The Outer Moon (A Sapphic Sci Fi Adventure)

Chapter 29

Lexi couldn't help but giggle as Kajna flipped through the air, well space, of the immense colony ship. While there were a lot of people on the new human ship that Emma had discovered, Lexi was enjoying her time with the Antuhsas and that meant getting some of them acclimated to being in space. Kajna was the de facto leader of the little band of younger ones that had come up to the ship, along with his friends Radali, Apismi, and Vemu.

The group had spent several weeks taking all of the bodies of their ancestors to the surface, where the tribe of Antuhsas had had a huge ceremony where they cremated them, dancing and singing to celebrate their lives. It was heartbreaking to see so many of the Antuhsas children from the ship, but the members of the village just seemed thrilled to be able to honor them.

Now, the plan was to get the younger ones ready for more activity in space. The Antuhsas had conquered it before, building ships that could travel the stars, and they could do so again. The biggest issue with getting them into space, without hitching a ride with the humans, was that all of their old ships were non-functionable thanks to the damage they'd suffered in the battle back in Uranus' orbit.

But they were working to fix that.

Since there were extra smaller ships in the new huge ship, there was an effort underway to convert two of the smaller fighter jet type craft into ships for the Antuhsas. The plan was to replace the existing cockpit seats with some from the larger Antuhsas ships that were still in good shape. They could use the frames, and then replace the padding with new materials, and then the ships would be usable with their smaller stature.

Kajna was thrilled with the idea. It was hard to judge ages with the Antuhsas since the orbits were all so messed up, but the estimate in comparing them was that he was about 17 or so in human years. In Lena and Emma's eyes, that was perfect for learning to fly, as they were young enough not to be scared, old enough to understand the complexities, and yet still had the excitement and fast reflexes needed to master the situation.

["This is amazing!"] Radali screamed as she pushed off the ceiling. The little group was in the large chamber that had once housed all the frozen bodies of the herd animals that had been originally destined to start herds on a new planet. There was plenty of room for the Antuhsas to fly around, and Lexi joined them after several minutes of hearing their joyful laughter.

Radali was probably the loudest of the younger foxes, though Kajna was the boldest. Apismi and Vemu both enjoyed themselves though, so Lexi was content with that. Getting them used to being in a different atmosphere was important, and soon they'd move onto bigger and better things.

They were in there for quite a while, until they were all worn out from their playing, even with them being in no gravity. ["Okay, I think it's time to wrap up!"] Lexi called out wearily. ["We need to be back for dinner or Ohavi will kick our tails!"] Just name dropping the kind elder's name was enough to get the other Antuhsas in line, and the group of them slowly drifted through the corridors of the huge ship and then to the hole that bisected the hull.

They'd explored many of the rooms up and down the corridors, and everything that could be used by the foxes had been scavenged. It wasn't odd to see a villager back on the moon wearing a pair of uniform pants and a simple tunic, just because the ancient pants fit well, and their original function was meaningless now. But there were always other rooms to see, and so they opened a few extra rooms, grabbing all they could in little bags that were always in their pockets. There was always a use for the cool pens, more clothes, books, and everything else that they could find.

["What is this?"] Radali asked quietly as she leafed through a small, green book. The pages were similar to fibrous paper, almost like old dollar bills.