Starmind Chapter 45

I got this finished and (sloppily) proofread in time! Hooray! Unfortunately I can't make any promises about next week. I wish I could, but it depends entirely on how the writing goes overall this week.

I really don't want to miss one, though. I've got a streak going!

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At 1710 hours, almost precisely, something wonderful happened. With time to spare before dinner, I finished the Crew Nutrition Development.

New Construction options: Hydroponic Growth Chamber, Multi-Purpose Culture Vat.

Modified Production options: Nutrient Paste (Basic palatability options)

“Flavor!” Varlanda cheered when I told them. “We’ve got flavor!”

The “flavors” were restricted to very basic things, like making the paste sweet, salty, savory, sour, or what Bekeri would later call “weirdly fruity.” That weirdly sounded rather unnecessary to me, but Varlanda and Harvin agreed, so who was I to argue? I couldn’t taste things. Even so, once the three got to try the new nutrient paste they all agreed that it was a big step up from the basic one, a product that provided everything they needed but which Varlanda had once described as "something between a watery gruel and something you might cough up during a bad cold.”

By the Crew’s reaction to that I’d been very glad to lack any frame of reference for what she might have meant.

They immediately dubbed the new and improved product flavor paste. Making it was simple — though it took some collaboration to figure out what was actually good.

Now, I could have created it outright, since I could just create nutrient paste by teleporting materials and combining them in a container, but I pretty much never did that. There was a machine in the rec room that did the same thing, connected to the waste recycling system, and it was much easier to just let than take care of it. So once the Development finished, at which point I just kind of knew how to make the available changes, I just made whatever little tweaks were needed as the paste came out the nozzle of the machine. I could do the same thing to the water dispenser, too; just add a bit of sugar or acid or whatever as it poured. Simple!

Bekeri said that I was cheating, and that even alchemists couldn’t just create things like sugar. But everyone agreed that as long as my cheating benefitted them they didn’t care, and Bekeri wasn’t actually complaining about it. Especially not once we’d dialed in the Bekeri Special.

Speaking of: Since I couldn’t taste anything we just had to spend the next two hours or so making little test batches for them to taste, after which I’d make them more or less… whichever flavor we were messing with. And after those two hours, where we stopped because they simply couldn’t eat anymore, I had a couple of recipes stored away that I could just make for them, and which they could actually eat with some level of enjoyment. We called each of them someone’s special, depending on whose favorite it was. It was fun!

I could finally feed them something that didn’t make them sad, and it was everything I’d hoped for.

I made sure to get Bekeri the schematics for the Hydroponic Growth Chamber and the Multi-Purpose Culture Vat right away. As soon as they’d finished stuffing themselves with experimental flavor paste, he quickly excused himself and rushed to his cabin, where he curled up on his bed to study them. He had a lot of questions and comments which I barely understood, but I was happy to just make polite noises of interest while he thought out loud.

“I think we should be able to grow almost anything,” Bekeri concluded. “Given seeds or cuttings, that is. And we’ll need culture samples for the Vat, of course. Though I expect we may be able to get those from Tammeron if we ask nicely.”

“So how long until they’re ready?” I asked. I imagined that if I breathed I might have been breathless with excitement. We’d be growing things!

“Well, there's the rub. Without the Autolathe, I can't imagine building either device in anything less than several weeks, and that's assuming the lathe works as predicted. So we'll need that first. And there's the space issue. These are both rather large.”

“Tell me what you need, and I'll build it!” I told him, checking my progress on the Dead Ship. It was slower than the Gunship had been, and I thought it might be because it had been dead for so long. Still, half an inch per minute in every direction made two and a half feet per hour, and I was making good progress. I should be done by morning.

“I would say…” He drew the words out, pulling at the tuft of fine hair on his chin. “Ideally we should put them in their own section, similar in size to the crystal chamber. But the Autolathe needs a similar footprint, except a full two decks tall. Can we work something out?”

“We will, and that's that,” I said, filled with eager determination. “I have a whole ship’s worth of materials sitting right next to me. I will figure it out!”

“I have no doubt.” Then Bekeri put his slate away and curled up into a tight little ball, saying, “Could you turn the lights off, Star? I’m rather excited for tomorrow!”

*

Back in the rec room, after Bekeri excitedly rushed off to look at schematics, Varlanda and Harvin had just kind of looked at each other. “No offense if I just say that I can’t tonight, I hope,” Harvin had said.

“None. Same, honestly,” Varlanda had answered, putting both hands on her stomach. “Star, could you get the pool ready?”

“Right away!” I’d told them. And they were still there two hours later, when Temeri returned.

It was a huge relief when Temeri walked through the doors and crossed the docking bay. I’d known that she was coming, of course. I’d been talking to her regularly ever since she left, except for about an hour right before she told me she was on her way back, when she’d disappeared without warning. When I’d asked Simeon he’d told me not to worry, though, so I hadn’t. Much.

My first impression of Temeri was that she looked happy. Her gait was more relaxed than usual, and instead of her normal, intensely neutral expression there was just the slightest hint of a curve to her lips and a narrowing of her eyes.

“Did you have a good day?” I asked her the moment she had her hand on the ladder.

“I did,” she confirmed, the corners of her mouth pulling up just a bit more.

“Did you finalize the agreement with Captain Tammeron?”

“Yep!” she said, popping the ‘p’ and then chuckling to herself. “Turns out we agree on a lot of things. Hey, that’s a nice landing, by the way. Less than a foot!”

“Thank you! It was fiddly!”

“Bet it was,” she said, immediately moving to a new topic. “How did things turn out with the new flavors?”

“Very well! Varlanda, Harvin, and Bekeri each picked out some favorite combinations. You can do the same tomorrow morning!”

“Sounds great!” she said, a little too loudly, as she set foot in the cargo bay. “Can you do the same with water? I’d kill for some lemonade right now, but cold, sweet, and sour water would do.”

“I can make it a little weirdly fruity, too!”

“Great! Do that, and lots of it! Hey, where is everybody?”

“Bekeri’s asleep. And Varlanda and Harvin are in the pool.”

“Alone?”

“Well… yes? Bekeri’s asleep. And Simeon—”

“Right, right.” She snorted, then grinned widely and said, “Better stay away from there then.”

“I’m sure they wouldn’t mind—”

“Nooo, I’m good. Thanks for the consideration,” she said, laughing again. She was climbing to the crew deck at that point, and made a point of not even looking in the direction of the pool room when she reached it. “Might want to replace aaall the water after they’re done. Hey, did you start the next… thing. Development?”

“I did! We didn’t actually talk about it this time, if that’s okay? I remembered how Harvin was talking about one bad hit, and what the Gunship looked like, and… anyway, I’m doing the Crew Defenses one.”

“Oh, yeah, good idea. Good.” She got a mug out of its holder in the cupboard, then held it under the water dispenser. “So what do I…?”

“Just press the button! Sweet and sour and weirdly fruity, right?”

She declared the result a good start, we tweaked it a bit, and then she drank another three full cups and went to bed. By which I mean that she just pulled off her boots and uniform jacket and trousers, and then flopped onto her bed, burrowed into her sheets, and went immediately to sleep.

*

Early the next morning, Temeri had some very uncharitable and completely untrue things to say about herself, mostly having to do with allowing Simeon to stay at Sophia’s medical bay. After visiting the head she rummaged through our own sickbay until she found a small package of powder, which she mixed with a mug of water I teleported in for her.

“I could turn the rejuvenation field on for you a bit if you have a headache,” I offered, and she gratefully accepted, falling asleep on one of the beds almost as soon as she relaxed. I left her there until the others started to stir.

“Cap!” Harvin cheered as Temeri walked into the rec room. He and Varlanda had joined Bekeri as Temeri showered and changed into a clean set of clothes. “Did you try the flavor paste yet?”

“Flavor paste?” she asked with a tiny smile. “No, can’t say that I have. Though Star made me some passable ersatz lemonade last night.”

“You’ve got to try the Harvin Special! Tastes kind of, but not really, like sweetened oatmeal. Though stay away from anything Bekeri put together. The man hates sugar.”

“I’ve told you, I can barely taste the stuff, and what I do taste I don’t enjoy,” Bekeri sighed. “Why would I want any sweetness at all when I can have something salty and savory?”

“What we’re saying is that you, Cap, would probably not prefer Bekeri’s recipes for breakfast,” Varlanda said diplomatically.

Temeri nodded. “I’ll try the fake oatmeal.”

Once Temeri was seated with the others Varlanda asked, “So? How did it go with Tammeron yesterday?”

“Hmm?” Temeri swallowed a spoonful of paste, muttering “This is pretty good,” before looking up. “How do you mean?”

“Are we on? Did you shake on it?”

“Oh, that. Yes, we’re ‘on’. We tweaked some of the quantities, based on their stores and what they can produce, but everything we agreed on stands.”

“Do we have a plan, time-wise?” Harvin asked.

“No. No date. We don’t know how long we need to prepare, and Tammeron is happy for our help as agreed for as long as she can have it. We have a gentlewoman’s agreement not to take too long, and that’s it. On that note, though,” she said, looking seriously between the three. “I think it would be good for all of you to head up there as soon as possible, to see what you’re dealing with. Two at a time, not counting Sim. Vee, Harv, how do you feel about taking a look at that broken-down enchantment today?”

“Sure, except that this is off-duty time, and that’s more than enough on-duty talk,” Varlanda said, leaning forward and resting her chin on her hands. “How did you get along with Captain Tammeron? Did you enjoy yourself?”

“I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Temeri said. “I was there as a tactical analyst and consultant, and to cement a good working relationship with Sophia's crew.” Then she became very focused on eating her flavor paste.

Varlanda gave her a skeptical little hum and a smile and said, “Is that so? You must've worked awful hard, then. I could have sworn I heard you coming back past 2200 hours last night, sounding very cheerful. Must have been my imagination.”

Temeri said nothing, but the very tips of her ears turned pink for some reason.

*

Varlanda and Harvin left after breakfast. It was no easier than it ever was when a member of the Crew left me, but I shipped up and watched them go. I even managed to keep myself from contacting them more than a handful of times on their way up. Half a dozen, tops.

Temeri and Bekeri stayed. That made it a lot easier. And it was a lot of fun watching them, because for once, Temeri didn't sit down alone somewhere and work on tactical and strategic plans that we’d never need. Instead she asked Bekeri if it would bother him terribly if she watched him work.

He seemed surprised and maybe a bit confused by the question, but he didn't object when she followed him to the artifice bay. He didn’t say anything about her observing him with great interest as he installed some of the finished components in what was slowly becoming the Phase Disruption Generator. He didn’t even complain when she started asking questions about what he was doing and how and why he was doing it — if anything, he answered with great enthusiasm. I might even have learned something from listening to them!

He didn’t actually question her presence there until he’d been working for almost two hours. He turned to pick up some tool or other and found that it wasn’t on his bench anymore; Temeri had picked it up and was turning it over and over in her hands. She was staring at it, but didn’t seem to actually be seeing it — her eyes were focused completely wrong, like she was trying to look through the tool, my hull, the rock outside, and into the void beyond.

“Captain,” Bekeri said, “was there a particular reason you wanted to join me here today?”

“Hmm?” Temeri hummed, raising her head to look at him. “What was that?”

“While I certainly don’t mind the interest,” Bekeri continued, “you haven’t asked a question for some time now. And I can’t help but think that you aren’t really paying any attention at the moment.” He nodded at the tool, which she was still turning over and over, rolling it in her hands. “I also really do need my thaumic soldering pen right now.”

“Oh,” Temeri said, looking down at the tool in her hands like she hadn't even realized that she was holding it.

When she didn’t do anything else I helpfully whispered, “You should give it back.”

Temeri jerked in her seat, but did as I’d suggested putting the thing in Bekeri’s waiting hand.

“So?” Bekeri asked. “What’s on your mind? Is it related to why you’re keeping me company?”

“It is,” Temeri answered after a long pause. “Lucilla — Captain Tammeron, I mean — she knows so much about what everyone in her crew does, and she’s only been acting captain for a week. It made me realize that while I know what roles you all have, and roughly what you can do within those roles, I don’t actually know how you accomplish those things beyond some very basic theory. I suppose I… wanted to know how you do your job. Maybe even be able to help with something at some point.”

“Oh,” Bekeri said, looking down at the tool in his hands. “Well… pay attention, then! I was about to fit this bit—” he gestured to a component that he’d left lying inside the half-finished device, “into the housing, then connect it to the power supply and the emitter. Both tasks are fiddly, but neither is anything you need a special class for. Anyone can learn with some interest and hard work. Stand… there, yes, right there. Now you should be able to see properly. So, first we’ll connect the casing of the component to the housing of the Generator…”

I didn’t make a big deal of it when I finished assimilating the Dead Ship. Temeri and Bekeri had been so focused on what they were doing that I didn’t want to disturb them, even though I was very excited. I could just let them know at dinner. Instead I happily watched them work while planning how to expand myself, and reading the message over and over.

Starmind has reached level 3! Upgrade Core to receive benefits: Increased maximum Core integrity. Increased maximum mana accumulation speed. Increased maximum assimilation speed. Increased skill effectiveness. Increased maximum complexity for item teleportation.

I hoped that Varlanda didn’t have any plans for the next day, because I’d be begging her to work on my Core!

I told everyone at the same time as I let them know about me finishing the Crew Defenses Development, which only happened after Temeri and Bekeri had sat down for dinner, anyway — Varlanda and Harvin ate with Simeon and Sophia’s crew. That Development did pretty much what I’d hoped it would: it gave me a bunch of personal protective equipment that I could make, like helmets and vests and boots reinforced with Hull material. It also gave me a schematic for a Personal Force Field Generator, a metal diamond about the size of one of Temeri’s hands and with a slot for a small mana crystal. Temeri and Bekeri were both very excited about that one, even though each one used a bunch of rare elements and would take a couple of hours to make in the Teletic Fabricator.

They had me call up the rest of the Crew who weren’t back yet, and after a short discussion they all agreed that, if it was alright with me, we should probably do Crew Health first. And as nice as it would have been to get one of the fun options, like Recreation, I had to agree. Safety first. And I have to admit that I considered that whatever I got for that one might help Simeon help Sophia’s crew, which would let him come back earlier. I really wanted everyone back again.

That evening, after Varlanda and Harvin returned, the Crew threw me a little party to celebrate the new level. Everybody there tried the Temeri Special, which was very spicy and savory with just a bit of sweetness and acid to it, and then they all sang for me, which was embarrassing and wonderful all at once. Even Simeon joined in via his comms medallion. And while they’d been right when they said that Temeri was the best singer among them, the rest of them weren’t bad. If someone really pressed me to be honest I probably wouldn’t have said that most of them were good, exactly, but they weren’t bad. Not really.

There was a gap between Temeri and everyone else, though. A big one.