Carpathia IV: Episode 175 - Balls
Cytosia
In the end, Sylvar wasn't able to get much work done. Not long after story time with the cyto, she returned with others, all eager for more. For Kit, this was an untenable situation, since it meant he would have to spend all his time with Sylvar and couldn't work with anyone else. For that, he did the only thing he could. He gave Sylvar a tablet, taught him how to use it, and hoped for the best. To shore up this little plan, he also asked the cytos to please be patient with mistakes, for they were likely to occur.
Hours later, it still seemed to be working. Sylvar had a consistent audience gathered in a semicircle around him, hooked on his every word, as he regaled them with stories from both his more distant past and recent ones of his time on the Shadowdancer. Even while Kit helped others with their cyto encounters, he always made sure to keep a sharp watch on Sylvar. Security, Teren and Shep, were there to keep an eye on things, but there was little for them to do outside of keeping the cytos away from sensitive parts. Shep, in fact, mostly observed Sylvar with great interest.
Shep: They really seem to be attracted to Sylvar, don't they?
Kit: I'm glad they're getting used to communicating with someone other than me. It's good practice for when they start talking with the people at the Xenolinguistic Institute.
Shep turned, having spotted somethihing just barely within the side of his vision. A cyto, yellow, bouncing toward him. Before Shep could say anything, the cyto waved and popped two kitty ears and a tail from its body and then hopped away.
Shep: Third one today, but the first that did it with a tail.
Kit: They do seem interested in our anatomy. Don't take your clothes off.
Shep squished up his face and then turned to Kit with his eyebrow high.
Shep: Why would you need to tell me that?
Kit: Oh, sorry. You're still new here. Don't worry. You'll be saying things like that too before long.
With that, Kit wandered off, eyes down on his tablet, leaving Shep to wonder if he might consider getting back to his old mission.
Minnie stepped back from her creation. Not hers, exactly, but it was her charge and she couldn't help but feel a sense of pride in herself and team. While the crew carried out the final checks, Minnie gave a visual inspection of the new system. Simple, yet elegant, she thought. Though it was not enclosed in a building, all data showed that it should have no problem standing up to even the most severe weather. The screen, wide and curved, not unlike a small movie screen should hold up to even the wildest cyto antics, unless they were capable of herculean strength.
While surveying the scene, Ramei approached.
Ramei: Final checks are nearly finished. Foundation is secure. The communication station construction is within specs. We're just finalizing the last of the technical data. We should have the tests complete in about ten minutes.
Minnie: Sounds good. I've already called the Captain down for the first transmission. Admiral Zhang is looking forward to it.
Minnie looked around to see if everyone was available, but there was one furry crew member not in attendance.
Minnie: Quenya!
Quenya jumped up and rushed to Minnie.
Quenya: What do you need, Chief?
Minnie: We're almost ready and the Captain is on his way. Find Teren for me.
Quenya: On it, Chief!
Quenya scurried away, leaving Minnie back to observing with Ramei.
Ramei: Always nice when a project comes together. By all rights, we shouldn't even be here, given the policy on contact with non-spacefaring species.
Minnie: It's a good policy, but sometimes things happen and it's not a bad thing to make some hay out of a mistake.
Minnie continued with her observation while Ramei studied his tablet. Only a few minutes went by when Quenya came over the hill behind the communication station and trotted up to Minnie with a toothy grin on her face.
Minnie: Cadet, did you find Teren?
Quenya: Hee hee! I didn't want to disturb him. Do you want to come see?
Minnie cast a glance at Ramei, who no longer seemed interested in his tablet. A tip of her head and a step forward signalled the affirmative and she and Ramei followed Quenya, past the station, and up the hill.
After reaching the top of the hill and gazing down the other side, Minnie and Ramei could see clearly why she did not want to disturb Teren. There he was, down the other side, surrounded by a hundred cytos, but he was clearly in no danger. Teren hunched on all fours, hopping about, and tail swirling in the air. Around him, the cytos hopped around excitedly and, one by one, made a charge at him, some rolling, some bouncing, each from a new direction, and Teren would bat them playfully away. Not hard, mind, but enough to send them a few body lengths back into the crowd.
Some in the crew noticed Minnie and Ramei going up the hill and followed. Then more followed. Teren kept up his little cyto sport, oblivious, while the crowed grew larger. Teren's game didn't stay the same forever. Mostly, he batted them away, but occasionally, he flipped onto his back and caught one with his paws. The cyto he caught beamed proudly while Teren tossed it into the air, even going so far as to give it a little spin.
And it all suddenly came to an end when he finally looked just in the right direction to see a large crowd staring down at him.
Teren: Mrowf!
Teren regained himself just in time to catch the plummeting cyto between his arms and belly. After, he nonchalantly rolled over, stood, and dusted himself off. As though nothing happened, he strode up the hill while the cytos all stared. Disappointed? Perhaps. It was hard to tell. Teren, however, just gave a breezy wave as he walked into the crowd of Carpathians.
Teren: Just some culture exchange.
Those who overheard nodded politely, yet they were all thoroughly unconvinced.
Minutes later, the shuttle with the Captain landed and Aire disembarked to a lively scene, so much that hardly anyone noticed his arrival. This suited him, as he wasn't looking for any sort of fanfare. That was for his team and for Admiral Zhang, who would be the first to communicate with the cytos from afar.
It took some time for the crew, mostly Kit, to round up the cytos for the unveiling. With effort, they were successful and three cytos decided to roll Elder up to the screen, giving him a central position. Whether or not he might wake up was a different story. Nobody knew the answer.
There were no big speeches. Not really appropriate for a situation where communication was still relatively simplistic. Instead, Aire gave Minnie a nod and she switched on the device and dialed up Admiral Zhang in a special companion room on Polaris Deep where linguistic experts would work on the language. On the screen towering over all, Admiral Zhang appeared on the left side while her virtual cyto translator appeared on the other. As soon as she appeared, many of the cytos popped a pair of human ears out of the sides of their bodies.
Admiral Zhang: Hello!
In return, before her virtual cyto translator even had a chance to respond, the cytos in attendance responded with a resounding "Hullo!" and a wave in return.
Admiral Zhang: It's nice to meet all of you!
This time, most of the cytos waited for the translation to occur on the screen. What proceeded was a cacapohony of wiggles, hops, squirts, farts, and everything else one could imagine. Admiral Zhang glanced to her left, where she could observe translations on her screen like a scrolling chatbox.
Admiral Zhang kept her comments simple, explaining that there would always be someone in the communication room to chat with them and that they would be improving the translator, finally ending with a thank you.
Admiral Zhang waved and, just before she signed out, Elder started to wobble and all cyto eyes turned to him with more chanting, "Elder wakes!" After some time of wibbles and wobbles, Elder made two laborious hops and then fell back to sleep. The cytos did their version of a cheer, rocking and hopping, while Elder was rolled away. Admiral Zhang waved again before finally making a graceful exit from the screen.
Kit: Two hops is used a lot, but from what I can tell, at least all the meanings seem to be good.
NCCS Shadowdancer-A
After some time, Aire managed to pry himself away from the cytos, except for one, Hana. Together they, plus Kit, boarded a shuttle and returned to the Shadowdancer. In the shuttle bay, Aire took the opportunity of a quiet moment to thank Hana for his assistance.
Aire: Ryuu, would you be so kind as to help see our guest off?
Ryuu: Happy to, Captain.
Together, the four strolled, or rather, rolled, in one case, to the force field leading out of the shuttle bay. After one more goodbye, Hana rolled out and Ryuu followed, making sure he got a nice bounce to a good asteroid. While Aire watched Hana float away, he heard a a yawn so deep that he could almost see the wide open mouth in front of him.
Kit: Sorry, Captain. Been a long few days.
Aire: Quite alright, Ensign. I'd like to grant you some leave for the next five days. You've earned it, but there's one more thing we need to do on the bridge.
Kit made a sleepy nod, one to which Aire could relate. From the time that they arrived at Cytosia until now, Kit didn't show any signs of fatigue but, now that it was all over, it clearly hit him as if someone had dropped a shuttle on his head. He gently steered Kit to the lift outside the shuttle bay for their trip to the bridge.
Bridge, NCCS Shadowdancer-A
The lift doors to the bridge opened and Kit stepped back, allowing Aire to exit first, following him right after. Before Kit had any time to notice anything amiss, Teren called out.
Teren: Ensign Kit Savea on the bridge!
Kit came to a screeching halt and surveyed his surroundings. All senior officers present, including those from Engineering and Medical, all standing at attention. On the viewer at the front of the bridge, the face of Admiral Zhang beamed down at him.
Aire: Come with me, Kit.
Kit hesitated before giving a halting nod. Aire lead him around the security console to the two command chairs in the center of the bridge. With Joust on the left side, Aire stood off to the right side and directed Kit to stand just forward the chairs in the middle. Without any prodding, he turned his attention to Admiral Zhang, which seemed the only logical choice.
Admiral Zhang: Ensign Savea, without your expertise and initiative, we could never have come this far in our relationship with the cytos. What started as a confrontation is now a promising opportunity for friendship and knowledge.
Kit: Yes, Admiral!
Admiral Zhang: I daresay that every few people, if any, could have brought us this far along this quickly. For your efforts, it is my honor to award you the Sapphire Star.
Joust stepped forward, holding a small, wooden box in his hands. Still to Kit's left, he opened it, revealing a medal inside, a golden star with a brilliant blue stone set in the center. Now Aire stepped forward and took the star from the box and held it up for all to see. He then kneeled and attached the medal to Kit's uniform. Kit did his best to remain stiff and straight where he stood, but anyone watching could see that he was getting a little wobbly at the knees.
Aire: Kit, let nobody tell you that you aren't worthy of being who you are ever again.
A whisper, it was, from the Captain, meant for his ears only. Aire smiled and Kit acknowledged him with a slow nod.
Teri: Congratulations, Ensign Kit Savea! I hope you'll be with us for a long time.
The bridge erupted in enthusiastic applause while Kit made an effort to lock eyes with everyone present, a show of gratitude.
Commissioned art in this episode from:
AvareonArt
Zelbunnii
Less_End
Thatwildmary
Colourbrand
Falke2009
