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"Then what seems to be the problem, Captain?"

Crap. Well, seems like she did just call it a 'containment field.'"With all due respect, sir, my 'containment field' is right in the middle of my ship, spanning multiple floors and taking up quite a large area. It's part of the structure of the Emberkind, yes, but its purpose is purely for entertainment." Vondra's surface didn't shift. Not a vibration or a ripple as the water around her sat heavy and dark and patient. "It's... I mean, sir. It's..."What the hell was it?

"... it's space art. A gift from a community where we saved their endangered species. But it's certainly notintendedto hold animals."

Reyna was doing her best to find a way to not have to transport these three creatures, beautiful as they were, that couldn't survive within any environment except the one specifically made for their kind.

Aetherfin were among the most breathtaking creatures in Coalition space. Massive, translucent ray-like beings with wingspans averaging three meters, they moved through zero-gravity environments the way sea creatures moved through deep ocean currents. They were slow and silent, with a grace that made you forget they weighed anything at all. Their bodies were luminescent, shifting through pale blues, purples, and silvers as they drifted, and they were utterly, completely helpless in gravity. Even a few seconds of gravitational exposure could crush their delicate skeletal structure.

They were beautiful. They were enormous. And Vondra wanted three of them on her ship.

"I understand your... hesitations, Captain," Vondra said. The slight pause beforehesitationscarried a resonance that the Voxlink rendered as amusement but was probably closer toI'm going to let you finish even though my command hasn't changed."But, Reyna, the mission of the Emberkind is to rescue animals, is it not?"

Reyna closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then nodded.

"Yes, Admiral."

"And youdohave the zero-G field...'space art?' Is that what you called it?"

Reyna's jaw tightened.

"Yes, Admiral."

"Then I fail to see the problem."

"Okay," Reyna began, beginning to talk with her hands. "Let's say that, hypothetically, we do go to collect these three—"Holy hell, THREE."—Aetherfin from where they're trapped. Say weareable to rescue them in some completely impossible, never-been-done-before way."

"So far I'm following, Captain."

Reyna winced. "Say we find a way to rescue the creatures. Sir, from there, we get stuck again. I mean, how exactly are we going to get the Aetherfin onto the Emberkind, let aloneintothe zero-G chamber from the shuttle?"

"Ah, I'm glad you asked. That's where Tavi comes in."

"Tavi." Reyna's expression failed to hide her lack of inflection. "MyTavi?"

"Yes. Your Lead Software Engineer."

"And what exactly can Tavi do?"

"Make it happen."

Reyna stared at the screen. "Make it...happen..."

"Yes, Captain. Tavi has experience with zero-G field generation and containment protocols. I know he can tackle this problem and come up with a solution. You just need to tell him he only has three weeks to do so."

"Three weeks?!" The color drained from Reyna's face, which was never a good look against her sage green complexion.

"That should be plenty of time for Tavi. I wouldn't worry."

"No, I'm sure you wouldn't," Reyna muttered under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, sir." Apparently, it wasn'tenoughunder her breath.

Vondra regarded her. The geode eyes held steady, and for a moment the water around the Admiral seemed to come off her in waves, as though heated. She seemed to be assessing whether to push or wait.

She pushed.