How could he explain that not only had he once worked for the Dominion, an anathema for those living on Reka 5, but that he’d spent the last many years in a prison? And he’d only just recently managed to escape and make his way to Vosthea, where old friends and acquaintances welcomed him in? He’d been lucky that Kean, an old friend who now ruled Vosthea, had given him shelter in his stronghold.
“It’s a long story.”
“We have time.” She looked at him expectantly. “Unless you're hiding something.”
“I came from there recently. I’m starting over in the outer planets.” That was technically true without all the details. Hewanted the chance to impress her before his past cast shadows over him.
She watched him with thoughtful eyes and a tilt of her chin. “Well, whatever your story, the outer planets are good for starting over. Even for those who didn’t choose to be here.”
Because like all the other humans in these parts, she’d been stolen from Earth by the Dominion to use as slaves. Many of the Talleans on Reka 5 had been slaves too, while others had been born here, into families who had been fighting Dominion rule for generations.
“Like you?”
“Yeah.” She broke off a piece of her bar and held it up to Commander Chaos, who was now sitting at their feet, patiently waiting for a handout. Then she made a twirling motion with her fingers, and the little dragus turned in place. “Good boy.” She tossed the piece of food bar, and the little creature snapped it up mid-air.
“So I’m curious, why dragus?”
“It was Faith’s idea, really. She bred puppies back on Earth. Pomeranians. Tiny little things, nothing like a dragus. We were together when a pack attacked the colony one day, and instead of freaking out like the rest of us, she saw potential. And she was right. They were working together like a pack of wolves. And there’s nothing quite like pack mentality when it comes to training animals. I used to teach puppy kindergarten back on Earth, and…” She trailed off at his confused look.
“Kin-der-gar-den?”
“It’s like school for the very young. I did classes for puppies and their owners.”
“And puppies are the young of animals you have on Earth.”
“Yeah, some of them are big, like the dragus, and some are small and well, pretty much have their wolf ancestry bred out of them. Anyway, I agreed with her that after some domestication, they’dprobablybe highly trainable.” She grinned at the memory. “Well, she took that and ran with it, setting out to create domesticated, trainable dragus. Her husband, Grant, who could sell ice cubes to a penguin, managed to get Reka 5’s security department to partially fund her work. Well,ourwork now. It’s not enough, which is why we are selling some of our early successes to wealthy merchants, even though we aren’t quite ready yet.”
“Why are you not ready? Commander Chaos is a success, is he not?”
At the sound of his name, the pup turned to Ranek, his warm yellow eyes ever hopeful for more food. Ranek, unable to resist, gave him the end piece of his bar. It really wasn’t that palatable, but the pup devoured it like it was the best thing he’d ever tasted. Which only highlighted the fact that Maya had not actually eaten her bar. It still sat on the table.
“He is! But we estimate it will take years, maybe decades, to breed consistently domesticated dragus. We were super lucky that nature did most of the work for us already. We found a pack of dragus living close to Reka 5 that rarely attacked the fence and instead waited patiently for the colony to dispose of our food waste. They’ve been practically domesticating themselves.
“We started with them and after some trial and error, ended up with this litter, which we consider our first proof of concept. But the gene pool is too small right now, and we need to add more variety. And that’s going to set us back a bit.”
“Ah, I see. I’m confident you will be successful.”
She grinned, and her joy in her work practices oozed from her. “Me too. Commander Chaos is from a litter of three. Princess Peach is the sweetest, a total lap dragus. And Butterball is so food motivated, it’s crazy.” Her face fell a little. “I know more pups will come, but I’m going to miss them when they’re gone.”
She looked wistfully down at the pup still eyeing that table where she’d placed her unfinished food.
“You did not eat your ration bar,” Ranek said.
She looked chagrined. “I really appreciate the food, I do. But there’s a scent in here that’s kind of making me pukey. I’m sure it’s just my human taste buds. But I was thinking, I can probably make something to eat out of the freeze-dried foods. I know they’re like decades old, but they’re still safe to eat.”
That was a good idea. “I will make you something more palatable.”
Maya looked surprised at his offer but accepted.
They managed to find a working burner; it was meant for heating solutions for making medicine, but it was good enough. They also found clean vessels to use as pots and bowls, and after a soak and simmer, Ranek had managed to turn the freeze-dried meats and vegetables into a serviceable stew of sorts. And it was most definitely better than the bars he’d gotten from that outpost.
They shared the meal, laughing and talking about the funny dragus pup’s antics, and his plans once they left Fortuna II.
“My goal is to make enough credits to buy an actual ship, a good one, so I can carry more merchandise.”
“So, wait, you’re actually a merchant?”
“That was the plan once I got out of here. But I’m willing to pick up odd jobs to meet my goals. I just want to make something of my life, and have enough to enjoy my time in the universe.”
