A New Friend

Dangerous Toys moved carefully to the station. It was a big deal to take on a human Engineer but his ship was falling behind the competition and his investors had finally come up with the cash. He had read extensively and had been tapping his fellow Captains for advice on the move but many refused to discuss humans, simply saying that ‘He would have to find out himself.’ They broadly and repeatedly emphasised that boredom was the first and most important consideration. All the written material was full of similar claims. His complimentary package of ‘Human Altered’ stickers had arrived as well as a very, very long list of terms and conditions. He had signed his ship up and hoped he was doing this right.

Engineer Patricia O’Neill was a little nervous. She had been assured that this was an excellent first posting, with a clean ship on a solid trade route. Apparently being the first human Engineer onboard was regarded as a true test of her skills, with many of her friends reminding her to spend some time getting a clean before-and-after of the systems before changing anything. At least she wasn’t completely alone.

Dangerous Toys was a big ship, bigger than the HDF Frigates that she had trained on and with a dead AI. That would have to change. She watched it dock, appalled by the clunky manoeuvres as it pulled in. Even a quick assessment of the exterior told her volumes about what was happening inside. Part of her relaxed as she could already see ways to prove her value. The rest of her wondered how they would take to a small human, standing at five-foot-one in her boots. Not exactly the hulking heavy-worlder they were reputed to be.

The Captain sent word that he was ready to bring her aboard and would meet her in his Quarters as soon as the First officer had settled her and her equipment in. Her stomach lurched a little as she ascended the lift, holding tightly to the leash for comfort.

First Officer Wippene was waiting as the Engineer arrived. He had advised the Captain to do this, insisting that unless they got the Ship into shape, they were going to lose out to every other Trader on the route. He was used to mediating between the Captain and the more vocal species of the Galaxy. Scent based communication was not as rare as the Silicon species were but it was unusual in a ships Captain. Privately he felt that it spoke well of the brain behind that nose that he still able to run the ship so well. Then the lift doors opened and then he ran for his life.

Patricia sighed and kneeled down to comfort Loki as her lurcher wagged is tail. ‘It’s okay boy. They probably didn’t get the memo. I’ll talk to them. The long nose of her dog pressed close to her ‘ New Friends Angry?’ chirped her translator. She smiled, ‘No boy, just a little confused. Leave it to me. I guess I can find my way around by myself.’ She had memorised the layout of the ship as soon as she had taken the job. She headed to the Engineering deck and her new quarters. She took off the lead and let Loki walk beside her down the oddly quiet corridors.

The Captain could smell something wrong from his office. He didn’t believe in doors between him and his crew, preferring to follow their progress through his nose. They would probably be appalled to learn all the little secrets they gave away through their scent. Who was doing what with who, who was having a hard time or being overstressed. It was all in the air if you could read it. He let his First Officer sort out the inane vocal communications as much as he could and concentrated on reading between the lines.

Now he could feel a wave of distress moving from the ship’s entry. Something had terrified his First Officer. He concentrated...the Human had arrived. It was female and calm. He couldn’t smell any of the noxious battle-drugs that they produced under intense stress. There was another creature with her. Another mammal. With a shock, he realised that the creature was another scent-based species. It was primitive but it smelled of ‘Protect/Curious/Wary’ as well as clean fur and ...meat protein. Carnivor for sure. All entrancing but what in the Seven Hells was it doing on his ship? Time to meet this unlikely pair before his First Officer got to the weapons cabinet.

He quickly traced them moving towards his Engineering deck. He laughed as the scents of his crew washed by in confusion. Apparently, his First Officer had made an impression. He moved faster.

Patrica found her quarters easily enough. The ship had been issued with a standard checklist of requirements when she had signed the contract and it all looked pretty good. At least it was new. She began unpacking her personal gear, unfolding Loki’s blanket and laying it at the bottom of her bed. Loki hadn’t spent much time in space but he knew what that meant, ‘Home?’ She scratched under his chin, ‘Yes boy, a new home for both of us.’

The Captain knocked on the Engineers door. The room smelled odd, all the fresh human equipment tasting strange to him. He waited for the human...Patrica to open the door. He hoped his translator was up to this because he had a lot of questions.

Patricia straightened up as she heard the knock. Hopefully, the First Officer had calmed down a little. If he upset Loki there would be hell to pay. If he upset her that could cause different issues. Loki was a good boy.

Whatever she expected when she opened the door it wasn’t the Captain. She had read what was available about his species but that frankly had taken ten-minutes. Humanity had blind-spots about species that never went to war and created artworks and literature out of smells. Apparently, they made excellent perfumes but little else of interest. It was one of the reasons she had taken the contract since she hoped to get the first-contact bonus.

“Sir! Come in. I’m afraid something happened to upset your crew, I mean the First Officer.”

That was as far as she got before Loki leapt from the bed and ran to the Captain, his tail wagging furiously as he barked an enthusiastic welcome, his long nose poking directly into the Captains face. ‘Happy/Welcome/Longnose/Loki Friend/New Home?/’

Patrica felt her life pass in front of her as her dog attacked her new Captain. She wouldn’t even need to unpack. Then the weirdness continued as the Captain got down on his knees and stuck his nose all over Loki. If he had a tail then it would have been wagging it too. Her translator struggled to tell her what the hell was going on except that they were very happy to meet each other. She seemed to have been forgotten.

The Captain seemed to recover and spoke directly to Loki, ‘Happy Encounter/Welcome/ New Home/ My Home/Rest/’ Loki gave out a few woofs and jumped back on the bed, his ears perked up and his tail still whipping about.

The Captain shook himself. Remarkable. He saw the expression on his new Engineer but his mood was too good to be upset. “Please Engineer, Loki has introduced himself beautifully. What an absolutely remarkable species. I was unaware that humans had a symbiote, it’s not in any of the literature I studied. May I sit?”

Patricia nodded as the Captain made his way to the only chair in the room. She sat beside Loki and absently began scratching his head. “ Sir, I’m sure the Canine Alliance protocols were attached to the contract. I know it’s new but I’m sure I didn’t forget. The only reason I took a job in space is that we are now permitted to take our dogs with us!

They can survive any environments that humans can and provide a huge amount of companionship and support.”

The Captain laughed, “Loki tells me that you are his pack leader. I suspect they do more than bark at threats to humans. Remarkable! Are they fully carnivore? How did your species even begin to bond with them?”

Patrica felt her worries fade away. Any excuse to tell people about her dog. “Captain, we bonded with dogs long ago in our prehistory. Where there are humans you will find dogs. There are many different types, many breeds. Loki was bred to be a sight-hunter and outrun small game. He has an incredible turn of speed but is lazy as a brick otherwise. He won’t be any trouble on board. His intelligence is equal to a small human child and we forbid any augmentation except for lifespan.” She looked fondly at Loki,

“He will last as long as I will. A dog is for life.”

They were then rudely interrupted by the First Officer bashing in the door while carrying something that looked like a nerf-gun had mated with a power drill. “Captain, stand back! Look at the creature, it’s a predator.!”

Loki suddenly sounded a lot less friendly, growling ‘Threat/Intruder/Attack?/’ It was the Captain that responded to Loki first,’ /Idiot Pack Mate/ Misunderstanding/ Pack Leader will Discipline/’ Loki continued to grumble, ‘/Pack Leader?/You?/’ The Captain affirmed that he was. “Wippene put down that ridiculous weapon. I thought you had read the contract we signed with the Engineer. How do you expect to progress if you miss something as important as the Canine Alliance Protocols? This is the Human Symbiote species that they refer to as ‘Dogs’. This fine example is called Loki.” His tone darkened, “You will go and research them. In fact, you can re-read the entire human contract and check that you haven’t missed anything else important. Dismissed.”

“So Patrica, Loki has given you an excellent reference but I cannot allow him in Engineering. Do you understand? I hate to think of him getting entangled down there. Will he be happy to wait for you here?” She nodded, “ Of course.” Then a sudden thought struck her, “Captain, there is a concept we call ‘Walkies’. I think it might interest you…”

The ship had left port a week ago and the Engineer was hard at work, doing what humans do. In fact, since she was so busy the Captain felt that he might go and invite Loki to tour his ship again. There were still so many scents he hadn’t showed him. He was a good boy...