Within moments of entering the portal, I felt ready to puke. The swirling streaks of blue and green on the main screen suggested we tumbled down a tightening tube in a narrow spiral. The heavy Rambler moved slower than the lightweight Topsy had during the storm, but the sensation twisted my stomach like a wet towel.

A glance in Ben's direction told me the human fought the same demons. Hrrovr was a scaled statue of concentration, only the twitch of his golden eyes giving away he was alive. "Hrrovr, dim the main screen before Hijac complains about cleaning another meal from the floor."

A mouldy whiff of karjkan amusement and a giggle from Aalyxh told me they both remained unaffected by nausea. Ajs perched on the headrest of Ben's chair, eyestalks extended and body quivering. I wondered if from dread or cheerful anticipation. "All good, Ajs?"

"I'm fine, Cap Kali. This is such a wonderful experience." She turned towards me with gleaming eyes. But something in my face told her I didn't share her euphoria. Her flushed indigo faded to a soft turquoise. "Don't worry about the hatchlings, Cap Kali. Before we left, they asked me to thank you and invited us to return. They are eager to follow the adventures of the famous Topsy-Turvy."

"You're building quite the fan club, Cap." Ben fought illness with cheer. "Though I'm not in a hurry to test wormhole travel again."

I was about to agree when Hrrovr hissed, his head scales jingling in urgency. "Captain, how can we know we won't end in another dess'solate quadrant?"

I pressed the comm button. "Veran? Do you control the direction of this ride? I can think of a few places in the universe I don't crave to visit."

"Like the Ticotan black hole? Funny that you ask, but we're headed straight to the last coordinates before the storm hit." He chuckled, and as much as I liked to hear his voice, it annoyed me. Could this man ever be serious? "But be assured, no black hole is as attractive as you, Kali."

Heat flushed my gills. "Ticotan isn't our destination of choice, though. Didn't Riann insist she can plot a course to anywhere?"

"Sort of. But only with your help. Where would you like me to drop you off?"

"Do you know the Sqia system?" It was a gamble, but so far, I had no reason to mistrust Veran. Ajs' eyestalks perched up, and I smiled. "We have an errand to run there."

The connection remained silent while I wondered if Veran found my request too exotic. When he called back, he sounded amused. "Are you sure about Sqia? You fancy interesting corners of the galaxy. Do I want to know about your errand?"

"Probably not. It's a simple delivery." I wasn't keen on telling him more. My basic instincts screaming to not trust anything severill were at war with my newfound wish to share time with this individual. But business is business, and I had a crew to feed and a ship to maintain.

Luckily, Veran accepted my decision. "Fine. Let's alter the course. We must sync our thrusters. Is your pilot ready?"

Aalyxh called up data on her screen four-handed. "The angle of the beams will curve the tube we're falling through, figuratively." She double-checked her calculations. "I'm ready."

On Veran's command, both ships poured energy into the artificial anomaly surrounding us. The funnel wavered for a moment, orange sparks mixing with blue and green streaks. Then we tumbled into a bend, my stomach somersaulted, and the movement of the ships smoothened.

"That's an improvement." Ben bent over his console. "Energy level is at 68, charging. We gained almost as much energy from the passage as we invested."

"Nice." I didn't mind if we arrived at our destination with the Topsy operational. Now the tumbling had ceased, I yawned. "How far to Sqia, Aalyxh? Do we have time for a nap?"

"Negative, Kali, dropout is imminent."

The confirmation came in the form of another call from the severill. "We reach the target sector. Let's cut the power and see what happens."

The swirls on the screen faded, the ship slowed, the tumbling subsided, the funnel became transparent and dissolved to leave us drifting in darkness. We were in the rim region to judge by the low density of stars. "Got your bearings, Lyxh?"

"Yes, this is the outer rim of the delevian sector. Close enough to Sqia." She gagged, overwhelmed by the karjkan's odorous fascination.

I was tempted to gloat, despite fighting dizziness myself. "Jac, cut it. I understand your excitement about crossing the galaxy in a few clicks, but alcoholic fumes are toxic for some. You don't want Ben giving another dance performance."

Even Hrrovr joined into the general amusement with a snicker, glad to be back in known space. Only Ajs's studied Ben with a dreamy expression, probably wondering about his dancing skills.

Fortunately, Veran called to say his goodbyes before she could ask for a performance. "So long, Kali. I have a few things calling for my attention. Hope our flight paths cross again."

"They will, Veran. My life would be boring without severill attention." I realised I meant what I said and plunged on before my embarrassment showed. "See you, old friend."

"Bye, Kali. It's a pleasure to be called your friend."

Aalyxh's quadrupled eye-roll expressed her annoyance with our undisguised flirting. But she couldn't hide a smile while she undocked the Topsy and waggled the ship's fins in a goodbye. The Rambler answered in the same style before zipping away into hyperspace.

I stared at the place where our unexpected allies had been a moment ago. With Veran gone, space seemed a fraction emptier. I blinked away sudden wetness in my eyes and realised everyone's attention was on me. "Hey, what's the matter? Back to work, we still have a mission and a load of frozen tyrinans to deliver."

"Aye, Kali, plotting a course for Sqia'lon seven." Aalyxh kept one eye observing me while the other three concentrated on her job. "We will reach the system in four clicks with subspace speed."

"Fine." I stifled a yawn. "That gives us time to catch up on sleep. Lyxh, Ben, and Hrrovr first. And Ajs, you too. We'll need your help on Sqia'lon."

No one complained.

When I returned to the bridge after a short rest, still yawning, the seventh planet of the sqia system dominated our screen. We approached the dayside of the pink ball wrapped in lilac clouds.

"If there ever was a cotton-candy world, this is the one." Ben licked his lips while he studied the main screen.

"I doubt the ss'sqia will let you tass'ste their planet, but you can always'ss ass'sk."

To hear the crew joking and bickering brightened my mood. The end of our cursed mission was near. I opened a general hailing channel. "Topsy-Turvy calling Sqia'lon seven. We carry an urgent load from Tyrin." I held my breath while I waited for a response.

Aalyxh squinted her eyes. "Signal incoming. I put it on the speaker."

A soft melody drifted through the bridge. It reminded me I hadn't slept enough and made me long for my resting tank. "A lullaby?"

"Might be their way of communication." Ben shrugged. "Like whales."

I reached for my age-worn copy of the GORP, but Hijac was faster. "Sqia song language. It's a rare example of expression through modulation of a single, ongoing note."

"Can we translate? Or read their minds? Aalyxh? Ajs?"

Both denied—the yuuol because of the distance, and Ajs could only connect with her species. Hrrovr's claws clicked on his screen. "I got it, the library contains'ss the bass'sics'ss. You won't like this'ss. They repeat one ss'sentence: Unable to underss'stand your code."

"Sucks worse than a black hole—we're so close." I wanted to finish this job. "Any ideas?"

Hijac rubbed two limbs together in a raping sound, a rare sign the karjkan felt out of their depth. Aalyxh shrugged. "We can try sending a musical translation of your message."
The idea was good, but when our loudspeaker shrieked the computer-generated song, not only the pilot had to protect her sensitive ears.

"Stop it, I'm going deaf," Ben shouted while Ajs took cover underneath his chair, a shivering ball of blue terror.

"Our computer doesn't cope with melodies." I uncovered my ears, listening to a new melodious sqia message floating through the bridge. "Did it work, Hrrovr?"

"No, Captain. They ask us to ss'stop the mechanical obss'scenities'ss and leave orbit."

I cursed under my breath.

"Kali?" Aalyxh called for my attention. "Our karjkan hardware doesn't feature the best sound system. We might try organic modulation." I followed her glance in Ben's direction.

The human shook his head, his distorted face a mask of horror. "No, you can't ask this from me."

"Please, Ben, you have an amazing singing voice." I blinked a few times, shamelessly exploiting the effect of my dark eyes on the human. "Hrrovr is going to translate the words, you'll only have to sing."

Ben's frown deepened, and he was about to retort when Ajs peeked out of her hiding place with quivering eyestalks. Her blue eyes had a wet shimmer, and the human's expression softened. Interesting. Between us, Ajs and I might make Ben turn cartwheels.

After an extended phase of trial-and-error, Aalyxh and Hrrovr decided on the melody for a simple greeting. Ben hummed several passages to himself before he allowed me to transmit. The immediate answer made me laugh. "Welcome to Sqia'lon. Your accent is funny, Topsy-Turvy."

Ben's glance was a killer. I swallowed my giggles and dictated the next passage of text. Hrrovr translated, Ben sang, and I tried to form simple phrases. The moment we conveyed the information about the frozen load of tyrinan hatchlings in our cargo hold, our bridge resounded with a multitude of tunes.

I was tempted to cover my ears, but Ben's eyes sparkled. "They are amazing! Better than the United Earth Philharmonic Orchestra." He swayed to the rhythm of the messages.

"It's nice they are excited, but we need a contact for delivery. Jac, can you filter the cacophony?"

But the sqia already toned down the choral to a thrilling solo. Hijac studied Hrrovr's translation. "They call us their saviours and apologise. Their planet is under quarantine and can't receive visitors."

"Another one? Why that?"

"A plague—mould on their crops. The slime of the tyrinans is the only known remedy."

Alarmed, I looked at Ajs. Were they going to kill the tyrinans to distil a disinfectant? But she reassured me. "There was a similar incident in another sqia colony a while ago. The Tanencha agreed to send hatchlings to assimilate. It worked, but it's against the law of the planetary Union. That's why she didn't tell you about the load."

This explained the interest of the space patrol. For a moment, I felt bad for breaking another rule. But if the sqia wanted to share their planet with a hive of tyrinans, who was I to judge? "Fine, let's set up the drop-off."

While Hrrovr and Ben arranged the details, my mind wandered. With the payment for this load, we could fly the Topsy to the wharves of Chichigoon and enjoy a holiday during repairs. We had earned it, for sure, before we found a nice and easy cargo job. And if life got boring, we still could catch up with the severills or visit the library in the lost city. We had the coordinates of the tyrinan colony on the Topsy's Curse, could explore a bit, and find out where the original owners of the technology had disappeared to.

"Jac, how complicated is it to build a wormhole portal?"

Hijac puffed a mint-and-lime cloud of supporting enthusiasm. "I have the recordings of our passage and the information Ajs' kin sent before we left. Still, it will be a challenge."

I contemplated my mixed crew, working together to finish this job, and thought about the future. "We braved a gipsy curse, a black hole, and a jump across the galaxy, glued to the ship of our enemies." I grinned, and the karjkan's mandibles clicked in conspiracy. "We grow with the challenges we take."

(2057 words - the end)