Page 22 of Experimental Voyage
“Assume I know nothing,” I informed him. “I can identify common toxicity traits of plants, which will be useful here, as that’s often a universal feature. Weird plants tend to have similar tricks to our normal plants, it’s just a matter of identifying those traits. Don’t touch until data analysis has been done is a good rule. If you have a biologics analyzer, I might be able to help, though. We started our training with those, and I’ve been using them for years now.”
“Alban, get the field analyzer,” Waldren ordered. “Herserael, see if we have a field kit that’ll fit her. My spare kit won’t. We’re too different in chest size.”
The Veloc scurried out of the room, and I suspected the pair was relieved to have a job to do.
I eyed his chest. “Width or bust?” I inquired.
As I’d opened fire, he gave me the same treatment in looking me over. “I was thinking width, but your bust is substantially larger than mine. My width does not make up for your other advantages.”
I burst into laughter and joined him in staring at my chest. “While I don’t have an overabundance of mammary material, it is definitely present. I’m just going to apologize in advance for the extra clothing expenses. Bras are not cheap.”
“They are when the Veloc you’re living with adore human clothing and love making anything to make their featherless clan members shine. They love adorning breasts as much as they do crests. Your clothing bill will be fine as long as you don’t mind gifts.”
Nobody had warned me that the Veloc were insane and lacked regard for money. “When it comes to bras, I have no problems accepting gifts.” That left me with the problem of myhair, adorned with more baubles than I knew what to do with. “But what about my hair?”
“We have ways of adorning human crests in a manner safe for the equipment,” Gersenalt commented before looking at the final Veloc on board, a bright yellow one with an emerald crest like the others. “Rerenni, you can handle that, as you’re the best for ensuring the comfort of our victims.”
The Veloc hooted a laugh and bounded off, his capped claws making a strange rapid tapping on the floor with each step. “What is that tapping?”
“Rerenni is the youngest of us, mated only a few seasons before joining us on the ship. His beloved wanted him to, ah… expend some energy in the vacuum of space and spare her for a few weeks. In reality, she wants to create a nest, and she does not want him underfoot while she confers with the experienced mothers on how best to set up their nest. He would cover everything in baubles because he likes how stones glitter and shine. Baubles are not ideal for young hatchlings wishing to eat everything.”
I giggled at the thought of the Veloc having to rescue baubles from young feathered murder machines. “That tapping is an expression of excitement?”
“It is.”
“Waldren, can we study the Veloc once we’re done evaluating the planet?”
Waldren snickered. “Sure, Camellia. We’ll turn the ship into a research facility specializing in Veloc. I’m sure they’ll love it.”
“We absolutely will not,” Gersenalt replied.
“My ship, my rules.”
The Veloc hissed. “We will make you pay, just you wait and see.”
“You can contemplate how you think you’ll make me pay while preparing the quarantine bay. With our current luck, we’ll need it.”
EIGHT
“What’s the bad news?”
Twelve hours after our arrival,night fell, and Waldren began analyzing the stars to determine our location. That the ship was unable to immediately pinpoint our location from the basic star charts thrilled him. The Veloc heaved resigned sighs and settled in to wait for the verdict.
It took four hours, but the ship finally beeped, and Waldren checked on the system. After a few moments, he burst out laughing. “This could be worse, but it could be better, too.”
The Veloc straightened, and their crests rose.
Alban hopped over, gave himself a shake, and asked, “Where are we, little one?”
“It’s an unidentified habitable planet, but it’s on the edge of known space. We’re about six weeks out from the edge of mapped space—and I updated my star charts right before departure. We’re in a quadrant flagged for probable shiftgem gates. The bad news? If we find one, we won’t know where it goes.”
“Well, that’s the definition of risky,” I muttered. “What’s the bad news?”
“The edge of mapped space is two or three of our lifetimes to reach the nearest shiftgem gate. We only have this map because of generational ships that wandered this way.” Waldren shrugged. “Assuming we can find our way home, if we can gather plant and animal samples, do a complete toxicology report of this region, and perform a flyby of the planet to count continents, we’ll get a hefty bonus for identifying a habitable planet. Herserael, are you current on new species import rules?”
“Toxicology tests are required, pesticides need to be used, and a DNA sample needs to be taken. If dead, stasis is required, but live specimens may be transported for evaluation,” the Veloc reported. “You could make use of that stasis machine that cost the clan a fortune.”
“I could, but I don’t want to kill off a bunch of animals for no reason. If the planet seems safe, I’ll have you four scout and find out which species are plentiful. If it looks safe for your consumption, we’ll gather samples that way. Are you handy with a camera, Camellia?”
