Linda, Jenny and Kari tour the town with a local guide.

Ensign's Log, Stardate: 9310.5

The Ishtar has come across an inhabited water world populated by sentient sea people. They turned out to be very welcoming; inviting us down to their world to take in the sights. This gave us a chance to take some much needed shore leave. Well, under the shore leave I suppose.

"You know, I'm not wearing anything underneath this suit..." Kari taunted me. She giggled as I tried to get a better glimpse of how form fitting the EVA suit was.

We were with Jenny and our guild Rolo, passing through the market square. The Hrimgnnr did not walk through a promenade like you would on Earth, they glided like birds with their shimmering mantles acting as wings. Rolo took us on tour in a sort of undersea carriage that allowed us to keep pace with the Hrim's torpedo-like speed mechanically. We had stopped by two spots already and each time we'd be mobbed by curious locals. It felt like we were celebrities. They were very curious about us as a species and full of questions. Simple things like how we breathed underwater, the funny way we spoke, (we tend to have a higher pitch compared to the heavy bassed reverberated tones), how we moved around on land. As an aquatic world, they do not get many visitors from air breathers like us, so our presence was a novel change to them. Meanwhile, I had never seen such lavish architecture build underwater. They had buildings, but they weren't restricted to up and down like land structures. The buoyancy of the water made intricate looping buildings possible with their sponge-like material. As Hrims practically float on their own, they do not need much for structure, so something soft to bounce off of is enough for them. We were, of course in the upper levels of their ocean world. The deeper depths require stronger structures.

Rolo was taking us on a tour of various foods available in the city. We had reviewed and compared the dietary compounds of their cuisine to find dishes that would be compatible to our digestive system.

"This neeexxt place is a purrrrsonal favvvorite of miiine..." Rolo said in a booming voice. Rolo was a friendly Hrim... the native was very open about their culture and customs which taught us a lot about their way of life. I don't know whether to refer to our guide as a him or a her, they don't have genders and reproduce asexually. Anyways, Rolo went and and returned with whinsil eggs wrapped in sea fern. The Hrim anchored the carriage and proffered us each a plate of the delicacy. The carriage then sealed around us so that air could be pumped in. It was as if we were in a sub now and we removed our helmets to sample the dish.

"Mmm... just like caviar..." Jenny munched appreciatively. It did taste like the salty Earth delicacy, bursting in the mouth with a n explosion of flavor and was nicely complemented by the sweet ferns. The only difference was the eggs were the size of grapes.

"This was great, Rolo. So... what do you do to relax and unwind after a good meal?" Kari asked.

"Hmmm.... " thought the giant cephalopod, "Thisss plaaace maay interesssst youuu...." With that, the carriage was refilled and we were off again. We travelled for a few more minutes before we came upon a palatial garden. Rolo parked the carriage and invited us to follow on foot. We floated using mini thruster packs to guide us up a long cavernous tunnel. We had to activate our lights to see where we were going, but Rolo seemed to be able to navigate just fine without. The Hrim led us up the winding path until we reached a large cavern. Rolo continued upwards and we followed. Eventually we hit the top of the water crests. It was an underwater cave with an air pocket!

Not only that, there was a beach! The bio-luminous rocks lit the grotto under the water and in the air filled cave. It was majestic; like a glow in the dark roman bath mixed with sandy beach. Rolo crawled out with us as we removed our helmets. The hrim was slumped down, low to the ground due to the weight of gravity. It was a total contrast from the grand form that glided its way through the waters like a soaring ray.

"Are you alright out here like this?" I asked our guide.

"Quite alright... I can hold my breath for an hour." the Hrim explained. "Sometimes we like to head up into open air just for the fun of it. We have some surface lands that **** athletes go to test their mettle."

"This is so nice..." Kari said as she stripped off her suit. She really was naked underneath. I stared at her and she mouthed the words, "They don't know..." to me. It's true, they wouldn't be able to tell that what she was doing would be considered by some to be inappropriate back where we come from. Then again, we were on a beach. For all we know it was a nude beach; it's not like the Hrimgnnrs wore clothing.

Jenny and I took off our suits, but had underwear on.

"Oh... I apologize for seeing..." Rolo said, turning different shades of purple.

"What?" I asked.

"You two... well... are shedding..." Rolo answered awkwardly, referring to our underwear.

"Oh... yeah, don't mind that, we're friends here..." Jenny smiled, looking at me with that impish grin. She pulled off her top and panties, joining Kari in the nudity club. She looked at me as did Kari. I sighed and stripped off as well.

"You honor me by considering me friend, Jenny," Rolo said, "We Hrimgnnr are very sensitive about molting, it's a very personal time in our lives and is very shameful for others to see."

We all found a spot on the beach to lay down and relax in the soft sand. Kari propped our helmet lights to better light our area.

"So, may I ask? How much time do you have left?" Rolo asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked back.

"Molting for my people means you are near the end of your cycle and will be reproducing a copy soon."

"Oh we reproduce a different way," Jenny said.

"Oh? I would like to know more," Rolo said.