Aaron was determined to change the world with his work, no matter how what it took. But one catastrophe later, and he's got much bigger things to look forward to, for better or worse.
*Thanks to Rasufelle's sample pages for guidance on creating this title page!*
Warped Space - Chapter 1
By Misty Steppes
Welcome to my first story! Be warned, this may receive a rewrite at some point, but I'm not going to do much good staring at it so I might as well let it out into the wild. Enjoy, and I'd love to hear comments or criticism down below.
I’ll never forget that night. Not because of the bitter chill of the winter solstice night, nor because of the runny nose that constantly reminded me of my persistent cold, no - all that paled in comparison with the events of that night. To be fair, what I saw is no longer the most surprising moment of my life, as you’ll soon see as I recount my adventures, but it was certainly the first of many.
“Goddammit Aaron, can’t you just leave it a few weeks? I had to reschedule my flight out to make this test. I know you haven’t got any plans, but I’d like to spend some time with my family before we get on with attempting to further humanity.”
I didn’t even bother looking up from my monitor as my coworker’s complaints echoed through our metal-paneled lab. The screen in front of me laid out thousands of individual variables related to our project, and I was carefully editing each one individually and observing the changes they created in one another.
“This is the last one James, and once again I apologize for keeping you. I could have done this myself.”
My voice was rather monotone as I spoke, far more focused on my work than his protests.
“As if I’d let you blow everything up on your own. You remember the last time you forgot a decimal point before a test? That’s why we had professionals ground everything properly. I’m not letting you screw up again if I can help it.”
“I’m well aware, James...”
I stood up with a sigh, sparing one last glance towards the monitor as I saved my changes and clicked it off.
“The changes are saved, turn off your workstation so we can run the test without risk of interference.”
James rolled his eyes as I spoke, but shut down his own workstation nonetheless.
“I’m honestly not sure what you’re expecting here. Quantum anomalies have been proven to exist, but they’re not known to be controllable in any meaningful way. Countless panels of scientists agree that they’re just harmless blips in the fabric of space-time.”
“Well one good, repeatable experiment can prove countless panels wrong, James. That’s what science is all about, and it’s what my thesis will be about regardless of our success. The professor eats this shit up, and you know it. Now get to the booth, I’ll clear the chamber and prepare the sub-chambers.”
“Yes, oh captain my captain.” With a snarky half-salute, James leaned over and opened the door to the main testing area, the dimly lit operating booth serving as the barrier between our work space and the actual test chamber. I had no expectations for this experiment, much like our last 273, but it wouldn’t do to leave a new theory untested for the several weeks of winter break that would follow - as James had said, he was not convinced as to my ability to conduct experiments on my own.
To be fair, he had a point, though it wouldn’t much matter as we soon found out.
With a hard pull of the metal door set in the wall just past the one James had opened, I entered the chamber, met immediately by the sight of my work over the last few months: two identical domes, inside which stood identical pedestals. The insides of the domes were lined with a metal apparatus of my own design, the function of which would take thousands of words to explain in even the simplest (accurate) terms.
Put simply, though not entirely accurately, I was trying to teleport significant amounts of matter.
The 20th and early 21st centuries would argue that this was impossible, as per Einstein’s famous work; but drastic advances in our understanding of quantum mechanics revealed “anomalies” of a sort in the fabric of the space-time continuum, ones that we have slowly attempted to quantify and document. Or, in my case, control.
“Alright, set the test object, I cleared the chambers last night. Get ready for a whole lot of nothing.”
James’ voice came through the speaker system set up in the chamber - he had apparently already closed the door while I was surveying our work. I walked over to the far side of the room, passing between the two domes, where on a small table
sat hundreds of metal ball bearings, split into two piles: used and unused in our experiments. It seems pretty pointless since our experiments had done exactly nothing observable, but if they were doing something we couldn’t see, anything at all, any future iterations of the experiment would be affected.
Plucking a single ball bearing from the unused stack using a nearby pair of tongs, I carefully moved it over to one of the domes, the one which I knew to be our “send” dome, as I had so aptly named it (the other was the “receive” dome, of course). A small hatch on the side of the dome opened with a light press, and I reached in with the tongs and the ball bearing. The ball bearing rolled around slightly as I released it, but the concave shape of the pedestal kept it from falling. I quickly shut the door and returned the tongs to their original location, before looking over towards James.
“The test subject is set.”
I moved between the domes to observe the ball, crouching down slightly to get a straight-on view. The nature of quantum anomalies meant that the object wouldn’t be traveling through physical space even if it did somehow work, so I was in no danger of being run through with a metal ball.
“Alright. Now recording.
“Test #274, Date and Time December 21 2035, 11:27 PM. Modification List compared to Test #273: Extensive, thanks to a calculation error that would have skewed any data collected from Test #273.
“Variable entries appear correct. Structural integrity normal. Powering up system in Three.
“Two.
“One.”
Each dome began to hum as the metal contraptions vibrated at a high frequency, just as they had done in experiments before.
“Effects on structure consistent with previous experiments… no sign of change in the test subject.”
I squinted at the metal ball… nope. Nothing.
“Alright James, cut the power. We’re done for the night. Enjoy your flight home.”
His face lit up in the booth, and he pressed the intercom button once again.
“Finally~ Test results inconclusive. Cutting power to system in Three.
“Two.
“HOLY SHIT! AARON!”
I had looked up to speak to him, but my head now snapped back to the dome at his reaction.
That was the moment.
The marble was no longer visible - instead, the inside of the dome was shrouded in a blue mist of sorts, entirely obscured. I looked behind me at the “receive” dome, and saw the exact same thing.
“Absolutely stunning…” I muttered.
“Should I still cut power? We can’t see anything with this mist.”
“Go ahead. Should be replicable regardless.”
I waved to him to go ahead, and I assume he pushed the button to turn off the structures, but the words that came next told me I was in serious danger.
“I… can’t cut the power. It isn’t working. I’m going to run for the dead switch in the basement, you need to get out of there though. Who knows what’ll happen, this is unknown ground.”
I was inclined to agree, so I promptly abandoned my place between the domes and bolted towards the main door.
But perhaps that was the real moment I remember even more keenly, because clearly my escape was not meant to be.
Before I could move an inch, the domes shattered with the high-pitched crack of breaking glass, the metal structures exploding outwards in the same impact. The two spheres of mist shot towards one another - and directly towards me, since I was right between them.
I can’t really describe the feeling of the impact. It was simultaneously freezing cold and burning hot, yet also a tingly sensation like when you hit your funny bone or your leg falls asleep.
All of that at once.
And then nothing.
Warped Space - Chapter 2
By Misty Steppes
Don't go expecting these every night, folks, I'm just trying to decide where exactly I'm going with this story, and I do that by writing until I'm happy with a chapter and where it takes the story. That being said, enjoy!
“Where the hell am I…”
I slid my arms underneath my torso, pushing myself up off of the odd ground to get a good look of the area around me.
My jaw dropped.
The view in front of me was stunning. Around fifty feet ahead of me stood a plasma curtain the likes of which had only existed in science fiction - but it was now the only thing that stood between me and the darkness of space.
A hand on my shoulder made me jump, and I turned to see who it was.
“Who are you?”
I half-shouted as I turned, coming face to face with a human-looking man. He was tall and broad, pale but with heavy muscle that belied the sun-deprived assumption that I might otherwise be led to by his skin. His entire body was covered in a black armor of sorts, plates of yet another material that remained unfamiliar to me.
He responded to me, but it was incomprehensible - more of that language that I had heard as I came to. I blinked in confusion, and we both frowned. He tapped a button near his collar and spoke in a monotone, evidently using some kind of radio. Releasing the button when he finished speaking, the man extended his hand to me, a somewhat universal gesture it seemed even as incomprehensible as our languages were to one another. I grabbed his hand and he pulled me to my feet, nodding solemnly.
I was tempted to make another attempt at deciphering their language, but before I could say or do anything another person ran up behind the man. A short woman in a similar black armor skidded to a halt next to him, a small box in hand. After a brief word (or words, I wouldn’t know) between the two, the woman opened the box, revealing what looked to be an earpiece of some kind - like the ones used by FBI agents or rich businessmen. She held it out to me, and I gingerly plucked it from the box, orienting it properly before sticking it into my left ear. As I let go, the woman handed me a tablet-like slab, the screen already lit with images. When I grabbed hold of it, the woman reached over and pushed on button on the earpiece. It immediately began speaking the language that they had been, but she mimed speaking and pointed to the tablet.
Making the assumption that I was supposed to speak the English word for what was on the screen, I started naming the many images I saw, proceeding left to right and top to bottom.
“Bed.
“Star.
“Table…”
“Language formula comprehended. Calibration complete. Welcome, customer.
“New Language Registered. Please provide a name for the record.”
“English.”
“Thank you. Now translating nearby surrounding conversation.”
“...That didn’t take too long. Surprising to find an untranslated derivative language in this day and age, but I’m not complaining.”
A slightly synthetic-sounding voice spoke in my ear, apparently repeating the words of the woman as she spoke - there was hardly any delay, astoundingly, though it did pause at some points. I had only spoken a few words, so the fact that it was already able to speak almost perfect English was simply unbelievable.
“Alright, you should be able to understand us now. My name is Amina Del’Roux, First Lieutenant in the Federation Exploratory Corps, and this is Joel Kar’Seth, Second Lieutenant. Would you mind telling us where, you’re from?”
The woman smiled as she spoke, gesturing to the man beside her as she introduced him.
“I- I’m from Earth, Sol System, not that that would mean anything to you most likely. My planet has not achieved space travel, something that I would find hard to believe right now if not for it staring me in the face.”
The earpiece was clearly translating my voice into whatever language they had been speaking, but it seemed to work well enough. I gestured over my shoulder as I spoke towards the plasma window into the void. As I finished speaking, I quietly took a deep breath, still quite surprised that I was taking this so well.
“A pre-spacer planet with warp technology? Impossible,” The voice-over of the man, who had been introduced as Joel, scoffed. “No pre-spacer could just show up in our interdictor bay without being torn to pieces by their own gate. Where are you really from?”
“I swear, I’m not lying to you. I’m a college student, I was doing research into warp anomalies for my thesis, and got caught up in an experiment gone wrong. I’m frankly surprised I’m still alive, much less here.”
Joel frowned, but said nothing for a moment. Sensing his pause, Amina spoke up instead, reaching for the pad in my hand, which I readily handed to her.
“Well, I have no reason to believe you’re lying, though pre-spacers this close to the Known Systems is almost unheard of, not to mention you surviving that warp. Would you possibly be able to point out your location on a galactic map? I assume your planet had that much technology, if you were experimenting with warp gates.”
After a moment of tapping away at the tablet, Amina handed it back to me, at which point I closed my eyes and attempted to remember our relative location in the Milky Way. But when I opened my eyes again and looked down at the tablet, I immediately felt confused.
“This… This isn’t what our galaxy looks like.”
Nothing matched up. Not the shape, not the size, nothing. Even if I wanted to slot the Sol system in somehow, I wouldn’t be able to make it fit in a way that made sense.
“I… It’s not here.”
I placed my head in my hands, trying to comprehend what was happening.
“What do I do…” I whispered to myself.
I felt Amina’s hand upon my shoulder.
At least I wasn’t all alone.
Still reeling from the shock of the day’s events, I sat down without a sound onto the bed I had been led to.
“I’ll send over a spare datapad for you with a language program on it, among other things. It’s best if you learn Galactic Common as quickly as possible - the translator’s very convenient, but it can be kind of unsettling to hear everyone as the same voice, not to mention the confusion it can cause when translating colloquialisms and such.”
Amina spoke softly from the doorway, disappearing when she was done speaking. The metal door slid shut upon her departure, the hiss of the pneumatic system driving it only barely audible.
I hadn’t seen most of my current location, but from what I could tell I was aboard a starship of some kind - presumably owned by the “Federation Exploratory Corps”. It was pretty stereotypically futuristic-looking as starships go - not that I had much experience with real starships.
“Mister Aaron, I’ve retrieved your datapad for you.”
The sound of Galactic Common came from behind the door, words that were swiftly translated by my earpiece, the door sliding open as I looked up. A humanoid robot strode into the room, its metal plating almost identical to the armor that Amina and Joel had been wearing. Emblazoned on the metal of its lapel was a symbol that I presumed to belong to the Exploratory Corps - that or the Federation, though the former was my best guess. It was a white circle with two horizontal bars through it, almost like a double-ringed planet, if such a thing were possible.
“We’ll have to take you to a government office once we get back to a Federation system, get you registered and all that, but you should be able to apply for citizenship fairly easy. Pre-spacers can’t exactly be enemy plants, obviously, so your background check should turn up clean - nonexistent, actually, but that is besides the point.”
The android handed me a datapad as he spoke, not pausing even as I pressed what appeared to be the power button. The screen of the pad flashed on with a pleasant ‘ding’, the same logo as the one on the android briefly appearing on screen before it faded out, replaced with a home screen of sorts.
The words on the pad were exclusively in Galactic Common, so I couldn’t understand any of it, but I presumed the icon of a book with Galactic Common symbols in it would take me to the learning resource Amina had mentioned.
“The datapad is technically only authorized for Corps member use, but I don’t think anyone will begrudge you the necessity that is learning Galactic Common in this era. Well, I’d best let you get to work - if you’d like to join the crew for dinner, most eat at around the 22nd hour Galactic Standard Time. Days are split into 30 hours, just so you know - your pre-spacer world likely kept time differently. Hours are 50 minutes, minutes are 50 seconds, and you can get an idea of the length of a second using that clock over in the corner if you like. I’ll leave you to it. Old PAD-1 will be around if you need me.”
With a casual salute thrown my way, PAD-1 stalked out of the room, its movements mechanical but quite smooth and human-like. I glanced over to the clock that it mentioned - after waiting a few moments to compare my memory of a second and the second recorded on the digital clock, I found that their second was extremely similar to Earth’s - odd, but quite convenient. A different second would have made keeping time a nightmare for years to come.
Should I live that long. I had not a clue what was to come.
I turned back to the datapad that sat on my lap, finally opening the language resource that I had received the tablet for in the first place. In a matter of moments, I was beginning to learn the language of the galaxy I had found myself in.
Warped Space - Chapter 3
By Misty Steppes
My, it has been a while hasn’t it. Apologies for the absence, the Real World has indeed been cruel over the past… almost two years, I think it’s been? Dear. Well, whilst I get my bearings, enjoy a new chapter of Warped Space!
Perhaps I’m being a touch overdramatic - after all, I was just laying in my bed. Even in an unknown galaxy, universe even, the concept of something soft to spend the night on was the same. After spending several hours immersed in learning the strange language that had been thrust upon me, “Galactic Common” as it were, I had turned in for a “night” of fitful sleep - I wasn’t sure that night really meant anything on a starship. As I rolled side to side, adjusting the pillow-like object periodically to find a comfortable position, I found rest elusive. Not that the bed wasn’t comfortable, I hadn’t slept on anything that comfortable in my life, but you could hardly blame me for being restless. In a split second my life had turned upside down, inside out, and backwards, and I’d been unceremoniously dumped into what was, for all I knew, another dimension entirely.
I guess I got that vacation after all, I thought wryly to myself, staring up at the ceiling. I hope James is alright.
My intrepid assistant had originally been set to fly back across the country for the holidays, to spend a couple weeks with his folks. With any luck he should have made it out just fine, given he had only been moments away from the manual shutoff, but who knew? I certainly didn’t. I sighed thoughtfully. At least I didn’t have anyone back on Earth who would feel my absence too hard. Sure, James was a decent guy and might be affected for a time, but we weren’t exactly close. No friends awaited me back at the university, and any family I had was long since estranged - my parents and siblings had never quite understood me, or my endless pursuit of knowledge, and the extended family was no different. I suppose they’re all the well-adjusted ones, though, to be fair.
“Lights on, please.” I spoke out into the void, hoping that the lights worked how I presumed - I’d look a right fool if not. On cue, the room slowly illuminated, warm light emanating from panels above me. I reached over and grabbed the datapad off of the desk, glancing at the clock.
21:36:31
The clock wasn't in the Arabic numerals that were standard on Earth of course, though conveniently they seemed to also count in Base 10, so the conversion wasn’t too much of a hassle. I clearly hadn’t been trying to sleep for too long, given it had been around “noon” when I’d arrived, and I’d spent a good six or seven hours on the language program.
Speaking of, what an incredible piece of software! It had interfaced with the translator earpiece and quickly taught me the basics of the language. It was very strange… in many ways, the language was similar to English and other Germanic languages, as what little remained of my high school German and French told me. The grammar was extremely similar to German patterns, with very particular word order and compound words, but even that didn’t account for just how efficient this teaching seemed to be! After what equated to little more than an afternoon of studying, I had already reached a somewhat conversational level in Galactic Common, though I wouldn’t dare call myself fluent. I suspected that they had some sort of strange memorization method embedded within the program, but with all the crazy nonsense surrounding me, that would hardly be out of place.
I looked at the datapad in my hands and considered opening it again, but shook my head. For whatever reason, the only application I could access was the language program - understandable, I suppose, but my curiosity about my current situation was far from satisfied. The tablet returned to its former place on the desk, and I flopped back onto the bed with yet another sigh.
“Aaron, you good? My shift just ended, I’m heading to the mess hall if you’d like to join me.” A knock came at the door along with the familiar voice, and the surface of the otherwise unassuming metal door was replaced with a clear view of what lay beyond it - in this case, the still uniformed First Lieutenant Amina Del’Roux, tapping gently on the door’s surface with a slightly awkward smile. Perhaps it was thanks to my sudden change in surroundings, but I hadn’t yet taken a look at my new hosts, beyond the fact that they seemed largely human. Amina in particular seemed broadly Caucasian in appearance, with jet black hair neatly tied up, a strong contrast to her extremely pale skin, a trait that the other crew member I had met shared. The smooth black plates of unknown material seemed quite thick, so I had no way of knowing what she looked like beneath her uniform, but nevertheless Amina seemed like quite an attractive young woman at first glance.
“Aaron?”
Breaking from my momentary stupor, I blushed slightly before quickly clearing my head. I had more important things to worry about than my lovely host’s appearance.
“Come in!” The door hissed open automatically at his words, and the smiling Amina poked her head inside. “Sorry to bother you,” she said pleasantly, “I can’t imagine what’s been running through your head.”
I chuckled. “You have no idea.” As she spoke, I noticed that the translation program was much quieter. It would only speak over words that I didn’t recognize, and those were already few and far between. I guessed that I would struggle if I came upon any slang, but I couldn’t very well complain about learning a language in six hours. Amina had clearly noticed my somewhat decent Galactic Common as well - a bright smile crossed her lips.
“Impressive! I don’t think I’ve heard of anyone picking up Common that quickly, then again most new learners are children nowadays. I would keep the translator for now - I’m sure you haven’t got everything just yet.” She glanced at the tablet on the desk, looked back at me, and nodded her head in the direction of the hallway. “Seems like you’re taking a break anyway. You coming?”
Weighing the awkwardness of meeting new people on a spaceship in a different galaxy against sitting in my room alone… I guessed the former would at least be a bit more interesting. I stood, leaving the datapad behind, and followed Amina out into the hall. As the door closed behind us, she glanced over at me.
“All this,” she gestured at the futuristic white corridor, “might be a little jarring at first, but you’ll get used to it quickly I’m sure.”
I nodded, still far more unsure of myself than she seemed to be. “I suppose - I hope the crew doesn’t mind my… sudden… intrusion.”
Amina laughed in response, a strange melodic tone that was endearing in its own way.
“You’ll be fine. I, for one, am happy to have you, and I’m sure the rest of the staff will take to you just fine.” Her reassuring smile put me slightly more at ease, and we continued on our way to what I assumed was the cafeteria.
The chatter of the cafeteria was slightly overwhelming as the large door slid open, the long white corridor suddenly ending with this large room. As far as I could tell, this ship was quite large - not nearly as cramped as I would expect, and this large mess hall was no different. Several tables and chairs were arranged neatly, with a dozen or so uniformed crew members jovially conversing and scarfing down hot meals, and rolling robotic attendants retrieving and replacing empty plates with unfamiliar dishes. For a few moments I just took in the strange sights and sounds in silence, Amina waiting patiently beside me, but before long someone noticed me and an awkward pause overtook the room. I took a half step back. Should I interrupt? Should I just leave? Before I had a chance to doubt myself too much, a figure I couldn’t quite make out called from inside the room.
“LT, why don’t you introduce us to your magic warper boyfriend?”
The tension broke in an instant, as the room filled with laughter, Amina’s familiar giggle returning. I glanced over at her - was she blushing? I’m far more awkward right now than she is, that’s for sure. My thoughts were interrupted once again as Amina grabbed me by the shoulder and pulled me into the room.
“Everyone, meet Aaron…” She glanced at me.
“Brewer,” I supplied quietly.
“Aaron Brewer,” Amina continued, “our newest discovery and resident warper - as far as I know, the ONLY warper, full stop.”
The chatter from before returned with a vengeance, but everyone had one clear topic - me. Another voice popped up, but I didn’t recognize anyone here. Joel from before was nowhere to be seen.
“So what’s your secret, Brewer? You a Warp Beast in disguise or something?” Another bout of laughter rippled through the small crowd, but I didn’t quite know how to respond. Amina stepped in on my behalf, giving the man who asked a withering glare.
“No, he’s not a warp beast, Ar’Dokh. Seems like he’s just an INCREDIBLY lucky scientist from a pre-spacer world.” As she spoke she led me to an open set of chairs, where we took a seat. The crew members sitting opposite us offered me welcoming smiles, and one slid another datapad my way, this one with pictures of what I could only assume was food on it.
“Grab whatever you like, we have rations to spare,” he whispered conspiratorially. “I recommend the Kanthian Steak Melt, always popular, but who knows what’ll be to your taste.”
I could hear other tables still sending questions my way as I scrolled through the meal options, but I gratefully let Amina ward them off as I finally just decided to go with the crewman’s recommendation.
Not ten seconds later, one of those rolling robots slid a plate with a beautiful-looking steak right in front of me, as well as a few sides and some things that looked similar enough to Earth silverware. It was only as I began to take in the pleasant, rich smell of the cooked slab of meat that I realized just how hungry I was! Extradimensional travel took a lot out of you, I guess. Amina and her crewmates looked on with amusement as I dug in eagerly.
One of the other crewmen nudged Amina. “He seen the Captain or the Commander yet, LT? We don’t need to wind up in the brig for a cycle because you ‘forgot’.”
“Not yet Pilot, but the Captain comes off duty soon. It’s probably best if he meets the Commander last anyway…” The two of them smirked, and I wasn’t sure if I should be worried. When I heard the next sound deafen the room, though, I decided that I definitely should be.
“ATTENTION!”
Warped Space - Chapter 4
By Misty Steppes
Things are slowly picking up, and yet only just beginning... enjoy!
“So I hear we have a stowaway, Lieutenant. Give me one reason I shouldn’t throw him in the brig right this instant, and you with him for aiding him.” I just looked at him, eyes wide. Noooooot a good start. Amina sighed and rose to her feet, more than a foot shorter than the intimidating man, but not a smidge of fear or concern showed on her face.
“Commander, he’s not a stowaway. He’s a victim of a warp accident on a pre-spacer planet, and he was lucky enough to get caught in our inderdictor still in one piece.”
“I’d call him a spy, but I don’t think we even have any enemies who can warp personnel… Hell, I didn’t think anyone could enter Warp Space without a Drive and a Pathfinder.” The Commander, as Amina had called him, seemed confused. He glanced over at a nearby table, where a bunch of intellectual-looking types were poring over several datapads and muttering to one another quietly. One of them caught his eye, and shrugged slightly - the universal “no clue”. Amina took the opportunity to go in for the kill.
“Me neither, Commander, but here he is. FEC code dictates we provide hospitality for survivors of interstellar travel accidents, as well as language training for ascended pre-spacers. I believe both apply here - reference FEC Charter lines 118 and 143, Commander.”
“Ah. I see you’ve done your research, Lieutenant, so I don’t space the poor sod. Hmm, has our ship’s Princess developed a crush on the mysterious warpster?” The cafeteria broke out into laughter once again - it seemed the ship’s crew shared a similar sense of humor. The cool-headed Lieutenant simply raised an eyebrow at her superior officer.
“No sir, that would be in strict violation of the FEC fraternization policy.”
The Commander smirked again, raising an eyebrow of his own. “He’s not a member of the FEC, and even if he was, that policy was repealed at the last Council session…”
Amina’s neutral expression started to crack slightly, the pale white of her cheeks coloring oh so gently, but the Commander decided to be merciful and end their exchange.
“Anyway, since our lovely Lieutenant here has pointed out that we can’t exactly leave you to die, allow me to welcome you to your new home, at least until we make landfall in Known Space. In other words, welcome aboard the FEC Dawnrider.” His stoic face shifted slightly, sending a brief smile my way, and he reached out a hand to shake mine - I took the offered hand, of course, I’m not crazy. The surrounding crew offered some welcomes of their own, but the Commander quickly waved his hand to silence them.
“I don’t know if my slacking crew here already introduced me, but either way - I’m Commander Aldrich Lee’Zanh of the FEC Dawnrider, and more importantly the Chief Officer of the Epsilon Quadrant Charting Project. That’s what we’re doing out here in the middle of nowhere - plotting this unsettled region of space, dealing with any unknowns that come our way…” He gave me a meaningful look, “And eventually returning a full report of the zone to the Federation government back in Known Space.”
He paused. It looked like he was going over something in his head. After a moment, “Alright, I think that’s all the mandatory script stuff. Now then.” Commander Lee’Zanh gave me a wide, almost scary grin. “I may have to give you a place to stay, but no one freeloads on my ship. Lieutenant Del’Roux, newcomer, finish your meals. I expect both of you in my office in five minutes. As you were!”
The Commander spun on his heels and strode back the way he came, leaving the cafeteria in silence right until the doors closed. As the pneumatic hiss faded, the now familiar chatter returned. Amina and I just looked at each other, confused, before quickly going back to our meals.
The soft hiss of metallic doors and unnaturally white hallways were now at least somewhat familiar to me. Amina had led me over to a spacious elevator-like room, almost identical to the rest of the hallway, which took us up to another deck of the ship. The door slid open to reveal a wide open room, and not for the first time in the past day my jaw dropped straight through the floor. My feeling of awe looking out the plasma window of the Interdiction Chamber was dwarfed by the spread of windows that lay before me - the half dome at the far side of this room peered out into the void, twinkling stars the only intermittent variance in an otherwise infinite darkness.
I stumbled forward after receiving a sudden push from behind.
“Don’t just stand there,” Amina said with a gentle smile in my direction, “the Commander doesn’t take kindly to delays.”
Instead of proceeding on to the bridge proper, she shepherded me off to the right side of the floor, where a large jet black door denoted what I could only assume to be the Commander’s office. Amina tapped a clear card of some sort to a pad off to the side. The pad’s surface blinked a pale green, and the door itself hissed open, revealing the cramped office quarters that lay beyond.
“Come in, Lieutenant, Mister Not-A-Stowaway.” I suspected that was as much of an invitation as I was going to get.
A desk sat immediately opposite the entrance, but this one was empty - Maybe the captain’s desk? - another door to my left sat open, and I quickly ducked my head in. As I suspected, a similar desk greeted me again, but this time a familiar intimidating figure sat at its rear. The Commander’s clean-shaven visage was pretty similar to that of a stereotypical military man on Earth, but the armor made him a hundred times more intimidating than anyone back home could ever hope to be. He locked eyes with me, his black irises seeming to bore into my soul, and gestured casually to one of the two chairs opposite him. I hurriedly slid into the seat, and Amina followed suit, joining me to my left.
The commander looked at the two of us, leaning back in his chair.
“Well, what the hell am I supposed to do with you, Mister Not-A-Stowaway. Knowing your name would be a good start.”
“A-Aaron, sir,” I forced out, still intimidated by his piercing gaze. “Aaron Brewer.”
“Well, Mister Brewer, since I can’t just put you out the airlock, I might as well put you to some use.” He produced a datapad from under the desk, and slid it towards me. A file of some kind was already visible on the screen.
“Aldrich, you can’t conscript a fucking refugee!” My translator helpfully supplied the colorful expletives Amina was using, helpfully condensing them to a single English substitute. I hadn’t realized she had been looking over my shoulder, but indeed - in bold glyphs, the top of the datapad read “Exploratory Corps Articles of Conscription”, with several paragraphs of much smaller legalese following.
The Commander’s withering glare shifted to my guide. “I don’t recall giving you permission to use my name in the presence of Mister Brewer here, Lieutenant. And, as a matter of fact, I can - I can also throw him in the brig if he says no.”
I started scrolling through the document as Amina and the Commander began a heated exchange. Binding contract established for five years or until discharge... Standard introductory rank of Ensign... Variable duties, subject to superior officer’s discretion…
“...Well until we get back into Known Space I’m your superior officer, Lieutenant, so I’ll goddamn well not-” The Commander’s rant paused as he noticed me slide the datapad back to him, my crude signature in the Common alphabet scrawled along the bottom.
He grinned. “Well that settles that.” I glanced over at Amina, and it looked like she’d swallowed a lemon whole, but she stifled whatever she was about to say. Instead, I felt a death grip on my leg under the desk, hard enough to make me grit my teeth - She’s gonna leave a hand-shaped bruise.
“Anyway,” the Commander busily swiped through various screens on the datapad, too fast for me to actually see what was going on, “Welcome once again to the Dawnrider, and welcome to the Federation Exploratory Corps, Ensign Brewer. We’re in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere at the moment, which gives you plenty of time to get trained up, and actually be somewhat useful.”
The tablet slid back over to me again, this time with what looked like a schedule on it.
“As soon as we’re done here, you’re heading down to Requisition to get fitted with everything you’ll need. After that, you’re to follow this schedule for as long as we’re in empty space, unless otherwise specified by myself or the Captain.”
From what I could translate on the schedule, it looked like each time block had a different subject marked down - Small Arms, Electronics, Medical Basics... Starfighter Training? Before I had a chance to comment, though, he continued.
“And, of course, it only makes sense that our stowaway-harborer here serves her punishment in kind. Lieutenant, you’re on escort duty until further notice, playing guide for our newest Ensign here.”
Amina shot to her feet, temporarily towering over the seated Commander, a smirk now on his face as he looked up at her.
“Excuse me!?”