Ferret in Space (Ferret and Badger part 1) (Otherwise Untitled)
#9 of Short Stories
Story of a chilled ferret loitering in space while on a smuggling run.
~ Softly crackling with each sensor sweep, a ferret listened to the crystal radio's dutiful service within the chilled cabin of the retrofitted interstellar troop carrier left over from some quantity of wars prior. The older models were easiest to rig up for a complete shutdown; the emergency squawks and remote recall modules were add-ons readily bypassed by some switches and a clever hand. All ship systems were down cold, as the patrol made its round near the asteroid field in which the smuggler had taken cover; the profit her cargo held was well worth the risk of this monitored route.
~ Aside from the passive radio and the ferret herself, only one other thing in the ship belied any signs of activity. The blanket burrito of a mustelid squirmed and tumbled in place until her eyes found the soft blue glow of the tritium necklace floating free somewhere over near the navigational instrumentation. She always took it off when going silent, and she always smiled when she found it again. For six years she'd flown this bucket, and for four more she would be able to hold up to the bargain she struck.
~ The port was bustling with excitement and vigor at the auction when she won her ship. Her badger lover, defeated in the ferret's victorious bid, struck the bargain of a lucky token in exchange for a safe return before it was exhausted. A handshake, hug, a few tears, and a necklace later the weasel departed on the first leg of her new courier service. Before the charm had even begun to dim she had slid into the routine of contraband and bootlegging.
~ With this delivery's profits she could afford the land where she could place the house that next month's haul would lay foundations for. She pulled the blankets closer in against her light frame. Today was of iced walls and chilled bones as she waited for next beat in the tempo of this promising path, tomorrow was a calm home in a safe colony with the warm embrace of a badger, and this moment was the glimmer of a tritium star lingering amongst the throttle transmission assembly which kept her thoughts to a badger's smile.