Ouloo waggled her neck vigorously. Roveg stayed with her, his many legs holding tight.
‘All right,’ Dr Miriyam said, exhaling. ‘Starting neural stimulation in three … two … one.’
The doctor had been right: Tupo started twitching, and the sight was indeed upsetting. The kid looked like a glitching bot, or something out of a horror vid. There was no life in the movements, no intention or purpose. Pei had so rarely seen Tupo holding still, but this wasn’t the youngster who couldn’t keep xyr paws on the ground for ten seconds. This wasn’t a goofy kid who’d had too much sugar. This was a monster, a puppet, a science experiment gone wrong.
‘Oh, I can’t,’ Ouloo gasped. She remained standing where she was, but whipped her neck around so she could bury her face against Roveg’s shell. ‘I thought I could, but I can’t.’
‘It’s all right,’ Dr Miriyam said, her eyes moving back and forth between patient and scanner screen. ‘I know it’s hard, but Tupo’s doing great. Just a few more minutes.’
Roveg angled his head up toward the ceiling so he didn’t have to look, either. Pei found herself glancing aside as well. She’d seen some real shit, but there was something about this that got right under her scales. But as she turned her gaze from the med bed, she noticed Speaker. The Akarak looked uncomfortable, but she hadn’t turned away. She watched the grim procedure with intensity, her beak moving with muttered words too soft for Pei’s implant to pick up.
What her implant did catch was the sudden, drowning gasp that ripped itself from Tupo’s throat. The kid’s eyes shot open, and xyr whole body bucked.
Dr Miriyam grabbed Tupo’s arms, keeping xyr from falling off the table. ‘Get xyr head,’ Dr Miriyam ordered Pei.
Pei did as she was told, taking Tupo’s head firmly between her hands. This, she’d done before – not with a head this fuzzy or a neck this long, but still.
Tupo stopped thrashing almost as soon as xe’d started, and xyr eyes darted wildly around the unfamiliar space. ‘What—’ xe croaked. The question was left unfinished. Alien as xyr face was, the panicked, urgent expression that flooded it could be understood by anyone who possessed a stomach.
Under the circumstances, Pei wouldn’t have minded cleaning the floor, but all the same, she was glad they had a bucket.
Tupo flopped back against the med bed once xe’d finished, panting shakily. The rest of the room held their breath. Finally, the kid quieted, licked the edges of xyr mouth, and with effort, craned xyr head up.
‘Mom?’ xe called in a trembling voice.
Ouloo let out a long, cooing wail. Roveg let go of her, and in a split second, she was up on the bed with Tupo, wrapping all her long limbs around her child and babbling in Piloom.
‘That’s—’ Dr Miriyam started to object to the ferocious hug, but she paused, looked at her scanner, and leaned back. ‘Yeah, that’s fine.’ She smiled to herself with a nod.
Pei put her hand on the doctor’s shoulder. ‘Pretty good first time,’ she said.
Dr Miriyam gave a soft laugh. ‘Yeah,’ she said. ‘Pretty good.’
‘Thank you,’ Speaker said. She nodded her head with respect, Human style.
Roveg exhaled noisily through his spiracles. ‘Stars and fire,’ he said. ‘Oh, fuck, that was a lot, wasn’t it? If you all don’t mind, I’m going to get some air.’ He exited the room, making relieved, weary sounds.
On the bed, Ouloo nuzzled Tupo as though the universe would end if she didn’t. Tupo looked drained and confused, but as the seconds went on, a look of concern filled xyr face, as though crucial pieces of what was happening were falling into place. ‘Mom?’ xe said slowly.
‘Yes, Tupo?’ Ouloo asked, switching into Klip.
Tupo chewed on xyr lips. ‘Don’t be mad, but I think … I think I did something really stupid.’
Ouloo exploded in laughter. ‘Oh, you did, baby,’ she cackled. ‘You certainly did.’ She rubbed her forehead against Tupo’s. ‘But I’m not mad. I’m not mad at all.’
Day 240, GC Standard 307
ALL CLEAR
Received message
Encryption: 0
From: GC Transit Authority – Gora System (path: 487-45411-479-4)
To: Ooli Oht Ouloo (path: 5787-598-66)
Subject: URGENT UPDATE
This is an urgent message from the Emergency Response Team aboard the GC Transit Authority Regional Management Orbiter (Gora System). Though the temporary communications satellite fleet is currently in operation, standard ansible and Linking channels are still unavailable. We will continue to communicate via the emergency beacon network until all communications are restored. Please continue to leave your scribs locked to this channel.
PLEASE READ THIS MESSAGE IN FULL.
We are pleased to inform you that we have restored safe launch and landing conditions above Gora’s settled regions. While the clean-up efforts will continue for several days, the airspace above all Neighbourhoods (North and South) now meets our requirements for normal space traffic.
We will be contacting each ship owner to assign you a new launch time and slot in the tunnel queue based on your current travel plans. As all vessels on Gora’s surface cannot launch at once, we will be rolling out launch times in stages. Provided that all ship owners follow these temporary procedures accordingly, we are confident that we can have everyone back in transit by the end of the day (240/307).
Thank you for your patience and cooperation.
EVERYONE
Roveg didn’t know how it was possible for his ship to have fallen into such disarray in only five days, but he’d certainly managed it. He bustled about his projection room, picking up empty cups and pillows and sim gear with each of his thoracic legs. He usually kept his belongings organised, but he lacked the mind for it in that moment. Everything he collected was shoved unceremoniously into a cupboard and strapped securely for take-off, with no regard for what was being stored with what. He could sort it all out once
