Gabatrix: The Shira Maneuver

"Not on my ship. Tell him that he can have his rank and pay rate back. If need be, contact the T'rintar clan and ask for funds to help pay for his job. If need be, contact Ambassador Kane and Ifra to make the arrangements. I want all three of them."

"You would make good connections with Ifra and Kane by having Li'lo and Jenta onboard your ship too. Keeping potential allies close.....smart move."

Shira briefly smiled before she took another drag of her cigarette. It was her only reaction to that statement.

"Hmmm....looks like you have requests for a marine. Zalika....and her mate Bekra. It might be a little hard to grab any marine at the moment. I hear faint rumors that there is some sort of planned operation involving most of the UHN marines. I can only hope that it's this idea of recapturing Cipra that I'm also hearing."

"It is quite expected," Shira explained as she took another drag of her cigarette. "If the UWA wishes to retake the planet, now is the best time to do it, especially with the help of the T'rintar clan. Shame......" she almost sighed. "It might happen too soon for us to be a part of it."

Javier didn't know what to think of that comment. He decided to count his blessings and only think about how the construction of the UHN Lifen was going to be done. He rushed his finger down the list of potential crewmembers to serve on the ship. There was one last thing that he saw that was continually edited over and over again. It raised his brow upon hearing it.

"I noticed that you had a request for Minerva....." he commented to her. "You had the name written and crossed out a couple of times like you couldn't make up your mind on it. Do you want to have that AI working with us?"

"Unfortunately, every path I see makes it hard for me to employ her service. I can wish to have her onboard our ship, but I don't see her wanting to serve. Something else would have to happen in order for this to occur. Unfortunately, with my time running out here, I leave much of the care of the construction, acquisition of crew, and layout requests in your capable hands."

"Ugh....." he replied as he put his hand to his forehead. "It just seems so overwhelming the more and more I look at it. I just......wish we weren't being separated for two months."

"I understand your feelings," she said with her emotionless tone. "I......myself do not like the idea of this temporary separation."

"I wouldn't have turned down this opportunity to be your second in command. I'm thrilled that you were able to get this. I actually admit that I thought they were going to give the Garja back to you when they told you that you were going to become an officer."

"They were not going to do that. It would have been too much on their part. The Garja instead has been imported and delivered to the T'rintar clan. It is not coming back, but the Lifen will be adequate."

Javier felt a yawn kicking in. He felt indifferent upon hearing that as his exhaustion was kicking in. Even Shira had stuck her burnt-out cigarette to her palm, where she crunched it to ashes.

"I think you made a good speech for the memorial today," he told her.

"I did what I had to do," she replied. "The crew that aren't alive sacrificed themselves so that the others may live."

"Still......I could see that it did affect the others after what you said."

"I plan on transmitting a message to Lifen's wife. I am honor-bound to her as tradition requires....."

"That's right......I remember that the Itreans give an honor statement to the ones that fall after a battle."

"Yes," she said. "Unfortunately, the time available for me will not allow me to transmit every message for all the families. I will have to pass the rest to you when I depart."

"You can count on me."

"Thank you," she replied.

He realized that what Shira said was true. The Itreans typically treat death as different but important among comrades. When they refer to contacting families, they will go as far as reaching out not only to the parents but every sister, cousin, grandparent, and more. Even separate messages and recordings were made to each one. He had enough of the memorial, though. He was tired and wanted to move along. He decided to change topics.

"What do you plan on doing with your guns?" he asked her.

"I plan on making an SH-110 Magnum. It is the latest gun in service with the Shal'rein clan and an improvement over the SH-80. The uncompleted gun contains the parts of the SH-110 needed to modify the SH-80 into the latest gun model that I can use."

"Thinking ahead like always......"

"I noticed that you were not exactly appeased by the idea of being at Palora," Shira inquired as she turned her eye at him. "Why is that?"

"Ugh.....Palora is nothing but an ice hole," he answered. "The asteroid belt is nothing but dangerous commercialism to add to that."

"One of your parents was born in that world. I would assume that you would be happy with such an idea."

"Well.....there was a reason as to why my mother left that place and moved to Aphadus. She just hated the cold weather and the deviant personalities that lived there. I guess I can't ignore the fact that I still have family that I can see there off and on again. Still.....the asteroid belt just gives me the shivers for it."

"Shivers?" she asked.

"Uneasy. Eh.....I just felt like I was being watched in that asteroid belt when we were being chased by that scout ship. I don't know why and it just felt like that was a waste of energy."

"It was but only partially. While you were away yesterday, I had fully evaluated the data reports from the battle with the scout ship. From there, I began to look at what things could have been improved and what mistakes were made to fix future problems for us and other ships."

"Really? I mean.....yeah, of course, you would do that."

"Among one of the things that I was able to evaluate was the sensor data during the entire escape. The scout ship was identified as the Vanarsha'Olarta'Ig," followed with two clicks in her voice. "Or 'The Wave of a Hundred Screams,' in the human translation. The Lesser Adjunct, which unfortunately is not in the T'rintar clan databases intelligence files, was skilled but turned her ship into a raiding vessel to attack other ships in the field. Their goal was to harass the mining operations being made."

"Till we helped ended that."

"Indeed, the damage she made was rather insignificant. The destruction of the Chacal Naranja and the crew killed on our ship were the only casualties."

"Not for the families that lost their loved ones....," he said with a sigh.

"It could have been far worse," she replied as her eye narrowed on him. "As for your..... 'Shivers'.....I noticed something rather interesting on the sensor data approximately halfway into the field."

"Really?"

"Yes. It was a sensor blip less than a minute before the second magnet was deployed. I wouldn't have been surprised that Ramirez might have missed it as it was only on the screen for five seconds before it disappeared. The blip has been analyzed to have a hull and metallic signature similar to that of an Argas class Shuttle."

"Are you telling me that we were being watched?"

"It is quite possible, yes. The area we were located in was farthest from UHN patrols and so deep within the asteroid field that it would be a more favorable location for pirates to hide and wait in ambush."

Javier shook his head. "Loco.......absolutely loco. After that whole incident, I almost wished that it would have been pirates that attacked us instead of the Itreans."

Shira turned and walked a little bit towards the restroom before she put her hands behind her back. For a brief moment, Javier's eyes looked upon her body, admiring her physical beauty. He felt another yawn hit him and decided to go ahead and change topics.

"I don't know about you.....but I wouldn't mind having a romantic night together before you are gone for two months," he told her.

"I myself would entertain that idea," she replied.

Javier could feel a stirring in his pants upon hearing that. There was just one thing that he was forgetting, and his stomach was letting him know. It growled as it demanded him to eat.

"Food......that's right," He commented as he put his hand to his stomach. "Hey.....I'm going to get us some food. I'll be back in about fifteen minutes."

"When you return, make sure that you strip your uniform," Shira explained. "We will eat in the bathtub. I need to be immersed in the water again."

It might have sounded unusual for Javier to hear that, but he was used to hearing this being brought up before. The Shal'rein themselves were adept for the water, and they felt more at ease there than being on dry land. To have their own quarters again was appealing, and the thought of having quarters together on the UHN Lifen only seemed to alleviate any burdens of being separated for the next two months.

"I'll be back in fifteen minutes," Javier replied with a smile. He placed the tablet on the nearby table as he proceeded out of the room. Shira watched as the door opened, and he stepped out. She waited for the doors to close as she kept a neutral composure.

For a brief moment, it all seemed absolutely quiet as Shira remained standing. Her tail twitched a little bit in the air as she could see that Javier was committed to going to the local restaurant to grab dinner for the both of them. She then turned her eye to look at the tablet on the table.

"I would estimate that within fourteen hours, he will finally notice the modifications that I requested for the Lifen," Shira calmly told herself. She pulled out her digital stopwatch from her back pocket and clicked the button. The small display activated as she clicked it again to start the timer. With that, she placed it on the table next to the tablet for the timer to forever climb up. She then started to strip her uniform off.

She first undid the main Velcro as she pulled the top portion of her jumpsuit off. She then pulled out the tilon as she used her other hand to pull the jumpsuit off of her torso and body. Her shark-like eye was looking at the tablet as she could see the list of modifications that needed to be done to the UHN Lifen during its construction. Among one of the things she eyed closely was the idea of a private pool and a queen-sized bed for her quarters. Located in the centripetal rotating ring, it would be far bigger than the bathtub of the room. A very light sense of nostalgia could be felt as she imagined what it looked like. She could only imagine Javier's definition of happiness of having shared quarters together.

"Humans......they are so easily outwitted," Shira calmly said out loud as she tapped the wrappings to come off of her feet. "Then again, the Shal'rein are just as easily fooled. This plan worked beyond what was ever expected. It might have outdone the performance of the defection. It might have been the best maneuver as of yet....."

Her composure was calm as she stripped her uniform completely, leaving only a small tiny strip of underwear that covered her crotch. Her chest was laid bare. She walked up to the rack as she gently placed the uniform to hang along with her wrappings for her feet. She eyed the tucked boxes that contain both the guns. She needed to take the time to make the modifications quickly before her departure. Only the tilon in her hand remained as she then proceeded to the restroom.

"There is one single question that had to be answered since the defection," Shira continued as she stepped into the bathroom. She pulled the two metal strips of the tilon apart to show a digital screen. She gently placed it on the luxurious countertop. The menu screen of the Itrean language was shown as her finger browsed the menu screen. Files were being accessed as she found something of interest. She then turned to the bathtub.

"The question that one asks is how to regain the lost rank after the humans so brazenly removed it from her?" she asked herself. "The answers are quite simple......patience and careful planning."

Shira walked up as she activated the plug and showerhead of the bathtub. The tub itself was not so large. It had to do as it was the only thing viable enough to serve as a place to relax, bask in the warm water, eat, and make love that Javier or any human of his place would ever enjoy. The water very slowly began to fill as she stepped back to the mirror.

"It had to be done slowly and with careful precision," Shira continued. "The first part is to slowly and discreetly leak the information to others on the base that a defector is among them. They would know that a traitor that attacked this world was among them. Then it was best to learn the layout of this base. Sooner or later, a group of agitators will show up and demand vengeance. Little did those humans know was that they were in a nice placed trap. Their anger would only serve as a source of fuel to help rebrand a Shal'rein to regain something that she lost due to the negligence and bad choices of others."

Shira went and reached into a cabinet from the counter and pulled out a small box. She placed it on the counter as she began to take slow deep breaths. She placed one of her four-digit hands on one of her large breasts. She fiddled around with one of her dark gray nipples as she was carefully checking for any minor imperfections with the duct. There was no sense of eroticism that came from her face. It was as if she was self-judging, not her appearance, but something else. She gently squeezed it and tried to feel for the areas that were the most tender and malleable.

"Fleet Admiral Anaya is not what can be described as a fool," she continued. "She means well and displays acts of wisdom. Her acknowledgment of the dangers of the Emphra is important. The incident with the UHN Columbus is only the beginning. They are returning, and their danger will be insurmountable and perhaps unstoppable. Regardless, one must commit to actions against her own kind. Restoration of the lost fame and rank is important. The humans must be aware of the defector and her words of warning. The question is, what to do next?"

Shira went and gently let go of her breast, seemingly pleased with what she had seen. Her hand went and opened up the box to reveal a small green and purple hypo syringe. She only looked at the instrument regarding the beauty of it. Simple and easy, this was how the T'rintar clan was able to encourage reproduction between them and the humans. A simple DNA modification was all that was needed for both races to produce children together. This came courteously with the words "To: Shira, From: Folar'sha," written in the box.

"The ones that are smart will fully utilize a defector for his or her knowledge instead of foolishly discarding them or executing them," Shira explained to herself in the mirror. "Anaya was one where the knowledge of ship and fleet locations is easily a convenience for her. As a prior defector, that knowledge easily becomes a great benefit to the UHN in turn. The defenses are enhanced, and new countermeasures are employed to stop future attacks. Fame is slowly restored to the defector, but more is needed. A staging ground is needed for others to see her true potential. This Shal'rein is no threat but a hero, but how is this to be done? In the end, she must close her eyes and listen for those answers. She must listen to the cosmic melody....."

With that, Shira went and grabbed her hair that was covering one side of her face. She swept it up and over her head. This revealed her eye patch, where she quickly grabbed the elastic strap and took it off of her face. She could see the dark pit of where the Glensren's Disease struck hardest. Her hollowed-out eye was a void of nothingness. No hint of light would enter it unless one dared to be within it. She then moved the eyepatch, where she placed it over her working eye. This, in turn, blocked out her sight completely, making her completely blind. She put her hands to the counter next to the turned-on tilon.

"When one cannot see," Shira ominously explained. "When one is blind and does not know where to go, they must use their other senses. They must hear the cosmic melody and let it guide them. She could hear the whispers in the darkness. The solution came to that defector. She knew many ships from her former kind that would come and enter human-controlled space......far beyond the planned dates that even the humans could ever imagine. She knew that a ship was coming. Reassign her to a UHN ship that was destined to make a trip to that area where the Shal'rein ships would eventually arrive.......and fate would bring them both together. A battle would ensue, and only the smartest would survive. Yes......she knew it all and could foresee how the fight would be. Every action......every move......every direction would be considered. When you go to Anaya, you gently know how to manipulate and guide her to put you into the future destined battle."

She took a deep breath as she listened to her surroundings. The bathtub was only half full, knowing that the time she needed to explain this would be the time required for it to completely fill up. She could hear the running water. Her fin-like ears could listen to everything to the greatest of detail. She could even hear the tiniest of footsteps that reverberated in the home. A brief smile was on her face. She was in absolute control, and she was fully aware of it.

"The asteroids are the audience," she said. "Like the great Ton'Kor, he did not need to see the ones applaud him. For the defector......Picaro was the overhead stage.....the rocks were every soul to bear witness of her great planned move. She did not have to see them but only hear their cries of cheer upon her performance. The tragedy......Lifen would never know that her fate was death as the defector could more easily predict, but her sacrifice would not be forgotten. Her words only add to the cheer of the former defector. The defector would play her great performance, and it would end with a fiery explosion. The Shal'rein, the Jian Seng, the crew......all of them are a part of the great performance. The concert continues to play its lovely music...."

Her finger reached below her protruding breast as she pressed the play button on her tilon. Shira then held out her hands as she began to hear a sound that reverberated in the room. Her hands were splayed open. It started as a low hum that was constant and continuous. The sounds were that of small radioactive bursts in the void of space. Little pinging sounds of different tones would echo. It was something that returned a sense of satisfaction in the form of nostalgia.

"The plan continues forth, father......," Shira said as she held her hands blossomed open. "The plan envisioned by you that you passed onto me. Elizabeth's final wish will come true......"

She said nothing more. The volume of the room continued to play the fantastical melody of Ton'Kor's The Fading Light. The musical piece progressed as there was a new hum that came forth. More of the tiny explosions could be heard. The hum began to build into a great crescendo until it finally reached its peak. Her jaws were agape as a row of multiple serrated teeth was shown to the mirror. She took a deep breath through her mouth as she slowly whipped her tail. The sound was at a perfect inspiring tone of beauty that only she knew. She had it all established in her head of every future path and plan. Only the absolute few would only know so much.

Even in her blindness, her hand reached into the direction of the syringe. Suddenly, there was a sudden drop in the hum. The sound was almost dead, filling the room with the silence of running water. Her hand froze as she knew that this was a precarious path. She instead took her hand and closed the box before the music resumed its magnificent melody........