Chapter 6: Routine Life on a Warship Part 1

“Ok...,” Scott said as he took a small plasma cutter and began to cut into a pipe. “Cutting the ... vein.”

It had been later on that day. The Gular’shel had returned back near Gu’ii’lo’trelda’s moon, far from orbit. The man was lying on his back in a room similar to where he met Gen’wi earlier inside the rotating ring. The hum of moving mechanical parts and organ-like devices filled the room, although it had been much quieter than before. It was an obvious sign that the cloaking device was offline.

Scott was in a small alcove beneath a layer of supposed pipes. These were not ordinary tubes. The fleshy-like substance was almost comparable to veins that were moving cold water and other fluids to various machines. It was quite compact, more meant for a Yutilian to crawl under. Not far from Scott was Gen’wi. The small, thin Yutilian was dressed in her black and green outfit adorned with various tools below her breasts. She was also lying on her side, compressed by all the pipes above her. Scott continued to apply the small torch to the vein. He wore a special clear visor that protected his face and eyes from any falling debris.

“More...,” Gen’wi tried to say.

“Just making sure not to cut anything else by accident,” Scott replied.

The torch continued to cut until the high-intensity flames bore into a fleshy-like substance. Finally, a large red-hot incision could be seen.

“Half-way there,” Scott said.

“Good,” Gen’wi said.

“Almost ... almost...”

It took a few more seconds as the tool narrowly cut the entire piece of the vein. It began to release a brown viscous fluid that landed on Scott’s chest.

“Ack!” the man replied in disgust. “Ah ... man.”

A smile appeared on Gen’wi’s face. She seemed to be doing her best to resist the urge to laugh. Scott frowned as he used his hand to wipe it off his uniform. It reeked and smelled like a form of burnt hydraulic fluid mixed with raw sewage. The man did his best to resist the urge to hurl as he brought the torch-like tool back to the pipe before resuming his cutting. Finally, the device was shut off as a piece of the pipe fell.

In quick reflexes, Gen’wi reached out and caught the small broken piece with her scaly hand just a mere split second before it landed on Scott’s chest.

“Thanks...,” Scott said. He slapped the tool down onto the deck as Gen’wi pulled the cut piece. Besides the sharp incision to remove it, there was something else on its side that Scott had never seen before. It almost looked like a scaly box that jutted from one side. Inside, it consisted of sinew and tissue that had been completely burnt to a crisp.

“Reminds me of the ... ummm,” Scott tried to remember as he snapped his fingers. “The... ‘Quip’zies’ used in the Ikra battleships.”

“Quip’zie’new click Xu,” Gen’wi replied in Itrean. “Shal’rein ... this ship ... only.”

“Biorganic tissue for Shal’rein ships. You, Itreans, and your biogoop.”

“Efficient...”

“Gross ... but efficient. That shot from the scout burned out the coolant system for this scale emitter. Never seen an organic tube suffer damage like this.”

“Trama ... Hit...,” Gen’wi used her hand to indicate a shot. “Damage spreads ... kills system.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty much it. Ok ... hand me the ... replacement pipe section.”

Gen’wi handed Scott the spare replacement part lying next to her. The man had a brief moment when he averted his nose from the foul odor. The liquid was perforating most of his suit and running up his neck.

“I hope this stuff isn’t bad for my body,” Scott remarked. He flipped a switch on the plasma torch. An emitter unit popped free and was ready to go. The man held the spare pipe over the area that he cut. As he held it over the severed section, the man noticed the natural fibers that began to stretch out. The organic resin was assisting the man by holding it into place as he activated his tool. A suturing beam focused on the area as the fibers continued to stretch out and harden almost instantly as they began to cool off. It only took thirty seconds for the replaced part to activate. Blue lights erupted from the tiny box it carried. A small scar remained where the beam had mended everything together.

“Is that correct?” Scott asked.

Gen’wi brought her head closer, causing her feathers to close in on her head. She scooted her body next to the man to ensure she could properly look at the repair job. Her reptilian eyes examined it all before she did a few quick nods.

“Yes,” Gen’wi replied.

“I’m not used to this sort of ... vein work,” Scott explained. “That Tuiw wood resin that you used in your water networks in the Ikras would take a day to regenerate. I’m assuming this stuff will fully heal as well?”

“Yes,” she replied.

Scott felt himself exhausted. An entire day’s worth of repairs had left the man tired. He sighed as he practically laid his arms forward. The man noticed that Gen’wi had barely moved. Her nostrils flared in and out, but she wasn’t looking at him.

“Phew...,” the man said. “At least we’re on our backs, right?”

“Yes,” Gen’wi answered.

“Been a busy day...”

“Yes ... much work to do.”

“I imagine this is the part where you tell me that we have more work to do.”

“Yes ... no ... relax.”

“Yeah...”

Scott barely had any room to maneuver around. However, the endless rows of piping, overhead pumps, and machines felt like a comfortable roof. Only the stench from his uniform gave any indication that he should move, but Gen’wi hadn’t moved either.

“The smell doesn’t bother you?” he asked her.

“No,” she replied. “Grew up on Bog’Ko’Lif.”

“The Shish homeworld...”

“Yes. Live underground ... sul ... sipher volcuns.”

“Ah ... you lived near sulfur volcanoes.”

“Yes ... sulfur volcanoes.”

“Something keeps bothering me,” Scott paused and looked at her. “You seem familiar ... actually, it’s the name.”

“Gen’wi?” she asked him.

“Yes, I felt like I heard of it, but I can’t put my finger on it. Have I met you before?”

“I don’t know. Never seen you.”

Scott looked up and shook his head. “Nah, I’ve seen you somewhere. How long have you been an engineer?”

She seemed to think about it as she had to convert the time to his. “Eleven of your years.”

“Nah, there’s more to it than just that. Ever been to Cebravis?”

“No.”

“Ever worked on an Ikra battleship before?”

“No ... Fl’lililok cloaking battleships...”

“Of course. You’re a Shish, the most mysterious of the four T’rintar kingdoms. Maybe it’s because I keep seeing so many Yutilians that I’m just mistaking you for somebody else.”

“It is ... ok. You are nice.”

“I imagine better than that Shal’rein that pissed you off.”

“Nngh...,” she groaned. “She hate Yutilians ... fought T’rintar ... hard to change.”

“I can understand. The one thing they never tell you. It’s easy to go into battle, but when the shooting stops, the engineers take the responsibility of fixing someone’s busted shit.”

“Yes...”

“I don’t suppose your venom can fix all this, right?”

Gen’wi seemed to almost take the comment literally. Then, she realized it was a joke and began to make a couple of cackles. Scott smiled for a second. For a moment, he looked at her body. She had a tiny frame, much like the other Yutilians. For a moment, he was reminded of Xel’di. Was she doing alright? Was she partnered with some other human? If it was a man, was she already banging that person’s brains out? For Scott, he only wished that she was in good health.

However, when Scott began to think about Gen’wi spitting venom, it started to dawn on him. The memory finally clicked.

“Wait...,” Scott said, glancing at her. “Gen’wi ... Gen’wi as in the Itrean fighting tournament?”

Her eyes lit up in surprise. She turned and gazed into him as her feathers opened up some.

“I guess I’ll take that as a yes,” he said. “Yeah, you fought umm ... Bransen, Chef Bransen. He managed to beat you ... barely.”

“You saw the fight?” she asked.

“Well, when you have a famous cook retire and go into ultimate fighting, it’s one of those things you don’t usually miss.”

There was a moment where she paused, thinking about it. Scott couldn’t tell if she wasn’t interested in talking about it or if something else made her hesitate. Finally, she relented.

“Yes ... I fought there,” she confessed.

“Yet, you’re here,” Scott questioned.

“Yes.”

Scott’s brow lifted. “Umm ... why?”

“Because ... I work for Shish.”

“Weren’t you a competitor?”

“I am a fighter. I was pulled.”

“Pulled?” Scott questioned. “Why?”

“Wins and losses. Not good enough. Cou ... council send me to ... work.”

“That sounds pretty harsh.”

Gen’wi didn’t seem to be necessarily phased by the comment. “Honor...”

“Honor? This?”

“Yes. Gular’shel ... powerful...,” she made a few clicks in her voice. “Cloaking ship ... Shish te ... techni...”

“Technology...,” Scott corrected her. “I can imagine so. The Shish made the technology. I hope that they didn’t do that just because you were a Shish.”

Scott noticed that Gen’wi’s eyes looked down. There was a hint of sadness in her face. It was as if she was trying to put on a strong face and not show her disappointment. However, what if it was also true that she considered this job an honorable one?

“Well...,” he said. “It is what it is.” He looked back up at the pipes. “I feel like calling it a day for me. I’m still adjusting to your time scale. Wish I had the ability to sleep four hours a day like you, Itreans.”

“Good job,” she said.

“I’ll be back tomorrow, and you can teach me about the scale coolant regulators. I didn’t know it had three pressure pumps in the ... umm ... Ikok there.”

“Four,” she corrected him.

“Four ... yeah.” He looked at her frame again, noting that she was in the way. “Mind if you move so I can climb out?”

There was just enough room for Gen’wi to clasp the burned-out part and the veins near her before hoisting her body near the bulkhead. It gave Scott room to crawl his way out. The hint of the nasty fluid continued to dribble onto his arms and hands. There were the occasional squeezes he had to make as the veins would be so low that he would have to take deep breaths and nudge himself through. Finally, he saw the crosswalk. It didn’t take long before he rolled onto it, away from the mechanical apparatus.

“Bransen...,” Gen’wi said to herself quietly. The same look of sadness could be seen on her face. Scott swore she might have said something, but it wasn’t directed at him.

Free from the confines, he stood up and looked at the small office ahead of him near the door. To his surprise, he saw Veleshar standing by the door, her attention focused on him. A profound smile could be seen on her face. There was something in her hand that he couldn’t identify at first.

“Greater Adjunct,” Scott addressed her.

“Scott,” she greeted him.

“How are the repairs?”

“Well ... I wasn’t there to plug the hole that our little scout ship did to us. Amazing that of the five ships we fought, it was their smallest that knocked out our cloaking device.”

“Big or small, always expect the unexpected. It doesn’t take much to damage a scale emitter. It is the weakest component on any cloaked ship. It can handle space and debris, but gunfire can easily pierce it. It’s the one problem that Gular’shel and I were never able to really figure out. Even the cloaking battleships used by the other clans had less issue maintaining their field after they take damage.”

“You mean we’re actually more vulnerable than cloaking warships?” He asked.

“Sometimes Gular’shel and I would call it a ‘cloaking shroud’ instead of a cloaking field.”

“A ... shroud is something that you can still pick up.”

“Yes,” she explained. “Our technology is what it is. Shal’rein cloaking technology isn’t as perfect as T’rintar. Thankfully, we had the Shish to help improve it and update the technology to make it better when the ship was taken away from me. You see it as it is now. We’re still vulnerable to a few scale emitters being taken down, but the T’rintar did a good job in making my ship even better. Here...”

She tossed something that was in her hand to Scott. He quickly caught it and looked at it.

“A scrubber?”

“Yes ... you smelled better. For Gen’wi.”

“Of course.” Scott walked back to the small entry point where he had come from. “Hey, Gen’wi...” He leaned down and tossed the scrubber for her before standing back up and resuming his talk.

“The good news is that the damage can be repaired, but it won’t be for another couple of days.”

“A chance for you to learn more.”

“True, assuming we don’t go flying into another battle like that anytime soon.”

“Anything can happen,” she said with a smile.

“Your optimism scares me at times. Before today, when was the last time this ship went into a battle?”

“Three weeks ago. Worked with a T’rintar garrison fleet and took down eight Aksren warships. Before that...” She seemed to think. “Had a skirmish near the edge of the system and took out a Shal’rein scouting fleet of three.”

“How many battles has this ship been in?” He asked.

“Today was seven. The other four were in Shal’rein service. Needless to say,” she looked at the interior. “This ship has a long way to make up for the harm it brought forth.”

“You mean the three prior battles don’t count?”

“Hmmm ... this ship did engage the T’rintar clan once near the Hy’opendrie system, where I ambushed and destroyed a small defense fleet...” she looked down briefly. “That was three years ago ... Twenty warships in all, where my fleet sacked their small moon colony.”

“I bet that must feel odd to be working with them,” he remarked.

“Actually, it was the right decision ... mostly. Even when I got this ship operational, I did my best to convince the Autarch to focus the Shal’rein offenses against the Aksren. The T’rintar were ... fighting defensively. The Aksren were the bigger threat. The T’rintar seemed to agree with me ... at least partly enough when I proved to them of my kill count.”

“They didn’t try to punish you for your past transgressions?”

“The ... T’rintar believe in trying to appease those that defect. Severely punishing those can discourage others from defecting. It isn’t perfect. I, myself, didn’t know if I would be imprisoned or not, and not everyone was lucky. But they believed me and that I was trying to fight the Aksren clan more than they were. At the same time, to see this woefully given to them...” She gestured to her ship. “This was more important than even me. It really depends on what the defector has done, but ... I like to think many things helped me keep my position.”

Scott looked around. “Let’s just avoid any fights for a little while,” he told her. “I prefer to be alive in the next couple of weeks.”

“You truly wish to stay?” her question was straightforward, hoping for the man to give the right answer.

The man nodded and gave a hesitant smile. “Today was ... interesting, to say the least. I almost feel sorry for the Aksren even if they were the instigators.”

“Blame their leaders ... not the people. You have the right to feel that way.”

“I know that you were still concerned about survivors.”

“Their protocols are always absolute. They so strongly believe that we would bring harm to them that they have to choose to surrender or watch them end their lives out of fear or loyalty to their empires.”

“I suppose it is as it is, then,” Scott said. “At least we have this ship.”

“And each other,” she smiled.

“Despite all that, though, I can think of a few very good reasons to stay.”

“Then how about this?” she walked up to him and was thinking of touching him before seeing the disgusting fluid on his skin and uniform. “How about you return to my quarters? Go get yourself cleaned up.”

Scott looked at his body. He couldn’t deny that he needed a bath, and he didn’t deny that he needed one badly. The man even wondered if his sense of smell had been permanently damaged by how bad it reeked.

“Yeah ... I need to get cleaned up,” he said.

“Head back. I still have work to do for several hours. I have a bin where you can put in dirty laundry.”

“Good. Hopefully, this stuff can come out of a wash.”

“Hmmm...” she almost seemed unsure of the fabric and material of his uniform. “I don’t know. Go ahead and head out. I can give you another helpful reason to stay.”

“Alright,” Scott said, smiling to her. “See you later.”

With that, Scott left the room. Veleshar was looking at the man’s rear end on the way out. When the door to the room closed, the shark-like woman looked in the direction of where Gen’wi was, well aware she had overheard some of the conversation. Yui’to pulled out a set of tilons and opened them up. She pulled out the comms menu and attempted to call someone.

There was a short pause as Veleshar patiently waited. Finally, a familiar voice popped in from the metal device.

“Yes, Greater Adjunct,” Yui’to’s voice came through.

“He’s coming...,” Veleshar told her. “Make sure to give him a good time tonight.”

There was a short pause, almost as if Veleshar already knew what Yui’to’s response was going to be.

“You have my word...,” Yui’to replied, a hint of happiness slipped through the voice.

“And, Yui’to?”

“Yes?”

“Your cycle ... how much longer before it begins?...”

Scott reached the entrance to Veleshar’s quarters. The look of fatigue reigned in him but so did his desire to change and get cleaned up. He tapped the panel and entered the key code command. It accepted and opened the door.

Upon entering the room, Scott could hear the distant sound of running water. When the door closed, he listened harder.

“Huh?” Scott remarked. “Must be just the pumps moving water.”

The man walked up to the closed bin mounted on a wall not far from the small desk where Veleshar usually worked. It had a simple button on it. He pressed it, and the entire side opened up, exposing a sizeable flat bin. The hint of a cleaner fluid filled the air, along with a series of hoses and fan-like apparatuses.

“An Itrean washing machine?” Scott remarked. “I guess being a captain really does have its perks.”

He began to take his clothes off, starting with his boots. The harsh smell still stung his nose, but thankfully, the fluid only covered so much of his uniform. When he took his boots off, he could assess that they were fine. He placed them to the side and began taking his uniform off.

As Scott was removing his clothing, he saw a small projection disk lying by the desk. Upon approaching it, the imager activated and showed a series of 3D photographs that had been taken.

It was here that the man could see that it was an Itrean picture disk frame. It carried a library of photographs that could be easily carried in the palm of his hand. The pictures would remain still for around 10 seconds before switching to another. Scott had pulled off the uniform and tossed it into the bin. Immediately, there was relief upon his nose once it was finally removed. However, his blue shirt and shorts remained on.

As he took his socks off, Scott noticed a new picture pop up from the imager. This one depicted Veleshar standing next to what might have been a Shal’rein male. It was the first time the man had ever seen what the Itrean men looked like, at least before Zilik’s Disease ever came to fruition.

This had to have been Gular’shel. Scott found himself looking at the person for a while. He could see his flowing purple hair, shorter stature, at least for a Shal’rein of his size, and more rounded nose. Veleshar stood next to him, both in military attire, holding their hands together as a symbol of mateship. There was a dual pride in their faces. Gular’shel had to have been an incredible individual to have reached such a high position. There was no emotion in Shal’rein’s face, one that was easily noticed by Veleshar’s contagious smile. Scott would have remarked more upon it, but the imager changed to a new picture.

For a moment, Scott felt pity for Veleshar. To lose a husband from such a thing. A part of him even felt a sense of shame in taking another man’s wife. But he had to remind himself that the picture was over ten years old. Life had to move on, and he knew that Veleshar was doing just that. As he thoroughly considered it, he felt no regret in what happened last night.

The man was snapped out of his thoughts as he felt the tiny hint of odor hit his nose again. He grabbed his shirt and pulled it off, exposing his bare chest. Then, he tossed the shirt into the bin before grabbing his shorts and yanking it down. That, too, was thrown into the bin, leaving him with only his boxer shorts. When he closed the bin, he could hear a gentle hum inside the bin, realizing that the washing machine had activated.

“Ah ... time to take a bath...,” Scott said. “That pool looked pretty nice last night. I don’t mind getting cleaned up...”

Scott began to walk to the door by Veleshar’s big bed. As the door slid open, he could hear moving and splashing water, along with low, drowned-out music. Contrary to his original opinion, the man realized that it was occupied.

“Who?” he tried to say as he stepped into the restroom. Past it was another door, which, too, slid open to reveal the room beyond it.

As Scott stepped into the large room, he was greeted by the impressive sight of Veleshar’s private pool. It was, more or less, a sizeable hot tub. It was no bigger than a large jacuzzi tub. The room itself wasn’t that big, being smaller than the typical studio apartments that Scott was all but used to seeing. The tub itself took up much of the room’s interior. There were at least four corner “seats” where a person could sit down in the pool and relax as the warm, fizzy bubbles would be pumped and cleaned continuously. Inside the pool, there was also a variety of cleaning fluids to quickly eradicate any form of harmful germs and bacteria, along with any other form of chemicals. A simple dip was all that was needed to wipe off the contaminants that Scott had on him. There was also a warm fan dryer in the corner of the room, a display unit on the wall, and another feeding tube container where the ship’s local sea life would swim around. The music inside the room was low but consisted of something similar to soft Spanish dancing rhythms mixed with an electric guitar.

Of course, besides Scott, it was more than evident that the room was occupied...

“Oh!” Scott remarked at whom he saw. He was taken by complete surprise.

Inside the jacuzzi tub was none other than Yui’to. Her clothes had been neatly folded and pressed into a small bin above her. Her eyes were closed, but the sound of the man’s voice had seemingly awakened her. Her shark-like eyes peered into him.

“I ... umm...,” he remarked.

“In or out?” she asked him. “Your stink is filling the room.”

Scott didn’t know how to react at first. Yui’to’s shape was seemingly different than Veleshar’s. It was evident that she was topless as her breasts were clearly exposed above the waterline. She evidently had a bigger frame than Veleshar, but Yui’to had slightly smaller breasts. By Scott’s standards, they were still quite large, but Veleshar had her beaten in this department. She still had a pair of black nipples, but even these were smaller than Veleshar’s. However, Yui’to made up for it with her more muscular build. Her gold-finned earrings seemed to glimmer from the overhead lights. One finned arm rested on the tip of the tub’s edge as she seemed to relax, staring off at the blank display screen and listening to the music.

“Umm ... in, I guess,” Scott said.

He had no idea if she were completely naked or not. The fizzy bubbles that floated along the surface made seeing below challenging. For a second, Scott debated about taking his boxer shorts off. Yui’to’s presence was something that put the man in a state of unease. He dreamed of having the pool to himself, at least for now. At the same time, Veleshar’s prior words to him all went to the same inevitable concept. Did he feel that comfortable having a private moment with Yui’to?

Ultimately, sheer exhaustion became Scott’s determining factor in his decision. He needed a bath, plain and simple.

“I need to get cleaned up,” he said.

Yui’to gestured to the tub. The hint of a sly smile appeared on her face for a moment. He grabbed the elastic straps of his underwear and pulled it down, placing it in another alcove by the tub. His member was semi-erect and hung low for her to see.

It was the moment of truth. Was this a mistake? He practically disrobed in front of her. Yui’to said nothing at first. Her eyes looked at his naked frame, but for a few seconds, her eyes went between his legs.

“Wow...,” Yui’to calmly remarked. “They said humans aren’t as big as Shal’rein...,” she made a few clicks in her voice. “That information must be wrong.”

“Uh, huh,” Scott said as he climbed into the tub. Immediately, the man could feel the warm sensation of running water hit his body. Any tiny aches that riddled his feet went away instantly. He inched his butt on the rim and gently climbed in to prevent his form from splashing water all over the place. When he went in, he found himself almost chest level deep, around the typical height of a Shal’rein.

“Ah...,” the man remarked. “That ... feels good.”

“I didn’t know humans like water,” she said.

“Depends on the situation.”

“One likes the water or doesn’t.”

Scott walked over to the corner not far from Yui’to. The warmth of the water felt golden, as good as any hotel jacuzzi could ever accomplish. After a few seconds, he immediately wiped the areas where the gunk had coated his skin. There was a hint of slippery resin that could be felt before it washed off harmlessly.

“Here...,” she said. She used her tail fin to throw water onto his face and torso. Her fin was so huge that it kicked a large amount of water everywhere, practically blinding the man for a few seconds as he tried to get the water out of his eyes.

“Ack,” the man remarked. He could see the water splash out of the tub. However, he also spotted a small drain in the center corner of the room. It prevented any excess water from escaping the room. Scott continued to wipe and wash any remaining foul odor inducing fluids before he took a deep breath. He wadded over to the far corner and sat down on the opposite side of Yui’to.

“Better,” she said. She practically leaned back, head back, and placed her arms to rest on the side pool. The shark-like woman was playing it cool, relaxing and enjoying the moment.

“How are the repairs?” she asked, her eyes practically closed.

“Very good,” Scott said. “It should take a couple of days, but we’re good.”

Yui’to did a slow nod with her head. “Good...”

Scott could feel himself relax more and more, almost doing the same thing as Yui’to. Any lasting pain that his body had was gone. There were even a few seconds where the man could have outright fallen asleep. However, he wanted to keep the conversation going.

“Nice shooting,” he told her.

“Too easy...,” she replied. “The Aksren were stupid.”

“I can see why you say that.”

“We won because of our technology.”

“What does it matter?” he remarked. “We still won, though.”

“A long time ago, the Shal’rein fought each other...” She paused as she tried to summon the words. “Before battle, we threw our weapons onto the floor ... challenged each other. Then, we pick them up and fight. Both sides knew what the other wanted. It was ... honor ... able.”

There wasn’t any sadness or disappointment in her voice. If anything, she almost looked at this morning’s battle as an unacceptable tedium or more of an annoyance. Scott had to delve further on what she meant.

“How long ago was that?” he asked her.

“The ancient ways...,” she shook her head. “Long time ago.” She tried to think about it. “Before the Jalgren Empire, I think. It is something we still did ... and respected.”

“But not today...”

“Yep,” she mumbled. “For a long time ... I still remember the stories. We are warriors ... not ass ... assassins.”

“Assassins? With the ship’s technology?”

“Yep,” she replied again.

“But if we didn’t have the cloak, we might have been dead.”

She shook her head. “No ... not what I mean. We hide, strike, and hide.” She briefly lifted her muscle-toned arms and showed them off while opening her eyes slightly. “Shal’rein fight ... we get close ... the enemy sees us ... we fight. One swims away, and glory is ours.”

“I don’t get it, though,” Scott questioned. “You’re the 2nd in command, and you almost don’t sound happy to have won a battle.”

“Win? No ... Today, little honor was gained. Our ship is powerful ... but everyone is used to it. It is like the ‘Fogalreiha.’”