The Virgos had been in the city for a couple of hours now and were resting. The Virgos had been brought into a part of the city that was isolated from the rest of the citizens. It was possibly the most beautiful part of the city, reserved for royalty and priests: the Keep.
Richard was kneeling by a water fountain that was used to wash up in and to clean laundry. He was looking at his reflection in the water and saw he needed to shave. Richard ran his hands over his face and felt the three days of facial hair. He looked at the reflection and saw that his hands were filthy. He looked at his hands and saw dirt and dried blood and blistered plams. He put his hands in the water and then threw water on his face.
Richard looked up to see a young lady wearing a toga of sorts with a towel and a plate of food. The young lady wasn't older than 20 and had long brown hair and was very pretty. "Here you are, sir." She handed him a towel, and he took it and dried his hands and face.
Richard stood up and looked around the compound and saw that most of the crew was either asleep or just laying down. Young kids need more exercise these days.
Richard saw the captain speaking with another officer and saw that the captain motioned him to come over to where he was. Richard walked over and the captain smiled at first.
"Richard, I want to tell you how pleased I was at your performance the other day. You raced in and didn't bother to hesitate to kill. It seems your quite good at it," said Stephen.
Richard liked praise, but being praised on killing wasn't something he liked. "May I speak frankly, sir?"
"Go ahead."
"Sir, I've killed two ways before this day. One was with a phaser, and the other with a my bare hands. It's easier to kill with a phaser because you don't have blood splatter on your hands or your face or weapon. I saw many crewmembers holding back in the fight. Not fighting to their full potential."
"Yes. As my Chief Tactical Officer, what do you suggest, Richard?"
"Have these men and women kill wild game and clean it and fix it for our rations. This is the only way we can acustom people to killing and seeing blood. This way, by the time we fight again they won't be so squeamish."
"Very well then. I'll speak to Neklus about this."