Getting Messages
© 2021 by Walter Reimer

Thumbnail art by  rabbi-tom


A five-knuckled finger slipped across the slick surface of the padd, and the glyphs faded, sent off to the Bōank’s communications array, which would send it to the hypercomsat just outside the Wangguan System, which would send it out to find Meredith d’Estcourt.

Attached to the letter was the latest game module, and Varan smiled at the mental image of the mare’s reaction to what was going on in Ottokar City. Still, this was the final level of the game; it was expected that the puzzles and traps would become more dangerous.

Sillier, as well.

Varan sipped at a cup of water as she closed the message window and opened one of the ship’s status reports. Everything appeared to be fine, although the latest Threats and Assessments message described the conditions within Terran space as “unsettled.” There were hints that some of the military establishment in the Core worlds were chafing at the Kashlanin demand that Terra reduce the size of its armed services.

Terra would bear careful watching for some time to come.

So far, Admiral k’Daridh had ordered a series of maneuvers and battle simulations in order to get the thirteen ships of her new division used to working together as a unit. This was expected; the previous all-Fleets action against Terra following the attack on the Home System had been laid on far too fast to impart any real cohesion.

It had led to a few . . . interesting . . . moments.

One cruiser had nearly rammed another, while Varan’s primary Weaponeer had unleashed a lethal attack against a simulated Terran cruiser – straight through a friendly battleship. Those had been the high points; there were other issues with ships not falling into formation or not replicating the various attack patterns that the flagship was transmitting.

K’Daridh’s reaction to these mishaps was to simply restart the drill. She would allow the captains to discipline their crews.

After the sixth iteration, all thirteen ships had performed to her expectations. It had taken two full days, she told her subordinate captains, but she was “satisfied” with their progress. Further drills would show continued improvement.

The ships returned to Wangguan, with each of the thirteen captains replaying and analyzing the sensor logs and recordings of the battle in order to coordinate and refine their tactics.

The Bōank’s primary Weaponeer accepted his low-level reprimand with good grace. It was the equivalent of being verbally warned not to do something, but the incident had to be documented. The crux of the reprimand was that he needed to retain enough situational awareness to maintain a target lock while refraining from damaging a friendly ship. It was his first offense, and he had done excellent work during the ship’s battles with real Terran ships, so Varan had felt that a warning was sufficient. His immediate superior, the head of the ship’s Weapons Division, concurred.

The two officers had just left Varan’s office when her ears flicked at an incoming message chime. “Yes?”

“Admiral k’Daridh, ma’am,” the Communications Officer said. “Personal.”

“My office, please.” She smiled as the scarred face appeared on her padd. “Zogat, frelen.”

“Zogat, gartabin,” k’Daridh replied. She was smiling. “A good drill these past two days?”

“We could do better, Ma’am,” Varan replied. “I’ve just finished explaining that to my Weaponeer.”

“Good. But that’s the point of these drills, to search out problems and eliminate them so that lives may be spared.” Her smile remained. “I was wondering if you would be my guest for lastmeal, in my quarters on the station.”

“I’d be honored, Ma’am.”

“Good. I would welcome a chance to talk with you.” After settling on what time, fifteenth cycle, and casual dress, the call ended.


***


Vesan k’Daridh’s fur was a lighter shade of brown than was normal or fashionable and was wearing a gown dyed in varying shades of red when she answered her door. “I am pleased that you could come, Varan,” and her use of her subordinate’s name indicated that ranks would not be a consideration.

“Thank you for inviting me, Vesan,” Varan replied. Her own clothes were mainly white, striped and slashed with a fractal riot of colors and cinched at the waist with a wide yellow belt. She removed her sandals and accepted a cup of smiss, taking a sip before the two females sat down in comfortable chairs facing each other.

“I had thought we could talk before dinner,” k’Daridh said, and smiled when Varan gestured affirmatively. “As I said when we first met, I have heard good things about you. You are young and aggressive and have managed to get the attention of the Fleet Commander. You have some understanding of the Terran mindset and speak their language.”

“You’re too kind, Vesan,” Varan replied. “My understanding comes from my relationship with just one Terran and her family.”

“That’s another thing. You and she met aboard the Kith during the officer exchange program.”

“Yes.”

K’Daridh sat back and studied her glass of smiss. “I was also part of that program, sent to serve as part of a Terran admiral’s staff. I never met his family, and never spoke with him familiarly.” Her tone betrayed a little frustration. “And throughout my posting I was met with a curious mixture of hatred and indifference.” She sipped at her wine, smacking her lips. “It made destroying their ships in battle rather easy, I must confess,” and she chuckled.

“I imagine it did.” The smiss was rather strong; Varan guessed that it had only been diluted once.

“Which is why you intrigue me, Varan.” The admiral set her glass aside. “You reached out to, and made friends with, a Terran.”

“Meredith d’Estcourt.”

“Yes. You became friends, and lovers, with her.”

“True.” She had never denied it. “And I’ve gotten to know her family.”

Vesan gestured in comprehension. “And yet, with your combat record – how do you manage it?”

“Excuse me?”

“How do you manage not hating her, for Terra’s actions?”

Varan smiled. “I separate them, Vesan. The Terrans that had the affrontery to attack the Home System were not her, or her family. I learned to differentiate the actions of the Terrans from their Core worlds from their Colonies, and from Meredith and her family and friends.”

“Ernnh. Perhaps I should have asked for another posting in the exchange program,” Vesan said, half to herself. “Aka,” and she reached for her glass, “what’s past is past. I did bring one interesting thing back from my stint with the Terrans.”

“Aka?”

“Yes. One of the other Terrans on the admiral’s staff was playing a computer game. I started playing it for want of anything better to do.” She saw Varan’s ears perk. “Yes?”

“A computer game?” Varan named it, and smiled when Vesan confirmed it. “That’s what Meredith and I play.”

Vesan’s yellow feline eyes widened. “You still play it? Even – “

“Yes, even when we were at war, although not as often as I would have liked. It’s an interesting game, isn’t it?”

“Mystifying. It’s an odd mix of games, puzzles, and rather interesting sex.”

Varan grinned. “Yes, it is that.” She took another sip of her drink. “What character do you play, and how far have you gotten?”

“Something called a rogue,” the admiral replied. “It’s a fairly versatile character, although the lack of armor is a handicap at times and, of course, one can’t do a frontal attack on an adversary. I’m only on Level Ten, and I’m getting thoroughly sick of baristas.”

Varan laughed. “Yes, they are vicious, aren’t they? As you get higher, you can antagonize them toward other characters in the game, and they’ll fight while you escape.”

“That’s interesting. What are you and Meredith playing?”

“She’s a paladin, and I’m a mage,” Varan replied.

“A mage? Interesting,” and the admiral gave her a speculative look. “What level are you two on now?”

“Twenty.”

Her feline pupils widened. “You two are on the final level?”

“Yes, and we’ve both had any number of nasty endings occur to us,” and Varan told Vesan about her and Meredith’s encounter with the Temple of the Divine Source. When she was finished, she added, “Not being able to play the game together in real time has been a problem, so we basically trade the modules back and forth using hypercomsat traffic.”

“So it doesn’t interfere with your duties.”

“No, we are both very firm about that.”

“That’s good.” Vesan glanced over at the cabin’s small kitchen. “I’m hungry. Shall we eat? I’d very much like to talk to you about the game. It gets lonely playing it by myself.”

Varan said, “I’m feeling hungry as well, and I’d enjoy helping you, Vesan. So you have no-one to play with or against?”

“Aside from that dratted game program, no,” Vesan replied as she stood up. She noted the position of Varan’s tail and asked, “What are you thinking of?”

“I’m thinking of asking Meredith if it would be all right to have you join us,” and Vesan grinned, “and the amount of help you’ll need to get to our level in the game. But we can discuss all this over lastmeal.” She cocked her head. “And after?”

Vesan gave a shrug of her tail. “I don’t get as many offers as I did before I was injured.”

“Would you be offended if I offered?”

K’Daridh smiled. “I had hoped that you’d say something like that.”