Page 18 of Life-Debt

“My engine is in good condition, and I’ll take advantage of the quarantine period to do a full evaluation of her parts. I’ll teach Delta how to handle ship repairs at the same time. He’s interested, although I suspect part of that interest is a trauma response.”

“He’ll undergo appropriate therapy,” Pollwin promised. “I will make sure his family is aware of his interest and the potential for trauma. Do you have any allergies?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Excellent. The spaceport has an excellent quarantining system, so you will be able to enjoy fresh meals without having to use your galley or prefab meals. Your transit history shows very limited stays in ports or on planets. Is there a reason why?”

“Why walk when I can fly?” I replied with a smile.

“I understand that. Disengage from the freighter, and I will have your escort come into position and send you the coordinates for our flight path.”

“Roger.” I broke off the communication and went to work undocking from the freighter, giving the ship and its sad cargo a salute before easing my ship away to rendezvous with my assigned escort.

Soon enough, the whole business would be behind me, and I would be able to look towards the future—and dig into who had smuggled core shiftgems on the ship and why.

SIX

Good men—of any species—were hard to find

Delta took my invitation to play with Pandora seriously, and the pair romped until it was time to dock at the spaceport. The man exhausted himself to the point I needed to escort him back to bed, and my traitor of a fox wanted to snuggle with her new pet human. Once the quarantine period ended, I’d have to console her.

Hell, I’d have to console myself, too.

Good men—of any species—were hard to find.

However much he made excellent company and loved animals, we’d have to move on. He had a family to return to, and we had more stars to explore and other unfortunate souls to rescue. Getting attached would do neither of us any good.

Despite knowing that, I hesitated to interrupt Pandora’s fun.

She loved people of all shapes and sizes, and I didn’t want to destroy that.

Bracing for the inevitable heartache to come within the next ten days, I took my station in my chair. I followed my escort ship, which would guide me directly to the quarantine bay we’d get to use. The freighter would be taken to the neighboring bay. Corpses and an empty ship took less time to decontaminate. They could use the harsh chemicals with no fear of issues. Living, breathing people needed to use the slower methods, and if one of us became ill, we’d go into isolation in the med bay until we recovered.

Delta would have to cope with learning how to fix engines on the overhaul I’d do on mine and the test engines the Cremorans provided.

At the quarantine bay, I activated my communication system, identified my ship, listed all living passengers, registered I was not carrying any commercial cargo, hadn’t been on an active job, and went through the twenty-minute process of registering myself for the spaceport. They informed me my patient was already registered, and that they would issue a collar and tags for Pandora, customized with her name, her species, my name, her authorization code for being in the spaceport, a no-leash authorization, and a little bell. While I questioned the presence of the bell, I acknowledged she needed to wear it while in the spaceport. While they offered no-leash permissions, I’d still leash her in unfamiliar territory, assuming we left the quarantine bay.

An excited fox caused trouble at her whim, and an entire spaceport was nothing but temptation for her.

Before I fled back to the questionable safety of space, I’d do some serious damage to my accounts, spending tokens in one of the few places luxuries could be found off a planet. I expected a haul of digital reading material, educational modules, and a cache of replacement parts.

By the time I finished overhauling my engine and checking for anything that might put me in the same shoes as Delta’s deceased crew, I would be limping from paycheck to paycheck.

Well, I might dodge limping from paycheck to paycheck depending on what compensation Delta Cremora 005-26 offered as recovery compensation. Considering the value of the cargo, I expected they would give me enough to make it for a while before I needed to take some necessary risks for my next influx of tokens.

Once approved to enter the bay, I landed my ship on the platform, shut the engine down, and waited for the bay doors to close. I activated the external atmospheric sensors and gravity monitors. Gravity kicked in first, and I shut down my ship’s gravity system to give us a chance to adjust to their settings. According to my console, they kept gravity on the lighter side, which would result in a bouncier step than I preferred, although it wouldn’t require magnets to get around. Ten minutes after landing, the ship’s sensors registered safe levels for homo sapiens, and I began the process of equalizing the pressure between the ship and the quarantine bay.

While the systems worked, I pressed the intercom button and said, “We’ve landed, and equalization should be completed within ten minutes. As we’re in quarantine, we’ll be permitted to be in the bay but nowhere else until we pass our health checks. Anyone coming into the bay will need to be wearing a hazmat suit or be staying for the entirety of the quarantine period. Expect ten days starting now. We’re apparently receiving a Veloc guest to keep us company. I’ll be over in a few minutes. I will be leaving the life support system on my ship operational in case of a breach in the bay.”

While rare, breaches could happen, and a smart captain maintained a safe haven even when in port. I released the intercom’s button and went through my post landing checklist, deactivating everything but the lighting, security, and life support systems.

Once everything checked out, I headed to where I’d left Delta and Pandora. My fox engaged with the man in a vicious game of tug of war with one of her favorite rope toys. Judging from its frayed state, I’d be making her a new one while in the spaceport. “We can disembark now. It seems the Veloc is one of your cousins?”

Delta grinned. “Way back when, one of my great-great-great aunts, with a few extra greats attached, fell in love with a Veloc. When a homo sapiens of any sort mates with a Veloc, the result is almost always a Veloc. Their genetics tend to override the genetics of other contributing species. And they have an adaptable reproductive system. The males can reproduce with almost anything. The females aren’t quite as adaptable, but homo sapiens are genetically compatible with Veloc of either gender. Why? Who knows. But they are, and that’s all the Veloc care about. In Veloc society, the homo sapiens branch of the family is kept close. So, I have a lot of Veloc cousins as a result, despite the number of generations separating my ancestral aunt having wed a Veloc.”

“I was asked about my xenodiversity rating, probably because of your cousin. I only have one rule when it comes to big things with teeth—eat something other than me. I’m not on the menu.”

That got Delta laughing. “My family introduces us to our Veloc kin fairly young. It prevents the running and the screaming part of things. Veloc toddlers are soft, fluffy, and have their claws capped. They have teeth, but they’re taught not to bite before being introduced to other races. They’re more likely to nuzzle you into submission as a result.”