With training, it is possible for a human to hold their breath up to nine minutes, though the attempt is not strictly advisable for the average human who can only hold their breath comfortably for thirty seconds to a minute. 

"CAPTAIN ON DECK!"

Captain Vir couldn't wipe the delighted smile from his face. Man it felt good to be back.

"At ease," he ordered, more than a little ecstatic at how this moment made him feel. Six months as captain of a spaceship and it still got him every time.

Not everyone gets to live their childhood dream.

He stepped onto the deck with the familiar thudding of boots motioning to one of his crew, "Initiate the ignition sequence." He could have squealed and jumped up and down like a little girl with how giddy that made him feel, but he forced himself to remain calm and composed.

It wouldn't do for the captain of the U.N.S.S Harbinger to make a fool of himself on the bridge.

He paused just for a second and took a deep breath before sliding into the captain's chair, immediately feeling absolutely euphoric and humbled. He glanced over his shoulder towards the doctor who seemed to be staring at him with a studious expression. Either that or this alien always looked studious.

Either way, it didn't matter. At his command the preflight checklist popped up in his vision.

He missed the weight of his old notebook, but now that he was a ship captain it was antiquated and clumsy.

"Preflight?" he asked.

"Checked and rechecked again."

He was sure they had, but still, "I think we should check it one more time. Don't you?"

"Yes, sir."

"Engines?"

"Charging to ten percent Captain, maintenance checks have been performed, and all preflight diagnostics reflect optimum status, sir."

"That's what I like to hear. Now keep it coming. Give me a crew count, please." He leaned back in his seat kicking his feet up as he spun around in a circle watching the ceiling go spinning by in a dizzying array of light and metal. He held out his hands, a feeling of pure bliss rising in his chest.

"All crew present and accounted for, sir. Rear hanger doors are locked and secure, and all excess cargo has been secured." Below their feet the ship began to rumble.

"Navigations, set a course for our next scheduled destination," he paused the spinning of his chair and tilted his head towards the new crew member, "You might want to strap yourself in, doctor, this ship isn't exactly graceful in atmo."

He turned his chair back around, summoning a holo-projection, and his captain's controls.

"Charged to ten percent, sir."

The floor below them was thrumming with life, strong and powerful.

"Ignition in 10...9...8..."

He reached out with fingers tingling from excitement to engage the manual controls: two joysticks and two peddles, and three holo-screens, showing altitude, pitch, yaw, power, and trajectory.

7...6...5...

Reaching down with his left hand he engaged a switch on the left side of his console before depressing the small red button he knew would be at its side.

"Crewmembers of the U.N.S.S Harbinger, this is your captain speaking. I advise you to strap in if you haven't already, or risk braining yourself on the nearest sharp object. You have been warned."

Technically they had all signed a waiver when they boarded the ship about that particular possibility, but just to be safe...

"4.... 3... 2..."

This was by far the best part of his crap week.

"One"

Somewhere below them, the engines roared to life with the fury of an igniting star as atoms fused themselves together to create a surge of glorious power.

All thought was purged from his head, and his eyes focused forward on the screens as the massive ship raised herself into the air. As big as the ship was, atmospheric conditions made his flight hell. She was never meant to take off in atmosphere, and she didn't seem intent on starting now. But with a little gentle coaxing, he got her into the air guiding her with the firm hand of a guardian.

"Lieutenant, engage outer hull cameras."

"Yes, sir."

His body pulled against his restraints.

"Engaging interior gravity field."

The sensation was gone as soon as it had come, and the rattling of the engines dissipated. Below them, the pallid grey face of the planet rotated into darkness.

"Lieutenant, command is yours," he yielded, undoing his belts and sliding onto the deck to find the little alien rigid and practically white knuckling his seat restraints, "That wasn't so bad doc. It's time to show you the ship. You'll love her, she's a beauty."

He was about to step out of the door when he noticed the other crew members staring at the doctor, again. He spun on his boot-heel, "Ah, forgive me for not introducing you sooner. Everyone meet our new chief medical officer, Doctor Krill who, in his own words, is the premier medical professional this side of Andromeda."

A murmuring rose up around the room.

The little doctor simply stood there staring at the crew, who without polite etiquette stared back. Captain Vir nudged him with a leg. "Anything to say doctor?"

At his urging, the doctor shook himself and straightened up, "It is not my own claim. I am the preeminent medical professional and surgeon in the galaxy having been awarded the title by the Galactic Assembly and the Intergalactic Medical Association."

The captain grinned, patting the doctor on the head with his free hand, "Hear that everyone, stole him right out from under the nose of the GA, and now he's all ours." The murmuring grew louder. "You can't say that I don't take care of my crew."

He heard the muttering continue behind his back as he ushered the Vrul out into the hall.

He knew his methods were a little unorthodox, but he was sure they would thank him later. An alien doctor was better than no doctor. The next step was convincing the UNSC to let a nonmilitary civilian aboard the ship...without prior approval or vetting.

He would figure out how to convince the brass, later.

Right now, it was his job to show the new guest around his ship. His lieutenant was capable of navigating the ship while he familiarized the doctor with his new home. Of course, he had other motives too. It wasn't every day that you got to make a best friend who was an alien because they were going to be best friends whether the doctor knew it or not.

The crew needed a doctor and so the captain rolled out the red carpet with a personal tour, friendly conversation and some grandstanding. He showed the doctor around the ship in a crash course of names places and locations. It was probably the informational equivalent of getting a firehose full blast to the face, but the little creature was a doctor after all; he could handle it.

"And that's why we keep the engine room far away from the crew quarters," he finished, hand raised to emphasize his point. They were just passing through another cramped doorway when, all of a sudden, he caught his right foot on the edge of the door. With a yelp of surprise and hands flailing he grabbed onto the edge of the doorframe as he was forced to hop with his good leg to maintain balance.

"Son of a -" he wobbled a bit as he came back into position breathing hard and looking over at the alien who was staring, frozen in place. "Sorry about that, it's a good replacement, but not perfect."

The doctor had its head tilted lightly to the side, "In what way?"

The captain rubbed the back of his neck, not sure if he would be able to explain, "That may be hard to explain. I can feel heat and cold and pressure just fine, but...but it's like I can't always tell where it's oriented in space, especially the toes and the ankle. I can feel that my leg or foot is rotated, but not how far it's rotated. I can't explain any better than that. I'm not a scientist."

"How did you lose it?" the doctor inquired.

Vir raised an eyebrow, a bit surprised at the question, "A bit blunt aren't you? People usually wait a while before asking me that question, and, when they do, it's usually in a whisper, like they're worried they'll surprise me with the news."

"I'm...sorry?"

The captain shrugged, "Don't be, it's refreshing. I lost my leg in the Drev war."

The doctor was surprised, "The Drev war, I knew humans participated, but I never thought..."

"We were in the thick of it. From what I have learned, the Drev war practices are personally aggressive. Humans have spent thousands of years trying to develop technology that will kill the most people from the farthest distance. We try to sterilize war, remove ourselves from the horror. For the Drev, warfare is...it's close combat." His chest was tightening up "Their methods include ripping off limbs to...gain an advantage." He felt like he was being crushed. He closed his eyes. He just had to remember what the doctor had taught him.

Just breathe.

He heard the little creature move forward, "Captain...are you...having a medical emergency?"

Eyes still closed, he took a shaky breath, "No...I'm ok, it's just not something that is easy to talk about."

He took a few more deep breaths before opening his eyes and smiling, he straightened back up as his heart rate went back down. "On a lighter note, I welcome you to the mess hall." Quite aware of just how dramatic he was being, and totally on purpose, the captain pushed the doors open to the mess-hall.

Not that there was anything impressive about the cafeteria, but it did seem to have an effect on the little alien who, after a moment of looking, was forced to turn away. The captain wasn't sure what that reaction was all about. Maybe this alien liked eating alone. He knew the doctor would have a lot of new things to get used to, so maybe this was just overwhelming.

Leaving the little alien standing dumbstruck behind him, the captain strode towards the nearest table barely breaking stride as he took a step up onto a chair, and then onto the table itself. The occupants of this particular table leaned back to look up at him, though they hardly seemed as surprised as they should have been.

"Good Morning, Captain,"

He looked down at the dark haired soldier, "Good morning, Jackie, glad to see you're doing well."

She tilted her head, "Are you wearing an eyepatch?"

He tilted his head from side to side so they could get a better view, "I am, do you like it?"

"I mean ... yeah it's pretty cool but," she leaned in a bit closer, "what about your eye?"

"About that, I may have...lost it. I didn't really lose it as, how can one lose an eye, but rather is was deemed unable to repair and so it was tossed."

She blinked in confusion, and he didn't give her time to recover as he turned towards the rest of the crew, "HEY MISCREANTS, YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE!"

They obeyed almost instantly, the murmuring died to a few quiet whispers on the fringes of the crowd, "I have a few announcements upon the event of my glorious return!"

There were a few snickers from the crowd.

"First of all, I am glad to report that I survived, though I cannot take credit for that."

More chuckling.

"Secondly, yes this is an eyepatch, and yes, that does mean I am now a cyclops. But fear not, I am now the recipient of at least one hundred more awesome points because nothing is more badass than an eyepatch which; fun fact, is totally the only reason that pirates wore them. It's true, absolutely no other reason - none whatsoever."

Now that he had warmed them up, it was time to see how they were going to take the next bit of news. "Our third order of business, I procured a distinguished and brilliant medical officer."

That stirred some conversation in the crowd, and they all craned their necks to see the new physician. Captain Vir turned and motioned Krill forward, "Well, come on doctor, don't be shy."

The doctor approached the table, but stopped there glaring.

The captain called it a glare, but until he got more familiar with his new alien doctor, he was actually just guessing when it came to his expressions.

"Don't give me that look doctor; I know you can float. Come on, get up here."

Eventually the doctor did as requested, though the captain was getting the distinct impression of radiating annoyance, which morphed quickly into radiating fear, and Captain Vir found himself gently holding the little creature from floating away.

"Alright, ALRIGHT! Sit your asses down, and quiet so I don't have to raise my voice, good. Everyone, this is Dr. Krill, and by his own accounts he is the galaxy's preeminent trauma surgeon, and a passable doctor for humans as shown by my recovery. And because of our new and most prestigious crewmember, I thought this would be a great time to review our safety regulations as you yahoos need frequent reminders."

A whispered comment from the side caught his attention "Most of those rules are because of the captain."

He turned his eyes toward the source of the remark, putting on a voice of mock indignation, "Hey, I resemble that remark. Besides," he held out his hands, "you see me paying attention don't you, riveted by my own glorious list of safety protocols."

Vir turned back to the larger audience, "Ok kids, let's hear it; rule number one."

There was a general mumbling about the room.

"Oh come on, I can't hear you!"

"AYE AYE, CAPTAIN!"

This time, the laughter went beyond mere snickering.

He barked a laugh, "Ok, that was - that was actually pretty funny. Now stop being insolent and answer the question."

He raised his hands conducting them like children as they chanted, "No chucking marshmallows at neutron stars."

He clapped his hands together, "Ah there it is and why, children, do we not chuck marshmallows at neutron stars?"

"Dropped from a distance of 1 AU a single marshmallow can cause an explosion equal to that of three-megaton nuclear warhead," they droned in unison.

He held up a hand to quiet the whispering, "Good work, but all joking aside, let's get serious."

He took a deep breath and stood up straighter, his voice lowering slightly.

"Number one; as per the UNSC safety regulations manual, food and drink are absolutely prohibited near the warp core. Second; and I cannot stress this enough, sexual harassment, assault, discrimination or anything like unto it will not be tolerated. Anyone male or female who initiates, participates in or condones in any way, shape or form any such behavior will be immediately dismissed from duty and, by UNSC bylaw, will be dishonorably discharged and sentenced according to the severity of the punishable offense. Third; open flames are prohibited on the bridge, near the warp core, or the reactor core. I'm dead serious about this one guys. I don't feel like dying because you thought it might be a good idea to roast a marshmallow near the warp core. Please see the UNSC safety manual for any and all other issues or concerns you may have."

He took a deep breath and smiled reverting back to his normal self. "As far as my personal ship rules, buckle up because it is a much longer list. Driver picks the music, and since I'm the Captain, I pick the music. Although, I do accept bribes for requests. Don't eat food that isn't yours. The UNSC manual states that romantic relationships between crewmembers are prohibited, but I'm going to say right now that if I don't find out then it didn't happen. Don't get pregnant, don't get anyone pregnant, this counts doubly for shore leave. If you are arrested, fined or kidnapped, all bail, parking tickets, ransoms or debts will be paid out of your monthly wages." He smiled slightly as he saw a few exchanged looks between the crewmembers.

"Playing golf, frisbee, badminton, football, baseball, hockey or any other game or sport out of the airlock is prohibited. The space suits are not for your entertainment. And this rule is only here for your safety.... and mine.... mostly mine," he waved a hand and continued, "do not play with the artificial gravity modulating systems. I know you want to see how high you can jump at half your weight, or float around trying to drink water droplets, but this causes problems for the rest of the crew, and please for the love of Jupiter, don't ask me for an exception because I will probably agree, and we will all definitely regret it. All wheeled systems of transport are prohibited in the cargo bay during flight. All drinks on the bridge must be in closed containers. Excessively loud mouth noises are prohibited. Wash your hands. Don't pick up alien substances of unknown origin and certainly don't put in your mouth. Showers are and will be mandatory, no exceptions. I reserve the right to terminate your employment on my ship if your smell offends my sensibilities."

He turned to look at the doctor, "Did you get all that?"

Despite his inability to blink, the captain sensed a slow blink of confusion, "There were complete sentences I did not understand, and what exactly is a marshmallow?"

He let a wicked smile cross his lips, "That's alright, you don't strike me as a delinquent and it would be my pleasure to introduce you to the marshmallow." With that he turned back to his crew "Thank you for your attention, you may return to your victuals," he concluded before leaping down from the table and striding out of the room dragging the doctor with him.

Was he dramatic? Yes

Did he care? No