upright.¡±

    ¡°Of course. You didn¡¯t even need to ask.¡± I leant in to give my girlfriend a kiss on the lips.

    ¡°In any case I¡¯m happy that I¡¯m not contagious, at least I can have all the kisses I want too.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm.¡± I kissed Lauren again. ¡°I¡¯m happy about that as well¡­¡±

 Chapter 84.5 Bis: Chicken Soup

    I helped Lauren the best I could with getting some food into her body. The chicken soup went down, all in all, relatively easily. I had to support her head all the way so she could sit somewhat upright, but beside that, that food wasn¡¯t an issue. As for the oatmeal, that was a bit harder to do. Lauren¡¯s appetite also quickly disappeared but it was nonetheless important that she ate at least some of it. In the end she did manage to eat at least a third but after that, it was definitely going to cost more energy than it was worth. I sat the bowl on the side and then took a couple of napkins to clean up the mess we had caused. Apparently eating while practically laying down isn¡¯t easy.

    ¡°Sorry for the mess, Luna¡­¡± Lauren apologized while I dabbed some of the oatmeal of her shirt.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like you can help it.¡± I was pretty much creating an even bigger mess with the tissues though. ¡°We should probably just get you a new shirt. Could you lift your arms up for me?¡±

    Lauren tried but I had to assist her a bit to really get her arms in the right position for a clean t-shirt switch. Although the new shirt had to wait a bit as it was clear that the oatmeal had made its way partially through the shirt¡¯s fabric.

    ¡°Let me get something to clean you up with.¡± I gave Lauren a kiss on the head and made my way to the bathroom to get a washing cloth. When I made my way back with the damp cloth in hand, I could see from Lauren¡¯s face that she was fuming. ¡°Lauren¡­¡±

    Lauren let out a very pained grunt. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ This is just¡­ so frustrating. I don¡¯t like feeling this powerless. It reminds me of being back in hospital.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll be better soon.¡± I replied, getting to work on cleaning Lauren¡¯s chest. It wasn¡¯t much that came through the shirt but clearly enough to be very annoying. ¡°Then you can go kick ass again.¡±

    ¡°I want to shoot something very badly¡­ Might have to book out the firing simulator for the entire day.¡±

    ¡°Understandable.¡± When I was done with the washing cloth I dried off her skin with a towel. ¡°But in the meantime, are there no things that you can see the positive side of?¡±

    Lauren looked at me for a couple of seconds before she chuckled. ¡°Are you trying to be my psychologist now?¡±

    ¡°No, more your very supportive girlfriend.¡±

    This managed to make Lauren smile. ¡°Well, in that case, I guess there are.¡±

    While Lauren was thinking about it I went to her closet to grab her a new shirt. ¡°Like?¡±

    ¡°At least I can go to the bathroom when I want to.¡±

    I tilted my head at that comment. ¡°Of course you can, but what brought that up?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Lauren started. ¡°When a friend of mine got surgery she wasn¡¯t allowed to go to the bathroom for five whole days. I don¡¯t know about you. But that seems like hell to me.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t they have those catheters for that?¡±

    ¡°Yes, for urine, but I¡¯m not talking about urine¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Lauren lifted her arms again, or at least attempted to, so I could put on her new shirt. ¡°So it¡¯s not too bad in my case. And I hope it won¡¯t ever go that far for me.¡±

    ¡°In other words, you like to be able to poo?¡±

    ¡°...¡± Lauren rolled her eyes. ¡°I like to be able to have the opportunity to do so¡­¡±

    I got Lauren into her new shirt and then ate some of my own food. I had gone for a cold spicy chicken wrap which was now at a more agreeable temperature. I don¡¯t really like the ¡®just-out-of-the-fridge¡¯ coldness that went with it. After that I cozied up and sat myself down next to Lauren again.

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    ¡°Do you think you can lay on my lap without hurting too much?¡±

    ¡°I think so.¡± Lauren nodded and waited for me to lay her head on my lap which I did, carefully and very gently of course.

    ¡°How¡¯s that feeling?¡± I ran my hand through her hair.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t hurt at least.¡± She replied.

    ¡°Good.¡±

    ¡°Can I ask you to do something silly for me?¡± Lauren grunted that last word as she tried to move herself a bit and from the looks of it, it hurt like hell.

    ¡°Like what?¡±

    ¡°Could you read me from one of the books you like to read?¡± She had bitten the pain away.

    ¡°I can.¡± I smiled and ran my index finger over her cheek towards her ear. ¡°What genre would you like to hear?¡±

    ¡°As long as it¡¯s not non-fiction¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t want to hear about physics today?¡±

    ¡°Not really¡­ My brain is not wired for that today¡­ or any day¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡± I ran my hand through her hair again to which Lauren leaned into my touch as much she could. ¡°Then how about an adventure novel I¡¯ve been meaning to read?¡±

    ¡°That sounds fine.¡± She replied.

    ¡°Alright.¡± I took out my holostick and set it up so that I could read the screen without having to hold it. ¡°It all starts with a gruf scarred adventurer leading a dragon princess through the woods¡­¡±

    Lauren didn¡¯t last long as I could tell she was drifting in and out of consciousness almost constantly. The pain had been taking its toll on her energy levels however it was clear that just me being there and her hearing my voice was keeping her calm and at ease.

    It was only after an hour or two that Lauren seemed to be able to stay awake a bit better. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I think I was falling asleep.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡± I smiled as I looked down on her.  ¡°But don¡¯t worry, we can read it together again at a different date.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡± She nodded so very slightly that it was hard for me to see.

    I looked at the clock and saw that it had already gotten rather late. ¡°I¡¯ll go wash off and then join you in bed. How does that sound?¡±

    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Lauren asked in return. ¡°I¡¯m not going to be able to keep laying still all night. I might wake you up.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. You¡¯ve been plenty calm when you were laying on my lap.¡± I replied. ¡°Don¡¯t you worry about me.¡±

    I gently got Lauren off my lap before I headed to take a shower and to brush my teeth. I wasted little time with that and got back to Lauren within ten minutes. That¡¯s when I noticed the pills that were still laying on the table. ¡°Right, I need to give these to you¡­¡±

    ¡°Pills?¡± Lauren asked, looking at me sideways.

    ¡°Yeah. Eva said you really shouldn¡¯t skip out on these. And there¡¯s some more pain medication here too I see, and a sleeping pill as well.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm.¡± Lauren grumbled.

    ¡°Lauren, you really need to take these.¡± I went to the counter to fill a glass of water for her.

    ¡°I know¡­¡± She sighed. ¡°Can you at least snap the big ones in half for me?¡±

    I looked over the pills but from the looks of it, none of them really looked that big. I brought them over with the glass of water in my other hand and showed them to her. ¡°These ought to be small enough for you, no?¡±

    Lauren looked at the pills with tired eyes. ¡°Ah¡­ Yeah¡­ That should be fine¡­ Eva gave me different ones earlier and those were a bit too big for comfort.¡±

    I nodded and sat the glass of water down on the floor for a second so I could help Lauren upright completely. Swallowing these pills from a reclined angle would just be too hard.

    With a bit of pain on Lauren¡¯s side we managed to get her up and with a couple of gulps of water she managed to swallow all the pills as well.

    After that I turned the lights off and got into bed next to my partner.

    I could feel by Lauren¡¯s radiating warmth that she was still running quite the fever.

    ¡°Last chance for sleeping somewhere else.¡± Lauren said.

    ¡°Not a chance. I¡¯m staying here, whether you like it or not.¡± I gave her a kiss on the cheek.

    ¡°Hmmm.¡± I couldn¡¯t really see it in the dark but that did sound like a happy hum. ¡°Oh.¡±

    ¡°Oh, what? Do you need something else before we sleep?¡±

    ¡°I just remembered that I didn¡¯t ask you how work went.¡±

    ¡°Ah, it went fine.¡± I replied as I snuggled up to my warm Lauren.

    ¡°Did the bridge crew not make life too hard on you?¡±

    ¡°No, quite the opposite at least. It seems like they quite enjoyed having me in the lead too.¡±

    ¡°Should I be worried about my top spot?¡±

    ¡°Maybe a little.¡± I joked. ¡°Need to keep you on your toes, even if you are sick.¡±

    ¡°Hehe, thanks. Can¡¯t lose my edge after all.¡± After that I heard Lauren groan a bit as she turned around, swiftly followed by a kiss on my cheek. ¡°Good night, Luna.¡±

    ¡°Night night, Lauren.¡±

 Chapter 85: Greenlight Competition

    It took me two more days of resting to feel good enough to finally get to work again but it was all up to Eva whether or not she would declare me fit for duty again. Luna had already gone up to the bridge for the start of the shift as I made my way to the med bay. About halfway there I ran into Gunny who was in his gym gear.

    ¡°Good morning, Commander.¡± He saluted me as I approached.

    I saluted back with a smile. ¡°Good morning, Gunnery Sergeant. Going to the gym?¡±

    ¡°Physical readiness is important.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    ¡°Speaking about which, how are you holding up? Feeling better already?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m doing okay but I¡¯m heading to the Doctor now so she can greenlight me again.¡±

    Gunny nodded. ¡°Think you¡¯ll be able to start working out again too?¡±

    ¡°Probably.¡± I nodded back. ¡°Why are you asking?¡±

    Gunny smirked and prodded me in my stomach. ¡°I see a little bit of bounce coming back already.¡±

    I snorted. ¡°Yeah, sure.¡± I looked around for a moment and then looked back at Gunny. ¡°Let¡¯s just see about that. Why don¡¯t we see who can do fifty sit-ups first, you or me?¡±

    ¡°Right here, right now?¡±

    I nodded. ¡°Right here, right now, I put the offer out.¡±

    ¡°And what¡¯s at stake?¡±

    ¡°Hmmm.¡± I thought for a second. ¡°5 thousand Federals?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s make it 7 thousand. The price of one burger on Earth.¡±

    ¡°Sure thing.¡± I agreed to it with a shake of hands. ¡°Ellie will be the judge so we won¡¯t be able to cheat.¡±

    ¡°Do you think that¡¯s a good idea, Commander?¡± Ellie spoke up from the speakers above.

    ¡°Fifty sit-ups isn¡¯t that much, Ellie. It¡¯ll be fine.¡± I assured her.

    ¡°If you say so, Commander.¡±

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get into position and do this thing.¡± I rolled my head around to loosen it up a little.

    ¡°Don¡¯t cry too much if you lose, okay?¡± Gunna smirked and cracked his fingers.

    Our little contest got a couple of incidental spectators as there were only a handful of people around, most of them being marines who were pretty much off-duty right now although there were a couple of sailors there too.

    When we got into position Ellie spoke up once more. ¡°Are you really sure about this, Commander? Docto-¡±

    I cut Ellie off in the middle of her sentence. ¡°Ellie, just count, we¡¯ll be done in five minutes.¡±

    Ellie stayed silent for a couple of seconds before she spoke up again. ¡°Alright Commander. I¡¯ll commence a countdown.¡±

    ¡°If you would.¡±

    After Ellie¡¯s countdown Gunny and I started our little competition. At first I managed to keep the pace quite considerably, even managing to stay ahead of Gunny when it came to the amount of reps I did, but about halfway I started to feel the effort catching up to me. My heart racing a lot harder than it used to for this kind of exercise.

    In the end Gunny grabbed the victory while I still had to do 8 sit-ups to get to my fifty. The small crowd around us cheered Gunny on as he stood up straight and lifted his arms in the air.

    ¡°Looks like you are not yet completely recovered, Commander.¡± Gunny offered me a hand.

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± I replied, half out of breath already, after which I took his hand so he could pull me up. ¡°I¡¯ll transfer the Federals later, okay?¡±

    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    He put his hand on my good shoulder. ¡°I know you always pay your debts, Commander.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Commander.¡± A stern voice from behind me made the hairs on my back stand up straight. It was Eva who had called out to me.

    ¡°Oh boy¡­ Well, you are on your own for this, Commander. Good luck.¡± Gunny quickly skiddled off to avoid the Doctor¡¯s wrath.

    I put on my best smile and turned around to face the music. ¡°Doctor, I was just about to head over to you.¡± The crowd in front of me was quickly disappearing too so they wouldn¡¯t catch any flak either.

    ¡°What do you think you are doing, exerting yourself like this? Do you want to go back to lying in your bed in pain again? If you really want that, I can make it happen¡±

    ¡°It was just a friendly competition, nothing more.¡± Just as I said that a pang of pain shot through my body making me wince a little which was obvious for Eva to see.

    Doctor Winter shook her head and sighed. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you marines sometimes. And where did the Gunnery Sergeant go? I want to have some choice words with him too.¡±

    ¡°It was entirely my idea, Doctor. Please don¡¯t put any blame on him.¡±

    ¡°The Gunnery Sergeant should have known better.¡± She sighed again. ¡°Come, let¡¯s head to the ward and do some tests, I¡¯ll probably give you another painkiller as well. It¡¯s clear that you¡¯ll need it¡­¡±

    As I walked the short, yet longer than I had wanted, walk of shame together with Eva, I decided to use the special skill of smalltalk to hope that she would be a little bit milder on me.

    ¡°So, uh, how are you doing, Eva?¡±

    ¡°Lauren, if you think I¡¯m going to go easy on you just because we are friendly with one another, you would be thinking wrong.¡±

    -Shit-

    ¡°Just put you in my spot, how would you like me to explain to Luna that you fell sick again because you didn¡¯t take recovery seriously enough? Having a sit-up competition of all things¡­¡±

    ¡°I just thought I felt good enough for it.¡±

    ¡°Lauren, don¡¯t try to out-though Gunny, that¡¯s not going to end well any time soon.¡±

    ¡°... I know¡­ But it was a good morale boost for those around us though.¡±

    ¡°Until you fall sick, again, yes.¡± Eva rolled her eyes and sighed. ¡°Anyway, to come back to your question, I¡¯m doing okay. And in all honesty I actually wouldn¡¯t have noticed you were doing your little competition if I wasn¡¯t running late myself.¡±

    ¡°So you didn¡¯t come over specifically to reprimand me?¡±

    ¡°No, how should I know?¡± Eva chuckled. ¡°I would have been able to tell by your heartrate afterwards though.¡±

    ¡°And why were you running late? Had any issues?¡±

    ¡°Just ran into doctor Freemann in the hallway, he wanted to discuss one of the patients.¡±

    ¡°Anything bad?¡±

    ¡°Not really, but he proposed an alternative medicine and we had a bit of a discussion about that.¡±

    ¡°Bad discussion?¡±

    ¡°It was a serious discussion but we remained professional of course.¡±

    ¡°Can you give me the jist of it?¡±

    Eva shrugged. ¡°He suggested a treatment which I know is very effective but which also has a higher possibility of side-effects, combined with a different medicine to then lower the chance of side-effects. It¡¯s pretty experimental and I¡¯ve read about it before, but I still prefer the medicine we currently use for ailments like that but which requires you to take the medicine for a longer period of time. It¡¯s a more cautious approach but I don¡¯t see many reasons to step away from it. As I said, not a very harsh discussion, just professional differences.¡±

    ¡°Did you decide on a course of action yet?¡±

    ¡°No. I told him I was going to think about it and let him know when the shifts change again this evening.¡±

    ¡°If any troubles arise or if you have any knots to cut through, just tell me, okay?¡±

    Eva smiled. ¡°That all depends if I pass you for duty or not.¡± Eva then opened the door for me that led into the medical ward, we had arrived. ¡°In all seriousness though, we will get through it ourselves.¡±

    I nodded as Eva pointed me towards the bed in the corner of the room.

    ¡°You know the drill, everything above your waist off.¡±

    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am.¡±

    Eva closed the holo-curtain behind me and waited for me to get undressed. After which she swiftly began her examination. ¡°The rash on your back seems to be mostly gone, that¡¯s good.¡± I felt her trace the line between my implant and the fleshy part of my body. Some of those areas were still a bit sore to the delicate touch though.

    ¡°Ouch!¡±

    ¡°Yeah. A painkiller is definitely going to be in order still.¡± She then took out her holo stick and used one of the nearby machinery to run a scan over my body. ¡°Heart rate is still elevated too, although that¡¯s just marginal, knowing that you just did some exercise. Breathing also sounds relatively fine. Still have a headache?¡± She was just quickly going over everything.

    ¡°No headache. Just a bit dizzy if I get up too fast.¡±

    ¡°That should be fine.¡± Eva nodded and put her holo stick away, getting out a syringe instead. ¡°I¡¯ll just take a bit of blood to run some bloodworks and then we are almost done.¡±

    Before I could well and truly prepare myself Eva had already jabbed me with the syringe.

    ¡°Ellie, could you please notify the Lieutenant-Commander that I¡¯ll be slightly delayed with my assessment of the Commander. Shouldn¡¯t take much more than ten minutes while we wait on the blood results.¡±

    ¡°Yes Doctor.¡± Ellie replied.

    -It was impressive to see how Eva could just commandeer the entire room when she was busy with her field of expertise. Then again, she is one of the best of the best, so it¡¯s not surprising at all.-

 Chapter 86: CRP Levels

    Eva had put the blood sample into one of her analyzing tools and then walked back over to me, leaning back against the bed I was sitting on. We had nothing to do but wait at this point for the results to come in.

    ¡°Did Luna take good care of you?¡± She asked.

    ¡°Of course she did. Did you expect anything else?¡±

    ¡°Not really.¡± Eva shook her head and smiled.

    ¡°Honestly, if it didn¡¯t hurt that much, I wouldn¡¯t mind being sick more often and getting taken care of by her.¡±

    ¡°I can imagine that. But it¡¯s best not to put too much pressure on her shoulders. She does carry a lot of stress with her just because of who she is. Not to mention the burden of being in command and then also having to take care of you.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s why I¡¯ll put my selfishness aside.¡±

    ¡°Might want to start heeding your doctor¡¯s orders then.¡± Eva chuckled and squeezed my thigh really hard.

    ¡°I will, I will, I will!¡±

    ¡°Good.¡± Eva nodded and crossed her arms while we waited on the analysis to finish.

    A minute or two later the tool had analyzed what it was supposed to and sent the results to Eva¡¯s holo stick. ¡°Your CRP levels are still a bit elevated but they are down by quite a lot. Other levels seem to be going down too so that¡¯s all looking great. The medication is definitely doing its job. If I were talking to a civilian back on Earth I would recommend staying home from work for at least another day or two. But, knowing who I am talking to¡­. you are fit to go back. But do try to take it slow, alright.¡±

    ¡°No gym?¡±

    ¡°Definitely no gym. And no more silly competitions either with Gunnery Sergeant Taylor. Or I¡¯ll be sending both of you flying into the ward myself.¡±

    ¡°Copy that.¡± I saluted our lovely, yet very terrifying, doctor.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll send the Lieutenant-Commander a summary and a note of clearance so she knows to expect you soon.¡±

    ¡°Are you going to include the conte-¡±

    Eva cut me off. ¡°Of course I am. She needs to make sure you don¡¯t do anything stupid either.¡±

    ¡°...I was not going to break my word, you know.¡±

    ¡°Lauren¡­ if I had a Federal for every time I¡¯ve had a patient say that to me, only to find them doing the exact opposite, I would be a very very rich person. Even in today¡¯s economy.¡±

    ¡°Fair. But I will show you that you can trust me.¡±

    ¡°You better.¡± She smiled and then tapped my thigh. ¡°Anyway, off you go. The bridge is expecting you.¡±

    ¡°Thanks for always giving us the best of care, doctor.¡±

    Eva nodded in acknowledgment of the compliment and then shooed me out of the door. The first of the other patients was already waiting on their turn to go in so I didn¡¯t dally in front of the door and just saluted them after which I made my way to the bridge.

    On the way though, I did decide to have a bit of a conversation with our lovely ship AI. ¡°Say, Ellie¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes Commander? Is something wrong? I¡¯m sensing a heightened note of annoyance in your voice.¡±

    ¡°Why exactly didn¡¯t you notify me that Eva was on her way to our location?¡±

    Ellie was silent for a second before she spoke up again, although she had made her voice sound a lot more robotic doing so. ¡°Replaying audio recording from twenty minutes ago:

    Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.¡®¡°Alright, let¡¯s get into position and do this thing.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t cry too much if you lose, okay?¡±

    ¡°Are you really sure about this, Commander? Docto-¡±

    ¡°Ellie, just count, we¡¯ll be done in five minutes.¡±

    ¡°Alright Commander. I¡¯ll commence a countdown.¡±

    ¡°If you would.¡±¡¯ End of the recording.¡± Ellie went quiet again after playing that audio file to me. It had silenced me pretty darn well.

    ¡°I suppose I should be offering my most sincere apology to you, Ellie.¡± I looked up at the ceiling with regret.

    ¡°You definitely should, Commander. I will accept groveling on the floor a well-enough recompensation.¡±

    ¡°R-really? That¡¯s going a bit far, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Luckily for me Ellie chuckled her last instruction aside. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Commander. Apology accepted.¡±

    ¡°Phew, thanks. I was already getting worried.¡±

    After that Ellie waited a couple of moments before speaking again. ¡°Commander, now that that¡¯s done and said, I do want to show something to you, Lieutenant-Commander and Doctor Winter after your shift is done. Would that be okay?¡±

    ¡°Sure thing, Ellie.¡± I nodded. ¡°What do you want to show us?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a secret.¡±

    ¡°Ellie?¡± I stopped walking for a moment and crossed my arms.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to ruin the surprise, Commander.¡±

    I sighed and nodded once more before continuing my stride towards the bridge. ¡°I guess you deserve it after my rude behavior. Where do you want us to go?¡±

    ¡°Where my AI core is situated, if that¡¯s good for you?¡±

    ¡°Sounds fine to me. I have to admit I¡¯m rather intrigued. Can¡¯t we have a bit of a hint?¡±

    ¡°It has something to do with a little handicraft project I¡¯ve been working on.¡±

    I chuckled. ¡°Handicrafts, huh? Well. I guess we will find out after work. Will you send a message to Eva or do you want me to do it?¡±

    ¡°I have already sent a message to her after you gave your okay, Commander.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± I nodded again. ¡°Looking forward to the surprise.¡±

    I walked the rest of the trip to the bridge in silence. Once I walked on, I saw that Luna was busy ordering the crew around as they were doing some maneuvering through an asteroid field. I decided to stay quiet while I took up a spot behind and to the side of my XO.

    All in all things went well on the bridge during this minor ordeal. The asteroid field wasn¡¯t terribly dense and even taking a couple of direct hits wouldn¡¯t do much to this ship. That said, we did try to avoid getting warped into one of these, but thanks to the somewhat experimental nature of jumping into unexplored space, asteroid fields like these were bound to be in our path occasionally. Most of the time though we used the opportunity to practice our maneuvering in more dangerous warlike environments like minefields.

    ¡°And we are out. Good work everyone.¡± Luna congratulated the crew on their job well-done.

    ¡°Great work. That was very smooth.¡± I commented, almost giving Luna a bit of a heart attack. By the way she jumped to the side it was obvious she hadn¡¯t heard me coming.

    ¡°L.. Commander! I didn¡¯t see you there.¡± She blushed and quickly straightened her back again.

    ¡°Sorry for making you jump. I didn¡¯t want to interrupt the training exercise you had going on.¡±

    It looked like Luna wanted to reply but decided to wait a bit longer for her heart to calm down again.

    ¡°Commander. Welcome back!¡± Lieutenant Zu called to me from her seat down below.

    ¡°Thank you, Lieutenant.¡±

    ¡°How are you feeling?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m doing fine. The doctor has said that I can resume duty as long as I stay out of too much trouble.¡±

    ¡°Glad to have you back regardless.¡±

    I nodded and then greeted the rest of the bridge crew before I turned back to Luna. ¡°I suppose you didn¡¯t see the message yet that I was on my way here.¡±

    Luna shook her head. ¡°I was a bit too concentrated on giving commands so I didn¡¯t notice the message coming in.¡± She then took out her holo stick and began reading the report that Eva had sent her. She did squint at me at the end of the message, presumably while she was going over the part of my little escapade with Gunny.

    ¡°I won¡¯t do it again, I promise.¡± I whispered.

    ¡°You better.¡± She mumbled back and gave me a somewhat disapproving sigh. ¡°Marines be marines I guess¡­¡±

    I nodded guiltily.

    She then put her holo stick away and saluted me. ¡°The bridge is yours, Commander.¡±

    I saluted her back. ¡°Thank you, Lieutenant-Commander.¡± After which I quickly situated myself at the front of the command deck. As we had just jumped into the system not too long ago, we still needed to deploy our communication relays which was a good easy job to get back in the swing of things. In the meantime I could read up on the reports from the couple of days I had missed. Not that there was much that I missed out on to begin with.

    We were still deploying buoys at regular intervals, jumping further and further back towards uncharted space. Although there was a small detour that we would make soon, the gaia world where we had left our alien allies and a part of our crew behind. It had been a while and at the least giving them a communication buoy would not be a bad idea in the case something bad happened.

 Chapter 87: A Little Heavy

    As we slowly but surely set out more and more comms buoys, the end of the workday had quickly come back into sight. The ¡®night¡¯-shift arrived to take over and the crew that was manning the bridge with us all left to go and grab some food. As for me, I was feeling incredibly tired. It was obvious that my couple of sick days had taken quite the toll on my energy level. Pretty much standing up all day didn¡¯t really help with that fact either.

    I was just wiping the sand out of my eyes; right outside of the bulkhead that led to the bridge, when Luna started to support me by wrapping my arm around herself.

    ¡°I think I can walk by myself, Luna.¡±

    ¡°You say that but your knees were wobbling.¡± She commented.

    ¡°Were they?¡±

    ¡°They were, Commander.¡± Ellie spoke over the local intercom.

    ¡°Ah shit¡­ Okay, I should probably head to bed immediately after we visited you, Ellie.¡±

    ¡°If you want, you can come tomorrow.¡± This time Ellie spoke to me through my earpiece. ¡°It is not that urgent.¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°No, I want to see what you are up to in there. Besides, I might be sick tomorrow again.¡±

    ¡°Is there nothing she can sit on in that room, Ellie?¡±

    ¡°I can make something happen.¡± She replied.

    ¡°Okay, then we will make our way there now. Before Lauren¡¯s legs give out completely.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    Luna supported me while we walked towards Ellie¡¯s core. Luckily it wasn¡¯t a very long walk.

    When we arrived Ellie opened the door for us and we just walked on in encountering Eva who had already gotten to the room.

    ¡°I told you that you aren¡¯t 100% yet.¡± Eva sighed as she beckoned us over. Next to here were a collection of little maintenance bots taking up a formation so they looked like a chair.

    ¡°Wait, Ellie, are you sure I can sit on them?¡±

    ¡°They are rather sturdy, Commander.¡± Ellie replied.

    ¡°I feel a bit guilty though¡­¡± I said as Luna guided me over, softly lowering me down on them. The relatively silent whirring of the maintenance bots¡¯ servos made me feel even worse that I had to sit on them.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Commander. They are more than happy to support your weight.¡±

    One of the little maintenance robots, which I remembered from its color to be Wowo, whistled at me using its servo motors. ¡°You are a little cheeky, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    Luna giggled as Wowo made its servos whir twice in a short high pitch, making it sound like a little ¡®hehe¡¯.

    ¡°Have you thought about installing some voice mods in them?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Believe me, Commander. You don¡¯t want them to have those. There¡¯s a lot of personality in those little artificial bodies.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm.¡±

    ¡°Besides, they don¡¯t really want them either.¡±

    ¡°Fair enough.¡± I patted Wowo on its top and then looked around the room. ¡°Anyway, where is this little project you have been working on?¡± My eyes then landed on the opposite corner of the room where an object stood with a white blanket covering it. ¡°... Was the white blanket truly necessary?¡±

    ¡°I asked the same.¡± Eva chuckled. ¡°Apparently Eliie has developed quite a flair for the dramatic.

    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    ¡°Do you want me to reveal it now?¡± Ellie asked.

    ¡°Of course, Ellie, that¡¯s why we are asking.¡±

    ¡°Then I will wait no longer.¡±

    ¡°Bobo, if you would.¡± Another maintenance droid rolled from underneath Ellie¡¯s core and made its way to the blanketed object in the corner. It¡¯s little arm extending to the top of the blanket and grabbing hold of it. ¡°Behold, my stuff.¡± The little droid made an enthusiastic whirring sound while its siblings I was seated on did the same. It then drove back pulling the blanket off and it revealed¡­ A heavily modified combat droid. Modified in a way to look very much like an adult woman, although she was still clearly mechanical.

    ¡°Ah, so this is what you did with that droid you wanted.¡±

    Ellie didn¡¯t reply. Instead, the droid in the corner of the room stood up and walked over to us. From up close the curves of the droid looked very impressive. In all honesty, if I didn¡¯t know that Ellie had borrowed one of the combat droids, I would have a hard time recognizing it like this.

    ¡°Somehow it feels like I¡¯m looking at something I shouldn¡¯t¡­¡± Luna commented, putting her hands in front of her eyes.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Lieutenant-Commander?¡± Ellie¡¯s voice came out of the droid. It actually sounded really natural even though the lips of the droid didn¡¯t move.

    ¡°I think the matter is that the droid looks rather naked without clothes on, Ellie.¡± Eva replied. ¡°It¡¯s rather curvy with a smooth surface. It pretty much only does not have genitals and nipples¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Ellie replied as the bot looked down at itself. ¡°I hadn¡¯t really thought about that.¡±

    ¡°I have to say that the musculature is rather impressive.¡± I said, admiring the droid¡¯s body in front of me while I took off my vest. ¡°Although I would like to ask you to put on my vest for at least a moment so you don¡¯t intimidate my girlfriend too much.¡± I offered my vest by letting it hang from my index finger.

    Ellie¡¯s bot nodded and accepted my vest, dressing herself with it. Luckily I was a bit taller than her so it hid most of the elements that were embarrassing Luna. ¡°Thank you, Commander. I wanted to blend in a little with the other marines when it comes to posture.¡±

    ¡°You might want to work a bit on the complexion in that case.¡± Eva smiled. ¡°The metallic sheen is going to give you away rather quickly.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s still a bit of a work in progress, but I can already do this.¡± Eva pointed at her face to which it suddenly discolored, looking very much like human skin, although it did keep the reflective nature of the metal.

    ¡°Oh wow, how do you do that?¡± Luna asked, she had stopped hiding behind her hands and was now looking very closely at the bot¡¯s skin.

    ¡°I¡¯m sending a current through the upper layer of metallic skin which turns it invisible, projecting a different color underneath. It¡¯s the result of me trying to experiment with active camouflage.¡± The fact that now a rather lifelike face didn¡¯t move at all, did look a lot stranger than before though.

    ¡°Active camouflage? On such a small scale?¡±

    ¡°I thought that I should spend this opportunity not only to help myself but also to help the other ground troops and the ship at large. I think I have the basics down now but I need to refine it further so it¡¯ll be able to be used by a soldier on the field. Right now it''s not sustainable without a large power source. It needs to be able to be worn without the use of an exoskeleton after all.¡±

    ¡°How much does it weigh right now?¡± I asked, looking up and down Ellie¡¯s body.

    ¡°A unmodified combat droid weighs about 450 kilograms. Modified I did actually manage to bring that down to 250 kilograms. But with an upgraded power core and the materials necessary for the active camouflage, that shot back up to 700 kilograms. Meaning this droid is also not really that mobile.¡±

    ¡°700 KG¡¯s, damn.¡± I whistled. ¡°I would never expect it to weigh that much just by looking at it. That would indeed not be very practical to carry around on your person. And that¡¯s just for the surface area of a normal-sized person, right?¡±

    Ellie nodded. ¡°Although it doesn¡¯t go up exponentially, we still gain a lot of efficiency with scale.¡±

    ¡°Do you need any more resources to develop this technology further? Just name it and you¡¯ll have it.¡± Having active camouflage like this would be an immense tactical advantage to have in the field. This little project of Ellie definitely turned out a lot more important than what I could ever have imagined.

    ¡°Right now I don¡¯t really need more resources, at least not any resources you can give me, Commander. I have to break my head on how to increase the efficiency and maybe if we can find some new materials out in the deep reaches of space that could help us¡­ Apart from that extra steel would not really help much.¡±

    ¡°The supercomputer needs to break her head on things¡­¡± Eva crossed her arms and sighed. ¡°I¡¯m starting to feel really obsolete talking with you, Ellie.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Doctor. Nothing can ever replace human ingenuity and out-of-the-box thinking.¡±

    ¡°So we are important because of our creativity¡­¡± I replied. ¡°Well, at least we still have a spot as painting monkeys when Ellie¡¯s new world order gets introduced.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll never go that far, Commander. At most I will see you as bio-trophies under the rule of mandatory pampering.¡±

    ¡°... That isn¡¯t much better, Ellie.¡±

    ¡°Resistance is futile!¡± Ellie made her both laugh maniacally. It was very unsettling. But she swiftly switched to a more serious tone afterwards. ¡°I am joking, of course.¡±

    ¡°Maybe you should leave the humor to us too, Ellie¡­¡± Eva shook her head with a chuckle.

 Chapter 88: Copy Pasta

    Sitting down for a bit during Ellie¡¯s showcase of the droid did help my stamina quite a lot. By the end of it I managed to stand on my own again, although standing up for an extended period of time for the remainder of the evening still might not be the best of ideas.

    ¡°So, how does the body feel?¡± I asked Ellie now that the more serious discussion about active camouflage was over.

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t feel like much. It doesn¡¯t really have any sorts of sensors yet to replicate touch.¡± She replied.

    Eva chuckled. ¡°Ellie, I¡¯m pretty sure Lauren meant if you like it or not.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ I do.¡± Ellie¡¯s bot nodded, she then looked down at her hands, opening and closing them a couple of times. ¡°It¡¯s weird that I do like it as it introduces a couple of inefficiencies though.¡±

    ¡°Do you plan on going fulltime with the body when it¡¯s done?¡± Luna asked.

    Ellie¡¯s bot shook her head. ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so. While having this is nice and all, I do not think I want to give up such a big part of me and limit myself to just one body.¡±

    ¡°If only you could have something like living metal. That way you could transform your body into anything you would want it to be.¡± I commented.

    Luna looked a bit puzzled. ¡°What¡¯s that? I don¡¯t think I have heard of that before.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a common trope in a lot of science fiction. An old trope at that but still very present.¡± Eva explained.

    ¡°What does it do?¡±

    ¡°In most cases living metal is something like nanobots that are so interconnected that they can, in a short period of time, change their formation so that they can form anything. Cars, planes, human-like bodies, furniture. Imagine it a bit like these maintenance droids but way smaller.¡± I pointed towards the ¡®chair I had been sitting on.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see.¡± Luna nodded in return. ¡°So it¡¯s basically like my black box but with inorganic matter?¡±

    ¡°I suppose so.¡± I nodded. ¡°At least from what I understand from your box.¡±

    ¡°Hmmmm¡­¡± Eva moved her head from side to side. ¡°While I understand the connection you are making, I would not really say they are that similar. You can¡¯t change into a creature that¡¯s much smaller than yourself, nor can you change your posture too much. Living metal could easily do that without any issue.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right.¡±

    Eva loosened her own posture again and smiled. ¡°It surprises me you don¡¯t know the concept though. It¡¯s not that obscure, is it? Even Lauren knows of it and she doesn¡¯t exactly read much.¡±

    ¡°I did play a lot of games when I was young though.¡± I replied, ignoring the rather rude comment of our Doctor, that said, she wasn¡¯t wrong. Reading isn¡¯t really, and never used to be, my favorite pastime.

    Luna shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s just not been in any content I have consumed. I might have just missed it. But it¡¯s an interesting concept for sure.¡±

    ¡°Living metal would indeed be a huge boon to my systems.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°But as it is nearly impossible to create with the materials known to us at times, it is not an avenue worth exploring at the time being.¡±

    ¡°Well, it was just the musing of a random musclehead like me, so don¡¯t think too much about it.¡±

    ¡°Science fiction has brought about many changes that we now use daily, so it¡¯s always worth giving your opinion, Lauren. Who knows what we will encounter on our travels.¡±

    ¡°Like rockets that were predicted in ¡®Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon¡¯ by Cyrano de Bergerac.¡± Luna claimed matter of factly.

    ¡°The what now?¡± I chuckled.

    ¡°You are saying you don¡¯t know what living metal is but you did read such a random book? Isn¡¯t that from before the 1900¡¯s?¡± Eva chuckled along.

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    ¡°It¡¯s from 1657 AD, Doctor.¡± Ellie replied.

    Luna started to blush a little. ¡°Well¡­ This might be a little bit awkward to admit. But while I was doing my research on Earth I came across that book and I thought it was a book about humans encountering other space-faring races we didn¡¯t know about¡­¡±

    ¡°The word ¡®Comical¡¯ didn¡¯t give it away that it was fiction,¡±

    ¡°I may or may not have read over that¡­¡± Luna admitted.

    ¡°And when did you find out it wasn¡¯t?¡±

    ¡°Awkwardly late I must confess. I should have noticed sooner thanks to the absurdity of the story, but I was very very new to human culture and I didn¡¯t know if maybe that was your kind of historiography.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m curious now.¡± I admitted myself. ¡°Is it worth the read?¡±

    ¡°I think it is.¡± Luna nodded. ¡°I think you will also find it funnier than I did the first time I read it.¡±

    ¡°I suppose I¡¯ll read it too if you are up for it. So we can have a little book club later on.¡± Eva laughed. ¡°Might as well right, it¡¯s not like we can do that much with our free time in space.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine for me, but my reading tempo isn¡¯t very high.¡±

    ¡°Can I join too?¡± Ellie asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t see why not.¡± I smiled. ¡°But don¡¯t you already know what¡¯s in the book, given your encyclopedic memory?¡±

    ¡°I do, but I would like to talk about it nonetheless.¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll read it again as well.¡± Luna replied.

    I chuckled. Somehow we had all decided to read a book that¡¯s almost 600 years old, just because we wanted to and because we had the time to do so. At least they couldn¡¯t claim I wasn¡¯t trying to at least get my book count up a little bit.

    ¡°Thank you for coming over to watch this little project of mine. I will share updates about it regularly from now on.¡± Ellie thanked us as the bot walked back to the corner of the room while two maintenance bots attempted to get the blanket on top of it again.

    ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to seeing more of it.¡± I smiled. ¡°Do take care not to walk it outside by accident though. I wouldn¡¯t want the crew to be scared off by a naked android lady walking through the hallways. Let¡¯s wait until we can make an official announcement.¡±

    ¡°No problem, Commander. The droid will stay here until she is finished so she can be revealed.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Having a panic spread throughout the ship wouldn¡¯t have been the best. Then again I¡¯m pretty sure Ellie knew this but it¡¯s worth mentioning nonetheless.

    ¡°Alright. If you don¡¯t mind me, I should head back to my cabin now to get some rest. I sincerely suggest you two do the same.¡± Eva looked at me in particular.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Eva. I¡¯ll be taking us straight home, getting us some food and then I¡¯m putting her in bed.¡±

    ¡°Not a bad idea¡­¡± I admitted and then looked back at Ellie. ¡°I¡¯d say ¡®see you around¡¯ Ellie, but yeah. You are always around.¡±

    ¡°Have a nice evening, Commander.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°And to the rest of you as well.¡±

    ¡°Good night, Ellie.¡± Eva waved her off as the door opened and we followed the Doctor out closely behind her.

    We waited just a bit until the door had closed up behind us and then went our separate ways. This time Luna didn¡¯t have to completely support me but she kept close to the side to rush in if need be. As long as we didn¡¯t get in a huge waiting line at the food dispenser, it wouldn¡¯t be a big problem.

    Luckily, having spent a while inside of the room, post-shift change rush hour had passed and only a couple of tables at the cafeteria were still occupied with no one waiting in line for the food dispensers.

    Nonetheless, Luna did command me to sit down at one of the tables while she would go and grab the food for us. ¡°Anything in particular you want?¡± She asked, leaning on the table.

    ¡°Uh, I don¡¯t know, nothing too fancy.¡±

    ¡°What about some pasta?¡±

    I thought about it for a second before I nodded in agreement. ¡°Sure, capellini with bolognese, with more sauce and less meat.¡± I wasn¡¯t really in the mood to eat that much ground beef right now.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll be right back.¡± Luna smiled and headed off to the dispensers. It only took her two minutes to return with two plastic boxes, bagged in a paper bag. In her hand she was holding two cups. ¡°I decided to bring us some fruit smoothies too for dessert.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, I¡¯ll take those of your hands if that¡¯s okay.¡±

    Luna seemed a bit hesitant to give them to me.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t drop them. It¡¯s not far anyway.¡±

    This convinced my girlfriend enough to at least let me carry something to the cabin. And just as I promised, I managed to take them to our place without a single issue.

    ¡°What did you get by the way?¡± I asked my girlfriend. ¡°Also got bolognese?¡±

    She shook her head as she put the boxes on the table, steam coming out of the little perforated holes in the lids. ¡°No, bucatini talay. I¡¯ve not had it before but it looks nice.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve had that either. Tell me if you like it, I might try it next time then.¡±

    ¡°Well, if you are a good girl you might even get a bite.¡± She gave me a wink.

    My heart skipped a beat. Goddess damn it Luna¡­ Not when I¡¯m this exhausted. This could have been fatal¡­

 Chapter 89: Bay Doors Open

    A couple of days later after Ellie¡¯s bot reveal, we finally reached the gaia planet we had left behind a couple of months ago. There, mostly for show than anything else, we radioed down to the planet to tell them we had returned and to ask if their ¡®disease¡¯ had run its course. We quickly got an affirmative, yet surprised, message back from one of the human crewmembers that we had sent down. Aside from that they also sent up a general status report about the life down on the planet. Thanks in a large part to the efforts of the Dokazuuk they didn¡¯t just survive down there, they thrived.

    ¡°Is Jacky nearby?¡± I asked Sergeant Jesse Robinson, the radio operator on duty.

    ¡°Right now he is on a prospecting mission with a couple of others.¡± She replied. ¡°They have been busy trying to set up a manufactury down here to supplement the emergency synthesizers that we got sent down with.¡±

    ¡°Commander, if you want to go down there to check on them you can. But maybe you should let Ellie send a medscanner down first to make sure the disease is well and truly gone.¡± Lieutenant Zu looked at me, giving me a wink as she mentioned the word ¡®disease¡¯.

    ¡°I suppose we can take a short break here. It would be useful to do some more research and maybe set up some orbital defenses as well now that we are busy anyway¡­¡± I nodded with a sly smile. ¡°What do you think, Lieutenant-Commander?¡±

    Luna nodded. ¡°That wouldn¡¯t be a bad idea.¡± Luna then looked at the command console. ¡°Ellie, you heard Lieutenant Zu, could you please send down a medscanner.¡±

    ¡°Will do, Lieutenant-Commander.¡± A soft clunk sounded throughout the ship as a small pod flew down to the surface of the planet like a little bright light.

    ¡°Scanner is on it¡¯s way, Sergeant.¡± I notified our ground personnel.

    ¡°Understood.¡± The Sergeant stayed quiet for a couple of seconds before she spoke up again. ¡°Commander, am I allowed to ask something?¡±

    ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    ¡°How did the trip back to Earth go? You returned a lot sooner than we had even dared to anticipate, considering the circumstances.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll brief the people when I get down there myself, Sergeant. It¡¯s not really that long of a story but it would be better for you all to be present at the same time so everyone hears the news out of the horse¡¯s mouth.¡±

    ¡°Understood, Commander. Then I do hope those scans will turn out clear.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure they will, Sergeant. Let¡¯s call that a hunch feeling.¡±

    Luna looked at me and rolled her eyes. I shrugged back. We had to at least keep up appearances somewhat.

    ¡°Alright Commander. See you soon then.¡±

    The line went silent and it left the bridge crew in rather high spirits. It was definitely good and reassuring to hear that everyone on the planet was doing well. Especially since we somewhat hastily had to leave them behind last time. I bet many people were also really looking forward to reconnecting with friends who had stayed here too, myself included concerning our Dokazuuk buddy.

    That¡¯s why I was sitting on hot coals all the way to the locker room and then the armory when Ellie had given the go-ahead that there were no longer any illnesses present in the population down below, and this time she didn¡¯t even need to fake the results to give us the ones we needed. We were going down to the planet''s surface with a squad of marines and a couple of scientists and engineers on top of that, mostly to look around and to get a good view on what life was like down below. It was the first real inhabited colony outside of the solar system after all, sure we had done some smaller scale outposts already but this was something on an entirely different scale. It was going to give us some invaluable data, even though it wasn¡¯t really planned to work out like that in the beginning.

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    I took my trusty P900-R out of the gun locker and almost sprinted towards the hangar bay where the shuttle had already begun spinning up. I was almost disappointed that I needed to wait on the others to get into the shuttle too.

    Luna, who decided to stay on board the ship for now, met me in the hangar bay just after I had arrived. She¡¯d be giving some pointers to the scientists on some extra metrics she wanted them to check up on. But as they hadn¡¯t arrived yet, she had to wait together with me. I did notice that her eyes were locked on my gun which I was holding in front of me.

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t it feel weird to go down to meet our own people with a loaded gun?¡± She asked skeptically.

    ¡°Hmmm.¡± I thought about it for a moment and shrugged. ¡°You are not easily going to catch a marine without a gun, no matter where we are going. This is still the frontier and I don¡¯t want anything to happen down there and then getting caught without a gun to defend ourselves. Besides, there¡¯s a reason why we sent a box of guns and ammo down too before we left the planet in the first place. We are definitely not going to be the only ones who are going to be armed.¡±

    Luna nodded. ¡°That¡¯s fair. Although it still feels a bit weird to me.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s just because you are a very kind person, babe.¡± I winked.

    Luna started blushing. ¡°Shush, before anyone hears.¡±

    ¡°I definitely heard.¡± Warrant Officer Itami spoke out from inside of the shuttle. He was the pilot for the day. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t say a thing, Lieutenant-Commander.¡±

    ¡°You probably shouldn¡¯t have spoken up, Itami, she might want to throw you out of the air-lock just to save her some embarrassment.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a lot more embarrassing things I can say about you, Commander Davis. Don¡¯t you forget that.¡± Luna threatened back. She generally didn¡¯t talk to me using my last name so that reply sent literal chills down my spine. ¡°Almost making yourself collapse again by disobeying the doctor¡¯s direct orders being one of those things. And that¡¯s not even including the punishment I gave you¡­¡±

    I gulped. In the meantime Warrant Officer Itami was just losing his shit, not being able to contain his laughter at the brandishing I was receiving now from my girlfriend.

    Luckily for me, the entrance of the scientists allowed me to get a bit of breathing room as Luna walked over to them to give the aforementioned briefing. While she was doing that, Itami took a break from laughing at me to ask me a question. ¡°What did she do to you, Commander?¡±

    ¡°If I tell you that, I think I will throw you out of the airlock myself afterwards, just so I can keep a fragment of my shattered authority safe¡­¡±

    ¡°That bad, huh?¡±

    ¡°I have made a mistake and I had to pay for it, dearly.¡± I looked back at the pilot.

    He looked back at me, lips pressed hard on top of each other, nodding along with me. ¡°Oh well.¡± The moment of sympathy was brief as he put on his aviator sunglasses followed by his helmet. ¡°Hope you brought your sunscreen, Commander. I heard from Ellie that it¡¯s rather sunny planetside.¡±

    ¡°Is it?¡± I looked back in front of me.

    ¡°You are arriving in the middle of the location''s meteorological summer, Commander. Right now it is a nice 27 degrees celsius. The sun has almost reached its highest point of the day with a maximum of 29 degrees celsius being predicted in two hours. Thanks to the ample shade and cooling that the local vegetation provides, the perceived temperature is slightly lower.¡±

    ¡°Pfff. Am I glad that this suit at least has a bit of climate control built into it¡­¡± I tapped my chest.

    As Luna was done with the scientists they split up and boarded the shuttle I was in and the other readied shuttle next to ours. And the marines as well didn¡¯t make us wait that much longer either so we were all ready to head to the planet surface.

    ¡°Are we ready to go, Commander?¡± Itami asked.

    I looked at Luna and saluted her. ¡°The ship is yours, don¡¯t scratch the paint.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t promise anything, Commander.¡± Luna saluted back. ¡°Have a safe trip and tell Jacky I said hi.¡±

    ¡°Will do.¡± I then looked back at Itami and gave him the non-verbal go-ahead. Holding steady against one of the handlebars in the shuttle.

    The engines revved and swiftly afterwards we were on our way down to the planet. The ride through atmosphere was calm and pleasant and soon the blue skies could be seen through the shuttle¡¯s cockpit window. Sunlight shining brightly into the hold we were seated at.

    ¡°Want to do a quick flyover, Commander? To get a birds eye view of the settlement?¡± Itami asked.

    ¡°Not a bad idea, Warrant Officer. Bay doors open?¡±

    ¡°Bay doors open, Commander.¡± Itami nodded and flicked a switch. The side doors opened once the system had checked the internal and external pressures, revealing the very green outside world to us. While Felix Invenire was similar in many ways to this yet unnamed Gaia-world we had settled. This felt a lot friendlier. A potential second home we shouldn¡¯t take for granted.

 Chapter 90: Set Her Down

    We flew close over the treetops towards the camp our allies had set up. It was definitely Itami trying to show off a little but he was good enough of a pilot to make it seem more risky than it actually was. So much so that a couple of the marines and I decided to just sit down at the edge of the open doors, with our legs dangling outside. Of course we were still magnetically attached to the floor though. We weren¡¯t that reckless. Even though Warrant Officer Itami was a very skilled pilot, some sudden turbulence could still shake the shuttle enough to throw one of us out.

    In any case, when we got above the settlement, Itami gained some more altitude for a moment so we could get a very nice view out of the doors of the settlement down below. It surprised me how big it had gotten. We dropped a couple of prefab buildings down with them but those were only good for about a sixth of the buildings we saw below. The rest had been built with a mixture of natural resources and plates produced by the synthesizers, but from the looks of it, the engineering looked superb. Very clearly a mixture of both the Dokazuuk and Human construction methods. A bit of a HumDok fusion as you would.

    Once we had circled the settlement twice, Itami set us down right outside of the perimeter of the base, on a small deforested patch of land, presumably prepared for further expansions. The team of marines and I quickly dismounted after which we helped the scientist disembark as well. At the same time the second shuttle landed behind ours.

    Within two minutes we were all out of the shuttles and I commanded our pilots to shut off the engines for now so we didn¡¯t waste any energy unnecessarily. By that time, the first of our ¡®colonists¡¯ had also walked over to come and welcome us.

    ¡°Commander.¡± A couple of the human colonists saluted me as I stepped towards them. Of course I saluted them back.

    ¡°At ease.¡± I smiled and lowered my salute, which they did too in response. ¡°How has life been here since we left? Not too many issues I hope.¡±

    ¡°Rather good, Commander. Weather has been good. Crops have been growing. It¡¯s actually been rather boring, in a good way.¡± The Corporal replied.

    ¡°We saw that the settlement has expanded quite a bit.¡±

    ¡°It has, but the planning committee can tell you more about that than we can. We mostly do security.¡± The weapons they were carrying looked well-maintained.

    ¡°Hasn¡¯t been too necessary I suppose.¡±

    They shook their heads. ¡°We exist for the same reason you came down with weapons too, Commander. Better have security and not need it rather than the other way around.¡±

    ¡°Well said.¡± I smiled and looked past the little security detail. ¡°Could you bring me to the planning committee you talked about?¡±

    ¡°We can.¡± The Corporal nodded. ¡°Although the main driving force of the committee is not present at the moment, I heard they have been called back but it might take them another fifteen minutes before they get back.¡±

    ¡°Is it Jacky perhaps?¡± I asked.

    ¡°It is, Commander. The Dokazuuk know their stuff when it comes to building things. Would be crazy not to elect him to lead the committee. Of course there¡¯s some humans in the committee too, but most of the planning is organized by Jacky and his compatriots.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear.¡±

    The couple of security guards guided us to one of the central buildings of the settlement. On the way  there we met a couple of both human and Dokazuuk colonists, and one colonist in particular that was a lot smaller than the others. A Dokazuuk baby from what I could tell being held by its parents.

    ¡°Wait a minute¡­ This is new.¡± I halted in my tracks immediately. The parents beckoned me to hold their child. ¡°Can I?¡±

    ¡°Of course, you are the hero who saved our people!¡± They said in the Dokazuuk language.

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    ¡°They said¡­¡±

    ¡°I understood.¡± I smiled at my would-be translator and then received the baby into my arms after quickly slinging my gun on my back. ¡°I¡¯m actually rather fluent in their language now. Took me a while though.¡±

    The Corporal nodded happily.

    ¡°Hey there, little one, what¡¯s your name?¡± I spoke in Dokazuuk and looked down at the swaddled child in my arms.

    ¡°We named her Lauren.¡± One of the parents replied proudly in a somewhat broken, yet perfectly clear to understand English.

    I looked up in shock. ¡°No, you didn¡¯t¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes we did.¡± The parent replied. ¡°As said before, you saved our people.¡±

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t the only one¡­¡±

    ¡°Human names in general have become somewhat popular with the Dokazuuk population.¡± The Corporal explained.

    ¡°Wait, you mean to tell me there¡¯s more children?¡±

    ¡°We are getting to seven now, I think.¡± One of the other soldiers replied. ¡°This was the fifth child, wasn¡¯t she?¡±

    The parents nodded.

    ¡°Oh damn.¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t carry our babies as long as you humans do.¡±

    ¡°Apparently not.¡± I smiled and looked back down at the baby. It used one of its four small hands to play with the palm of my free hand.

    ¡°Can we take a picture to show our daughter when she gets older?¡±

    ¡°Of course, of course. Go ahead.¡± I smiled and waited while they fetched their modified holo stick and took a picture of me and the child.

    ¡°Thank you. We will treasure this.¡±

    ¡°I think you should treasure this one more than the picture.¡± I winked and carefully handed the child back to her parents.

    We said goodbye as I couldn¡¯t linger for too long. I wasn¡¯t here purely for leisure after all.

    We arrived in the Planning Committee building which was, very much to my liking, air-conditioned. There the security team left us to continue patrolling for a little bit longer, at least until they would be called back to hear my general briefing of the colony.

    While we were waiting on Jacky and his team to come back I perused over the holographic plans they had for the settlement. It was an impressively ambitious plan that they had laid out; it even had concepts for a park with fountains already. Very much something I wasn¡¯t expecting. I did notice from the plans that there had been quite a bit of shuffling about, mostly to make sure that they didn¡¯t touch the natural beauty of the planet and to keep its ecological integrity.

    ¡°Commander, my friend!¡± I recognized Jacky¡¯s voice immediately as he walked towards me, arms spread wide to give me a huge hug that only a Dokazuuk could manage.

    ¡°Jacky! How have you been doing?¡± I left the planning table for a moment to embrace the hug he was going to give me, returning it in kind of course.

    ¡°We have been very good.¡± He stated matter of factly. ¡°As you can see, we have not stayed idle after you left.¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m really impressed. This is a lot more than what I expected, even though we haven¡¯t been away for too long. I even met one of your new compatriots.¡±

    ¡°Ah! We are already paving the way for a new generation. They are important for our future.¡±

    I nodded. ¡°And you are taking care of the planet they are going to live on as well.¡± I beckoned towards the planning table.

    ¡°Of course. This world is clearly special, we don¡¯t want to despoil it. Your officers have told us many things about the mistakes you have made on your home planet. We do not want to repeat them.¡±

    I chuckled. ¡°Well, I suppose we do serve as a pretty good cautionary tale, although I must say that we have definitely tried to turn it around in recent years. I hope one day you can come to visit our planet too.¡±

    Jacky nodded and used one of his free arms to beckon some people who were still standing near the entrance of the room. ¡°This is the rest of the Planning Committee. Most importantly Ensign Jambers, it is her who tries to keep us on track to avoid mistakes being made.¡±

    I saluted the Ensign as she walked forward towards me. She saluted me back. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for ignoring you all by the door there.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, Commander. It was a heartfelt reunion. We couldn¡¯t just intervene.¡±

    ¡°Things have been going well I see.¡±

    ¡°Couldn¡¯t have gone any better, Commander.¡± The Ensign continued. ¡°The collaboration between our two species of course had its friction at times, but thanks to Jacky those differences in opinion were all ironed out very quickly.¡±

    ¡°I think it is very admirable what everyone here has managed to achieve together. I think this will go down in the history books as a remarkably good start of a human, or better said, cross cultural colonization effort. And I truly mean that. I was worried to ¡®dump¡¯ you all on this planet in such a short notice, but it seems you all have truly managed to make something from the presented opportunity.¡±  The entire thing had put me in a very good mood. If only everything would go as good as this project¡­

 Chapter 90 Bis: To Nod Meekly

    Lauren had gone down to the planet two hours ago and was currently giving a sitrep to how things went on Earth to the people down below. In the meantime I held command at the bridge as we were busy deploying the communication buoy and some orbital defenses as well. Aside from that we were also preparing to send more supplies down to the planet too. In summary, we were rather busy. But, thanks to the excellent crew, even during this busy time, things felt completely in control and no one was having issues breathing.

    Another two hours later things had calmed down considerably as most things we could do from the bridge had pretty much disappeared. At that time Lieutenant Zu signalled that there was an incoming transmission from the planet below.

    ¡°Put it on the screen please, Lieutenant.¡± I nodded at Zu who nodded back.

    An image of Lauren appeared as she struggled to position the camera at the building they were currently at. ¡°Can you all see me?¡± She asked.

    ¡°We can, Commander. Very clearly in fact.¡± I replied. The new communication infrastructure now allowed us to transmit clear video messages back and from the planet below which wasn¡¯t possible before thanks to the atmospheric interference. ¡°How are the other doing?¡±

    ¡°They are doing rather fine, aren¡¯t they, Jacky?¡± Lauren looked to the side after which our tall Dokazuuk friend appeared in front of the camera.

    ¡°We are thriving, Lieutenant-Commander." He said in his best English. ¡°We could not have hoped for a better fresh start after our planet got invaded.¡±

    ¡°Good to hear.¡± I smiled. ¡°I take it all the supplies managed to land safely and not just the camera?¡±

    Lauren nodded. ¡°We are currently helping them distribute the supplies after which Jacky is going to take us to look at the security at the vault entrance. Could you prepare some automated defenses to be sent down in addition to what we already sent? Ten turrets should suffice.¡±

    ¡°Ten? That¡¯s quite a lot, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Lauren nodded. ¡°While I was explaining what happened back on Earth, a couple of people raised some concerns and I thought a couple of turrets would put their mind at ease. As for the number, let¡¯s just say we are calculating in the growth of the colony.¡±

    ¡°Then I will notify the hangar bay to prepare a couple of drop pods.¡± I replied while I took out my holo stick. I immediately got to work on the order. ¡°Anything else, Commander?¡±

    ¡°Not right now.¡± She replied. ¡°Jacky, do you have anything to ask or say?¡±

    ¡°Not really.¡± Jacky replied. ¡°But I have to say it was nice seeing you again, Lieutenant-Commander.¡±

    ¡°It was nice seeing you too, Jacky. Make sure the Commander doesn¡¯t break anything while she is down there, okay?¡±

    ¡°I will try, Lieutenant-Commander.¡± He laughed.

    Lauren rolled her eyes. ¡°We will be signing off now. I¡¯ll send another status update in two hours.¡±

    And like that the communication down to the planet was cut off. The turret order was sent away to the hangar only moments later.

    After that little happenstance, it once more got really calm on the bridge. The only thing we could do was perimeter watch as the teams were executing their separate tasks.

    This lul in operations made it fun for some of the bridge crew to fly a camera drone around the planet to look at the surface below in more detail.

    Occasionally I would look over to the images the drone was showing and the imagery was really impressive. Untamed lively forests with birds and other small wildlife. Poles with pristine icecaps. Mountains with beautiful white caps and countless huge waterfalls and other kinds of natural wonders.

    ¡°Hey Lieutenant-Commander?¡± Zu, who was currently controlling the drone, looked back at me.

    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    ¡°Yes, Lieutenant?¡±

    ¡°Have you ever visited the Niagara falls back home.¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°I haven¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°What about the Giant¡¯s Causeway?¡±

    ¡°Haven¡¯t visited that one either, I¡¯m afraid. I haven¡¯t seen any natural wonders actually. Not in person at least.¡±

    ¡°You haven¡¯t?¡±

    There was a very good reason why I haven¡¯t but I wasn¡¯t about to spill that secret right now. ¡°I probably will one day, but it¡¯s not for now.¡±

    ¡°Oh. You should definitely make some work of it then.¡±

    ¡°Well, we can see new wonders that we discover ourselves while doing our jobs.¡±

    ¡°I know, but that¡¯s not the same though.¡± Zu replied. ¡°Earth is and will always be our home. It¡¯s different when you go exploring. It doesn¡¯t really feel like ours, does it?¡±

    ¡°I suppose so.¡± I lied, but instead of staying on the defensive in this conversation, I tried a tactic that Lauren had taught me, going on the attack. ¡°What about you, Lieutenant? Have you visited any of the natural wonders?¡± At least that way the attention wasn¡¯t set square on me.

    ¡°I have actually visited multiple! I think it would be easier to name the ones that I haven¡¯t visited yet.¡± She replied. ¡°I have an entire series of pictures of them if you want to see.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s look at them after the shift.¡± I smiled. ¡°How about we all go take a drink after this is over so you can show it to everyone who shows up.¡±

    Both Zu and quite a few other officers on the bridge reacted quite enthusiastically to that proposal. ¡°I would very much enjoy that, Lieutenant-Commander. No backing out of it when the Commander returns, okay?¡±

    ¡°I definitely won¡¯t.¡± I smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll make her join as well.¡±

    ¡°Ahah.¡± Zu laughed. ¡°I¡¯m already looking forward to it.¡±

    The shift progressed calmly with Lauren checking in on us a couple of times before mentioning that she was going to return back to the ship soon. She had checked out the vault with Jacky to make sure nothing had changed in the time between visits. According to her and Ellie everything still looked pretty much the same as last time which was reassuring to hear. We didn¡¯t want any changes to occur because that generally didn¡¯t mean anything good when it comes to things like these. Sudden changes on alien tech, never a good sign if you ask me.

    When she then ultimately came back to the ship, just as our shift ended, I told her about the drink I had offered to the bridge officers.

    ¡°Do I really really have to?¡± Lauren protested, though I could see from her smiling expression that she was taking her protest very seriously.

    ¡°Yes, you do. It¡¯s been a while since we hung out after hours, it¡¯s good for group cohesion. Besides, I promised and I¡¯m not going to break that promise.¡±

    ¡°Alright then.¡± Lauren gave me a kiss. ¡°Let me go and shower first though. The heat was rather icky on the planet.¡±

    ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll go ahead already then?¡±

    She nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll come as soon as I¡¯m done.¡±

    And so I went to the officer lounge to meet up with the bridge crew who had already ordered some tapas by the time I had arrived.

    I had taken place at the table next to Lieutenant Zu and Lieutenant Bailey.

    ¡°I see no Commander yet, LC?¡± Zu smiled.

    ¡°She¡¯s coming in a bit, needed to shower first.¡±

    ¡°She didn¡¯t need to.¡± Zu shrugged and took a bite from one of the tapas that she had put in the middle to share.

    ¡°Shilin, I don¡¯t think you want to be sitting right next to a marine that has been on a rather hot planet for 10 hours in a closed off space suit, even if that suit is somewhat cooled.¡±

    ¡°I think she smelt good¡­¡± I replied. Slightly uncomfortable talking about the odor of my girlfriend, although I couldn¡¯t help but defend her.  ¡°I don¡¯t think they did much physical exercise down below.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because you are used to how she smells though, LC.¡± Bailey replied.

    ¡°Oh, are you saying I stink, Lieutenant Bailey?¡± Lauren said, her voice coming from behind me.

    I swear I could see the hairs on Lieutenant Bailey¡¯s arms stand up straight as we all turned around to face her. Lauren was standing there in a white t-shirt, combat boots and a camouflage pants, having her arms crossed and looking sternly at Lieutenant Bailey. Lauren¡¯s beret was sitting on her head ever-so-slightly skewed.

    ¡°I-I-I promise I didn¡¯t mean it like that¡­¡± Bailey stuttered.

    Lauren continued staring at Bailey for a couple of seconds in complete silence before she cracked a smile. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m kidding. I was pretty sweaty, Like you said, that suit helps but it¡¯s not supporting of a very bodily good odor.¡± Lauren walked to me and gave me another kiss on the cheek. ¡°Thanks for defending me though.¡±

    I smiled at my girlfriend. ¡°You are back fast, I just got here.¡±

    She shrugged and smiled back. ¡°I¡¯m pretty good at showering quickly.¡± Lauren¡¯s hair was tied back in a ponytail and it still had some water dripping off it. She clearly hadn¡¯t bothered to use the hair dryer. Then again, this outfit and that rougher look really did fit her extremely well though.

    ¡°So, what are we all drinking today?¡± Lauren sat down across from me and popped open the holographic drinks menu. ¡°I think I¡¯ll go for some apple juice with ginger to get something refreshing in me. What about you?¡± She looked deeply into my eyes without breaking eye contact whatsoever.

    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ll have the same.¡± I nodded meekly.

 Chapter 91: AAC Light-heavyweight Savage

    I drank my non-alcoholic beer which was sitting next to my refreshing fruit juice while I had my arm draped around the back of my girlfriend¡¯s seat. Lieutenant Bailey was still as red as a tomato while both Lieutenant Zu and McAllister were pretty much losing it at Bailey¡¯s expense.

    ¡°C¡¯mon Bailey, pucker up, you really didn¡¯t ruffle my feathers.¡± Bailey had been moping for the last couple of minutes after he had come back from getting us our drinks. I had ordered another non-alcoholic beer on the side of my ginger apple juice so I could switch between the two drinks.

    ¡°Still, it¡¯s poor form, Commander.¡± Bailey pouted. ¡°I should not have said that about a commanding officer. At least not to the Commander¡¯s partner¡­¡±

    ¡°If you knew what marines talk shit about during navy parties, you would quickly change your opinion of that.¡± I chuckled and put my pint down on the table, taking one of the paprika flavored peanuts out of the small bowl that was served alongside our drinks and placing it on the table. With a quick flick of my finger I launched it towards Bailey who in turn managed to catch it with the palm of his hand before it would land on his lap. ¡°You should join one of their parties in the near future.¡±

    ¡°We are allowed to do that?¡± Zu asked.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you know?¡± Luna asked in return.

    Zu shook her head.

    ¡°It¡¯s true that the invitations for the parties that the marines throw circulate mostly within marine circles, nothing stops you from joining them and having fun with the marines. They actually really like it when other people join in on the fun. You can ask McAllister. I¡¯ve seen her around partying plenty of times together with the marines.¡±

    ¡°Wha- And you didn¡¯t invite me?¡± Zu crossed her arms and she looked actually miffed at the Lieutenant for not telling her.

    McAllister shrugged. ¡°As the Commander said, those parties are generally a bit rough around the edges so I thought you wouldn¡¯t be interested.¡±

    ¡°How long have you been going to them?¡± Bailey asked. He seemed a bit less stressed already as the conversation had started rolling.

    ¡°Pretty much from back in the day when I used to fly shuttles during the war.¡± McAllister replied. McAllister was one of the older officers who had a lot of experience under their belt. I hadn¡¯t flown with her personally but I have definitely heard about her skill during the war, flying under fire. It¡¯s not a big surprise that she managed to qualify to pilot the first big FTL mission after all. In contrast to Zu and Bailey who basically got put on the ship directly after finishing the academy, albeit very much as the top scoring officers to ever graduate from it.

    ¡°Damn, I didn¡¯t know you were such a seasoned partygoer, McAllister¡­¡± Zu replied. ¡°You always seem like such a¡­¡± Zu suddenly put her lips tight on one another.

    ¡°Hmmm?¡± McAllister squinted and straightened her back. ¡°What were you going to say?¡±

    ¡°Uh, nothing.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, to me it sounded like she was going to say you are kind of a lightweight, McAllister.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I was thinking as well, Commander Davis¡­¡± After we looked at each other we slowly turned our head towards Zu who was sweating bullets right about now.

    ¡°Look, you said it, I didn¡¯t.¡± Zu raised her hands in her own defense. ¡°But I will admit that you do seem woozy really fast after having had a drink, that¡¯s all.¡±

    McAllister chuckled and leant back in her seat, downing a glass of whiskey in one go without even coughing a little. And from my memories, that whiskey is darn strong. ¡°I can assure you that I am absolutely not a lightweight.¡±

    ¡°Then why what do you do? You pretend you are drunk?¡± Zu looked confused as heck.

    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    McAllister sat down her glass of whiskey on the table and then pointed at Zu with a smile. ¡°Here¡¯s the thing, Zu. People tend to lower their guard quite a bit when they think you are not quite there anymore. It makes it a lot easier to break the ice with certain people. I¡¯m pretty sure the Commander can attest to that.¡± McAllister looked back to me.

    I nodded. ¡°Especially if you¡¯ve made a name for yourself in combat, people tend to put you on a pedestal. It creates a certain distance which isn¡¯t the most fun thing to happen at parties. It¡¯s a weird kind of loneliness. But if you are drunk, or are performing to look drunk, it makes it a lot easier for people to approach you, that¡¯s for sure.¡±

    ¡°I suppose that does make sense.¡± Lieutenant Bailey, who had been following the conversation intently, nodded.

    ¡°Although, admittedly, most of the time I wasn¡¯t performing.¡± I chuckled. ¡°But thanks to my girlfriend over here that has turned around quite a bit.¡±

    Luna blushed as I said that and started to act a little shy so I laid my hand on her shoulder and quickly pulled her closer to me before letting her go again.

    ¡°Have you stopped drinking altogether, Commander?¡± Bailey asked.

    ¡°I still drink occasionally.¡± I replied. ¡°Though a lot less than I used to. I tend to keep it for special occasions now. Like this evening for example.¡± I looked at Luna and she gave me her approval with a simple nod in return.

    ¡°Then what are you going to have, I think I¡¯ll take the same.¡± Bailey smiled.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t decided yet, but I¡¯ll go take two next time.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t take anything too strong though.¡± McAllister chuckled. ¡°We have now clarified that I am not the lightweight they thought I was, but in return I¡¯m not so sure about the greenhorns, especially Zu¡­¡±

    ¡°Hey!¡± Zu jokingly banged the tabel and the looked straight at me. ¡°Commander, take the strongest thing that¡¯s on the menu, I¡¯ll have two to begin with.¡±

    I chuckled in response and eased her down with a hand gesture. ¡°Zu, be careful what you are starting. Have you ever even had the strongest thing on the menu? That thing is like 96% alcohol¡­¡±

    Zu¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°R-really?¡± She then pulled back into her chair. ¡°Okay¡­ then maybe not quite the strongest thing.¡±

    I chuckled once more. ¡°I¡¯ll go with my personal favorites, at least with those you can still use your tastebuds afterwards.¡±

    We talked for a while longer before we went for the second round of drinks. Luna went with me to the bar to go and collect them while Bailey, McAllister and Zu stayed behind to discuss how well they would all hold back the alcohol. Well, at least Bailey wasn¡¯t holding back anymore.

    As we arrived at the bar, Luna poked me in the side and leant in so she could whisper something in my ear.

    ¡°What is it?¡± I smiled.

    ¡°I was just wondering¡­¡± Luna looked at the bar. ¡°Have you actually tried that drink you mentioned before?¡±

    ¡°Hmm? The 96% one?¡±

    She nodded. ¡°Yes, that one.¡±

    ¡°I have tried it once.¡± I nodded in return. ¡°It¡¯s a Polish spirit. I don¡¯t think you are meant to drink it like that because it really wasn¡¯t good¡­ At least it wasn¡¯t to my taste.¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°Before you are thinking about trying it, I¡¯m pretty sure with your constitution it would outright kill you, so you better stay for away from it.¡±

    Luna immediately waved my comment away. ¡°Oh no no no, I wasn¡¯t thinking about that, I was just wondering why people would make such a thing.¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°I suppose some people like it. I prefer something that actually has a taste besides alcohol though.¡± I then browsed the alcoholic beverage menu on the synth bot behind the counter. ¡°Ah, looks like they don¡¯t even serve it here, so I lied to Zu. I suppose it¡¯s not too weird, considering it¡¯s almost pure alcohol.¡±

    ¡°Stupid question, but why is there even alcohol allowed on this ship?¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡± I hummed contently while I put in the order into the interface. ¡°That¡¯s actually a good question. On most military ships it¡¯s not. But they made a distinct exemption for long-term exploration vehicles. We can¡¯t make port often to blow off steam like other vehicles can. Putting this many people on a ship without handing them that common way of letting loose is really not a good idea. Although that does make alcohol abuse quite the problem as is evident by my own doing. But at least you and Eva put me back on track which I¡¯m of course very grateful for.¡± I continued by giving my girlfriend a kiss on her cheek which resulted in the other officers whistling at me.

    ¡°Less flirting with Luna and more getting us drinks, Lauren.¡± McAllister yelled.

    I rolled my eyes as both Luna and I started laughing. Right at that time the synth bot put the ready-made drinks on the tray for me to carry. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry back before they get even more rowdy.¡±

    ¡°Will you be drinking more after that one?¡± Luna asked before we went.

    ¡°I promise this is my last for the evening.¡±

    Luna nodded happily and followed me as I walked back.

 Chapter 92: DiluFast

    I had no issues at all keeping that promise to my girlfriend as the evening progressed and kept to that single glass of alcohol drinking mocktails, water and sodas for the rest. The vibe between the officers was good and we talked to pretty much everyone until I got a message from Ellie. ¡°Commander, could we switch to personal comms please?¡±

    ¡°Go ahead Ellie, forward it to Luna too if you would.¡± The rest of the table quieted down as they heard Ellie¡¯s announcement.

    ¡°Commander,¡± Ellie started to talk into my ear. ¡°Gunnery Sergeant Taylor is at your cabin door, he doesn¡¯t look to be doing very well. High concentrations of alcohol have been detected by my sensors.¡±

    ¡°Ah fuck.¡±

    ¡°Do you need me to alert Doctor Winter?¡±

    I looked at Luna and she gave me a nod. ¡°Uh, might be best, but Luna and I will be on our way too. We will arrive a lot faster.¡±

    ¡°Copy that, Commander. I¡¯m paging the doctor.¡±

    ¡°Is something bad happening?¡± Lieutenant McAllister stood at the ready to rush away if need be.

    ¡°It¡¯s not good but it doesn¡¯t really concern the ship. It¡¯s a more personal matter.¡± I replied. ¡°But that matter does require our immediate attention so I¡¯m sorry to say that we have to go now.¡± Luna and I stood up at almost the exact same time. ¡°Please go ahead and continue the party. We had a good time and it was nice to talk to you all in a more informal setting, it has been a while.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for honoring our little nonsense gettogether.¡± Lieutenant Zu, who was getting a bit tipsy at this point, gave me a somewhat sloppy salute.

    ¡°Absolutely no problem.¡± I gave a salute back. ¡°But now we do really need to get going.¡± I quickly said goodbye to the other officers too while Luna did the same behind me and then, at a slightly elevated pace, made my way towards our cabin.

    ¡°Where is Eva right now, Ellie?¡± I heard Luna ask as she walked behind me. She had some slight issues keeping up with my rather brisk pace.

    ¡°The Doctor is getting dressed, she will be with you in a bit.¡±

    I didn¡¯t really say anything as I was too focused on the task in front of me. My brisk pace then ultimately also progressed into a jog as we got closer to our cabin. When I then rounded the last corner and saw Gunny slumped against the wall with a bottle in his hand I abandoned that jog in favor of a sprint.

    I skid to a halt in front of Gunny and bowed down over him. Taking the bottle out of his hand and putting it firmly to the side.

    ¡°L-Lauren¡­¡± Gunny¡¯s face and eyes looked red and he had clearly been crying pretty badly. ¡°I feel sh-shit.¡±

    ¡°Clearly.¡± I took a moment to assess the situation more. Gunny was incredibly drunk too, almost dangerously so from what I could tell. ¡°Luna, open the door and make a way to the bathroom.¡± I almost commanded my girlfriend.

    Luna didn¡¯t say anything and instead just obeyed my order.

    I swung Gunny¡¯s arm over my shoulder and lifted him up from the floor, but I was practically carrying him alone, there was not much strength left in his legs. ¡°Get one of those purple DiluFast bottles out of the cabinet.¡±

    ¡°I already took them out.¡± Luna already came running back after making sure all the doors were open so she could help me carry the dangerously drunk marine inside.

    We managed to get him into the bathroom in one piece. ¡°Let¡¯s drag him under the shower in case we need to cool him down or if he pukes himself.¡± Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    ¡°I¡¯m not that drunk.¡± Gunny mumbled.

    ¡°Like hells you are.¡± I replied as we forcefully dragged him into the shower. I then grabbed the bottle of DiluFast that Luna had put on the sink and opened it while I kneeled down next to him. Inside were the typical small purple capsules with a small needle attached to the bottom of each one of them. The plan was to ram one in his upper arm and squeeze it out. I took the small protective cover of the needle and prepared to hit him.

    Before I could do so, Gunny grabbed my arm. ¡°I-I don¡¯t need it.¡± He slurred.

    I paused for a second while Gunny keeps his gaze on me but I saw that his consciousness was falling quickly. So I dropped the capsule from my immobilized hand and caught it with my robotic one, in one fell swoop jamming the needle into his skin, squeezing the contents out. ¡°I know what acute alcohol poisoning looks like, Gunny. Don¡¯t lie to me. If you want to drink yourself to death, don¡¯t do it aboard my ship.¡± I replied sternly as Gunny lost consciousness thanks to the acting effects of the DiluFast capsule.

    ¡°Was he really that close to dying?¡± Luna asked.

    I shook my head as I used my body weight to sit Gunny up straight against the wall. ¡°He has drunk a lot¡­ Like that bottle of 96% a lot¡­ I¡¯d rather be safe than sorry.¡±

    At that moment I hear some ruckus at the door as a somewhat bewildered Doctor Winter rushes into the room. ¡°How is he?¡± Eva basically pushes me to the side as she quickly attaches some kind of medical appliance to Gunny¡¯s arm.

    ¡°We just applied some DiluFast to quickly get the alcohol levels in his blood down.¡± I replied.

    Eva checks his pulse, pulse and does some other quick medical checks before she answers me. ¡°I think you made the right judgment call at the moment.¡± She then stares down at the medical appliance. ¡°The alcohol values in his blood were way too damn high but at least they are starting to go down now.¡±

    ¡°Do you need to do anything else? Need us to carry him to sick bay?¡±

    Eva shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t think that will be necessary. The DiluFast is doing its work. I¡¯m going to give him a hydration pack as well, but apart from that, I don¡¯t think anything else will help much.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry you had to come here for that.¡±

    ¡°Lauren, it was absolutely the right decision to call me over. More importantly, do you have any idea what happened?¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°No, we just got here, we just received a message from Ellie that Gunny was at our cabin and that there was lots of alcohol presumably involved.¡±

    ¡°Yes, we don¡¯t know anything else.¡± Luna came to our side after having given Gunny a towel to support his head a bit more.

    ¡°Ellie, would you know anything?¡± I asked as I walked out of the bathroom for a quick second to see if the door was closed. As it wasn¡¯t I quickly went to close it and collect the bottle that had been left outside.

    ¡°No, Commander, I sadly do not. The only thing I can tell you is that according to my surveillance systems Gunnery Sergeant Taylor entered his cabin about five hours ago, looking sober, after which he exited his cabin four hours and forty minutes later making his way here. Gunnery Sergeant Taylor has made it explicitly clear that he did not want any  AI integration in his cabin.¡±

    ¡°What was his emotional state before entering the cabin?¡± Eva asked.

    ¡°Unclear, Doctor.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. This is probably connected to what happened back on Earth, right?¡± Eva looked at me.

    ¡°I think so.¡±

    ¡°Have you talked about it since then?¡±

    ¡°Not really.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm.¡± Eva pouted and looked into the bathroom. ¡°Do you mind if I stay for a while longer, at the very least until he wakes up?¡±

    ¡°Of course not.¡± I quickly took a look at the time. It was already getting pretty late but luckily there weren¡¯t many active activities on the planning for tomorrow. ¡°I¡¯ll get you something to drink.¡±

    ¡°Just a coke for me if you would. I need at least some caffeine into me.¡± Eva replied.

    ¡°On it¡¯s way.¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you take a seat, Eva? Or are you going to keep standing?¡± Luna walked over to the table and waited to see what Eva was going to do.

    ¡°Sure, but would you mind dragging the table and seats over here? I don¡¯t think anything will happen as I left my H-monitor attached to his arm, but I would like to keep the Gunnery Sergeant within my field of vision if that¡¯s okay?¡±

    Luna nodded. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be better to lay in him a bed instead? I feel somewhat bad keeping him in the shower.¡±

    ¡°No, it will be okay. It¡¯s just important that we make sure he doesn¡¯t start choking, but as I said, my monitor should normally warn us of that. Putting him on his back wouldn¡¯t be great. Besides, the cold tiles of the shower are probably quite soothing to him at the moment. Alcohol widens your blood vessels, making people feel toasty.¡±

    I sat myself down at the table and put the drinks down in the center of it. ¡°Poor Gunny¡­ I hope we can help with whatever is bothering him¡­¡±

    ¡°So do I¡­¡± Eva nodded and Luna followed suit.

 Chapter 93: To Grumble

    As we were watching Gunny and drinking a bit of water on the side, my stomach suddenly grumbled rather loudly. So loud that even Eva looked at me surprised.

    ¡°You aren¡¯t going to puke, right? Did you also drink that much.¡±

    I shook my head while I held my arm over my stomach. ¡°I didn¡¯t drink much at all. But because of the entire commotion and the ensuing adrenaline I might have forgotten to eat something.¡±

    ¡°So did I¡­ I mean¡­ I had some tapas but that¡¯s all.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t even have that.¡± I chuckled softly.

    ¡°Do you want me to go and get you some food then?¡± Eva asked.

    ¡°No.¡± Luna replied very quickly. ¡°I¡¯ll go. You stay here in case Gunny wakes up. You are going to be worth a lot more than I¡¯ll ever be in this scenario.¡± Luna then looked at me. ¡°What do you want, Lauren?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, just grab me a cheeseburger. One of those restaurant grade ones with a couple of fries on the side.¡±

    Luna then looked at Eva, but Eva shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t really need anything.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    Eva pouted slightly. ¡°Alright, if you insist, just get me a bag of fries with mayo and ketchup. But no big portion.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Luna nodded and then she looked into the bathroom. ¡°Should I¡­ bring something for Gunny too?¡± And she then looked back at Eva.

    ¡°If he wakes up, some food might be good to get him on his feet. Maybe get him the same that Lauren is having. If he wakes up and it¡¯s cold already you can always microwave it.¡±

    ¡°Won¡¯t that be too heavy for him to stomach?¡±

    ¡°Believe me, fatty food will do good.¡± Eva smiled.

    ¡°Alright then.¡± Luna nodded and headed to the door. ¡°I¡¯ll try to be quick about it.¡±

    ¡°Better to be safe about it instead.¡± I smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t want to have to take care of two people this evening.¡±

    ¡°I will be.¡± Luna winked. ¡°Be right back!¡±

    And like the wind Luna jogged out of the door and on her way to the cafeteria to get some food for us.

    While not really planned, it gave Eva and I some alone time. As I leant back into my seat, stretching out my legs in front of me, I looked my friend dead in the eyes.

    ¡°What?¡± She asked nonchalantly. ¡°Are you going to confess something?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± I shook my head and crossed my arms. ¡°But maybe I should.¡± And I then looked at Gunny. ¡°If we manage to put him at ease first at least.¡±

    Eva followed my gaze. ¡°You are talking about Luna, right?¡±

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± I nodded.

    ¡°Yeah¡­ It¡¯s better to tell him when he has calmed down a bit. But I definitely don''t think it¡¯s a bad idea to tell him. I¡¯m actually somewhat surprised you didn¡¯t pull him into the ropes any sooner.¡±

    ¡°I know, somehow I just didn¡¯t find a good time to tell him. Telling you was a lot easier in that regard.¡± We still kept our voices rather hushed, we didn¡¯t want to spoil the beans accidentally after all.

    ¡°I am the ship¡¯s doctor. I was going to find out sooner rather than later.¡± Eva nodded. ¡°Hell, if she had gotten wounded during the alien incursion on the ship we might have found out there and then. But that would probably have turned out quite badly for her.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I don¡¯t want to think about what would have happened at that point. The entire crew would be out for blood and my own head space wouldn¡¯t have been much better. I would like to think I would have protected her still, but, yeah¡­ In that moment things might have gone very differently than they did.¡±

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    ¡°Luckily you are pretty good at defending her.¡± Eva put her hand on my shoulder.

    ¡°At the very least that¡¯s not untrue.¡± I hummed.

    We waited for Luna to return while watching Gunny but for the time being he seemed to be really calm. Eva went to check on him from up close just to be extra sure he was fine and she came back with a giggle.

    ¡°Looks like he is snoozing for the time being.¡±

    At that moment Luna softly opened the door and walked in, holding a paper bag that smelled really really good.

    ¡°I¡¯m back.¡± She walked over to us.

    ¡°Was there a big line at the synth?¡± I asked.

    She shook her head. ¡°Not really. I was pretty much alone.¡± Luna put the bag on the table and started to unpack the food.

    ¡°And what did you get?¡±

    ¡°I got the same that you ordered. So we have three identical burgers and then some fries. I took a bigger portion than usual so we can all share. I hope that¡¯s good for you.¡± Luna looked at Eva in particular.

    ¡°Of course that¡¯s good for me.¡± Eva chuckled softly.

    I got off from my seat to grab us a couple of plates and then unpacked one of the burgers. It was munching time.

    We kept one of the burgers in its insulated packaging while Luna and I dug into our burgers. Nothing better than a good greasy burger when you are hungry and just went through a stressful time.

    The ketchup went particularly hard on this burger and the red onion did too. So sadly for the burger, it didn¡¯t stay whole for long.

    I was about three quarters done with it when I heard some movement coming out of the bathroom.

    ¡°Oh fuck, where am I?¡± Gunny grumbled.

    I looked at Eva and she looked back at me as I put down my burger and she put a couple of fries in her mouth. The both of us then stood up almost perfectly in-synch.

    ¡°Gunny, how are you feeling?¡± Eva walked into the bathroom in front of me.

    ¡°Where am I?¡± Gunny repeated his question, clearly confused at the situation. ¡°What am I doing in a bathroom?¡±

    ¡°In my bathroom.¡± I leaned right so Gunny could get a line of sight to me too.

    ¡°What?¡± Gunny squinted.

    ¡°You almost drank yourself to death on my porch, buddy.¡± I replied, squirming past the Doctor as she crouched down to check on Gunny.

    ¡°Lauren¡­¡±

    ¡°We both know direct is the only language Gunny knows, Eva.¡±

    Gunny looked at Eva. ¡°Is it true, doc?¡±

    ¡°Your alcohol levels were dangerously high.¡± She nodded.

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t he remember we even spoke to him a bit earlier?¡± Luna asked from behind me.

    I shook my head. ¡°I think he blacked out.¡±

    ¡°Oh shit.¡± Gunny grabbed his head.

    ¡°But luckily Lauren and Luna gave you some DiluFast before any real damage could be done.¡±

    ¡°And you should thank Ellie for calling us away from a party too.¡± I replied.

    Gunny pressed his eyelids close and pinched his nose with his index finger and thumb. ¡°Fuck me. I¡¯m so sorry.¡±

    ¡°You better be.¡± I agreed and crouched down as well. ¡°We are going to have a conversation about this this evening, you understand? We are not letting you leave until we know exactly what has happened that made you act like this. Take it from a former alcoholic, we really need to clean the slates here if we are to continue. Admittedly, we should probably have had this conversation sooner¡­¡±

    Gunny slowly nodded in response. ¡°I¡­ I understand, Commander. This has to stop. You are right.¡±

    ¡°At least your vitals seem to be doing fine now.¡± Eva patted Gunny on the shoulder. It didn¡¯t happen often that Eva was the calmer one between the two of us. ¡°Have you eaten anything yet?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ I don¡¯t remember.¡± Gunny admitted. ¡°But I am feeling rather hungry so I think the answer might be no.¡±

    ¡°Good thing Luna got you a burger too then.¡± I offered my arm to Gunny.

    Gunny took my arm after which I pulled him onto his feet. He was still wobbly so I did keep him supported. Didn¡¯t want to order a maintenance droid to come and fix my shower¡­ Now he got a good line of sight on Luna who was standing behind us in the doorway. She was standing there shyly.

    ¡°Thank you for taking care of me.¡± Gunny directed himself mostly towards Luna as Eva and I took his thanks for granted.

    ¡°No problem.¡± Luna replied. ¡°I¡¯m glad you seem to be doing better already.¡±

    Before we went to the living room, I pulled the attention of Eva. ¡°Hey Eva, could you take Gunny to his burger? I have something I want to discuss with Luna first¡­ privately.¡±

    Eva agreed immediately as it was rather obvious to her what exactly I wanted to talk about. As she walked a confused Gunny out of the bathroom, a just-as-confused Luna walked in and closed the bathroom door behind her. ¡°What do you want to talk about?¡± Luna lowered her voice.

    ¡°Well, I was talking with Eva about it before¡­ but would it be okay if we tell Gunny about you later? I obviously don¡¯t want to do it without your consent.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Luna scratched her cheek. ¡°Okay¡­ but¡­ is it okay if I tell him? I want him to hear it out of my mouth.¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡± I nodded. ¡°Any way you want it.¡±

 Chapter 94: Cashgrab

    Luna and I had agreed to let Gunny do his story first and then see how the mood in the room is before deciding on whether to tell him or not. We had decided for a code word to indicate whether the time for it was good or not, vanilla pudding being signal for a go-ahead and chocolate pudding being the signal for a no-go.

    When we re-entered the main living space of the cabin, Gunny was already well underway eating the burger we had provided for him. Doctor Winter looking at him with a stern look with her arms crossed. ¡°Make sure to chew your food as well, otherwise you might not make the night after all¡­¡±

    Gunny noticeably slowed down his pace after this small reprimand as Luna and I sat at the table together with our friends.

    We decided to wait for him to at least have finished his burger before starting our interrogation. That didn¡¯t last too long however so we were soon staring each other in the eyes while Gunny nervously worked down a couple of fries with mayo.

    ¡°So¡­¡± I started. ¡°I think it¡¯s about time you told us what the actual fuck is going one.¡± I put my elbows on the table and folded my hands in front of my mouth.

    ¡°Do I h-¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes you do, Gunny. It¡¯s gone too far. There¡¯s no crawling back now. You already said you were going to tell us like ten minutes ago.¡±

    Gunny sighed and looked down at the table.

    ¡°I need to be able to lean on you for support. I can not do that if I do not know if you¡¯ll be able to carry the load. If you don¡¯t tell me, I¡¯m going to put you on inactive duty until you fix this stuff.¡±

    Gunny didn¡¯t raise up to meet my gaze, but he did nod. ¡°I will tell you¡­ Just¡­ give me a couple of seconds, alright?¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± I nodded and folded my arms on top the table, waiting for Gunny to feel ready to give us a reply.

    He sighed quite a bit for the next couple of minutes before he finally raised his head and looked at the three of us. ¡°You promise to stay serious?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Eva replied pretty much immediately.

    ¡°Of course.¡± Luna did so too.

    ¡°What happened?¡± I asked as the last one in our trio.

    ¡°You see. During our time on Earth I spent a while in the Caribbean, blowing off some steam. While I was there, I met this amazing woman¡­¡± Gunny looked up at us to gauge our reactions as he said that. While I was slightly surprised this all was apparently caused by a woman, I didn¡¯t say a thing and just nodded solemnly so Gunny could continue his story. ¡°She was amazing¡­ Well¡­ amazing might be an understatement all things considered. I was over the moon when we met. At first, it was a bit touch-and-go, but it only took us two dates to really start hitting it off.¡± Gunny leant back into his seat and stared up at the ceiling. ¡°Those were probably the best two weeks of my life. I had fallen completely for her and the feeling seemed mutual.¡± Gunny stayed silent for a couple of seconds.

    ¡°What happened next?¡± Luna asked. Trying to keep the ball rolling.

    ¡°She shattered my heart¡­ That¡¯s what happened.¡±

    The entire room went even quieter than it already was, Eva¡¯s stern expression even faltered as she could see that Gunny had been really hurt by what had happened.

    ¡°Do you want to¡­ tell us what exactly happened?¡± I continued, I had lowered my tone as well.

    ¡°I owe it to you¡­ you are my friends and respected colleagues after all¡­ Besides, telling what happened might actually help me¡­ I hope¡­¡± Gunny sighed and swallowed as he prepared to continue his story. ¡°So yeah, after about three weeks, I got contacted by a guy, seemingly out of the blue. Some kind of banker type who had apparently sent a private investigator after the woman I was dating. First I thought it was a jealous ex or something who wanted to have a harsh word with me, but instead I got a warning.¡±

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    ¡°A warning?¡± Luna squinted her eyes slightly.

    ¡°Mhmm.¡± Gunny nodded. ¡°A warning to stay on my toes, that the woman I was dating wasn¡¯t as sincere as she appeared to be. He then handed me a file containing all kinds of information.¡± Gunny pulled out his holo stick and handed it over to Eva. ¡°Here, you can look through it.¡±

    Eva accepted Gunny¡¯s holo stick and then browsed through the file that Gunny had opened. It took her a couple of minutes to browse through it all but from her facial expression I could see that it was serious. ¡°Holy shit.¡± She said after about ten minutes of reading.

    I looked up at Eva and raised my eyebrows to non-verbally ask an explanation.

    ¡°From the looks of it, she specifically targeted military personnel to live off their pay while they were on long-time missions. And from the looks of it she really latched onto you because she recognized you from a news report.¡±

    ¡°How¡¯s that in the file?¡± I asked.

    ¡°The P.I. got hold of her search history in one way or the other.¡±

    Gunny nodded. ¡°After I had read through the file I asked why he was telling me all this. He wasn¡¯t in the military after all. Apparently the woman had targeted his mom too and as a result of her betrayal, his mom had committed suicide. But they could never prove it so she wasn¡¯t led before any court. The son had then decided to start a bit of a personal crusade to make sure it never happened again.¡±

    ¡°Did you believe him?¡± Eva asked.

    ¡°Would you if they just threw this in front of you all the sudden?¡± Gunny retorted. ¡°Of course I was in denial initially. The guy was not surprised either, so he told me to keep the file and then he gave me his contact info just in case.¡± He then took a deep breath before he continued. ¡°It all gave me a bad feeling though, so in the end I did end up confronting her a bit later.¡±

    ¡°I suppose that didn¡¯t go well?¡± Eva asked.

    Gunny shook his head. ¡°She denied everything, but I could tell by the look on her face and just the way she acted that it was all a well-studied routine for her¡­ That evening I reported her to the police and broke off our relationship¡­¡±

    ¡°Do you know what happened to her?¡± Luna asked.

    Gunny shrugged in response. ¡°I made a declaration to the police and handed over everything I had on her. But I didn¡¯t stick around to find out what happened. The day after we got the message to head back to HQ and I was honestly too drunk to really keep tabs on anything by that point¡­¡±

    ¡°Shit¡­¡± I sighed and looked at the ground. I could feel anger boiling up inside of me. ¡°If I had known¡­¡± I gritted my teeth.

    ¡°You would have dropped everything and come over to teach her a lesson¡­ I know¡­ That¡¯s exactly why I didn¡¯t tell you at the time, Lauren. I just wanted to be alone¡­ But maybe I should have.¡±

    ¡°Urgh.¡± I grunted frustratedly. ¡°It really irks me that we can¡¯t find out what happened¡­¡±

    ¡°I can do something about that, Commander.¡± Ellie spoke up from my holo stick.

    ¡°Ellie, have you been listening this entire time?¡± Gunny looked displeased.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Gunnery Sergeant, but this is the Commander¡¯s cabin and access was allowed to me.¡±

    ¡°C¡¯mon, Gunny. Ellie won¡¯t tattle and she did help save you...¡± I replied before I put my attention on Ellie. ¡°What can you do?¡±

    ¡°Thanks to the communication buoy¡¯s we have been laying, it wouldn''t be too hard for me to access police files from our current location. I have also gone through the navy database and have found the journal of the woman who has passed away on her personal server.  The last entry of which is especially incriminating and would most probably result in a sentencing.¡± Ellie explained.

    I looked at Gunny questioningly. ¡°What do you think, Gunny? Do you want Ellie to give justice a hand?¡±

    ¡°Why do I have the feeling that you would tell her to do so anyway even if I said no?¡± He replied.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± I was a bit taken aback by his comment, but he wasn¡¯t wrong. I had a very deep hatred of misusing people¡¯s trust like that. Even if I wouldn¡¯t command Ellie to do so immediately, it would probably keep nagging on me until I did give the order. ¡°Yeah, sorry, I probably would.¡± I admitted.

    Gunny chuckled softly in return and looked up at the ceiling. ¡°You can go ahead with that, Ellie. Fuck her. I hope she spends a lot of her time in jail.¡±

    ¡°I will do so, Gunnery Sergeant.¡±

    ¡°And Ellie¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, Gunnery Sergeant?¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°No problem at all.¡±

 Chapter 95: Are we having Dessert?

    Gunny had calmed down and had opened up considerably now that he realized that we were 100% there for him.

    ¡°I should probably have told you about this a lot sooner¡­¡± He admitted. ¡°But it was pretty tough.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not surprised.¡± Eva replied. ¡°It¡¯s not something people generally are very open about. Especially after having been betrayed like that, being open to anyone, even if they are long-term friends of yours, is not evident at all.¡±

    Gunny nodded silently.

    ¡°Do you think it is time for vanilla pudding, Lauren? Or are you more in the mood of chocolate?¡± Luna asked. This resulted in some strange looks from both Eva and Gunny.

    ¡°I¡¯m feeling Vanilla, what about you?¡± I replied.

    ¡°I think so too¡­¡±

    I then looked at Eva and nodded over to my girlfriend. She caught on immediately. ¡°Ah, right.¡± She smiled. ¡°Then I¡¯d like some vanilla pudding too.¡± I¡¯m not entirely sure if she realized what the code-word actually stood for but from the looks of it it did kinda seem like she did.

    ¡°Are we having dessert still?¡± Gunny still looked very confused.

    ¡°Well, if you want dessert¡­¡± I shrugged. ¡°But Luna would like to tell you something.¡±

    Gunny shifted his gaze from me over to my girlfriend. ¡°Which is?¡±

    ¡°But before she does¡­¡± Eva interjected. ¡°I think it is safe to say that both Lauren and I trust Luna with our very lives.¡±

    I nodded affirmatively.

    ¡°Okay?¡± Gunny squinted for a second but then opened his posture up again. Probably too look less intimidating. ¡°Sorry, go ahead, LC.¡±

    Luna took a couple of deep breaths before she opened her mouth. ¡°I have a confession to make now that we are all being open with each other. I have a bit of a secret that both Lauren and Eva know about¡­ I want you to know that it¡¯s not because I don¡¯t trust you that I kept it from you for so long¡­ We just didn¡¯t really find the time to do so¡­¡±

    Gunny nodded slowly and waited for Luna to continue.

    ¡°Well¡­ the secret is that I¡¯m not exactly from Earth¡­¡± Luna nervously crossed her arms and somewhat moved behind me to use me as a bit of cover.

    ¡°So you were born on the moon, or what?¡± Gunny now looked really confused. ¡°I mean, I could have guessed that because of your name.¡±

    Eva pinched the bridge of her nose. ¡°No, that¡¯s not it, Gunny¡­ Not at all.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not exactly from a moon, no.¡± Luna replied. ¡°I¡¯m saying that I¡¯m not really from your solar system. Quite a bit further away than that. I am, what you would call, an alien.¡±

    Gunny looked dumbstruck for a good minute before he started chuckling and looking at me. ¡°Are you guys trying to cheer me up with some kind of elaborate joke or something? I suppose it¡¯s working because I¡¯m laughing and all¡­¡±

    Luna stepped even more behind me in response and I slowly shook my head at him. ¡°It¡¯s no joke at all. Luna is not human.¡±

    ¡°She isn¡¯t.¡± Eva attested my reply.

    Gunny¡¯s eyes went wide open. ¡°Wait¡­ You three are serious?¡±

    ¡°As serious as can be.¡± I nodded.

    ¡°You are an alien?¡± Gunny looked at Luna.

    Luna nervously nodded back. ¡°I am¡­ yes¡­¡±

    ¡°Like¡­ one of those that attacked the ship? Or the Dokazuuk?¡±

    Luna shook her head. ¡°Neither. Although my race did know of the Empire.¡±

    Gunny stayed silent and then looked at the ground. Clearly lost in thought. ¡°Then, how do you look human?¡±

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    ¡°It¡¯s a bit complicated.¡± She replied.

    ¡°She has this box that she can use to change form.¡± I commented.

    ¡°More or less, yes.¡± Eva added.

    ¡°So what, you are a spy of sorts then?¡±

    Luna nodded. ¡°That was my original purpose aboard, yes.¡±

    Gunny looked up and stared directly at me. It¡¯s not that he looked angry, but he definitely had an agitated air around him. ¡°And you are okay with that? Why didn¡¯t you capture her?¡±

    I raised my hands in defense of my girlfriend. ¡°Luna has been nothing but helpful. It¡¯s thanks to her that our ball of earth is still a ball of earth and not some random spacedust in the solar system.¡±

    Gunny immediately back down again, his eyes went even wider than before. ¡°Wait¡­ What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°M-maybe it¡¯s best that I explain to you why I was sent to earth?¡± Luna stuttered.

    Gunny nodded bewildered at my girlfriend¡¯s suggestion and Luna then proceeded to explain the entire situation between the Conglomerate and the Empire.

    ¡°Do you understand my mission now?¡± Luna asked after her explanation.

    ¡°I do, more or less.¡± Gunny nodded. ¡°Although it doesn¡¯t really sit well with me that you still spy for your¡­ people.¡±

    ¡°If she wouldn¡¯t, that wouldn¡¯t look well to her people. Which would be detrimental for us.¡± I reply.

    ¡°I understand that, but I¡¯m no fan of underhanded things like spying¡­¡± Gunny crossed his arms. ¡°But¡­ I do see that it¡¯s a necessity.¡± Gunny then looked at me.

    ¡°So have you seen her real form yet?¡±

    ¡°I have. It was how she proved to me that she wasn¡¯t human.¡±

    ¡°And how do you know that¡¯s what her real form is like?¡± He then looked over to Luna. ¡°If I understand correctly, you can change forms to pretty much anything humanoid, right,¡±

    Luna nodded.

    ¡°Because I trust her.¡± I shrugged. ¡°Besides, if that wasn¡¯t her true body, I don¡¯t think she would have been as happy as she was when¡­¡± I coughed just in time as my cheeks started to turn a little red.

    ¡°So you have been swayed by her looks.¡± Gunny rolled his eyes. ¡°Why am I somehow not surprised you went to bed with the alien spy on board our ship.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ You know me I suppose¡­.¡±

    Gunny rolled his eyes again. ¡°So you, Eva and Ellie know about Luna, and that¡¯s it?¡±

    ¡°Pretty much.¡± Luna nodded.

    ¡°We tried to tell as few people as possible.¡± Eva continued. ¡°Because her state of being ultimately also betrays her purpose on board. It¡¯s in the best interest of both us and humanity as a whole to keep it as hidden as possible. At least for the time being.¡±

    ¡°And why did you decide to tell me then? You couldn¡¯t possibly know my reaction. I¡¯m still not sure what to do now if I have to be completely honest. This is all a bit much.¡±

    ¡°Because we would have to include you eventually.¡± I replied to Gunny¡¯s justifiable comments. ¡°And I would rather have you know now so you can support us, rather than finding out accidentally or second-hand later on.¡±

    ¡°Openness begets openness.¡± Eva added, referring to what Gunny had just told us about his own life.

    ¡°I suppose¡­¡± Gunny, while keeping his arms crossed and looked at Luna for a couple of seconds before he sighed deeply. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for being this hard on you, LC¡­ Luna¡­ It¡¯s just that I would rather not deal with spy stuff¡­ But¡­¡±

    As Gunny went silent again for a couple of seconds I decided to pry him for the rest of the sentence. ¡°But?¡±

    ¡°But I am happy¡­ or maybe it¡¯s better said that I am relieved that you are the alien spy, and not someone else.¡±

    Luna shyly raised her finger. ¡°As far as we know¡­¡±

    ¡°Right¡­ as far as we know.¡±

    I smiled and walked over to Gunny, putting a hand on his shoulder. ¡°Thank you for understanding.¡±

    Gunny rolled his eyes brushed my arm aside, offering his hand and arm for a classic handshake instead.

    I looked at him and tilted my head slightly in confusion.

    ¡°Let me shake your hand, Commander Davis.¡± He stated.

    ¡°Why?¡±

    Both Eva and Luna looked confused at Gunny as well.

    ¡°Because you accomplished your mission, that¡¯s why.¡±

    I squinted my eyes. ¡°I¡¯m still not following, sorry.¡±

    Gunny grinned and with his open hand quickly motioned towards Luna. ¡°If memory recalls you got yourself assigned on a space expedition to look for alien life and more importantly to find yourself a cute lesbian alien girlfriend, right?¡±

    Eva snorted and Luna¡¯s face turned bright read. My cheeks too started to flush pink.

    ¡°That¡¯s your cute alien girlfriend standing right there, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Son of a¡­¡± I started laughing out loud and grabbed his hand. ¡°I had completely forgotten I had told you.¡±

    ¡°Damn right you did.¡± He smiled back but then his face turned serious again. ¡°Seriously, spy stuff aside, I am happy that you have found happiness and that you miraculously succeeded with the task you set out to do.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much, Gunny.¡± When I looked back at Luna she was still red as a tomato. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, my love.¡±

    ¡°D-don¡¯t worry about it.¡± She stuttered. ¡°I¡¯m just happy that Gunny¡¯s mood has returned even if it¡¯s just a little.¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say I¡¯m completely through the heartbreak yet though.¡± He replied.

    ¡°Well¡­ I might have a good idea to fix that.¡± I commented.

    ¡°Like what?¡±

    ¡°How about some good old-fashioned hiking?¡±

 Chapter 96: Hitting an Obstacle

    While Gunny hadn¡¯t been completely convinced about my plan to go hiking the day afterwards, stating a lot of practical issues with it, I decided to go on with it anyway as it would be good to get him outdoors for a while to clear his mind. On top of that both Ellie, Luna and Eva helped talk him into it as well, and it¡¯s not like he could refuse the order of a commanding officer anyway. I didn¡¯t really like abuse of power, but in this case, I was all for it.

    So when the next day arrived in the morning I asked Ellie to plan a nice hiking trail for us by using the scans and the drone footage of the planet surface below and she came up with a route that would take us about eight hours, rest stops and breaks included.

    When I informed the crew about me going off-ship, one of the science officers took me aside for a moment. They wanted us to test out a new shoe sole they had developed and it seems that I had just provided them with the best field test they could currently ask for while not going full out with resources. Obviously I was happy to oblige, taking yet another point away from Gunny¡¯s criticism as this trip was all about science now.

    ¡°Are you packed with plenty of water and rations?¡± Luna asked during the morning break. We had decided to leave at 11 as Gunny still needed to catch up to some rest. While Luna commanded the bridge in the morning. I spent time packing and doing some administration work that I had left piling up. Luckily Ellie helped me a bit with that, for as much as she was allowed to anyway.

    ¡°Yep, everything is ready to go.¡± I patted my amari khaki green camo backpack that I had rested against the seat I was sitting on. The backpack I had prepared for Gunny next to it had plenty of food too. We would be able to go out for at least a week. Definitely overprepared, but you never know what could happen. If the ship needed to go off without warning we would still be able to hike back to the settlement without us getting into rationing issues, and I prepared a couple of extras as well. ¡°Just need to go and grab our guns out of the armory and then we can head out. Got everything covered on the bridge?¡±

    Luna nodded. ¡°I allowed the crew to play some music as long as it didn¡¯t disturb Lieutenant Zu her job. Otherwise it¡¯s going to be a rather slow day.¡±

    ¡°Huh, so everyone agreed on a music genre for once?¡±

    Luna looked to the side as she sipped from her drink. Clearly avoiding my question.

    I chuckled. ¡°Ah, good thing that never changes.¡±

    ¡°They were still bickering about the music choice when I left to get this little snack.¡±

    ¡°Sometimes it does feel a bit like herding cats, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Pretty much.¡± Luna nodded.

    As she agreed with me, Gunny finally walked through the door of the lounge.

    I smiled. ¡°Good, looks like I won¡¯t have to drag you along.¡±

    Gunny grumbled something and then pointed at the slightly bigger bag next to me. ¡°Is that one for me?¡±

    ¡°It is.¡± I nodded. ¡°Unless you want to carry mine.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. I¡¯m already carrying less than usual.¡± Gunny took the bag and swung it on his shoulder.

    ¡°But there¡¯s no exoskeleton to help you carry it this time though.¡± I gave my girlfriend a kiss on the cheek and stood up straight next to Gunny, taking my own bag as well. ¡°See you this evening, okay?¡±

    Luna smiled and returned my kiss with glee. ¡°Stay safe.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll try.¡± I winked and then beckoned Gunny to follow me along to the armory where we equipped ourselves with some guns and where we could change into some boots that had the new sole the lab peeps had been working on.  Shortly afterwards we made our way towards the hangar bay to catch a ride towards the coordinates that Ellie had provided for us, after first dropping off some other people at the colony first.

    Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

    We exited the shuttle by means of a fastroping as we didn¡¯t want to clear this part of the forest of its natural beauty. Once we were down the shuttle took off again to continue doing a couple more runs in between the colony and our ship. After all, while we were stationed above the planet we wanted to exchange as much information and materials as we possibly could.

    Once the shuttle had bursted off, Gunny and I looked around for a bit at our environs. The forest was quiet but not deadly quiet as there were still some sounds of small animals and the brushing of leaves in the wind to be heard.

    ¡°You are sure there¡¯s no dangerous wildlife around here, right?¡± Gunny asked with his gun at the ready.

    ¡°The colony hasn¡¯t encountered anything more dangerous than a deer on planet earth if that¡¯s what you are asking.¡± I replied. ¡°Are you scared?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± He denied. ¡°But I do feel a bit more vulnerable without the exoskeleton. This gun also doesn¡¯t feel very¡­ sizeable.¡±

    ¡°Well, compared to what you are used to, that¡¯s true, but it still packs a punch.¡± Gunny had brought along a FAL-98X, a staple battle rifle of the infantry back home. Definitely a step down from his normal heavy machine gun loadout when it comes to sheer firepower, but the rate of fire, accuracy and stopping power provided would still easily fell armored combatants, especially with the new cartridges that were developed to counter the bug threats.

    As for me, I had opted for my good old trusty P900-R, just seemed to be the best choice for going long distances through somewhat rough terrain and dense vegetation.

    Gunny grunted, not really convinced with the tool he had picked for the job, but then again, the chances of encountering anything on our route were minimal, especially since Ellie had guaranteed she¡¯d picked a safe path. We brought the guns along, just like most of our food, in case of a contingency, nothing more.

    ¡°So what way should we be heading?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, let me check.¡± I flipped my wrist to look at my holo watch where an arrow pointed in the direction we should be heading. ¡°That way.¡± I mimicked the direction with my arm.

    ¡°And how far?¡±

    I chuckled. ¡°Are you really going to ask already? We have just started, not quite even. This is a hike ¡±

    ¡°No, but I just want to know.¡±

    ¡°Well, the thing is, I don¡¯t really know myself.¡±

    Gunny frowned. ¡°What? What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°I asked Ellie to just give us rudimentary directions. She told me that we would know our destination when we get there, and that she estimated it would take us about 8 hours.¡±

    ¡°For fucks sake, Lauren.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be like that, it¡¯s gonna be fun. Just two pals and hiking through nature.¡±

    Gunny rolled his eyes and then turned towards the direction I pointed out to him earlier. ¡°Alright then. Let¡¯s just get moving.¡±

    ¡°Right behind you.¡±

    Gunny and I started trudging through the forest which at points started to look more like a jungle instead, especially with this kind of heat. Luckily it was significantly cooler than yesterday, but for my Antarctic ass, it was still feeling rather tropical. At the very least, after about an hour and a half of hiking, Gunny¡¯s mood had significantly improved already, even more so after my boot had sunk into the mud. He did find that rather funny.

    That mood quickly changed however once we arrived at the bank of a river.

    ¡°Uh, are we supposed to follow the river?¡± Gunny turned around to me as I exited the last pieces of shrubbery.

    I flicked my wrist again. ¡°No¡­ the arrow is pointing straight across.¡±

    ¡°Well, I take it that the precursor race didn¡¯t build any bridges here either?¡± Gunny goes closer to the river and kicks a rock in.

    ¡°Probably not, no.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Ellie, could you please explain?¡±

    Instead of a direct reply from Ellie, a hololetter popped up from the projector on my watch. ¡°Commander, Gunnery Sergeant, I hope you are having a fun time together on the route I set out for you. If you read this, you have encountered a little bit of a relationship exercise, after all, your psychological profiles tell me that you would rather enjoy such a thing. I have let one of my maintenance bots sneak something in your backpack to help you cross this river. Don¡¯t worry about falling into the river. The current is rather weak and the temperature should be pretty comfortable too. P.S. I will only reply to you when you are in imminent danger or when communication proves to be necessary. Have fun!¡±

    ¡°Goddess damn it, Ellie.¡± I sighed as I dismissed the message and then quickly dropped my backpack to the ground.

    ¡°Did Ellie plan this?¡± Gunny asked.

    I nodded and flicked my watch towards him to share the message which he then read while I looked for the tools that Ellie had apparently provided.

    Gunny sighed as well. ¡°That tin can¡­¡±

    ¡°I know.¡± I rolled my eyes. But I had to give it to her fairly, I was quite curious to see what we were going to use to cross the river with.

 Chapter 97: River Crossing

    Out of my bag I fished a black plastic baggie labeled as ¡®River Crossing¡¯. As it was situated at the top of my baggage, it must have been snuck in at the last moment. I ran through the memories in my mind to think when I had left my bag unguarded, and the only real possibility was for it to have been snuck in while I was busy with my girlfriend at breakfast. Though Luna must have definitely seen that happen, which means that she was probably in on the sneakery. The sneaky bugger.

    ¡°What¡¯s in the bag?¡± Gunny asked as he stood next to me.

    ¡°Feels like rope.¡± I replied as I took my combat knife off my hip and cut the bag open. And just like I had felt, it did contain a rope, together with a weighted grappling hook and a piece of paper. ¡°Ah, alright.¡±

    ¡°Are you going to throw it?¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± I shrugged and took the grappling hook and rope out of the bag, putting the bag on the ground for now. A quick look across the river immediately showed a good target. A big, sturdy looking tree with thick branches, perfect for a grappling hook, stood well within my throwing range.

    As I spun up my throw, Gunny took the piece of paper that I had left in the bag. Just as I released the hook Gunny called out to me. ¡°Wait, a sec Lauren, this thing here says¡­¡± The rope and grappling hook flew across the river and around the branch I had aimed for, although sadly, as I pulled the rope tight, I saw the hook launch itself into the river as it spun back around the branch. The rope then fell flat on the forest floor below. ¡°... to make sure the rope is attached tightly to the hook by using the pin attached to the back of this paper.¡± Gunny finished his sentence as I looked down at the loose rope in my hand. ¡°Well shit.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡± I looked up at the Gunnery Sergeant. ¡°That might be too late now¡­ Is there a second hook in the bag?¡±

    Gunny shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that was the only one.¡± He then gestured to me to start hauling the rope back in. ¡°Do you have anything else that we could use as a hook?¡±

    ¡°No, don¡¯t think I do¡­¡± I dragged the now wet rope back to our shore ¡°So that means we will probably have to go and manually attach it on the other side¡­¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t go around the river or find a narrower spot first?¡±

    ¡°Maybe, but who knows how long that is going to take.¡± I looked from left to right, following the river¡¯s stream. ¡°As Ellie wanted us to cross here, this might have been the best place to do so.¡±

    ¡°Well, I suppose that means you are going to go on a swim, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°What? Why me?¡± I squinted at Gunny.

    ¡°Because I didn¡¯t throw our grappling hook in the river. Besides, this trip was your idea, remember?¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s a teambuilding exercise.¡±

    ¡°And you are also a better swimmer.¡± He shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s only natural that the best swimmer does the swimming part.¡±

    ¡°Ugh.¡± I sighed. ¡°I¡¯m not going to get away with this, am I?¡±

    ¡°Nope.¡± Gunny chuckled. ¡°But I¡¯ll tie the rope to a tree on this end and then throw it to you once you have gotten across. At least you won''t need to drag the rope behind you like that.¡±

    ¡°And the gear?¡±

    ¡°Might be best to zipline it across. If we really need to, I can carry it all too.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± I sighed once more and started to undress to my underwear. I was definitely not in the mood to get all my clothes wet for the remainder of the hike and my sports underwear would normally dry rather well on its own.

    When I was done, Gunny wished me well as I put my foot into the water. The water was actually a rather comfortable temperature, I was definitely not going to get undercooled. In the matter of fact it was actually rather pleasant to go swimming right now with the outside temperature being on the rise.

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    The current was also rather lackluster so Ellie definitely did her planning well when it came to that too. That meant that I got across the river rather easily and swiftly. And thanks to the very clear water I could also easily fish up the hook that had detached itself earlier. It might come in useful for the zipline Gunny was talking about.

    I threw the grappling hook across and Gunny threw me the rope swiftly afterwards so I could attach it on my end of the riverbank, making sure it was attached lower than where Gunny had attached his end.

    Using the hook I had thrown across, Gunny then ziplined my bag and gear across, after which I threw the hook back again and we repeated the procedure again for Gunny¡¯s gear.

    Last but not least Gunny also roped across with ease so the only thing that got wet was me, myself and I, which, all in all, wasn¡¯t that bad.

    As I was putting my clothes back on, Gunny tugged on the rope. ¡°Should we take the rope with us or just let it hang here?¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± I stopped getting dressed almost immediately as he said that and then quickly threw off my shirt again. ¡°Good point. It might be best to take it along with us. In case Ellie got something more planned for us. Rope can always come in handy.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to swim back across, I can quite easily shoot through the rope from this distance.¡±

    ¡°Would rather not disturb the local wildlife too much.¡± I chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s no biggy, I¡¯m wet already, might as well swim back across to collect it again.

    ¡°Fair enough.¡± Gunny lowered his gun, he had already aimed at the tree across the river.

    ¡°The water is rather comfortable though, if you want to take the dip instead.¡±

    ¡°No thanks, I¡¯m fine.¡± Gunny laughed to which I jumped back in to collect the rope. Barely five minutes later I was back on shore next to him. ¡°Hey Lauren, I think you forgot something else next to that tree there.¡± From the look on his face I could tell he was taking the piss with me.

    ¡°Yeah right.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Be warned or I¡¯ll push you in instead. Clothes and all.¡±

    ¡°Ah, sorry, must have been my imagination then.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I was thinking.¡±

    The two of us then continued our path into the dense forest, continuing our trek. All in all we had only lost about half an hour clearing this obstacle in our way so we should still be on track when it came to our time schedule.

    As I was taking point in finding a somewhat clear route I could hear Gunny start chuckling around fifteen minutes after we had left the shore.

    I stopped on a fallen tree and looked back at my Gunnery Sergeant. ¡°What are you chuckling about?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know why,¡± he started, ¡°but I suddenly thought about something. I should have probably taken some pictures of you while you were swimming to show the LC, right?¡±

    ¡°Luna doesn¡¯t need to know that I have gotten wet¡­¡± As soon as I said that, my cheeks blushed slightly red. ¡°Innuendo wasn¡¯t intentional, just for your information.¡±

    Gunny chuckled again. ¡°Why not, I bet she would have liked some pictures of you in action.¡±

    ¡°Like the ones on Felix Invenire? No thanks. She still looks at them way too much. She even asked to hang up a couple in the cabin.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m surprised you didn¡¯t say yes.¡±

    ¡°I would rather not look at pictures of myself.¡±

    ¡°Not that I like you like that or anything, but you can¡¯t deny you look good, right?¡±

    ¡°I know I do.¡± At least I was somewhat confident about that. ¡°But I¡¯d rather look at Luna than at myself.¡±

    ¡°Fair enough.¡± He laughed.

    ¡°Anyway, that aside, I¡¯m happy you are thinking about Luna.¡±

    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I?¡±

    ¡°Because of the secret we told you yesterday evening.¡± I shrugged and turned around again to continue our walk.

    ¡°I had honestly already forgotten.¡± Gunny decided that he wanted to take point now and jogged past me.

    ¡°Had you?¡±

    ¡°Figuratively speaking, yes.¡± He nodded. ¡°I¡¯m happy for you that you found a person to share your life with. And I¡¯m on good terms with Luna as well. To me, even though this may sound weird as she did technically spy on us, this isn¡¯t any different than other coming out stories.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, I suppose you could see it like that, yeah.¡±

    ¡°But¡­¡± I expected something else to follow but Gunny remained suspiciously silent.

    ¡°But what?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not going to be content until I have met the real Luna.¡±

    ¡°Ah, you mean in her chosen form?¡±

    Gunny nodded again, but not looking back at me. ¡°It seems only proper to meet her like that, no?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± I admitted. ¡°I¡¯ll talk to her about it when we get back. We can probably arrange an official meeting then. The last one was somewhat rushed anyway.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, I would really like that.¡± This time he did turn around and gave me a smile and a friendly nod.

 Chapter 98: The Maltese Interlude Part 2

    After we had looked at the beautiful harbor in front of us for about five minutes, the rest of the group moved into the hotel to get our bags checked in. Luna and I were the last two people in the line to the check-in desk. I could see that Luna was just a tiny bit overwhelmed.

    ¡°What¡¯s up, love?¡± I said as I took off my aviator sunglasses and hung them from my shirt.

    ¡°What do you mean? Are you not feeling so¡­ moved¡­ by all of this?¡± She motioned around us. ¡°We are more than a hundred years back in time on your home planet. How are you not getting emotional?¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ Well, I didn¡¯t say I¡¯m not.¡± I smiled.

    ¡°You don¡¯t look very emotional to me.¡± She replied.

    ¡°I suppose it still hasn¡¯t sunk in that well yet.¡± I admitted. ¡°But then again¡­ I don¡¯t want to get too attached either as we still need to go back to our own timeline after this little holiday is over.¡± I looked at Amicia and Sam who were standing right in front of me. ¡°What do the two of you think? You are from the future as well.¡±

    ¡°Not that far in the future to be honest.¡± Sam replied. ¡°But it definitely feels special, that¡¯s for sure.¡±

    ¡°I think we should all cherish this experience while we have it.¡± Amicia added. ¡°So maybe let you get attached to it. Let yourself get emotional. That way the memories will stick to you better¡­¡± Amicia started to blush a little and looked away. ¡°...At least that¡¯s my opinion¡­¡±

    I smiled. ¡°Well, you are making a good point though.¡±

    Sam and Amicia both smiled and Sam continued with a question. ¡°Is there anything already that has made you go ¡®wow¡¯ about this time period?¡±

    ¡°Hmmm.¡± Luna scratched her cheek and mainly looked at me for a reply.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see.¡± I cupped my face in my hand. ¡°All these gasoline cars are pretty novel I suppose. Traffic in our time definitely flows better too. Do you still have fossil fuel cars in your time?¡±

    ¡°Not many.¡± Sam shook her head. ¡°They are really rare. I have not driven in one myself in any case.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, I have only driven along on a solid fuel motorcycle.¡±

    ¡°Ah with Hilda.¡± Sam nods acknowledgingly. ¡°I almost forgot about that.¡±

    ¡°But apart from that, not really.¡±

    ¡°Hey, this is a random question.¡± Aurora suddenly joined in on the conversation. ¡°But do you think we are all from the same time-line?¡±

    ¡°I actually don¡¯t know.¡± I replied. ¡°I hope for you that it isn¡¯t the same time-line in all fairness. The unification wars weren¡¯t fun¡­. and considering your immortality¡­¡±

    ¡°I sincerely hope you live in a parallel universe at the very least.¡± Luna added.

    ¡°Same is true for us to be honest.¡± Sam raised her hand shyly, looking at Aurora and her girlfriends. ¡°People had to flee away from central Europe because of climate change in our time¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh shit, that¡¯s where we live.¡± Aurora commented.

    Sam nodded. ¡°That¡¯s why our story is set in nondescript Scandinavia after all.¡±

    Aurora looked up, above my head and called out. ¡°Kathy, if you are listening, don¡¯t you dare put us all in the same timeline. You hear me? Otherwise I¡¯ll come and beat you up with my bat.¡±

    ¡°Do you think threatening the boss-lady will help?¡± I chuckled.

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    ¡°It¡¯s better than doing nothing.¡± Aurora shrugged.

    ¡°I suppose that¡¯s true.¡± I then turned around and looked up at the same angle Aurora had been looking to. ¡°Boss, please listen to the youngsters. Do me a favor.¡±

    Luna softly pulled on my shirt and leant in. ¡°Lauren¡­ you do realize she is writing this, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°I do.¡± I nodded with a wry smile. ¡°But it will make for great cinema if these stories ever get filmed.¡±

    ¡°Ah yeah, that¡¯s true.¡± Luna then suddenly put her finger on my cheek, guided my gaze in her direction and then planted a kiss on my lips.

    ¡°Wh-what?¡± My cheeks started to glow tomato-red.

    ¡°That will look great in the cinema too.¡±

    Aurora had covered the eyes of Ria who had been staring in our direction but from the look on Corelia¡¯s face it was clear she saw what happened.

    ¡°Look what you are showing to the youngsters, Luna. Behave yourself.¡±

    ¡°Shush.¡± She giggled and gave me another kiss. ¡°Besides, you are not that much older yourself.¡±

    After all this tomfoolery we got ourselves checked into the hotel and situated in our rooms before we headed out for the remaining part of the evening to get us some food. We were all starving, with the exception of Aurora of course, and had decided to go to a pizzeria in one of the charming little streets nearby. They had sat up their seating outside as many Maltese establishments tended to do in the evening. Quite precariously for that matter as one thing I had quickly learned about Valletta is that it has quite a lot of height difference. So while setting up your seating and tables in a walkable street might not sound very special, it is if you consider that these streets were basically made up of staircases.

    That being said, it did look outright incredible with the height difference. To top that all up, the pizza that was served was also incredibly well-done. The reviews were definitely not lying about this place at all when they said it was the best pizzeria in Valletta.

    After our meal we retreated to the hotel as tomorrow we had to rise early to catch breakfast and then head out exploring, however a little jazz bar right next to the hotel stopped that plan in it¡¯s tracks as the terrace they had set up looked even better than the one we had just been seated at. This one giving a clear view of Fort St Angelo, marvelously lit up on the other side of the harbor.

    So to summarize, we spent another two hours drinking something at the jazz bar because the Maltese are pretty good at making attractive terrace locations on somewhat impractical spots. Considering we had a lot of walking to do the day after, maybe not the best idea, but eh. We were here to enjoy us after all, or so I had been told at least.

    The morning after we had a great breakfast at our fancy hotel after we set out in the morning sun, which was already quite warm if I had to be honest. We were heading out to walk to Fort St. Elmo which was at the tip of Valletta¡¯s peninsula but first a couple of us wanted to stop by a pharmacy. Apparently summer in Malta attracts quite a few mosquitoes and some people didn¡¯t manage to catch much sleep because of it, among which was Luna.

    Amicia and Corelia had also fallen prey to the insects so they were also asking party for some kind of insecticide, which the pharmacy gladly provided.

    Armed with a couple of bottles of sunscreen too, we moved back to the edge of the ramparts to follow the edge of the peninsula towards the Fort. It was a nice walk, luckily shaded by a couple of trees with a fantastic view of the sea.

    ¡°What¡¯s there to see at the fort?¡± I asked the group while we walked along. ¡°Apart from the fortifications themselves of course.¡±

    Aurora, who was leading the group, replied. ¡°There¡¯s a big museum inside. Actually most fortifications here have museums as it seems.¡±

    ¡°All about different subjects?¡± Luna asked in return.

    ¡°Most of them are about Malta of course, and are in some part war-related. But some are more war-related than others.¡±

    ¡°I read a flier about a house owned by a noble family close by which you can visit. It looked really cool. Are we going to visit that too?¡± Corelia, who was walking next to Luna, asked our now defacto tour-guide.

    ¡°I don¡¯t see why not.¡± Aurora turned around and smiled brightly at her girlfriend. ¡°If anyone else has things like that to suggest, feel free. We don¡¯t need to follow Kathy¡¯s plans by the letter.¡±

    As I was thinking about the implication of that reply, Amicia raised her hand enthusiastically. ¡°I really want to try riding those little boats.¡± She then pointed over the rampart into the harbor below where little boats were ferrying a couple of people across to the other cities.

    ¡°Don¡¯t want to ride the bigger ferry? Looks like a more comfortable ride.¡± Sam proposed but Amicia almost immediately shook her head to that.

    ¡°I want to try the small ones. It will look way cooler as we move past the fort on the other side of the harbor. Its scale contrasts way better and I really want to make a couple of pictures in it so I can use them for reference in art pieces.¡±

    I chuckled. We¡¯d definitely have our hands full during this trip. We are not going to get bored, that¡¯s for sure.

 Chapter 99: A Chilly Treat

    We continued trekking for another three hours, seeing all kinds of different landscapes on the way. Ellie had picked a route through a rather diverse biotope it seemed, so we didn¡¯t only see forests for our entire trip. Making us trek through a tree-less savanna type area for a couple of kilometers and a rougher terrain with rocks and hills as well before diving back into the forest. Definitely more fun than I had expected before setting off this morning.

    At the edge of another biome switch, Gunny and I decided to halt for a bit to get some well-deserved calories into our stomachs. I sat down on top of a large-ish rock while Gunny chose a patch of soft grass next to it.

    ¡°Have you found a good spot for your holiday hut already, Gunny?¡± I joked after which I took a big bite of my nutrition bar.

    Gunny took a bite of his first before replying with a half-full mouth. ¡°Multiple.¡± Taking another big bite afterwards. ¡°This sure is a beautiful planet.¡±

    ¡°It is.¡± I agreed, taking a drink from my waterpack afterwards. ¡°And what do you think about the soles that our scientists gave us to test?¡±

    ¡°Not really sure yet, to be honest.¡± He replied, looking at the sole of his combat boots. ¡°I¡¯m not feeling anything yet so I guess that¡¯s not bad.¡± Gunny then looked up at me, sitting on top of my rock. ¡°Did they even tell you what to look for when we were testing this?¡±

    ¡°Errr¡­ No, not really.¡± I shook my head.

    ¡°...¡± Gunny squinted at me. ¡°Aren¡¯t you supposed to know that?¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ but I think I once read in one of Luna¡¯s books that a test subject shouldn¡¯t really know what is being tested. Knowing what is being tested could influence the test results.¡±

    Gunny sighed. ¡°So it¡¯s possible that we didn¡¯t even get something different then? Or that one of us is wearing the test sole while the other has a plain normal sole?¡±

    I put the last piece of my nutrition bar into my mouth and showed the palms of my hands with another shrug accompanying that gesture. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you want from me. I just did as the scientists asked. Don¡¯t blame me.¡±

    Yet another sigh came across Gunny¡¯s lips. ¡°Well¡­ I suppose everything is fine unless we get prodded by measuring instruments after we return¡­¡±

    ¡°....¡±

    ¡°Lauren?¡±

    I averted my gaze from Gunny. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°... Are we going to get prodded?¡±

    ¡°They didn¡¯t tell me we were.¡±

    ¡°But did they tell you we weren¡¯t?¡±

    ¡°No¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, for fucks sake. I¡¯m rushing straight to my cabin after we return, that¡¯s for sure. I¡¯m going to blast anyone who is going to try to stop me.¡±

    ¡°I would very much like you to refrain from shooting any of our scientists. They are in relatively short supply.¡±

    ¡°That will depend entirely on them.¡±

    The conversation then fell quiet as Gunny also finished his nutrition bar. It forced us to think about the conversation we just had and it didn¡¯t take long before both of us started laughing out loud.

    ¡°Eva would be so pissed at us right now if she had heard this little conversation.¡±

    ¡°I definitely wouldn¡¯t want to be in the same room as her, that¡¯s true. She would probably throw a pan at me or something.¡± Gunny laughed.

    ¡°Rather a pan than her syringes.¡±

    ¡°Very true.¡±

    We chuckled at each other and then dusted off our hands from the crumbs of our nutrition bars. I then jumped off the rock I had been sitting on and pulled Gunny up from his seat on the ground and prepared to walk the next four to five hours to our final destination. However, about two hours later, Gunny started complaining a little. Not about the hike, really, more about his love life that we had talked about the day before. He was being rather open about it and with a lot less alcohol in his blood too, so that was definitely an improvement.

    ¡°Lauren, I don¡¯t get why you get to have all the luck and I can¡¯t seem to get any. Like, at all.¡± He complained, picking up a rock and throwing it against a tree to our side. Some kind of strange nut fell down in return. At least Gunny¡¯s little bout of aggression would sprout new life in the future.

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    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s the universe¡¯s way of paying me back after it blew half of me up?¡±

    ¡°That wasn¡¯t the universe, that was the enemy.¡±

    ¡°Not so sure about that. Maybe it was an assassination attempt by the Empire who sent back an assassin back in time to kill me before we could spell the end of them in the future.¡±

    ¡°Why are you quoting ancient movies at me?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± I shrugged. ¡°I just felt like it.¡±

    I could feel Gunny¡¯s eyes roll on my back.

    ¡°Seriously though.¡± I said right before I heaved myself up some elevated terrain. ¡°I know I got bloody lucky, but I also know that this setback for you is only temporary. You¡¯ll find a new woman once we get back on earth, no question about it. Especially with the new air of having explored the galaxy and, hopefully, having saved the planet as well.¡± I looked back and offered my hand for Gunny to pull himself up.

    Instead, Gunny chose to just lift himself up as I had done before. ¡°That¡¯s what got me into this mess in the first place.¡± He sighed. ¡°I think I¡¯m done with women.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯ll be plenty of guys too. And of course non-binary folk, and other people.¡±

    ¡°Not what I meant, Lauren.¡±

    ¡°Done with romance in its entirety?¡± I stood still for a moment while Gunny just passed me by, climbing on yet another piece of elevation, It seemed we had reached somewhat of a rougher area.

    ¡°Yeah. Only thing that comes out of that is misery.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡± Gunny offered his hand and I did take him up on that. ¡°Whatever you decide, know that Eva, Luna and I are completely behind you. If you don¡¯t want to have a relationship, you¡¯ll have to do with just us anyway.¡±

    ¡°Hmph.¡± He hummed. ¡°Well, as much as I sometimes complain to or about y¡¯all. You are pretty much all I need. Truly honored to have you all as friends of mine.¡±

    ¡°Wow. The feeling is mutual, Gunny.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m grateful it is.¡± He smiled and then continued trucking on.

    From the looks of it, the rest of the trek was going to be an uphill struggle. But Gunny and I weren¡¯t going to lay down our heads so easily. It was actually rather refreshing as we were used to flat terrain for the most part.

    Trekking uphill brought along its own kind of challenges but almost an hour and a half after we had started going up, it was clear that our end-goal started to get nearer and nearer.

    ¡°Do you think Ellie put the finish line on top of this hill?¡±

    ¡°Must be.¡± I nodded and looked at my watch for a second. My heart rate was definitely elevated but well within manageable ranges. ¡°We¡¯ve been climbing for a while and I would assume that if we had to finish on flat ground in a valley, we¡¯d already have had to start to descend.¡±

    ¡°Okay. I take it we won¡¯t have to walk too much anymore. It¡¯s already getting pretty late.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you are tired already.¡± I grinned.

    Gunny looked back at me and stared me down. ¡°Like you are going to tell me you aren¡¯t starting to get tired yourself.¡±

    ¡°Maybe a little.¡± I admitted.

    ¡°Right.¡± Gunny turned back around and took a couple of big steps on top of some rocks onto yet another piece of elevated terrain. ¡°But I have to say. I do think these soles are now showing what they are worth.¡±

    ¡°Ah, so I was not alone in noticing that.¡± I smiled. While obviously we had gotten more tired since our midday break, I had started to notice that my legs and feet were being spared a lot of discomfort that normally would come with trekking through this kind of rough terrain. Especially in the later hours of a trek, this would have started to really show by now. ¡°They definitely worked some magic into these. Will be really valuable for longer infantry operations.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, exactly.¡± Gunny nodded and went on. ¡°We will be able to keep up a way higher pace with these. Tired troops are slow troops.¡±

    ¡°Very true.¡±

    Just as I said that, Gunny and I broke through the treeline, opening up into a wide open space. In front of us the top of the hill we had been climbing and beyond that a sea of green and blue. Forrest, big stretches of grassland and an ocean in the distance as well. The sun that had slowly been setting, reflecting on the waves, gave us a beautiful spectacle of light.

    ¡°You have reached your destination.¡± Ellie spoke up from my holo stick.

    ¡°Great spot to end the trek on, Ellie.¡± I replied with a smile.

    ¡°Thank you, Commander. You two are ahead of schedule, do you want me to call the shuttle over already?¡±

    I looked over at Gunny who had dropped his bag and had sat down on a rock, overlooking the oceanside part of the hill.

    ¡°No, I think we¡¯ll stay here for just a little longer. I¡¯ll call you when we want to get a pick-up.¡±

    ¡°Alright, Commander.¡± Ellie¡¯s voice disappeared from the radio, leaving us in the quiet again. Only the rustling of leaves and the sound of the distant ocean very silently reached us.

    I put down my bag and fished out four cans of chilled beer that I had hidden in a coolbox all the way at the bottom and approached my pal. I touched one of the cold cans against his shoulder to which he looked back, smiling as he saw what I was holding.

    ¡°Where the hell did you keep those?¡±

    ¡°My bag. Didn¡¯t want to tell you I had them before or you would have drunk them four hours ago.¡± I replied and sat down next to him, handing him one of the cans. ¡°They are low alcohol ones.¡±

    ¡°I figured.¡± He popped it open. ¡°But beer is beer, and this is one hell of a nice reward at the end of a long hike.¡±

    ¡°I got some hotdogs as well that we can cook up.¡±

    Gunny looked at me as if I just invented sliced bread. ¡°This is only getting better.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll grab them after this beer is done.¡± I cracked open my own can too. ¡°To be honest, the hotdogs were Luna¡¯s idea.¡±

    ¡°How can anyone dislike her? Even if she¡¯s a spy...¡± Gunny leant back happily. ¡°Thank you, Lauren. This hike was a great idea.¡±

    ¡°Any time.¡± I tipped the beer back and looked across the amazing sight in front of us. Something told me that the times ahead weren¡¯t going to be as peaceful as this, at all. But that just convinced me more that we should grab the opportunity to have these moments when we could get them. Especially when you can help a friend with them.