What May Come

The Astrogator

Nura folded her flight suit and placed it carefully within her locker. She then began the difficult process of slipping into her undergarments while floating in null-gravity.

The room was a hollow sphere, ten meters in diameter. The lockers were built into the walls all along the circumference. Nura's locker was above the entryway. At least, Nura considered it as being above. Once all outside points of reference were removed, a direction being up or down in null-gravity became a matter of personal preference.

Instructor jhot'Rin had given Nura her liberty for the rest of the day, and it was only an hour after midday. After her solo flight, Nura didn't have much of an appetite.

Vegetable paste and protein supplements weren't something she longed for. Nura often dreamed of finally trying the food of other species, people who took the preparation of sustenance and elevated it to an art form. It was a foreign concept, but Vanta assured her it was as glorious as it sounded.

She decided against getting something to eat at the commissary and to instead return to her cabin. There was a lot of studying to get through.

The astrogation exercise may have been over, but she was enrolled in other courses aboard the Tovre as well. She didn't find any nearly as demanding as her primary course. In fact, she thought them to be almost relaxing.

Vanta had been hesitant to allow her to continue those classes; botany, exobiology, and chemistry would be of minimal use to an astrogator. Nura and a number of jhot had all but begged him to let her remain in those courses. If nothing else, they were something she excelled at, and Nura needed the boost they gave to her morale.

A metal bar extended from beneath Nura's locker. She hooked a leg around it while she wrestled with her fastenings. Otherwise, she'd have to do this while tumbling head over heels through the locker room. That wasn't an experience she cared to revisit.

It was a relief to be out of her flight suit. The garment was designed to protect the wearer from g-forces and extreme temperature, not from rumpled fur and sore muscles. It was also excessively tight, clinging to every centimeter of her body.

Gods of Fire! Was that why the boys of the deck crew were staring like she had a grekkin sitting on her head? Nura felt her ears twitch wildly in mortification, and they didn't settle until she gave them each a firm pinch.

"Burning hell," she muttered. It didn't matter if Jano's team was ranked as the best, Nura was going to request a female deck crew the next time she flew out. Cousin Vistel was on the Tovre now, studying to earn the nim. Maybe her team?

Nura was pulling her skirt around her waist when she heard the pressure door to the locker room open. She looked below her and saw someone dart through the entry. The other girl dove towards the far end of the sphere headfirst.

At the last moment, she reoriented and landed on the balls of her feet. Before the impact sent her careening away, the girl deftly unlocked her latch, opened the door, and reached inside to steady herself.

It was Meras shi'Tomi, and she seemed upset.

Nura's ears pressed flat against her head. No, upset didn't come at all close to it.

Meras sniffed while she angrily tore her flight suit off, and grunts of frustration emanated from deep in her throat as she undressed. In her rush to get to her locker, she'd apparently missed that she wasn't alone.

Her frame could've been described as slim if she were less muscular. Meras' arms were thicker than Nura's, probably even more than Canas'. She was strong and solid, though shorter than Nura by at least a hand's breadth. Meras had a white coat, freckled with black and brown. The longer hair on her head was tied back at the nape of her neck, and bangs framed her face. She never colored the imperfections in her fur, either preferring a natural look or simply couldn't be bothered with her appearance. Regardless, Nura didn't share the opinions of others aboard the Tovre. Meras was hardly the ogre that some students had taken to calling her.