Mike started giving commands to several other humans who scurried around the barbaric vessel like rats. Jab tried to remember their names, but all humans looked vaguely the same to him. It did not help Jab that these humans all wore the same practical…and almost clean…uniforms. “…Let’s be ready to leave within fifteen minutes!”

  “Wait!” Jab said, startled as he had nearly forgotten. This deal was to be potentially a longer assignment. So he had prepared some very necessary items to help him during his time with the humans. “My things…my luggage…my hover car.”

  One of the humans, Jab thought her name was Sofia, sighed dramatically. “We already got it in the cargo hold. Did you need to bring…so much junk? The sand is going to wreck it!”

  Mike shooed her away with a wave of his hand. “No worries, I already handled your things. That is why I was a little late in meeting you, they arrived before you did and I had to recalibrate the ship’s weight to accommodate the extra load.”

  Jab almost felt like Mike implied he had done something…inconvenient for the humans.

  “Well, you’re here now, let me introduce you to my baby. Take a seat over there.”

  As they pulled away from the station, Jab experienced his first ride in Mike’s ‘baby’. In his opinion, it was more like a monster than a precious offspring.

  The trip inside the.... ship... was bumpy. It wasn’t helped even after Mike secured an extra harness on Jab after he complained the seat strap was too loose.

  On that note, calling that a seat was something of a joke: seats were supposed to be comfortable. Instead it was a serious of restraints you would find in a combat spacecraft to prevent any unwanted movement of the pilot's body. Fine for military, but what was it doing in a civilian’s ship?! Jab didn’t even dream of being a fighter pilot as a nestling! His dreams had always been more pragmatic and grounded!

  Jab sighed inwardly. To be fair to the humans, Jab’s seat was custom built for his biology. But it should have been a normal bipedal seat to begin with!

  The entire experience frustrated him because looking into the back compartment of the ship, he could see they didn’t have the internal framework needed to hold the G force absorber. They had built a freighter without the capabilities of what was quickly becoming the standard for safety and comfort. Who would do that! The ship had a hyper drive but apparently no G force absorbers. No anti-gravity dampeners, let alone softeners.

  Which meant everything had to be strapped down. Else it would be thrown around by the turbulence caused by faster than light travel.

  Jab did his best to be calm. But he could not hide the frustration in his voice. “Didn’t humans invent G force absorbers 78 cycles ago? Why is this vehicle lacking them?”

  Mike eyed Jab for a moment. He had been blankly zoned out, unconcerned in his own harness. This was the second most terrifying of Jab’s life. But Mike was acting like this is commonplace. Jab’s translator showed him that confusion crossed the human's face.

  “Um yes,” Mike started slowly. “Human cruise ships invented them for passenger comfort. But they need a lot of attention and require a degree in physics just to work on them. Considering we only fly once every few months it was deemed cost prohibitive. Besides, the staff enjoy the extra bacon with their breakfast said funds can afford. I apologize for the discomfort. Um…but my research showed your species was immune to motion sickness. Do you need a sick bag?”

  Jab sighed inwardly at the human’s misreading the subtext.

  The Phal, Jab’s species, did not suffer motion sickness. But how could anyone of ANY species be so willing to be lacking in comfort? The Phal had nerves and the ability to perceive being shaken around and jerked in ten directions in quick sequence! He wasn’t experiencing motion sickness…just disdain for the jolting and bumpy ride.

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  He thought about his mission and his mentor again. He also considered what he knew about the humans. According to the dramas and shows Jab had watched, he assumed the humans didn’t like complainers. And Jab needed to keep a working relationship so he could close this deal quickly and flee…er, return to his nice and stable office. “Oh no I am fine,” Jab lied. “But what about the other humans here? I know humans can be quite prone to motion sickness.”

  Mike nodded “Oh yah for sure. And you should have seen Sofia on her first flight!" He gave a grin in her direction. She only responded with a forced grunt as her face turned slightly red. the other humans chuckled at her expense as mike turned back to face Jab. " But we just hand out Antihistamine to those who need it.”

  “Antihistamine?” Jab inquired. “Isn't that from before Humans even reached space?”

  “Wow, you are really knowledgeable.” Mike looked proud, “Yep! Kind of funny how it was used on ships built for bodies of water. And now it’s also used for ships in the sky! You know what they say, if it is not broken, don’t fix it!”

  Jab could only hope his hover car was stowed well. Because he was loathed to go anyway under human power once they reached the mining world.

  ______________________________________________________________

  They arrived in orbit around the destination world. Mike had to kick his ‘baby’ a few times as the Inter solar flight computer kicked in and he navigated to a station. They did not land directly on the surface, but rather a floating, permanent station attached to a space elevator.

  “So the humans do enjoy such things.” Jab said, hopeful that the trip may be well after all. Second rate species often did such things, but it was still better than what Jab had feared, a bumpy and swirling ride down the surface in Mike’s ‘baby’.

  Mike scoffed. “Oh, the costs are terrible to take off directly from the surface…and then we need three guys with nine PhDs telling us we parked wrong…nah, simpler to have space elevators.”

  Another human, a tall, lanky man spoke up. “We rented these from Yavas nine, that colony world that…um…blew up. No one wanted them because they’d have to clean them.”

  That was…grim. Jab was freed from his harness and then the original seat belt. He was sad to see that in his stress he had lost some feathers…but he did get to exit the ship.

  To Jab' surprise as he exited into the dockyard of the space elevator, it was quite comfortable. Being climate controlled with comfortable seats this time! And several shops for entertainment, some serving food. One served what humans called “Asian”. No doubt all of this was a trap for workers to spend their hard-earned wages on to distract them from waiting for the elevator to come back from the surface, which may be several hours. Also, they could have food and new media to review on the long ride down to the surface when they finally embarked on the elevator.

  Jab would have gotten upset that humans used space elevators instead of landing on the surface directly with anti gravity pods on ships. But a win was a win. And Jab was more than happy to enjoy some Sweet and Sour Chicken after the horrendous flight. He also learned that a beach resort existed on the other side of the planet. He would have to ride his hover car to it during some off time. Assuming the deal went well.

  His sour mood came back after learning his hover car was on a different elevator and would be delayed a day.

  “Mr. Jab?” said the female again. Sofia? “Mike asked me to tell you the space elevator is ready to take us. It is going to be cramped because our new whirlybird is coming down with us.”

  The space elevator was a commercial one. It had some comfortable seating, but it was used in big industry and it showed in the fine layer of surface dust and debris, and that the finishing details were not polished woods or carpets, but instead like the inside of a warehouse, if you looked you could see the inside of the support structure and the open concept that didn’t hide the welds and bolts that kept it together.

  Most of the floor space was occupied by a…artifact of some kind. An ancient vehicle Jab had seen in the human media before.

  Perhaps it had some spiritual significance

  But he did realize that his hover car could have fit instead of this lug of metals and terrible blades.

  “This is our new helicopter. That’s why we were even at that station, got it for a good price. Ever seen one before?” Asked Mike.

  “In the human movies and shows…Although…they always explode.”

  All the humans entering the elevator laughed, and several even ruffled his feathers as they smacked his upper back.

  “This one won’t. Movies aren’t real life. And those movies were probably from our golden age of film, when we all lived on one planet. Helicopters are much safer now…”

  “Wait…You…You intend to ride this? There are no anti gravity devices!”

  Mike snorted, like it was a joke, and said “Ha, no, nothing like that here. This type of vehicle using spinning blades, yes those blades on top? They spin to produce lift.”

  Jab was stunned into silence. He, of course, knew how lift worked.

  Many flying animals existed throughout the galactic community of course. Some sentient species could fly as well. Such as the Triocolums. And many planets and species had used powered flight far in their past, centuries or millennia, using power such as engines for thrust and ‘wings’ to create lift, counteracting drag, creating negative pressure, and the primitive ship would fly.

  But to say this technology was obsolete would be an understatement. No species –except for humans it seemed- has made lift-based aircraft since hover-tech came about. No need for a vehicle class difference between ground and air when you could just hover.

  To see such.... Mechanical laziness was a new low for humans.

  After a moment of shocked silence, “Is that safe!? It has spinning death blades!” came a gasp Jab could not withhold. “Why not just use a standard hover vehicle?”