Page 20 of Experimental Voyage
“The odds are really high. Andean mountain cats have a surprisingly adaptable digestive system. If it’s an animal of the right size, for the most part, they’re willing to eat it—and can get away with it. Should the planet have a viable large island the cats can’t escape from without human intervention that can be stocked with good prey, this could work to preserve the species.”
I’d been aware of people manipulating new planets, especially ones on the lower threshold for being habitable, as animal sanctuaries. “And if this planet hasn’t been discovered before?”
“Well, we will be very rich, I won’t be at all worried about buying you a pair of your own cats, and you could invest in your own ship without even thinking about it. Discoveries of new, habitable planets bag a huge bounty. If we have, though, we’ll have a problem on our hands.”
I could think of a lot of problems. “Getting back to explored space is one of those problems.”
“Exactly. If we’re lucky, we’ll find an undiscovered shiftgem gate.”
“And if we’re not?”
“Well, I hope you enjoy keeping us company, because it could be years before we find our way back to known space—if we ever do.”
After a few minutesof running system checks, Waldren informed the Veloc on board we had undergone a slight locational mishap. His wording over it reduced me to tears of laughter. By the time the Veloc all showed up, cramming into the bridge along with Palta, I struggled to breathe and chortle at the same time.
“Please do not mind Camellia. She finds me endlessly amusing, and it seems she views my way of speaking beyond hilarious.” Waldren’s typical scowl returned, and he claimed Palta from Herserael, cuddling with his cat and sitting down to better attend to her. “The gate has decided we’re visiting a new planet, habitable but less than ideal for most oxygen-breathing species. The general oxygen level is a little below ideal. However, the planet, at first estimate, seems ideal for certain breeds of cat, like Palta.”
The Veloc hooted their laughter, and Albon recovered first, stating, “The gate must have read her desire to preserve Palta’s most charming species. Your desire as well, when you are honest about it.”
With a shrug, the man replied, “I’ve been saving up to acquire a permanent companion for Palta. It just happens all the male Andeans have not been to her standards thus far.”
I eyed the viewport and the beach. “Didn’t various coalitions dump a bunch of endangered Earth species on habitable but non-ideal planets after the exodus?”
Waldren grinned at me. “All of those planets are recorded, and I have them registered in the system. They also have global comm satellites, so I would have been able to identify our location had this been one of those worlds. That’s a very good tidbit of knowledge to have, however, and I’m impressed you were aware of the exodus planets.”
“Well, we’re a backwater world, but we did track what happened to the other branches ofhomo sapiens. Part of our training is to go check in on those worlds to see what has happened to them after so many years.”
“It’s amazing to think that progress can happen so quickly but then stall as we reach the limits of our creativity and ingenuity. We have only managed to progress science so far, and there are so many barricades preventing progress.” Waldren gestured to the entirety of his ship’s bridge. “We have conquered many forms of space travel, but we have not conquered traveling at the speed of light. We’ve gotten close, but most organics simply cannot handle the forces exerted on the body. Instead, we have shiftgem gates.”
“Which surpasses the speed of light by a hefty margin. Sure, we didn’t conquer traveling at the speed of light, but we can travel millions of light years in the blink of an eye. That’s something special.” I pointed at the beach. “I’ve seen pictures of beaches before. I’ve heard the sound of waves on the sand. But I’ve never beenona beach.”
“Ah, right. Your home is located in the heart of your major continent, far from any beaches.” Waldren eyed the beach. “We’re probably two days from determining if it’s safe to go take a walk on the beach, but if it is, we can do that. I will be takingthe ship onto land if there’s a suitable landing spot to preserve energy.”
“The toxin tests take a long time to run on this ship?” I guessed.
“That plus we’ll have to get biologic samples, although if everything checks out, we might suit up and go. I have an arm we can use to gather samples of the flora to do a basic surface test for toxins and dangerous substances. Getting a robust enough sample test plus doing an extensive flyby of the area will take up most of a day. Then we’ll need to see if there is viable prey. If so, we’ll have the Veloc earn their keep. The lower oxygen levels will make such a hunt a challenge for them. We’ll lose half a day ridding them of potential pests, as we’ll have to bathe them with various pesticides.Homo sapienshave the advantage. We are much easier to groom.”
Herserael sighed. “You are still upset with us over the flea incident.”
“Palta got bitten, and she is allergic to fleas. I had to purify every inch of my ship against the pests, and you feathered freaks didn’t want to have the pesticides applied to your so-called perfect bodies.”
Somehow, the man managed to shame all the attending Veloc into flattening their crests and bowing their heads.
“All beings, including thehomo sapiens, will be properly treated for any pests in the quarantine bay immediately upon return to the ship should the planet prove non-hostile. We will deal with having to oil feathers, using moisturizers, and otherwise undoing the damage from the pesticides. We will also check for any toxicity from the treatments two weeks after and deal with any consequences promptly.” Waldren engaged Alban in a staring contest, using a mix of hisses and a growl to force the Veloc’s attention to him. “Iwilltell your mate on you if you do not cooperate.”
“Ruthless,” Alban hissed in reply. “You coerce us, bathe us in those… those concoctions…”
“Insecticides, most of which are safe forhomo sapiensand Veloc alike, with minimal consequences we’ll address after we’re cleaned of pests. Be grateful. It could be worse. I could be enforcing internal purges of foreign materials while on world. I’m going to be generous and allow you to eat anything you catch as long as you allow me to run it through the scanner first. And don’t you lie to me, you feathered freaks, you like your meat a little ripe!”
“He’s gotten a bit feisty since the shiftgem gate made a mess of his schedule,” I stated, looking him over. Waldren bristled at the Veloc in a way that amused his cat, who did her best to snuggle up to him while he established who ruled over his vessel. “One of my teachers called you feathered murder machines, and I need to confess I still think of you as such.”
My words captured the attention of all the Veloc, and the entire lot of them perked up as though I’d gifted them with the greatest of compliments.
Waldren snickered. “That’s a good one. I might have to adopt that one when they’re being good and need to feel special.”
“It is a badge of pride to be a murder machine for a predator, isn’t it?” I considered the Veloc, chuckling at their body language, which claimed Waldren had laid them all low but believed in some form of salvation, likely coming from me. “If this is a new planet, I can buy cats for myself with my share, right?”
Alban recovered first, and he nodded. “Yes. We get equal shares, and there’s an extra share assigned to ship maintenance and to feeding and caring for Palta, split between them.”
