The records didn’t specify exactly how that happened. A notation indicated it was a culturally sensitive topic that the race didn’t like to talk about outside of their own.
Unfortunately, if F’ahrkays didn’t fertilize and transfer the eggs once they fully developed and were ready for the process, it meant they would die in less than two weeks. They had no control over that once the process started. Although it took the better part of a year from when the eggs began to grow and reached the point of fertilization and transfer.
F’ahrkays didn’t have traditional mates like Terrans, although they frequently had partners they entered into agreements with to cross-incubate eggs for each other. Out of each clutch of twenty to thirty eggs on average, usually less than five survived the transfer and incubation. Of those that survived, less than fifty percent made it to adulthood.
Emi closed the file and pinched the bridge of her nose. She still didn’t know a lot about the process, but what little she did know she considered too much information.
If she didn’t have to deliver any F’ahrkay babies, that was fine by her.
They spent the afternoon enjoying the spa and doing some last-minute shopping for little luxuries they didn’t normally have access to, like booze, makeup, and specialty foods. As they packed and prepared to check out that afternoon, Emi did her damnedest to put on a good front for her men.
I will suck this up. I will suck this up.
With her nerves increasingly on edge, Emi returned to the Bight with her men, unable to stop looking around her for any sign of the F’ahrkay as they approached the gangway leading to their ship.
“He’s not here yet,” Aaron finally said.
Heat filled her face. “What?”
He brought her hand to his lips and feathered them across her knuckles. “Kayehalau. He’s not here. He’s getting the rest of his personal effects from the other ship. He won’t be here until later this evening, when we do the final load and get his pod situated.” He pointed to what looked like a large, rectangular storage container, approximately twenty feet long and ten feet wide that sat with several other cargo stacks waiting to be loaded into the Bight’s hold.
“Oh.” Relief, followed by annoying embarrassment flooded her. I hope my face isn’t red.
She had to get a handle on this.
After they were aboard and had stowed their things in their quarters, the men began working through their departure checklists. Emi hunted Ford down in engineering, where he was checking the jump engine relays.
“Can I ask a favor?” she muttered.
He frowned. “Okay, spill it.”
“What?”
He rolled his eyes at her. “You don’t need to go through any convoluted preamble with us. You should know that by now.”
“Will you please do Kayehalau’s new crew exam for me?”
“Huh?”
She nodded.
“That’s sort of against regulations, isn’t it?”
She arched an eyebrow at him.
“I mean he’s not one of us. He’s a perfect little altar boy, from the looks of his record. I’d hate him to report us for that.”
“You’re a medic. I’ll sit there in the office and supervise.”
“By supervise, you mean try not to run for cover?”
“Please?”
He nodded. “Yeah, of course I will.” He shook the wrench in his hand at her. “I am not, however, digging around in his prostate, or whatever they have.”
She vigorously shook her head. “They don’t. And you don’t have to. I just need vitals and a basic, quick exam.” She ran her hands up and down her arms. They’d dropped the temp in the non-quarters parts of the ship already in preparation of being detached from the station’s utility umbilicals. She’d have to start wearing her sweatsuits again to keep warm. “I just…please?”
He pulled her in for a quick kiss. “Of course. We’ll say you wanted me to have experience with non-Terran species.”
“Hey, that’s pretty good!”
He laughed, releasing her with a gentle swat to her bottom. “Who do you think usually had to talk us out of trouble with the MPs?”
Emi didn’t have to be on the bridge when they departed. She shut herself in the hydro lab and forced herself to keep her mind off their new crew member.
Occasionally she felt glimpses of the dark dread, but nothing nearly as overwhelming as in Dobros’ office that first meeting.
Maybe it will be okay. Maybe she just needed a few days off to clear her head, and next time she met Kayehalau, she wouldn’t have a bad reaction.
Maybe I’ll start growing unicorns that can shit rainbows, too.
She cut off that line of thought.
When Ford called her on the ship’s com link and told her it was dinnertime, she forced a cheery tone she didn’t remotely feel as she told him she’d grab a bite to eat later.
When Aaron called her a minute later to tell her the same thing, she knew from his tone he wasn’t informing.
He was ordering.
Grumbling, she slowly made her way up to the crew area to the galley. The closer she drew, the worse she felt. Dark, ominous clouds filled her senses, growing stronger and stormier with every step she took toward the galley. When the doorway came into view, she spotted an extra chair now at their table, Kayehalau seated in it.
Caph spotted her first. He swooped in, grabbed her hand, and led her to the table. “Hon, eh, Dr. Emilia Hypatia, this is Kayehalau.”
She preemptively raised her hand in greeting to avoid shaking with him as she sat as far away from him as she could. Forcing a smile, she said, “Nice to meet you, Kayehalau.”
Not only did she still feel what she’d felt in the commander’s office, it felt ten times worse.
How the fuck am I supposed to share a ship with this dude for weeks?
She refused to cry in front of him and kept the smile plastered to her face.
“Dr. Hypatia, Captain Lucio has spoken with me about your discomfort. I apologize for that. I do not wish to add to it.”
Great, let’s toss guilt onto the pile that he wants to be nice to me. The F’ahrkay’s voice sounded placid, calm, and with little intonation. She wondered if they always sounded like that, or if he was just making an attempt not to freak her out even more.
“It’s okay. It’s not your problem, it’s mine.” She reached for the salad and scooped some onto her plate as another feeling hit her senses. Worry.
Glancing at her three men, she realized they had intently focused on her. “Guys, dinner. Eat. I have a lot of stuff to do.”
As one, her three men relaxed.
Okay. I’ll fake it ’til I make it.
But she still wasn’t examining him.
Emi decided the best way to handle it was to get it out of the way as soon as possible so it wasn’t hanging over her head. After dinner, once the galley was cleaned up, she told Ford and Kayehalau to meet her in sick bay. She sensed Aaron’s curiosity over that, but he didn’t question her.
She had come up with the perfect reason, besides Ford’s ready excuse, not to do the exam herself. When the two arrived in sick bay, she had the drug synthesizer opened, with several cases of supplies stacked around it.
“Um, Emi, what are you doing?” Ford asked.
“We picked up more supplies from the base. I need to get them added.” She nodded to her desk, where a medchart handheld sat on the corner. “There’s his file. Just the basics.”
She didn’t turn around all the way to look at Kayehalau when he spoke. “You are not performing the exam, Dr. Hypatia?”