Shock of the New
© 2021 by Walter Reimer


Thumbnail art by  rabbi-tom


“Aka, that’s Meredidh,” Verit observed.

The image was of the mare just after she’d emerged from a shower, her tail and mane clinging damply to her golden palomino fur. The air in the room was slightly cool, and her nipples were showing.

Varan smiled fondly at the memory the image conjured up, even Meredith’s irritation at the vir taking her picture at an unexpected moment. “Yes, this is her.”

“Attractive, I suppose,” her older sister remarked.

Her nephews sat and stared wide-eyed at the three-dimensional picture. When another image appeared the oldest, Keshin, asked, “Why is she sad?”

“Sad? Annh,” Varan said. “Terrans are built differently from us, Keshin. That’s a smile.”

His tail slithered into his lap. “That’s weird.”

“Yes, but she’s not a shlan,” his mother pointed out, and her sons were immediately distracted again by more images, this time of Varan with Meredith and Fuji standing on either side of her. None of them were wearing clothes. “They’re quite short.” She gave her younger sister an arch look. “I didn’t know you liked short viri.”

Varan waved her tailspur at her. “I don’t, but they more than compensate for any lack of height.” The two sisters chuckled and Varan went through the rest of the pictures. She had carefully set aside still images or recordings of her and the Terrans having sex. Keshin and his brother might be bored by the images.

Images of aliens, no matter how sentient, mating were usually categorized as ‘nature documentaries.’

She would show them to Verit, though. She might be interested.

After putting away her padd and playing a few games with her nephews, they got interested in an animated retelling of the Fable of the Seasons, and their mother and aunt took advantage of the lull to slip out of the playroom. “Are you going to be busy?” Verit asked.

“Yes, unfortunately,” Varan replied. “I’m sure I have a lot of messages waiting for me. You?”

“The same.” Verit was a legal specialist working for one of the Mercantile Fellowships on Chadan. “I’ll keep an ear on the children.” The two parted company, and Varan went to her room and closed the door before opening her padd again.

One message included more data on her new ship. The Bōank was thirteen years old, but had been involved in the last two engagements against the Ichoniik, and six engagements with Terran ships. It was currently being refitted, with upgrades to its sensors and communications being installed. The ship was part of the 119th Cruiser Division, commanded by Admiral-third Vashak k’Jan. The admiral would want to meet with her prior to taking command.

The crew had been rotating by thirds to deal with battle stress and taking home leave as necessary, something that Varan approved of. It had been a deeply healing experience for her, to be sure. Bōank’s captain had requested transfer to a planetary posting due to stress, and the ship’s Surgeon-master had endorsed the request. The kam had been unable to cope.

The crew was capable and experienced, with an older kam as Command-Second, and Varan suspected she now knew why she’d been transferred.

She was young, and had just been promoted to Gartabin; serving aboard a larger ship than the Kith would greatly increase her experience and education. It would open her up to opportunities for greater advancement in the future.

Varan found that she felt rather pleased at that line of reasoning, if it was accurate.

The padd’s imager created views of the ship’s exterior and interior layouts. She studied them closely, determined to learn everything about the heavy cruiser and poke her nose into every part of it. It was actually difficult to tear herself away from the image, and studied some of the fitness reports for her officers.

After a brief lunch, she opened a communications link to Base FR466, and verified her identity before the connection was made.

“Gartabin,” the subcaptain said. His fur was brown, shading to fawn under his jaw and down the front of his neck. “Greetings. I’m Keran th’Ner, Command-Second of the Bōank. Let me be the first to welcome you as the ship’s new commander.”

Varan smiled. “Thank you, Subcaptain. I have read some of your reports, and have started examining the crew fitness and training reports. Everything is in order, and I am confident that we can work together.”

Th’Ner smiled. “Thank you, Ma’am.”

“How are you doing?” she asked.

His smile faltered for an instant. “I’ve had my family leave, Ma’am. I’ve been in service for fifty years, but my mate and family have helped me. The Surgeon-master has cleared me for duty.”

“Excellent.” The two officers talked of minor matters regarding the crew before she ended the conversation and ended the link. Varan folded up her padd and set it beside her bed before leaving to take over minding her nephews. It would give Verit more time to concentrate on her own work.


***


Much to her mother’s surprise, Varan had prepared dinner for the family.

“I still know how to cook, Vath,” she’d said, laughing as Vorun insisted on looking at the yevech as it sat in the oven.

Her mother grinned at her. “It certainly looks tasty.”

“How was your work?” Varan asked.

“Not very tiring, but tedious. Programming the drones properly can take a great deal of time, especially with the gchert blooming as they are.” Her mother took her usual seat at the dinner table, and smiled gratefully as Varan poured her a glass of henal. “Thank you, v’chat. Are the rest here?”

“Yes – aka, Kunan will be here, but he’s wrapping up a lab project. Dorval and Verit are with the children.”

“Good.” She sipped at her beer before asking, “How much longer are you here, Daughter?”

Varan smiled. “Not very much longer, Mother.” She had resolved to refuse to say anything about her new assignment until the rest of the family had arrived.

Midway through the meal, Varan cleared her throat. “I received some news earlier today.”

“You’re getting married?” Kunan asked, and dodged his older sister’s tail as Varan tried to slap him with it.

“Not, dhot. I received transfer orders.” The other adults at the table all perked their ears and Varan added, “I’ve been reassigned to command a heavy cruiser that’s currently in refit. It’s a major step forward.”

“You were hiding this from me earlier,” Vorun declared.

“Ulnt, Vath,” Varan admitted. “I wanted to tell everyone at once.”

“That’s great news!” Kunan said, and the others all expressed the same sentiments.

After dinner was finished and put away, the family gathered in the main room of the house, and Vorun activated the entertainment system and accessed a local production of Murmurs of Love, a fairly old romance that had been updated to modern times. It was being presented in real time, and while her nephews vied for the best seat in her lap, Varan sat on the floor as the production unfolded.

About a third of the way through, her ear twitched at a sound.

The other six shlani in the room also twitched their ears.

Less than a heartbeat later all seven pairs of ears flattened and the two boys cried out as the sound, a piercing atonal scream, rose in volume to almost deafening levels. “What is that?!” Dorval yelled.

“Emergency signal!” Varan shouted back, setting the two children aside as quickly as she could before getting to her feet and running to get her padd.

The folded-up piece of tech was glowing the light blue ‘danger’ color; she snatched it up and the alarm stopped as she unfolded it.
Her ears went straight up as a recorded voice said, “ – ices Emergency alert; this is a Combined Services Emergency alert. All leaves are canceled; all personnel are commanded to return to duty immediately. All leaves are canceled; all personnel are commanded to return to duty immediately.” The padd was displaying the insignia of the Combined Military Services, along with two codes verifying who was sending it and establishing its legitimacy.

Varan swallowed hard and glanced at the doorway, to see her relatives and brother-in-law staring at her. “I-I’m sorry,” she stammered.

“I have to go. Now.”