Their first stop was Acquatica. Nobody in Jennifer's family had ever visited there, so she relied entirely on Commander Solaris's dry recitation of details and Dr Pill's vague, gloomy statements to give her an idea of what she should be expecting.
"Approximately 85% of Acquatica's surface is covered with water," Solaris said.
"Interesting. That's less than I would have assumed," Jennifer said.
"It might only be 85 but it feels like 95," Dr Pill said. "Dreadful place. I was there during the war. It's dark and humid and unbearable, and everyone spent the whole time panicking that the seas would be boiled by the enemy's super weapons. It was only Captain Savage's ingenuity that kept us all from dying."
Jennifer smiled and straightened her uniform tunic, which was riding up again. "I imagine things have changed in the twenty years since then, doctor."
"We will land our shuttle at the Coral Spot Research Base and meet with Admiral Wang of the Acquatica human forces while we wait for Dr Fortuna," Solaris said.
Jennifer nodded, and fixed the collar of her uniform in the hopes of looking more professional and impressive. She caught her reflection in the shiny doors leading to the shuttle bay and decided she'd done an admirable job of it.
The doors opened, revealing Graham Murray waiting for them, and the shuttle already packed.
"You don't need to go down to meet them, Ms Li," Dr Pill said. "A space captain can just as easily wait for people to come to her."
"Oh, I don't know," Jennifer said. "I think this gives new staff the personal touch. Section Leader Murray can take it from here, Dr Pill."
Dr Pill, face wilting, stepped back and let them go.
*
The view of Acquatica when they stepped out on the landing pad was bright and beautiful: the sky a brilliant blue and the pools that ran around and under the research base a much paler shade. Jennifer closed her eyes for a moment to take in the warmth of the sun on her face, then opened them again at the sound of footsteps drawing nearer.
Admiral Wang of the local forces was tall, dark-haired, solidly built. He walked toward them with long strides, his hands clasped behind his back in a posture that only brought attention to his shoulders.
"I see the scenery in Acquatica is much nicer than Dr Pill led us to believe," Jennifer said.
Behind her and to the left, Graham made a faint snickering noise.
"Welcome to Coral Spot, Captain Li," Admiral Wang said. "Dr Fortuna is still finishing up the last of her packing, but I hope you enjoy your brief stay here."
"This looks like an admirable facility, Admiral. I'd love to know about the purpose of the pools underneath the building," Jennifer said.
Admiral Wang nodded and turned to lead them into the building through the slick, transparent doors. "The pools underneath are for the purpose of making life comfortable for some of our scientists who hail from a species of Fresh Water Nectarens. The coral reef, of course, is in a salt-water area, and we have strict decontamination procedures to avoid mixing the two sources of water, both for the health of our scientists and the health of our coral reef."
Admiral Wang gave them a guided tour of the facility, pointing out just enough of the purpose of various labs they walked past that Jennifer could be sure there was no danger he'd break any confidentiality agreements, but not enough that she truly understood any of their work.
Scientists were busy at work in one of the labs they walked past – one, a human wearing the Acquatica Navy uniform, gesturing frantically to two others, both of whom were Fresh Water Nectarens, standing half in and half out of the water. The Nectaren scientists were light and bright, luminescent colours and dark dots roaming over their semi-translucent skin. Their argument – about water volumes from what Jennifer could tell – lead to increasingly violent limb movements. One Nectaren scientist pulled a wet limb from the pool and slapped it on the floor near the Navy officer. A small cleaning bot wiped up the water on the transparent deck frantically.
Jennifer cleared her throat. "I believe it would be pertinent to let your people know I'm completely fluent in that sign language."
"Ah." Admiral Wang paused in his movements and scratched at the back of his neck, visibly embarrassed. "I'll let them know."
He signalled to the scientists, while Jennifer smoothed her uniform down again. One of the Nectarens turned a clear purple all over and drew all its limbs close to its body.
"If you'll wait in the cafe, I'll find Dr Fortuna for you now," Admiral Wang said.
"That was awkward for everyone. You should have said nothing and let them carry on like that," Graham said.
"That would be ill-advised, Mr Murray. I care about information security," Jennifer said, looking over at Solaris, tall and stiff by her right with gloved hands clasped behind her back, "and have no interest in compromising anyone's privacy if I can avoid it. Unless ordered otherwise by a superior, of course."
In the distance Admiral Wang spoke with someone behind a white door, quiet enough that Jennifer couldn't overhear even if she strained herself.
Graham leaned in close. "At least you've stopped flirting with the Admiral."
"Flirting? I've been entirely professional," Jennifer said. "Merely appreciating how well built this facility is."
"Your mother would approve of him," Graham said.
"On second thought, he's not that attractive," Jennifer said.
A slender bleach blonde in bland beige and denim emerged from the rooms towing a rolling suitcase. She followed Admiral Wang towards them then stopped in front of their group, favouring them all with an icy look. Jennifer did her best not to look equally icy in return.
"Dr Fortuna, I presume," Jennifer said.
"And you must be Captain Li," Dr Fortuna said. "I have been informed that, even though my focus is on research, I will be required to fill in as your ship's therapist until you're able to reach Donide Nosita and find someone more appropriate."
"How unfortunate for all of us," Jennifer said.
She nodded to the Admiral, conveyed her apologies for not staying for a meal, and led the way back to the shuttle.
*
Dr Fortuna's suitcase was surprisingly heavy.
"Is this full of rocks?" Jennifer asked.
"Of course not. Merely books and clothing," Dr Fortuna replied.
"It will have to be scanned upon boarding," Jennifer said, and nodded to Graham to let him know she was pushing that task off on him.
Solaris was left to lift the case and secure it into their shuttle, something she did with deceptive ease.
When they finally lifted off the ground, Dr Fortuna looked at Jennifer and said, "You don't like me, do you, Captain Li?"
"I neither like nor dislike you, Dr Fortuna. We have only just met today. That is not a long enough acquaintance for anyone to form an opinion."
Jennifer looked away from the doctor to peer at Solaris instead, whose expression was inscrutable as she steered them back to the waiting bulk of The First Breath of Spring.
"I don't intend to get in the way of your work, Captain Li. I hope you don't plan to get in the way of mine," Dr Fortuna said.
"I don't see how anything I've said to you thus far could be construed as a plan to get in the way of your work, doctor," Jennifer said, smiling.
*
After they arrived on board, Jennifer opened the door to wait for everyone else to go through with a determined smile on her face.
Graham pulled her aside as Solaris helped Dr Fortuna with her suitcase.
"Does she remind you of Abby? Is that why you're uncomfortable?" Graham hissed.
Several paces away, Solaris turned to look at them, her posture awkward. Jennifer smiled, uncomfortably aware that Solaris could hear their every word.
"I don't believe Dr Fortuna has anything more in common with my ex than the average woman does, Graham. I'd leave the psychological questioning to the doctor if I were you. You have no talent for it."
"She's a cold fish, I can tell that much, but she's obviously picking up on something," Graham said.
"Perhaps she's projecting from past bad experiences. Given my position, I can't afford to have a problem with psychologists," Jennifer said.
"Because you're not comfortable in the job yet, or your weird thing about the intimacy of sharing memories...?"
Jennifer nudged Graham aside and walked toward her second in command. "Commander Solaris, I suggest you leave the matter of helping Dr Fortuna find her way to Section Leader Murray. I will need you to help us navigate to the satellite our future lab manager resides on."
Solaris nodded, inscrutable, and waited for Graham to trudge forth and take the suitcase from her hands.
Jennifer stepped forward to lead the way, Solaris's steps loud and discordant behind her. They'd already had the intimacy of sharing memories when they'd clasped bare hands on that catwalk in North Port Station. In the moment, Jennifer had barely thought of it, but now with Solaris walking one step behind her the thought of it was ever present. At least Commander Solaris did her the favour of not attempting to talk about it.
Still, Solaris seemed no more at ease than Jennifer was in their new working relationship. Perhaps less so. Jennifer would have to work harder to extend the hand of friendship and bring comfort to them both.
*
Jennifer's new quarters were larger than she had expected. She'd never had the opportunity to look at a ship captain's room on any ship she'd served on before, but surely they weren't always this big? Not merely a bedroom and bathroom, but also a meeting area with a table and chairs affixed to the floor in direct view of her door. Not as big as the hotel suites she saw on television but still a luxurious space compared to the bunks she was confined to on previous assignments.
Perhaps it wasn't fair to compare. Dream of Adventure had not been a small ship, nor had it been as large as The First Breath of Spring. The level of responsibility was different, too – to go from one cog in a machine under someone else's command to the person commanding a multi-purpose vehicle of such size and complexity was a big jump.
Jennifer turned to take it all in and tried not to let the excitement overwhelm her.
New orders had them turning in a very different direction soon. She couldn't afford to be tired and unprepared.
Her sleep that night was restless. She slipped from dreams of sand in her eyes to dreams of past injury. She woke before the alarm and stared at the ceiling, reminding herself that pain in her leg was gone and there was nothing to plague her here.
