Oda Station

© 2020 by Walter Reimer


Thumbnail art by  technicolorpie and  marmelmm


Jax’s fingers danced nimbly over his console. It looked like he was playing a musical instrument, and Meredith had frequently found herself staring at his paws. “Waypoint reached, Captain,” the rat said, and the palomino mare blinked out of her reverie. “Course corrected for new waypoint. The escorts report all clear so far.”

“Good. Thank you,” and Meredith settled back in her seat. She was impressed with her day shift Pilot and nominal Executive Officer. Jax was competent on the controls, got along with the rest of the crew, and he was very good at the paperwork that she’d delegated to him. “I’m going to get some tea. Any of you want something?”

“I’m good, thank you,” and the rat held up his coffee cup.

The junior engineer got to his feet. “I need to piss,” the badger said, and the whitetail doe who was the day shift’s senior engineer chuckled.

“Talya, you want anything?” Meredith asked.

The cervine shook her head. “No thanks, Boss.” The mare stepped out of the command compartment and headed for the break room.

A few crewmembers, all off shift, greeted her as she walked in and she smiled and returned the greetings before heading for the dispenser. Three cargo handlers were seated at a nearby table, one watching as the other two glowered at each other over a 2-D chess board.

Meredith dropped a teacube and some sweetener into her mug before adding near-boiling water. As the two ingredients dissolved, she glanced over at the table. “Who’s winning?”

“Shh,” one said.

The spectator smiled up at her. “They’ve been like this for ten minutes. I think it’s turned into a muzzle-staring contest.”

“Quiet,” the other crewmember said. “I’m about to move.”

The spectator sniffed. “That’ll be new.” Ignoring him, the femme reached out a paw and gently moved one pawn one square and paused before withdrawing her finger. Nodding to herself, she sat back as the first fur frowned and surveyed the board.

Meredith shrugged, gave her tea a brief stir, and took a sip. Nodding approvingly, she left the break room and headed back to the bridge.

“Captain! I was about to call you,” Jax said.

“What’ve you got?” the mare asked as she sat down. The main display showed the ID transponders for the rest of the convoy and the escorts. The icons for the freighters were in white, and the escorts in blue. Two escorts had separated from the group and were headed for a symbol that she didn’t recognize, colored red. “What’s that?”

“An unknown contact in hyperspace,” the rat replied. The symbol looked like two bones crossed beneath a stylized rat’s skull. “That’s the skull and cross bones.”

“What’s that for?”

He glanced back at her. “You don’t know? History’s been sort of a hobby of mine. That,” and he pointed at the symbol, “means ‘pirate.’”

Meredith laughed. “So we’re calling the Confed pirates now? Makes sense.”

Jax nodded. “I did have another symbol in mind, but Yazmina – “ he nodded toward the doe “ – threatened to kill me.” He tapped a few commands, and the symbol changed to a stylized penis.

“Yeah, I don’t blame her. Change it back before we both kill you, okay?” She and the doe both laughed as Jax reset the symbology. “Good to see the escorts are after them,” she added as the two escorts forced the presumed Confed ship out of hyperspace and engaged it.

Then another skull-and-crossed-bones appeared.

“All ships, this is Hammer,” Captain Bury’s voice was heard in their headsets. “We’re currently tracking two ships on intercept courses. All ships will move to course x-45, y-122, z-minus 157 on my mark. Mark.” Jax’s fingers danced over the controls and the Kiss Me in the Dark joined the rest of the ships in altering course as the Colonial escorts fended off the attacking craft.

As with most combat encounters, it was over quickly; the escorts returned to their places, one’s captain reporting to the Commodore that they’d sustained some damage. Repairs would be done when the convoy reached Oda Station after the next waypoint. One of the Confed ships was destroyed, and the other had been driven off with moderate damage.

Oda Station was an old and well-established habitat, centered on a collection of artigrav-equipped dome habitats with an attendant dockyard and repair facility. Partly owned by Jemel Fikset’s family, it was also well-defended, and the star system it was part of had ample resources.

“Two . . . one . . . normal space,” Jax announced as the starfield flipped. “Oda Station Control acknowledging our ID, Captain. Cleared for approach and docking.”

“Very well. Thank you,” and Meredith sipped her tea as an idea started to form. She’d stay in her seat until the freighter docked and talk to Jemel after shift change.

When she did, the wolf gave her a look before promising to pass it on to the station administrators.

After Meredith woke up in her cabin the next day, she opened her padd to find a message. Not from Jemel, but from one of his great-uncles who helped run the station. She smiled; it would take a bite out of her savings (sensible; the Fikset Family were all either wolves or canines), but it would help.

After the last of the cargo was offloaded, she called the crew together and broke the news.

“A . . . picnic?” one of the cargo handlers asked. “What’s that?”

Meredith smiled. “It’s a gathering in a place, usually outdoors, with food and drinks,” she explained. “I’ve paid to have part of one of the domes reserved, and all the food and drinks are on my account.”

“Why?” someone else asked.

“Because you’re my crew, sort of like family, and I want to show my appreciation to all of you for the job you do.”

“Oh.”

“If you don’t want to come, that’s fine. The station has recreational facilities, and I’m sure you can all use a break. But the offer’s there, and if you want to stop by and have something to eat or drink, or just lie out on the grass, you’re welcome.” Her padd chimed, and she said, “That’ll be the personnel shuttle to the station. I don’t know about you all, but I’m getting off this ship. Anyone coming with me?”

A few hours later, Meredith was sitting on a grassy hillside with her head resting in Fuji’s lap and watching fleecy white clouds drift across the sky. Granted, the sky was a holographic projection and the station’s computers were varying the lighting to mimic a sun going behind clouds, but it was a very nice effect. Around them, more than a dozen crewmembers either sat around eating and drinking, or had paired off to play or simply stroll into the nearby wooded area to get intimate with each other.

Fuji bent over and said, “This was a wonderful idea,” and he lightly kissed the tip of her nose.

She grinned up at him. “A little costly, but I thought it was worth it. Everyone already gets bonuses from Transcosm, and I can’t compete with that.” The mare reached up and ran a paw over the Komodo monitor’s bare chest. “I’m glad you decided to stay.”

He kissed her again, and stayed bent over as she returned it. “How could I refuse? Nice scenery, a beautiful femme, and free food and drinks?” He chuckled. “No mel can resist such things.”

She giggled. “You know, if this was an episode of Monsoon Poultry Hospital, Nurse Dara would have walked by and offered some pithy and insightful remark.”

“I’d tell him to go away,” Fuji said. “I have a beautiful mare in my lap. I don’t need ‘pithy and insightful.’” He stuck his tongue out at her before chuckling and asking, “Care to, um, take a walk with me?”

“Hmm. Sure.”