FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Author's Note: Well, I'm finally getting off my lazy butt and posting something! The only thing I feel kind of bad about is how short this is, but I ran out of time. More to come.

Hopefully you enjoy, this story is a bit of a departure for me. First person, male protagonist, and in space! Sorry if I manage to trip over every possible stereotype associated with the genre on this one.

Comments and constructive criticism is always welcome! ^.^

Bammer out.

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I stretched and yawned, one hand scratching behind my balls idly. The control panel read that everything was working as it should, and we were still a good 15 minutes out from Seggr IV. I snorted again at how silly that planet's name was, and the fact that this customer was insisting on meeting planetside, but when one was in the customer service business, one had to service customers by necessity. I mean, no shit, right?

I stretched and yawned again, my lips peeling back from my fangs, and rose to get changed. It was all very well and good to walk around wearing nothing but your skivvies when you were on your own ship, but I had a feeling that no one wanted to see this after we landed. Hell, I was lucky that my mechanic, Josia, put up with it.

As if my thoughts had summoned her, the lithe mouse appeared with her ever-present clipboard in hand. Her fluorescent green hair was up in pigtails, the bright color a startling contrast to her charcoal grey fur. She wouldn't be able to criticize me any longer on my lackadaisical approach to the dress code as she was in red and black flannel pajama pants and a red sports bra. She smiled quickly at me and consulted her notes.

"Ubai, the leftmost dampener only has a few more landings left in her, and this planetside meeting will take more out of her than a standard docking. I need to be able to replace it." She sighed softly, shaking her head.

"Do we have enough creds?" I asked, folding my arms and leaning back casually. I trusted Josia completely, so if she said that something needed to be replaced there was nothing to be gained by ignoring her.

"Yes, but barely. And I just checked with the Seggr IV docking bay and they happen to have one. So, with your blessing, I'm going to get this repaired while I wait. Although I was looking forward to a shower and a decent cup of coffee for a change." She smiled again and shook her head.

I shrugged, grinning. "Hey, if you can fit it in, I say go for it." The lack of personal amenities had been one of the pitfalls with getting such a small ship. The upshot of it was that with a smaller ship came a smaller crew, and the Powers Above alone knew that I was not one who easily got along with anyone I happened across. I again thanked them for the blessing that was Josia. Good at her job, easy to get along with, and she came with a completely platonic relationship. As good as she looked, she just wasn't my type. And she had never made any noise to me about her feelings on the subject, so I was content to assume it was mutual.

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." She tucked the clipboard under her arm and then made her way down the narrow hallway, moving off to the right to her bunk. I went down the same hall and turned to the left, climbing up slightly into my compartment. Calling it a room was definitely being generous, but it held all of my clothes and weapons, and a hammock that fit me perfectly. Even though as a cub I had always dreamed of my bunk being plastered with posters that said, "No Girls!" and "Keep Out!" I was a bit more mature now, and went for a sparse look. It wasn't pretty, but it was mine, and it was home, and that was more than enough. I quickly pulled my cargo pants on, tucking a form-fitting shirt in before buttoning and pulling on a belt. I strapped one blaster onto my hip, and slid into my shoulder-holster for my second. I grabbed my jacket and boots before heading out down the short ladder, jumping the last few with a satisfying clomp. I was rewarded with a small meep below and to the right.

"Damnit, Ubai, that's not funny!" came an exasperated voice. I chuckled, shaking my head and grinning a wide hyena grin.

I settled back into the captain's chair just as Seggr Control started to chirp, asking for name and serial number, what's your business, what's your password, all of the standard nonsense that came with a docking. That was one thing I couldn't bitch about, the questions were the same whether you were docking at a space station or landing on a planet. I gave them my information, calm and cool as you please, and was rewarded with the verbal authentication for landing. Everything was going smoothly.