Beginnings

Dustin and Meli’a were in his ready room once more as it had a better hologram projector for the detailed explanation the woman was trying to give him, even if he understood only one word in three - not to mention the distraction he felt because she insisted in sitting as close to him as possible, leaning in to point out details. With the faint scent of Velcasta mixing with her perfume, at least half his brain was on his science officer rather than the lengthy description she was giving on weave-scan fundamentals. Essentially as he finally understood it, there was only a certain amount of weave data that the system could pull in at any one time. Most species were well under this level; even the most connected species found to date had only filled the buffer to 78%.

Sitting down again and stretching in a way that did nothing to help Dustin’s focus on the topic rather than her, Meli’a sighed. “I don’t think I should report this just yet. I’ll fill in a report about the new jump route - but I want to confirm this isn’t just a fluke with a few more jumps.” As she said this, Sola’s voice announced the return of the probe - and a minute later the countdown to the weave-jump as per the hasty orders Dustin had given the AI before his science officer had practically dragged him from the bridge.

With the jump counting down along with Meli’a ending her explanation he finally managed to align his thoughts on the situation at hand rather than the proximity of the Velca. Walking around the table and settling into the chair opposite his now silent officer, Dustin nodded thoughtfully at her. “I think you’re right. It was pretty intense, and today’s been a weird kind of day so it’s probably worth verifying before announcing that humans are some kind of super navigators if I’m understanding you correctly.” As he said this, Dustin pulled up the probe’s report. He vaguely remembered Re’x and the general mentioning that if - or when - he found a new route it would be one of two types. If it was a link between known points, a probe would be able to chart the journey through the weave on it’s own, using existing jumps for comparison thanks to advanced AI. If it was a wild jump into the unknown however, seeking out new worlds? Then it would be up to the navigator and pilot to guide the ship, a much more complicated process and one he wasn’t entirely sure he was ready for.

Meli’a said something to him as he reviewed the data, noting the links the probe had made between the existing route from it’s databank and this new path he had found; it wasn’t until she stood up that he returned his attention to her. “Sorry, what did you say?” he asked, at which the Velca woman pointed in the direction of the door. “Captain, I stated that on our arrival in Rabyth space we will have the downtime we have discussed, and would like to get changed into something less formal if you do not require my further input on travel systems.” Dustin acknowledged the request with a nod; it made sense as while he had already changed into more casual clothing she was still wearing the uniform jumpsuit that she had met him in on the station.

It wasn’t until Sola announced the drop back into normal space and confirmation of a successful arrival that Dustin heard from Meli’a again. He’d finished reviewing the probe’s data, and had returned to the bridge for the drop back out of the weave. As the ship’s screens flickered on displaying a star so much like Sol that he wondered for a moment if there had been a miscalculation. That was until he spotted the massive movement of ships in the space ahead of them - even Velca had not seen this many vessels moving around.

As he was marvelling at the difference between just these two systems that he’d visited so far, Sola spoke. “Captain, the chief science officer requests your presence in your ready room at your convenience. Additionally, we have been hailed by Rabythion traffic control requesting our inbound destination or purpose.” Dustin scratched his chin for a moment, thinking of the best way to phrase their reason for being in the Rabyth home system. “Contact traffic control, request a path through to the inner system to review and potentially refresh our supply and primarily search for a potential volunteer to recruit as chief engineer for our mission. Follow whatever path they give you; I will be resting shortly, so contact me when we are half an hour out from docking or in the event of emergency.”

With the computer signalling it’s confirmation of the order, Dustin climbed out of his captain’s chair and headed for his suite. Inside, he had expected to find Meli’a in the ready room - the request had sounded like she wished to continue their discussion on human-weave interaction - what he had not expected to find was the Velca woman nervously pacing by the door leading to his private bunk wearing an outfit that despite being loose fitting still clung to her whenever she turned in a way that outlined how thin the fabric really was. When he entered, she stopped with a start, ears flicking into the startled position for a moment before flicking down into something Dustin wasn’t quite sure of. “Welcome back, Captain” she said, adding emphasis to the final word in a way that was most un-Velca-like and instantly reminded the human of his agreement to do “additional research” with the woman.

“H…hi Meli’a” he said, swallowing nervously before glancing back to make sure the door behind him was shut. Even though the ship only had the two of them on board, he didn’t particularly want the AI tracking any intimate moments that might occur as he stepped forward. Meli’a in turn looked at his expression thoughtfully, before her eyes widened and she suddenly darted over to the automat dispenser. “One second, captain! I just remembered something important.” Dustin looked at the woman quizzically as she tapped keys before retrieving a small medical spray from the machine.

“What’s that?” he asked, his brain filling with concerns about the heath of his officer. Maybe the whole wanting to be intimate thing he’d been reading from their conversations was just down to her having an illness messing up her use of his language and this was… “Contraceptive spray” the Velca cut across his mental fog with two words that made him rub his ear to make sure he’d heard her correctly even as she placed the spray against her neck and activated it. “Wha…?” he began, his brain gently short-circuiting even as the now blushing Velca dropped the empty spray onto the table. “Umm…” she began “…so remember the Lan’I constant? And how compatible humans are? As far as our tests have gone, humanity’s a little weird. See most species it’s the product of their constants that determines how…” and here she paused and shook her head. “I’ll explain that later. For now just know that unless you were prepared for the consequences I’ll need that spray. Now, we both need rest and I’d like to do a little research before hand, for scientific purposes of course. Could we…” and here it was Dustin’s turn to interrupt the Velca’s train of thought, crossing the distance between the two of them as she was speaking and pushing his mouth to hers.