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TESSA AWOKE WITH A start. Still disoriented when she woke up in the mornings, it was taking less and less time to remember where she was each day—
No longer on the desert planet. In her quarters on the Korthan galaxy-ship. Body no longer in pain. Belly full.
The next thing on her mind was Squeak. Feeling beneath the covers, she finally located him, gently tugging his tail.
There were no answering playful swipes. Tessa’s brow furrowed. That was weird. Pulling the covers back so she could see him, Tessa’s heart stopped.
The little creature was limp, eyes rolled back in his head. Several of his scales lay on the bed next to him. Oh no—
What happened? Was it the food?
Tessa’s eyes darted to the empty food container next to the bed. As soon as L’Den left the room the night before, she devoured the nutrition cube. But she felt just fine, more than fine.
Having finally figured out where the clothes were, she jumped from the bed, throwing on a one-piece that kept her nice and warm, still unused to the cooler climate of the ship.
Placing Squeak’s limp form in her bag, she searched for the silver gemkey. She wasn’t sure if she could get out of this apartment without it. Where did it get off to this time? Checking the shower, every surface in the rooms, even the floor, she couldn’t find it anywhere.
The gold one L’Den gave her shined from a shelf above the bed. Right, the silver gemkey probably wouldn’t have allowed access to the doctor anyway, but would the gold one work to get out of her apartment?
Rushing out the door, she was pleased to find that the gold gemkey unlocked every access point up to the promenade. When she got lost, she touched it to the wall and a map appeared, showing her the way.
Outside the hospital door, she touched the gemkey to the panel and the door whooshed open. Thanking the stars there were no patients in sight, Tessa made a beeline straight to the doctor, who stood next to an open wall-panel, datapad in hand.
“Doctor, I have an emergency,” Tessa said, short of breath.
A’yla quickly put down the datapad, picking up a scanner wand, swiping it around her body from head to toe.
“Everything appears to be in working order,” she said. “Tell me where it hurts.”
“Not me,” Tessa said, placing her bag on an exam table, scooping Squeak out, several of his scales falling to the floor.
The Korthan doctor jumped back with a scream. “That is a molk!”
“A what?” Tessa said. “This is Squeak. Can you help him?”
“Help him? Those things carry diseases. We have to exterminate it.”
Tessa grabbed Squeak from the exam table, hugging him to her shoulder protectively. “I brought him here for you to help him, not kill him.”
The doctor’s mouth literally dropped open. “Are you keeping it as a pet? It’s vermin.”
“Squeak is not vermin,” Tessa said, indignant. It was a mistake bringing him here. “Can you help him or not?”
“First of all, where did you find it?” A’yla said. “An infestation requires a ship-wide alert.”
“I am alive because of this little guy—”
“So, you got him from the surface of the planet? That explains the scales. Are there any others?” The doctor was demanding.
“Yes, he came from the desert. He’s been with us for just about two years. What do you mean ‘explains the scales?’ Do you know why they are falling off?” Tessa just wanted someone to make Squeak better.
“Molks are a highly adaptable species. That’s why they are so insidious.” The doctor couldn’t have sounded more disgusted, lip curled to match her tone. “It’s molting. There’s nothing wrong with it.”
Molting?
“Are there any others? I have to know.” Was the doctor serious about activating a ship-wide alert?
“I’ve never seen any others,” Tessa said.
The initial reason they didn’t eat the creature was because he was bringing in the giant edible spiders. No one wanted to eat the provider of their main food supply. They never saw another one. Was it possible he was just as stranded on the planet as they were?
“Oh, they’re out there.” A’yla visibly relaxed. “As long as they’re not in here, everything is fine.”
Tessa’s stomach felt queasy as she watched Squeak’s eyes roll around.
“Are you sure nothing’s wrong with him?” she said.
The doctor pursed her lips, looking at Tessa and then Squeak. Giving a relenting sigh, she scanned the little creature.
“He might not be feeling very well, but nothing is wrong with him,” A’yla said. “He’s just shedding his scales to make way for his fur to thicken in this colder environment. They are adaptable to any environment and can eat just about anything. They live on most Korthan planets.”
The doctor paused, looking over the scans. “And he’s disease free, so you can probably hold onto him for a while.”
“Of course, he’s disease-free.” Tessa’s little Squeak was not vermin. And woe unto any being that tried to take him from her.
***
TESSA ENJOYED WALKING around the promenade. What struck her the most about it was how ordinary it was. Korthans walked past her in both directions, minding to their own tasks without so much as a glance in her direction anymore. They had become used to her presence, some even nodding their heads at her in quiet acknowledgment. No one seemed concerned there was a human amongst them and she found she was no longer concerned she was among Korthans.
Hearing giggling and shushing behind her, Tessa turned to see three small Korthans scatter, ducking behind several supply containers on either side of the hallway. She blinked. Were there children on board this ship?
A small face appeared from behind one of the containers, quickly disappearing after making eye contact with her.
Approaching the crates, another face peeked out at her. Then a small child, no more than six human years old, stepped out from behind one of the boxes. She was holding something furry, curled up in a tight ball of white fuzziness.
“Is it true that humans eat mogha?” the child said.
First, Tessa was amazed this child was speaking Standard. Second, what kind of a question was that? “No, we don’t eat Hell—moghas.”
“C’yna doesn’t believe you.” The child hugged the ball of fur.
“And who is C’yna?” Tessa suspected she already knew.
The child gathered the furball between her tiny hands and held it up, unfurling to reveal what had to be a very young mogha. Tessa resisted the urge to pet the adorable pup.
Kneeling to be on the same level as the child, she smiled. “And how do you know C’yna doesn’t believe me?”
“Because she told me.” The child buried her face in the mogha’s fur before hugging it against her chest.
Tessa did a double take. She thought the child was ascribing her own feelings to the mogha. This was something different—
“She speaks to you?” Tessa watched as the mogha’s long antennae caressed the child’s face.
“Yup,” the little girl said. “She’s talking to me now.”
Tessa paused to listen. “I don’t hear her.”
“That’s because she’s my companion, not yours.” The child’s tone suggested Tessa should already know that.
Could A’rch speak with L’Den? They were always together. Perhaps they were ‘companions’ as well.
“Is it true that humans burn entire worlds?” the child said next.
Burn worlds? Tessa wondered if the child was referring to the terraforming process. “We change the environments of uninhabitable worlds so we can live there.”
“But the mogha world was inhabited,” one of the other children, the oldest, said. Did all Korthan children know Standard?
And what was she talking about, the mogha world? The child was mistaken.
“C’yna says you ate the moghas before you burned their world,” the first little girl said.
Tessa didn’t like where this conversation was going. “Humans don’t eat moghas,” she assured.
A squeak sounded from her bag, followed by movement.
The mogha pup wriggled around until the Korthan child let her go. Sniffing the air, the puppy cautiously approached her bag.
“What do you have in your bag?” the child asked.
Thank you, Squeak, she thought to herself with a smile, happy for the subject change.
“That’s just Squeak,” she said. “Would you like to meet him?”
All three children gathered closer, faces eager.
“Yes, I want to meet him,” the talkative child said.
“Me too,” another said.
Reaching into her bag, Tessa pulled the little creature out. All his scales were now gone, soft tan fur in their place. He was adorable in his cold climate adaptive form.
The eldest child screeched “Molk” while the other two ran away, the little girl yelling, “Run!”
The little mogha pup stood her ground, growling as menacingly as possible. Squeak let out a series of squeals and chirps and the puppy’s antennae flew back against her body as she ran away, yelping.
Tessa looked the harmless little creature over. What was it about molks and Korthans?
“You should probably put that away before someone else sees it.” Tessa recognized the doctor’s voice and stood up.
“I thought the kids would like him.”
“Nobody likes a molk,” A’yla said. “And where is your escort? You’re lucky the parents of those children didn’t see you talking to them.”
“L’Den gave me a gold gemkey.”
A’yla blinked, then slowly nodded her head. “He has an affinity for humans. He was educated by them.” The doctor looked her straight in the eyes. “Before the war. But giving you a gemkey? He’s staking his reputation on you.”
It was Tessa’s turn to blink. She didn’t hear anything past ‘L’Den was educated by humans.’