Page 57 of Experimental Voyage
“So, they aren’t actuallyimmuneto the fungus, they’re just resistant to it?”
“Maybe? I don’t know. They’re alive, and that’s saying something.”
I nodded, skimmed through the report, and sighed at the lengthy commentary regarding Waldren’s poor mental health and his struggles after their rescue from the failed colony. “Do you know why he has so much trouble socializing?”
“The Veloc are why,” Viva informed me in a solemn tone. “If you want to socialize ahomo sapienswith otherhomo sapiens, you need to have wide access tohomo sapiens. Once they were rescued, they were treated by the Veloc, they kept company with Veloc, and they just never learned how to properly socialize withhomo sapiens. The fact Waldren gets on with you is, frankly, miraculous. I just get excessive urges to start chittering at him. And that’s not his fault. He literally doesn’t understand human social cues. Delta really likes Waldren, but Waldren doesn’t understand how to be Delta’s friend—and we don’t have the time needed to teach him. Delta’s trying to concoct a way we can all get together for several weeks. The problem is, I want to flyandWaldren wants to fly. Once we decide which one of us is flying, it’ll be okay. But ideally, you’ll help him socialize so the journey is easier on everyone.”
Right. “I wonder if I could use taming and socializing him as credits for school.”
Viva snickered. “I’ll inquire once we’re quarantining in space. I’ll also inquire about the death horses and see if we can figure out a space for them at the school. The mare and stallion are both warming to you, and if we can keep them on Cremora Delta until it’s time for you to go to one of the Veloc planets, that would be ideal. Maybe you can see if you can train them for space travel.”
“Won’t teaching them how to use a waste receptacle be difficult?”
“Yep. Good luck. I know how long it took to train Pandora, and it was not a good time. But if youcantrain them for space travel, that would be exceptional. It would definitely simplify things. But it’s notthatbad to create a stall for horses in a cargo bay. I didn’t bring the kit with me, so I’m going to end up with destroyed quarters, but it’ll be worth the loss getting them off world. During general transit, we’ll keep them in the cargo bay, and we’ll set up quarters for them for landings.” Viva sighed and regarded the ill mare through narrowed eyes. “The only real obstacle will be teaching the death horses that Palta and Squeakers are not food, and I’ll pay for the work myself if needed.”
“I can probably afford it, and if I take them on, I should be fiscally responsible for them.”
“You can afford it. When we’re back on Cremora Delta, I’ll go over your finances with you. I know that your school has pushed that off to last. If you discovered how wealthy you are, you would buy a ship, hire someone to teach you how to pilot it, and leave.”
“I can’t just afford a ship, Viva.”
“You actually can. You could afford, at last check, three or four ships without missing any of the money.”
I stared at her. “You’re serious.”
“The shiftgem gates bagged you a rather large sum, as did the protectorates of all worlds in detection range of the gate. While some of the exploration was done after you went to Cremora Delta, it was determined you would get your fair share of the earnings. So, yes. You can afford a ship, and I’d love to help you buy one. The custom ones take at least a few months or years to get, and I can help you pick a model that can tether to Waldren’s ship. I’ll make sure to get his model and tethering capacity, that way you can travel with him but have your own ship as well. And he’s even more paranoid than I am about safety, so having access to a second ship will please him.”
“Two ships means that short of sabotage, you can get to help if the main ship fails,” I murmured.
“Exactly. Now, we’ll do our best to save the death horses. I can’t promise we’ll succeed, but we’ll do our best.”
“That’s all we can do. But if those Veloc keen because we lost the death horses, I’m stealing their baubles and helping them molt.”
Viva snickered. “I’m torn. Do I warn them they can’t keen? Or do I sit back, relax, and enjoy the show?”
“If you warn them and they keen anyway, you still get to sit back, relax, and enjoy the show,” I reminded her. “And I’ve learned that the feathered murder machines are softies, and they absolutely will keen over the loss of other predators they happen to respect.”
“Should you steal their baubles and molt them, you’re going to be adopted into a Veloc clan, and there will be fighting over you.”
“You probably shouldn’t be encouraging me, Viva.”
“I wasn’t trying to encourage you.”
I stared at her. “But isn’t them fighting basically a huge party with a lot of presents for the person they’re fighting over?”
She raised a hand and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I can understand how you would view my comment as encouragement, and in your shoes, I would be encouraged to make them fight. Idoencourage them to fight. Delta is still running wild and free because he likes the attention. When he receives presents, he’s the happiest of men. You know what? I’m just going to throw fuel in the fire and add you to Delta’s party. Then there can be two winners, and Waldren will have a chance to get in on the action for you. I’m just going to warn you now: this will become ridiculous. The Veloc have already lost their minds over Delta. Adding you is only going to intensify everything.”
“Good. The Veloc need some excitement in their lives. Do you think they’ll let me keep two death horses on Cremora Delta?”
“If I can convince the Veloc to lose some of their hunting grounds to them and invest in a fence, I think so. But they have lawns that might work for caring for them. You know what? I’ll worry about it if they survive. And if they do, I might end up being the one keening over all the extra work I keep giving myself.”
“You’ll be fine,” I promised. “But if it helps, you can teach me how to do the paperwork so I can share the burden.”
“You’re going to regret that. I’m accepting your offer.”
Working together,Yulgali and Fogali managed to capture an entire colony of tree cats, all of them sick and dying. Viva handled the treatments, evicting the keening Veloc, who wanted the fluffy beasts to survive without fail. It took thirty minutes following administration of the medication to understand why the fox hybrid had removed the feathered murder machines from her ship.
Unlike the death horses, the tree cats didn’t handle the procedure well. The first two died within twenty minutes. Within an hour, all but three had perished. Their bloodied bodies went into stasis for study.
