Back into the black

Rye’s foot hurt. That explained the harshness in her tone as she bossed Sammie around, the poor woman dragging hardware rapidly about the room as the bunny girl worked a welding torch as if she had a vendetta against it. Which, given that it had caused the pain in her foot by falling out of it’s resting place in engineering when she’d gone to retrieve it earlier was, she felt, highly justified. The human woman though… She was after Dusty, that much was a given. And those muscles of hers certainly were easy on the eye. Emmz remained uncertain about her however, even after Meli had come back from their joint date stating that she thought the pilot was someone worth considering at least. Still, the nerd had asked everyone to spend some time with the pilot and Rye was happy to oblige.

That explained why the human was now running around after her every order… Rye suddenly realized she’d been daydreaming and spoke rapidly “oh hells, sorry Sammie, you can let go now. Got caught up thinking about stuff while welding and forgot to say.” The other woman relaxed her muscles with relief as they both watched the metal she had been holding rock gently before coming to a complete stop. “That’ll do for today. Gotta get the other side of the room set up before we can fit that assembly properly, but once that’s done, I can start soft padding everything. And then, yes, I can put some time aside to start talking about that sport setup you and Dusty want me to build.”

Sammie nodded gratefully, before looking around the currently deconstructed nursery. “This is going to be pretty sweet when it’s finished, Rye. Do you want me to give you a hand again tomorrow? I can make time if you need me to.” Rye shook her head. “Naa, you’re good Sammie. To be honest, I’m feeling kinda bad about dragging ya into doing this when today was supposed to be a chance for the two of us to talk after the nerd decided we all need to try and socialize with ya. If I’d not dropped that welder on my foot first I’d have been in a much better mood. My bad; lemmie make it up to ya. We’ll go grab a snack - I’m sure Nae-nae’s got something ready - and then ya can come sit with me in engineering and we’ll do girl talk. Or, y’kno, weave-engine-fusion-reactor talk if ya’d rather.”

In the ready room, Dustin yawned. “I’m sure I got enough sleep last night.” He muttered, glancing over at his companions. Yril’k shrugged by way of reply, her hands busy with a tablet as she fine-tuned the last of her department’s staffing allocation. “It’s probably’k because you had a human’k along on your date.” She mused, before confirming her decisions and setting the tablet down. “Different to normal’k. And there was the stress’k of that matter this morning’k.” Dustin nodded. “Yea, you’re probably right.” He said as he stretched. “Doesn’t make it any easier though, not when I’ve got the whole leading the fleet speech to write.”

At that, the third person in the room set down her tablet and gave him a smile. “You don’t need to worry too much about it, husband. Just a few words about the importance of the mission; the captains will have already been given their orders in the meeting we’re holding for them a day or two before hand - and in some cases, Axworth’s already looped them in. Your speech is just for the people on your homeworld and maybe the crews of the ships joining us; anything you say will be fine.” Meli’s ears were set at quite a contented angle; whatever else might be going on at least his Velca wife seemed to be happy with life.

Yril’k stood then, nodding to the pair of them. “I wish’k to double check the status’k of the trainees’k Axworth has saddled me with’k.” Raising one chitin covered hand, she waved away Dustin’s comment before he could voice it. “I know’k. I am well aware’k that they are EarthGov’s demand’k and not the general’s. However, he is someone’k I can put a face’k to and thus the one I am blaming’k for filling my security team’k with amateurs. I will see you both at dinner’k.” As the insect woman left, Dustin turned his attentions back to his wife and far less stressful thoughts.

“How are you doing?” he asked meaningfully; the Velca woman smiled in response. “Very well. The scans Bleu and I ran came back clear; the proceptive spray is currently working efficiently.” She reached out to take his hand, before continuing “another few days and we will be ready - if you are still sure, husband?” Dustin’s grin would have been answer enough, but just to make sure he added “of course I’m sure. Still a little surprised that while the contraceptive spray works basically instantly, the one to turn your fertility back on takes so long to process.”

Meli shrugged. “Technically, it doesn’t have to. If we were both Velca, or if we were from species with established records of mixed parenting then Bleu and I could have whipped up one that’d work in a hour or so - and probably bump my conception chance up at the same time. But there’s no known mixed human-Velca parents in the databases yet, and I don’t want our kids to have any issues because I messed things up trying to get them here sooner.” She leaned forward in answer to a tug from Dustin, and the pair kissed briefly before she continued. “So, we’re letting the spray’s effects filter out gradually. On a positive note, there’s good news for our other loves. I should be able to use the results of my own experience to make things a lot quicker for them if they wish.”

Dustin nodded thoughtfully, then glanced down towards the woman’s torso. “So… how soon did you say? And is it still safe in the meantime for us to…?” Meli let out a sound halfway between a snort and a giggle and pushed his hands back towards him. “I asked Bleu earlier; she’s the medical professional not me, and her reckoning was a good day sooner than mine so we’re going with what she said. Assuming she’s right, three more days. That is to say, the evening the fleet is due to leave the system, which feels… symbolic, somehow. And in the meantime, yes it’s safe.” She tapped her stomach, ears flickering into amusement. “The way the blockers turn off, there isn’t anything there until right at the end of the restart process. Estimating that is most of the reason for the difference in mine and Bleu’s calculations, if you were curious.”

The Velca’s expression then turned serious, and she stood before Dustin could act on the information. “However husband, much as you might want to get frisky now, I fear I should follow Yril’k’s lead and go and put my department in order. Especially if I’m going to need to take maternity leave, I feel it’s important that I make sure things are running smoothly before we leave Sol space. And you need to figure out what you’re going to say in your speech. I know I said whatever you said would be fine, but that doesn’t mean you should just speak without a plan in place.” She bent down to kiss him, before turning to leave.

Three days passed in a blur of nothingness for Dustin, with little to occupy his time besides dwelling on that damnable speech. Everyone else it seemed had a mountain of work to do - new crew to be assessed and slotted into place, work done on making sure the Solar Ascent was as ready as possible for whatever lurked in the darkness, or just working on improving the state of the ship’s non-mission critical systems. He had to admit, Rye had been right on that - some areas (like the nursery) had been in a shocking state considering the original mission he’d launched on, and he was glad of the bunny girl’s efforts there. Meli’s plan to get the others talking to Sammie appeared to have been a good one - while she’d not had time to socialize with the entire senior staff yet, both Rye and Naera seemed to have warmed to the pilot which boded well for crew cohesion if nothing else.

The fact that the woman was actively interested in him and his lovers made for some awkward stray thoughts on occasion, especially when she opted to arrive on the bridge in her flight suit which seemed to be far more figure-hugging than he remembered, but he managed to keep them under control. As the pilot settled into her seat, Dustin tapped his controls to transfer most of the ship’s flight-capabilities across to her. “Sir, you’ve not given me weave-control?” Sammie said a moment later, after confirming everything else had been patched through.

Dustin nodded, then waved a hand over his face. “First time weave-jumping really messes with your head, and we’ve got a lot of other vessels coming with us on this initial hop. Sola’s going to take care of it; you’ll get some practice time soon enough, but not when it could lead to a bunch of collisions with the rest of the fleet on arrival.” Sammie nodded once by way of reply, then turned to her station, taking over the last section of the flight out from Titan dock to the jump point from the AI.

With the exchange with his pilot done, Dustin glanced over at Emely. “Hail the fleet, please.” The fox girl flashed him a smile as she followed his order; a moment later the vidscreen flickered to show the bridges of nearly sixty vessels. “Captains, please patch this through to your crews.” Dustin began, giving the assembled might of the human scientific fleet a moment to prepare before he spoke next. “Captains, Officers, Ensigns and Citizens of Earth. As you are aware, humanity has been given a grave task by the council - to investigate reports of a hostile presence in the depths of space. I will not tell you that this will be quick, nor will it be easy. Those threats I have met have been strange, powerful and dangerous. Therefore, as ambassador of Earth I task you all with three objectives. Firstly, find the information we seek swiftly, so that the council may act and deploy a military fleet. Secondly, continue in the spirit with which I first left the light of Sol. Make friends, and help out throughout the galaxy to show humanity’s best side to our neighbours. And finally, and most importantly - stay alive.”

Some of the figures on the viewscreen shifted uneasily at that last task, but Dustin continued. “Your ships have been fitted for combat, more so than a normal science vessel. This much is a fact, and part of the nature of being human. We speak softly, but we want to protect our friends - and over-equip our ships for a fight, according to many of those friends. But it is vital to remember that no matter the situation, you are researchers not warriors. Do not grow overconfident, do not take threats lightly, and ensure that you deliver your research in person not via a posthumous communication.” He took a breath, then concluded. “You and your captains have been given systems to sweep; relay information back to your coordinating vessel regularly. For those of you flying with the Solar Ascent as your coordinator, I will see you shortly on the other side of the jump. For the rest - happy hunting, and good luck!” At a nod from Dustin, Emely cut the comms and Sola’s weave-jump countdown began.