As days went by in the ship, Nova was getting more and more accustomed to its geography and mechanisms. Inside of this space-whale the environment was like a fleshy tropical forest, hot and warm, filled with creatures of all sizes always moving around and doing things. But it wasn’t a problem for Nova. She had mission experience in tropical forests and had developed a strong stomach. The first days were rough for her senses. The air was filled with aggressive substances that made her body react on multiple levels: allergic reactions, nausea, irritations, etc… and Sarah recommended to her to stay inside of her shuttle as much as possible. “Don’t bother. Your human body can’t take it; I will come to you if need be…”, she has said. Good, underestimate me, Queen of my ass…
After a week, to her surprise, she started to feel more and more comfortable in the ship. The air was easier to breathe and the allergic reactions disappeared. She was even able to smell and differentiate the numerous scents floating around. Very useful for navigation. Weirdly enough, the Zerg’s scents became almost agreable, like many different perfumes. Somehow the scent of the higher creatures were more noticable and above them was the scent of Sarah. Nova was even more receptive and sensitive to the Queen’s aroma.
After two weeks, Nova had a good idea of the Queen’s daily schedule. “A busy bee, but I have been busy too my dear….” She felt so comfortable in the Zerg’s ship that she could navigate it with her eyes closed. That adaptation was unusually quick. Normally it would take months to adapt to an environment that alien and Nova couldn’t recall being so at ease in any previous places.
“I guess I got better.”
Now she was able to find the Queen with ease and was amused by Sarah’s surprised remarks: “Oh…Nova…I didn’t hear you coming…” As usual, she was cold. Nova couldn’t help but find her fake. “The mix between human and zerg isn’t that flawless after all, huh?” Like her scent, Nova was now very receptive to Sarah’s voice, detecting all the subtle changes in sonority, understanding better and better the way she communicated with other Zergs. Despite what she saw as a big strategic advantage Nova was puzzled by these changes. She wasn’t disgusted by the Zergs anymore, and she started to admire their anatomy and organism in greater detail, especially the Queen’s; the way the human parts fuzed with the chitinous Zerg flesh, the elegant striations of her skin, the subtle changes of colors where the light would hit her…
After a long day of exploration and spying Nova was finally nearing her shuttle. Since the air was more welcoming she turned off the air conditioning a while back. Finally the heat wasn’t much of a problem anymore. “I might even start to like it.”
Nova went directly to the shower and took her suit off. She stopped wearing underwear a few days ago. Feeling the tissue on her skin was getting somewhat uncomfortable, she preferred to have less layers on her. The cleaning systems of the shuttle would take care of her suit with no problems anyway.