The Hamalki raised a pointed appendage. It reshaped into the form of a V. She could hear the giant spider fill up an airsack in preparation to speak. "Hhhhhlive long and prosper, T'Nia. I have missed seeing you."
The escaping air, pushing through his makeshift vocal chords was barely above a whisper, but T'Nia was listening. She had spent many years talking to him. "As I recall, you spent the past couple of years aboard the USS Ballista. Did you enjoy it?"
He formed another airsack. This one took awhile to inflate, so she knew he had a lot to say. "Hhhhhhoh, yes. Almost everyone was wonderful. It took awhile for the bipeds to get accustomed to me, but once we got to know each other, it was like another family." He bent his large, fanged mouth into a toothy grin.
"Such relationships are quite important, Box. It is good you established them." Her own mind wandered back to her previous assignment aboard the USS Intrepid II, a starship crewed soley by Vulcans. It was comfortable to be in the continual company of fellow Vulcans, yet it wasn't what she had hoped. It didn't take long for her to realize she had missed the company of irrational, emotional humans. Her great epiphany was that, although she was a creature of logic and would forever remain that way, she actually preferred the company of humans. Her mind quickly snapped back to the conversation at hand. "You must have been quite disappointed when the Ballista was decommissioned."
"Hhhhhhit was quite a blow, yes. However, she was over 20 years old. My entire shift was consumed with making repairs. My task list was ever-changing, but it never dwindled in length. Her time had come, and I have fond memories of my crewmates." His bulbous head hung down.
"I am curious, Box. Your species is generally quite pacificial. What made you decide to serve aboard a warship?" She sat down to listen to him speak.
"Hhhhhthat answer should be obvious, T'Nia." His head raised and another smile beamed. "You, Tony, and Stephen are the best friends I ever had. You have all been like family to me. I could never pass up an opportunity to be with you again."
T'Nia bowed her head. She was sincerely touched. "I am honored, Box. This shall be an acceptable position for me as well. I look forward to renewing our friendship and serving with you."
Box tilted his head. His eight eyes stared at her for several moments. "Hhhhhhhi like your hair long like that, T'Nia. However, it is a very human hairstyle."
She absently ran her fingers through her hair. "Thank you, Box. It was not very popular aboard the Intrepid. Such long hair was not 'logical'."
The giant spider shook and made a noise reminiscent of chimes. She recognized it immediately as his way of laughing.
"Am I interrupting anything?" The voice came from behind T'Nia. She turned to see the familiar voice.
"Not at all, Doctor," T'Nia replied. With her face turned away from Box, she raised an eyebrow to the doctor.
Understanding her subtle question, he smiled broadly and gave her a quick wink, "Well, I thought I'd come over and introduce myself to my new crewmate. After all, we're liable to be together for quite some time. We should at least try to get to know each other, shouldn't we?" His voice sounded almost sincere.
His eyes betrayed him a bit, though. T'Nia could tell this was hard for him. "Very true, Doctor," she replied, her facial expression soft again, "Doctor Rass Dorrin, this is...well...Leiutenant Box."
The doctor slowly extended his hand to the large, crystalline spider. "Leiutenant Box, it's a pleasure."
The Hamalki extended one of his twelve limbs to the doctor. The mandible reformed to include three digits. He took the doctor's hand. "Hhhhhthe pleasure is mine, Doctor Rass."
The feeling wasn't at all what the doctor was expecting. Each digit, though easily twice as large as a human finger, was quite gentle. The skin, though soft, and obviously mallible, in appearance, was quite firm. The smiling mouth revealed row after row of rather long, sharp teeth, with a pair of pincers just inside. It then dawned on him, the spider wasn't talking through his mouth. The voice was coming out his left side somewhere. Upon closer look, the crystalling body was semi-transparent. The doctor could, with some focus, see a sack within the abdomen that contained his vital organs. Almost immediately, his initial feeling of discomfort left him. A doctor's curiosity filled him in its place.
The doctor sat down next to the great spider. "Please forgive me for staring, but your species fascinates me. You are actually the first I have met. Would you mind if I asked you some questions?"
Once again, the spider shook and made a noise like the ringing of chimes. Its toothy maw elongated into a large smile. From inside the spider, the doctor could hear air being sucked in. "Hhhhhhnot at all, Doctor. It would please me greatly."
The doctor began a liteny of questions. He had completely forgotten he was in a cramped, over-crowded, flying coffin. Seated next to him, T'Nia did her best not to smile.