Driok
My crew have been hunting the nevving horc ever since it got aboard on our last trip. It’s been chewing through the conduits and generally making a complete nuisance of itself.
And now it has my mate.
“What do you mean?” Maggie blinks at me. “It’s tiny. It won’t hurt me.”
“No hurt,” the horc says.
Nev the nevving thing. I take a step towards her, and it swarms up her arm and into her hair at the back of her neck. Maggie laughs.
My heart flips at the sound she makes. It’s as if she has somehow dialed into my soul. I want to hear it over and over again until she lulls me to sleep.
“Tickles!” she says. “Come here, you.” She reaches in and gets hold of the horc again, holding it at arms’ length as she strokes over its fur.
The warriors I have brought with me since I first heard her scream take a step back away from her and the horc.
“I mean it, Maggie. Put it down and let it go.”
“No.” She pulls it back to her and, unbelievably, puts it under her chin. “Horace is hungry. Take me to the dining room. I want to feed him.”
How did she even know it was a male?
“You…can’t.”
Maggie holds the horc against her chest.
“Unless you give me one really good reason why, I can and I will.”
“It’s a meat eater,” I rush out.
“So are you,” Maggie says and nods at the warriors behind me. “So are they. So what?”
“It also eats metal, vegetation, and in fact, anything it can get its teeth into,” I say spreading out my hands in exasperation. “Horcs are complete menaces, and we’ve been trying to find it for nova-weeks.”
“Doesn’t seem like a menace to me.” She delves her fingers into the horc’s fur, and it chitters. “And I know a menace when I see one.” She glares at me.
She is going to lose a limb at this rate.
“Anyway, I’m keeping him,” she adds, walking towards me.
My two warriors turn and flee like the cowards they are. Maggie is unconcerned as she passes me in the passageway.
“You can’t keep a horc loose on a spacecraft,” I exhort. “The damage it will do…”
“Horace isn’t dangerous, and he won’t cause damage if he’s with me.” She rolls her eyes. “He’s cute.”
I watch her walk up the ramp, cradling the horc in her arms. I’m sure the thing grins at me.
“Cute.” The word floats back, not in Maggie’s voice but mine.
Nev the creatures. Nev the fact I was too distracted by the information I’ve received to initially notice Maggie had left the bridge and nev my warriors for not informing me she was roaming the ship.
Up above, I hear the sounds of alarm as the horc, accompanied by my mate, is noticed. With a deep roar, I’m out of the hold and slamming warriors aside to allow my mate to pass.
“Anyone who touches her or the horc will answer to me,” I growl. “The dining hall is this way.”
I indicate the direction Maggie should take, and she folds her lips up in a peculiar way but follows my direction. Once we reach the area, it’s swiftly emptied of warriors as Maggie hands me the horc, and for reasons I don’t understand, I take the thing from her, holding it at arms’ length.
“I’m going to get Horace some meat,” she says pointedly.
“I wouldn’t bother.” I release the horc, and it shoots off, devouring all the leftovers, platters and all, before returning to Maggie and climbing her leg.
If I was expecting her to be disgusted, I am entirely wrong. Instead she makes a fuss of the nevving thing as it gets into her arms and repeats back various words to her in her own voice. Words like cute.
“Maggie…”
“Yes, Driok?” she queries, holding me with a steady gaze.
The horc blinks its three eyes at me, one at a time.
“Do you know anything about keeping horcs?”
“No, but then neither do you.”
“They are literal eating machines. It will happily eat this ship around us and then float off into space.”
“But it hasn’t,” she says.
“There’s still time.”
“But if it wants to eat the ship, why hasn’t it done so?” She tickles at it, and a little blue tongue swipes over her fingers.
I shudder. My tail shifts and lashes from side to side.
“I don’t know!” I fire out. “All I know is having a horc on a spacecraft is a very, very bad idea.”
“Then you’d better drop me off somewhere because I’m keeping Horace.”
I lift my head up and drop it back as I stare at the ceiling, releasing a groan. She has given it a name.
“Fine. But you need to know where it is at all times.”
“Not going to be difficult,” she says defiantly.
“And when you’re not able to carry it around, it’ll need to be in a forcefield protected container.”
Maggie looks down at the horc. “What do you reckon?” she asks it.
I feel like my eyes are going to pop out of my head.
“We agree.” She looks up at me.
“It’s not sleeping in our bed,” I growl.
“You’ve never had a pet, have you, Driok? I guess we’ll see about that.” Maggie smiles at me.
I think I would have preferred envenomation.