The Ressth

The next two days passed quietly; the route Sola and Meli had worked out for the ship called for a series of jumps through minor systems before they would come to any species that the pair thought they could help. There was also little time for Dustin and Meli to further their relationship. They had discussed it and decided that at least while it was just the three of them on board, sharing a cabin might make Rye feel like a third wheel - and then between the Rabyth’s work on the what she had decided to just refer to as the shield despite Dustin’s urging to use the official designation, and her complete lack of respect for the chain of command the pair were both too tired to consider doing anything.

“You realize we’re arriving at our first stop tomorrow, right Rye?” Dustin said over dinner on the second day. The three had taken to eating in the ready room - while the ship’s mess was technically better suited for dining, it was also massive and felt eerily empty with just the three of them. “We’re going to have to focus on the mission rather than helping you out with your work once we arrive.” The bunny girl shrugged casually before replying “I figured as much. To be honest, you didn’t need to help at all - just thought it’d be good to get to know each other’s working styles while we’ve nothing serious going on. Social stuff can wait, but knowing how much we can all do when it comes to ship repairs might be useful down the line.”

Meli set down her fork and nodded to the other woman. “A sensible approach, and one befitting the chief engineer. I must admit, I had misjudged your intent as purely seeking the completion of your task above any other.” Rye grinned back. “Yea, I thought as much. I know I get pretty intense about machines and building stuff, but I’m also really good at doing my job. Wouldn’t have gotten past old gray-ear’s screening to interview with you if I’d not been at least capable. He wouldn’t be about to damage our reputation as a species by sending someone incompetent. So, where are we dropping in tomorrow, and what’re we gonna do there?”

Dustin pushed his plate to one side and tapped his tablet to bring up the holo of a star system. “Ressthia, home system of the Ressth. One of these days, someone is going to explain to me why so many species are named the same as their home world or star system compared to humans, Earth and Sol. Anyhow, Sola and Meli have filled me in on most of the details - the Ressth are non-organics, a kind of naturally occurring rock-crystal based life. Nice folk apparently but very slow to make decisions; think in terms of years rather than minutes for a debate on what to have for dinner. About a week before we picked you up they sent a request for assistance with colonizing one of their system’s moons. It’s a simple delivery job apparently.”

Rye gestured at the planets in the holo. “So why don’t they do it themselves? And why hasn’t a passing trader picked this up for some council credit already?” At that point Meli chipped in. “The request requires transferring Ressth seedlings - essentially, their infants. It’s how they colonize new worlds - and to answer your first question, due to their size they struggle to function outside of a gravity well. While there are efforts ongoing to work out a more permanent solution, a religious prohibition on AI means they’re mostly stuck on their worlds without outside help. As to the second question - due to the nature of the cargo, the request was made for a council vessel only. As a ambassadorial ship, we count. There’s some other details, but we’ll go over those during the flight in from the jump point tomorrow.”

A full mission briefing continued the following day; the arrival point in Ressth space was a three hour flight from their core planet which gave Meli plenty of time to complete her explanation. “The Ressth view AI as somewhere between enslavement and sapients playing god.” She began “in basic terms, they accept that others use AI on their vessels, and are willing to make use of those vessels themselves outside their own planet, but Ressthia four itself is considered holy ground - no ships using AI may land there. It’s fortunate we were able to obtain the shuttles from the Rabyth or we would not have been able to undertake this mission; the Earth-made shuttles lack the thrust capacity to break Ressthia orbit.”

As she spoke, various features swirled on the holo projecting in front of the other two. “I propose that Dustin and I go down; he will handle the trade while I prepare the shuttle for the return trip and Rye you can keep the Solar Ascent ready to fly. We will have a limited time on this mission between launch and touching down on the moon they wish to colonize.” Dustin looked quizzically at her at that comment, asking “why the time limit? Aren’t the Ressth slow moving to start with?” The Velca woman nodded, before pulling yet another holo diagram up. “Yes, adult Ressth are slow but precise as a species. Their infants however are rapidly growing crystalline matrices. They can temporarily suspend growth via containment vats, but as soon as they’re outside a gravity well the vats efficiency will start to fail.”

Rye leaned forward at that point “what happens if the vats fail fully?” Meli’s ears twitched into concern before she explained “best case? They die and we have a major diplomatic incident on our hands. Worst case, they metabolize large parts of the ship, cause the reactors to explosively fail and we manage to irradiate a chunk of the system as well as causing a major diplomatic incident. If we survive of course. So we deliver them quickly. Fortunately, the vats should be fine for a good six hours and the flight time is only one hour by mine and Sola’s calculations - but we should not risk hanging around. Let’s get in, get out and get a signature for the mission.”

Dustin was looking at the holo, and gestured to the target moon. “If this is a colony mission, what do we do once we arrive? There doesn’t appear to be any infrastructure set up yet?” Meli waved a hand at the display causing it to flicker slightly “there isn’t any yet. That’s how the Ressth work - their composition adjusts based on the local rock. Think of it as closer to planting saplings than transporting colonists. And before you ask how they’ll know if we’ve been successful or not - Ressth have some form of a simple hive mind. They’re not as linked as a Moc’arr hive for example, but they can sense each other over interplanetary distances. Once the seedlings are planted, the new Ressth they will grow into will make use of the range of supply dumps dropped all over the moon already to begin building a more permanent settlement.”

“Well. If that’s all we need to do then it seems simple enough” Dustin said after musing over the mission for a moment. “Meli - you and Rye head down and double check the shuttle is clear for flight and fully fuelled. I don’t want to run out of juice halfway to either Ressthia four or this moon. I’m going to go and check and then change into my high-grav suit; if I’m stepping outside onto that world…” and here he gestured at the holo of the Ressth home world that was gently spinning on one of the table display screens “…I’d quite like not to end up a few inches shorter when I step back into the shuttle.” Both of the others nodded at him, though as she walked past in the direction of the door a moment later Meli leaned down and whispered “I’d appreciate you not ending up any inches shorter as well.” Dustin blushed - the Velca’s tone had been wildly off, sounding more tired than anything else but the flutter of her ears and the way she’d said it made the flirting so very rewarding.