[h3] September 24, 2190
USF The Arcadian
Observation Blister 3 Starboard
Kashvi Sikander Sadek and Douglas "Hobby" Hobbs
Polaris System 
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Observation Blister 3 Starboard was one of six armored nodules along the side of the ship. There were few reasons to spend the huge sums required for armored industrial diamond windows while simultaneously weakening the hull. No glass could ever be as strong as layered composite steel and sensors were thousands of times more sensitive than the human eye. Few reasons didn’t mean no reasons of course. Observation Blister 3 Starboard was situated above the primary starboard hangar bay and allowed eyeballs on for launches and landings. It was empty now, hanging instrument cradles neatly folded and packed. A heavy blast door sealed it off from the ship in general quarters, leaving the observers relatively exposed but there were no easy posts on a warship. Hell you could die crossing the road.


Kashvi stood by the window, staring out into the odd not quite rightness of hyperspace. It gave her the same thrill she felt when she jumped into the void. A place humans were never meant to go, but they conquered with guts and ingenuity. The blast door opened and Chief Hobbs stepped into the bay.

“Oh great,” he grumped as he stomped over to the window. Kashvi lifted her chin by way of acknowledgement. The ice between them was palpable but neither tried to push it into an argument.

“What are you doing here?” Hobbs asked after a moment. He reached into his jacket and withdrew a battered silver flask. With a flip of his thumb he opened it and took a slug. It had the eye searing dryness of industrial alcohol, probably bled off a hydraulic line and mixed with enough water to keep it from being lethal. Booze was normal aboard ship and wise officers made sure it was kept in check rather than fruitlessly trying to stamp it out.

“How many chances do you have to see stars no one has ever seen?” Kashvi said after a long moment.

“Right?” Hobbs agreed. Further conversation was interrupted by a chime warning the crew that they were about to exit hyperspace. A holographic count down rolled down to zero on one of the displays and then with a shudder a starfield exploded into existence. To the naked eye it looked no different to others but there was an undeniable frisson of the new and unexplained. Hobbs cocked his ear and frowned.

“Problem?” Kashvi asked, arching an eyebrow. Hobbs shook his head.

“Reactor six is back to full output,” he stated, though clearly his mind was back in his engineroom. He sounded like a child who had been presented with a fascinating puzzle despite his age.

“You can tell that from here?” she asked.

“Can you tell if your armor is out of alignment without putting it on?” he asked.

“Fair,” she agreed, nodding her head to concede the point. Her spat with the Chief was no reason to question his competence. He grinned and handed her the flask. She lifted it to her lips but before she could drink her wrist comm blipped, summoning her to the bridge.

“Saved by the Bell?” Hobby suggested.

“Dharma,” Kashvi replied and handed the flask back. Without another word she turned and looped off towards the bridge, leaving the old man alone to ponder the alien stars.