Late-Night Memory

I remember rolling over in bed as the call came in. The weathered voice on the other end greeted me as soon as I answered.

"Thanks for taking the call." The dispatcher sighed, a hint of exasperation in his otherwise measured voice. "We need your help again. Short-term courier assignment. Need someone to pick up some samples at the mining colony."

"That doesn't sound so bad. You have the transport ship ready to go?"

"It's out of commission."

I rolled up out of bed. "Still? Man, the turnaround on repairs is getting kind of ridiculous. You don't need to be this short-staffed all the time. Well, what do you want me to do?"

"I know, I know. Don't get me started. For now, we can arrange to, well, get you a ride. You know, with one of them. If that's okay."

I blinked suddenly, nervousness fluttering through me. "Same one as last time?"

"Yeah. Same one."

I paused for a moment, then narrowed my eyes. "Well, whatever. I'm sure I can make it work. But they're becoming a sort of regular customer of yours, aren't they. And not for the right reasons. You want to go through this humiliation ritual again? You keep this up, and they're going to eat your lunch."

He sighed. "I don't know what to tell you. It's out of my hands. Just saying the job's there if you're willing to take it. Like I said, you've worked with this one before and came away unscathed. And he doesn't seem averse to working with you either. I don't think you'll have problems a second time."

Not counting the few rather awkward moments that transpired last time, that is. I found myself squirming a little bit thinking about it.

"You still there?" he asked.

"Right. Yeah. No, I shouldn't have any problems. So how do I get back?"

"There's a transport ship on the colony that can take you back once you've gotten the samples. We know there are risks involved in working with them. So there's hazard pay involved too like last time, in case you're wondering."

I mumbled an agreement before disconnecting the call. Then I fell back asleep.

Later, after a quick shower, shave, and bite to eat, I headed over to the spaceport. There I found myself looking at the modestly-sized spacecraft that would take me to my destination, neatly parked on the launch pad. A pair of wings stuck out either side of the short, oval chassis, round on the fronts and with concave curves on their backsides.

It was compact, perhaps even small. All I knew was that at least technically, there was nothing in the regulations against squeezing two bodies into the thing on a short-haul trip.

After stepping inside through the hatch in the rear and storing my equipment in the cargo compartment, I moved to the front of the ship, working my way to the cockpit. Eventually, I could see the back of the command chair that faced the viewport near the front.

The transporter turned his head. His large, hooked yellow beak poked out from the side of the command chair at the front of the spacecraft. Then the chair rotated slightly and I could see the rest of his face, including his sky-blue eyes and coat of gray-tipped white feathers.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite human," he said cheerfully, a sing-songy quality in his voice. The corner of his beak turned up into a smile as he spoke. It always surprised me how it was flexible enough to do that, a quirk of their evolution perhaps. "Tell me you weren't looking forward to another day working together."

"You mean being ferried across space while stuffed into an alien craft with a giant chicken? Yeah, sure. That sounds swell."

"Chicken." He rolled his eyes. "Pfft. You must be overdue for a visit to the ocular surgeon. We come from a line of apex predators, mister primate."

I huffed. "I'm just glad this cramped flight comes with a comfortable feather pillow. That's very thoughtful. Anyway, nice new rig you got here. I still can't believe everything you guys do is on the up and up though."

"Oh, why would you say that. Of course it is." He let out a gentle chortle, pressing a few touchscreens on the navigation console in front of him. Then he splayed his yellow-scaled hands to examine the backs of his obsidian black talons, humming quietly.

"Your company loves cost-cutting, doesn't it," he continued, cooing. "They are more fond of shedding than even we are. I hear the stories in the news every other day, it seems. Except, contrary to my case, they like to shed things that are far harder to replace than a few feathers."

"You're not kidding about that. Things they think are too expensive for them. Not worth the investment. Like people. Of course, they won't come out and admit the real reason. They'll make up some other excuse." I shrugged. "Anyway, I'm a contractor. Not my issue."

He stopped what he was doing and looked up to the ceiling in thought, cupping his chin in his hand and tapping the curve of his beak with a talon tip. "It's why they turn to us for help, isn't it. Cause we have no trouble keeping our ships in tip-top shape." He smiled smugly, appearing to gloat.

I let out a sigh. "Yeah. Probably. Maybe your kind deserves some credit for figuring out how to solve that problem. You know, how to not hollow out your infrastructure to squeeze out short-term profits."

"Mmhmm." He laughed again. "Not that I'm complaining. It makes us more competitive and reliable, maybe even superior, business partners. Ones that might even come out on top in the end."

He looked directly at me and grinned again, this time with a hint of not only mockery, but also menace. "A position you should surmise most of us apex predator types love being in."

I couldn't suppress the sudden pang of fear that pierced my stomach. Prior experience with him or not, I was going to be in close quarters with him for some time. And whatever evolutionary cycles they went through did not cost them the built-in weapons they carried. Nor the instincts to use them either, I figured.

After a few seconds of awkward tension, he laughed again. "I'm just teasing. Don't worry."

"Yeah, yeah." I glanced around. "Uh, where am I supposed to sit in here?"

"Ah, it's standing room only, I'm afraid. But there's a, uh, handle above your head you can hold onto."

"So you're basically running a fancy subway. That's nice."

I looked around the interior of the egg-shaped cockpit some more. Surrounding the thick, padded chair the transporter sat in were the gunmetal walls which flanked either side of the navigation console and viewport. The console itself was brightly lit, various numbers and readings displayed alongside images of various planets. But what really stood out to me were the controls, the joysticks in particular, positioned on the floor in the surprisingly deep and roomy footwell underneath it.

Sensing my curiosity, he looked up at me again. "You haven't been in one of these before, have you. I take it you just noticed we steer these things a little differently."

"Yeah," I nodded. "I guess, with your feet?"

"That's right." He smiled and flexed one of his large yellow feet. His three long toes extended, along with the rear toe sticking out of his heel, then curled shut, then extended again. Now splayed out, there was just enough lighting in the cockpit to reflect off of his long, scythe-like talons.

"Wow." I found myself mesmerized by the display, the dim lighting only serving to make the appearance of his talons all that more terrifying.

"Mm, it's a practical design decision, far as we're concerned. Means we get to use our hands for other things."

"Uh huh. Lucky bastards." I let out a nervous chuckle. "Guess they haven't come up with a neural interface that's compatible with your bird brains yet."

"Har har." He straightened up, tapping a few touchscreens on the navigation console. "Well, no time to waste. You're stuck in here with me for a little while, I think. Make yourself, uh, comfortable. If you can." He gave a cheeky smile, rotating the command chair to face straight ahead.

Slowly, he moved his large foot over to one of the joysticks sticking up out of the floor. He slid it along the stick's length until it sat about where his arch was, and then curled his long, prehensile toes around it. Gripping it tightly, he gently pushed the stick around this way and that, a pleasant, melodic humming coming from his beak.

As the ship began to ascend, it rocked back and forth slightly in response to his control. Any words I could muster immediately died in my throat as I was suddenly overcome with embarrassment. I forced myself to look away from his foot, biting my lip and struggling to manage the erection that had spontaneously formed underneath my pants.

Then I couldn't resist looking down there again, this time even a bit transfixed.

"Okay, now we'll just ascend over the landing pad here, and we should be good to go!" he said cheerfully. He then suddenly and unexpectedly looked up at me, catching me off guard. "Everything alright? You don't get motion sickness, do you?"

After a brief pause, I blinked a few times and turned to look at his face, abruptly clearing my throat. "No, no. I'm fine. I mean, I usually have some dymenhydrinate on me, but I've never had to use it."

"Mm. Remember to stay hydrated enough?"

"Yeah. Then again, being around you guys makes me want to drink anyway."

He lazily smiled again. I held onto one of the handle that stuck out from the wall.

The hum of the craft's engines was deep, almost soothing, as it broke the planet's gravitational pull. I could feel its vibrations penetrating my body as we ascended through the atmosphere. Once we passed it, the planet disappeared underneath the viewport, the view replaced with that of the far reaches of space.

"Brace yourself," he said. "Got some turbulence ahead. We're approaching the asteroid belt. Once we're past them, should be a smooth trip afterwards." His voice maintained its sing-songy tone.

The asteroid belt loomed in the distance. As the craft drew near them, the transporter expertly weaved around them, deftly making his way through the belt. The pitch of the engine hum bent this way and that as he zipped around the obstacles in the belt.