Above sand and sky, an apology

Meli’s face mirrored that of the other women around the breakfast table as the trio recounted their tale of underground adventure the next morning. By the time Rye had managed to get copies of the data from her salvaged drives and they’d left the planet behind it had been late - and asides from a sore, well deserved shower in the ambassadorial suite Dustin, Bleu and the Rabyth woman had more or less just face-planted into the mattress to sleep off their ordeal as soon as they got home.

Their exhaustion - and what Sammie had been able to tell the other women based on the state of the ruins when she’d evac’d them from the planet had not made either of Dustin’s pregnant partners exactly relaxed about things - and the retelling of their escapades was apparently not helping. Even those not in Dustin’s relationship group seemed unhappy about the situation; Yril’k was still technically not on active duty but she was scowling as Dustin explained the second cave-in and it’s repercussions, while Aricia had insisted on hearing the tale as well and was firmly in the camp of ‘don’t go into creepy underground places’ - understandable given her history.

Eventually, Dustin reached the end of his explanation, and waited for someone to speak. To his surprise, Naera took the first swing - climbing into his lap and fixing him with a piercing stare. “Get. The crew. To do. More. Or I’m never cooking you breakfast again.” She did follow her statement up by sticking a bacon roll into his mouth - whether to remind him of what he could lose or to prevent any kind of reply Dustin didn’t particularly care as he nodded obediently at the pouting shortstack.

Recriminations from the rest of the senior staff took their time, the general consensus being that as captain he had no business delving into potentially dangerous structures without significant backup and that Dustin needed to remember he was a starship captain now, not just a lone adventurer with a handful of lovers to his name.

As the dust metaphorically settled, Rye swiped her tablet to throw some of the data she’d recovered onto the table’s holo-projector. “Most of what was there is just historical interest - I’ve sent it to Velca Prime already for cataloguing, don’t worry nerd. But this is kinda interesting. These folk had a deep space probe program - sent them out just before their collapse and it looks like they found something. Signals from a system that don’t match any of the ones we know the Fractals have access to.”

All eyes swivelled to the hologram, a tiny dot pulsing inside the area they’d mapped out as Fractal territory. “That’s deep, really deep inside the Fractal domain.” Emely said at last, leaning forward on her elbows. “If there’s really non-hostiles out there and if they’ve not been swallowed, that’d be an amazing staging post.” Sammie nodded, eyes flickering to Dustin. “We don’t dive straight in.” He said automatically in reply to the pilot’s unvoiced question, already trying to work out the route for himself. “We need to find the edge of the Fractal space first, then we can double back and find a clear route to whoever that is. That is if they’re still there, having been surrounded by Fractals for several centuries after their last known signal.”

As the others departed for their various different tasks a little later, Dustin caught Bleu’s hand. “I believe I promised you my time, Bleu… there’s unlikely to be any medical emergencies in the next day or so as we leave the system if you’d like to spend some time together?” The Queri medic paused, contemplating, then shook her head. “Sorry, I know this is going to sound really odd after our talk planet-side, but I would like to wait a little bit if that’s alright? I want to make sure medbay is in order, and then I need to debrief Meli on all the wildlife I catalogued, and then I also want to check in on Mallow and…”

Dustin held up a hand to stop her. “First of all, that’s fine - we’ll probably be in the weave and then crossing the next system for a day or two on this next jump unless the plans have shifted while we were down on the planet. And secondly… Mallow?”

Bleu’s azure skin tinted with golden ripples as she blushed. “I named the er… the specimen we obtained on the planet. After those sweets you had us try. I hope that is alright.” Dustin beamed at her, tugging her in for a quick kiss before letting go and replying. “Mallow’s a great name. Although you better tell Emely before she tries to name it too - I don’t know if super-giant centipedes can be taught to recognise their own name, but best not confuse Mallow either way. And yea, no worries about the other stuff - take your time, I’ll be available for you to monopolize my attention whenever you’re ready unless we’re actively in a combat situation.”

The slime woman gave a snort at that. “I wouldn’t want your attention in a combat situation anyway, I’d be far to busy stitching back on whatever bits Yril’k decides to get blown off her this time. But… thank you, Dustin. I really do… Thank you.” The golden ripples spread across her like seaweed on a tropical reef before the Queri turned and hurried away.

Dustin took the time to review his own mental notes on the mission, record a brief log of the actions he’d taken and package them along with a suggestion to EarthGov. He recommended that alongside supplying any biological data Bleu and Meli had sent from their research, EarthGov advise the Yuran and others to monitor the development of predatory species during planetary renewal. With the message sent, Dustin set his tablet down and then stretched, staring up at the ceiling. It’d been a long few days - both on the planet and under it’s sandy surface - and he could really do with some down time. Actual down time, rather than bedroom down time, even if he had been sincere in his offer to Bleu. With that in mind, he stood - and went in search of Naera.

The chef was perhaps unsurprisingly busy in the galley when Dustin arrived. It was mid-morning, so she didn’t have start preparing for lunch for some time - but the galley was her go-to happy place whenever she had nothing better to do, and she usually had at least one if not more of the smaller ovens working on new recipes. This time around it was some Lieviran concoction that smelled of freshly mown grass, but had a wonderfully buttery taste to it - like rich roast potatoes - when the shortstack insisted he try some.

That was always the issue with visiting Naera in her workplace; no matter the time of day or how busy she was, she’d always find time to grab Dustin’s attention and demand his opinion on her latest and greatest creation. Which was usually okay - but today… “Naera, would you mind if I borrow an oven?” Dustin asked, pulling open one of the cold storage units and considering the meats on display.

“Sure, Dusty. What are you planning on doing?” the green-skinned woman slid her arm around him as she shuffled alongside, pressing close into his waist as they contemplated the chilled ingredients together. “I thought I might make something to help me unwind - and apologise to the others for taking so many risks.” Dustin mused, eyes drifting between the shelves until he reached in and pulled out a box. “You’re not planning on using this any time soon are you?”

Naera glanced at it and shook her head. “No plans at all; meant to transfer it over to long-term cold store to make room for some more fish last week, but being planet-side with the Lievira got my schedules all messed up. Whatcha cooking?”

Dustin set the box of chilled meat down on the counter and frowned as he tried to remember a recipe he’d not made in years. “In theory, it should be lasagne.” He said at last, putting an order in for more ingredients from the automat. “And garlic bread to go with it. I’d use the ambassadorial kitchen, but I really want your company while I cook - I hope that’s alright? We can stick the food in a heated tray and take it up to the ready room for lunch - or I can get the senior staff down here, it’s been a while since we all ate in the main galley.”

The Caenii woman’s grin was wide as she grabbed the flour out of his hands. “You wanna spend time with me? That makes me really happy Dusty, but I’ve seen you attempt baking before and it hurts my soul. You get started on whatever you’re doing with that mince, and I’ll make you up the bread. Loaf, stick or rolls?”

Warm air filled the kitchen as the pair worked; Naera cranking the heating up to help the bread dough rise as she kneaded, rolled and set aside several smaller bowls of the mix. Dustin hadn’t been sure what he wanted to pair with the pasta, and so in the end his culinary lover had opted to just make a bunch of different mixes and see what worked best once they were all baked. The pair talked too as they cooked - the half joking, half caring banter of a couple preparing dinner for their nearest and dearest together.

When at last Dustin set the tray of pasta, sauces and mince into the oven to cook alongside the first batches of Naera’s bread, he turned to find the woman’s green face staring up at him with a mixture of joy and concern. “You really worried us all earlier, Dustin.” She said softly, before leaning forward to plant a kiss on his nose. “Don’t be so reckless again… I don’t know what I… what we would do if we lost you. Please be careful.”