Starmind Chapter 41 (Patreon)

That whole day was really good.

After we talked to Tammeron, Varlanda and Harvin went immediately to activate the shrouding ritual, to keep Sophia’s Diviner out of everyone’s heads. Then she and Bekeri mostly spent the rest of the day working on the new Mana Condensation Matrix and the Phase-Disruption Field Generator that they’d started on before Sophia took them from me. Harvin bounced back and forth between them when either needed an extra hand with something. And Temeri decided to skive off work!

To be entirely fair, she did ask if there was anything she could help with. When both Varlanda and Bekeri told her that there were things she could do if she just wanted to keep busy, but they could do them quicker, she thanked them for their candor and asked me to call up Captain Tammeron.

“Bit of an odd request, maybe,” Temeri said once Sophia connected us to the acting captain, “but do you mind if I take a lap or two around the docking bays? They’re all connected, correct?”

“I don’t have a problem with that, though Sophia might want to keep an eye on you,” Tammeron answered. She sounded amused — like she was smiling as she spoke. “Looking to stretch your legs?”

“Just so. Honestly, I’ve been cooped up for over a month with not so much as a treadmill. Star made me some weights, but I’ve got enough nervous energy to burn for a solo trip to Lunaris and back.”

“We do have an actual physical exercise facility in the station proper, you know. Gym, pool, track. Handball courts, too, both Mundus and Lunaris standard grav. You’re welcome to use them.”

“Thanks for the offer, Tammeron. I might take you up on that in the future. For now, the docking bays will do just fine.”

“Well, let me know. Hell, I might join you. Simeon tells me I need to start building up these new legs as soon as possible. I tell you, Carlon, it’s a weird look, being half a desk jockey.”

Temeri’s eyes widened when she heard that, and she winced, just a little. “Sorry to hear that,” she said. “I, ah… I lost half an arm once. I can at least begin to relate.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Tammeron replied casually. “Not my first amputation, either, but it’s not like it gets any more fun. Maybe we can swap war stories after our negotiations, eh?”

“Yeah,” Temeri echoed, and her lips twitched up a little. “Maybe.”

“Well, enjoy your run. I need to get back on this intel packet. Barely know what I’m doing, so you’ll have to forgive me if the annotations are shit. Tammeron out!”

“Carlon out,” Temeri said. And then she laughed.

*

It was strange having Temeri just casually disembark again. I asked her a couple of times as she was changing into her one set of exercise clothes if she really had to, and her reply was, “Unless you can set me up with a track, yes. I really have to.”

It felt almost as bad when she left me as it had the first time, but two things made it easier. The first was that she promised to be back in fifteen minutes at the very most, though she did say she might take another lap, “if I’m really feeling it.” The other was that she took a comms medallion with her, which I could use to check in on her whenever I wanted to. Which I did a few times when I couldn’t see her — she was out of breath, but very understanding.

She did take that second lap, I’d’ve preferred if she hadn’t — I wanted her back onboard immediately — but she made sure to touch my landing struts and the ladder as she passed, panting out, “All good!” and letting me feel her presence. It was a nice little gesture, I thought.

When she finally came back from her second lap, which took her thirteen whole minutes, instead of eleven like the first one, she was gasping for breath and smiling like I’d never seen before.

I really needed to prioritize getting her a track.

*

The rest of the day just sort of passed, and I loved it. It was almost like it had been before we landed on Sophia, except more relaxed and with no Simeon. They did their work, went to dinner, and… nothing much. They finished their meal and called it a day. I had the pool ready for them, and they spent hours soaking, either in silence, singing softly, or talking about things that mostly had nothing to do with their situation. Sometimes it seemed like they were continuing a conversation they’d started in their little prison, leaving me confused, but I didn’t mind. I felt wonderful! I had four of five Crew back, safe and as happy as I’d ever seen them, and the next day Simeon would be back, too, if only temporarily. And I’d get to see Captain Tammeron for real!

That was, of course, assuming that Simeon said that she was well enough to come down, but I had a sneaking suspicion that he would. When he talked to everyone that afternoon he’d sounded very eager to meet them, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he put some extra effort into making sure that the acting captain was strong enough to visit.

When they went to bed, Temeri didn’t bother with any kind of watch rotation. She just rinsed off in the showers, wrapped herself in a towel, and told them all, “Goodnight, crew. See you in the morning.” She was sleeping soundly by 2200 hours, back in her own bed, quiet and with her brow unfurrowed. I hadn’t seen her sleep many times, but this was probably the most peaceful I’d ever seen her.

Harvin and Varlanda both went to Varlanda’s cabin, which wasn’t so strange, I thought. They were helping each other sleep, after all. But then Varlanda asked me for some privacy, which I really didn’t understand at all. I did it, of course, but when I asked Bekeri why they’d want that all of a sudden he suggested I look in the archives for anything about procreation in organic mortals, and especially the social rites surrounding it. Then I understood. It was similar to the whole ‘being alone in the shower’ thing: It was weird, I didn’t get it, and I had no idea why they were being so awkward about it. But if they didn’t want anyone to see or hear them squoosh their bodies together, that was up to them.

It was still weird.

*

The next day I barely paid attention to anything until 1200 hours. I was pretty sure that Varlanda finished the Mana Condensation Matrix that she’d been working on and connected it, but my storage was full anyway, so that didn’t do anything. All credit to Varlanda for her hard work, but how could I care about that when I had something much more important to focus on?

Early in the morning Sophia confirmed that Simeon had cleared Tammeron to visit, and that they’d be down at noon as agreed. After that I was just too excited to be much use to anyone, except for the most basic things. I helped Temeri set some things up for the meeting, but that was all simple stuff: she told me what to do, and I did it. Very little focus required, and it wasn’t like I could fix any mistakes I might’ve made. Which I probably did, but again: too worked up to really pay attention!

I’d noticed that when one of the Crew got excited, it would wear off pretty quickly. Not so for me; I could keep myself excited for as long as I wanted to, and that morning I really, really wanted to! I was finally going to be complete again! And we’d be meeting Tammeron, not just hearing her, which was huge! I’d be seeing my first person ever who wasn’t Crew and who both was alive and wasn’t trying to hurt any of us! And she might even be a friend, with the way she’d been talking!

Yes. Very exciting. Very exciting indeed!

*

“Listen up, crew,” Temeri said. She’d gathered them in the rec room after Sophia informed us that Simeon was on his way down with our guest. “Captain Tammeron may be on a nickname basis with Healer Tell already, but let’s try to keep this somewhat formal. I’m not going to Code any of you for getting familiar, but this is supposed to be a negotiation. Friendly chatter can wait until after we’ve shaken on something. And if any of you feel less than friendly, considering our recent incarceration, I can’t blame you for that. My personal opinion is that Tammeron took some reasonable precautions and then decided that it would be unconscionable to hold us any longer, but your feelings and opinions are your own. That said, I’d thank you to keep them between us.”

She waited for Varlanda, Bekeri, and Harvin to either nod or voice their understanding, then nodded back. “Good. In that case, feel free to freshen up and kick back. The time is currently… Star?”

“1126 hours, Captain!” I supplied helpfully.

“Thank you. So we should have just over half an hour. Let’s say… assemble in the cargo hold at 1155 hours to be on the safe side. Dismissed!”

Half an hour later they were all in the docking bay, groomed and wearing clean uniforms, jackets and all — I’d lowered the temperature a few degrees to compensate. Simeon and Captain Tammeron were punctual. I was all but bursting with excitement when a door across the bay opened to reveal Simeon and a tall figure that must be Captain Tammeron, with one of the porter golems behind them carrying a largeish box of some sort. I’d already extruded a welcome sign, and a tightly controlled smile pulled on Tammeron’s long, angular face as soon as she saw me. They needed to get closer before Simeon could read it, and then he laughed and said something to the captain that I couldn’t quite pick up, but it made her nod, and her smile grew wider and a little more relaxed.

Tammeron was tall — taller than anyone in the Crew — and though her face was long and narrow, she looked strong… except for her legs, which were incongruously thin. I could see that from how her uniform trousers didn’t quite fill out right. She walked with short, slow steps, not haltingly but carefully, and with her hand on Simeon’s shoulder. I remembered what she’d said, about knowing what it was like to lose part of herself, and how she’d told Temeri that Simeon wanted her to start exercising her new legs. I couldn’t imagine how badly she must have been injured to lose both her legs. Even trying made me feel a little sick with sympathy. But the fact that she was there, coming to us instead of asking my Crew to come to her, having made her way down from wherever in the station she’d been and fighting her way across the five hundred feet between us, made me respect her that little bit more.

Simeon was the only one not wearing a uniform jacket, so I floated one down from his cabin. It was ready and waiting for him in the cargo hold when he and Tammeron stopped a few feet from the ladder, looking up at Temeri, who stood in the open port looking very surprised until she smoothed her face out.

I realized suddenly that they hadn’t actually talked about where exactly the meeting was supposed to take place. That quickly resolved when Tammeron took a step forward. Her voice was stronger and richer than I’d expected from the comms as she said, “Captain Carlon! I’m Acting Captain Tammeron. Permission to come aboard?”

“Granted, Captain!” Temeri said with a pleasant smile. “And Tell, it’s good to see you again.”

“Entirely mutual, Captain,” Simeon replied, then led Tammeron to the ladder.

When she put her hand on the ladder I felt… it wasn’t like my Crew. Not at all the same. They were part of me; they belonged, more than any other part of me besides my Core. But I could feel her presence faintly, just enough to let me know that she was there. I couldn’t remember if I’d felt the boarders like that. They’d only been aboard for moments before their unfortunate mishap with the grenade, and I hadn’t really known that I could feel the presence — or absence — of my Crew until they left me. With Tammeron, though, it was unmistakable. And it made me wonder…

The acting captain climbed with her upper body, only barely using her legs for support. Simeon was right behind her, watching her carefully, and only when she took Temeri’s proffered hand at the top did he grab the ladder himself.

There were no fireworks. No fanfare. But as soon as Simeon grabbed that first rung I felt complete again, all bubbles and giddiness, and I decided that Tammeron could wait a moment. “Simeon!” I cheered into his mind. “Welcome home! We all missed you so much!”

“I know you did,” Simeon laughed as he climbed. “I missed you, too, sweetheart. How’ve you been holding up?”

“Horribly! But that doesn’t matter anymore! You’re all here now!”

A few steps in from the top of the ladder, Temeri and Tammeron had been exchanging pleasantries. When Simeon spoke, Tammeron turned curiously toward the door with a “Hmm?” as though she thought Simeon had been talking to her. Which reminded me that she existed, and that there was something I wanted to do, and something I wanted to try.

“Welcome aboard, Captain Tammeron!” I said into her mind, and she startled, almost falling before Temeri was there, steadying her with one hand on her arm and the other around her back.

“Thank you,” Tammeron said, a little breathless. “Gods beyond, Carlon! I knew that Star spoke to you telepathically, but experiencing it is…” She smiled awkwardly at Temeri, then did that thing the Crew had mostly stopped doing where she looked at the ceiling as she said, “Hello, Star! And thank you. A pleasure.”

“Same! Oh, I wanted to ask: everybody, are you okay with me dropping the gravity to Lunaris standard? I thought that might be easier on Captain Tammeron.”

“That’s very thoughtful, Star,” Temeri said, answering for them. “Please. Go ahead.”

The moment I dropped the gravity, Tammeron relaxed with a little sigh that I could only describe as grateful. I still asked her, “Is that better?”

“Much. Thank you, Star,” Tammeron said and turned to face the Crew. “Void and stars, variable gravity! You’ve got it good in the navy.”

For some reason, they all looked as surprised to see her as Temeri had. No one said anything for a few moments, and the silence got a little awkward before Temeri said, “If it’s any consolation, Star’s the only vessel I’ve served on with a gravity field generator.”

Tammeron’s wry smile matched Temeri’s. “You know what, Carlon? That does make me feel a little better. Now, before we get started: I’ve already told Healer Tell, but Captain Carlon, Enchantress Tell, Artificer Bekeri, Diviner Alder. I’d like to offer you my most sincere regrets that you were held as long as you were. I’d say that Sophia and myself were only following protocol, but I know that’s little consolation to you.”

Tammeron half-turned to look behind her. Simeon had followed her inside and had joined the others, exchanging hugs and handshakes, but the little porter golem — one of mine — stood there with its box. It was a nice box, about a foot-and-a-half on a side and a foot tall, made of actual wood with latches and everything! “Ah, good,” Tammeron said. “I brought a… I’m not sure what to call it. A peace offering, maybe? A ‘hope there’s no hard feelings’ gift?” She took a careful, bouncing step toward the golem and took the box from it, then turned easily and presented it to Temeri. “I may have used my temporary privileges to raid some stores I wasn’t entirely permitted to, but frankly, you deserve it. Enjoy.”

“Oh! Thank you,” Temeri said, looking around and finally taking a long, gliding step over to one of the sealed element storage cubes I’d made. It was a comfortable height for her to put the box down and open it.

I already knew what was inside. I’d been able to see that as soon as the box was onboard, either because it was inside me, or because the porter golem was carrying it — I wasn’t sure which. But I’d restrained myself from telling them; it would be more fun for Temeri to see and show the others for herself. I was sure they’d all be delighted!

Temeri undid the latches and flipped open the lid, and just looked inside silently for a while. The way she was turned, I was the only one who could see the small smile that pulled at her mouth.

“You’ll want to put some of that into either cold storage or stasis pretty quick,” Tammeron said, “but I thought we could use some for lunch? Healer Tell’s been feeding me slop—”

“Nutrient paste tuned for your specific needs,” Simeon corrected gently.

“I know what I meant,” Tammeron shot back. “He’s been very kindly feeding me perfectly balanced slop with an ideal composition since I came out of stasis, and I think we could all enjoy something good.”

“Far be it from me to refuse,” Temeri murmured, lifting a fist-sized lump with a waxy sheen to it. She replaced it and took a step to the side, turning to face the crew. “Feel free. Sate your curiosity. And Tammeron? As far as I’m concerned, you’re entirely forgiven.”