Page 41 of Experimental Voyage
I laughed. “I’d like to be on the bridge if it’s okay.”
“We have three seats up on the bridge, so you can watch the festivities and learn. Viva can get an authorization to start some pilot training with you at the spaceport. I know, for a fact, that you are barred from piloting lessons through the school. They are worried you will steal a ship and venture off into space alone.”
I pondered such a course of action. “Do you think I could?”
“Everyone knows you could, that’s why you’re not getting piloting lessons in earnest.” Delta laughed and gestured for me to follow him. “I’ll give you a proper tour while Viva’s getting everything ready. We’re honestly behind schedule, but she didn’t want to leave Pandora. Pandora had to reassure her that she’s okay with being left behind this time. Fortunately for us, when she’s pregnant, she has zero interest in space travel, a high drive for the treats she is owed, and a tendency to nap.”
“Is it going to be a problem?”
“Not at all. That’s my fault; whenever I leave the planet, the spaceport tends to become a madhouse. The scheduling is also light today, and I took care to tell them we weren’t fully sure of our departure window.”
“Oh, that’s good. My home world gave Waldren a bit of trouble with my departure.”
Delta nodded. “Your home world is a pain in my ass, I won’t lie. When we tried to get your transcripts, they hadnothingmatching in the universal education system. That’s why we offered to let you just test out of courses through taking the finals right away. Honestly, we’re all impressed with your general level of education. Some of your knowledge was dated, but it was still applicable.”
“I like to learn.”
“You do, and when you get bored, you find ways to learn more things. You’ve been making good use of the library, and I’m pretty sure you’ve been studying outside of your coursework.”
Busted. “Ihatebeing bored. Space travel didn’t bore me at all. But this? This bores me.”
In good news for my sanity, there was a symphony orchestra coming to the planet two weeks after my scheduled return. With some help from a teacher and the tokens account that’s been opened for me on my behalf, I’d acquired a box seat ticket with one of the best views in the opera hall.
“Well, we’ll be spending a good chunk of our time teaching you how to fend off Veloc. Viva has decided you will not be participating in schooling, as you have lived and breathed education since stepping foot on Cremora Delta.” Delta showed me the engine room, where Viva bounced around, checking on her various systems while the Veloc observed, their crests flattened. “Viva, please relax. They aren’t going to bar you from leaving for space. You do not have to rush through your preflight checks.”
“I wanted to be in space three hours ago.”
“How about I work on loading the cargo bay while you take your time with the engines?”
“The engines are fine. I checked them yesterday.”
Delta shook his head, muttered something under his breath, and stalked off. I followed, and the Veloc tailed me.
“She seems quite excitable,” I said, marveling at the woman’s energy. “Is she really that excited to be going back into space?”
“She really is. After a week on land, she gets edgy and wants to be back in space. After two weeks, she settles, and she’ll be fine for two or three months. We landed within that one to two week window, and she spent the first few days doing ship maintenance. In good news for her, I enjoy doing the inventory, so I guess we’ll get the cargo bay loaded while she calms herself and embraces sanity again. She’ll be fine in an hour. And well, if not, we’ll have a rather swift departure from the atmosphere. She doesn’t know I already submitted her authorizations to race out into space, as it’s a low traffic day and there’s one ship in orbit right now. The ship in orbit is going to bail for safety when she puts in for her flight auth. She’s notorious now.”
“She’s insane,” Fogali informed me in a solemn tone. “She steps foot on solid land, and something breaks in her head. She was among the firstborn on Andromeda, but she lives for voyaging among the stars. You’ll get used to it. She does calm down after a while of being stuck on a planet, but those first two weeks are… interesting.”
Delta paused, turned to face me, and grinned. “She’s learned she can beat up any Veloc to cross her path when she’s edgy because she wants to be in space. As long as she’s not armed with any actual weapons, she can’t really hurt anything more than their pride. And according to the Veloc, should their pride be damaged, it is their fault rather than hers.”
“It’s true.” Fogali bounded ahead, pressed a button on a panel, and opened a door to the cargo bay. “In good news for us, as soon as we are in space, she’ll set the autopilot, promptly pass out in her chair, and nap the excitement off while Delta flies the ship.”
“She needs a nap,” Delta muttered. “The only reason we’re actually getting away now is because I’m piloting the spacecraft.Shedoesn’t qualify because she needs a nap. But she doesn’t care. She wants to be in space, and I should make use of my piloting license. She’ll stay conscious long enough to tutor me if needed, and then she’ll sleep it off.”
“In her chair?”
Delta chuckled. “I’ll carry her to bed after we’re in clear space on autopilot. My father’s contribution to this beauty is the best asteroid defense system in the universe, and it can ping us on space debris five minutes out, and the autopilot avoidance is spectacular. There are no known instances of a ship hitting debris with it. The ship recalculates its trajectory using the area scanners, bypasses the debris, and keeps going. Sure, it can add twenty percent to the transit time, but we prefer safe rather than dead.”
I would, too. “They haven’t taught us about those systems in any of my courses. Do you think it’ll be part of the certification?”
“Very probably. The system requires a shiftgem matrix to function, but it’s pretty simplistic. They’ll probably do it on one of your last days but before the finals. They’re easy to repair as a general rule. The problems tend to be software rather than hardware.”
I’d already gotten the lecture about software systems; read the manual, reboot, and link with the system to make the configuration adjustments tended to be the beginning and end of those issues. “If it’s software, then it’s just a matter of link configuration, right?”
“Exactly. I’m being scheduled to have a link installed, but my father is being picky about who will do the installation. The top surgeon he wants for the work won’t be available until next year. That’s fine. I’m happy to wait, especially since he has no record of fatalities from link installations. That makes my familyfeel better. And Viva practically starts climbing the walls at the thought of me undergoing surgery. I’ll be going through mods as well. I will be joining thevulpes vulpesclub so we match, except my fur color will match my hair. Viva will be getting a longevity mod to match mine, so we’ll be in recovery together. She’s also being scheduled for a new link, because hers is on older tech and the surgeon can do us both at the same time.”
I perked my ears forward. “You can just request hybridization?”
