"You'll want to watch yourself when you're getting close to Hydra-1219." the voice coming out of Xarella's console belonged to Selene. Selene was an Operator working out of Hydra Rotational Transit. She had hair that flowed like an auburn waterfall, a wit that could cut a krysteel hull, and a laugh that had absolutely stolen Xarella's heart.
"What's wrong with 1219?" Xarella asked. She'd heard the news. Everyone in this cluster had heard the news. But by asking, she got a bit longer with Selene, got to hear the way Selene's voice lit up when she got passionate about something.
"How the hell did you miss this?" Selene asked, her speech growing faster with excitement. "Oh I'm so lucky I get to tell you. Drell Vessel was spotted in the area with a temperature ten degrees above ambient background radiation. There's a thirty AU quarantine around it because that means it's engines were probably running in the last two thousand years." She paused for the sake of the drama before going on in a hushed whisper. "A Drell vessel that might have been active during the 18th century on Earth."
Xarella whistled.
The Drell had existed before humanity. They'd vanished before humanity had reached the stars. This discovery pushed back their date of extinction from 4500 bce to around the time humanity had figured out nukes. Their name was based on the sole sound that had been recovered from one of their computers.
They were Selene's special interest.
"Tell me all about what this means," Xarella asked.
Selene laughed. "I see you, Xarella Car'domma. You're just trying to get more of my time."
"Guilty as charged," Xarella said.
"Give me a moment." There was a beep of another incoming call. This from Selene's personal transponder. Xarella shifted over. "You still there?"
"Yup."
"I've got thirty more minutes in this shift. I'll put you on mute so we don't miss each other, and then I'll fill you in. Sound good?"
Xarella grinned. "I get to hear more of your voice? Sounds like heaven."
"Flattery will get you everyone," Selene said. Then the sound on the other end went silent as Selene went back to work.
Xarella leaned back in her chair, looking over the instruments on her console. Ship atmosphere was in nominal ranges. Essential systems and their backups were all in the green. Engines were running hot, giving her a nice, comfortable one G of acceleration. Xarella was a transxeno in addition to being transgender. She could kick herself up to ten G's and the augmentations she had would keep her alive. But that would mean Xarella would break free of Alpha Centauri's Heliopause in about half an hour.
At the sedate one G she was moving?
She'd get plenty of time to talk to Selene before she was in deep space and needed to make the jump to Warp.
So Xarella kicked back, put her feet on the dash, and hummed a few bars. She had a half hour, time to work on the song she was composing for Selene. It was rough. Cheesy. The meter was off.
But Selene would love it.
"They call them rogue worlds
Drifting through the void
They call us rouge hearts
And love we should avoid.
Well baby I've lived my life
Seeking apoapsis
The furthest, darkest point
From any star where warmth is.
Then I
From there
Saw a moon
So fair
Her name
Selene
But I'm so far
From there
So I'm flipping retrograde
And I'm burning to periapsis
The closest point to moonlight
That's where my heart is
So I'm flipping retrograde
Until my orbit reaches yours
Burning at ten Gs
Wishing I burned more
I once was a rogue world
Drifting through the void
My heart found gravity
And I'm pulled in centroid
So I looked to see the well
That I would now orbit
And it took my breath away
So baby, this is it.
Because I
From there
Saw a moon
So fair
Her name
Selene
But I'm so far
From there
So I'm flipping retrograde
And I'm burning to periapsis
The closest point to moonlight
That's where my heart is
So I'm flipping retrograde
Until my orbit is...ensnared.
A gravity formed ring..."
Xarella hummed the last few bars. She wasn't sure exactly about that last bit. Maybe she needed to make the metaphor a bit less literal, or perhaps-
"You know I just muted, not deafened, right?"
Xarella shot upright in her seat, nearly falling out of it. "Well...shit," she said.
"You know," Selene said, her voice thick with emotion. "I couldn't help but notice. My name is also Selene."
"What a coincidence," Xarella said. "So strange."
Selene sighed, and it turned into a laugh. "You'll be returning to Alpha Centauri after your trip to 1219, won't you?"
"Mmhmm," Xarella said, her heart pounding.
"Maybe...maybe when you get back, I can hear the finished song."
"I'd like that," Xarella said, her face breaking into an idiotic grin. "Yesssss," she hissed under her breath when Selene muted herself.
Selene unmuted. "I can still hear you. Dork."
"That time, you were supposed to," Xarella said. "Now. Finish up your shift. Then tell me about the Drell."
"I'd love nothing more."
