Finesse

Love and Starships: Chapter 10

Skee and Francis found themselves in the briefing room, waiting quietly for someone to arrive. Francis stared at the curled fibers of the bluish carpet that had yet to see any wear. She looked up at Skee, who was sitting with his eyes closed in almost a meditative state. “How far is Reedea?” Francis spoke up.

Skee sat up slightly and opened his eyes. He slowly turned his chair to face Francis across the corner of the table.

“Hmm.” Skee pondered aloud. “I haven’t payed much attention to our course since leaving Toronain II, but I would guess about 6 light years from here. It would take about a week and a few days to get there, if there were no stops in between.”

“And yet the woman… the female Reedeen was all the way out here, almost alone.” Francis said with a sigh.

Skee folded his arms and pondered the look on Francis’s face. “Reedeens can be quite comfortable with a life of solitude, relatively speaking.”

“I suppose like you are?”

The door to the room whooshed open. Francis swiveled her chair to face the man entering. Skee sat up from his seat to greet the silver-haired man. “Captain Patrice.” The alien said with a bow of his head.

Francis stood, trying to hide the sudden realization that had come to her. “Captain, it is my honor to meet you.”

The man was both older and taller than the Commander. His light hair drifted back behind his neck to a stubby tail. He returned the nod to Skee before turning to Francis and offering his hand. Francis felt his strong grip against her fingers while she examined the fine lines of his face. “Please to meet you, Crewman Arnold. Please, you do not have to stand on my accord. One day your legs will be like mine, after having to stand for many ladies and admirals alike. You’ll wear out your knees too soon.”

Francis eyeballed the Captain as she pulled up her seat behind her. The aged man marched to the opposite side of the desk and took a seat, pushing himself to face the other two.

“Captain,” Skee said. “I appreciate your interest for this mission, but unfortunately we found nothing that we would consider off-putting about the situation with the Skapele.”

Patrice tapped his fingers on the desk lightly. “I don’t believe that to be true. Every encounter we have with another race, especially non-GSS is valuable. Isn’t that right, crewman Arnold?”

Francis perked up and held her hand to her chest. “Me? Generally, I can… confirm.”

Patrice folded his hands and let out a soft laugh. “My apologies, I think my humor can be a little dry. I was also referring to the unfortunate situation of you two being placed in the same room, despite being of opposite sexes.”

“Believe me-” Francis interjected, waiving her arms. “It wasn’t anything unbearable.”

“No, no, I understand the situation though.” Patrice shrugged. “I read the report that Sergeant Ford made when he corrected the issue. Though, I hope we can both agree that it ended up being more enriching than detrimental.”

“Yes, sir.” Francis complied.

“Now, Crewman Skee,” The Captain said, turning to the alien. “It seems I already know the answer, but what do you have to say about the original report from the crew of the Seeker?”

“I would say that it is incorrect.” Skee said confidently.

“I’m pleased to hear that.” Patrice nodded. “To be fair, we surmised that the Skapele were not a race to hold slaves. Reports say that they believe in hard work and fair compensation for effort put in. Our fresh supply of flouro-trietheline will confirm that.”

Francis eyed Skee, who was sitting relaxed back in the chair. She pursed her lips and grasp onto the armrests.

“You look like you have something that is making you uncomfortable, Crewman Arnold.” Patrice spoke up.

“Well…” Francis said shyly. “Was it necessary to send us into such a place if we knew that our findings would tell us what we already knew?”

“Take it like this, Crewman.” Patrice said. He stood up from his char and pushed it under the table deliberately. “If we ran across a race that was holding slaves, there would have been little we could have done. You understand that, don’t you?”

“That’s… GSS protocol.” Francis sighed. “We can’t force a non-GSS people to comply with what we believe is just. But it sill feels wrong.”

“Wrong, maybe, but they have their own ways. Now, in the case of the Reedeens, a GSS species, what could we have done? If the ones in the compound were slaves, that is?”

Francis held her breath as she attempted to draw upon the passages of text she had read in her collection of books from the academy. “We would have… contacted Reedea, to let them handle the situation as they see fit. To free their people.”

“Almost.” Patrice responded. “The Reedeens would have to decide whether they wanted to get their people out of there, and whether the so-called slaves would want to be freed. From what Skee has said, I believe that we don’t need to go that far in our situation. Sometimes when there is a conflict, the best situation is to allow the actors to play it out on their own and see what happens. Such is diplomacy in this day in age.”

Francis sucked on her teeth and turned her head down to the floor. From the corner of her eye, she saw Skee stand. “I appreciate you taking my word on this, Captain.”

“I wouldn’t be much of a captain if I couldn’t rely on my crew members, especially those who are spoken so highly of.”

Francis stood up suddenly and looked across the table. “Thank you for allowing me to be on a mission such as this one. It was an enlightening experience.”

Patrice looked into her eyes with intensity for a fraction of a second before returning a smile. “Well, if you ever want to volunteer, you know where to find the bridge.” As he finished his words, he traveled back around the table before stopping at the door. “You are dismissed.” He finished, pushing on the door controls.

Francis looked over at Skee just as the door closed. “Hey…” She paused.

“Thoughts, Francis?”

“Well… Would you mind if I came back to our… your quarters with you? There is still something bothering me.”

“That is not a problem.”Continue reading “Finesse”

Off-Ship

Love and Starships: Chapter 9

Francis pulled her head up from the pillow and studied the digits on the clock for the second time in ten minutes. Even though she had for once the opportunity for a little more time to sleep in, her body would not accept the offering, nor would her mind calm itself and allow her to peacefully close her eyes again.

Francis attempted to pull the soft blankets up around her in a more comfortable fashion. Just as she got settled, the comms terminal hummed with an incoming transmission. Francis pushed off the blankets with a huff and slumped down to the floor, eventually standing and pulling her chair over to the screen.

“Yes?” She answered not a second after pushing the ‘accept call’ button. Skee peered at her through the system, his face noticeably close to the camera lens. He double checked his own screen before scooting back several centimeters.

“Francis, are you there?” He asked, his eyes blinking rapidly.

“Of course, who else would answer?” She said, trying her best not to sneer.

“Indeed, I wonder who else would answer at your room.” Skee pondered aloud. Francis ran her hand over her face to hide the rolling of her eyes. “Did I catch you at an inconvenient time?” The alien asked.

Francis looked down at her wrinkled tank top before adjusting to better cover her otherwise bare breasts. She casually sat up to better hide the depth of her cleavage from being easily visible to the camera. “No, I was just lounging around in bed. By the way, how did you even find out the comms code for this new room?”

“I received it from your human friend, Crewman… Trisha.” Skee nodded. “I encountered her during breakfast. She asked me if I had seen you in passing.”

“You must have told her about the mission today, then.” Francis said with a sigh.

“It was a topic of conversation.”

“No doubt you’ve infected her with some second-hand stress now.”

“Infected?” Skee asked. “Well, she did seem more attentive while discussing the mission. She was intent on making sure you knew the way to the shuttle hangar, citing that your sense of direction was poor.”

“In those exact words?” Francis said, tilting her eyebrow.

“I am paraphrasing.”

“So, I suppose somehow she talked you into making sure that I don’t somehow screw something up, or delay the mission, right?”

“Hmm.” Skee hummed. “I don’t believe you are capable of doing anything of the sort intentionally, but I replied to Crewman… Trisha that I would know how to get to the shuttle hangar if you did not.”

“How convenient.” Francis responded sarcastically.

“I understand that the location of your new quarters are just slightly divergent from the path I would take to arrive at the hangar.” Skee explained. “If you would like me to accompany you there before we depart, I could… stop by.”

Francis looked over at the clock beside her bed. “We have… a couple hours, right?”

“That is correct.” Skee nodded. “If my assumption is correct, you prefer to… take your time… when readying yourself.”

Francis leaned back and in the chair and draped her arms over the back. “I guess you can say that, yeah.” She laughed. “I’ll be ready though.”

“I will leave you to prepare yourself, then.” Skee said. “I will come and knock on your door to notify you when our departure is near.”

“Thanks, Skee.” Francis said, leaning forward to touch the ‘end transmission’ button on the interface.

 

Several hours went by. Francis had attempted to squeeze in another thirty minutes of sleep, but the anticipation of the mission kept her up. She had pondered which meal she wanted to eat for breakfast, finally deciding on oatmeal and black coffee. After sitting around for a while digesting the food and reading from her tablet, she went to the bathroom to finally shower.

Francis’s hair had just dried when a knock came to the door. She double checked her clock; reading 13:04. She quickly stood up and pushed at her hair to hold it in a neat shape before moving to the button for the door. Her eyes met Skee’s as the mechanism slid open.

“Hello, Francis.” He greeted.

“Hey.” She answered, glancing to either side of him down the hallway to check for any other crew-members who might be suspicious. Her eyes returned to the alien before she stepped back to allow him space to come in. “It seems you didn’t have trouble finding this place.”

Skee held his ground. His eyes seemed to follow Francis around, specifically his gaze locked to her head.

“Is there something wrong?” Francis asked, feeling at her bangs.

“There is something I didn’t consider.” Skee answered with hardly a pause.

Francis studied the alien’s complex, puzzled face. “Well, is there something we can do about it now?” She asked, glancing back at the clock that had jumped forward a minute. “I don’t want to cut anything close with the mission.”

Skee took a single step into the room and pointed at Francis’s hair. “I believe we will be required to wear bio suits in order to cross from the shuttle to the Skapele’s structures. They don’t have a docking hatch it seems.”

“I’ve read the procedures of those like we were required to do.” Francis assured.

“Your hair…” Skee said, jutting out his spindly finger. “It doesn’t have too much mass to fit into the helmet?”

Francis rolled her eyes up to get a glance at the bit of bangs hanging over onto her forehead. “Ah, well, I guess I could get it into a pony tail.”

She quickly turned back and entered the bathroom to pick up her brush. She began pacing the room as she picked at the thick curls. Skee watched on as she slowly bunched up the hair behind her head, eventually returning to the bathroom to retrieve the hair tie from the day before. “Better?” Francis asked as she gave her coiffure one last nudge.

“I am amazed to see such a transformation.” Skee admired. “I think that should suffice.”

“It’s really nothing special, Skee.” Francis sighed. “Shall we go then?”

“Yes.”

Continue reading “Off-Ship”

Talk is Cheap

Love and Starships: Chapter 8

Trisha leaned over her tray of breakfast food and whispered under her breath. “So she just tried to make a move and kiss you?”

Francis rubbed at the side of her face just under here ear where Lieutenant Canner had made contact with her. “She did kiss me.” Francis strained. “I mean-.”

“I swear, sometimes you’re so dense, Frannie!” Trisha hissed. “How did it even get that far without you knowing her intentions? Like, a fancy meal and everything. She even offered you wine to try and schmooze in!”

“Nobody says that.” Francis huffed. “And I didn’t have any wine, she didn’t even take it out. You’re taking it like she was all rapey!”

“Keep your voice down.” Trisha cawed, her hand jittering against the table top. “Fine, the comms officer is a lesbian, whatever, but now she has grounds to be a terrible person to you for turning her down.”

“She’s not that type of person!” Francis replied as she dragged the edge of her fork through the yolk of one of her fried eggs.

Trisha lifted her eyebrow and tilted her head sideways. “For someone who seems put off by her coming on to you, you are awfully quick to defend.”

Rundle stepped up behind Francis and plopped his tray loudly on the table beside her. “Good morning, you two!”

Jundle took a seat beside her brother’s tray and carefully set down her food. “Same, good morning.”

Trisha and Francis broke eye contact with each other before turning to the twins. “Hey, mornin’” Francis managed to say.

Jundle peered past Rundle at Francis on the opposite side of him. “I’m surprised to see you here.”

Francis coughed on the mouthful of Rolean greens that she had forced down in order to save herself from saying anything else. “Huh?” She managed to get out.

Rundle paused shoveling down large mouthfuls from his mound of food to answer. “We ran into Skee, and he nonchalantly mentioned that you had changed rooms.”

“He couldn’t say where this new room was, though.” Jundle asked.

Francis finished chewing her food this time before responding. “Well, it’s all the way up on deck 6. It is a way up there, but I have to come this way to get to the lower levels, so stopping here for food isn’t so much of a chore.”

“Though, some of the rooms in the upper decks have people that will feed you, too, I’ve heard.” Trisha chimed in. Francis glared at her from across the table.

“What’s that about?” Rundle asked loudly.

“Nothing.” Francis rebutted.Continue reading “Talk is Cheap”

Chain of Command

Love and Starships: Chapter 7  (Long chapters ahead!)

Francis awoke to the glow of the morning lighting system shining brightly in her eyes. She rolled to her right and peered out into the empty room. Oh yeah, no more roommate. Sleepily, she pulled the blankets up around her neck and rolled back over to the bright light. She attempted to block it out by shoving her face deeper into the pillow, when the realization hit her. Oh god, I have a shift to work today.

Francis pushed the layers of blankets off her and knocked her hand against the communication terminal past the head of the bed. The screen lit up, displaying the time; 07:26. Just a half hour before she was expected to report way down at the bottom of the ship. Food, or shower… Francis pondered to herself. As she stood, her weak legs reminded her that she had decided to take time to settle into the room instead of going to the mess hall the previous night. As she was just about to step into her shoes, she took a second glance at the synthesizer on the wall. It was bigger than the one in the previous room, and with no roommate to disturb, the bright lights and sounds of the machine wouldn’t matter.

“Computer; French toast, two slices, with butter, and coffee, hot.” She gave her order to the speaker. The machine whirred to life. As the food began to materialize on the tray, Francis looked around again at the bare room. It was larger, but had not yet been furnished with anything besides the bed and a tiny table beside it to place her tablet. I should synthesize a dining table or something.

The smell and steam from the coffee caught her senses. Francis took the tray and sat down on the ground with it on her lap. The warm mug of coffee radiated warmth into her palms. Her first bite of French toast was soggy with butter, and not quite as tasty as anything she had in the mess hall, but in her hunger she forced it down nonetheless.

Francis set the tray down on the ground, feeling sated, before looking at the clock again; 07:39. The time before her shift was less than adequate to take a shower. Francis stepped into the bathroom and peered at herself in the mirror before splashing her face with water. Outside, she pulled a uniform from the stark closet and pulled it on.

Francis stepped out of the first of the maglifts at the midsection of the ship. She walked the short distance across the deck to reach the lifts that would take her down to her section. This particular section of the ship was busier than others at this time, forcing Francis to duck through hoards of people to reach her destination. The lift signaled its arrival at the level as she stepped up to it.

The familiar alien was present just behind the door, as if waiting for her. “Why, hello Francis.” Skee greeted as he stepped out of the lift.

“Hello, Skee.” Francis responded, her eyes avoiding his. The alien slid past her without another word. An elbow met with hers as the other crewman shoved his way into the now empty lift. Francis glanced back at Skee who disappeared into the crowd before she entered into the lift just before the doors closed on her.

As Francis arrived down at her floor, she noticed a strange energy around several of her colleagues. She double-checked the clock on the wall to double-check that she was, in fact, just one minute early. She quickly made her way down the hall to the storage room to pick up her scanning equipment. Inside, one of the other crew members with whom she had hardly interacted was tucking things away into lockers.

“What’s going on here?” Francis asked. “Everyone seems on edge.”Continue reading “Chain of Command”

A Little Redesign.

For those that read straight from the grease zone here, you might notice a small pretty significant redesign.

I wanted something like a proper Author page where I could send people to check out all my works.  You can still check out all of my regular posts, as well as check out some of my more popular stories by tag.