Page 69 of Experimental Voyage
It’d been a while since he’d been in such a mood.
“But are you sure?”
“I’m sure. You can hide with Palta while I deal with them. I actually like them, and talking with them is not a burden. If you want to hide, you can hide. And once I learn how to pilot, I can even handle those icky parts where the pilot has to talk with people. I’m even going to learn how to speak to the Veloc in their own language.”
“Being able to screech at Veloc and be understood is strangely satisfying,” he admitted. “Especially when they aren’t expecting ahomo sapiensto start screaming at them in their own language.”
“We can make this one of our goals. We can keep count of who startles the most Veloc.”
He nodded. “Unwanted pettings should also be tracked.”
“I agree. Then we’re decided. We will lie low until the celebration, where I will pick a Veloc clan as the victor. Then we will torment their entire species for our entertainment.” I rubbed my hands together. “And we will breed many death horses and spread their wonder around the universe. And we’ll take them with us on exploratory voyages. Well, when it’s safe to do so.”
“At least you havesomesense. There’s a problem with your goal to torment the Veloc.”
“What’s wrong with my plan? It’s a good one.”
“We will never be rid of them if we do that.”
I rolled my eyes. “We can’t torture them and make them like it if they run away, Waldren. Come on, get with the program. The better we torture them, the nicer the presents we get for having done it. Those stalls on my racer can be transferred to other ships, too. The universe is ours to explore—and possibly take over if we’re in a mood.”
“Please never be in a mood to take over the universe. That is way too much work.”
While he made a good point, I made a show of huffing and puffing my indignation over his complaint. “But we could abuse the Veloc clans stuck with us to pull it off. Twohomo sapiens,two Veloc clans. That’s sufficient force to do a hostile takeover of the universe.”
“Why don’t you start with the two planets you’re already going to be partially responsible for, Camellia. If two doesn’t drive you to madness, then you can think about conquering more of the universe. But honestly? I think you’re going to be plenty busy.” According to his expression, Waldren had serious doubts about his ability to contain me, not that I blamed him.
Squeakers and my death horses were only the beginning. Waldren would be next, and I’d enjoy every moment of the chase. “I’ll think about it.”
“Maybe I should warn the Crimson Feet they are about to make a mistake,” he muttered.
“Don’t warn them! I want to see the moment they realized that the big, scary predators have become the prey. Don’t worry. It’ll be fun.”
“Oh, I’m going to worry,” he muttered. “Unlike you, I’ve spent most of my life with the big, scary predators, and they will not allow this to stand. They will make you pay for this level of cunning and treachery.”
I pointed in the direction of my new racer. “They prepaid for this level of cunning and treachery. I am only making certain they get good value for their investment.”
“Someone is going to regret this, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out who.”
Epilogue: “You’re ruthless.”
It took allof ten minutes on Veloci Major to understand I had found the home of my heart. The large planet boasted a wealth of flora and fauna, including a healthy population of Veloc and the other species they’d befriended across the universe. Had I known I would meet someone from every sentient race, I would have gotten a few extra journals so I could draw, study, and take notes on the people I crossed paths with.
Within thirty minutes of arrival, I learned why the Crimson Feet were so determined to adopt me into their clan. Her name was Emerald Kissed because she had a small stripe of emerald feathers in her crimson crest. Most Veloc were varying shades of a color, but not Emerald Kissed.
Her crimson remained one shade from muzzle to tail, leaving her with limited options for clans.
She barely qualified to join the Emerald Crests, and only due to a technicality. Her mother had been an Emerald Crest, and the splash of green in her crest was sufficient proof of affiliation.
At two feet tall, Emerald Kissed would be a baby for many years, and she still struggled with the loss of her parents, whohad been killed during a dispute with traffickers. The targeted victims had beenhomo sapiens, and the traffickers had not realized they’d stumbled onto Veloc hunting grounds. Six Veloc had died, but fortunately for the sanity of the Crimson Feet, only Emerald Kissed had been orphaned.
The Crimson Feet were many things, but they lacked the nurturing nature of the gentler clans. Emerald Kissed’s mother had been one of the few kinder spirits among them, settling into the role of caretaker for many of the hatchlings.
The other hatchlings had grieved, and sometimes, I heard them keening at a distance, quieting at the calming coos of their parents.
Emerald Kissed regarded us with dull eyes, and I went to her, knelt before her, and went to work smoothing her ruffled feathers, which were in dire need of a proper grooming. After checking to confirm her claws were all capped, I picked her up and settled her weight on my hip, continuing to coo to her. “Is she multilingual yet?”
The three Crimson Feet who’d accompanied her exchanged looks, their crests flat to their skulls. After some silent communication, mostly done in the tilting of heads and the relaxing of their crests, they settled on the smallest of them, a Veloc female with crimson feet, yellow hands, a blue tail, and a pale body, and an emerald crest.
