A silent night
To no ones surprise, Erina was overjoyed when he heard the council's decision. Of course now that she was officially part of the crew meant that she had to accept it's strict rules, but her determination and the promise of a new adventure made the transition easier. Also thanks to her new position she was granted citizenship in the empire, although a temporary one.
It took a long time to go through the formalities, so by the time everything was set in order, the sun already vanished beyond the horizon, and it was time for everyone to return to thier own sleeping places. As important officers, the captain, Helena and Dr. Ming had thier own private quarters, so this only left Erina without a place. After a short discussion, she was assigned a bed in the sleeping pods located on the Crew Level, and since thier owners were long gone from this world, she had plenty of options to choose from. After that they scattered to ready themselves for another - this time hopefully peaceful- night.
If one positive thing came from the staff's sudden departure - thought Helena as she cleaned herself - then it was the almost infinite time someone could spend under the shower. Cleaning oneself was a luxury spaceship crews could rarely enjoy. If one doesn't count the captain's private bathtub, there was only a small room kept up for this purpose, and while theoritically every crewmember had access to it, the length of thier shifts combined with often long lines meant that a person usually had to wait around one to two weeks before he or she could use the shower, and even then they could only enjoy it for five to ten minutes. This "rule" was not created by a tyrannical captain or enforced by any official manual, but solidarity for one's mates and community pressure that made sure everyone gets a turn as soon as possible.
The commander still felt sadness because of the whole incident. The entire crew of this ship just died, among them people who should have been her future soldiers, friends, comrades in arms, making the commander inside her a bit mournful.
Trying to distract herself from this grim situation, she wanted to think about something else. This was the time when her woman side - long suppressed by formalities and military duty - decided to demand back it's rightful place. She realized that something was missing. Something that she thought was unnecessary, and served only as distraction from her carrier. Something that she purposefully fought against for all these years. Something she thought, she hated with all parts of her body and soul. She wanted romance.
She didn't know why now, but she wanted it now. And now is the time she needs to do something, since this is her best chance. There are only three other people on this ship, a miracle truly granted by the Overlord itself. She knew for a fact, that currently there wasn't anything between Natra and Dr. Ming, and thier new member wasn't the type the captain usually went for. Unless something had changed without her knowledge, she had to act now or lose this truly miraculous opportunity.
Three people, all within an arms distance, and all truly wonderful. A strong but kind captain who took everything he was entrusted seriously.... a scientist absorbed into her own world.... and a cute girl who was..... who was.....
She stopped here, as a sudden chill ran through her spine, a feeling usually reserved for fear or bad premonations. But she knew, that this it wasn't any of them. This chill did not froze all of her bones or punctured them with a knife, instead bringing with itself a surprising amount of warm, creating a pleasant sensation in her body as this phenomenon went through it.
She learned from experience that it is usually dangerous to ignore one's own instincts, especially if it was a completely new sensation. This was the start of a mystery, only she could solve.
A few minutes later she entered Erina's temporary residence. The girl had trouble getting accostumed to the enviroment, so the captain ordered Helena to help her out with a few small things, such as finding a suitable nightwear for her. All of the guildmaster's personal belongings were left back in her town, and until they were retrieved, she had to make what the crew can find onboard. This also meant, that they would be establishing contact with civilization sooner than they planned. All of these events promted the captain to draw up a new roadmap:
The first step will involve the retrive Erina's belongings, while at the same time she and Kryolis will sign up as an adventuring duo, an excellent suggestion by the commander, since even thought racial prejudice was rare, they couldn't tell what the public's reaction will be upon seeing a Selenian, a species shall we say "alien" to this planet. During that time Dr. Ming will go on her own adventures to study the local flora and fauna. The captain will later sign up as a single person in another city, and join to them after, so thier later team-up will look like an accidental meeting, not rare in this profession, according to the former guild master.
These series of thoughts followed the commander to bed. For the time being she decided occupy one of the sleeping pods in the crew quarter, right above the one which Erina uses.
She didn't noticedit herself, but a warm smile ran through the face of Helena Kryolis, as she looked at the sleeping silhouette of Erina, before leaning back to her bed. She slightly sensed the reactors flaring up and sending power to the engines and thrusters, before darkness finally catched up to her.