“What are our options, Commander? How do we get back home?”, Ke'zulah asked.
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“We have a few options. As for getting back home, no-one really knows at the moment. Interstellar Federation is working on getting the video stream I recorded sent to our Union through some allies of theirs near the edge of the galaxy.
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”We've been invited to either join a crew on another ship in Interstellar Federation, or join the crew here on the Artemis as representatives of our Vh'rilot Union. You'd be part of the ship's housekeeping department here, like you were on our ship, if you wanted.
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“I'd be co-First Officer with T'Planh.”, he said.
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The entire conversation was in Vh'rilot.
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“You will no longer be Commanding Officer, Commander?”, she asked.
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“No. I'd keep my rank of Commander or be given the rank of Sub-Commander. Either is acceptable to me.”, he replied.
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“You will always be Commander to me.”, she said, smiling tenderly.
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“Thank you, but I'd prefer you called me Vo'ptinh when we're in private. Otherwise whatever my rank is will be alright.
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”Commander Poole's a good man, Ke'zulah. I won't mind not being commanding officer here. It would be an honor to serve under him.”, he replied, smiling tenderly at her as well.
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“You're my commanding officer, Commander. I'll obey your order, whatever it is.”, she said, smiling.
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“What do you think of our options? What would you like to do?”, he asked.
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“I'll do whatever you tell me to do, Commander.”, she said.
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“I'm not the commander anymore, Ke'zulah. Our ship's gone...vaporized. It doesn't exist anymore. I need you to tell me which option you've chosen.”, he said, switching over to Terran.
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“I choose to follow your orders, Commander. You are my commander, after all. Please...issue me a command. Issue me an order, Commander Za'tolbh.”, she replied, struggling mightily not to cry.
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Vo'ptinh leaned forward and held her in his arms. She put her arms around him as well.
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He realized part of her unbending behavior might be caused by residual neurological effects of her coma, as the doctor had said might happen, post-traumatic stress from the ordeal they'd been through, or her inability to cope with the news he'd given her about their ship and where they were.
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For all Vo'ptinh knew, it could have been caused by a combination of all three.
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No matter what the cause, he knew she needed to be held and reassured of their safety. He also knew that he needed to be held at that moment as well.
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“What do we do, Commander? Tell me what we to do. Tell me what you want me to do, and what we are going to do.”, she said, crying.
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He could tell she wasn't going to make a decision herself in the matter. Ke'zulah was quite loyal to him as her commander, and had no intention of changing that loyalty quite yet.
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It could have also been her way of helping him accept what had happened to him regarding the ship and having to vaporize their ship.
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They held each other for a few minutes, comforting each other.
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“Alright, Ke'zulah. I'll decide. It's alright. I'll make our decision.”, he said tenderly.
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He pressed her call button and Dr. Ortkhat came in almost immediately.
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“Dr. Ortkhat, could you ask Commander Poole to come in here please?”, asked Vo'ptinh.
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“Yes, of course.”, he said, then motioned for Craig to come in the room.
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“Hey there, Vo'ptinh. What can I do for you?”, Craig asked as he walked into the room.
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After introducing Ke'zulah, who was still clinging to him and crying softly, Vo'ptinh said,
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“Commander, Ke'zulah and I will gladly accept your kind offer of letting us join your crew on the mission. It will be an honor to serve under you. You have our immense gratitude, respect and loyalty.”, Vo'ptinh said.
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“Welcome aboard...both of you. I have one cabin you can share or you can each have your own quarters. Which would you prefer?”, Craig asked.
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“We'll share a cabin, Commander. Ke'zulah and I'll work out the sleeping arrangements once we've moved into our quarters.”, Vo'ptinh said.
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“Alright. With your permission, Clarissa and I would like to bring your belongings there after we leave here.
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”You'll each need to pick out a set of clothes for when you're discharged before we leave. You'll have a fairly well-stocked kitchen in your cabin, with plenty of counter space, as well as a fully-stocked bathroom.”, he replied.
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“Thank you, Sir.”, said Vo'ptinh.
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Ke'zulah thanked him softly through her tears.
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“You're both very welcome.”, replied Craig.
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He handed Vo'ptinh the bags with their belongings one at a time. Vo'ptinh pulled out a uniform shirt and pants plus a pair of socks for himself, then handed Ke'zulah a bag for her to pick out something for herself.
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After picking out her clothes, she handed Craig the bag. Craig brought the bags over to Clarissa and introduced her to Ke'zulah. They then left for Vo'ptinh and Ke'zulah's cabin and set everything up for them.
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The next morning, shortly after breakfast, Ke'zulah's catheter was removed. Vo'ptinh's intravenous line was also removed. They were to be released the next day or the day after.
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Craig and Clarissa came in to check on them. After Craig left for the bridge, she stayed and chatted with them for over an hour in order to learn more about them and their race.
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After Clarissa left and they'd eaten lunch, Nurse Baker got Ke'zulah up and had her start walking. Vo'ptinh walked with her and held her hand. They walked all around sick bay, then down a few halls. She was tired and walked slowly, but did fairly well nonetheless.
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Vo'ptinh encouraged her quite a bit. He'd been given a map as well as the freedom of the ship by Craig. He took Ke'zulah to the observation deck and dining hall, where they sat down for abit and had some iced tea and a snack.
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They were very interested in the various alien crewmembers they encountered on their walk. They talked to some of them, wanting to learn about their kind.
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They had never seen aliens like them before, and were genuinely very curious about them.
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Vo'ptinh and Ke'zulah also talked about their new life aboard the ship. After getting another glass of iced tea, they slowly walked back to sick bay.
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With Nurse Baker's help, Vo'ptinh helped her back into bed.
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The next day, her intravenous line was removed. After they'd eaten lunch, they were discharged. Craig and Clarissa escorted them to their new quarters.
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The cabin was quite large! Immediately to the left of the cabin door was a large master bedroom with a very large walk-in closet. There was frosted glass on the wall outside of the room, giving it a nice eclectic feel.
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To the immediate right of the cabin door was a wall and coat rack.
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A few feet into the cabin on the right was a large eat-in galley-style kitchen fully furnished with a refrigerator, stove, upright freezer, a micro-convection oven to the right of the kitchen door, cabinets, a coffeemaker, replicator, and a rectangular table with four chairs to the immediate left of the kitchen entrance.
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Thanks to the dietary department, the freezer was fully stocked with various meats and frozen vegetables.
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The department had also stocked their refrigerator with fresh milk, cheese, eggs and bread.
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To the left of the kitchen entrance was a large wall with a large-screen, as well as room for whatever they'd like to put there.
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To the left of the cabin door, just past the bedroom, was the spacious Gathering Room. It was fully-furnished with a couch with dual recliners, coffeetable, two end tables with lamps, and two plush rocker-recliners. Behind the couch was a large bay window.
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Past the Gathering Room was a large bathroom with a full-sized tub and shower, complete with a massaging shower head. The shower curtain had a design of a map of the galaxy on it.
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A double vanity with a mirror and medicine cabinet above it was to the immediate left as you walked into the bathroom. A toilet was between the vanity and bathtub. The toilet had a padded seat and lid, which impressed Ke'zulah.
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Across from the toilet was a towel rack. The toilet paper holder was to the right of the toilet, attached to the side of the vanity.
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The vanity was fully-stocked with bath towels, washcloths, hand-towels, toilet paper, soaps, shampoos and other toiletries, plus items women used.
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Across from the bathroom was a medium-sized open office with a desk and other office furniture.
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Looking straight into the cabin from the door was a large porthole window and a tall tropical plant to the right of the window just past the office. They looked all around and were very impressed.
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They then went into their bedroom. Vo'ptinh was determined that they share a bed.
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“Xỳāng s̄ngb?”, she asked him when he told her they'd be sharing the bed since there was plenty of room in it for the two of them. (Platonically?)
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“I'd prefer otherwise, but won't force you.”, he said.
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The room had a king-size bed, a large dresser across from the foot of the bed, and a nightstand on each side of the bed, each stand complete with a lamp.
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Sitting on the bed, she remarked to Vo'ptinh how comfortable the mattress was.
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It was firm, but not "wooden board" firm, and soft but not "Help! I'm falling into an endless pile of down feathers!" soft, as they described a too soft mattress. It was a very good compromise between the two extremes, they thought.
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Above the dresser was a large-screen.
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Their walk-in closet was what dreams were made of, she thought. It was larger than the cabin's office and had plenty of room for clothes, shoes, and anything else they could think of to put in there.
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The second bedroom was just past the office. They decided they'd use that as their meditation room.
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Vo'ptinh then got their new stream links set up, and Ke'zulah got the kitchen organized more to her liking.
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Later on, she got her nightgown on; a pink nightgown with short sleeves that came mid-calf on her. He was shirtless, clad only in sleep pants.
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They climbed into bed and sat up for abit, looking through a disc file of Vh'rilot poetry.
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After reading for 10 minutes or so, Vo'ptinh put the disc on Ke'zulah's nightstand, then gently caressed her horns.
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“Your horns are very beautiful.”, he said tenderly.
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In Vh'rilot culture, complimenting the horns of someone of the opposite sex was a form of flirting. It was similar to saying “You have gorgeous eyes” or “You've got a nice smile” in human culture.
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“Thank you. Yours are very impressive.”, she replied, blushing deeply as she very tentatively caressed his horns.
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Vh'rilot males had much larger horns than females, although a Vh'rilot female's horns were nothing to sneeze at, as an ancient human phrase said.
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Their horns were so important to Vh'rilots and their culture that a common Vh'rilot saying for “I love you” was
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“I've been caught in your horns.”
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“Thank you.”, he said, then gave her a tender, lingering kiss, followed by several more kisses.
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