GOM 3, chapter 1 (Patreon)

Gods of Misfortune 3, chapter 1. The struggle here is to reintroduce the universe for people who haven’t read it in a while (which would be you guys) without dumping background.  So I would love some feedback on whether I am 1) successfully pushing the story forward, 2) providing enough background for the universe to make sense—if not, tell me what confuses you, and 3) offering an interesting enough hint as to the story’s conflict to make you want to keep reading.  Here we go….

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Regi was sorting reports when Vk slipped into his office. For a large creature, she could move silently. “You need to talk to Dante,” she said with a without preamble. Regi closed his files.

“Why? Is he annoying Ter again?” Dante took a perverse pleasure in provoking the engineer. Given that their engine repairs had encountered so many setbacks that even Bekdi a’Gavd had to admit that the gods were involved, harassing the ship's engineer was a bad idea, especially since Ter’s temper could challenged an enraged freio. Every time his staff or their Kowri assistants had tracked down one error, another part of the engine would fail the pre-flight test. At this point, a freio was safer than Ter.

Vk honked in amusement. “Like the rest of us, Dante has decided to avoid Ter until the current run of bad luck ends. Since your gods seem to be in charge of fate, and you’re some sort of priest now, do you have an estimate about when your gods might stop blessing us with bad luck?”

Having crew ask him to interpret the will Kowri gods was a new experience for Regi. In the twelve years that he had served on Coalition ships, no crew member had ever shown any respect towards Kowri gods. That was probably because the rest of the universe defined a god as a supernatural creature responsible for scientific phenomenon that was otherwise difficult to understand. For the Kowri, gods were the powerful but not all-knowing neighbors who brought their twin blessings of disaster and opportunity to the Kowri in order to guide the Empire down the path that the gods chose. And Kowri who failed to listen suffered such an excess of bad luck that they died.

Regi was beginning to think huumans had an altogether different definition of god, but so far Dante had been unwilling to explain clearly how his species described their faith. In fact, Regi was beginning to think that his god Texas might not be a god at all.

As much as Regi respected Dante's ability to survive enslavement by pirates and recover with a sense of humor that belied the suffering he had endured, Regi simply did not understand Dante with any sort of regularity. The man showed reverence for the Kowri gods, specifically the goddess who had chosen to focus her attention on Regi and Dante—the deadly Divashi. But a single moment after expressing that respect, he would look upward and insult Divashi in ways that surpassed irreverence. Some day the Lady would take offense.

Vk cleared her nose with a huff. “Your gods are an issue for another day. Right now, I am more concerned about a report from Bevit.”

“I haven't seen any report from the doctor.” Regi swiped his hand over the desk controls to see if a priority command report had appeared since he started reviewing his paperwork.

“She was attempting to avoid anything official because she understands that you are justifiably sensitive about Dante's reputation.” Vk wrinkled her long nose, and Regi’s fur rose in alarm. However, if Dante were in immediate danger, Vk would not have taken so long to share the information. She was a terrible shot but an excellent second in command.

“What exactly did she hope to avoid saying publicly?” he asked.

“Until Dante joined us, it never occurred to me how difficult it must be to have one's actions be judged as the standard for which an entire species is evaluated. I know that few of my species enter space, but outsiders visit our planets and there are enough of us that if one looks up my species name in the database, my skills and shortcomings are not used at the standard for all Heor.” Vk gave Regi a look that was entirely too insightful. She was his second-in-command in the security division, so if anyone was going to realize the isolating nature of being the only Kowri in all of Coalition space, she would be the one to do so.

“I came to terms with it a long time ago,” Regi said.

Vk straightened her nose out again, a gesture of agreement. “Maybe you are used to it, but I suspect Dante isn't, which is why the doctor did not want to put it into the record that he is currently imbibing fluid Merbol gave him with the intent of lowering his own inhibitions and disconnecting from legitimate concerns.”

That was the most technical description of inebriation Regi had ever heard. “Dante is a medically fragile species. If he has been given illicit substances to alter his function, he should be in medical.” He swiped his desk to disconnect access and stood. Vk moved to block his exit.

“As Dr. Bevit pointed out, if he is in medical, then she must generate a Coalition report. Since there are so few reports on the biological function of huumans, then his choice to become inebriated may be interpreted as a species trait.” Vk gave him a long and critical glare. Both of them knew how difficult it was for some individuals to gain work on Coalition stations or ships because they were from species that were perceived as irresponsible due to species traits. Dante's behaviors now could define his people's relationship with the universe for the next several centuries.

“What does Bevit want me to do?”

“She wants you to stay with him and ensure that if there is a medical emergency, that you call her.”

As much as Regi feared the idea of Dante being alone during this time, he was even more fearful of spending too much time alone with the man. “Dante is a rather hearty individual considering that he comes from a medically fragile species. I'm sure he is fine,” Regi said. Ever since they had been lost in the wilderness together, Regi had developed an inappropriate fondness for the man. Dante had been stolen from his own world and his own people when he was still too young to be fully adult by his own definition. He had never given in to self-death, despite the fact that his species’ had a word for it, suicide, implying huumans used it regularly enough to require a unique word. And his loyalty had nearly undone Regi in the field. When Siger and his henchmen had attacked during the ambush, Regi had wanted to throw himself atop Dante and shield him, even though such an action would have led to both their deaths.

No, Regi was not to be trusted around an inebriated Dante. While Regi would never take advantage, maintaining healthy emotional boundaries was difficult. And right now he would shave his fur to avoid this situation.

Instead of being impressed by Regi's self-control, Vk narrowed her eyes and studied him the way one might study an edvidas that had crawled its way into one's quarters, leaving a trail of violently yellow slime behind.

“He requires monitoring,” Vk said slowly and deliberately, so much so that the translator in Regi's head tingled in distress as it attempted to overcome the unfamiliar pronunciation.

Regi tried to keep his ears forward, but it was a battle. “If that is true, perhaps you should sit with him.” Vk was a good choice. She had left her world because she did not fit into the cultural expectations of her people, including the expectation to find a mate. Even if she grew to admire Dante as much as Regi did, she would never overstep that boundary.

Vk huffed, the air blowing out her nose so quickly that tiny bits of mucus lining were expelled. She didn't even apologize for spewing bodily fluids. She leaned forward into Regi's space, her hands braced on his desk. “If something is happening that requires him to escape reality to such an extent that he would use chemical means, then he requires a friend. I assumed you were his friend. If you are not, tell me and I shall be sure to fill that role and express my displeasure with your duplicitous nature as one of my duties of friendship.”

Regi held his hands low in supplication. “It's not a good idea for me to be around him when his inhibitions are lowered.”

“Why?”

Regi stared at her. She stared back. Then slowly she started straightening up. Her nose lengthened so much that all of the wrinkles smooth and her eyes grew wide. “I had thought you too inhibited to have such thoughts Regi a’Divashi.”

Regi sighed. He should have known he couldn’t keep his feelings from Vk forever. “So did I,” he admitted.

“That does not explain why you refuse to sit with a friend who clearly needs your presence.”

“Yes, it does. He needs a friend. That is an individual who will not pursue their own interests ahead of Dante’s. I trust you to be Dante's friend, but I do not trust myself.”

Vk gave him a look full of pity. “You are too critical of yourself. And you are too dismissive of Dante and his force of personality. I have seen him force any number of people to back down. If you show interest that he is not willing to return, he will force you to back down.”

“If he is such a formidable individual, then I expect can handle intoxication on his own.”

“Considering that humans are such a new entry to space that Bevit has no idea how they might metabolize such fluids, I do not have that much faith.”

Regi silently cursed Bevit for putting this medical issue onto him. He was not equipped to protect Dante from his own desire to imbibe. In fact, he would have taken steps to prevent it had he thought for a moment that the Kowri engineer assigned to assist Ter would like Dante enough to share such fluids.

“I assume the doctor has performed compatibility tests on the liquid and Dante’s biology.” Dante was many things, but he was not foolish enough to handle an alien substance without checking for safety, at least not unless the alien substance in question had four legs. The man was foolish when it came to animals.

“Bevit believes it safe, but she also said that her belief is not absolute because human physiology is beyond her medical experience, and the database has no information to supplement her own. So you,” Vk said before she poked three fingers into his chest, “need to get over your own issues and go sit with him in case there is some sort of medical need. And while you are there, figure out why your friend has suddenly asked for mind-altering liquids. That is not in Dante's character, and you know it.”

“You could serve as well as I.”

“Stop being a coward,” Vk said before she turned and left the room.

On the planet, Regi was an exalted. Kowri listened to him with awe. True, fairly significant percentage of Kowri hated him for bringing outsiders through the border of Kowri space, but even the ones that hated him respected him. On the ship, apparently that was not the case.

A petty part of Regi wanted to write a report documenting Vk's refusal to accept an assignment given to her by her superior, but that wouldn't be fair. And like it or not, Regi did value fairness. He also valued not taking advantage of a male to new to the universe to understand his place in it. So apparently he was doomed to an evening of exerting iron self-control.

Either that or Regi was about to do something to shame himself and the gods. The odds of that were higher than Regi would like.