Page 27 of Devin
“It loves you, though,” Val assured him.
“We can’t keep it.”
“Of course we can’t keep Nivy. I mean, we don’t even know what he eats, besides you of course.”
“If we can subdue the mother without injuring her, I think we should be able to return it and see what we can do about repairing the craft.” He paused and wrinkled his nose. “Nivy?”
“I had to call it something.” Val left off the part that she’d named him that because it was Devin spelled backward, exceptNived was too weird for such a little fluffball, so she’d shortened it already.
“It is not a pet,” he reminded her.
“I know that.”
Devin gently lifted Nivy off of his lap and placed it on the bench. The fluffball took that as a sign that it was time to wake up and started exploring the cabin, tumbleweed style. Each of its little feet had two or three cat-like claws that allowed it to climb on most surfaces.
Devin stood up and began reassembling the ship panels and putting everything efficiently back into place. He left out the tools and the rations, but packed everything back neatly in its place. Val just tried to stay out of the way. The place was claustrophobic enough without her trying to meddle and help.
“So, did we blow a fuse or something?” Val said when he finished. Electrical issues were somehow always tied to a fuse.
“Mahdfel technology is a lot more complicated than that, but I’ll have to check the outside panels before I know for sure what’s wrong.”
“Last time you went out, it didn’t go so well for you,” she reminded him.
“This time I’ll be prepared. It’s also possible that my body will have built up an immunity to that particular toxin and it will not affect me as much.”
“That’s pretty cool but be careful.”
Devin nodded and pointed toward the copilot chair. “Just in case, I want you as far away from the door as possible.”
“Okay.”
She watched as he slowly cranked the door down, trying to make the least noise possible. Unfortunately, Nivy got a little excited when he saw the crack of freedom and scrambled for the corner. Val wanted to catch him, but realized it was better if he was reunited with his mother.
After he cranked the ramp about a foot and a half open, Devin gracefully swung up and out. A breeze flew in and Val breathed deeply. She hadn’t realized how stuffy it had really become. Val suddenly realized they probably would have run out of air long before they ran out of food. There must have been some backup system cleaning the air, but it didn’t quite do the job of the main.
All was quiet outside for a good thirty minutes before Devin lowered the hatch fully. Nivy was sitting comfortably on his shoulder.
“I don’t know what happened to the mother or her infants, but they seem to have moved on. I’ve done surveillance around the general area and don’t see anything immediately dangerous.”
“Does that mean I can pee?”
He looked stunned at that question but waved his arm to indicate she could come out. Val scrambled out and down the drop. It looked like it was near evening and the jungle around them creaked with the noise of unfamiliar insects.
“Don’t go far,” he warned.
Val had no intention of going any further than she needed to. She squatted by the nearest tree truck and let fly. Modesty was not going to stop her from feeling relief. Devin tried very hard not to stare.
“It’s okay, I know this is all very weird,” Val said as she hiked up her pants.
“It’s not weird, it’s sabotage.”
“What?”
Val turned toward the ship and looked at the panel that he had taken from the back side. Half of it was black.
“We were flying with only one convertor. The other blew from the load and all the spares have been taken from the repair kit.”
“Maybe someone forgot to replace it?”
