On Trackless Seas

Chapter 11
***

Sitting just inside the chromosphere of the system's only star was the black spot of an angular, alien ship. The angular features appeared disconnected, exploded away from the main body of the craft. White protrusions stuck out, stretching some distance from the craft and nearly tripling it's width. From each of these large protrusions, smaller protrusions branched off, and each branch was covered in clear, crystalline shapes perfectly engineered to capture light while also being almost impossible to see without catching a glimmer or reflection off of one of them. It looked very much like a ship that had sprouted into a tree when placed in the sun.

 

Which it should, because that's exactly what had happened.

 

Upon parking the INSV Last Whisper in the star's chromosphere, Alice had used the smart matter of her body beneath the hypermatter armor to shift her outer hull around, opening seams that were typically only present when there was a need to physically move objects to and from the ship, as with the case of launching missiles, torpedoes, or drones. From those seams, she had stretched out and enjoyed taking in the warmth of the star.

 

Now, however, it was time to leave.

 

Leaves were shed and fell away from the ship, pulled in towards the star before they left the envelope of the Whisper's environmental shielding and burned up. Branches melded into limbs, which retracted beneath the exterior armored hull. Gaps in the outer hull closed up seamlessly, leaving behind only angular black hypermatter.

 

The Last Whisper pulled away from the star, and trailing behind it, caught in the grasp of her gravity tractor, were pure black stretches and segments of even more hypermatter. Her realspace engine allowed for great acceleration and speed, but with a focus on maneuverability; the acceleration she put to great use shooting away from the star towards the second planet from the sun, reaching a low, in-system superluminal cruising speed (low for realspace) of five cee before decelerating approximately one and a half minutes later in high orbit around Eruvia.

 

The Whisper broke atmosphere with none of the typical effects associated with reentry as her shields absorbed and redirected the heat of atmospheric friction before it could cause those effects. True to her name, she was whisper silent as she descended to the cooling planet's surface.

 

From the now frigid ocean to the west of Erulona, a massive, pale shape lifted up out of the water. Roughly three kilometers long and half again as wide, it resembled nothing so much as a tree covered entirely in roots and branches. It quickly smoothed out however, as those protrusions it had used to feed and drink from the ocean retracted into its mass.

 

The Whisper approached from above, the hypermatter armor trailing behind it catching up and surrounding the smaller ship and the much larger living extension of it. Along the top, rear, and bottom of the new growth a seam formed before the whole thing separated and spread open wide. The Whisper slid inside the gap, armor and all, before being enveloped as it closed around the smaller ship, hiding it from sight.

 

Within the mass of new growth, the Whisper's outer hull opened again, limbs and branches stretching out and merging with the much larger mass, connecting them fully and filling all the gaps with biological smart matter. Outside the merged ship and growth, the new hypermatter armor closed in as protrusions extended from the smart matter, physically pulling it into place and aligning it so the new outer hull was just as seamless as the old one.

 

Inside the mass of living ship, smart matter shifted and moved, configuring itself into compartments, transport tubes that lined up with new tubes leading out of the Whisper's old interior hull, and machinery needed to perform various functions.

 

Functions such as spacial compression, which turned an area of roughly a hundred cubic feet into miles and miles of empty space. That space didn't stay empty for long as smart matter flooded inside, forming branches and blooming into evenly spaced pods sized for Eru occupants.

 

"Docking and reconfiguration compete, captain," Alice reported, standing at the right side of her captain's chair, several holograms floating in the air of the half sphere bridge showing live feeds of what was going on from drones orbiting them outside and internal smart matter configured into sensors. "We're ready to take on our guests."

 

I watched in fascination as the entire process we had been working towards for months was finished in a matter of minutes. Shaking my head, I turned my attention to Nia, seated in her own chair to the right of mine, with Visa to the left. Much like Alice, Inumi stood to Nia's side, waiting patiently. "Nia?"

 

At my prompting, the little woman stood and moved over to the hologram showing Eruvia and the current state of the star. "Bring them aboard, Kyle."

 

"You heard her," I smiled at Alice.

 

The shipgirl nodded once. "Commencing transport."

 

Flashes of light filled the newly created vault as Eru began appearing in various states of dress. I didn't know how it worked, nor did I care to, but Alice's transporters could rearrange a person's orientation and state upon rematerializing them; in other words, if you were beamed somewhere sitting down you could be made to be standing when you reappeared. Other conditions, such as sleep, were also apparently easy to apply, because none of the Eru beamed aboard were conscious, meaning there was no panicking and banging of pods before being frozen in terror.

 

As the pods began to fill with Eru, a second huge space began to fill up with supplies, separated and sorted by smart matter. Worked metal, cut stone, timber boards, tools, clothes, massive stockpiles of food, and so on were all sorted and stashed away.

 

A final room was filled with much smaller pods, each containing genetic samples. Sperm and eggs from every animal, plant, and fungi on Eruvia were gathered for the day when they might again see life on a new world.

 

A little over an hour later, Alice announced the task’s completion. Visa cleared her throat, drawing Nia's attention. "And the traitors?"

 

Nia's bright blue eyes found my green. "May I…?" I nodded and the blonde turned to Alice. "Please transport those left behind to the central square of Ermonde, along with those captured and interrogated. That should be large enough to accommodate everyone. Then, could you broadcast my image to them and show me the square?"

 

"Moving a drone into position now," Alice responded. "Beaming commencing. Done." The holograms in the bridge cleared and a new one spawned, an aerial view of the capitol of Ermonde that quickly lowered and changed angles, finally centering on (former) Queen Mondy Ermonde.

 

"Live in three, two…" Alice warned, causing Nia to straighten and her expression to steel. Visa stood from her seat and moved to Nia's side opposite Inumi.

 

The former queen looked as confused as everyone else around her. That is, until Nia appeared directly in front of her. Above the crowd, the images of Speaker Eruzonia and Queen Mondy were displayed for all to see.

 

"You," the woman growled. "What have you done?"

 

"Exactly what I said I would, Mondy. We're cousins. Distantly, but still bound by blood. You tried to have me killed not once, but twice. First by poison then by an assassin's blade. The first failed when my Lord husband discovered your plot. The second nearly succeeded, were it not for the sacrifice of one of my closest friends, when Inumi threw herself before the blade in my place. As you can see," Nia gestured and Inumi's hologram joined them. The dog eared woman waved before the hologram vanished. "You failed there as well."

 

"You can't prove any of that!" The former queen denied. "It's all slander—"

 

"We captured your assassin. My Lord husband stripped the secrets from her mind and discovered who gave the order, then we plucked him from Eruvia just as we moved you all there. After that, it was a simple matter of repetition. Take the secrets from their minds, find those they had dealings with, take them, then take their secrets. If you don't believe me, why don't you ask your assassin yourself?"

 

Nia pointed out a woman in a maid's uniform huddled in the crowd, curled into a ball and shaking. "I know all of your plots against me and the people of Erulona, Mondy. I know you've been dealing in secret with your neighbor to the south, planning to leave the empire and request their protection. I'm not here to make accusations or hold an inquiry or trial. I already have the facts. I'm here to pass judgment for your crimes."

 

Turning away from Mondy, Nia looked over those gathered with her. "Those of you here today have all been gathered for similar reasons. Knowingly colluding with enemies of the empire of Erulona or conspiracy against the crown. Some of you are more guilty than others, but that matters little when the punishment is the same regardless. You are all hereby sentenced not to death, but to life. What little life you can eke out in the very little time Eruvia has left, before the final winter sets in. Worry not for your families, for I am merciful. They have been spared your fate and will find new lives in our new home. That is all."

 

Nia turned away from the hologram and walked back to collapse into her chair, emotionally spent. Visa took Nia's place, facing the crowd.

 

"You have been judged by the state and found guilty, but your misdeeds extend beyond mere crimes and into the realm of sin against God. You were without faith. You have denied him, spurned his love, and only now that the truth is revealed to you does the thought of repentance even cross your minds. There will be no forgiveness, I say. You who have turned your backs upon God, know that he has turned his back to you. When you finally succumb to the long darkness, your souls will be cast adrift into the void for eternity, never to know the warmth of God's love and never to be reunited with your families in the hereafter. You have brought this damnation upon yourselves and for that, I have no pity. There will be no mercy upon your souls."

 

Visa turned away from the hologram and, perhaps feeling a bit theatrical, Alice made sure the last thing they saw of her was their biggest religious figure turning her back on them before she shut off the broadcast.

 

Stretching her body out, her white and gold robes reconfiguring into the black and plum dress she preferred lately before the curvy Eru woman climbed into my chair and plopped herself down in my lap. "Passing holy judgment in your name always makes me horny, Lord husband. Can we…?"

 

"Later, Visa," I rolled my eyes. The eye roll turned into a quiet laugh as she gave a little self-congratulatory cheer at that. Turning my attention to Alice, I said, "Get us out of here. And try not to hit any wormholes on the way out."

 

"It was one time! One! I've upgraded my sensors and I should be able to spot them at a distance now." Seeing me nod, she asked, "What is our course, captain?"

 

The walls around us came alive with the local star field, several stars pulsing in blue so they stood out. Holograms sprang to life again in the center of the room, each one detailing what Alice knew of the systems the stars were in, with lines from each hologram trailing off to the walls so we could tell which was which.

 

"How about the uninhabited planet in the stretch of no man's land between those two groups of what you think are two different sentient races? It's on the way to the system the wormhole would have dumped us into," I suggested.

 

"Very well, captain. Course plotted."

 

Hearing the prompt for what it was, I fought off the grin that threatened to split my face in half. I was beginning to appreciate having someone in my head who could ferret out my needs and wants and wanted nothing more than to bring them to fruition. "Engage."

 

There was no real sense of transition. No sudden burst of speed. No star field streaking by. The walls went dark and the holograms cleared, before two new ones appeared. The first was a view of Eruvia as it rapidly shrank into the distance, before that hologram winked out. The next showed our starting system displayed on one side, followed by a dark tunnel highlighted in blue, with our ending system on the other side. A countdown timer started, counting down from eight days out.

 

"Is that far?" Nia asked, echoing the question I had been about to ask myself.

 

"Not at all. It's not particularly close, either. Most superluminal drives could make the trip in anywhere from a month to a day, depending on the method of travel and power of the drive. Not counting wormhole dives, because those are cheating," Alice answered, moving away from my side to the center of the room.

 

"Space is composed of layers, or dimensions." As she spoke, a new hologram sprang into being, this one looking like a cut away view. "Here, we have normal space. Full of planets and stars, where the laws of physics are strictly adhered to, for the most part."

 

A new layer was added, below the realspace layer. "This is subspace. It's mostly empty of matter but is home to a few pockets of exotic energy. The laws of physics here are mostly the same, but flexible enough that drives can achieve superluminal speeds impossible in realspace. Space here conforms to realspace at a roughly 1:2 ratio. Meaning that distances are shorter by half, but still close enough to allow for highly accurate navigation."

 

A third layer was added to the hologram, this time above realspace. This layer shimmered with an orange hue. "This is hyperspace. No matter occurs here naturally. The energy distribution is more even than in subspace, pervading every part of this dimension. Like subspace, the laws of physics are somewhat flexible. Unlike subspace, hyperspace only mostly conforms to realspace and at something approaching a 3:1 ratio, meaning hyperspace tends to be three times the size of realspace."

 

Bringing up a final hologram, Alice began making a point by point list.

 

"The benefits to using hyperspace over subspace are: faster travel for engines that can manage it due to not having to worry about potential collisions despite the longer distances involved, more energy leading to sensor range being cut so it's easier to hide against the background energy in hyperspace, and limitless free energy that anyone with the right engine can tap into. Your engineered bodies have a hyperspace link just for this purpose, that activates intermittently to recharge."

 

She shifted her hand to the other side of the hologram. "Conversely, benefits of using subspace over hyperspace include: the low energy emissions from a drive diving into subspace are much harder to track from realspace than opening a gate into hyperspace, the more precise nature of subspace leading to more accurate jumps. To the point that the Whisper could drop out of subspace not just within orbit, which is impossible for a hyperspace engine, but I could drop out inside another ship's shield envelope or, if it's large enough, inside the ship itself. And finally, lack of background energy within subspace means sensors here are more accurate and have an easier time penetrating out into realspace without being detected, and can be used to scan things in realspace much further away than from within realspace."

 

I smiled at the shipgirl. "You realize I'm the only one who grasped about half of that."

 

"Of course, captain," she agreed. "However, now that I'm finished with my refit, I've taken some time to go over the information gained from the Forerunner plinth on Eruvia. The Eru are an engineered race, designed to be a…" Alice hesitated.

 

"Tell us," Nia demanded.

 

From my lap, Visa nodded. "We deserve to know."

 

Inumi shrugged. "Knowing doesn't change anything."

 

Alice finally nodded. "They were designed from the ground up to be a subservient companion race to humanity, complementary in every way. Their smaller stature would make it more difficult for them to rebel against their larger, stronger human cousins. Their brains never stop developing, never stop learning, and don't forget the way humans do. Their natural IQ averages in the 200 range. Their brains are engineered to see humans as their superiors, in every way, and make them not just want to serve but take pleasure in doing so. The pattern recognition centers of their brains are hardwired to trigger what you know of as a religious experience and imprint upon a human, making that person the center of that Eru's world. Their longer lifespans mean that they can take everything they've learned and be the perfect servants to generations of humans."

 

Holograms had been springing up the entire time she spoke, detailing Eru anatomy and highlighting regions of the brain. Now, it highlighted the female of the species and outlined her reproductive system.

 

"Eru women were designed with human men in mind. Their wombs are situated deeper proportionately than a human woman's. Average relaxed vaginal depth of a human female is eight inches, at which point you start knocking on her cervix. It's the same in Eru women when, given their size, it should be closer to four inches. They have a secondary clitoris on the top of their vaginal wall, around five to seven inches in, depending on the woman. Average length of an Eru male's penis? Three inches."

 

I raised an eyebrow as I studied the diagram and compared it to what I had learned so far in my experiences with the Eru. "So sex with humans is great for Eru women. Intentionally. Basically, unless she's particularly deep like Visa here," the woman in question preened in my lap at the mention of her name, "any average guy could hit that mark."

 

"Yes," Alice confirmed. "But that's not all. I didn't believe it when I saw it in the research, but I have live subjects to scan now. Captain… Kyle, they're compatible with humans. One hundred percent. And many of those traits, such as the intelligence, memory, and lifespan are heritable. Their genes for size are all recessive, compared to yours as a baseline."

 

I blinked. "You mean…"

 

"Yes. Also, Eru women are highly, ridiculously fertile. The infertility problem is with the men, as is the gender imbalance. They remain fertile through most of their lives. Their bodies produce new eggs, instead of being born with all the eggs they'll ever carry."

 

Alice's expression was almost a leer. "Aren't you grateful now that I take such good care of you, that I even made sure the sperm you were shooting were infertile? You'd be a father twice over by now otherwise."

 

"My Lord husband," Visa began, turning around in my lap and fixing me in place with her violet eyes.

 

"Nope," I denied immediately.

 

"I want children."

 

"No."

 

"Now."

 

I shook my head. "Hell no."

 

Pouting, Visa asked, "Then when?"

 

It was a valid question. I wasn't against the idea, the thought of knocking up the curvy Eru in my lap and her lithe best friend staring expectantly at me made me rock hard in my pants. It was a matter of timing.

 

"When we find a place to resettle your people."

 

"Lord husband," this time it was Nia who demanded my attention, using the phrase she had adopted from Visa after we had made love the first time. "As Speaker for the Eru I must insist that you attempt to impregnate as many of our people as possible. Even if I have to set up a schedule and have them come in two or three a night."

 

I sighed. "Nia, why? Also, aren't you at all repulsed by the idea of effectively whoring out the man you're sleeping with? I get that Eru social norms are a bit different from Earth's in that regard and you and Visa are fine with each other, but I don't think that seeing an endless parade of Eru women coming and going from my bedroom is going to feel particularly great for you."

 

From my lap, Visa sighed. "No, it will not. For either of us. But as I told you before, my Lord, sometimes we must put the needs of our people before our own wants and needs. I agree with Nia on this, if for different reasons. From a religious perspective it would be an amazing boon to have our people blessed with God's divine seed. An entire generation of blessed children would be born into the world, who would further go on to spread that blessing among our people."

 

Turning slightly in my lap, the little woman stared up at me. "You would become the father to a new breed of Eru. And I know just where to start. The church is composed almost entirely of women devoted in service to God. Every one of them would be happy to serve in this role. You would never find a more dedicated group of mothers."

 

"Nn," Nia made a small displeased noise as she frowned. "I dislike the idea of giving the church that much power. I trust you Visa, but—"

 

"But nobility and clergy are ever at odds even when they agree," Visa supplied, earning a nod. "Then select an equal number of noble women for the task."

 

Chuckling quietly, I put in my two cents. "If you're going to have a religious caste and a ruling caste, then you could probably have a workers' caste as well made up of commoners."

 

It wasn't quite the religious/worker/warrior caste system of a certain race of boneheaded aliens from one of my favorite sci-fi shows, but it was close.

 

Instead of taking the joke for what it was however, Nia and Visa both nodded. "A hundred of each caste for a total of three hundred women. At one a night, assuming a one hundred percent conception rate, you could finish within an Earth year," Inumi supplied. Looking thoughtful, she added, "Dividing it like that would be fitting, given our respective positions. We each would represent a caste."

 

Nia pinched the bridge of her nose, visibly trying to ward off a headache. "This… I know I said it was a good idea, but doing it like this would essentially restructure our people's governments—our entire society."

 

Humming quietly, Visa steepled her fingers in her lap, a thoughtful look on her face. "And yet, now is precisely the best time for this. There will never be a better time. Eruvia is lost to us. Why not let this be a fresh start for our people? It would obviously have to be something they wanted, we couldn't just force it through, but I think that they may be willing to try. We don't have to dissolve nations or national identity. Individual sovereignty could theoretically be maintained…"

 

Seeing the conversation had thoroughly derailed, I picked up Visa by the hips and gently set her down before standing up. "Well, you three have fun with that. I want no part in it. If you really think I should, and the women agree, then I'll consider the whole 'fathering a race' idea. Beyond that, it's an Eru matter. Not my responsibility. You should govern yourselves."

 

"Of course, my love. My Lord," Visa answered immediately.

 

Nia nodded. "You're right. This is something for the Eru to decide."

 

"Before any of that, we need to get you two settled into a new set of less squishy bodies. Come with me," Alice demanded. "I'm sorry captain, but Nia and Visa will be unavailable for a few days."

 

Sending the pair a smile, I said, "Don't worry, it's like going to sleep. You'll wake up and feel better. See you in a few days."

 

We exchanged hugs and the four women walked off, Alice leading them to the medical bay where they would be prepared for long term storage of their original bodies. As they went, I heard Alice ask, "Is there anything you would like to change with your new bodies? I could make you taller if you like. Visa, if you would prefer, I could remove your horns."

 

“Absolutely not! I enjoy having my horns. Yes, they can be inconvenient, but they make for wonderful handholds—”

 

Alice's voice from nearby drew my attention to where a second version of her had risen from the floor. "You wanted to see to training, captain?"

 

"Yeah. There any way I can get a sparring partner?" I asked as we walked down the hall for the tube.

 

"I can fill that role myself, captain. However, while we train your physical body and psyker powers, we should also begin training your digital mind and familiarize you with ship maneuvers, tactics, and combat—along with the Whisper's capabilities."

 

As it turned out, splitting my attention between multiple tasks was surprisingly easy with a bit of coaching from Alice. As we walked into the training room, I managed to separate my consciousness between my body brain and my computer brain. It was kind of like being two separate versions of me who both knew everything the other was doing.

 

Body Brain could leave the ship related stuff to Computer Brain while he focused on throwing down in the ring with Alice and her entirely smart matter (and thus entirely unfair) body.

 

Computer Brain could leave the physical stuff to Body Brain while he worked on learning what the Whisper could do and how to best apply it.

 

So, as my exchanges with Alice gradually increased in force and speed the longer we traded blows, the other part of my mind sank into a full dive virtual reality training simulation.

 

Physical sensation disappeared, replaced with a mock-up of the bridge. Sitting down in my chair, the bridge walls were covered in a star field and holograms sprang to life.

 

Alice stood at my side, directing the training session. "In this first simulation, we'll see how you handle a simple target elimination mission. Your objective is to destroy a facility on this system's second planet, located here."

 

The hologram of the system zoomed in on the planet in question and highlighted a building in a city on the largest southern continent.

 

"Rules for this engagement are as follows: Do not be detected entering or leaving the system. Do not do anything that the locals can tie to outside forces. Limit civilian causalities. Do not exceed the time limit of twenty four hours. That is all. You will begin in subspace on the edge of the system. What we do from there is up to you, captain. These are your options for orders you can give."

 

A list of commands wrote itself out in the air to my left. Included were commands such as:

-Subspace: enter/exit.

-Sensors: passive/active.

-Weapons.

 

"Okay. I remember you said we could scan the system from within subspace. So, let's do that and get an idea of what we're dealing with."

 

The hologram of the system quickly began to fill out with details as we drew further inside the system. Patrols were highlighted, their routes, numbers, and potential strength displayed. Defense installations popped up in orbit around the planet with their effective ranges shown. An asteroid field circling around where a third planet should be lit up with hidden installations, shipyards, weapon manufacturing plants, and more.

 

"Thought you said this was going to be easy," I complained as I took it all in, out to asteroid belt surrounding the system.

 

"It is."

 

As I looked at it, I realized she was right. Sometimes, it really was that easy. "Fuck it. Rocks fall, everyone dies. Drop us out outside the exterior asteroid belt. We'll move a big one into the system and make it look like it came from outside. We should be able to blend in with the debris as we move further in and hit the second field. Knock a bunch of stuff into a path that looks like a meteor shower. While the defense installations are focused on the bigger rocks, we have drones push a big enough rock down to smash the target."

 

Alice smiled and the hologram began to advance, following my direction. "Let us see what happens, captain."

 

Hours bled into days under CPU-based time compression and by the end of the afternoon, I was wiped both physically and mentally when my separate minds rejoined. With a groan, I left the training room partly supported by Alice tucking herself under my arm and bearing part of my weight as we headed for a lift and went up to the kitchen/dining room. Officers’ mess? That’s what it would be on a smaller ship, given its proximity to the bridge and captain’s quarters.

 

The newly modified ship possessed larger mess facilities for a much, much expanded crew or passengers in the newly built section, but the area we entered was small and cozy—just a single room with a long, wooden table and comfortable cushioned chairs rising from the floor. The room was lit by a overhead chandeliers, which made the warm red wood of the furniture shine. The floor itself looked and felt carpeted in a thick, forest green carpet, but I knew it to be smart matter. One wall showed an exterior view of a star field and a planet—specifically, Earth as seen from space, slowly rotating in place. The other long wall had a huge painting of what looked to be an Earth landscape. Or at least, an image of a painting. I couldn’t tell if it was something Alice had generated herself or something she had copied from Earth.

 

A door separated the room from a small kitchen, which I only noticed when Inumi came out, carrying a dish—along with a second Alice, also bearing food. The one with me deposited me in the seat at the head of the table and Inumi set out a dish of what looked and smelled like Mexican—some sort of casserole. Alice set bread and a pitcher of tea on the table as Inumi sat down at my left. The Alice with me sank into the floor while the one who had been working in the kitchen settled into the chair to my right. Plates, silverware, and glasses rose up from the table’s surface and once more, I was faced with just how convenient smart matter that could reconfigure itself at need was.

 

“No problems with Nia and Visa?” I asked as I grabbed a spoon and began dishing out helpings for the three of us, since Alice had given herself a plate as well.

 

Inumi shook her head. “None.” When I eyed her and simply waited for to elaborate, she added, “Visa said to say she loves you and would see you soon. Nia blushed a lot. It was cute.”

 

I chuckled. “Yeah, that sounds about right. How’s the new body treating you?”

 

Humming quietly as she sampled the food, her face lighting up at the taste, Inumi swallowed and answered, “It’s good. Feels… lighter. Fast. And I can do things now. Alice taught me how to access her systems from my mind, so I’m reading through a manual on the body’s features, capabilities, limitations, and so on. Did you know that we can survive hard vacuum?”

 

“I think Alice mentioned it.”

 

The shipgirl nodded, swallowing her bite of casserole. “I did. It’s possible, but I wouldn’t recommend prolonged exposure.”

 

“I’m not going to be trying it without a vac suit,” I shook my head. Taking my own bite, I hummed at the taste. “This is really good. Who made it?”

 

“We worked together on it,” Inumi admitted. “I wanted to learn to make Earth dishes for Nia to try.”

 

“And I haven’t sampled much food yet, so I thought, why not.”

 

“Good work, you two. I still can’t believe you can grow or make all of this stuff.”

 

Alice beamed. “You know, I made a new, expanded indoor garden. I could grow livestock there for slaughter if you wanted something specific, instead of the lab grown stuff.”

 

“That might be worth considering. It’d take a while for anything to grow, though. This is fine for now, Alice.” Trying the tea and finding it to my liking, as though Alice wouldn’t make something literally to my liking, I asked, “Any new data on our destination?”

 

The shipgirl hummed thoughtfully before a hologram sprang into being over the table. On it spun a green and blue world bearing nine continents, beautiful blue oceans, and ice caps at the north and south. There was surprisingly little desert, as well. Three moons orbited it, obviously sped up for our viewing as Alice played out a few instances of where the moons came into alignment or got close enough to eclipse a huge area. “It looks to be a garden world, like Earth or Eruvia. It’s fourth out in orbit around an F-type white star that is fairly close to both Eruvia and Earth in output—enough that Eru or humans could live there with no complications. It has life, as you can see, but nothing that has managed to send out any kind of detectable signals. Then again, neither had Eruvia, so I suppose we’ll see when we get closer.”

 

“And the other two neighboring systems?”

 

“Oh, those definitely have life. From what I’ve picked out from their transmissions—bearing in mind that I’m picking up the older stuff first as we approach,” I nodded at that and she continued, “both planets’ occupants are humanoid. This one started broadcasting first.”

The image changed, showing several grainy color videos of men and women who looked human—save for their blue skin and black sclera. I noticed a lot of what looked like uniforms in the footage, but I couldn’t be sure. What I could be sure of was the rapid advancement of technology through the images taken, showing cars, ships, and even planes. “Any idea what we’re walking into there?”

“Not really, for either of them. This footage is a few hundred years old, so things have definitely changed on their worlds since then.”

 

“They look… human,” Inumi murmured, looking at me. “Differently colored though, and they don’t make me feel like you.”

 

“They wouldn’t,” Alice nodded. “Firstly, the imprinting is hard-coded for a very limited definition of ‘human.’ Secondly, you’ve already imprinted on Kyle. You don’t react to me the same way you do him and I’m wearing a human form. You’re still deferential, and it’s clear your instincts are reacting at least some, but not nearly to the same extent as with him. I suspect it’s a ‘first come, first served’ thing in some cases. We won’t know without more testing.” Turning back to the hologram, she gestured for effect. “And now, for the reveal I’ve been waiting for…”

 

“I knew you were dragging it out,” I accused.

 

Alice grinned and the hologram changed, to show a full color image of a woman. She had warm, light brown skin, white hair, and wore a form fitting white dress that contrasted well with her skin tone. Her facial features were very sharp and angular, reminding me of the Eru, specifically the little elves like Nia. In point of fact, pun intended, her ears stuck out to the sides of her head and came to sharp points. “That is an elf.”

 

“Yep!” the shipgirl beamed.

 

“Why is that an elf?”

 

“Not just an elf but a space elf!” Alice corrected. “And I have no idea! But given the resemblance to the Eru and the size—using various other images and videos for scale puts them on average five feet tall—I’m going to guess that our Forerunner engineer friends were involved.”

 

“They make me wet.”

 

Alice and I blinked before turning to Inumi. The girl’s dog ears twitched. “What?” she asked, raising one brown eyebrow. “You both do as well. And Nia and Visa, of course. Can we invite some onboard?”

 

Alice snickered and I sighed, shaking my head. “Sure. Why not? Already have space hobbits, why not space elves as well?”

 

Turning a look on Alice, I said, “If you tell me there is a race of space-faring, gun toting, rapey space orcs…”

 

“The universe is an infinite bubble within the infinite sea of the multiverse—”

 

“You know I hate it when you say that.”

 

Alice beamed. “I know.”