Page 18 of Experimental Voyage
“We’ll breed them, of course.”
I burst out laughing at the Veloc’s enthusiasm. “I should apologize for giving your clan bad ideas, but I like kittens.”
“You like all animals and plants, even ones that would try to kill you,” Herserael informed me. “Your parents were quite clear regarding your tendencies. Waldren, I’ll leave her in your capable hands. Call for me should the itching symptoms manifest again. Otherwise, tend your ship and begin teaching Camellia your captain ways. It’s never a bad thing to have more beings capable of flying this thing.”
Waldren snorted. “You’re all trained for emergencies.”
“If I were meant to fly, I’d have wings,” the Veloc countered, giving a shake before departing.
The other Veloc likewise fled, leaving me alone with the disgruntled man. “I swear. They do it just to irritate me.”
“It does seem to me like they have identified one of your shiny red buttons and depress it at will just to see what you will do,” I agreed. “Unlike them, I’m not afraid of learning to fly a ship, although I will regret it, as I am certain the price of a space faring vessel easily exceeds the amount for an Andean mountain cat.”
“By a significant margin. Most pilots get their ships used and on payment plans or through a company they fly for. I’m fortunate; my ship is mine, but it’s only mine because Veloc are wealthy. They’d have to be. They wear shiftgem crystals in their feathers because they like it.”
“Those are shiftgems?” I blurted.
“Every last one of them,” Waldren grumbled, wrinkling his nose. “I’m pretty sure my sister’s husband sold some of his baubles to buy my ship—and didn’t miss a single one.”
“But where are they getting the gems?” I thought about the ridiculous number of jewels the Veloc wore in their crests and on their tails. “There are so many of them.”
“Most of their worlds are shiftgem producing planets, and planet busters steer clear of any planet the Veloc own—or live on. Should they attack a Veloc’s planet, the entire species would rise up and destroy every planet buster in existence without remorse. They would paint the universe red by the time they finished. It’s gotten to the point the Veloc are considering such a mission, however. They tire of lost lives for the sake of profit. But when they aren’t showing off their hunting skills, the Veloc mine for shiftgem crystals—and on some places on their worlds, all they have to do to mine them is walk around the ground and pick up any they find.”
“Are you saying I could, if the Veloc let me, just walk around their planet and pick up enough shiftgems to buy an entire spaceship?”
“Yes.”
Well, that explained a lot. “So, you’re saying the Veloc are the bazillionaire romantics of the universe.”
“Well, my sister doesn’t mind how much currency she has available to her should she desire something, that’s for sure. I hate being idle, so my sister’s general lifestyle would not work for me.”
I raised a brow. “She has to contain a Veloc, Waldren. They seem like a handful on a good day.”
“You truly have no idea how right you are,” he replied, and he gestured for me to follow. “As there is no time better than the present, let’s get to the bridge and test our luck with the gate. If you believe in any higher power, now’s the time to start praying.”
I didn’t but I chuckled at the thought of Waldren resorting to something like prayer to get through the gate without incident. “It can’t be that bad, can it?”
“I really hope we don’t find out.”
SEVEN
“Well, that’s not ideal.”
The shiftgem gatehung in space and twinkled in the ship’s light. A myriad of colors played across the surface, and I marveled at the display. “Is that why the gems are called shiftgems? Because they change colors?”
“They can change their state from crystal to an odd metal in the right conditions. That’s how it got the name evolvulite. The gates did give the stone its common name, though. They really do look like they’re shifting colors. But as far as we can tell, the effect is from the various crystals activating and glowing as we get close. Light refraction.” Waldren got up from his seat and showed me how the straps for the co-captain’s chair worked, securing me into the harness before returning to his seat and doing the same. He then pressed a button on the arm of his chair and said, “Gate activation in t-minus five minutes.”
“What if someone isn’t ready in five minutes?” I asked.
“They’ll comm me. Alban will make sure Palta is secured in her cubby.” He gestured to a monitor on the nearby wall, which showed a diagram of the ship with a series of red, yellow, and green lights. One by one, the reds turned to yellow, and thenthe yellows turned to green. He pointed at one area within the crew quarters. “He already contained her before I sent out the five minute warning.” He pressed a few buttons on the arm panel and a section of the monitor outlined in white. “That’s her sector.”
While small, the cubby was marked, and it was colored green. “Green means ready?”
“Correct. The ship has validated the settings and occupants of those sectors, and when the sector turns green, it’s been locked down for the flight through the gate.”
At one minute before his countdown ended, everything on the ship was marked green. “Now what?”
“Magic,” Waldren replied, and he pressed a few buttons. Two control stands rose from the floor within his easy reach, along with a set of foot pedals. “I have numerous control mechanisms on the ship, but these are my favorite. I have more fine-tune control in case I need to do evasive maneuvers.” The ship rumbled, and it eased back from the gate. “Hold on tight. This is going to be a wild ride.”
