6y 6m 0w 6d BV
Hegan awoke with a sigh. She lay in bed and thought for a moment last night’s events. I’m gonna live with a deathworlder! After Vanima signed her on she rushed home and spent most of the night packing her things. She slowly rose from her bed and looked at the few boxes with her. The boxes mainly contained clothes and a few personal items. The one item she couldn’t pack away was the computer terminal and the chair in front of it that came with her apartment. She sat down and booted up the computer. After a while she opened Chatnet, the site that aimed to keep friends in contact, and selected the one contact she always kept up with.
The screen lit up and Rauwryhr appeared.
“Hello Arreba! I’ve got fantastic news for you,” Hegan emphatically announced.
“Oh that’s so good! Did you get transferred somewhere else?” her sister asked. Hegan nodded and Arreba squeaked excitedly. “Where do you transfer to? Hopefully somewhere close by so I can meet you again.”
“I got signed onto a really interesting ship. They’re headed to Gorai so maybe we could stop by Rauwryhr. I’ll have to take it up with the captain,” she explained. “Hey you know that officer training software you worked on a year ago? Do you still have a copy of it?”
Arreba gave her a weird look. “I do still have a copy of it but I fail to see what you could possibly need it for,” she replied.
“Well you see, the captain of the ship I signed on is an abductee species and I was wondering whether I could use the program to study his psychology.” Arreba let out a clicking noise.
“Still curious as ever. One of these days you’re gonna learn something you wish you hadn’t,” she warned. Hegan huffed at her.
“Knowledge is useful, Arreba!” Arreba rolled her eyes at the statement.
“Just stay safe alright Hegan?”
“I will,” she sighed.
“Alright I’ve sent the compressed file to your data pad. Just download it to the ship and open the file and it should set itself up. There’re forty battles preloaded and I’ve sent you a forge program so you can create your own battles,” Arreba instructed. Hegan nodded. The sisters continued chatting for another hours about Arreba’s new husband before they said their farewells. She closed the link and opened a new site. She ordered a hover cart to move the boxes from her apartment to the ship.
Hegan got up and put on her coat and went to work. She happily hummed as she walked the twists and turns of the station to the hospital.
“Morning Hegan. What’s got you in a good mood?” the Vzk’tk clerk asked.
“Ah well you see, I’m finally quitting this job and signing onto a ship,” she chirped.
“It’ll be a shame to lose you,” he rumbled as Hegan walked past. Her mind was swimming with all the new things she could learn from a deathworlder sapient. She stopped in from of the chief of medicine’ office and knocked.
“Come in,” the Corti called out. Hegan entered the office. The room was rather lavish given their close proximity to a warfront. The chief’s desk was made of actual wood as opposed to the metallic monstrosities everyone else had. If he spent half of the money spent here on new facilities I bet we’d be a class 10 facility.
“Hello sir, I’m here to hand in my resignation.”
“I wasn’t informed of a resignation? You need at least a day’s notice before resigning,” the Corti tersely replied.
“Sir if you would check your email you’d see I sent you one last night and I don’t have a shift today,” she explained. The Corti spent a few minutes looking at his mail and huffed.
“Yes fine you can go,” he harrumphed. Hegan nodded respectfully and left. She walked by the ward where the wounded soldiers were held and quickened her pace. She exited the hospital and took a deep breath. Free at last, free at last, thank the stars I’m free at last. She slowly meandered through the station until she arrived at the large docking bay. She strode over to the information desk and asked.
“Excuse me? Do you know where the ship The Lost Minstrel is docked at?”
The Vzk’tk tapped at a terminal before answering.
“The ship is docked at JN-117.”
“Thank you!” she ended up walking all the way across the docks to reach the ship. She found the hover cart with her things floating at the ships’ entry. She mustered up her courage and knocked on the door.
Earlier that day
John awoke with a groan. A crew of microscopic construction workers had set up in his skull and was drilling his brain. Oh God I forgot about hangovers.
“Oh fuck me,” he moaned before taking a deep breath.
“I do hope you understand if I don’t,” Vanima replied. John yelped and sat up faster than his mind was ready for. He fell off of the medical table and cursed. “You shouldn’t get up too quickly. Scanner indicates signs of dehydration,” she icily informed him.
“Fucking hell… I had the most fucked up dream Vee. I was playing a game with a giant bat and then I hulk stomped,” he groused as he used the scanning bed to balance himself.
“No John, that wasn’t a dream. You revealed to some stranger that you’re a deathworlder then you decided that you wouldn’t be silenced and dented the dock floor with a stomp.” John narrowed his eyes at her as he tried to recall what part of last night’s events.
“Oh… Shit… I’m guessing you’re kinda pissed about that,” he mumbled.
“Oh no I’m actually quite happy,” she tittered with laughing eyes.
“Really?”
“No, I am absolutely livid,” she replied, her once cheery eyes suddenly turning cold and humorless. Oh shit. “It was nothing short of a blessing that she wanted to join us. I practically leapt at the chance when she offered. Better to keep her with us rather than risk having her blabber away that there’s a deathworlder on this ship. Do you know what kind of attention that brings?” she calmly asked him. John was petrified as Vanima coolly informed him of the situation. Fucking shit. I can deal being raged at but this calm bullshit is terrifying. “Now we have this medical officer who specializes in prosthetics and psychology. It reminded me of when I wanted to join, so I’m not absolutely frothing, but what even happened? You were completely fine until you drank the Talamay,” she told him.
“Oh… Alcohol has an intoxicating effect on humans. It lowers inhibitions and cognition,” he recited from foggy memories of health class pasts. John scratched his throat. God I’m thirsty.
“I suppose that effect is why you wanted to drink the Talamay…” She sighed. “John, what am I going to do with you?”
“Cherish me as a close friend?” John suggested half hoping it would work.
Vanima palmed her face then rubbed her temple. “I do cherish you as a close friend John, now go have something to drink,” she muttered exasperatedly. Innocent cutesy deathworlder 1 space elf 0. John smiled and shuffled out of the room, leaving Vanima to tap away at the scanner terminal.
Time to see if there’s space Gatorade. John slowly made his way to the common room. He took each step one by one with both hands gripping the rail.
“Ah the slumbering giant awakens,” Regalo teased as he looked up from his data pad. The Gaoian got up and walked to John’s side. He gently patted John head before guiding him to the kitchen table. “You’re really going to turn my fur white as snow before we reach Gorai,” he sighed as he scratched his groggy friend’s head.
“What can I say Regsy, white’s a good colour on ya,” he retorted. Regalo chittered slightly as he filled up a jug with water. He gave John the Jug and sat at his side. The human began chugging the liter of water. I wonder where he just puts it all? Hollow legs? He knew Vanima could easily answer his questions yet he found it more entertaining if some parts of John’s biology remained a mystery.
“Apparently we have a new crew member,” John said after drinking the whole jug. Regalo duck nodded.
“If Vanima is any guess on why she wants to join a ship with a deathworlder on it I’d say she wants to study you. In any case, having a prosthetics specialist would be pretty handy,” he commented, using one of John’s turns of phrases. John seemed to pause then he narrowed his eyes at the Gaoian.
“Did you?… Just make a pun?” Regalo chittered as the human sighed. John reached out and stroked Regalo’s head. Ah… just the spot. “Cheeky little fucker,” John chuckled as he got up. Now what’s he up to? John took out ingredients and sniffed them.
“Are you cooking, John?”
“Indeed I am my friend. It’s a tradition at my dorm that the one who was most intoxicated makes breakfast the next day, so I’m gonna make a salad because you can’t fuck up a salad” he explained. John was took various leaves what little remained of their food stock. Regalo rose from his seat and observed the human. Time to see what Human food is like. John cut up cqcq leaves on the cutting board. He moved them to a bowl and took some of the Goro root, chopped it into thin circles, and tossed those in too. By the end of it, there was a seemingly random assortment of leaves and roots in the bowl. He took some of Rkts sauce and added it to it. “And here my friend we have an alien salad!” he cheerily announced. John had made a monstrous portion, even when compared to how much Regalo would cook for him. Have I not been making enough food for him? Vanima said that it met his caloric requirements and the spheres covered nutritional requirements…
“Why did you make so much? Even for you this is a lot,” Regalo asked as he sat at the table.
“It’s meant to be shared,” John explained as he moved the bowl to the table and sat beside him with two forks in hand. Regalo took one from him and ate some of the “salad”. The flavors were unique and went fairly well with one another. Maybe not use Goro root next time. Possibly change the sauce to something sweeter. “This is quite good John. Not sweet enough for my taste but enjoyable.”
John snorted at his comment. “There is not enough sugar in the galaxy to make it as sweet as you like it,” he teased. Regalo chittered and affectionately punched John’s shoulder. It was one of the many of the human’s quirks Regalo couldn’t understand but was more than happy to indulge in. John smiled and they continued to eat in silence. They managed to finish a quarter of the salad before they were too full to eat. Well I suppose I won’t need to cook lunch today. Could use the time to see if there’s a commune here. The ship beeped, letting them know there was someone at the door.
“That must be Hegan. I’ll bring her here,” Regalo commented as he rose from his seat. He opened the door and surely enough the Rauwryhr was there. She was wearing blue trousers and carried a rectangular backpack.
“Hello! I brought my things. Where do I put them?” she asked as her eyes darted this way and that. Eagerness aplenty I see.
“Yes, I’ll take you to your room. You’ll be rooming with Vanima if that’s alright,” Regalo informed her as they walked with the cumbersome hover cart. Regalo had to unload the cart and carry the boxes to the room for the cart was too wide to go down the ramp into their quarters.
“So where do you and the captain sleep?” she asked.
“We’re just across the hall from you so if you ever need anything, feel free to knock.”
Together they walked to the common room where John was waiting.
“John, I’d like you to meet our second medical officer, Hegan Roux.”
“Pleasure to meet ya Hegan,” John greeted, waving a hand.
“Likewise,” she replied with a head duck. Regalo joined John at the table and beckoned Hegan to follow.
“So tell me about yourself. Are you a medical officer like Vanima or a different kind of medical officer?”
“I specialize in psychology and prosthetics. In fact, I asked to join the crew to actually study your psychology.” She added, “With your permission of course.”
Similar reason to Vanima… Vanima could watch her like a mother and not seem suspicious. Better to keep a possible leak with us than out and about.
“Sure, I don’t mind doing your tests,” John shrugged as he picked another piece of the salad with his fork. Does he have a black hole for a stomach? Hegan, on the other hand, was ecstatic and pulled from a pouch on the belt at her waist a data crystal.
“There’s a software here that’s essentially a training program for Dominion officers. I wanted to see if your strategic skill is applicable to actual warfare as opposed to just games,” she explained. Correction. She wants weaponize John. I’ll need to password protect our link to the Galnet. John nodded with a smile and the Rauwryhr handed Regalo a data chip.
“Just load that up into the ship and I’ll handle it from here,” she explained Regalo. The Gaoian nodded and went into the underbelly of the ship where the computer core was house. He loaded the chip and ran it through every protection software the ship had and found it clean of unused or unknown software. At least I know we’re not spied on. Better to know that we’re watching and act accordingly than blindly blabber our secrets. He opened the compressed file and followed the installation instructions. When he returned to the common room he found the couch push aside against a wall and Hegan tapping away at a pad. A holographic projection came up in the center of the room. It was a planet with what looked like a miniature Dominion fleet above it. “Alright this is the battle for a Dominion planet registered as C1764-117. This is one of the very first battles of the war,” she explained. This battle was evenly matched if I recall correctly. “ This battle was generally fought in space since the planet below was not purchased and thus not colonized. John’s forces will dropping from FTL and Regalo will be defending.”
“Why do I need to be the Dominion defense fleet? Wouldn’t it be better if you were?” the Gaoian asked.
“I need to supervise the battle from this pad,” she answered, shaking the pad in her hand.
“Alright, quick question, does the planet need to survive the engagement?” Hegan seemed to be on the verge of saying yes before she replied.
“No, the planet does not need to survive the engagement. You each have 30 minutes to acquaint yourself with your fighting force. You’ll be using these data pads to control and direct your forces,” she finished as she pulled out two data pads from her backpack and handed one to each of them. Regalo looked to John, only to find him immersed with the pad. It seems this will be a tough fight. Regalo evaluated his own fighting force. He had 15 frigates, 5 destroyers, 3 cruisers and a troop carrier. Regalo divided his fighting force into three mini fleets. Each mini fleet was composed of 5 frigates a destroyer and a cruiser. He gave them numerical names. He used the remaining two destroyers to guard his troop carrier. I’ll need to board his ships quickly if I am to win this. However he had no idea what John’s invasion force was made up of nor how many there were. “Alright we’ll be commencing the battle. John, launch your troop carriers at your will.” She instructed.
“Alright Kamikaze pods 1 through 5 go!” the human ordered.
Bringing his fleet in segments? Regalo ordered fleets 1 and 3 to move up, creating a V formation. Suddenly the program froze. Regalo looked to Hegan.
“The software’s calculating John’s move. It should be done right around… now,” The hologram shimmered.
Regalo’s pad informed him that 5 emergency stasis pods were heading towards them at a hundred times the speed of light. what is he up to?. The pods missed Regalo’s fleet and were ripped out of FTL by the planet’s gravity. They uselessly crashed on the surface of the planet.
“John, what did you do?” he asked.
“Well I dropped my ships a few light-years out and deployed some of the escape pods. I then remotely aimed the escape pods at the planets and told them to go into FTL. They managed to get to a hecta-light before they crashed into the planet. Honestly did not expect them to drop out. I figured they’d punch a hole in the planet or something,” he chuckled. Well there goes that battle.
“This battle was… An experience, but I’m afraid I must go,” Regalo told them.
“Where ya headed to bud?” John asked.
“That restaurant we were at served Talamay. That means that there are Gaoians here who put in orders for Talamay to be brought in on the freighters. I’m going to go look for them.” John seemed to pause for a moment. He made an expression Regalo hadn’t seen before. His face seemed to freeze as though it wasn’t sure what emotion it was supposed to depict at the news. He then smiled and nodded.
“Yeah sure. You go look for the other Gaoians. Just come back safely alright?” Regalo had spent enough time to know when there was a deeper meaning in his words yet John’s body language was much too intricate for him to grasp the silent message.
I will ask him about this when I return. So long brother. “You worry about me when I’m in the safest places,” Regalo teased him and the human chuckled.
“Alright John there’s a second test I want to…” The human’s conversation with the Rauwryhr faded away as he walked up the stairs of the common room. Regalo left the ship and wandered the station. The docks were surprisingly barren. Not a soul wandered the expansive structure. Must be all in the mines below. Regalo walked forth to the information desk at the other end of the docks. The Vzk’tk manning the desk seemed to be asleep.
“Um… Excuse me?” The Vzk’tk awoke with a startled harrumph.
“Yes sir how may I help you today?” he mechanically recited.
“I was wondering whether you could direct me to the Gaoian commune on board the station?” The Vzk’tk tapped at a terminal and replied.
“The commune is in sector 212-13.”
“Thank you.” Regalo began his pensive walk to the commune.
It’ll be my first time seeing Gaoians since I met John. It’s only been 6 months with him yet it feels as if I’ve been there for years. Which clan would be so far away from Gao? It would have to be one of the warrior clans. Or Maybe one of the diplomacy clans? The Female clan has been advocating for a cease-fire so it’s plausible they’re trying to win their favour. The warzone was marked as inactive and safe to travel before the Celzi counter offensive. I suppose I’ll know when I see them.
It was late in the evening by the time Regalo arrived.
“Brothers, you have a guest,” Regalo called out.
“There are brothers here, but I hope you’re alright with a sister greeting you,” a female voice replied. The sister opened the door. She had dark brown fur with a peculiar white patch surrounding her left eye. I’m very alright with a sister greeting me.
Regalo chittered slightly and ducked his head in a greeting. “I’m alright with a sister greeting me,” he replied as he walked in. “I’m Regalo of Ash Clan. Which sister do I have the pleasure of greeting me?”
“I’m Sister Surella. Forgive me Regalo but I can’t say I have heard of your clan,” she replied.
“I was meant to start my own clan when I reached our colony Gorai,” he replied.
“If you are meant to start a clan on Gorai what could have possibly led you here?”
“That is a long and somewhat unbelievable tale Sister Surella.”
Regalo looked about the small commune.
The room he entered looked like a cavernous courtyard with benches set out in the center there was a large table with a multitude of Gaoian meals. There were more sisters and brothers lounging on the benches talking with one another as they ate. They all paused and looked at the new arrival.
“Who do you bring, Surella?” one of the sisters asked.
“I bring Regalo of the Ash Clan.”
“Welcome Regalo. I am mother Mamfa. This is mother Yua and sister Mira. These are the males of the One-fang Clan. There are a few more sisters and cubs, but they are resting at this time” A group of mothers, some cubs and sisters travelling with One-fang pilots. Each Gaoian had ducked their heads in greeting of the newcomer. Regalo chose to sit with the males opposite the females.
“If you don’t mind me asking, what are mothers and sisters doing so far from Gao?” he asked.
“Well the Clan of Females feels that all the available diplomatic options haven’t yet been exhausted so we were going to the Celzi homeworld to set up an embassy. It was the Mother-Supremes’ hope that the embassy there would become a middle ground for Dominion and Alliance delegations to meet,” Yua explained. “But with the warzone reactivated, we’ve been here for three months so we’re waiting to be recalled on account of the cubs. The station a few systems over has an FTL relay, so when the supply freighters come back we’ll know.”
“Tell us Regalo, how did you end up here?” One of the males asked. Regalo helped himself to some Nava paste before he answered the question.
“I was on my way to Gorai to establish a new clan with some friends, but we were abducted by the Corti.” The males cursed and snarled as the mothers looked shocked.
“Are they so daring that they dare abduct our own?” Mamfa asked.
“Those Corti filth will pay for what they’ve done,” a male with black stripes on his arm spat out.
“Be calm my brothers and sisters. The Corti who abducted us are no more,” Regalo assured them.
“I’m sorry Regalo, please carry on with your tale,” Surella said.
“My brothers and I had been abducted. They died during the Corti’s experimentations and I was the only one left. The Corti then brought in a new abductee, he was from a pre-FTL race.” This elicited more curses towards the Corti and general sympathy for the poor being. Father Fyu forgive me for I will lie to my own. “His name’s John. His species are fiendishly clever and creative. He broke the ventilation of our cell and we hid there while Hunters ravaged the crew. We hid there for what must’ve been hours before the Hunters’ left. At that point we took over the ship and headed to a station at the southern warfront.” The table cheered at the news. “It serves those Corti right! Abducting our own with impunity,” Surella huffed.
“What happened when you two arrived at the station?” another male asked.
“Ah well we got John some Dominion papers so he could travel. Now I said John was creative and by the void he is creative. John was a performer on his planet, and his species make some of the finest music I’ve ever heard.” Regalo closed his eyes for a moment, imagining the human playing. The ears of the Gaoians at the table rose up in shock at Regalo’s praise. It was rare for one species’ music to sound pleasant to another. The only music so far that had translated well throughout was Kwmbwrw theatrical singing. “John had gotten a job performing at an establishment on the station and was making a decent living. He earned the credits and I took care of him.”
“Sounds like you were a mother for a while,” sister Mira teased. Well you aren’t wrong. Regalo and the rest of the table chittered.
“Well the most peculiar thing about John is that when we bought a galactic map and I showed him Gorai he declared that he would send me home.” He paused for effect before continuing. “I know, it sounds insane. I said so myself. Yet he turned to me with a look I’ll never forget. He vowed to bring me home even if it was his last act in this Galaxy. I was just as stunned as you all are now, more so when I saw how he threw himself into his performances. To this day he practices with an unparalleled zeal.”
“Brother I don’t mean to insult your competence but if you are heading to Gorai then why have you only travelled to the northern warfront? Gorai is on the other side,” a male asked.
“Ah, I’m glad you asked brother. John had saved up enough Dominion credits to purchase a ship. We collected the ship and I asked John to input in the coordinates for Sffsik station. John misheard and entered a Qinis Colony. He performed, we were paid, and we managed to recruit a medical officer there. From there we went to Madoro, a Celzi planet. Now this was around the time of the Celzi counter offensive. There were three options. We wait for the warzone to become inactive. We go through the active warzone or we go through the Death’s band underneath the warzone. Of course John chose the Death’s Band.” His audience gaped.
“That’s mad! That’s absolutely mad! You could’ve been boarded by pirates!” a male closer to Regalo declared. Although Regalo had called John mad on several hundred occasions it stung when others did.
“Brother I suggest you take that back,” Regalo lowly growled adding to the shock of the Gaoians.
“Are you defending this insane abductee? Even then why did you submit to him? He’s just an abductee and you’re much wiser than him. He risked everything you two have hoped to accomplish.”
Regalo took a deep breath then exhaled. If only John were here. He’s much better at this “roasting” than I am. I’m not even sure this counts as roasting.
“Brother,” Regalo said with a harsh calmness in his voice. “If John Ash were Gaoian, I would beg on all fours if it meant that he would consider joining my clan. He, a being with nothing, is doing everything in his power to bring me home and everything he has done has been to that end. He is pure and innocent as you say, but I do not submit to him. We stand together as equals. Yes he is eccentric and yes he is a rash, but he is kind beyond measure. Honestly, I don’t think he has the capacity to genuinely hate someone. He would probably worry and fret if he so much as tapped a Nava pupa. Even now he worries and frets for my safety! So I will not allow anyone to insult him.”
The table was stunned into silence by Regalo’s declaration.
“Would you truly have begged on all fours if John were Gaoian?” Surella asked in an attempt to diffuse the situation.
“That and more sister, but an alien joining the clans is without precedent and would bring down a lot of controversy that a Gaoian starting a clan doesn’t need. If an alien were to join a clan it would have to be a powerful and established clan to set the precedent.”
“What kind of clan would accept an alien as one of his own?” asked a male with a white patch of fur around his left eye.
“Whitecrest? They’re powerful and regularly use aliens as informants.” Another male suggested.
Mother Yua duck shook her head in disagreement. “It is one thing to be an informant and another to be an agent. I don’t thing the Whitecrest will risk taking in aliens in as agents.”
“Then how about the Stonebacks? I’m sure a Locayl might impress them with their strength.” The white-patched male suggested.
Regalo inwardly smiled. If the Stonebacks took in anyone it would be John. Most of the table seemed to agree yet Regalo and Surella didn’t.
“It’d be an affront to their pride if they had to take in aliens. It would make them look as if they weren’t strong enough to perform their jobs,” Regalo countered.
The Gaoians sat in silence as they tried to think up of which clan would accept an alien into their ranks.
“What about the Clan of Females?” Yua suggested. Regalo opened his mouth to retort but paused. What about the Clan of Females?… They sat in further contemplation.
“The Clan of Females would have to set the precedent. The male clans are too function driven,” Surella confirmed.
“Any alien joining the male clans would be an affront to the clan’s ability to perform its task and lower their chances of getting mating contracts,” the white patched male added. The other Gaoians nodded their ascent. Regalo had all but forgotten the slight that was aimed at John.
“Regalo, you said you were of the Clan of Ash and John’s other name is Ash… Is there a relation perhaps?” Mamfa asked.
Regalo nodded. “If I cannot have him join my clan then I will at least honour the sapient who helped make it a reality.”
“Why don’t you stay with us then?” Surella asked. “We’re probably going back to Gao in a month’s time. From there you could just take a ship from there to Gorai again.” Regalo recoiled slightly at the option.
“I’m sorry Sister but given my… previous experience I hope you understand if I choose to stay with John.” A few seconds later a realisation dawned on him. He was worried I would leave him for good! I need to get back. I need to put his fears to rest. How could I have been so blind!
He noted however that the Sister was genuinely sad. Pity she’s too young for my taste. He finished his plate before mother Mamfa asked him a peculiar request.
“If John is as good as you say would you mind having him entertain the cubs? They’re upset over the news of the counter offensive putting a halt to our voyage. I would be morose if I had to deal with capricious cubs all the way back.”
“Of course. John adores performing so I wouldn’t see why he wouldn’t this time. I’ll discuss it with him when I return tonight and message you the answer tomorrow morning.”
“Wonderful! It’ll be a good distraction for the cubs while we wait.” Regalo courteously ducked his head at the mother.
“Bothers, Mothers and Sisters alike, I hope you excuse me but I must head back. I must put John’s fretting at ease,” Regalo clasped his hands together and ducked his head at the table. The Gaoians at the table returned the gesture. Regalo turned and left the small commune.
As Regalo was leaving The Lost Minstrel
“Alright John the second test I want to run you through is to design weapons,” Hegan instructed him but the human worried a bit too much to pay attention. What if he decides to stay with them? I mean they’re his own kind so I shouldn’t be surprised if they did. I’ll support his decision no matter what it is. He’s my friend and friends sometimes need to say goodbye right?… I don’t want to say goodbye.
“John?”
The human snapped to attention and looked to Hegan.
“Hmm? Yeah weapon designs sure,” he mumbled. Hegan gave him an odd look before continuing.
“Yes. Is there anything you need to get started?”
John though for a bit before answering. “Yeah could you get the projector set up so I can write on the walls?” Hegan flicked her ears back and tapped at her pad. The projector coated the walls in a blue sheen.
“Just use the stylus in the data pad to write on the wall. I’ll be with Vanima so call out if you need anything.” And with that the Rauwryhr left. John looked around the data pad and found a small groove. He pulled out the stylus. The small pen registered him as a Locayl child and expanded in John’s hand to the size of a pocketknife. Suddenly finding himself with a finger too many to hold the pen well he went up to the walls and began coming up with ideas and sketches. He quietly sang to himself as he sketched designs and wrote down ideas. He intermittently ate some of the salad as he worked. Slowly, the markings began covering all the walls of the common room as John distracted himself from his worrying with the task at hand.
Vanima was looking through a microscope studying the make up of John’s muscle when she heard steps coming her way. “Hello Hegan,” she said without looking up from the microscope. She could feel the Rauwryhr’s question and chose to preempt her. “Your step falls differently than the boys. John’s a heavy thud and Regalo is a slow and controlled pat. You’re an airy skittering noise.”
“I set John at designing weapons. I want to see his capacity for violence, but I can tell you for certain John’s a pretty destructive being… Or rather his capacity for destruction far exceeds normal parameters but I’d need to do it with millions of humans before we can come up with a species average,” she told the Qinis. Seems to me you’re trying to weaponize John… 3 DC says that John horrifies her to the point where she can’t publish the weapons concepts.
“Well I can tell you from the time I spent with John he’s very peaceful and has an aversion to fighting, so much so that he instinctively tried to talk a Vulza out of fighting him,” Vanima made a tsk noise afterwards.
“I carried out the test on a larger scale than the standard, which would allow me to get a more accurate number, but John’s score is just baffling!”
Vanima harrumphed. “It’s John. His existence is baffling.”
“No I mean on the 1-100 scale with 100 being the theoretical number a Hunter would get John scored a 2398.2. In the simulation skirmish I had him and Regalo do he tried to destroy a planet!” This caused Vanima to stop what she was doing and turn to the Rauwryhr.
“What do you mean he tried to destroy a planet?.”
“He rammed the planet with 5 life pods going a hundred times the speed of light.” Oh well there’s a tactic that’ll win every time… What was the phrase John used for that? Deus ex machina? I can’t remember I’ll have to ask him later.
“Well I fail to see how that would change our warfare tactics. The point is to claim the planets not annihilate them.”
“Well yes but it’s the fact that John thought it up and implemented it that’s surprising. I doubt he’d actually destroy the planet if it had been a real battle,” Hegan conceded.
“Well John’s species have evolved on a deathworld with, if what John says is accurate, tough prey and even tougher predators. His species’ only edge over them was their intellect. If I had to guess, I’d say his species applies his intellect how animals would apply their claws or venom. They didn’t have the luxury of a welcoming planet to allow them to peacefully develop sapience,” Vanima mused, more so to herself than to Hegan.
“What are you studying right now?” Hegan gestured to the microscope. Might as well show her.
“I’m studying his tendon tissue. If I learn everything there is to know about this one protein in his body then I might just unlock the secret to his power. This one protein is the secret to John’s strength. Without it his bones would be brittle and weak, his muscles just won’t be able to exert enough force to carry his frame. I’ve named it SRP or Structural Reinforcement Protein. If only I was Corti, so I could get access to their research about humans. They may be the most amoral species to ever exist but they do some fine research,” Vanima sighed as she placed the petri dish in a small fridge. She looked to Hegan and found her sitting on the scanning bed.
“What else about John functions above capacity?”
“It’d be shorter to list what doesn’t.”
“Then what doesn’t?”
“Well John’s quieter than a Kwmbwrw in terms of how much noise they could make with their voice alone. His nervous system, although far keener and faster than ours, is pitifully weak.”
“How so?”
“A nerve jam grenade would probably kill John if he stood in the area of affect, but I’m not willing to test just how far he needs to be before being affected by them.” Hegan nodded. Glad to see she lays the boundaries somewhere too.
“What’s John like?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean what’s John like as a person. You and Regalo seem to be very protective of him.” Vanima leaned against the small stasis fridge and thought of an answer.
“I think it’s because he would be just as protective if not more so of us. John’s a coward.”
“Really?”
“Oh yes, but that’s not all. If he thought either Regalo or myself was in harms way, he would tear this galaxy apart without a second thought just to keep us safe. John will brave any danger if it means saving us. There is nothing John will not do to keep us safe and… It’s touching… To have a being care that much about you. It helps that he’s so innocent and cheery; at times it’s like taking care of a child. A child made of antitank pulse guns and bombs.” She shrugged at the question. Hegan laughed and asked.
“How old is John anyway?”
“Well we can’t tell based off of his homeworld but according to what he says he is young but has reached sexual maturity. Well Regalo is 32 years old and I myself am 27, so if anything Regalo should’ve been the captain by right of experience but we’re happy following John.” Hegan nodded along.
“You’re fairly young for a Qinis aren’t you?” Vanima nodded her head.
“With our medicine I believe we can reach 160 years? Although after 80 your looks will start to degrade. Because of my condition I believe my life expectancy is 120?” Vanima tapped her chin before confirming. “120”
“I didn’t know Qinis were so long lived.”
“Hmmm most aren’t aware, or really care for that matter. The Corti attribute it to our slow metabolism and life cycle. I mean a Qinis doesn’t reach sexual maturity until they’re 20.”
“Longevity at a price it seems.”
“John’s people have a saying and I find it a particularly interesting one. ‘No such thing as a free lunch.’”
“Well I assume they’ve developed currency to pay for the lunch.” Vanima shook her head at the Rauwryhr.
“It means that everything in this galaxy comes at a price. John’s strength needs a few weeks worth of food to maintain, my longevity means a slow life cycle, Gaoians stay in their prime the longest respective to their life cycle but have a relatively short life cycle compared to other races. I do hope you study his philosophy because it is simply fascinating.”
“What do you mean his philosophy is fascinating?”
“Humans are quite the prolific creators. ‘I think therefore I am’ is one of my favorite quotes for him.”
“Care to enlighten the uncultured,” Hegan chuckled.
“It means as it says. I am capable of thought therefore I exist but I don’t know whether you think so how do I know you exist?” Hegan cocked her head to the side as she pondered. I still don’t understand how exactly that saying works.
“I think I understand the saying. It means that if you know it thinks then its real but what about objects? How do you define thinking for objects?” Vanima rubbed her temple, as the world suddenly became that much more complicated.
“How does John not go mad? How has his race not gone mad?” Hegan giggled. Vanima joined in with her own giggle.
“I don’t think we’ll ever learn everything there is to know about John,” Hegan said after most of her giggling died down.
“I don’t think anyone will ever learn everything about John.”
Hegan nodded then said. “Now lets try and learn something about John!” Vanima barked a laugh at that. “I’ve given him more than enough time to come up with weapon concepts.” The ladies left the medical room and made their way to the common room.
John began to worry. I’m running out of wall… Vanima interrupted him from his thoughts. “Quite the inventor, I must say Hegan I didn’t expect him to cover all the walls.” John turned to see an amused Vanima and a bewildered Hegan.
“I… I’ve never seen anyone fill out a whole page let alone 3 walls…” she mumbled. John smiled smugly at them. Hehe I fucking win. John 8 million, Aliens 0. Wait, Regsy’s an Alien so it’s John 8 million, Aliens 1… Well with Vee it’s Aliens 2… Fuck I need to score better.
“Ladies, if you would follow me on the tour of John’s super duper mega ultra badass killer weapons omega alpha X Mk fuck you weapon concepts,” The aliens’ confusion grew. I miss humans. “First off I introduce to you… The fuck-your-happiness mine! This bad boy is supposed to act as random space junk but if you get too close to it WHAM!” John slammed his fist into the palm of his hand startling the women. “Huge lethal dose of radiation, everyone in the crew dead, ship intact and ready to be salvaged!” The sketch on the wall did look like some random piece of junk but underneath the junk John had drawn a relatively crude looking bomb. “Now this led me to think about fleets and while on space google I noticed you guys don’t have carriers so I came up with the Big Momma.” The ship drawn on the wall held strong resemblance to US aircraft carriers but significantly larger with dozens of hangars on its sides.
“How big is that meant to be?” Vanima asked.
“Well I have it planned to be the size of 4 Dominion cruisers stacked on 4 more Dominion cruisers.”
“That’s half the size of a capital ship!”
“Yeah but that’s not the point. This ship is filled to the brim with smaller fighters. Now first I had these fighters piloted but then I thought ‘wait a minute John, having drones would be kickass’ so these are drones the size of Prestissimo and they’re controlled by this AI. Now this AI can be directed to destroy target ships and the swarm will do what it does best. Each of them is loaded to the fucking gills with gamma radiation weapons because you’d be sparing the ship and they’re the fastest things in space. Instead of a reactor they have like a super battery that gives them burst of speed before they go back to Big Momma to recharge. Now one of these little guys giving you a big dose of radiation won’t do shit but when you have like… A million of them, all flooding your ship with radiation… Well you just don’t mess with Big Momma.” Makin Eddie Murphy proud. John looked to see their reaction. He received abject and utter horror from Hegan and shock from Vanima. Now hit ‘em with the crème de la crème de la John! “Now while learning about different FTL methods I came upon warp jumping. Now what I’m proposing is the prepare-your-anus wormhole beacon. Basically we find a way to cloak a beacon and we leave it behind while on a retreat. When the enemy thinks it’s won BAM! We take ‘em from behind. They’ll never see us coming.” I am on fire! Quick hit ‘em with the planet warfare! At this point they had already made it through half of the scribbles and drawings on the walls. “Now y’see here we’re still gonna fight on the ground so I came up with… The fuck-you-from-beyond-the-grave Mk XXIII! This is a harness that’ll detonate once the wearer is dead and there are no registered allies nearby. Now it can explode radiation bits creating a no go zone in the battlefield but then I thought ‘hey John, why are we wasting the lives of our good, god fearing, patriotic soldiers?’ so I came up with lots of drones and androids.” He led them to the third wall that was covered in sketches of robots of differing sizes and shapes. John smiled smugly inwardly. I’m gonna fuckin’ knock their socks off… Do they even wear socks? “Now here we have a surveillance drone. Now each of these bad boys comes with an AI that’ll highlight key targets for orbital bombardment and lets not forget our good ole hunter drone that’ll shoot missiles up our enemies’ asses. God Bless the US Military. Anyway, I’ve got soldier androids that are meant to work, move and be as tough as yours truly. They’re gonna be firing guns n flamethrowers n stuff.” John huffed in pride at all of his metaphorical creations. The look of horror on their faces made him smile. John 8 million and 1, Aliens 2. The ship beeped, informing them there was someone at the door. John practically flew down the hallways to the doorway. He stood and caught his breath before answering.
Regalo stood there. Oh thank Jesus he came back. “Hey buddy, how was meeting with the- oof!” John was caught off guard by the Gaoian’s hug.
“You’re the finest friend I’ve ever made you know that right?” Regalo told him. Just go with it dude.
“Uh, yeah you’re my best bro too,” John mumbled back.
“I’m quite tired,” Regalo sighed as he let go of John.
“I’m kinda bushed too buddy.” John went to the common room. He found Hegan and Vanima reading about the more absurd of his concepts. Ram ship is best ship. “Uh, hey guys, Regalo and I are turning in for the night.” And with that John returned to his room. He found Regalo curled up into a furry ball on the bed but not asleep. John joined him and circled an arm around his friend.
“Hey John… Do you mind playing for cubs tomorrow?”
“Cubs?”
“Gaoians children.”
Oh my god a fucking army cannot stop me from seeing giant baby raccoons.
“Yeah sure, I’m kinda curious about others of your kind.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah I wanna meet all the alien species. Then, after I met them all, go into stasis and wait for my species to gets its shit together and go FTL.”
Regalo nodded a little. “Goodnight John.”
“Night buddy.”
“Oh Hegan look at this design,” Vanima called over the Rauwryhr. It was a conical ship with Ramship written next to it. “If I’m reading his instructions correctly this is a ship whose sole purpose on the battlefield is to ram its opponents to death at high speeds.”
“This… This is far beyond anything I’ve ever seen. It’s like looking at a wall of death!”
Well she’s not wrong. These machines would probably break every galactic rule of combat. John had neglected to mention some of the other androids he designed. One was an android with an exoskeleton made of fusion blades. Its purpose seemed to be to defeat the Vulza by covering the android in meat and them activating the fusion blades once inside the Vulza. It seems his creativity isn’t limited to music.
“I’ve just input the number of designs and John scored a 7232 on a scale that is only meant to stop at a 100 theoretically because anything more violent would have fought itself to extinction.”
“Maybe his species knows that and are controlling themselves?”
“Maybe, but I hope those Corti contain them well. We were lucky John’s a natural pacifist, but what if they abduct a vicious human criminal and they managed to escape the Corti?” Vanima tapped her chin before answering.
“After a year their bodies would atrophy from the light gravity and malnutrition and they’d be just like us. The only reason John hasn’t lost much of his muscle mass is because I’ve been forcing him to exercise when we go FTL,” Vanima countered.
“In that year who knows how much havoc a human could wreak.”
“I suppose these weapons would be useful if the humans attain FTL and decide they want to conquer everything it wouldn’t be bad if we had a human strategist of our own. John isn’t trained at all in fighting or any form of military. This is just some ramblings and half-baked ideas. The only machines of these we’re able to create and deploy effectively would be his android army with Qinis technology. If this is what is produced by the mind of a peaceful member of humanity, then I fear what a violent human would think up.” Hegan used her data pad to save all the drawings and writings to her data pad from the projector. Vanima reached out with a hand and Hegan automatically handed the pad to her.
“We can’t publish this without attracting attention you know that right?” Hegan nodded. Vanima scrapped the file.
“I feel like I’ve learned a lot about John today,” Hegan sighed.
“Oh?”
“Well you tell me he is a very peaceful being and is rather averse to fighting yet his capacity for violence and destruction are astronomically high… It’s an interesting duality.”
Vanima cocked her head as she contemplated the statement. “I’m a bit too forward thinking for such abstract concepts. To me, John will always be a close friend and I’ll learn as much as I can about him to keep him healthy.”
“Then I hope John and I grow to be as close as you two.” They began to walk back to their room.
Vanima smiled. “It’s John. He’d befriend a Vulza if he thought there was a chance.” Hegan chuckled a bit at the statement.
“He and Regalo are quite close aren’t they.”
“That’s putting it mildly. I’ve only ever seen them apart twice. Once when John visited a planet by himself and today when Regalo visited the Gaoian commune here. They’re practically two halves of one being.”
“Soon they will merge and become the mighty being Jegohn.”
Vanima laughed at the joke. They arrived at their rooms and Vanima gave Hegan a surprised look. Looks like someone didn’t unpack. Vanima shuffled through the boxes as Hegan closed the door behind her. She changed into nightwear and lay down on her bed. She turned and saw the Rauwryhr merely undress and go to bed. And so ends another day, she thought as sleep took her.