Page 18

S talad roamed the halls to orient himself to what facilities were on the ship. I’m hungry and my quarters are too small to practice my forms.

Turning at the slap on his shoulder, he saw Captain Makai. Except for the two white braids on the side of his head, he had pulled back the remainder of his long hair.

“Good morning. Looking for morning meal?”

“I was hoping to find a dining area.”

“Walk with me.” Makai moved up next to him. “After we eat, I’ll give you a tour.”

“I’d appreciate that.”

“Thanks for your help yesterday.”

“It was the right thing to do.”

As they approached their destination, the smells of cooking food greeted them before they arrived.

“Oh, good, it seems Morgan is taking care of morning meal. We all suffer when it’s Yaz’s turn.” Makai’s fangs flashed.

Stalad grinned. He took in the crew members as Makai introduced everyone. The primary pilot, Yaz, hadn’t been at Diversions the night before, and he already met Abby in the med bay when Lezon treated Morgan’s feet.

Jalaxians were the closest to Svesti in body type, both tall and having retractable claws, fangs, and tails.

Although Jalaxian tails tended to be wider than Svesti and their skin blue.

He knew they lost their home world fifty solars prior, but once, again, he couldn’t tell when or how he learned the information.

He took one of the empty seats next to Crax. The pink-haired female sat on the Jalaxian’s left. Makai introduced her as Kara. Rain sat on Kara’s left next to Lezon.

Makai sat opposite him in a seat between Tren, the engineer, and Yaz. Abby came out with several platters of food and sat next to Yaz. Morgan followed her with large pitchers of juice and water, then she settled next to Stalad.

“Hi,” she said quietly with a small smile.

“Good morning, Morgan. Did you sleep well?”

“Yes, actually I did. You?”

“Mmm, pancakes and bacon.” Tren’s boisterous voice interrupted them as he grabbed a platter with stacks of circular disks and piled a number of them high on his own plate. Stalad watched him slather butter on each disk before drizzling a dark, thick substance over them. “I love Earth food.”

“Make sure you leave some for the rest of us,” Crax grumbled.

The dishes with the pancakes circulated around the long table with the females taking much fewer than the males.

Another platter of a wonderful smelling meat also was passed around.

When one came their way, he offered Morgan first choice before taking some for himself.

Surreptitiously, he inhaled her scent. Fascinating.

She smells like grass and trulet in a light rain. Reminds me of growth and hope.

After preparing the pancakes like everyone around him, his tail swayed as the unusual tastes hit his tastebuds. Chewing slowly, he savored the new flavors, but one familiar one stood out.

“Is there leringa in these?”

Morgan nodded.

“Yes, I found some fresh on Nulorn. I enjoyed the berries when I lived on your home world. On Earth, we sometimes use different fruits in our pancakes, as well as other things, like chocolate. I thought it would be a nice change.”

“What is this? It’s sweet like a fruit sauce, but not.”

“Syrup. I tried to find one close to Earth’s maple syrup, which is made from the sap of sugar maple trees. The meat is similar to bacon.”

“This is delicious. Thank you for cooking us a wonderful morning meal.”

Her cheeks flushed.

“It was nothing.”

“He’s right, Morgan. Accept our compliments.” Makai pointed his utensil at her.

Huffing slightly, she said, “Thank you.”

Chatter mixed with the tinkling of utensils hitting plates. A relaxed atmosphere and genuine enjoyment in each other’s company permeated the morning meal. What a nice way to begin a day. They act like family with one another.

When they were finished, everyone placed the remains of their meals in the recycler.

“Okay, I’m off to take my shift at the helm,” Rain said.

“I need some sleep. It was a long day yesterday.” Yaz yawned and gave a little wave as he and Abby turned toward the quarters corridor.

“Give us a couple hours and we’ll meet you for our classes,” Abby said as Morgan joined her.

“Sounds good.” Their voices trailed off.

He watched the sway of Morgan’s hips. His fingertips ached to trace the soft, but firm muscles of her behind.

I can’t recall ever feeling this way about a female before.

But, then again, I guess that’s not really a surprise given I can’t remember much at all.

“We’ll be on the bridge with Rain,” Kara said as she and Crax turned to follow the blonde.

“Come with me, Stalad. Let me show you around.”

He matched Makai’s strides as they walked the corridors.

Makai pointed out the large training area, offering to spar with him in the future.

Further along, they came to the med bay, then a break area.

As they continued, they passed offshoot hallways.

Stalad realized the main corridor ran the length of the ship from front to back.

They took the last offshoot hallway to the left and entered a huge shuttle bay near the uppermost portion of it. Makai gestured for him to enter a lift and they began descending.

“We keep two transports that can handle atmospheric conditions so we have the option of keeping the Fortitude in orbit. One smaller, one larger. We also have four fighters. We have three shuttle bays—two on this side of the ship and one on the other. Occasionally, we’ll use one as an additional cargo bay.

By using both sides of the ship, we can deploy the fighters quickly in either direction if we need to. ”

“Impressive. But it seems a lot for the size of your crew.”

“True. However, we like to have options. We may add to our complement in the future, but when we liberate a vessel, sometimes we choose to keep it, rather than sell it.”

“Who maintains your vessels?”

“All the Jalaxians, although Lezon isn’t on a rotation.”

Throughout their tour, Stalad noted all the vessels appeared to be well-maintained. In the lower hallway, Makai pointed out storage areas and armories. Impressive armament stores, both large and small.

“We have weapons storage areas on all levels coded to only us. It allows us easy access in the event we need them quickly,” Makai said as they entered a growing area which appeared to run underneath the main corridor areas.

“We call this our greenhouse. This used to be living quarters meant for a significantly larger crew, but we repurposed the space. Abby started it a few years ago. We now have year-round fresh produce and improved air quality in the ship.”

“It seems similar to Svesti aquiponics areas yet not quite the same.” Stalad proceeded to mention specifics. Makai’s blue eyes lit up.

“Perhaps you could help Abby in here occasionally and share your thoughts for improvement. It sounds like you have quite a bit of knowledge about aquiponics.”

“I guess I do.” Stalad frowned.

“It’ll come back to you eventually.” Makai squeezed his shoulder. “Engineering’s back here. It’s Tren’s area of expertise.” He paused. “Stay back after I open the door.”

Stalad’s brows crinkled at the unusual order. The door slid aside, and he heard a strange buzzing.

“Tren! Turn off whatever isn’t standard before we come in.”

The buzzing ceased and Makai stepped forward.

“Come on in. I was just testing a new design for a remote-control laser tool.”

“Where is it?”

Tren lifted a shoulder in the direction of an open maintenance shaft while tapping on a small tablet. A small drone left the shaft and hovered near the engineer. He gingerly took it and powered it down.

“Are you testing it on the ship’s equipment?” Makai’s tail slapped the metal floor. “We’ve talked about this.”

“I need to see what it can do.”

“Test it in areas where it cannot do harm to our ability to move…or breathe.”

“The females are usually in the cargo bay this time of day. You told me not to test near them again.”

Makai sighed heavily.

“I do not understand how such an intelligent male can be so lacking when it comes to common sense. Just wait until they’re done or set up a separate designated testing space.

” Makai growled at him. “Stop being so impatient. I know your new designs excite you, but the safety of this ship and crew always come first.”

Tren’s cheeks darkened to cobalt. His shoulders and tail drooped. Stalad bit back a smile at the Jalaxian’s chagrin. He acts like a big youngling.

“You’re right. I’m sorry.”

Another sigh left Makai’s chest.

“Have you made progress on the hover jetpack?”

Tren’s face brightened.

“Yes, I made some adjustments and added a separate control to improve stability if we’re transporting more than one being with it. I haven’t had a chance to test it yet.”

“Good. We’ll do that later in the cargo bay. You can instruct us on your changes.”

Stalad enjoyed the tour of engineering and found he understood enough to speak intelligently about the type of engines the Fortitude employed, as well as their maintenance.

Impressed with the weapons and cloaking abilities of the ship, his tail swayed while he asked a number of questions.

Makai dipped his head, and the edges of his lips tipped up.

“When you recall everything, I think you’ll discover you are a warrior of some sort that is used to ship duties. Your knowledge encompasses a number of subjects and is solid.”

Stalad slowly nodded as he digested the captain’s comments.

“That assessment doesn’t feel wrong.”

“Come, let’s check out the cargo bay.” Makai led them to the other side of the ship.

When they entered the large bay, Stalad’s eyes swept the well-ordered space. Safely-secured crates lined one wall. In the center of the high-ceilinged area, long lengths of fabric like Morgan used in her performances hung from above.

“Morgan teaches the other females some exercises on the aerial silks, as she calls them. The females say it is a good way to tone their bodies and create better muscular control than simply using our training gear. They also participate in something called yoga, which involves twisting their bodies into unusual shapes. They tell us that they enjoy the increased flexibility.”

“Would it be acceptable for me to practice my training forms here or in the greenhouse? There’s more room for me to move without interrupting anyone else.”

“Of course, unless the females complain. I don’t see why they would.

” Makai gestured to the wall of crates. “Sometimes we simply transport goods for merchants if they need it or we have it to sell after liberating it from, what is it Kara called them? Oh, bad actors. Sometimes it is sensitive cargo. Other times it’s like these tablets and electronics parts we’re dropping off at the Orkite home world, Arona. ”

“How is it you have human females onboard?”

“Those stories are theirs to tell or not. But we consider the Fortitude a safe haven for human females in trouble.”

Stalad frowned. His tail straightened before whipping once.

“Are they in danger now?”

“Not any longer. Their previous threats were eliminated. Events like the one on Nulorn where others think to kidnap them and make them slaves or worse are what we protect against now.”

Stalad’s tail relaxed.

“Good. They should be kept safe.”

Makai grinned.

“Absolutely.”

Going up to the top of the ship, Makai led him to the bridge where Rain sat at in a pilot’s seat. Kara tapped on a tablet while sitting on Crax’s lap. Crax appeared to be reading something on the console.

“Report,” Makai said.

“On course for Arona. We should reach there in four days.” Rain glanced at them before turning back to the console. “Scans indicate nothing in our immediate vicinity along our heading.”

“Good.”

“Lezon comm’d. Now that he’s had a chance to fully review all Stalad’s medical info from the Morning Star , he wants Stalad to have the measles vaccine,” Kara said.

Stalad frowned.

“Measles?”

“A new variant of Earth’s measles disease began showing up on different worlds.

About a month ago, the Svesti developed a vaccine that protects most species in this region of space.

While they believe Svesti are immune, they recommend all be inoculated, just in case.

Lezon said you can go to the med bay any time to receive it. ”

“I’ll talk with him more about it.”

“Crax, show Stalad the weapons stations and our capabilities.” Makai sat in the captain’s chair.

Crax lifted Kara as he rose. He kissed her on her forehead after he placed her back on the seat where he had been sitting. Definitely a lax atmosphere on the bridge, but everyone seems competent. I think I like it here.