Jax’s Mission: Scifi Alien Adventure Romance (Science Fiction Alien Romance) (Galactic Survival Book 1)

by Hana Starr

  “Peace Federation delegates?”

  “Right! There are aliens with them. Geez, I know that they’re all harmless but looking at them is still just…ugh, right?”

  “I guess so,” Beatrice replied, shrugging. The different races were always fascinating to her, even more so since the arrival of TranslateChip, a revolutionary technology which had quickly replaced memorizing a new language the old way. Now any spoken language was recorded and uploaded directly into her mind like those old USB sticks that plugged into computers. She wasn’t even aware of learning. No one was. But even so, she had total mastery of at least eighteen different languages and was passable in many other dialects. The best part was that since TranslateChip was inserted directly into the brain, her grasp of the language grew simply by being in exposure to it. The Chip learned on its own and was dozens of times smarter than the average person, all in a bit of programmable metal no bigger than that freckle on the back of her hand.

  All this meant was that she knew simply listening to others communicate could tell her a lot about their species. She absorbed knowledge like a sponge.

  With all her checking-in done and aware of the ticking clock, Beatrice headed over the elevators. On her way there however, she ran into them.

  The Peace Federation.

  The woman had been right, in a way. There were some aliens. However, it was more like there were some humans in the mix. She could hardly adjust to the array of at least thirty peoples milling about in the common’s area. All of them were wearing Federation scarlet uniforms, emblazoned with the symbol of spiraling galaxies, and those who were not the shape to wear anything had bands or tattoos, or lanyards. Tall and squat, ugly and flowing with beauty, some of the aliens here were recognizable. The yellow-tentacled Ti…the moody purple Kanilakisut, hunch-backed and furrow-foreheaded…the slithering Yith who spoke through hisses…

  And so many more that she had never even seen before now, all milling about.

  Automatically slowing down, she nevertheless tried to pick up on some of what they were saying.

  “…war is getting out of hand…”

  “Front line supplies are getting too low, we need…”

  An indignant roar, “Impossible! No company can spare any…”

  Then, the elevator closed behind her and the noise was gone.

  So, the Peace Federation was seeking couriers like herself to go up to the front lines to deliver supplies and were having no luck anywhere.

  A thrill of excitement rose up in Beatrice’s breast as she contemplated volunteering but her enthusiasm died even before she reached the door. Who was she kidding? She had nowhere near enough experience under her belt for work like that! They’d probably just laugh in her face and tell her to think about getting a real job already.

  Shoving down the bitter thoughts to try and keep them from consuming her, Beatrice lay down on the cot in her tiny room and immediately passed out, flat asleep.

  Chapter Two

  Her mental alarm clock woke her up exactly six hours later. Groaning, Beatrice turned over on her back and stretched out her arms high above her head while pointing her toes as far as she could in the opposite direction. Her back, sore from constantly bending over data screens, popped deliciously. A high-pitched whine of pleasure rose up in her throat and then she slumped over onto her side, feeling much more relaxed and ready to face the day.

  She could have slept in some more but honestly, this was her routine and she wasn’t about to break it. Straightening up, she kicked out her legs again and threw her arms out to toss away the thin blanket covering her. The room was the perfect temperature for comfortable sleeping and she didn’t even need the sheet, but she felt a little bit too exposed without it. Rising to her feet, she quickly made up the bed again and then headed out down the hall. Rubbing her tired eyes, she greeted the people milling on past her. Most of them acknowledged her, others didn’t. She was too tired to care about impoliteness, though she did wonder at it.

  Maybe the presence of the Peace Federation was really getting to everyone, but would they even still be here after 6 long hours?

  Well, she’d dashed her own hopes about getting the position to help them so she just kept heading down the hall to where she knew the communal showers were on this level. It resembled an old-fashioned car wash, being a long, open room with a moving walkway. She stepped onto the very end of it when the screen ahead gave her the go ahead, and the walkway carried her forward to her first stop. There, jets of water from the walls and ceiling thoroughly rinsed out her hair and body. A minute later, she was shuttled on again down the line and supplied with a sliver of soap that was just enough –the size of it had been calculated to match the size of her body, which was measured by the screen at the start of the shower. From there, it was on again to another rinsing station which filled her hair with a mixture of special soap and water. Then, it was rinsed clean once more.

  The water was perfectly warm and she already felt so utterly invigorated that she could have just purred like an alley cat getting his first taste of milk. Her body, while small and unappealing in comparison to the other women currently standing around naked in the room, felt squeaky clean and fresh by the time she reached the end. Holding her arms out and turning in a slow circle, jets of dry air buffeted her gently until only her hair was damp. Stepping off the walkway, she turned to the basin and tube just beside and waited. Only a few minutes later, her clothes popped out. She’d dropped them in the start of the tube as she’d been waiting on the walkway and now they were clean as well, and warm from their own quick drying.

  The whole process lasted about seven minutes, but it felt like she’d been luxuriating in warmth and soothing water pounding at her aches for at least half an hour. Stepping out of the way, Bea found a quiet alcove away from the gorgeous bodies around her and quickly pulled on her pants. Underwear was a thing of the past as fabrics changed to be more supple and supportive all on its own. Bras were still a thing but not for her –her chest was too small to bother with it so she just pulled on her bright orange United top and buttoned it up, and then finished it off with the overlaying vest.

  Every inch of the wall was either a locker, a private alcove screen, or a mirror. Mostly mirrors. Still, she was feeling a little self-conscious about being dressed in her work uniform while most of these women went around dressed in whatever they liked –since they lived on the base for years at a time- so she just watched her small, bare feet as she strode out the exit of the shower room.

  From there, she went to the common’s to pick up some breakfast and ate it while looking at a projection wall. Windows were too structurally unsound for deep space but special cameras and sensors on the outside could project an exact imagine on the inside walls where windows would have been. Jupiter was an enormous globule on the horizon, haloed by its rings. Everything else was dark and bleak and empty but for a few scattered pinpricks of star. This was what she saw every day, or near enough. It wasn’t anywhere near exciting as it had been when she was first starting out, she was sorry to say.

  Deeper space would be better but her company didn’t go there. United never left the solar system.

  Breakfast done, she headed to the exercise room and ran through some light cardio workouts until she was panting and warmed up. Still with half an hour to go until her full eight stopover hours were complete, she decided to head on into the garage. She hadn’t seen any sign of the Peace Federation at all this morning but she just wanted to see to herself if their ships were gone or not. Maybe she’d talk to Murphy a little, or Dan would be free if the Federation was really gone.

  If all else fails, I can check out my ship myself and get it going.

  Her only mission today was to head back to earth as quickly as possible to be given another assignment –or to wait in line for her chance to be assigned a mission, if things were particularly slow as they usually were around this season.

  As she wandered towards the garage, so too did her thoughts w
ander. Why on earth did seasons matter out here in space? For once, she was also a bit skeptical about the whole Earth being the center of the Federation thing. Everything was just so weird and obviously outdated. It was a relic of the past while everything out here was moving forward in leaps and bounds…

  “Oof!”

  She ran face-first into something hard and yet slightly porous. Springing back, Bea put her hands up in front of herself. “I’m so sorry!” she blurted out. “I wasn’t looking where I was going! Are you…oh.”

  It was a member of the Federation. And not just anyone, but a Hukite. Hukite more or less resembled walking, talking coral. Their bodies came in a variety of rocky shapes and colors, and their limbs –or presence of limbs at all- varied wildly merely depending on their shape. This one was deep scarlet and looked like a cross between a sponge and a potato, with a flat face and slitted eyes.

  More importantly, this was a high-ranking space potato. She wore something that resembled a human uniform torn and refashioned for her craggy body shape, and there were a multitude of strikes across one “shoulder.” Each strike resembled a rank, until they circled back in on themselves to make X’s.

  This Hukite had three full rows alone. She was top-ranked.

  Swallowing hard, Bea whispered, “Sorry.”

  She’d never felt so intimidated in her life! This hulking, bulky giant hadn’t even said a word yet but she was already scared. Her heart was racing. Thus Hukite female could crush her neck with one proper movement, or smush her whole body into a pale red paste on the floor just by rolling over her once.

  There was a distinct and audible cracking like rocks shifting. One of the horizontal creases on the female’s face shifted.

  Is that…Is that a smile?

  Looking around now at the entrance to the garage, Beatrice saw that the Federation ships were still here. But it seemed as though everyone was preparing to leave now.

  Well, not quite. Most of them were just communicating rather than paying any attention to the ships at all.

  “It is…okay. We were looking for…you.”

  “Me?” Beatrice repeated, a little stunned and also pretty uncomprehending. “Why were you looking for me?”

  “What is…currently in your ship?”

  Hukite weren’t the ones for pleasantries, huh?

  “Empty,” Bea informed her dutifully, standing up a bit straighter to try and show proper respect for this impressive female. She couldn’t stop her gaze from straying down a little, though. Protruding from beneath the remnants of that Federation shirt, were those big lumps…were those her breasts? Did they even have breasts? “I was bringing supplies here. I’m just about to get off from my stopover and head back to Earth. That’s where I came from. I’m 729 from Shipway United, located in Utah, North America.”

  The Hukite’s “face” didn’t move an inch as Beatrice nervously rattled off a list of information, simply waiting until it was over with. “I assume you…have heard of…our plight?”

  “Some of it,” she admitted.

  The Hukite tilted dangerously forward, making Beatrice leap backwards in alarm. It just seemed to be a full-body nod however instead of something so dangerous as a fall, so she relaxed when the female straightened up again. “I…see. You will need…explanations, then. Won’t you?”

  It would be nice, Bea thought, but before she could answer anything aloud, the Hukite swiveled on her round legs like a puppet. “Harris!” she barked.

  Harris was a human man, 50 years old and already sporting a full silver mane of hair. Standing beside him, Bea felt a little bit better about herself. The bad thing about spacial travels was that it knocked dozens of years off the average human life expectancy, which had been up to 130 years by the time the population of space really took off. She had already been seeing some grey hairs on her head, but at least she was still holding onto a relatively full and unbothered scalp of healthy dark hair. Small people tended to live longer too, which made this the only reason she was ever so glad about being tiny and short.

  Harris drew up quickly and bowed to them both. “Commander Klspikt,” he rapped out promptly even though the name would have tripped Bea up for forever. Maybe it was hard to use a language that required a lot of movement, though. “What did you need of me?”

  “Debrief this girl,” the scarlet female space-potato demanded, and began to trundle away.

  Bea stared, blank and confused, as Harris smiled into her eyes and laughed with good-natured humor. “Sorry about that. Good old Klspikt really thaws out once you get to know her.”

  “Does she,” Bea remarked blandly.

  “Nope!” Harris roared with laughter, slapping his knee. Bea took in his row of marks and realized that he had two full rows, which also made him pretty damn important. “Listen, she’s just like any other of these aliens, okay? Doesn’t like to seem inferior by struggling with a language she doesn’t know well. And Hukite don’t take to the Chip. Not so much a central brain system as there is a couple dozen complex webs of processing nerve centers. Anyway.” He took a deep breath. “Listen, the Federation is in a bit of a bad way right now. I hate to tell a civilian like you but you’ll see why in a minute, okay?

  “On one of our outer borders, we took a pretty heavy hit from some camouflaged bandits. They did a lot of damage –to everything. But most importantly, they need medical supplies. Their stock was plenty damn big but it wasn’t good enough.”

  “Unfortunately, all the other shipping companies we could use are full to brimming with their own operations and no one can spare a ship in this day and age. You get it? We could command one to abandon their mission but that would mean another base would be affected. You can’t accomplish any good by doing bad, you know? That’s why we need you. Earth is pretty damn slow with the shipments lately. You’re one of the best pilots that United has to offer. More importantly, you’re available and they’re willing to spare you.”

  Bea was pretty skeptical. “You guys were just…waiting here for me to arrive?”

  That couldn’t be right though, not with the ways that she had seen things happening.

  And Harris shook his head, confirmed her inner thoughts. “We noticed that a change had been made to the logs and that there was a new ship. We investigated you. You’re too young and inexperienced for this but you’re our best shot. We can’t wait any longer. We have to have you do this, okay?”

  Her mouth fell open as she realized what this meant. Her hopes weren’t all for nothing! They were going to bend the rules for her!

  Unfortunately, Harris seemed to take her shock in a different manner. He folded his arms and looked away, suddenly seeming very old and weary. “Again, I shouldn’t be sharing this information with you but these times just aren’t any good, okay? We couldn’t give a shit if you say no. We’ll strong arm one of the other companies and commandeer their ship ourselves. We have before.

  “But, Shipway United would care bigtime. Rejecting this offer will reflect so badly on them that they’ll drop you.” His tired eyes darkened further. “None of us here would do it but there are…other branches of the Federation that operate under a less subtle hat than we. They might have you taken care of for knowing too much.”

  He started to turn to go. Beatrice burst out, “Wait!” and he turned back. “Wait, alright? You didn’t even give me a chance to say anything. I was surprised but I’m also really excited. Yes, please. I’ll take the offer. Whatever you want to do, I’m yours. I’ll even captain a different ship if need be.”

  Harris looked immensely relieved. “No, thank you. What we will be doing is sending your empty ship to another waypoint out near Pluto. You will be given enough medical supplies to completely fill every spare inch of your ship, and then you head out to the base.”

  “Sounds like routine,” she commented.

  “Hopefully it will be. However, at that waypoint you’ll be picking up a guard and having a one-man attack capsule attached to your ship for emergencies. It’s
just pure precaution, however.”

  Again, Beatrice agreed. The skies were dangerous enough without bandits and strike-outs from the aliens warring against the Peace Federation due to thinking that their rights and livelihoods were being threatened and oppressed. No such thing was happening but they weren’t about to be convinced of that. In any case, it was always best to at least appear to be ready for confrontation when traveling some of the more dangerous routes. There had been reports of rogue alien radicals just outside the solar system, though they were rare. Still, better to be safe than sorry.

  “In the meantime, we will be working to wiggle our way in through other systems to get proper shipments of supplies flowing back on track to the base. It’s just that these medical supplies are the most important. They can’t wait a second longer.”

  Beatrice remember her mother dying for the cause and her heart gave a sympathetic twinge. “Of course, sir. I’ll do whatever it takes. You have my word. What do we need to do?”

  “Go get your ship warmed up. I’ll be there in a minute or two.”