Page 39 of Experimental Voyage
I passed the first twenty courses with flying colors, pleased over how direly they’d underestimated me and my thirst for knowledge.
Within a month and a half of arrival, I had managed to knock out thirty-six courses through passing the finals with a grade of ninety percent or higher. One course I tested borderline for, and I opted to take it properly.
According to the course description, a quarter of the semester would be dedicated to improving botany sketching skills, describing, labeling, and collecting plant samples for preservation.
By the end of the second month, even the courses with new material drove me to the brink of madness. Either the Deltans had an obsessive compulsive need to take their time witheverythingor they enjoyed torture. I couldn’t think of any other reason for the turtle’s pacing of their general education. I did give them some credit.
They left no stone unturned.
At the three month mark, I began searching for new things to keep me engaged.
I began with upgrading my link chips, never mentioning what I did to my teachers. While there were some linkers among the Deltans, they were few and far between. That meant the accessible systems were also few and far between, and I discovered those systems tended to have horrible security.
Someone so new to using a link shouldn’t have been able to manipulate important things, including my personal schedule. To test the waters, I added an archaeology course to my schedule.
My teachers were confused but accepted the oddity.
For my second trick, I invited myself to learn how ship engines worked, attending an entire month’s worth of classes, dedicating six hours of my day to learning more about space machinery so I could dismantle and rebuild an engine without the help of a manual.
Unlike the rest of my education, the engine maintenance and repair course challenged me. The first day of the course, which was scheduled for the wee hours of the morning, left me covered in grease and engine oil while smiling.
The workshop smelled like space.
By the time the mid-semester break rolled around, I’d done enough coursework to receive the first of my certifications, enabling me to join standard expeditions for planetary exploration as a botanist. As promised, Viva and Delta came to retrieve me, and they brought two Veloc with them, both with emerald crests. One had a crimson body and tail, and the other had a mottling of yellows and blues with a crimson tail.
“Camellia, this is Fogali, and he’s part of the Crimson Tails. He was born in the Emerald Crests but is a bit bolder and inclined to use violence during space travel, so he headed over to the Crimson Tails,” Viva said, and her tail whipped back and forth in what I assumed was general excitement. “This is Yulgali, and he is part of the Emerald Crests as an enforcer. They were selected to teach you how to fight with Veloc and be able to safely pet anyone or anything to cross your path.”
I laughed at the reminder of having petted a Veloc upon emergence from sedation. “I’m pleased to meet you.” I raised my hands, which were covered in grease and oil. “I’ll pass on petting you both for now.”
“I see you managed to get into one of the maintenance courses,” Delta said with a grin. “And how did you pull that off?”
“It magically appeared on my schedule,” I informed him. “And as it magically appeared on my schedule, I was not going tocomplain about coursework I actually like. I have the first of my certifications!”
Viva laughed, set her bag on the ground, and pulled out a rag, which she tossed to me. “That should get the grease and oil off. I keep a few of those around, as I’m always managing to get my hands on engines when I shouldn’t. I’ve learned to just carry them with me. We’ll pick up a set for you when we hit up a spaceport on the way.”
I went to work removing the grime from my hands, discovering the towel had been soaked in some form of cleaning solution, which made the job easier than expected. “I appreciate that. Thank you for coming to get me.”
“If we left you in the school alone during break, we might not have a school when you’re done with the place,” Delta teased. “Is there anything you need? We have proper space apparel for you on board.”
I showed off my satchel, which contained everything I cared about. “I have my sketchbook, pencils, pens, and documentation in here.”
“Good.” Viva pointed in the direction of the spaceport. “Let’s get out of here before those damned paper pushers realize this is a bad idea.”
FOURTEEN
“If I get adopted, I can pet my clan as often as I want, right?”
The spaceport bustled,and as promised, Viva took me onto her sleek racer, which had quarters for six people. Two of the quarters were new, and Viva confessed to having sacrificed some cargo space to add additional creature comforts without sacrificing the ship’s integrity and speed.
Unlike Waldren’s ship, which had smaller quarters, hers were more like two that had been combined, and each one had a tub, a desk, a place for pets, storage, and enough room to stretch and exercise if forced into quarantine.
“We had to quarantine last month for a week,” Delta informed me in a solemn tone. “Viva discovered quarantine in the original quarters were a living nightmare. While we had space enough for our bed, we couldn’t take a step without tripping over each other. The instant we were released, she tore out all her quarters, expanded them, and here we are, with a racer that has luxury accommodations just in case we are subjected to quarantine again.”
“It was terrible,” the woman muttered, shaking her head and showing me to the quarters that would be mine for the journey. “We’ll quarantine after our visit to the failed colony. We will need seven days, which we’ll spend cruising around the universe rather than in orbit.”
“My father wanted us to hang around in orbit. We protested until he decided we could zip around charted space close to gates.” Delta grinned and he rubbed his hands together. “We installed a botany lab in the cargo bay, which we’ll be transporting and reinstalling in our main ship once this voyage is over. It was our present to ourselves.”
“I want to explore,” Viva explained. “Having a botany lab expands our ability to explore.”
