Always going forward
Story by Knightpony on SoFurry
Jess rolls forward with her plans, even with some reservations
Jessica contemplated a number of things as they made their way across the station to the central access corridor. The switch there from 1 G to 0 G was a bit of an eye opener, that she noticed only with vague distraction. Once in the weightless environment, Ken moved with a effortless grace even missing limbs on one side of his body. He moved more smoothly than many of the spacers in the corridor and he did it while bringing the wheelchair along.
Her mind however was really on other matters. She had bought the ship a decade ago, the result of careful saving from work and a few good designs selling well on the market for fabrication units and a hole lot of luck. The luck had been in the form of an older man retiring and willing to sell his ship and all the schematics to keep her going on the cheap. She really owed the guy for her ealy start.
In the 10 years she had the ship she been the only crew and so had pulled down the wall that separated the two crew quarter units to make one big room for her to live in. She put the wall back up and would need to print him a bed at the least. What other things would he need? She would need to check his dietary requirements.
Then there was a fact that he was a him to put a none to fine point on it. In her determination to deal with the problem that the new law had dropped in her lap she hadn’t given much thought to the long term problems the solution would generate. She was going to have a man onboard. Sure he wasn't a human man, but unless he was very different than the male dog she had as a teen, or even the boys she had dealt with in the foster care system, he would have needs or at least male impulses. She assumed that like a human man he wouldn’t want to take care of them in front of her any more than she would want to use a BOB in front of him.
That made her pause and wonder if she had left any of her BOB’s laying out. She wasn’t sure how she would explain a battery operated boyfriend to him. She would have to look while he was in the shower. At least the head was across the hall from the bedroom.
But that begged another question and something she would have to look into. Would she have to make sure he had cash in pocket for hookers? Were there Dog Boy hookers? She frowned slightly at that thought. She couldn’t remember ever seeing a female Dog Boy. And one of the nicknames for Gentech Wolves was Dog Boy, not Dog Girl or Dog People. That said there might not be. But then how did they reproduce them? Were they all still vat born? Or were the only females keep at creach centers?
She realized she had some real research ahead of her as they made their way onto her ship though the cargo hold. The cargo hold was currently empty but due to be loaded in 3 days, and the current contract was paying to keep her docked until that time.
Seh would also need to check his dietary requirements and stock up on more food and water. She might also need to build more capacity into the reclamation system. She would need to check to make sure she had plenty of auxiliary air scrubbing as well.
She wordlessly helped him back into the chair as they switched to the ships gravity. She kept it at 1.1 Earth normal to help keep her in shape even when she was feeling lazy, although given they genery accelerated and decelerated at 1.25 graveties maybe it was to keep her from losing her edge when not underway. If it ment her breasts wern’t as perky as they had been when she was 14, well it wasn’t like she spent much time with guys anyways. Just the odd hook up now and then at stations when she craved something more than a BoB.
Ken grunted as the gravity built up. It was a slow increase as they got into the rotating section of the ship. It sure would have been nice if gravity was easily manipulated as it was in all the old science fiction stories. “You okay Ken?”
“Yes Ma’am, just feeling the added weight. I’m a bit out of shape is all Ma’am.” He was ma’aming her. That was the only thing she could think to call it. She hadn’t done any military time, though she had considered it. She wondered if all military types were like this.
“Look it's just Jess when we are abroad and no one is around okay?” She asked him.
“Yes, Ma’am. I mean Jess,” he paused, “I will try and remember but we are instructed to always treat humans with the utmost respect, Jess. That ment we were to call them ma’am or sir, to call them by name was also considered being overly familiar, Jess.” She wondered if Jess was going to become a substitute Ma’am from him and if so how long it would take him to lose the habit. She tried not to grind her teeth, the ma’am’s making her feel old.
“Well we are going to end up very familiar with one another. Just the two of us for weeks and sometimes months at a time.” She considered her next words carefully another thing she thought she should have asked sooner. “How are you at handling being left to your own devices for long periods?”
“Ma’am? I mean Jess! Um I don’t understand your question, Jess.” Yep Jess was how he was going to Ma’am her.
She sighed both for the realization of how her name was going to be used for a while and for the fact that this explanation would be rough. “Look. Ken,” she paused, “Until you’re up to speed? I am going to have to leave you alone for part to most of the day doing ships maintenance. Unless they taught you how how to change air filters, clean reclamation systems, oxy scrubber maintenance, power plant maintenance, ion drive maintenance, how to do a hull patch, or any one of a million other things I will have to keep doing them. That means some days from the time I get up to the time I crash 18 or 20 hours later I am doing ships chores. Granted there other days I have everything done in an hour or two. Your skills sheet is actually a little vague but does say your trained to look after yourself. What does that mean if you can explain?”
He swallowed, “Well Jess, I can do laundry, prep basic food dishes, keep gear clean, as well as scrub floors and the like. I can do haul patching, though I do not have much experience at it. I can maintain a blackwater system and reclamation. So long as you show me what filters or have clearly designated filters for each air handler system I can replace those as well. I have some basic training in building maintenance, meaning that I can help run wire and pipe, I can do simple carpet and tile work. I can of course also fix broken pipes and replace basic electrical components so long as they are meant to be plug in units.”
She tried not to wince. In the 20th century those would have been some handy basic skills. Mostly now anyone with basic education could do those things and a lot more. You couldn’t complete your basic education without a working understanding of plumbing and electrical systems for instance. “Well you will have a lot to learn, and it’s going to take time. I spent years in school to become a certified as a class A spacer and officer candidate. I would like to get you as much of that training over time as I can on the off chance you need to operate the ship in an emergency when I can’t for some reason.”
“Your training does include basic spacer certifications at least, so you won't have to start from scratch, but there is a vast difference to being a class C spacer and being ready to handle everything on board with just the two of us. I have no idea how you will take to the training.” She went on in a rush, “But I am sure you will do fine.” She winced, mentally looking over what had poured out her mouth. She hadn’t meant to be harsh yet she had been.
She wheeled him up to the door to the head. “You good to shower on your own?” She asked him as it occurred to her he might not be. She should have thought of that sooner dam it. Being a loner had not preped her for this.
“Yes Jess!” He snapped out.
“Well tell you what let me get your grooming supplies from you locker and I can put them in the shower for you. Then while your in the shower I can pull some wall panels from storage and put them up so you have your own room.” She said thinking out loud.
“My own room Ma’am?” He asked slipping back into old habits. He sounded kind of shocked and maybe even put off.
“Have you never had your own room before?” She asked surprised.
“No, Jess!” He replied in shock, “Always been in a barracks, until I was injured always with the same pack.” The was less loss there then she would have expected. She wondered if he had gotten over the loss of childhood companions so easily? As he went on, “Even in the cripples quarters we are in barracks, Jess.”
So he wasn’t used to privacy, she realized or to being alone at night. Some dogs at the shelter had gotten upset when alone. So she asked, “Okay, would you be alright sleeping alone? In a room of your own I mean?”
“I don’t know, Jess. I have never tried. Always had someone around though for the most part.” He said clearly nervous.
She sighed, “So I take it you would prefer it if we were in the same room when sleeping?”
“Yes, Jess!” He snapped out promptly and looking hopeful.
She gave him a long thoughtful look. She had sleep with a dog on her bed for a time. But he wasn’t a dog, not really. Oh she could tell herself that he was just a dog but, he wasn’t. Did he understand what he was asking of her? To share a bedroom with a male? She hadn’t ever done that, having been to old for such things to be considered appropriate when she was in the foster system. Outside of a one night stands she hadn’t ever had a man in a bedroom with her. On the other hand he wasn’t human. Would hedesire her in a sexual way? Did she want him to look at her that way? Her belly gave a nervous roll at the thought even as other parts of her moistened with desire for something other than a BoB on a regular basis.
This kind of thing wasn’t something she had any experience for. There had never been time for romance. Would romance even cross his mind or did Dog Boy’s just hump thinks with the momentary passion of animals?
All that flashed through her mind and she thought she could feel a bit of a blush creep up her cheeks as she asked, “Ah have you ever shared barracks space with a human before?”
He snapped out a, “No Jess!”
“All right. We can try it. But understand that I will have to think out some ground rules. Sharing space with someone is different for humans than it is for Dog Boy. Well unless your in the military I guess.” She waved a hand vaguely. “Well defitly for me at least. It’s not something I have done except when I was in college and then it was only for half a very very busy year.”
She reached down and took up his foot locker as he snapped out, “Yes Jess!”
“I’ll be in the head with your grooming kit in just a moment Ken.” She said and stepped into the room. She placed the locker down along one bulkhead and considered where to put his bed and how to arrange things, as she dug into the locker for the grooming kit.
She left off how to arrange the room as she realized that she could identify the grooming kit only by the icon, of a Dog Boy wearing a tux on it. It kind of drove home that their kind couldn’t read that nothing was labeled in words as she looked in the kit. There were a number of combs and brushes, and colored bottles. The bottles had no labels per say just icons and colors. She closed up the kit and went over to the head.
Ken had wheeled himself into the room. It was rather roomy because she had redesigned it some, cutting some of the entertainment and living space off to have a bathroom and shower space that wasn’t a claustrophobic’s worst nightmare. She handed him the kit and asked, “You’re going to be okay in here? If you need anything just call out. I’ll have the ship’s AI relay if you ask for me.”
“Yes Jess!” He snapped out. He took the kit and tossed it onto the shower’s bench.
“The water isn’t unlimited but you should have as much time as you need. The water will be hot as long as you’re running it,” she said on her way out.
She heard a muffled, “Understood Jess!” As she closed the hatch.
Ken was forced to admit to himself, as he worked his shorts off and hoped awkwardly into the shower, that he had no idea what to think. The human seemed very sure of herself and yet clearly at times had no idea what she was about in relation to him.
He said, “Computer water on, hot.” There was a long pause and before anything happened.
Then a deep male voice said, “Please define ‘hot’.”
Ken closed his eyes for a moment, “38 Celsius.” A moment later the water came on, a fine but powerful spray. He was used to it though he missed the showers at the creech that had heavy spray. He also missed the baths from when he was very young. He could recall them only vaguely but having hot water all around him had been very pleasant.
He soaked himself down pretty well and then slid slightly as he went to sit down on the bench to was himself. He landed on his ass with a sold thud that made the bench quiver, and forced him to swallow a yelp of pain. He wondered if humans lacking tails felt the same pain when they fell on their ass.
Resettling himself he leaned his head against the wall and wondered again why she wanted him. He was going to have all he could do to groom himself. It wa clear he lacked many skills she thought necessary. So why buy out his contract? What would happen to him when he could not meet her expectations? There were horror stories whispered in the barracks some nights about the fate of those who proved useless to the ones holding their contract. Accidents that cleared the way for another more able, or sometimes they just left with a human and never returned.
He closed his eyes and tried to find the conficend he had had leaving basic training. The feeling that the master’s would always have his back and that he could take on any challenge. Things had seemed so much easier when he had been whole. When he had his unit at his back.
His coat looked fine on the surface but was full of minor mats in the under coat. He had been letting his grooming slide more and more, just brushing the overcoat out enough to be passable to human inspection. So he began with a deep shampoo and conditioning, and did his best to brush himself out. But for all his assurance to his new human leader he found it impossible to reach everywhere with only one hand.
He closed his eyes and stifled a whine. He was not a pup. He would not whine. But it was hard. The matra of the creech and his military training flowed through his mind. Serve. Protech. Obey. They were mankind's helpers, it was their place to go where it was unsafe, to risk their lives, to help humans.
It was not their place to ask for help from them. It was their place to be the ones helping. And yet he could not even help himself anymore. He was useless. But she had to know that. It wasn’t as if he could hide his damaged state. So why was he here? His mind kept circling around that as he tried to groom himself and did the best he could.
After a time he rinsed himself off and told the computer to turn off the water. The response was faster this time. He turned to hop out of the shower and towel off as best he could, for he saw no blowers to help dry his long fur, and his paw slipped on the floor of the shower. A moments in attention, or perhaps the fact that the surface was not textured in a way that made it as non slip for a paw as a foot, he thought as he felt himself slipping and then all he saw for long moments was stars as he cracked his head against the wall on the way down.
Jessica had cued up a bed on the faber, and sat down to look at options for prosthetics. She put in bid requests at the handful of places that said they could handle a Dog Boy’s biology. What she got back was expensive, more expensive and a few that said they could not do the work in the time frame she required. The cheapest could do basic prosthetic work for 10k on his leg and hand. Eye would not have time to be done. But the prosthetic for the leg wasn't much better than a peg leg, and the hand wasn’t much more than a hook. There had to be something better.
Then she got an odd quote. It was 35k for a good quality leg and hand job or 15k for a good eye job. They could not do all three in the time she had, unless she chose the third option. They said they could rebuild his hand and foot completely with an experimental procedure and do the eye socket while that work was being done. The stipulation was that she would need to send back detailed medical records over time to record how things went both in recovery and day to day use.
She looked over what they were offering. She hadn't studied biology beyond basics herself so the details were more than she could handle but she got the gist of it. They would basically fab a new hand and leg on, using synthetic organics that would be self repairing and slowly encourage natural tissues to take over. If this guy could do what he was claiming it would be a major break through, as no one had managed to 3d print or fabricate body parts on this level. Oh you could replace organs that way, but limbs had eluded the medical industry, the mix of bone, nerve and muscle tissue was simply too complex to produce without necrosis from creeping in or killing the tissue with heat from going to fast in the process.
The doctor however did not sugar coat it and did state that the procedure was expermantal not approved for use on people. That to date he had had excellent results however in all his experiments and just needed a live trial. The issue was the station had a no animals, except for service animals, policy so he could not import live animals to work with and so to date had only been able to work with corpses, who did not obviously suffer any of life's complications.
The good news was it could be done as an outpatient procedure, but he would not be on hand to handle any complications but was willing to give her loads of information, and software for an autodoc if she had one. The worst outcome he saw was a complete rejection of the procedure and needing to heal him up and get regular prosthetics after removing the failed limb replacements. However if the procedure worked it would be better than any prosthetic, and in fact after time and therapy be as good as new.
There was however the fact that the procedure needed 36 hours to be done, and the more time he had in post op observation the better. She sat back and thought it over. She requested more details but she thought that unless Ken was opposed to it, was his best bet.
She also thought wryly that she could order him to cut off his only hand and he would give it his best shot. She knew that the info said he was trained to take orders from humans, but she thought it might be more like indocturnated given the info she had skimmed so far. She wondered how this kind of thing was allowed to go on.
She paused in her ruminations noting that she had been sitting her for well over an hour pursuing the best option for his prosthetics. “Computer, what is Ken’s status.”
The rich baritone voice she had given the ships AI responded, “He is prone the shower Jess.”
“Injured?” She snapped out popping out of her seat to move to the head.
“No indications of injury. He is aware. However he is making noises that I am unable to identify.”
“Live audio from the shower, authorization One Seven Alpha.”
“Privacy override acknowledged,” the computer responded. Life feed from the shower was the soft whines of a dog, afraid and lost. He first instinct was to go to help him as if he was a dog. But she stopped herself. He wasn’t a dog. Would he truly want her to barge in on him?
“Computer ask him if he needs assistance. Do not indicate I am aware of his situation, end live feed,” she instructed the computer.
The live feed cut off, as the computer computer responded, “As you wish.”
She smirked, she really had had some fun with the computer's response software. But then the smirk dropped off her face short lived. She decided to go ahead and take a moment to let the doctor know she would have Ken there in 2 hours. Time enough for him to get himself together and be ready to face the world.
Ken lay on the floor of the shower and could not stop whining. He hated himself for it, both for the sign of weakness that would have gotten him punishment from his instructors and from his squad. But he could not make himself stop and the more he tried the more useless he felt.
Then the computer’s voice echoed in the head, “Ken you have been making noises I can not identity for some time. I do not detect injury, but have tentatively defined the noises as ones of distress. Are you in need of aid?”
Ken was shocked by the surge of anger as whine turned to snarl, “No!”
The computer went silent, and Ken was grateful. Did she know? Of course she knew. How couldn’t she know, humans seemed to know everything his kind did. Even the things done in the dark in the barracks after lights out.
He sat up. He had to get moving or she would assume he did need aid. He pulled himself up onto the bench and growled in frustration as he tried to get upright. In frustration he slammed the stump of his wrist into the bench hard enough to make it quiver.
Hard enough to hurt so much he saw vision wavered. He snarled softly in frustrated agony. He would not be a burden on this human. He would find a way to be useful. He would live up to the expectations of the company. Somehow.
It took him a few minutes and he managed to bounce his shoulder off the wall on his bad side once but he got out of the shower. He was still wet, his coat still carrying a lot of water but he was no longer dripping. He did his best to towel himself off and go over his coat with a brush and make himself presentable.
He had only the torn worn shorts he had come into the shower with. Would she be upset if he put them back on? She seemed to have been upset by their condition earlier. But humans got upset if you went naked in front of them. He stood there staring at the door wondering what he should do. Step out naked or back into the old shorts?
Then he heard, “Damit Ken, we are going to be late! Get moving!”
With that the decision so far as he was concerned was made, orders to make an appearance were more pressing than pants or not pants and he stepped out.