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Aboard the Severance: Orbiting Yarrow 2
As Aries had guided the ship out of hyperspace, sending them into orbit around a misty, green planet, Juniper listened as Day and Jax argued about switching bunks. She was browsing the science news feeds on her tablet, while Jax complained that his bunk “smells like petrified beaver anus” and demanded Day give up their bunk to the “leader” of the research team. Luna-tick.
Clearly not in the mood to play Jax’s games, Day had stomped into the kitchen, but not before flashing a vulgar sign in the koala’s direction. He of course didn’t understand Lago gestures, but the message had been received. Lips twisted into a pout and round ears drooped, the pouting koala had set a gray tufted elbow on the table of the sitting area, his chin resting upon a gray paw.
Now that the moment was a few beats behind them, the black tipped claw of his chin-free hand began to trace invisible lines along the table’s dark metallic surface. The Severance was suddenly uncomfortably silent, only interrupted by the sound of Day’s stomping from the kitchen to the bunks, mineral water in claw, likely seeking warmth among their heating and UV elements. Good thing Y2 has a high UV index. She grinned at the image of Day laying out in the sun, jaws open to the shining star above.
Not willing to waste a moment of quiet, Juniper dove into an unpublished scholarly article from SURI’s private database, nibbling the end of a pencil as her eyes took in the tablet’s paper-like display. The lynx had an inside connection at the university archive, Sonder, a slender Anura. Xe discreetly sent Juniper classified articles that only the directors and archivists had access to. It was often fascinating stuff, since xe knew good and well what the lynx was interested in at this point in their relationship. Since the handful of intimate encounters they’d shared in Juniper’s early standard orbits at SURI, the two now enjoyed a symbiotic relationship, despite not working out romantically.
Their relationship had been a deeply emotional kind of intimacy, not physical, because Anura didn’t possess compatible genitalia nor the mating instincts present in most other furs, thus intimacy with them boasted an intensely emotional connection that was almost telepathic in nature. Juniper frequented the sterile maze of computer stalls in SURI’s archive almost every Wake Cycle since her arrival, and Sonder happened to occupy the archive’s staff counter more often than not. Juniper often wondered if xe lived behind that dual-monitor computer on the large chestnut counter surrounded by figurines and models of galaxies. Based on how good Sonder was at xir job, Juniper found it likely. As long as the articles kept coming and Sonder was happy, she didn’t care how much time xe spent on the top floor of the warm-lit library.
Sonder’s most recent find was particularly interesting, because it was written by a newly hired professor who transferred from some robotics company less than a Standard Orbit ago. The article was in a “privacy hold” status with a note that stated the article was to remain private “until further notice”, which had especially piqued her interest. Not to mention, the article’s topic was fascinating with unbelievable implications. The professor behind the article claimed there was a new kind of pollinator, a hybrid of sorts, that was more efficient at pollination, reproduction, and adaptability across biomes. Juniper had no idea where it could have been found, SURI had been nearly everywhere in Borealis.
To the average Fur, a new pollinator didn’t seem like a political topic with intense implications, but Juniper knew otherwise. Many planets in Central Space have been polluted and colonized to the point of uselessness, in terms of agriculture and biome safety. Of the 10 to 20 galaxies in the Borealis Supercluster, there weren’t many left unaffected by the heavy paw of Central Space. The average fur wouldn’t notice the rapid decline in available planets for agricultural and natural development. A long glance into distribution maps and resource statistics would give Anyfur an idea of the looming threat to civilization. The main cause for concern is the quick extinction of almost all primary pollinators and major players in natural biomes post-centralization. Highfurs in bustling colonies wouldn’t notice the decrease in crop yield, due to the wealth bubble of protection, but lowfurs from around the supercluster have been experiencing increased difficulty in finding naturally grown, organic matter in recent times.
Juniper loved the question that usually followed this revelation: why not just grow food and natural materials in laboratories? The furless ancients made that mistake. To put it simply, technology can do amazing things, but in the end, nature is the world’s most innovative, efficient, and safe method of growing food. Over time, the long term consumption of in-organic materials brings out the flaws in their development and begins to wreak havoc on organic individuals, especially several generations down the line. After thousands of cycles, conducting thorough research with the most advanced technology in the supercluster, they came to the conclusion that there is no better method of sustaining an organic form than with good ol’ nature and its inhabitants. Central Space could restore many colonized planets, that were wrecked with explosives and terraforming, by repopulating the planets with the right pollinators and creating an efficient ecosystem. Essentially reviving the planets before using them in agriculture. So far, SURI has been unable to find stable, hardy pollinators and ecosystem staples that survive relocation and efficiently revive the land. But this professor was making the case for an unbelievable discovery, a pollinator with the qualities they’ve been searching for.
She continued to browse the article, when suddenly her breath hitched. The article mentioned Y2. Xe must have sent this when I told xim about our trip to Y2. The professor was claiming to have found living specimens of a new pollinator on Y2 during a survey on the planet funded by an unnamed robotics company. Y2 was surveyed! But by a robotics company? Why would this professor have transferred to academia? Is the robotics company still on-
Her thoughts were infuriatingly cut off as Jax let out a dramatic sigh, flicking his dark eyes up at her to see if she was looking before directing them back at the reflective table top. Discrete was not a descriptor that Juniper would use to describe her least pleasant colleague. She tried to ignore him, pulling her knees up under her chin, nibbling her pencil faster as her eyes scanned the article again, searching for more details between the lines. Then, another sigh from the moping dung beetle. His black claws pinged against the table top, and his muscular form slouched pathetically. To her dismay, yet another grating sigh tore at her sensitive eardrums.
“What the fuck do you want, Jax,” Juniper demanded with razor sharp pupils. “I am not switching bunks with you.” She jabbed the end of her pencil in his direction.
Jax’s muscles instinctively tensed, black eyes wide, but he took a stabilizing breath deep into his chest in an attempt to recompose himself, before squaring his shoulders. “I was not going to ask you to swap bunks with me, daisy,” his stupid grin turned into an idiotic smirk. He clearly thought he was being seductive. “I was going to suggest we share your bunk. You know the Kefi are a nesting colony.” His thin-lipped gray smile widened even further.
With their leathery olive snout pointed to the ceiling and a hiss of air, Day suddenly marched past the seating area into the bridge, angrily muttering something about “hatchlings”.
“We are unwell without physical contact for too long. My quality of life is at stake here.” One of his warm clawed hands settled upon hers, as he did his best to look dreamily into her blank stare.
“What is it you say, daisy? ‘For science’,” he continued, ignorant of the fact that he was embarrassing himself.
Juniper didn’t skip a beat, tunnel vision honed in on the fur in front of her. “Jax,” she feigned with the tone of a love stricken adolescent, painting a seductive smile and a twinkle in her eyes as she placed her other clawed hand atop his. His black eyes grew wide with surprise and maybe even a glimmer of hope. Faster than the twinkle of a star, her expression dropped, returning to razors, slicing through Jax’s empty skull.
“Go swallow some dioxins, you parasite,” she spat. And before he could react, she grabbed his wrist and twisted, slamming his face down on the table just hard enough to startle him, but not so hard as to cause blood force trauma. Her pupils were narrow slits, making her eyes appear almost completely silver, and her feline fangs glistened in the ship’s cold lighting, a hiss building in the back of her throat.
“Ow, Okay! Okay! I’m sorry,” Jax pleaded, his face hilariously smooshed into the chrome tabletop. “I- I take it back!”
Juniper shoved Jax’s pathetic wrist away from her, crossed her arms, and stuck her pink button nose up towards the ceiling. “Not everyone wants to fuck you,” Juniper stated matter-of-fact, not looking at the sulking koala, who was rubbing his wrist like an injured child. “You may be a High Fur, but that doesn’t mean any fur has to respect you, Jax.” The koala’s dark eyes widened at the intentional pause before and after his name. “You have to earn your place in this universe alongside the rest of us, Sisu.” Juniper spared him a mischievous glance from the corner of her eye, a sly grin painted on her lips. Victory.
Jax fumbled, flabbergasted. “H-How did you know?!” He ran a paw through the wavy gray fur atop his head, breathing heavily as panic set in.
But before he could say another word, she silently swiped her tablet from the table and strut down the hall. She was going to hole up in her bunk until Aries found a good place to land. I know more than you ever will, Dex Sisu. She had more research to do on this robotics company employee turned professor, and Jax wasn’t ready for the conversation buzzing around them. I don’t have time for this.
Back in her cramped bunk, Juniper typed out a quick message to Sonder:
—Encrypted Message #2D7VOS8374—
What’s buzzin Tadpole,
Mind doing a quick dig on the planet Yarrow 2 in the outer regions of Borealis? Also, could you take a peek into the professor who wrote the last article you sent me? Trying to figure out which robotics company they came from. Thanks, booger butt.
Also, received your message about the threats on Amnis Temple, is Melody-
—End Encrypted Message #2D7VOS8374—
Reptilian claws and armored scales scraped the metallic floor outside the bunks, followed by a trio of taps against her bunk’s privacy door. “June,” Day’s airy voice bounced off the dark metal barrier.
They didn’t need to say anymore, an unspoken understanding passed between them. Juniper begrudgingly uncurled herself with a grunt, setting the unfinished message aside temporarily. She got up on her knees and opened the privacy door, giving Day a toothy grin. “What’s buzzin’, honey bee?”
Air hissed from the alligator’s snout with a grin. “Don’t ‘honey bee’ me,” they tilted their snout at the space beside the lynx on the bed. Juniper bobbed her head in response, granting her friend permission to sit. Day swooped their thick tail up onto the bunk with a practiced claw before leaning back against the wall opposite Juniper.
The lynx slunk across the tousled blankets like a house cat over to her Scaly friend, laying a gentle hand upon their thigh and squeezing lightly, a Lago Gesture for ‘how are you; I’m here for you’. To let her know that they were well, Day placed a rough hand atop Juniper’s, giving it two short pats.
“How was your little chat with the captain,” Juniper pressed, placing her chin upon a raised knee fiddling with the armored ridges on Day’s tail that wrapped around the two protectively.
“Yuh know, he asked about you of course,” a teasing grin stretched across the alligator’s face at the twitch of the lynx’s tufted ears and lift of her head. Juniper couldn’t help the quickening of her heart at the thought of Aries asking about her. Was she really that pent up? I need to get laid, this is depressing.
“What did he say? What did you say,” Juniper excitedly interrogated. Day was clearly amused.
“Oh calm yourself, you sound like a hatchling in mating season,” they chastised. “I just told him that you’re embarrassingly desperate, so he should probably get to buttering your biscuit before you rip someone’s head off from sexual frustration.” They leaned forward like a gossiping school kid, “and let me tell you, that got his pheromones flying through the air. I must warn you, it smells awful in the bridge. Like the most sterile barn I’ve ever been in. You’d love it, Junie. Smells a bit like this bunk!”
Juniper giggled wildly, slapping Day’s knee, “You’re giving me hives with all those lies! Don’t mess with me!” The two threw their heads back, laughing for a beat before coming down with a few deep breaths.
“You’re such a lizard brain,” Juniper chuckled. “What did you really talk about?”
“No really, he asked about you. He seems more interested in an academic than I’d expect of a fur like him. Be careful, Junie. That stud has the hots for you, and he’s bad news,” Day warned, placing a claw under the lynx’s chin to show that they were serious.
Juniper brushed their hand away with an eye roll, “Thanks, guardian Day, but I think I can handle myself. Besides, what’s the worst that could happen? A quick fuck and we go our separate ways when this is all over. We’re from two different worlds.” She paused then smirked mischievously. “Who knows, maybe those pheromones were for a certain meaty gator who barged into his ship, demanding his attention with irresistible muscles and broad shoulders.” She flicked one of their scaly biceps with a giggle.
Day playfully shoved Juniper, air hissing in alternating rhythm with Juniper’s wild giggles.
“Kiss my vent,” Day exclaimed as the two laughed uncontrollably in the small bunk, palms on stomachs, gasping for breath only to return to laughing every time their eyes met, swatting at one another.
Between the giggles, Juniper couldn’t help but feel herself dissociating, her mind maintaining the wall that protected her from growing too attached to anyfur. For giving a part of yourself to another, meant it would die along with them. She didn’t know how much of herself was left to lose, and she was too afraid to find out. But the thought of a quick fling with the stallion pilot sent a heat through her soft belly. She wanted some of that horse meat, and she was going to get it.