My space opera series is set far in to the future, where humankind has expanded to 500+ colonized planets across the galaxy. Most old Earth-based holidays have been replaced by observances of birthdays and Solstice Day (winter and summer). In this scene from Pet Trade, set in the far north latitudes of a frontier planet, the hero, ex-Jumper and cyborg Axur Tragon has used his medic training and his autodoc to repair the damaged leg of the heroine, Bethnee Bakonin. The next morning, she surprises him with Solstice Day gifts. The "critters" are Axur's various inherited pets. Bethnee, a veterinarian, has some of her own.
She levered herself up onto the crutches and made her way to the fresher, where they’d put her overnight bag to keep it safe from critters. When she returned, she put a package in front of him. “Happy Solstice Day.” She triggered her mealpack’s heater.
He blinked in surprise, darting his glance between her and the package. His smile grew as he untied the twine and opened it. “Real coffee!” He held the cloth bag to his nose and took in the scent appreciatively. He held up the other gift. “What’s on the longwire?”
“Common and relic language courses.” She pulled out the utensils from her mealpack. “You said you don’t have anyone to practice with. I only know Standard English and one city’s street slang, and Nuñez has mostly forgotten her family’s Tagalog, so I traded for the courses whenever I treated pets. You can help me expand my horizons. I need more swear words.”
He smiled as he put the longwire in his shirt pocket and patted it. “Thank you.”
Seeing how much the simple gifts pleased him, she vowed to give him as many as she could before he left for wider, warmer pastures. She must still be farked by the chems, because the thought made her want to hug him tight and cry on his broad shoulder.
Pet Trade (A Central Galactic Concordance Novella)
by Carol Van Natta
An injured veterinarian and a cyborg with unusual pets must join forces to save their town.
The vast Central Galactic Concordance strictly prohibits genetic experimentation and alteration of humans on any of its 500 member planets. Animals aren’t so lucky.
On a frontier planet, veterinarian Bethnee Bakonin made a home for herself in the frozen north. Her minder talent for healing all kinds of animals would ordinarily assure her success, but her unwilling stint in the shady pet trade industry left her damaged and scared. She works around her limitations as best she can, and rescues pet trade castoffs.
“Volunteered” for a black-box research project, elite forces Jumper Axur Tragon now has dangerous experimental tech in his cybernetic limbs. He escaped and crash-landed a stolen freighter in the northern mountains of a frontier planet, only to discover a secret shipment of designer pets was part of the cargo. Determined to do right by them, he enlists reluctant Bethnee’s aid in caring for them—a definite challenge, considering Bethnee is terrified of him.
When greedy mercenaries come raiding, can Axur and Bethnee work together to overcome their limitations, with help from their unusual pets, and save the day?
It's a deadly adventure—with pets—in the fringes of space. Grab your copy of Pet Trade today!
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Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/
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Loved this snippet. Cute, funny and at the same time a little poignant. :)
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