FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Commander James Hattock didn’t really know what all to make of his current situation. Being offered up as the sacrificial lamb to the Kourazdin Empire by way of an officer exchange program. The Kourazdin are a rather strange people. Militarily they pose no real threat to the Federation or any of their neighbors. They have their own decently sized territory, but their technological status and ability to produce combat ready ships paled in comparison to their neighbors. It was a kind of status that some considered to be “too late to the party.” If the Kourazdin had been where they are now one hundred years ago they would have probably flourished and been able to rival the Federation or any of the other major empires surrounding them. As it was their fate rested solely on the grace of their neighbors. And to that end it was almost like they were trying to get themselves destroyed.

To call them barbaric would most certainly be a lie. They weren’t barbarians. They didn’t go around trying to pillage and conquer anyone. If anything their present predicament was precisely because they weren’t trying to aggressively expand. They were, however, extremely territorial. Enter their space unwarranted and they went on the attack. More than a couple Federation ships have been badly damage or destroyed by errantly entering a system they had claimed as their own. They didn’t even have the tact to deny it either, practically bragging about taking them on. But encounter one of their ships outside their systems and they suddenly seemed reasonable enough to work with. Absolutely no sense in politics. They didn’t really ever show any sign of understanding subtlety or tact. But they were still a young race and had promise and so the Federation was trying to see if they could be persuaded into joining the Federation so that they wouldn’t be wiped out when one of their neighbors got tired of dealing with them.

The Xinth was not an impressive ship by any standards. Against Federation ships it would be considered a Middling vessel as best. There are even Kourazdin ships that are larger. But it made sense to not throw a stranger onto their flagship. And of course as his shuttle entered the Xinth’s bay and he could start to feel the effects of it he’s reminded that there is one other main reason why the Federation is trying to woo the Kourazdin into joining. There is one thing that they exceed over the other races. One thing that probably is the sole reason they have survived for as long as they have. And definitely something the Federation could make good use of, despite the race’s shortcomings. As James turns off the shuttle he turns and exits out the back, leaving the majority of his luggage in the shuttle itself. He can always come back for it later if they don’t have it moved for him and better to make a good impression without it. Stepping into their shuttle bay he finds that there is only a single person that is waiting for him patiently.

Though a bit on the short side his welcoming party has all the looks that he was expecting from the Kourazdin. Many features resembling that of an upright fox, what with the elongated nose and mouth giving the appearance of a muzzle, the large triangular ears sticking up from its head and is covered in a reddish-brown coat of fur. Not to mention the long, furry tail sticking out from behind him. Commander Hattock was a bit disappointed they just let single crewman to take him to the bridge but it may be them sending a message. The one thing he can’t do with this individual, however, is really look them in the eye. The sheer intensity of those eyes gave James the impression of someone who has looked right through you and found you wanting. It was extremely unsettling and seemed to just drive the notion of that person being someone you listened to and obeyed for they felt themselves superior and the way they looked at you, it made you want to agree, despite their size.

“Commander James Hattock, reporting for duty,” Commander Hattock says once he gets close enough, standing up straight and firm since he didn’t know what sort of gesture they typically use.

“Very good. Follow me,” the Kourazdin escort says quite simply and turns around and starts walking.

With no other choice James follows after, staying just a bit behind the escort out of a respect he didn’t know what it came from. That and the fact it partly obscured the sight of him raising and lowering his arms while staring at them. There was absolutely no deviation at all in the gravity. As far as he could tell it was exactly like being planet side. It effects everything the same amount and doesn’t even change as they walk through the ship. He idly wonders if perhaps they were trying to impress him. It’s quite possible that his escort is the one in charge of handling the gravity, which would make it very easy for him to manage.

“I have to say,” James speaks up as they walk, “I am most impressed by the level of quality for your ship’s gravity. I’d like to pass along my commendations to your Courmorant officer.”

“Very well, I shall pass your praise along to mister Arshell,” his guide says formally. It quickly becomes clear that they aren’t trying to take them in the most direct route, either meaning he’s being felt out or is being given a tour. After a moment of walking in silence the guide speaks up again. “So tell me, Commander. What have you been told about our chain of command?”

It’s only at this moment that he finally catches on to the fact the captain himself might have been the one to come see him. It definitely puts the Kourazdin’s behavior into perspective, including the fact that though he introduced himself the other has not, probably expecting him to already know the name.

“Only that your way of doing things is very different from ours.”

“Very good. Then I don’t have to try and rid you of any misconceptions,” the captain states, his hands moving behind him in a more authoritative stance. “You are correct. We don’t do things the same way as you do. We have a very strict separation of duty. My job is to look after the entire ship as a whole. I am to think of things on a grand scale. Your job is to manage the smaller details of doing that. As my second you will have two primary duties. The first is that all military personnel on this ship will report directly to either you or their own particular officer, who would report to you. I will not give any orders to the crew themselves. Instead when I want something done that is under your domain, I’ll give you the order and then it is your job to delegate or see to it that it gets done. Is that understood?”

James nods slightly, “Yes, sir.” It’s an odd way of doing things and he’d think it would be somewhat inefficient in the grand scheme of things but he can see the merit of delegating tasks. “And the second duty?”

“You are to question my orders,” the captain says very simply.

“I’m sorry?”

“You are new to the way we handle things. But my job is to see the big picture and consider the ship as one big unit. The small stuff is your responsibility. If, however, you think that there is some issue that I have overlooked, if you think that I am in error, then it is your duty to question my command. Do not hesitate, do not ask to do it privately. If you see any problem with my orders the entire crew will feel that it is your duty to raise any concerns they may have and to do it as promptly as possible. It is your moral duty to convince me to change my mind if you ever think I’m making the wrong choice, even when dealing with other races. I may, however, decide after hearing your case decide to carry out with the original orders and then you are expected to obey them. But, I want you questioning everything. It will be interesting to see where the morals of a Federation officer lie.”

“I will do my best, sir.” James says somewhat uncertainly.

“See that you do, you are here as much to represent your Federation as you are to observe us. Do be mindful that I make a habit of being very thorough with my mission reports and I won’t hesitate to mention how you failed to perform your duties if I feel you are being negligent in confronting me.”

James notices that even after the discussion they don’t seem to be in any rush to get much of anywhere. “Where are we currently going?” he asks, trying to press his luck with the captain without imposing too much.

“I’m taking you to your quarters. Some adjustments will likely need to be made to accommodate you more fully. I have arranged for some of the workers to meet us there. You’ll go in, tell them what needs to be changed and I would encourage being very thorough. Then once you’ve given them the list of requirements I’ll escort you to the bridge.”

“You didn’t need to go so far out of your way for me, sir.” James says, somewhat surprised by that level of generosity. He half expected, especially with the way the Kourazdin usually behave that they would just give him something serviceable and leave it at that.

“I need you at your best, commander. This ship only functions well when it functions smoothly. It will simply not do to have you exhausted or sore because of some small oversight. Better to get this all worked on now rather than when everyone’s gone to bed and too tired to do much. You’ll probably be very thankful for the consideration after the abuse we’ll be putting on your body in combat training.”

“Sir?” James asks.

“For the time being you are now a part of the crew. This means you are also to be expected to perform the same regiment as any other officer aboard this ship and any of our other ships. And that regiment includes making sure that you are able to defend yourself.”

“I know how to defend myself,” James complains.

“We shall see,” the captain responds casually.

The two walk fairly silently and eventually the captain stops at a particular door. “This one is yours. You’re going to have to memorize where it is or at least the rough location of it. There are directories that you can use to locate your quarters as well, assuming you know how to read our language. If you can’t, you’ll just have to memorize at least the rough location and just keep checking until one opens for you.

They arrive at a door that looks like all others and is unfortunately completely unlabeled. The captain pulls out a communicator from a pocket in his uniform and then waves it in front of the door. He then hands it over to James.

“This will open your room and only your room. Else you’ll have to knock. Will also let you into any restricted room that your position would give you access to. Admittedly your access would be slightly less than someone in your position normally would have, mainly the archives room. We will not require you to swear complete fealty to us, but that also means that we will not allow you to get any access to information that you could go back to your federation that can be used against us.”

James takes the communicator and puts it onto his uniform, somewhat understanding the precautions. It’s not necessarily what they would do in this situation in the Federation, but considering they are coming from a position of weakness, it does make sense to make it that he can’t gain access to their ship placements and then send that to his fleet. Knowing exact ship locations would allow someone to just wipe out the fleet or slip past defenses. They enter his quarters and he sees already half a dozen of the other Kourazdin waiting for him.

“I’m heading to the bridge,” the captain tells the group of them, “I would appreciate it if once you all are done if one of you would kindly escort him to the bridge as well so he may begin his duty.”

The captain leaves and heads off, leaving James with the other Kourazdin to go over all the various aspects of his room. They even go to the point of measuring his arms and legs a lot more with the explanation of making sure his bed is designed correctly for him. And it is only here that he truly starts to wonder what it is that he’s gotten himself into, especially since a couple of the Kourazdin going over his room seem to have hair almost to the floor. Understandably from a war ship there are no actual window in his room, though there is a display that he can apparently adjust to look like a window to space if he wanted. And they even go so far as putting a device on his head to try and figure out what is the best color for the lights in his room.