15. “Pull a muscle once,” Delta muttered.

FIFTEEN

“Pull a muscle once,” Delta muttered.

Delta proved to 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 with something , 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.”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“The shiftgem set in it needs to be replaced. It’s the original set she used for Pandora’s life support system, and one of the stones has a hairline fracture in it. As such, there is a vibration, thus the yellow light. I only know about the fracture because I looked over every stone with a magnifying glass and spotted it.” Delta pressed a few buttons, and the yellow light winked out. “As I don’t want a shiftgem fracturing on the flight, I’ve shut that down until we’re back.”

“I’m surprised she didn’t find the fracture yet,” I admitted.

“She is wearing blinders. Those shiftgems are precious. She saved for years to earn the set so she could safely take Pandora into space. There are going to be tears when they are retired from space travel. I’m going to have them turned into baubles for her and Pandora, but this will be their last voyage. I already have a replacement set for her. My father took care of acquiring them. Of course, Viva would be more rested if she hadn’t spent all of yesterday trying to fix the system before we left. She didn’t ask for my opinion, and that is her set, so she wants to fix it. I know better than to get involved at that stage.”

I grinned at the thought of the woman battling her spaceship while her husband watched and bided his time, waiting for when she asked for help. “There’s a lesson to be learned here, isn’t there?”

“Always check your shiftgems with a magnifying glass when you have some demon possessing a complicated system,” he confirmed. He pressed a few more buttons, and the ship, in a feminine voice, announced that the autopilot was engaged and all defense systems were active. “I know you’re taking a lot of maintenance and engine courses, so I’m going to skip that part of space travel. I know they’ve been barring you from taking anything that might translate to figuring out how to pilot a craft. Your teachers are of the opinion that you will leave if given a single opportunity.”

I really would. “It’s not that I don’t appreciate the invitation, but…” For a long moment, all I could do was stare out the bridge window at space with its countless twinkling stars. “Cremora Delta is a beautiful place, and the people are very kind.”

“But it’s not where you want to be.” Delta smiled, joining me in admiring the vast expanse before us. “Where do you think you will go?”

“Home to visit comes to mind, but not to stay. After seeing all this, I don’t think I could just go back to Schwana Major and just stay .”

“I didn’t get it until traveling with Viva. I’d left Cremora Delta, but I’d done it out of duty rather than a lust to see what was beyond my front door. Did you know I almost lost my life on the voyage I met Viva?”

I shook my head. “I didn’t, no.”

“I was put in stasis by the rest of the crew. It turns out there were traitors on board, and they wanted to frame my father. One of the conspirators got to know me, decided he couldn’t abide by what they meant to do, and broke our life support. He rigged the straws so I would go in, and he died along with the others on board. It was luck I lived. I learned a lot about life, death, and the universe then—and that I didn’t want a life in the universe without Viva in it.”

I could understand that.

Every day, I missed Waldren, Palta, Squeakers, and even the Veloc, especially Herserael and his sense of humor. The sense of loss had haunted me from my first day on Cremora Delta, and I wondered if time could ever fully heal that rift. “Is it strange that I feel similar to everyone from that experimental voyage?”

“It would be stranger if you didn’t, I think. The Veloc are lovable. Sure, they’re terrifying when you first meet them, but while they’re predators, I’ve never met a more honorable race in my travels across the universe. Once you’ve made a friend in a Veloc, you will have that friend for life. Betrayal usually ends in death, though.” Delta tapped at the buttons on his armrest, and after a few moments, a star map appeared. “Display Veloci Minor,” he ordered.

A red ring surrounded one of the planets.

“Veloci Minor is one of the nesting worlds of the Veloc. As far as I know, every clan has at least a hundred members living on it as a symbol of unity. The Emerald Crests and Crimson Crests have larger populations, and they’re among the friendlier clans. Veloci Major is disputed territory, and only the ruling clans of the Veloc have permanent residences there. The other clans have communal living quarters, and they exchange members once a year. Every ten years, the ruling clans are selected. The next year or two will have a selection, and we’ve been invited to witness it.”

“You don’t sound thrilled about that.”

“Display Veloci Major,” he ordered, and the red circle moved to a nearby world. “Don’t get me wrong, but the Veloc tend to go overboard when they’re fighting over who gets nesting rights on Veloci Major. And that’s basically what it is—rights to have nests on the safest of the Veloc worlds. Veloci Minor is the second safest world for them, but hatchlings are still stolen at an alarming frequency. There are a few every year. There are no known instances to date of it happening on Veloci Major.”

Ah. And from what I’d seen of the Veloc, they would kill to protect their little ones. “And the Veloc are explorers?”

“Veloc hate space travel, truth be told. They do it anyway, and it’s a rite of passage for them to go into space on a venture. That’s how Waldren and his sister were rescued. It was one of the rite of passage voyages, and the Veloc will check into places where colonies were reported but no longer transmit. Usually, they offer burial rites to the deceased, but every now and then, there’s a survivor or two, and they rescue them. I’d say there are two or three failed colony rescues every year across the universe. Mostly, the colonies fully fail, and the planet is registered as hostile to the species that perished. Then another species will try a colony. It’s… lethal.” Delta winced. “And it wouldn’t surprise me if the Veloc do their best to try to convince you to avoid being part of a colony. It’s legitimately safer to be part of the expeditions to find places to attempt the colonies than to be part of the colony.”

That matched what I knew of exploration in general. “Being part of a colony involves staying on one planet for an extended period of time, Delta. I am not interested in that. Our jaunt to Melody? That was fine. We were leaving, even if it meant we would wander through the reaches of space for the rest of our lives.” I shrugged. “I think I’m a lot like Viva. After a few weeks, I start going mad if I’m not doing research and exploration work. And while I appreciate the schooling, I am itching to apply what I’ve learned.”

“That is something we can help you with. Now that the autopilot is engaged, let’s go see what the Veloc want to teach you. This section of space is as boring as it gets, and we have several hours before we reach the first gate we’ll be taking to where Waldren was born. Just try to manage your expectations. This will not be a pleasant journey.”

“No, it won’t be. But it’s a necessary one. He’s seen my circumstances, and it’s only fair I better understand his.”

“You may not like what you learn,” Delta warned me.

“Well, he was feral and prone to biting the Veloc trying to help him. Frankly, I’m astonished his sister wasn’t wild.”

“Oh, she was plenty wild, but her Veloc was wise beyond his years and used food to tame the beast. Let’s just say Waldren is a free spirit and leave it at that. I don’t want to get bitten.”

“Does Waldren have a reputation of biting people?”

Delta grinned at me. “Anyone willing to bite a Veloc deserves respect, and he didn’t just try to bite one—he successfully bit several, numerous times. Let’s just say his clan adores him, and it’s not just because of his sister. Veloc enjoy when their homo sapiens clan members are feisty. The fact I keep dodging being adopted into a clan is driving the entire lot of them wild. That I have blood ties with a clan without being an adoptee is driving everyone even wilder. I suspect the Veloc are going to corner me. It would not surprise me if the clan that manages to claim me will earn majority status at their gathering.”

Having seen how excessive the Veloc could be, I could easily believe they would go to such lengths. “And we can just leave the bridge? It’s not going to be a problem?”

“This ship is designed to be piloted by a single person, and it truly has a robust autopilot system. We’re safe to leave the bridge. If something trips the alarm, we’ll know about it—and Viva will go from sound asleep to wide awake in half a second should one go off. I tripped an alarm while working on her other ship while she was napping, and she let me know I had sinned. First, I was working without her. She was napping! Do you know what a smart man doesn’t do? Interrupt his wife’s sacred nap. Second, I tripped an alarm. I had no idea she’d installed a new monitoring system, so when I went to make the adjustments, I failed to disengage that system. I don’t have a link yet. I can’t just think at the ship and get the logs for new installations. And since it was her ship, I didn’t actually have access to those logs. She fixed that, though.” Delta herded me off the bridge and deeper into the ship, where we met the Veloc in the hallway. “I need exercise, else all the homo sapiens on board might go mad by the end of the day. Shall we test Viva’s improvements to the fitness room? She claims not even a pair of Veloc can damage anything in there.”

The Veloc whistled and hooted their amusement before bobbing their heads.

“We must damage something, at least a little, to prove our prowess.” Fogali fanned his crimson tail and shook out his feathers. “As I belong to a more combative clan, I will be teaching of everyone. The homo sapiens will learn how to subdue Veloc. Yulgali will practice subduing homo sapiens without injury. By the time Viva awakens, all beings on board will be slightly injured. It is inevitable.”

“I better get the med kit,” Delta said before hurrying off. “Make sure your caps are installed properly, because if you lose a cap, we’ll go far beyond slightly injured.”

The Veloc went to work checking their claw caps, removing and reinstalling them before taking swipes at the padded walls. The walls remained intact, and the caps stayed on.

Morbid curiosity got the better of me, and I asked, “How sharp are your claws?”

“We can slice a homo sapiens in half with little effort. Your skin parts like butter does in the presence of a warm knife.” Fogali showed me his many teeth in a predatory grin. “Your bones offer a little sport.”

Rather than receive the lethal message the Veloc attempted to send me, I scratched under his chin. “And you’re the cutest feathered murder machine,” I cooed at him.

Yulgali hooted his laughter. “We will not be frightening this homo sapiens , my brother. She would be glorious in the Crimson Tails.”

“The Crimson Feet might be able to contain her a little. Perhaps we could showcase her skills for them to see after some teaching of her and use her as a way to infiltrate the Emerald Crests. Should she continue to charm young Waldren, an alliance could be proposed. The Crimson Feet very much like the Emerald Crests, and their hatchlings are quite striking. And if we encourage Waldren to hybridize, their younglings might be courted. It would only take a slight modification to make her tail and ears a dominant trait capable of overwriting even Veloc genetics.”

The Veloc regarded me with interest, and I raised a brow at their open discussion of my romantic future. “Doesn’t Waldren get a say in this?”

The Veloc exchanged looks before regarding me solemnly and chorusing, “No.”

I laughed at their determination. “All right. Let’s assume, for a moment, that I am interested in pursuing Waldren.” When I was honest, I had a healthy interest in the man. As every Veloc to cross my path thus far appreciated bold humans, I continued, “And don’t get me wrong. I have an interest. He’s grumpy, but he’s interesting, amusing, and kind when you look beyond his rough exterior. Anyway, is Waldren interested in forming a relationship with someone? He runs from his Veloc suitors.”

Both of the Veloc bobbed their heads, reminding me of giant birds excited over something. Fogali regained his composure first and cooed. “Waldren is uninterested because Veloc women rarely travel through space outside of their rite of passage. He would have to give up the love of his life for her, and that is not a sacrifice he is willing to make. He would be unhappy. She would become unhappy because of how unhappy he became over needing to stay on the ground. It would not be a joyous union. The chase pleases everyone, and it is a way the Veloc welcome him without much pressure. Everyone respects his love of space. You share his love of space. It would be a balanced union, and he would not even mind staying on a planet for the birthing of any young and throughout their early years before raising them to venture through the stars as well. You would partner well with him, for you would want to travel the stars except when it’s time to nest, and then you would break his ship and demand he work on maintenance for the duration. By the time the little one is ready to venture into space, the ship would surely be repaired. You can also have him work on short hauls while you stay on the planet, which will surely annoy you both. You could hold his precious Palta hostage.”

And Squeakers.

I could see how the ploy might work, although I had already accepted the likelihood of children to be close to zero.

Waldren and the Veloc had done far more for me than just restore my hearing.

“I can really learn how to throw one of you?”

Both Veloc hooted and bobbed their heads. Fogali nuzzled my throat before saying, “Once you learn the trick of it, you will be doing so with great glee at your whim. We are light for our size, and our center of balance is such homo sapiens can easily use our anatomy against us. Here, I will show you. Grab hold of my chest feathers. Don’t worry about doing any harm. The feathers there are, in truth, closer to fur and resistant to harm.”

I did as told, although I couldn’t resist giving him a hearty scratching before digging my fingers in and securing a grip on him. “They’re long!”

“Yes. It helps prevent bites from other Veloc. A mouthful of feathers is ineffective for defeating one of us. We’ve evolved with time, and the feathers have thinned a little, but they’re plusher now. Our crests and breast feathers are for more pleasant pursuits now. While we Veloc still fight among ourselves, we do so with capped claws and showy bites. We save our lethality for other beings. We are well suited for that. Homo sapiens are easy prey for us, but we truly prefer reproducing with them rather than devouring them for lunch. Those who steal our hatchlings are turned into a meal, though. It cuts down on burial costs.”

“Should I for any reason forget, please remind me not to be at all involved with the kidnapping of hatchlings.”

The Veloc whistled. Before either could reply, Delta returned hauling a stainless steel box. “All right. Let’s limit the bloodshed, as Viva will make us scrub until every drop of blood is removed from her precious padding. Bruises are acceptable. Let’s avoid broken bones, because I only have a splint kit, and the bastard stuck with a broken bone will have to deal with it until we reach a spaceport. Camellia, the rules are simple for us homo sapiens. Try not to pluck their feathers, and if you manage to steal one of their baubles, they didn’t work hard enough to fend you off, and it becomes your prize. Every last one of their baubles are shiftgems, and they’re usually solid quality. The last time I cornered a Veloc with a shiftgem scanner, she was wearing four million tokens worth of shiftgems, and some of them were suitable for various life support and purification systems.”

“We are beautiful and deserve to wear beautiful things,” Fogali announced, and to prove his point, he posed, fanned his tail, lifted his crest, and showed off all his baubles, which gleamed in the room’s light.

“You are beautiful,” Delta conceded. “You use your beauty to trick us homo sapiens into putting up with you. Camellia, he’s going to lean towards you. Give a pull when he does. Go ahead and do it like you mean it.”

Fogali leaned, I pulled, and with a startled yelp, we ended up on the floor. As the Veloc had been prepared for the tumble, he dodged falling on me. I lost my hold on him, and he hopped away. “When you want to throw one of us, grab our feathers while we’re moving forward, turn, and use your shoulder. We are tall enough that when we collide with you, we will flip over you and hit the floor. It is a matter of our center of gravity, which is, for homo sapiens , in a rather convenient location.”

“That’s it?” I blurted, scrambling to my feet. “All I have to do is grab your chest feathers, turn, ram my shoulder into you, and pull like I mean it?”

Delta laughed and nodded. “It sounds easier than it is, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll be throwing Veloc left and right, earning their ire and respect all at once. As my wife isn’t conscious to stop us, let’s compete. The winner scores the most tosses. Oh, and Camellia?”

“What is it?”

“If you fail to toss them, they will toss you. I recommend you learn quickly. It hurts less that way.” Delta regarded our opponents with a rather apprehensive expression. “Honestly, I’m signing us up for a bad time, but if they can’t teach us, no one can.”

Eight hours after the start of our exercise, I struggled to stand up, every muscle in my body hurt, but I couldn’t quit, not when tied with Delta. I glared at the man, who stood with his hands braced on his knees and panted, glaring at Yulgali, who abhorred being tossed and wanted nothing to do with our competition.

I’d gotten close to tossing him, but rather than go over my shoulder, he’d lowered his head, gotten under me, and thrown me into the ceiling. He’d taken pity on me, and after I’d smacked into the padding, he’d opted to catch me rather than witness me hit the floor yet again. “This is not a bad time. This is the worst time,” I informed him.

My bruises had bruises, and I doubted I’d be able to make it to my quarters.

The Veloc laughed at us, and Fogali ruffled my hair before scratching behind my ears. When I didn’t even bother to grab for his chest feathers, he picked me up by my waist, placed me over his shoulder, and said, “I will return this homo sapiens to her quarters and put her to bed after offering food and a massage so she is able to move tomorrow. I will leave your wife to tend to your aches and pains. Good progress has been made. You are, as always, rather hopeless. She is naturally adept, and I will be pleased to inform the Crimson Feet of her prowess so they might stake some claims.”

“We were defeated, Delta.”

“Welcome to life with Veloc around. You earned every toss you did make—and they pay back being tossed tenfold.”

No kidding. “So Waldren tossing Veloc at his whim is impressive?”

“Very. He’s mastered the art of keeping Veloc out of his space when he doesn’t want them in his space.” Delta snickered. “Once you have recovered, we will teach you how to throw homo sapiens . Should you toss him around at your whim, you’ll surprise him.”

I bet. “Just throw me on a bed, Fogali. I can figure out how to pass out without help.”

The Veloc laughed, bounced me on his shoulder, and hauled me out of the fitness room. “Tomorrow, we will teach you recovery exercises. You will both appreciate it—not that you will be in any condition to do much of anything. And so we have won the ship peace.”

Like hell he had. I would be launching ambushes at every opportunity until I managed to throw both of them repeatedly. If I couldn’t toss them, I’d climb all over them, hang on for dear life, and score points that way. Surely riding a Veloc was worth as much as laying one out on the floor. “I earned a nap. You earned nothing. We were not worth any points due to a lack of difficulty.”

Delta snickered, and he followed us into the hallway. He limped, which helped my pride recover.

We both suffered at the claws of the Veloc, and we would make them pay somehow.

“She makes a good point.” Delta reached out and scratched behind my ears. “You did well, Camellia. And yes, you can’t hide the truth. You’re just like Viva, and there’s nothing better than somebody scratching behind the ears. You don’t start lashing your tail, though. The tail lashing is priceless.”

“Cats don’t lash their tails unless irritated,” the woman in question stated, and she turned the corner. “What is going on?”

“Toss the homo sapiens ,” Fogali reported, once again adjusting how I rested on his shoulder. “Yours will need some attention. We tenderized and tired them out. We thought you’d appreciate a chance for some peace and quiet now that you’re rested.”

Viva nodded, and then she turned her attention to her husband. “Delta, you disabled Pandora’s life support system.”

“I was piloting, and I wasn’t having a faulty system running while piloting. Leave it off until we’re home, and then you can spend however long is needed to fix it. Pandora isn’t with us, so it’s a non-critical system. The yellow light was driving me mad.”

Viva muttered curses. “You’re really going to make me keep it off?”

“Yes. If you think that’s bad, imagine if that undiagnosed vibration makes your precious shiftgems shatter.”

The woman gasped. “Banish that thought right this instant, Mr. Cargo!”

Delta laughed, kissed his wife’s cheek, and waved my way. “Have a good rest, Camellia. Tomorrow is a new day, and we’ve earned some sleep. Don’t mind Viva. She’ll forgive me eventually.”

Well, if Viva wanted to toy with him, I’d play the game her way. “If you say so, Mr. Cargo.”

Viva grinned at my comment.

“It could be worse. She could have called me Veloc bait. At least she likes her cargo alive and kicking. If she’s calling me Veloc bait, I’ll be lucky to survive her wrath.”

“Try not to tenderize him further, Viva. You need him alive, and we sufficiently worked him,” Yulgali said, pausing long enough to join in scratching behind my ears. “I recommend you feed him before putting him to bed. We’ll feed this one and make sure she’s capable of moving tomorrow. Then you can pilot and finally decide the best route to where we’re going.”

“I’ve decided we’re skipping the spaceport until the way back, that way we can pass quarantine near the spaceport and go shopping. Camellia needs some new treasures to get her through the rest of the semester,” Viva announced.

“If you say so,” the Veloc replied in a doubtful tone.