Page 44 of Life-Debt

“The presents,” he confirmed in his most serious tone. “I have been promised many presents, and there’s only one thing better than a present, and that’s two presents.”

Well, at least Delta made it easy to know what he liked. “I have a present for you you’ll really like later.”

“Oh?”

“Me naked in our bed.”

* * *

Somehow, we survived through an entire afternoon of presents. No matter what I said, the Veloc took the idea of life-debts seriously, which meant I needed to accept something from every single one of them who believed they owed me. To my dismay, the entire planet felt the same way.

“Why?” I wailed in one of the lulls of gift giving.

Mystoran, who’d taken on the role of registering every gift given, laughed at my misfortune. “You performed a miracle, that’s why. Sure, the black market operators claimed her back, but you were the one who returned her. Of all the hatchlings stolen, she is the first to have made it home as a hatchling. The others? If they survive, they are several decades older, living enslaved until fighting for their freedom. Several clans have suffered from the loss of a hatchling this way. Some of the gifts you were given are from stolen hatchlings who didn’t have someone to save them. You were but one piece of the working that brought Miracle Star home, but you were the most important part. Without you, she may not have made it home at all.”

“Carthello would have done his best.”

“He is toxic for our kind, and he would have killed her trying. That is why he wears unique clothes. A safety modification. You were her only hope. No one else at that spacestation could have cared for her. They were all adapted. It was good fortune. We learned of why she was in her condition from him. She’d been trying to feed herself because they couldn’t feed her. They would have poisoned her trying. And she would have starved to death because she is too young—and the space station itself was dying,” Mystoran explained.

“And things become clearer,” I whispered, staring at the ridiculous number of gifts, many still wrapped, we would need to contend with before we could leave the planet. “I had no idea.”

“If it appeases you a little, they appreciate how much you fight the life-debt. They understand you would have done it for any other hatchling without care for a reward. And we heard you didn’t even bother checking your compensation for pulling your husband out of the fire.”

I snorted and pointed at Delta. “He is my compensation. The tokens were paid out in advance to cover his feeding bill.”

My husband laughed. “I can live with that. I have a present for you. As it seems the zealous Veloc have given us a break, shall we go see your present? It’s a short trip, but we’ll have a hover to get us there. We cannot risk your dress. That dress is a work of art, and we aren’t allowed to destroy it until this evening. Then it’s to be reduced to scraps. I’m not sure why, but when a Veloc tells me I have to shred your dress getting you out of it, I’m not going to argue.”

I pointed at Mystoran’s capped claws. “I’m guessing the Veloc wear dresses or some form of covering for their weddings, and they delight in shredding them while freeing their brides.”

“It’s a good guess. It’s also true,” Mystoran confirmed.

Well, I wouldn’t miss the dress, and there would be plenty of pictures of me in it if I wanted to revisit the past. “Let’s go see this present. Your present is forgiveness for trashing my life support system to make certain I wouldn’t flee the planet before the wedding.”

“That’s a pretty good present,” he admitted, getting to his feet and holding his hand out to me. “I’m just glad I didn’t damage the crystals. I’m not sure why you’re wearing your life support crystals, but I figure you’re not going to lose them that way.”

“One of the Veloc saw me with them and stole them, promising I’d have them back later. Maybe they thought they were one of the bazillion shiftgem crystals I now own? I’m going to need a nest on two planets to hold my entire collection.”

“That you will. Now, close your eyes. I’ll guide you, but I really want this to be a surprise.”

As he hadn’t asked much of me beyond forgiveness for breaking my life support system, I went along with his request and closed my eyes. “I’ll miss you if you ruin my dress and get eaten by angry Veloc.”

Mystoran hooted his amusement. “Just this once, I’ll protect him.”

* * *

“Okay. You can open your eyes.”

I obeyed, and the visitor landport of Veloci Minor surrounded us. “I see we have traveled quite a far distance of perhaps a kilometer to reach our destination.”

“There was no way in hell I was asking you to walk that far in those shoes.”

“And just like that, you reminded me why I decided it was a good idea to marry you. So deliciously practical.”

Delta laughed, and he pointed at a nearby flight pad with a mid-ranged, long-distance interceptor with an extended body, likely a cargo bay. “I took your advice and challenged the Veloc clans to design the perfect spaceship for your needs. Now is the time where I will confess I was under strict orders by several Veloc that I would damage your life support system so they could replace it and add some special modifications to your ship.”

Okay. In his shoes, I would have broken my life support system, too. “I still forgive you.” I blinked at the ship, which was twice the size of mine. “You got me an entire ship?”

“Honestly, the Veloc are giving you the ship. I’m just claiming credit. I fed them intel every time we browsed the newest toys on the market. Breaking the life support system meant they could overhaul it while I kept you busy with the wedding. I do have some bad news for you, though.”

There was bad news? They’d gotten me an entire new ship. I spluttered and pointed and the sleek beauty begging me to put her through her paces. “How can anything about this be bad?”

“Your life support system, your communication system, your engine, and your spare engine were overhauled. The overhaul is in pieces in your original ship, which is parked on the other side of your new ship. If you want to whisk me away to explore space, you’re going to have to put it all back together again. Oh, and the bunks in your ship were completely redesigned, as I refuse to sleep on some tiny cot when I could have luxury accommodations with my wife.”

Ah. I understood. Someone had given himself a wedding present. “I suppose I’ll survive through the horribly tedious process of helping my husband put my spaceship together. One of us is going to like this more than the other.”

“I’m the one who is going to like this more than the other.”

“Like hell you are!” I shot him a glare and planted my hands on my hips. “That’s my ship, Delta. Mine.”

His smile caught me off guard, and I blinked at him. He reached over and pressed his finger to my lips to keep me quiet. I cooperated, as I’d learned he had something truly important to say if he went to such lengths.

“I love everything about you. You shine when you’re working with your ship, and you glow when you’re gliding through the stars. No matter where we go or what we do, I know you will find happiness in those little things needed to keep a spaceship floating safely through space. That’s your ship, but you’re my future, and nothing brings me more joy than wondering where you’ll take us next. Where you go, I will follow, until death do we part.”

I kissed his finger. “Until death do we part, then.”