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_ Chapter 2- The Tour _

<UEF-A 'Tiamat' – B Deck – Room 18> [May 19, 2085] (Time:0730)

Canith was startled awake by a beep from the terminal in the room informing him of a message. Sitting up, he wiped the last of the sleep from his eyes and stood up and stretched. Last night he had spent a bit of time decorating the room using his datapad connected to the Particle Generation Unit, or PGU for short, that was installed in his room. It was several steps advanced from old Earth 3d printers, being able to manufacture most items from a atomic level up using base materials that were fairly common.

The room now contained a few ships and stations hovering on anti-grav stands, some rather detailed statuary depicting both eastern and western style dragons, and a few holoframes hung on the wall showing a few art pieces that some very old friends of him had gifted him. All in all, it felt more like a home then the astute rooms the last year or more he had stayed in.

One thing that he had spent an exceptionally long time on was now tucked into a corner under the bunk, cloaked in a black body holo-field that was 100% untraceable. Inside was a cradle for AURA, complete with a direct access line to the main ship network, with security protocols that were more for Aura's security then the ship's. With this, Aura had full access to the ship, and by extension, Canith could use a simple uplink encrypted to Aura's channels to keep in touch without them having to be near each other. Another was the aforementioned uplink, which went over one ear and over one eye, allowing Aura to overlay his vision with various blueprints, schematics, and formula.

After checking the message which was just a notice that the First Lieutenant would be stopping by after lunch to give a tour of the ship, Canith grabbed the uplink and headed down to the main area of B deck. He noticed that of the two main buildings in the central area, one was a gym and the other a galley. He headed over to the galley intent on getting some food, as he hadn't had anything since the station the day before and now that his nerves were settled more his stomach was letting him know it's deficient.

Upon entering, an odd Anthro rabbit speed over to him. “Hi, I'm Tyco, or Ty for short. What'cha be havin'? The rabbit was obviously in a hurry, so he simply asked for fruit and toast if available. Ty nodded, and was off again, giving Canith time to note that while Ty was primarily white, he had black spirals winding down both arms where visible. Not at all like a normal fur pattern. In moments Ty was back with a bowl of mixed fruits, including various melons and berries he recognized from Earth. He started to ask about this, but the rabbit was gone again. He quickly sat down at a bench and went to start eating, only to have a glass of orange liquid appear next to him.

“Thanks!" He managed to say, hoping the rabbit hear him, as they were hopping between others making their way through, taking orders and filling them so fast you would think there was two or three of the same rabbit. He did see, as he said this, the rabbit look right at him, smile a touch, and nod. Turning to the glass, he wondered- (Could this actually be orange juice?) Taking a sip, he realized that it was, but it had a slight taste of something else. Shrugging, he ate it all, and then looked around, wondering where to take his bowl and glass. Noticing several others also finishing, they took their assorted dishes to a bear over at a window set into a wall, so he did the same.

The bear simply grunted as he took them and Canith moved out of the way, only to have Ty once again stop for a brief word. “Don't mind Dave, he isn't a morning bear, must be all that hibernation catching up to him!" Dave responded with a wet cloth flung with surprising accuracy through the window at Ty, who simply caught it and tossed it back with a laugh. Chuckling himself, Canith headed back to his room since he had a bit of time to burn and was expected to be there for when the 1st LT showed up. Once there, he spread out a pad he had generated the previous night, and sat down to meditate for a bit. He always found that it helped him ground and center himself, especially if events rattled him or caught him off guard.

<UEF-A 'Tiamat' – B Deck – Room 18> [May 19, 2085] (Time:1230)

Canith came out of his deep meditation to the sound of someone knocking on his door. Standing and stretching, he made his way to the door and opened it. Standing in front of him was a mountain of a grizzly bear, and Canith had to crane his neck to look up at them.

“I'm 1st Lieutenant Des, and the Cap' has determined that I was to be the one to show you around. You ready?" The bear's voice was rather gruff, but otherwise seemed rather neutral. He also took a moment to glance around Canith's room, taking in the models and statues with a measuring eye. Canith grabbed his 'link and nodded, following Des out of the room and having Aura start pulling up ship schematics to overlay on his display, as well as running low level scans to determine if any information might grease the proverbial wheels into other's good graces. The Bear's strides were a bit longer then comfortable, and before he could say anything about it, Des spoke back up. “I will try to slow down so you can keep up, but if I forget and start going too fast again, speak up and i'll slow down again."

The turned the corner on their way to the grav-lift and Des begain outlining ship specs for Canith. “The Tiamat is a bit odd sized for her designation as a cruiser. Clocking in at just at 100 ft high with 5 Decks, she has a width of about 150 ft and a length of almost 270 ft, she is a bit smaller. Why she isn't classified as a lower class; however, is the fact that all her systems, from shields to engines, weapons and the fact she even had two escort class fighters that double as scouts for planetary exploration, make her a force on her own. The Decks themselves are known by A-E, or if you want proper designations, Command, Habitation, Eco Sys, Engineering, and you will find out E deck's designation from them. Anyways, here we are." They had arrived at the grav-lift, and after getting in, Des hit the button for C deck.

<C Deck>(Time:1235)

As the lift went down, Canith was once again treated to the sight of large trees growing on the deck as the lift descended. Looking out the other window, however, revealed several smaller buildings and one larger observatory. He finished this assessment as the lift came to a stop. The doors opened, and the slightly fresh smell that he caught when he first boarded was repeated hundreds of times stronger here. The smell of damp earth and growing things ran rampant here.

Des made no move to exit, but gave some insight instead. “As you can see, C deck houses our version of hydroponics, both a tank for drinking water and a lake for fish and aquatic based anthros. We have a stellar observatory here, as well as small and large plants for fresh food, medicinal, and obviously for air circulation. There are paths all over this deck that are available for jogging, as most who work in this place will not be on the paths while working. Just make sure to give way to them if they are there. Moving on . . ."

<D Deck>(Time:1238)

Des pressed the button for D deck, and the grav lift doors hissed closed and down they went, and as they did Canith began to shiver from the cold. As they reached the ground floor, Aura reported the temp as hovering just below freezing. Rubbing his arms, Des motioned for him to follow, leading them to a hanger with a large “A" painted on the side.

Inside, however, sat a small craft that could seat 2 in the cockpit, with a replaceable midsection suspended from the ceiling that could hold a whole team. Sticking out from the cockpit, however, was a pair of human looking legs. Des motioned for him to cover his ears, before taking a deep breath and roaring across the hanger, “JACK, FRONT AND CENTER!"

Canith's ears were ringing from the close proximity roar the bear had let out, but could faintly hear a large amount of banging and cussing as the owner of the legs preformed what could have been mistaken for a handspring out of the cockpit and turned it into a controlled descent with their bat-like wings. The individual approached, allowing him to see that the person also had a spiked tail and a pair of horns to match the wings.

When he got close, he began to speak. “Des, man, how many times do I have to tell ya, you don't have to bellow every time you come in here, we can hear you just fine. But where are my manners, you brought the new guy." He turns to Canith. “The name is Jack, and I'm the lead mechanic on Daredevil's ship. “

Canith was still shivering a good bit, but tried to smile warmly anyways. “Nice to meet you, and great setup you guys have he-he-he-here." He could not contain the chattering for the last part. Jack took one look at Des and tisked him.

“You didn't even think the guy can't control his temp in here, or have a fur coat for insulation. Damn that's cold man." Des at least looked a bit sheepish about this, as Jack held his hand out. “Let me at least fix this issue for you this time." Grateful for any help, he took Jack's hand, and the air around him began to heat up until it was nearly the same as it had been on C deck.

“Thank you, that helps a lot. I'm guessing the temp is both due to ready access to space and as an efficiency agent for the various generators and engines?" Canith asks, having the general floor layout already pulled up thanks to Aura.

“Got it in one. Pretty much everyone here either has plush fur like Des here, or has some trick like mine to help with the cold. By the way, you are the new computer guy, right? Figured I would give you the heads up that the ships in the bays are hardwired to the network while docked, so any troubleshooting can be ran through the main systems for greater efficiency, so you might see errors that we haven't yet."

Aura confirmed this, as well as pulling up the most recent issue- a major red flag was being tripped my something in the engine, and the logs stated that they had not found the cause yet. A long list of potential issues was quickly pulled up, with options marked off from further entries in the logs, then the remaining cross referenced with others of similar classes of spacecraft, highlighting the same error and potential fixes, until one common denominator was highlighted. All this happened in the space of 5 seconds.

“Let me try to return the favor then, “ Canith began, strolling towards the ship, “ Judging from the logs and scans, with some cross referencing and past experience from several crews of similar ships, the most likely problem isn't actually the vertical lift thruster or it's controls. It's the limiter that's causing the code, and if you isolate just that, it will test in-op."

Jack gave him a skeptical look at this, but shrugged. “I'm guessing that eyepiece isn't just decoration then."

He tapped it. “Definitely not."

“Well then, best I put that console back together and schedule a few of the crew for that test. Thank you in advanced if that's what it turns out to be, and if it is, I'll spot you a drink sometime. Been a real headcase, this one. Take care." He waved them off as Des led them across the way to the other hanger, the pocket of warm air following Canith like a comfortable blanket.

Inside the next hanger, sitting regularly in the cockpit (as opposed to upside down as Jack was) was a lynx Anthro that was scowling rather hard at the console. “Dammit, why does this piece of crap keep drifting. Every time I correct it, it drifts."

Canith quickly used his new-found knowledge of his access to the ship to see what she was talking about, and discovered that she had been dealing with the targeting system, but it was the computer that was causing the drift. There was a error that was causing the actual aim to differ by several degrees up and to the right, and whenever it was manually adjusted the computer tried to auto compensate by readjusting it, causing the drift to reappear.

He got the Lynx's name from Des, one Twitch, and called up to her. “Don't bother with a manual adjust, the computer is auto-correcting it wrong- want me to fix it from the main system side?" She looked down from the cockpit at him solemnly, saw Des there and shrugged. “If you already know the problem, and Des is with you, go ahead- if that's not it I'll just try something else."

Aura took this as a go ahead, corrected the error, then caused the system to reboot, startling the lynx. As it came back up, she tapped a few keys, paused, tapped a few more, then banged on the side of the targeting system a few times for good measure. Everything seemed to check out, as she hopped down after this and thanked him for that. Des seemed to be a bit impatient, however, so they didn't stay long and started out.

On the way towards the generator, Des explained the hurry. “Those two crews are constantly bickering back and forth as to who's ship is better. It has gotten so bad sometimes that it's a surprise that they haven't tried sabotage before, although that might not be in the best interest of the crew after all. Next up is the power systems."

Canith was led towards the rear of the ship and past the tool and spare part storage area to an area that was marked off with warning signs and paint on the floor. Aura chose this moment to chime in. (Warning: Area ahead has a strong containment field that is warping around the quantum generator unit and extending out by nearly fifteen feet. It would be ill advisable for any unshielded tech to be brought into this area. Also, there seems to be a feedback loop between the generator and the shield systems, creating this warp. This seems pseudo-intentional to prevent containment breach.)

(Roger that Aura, powering down uplink until I leave the area.)

As this exchange was taking place, a solid black gryphon approached them. “Hi, my name's Aris, and I'm the chief engineer on board the Tiamat. I've heard a good bit already about you from the captain. As you probably noticed, it's not a good idea to bring tech that is not decently shielded around the generators, shield or power, due to the Möbius resonator loop in place for containment field strengthening and power conservation. Although most find the science of it a bit over their heads." She gave a chuckle at this last point.

Canith also chuckled, but more for the fact that he not only understood it, but realized that she knew he knew. And Des did not. “Quite the interesting setup- let me know if there is anything I can do to help, but you seem to have everything set to rights here."

“Will do, and watch out near the shield generators- they have a tendency to toss ion bolts out occasionally, but that only really happens during high loads. Quite the sight to see though." She said as walking by them, letting her tail drag against Canith's thigh in a sensual manner.

“Alright, if you are quite done nerding out with her, we are almost done here, just the engines and the stairs leading back up, although they are rarely used." He then led Canith towards the port engine section, designated by a “1" painted on the housing. The Engine itself was massive, and looked to reach much farther up the ship then the deck allowed.

“Ah yes, the next crew member you will meet. I would like to introduce you to. Meet Lewis, one of our two alpha shift engine mechanics." He turned to the approaching individual. “How is she running today?"

Lewis was another bear, and waved off Des' paw. “She isn't studdering anymore after the last fix, but Jace is in the upper reaches adjusting the output again. Nothing wrong with sublight at least. That would be a bit to warm even for him."

“The W-T drive give you issues often?" Canith asked, weary of the fact he still felt he was too close to the generator to power his uplink back on.

“Sometimes. It comes down to how temperamental she is. Lately that seems to be more so." Lewis replied with a sigh. “I have to ask, you seem to be eyeing the whole setup with a keen eye- you familiar with propulsion systems or something?"

Canith cracked a grin at this. “Not so much propulsion in general as W-T and S-S drives. Been fascinated by them for a while now. And also, once I can sit down and run some diagnostics, tomorrow hopefully, I'll see if I can track down the cause for that temperamental state. After all, any improvement for one on a ship is an improvement for all. Learned that by example on the first ship I took work on."

Lewis threw back his head and laughed at this. “I like this one Des, I really do. Tells it straight up, not afraid to look ya in the eye, and offering help to boot. Damn fine." He reaches out and Canith trades grips with him. “I look forward to working with you. As I'm sure many will be as well."

After a few minutes of back and forth on Canith's various assignments, they said farewell and parted ways, heading across to the opposite side's shield generator, as that is where they were pointed to find the last of the crew that was on shift down here- Jasper and Elaine.

Jasper turned out to be a dolphin with a grease mark right across the muzzle, while Elaine was a bat that was arguing with him about something. Canith had not finished studying up on the systems in question, and without Aura's input could not directly offer input. Des however, waded in and quickly sorted them out and introduced Canith. They were nice, but seemed a bit withdrawn. Des didn't linger long, and directed him towards the nearest grav-lift when a shadow detached themselves from a nearby room.

The fox in question was every bit as cleaned and groomed as Sean had not been, and had a pair of golden piercing in her right ear. She was also furious. “YOU," she screamed, storming up to Canith, “You are the one that got Sean kicked off the ship!" She punctuated this by raising her fist, and ghostly blue flames began flickering over it. They didn't harm her, but he could feel their heat from where he was standing.

Des immediately stepped in front of Canith. “Sue, back off." He growled, the air growing much colder, and causing the flames to loose intensity.

“Hey Des, can I handle this?" Canith asked, figuring this was a big chance to make a good impression. Des grunts “your hide," before stepping back and letting the fox and human stand face to face.

Sue had lowered her no longer flaming fist by this point, but still stared daggers at him. “Sue, right? The name's Canith. Yes, my actions may have started the process, but based on what I was shown and have heard from his own mouth, Sean was both grossly incompetent at his job, and very speciest. So much in fact that the second he laid eyes on me he started spouting off at both me and the captain. And the worst part? I didn't ask for him to be kicked off. He could have stayed aboard in my opinion. Two heads are usually better than one. But the captain is the one that made that decision. So can you please set aside blind hatred and try to see things reasonably?"

Sue's next words dripped like venom. “You are pure human, what would you know about my feelings?" It was obvious to him she was in emotional pain, and he felt bad for her. And that realization allowed him to throw caution to the wind and put his life on the line to win her over.

Stepping close, he hugged her. As her slightly musky scent washed over him, she stiffened in his arms. He then began whispering in her ear. “I believe I understand better then you give me credit for. Pure human I may be, but most see me as worse then Anthros for that very reason. My family turned me into the government, my normal friends abandoned me. Only Anthros who I have had contact with in the past would help me, and even they could only offer limited help. I was set adrift by everyone I once knew, to wander the stars for over a year alone before I reached out to the captain, asking to be taken aboard. Does that sound like someone you really want to direct all that hate and grief at, or someone you could come to call friend?"

She had relaxed a bit when he started whispering, and by the end she was sobbing, and hugged him back, albeit hesitantly. He pulled back and she apologized, and Des walked up to her and asked her a question. She nodded, and he asked her something else. All Canith could catch from the second question was “E-deck", and she walked off towards the second grav-lift, and he watched it descend even farther. They, however, to the nearer lift and Des punched the button to A-deck, and they ascended the ship.

<A Deck>(Time:1400)

“This is the Command Deck," Des began as they exited the grav lift into a carpeted hallway reminiscent of an office building. “Where the rest of the ship is more mechanically inclined, this is where most the intellectuals gather."

They headed down towards the rear of the ship. “Along the port wall you have the meeting room, also home of the Fleet strategic support section, the Armory, and one of the two holo-rooms. Along the back is stair access on either side, with a bathroom and a break area in the middle. Along the starboard side you have the CSS, or Critical Systems Support, for the control of things like life support supplemental systems, Shield controls, Power Distribution, and the like. The systems can be accessed from the bridge, but they are more robust in the CSS. Beside that is your area- ECM/EW Control, AI system control, and Systems Administration. Pretty much if it's a computer based system, you can control it from there. The last room is the other Holoroom."

They had stopped just heading down the hallway as Des pointed to each room in turn. Turning around, he led Canith past the grav-lift through the door to the bridge. “Here's the bridge, where navigation and weapon systems are controlled, with links to all the other major systems here as well. Turning around, Des lead him to a door in the rear of the bridge, but unlike the doors leading out, this one was more ornate and the door was shut.

“And this is the captain's office" he said, then knocked on it before opening the door. Canith recognized it from the recording that the captain had sent him. Captain Kai was reclining in his chair when they came in. “Like you ordered sir, he's been given the full tour and no significant issues have occurred, anything else sir?" Des was speaking very formal to the captain, and had an odd expression on his face. Canith couldn't help but wonder what was causing it.

“No, First Lieutenant, that will be all, dismissed. And make sure to file the report as soon as you can."

“Sir!" The Bear exited the room, and when Canith went to follow, the Captain spoke. “A moment please."

He turned back to the dragon, and awaited whatever verdict or assignment the captain had for him. “You did a damn fine job diffusing that incident with Sue. I wanted to let you know that. She is an excellent engineer, but her emotions are quite raw after I left Sean at that station. I also will have you know that I had been steadily building up a list of reason to replace him, but he hadn't crossed the line until he blew up in here."

This didn't really surprise Canith all that much. “Understandable sir. That kind of attitude doesn't just develop overnight after all. Still, even though I diffused a potentially dangerous situation, at least to me, I really wouldn't consider it settled. Sean doesn't seem to be the type to take this laying down, but judging on his skills he shouldn't be much of problem if he tries to hack in. One of my first orders of business tomorrow, with your permission, is a full system inspection from the inside, along with security threat assessments and AI upgrades across the board. Of course," he raised an eye at the captain, “ I'm pretty sure you won't need one for your AI after the upgrades I passed his way."

Kai rolled his eyes at this. “Thank you for stating your thoughts on this matter, and of course it's your prerogative as Systems Administrator to run those scans. Just remember my prohibitions, no scanning or digging into E-deck, not that it should be a problem. All those systems were designed to be completely isolated from the rest of the ship, and shielded as a precaution. Otherwise, I look forward to your work aboard the Tiamat."

“Thank you Sir, I'll do my best" Canith responded with candor. He was here, after all. They had treated him (for the most part) almost like family, so he had no intention of holding back. This ship would be the digital equivalent of a fortress by the time he was done with it.

“Alright, Dismissed for the day. You will probably be a bit tired with all the walking today, and all the new faces. I expect you bright and early tomorrow to begin."

Canith turned and left the captain's office at this point, and thus missed the grin Kai's face as the door swung shut. (I think that this one shall be interesting to have aboard. Des's recollection of that incident was rather . . . interesting. Shouldn't take as long as I thought for the crew to accept him.)

<B Deck>(Time:1430)

Canith turned on his uplink as he traveled down the 'lift back to B deck. Aura welcomed him back, and informed him that he had a recent message from the captain inviting him to lunch on the 23rd with the other officers, to meet them if they had not meet by that point and for those that had not to explain their respective rolls. He smiled as this, taking it as a good sign that he had made a good impression.

He exited the lift and wandered around B deck, taking in the various sites before heading back into the galley for his dinner, even though it was a bit early- he had only had breakfast so far, and didn't feel like skipping another meal. A salad with imitation meat strips that tasted like old earth chicken was his dinner, keeping with the healthy menu he had chosen for himself to stay in decent shape. Afterwards, he had a brief jog around the deck before heading to his room for a shower and a long conference with Aura about his day tomorrow, and then headed to bed.

His last thoughts before falling asleep was the thought that this place was far more comfortable than any place he had ever been. Everyone was so open with their feelings, it was refreshing in contrast to having everything hidden all the time. For the first time in a long time, he wasn't worried about what tomorrow would bring, and drifted off easily.