Meli'a

The walk back to the ship was uneventful. What was eventful was the figure stood outside the airlock, rocking back and forward on her heels in a most non-Velca way. Her ears were fluttering too - Dustin’s interpretation of Velca emotional markers was something he had thought was pretty good, but the sheer range of emotions the woman was exhibiting was just too much to be able to pick anything beyond **** excitement out. On seeing him, she pulled herself together somewhat - the rocking stopped, although her ears continued their rhythmic dance as she saluted. “Captain, Chief Science Officer Meli’a reporting for duty.” Dustin blinked slightly - her voice wasn’t the entirely monotone he had grown accustomed to from Velca either, and the surprise must have shown in his face. “I have undertaken an extensive study of human culture in the hopes of being selected for this mission; this included significant practice attempting to modulate my tone in the way humans do to show emotion although I’m not sure I have quite fully grasped it yet.”

Dustin nodded thoughtfully, gesturing to the airlock. “We should probably discuss this aboard ship - but yes, unless you were intending for that last remark to be sarcastic there’s still some work to do. Mind you, you’re doing better than I am at copying Velca emotions; I can just about manage a few formal ones but my ears just don’t fold right for the more complex emotional expressions.” Meli’a took his offer, lifting the light case she had been stood by and stepping into the ship. A moment later the airlock closed behind the pair, and Dustin’s shoulders sagged as he relaxed. “We’ll talk more in my briefing room in a little while chief science officer, but first - is that everything you’re bringing with you? You should take a moment to store your belongings in your cabin. Sola, can you direct our new recruit to her quarters?”

As he said this, he took a moment to take in the appearance of his first crew member more closely now that he no longer had to worry too much about the Research Council jumping down his neck. She was dressed in the formal gray of the council - but where it had looked drab and official on his escort her suit looked stylish. An upmarket gray, and one that did little to hide that she was definitely female; his experience of Velca physiology came from school texts, discussions with the ambassador, the trip he’d just taken across the station - and a few risque images produced by artists with overly active imaginations. But in general, the Velca women that he’d seen or learned about were usually taller than the males and ran thinner than average, looking almost elf-like in build. Meli’a on the other hand was shorter than his own frame - only by an inch or so, but that was drastic for her species. The additional height that she had not gained meanwhile appeared to have gone to her hips and bust, which were doing their best to break out of her spacesuit, another anomaly for Velca in general.

On top of her head, long black hair silhouetted the normal elfin features of the Velca - rounder faces than the average human but tapering to a far sharper chin - and her ears which were longer than her uncle’s. Dustin wondered idly if they actually extended behind her head, and if so how she managed to sleep comfortably, before his mind wandered to the twin amber pools of her eyes that along with the ears made it clear that while she might be much more human-shaped than the average for her species, she was very much still alien. Those eyes he realised had been glancing at him in much the same way, the two examining the other as they walked through the ship. Dustin debated saying something, but then Sola chimed in from a nearby speaker. “Captain, your attention is required on the bridge. The dockworkers have finished loading supplies for Officer Meli’a from the council and we have a departure course to the edge of system approved. I will direct our new officer to her quarters as requested and then send her to see you once we are underway.”

Meli’a’s eyes flicked to the speakers and her ears flickered for a moment in what looked like annoyance. Before Dustin could say anything however, the woman turned and began heading in a direction that Sola had illuminated with blinking arrows on the corridor wall. Seeing her walk away, Dustin’s eyes wandered down to her hips - and the sway of her walk. Another chime from Sola broke his reverie however and he shook his head to clear it. Sure, he hadn’t gotten laid in… he thought for a moment and sighed as he walked towards the bridge. He hadn’t gotten laid in over a year. But even so, that was no reason to be perving on his crew. Even if she did have an ass that would make a sculptor weep - and a fair few politicians back home would have probably insisted the sculpture be kept behind an adults-only barrier. Not to mention the rest of her curves. Or those eyes that looked like pools of honey. Or… he shook his head again and slapped his cheeks. “Focus Dustin, no perving on the crew.” He told himself mentally, before stepping through the door and onto the bridge of his ship once more.

On the bridge, the screens showed a dotted line out of the system. “We have been cleared to travel under low power out of system Captain” Sola informed him as he took his seat, adding “This should allow time for us to identify our next destination, as well as provide you an opportunity to begin investigating human connectivity to the weave before we make a decision. Are you ready to undock?” Dustin straightened up in his chair, making a mental note to change out of the official suit and back into his normal clothes as soon as this business was done. “Yes. Put me through to the dock” he said, before the screen flickered to show the face of the Velca harbourmaster. “Solar Ascent confirming departure, thank you for your assistance.” The harbourmaster nodded, and a moment later Dustin felt a gentle shove as the ship began moving out from her bay. The screens flickered to show the lights of the station for a minute or two before she was clear enough to turn - a slow end over end rotation that replaced the light of the station with the star filled blackness of space. Admittedly, a busy star-filled blackness this far into the system, as multiple other ships glided around, the faint glow of their engines illuminating their hulls against the endless night.

Figuring that he didn’t have to be here any more, Dustin stood up. “I’m going to go get changed and then wait for Meli’a in my ready room. Contact me if there are any incidents, but otherwise take the planned course out of system; I’ve got an idea of where we’ll be jumping to next, but I want to hear her input first.” With an acknowledgment from the AI, he headed down to his quarters, walking into his bedroom before starting to strip out of his suit with a sigh of relief. It really was a horrible outfit, and he’d be glad to be back to jeans and a t-shirt for a day or so at least while they jumped to the next destination. It was just as he bent over to pick up his jeans from the floor having stripped down to just his boxers that he realised two things. Firstly, he had left the door from his ready room to his bedroom open. And secondly, his chief science officer had just walked in.