USS Challenger NCC 86218
En route to Benina’ar VI (Class O [Pelagic])
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Laboratory Space Delta Four – Currently tasked for aquatic agriculture studies
“Computer,” sighed Lt. Kiro Téhanua, “isolate protein sequence gamma four nine.” There was a chirp of acknowledgment, followed by the holographics zooming in to display the requested sequence. Kiro leaned against the edge of the large round table in the middle of the lab, squinted his all-silver eyes in concentration, and sighed again.
“Adjust isothermic valence by point oh-five and run it again.” Another chirp, followed by Simulation will be complete in 15 minutes. Kiro was about to get up and head to the replicator for a snack when he heard a minute change in the sound of the water against the edge of the lab’s moon pool. He reached into a nearby bucket and tossed a chunk of fish over his shoulder. There was a snapping sound, followed by delphine chatter that the computer dutifully translated.
“One of these days I’ll sneak up on you,” laughed Lt. Ha’arsui as he swallowed the fish. “Mackerel again?” he asked, slightly disappointed.
“Not likely, fishbreath,” replied Kiro. “And it’s either that or saberfish from Celvanos. The trout shipment from Earth has been delayed again, and that fish farm on Khor’u hasn’t been able to acclimate mahi-mahi to Celvani waters yet.”
Ha’arsui noticed the hologram slowly rotating over the center of the table. “Still having trouble with the Pyropia Tenera?”
“Yeah. Sims show it doing well when it’s tended and cultivated, but if it grows ‘wild’, gets away from a farm area, it becomes invasive. Chokes out local flora and then dies off.”
“We’ve been running simulations for a month,” Ha’arsui groused. “Have you actually grown any yet?”
Kiro frowned. “The Agricultural Corps won’t let us go ‘real-world’ until the isothermic valences are synched and the polypeptides are in the green. But I did grow a little here on board.”
“Ah.” A pause. “How does it taste?”
“It’s not bad. It goes really well with that Tzenkethi mustard Lt. Commander K’kon likes on his tube grubs.”
“Too bad we can’t bioengineer the taste into a variant strain.” Ha’arsui laughed. “Mustard doesn’t do well underwater.”
“That would be a monumentally bad idea,” said Kiro. “Have you ever heard of the NAR Revhiatani?”
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
USS Challenger NCC 86128
The Ultra Lounge
Commander Connie Taylor made her way through the tiki bar-themed Ultra Lounge – Challenger’s main crew lounge and social hub – deftly dodging the crewmembers that were milling about, waiting for transmission of the Trans-Galactic Parrises Squares championship. She quickly found her way to the semi-private nook in a corner of the Lounge where Gabriel had just taken a bite of his bacon cheeseburger.
“You wanted to see me, sir?” Connie said stiffly.
“Yes. Have a seat, Commander.” Gabriel took another bite of the burger, then grabbed a couple of fries. He indicated a PADD resting on the table. “This just came in from Gateway.”
Connie retrieved the PADD and read the message. At first she smiled, but then as she read further the smile slowly died off.
“Congratulations,” said Gabriel. “This is a real breakthrough! It’s what you’ve been working towards these last few months.”
“I’m certainly pleased that the Beninati have recognized my overtures… but I have to be naked?”
“You won’t be naked, Commander. You’ll have a small breathing apparatus and a g-string.”
“It’s hardly diplomatic,” Connie frowned.
“You should be honored. The Beninati consider their waters to be sacred. They rarely allow visitors at all, and when they do, they usually have to be completely nude.”
Connie leaned forward and lowered her voice. “At least I can guarantee that you will never see me naked.” She grabbed the PADD and stood up. “You’ll excuse me, Captain. I have to discuss the mission with Lt. Ha’arsui and Ensign Izanami, the other members of the away team.
“And wipe that smirk off your face. Sir.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
USS Challenger NCC 86218
In high geostationary orbit of Benina’ar VI (Class O [Pelagic])
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Two hours into away mission
“Incoming transmission, Captain,” said Lt. D’negel. A pause, then, “for Lt. Ha’arsui. It’s from Seareach.”
“That’s his homeworld,” mused Gabriel. “I’ll take it in my ready room. Lt. Priest, you have the conn.” As Gabriel disappeared into the ready room, Lt. Mokul stood up from the helm and stretched. “Have you ever been to Seareach, Lieutenant.”
“I haven’t,” Lt. Priest replied. “I understand it’s quite beautiful.”
“Bluest water I’ve ever seen aside from Le’ahi – Diamond Head – on O’ahu, back on Earth. And Seareach has some seriously righteous surf.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
“I’m sorry, First Minister,” said Gabriel. “Lt. Ha’arsui is on an away mission, and is currently unreachable.”
“When is he due back?”
“Several hours at least. The Beninati can be… particular. Since we were actually invited to Benina’ar, we really want to mind our p’s and q’s.”
“And by the time he’s returned, I’ll be offworld attending a conservation conference on Pacifica… and I’ll be unreachable.” The minister gave the delphine equivalent of a sigh. “I’d have much preferred to deliver this news personally, but it seems I’ll not be able to.
“I trust you’ll keep this in the strictest confidence…”
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Seven hours later
“The away team has signaled, Captain. They’re ready to beam up.”
“Have the specialized transporter in Cetacean Ops beam them aboard. I’ll be there momentarily.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
“Welcome back,” Gabriel said as Connie stormed out of the airlock. She was wrapped in thermal towels and had shells and what looked like a seahorse in her hair. “Debriefing in one hour standard.”
“I swear, I’m never eating fish again,” she hissed as she stomped past Gabriel. He cocked his head to the side inquisitorially but didn’t stop her. I wonder if it went well… Guess we’ll find out soon enough.
Gabriel tabbed a nearby LCARS panel and opened a channel to the transporter room.
“Lt. Ha’arsui, a word in private, please?”
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
A week later
Laboratory Space Delta Four
“Computer,” sighed Lt. Kiro Téhanua, “isolate protein sequence gamma four nine.” There was a chirp of acknowledgment, followed by the holographics zooming in to display the requested sequence. Kiro leaned against the edge of the large round table in the middle of the lab, squinted in concentration, and sighed again.
“Adjust isothermic valence by point oh-oh-four and run it again.” Another chirp, followed by Lt. Kiro Téhanua, the Captain would like a word with you. In the Captain’s office, please.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
“With a few obvious exceptions, Lieutenant, as long as it doesn’t endanger the ship or her crew, I’m not going to tell anyone where they can or can’t go while aboard Challenger.” Gabriel fiddled idly with a toy velociraptor, one of four that adorned his rough-hewn wooden desk. “Certain circumstances, however, are why I need to ask why you’ve been visiting Cetacean Ops each night this past week.”
Lt. Téhanua focused on Gabriel, and his silver eyes glistened. “Oh, I haven’t been anywhere near the Fish Tank, sir.”
Gabriel blinked. “I’ve seen you there myself, Lieutenant. Interesting trick with your eyes, though.”
Kiro frowned. “The Shimmer usually works on humans. You are human, aren’t you?”
Gabriel looked at Kiro, a half-smile on his lips that was at once sad, amused, and a bit condescending. “More or less.” His gaze hardened.
“I found out accidentally,” said Kiro. “It was a day after Ha'arsui came back from Benina’ar. We were in Delta Four, continuing our work on Pyropia Tenera seaweed. We’re trying to create a non-invasive, farmable kelp. He seemed a bit down, so I asked what was wrong. ‘Just tired from the away mission,’ he said, but I caught a wave of grief.”
“Caught?”
“My people are low-level telepathic. Normally we don’t get much detail, but… So I did a little research, and it turns out we have similar concepts of the afterlife. We Silveraan call it the Oversea; the dolphins of Seareach call it the Endless Blue.
“Like many, their afterlife has a waystation of sorts; theirs is Ta'arai's Lagoon. Their departed go first to this Lagoon, from where they can sample the Endless Blue but return in ‘soul-form’ to loved ones for brief visits before swimming forever the Endless Blue.”
“So you passed yourself off as the soul-form of his uncle. Helpful that Silveraan are able to shapeshift into a sleek, delphine form.” Kiro’s eyes widened in surprise. “I’ve done some research too, Lieutenant.”
“Considering Ha’arsui didn’t know his father, and it was his uncle who helped raise him, he was taking it understandably hard. I’m his friend, sir, and I was just trying to help.” Kiro sighed. “Tonight is the last time; his uncle has to move on to the Endless Blue.”
“That’s definitely unorthodox,” Gabriel said.
“Yes, sir, but effective.” Kiro smiled, a bit sadly. “He’s still hurting, but I know I helped him come to terms with the loss. Or at least, he’s got a better handle on it… That pain never really goes away.”
“No,” said Gabriel quietly. “No, it doesn’t.
“Perhaps let Lt. Ha’arsui know that his friends and shipmates on Challenger are also interested in his well-being?”
“I will, sir.”
Gabriel stood, setting down the toy dinosaur. “Dismissed.”
Kiro got up, but before he reached the door, Gabriel said (with a smile in his voice):
“Oh, Lieutenant, we’ll talk about your attempt to hypnotize your commanding officer later…”
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The next day
Laboratory Space Delta Four
“Computer,” sighed Lt. Kiro Téhanua, “isolate protein sequence gamma four nine.” There was a chirp of acknowledgment, followed by the holographics zooming in to display the requested sequence. Kiro leaned against the edge of the large round table in the middle of the lab, squinted his all-silver eyes in concentration, and sighed again.
“Adjust isothermic valence by point oh-oh-two and run it again.” As the computer chirped again, Kiro heard a splash in the moon pool. “Hey, fishbreath,” he said, tossing a chunk of fish over his shoulder.
“Salmon?” Ha’arsui asked excitedly.
“I had some flown in from Alaska, figured it’d be a nice treat… or at least hold you over until the trout arrives.”
“Why not get the salmon from Seareach? Shipping would have been a lot less expensive.”
“It wasn’t that bad. I split the cost with the Captain; he wanted some for a friend on Celvanos. Besides, I did a little research. Reachan salmon may have originated on Earth, but I know the cold Alaskan water gives the Terran salmon just a little something extra, taste-wise.” Kiro tossed Ha’arsui another piece.
“Sure does. Next time Challenger is in Earthspace, I’ll take you to my favorite restaurant. Nothing like wild Alaskan trout cooked over genuine driftwood…”
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kanryou
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