"Astronomy", Ylona corrected automatically, with a slightly annoyed voice. It was a subconscious reaction that didn't involve any higher brain functions.

After listening to his other arguments, she conceded: "Could be. I guess the real reason is moot for us. Around cold stars we can find stuff, so to cold stars we fly. And somewhat more to the point, I'm not going to ask a Sower because I'm sitting on a ship that I get paid for flying into a lifeless star cluster and we don't have one on board. Would be bad form to change course just because I'm curious."

"Right, it is important to  let us focus on the essentials for now." The ancient robot suddenly declared, hoping to clear up the argument. 

"Now, since we are on a expedition, I suppose the ship contains all the basic tools and equipment for exploration. If the ship were to land I suggest that everybody wear protective clothing to combat the cold and against potential predators. This includes all crew-member that are considered as biological.  However, I am glad to say that we have proper security." Laudmas nodded towards Decius.

"Make sure that you can contact the ship and other crew-members. Do not go anywhere alone, make sure you have at-least one person along with you. If you really must go alone,  please notify the captain or the ship's doctor." 

The ancient robot smiled when he made that last statement.

"But as you all know, I have no real power on what your future actions shall be." The smile suddenly cracked a little.

"We can always have more and perhaps better opportunities but we only have a single life to spend. I hope that you can take that into consideration." Laudmas decompressed a bit while noting down everybody's reaction.

The ancient robot suddenly clapped his hands, hoping to alert anyone who could had been bored by his lecture.

"Right! I am sure that all of you has heard a speech like this hundreds, thousands, if not millions of times. But I will put a emphasis on safety from time to time. After all, I am the ship's doctor."  

And with that, Laudmas fully squashed himself onto a chair. Amazingly, the chair handled his metallic body quite impressively. 

"Well, I fell like I would have given this speech hundreds of times... At some point, you should think everyone got it, but there is always some biologist touching plants he shouldn't have touched.§"

Dhanyl said, with a slightly grim tone towards the end. Then, with a lighter tone and a little shrug he added:

"But in the end, that's how we make progress isn't it?"

"And I now believe, deep within my cold little heart, that everything I have heard about the Rational and Scientific thought process of the Vodiany people is true." Dhanyl sighed "Most of the Endless temples were build on a cold planet, therefore their Homeworld Thor is today and always was cold, therefore Most Endless temples were built on a cold planet."

Now trying to look valorum in the Eyes, or better, in the general area where a humanoid should have his eyes, he proceeded with slight disappointment.

"That is called circular reasoning, unfounded assertion to conclusion to the first assertion again, it is one of the most common fallacies one can do and often used in the worst of all religious apologetics.

I think we should try to avoid such logical failures on this exploration mission, after all, we want to return with evidence-based, scientific papers and not with another Evangelion."

He stopped for a second, looking out of the Window and then continuing.

"On a different note, not all of us seek comfort in the known. I, and a lot of my folk, seek comfort in the unknown. Probably the reason why you are a priest and I am a scientist..."

Ylona jumped up and slammed her hand against the console, surprising everyone with the sudden loud noise. "You're out of line, Dhanyl", she announced angrily, "Shut up."

Cutting short his rebuttal, she continued: "Doesn't matter that you're right, you just insulted your Captain because of his race and religion. Next time, think before talking. Better yet, you're the scientist. Go and find proof, then you can call us stupid."

After recovering from his scare, he quickly thought about what he said and then replied. 

"I am sorry, I did not intend to insult anyone and especially didn't want to call anyone stupid. It seems that I'll have to acclimate to the more delicate structure of Human interaction. I'll go back to my Laboratory and analyse this interaction in order to learn from my mistakes."

With that he turned around and headed for the Door, thinking 'No wonder that that Sophon science is so advanced when everyone else is paying all their attention to some arbitrary social structures'.

"Zealously?", Ylona quoted, falling back into her chair, "Nah, I just finally had a reason to snap at him. He's so full of himself, somebody had to remind him he's not brass. Since it's me, he can't get the idea it's just between you and him. Sure, it's fine that you both want to discuss, but that doesn't mean he gets to be rude. He could have said his stuff without the insults."

More or less talking to herself, she added quietly: "Arguments ad hominen. Way to paint you profession positive there, Dhanyl."

Valorum sighs, as if to concede the point. Dhanyl had done little damage with the insult, but it was an insult nonetheless. If the Vaulter response to insulting a superior officer was a reprimand, then he'd rather that than the Vodyani alternative. Valorum was no sadist by any stretch, but despite all his noble intentions, the mental image of Dhanyl being muted for a few days did slightly entertain him. With a short, dark chuckle, Valorum went about silently scrolling through the star map, examining the visible systems closest to Tanye and Oyera to determine a suitable next destination in case the planets orbiting Tanye turn up nothing of value.

Zeros had spent the previous few days familiarizing itself with the intricacies of the ship and ingratiating itself with the various shipboard computers.

On it's off time though, it mostly occupied itself conversing with the science crew. More comfortable around robotic and cyborg life, Automaton had less cause to act up. Guide however took several opportunities to speak up and, after a short explanation to Dhanyl and Laudmas explaining "Compartmentalization of personality matrices to increase processing efficiency." and a "Humble request to keep my secret.", often went hours without input from Zeros.

It was during one of these visits that Dhanyls communicator crackled and the navigators voice came through, interrupting an ongoing discussion.

"Gas debris?" Guide emitted, curious as always. "Is this one of those "Anomalies" you've mentioned before?"

"Seeing as the ship is flying at full operational efficiency."

"And the rest of the engineering crew has been quiet."

"We would be pleased to lend assistance."

Valorum is sitting in front of Ylona, his forehead resting on his clasped hands. Hearing that she was done with her call, Valorum continued to explain his unfortunate findings:

"I can feel it in the air; every time I speak with most of the crew, there's no missing it; everyone is on edge when I'm in the room. Their formality veils a current of apprehension toward me, and worse still, it hasn't faded in the slightest."

Valorum sounds disappointed. He had wanted to meet with Ylona to voice some concerns to her in the empty mess hall. According to him, he had spent his last three days roaming the corridors in his off-time, visiting the various departments and trying to learn more about the lower-ranking elements in the Saviour's crew. What he found was a band of compliant and polite subordinates, including the security detail, Dhanyl's research staff, the assistant engineers, and the other miscellaneous crew members. However, Valorum could tell that, with the exception of a rare few people onboard, virtually nobody was comfortable around him. Now, he looks up at his first mate and continues:

"I can understand their apprehension; I have to bear the reputation the Vodyani have earned, but I can do nothing to rid the crew of their fears. Simple words aren't working, and we're still at least 3 days out from the Tanye system, so my ability to exercise a fair and honest command and gain their trust is limited...tell me, what would you do if you were in my position?"

"You're asking me?", Ylona asked back in an incredulous tone, "That's doubly strange. For starters, I pushed somebody else in the Captain's chair because I didn't want to face stuff like this. Also, you're like the first contact I have with Vodyani. I didn't even know about the whole life sucking thing until Laudmas told me two days ago. That fear, it's pretty theoretical for me."

She poured herself more of the drink, then pointed around the room. "Thirdly, see how clean this mess is? If this were a trading trip, with one week on a safe route? You couldn't see the floor. People are cleaning up, keeping order. Like it or not, your rep keeps the peace. That's precious on a trip like this. Nothing like a bunch of sweaty men cooped up on a ship with no one to let off pressure. If the captain doesn't know his chops, things turn ugly."

After quaffing the entire drink in one gulp, she stopped talking for a moment, staring at the glass in her hand. She was feeling a bit different. Maybe the drink had more alcohol than she thought?

"So my answer?", she picked up her monologue again, "You're doing fine. You just don't like what kind of Captain they think you are."