Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Homeworld - Tales of the Vjel-Amaj: Aira's Quest - Part I ❯ Chapter 11 – Intentions... ( Chapter 11 )

Idling at the very edge of the inner sphere, the surviving but halfway frozen and weary Amaji cruiser and its guiding ally remain where they are, staring at the discovery of the ancient but seemingly dead fleet. With their both sensors and eyes capable of penetrating this rather low-density bubble of gas, it is the astonishment that holds these wayfarers from proceeding. Sunlight is barely piercing its way through the enveloping field of denser gas, causing the ancient Mothership to throw a threatening shadow among most of its surroundings. Though all eyes are aware of the hostile appearance, a single star among the dead shadow of Mothership's hull continuously blinks, constantly emitting weak but welcoming signals...


Chapter 11 - Intentions...

The Captain turned himself to the crew again after staring a long while upon the Imperial Taiidan Mothership centered very far ahead in a field of debris and derelict objects. Observing almost all fellow crewmembers of the bridge, he did understand the fear and hesitation of all. This star system was filled so many dark secrets, mysteries, treasures and dangers - and soon were they to stumble over the next one mystery. Albeit the Captain's mind remaining calm unlike those around him, many questions began to appear, foremost asking how it was possible to find this dead but ancient fleet.

“...An Imperial ... Taiidan Mothership, sir? Here?”, Orelis insisted to finally ask, breaking the overall silence of the bridge crew.

Turning himself once more to the main screen, the Captain arranged his uniform before replying, “Yes, Officer Orelis - all of you”, he swung his view back to the rest of the crew, “- But there is a disturbing inconsistence according this... discovery. I am not sure if all of you are aware of what I am referring to.”

Taking a short look at all crewmembers of the bridge, Orelis shortly examined the glances that looked back upon the two remaining commanding officers of the bridge. Though Orelis being slightly olderthan the absent Hailynn Delixa, it became clear that besides him, the Captain was the eldest - though not seemingly old - and most experienced of them all, needless to say that they were too young to know all of what the Captain was talking about.

“Fellow crewmembers.”, the Captain began to explain, “According to the history of our culture, this ship - as said before - is the Mothership-class vessel of the extinct Taiidan Empire. During the year before Landfall, it was Emperor Riesstiu IV of the Taiidan Empire who was responsible for the Kharakian Genocide but failed in stopping our Kushan ancestors and young Karan S'Jet above Hiigara. History says his unique flagship... the same vessel we can see ahead... was destroyed. Its remaining skeleton was used as the foundation for the scaffold shipyard and later expanded to become the orbital space station and shipyard platform embedded with the `Pride of Kharak' as of today...”

Puzzled faces were soon to be seen among the crew.

“But... Captain...”, Fenna's confused but scared voice sounded from the helm, “If the emperor's Mothership was destroyed by our ancestors... then...”

“I know, Ensign... I know. Why are we seeing an identical vessel in the middle of this system?”

“And who is this... woman... the kadeshi girl was talking about - this unfound-whatever person?”, one of the other male bridge operatives asked from far behind.

“Unbound. To what I know about such personas, is that both Karan S'Jet and Emperor Riesstiu IV are these so-called unbound beings. I do not know the true definition or meaning for I am only a naval captain of the military. But as far as I am able to understand, these beings resemble those who are both physically and mentally connected to their ship. Best example would be the nature of the Bentusi. Aira, our youngest crewmember, is alike these people - However, without physical connection and her incapability to develop full potential, the girl never dares to call herself unbound. I remember her seeing this name as a `title' of such.”

“I wonder if she is alright...”, Kelsea added, “I still do not understand why Commander Delixa reacted so roughly to the poor girl...”

“”Excuse my interference, Amaji Command. Is Commander Delixa alright?””, Ray suddenly asked among the speakers.

“S-She's not alright right now, Ray. Something happened recently here at the bridge. Please maintain stand-by, over.”

“”Affirmative.*skrrtch*””

“Yeah, but she was not acting like this all along - I mean... She was okay until -”, somebody else mentioned but was interrupted.

“Commander Delixa just became insane, that is all -”, an operative among the bridge crew proclaimed, “I really wish I knew why she started to become that wild, but I guess she was just disappointed by -”

“Enough!”, the Captain suddenly demanded loudly among the bridge, “I am aware about all of your concerns considering Commander Delixa, but we must face the fact that the Commander was needed to be removed from duty. We do not know why she reacted this serious but we must respect the fact that she is not here - No speculations, men and woman. I await sickbay to contact us soon. Whatever it may be, we must concentrate on our next decision...”

“Sir?”, Orelis asked, wondering what were they to do, “I strongly advise not to proceed. We may be defenseless, but our ship would stand a better chance if we were to relocate to a denser dust cloud region. Engineering did mention it is capable of repairing the our hyperjump capabilities in a few days, sir.”

“Hmm.”, the Captain crossed his arms, “Your concerns do have a point.”

Engineer Zann wove his hand, gaining the attention of both commanding officers, “Captain. Lieutenant Commander Orelis. There is an issue among the ship that is slowly growing larger. Despite our maintenance teams capable of subduing the issue of the hyperspace module within a few days, I must inform you that the overall environmental control systems have sustained damage. Decks 3 through 7 for instance have lost three degrees of temperature over the hour before and after the recent hyperjump. I apologize for not reporting this as urgent, but our recently planned retreat to Amaji territory would have cleared the situation, more or less.”

“No need for apology. Are your teams capable of handling this problem as well?”

“Not quite, sir. We do not know how far the insufficiency has proceeded. The temperature drop would proceed over a very long period of time. The main problem is that the outlying environment systems among the hull have either suffered damage or certain relay connections are no longer responding. Due to this situation, we must face the fact that ship is imaginably bleeding some of its life support. Evacuations to certain decks would buy us a lot more time, but I fear that we are not capable to support so many people tight among the remaining decks. Neither do we possess sufficient gear for all our guests.”

The Captain rubbed his chin as he replied, “What would be the best for you and your team to clear this problem?”

Zann, though actually at first against the idea of approaching the gigantic vessel, came to the conclusion that there was not much of a choice, “Captain, I won't believe what I am about to suggest, but if we are to effectively repair and maintain the ship's damages, then we are in need of a shipyard or any scaffold that could allow us to repair and seal any `issues' among the ship. It was said before that that person or whoever called the girl said they could support our matters.”

“Zann. I know you are talking serious, but now I'm starting to feel as paranoid as Hailynn recently...”, Orelis firmly sneered ironically.

“Hmm. Comm'”, the Captain called out, referring to Kelsea.

“Y-Yes sir?”

“Have you been able to establish a stable uplink to the vessel or the person who tried to hail us from before?”

“Negative, sir. Every now and then, I am able to pick up the voice speaking among several frequencies, but its quality is far below optimal levels. The transmission is just too garbled to understand. I can only guess that... Mothership... or whatever it really is must have all means of communication severely damaged.”

“Sounds enough like a trap to me”, Orelis again said from the side.

“And what if we were to dock onboard the Mothership, as Aira proposed?”

“Captain, I really advise not to. I know how some of those scientists onboard would enjoy going on some expedition through that derelict place. We should not be poking our curiosity around in an ancient taiidani vessel that is probably as old as a century, sir. The last thing we need is to stumble upon more trouble, for the sake of commander... sir.”

“Only one thing, Officer”, the Captain replied as he rose his hand shortly, “That ship is not derelict...”

Receiving a short message, Kelsea's voice was heard as she talked into her headset, before turning around to report to the Captain, “<...Yes... Alright, Doctor. I will inform the Captain immediately, bridge out.> Captain. Dr. Jonan is calling from sickbay and requests you to meet him as soon as possible considering the case of Commander Delixa and the girl.”

“Understood, Comm. Send him the confirmation that I am on my way.”

“Yes, sir.”

Moving again to the side of the Captain, Orelis spoke with a puzzled voice, “Uhm, sir?”

“Orelis. As you being Lieutenant Commander and due to the absence of my X-O, you will take over the charge as the X-O and commander of the bridge for the time being.”

“Sir?”

“Since my presence is needed at sickbay, you will thus be the highest ranked as of the command structure. I want you to coordinate the approach to the Mothership. Relocate the `Vjel-Amaj' to the beacon of that Mothership and execute dock procedures as Aira insisted. Maintain steady alert and have the ship ready for any needed retreat. Do you understand your task?”

Although Orelis was well known as being the third-in-command, he was none the less the least rank of the three commanding officer. His role Deck Officer has always been supportive to the Executive Officer...

“Well, sir, I'm not quite sure if this is a... good... idea, but I am willing to support it”, Orelis sighed, “I will have the vaygr fighter pilot keep a watching eye around us.”

“Very well. And remember. I know all of you are concerned about this taiidan vessel, but at this point we must trust Aira.”

Dismissing from the bridge, the Captain exited without any following words. Throwing his view back upon the screen after seeing him leaving, Orelis stared at the mysterious Mothership very far ahead as shown on the main screen.


- Drift -

“Alright, you all heard the man. Let's get to it.”, Orelis called out to everybody, “Our orders are clear. Obs, keep an eye on the lookout for any trouble, ok?”

“Sir, observatory is only a station for scientific and astronomical observation”, Quan clarified, “We are indeed able to detect whatever may happen out there, but the task you are asking for is actually the job of the sensory station since it has more sensitivity. Besides, right now we are concentrating on getting the data together for Dr.Pethera who will be here soon.”

Orelis threw his view up to the unmanned station.

“Well, we're going to need somebody up there. This is probably the first time we are able to see anything so far ahead - but I think I know exactly who could take over that task...”, the current executive officer mentioned and focused his view upon a certain operative. Feeling somebody touching her shoulder, Kelsea turned around as she noticed Orelis seeming to talk to her.

“You, man sensory.”

“B-but sir? I'm a communication officer and -”

“-No buts, Kelsea. If we are to get to that beacon as soon as possible, then I don't want to waste anytime calling the next shift for the job. Besides, I know you have some sensor qualification and knowledge on how to maintain it. The other two operatives can take over your station in the meantime.”

“Sir, I've only managed to reach class-eight at the academy. We have a class-two onboard who for sure is -”

Making that certain head movement again, he silently demanded her to get going. She had to understand that he did not care about whatever excuse she had.

“Just - move it and keep your eyes peeled on any suspicious event while we fly our way to that friggin' ship.”

“Bu... *sigh* Yes sir...”

Leaving the station, Kelsea took off her headset before lifting herself away from the station. Bypassing the temporary commander of the bridge, the young woman made herself up to the sensory station, soon to be enveloped by several layers of holographic images, symbols and spheres.

“And off shall we boldly go... venturing into the beast's mouth...”, he quietly sung before focusing his view on the main screen, “Vaygr pilot, `Ray'. Do you read me?”

“”Yes, sir.””

“I assume you heard everything?”

“”Confirmed.””

“Alright. We are going to engage cruise flight and approach that Mothership. If you see anything out there, let us know and we'll get the frakk out of here. No heroic gunfights or whatever - just stick close to us, copy?”

“”Understood. Maintaining formation.””

Lastly, Orelis turned his head over to Fenna.

“Well, Ensign. Didn't expect you to stay so long on duty, but we have no other choice. Follow that guideline to the Mothership. Just keep it steady as she goes, alright?”

She shook but confirmed as she hid herself more into her seat. Seeming nervous, Fenna's hands trembled slightly as they approached the various numbers of controls. Immediately moving her left hand away, she anxiously corrected her choice. That was the wrong control to mess with. Fenna rubbed her strained eyes and sore chest a few times along with a suppressed yawn.

For being a trainee, the rather easy-sounding task proved to be a bit more confusing and difficult than she thought. Just fly straight ahead was the command, but it nonetheless still required certain knowledge to do this correctly. Adjusting her left hand upon a horizontal grip control that had several buttons around its frame, Fenna clipped and held a certain group of them before gently pushing this single but sophisticated thrust control unit. Using her right hand, she lastly pressed a few keys on the pad above her right side, causing the screen ahead to pinpoint the beacon signal of the Mothership. Needless to say, but she was a lazy and coward pilot... who was leaving the job for the autopilot. Pressing one last button, a computer voice shortly announced in her headset, “Autopilot.Engaged.” - If Hailynn had known of her ever using the autopilot for such a task like this one, she would kill her - imaginable. “En-Engaging cruise flight to the beacon.”, she announced loudly as the ship's thrusters were hardly felt. Feeling a bit more of tiredness in her eyes, she yawned and tried to stretch. Unfortunately, with all the controls, pads, consoles and several other sophisticated interface grip gears surrounding her, she was a bit cramped up. Fenna wanted to leave, but since Fenna deeply respected Hailynn's instructions and knowledge she shared to her as a novice student, this was the actual reason why she decided to remain at the helm.

Fenna needed something to keep her awake but she was sort of stuck here right now - however, there was something she could take after all. By instinct, her hand went beneath her jacket, soon to pull out a familiar cartridge filled pills. She suddenly paused and looked upon this filled capsule that immediately reminded her of Hailynn. The inexperienced navigator used to take these pills now and then, but ever since the events and health issue of Hailynn, her hand curled the cartridge and pushed it back into her jacket. Surprisingly, just the looks upon the dreaded pills reminded her how drugged Hailynn must have been to react so aggressively, shocking Fenna from even consuming a single one. The sudden awareness was so powerful that her mind managed to suppress the fatigue - at least it seemed so until she gave another yawn again.

This was it. All they had to do now was to wait and see what -

Disturbed by the sound of two opening doors at the same time from behind, Orelis turned around and discovered that not only one but two women entered the bridge... and he was not really happy to see them both at all...

He needed to rub his eyes. Taking over full command now was the least Orelis had to worry about. Again, he threw another sigh as he looked at first to left at the foot of the sensory station, spotting the manaani colonel whipping her hair behind her shoulders as she made the first step ahead. Another pilot accompanied her. Gazing over to the right of the sensory station and the second access entrance of the bridge, Orelis discovered the expected visit of the s'jet scientist woman whom Hailynn hated, humiliated and verbally harassed very long ago. With both women approaching the center of the bridge and not knowing of each other's presence, Orelis began to fear the upcoming clash of mentalities... to his annoyance.

Hoo boy...

“Heeeey...!”, the dark-skinned manaani pilot sounded loudly as she approached the two operatives at the main communication station, “Who tha frell of you were responsible for forgettin' Ray in that junction segment...?! And don't think yer gettin' away with it, I know one of you is responsible!”

Kaydaana did not even greet Orelis. Her blind ambition even caused her not to notice Pethera. Obviously, she was here for a far different... important matter. Both of the operatives clenched their teeth as they were surprised by the woman's sudden appearance.

“Well - c'mon! Don't make me interrogate you two!”

Frakk... Kelsea's voice silently squealed and hid her head slightly, hoping the blue holosphere would camouflage her as she raised its intensity and number of layers by opening more images... but unfortunately all was for nothing due to both of the men pointing upwards simultaneously, guiding the verbal barrage of fury to the certain person also known as their superior officer above.

“Wha- up there?”, the furious woman said, looked up and then began to shout, “That... ain't Aira... up theeere - hey! Don't ya try hidin'! Ah, Kelsea - has tah be you! So YER the one who left Ray hanging out in that dark junction for ages, huh?!”

Damn you traitors!, Kelsea's thoughts shouted, You'll pay for that!.

“Hey, stop hidin' and get yer ass down here now!”, Kaydaana shouted upwards and formed a fist.

Kelsea continued to hide her face from looking down as Kaydaana blabbered further, cursing at the intimidated communication officer about the dangerous flight she had and how much she was looking forward to seeing the vaygr man. Kelsea knew she was guilty, but she feared to even look down at her. The shouting continued.

Orelis could not believe that these adults, officers of the Kiith Amaj, were acting so juvenile. This flight was going to be a long one. But just as he was about to intervene with these children, Kaydaana suddenly discovered Dr. Pethera and immediately pointed her hand at her, “Hey - What the frakk are YOU doin' here?!”

“Officer Orelis”, Pethera said to him, ignoring the loud woman, “Why don't you remove this loud-mouthed preckbird from the bridge?”

“Well -”, he said, but was interrupted... of course.

“Preck...BIRD?!!”, Kaydaana accented voice echoed, obviously deeply insulted by the name of a very famous, annoying and loud squawking bird of Hiigara, “How about I smack you instead of Kelsea, FOOL?!”

“Don't dare me, manaani preck. I know how to put up with your lousy type. Anyways... Don't you have anything else to wear? I understand us superiors needing to wear the uniform -but ever since we left Amaj-space, I've seen you only that same flight gear all along. Smelly girl should take a bath now instead of disturbing us here at the bridge”, the female scientist softly replied with a drought sigh in her voice. As the words left Pethera's mouth, short-lived giggles were heard among the group of operatives throughout the bridge - but suddenly went silent and turned away as Kaydaana's eyes scanned for those who quietly laughed.

The verbal insults of Pethera obviously were well-thought through. She was doing `psychological warfare' on Kaydaana, knowing that this green eyed woman was fond to being insulted easily. Unfortunately, Pethera underestimated Kaydaana and her ego. The insulting dialogs continued.

“Shad-dup, Pethera! Yah have no frakkin' idea how much crap we all had to go through! - And all I wanna know is where Ray is! Right here - right now!”

“Ray? Who's Ray?”, Pethera asked.

“Stupid s'jet. Ray, the vaygr... The one who -!”

“- Ah yes, yes. Him. Whatever.”

“How `bout we clear this here and now!”, Kaydaana snarled.

“Err, K-K-Kaydaana - Mr.Ray is -”, Kelsea insisted to clarify, but was immediately shouted back at by Kaydaana.

“Shad-dup, Kelsea! Yer next on the line”

“You manaani precks always have been on the loose. Your childish attitude is a shame for all other kiithid and honor of this ship. You are just as worthless as Commander Delixa...”

Moving between the two, Orelis had to do something now before more blood was to be spilled on floor.

“Damn it, both of you! Knock it OFF!”, he shouted and rose both of his arms signaling them to stay back. He actually needed to turn and use both hands to push Kaydaana away and back to the communication station whereas Pethera would quietly remain at the center of the bridge, obviously expecting the typical manaani reaction.

“What's the GODSDAMN problem with you two?!” , he shouted at the two and among the bridge, “We've been through ENOUGH trouble surviving the frell in that comet and now I have to mess around with little girls wanting to beat each other up - on an amaji cruiser?! This is madness...! We end up finding this frakking imperial taiidan mothership in the middle of NOWHERE, the Commander gets arrested, I get in charge of everything and now little girls want to fight?! Why the hell does all this crap happen when the Captain is not on deck?! As soon as a manaan and s'jet get into place, everything goes whack!”

Everybody stared Orelis...

“Speaking of commanderrr...”, Kaydaana slowly spoke, “Wait... Imperial...?”

“... taiidan...?”, Pethera continued

“Motha-ship, huh? Whadda-ya talkin' about? And what the frell did ya say about Hailey? Why the frell was she arrested?! Why is Kelsea up THERE and not Aira?! Where's Aira?! W-Where's the Captain and...”.

Suddenly, Kaydaana's green eyes widened as she discovered something familiar drifting among the side of the main screen. Walking ahead, she pushed Orelis slightly to the side as she slowly approached the screen and stopped next to him.

“And - oh my gods!”, the manaani woman shouted more loud than ever and pointed at the screen, “Why is Ray out there?!”

“Damn it, that DOES IT!”, Orelis barked, “You there, Corporal Nizenn!”, he said, pointing at the male pilot who came with the woman, “Get that woman off my bridge, NOW!”

“Wha- Your bridge?! Hey, on whose side are you, Orelis! No waaay!”

“Shut up, colonel! I've had it with the frakking fooling around! This is the bridge and not some mercenary bar at Skyguard Station!”

“Ya doin' such as a mistake, Orelis! And - hey, I'm Kaydaana! Lieutenant Colonel of the proud Manaan! I'm a higher rank than ya!”

“Not for now, Kaydaana! I'm the X-O of the Captain for now!”

“Huh?! No way! Hailey is the X-O!”

Pethera smiled. She seemed to enjoy all this...

“Not for now, damn it! She's at sickbay! Your presence is no longer tolerated here! Get her out of the bridge now, corporal, move it!”

The corporal, who understood the order, walked ahead and grabbed the arm of manaani woman and pulled slightly... Hesitating to actually pull her arm further, it was needless to say that Kaydaana's wild heart was about to unleash its fury upon him.

“Don't even think about resisting, Kaydaana - Make me report this acting up to the Captain and you're rank is screwed!”

Using the distraction of Orelis' threat, the corporal curled both of his arms around Kaydaana's shoulders, pulling the woman away from the center of the bridge. She did fight all right, but it was easy to see that her pride was bruised. Yet, the best idea the corporal had was to use his size by lifting the wild woman up and carry her away. Despite the woman being furious, she was not strong or smart enough to actually free her self and it did take a lot of effort to force her through the entry door of the bridge at the end. Arguing was heard behind the door, easy to hear that she now verbally fought with the poor corporal, obviously complaining why he carried her out and humiliating her in front of the whole bridge. Nonetheless, he did it for the sake of her career...

Giving a relieving sigh, Orelis' hand went through his hair and face. Despite finally getting rid of the irritation and gaining a piece of mind, he was a bit surprised of standing his ground against a higher ranked officer - not to mention - THE manaani hothead. A few others were impressed as well. He turned away to the main screen, ignored the faces of the others and thought of his words. What he said did make sense - but what actually surprised him was that his words and reaction were alike Hailynn's before. So much trouble and madness happened every since they entered this dreaded star system... and soon was it to continue as the ship approached the imperial taiidan mothership. All of this was getting confusing.

“My. My.”, Pethera's soft but proud and slightly victorious voice suddenly said behind him, not noticing that she approached him, “I am impressed in how you handled that preck-woman, officer... or should I say: Commander Orelis? Those fighter women always are like this - but you better be careful with that remark of yours. Fighting back actually the manaani way arouse - or even compliment a manaani woman at the end - Well - I am not sure about that since that vaygr-whoever seems to be her interest. Nonetheless, I am looking forward to working with you and -”

Orelis turned around with an annoyed face that caused her to stop speaking. He began to speak, but soon slowly began to become more aggravated as he explained:

“Listen, s'jet. I don't care what you want. I'm just a commanding officer on duty who happens to be in command for the time during the absence of the Captain and the Commander. I'm tired, I'm annoyed and I'm not in the mood to put up with anything ELSE! I don't like this star system... I don't like those frakking miners! I DON'T like your mining corporation! I DON'T like this operation - and most of ALL, I DON'T LIKE YOU! SO, do whatever you have to negotiate here at the bridge and leave me ALONE!”

Pethera made a sudden step back.

It seemed as if she misunderstood his standings to her and the manaani colonel. There it was again, that twitching at the side of her eye. It was not as strong as the first time when Hailynn intimidated her, but it was more the overwhelming surprise that she had to understand that Orelis took no side. He did not care about anything, but he did take his duty as an officer serious. Nearly all operatives watched this entire event with great awareness - many of them looking forward to gossiping with others at the messhall. Especially her reaction and eye twitching was what caught the attention of all bystanders and observers. They easily guessed that he said something to her somehow hurt her... It seemed that his words did affect her deeply and emotionally. It took several moments as she looked up at him and down again and again, her eyes shyly moved back and forth. Orelis did not return the view but remained focused on the main screen with his arms crossed. The once seemingly strong s'jet woman silently accepted his words, nodded and slowly made her way to the operatives of the observatory station.


“And no word to the Captain about this event. That's an order.”
Orelis shook his head as his eyes stared upon the spot where Hailynn collapsed, discovering the very small dried crimson stain left behind.

Damn it, Hailey... Now I know why you reacted like this...


- Bad Medicine -

Receiving greeting salutes by the guarding marines of the sickbay, the highly ranked officer passed through the doors and remained at the entrance lobby. Observing the large sickbay area, the man discovered several vaygr and hiigaran people being treated by the medical staff. The situation seemed normal. Nobody was hasting or rushing. It was again remarkable for him to see both hiigarans and vaygr in the same room. They spoke to each other. He could not understand them as they spoke on due to him being far away and the overlaying noise of other conversations.

Noticing the waiting officer, one of the subordinates of the medical staff greeted, “Oh, hello, Captain! I apologize. I did not see you coming in, sir.”, who then gave a nervous salute.

“Pride. At ease, assistant. No need to salute. I seek Dr. Jonan. Do you know where I can find him.”

“Oh, yes sir. I will call him over to you. I am not sure where he exactly is since we all are a bit in stress.”

“Is there any trouble? Do you require more capacity or helpers?”

“Err, no sir, nothing bad - Just happen to have many who need to be treated. We are able to handle it. Everything is going fine with our... guests... I have to admit I was surprised and did have my grudges, but I'm getting along with them. What surprises me is that they have a strange sense of humor, sir.”

“Good to know.”

“Yes. Heh. Anyways - Let me get the doctor to you.”

Nodding to his suggestion, the medical assistant moved along and disappeared around the corner. It was good to know that at least there was no trouble among these lower decks. However, he did sense the slightly cooler room temperature than other decks. Hearing a familiar voice from the other side of the lobby, Dr. Jonan greeted, “Ah, greetings, Captain. Glad you made it so soon.”

“My pleasure. I apologize for my sudden questioning, but how are the two?”

“Heh, always direct. No problem, sir. Follow me.”

Joining the side of the doctor, they both walked along the medical segments filled with several patients being treated by the staff.

“Everything is going fine so far. It's been quite rough during the last hours. I was very glad I did not have to conduct any operations during that time. Before I begin my report, may I ask what caused so much turbulence back then?”

“During the command of Commander Delixa, she flew the ship into a comet's tail due to the circumstance of a vaygr battleship pursuing us. I was not present at the bridge but I can assure you that she and all others onboard were in great stress.”

“A comet? That explains much...”

“Delixa's plan did manage to save us - barely - but due to the girl's intervening, we hyperjumped to the vicinity of an ancient imperial taiidan instead of returning to Amaji space. Soon after, that was the cause medical emergency of the two.”

“I see. You will have to explain me more about what actually happened, but let me proceed with the medical report.”

Both men continued further, leaving the more active area.

“We brought them over here since it is more quiet. No trouble at all with the refugees, but both, the woman and the girl, needed rest.”

Entering the distinct and darkened medical segment, the Captain discovered Hailynn resting unconsciously on a medical bed covered by a blanket. The air was cool and had the usual medical smell as at the lobby. Hailynn was in deep sleep. Her hair was messed up but at least her nose was clean from blood. All in all, it seemed as if she really needed this sleep... really badly. Her mouth was slightly open as she took deep and slow breaths, only hinting that she was very exhausted. Slightly fast vital signs were heard among the displays of her med-bed. Several infusion tubes and their needles were injected among the end of her arms, each flowing different fluids.

Noticing differently phased periodic tones, the Captain turned his head and discovered the kadeshi girl sleeping as well upon a med-bed. Though it was hard to see due to the dimmed blue lights of the section, he was able to see a darkened area upon the side of her cheek - evidently the swollen bruise.

Clearing his voice, Dr. Jonan began to explain the medical report of the two:

“Let us start with the Commander, shall we. I was not sure why all this happened but the supporting operatives said to have both of the patients to be separated from each other. Since they were on duty and since that I needed space for my staff, I was not able to ask them the whole story - I only know part of it. Anyways, this is medical report of Hailynn Delixa.”

“What happened to her?”

“Sir. To understand the cause for Delixa's outburst, you must know that the Commander was in need of medical support before she returned to the bridge back then. Do you remember?”

“Yes. She needed a lot of time to report back.”

“It was a bit of my fault, Captain. Despite all my attempts in stopping her, her stubbornness ignored my request. I demanded her to leave from duty, but failed. I gave her a temporary treatment, but as seen, it did not hold for long. I am glad she managed to get us out of trouble but she really needed to report here.”

“You sound as if that is only half of the cause, doctor.”

The doctor took another deep breath before presenting a small cartridge filled with several different pills.

“And this is the other half. ”

“'Inhibitor pills'?”

“Not just, Captain. One color is the inhibitor pill, the other one is a bad mix of awareness enhancers, nerve stimulants and cortisine III... Sir, she is very lucky she did not die of an overdose.”

“I do not understand clearly. The Commander is very responsible person.”

“Yes, sir. She is. But she is a responsible person with heavy deeds, responsibilities and burdens as of being the superior Commander of the ship, sir. She takes her duty as your right hand very seriously, but to be able to withstand all of the stress, she began using inhibitor pills. Throughout the three months of her command onboard this ship, she began to prescribe the other pills probably from elsewhere. I am not sure how I was not able to detect this issue earlier. It must have begun after the last full physical check-up. Nonetheless, Captain, she is mortal kushan like all of us. It was only until that time where I discovered her in need where I diagnosed drug addition.”

“Addiction... hmm, with so many pills in action. I am not surprised.”

“*nods* Not just that, sir. Each pill has its effect but also health endangering side effects and adverse reactions. When we checked her blood values when she was brought here, we discovered an alarming high value of cortisol and adrenaline, for sure caused by the cortisine mixture in those pills - and of course we discovered the other drug components as well. According to my first diagnosis back then, Delixa suffered nausea due to the consuming of the pills and intensive caffeine. The inhibitor pills, as it names says, alters the function of certain the body's organs, mainly the digestive system so that it is not required to request leave in inappropriate times. The side effect there was that her stomach of course receded certain function and caused food poisoning. That was when Ensign Fenna Amaj and I discovered her at the restrooms vomiting the poisoned remains. Fenna willed to keep Hailynn's addiction confidential. As she left us during our conversation, she took another dose of pills due to the upcoming burden of her saving the ship from being destroyed - I do not know exactly. She must have suffered weariness and took the pills to fight against it. Despite the use of inhibitor pills, the main cause for her collapse was the effects of the cortisine, enhancers and nerve stimulants. Her pulse rate must have been over the hundreds for a very long time and her blood pressure at a dangerously high value, which would explain the sudden nose bleed. But there is one thing I do not understand, Captain. We were in safety and she suffered this heavily at the end? - I would understand her rates over the top, but that does not explain it all.”

“Commander Delixa was very disappointed after the discovery of our ship still positioned within this shrouded system due to Aira's cause. Delixa's emotions became so out of control that she began to harass the crew. She let her fury among the crewmen who tried to hold her back and upon the girl, doctor. Fenna suffered an elbow blow to the chest and Orelis a knee-kick into the groan while she freed herself. She drew her sidearm and threatened to shoot anybody who wanted to get close to her. Before her collapse and during the nosebleed, that was when she shortly came back to herself - disorientated and not aware of what recently happened.”

Dropping his arms, the doctor continued his speech, “Captain. This may be hard to understand, but you must be aware that the cause of her reaction was not intentional. It was caused by the cortisine - Eh, Yes - I understand her aggravation but due to the drugs, her mind just simply... blew. It was a `domino effect' caused physically and mentally. As you know, cortisine is very powerful and vicious drug - and I am not even referring to when it is greatly misused. I am sure that she was not aware of its presence in the pill mixture. Nonetheless, the drug has several effects. It enhances the effect of the cortisol stress hormone by a dangerous factor, will keep ones body on full alert over several hours and will stimulate nerves to react faster than normal. *nods several time with a worried smile* Heh, the poor woman suffered a barrage of dangerous side effects and barely survived. She was at the very edge of cardiac arrest...”

“Will she awake soon from this recovery? What is the solution as therapy?”

“I doubt that Hailynn will be up so soon, sir. Despite her body needing the rest badly, it is actually still fighting with the remains of the drugs. The treatment we are giving her are actually counter-drugs. The saying `Fight fire with fire... Fight poison with poison' received a whole new meaning when we started this. In other words, we are detoxing her with a harmless poison.”

“Will she be free of this addiction?”

“Unfortunately. No sir. Drug therapy is something that even we as medics are not able to counter completely. We lack the equipment to fully cure her. But other than that, her body is addicted. She will be able to drop the consuming of inhibitor pills, but those are not the problem. From now on, we will prescribe these other capsules to her. She would mentally suffer greatly if she were to stop immediately - she needs to do this slow, very slowly. Captain, this is serious. Do not misunderstand me. Hailynn will still be able to fulfill her duty. She is a strong persona and I do trust her, nonetheless.”

“I do not have the intention to remove her totally from duty, doctor. Her burdens as a commanding officer will not end now. It is not I to decide her future, but she must know that this will not be the end...”

“I see. Well then. That was a lot to report. We better leave her resting for now. Let me shortly report the health condition of our kadeshi crewmember.”

“Very well.”

Both walked across the section to the other side. Unlike Hailynn's wild vital life signs, Aira's life signs did have a different and inconstant rate. The girl rested as well upon the med-bed, deeply asleep.

“Alright. I will try to keep myself short on this one, Captain - but there is not much I was able to figure out.”

“Explain.”

“Well. She is kadeshi, sir. History chips may say they are of the same origin as of our kushan ancestors, but still are major differences. But let us start with the more obvious and visible injury.”

Softly laying his hand upon her head, Dr. Jonan gently turned her head, to shortly show the swollen check, before he rested her head upon the pillow again.

“As you can see, the poor girl hurt herself badly. I cannot explain how this happened, sir. She must have run into something very hard or tripped. I don't know - but it sounds ridiculous if you ask me... Whatever happened to her, it knocked her out... big time.”

“Doctor. Aira became a victim of Delixa's enrage. The girl received a violent slap as punishment due to her insubordination of not leading the ship back to Amaji space. As you said before, the drugs must have caused her to lose control of her emotions.”

“I see... and - What? A slap?”

“Yes.”

Jonas made a puzzled face as he looked upon the girl.

“My gods, Sir. That must have been one frell of a hit. Hailynn must have really been out of her mind. But one thing I do not understand. It was said that she was found in one of the corridors on the executive deck - not the bridge.”

“Yes. The girl ran away after the physical attack. Unfortunately, the hit seemed to have already affected her. She barely was able to get up. Nonetheless, will she recover soon?”

Jonas was still astonished by the Captain's words, “Such a powerful hit... *shakes his head* Poor girl. We are lucky that she did not suffer any bone fractures. We did not discover anything else on the scans but the visible swollen cheek. But I am very worried of her condition, Captain... Very worried.”

“What do you mean, doctor?”, the Captain asked with a firm voice and listen carefully.

“That hit was very... destructive. No, she did not break a bone of her skull, but we must be aware that Hailynn caused a lot more damage than we can see. I fear Hailynn was not even aware how much strength she put in that swing... A hiigaran child would recover from something like that any moment too soon... but this is a... kadeshi girl.”, Jonas explained and came a bit closer to the Captain and as he spoke further, he spoke with hand gestures, “This will not be easy to understand. Aira is very special being. Her physiology and psyche is nothing alike I've seen before. Yes, she has all of the healthy kushan anatomy but there are still certain differences. From the medical side, all we know is that the Bentusi have implemented a plethora of bio-tech implants throughout her body, we hardly know their functions - but naturally, the most sophisticated patches are located deeply within her brain. Captain, we must be aware that this girl is a very... very delicate and fragile being. Psychologically, all I was able to figure out was only that she is traumatized by her past. The Bentusi only said to take great care of this child. That hit surely shattered a lot more than we can see.”

“Her age is unknown to us, but I must correct you- She may be a girl, but she is no longer a child. She's an adolescent girl.”

“Ah, yes. That is correct. But nonetheless, the operative who carried her here said she bumped into him and fell unconsciously, randomly slurring some non-understandable kadeshi words. Right now, all I can say is that she seems to be dreaming. She slurs kadeshi every now and then but if you look carefully, you can see wild eye movement. These waves here on the screen do show some neural activity, showing that she is not suffering under some sort of coma, but the waves are inverted in away that none of my staff are able to comprehend them. I wish we were able to figure more out... but... we are medical doctors... not psyche-neurologists.”

“Thank you, Dr. Jonas. I am pleased to see that they both will awake some time. Do not worry. You and your medical staff have done much for this ship.”

“Thank you, sir. But I feel I must remind you that the crew does not know of Hailynn's addiction and should remain confidential. Only Ensign Fenna, but she is a person we can trust. Also, Hailynn's misdoing was caused by the drugs and not by intent - This is something I deeply advise to make the crew aware of before any bad gossips are spread. But my greatest concern is the following: Due to the somewhat parental bond to Aira, I fear the worst once Hailynn awakes and notices that she caused great harm to the girl. Hailynn is a strong woman, but she is also a kushan being, sir... Becoming aware of what she caused will surely shatter her psyche as well - maybe just as much as the girl. We must be careful.”

“This is a serious warning. Still, I must ask you, do we have any crewmembers with psychological care qualifications?”

“No sir. We will need all the help we can find.”

“This is not good. However. Let us leave the two to rest for now.”

“Yes sir. Actually. I think you should come with me and speak with a few of our other guests. There is a bit more to learn about.”

Both men left the two shattered souls alone to recover from their deep shock.

 

****

Later...

Making swift steps ahead, it was Dr. Jonas who rushed forward to the noise occurring from the rear section of the sickbay. Other assistants joined his path. Another pair of dull sounds was heard ahead - for sure, more things must have fallen to the floor. Hearing shouts of a familiar voice and those of his medical staff ahead, he knew he needed to hurry up.

“D-Doctor?”, one of the assistants asked from his side, “What is going on?”

Jonas hurried as he signaled the others with his hand for them to hurry up, “I should have seen this coming”, he mumbled to himself, then rose his voice, “- You, we need anesthetics, t-4! Get that over here to the back, now!”

Doing as said, one of the medical associates branched off from the group in order to get the desired medical equipment.

“*Sigh* It's only been an hour...”, Jonas said to himself just as he made the last step into the section. Throwing his view to the far left side, he discovered that all hell must have broken lose. Shortly looking over to his right, it was easy to tell that the kadeshi patient was all right in her deep yet worrisome sleep. His view returned to the trouble, spotting three of his assistants having severe trouble trying to keep Hailynn calm. Though tackled by the three men, it was hard to tell if they were actually able to keep hold of her. One already bled from the lip; probably he had received an elbow blow.

“*ngggh!* Get your HANDS off meeee!”, Hailynn ferociously shouted as she desperately tried to get loose. Her face was red, her breath heavy while desperate... Needless to explain how wild her vital signs were.

“Good lords... Better make that a t-3!”, Jonas yelled to the back.

Stopping the approach, the medical associate turned around again and hurried back to his previous location.

According to the time, the detoxication only needed just one more hour. Jonas' assistant doctor assumed she would remain calm as of before, but unfortunately, his assistant greatly underestimated both her innermost demon and the aftereffect of the cortisine drug mixture.

“Doctor - here!”, the associate said and handed an injection gun loaded with a small capsule filled with the desired effective tranquilizing fluid.

“Thank you - All right, keep her calm and -”, Jonas called just as he heard a dull thudding sound transmitting through the whole section. Though hardly felt, he assumed the ship just bumped into something again - The fourth or fifth time by now, that is. Shaking his head, he focused back to the task of getting Hailynn to calmness.


- Patience -

A very long while has passed since the slightly battered and partially frozen Vjel-Amaj cruiser and the smaller vaygr fighter began their approach to the mysterious taiidan mothership. Despite the odd welcoming but lonesome signal, it is the vast field of debris that surrounded the colossal vessel that is causing a growth of doubts, fears and distrust among the informed crewmen. They were not far away any more. But soon, the cruiser was about to knock against another object that seemed like a shredded hull piece.



“Hmm...”, Dr. Pethera said as she held two transparent but detailed foils up to the light above, “Give me two more - Interval: one hour before and another one three hours earlier, please. Tell me, what else happened with Delixa?”

Several foils laid aside to her as she stood between the two observatory operatives of the bridge.

“Ye... *yawn* `xcuse me, ma'am. Yes, will have them print out,” Kenta said with a slightly exhausted voice, “This interval would lead us to... the time before we entered the comet and the energy field... Err, no, sorry - long before we were pursued to enter it. However, that was all I can tell of Commander Delixa, ma'am. That's what happened long ago.”

“You know. I could listen to the whole story one more time...”

A cold shiver ran down Kenta's spine...

As Pethera endured patience to receive the foils, she threw a short glimpse to the other supporting operatives and officers on the other side of the active bridge. Many voices as usual, but although she tried to see what others were doing, her view frequently fell upon Orelis. Again, she tried to look some place else, even forcing her eyes to gaze some place else... however, the fell upon him again. Ever since that intimidating shout to her, Orelis had not spoken to her, not even threw a view upon her. It seemed as if he ignored her albeit the fact that he was very busy with the order by the captain of relocating crewmen and both hiigaran and vaygr refugees to each other in order to share tight space within crew quarters on certain decks. Pethera made a short sorrow look to the floor, before Kenta caught her attention again.

“Ma'am... Dr. Pethera? Maaa'am?”, Kenta frequently called until she caught her attention.

“Excuse me, operative... I was... distracted.”

“No problem, ma'am. Here. The foils you requested.”

Handing the foils over to Pethera, the s'jet woman laid both foils upon each other before she grabbed another one from a later time interval, soon to hold the three in the light again. Comparing the three detailed out-printed images, her eyes slowly scanned each segment. All foils revealed the logged and captured protocol telemetric shots of the star patch that was previously intended to be used as an orientation for stellar navigation back to Amaji territory. Swapping the foils several times, Pethera frequently compared them quietly, leaving both Kenta and Quan to anxiously wait. Again, she hummed, “hmm...”.

Both amaji operatives looked at each other.

“What did that kadeshi zealot girl preached before? That the way was painted, or so?”

“She said...”, Quan replied, trying to remember the exact words, “- said something that our way was... wrong. No, corrupted.”

“Yes, yes.”, Kenta added, “Our... Ah, the girl said `our path was tainted'.”

“Yeah, she was referring to our hyperjump route, I suppose - but don't ask me why she was sure about that. Aira, that is her name, ma'am, did say that the voice of the taiidan mothership warned her.”

Obviously to Kenta, she noticed that Quan was subtly annoyed from Pethera's growing attitude according to the kadeshi girl. Unlike her brother, others knew her for her politeness - her calm and friendly diplomatic interactions with others; no matter her innermost appeal. Nonetheless, Pethera carelessly ignored him... not even became aware of his minor hatred or appeal about insulting Aira, “I will not believe what I am to say just now - but that girl was right.”

“What?”
“Ma'am?”
 220;Whoever - or - whatever warned her saved us from getting... killed”, Pethera relentlessly smirked.
“Oh dear... Please explain!”, Kenta asked with a slightly frightened voice.
“Well. I will make it short: Everybody knows that the stars within this galaxy are moving... but never are they to move like this”, the s'jet woman explained and pointed her hands on the foils, “I have noticed distinct but hard to see differences among all of those time intervals. You know we are at a `safe' distance away from the event horizon of the black hole... but the light emitting from those stars of the patch are effected by it's reach. Frell, I believe there must be some sort of two-dimensional reach crossing between the stars and that position we held before.”

Both operative made big eyes, needless to say how astonished they were.

Unlike the two rather surprised from the fact of actually getting sucked within the black hole's treacherous void, Pethera calmly adjusted the single eye visor away from her eye and hid it a bit under her hair.

“Calm down. I know you two feel a bit worried about using that corrupted data as our navigational orientation. Don't forget it was my idea”, the s'jet scientist woman continued and laid both hands upon her hips, “There is a way around, for sure.”

Although Pethera unusually seemed to take the blame rather quietly and without feeling much guilt, Kenta, on the other hand, turned away and rubbed her face, not believing the fact that she nearly drove the whole ship and its crew into death. Her education in stellar navigation and astronomy stood against a high demand and a test ever since she and her brother took duty onboard this vessel. Black holes have always been treacherous, that was said many times during her presence at the university and the academy. Despite Pethera taking the blame, the young amaji operative still felt guilt.
Noticing Orelis' voice getting louder, the three turned their view over to him.

“Guess it's a bad time to tell the news, huh, Q?”, Kenta whispered to Quan.

“Yeah. But keep cool, it's not all so important right now.”

Eavesdropping to Orelis' voice, the three and many others listened to him as he held the transmitter of his communication unit in front of his mouth: “Hey. I don't care much how you want to do it - We need to get those people somewhere... No, I'm not making this up... Yes, I know it sounds whack but we have no other choice. The captain said to do so - So, we're going to do so... Yes... Yes, that's an order. Yes, I am ordering you, logistic officer, to coordinate all people - That includes both groups hiigaran and vaygr to share quarters with our crewmen... Trust me, I'm not happy about it either... We'll support you from here as well. What?... Hey, hey. Cut the complains, we have our hands here pretty full as well. But you guys need to hold of that problem as priority - drop whatever you are doing right now. As I said, we will help you the best we can, but you need to get those people out of there. Life support is failing on certain decks and last we need are more corpses...”, there was a pause, when suddenly, Orelis shouted into his comm-unit, “Don't EVER say that again about the vaygr onboard, fool - or I will have YOU get thrown out of the AIRLOCK instead! X-O of the bridge, OUT!”

Laying the transmitter back upon his shoulder unit, Orelis took a deep breath as he dropped his head slightly while holding his hand upon his face. So many tasks to do...

“Jo-mei...”, he cursed quietly before looking upwards again, “Ai' - I mean, *sigh* Kelsea. Report. Is there anything happening out there?”

A bit surprised by his sudden demand, Kelsea, who sat high above them upon the sensory station, nervously tried to set the spheres of holographic images that surrounded her right. Though she listened to his shouting, herself had been very quiet distracted by slight daydreaming. Nonetheless, she needed to hurry. Orelis was again in bad mood and it was she who was struggling with his patience... Luckily, she figured it out.

“S-sir. We have just bypassed the three kilometer ring of the t-taiidan vessel and are piercing through a very dense field of debris that is surrounding the whole vicinity”, slight fear sounded from her voice as she spoke further, “I-I am not sure how to interpret this right, but judging the endless amount of parts out there, this whole... place... seems like a battlefield. The whole area surrounding the mothership is just full of it. There are so many remains of ships, busted parts and other metallic skeletons and fuselages out there that I cannot tell how many are out there. Our approach is shrouding my view as well. I am sorry sir, but I am only capable of using conventional scanning methods.”

“It's okay. Well, we're almost there. But one thing is for sure”, Orelis said, as he made a glimpse upon one of the many screens revealing a destructed derelict vessel, “This place is a graveyard. Whatever caused this happened very long ago. Years. Don't ask me how many... and -”

Once again, that very loud DONG sound was heard throughout the whole ship. Obviously, debris has knocked against the ship's bow again - but this time, it was so loud and partially intense that cause crew of the ship to feel the impact transmitting through it. Throwing his view upon another screen, Orelis immediately discovered a visibly very large piece of destructed hull and minor pieces of it slowly floating away. The debris was indeed very large... Why did they not dodge it?

“Damn it. That does it.”, the temporary executive officer of the bridge said and looked ahead, “Helm?... Helm? Hello, Helm?!”, he frequently called out to the frontal region of the bridge, “Ensign Fenna, hey!”

She gave no answer.

As Orelis approached the frontal section, heading straight for the navigation station, he grunted, “Hey, Fenna, what is going on? How many times are you going to bash through this mess, huh? Hey, this ship is not invincible and we cannot afford any more scratches to the damn hull, we've already got a bit of life support trouble going on, if you haven't noticed. Hey, Ensign Fenna?!”

Standing behind and to the side of Fenna's large seat, Orelis slowly leaned down as he spoke further, “Girl, don't tell me you're listening to that manaani music group again like last time on duty at Delco, Fen'. Or worse: autopilot. Bouncing against big things is not funny.”

Spotting a certain symbol, he immediately saw what she did, “Autopilot, of course you have. If Hailynn knows about this, she's gonna kill you.”

He paused. Actually, Hailynn nearly did. But then, he looked upon Fenna and could not believe his eyes. The young Fenna Amaj, rank ensign of among civilian freighters and currently only person available and able to control this vessel, periodically gave quiet noises from herself as her head rested upon her shoulder. Fenna's hands still held the controls of the ship, but of course this was macabre since the autopilot had full control. She was still strapped up tight upon the seat, rather uncomfortable but despite that... she was asleep.
Disappointed again by the discovery, Orelis immediately shouted at her to wake up, which she did at once. The sudden jolt surprised her so much that she did not know what to say at the superior officer who threw a vicious stare upon her. Hearing what he shouted before, Fenna stuttered several times, only giving non-understandable words as an excuse for her not noticing the frequent collisions throughout the past hour.

But as Fenna tried to find excuses, Orelis made a long look behind him before he looked back at her as she spoke gibberish. He rubbed his eyes.

Fenna paused immediately, for she feared the worse. There was no way to escape this one. She was still strapped in her chair. She was the only one to blame and not only that, she fell asleep while maintaining such an important station. This was not the first time she was caught doing inappropriate things during responsibility in controlling a large ship... Her record and reputation was actually already flawed. This was bad indeed. Though she was a ranked civilian operative onboard, this job was actually her `last resort' after the accident she had caused in her past according to the records. And doing this mistake alike before - despite the fact of it happening on a much smaller scale - brought her to what she expected: To be expelled and fired from all duty for good.

Orelis nodded again and again. Stunned by his reaction, she wondered if he was mad. He was already mad about Kaydaana and Pethera before - and now she was his target, of course completely reasonable.

With surprise, things went totally different. Softly patting her right shoulder, Orelis nodded once more and lifted himself again.

“Sorry.”, he apologized.

“...Huh?”

Turning away from her station, Orelis left her with her astonishment.

“Everybody. Listen up.”, he called out to everybody of the bridge.

Gaining the attention of nearly everybody, he gave a short speech, “Look. I must apologize on my side for being a bit... rough lately. I should have noticed this earlier, but is clear that we all are exhausted. You all know that we are not out of this madness... and soon we are about to walk right into the next one, but nonetheless, please try to stay focused just a bit longer. I know I am asking a lot. I am tired, burnt out and could need a long sleep myself - but I'm not going anywhere yet. Just try to stay awake. About that ship out there, I hardly know anything. Only the captain seems to know. Other than that, I don't know if we will have a welcoming party... Frell, don't even know if it will be a boarding party or anything. Whatever. Just try to keep up the work. We will soon dock that ship and leave the rest to the other shifts and the marines who will be dispatched first. All right?... Thank you.”

Nearly everybody seemed to agree. Some yawned and other shook their heads.

“Ensign Fenna?”

“Y-Yes, sir? I'm sorry for -”

“It's okay. Something else I want to ask you about. Have you ever performed docking?”

“Well, yes sir. But that was an industrial freighter, much smaller than this ship... and don't know if I am capable to do such. Can't we just... get Hailynn over here and -”
“No. No excuses. Improvise.”
“- but.”
“Improvise.”

Orelis had the last word. Confirming his order with a worried face, Fenna returned her view upon the station. Battling to stay awake was her task for now, she only needed to fight against it just a bit more.

“Comm'.”, Orelis called out.

“Aye, sir?”

“Have Ray to dock onboard again - Oh and whatever you are doing right now, don't forget him in that junction like last time.”