Ilika’s mind raced, and he quickly tapped at the tiny keys of his bracelet, marking Mati and Rini off-duty, and requesting location and status from the other three. Before getting any replies, he was on his feet, striding toward dock C-Fourteen.
“I’m about two minutes away,” Sata’s voice informed him. “Drrrim-na will guide me.”
“Two or three minutes,” Boro announced. “Glorm’s asleep, but I found a big spider who knows the way.”
“Less than a minute,” Kibi said.
When Ilika jogged down the last ramp and could see the waiting room, Kibi was already there, stepping off a fanator.
“Thank you, sister,” she said, embracing the huge bird. “Please tell Memsala I will redo that lesson as soon as I can.”
“She knows,” the bird said, turned and bowed toward Ilika, then walked up the ramp looking for a place to take off.
Kibi immediately grabbed Ilika and planted a passionate kiss on his lips.
“What did I do to deserve that?” he asked when she finally released him.
“Just . . . a tiny sample of what you’re gonna get when we’re alone in our cabin.”
Ilika grinned just as Sata came striding down the ramp, with Boro close behind. They both turned and waved to the bird and spider who remained
NEBADOR Book Six: Star Station 71
side by side at the top.
Ilika glowed with happiness for a moment, seeing his crew, except for those with a good excuse, all gathered and ready to work.
They stepped into the waiting room, but the boarding tunnel was blocked with a pallet of cargo that floated through slowly, followed by a small furry mammal with a wide tail.
“Ilika . . .” Boro began with concern, “we haven’t restocked anything . . .”
“I know. I was planning to do that tomorrow. We’ll have to . . . what would Drrrim-na say? Wing it?”
Sata chuckled as they slowly followed the cargo pallet into the ship. “I doubt Drim-na would say that!”
“Manessa,” the beaver said as soon as he entered. “One pallet, and a seat for me, please.”
The chairs in the passenger area rearranged themselves, leaving an open space in the middle. Kibi watched as the little mammal carefully positioned the pallet, then spoke to the ship again to anchor it to the floor. “All reasonable speed to Ubalora Four, Captain,” he said after climbing onto the nearest seat.
“Pre-flight,” Ilika ordered. “I’ll cover sensors and helm. Kibi, I want you to get to know Rini’s station whenever you can.”
Kibi nodded as she stepped to the steward’s console.
“No space thruster fuel,” Boro reminded everyone with a worried tone.
“Everything else will do for a short flight, I guess. Anti-mass and maneuvering thrusters ready.”
“Docking tunnel, station departure, and Ubalora system charts on the board,” Sata reported. “Controller on channel.”
“Greetings again Manessa,” the same insect said. “Nice to see you again, Kibi. Traffic is light, and you have first priority out.”
Kibi grinned, and without a word from her captain, she closed the hatch, retracted the boarding tunnel, and released the docking clamps. She felt some desire to impress the little mammal behind her, but not nearly as much as she had felt earlier with the big, handsome . . . she stopped herself in mid-thought and remembered the huge trouble she had almost gotten into by letting herself fall for the first sexy male who looked into her eyes.
NEBADOR Book Six: Star Station 72
The partial crew felt very comfortable with everything they had to do to leave Satamia Star Station. The discomfort began when the captain said,
“Prepare for star transit.”
Kibi, already studying the sensor options at the watch station, looked at her passenger. Without hesitation, he secured his inertia straps, relaxed, and closed his eyes. “Ship and passenger ready. No sensor warnings.”
“Inner Ubalora entry chart is up,” Sata said, then scrunched herself into a comfortable position.
“Star drive warming,” Boro reported and closed his eyes.
If the passenger noticed the long delay before the star drive engaged, he didn’t say a word.
They popped back into space not far from the civilized planet Ubalora Three, and Ilika called for maximum ion drive to cover the five light-minutes to their destination, the fourth planet. During the half-hour flight, he gave his crew a sketch of the two sapient species, one mammalian and one avian, that shared the snowy little world.
The mammals were cave dwellers with thick fur, able to walk upright, but often preferring all fours to stay out of the wind. The birds ruled both the sky and the small seas when free of ice.
Sata looked thoughtful. “So . . . Ubalora Three has a civilization, and Four doesn’t?”
“Right,” Ilika began. “We only refer to sapient creatures as civilized when their society is willingly self-correcting. That means that any problem or imbalance that arises is fixed, and I mean really fixed — not ignored, not hidden, and not passed off to a future generation.”
The beaver joined the conversation. “The avians have a complex society, but they love to lay eggs, so their population explodes, then crashes, based on the fish in the seas.”
“What about the mammals?” Boro asked.
Ilika deferred to their passenger.
“More stable population, but they enjoy their tribal warfare. Thinkers and artists have very low status, along with women. Only warriors receive any
NEBADOR Book Six: Star Station 73
honor.”
Kibi frowned. “So what’s Ubalora Three like?”
Ilika smiled. “Beautiful, every inch of it. They reserve large areas for different levels of social complexity. An entire continent is wilderness for those who want to live wild and free. And Ubalora Three welcomes the Nebador Services, and openly trades with us.”
Sata smiled as she checked the ship’s position on the chart. “Twelve minutes to destination. Our planet’s a civilization, right Ilika?”
The long moment of silence that followed told Sata what she feared.
“No, not by our definition,” he finally said. “My childhood planet isn’t either.”
After another moment of silence, the furry beaver looked at Ilika sternly.
“Aren’t you going to tell them?”
Ilika took a deep breath. “I guess I should.”
Sata, Boro, and Kibi all looked at their captain.
“Every
society
thinks it’s civilized. But by Nebador’s definition, there are no human civilizations . . . um . . . anywhere in the universe.”
Boro and Sata looked at each other, then both looked at Kibi.
“So . . .” Kibi began thoughtfully, “the real civilization on Ubalora Three
. . . isn’t human, isn’t monkey mammal . . .”
“Right.”
The approach flight plan for Ubalora Four required them to stay high in the sky until right over a tiny, isolated valley deep in the most rugged mountains. After Ilika brought the ship to a stop eight thousand meters above the white peaks, Kibi poked at the watch console until she figured out how to get a down-angle view. Three domes, partly covered by snow, surrounded a small outdoor landing pad in a clearing among tall pine trees. Ilika lowered the ship and selected a parking space.
“Welcome to Ubalora Four research station,” the beaver said. “It is, believe it or not, the middle of summer.”
Boro laughed nervously, gazing at his nearly-white display.
Their guest worked with his pallet of supplies. As soon as Kibi opened the hatch, the nearest door to the research station also opened. A mottled orange
NEBADOR Book Six: Star Station 74
reptile emerged with another pallet, this one stacked with round canisters.
The beaver and lizard paused as they passed each other on the snow-covered landing pad.
“New monkey mammals,” the furry one said. “Their first mission, I think.”
“I know Ilika,” the scaly one replied. “Stay warm!”
“Easier said than done in this place,” the beaver grumbled in jest, then continued waddling into the heated research station.
Unlike the quiet beaver, the reptile greeted everyone with bows, flowery words, and a flashing tongue that tasted the air between them.
“Ilika! You got yourself a ship and a crew, I see!”
The young man and the lizard embraced.
“I will never forget our deep-space missions together,” Ilika said when they parted and looked at each other. “Everyone, this is Sss’rol’ti, one of our beloved Quanasia, and my second-favorite steward in the Transport Service.”
Kibi
grinned.
“Don’t let the scales and horns fool you,” Ilika went on. “Under his charms, the wildest beast will soon be sipping pinkfruit juice and watching videos.”
The talkative lizard greeted Kibi and Sata, then came to Boro. After kind words and a taste of the air, his eyes swirled. “You’ve been eating my favorite fish! Did you save me some?”
“Sorry,” Boro admitted with a guilty frown. Then he looked into the lizard’s deep, multi-colored eyes and relaxed. “Glorm showed me the under-water part of the station.”
“Glorm the docking controller? He’s fun! But as always, I’m chattering too much. I guess we should get these samples back before they spoil.”
Ilika smiled and gave commands to prepare for the return trip.
Once they were in the air, Boro received a message on his console from the navigator. Take me fishing tomorrow?
He turned and looked at Sata. Their eyes met, they grinned at each other, and he nodded.
“Prepare for star transit,” Ilika said from the helm.
NEBADOR Book Six: Star Station 75
The Manessa Kwi settled into Satamia Star Station dock D-Eleven.
Sss’rol’ti chatted with the crew for another quarter hour, then floated his pallet of canisters down a ramp, humming a tune as he went.
Kibi looked at her console with surprise. “We’ve been awake almost a day and a half! It’s almost breakfast time!”
Suddenly Boro yawned, and Sata couldn’t stop herself from doing the same. “I don’t need food,” Boro announced through his yawn. “I need sleep!”
Ilika nodded. “Let’s meet in eight hours and get this ship stocked.”
“Yeah!” Boro agreed.
Ilika could feel Kibi’s intense emotions as they made their way, with arms around each other, down the lift and across the lower deck. For the next several hours, he almost thought he had a wild animal in his cabin.
When they were finally exhausted, Ilika lay half-asleep beside his lover.
He didn’t know what change had come over her, and he wasn’t going to ask, but he knew for sure he was going to enjoy every minute of it.
Suddenly the knowledge processor on Kibi’s desk chimed. She groped her way to consciousness and staggered across the cabin.
“I have to go to a class, and finish an intro lesson I started yesterday. It’s something . . . important.”
“That place where we ate has nutrition drinks you can grab on the way.”
Kibi nodded and was about to dash out the door. She stopped herself and looked at Ilika, recent memories causing her eyes to sparkle. “Thank you.”
Ilika smiled shyly.
Deep Learning Notes
Nebador has a more specific definition of “civilization” than we do: willingly self-correcting . . . any problem or imbalance that arises is fixed . . . not ignored, not hidden, and not passed off to a future generation. In your opinion, does our “civilization” quality for Nebador’s definition? If not, will it quality at some point in the future?
NEBADOR Book Six: Star Station 76
What happens to people on our world who want or need a lower level of social complexity than that which is currently common? What happens to people who want to live “wild and free”?
How do you think Sata, Boro, and Kibi felt when they learned their planet wasn’t a civilization, and there were NO human civilizations in the universe?
How would you feel if you learned that was the case in reality?
Why would the approach flight plan require them to stay high in the sky until right over the research station? Hint: it was in an isolated valley deep in the most rugged mountains.
Why was Kibi feeling so passionate? Hint: before the mission, she had just come from her first visit to the Psychic Development program.