Page 59 of Experimental Voyage
“I’m not making any bets with you. Why? You’re right. That’s exactly what they’re going to do. Then they’re going to find out about the quarantine requirements and pitch a fit. We’re both going to be planet bound for at least three months over this stunt, and those damned feathered murder machines are going to be stuck with us.”
“You realize they’re not going to quarantine us in isolation, right? They’re totally going to test the spread of the fungus in a controlled environment. We’re going to be stuckwith them.”
Delta’s eyes widened. “Can you please take us back to space?”
“No.”
“I thought you loved me!”
Viva raised a brow at that. “I do. That’s why I already agreed that you could catch death horses of your own now that we have checked the major islands for them and have a better idea of how many we can remove a year. That number is ten. Next year, you can have four, and we’ll take the other six to the Veloc towork with their breeding program. And if we can find more like Camellia’s pair, you can have more than four. But you must wait, sir.”
He scowled. “You went with this knowing how this would work out, didn’t you?”
“I had strong suspicions after having reviewed the planetary entries. Had you reviewed the planetary entries instead of choosing to be surprised upon arrival, you would have been better aware of what we were getting into.”
I put some serious thought into seeking out the company of the Veloc, aware the pair would spend the next few weeks keening over the tree cats they’d been unable to save. “How is quarantine going to work for me?”
“You’ll be thrown into school, and all the students and teachers who interact with you will be tested for fungal spread. You’ll be monitored and tested daily. We should be fine. We triple treated ourselves, we decontaminated the ship several times, and all the animals received baths with the appropriate medications. We’ll all get a treated bath once they let us off the ship. We will not like it, but there’s very little risk to anyone. We all scanned clean of the fungus yesterday, animals included. I checked the entire ship for it. The only fungal contamination sources are the terrariums you built, and those are sealed.”
We’d even gone as far as layering wax around the stopper, which had then been coated with a treatment before another layer of wax was installed on top. I’d then cleaned the exteriors of the terrariums three times to be certain. “And the death horses?”
“Plague and Pestilence will enjoy luxury stable accommodations while they recover, I promise. You’ll be able to visit them daily, and I already messaged to get you a teacher so you can ride regular horses before seeing if your death horsescan be broken to saddle.” Viva heaved a sigh. “Did you really have to name them Plague and Pestilence?”
“Yes. It’s a memento from Earth. And if we are late with their supper, they will be a plague and pestilence upon anyone responsible. They have gotten used to set feeding times.”
I’d picked Plague for the female, and I gave it two weeks before she became more than I could readily handle. Pestilence had figured out if he provided me with attention, he would receive attention, and if he did not get attention, he made us all suffer. “I think I accidentally spoiled them.”
“There was nothing accidental about their spoiling, Camellia. Upon deciding they were your death horses, you began your campaign to befriend them without hesitation. They are smart, and it took them about twenty minutes to determine they wanted to be spoiled. And don’t deny it. The tree cats refusing to domesticate immediately has broken the hearts of everyone aboard my ship.” Viva heaved a pained sigh. “Myself included.”
“At least we managed to litter box train them. It could be worse.” That the tree cats wanted nothing to do with any of us, the Veloc included, might cost us our sanity. “Do you think we’ll actually get the Veloc to leave their quarters?”
“I’m pretty sure neither will be willing to leave until their new pets cooperate. Don’t bother waiting. Just accept freedom the instant it is offered to you, lead your death horses off the ship, and follow whoever is escorting you to the stable. I hope they listened to my directions.”
It amused me that my death horses liked the same foods I did. “At least feeding them won’t be an issue. They’ll eat grass, and dinner is whatever I’m having.”
“I’m not sure if I’ll ever get used to feeding a horse steak and potatoes, but at least you won’t have to worry about colic with them, and respiratory illnesses aren’t going to be nearly asperilous. Just be patient with them. Breaking them to saddle will be a challenge.”
“I won’t be breaking them! I will be gingerly coaxing, with a great deal of begging, pleading, and loving, to convince them to carry me and a saddle. Can I go get them ready to take off the ship?”
“You can go get them haltered and ready for their first experience on a planet that won’t try to kill them. Just remember to be careful with Plague’s hind end. We’ll work together to get her off the ship, and we’ll get a hover for her until that hoof can be fixed. She’ll be fine, she just needs a treatment I don’t have the equipment to do.”
“I’m just grateful you could do any treatments on her. Thank you for that, by the way.”
“You’re welcome. Delta, go make yourself useful. Help her with Pestilence. I want to see your daddy’s face when he witnesses you fighting with a big demon horse with man-eating teeth.”
“Fighting? With Pestilence? Really?” Delta shook his head. “I’m at high risk of being cuddled into submission now that he understands we exist to love and serve him.”
I laughed at the understatement and headed off to tend to my animals and prepare them for life on Cremora Delta.
The school hada stable and a pasture near the Veloc hunting grounds, which my death horses took over. There were four other horses in residence, and after a few tense moments, my animals decided they liked the horses—and not for dinner. For the first few days, I was expected to monitor the two species, butPlague and Pestilence settled in to eat the grass, keeping an eye on their new horse friends.
The first time I tried to ride one of the brown horses, Plague pitched a fit, doing her best to come between me and the gelding. After getting permission from the horse’s owner, I placed the gelding’s saddle on her back.
She stared at it before staring at me. Rather than ride, I led Plague around, gradually tightening the cinch until it was secure enough to be used. Then, as her hoof couldn’t support my weight yet, we got several bags of flour and strapped them onto the saddle to test her tolerance.
The experiment worked, and after taking care to praise Plague, we repeated the process with Pestilence. Unlike with the gelding, Plague tolerated me saddling the death horse stallion. Only after we’d exceeded my weight in flour did Andret, the local master of all things horses, suggest I try to get on his back, warning me I’d likely go flying.
Rather than fly, Pestilence stood still, his ears pricked forward.
