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“Come on, kid.” Dr. Klein patted Hope on the shoulder. “You’ve earned a trip like this. Not many people are lucky enough to go to Nova Aurora. Some spend their whole life on this planet and never get the chance to travel the universe at all.”
“Exactly! Oh, I’m so glad you can see my point,” Gerri replied enthusiastically. “Hope is an extremely talented veterinary technician, I can tell. She’s exactly what my client needs.”
Hope wrinkled her nose, recognizing Gerri’s underlying intent with that comment.
“How long would she be out?” Dr. Klein asked.
“A few weeks, maybe. I’ll let you know the full details later. What’s important is that we get Hope to Nova Aurora as soon as possible. As I said, Doc, there are a lot of cows that are going to die without her help.”
“I can’t leave!” Hope exclaimed. “Dr. Klein, we don’t have a lot of workers right now. What are you going to do while I’m gone? There’s no way you’ll be able to handle everything on your own.”
“It sounds like they’re having an emergency on that planet. Theyneedyou, and I’d be a fool to deny them the chance of saving their livestock.”
“So it’s settled then?” Gerri placed her chin on her hand, smiling. Her eyebrows wiggled. “She’s going?”
“Hope has saved up quite a bit of her paid time off. I’m sure this will cover her trip in its entirety.”
Just like that, Hope lost her appetite.
“Perfect. We’ll be traveling tomorrow.”
“But …” Hope started, but she soon hesitated.
The woman seemed earnest, but Hope still wasn’t entirely on board with the idea of matchmaking. She didn’t need anyone. She was quite content with her life. Romance seemed a distant, abstract concept for her, anyway. That was why she consumed herself with her work; it was an attempt to rid her mind of the silly fantasies that she would one day find the love of her life.
Was this finally her chance?
Swallowing hard, Hope nodded. “All right, then. What do I have to pack?”
“Don’t worry about all that. You’ll have everything you need when you get to Nova Aurora.” Gerri slipped her a business card with a number scribbled on the back. “Call me tomorrow so I can come to get you. I promise that you won’t regret this.”
Staring down at the card, Hope already felt as if she was.
TWO
DEIMOS
That morning, he lost another cow. Everyone told him how silly it was to get attached to these animals, but Deimos couldn’t help it. They werehis.
He cared for them, and for many years, they thrived on Nova Aurora without issue. It was only recently that they started falling ill and dying off at an unprecedented rate. Tears prickled his eyes as he thought about the possibility of losing all of his livestock.
What was the rest of his dragon clutch going to say if he failed at this endeavor? How would he be seen as a trustworthy and able leader if he couldn’t take care ofcows?
If he couldn’t save cows, how was he going to save his own clan?
Every single Nova Auroran veterinarian, from far and wide, studied his cows, but none of them figured out why they were dying off. They shot him confused looks and helpless shrugs, doing nothing to dispel the panic in his heart.
None of the cows’ routines changed, not to his knowledge. None of it made sense, and if he had to hear from yet another veterinarian that there was nothing they could do, he was willing to punch a few holes in some walls.
“Deimos Uannsvo.” A large hand clapped him on the shoulder. He recognized that gruff voice from anywhere. “Are you wasting your morning looking at those creatures again?”
“You know that they’re important to me, Thyone,” Deimos replied, sending him a pointed look. “And don’t disregard them as simple creatures. They’recows. And they’re quite intelligent.”
“Yeah.” Qev, another one of his friends, crossed his arms over his chest. “I can most certainly see the advanced cognitive abilities of those things. Munching grass all day and making the strangest noises I’ve ever heard.”
“Why have you two come?” Deimos snapped. He leaned on the fence, never taking his eyes off of his cows that grazed in the distance. “To make fun of me? To get on my last few nerves?”
“Easy.” Thyone was his military general. More often than not, he was an endearing thorn at his side too. “We’re checking up on you. It’s not normal to spend most of your days in the field when you could be doing other, more productive things.”
