Quarantine Run

Daxos locked the air latch and checked the seals for a final time before he tapped his coms device. "Captain, we are a go to disembark. Ports are sealed and docking clamps are retracted" he reported, before walking further back into the hangar and proceeding to slowly check the cargo they'd been hired to carry. Captain Thassa rarely responded when he signaled the all-clear, she preferred instead to just start the process of disembarking, and as the ship shook Daxos was made aware that's just what she was doing. Their small multi-purpose freighter was an older model to be sure, probably too old for most people on the core worlds comfort levels to even fly. But any seasoned captain would tell you that an old BW Ironside model like theirs was indestructible and would outlast most suns. Cargo secure Daxos walked the ship's halls towards the main salon, checking to make sure all the bulkheads and bedrooms were sealed. They had only four passengers for this run, but he didn't wanna risk anyone getting sticky fingers. As he passed his room he wrapped his door once with his prosthetic steel finger, a high metallic

Ting

the only response. He passed the kitchen where he saw Nylea making herself a sandwich or something, he didn't bother greeting her since he knew he'd see her momentarily as they did their "Mission Briefing" in the salon. He entered the well appointed if somewhat dimly lit great room and put on his best "I'm not scary I'm friendly" Face for the passengers as he spotted them sitting in one of the two round sofas, all talking animatedly. They quieted as he entered but regarded him with a nervous friendliness. He smiled and gave a small wave before taking up a position near where he knew the captain would be standing so he could easily join her for his portion of the briefing. He pulled out his THC cart and took a small hit to ease the pre-voyage jitters, not that he had many left in him after five years on Thassa's crew and five years prior to that serving under her in the 13th fleet.

Thassa entered the room from the forward side, Calix the pilot close at her heels, closing the door behind them. Thassa took up a position at the center of the room, unlike her normal post by the second couch, meaning something about this briefing would be different immediately. Calix took up the seat next to Daxos, and at approximately the same time Nylea made her way in from the kitchen and took up another spot on the bench. Thassa looked at the two assembled parties of guests and crew and nodded. "Alright let's get this started so we're not wasting anyone's time unnecessarily. To our passengers, we're glad to have you aboard. Once we're far enough from the space port to engage our warp door here in about five minutes, the journey to Ergamon 2 should be pretty quick and gentle. Journey is slated to take five days, but with projected ionic bursts we may make it in three. Don't get your hopes up just be aware. Now when we arrive at the satellite my crew and I will help disembark you and unload your cargo, after which point we'll be taking on a load from the satellite and heading back to Dranith 4. I'll turn things over to my first mate Daxos, he'll be your primary liaison on this trip" She nodded to Daxos who stood and walked to where she was in the center of the room, still unsure why she took this position.

"Galley, communal head, and Salon are open to you all hours of the day, we do ask you to be respectful in regards to noise in the hallways, as between the four of us we'll be working round the clock. Captain Thassa and Calix will be taking the first shift immediately following this meeting till midnight when Nylea and I will take over. My quarters are across the hall from yours, so if you have urgent need of me please don't be afraid to knock, that said I'm a deep sleeper so you're better to hail the captain on the intercom pads near the entry panel to every common space and quarters. Please respect that the bridge and cargo hold are off limits to guests unless accompanied by a crew member while we are in transit for everyone's safety, and if you need to access your cargo in flight, you can simply ask one of us to escort you. In the event we lose compression due to a catastrophic incident, all bulkheads will seal automatically and a distress signal will be sent. Each chamber should have at least 48 hrs worth of oxygen in it and we are on a well traveled shipping lane, so please, in the event of an emergency just sit tight and wait for help. If you have any questions I'll be happy to take them now" He smiled. He looked at the group of passengers and for the first time realized it was a bunch of women, ranging in age from mid-twenties to late seventies. He wondered briefly if they were family, but remembered from the passenger manifest they all had different surnames. The eldest woman raised her hand

"I uhm...well I may need some medication from my stored luggage at some point. Is that alright?" she asked nervously. Daxos smiled genially and nodded, trying his best not to frighten the woman anymore than he obviously already did. At 6 '6 and dotted with battle scars from his time with the 13th, Daxos cut an imposing figure in any spaceport or bar. Realizing now he stood in a room where the average height was 5 '8 and everyone was either female or Calix made him all the more aware of how intimidating he could unintentionally be.

"More than alright. If you're still up at midnight I'll be happy to take you myself, otherwise my friend Calix over there can take you immediately following this meeting." He smiled, this time the woman returned the smile with warmth and a nod. No more questions were raised so Daxos thanked them for their attention and returned the floor to the captain.

"Thank you all for choosing to fly with us and I hope you'll enjoy your trip. To my crew I'd like a word with you on the bridge." She said, turning to the booth where Daxos and the others sat. He stood with a nod and followed her to the bridge, the others trailing behind him. As the bulkhead closed and he ascended the short staircase to the bridge he briefly caught sight of the monitors for the cameras outside the ship. Though they would shut off during warp they now displayed a beautiful view of Dranith 4 and 3, as well as their numerous moons. "So, what do you know about Ergamon?" She asked the assembled crew, but mostly focused her gaze on Daxos. Thassa was a beautiful woman, tall and curvy with a more than ample chest, she was well muscled and strong, with thick thighs, and bright blue hair she'd had permanently altered a decade ago after losing a bet. She had a soft and kind face but piercing eyes that let you know a predator lurked beneath the friendly demeanor. Daxos had the biggest crush on her when he'd been stationed under her initially, but that quickly shifted to a cautious respect when he realized how out of his league he was when it came to her cunning and intelligence.

"Standard terraformed world with a few extra xenos. Big wooly rhino looking things, I had a steak from one once at a chophouse on Kylem 2. Not bad at all if you wanna pick up a few cases. I checked the political matrix and they're still part of the UHA. Beyond that? Standard jungle world with a few small oceans" He shrugged. Calix snorted, taking up their seat at the helm and leaning back. They were short and curvy, with a thick mane of red hair, and a gleaming gold ring through either eyebrow, a decent pilot by all accounts but a shithead nonetheless. Thassa had picked them up off a waystation in the Andromeda system a couple years back and while they'd since calmed down, Calix had come aboard as a hotshot with something to prove.

"Ya, not what she's asking himbo. Ergamon 2 is a quarantine world" She smirked. Daxos was shocked, turning to Thassa with an accusatory glare. Beyond the obvious, they'd had an agreement since the beginning, quarantine worlds weren't worth the risk! Whether it was a mutated Terran virus or a Xeno strain, whatever got them locked so people and cargo couldn't legally leave was far and above too much of a hassle to be worth money. As he went to speak Thassa held up a hand.

"First off, Calix if I wanted your input I'd fucking ask. I was going to explain it a little more tactfully. Dax, hear me out. The job is paying four standard fees. One for the passengers, three for the cargo. The quarantine is level one meaning it's non-virulent and they have cargo to send back at an even more lucrative rate! The parasite that caused the designation lives in the soil, which we won't be touching, and it isn't transmissible host-to-host. We drop the cargo, get paid triple, maybe pick up some more and get paid quadruple, go back home for decontamination protocol and get a two week break in isolation." She said, her tone heavily measured but with that sweet edge it only took when she was trying to convince him to do something stupid. Daxos flexed his grip on the hand rail, and turned his gaze towards Nylea who raised her hands defensively.

"Don't look at me, first I'm hearing of it. I don't check the nav charts beyond the entry and exit warp corridors till we're a day out." She took up her own console across from Calix, setting her tray down and taking another bite of her sandwich. Nylea was statuesque with classically greek features, her ivory skin offset beautifully against brilliant emerald green eyes and jet black hair. He'd asked her once what service she used to mod her eyes, but she'd proudly told him they were natural, a fact he still somewhat doubted since they were so damn beautiful. ...You try being the only male on a spaceship of beautiful women, away from port for weeks sometimes months at a time and tell me you don't start to lust after your shipmates to some degree.

"I should've been told Thassa, I should've had my say like we always do. I don't like that you kept this from me and I don't appreciate the way you're trying to handle me right now either" He said, trying to keep his voice measured, but swelling with anger and annoyance. A ship that visited the wrong quarantine planet could be permanently marked by the nav authorities so that they could only ever visit that world again! Essentially becoming locked into an involuntary contract to ferry goods to it. Decon wasn't exactly a vacation either. Ship had to be scanned and professionally cleaned and all four of them would have to go through full body examinations and some pretty invasive medical scans.

"This is my ship Dax, don't forget that. I give you a say out of respect, not obligation. This job could potentially pay a year's worth of runs in two weeks! Don't lose sight of that" Thassa snapped angrily. Daxos glared at her, his fist twisting on the railing. She got like this occasionally, when she felt he was going too far and disrespecting her instead of challenging her authority or just offering insight. Her frequent callousness or calculating nature never struck him as a character flaw in all their years of working together, but her ego, he was well aware of how often that got them in trouble.

"What's this parasite do huh? Siphon spinal fluid? Eat and replace your liver? Or does it just grow in you till it kills you and eats its way out?" He asked sarcastically, turning and walking down the steps towards the bulkhead.

"Nothing so dramatic. It's a microworm that can only reproduce in the soil of its home world due to a certain element there. It can't jump planets. It only affects females, and all it does is modify some hormone production. It's currently being studied in some core world labs for its possible medicinal properties since infected women can live twice as long and are generally healthier than non-infected" Thassa snapped back, though he could tell by her tone something else was up.

"Oh she's not even telling you the best part" Calix snorted, earning them a sharp glare from Thassa and a similar look from Daxos. "Shit don't shoot the messenger. If we don't tell him now how do you think he's gonna react when he finds out? My guess is either mutiny or quitting when we get back. At least if we tell him now you've got most of a week to kiss his ass and calm him down" They shrugged, turning to their console as if by turning their back they could avoid the storm that was brewing in the room. Daxos grabbed the railing and stared up at Thassa with a sharp and angry suspicion.

"What do they mean? What's bad enough about this job that I'm gonna quit if you don't tell me right away?" He snapped, glaring at her. Thassa faltered finally, perhaps realizing for the first time how much she'd fucked up if her most loyal friend was this pissed at her.

"Ergamon 2 is an female only world. Male children are evacuated before puberty and no adult males are allowed on the surface. Apparently whatever hormone changes the parasite causes in women it makes them reactive to male pheromones so the UHA enacted the ban as part of the quarantine. When we reach the station, you'll be confined to quarters. I had to get an exception letter to even make the trip because of you being on the crew, but there aren't many mostly or all female crews willing to make a quarantine run like this so they were eager to grant it considering what we're carrying" She muttered, her tone showing no remorse, but just enough capitulation that he didn't immediately fly into a rage.

"What are we carrying captain" He growled, realizing for the first time the cargo manifest had simply said refrigerated containment units. Not unusual, stations needed them too, though they'd often just recycle them the same way they did shipping pallets.

"Sperm. Human sperm. While they're no longer necessary for insemination, the UHA doesn't want the gene pool on Ergamon to become stagnant so they're sending in a load of the stuff for the next two generations or so." Thassa said, some authority returning to her voice "it's considered humanitarian aid so we're earning some brownie points with the Nav authorities and the UHA."

"So let me get this straight." He said, allowing his annoyance to coat his words with as much venom as he dared lest she accuse him of mutiny already. "You accepted a job, totally without my input, to haul official UHA cargo to a quarantine world, where I will immediately be confined to quarters because men aren't allowed at all? And you even went behind my back and got a forbearance from the nav authorities for it!? Does that about sum it up captain?" He snapped. Thassa glared at him, any semblance of remorse hidden behind a mask of indignation, daring him to speak further. He didn't care at this point if she felt disrespected considering how she'd obviously shown him none in this scenario. "My take for this job will be doubled. And I'll be in my fucking bunk until my shift starts. And when we get back home, we'll see if I'm still comfortable flying under a captain who no longer respects me after quarantine" He snapped, turning and storming from the room before she could utter another word. He heard Calix say something behind him but paid it no mind as he desperately tried to mask his anger as he passed through the common space. He made it through the salon and past the galley without incident but as he approached his quarters the youngest passenger stopped him.

"It was my understanding that men were not allowed on Ergamon 2...if I'm honest it's half the reason I'm headed there...am I mistaken?" She asked nervously. Daxos let out a heavy sigh, trying not to let his anger with the captain bleed over onto this girl, though her question only triggered it further. She was a pretty brunette with dark brown eyes and freckles, she wore a modest floor length dress and had her hair styled into a tight braid, and while she seemed confident enough in approaching her he could detect an underlying fear he suspected was mostly due to his gender rather than stature.

"No ma'am. I've been granted special forbearance to make the journey as long as I stay confined to chambers while we're docked at the station. You've nothing to worry about" He smiled, before turning the lock to his chamber door and stepping inside. The brunette nodded and walked towards the salon without further acknowledgment. Daxos stepped inside his modest quarters and collapsed onto the bed. While the captain's quarters and most of the crew slept in an offset of the bridge he'd had to take one of the guests quarters simply for height restrictions, neither the bed nor the ceilings could accommodate his frame. He lay in the bed and switched off the light, letting his red ambient kick on in silence and sighed heavily again. The revelation that the captain had once again failed to check her ego was nothing new, but it had never gone so far as to constitute blatant disrespect of his position or value to the ship before. He unbuttoned the tan button down shirt he was wearing and slid to the edge of the bed, kicking his boots off and sliding from the rest of his clothes. He could never sleep comfortably with clothes on, it had led to many nights of shitty sleep while he was enlisted, and more than a few comical red alerts on the ship when he'd had to come bounding from his chambers fully nude, stun pistol or sword in hand. As he lay in the dark staring at the ceiling he heard the sound of a gentle three-count knock on his door. "If it's important, ask the captain I've just retired for the evening" He called loudly. The door opened slightly for a moment, leaking light to only the entryway to the chamber before it closed again.

"And if it's the captain?" Thassa asked, stepping slowly into the darkness without turning on the lights.

"Then she should know she's not welcome here right now, and that she's in great danger of being in need of a new first mate" He grunted, not even bothering to look at her or open his eyes. He heard her approach his bed and take a seat on the small bench across from it, though nothing further. They sat in silence for a moment, him taking long huffing breaths in an attempt to dispel his frustration enough to have a calm conversation, her seeming to be waiting for him to speak again. When he didn't after a few moments, she finally broke the silence.

"I didn't mean to make you feel disrespected" She sighed, making some movements he couldn't see. He didn't respond immediately, chewing over her words with annoyance.

"You see what you did there, where you shifted responsibility for this bullshit to me? You didn't say 'I didn't mean to disrespect you' Which is what you did, because that would mean you fucked up. You said 'I didn't mean to make you FEEL disrespected.' which means it's my fault for interpreting your actions as disrespect. Which, I don't know how I can take you totally disregarding not only my position in the crew but my existence on the ship to take this job without discussion or even informing me till we're already underway. And this isn't the first time you've pulled something like this Thassa, this is just the latest and most egregious. I've been telling myself you pull this shit to satisfy your ego in spite of your love and respect for me. But I'm beginning to think maybe I've misinterpreted our relationship and you don't have those feelings to even ignore them" He snapped, still laying on his back, his eyes closed. He'd learned a long time ago that if he moved or stood when angry it frightened people. Even the unshakable captain Thassa was unsettled when he moved too quickly while speaking with a sharp tone more often than not. Better to lay still and vent his anger than turn this into a fight or flight situation for her in a room full of weapons. Thassa was silent for a few more moments, and he started a mental countdown. When he reached zero he spoke again "Get the fuck out" He snapped. Thassa stood and began shifting, but not moving towards the door. After a moment he felt her skin press against his as she climbed into bed with him, her body wrapped around his legs. She began to slowly stroke his cock with a warm wet hand likely covered in her spit.