Chapter 33: The Sidequest

March 1^st, 2279

Somehow, that freight elevator seemed to slow down even more, each time Basil used it. It made total sense, actually, the machinery was wearing out and since XD had been disbanded, there wasn’t really a need for much freight to be pulled up and down deep within Kappa 3, so repairs to this old thing were not a priority. It was maybe time to stop using it and switch over to pods, Basil thought, but Greybeard intrigued him. He had to be on his side, otherwise he wouldn’t have given him the tip to listen to the distortions in cosmic radiation to find cloaked ships, the routine always active when the Rubicon was in an AOO. Now, the elevator made it to the top, not of the station, but again near the top of it and there were some corridors that showed more proof of life than the lower section of the formerly important base. Some traders had set up stands, selling all kinds of bits and bobs to Fleet personnel, eager to bring home something very strange along with a story of what it was. It seemed at times that the story the trader told the bright-eyed fleetling about the object mattered more than the object itself, so they were completely useless, but all different, so that a different story might be told. Basil had once taken the time to exhaust one of the traders, thinking he could learn some tricks that work on more races than just humans, but found out that the unifying factors of these stories were simply the act and pursuit of reproduction, obtaining wealth and having the respect of others. It seemed as if the universe only knew these basic directions and everyone made their tiny little, insignificant modifications to them, buzzing around in the uncaring void.

Basil was fast, really fast. But that was of no issue to the well-groomed officer, for he had taken an antitranspirant to be free of sweat in the forseeable future. His medcomp would regulate his body temperature in the meantime. There were some side effects, though, for example, the consumption of alcohol was forbidden in combination with the antitranspirant, since the alcohol’s effects were amplified. Here as well, Basil relied on his medcomp to keep him at the exact level he wanted to be at: Relaxed but still charming and wordy.

As he entered the noble restaurant (which would cost him around 10% of his current credits as he later found out, which sounded not a lot until one considers a whole career working up those credits.), he began to look around for Sasha Freiberger. She was easily spotted, for she was again the only human seated on the large red snakelike sofa that went through the whole massive room, which meant that all guests were actually sitting next to each other, just in bends. The tables hovered at the desired height, for making tables that would fit the eating customs of every available race on Kappa 3 would be a fool’s errand. There also was a band playing, since someone thousands of years ago decided one could not have expensive food without a band playing, but Sasha had wisely chosen a space far off the band, which was actually on holo, meaning they were performing in several places at the same time, cutting costs for the restaurant’s owners for sure. They were playing a version that Basil would call “electronic music without the electronic part” as they were creating the beats by hammering on objects (some gracefully and delicate, one really large Alien holding a large piece of metal to regularly smack hard) and the singer was trying to smoothe out the peaks of the bangs with soft singing in a language unknown to Basil, but it was enticing. Every word – or what he would identify as such – already started as the last one ended, betraying dual organs in the singer, able to end and start a sound coming from the same, slightly frog-like mouth. Basil had walked sharply into the room after spotting Sasha, but had then gotten lost in thoughts about the band, and made his first mistake of the evening by not reacting to Sasha calling him, calling him “Alex” or “Al”. Ultimately, he stopped gorging his eyes at the singer and him and Sasha locked eyes, the officer quickly coming over. Basil, the same man who had planned 5 or 6 steps ahead of the SFC Maka just days earlier, had now forgotten to plan how to greet her, so he just stood there, trying to smile confidently, which made him look like a child that was waiting to see if people really slipped on banana peels. Basil followed his instincts now and Sasha got a firm handshake and then he presented her with a weird object as a gift. It was small and fit well into the palm of her hand, but it was unshapely, like it had been cut out of something. Basil had indeed found it on the floor aboard the Rubicon and simply picked it up to save on HCC, but on the way past the traders, he decided to make up a story for Sasha. He really didn’t want to be shot down this night.

Sasha studied the heavy metal for a while and then relented.

- Okay, I give up, what is this?

- Oh, this is one of Melurios’ legendary flowers. Or, a part of it.

- Oh, so that’s your plan? Impress me with the knowledge you gained in the stars?

- You’re absolutely right. But it is not a story for the meak, as it involves The Great Melurio’s final act!