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The device beeped as it accepted Felix's print, notified the powers that be and filed it in the ship's systems. He waited a moment longer and looked around as Austin asked. "What's wrong?"

Felix shrugged. "Dunno, not sure what I was expecting but this all seems a little anticlimactic."

Austin scoffed. "Expecting fireworks or something? Joining a crew isn't exactly a special event here in the UTO."

Felix rolled his eyes. "I meant for me, I expected to feel something more than I'm feeling now, it's weird. Don't know what I expected.

Austin shrugged. "Let's get you settled in, we'll pick up the deliveries and get you settled into your quarters, and hopefully by then Justin will be ready. Oh, that reminds me. OK, last thing is you're going to need: a physical with the doc. Lucky for you he's on call and all I have to do is call him and he'll head back to the ship." He types something in his yutri. "OK, sent him a message, let's get to the dock and grab our stuff." Austin headed out the door and worked his way to the sleds.

Felix followed him down the stairs. "So they don't get delivered to our rooms here?"

Austin chuckled. "No room service here Felix, we don't let strangers on the ship unless we absolutely have to. We've got a delivery point at one of the airlocks for receiving merchandise and orders. Sometimes the larger crew will bring it here if they're bored, need a favor or if we're in a rush. Otherwise we'll need to pick up our own stuff, so let's get going and get this done before Justin gets back." He steps on the sled and pulled up his yutri. "Press the Delivery destination option."

Felix opened up his own unit as Austin started to move off and selected the delivery option. He remembered to brace and balance correctly this time as his own sled started to follow after. They exited the room back out into the main hall and head further astern for a few moments until they came to a ladder set into the wall. Felix looked up and down, seeing that it allowed people to pass between the decks as needed. The sleds started to descend and he noticed on the floor level there was an odd fixture that he pointed out to Austin about as they continued down.

Austin looked at where he pointed. "Oh those are pressure hatches, when the ship is underway they're closed to keep the crew protected in case of damage or decompression. They're open while we're at dock for ease of movement. There are some down the halls as well so that we can seal 'em from the bridge if we feel the need, or they'll automatically seal if there's a loss of pressure detected." They had started moving through the deck and he stopped. Felix was slow to control his sled and ended up a few feet past him looking back. Austin pointed at a very well recessed seam in the wall and Felix noticed that there was about a two inch gap between the plates in the human walkway at the same location. "This is one here for example, they're strategically placed around the ship. Sometimes we keep em closed to cut off areas we are not going to use and cut back on life support, power and such, so if one is closed don't open it without contacting the bridge for approval."

Felix nodded "So they can be manually opened? How?"

Austin points to Felix's yutri "There's a feature on these that will override it or on each wall is a control panel that will open it. Worst case pull that control panel off and there is a manual override behind it. Like I said thought, unless you're running for your life don't open them without clearance for it first."

Felix nodded. "Got it." Austin's sled resumed its motion and after a few flicks on his yutri Felix was close behind. They hovered on down the hall until they came to another four-way intersection and moved left towards another airlock. If Felix was right they were directly below the airlock they entered the ship through. Austin entered a few commands on his wrist unit and the inner door opened. In the airlock was several stacks of containers of various shapes and sizes Felix noticed Austin moving toward a particular stack and starts to ascend higher and a little further forward and motions for Felix to follow him. Felix looks down at his yutri and starts to carefully operate the controls for his sled to follow.

Austin points out two yellow boxes each about two feet long, wide and deep with the stores logo on it. "These are ours, in cause you were wondering how I know, there is a small screen on the side with our names. These are portable stasis units, they need to get back here to the dock to be returned before we leave or they'll charge us for them. We have plenty of time so that isn't a worry today. They also have built in anti-gravs so just keep a hand on them as we move on the sleds and they'll stay with us. Don't try to ride them, they have weight limits." He presses a button on the side and the box lifts slightly off the crate it was on. Austin then starts to move way pulling the box behind him. "Grab yours and let's go."

Felix moved to the other box that had his luggage on top and quickly found the button on the side causing it to rise. He gripped the handle on the and pulls it towards it, moving effortlessly. "Ok now I select my quarters and hold on to the box, right?"

Austin nodded "You're a quick study, that'll help you out a lot. Let's go." He turned and started moving back out of the airlock.

Felix was quickly on his heels and was surprised when the airlock closed behind them. "Was that supposed to happen?"

Austin called back "Yep! We don't want anyone onboard without our permission so it closes if a crewmember isn't in it for security."

Felix followed along backtracking the same path they took to get here, the events of the day starting to build up for him. Ever since he got to the station he seemed to be almost numb about everything now it was starting to sink into him. This was going to be home now, he didn't have any other home to go to. The future he dreamed of was gone, for the first time he could think of there was no plan for his life, no steps leading to the next. Before he could ponder more they arrived back at the human quarters. He stepped off his sled and followed Austin.

Austin pointed to the fourth floor. "All of us human crew have quarters on the third level. You're the middle, Denise is the one to the left, followed by Jen on the left end. I'm on the top floor on the right. Since I'm the XO I've got one of the nicer quarters. After you unpack your delivery just push the crate over the railing it will slowly move back down to this level for us to collect later. Your yutri opens your door, I'll be there once I unpack this stuff." Felix nodded as Austin leads them up the stairs. Felix broke off on the fourth level as Austin kept going up.

Felix walked over to the middle room, noting the small panel on the side of the door and was about to wave his yutri in front of it before there was a noise from the door and it opened up and slid aside for him. Must have been keyed to him or something he would need to ask. As the door opened the room inside light up, his entry must have triggered the lights. He pushed the crate into the room and followed it across the threshold. He looked around taking in his surroundings, the first thought that came to mind was it was set up like a decent hotel room.

There was a khaki colored carpet covering the floor, the walls were an off shade of beige. Most of the room seemed to be made up of the living space, there was a full sized bed against the left wall, all made up for him. Off to the right was a few basic chairs and a viewing screen that seemed to function as a computer, desk and basic entertainment. In the back right hand corner was a basic kitchen, and across from it on the left side was a closed off room with what he was going to guess was the bathroom. There were no lamps that he could see, the light seemed to come from a few small fixtures in the ceiling.

He left the crate and luggage hovering there and walked over to the chairs, looking them over. Yep, like something you would find in a hotel, solid and useable and basic. The desk the viewer was on was the same style, they probably bought in bulk to furnish the rooms. He had no experience with views but it looked perfectly serviceable so it would play movies or work as a computer monitor if needed.

He continued his trek into the kitchen. It was small, with very little counter space but functional. It had a sink, a two burner stove, a small oven, and a small refrigerator freezer unit. There were two large cabinets that had simple control units on the side. Looking them over he assumed they were for the stasis functions. So far it seemed all standard, he just need to get some pointers on the viewer and the controls for the cabinets.

He walked to the door and gently pushed it open, the lights inside turned on by the motion. The floors and most of the walls seems to be tiled in a light blue, a sink, a toilet, and a larger than he expected shower. There was a stack of towels on the counter, he reached out and felt them, frowning slightly. Hotel quality again, not bad but not good either he would need to get new ones eventually. He stepped out and the light turned off, confirming to him it was automated.

He walked over to the bed. He ran his hand over the top sheet, plain white linen like he expected. He sat down on the bed, noting it was quite soft so he decided to lay back on it. He stayed like that for a moment, staring at the ceiling and marveling that bed was quite nicer than he expected when the door slid open and Austin walked it.

Austin smiled. "Be sure to remember to lock the door if you don't want anyone coming in. Well you look comfy, the room meet with your approval?

Felix sits up. "It's pretty nice, not at all what I was expecting."

Austin walked over and turned one of the chairs to face the bed and sat in it, "And what exactly were you expecting?"

Felix shrugged. "Dunno, in my mind I was kind of visualizing some of the stuff from old sci fi shows, something like a cabin on an old style submarine or something."

Austin chuckled. "Space is a premium on a spaceship but this is a cargo ship, we have a lot of it, and the ship's made for people much larger than us so as humans we take up much less space than normally allotted. These rooms here are actually larger than the crew for non humans in terms of space if you take scale into account. I would say they're about half the size but no kitchen, the bathroom is smaller and less walk space."

Felix chuckles. "I guess being bigger isn't all it's cracked up to be huh?"

Austin chuckles as well. "In fairness, they've got a kitchen and showers on the ship so ones in their cabins would be just for pure convenience, and that space has better uses. There is a human set of showers in their's if you want to use them, the ones in ours were installed for those who want more privacy."

Felix looks at him in surprise. "Do... do people actually use the showers in the non human section?"

Austin shrugs. "It all depends, like I said we've got them in our rooms for convenience but if you get especially dirty it's nice to have a place to get clean and not have to clean it up. Before you ask or I forget you're required to clean your quarters, we don't exactly check but a certain sanitary standard is required. Any questions so far?"

Felix nodded. "To start, I've never used a UTO viewer, anything I need to know?"

Austin shook his head. "Nope. It's simple, link it to your yutri and it's like a remote, you can use it as a larger interface for your yutri or for more demanding tasks or just like a big TV."

Felix nodded. "There're controls next to the cabinets in the kitchen, I assume they're for the stasis units, how do I use them?"

Austin nods. "Yep. They're basically either on or off. You have to turn it off to open them. If it's the same as mine the left one is temperature controlled for cold, and the other is for dry stuffs."

Felix looked around the room for a second. "Not sure the best way to ask this but can I change stuff in here if I want to?"

Austin shrugs. "If you mean repaint, a different set of furniture or stuff like that absolutely. You've just got to buy it yourself. If you mean move the kitchen to another corner of the room, then no that's a little too much."

"So, how did ya'll end up together here? Bar buddies that decided to start a ship?" Felix inquired. "I mean the whole merry band, not just you and Nick."

Austin chuckled. "Yeah, hard to imagine help wanted signs hanging off the side of the ship, huh. Most of them are friends or friends of friends. Nick and I knew Kat for a while when she joined up, she got Sarah onboard and she brought Justin. Denise heard about us from a friend of mine. Jen was part of an integration team Nick had dealings with and she decided she wanted to see the galaxy more. Que is the one who really just showed up out of the blue and wanted to join in. She cut a really good deal for us so we took her aboard." Austin shook his head "We're a merry little band and odd assortment but we make it work and from what I can tell we all seem to enjoy each other."

Before either can continue the door opens in in steps Denise Wolfe. Felix notices she has on a mirthful smirk on her face as she steps in. "Knock knock, Que said you were around and wanted to pop in and say hi to the new kid." Felix decided that the picture he was shown did not do her justice.

Austin snorted. "So you decided to just barge in, great first impression."

She giggles. "Hey an unlocked door means welcome, right?" She walks up to Felix and extends her hand. "Denise Wolfe, ship's helmsmen and sometimes morale officer. Pleasure to meet you, Felix."

Felix gripped her hand. "Errr, pleasure to meet you too, how'd you know my name?"

She chuckled as she released his hand. "Well, we've got a pretty good gossip system on the ship, when they talked about bringing you on we got some basic info on ya, your name at to start."

Felix chuckles. "Ah, fair enough, thanks for the welcome you're the third person I've met so far from the crew, well other than Austin."

"Hmmmmm, well I know you'll have to have met Jen to sign the papers and the other I am guessing Justin for medical?" Denise guesses.

Felix shakes his head. "Nope, Que. She seems interesting enough, but it was my first time meeting a non human and she was an AI so can't really use that to judge I think. Austin says I'm going to be meeting Justin next."

Denise's mouth opens in surprise and then turns into a wide grin as she looks to Austin. "You brought him on board and he's never meet a non human, not even on our scale? Is this payback against him or just in an evil mood?"

Austin matches her grin. "Hey he said it isn't a big deal, they're just bigger. I did nothing to encourage it."

Denise laughs and pats Felix's shoulder. "Oh dear Felix this is going to be a fun first encounter for you. Don't worry the mocking over your reaction out will pass in time."

Felix frowns. "You both make this seems like it's such an issue, everyone says they are people too. I have been around tall buildings before and with you guys here I know they aren't dangerous. I'll be fine, it's like meeting anyone else."

Denise giggles. "Wanna make a bet on that?"

Austin laughs. "Oh come he just joined up are you going to try to get him to take a sucker's bet?"

She shakes her head. "Fiinneeeee. No bet but I wanna to be there to see."

Felix frowned indignantly. "I'm telling you it'll be fine."

She grinned. "Many have said that, I did too in fact. I had nightmares for a while. The first time's not easy Felix. I'm not saying it to be a bitch but there's knowing something and experiencing it. Think of it like parachuting, you know it's safe to jump out the door but when you walk up to it, your instincts kick in with 'Are you nuts?!"

Felix scoffed. "Sure thing, I guess you'll have to wait and see my nerves of steel."

Denise walks over and sits in the other chair. "How's it that you have never meet a non-human? I mean they may not be the most common thing on Earth but they're also not exactly hard to find."

Felix shrugged "Never had the need to meet one and none have strolled through my town."

She cocks her head. "Really? Never had the urge to meet the giant aliens? You might be a little too weird even for this ship."

Before Felix can retort Austin laughs. "You didn't just actually say that. We have Que on this ship and you are saying he might be too weird?"

She chuckles. "Ok fair enough." She looks to Felix. "Sorry, you're not too weird for this ship."

Felix shakes his head. "I've only met a few of you and I swear this ship is the inmates running the asylum." He looks to Austin. "It's hard to believe you were ever in the military Austin. You seem more like some kinda Han Solo knock off."

Austin grins. "Well Solo was in the military and if you take your translator out Nick might sound like Chewie."

Denise giggles. "Except he's the captain, not the co-pilot and you're not the pilot either."

Austin smirks. "Well if you don't like the comparison then you don't get to be Leia."

She snorts. "I don't need you to tell me that I'm a kick ass space princess."

Felix stares at them. "Are you guys on drugs or is this normal?"

Denise looks at him. "Quiet 3PO."

Austin laughs hard. "Oh damn, that's harsh."

Felix rolls his eyes. "Nerds."

Denise snorts. "Hardly, but when people really want to learn about Earth culture, you got to learn stuff you have no interest in. Kat happens to love pre-contact Earth Sci Fi, so you are probably going to hear about it a lot, and not just Star Wars. If you don;t get her references be ready for a lecture on it and the series they come from."

Felix shakes his head. "Is this that what you had nightmare stuff is about? Being lectured on science fiction lore by giant fans who you can't escape?"

Austin shakes his head. "No, her first encounter was with Que, not Kat."

Felix shrugs. "Oh then she jumped out of a box or something? You said she likes to surprise people."

Austin shook his head. "Nope this was actually an accident, actually mellowed her out for a few days, she still goes easy on Denise for it to this day."

Felix frowns. "Then what happened? You guys act like it's such a big deal meeting them for the first time."

Austin smirked. "But I thought they were just bigger, nothing special."

Felix shrugs. "And you're saying I'm wrong, prove it. What happened that was so awful?"

Denise smiled knowingly. "Nothing too terrible for someone with nerves like yours I guess. Que stepped on me."

Austin and Denise both break out in deep, hard bellowing laughs, Denise actually falls out of her chair. "Oh...oh...oh god....the lo....look on your face..." Denise pants out as she and Austin work on regaining their breath.

Felix's face changes from the look of shock and horror they were laughing at to a scowl. "Haha, nice joke. Just trying to rile me up huh?"

Denise shook her head. "No, it really happened just the look on your face was fantastic."

Felix continues to scowl. "Well if she stepped on you how are you here? Wouldn't that have killed you or at least cripple you somehow?"

Denise grins. "If it was anyone else yes, but it's hard for a light projection with no mass or physical form to hurt you."

Felix's look turns to confusion. "I...I don't get it."

Austin chuckles. "Que didn't her fancy projector yet so she was still just a run of the mill hologram projection.

Felix rubs his face. "So how did she step on you then?"

Denise shakes her head still grinning. "Let me explain, it was my first time aboard. This was before we launched for our first mission yet and I was looking around getting a feel for the place. The only interaction I had with non humans was through calls and SIMs so I had never met one at full size yet. And of course me knowing everything I didn't listen to a single warning Jen or Austin told me. The list of dangers seemed like a joke so I ignored it. I mean, we had all seen the documentaries and news stories. I mean getting eaten, stepped on, falling to your death all seemed like some kinda story to scare kids."

Austin smirks. "I'm reminded of the parent who let their kid eat all the sweets they wanted, get a stomach ache to learn that too much sweets is a bad thing." He looks to Denise with a mirthful glint in his eye. "It worked in your case didn't it?"

Denise giggles. "If you mean have I learned to be more alert and careful around people who are dozens of feet taller than me, then yes. If you are asking have I learned moderation with sweets then it depends on if it has coconut in it or not."

She gets up and walks over to the bed and sits down on it, pressing at it a little. She looks at Austin. "Your bed is more comfortable." She turns back to Felix before he can reply. "Point is we are not going to keep warning you about everything, we will give you some fair warnings and as long as it isn't life threatening you will either listen or learn the hard way."

Austin chuckles. "We running a school of hard knocks as well then?"

Denise nods. "Sometimes, we get paid extra for that right?"

Austin shakes his head. "Doubt it, but we would need to ask Jen to be sure."

A light chime sound emits from somewhere in the ceiling. After a second Austin looks at Felix. "That is the doorbell, someone wants to come in."

Felix stands and walks to the door. "Oh so people here do knock?" He opens the door and looks at a deep red furred forehead and tall perky ears. He looks down into a pair of dark blue eyes. "Oh, hi Que."

The AI giggles. "Hey there Felix, mind if I come in?"

Felix steps aside to let her in. "Yes, thank you for asking, unlike some."

Denise giggled. "Next time lock the door."

Que smiled. "Just so you know Felix, when your door chime is used you can use your yutri to answer the door or open it. You don't have to get up to answer the door but it's sweet." She walked in and sat in the chair Denise was in. "So, whatcha all talking about?"

Felix chuckled. "Your paws, apparently they're the things of nightmares."

Que winced visibly. "Oh, what the hell brought that up?"

Austin leaned over and went to pat her on the shoulder, his hand going through her. "Opps, sorry. But to answer they came up because Felix here says there is nothing to be worried about when he meets his first non human scale non human. Denise here was sharing with him her first close encounter.."

Felix cut him off. "Wait wait, how did your hand go through her, I thought she was solid now?"

Que chuckled. "Only when my image is projected from a special emitter and it isn't in this room. So right now I am totally harmless, couldn't step on anyone."

Denise snorted. "That doesn't make you harmless you are not at all harmless Que."

The hologram smirks. "Fair enough, but I have tried to behave myself."

Austin looks at Denise. "You have no room to talk, ever since that happened she has always felt guilty and gone easy on you."

Denise smirks at him. "And you are so jealous."

Austin nods. "Yes, yes I am!"

Que looks to Felix. "Felix, don't let them poison you. I am not as bad as the make me out to be. They just hate surprises and fun."

Austin rolls his eyes and sighs. "Ok, maybe the haunted room bit was funny."

Que smiles toothily. "See just relax and enjoy the joviality!"

Felix shakes his head. "This place is not all what I expected."

Que cocks her head. "In what way?"

Felix shrugs. "I don't know. I guess I didn't know what to expect."

Que smiles. "Felix we've been a crew for a while. Small number of people, in close quarters. We've all developed relationships with each other. To any outsider we'd seem strange but our interactions are completely natural and healthy. We've spent long stretches of time with only each other so bonds have formed. For example, the is a logic game AIs play and Justin has gotten into it and competes against me even though he can't win. Kat has taken an interest in human science fiction that might border on the obsessive. Sarah ...ummm..there is no human translation, fezmet which like like human knitting but it's metal threads instead of fabric. Jen has actually be decided to learn a lot of non human languages, customs and laws."

Austin laughed. "Oh, that time she walked into the bridge and started talking to Nick in Falashi! She started trying to talk to him, the look on his face, she thought he was blown away by her skills, and her accent was so bad she was speaking total gibberish to him!"

Que chuckles. "She was so excited she forgot the tighten part of her throat. Austin here has his firearm collection and loves firing them. Lucky for him the projectiles are so small they can't cause real harm and an armor panel makes for a perfect target. Denise here had to have Justin pump her stomach once after eating too much udark which she said tasted a lot like coconut and didn't know that too much of was poisonous to humans."

Denise pouted. "I missed that part, I just saw that it was supposedly healthy."

Que smirked. "In moderate amounts, not your body weight. She is out culinary adventurer, she loves trying new foods. " She looks back to Felix. "I'm sure you'll have your own quirk to work into our own merry little band. You are just going to have to work your way in and find your place."

Austin smirks. "And I advise that it not be under someone's foot."

Before Felix can reply Que's ears twitch. "Justin is back, we should meet him in the Medbay." She stands up and smiles. "I'll see you all there!" Que vanishes as if she were never there.

Felix shakes his head. "I don't know if I'll ever get used to that."

Austin and Denise stand, she smiles. "You won't trust me."

The group exit's Felix's room and head down the the sleds, Felix noticed a third that Denise must have used to get here. They all stand on their own sleds as Austin instructs Felix. "Press Medbay I, that's where he is."

Felix does as instructed and the trio speed off. As the sleds move Felix spaces out slightly his mind wandering. Meeting all these people at once and how odd they were was getting to him. He didn't know what to make of them, like Austin said he had never really left home so wasn't exposed a wide variety of people. Denise's story of Que shook him more than he admitted. That kind of stuff wasn't supposed to be possible, but this isn't the UTO from the news, it's the one no one talks about. As all of these thoughts were racing through his head the sleds took them to the Medbay and their meeting with this Justin person.

The sled stopped, jerking him back to reality. He looked around, taking in the new room. There was a metallic sheen to almost everything, like he would expect in a medical lab. The room was very crowded and a little overwhelming making it difficult for him to make out details. Every free space seemed to be full of something. There was a noise behind him, startling him. He turned suddenly, his foot catching something on the counter making him stumble...over the edge of the counter he was on.