Grow big my beloved plant
this is my beloved plant very very good looking
what do ya think?? -- Anon Guest
Always answer a distress beacon, for the distress in question may one day be yours. -- The first law of space travel.
Trucker Xue knew they would be docked pay for diverting to pick up the life pod, but flakk the shipping corp that did that. The CRC would reimburse them soon enough. Mercy had its rewards in the deep dark.
In this case, the life pod was one of those self-contained bed types that could see a cogniscent fully looked after for a limited amount of time. No matter how helpless they were. Which was a good thing, since the occupant was completely helpless. A baby. The first real question was, "A baby what?"
Full mediscans before opening. One hundred percent hazmat protocol. Because it wasn't fair to kill someone by accident in the act of trying to rescue them[1]. Okay. Cogniscent, check. Deathwordler-safe, check. Safe for Deathworlders, check[2]. There were some alerts about relative development, placing this occupant in the larval stage, but Xue already knew that.
It was a baby tree. Species, Phloran. They were an insular polity and definitely a batch of xenophobes. Understandably so, since most of the rest of cogniscent life tended to view them as 'edible'.
They found the sight of other creatures eating plants to be more than offensive. Well. This was going to be... tricky.
Step one, take all the cues from the lifepod. Okay. Cool. Xue could live off less rations so that this little scrap of life could thrive. Besides, there were always a few extra rations in case of drive failure.
Xue checked, little Phlorans liked to be cuddled just as much as little humans did. Needed it in fact. There was no telling how long this seedling had been in the pod alone, so Xue picked them up and hummed as they went through the rest of procedure.
Step two: Make certain everyone knows. Contact the CRC. Send a diplomatic message to the Phloran Isolate. Let the bosses know that this shipment of organic-compatible food printer cartridges[3] was going to be delayed. Root cause of complaint... Xue checked, "embuggerance".
Step three: Desperately scrabble for every speck of information regarding how to look after a baby Phloran. Thank the Powers that the CRC were tremendously more informative than the Phloran embassies.
Every single one of them started their replies with, "Don't eat the baby."
What did they think Xue was? A Barbarian? Well, probably yes.
They would have to stop at the next station for a full medical check, but in the meantime, Xue did their best. Talking to the kid in a soft, singsong voice. Feeding the little sprout what they needed. Keeping them clean and at the ideal temperature. Playing what they could find of Phloran Kiddie Media.
It was a mess, but it was a heartfelt and honest mess.
Xue wanted to give the kid back to relatives, but there was a complication.
"The child is hopelessly corrupted," said the translator for the closest Phloran Ambassador. "Their family will not take them back."
Xue blew air out between their lips, which made Sprout giggle. "Whelp," they said. "It's free family."
[1] True facts: too many injuries and deaths[circa 1970's and 80's] have been caused by citizens pulling passengers from crashed cars. This, primarily because media contained crashing vehicles exploding on impact.
[2] Allergens are relative.
[3] The more things change, the more they stay the same.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / Konstanttin]
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