The Captain's Heart CH 06 (Patreon)

Gralgiran put his hands against the wall and let out a moan. “There,” he whispered and the male behind him chuckled, then dug his soap

Gralgiran put his hands against the wall and let out a moan. “There,” he whispered and the male behind him chuckled, then dug his soap covered fingers into the shoulder muscle harder.

“You need to stop hunching when you’re at your desk,” Dresdiren said. “That or remember to properly stretch. You know that stretching before a hunt, or when training, isn’t doing much if you let your body go stiff the rest of the time.”

Gralgiran attempt at voicing acquiescence was cut off by a wince as Dresdiren pressed against a knot.

“Do I need to schedule you for physio-relaxation therapy?”

“Isn’t that why you spent the night?”

“Clearly not,” Dresdiren replied with a laugh. “Because your back wouldn’t be this tense if sex fixed that.”

Gralgiran smiled. “Maybe we just didn’t have enough of it.”

“Way I hear it. You get plenty. You need to take better care of yourself. In the middle of combat isn’t the place to realize you can’t limber up.”

He backed against his friend. “I say we start right—”

The emergency tone caused him to straighten and forget any play he’d intended on starting. “Answer,” he told the computer.

“Captain,” the night comm officer said, “We’re being hailed by the Earther station.”

“What’s the problem?”

“They are demanding to speak to you. They’ve made it clear that without proper clearance they can’t allow us to continue on our course.”

Gralgiran went over the numbers. They should still be five days away. What reasons could they have not to let a federation merchant ship in need to aid approach? Other than the reason they were going there in the first place?

“Tell them I’m on my way.”

“The sense I had was that they want you here now.”

“Then point out that we operate on Kelser Space Time, and that here, it’s too early to bother a captain with something this inconsequential. I’ll be there as quickly as I can.”

“Yes, captain.”

The call ended, and Gralgiran got a handful of fur soap. “Work calls.” Dresdiren was in the process of lathering himself. As soon as they were both soaped, he activated the rinse cycle, then the drying one, brushing his mane to keep it from tangling. This was one of the rare time he envied Kelsirians like his friend, who only had short fur everywhere. But he didn’t envy them enough to shear his mane off as many in his position did. He trimmed it short enough it didn’t fall over his face and to keep the tangles to a minimum.

He was still damp when he left the shower, dressed, and hurried to the bridge.

    *

Gralgiran nodded to Emeria, at the comm board, as soon as he reached the center of the bridge. He stood straight as the screen shifted to show an Earther seated before their comm with a dim room with other Earthers moving about or seated behind them, their backs to this person.

He’d familiarized himself enough with Earthers not to be surprised with how different they looked. It was bad form to gape when looking at another species for the first time.

“What’s the problem?” he demanded, not masking his annoyance. Even if their presence was a surprise, federal treaty guaranteed any properly registered ship would be received and allowed to explain itself once docked and no longer under an emergency. The Bane was registered in such way under the merchant ship The Brave Traveler.

The Earther’s widening eyes on the mostly furless face didn’t help. When it spoke, the sounds made no sense.

“He doesn’t speak Kelsirian,” Emeria said.

Right. Unlike stations within the federation proper, this Earther station didn’t have a reason to expect other species.

“I apologize for my presumption,” he said in Federalize and hoped that at least they were taught that, as was regulation for communication officers. That they didn’t have a reason to expect other species wasn’t a reason not to be prepared. Federalize was a second language to any who traveled through space. “What is the problem?”

“The problem,” the Earther male said, a tremble in the voice that hadn’t been there when he spoke his own language, “is that this is human territory, and you can’t.”

“We are still within Unclaimed Territories,” Gralgiran corrected.

“But you are on a trajectory for Einstein, which is within human territory. You need to turn back to Kelsirian space.”

Einstein is the Earther name for the station, appeared on the screen. The name was written in phonemes, since, while Emeria could read and write Earther, the system wasn’t set to use it.

“If your scanners aren’t powerful enough to read the state of the Brave, then let me made the request. The Brave Traveler has suffered and is in need of Aid.”

“I’m sorry you have problems, but I can’t—”

“By federation law, a properly registered ship claiming Aid must be granted a berth and aid rendered,” he recited the line every captain memorized because too often an allied station claimed not to know.

The Earther looked to his left and said something.

Asking for confirmation, appeared on the screen. I can’t make out the other’s response.

Gralgiran nodded to the comm officer.

“I… I need to take this up with the commander.” The screen went white before he could respond.

The pilot opened her muzzle, but looked at Emeria without speaking.

“We are still connected, but the signal isn’t active.”

“That’s pretty inconsiderate,” Helrar spat. “Just having you wait until this commander agrees to speak with you.”

“We had him wait until the captain arrived,” Emeria replied.

“The Earther’s a comm officer,” Helrar countered. “He doesn’t matter. But you don’t leave the captain just standing. He might have—”

“That’s enough,” Gralgiran said. He didn’t allow himself to feel annoyance at the treatment. It was barely fifty years ago that Kelsirians and Earthers first made contact. Even if they were shepherding them into the federation, he didn’t expect them to be used to how things were done. It might not even happen within his lifetime. It had taken more than a century and a half, according to history, for Kelser to finally settle into how the federation worked, instead of demanding it get its way at every encounter.

“What should we do, Captain?” Emeria asked. “Helrar has a point that this could take a while. How Earthers proceed when it comes to escalating to their leader wasn’t covered in the contact course I took.”

He relaxed his stance and placed his hands behind his back. “I can wait. I won’t have his commander wait on me when he calls.” As Helrar said. Having an officer wait was acceptable. Alphas were accorded better treatment.

“You wouldn’t see me just standing there,” the pilot muttered.

Standing was a captain’s position. At the ready for whatever might happen.

“We’re being hailed,” Emeria said, ears tilted in surprise. He nodded and a different Earther appeared on the screen. The fur on top of the head was sheared short and flat on top and the sides, giving it an angled appearance that looked stranger than the lack of of a muzzle. The brown eyes stared at him.

Gralgiran fought the urge to think less of the Earther because they sat. It was fine for officers to sit at their post, but leaders stood. Only that was Kelsirian thinking. Who knew what Earther thought was proper leadership posture.

“I’m Neil Jackson, Commander of the Einstein Research Station,” The Earther said in barely accented Federalize. “What is the situation?”

“I am Gralgiran’sel’helrarnir, Captain of The Brave Traveler. We have had a reactor malfunction and are requesting Aid.”

“Don’t you have people able to fix it?”

“My Engineer was injured in the malfunction. He is unconscious and it will be weeks before he recovers, according to his supervising medic, and he has suffered brain damage that can’t be analyzed until he has regained consciousness.”

“And you don’t have any technicians who can fix the problem?”

“They lack the specialized knowledge to work as deeply as needed to repair the damage. We are currently on ship wide power, and any sudden need from propulsion puts a strain on that generator.”

Even without a muzzle, Gralgiran was confident he saw a smile before the commander put a cut to his lips. There were muttered sounds before he drank.

I don’t think I should say what he said, the words appeared, while the comms are active.

So he was dealing with someone who didn’t like other species. It was more common than Gralgiran liked, but he was used to it. He did wish the Earther had ears, or that he could get scents through the screen. He hadn’t considered he’d need to know how to read one of them until now. Hopefully, there was documentation he could read about that within the hunter database.

When the Earther remained silent, he decided to force things along. “Commander, if you need a reminder of Federation law, I’m sure our representative on your station will—”

“I know I can’t turn you away, Captain.” The tone sounded neutral enough. “Come to a full stop a hundred kilometers from the station. We’ll find you a berth then. Einstein out.”

The screen was white again.

“The connection has been terminated.”

“Okay,” Helrar demanded. “What did he mutter?”

Emeria looked at him.

Helrar was named after the Hunter, so Gralgiran didn’t expect she’d let this rest. “That you wouldn’t tell us already establishes he’s speciesist. Giving us the details won’t change that. But, Helrar, I don’t want to find out you’ve been spreading this to the others. I won’t have this kind of prejudice on my ship. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Captain.”

“He mocked our so vaunted technology if techs couldn’t fix it, and he called us ‘cats’. It’s one of their non-sentient animal. It’s used as an insult when said about us.”

He read Helrar’s anger in her ears and the tension in her shoulders. He decided to let her work out how to process it, but to inform Leiha so she could have someone from Counseling keep an ear on the pilot. Everyone was entitled to their beliefs and how they dealt with them, but he couldn’t have it interfere with investigations. If she couldn’t remain calm around Earthers because of this, he’d have to ensure she remained on the ship.

“Helrar, do we need to adjust our speed to stop at the point the commander demanded?”

She studied her board and entered information. “No, Captain. We’re already set to come to maneuvering speed well before that.”

“Thank you.” He left the bridge and headed to get breakfast.

    *

He blocked, then stepped back so the claws wouldn’t rake his stomach. Brelen stepped forward, slashing again, and he sacrificed his side to get himself within her defense and planted an elbow in the side of her head.

“That’s better,” she said, getting to her feet. “You didn’t let me push you to the wall this time.”

“I am able to learn, Brelen.”

She smirked. “We just need to work on how long it takes.” She rushed him and he had to block until she tripped him and straddled his chest, grinning. “And again, a mighty Alpha falls to a daughter of Ilmar.”

“You know, if you want the position, there are easier ways to get it than beat me into submission.”

She patted the side of his face before standing. “I’m more than happy as one of your Betas. Too much thinking involved with being an Alpha.” She offered him her hand and helped him to his feet. She grinned. “And this way, I get to have a bunch of hunters I can order around and not have to worry about one of the generals not liking the scent of what I leave behind.”

She’d been with him since he’d gotten the Bane and had heard of the attempts to take it from him.

He was too independent, was why it happened, according to Toom’s friends in the backrooms. Too dedicated to the Hunt, instead of hunting those Kelser felt should be hunted.

Gralgiran never spoke his mind to those people when he stood before them, answering their questions. Never reminded them that as much as they wanted it otherwise, the Hunters were the god’s weapons, before theirs. Gralgiran trusted the gods’ fickle moods more than the greed of Kelser’s leaders.

It was why he went home as little as he had to. Why he hardly ever saw his parents, even if he missed them dearly.

Author’s comments

• What I had to work from

Outline section

no outline

My additions

More socializing

The station contacts the ship for the reason behind their approach. Starts in Earther, with the comm officer, then switch to Federalise to be between the captain and station commander.

Another chapter not in the outline. This one’s main purpose was to establish that the humans keep an eye out for approaching ships. The rest was filled with social moment between Gral and his friends, with implication that the captain gets around a fair bit when it comes to sexual partners.