Hurry Up Wait

Nolee had space sickness. She kept to her quarters on the Vulcan cruiser. When the room wasn't spinning, she watched educational modules about Ktarians and read Federation penal code without understanding much. She received communications from friends and colleagues but didn't write back. She sent a message to Bernadine saying she was safe.
The ship's day had twenty-six hours. Around hour ten of the second day, Nolee heard a chime. A moment later it recurred louder. The door to her quarters opened. Nevu stepped inside.
"Are you still ill?"
"A little dizzy."
"Stand up."
Nolee stood and swayed to the left. She caught herself on the desk.
Nevu stepped closer. With one arm, they held Nolee firmly around the waist. With their other hand they pressed a hypospray to Nolee's neck and released the trigger. Nolee immediately felt the dizziness abate.
"I wish you had done that the first day."
"It's better to let the body adapt on its own. You are too slow."
"Is that normal for humans?"
"No." Nevu tucked the hypospray into their tunic. "Can you walk with me?"
"I think so."
Nevu exited the room. Nolee followed. The corridor was bare and dark. The floor was textured metal and the walls hummed.
"You may explore the ship at will."
"Is anything off limits?"
"There are security measures to prevent you from entering restricted areas." Nevu's wrist beeped and spewed out alien words.
"Tehr requires assistance in the left cargo bay," said Nevu. "I must return to my work. Can you join them?"
"Oh—okay."
Nevu tapped a panel on the corridor wall and pressed a few icons.
"Follow the yellow lights to the bay. Go as quickly as you are able."

The floor of the cargo bay was covered with tussock grass. There were blueberry bushes, forget-me-nots, goosetongue, and lousewort. The walls had scattered clumps of moss and lichen. A narrow creek ran along the far wall.
Tehr was on their hands and knees in the corner, pointing a light into a pile of rocks.
"Come here," they said without turning around.
Nolee stood behind the Andorian.
"Down. Here." They held out the flashlight. Nolee knelt and took it. She flashed it into a small gap between the rocks and saw a bit of fluff and one shiny eye.
"Caution. It bit me."
"What is it?"
"A col-la-red pi-ka."
"You must have frightened it."
"I was gentle."
"They're a prey species. Everything frightens them."
"I need to inspect its health." Tehr picked up a small tablet from the ground and wiped a dark liquid from the screen. Nolee noticed Tehr's right thumb, swollen and sloppily wrapped, and the blue spatter on their clothes.
"You're bleeding!"
"The wound is minor." They tapped the tablet several times and passed it to Nolee. "Assess the beast. Please."
Nolee put down the flashlight and took the tablet. It displayed a menu in English. She chose the option to check vital signs. After a moment, the display changed to a list of values she didn't understand.
"Orient it toward the beast," said Tehr, who had removed the bandage and was cauterizing their wound.
Nolee positioned the tablet with top at the lip of the crevice. The display changed to a flurry of numbers organized within four boxes. The largest box displayed a heart rate of two hundred seventy-six and a respiratory rate of fifty-two.
"I think it's okay," said Nolee. "Small animals have fast heartbeats."
"How many are there?"
"How many what?"
"Squares."
"Four. Three don't have much information."
"Good. The beast remains enfetused."
Nolee pulled away from the rocks and sat on the ground. The ground was as rough and springy as the taiga. She watched Tehr use a cloth to erase blood from their garment. Their thumb was intact but still swollen.
"Why did you bring all this on board?"
"The ship lacked a living space. Your native biome is excellent for oxygen production. The average temperature suits my kind."
Nolee looked around and up. The walls and ceiling mimicked the Alaskan sky at midday. The sun was easier to look at.
"Does it look like home?"
"Pretty much. It doesn't feel like it."
"What is missing?"
"Wind." She pointed to the taller plants. "They should be moving. Where I live, the air is almost never still."
"That is helpful. You can go."

Nolee went to the kitchen for dinner. There was another person sitting at the table, a small, compact nonhuman in a jumpsuit that looked like footie pajamas.
"Hello," said the person. They spoke with a translator delay.
"Hello. I'm Nolee." Tehr and Nevu entered the room.
"I'm Harth. I am J'naii."
"I'm human."
Harth laughed. "Of course. Humans are very recognizable."
"You have a distinct scent," said Tehr.
"When you introduce yourself formally, say that you are Terran," said Nevu.
"Oh. Thanks. Do I smell?"
"Not much," said Harth. "Are you feeling better?"
"Yes, thanks. Are you—"
"I am the pilot."
"Are there more people on board?"
"No," said Nevu. "I am the captain. Tehr is the engineer. We are sufficient."
"The computer does most of the piloting," said Harth.
"Do you have a food preference?" asked Tehr. "We can replicate several of your meats."
"I prefer lasagna," said Nolee. "Vegetarian," she said, smiling at Nevu, who was reading their wrist and didn't acknowledge her.
"A complication?" Tehr asked.
"Not yet." Nevu pulled their sleeve down. "Who wants plomeek soup?"

Nolee started a course on xenobiology. She was studying Vulcan anatomy when Tehr summoned her to the cargo bay.
The bay was windy and the foliage more lush. "Help me move these rocks," Tehr said, pointing to a shoulder-high cairn. "We will build more habitats for the pika's young."
Tehr and Nolee each created a loose pile of rocks some distance from the first one. They worked together to build a fourth.
"You are laconic," said Tehr.
"Sometimes, I guess."
"I thought humans were gregarious to the point of insolence."
"Not all of us."
"Perhaps the ones who choose exploration are more prone to ebullience."
"Maybe."
The pika, perching on its rock pile, squeaked at them.
"Territorial," said Tehr. "I like this beast."
"Does it have a name?"
Tehr stared at the pika, who was pulling dried grasses into its home. "Tami."
"Tammy?"
"Is that an odd name?"
"No, it's good." Nolee wiped the rock dust from her hands. "What do you plan to do with her?"
"Nothing. She is part of the biome. And she is endearing."
"When she's not biting you."
"Even when she bites me." Tehr wiggled their right thumb, which was wholly healed. "I no longer require assistance. You can go."
"Can I ask you something? I don't know if it's too personal or not."
"You can ask. If your question annoys me I will not answer."
"How did you all figure it out?"
The pika squeaked again. Tehr squeaked back before answering. "I will confine my answer to ten statements. Nevu was born with genetic abnormalities previously unseen in her species."
"Nevu uses she? Sorry, I should ask her."
"In your language, female-coded terms are acceptable. I will continue. The abnormalities correlated to her base code. Do you understand base code?"
"The genes all anthropoids share?"
"Yes. Her physicians looked for cases among other species. I had similar abnormalities. The Vulcans worked with my parents' doctors. In examining all possible contributing factors, they discovered her birth parent and my shen had each shared intimacy with the same person—"
"Commander—"
"Daddy Space Slut."
Nolee choked and laughed, wheezing.
"Is the translation incorrect?"
"It is correct. The accuracy caught me off guard." Nolee breathed deeply to calm herself.
"Detection was initially complicated by Nevu's birth parent's hypersleep during travel to a distant colony and my species' ability to delay zygote transfer. That is seven. You may ask more questions."
"Could there be more?"
"Based on the prolific proclivities of Daddy Space Slut, there could be hundreds, theoretically. Realistically, most partners would have been infertile at the time of intimacy. Most resultant pregnancies would not have been viable."
"The abnormalities…is Nevu healthy? Are you?"
"We have reached ten statements."
"Oh. Right. Can you clarify a term?"
"Proceed."
"What is a—shan?"
"Shen. One of my two female parents. I received genetic material from my shen, who provided the egg, and my zhen, my incubator. I am not related to my thaan or my chen."
"I haven't gotten to the chapter on Andorians in my xenobiology course."
"It is complicated." Tehr and Tami exchanged more squeaks.
"One more question?"
"One."
"Have you ever spoken to him?"
"There is a protocol. You can request to contact him, and he can request to contact you. If both parties agree, communication is authorized. I have not. I can't speak for the others."
"Thank you for answering me."
"My turn. Do your genetic abnormalities cause you harm?"
"I don't think so." Nolee shivered; the wind was picking up, just as it would at the time of day the microbiome was imitating. "When I was young, trips to the pediatrician took a long time. We always had to wait for other doctors to come and look at me and talk to my mother. I think we went to a specialist in Juneau when I was about nine. After that…I don't know. I should look at my records when I'm back on Earth."
"You don't smell different from other humans."
"Thanks. You seem healthy too."
"I am perfect. I am a complete Andorian. Do you know what that means?"
"No."
Tehr accessed their wrist panel and wrote a word with the tip of their finger. "You would say in-ter-sex."
"Oh, right. Yes. I understand."
"I doubt that. Thank you for your help."

Nolee tried to find her quarters unassisted and found the kitchen instead. Harth sat at the table, watching a screen and munching on leaves.
"Do you want some? No, wait. I think they'd kill you."
"No, thank you, then." Nolee sat in her favorite chair, the one with arms. "May I ask you something?"
"Yes."
"J'naii are androgynous?"
"Mostly."
"And you use gender-neutral terms to describe yourself?"
"I do." Harth got up and discarded the uneaten leaves. "Do you want to play a game?"
"Sure."
Harth padded over to a cabinet. "I replicated a few. Jess, par-jee-zee, back-gaw-mon, ru-isk…"
"I like backgammon."
Nolee set up the board. "Do you know how to play?"
"No idea!" Harth seemed delighted by their ignorance.
"How old are you?"
"I must calculate." Harth tapped on their wrist. "Seventeen in Terran years."
"Are you an adult?"
"Mostly."
"Why aren't you with your family?" Harth looked down. "I'm sorry, I'm nosy today."
"It's okay. Can I be red?"
"Sure." Harth learned the game quickly. They beat Nolee twice, once with luck and once with a little skill. Nolee decided to take a break and replicated two hot chocolates. Harth's was weak enough to avoid intoxication.
Nolee passed a mug to Harth, who was nestling the counters and dice into their beds.
Harth looked up. Her shiny dark eyes reminded Nolee of the pika. "I ran away from home," they said. "Tehr and Nevu took me in."
"That must have been difficult."
"It was an easy decision. I needed a home. They need a pilot. I'm skilled." Harth folded the backgammon board and put away the game. "Will you make dinner with me?"
"I'd love to."