47 (DSV Nautica) Respect
Aki's gaze was lost in the forward display of the Erebus. So much had happened recently, and she was handling it rather well, she thought. From a normal star ship commander to a reader of the Eidolon scrolls in less than two days time. When was the last time she had slept? Her body ached with exhaustion. It had been, what? 3 days? They could go awhile without sleep, but they couldn't run forever.
To call it sleep is a bit too crude. Ayr'een didn't require sleep so much as it was a deep meditative state, very close to REM sleep in function, but not in its mechanics.
Ayr'een body processes were quite different from other mammalian species. Well, they weren't exactly mammals either. The best they could classify themselves was similar to the therapsida class of Terra. Dinosaurs. Though there were obvious differences, that was as close as they could get.
Their bodies had evolved to the point where food was no longer necessary, simply a luxury item which families would partake in as a "bonding time". They still required the consumption of water. Their breeding methods were very mammalian, and what they referred to as sleep, was actually more like resting.
De'an made a few course corrections, before turning around and looking Aki square in the eye.
"Captain, it may be out of place for me to say, but you need to rest. And if we are to go along with your search, I am going to have to insist upon it."
Aki sighed and got up, heading back toward the captains quarters. She didn't have the energy to fight, even if he was her subordinate.
"Don't get any ideas and deviate from the plan. That's an order."
De'an merely grunted his acknowledgment.
Aki laid on the bed, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. The thought again invaded her mind. Why was she doing this? Sneaking off and grabbing a scroll for herself? The answer was simple. She needed to answer some questions, and have a line to the scrolls that wasn't reliant on anyone else. She needed to own a scroll should a time come in which she couldn't trust anyone.
"You are learning." came a voice. She didn't even need to look up.
"De'an...who is flying the ship?"
"Ka'ya took charge for a bit." Aki bolted up in a panic as he said it, only to be greeted by his dry chuckling. "Relax. I'm not dumb. Autopilot should be fine for the next half an hour."
she clutched her chest, falling back down.
"But you are learning, Captain. I must say that I am impressed."
"And another captain would have your ass busted for approaching so casually. But this is hardly normal circumstances."
"Indeed, but I think we both agree that we are hardly military elites at this point. But rather, we are friends."
Aki looked at him in surprise. He sat down in a chair some distance away.
"I used to think you were nothing more than a naive kid. A young one put in charge of this star ship because the Matriarch wanted to toy around. But I understand why they put you in charge now. You are not only very responsible and obedient, you follow what you feel you must do. Regardless of the cost. Values of a captain."
Was that...respect that she felt from him?
"De'an, surely you don't mean to say that you were.....wrong?" She smirked at him. His ear twitched in annoyance.
"You may have been that young one some time ago. But not now. You are growing fairly cynical. Not necessarily a bad thing."
They sat in silence, gazing at each other. For the first time, Aki felt a mutual respect coming between them.
...flashback....
"Surely you cannot be serious?"
De'an was severely put off by this assignment. She was a third his age and would be commanding him. When he signed onto the Erebus, he hadn't seriously thought that they would stick a brand new Captain on board, still smelling of the classroom. He didn't care how high their grades might have been, or how well she had performed in the live tests.
"Yes, De'an, Captain Nee'ak'ee'oh will be your commanding officer on the Erebus. I'm sorry, but that's gonna be the end of it.
Ka'ya, Zhi, May'ael, and De'an. That made four of them that were the best of the best and had achievements to their name. Nee'ak'ee'oh...not one word. The only whispers about her were coming from inside the academy. And fresh graduates never got to command a star ship right off the bat.
"She is so....young."
"Indeed. She has a long life ahead of her, De'an. My personal feelings on this matter are irrelevant. I am simply following orders." The Admiral sighed, nodding toward him. "You will do well."
?.present....
It had not been long since then. 80 standard years to be precise. Not that long at all. De'an may not have agreed with her age initially, but he could now look past that and see the Captain as a truly deserving one. Perhaps she had grown up, or perhaps he had been blinded the whole time and she had always been like this. He didn't know.
The silence was only broken in their minds.
"You know, I was intimidated by you for a bit when we first met." Aki said, slightly amused.
"Oh, I know. You were very easy to read." De'an gave an amused smile before continuing. "But you got over it pretty quickly when the rank sunk in."
Ka'ya spoke up, interrupting their conversation. "Um, De'an, there's all these flashy things going off."
"Oh, alright Ka'ya. It would seem we are nearing our destination. I have the coordinates Captain. Rest."
He nodded to her and stepped out of the room, locking the door. Aki took a deep breath, letting it out as she closed her eyes, focusing inward on her life essence and will. An outside observer would be under the impression she entered a shallow comatose state.
De'an warmed the jump drive, exiting FTL. The Erebus was enveloped in a sheath of white, and to an outsiders eye, seemed to rapidly shrink into nothingness.
"Contact the Alpha...we have guests in one of our colonies." The female murmured, leaning over the display, indicating a stealth cruiser. "Its the Empire."
"Have they come to teach us a lesson at last? Or more of their meddling?" The male growled, bowing his head.
He set in motion a chain of events that would wind up changing the face of multiple galaxies in a very short time. A ship, long, relatively thin and flat, with a curved dorsal structure, began to coast out of its docking bay. It was time to see if their weapons had been sufficiently developed. Red veins lit up along its surface, branching from a the center to all parts of the ship, both dorsal and ventral.
"Shinigami....a fitting name to the ship class." The male smiled, watching as the afterburners kicked in and began its long climb out of the atmosphere. "These weapons have proven themselves against the lessers, but now we will pit them against our equals."
The Erebus exited FTL at the coordinates that Aki had predicted.
"Well...sensors show nothing there..." De'an squinted at the screen. Aki felt a little sick. Did she really mess this up? "...But of course that doesn't mean its not there. Just that its really really small." De'an finished, looking over his shoulder at Aki and Ka'ya. "Suit up?"
"Yep. Aki motioned to Ka'ya, who followed her eagerly to take a little walk in space.