He had a thick mane of dark hair that was tied back behind his head. Technically, regulations stated men’s hair should not be any longer than the nape of the neck, but Kitari customs insisted that warriors never cut their hair, and the Authority respected that. His eyes were perpetually narrowed in a way that made him look suspicious and annoyed most of the time. They were pitch black with deep red pupils. His skin was a copper hue that occasionally flashed gold under certain lights, and had a thickened, roughened texture across the bridge of his nose and his forehead, the backs of his hands. Imagination could only tell her where else.
The Kitari world was a hot and dangerous place from all accounts. So was Atlas. A smile established itself on her face.
“Hi,” she said brightly.
“Ensign Tessil,” he said. “I believe it is still customary to salute a commanding officer.”
“Oh. Right. Sorry. Of course!” She shifted her helmet to her other arm and gave him the best salute she could muster, one that started at her toes and ricocheted off her forehead into her hand.
“As you were,” he said.
She dropped her hand. “You’re tall,” she observed.
“You’re insubordinate,” he replied, not responding to her smile or her sass. She’d heard he was a hard ass. Obsessed with order and discipline. That was how the Kitari were. It was also the reason she’d gone somewhat out of her way to ensure that she hadn’t run into him before. Jerri did not vibe with authority as a general rule. Her decision to serve on an Authority ship was therefore perhaps a little strange, but she’d figured out ways to avoid the worst of the intense rule following.
For starters, she’d trained as a deep space navigator. Deep space navigators were the player vs. environment version of fighter pilots, and just as cocky, if not worse. Her commission on the Audacity meant she did absolutely nothing until the ship was in some deep shit, the kind of shit where nobody cared if you’d reported to the bridge in a pair of pink fluffy slippers and a bathrobe as long as you got them out of whatever they’d gotten themselves into. She could go entire missions without being called upon at all, and she couldn’t be redeployed to any other task because her role demanded that she was available and on call at absolutely all times. It was a pretty sweet deal.
“You entered the holobay while on restrictions,” Atlas said. “As a result, you are banned from all recreational activities until further notice.”
She tried to hide a smirk and failed. It was going to be impossible for him to ban all recreational activities. What about reading? What about daydreaming? What about the multiple screens she had in her quarters that continuously streamed games and shows from across the alliance?
“If you are found in breach of this order, I will personally take a lash to you,” he further threatened.
She’d heard that threat before. Less than an hour ago, in fact. From Taylor, another officer who thought he owned the people on the ship.
“Understand?”
“Absolutely, sir. Thank you, sir,” she said, knowing those were the magic words that would get him out of her face.
“Good. Dismissed.”
He sent her on her way, which she was happy to go on.
“Power tripping jerk,” she muttered under her breath. Hopefully Taylor wasn’t mad at her now. If Atlas knew she was in the holobay, then he knew Taylor knew. The way discipline on these ships worked, the officer in charge sometimes got in even more trouble than the lower ranked person did.
“Who is a power tripping jerk?” Lara walked through the wall right next to her.
Lara was one of three Goshians on the Audacity. Their species had gotten tired of being trapped in matter a long time ago and now wandered about as beings of pure energy and light. One would have thought that made them unconcerned with material things, but because they existed on a material realm where other aliens wanted their stuff and things all the time, it was still an issue. Lara was a counselor in training. One day she’d be responsible for the mental health of the entire ship. For now she was limited to doing intakes for Larry, her superior. Lara’s physical form shimmered holographic green as she came through the wall and then solidified into something that looked approximately human, if humans were ethereally beautiful with flowing silver hair and eyes to match. Which they weren’t.
“Oh, Atlas finally worked out that I exist,” Jerri sighed. “He banned me from all recreational activities. What does that even mean?”
“I guess it means you’re not allowed to do anything recreational.”
“Well, I can’t work, can I? Not unless they get the ship stuck in an asteroid belt again or something stupid. This is the problem with guys like him. They’re all dick and ego, no actual thought.”