see. How about that, we'll see. If they
become more trouble than they are worth...”
“Out an airlock?”
He looked up sharply. He wasn't that cruel! He shook his head.
“No, stasis, I'll give them to a loving home on some unsuspecting planet. Until
then, prep a stasis pod will you Phoenix?” he said looking up to the overhead
sensor array. “We'll pop them in after the Io crew leaves so I can go ground
side.”
“Understood admiral. You have a ground side appointment in four
hours,” the ship AI reminded him.
Irons winced. It was going to take an hour to get down and then
another hour or so just to get through the usual red tape of customs. Hazard
seemed too have way too much of that, and of course the paper work was
accompanied by the usual graft in the flavor of duties and import fees. He
hated that, he was fairly certain the government didn't see a dime of that. The
port certainly didn't, it was barely maintained. “Then we better hustle if
we're going to make delivery on time.” There was no telling what variable might
crop up to slow things down. Weather, a slow down at the port... anything. He
wanted to appear professional by being punctual and ship shape in a military
manner.
...*...*...*...*...
He didn't anticipate feeling like a heel when he put the little
beggars in stasis. It felt like a betrayal when they mewed so piteously. He
closed his eyes for a moment, leaning on his hand as the stasis chamber
stabilized and then he sighed softly when his implants told him that it had.
Even then his eyes still locked on the LCD readouts to make sure.
“Not as easy as you thought?” Sprite asked softly.
“No, it never is,” he admitted. The cats were going to hate that,
and they would associate him with this or the pod with something bad. It wasn't
good for their long term relationship. He'd have to figure something out later.
“Like being a parent all over again,” Sprite replied with just the
right hint of amusement. “From what I understand of what Io told Phoenix and I
they picked up a few Neocats as crew and passengers in their travels. I guess
one of them didn't like the idea of keeping cats and coonies as pets.”
“Really?” the admiral asked, climbing into the shuttle. “I'm not
sure why.”
“Would you mind if some cat had a monkey as a pet?”
“No, the monkey isn't sentient and only distantly related to my
species,” he replied affably. She snorted over the link. “But in the interest
of cutting this conversation short I'll say I understand it intellectually.
They equated the pet animals with themselves and didn't like the comparison.
Too bad for them it's like apples and oranges.”
“I'll remember that,” Sprite chuckled as he sat in the pilot chair
and sent the first of a series of mental commands through his link to start the
preflight checklist.
...*...*...*...*...
“Admiral, don't forget your party favors,” Sprite said after he
landed. Irons blinked at her image in confusion. She snorted. “The memory
chips,” she said helpfully.
“Oh yes,” he said nodding. He turned, looking for the crate of
flash sticks he had replicated. He'd taken to bringing along the flash sticks,
really micro computers with one hundred petabytes of digital storage. They
didn't have a display method but had the ability to wirelessly connect to each
other or to pieces of equipment. It was Sprite's hope that by handing them out
he'd set up a rudimentary net for her to use. It wasn't much but it was
something.
Also, each time he handed out a chip he was handing over a piece
of technology, making those with it slightly indebted to him and hopefully more
amiable to reasoning with, hopefully anyway.
Each stick had four ports, one could serve as a power supply while
the other three could plug into various devices like wireless keyboards or a
flat screen or holographic projector. It was a taste of the past most people he
encountered wouldn't understand but many wanted badly anyway.
Back in the
become more trouble than they are worth...”
“Out an airlock?”
He looked up sharply. He wasn't that cruel! He shook his head.
“No, stasis, I'll give them to a loving home on some unsuspecting planet. Until
then, prep a stasis pod will you Phoenix?” he said looking up to the overhead
sensor array. “We'll pop them in after the Io crew leaves so I can go ground
side.”
“Understood admiral. You have a ground side appointment in four
hours,” the ship AI reminded him.
Irons winced. It was going to take an hour to get down and then
another hour or so just to get through the usual red tape of customs. Hazard
seemed too have way too much of that, and of course the paper work was
accompanied by the usual graft in the flavor of duties and import fees. He
hated that, he was fairly certain the government didn't see a dime of that. The
port certainly didn't, it was barely maintained. “Then we better hustle if
we're going to make delivery on time.” There was no telling what variable might
crop up to slow things down. Weather, a slow down at the port... anything. He
wanted to appear professional by being punctual and ship shape in a military
manner.
...*...*...*...*...
He didn't anticipate feeling like a heel when he put the little
beggars in stasis. It felt like a betrayal when they mewed so piteously. He
closed his eyes for a moment, leaning on his hand as the stasis chamber
stabilized and then he sighed softly when his implants told him that it had.
Even then his eyes still locked on the LCD readouts to make sure.
“Not as easy as you thought?” Sprite asked softly.
“No, it never is,” he admitted. The cats were going to hate that,
and they would associate him with this or the pod with something bad. It wasn't
good for their long term relationship. He'd have to figure something out later.
“Like being a parent all over again,” Sprite replied with just the
right hint of amusement. “From what I understand of what Io told Phoenix and I
they picked up a few Neocats as crew and passengers in their travels. I guess
one of them didn't like the idea of keeping cats and coonies as pets.”
“Really?” the admiral asked, climbing into the shuttle. “I'm not
sure why.”
“Would you mind if some cat had a monkey as a pet?”
“No, the monkey isn't sentient and only distantly related to my
species,” he replied affably. She snorted over the link. “But in the interest
of cutting this conversation short I'll say I understand it intellectually.
They equated the pet animals with themselves and didn't like the comparison.
Too bad for them it's like apples and oranges.”
“I'll remember that,” Sprite chuckled as he sat in the pilot chair
and sent the first of a series of mental commands through his link to start the
preflight checklist.
...*...*...*...*...
“Admiral, don't forget your party favors,” Sprite said after he
landed. Irons blinked at her image in confusion. She snorted. “The memory
chips,” she said helpfully.
“Oh yes,” he said nodding. He turned, looking for the crate of
flash sticks he had replicated. He'd taken to bringing along the flash sticks,
really micro computers with one hundred petabytes of digital storage. They
didn't have a display method but had the ability to wirelessly connect to each
other or to pieces of equipment. It was Sprite's hope that by handing them out
he'd set up a rudimentary net for her to use. It wasn't much but it was
something.
Also, each time he handed out a chip he was handing over a piece
of technology, making those with it slightly indebted to him and hopefully more
amiable to reasoning with, hopefully anyway.
Each stick had four ports, one could serve as a power supply while
the other three could plug into various devices like wireless keyboards or a
flat screen or holographic projector. It was a taste of the past most people he
encountered wouldn't understand but many wanted badly anyway.
Back in the
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