The Captain's Heart CH 48 (Patreon)

The announcement indicating the end of the situation came, and the Kelsirians in…. Jeremy wasn’t sure what this place was, but everyone

The announcement indicating the end of the situation came, and the Kelsirians in…. Jeremy wasn’t sure what this place was, but everyone relaxed. That, along with the tone it had held, made him think that was what it had been. He had to guess, since none of it had been in English. Just like Growler’s question on the comm Thuruk had handed Jeremy on arrival. He’d answered as best as he could, and since no follow up had come, the status update had been what the captain wanted.

The room looked like a smaller version of engineering, down to a smaller, but differently designed reactor and controls along the walls. It was still larger than his and Amanda’s labs combined, with far more open space than Jeremy felt should be there. But that was his human mindset asserting itself.
Understanding that didn’t change how he could envision filling it with more systems, an extra generator, more controls. Fill the space to increase the efficiency.
If not for where the room was located, Jeremy would think this was a secondary engineering. But they were somewhere among the ship’s cargo holds. Who set a secondary system so out of the way?
The technicians exited with a nod in his direction and words. A few spoke English, saying they were heading to their families. The others had probably said the same. The emergency he’d created was over, and they were going to make sure everyone was well. After hours working, he didn’t blame them. This had been longer than their usual shift, but no one had complained.
When Thuruk joined him. Only a two other techs were there, still looking over the systems.
“What is this place?” He finally asked the question; now that the technician wasn’t busy.
“The backup reactor.”
“Don’t give me that. It makes no sense to put something like that in the middle of cargo. What kind of efficiency loss is your engineer okay with? How about shielding the other conduits that run alongside the power output? Who in their right mind redesigns a whole section of a ship to do that when the other side’s already designed for it.”
Thuruk’s smile said he was proud of what Jeremy had said. But he had no idea why that would be.
“Aren’t you going to answer my questions?”
“Why? You have already answered them.”
Jeremy narrowed his eyes.
“The point is that no one would do this. If we are attacked and engineering rendered inoperable, the attackers will not know to come here to look for the power we have.”
“Except you guys didn’t bring anti-matter in when we came here. That reactor already had it. That stuff can be detected with just about any scanner. It’s pretty much screaming ‘here I am’.”
“This room is appropriately shielded. The technology isn’t one I know, but I trust those who created and installed it.”
“And a void in scans isn’t going to raise suspicion at all, is it?”
“The shielding reads as the room being filled with cargo.”
 “So I was right, the whole merchant thing’s an act, as was the limping into the station for repairs, since you have this. Just why were you there for, then?” Something else occurred to him. “Is the reactor even down? Was having me repair it just part of the act? Is that why you were always around me? To make sure I didn’t pick up in the fact it works?”
“No. The reactor is damaged. It wasn’t part of the plan, but Meddling happened. The Engineer was hurt in the process. Then you came, and met—” the name was Kelsirian, and long. The sounds were familiar, and the context said it was Growler’s name. And Thuruk looked quite pleased it had happened.
“Right. You want me to believe it was all a coincidence?”
The confused look Thuruk gave him was similar to Growlers when he tried to work out what it meant
“It basically means meddling, but without assigning the event to some supernatural force.”
“It is different, but I expect it is due to our different cultures. As for why we were at the station, you Heart will answer that question.” He looked over his shoulder and spoke to the technicians. Then answered, and he motioned for Jeremy to head for the exit.
“Don’t we need to stay and supervise them?”
“They are qualified technicians. They will remain until replacements arrive shortly. Monitoring is needed while it is active, but no more, unless we need to stress the reactor.”
“Alright.” Jeremy walked with Thuruk. “You won’t tell me why you were at the station. Can you tell me something about what you do?”
“We go to station. We trade.” The Kelsirian grinned when Jeremy turned a glare on him. “We listen, sniff the air, feel the ground. Kelser has enemies, and we, as well as other hunters, stand ready if they act.”
“But humans and Kelser are allies, aren’t we? There’s no reason for you to do…whatever you did there.”
“I can’t tell you why we went—”
“Right. My Heart will tell me. Sometimes this rank thing you guys have gets annoying.”
“I can’t tell you, Jeremy, because I don’t know. I’m a front line hunter. I go where I’m told. I knew there was something happening because we needed to make the reactor appear defective; before They Meddled and it was damaged. The Engineer would be told, because he would demand to know why he should tamper with his reactor, and the Alpha would tell him. The Engineer had no need to explain it to me.”
“And you’re okay with that? Just doing what you are told? What if…I don’t know. What if they send you somewhere and tell you to kill everyone there?”
“I trust that my Beta would tell me what I needed to know to do the work. If why I need to do so is important, I will be told.”
“I don’t think I could do that. Just follow orders.”
“You are an Engineer, not a hunter. You are the one telling other what to do. You deserve explanations.”
They exited the lift to the Promenade. “So you are military security for your people?”
“Hunters answer to the government, after they answer to the gods.”
Jeremy tried to puzzle out if that was just a saying, or if they really believed gods gave orders. He gave up. He expected that he’d need to start with a belief gods were real before he could hope to figure out that one.
How deserted the vast space was drove home how busy the shops had been the previous times he’d come through.
“So, you might not be exactly military, but this ship sees combat, right? Why this entire section, then?”
“Because we all need to live?” Thuruk eyed him with a mixture of suspicion and curiosity. “Don’t the people in your military have their families with them?”
“If you mean on the ship they serve on, I don’t think so.” He thought back to the conversations in his youth. Joining the military had been on the mind of many of his friends and schoolmates. “They deploy on a ship for a few years, then get assigned to a post on Earth for sometimes so they can be with their families.”
“That seems lonely. My mate is here, as is…. I don’t find an equivalent word in Earther.” He shrugged. “Most of those I care about are here. My parents and siblings are home and elsewhere in space. But those immediately close to me are here. It is the same for all the hunters here, as well as the crew. And this is where we shed our ranks and designation. Here we can be civilians like everyone else.”
“But isn’t this dangerous? Won’t the people attacking you know to target this part of the ship? Hurting family is going to demoralize any soldier, hunter.”
“You don’t realize where in the ship we are, do you?”
Jeremy laughed. “I know this is the market area, but since you mean where this is in relationship to everything else in the ship, no, I don’t.”
“This is as deep within the ship as it is possible to get. To target the civilians, another ship needs to get through the hull, as well as every other deck. And when we get into a conflict, the civilians are instructed to head to more secure areas. It’s why the Promenade is so barren. With the emergency over, they are home. Once they have confirmed everyone is safe, they will return to their duties.”
He motioned to a pair of Kelsirians who were righting a display that had been knocked over.
“So, you make sure they’re safe?”
Thuruk said something that had the feel of a chant. Then he smiled. “Hunters were put among the people by the gods to see to their safety.”
“Right.” He chuckled. “I think that how central gods are to your way of thinking might take a lot of getting used to.” He looked around. “How long until we reach Growler’s quarters? I have no idea how to get there.”
Thuruk stared.
“The captain? My Heart? I can’t pronounce his Kelsirian name, so Querik said I should use that one. He doesn’t seem to mind.”
“That is not where I am taking you. He will be on the bridge until everything is settled. Which will be for many hours still. There is a leisure alley with a wide array of entertainment.”
“I think I’d rather head to engineering. If we’re in space, it’s important we get it working. I doubt you get as much out of the backup. It looks to be just over half the volume of the other one. So I think we—”
Thuruk grabbed his arm as Jeremy turned around. He wasn’t sure where engineering was, but he had a sense it was in the opposite direction.
“No. An emergency has ended. Now is the time to appreciate that we have survived. There will be work to do tomorrow. Now we rest.”
“But I—”
“No, Jeremy. I will not let your Earther mindset lead to you overworking yourself the way I let happen before. You are my friend. My Alpha’s Heart. I will ensure you remain healthy. That means now is time to rest.”
He chuckled. “Is any of that recreation in English? Because, unlike you, I’m not a wiz at picking up languages.”
“That…”
“You hadn’t thought of that, had you?”
“No. But it is something that can be dealt with.”
* * * * *
Jeremy looked around the large room. The empty large room. Desks and chairs were peppered through it in what felt haphazardly. “Hello?” he called out.
Thuruk had escorted him, receiving a call as they reached the door. He assured him this was the place he would be helped before saying his mate wanted to see him.
Maybe he’d forgotten that by his own words, people might not be working right now.
The door at the back of the room opened, and a Kelsirian stepped out. They were short, with light gray fur and vibrant blue eyes. The word Jeremy wanted to assign was ‘petite’, but he couldn’t tell if they were man or woman.
“Greetings,” they said. “May I be of assistance?”
“Does everyone here speak English?”
“No.”
“Seems like a lot of people here do.”
“There was a hope to visit the Earther station. Can I assist you in some way?”
“I don’t know. I’m Jeremy. My friend, Thuruk, wanted to take me to some leisure place, but I pointed out I don’t read or understand Kelsirian, so he took me here instead.”
“Do you have a desire to learn it?”
Jeremy chuckled. “At this point, it’s more like a need than a desire, but I figure it’s something I can tackle over the coming months.”
“Why wait? I can help.” They motioned to the open door. “It is best if you come in my office. The counselors will return soon. This was minor, but there is always someone who needs to talk through what happened.”
“And that’s why you do here? Counsel people?”
The office had plants. Many of them. A few looked like they might be from Earth. A fern looked nearly identical to some he’d seen in the forest, except for the color being too yellow. But he could imagine that being normal in another country.
“It is one of the duties I perform. I am the ship’s Psychologist.”
He didn’t miss the capital ‘P.’ “And you’re going to…what? I’m sorry, but I expect teaching language to be more something a linguist would to.”
She motioned to a seat before her office and he took it. She took the one facing it. “May I take your hand? I’m aware you’ve had adverse reaction to being touched by my people.”
He swallows the discomfort. It wasn’t strong enough, or oozing enough to warrant the box. He offered it to her.
“Do Earthers have people whose talents involve the shaping of minds?”
“Do you mean teachers?”
She shook her head.
Something Querik said came back to him. “You mean mentalists. No, we don’t have them.”
“Then let me explain. We can shape a mind, with the consent of the recipient,” she added as Jeremy considered pulling his hand away. “In small ways. As a Psychologist, I mainly focus on helping people through difficulties, but because I am a mentalist, I have learned how to implant the knowledge of languages I have learned into others.”
“Implant? Like I’ll just know Kelsirian language when I leave here?”
She smiled. “It will take six sessions, spaced by a few days to let your mind rest.”
“Six? That’s it? And I’ll be able to read and speak it?”
“Earther voice boxes aren’t built for our language, but you will be able to understand it when spoken to you, and read it by the time we are done. The knowledge will be incomplete after the initial sessions, but after the third, you will be able to understand most conversations. After the sixth, even technical conversation will be possible, if you have the needed knowledge. I only impart the words and their meaning. Not the knowledge they impart.”
“Okay. Are there any risks? Can I have adverse effects? I mean, I’m guessing you haven’t tried it on a human mind before.”
“You are correct, but the shape of your mind is close enough to ours I don’t see a problem.”
He looked at his hand in hers. “You can already read my mind, can’t you.”
“If it was the goal of this session, and if I had received, and agreed with, orders given by a representative of Kelser, or Federation law, then yes. I would. But my responsibility is to the wellbeing of those living on this ship. That rarely requires more than what they let leak themselves.”
Did he have any secrets, anyway? It wasn’t like what had been hidden from him would bother her. He closed his eyes as the vision of him and Growler, in bed, doing more than snuggling, came to him. Then he had to summon the box as his stomach protested.
Her expression was neutral when he opened them. He probably wasn’t the first person to let leak something private like that. 
“Alright. What do you need me to do?”
She smiled. “Simply relax. If you feel oddities with how you think, don’t fight them. If you can, think in images until I’m done. It avoids the mind feeling conflict as the implanting happens. Afterward, you should remain here until your mind has settled. There is a period of confusion within it while the languages settle together. Normally, I wouldn’t ask that you stay, but you lack familiarity with the ship, and combined with an inability to understand, it could lead to difficulties.”
“Do you have the authority to contact Gr—the captain? To let him know I’m here, in case he’s done with his work before I’m able to understand?”
“I can, and I will. May I proceed?”
He nodded.
He brought up the latest schematic and tried to work on it, as it was the least word related thing he could think of, but then she started working, and as much as she’d advised him not to pay attention, he couldn’t help focusing on how it felt to have someone adding information to his mind.