The List

When they filled the others in on what had transpired, Rye had nearly bent double with laughter. “Sorry, but after all that they said no? And Meli you… gods, nerd, why on Rabythion would you have followed that up by asking them for recommendations?” Dustin too wanted to know the reason for that - if they’d gotten rejected at interview they could have surely gone back to the Queri government and gotten a new (and larger) shortlist. As Trea’k set drinks down for the group, Meli tapped her tablet a few times before answering the bunny girl’s question.

“I asked for three reasons, Rye. Firstly, because Bleu is highly qualified and their recommendations are likely to be useful whoever we recruit. And they’re right, we do need more than one extra person for a medical team if we’re ever to fully crew Sola. Secondly, because we have no guarantees that we would get a second shortlist - this might be part of a test from the Queri government to get a signature. And thirdly…” the Velca woman trailed off, taking a sip of her drink and staring at the ceiling for a moment before glancing across at Emely.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, comms officer, but Queri medical staff are normally very much in favour of centralized government structures are they not?” The Feliax nodded in reply. “One hundred and ten percent. They’re dedicated to the idea, make any of our species’ governments look like a group of kids organizing a bake sale in comparison.” Then her tails flicked and she looked at Dustin. “Sir… didn’t you say that Bleu seemed to really not like the government?” Dustin nodded slowly before turning to Meli. “You want them on board because you think they’re a misfit and that seems to be what we’re collecting here, don’t you?”

The Velca gave a very human shrug, ears flickering with mirth as she did so. “Guilty as charged li’ah’a. It’s an illogical gamble, but if there’s anyone that will fit in with all of us in weirdness terms an anarchist Queri doctor sounds ideal. Of course, that does depend on if we can get the recruits they’ve suggested.” At that, the crew set their assorted drinks down, expecting the inevitable hologram briefing that would follow.

“The most interesting part about this is that none of the names Bleu requested are Queri. I’ve checked the files they’ve given me - the species concerned are mostly at a similar level of development to humanity. Not quite into flying their own ships freely in other words, but the Queri allow any species to study with them and so a number of planets they met during their ambassadorial mission have sent large numbers of their people to study with the slimes.” Meli paused for a moment to let her words settle, then began to run through the names.

When the Velca had reached the end of the list, Dustin gave his thoughts. “Most of these seem simple enough - we just need to make the offer, ask and see what they say. Looking at the files Bleu gave us it seems like several of them have a desire to go out and see space, although given they’re studying away from their homeworlds that shouldn’t be surprising” With his initial opinion made clear Dustin then returned to flicking through the list for a moment before looking back up. “The more complicated ones are the middle-tier staff. All the juniors and assistants we should be able to just call up - can I leave that to you and Meli to handle, comms officer?” Emely straightened up in her seat and nodded, tails twitching eagerly. “Gladly. It’ll beat arguing with provisions officer Preu for another day just to try and get a hydrogen restock approved.”

With that out of the way, Dustin turned to the others. “The middle staff are more complex. For starters, they’d need approval from their supervisor to undergo training in the field rather than continue on the campus below us. Additionally, for two of them we’ll need to travel to the system they’re working in; I suggest we leave those two until last. In any case, they’ll all need us to tackle some project or other. I’ll get in touch with them individually and work out a list of requests - at least, if we can negotiate a request that’s doable in a reasonable time. And then we can get underway to go and gather up whatever’s needed. Rye, Trea’k, Yril’k, can you work on getting quarters ready for all these people? They’ll be in general quarters rather than the officers wing asides from Bleu, and that part of the ship hasn’t been touched since Sola left Earth orbit.”

The crew thus scattered, the next few hours caused Dustin to be even more glad than he usually was of Sola’s translation systems. Dealing with six different species, none of whom was large enough on the galactic stage to have his crew versed in their languages meant that he was just as capable of talking to them as Emely with her natural gift for tongues - thankfully, the calls were all fairly easy or at least brief. Out of the eight total names on his list, leaving the two that weren’t in system he spoke to six. From those six, two refused outright and one of the final four wanted access to systems and data that Dustin wasn’t able to provide; for the remaining three it would be a bit of a scavenger hunt for assorted plants, minerals and equipment across seven systems but nothing too taxing for his crew.

Of course, that reckoned without traffic control from the Queri; every time they dipped out of the slime-people’s space and returned they had to sit around and go through the same scans of everyone on board, and naturally the only routes to the systems they needed involved transit through Queri space. By the time they were ready to leave to talk to the two potential recruits not currently located on the Queri colony world Dustin was ready to scream at the thought of another day just sitting around doing basically nothing. When he said as much to the crew, pained agreement was the only response - although Emely did brighten the mood of the assembled group over dinner that evening by announcing that she’d had the final response from the potential junior staff they’d been talking to. Fully eighty percent of the less experienced people asked had apparently jumped at the chance to be aboard an ambassadorial vessel; with the three senior crew they’d already helped out in the process of completing the paperwork for their transfer they would have more than enough staff to meet the requirements for Dr Bleu to join them.

“Should we just ditch the last two and go with what we’ve got?” Dustin raised the point at breakfast the following morning, the crew having decided to stay in orbit for the night before heading out refreshed to go and talk to their final candidates. Trea’k shook her head. “I would advise against it. They are very qualified for their level of training, and securing at least one of them would be a boon to our medical team. Moreover, it would not send a good message to the newest member of the senior staff were we to skip out on part of their desired recruiting list.” The others nodded in agreement, although Yril’k looked uneasy. Dustin might not have been as intimate with the security officer as the rest of the women aboard, but he’d spent more than enough time with the warrior bug to be able to spot a mood when he saw one.

“You disagree, Yril’k? Or is something else bothering you?” He ventured, deciding to get to the bottom of the matter before they got underway. His security chief shifted uneasily in her seat, bladed arms rasping as she flexed them against one another. “No, captain’k. My lady’s advice seems sound to me’k. It is another matter… I wish to make a request’k.” Her words drew the attention of the rest of the crew who had been talking amongst themselves after Trea’k had voiced her opinion. “Go for it, Yril’k.” Dustin said, leaning forward to show she had his full attention. “It is just this’k. Captain’k, the potential doctor has a point’k. We need more staff’k. I request we recruit a fire team next’k so that we can manage future conflicts’k effectively.”

Emely’s unhappy sigh mirrored the feelings of the whole crew - accepting that the insect woman’s words were entirely correct, and really really wishing that they weren’t. “Ideally I’d like to avoid conflict at all” Dustin said carefully, wanting to make sure everyone was on the same page. “But you’re right. Whoever attacked you and Trea’k, that comms outpost thing… There’s other reports; I’ve been sent a handful that EarthGov became aware of recently of oddities out in space. The council’s chalking them all up to space pirates, but I don’t think that’s right. So there’s a pretty good chance sooner or later we’ll have to fight, and that means having a good team to fight with. As soon as we’re done recruiting Bleu and their team, we’ll get started on lining up candidates for the security staff.”