Welcome to a distant future full of possibilities where the enigmatic
Floribans are humanity's alien best friends and their gift of the quantum
space drive allows starships to slip through the veiled dimension they call
the strange as they visit distant planets and stars come along with the
astral navigators and their Floriban counterparts as they explore the galaxy
and build friendships that will change the course of history the strange is
calling you
welcome friend-shaped entities to the first episode of the strange space
adventures podcast I'm Katie Silverwings author of the award-winning series of
cozy optimistic science fiction stories this podcast will be bringing to you
each week I'm thrilled to be here with you in audio form to share the tales of
strange space the first season of the strange space adventures podcast will be
covering my debut novella feathered friendship this tale of a small bird
finding her place in the galaxy is still a personal favorite of mine and I have
had so much fun recording it for y'all each week I'll be presenting a chapter
or three from the book if you'd like to read along each episode's chapters will
be posted on my website when the episode airs for members of the strange space
fan club to enjoy the book is also available in its entirety from wherever
you prefer to acquire books as both print and ebook if you'd like to read
ahead links for all of that are in the show notes and now without further ado
here's the first installment of feathered friendship
chapter one in a small private laboratory on the
starship mss venture a woman sits sorting through images and data on a set
of hollow screens she's dressed in the ship's standard yellow accented gray
sciences department uniform with the knee-length kilt style score instead of
trousers a long white lab coat drapes over the top of her uniform the ship's
insignia and her name neatly embroidered over the breast pocket and especially
bright yellow and green bird is perched on top of the woman's head sleeping with
its feet securely gripping the elastic band holding her wild reddish brown
curls up in a looped ponytail this is dr. Ariadne Salzar Newman one of the most
brilliant xenobiologists to have ever graduated from the Central Academy of
Sciences at tea garden star she's the head of ventures bioscience team and in
her spare time is something of an enthusiast for the earth species
melopsis takus andulatus more commonly known as the budgerigar a member of the
parakeet family one whole wall of the space behind her is arranged with open
cages and a wide variety of perches ropes and hanging toys a dozen more
budgerigars of various colors are sleeping on and around those perches the
birds have free reign of dr. Salzar Newman's personal workroom and although
they're technically supposed to stay there the one currently sleeping on her
head often accompanies her wherever she goes a long-waited bead curtain hangs
over the door of the workroom to discourage the rest of the birds from
escaping into ventures main biosciences laboratory the running joke among the
other members of her team is that one day she's liable to grow feathers
herself for all the affection she has for her birds they respect her despite
this bit of eccentricity or perhaps in part because they find it endearing a
wind chime toned voice from the other side of the bead curtain draws dr.
Salzar Newman's attention away from her work dr. s are you home I'm in here
Kobe come on ahead she spins around in her chair to face the door disturbing
the slumber of the budgerigar perching on her head it fluffs its feathers out
and chirps at her in annoyance before settling back into a comfortable
position a small adolescent floor van steps through the bead cover doorway and
into the workroom this is cobalt meridae dr. Salzar Newman's favorite part-time
assistant and protege they are a provisional apprentice to venture
senior quantum space drive engineer one of the two adult floor vans responsible
for moving the ship through the veiled dimension their species calls strange
space with the assistance of their human astral navigator counterparts a form of
transit which allows humanity's starships to travel over greater
distances than the laws of physics would allow in a reasonable amount of
time but is not without its dangers as their public name suggests under their
pattern of tiger-like silver stripes cobalt is a brighter blue example of
their genderless asexual mostly humanoid species the hair around their cat-like
ears and the rest of their head is a mess of silver cowlicks having once been
cut much shorter and now being in the process of growing out the locks that
would otherwise fall into their three golden eyes are secured back with a set
of crossed bobby pins that each have a small yellow star on one end they're
dressed in the navquan department's charcoal gray version of the trouser
cut uniform tailored to allow all four of their arms and their long silver
tufted prehensile tail to move comfortably additionally they're wearing
a small cloth and mesh pouch secured on a sash beneath their lower set of arms I
didn't expect to see you so soon dear is it morning already yes technically
cobalt replies coming over to her you did say to come back once I was done
helping with the jump shift and elder Navy let me out of the second cycle
tonight have you been in here with the birdies all night again I suppose I have
dr. Salzar Newman says with a bright laugh must have lost track of time going
through those reports Diego gave me earlier don't worry I'll catch some sleep
once we're done here how did your jumps go it went okay for once mostly all three
of Cobalt's eyes shift to one side as they remove the sash and bag and
pointedly change the subject elder Navy asked about your bag by the way but I
didn't know what to tell them except that it was for your research and you
said it shouldn't be opened really I know I spoke to them about this project
perhaps we'll have to discuss it again they said they'd ask you when they see
you at breakfast cobalt offers the bag to her holding it carefully but that it
didn't seem to cause any interference with the jumps so they'd probably be okay
with approving it once they know what you're up to well now that's good news
dr. Salzar Newman takes the bag and rolls her chair over to one of the other work
tables where she has her incubators and analysis equipment set up now let's see
what you've brought through quantum space for me what is in there anyway dr. S
I didn't I tell you earlier you didn't I was running late for the jump shift
remember cobalt rolls their third eye dramatically while leaving the lower
pair still and then smiles you just handed it off and said to keep it with
me tonight now what is it small treasures dear I chose two of Judith's
clutch for this experiment eggs all three of the young Floribans golden eyes
widen as they look between dr. Salzar Newman's excited face and the
collection of small birds perched around the room you really had me carrying eggs
through the strange I was sure I told you dr. Salzar Newman clucks her tongue
thoughtfully then brightens again but yes dear of course how else could I test
for the effects I love Navy to bits but you know as well as I do that they were
hardly going to let me send a whole bird in with you of course they wouldn't it's
too dangerous but an egg is a bird to dr. S not yet
Kobe just the possibility of a bird if there's one thing I've learned hanging
around Navy all these years it's that quantum space likes possibilities now
let's see what we have here dr. Salzar Newman carefully opens the
layers of mesh padding and removes a small white egg setting it into a
testing apparatus cobalt watches over her shoulder with interest as the
equipment scans the egg and shines a light behind it illuminating the fine
red tracings of veins over the yellow mass within and projecting an enhanced
image of all of this on the display screen in front of them dr. Salzar
Newman looks back to them with a broad sighted grin there we are Kobe see one
healthy and viable embryo although we'll have to wait a few more weeks to see how
it hatches and if exposure to quantum space has affected it at all I had a
feeling the shell would be enough to protect it I'm glad the embryo wasn't
harmed says cobalt a concerned tone still coloring their voice the tuft at
the end of their tail twitches softly that bag of yours would hardly keep the
miasmas from getting in that was the idea behind the mesh design Kobe and
that it had let them all out again when you and Navy brought us back into normal
space Zoe would never forgive me if I went and exposed myself by accident
again you know elder Navy wouldn't have been happy either dr. s they wouldn't
have let me bring this to you if they thought that it could have hurt you both
of them worry too much about me I'd say dr. Salzar Newman chuckles now now Kobe
don't you start worrying too I can hear that tone of Navy's in your voice
already yes ma'am I'll try not to cobalt though has ample reason to be concerned
direct contact with quantum space is incredibly harmful to humans exposure is
known to cause blindness insanity and even death in a matter of minutes
depending on the circumstances this is why a floor even has to be in the sealed
quantum space drive bay to run the nightly transit cycles while the rest of
the ship serves as a safe bubble of normal space their species is halfway
native to the veiled dimension and immune to its effects in the course of
her career thus far dr. Salzar Newman has been briefly exposed to various
amounts of quantum space miasmas no fewer than eight times her team often
attributes her more pronounced eccentricities to this but as
ventures primary nav one team can attest she was mostly the same even before her
first significant near-death experience what is this experiment anyway cobalt
asks tilting their heads slightly to one side I thought you said you wanted me to
help you with research on training birds to serve on starships I am researching
that dear and what better way for a bird to help than to detect my asthma leaks in
the case of an emergency from the look on their face cobalt is utterly
flabbergasted by this thought now says dr. Salzar Newman setting the egg into a
waiting incubator we'll see how one egg does with just the initial half jump
cycles worth of exposure she takes a second egg out of the pouch to examine
it in the same way she had the first the other one will keep riding with you
every time you go jumping until it's ready to hatch you really might want to
make sure elder Navy's okay with that oh naturally but they did agree to let you
assist me and carry the bag and this experiment is paramount to my research
you see these two are my proof of concept eggs I need to know whether
exposure can affect the embryos at all to start and what happens with a
prolonged series of regular exposures you're looking for a specific effect
then ideally it is documented that humans who survive longer exposures
retain a minor sense of which side of the veil their ship is on after all and
in rare cases are even able to identify the presence of my asthma's almost as
well as a floor of in can like you do sometimes then precisely my theory is
that a bird could acquire the same ability and be able to patrol a ship
with a handler and point out potential my asthma leaks and prevent accidents
cobalt hesitates for a long moment before nodding slowly if you say so dr.
s but it might not be good for the birdies that's why we're starting just
with these two eggs if it doesn't work out with them I'll probably scratch the
whole idea and sort out another way to do this she looks over to cobalt from
the readouts on the egg now which one do you want for your jumping buddy you want
me to pick you might as well Kobe you're the one who's going to carry the egg for
me dr. Salzar Newman puts the second egg into its incubator and then reaches out a
hand and briefly ruffles the young floor vans mess of silver hair cobalt allows
the contact although their ears twitch with a momentary irritation floor vans in
general are known to be a semi-eusocial and quite tactile affectionate species
for a number of reasons that they would never openly discuss dr. Salzar Newman
is currently the only person in the galaxy whom cobalt ever allows to touch
them even casually she's also the only person thus far whom they've come to
trust with the full truth of those reasons cobalt becomes very quiet
staring intently at each egg with all three of their golden eyes for some time
before gesturing at the second one that was taken out of the bag this one maybe
it doesn't make much difference but I like this one any particular reason
cobalt shrugs not really fair enough dr. Salzar Newman laughs and stands up from
her chair come on then help me close this place down for the night so we can
both get a bit of rest the bird sitting on her head is bothered enough by the
abrupt movement now to make a few unhappy chirps and then fly over to the
collection of colorful branches where the rest of the flock is sleeping to
find a less active place to perch for the night it might often accompany her
around the ship but it always sleeps in the bird room elder Navy said to make
sure you'd not forgotten to eat dinner if I found you here instead of in your
quarters says cobalt busying themself with tidying one of the cluttered work
benches you know Koby I can't remember if I did dr. Salzar Newman shuts down the
hollow screen she'd been staring at before they came in and rests a hand
behind her ear in a brief thoughtful gesture we'll just have to drop by the
mess to sort out snacks or something on our way that sounds good to me as the
two of them leave and dr. Salzar Newman taps the keypad beside the door to turn
off the lights the two eggs sit silently in their incubators warm and unaware that
they've been chosen for a different destiny altogether from the rest of the
clutch they started in
chapter 2 her first awareness is that she exists in a very small space that no
longer fits she's cramped up inside the world barely able to move at all her
first thought is that it would be nice to have more room she strains against
the edges of the world she discovers both that she has a beak and that this
includes a sharp tool right at the end that is perfect for trying to break
through the hard walls holding her in she makes an excited sound at this
realization then sets to work trying to break through the wall of the world she
doesn't know what to expect on the other side or even if there is another side to
seek out she tries anyway the unknown is far better than being cramped up in a
world that's too small with great effort and exertion she taps her way into
making a small crack for the first time she can feel a bit of warm moist air
that's fresh and moving coming into her tiny world through the crack I want out
she chirps now knowing that there is freedom to be had from her confinement
let me out eventually although she doesn't know how long it takes she makes
the crack big enough that the whole world breaks apart and the walls fall
down around her she's free now and in a much bigger place than she's ever known
could exist she's blind still and knows nothing of this bigger world around her
even so it's warm and she has a sensation of softness underneath her
hello she chirps out shakily stretching and resting from her efforts is anyone
there I've escaped from the small world at first she thinks she's still alone
but then she realizes the strange sounds she hears above her our voices coming
from somewhere nearby although she doesn't yet understand what they're
saying hello she chirps again hello I'm free hello I'm hungry feed me hello
that's where we'll leave our story for this week I hope you've enjoyed these first two chapters of
Feathered Friendship next week we'll see more of the early life of our darling
bird and meet a few more members of the cast I can't wait to share it with you if
you've enjoyed the show please leave a comment or review on your podcast source
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and more you'll find the link to join in the show notes thank you so much to all
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Sharon T Hinton and long-running space adventurer Tabitha I am deeply grateful
to all of my fan club members for making this podcast possible thanks again for
joining me today on the strange space adventures podcast I hope your new year
is filled with opportunities and joy this is Katie Silverwings wishing you
the best the galaxy has to offer stay shiny the strange space adventures
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