<I wouldn't provoke the Valari Hesta if I were you.>, the Hestari guard almost boredly warned the raging rabbit, <They're not intelligent enough to be merciful. Also, you'll note you were not provided with any scrubbing pads or dish stones. If you break that machine, your dishes won't be washed. At all.>, she continued, tempted to see if the Feylini would make good on her threat. An announcement on the ship's loudspeakers, however, killed the idea in its tracks.
"Attention all hands: Fleet Hunter Rhevi Varrah is aboard. Schoolmaster* Vahri Sehnah stands relieved.". The announcement, its voice mechanical, first spoke in Hestari (Northern Sea dialect), then translated it to two other Hestari dialects before a mispronounced and somewhat literal translation into Feylini, with the word 'hands' replaced by 'slaves' in each of the translations**.
<Behave yourself, smeerp. I hear the Fleet Hunter's a real hardass. And a huge perv. Word is, he feels his slaves up every hour, on the hour.>, the guard mocked, her lower mouth-plate lowering just enough to reveal the upper one in an expression of mockery. Of course, it wasn't really true, and she'd owe Rhevi some serious favors if he even agreed to go along with it, but the guard, much like the Feylini she was addressing, was young and somewhat brash. The mature, experienced soldiers tended to be in the assault teams and instructor corps if they weren't running the ship. If the slave didn't know enough to know Hestari couldn't mate with her kind if they wanted to, well, she probably wouldn't know the personalities of each of the thousands of officers in the Hestari military.
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<Make the dive as soon as the inertial dampeners are active. We're on a tight schedule here, and I don't want to have to try for another meet.>, Rhevi ordered as soon as he'd gone through the formalities of boarding the vessel, then swam to the airlock separating the blown deck of the ship from the flooded rest of it, a single female of the Sevarik*** subspecies, a foot taller than him, and with a head resembling that of a hammerhead shark rather than a great white, following behind him. Once the pair had transitioned to the upper deck and gone through decontamination, Rhevi headed straight for the captain's quarters.
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<Officer on deck.>, Rhevi stated as he entered the room, the Sevarik female automatically going to her room in the slave quarters without any apparent orders.
<Received, Sir. The new acquisition has been making a mess and shouting, sir, but has done nothing else of note. It is this soldier's belief that the new acquisition has not looked over the information given.>, the guard publicly reported. <Sir, if I may, I told the slave you were a major hardass, and that you were a perv. She made a threat, so I figured I'd scare her a bit. If I may impose... Any chance I could owe you big to play along, sir?>, she added privately. Only to put her hands behind her back in an expression of fear when Rhevi bared his teeth in what might have been mistaken for a grin if not for the aggressive posture.
<We'll talk about your lack of discipline later, Soldier.>, he told her privately, <For now, keep your thoughts to deep waters. It's bad enough we're basically delivering a slave to a former slave. Let's not give her any ideas that might reach the wrong ears. As to the hardass routine, I might be able to channel some semblance of my inner drill instructor for a time. My sister informs me this one strays shallow with her words. She may not live long if she doesn't learn at least some restraint.>. Publicly, <Very well. Leave us.>
<Yes, Sir.>, the guard replied, stepping out of the room with the two Valari Hesta**** in tow.
Rhevi waited several moments before turning to face the Feylini, reviewing security footage on his arm terminal as he waited. <You know, not all slaves are provided a couch to sit on. In fact, on a ship of this class, typically, slaves do not sit. Perhaps you should treat the furnishings with some respect.>, He admonished, his 'tone' sharper than he'd usually use, <Now, if you have any interest in answers, you'll pick up this mess you made, then sit down like a civilised, intelligent being.>, he stated, his 'tone' leaving little room for doubt that it was an order from a male used to being obeyed. As the Sevarik female started to leave her room to help, Rhevi dismissed her with a gesture, the female making no response as she went back into the room.
[Notes:
*A Hestari military rank equivalent to a Commander. The 'School' is 'school' as one of the terms for a group of sharks, not 'school' as in the educational institution.
**Hestari of different subspecies generally do not serve on the same ships, with the exception of the Sevarik and Sevarik Hesta subspecies, both of which are typically slaves to the other subspecies.
***The Sevarik subspecies is highly intelligent and physically strong, but does not possess self-awareness. They are often enslaved and used in areas that require intelligence, but not free thought, including types of work which would be boring and repetitive, but still require high precision and intelligence.
****The horseshoe-crab-like creatures]
The guard merely nodded jovially at the bluster, the Hestari equivalent of a laugh, <You won't. Not if you like having teeth that aren't broken and lips that aren't bleeding. It'd be like biting titanium wrapped in especially sharp gritpaper.>, she answered, the mocking expression still on her face.
Just before she left the room, the guard took a moment to shoot the Feylini another mocking 'smile'.
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Rhevi's expression did not change as he waited through the Feylini's antics and rudeness. Bluster from a scared being was all it was, an impression confirmed by the slight change in the temperature of her face as the blood drained from it in fear.
<Varrah. Fleet Hunter. 362987-76321Rhenik-Sahlu.>, he simply stated when she'd finished her remarks. As he waited for her to obey his command, Rhevi walked over to the food synthesizer and had it make three fish bars, salt-and-kashal-blubber flavor, and one snack bar made of salted kelp, a favorite among some of the herbivorous slaves, then walked back to the hatch to the airlock of the captain's area. Instead of going in, however, he simply stood where the guard had been and began eating, watching Sitara mutely as he did. When he finished one of the bars, he went back to checking his wrist terminal, making sure to look up every so often to remind the girl that he hadn't forgotten her.
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As soon as he'd verified that the ship was under way, set up a loop for the security cameras, double-checked the plans, and written a message to his sister updating her on the situation, Rhevi pressed a button on his wrist terminal. As soon as he did, the hammerhead-headed Sevarik female, Rhevi's slave, emerged from her room, then went to stand guard by the door to the captain's area. <Sevarik. Notify me the moment when the Feylini wishes to cooperate. If she gets too unruly, you may administer discipline and rewards as you see fit.>, he ordered publicly, handing her the remaining fish bars and kelp bar before going into the captain's area, leaving the wall facing the slave quarters transparent as he swam in lazy circles. <One more thing. Feylini, we surface in two of your hours. Once we do, you'll immediately be transferred to another ship, with no access to any information except your destination. If you want to know what's going on so badly, and if you want to survive where you're going, you'll cooperate.>, he added after a glance at his work terminal.