Gabriel woke up to an annoying alarm going off. His face was mostly filled with fur as Madeline was snuggled into his chest. He grumbled, threw off the covers, and looked around for the alarm, but Madeline rolled over, pawed at the side table, and managed to shut it off first. She yawned and stretched, before slumping back down on top of Gabriel. He chuckled and brought her face up to his for a kiss.

“Morning breath,” Madeline complained but kissed him nonetheless.

“How come your breath still smells nice?” Gabriel asked and tipped her off him so he could go brush his teeth.

“A miracle of science,” she yawned, “Take a swig from the blue bottle and swish it around.” She pointed to the bathroom with as little effort as possible.

Gabriel grabbed the bottle, “Mouthwash?” he asked and took a pull from the bottle.

“Yep”

It surprised him with a mint taste, but like sweet mint and there was none of the tingling that he expected. All in all, it was mild with some strange fruit taste that complimented the mint. Watermelon maybe? He spat it out and walked back to the bed as Madeline sat up.

“How much time have we got?” He asked.

“Two hours until FTL jump,” she said, glancing at her pcu and scratching her neck.

“Plenty of time,” Gabriel said as he pushed her back down on the bed. He ran a hand up her shirt as she grinned, wrapping her arms around his neck.

After another lovemaking session and a quick shower, they were once again sitting in the bedroom, Gabriel dressed while Madeline was still drying and brushing herself. “Would you mind helping out?” she asked.

“Yeah, of course,” Gabriel said and accepted a brush as he started on the harder to reach spots of her back. When he got down to her tail she twitched as before and swung it around her side. “No, you don’t,” Gabriel said, teasing and firmly grasped her tail. She let out a surprised chirp but then grinned at him.

“Just be gentle,” she said in a teasing voice, far outmatching his own.

“I know I started it,” Gabriel chuckled as he began gently brushing. “But if you keep that up we will miss breakfast.”

“Oh, no, whatever will we do,” she chirped and glanced over her shoulder biting her lip. Then her stomach rumbled. “On second thought,” she said.

Gabriel broke out into laughter and finished his work. “There, brushed and smooth,” Gabriel said, running a hand down her back and along her tail.

“Thank you Gabe,” Madeline said. “Now let’s get breakfast.” They walked out and almost ran into Morthri, who was heading in the same direction.

“Ah, Gabriel, miss Nioni, good morning to you both,” He said with a quick nod.

“Morning,” Gabriel and Madeline said as they filed down the offwhite hallway.

“So, like I said yesterday, I have talked with Alith and we have a few things to discuss,” Morthri said as they entered the civilian cafeteria. Gabriel could almost swear this ship was bigger on the inside. Either that or it was a lot wider than I had looked. This cafeteria, or maybe restaurant, could fit at least 50 guests. The entire ship could probably eat here at once. It was furnished with red wooden flooring that Gabriel thought looked a little off until he remembered they had red trees on Zilg. The furnishing was otherwise metal with cushioning for both the bottom and back.

Alith was already here and perked up when he saw Gabriel and the rest arriving. He was wearing a jumpsuit, much like the one he’d had on Kanthua’s ship, but this one was a muted red with what Gabriel assumed was a guest pass on his chest. “Gabriel, it is good to see you,” He said and bowed, his large ears flopping around.

Gabriel grinned, “It’s good to see you too Alith, how have you been?”

“Busy, but the work is rewarding,” Alith said nodding again.

“And how are Kanthua and his crew?” Gabriel asked as they all sat down. Madeline picked up a tablet from a center console and began ordering breakfast. Gabriel let her decide as he was still a novice at reading Station standard.

“Well, all things considering,” Alith said and paused for a second. “He will have lower income but his business will survive. The fine was quite extensive and some customers do not want to trade with him anymore. But the Zilgi have hired him for jobs after Miss Nioni was freed.”

Gabriel glanced over at Madeline. “Not my doing,” she said and shrugged. “Must be my father’s work.”

“Anyway I’m glad he’s doing alright, it was a tough situation,” Gabriel said. “Now, on to other news, did you have something for me?”

“Not much I’m afraid, and most you likely already know,” Morthi said. “We would like more tests and particularly samples.”

“I'm sure we can arrange something,” Gabriel said.

“So, we ran simulations with our tests, mostly on different substances and you are more immune than we thought. You seem to be able to handle a lot more heat in your food and alcohol than we first imagined.” Alith said.

“Yeah, I could probably have told you that,” Gabriel said.

“Yes, most of what we can tell you is about your own body of course,” Morthri added. “We just thought we should let you know that you don’t need to avoid fire-root or any of the Roniean alcohols. Though I still think you should drink with moderation.”

“I will,” Gabriel said.

Alith nodded, “We can talk about your biology if you want but I suspect you know most of that as well,”

“Yeah, unless you found something strange I think I’m good,” Gabriel said. “So, I can pretty much just eat anything given to me?”

“Yes, almost,” Morthri said. “Cecaiampals eat a dish of raw fish that can have parasites. They are not affected, but you might be,” He said.

“Don’t eat the alien sushi, I got it,” Gabriel said nodding.

Madeline squinted at him, “You eat raw fish?”

“Great, then we should schedule the tests for your earliest convenience,” Morthri said, ignoring the comment completely.

“Well, I’m not doing much ‘till we reach Mhinos so unless I get stuck in a meeting we can probably do them today,” Gabriel said as the breakfast finally arrived. Madeline had ordered some kind of burrito for him along with a cup of caffeinated Roniean tea. She had similar food but stuck to juice. The burrito contained some kind of beans and vegetables with a stretchy cheese accompanying everything. “I don’t suppose you have bacon or eggs on this ship?”

“I don’t know what bacon is but no, we don’t have any eggs of any kind,” Derthen said from behind Gabriel.

“Morning dad,” Madeline said.

“Good morning Mhadeleaine,” He said and nodded to the rest at the table. “To you as well.”

“Good morning,” Gabriel said as Derthen sat down next to Madeline.

“We will be going through the FTL gate in two hours,” Derthen said as someone came over with his food. Gabriel wondered if he had ordered earlier or just had the same thing every morning.

“And how long is the trip?”

“We should make it in one and a half weeks,” Derthen said. Gabriel could not help but sigh, yet another long trip. Why did space have to be so big? They finished breakfast with Derthen without much more talk. Morthri and Alith quietly discussed what tests they would like to run with the equipment they had available, and Derthen excused himself to talk to the captain.

“So...another two weeks in transit,” Gabriel said as he and Madeline were walking back to their room. He had made appointments with Morthri and Alith but they had some troopers to look after. None had died in the battle but several got injured and some needed further treatment. Still, they managed to squeeze him in just before lunch, muttering to themselves to stay late and finish some less than urgest treatments. Gabriel had no idea what that meant but decided the two doctors probably knew best. Probably.

“Yeah,” Madeline said and leaned on his arm. “I wish we could get there faster. But a part of me wants the trip to be longer.” She added.

Gabriel smiled, squeezing her hand, “One and a half weeks isn’t enough?”

“Depends,” she said. “Don’t get me wrong, I would rather we busy ourselves saving you sister, but we can’t reach Mhinos any faster. I get you to myself for this time at least before we head off to cause trouble somewhere else.”

“Well, then let’s make sure to rescue Victoria as soon as possible, and finally take that vacation to Zilg,” Gabriel said as they reached their room.

“Was that not the plan all along?” she asked, her fur ridge standing up.

“Well, yeah, I suppose,” Gabriel said. “So… what do we do now?”

“You could always learn more Station standard, or any other language you feel like. Or work out? you seem to have lost some weight in the arena,” she said and poked his stomach.

Gabriel glanced down and shrugged, “Yeah, probably, we didn’t get good food. That reminds me, I promised to treat Deana to a fire-root spiced meal.”

“The container you carried around is in your pack somewhere,” Madeline said and dug around in her own pack. “We still have a few hours until the tests, right?”

“Yeah, three,” Gabriel confirmed and dug around in his bag. He found a new weight suit and the familiar container of spice. “Good it’s still here,” He opened it and dabbed some on his tongue. “As spicy as I remember.” He turned around to Madeline undressing. “Um?”

“Hm? I’m going to train, wanna come?” She asked and pulled her pants down.

Gabriel’s mind suggested another strenuous activity but he nodded, “Yeah, I’m up for it,” he said and dug around for training clothes.

“Good, I haven’t had any time to train in fighting since you went and got kidnapped,” She said as she changed.

“Well, I’m terribly sorry for inconveniencing you,” Gabriel chuckled. He finished changing, put an arm around her waist, and kissed her cheek. “How can I make it up to you?”

“Don’t get kidnapped in the future?” She smiled. “And maybe let me win when we spar.”

“Would you really feel better if I just let you win?” Gabriel asked as they walked out and Madeline guided him towards the back of the ship.

“A little,” she said and grabbed his hand, turning towards a stairwell. “But I think that will be short-lived.” They walked up a floor to what appeared to be the entertainment quarters. They passed three private seating areas, all had some form of small bar and entertainment suit. Beyond that was a more traditional bar, although the bartender was missing this early. There was even a stage.

“I don’t suppose we can get live performances?” Gabriel asked as they passed through.

“Not unless you can play an instrument. And happens to find one laying around.”

“I’m not half bad on piano, well no, that's a lie. I’m passable at the piano, Victoria is a good singer, however.”

“...Do you miss her?” Madeline asked.

“Yes, a lot,” Gabriel admitted. “Not because of our time apart, however. Sometimes we didn’t meet for months when I lived in Texas, which I told you about, though we always talked.” Gabriel sighed. “I’m mostly terrified of never seeing her again.”

“I’m sorry,” Madeline said and leaned on his shoulder.

Gabriel shook his head, ruffling her fur ridge while he did. “Not your fault this happened. Thank you for asking, I should talk about it and not bottle everything up.”

“We can head back if you want,” she said.

“No,” Gabriel said as they reached the gym. “It can wait, I want to train.” He opened the door and found a large room with a padded center. A wide path along the outside had a rubber mat that looked to be made for running. In the center were two rings for sparring as well as weights and machines. It was a big room, Gabriel estimated the entire room was the size of a 50-meter swimming pool.

He turned to Madeline, “How big is this ship?”

She shrugged, “I don’t know exactly, but it’s about the biggest you can comfortably land on planets, well I should say easily, you can land some very large ships.”

“I swear it looked smaller from the outside,” Gabriel muttered. Then he saw two familiar figures in one of the rings. Sen’Chakar and Deana were sparring inside. “Not even a full day and you're up fighting?”

Both looked over, “Same to you,” Deana said. “I remember you got shot.”

“Yeah, and I had to carry you out,” Gabriel said as he walked over and clasped forearms with her. “How are you?”

“Healing,” Deana said. “Those nano’s work fast, just a little sore now.”

“Sen’Chakar?” Gabriel asked as he slapped Sen’s unhurt arm lightly.

“Same here, don’t worry, we are taking it easy.” He turned to Madeline as she walked up. “Miss Nioni,” he said with a small bow.

“Please call me Mhadeleaine. Or Madeline,” she said. She smiled at Gabriel, “I actually prefer the latter.”

“No nickname?” Deana asked.

Madeline smiled, “Maddie, if you like,”

“I like short names,” Deana said. “Maddie it is,”

“Now then,” Sen said. “While I’m aware your father mentioned our names yesterday, we have not been introduced. My name is Sen’Chakar,” he said bowing again. “And...” he added and hesitated, “My friends call me Sen.”

“My name is Deana V'Shiri,” Deana said with a small bow as well.

“So, you have a last name,” Gabriel said.

“Yeah, you just never asked.”

“And...” Gabriel said.

“And what?” Deana said innocently.

“No nickname?” Gabriel pressed.

“Fine, these two have gotten into the bad habit of calling me Dee,” Deana admitted.

Madeline smiled, “I see, that I know what it translated to, Sen I don’t”

“Oh!” Deana said, clearly excited to either bother Sen’Chakar or to shift the focus. “When used separately from another name it is the name of a small sweet fruit. And the accompanying flower now that I think about it, right?” Deana asked.

Sen’Chakar sighed, “Yes, now can we get back to sparring?”

Gabriel chuckled, “We’ll leave you two alone, Dee, I want to hear about Cani later,” he grinned. He swore Deana blushed but she ignored him and went on sparring with Sen. Gabriel began warming up. This room was quite a bit larger than the training room in the arena and Gabriel enjoyed the extra space for jogging.

After a warm-up, he and Madeline stretched and started with the basics. Madeline had procured gloves with padding for her claws and wore similar garments for her feet. So this time they could go all out without fear of Gabriel getting raked with claws. Some of their previous thought out moves proved too strenuous on her fingers and needed correcting, and some kicks didn’t deliver enough force. But with some adjustments, Gabriel felt that Madeline was on her way to becoming a real danger in a fight. Deana and Sen’Chakar joined after a while and Gabriel wound up teaching all of them what he knew. At least he could teach them boxing and whatever he and Madeline were creating.

“Maybe we should take a break?” Madeline suggested, she was breathing hard with hard hands on her knees. Deana was in a similar condition and Sen’Chakar was unreadable as usual, although he appeared out of breath.

“Of course,” Gabriel said and looked around. “Can I get some water anywhere?”

“Here,” Madeline said and pushed a button next to a symbol of an inverted water drop. A panel opened and inside were disposable cups and a faucet. She placed a cup under the faucet which filled it automatically before she handed it to Gabriel.

“Neat,” He said and sipped the cold water. “But why is everything hidden behind panels?”

“I don’t know,” Madeline said and took a cup for herself before letting Deana and Sen’Chakar through.

“It’s out of the way and looked cleaner,” Sen’Chakar said. “This ship is made by Phigos and they prefer having everything they don’t need out of sight.”

“Huh,” Gabriel looked around the room. He supposed if he had to move a lot of equipment around the room a simple faucet could get in the way. “And the Quizeaterans are the same?” He guessed, remembering his time on Kanthuas ship.

“Most of their ships are based on Phigos designs,” Sen’Chakar said.

“Ah, that makes sense,” Gabriel said as he looked around, many features seemed to be the same on both ships. Gabriel finished the cup and rolled his shoulders. He felt no pain from his arms or back. Either the nano’s had kept working, or Morthri had given him something but it was probably best not to push it. “How about we leave it here for today. Three out of four are still healing.”

Deana smiled and nodded, “Never thought you would ask,” she said and grabbed a towel from a nearby bag. “Couldn’t let you show me up, but I was about to call it quits.”

“If it makes you feel better, you two were here when we got here,” Gabriel chuckled.

“It does, actually,” she said. Gabriel decided not to tell her he had originally planned to go for another half hour at least.

“I believe I promised you a fire-root loaded dinner, how about we all eat together?” Gabriel suggested.

“I don’t remember the word loaded being used,” Deana said, “But I would like that.”

“Good,” Gabriel said as he and Madeline turned to leave. “You can invite Cani if she’s free,” he said as he waved goodbye. He got a bow from Sen’Chakar but only an eye roll from Deana.

“What was that about?” Madeline asked after the door closed.

“Deana is... ” Gabriel paused, trying to find the correct words. “Well, I don’t know, she has a crush on Cani I suppose,” he finished.

“Really? Does Cani like women? She flirted with you pretty hard when we first picked her up.”

“Yeah, but that felt like a test of sorts. She stopped immediately after right? I don't know, maybe she likes both?” Gabriel said, a bit unsure.

“After Zentra's daughter arrived you mean.”

“Yeah, but she didn’t try again after that. But maybe I'm wrong” Gabriel said and shrugged. “Wouldn't be the first time, won’t be the last.”

Madeline chirped and took his hand. “While that might be true, there is something to it, Cani almost stayed behind, but we needed a good pilot, so we managed to convince her to tag along.”

“With money?”

“Yep,” Madeline said, smiling. “I think she wanted to repay you for saving her as well, but she kept complaining about getting shot the last time she had anything to do with you.”

“Understandable, if getting shot is a larger than usual possibility you should get paid,” Gabriel said. “Speaking of payment, I need to talk to Morthri about my scans.”

“Let’s take a shower first,” Madeline said.

“Together?”

“We only have one don’t we?” Madeline said, smiling and winking at him.

“I like the way you think,” Gabriel said and kissed her cheek. Then he remembered that while the shower was bigger than many he had used so far it was still quite small. “It’s going to be cramped.”

“So?” She asked and wrapped her arm around his. “Afraid of a little skin contact?”

Gabriel laughed again, “Don’t do this to me, I have to go give a bunch of tests in an hour and a half.”

“Yeah, so? you don’t need a full hour to dry off,” she smirked and kissed him.

Gabriel glanced at his pcu, he would have enough time for a ‘long’ shower, “Is this how the rest of the trip is going to go?” He asked.

“Hm, maybe,” Madeline agreed. They both nodded as they passed a group of troops heading to the gym, based on their clothes. “Why? does that bother you?”

“No, not at all, just thinking that this might not be a boring trip after all,” Gabriel said. Madeline chirped and leaned on his shoulder as they entered their room...