Page 64 of Experimental Voyage
No, I didn’t. “All right. So help me, if Squeakers and Palta aren’t here, I will be inconsolable.”
“They are both present,” the Veloc replied, shaking himself off and heading in the direction of the opened cargo bay door.
As we drew close, I could make out Waldren cursing at something. I grinned at the thought of the Veloc having successfully sabotaged his ship to the point she couldn’t fly anymore.
“We have brought a mechanic certified in your ship systems,” Xaltri announced, and he bounded up the ship. Geltri followed, taking Plague with him.
As Pestilence would become upset, I tossed his reins over his head and sent him to follow his beloved mare, taking my time as I had no interest in being clipped with a hoof.
“What the hell?” Waldren blurted.
I wondered what had earned such a reaction, and I bet Plague and Pestilence baffled him.
“Your mechanic needed to get here, and these beauties served as transportation. The female, who seems to be with foal, is named Plague. Pestilence is the stallion. I warn you, they demand affection on their schedule.”
With her precious little peeps leading the way, Squeakers dodged the death horses, tripped, and rolled down the ramp. Laughing, I scooped her up, cradled her in my arms, and went to work trying to convince her I still loved her. The bird chirped and peeped a storm, and I brought up the rear. Palta padded over, and she purred, rubbing against my legs. Careful not to drop Squeakers, I reached down and gave the cat her owed pettings.
“Where did you get them?” Waldren demanded in a rather breathless voice.
As the Veloc would tease Waldren because they could, I hurried up the ramp. “They’re mine, as I needed some direct experience with known hazardous worlds. Plague and Pestilence were rescued from your home world, and we did some analysis on the fungus infecting the planet. I was not a fan of the fungal treatments, nor did I enjoy having to tend to vomiting death horses, but we did some experimental treatments and saved them. I had beentryingto acquire you some tree cats, but while I did manage to rescue some, they are not willing to be domesticated at this point in time. Sorry, Palta. I tried to getyou some kitty companions, but they’re nasty little tree blights. Super pretty, but they donotlikehomo sapiens.The death horses lovehomo sapiensand view Veloc as the best living toys they have seen in their lives.” I patted Plague with my free hand before giving her a kiss on her nose. “In bad news, you’re going to have to haul my carnivorous horses around with us. In good news, I’ve trained them to use waste bins.”
“Camellia.”
I grinned at his tone, which was a mix of relief and disgust, well aware the man struggled with expressing himself.
After seeing his home world and working with animals sickened with the fungus, I understood why—and I could work around the rifts his upbringing would inevitably create. “Hello, Waldren. I’m your mechanic, as I made it my hobby to collect as many certifications as possible. They wouldnotlet me pilotanything, as they fully understood I would leave the instant I was qualified. To contain me, they let me rampage through their education system. It turns out my backwater world had done a great job with my base education. They started me off with the final testings for each course to see what I needed to learn, and it turned out I knew a lot of what they wanted me to learn.”
“Now I feel guilty, as I’m well aware of what a mess my ship is. I think I got a faulty set of upgrade kits, and while I can do repairs on systems I’m familiar with, I bit off more than I can chew. Then I broke her beyond any ability to fly.” He heaved a pained sigh. “The only good news is that nobody has teased me too much about having broken her. I should have just hired someone to refit her instead of trying to do the work myself. But I picked two extra kits instead of paying for the labor. And now you’re going to end up taking me for my soul fixing my baby.”
Well aware everyone worked to trick the man, I grinned, gave Plague another kiss on her nose, and sat down so I could pet Palta and Squeakers at the same time. The Andean mountain catmade herself at home on my lap, and both death horses came to introduce themselves to the cat and bird.
To my delight, everyone got along, and even Plague seemed interested in becoming friends with both of the new animals.
“Well, I won’t make fun of you, especially not when your ship is such a mess that fixing her might put me in a queue for some advanced certifications.” I nodded in Xaltri’s direction. “So you’re aware, I have a hobby of attacking Veloc for their baubles. This hobby has won me an invitation to be adopted. Once I’m done fixing your ship, I’d like a ride to Veloci Major. Delta and I are going to torment their entire species. Apparently, you’re a hot commodity the Emerald Crests already claimed, so you get to enjoy the festivities. Honestly, I mostly ignored the billing portion of my education, as I learned so I can repair ships I happen to be on. So, rather than nail you for currency, I’ll have you transport me to Veloci Major along with my death horses.”
“I’ll have to fit you in for a few extra cruises, as getting her approved for flight is going to be a monster of a job. But that’s a good start if you don’t want to bill me for money.”
“I have plenty of money,” I informed him in a solemn tone. “I’m going to need a bunch of that money to care for my death horses and transport my future death horses around space with me.”
Waldren chuckled. “I can’t say I’ve seen someone decide to take their horses into space with them before. But why are you calling them death horses?”
“They’re carnivorous. The species is apparentlyequus ferus carnivorus, and they were developed specifically for your colony. They took everything wrong with horses and fixed it, and then they made them omnivorous. I’m not sure why they named themcarnivorusrather thanomnivorus,but it is what it is. I’ve been calling them death horses, because if they decide you’regoing to die, you’re going to die. Between the horns and the teeth? Death is probable.”
Waldren smiled and he went to Plague, offering his hand for her to sniff before petting her. “I remember these from when I was little. They were wild, and I loved watching them run along the beach. I’d spend days just following them around. I learned what I could and couldn’t eat—and I never understood why some of them just fell over dead.”
Relief washed through me that my death horses had been happy memories for him. Well, mostly. “That was the fungus that killed your colony. Plague almost died. We treated her, and then she suffered from mass hemorrhaging. But we got her through it. Pestilence did better, but I think he’s a bit younger than she is. They’re resilient when it comes to being treated, but we only took animals that were heavily infected. I have claim rights to ten next year, and I’ll take the sickest ones for a breeding program to establish them on a Veloc world.”
“What she isn’t telling you is that she has eight more in her herd, and the Veloc clan that adopts her will have to house and operate her breeding program,” Xaltri said, and he whistled and hooted his amusement. “They are currently on Veloci Major, as they were quite ill and needed hoof work, so they’re getting care. Plague needed hoof work as well, but she recovered with remarkable speed. She misses space, but she will landlock herself when Plague foals, I’m certain.”
“There will be no space travel for me during the months Plague is on a planet to give birth and for at least four months after. The baby has to wean before space travel is an option.”
“I’m sure we’ll manage somehow. I did not purchase any stabling kits, however.”
Well, I had the money, and if he was going to haul me and my death horses around, I would contribute to the needed equipment. “I’ll buy the kits and do the installs myself. But fornow, they can use the standard quarters. They are trained to get down on the floor and wait for the all clear during takeoff and landings. The rest of the time, they can roam free. They’re borderline sentient, so teaching them is not a problem.”
“Ah. That does simplify things. You actually caught some of the cats?”
“They are furry little demons, cute enough, but not nearly as cute as Palta.”
