"T-this way. It's faster through the auxiliary power tunnels."

  "If you say."

  Move past the pomp and theatrics of the outer shell and all ships look the same on the inside. Alcea leads me through tight corridors filled with wires and lights and switches. Each representing a system that we all take for granted but would almost certainly die without. Even if I knew this ship I think I'd be lost in these catacombs. I keep expecting to round a corner and run face first into a bull headed monster of some kind. Good thing Alcea knows the way.

  Alcea is a Veo'Teya, a plant-like species in a shifting humanoid form. Her body is composed of hundreds of pitch black vines which form together into a single mass. They shift and move with every step, causing her proportions to change constantly. This makes her one of the few races allowed to not wear any clothing. Even advanced future science can't make something to fit this body at a reasonable price. This does make things a little awkward for me, though. Despite being a vegetable, Alcea actually looks the closest to a human. And if she was human, she'd be quite the looker. Easy model job. I have no idea why they evolved to have such smooth backs, tight waists, thin hair like tendrils on their heads, long smooth legs and pouty kissable lips,, but they do. She even has leaves growing to cover the parts I'd see as immodest. Barely. At least I know one part of my body isn't broken.

  The Veo'Teya are a strange race. A Dependent despite being members for a very long time. It's not that they are incapable of becoming a Lesser race, or possibly even a Greater if they really put the time in. They just haven't been all that interested. Veo'Teya have spread all across the stars and taken up a huge variety of jobs. They have a reputation for hyper fixation. Becoming totally enamored with some medium to the point that's all they live for. I hear most of the greatest restaurants will have at least one on their team. They are a staple of music, film and other entertainment of all types. Countless Veo'Teya artists are well established. If a Veo'Teya is near, it's because they have the ultimate drive for the task at hand. As I watch Alcea fix minor issues while leading me through the identical corridors of this black labyrinth without even slowing down, I think it's obvious what she's obsessed with.

  "So, Alcea. Why am I only meeting you now?"

  "O-oh? Was I, that is, were we supposed to meet earlier?"

  "Well I met everyone else on the bridge when I first entered the ship."

  "R-right, right. I thought about going. I guess I should have. B-but It's just, you know, it's so understaffed down here a-and there was so much else y-you were adjusting to a-and and and..."

  She's trailing off. I should lay off her a bit. Don't think she's all that good at social stuff.

  "It's fine. Not like I'm going to stay long. With how things have been going today I'll be lucky to get my old job back."

  "What? W-why? Is it because I couldn't get the Intermentalic system working? I've put in requests for replacement parts three times but nothing comes in and I've been trying to rig a makeshift converter but it doesn't burn hot enough and I-"

  "Whoa! Slow and down a bit there. It has nothing to do with you, I promise."

  "T-then what? There hasn't even been a coronation ceremony yet."

  "It's complicated. See there was this... wait. Coronation?"

  "Is t-that not the right word? Is, is promotion better?"

  "Forget the terminology, what ceremony?"

  "W-when a new Expeditionary Captain is selected, there is this huge ceremony. You know, a party. Interviews with galactic news stations. Meeting leaders and other captains and stuff. Did… did you not get one?"

  "Are you kidding me? I don't even have a key to the bathroom."

  Someone really expected me to fail. They didn't even bother to make this official. Bet there would have been some crazy good alien booze, too.

  "Anything else I should have gotten but haven't and won't?"

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  "W-well, have you named the s-ship yet?"

  "I'm supposed to do that? I was starting to think it was just named 'The Ship'"

  "N-no. Actually it has a lot of names. It started out as the Jewel of Carcanius when first used by Captain Husktic who used the vessel from the day it was first launched for the rest of his twenty three year career. After that it was known as the Space Piercer followed by the Titan Berry, the Fist of Garrinus, the Netirayk, and many others. Before you, Expeditionary Captain Flurrinus called it the Legacy of Duty. And that was going to be its name when it retired as a museum vessel."

  "That's a lot of names."

  "Yes. Every Expeditionary captain chooses their vessel's name and whatever vessel they are in has that name. Some will change the name if they get a new vessel, especially after... losses. B-but that's not common."

  "I'll have to think that one through. What else?"

  "Let's see. Have you gotten your, uhhh, ceremony arm?"

  "Huh?"

  "Your special weapon. It's just for show. Meant to be your symbol of status. Comes custom."

  "So you are telling me I could have been at a sweet party pounding drinks and working on sketches for my snowflake weapon and instead I got shot off a ledge and broke my arm in a sewer."

  "Is… is your arm not meant to look like that?"

  "Very much no."

  Ok Tom, calm your tits. It's not Alcea's fault. Save your righteous fury for those who earned it. For now, focus on getting back to the bridge retaking command, and having that lying Diegiton bastard sent out an airlock. Actually, that probably wouldn't hurt as much as it should.

  "Random question Alcea. What would cause a Diegiton pain without killing them?"

  "Well you could hack into their power supply and increase the voltage to all their joints, causing them to move at higher speeds and in a more violent fashion than they are designed for. Long enough exposure would cause them to rip themselves apart. You could also break off all the filtration and self cleaning systems and start slowly introducing water and dust causing their internals to slowly short out one by one. Ohh, oh, you could fill their memory core with viruses that force it to scream and do over the top dance numbers repeatedly. Not only would it be a physical and mental strain to totally lose control of your body but as a logic based species the entire concept might be too much for them. Or you can-"

  Alcea is starting to scare me.

  "You know an awful lot about the Diegiton. I wish you were with us when we were negotiating with them."

  "O-oh, well, negotiations aren't exactly my, eh, specialty. I prefer to stay down here. With the systems. I-I'm better with machines that don't talk back."

  "Still, any knowledge is more than I was working with. You know we spent twenty minutes talking about gut health?"

  "Why? Diegiton don't have guts."

  "I wish I could tell you. Not to say their side was any better. Can't believe they actually took the Diegiton at their word the ambassador would be unarmed."

  "Diegiton are never unarmed; it's against their culture."

  "Now someone tells me."

  The one person who might have been a real help was stuck in the bowels of the ship. This is exactly the kind of thing I could have fixed given the time. We could have coordinated, made a real plan, set up a full briefing with everything neat and tidy. This has been such a mess.

  "Tell me, if you were there, what would you have offered?"

  "Well, it's not proper protocol, but weapons."

  I knew it.

  "The Diegiton have been at war for a very long time. It only makes sense anything to help end that war would be the best possible chance for an agreement. Not to say it would be an even deal. I can't imagine the Diegiton would want to give us much in return, even if we effectively won the war for them."

  "And what would? How could we get a better deal."

  "Earn it, show them that we are the superior power, and that we would be just as great a threat as the Harvesters, if not far greater. They have been at war for so long. I think only a show of true force would break through their superiority complex."

  Finally someone talking sense. She stutters a lot less when it’s something she knows. Of course talking about and doing it are two very different things. Their dinky destroyer, maybe more of a corvette if I'm being honest, had enough power to rip this vessel in half. And the Harvester ship plowed right through its armor with zero regard for its own safety. If it did that to us at those speeds it might have gone all the way through to the other side. I'm not sure how to match either the Diegiton's power or the Harvester's aggression.

  "What about the Harvesters? Any insights on them?"

  "I-I'm afraid not, no. Biology isn't something that really interests me. I was always better with machines growing up. Nature scares me, especially bugs."

  "Probably for the best, no one knows that much about them really."

  "I've read some Diegiton reports. I-It's not much better. Mostly battle overviews and some of their shared history. The Diegiton report the war started when one of their Civilian colonies was attacked unprovoked."

  "Lies."

  I was so caught up in all this I forgot where I was. In the darkness of these tight inner workings there are countless places to hide. Behind us, from these endless shadows, we were being stalked; and the hunter has decided to reveal itself.

  "Aull, lies. We shho you. Metal beasts lie."