Another day in the cold vastness of space. For some people, the unfathomable immensity, the sheer emptiness stretching for lightyears, was unpleasant. Unnerving even. Being crammed into a can and being the plaything of sun storms, energetic anomalies and radiation in the middle of nothing trillions of kilometers from home was indeed nothing for the faint of heart.
It needed a special kind of person to suffer through all of this and keep a sunny outlook on things. The always-smiling G'nush was one of these people who could draw enough joie de vivre out of himself to hold it into the cold abyss's face. He hadn't been part of the scouts for long, actually, this was his first year, but he had learned the ropes quickly.
Travel alone, be fast, and keep the cloaking switched on as long as possible. Keep that in mind and you could have a pretty pleasant job. Also, from time to time, the view was a nice bonus. Today, or tonight, it was hard to know that on a ship designed to grant just the necessary comfort and proper lighting wasn't deemed essential, he patrolled sector 61D-Alpha. Lizard territory.
These weirdos have been more aggressive lately, the neighboring empires were all tied into border conflicts with them. They had never been a peaceful species but, for a few years, they were even more expansionistic than before.
G'nush checked the emitters once more, the level-5 cloaking was activated. He should be nothing more than background noise on the lizard's scanners. Still, keeping his distance was key to staying alive. Just be silent and watch.
"Shouldn't be too hard," G'nush spoke the, for a while, last words to himself and approached the lizard outpost. This military base was usually a calm place to scout. Though stocked to the brim with ships it was built on the outer rim. Probably to cover their backs in case someone tried to attack them from the Fang nebula.
The Fang-nebula, named after the corkscrew-shaped tooth of a Gurud, a primitive yet deadly lizard species that usually kills its prey with one bite, was just a few scattered star clusters and a whole lot of angry gas. Not worth the hassle to mine or to settle on.
The nebula itself also made navigating it quite demanding due to the abundance of electromagnetic storms. It is simply impossible to fly a straight line without being exploded on a whim. Only someone completely paranoid would have a base here, so the lizards did.
G'nush powered the engine down and used the momentum for a close flyby to the station. The lizards' scanners were good but even they couldn't detect a powered-down cloaked ship.
He held his breath, at least for the first minute. The maneuver was dangerous and time-consuming but the readout on the sensors was worth every single one of the 72 minutes.
By almost scraping by the base it was possible to come close to some vulnerable and unprotected internal systems. Pair that with the lizards's reluctance to implement encryptions that were up to code and you could download a few juice details from their servers. It was the easiest way to spy on them and the scaly bastards hadn't discovered this leak in their security yet. The would come, probably, but G'nush hoped to be far away from their outposts when it did.
The first thing was gaining some distance before he eyed his yield. Being shot because a scanner sensed an anomaly was a typical bad example they showed in basic training.
The station seemed to be readying for something, there were dozens of logged radio messages, a lot more than usual.
But between all the logs and transcripts was a fully saved video file that caught G'nush's attention. He opened it, watched it, waited a few seconds to let it sink in, and then watched it again just to be sure he hadn't just imagined the whole thing.
He heard of space madness, he heard how many others had gone crazy after being trapped in ships for too long and started to see things that weren't there. But this video, it was definitely right there.
"That is... uhm…" He scratched the skin where someone would expect a nose. "The Sergeant probably wants to hear from that."
"I don't know what's wrong with you." Katty chewed, her mouth packed with chunks of nutrient bars leaving just enough pace to barely speak comprehensibly. "They taste great, best thing I have eaten for a year."
Kitty chuckled seeing her sister sit on the edge of the bed in her quarter inhaling dust-flavored blocks of rations. Carmelita on the other hand, who sat with her feet resting on Dudley's desk in his chair, stared at her, disgusted to say the least.
"I stick with normal meals… even if they are also a little bland."
"Yeah? What did your Highness eat during the whole invasion?"
"We had hydroponics which w-"
"You had fresh produce?!" Katty coughed spreading the contents of her mouth onto the floor.
"Less and less over time but yes."
Carmelita admitted and looked over to Kitty who just shrugged and said. "We had to steal every little bit from the lizards."
"You really lived like a queen." Katty said and sunk her teeth into a new nutrition bar. Carmelita on the other hand was less than amused by her comment. Her head got visibly red and she put her feet off the table ready to jump up and into a tirade. Kitty quickly laid a hand on her friend's shoulder and gently but firmly pushed her back into the chair.
"Katty, we all been through a lot, she did not live like a queen, you didn't and I did not as well." Kitty walked over to the sludge her sister just spread on the floor and pondered. "How do I clean this up? Has anyone of you seen a mop somewhere?"
Katty shook her head and Carm said. "Everything is so clean here, maybe they have someone who keeps the ship clean?"
"You mean like personal?" Kitty crossed her arms. "I don't want to bother anyone with that."
"It is also not your job to clean that up." Carmelita glared over to Katty who shrugged and kept on chewing.
"Just ask someone, they will give you a mop." Katty munched.
"I have an idea!" Kitty cleared her throat and then called towards the ceiling. "Computer?"
"I have a name." The voice from above snappishly replied.
"Oh right… what was that again… Melvin?"
"Mike." The voice replied offendedly.
"Oh right, sorry."
Katty looked perplexed at the ceiling before asking Kitty with a hushed voice. "Did they build a computer with attitude?"
"I am a complex sentient AI and if you excuse me now I have places to be."
"Please Mike, we don't want to steal your time."
"Or insult you." Carmelita chimed in from the side.
"Right, we just need something to clean up the floor."
The AI was quiet for a moment, then it started chuckling. "I'll get that done."
In the instant, a small opening in the wall appeared, and tiny jet-black bug-like creatures poured out of the hole pouncing on the former contents of Katty's mouth. As quickly as they came, they disappeared together with the opening.
"Holy shit what was that?!" Carmelita sat with her legs pulled underneath her chin on the chair.
"I…I think that was the cleaning crew." Kitty said and also tried to gain some distance to the wall.
"Do you guys also feel kind of itchy right now?" Katty scratched her forearm and the others, all staring at the wall, also started scratching various body sites.
The door opened and Oliva entered, she wore a casual-looking version of her uniform and carried a canvas wrapped in brown paper under her arm. She quickly said in human language. "Kitty, I got it."
Kitty immediately spun around to her and replied. "Really? Already?"
"You understand it?" Katty as she and Carmelita had both stood up.
"Two things Katty, this is rude and you are going to apologize, second thing, she understands you."
Like a deer in the headlights, Katty stared at Olivia who had tilted her head in confusion. "I…I am sorry…"
Olivia called up to the ceiling and said. "Mike, universal translation please," before she said to Katty. "It's okay… I mean… You are probably not used to seeing aliens and stuff…"
"No, she's just a bitch." Carmelita said and moved closer. "Hi, I'm Carmelita."
Olivia started beaming a big smile again and shook the vixen's hand. "Great to meet you, I am Olivia, Captain Puppy's communications officer."
"Olivia, isn't your shift over?" Kitty grinned and the human grinned back.
"Not really right now, we are basically kind of on red alert so the shift officially never ends but I have a kind of downtime."
"Cool." Katty commented without any tone of voice or emotions on her face and received an elbow into her side from her sister.
"See, so technically over," Kitty said.
"In a way, yes." Olivia turned back to Carmelita and said. "I am Dudley's communications officer."
"Pleasure to meet you." Laughed the fox and then pointed at the package. "What you got there?"
"I'll show you." She propped the canvas up on Dudley's desk and then ripped off the brown wrapping paper.
The four of them looked into the green eyes of a photo-realistic painting of Kitty wearing a red revealing dress laying, as it seems, on satin sheets. Rose petals were strewn across the scene. Her painted face wore an expression that did not leave any wiggle room for interpretation of what she wanted to do.
"That's one of his later works," Olivia commented looking at the picture. "I got to admit, he improved a lot."
Kitty's eyes were glued to the picture and she felt how blood rushed into her cheeks. "He…well…"
"Seems like Dudley always had some plans when it comes to meeting you again." Carmelita teased.
"Does he take commissions?" Katty asked. "I'd like to see myself painted too. He could also make my tits bigger like he did with her."
Kitty blushed even more as she realized where everyone's gazes alternated.
"I'm sorry I never wanted to embarrass you," Olivia said quickly trying to cover the painting again.
"No it's okay I am just… surprised." Kitty said fighting down the heat on her face. "He… I mean I heard he was painting but I… I honestly did not expect that."
"He must have been lonely." Carmelita chuckled.
"Probably painted with one hand." Katty added which got a laugh out of all of them, even Kitty had to chuckle. "But seriously guys." Katty continued. "Where do we hang it?"
"Nowhere!" Kitty snapped and turned away from the frame. "I don't want Nick to see that! I mean do you remember when we found mom's special photo collection."
The smile vanished from Katty's face and was replaced by a very pure form of disgust. "Why did you have to mention that?! I have suppressed that memory for a good decade now!"
"See so we better put that back to where it w-"
The quarter's door opened and Dudley entered, sunken into a conversation with a taller man with dark blonde hair. The woman immediately formed a wall in front of the painting and nervously tried to seem inconspicuous.
"I am just confused by the measurements, it is all so oddly similar. I cannot wrap my mind around it." The man said and the two stopped close to the door.
"That is a lot coming from you, Isaac." Dudley tiredly grinned. "Usually the universe isn't shy to share its secrets with you."
"It very much is. Thanks for the salt in that wound." Isaac grumbled. "I think I am going to crunch some data before the next class."
"Oh, how is the whole school business running?"
"I usually spare you from the updates but it is going below my expectations. The older kids barely bring any arithmetic skills and the younger ones have attention spans too short to measure without proper equipment. The staff and I basically decided to start from zero with them."
"Staff?" The upper half of Dudley's face frowned while his mouth grinned widely.
"I more or less incorporated the scientist into a board under my control. It helps organize things."
"You got yourself some lab assistance, good to hea-"
"Students actually," The words made Isaac chuckle. "After the kids' classes conclude I expand their horizons."
"Aha, well not a bad idea…" The women were almost out of the room as Dudley realized them walking clumped together in a line. "What the hell are you guys up to?"
"Nothing!" Olivia immediately said.
"Nothing, huh?" Dudley narrowed his eyes quickly Kitty looked over to Carmelita and Katty. Behind their backs, the painting had wandered to them, they needed just a quick distraction so they could get it out of the room. Kitty stepped forward, and blocked Dudley's line of sight saying. "Yep just hanging around."
Carmelita and Katty used their chance and fled from the scene, while Olivia kept standing there grinning widely.
"Seriously what is going on here?" Dudley watched after the running women, or tried as Kitty always stepped into his field of view.
"Nothing Duds, don't worry."
"Yeah Duds, don't worry." Olivia giggled from the side.
Isaac who looked at the scene like the bystander watching a fender bender happening, sighed and mumbled, "I'll report back later." Before he left in the same direction as the two before him.
"Dismissed!" Dudley called after Isaac and eyed Kitty head to toe. "Something is going on here and I will-" The holographic display on his desk activated itself indicating new messages that just arrived.
"Dammit!" He cursed and hurried to the desk. Kitty and Olivia exchanged glances, nodded and the human left the quarters leaving just the two of them there.
"What is it?" Kitty asked and walked up to her fiancé.
"Just more bad news, the ships we found down there are not enough to host all of the freed survivors."
"I said that would become a problem." Kitty was met with a death stare from Dudley.
"I knew that." He said visibly biting back his anger. "I can just work with what I am given here. Was I supposed to let them die down here because we did not have an escape plan right away?!"
Kitty gritted her teeth, more annoyed by herself than his remark. It was true that she had brought up the concern but the point he made was valid. Playing the blame game at least felt a little like she was pulling her weight. The last days she either slept or had free time and she was barely used to that.
"Okay then." She clapped her hands. "Let's brainstorm, what do we have."
"Two cargo ships, we can maybe cram 500 people into each and about 2000 survivors." Dudley meant while his eyes skimmed through the messages in front of him.
"How many can we put into our ship?"
"The Leviathan has space for about 100 more people. We basically, have 900 people without a ticket."
"What's with the loading bay and the shuttles?"
"Maybe another 110 but we need bigger numbers. Also, we need to prepare for a long journey. No chance we can cram everyone like that."
"I know that might annoy you, but where are we going?"
Dudley sighed and deep inside she had hoped for another reaction. "We still figure that out. Isaac is preparing the long-range scanners. But the most important thing is that we get out of here."
Kitty found the idea of a nomadic lifestyle, even between the stars, rather unenticing. Exploring space was a thought she could get herself behind but she never wished to wander amongst the stars. And if she felt like that, most of the other survivors would too.
"I can tell you right now that this won't be taken very positively," she said. "The situation might have improved for us but the desperation is still tangible. We need something to hold on to, a goal to rally behind." Kitty tried not to sound ungrateful for the things accomplished up to this point but gaining freedom also freed them from the all surrounding cause that helped form their community.
"Isn't getting out of here safe and sound enough of a purpose?" He sighed averting his attention away from the projections.
"From your point of view that might be. But we have not spent most of our lives on a ship. We are earthbound. We need solid ground."
A smile played around the corners of his lips and he straightened up a little. "You sound like a politician now."
"Really? I just speak out what the people want."
"Now you sound less like a politician." He laughed. "Speaking of which, is there a leader for the inhomogeneous mass of our people? I speak to a lot of fraction leaders but there is no order."
"Not really, there's no one speaking for us as a whole."
"It is time to change that don't you think?" he walked over to Kitty, crossed his arms behind his back, and got in a position that reminded her more of Captain Powers than her fiancé. "I want to tap into your exceptional talent for organizing. You can move things fast and I want them moved fast."
"What is this? Do you want me to hold elections or something?"
"If this is necessary, yes. I want a speaker for our people as a whole. And I want it fast. You are the only one I have at my disposal right now that I trust to be capable of doing this in a timely manner." Kitty was about to complain against his tone, making her look like she was one of his ensigns once more, but Dudley left her no chance for that.
"Furthermore, I need you to keep an eye out for new talent when you walk amongst the survivors. We need helping hands badly. Make them aware of the recruitment calls. I need to recruit from the pool of survivors, unfortunately. We need all kinds of staff, and assure them that if w-"
"Now hold up Captain Puppy." Kitty was finally able to get a word in. "I am not a soldier you can boss around."
"No, you would be a crewmate then." Dudley giggled but this did not go down particularly well. "Seriously Kitty, I would love for you to have more free time here and discover the ship meet the people yadada, but I need all hands. I have even Nick and his pals run errands for me."
"What exactly are you implying?"
"I do not imply anything." His hands moved forward from behind his back gesturing conciliatingly. "Listen, I just need your help."
Kitty sighed and ran her hand over her face. The years away did a lot of good to him, but also changed him for the worse in some regards. "Okay, let's lay out some ground rules. I am not part of your crew, you can't pull rank on me. Also, if you want my help, why not start by asking for it instead of giving me a task? Do you understand that, Dudley?"
"Noted." He said and the indication of a grin on his face didn't make it easier for Kitty.
"Now, regarding your tasks, how do you expect me to do this? And how fast are we even talking?"
"I thought that 24 hours should be sufficient."
"You are joking, right?" Kitty could imagine that just gathering people to cast their vote would take that long not regarding finding candidates and campaigning.
"I am not mad if you take half a day extra but this needs to happen quick."
"All this, for your convenience sake?"
"Some form of government will help them regain some sense of structure and order midst the chaos." He walked one full circle around her before stopping again in front of her. "You said it yourself, we need something to hold on to. This is the quickest fix we can use until we find us a new home."
Again Kitty wanted to complain, but this was something to give to the people for a change. The problem was she did not know where to start.
"Fine… I can agree with that reasoning." She slowly said. "But I am not politically versed, where should I start?"
"Maybe ask Olivia, she knows a thing or two about communicating. Besides that, I'm afraid I won't be able to help a lot. I am not a politician after all."
"Odd words from someone behaving like a dictator sometimes." She sneered giving him a smug grin.
"Strong words from the woman who was one of my greatest influences regarding leadership." He mirrored her expression and put in the experience of someone who was having banter like this for eons.
"I never was like that to you." She meant and huffed.
"No, but you weren't the only influence." he slowly moved closer to her, wiping a strand of hair away that was hanging into her face. "You know that I hate to see you leave out that door, right?"
"You have a weird way of showing that." She huffed while being anything but able to hide her blush.
"I know, and I'm sorry." He smiled softly now without his captain's attitude. "I'll make it up to you soon, okay?"
"You better have something good then." She said and with bright red cheeks, she left the room.
Amused Dudley sat back behind his desk mumbling, "Standard rations and candles," before delving back into his work. And there was still a lot of it to do.
The list was manageable especially because Nick and his friends handled the minor disputes, not a lot of them were escalated to him anymore which gave him some space to brief. The casualty reports from their attack on the moon base were as pleasant to read as the ones from the lizards' towers. There were none.
Casey had worked with concealment and precision he would have expected from Kate. His hands paused scrolling as he thought about her and then about Meternagel and about René. He would have loved to have them with him right now, especially Renè.
Of course, he would have cracked some questionable jokes about him having to live with his mother and mother-in-law in a room soon, and Dudley would have probably been annoyed about that, but he would give a lot to have this annoyance now.
He opened a document called motives on his screen and noted 'Draw friends' before he swiped away the 2D pane into the background of the projection.
Sighing he continued his duties. The number of survivors still was a problem, there was virtually no way to accommodate them.
Except maybe for one, but this would be a bitter pill to swallow. Grimmacing he typed a message to Ryan and sent it always telling himself that he just wanted to know about the logistics first, nothing more for now. The doctor's answer came quickly, it was just a sentence: This falls into Isaac's area of expertise.
These words were worse than a no. With a heavy mechanical heart, Dudley scheduled a meeting with Isaac as soon as he was free again. He would ask that question in person. Until then he tried his best to ban the thought from his mind. Maybe he could go and help in the engine room, he had enough expertise to be an actual help down there.
Then again the crew or the survivors would come up with issues that needed to be resolved very soon. Thinking about that he remembered the recruitment call for a pilot he had posted amongst the survivors. He opened the log and just a handful of names popped up.
One in particular squeezed a surprised laugh out of him. "Snaptrap? Huh…" he mumbled and then called out. "Mike, could you do me a favor?"
"I recently seem to do that for a lot of people." The voice from the ceiling sounded exhausted for AI standards.
"Tired?"
"I seem to be in a state that is similar to that." Mike took a breath so long it showed that he never had the need to actually use lungs. "Everyone wants something all the time, I am not used to so much…"
"Input?"
"Neediness." The AI corrected.
"Don't you have the capacity to be like 100 people at the same time?"
"And all these instances are occupied at the same time, then I also have to provide resources for other tasks at the ship. I envy you fleshy creatures. You don't have to be at dozens of places at the same time."
"There is always the option to get you into an android." Dudley vividly remembered the last time that was tried. Sentient AIs were no rarity in human society, at least in the alliance space they were seen as equals to humans with the same rights. Unfortunately for them, there was a certain technological bottleneck that was ineluctable.
Though not needing a lot of storage to initialize, the AI's essence always seemed to alter the positronic android brains to a point where they started to shut down to avoid destruction. A cybernetician once tried to explain it to him with the analogy of someone pouring expanding foam into a bucket with a lid.
At the start it seems to work but after a short while the whole setup is a case for the garbage collectors. So, most AIs preferred inhabiting more spacious computers like the ones in ships or bigger buildings. Mike had tried three times to get a body and brain that could host him, just to be disappointed every time.
"Very funny." He commented frostily. "What do you want?"
"Can you find Snaptrap and sent him to me?"
"Who now?"
"Oh yes." Dudley sighed and closed his eyes. "Verminious Snaptrap, rat, grey fur, face looking like it was used to test the durability of frying pans."
"Ah, I think I know who you mean. He's in his quarter right now, sleeping."
"That explains the lack of complaints." Dudley nodded understandingly. "Give him a few more sleep then wake him and get him here. I want to talk to him."
"Consider it done." Mike said and fell silent. Dudley just quickly yelled "Thank you!" to the ceiling before someone else occupied his attention. It was a knock at the door, Dudley only heard it because he was silently reading through a report.
"Come in!" He hollered at the door and soon enough a smaller white dog entered the room limping. Dudley immediately got up from his desk and rushed to her beaming his widest smile.
"Mom!" This time it was him who applied the bone-crushing hug and his mother, though probably in great pain, hugged him back overjoyed.
"Sweety you're here! I finally found you!"
The two of them moved apart and Dudley quickly helped his mother onto his chair.
"Mom, how long have you been searching for me?"
"Not that long, about an hour maybe?"
"An hour? You limped through the ship for an hour?!"
"Before you say anything…" The voice from the ceiling chimed in. "I did give her directions, she just refused to listen."
"Mom, why did you not listen to the directions given to you?"
"Thank god, sweety, you hear the voice too!" Peg looked at her son like someone who received negative biopsy results. "I thought I was going mad."
"No mom, this is Mike, the ship's AI, he just tried to help you."
"Well, he wasn't really helpful."
"You wouldn't listen!" Peg flinched as the voice from the ceiling struck a quite aggressive tone for an AI.
"I think that is enough." Dudley said calm but firmly and the AI answered with silence. "Good, now mom, how do you feel?"
"The doctor said I was well enough to walk." She leaned back into the chair resting her hands in her lap. "And who am I to disagree?"
"I think we might g-"
"Sweety, I am okay." Peg insisted now also leaning back her head. "Besides, I will not stay around this doctor Ryan any longer." She growled a little as she mentioned the name. "His staff might be nice but him running around there yelling orders and yelling at patients is outrageous."
"He cannot be serious." Dudley squeezed his eyes shut, another item on his list.
"Can't you do something about that Sweety? You are his higher-up after all."
"I will look into it, mom." He knew that there was no possible way to tell an overstressed Ryan to keep his emotions to himself.
Dudley could not risk a strike or a mutiny from the medical personnel especially while they are supposed to patch the moon-survivors up. The best strategy probably was just to let him do his thing until he had calmed down even if it meant a lot of new complaints on the list.
"Thank you Dudley." She smiled gently, her head slowly drifted to the side.
"Mom, you cannot sleep in my chair. I need that for work." He grinned and grabbed his mother's hand. "Use the bed, that should be enough for you Nick and Kitty."
"And where will you sl-" Peg was pulled out of the chair and sat onto the bed before she even knew what happened.
"I will find a spot, don't worry." Without effort, Dudley had placed his mother on the bed and nodded contentedly. "The three of you might have to squeeze or have shifts."
"Are you really okay with me sleeping in your room, sweety? In your bed?"
"We all will have to squeeze up anyway…" He took a deep breath. "I need to get a few more beds in here."
Peg looked eyed the room and said. "I don't want to sound disrespectful but isn't this too small for more than four people?"
"It is very spacey for one person." Dudley said suddenly feeling the need defending his abode.
"It surely is and enough for two or three…" Peg shook her head. "I am sorry, I don't want to insult your room. It looks so nice and tidy it's just… you live here with your family. This is all new for you you should take the time to get used to it. I mean just the three of you should."
"Besides many luxuries, space is one we do not have anymore."
"Another thing they took from us."
"I know mom." Dudley hugged her once more, this time without the enthusiasm from the last time. "But hey, we still have each other."
"And a lot of catching up still to do." She smiled and pinched his cheek.
"That goes on the agenda as soon as we are flying again." He laughed and kissed her on the forehead. "Take a nap, I'll relocate and finish some more work."
"Don't overexert yourself."
"Oh, there's still some life left in me."
Dudley grabbed a few things and made his way to the officer's mess. According to schedule, the room was empty right now, like most of the time. Soon a lot of others would probably follow his lead and relocate to the room to do some office work while their rooms became dorms.
It was a certain form of guilt he felt as he robbed them of their quarters, after all, these were not simple resting places for them, these were part of their homes for sometimes several years. Each of them was decorated and personalized and now repurposed for logistical reasons.
Dudley usually handled complaints from the survivors about the crew and even if they were often valid, he never thought about how the survivors behaved towards the crew. Either they showed a lot of restraint and empathy, or Powers had been running a tight ship to the point where his crew would not even complain if he took away their homes. Whatever it was, Dudley would soon need to send some words of thanks to them. Maybe even throw a party if they have the time and resources.
Upon opening the door to the officer's mess Dudley was met with a plethora of scrutinizing gazes. Kitty was there, also Carmelita as well as two members of other resistance groups they picked up. A tall and thin dog with golden fur named Syan, and Rose a white mouse and the leader of a group of children.
They more or less accidentally found them while raiding one of the towers, the lizards hadn't killed them and Dudley shuddered thinking about what they would have done with them if Casey hadn't picked them up. The rest of the group was unknown to him, they could have been from the moon complex or other resistance groups.
Dudley hadn't had the chance to memorize all their faces. In between them Olivia stood and looked sternly at a hologram all of them must have looked before, ignoring her captain.
Underneath the gazes old reflexes kicked in and Dudley straightened up again and smoothened out some folds in his uniform.
"I was not informed that the mess was used currently." He politely said.
"I did not know that we needed permission to use this room, Captain" Kitty said with an attitude that made a few in the room turn to her perplexed.
Dudley denied himself the grin his face so desperately tried to upon and said drily. "Certainly you don't, but there is someone amongst you who should know, isn't that right Lieutenant?"
It was like an electric shock traveled through Olivia's body as she spun to him and saluted. "I am sorry Captain" She quickly apologized. "Miss Katswell stated the urgency of her undertaking and that it was basically your order."
Dudley slowly nodded while focusing on Kitty's wide grin. "Very well, just put it into the schedule. We want to avoid these kinds of lapses in the future." He turned around but on his way out said. "Miss Katswell, a word."
He waited, it did not take longer than a minute for Kitty to appear outside in the hallway.
"You wanted to talk to me Captain." Her tone was still something Dudley expected from her sister rather than from her.
"Indeed. You established some ground rules, let me do the same now." He said with a sterness that was unbeknownst to her. "First of all, if you want to be a little passive-aggressive in private, fine, but right now I am the Captain of this ship. And as long as we are in public and in that role I demand the respect every crewmember deserves. Is that clear?"
Kitty's mouth was open already but the pressure from her fiancé's stare pushed the words back into her throat. Angrily she closed it, her eyes narrowed to slits and she said. "We'll talk about that." Before storming back into the officer's mess.
As the door closed shut Dudley opened his fists not realizing that he had clenched them. "I… might…" he shook his head and mumbled "Later" clearing his throat.
The only other room he knew was empty was Captain Power's room. The crew decided to leave it uninhabited until the Captain had recovered and Dudley would respect that wish. He would just occupy it to work in peace. The home of the Leviathan's captain was a room decked out with paraphernalia, dust collectors, and conversation pieces.
Ever possible and impossible nooks and crannies had their own little memorabilia be it the shelves that were filled with different ship models, or the walls that were hung with actual printed pictures from crew members, friends, and family, or his desk which, though still appearing orderly, seemed more like a display stand of a tourist trap.
Dudley sat down to work and cleared a few miniature statues off the table to have some space. It was weird, he could have sworn one of these had looked like Meternagel. Dudley took a second look. Indeed, it looked like the former pilot and as he looked even closer he also found a little statue of Casey and even one of Isaac. It did not take a fourth look before he found himself in three-inch high glory standing amongst the others.
"It's nice to see that you are a weirdo like the rest of us." Dudley chuckled to himself and then put all the figurines into a drawer. The next hour turned out to be quite productive. Tasks were dedicated, plans were created and a general tactic was conceived for what would be a confrontation with the lizards' fleet.
Even though the plan deserved the attribute 'better than nothing' if anything. In the unusual and unlikely case that everything and everyone got packed up in time they maybe had enough energy stored to leave the system and get their pursuers off their tail.
Dudley sent his notes over to his officer cadre and then looked at the to-do list again. He still had some time before the meeting with Isaac, so he decided to evaluate the logistics officer's report about the projected resource need for the survivors. He was just a few paragraphs in when, once more, someone knocked at the door.
The sounds of knuckles hitting metal reverberated loudly and steadily through the room. It rather sounded like someone hitting a bell than a door and the sound itself woke something archaic in him. He looked confused towards the entrance. Who would knock here? No one from the crew knew he was there, also they would use Mike or the doorbell. A survivor maybe?
But the way the door was knocked... the fur in the back of his neck bristled. Despite his legs wishes Dudley got up to open the door. The knocking still persisted, loudly, steadily without the intention to stop. Who would or even could knock like that?
Dudley's hands reached out to open the door confronting whoever there was when the knocking silenced. He stared at the door about to sigh in relief when a voice behind him raised like thunder. "I let myself in for your convenience."
His fists shot upwards ready to block an attack from the stranger as he twirled around with the speed of a tornado. But his guard and his fighting stance tumbled like a boxer in the 12th round as he saw the orangutan with bright orange fur, the suit, and the bowler hat.
"I do know that you are a very busy man and I will not take more time than ultimately necessary."
"You…" Dudley whispered in awe as his hand searched the panel on the wall close to him.
"Do not bother." The monkey smiled friendly and pointed towards the bed in Power's room. There was no bed anymore, in just the blink of an eye the bed had transformed into one grey round table with two simple metal chairs.
"I don't think it would be wise…" Dudley's objections were smiled away by the ape who had sat down on one of the chairs already.
"It will just be a few minutes, Captain. Do not worry, I mean no harm."
Real fear has come to be a rare occurrence in the catalog of Dudley's feelings. He was often tensed, especially before missions, to the point of having similar symptoms. But the feeling of neck fur rising and climbing heartbeat that kicked his flight instinct had been almost forgotten.
A small part of him was thankful for the artificial heart inside of him now. It would at least not drive the heart rate into the infinite. "I am… just partially sure about this."
"You draw comprehensible yet fallacious conclusions." The orangutan once more gestured towards a spot on the table.
Dudley took a deep breath and swallowed down a chunk of his fear. Whatever this monkey was, if he wanted him dead he would have taken the chance when he wasn't facing him. He cautiously strode to his seat and slowly sat down, like expecting a needle to pinch him any time on his way down. All the while a pair of silvery eyes watched him vigilantly.
"Why so afraid Captain? I remember the saying 'Captains do not shiver'."
"I…" Dudley's heart started reaching its capped frequency again. The saying came from the humans, also it was old, people stopped saying that when he started as a cadet. "I remember you…"
"You do?" The monkey seemed positively surprised and leaned forward.
Seeing the smile on the creature's face wasn't pleasant for Dudley but staying on its good side might increase his chances of getting out of there unscathed. "The launch pad back in Petropolis. Expect the-"
"Unexpectable, predict the unpredictable." The ape nodded it seemed content in a way. "However, you were reminded of this recently so I keep my praise to a minimum. Even though I am 100 percent positive that a 632 year younger version of you would have struggled." The ape chuckled and Dudley felt dropped somewhere between compliment and insult.
"I… came a long way…" he said as the monkey eyed him awaiting a response.
"Indeed you did. The things you set in motion were tremendous in a way. Horrific one might say but you do not blame the falling domino for pushing down onto others."
Dudley tilted his head, the stranger was maybe a threat but he triggered an eerie curiosity in him. "What are you implying?"
"You might not remember this scene."
He had often seen reality change suddenly and without warning, holographic technology made sudden shifts in your surroundings a common occurrence, but even on the holo-deck he had never seen such a rapid change. Suddenly he and the orangutan were sitting in a café in the middle of Petropolis.
Not the ruined city full of steel skeletons and bones shoved to dust, but the bustling Metropolis in the blossom of spring. The streets were filled with shoppers, carrying their bags from store to store, business people searching for a place to have a quick lunch, teenagers that were just loitering, and the occasional police that kept them from doing so.
Dudley watched through a window pane these sights he had wished to behold for eons. "W..How is that-"
"Here you go." A waitress, a young beagle with blonde hair and more than a few piercings in her face put two cups of coffee down. "Two black coffee." She smiled at Dudley and tugged at the green apron she nonchalantly wore over her normal clothes.
"Well done, not a drop spilled, be proud." The ape said and the waitress looked confused at Dudley who was pressing his nose against the window. With rolling eyes, she left their table.
"How is this possible?" Dudley's eyes stared through the window following different people until they were out of view. "What is this, and who, no what are you?"
"This is the past, if you will, a glimpse into it. You should see what you have caused."
"What I have caused? I can't remember-"
"Just watch." The stranger pointed into the sky and like his words were the cue for them, several enormous spheres appeared. Dudley's reflexes kicked in and he jumped from his chair ready to run out of the building but a gesture from the stranger stopped him dead in his tracks.
"I told you, I mean no harm, and I do not intend for you to be harmed through third parties. Take a seat, just watch."
His body still wanted to run, it wanted to act, but he truested the strangers words for some reason. His eyes glared through the window as the people gathered on the street all looking up.
He knew what was next, he had heard the story. The first plasma discharge landed close to the café. He threw up his hands trying to protect his face from the pressure wave, from the debris and the heat. But none of these came, it all washed over him without having an impact. Just the pictures of this movie left an imprint.
As the light faded, ash was everything left of the pedestrians on the boulevard. Everything with a pulse had evaporated and every non-living substance had caught fire. The stone of the house facades had caught fire, the glass had shattered and the shards molted. Exposed steel glowed white and started bending to the ground.
Dudley turned to look inside the café, the patrons closer to the window were gone, and just a few burning carcasses in the corners of the room were left. His eyes searched for the waitress, maybe she had been lucky and in the back rooms during the attack. His hopes were crushed as he saw a carcass at one of the tables with red hot glowing metal in its face.
"Why would you show me that?" Dudley adverted his gaze from the grim view and back toward the monkey who had taken a more human form now. A thick black robe covered its entire body and inside the hood seemed an impenetrable blackness hiding the wearer's face.
"To make you see it for once. The consequences." The voice came from all sides, but not only that, it also seemed to come from inside of him out of his own mouth, thought by his own brain.
He tried to concentrate, the trick was impressive but nothing completely unheard of, especially after being a prisoner of war a few times.
"You imply that this is my fault? How is this supposed to be my fault? I was not here when this all started. And even if I were what was I supposed to d-"
The hooded stranger lifted his hand like he wanted to signal Dudley to stop talking. The gesture wouldn't have been enough, the sudden change of locality on the other hand was.
They were back in the quarter. The only reminder of their trip were two cups of coffee on his desk, still steaming like they were freshly brewed.
"You mistake being the cause with being at fault Captain." The figure said and stood up from the chair. It flew towards him, slowly but determinedly, and Dudley's mind imagined a white grinning skull underneath the blackness. "I do not say this is your fault, Captain. Every other possible commander of the experimental shuttle would have been the cause. And indeed you are of greater use now than you could have ever been on another path. Still, it had been you who boarded the ship and it had been you who flew beyond the event horizon. You are the nucleus of this plight."
"So, what do you want to tell me? Should I feel bad that I started something that had started without me nonetheless? What are you trying to say?"
The hood slowly moved from left to right and back. "No," it said. "This is not a call to repent. You must understand Captain, this is not the only time this happened."
"This genocide? What the lizards have done." Dudley huffed bitterly, he saw things like it during his time with the humans and apparently, his home universe was not different in the slightest. "Seems like these things are just a part of war."
"You are missing the bigger picture, Captain. And I do not blame you for this, not yet at least." The robe moved closer to Dudley's face, its hood touching his forehead. The chill it sent through his whole body was unnerving for everyone used to normal clothing. "The lizards, this war of yours, all the suffering your people had to endure, this is just a symptom. The disease spreads violently, and the ones able to cure it cannot see and the ones who see cannot cure it."
"A symptom, what could be so bad to justify the things these barbarians have done?!"
"Oh Captain," The creature raised his pointer finger cautionary. "Do not fall for your own propaganda now."
"This is no propaganda, I saw what they have done, you even showed me."
"I could show you even bloodier scenes from the past of your kind, Captain. Would it be fair to judge you by your lowest?"
"Is it fair to not hold them accountable? Is it fair to just let this all happen and pretend they had good reasons for it?!"
"It is not your concern to hold them accountable, others will take the judge's place, you need to focus-"
"And am I supposed to explain all thes-"
"Captain," The robed figure raised its finger reprimandingly "Do not linger over trivialities, do not bother yourself with the question of who wronged whom, even if the finger is easily and rightfully pointed. There is more at stake than just a few thousand lives."
"What do y-" In midst of him uttering his sentence the robe snapped the raised finger and suddenly was gone. Dudley fell back onto Power's age-long unused sheets. Did that just happen? Did that just really happen?
"Mike?" He called up to the ceiling.
"Mike is currently not available." A voice like out of a tin can replied. The voice of the GSAI. The generic ship AI.
In itself, not sentient, but still a helpful tool used on all ships that are not inhabited by a sentient one. "How can I help you?"
"Was there someone in this room besides me?" Dudley yawned the sentence rather than saying it. Moaning he pulled himself back up so that sleep wouldn't get the best of him.
"The visitors log states: Captain Puppy, Captain Powers, Captain Powers, Ca-"
"That's enough. Thank you." He didn't expect the stranger to leave behind any clues, so this was not a surprise to him, although, the same thing would be the case if he just hallucinated. He shook his head and slapped himself trying to drive the tiredness away.
"Focus… Whatever he meant, he was right I need to focus… I…"
The door burst open and Ryan stormed into the room dragging behind him two assistants. He scanned the room hurriedly. "What is going on?!"
"What? You tell me!"
"The ship intern life-sign monitor just dropped an alarm for your vital parameters!" Without asking the doctor started his examination, Dudley was too confused to resist it. And also too tired to do so. As the doctor told him to lie down on the bed he saw a pair of curious eyes on the side of the doorframe peeking into the room.
At the moment they met the person slipped away. He couldn't assure who or what but he knew they weren't human. Dudley groaned and looked at the ceiling of the room, the only part of the room Powers' hadn't hung with memorabilia.
"Great…" he mumbled to himself and closed his eyes for a moment.