After a very pleasant albeit cramped shower Gabriel made his way to medical. Madeline stayed behind to dry but said she might head past later. Gabriel knocked on the door and stepped in. Morthri was back in his scrubs with matching goggles and mask. Alith wore neither making Gabriel think Marthi wore them just for appearances.

“So, what’s planned?” Gabriel asked. They both looked over from their individual screens.

“Ah, Gabriel, right on time,” Morthri said. “Well, we have much we want to test, but less we have the equipment or time for.”

“Yes,” Alith said. “We would like to run all the physical tests again but with equipment that can handle your strength.”

“And I suppose the gym upstairs doesn't have that?”

“Nothing as precise as we would like, no,” Morthri said. “But, we have some physical tests we can run there.”

“I was just there before coming here, so maybe that can wait?” Gabriel suggested.

“Yes, we don’t have the time today in any case,” Alith said and gestured to a bed. “May we take another scan? and a blood sample?”

“Yeah sure, should I get undressed?”

“Yes, I will lock the door,” Morthri said as he walked over to it.

“If Madeline comes around, let her in,” Gabriel said and started to strip. He got into the scanner and it was much the same as last time, they tested reflexes at the same time and the familiar dot moved around and he pressed the button on the handles as it turned red. He finished the test and got dressed again.

“Hm, just shy of your previous results,” Morthri said, studying the screen. “But you said you have been training?”

“Yeah, that’s probably it,” Gabriel said. Alith walked over with a syringe and after applying a numbing cream took some blood. “So, is this all for now?”

“There is one more thing, but we have to analyze the blood first to see if it is necessary,” Alith said as he detached the vial from the syringe and plopped it into a machine. “I wish we had more time.”

“Agreed,” Morthri said. “But, regardless, thank you for this time,” He said and nodded to Gabriel.

“Don’t mention it,” Gabriel said and turned to leave. “Oh, wait, I was told I could get paid for these scans and stuff?” Gabriel asked as the door beeped. He opened it and Madeline walked ín.

“Oh, already done?” she asked.

“Yes,” Morthri said. “We are out of time for today. And regarding your question about payment, Gabriel. Yes, my employer is making payments to your union account.”

“And I have a temporary work agreement with the same employer so that should be reflected in the payment,” Alith added. “Were you not told of this?”

“No,” Gabriel said honestly. “I found out from Sen’Chakar, the Igris I was in the arena with.”

“I see, that is unfortunate. All this is standard to us and it slipped my mind. The information should be on your pcu in any case, but I know there are Zilgi in Emissarie Nioni’s employment that can explain this better than I can,” Morthi said with an apologetic nod. “Still, I feel I should have mentioned it.”

Gabriel shook his head, “No worries, I’ll figure it out, I’m sure you got a lot of work so I’ll leave you to it.”

“You are unfortunately very correct,” Morthri nodded. “We will be in touch to schedule further tests.”

“I’m not up to much so any time,” Gabriel said as he and Madeline stepped out of the way of a Zilgi with his arm in a sling. Speakers around the ship beeped and a crewmember announced that they were behind schedule and that they would enter FTL in 30 minutes. Gabriel looked at his pcu and saw that the first time he’d been given had already passed.

“I don’t feel like eating while we jump into FTL,” Gabriel said to Madeline as they stood outside Medical.

“Same, should we go look at your armor again?” she suggested.

“What a wonderful idea,” Gabriel said and took her hand. They made it to the armory and Gabriel had time to try on the helmet before they jumped into FTL. After a quick lunch, they grabbed the armor, with the help of the technician who had it made, and moved it to the armory on a handy cart so he could try it on.

“So, how does it feel?” the technician asked. He was an almost entirely red Zilgi by the name of Mharkho, with a few green stripes on his exposed arms, tail, and neck. He was shorter than Madeline but had a sturdy build.

Gabriel rolled his shoulders and flexed his fingers, moving his arms around checking for resistance. “It feels great, no pinching or resistance.”

“Perfect, I used your scans to make sure it fits properly. Luckily you are similar to a Roniean so I did not have to start from scratch. Now please put on the helmet.”

Gabriel did so and after a quick adjustment of the padding around his eyes, he looked out of the optics. Mharkho typed on his tablet and text began scrolling down the left side of Gabriel’s screen. He frowned and closed his left eye, the text was still there on his right eye. Both screens had to be connected, with the text shifted for proper parallax. It was slightly disorienting, like using VR goggles for the first time and staring at text beyond the screen.

“Cool,” Gabriel said.

“I’m glad you think so,” Mharkho said. “There, diagnostics are almost done. Please follow the green dot and let me know if anything appears out of place, or if you would like the borders to be closer or farther from the center.” A green dot appeared in front of Gabriel’s vision and he stared at it as it moved around on the heads up display. As it reached the bottom center it blurred, but with a few adjustments, everything worked fine.

Gabriel grinned inside the helmet, “Everything works fine, I would like the top border to come down a little,” Gabriel said. He almost felt like he tried to read off his own forehead looking up. A green line appeared and slowly moved down until Gabriel said stop.

“There, all done,” Mharkho said and packed up, “Please return the armor with any further changes you would like made after you are done testing it today.”

“I will, thanks,” Gabriel said. He first started simply walking in the armor before jogging, sprinting short distances, and jumping. He even tried to make obstacles from the gym equipment to move around or over. The armor had a nice weight to it, it felt almost natural, just slightly too light. But he supposed they had a lot to work with just bringing his weight back to Earth’s gravity so maybe the armor was sturdy enough. After about 5 minutes he decided to stop at the time for the FTL jump was closing in.

“Pretty good right?” Madeline asked when he returned.

“Yeah, it's fantastic, are you sure it’s bulletproof? It feels kinda light,” Gabriel said and pulled the helmet off, running a hand through his hair.

“Only to you I imagine,” Madeline said as she helped him take off the armor. “It’s not much heavier than the ones Ronieans use.” She paused as they pulled the chestplate off. “But with the different gravity, you would probably feel right at home in those, like wearing heavy clothes I would think.”

“Probably,” Gabriel agreed. “This one feels like it has protection, it just feels too thin. Granted in my military days we carried steel plates in our armor.”

“That would be why then,” Madeline chirped. “I promise that this will handle everything we have faced so far. Unless you plan on fighting armored ships or vehicles you will be fine, even without plates of metal.” She put the last piece on the cart.

“5 minutes to FTL jump,” A voice said over the speakers.

“Right on time,” Gabriel said. They pulled the armor over to the armory but didn’t have time to put it away before the ship jumped into FTL. They did however find seats although Gabriel saw a few crewmembers simply grab whatever was closest and brace. They all paused a second a little disoriented before heading on their way. Gabriel and Madeline stored the armor and went for lunch.

Most of the trip went by without incidents or much excitement. Gabriel and Madeline spent plenty of time together, Gabriel trained more of the crew that wanted to try boxing, and Morthi and Alith had performed some more physical tests and after another few days asked for a muscle biopsy. Apparently, there was something they found that the blood sample didn’t fully answer. They wouldn’t tell him what but assured him it might be nothing, and they saw no signs that it would be dangerous to his health. Apart from that, nothing of note happened until they exited FTL over Mhinos. Gabriel was sitting in an observation room at the top of the ship, very early in the morning. The room was rectangular with large slanted windows. Madeline, as well as Alith, were here along with many crewmembers wanting to see the sights.

As they once again entered normal space, Gabriel could see a few other ships in the distance, illuminated by the sun. He saw a brown planet, It looked from this side to be composed of several large islands, or maybe continents, with oceans in between. From this distance, It almost looked like canals but he reckoned the different islands would be out of sight from each other on the widest parts of the water. The entire planet almost looked like it had cracked and water had filled in the spaces and all of it was covered in thin clouds, almost like fog.

“Welcome to Mhinos,” Derthen said. He rested a hand on his daughter's shoulder. “We still have a few hours to go, but we should be at the Union headquarters before evening.”

Gabriel nodded and turned back to look out the window, “Is the entire planet these...separate islands? and do I see two space stations?” Gabriel asked and squinted into the distance

“Islands is quite an understatement,” Derthen chuckled. “But yes, the planet is composed of many smaller continents with water separating them. Just a few are connected. But I’m impressed you can see the stations so well, we are far out.”

“Yeah, I don’t have any problems with my sight,” Gabriel said.

“That’s not what I meant, I can barely make out the stations, they just look like blurs to me,” Derthen said. Gabriel looked over at Madeline who nodded.

“Same here,” she said. “The ships in the distance are white blurs as well.”

“Interesting,” Alith said, butting in on the conversation. He walked over and looked into Gabriel’s eyes. “We need to test your vision. Only Arkrons have better vision than Zilgi.”

“Speaking of tests, how are they going?” Gabriel asked him.

Alith sighed and shook his head. “Slow, but we will hopefully have some answers before too long. Though so far, it is just a suspicion on my and Morthri’s part, there might be nothing.”

“I’ll try and not worry needlessly,” Gabriel said and patted Aliths shoulder. Alith nodded and took one last look at the planet before leaving the room. “Back to the planet,” Gabriel said, addressing Madeline and Derthen again. “What’s it like?”

“Cloudy, as you can tell,” Derthen said and looked out the window. “Most days have calm rain or are overcast. The few days where the sun is out those who can spend their time outside. It’s warm but the weather is dull, although consistent.” Derthen finished. Gabriel looked out over the planet. As the ship was pointed at it, he could only see less than a third of it this side. Gabriel guessed the large belt of clouds that almost covered the planet was centered on the equator.

“No clouds at the poles?” Gabriel asked. He could not see from this angle but the clouds looked to be thinning out.

“Less,” Derthen said. “I’ve only been here once so I am no expert. But I believe the further north or south you go the more wind you will encounter. I seem to recall frequent storms circling the poles, but I am not sure.”

“Could I perhaps see the planet from the bridge?” Gabriel asked carefully.

“I don’t see why not, I have some calls to make and will need my daughter for a few minutes.”

Madeline smiled at Gabriel, “Have fun, I’ll find you later.” Gabriel smiled and moved to leave but Madeline caught his arm and pulled him down for a kiss. “There, now you can leave,” she said. Gabriel glanced over to Derthen, but he either didn’t notice or ignored the exchange.

Gabriel kissed her again. “Love you, see you later,” He said and after receiving a happy smile he left to find the bridge. He did know where it was, as they had entered close to the front of the ship. As he walked he wondered why the civilian part was on the back. Surely it could be at the front with a better view. The bridge could be located at the top maybe. Or just on the floor below, or above for that matter. He entered the crew part and nodded to some troopers and crewmembers he had boxed with.

The bride was open and he stopped at the door. It was about two stories tall, with two central chairs right in the middle. Both had plenty of controls but the left looked to be the pilot's seat. On either side of the two were short stairs going down to four seats with accompanying screens, all in a half-circle, and pointing towards the front of the ship. Short stairs also led up behind the entrance to a loft of sorts. Gabriel saw a familiar figure in the pilot’s seat with a headset on and he heard talking up on the loft. He knocked on the bulkhead and walked in.

Cani turned around in the seat and smiled, she pulled one ear of her headset off, “Gabriel, what brings you here?”

“The view mostly,” He said and walked over to stand by the stairs on her left. He turned around and saw a fancy dressed Zilgi talking with a few others from the bridge crew over a holographic map. He nodded respectfully to the captain and got a nod in return.

“Ah, so you didn’t come all this way just to see me?” Cani asked in a joking tone.

“While it would be nice to catch up, no I didn’t,” Gabriel admitted. He looked over the complicated console, filled with buttons and screens, displaying information he could only mostly guess at. Some he saw were numbers but much was beyond his knowledge in Station standard.

Cani reached up to the headset, “One moment,” she said to Gabriel before rattling off coordinates and permission codes. “So, what do you think?” Cani asked once she was done with the exchange.

“About Mhinos?” Gabriel asked.

“Yeah, a little gloomy don’t you think?”

“Maybe,” Gabriel agreed. “Better than the dump where we picked you up.”

Cani laughed, “Agreed, you might even have the change for a date.”

Gabriel smiled, if he got the time he would certainly like to take Madeline for a date, “That would be nice. Speaking of dates, you have someone in mind for one of your own?” He asked.

Cani hesitated for a moment before giving a sort of affirming shrug, “Maybe,” she said.

“Hm,” Gabriel hummed and scratched his beard. “And who would that be with?” He asked. Cani sighed and glanced at a screen. Then she turned back towards the Captain and the crewmember up on the loft.

“Captain, can I end my shift now and be back before landing?” Cani asked.

The Captain looked over before glancing at the time. “You sure? you are welcome to land but we can handle it.”

“I’m sure, I don’t want to spend the last shift off duty if possible,” Cani said. The Captain nodded and one of the crewmembers he was talking to came down to take Cani’s place. Cani motioned for Gabriel to follow and led him to a small room close to the bridge. “The benefit of being a freelancer,” Cani said and swept her arm around the tiny room. “I have my own room.”

“Cosy,” Gabriel said and sat down at the small table. The room had not much else, a wardrobe, and a bed sunken into the wall like so many others everyone seemed so fond of.

“Drink?” Cani asked and held up something Gabriel didn’t recognize.

“I haven’t even eaten breakfast, nothing alcoholic thanks,” Gabriel said.

“Oh, right, I’ve been up for about 15 hours. Caffeine then?”

“Yes, please,” Gabriel said and accepted a cup once the tea was done brewing. “I need to get me some of this,” Gabriel said as he sipped the tea. “Now, why did you bring me here?”

“I’m not going to talk about who I may or may not want to date in front of the Captain,” Cani said and sat down at the only other chair with a sigh.

“So?” Gabriel asked and motioned for her to go on.

“Don’t think I don’t know what you did, asking me to escort Deana to the medbay,” Cani said as she sipped her drink.

Gabriel smiled, “So?” He asked again.

“So...She seems nice, but I don't know. She’s military and I’m a pilot with a sketchy background.” Cani shrugged and took another drink.

“And I suppose you don’t want to give up flying ships?” Gabriel asked, more as a rhetorical question.

“No,” Cani answered immediately.

“And what does Deana want?”

“I... don't know,” Cani admitted. “We’ve just talked about other things, nothing too personal.” She looked down into her drink.

“Well, I’m probably not the best person to ask, but you two have time for a date when we land right? I can’t imagine even if Deana wants to head back right away that there will be a ship waiting for her.”

“No, probably not, but...” Cani shrugged and fell silent.

“You know, Deana acted the same way talking about you,” Gabriel said. Cani looked up suspiciously. “She was always confident in the arena, even when wounded, but the moment she saw a pretty lady she blushed and went meek.”

“Really?” Cani asked, now more interested. “I suppose that fits with how she acted with me at first.”

“Yeah,” Gabriel said and found his cup almost empty already. “If you like her, give it a shot, and if it doesn't work out, you have a good escape route.”

“When you put it that way,” Cani sighed. “...Thanks.”

“No problem,” Gabriel said and finished his cup. “But don’t take my advice too seriously, as vague as they may be. I’m still a strange alien new to all these cultures.” Gabriel swept his hand vaguely around.

Cani chuckled, “Will do, I’ll ignore any talk about mating dances and songs.”

“Your loss,” Gabriel shrugged.

They talked a bit more about the ship in general, how it was deceivingly easy to fly with all the support systems and how most of the time was spent looking at data or talking with Space traffic control.

“My ship is better,” Cani huffed, now slightly drunk. “I can pilot on my own and actually have to touch the sticks every now and then.”

“Where is your ship by the way?”

“In the docks of this one, it can hold a small ship like mine. Just about, it was a tight squeeze.” Cani said and yawned. “Now, if you don’t mind, I need to sleep.”

“Sure,” Gabriel said and stood to leave.

“Thanks for the talk, I think you will head off before I can get my ship unloaded but if you ever need a pilot, give me a call. Maddie has my number,” Cani said.

“You're not staying here?”

“No, this was temporary,” Cani said and waved for him to leave. “It was nice talking to you again. Don’t tell Deana what I said.”

“I’ll keep my mouth shut, take care Cani,” Gabriel said and walked out, and started to head back towards the civilian area. He bumped into Madeline right at the airlock.

“Hey, how was the view?” she asked.

“Pretty good, I met Cani in the bridge and she had a pretty good idea,” Gabriel said.

“Oh, what might that be?” Madeline asked and grabbed his hand.

“She suggested that I should take you on a date once we get planetside,” Gabriel said. “Anywhere particular?”

“Somewhere with trees,” Madeline said. “That sounds like a great idea.”

“I also suggested she should take Deana on a date,” Gabriel added.

“And what did she say to that?”

“Nothing concrete, but I think she will at least try, they both seem to like each other.”

“Good,” Madeline said. “Now can we have breakfast?”

“Yes, I’m starving.”