The artificer-general

Some time later, Sola’s voice dragged Dustin from his slumber. “Attention Captain. We are preparing to enter orbit around the Rabyth home world. The artificer-general has requested you meet with him to discuss potential engineering candidates; I estimate you have around half an hour to prepare before he will wish to come aboard.” Dustin groaned, before gently shaking Meli awake - a fact aided by her having fallen asleep on his arm. “Come on, chief science officer. Duty calls.” He muttered, kissing her on the cheek as he did so.

The pair had talked a little longer after Meli’s sudden announcement of their relationship - largely about unimportant matters before they dozed off. Although, thinking back over the conversation as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes Dustin found himself starting to stiffen remembering some of the future “experiments” his partner had suggested they run. Once the immediate afterglow of their encounter had ended, she had been put out in the cutest way by the fact that while he had gone down on her, she hadn’t been able to try returning the favour. The briefness of their first time together hadn’t phased her either - it was apparently very common if Velca women were on top, and she’d done so deliberately so they’d have time for proper sleep before arriving at their destination. “After all, we have a long trip ahead of us. We’ve plenty of time to try other things out.” Meli had explained, idly stroking his chest as she did so.

He’d been a little worried about how their relationship would work given the more intimate parts of his ambassadorial duty; this had caused the nude woman next to him to burst into giggles as she replied. “First, I am aware of your job and wouldn’t have suggested this if I were not ok with it. Second, you should know that out of over ten thousand species in our records, humans are one of only five where that might be an issue - all the others are either polygamist in nature or like the Rabyth view sex about the same as you would view a handshake in terms of it’s social impact. For the record, Velca fall in to two categories - those who don’t care about what their partners do with others and those…” and here her hand traced down his chest in a far more attentive and beguiling manner “…who would like to be actively involved. To gather additional research data, of course. You can tell me later which of the two you think I am.”

Once Dustin managed to rouse his lover from her slumber, she pulled on her nightdress quickly before heading off to her own berth. “I suggest we shower separately - we have little time, Dustin. I will meet you on the bridge - for the artificer-general, we should go with full dress uniform I think.” With that hasty comment, she had left the room, leaving him to rush through showering and donning his fanciest outfit. Smart captain’s cap balanced on his head and with his hair just-about dry from the air jets in the shower, Dustin stepped out of his berth, paused for a minute, then stepped to the nearest control panel. “Sola, cycle the air out of my quarters once I get to the bridge. I want fully fresh air in there in case our guest wishes to discuss things at length.” For all Meli had said about the casual nature of sex in Rabyth society, Dustin didn’t feel a good first impression would be a room with the after-scents of the night before still hanging in the air.

The ship had docked by the time he arrived on deck, Meli arriving a moment later in a gray and gold uniform with the badge of the Research Council over her right breast. As she stepped in, Dustin queried the AI regarding the whereabouts of the Rabyth they were due to meet. “Artificer-general Flass is currently in transit from engineering work site number 3. He has requested a meeting with you aboard this vessel; shall I approve this?” Sola’s voice was smooth as usual, and Dustin nodded. “Please, Sola. That said, having read the files on the Rabyth back on earth I’d rather we didn’t give his entourage free run of the ship. Can you seal off the bulkheads between the appropriate airlock and my ready room? We’ll escort him there and back to avoid any chance wanderings.”

Some fifteen minutes later, Dustin was stood nervously in front of Meli as the airlock cycled. Sure, he’d had to meet with government officials on Velca Prime, but that had been a prearranged matter - and in any case, they had been just that, officials. This was a meeting with the head of state for an entire species - and not just that, but one of the most important ones in this part of the galaxy. As shipwrights, the Rabyth were near-undisputed kings of the craft, building the vessels - or frames of vessels - for thousands of other races. Oddly enough though, they were rare sights away from their colonies - most Rabyth choosing to live in their great hive cities or boarding colonial craft for a short period of time before settling in agrarian communities on new worlds that harked back to their ancient past.

All this was running through his head as the door opened and he saw the single figure stood there. Flass was an imposing sight despite being shorter than either Dustin or Meli; he was a stocky-shouldered individual dressed in an open sleeved uniform jacket and pants along with a peaked cap with a gleaming golden cog attached to it that Dustin guessed was his badge of office. Physically, he looked tough - the fur on his arms barely covering the rippling muscles beneath and well maintained despite it’s greying state. His eyes were piercing, with a keenness that seemed to peer into Dustin’s soul from where they sat under two thick bushy eyebrows that curled up away from his face. “Ship-father Dustin, I presume?” he said, extending a hand. “I understand this is the acceptable form of greeting for your kind.” As Dustin took the offered hand and shook it, the Rabyth glanced over his shoulder, smiled and rattled of a sentence in the fluid Velcan language too fast for Dustin to catch. From behind him, he heard Meli respond in kind before shifting into English “but while I appreciate the gesture of using my speech, my nest-mate is not fluent yet. We should remain using his tongue if that is acceptable.”

That got a laugh from the artificer-general before pulled Dustin in close and slapped him on the back. “Managed to not only get one of the research loons to fall for you, but I’m pretty sure I also actually heard some emotion from her voice. You’re alright kid. Let’s get somewhere to sit and we can discuss what you need and who you’ll get to go with you to make sure that whatever your human tinkerers have done to my ship doesn’t blow you halfway to Orion.” The slap had been heavy, the man clearly of that kind of elderly figure who only turns into teak with age, and his voice while friendly held the note of someone used to their orders being followed without question.

Without pausing for Dustin to reply, the artificer-general swept past the pair and began stomping down the passageways towards the ready room as if he owned them. Watching his retreating form for a second before hurrying after him, Dustin noted two additional things that the blustering voice and piercing expression of the old man had somehow blocked from his consciousness. One was the size of his feet - far wider and longer than those of a human, and given the speed of his walk powered by some impressive leg muscles. The other was the pair of long gray ears that drooped down from under his peaked cap and swayed gently as he walked.