OUTER SPACE > Solar System

Signed, Sealed, Not Quite Delivered [Rhi]

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GIR:
<Sir, the upper deck of the Valari Hesta has been blown and scrubbed as per your orders. The slave is being transferred to your quarters as we speak.>, the XO announced, antennae forward in a gesture of greeting.

<Excellent. Do we have a clear path to approach?>, Rhevi asked as he returned the greeting, then began swimming toward the docking bay.

<Aye, sir. We lucked out. Orias is on the other side of the system's primary. Hesta-actual has confirmed delivery meets the criteria of an Article-26 non-military delivery of convenience.  Command has given us a three-day window.>

<Received. You have the deck.>

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The captain's quarters of the Valari Hesta-class scout ship were, though the ship was barely 150 meters from the curve of the bow to the point of the stern, spacious and lavish, designed not only to accommodate the ship's commanding officer, but also up to four of his slaves, in (relative, in the case of the slaves) comfort. To this end, it was divided into two sections: A flooded captain's area, in which the captain lived in what amounted to a relatively large fishtank, complete with several smaller sea creatures native to Hesta that were as close to candy as Hestari foods really got, aside from the processed fish bars that served as dry-land snacks, and the distinctive blood-red water from the Hestari homeworld of Hesta, water that had gotten its color from pollutants during Hesta's early space age. The area was marked by warning signs that were changed to display in the languages read by slave species, and several dog-sized crabs similar to king crabs scuttled about near it, occasionally entering to clean the tank, or to simply sit inside and breath through their gills.

As for the dry area, it contained four comfortably small rooms, each with its own filtration and oxygen scrubbers, and one medium-sized common area with a food synthesizer, basic dishware, and, as per Rhevi's orders, a small read-only computer (that could be told which videos to display, and what music to play, and given no other instructions). A sign over the door indicated the direction to the restrooms. A shelf area with an automatic dishwasher far too small to fit a Feylini in, and with programming that would not allow it to close with any living organic matter larger than an insect inside of it provided a way to clean the dishware, and a couch just large enough to seat two provided a place to sit, and just soft enough to not harm the occupant (though a fair way from comfortable), sat next to a small table with a tiny lamp for reading by.

Two of the waist-high horseshoe-crab-like beings which seemed to function as the Hestari answer to guard dogs and one large Hestari female of the same subspecies and tribe as Rhevi, distinguishable from him mainly by the fact that she was a good two feet shorter than him, stood guard near the airlock to the captain's section, but no other guards were in or near the room. The inhibitor collars Hestari fitted their vertebrate slaves with were designed to deter escape by activating the pain centers of the slave if he or she were to set foot in an area of the ship they were not permitted to be in. This was the (excruciating) warning. After six minutes, the collar would send a 'kill' signal to the brain, forcing the brain stem to shut down and killing the host, a process explained ( and often demonstrated) to slaves shortly after purchase. The collar also served to identify the owner of the slaves, serving in place of a brand alongside a much less obvious subdermal microchip.

Next to the computer was a small holoplayer, its disk set to display the appearance and important details of Sarah, including her temperament and a list of things never to say to her or do in her presence.

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Sarah's departure had been, suffice it to say, sudden. Between informing Ari of her intentions, receiving his reply, packing, and creating a ship to leave on (a much smaller, much faster fighter than the last time she'd left, this one armed to the proverbial bone), less than one human minute had passed, during which the only progress she'd made on the projects she had been working on had been to write notes in the nearest terminals to each one explaining what had been done, what needed to be done, and where to find hastily (yet still expertly) crafted parts where needed, and detailed installation instructions. By the time Sarah realised she'd left the email open, she was already plotting the coordinates for the second of a total of four warps.

At the time she'd left, the expected arrival time of Ranah's 'gift' had been three days out, with no plans to forward it due to her not having read the post script. It was now two days after the intended delivery date.

Rhi-Rhi:
Out of the frying pan and into the fryer.

That aptly described Sitara's current situation.

She supposed she should feel lucky, that she didn't wind up in Rividean claws, but now she was on some crab people ship! And she didn't know what the fuck was going on! Maybe this was better? But maybe it was worse! Maybe they were going to eat her! But then again, so too did Rivideans eat Feylini.

So basically, it all boiled down to one truth: she was so screwed and she hated everything.

Sitara paced her room, having not sat still since she arrived. She was a bundle of nervous, pent-up energy with no outlet for it all, and since wailing and crying had never been in her nature, she poured all her fear out in the form of aggression.

Which, in Sitara's case, meant that once pacing became boring, she was soon kicking the couch, then yanking the cushions off of it and chucking them one at a time at those stupid giant dog crab monster things!

"Is ANYBODY gonna tell me WHAT THE FUCK is going on?!" she yelled, and when she ran out of cushions, she made her way to the dishwasher, opening it and slamming it hard enough to rattle its insides. "Gods fucking dammit! Just lemme go! This is so stupid! Stupid ugly crab monsters, I swear to gods, if you perv on me I'll bite your fucking antennae off!"

GIR:
<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]

Rhi-Rhi:
Euuugh...

Seriously. These things were hideous. Sitara glowered at her guard, whose gender she couldn't begin to guess. Male? Female? Non-binary? Both? She didn't know how that worked for crab-bug-monster people, she just knew their mouths freaked her out.

As did everything else about them.

"Oh, gross, really? What the hell's with you primitive beasts, anyway? Rivideans, crab people--are all extraterrestrial males just giant balls of sleaze and rape?!" Sitara growled, and gave the dishwasher another kick before setting her hands on her hips, one ear twitching along with her left eye. "I'd like to see the fucker try. I'll gnaw his fucking arm off! I've eaten crab before, you know that? Tastes delicious! All that's missing is butter and garlic!"

Soon enough, another one of the things entered, a huge one, but Sitara glared right at him as the guard did her report. Ah. So that must be Captain Hardass Badtouch. Her glare intensified and she snorted at the news that she hadn't read the information. Nope. She hadn't. Hadn't bothered. Wasn't interested. She just wanted out of here.

Despite her bluster, though, she couldn't help the chill that went down her spine unbidden when he bid the other to leave them. Alone. She may have tried to play it off with a lot of bullshit and bold threats, but she was afraid--terrified. She didn't want to be eaten! Or felt up. Did these crab people even have the right...parts? Oh gods. And their mouths. Shit. She didn't want those anywhere near any part of her. Imagine kissing those. Could they kiss?

Her heart beat faster, her palms going sweaty, her face going pale.

Yeah, she was so not about private times with Captain Hardass Badtouch.

"Nah, I'd prefer to stay standing Mister Badtouch, thanks!" she blurted, and moved so that the couch was between she and him. Stay on her feet so she could spring out of the way if he decided to get weird. Weirder. These people were already weird. She was never going to get used to the way they spoke--super creepy, eugh. "Just tell me what the fuck's going on and who you are! You with the Rividean assholes?"

GIR:
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.

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