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On Approach
© 2019 by Walter Reimer
The Kiss Me in the Dark was still in hyperspace, one day out from Downtime Station. It had been a twenty-day run from Kormorant to the border, including a three-day stop at God’s Armpit for supplies and to move some cargo earmarked for the arcologies that wrested raw materials from the generally inhospitable planet. After her first run with the ship and her fellow crewmates, Meredith had felt secure enough in the ship’s systems to leave the bridge for short amounts of time.
The bridge had its own small bathroom, so technically that wasn’t actually departing the area. The palomino mare had finally gotten confident enough to set some alerts on her padd and go to her quarters or the dining hall. A few times she’d gone aft to check in with the cargo handlers. Since she was the helmsfur, she was nominally the officer in charge when Kwinton wasn’t awake and she felt that it was necessary that she get to know all of them.
And vice versa, of course. She had the idea based on what she’d observed of Captain Kodai and Gartabin k’Jen. It seemed like a good idea, as the two captains were respected and sometimes even liked by their crews.
Taking a break or two also gave her the opportunity to write letters and to look at the current saved portion of the game. Varan’s revelation that part of the inscription on the portal was the Kashlanin word for ‘laugh’ made her wonder what the designers were up to – well, apart from being insane. Using just her character, she’d made a few attempts at tickling the beast only to see the paladin come to a very sad and sticky end.
It would take a bit of time, and their combined efforts, to figure out a way past it.
“Hi, Meredith,” Wally Bing said cheerfully as the palomino mare entered the cargo handling compartment. The rabbit’s jumpsuit was showing some grease stains, and he glanced down at himself when he noticed she was giving him a quizzical look. “Nothing serious,” he said, “just one of the hydraulic lifters.”
The other members of the cargo crew glanced up from what they were doing and nodded or waved. Christina, Ed and Happy were playing a card game, while Fuji was reading something on his padd. “Hey, Merry,” the bovine said, “want to sit in? We can deal you in on the next go-round.”
Meredith smiled and held up a paw. “I’m no good at poker, Christina. Found that out the hard way back on the Rani Anitra.”
“Tch. Oh well.” She tossed a credit chip onto the table. “Call.”
Ed grimaced. “Nothing.”
Happy looked morosely at his cards. “Two pairs – “
The cow started to reach for the pot.
“ – Kings and tens.”
Christina’s muzzle sagged open as Ed Yi whooped with laughter and even Happy gave a brief, wintry smile as he raked in his winnings.
Fuji looked up from his reading. “Hey, people, listen to this,” and the Komodo monitor regarded his padd. “Says here that the Chief of Staff’s died.”
“Who?” Meredith asked, her ears perking a little.
“Admiral-General Hakim-dzhef Nguyen,” Fuji replied, and turned the padd around to show an image of an elderly wolf in formal uniform. “Says he was found dead in his quarters on Terra.”
Yi shrugged. “It say how he died?”
“No, but he was ninety-seven.” Fuji shrugged and went back to his reading.
“Sure you don’t want to sit in, Merry?” Christina asked. “You might not be good at it, but you’d be in good company.” She snorted at the stoat and the terrier. “What do you say?”
The mare pulled out her folded padd and a string of numbers swam up out of the uniformly gray surface. “We outphase in under two hours,” and she scratched at her chin. “Sure, one go-round only, though.” She grabbed a chair and the others made room for her as Happy started to shuffle the cards.
About an hour (and twenty-two credits) later, Meredith stepped into the bridge compartment, nodded at Elroy and Ginny, and settled into her seat. There was still plenty of time, and she began running system checks on the navigation sensors.
“Outphase in five minutes, Boss,” Ginny said.
“Thanks, Ginny.” Meredith put her earpiece in and touched a few switches on her console. “Kiss Me in the Dark to Downtime Station.”
“Downtime Control,” came a voice with a slight drawl to its Basic. “Why do you want to kiss me in the dark? I’m not handsome enough?”
When she’d finished laughing, Meredith replied, “Are you sure it’s you who’s not good-looking? We’re coming up on Outphase Point TK-2. We clear for outphase?”
“Traffic’s clear at TK-2, and you sound pretty.”
“I’m flattered, and I’ll buy you a drink when we get in,” the palomino mare said before closing the channel and trying to ignore the beagle’s chuckling. “Outphase on my mark.”
A volume of space at an arbitrary point was suddenly filled by the cargo ship, blue-white wisps of Krieger radiation shimmering around it for a second or two as the collapsing hyperfield interacted with stray atoms of hydrogen. The huge rectangular block of the station sat only a few thousand kilometers ahead, and Ginny cut in the reaction drives. While she piloted the ship to dock, Meredith pulled up a list of all the ships either in dock or expected to arrive.
She grinned as AZB 319755 KITH appeared on the list, two days from arrival.
Perfect.
© 2019 by Walter Reimer
The Kiss Me in the Dark was still in hyperspace, one day out from Downtime Station. It had been a twenty-day run from Kormorant to the border, including a three-day stop at God’s Armpit for supplies and to move some cargo earmarked for the arcologies that wrested raw materials from the generally inhospitable planet. After her first run with the ship and her fellow crewmates, Meredith had felt secure enough in the ship’s systems to leave the bridge for short amounts of time.
The bridge had its own small bathroom, so technically that wasn’t actually departing the area. The palomino mare had finally gotten confident enough to set some alerts on her padd and go to her quarters or the dining hall. A few times she’d gone aft to check in with the cargo handlers. Since she was the helmsfur, she was nominally the officer in charge when Kwinton wasn’t awake and she felt that it was necessary that she get to know all of them.
And vice versa, of course. She had the idea based on what she’d observed of Captain Kodai and Gartabin k’Jen. It seemed like a good idea, as the two captains were respected and sometimes even liked by their crews.
Taking a break or two also gave her the opportunity to write letters and to look at the current saved portion of the game. Varan’s revelation that part of the inscription on the portal was the Kashlanin word for ‘laugh’ made her wonder what the designers were up to – well, apart from being insane. Using just her character, she’d made a few attempts at tickling the beast only to see the paladin come to a very sad and sticky end.
It would take a bit of time, and their combined efforts, to figure out a way past it.
“Hi, Meredith,” Wally Bing said cheerfully as the palomino mare entered the cargo handling compartment. The rabbit’s jumpsuit was showing some grease stains, and he glanced down at himself when he noticed she was giving him a quizzical look. “Nothing serious,” he said, “just one of the hydraulic lifters.”
The other members of the cargo crew glanced up from what they were doing and nodded or waved. Christina, Ed and Happy were playing a card game, while Fuji was reading something on his padd. “Hey, Merry,” the bovine said, “want to sit in? We can deal you in on the next go-round.”
Meredith smiled and held up a paw. “I’m no good at poker, Christina. Found that out the hard way back on the Rani Anitra.”
“Tch. Oh well.” She tossed a credit chip onto the table. “Call.”
Ed grimaced. “Nothing.”
Happy looked morosely at his cards. “Two pairs – “
The cow started to reach for the pot.
“ – Kings and tens.”
Christina’s muzzle sagged open as Ed Yi whooped with laughter and even Happy gave a brief, wintry smile as he raked in his winnings.
Fuji looked up from his reading. “Hey, people, listen to this,” and the Komodo monitor regarded his padd. “Says here that the Chief of Staff’s died.”
“Who?” Meredith asked, her ears perking a little.
“Admiral-General Hakim-dzhef Nguyen,” Fuji replied, and turned the padd around to show an image of an elderly wolf in formal uniform. “Says he was found dead in his quarters on Terra.”
Yi shrugged. “It say how he died?”
“No, but he was ninety-seven.” Fuji shrugged and went back to his reading.
“Sure you don’t want to sit in, Merry?” Christina asked. “You might not be good at it, but you’d be in good company.” She snorted at the stoat and the terrier. “What do you say?”
The mare pulled out her folded padd and a string of numbers swam up out of the uniformly gray surface. “We outphase in under two hours,” and she scratched at her chin. “Sure, one go-round only, though.” She grabbed a chair and the others made room for her as Happy started to shuffle the cards.
About an hour (and twenty-two credits) later, Meredith stepped into the bridge compartment, nodded at Elroy and Ginny, and settled into her seat. There was still plenty of time, and she began running system checks on the navigation sensors.
“Outphase in five minutes, Boss,” Ginny said.
“Thanks, Ginny.” Meredith put her earpiece in and touched a few switches on her console. “Kiss Me in the Dark to Downtime Station.”
“Downtime Control,” came a voice with a slight drawl to its Basic. “Why do you want to kiss me in the dark? I’m not handsome enough?”
When she’d finished laughing, Meredith replied, “Are you sure it’s you who’s not good-looking? We’re coming up on Outphase Point TK-2. We clear for outphase?”
“Traffic’s clear at TK-2, and you sound pretty.”
“I’m flattered, and I’ll buy you a drink when we get in,” the palomino mare said before closing the channel and trying to ignore the beagle’s chuckling. “Outphase on my mark.”
A volume of space at an arbitrary point was suddenly filled by the cargo ship, blue-white wisps of Krieger radiation shimmering around it for a second or two as the collapsing hyperfield interacted with stray atoms of hydrogen. The huge rectangular block of the station sat only a few thousand kilometers ahead, and Ginny cut in the reaction drives. While she piloted the ship to dock, Meredith pulled up a list of all the ships either in dock or expected to arrive.
She grinned as AZB 319755 KITH appeared on the list, two days from arrival.
Perfect.
Category Story / General Furry Art
Species Horse
Size 74 x 120px
File Size 39.2 kB
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