The Lieutenant did not have time to reply to this as Lola rejoined their table and sat a steaming cup in front of the Pilot with a proud smile. “It is a cup of hot moogo bean juice.” she announced, very happy with herself. “There were so many choices, but I remembered my father always liked a nice hot cup of bean juice at the end of a tiring day.” she grinned; sure he would like her selection.
Tim made a slight grimace at the mention of her ‘father’ and the more than likely false memory, as he picked up the cup she had deposited on the table for him.
It was indeed a good choice though he had to admit as he lifted it to his lips and breathed in the calming, richly spiced aroma.
He had not gotten much of a chance to talk with his target, but he did get a good impression that his usual style was not going to interest her he acknowledged as he cast a glance her way over the rim of his cup.
Valesque was not sure why but the Yorkie did not seem to look at her in his usual carefree, playful way ever since she challenged his sincerity. As she caught him looking at her again with those strangely serious eyes she looked away uncomfortably, somehow with that expression he looked rather dangerous.
Sanic returned to the table with food and drink for Valesque and himself.
The bowl he handed her was filled with some kind of hot broth with noodles and vegetables.
“This is an Etherian specialty.” he informed her as she sniffed the bowl of brown liquid doubtfully, carbohydrates were not something she normally ate a lot of. “It is something that my mother always made for me; it’s one of my favorite meals.” he assured her with a friendly smile.
Valesque looked at the bowl of noodles curiously. “I don’t remember this being one of the selections programmed into the duplicator.”
Sanic gave a knowing look as he pulled a small rectangular storage card from a pocket on his uniform, “It isn’t, but I brought the program for it with me.”
Valesque was silent for a second as she let this sink in. “You….carry the molecular composition of your favorite dish with you everywhere you go?” she asked incredulously.
Of course, she admitted to herself, she pretty much did the same thing with the program for her meat.
Sanic laughed good-naturedly, his grey eyes squinting in his smile. “It’s easier than reprogramming it every time.”
“I know you have a high protein metabolism.” the young Ensign added quickly, “So I modified it by having the duplicator add in some pieces of your Virrilian seared meat. I put some in mine too so I can try it.” he grinned, always eager to try something new and exotic.
As he said this Valesque noticed the chunks of blackened meat that were combined with the original Etherian mixture. He had certainly been thoughtful in his selection.
She shrugged out a small weary sigh as she dug into the newly revised dish, and was amazed at how tasty it actually was with just the right blend of soft wheat noodles and warm, fragrant spices. Too bad the food stores that made up the noodles and vegetables would soon be depleted thanks to Lola’s hydroponics fiasco.
Sanic watched nervously as she took her first bite, hoping she would like it. He was very relieved when her eyes lit up and she smiled at him commenting that his Etherian spiced noodles were wonderful.
He in turn took a bite of her rare Virrilian beef and praised it as well, deciding to make it a frequent addition to his program. The two cultures blended well together, he thought happily.
Sanic had a warm feeling flush over him as he and his ideal ate their meals happily together, it was something he had wanted to do for a long time.
Although, he had never pictured the scene quite like this; with a cheerful android trying to flirt with a quiet Pilot who just sat sipping his juice as the background.
By the time they had finished their meals the computer had just about gone through all of the star charts.
The Captain was sitting calmly on the other side of the wide aisle with a small group of senior officers, sipping a cup of hot tea and staring silently up at the charts as they flashed on and off around her.
As the last one blinked on and off on the clear, domed ceiling, Fairbanks turned slowly in her seat to address the Virrilian Engineer who sat across the way chatting casually with the small group of lower officers.
“Ensign Valesque.” she began steadily after her soothing cup of herbal tea.
“What matches have we found?”
Valesque got out her Vid-screen again, deciding to ignore the irritating title.
“Matches at 100%.” she started as the results began to come up on her screen.
“Zero.” she said flatly.
Fairbanks mouth twisted into a small annoyed scowl at this announcement.
“Results for the minimum 95% match…zero” the Engineer continued counting off.
Cecil slithered a bit closer to the two groups seated at the opposing tables, apparently well pleased.
The Captain saw him edging closer but kept her attention on the Engineer and the program’s findings.
“How about 80%.” she sighed, putting down her cup and smoothing back her auburn hair.
Valesque checked the screen again, scrolling down through some other data to get to the result the Captain had requested, “80% error margin……has…no matches.” she returned, starting to feel a little uneasy as everyone listened to her calling off the results with confused and anxious expressions. How was she going to find the right moment to tell them all what had really happened?
Fairbanks shook her head as she sighed in agitation, she still could not believe they had no chart for their current location. “Are there any matches?” she asked, as the Serpential seemed to grin behind her back.
Sanic and Tim looked over Valesque’s shoulders as she scrolled through the report.
“Ah, there.” Tim called as his sharp eyes found a match. “5% probability has one possible match.”
“It is chart number Z-3-726492786-B.” Sanic chimed in before the Captain had to ask.
“Where is that?” came her modified question.
Cecil hissed his snake laugh again as he moved forward between the two groups. “Impossssible.” he argued. “That chart number issss for the Exsssspheron Nebula.”
“He says that is the Expheron Nebula.” Sanic relayed to the Captain as he interpreted the collar’s code.
The Captain looked happy they had found a match of any kind. Even a 5% probability was better than nothing.
Cecil gave another derisive laugh at the very suggestion. “Thisss isss not the Nebula.” he opposed, “That chart hasssss not been updated in hunderedssssss of yearsssss. The Nebula is too far away to bother keeping up with.” he hissed authoritatively. “Bessssidessss, if thisssss were the Exsssssspheron Nebula thissss sssship would have been dessstroyed by now.” Cecil continued.
“The Nebula issss too corrosssive and we have no ssshieldsss. Alssso the area is much too clear, the Nebula issss very gassssseoussss.” he remarked as he gestured towards the sparkling stars and transparent space with one spindly arm.
Sanic translated the basics for the rest of the group by saying it was too clear outside to be the acidic Nebula and that the chart was very old.
“But even if this was the Nebula.” he added in his own analysis, “That would put us on the very outer edge of known space.”
The Captain did not want to hear this. They needed to get to Corseccan space, if they were in the Nebula’s area that would put them hundreds of light years off course, meaning they had crossed all that distance in a few seconds.
“Impossible.” she insisted. “We can not possibly be that far out. There must be some mistake. Run the charts again.” she ordered.
Valesque was tempted to say something about that being a waste of time but the snake man interrupted her.
“Sss.ssss.sssss.sssss” Cecil snickered at the Captain’s stubbornness.
“You will never admit it, will you human?” he hissed accusingly. “It isss ssssstupid to deny the
obviousssss. We are not in known ssssspace any longer. It issss not impossssible to travel ssssso far in a few sssssecondssss” he continued correcting the simple being, “if we had traveled in a ssssspasssse warp or sssssssomething.”
“A space warp?” Sanic repeated as he contemplated that possibility.
Fairbanks again scoffed at the idea. “Space warps are just a myth, a scientific dream.” she retorted. She hated science and its hypothesis, such whimsical, flighty ideas.
“Not nessssessssarily you obssssstinate biped.” Cecil informed her through Sanic. “There were tessstsss done with warpsssss a few yearssss ago. I believe even the Military wasssss interesssted in that.” he blinked at her.
Valesque was starting to get a little nervous as they continued edging closer to the truth.
“The sssssspassse traveler or sssssomething they had named it.” he tried to recall.
“The Space Tripper?” the Military Captain corrected him as Sanic translated. She was vaguely familiar with that project. It was something her superior
General Gorbok had been interested in, but the project had ended prematurely and no more was heard about it. Just that it was rumored the inventor had sold it. And that inventor…was….a... “Virrilian.” she said aloud as she realized a possible connection.
“That Space Tripper device that the General was trying to get was invented by a Virrilian.” she remembered, looking towards her Virrilian Ensign.
Valesque found herself uncomfortably in the spotlight once again as she nervously cleared her throat trying not to look distressed as all eyes were turned to her.
“You would not happen to know anything about that device would you, Ensign?” she asked suspiciously. The Virrilian Engineer had been adamant about not wanting this ship to go to Corseccan Space to join the fight against her people, she recalled clearly, and had threatened to do anything in her power to keep it from happening.
“The Space Tripper?” Valesque stalled, knowing the conclusions everyone was likely to come to. “Uhmm, yes…and no. I had not heard anything about it for at least five years, ever since the Virrilians rejected the project.” she evaded.
“Would you say it is possible that something like that has caused us to get far off our intended course?” the Military woman prodded, her suspicions growing as she contemplated the circumstantial evidence.
“A space warp could definitely do that.” she agreed, trying to ease her way into the truth of the situation.
The Captain was silent for a moment before she continued in a very severe tone, “I need to check into something, and then I think we all need to have an important discussion in the conference room, Miss Valesque.” she commanded, before calling her Upper Officers to her and purposefully leaving the room.
Chapter Eight: Accusations
Half an hour later Valesque found herself standing at the head of the conference room table with the Captain, a large blank video screen hung on the wall between them.
The rest of the main control and flight crew were seated around the table, all looking quizzically at their Captain and Virrilian crewmate, wondering why they had been summoned here.
Among those at the table were Sanic and Lieutenant Baine who were in the dark as much as the rest, for Valesque had excused herself and hastily left the Star Deck as soon as the Captain had gone, in order to make preparations for her soon to be demanded defense.
Captain Fairbanks began by addressing the young Virrilian Engineer who stood beside her. “Miss Valesque, I did a little research into the device known as the Space Tripper. And what I found was very interesting.” the regally composed redheaded Captain began as she pointed a controller towards the screen behind them.
“The person who invented the only known space warp device was a Virrilian.
According to the records I could find, her people did not hold her in great esteem and she had just graduated early from the Intergalactic University.
Immediately upon graduation she began a year long project on the same subject as her graduating thesis; Space Warp Technology.” the Captain related as pictures of different old articles she had found in the ship’s digital library showed on the screen between them.
“This is the only picture I could find of the Scientist in question; Doctor V. Rhaugh.” the stoic Captain continued, as an ID shot was shown from the University Yearbook. In it was a young pale woman with deep red lips who very much resembled Valesque, except she had long black hair that was braided and twisted up into a traditional Virrilian style, with long waves of hair falling down around her face. The girl in the photo was dressed in traditional garments and had a serious, determined look on her young Virrilian face.
“And this is a picture of a certain Tech-labs worker taken just this year.” Fairbanks continued as she brought up a photo everyone there recognized as Valesque. The second picture was from her Tech-Labs ID and showed a short-haired, smiling Valesque when she was just beginning her building project and beside herself with joy.
Valesque did not feel very joyful now as she looked at the two photos. She knew many fingers were once again about to point at her, just as they had five years ago when the Tripper had gone missing, making her feel very ill at ease.
Her Commanding Officer was not finished with her comparison yet. “It is interesting how very similar the two of you look, is it not Miss Valesque? Except that you no longer have the traditional hairstyle of your people, but have cropped it short. In addition, you no longer wear Virrilian clothing and even keep your nails trimmed short. All of which are against Virrilian customs.
Who would have thought our Engineer ‘Just Valesque’ was actually the same Doctor V. Rhaugh who had invented a space warp device so many years ago.” she taunted accusingly.
A few murmurs and one long low whistle were heard in the room as the two pictures were shown on the screen and the Captain’s observations heard.
Tim’s hand immediately went up as he spoke out freely, “You wouldn’t happen to have either of those in a wallet size, would you?” he asked eagerly, effectively alleviating the tension that had built in the room.
He liked the first picture with her hair long and pulled up, in that it reminded him of the poster in Valesque’s room, but the second more recent shot for the Tech-Labs ID was the only time he had really seen her smile.
He was torn as to which one he liked better.
Valesque groaned and rolled her eyes at his characteristic inquiry, but at least he was back to his usual carefree, playful self, which she was relieved to see.
Captain Fairbanks however was not amused by the outburst.
“This is not the time to be fooling around, Lieutenant.” she reprimanded crossly.
“You're right, Captain. I apologize. I don’t know what I was thinking.” Tim said solemnly, hanging his head in repentance. “I can just get the computer to make me copies later.” he acknowledged, as low snickers went up from the group around him.
“That is enough! We are discussing a serious matter. I expect you all to retain proper decorum.” she scolded the crew sitting around the table, with a stern, tight-lipped frown of disapproval.
“Miss Valesque, or should I say Doctor Rhaugh, you have purposely sabotaged this ship with your space warp generator in order to keep us from helping the war effort in Corseccan Space. You were determined to keep us from that area and swore to use every means at your disposal. You have done nothing but try to hamper our progress from the very beginning by disabling the shields, engines, weapons, communications and now even using a space warp.” Fairbanks accused crossly. “I demand that you return us to our proper course immediately.” she ordered the traitorous Virrilian.
Valesque gaped as the Captain read off the list of supposed interference she had deliberately caused. Anger and disbelief rushed to her face as she squared off against her accuser hotly.
“Excuse me? What did you just say? I not the one who stubbornly, stupidly and inexcusably insisted on stealing an unfinished vessel, Captai
n. If anyone is responsible for this mess it is you and your blind obedience to that ‘General Warlord'.” Valesque fumed, not about to take the blame for getting everyone in this situation.
“If you had listened to anyone besides your own obstinate, pigheaded and inflexible self we wouldn’t even be in this position. And as for the Space Tripper, I would like to point out, Captain, that it is only because it kicked in that we have survived this long after facing enemy fire. Taking an incomplete, unarmed, unprotected vessel out into open space is pure suicide. Let alone your intention of taking it into battle.”
Space Trippers Book 1: Trippin' Page 17
