Page 43 of Experimental Voyage
“Somehow, with much complaining,” Yulgali stated before hauling up another box. “Please try to remind her that we cannot take any animals off the planet. We are not rated for such things.”
Delta refused to meet the Veloc’s gaze, and he muttered to himself while scanning more boxes.
“Lucas Alexander William Davenport, what have you done?” Yulgali set his latest box down, flattened his crest, and hissed at the man.
“We might be rated for such things.” Delta pointed across the cargo bay at a set of containers. “Viva would have to installthe system, but it’s there. I picked it up yesterday while she was trying to fix her broken system.”
Both Veloc groaned, dropped to the floor, and made a scene, drawing the attention of workers in the spaceport.
“Wusses,” Delta muttered.
As the issue of Delta’s name seemed saner than the rest of the mess I beheld, I asked, “Your name is Lucas?”
“It is. When Viva rescued me, she refused to use my name, addressing me as Delta. She didn’t want to make any attachments.”
“Considering that you are married, it seems her ploy failed.”
“It failed miserably,” he confirmed. “Now I only deal with being called Lucas when I’m in trouble. But don’t worry. They love me, and they’ll forgive me eventually.”
“But why are you in trouble?”
“The paperwork for taking any species off a failed colony planet is atrocious, and I happen to have acquired all the equipment necessary to do it. But it’s not going to be my problem.”
“It’s not?” I pointed at the Veloc, who continued to writhe on the cargo bay floor as though they perished. “I don’t think they’re going to be doing the paperwork.”
“That’s right. They’re not going to be doing it. You are.”
It sank in that the Cremora Deltan had gotten me good, and by the time I returned from my ‘break,’ I will have gained far more applicable knowledge about space travel and exploration than anticipated. “You, sir, are a terrible man.”
He grinned at me. “I know, and my wife is going to adore me once she’s figured out what I’ve done. There’s mean, and then there’smean, and what I just did to you ismean. But you’ll forgive me eventually.”
“We’ll see about that.”
FIFTEEN
“Pull a muscle once,” Delta muttered.
Delta provedto be the sole sensible being on board. While Viva wanted to slingshot into space and give traffic control something to worry about, he had the controls of her racer, and he refused to traumatize me more than necessary. The whole thing amused me, and I enjoyed every moment of the spaceship’s rapid acceleration to escape the gravity of Cremora Delta. Once in space, Delta set the autopilot, checked the systems for any problems, and smiled at his wife.
Sure enough, she’d passed out in her seat the instant we’d reached the comfort of space.
Upon gravity being set, Delta summoned the Veloc to the bridge to begin my lessons on space travel and the wonders of exploration. Both Veloc cooed at the sleeping woman, and after a moment, I realized the sound did an excellent job of inducing relaxation.
“While you can carry her, I will,” Fogali whispered. “You can tuck her in, but let us avoid yet another ache in your fragile back.”
“Pull a muscle once,” Delta muttered. “It works out for the best. I’ll show Camellia the systems and the differences between linked and unlinked flight while you take care of her.”
Both Veloc headed off, taking Viva with them.
It amused me that the Veloc didn’t bother with being gentle, yet the woman didn’t even stir.
“When was the last time she slept?”
“I think she caught a ten minute nap sometime yesterday. She wanted to kidnap you and bolt for the freedoms of space, but I reminded her you would become upset should you miss your classes.” Delta laughed, and he gestured to one of the bridge’s screens. “When you don’t have a link, you have to use these screens to monitor the ship’s systems.” He pressed a few buttons on the armrest of his chair, pulling up a menu. Another screen changed, showing a blueprint of the entire ship along with numerous green lights and one yellow one.
I pointed at the light. “Why is that one yellow?”
“That yellow light is the bane of Viva’s existence. That is one of the cages for animals, and there’s an issue withsomething, and she can’t figure it out. It stays permanently yellow no matter what she does. I’ve figured it out, but I don’t want to ruin her fun eliminating the demons infecting her precious ship.”
