“We must ascend to the top of the vessel,” Zeratul explained. “Our ships are designed as they once were; despite technological advances, for some reason, captains prefer that they may see out on the battlefield with their own eyes. A sentiment I can only understand when not held in contrast to a desire to remain alive.”
Qin grinned at the comment.
“It is startling, to me, that Imperial vessels tend to also put their command center in an elevated platform atop their vessel, rather than sheltered deeply inside it.”
The Xenopsychologist could no longer contain himself, “I do not know the real reason behind the design but it the case of the Imperials, maybe it is a display of not fearing your enemy no matter how foolish it may be to those of us who may not lead such ships. A holdover from our species more primitive form of war where combat was literally hand-to-hand between armies. Soldiers of those eras tended to respect a leader who put himself on the front lines of battle rather than lead from behind. Granted, mechanical weaponry advancement saw many such respected leaders cut down as time went on. But the animal emotion is still there. No matter how ‘smart’ it would be to protect the bridge of a warship by enclosing it in the interior of your vessel, what of your warriors? Would they respect a warship commander more if he lead from the top of his vessel, with eyes gazing out on the battlespace no matter the detail of data coming in from your sensors and scanner or would they not care if he hid himself within the bowels of your vessel? It is funny how evolutionary emotional perceptions still drive our use of advanced technology. Even when we excellent technology and can be told much in great detail, sometimes we still ‘want to see with our own eyes’ as if we still need to be convinced of the veracity of what our technology tell us.
*
Nova shrugged and allowed scientist to take his profile. Scipio might kill her later but she did not see what harm it could do.
As the scientist went to work, she asked “What is a temporal astrophysicist? Temporal has something to do with time, yes?”
*
Zander looked around for a terminal to ask the Nexus the question while Gant poked at the bed a little tentatively. “Is it sentient?”
The pilot thought for a moment. “You mentioned their pores being able to absorb oxygen. It reminds me of some aquatic species that have the same characteristic.”
Gant shrugged, “Maybe that is their evolutionary background.”
Zander looked down at the bed, “Perhaps psychologically too. If they immerse themselves in a bed of this type it might give them the psychological comfort of being submerged and safe.”
Gant looked up at Zander, “We do not breath under water. Will this thing smother us in our sleep?”
*
“Make it hotter,” Jerra ordered and the Nexus beeped and the dispenser revealed his request. Jerra snatched the cube up and popped it in his mouth only to instantly spit it out yelling.
“Hot, hot, hot!!” he was fanning his mouth when Bint handed him a glass of water. Jerra greedily took it.
“I meant ‘spicy’!” Jerra growled, his tongue and roof of his mouth numb with pain. “That was like Supernova hot!”
“The machine interprets your commands literally,” Serro replied grinning.
“At least you didn’t ask for a variety of flavors to explode in your mouth,” Opi interjected causing him and Serro to laugh at the other’s discomfort.
“The machine wouldn’t have understood flavor,” Jerra complained. Looking at the mess table at the variety of cubes, he sighed. “Everything tastes like fiberboard.”
He looked around at the Spartan room as if noticing it for the first time, “Serving aboard these warships must be a joyless experience.”
“We need to bring some spices, vegetables and stuff from Chef aboard to educate this machine regarding tastes, texture and flavor.” Opi remarked.
“We need to bring Chef over.” Serro added.
“They’d never let him go if they knew how food was supposed to taste,” Jerra concluded.
“Maybe they can’t taste,” Opi said, deep in thought. “If they absorb the nutrients through their skin, perhaps the sensation is different.”
“There should still be some sensation or stimulation even with tactile consumption,” Serro remarked. “Perhaps they just have not experienced it yet. I mean, if the computer fed them fiberboard their whole life, how are they to know that other things taste different? Perhaps to them, everything is supposed to taste like fiberboard so why would they bother to experiment?”
“Perhaps we should ask for another one of this translator bugs,” Opi stated looking over at the nearby escort.
*
The command area was large enough to allow freedom of movement for the large, bulky Cree’Ar. Her eyes took it all in as they settled on a rather massive Cree’Ar who Zeratul had communicated with and had started to move towards them.
“Scipio Arien and Qin Lin, this is Kal Shora, High Elder and High Judicator of The Dominion.”
High Elder and High Judicator. There is probably a story behind that … and then there was no more time.
As Kal Shora bowed, Scipio and Qin Lin also performed their own official Caprician greeting of placing a fist over the heart and bowing slightly.
“Greetings, honored High Elder and High Judicator. We are pleased to meet you and look forward to a productive exchange.”