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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/Majestic_Teach_6677 on 2025-12-17 20:49:47+00:00.
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I entered the ship after getting back from my final supply run and heard a familiar voice. However, I wasn’t sure who Tac-1 was addressing as I hadn’t gotten any notification that our new crew member had arrived yet.
…and after a long day, scritching the lower back just above the tail is generally most appreciated. If you happen to be invited to cuddle with VIP Haasha, please remember that wearing of wool or other fabrics prone to generating static electricity should be avoided.
“Ay, ay, ay!” a short human man sitting on the couch in the lounge area suddenly called out in amusement. He had short brown hair, and his complexion seemed to be slightly darker than most humans on the TEV Ursa Minor. “This briefing is a riot. I’m going to have to find out whoever put this together and thank them for the laugh. First class welcome to a new job. Furry space dinosaurs? Nothing of the sort was mentioned in any of my xenobiology courses.”
Please take these materials seriously. As an emergency medical technician, part of your duties will include knowing the appropriate care for VIP Haasha.
“And I love the way you call her a VIP!” the guy said as he started giggling.
I looked up at the holoprojector and my eyes went wide with shock and embarrassment. A diagram of me was up on the screen. Some of the information was medical, such as the location of my circulatory systems. Other information was decidedly not medical, but informational with notes such as, “Scritch in a circular motion here” or “No scritching zone” and then an especially large label with an arrow firmly stating, “Naughty bits! Do not touch!”
Advisory. VIP Haasha has now entered the ship. You may now greet her and offer a friendly back scritch.
“Uhh.. Hello?” I offered hesitantly. The human turned around suddenly and stared at me in shock.
“Are you real?” Enrique blurted out.
I let out a small groan of frustration.
“I get that a lot from humans the first time they meet me,” I responded in a weary tone.
Then began the awkward silence. Enrique’s eyes were open wide and his face flushed red with embarrassment. Tac-1 decided to make the moment easier by handling it with the usual complete lack of tact.
VIP Haasha, I have completed EMT Enrique’s introduction to Py’rapt’ch physiology so that he may be appropriately knowledgeable in case of emergency. I have also advised him on your musical preferences, movie backlog, and where to scratch if requested by VIP Haasha. As he will also be the new Fitness Trainer on the TEV Ursa Minor, we have discussed a workout routine to optimize your health. I will ensure your sessions with EMT Enrique are scheduled once Chief Engineer Rosa and Quartermaster Jarl have confirmed your assigned shifts.
I just closed my eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, and walked over to Enrique. I offered my hand, which he accepted hesitantly and gave a very light and polite shake.
“I see you’ve met Tac-1, my electronic nanny,” I said cordially.
Enrique simply kept staring and said nothing.
“All right. Nice to meet you,” I said and gave him a quick wave. “I'm going to stow the final cargo crates and prep for launch. We should depart in about 15 minutes.”
The next day was mostly awkward silence. Enrique avoided me most of the time although was very polite when we spoke. He even bunked out in the lounge on the couch instead of the new crew quarters, which had really great temperature-controlled bunks. I was tempted to smack him upside the head with my tail, but figured he’ll adjust in time.
He finally started to open up at lunch just before our scheduled rendezvous with the TEV Ursa Minor. We arrived early at the designated bit of empty space, so there was time to relax over a meal.
“Where do you come from? Earth or one of the Terran colonies or stations?” I asked as I grabbed a chunk of pineapple from my private fruit box.
Enrique seemed to relax a bit. He took in a deep breath, closed his eyes, and seemed to get a slightly distant look of fond remembrance on his face for a moment. He then turned his gaze to me with a bit of a twinkle in his eyes.
“I grew up in Mexico, which is the southern part of North America,” he said. “It’s a beautiful place, and I was especially lucky growing up.”
“Really? How so?” I asked with genuine interest and hoping this might get him to start opening up.
“My parents were Park Rangers with the Department of Cultural Preservation. When I was a small child, they were assigned to help guide visitors and maintain the grounds of ancient Zapotec ruins at Mitla,” he explained with fondness. “The architecture is impressive, but it is truly the stonework that I remember most. One of the patterns was that of people seemingly running in an endless line holding hands.”
He pulled up an image of the friezes on the lounge holoprojector.
“Wow,” I said with amazement. There was just something about the artwork that made me want to reach out and touch it.
“All done by hand, no mortar,” he explained. “As a result, I’ve always had an appreciation for ancient arts. There’s something more human and natural about them than the perfection we see too often in modern art and design. If we happen to stumble on ancient alien ruins while I’m assigned here, I’ll be excited to see them and compare them to early Earth artworks.”
We spent the next hour looking at ancient art from where he grew up, including Aztec and Mayan. While he had spent his earliest years in the area around Mitla, his parents transferred to administrative positions in Mexico City to be closer to family. They kept working within cultural preservation and were a bit shocked when he chose to head into emergency medical work.
“That’s a strange direction given your love of ancient art,” I commented.
“I was never one to sit still in school,” he responded with a small smile. “Studying art requires you to sit still, and I liked to climb things. And so I did!”
He pulled up an image of him hanging off a sheer cliff by one arm smiling up at the camera.
“Ay, I was a little stupid in my early years,” he said with a roll of his eyes. “I love this image because it reminds me of an amazing climb at El Potrero Chico, but also as a reminder of what an idiot I was at that age. Not long after this was taken, I had a climbing accident where I broke an arm when trying to show off for a girl. I got a little sense knocked into me as a result. Literally, as Maria smacked me for scaring the hell out of her once we got to safety.”
“Did you get the girl?” I asked suggestively.
“Oh, no! Definitely not,” he said with a laugh. “Young and stupid doesn’t impress young and beautiful. I got a trip to the hospital, where a doctor suggested I contribute to society rather than make my family worry they might lose me. The challenge of climbing and helping people spoke to me, so I went to EMT school and joined a mountain search and rescue for 3 years. After that, I was introduced to the Terran Red Cross and just recently finished my xenobiology certification.”
I still couldn’t quite wrap my head around the guy who hung off a cliff being the same one that avoided me for the past day, but at least he was coming around and I had a feeling he would be full of stories to listen to in the future. I would have enjoyed chatting more, but the proximity alarm sounded to let us know the TEV Ursa Minor had arrived.
“That’s our ride!” I exclaimed. “If you want a front row seat, the co-pilot seat is open. Just promise you won’t touch anything.”
He smiled and followed me up to the cockpit.
Incoming messages. Would you like to review them on approach?
“Sounds good to me, Tac-1,” I said happily. “Let’s see what the crew has to…”
My eyes went wide as my incoming messages began to flood the heads up display.
“Well, you can’t say you weren’t missed,” Enrique commented dryly.
Initial analysis of the messages indicates that 15% include a threat to shave your fur with a ‘poodle cut’ if you disappear like that again, and 66% include the suggestion of an ankle monitor or other tracking device. One message is from the captain and marked for immediate review. Would you like me to play it?
“Please do,” I said with a grin, which didn’t last long. My eyes went wide as a holomessage from Captain Victor came up on the screen and he did not look pleased.
“Haasha, now that you have returned to the TEV Ursa Minor, we need to address some issues related to your unexcused absences from the ship,” he began with a seriousness I did not expect. “Information has become available that indicates your little trip may have been an unauthorized excuse to take a vacation, not an accident as originally reported. We need to discuss your unexcused absences, use of ship credit lines, misplacing of equipment, and legal problems arising from your recent visit to the Hemral Trade Federation sector of space.”
The captain paused for a moment as he picked up and seemed to go through a list on his datapad. He then looked back into the camera and continued.
“Additionally, you have missed three scheduled Py’rapt’ch crew acclimation exercises. I expect you to schedule make-up sessions with the affected crew ASAP,” he said with ...
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