Page 41 of Life-Debt

My eyes widened. “Carthello escorted you here personally?”

“He said he was on his way to his new spaceport and wanted to make sure you, the hopeless female that you are, had at least some chance of securing a male who might be trained to enjoy going into space as much as you do. I’m at the stage where I am coming to terms with spending most of my time in space rather than safely on a planet where my father can yell at me for skipping out on meetings.”

Delta’s father sighed. “We’d already discussed this, boy. The planet needs representatives who are actually willing to go off without bribes, threats, and extensive amounts of cajoling involved. We sent you to get the shiftgem crystals because I caught you sneaking around the landport trying to get a closer look at the ships. You can go adventure in space as long as you do so safely. Anyway, you have brothers. If you get lost—again, mind you—I’ll just sacrifice one of them to the planetary council.”

“Ouch, Dad. I’m hurt.”

According to Klearno’s snort, he didn’t believe his son to be capable of being hurt by something as minor as parental displays of displeasure. “No, you’re going to be hurt when the Andromedan delegation arrives, as I informed them one of their pristine homo sapiens adventuring women had been adopted by a Veloc clan and was being courted by my son.”

Miracle of a Lost Crimson Star cooed her amusement and settled in on my lap to take a nap with her best friend, who’d dosed off at least an hour ago. “Are you courting me, Delta?”

“Apparently?”

“Is this what romancing is, then? We get to sit around, be fed delicacies by a bunch of bickering feathered murder machines, and listen to your dad lament about his latest life issues?”

Delta narrowed his eyes. “If this is romancing, it’s not bad. I prefer learning how to take your engine apart and put it back together again, honestly. That was a challenge. This is enjoyable, but it’s not at all challenging.”

“We’re being spoiled,” I informed him. “There is plenty of time to take engines apart and put them back together. We have to take the spoiling very seriously, as there’s little room for such luxuries in space.” I thought about my new collection of storage containers. “Well, before Mystoran’s clan and Carthello got a hold of my cargo bay, there wasn’t a lot of room for luxuries in space, but they spoiled me. Maybe I should give you the kit so you can have a vulpes vulpes of your own. Then Pandora can own you and your kit. And me. And everything she sees.” I pointed in the general direction of the latest group of Veloc to have claimed responsibility for my foxes. In reality, my foxes had taken over yet another clan with their furry charms. “They’re going to learn a lot of bad habits, but we’ll have time in space to teach them how not to destroy everything. And they’re smart. They train quickly. We’ll have to get the kit his own nest, though. The nest is important for his safety during takeoffs and landings—or when things get sketchy on the ship. And before we can leave, we need to get his adult spacesuit made and several suits for while he’s growing. We’ll also have the cage Carthello gave me for emergencies, although we’ll be stocking a few of those for odd rescues.”

“Is romancing spoiling, then?”

I considered his question. “I don’t know. If I spoil you and you spoil me, is that romancing?”

Delta’s father heaved a sigh. “Veloc tend to view romancing like that, with the general expectation that after the first stage of romancing is complete, the pair will become a permanent couple. Then the nature of the romancing changes, in that they’ll still spoil each other, but they’re spoiling each other with additional benefits. Those benefits can result in infants of the appropriate species. You two are currently serving as the bed of the product of various successful romancing attempts. While I can’t speak for Viva’s parents due to their status as generational ship inhabitants, you are the first product of a successful romancing attempt. Your mother made me spend two years romancing her before she took pity on me. I had to recruit help from the clan for tips and tricks on how to stop screwing everything up. It didn’t work to plan, but your mother took pity on me after a while. She thought it was sweet I’d put in the effort and tried.”

“It’s good to know where I got my inability to handle romance from. Thanks, Dad.”

“You’re welcome.”

As I wanted to hear more about the man’s failed romancing attempts, I hooted and whistled for Mystoran, who trilled a call back and loped over from one of the numerous groups of bickering Veloc. “Hey. How bad was Delta’s dad at dating his mother?”

“They dated?” the Veloc replied in a disgusted tone. “It was shameful. A shame on our clan, a scourge upon his family! Only luck saved him from losing. Delta’s mother? A patient soul. So patient. Please do us all the honor and favor of sparing us from such nonsense. As we heard the disheartening questions for clarification, allow me to illuminate you. Romancing is whatever you want it to be. If you wish to build engines together and use this to cement your family, then build engines. Explore space. Enjoy the spoiling as you can. The point is to build a family together, not to adhere to the standards of any one other couple. Delta is not his father, and we thank the stars that you are not his mother. You are cut from an entirely different cloth than these weak little Deltans who just learned there are wonders to behold among the stars.”

“Says the Veloc, from a species notoriously bad at adapting to space travel,” I replied.

“Ah, we may be bad at it, but we understand the worth of such adventures—and we go as needed. The Cremora Deltans? Oh, they have far to go. You should teach them. Then you can fly often and do what you do best, rescuing novice space travelers from themselves and disaster.”

Damn. The Veloc had me dead to rights. “But will they whine when I take him with me?”

“Only if you don’t bring him back at agreed upon intervals. They will annoy you from time to time, but you will accept the price you must pay to keep both of your clans from whining severely or attempting to follow you.”

I foresaw a great deal of trouble and stowaway hatchlings hungering for exploration. I would need to keep spacesuits suitable for Velocs—and get at least two chairs compatible with both species. “How often do you need to return to your home world?”

“Once every five or six years should suffice,” he replied.

Delta’s father cleared his throat.

“I don’t think he agrees with you. Five or six years does give ample time for exploration, but my ship doesn’t stock that long in supplies. You can get across most of space, with the assistance of the gates, in six to eight months. Perhaps you should tentatively offer every six months for a period of two months. There’s something to be said about being on a planet for a while. But after two months, you’ll long for a good outing.”

“Okay. Six months with two month visitations before I leave again, Dad.”

“That’s a little more reasonable. Why don’t we try for three times a year with one of those visits being during one of our major holidays?”

It amused me that Delta’s father had already come to terms with his son going out into space. I would need to come to terms with Delta wanting to venture out into space with me. Then, I realized I had a major problem on my hands. I stared at Mystoran with wide eyes. “I think I’m going to need a bigger ship.”

“Or an interior overhaul,” the Veloc agreed. “I’m sure we can come up with something. Little Cousin, might I make a suggestion?”

“Sure.”