Chapters
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The quarters they found for Felicity and her "friends" left a great deal to be desired. The deck had huge gaps, and an entire section of wall had been covered by a thin plastic sheet. It bowed out constantly, as though the pressure might rip it free at any moment. But it didn't, at least not while Felicity and the others entered the room."We're working on something better," Escape Gear said apologetically. She was the last one through the door, clutching the nearly-limp form of Delta in her arms. She…-
84.8 K •
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This was probably the wrong time to direct her attention to helping Delta. She would have more time once their position on this salvage ship was secure, and the communications were back up. Once that happened, she wouldn't have to rely on the will of a single, diminutive shred of Harmony to protect her from forces that desperately wanted to escape it.But when Harmony said that “her species” was driven to socialization and cooperation, she didn't really know for sure what that meant. But seeing a friend…
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84.8 K •
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Felicity knew the moment the Varch'nai activated the ship's new communications device. Not just because the lights went out, and the ventilators all stopped blowing stale air. But Manny slumped forward, limp.She rolled out of the makeshift bed, beside where Delta was still sprawled. The former plant hadn't been able to keep practicing for long, but that was fine. She was learning faster than Felicity had.Then the lights came back on, and Manny sat back up. He hadn't been sleeping, just resting beside the…
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84.8 K •
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Felicity was far from pleased to be going back into a tank, particularly one that was constructed from salvaged material and scrap. There was a single comforting factor involved in this particular transition: this machine was built only to interface with her mind, it didn't put her into stasis. With enough reflex control, she could probably remove it.There were two cells—one for her, and one for Delta. Both were made of scraps of packing material for blankets, and so much repurposed hardware she…
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The room was crowded, as much with people as objects. There were projection screens, bits of twisted metal, tanks filled with green growth. Despite the music and the smells, this was not the same space Felicity had visited for the fleet admiral’s tea ceremony. His clothes hadn't changed, at least. That strangely thin body with too many limbs still dressed in flowing silks, its shape not clearly suggesting one sex over another. He raised one delicate hand as Felicity entered, waving her over. When he…
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"Admiral, meet Delta," Felicity said, the first to break the silence. She walked along beside the plant, close enough that she could be near her the whole way. Someone had to be close enough to protect her. For whatever good it would do them."I am... friendly to meet you," Delta said. Her whiplike tail flicked through the air behind her. But Felicity wasn't sure the admiral would even understand equine body language. Maybe some of these scientists would.One of them was the first to break the silence.…
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84.8 K •
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Felicity had never made a high-gravity launch before. Equestrian ships just didn’t work that way—with control of gravity and mastery of acceleration, it was easy to keep the passengers of a ship comfortable all the way outwell.The Varch’nai had no such technology—or maybe they did, and they just didn’t care to use it. Why bother, when the real bodies of every crewman were secured in stasis, and their puppeted remotes could just be insulated from the sensory impact of acceleration until it was…
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"We're going!" Felicity shouted, directly at the screen. Of course she wasn't sure if Escape Gear would even be able to hear her. Was Manny transmitting her words, the way he had before? Now that she thought about it, there was probably something to that idea. Harmony could interpret what she said, and transmit her words in another form. "Manny, can you send a message with pheromones? We should tell the custodian ship we're friendly in a language they understand!"There was a long pause, long enough that…
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84.8 K •
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Felicity followed the honored expedition of strange plants through the remains of the Custodian ship. The vessel seemed so small from the outside, with each deck barely as wide as service passages on a human or pony ship. That size was deceptive, though—from the inside, the space seemed vast.As they got closer to their destination, they saw other plants swimming up and down from different directions, like the circulatory system of a living creature. The boundary was fuzzy here, with some sections of…
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Felicity needed no magic to sense the fury around her. She would've known it even if her scent-organs were destroyed, and she were trapped in a clear jar. The native life might not have any knowledge of positioning, but she saw their body-language. The way they withdrew, tightening around the scaffold.She saw pulses of motion pass along their body, like waves. Were those thoughts, as it considered what to do with her?Delta withdrew again, far tighter than Felicity herself. This was the effect of absolute…
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