Page 21 of Experimental Voyage
“Well, she is the ship’s cat, and that’s a very prestigious job. Ship maintenance is also critical. It seems fair to me that the ship maintenance comes out of a share and the cats get the rest.They’re morale improvement officers.” I grinned at the memory of the debate that’d broken out in one of my classes regarding the importance of general morale during a long voyage. “I’m of the opinion that morale boosting crew are worth keeping around even if they lack in any other viable skill set for a venture. If the team’s morale fails, the team fails. Not everyone agrees with me.”
Waldren snorted. “You’re absolutely correct. Most sentient species are social. There is plenty of practical evidence proving that seclusion among most sentients equates to mental and emotional trauma to the point it can be lethal. I’ve been evaluated as stable with only Palta for company, but the feathered murder machines lose their minds at the thought of me venturing off into space alone, so they send entourages with me.”
“It’s always useful having your own army of feathered murder machines, Waldren. You’re one of the best armed sentients in the universe. You have how many Velocs willing to murder on your behalf?”
Waldren made a show of counting heads. “Currently, there are four. How many are in the clan, Herserael?”
“We are seven thousand strong, and we should reach eight thousand next breeding season, should all go well.” The Veloc regarded me with a grin, displaying his many teeth. “We are one of the smaller clans, but we hold large territory and we have taken over a small, habitable world by our own strength. We invite other clans to use our planet for hunting ventures, so we make good credits and hold much prestige. But we are small, as we are prone to seducing waywardhomo sapiens women, who do not produce entire clutches of children at one time. But our numbers grow, as our crest color has become a more dominant gene as of late.”
“You’re born into a clan?” I guessed.
Bobbing his head, Herserael said, “Veloc society is complicated. You are eligible to join any clan you match colors with. For example, my father has an emerald crest, an azure tail, golden feet and legs, and a crimson chest. He ultimately joined the Emerald Crests, but he is welcome at any clan matching his colors. It works well for us, as every hatchling ultimately has a choice of several clans, which include crest, tail, chest, arms, legs, talons or claws, and feet.Homo sapiensare welcome in any clan they have a tie to. Family members of someone mated to a Veloc, much like Waldren here, are held in high regard. He has suitors often from other clans hoping to build an alliance with us.”
If looks could kill, Waldren would have slaughtered his Veloc family member within moments. “I do not have any suitors, thank you.”
“You have notacceptedany suitors, but they litter the ground you walk upon, and they show off their feathers and baubles in hopes you will pay them any attention,” the Veloc replied without any evidence of the man’s wrath bothering him. “Perhaps the gate wished to spare you from their adoration for a while longer.”
The way that Waldren blanched implied the Veloc hadn’t been far off the mark. Interesting. “Were you hoping to delay the inevitable, Waldren?”
“There’s only one thing worse than being forced to go on a hunt with the Veloc, and that’s being hunted by them in packs—and not to be the main course for dinner!”
I laughed at the thought of the man being stalked in large groups by a bunch of predatory females out to continue their species. “Buthomo sapiensand Veloc are biologically compatible, right?”
“Veloc are biologically compatible with most species. In the case of males selecting ahomo sapiensmate, his reproductivesystem will, over the course of a year or so, adapt for compatibility with his new mate. Most Veloc won’t engage physically with their new partner for at least a year or two. There might be irresolvable problems with any children produced,” Waldren explained. “In the case of female Veloc, it’s usually a six month process, but she won’t engage for at least a year for the same reason. The last thing a Veloc wants to do is lose a child due to impatience.”
I hadn’t heard that part about Veloc biology, and I marveled over the patience of the species and their care for their families. “That’s so strange. Not allhomo sapiensare compatible, but Veloc can breed with just about anything.”
Alban’s soft hoots drew my attention to him. “Homo sapiens’reproductive compatibility is a strange thing. As neither of you are aquatically adapted, you should have no problems with reproduction should you opt to grace our clan with offspring. Even the aquatically adapted can reproduce with minimal genetic therapy. It is a pity you will never master the art of reproduction quite like a Veloc. We are truly supreme beings.”
I could understand the reason for his pride; unlike most species, Veloc possessed dominant genetics, resulting in almost every child being born a Veloc regardless of parentage. The rare times another species came from a union involving a Veloc, the child was typically female and carried her Veloc genes, often having Veloc children.
I’d read about a live birthed Veloc born from non-Veloc parents, who’d adapted to preserve his mother’s life. His claws and teeth had grown in sufficiently slower to allow for nursing, although by the time he’d turned five, only a few things differentiated him from his Veloc kin: he had his mother’s furred tail, and he was roughly half the size of other Veloc.
“I read a study about an Azure Tail who doesn’t have Veloc parents, although I don’t know how old that study is.”
“Oh, that’s new enough,” Alban replied, and his crest rose. “He’s now a precocious teen who has discovered women of all species are interesting. He’s more in love with the stars, though, and the current apple of his eye is a spaceship. His family is horrified, but the rest of his clan has sent him off on an adventure with some Azure Feet. They’re pirate hunters with a specialty and love of killing planet busters. He’s doing quite well, and the Azure Feet will keep him steered clear of romance until he’s fully grown. We aren’t sure if he’s slow to reach his full stature or if he has active feline genetics. There is feline in him, as his parents are a sentient feline species. I will refrain from telling you more of them, as you will surely want to pet them.”
“There are feline sentients?” I blurted.
“The universe is a strange and marvelous place, and among the billions of stars we have not yet reached or studied, there are habitable planets—and where there is life, there is chaos. From that chaos comes the many species we know and have yet to discover.” Alban gestured towards the beach. “That beach could be home to hundreds of new species we know nothing of. That is chaos in its purest form. But there is order to that chaos, as they all survive and thrive together.”
I considered his perspective, marveling at the dichotomy of it. Order and chaos, surviving and thriving together? To me, that sounded about as convoluted and impossible as efficient government.
Had my situation been left to the planet’s rulers, I never would have made it to the mercy ship in the first place. “That reminds me. How did the mercy ship get clearances for me to come and go as I pleased? It’s a lot of paperwork to leave.”
Waldren made a thoughtful sound. “It is a condition of being eligible for the services of a mercy ship. The planet’s government may not bar anyone receiving treatments from coming or going from their planet. But we handled your paperwork for you forthis voyage. You’re covered to return should you wish without penalty from your government. I handled the filing, as your world is rather backwater regarding other species. They had trouble enough with the limited exposure to the Veloc they had when we first processed our arrival and got permits to land on the planet to deliver the comm tech to your parents. I’m making Alban replace those toys with better ones, so don’t worry about that.”
The Veloc in question flared his crest and whistled his amusement. “You are an amusing youngling. Yes, yes, your toys were overdue for replacement, and this is the only way you will let us shower you with our affection, as you won’t allow us to put baubles in your crest.”
As I resembled a peacock and had gotten used to the idea of being ambushed by eager Veloc wishing to adorn my hair with jewels, I considered the man, deciding green would play wonderfully with his hair color and conflict nicely with his eyes. “Would you let me help them once with your hair? I want to see what they do to men.” I gestured towards my head. “I am not really a beauty, but they work magic with me.”
“You’re plenty beautiful,” Waldren replied, and he considered my hair. “Green’s a good color on you, though, which surely amplifies their efforts. But if you want to see how they do it for men, I’ll grow my hair out a little so you can see it. I’ll surprise my sister when we return.”
The Veloc all snorted.
“I think they’re questioning our ability to return, Waldren.” I eyed the beach. “At least we ended up on a nice planet, right? And we havefourfeathered murder machines capable of hunting for us, so we shouldn’t starve.”
“Assuming there aren’t bigger predators than the Veloc out there,” Waldren replied, joining me in observing the beach. “So, we have protocols we use for situations like this. I’m not tryingto offend you, considering your education, but I don’t know what you know, nor do I know what you don’t know. I won’t until I ask or we start working together.”
