Writing Prompts

[Krulle]

continuation of http://www.well-of-souls.com/forums/vie ... 009#p31009

Whoo. Time for another wall of text.

"Yes." Alexander said. There was no denying this anway. All this attention on him as a male... would've been very charming if not for these particular circumstances...

"And what are you?" Brightshield asked.

"I am a Human."

"And why are you here?"

"I am the sole survivor of a mission sent to contact the warfaring parties before the warfaring parties discover us, and force their choice on us. Our mission, and consequently my mission, is to make contact with either the Loroi Union or with the Umiak Hierarchy, so that we can have a view of both sides about this war, and make our own opinion on which side we shall choose. Since we've been told that the Loroi and the Umiak each have a 'no neutrality doctrine' in force, we wanted to make sure we would be able to select the side we want to fight on. Alas, in the Naam system our ship got shot at, and fatally crippled."

She continued to ask a few questions about his mission, which he answered as truthfully as possible. After those questions, Brightshield took a breath.

"Well, since Mizol Parat Sedel here accorded you ambassadorial status, this station has no command over you, but I am grateful for you answering my questions. Of course I have read the reports provided to me so far, but apparently these reports were incomplete." she concluded with a sideglance at Tempo. "But please understand that you have caused quite a commotion, especially after the working force returned from having brought this shuttle a decontamination unit. We are sorry you have been stranded in this system, without a way forward to complete your mission. Please tell me, was the personal access for the Listel here part of your mission?"

"Eh.." Alex stammered shortly, with a short glance at Beryl. "No. No, our mission was to make contact only, and arrange a meeting of your officials with some of our officials in a 'neutral' system, so that our politicians at home could make an informed decision of whom to pledge alliance without risking total destruction of Humanity."

"And, personally, since you had contact with both sides, even if with The Enemy only through listening in on a conversation, which side would you recommend your leaders to choose?"

"The Loroi Union!" Alexander said with conviction.

"And why?" Brightshield asked.

She turned her head to Tempo and with a glare added: "Yes, you've already reported me what he told you. But while aboard this station, I will confirm some elements for myself."

'Apparently Tempo sent a Sanzai message...' Alexander thought, and replied: "Because you are so similar to us. And because the Umiak remind us of a common nightmare, an instinctive fear, among all Humans. We have animals on our world, which we call insects. Some of them have a 'hive-mind', meaning they do not work for themselves, but only and exclusively for a common goal, at the expense of individuality. When I heard Kikitik-27 talk, the harsh sound made my skin crawl very uncomfortably. His looks, and what I've been told about the Umiak made me directly connect the Umiak to be a nightmare. We Humans value our individuality and individual freedom very much, and I cannot fathom that our society would survive being a 'client state' of the Umiak."

"Then why did you seek forbidden contact with Listel Tozet Eilis here?"

"I did not actively seek this intimate contact. It just happened. We Humans are different than you are. We have a male to female ratio of about 1:1, and intimacy with us usually comes with proximity and familiarity.
Furthermore, I cannot deny that all Loroi I have seen so far are visually among the ideals of how a female Human should look like, if you disregard the blue skin and your lengthy, pointed ears. And Beryl's character of being very inquisitive, her smartness and quick understanding are also considered to be wanted character traits for our partners.
And from what I've been told in the last hour or so, I seem to have a very similar effect on many Loroi females."

"It just happened?" an incredulous Brightshield asked. "Well, I have to take your word for it. Please be advised that you and all Loroi entering this shuttle will be on a closer monitoring from now on, to make sure our laws are observed. While these laws do not necessarily apply to you, they do apply to all Loroi. Does Humanity not have such laws?"

"Well, when being on duty such things are usually considered to be not done, and only in security relevant issues there are rules forbidding intimacy at the working place. But once off-duty, these matters are usually considered to be a private affair between persons involved, as long as they are not disruptive to the environment."

Here the station's Mizol smiled. "Tell me, are you as sole representative of Humanity known to the Loroi technically ever 'off-duty'?"

"Eh.. Technically not. No." Alexander answered. "But in circumstances like these, where there is no disruption of duty, the superiors and courts have recognised that a Human is a Human, and that certain amounts of rest and private matters are a necessity."

"A necessity? Like a health necessity?" Brightshield asked. With a glimmer in her eye.

"Not a physical health necessity. But being constantly on duty without the possibility to be something else that on duty, to be a human with all its flaws and errors and needs, has been proven to cause the human to be prone to errors and misjudgements." Alex tried to deflect.

"I see. This has to do with your need for individuality you previously mentioned?"

"Yes." Alex answered slightly relieved that she made this connection, and not directly questioning his mental health. "Yes. It is part of our brain seeking rewarding situations, which we often do not experience when on duty."

"Ah. You're a civilian, then?"

"No. I am part of the military." a perplexed Alexander replied. "Why?"

"Because our civilians often show these kind of flaws. But in the military, these kind of flaws are not permissible.
Anyway, thanks for answering my questions. Since you did come into contact with some crew of ours, I need our Doranzer to check you thoroughly. Can I count on your cooperation with that?"

"Yes, you can." Alexander said.

"Thank you." She turned her head, and said to Tempo: "I can see he is very cooperative. As he is in your charge, and you are the higher ranking Mizol, I will leave him in your charge. If you need help, please inform me. Also, I fear my report might incite Torrai Mazeit Cerulean to visit him too, once she finds a time where the crushables keep quiet." she finished with a longing side-glance at Alexander.

"Thank you, Mizol Losat Lomileilar. Your Doranzer will be forwarded with any data our Doranzer has collected during her scans when we rescued Captain Jardin, but of course she is free to countercheck the findings." Tempo said. "But without bringing Alexander to the station's infirmary, I fear her examinations will not find anything else than what our ship systems did."

Brightshield's eyes tightened slightly at that, but finally she turned around and left the shuttle, signalling the other Loroi of the station to follow her.

Alexander, Beryl, and Tempo were left behind. Tempo made a small keep quiet signal, and left for the Cockpit, where she once again used her codes. And yes, there it was. Some data stream leaving the shuttle. She backtracked it to one specific camera in the passenger cabin. She used one of the other monitors to check what the camera showed. 'Interesting. You dirty little...' she thought with a smile, as she watched the transparent front of the decontamination shower. A quick check confirmed, that the camera was active since only a short time. Likely shortly before that Mizol entered the shuttle.
She found no other signals, and left the cockpit.

Alexander and Beryl were talking to each other, about what happend. And a deep blue face told Tempo, that Beryl was very sorry for what happened, and all the trouble she caused for Alexander.

Making sure they indeed stood outside the shower cabin's camera, she walked over to them, and held out her hands out. Both accepted the unspoken invitation.

"First things first. Do not take a shower together. There's a camera active. Alexander, I am sorry for your privacy, but if I switch off that camera, I signal them that I've found it, and the next one will be harder to find. Let them have a look at your body, maybe it distracts them from being so far from our males. Also it may incite them to fight their best, to protect you.
Second, this is not solely your fault, Beryl. I incited him to get intimate with you. He was unable to hide his attraction to you, as well as your attraction to him was obvious. And since he trusts you most of all of us, I wanted to test his Lotai more.

"You wanted us to get intimate?" an incredulous Beryl asked.

"Girl, you are young. Curious. Desiring. Yes. You were the obvious choice."

"But I thought you wanted..."

"Hey" Alex interrupted. "I am here."

"So?" both Loroi questioned.

"Among Humans it is unusual to talk about someone in his presence like that." Alex explained.

"But we're not Humans." Tempo reminded him. She continued "Of course I wanted too. First of all because he is attractive. Second of all, he needs to learn that Loroi are not exclusive with another. And in the current situation I wanted it to be someone I can always trust. Talon's loyalities lie with Moonglow and Stillstorm, being her superiors, and Fireblade... Well, she's Fireblade.
But still, I wanted him to make the choice who goes first."

They heard the door open, and saw Fireblade coming in.

"Did I miss anything?" Fireblade asked, after the three had let go off each others hands and turned to Fireblade.

"Not much", Tempo answered. "I assume you've been told what happened here?"

"Hell, all the station knows. It was hard to not know." Fireblade answered. To Alex she said: "If you have time, I'd love to claim my wager winning."

Alex looked a bit stunned.

"Ah ah." Tempo interjected. "The wager's on hold right now. Beryl was too early in her triumph. Stillstorm cut her short and nothing happened. She still wore most of her uniform when I pulled them out."

"You! you! You've been betting on me?" an incredulous Alex asked.

"Sure. We're military on front line duty. It is all we have for ourselves." Tempo replied, and then looked curiously at Beryl, who was standing only half a step from Alexander, but not touching him.

"What?" Beryl asked.

"You're gone." Tempo remarked.

"Indeed. I can see you, but not feel you." Fireblade added.

Tempo looked at Alexander, and asked "Do you feel the need to protect her?"

Alexander looked perplexed, and after thinking about it, he replied: "Yes, and no. Not physically. But still, she's in a difficult situation because I couldn't keep my fingers to myself. Why?"

"Your Lotai has extended to Beryl." commented Fireblade.

Tempo looked at Beryl intently. After a short while she asked: "What about you? Can you sense me or Fireblade? Or hear my sending?"

Beryl looked at them both, and said "I cannot receive any sending, but I feel a vague presence of you. As if you both are very far away." She tried sending something.

"I can sense you sending" Tempo said. "But I cannot understand it."

"I didn't receive anything." Fireblade said.

Tempo touched Alexander's hand. "During that exchange with Stillstorm I already had an instable reception of Beryl. Let me test something."

"Now I can sense Beryl clearly again, but Fireblade is somewhat far away...." she said after a moment.
"The Human Lotai can actually extend to us Loroi, if we're very familiar to them. And apparently intimacy and desire to protect is the catalyst here, as trust was to lower the Lotai."

Yay! I did not get ninja'ed this time. :)

[Werra]

Nice. New stories to read. I like this Brightshield character. She seems in a way nicer, more immediately direct than Tempo, yet still a Mizol.

So the circumstances have now forced everyone to talk completely frank about their intentions? I like the direction. Sounds like I need to find new ways to spoil their fun, if they work together from now on.

[Krulle]

Well, I do not believe for one second that Mizol has shown all her cards. But she's beyond lying to Beryl, Sanzai being truthful and all that.
And now Beryl and Alex should be noticing, that that Mizol was actively experimenting with them....

[entity2636]

Nice! More stuff to read Interesting turn of events... It almost certainly was Talon who rigged the cabin camera. Would not have expected Talon to be somewhat of a traitor, Stillstorm's lapdog.

Torrai Mazeit Cerulean

Cerulean, the Gora Relay C/O, was a Soroin Seinen (Lieutenant Commander, O4 equivalent) when we first saw her here http://www.well-of-souls.com/forums/vie ... f=4&t=2334

Was this, by chance, Stillstorm's reason to appear in person on the station - to give Cerulean a field promotion? Although, making her jump three ranks would indicate Stillstorm either quickly running out of officers, or now, when there is no one there to oppose her, enacting a power fantasy of hers? Dunno what's worse

By the way, Stillstorm could both spit in Tempo's soup again and torment Beryl even more.

SpoilerShow

Normally Listels don't become flag officers (Torrai), but there is the rank of Torrai Sorimi - Adjutant, basically the flag officer's secretary http://well-of-souls.com/temp/opal1_export.jpg. Opal feels like a genuine Listel, if I ever saw one. Would Beryl look good in red while bringing Stillstorm her tea?

[Jethreuel]

Was this, by chance, Stillstorm's reason to appear in person on the station - to give Cerulean a field promotion? Although, making her jump three ranks would indicate Stillstorm either quickly running out of officers, or now, when there is no one there to oppose her, enacting a power fantasy of hers? Dunno what's worse

What would be worse is if it was both circumstances at once.

[Krulle]

Nice! More stuff to read Interesting turn of events... It almost certainly was Talon who rigged the cabin camera. Would not have expected Talon to be somewhat of a traitor, Stillstorm's lapdog.

Thanks. And while I thought of a preinstalled camera being misused, I'll leave that, and whoever directed the feedd, to the one wanting to work with that....

Torrai Mazeit Cerulean

Cerulean, the Gora Relay C/O, was a Soroin Seinen (Lieutenant Commander, O4 equivalent) when we first saw her here http://www.well-of-souls.com/forums/vie ... f=4&t=2334

No, I just looked at the Loroi ranks, and guesse that a station captain is ranked higher than a ship captain, but lower than a group commander.
That's my fault then.
Going to crrect now, thank you.

edit: hold that. Badically I went by the previous story.
Cerulean in the comic is "just an officer". There's no hint she's the commanding offficer.

In Novius' chapter, I read:

"Greetings. I am Mizol Losat Lomileilar, meaning 'Brightshield'. I came on behalf of Station Commander Cerulean, since she is busy with coordinating the station's defenses, as you might be aware. I understand we need to limit ourselves to spoken words since there is one individual unable to respond to sanzai?"

I went from there. So I simply guessed wrong, and Cerulean actually isn't the station's commanding officer. And not in the commanders carreer (yet).

Q: shall we change the name as simplest correction, or do we even know who the commanding officer is?

[Werra]

Changing the name would be simplest.

How about uh...Farcloud?

[entity2636]

It'd be easier to invent a new commander for the station and have Cerulean be either just one of the officers, or her XO, since she already is featured in the comic and appears to have say about the station's operations. Indeed, a Lt.Cmdr O4 might be too low of a rank to run a whole space station (I'm thinking DS9 - Sisko was a Commander O5 when he was put in charge of the station), but even a Torret (Captain O6) - too high. So a Soroin Mallas would fit, IMO.

But then again, Lt.Cmdr Cerulean might actually turn out to be Gora Relay's commander (or acting commander) in canon and then you'd have to retcon a lot of stuff. Maybe she volunteered to stay behind with a skeleton crew and take as many bugs with her as she can, you know, for the Union! Only Arioch knows.

[novius]

Reading this post again I noticed that Arioch used that character as a 'Relay Officer' rather than the commander as I first assumed, but given that there is just a skeleton crew present, I think comm officers would be amongst the first ones to be evacuated, and she's indeed the acting commander.

And yes, perhaps Stillstorm was out for a power play and upped her ranks a bit to regain some say on what happened on the Relay.

Might be a stretch, but still plausible, and saves us from too much retconning

On a second note, I haven't forgotten the story about our displaced human boy - Nathaniel. As I've said elsewhere, I think I have an idea how one story could come into play for the other, and then with elements of What To Do With Jardin, maybe...

Yes.... I think that could work.... if so, Alex might be in for a big shock, and Tempo still has more on her byzantine mind than she admitted to.

Nice! More stuff to read Interesting turn of events... It almost certainly was Talon who rigged the cabin camera. Would not have expected Talon to be somewhat of a traitor, Stillstorm's lapdog.

Thanks. And while I thought of a preinstalled camera being misused, I'll leave that, and whoever directed the feedd, to the one wanting to work with that....

Talon seems not evil - after all, she probably have wanted a piece of Alex on her own, too -, but her loyalties might be a bit misguided, at least if one would ask Tempo Speaking of which, since she surely does have dossiers about the crew - Mizol through and through - she'd surely know about that potential issue. Whether she acts on her knowledge, and how, that's a different question.

Though... perhaps it wasn't Talon, but Spiral? She seemed to be the quiet one of the two pilots, but we know what is said about the quiet ones...

[Onaiom]

Tempo didn't mention that she indeed had another set of ideas to employ humans in mind. Since the regulations around male encounters were introduced to fight overpopulation but kept as a reward scheme, a group of human males on board a ship could doubly serve for ... morale reasons. After all, if her suspicion is correct, such infiltration squads she had in mind would need for the Humans and Loroi to actually bond to each other. On what level, that remains to be seen. And, perhaps, in time, they could bridge the biochemical differences between Humans and Loroi. Introducing a nigh impenetrable and selectively active Lotai into the Loroi gene pool... yes, that could be a goal the Mizol might pursue.

Beryl wants to mate with Alex. Tempo wants to breed with Alex.

She is definitely the best girl.

[Werra]

Ok, I was informed that I will spent the week till Sunday getting stuffed with meat from strangers.

I have typed up what kind of conflict resolution I had in mind. It's quite a bit ahead in the story. In fact it may never reach that point or veer into a completely different direction.

Since I really don't want to ruin your story ideas, I am debating on what to do. Normally I'd try to incorporate bits of this into the flow of the thread. But that's not possible.

So should I:
A) Wait till Sunday and see what's what?
B) Post it now as a what-if?
C) Post it now as a challenge for you where to take the story?

[Krulle]

If you want, you can put it n a spoiler,...

BTW, I'll be going for two weeks of summer holoday this weekend, and most of the weekend will be spent sitting in a car.....
Might not be contributing much....

(but then, I never intended to contribute more than one or two parts, and especially not such walls of text...)

[novius]

In retrospect, Stillstorm's antics might have proven to be a boon. Not that Tempo would ever admit that to her.

On Alex's hint, she did go through lots and lots and lots of legalese to... yes, he was spot on. There is some emergency clause to ensure a male's survival, or to an extent, well-being if the issues arise that he's going for too long between encounters. Interesting though - it was a recent amendment, just about 400 tozons ago, where the original regulations exist since time immemorial.

The wording of this amendment was rather strong, so much that it would bypass all standing orders and regulations - whoever had written that up must have felt a dire need to do so, and afterwards no one else seemed to have thought about adding further limiting clauses.

Interesting. Add to that that he is an alien envoy and surely has different needs and preferences, I'm quite sure we can make that stick. But I definitely need to add a non-disclosure clause. Yes, leave that as a loophole for Stillstorm to save face...

Pulling one over Stillstorm might be something Tempo would do, but embarassing her in front of the rank and file might not be helpful.

'Were she some jumped up brass it might be fine to bring her down a peg or two, but one does not pee up a decorated war hero's leg in public.', Alex had sent once throughout their lessons, accompanied with a picture of a small furry quadruped animal lifting its right hind leg and taking a leak on Stillstorm's boot. That picture still brought a smile to Tempo's face, promising to herself to learn more about these ... colorful idioms. Perhaps she should ask Tozet Beryl...?

'Back to topic', she chided herself.

Yes, Stillstorm did do them a favor, and it would be beneficial to not to make it public that she would... will circumvent her orders and still completely stay above board.

'Because I am sure at least half of the station's crew would have signed up for mating encounters or even completely disregard rules and regulations once they had seen him topless and news had spread. Without Stillstorm, it would all have landed on my table and my inbox would be over quota by now.'

Though, since the shuttle was docked, it would have landed on the Station Commander's table - maybe it already did, and that was part of the reason she sent that Mizol Losat Lomileilar.

And given the looks she raked over Alex she surely would have been next in line to file for mating rights, too.

That brought something else to her mind.

When she discovered the camera she was sure it was Arrir Talon who installed it, but no. She indeed went to check on some abnormal readings - the energy drain of the running camera might have went unnoticed on a fully powered up shuttle, but with all systems in standby, it stood out. Given the pilot's basic knowledge of vehicle operations and maintenance she was sure Talon wouldn't have made such an error. So someone else had repurposed that camera.

As she asked Alex to 'put up a show for the troops', as he put it, she installed a little extra in the camera's software, one of the Mizol's finest - any downloaded and streamed video imagery would be tagged and could be traced back to the requester, and now she has a log on whoever had a video of Alex's last shower.

A long list. Someone surely didn't keep her thoughts closed about that video feed. Yes, her own name was on the list, too, same as Tozet Beryl's, but she was sure that Alex wouldn't mind. Especially not in the Listel's case. And... since Stillstorm did countersign their mating rights, she was entitled to have a closer look at the goods.

'Hmmm... Maybe the Maiad Loroi are on to something with their relaxed views on inter-gender relations...', she admitted, before sorting and browsing through the list.

Arrir Talon, that was to be expected, too. Pallan Fireblade, as well, given the ongoing wager and her eagerness to cash in on her perceived victory. And... there she was. Losat Brightshield, another avid subscriber to that video stream.

A dark feeling rose up in Tempo. One it took a while for recognizing as jealousy. She fought it down.

'Spiral? Reed? Flint? Well, that is mildly surprising.'

The next dozens of names were quite unfamiliar to her - the Relay's staff, she presumed, though maybe not all of them, she was sure she read some names on the crew manifests of Strike Group 51.

Then, she stopped short at one name, eyes widening.

'STILLSTORM?!'

That dark feeling returned tenfold, in an instant. 'That bitch', she used that English word.

Tempo wasn't sure if she should ever tell Alex that she wasn't above getting an eyeful even if she heaped lots of scorn on him. Maybe...

She reached outwards, towards Beryl's mind.

'Beryl', she sent, deliberately dropping her rank to denote that this is a personal matter, 'no need to deny it, I know you've hooked yourself into that video feed. I'd have been surprised if you haven't. And, I am honest, I did, too... As well as perhaps about the entire Relay's crew. But, I guess you noticed it, too?', Tempo sent a few pictures, pointing out several things. Like, him being tensed up a bit, and more often than not keeping the back to the glass pane and the camera on its other side.

'It seems to me that Humans do have a selan forbidding them to show themselves completely nude in front of unfamiliar females. He was much more carefree when he was unaware of the camera. Topless seemed to be completely permissible for him, but below the waistline seems to be met with restrictions as strong as one of our males showing any skin.'

'And, I have to admit, had he not pointed out this 'body language' to us, we would have missed it. And to know that we Loroi could be 'read' as easily, too, is ... a thought that is unsettling and endearing, both.'

'A male who can discern our state and moods without us resorting to sanzai? This really sounds much like a dream come true', Tempo felt Beryl's thoughts drifting off, but then snapping back into focus, '....right. I think that without sanzai, Humans had to resort to other ways of communication. Their 'idioms', for example, putting lots of concepts into few words, but requiring much cultural background to discern, or the ability to read this 'body language'.', Beryl elaborated.

'If not for the immediate war effort, I am more and more convinced that Humans do have much to offer to us, much more than they even might guess themselves.'

'Besides the Humans most certainly being our template species, I think it might weigh more that they could become our guilty pleasure.'

Tempo blinked in confusion. 'Guilty ... pleasure?', she sent, askance, 'Is that another of Alex's idioms?'

'Yes. It describes something that may be slightly past beyond legality, or morally slightly questionable, but not quite counting as a gross transgression, but too good to pass up on. Like the video feed. Everyone knows that is an invasion of privacy, but they couldn't stay away from it.'

Guilty pleasure, Tempo mulled in her mind, yes, that's a good way to describe it, and what Humans could come to mean to us.

'Tozet Beryl', Tempo framed her thoughts in a more formal manner, 'We absolutely need to make sure that the war does not reach the Humans until we can be sure, beyond any doubt, that they are ready for this. More and more I think that the future of the Union and that of Humanity is tied to each other. That neither of us can survive on its own any longer.'

Beryl was taken aback by the forcefulness of Tempo's sanzai. Her thoughts spoke of a conviction that rivaled the oaths they took on joining the warrior ranks.

'...Humans are really that important to us?', Beryl sent flabbergasted.

'More than you could imagine. Much more.'

---//---

Doranzer Mazil-Toza Pabetpeio - or 'Winterbloom', as she introduced her spoken name - was nothing if not thorough. If she was disallowed from bringing Alex to the sickbay, she did her best to bring the sickbay to Alex. The same technicians that installed the shower unit - a repurposed decon cell, he came to know - carted in a whole load of devices, last but not least one of the diagnostic beds much like the one he found himself in when he woke up aboard the Tempest.

Of course, whenever one of the technicians got a good look at him, she slowed down, at least until Winterbloom cast a sharp glance at the dawdler, most certainly coupled with a reprimand via sanzai.

Part of the shuttle's cargo bay started to look like an intensive care ward, just one level below of an isolation unit. It seemed that she was intent on repeating each and every test they may have performed on him on the Tempest, and then maybe some more.

"Given the scans, you were recovering from serious blood loss, something I presume to be a concussion, severe hypoxia and perhaps an equally severe psychic trauma. So these scans are far from a baseline for a healthy Human, which I wish to establish here."

Well, that makes sense. "True. I'm sure Tozet Beryl would be interested in a copy of this second set of scans, too."

"Certainly. I would have gone over the results with her in any case. Now, if you please, lie down and we start with the scans."

What followed was a series of scans where Alex heard and felt devices powering up and humming, and Winterbloom hunching over a console making, yes, the typical doctor's noises.

Though, not all scans were non-invasive.

Urine. Scrapes of his skin. Hair clippings. Tears. Blood. Semen. Alex blushed a moment when she handed him a cup and made clear what he was expected to do.

To her credit, she was all business-like. Perhaps as a medic, she did see a number of males in her career in a professional manner and wouldn't completely go gooey-eyes over one.

Well, when she took a swab of his skin, she did let her gloved hand linger for a bit longer than it was entirely necessary....

"Well, while I'm unfamiliar with your biology and cannot completely say what's normal for you and what not, there are some common grounds I could work with. You have blood cells to transport oxygen, for example, you metabolize glucose and fats for energy as well. Speaking of which... if I'm reading this right, you recently suffered from a period of malnutrition? It shows in the recently ossified sections of your fracture and your hair."

"Yes... yes, I did", Alex admitted, "It was an ordeal for them to find something to eat I could keep down. Most of their rations simply didn't agree with me."

"I see. Perhaps given these scans I might be able to come up with a dietary plan to meet your nutritional demands. You have a much faster metabolism than we have - please keep that in mind and remember that what would nourish one Loroi would not be enough to sustain you."

"I see. Was that all?"

Winterbloom smiled slightly. "For now. I need to upload the test results to the Relay's mainframe to run some simulations. If the results are satisfactory, I could give you a clean bill of health."

"I see. Thanks, doc."

"'Doc'?", Winterbloom asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh... Apologies. Force of habit. It's a short term for 'doctor', a specific honorific. Typically used, but not limited to physicians who went through a specific career track. No offense intended."

"None taken. And, would you agree to a follow-up examination, in a few cycles?"

"If circumstances permit, why not?"

"Then it's an appointment. Until then, I'll bid goodbye."

Winterbloom already turned to her console, probably busy with uploading the data, so Alex murmured a goodbye on his own and left quietly, heading towards the shuttle's cockpit.

Unbeknownst to Winterbloom, the data she uploaded triggered a hidden subroutine in the Relay's computers, and a notice popped up on Losat Brightshield's computer.

On seeing that notice, she typed in a few commands and a lengthy password. Seeing what appeared on her display, she smiled.

So, after all these tozons....

DUN DUN DUN...!

[Krulle]

Hehehe...

Whoever tapped the camera knew he had to hide that. And she hid the tapping in plain sight. Every girl tapped the feed, and therefore it has become indiscernible who started the video feed.
And all the girls go

I wonder if the Loroi made a wager when he will actually "turn around"....

Besides dead Umiak, Alex has become the most wanted in the system....

[novius]

Besides dead Umiak, Alex has become the most wanted in the system....

...and tozons later, analysts wonder why the Loroi threw everything and the kitchen sink into the defense of one measly Relay...

[Werra]

Alex is as historic as the moon landing. Every little bit of media will be dispersed all across the loroi union.
Billions of Loroi will have his nudes.

[orion1836]

Alex is as historic as the moon landing. Every little bit of media will be dispersed all across the loroi union.
Billions of Loroi will have his nudes.

TCA Headquarters:

"Sir, we have results on the transmission from that long range probe we received three weeks ago."

"Oh? By all means, what do the scientists think it is?"

"Well, the script seems to be a variant of Trade, just not the one that the Orgus taught us. The central mainframe has run every type of pattern analysis we have, and it has found one possible translation, though... the team things that the results are in error."

"In error? The mainframe? It's never made a mistake thus far. Why do they think that?"

"Well, it has to do with the message itself; it cannot possibly be right."

"What does it say?"

"Errr..."

"Spit it out, man!"

"'Send nudes,' sir."

[novius]

"Spit it out, man!"

"'Send nudes,' sir."

Sample question on the class of 2275's history exam:

What branch of industry profited most from the Human-Loroi First Contact? (10 pt.)

1. Agriculture
2. High tech electronics manufacturing
3. Asteroid mining
4. Adult film production

Anyway, new chapter coming soon. And, there's still the matter of Nathaniel's tale.

[dragoongfa]

Alright, you guys seem to have fun so lets see if I may be able to join in.

He didn't know how he managed to convince Beryl for some privacy after the quite uncomfortable medical check up he just went through; he just wanted some time alone to dwell on things and put everything that happened in some mental order. Thankfully Beryl understood and let him alone in the cockpit where he now sat in front of the console.

Alright Alex, lets go through everything once more now that the noise is away...

He thought as he replayed everything that had happened in his head.

I woke up after a nightmare and got marched to the shuttle that would take me off Tempest. On the shuttle I got the rough Loroi version of the war and greeted the two pilots that rescued me, learned the Loroi taboo for touching and then I learned the Loroi script which was easy enough since I mostly had to switch the Orgus characters with the Loroi ones in my head.

He involuntary sighed at the events that followed Beryl's lesson.

I couldn't have guessed that Beryl would catch on English so quick, she is smart, really smart... the kind of smart I like and...

He shook his head as if he tried to shake the very thought of Beryl away.

No, focus on what's important.

He emptied his head before continuing from where he left off.

Then the bugs showed up, a huge invasion force that the Loroi couldn't detect with their telepathy. They were able to hide so many ships from the Loroi so why the diversionary attacks and ambushes? Are the bugs so wary of the Loroi that they would be so cautious in their planning? A concentrated breakthrough should work if the bugs and the Loroi are roughly equal in warship to warship terms but the 51st did manage to inflict disproportionate casualties at the battle I witnessed so the bugs may be cautious because of an established disparity in effectiveness, the 51st may be an outlier as a veteran unit but the tactical doctrines should still be the same and result in similar outcomes when applied correctly. In such a case it would be prudent to not seek a decisive engagement but find a way to punch through a force big enough for a 'march to the sea' campaign like the one Sherman did in the US civil war centuries ago. No matter how capable the warships and the crews of the Loroi are they won't be able to fight without supplies and replenishment.

He wasn't fully satisfied with that line of thought and he made a mental note to ask Beryl and Tempo for some more information about the general strategic situation and whatever intel they could share with him.

Then there is the whole telepathy angle. So suddenly I am a telepath, I sensed Fireblade and I can send and receive mental messages provided I am very close and subconsciously 'trust' the one I converse with. Thankfully Tempo taught me some basic stuff about it...

His line of thought seized in place at that.

Tempo was in my head and I was in hers, I did see some very personal memories of hers and she was able to discern plenty of thoughts and memories of mine but was that all she did? Reading memories and thoughts is bad enough but what if she did something else? Like putting in a mental suggestion like that movie I saw back in the academy? How the hell do I discern if she did that or not? She will certainly deny that if I ask her and she can even reply in a way that hides the truth even with telepathy so who do I ask about...

His mind instantly brought Fireblade's face to the forefront at that.

Damn it...

He tried to think of someone else, anyone else, who could at the very least teach him some mental defense techniques but other than Tempo and Fireblade he couldn't think of anyone else who would be good for that.

The Mizol are the most capable telepaths, I got at least that much out of Tempo while she trained me. They are spies, diplomats and the internal military police so it makes sense that they are the best telepaths and that they have plenty of mental techniques for everything. The Teidar are the second best, if only from a brute force approach. I have only Fireblade to turn to for some help with my training.

He sighed at that and tried to picture himself actually asking Fireblade for some training without Tempo catching on them until after the fact.

I will figure something out.

He leaned back on the chair and stared blankly at the bulkhead for a couple of minutes without thinking of anything before Beryl flashed into his mind and how they almost had sex in the side cabin before Stillstorm showed up.

God damn it, don't think of that!

He chastised himself before catching on to that line of thought.

How did things move that fast again? Yes I kissed Beryl because I couldn't think of anything else to get her back to the here and now and then she kissed me but I am fairly certain that it was a spur of the moment thing for her as well. How the hell did we end up almost having a quickie in the side cabin?

He felt himself get aroused from that and did his best to counter it as he pursued that line of thought.

Yes Beryl is pretty, they all are but I should have better control of myself. Yes I fantasized about her but I am the only human they have met and I am recognized as a plenipotentiary ambassador with all that entails so why the hell did I let things go that way? Wait...

He remembered the part of Tempo's training when she asked about his 'fatigue' in a way that instantly brought a subconscious answer, he thought that something else also came through but he didn't think much about it at the moment.

God Damn It!

He stopped himself from yelling that out-loud and forced his mind to calm down again.

Well, I guess I have to thank Stillstorm for her little stunt then. I know that I am not the picture of professionalism but I have to act according to my status and... Was whatever Tempo sent something that lowered my inhibitions? I am under a lot of stress already and they are stunningly beautiful. I wanted it even before Tempo and I had our first lesson, I can't help but think of them like that. Hell, I am glad that they couldn't read my mind when I was in Tempest's brig; it would be uncomfortable if they ever learn of what I was thinking of them back then...

He let an undoubtedly lecherous looking smile form on his face before focusing his mind again.

So all I have to do is try to be as professional as possible from now on, I wonder how long that will last. I will also have to ask Fireblade for some lessons as well before asking Tempo about whatever she sent to me back then. Then I will have to thank Stillstorm for barging in and stopping me from doing something stupid, even if she didn't know she was doing me a favor at the moment.

For some reason Stillstorm's approval for a mating encounter for herself came to his mind and he pictured himself actually agreeing to it.

She is a bitch but I wouldn't have said no if she had come up to me in a bar. I wonder how she will react if I actually insist on fulfilling her 'request' the next time we meet, of course she will try to find an excuse for 'delaying' it until the next time we would meet but still, it would be funny to see her expression if I somehow manage to convince her that I am serious about it...

He smiled at that and stood up from the chair.

Let's see if I can convince Beryl or Tempo to give me something productive to do with my time to get my mind off things.

[novius]

Interesting take on things. And it isn't even clear whether Tempo did that consciously or it was her subconscious adding something to the 'query' she sent. Or, if she did it consciously, she could by all means argue that she acted with best intentions.

Though, Tempo's subconscious having acted on its own? That could actually work in favor of what I have in mind...