13. How could I already miss the stars?

THIRTEEN

How could I already miss the stars?

Within five minutes of his departure, I resented that Waldren had left me to the Deltan wolves. I realized the grumpy pilot wasn’t of Deltan stock, which led me to wonder where he’d come from, how his failed colony had met its demise, and what lurked in his past. As promised, a woman with auburn hair and fox ears and a tail met me, and she delighted in having another hybrid to keep her company. Her fox, Pandora, greeted me with excited yips.

The animal made everything a little better, although I viewed the whole thing as miserable.

How could I already miss the stars?

I hadn’t been on the planet for even an hour.

“I know that look in your eyes,” Viva informed me in a conspiratorial whisper. “You have made mistakes. Is letting that handsome pilot escape one of them?”

Viva’s husband, who went by the name Delta, sighed. “You can’t have six new foxes, Viva. We have enough foxes. Boo-Boo and Pandora have mastered the art of procreation, and if you could stop forgetting to give them their birth control, we might be able to consider new kits.”

“I’m not forgetting. We just keep getting requests, and Pandora loves being a mommy. And don’t you lie, Delta. You love the kits.”

“We have twenty-nine kits of various ages destroying our home.” Delta attempted to stare his wife into submission, failed, and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Camellia. Viva is always looking for someone else who enjoys space travel as much as she does. While she’s trained me to join her, it’s not the same. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy going up into the great unknown with her, but I don’t spend my every waking moment planetside longing to chase the stars.”

While there was no chance of spotting Waldren or his ship, I glanced skyward anyway. “Space is full of wonders. The pilot is just one of those wonders,” I replied. “I do regret leaving Squeakers with him, but she wouldn’t be happy here.”

Later, when no one could catch me, I would cry about that. I’d spent a great deal of time explaining to the little bird why I would be going away for a while. I’d used ‘a while’ in the talk for her comfort more than mine. Would the stars align to allow me to escape the heavy weight of Cremora Delta’s gravity for the freedom I’d discovered in the expansive nothingness?

The experimental voyage had taught me many things, but one lesson rose above all others: I’d only begun the journey.

“You can help with our foxes. It’s not the same, but you’ll be able to pet them. That’s something.” Viva grinned at me, and she gestured to the bustling terminal. “It’s a busy day here today. It’s an import day. The Deltans like chaos, and they prefer when they can cram as many ships into this maze as possible. For the next week, it’ll be paperwork hell as we discover what sort of goods we’ll have to work with for the next few months. Our exports are next week, and the ships here for importing will serve as our exporters. Honestly, it works pretty well. The ships will do their engine checks and maintenance here, and our economy is boosted. While this backwater isn’t all that advanced on the universal front, we have a great maintenance crew here. We provide mechanics at a nominal fee to do the checks, too. We have a top safety rating.” The woman bounced on her toes, and her red tail whipped back and forth, much like Pandora’s did upon greeting a new and interesting person.

“She is excited because she got to make the project more robust. Our safety rating increased since she started working on it,” Delta explained, smiling at his wife. “If ship repairs are an interest of yours, just ask her to get you into one of the courses. If you like space travel, because of her, we have one of the best schools for ship care, maintenance, and recovery in the universe. Honestly, it alarms me that she was able to get us set up with an excellent schooling system in less than a year. If I let her take charge of anything else, she really might take over.”

“Pass. That would get in the way of going into space.”

If I wanted to go back to the reaches of space, I would need that knowledge. “I thought I’d be quarantined.” I eyed the crowds of people. “This is not quarantine.” Before I’d been let off the ship, a bunch of overenthusiastic Deltans had jabbed me with a series of needles before leaving me with Viva and Delta. “This is definitely not quarantine. This is more like throwing me in the pool without the benefit of any swimming lessons.”

“My father wants to test our pandemic protocols,” Delta informed me with a rather crooked grin. “The odds of you being sick with anything serious are low. You would have gotten sick by now. But he’s hoping for a new strain of influenza or some such to give us a reminder of why we need to be careful. You were vaccinated with everything serious for our world, and the specific cocktail we gave you begins working right away. You’ll feel pretty sick tomorrow, but today, you’ll have a sore arm and little else. We’ve been assigned to give you a tour of the area, show you where the Veloc tend to roam, and take you to the school’s dorm. You’ll have one of the dorm suites, which are usually for the honor roll students, but they felt you’d be more comfortable with a little more space and your own bathroom.”

Communal bathrooms never failed to irritate me. “Did someone from Schwana Major tell you that?”

Viva grinned. “We’ve been talking to them about your education, and you hate communal bathrooms. Did your pilot’s ship have private facilities?”

“All quarters had a small bathroom, but there was also a communal bathing room with a tub. I don’t mind rooms like that. It could be properly locked, and not with just a latch or flimsy curtain. My issue with communal bathrooms is the utter lack of privacy. Waldren’s ship had privacy.”

I shuddered.

It had only taken once of someone walking in on me to scar me for life.

“It’ll be fine. You won’t have to make use of those nasty communal dorm bathrooms unless you want to.” Viva regarded her husband with resignation. “There are some things you need to know about this planet and its occupants.”

I grinned at her tone, her patience worn to a mere thread. “Beyond their love of staying on their planet?”

“That is definitely a problem, but I’ve trained this one nicely. He will almost go to space on demand. But yes, they’re space shy. You’ll get one space voyage as part of your training, so choose your destination wisely. I’ll likely be the pilot, as I’m licensed to go anywhere in space. Delta needs more flights to be truly comfortable, so he’ll be piloting, too. At most, you’ll get a three week round trip, but I can get us most places with that much time. My new ship is a bit of a racer. Delta couldn’t help himself, saw her for sale, and reduced himself to begging . Fortunately, we are clan with a bunch of Veloc, and once they found out how badly he wanted her, she got to come home with us. It’ll be a crew of six, yourself included. The others will be Veloc.” Viva smiled. “It should be a nice reward for you, and it’ll give you something to do when the school has its mid-semester break.”

“I didn’t understand how much I love speed until she took me to a spaceship race course. Then I wanted a ship that didn’t lumber through the course. But Viva owns the ship, because my license doesn’t allow for it,” Delta explained. “We already got clearance to take you on a flight in our racer.”

“It is an exploratory vessel,” Viva announced with pride. “I have all the fun toys and gadgets people like you appreciate. Do you have somewhere in mind that you’d like to go?”

I narrowed my eyes, considering the woman. “What are the rules regarding failed colonies?”

Viva sucked in a breath. “You know about Waldren’s history? We’d been warned about it in case we meet him. He’s sensitive.”

I nodded. “I want a better understanding of these colonies. They’re what explorers like me work towards, to establish new colonies on new worlds. We talked about the successful colonies, but we never discussed the failures.”

Viva’s gaze unfocused, something I recognized as a linker making use of the plethora of databases available at a mere thought. “Yes, I have access to the record. There were two survivors, among the first born to the colony. Twins. The planet is hostile to homo sapiens if they stay longer than a year. Waldren is noted as having been rather feral. His sister is the sensible one of the pair, and she kept them both alive until a group of Veloc rescued them. The Veloc had been aware of the colony, and when it became known all transmissions had stopped, they made the venture to investigate.”

After a moment, Viva giggled. “According to this, Waldren bit numerous Veloc during his first meeting with them before his flight instinct kicked in and he ran them around for several hours. His sister’s future husband was one of the ones Waldren had bitten. He opted to feed her and groom her hair while the rest of the clan caught Waldren.”

That generally matched what I’d heard on the ship, and I laughed at the thought of a wild Waldren biting Veloc before running for the hills. Then I forced myself to take the conversation seriously. “ Homo sapiens can stay a year? That’s odd. Wouldn’t any viral or bacterial infections begin promptly?”

I’d gotten that lecture more than a few times. Hostile planets tended to kill the instant someone stepped foot on them. The variable was the time until death. I hadn’t heard of planets with delayed death sequences like Viva described.

“The infection appears to be fungal in nature. Waldren and his sister are naturally immune to it, likely due to having been born on the planet. It takes a year for the fungal infection to no longer be treatable, but it takes a few years to kill. The colony experienced a mass die off within a six month period as the fungal infections all became terminal at the same time.” Viva’s gaze focused on me. “It’s considered to be a hazardous planet, but it can be visited with clearance. We can get the clearance. The planet is located three days from here over a series of five gate hops.”

I raised a brow as most pilots, at least according to Waldren, wouldn’t do more than three gates at a time without stopping to check the engines. “Does the three days include the engine checks?”

“Yes, it does. I can do the checks on my beauty in five hours.” Viva smiled. “She’s also rated for six consecutive jumps, but I never take her more than three. I’ve salvaged enough derelicts to know better.”

“Do you think we could go there? To his colony?” To me, it wasn’t a complete failure.

Waldren and his sister lived. No, they thrived.

My heart hurt for the loss of their family and loved ones, however.

Viva and Delta exchanged long looks, and after a moment, he shrugged. “I don’t see why not. I’ll have to battle my father for the clearances, but we know how to treat the fungal infection. He just dislikes when we do anything reckless, and this would be a little reckless. But only a little. It’s a good exercise for you, especially as you can do botany work on the planet. They’re still not sure where the fungal source is, so an expedition would not be a bad thing. The planet isn’t in anyone’s territory, but nobody has done any significant surveys of the natural resources. We could do a preliminary survey, and if we find anything of interest, we could stake a claim.” Delta regarded his wife with wide eyes. “Foxes don’t have issues with the fungus. If we can convince my father to stake a claim on the planet, we could use it for vulpes vulpes .”

“Delta, we can’t destroy the ecosystem of planets solely to take over the universe with foxes.”

“I don’t see why not.”

Viva heaved a patience worn sigh. “Delta.”

“Boo-Boo needs more friends.”

“Boo-Boo does not need an entire planet worth of friends.”

The pair glared at each other.

I could see myself in Delta’s shoes should I ever get an Andean like Palta.

I would even consider taking over an entire planet for them.

“How long do you think it’ll be before we can depart to the failed colony?” I asked, glancing again at the departing ships.

“Longer than you’ll appreciate. The mid-semester break is in four months.” Viva snagged my bag and tossed it over her shoulder. “We’ll take a hover to the school. It’s several hours to walk, even if you take the shortcut through Veloc territory. In good news, their hunting trails are large enough for a hover, and they don’t mind when we use it. I know being stuck on a planet is dull, but you’ll be fine. View it as training for going back into space. If you can withstand the monotony of being stuck on this rock, you’ll be fine during the long, boring stretches. Just try to be patient with the Deltans. They mean well, but they just don’t understand space. I’m convinced I got my greedy hands on the only adaptable Deltan.”

“My parents travel through space,” Delta reminded his wife with a scowl.

“They will only travel through space when you get in trouble, the Veloc offer to let them cuddle with the hatchlings, or there are new foxes to be had. Otherwise, they would prefer to stay at home.”

While he sighed, he didn’t argue with his wife.

“It’ll be all right, Camellia. You’ll see,” Viva promised.

As warned, I became ill from the vaccinations, but no matter how many people the Deltans tossed at me, I failed to infect anyone with any new ailments. Delta’s father, who’d volunteered to get sick, lamented he wouldn’t be getting any paid days off work. That amused me.

As promised, I was given a suite at the university. As Schwana Major counted as a backwater and was woefully behind on education, the school’s dean opted to start me back at the beginning, allowing me to test out of courses after a minimum of a week of study. Trying to cram an entire semester of reading and education into a week kept me busy, and I took advantage of their offer to pack my schedule as full as they would allow, starting with the classes I held confidence I could pass with ease.

I passed the first twenty courses with flying colors, pleased over how direly they’d underestimated me and my thirst for knowledge.

Within a month and a half of arrival, I had managed to knock out thirty-six courses through passing the finals with a grade of ninety percent or higher. One course I tested borderline for, and I opted to take it properly.

According to the course description, a quarter of the semester would be dedicated to improving botany sketching skills, describing, labeling, and collecting plant samples for preservation.

By the end of the second month, even the courses with new material drove me to the brink of madness. Either the Deltans had an obsessive compulsive need to take their time with everything or they enjoyed torture. I couldn’t think of any other reason for the turtle’s pacing of their general education. I did give them some credit.

They left no stone unturned.

At the three month mark, I began searching for new things to keep me engaged.

I began with upgrading my link chips, never mentioning what I did to my teachers. While there were some linkers among the Deltans, they were few and far between. That meant the accessible systems were also few and far between, and I discovered those systems tended to have horrible security.

Someone so new to using a link shouldn’t have been able to manipulate important things, including my personal schedule. To test the waters, I added an archaeology course to my schedule.

My teachers were confused but accepted the oddity.

For my second trick, I invited myself to learn how ship engines worked, attending an entire month’s worth of classes, dedicating six hours of my day to learning more about space machinery so I could dismantle and rebuild an engine without the help of a manual.

Unlike the rest of my education, the engine maintenance and repair course challenged me. The first day of the course, which was scheduled for the wee hours of the morning, left me covered in grease and engine oil while smiling.

The workshop smelled like space.

By the time the mid-semester break rolled around, I’d done enough coursework to receive the first of my certifications, enabling me to join standard expeditions for planetary exploration as a botanist. As promised, Viva and Delta came to retrieve me, and they brought two Veloc with them, both with emerald crests. One had a crimson body and tail, and the other had a mottling of yellows and blues with a crimson tail.

“Camellia, this is Fogali, and he’s part of the Crimson Tails. He was born in the Emerald Crests but is a bit bolder and inclined to use violence during space travel, so he headed over to the Crimson Tails,” Viva said, and her tail whipped back and forth in what I assumed was general excitement. “This is Yulgali, and he is part of the Emerald Crests as an enforcer. They were selected to teach you how to fight with Veloc and be able to safely pet anyone or anything to cross your path.”

I laughed at the reminder of having petted a Veloc upon emergence from sedation. “I’m pleased to meet you.” I raised my hands, which were covered in grease and oil. “I’ll pass on petting you both for now.”

“I see you managed to get into one of the maintenance courses,” Delta said with a grin. “And how did you pull that off?”

“It magically appeared on my schedule,” I informed him. “And as it magically appeared on my schedule, I was not going to complain about coursework I actually like. I have the first of my certifications!”

Viva laughed, set her bag on the ground, and pulled out a rag, which she tossed to me. “That should get the grease and oil off. I keep a few of those around, as I’m always managing to get my hands on engines when I shouldn’t. I’ve learned to just carry them with me. We’ll pick up a set for you when we hit up a spaceport on the way.”

I went to work removing the grime from my hands, discovering the towel had been soaked in some form of cleaning solution, which made the job easier than expected. “I appreciate that. Thank you for coming to get me.”

“If we left you in the school alone during break, we might not have a school when you’re done with the place,” Delta teased. “Is there anything you need? We have proper space apparel for you on board.”

I showed off my satchel, which contained everything I cared about. “I have my sketchbook, pencils, pens, and documentation in here.”

“Good.” Viva pointed in the direction of the spaceport. “Let’s get out of here before those damned paper pushers realize this is a bad idea.”