Bridgebuilder

Abbot's reaction to Alex's plan to call the Corvin The Titanic - including 'The' as part of the name had arrived in a moment of serendipity - got everybody's attention, and coated the table in front of him in a fine layer of tea.

Alex had never seen someone actually do a spit take before. He wished he had not been seated across from Abbot when it had happened.

This of course led to Alex spending a good half hour defending this choice with enough of a shit eating grin that everyone knew he was putting them on. Just having a bit of a jape. His personal favorite reason was that as it was going to be the largest ship they knew about for who knows how far, it being the The Titanic just fit. That there were no airborne icebergs was a close second. About half the crew eventually came around. Williams gave it a very tongue in cheek endorsement as well.

Several good alternatives had come up. Alex had liked Gigantic, Majestic, and Immortal as a direct alternative for The Titanic, even if he wasn't really going to be using it. Civilian Applications was funny if you had seen the Culture movies. Flighty Boy had amused him as well. Sergeant Karras floated Shuttley McShuttle Face and that had gotten a french fry thrown at the marine while he was being yelled at by all the Humans in the room. Conversely, Amalu had suggested Anka'o in an incredibly earnest manner - the very same name that Sergeant Zenshen had floated, but with the glottal stop that raised it from a function or job to a living embodiment of something. That was a bit much for an eight seat shuttle.

Alex wasn't going to use any of them, and he never let slip what he was really thinking about calling it.

After the rather enjoyable banter surrounding naming the ship, even with a couple of cups of coffee in his system, Alex was beat. He wasn't the first to depart, but he was pretty close, heading back down to Barracks 3 for the evening. It was cold but the snow was so light he left the faceplate on the helmet flipped up. A little fresh air was nice, even if it stung to breathe. The buildings were only about a minute apart if you hustled, anyway.

He just went and got ready for bed. Parked his armor, got clothes to sleep in. Zheng, Tokona, Amalu, and Crenshaw filtered in through two cycles of the airlock. Alex thought about slinking off to his bunk before any of them noticed him - difficult given both Amalu and Crenshaw had seen him standing there in the head while he brushed his teeth, Crenshaw on his way to take off his armor, Amalu headed for the showers.

A little bit more socializing would probably do him good. "Hey, hey, hey. How's everybody doing?"

Linda was the first to respond, yelling from her room. "Hey Sorenson. How about the Beagle?"

"I mean, it had a fairly big role in some scientific events... I feel like something happened to its first Captain, but I don't remember what." Alex was pretty sure that guy died bad. "Given I'll be the first pilot, I think I'll pass."

"Thought I heard you out here." Crenshaw returned, dressed like he was about to continue his day - Naval deck trousers and a combat shirt. Bit of an odd combo, but he was a Navy employee by choice. They exchanged a fist bump and Dominic took a seat in the chairs that had been left in the hall. "How's the hanger coming along?"

"Good, got all the lighting, the ATC pod, and the crane installed. The walls are finishing their extrusion tonight, should be ready for the shuttle tomorrow." Alex just leaned against the wall. He felt like he'd zone out if he sat down, or just fall asleep.

Crenshaw was a good guy, but he also had the energy of someone who would draw on your face if you fell asleep around him. Alex was past that part of his life, so he would not take the chance.

"Right on schedule. I've heard we're getting some gravcycles, too."

"Yeah, supposed to be getting two NS-12 Falcata's. I don't know who here has clearance for them. I'd guess Williams and Karras, at most." Alex shrugged. It made sense that the two highest ranking marines would have some experience with what amounted to ride-on rockets. It wasn't his problem to worry about.

"Why do they need clearance for a gravcycle?" He asked, apparently unaware of what a Falcata was.

"Oh, shit, let me take this - my first project with the Navy was overhauling three hundred original NS-12's into NS-12j spec." Zheng had come back out to the hallway, also dressed like she was going to bed soon.

Crenshaw nodded, a little worried at the enthusiasm there. "Uh huh."

"So the Falc shares compatibility with parts from the Tyrfing loitering anti-ship missile. The reactor and engine, and half the shielding components were lifted directly from it. All the rest is unique, but that's the expensive parts." Zheng was happy as can be to explain this stuff to somebody. "This is the coolest part, in my opinion: in atmosphere, it uses interlocked shielding - the same stuff the Tsla'o use on their armor instead of helmets - to project selectively non-permeable surfaces for lift and control. In space that's just used purely for protection."

Amalu returned from his shower, giving Alex a nod before settling into the empty chair across from Zheng. He leaned in, interested in what Linda was talking about, or at least faking it really well. Crenshaw's outfit made a little more sense seeing what Amalu was wearing, the usual uniform pants and the military issue daman that looked like a tank top. Suppose they didn't issue anything to sleep in, or it was just the daman.

"So it's a missile you can ride?" Crenshaw had unknowingly set Linda upon a topic that she knew exceedingly well, and was looking for a way to curtail it sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, this knowledge had raised some questions for him. "What is that even used for? How do people survive flying that?"

"Speeds are limited to 100kph unless the wearer is equipped with powered armor. The top speed is said to be 1500 in atmosphere, but the Navy tends to understate capability." There was a tone in her voice that said she knew what it really was, but was not supposed to actually say. "Main use case is delivering special forces."

"Then why did we get two of them?" Crenshaw was, understandably, a little concerned about that now.

It did raise some questions for Alex, too. Those were effectively cruise missiles. Not much bang on the front, but even a small reactor is dangerous when the pressure vessel becomes an open container at high speed. He doubted it would take a lot of mods to make it remotely operated, or turn it into a loitering munition proper.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Linda shook her head. "No idea. If I had to guess, somebody probably thought we could use them to scout on the ground at relatively close locations."

"Shit, all right. They can have fun with that." Crenshaw shook his head, not inclined to mess around with a vehicle that went that fast and offered no protection aside from shielding.

"Interesting as this is, I think I'm going to go wind down." Alex gave the group a little nod and retreated to the quiet isolation of his shared cabin.

Alex sat at the desk, stared at the window in its frosted over privacy setting, and contemplated life. Something he probably shouldn't be doing right at this moment.

It was good to see the crew in general getting along. Alex had thought about hanging out with the rest of Barracks 3 while waiting for his wife- Bunk mate. Waiting for his bunk mate to show up as well. But he really only wanted to spend some surreptitious quality time with Carbon right now. Failing that, the inside of his eyelids would make a reasonable second choice

Alex actually found that really annoying. It wasn't late at all. Today had not been a physically difficult day, nor a particularly taxing one mentally aside from a few technological puzzles and a hint of time management. He was completely sure that Abbot had done more labor than he had, even if their words guy was plugged into an external power source while doing so.

It wasn't even keeping secrets, either. That had come with surprising ease, as it was just how things had been a few months ago. The memory was fresh.

He heard the main door cycle, and everybody greeted Carbon. They spoke for a few moments and she parked her armor in the frame just on the other side of the wall and walked in, closing the door behind her. She was wearing a robe that Alex had never seen her wear before. Electric blue that matched her eyes, silky looking. He wasn't sure what exactly made him think this, but it had a distinctly human look to it. It was just a robe, though. A silky robe that wasn't fastened very well and hung open a little bit and he could see thigh as she walked.

Don't comment on that, don't comment on that, don't comment on that.

"Hey Lan. Burning the midnight oil?" Whew.

Wait. She didn't come in here to get the robe and it hadn't been in the hall when he came in. Where the hell had she gotten it?

"It-" Carbon stopped abruptly when she really looked at his face. Visibly alarmed. "It is not yet midnight, but you look very tired."

He sighed. Really shouldn't have been sitting here stewing. "I feel very tired. I don't think I slept very well last night and the excitement of being back here has worn off." That was the crux of it. Interesting tasks and some fun banter had carried him along the day pretty well, but he was crashing.

"You should go to bed instead of..." Carbon looked around the room, squinting and suspicious. Her gaze swept over him and the empty desk, not even a cup sitting on it. "Were you staring at the wall?"

Alex laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. "No, I was staring at the window."

She looked up at the window, the privacy setting still engaged and absolutely nothing visible through it. Carbon's gaze returned to him slowly, dark lips pulled thin, obvious concern written on her face. "Perhaps you should go to bed."

"I just wanted to make sure everyone was in first." Had he? He wanted to see her before going to bed more than anything, and since she was the last one in, it made sense in a roundabout, complete bullshit sort of way.

"Well, as I saw that everyone else is here, you have no one left to wait for." She shooed him from the chair, ushering him towards the bunks. "You should go to bed."

"All right, all right. I'm going." Once out of the range of the camera in the door controls, he did sneak a hug.

Carbon returned it with enthusiasm.

"Is that silk?" Alex asked, voice low as he leaned on the ladder to his bunk.

"Printed, but yes." She pinched the collar of the robe between two fingers, testing the fabric. "From a moth larva, originally. Fascinating."

"It is, yeah, but... Where did you get it?"

"Zheng suggested it as a test run on one of the matter compilers, and as a potential avenue to deal with the nudity issue. It is very light." She gestured at the hemline, roughly knee height on her, and did a little twirl to demonstrate. "What do you think?"

It was cute in a way he thought was distinctly Human. Alex was completely sure that she'd never done that before, he would have remembered his brain shutting off like it just did as the hem of her robe briefly overcame the pull of gravity and revealed that yes, she was naked under there. "Love it." Now, where she had picked up that move was a question for another day.

Carbon smiled, quite pleased with that as she went to get some more clothes. "I am glad. Now, as the Lan on this expedition, I must request that you get more rest for your physical and mental health."

"Yeah, I get it. If you need me for anything, I'll be in my bunk." He climbed the slightly too flexible ladder and landed on his mattress like a dead weight. Even that little display wasn't enough to overcome how tired he felt. "Night."

"Good night, Pilot." Carbon favored him with another little smile as she pulled her daman on.

He was out before he even thought to slide the privacy shutter closed.

He stayed out until he noticed someone fuzzy trying to crawl over him in pitch dark in the very limited space of his bunk. Alex grumbled softly, shifting so his back was against the cool polymer wall. "That had better be you."

Alex swore to all of the Tsla'o hells, if this was anyone but his wife...

The soft chuckle that came in reply could only belong to Carbon. "Of course it is. I always lock the door." She slid the privacy shutters most of the way closed.

"Mmh, figured. Get scared or something?"

There was a smile in her voice. "No. Midnight has finally arrived, so I am here for a little celebration."

Well, ok. It was fine that Carbon remembered his birthday. Expected, actually, given how good she was at remembering important dates and the marriage thing. "I suppose that's a good reason for a visit."

"I told Williams that I seemed to recall you saying that you prefer a more private celebration when she mentioned it earlier. Family, close friends." She slipped a hot hand under his shirt and slid it up his side. "I suspect she will recommend that everyone not make a... 'big deal' out of it."

"Yeah. Nothing fancy." He nodded, still half asleep as he pulled her close.

"I did not bring you a gift, but I was thinking perhaps I could still give you something..." Carbon said in a very coy tone as she slipped her hand under his shirt and slid down his abdomen, palm searing hot against his skin.

Alex was now a hundred percent awake, possibly even a hundred and ten percent. "W-well... Who am I to say no?"