“For the love of the stars!” Maiyan shouted as the crash-webbing pressed against her lungs, cutting off her air-supply for a few seconds. The violent jolting of the Gizotso had her panting quietly, alone in her tiny, dim laboratory. She’d felt every magnitude of ship to ship weapon impact there was, and had even been in a few planetary crashes. But just sitting in this ship was more terrifying than either.

With her limited visibility of the only viewport in the tiny, rust colored room, the vessel had somewhat peacefully re-entered ceespace this time. The various specimens around her lab jangled in their cages uncontrollably or screeched in animalistic protest. The lower primates especially had expressed their displeasure by attempting to fling their feces at her.

Their cries of panic upset her deeply, these animals lived a lot of their lives in those cages and deserved to not be rattled around at the very least. Unfortunately, on a vessel it was often unavoidable, and they were serving a virtuous purpose. And being shaken was better than them being cooked and eaten as a few scrappers had tried and failed to do.

Maiyan had learned to bring her research with her due to the get up and go lifestyle of mercenary work. And although she took great lengths to avoid lengthy jobs that took her far from Azrhar, they were an unfortunate necessity. Lengthy assignments often added a considerably large stipend of extra fissens to her base-pay and funded her personal research more aptly. So, for a short period of time each year, she suffered through a few simple, volunteer jobs. But to her chagrin, this mission wasn’t simple or volunteer and it only further compounded her discomfort.

“All personnel, we should be safe from any further drive malfunctions for the time being, somebody must have had their claws crossed. You can return to your normal duties as well, the kinetic stabilizers are fixed…for now,” Adrax said over the ship’s intercom, sarcastic indignation trailing his informatory alert. “Oh yeah, and if you want some well-prepared scrapper meat, Journeyman Sascha is volunteering to cook a number of cuts after first-shift in Cargo Bay 4, I know I’ll be there.”

Maiyan undid her crash-webbing and shot to her feet for a much needed stretch. The two light fixtures in the room flickered as she adjusted her neck and her eyes combed over the current conditions of her equipment. Aside from some thrown around instruments that she didn’t have time to strap down, everything else appeared to be in order. She walked appraisingly along the shelves and counters just in case, checking each cage and animal. Some were still a little shaken up, but gratefully none appeared to be hurt.

“Aww, it’s okay, Makuhooh.” She said as she comforted the chubby little fur-ball, patting the top of his cage gently. His white fur, like all of the quilbur, covered so much of his body that it was nearly impossible to see which end had a face, and which had an anus. Making him look more like a ball of wadded up cotton than one of the deadliest predators of Turnad 3.

Makuhooh snapped at her finger, but she casually pulled it away. “You already ate and you know it.” As she gave him a few more chances for an impromptu snack, she recalled a database entry on an extinct creature that sort of resembled Makuhooh in all of his cuddly, carnivorous glory.

Was it a hamstay or hamstu maybe?

Regardless, she pulled herself away from her snippy little friend and took a seat at her outdated workstation, which was still sleek compared to the rest of the ship’s rustic décor. Her fingers skillfully entered a series of commands, summoning a multitude of information sources onto the wide, chartreuse holo-graphic screen.

Her scientific role within their organization was fluid. Sometimes she was needed as a simple data analyst, other times as a research and development technician, and occasionally even assisted with the cloning process of their rations. The workload was intensive at times, because the number of minds capable or interested in the sciences were a small portion of their population and to her knowledge people weren’t often bitten for their doctorates.

Maybe they should be?

But her main focus was the stims that wolves used to maintain control when they changed, stims that were used only when everything else had failed. The fact that producing them was an expensive and slow endeavor, only further added to their sparse utilization. A few centuries ago, the stims made a changed wolf about as smart as a four-year old, and they could only be trusted with the most rudimentary of tasks. A century ago, as smart as an eight-year old and today, a twelve-year old.

Every one of their scientists dreamed of removing them as a factor entirely, for wolves to change freely without fear of attacking friendly forces. But to do that, genetic manipulation of a living werewolf virus would be necessary and even the most dimwitted grunt in the Unified Clans knew…

That was impossible…so far.

Her door chime pinged loudly and she pondered as to whom it could be as she moved to open it. Kel shouldn’t be off-shift for a few more hours, but she terribly hoped it was him all the same. She unlocked it with a hushed swoosh, revealing the acting-captain instead. Her powerful, slender frame stood proudly in the doorframe. Even though they were of similar height, it felt like she towered over her.

“Hi…Priya,” Cassandra said warmly, a soft smile playing on her lips, a shine in her wine red eyes. “May I come in?”

Maiyan felt her pulse quicken as she cleared her throat nervously. “I don’t think that would be appropriate...I—.”

“In an official capacity, Doctor.” Cassandra’s smile was still present, but her voice became a tinge more professional.

“Of course, Lieutenant,” She waved her in and shut the door abruptly. Biting her lip reflexively as she followed behind her unexpected guest further into the room. “Have you heard from the captain and the executive officer yet?”

Cassandra shook her head solemnly as she appraised her lab absently. “Not yet, we know the direction they jumped, but not how far. There were one or two worlds along their projected route, but with the condition that ship was in when we dropped from ceespace, I can’t imagine it limped on too long. I’m holding out hope they’re still alive, but I’ve got my orders and I can’t afford to dwell or spend any of our precious time on it without further provocation.”

“I…I understand.” Maiyan said regretfully.

Having passed both of them in the halls a number of times, she was shocked to recall that they had never been formally introduced. As far as wolves went, they were practically celebrities, at least they used to be. She’d heard Captain Rorik was a pretty agreeable officer and a likable person in general. And Lieutenant Daffern was a living legend…but she'd heard about as many bad things as good.

“Aw,” Cassandra exclaimed sweetly as she leaned in front of Makuhooh’s cage, clearly trying to take her mind off of the burdens of command. And Maiyan felt the mood physically lighten as she dangled her finger like she had done earlier. “This little hamster guy’s still around.”

For the love of the fucking stars, she’d almost had it.

Maiyan berated herself internally and strode around her slowly to sit back at her station. “Quilbur live to be around a hundred and they’re a very interesting species. But I’m sure you didn’t come all this way to play with my specimen.”

“That sounded kind of dirty, play with my specimen.” Cassandra quipped facetiously as she beamed with her usual sly smile.

Maiyan stifled a laugh and a kaleidoscope of butterflies started swimming around her stomach, they were almost enough to make her feel queasy. She hadn’t seen Cass in so long and she had genuinely missed how sweet and goofy she could be, when she wasn’t angry or being bossy at least.

Cassandra straightened, still smiling, but her tone became more that of a commanding officer rather than an old friend. “But no, I’m afraid I didn’t, I need you on the bridge.”

Maiyan busied her hands anxiously as she needlessly reorganized the variety of holo-pads in her workstation’s drawers. “An enlisted woman on the bridge? After waiting so long to get promoted, I bet that hurt to say.”

“It did actually. But I can’t lead the ship and be on data analysis at the same time. The vice lieutenant on second-shift is not exactly as qualified as I was first led to believe.”

Maiyan hesitantly met her gaze with genuine curiosity.

“He worked at a school before he was bitten, as an elementary school science teacher’s…assistant,” Cassandra shook her head somewhat despondently with just a hint of indignation in her voice. “I guess Command grabbed the first jackass they saw strutting down the hall who knew what the first law of motion was.”

Maiyan couldn’t help but chuckle heartily at her expense, the laughter striping away her previous jitteriness in an instant. “I don’t mean to laugh, but I don’t doubt that’s exactly what happened. But it’s been a few days since the captain’s been gone, if you’re just now coming to me, he can’t be too bad at his job?”

Cassandra crossed her arms behind her back and walked slowly towards her station, while casually appraising the lab again. “There isn’t too much work to be bad at right now. But I have to explain things to him too often and with the mission we’re on, I want the very best.”

Maiyan turned to fully face her as she stopped beside her, trying not to lose herself in the captivating depths of Cass’ beautiful eyes. “Well, then you’re in the right lab, but I still haven’t been told what the mission is exactly?”

“The rest of the crew still doesn’t know yet either, I hope you don’t think you’ll get special treatment, Journeyman?” Cassandra held her gaze with a blank expression, at least it would appear blank to someone who didn’t know her as well as she did.

“Who am I going to tell?”

“Your boyfriend probably, Kel was it?”

Maiyan glanced down in mock defeat. “We’re not exactly advertising it, how did you know?”

“Data analysis, remember? But you know what, I think I will trust you with it Priya, I’ll be telling the bridge crew before we reach Arcturus anyway, it's just outside of Azrhar’s communication range.”

Sitting up straight in her chair, Maiyan leaned forward eagerly, desperately wanting to know why she’d been dragged away from her shiny, state of the art laboratory to this barely sufficient one.

Maiyan tapped her foot and bit at the inside of her lip, easily drawing blood with one of her sharp canines as Cass held her captive in anticipation. “You’re actively killing me!”

“Fine, fine. We’re going to find the Primum, and our first task is to scan a public-access beacon in Arcturus’ orbit. We know for a fact he’s passed by there, if the scouting report is to be believed.”

And here she thought Zahn was in the Delabus system on vacation.

“Obviously, the general traffic logs aren’t restricted for message reserving purposes, which is how the scouts found it in the first place. But we’ll have to access the beacon’s outgoing telemetry data for any actionable leads. Something that Arcturus' planetary government and by extension any defense craft in orbit, probably…definitely won’t like.”

“You may not remember, but hacking isn’t exactly my specialty.”

Cassandra smiled as she gently guided Maiyan to her feet. “Well Doc, you’ve got till tomorrow morning to get real good at it.”

----

Kara squinted against the abrasive onslaught of relentless winds that howled through the worn, smooth, gray metropolis of Kelb surrounding them. Barely able to see, she pulled the sleeve of her tan jumpsuit in front of her face, trying and failing to keep her eyes safe from the unending sandstorm. Rorik walked ahead of her, his broad shoulders shielding her from the worst of it, his own jumpsuit looking hilariously tighter than it had appeared the day before. Hugging his frame snuggly enough that he was almost waddling, and she struggled not to laugh, not wanting even more grit in her mouth.

Neon lights emerged and disappeared in the swirling haze as they neared the edge of the sidewalk. Heavily congested traffic in the massive multi-lane street slowed and honked at their approach, begrudgingly allowing them to cross. Probably shaking their noses at the obvious tourists who were the only ones dumb enough to travel on foot. With each step, fine particles found their way into her crevices, her rage building with every passing second. Of all the habitable planets in the galaxy, these people chose to walk around with sand in their asscracks all the time. Kara just wanted to be clean and stay that fucking way for at least a day.

Her gut rumbled angrily, sounding like it was gearing up for a violent mutiny. She didn’t feel anywhere near hungry enough to change, they’d be rationing the remaining scrapper meat intelligently, but it would constantly admonish her until she heeded its call. They just had to be close by now, it was only like—the answer to her stomach’s prayer materialized from amidst the unending gale of beige and crimson kitty litter, shining like a beacon in all of its pink, neon glory. A sign that read…

Johanna’s Bar and Grill…and Convenience Store.

The bar's entrance creaked as they gratefully rushed inside and shut the metal doors abruptly after them with a slam. Its dimly lit interior greeted them, veiled in a haze of cigar smoke and the scent of various sweet and tangy intoxicants. The muffled sounds of the storm outside were immediately replaced by the low hum of chatter and the clinking of glasses.

The denizens of the bar section to their left, a few she even recognized from yesterday, glanced at them and politely greeted them in passing. Dressed in a variety of work and casual wear, the men and women within were spread out at a variety of brown, faux wood tables that went across the width of the dull green room.

The two of them shook the sand off of them in the establishment’s shake-zone by the door. A large grate in the floor that led down into a collection basin that looked like it needed to be changed sooner than later.

“How much money we got left?”

Kara violently smacked some especially stubborn sand out of her ear. “We?”

Rorik started to rub at his nose, but sneezed into his elbow instead. “Come on, cough it up. Besides food, and checking for messages, I want to grab a few other things.” He held out his hand and rubbed his fingers demandingly.

Now she knew how her father must have felt.

Rorik knew damn well she hated other people spending her money and was enjoying every second of it. But most banks on Ginos-Eles were decentralized and consequently, neither of them could withdraw the funds in their myriad of widely accessible accounts anywhere in the city. Fortunately for him and unfortunately for her, she had a habit of stashing a couple hundred fissens in either of her boots.

“Fine, but I’m keeping track and charging interest,” Kara muttered a few curses under her breath as she fished out some fissens and thrusted them into his outstretched hand. “What else are you getting anyway, you mooch?”

Rorik disappointedly looked down at his exposed ankles. “You’re kidding right?”

Kara smiled happily as she scanned the now spandex-like jumpsuit, which looked even more ridiculous than it had outside. “So, what happened again? I didn’t really notice it much when we left the motel.”

“I don’t know, I put it in the dryer on high for like five minutes and now I look like one of the fucking Village People. It’s 2606 for stars’ sake and there are still dryers out there that shrink clothes?”

Kara gradually burst into a hushed cackle the more she looked at him, drawing confused glances. “I don’t recall the reference, but…your balls look like two swollen tangerines smushed together.” She managed to barely say between fits of giggles. A couple of nearby patrons joined in, their amusement more than evident in their expressions as they tried to get a decent glance at the testicles in question.

Rorik, scratching at her words, glanced sternly around at them. And their chuckles quickly turned into awkward coughs as they avoided eye contact, clearly not wanting any actual trouble. “Just, go order what we need. I’m going to get some new clothes and check the LDC to see if the Gizotso messaged back or not. Can’t believe there’s no remote access on this backwater.”

He waddled slowly away towards the convenience section on the right and she went over to the bar to speak to the proprietor, a burly, bald man with a tight red tank top named Johanna.

“Hey, what’s up? Can I get a case of water and twenty pork chops, ten apple-glazed and the others bbq, please?” Kara asked absently as she retrieved more money from her boot and painfully counted through the ever dwindling stack of bills.

Johanna shouted her order back to the line cooks before turning to study her intently. “You’re not small, but tell me, where da hell are you puttin all dis stuff?” He asked as he appraised her. “I hope it no go to waste?”

She smiled and handed him the total that had appeared on the holo-screen above their heads. “No, trust me it isn’t, me and my friend just have healthy appetites.”

He shook his head smiling as he placed the money in the register, then went down the bar to help another customer. As he left, a tall man with graying blonde hair, wearing a hi-vis vest over an olive drab shirt stalked towards her. Gripped tightly in either hand were two massive glass mugs full of foaming alcohol that dripped onto the floor haphazardly as he walked.

“My, my, the green of your eyes is stunning. May I ask where you from, ma’am?” He asked as he stopped at her side, his voice was an agonizingly slow drawl and by how the hick was eyeing her, he was undoubtedly in search of warm company for the night. But Kara didn’t even entertain the thought of sleeping with humans anymore, they were so…frail.

But the beverages in each of his hands looked mighty refreshing..

Kara slipped into character as easily as breathing, a character that was almost as old as herself. She smiled sweetly and leaned towards him a bit. “You look like a smart guy, take a guess?”

He sat a mug down in front of her, but still had a grip on its handle as he returned her smile. “Hmm, you look like you’re from the Outer-Core to me. I’d say a…semi-industrial world, maybe colonized in the past hundred years? I bet it still has that frontier feel to it, am I right?”

She chuckled flirtatiously as she casually inched her hand closer and closer to the cold, frosted mug. “Is it that obvious?”

“Yes ma’am it is, Ole Jimbo’s got an eye for this sort of thing.”

They laughed in tandem, though she was more laughing at than with. And to really send it home, she lightly gripped at his bicep for a just fleeting second, staring firmly into his eyes as she did.

His smile deepened. “Thirsty?”

As did hers. “Just absolutely parched.”

Kara playfully grabbed the mug and went to work quickly draining the delicious beer, a few loose drops raining down her chin and into her jumpsuit. The hick stood there watching, a tad bit more invigorated than she’d like, not even sipping his own beverage.

She finished with a quiet belch, the bitter smell of hops hung on her breath, and the sting of alcohol burned at the back of her nostrils. “Man that’s the good shit, doesn’t have that same battery acid aftertaste like where I’m from, you know in the Outer-Core? But damn if it doesn’t hit the spot.” Another belch rose up from her stomach, this one loud enough to draw a few concerned stares. One such stare from Johanna himself as he placed her order on the counter in front of her.

“Um…” The hick guided the other mug cautiously towards her. “Want another one?”

“Does a priest like little boys?”

“I…what?”

A wide smile played on her lips as she started on the other mug. Rorik walked up from behind her new friend, now wearing a pair of dark jeans and a rugged, orange workman’s top.

“No word from them yet, but I left another message at the beacon near Arcturus. If we don’t hear back by tomorrow, we’ll finally get out of here and…cross our claws that they’re still alive,” He paused, and looked over to inspect the other man with visible disinterest. “Who’s the yahoo?”

She held up a finger as she finished the last of the beverage and a roaring burp soared from her mouth. “Some guy who had beer. Let's go.” She sat down the mug and grabbed their order to walk back towards the exit without a glance back. The hick confusedly stuttered behind them until the doors closed shut, as they stepped into the scorching, oppressive heat. The storm had ended and temperature had risen dramatically, making her instantly feel sluggish. And now people from all over were slowly pouring out of their homes and businesses.

She’d give anything to just teleport back to their bed.

In its wake, the storm had left an outlandish abundance of sand piled in massive mounds strewn about the city, except for in the streets themselves. From what she’d read on a pamphlet about the city, it had been painstakingly designed to keep the wind from depositing large amounts of the natural obstruction on major ground traffic-ways. But that design did not include the sidewalks or alleys and they was currently being swept up by the city’s automated syntho-forms. Large white egg-shaped machines with what looked like an old fashioned vacuum cleaner attached to their bases. Each had a frowning face upon a shimmering non-holo screen at its top and apparently they only smiled again when they finished picking up all of the sand.

Kara, feeling more sluggish by the second, groaned as they headed back in the direction of their motel. “I just want to collapse in my own bed back on Azrhar. My temperature controlled, orthopedic, deluxe massager, omega-sized bed with custom memory foam. Is that too much to fucking ask?!”

“You have all of that in temporary quarters? They’ve definitely upgraded since I was last there, that’s for sure.”

“No, you donut, I had all my stuff shipped in,” Kara wiped the sweat from her brow, annoyed at the sheer amount of it. “It’s also got a slide out cocktail bar built into its frame too.” She almost started to salivate at her own words, at the thought of another cool beverage.

“Oh, well excuse me. That does sound fantastic though, apparently I’ve been spending my money all wrong. Mind if I stay over sometime? Make a few drinks, braid each other’s hair, have a pillow fight or something?” He asked tiredly while staring forward, the heat obviously affecting him too.

She glanced at him with a curious smile, wanting to inquire more thoroughly as to his true motives for this supposed sleepover. But that would be a lengthy conversation, she didn’t have the energy and her throat was getting slightly hoarse. “Sure, we can even do each other's nails…but if you spill anything on my Egyptian cotton, I’ll snap your neck.”

“Understood, message received. But why is violence always your first answer?”

“No, I don’t think you do. What I think you heard was that I’ll be really mad at you. I meant, that I will literally fucking kill you if you do.”

“Is it really Egyptian cotton, when the cotton wasn’t grown in Egypt?” Rorik asked, completely ignoring her genuine threat.”

“You're uninvited.”

They mostly walked on in silence, blending seamlessly into the ever growing crowd of people going about their daily lives, until they reached their small room at Motel 67. The heat had them both sweating like pigs as they opened the door into the air-controlled room. Taking turns they took showers and then relaxed as the sun gradually set to the north, until the cold night had fallen over the desert city.

Kara laughed quietly as she laid on her side, casually chomping on the last of her apple-glazed pork-chops, watching some sort of game show on the holo-screen against the adjacent wall. Rorik was fast asleep next to her in the bed, turned away towards the wall. His foot had this habit of twitching like a bunny rabbit's abruptly every other five minutes or so, and it was kind of cute actually.

Kind of cute?

She admonished the capricious thought as she turned the holo-screen off and got comfortable, pulling the covers over herself. Sighing internally, she thought more and more about the tension of the past few days, a tension that had only increased since sharing a bed. In and of itself, it wasn’t a big deal, they’d shared one before and she wasn’t springing for a double that was for damn sure. But the factors had changed since the last time, or so it felt.

Kara rolled over and scrutinized the back of Rorik’s head, squinting in concentration on what she could do to nip all of this ridiculousness in the bud. She’d let it go on for a few days, wanting to see what would happen, but outside of the occasional moment of unexpected intimacy, he didn’t seem to be invested in pursuing anything beyond getting in contact with the Gizotso, which was more important of course. It was just frustrating because she knew that he wasn’t chickening out and he generally knew what he wanted most of the time, so it couldn’t be simple indecision either.

So what was the damn problem?

Although, hypocritically, in studying her own thoughts these past days, she wasn’t quite sure what she wanted either. Expanding on their friendship had crossed her mind here and there, but as far as she could figure herself out, she was only interested in a physical entanglement for the foreseeable future. Her eyes traced the contours of his muscular body at the thought. Besides, an actual relationship would be moot, they were already as emotionally invested in each other as two people could be and she was never the sappy type, even as a little girl. She did love the goofy blonde-headed bastard, but…someone else still occupied the ever-shrinking, ever-cooling depths of her heart.

Kara’s agitation washed over her in waves, her eyes boring into the back of his skull like lasers. This will they, won’t they bullshit was juvenile, they were too old for it and she’d allowed it to go on a few days too long.

Tonight they’d air it all out and be done with it either way it went.

Smiling mischievously, she scooted closer and shrunk down to prepare to duck back under the covers. An ominous shadow of her hovering hand was dimly cast upon the side of Rorik’s face in the very low purple light of the room. Coiling her arm like a viper…she struck!

Wack!

As Rorik shot up, she laid down, feigning waking at the same time. “Hmm, what was that?” She asked sleepily.

“Ow, what the fuck, what the hell happened?!”

Kara faked a yawn as she rose and stretched melodramatically. “You tell me, you woke me up. Is something wrong?”

“I…it feels like somebody smacked me in the face.” He rubbed his jaw as he looked around for an imaginary intruder.

“That’s weird. I didn't see anyone.” Kara offered evenly with a blank expression, and Rorik slowly turned to regard her, not with suspicion, but with assured knowing.

“Ow, ow ow, okay!” She shouted while defending herself from his sudden onslaught of reciprocal slaps. “Fuck, I woke you up because this is important, we need to talk about something.”

“Talk?! It can wait until the morning!” Rorik shouted angrily, before rolling back over and taking most of the covers with him.

She sat up against the headboard with her arms crossed and a shit-eating grin on her face. “James, we both know that as soon as you go back to sleep, I’m going to smack you again. And after I smack you again, you’ll punch me in the face. Then I’ll kick you in the chest and the next thing we’ll be tearing through this motel half-naked, being riddled with bullets by the KPD…how much sleep do you think you’ll get then?”

Slowly, Rorik rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. “I…I hate you.”

“That’ll make this conversation much easier for you then.”

He sat up with a sigh and rubbed his eyes. “Fine, what the fuck do you want?”

Kara crossed her legs and turned to face him properly. “I’ve been sensing some very noticeable, very strong tension between us since we left Azrhar. What’s the deal?”

Rorik’s eyes flashed annoyance. “Oh, Kara, this really could’ve waited till morning.”

“So you are aware of it?”

“Of course I’m aware of it and I was aware that you were aware too, neither of us are blind!”

Kara nodded, glad that the suspected juvenile nature of it was a misunderstanding on her part. “Well, why not bring it up then? I mean, you did start this, with all your twinkly gleamy things.”

“My what? Kara, that tension has always been there, since the very second I met you.”

“Well yeah in some form but,” She scrunched her nose in surprise. “Wait, didn’t you think I was a traitor, trying to kill you when we met?”

Rorik nodded casually as he used his thumb-claw to pick at his teeth. “Yeah, but I hadn’t seen a woman in over seven years at that point, and your ass looked fantastic in those older camo uniforms.”

Kara rubbed at her eyes as they laughed in unison. “It did, didn't it…but okay, something has always been there, sure, but—.”

“Why have I been ogling or as you said, twinkling at you so much?” Rorik walked over to the single desk in the room and grabbed a water bottle, the imprint of his impressive endowment clearly visible through his thin blue boxers.

Focus, Kara.

“Oh, that hit the spot.” He said as he finished the bottle and cleared his throat.

Kara gestured expectantly for him to continue.

Rorik chuckled softly as he stared absently at the ceiling. “Because, because I’ve been feeling increasingly numb lately, Kara. All the things that usually bring me pleasure feel hollow and pointless. Some days, I struggle to feel like myself and I feel like I’m just pretending to be me.”

Kara leaned forward, concern etched upon her brow as she bowed her head knowingly. “So it finally happened then? Every wolf goes through it when they get around your age, hell I remember when I got to that point and…good thing you were there.” Her own voice suddenly sounded older at her words, her years weighed on her shoulders, and an air of seriousness spread throughout the cold motel room.

Rorik paced back and forth slowly, glancing back and forth between her and the floor. “Yeah, and uh, I’ve come to realize that the solution might be for me to find an…a truly romantic attachment again, not just an intimate one, and not just a sexual one. I mean, it’s probably been a hundred and fifty years since I’ve had a stable relationship, give or take?”

“Sounds about right, I think you were dating that slut Mandy, the one the ass wide enough to blockade a planet. Stars, I hated her.”

A faint smile formed on his lips, but his brow was suddenly burdened by sadness. “This...weight, is on my mind constantly and I think settling down a little bit might take the edge off, I guess. That’s why I’ve been on as many dates as I have with Cassandra without fucking her, she likes to take it slow and its refreshing. And...that’s why I’ve been looking at you like that.”

“Oh, well…James I do love you, deeply, but I don’t think I—”

He held up a hand. “I know you can’t be that for me, not completely. That’s why I didn’t bring it up, I know you haven't been able to really…connect since Soren died,” Rorik paused and studied her intently. “I also know that he’s why you drink so much.”

Kara almost physically flinched at his name, she hadn’t heard out loud in many years and Rorik usually avoided the topic for her sake. “Wasn’t exactly trying to hide it. But can we not go there, please?” A hint of agitation crept into her voice.

Rorik paused as he scrutinized her more. “Why not? I’m sharing. If you don’t talk about it now, with me, who are you going to talk about it with?” His voice started to rise, not out of anger or annoyance, but merely passionate concern. “I mean, it’s been over two-hundred years Kara, why can’t you just let him go?”

Kara took a very deep breath, stood, and slowly poured herself some of the whiskey she’d bought the night before.

He was right, she had held onto Soren's memory too tightly and a few others too. She had a habit of letting these kind of things eat away at her and this was a rare chance to get some of it off her chest. If she didn't force herself to do it tonight, she probably never would.

The dam that she used to hold back every sappy, loving emotion that comprised her inner being shattered as she channeled the thought of her long dead husband. Her outward expression hadn’t changed, but her hand was shaking slightly, she felt woozy, and the sheer pathetic weakness of it all made her fist tighten instinctively. Taking another deep breath, she downed the whiskey and turned to face him again.

“I don’t remember.” Kara said coldly, her eyes sharp and focused now.

“You don’t remem—?”

She held up a hand this time. “Just, let me get this out,” Swallowing her spit before she spoke again. “I…don’t remember my father’s smile.”

Rorik looked confused, but didn’t interrupt her.

“He was known for it too, Smiling Samuel, Smiling Sammy they called him,” She chuckled as she walked to look out the window into the night sky, the two lilac moons orbiting the planet looked close enough to reach out and crush in her hands. “I don’t remember my mother’s voice either, and she used to scream at me all the time. Kara stop scaring the horses, Kara stop harassing the servants, Kara the British are coming,” Kara chuckled again, her sadness more evident now. “I’d kill for her to yell at me again, I’d kill whole planets for her to yell at me again.”

“Kara, I…”

“I know, that’s how it is for everybody for the most part. But you know what really upsets me?”

Rorik realized the rhetorical nature of the question and stayed silent, but he moved within a few feet of her, looking down into her soul with his dreamy amber eyes.

“The only family member I can remember in excruciating detail is my sister. My baby sister, my twin sister,” Kara smiled emptily as a tear slowly trekked down her cold and otherwise expressionless face. “The rest of my family died shredded to pieces, but at least I could still recognize them when I buried them. Hell, I even met the wolf responsible later in life, good guy actually, he was changed when he did it, when he bit me, it wasn't his fault. My sister on the other hand had died weeks earlier, at the hands of men, men who knew very well what they were doing.”

Kara struggled to contain herself and Rorik wrapped his arms partially around her. “She was…ravaged beyond comprehension, used and beaten like she was nothing. Beaten so badly that we couldn’t even recognize her when we buried her,” She laughed humorlessly as a torrent of tears dripped ceaselessly down her face. “Wasn’t my twin anymore, was she?”

He wrapped his arms tighter around her and the warmth of his embrace made her cry onto his shoulder for a few relieving and much needed moments. Kara hadn’t cried in many, many years, and she hadn’t shared that story with anyone, not even Soren. A literal weight lifted from her shoulders and the memory was significantly less of a burden than it was before. She allowed herself a few more good sobs, until she slowly willed her pained emotions away.

“Sorry, James, I didn’t mean to make this all about me.” Kara looked warmly up into his understanding eyes.

“You didn’t. It needed to be said…I never knew that about you,” He paused and pursed his lips for a moment. “What…but how does that tie in with Soren though?”

She gently rubbed her hand along his stubbled chin. “Memories, James. Memories aren’t just the hazy reflections of who we’ve lost and loved. They’re a reflection of who we are, of where we came from. They mean so much more when you live as long as us. My family is one of two very happy memories I have left, memories not completely tainted by war and blood…and I’m starting to forget them. Soren is that other happy memory and as dramatic as it sounds, I’m afraid that if I allow myself to love again, the new happy memories will override the old and I’ll not only forget him, but one day maybe even who I am. And if that day comes James…I’m going to kill myself, cause life won’t be worth living anymore.”

---

The Gizotso exited ceespace with a loud thrum and as the last cerulean waves of the fantastical realm washed over the viewscreen, the planet Arcturus revealed itself. Its shimmering blues and greens reminded her of Old Earth, which reminded her of her family's old house in the suburbs of New Pennsylvania.

“Report,” Cassandra said evenly. “What kind of defenses are we working with, Jakobs? And Maiyan give me a refresher on the data-base entry just for funsies, in that order.”

“There are a number of defense satellites spread out all over the globe, they’re very heavily armed, but primarily focused around the northern continent. Looks like there's a few incoming and outgoing traffic-lanes about forty-thousand kilometers off our port bow, but most of it appears to be commercial. Not seeing anything armed well enough to consider a security vessel at this time.” Jakobs said evenly, as his fingers aptly navigated his station’s console.

“Keep a lookout, mark any vessel you see higher than a medium threat-level as hostile, I’d rather not be surprised and keep the scans passive.”

Maiyan cleared her throat as she started reading like it was a bedtime story. “Arcturus, a world governed democratically by a single planetary body with no affiliation with either galactic government. With a habitability rating of ninety percent, it boasts a low, but concentrated population with a high wealth average. Being so close to the edge of the Core, their receptiveness to dialogue is notably high compared to a lot of governments in the Fringe. Nevertheless, the likelihood of a hostile response upon encroaching upon their beacon remains high as a kite as they say, Lieutenant.” She finished cheerfully.

Cassandra shook her head without looking back at her new analysis officer. She liked working closer with Priya, but she was a great deal more chipper than everyone else present, it was almost annoying. “Thank you, Journeyman…stars that’s weird as fuck to say on the bridge.”

“Is there any possibility of me being promoted to vice lieutenant in this posting?”

“Possibility? I suppose so. But the likelihood?” She paused as she stared at the looming planet in the distance. “How about that beacon Jakobs?”

“It’s about a hundred-thousand kilometers away, above us on the starboard side. It’s even got a few of those satellites surrounding it.”

“Hmm, Adrax can we access it from this distance?”

“Technologically yes, but the beacon seems to have a set range of interaction parameters built into its software. Right now, since we’re too far away, it’s telling me to come within thirty-thousand kilometers.”

“Does it say what happens when we’re too close?”

“At about ten and five-thousand kilometers we get a warning, at three?” Adrax aimed a finger gun at his head without turning around. “Pew pew pew, we go bye-bye Cassandra, Lieutenant, ma’am.”

She frowned at the back of his head. “Thank you for that comprehensive demonstration.”

Cassandra tapped her fingers intently along the arm rests of the captain’s chair, her eyes scanning along its many built in readouts. Her eyelids suddenly felt incredibly heavy for a second, and she had to jolt herself to stay awake. For a position so crucial, the chair was too comfortable; she'd almost instantly fallen asleep when she first sat in it.

“We’ll get a bit closer, but not too close. We’ll enter a far orbit of the beacon and access the Stellarnet if they’ve got an uplink and search for mundane information. Make it look like we’re just stopping by to check the news or something. In that time continue those passive scans Jakobs, and Maiyan get with Adrax at his station. I want you to access everything we can without getting shot at before we check its telemetry. Maybe the Primum left a message that the scouts missed.”

An hour had flown by as the two worked on their assignment, and Cassandra sat slumped in her chair, absently checking the tabloids for the newest celebrity scandals that had broken out all over the galaxy. One story in particular had made her chuckle a little. In Union territory, Selus Tappes, a musical performer, had been caught cheating on his wife with an illegal clone…of his wife. Apparently the clone had been programmed to be more agreeable, and he was quoted saying that she, bitched less. And even though that was the least dramatic story she’d read this whole time, she was still bored out of her mind. Her thoughts drifted more times than not, and eventually they drifted to that of the actual captain.

A picture of James wearing his signature smile formed in her mind’s eye for some reason. They hadn’t spent that much time together, but she’d enjoyed what little time they had. She had been mad at and ignoring him up until the day he disappeared or…more than likely died and every few hours a pang of regret reverberated through her heart. Cassandra was serious about who she let into her life romantically, she wouldn’t apologize for that, she was too old to play games, but she’d misperceived his affections toward Kara as something more.

Kara and Rorik, Rorik and Kara, every one had heard at least one story that started that way. They’d effectively been the poster duo within the Unified Clans for a century or two, after they helped put an end to their last civil war. But even before she’d started talking to James, Kara's reputation had irked her for some reason. Maybe she inherently perceived her as a threat, or as a rival, she really didn’t know the answer. But after analyzing them closely on the bridge, it appeared that she had been a bit hasty in her estimations of their relationship.

It appeared that way at least.

“Cassan—Lieutenant!” Maiyan, who was hovering over the communication console with Adrax shouted. “You’re going to want to read this for yourself!”

With one finger she gently swiped the touchscreen interfaces of the chair until she arrived at their station’s output, her eyes widening as she finished the message. “I don’t know who else could have sent this, but did you—?”

“It was encrypted with Unified codes, Cass, command codes. And the computer verified its validity three times before we’d even finished reading it,” Adrax said, as he craned his neck to look back at her, smiling almost cheerfully. “Point of origin metadata confirms what the message claims, it came from a planet called Ginos-Eles. And after a quick search, its location is pretty damn close to where we last saw that scrapper ship.”

A flood of relief washed over her shoulders and down her spine. She had zero doubts that she could handle the mission to find the Primum on her own, but damn it would be nice to share the burden with a more experienced wolf like James again…and she supposed Kara by extension.

The mood of the bridge seemed to lighten instantly and every one was excitedly looking back at her for their next move.

She was just as happy to hear it, but kept a blank, composed expression. “That’s incredibly fantastic news Adrax, a ship needs her commanding officer. Send a message back, tell them we’ll be there as soon as we can. But I want to get this done first, we’re already here anyway.”

The bridge crew looked at each other nodding before Jakobs spoke up. “Are we getting started then?”

“Might as well.” She smiled slyly. “Adrax, all crew to battle stations, we might not get the response we’re expecting, but better smart than dead. Helmsman, maintain distance from the beacon within exactly thirty-thousand kilometers. And Navigation, once we get what we need we’re going to need to jump out of here like a bat out of hell, keep her finger over the button. Do it now.”