Chapter 4: Departure

“Owww...” Javier remarked as he would roll his shoulder and arm around. “Damn, that bite of yours was rough.”

Shira stood next to Javier as they both carried their belongings. He looked up at her as she tilted her head and eye towards him. She gave no indication of emotion to the destruction she had done to his body the night before. Even Javier had a slight amount of embarrassment at the rough sex they had together, but a part of him felt happy to at least hear that Shira was interested in becoming a parent.

The hangar bay of Aphadus’s military base dome consisted of four entry points. These doors would almost take up a large portion of the base itself. Essentially, it was shaped like a cross room with several varieties of shuttles, gunships, and planetary fighter craft. Most of the original F-167 Hawk fighters were lost in the previous battle that Shira wiped out, but the base had received a large amount of the newer replacement F-175 Eagles. There were also nine flying wing B-110 Stingray Bomber/Gunships in the hangar facility as well. Most of these crafts were placed in two sections of the giant area to allow room for incoming shuttles and transports. They both stood from entry doors that led into the base. Javier could see some of the hangar crew anticipating the arrival of the transport. There were a couple of magnetic cranes in place. Overhead announcements were constantly being called out for any pending arrivals.

“You have been quiet this morning,” Javier told Shira.

“Hmmm...” Shira remarked.

“You get to finally be on a ship again ... although, I know that you don’t get to command it.”

“The regrettable truth of those words,” she calmly mentioned as she looked at her bag of clothing.

Javier looked at his uniform. Unlike the officer’s dress uniform, the one that he wore was more like Shira’s version. The typical UHN military jumpsuit was fitted to wear by the officer and enlisted alike, with only rank insignias being the apparent difference. It consisted more of the blue color to represent Earth but carried the red outlines representing Mars throughout it.

“I am not used to wearing this jumpsuit,” Javier said.

“Weren’t you trained to adorn it?” Shira asked him.

“Yes ... but I preferred the fancier officer’s attire that I have been wearing. It is way more comfortable.”

“You have gotten too comfortable in this environment. It is making you lax.”

“Guilty as charged. You can’t blame me, though. Ugh ... I am going to be chaffing for days.”

Shira seemed more distracted again. She was looking at the hangar bay doors that were closest to the both of them. Javier was used to this, but he continued to try to engage in small talk with her, even if she wanted it or not. He could still feel a tingling pain throughout his body. There was nobody around them, which naturally provided a sense of privacy.

“Man...” he remarked. “Are you sure that you didn’t break any bones from last night’s encounter?”

“I assure you that I am partially qualified in basic medical procedures,” Shira explained as she momentarily looked at him. “The medical tools sealed the puncture wounds adequately. The loss of blood can be replaced in a few days naturally. There is no permanent damage to your wrists and arms.”

“Yeah, but my waist ... you really bruised it.”

“Again, scans showed no damage. As your human doctors would quote, ‘You will live.’”

“Just wait until I grab your vulnerable spot and twist it on our next encounter. I will dominate you on the next encounter.”

“Telling me what you plan on doing is not always the wisest of decisions prior to a conflict or battle,” Shira explained to him.

“What if I was giving you false information as to what my true intentions are?”

Shira went and turned her body to look at him. At first, she was studying his facial inflections. Despite their professionalism, she gave a very humble nod to him before it quickly faded.

“Then I will look forward to our next encounter,” Shira told him.

“I as well,” Javier remarked as he watched her turn towards the door. He looked down at his black boots. He could feel the tightness of the wear like he hadn’t worn them in a long time. The magnetic pads would be suitable for walking in a ship with zero gravity, and his hair was neatly trimmed to prevent it from floating around too much. He could even tell that Shira’s hair was more wrapped up than it usually was.

“Ugh ... I am going to miss this place,” Javier commented.

“A change of scenery is one that can benefit you,” Shira said. “It is a common issue with both humans and the Itreans. They become too accustomed to the lifestyles that they don’t know what others have to live through. The end result is that social constructs form based on how they live and the environment that is around them.”

She put her bag down as she reached into the back pocket of her uniform. There was a metal tin box that she pulled out. It was something that he was all too used to by now. She neatly popped open the box of her neatly made cigarettes. She took one of them and placed it in her mouth. She then took a small laser lighter, bringing it to the tip before lighting it. The faint odor of cigarette smoke began to fill the area around them before the air took it away. She then placed the lighter and tin box away before keeping the lit cigarette tucked between her two fingers.

“Getting one last chance to light up one?” Javier asked her.

“If it will be, one thing that I will miss is the possible chance to enjoy these before getting on a ship.”

“Yeah, I imagine that they generally frown on the prospect of smoking on a ship.”

“The amount of damage inflicted from secondhand smoke is insignificant,” she remarked as she took a deep whiff of the cigarette smoke she generated. “I am thankful that your lungs are augmented to handle them.”

“I imagine that you never had to worry about that for your former crew.”

“Not when our bodies are far more resilient than yours. Regardless, your medical technology has rendered cancer all but forgone by now.”

“I don’t think they are necessarily worried about that. I think it has more about the fact that the cigarette smoke can get in the way of performance, the fact that it is a fire hazard, and be a nuisance to the rest of the crew that doesn’t smoke.”

“Partially correct on those assessments, but ultimately incorrect,” she said as she breathed out a bunch of smoke. “I wish to smoke. Never get in the way of a Shal’rein when they smoke.”

“And is that one of your rules?”

“It is my fourth rule of the universe,” she said in the most severe tone she could ever make.

Javier smiled as she continued to smoke her cigarette. He went and placed his bags down as he waited for the transport to arrive. A part of him began to wonder how much longer was needed to wait. He noticed as he looked down at her back that the stopwatch was partially protruding from her back pocket. It was next to her tin box of cigarettes.

“Thank you for the gift,” Shira told him. He could tell that she caught him looking at her ass.

“Anytime. I hope it works as it intends,” he said.

“Only time is the true answer to that question.”

“I am curious, though. Why not just take a shuttle to the Jian Seng?” he wondered.

“It is because the Jian Seng doesn’t need a hangar bay. It is a composite ship.”

She continued to smoke her cigarette. Her single working eye closed as she seemed to relish it. The secondhand smoke would filter out of her nostrils as she kept her mouth shut.

“I hope those Cebravin brands are working out,” he commented.

“They are adequate. I admit the cannabis isn’t as effective as the Cebravin brand of tobacco. The T’rintar clan does have a satisfactory brand, however. I was planning on getting more, that is, until the move to the ship would disrupt it.”

For about two minutes, they both said nothing until finally, the main doors next to them began to open up. The two sliding doors began to slowly open up to reveal the dim-lit sky above them. These doors were utterly enormous, reaching as high as a hundred meters. It almost extended to the dome’s lower center.

“There it is,” Javier replied, pointing up. Shira instead focused on her cigarette smoking.

There was a tiny silhouette of a spaceship that was coming into view. It looked almost like a rectangular box with wings on it, but it began to get closer and closer. By the time the doors had fully opened up, the Jian Seng had lowered its descent more and more.

The ship was a winged transport that measured no more than 100 meters in length. It looked like a gray flying horseshoe that had a large metal armored box in the center. There were two visible thrusters on the port and starboard side of the ship that adjusted to prevent the ship from losing control. Each thruster was lit red hot with light plumes of smoke coming from the ends of the flames. In the atmosphere, its outstretched wings were visible at first until it began to get closer and closer to the dome. Once it got close enough, they began to fold and retract into the sides of the ship. Red lights began to emit from its hull as it was coming to land.

The ship’s width was perfect enough to fit into the base’s dome structure. It had enough room to adjust its pitch and angle against any slight headwind that might veer it off course. The thrusters, however, were loud as Javier went and put his hands to his ears. Even if the ship was landing some distance from them, the rush of air being driven to them was starting to pick up.

Shira gave a sigh as her cigarette was starting to be put out. She then stabbed what was left of the burnt cigarette onto the other palm of her hand, putting it out before smashing and discarding it.

Javier had a better chance to evaluate the Jian Seng. The typical Fu Yi class transport was designed to serve as a light to medium transport ship. Its sole purpose was to do just that. The greatest affluence was its large middle container where the cargo was held in. The armored skin helped protect the container and keep it safe from the elements of space. On the starboard bow section of the ship was a pointed nose where the main bridge was located. On the other port bow side was a smaller nose that looked like a makeshift pilot room. In reality, the ship seemed pretty sturdy, even for an old vessel. There was a small turreted cannon on the bottom starboard bridge section and a larger, heavier gun mounted on the port bow section.

Javier only knew so much about this vessel. He preferred that somebody on the ship simply tell him about it. Of course, if there was somebody that would know it, it would be Shira. He knew enough about her by now that she always did her homework in studying any available data on vessels, ships, and equipment in general.

The ship lowered a set of six landing struts as the thrusters were at almost full power. It slowed the vessel almost to a stop. Javier, by now, had a full view of it almost directly of the side of the ship. He could see on the top rear sections that there were two additional smaller gun turrets. The words “Jian Seng” were written in both English and Chinese on the ship’s side. The vessel also had heavy ridges where the armor met together and what looked like a top-mounted bridge or pilothouse. All in all, this ship was built for raw defense.

The ship finally touched the landing deck as the engines powered down. The flames ceased as the landing deck fell quiet. The red lights went out, and a series of white plumes and smoke slowly came out of the thrusters. Work crews started to head toward it. On the bow by the starboard section, rear port, and starboard areas was a hatch and door ramp. They opened up, and the ramp lowered to the deck. The container section was beginning to open up as well as a large mobile crane was heading to it.

“Well...” Javier remarked as he could safely listen again. “Let us head to our ship, shall we?”

“Yes,” Shira replied as she reached for her bag.

With that, Javier went and picked up his belongings while they started to head over to the ship.

Upon walking into the front ramp of the Jian Seng, both Shira and Javier were greeted by a blond woman. Her complexion was whiter than snow, and she carried the rank of seaman on her uniform.

“Oh!” the woman replied with a French accent. “I was going to go and welcome you to our ship. My name is Louise Marcelle. I am a navigator and one of the pilots on the Jian Seng.” She momentarily paused as she expressed shock at the two. Shira had stepped fully into the ship with Javier close behind her. She seemed somewhat overloaded as she did a quick salute to Javier.

“My apologies, sir!” Marcelle commented. “I was told that we were having two personnel coming aboard. I was not expecting it to be an officer and a Shal’rein.”

“Do not fret yourself, Marcelle,” Javier replied as he lowered his bags and saluted in return to her. “My name is Lieutenant Javier. This is Petty Officer 1^st Class Shira.” He quickly picked up his bags again as he looked at them.

“Wow, you are big,” Marcelle explained as she lifted her head up. She was particularly short, and even the seven-foot height of Shira towered over her. In the end, the woman simply expressed shock and awe from the sight.

“I will take that as a compliment,” Shira replied to her, trying to remain professional and composed to her. Her shark-like tail twitched a little bit.

“Petty Officer Shira ... Lieutenant,” the pilot addressed both of them. “If you will follow me, I will lead you to a place where you can store your belongings. We will be rendezvousing with the engine and habitat module in orbit. There you will have your assigned rooms.”

Marcelle gave the hand signature for them to follow her. The three reached the main passageway inside the Jian Seng. In reality, the ship was a very straightforward design. It really only consisted of one main deck. The corridor seemed to be like the shape of the horseshoe design that it was set up to be. Ahead of them was what would lead to the rear section of the vessel.

The passageway seemed old and archaic when it came to looks. They had a brown and gray tinge to it with octangular sealing bulkheads that could seal itself in case of a breach. There would be devices that hung and connected to the side walls. There were even basic computer consoles and speakerphone devices by the consoles. There were no sliding doors on the left side of the passageway, but there were on the right side.

“I haven’t even seen half of these things on the walls,” Javier commented.

“Yeah, the Jian Seng is an old ship,” Marcelle explained. “After the relaunch of the UHN Gabatrix last year, the UHN wanted to go ahead and utilize this ship.”

“It makes sense,” Shira replied. “Use every resource that you can. Even ships such as these still have their uses.”

“Are you an engineer by any chance?”

“No, but I do have basic tech experience.”

“You would get along with our engineers then. They are overtaxed with the maintenance on this ship.”

“My biggest strength, however, would more likely be navigation or weapons.”

Marcelle nodded. “Of course.”

They reached a closed door as Marcelle tapped the panel. It actually consisted of hard keypads rather than the augmented hand panel or flat panel systems. With a click, the door slid open to reveal a closet.

“You may put your belongings here for now,” Marcelle explained. “Make sure that you keep them properly secured.”

“Of course,” Javier replied. He knew all too well why she said that. With no gravity in space, the bags were equipped with magnetic pads that could adequately latch to the deck or interior with ease. He went and dropped everything in it as the containers clicked into place. There were additional Velcro straps that he fastened to further keep things locked. Shira did the same as she leaned down and began to put everything away. Things had to be held in place. Otherwise, once the ship started moving, those containers and bags would start to go flying to wherever direction.

With that, both were satisfied that their belongings were taken care of. The door closed as the two looked upon Marcelle.

“Right,” Marcelle continued. “We will be departing pretty soon. I would en...”

“We will be departing in about thirty minutes,” another voice called out. It was another woman’s voice that had a broad Chinese accent to it. Both Shira and Javier saw who it was, and they both saluted immediately. The female officer had to be the captain of the ship.

“Lieutenant Commander,” Javier called out. “I am Lieutenant Javier.”

“Petty Officer Shira,” Shira properly introduced herself.

The female officer saluted. “Lifen. You don’t have to introduce yourselves. I was well informed by Fleet Admiral Anaya of what was going on. Welcome to my ship, the Jian Seng. Not much to look upon, but this ship gets the job done.” They all dropped their salute as Lifen looked at Marcelle. “I’ll take things from here. Go and take up your post.”

“Roger Ma’am,” Marcelle replied. With that, the pilot left and headed in the direction of the bridge. Both looked upon Lifen. The officer was also very short in height. She had very short black hair and looked like she descended straight from China. Her jumpsuit surprisingly looked more beat up than Javier’s. He could tell that Shira was busy noting everything about her. Lifen, on the other hand, seemed to focus more on Shira as she was looking up at her.

“Well then...” Lifen commented. “Welcome to my ship.”

“It is ... quite an old ship,” Javier commented.

“It certainly is. They pulled this ship practically out of mothball status. Unfortunately ... it is proving to be problematic at most.”

“What is the reason?” Shira asked.

“The Fu Yi class is an obsolete design. It’s been replaced by the Phalanx Assault Carriers. Parts are getting scarce for these ships as the UHN is stretched thin to protect its borders. They figure they can squeeze a couple more years out of the Jian Seng. The problem is obvious.”

“Maintenance issues. Components breaking down sooner than expected. I can see the problem.”

“I imagine that they might have had the same problems with the UHN Gabatrix when they launched her last year,” Lifen continued to explain. “They probably did the right move in sacrificing it for the greater good. Unfortunately,” she paused as she looked around. “We don’t have that luxury. This ship is even older than the Gabatrix and uses repurposed 23^rd-century technology. My engineers are already talking about having to delay our jump to Palora due to the mechanical faults in the communications array.”

“I am curious as to the reason we are making the trip to Palora, Ma’am?” Javier asked her. “Wouldn’t it have been easier to just have a typical civilian freighter go and do the job instead?”

“If it were only that easy...” the officer sighed. “Unfortunately, the biggest threats in the Picaro asteroid belt in the Paloran system are the blasted Nova Pirates. Civilian ships are unarmed and have to worry about getting attacked. The sensitivity of the equipment being shipped requires a little more firepower. Even an old ship like this can fight the pirates.”

“I would not underestimate the Nova Hamidou Pirates,” Shira told her. “Their resources have been increasing as of lately. They are even getting a hold of T’rintar clan technology.”

The officer gave her a surprised look. “You seem to know a little more than I expected.”

“It is because I commanded a warship for the Shal’rein clan.”

Lifen went and put her hand to her chin. “The rumors are true then. Fleet Admiral Anaya tried to keep the report brief, but she mentioned something about a unique crew member coming aboard besides the fact that she was Itrean, of course. There were insane rumors that somebody attacked Aphadus and later defected.”

Javier went and gave a surprised look. The rumors were spreading more and more now. How many people had at least some hint about Shira? Shira, on the other hand, decided to let the truth be known already.

“It is because I was the Captain of the Garja, the assault carrier that invaded Aphadus,” Shira confessed.

“Well ... so much for that,” Javier commented.

“Hey,” Lifen said as she waved her hand at both of them. “Don’t worry about it. I don’t have any issue about you being a prior defector. All I ask is that you don’t be an issue with my crew. They will leave you alone, and it is your responsibility to treat my people with the same respect.”

Shira nodded her head. “I understand,” she answered. Javier felt a sense of ease upon hearing it. He feared the worst when it came to Shira spatting that out.

“Perhaps...,” Lifen commented. “It might be best to try to keep that on the down-low, regardless. I know that you two will be on this ship for some time. We have a crew complement of forty. I only had so much of a chance to review your profiles. What areas do you best serve at?”

“I am a logistics officer,” Javier answered.

“Besides being a prior adjunct,” Shira answered. “My skills can be a little bit of engineering, tactics, strategy, weapons, and navigation.”

“Well,” Lifen commented. “It won’t matter too much. Both of you will be doing things that you don’t normally do and learn things outside of your comfort zones. Shira, you will probably be helping the engineers more than anything. You look like you can help move things on planetary surfaces just as easily. I don’t mean to push you into the realm of grunt work, but I know the Shal’rein are very strong.”

Shira nodded her head. “I understand.”

“As for you, Javier. You will be taking up the roles of our fifth officer. You will be taking up command duty watches. We have been needing more officers, honestly. Thankfully, except our engineers, whom we can never get enough of, we might actually have some days to relax from our watch posts.”

“Me? Command?” Javier asked.

“Of course. It sounds like you don’t have much experience commanding a ship.”

“Not precisely. Served mostly on ground bases.”

“Ah ... the dream job,” Lifen remarked as she sighed. She folded up her arms as she looked away.

“This will be your opportunity to get a chance to learn, officer Javier,” Shira told him. “I would not turn down on such an opportunity.”

“Heh ... yeah,” Lifen said as she nodded. “You should listen to her. She’s right. You know?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” he replied.

“And please ... just call me Captain or ‘Cap’ as some of the crew use instead. I am only a rank brand over you. The Jian Seng is just a transport and not some overpowered battleship.”

Javier was getting a chance to really learn about this officer. From most aspects, he could see that she was just a little more experienced than he was. It would make sense as to why they would put her in charge of the ship. Lifen’s responsibilities were still apparent, however. The one thing that he wasn’t looking forward to was the multiple responsibilities of a small-time crew on a small, lightly armed military ship. She was a little bit older than him by about ten years. He did admire Lifen, at least by first impressions wise.

“Now...” Lifen continued. “I think it would be wise if I had a conversation with Javier in private. Shira, I will call on my weapon’s PO Ramirez to help give you a tour of the ship. Obviously, this is only half of the ship, with the other portion that is currently in orbit. We will depart from here and reconnect with the other module once flight checks are completed.”

Lifen went and lifted up her hand and tapped her left palm. A three-dimensional projection screen appeared, which she looked at. It was evident that she had some sort of augmented arm or hand from Javier’s perspective. The captain looked at her menu and began to tap a couple of buttons. It sent a radio signal off to the bridge.

“Ramirez, are you there?” Lifen asked to the projection screen.

“Yes, I am, Cap. What do you need?” a male voice called out from the screen.

“I have our Itrean crewmember onboard. Would you mind coming to passageway 1A and giving her a tour of the ship and helping her out with whatever she needs?”

“Ummm ... sure.”

“Good,” Lifen remarked as she closed her hand. The projection faded away as the channel closed. She looked up at Shira. “Remain here, and Ramirez will help you. I do need to have a private conversation with you as well. Did you bring your tilon?”

“Yes, I did,” Shira said. “Do you allow your crew to smoke?”

“Yes, I do, as long as it is not near anything flammable or when the engineers tell you not to.”

“Hmmm...” the Itrean gave a brief respectable nod to her.

“Good, I will contact you later on today so we can have our meeting.”

With that, Lifen gestured to Javier to follow her to the bridge. They began to walk away, leaving Shira to wait for Ramirez. She didn’t have to wait long, though, as the sliding door of the bridge opened up. A man with short black hair and facial features reminiscent of former areas of Central America came walking out of the room. He nodded to Lifen and Javier as they walked past each other.

“He didn’t call ‘attention on deck,’” Javier commented to the Captain.

“It’s because I told my crew that I don’t want it,” she answered. “I really don’t mind the professionalism, but this ship is simply too small. If I was commanding a battleship, though...” she shrugged her shoulders.

“It actually makes me feel better to hear that.”

“It does?”
“Well ... I mean that I didn’t know how the regulations applied to big ships or small ships.”

“On a ship like this. As long as people know that I am in charge, I don’t give too much of a fuck about it.”

Javier noted her words. In some aspects, he could see more of the type of individual Lifen was now. It seemed that she was pretty much dropped into this command whether she liked it or not. His respect towards her was growing.

“I am curious as to the mission for today?” Javier asked.

“Well, that all depends if the comms array is fixed. I have the engineers taking a look at it from the outside, but most of the problems are things that can be taken care of inside. I want both arrays to work if we are going to the Picaro asteroid belt.”

“But what exactly are we doing?”

“We will be transporting a series of super magnets from Palora to the asteroid base of Valdivia.”

“That doesn’t sound bad.”

“And I doubt that the pirates will want to do anything with us, either. Honestly, I am more worried about breaking down than pirates.”

They reached the door as Lifen went and pressed the button on the panel adjacent to it. The sliding doors opened up to reveal the moderately sized bridge section. The room itself was an open circle that led to a large viewing port that led to the outside. The high-tech equipment was barely there when compared to warships but still had somewhat of an appeal. There was enough room to walk around freely. There were three crew members inside the bridge, with one being Marcelle. Another was an older man in his fifties that was a low rank that had a darker complexion. There was another young woman with red hair that was busy trying to work on a panel. It looked like they were conducting maintenance.

“Welcome to the bridge,” Lifen said. “I imagine you have already seen your share of pilot houses from shuttles,” she commented as they looked at the bridge.

The inside of the bridge had a center seat where the captain would sit comfortably. To the left was a station that displayed the ship’s layout being some sort of engineering console. To the front left was a pilot’s seat having an actual flight yolk and controls similar to older shuttlecraft. Not far from the pilot’s seat was another console that displayed a radar and sensor screen. There also seemed to be another series of joysticks and various panels connected to it. On the right of the bridge was a deactivated panel. The chair console displayed other different systems where the older man and young red-haired woman were working at. All of the bridge consoles and chairs faced towards the main viewing port.

“Not a bad layout,” Javier remarked.

“I want to introduce some of my crew to you,” Lifen remarked as she pointed at the pilot. “I am sure you have already met Marcelle. She is one of my newer pilots.”

“I had a chance to already meet him, Captain,” Marcelle replied as she gave a wave at him. She was busy looking at a tablet and checking things off as she was flipping a couple of switches on the console. She was also wearing a headset as she seemed to be talking to the flight control tower operator in the hangar bay.

“These are two of my engineers, Petty Officer Obasi and Petty Officer Amelia,” Lifen pointed at the two working at the console. “Amelia is one of my best engineers on the ship.”

“Best is only so good if shit stop breaking all the time, Cap,” Amelia replied in a Martian accent.

“And I should be Chief Engineer,” Obasi added in a thick Oshun accent. His attention was focused on the panel that Amelia was working on. She was busy stripping the panel and working with the underside, fixing the circuitry. She didn’t even reply back to them because her attention was so focused on her job. She was holding some tool as she busy pressing it to a damaged circuit.