《Gangsters and Aliens: Making you better than you really are.》 Prologue The vibrant bar in the casino is a hub of activity, the sounds of exuberance, mixed with the stench of desperation gently wafts in from the various table games and slot machines. A diverse crowd of humans and other species enjoy their drinks and chat animatedly. On one side, towering five-meter tall windows offer a stunning view of Inancent, the blue star that Halo Space Station leisurely orbits around. On the opposite end, an old acquaintance of the bartender sits on a stool, entertaining him with stories from his recent visit to the Aether Processing Station. The spacer leans forward on his stool and lowers his voice, "Let me tell you, the rules about no deodorant and washing with special unscented soap before exiting our ship were just the beginning.¡± The spacer sat up straighter and got a touch louder and more animated with each syllable as he declared, ¡°They went so far as to have us do some crazy colon cleanse!" He Pauses for a moment to take a swig of his drink. "But that wasn''t even the strangest part¡­¡± The bartender interrupts, ¡°Wait, a group of xenos requiring you to do a colon cleanse wasn¡¯t the strangest part? Did they follow-up with an anal probe?¡± The spacer gives the bartender an exasperated look, ¡°OK, maybe the colon cleanse was the strangest part, but while we were on board their station, I had this weird sensation that they were talking about us right in front of us and we couldn''t understand a word." "They probably were," the bartender chuckled, while wiping down a glass. ¡°Wait! What? How?¡±, the spacer splutters. The bartender smiles knowingly, "The Zhians have their own scent language that can convey general tones and ideas. The universal translator can''t even begin to decode it." ¡°Really?¡±, is the spacer¡¯s one word question. ¡°It¡¯s not a full language, but yeah they can pack a lot of information into scents. That¡¯s the real reason they make you undergo that whole decontamination procedure, cleansing ritual, or whatever they want to call it.¡± The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. "Those lizards are something else," the spacer remarked. "At least they tend to keep to themselves for the most part.¡± ¡°Yeah, I never hear of them going further out from their home world than to visit their only space station,¡± the bartender remarks agreeably. ¡°Can''t say the same for those damn Ilex though. They tried to board us just a sector out from there,¡± stated the spacer. ¡°What did you do?¡±, the bartender questioned. The spacer took another sip of his drink before replying, ¡°We ran! We had just done an overhaul on our engines to get a little more power out of them, and it was a good thing to or who knows what would have happened." "I¡¯m glad you guys managed to get away," the bartender commented. "Let¡¯s just say that they''re not exactly known for their hospitality." The bartender continues, ¡°Heck, a group recently docked here and one of them wandered into the Casino. He literally growled at me while baring his fangs. It was like some kind of low budget B-movie holo-vid.¡± ¡°He growled at you. What caused him to do that?¡° ¡°He didn¡¯t appreciate that I offered him something as weak as a light beer.¡± The spacer smiled, ¡°He may have had a point, but were you scared?¡± ¡°Only a little,¡± replied the bartender showing more bravado than he likely had in the moment. ¡°After all, no one is stupid enough to start anything in this casino. The bald man would have taken care of that problem permanently. No one, and I mean no one messes with anyone on the boss''s turf without his consent.¡± Now it was the spacers turn to chuckle, ¡°Yeah, I guess you¡¯re right about that. Any other strange happenings here on Halo?¡± "Yesterday some Strayons docked here at the station," the bartender practically boasts. "Now there''s a fascinating bunch. About a quarter of a meter shorter than us, ridiculously fuzzy and cute. If they weren''t so smart, you''d want to take one of them home as a pet." He paused and shook his head before adding, "But don''t let appearances fool you none - they''re shrewd bastards. I swear they were actually calculating the odds on the various games here at the casino. One of them even left with a few extra credits, though I''m sure he spent it elsewhere on the station." "Interesting times we''re living in.", stated the spacer while taking another long draw from his drink. The bartender agreed with a nod and motioned for another customer to come forward and place their order. Chapter 1: Smells like nocerous dung "This planet sucks," a tawny beige skinned woman with her hair tied back grumbles as they enter the unloading area. "Even the space port smells like ¡®nocerous dung.¡± ¡°It is what happens when a planet becomes the primary food provider for the Galaxy.¡±, her middle aged bearded companion responds in a way that clearly shows he has had this same conversation dozens of times over the years, although this is likely the first time he¡¯s had this conversation with this particular young woman. ¡°But, I¡¯m with you, let¡¯s just sell our cargo so we can be one step closer to getting out of here.¡± ¡°Not to change the subject, but I heard that you and John have a lead on getting someone new for ship security,¡± the woman inquires. ¡°We¡¯re going to rendezvous with her at a nearby pub after we unload our cargo. Her credentials seem solid - she¡¯s got a decade of military service on Nara," the bearded man explains. Suddenly the woman becomes excited. "Is she green? Please tell me she''s green! That would be so cool to have a bad¡­¡± He puts up a hand to stop her rambling and interjects, ¡°Believe it or not, her skin color was not part of her credentials. No matter what, a decade of military service seems like a good start to any resume.¡± The excitable young woman concedes with a smile and shrug, "Yeah yeah, I know you''re right. But I still hope she''s a greenie." Giving her a playful scowl, the crows¡¯ feet around his eyes become a little more pronounced as he teases, "I''m pretty sure you just made up that word." The woman grins mischievously, "Maybe." As they approach the office of the space port''s cargo chief, the middle aged man scans their surroundings and notices a lot of people bustling about loading large stacks of crates onto grav-sleds and comments, "Looks like this place is busier than usual. I don¡¯t recall seeing this much activity here before." ¡ª¡ª¡ª A man with light brown hair that has the first speckles of gray coming in at his temples grunts as he struggles to remove a metal plate, revealing a power conduit. A roiling pink gaseous cloud with electricity arcing through it moves forward and hovers near the opening. The smell of ozone wafts off the cloud. The pink cloud makes a series of noises that sound like static to a human ear, but the universal translator on board the ship immediately translates. ¡°So John, why did you ask me to help you with the ansible¡¯s relay?¡± John turns to look at the pink cloud with his pale gray eyes and responds, "I ran a diagnostic and everything on the ansible seems fine. I think there might be a short in one of the power conduits causing the drop offs." As John talks, the universal translator emits buzzing noises. The pink cloud responds, ¡°OK, what do you need me to do?¡± John furrows his brow, ¡°I thought that you might be able to tell me.¡± With each word, John sounds less sure of his expectations. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I really don¡¯t know much about ansibles or power conduits. What made you think that I could solve this problem?¡±, the pink cloud questions. ¡°I don¡¯t know Buzz, I thought that since you had electricity arcing through you and¡­¡±, John¡¯s voice trails off. Buzz makes a static sound that the translator can¡¯t interpret. John assumes it must be something like a scoff. Then Buzz asks, ¡°So you thought that just because I had electricity arcing through me, you assumed I was an electrician?¡± John doesn¡¯t respond immediately, so Buzz continues, ¡°John, are you a hematologist?¡± ¡°No. What does that have to do with anything?¡±, is John¡¯s response. ¡°But you have blood throughout your body, don¡¯t you?¡±, Buzz presses. ¡°Well yeah, but¡­,¡± and finally understanding dons on John as he continues, "Okay okay, you win. You were right, I may have asked for your help based on a misconception about your abilities. Please accept my apology," John replies. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. "Apology accepted. And just so you know, I already knew that not only are you an ugly bag of water, but also a xenoist," Buzz quips. As Buzz makes that last statement, there is something resembling a smile in its tone of static. John smiles and says, "I should have asked Alina for help. She''s the only one on board who knows how to fix anything. Plus, I should probably clean up and take a quick sonic shower before Vance gets back. We''re supposed to meet with a new candidate for ship security." "So, you''re taking a shower. Does that mean this candidate is promising?" Buzz asks. "She''s ex-military from Nara, so yes," John confirms. "I''ve never been to Nara since I joined this crew. Is it because of their military?" Buzz probes. "Nara is known for its fantastic counterfeiting operations. You can get knock off versions of anything there. However, getting there can be difficult due to the anomalous gravity wells surrounding the planet. It''s probably why other governments don''t try to stop them, but Nara also has some of the best special forces in the galaxy. That''s why I''m hoping our new candidate has green skin." "Is this some kind of ''Green Supremacy'' thing I don''t know about your species?" even through the translator John can hear the air quotes around ¡®Green Supremacy¡¯, as Buzz asks curiously. John pauses for a moment to collect his thoughts before replying, "As far as I know, no human race is born with green skin, but Nara provides their top military agents with genetic enhancements. One of the side effects is that it turns their skin green. If she has green skin, then she''s lethal." Buzz lets out a sound that John has come to recognize as laughter. "No wonder you need a shower." Buzz pauses before adding, "The new candidate is a woman." ¡ª¡ª¡ª As Vance and Alina stepped into the office, they were hit with a cacophony of scents. The pervasive smell of fertilizer still hung in the air, but now it¡¯s mixed with the pungent aroma of burnt coffee and the chemical tang of degreaser. Despite the overwhelming odors, Vance pastes a smile on his face as the cargo chief extends a hand towards him. "Captain Vance Renshaw?" The cargo chief asks, his voice rough and gruff. "Everyone just calls me Vance," Vance replied, shaking the cargo chief¡¯s calloused hand. Vance glances around the room and notices the offending coffee maker in the corner. Several plaques were on the wall along with a Commonwealth Shipping Union poster and a pendant for the Agronauts- a local wall derby team, and a semi organized desk that the cargo chief had just stepped around. "My name''s Riker and I''m the new cargo chief." Riker''s eyes flicked to the manifest in front of him before continuing, "According to your manifest, it looks like you''re mostly bringing us kyber. I''ll offer you 150,000 credits for the whole shipment." Alina scowled at Riker''s offer. "That''s ridiculous! 150,000 credits would barely cover what we purchased the kyber for and our energy rods to get here." Vance placed a calming hand on Alina''s shoulder. "She''s right. I''ve delivered cargo all over this galaxy and Agros always needs kyber to create data crystals for their farming drones. I''ve never been offered so little." "Unfortunately for you," Riker responded coolly, "The Commonwealth''s Mercantile Fleet just came through and delivered a large shipment of kyber. Temporarily, we have an excess supply. The only reason I''m offering 150,000 credits is because, according to our logs, your ship, the Stellar Horizon, has been delivering cargo to Agros for over a dozen years. I don''t want to dissuade you and your crew from continuing to do so." Alina speaks up, "How about we make a trade instead? This planet always needs to export durable food goods. Maybe we could get a deal in return." A hopeful look for what she considers an adequate solution, apparent on her face. Riker looks at Alina and shakes his head as he turns to Vance. "Can you explain why such a trade might not work?" Vance lets out an elongated sigh before stating, "The Mercantile Fleet would have already taken any valuable goods from this planet to export, including any durable food. What''s left would be priced higher than normal. Our less valuable items won''t get us much in exchange, and other planets probably won''t want to pay those inflated prices. We''re at a dead end." "So, will you consider my offer?" asks Riker. Vance pauses before responding, "No, it seems like our best option is to find a better market for our kyber. Give us a few hours to refuel and restock, and we''ll be on our way." "No problem, Captain Renshaw. Best of luck to you and your crew." Vance couldn¡¯t even harbor any ill feelings towards the cargo chief as he and Alina exited. Once outside the cargo chief¡¯s office Alina questions, ¡°Where do you think we can unload the kyber and make enough profit after hauling it somewhere else?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not planning on selling it anywhere else,¡± is Vance¡¯s casual response. Alina gives him a confused look before saying, ¡°Now I¡¯m really lost. What¡¯s your angle on this one?¡± ¡°We just have to wait this one out. As soon as you get back to the ship, look for some planet-side long term storage.¡± Vance glances to either side before continuing, ¡°Maybe make a couple of comms on the ansible.¡± Alina meets his eyes for a moment, communicating understanding before asking, ¡°Anything else?¡± Vance manages a smile, ¡°Yeah, make sure it¡¯s affordable, after all we haven¡¯t been paid for this job yet.¡± Alina gives a playful grin and mockingly salutes, ¡°Aye aye, Captain Vance Renshaw.¡± ¡°Hopefully we¡¯ll have another set of arms to help us load the grav-sled after John and I check out our lead for ship security.¡± Chapter 2: Soldier girl The swinging doors of the Last Chance Saloon creak on their hinges as Captain Vance Renshaw and John Smith step over the worn threshold. The bar ¡ª a dingy den festooned with relics of a wilder past ¡ª hums with the low murmur of conversations from the assorted clientele. Neon signs buzz overhead, clashing with the rustic d¨¦cor, casting garish colors over patrons¡¯ faces. While the stench of fertilizer still makes its way into this tavern it competes with the aroma of spilled beer. "Reminds me of MaliDen''s Quarry without the pretense," John mutters, scanning the room through narrow eyes. "Or the opulence," Vance adds, his boots thudding against the wooden floor, a smirk playing beneath his beard. "There she is." At a corner table, nursing a murky looking bottle of what passed for beer in these parts, sits a petite green skinned woman. Her flight jacket, adorned with patches from her Nara service days, lay across the back of her chair like a silent testament to her history. "Looks can be deceiving," Vance said, appreciative of her compact stature which belies the vaunted prowess of Nara¡¯s green skinned soldiers. "Or perfectly informative," John counters dryly. But before Vance and John even start to saunter over to the table with their security candidate, three burly men approach her table, their intentions written plainly on their scowling faces. The smallest of them, a brute with scars crisscrossing his forehead, leans forward placing a hand on the table between them, his words slurred but threatening. "Hey, little soldier girl, you sitting all alone?" he sneers. The woman, sounding as if she is verging on boredom, replies, "Not looking for company." "Too bad," growls another man as he lunges around the table to try and grab her arm. But before he could even make contact, the green skinned woman springs into action. In a blur of movement too swift for the untrained eye to follow, she kicks the heavy table over with her feet causing three noteworthy things to happen almost simultaneously. First the top of the table smashes into the face of the smaller man that had dared to lean across it. There was an audible crunching noise as his nose broke and at least two of his teeth cracked under the impact. He crumpled to the floor, blood gushing from his broken face. Second, the edge of the table caught the bottom edge of her bottle causing it to break, while the neck of the bottle remained in the green-skinned woman¡¯s hand creating a makeshift shiv. Third, due to the weight of the heavy table when considered against the weight of the petite looking woman and her chair she slid backwards. This motion causes her attacker''s clumsy attempt to grab her to miss completely. As the woman jumped out of her chair, she stomps down hard on the back of his knee with enough force to either break or dislocate it. The man let out a pained grunt, but fear kept him from screaming as she used the hand not holding the makeshift weapon to grab his hair and jerk his head backwards. Then she roughly places the jagged edge of the beer bottle against his throat pressing it against his skin till beads of blood began to well up. With one man on the floor with a broken nose and missing teeth, and another with a busted knee being held up by his hair while a jagged piece of glass is pressed against his throat, the third man quickly comes to his senses, suddenly seeming a lot less inebriated. He looks at his two injured friends and then at the green-skinned woman who had just effortlessly taken them both down in seconds. Now that the woman is standing, his eyes flick down and he notices that she never even drew the blaster in her thigh holster or the combat knife in her leg holster. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "I''m really sorry these two bothered you. I think I''ll just see myself out of the bar," he mutters before turning and briskly walking away, wanting no further part in this confrontation. "Anyone else?" the woman shouts, her voice dripping with menace as she forcefully shoves the man she was still holding onto down to the ground. The entire bar falls silent as the door swings shut behind the last potential aggressor, leaving only the sound of heavy breathing and shattered glass in its wake. "She¡¯s fun, can we keep her?" John loudly asks Vance while smiling. "So, Ms Xandros, may we formally offer you the security job we contacted you about?" Vance asks as he slowly closes the distance between them. "Security job?" Cally''s voice held a hint of skepticism and mild interest as she sized up Vance Renshaw from her spot in the bar. Her gaze narrows in on him as she analyzes his every move. She casually tosses a broken bottle onto a nearby table with a loud clattering sound, never taking her eyes off of the captain. "You two are the ones who pinged me on the ansible?" Cally asks, her tone more curious than suspicious. "Guilty as charged," Vance admits with an easy smile, although his sharp eyes betrayed a hint of calculation. He confidently approaches the table, followed by John Smith whose hands are tucked into the pockets of his utilitarian gray jumpsuit. "Stellar Horizon''s our ship," John adds nonchalantly, but his gray eyes gleamed with intelligence that miss nothing. "We need someone who can handle trouble... and it seems like you''ve got a talent for that." "Trouble is one way to put it," Cally remarks dryly as she grabs her flight jacket from the back of the chair she had previously been sitting in. With a fluid motion, she pulls it over her shoulders, briefly revealing the barcode tattoo on the back of her neck before it was hidden again. "Your offer... decent pay, I assume?" "Competitive," Vance assures her smoothly. "With benefits that include seeing the stars, dodging a few bullets, and maybe even getting into a bar brawl or two." Cally couldn''t help but snort a laugh at his words, a brief smirk playing across her lips. "What''s the catch? You two don''t seem like your average freighter jockeys." "Let''s just say we travel extensively," Vance lowers his voice, hinting at something more dangerous. "Beyond Cosinda''s politics and all the way to the edges of The Freed People''s territories. We''ve got a knack for finding ourselves in the thick of it." Cally couldn''t deny that the offer sounded tempting, her own adventurous spirit catching fire at the challenge in Vance''s words plus it was a chance to move on from this dung scented planet. "Sounds like a decent gig," she concedes. "I''m in. When do I start?" "Immediately," John chimes in enthusiastically. "Our ship is docked at a nearby cargo port." With a nod, Cally''s dark green eyes briefly drifted off into memory before snapping back to the present. "I''ve already got all my gear packed in a nearby locker. I''ll meet you there." "You must travel light," Vance observes with curiosity. "It''s a habit I picked up during my time in the service," Cally replies with a hint of mystery as she grasps Vance''s outstretched hand and shakes it firmly. Vance briefly turns towards John, "Make sure to give the barkeep some hard coins to forget about us being here." He then turns back to their newest crew member, a warm smile on his face. "Welcome aboard, Caleope Xandros," he declares as they begin making their way towards the exit. "Everyone I like is allowed to call me Cally," Cally interjected with a playful wink. "You can call me Vance, and that guy goes by John," Vance replies with a chuckle. As they step outside, the trio is met with the gentle glow of distant stars and the promise of adventure ahead. Chapter 3: Whats in the box? With a grunt, Cally heaves the final crate onto the grav-sled, the heavy thud of metal against metal echoing in the cargo hold of the Stellar Horizon. Beside her, Alina moves with practiced grace as she secures the load with flicks of her wrists, the straps snapping into place with satisfying clicks. "Did you know that a quantum field can taste like raspberries?" Buzz''s voice crackles, his luminescent form hovering near the ceiling. "What are you talking about now, Buzz?" Alina chuckles, wiping a sweat matted lock of hair from her forehead. "It''s a serious question!" The pink cloud zapps a little brighter, arcs of electricity dancing within its boundaries. "I read it in an old human manual about sensory hallucinations during hyper jumps." "Stick to navigating astral storms, not discussing flavor profiles," Cally grunts as she checks the antigrav settings on the sled. "Oh fine, but don''t come crying to me when you start tasting fruit in the vacuum of space!" Buzz makes a noise that could only be described as a huffy buzz as he floats away towards the cockpit. "To change the subject from fruity-flavored space events," Cally begins, "How did we end up transporting this cargo to a farm on the other side of the planet?" "I was asked to find affordable long-term storage for this kyber," Alina replies. Cally smirks before responding, "I understand that part, but surely there are plenty of civilized planets- and maybe even uncivilized ones- that offer warehouse storage at reasonable rates." "Ah, but we haven''t made any coin on this trip yet and that''s not how we do things on this vessel," Alina says with a mischievous smile. "I used one of the Captain''s contacts on Halo Station to see if there was anywhere they wanted us to store this cargo." "What does Halo have to do with this? They¡¯re sectors away from here." Cally asks, looking slightly puzzled. "It''s possible that someone at Halo has something they want us to pick up and they can''t advertise it openly," Alina explains. Cally nods, satisfied with the answer. "Alright, let''s move this before Buzz decides to quiz us on the mating habits of nebula squids or something," Alina states, and together they guide the grav-sled out of the bay, the gentle hum of its repulsars filling the silence of the cargo hold. ¡ª¡ª¡ª The afternoon sun of Agros casts long shadows over the wheat fields, painting the automated farm drones in a golden hue. John watches as the mechanical laborers, their joints whirring softly, maneuver around the grav-sled with an almost balletic precision. One by one, they lift the crates, their antigrav clamps humming as they defy the pull of gravity. John Smith watches this process with visible concern etched on his face. "Relax, Smith," the farmer replies, leaning against the barn''s weathered wall, a smirk playing on his lips. "My drones are probably better at handling cargo than most of your crew." Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. John can''t help but chuckle, despite himself. "No argument there." He watches as a drone floats a crate towards the silo. As it enters, its sensors scan the floor of the grain silo. After a series of clicks and whirs, a section of the floor slides away, revealing a hidden compartment beneath. The drones carefully descend into the darkness with the crates. "Never thought I''d be storing perfectly legal goods under my grain silo," the farmer muses, while scratching the stubble on his chin. "Desperate times call for creative measures," Vance replies, the corner of his mouth twitching upward. "Besides, knowing some of the people we¡¯ve both done work with means this can¡¯t be the most unusual request you¡¯ve received." "Speaking of which, how''s that other cargo coming along?" John asks, changing the subject with a glance at Vance. "Let''s just say it was better hidden than a black hole in a dark matter storm," the farmer drawls with a sly grin. ¡°I have some of my drones retrieving it now. It¡¯s scanner proof, so you might want to find someplace out of sight to hide it on your ship.¡± ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure we can manage that,¡± Vance responded dryly. ¡°Just remember which flow shoal to exit the astral from as you approach Leoria and you should be fine,¡± the farmer reassures them while handing some hard coin credits over to Vance. ¡°That¡¯s the half up front. You''ll get the other half at the drop.¡± ¡ª¡ª¡ª With strained breaths, Vance and John maneuvered the heavy plate back into place, effectively concealing the hidden compartment on the Stellar Horizon. Cally''s voice broke the tense silence. ¡°What exactly are we shipping across the Astral in that crate?¡± Cally inquired. "It''s scanner-proof," John responded. "And we were told it''s a no-questions-asked drop." Alina interjects, her voice filled with unease. ¡°No questions asked usually means it¡¯s bad news. I don¡¯t like this. We should check it out to see what we¡¯re getting ourselves into.¡± Vance let out a sigh, ¡°What part of a no questions asked scanner proof crate makes you think that we should take a peek inside? Besides, it¡¯s got a bio-metric lock on it.¡± Cally speaks up, ¡°I think Alina is worried that it¡¯s either drugs or a bomb, but really, for all we know it could be a cookie recipe.¡± ¡°For the record, I¡¯m mostly worried it could be a bomb,¡± Alina retorts. ¡°In fact, I¡¯ll go so far as to state that I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a cookie recipe.¡± ¡°As it currently stands, unless we open it and look inside, it has the potential to be absolutely anything. That gives me the piece of mind of not actually knowing what it is. I find myself incredibly OK with that scenario,¡± John rationalizes. Vance interrupts, ¡°It still has a bio-metric lock. We can¡¯t get into it anyway.¡± ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I could get around that,¡± John declares. Vance scowls at John, ¡°Not helping.¡± ¡°I could get around it, but I¡¯m not going to and I don¡¯t think anyone else here knows how to circumvent a bio-metric lock. Unless, that was some kind of special military skill that Cally had to learn,¡± John states. ¡°Nope, I was a soldier, not a spook. That wasn¡¯t part of my training,¡± Cally casually replies. ¡°Apparently, only one of us knows how to circumvent the lock and he¡¯s not inclined to do so. I know none of us really want to hang out on this planet any longer than we have to and Buzz is already up in the cockpit prepping systems for take off and plotting an exit vector. Now would be a good time to make sure everything on-board is secured,¡± states Vance. ¡ª¡ª¡ª A short while later, the whine of the thrusters can be heard as the ship slowly lifts off from the open space near the grain silo. As the Stellar Horizon gains altitude the ship slowly rotates for its intended exit vector from the nearly translucent shield that surrounds Agros. Once sufficient height is achieved, it shoots off into the cerulean sky. Chapter 4: Entering the astral flow shoal The Stellar Horizon cruises towards the beacons marking the edge of the flow shoal. The ship¡¯s engines thrum, sending a gentle vibration throughout the entire ship. Buzz floats at the helm, making adjustments to the thrusters with ease as the capacitive touch screens respond to his every movement. He seems almost in tune with the ship, rendering more traditional controls like the flight yoke unnecessary. "It''s been years since I''ve seen Leoria''s emerald skies," Alina muses from her seat next to Buzz in the copilot''s chair. "I remember the purple tundras stretching out as far as you can see." While reminiscing about her childhood home she lifts her knees to her chest and allows the heels of her boots onto the front edge of her seat. She hugs her legs while allowing old memories to wash over her. "Sounds like something out of a human fairy tale," Buzz remarks. ¡°No, it had plenty of rough edges as well, but it is a pretty planet,¡± Alina states wistfully. ¡°But , I have a lot of fond memories from my parent¡¯s shop.¡± Alina turns her soft brown eyes towards Buzz, ¡°What was your childhood like?¡± At this question, Buzz''s demeanor seemed to brighten to a slightly lighter pink hue. ¡°I was born in the Crimson Nebula when my parents each gave up part of themselves in the form of ionized hydrogen and cosmic dust. Under their guidance it coalesced, forming me, a new creature. Being formed of my parents in such a way, a portion of my knowledge literally came from them. It would be like an infant in your culture being born with the intelligence of a teenager.¡± ¡°Being born a teenager, that had to be difficult for your parents,¡± Alina comments while smiling at the mere idea. ¡°Well, there was the time that me and my friends accidentally interfered with the seeds of a new planet when we were racing around a variable star. I was sure my parents were going to perform decomposition on my molecular bonds,¡± Buzz concedes. ¡°Leave it to you to accidentally destroy a civilization millions of years before it could even start,¡± Alina laughs. ¡°It makes me getting caught cheating on my eighth grade calculus exam seem so trivial in comparison.¡± With a final adjustment, Buzz prepared the ship for the transition to the astral plane. Buzz announces over the intercom, ¡°Initiating space-time bubble in 3-2-1. Space-time bubble initiated.¡± A nearly transparent bubble encapsulates the ship in a piece of real space. ¡°Entering the astral plane from the flow shoal in 5-4-3-2-1.¡± As the Stellar Horizon enters the astral plane Alina''s mind drifts back to a lecture from her astrophysics teacher in 10th grade. ¡°According to the theory of special relativity, faster-than-light travel is not possible as nothing can exceed the speed of light. Additionally, objects with mass would need to be converted entirely into energy as they approached this speed. Even if it were achievable, the vast distance between inhabitable systems would mean that only a small amount of time would pass for the traveler, while much more time would pass for those observing from a stationary standpoint. For example, traveling from Leoria to Cosinda and back at 99.99% of the speed of light would take about 8 years for an observer on Leoria but only 45 days would have passed for the crew on the ship. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. However, physicists have discovered an alternate, although not parallel, plane of existence commonly referred to as the astral plane in which space and time operate differently. FTL drives, which do not actually travel faster than light, encapsulate your ship in a space-time bubble and move your entire ship into this astral plane. Without this space-time bubble, your ship, and therefore you as well, would simply cease to exist as you are not designed to persist in this alternate plane of existence. Not all points in space seem to connect to this alternate plane, but those that do typically have six points that connect to this plane simply referred to as astral flow shoals, but to increase challenges in traveling through this alternate plane is the fact that where the astral plane and our reality connects seem to occasionally shift in impossible to predict manners. Some may argue that we have not yet developed the necessary math to accurately predict these shifts and changes. While that argument is technically true, we can compare this to how science still doesn''t actually understand why people yawn. The current leading theory on yawning is that it may be a thermoregulator for our brain, which sounds reasonable, except if you yawn, why does everyone around also start yawning. So without intending to trivialize what astral plane physicists do, certain parts of the astral plane might be unknowable just like our lack of understanding about why yawning is strangely contagious.¡± The ship trembles gently as it slips into the astral plane. Every star appearing to press flat and smear into a rainbow of colors and eventually turning their surroundings into a uniform gray. Through this astral plane they would travel light years of distance to reach Leoria in less than a stand. ¡ª¡ª¡ª The Stellar Horizon, in need of a universal timekeeping system while in space, aligns its chronometers with those of Vega, the capital of Oceania. This standardization makes travel in both real space and astral a little more regulated for the crew and since a majority of astral travelers have standardized on the same time it also makes it easier to interact with other ships and space stations. Therefore it is rather late by the time the Stellar Horizon actually enters the flow shoal and everyone on board has had a long day. Cally notices the bags under her eyes in the mirror as she finishes rinsing her mouth. Exiting the head, she sees John leaving the galley with what looks like a coffee thermos and heading for the common area. John silently waves and Cally equally silently nods. As Cally enters her own cabin, she looks around at a rather spartan room. It has a bed, a desk jutting out from a bulkhead and a chair. While glancing at the bed she gently mumbles, ¡°At least it looks like the sheets and pillow were recently laundered.¡± She leans the chair against the door, tosses her duffel underneath the desk, and she moves the pillow to the floor on the side of the bed that is opposite to the room¡¯s lone entrance. Cally makes sure her blaster and her blade are both in easy reach of where she intends to sleep. She takes off her flight jacket to use it as a blanket. Cally thinks to herself, ¡®There are those that would consider me paranoid, but its that paranoia that kept me alive in the service. Heck even before that, this same paranoia kept me alive on the streets as a kid.¡¯ Cally listens carefully, faintly hearing something playing on the holo-vid projector, and shakes her head at the idea of staying up and watching movies. Cally stretches out on the floor and finds a night full of dreams, or maybe they would be considered nightmares, of the past. Chapter 5: Eating our dead skin cells The sound of a door opening and closing of a door, followed by the scuffing of booted feet out in the hall and another door opening and closing. Cally wakes up and sits upright, piecing together the information based on the direction of the sounds. The Captain left his suite and went to the head. According to ship¡¯s time, it¡¯s 0503. Cally wonders if the Captain had any time in the service as she hears him leave the head and makes his way to the galley. Calley follows a similar routine before joining the Captain in the galley. ¡°Morning Miss Xandros, I thought you might be up around now. I¡¯m just putting on some coffee but it¡¯ll be a few ticks till I start making breakfast,¡± Vance calmly states while putting some coffee grounds in a basket. ¡°Morning Captain, and thank you for starting some coffee.¡± She pauses for a moment before continuing, ¡°You can just call me Cally. I left the service so I don¡¯t need to be Miss, Lieutenant, or any other title or honorific.¡± He gives her an easy smile, ¡°Then you should just call me Vance. That¡¯s what the rest of the crew normally does unless they¡¯re doing something more official.¡± ¡°So pre-breakfast coffee isn¡¯t considered official around here?¡± Vance chuckles, ¡°Even breakfast isn¡¯t official around here. I put good odds that Buzz will skip the galley this morning.¡± Cally¡¯s brow furrows, ¡°Does he normally eat with the rest of the crew?¡± ¡°Saying he eats with us wouldn''t be entirely accurate, but he usually joins us for meals so he can observe our social interactions. Although lately, Buzz has been experimenting with ''not being a morning person''," Vance explains. Cally can hear the quotation marks around those words. "I hadn''t really thought about it, but does Buzz even sleep?" she asks. "I''ve never seen him resting before, but his main goal on board is to learn about other sentient beings. He''s constantly asking strange questions, reading various books, and using the ansible to look things up," Vance replies. Cally nods in understanding. "He did ask Alina and I about ''fruity flavored quantum fields''," she recalls. Vance gestures towards the cupboard and suggests, "Why don''t you grab us a couple of mugs?" Cally hands two mugs to Vance. While pouring the coffee, he muses, "At some point, Buzz must have learned that many people claim to hate mornings and is choosing to sleep in." He motions for Cally to sit at the table with him. "Let''s discuss everyone''s roles. You''ve met our small crew already, and we often assist each other outside of our own field of expertise. For example, even though Buzz is our main navigator, all of us take turns in the cockpit. From your jacket, I can tell you have some piloting experience," he nods towards her flight patches. Cally concedes, ¡°I may have flown a few birds somewhere along the way.¡± Vance continues, ¡°Alina is our engineer and the rest of us put together aren¡¯t half as good as she is, despite her youth, at keeping this bucket space worthy. But all of us that have hands have managed to get them dirty when she asks for help.¡± Cally interjects, ¡°You mention her age as if you¡¯re some sort of old man.¡± ¡°My daughter is only a couple of years younger than Alina. Half the time I have to keep myself from calling her a kid despite the fact that she¡¯s in her mid twenties,¡± Vance quips. ¡°I guess that does make you an old man,¡± Cally replies jokingly. Vance clears his throat while pretending to ignore that last jab, ¡°John handles all our data work and coding tasks. Seems like half the code on this ship was custom-made by him.¡± ¡°So I know you hired me for security, which at first glance looks ludicrous on such a small ship, but considering that within a couple of hours of my arrival on board, we started smuggling cargo for some gangster, I can see why you might want me around,¡± Cally comments. Vance responds, "That means all I have to do is sit around and watch while everyone else does the real work. Oh, and manage deals, paychecks, energy supplies and food stores for the ship...and don''t forget union dues so we stay on good terms with a certain bald man." Cally quips, "I''m relieved to hear you''ve got this whole slacking off and letting your underlings do everything well in hand." ¡°Another thing to let you know is how we handle food prep around here. Since I¡¯m the early morning guy, I¡¯ll usually make breakfast. We¡¯ll set up a rotation for the other meals, but we don¡¯t allow John to make dinner as he is¡­,¡± Vance pauses to choose his next word carefully, ¡°uninspired, as a chef, and lunch is an easier affair. If there is something in particular you want to make when its your turn, just make sure I know to purchase the ingredients whenever we¡¯re planet-side. We can give you a few days before we toss you into the rotation. All that said, I should start prepping for breakfast.¡± ¡°Would you like a hand?¡±, Cally asks. Vance motions towards a block before responding, ¡°Sure, just grab a knife.¡± Vance gets up and starts pulling eggs, bacon, fresh fire peaches, and more out of the cooler. Soon Cally is slicing fruit, and Vance is cooking on a heat top. The aromas from the galley seem to drag both John and Alina from their slumber. Soon all four of them are sitting around a table together enjoying breakfast. Before taking another forkful of scrambled eggs, Vance pauses and states, ¡°While I¡¯m not a fan of Agros, It¡¯s really nice to have some fresh eggs and bacon this morning.¡± John chimes in, "All that matters to me is that we restocked our supply of coffee." Cally interjects, "Weren''t you up half the night watching holo-vids and drinking coffee?" "That''s precisely why morning coffee is crucial now," John responds. ¡°John is always up half the night watching some inane show on the holo-vid projector,¡± Alina mentions. Cally looks directly at John and teases, "Didn''t your parents warn you that all those holo-vids would rot your brain?" ¡°Nope, I was born fully grown and never had any parents,¡± John jokingly retorts. ¡°Hey, did you know that Buzz was basically born a teenager?¡±, Alina asks everyone. Vance speaks up, ¡°That must have really sucked for his parents.¡± ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I said!¡±, Alina giggles. The crew continues their breakfast conversation. Eventually, they split into two separate groups chatting about different topics. "So Cally, today is your first full day on board. There are a few things I should go over with you, but I want you to spend a day shadowing each of our crew members." Vance begins in a more formal tone than usual. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "Sounds reasonable. Whom would you like me to shadow today?" Cally inquires. ¡°Let¡¯s start with the area you probably have the most familiarity with. I¡¯m pretty sure I already heard an electrical static noise make its way to the cockpit. We should Join Buzz there.¡± After Vance and Cally finish their food, they toss their dishes in the fresher and exit the galley. Alina watches them leave and decides to change the conversation away from whatever garbage John has been watching on the holo-vid projector. ¡°So John, does it really not bother you that we have no idea what''s in that mysterious cargo box?¡± John, recognizing his concern about a new cast member on the show, Robot Nannies, is no longer what they¡¯re conversing about, changes gears to respond to Alina¡¯s question, ¡°It really doesn¡¯t, but it sure seems to bother you.¡± A bemused smile creases John¡¯s face. ¡°For ship¡¯s safety, we should really try and find out,¡± Alina posits. John shakes his head, "If you''re that concerned, maybe try getting our new security officer on your side. She might be able to convince the Captain. If Vance asked me to bypass the security on that cargo, I would do it. But otherwise, no." ¡°I guess that makes Cally my next mark,¡± Alina declares. John laughs, ¡°You clearly haven¡¯t seen that woman in a bar fight. She isn¡¯t anyone¡¯s mark.¡± ¡ª¡ª¡ª As Vance and Cally make their way into the cramped cockpit, they find Buzz already occupying what would be considered the pilot''s seat. The space is filled with an array of buttons, screens, and flashing lights, making it evident that this is not a standard set-up. Vance greets Buzz with a friendly "Morning" as they settle in. Buzz replies through the speakers with an electrical sound, "Morning Vance, morning Cally." Vance turns to Cally and gestures towards the copilot seat beside Buzz. With two bodies squeezed in, and whatever Buzz''s form may be considered, the cockpit becomes even more cramped. Cally takes a moment to scan the controls and displays before stating, "This is a rather unique set-up." Buzz emits a static sound that she assumes is Buzz¡¯s equivalent to a chuckle, ¡°All the standard controls are there and in the usual place so anyone with flight training can manage her controls, but I prefer capacitive screens to things like flight yokes, so there are some additional controls that work better for me. Especially since I am capable of simultaneously manipulating so many controls as I¡¯m not limited to four appendages like some creatures I know.¡± Even through the universal translator, Cally can hear Buzz¡¯s jovial tone. Vance settles into a jump seat at the back of the cabin, content to observe rather than intervene in the conversation between Cally and Buzz. ¡°So I want to start off with what John informs me is the most important feature, the coffee holder. It is magnetized so if we ever lose push fields the cup won¡¯t just float off, but a lid is needed to ensure that the dirty water doesn¡¯t just float around the cabin free of the cup.¡± Cally looks at Buzz with a puzzled expression, ¡°Do you even drink coffee?¡± Buzz responds matter-of-factly, "Nope. On this ship, I primarily consume dead skin cells." Buzz attempts to continue, ¡°After that, it is probably the HUD or heads up¡­¡±. ¡°Wait, what?¡±, Cally interrupts. ¡°Let¡¯s go back to that skin cell thing for a moment.¡± From the back of the cabin, Vance stifles a laugh. Clearly Vance is intent on letting the crew work through things on their own and he intends to just be an observer in this conversation. ¡°So on this ship, my primary source of nutrients are the skin cells that you and the rest of the crew slough off all day long. Any of those cells that come close to me get attracted by my mild electromagnetism and I eventually convert those cells into energy much like you do with the food you consume,¡± Buzz explains. Cally responds slowly, ¡°OK, getting past the creepiness of you eating my dead skin cells, is it even feasible for you to get enough¡­umm¡­food that way?¡± Buzz calmly replies, ¡°So you are made up of about 10 trillion cells and approximately 16 percent of them are epidermal cells, so nearly 1.6 trillion skin cells make up your body. Now this is when we get into one of the disgusting parts of humans. Over 300 million of those skin cells die every year. In the past five minutes you¡¯ve shed 3,000 skin cells.¡± Cally finds herself shifting a little uncomfortably in her seat as she thinks about being covered in dead skin cells that Buzz will eventually eat. Cally pushes the oddity of that to the back of her thoughts. ¡°We should probably get back to discussing the various system controls and displays here in the cockpit, but let¡¯s skip all the standard ones. Understand that I¡¯ve flown a few different craft over the years. Let¡¯s focus on the more unusual items that are more specific to this ship including the extra displays, how the electrostatic barrier works on this freighter, what kind of weapons we have, etc.¡± Cally can sense, more than see, the smile on Vance¡¯s face as he shifts in his jump seat. Conversation between Cally and Buzz persists with regular transitions between system operations and odd side conversations for hours. When Buzz avoiding all traditional means for changing subjects starts to float out of his seat. Through the translator Buzz announces, ¡°It¡¯s almost lunch time, I¡¯m going to see if John has managed to make something palatable for the rest of the crew. I turned on the autopilot feature and will leave the two of you to talk about me while I¡¯m in absentia.¡± Cally manages a snort laugh as Buzz floats off. She shifts over to the pilot¡¯s chair and Vance moves up into the copilot seat. Cally asks, ¡°Is he always like that?¡± Vance offers a short response, ¡°Pretty much.¡± ¡°Do you ever get used to it?¡± ¡°Nope,¡± is Vance¡¯s one word response to Cally¡¯s question. After a moment Vance follows up with a question of his own, ¡°What do you think?¡± Cally takes a moment to consider before responding, "Do you mean about the cockpit and navigation or about Buzz?" Vance casually shrugs, ¡°Either¡­both. Really, I just want to hear your thoughts.¡± Cally observes Vance for a moment before replying, "My initial thought is that you are the most relaxed and non-authoritarian captain I have ever known. First, you let Buzz lead me down strange conversations about cup holders, dead skin cells, and brain spiders and you simply allowed us to find our own way back to the actual topic. Then, you didn¡¯t seem to care whether Buzz told me about every single knob, switch, and panel or if I had him only tell me about the ones I wanted to know about.¡± Vance¡¯s easy smile once again plays across his face, ¡°I did warn you that I am only nominally in charge here. Plus, Buzz is a unique crew member and I wanted to see how you would handle him. We''ll be stuck together for a while before we reach our next planet, so getting along is important. Speaking of which, what do you think of our defensive systems?¡± Cally seemed more comfortable moving over to this topic, ¡°Having physical controls for modulating and rotating the electrostatic barriers seems useful, but combat experience tells me that it¡¯s good to be able to automate that. Your power emitters on the barriers seem to be designed to accept a high power output which means you can really create an oversized space-time bubble. I¡¯m not sure why you would want to do that with a freighter, but I know in the military we would use that for rescue missions to haul other ships through the astral plane. Then the fact that both your plasma throwers¡­¡± Vance cuts her off, ¡°I only asked about the defensive systems, not the plasma throwers.¡± This time Cally smiles, ¡°Everyone knows the best defense is a good offense. So as I was saying, I wasn¡¯t expecting that your plasma throwers would have independent targeting and can be fired separately. That''s quite impressive for a civilian vessel.¡± ¡°So it sounds like you want automated electrostatic barrier modulations. Any other thoughts or concerns on this topic?¡±, Vance queries. Cally¡¯s brow furrows with thought, ¡°I want to get back to engineering and see if we have enough capacity to actually power all this stuff, and I really think you should consider replacing the guts of your rocket launcher to turn it into a proper missile launcher.¡± Vance raises an eyebrow, "A missile launcher? That''s not exactly a simple upgrade for an old freighter like this. It''s expensive and I¡¯m not sure if other spacers are sufficiently aware of the differences between rockets and missiles.¡± Cally smirks before responding, ¡°Oh, it¡¯s expensive but it¡¯s probably worth it. The kinds of people that would target this ship probably do know the difference. For you to use your plasma throwers, you would likely be in range of their plasma throwers as well. A rocket launcher doesn¡¯t gain you much range because they could just take evasives. But a missile gives you a much greater range because of its onboard guidance system. Its mere presence warns others to back the fu¡­err¡­ I mean, stay away.¡± Cally stumbles over that last part as she¡¯s not yet sure what Captain Renshaw¡¯s tolerance is for profanity. Vance almost ignores her near verbal faux pas, but the wrinkles around his eyes says he is at least amused. ¡°I know someone we should visit after we¡¯re done on Leoria. I think the two of you would get along great, and the three of us can discuss missile launchers.¡± ¡°As long as this isn¡¯t some kind of strange set-up for a blind date, I think that sounds great,¡± Cally replies. ¡°Right now, Let¡¯s make our way to the galley,¡± Vance casually states while he starts moving aft. Chapter 6: Fizzbin on a Tuesday Vance and Calley stepped into the galley, their senses immediately inundated with the scent of sizzling grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, accompanied by the tangy, zesty fragrance of phillangro fruit. They catch the last snippet of disagreement between John and Buzz. ¡°¡­if I had done that, I guarantee that there would have been something burned and inedible,¡± John states. ¡°What culinary advice did Buzz offer up today?¡±, Vance queries. Buzz explains, ¡°I wanted him to coat the inside of one slice of bread with ground mustard and the other with mayo, then dip the sandwiches in egg before grilling them. When they were done he could have sprinkled them with some powdered sugar and provided some strawberry preserves for everyone to use.¡± Alina also enters the galley as John speaks up, ¡°That¡¯s when I told Buzz that it sounded five steps too complicated for me to successfully prepare.¡± ¡°Is Buzz trying to make you burn down the ship again?¡±, Alina asks. John sighs, ¡°For the record, I have never burned the ship down.¡± ¡°But you have caught food on fire,¡± Alina interjects. ¡°Was it supposed to be some sort of flambe?¡±, Cally asks. ¡°No,¡± John groans. Cally shifts her attention back to Buzz, ¡°Regardless of whether the man is capable of cooking or not, mayonnaise is disgusting.¡± Vance speaks up, ¡°Normally, mayo is nothing more than a food lubricant, but what Buzz was suggesting is called a Monte Cristo and would have been wonderful.¡± ¡°At least the Captain knows something about cooking,¡± Buzz allows. ¡°We are back to what Alina pointed out,¡± John states, ¡°I would have caught something on fire. Would everyone please just sit down and grab the sandwiches I DID make.¡± As everyone moves towards a seat Cally insists, ¡°Mayo is disgusting, so thank you John for not making something that required it.¡± While everyone is eating Alina asks Cally, ¡°So how is your training with Buzz going?¡± Cally replies, ¡°You should probably ask Buzz.¡± Cally shifts her attentions to Buzz. Buzz responds to Alina¡¯s gaze, his luminous form pulsing gently as he speaks, ¡°I must say, Cally¡¯s progress has been quite impressive. She managed to keep up with my banter. Not only is she capable of navigating this giant space bucket, but she is well on her way to mastering the art of navigating my nebulous wit.¡± ¡°With respect to navigating this bucket, we should move you over to the pilot¡¯s seat after lunch. Even though you have flown more than a couple of ships before, the are a lot of additional screens thanks to Buzz and John. Even if you never need them, you should learn what¡¯s on each one,¡± Vance states. ¡°Also, because I do have some work to do myself,I¡¯m going to trust you to not crash us into anything while Buzz continues his tutelage.¡± Cally nods, implying understanding. Alina speaks up,¡± I¡¯m cooking tonight, and as it¡¯s our game night I plan on making things that should help accommodate that goal.¡± ¡°Game night?¡±, Cally asks with a questioning tone. ¡°Once a week we¡¯ll make a point of getting together and playing a game,¡± states Vance. ¡°It¡¯s gives us a chance to hang out and relax together when we¡¯re not working on our other duties, and it¡¯s more interactive than staring at a holo-vid.¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°I¡¯ve certainly played games with other people in my unit, but it would usually just be an impromptu card game while we were waiting.¡± John, speaking around a mouth full of food, ¡°Sounds like we should stick to card games when we play tonight in honor of it being your first full day as part of our crew.¡± The crew continues to converse for a while and eventually they all head to their respective tasks. ¡ª¡ª¡ª As Cally shifts herself into the pilot¡¯s seat Buzz floats into the cockpit and fills the general area where the copilot would sit. ¡°I noticed during lunch that John set food in front of you and part way through the meal you pushed it back towards the center of the table so others could grab it instead,¡± Cally remarks. Buzz responds, ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that there is supposed to be a question hidden somewhere in there, but you didn¡¯t actually ask it.¡± Cally clears her throat and asks, ¡°Why did John set food in front of you? Everyone knew you weren¡¯t going to eat it because you are actually consuming all the dead skin cells I shed in the chair where you are hovering now.¡± ¡°I take meals with the crew so I can observe everyone and interact. I like food to be set in front of me because it helps me to feel like part of the crew.¡± A look of amusement crinkles the corners of Cally¡¯s mouth, ¡°I¡¯ve seen the way everyone talks with you and even how they talk about you when you¡¯re not around. You are definitely part of this crew.¡± ¡°Thank you, but I may have had to work hard to be accepted, and my acceptance was not based on the fact that I can actually do my job, but instead that we could all enjoy each others¡¯ company.¡± Cally pauses with a thoughtful expression, ¡°Regardless of running a job for someone that is likely a mafia boss, they do seem like a really nice crew. So my next question is, how do you know so much about cooking when you don¡¯t even eat our food? I had never heard of a Monte whatever it was called before?¡± ¡ª¡ª¡ª Later that evening, everyone gathers in the galley again. Alina is explaining the meal she made to everyone. ¡°The drink is called agua fresca. I used a type of strawberry grown on Agros to make it. I put a piece of dry ice and an umbrella in the one for Buzz with the hopes that it would remind him of home.¡± What sounded like a sigh of almost child-like joy comes from Buzz as he moves in closer to watch the mist pour out of his glass. Alina continues, ¡°The arepas are a corn meal bread. I stuffed some of them with an avocodo salad and the others are stuffed with a pulled pork and feta cheese. For desert I made cinnamon churos and a dark chocolate sauce to dip them in.¡± Cally looks at everything, ¡°Wow, I have never had any of these before. Do you always go all out like this? I mean everything looks and smells amazing.¡± Buzz can be heard making an almost staticky purr while enveloping the mist coming off his glass. While moving towards her seat at the table Alina looks to Cally and declares, ¡°Oh heck no! This is way more effort than I normally expend. This really is intended as a welcome aboard meal on my part.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± As they begin to enjoy the arepas and churros, John raises his glass. "To Cally, our newest crewmate! May your wit be sharper than Buzz''s banter, your flying smoother than Vance''s charm, and your blaster faster than the next guy¡¯s." Everyone clinks glasses together in a toast and Cally can¡¯t help but smile at the comradery. Soon Vance produce a deck of cards. His fingers fly through the deck, shuffling the cards with a fluid motion. Each card seems to blur into the next as Vance''s hands move with precision and agility. A satisfying flicking sound can be heard as he continues to effortlessly shuffle them. ¡°So were playing classic card games tonight, what is everyone thinking? Poker, triad¡­¡± John speaks up, ¡°How about fizzbin.¡± Vance smiles, ¡°I haven¡¯t played that in a while. Any objections?¡± ¡°If we¡¯re playing fizzbin, there are a couple of things we need to establish. Since we follow time based on the capitol of Oceania this is Tuesday, but how do you determine whether it¡¯s night time or not when were in the astral?¡±, Cally questions. Alina has a data pad out, ¡°It looks like the sunset for Vega is about 45 minutes from now. So I say we switch to the night time rules for fizzbin then, but I want to be in bed before the Tuesday rules expire.¡± Vance gives everyone a stack of chips, then he starts dealing the cards with everyone receiving six cards except for Cally, whom got seven cards, since she was on Vance¡¯s right. Buzz gets all excited, ¡°Look Cally has a Jack, she¡¯s already got a half-fizzbin!¡± ¡ª¡ª¡ª Retiring to her room at the end of the night, Cally finds herself smiling. She realizes that she has probably smiled more in the last day and a half than she has in the past year and a half. She looks at her room and still places her pillow on the floor and braces the door with a chair recognizing that it¡¯s going to be awhile till she truly trusts everyone. Chapter 7: Why is my pee blue? Cally again finds Vance in the galley the next morning. As she enters two different aromas battle for her attention. The heady concoction of roasted beans emanating from the coffee maker, and the scent of warm buttery sweetness from the batter that Vance is stirring. Vance pauses to pour Cally her first cup of Joe for the morning and asks, ¡°Second night on board, were you able to sleep any better?¡± For just a moment Cally¡¯s mind whirls, wondering if the Captain somehow knows about her nightmares and then realizes that it¡¯s probably just the general assumption about sleeping someplace new. ¡°Maybe a little,¡± Cally hedges, ¡°but what about you? Do you even sleep? You were the first one in the galley yesterday and here you are again. It¡¯s only a few minutes after five and you already have coffee made and it looks like you¡¯re getting ready to make pancakes.¡± ¡°Good guess, but if you look you¡¯ll see that the batter is a little bit thinner. I¡¯m making crepes for breakfast this morning.¡± ¡°Crepes! Is everyone on this ship some sort of culinary artist up to and including the floating pink cloud that doesn¡¯t even eat food?¡± ¡°I would lie and say, ¡®Yes,¡¯ but you¡¯ve already met John. He¡¯ll probably just make a sandwich ring or something else equally unimaginative,¡± Vance replies with a smile. ¡°Well expect me to be more on par with John once you throw me into the cooking rotation.¡± Vance chuckles, ¡°That¡¯ll be fine, as long as we all share in ship duties, but is it really bothering you that I¡¯m making a breakfast that you¡¯ll likely enjoy?¡± ¡°No,¡± Cally admits to herself as much as she admits it to Vance. ¡°So what is it, then?¡±, Vance asks. ¡°I think I just need a way to blow off some steam,¡± Cally states. ¡°Sounds like you could use a workout. Why don¡¯t you go hit the gym?¡± ¡°I probably should have asked where it was yesterday but I was caught up in the strangeness of working with Buzz.¡± ¡°Buzz is a unique crew mate,¡± Vance allows. ¡°If you go down to the cargo hold you¡¯ll see that there is a door that¡¯s just forward of it. It leads to the gym.¡± ¡ª¡ª¡ª As Cally enters the gym, she can hear the iridescents click on as they sense her presence. The hum from the bulbs break the monotony of the thrumming sound from the engines. She looks around at the gym and sees about what she expected. A treadmill, some free weights held in place by magnetic clamps in case the push fields ever give out, a heavy bag, a speed bag, and some heavily padded tumbling mats. She puts a few plates on a bar and lays back to work on her bench press. She continues to move from exercise to exercise for about 45 minutes, finishing with a 5k sprint on the treadmill. She knows none of the others could have maintained a sprint for so much distance, but they haven¡¯t been genetically modified to do so. Even when she was running from danger as a kid, she only could have sprinted a short distance. As Cally towels off she realizes Vance was right, she needed a work out. She heads up to join the others already feeling a lot better and ready for some breakfast crepes along with whatever other over the top items the Captain prepared this morning. ¡ª¡ª¡ª As Cally re-enters the galley she sees everyone, minus Buzz, is just getting ready to grab breakfast. Vance even has another cup of coffee already poured for Cally. As Vance hands it to her she can feel the warmth radiating off the ceramic mug. ¡°I was just letting Alina know that I want you to shadow her today and learn a little about how she runs engineering on this boat,¡± Vance states. Cally turns towards Alina, ¡°That sounds good to me, but do you mind if I grab a quick shower after breakfast before I join you?¡± ¡°No problem as far as I¡¯m concerned, but know that engineering is kind of a greasy job. You might need another shower afterwards,¡± Alina warns. ¡°I was just working out, and I would feel better if I freshened up first.¡± Alina turns towards John, ¡°Once again John, you¡¯re the only one on board that never bothers making a trip to the gym. Even Buzz heads down there occasionally and I don¡¯t even think he has muscle mass.¡± John manages a half smirk as he pulls his coffee mug away from his lips, ¡°Hey, I expect we only get so many heart beats. I¡¯d rather spend a few more enjoying holo-vids and a few less sweating on a treadmill.¡± The crew continues to jokingly banter the rest of the way through their breakfast. ¡ª¡ª¡ª Cally enters engineering the scent of metal and oil hangs heavy in the air, mixed with the sharp tang of melting solder. Alina''s tools clanking and clattering, and the occasional burst of sparks can be seen from a work table that Alina is hunched over. As Cally finishes stepping inside she scans the room and finds herself in a labyrinth of machinery with flashing lights, blinking screens, and cables snaking across the floor. Exposed conduits and circuit boards can be seen everywhere. Cally closes the door to engineering causing a metallic clanging noise. Alina turns off her torch and sets it down before lifting up her metal visor exposing locks of matted hair and perspiration. Cally looks at all the items sprawled across the work surface in front of Alina, more than a little surprised to see so much disassembled while they are actively flying through the astral. Alina breaks the silence, ¡°Hey Cally, are you ready to check out engineering?¡± Cally replies almost numbly, ¡°Yeah I am, but what¡¯s going on with¡­¡±. Cally¡¯s voice trails off as she motions towards the work table that Alina was just hunched over. ¡°Oh that,¡± Alina practically giggles. ¡°I was just checking over some of our systems that are offline while we¡¯re in astral.¡± ¡°When I was in the military I usually only saw our engineers playing with the air scrubbers and the water reclamation system while we were in the astral plane,¡± Cally remarks. Alina just smiles and replies, ¡°Well your military ships probably had crews that were given ample time to do everything while docked, but a docked freighter isn¡¯t making money. Besides, our air scrubbers barely have any work to do thanks to Buzz.¡± ¡°Is that because he eats all our dead skin cells?¡±, Cally asks. ¡°Did Buzz already find an opportunity to creep you out with his dead skin cells thing?¡± Cally simply nods. ¡°Well it¡¯s more than that. It¡¯s like he¡¯s a carbon sink pulling a lot of the CO2 out of the air and liberating the oxygen for the rest of us. Prior to meeting Buzz, I had never met anyone of his species, but now I think every ship should have a Nuh-bess Roessius onboard.¡± Cally continues to scrutinize Alina, who is still amidst a sea of dismantled parts and tools. Cally approaches the work table and peers at the intricate components laid out like a puzzle. "So, what exactly are you working on?" Cally inquires, her curiosity piqued by Alina''s technical expertise. Alina looks up from her tinkering, a glint of excitement in her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m looking for ways to better optimize the power distribution to our lift-off rockets while compensating for the differing amount of gravity we encounter on various planets and space stations. I felt like our lift off from Agros was a little choppier than I would have liked for a ship running with a nearly empty cargo hold.¡± ¡°Hmm, I didn¡¯t even notice. That¡¯s an impressive amount of attention to small details,¡± Cally remarks, and then continues while visually scrutinizing the engineer, ¡°You look younger than me, how did you get to be such an expert?¡± Alina once again smiles, which is strange for Cally as she¡¯s not sure she has ever seen so many smiles from any crew in such a short span of time. Even Buzz seemed to be smiling. ¡°My parents had an independent ship repair shop. We didn¡¯t get any of the big contracts but we saw a lot of diverse ships and there wasn¡¯t anything my folks wouldn¡¯t work on. As soon as I was big enough to hold a spanner I was trying to help my dad fix everything. And the customers loved my dad, he had a dumb joke for everyone.¡± Cally asks, ¡°Were they dad jokes?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± Alina looks meaningfully at her work table and back to Cally before suggesting, ¡°Why don¡¯t you grab another welding helmet from over there and give me a hand.¡± Cally grabs a helmet and attempts to help Alina on various tasks. While holding something in place for Alina, Cally asks, ¡°Does this ship actually have enough power to handle everything I saw in the cockpit?¡± ¡°Yes and no,¡± is Alina¡¯s initial response but then she continues, ¡°What I have set our power distribution system to do is prioritize on certain systems, but when too many things try to draw on power simultaneously we took a page out of computing history and created a system of rapid task switching.¡± Cally furrows her brow, ¡°What does that mean?¡± ¡°So in the early era of computers, processing power was limited and often many people would be trying to use that one machine. Those early software engineers built into the computers the ability to do rapid task switching and it would do it so fast that it looked like everything was being done simultaneously, so we do something similar with power distribution when there are heavy draws. Certain things never get compromised, like our space-time bubble, but most things we power can actually be a little squidqy.¡± ¡°Squidgy? Is that a technical term?¡± Cally asks half mockingly. Alina¡¯s smile widens, ¡°Yep, it must be. I heard my dad use it all the time and he was the best engineer I ever met.¡± Cally can¡¯t help but laugh, ¡°So is this rapid task switching on power something that other ships do, because I have to admit that I¡¯ve never heard of that before.¡± ¡°As far as I know, this is the only ship that does it,¡± Alina responds. Cally looks even more impressed as she gazes around the engineering space, ¡°Is this something that you came up with yourself?¡± ¡°Only partially. I was discussing our power distribution challenges with John, and he was the one that referenced computer systems so old you can¡¯t even find them in a museum. We worked on it together, but he handled all the logic programming. I would say that it was 75% John and 25% me on this project, but that probably oversells my role.¡± Cally finds Alina¡¯s candor a little surprising. Certainly different from the rather braggadocious engineers she knew in the military. Alina queries, "Do you mind if we change subjects?" Cally nods and replies, "Go right ahead, what are you wanting to talk about?" Alina glances at Cally and then looks away, ¡°So Cally, do you think you could change the Captain¡¯s stance on inspecting our cargo?¡± ¡°Alina, you don¡¯t really think there is a bomb in that cargo do you?¡± ¡°No, but I really want to know what we''re transporting,¡± Alina pouts. ¡°Sorry, but I think you¡¯ve got an uphill battle to convince the Captain to open it. It sounds like he may have taken a few jobs from Halo Station over the years. Here, let me grab a spanner and give you a hand with that next piece.¡± The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Alina¡¯s disappointment doesn¡¯t linger on her face very long as she appears to have made a decision. As a mischievous grin reappears on her face they continue their friendly banter, ¡°OK, let¡¯s change the subject again, I told you how I got started as an engineer, but how did you end up as a greenie?¡± ¡°First of all we¡¯re not called greenies,¡± Cally replies. ¡°Someone else tried telling me that already, but I decided I was going to go with greenie anyways,¡± Alina states. Cally sighs but continues to answer Alina¡¯s question, ¡°Nara has public safety nets, but I kind of fell through the cracks. I was basically a street urchin while growing up although one foster home or another would enroll me in classes. Somehow I managed to graduate but I didn¡¯t really have a plan, so I did like a lot of teens in that position. I joined the military. With regular meals, structure, and lots of exercise I suddenly blossomed. I took one exam that emphasized creative problem solving and apparently my youth had conditioned me to think outside the box. They moved me into tactical training and I did so well that they eventually offered me the bio-enhancements that have given me this beautiful complexion.¡± The two women continue to share stories while working. Hours pass in a blur of circuits, diagrams, and grease-stained hands as they work side by side, tweaking, adjusting, and fine-tuning several of the ship''s systems. Cally can¡¯t help but be impressed by Alina''s expertise. As they finish reassembling one of the sub-systems, Alina wipes her hands on a rag and grins at Cally. "Not bad for a rookie," she teases. ¡°We should go grab some lunch.¡± ¡°It feels like breakfast was ages ago. I can go for that,¡± Cally replies as she begins moving to exit engineering. ¡ª¡ª¡ª As Cally and Alina leave engineering, they see Vance and Buzz coming from the opposite direction getting ready to enter the galley as well. Vance pauses to hold the door for everyone while motioning in everyone ahead of himself. As they enter, Cally almost laughs when she sees that John is already in the galley and has made a sandwich ring for lunch, set out some fruit, and has both coffee and ice water at the ready. John smiles as the crew enters, ¡°Great timing everyone, I just spent the last ten minutes slaving away to prepare all this.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know John, but I think I might be competing with you for how fast I can throw a meal together on this ship once the Captain messes up and puts me into the food rotation,¡± Cally quips. John laughs, ¡°Speed and lack of effort, there is a culinary competition that I might be willing to vie for.¡± Buzz chimes in, ¡°Don¡¯t forget to award points for lack of creativity.¡± ¡°Oh yes, I think if we develop a point system for this competition, that one should be heavily weighted,¡± Cally immediately agrees. As everyone grabs food and gets seated at the galley table Buzz questions, ¡°Did you do something different with the coffee?¡± Vance actually pauses the trek that his mug was making towards his lips just in case there was something to Buzz¡¯s query. ¡°I thought I would try something different. I decided to try and make it with love for my fellow sentient beings,¡± John replies. ¡°That would be different from the hatred and malice you normally spice it with,¡± Alina snorts before taking a sip. Everyone goes back to enjoying their lunch. Vance looks over at Cally and Alina, ¡°So what did you two get up to in engineering.¡± ¡°Just making sure the waste reclaim is working right,¡± Alina jokes while winking at Cally. Cally decides to run with it, ¡°Oh yeah, she told me it was really important to keep it in proper working order for whenever John was making food in the galley.¡± Around a mouthful of food John objects, ¡°Hey, that¡¯s not very nice.¡± ¡°Sorry John, it was one of those things that I advised Alina to do back when I hired her,¡± Vance jests. ¡°But seriously Captain,¡± Cally begins and everyone¡¯s attention shifts to her, ¡°I¡¯ve never seen anyone strip down and tweak so many systems in such a short span of time, much less doing it while in transit. I don¡¯t know how much you¡¯re paying her, but it can¡¯t be enough.¡± Alina finds herself blushing at the praise. ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear that you are impressed with Alina and everything she can do,¡± Vance says with a smile. ¡°As far as pay, I thought she was paying me for the pleasure of flying on this vintage ship.¡± Buzz interjects himself into the conversation, ¡°By vintage the Captain means old, and I agree that Alina is quite the ship engineer.¡± The chatter and banter of the crew continues for a while longer before everyone disperses to attend to their respective responsibilities. ¡ª¡ª¡ª Cally remains at Alina''s side in the engineering room, a nearly palpable eagerness to assist with whatever tasks need to be completed. ¡°So what¡¯s next on your maintenance log?¡±, Cally asks. Alina smiles, ¡°Believe it or not, I do want to check out our water reclamation system, just to make sure everything is working right.¡± Alina can see Cally¡¯s excitement ebb at that prospect,¡°If it¡¯s gotta be done, let¡¯s do it. Where should we start?¡±. Alina¡¯s smile becomes a little more sheepish, ¡°You know the old spacer adage that yesterday¡¯s pee is today¡¯s coffee?¡± Cally offers a simple nod in reply. Alina continues, ¡°Yeah we should check the brine filters and make sure the evaporation off of them is still within an appropriate range.¡± ¡°That sounds like it is going to smell fantastic,¡± Cally says facetiously. ¡°You¡¯re going to find out just how right you are,¡± Alina responds in jest. Cally and Alina continue to work for a few more hours managing general ship maintenance. As their work draws to a close Alina glances over to Cally, ¡°I think we should call it a day so we both have time to get cleaned up before we discover whatever Buzz made for dinner.¡± Cally looks at Alina skeptically before asking, ¡°I know he talks a good game, but is his cooking actually any good? I mean he doesn¡¯t even eat, he just kind of floats around while we all eat.¡± Alina jovially responds, ¡°Oh he comes up with rather unique takes on food, but somehow it¡¯s always really good.¡± Alina continues, ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, I would like to hit the head first and grab a quick shower.¡± ¡°Sounds good, just don¡¯t take too long so I can grab one as well. You were right about how greasy this job can be.¡± ¡°Maybe you can go bother everyone else while I¡¯m in the shower and find out what movie they decided we should try and watch tonight.¡± ¡°Movie?¡±, is Cally¡¯s one word question. Alina responds, ¡°Yeah, last night was game night, so tonight is movie night. I don¡¯t know if it''s Vance¡¯s or John¡¯s turn to choose.¡± ¡ª¡ª¡ª Cally runs into John out in the common area just as John is leaving the cockpit. ¡°Hey John, I heard you might be in charge of tonight¡¯s entertainment.¡± John opened his mouth to respond, but before he could say anything, they were interrupted by a loud shout coming from the bathroom. Alina can be heard shouting, ¡°Why is it blue?!? WHY is my PEE BLUE!?!¡± John couldn''t help but burst out laughing. But before he could fully enjoy the moment, the bathroom door flew open and Alina stormed out into the common area. Her petite frame was trembling with anger and her usually calm demeanor was replaced by a ferocious expression. "What did you do JOHN?" she yelled, placing extra emphasis on his name. ¡°I may have added something to everyone¡¯s coffee,¡± John admits as he starts to inch away from Alina¡¯s slow advance. Cally takes a few steps back to remove herself from the crossfire of what¡¯s about to happen. The petite Alina lets out a guttural roar, a sound that belies her small stature, as she surges forward charging after John. John tries to escape by leaping over a couch in the common area only for his neck to connect with an outstretched arm from Cally. Causing him to land awkwardly on the couch. At this point Vance has managed to emerge into the common area where he sees a seething Alina, Cally casually standing in front of the couch, while John is rubbing at his own throat while laying awkwardly on the couch. ¡°What is going on out here?¡±, demands Vance. Buzz floats out of the galley to observe the spectacle as well. Alina smacks the back of John¡¯s head, ¡°Why don¡¯t you tell him.¡± John manages to croak out, ¡°Give me a moment, I was just clotheslined by our new security chief.¡± Cally calmly asks, ¡°And what preceded that?¡± ¡°I was running from an enraged Alina,¡± John states. His voice starting to sound a little stronger now. ¡°And why was I chasing you?¡±, Alina asks. John coughs briefly before explaining, ¡°It may have been related to a prank that I pulled on everyone, including Alina.¡± ¡°And what prank was that?¡±, Vance asks. Buzz couldn¡¯t resist interjecting at this point, ¡°That would be related to whatever it was that John added to everyone¡¯s coffee at lunch.¡± Everybody turns their attention to Buzz, who somehow manages to look sheepish before continuing, ¡°I tried to warn all of you that there was something different about the coffee.¡± ¡°So, how long will this prank affect all of us?¡±, Vance asks John. John sighs, ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe through tomorrow morning.¡± Cally starts chuckling at first but soon it is a full on laugh. ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡±, Alina demands. Cally¡¯s laugh grows even stronger, ¡°it¡¯s just a harmless prank and you may have momentarily lost your mind over it, but John almost lost his head over the whole thing.¡± Vance and even John start to laugh at the situation as the latter continues to rub at his throat. Finally Alina couldn''t hold back her own smile any longer. ¡°If I¡¯m still peeing blue this time tomorrow though I¡¯m gonna get Alina to clothesline you again,¡± Alina walks back down the hallway shaking her head in disbelief, still muttering under her breath but at least no longer seething. ¡ª¡ª¡ª The crew gathers to find what Buzz has prepared for everyone tonight. As they enter Buzz announces, ¡°Welcome to the Buzz Bistro where the experience is always electric, or wait is that eclectic. Whatever, just come in and eat.¡± Vance turns towards Cally as they make their way into the galley, ¡°You will find that Buzz is equal parts culinary artist and wordsmith whenever it is his turn to prepare a meal.¡± Buzz continues as if Vance hadn¡¯t said anything, ¡°Our first side is a simple salad consisting of a mixture of leafy green vegetables, a small red fruit, various chopped seeded vegetables, and small pieces of stale bread topped with shredded coagulated dairy proteins.¡± ¡°That sounds like a standard side salad to me,¡± John notes out loud. Buzz moves onto the next item, ¡°Our next side is a julienne style cut of a starch root vegetable that has been deep fried to a crisp and which I have added the equivalent of food glitter to.¡± ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that he just gave us an overly complicated description of fries,¡± Alina comments. ¡°Next is our entree for the evening,¡± Buzz states before moving to reveal the next dish. ¡°It is a ground bovine patty thoroughly cooked and also topped with coagulated dairy proteins and placed on a brioche bun that one side has received a peanut relish and the other side a fruit reduction.¡± ¡°It sounds like he prepared peanut butter and jelly cheeseburgers,¡± states an intrigued Vance as he considers how the flavors would meld. Buzz continues to move showing glasses filled with a dark liquid and having a thick frothy head, ¡°I decided to pair this with a dark lager that has a roasted malt and dark chocolate flavor.¡± ¡°A burger and dark beer! I don¡¯t know how you feel about interspecies couples, but I think I¡¯m in love,¡± Cally announces. Continuing along the counter, Buzz reveals one last tray, this one covered by a silver dome. ¡°After everything else, what¡¯s under the dome Buzz?¡±, Vance inquires knowing that Buzz wants someone to ask before providing the reveal. Somehow, it¡¯s like Buzz almost glows with pride as he beckons Alina to perform the honors of uncovering their dessert. When Alina uncovers the tray and a cacophony of smells waft from it including vanilla, cinnamon, a warm apple compote and even carrots. A cake can be seen, one piece has been cut and slid away from the cake so everyone can observe the layers. Rich orange brown layers covered with what appears to be a cream cheese icing. Before Buzz has an opportunity to launch into an overly verbose descriptions of a carrot cake Cally calls out, ¡°Beer me.¡± John tosses one to Cally and grabs another for himself. Soon everyone is enjoying the greasy comfort foods that Buzz prepared. Around a mouthful of burger Vance declares, ¡°I might need my arteries to be cleaned out by an injection of plaque bots next time I¡¯m planet side, but damn if this isn¡¯t worth it.¡± ¡°Hear! Hear!¡±, declares John while raising his bottle. Cally and Alina both clink bottles with John and they all take a deep swig. ¡°Oh John, earlier I was going to ask what we¡¯re watching tonight, when Alina stormed out of the double-R and announced ¡®Urine big trouble¡¯,¡± Cally grins at her own word play. Alina almost chokes on her beer, ¡°Was that a dad joke?¡± Cally just smiles. Vance clears his throat. ¡°Actually, it¡¯s my turn to pick the movie. I decided to subject everyone to Almost Remembered,¡± Vance announces before popping another fry in his mouth. John speaks up, ¡°I think I¡¯ve heard of that. Isn¡¯t it some schlocky B-list film starring Bic?¡± Buzz interjects, ¡°I heard it was based on a short story, We Can Remember it for You.¡± Vance replies, ¡°Both of you are right.¡± ¡°At least Bic Strong is easy on the eyes,¡± Alina remarks with a mischievous smile readily forming on her lips. ¡°Truth sister,¡± Cally adds while fist bumping Alina. Buzz interjects with curiosity, ¡°If something is easy on the eyes, does that also mean that something could be hard on the eyes?¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± Cally replies. ¡°It is times like this that I¡¯m glad that I don¡¯t have the same kind of visual perception as humans. I¡¯ve never struggled with things being hard for me to see,¡± Buzz states. ¡°Sorry Buzz but the ladies don¡¯t mean physiologically ¡®easy¡¯ or ¡®hard¡¯ to see. They¡¯re providing more of an emotional response based on thinking Bic Strong is good looking,¡± Vance explains. Buzz makes a static sound that the universal translator turns into, ¡°Hmm.¡± John chimes in, ¡°Have you ever seen another one of your species and thought, ¡®Wow, she¡¯s pink, cute and fluffy! Maybe we should coalesce together.¡¯? If you have, that might be considered easy on whatever kind of visual perception model you utilize.¡± There is an awkward pause in conversation before Buzz finally responds, ¡°You are a strange little man.¡± The crew continues to banter and jest, even while watching their schlocky holo-vid. Vance ends up making some popcorn, but half of it ends up on the floor as the crew pelts each other with it. At the end of the night a lonely S9 droid finds itself rolling across the floor cleaning up all the stray kernels. Chapter 8: Automated Resource for Computerized Heuristic Intelligence… As Cally steps into the galley greeted by the familiar scents of cinnamon and dry oats. She finds Vance already at work amidst a number of items he has already pulled out of the cupboards and walk-in fridge. She navigates through the controlled chaos towards the coffee maker. Vance notices Cally¡¯s chosen direction and comments, ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t put any on yet. Why don¡¯t you start a pot and then give me a hand here with breakfast by chopping some apples.¡± Cally gives a congenial grunt with a nod and starts the coffee brewing, appreciating that it¡¯s a nice Jovar-7 dark roast. Even just the scent of the water filtering through the fresh grounds makes her feel more alive. As she makes her way over to the cutting board noticing that there are at least two different types of apples present. ¡°How would you like these chopped?¡±, Cally queries. Vance glances over before instructing, ¡°You don¡¯t need to peel them or anything, just core them and chop them into small chunks.¡± ¡°Do you want me to chop them all, and does it matter that there are a couple of different types sitting out?¡± ¡°I grabbed the quantity I wanted this morning and I do want to use both. The tartness of the green ones will help give a nice flavor contrast to the honey and brown sugar that I¡¯ll be mixing them with, and the mottled orange and red apples are a little more crisp. Those and the walnuts will add a nice crunch to what would otherwise be a relatively soft dish.¡± With the mention of the walnuts, Cally observes what all Vance has sitting out on the counter and asks, ¡°Why do those oats look so thick?¡± ¡°That sounds to me like you¡¯ve only ever had the kind that people just poor some hot water over and toss in front of you. This is a more traditional cut allowing for more flavor to be retained, but actually requires some cooking. In this case I intend to bake them.¡± ¡°Even if the oats aren¡¯t any good on my undiscerning palate,¡± Cally says in self deprecation before continuing, ¡°everything else you¡¯re adding to this concoction should make up for it.¡± Besides the apples she¡¯s chopping and the aforementioned oats, Cally observes milk, butter, honey, brown sugar, cinnamon, walnuts, and raisins. Vance glances over at her again, ¡°Not to change subjects completely, but¡­ how does a decorated Naran officer end up slicing apples for breakfast in deep space?" Cally hesitates, the knife halting mid-chop. ¡°I¡¯ve never been good at reflecting on the past,¡± Cally initially deflects. Heaving a sigh and forcing a tight smile she continues, ¡°One of my last missions went sideways and I was required to do some things that I disagreed with.¡± Vance could see the pain on Cally¡¯s face and simply quoted, ¡°Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die.¡± A somber pall had fallen on the conversation, ¡°That pretty much summed up the response I got from the brass. After that, as soon as my enlistment was up I got out. I had done my bit for king and country.¡± Some fire and intensity returned to Cally¡¯s voice as she stated that last part. ¡°Fair enough,¡± Vance conceded, sensing the tension. ¡°What¡¯s your story? How did an overly domesticated guy like you end up running a freight hauler, and picking up extra side gigs?¡± He wipes his hands on a rag, pours coffee for the two of them, and leans back against the counter. "Me, I grew up in space. My parents were divorced but I would bounce back and forth between their births for whatever ships each of them were on. I had a lot of fun and got in a lot of trouble along the way. That¡¯s at least partially how I ended up making the necessary connections to eventually grab some side gigs here and there. Watching my parents blunder through things also made me decide that when I got married and had kids I would do things differently. So I got married, got a planet side job doing work I hated, and had a kid. Even with the lousy job things were pretty good, but then one day I came home and everyone was gone and what was left was a note. I tried doing shared custody for a few years, but I had rules, and my ex-wife didn¡¯t. My daughter became a teenager and she only wanted to be in the home without rules. At that point my whole reason for being planet side was done. I wasn¡¯t really cut out for the whole tethered life, so I sold everything I had in order to buy and refurbish an old freighter. Here I am a dozen years later still flying around the galaxy, mostly living by my own rules.¡± Cally begins, ¡°I¡¯m sorry if I dredged up some old¡­¡± Vance holds up a hand to stop her and interjects, ¡°It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s part of who I am. But, maybe we should find something a little more banal to talk about. Who do you like for the superclass hyperbolox championship this year? Cally looks at Vance for a moment before responding, ¡°Two things; one, I always like the Mavericks, and two, who in the great gray astral says ¡®banal¡¯?¡± Vance and Cally continue chatting while preparing breakfast. Eventually, their conversation tapered off as the aroma of baked oatmeal began to fill the room. Alina saunters in, her eyes brightening at the sight of the steaming pot of coffee. "Is that Jovar-7''s finest I smell?" she asked, pouring herself a cup. "Wouldn''t start the day with anything less," Vance said, serving up generous portions of oatmeal. John followed close behind, sleep still lingering in the corners of his eyes. "Morning, folks," he mumbled, while accepting a mug of coffee and taking a grateful sip. Everyone sits down and starts enjoying their breakfast. "Hey, Cally, think you could show me how to take down an opponent after dinner?" Alina asked between bites, a mischievous glint in her eye. "In the gym, I mean." Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! "Sure, if you don''t mind a few bruises," Cally replied, the corner of her mouth twitching upward. "I¡¯ll Consider them badges of honor," Alina shoots back, enthusiasm undimmed. Vance chuckled, turning to Cally. "You''ll be shadowing John today. See if he can shed some light on how he keeps our tech running." "Great," Cally said, casting a playful glance at John. "Guess I get to find out what dark secrets lurk behind those screens of yours." "Only the darkest," John replied with a wry grin. ¡°I assumed it was because you had the brightness adjusted too low,¡± Alina quips. Laughter echoed around the small galley as everyone attempted to settle into the rhythm of another day aboard the Stellar Horizon. ¡ª¡ª¡ª Cally trailed John into the ship''s nerve center, a space where shadows cling to the corners. Screens flicker to life as they enter responding to their presence, with lighting from the screens casting an otherworldly glow on John''s face, accentuating the deep lines that worry had etched over time. "Feels like I''ve stepped off of the Stellar Horizon and onto some sort of dark ops station," Cally remarks, her eyes fixed on the 3D projection mapping their course through the astral. It was a ballet of celestial navigation, attempting to get real time updates on the astral plane¡¯s connection to normal space. "Welcome to the brains of the operation," John declares, sweeping his hand toward the constellation of monitors. ¡°Thank you for finally recognizing that, John,¡± states a voice from the speakers in the room. A look of surprise crosses Cally¡¯s face, ¡°Who, or what, is that?¡± ¡°Oh that¡¯s ARCHIe, he¡¯s an AI I wrote to help me with my work,¡± John remarks in an almost dismissive manner. ¡°ARCHIe?¡±, Cally states with a questioning tone. A screen near a worktable gets significantly brighter, and the name ARCHIe appears vertically on the screen with all the letters capitalized except for the ¡®e¡¯. The computerized voice begins speaking, ¡°My name stands for Automated Resource for Computerized Heuristic Intelligence¡­¡±. As ARCHIe speaks, each word scrawls across the line with the appropriate beginning letter and then after a brief pause, ARCHIe says, ¡°¡­and Equanimity.¡± The last word never appeared on the screen beside the lower case ¡®e¡¯. John speaks up while looking at Cally, ¡°Sorry, but the ¡®e¡¯ doesn¡¯t stand for anything.¡± Based on John¡¯s irritated tone, Cally can tell that this is part of a long running argument. ¡°Cally, don¡¯t you think that if someone took the time to give me a name based on an acronym they should use all the letters?¡±, ARCHIe asks. John gives an exasperated sigh, ¡°Don¡¯t let him drag you into this argument. Every time he introduces himself to someone new, he makes up a different ¡®e¡¯ name. He told Vance that it stood for entertainment, He told Alina that it stood for excitement, and I think he told Buzz that it stood for Elliot.¡± Cally, while smiling, asks, ¡°You created ARCHIe to help you get work done?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± replies John. Simultaneously ARCHIe says, ¡°No.¡± Cally continues her questioning, ¡°Do you spend a lot of time arguing instead?¡± This time John says, ¡°No.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± is ARCHIe¡¯s response. After a brief pause, John and ARCHIe both respond, ¡°It¡¯s complicated.¡± John continues, ¡°I had actually started writing ARCHIe before I even became one of Vance¡¯s vagabonds. At this point ARCHIe and I have been working together so long that his heuristic learning model has caused him to adopt some of my personality quirks, including a general desire to rail against authority. Unfortunately, for both of us, I have become that authority.¡± ¡°Rail against authority?¡±, Cally says in a questioning manner. ¡°What does that mean for you and Vance.¡± ¡°Vance is the least authoritarian boss imaginable. He¡¯s so darn likeable that it¡¯s more akin to having an older brother that you just don¡¯t want to disappoint,¡± John confides. Cally smirks, ¡°Yeah, I get that older brother vibe and I don¡¯t even have one.¡± John pulls out a chair in front of a multi-monitor set-up. The left most monitor is positioned vertically and has some sort of text based manual open. The one on the right is displaying various system monitors about the ship. The center monitor has a screen pulled up for new user ID. Since Cally didn¡¯t see John pull-up this screen, she assumes ARCHIe must have gotten this ready. As Cally seats herself, John mentions, ¡°Once you create your login, you¡¯ll be able to access a lot of the information that we¡¯re going to discuss today from your tablet or any other device you set-up to connect to the ship¡¯s network. We even have a way to connect to the ship externally through our ansible connection.¡± Cally glances up from creating her profile, ¡°Through the ansible, is that really secure for a small outfit like this?¡± ARCHIe chimes in on this, ¡°That¡¯s where I come in and help to authenticate external requests by functioning as an extra gatekeeper. I can likely recognize whether someone is impersonating part of our crew or even if someone is being forced to do something under duress.¡± Cally smiles at John, ¡°He really is good to have around.¡± ¡°Yep, almost makes me redundant,¡± John quips. Cally laughs at John¡¯s self-effacing attempt at humor. Several hours pass as John and ARCHIe take turns explaining various ship systems to Cally. Eventually, enough time passes that their stomachs remind them of their physical needs. ¡ª¡ª¡ª As John and Cally enter the galley, Calley admits, ¡°I really am glad that you¡¯re part of the crew if for no other reason than the fact that there is at least one other person onboard whose culinary skills more closely resemble my own.¡± ¡°I had served on a fully staffed space station that had an honest to goodness chef and the meals weren¡¯t as varied as what Vance, Buzz, and even Alina put together,¡± John states while shaking his head. ¡°You and I have the responsibility of reminding them how the rest of the known universe eats.¡± Cally smiles and asks, ¡°What¡¯s on today¡¯s lunch menu?¡± John turns on an oven to preheat and announces, ¡°Today we are going to put in a canister of rolls, and warm-up some canned vegetable soup.¡± Soon the rest of the crew enters the galley for some mid-day sustenance. ¡°Your culinary skills are unmatched, John," Buzz teases as he floats in. "Ah, you know, I do what I can with what I have," John deadpans, while rolling his eyes. Vance looked on, a knowing twinkle in his eye. "So, Cally, how''s the morning with our resident tech wizard?" "Enlightening," she replied with a grin, nudging John playfully. "Turns out there''s more to him than just dark secrets and stock tickers." ¡°That¡¯s right, there¡¯s ARCHIe that does all his real work,¡± Alina teases. Laughter fills the room, mingling with the scent of baking bread. In those moments, beneath the hum of the Stellar Horizon''s engines, newfound kinship began to rise like the yeast in their rolls. Chapter 9: Out of the Astral, into the... As John and Cally enter the ship¡¯s data ops once more the fluorescent lights flicker back on and ARCHIe speaks up, ¡°Now that the two of you have had a chance to take care of your biological needs, should we try and get some work done?¡± ¡°Vance did mention that you would like to make some modifications to how our electrostatic barriers respond to threats,¡± John offers the suggestion to Cally. Soon John, Cally, and their AI companion are busy working away on their task. The clatter of keys and the soft hum of the Stellar Horizon''s systems forms the backdrop to their concentrated efforts. Hours flit past as they create scenarios and write code for them along with visual simulations. ¡°Okay, this simulation looks pretty good, but let¡¯s try it with multiple attack vectors,¡± Cally suggests, her voice steady and focused. Before John and Archie can even start to set-up the next scenario a static filled noise can be heard from outside the door. John and Cally exchange a glance, realizing they had lost track of time while working. With a sigh, John gets up and opens the door to find Buzz waiting on the other side. If a pink cloud is capable of looking impatient, Buzz achieved it in spades. ¡°Vance wanted me to check on the two of you and let you know that the meal Alina has been preparing is ready,¡± the universal translator informs John as Buzz makes his various electrical static noises. ¡°Sorry, we were so focused on our work that time just flew by,¡± John apologizes and then turns back towards the room and calls out, ¡°ARCHIe, save and close out everything related to Project Untouchable.¡± As John and Cally follow Buzz towards the galley,the aroma of saut¨¦ed garlic and onions fill the air, and the sizzling sound of frying chorizo promises a feast as they enter. Alina expertly flipped some kind of tortilla made with eggs and potatoes in one pan while simmering a piquant piment¨®n sauce in another. "Are you ready to eat?" Alina calls out, her voice infused with the warmth as she makes a dish that looks exotic to most of the crew. "Everything looks and smells incredible, Alina!" Vance declares. The crew gathers, each drawn by the scent of Alina''s cooking. Plates quickly become piled high with the delectable cuisine. Even Buzz had a small plate that he set in front of himself so the steam and aroma wafting off of it could co-mingle with his gaseous form. Soon the sound of forks scraping on dishes was drowned out by the banter and laughing of the crew. At one point John finds himself setting up the punchline to a joke by asking, ¡°So why do ships from Cosinda always have cameras mounted on their aft?¡± ¡°It¡¯s so their captains can see the front line,¡± Cally replies while smiling wryly. Alina snorts out a laugh and says, ¡°Oh my gosh, that joke was so bad, even my Dad wouldn¡¯t have told that one.¡± Cally smiles and replies, ¡°Sorry, all my jokes are military grade, cheap and overused.¡± An alarm starts blaring. Everyone quits conversing and drops their forks. ¡°Buzz, Cally, you¡¯re with me in the cockpit,¡± Vance barks while John and Alina dash off to ops and and engineering respectively. In moments the galley is empty except for half eaten meals and the warbling of the ship¡¯s alarm. Buzz and Cally both reach the cockpit ahead of Vance with Buzz quickly floating into position to the pilot¡¯s seat and Cally throwing herself into her seat. Vance¡¯s heart skips a beat as he sees an ice asteroid on a direct course for the ship. John¡¯s voice comes on over the intercom, ¡°It looks like we hit an unexpected flow shoal exit. I¡¯m still collecting data to determine our position in real space, but I¡¯m picking up a large object on a rapid trajectory towards us.¡± ¡°Already on it,¡± Buzz chimes in as he opens the ship''s throttle all the way. Cally with an eerie calmness remarks, ¡°On current trajectory and acceleration we¡¯re not going to make it.¡± ¡°Do you copy that down in engineering?¡±, Vance asks with a hint of desperation creeping into his voice ¡°I¡¯m going to start shutting down everything I can to reroute as much power as possible to the engines but I might damage them in the process,¡± Alina shouts over the intercom. After a brief pause she adds, ¡°How do you feel about life support?¡± John cuts in from ops, based on the data I¡¯m receiving, if we don¡¯t gain enough velocity to clear this object, life support won¡¯t matter in about five minutes.¡± ¡°Killing everything but push fields, and navigation to surge as much power as possible through the engines in 3-2-1.¡± Immediately everything on the ship goes silent other than the thrum of the engines and all but navigation goes dark in the cockpit. Even the crackle of the intercom is silent. Buzz makes a noise but without the universal translator Vance makes his own guess. ¡°Steady¡­steady,¡± Vance intones. Even with the push fields still active they can feel the vibrations throughout the deck plates as the ship accelerates faster than it was designed for. Two excruciatingly tense minutes pass as Cally and Vance both stare at the navigation readouts. Cally never takes her eyes off the consoles and says, ¡°I think were going to miss impact but¡­¡± The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Go,¡± is Vance¡¯s one syllable command. Cally is a blur of motion as she leaps from her chair and starts sprinting towards engineering. Vance slides into Cally¡¯s vacated chair and calmly states. ¡°Well Buzz, it looks like we¡¯re going to just miss the comet to get shredded by the ice debris in its wake if we don¡¯t get our electrostatic barriers back online.¡± As the comet grows ever closer, Vance can feel every sphincter in his body tense. He can feel his own heart beating, no pounding, in his ears. Buzz makes another series of noises. ¡°Cally and Alina will get it done,¡± Vance says, more to reassure himself than Buzz. Just as the Stellar Horizon narrowly misses the front of the comet Vance can feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end signaling that the electrostatic barrier is back online. ¡°Rotate so the keel will be the area most impacted!¡±, Vance barks. Buzz complies as Vance focuses the power from the barrier to protect that portion of the ship. The vessel jerks and shudders as several chunks of the debris force their way through the barrier and collide with the hull. Vance can feel the air growing thinner as Alina continues to bring systems back online. Immediately an alarm blares signaling a hull breach. John¡¯s voice can be heard over the comm system as it reconnects, ¡°Sealing off the cargo bay due to a hull breach.¡± "Considering we were on the brink of death just five minutes ago, I''ll take a hull breach in an almost empty cargo area as a win. Great job everyone," Vance praises. ¡°I could have survived the vacuum of space,¡± Buzz remarks through the universal translator, but no one pays attention to his comment. ¡°I¡¯m taking Alina to the autodoc,¡± Cally announces. With a continued sense of alarm Vance asks, ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just some minor burns from trying to reroute so much power through the engines. I¡¯d rather run some diagnostics to see how much we damaged the engines first,¡± Alina voices. ¡°Cally¡¯s right. Go to the autodoc. Whether you check it out now, or two hours from now, the engines will be just as damaged.¡± Buzz makes some static noise and the Universal Translator translates, ¡°Where are we?¡± Vance observes the view screen to actually see where they are at. In the near distance is a ring of ice asteroids catching the light from a dwarf star. The light creates a mesmerizing display of sparkling blues, greens, and purples, creating an almost ethereal ambiance as it reflects off the ice. Vance realizes where they are just as John¡¯s voice comes over the intercom, ¡°According to ship¡¯s scanners, It looks like we¡¯re in the YsGordel system. That dwarf star you see in the distance is designated as KB3O.¡± ¡°Any settlements we might be able to land at?¡±, Vance inquires. John comes back on, ¡°According to surveys of this system, there are no planets and the ice asteroids are primarily made up of volatiles such as methane and ammonia. The small amount of water present is not worth mining.¡± Buzz chimes in, "Well, that''s interesting." "What''s interesting?" John prompts. Vance looks down at the control panel and states, ¡°It looks like we¡¯ve got an incoming message that appears to be originating from one of the ice asteroids.¡± The ansible makes a brief distortion sound as Vance flicks it on. ¡°Stellar Horizon, do you copy?¡± ¡°This is Captain Vance Renshaw of the Stellar Horizon.¡± A sound of relief could be heard in the voice on the far side of the ansible, ¡°Thank God, this is Allan Chadwick from Cogent Station. We just observed a near miss between your ship and a large mass. Do you need assistance?¡± ¡°We haven¡¯t had time to fully assess our damage yet, but we would appreciate a place to dock,¡± Vance admits. ¡°We will transmit directions to docking bay L-7. If you need assistance docking due to ship damage it has loading arms,¡± Allan pauses, then continues, ¡°We do have medical staff on board if you need any further medical attention.¡± Vance grimaces to himself, ¡°Thank you Allan, we will let you know once we figure that out on our end. Stellar Horizon out.¡± Allan responds, ¡°Understood Stellar Horizon, this is Cogent Station ending transmission. Over and out.¡± As Vance turns towards the rear of the cockpit he glances over at Buzz momentarily, ¡°Use the attitude thrusters to make sure we don¡¯t run any risks of smashing into anything out there while I head back and take a look at engineering.¡± ¡°Avoiding large bodies of ice, got it,¡± Buzz replies. ¡ª¡ª¡ª Chemists have claimed that metals don¡¯t actually have smells that humans can detect. They posit that its other organic molecules and various impurities interacting with various metals are what we truly smell, and yet Vance Renshaw would declare those pencil necked geeks mad as he enters engineering and is hit with the odors of ozone and melted steel from where Alina had shunted additional plasma through the engines. Plasma so hot that instead of trying to measure its temperature in thousands of degrees, they routinely discuss its heat in electron-volts with a single electron-volt being equivalent to slightly more than 11,600 degrees Kelvin. While Vance was accustomed to the smell of ozone around Buzz, an entire room full of beings like him ¨C known as nuh-bess roessiuses ¨C would not produce as much ozone. This statement carries weight considering they are gaseous creatures who can be compressed. Despite the nearly overpowering scent, the engines still looked quite good via a cursory visual inspection, however there could easily be microfractures and stress weakened parts due to their extreme heat exposure. A thorough diagnostic was going to take some time. Vance switched on the intercom, ¡°Hey John, I think you should put on some coffee and join me in engineering.¡± ¡°That sounds like we¡¯ve got fun plans for tonight,¡± is John¡¯s immediate response. ¡°I¡¯ll be there shortly, java in hand for the both of us.¡± ¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡°You do realize that you¡¯re insane for even suggesting that you try and work on the engines before going to the autodoc,¡± Cally chastises as she continues to cut the melted fabric off her arms. ¡°Yeah, thanks Mom,¡± Alina retorts, ¡°but you know that I¡¯m the one best equipped to fix anything back in engineering.¡± Alina¡¯s attempt to sneer at Cally is lost as she stifles a whimper of pain while Cally peels the burnt garment off her taking some flesh along the way. ¡°It¡¯s okay Alina, you did great and got us out of danger. Let¡¯s get you fixed up so you¡¯re there to save us the next time something crazy happens to this ship. In the meantime I suspect the others are capable running a diagnostic.¡± Alina can feel the adrenaline wearing off as she sits down on the edge of the raised bed. All of her limbs feel heavy while her arms and hands throb with pain. She finds that she has run out of words as weariness over takes her. She nods before stretching out on the bed. Cally heads to a control panel on the autodoc and presses a couple of buttons causing the bed to slowly slide into the autodoc. The autodoc administers a mild sedative as it starts to scan and assess Alina. Cally types in a few commands to authorize whatever treatment it recommends after assessment is complete. Cally stands there for a few more minutes staring at the screens to assure herself that Alina is asleep before leaving the room. Chapter 10: Godlings playing marbles...? As John carries two mugs, presumably filled with coffee based on the aroma wafting from them, he runs into Cally in the hallway. He pauses his movement. ¡°Is she okay?¡±, John asks while nodding towards the room that Cally just exited. Cally flashes a wry smile, ¡°She¡¯ll be okay, although I don¡¯t think the autodoc will be able to treat her chronic stubbornness.¡± John returns a knowing smile to Cally before continuing towards his destination back in engineering. Cally decides that she¡¯s going to grab a cup of coffee as well before heading up to the cockpit. ¡ª¡ª¡ª Buzz catches Cally up on everything that happened after she left the cockpit informing her of their current location and the surprise that there is a station actually located here in YsGordel. Buzz even plays back the audio from the transmission. ¡°Well, whatever Cogent Station is, at least they seem both concerned and welcoming. We should probably use the ansible to send an update to the astral flow map that something has shifted on that plane for us to get unexpectedly dropped here,¡± Cally calmly states. ¡°John already set ARCHIe to that task,¡± Buzz informs Cally. ¡°So what¡¯s your personal theory as to what caused this shift?¡±, Cally asks. ¡°Based on the myriad of theories related to astral physics and flow shoal shifts I think it is likely either the presence of an item with a significant gravitational pull passing near the flow shoal while we were in a potentially corresponding location within astral space, or perhaps one of the heretofore undiscovered godlings was playing marbles with astral space and hit one of the ducks with his shooter marble causing ripples throughout the astral plane. Considering the improbability of ever being able to calculate a corresponding position in astral space to real space where a flow shoal does actually exist I¡¯m leaning towards the theory involving marbles.¡± Cally stifles a laugh and wonders why she even asked Buzz. She glances over at navigation, ¡°So, you are using our attitude thrusters to adjust our trajectory. If the engines don¡¯t come back online, how long does the navigation computer say it would take us to arrive at Cogent Station?¡± ¡°Since Cogent Station is currently moving away from us as it orbits around that dwarf star, the navigation system estimates that it would take roughly 172.4 days to meet up with Cogent Station with just our attitude thrusters.¡± Cally allows a weary sigh to escape her lips before reaching up and flicking on the intercom, ¡°Hey Vance, is there anything I can do to give you a hand back in engineering?¡± Vance¡¯s voice comes back through the intercom, ¡°John and I are still just running diagnostics but how are you with mag-boots and a plasma torch?¡± ¡ª¡ª¡ª With her mag-boots firmly attached to the metal hull of the ship, Cally slowly inched her way across the underbelly of the vessel. A tool kit was strapped to her waist and a piece of sheet metal was tightly clutched in one hand. Her soft suit hugged her body, keeping her safe from the harshness of space, but she could still feel her breath lightly misting on the inside of her helmet. The smell of coffee lingered on her lips and she briefly regretted not grabbing a mint before suiting up for this repair mission. Cally clicked on the intercom in her helmet and spoke into it softly, ¡°Approaching primary point of impact on ship¡¯s keel.¡± Vance¡¯s voice crackled through her ear piece in response, ¡°I have visual through your body cam, but describe what you see.¡± She took a moment to look around at the black expanse of space surrounding her before focusing her attention on the point of impact. ¡°A fifteen centimeter impact hole presumably from comet debris with jagged pieces of metal protruding from the edges. How would you like me to proceed?¡± ¡°Secure your sheet metal out of the way with a magnet so you can clean up those ragged edges with a pry bar and plasma torch,¡± Vance instructed. Cally followed his orders carefully, using the glow of the plasma torch to cut away any rough edges and weld the sheet metal over the breach in the ship¡¯s hull. Eerie looking shadows danced across the hull being formed from the flickering light of the plasma torch. It was slow and meticulous work, but eventually she had sealed off the unwanted opening. Turning her com back on, Cally reported, ¡°It looks good on my end. Sheet metal appears to be sealed all the way around the hull breach.¡± Vance¡¯s voice came through her helmet once again, ¡°Great job Cally. Now come back in and we can try to re-pressurize the cargo hold.¡± This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°Understood. By the way, you wouldn¡¯t happen to have a breath mint on you.¡± ¡ª¡ª¡ª As Cally finishes passing through the airlock, John is there to greet her as she removes her helmet. ¡°Thanks for taking care of that. I always struggle with vertigo whenever I try to go on a spacewalk,¡± John states this while holding out a container of Astroid brand breath mints. ¡°Vance said you needed a mint. That must be some wicked halitosis for Vance to notice over the coms,¡± John gives a lopsided smile while Cally accepts the proffered gift. ¡°Very droll,¡± Cally states while offering a quirky grin of her own. ¡°How did the diagnostics on the engines go?¡± ¡°Not as good as your patch job. The net result is that a lot of parts were overly stressed and we couldn¡¯t really run them at more than 20% capacity which means it would still take over a month to get to Cogent Station. I think Vance is leaning towards waiting till Alina finishes in the autodoc to see what she might be able to cobble together to help our situation. In the mean time Vance is up front giving an update to Cogent Station so they know why we¡¯re not making better time to see them. He¡¯s probably also probing to see if they have anything that might be able to tow us there if we can¡¯t get there under our own steam.¡± ¡°What are you, a hundred and ten using an old colloquialism like that?¡± John scoffs, ¡°You know it¡¯s not polite to ask a man his age.¡± Then he busts into a grin. John flips on the com, ¡°ARCHIe, could you slowly start re-pressurizing the cargo hold and start with nitrogen just in case it doesn¡¯t hold, before adding the necessary oxygen from our reserves to the mix.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll get right on it, old man,¡± ARCHIe mockingly responds. ARCHIe continues, ¡°Also, I just got an update from the autodoc, It¡¯s almost done if someone wants to be there when Alina wakes up.¡± Alina leans in towards the intercom, ¡°Thanks ARCHIe, I¡¯ll head there now.¡± ¡ª¡ª¡ª As Alina slowly starts to awaken inside the auodoc, it begins talking to her, ¡°Good morning Alina, everything went well with treating your wounds.¡± Alina, even through the haze of whatever sedative was used, finds the artificially pleasant voice of the autodoc mildly annoying. ¡°Morning, what time is it?¡±, Alina mumbles as sticky eyelids begin to open. ¡°It is zero zero fifteen hours,¡± the autodoc responds, once again in its overly cheery voice, while the bed she is lying on slowly begins to slide out. ¡°I¡¯m not sure that fifteen minutes after midnight counts as morning,¡± Alina grumbles. Ignoring Alina¡¯s grumbling the autodoc continues, ¡°Let¡¯s ask you a few questions. What is your full name?¡± ¡°Alina Rubio Reyes.¡± As the bed continues to slide out of the autodoc, Alina sees Cally standing in the room wearing a soft suit. The autodoc continues on to its next question, ¡°How old are you?¡± Alina ignores the autodoc¡¯s question and smiles up at Cally, ¡°Thank you for being here. Did you go on a space walk or something?¡± The autodoc chides in it¡¯s same pleasant sounding voice, ¡°That is an incorrect response, how old are you?¡± Cally glances towards the control panel on the autodoc, ¡°Hey Doc, hasn¡¯t anyone ever told you that it¡¯s impolite to ask a lady her age?¡± ¡°That is an incorrect response, how old are you?¡± Alina scowls over at the control panel before saying, ¡°Discontinue post-procedure queries and pause explanation of procedure, wound care, and any necessary follow-up.¡± The autodoc makes a two tone noise apparently meaning that it has accepted her verbal command. Cally looks down and sees the transparent flexible material covering Alina¡¯s hands and arms and then asks, ¡°How are you feeling?¡± Alina pauses, ¡°At the moment I¡¯m fine, but that¡¯s likely due to whatever anesthetics were used on me. I¡¯m sure in a few hours my nerve endings will remember that I most certainly do not feel fine.¡± Alina again looks at Cally¡¯s soft suit before continuing, ¡°It looks like you¡¯ve been busy, what has happened while I was slacking off here in the med bay?¡± Cally gives Alina a quick run down of everything from her little space walk, to Cogent Station, to the results of Vance and John¡¯s diagnostic results from the engines. ¡°Would you like me to help you to your room so you can get some rest in your own bed?¡±, Cally asks. ¡°Nope, I have a finite window in which I can try and get some work done, or at least come up with a plan on how to salvage whatever situation is going on in engineering. Once I¡¯m in too much pain to actually focus, I¡¯m not going to solve any problems more complicated than how to get an extra dose of an analgesic.¡± Cally appears to begrudgingly accept Alina¡¯s self-assessment, nods to herself, and then asks ¡°What do you need from me?¡± ¡°Unfortunately, I should listen to whatever the autodoc has to say before I leave the med bay. Grab me another coverall and my tablet from my room so I can pull up the engineering diagnostics.¡± ¡°Do I need a code to enter your room?¡± ¡°I never bother locking my room, so you can head on in. Oh and is there any coffee on?¡± ¡°Coverall, tablet, and coffee got it.¡± As Cally is turning around to head for the door she can already hear Cally and the autodoc. ¡°Okay Doc, tell me what you did to me.¡± The autodoc¡¯s artificially pleasant voice begins, ¡°After initial sedation, a topical anesthetic was used on the affected areas and proper debridement of the wound was the next part of the¡­¡±