Frank laid back on the open cargo bay door, this time with a nasal cannula running up from inside his suit, fiddling with the small communicator he was given. It reminded him of an old earth smartphone that was commonplace a couple of centuries ago. Supposedly it was powerful enough, with the assistance of the Galactic Council Communication Network, for near-instantaneous text or voice communication. He’d have to see if there was a way to get a node or two in range of earth. By itself, it made a pretty decent translator that could be synced with his earbuds and it came preloaded, and also worked as an identification card, datanet access point, and could store Quatloos like a credit chip.

The message he received from the engineering team said they should arrive shortly. The hotel room was nice, but you could tell it was meant to appease big shots with the art and sculptures. No wonder Zedoris said it was extravagant. Besides, he'd prefer to sleep on his own ship. The door on the far end of the hanger hissed open and a small crew entered.

They were a small assortment of species. He tried to place the name with their looks. Rabbit-like Lupus, two dog-like Cannin, cat-like Saith, and who looked like the drider like one he saw walking the station, the Aranea. One thing that caught him as odd, they all appeared to be of the obvious feminine persuasion, with the exception of the Lepus. 'No bunny girls for him,' he chuckled to himself.

"You the pilot of this rig?" The Saith asked.

"Pilot, commander, owner," shrugged Frank. " It's my ship if that's what you're asking."

"Gotcha, name's Lomnit, Chief Engineer. I got an order for a..." Lomnit began going over her datapad. "Full retrofit and minor custom job, oh wow, courtesy of the Brirali Government. How'd you manage that? Save the princess?"

"Not quite, saved an ambassador and her, Hands I think they're called," Frank responded.

"That would explain it. Anyway, what are you? Too pale for a Brirali, not enough fur for a Trogo." Lomnit eyed him.

"Human, kinda new to the scene. Outer rim." Frank said.

"No wonder I never heard of ya. Didn't think anything was even alive out there. Anyway, welcome to the fold. Picked one insane time to come around, but welcome all the same." Lomnit patted his shoulder.

"Insane time?" This made Frank a little more than a little curious.

"Yeah, Some groups want to break from the Council, a few trade wars, about nine border disputes. Anyway, on to the main event, let's talk about your ship. Getting a full retrofit is a bit of an odd request. Now to ask the big question, what drive type do you want?" Lomnit started typing away.

"Drive types? Again, new to the scene." Frank shrugged.

"Really from out there, huh?" the Saith asked. "I'll make it easy for ya. For a ship this size, I can suggest two different drives. Worm, or slip. Worm drives project a wormhole near your destination. Can get you from one point to another, but it takes a short time to charge, limited to about three hundred or so lightyears, and takes a while to cool.” Lomnit explained.

"Also a pain in the pedipalp to maintain." The drider mumbled.

"Shut it, Naza." Lomnit sighed. "It's true though, and needs a constant power source, or it's fried."

"Like the Brirali shuttle in my cargo bay?" Frank pointed a thumb behind him.

"Exactly. But, since you're somewhat new, perhaps a slip drive is better. The best way to describe it is, that it causes you to ‘slip’ into the folds of space-time for travel. It isn't as fast by a long shot. Eighty to a hundred lightyears an hour, power-hungry, but with enough power, rarely has to stop and can be brought back online after a full power down. What kind of drives does this bucket of bolts use anyway?" He finished.

"Not sure what you would call it, 'Singularity Drive' maybe? Operates by generating a gravitational singularity and push-pulls space to jump." Frank explained.

"Really one of those? I haven't seen one of those things since the last time I was at a museum." Lomnit's eyes seemed to light up.

"Yeah, but it works, though star jumping can be a pain, it makes it easier to refuel at least," Frank admitted.

"Star jumping? Wait, what do you mean." Lomnit cocked his head to the side.

"In order to destabilize the singularity, we jump into the gravity well of a star, and power generation uses elemental Hydrogen as a fuel. The easiest way to get it is to scoop directly from stars themselves," he said.

"Wait, that little thing refuels like a smegging capital ship too? Now I can't wait to get my paws on it." Lomnit said, rubbing his hands, well, paws.

Lomnit grabbed his toolbox and followed Frank inside while the rest began an exterior inspection. After covering some of the specifications, removing some panels for testing here and there, explanation of some of the Human engineering philosophy, and agreement on the exchange of a few human component schematics for some pocket cash, it was decided the ship could run slip drives easily enough. Lomnit eventually had the information he needed and headed out, collecting his crew, saying it should only be about four days at most for the work to be done.

After the engineering crew left, Frank began some work of his own. Since they would return in roughly ten hours’ time, he decided he could give them a slight head start on some of the work. Ducking back inside and closing the cargo bay door, he began detaching the snake’s wedding of cables from the Brirali shuttle before closing it up and loading it on the cargo gantry, began disconnecting some of the subsystems, and just making ready for the work ahead.

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Frank awoke to the blaring alarm. There was still a little more than an hour before the work was scheduled to start so he grabbed some breakfast, some coffee and then got dressed. He unholstered his pistol, checked it for a loaded round, then stowed it again, and pocketed the communicator. Heading into the cargo bay, he collected a few tools and tossed them into a tool bag before opening the cargo door, and unloading the Brirali shuttle. He left the cargo gantry deployed and used it to climb up on top of his ship.

Frank began the procedure of disengaging the FTL drive panel safety interlocks. As he worked, he swore he felt someone staring at him. Looked around for a moment. He dismissed the feeling as some paranoia. After nearly finishing the release of the interlocks, he felt it again, this time, a direction, from above. He looked up and in a slight panic, rolled away from his spot and whipped his hand to his pistol, but didn’t draw. He relaxed a lot more when he realized it was the Aranea from yesterday, not but ten meters above him and towards the front of the ship.

“Fucking hell, damn, don’t sneak up on someone,” Frank said before taking a deep breath to calm down.

“Sorry, sorry. No need to shoot. Just came early to do a quick inspection before we started working.” The Aranea responded.

“You could have at least said something,” Frank sighed as he took another deep breath, letting the adrenaline dissipate. “Naza, right? I’m sorry about the response.”

“Yeah, it’s Naza, how did you know I was there? No one ever does.” Her head tilted to the side slightly.

“I felt like someone was watching me.” Frank shrugged.

“Felt it? That makes no sense.” Naza said, dropping down to the top of the ship by her thread.

“Evolutionary remnant, or something. We don’t even know.” Frank sighed.

“Sounds like a prey response, but that reaction was far from it.”

“Well, we once were prey, then evolved to predators,” Frank pointed out.

“Interesting. Anyway, to the work at hand, what were you doing?”

“Oh, I was preparing the drive module for removal ahead of time,” Frank explained, going back to his spot. “Right now, I was removing the safety interlocks of the panel here, so the drive can be pulled,” patting the large panel covering the drive.

“Usually these are located deeper within the ship,” Naza said as she squatted down opposite Frank at the panel.

“Servicing and replacing are a bit easier this way, besides, the modularity of it makes it a bit easier to replace if needed,” Frank said, tapping the panel with the wrench he was using to disengage the final interlock.

Frank finally finished with the interlocks and the pneumatics raised the easily one-ton panel vertically, revealing the drive. Frank answered the technical questions Naza had as he continued the process of disconnecting the drive. After a short while, a voice called from below.

“Oi, Frank, you there?” Lomnit called out.

“Yeah!” Frank stood up and peered over the back edge of the ship, looking down. “Up here.”

“What are ya doing up there? And Naza, you’re here already?” Lomnit asked.

Frank noticed that Naza was up on her feet as well. ‘Damn she moves quietly,’ he thought. He walked over to the rear, bent down to grab the edge, and hopped down the ten or so meters to the open cargo bay door, landing on his feet.

“Oh no, are you alright!?” He heard a panicked Lomnit shout.

“I’m fine,” he said, brushing off his hands. “We were up there preparing the drive for removal.”

“How can you be alright, you fell so far!?” Lomnit was still freaking out a bit.

“Please, calm down. Oh, I know what might help. This is low gravity to me. The gravity on this station is only about a little more than a fourth of my homeworld.” Frank hoped it might help.

“Really?” To his credit, Lomnit seemed to calm down. “Alright, you know your body better than I.”

“Now that that’s over, what’s the plan?” Frank asked.

Four hours passed fairly quickly. They managed to remove the old FTL drive and get the size and fitting requirements needed for the new slip drive. The external sensor pods were opened and already had most of the schematics for the replacements drawn up. The prints for the compatible airlock for the cargo bay door were drawn up, with a focus on allowing it to still be used as a functional ramp for cargo, and plans were made for a computer systems upgrade to handle the calculations needed for the new drive and sensors.

“Break time everyone,” Lomnit called to the workers, all of whom were the ones present the previous day.

“That was quick.” He glanced at his clock. “Wow, did time fly.”

“Anyway, we’ll be back, the same time tomorrow,” Lomnit told Frank.

“I’ll be waiting. See you then,” Frank said as he waved them off. “And Naza, let me know when you arrive next time!” He chuckled.

“What was that about,” Lomnit asked Naza as they were walking out the door.

Frank gathered up his tools as well and put them away in his ship. While trying to figure out where his ten-millimeter socket was, he began hearing a strange, warbling beeping sound. After taking a little longer than he’d like to admit, he realized it came from his communicator. It was Ozakos contacting him.

“Greetings, Frank.”

“Hey Ozakos, what’s going on?” Frank asked, checking under a shelving unit for the socket.

“I was curious to know if you would be interested in attending a meal with us.”

“That would be great. Just finished the first day of work down here. Where and when?” He said, spotting the socket partially hidden behind the shelf mount.

“Working? I thought the engineering staff was to be providing the services.”

“They are, I’m helping them out, besides, I’d prefer to know and learn the modifications made on my ship. Need to know at least basic information if I’m going to service it myself.” Frank said as he finally flicked the socket to a place a little easier to grab it.

“Quite understandable, in that case. On to the main point, we will be dining at a restaurant called ‘Xyzzo Eatery’. I believe they might be a good choice since they provide food for quite a few species, and you will have a chance to see them. Shall we say, one hour from now?”

“That sounds perfect. I’ll see you there and then.” Frank agreed and he picked the socket up off the floor.

“Very well.”

Ozakos cut the connection. Frank pocketed the communicator and set the socket into its mount in a drawer. He double-checked his air levels and decided he may as well swap out his pack if he was to go out to eat. He walked into his room, took off his pack, and dug out a second EVA pack from its dock. This one was much slimmer, had less armor, and had no storage space. It wasn’t as though he was truly expecting a fight now since the station seemed safe enough, but he wasn’t going to go naked. He slotted his previous pack into its place in the closet, then slid the new one onto his back.

Frank tidied up a little more before locking up the ship and heading out to meet with everyone. He found one of those map screens Zedoris used yesterday. Running through the options, he found what was essentially a food court section, not too far from the vendor stand Zedoris took him to. He studied the map closely, making sure he didn’t lose his way, then proceeded toward his destination. It didn’t take him as long as he thought to arrive. The sign was interesting. It looked like a cartoon version of the creature from ‘The Fly’, holding a plate and wearing a little paper hat, almost cute. Since he was the first to arrive, he just sat outside on a bench and just people watched for a bit, though he did notice some of those walking would give him a wide berth. To be fair, he might have done the same.

“Have you been waiting long?” Lelith’s voice came from behind Frank

“Huh?” Frank rose and turned. “Not at all, just here for a moment.”

“Well then, shall we go inside?” Ozakos motioned toward the door.

“Yeah, let’s go!” Zedoris chimed in.

Heading inside, Frank realized the place looked more like a buffet joint as opposed to a proper restaurant, Operated similarly as well. Pay at the door and all you can eat, depending on size, So Frank’s was cheaper than the other three. ‘Little do they know,’ Frank thought. It was fine by him, after all, he was able to get a better idea of how they eat out here. After paying, they grab plates, and to Frank’s surprise, some were small enough to be tea saucers to one that looked more like it could be ridden down a snowy hill. He just grabbed one reminiscent of a regular dinner plate. After getting a crash course on alien food, sauces, drinks, and even desserts, Frank couldn’t help but think something was missing.

“Hmm. No meat?” Frank asked.

“Ahem, well,” Ozakos paused, “it is generally bad manners for animal flesh to be consumed in the main room in places like this. It served in a separate section.” He finished pointing to a door on the sidewall.

“Perhaps later then,” Frank responded.

They eventually finished loading their plates before sitting down. And began talking about their day apart. For Frank, it was mostly talking about the repair work, Zedoris carried on about managing to message a few of her friends, Ozakos mostly rested, while Lelith was discussing the response from Brirali she received.

“So, it was decided that you were to be provided a reward of a sort, Frank,” Lelith said.

“I thought the reward was already covered, the upgrade and Quatloos are already more than enough for me,” Frank explained.

“That was primarily a payment, however, the Brirali Government has deemed it proper to reward you for your service to them as it were.” Lelith looked slightly proud to say it.

“And this reward is…” Frank paused for a response.

“You are to be awarded the ‘Medal of the Five Moons’, the highest honor that can be presented to a non-Brirali.” Lelith beamed

“Well then,” Zedoris appeared stunned. “The primate is moving up in the world it seems.”

“That is quite the surprise,” Ozakos spoke.

“You two didn’t know about it?” Frank asked, receiving responses to the negative from them.

“Is it not exciting?” Lelith was positively cheerful.

“It’s not that, however, I didn’t do much to deserve something like that. Not to mention, I know I’m new around here, but I’d rather not be used as some political pawn.” Frank said.

“Oh, it’s nothing like that.” Lelith’s attitude seemed to droop slightly. “Though now thinking about it, I see how it may be misconstrued as such.”

“I’m sorry, I know how much it means to you, it’s just honestly, I don’t believe I deserve such a high honor for just garnering a rescue,” Frank spoke softly.

“Do not be so modest Frank,” Ozakos responded. “It may be the highest honor to a non-Brirali, but it’s mainly used as a way to thank those not of the Kingdom for their assistance in one form or another. No obligations.”

“Yeah, it’s great to be sure, but it’s not like you have to DO anything afterward. Maybe an interview for BNN, but nothing like being conscripted into military service for receiving it.” Zedoris explained.

“Very well,” Frank knew when to relent. “I’ll accept the Medal.”

At this Lelith perked up a bit again and they continued their meals. Though a bit more quietly. Once they had finished, the other three took their leave, however, Frank had a need for some protein and decided to check out the meat-eater side of the place. It was similarly laid out, plates, then food, sauces, dessert, and drinks. However, in this case, there was a cook, who looked similar to the creature on the sign, behind the counter of different meat cuts. There were only two others, a Saith and a Caninn, sitting at a table. Frank grabbed a plate and began looking over the cuts.

“You look a bit lost.” The cook spoke up after a moment.

“Just not what sure what’s what.” Frank shrugged.

“Well, that’s Ohtla, that’s Sheksi, That some Noahleel…” The chef explained while pointing.

“No, no, I mean,” Frank sighed. “Let’s just say, I eat meat and I’m not from around here, or even close enough to know what those creatures are.

“Ahh, I understand. Let us try this, describe the kind of creature you usually get your meat from, and I’ll try and match something close.” The chef explained, seemingly having gone through the same thing before.

“It’s a large quadruped mammal we call a cow. Generally eats grain, and is raised as food stock. somewhat fatty meat, ringing any bells?” Frank asked.

“It rings bells?” The Chef inquired.

“Ignore that last part. Anything close to that?” Frank hoped.

“Hmm… It sounds like Eszass.” He pointed to a type of meat down the way on the counter. “How do you like it prepared?”

“Medium ra... I mean, cooked a little more than halfway between raw and fully cooked. Along with whatever is commonly used as an added flavor for it while cooking.” Frank attempted to explain.

“That will be easy. Anything you can’t eat?” The chef asked as he began making his preparations.

“No, as far as I know, I’m good with everything.”

“Ok. If you come in here again, and I’m not here, just ask for it ‘half and half with a twist.’ That’s how we describe what you asked for. Every chef knows that line, so that should work for you.”

“I appreciate it.”

The chef went through the paces of cooking up the cut of meat. When he produced it for Frank to take to his plate, it looked no different than a cut of beef from any good place he knew. The smell was smoky with a slightly bitter but citrusy.

“This smells delicious. I thank you again.” Frank said a small smile on his face.

“The pleasure is mine.” The chef said with a buzz.

Frank grabbed a drink that was reminiscent of flat coke, not wanting to just drink water all the time. Non-carbonated, but the taste was similar enough, though woefully lacking in caffeine. They just didn’t do that out here. Though it would go well with a bit of rum, of which he had a small flask on him. He sat down, back to the chef, just in case they aren’t fans of the outside drink. He made his first cut into the meat. It looked close enough to steak and took a tentative bite. It was far beyond what he expected. So chewy, almost melting like a high-grade wagyu steak. The spices used were perfect as well, with a bitter citrus flavor pairing heavenly with it. ‘They really know their food here,’ he thought to himself. He took a short drink from the glass before pulling his flask and adding in a little rum before just losing himself to the flavor as he continued to eat.

“My, my, look who we have here…” a voice came from behind Frank who turned to look and was ‘pleasantly surprised.