Page 47 of Experimental Voyage
On the thirdday of the voyage to where Waldren had been born, something clicked in my head, and I understood what the Veloc were trying to teach me. As understanding settled in, a burning need to plaster both of the giant predators took hold.
Fogali faced the brunt of my assault, and I had him on the floor before he realized I’d snapped something in my head after being tossed around and tenderized since boarding Viva’s ship. I got on his back and went for the nearest shiny object, snarling and hissing at him. Yulgali attempted to pull me off his brother, but I secured my hold on a handful feathers and a bauble.
Vain Veloc hated losing feathers unnecessarily, and I meant to take advantage of that weakness.
The Veloc hooted, chirped, and discussed among each other while I struggled to keep a hold on my target, growling all the while.
Delta came to intervene, attempting to pry my fingers open. Snapping my teeth at him won me nothing, although my fellowhomo sapienswas forced to dodge else he be bitten. “I think you’ve found her threshold for being pummeled and bruised.Come on, Camellia, let him go. You can’t pluck him. If you pluck him, he’ll resemble a giant molty space chicken. We can’t have that. There’s no higher shame in this universe than being a molting Veloc. They hide when they molt. They cannot bear the thought of anyone witnessing their plight.”
“Molting,” Yulgali spat in open disgust. “It is one of the worst trials of our lives. To lose even one feather is a crime, but to lose them all? We cannot wear baubles when we molt.”
Fogali tapped his capped claws on the padded floor. “I am not due to molt for a while.”
As attempting to bite kept thehomo sapiensat bay, I kept one eye on Delta while I worked to extract my prize from Fogali’s crest. Once successful, I released him, allowing his brother to pull me away while I clutched my prize close to my chest.
“You have been robbed,” Yulgali announced.
“I noticed that. Did we forget to feed her?”
“We did not miss her feeding schedule. She is part cat now. Perhaps the feline side of her needed a new toy? I’m afraid that is hers now.” Yulgali set me in the corner, shook his head, and took care to keep his crest out of my reach. “Beyond your pride, did she injure you?”
“My pride has been critically struck. She went after me like I go after my dinner, without remorse or hesitation. Did she pluck any of my feathers?”
“You have not been plucked, but you have been robbed of a crimson shiftgem.”
“Did you record it, Delta?” Fogali asked before getting up and shaking his feathers out.
“I’ve been recording our sessions,” he confirmed.
“We should use it to instigate.” Yulgali released me, and he ruffled my hair, something the Veloc did as a form of praise when the target of their affection was not decked out in baubles. “Take your prize to your quarters, Camellia. If he had wantedto keep his bauble, he would have better defended it. I will help you put it into your hair in a place of honor after we are in quarantine. That will be our time of rest.”
As I wanted to keep my prize, I held it close, purred, and did as told. Once I had it secured in my desk, I returned to the fitness room to discover Viva and Delta sparring with each other, using their feet as their weapon of choice. While Delta managed to fend her off, she took her job as the aggressor seriously. The Veloc observed, their crests lifted. Only when Viva managed to hook her foot around her husband’s knee and knock him over did the pair intervene. Fogali took care of restraining Viva while Yulgali checked Delta over for any signs of injury.
“My pride will never recover,” Delta reported.
That I could believe. If Viva could secure victory, she did—and she had no scruples when it came to crushing her foe. I’d learned early on, however, that Delta had no need for his pride when it came to bouts with his fox.
He used his defeat as a way of luring her off to their chambers, where the wise went to the other side of the craft for a few hours.
Someone other than me needed to suggest they soundproof their quarters.
“Don’t be a baby,” Viva replied, helping him to his feet. “I’ve come to interrupt your play as we’re approaching the planet. I’ve already reviewed the known planetary hazards. Ushomo sapienswill need to stay near the feathered murder machines. There are a few dangerous predators on the planet. The odds of us running into them are slim, but they are still present.”
“What kind of predators?” Fogali asked, his crest rising. “Are they edible?”
“Yes, they’re edible. The most dangerous of them is a species of carnivorous stag. They’re supposedly immune to the fungus, although we’ll have to purify their coats. The pelts are wortha fortune, the meat is considered a delicacy, and the species is only found on this planet. We can take ten each, but the meat of five of them has to go into our personal food supply, although we can sell the pelts and bones from those. The bones are liked by artisans, so if we are careful, we can make some good profit off our allotment of carcasses.” The fox hybrid rubbed her hands together. “I have my portable stasis unit on board for the meat.”
“Of course you do,” Delta muttered. “Which means we have two of them on board. I snitched one of your cargo units off your main ship.”
Viva rolled her eyes. “As if I would forget something as important as my stasis unit.”
“You do not have a stasis unit specifically for this ship yet.”
“I do not have the money for that,” she replied, lifting her chin and sniffing. “Nobody does. We can move the stasis unit from ship to ship.”
“Can we at least discuss when the stasis unit is being moved?”
I recognized an old argument when I heard one, and rather than listen to the pair bicker, I said, “What safety gear do we need to wear? Are we doing atmospheric condition checks before disembarking?”
