me what I did
wrong, I can learn from it.”
“ I downloaded the
information to my tablet. Turn yours on and I’ll flash a copy to
you.”
In just a few seconds she was smiling. “I’ll
go through it later.” She said, putting the crystal back in her
skintight pocket.
Doors opened to the fight deck where the
lovely Rose had her forelegs up against the inner wall of the large
cargo hold of Renee’s shuttle, using her long neck to carefully
bite and pull something off the top shelf. Rose was a four winged
Drake like her mate Sparky, but was barely eight meters long
compared to her ten meter lover. Her scales were a rosy pink and
she was clearly softer of feature than the rugged male. “Need some
help?” Oliver immediately called as she pushed off the wooden,
single mast sailboat with wings.
As with all Drakes, they
communicated with telepathy since their vocal cords were unable to
vocalize words, nor were their mouths and tongues designed for more
than shredding prey. Her voice was sweet and dainty. “Greetings, Oliver, but I’m well enough to do this
task.” In her teeth was a metallic box she
spat out between her talon tipped hands. They didn’t have human
hand dexterity, but they managed well enough. She undid a latch and
lifted it to pull out a clear capsule of some kind, filled with
some sort of liquid and popped it between her teeth, made a loud
crunch to let the liquid gush and flow down her long, supple neck.
She spat out the now empty capsule on the ground with puncture
marks and closed the lid before replacing it back on the shelf of
inside the cargo hold. With just her lips she lifted the spat piece
and dropped it down into the recycling tube to be broken down and
reused for another purpose.
The two came over, him asking “What was that
you just took?”
“ A respiratory coating.
Havannah’s nitrogen levels are too high for my kind without it. It
still needs another six to nine decades before the terraformers
stabilize the atmosphere for my people. Your kind will have no
issue, but I do not want to wear a filtration mask. If Havannah had
higher oxygen concentration I would not need the
coating.”
“ Okay then. Where is
everyone else a…”
“ Hey, Toothless! Good
morning.” Cheerfully called Steven coming through a door rather
than exit off the elevator. Visor loyally perched on his left
shoulder.
Self-conscious about it, Oliver licked his
gums that had yet to even show signs of new tooth growth. He missed
having front teeth, but would endure till they grew back in. Till
then he’d suffer the taunts. “Hey there, Steven. Visor, you
mind?”
“ Not at all.” If the eagle
could smirk, he would have as he turned and sharply pecked Steven
right in the crown of his head.
“ Ow! What the hell,
Featherbrain!” Steven’s probing of the area came back with crimson
droplets on the gauntlet fingertips.
“ Stop being such an ass.
Oliver is my friend as well. How would you feel if you lost all
your teeth and sounded like you have a bit of a lisp?”
“ I know my mates wouldn’t
complain if I dined below the equator to be gummed to bliss.” His
chuckle turned to a “YEOWW!” as a bolt of lightning zapped
precisely in the crack of his armored ass to turn around to find
Renee and Sparky getting off the elevator, both looking rather
smug.
“ It is rude to upset my
companion’s mate, Steven. She does not take kindly to it,
especially if spoken right in front of her.” Sparky hissed and hummed, a Drake’s version of a
chuckle.
“ Why can’t people take a
joke.”
“ Oh, I can take a joke. Just
don’t make fun of Olly’s teeth being missing or I’m liable to bite
you in his place. So this is your last warning, pick something else
to run with. Oliver’s teeth are like Sparky and Opera. Don’t
mention it if you don’t want to be in traction for the foreseeable
future.” Renee warned lightly and came across the floor. “Good
morning, Auntie. Looking good.”
“ Do you have to
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