Post-flight jitters

With Flass’s shuttle carrying the artificer-general back to his planet, and the AI handling the flight out of the system, the crew of the Solar Ascent finally got some real downtime. Everyone had been so busy over the past weeks since they’d left Earth - no sooner had they begun searching than they had been plunged into fighting, or emergency medical support, or rushing to deliver vital messages without the council knowing. Now at last they had a moment to breathe; no orders from Earth or the council, no onward destination.

Dustin had ordered a trip back to the system that the strange beast from the monastery had escaped from. He intended that to be start of their first foray into the unknown should he not get any other orders first, and for two reasons. One, the trail was older and thus any hostiles on the far side more likely to be complacent, and two, the trail was a single vessel. While he was pretty sure Sola could escape if she ran into the remnants of the fleet that had fled the battle around the second Yuran planet, he’d rather not jump straight into an enemy armada if he could avoid it.

That all said made chasing the monster the more sensible option of the two they currently had, and gave everyone a break in the short term - the relevant system being over a weeks travel away. All over the ship, the crew were doing their best to make the most of things. Naera had gotten the galley fully up and running - although while the mostly human galley crew were competent chefs, it was clear who the real talent was; those days where she left things entirely to her subordinates due to her being occupied with other business were noticeable due to mealtimes being mere satisfied sighs, rather than the usual exclamations over the quality of the meals.

Today was to be just one of those days; Meli had pulled rank and requested the chef’s exclusive services cooking for the rest of the senior staff personally. Given that she’d also insisted the meal be held in the ambassadorial suite rather than the galley, and it was pretty clear she wanted to talk about something with them all. Normally, Naera would cook for them anyway - but she’d be either doing it before or after the main galley rush; monopolizing her time meant Meli wanted the shortstack explicitly present for whatever she had planned.

With those thoughts in mind, Dustin made his way to his quarters, reaching them at the same time as Sammie who was approaching from the opposite direction. The pair froze for a second as they saw each other, then Dustin moved first; stepping forward he opened the door to the suite and gestured for the pilot to enter ahead of him. Sammie seemed about to say something as she reached the door - hesitated, then almost imperceptibly shook her head and stepped through.

As they entered, the pair walked into a scene of domestic bliss. Naera, aided by Emely, was bustling around the table with various pots and trays from a hovering trolley that she’d had Rye configure for her. Trea’k was deep in conversation with Bleu, the pair sharing a tablet and gesturing animatedly about whatever they were talking about. Meli meanwhile was leaning on her elbows watching Rye and Yril’k discussing what after a moment’s squinting Dustin realized was a partially disassembled pulse carbine. Opting to interact with the women handling deadly weaponry at the meal-table first, he walked over.

“So, if ya want to increase the output potential ya gotta boost the power storage. No way around that, not without a load of coolant that’d mean ya couldn’t keep it holdable in two hands.” Rye was saying, pointing at parts of the inner workings of the firearm. Dustin glanced at it - a load of crystals and circuitry that he couldn’t make much sense of - and dropped into the chair next to Meli. “How long have they been discussing that?” he asked the Velca, who shrugged. “Since before they arrived? Rye already had that thing half stripped when they walked in the door. Naera and I tried to tell them to put it away so we could eat but…”

Dustin sighed and after a moment or two of calling her name managed to get Rye’s attention. Gesturing at the stripped weapon and the food being loaded onto the table, he didn’t have to do more than raise an eyebrow to get the engineer to blush and start packing her latest project away. Meli leaned close as he turned back from the Rabyth and murmured “how did you manage to do that?”. Shrugging, Dustin answered her honestly. “She knows I have the authority to make it an order, and doesn’t want to risk me getting into the habit of ordering her to not tinker. Not that I ever would, but our bunny doesn’t want to risk it regardless.”

Moments later, the sound of rapidly clinking dinnerware indicated that while they might have been focused on their project, neither Yril’k nor Rye had done so because they were avoiding Naera’s cooking. Conversations naturally wound down for a while as the assembled crew were occupied with the Caenii’s latest creations; only the occasional request to pass one of the jars of condiments which the shortstack had liberally sprinkled over the table broke the sound of eating. No matter how good the food however, all meals must come to an end - and so as they settled into dessert, conversation began to bloom once more.

It was largely idle chatter - until Meli drew the table to attention by gently chiming her spoon against her glass. Multiple eyes glanced over at her, other conversations pausing mid-sentence. “Ladies, Dustin - I wanted to get your attention before anyone starts leaving for the night. We have a moment of downtime right now; a chance to talk about things we might not be able to during our mission. Yril’k - you had something you wanted to raise with the senior staff first I believe?”

The warrior Vex’ess nodded, stood and then spent a good ten minutes going over her suggestions for a fitness program for the non-combat crew; she’d put quite a bit of time into assembling something that would work around everyone’s schedules, with an eye to having the senior staff try it out first before they expanded the program to everyone. Dustin was impressed; it had grown difficult with time to remember that the hard-shelled warrior had spent a significant chunk of her life as a gentle handmaid, but she’d clearly put that experience to use in considering everyone’s needs when designing the plan.

With the rest of the assembled team agreeing to her idea, the bug woman bowed out - after she was done talking she asked if she were needed further, and as nobody else had anything pressing they wanted to talk about that required her presence, she left to go and do her evening training exercises. As the door closed behind the Vex’ess, the room seemed to shift somehow to Dustin. Before, it had been a meeting of the senior staff, but now - with the exception of Sammie - it was one of his lovers.

As if his thought of her name had stirred her, the pilot shifted back in her chair. “I should probably head off as well…” she began, then stopped; Emely had snuck around behind her, and firmly but gently pushed the woman’s seat back into the table. “You should stay put, Sammie.” The fox girl said, leaning forward and draping her arms over the other woman’s shoulders. Dustin glanced around; his lovers had shifted their attention from him as the exchange between human and Feliax women played out, and all of them were now watching the pilot carefully.

Meli broke the silence with a gentle cough. “We really do need you present for this, Sammie. I think it’s about time we all discuss what happened in the weave during the jump to Yuran space.” Sammie winced at that, her eyes flickering over to meet Dustin’s gaze for a moment before looking away. “Don’t panic, please.” Meli continued, giving the pilot a reassuring smile. “I made all of the women here aware of what a dual weave would entail should we need to conduct one quite some time ago. What we wish to discuss now is what that… experience, I think is an appropriate word. What that experience will mean for us all moving forward.”

Sammie seemed to have stopped breathing for a moment, before exhaling gratefully at Meli’s words. “Phew. Alright, Meli’a. Appreciate the reassurance; I was running on adrenaline and combat when we got out of the jump, but I’m not gonna lie - as soon as that wore off and I was alone it was…” her voice trailed off, seeking the right words and failing to find them. Glancing over at Dustin, she threw him a smile, before ending her statement lamely with “…and I didn’t think I could exactly broach the topic with anyone. I mean, how do you start that conversation? Just so you know, your husband and I got intimate in a higher dimension, hope that’s okay with you? That sounds more like we did a bunch of medsprays and got wasted in a jacuzzi than what actually happened.”

Her comment got a chuckle out of a few of the assembled women - as well as Dustin - before Sammie gently brushed Emely’s arms from her shoulder. “Sorry, but if we’re having this conversation I’d rather you were where I could see you all Emely. Nice as the hug was, this is going to be an important chat I expect.”

Sammie’s words seemed to appease the redhead - Emely rapidly going from a half-pout at her embrace being rejected to a smile as she nodded before turning and planting herself firmly in Dustin’s lap, opting to wrap her arms around his neck instead. “Alright, Sammie” she said then, her voice taking on the tones her species always seemed to adopt when they were plotting something. “If you think this is important” she paused, giving the dark-skinned woman a grin before concluding “why don’t you let us know what you’re thinking first.”