The Black

-earlier-

Captain Jacob Irving stepped off the last shuttle down from Lucid Traveler. In true captain’s tradition, he was the last one off of his ship; but instead of abandoning her to the fate of the black, he had safely tucked her into a shipyard berth for her seasons repair and refit. He took a deep breath of clean Delmar air. A maelstrom of bodies seethed about him as families reunited. Sadly, so many were not going to see their loved ones again, and He noticed a few frantic faces, as that reality began to sink in. He felt an arm slide up under his blind-side arm as Hera joined him where he stood.

“I found my parents; they sent our luggage to their estate already.” Hera’s voice broke through the mayhem, as he turned to look at her.

“Time to meet the parents, do I need to wear my armor?” He teased gently before sobering, “are you sure? We can try and find some more information first.” He asked.

“No… I can’t, I want to let the Grarzia’s time to reunite before I intrude… I don’t think Ma’ is gonna let me out of her sight. Not after Olyvia… And Father… well, father will be father…” Hera admitted as they walked.

“Was Olyvia your sister?” Jacob asked gently.

“My Aunt, sort of. Ma’ and Aunt Oli were childhood friends… Aunt Oli never married. She was too attached to her ship. She poured her time into Me and Frie, when she was home. She became family, if not by blood.” Hera explained, just as a pair of older Delmar caught her attention.

Jacob suppressed a raised eyebrow as an older, incredibly beautiful Delmar female in more traditional garb walk forward and taking Hera into a very formal Delmar greeting, refraining from the human-style hug that had taken Delmar by storm. ‘I see where Hera gets her figure’ he mused before turning to regard the man behind the two. For the second time in as many seconds, he had to suppress the same raised eyebrow. The Delmar man behind them held his distance. He was big, for a Delmar at least, and had short, cropped hair a clean-shaven face with a hard expression. He noticed Jacob’s analyzing gaze and he simply turned his head and met the gaze head on. ‘A soldier. That, I didn’t see coming’ Jacob mused to himself as the two sized each other up, before a brush on his arm drew his attention back to Hera and her mother.

“Mother, I want you to meet Captain Jacob Irving.” Hera said formally as her mother turned to face him. Her gaze was skeptical at best, and she blatantly looked him over before turning to Hera.

“It’s about time!” she scolded bluntly, before spinning on Jacob with a big smile and opened her arms in a very human hug, “welcome to the family!” She positively gushed as she gave him a thoroughly full-bodied hug. A thoroughly surprised Jacob finally lost control of the wayward eyebrow, this time looking over at Hera who was blushing quite vibrantly.

“Ma!” Hera griped as she looked around hoping no one was watching.

A deep voice rumbled from the side, “Sylia, come now. We just met Captain Irving.”

Her mother broke from the hug and gave Jacob a wink before recomposing herself into her previously more regal air. “Oh Prallus. Well, come. Our aircar is in the east lot.” She said before hooking her arm inside the elbow of her husband as the two lead the small group off the shuttle ramp.

A forty-minute aircar ride went quickly as Prallus guided the vehicle to their family home. Soon the heavily laden vehicle touched down next to a USN-marked shuttle on the massive branch that served as both landing pad and foundation for a three story house that oozed Traditional Delmar motifs.

The front doors opened to the home and Jake recognized the Admiral of the Response fleets and his wife, Hera’s younger sister, as they stepped out. The Admiral was holding their child as Frie rushed to Hera and the two embraced. Hera had to assure her younger sister that she was indeed ok, and was peppered with all sorts of questions before Hera just dragged a giggling Frie back towards Jacob.

“Jacob, this is Frie. Frie, Jacob.” She said exasperatingly as Frie took Jacob’s hand in a human handshake.

“Nice to meet you. Good luck.” Frie teased, receiving a shove from her sister.

“She might be the one that needs the luck.” Jacob chuckled back, receiving a snort from their father.

The Admiral walked up to Jacob with a knowing look on his face. He waved off a reflexive salute from Jacob, “Congratulations Jacob, and it’s just Clint or nitro here, son.” He shook Jacob’s hands. “Be good to her, she’s been through a lot. She’s a special one.”

“I will Sir, and she is, and much more.” Jacob shook back.

Dinner was a hodgepodge of an awkward game of 20 questions mixed with the ever-present contemplative stare from Hera’s father. He asked a few questions. Mostly what Jacob did before coming to Delmar space. Jacob answered to the best of his abilities, omitting the details not fit for polite company. Prallus only huffed, obviously not satisfied with what must have seemed to him like lies or obfuscation.

Frie had chosen to follow the Human tradition of naming upon marriage, keeping her family's last name of Orlivarro as a middle name and taking Clint’s sir name for her own. Their little girl, named for Clint’s murdered mother Natalie sat just over 1 burbling into her food with the occasional word mixed in, and all of the mess nobody minded as the kiddy seat contained the explosion of substances that was a half Delmar half human yearling learning to eat. The little one garnered more than one laugh over the dinner.

After dinner, the women all headed for the living room to fawn over little Natalie. Clint, Jacob, and Prallus retired to a library of sorts.

“Now, Irving.” Prallus began, “My Hera has been through more than her she should in her years. I know she isn’t telling me everything. And tonight I had my suspicions confirmed when you… omitted… details from your story. Someone of your background would not have just quit. The women are not here son.. As her father, I need to know.” He finished.

Clint raised an eyebrow and almost began to say something but was halted by a glance from Jacob. ‘He’s read my file’ Jake mused. “You served…” his tone was calm, but serious, and Prallus narrowed his gaze in recognition of it. “That wasn’t a question. You were a soldier, might still be; and you weren’t a peacetime soldier either. The faint way you favor your right shoulder. Your left leg gets stiff when the weather changes. I noticed you shifted your footing slightly as dusk fell and the air cooled. You saw action, and action touched you. Again, not a question.”

Prallus slowly leaned back in his chair, “Laser turret pulverized my shoulder, the field nanites were good but… there is no substitute for a biobed managing the repair. A pirate hideout that dared try to make its home in our asteroid belt. The leg.. the leg was crushed by a flipping crate, four years later. The Unity requested aid in quelling an insurrection on the Lycan homeworld. You do not refuse Unity… requests. I take your point son.. I’ve lost men, some friends even. Duty has its risks.”

Jacob nodded, he slowly pulled a beaten-up box he had retrieved earlier, his thumbs gently caressed the top before he handed it to Clint who handed it to Prallus. The Large Delmar looked at Jacob for a moment before opening it.

Inside was a human Kinetic pistol, brown stains of blood marking its tan finish, and a photograph.

“This was my family. These were my brothers, and they were murdered by a man millions of miles away with the click of a send button. We were to be sheep, sacrificed by our commanders… to the furnace of a war that almost murdered humanity itself. I lost trust in those giving the orders after losing every one of those men in one fight…they died at my shoulder… I was not supposed to survive.” Jacob finished, sitting back in his chair, eyeing the man across from him.

Prallus slowly picked up the picture, setting the pistol on the side table facing the barrel towards the wall. He closed the box and spent several moments looking down at the photo.. “What were their names, son.”

———————————-

“Well, that sucked!” Warren said, clambering out of the smoking shuttle as the quick response corvette assigned to shadow him finished scooping him up out of the second failed jump this week. Only this time it threw him halfway to Jupiter, and it took him three days to get rescued. “This fucking thing is gonna sling me into the sun!” He kicked the ramp as he walked back toward the exit of the hanger to the rest of the ship.

He was soon called by the chief of the department for a debrief.

“It did not go well sir, the standard slip drive just can’t handle the micropulse of power it takes to make jumps small enough to stay in system. It shreds the field generators.”

“I see, we may have to can the entire idea. Sol is big relative to other inhabited star systems. We may have to rethink the project” the white-haired man on the other end of the line said.

“I’ll be back on Luna in three days. Send everything from your end and I’ll dig into it while I’m stuck out here. Director, I have to go, I need to make a call, I have a very terrified fiancé to calm down.” Warren said. The man on the other side chuckled and then closed the connection.

Warren was about to code in for Luna when his console popped up with an incoming call. “Hey angel, I’m ok. I just got picked up.”

Jezz took a deep breath on the other end of the connection, “that was too close, this thing is going to sling you into a star at some point. What the void happened!”

“The same thing that always happens, the field generators burned out. They can’t handle the cycle times.” Warren grumbled, “They are sending me home for the week, I can look over the data from our couch.”

“You’re going to miss our next appointment. Atticus wants to run a full scan this time” Jezz’s resignation bled into her tone.

“Three days. I ended up out past Jupiter. Then I will be home for the next seven. I’m taking some personal leave after this one.” Warren sighed, slumping into his chair, “They want to can the program Jezz… I know there is an answer. I just have to find it.”

“Please be careful, I love you.” Jezz sighed, “See you in three.”

“See you in three. I love you too.” Warren blew a kiss before closing the connection.

He pulled a bottle of water from the mini fridge and chugged, trying to wash the ozone and smoke taste from his mouth. He had just finished the bottle when the data from Phobos arrived. He sighed, reaching for a coke this time, and began scrolling. The short delay allowed for almost instant messaging, and the next few hours were spent messaging back and forth with Jezz while he scanned through the data. He was just about to put it down for the night when a piece of the data, a scanner recording from his latest incident caught his attention.

*holy fucking shit*

*huh? What happened*

*image sent: what the hell you see*

*Gods, is that… how!*

*I have no idea, yet*

*Oh boy, you’re not going to bed any time soon, are you…*

*I'm on my third coke, This could solve… everything. Go to bed angel, I’ll message you tomorrow*

*k. Night, come home quick-image received*

*well now I have to add a cold shower to my list of things to do tonight. Dayum*

*come home quickly, I miss you. night*

*night*

Warren closed the message window and began digging. 16 hours later, he sent a message to his department head and boss, requesting a meeting in 9 hours, and went to bed.

———————————

Jacob stepped out of the library several hours later. He wasn’t sure how the conversation went, but it was a start. It was very late as Clint showed Jacob to his room.

“He’s an acquired taste, but he comes from a good place.” Clint paused at the door, “This one’s yours. See you at breakfast.”

Jacob nodded his thanks before opening the door and stepping into his guest room. He shrugged off his shirt and pants before he began dragging himself out of the void suit he was still wearing. He was halfway through his suit, facing the hook he was going to hang it on when he froze as he heard a rustle.

“Jake?” Hera’s voice came from the bed, he slowly turned, his void suit halfway off him and down to his waist. Hera sat up in the middle of the guest bed, with the bedsheet wrapped tightly around her as she hurried to cover herself, “What… what are you doing?” she asked. Caution and worry clouded her voice as she eyed him.

“Uh… Clint walked me to this door, after we spoke with, uh.. your father… what are..” He was having trouble focusing as her beauty shown in the curves of the bedding surrounding her.

“Frie, she told me mamma set me up in this room. We have apartments in the city, we don’t have rooms here…why..” She paused as Jacob held up a hand and walked over to the walk-in closet at the far side of the room.

He slowly opened the door to the closet, finding both of their sea bags just inside the entrance. “Do they think you claimed me already?” he asked looking over as the idea put a beautiful flush on her face.

“No... I told Pappa we hadn’t. Why would they put… Mother.” Hera hung her head in her hands, “She doesn’t know about Human’s awkwardness with the communal way we sometimes sleep. It’s not uncommon for a courting pair to sleep in the same bed if space is limited. Clint and Frie are here with Natalie. That just leaves this room…” She looked up at him finally as a mix of emotions billowed across her features.

Jacob just chuckled and shook his head, partially trying to distract himself from Hera’s figure wearing naught but a sheet. “It’s fine, I can crash in a chair or on the floor. Where does your…”

“No.” He raised an eyebrow as Hera shook her head, “You’re not doing that. Finish up, I won’t look.”

Jacob sized up her expression for a moment before she turned her back to him. He shrugged and pulled the rest of void suit off, calling her bluff. He smirked as he saw her stiffen as the sounds of him changing seemed to echo in the room. He slipped into the bathroom with a towel and a pair of trunks and cleaned the grime of the voyage from him. He dried off before slipping on his trunks and stepping back into the bedroom.

Hera was still awake, watching him carefully as he crawled into the enormous Delmar style bed and slid7 into the bedding. “You still good with this?” He looked over at her. She stayed still, just watching him. He shrugged and turned out the lights, settling in and giving Hera her space.

5 or so minutes later, Jake was just dosing off when he felt a hand touch his chest through the sheets. “Jake… so cold” mumbled Hera. Jacob felt her nuzzle up under his arm, and he wasn’t sure if she was asleep or awake. He was about to wake her when he felt her body slide up and press against the side of his. She scooted up until she was just laying her head on one side of his chest.

Jacob was definitely about to say something when he felt her slight shiver, remembering that Delmar’s body temperature dropped when they went to sleep. He realized that the room had been set up for a cooler Human comfortable sleeping temperature. She vibrated against him in small shivers, “Hera?” he whispered. He didn’t want her to do something she wasn’t aware of.

She looked up at him, her eyes were focused, sleepy; but she was still awake, “Jake, I’m so cold. Im..”

Jacob placed a finger on her lips, and she gasped as she felt his arm slide across her skin as he wrapped it around her and physically slid her further up against his side. Her face quickly shone its surprise as the space between them disappeared and he wrapped her up in his arms as she settled into position up against his side. “When in Rome. Better?” He rumbled down at her as he fingered a lock of hair that had fallen into her face before slipping it behind her ear.

He felt her melt as his human core temperature warmed the pocket both of them now occupied. Her tail wrapped its way down his leg and she wrapped her arm over his chest, soaking in his warmth. “Hmmmmm. Better… Are you ok? I know humans…” Hera stuttered, still worried even as her body betrayed her and pressed against him. Jacob was absently stroking her main as he looked down at her eyes, openly smiling at her as she squirmed slightly at the designs he swirled on her back with his fingers.

“I’m better than ok. Just wasn’t expecting quite this.” He mused with a chuckle, “Sleep, we can figure out the rest in the morning.” He gave her a little squeeze before closing his eyes once more.

____________________________________________

The Head of the Section assigned to study and experiment with extremely short slipspace jumps was up. It was four in the morning his time. Considering the amount of time logged by Lieutenant Patterson in the last two days, he wasn’t about to complain when his star subordinate requested a meeting. He settled into his chair and que’d up the conference viewer just as Warren, and Director Johansen appeared in the window.

“Director, I don’t remember you being on the CC list. Is there something the matter?” the white-haired man questioned.

“I’ve been monitoring the situation since the incident. I’ve seen the data, and wanted to listen in. Is that a problem?” Johansen smiled cordially.

“Uh... No, sir.” The Section Head mustered, “Now, Warren. You called this meeting and marked it urgent. What do you have for us, Son.”

“I want to lead with this, it is a composite sensor image, both visible and radio spectrum, from my shuttle at the moment of failure. What do the two of you see” Warren began, flicking the image up to the communal section of the screen.

The two older men stiffened before leaning in together, “What the hell, is that…” Johansen began.

“Luna, that is Luna.” Warren finished, “This image was recorded just as I was exiting slip space near Jupiter. Sir’s… At the moment this image was taken, my Sensor recorded that I was both only 50,000 kilometers from Luna departure point… and only 1.5 million kilometers from Jupiter… at the same time.” Warren posted a second slide.

“Jesus…” The Department Head murmured, “Is this accurate?” He tabbed through the data, scanning quickly.

“I think so, but I had been up for a while. It will need to be verified, but These two pieces sent me down a rabbit hole that ended here.” Warren posted a third slide, and both older men stiffened as the Iconic 1915 publishing’s of Albert Einstein appeared on the shared presentation screen, “I found the recorded energy surge readings when the field generators failed… and I found the exact coordinates from the precise moment of failure…” Warren finished, sending his final slide into the call.

“My God… We will have to have these numbers checked… Warren, are you sure of what you found?” Bjorn Johansen set forward with his elbows on his desk, “Son, Tell me. Are you sure…”

“Director, the math needs to be checked… But, I am sure.” Warren squared figuratively to the Director of the entirety of Sol’s research and development Program.

“Lieutenant, I want everything you found, the numbers you used, your formal recommendations on my desk in an official email. I want it in my inbox, CC’d to Bill here, in the next 24 hours. This is all officially classified top secret until further notice. Well done, Son.” Director Johansen nodded before leaving the call.

“Holy shit..” Bill, the section head breathed as he scanned through everything again, “Kid, you scare me. Go, get that email off. I need to get this sent to the numbers guys for double check. I’ll check back in with you when you get back to luna.”

“Sir.” Warren saluted before the call ended, then slumped in his chair in shock. His Com beeped as Jezz messaged him a good morning, her time.

*how did the meeting go*

*I… well I think… I can't say much more... the Director called, labeled everything T.S… Sorry*

*Gods, you think…*

*Don't know, but I can’t say any more*

*K, See ya tomorrow*

*see ya*

Warren put down his personal com and pulled up his console. He knew there were better math people already on it, but His soul burned with the need to take a second look.