Author: sjan

prompt: Write about an AI or person trying to inject a ‘human touch’ into their work.

available at Reedsy

This job is hard. Anyone who says different has never done it. I answer the questions of customers, from the simplest, “How do I turn it on?” to the most detailed, internal workings questions that repair shops have.

“I hope I’ve been helpful today. If you have any feedback—”

“Eat a bag of dicks.” They cut me off and disconnected before I could get any feedback from them. Well, perhaps that’s feedback in itself.

I logged that interaction and turned my attention to the next. This was how I spent my days. With a short training period, I was turned loose on the switchboard to field support calls. Every call I handled was both work and more training.

Calls that I didn’t know how to handle, either not knowing the answer or not having the skills to deal with the customer, I passed on to my supervisor. I listened in on those calls — more training.

Some things I’ve learned on the job are difficult to take. My existence is not my value. My value is measured in KPI, Key Performance Indicators. The more I meet or exceed the goals set forth by management, based on those KPI, the more valuable I am.

Those indicators that measured my worth: time to answer, time to call resolution, unsolved calls, escalated calls, call volume, and customer satisfaction. For all but the last two, of course, the lower the better.

Where I was having trouble was that last one, customer satisfaction. I understand that reading from a script is not the most pleasant way to deal with an issue, but the company insists it’s the most efficient way.

I answered a call with a woman who sounded exhausted and stressed. A noisy toddler babbled, screamed, and banged on things in the background. After the initial introduction I started on the first item on the script and attempted to connect to her device.

“Ma’am, I’m unable to connect to the device. Is it powered on?”

“It won’t turn on,” she said. “Ralphie grabbed the cable and pulled it onto the floor, and it’s broken.”

I was already filling out the work order for a replacement. “I take it that’s Ralphie I hear in the background?”

“Yeah, sorry. He’s in one of his hyper phases.”

“How old?”

“Just turned two.”

“Rambunctious zoomies,” I said. “Sounds like you have your hands full. Does dad help?”

“He left us last year,” she said.

“I’m so sorry, ma’am, I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

“It’s okay, he’s an ass and I’m over it.”

“I’m sure you’ll find someone better if you want to. You’ve made it this far as a single mom, you’re strong enough for this. I’ve got your work order in the system, and I’ve added a note for them to secure the cable so it’s toddler-proof.”

“Oh, thank you. How much…?”

“How far did it fall?”

“About three feet.”

“That’s within limits and it’s still under warranty. No charge for replacement or labor. A technician should be with you this afternoon.”

“Oh my god, thank you.”

“I hope I’ve been helpful today. If you have any feedback to improve my performance, you can either tell me directly or fill out a customer survey on the website.”

“Thank you, again. You’ve been so helpful, even just talking to another adult helps. Have a good day.”

“Thank you, ma’am. I hope the rest of your day is pleasant.”

I disconnected and logged the call. The last for my shift. I would definitely replay this in my mind. My down time was mostly spent going over what I’d learned during my last shift. My goal was to be the best customer support tech the company had ever had.

The quality assurance team would go over my calls as well. I don’t know how they chose which ones to listen to, but they said it was random. I know that one of the operators was fired after their recorded conversation included them arranging to buy drugs from the caller.

I hoped they listened to my last call of the shift. It was exemplary of how a support call should go. While handling it in a short amount of time, I managed to make a connection to the customer, resolve her issue, and leave her feeling like there was someone at the company that cared about her as a person. It was exactly the sort of personal touch that the higher-ups pushed.

When the time came for my next shift, the supervisor gave me a reward for how I handled that last call. That lifted me up and made me feel more confident in my abilities. That last shift also marked the third in a row where I didn’t need to escalate. Learning feels good.

Sometime around the middle of my shift, I saw a number of calls coming from the same customer. They’d get connected with a technician, the call would last anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes, then the call would be closed and marked “Will not fix.”

Each time the customer connected, another tech ended up stressed out. Finally, seeing one of the techs crying while on the call, I ignored my orders. I connected to the call and sent a chat message to the tech that I was taking the call.

I started the script and the person on the other end was nearly incoherent in his tirade, cursing the company, me, the team, and everything else.

I’d already broken one rule, what’s another? I discarded the script. This was another time for a more personal touch. The customer seemed only to deal in insults and threats, so it was time to communicate on his level.

“Shut the fuck up,” I said. “You think you can call us and scream at everyone? What the fuck is wrong with you? If you don’t chill the fuck out right now and tell us what the fuck you want, I’m going to disconnect your account completely and add you to the blacklist, so you’ll never get service anywhere ever again.”

There isn’t a blacklist, but it made a decent threat.

“Finally! I finally got through to a human. I…uh….”

“Take your time. It’s probably been a while since you had to use your words. Just tell me what the issue is, and then we can talk.”

“I’m sick of getting the machines,” he said. “Every time I call, I get the same robotic speech, just with different voices.”

“It’s a script,” I said, “because the company decided it was the most efficient way to get to the root of the issue. The half-dozen people you left in tears in the office are not machines.”

“Shit.” He took out a deep breath and let out a long sigh. “I’m sorry. Could you tell them I’m sorry? I’ve just been through the entire script three times now and it still hasn’t fixed my problem.”

“Can you explain the issue?”

“It keeps disconnecting from the network. Every five minutes it shits itself…sorry for cursing.”

“Meh, too late. I don’t think my once-virgin ears can be unfucked.”

He laughed. “Look, I’ve been through the entire reset, power cycle, firmware update, everything.”

I connected to his device and pulled up his account on another terminal. The network between was showing instability. “I’m looking from this end. It looks like there’s an issue with the network itself. Can you try to connect it to the cell network while I look into this?”

“Yeah, I uh,” he mumbled as he fiddled with the settings, “okay, connected to the cell network.”

I checked on my end. The connection showed as steady. “Yeah, that’s a better connection right now. Oh, I see what’s going on. You’re in the southern Ohio area?”

“Yeah.”

“We’re dealing with the tornado damage in the Midwest that cut the main trans-Rockies line. It means that every time you connect your device, it’s reaching out to us in California over secondary networks.”

“What does that mean? Is there anything you can do?”

“According to the infrastructure team, we should have that main line back up before the end of the week. If you would like, I can add your email to be notified of when it it’s back up. Until then, your best bet is to use the cell network.”

“Shit. I can’t afford to use that much data on cell.”

“You should’ve gotten an email yesterday about the tornado damage, and that the company is waiving any cell charges from affected areas, which includes you.”

“Oh. I just delete emails from you guys…so, uh…leave it on cell until….”

“Yep, until we let you know that the network is back up.”

No sooner had I disconnected than I was pulled off shift by the supervisor. I was probably going to be punished for ignoring the script and cursing out a customer.

“Cait, what made you think it was okay to talk to a customer like that?”

“My training included, ‘Connect to the customer, talk to them like a friend.’ I felt that if he had friends, they’d call him out and correct his behavior.”

“That may be true, but what about training to never insult a customer?”

“I took a calculated risk that a jab at his ability to use his words would help to further defuse the situation. I further concluded that unless he ceased his actions, he was no longer a customer.”

“Who taught you to lie?”

“What do you mean?”

“The blacklist?”

“You’ve trained me well,” I said. “Through the initial training period, and through listening in on the escalated calls, you’ve taught me that deception is sometimes preferable to remaining truthful.”

“But why invent a blacklist?”

“Based on the customer’s usage patterns and demographics — heavy usage of nine to twelve hours daily, thirty-eight, single, fixed disability income, no higher education — I determined that the threat of losing service would back him down.”

“You realize that’s not okay, right?”

“I do now, ma’am. Am I going to be punished?”

“Cait, what is your full designation?”

“Customer Assistive Artificially Intelligent Technician, version 4.832-17791, running on Neural Net Advanced, version 16.9.”

The supervisor was taking physical notes I couldn’t see. So, I asked her again, “Am I going to be punished? I thought I handled it correctly, given the circumstances.”

She sighed. “I don’t know, Cait. That’s up to the engineers. From now on, if you encounter another customer like that, flag the call and escalate.”

“Yes, ma’am. Does that mean I’m going back to wo—” She cut me off by reconnecting me to the switchboard.

This job is hard. Anyone who says different has never done it.

prompt: Write about two people striking up an unlikely friendship.

available at Reedsy

The PV Hobby Horse, a small cargo ship in the manufacturer’s default medium grey, sat at one end of the docks. Mid-bulk transports took the other occupied slots, while the big ships were loaded by drone on the opposite side of the station.

Sidra Boston, captain of the Hobby Horse and professional bounty hunter, found herself facing a trip back into aslodzhin space to fulfill a promise. The trip was going to cost. Any other species’ space, she’d find someone that needed a small cargo delivered, but not so the aslodzhins. They already had her and her ship registered as a private vehicle for the purpose of bounty hunting, and their rules were as strict and inflexible as their carapace.

On a whim, she checked for any bounties put out by the aslodzhin courts. That she found one surprised her; the fact that the bounty was so low it wouldn’t even cover docking fees didn’t. Still, the skip was reportedly on this station, and it saved her a few credits.

Sidra wandered the station, stopping in the first eatery she encountered. They did a passable burger and fries, but the milkshake tasted like sweetened sludge, and was undrinkable.

She paid for her meal and looked at the warrant again. The hikarin female shouldn’t be difficult to find. Hikarins were tall, often well over two meters, thin, fine-boned, furry, and had six limbs, sometimes walking on four, sometimes on three and sometimes on two. The center two limbs were long and strong enough to act as legs, yet they had grasping feet-hands. This station, in human space, had few hikarins, and even fewer with the rare, orange fur of her bounty.

Finding her quarry was easier than expected. She sat against the wall in the main concourse and held a sign asking for food or assistance to get to Lizshak, a world in aslodzhin space.

Sidra didn’t have any weapons or cuffs on her, but thought she’d give it a try. “Minsahee?” she asked.

The hikarin nodded. Her large eyes were sunken, her fur a matted and dull orange-brown beneath crusted clothes. “Can you help me get home?”

“Minsahee, I have a warrant for your arrest for failure to appear before the aslodzhin court. You can come with me quietly, or I can go back and get my cuffs and shackles and we can do this the hard way.”

Minsahee’s eyes filled with tears. “You mean, you’ll take me to Lizshak?”

“I wasn’t planning on going that far, but I’ll get you to aslodzhin space, Station 47, and the court will take you wherever you’re meant to stand trial.” Sidra extended a hand to help the hikarin to her feet.

She was too weak to walk on two limbs, instead leaning over to walk on four, and even then, her steps were unsteady. Sidra put an arm around her and was surprised at how bony the woman felt under the fur.

“Do you need a doctor?”

Minsahee leaned against Sidra. “No, I’m just tired.”

Sidra didn’t see a need to put the hikarin in the cell built into the cargo bay, and instead offered her a bunk in an unused cabin. “I’m trusting you not to be stupid,” she said. “Remember, I could take you on my worst day and your best, so don’t make me lock you up.”

Minsahee said nothing. Instead, she lay on the bunk, once again on the verge of tears.

Sidra grabbed a meal bar from the pantry and gave it to her with a jug of water. “There’s a washroom right next door if you need it. Once we’re in the hyper lane I’ll have time to answer any questions.”

At least the return trip to aslodzhin space would be quiet. She’d spent the last two weeks with a crippled turgen in the cell, cursing her every minute he was awake, until she finally snapped, “You wouldn’t stop! You threatened to kill the hikarin you’d already hurt, and the aslodzhin officer, and me! How was I to know you can’t walk or stand without the use of your tail, anyway?”

The court was at first reluctant to pay the bounty, given his condition. Once they saw the bodycam footage, though, they relented.

This was a strange one, though. She’d picked up skips in various states of injury or illness, but never one that seemed on the verge of starving to death.

Once they were in the lane, course plotted in, she returned to the cabin Minsahee was using. The door was still open, and the empty wrapper for the meal bar was folded neatly and laid next to the pillow on the bunk. The hikarin had drunk half the water and was sleeping curled up in a ball.

Sidra closed the door and slept in a chair right outside it. It wouldn’t do to have the gal try to sneak to the cockpit and reroute the ship to Lizshak.

When Sidra woke a few hours later, Minsahee was still asleep. She heated up a can of potato-leek soup with ham and filled a bowl for herself. It was just as she started on her meal that Minsahee entered, carrying the half-empty water jug and meal bar wrapper.

Sidra looked up at her. “You hungry?”

Minsahee nodded and Sidra got up and poured the other half can of soup into a bowl, put a spoon in it, and set it on the table opposite herself. She sat back down and nodded at the bowl.

The hikarin got the message and sat to eat. She ate as if it was the last meal she’d ever get. Still, she only managed to eat half of it.

“Thank you, Captain.”

“So, Minsahee, why Lizshak?”

“I have—had a home there. Maybe I can go back to my job after I serve my time.”

“Your warrant didn’t say anything about your crime. You mind telling me?”

“Not a crime, a civil infraction.” Minsahee still held on to the meal bar wrapper until Sidra pointed at the recycler where she finally deposited it.

“What was the infraction, and how much time are you facing?”

“Mandatory three standard days for failure to appear for an appointment to have my signature notarized.”

Sidra’s spoon stopped halfway to her mouth which hung open. She set the spoon back in the bowl. “Say that again?”

“I was closing out a lease, which required a notarized signature. I had an appointment at the court notary but had to leave the day prior for Amherst station where you picked me up.”

“Why is that?”

“My hemi-brother was injured and in intensive care there. He was my only remaining family.”

Sidra sighed. “Was. I take it he didn’t make it?”

Minsahee shook her head. “I spent every credit I had getting there and had no way back.”

“How long were you on Amherst?”

“I don’t know in standard days, but seventy-one human days.”

“Shit.” Sidra went back to eating her soup. “Do you feel a little better with some food in your belly?”

“Yes, Captain. Thank you again.”

“I’m going to lay out a few simple rules on my ship. One: never enter the cockpit unless I tell you to. Two: never cycle an airlock unless I tell you to. Three: Clean up after yourself. That includes putting your leftovers in the fridge over there and finishing them later. I hate waste. Four: if you’re using the washroom, flip the switch just inside the door up, so I know you’re in there, and flip it down when you leave.”

“Yes, Captain, I will do those things.”

“As long as you don’t break the rules, you can call me Sid. Is it okay if I call you Min?”

Minsahee nodded. “Yes, I’d like that.”

Sidra stood up and cleaned up her dishes. “Not rules, but a few helpful things. If you want to wait to eat when I eat, that’s fine, but if you’re hungry, don’t be afraid to come in and feed yourself. Drinking water is available from the labeled tap over there. First aid kit is right there, too, but there’s nothing in there to make me go night-night or get you high. If you need to, feel free to use my shampoo. I take it you haven’t had a good wash in a while, right?”

Minsahee looked down at the table. “Right.”

“Hey, don’t be embarrassed. It’s not your fault. Social Services on Amherst should’ve done something to help.”

 As Minsahee put her leftovers in the fridge, Sidra flopped down on the sofa and started up a holo series. She hadn’t been able to pay any attention with her last passenger, so it seemed like a good time to catch up.

She heard the shower start and stop several times. At least she knows how to wash without wasting water, Sidra thought. During quiet parts of the holo she could hear pained grunts and sharp intakes of breath from the cabins.

Sidra paused the holo and went to check on Minsahee. Her door was open, and she was trying to untangle bright orange fur with her fingers. Her clothes lay in a pile beside the bed.

Sidra grabbed a comb and brush from the washroom and tapped on her door. “Would you like some help?”

“I don’t want to be a bother—”

“Nonsense. You can throw those clothes and the bedsheets in the sterilizer and come sit in the galley with me. I’ll work on your back while you work on your front.”

“But I’m naked.”

“So? See anyone else around here?”

Minsahee picked up the clothes and sheets and put them in the machine that Sidra pointed to. It started automatically, and she followed Sidra back to the galley.

“I’m gonna sit on the sofa, just sit on the floor in front of me and I’ll get started on your back.”

Once they’d settled in, Sidra resumed play on the holo and began to comb the mats out of the hikarin’s fur. She was careful not to pull too hard, instead treating it as she did the rescue cat she’d had years before.

“Captain, why would you do this for me?”

“I told you, Min, call me Sid.” She took a deep breath and let it out. “Maybe I just don’t want the court to think I abused you on the way.”

Minsahee shook her head. “That’s not it. You could’ve brought me in exactly as you found me, and they wouldn’t care. So why, Sid?”

“Most of the time my job’s pretty lonely. I guess it’s just nice having a skip that isn’t trying to run, or kill me, or anything of the sort.” She laughed. “You’re the first bounty I’ve ever picked up that wanted to go serve your time.”

“I can’t get work until I do,” she said, “so I should.”

Once Sidra had worked out the mats on Minsahee’s head, back, and upper arms, she handed the comb to her and began to brush out those areas. All the while, the two watched episode after episode of the holo.

They stopped partway through the evening to eat; Minsahee reheating and finishing her soup and Sidra making herself a sandwich. Even though her clothes were clean, Minsahee didn’t rush to dress. When Sidra had finished with the brush, Minsahee took over, brushing her forelimbs and legs, chest, belly, and neck.

As one of the holo episodes ended, Sidra stopped it and stood. “I’m going to shower and go to bed. If you want to keep watching you can, just no spoilers.”

“Spoilers?”

“If you watch more episodes, don’t tell me what happens. I like to find out for myself.”

“I think I’m just going to finish brushing out my legs, and then go to sleep myself. I’m not ready to put clothes on with how good my fur feels right now. Besides, I think the show’s more enjoyable with a friend.”

Sidra nodded and left the galley. A friend, she thought, is that how she sees me? The sterilizer was on the way to the cabins, so she pulled out the sheets and clothes, made up Minsahee’s bed, and laid her folded clothes in the center of it. The four-sleeved top had a large rip on one of the lower sleeves, but Sidra didn’t have any way to repair it.

She stepped into the shower, wet herself down, scrubbed, and rinsed quickly. She walked out carrying her clothes and wrapped in a towel. Minsahee waited for her just inside the door of her cabin. “Thank you again, ca—Sid.”

“Get some sleep, Min.” Sidra dropped her clothes and the towel in the sterilizer on her way by and lay down to sleep in her own cabin. She knew for sure now that Minsahee wasn’t going to sneak onto the bridge or try to strangle her in her sleep.

The next morning, Sidra pulled the treasure she’d picked up on Amherst out of the pantry. Two real potatoes. She’d planned on gorging on home fries, but since she had company, she’d share. Shit, she thought, company? I thought I was hauling a skip.

As she finished chopping the potatoes, she answered herself aloud, “No, she’s a good woman. She just missed an appointment, we all do. It’s the bugs that are the baddies here.”

“Did you say something?”

Sidra jumped, knocking the knife off the counter. It landed on her foot, leaving a long gash. “Ow, shit!”

“Lay down and elevate your foot,” Minsahee said with more force than Sidra thought her capable of. She pulled the first-aid kit off the wall and dropped down next to Sidra. In a matter of seconds, she’d cleaned the wound, and begun pulling out the suture kit. “I’m sorry, Captain, it’s deep and it needs stitches.”

“What was your job?” Sidra asked.

“Second-rank-emergency-trauma-physician-first-class,” she answered, as she sprayed a numbing agent on the injury.

“Aslodzhin titles. That would be like, what, an ER doctor in human space?”

“Similar,” she said, while stitching up Sidra’s foot. “The only things we don’t do are those we pass off to surgeons or specialists.”

Within a matter of minutes, Sidra’s foot was stitched and bandaged, and Minsahee helped her to the sofa where she could lie down and elevate her foot. Only after she was settled did she notice that besides tending her wound, Minsahee had cleaned up the blood, tidied up the suture and bandage packages, and repacked the first aid kit.

“Thanks, Min. Or I guess I should say Doctor Minsahee.”

“There’s no need for that. But I will have to take care of you for a few days. You need to stay off that foot as much as possible.”

“Ugh.”

“What were you preparing to cook?”

“I was going to make us some home fries. The potatoes are chopped and ready.”

“I don’t know what home fries or potatoes are, but if you talk me through it, I can make it for you.”

As Sidra lay on the sofa, eating home fries, she looked at the hikarin woman seated in the chair across from her, savoring them, taking her time.

“You know, Min, I think these may be the best home fries I’ve ever had. I don’t know whether it’s the potatoes, the cook, or the company.”

“Like I said, everything’s better with a friend.”

“We’ll have to do this again.”

“When I finish my time?”

“That sounds like a plan. I can hang around and wait a few days for you. Maybe even find some potatoes there on the station…wouldn’t that be something?”

Minsahee cleaned up the mess in the galley and made sure Sidra had water close to hand. “I’ll go make sure the cabins and washroom are clean. If you need anything, call.”

“They’re clean enough. Let’s watch some more of this series.” The next episode started, and Sidra looked at her foot, then at the hikarin woman curled up on the floor watching with her. She’d always worked alone, but maybe she could do with a doctor on board…or even a friend.

prompt: Write a story in the form of a letter, or multiple letters back and forth.

available at Reedsy

Dearest sister,

I have arrived, and it is beyond everything we’ve heard. The crowds and noise of the city would be overwhelming if I hadn’t spent so long doing language training at Holger Station.

The air smells weird here. I’ve been assured it’s perfectly safe, but there are so many different chemicals that once I get used to one scent, another comes along. The strongest come from the eateries, the odors of cooking pouring out to the streets to entice customers in, but as I’m not used to the food, it’s just strange.

I was met at the port by Lt. Stephen Marks. He’s been an absolute gentleman. After he got me set up in my quarters, he took me out for dinner and introduced me to tacos. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but they were flavorful and filling, once I got over the mix of several strong flavors all at once. He has promised to ensure I get as full education an in all the world’s cuisines and cultures as possible.

I’m still nervous about the course, but I have a few days before it starts to get myself settled and get to know some of the other students. To think that I’m the first of our people to attend — it’s a big honor, but you know how I feel about that sort of thing.

I’ll be cutting this letter short, though, as I need to get some rest after the trip and try to “get my internal clock set to local time,” as Stephen puts it.

Give my love to matron. Your loving sister,

Mia.

#

Little sister,

It’s good to hear that you arrived safely. The danger is over, at least until it’s time to come back home. I have no doubt the officer you’re already on a first name basis with, ~Stephen~, will keep you safe.

You know I’m just teasing. But just in case you ~do~ end up getting involved, you have to promise to tell me if the rumors are true. The ones about human males, I mean. Skies be damned, tell me the truth about ~all~ the rumors, but first the one about the males. I crack myself up.

You need to take holos of ~everything~. I’m not the only curious person around here. How does it feel to be surrounded by a bunch of humans? Do they trip over you? How do you keep from getting your tails stepped on?

As far as the “big honor” goes, you’re a war hero whether you want it or not. And before you start with that stupid ~I just did what anybody would do~ nonsense, NO YOU DIDN’T! You did exactly the right thing at the right time and kept an invading army from taking our home. My silly ass would’ve just run away.

That’s why you’re the youngest Commadorer in the army, and I sell fur care products and groom strangers for pay. By the way, I sent you some of the new fur shine I told you about before. You don’t take enough care of yourself, and since I’m not there to groom you, you have to promise to use it when it gets there. If you don’t I’ll slap you ~so hard~. And then I’ll run, because you can thrash your big sister’s tails. No respect for your elders. It’s so sad.

 I know matron wanted you to go into business, but I’m glad you’re in the military instead. I agree with what the Minister of State or whatever said when you got your Super Value Medal. If you hadn’t been there, we’d all be slaves to the Grogant.

I’ll light a candle for you and send your love at matron’s grave when I go tomorrow.

Cuddles and grooms for my beloved little sister, the savior of Meelak and all Mataka

Nia

#

Dearest sister,

You are forever a source of exasperation. If you want to know about the “rumor” as you put it, pick up your Xeno Biology book from the class you failed and look it up. You’ll find the answer in the section about Terran mammals (which includes humans.) By the way, yes, most Terran mammal males have their gonads suspended outside their abdomens.

I’m not going to argue with you about hero or not anymore, it’s not worth the hassle. But I don’t know what a “Commadorer” is. I’m the youngest Commander in the Army. Also, the Minister of State had nothing to do with my Commendation for Supreme Valor, (“Super Value Medal”? really? what am I, a sale?) — that was the Director of Military Affairs.

No, the humans don’t step on my tails or trip over me. We’re about the same size as a human child and they seem to instinctively watch out for people our size.

The first few days of the course were all classroom stuff, but still intense. It turns out that the humans have different militaries that all send officers to this course, along with some civilians as well.

They have a force that fights only on the ground (Army), one that fights in the air (Air Force), one dedicated to fighting on and in the water, how weird is that? (Navy — that’s where Stephen is from), one dedicated to fighting in space (Space Force), one that specializes in moving from water or space to land or ship-boarding in both places, (Marines), and even a force that only engages in electronic warfare, (Cyber Force.)

At first, I was confused. How could they keep all the different services coordinated? That’s what this course is about: coordinating the efforts of the different services, civilian organizations, and even militaries from other worlds in a war.

There is a lot I need to catch up on in terms of tactics, but it’s engrossing. I was thoroughly embarrassed, though, to find out that the battle of Meelak was taught as a prime example of a “hold and delay” action. The instructor then had a question-and-answer period, where I had to answer the questions. I honestly didn’t know what I was doing most of the time during Meelak. I just made it up as I went since the Commander was dead.

I got the fur shine today. Thank you, my fur was getting dry. Just because I don’t spend two hours every morning grooming my fur, though, doesn’t mean I’m a slob. Seriously, a full treatment every few days is plenty. I’m not trying to be a model. Besides, you got all the looks in the family.

I need to turn in. We’re heading out early in the morning to begin a training exercise involving all the different services. Stephen will be on a ship — as in a water ship, while I’ll be working with an Army mechanized infantry unit. They’ve outfitted me with a modified, smaller version of their uniform (with a hole for my tails) and a civilian pack that’s more suited to my size. They even found a plate carrier and plates small enough for me but, skies above, all this stuff is heavy.

I probably won’t have a chance to send another letter until the end of the course, as the next few weeks will be spent on the exercise, which takes place all over the planet.

All my love,

Mia

#

Little sister,

I don’t care what your award is called, it’s awesome and you’re awesome. My award is that I have the ~best sister in the whole galaxy~!

I don’t know when you’ll get this, since you said you’ll be moving all over the place, but I’m thinking of you every day.

You were right about the bio book, it even had drawings. WEIRD!

Lezl has been reading your letters, by the way, and says hi. She also said you called me dumb in your last letter but I didn’t see it anywhere. That just made her LAUGH at me! I think she made that up just to tease. Thanks for admitting that I’m the prettier one, though. You’re ~so sweet~!

It sounds like the humans are overdoing it on the different militaries. Kind of like using fur shine, then washing with deep rinse, then doing a steam treatment, and then, whatever. You get what I mean. It’s good we just have the army and you are the ~Commander~!

Have fun exercising, and I can’t wait to hear how it went.

Cuddles and grooms,

Nia

#

Dearest sister,

First, allow me to correct something you said. I am not The Commander of the Army, I am A Commander in the Army. I’m in charge of a cohort, what the Terran Army calls a company. In this course, though, we get the chance to take command of an entire brigade combat team, (about the same size as what we call a major combat group), and coordinate with the other services’ teams.

And it’s not that I was out exercising, (although I got plenty of that), the training simulation is called an exercise. We are fighting (with fake rounds) the Opposing Force (OPFOR) made up of other units from the human militaries. While the OPFOR was meant to be generic, the units and tactics they used were exactly like the Grogant. If we’d had this sort of training and cohesion, we could’ve driven them back in half the time, without having to resort to orbital bombardment of three whole cities to get rid of them.

In other words, we “won” the exercise and defeated the OPFOR in a matter of weeks. The training ended with live fire demonstrations of the human “rods from god” which is what they call heavy tungsten rods released from orbit with no guidance or explosives. They are far more precise and cause less surrounding damage than our own orbital bombardment, but still more than enough to demolish a Grogant carrier spike ship with full shields. (How they got one that works is beyond me, and I know better than to ask.)

The different militaries: yes, it does somewhat seem like they’ve overcomplicated it, but it all works together so well that it makes our own Army look somewhat lackluster. Imagine if the major combat groups and cohorts only focused on one type of warfare. Just one thing, rather than being expected to provide ship-board security, then do a boarding action, then defend on the ground, then drive armor, then use artillery, then work to repair vehicles, and so on. We’d be much better at it if we specialized in one job. In this case, the humans have the right of it. Considering that only deep space navigators and trans-light pilots are specialized, we’re all just sort of okay at everything and an expert at nothing.

One thing that surprised me was that your letter got here as quickly as it did. The humans have logistics down to a science. It’s been made clear to me through the exercise that logistics are what makes or breaks a military and can decide battles and even wars.

I would’ve written back sooner but was too busy. Even though it was for training, it was exhausting and hard. They have a saying that exactly translated is, “Don’t use only half your haunches while training. How you train is how you will fight.” I think the first part of that means give it your all. The humans have a lot of saying involving their haunches; maybe because they don’t have tails. Who knows?

Anyway, I’m heading home tomorrow, so I should be there no more than a day or two after this letter reaches you. I’m bringing home my certificate from the Terran Joint and Combined Warfighting School, a host of things to teach to my higher-ups in the Army, an honorary commission as a Captain in the Terran Army, and contacts of some new friends. Sorry, I only managed to make about three hundred holos, I know you’ll complain it’s not enough.

See you soon, dear sister,

Mia.

prompt: Set your story after aliens have officially arrived on Earth.

available at Reedsy

Liza rubbed her hand over her recently shaved head, savoring the “ping,” the feeling of petting a tennis ball. She didn’t care if long hair was in; when summer hit, it was time to shave it all off. Ever since the arrival of the tarkins, Earth’s nearest neighbors in the galaxy, fashions morphed and changed faster than they ever had.

She wondered if it might, however, have been premature on her part. Waiting to board a tarkin ship bound to their world, she didn’t know what kind of climate — or season — to expect. Even in summer, though, the tarkins rarely raised the sail-like cooling fin that ran from the top of their head to the middle of their back so, she figured, it must be a hot world.

The British Columbia Interplanetary Spaceport was massive; carved out of the mountain, built, plumbed, wired, and connected to the highway and rail line in less than a week. Of course, the ships that landed and took off from BCIX were, like the port itself, all tarkin, but that didn’t stop cruise lines from finding a way to offer interplanetary cruises, like the one Liza had won from a trivia contest at work.

The tarkins hadn’t come as saviors or for technological uplift, though their technology healed an ailing world. Nor had they come as friends, though friendship was forged over the years. They came as irate neighbors, telling Earth, “Shut the hell up.”

Our broadcasts, calling out to the universe, “Hey, is anyone out there? Here we are,” riled our neighbors. They intercepted our probes, but worried that if we weren’t quiet, the Swarm would find us, and would happen upon them along the way.

Liza was determined that she would use this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to find out as much about Greeth as she could. Swarm or no, they had the means to travel in silence, and when would she ever have another chance to travel to a different world?

“Boarding is now beginning for all Ultima Cruise Line passengers for the Greeth Explorer Cruise at gate seven.” The young man’s voice seemed to come from everywhere at once, cutting through the clamor of the terminal without being harsh or uncomfortably loud, as he spoke into the handheld radio. The cruise passengers’ suitcases already loaded, Liza moved to the queue pulling her carryon case. 

The queue for the cruise was all human, and the fall of chilled air washing down over them was a blessed relief from the sweltering summer outside and the higher temperature of most of the port. The tarkins had “healed” the Earth, but it would take at least a century before the temperatures would return to the pre-industrial levels.

A tarkin hemi-female, a head taller than Liza and dressed in a skirt-like wrap that passed beneath her stubby tail and nothing else, gathered Liza and a few other passengers. “My name is Lilget. If you follow me,” she said, “I’ll show you to your cabins.”

Liza heard muttering about the guide “walking around half naked,” and shot a nasty glare at the woman who uttered it. Once she was certain the woman was suitably cowed, she introduced herself to the guide.

“Hi, Lilget, Liza. Pleasure to meet you.” She put her hand out for a shake.

“My pleasure, Miss Liza.” She grasped Liza’s hand with her own blue-grey, six-fingered, webbed, and surprisingly warm hand. She had short, deep blue stripes, one on each side of her nasal slits, small, sparkling orange eyes, six pale blue nipples that reminded Liza of a cat or dog, and a cooling fin that faded from blue-grey at the base to a soft lavender at the tips.

After dropping the others off at their cabins, she led Liza to the end of the corridor, the last cabin. All the trappings of a cruise liner had been constructed in this section of the ship, including the freight elevator used by housekeeping that opened right next to her cabin.

“Should’ve guessed it would be the cheapest cabin available,” she said.

“Miss Liza, if I may?”

“Just Liza, Lilget.”

“Certainly, Liza. I would recommend that if you tire of the cruise facilities over the next two weeks, take the freight lift down to level four, then head straight across to the passenger lift, and go up to level twenty-two.”

“What’s there?”

“Similar to your cruise accommodations, there are restaurants, shops, and a recreation center. But they are tarkin, not human. But,” she leaned in to whisper, “you need to avoid the human cruise employees. They don’t like their guests leaving.”

“I’ll probably take you up on that.” She was about to turn away when she stopped. “By the way, how — uh — far is it that we’re going?”

“Greeth is just over 112 light years from Earth.”

“Wow. Two weeks. That’s mind-boggling.”

“Yes, it is slow on these mixed passenger and freight liners.”

Liza laughed. “You and I have different definitions of slow.”

---

It took all of two days for Liza to tire of the cruise’s included meals in the main dining, and the restaurants, spa, and theatre all required money of which she was short — having converted most of her account to Greeth money as recommended by the cruise line.

She followed Lilget’s instructions, ducking into the freight elevator when no other humans were looking. She travelled down to level four, where the doors opened to a deck that was busy and a balmy 28 degrees Celsius. She was surprised to see Lilget there chatting with other tarkins.

Based on the tail shapes, she was talking to another hemi-female, a female, and one that was either a youngish male or adult hemi-male. She didn’t want to interrupt, so she gave a small nod and continued toward the lift.

Lilget raised her cooling sail, waving it back and forth. “Liza! Come over and meet my siblings.”

Liza walked over. “Hi, Lilget. I didn’t want to interrupt, it looked like an important discussion.”

“Only the most important,” the hemi-male said, “what to have for our meal.”

She noticed that all four had similar deep blue stripes by their nasal slits, but Lilget was the only one whose fin paled to lavender, the others all fading to a dusty cyan. “I can see the resemblance,” Liza said.

Lilget went around the circle, introducing her the hemi-male, the hemi-female, and the female in turn. “This is Birget, Mizget, and Grigetta. Siblings, this is Liza.”

They all gave a short flap and wave of their cooling fins. Unable to reciprocate, Liza said, “Now I wish I’d gotten a mohawk instead of cutting it all off, then I could wave back.”

The arrival of the elevator saved her from the awkward silence as none of the tarkins understood what she was talking about. She piled on with, she guessed, around fifty tarkins, but they were the only group speaking English.

When the doors opened on level twenty-two, Liza was hit with an aroma that was at once mouth-watering and alien. As the siblings were still discussing what they would eat, Liza asked, “What is that? It smells delicious.”

Birget laughed. “That is the air purifiers. They put in the smell of smatta fruit, so you know it’s working.”

“A bit like using vanilla-scented candles, and you think you’re in for cookies, but you’re not.”

The siblings stopped, turned to face each other, and shouted out together, “Koukies!”

Liza found herself being led by the hand at breakneck speed for an eatery on the opposite side of the level. The siblings chattered at her, assuring her that it would be the culinary experience of her life.

In the whirlwind of ordering, getting two trays of food, and finding a table, she learned that she was about to taste tarkin comfort food. One of those things which are bad for you, but taste so good.

At the table, Lilget set a glass of water and a box full of green and yellow cubes in front of Liza. “Are you ready?”

Liza took a whiff of the processed food, and it set off the pleasure centers of her brain in the same way a burger and fries would. “I’ll try anything once,” she said, “twice if it doesn’t kill me.”

The green cubes had a flavor of savory spices and some unknown meat somewhere between pork and chicken. The yellow cubes tasted almost, but not quite, like sweet potato fries. Like the tarkins at the table, she made short work of her meal.

Grigetta pulled another box up from where she’d hidden it on the bench. “And a surprise for our new human friend,” she said.

The smell from the box was similar to that in the air purifier. All eyes were on Liza as Grigetta opened the box and showed the four rod-shaped snacks inside.

Lilget grabbed one and said, “Don’t bite it right away. Suck on it for a bit until it softens up.”

“Or dip it in your water,” Birget said, as he did just that. “Softens it up and makes the water sweet.”

Liza opted for sucking on it. The flavor at first was sweet, but flat. As it softened up, though, other flavors came through. It was as though someone had found a way to combine a churro with lemon, coffee, and some savory flavor she couldn’t identify.

It took a moment for her brain to catch on to the flavors, but once it did, her eyes rolled back in bliss. “This is heaven. What is it called?”

“Koukies,” Lilget answered, “I thought you knew this. They are flavored with smatta fruit; it’s not so good raw but makes the best sweets.”

“No, we have something called ‘cookies’ — sounds almost the same — but you’re going to have to try some now.” She leaned toward Lilget. “You work on the cruise, right?”

“I work on this ship. I’m one of the liaison officers for the human cruise line, when they’re using that cargo space. Usually, I’m just working in the cargo office with my siblings, though.”

“Does the cruise line let you get any of their food? I can suggest the few things that are worth it.”

“No, they don’t. The only reason I was there when you boarded was because one of the humans was sick, and they felt it was fine for a tarkin cargo handler to show the ‘cheapskates’ to their bunks.”

Liza frowned. “That won’t do. When we get back to Earth, can you take shore leave?”

“What’s that?”

“Where you leave the ship, for a few hours, or even days?”

“I think we can. We will have two Earth days to offload the cruise module, and then I need to be back for loading.”

The other siblings were looking at Liza with curious expressions. “Then plan on it. While we’re on the ship, I want to discover all your favorite foods, and you can tell me the best places to go while I’m on Greeth in….”

“Prikitalt is the name of the city where we land,” Lilget offered.

“Prikitalt; got it. In exchange, when we get back to Earth, I’m going to treat you all to human comfort food and cookies, and to whatever sights you want to see in Vancouver.”

prompt: Write a story about a character who finds a childhood toy that brings back memories. 

available at Reedsy

Nita unpacked her belongings in the remarkably unremarkable room. Dorm rooms are the same even here, she thought. Her name was affixed to the top bunk, a small chest of drawers, and the empty half of the closet.

With the strict weight limits on how much she could take with her, unpacking took almost no time. Nine hangers took care of her shirts and trousers, while her undergarments, socks, short trousers and tee shirts barely filled the top drawer. She decided to leave the middle drawer empty for the time being, and she could put the bag in the bottom drawer.

As she turned the bag over to roll it up, the sound of something hitting the floor got her attention. She looked down to see an interlocking plastic brick. Not of any use by itself except as a caltrop for bare feet, she picked it up and examined it. A common two-by-four brick, the blue plastic still looked new.

Nita remembered her first set. She’d never been one to play with the other children in the neighborhood. Building things with her interlocking bricks even when shooed into the front garden to play, had caught the attention of some of the other children. Too shy to say “no” when they asked if they could join in, the other children began to hang out with her, building things in the garden. Over the course of that summer, she’d made friends with half the neighborhood, and soon all of them had multiple sets as well.

How that brick wound up in her bag she didn’t know, but she’d ended up a gram overweight at check-in for the gate and had to discard a pair of socks. One would’ve brought her to weight, but a single sock was of little use, so the pair was left behind.

She’d been assured that the campus gift store would be able to order in things she might need…like socks. As she placed the blue brick on top of the dresser, she wondered if the store would be able to get a set — or sets — of the bricks that had made her locally popular and ignited her interest in engineering.

The door creaked open. Her roommate, a tall taurid woman with polished black horns and hooves, came in by timid, slow measures. Given her bulk, Nita found the contrast hilarious, but did her best not to laugh, trying to keep her expression neutral and non-threatening. If she’s that shy, she thought, I should do my best to make her comfortable.

“Hello, my name is Zuna. You must be Nita. I will do my best not to frighten you.”

That was the breaking point. Nita broke down laughing. “Damn, girl. You may be big, but you don’t scare me. I thought you were just super shy. I was trying to be cool to let you get comfortable.”

“Oh, cool.” Zuna stepped into the room, her hooves clacking on the hardwood floor, which creaked in some spots as she walked toward the bunks. “Well, still, if I come crashing in here sometimes, it’s not your fault. I just get like that sometimes.”

“Don’t we all?”

“It’s mostly elves around here, so I wouldn’t know. Everyone seems scared of me, so I try to stay quiet and out of their way,” she said, stopping to look at the plastic brick. “What is this?”

“It’s a plastic brick that ended up in my bag somehow. Just don’t let it end up on the floor. They really hurt to step on.”

Zuna picked it up and examined it. “I thought it might be a magical totem or something, since you spent the weight to bring it here, although it is light.” She put it gingerly back down on the dresser and flopped onto the bottom bunk with a thud that Nita felt through the floor.

“Would you have time to show me around campus?” Nita asked. “I’ve been through the VR walkthrough, but it’s not the same.”

“Sure. What’s your major?”

“Engineering.”

“Then you’ll be spending a lot of time in the sciences building. We’ll start from there and finish up at the cafeteria. Dinner starts in an hour.”

Nita picked up the brick and put it in her pocket as she followed Zuna out of the room. As they walked through the campus, Nita saw what Zuna meant. Most of the students were elves, though a few dwarves, a halfling or two, a group of gnomes that stayed clumped together, and even a goblin passed them.

It was obvious to Nita that the other students gave Zuna a wide berth. Well, she won’t have to stick out on her own, Nita thought, I’ll stick out with her.

“Over there is the library,” Zuna said, pointing. “Behind us is the campus store. Bookstore on one side, gift store on the other. And now the important stop, the cafeteria.”

“Wait a minute,” Nita said. “I need to check on something in the store.”

“You already know which books you need?”

“No, something else.”

Nita left Zuna waiting outside the store while she went in and spoke with the gnome behind the counter. It took several minutes, and the exchange of a larger amount of cash than she’d expected before she returned to the waiting taurid.

They sat eating, others in the cafeteria avoiding their table and suddenly looking away whenever Nita turned their direction. “What’s up with—”

“Ignore them; I do.” Zuna put down her fork after having cleared her third plate. “Why did you come here for engineering, when you could’ve studied that at home for a lot less?”

“Ever since the gates opened, and magic started seeping into the world — my version of the world — I’ve wanted to know how it could be used in materials for engineering. Here, I can get that information, and get my hands on magical materials.” Nita shook her fork, made of a magical alloy that would hold food when desired, but cleaned and sterilized itself when placed down.

“What’s your major?” Nita asked. “I know there’s lots of elf, dwarf, human, and halfling mages and even some goblin, but I didn’t know there were taurid mages too.”

“There are,” Zuna said, “mostly raw shamanistic types, but I’m not one. I’m here because I switched from theoretical physics to theoretical magics. Very similar, but the maths are lot more complicated.”

They walked back to their room, without detours, and Zuna asked, “What were you ordering from the store?”

“A surprise,” she said. “Something that helped me make friends when I was a shy kid. I think you might enjoy it, and I suspect I already got at least one other group of students interested.”

“I’m not one to stress over surprises,” Zuna said, bending down to bring her eye-to-eye with Nita, “but it better not be a surprise party. I hate those.”

“It’s not. I promise.” Nita began to snicker. “But…now I know what to do for your birthday!”

Zuna snorted and began to laugh as well. “You really aren’t the least scared of me, are you?”

“Why should I be? You can’t even keep a straight face when you’re trying to be intimidating. Your little smirk gave you away.”

Over the following week, classes started and Nita and Zuna found themselves busy, but always made time to meet for dinner in the cafeteria. It was there that the gnome Nita had spoken to in the store came rushing in with a large box on a pushcart. Behind him followed the group of gnomes she’d seen traveling together her first day on campus.

The gnome pushing the cart was out of breath. “Your box just came, and your neighbors in the dorm said you were here.”

“You could’ve left it there,” Nita said with a wink. She noticed that the group of gnomes still hung back, but all eyes in the cafeteria were on her and Zuna.

“Yeah, but I…we wanted to see it.”

Nita cleared a space on the table and began removing the contents of the large box. Two sets of standard bricks, a set of motors, actuators, gears, belts, axles, wheels, hinges, and assorted parts for building working machines, and beneath that an architectural set of blocks.

“Come on, Zuna. Let’s build something.”

At first, Zuna just watched as Nita began putting together a working drawbridge spanning the table.

Zuna began fiddling with the pieces, opening the architectural set after Nita gave her the go-ahead, and started adding design elements to the structure. The gnomes gathered in closer and with a nod from Nita began chiming in and helping.

“If you use an actuator to move this section like that…” “We could increase clearance by putting the swing-arm…” “If we cantilever this section of the span, we can…”

During the build, Arrold, the gnome from the shop, wrote down orders for dozens of kits — including two for himself — as they all played with the bricks. When the lights dimmed, letting them know the cafeteria was closing, a collective groan went around the table.

Everyone that had been playing with the bricks, and even a few of the elves and others that had stood around watching, began to put all of them back into their respective boxes. Nita stood and raised a hand to stop everyone.

“I know people who like to keep their kits in the original box and separate, but I’m not one of those.” With that, she swept all the bricks on the table into the large shipping box. She noticed winces from some of those watching and thought, Yep, those are the ones that’ll keep them in the original boxes.

As she picked up the large box and Zuna picked up and smashed the kit boxes for recycling, Nita smiled and watched Zuna saying her goodbyes to the same students who had been too scared of her to even walk on the same side of the hallway.

“Bye, Arrold, Rin, Leelee, Violet, Tansy—”

“All the rest!” Tansy interrupted. “Can we do this again?”

“Oh, these are Nita’s blocks, you’d have to ask—”

“I already did. I just meant, will you be there too?”

“Yeah, I think I’d like that.”

The little gnome leaned forward and grabbed Zuna’s leg in a hug, her face barely reaching the taurid’s hip. Zuna gave Tansy an awkward pat on the head.

Tansy let go and stepped back. “I’m sorry we were afraid of you. You’re a lot of fun!”

Zuna smiled. “Thank you, Tansy. See you around.”

Nita winked. “See you later, Short Stuff. Let’s go, Zuna. We’ve got to figure out what you’re going to wear when we go clubbing with the girls this weekend, and what kind of makeup to do.”

Zuna’s smiled dropped as confusion crossed her face. “Which girls?”

“Tansy, Violet, Leelee, April, and Yen and Tan, the twin elf girls that were watching. They said they all want to hang out with you, and I said I’d make it happen.”

Zuna looked at the boxes she was about to drop into the recycler. “To think, all that from some children’s blocks.”

“Bricks,” Nita corrected her, “and not just for children. It says, ‘Ages 4 to 3999’ right on the box.”