Chapter 23

Later the following morning, Kazlaena was in her quarters, feeling down from the previous day’s events. She left her room and headed down to Pri’s quarters and tapped on the door. The Sikarran answered a moment later.

“Um, ‘ello, Pri.” Kazlaena said.

“Hello, little Sherrif.” Pri smiled.

“Say, um, I am feeling sa bit low in spirits from yesterday. I don’t wis to be alone but um, if you are busy...”

“Available for company.” Pri assured her.

“Ok um, would you like to play sa vid game like we talked about?” Kazlaena asked shyly. “I um, just need somesing to be distracting from sa mind.”

“Permit me ten minutes, will come to quarters when ready?” Pri requested.

“Ok,” Kazlaena gave her a smile and headed off down the hall.

Kazlaena left the door to her quarters open and less than ten minutes later, Pri entered, looking over the Vandean’s plush collection intently. Plushies on the top bunk, plushies on her cabinet and desk, plushies even sticking out of drawers. There were far, far more out now than what Pri had seen yesterday.

“Oh! Never knew little golden heart collected so many plushies!” Pri said in astonishment.

“Um, sere’s many more san sat...” Kazlaena gave her a bit of a shy grin.

“Oh!” Pri laughed.

“Um, under sa bed, sere’s even more now...”

Pri knelt down to look into Kazlaena’s ‘den’ and saw more had been added along the back wall and down where her feet would be.

“Does Pri like sa plushies?” Kazlaena asked as she saw Pri looking over her collection with interest.

“I...” Pri bit her lower lip. “ ... Is hidden facet in Sezar culture that many Sezars, regardless of age or gender, do hold fascination with plush creatures.”

“Really!” Kazlaena quiickly stepped up to her and tickled at her sides. “ ‘ow come you don’t ‘ave any sen?”

Pri lowered her head.

“Are you uncomfortable wis sa topic?” Kazlaena saw Pri look at the floor. “Embarrassed sat sa osers might find out because of sat uncomfortable stereotype sat Sikarrans ‘ave?” Pri nodded. “Sey don’t need to know.” Kazlaena patted Pri’s stomach. “Uh, ‘ow about you look after ... sis one?” Kazlaena pulled out a silly, cow looking plush. “Mr. Moo will look after you.”

“I uh...” Pri held her hands up in protest for a moment, then took the plush and looked it over with a bit of a cute expression that few would have ever seen. “Much gratitude, Kazlaena.” She gave the plush a little hug.

“We are friends. Sis is what we do for one anoser.” She looked at Pri warmly. “I like seeing sis side of you. It is sa cute, warm, ‘appy side.”

Pri looked down to Kazlaena and bowed her head. “Please maintain secrecy. A Sezar must keep up appearances.”

Kazlaena smiled kindly, then moved some things on her lower bunk to make room for them to sit. She then fired up her console and brought over a pair of controllers.

“So um, you want to see Bad Bots?”

“Certainly.” Pri replied as she tucked Mr. Moo under her arm, then took a seat on the bed.

Kazlaena sat down beside Pri and handed her one of the controllers, then used her own controller to get the game started.

“So, sis game is sa action game. Is my favorite game by sa long ways.” Kazlaena got the game into a co-op mode and selected her character.

Pri caught sight of the name ‘Sprocket’ and smiled. “So, name of character in game is origin of Jack’s nickname for you?”

“Um, yes.” Kazlaena smiled.

“Cute,” Pri bumped her side.

Kazlaena guided her on through some laughter. “You um, you need to make sa saracter.” She showed Pri to a new character screen, but Pri halted for a sec on one of the current characters.

“Um,” Kazlaena grinned.

“Marshmallow Menace...” Pri bit her lip to stop from laughing, but eventually broke out in a short outburst.

“Is um, is Jack’s saracter.” Kazlaena said as she smiled at Pri, watching the Sezar look over the large, round bodied shape of the robot character.

“Jack plays?”

“Yes, ‘e does, somesimes.”

“Can more than two play?”

“Sey can,” Kazlaena grinned. “I can ask ‘im if ‘e wants to play togeser.”

“Like, all of us?” Pri raised a brow. “That can be done?”

“Of course,” Kazlaena smiled and nodded. “Rusu is interested in sese games too. Maybe we all can play? Sere’s even one of ‘is saracters, sere.”

They stopped for a moment on a quadrupedal robotic character named ‘Rus-U’, with a laser gun on the back.

“Would enjoy that.” Pri selected an empty character slot, and a name prompt came up.

She thought for a moment, then entered her name as Art Dot Bot. She had a bit of customization for her character and made it somewhat Sezar in appearance, with a long narrow head and a jagged tail.

“‘ey, sat’s pretty cool.” Kazlaena smiled and hit enter, starting the games intro.

A couple of hours later, they were battling one of the under bosses for the main bad guy when Kazlaena’s controller ran out of battery.

“Ach, nooo!” Kazlaena raced to pull a new battery off the charger and get back into it as Pri struggled to stay alive.

“Oh no, oh no,” Pri gritted her teeth, just managing to avoid a deadly attack while Kazlaena got back into it, just to be taken out after her character took one step.

“Nooo!” They cried together as Pri felt her heart pounding.

“Keep ‘ittin’ ‘im in sa knees. ‘e’ll go down.” Kazlaena encouraged Pri and the Sezar managed to down the bot, eliciting a cheer from the Vandean that she readily joined in on, catching herself a moment later for fear of some sort of embarrassment.

“Sa game is fun, yes?”

“Is, very.” Pri wrapped her arm around Kazlaena’s shoulders and pulled the Vandean against her.

“Sanks for, um...” Kazlaena paused as she took Pri’s hand. “ ... for saying yes. For, playing sa games and coming wis me over to Valeria and taking sat sance and looking out for me like Jack does. Sanks for kind words in difficult times.”

Pri set her controller aside and turned to face Kazlaena, pulling one leg up onto the bed as Kazlaena copied her actions so they sat face to face.

“Apologies for being distant.” Pri said, shamefully. “Intent was never to ignore or remain distant with crew.” Kazlaena saw a bit of a hurt expression on Pri’s face. “Own heart is fragile. Cracks and breaks have covered surface and fear of complete shatter is too often at forethought.”

“What is it sat you fear?” Kazlaena asked softly.

“To be cast aside, forgotten, ignored or made into cruel joke.” Pri looked down, not meeting Kazlaena’s eyes.

“Please don’t sink like sat.” Kazlaena said. “You are sa good friend of mine, like Jack. You ‘elped look out for me when ‘e was away. Sings like sat mean a lot to me.” Kazlaena softly rubbed Pri’s calf. “Um, maybe make me sa promise, ok?”

“A promise?” Pri raised a brow.

“Sat you will take sa friendsip pledge we did seriously. Sat you will not turn on it no matter ‘ow you feel. Vandeans don’t forget friends. Sat pledge is not to be cast aside lightly as sat would break sa ‘eart.”

“Apologies, Kazlaena. Intent was never to bring doubt sorrowed emotion to time of friendship and joy. This concern, this worry, this is in heart, however. I choose to share, so you understand previous actions, or lack thereof. So you understand there is fear of trusting others that dwells inside.”

“Please don’t sink like sat.” Kazlaena took Mr. Moo from where he sat on the bed, close to Pri. “Mr. Moo wants you to be sa ‘appy person. I do too. So many see Vandeans as sa simple and do not take us seriously, but we do take our friends seriously. We pick sose sat we trust, sat we don’t ‘ave to be afraid to be ourselves around. We pick sose sat we know will be sere for us as often as we will be sere for sem. I cannot imagine ‘ow you feel from your war stuff. It is somesing sat is so foreign to me. I do know ‘owever, ‘ow it feels to trust someone and ‘ave sat trust betrayed. I know ‘ow it feels to make what I sought were friends, only to ‘ave sem reveal sey were just messing wis me. Playing games and making me sink one sing, so sey could laugh at me when I found out sa truse.”

Kazlaena set Mr. Moo on Pri’s leg and took one of her hands, feeling Pri grip back in a comforting manner.

“I wish poor treatment cast upon friend was not so,” Pri spoke softly.

“Sat’s ok.” Kazlaena looked at her. “Sat was sa bad time but sat is not now. I ‘ave moved past sat and am in sa very good place wis good people. People like sa one sitting in front of me.”

Pri bowed her head respectfully.

“I um wis you would not ‘ave sat pain and sat fear in sa ‘eart. I understand sat it is not easy. But please try, for me, please spend sa time wis me and sa osers. We all like to see you wis us, Pri.”

Pri gave Kazlaena a re-assuring nod and spoke. “Understood, Sherrif. Deputy Kind Heart will do better.”

“No,” Kazlaena shook her head. “You do not need to do better, sat’s not ‘ow I mean. Just do more is all, if you want to. I ‘ope you do.”

“I do,” Pri smiled.

“Maybe sis stuff will keep you out of sa trouble too.” Kazlaena patted her leg. “I don’t like it when you get in sa trouble, playing sose strange games wis Jack and Cardox and Sita. Sey seem fun but First Officer gets so mad. Maybe do stuff sat doesn’t make ‘im mad.”

“Agreed,” Pri laughed lightly.

“So, um, Sezars like sa stuffies? Sat is pretty cute. Um, mind telling me ‘ow come?”

“Sezars taught to keep emotions hidden. Emotion does reside inside, however. Little cuddle toys can be powerful outlet for emotion. They need not speak or listen, just be there for tight hug.” Pri gave Mr. Moo a good hug. “I am blessed with friends who can offer emotional support, but few Sezars have such cherished luxury. Many keep hug buddies around for brief moment of respite.”

“Um...” Kazlaena stood up and looked over her top bunk for a moment, then dropped down to investigate her ‘den’. “Now where did I put sat one ... oh...”

She went over to her cabinet and pulled out a few of the clear bags, looking through one until she found what she was looking for.

“I um, I sink I’m right when I say you like sa Luetays, yes?”

Kazlaena pulled out a large plushie shaped like a horse, but with a long-feathered mane down the back to the feathery tail, large fuzzy, finned ears, fins off the back of the legs and a pair of large, branching antlers. The one in Kazlaena’s hands was colored pink, with blue feathers, purple fins and antlers, green eyes and a white tail and ears.

“Oh!” Pri raised her brows in surprise.

“Anytime you get any of sose bad soughts, just ‘ug sis one and make sem go away.” Kazlaena handed her the Luetay.

“I...” Pri hesitated as she looked over the plushie. “ ... cannot take such possessions...”

“Sat is a gift for you, Pri.” Kazlaena smiled, holding her hands on the bridge of her tail as she rocked forward onto her toes for a moment, before trading somewhat shy expressions with the Sezar.

Pri took the plushie in a tight grip and squeezed, somewhat cradling the top half of the Luetay between her shoulder and neck. She took in a few deep breaths and let them out slowly.

“Little golden heart speaks of gratitude for having my watch and guidance during Jack’s absence. Gratitude that feels undeserved for lack of own forthcoming in deeper discussions. Moving forward, I will not hold such burdens so far from light if little golden heart desires to listen.”

“I will listen, Pri.” Kazlaena sat back down on the bed. “Sat’s what friends do.”

Pri took in a deep breath and spoke quietly. “Family was ashamed of my desires to be artistic. In Sikarran culture, Sezars, Antars, Korstars have defended empire for numerous generations. Other species of Sikarran are expected to be artists, laborers, instructors, other jobs included. For Sezar to desire paint and draw is seen as folly, dishonorable to lineage, unacceptable.”

Kazlaena lowered her ears and frowned. “Sat’s not fair. You sould be able to do anysing you wis.”

“Jack always says same intent.” Pri said. “Reason for you and him bearing close bond becomes ever clearer.”

“‘e is right. If you like to do sa art, be sa artist.” Kazlaena looked at her with a kind smile. “Um, sorry it causes bad stuff wis sa family. My family ‘ad some concerns when I said I wanted to be on sa starsip but sey knew it was my desire, so sey supported me.” Kazlaena saw Pri looking at the floor, almost ashamed. “Um...” Kazlaena saw her raise her head to look at the Vandean. “I ‘ave seen a lot of you, on sa inside, over sa last little while. You are sa good person Pri. Sa person I like to be around, just as mus as Jack. I ‘ope you continue to be you, doing sa art and sa gaming and anysing sat makes you ‘appy.”

“I will...” Pri took in a deep breath and exhaled. “Gratitude for kind words, Kazlaena. Gratitude for being friend and all that you do.”

“Will always do sat for you, Pri.” Kazlaena smiled. “Um, I need to get somesing to eat before sa watch soon. Did you want to go togeser?”

“Yes.” Pri nodded. “Permit me to drop off treasures in quarters, then we proceed?”

Kazlaena nodded and began shutting down the console and putting batteries on to charge as Pri went to drop off her two plushies.

Jack walked into the ready room and waved to Lucinia as he headed over to his seat, seeing that they were the only two present at the moment.

“Did you manage to get some rest?” Lucinia asked.

“Bout two hours” Jack replied with a yawn. “Fuck, I remember being able to go days or even weeks with limited sleep. Now I’m crashing pretty hard if I don’t get a proper rest.”

“Only getting older. It just gets worse and worse.” Lucinia replied.

“Good times to look forwards to. Gonna need to start crushing energy drinks soon, if I can get them away from Nyka or Rusu.”

Lucinia grinned and was about to remark when Delilah and Zakia entered.

“Captain, Jack,” Delilah nodded to them and Zakia smiled at each in turn.

As they took their seats, Kazlaena entered the room swiftly with a bit of a concerned look on her face. As she sat beside Jack, he was about to ask her what was up and then saw the issue. Proculus and Kejeh entered next, and the thought of close proximity and possible social interaction had made her uncomfortable. Not so much from Kejeh, but the other one...

As they took their seats, Kazlaena looked up at him and smiled. Jack gave her a poke on her side, and she flinched with a bit of a grin.

“Good morning, everyone,” Lucinia said as she stood up and took the front of the room. “We have a couple of points to discuss. If you have anything to bring to the room’s attention, we will address it after the primary points have been handled. First, we have a hitch hiker in the aft cargo hold. What is believed to be an entity made of electricity, has possibly been feasting on the light sources of the hold. Nyka is currently developing a trap to contain it and we have yet to see hostile action from the creature. The aft hold is off limits to any except Nyka as she works to contain it as we need not provoke the entity into a dangerous situation. I expect there are questions regarding this matter.”

“Uh,” Proculus started. “An ... entity?”

“An entity,” Jack echoed.

“Well, what does it look like?” Delilah was curious.

“Like a floating jellyfish ... thing,” Jack replied. “It can kinda change forms and disappear into light fixtures.”

“That’s not creepy or anything...” Delilah spoke rather lightly.

“You’re sure there’s no concern?” Zakia asked. “To the crew, or the electrical systems?”

“We have seen no hostile action as of yet,” Lucinia said. “And it has been on board for quite some time. I have confidence that if it isn’t provoked, it can be safely contained.”

“Sa sing’s just ‘ungry ... um...” Kazlaena wasn’t sure her outburst would be well received but she didn’t want the creature being harmed.

“That’s a good point,” Jack rubbed her shoulder. “Sorry for doubting you, by the way.”

“Um,” She looked up at him appreciatively. “You didn’t doubt me. You sought it might be somesing too.”

Jack was going to reply but Proculus spoke up quickly. “If this leech is sucking on our power, could that affect the power plant?”

“No.” Lucinia shook her head. “If it was, we would have seen something, some sort of irregularity.”

“Chief?” Proculus turned to Zakia. “Any further input to add?”

“Trust the Captains statement,” Zakia shrugged. “She speaks the truth.”

Proculus looked at them both in a disagreeable manner but kept quiet.

“The worst we’ve seen is doors opening and closing and the occasional light turning on and off,” Zakia said. “I’m glad we’ve discovered the culprit. Kind of tired of taking reprimands for something out of my understanding.”

“Fair statement Chief...” Proculus said, somewhat reluctantly. “But you should have been able to figure this out, correct?”

“How so, First Officer? We were just told the thing can hide in electrical interfaces?” Zakia was a bit irritated.

“A reading? Detecting it somehow?” Proculus had some arrogance in his voice.

“It remained undetected for a long time because we were not looking for a living organism.” Lucinia said, ending the escalation. “Chief, sorry for any unwarranted reprimands and I understand your frustration. We will meet after to address reconciliation. Moving forward, we will also consider the facts more carefully if things like this come up in the future.”