Page 32 of Experimental Voyage
Squeakers adored the cat, burrowed into her fur, and made contented cooing sounds.
“Perfect xenodiversity,” Alban murmured so as not to startle the pair. “Palta took much time and training to teach the difference between prey and friend. Squeakers simply does not understand that Palta could have been a threat.”
“Palta’s pretty amazing.” I turned wide eyes to the cat’s owner. “You taught a cat to be friends withbirds.”
“It was necessary! The Veloc keep a lot of songbirds and other avians as pets, and Palta needed to understand which birds she can eat. We actually had to hire a psychic to help us imprint on her the difference, but it’s pretty easy to teach her now. She won’t attack any bird that looks anything like Squeakers.” Waldren smiled at the pair. “And if Squeakers can’t go with you on your apprenticeship for any reason, I can watch her for you. She likes Palta enough she won’t feel abandoned.”
I doubted the bird understood abandonment, but rather than voice my concern, I nodded. “That might be the best for her. I’m not sure weshouldteach her to fly unless we release her back to her own world. She’d be killed right away.”
“You are likely right,” Herserael replied. “Flightless but not in pain would be the best result for her. We already are seeing some results. She is more energetic and eating more, which are good signs. Perhaps there was something to your theory that the shiftgem gate did not want to do anything for us but instead wanted to find an appropriate protectorate for her world. Your compassion is unmatched, and we Veloc will not allow this planet to be destroyed through greed.”
While it was only one of many theories, it was the one I liked the most. “How much is a planetary bounty?”
“A billion standard credits is the typical amount, paid out by the various planets in the group that oversees exploration,” Alban replied. “We may end up with some compensation for creating a protectorate. It happens sometimes when there are unique ecosystems like this. A billion is truly a small price to pay for a whole new world. But it’s also a small price to pay to protect that world.”
After the split, the credits would have been enough to set me for life—and buy several spaceships, entire colonies of kittens just like Palta, and never have to worry about paying for anything. Rather than get upset over what I wouldn’t be able to enjoy, I considered Squeakers. “The universe truly is a strange place, isn’t it?”
“It is strange, yes,” Alban replied. “It is also wondrous. As soon as we are in comm range, we will send the map, claim protectorate status over the planet, and bring a more robust expeditionary force here. Then we’ll begin making plans to set up a spaceport. That would pay for the care the planet requires, lure researchers over, and potentially give us a method to fund further expeditions.”
Waldren sighed. “So much paperwork.”
“You will surely survive,” the Veloc replied with zero evidence of sympathy.
The day of our departure,I woke to a soft and gentle song. Unable to determine where the music, similar to a bird’s melodious cries, came from, I ventured to the bridge to discover everyone staring at the viewport at the world we would soon leave to return to the Veloc’s home.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“The planet sings,” Alban replied in a hushed tone. “Her song penetrates even the vacuum of space.”
“How?” I blurted, my eyes widening at the thought of the impossible being possible.
No one had an answer for me.
“Where’s Squeakers?” I asked. Everyone pointed at one of the chairs, where the bird cuddled with Palta. I smiled at the odd pair. They both slept, unaware of the planet’s song, which infused the ship and brought with it a strange sense of peace. “Do you think the planet is sentient?”
The first day of classes, in the torrential downpour of information on what we needed to learn before we could venture off world, the possibility of a sentient planet had been brought up, although everyone had quickly dismissed the idea.
“It’s disturbingly possible,” Waldren stated. “If we translate the melody into mood tones, this song is along the lines of a soothing but triumphant finale. A song of closure and joy. Did you know we have databases that can evaluate music like that?”
I hadn’t, so I shook my head.
“The singing started about two hours ago. I woke first, and I checked on the animals. Squeaker’s beak is almost fully regenerated now, by the way. Take a look.”
Sure enough, the bird’s bill resembled what I remembered of her brethren on the beach below. “That’s a lot of growth.”
“Most of it started when the planet began to sing. Her wings are unchanged, but I don’t think the planet is capable of fixing that. She was born that way. Her beak was broken—her wings were not.”
“Are you saying the planet is trying to tell this little bird goodbye?”
Waldren glanced at the Veloc. The predators shrugged. The man heaved a sigh. “I don’t know what I think. But I ran a scan on the sand we brought in for its composition. It’s evolvulite. The sand, the dirt… it contains or is fully made up of evolvulite. The sand has the purest concentration. Our surface scan is implying that the planet’s crust and upper surfaces are at least sixty percent evolvulite. It’s very much like Earth in that regard, and Earth has one of the highest known concentrations of evolvulite in the universe.”
I held my breath, staring at the screen with wide eyes. “What do we do?”
“We keep our plan the same as before,” Alban stated. “We will install a spaceport, and we will do very careful—and expensive—tours of the planet for those interested. We will allow minimal research. We will work with the other clans to ensure this planet’s survival. We will adjust our purpose to make sure this jewel remains a jewel until the day it faces Earth’s fate. And unlike Earth, we will be prepared to rescue as many of the birds and animals as we can, creating sanctuaries for them so she is never forgotten. But she is a young world, and it will likely be many a long year before she shares Earth’s fate—assuming she does.”
“Perhaps we should name the planet Melody,” I suggested, gesturing to take in the planet and the song she sang. “Shesings.”
“A good plan. I’ll say one thing, I’m going to be doing a great deal of thinking on our way home,” Waldren replied.
