Becka's Notes

"We've just entered that central void in the Spaghetti where our sensors and similar work," Niobe said. "And our escort and Promise are both hailing us."

"Put them on screen," Amanpreet said.

"Okay," Niobe said. A moment later the escort captain appeared on the screen.

"This is quite extraordinary," he said. "I knew you'd described it but I thought you must be exaggerating. We may have to ask Promise and his people if they will be willing to construct nests like this elsewhere in hyperspace. They could make travel a lot safer."

"It's possible we would," Promise said. "But right now we need to discuss our prisoners. They tried to attack me after I swallowed them."

"Damn!" Amanpreet exclaimed. "Are you okay? Did they hurt you?"

"I'm fine, but they are not happy with the restraints I used on their ship. The trouble with knowing their language is I know they are swearing at me. I'd like to evict them soon."

"Once we get to Talis," Amanpreet said. "Even a small station like that has a brig. They can send them to Aletheia for trial."

“So what did it taste like?” The captain said.

“Hmm?” Promise said. “Oh, the ship. I don't actually have a sense of taste like you do. We use hyperspace radiation for energy.”

“Yes, that's quite a trick,” Vanna said. “The non-sophont Fish do it too and the Mez won't share how they engineered it. Oddly they claim they didn't.”

“That's true, they didn't,” Promise said. “They discovered by accident that a sub-sophont species on their homeworld somehow had the ability even though it was useless to a creature that couldn't enter hyperspace and they used that as one of our progenitors.”

Vanna leaned across her console, eyes afire with speculation. “That's interesting considering how vulnerable the Mez and most other species on their homeworld are to hyperspace radiation. I'll have to talk to Umi and Storm, because the only thing I can imagine is that the non-sophont species was descended from a sophont species.”

“It's an interesting speculation,” the captain said. “But for now we need to plan where to emerge from the Spaghetti.”

“As near to Talis as possible,” Promise said. “And my people will escort you all and capture any more ships that attack us. If there are several of us I doubt they will.”

“Excellent! Thank you for your help,” he said.

“Amanpreet and her friends are my friends,” Promise said. “I think the bigger problem is how we get to Corona and back safely.”

“Yes, we'll discuss that at Talis,” the captain said. “So what restraints do you have on the prisoners.”

“I'll show you.” Promise said. An image appeared on the screen of the Vaian ship in a cavernous space somewhere inside Promise. The stick was encased in some kind of black goop. “Don't worry it won't hurt them.”

“Goodness me!” the captain said. “We have a Fish, we have spaghetti, and now we have sauce. This mission is making me hungry.” He gave a wry grin. “But more seriously we need to get to Talis as soon as possible. I need to file a report about this. I haven't found my traitor yet and the Council needs warning that Vaian influence apparently extends further than we thought if they have spies on our ships.”

“That's a good idea,” Amanpreet agreed. “Let's cut contact until we get back into normal space.”

***

Several hours later they emerged from Hyperspace just beyond the Talis system's Kupier belt and headed inwards towards Talis. Almost immediately two Vaian sticks also emerged from hyperspace and came shooting towards them, lasers already firing. As the Whisper swerved out of the way Amanpreet stared at the screen in disbelief.

“They're attacking us in normal space in range of a station? Are they stupid?”

“Desperate I think,” Kayla said. “They must really want me dead and they knew they couldn't win in hyperspace after our first encounter. They're hoping being able to use their weapons will even the field.”

“It won't.” Promise's voice was soothing as it came over the speakers. "Run for the station, your escorts and my people will deal with them.”

“Do as Promise says,” the captain said.

“Okay,” Amanpreet said. “Niobe keep the line open and the battle on the screen.”

“Of course, Am.”

Amanpreet kept her eyes on the screen as the ship flew towards Talis and safety. Their escorts and the Fish were all over the Vaian ships and also using their weaponry. She tilted her head as an odd energy discharge that wasn't quite a laser emerged from one of the Fish's heads and struck one of the enemy. It didn't appear to damage the Stick but it seemed to be incapacitated and another of the Fish swallowed it the way Promise had grabbed the one in hyperspace.

The crew of the remaining Vaian ship obviously realised they had been beaten because they turned tail and fled, disappearing into hyperspace. Two of the Fish also vanished.

“It's making a run for it!” Promise said. “My fellows will chase them down and bring them back.”

“Thank you,” Amanpreet said. “But warn them to be careful. Human weapons tend to be more powerful than Mez ones. Now let's get to Talis base. They'll have been watching and worrying.”

--

Prompt Post 34 is here. Come and leave a prompt.

Comments welcome

The bioforming supplies were delivered early the next morning and Amanpreet and Niobe checked the inventory while Linda cooked them breakfast.

"It looks like everything is here," Amanpreet said finally. "Let's get it stowed, eat breakfast, and then set off." She glanced at Niobe. "Or do you want to stay a few more hours? I know you don't see your mother as much as you'd like."

"It's fine," Niobe said. "I won't say I wouldn't like to stay longer bur I know we need to get moving and Mum does as well. We've already lost time so we shouldn't make any unnecessary delays so we have some flexibility for necessary ones."

Amanpreet looked at Niobe for a long moment then nodded. "Well, if you're sure."

"I am," Niobe said. "Come on, let's get this loaded. I'm starving."

***

Their escort was waiting when the Whisper re-entered orbit and rendezvoused with Promise. Amanpreet couldn't help blinking when she saw the four state of the art military sticks on the viewscreen.

"They must really be worried about the Vaian Military who escaped," she said.

"It certainly looks like it," Niobe agreed. "Ah! They're hailing us." She listened to the message and nodded. "They're sending us data for a slightly roundabout route to Talis because the Vaians have been hitting hyperspace traffic on the normal routes." She pursed her lips. "And bad news - they think there is a leak somewhere and they are specifically looking for Kayla because they are boarding the ships they intercept--"

"Boarding? In hyperspace?" Kayla exclaimed. "Don't they know how dangerous that is? Are they stupid?"

"Apparently, yes," Niobe said. "But as I was saying they are boarding the ships, searching them - looking for someone or something - and then letting them go. Though they are also stealing any cargo that's aboard."

"That certainly sounds like they are looking for Kayla," Amanpreet agreed. "But they are going to get themselves and their victims killed or worse doing that."

“Yes,” Niobe agreed. “But so far they have a ridiculous pattern of good luck. No ships are missing.”

"That's good at least," Amanpreet said. "Kane, I want you to take the first navigation run so check the route from the message."

"Okay, Am." He headed for the ladder to the dome.

***

Eight hours later they dropped out of hyperspace to change navigators and check for any message packets.

As Mark was climbing into the dome Niobe gave a groan and buried her face in her hands. Kane, who had already climbed down rushed over to her and rubbed her shoulder.

"What wrong, Niobe?" he asked softly.

"I- I hate to break the pattern," Niobe said weakly. "But a Celish freighter enroute to Talis didn't arrive this morning. They sent out a search and found it - or the remains of it anyway - together with a much less damaged but still unusable Vaian ship in hyperspace not far out. It was clearly a botched boarding attempt from the nature of the damage. They've accounted for the bodies of the freighter crew but not the Vaians and there's evidence they might have been rescued."

"Mother of the living!" Amanpreet shuddered. Hyperspace exposure was no way to die. "H-how many?"

"A crew of twelve," Niobe said. "And no survivors." She raised her head finally and punched the console in front of her. "Damn them! They would have had time to rescue them if they'd tried. She took a breath and listened to the rest of the packet before groaning again. "And there's... well not worse news, but news that makes this worse for us. The freighter was travelling the same alternative route as we are." She shook her head. "That means there is definitely a leak somewhere. What do we do now?"
 

--

Prompt Post 32 is here. Come and leave a prompt.

Comments welcome

Niobe's mother Linda was one of the chief marine biologists on Cels. She and her team were responsible for monitoring the stability of the bioformed oceans around Western Cels. Indeed when Amanpreet and her crew arrived at Niobe's family home - a large single story whitewashed house of lovely naturalistic curves and no hard edges which stood on the tropical coast several miles from the nearest city - her mother and two assistants were just making their way up the beach dressed in wetsuits and carrying boxes of samples.

"Mum!" Niobe ran down the beach to greet her and Linda immediately put down the samples she was carrying and swept her into a hug. Niobe seemed completely unfazed by the fact her clothes were getting soaked as she hugged her back. "Let me help you with this." She reached for the samples.

"Nonsense." Linda picked them up before she could. "You and your colleagues are guests." She lead them back the beach and into the porch where she stripped off the wetsuit and shrugged on a robe without a hint of self-consciousness before letting them into the rest of house. "Welcome, dear friends. You're a bit earlier than I expected but make yourselves at home, most of you know where everything is. I need a shower so I'll join you soon." She disappeared into the bathroom.

Amanpreet flopped onto one of the comfortable sofas in the main living area. "I wonder how long Kayla will be."

"Not too long I imagine," Niobe said. "It shouldn't take more than a couple of hours to fill the forms and get her papers."

“I hope your mother doesn't mind you bringing us as well,” Oni said.

“Nah,” Niobe said. “When I told her you and your colleagues were aboard she insisted I bring you as well. She enjoys entertaining especially since Dad is away at Tinia station so much.” She saw Oni's puzzled look and grinned. “He's a linguist like me and was part of the first contact team who contacted the Mez when they appeared in system and started bioforming Tinia. Now he's our chief ambassador to them. I spent a lot of my childhood on Tinia station with him. It's why I know so much about the Mez.”

“I heard that the Mez did that when we first met them,” one of the other scientists said. “A bit rude starting to bioform a planet without asking the people who already live in a system first.”

Niobe shrugged. “They didn't realise we were here. Admittedly they hadn't looked. They knew warmer planets could support life but they'd decided it would never be complex life much the same way we thought of life on colder worlds until we met them.” She chuckled. “Dad says they were mortified when they realised but they've been pretty good neighbours since.”

“The Mez are alright.” Linda returned to the room and sat down beside her daughter. There could be no doubt the two women were related, with the same dark brown skin and high cheekbones though Linda kept her hair cropped close to her head unlike her daughter. “And I hear you have a lot to do with them recently.”

“Yes,” Niobe said. “Umi and Storm are from Tinia, and Am helped them out so much they've declared her family.”

“Oh, that's an honour!” Linda said. “Mez don't declare you family without cause. What happened?”

“It's quite a story,” Niobe said. “You heard about Promise, I guess?”

“The sophont Fish? Yes, the news has been full of it. This has something to do with that?”

Niobe nodded and began to tell her mother the whole story. When she finished Linda smiled at Amanpreet.

“Wow, what you did was really amazing,” she said. “ I can see why they claimed you as kin.”

“It wasn't that amazing,” Amanpreet said. “Anyone would have helped.”

“Don't be so sure,” Linda said. “People can be pretty selfish and even though it turned out not to be dangerous you had no way to know that.” She stood up and stretched but I had better get to work preparing dinner.”

“Excuse me, Doct-” Oni began.

“Call me Linda, please,” she said,

“Linda,” he said. “Would you mind if I use your terminal? I could do with checking my messages.”

“Of course you may,” she said. “And over dinner you must tell me more about your work. Studying the development of sophont species must be fascinating.”

“It is,” he agreed as he headed over to the terminal. “And I will.” He logged into the terminal and began paging through his messages. “Ah! We have news from Talis. They've managed to simulate stellar positions from the time of the disasters and ask the computer about Corona.”

“Oh?” Amanpreet said. “What did it say?”

“It's not a coincidence,” he said. “Corona was attacked as well. The Talis people had some contact with them and they were developing hyperspace travel but hadn't even managed a working prototype. They were doing pretty well in the war but the enemy managed to poison their biosphere triggering a mass extinction event and to stop them escaping.”

“I wonder if that's it.” Amanpreet narrowed her eyes thoughtfully.

“Hmm?” He tilted his head at her curiously. “What?”

“Talis had a prototype hyperspace ship and Corona was developing one,” she said. “The enemy apparently can't tolerate hyperspace. I wonder if that's why they attacked them.”

“It's a viable theory,” he said. “They might find hyperspace travel threatening.”

“Yes,” she said. “And means we may all be in danger if the Talis computer is right about them still being out there.”

--

Prompt Post 30 is here. Come and leave a prompt.

Comments welcome

Amanpreet was enquiring after the bioforming supplies the Ishtari on Talis had asked her to obtain when Umi called.

"I thought Kayla would like to know the results of the Council of Planet's deliberations on Vaia," she said without preamble.

"Yes, I imag--" Amanpreet broke off as Kayla rushed over. "Yes, she definitely does."

"Have they come to a decision?" Kayla asked. "What are they going to do?"

"A blockade," Umi said. "As my people suggested. But the Humans and Ishtari insisted that vital food supplies be permitted past the blockade, since Vaia is not yet self-sufficient."

"I can see why," Kayla said. "But it's going to be a pain to enforce, isn't it.."

"Yes, and that's assuming the Vaians don't declare war. They are threatening to." Her slug-like body rippled with contempt. "That wouldn't be much of a war. Even given how tough you people are, it would be more like digesting a--" She spoke the next word aloud in her own language. Amanpreet looked over at Niobe who glanced up from the book she was reading before she could ask.

"It's a small amphibious creature from the Mez homeworld," she said. "About the size of your thumb. The Mez eat them sometimes because they are easy to engulf but they are neither tasty nor satisfying as I understand it." She shrugged and looked back at her book.

"So she means they don't stand a chance?" Amanpreet asked.

"Pretty much," Niobe said.

"I'm sorry," Umi said. "The idiom doesn't translate well. But, yes, we may be out of practice but our numbers are so superior they can't win.”

“That probably won't stop them,” Kayla said. “The Vaian military drill a lot and have a great deal of faith in themselves.” She pulled a face. “Actually there's a pattern of hubris in Vaian institutions.”

“And the pattern still holds true,” Umi said. “Having seen their ambassador charged with conspiracy to murder and been informed of the blockade, they still tried to have you charged with piracy and demand your ship back.”

Kayla hit her forehead with the heel of hand. “They what? After they tried to kill me? That's dumb even for them.”

“Indeed,” Umi said. “They were told no, in no uncertain terms. The human head of security apparently told the Vaian deputy ambassador to do something with her warrant that sounds like it would be painful. But they have withdrawn your passport and the Dreamsong's registration. Nothing we could do about that. So I took the liberty of contacting a human friend who's high up in the Northern Cels' government and asking if he'd arrange asylum for you and an emergency Celish registration for your ship. He agreed. I'm sending you the documents now but you'll need to go to Cels in the next Earth month to confirm your status and get permanent registry for your ship.”

“Month...” Kayla hummed to herself. “We need to talk to Oni again then, because we need to make a slight detour on our way to Talis. No other way I'll make it Cels in time and we need the Dreamsong for this job. I hope he doesn't mind.” She turned back to the screen and inclined her head to Umi. “Thank you for your help, Administrator Umi.”

“You're welcome,” Umi said. “It is the least we can do having heard your story earlier.”

***

“Yes, we can handle a diversion to Cels,” Oni said when Amanpreet asked. “It'll only add a few days to the journey anyway, as it's very much on route, and everyone on Aletheia knows about Kayla's situation and it will be a good place to obtain the bioforming supplies for the Ishtari.”

“Everyone?” Kayla exclaimed. “Why...”

“There were journalists viewing the Council session when you gave your evidence,” he replied. “And your testimony was pretty lurid. They lap that up.”

“I'm glad I haven't checked the press then,” Kayla said.

“I've seen it,” Amanpreet said. “You really don't want to. I'm amazed they haven't been trying to get interviews.”

“Security are keeping them away,” Oni said. “And your contact details are private. They can't reach you. They did get an interview with Promise apparently but that's a different matter.”

“Oooh, now that I do want to see,” Amanpreet said.

Oni laughed. “Don't we all. But more seriously, how are The Whisper's repairs coming along?”

“They're nearly done,” Amanpreet said. “The technicians say she'll be hyperspace worthy tomorrow.”

“Excellent,” he said. “Because we need to leave as soon as we can.”

--

Prompt Post 28 is here. Come and leave a prompt.

Comments welcome

--

Start with the First Part or check out Part Twenty Five if you missed it. Or you can find every part to date archived at my website with easier navigation.
--

“Good,” Amanpreet said. “By the way, are they voting on the biosphere restoration plan soon?”

“For Talis you mean?” Oni asked. “They already did a few days ago. It was approved unanimously. The scientists have already moved the eggs into a large habitation dome and the Talis computer has released a few bio-robots to tend them now they are out of stasis. The linguists are making inroads on their language as well, thanks to the computer learning to understand you.”

“Yes,” Niobe said. “I imagine that would help.”

“Oh, by the way, are all your colleagues human?” Amanpreet asked. “Because we’re not really set up to handle Mez or Ishtari.”

“Few sticks are multiple environment,” Oni said. “So we’re asking your friend, Promise, if it minds helping out as well, now its kind have been recognised by the council. I think it may have been reading your files in transit because it asked if it would need insurance to carry passengers.”

“Er… no,” Niobe said. “That was my fault. I mentioned Liability Insurance during one of our conversations on route here and it was curious.”

“It probably would need insurance to carry people officially,” Amanpreet said thoughtfully. “And I doubt the Fish have currency.” She tilted her head as she considered the problem. “I’m sure someth–” She broke off as the communicator chimed again. “We’re popular today.” She opened the line to find one of the many Mez from Promise on the other end. “Niobe, can you take this please?”

“Of course.” Niobe came over and spoke to the Mez and then to Promise. After a moment she looked around. “Promise wants to know if you can hire it so your insurance will cover it. It’s opening an account with a Terran bank for its pay on another line as we speak.”

“Not just a class four intelligence,” Oni said. “But a clever one. I think I like your friend.”

“Hmm…” Amanpreet pursed her lip consideringly. “I’m willing and I have the credits thanks to this job but I’m not sure how much to pay it. Would the best rate be the same as I’m paying Kayla? As if I was hiring both ship and captain? I’ve never employed a sophont ship before.”

Niobe chuckled. “Who has?” She translated what Amanpreet had said then listened to the reply.

“Promise says it has never been hired before so you’re even there, and it will accept whatever you are paying Kayla until it learns more about how this works and then you can renegotiate.”

“That seems fair,” Amanpreet said. “We have a deal.” She grinned suddenly. “I always wanted a fleet of ships but I never expected it to come from my habit of taking in waifs and strays.”

“So you have three ships at your disposal now?” Oni said. “Your own Stick, a small scout Stick, and Promise. Hmm… we’ll have to up your fee to cover that. We’ve only paid for one but we can certainly make use of the scout’s equipment. It’ll save us hauling around so much of our own.” He turned to Kayla. “What’s your ship’s name, Miss?”

“The Dreamsong.” Kayla grinned. “You’ll want me to run detailed scans and atmosphere tests?”

“That’s right,” he said and Kayla grinned again.

“Well, it’s getting interesting, now. We’ll be looking for signs of industrial pollution and similar sophont caused environmental issues?” When he nodded again she looked thoughtful. “I’d better do some studying on route so I know what I’m looking for. Most planets a scout looks at are uninhabited so we don’t see industry much.”

“Have you ever discovered a planet with a fully sophont species?” he asked.

“Uh… maybe?” Kayla looked uncertain. “I don’t know if they eventually classed the two tool making species on Antigone as high Class Three or low Class Four. They were kind of borderline.”

“Oh! You’re the one who discovered Antigone?” Oni exclaimed. “That’s a fascinating world. One of those is definitely sophont – they have controlled use of fire. The other is close enough that we’ve classified it as Class Four out of caution. The fact the planet’s classification has been raised from highly restricted to prohibited should be announced in the next week or so.” He turned back to Amanpreet. “But we should discuss this mission. If you’ve never been on a sanctioned mission to a prohibited system before you need to know what to expect.

–

Prompt Post 26 is here. Come and leave a prompt.

Comments welcome

–

If you enjoy my writing and haven’t already please consider becoming a patron via my Patreon page.

The Patron’s Page is now up. If you are a Patron waiting for access to Haventon Book 2 – I will be contacting you as soon as Chapter One is done.

A/N: Hi peeps, due to a change in my personal circumstances I'm running a donation drive. Please check out this news post for details and drop a few pennies in the hat if you can. Thanks to the four wonderful peeps who've already helped out. :-)

--

"Family of the soul?" Amanpreet looked over at Niobe. "What does that mean?"

"Hmm..." Niobe tutted quietly as she considered the question. "It's a concept found in several Mez cultures. We'd probably say family of the heart, but the Mez don't consider their hearts to be the root of their emotions. It's family you choose, rather than family you share DNA with."

Amanpreet thought back to her best friend from primary school and the day they swore they'd be sisters forever. "So like promising to be blood brothers or sisters?"

Niobe nodded. "Except under the law of most Mez governments such chosen family has equal standing with genetic family as long as it’s registered. Umi and Storm will likely ask us if we wish to formally acknowledge it soon. The Mez treat adopting kin similarly to getting into a romantic relationship - you can fall in love without marriage but it's the formalities that give it legal standing."

“Wow!” Amanpreet tilted her head at that. "Well, I do care about that pair, but I think I want to know more about what this entails before I get into any legally binding relationships."

Niobe nodded. "Very wise, and I know they'll agree, especially since I'm not sure how it would interact with Damkinan inheritance law."

"Badly," Amanpreet said. "The inheritance laws are a mess." She looked around as a soft chiming indicated another incoming call. “Well, we're popular today,” she murmured as she answered it.

"Captain Amanpreet." The speaker was a good looking black man with a friendly smile. He was dressed in the same uniform as the guard outside the door. "I am Denzin, head of human security for the Council chambers. They wish to hear your testimony about the Class Four Fish tomorrow morning. Is this acceptable?"

"It is," she said.

"Very good. They wish to hear navigator Kayla's evidence about Vaia immediately after yours, so I'll arrange an escort for you."

"That's sooner than I expected," Kayla said over Amanpreet's shoulder. "It wasn't due until the day after tomorrow."

"They heard about the attacks on you and took an emergency vote to bring the session forward," he said. “They are concerned for your safety.”

"Ah!" Kayla said. "I'm concerned for my safety as well. Thank you."

“You're welcome,” he said. “Tomorrow morning then.” He nodded and closed the line.

“That's good,” Amanpreet said. “We can give our testimony, pick up our supplies and, once the repairs are done, head back to Damkina to get cargo to run to Talis. Then we can pay the Ishtari for the repairs we did there. Hopefully, all without being attacked this time.” She turned back to the console. “And I need to check the accounts and see if we can afford to hire Kayla.” She tapped on the keyboard to bring up her statement and her eyebrows shot up when she saw the balance. “Well, that can't be right.”

“It's bad?” Niobe bent down to look at the screen. “How much!”

“It's not bad,” Amanpreet said. “But it must be an error. The supply run to Talis was lucrative but there's no way we're this much in credit.” She began to go through the numbers, carefully looking to see why the account was so much in credit. “Oh!”

“Ok, did you find it?” Niobe asked.

“Yes.” Amanpreet scowled at the screen. “We have a down payment from the Council for a science run of some sort. I know they can force hire vessels but I wish they'd bloody warn you when they are going to do that. Finding a ton of money in your account is a heck of a way to find out your ship's been co-opted.”

“Not the first time I've been on a ship that got force hired,” Kane said drily. “It's probably because we're here and thus convenient. And science work for the Council is lucrative, interesting and easy, so I don't think we should complain.”

“Oh, I'm not complaining about the money,” Amanpreet said. “I just wish they'd be less rude about it. I would have accepted it anyway.” She shrugged. “Oh well, I guess our supply run has been delayed. How do we find out what we've been hired for?”

“If the initial payment is in the account we should get contacted by the scientists soon,” Kane said. “Probably after you've given evidence, I imagine. But yeah, I quite agree on the dropping credits into people's accounts out of the blue.”

“Okay,” Amanpreet said. “Well, thanks to this unexpected contract, it seems I can definitely offer Kayla a job.” She looked over at her. “Would you like to join my crew? We can discuss terms and draw a contract up, if you do.”

Kayla gave a brilliant smile. “I think I'd like that.”

--

Prompt Post 24 is here. Come and leave a prompt.

Comments welcome

Start with the First Part or check out Part Nineteen if you missed it.


--

"My sister is intrigued by the possibilities and says she can have one of the spaceborn she's studying meet you enroute to Aletheia as she's already on her way there," Airini said. "I've met her a time or two. Her name's Kyla and she's an exploration navigator out of Vaia."

"Ugh, Vaia," Amanpreet said. "That place is like some kind of historical throwback to the worst of history. Is she a religious nut? Every Vaian I ever met was trying to convert me to their sect, and last time we went there the Whisper had to leave rapidly because they didn't like my books."

"Hah!" Airini said. "I know what you mean, but no Kyla's not a Child of Masari - about ten percent of their population isn't. She's Wiccan I think. She got into navigating to get away from the pressure to convert and they let her because she's so bloody good at it." She tutted to herself. "The Council is finally trying to do something about the Vaian government. They should have acted years ago. Theocracy is supposed to be illegal. That's why Kyla's on her way to Aletheia - she's been asked to give evidence about the treatment of non-believers."

"It's a nice thought,” Amanpreet said. “But Vaia is so resource rich so no one wants to annoy them."

"Oh, they'll be plenty annoyed if the Mez get their way on a response to Vaia's latest round of laws favouring the Children," Midori said. "The Tkin and Kska are both rather bemused by Vaia but the Mez recognise that particular rot as well as humans do."

"What do they want to do? Sanctions?" Amanpreet said.

"A bit more extreme than that," Midori said. "It's a blockade and they say they'll do it themselves if the Council won't."

"Buh. That would..." She trailed off and bit her lip. Vaia was rich in rare mineral resources but not yet fully bioformed - it couldn't support its population without regular food imports. "I'm not sure that's moral."

"Me neither," Midori agreed. "But we're getting distracted. You meet Kyla and Airini's sister enroute to Aletheia and test out if she can hear the Fish - does it have a name? It's a person it should have a name. We can't keep calling it the Fish."

Umi translated that for Storm whose tentacles rippled in a Mez nod before she replied. Umi tapped out her answer on the keyboard.

"She says she asked and it told her it has a name in the songs of its people that doesn't really translate but pilots who work with it call it... well it's in an old language but would roughly translate as Promise."

"Promise is a nice name," Midori said. "Let's call it that if it's amenable."

“I imagine it will be,” Umi said. “But we'll check.”

***

Kyla's vessel turned out to be a typical exploration ship. One of the smallest class of Stick barely a eighth of the size of the Whisper with much of it taken up by the navigation dome. The shielded accommodation outside the dome would fit three people, or four at squeeze, probably a couple of scientists and a backup navigator. There would certainly be no home comforts... and Sangat wondered why Amanpreet would not become an exploration navigator.

Sticks were designed to dock easily, virtually merging into one another, so it was only a few minutes before Kyla was requesting permission to come aboard. Amanpreet granted it and hurried to greet her and Airini's sister.

“Hi,” the shorter of the two women, who strongly resembled Airini with her long dark hair and bronze skin, extended her hand. “I'm Haetara. You must be Amanpreet.”

“I am.” Amanpreet shook her hand before turning to the other woman. “And you must be Kyla.”

“Yes.” Kyla smiled warmly. With her pale skin and blonde hair she reminded Amanpreet a bit of Kane though he didn't have family on Vaia that she knew. “Doctor Parata has explained your theory. I'm intrigued to see if it's true because I have heard music in hyperspace a few times and thought it was a hallucination.”

“We'll soon find out,” Amanpreet said. “Promise is going to sing as soon as we jump back into the hyperspace. We'll have to share the dome – it'll be a touch crowded.”

“I'm used to crowded.” Kyla shrugged. “But can you bring me up to speed on what's been going on? We only have part of the story.”

“Of course,” Amanpreet said and explained the events leading up to them meeting Promise as she lead them to the bridge.

“Whoo!” Kyla exclaimed when Amanpreet finished just as they reached the bridge. “That's quite a story. Someone should write a mesh serial about this. It'd be a hit.”

Amanpreet stared at her for a moment then shook her head. “I'd rather not.”

“Am prefers her fiction classic,” Niobe said from the engineer's chair. “You should see her cabin. It's full of twentieth century science fiction.”

“Nothing wrong with twentieth century science fiction,” Kyla said. She eyed the ladder to the navigation dome. “But let's get on with this. I really want to know if you're right.”

--

Prompt Post 20 is here. Come and leave a prompt.

Comments Welcome.

"Storm says this one will come with us," Niobe said. "The others will watch and see what happens because they don't entirely trust what she's telling them."

"Who can blame them," Amanpreet replied blandly. "I'd be distrustful in their position too."

Niobe grinned at her. "I know what you mean. Storm does too, so she says she's staying aboard the Fish, at least until we reach Talis."

"Staying aboar-" Amanpreet hesitated. "Will she be okay here? Obviously they have supplies because of the pilots but..."

Niobe passed the question onto Storm who spread her skirt like wings and bounced in the air before replying.

Niobe chuckled and nodded. "She says it's better than having to stay in containment on a human vessel and fish soup isn't that bad."

Amanpreet wrinkled her nose. The edible secretions produced by Fish were nutritionally complete but tasteless at best. "Maybe not if you're a Mez, but I'll never come to terms with calling that stuff food, even if you can live on it." She hesitated. "But why did it ask us here if it was coming back with us anyway?"

"It wanted to see if we'd come," Niobe said. "It made it confident to take the risk of coming with us when we did, though apparently the fact you can hear their songs makes them inclined to trust you anyway."

"How did they know I can hear them anyway?"

"I'll ask," Niobe said. She tapped out the question. The first response wasn't vocal, instead a soft musical note seemed to brush Amanpreet's skin and the neurons of her brain, telling her the answer even before the Fish’s vocal response came from the walls in the same Mez language as the bubble pilot had spoken.

"Apparently they can hear you reacting to their songs even though they can't understand you," Niobe said. "It says you aren't the only one they've sensed but the you’re first they've managed to make contact with." She chewed on her lip. "This is amazing! A communication system that works in hyperspace, rather than just through it, is the holy grail, you know. I hope we can find something to trade with them because it, and their ability to make these havens in hyperspace where sensors and communications work, could make travel much safer."

"I know," Amanpreet said. "Ask it if we can start back to Talis soon. The sooner we get back the sooner we can contact the Council and start negotiations."

Niobe did as she asked and listened to the reply. “It says yes. It will recall the bubble to take us back to the Whisper.”

***

"It's coming back with us?" Kane asked incredulously when Amanpreet and Niobe told them what had happened. "Why?"

"Storm - that's Umi's sister - has persuaded them to petition the Council of Planets for recognition," Niobe said. "Which does make sense."

Kane frowned to himself then nodded. "I suppose so, but I'm surprised they went for it."

"Storm seems pretty politically minded and charismatic," Niobe said. "Of course, for a small morph Mez to get such an important navigation position as she has she'd have to be. I bet some of the more traditionalist Mez hate her. Of course they probably hate the political clout navigators have because you can’t go anywhere without them anyway. I think that’s why they kept it as a slave position for so long - to stop them getting power." She caught the the blank looks from the others and frowned. “What?”

“I get why navigators have a lot of clout,” Amanpreet said. “But what has Storm’s size got to do with it?”

“Oh!” Niobe grinned briefly. "You must have noticed that they're highly dimorphic - small like Storm and large like Umi. They don't talk about their biology much, so a lot of humans assume the small ones are the females as they traditionally took the primary caregiver roles, but it's not actually sex based. Small morph Mez are still the subject of some prejudice in many of their cultures." She shook her head and laughed. "Add into that the fact that their sex and morph can both change if certain rare hormonal stress triggers occur and pronouns in most Mez languages are a nightmare."

"I'd imagine," Mark said before looking over at Amanpreet. "I think we're nearly back at the point where normal hyperspace rules should reassert themselves. Do you want me to take the dome going back to Talis, Am? You look exhausted after hours in hyperspace followed by all this excitement."

Amanpreet considered saying no, they were going to have to navigate out of the Spaghetti Transit after all, but Mark's obvious concern made her realise just how exhausted she was. She probably wouldn't be able to navigate safely anyway. "Are you sure you'll be okay navigating in the spaghetti?" she asked instead.

"I should be," he said. "It looks like the Fish are making us a path."

"Uh?" Amanpreet turned to look at the screens and saw that two smaller Fish were indeed traveling ahead of them and had already reached the boundary of the spaghetti and were parting it. "That's good of them." She yawned and rubbed at her eyes. "I think you're right. You or Kane will have to do it. I need to sleep."

--

Prompt Post 18 is here. Come and leave a prompt.

Comments Welcome.

Amanpreet opened her mouth to respond to Niobe's revelation but instead sat there in silence as she tried to assimilate it.

"I told you it couldn't be an hallucination, Am," Mark said.

Amanpreet opened and closed her mouth a few times before she managed to gather herself enough to speak.

"Apparently not," she said. "But why can I hear their songs when you and Kane can't?"

"That's a good question," Vanna said. "Could it be because of you being born in hyperspace?" She made a thoughtful sound. "I wonder if all those with this Spaceborn Syndrome can hear the song?"

"Who knows," Amanpreet said. "I guess we'll have to ask when we get back to normal space." She swung her feet around off the navigator's couch and stood up. "I hope you're right about this void being enough like normal space that my leaving the dome is safe. I wouldn't want to expose you to hyperspace or leave us stranded." She paused as she saw one of the Fish in the nest ahead spinning the hyperspace spaghetti from spinnerets in its sides. "Oh, now that's interesting. I wonder if that means they created the Spaghetti Transit?"

"Let's ask them," Niobe said. "And it should be okay, I think. I know it goes against all navigation training but it's a very unusual situation and we can't leave currently anyway so we'll be no more stuck if it isn't. As to exposing us to hyperspace a short exposure wouldn't harm us and I think this void is shielded somehow."

"That's a fair comment." Amanpreet popped the hatch and climbed down to the bridge. "Let's go and wait for this Bubble then." She paused and shook her head. "Who would have thought that Fish sing."

"Well they look more like whales than fish if you ask me," Niobe said.

"Maybe if you squint at them," Amanpreet said. "Apart from being vaguely fish-shaped they don't really look like either if you ask me. The singing is whale-like though."

"It sounds like whale song?" Niobe asked.

"No, not really. It's more like classical music." She grinned. "Milky Way whale sonata in F sharp minor."

"That sounds lovely," Niobe said as they walked to the airlock where the bubble would dock. "I wish I could hear it."

" I suppose it is, I'm just glad it's not a hallucination," Amanpreet said.

"Yes, I'd imagine you are," Niobe said. "And I'm not surprised you thought it was. I mean, who expects to hear music in hyperspace? Ah, here it is."

Bubbles were the Mez equivalent of shuttles and lived up to their name since they resembled nothing so much as giant soap bubbles, though this fragile appearance belied their extreme sturdiness. Amanpreet had seen a bubble and its occupants survive a high speed impact with an asteroid in the past. That didn't make traveling in one any more comfortable - the biotechnology behind the Fish was understandable but no humans had ever worked out how the bubbles - with their complete lack of any controls - were piloted, in spite of the Mez's attempts to explain.

What wasn't in doubt was that they needed a pilot, so Amanpreet shouldn't have been surprised to find it was a double bubble. One section had an environment suitable for humans while a Mez pilot floated in the other section. She shouldn't have been surprised but she was – why was there a Mez pilot here with the Fish?

Niobe was obviously thinking the same thing because her fingers danced over her keyboard as they floated towards the nearest ship. Her voice synthesizer made a series of whistles and chirps as she asked the pilot. It twisted to look at them and chirruped an answer.

Niobe tilted her head as she listened and raised her eyebrows. “I might be missing something because his dialect is not one I know but he says his ancestors were slave navigators who the Fish rescued and brought with them when they fled.” She paused and listened some more as he said something else. Niobe tapped a reply before turning to explain. “Now he's asking if it's true that the Mez have abolished slavery like Umi's sister says.” She grinned wryly. “Though he's not calling her Umi's sister, of course. But that must be who he means. I told him yes they have.”

“Interesting,” Amanpreet said, then stiffened as she realised that rather than heading for one of the nearest Fish's airlocks, the Mez was piloting them into its gaping maw.

--
 

Prompt Post 16 is here. Come and leave a prompt.

Comments Welcome.