Peris stood on the brink of the cliff and reached out with her mind while she held her lightstick over the chasm. Stray orange pebbles skittered into the murky schism below while she pitched her body in defiance of gravity. Night had already fallen, but she pictured the twin suns, fierce and blazing in the bright green of midday. Then she imagined the sky deepening, the stars getting brighter in the center, closer, until at last the atmosphere broke like the surface of a lake.  

Come on, Nor. We’re going up. Peris felt the edges of her awareness tickle with the familiar presence. She dangled the idea like a tempting treat until she was certain the correct astropod had responded. 

Peris turned to her companions. I’ve called her. When she only saw Alfie, she transmitted it telepathically to be sure Breton would hear her. She’s on her way.  

Alfie set the basket she crammed full of supplies atop the others in her pile and gazed into the thickening twilight, despite knowing it was too early to discern the twinkling, blue, leviathan, creature floating toward them. Although Peris had caught and trained Nor, but the giant couldn’t sneak up on Alfie either. The sight of her massive bulk soaring across the abyss was magnificent and she wouldn’t chance missing it.   

Breton wound his way out of the squat wooden house and between Alfie’s stacks of baskets, carrying another load of food, which he deposited on the grass beside her. His hands empty, he looked toward the horizon.  

Jagged cliffs stretched out before them in the darkness. The cities and villages of Kentar dotted the forested highlands on the western side of the continent, but to the east, the fissures began, and left the open seas of air populated by astropods.  

He crossed his arms. “How old is Nor?” he asked.   

Peris studied him, distinct against the heavy lines of the darkening forest of golden-needled trees behind him. His barbed tongue often gave sharp cuts. It was hard to discern his meaning from those words. She peered into his thoughts, but they blanked into an intentional gray mist. He shook his head to throw the shaggy, red hair from his eyes and cast her out.   

“I trained her about ten years ago,” Peris said when she could learn nothing else.  

“She’s getting slow,” Breton observed.   

“Oh, she is not!” Alfie jumped to Nor’s defense. “She’s less hyper than she used to be, that’s it,” she assured them both. Small and tough, Alfie was not one to hear any slander against a mind with which she resonated.  

“A lot of them don’t make it to fifteen years old before they start ignoring commands,” he kicked at a tuft of yellow grass. 

“She has plenty of time left in her,” Peris turned on her heels. At that exact moment, Nor came into view. She undulated through the clouds, her long, inky body aglow with filaments. At this slow speed, each of her seven rounded segments bobbed independently of the others. She got closer and they could see the paler cornflower skin of her face bunched up in a happy greeting.      

She came to rest in front of Peris while she broadcasted excitement and urgency.  

Hold on, girl. We’re going up, but we’re not ready yet, Peris amended.   

You’re flying with your mouth open again, Breton remarked on the way she landed at the ready, with her outer orifice half ajar.  

She looked at him, squeezed her mouth shut, and issued forth a thought that felt like she meant she wanted to exclude him from the group of riders. 

Peris and Alfie threw their heads back and laughed. “She told you.” Alfie smacked him on the arm.  

“This is what I mean; she’s getting stubborn!” he huffed.  

“That’s not stubborn, that’s smart!” Peris corrected him.  

“Peris! You can’t let her make those kinds of choices! It’ll ruin her!” he whined. “And you guys can’t leave without me. This is my job too!”  

“Yeah, and it’s some mission, alright!” Alfie mocked him. “Delivery boy is more accurate.” 

Come here, Miss Nor, Peris crooned. The giant creature craned her head closer, and she pet her between her wide, dark eyes. We’re getting ready to leave. We have to load everything up first. If you open your orifice and let Breton inside, we’ll make him do all the work. Do you think you can do that?  

Nor relaxed as Peris stroked her rubbery skin. She closed her eyes and her thoughts murmured agreement. When the petting was over, she picked her head up and stretched her neck out, rising up. She obediently opened the inner and outer layers of her orifice so they could enter.  

“You heard me, Breton. Start loading.” She waved him into the deep, waiting cavity, illuminated by the same bioluminescent fibers that twinkled along the edge of Nor’s skin.  

He could’ve asked her if she was kidding, but it wasn’t necessary to see her face to sense no joviality radiated from her. More importantly, Nor had heard her and he didn’t want to risk angering the beast before climbing inside her and entrusting her with his life. He’d never heard of an astropod spitting one passenger into the depths of space, but he had no desire to be the first. With a deep sigh, he grabbed an armload and trudged into the opening, down the remnants of the astropod’s throat.  

What’s in these? He asked. 

Who knows? The usual trinkets people can sell off-world. Alfie replied.  

It feels like a ton of rocks, he said.  

Breton made his way down the passage, with Nor’s vital systems encased above him. A thousand generations ago, the large, glowing passage would have housed a digestive system. But astropods had learned to feed on solar energy eons ago, and the unused parts of their bodies had evolved symbiotically with the Kentarans, who, through their telepathic link, could help them navigate the depths of space better than they could on their own.   

He stacked the crates against her propulsion system in the rearmost chamber. Then he loaded the sides of the next cell with their food. He left an area in the middle for their mess hall. The third cavity, where her ribs were more pronounced, provided the best general quarters. By the time he finished loading the ship with the rest of the items, the women were carrying their personal tack to their bunks.   

Peris threw her pack in the spot she always claimed, the curve of the biggest rib on the left, so she could imagine she was sleeping right under Nor’s heart. Alfie came up beside her. The crew was so comfortable together, they performed their tasks automatically, including nestling into the same preferred beds.  

Breton hopped onto the large rib across from them for a moment’s rest. “We’re loaded up,” he reported.  

“Alright,” Peris turned toward them and rose to her full height, taking on her official airs. She flipped her violet hair behind her shoulders and continued. “This should be an easy trip. You guys know what’s up. We’re running cargo to the Vega system, where we’ll swap it with whatever’s waiting for us there and come home. It’s a simple week, easy paycheck.”  

“Yeah, good thing these merchants never tamed any astropods, or we’d be out of jobs!” Breton agreed.  

“Look who’s talking. You’ve never tamed an astropod either! Good thing we have Peris and Nor,” Alfie said.  

“We have each other,” Peris simplified the equation. She nodded to Breton. “Hurry with your stuff or I’ll change my mind.”   

Within moments, he returned. Nor sealed the double layers of the orifice tightly enough to provide an airlock, and they nestled into their bunks, getting ready for take-off.   

When everyone was prepared, Peris thought, Okay, girl, go on up.   

Without waiting for further instruction, Nor leaped off the edge of the cliff and slithered her way into the sky. She cut across downdrafts and wiggled on top of layers of air. The exact method of the astropod’s propulsion was a mystery to the Kentarans; they did not seem to be aerodynamic creatures, yet they flew inside atmospheres, among planets, and between the stars. Somehow, it related to their hind segments, which pulsated and throbbed variably during travel above light speed. Nor writhed faster and faster, breaking through the troposphere into the stratosphere where the particles floated farther apart, and still, she sped up. The height of her crests became shallower the closer she drew to escape velocity until, at last, she’d worked up enough speed to clear the planet’s gravity.   

Peris watched the ascent with Nor’s eyes, but when they reached the limits of space, she deepened her awareness to the extrasensory nodes that ran down her back, picking up on other information, like cosmic radiation and x-rays. She examined their immediate vicinity for signs of danger, then she loosened the reins, and Nor ran for the binary suns at the center of the solar system. Peris had to stay alert to keep feeding her course corrections because of her speed. The solar system was safe, but she often failed to check for comets and received serious dings if Peris wasn’t attentive. It was nothing like the depths of space where she had to worry about cosmic radiation Nor could sense but made no effort to evade.  

When they reached the binary stars, all of Nor’s occupants heaved a sigh, feeling her drink in the solar energy. Her relief was overwhelming. Contentment spread among them. There was nothing to do but wait until she’d had her fill.  

Alfie stroked Nor’s side, caught up in sharing the happy feelings of the moment. She could drift to sleep in the peace and tranquility.  

Breton was less connected to Nor, but he could feel her satisfaction. He put his arms over his head and settled into his bunk.  

Peris kept watching through Nor’s eyes. “There’s a bunch of astropods out here tonight. Floating around the suns, drinking up the light,” she reported.   

“Don’t let her get close to unmanned astropods! You know how clumsy they are,” Breton cautioned her. “Besides, Nor shouldn’t see that. She’ll get temperamental. I don’t want her ignoring commands when we’re up here.”  

“Oh, she wouldn’t!” Alfie jumped to her defense. 

Peris watched the rings of gentle giants basking in the energy. In space, their bodies moved more gracefully than in the atmosphere; here they could glide and swoop instead of wiggling. They played in circles, chasing each other in one direction, and then turning to fly the other. If she hadn’t known better, she could have mistaken it for a dance. She could sense Nor wanted to be closer to the others. Despite Breton’s warning, she let her wander over, ready to pull her back if something were to happen.   

To her surprise, the other astropods noticed Nor and stopped their game. Two of them flew to meet her.   

Alfie had been aware of Nor’s curiosity, but hadn’t attempted to use her sight. However, when she felt her excitement level change, she sat up and looked out her eyes to see the other creatures coming for them.  

“Have you ever heard of such a thing?” she asked Peris.  

Peris shook her head.   

The next sensation projected by the beings in space felt stranger than either could have expected. It was like a conscious thought. Not one they could understand, but a fully developed thought nonetheless.  

“What was that? What’s happening out there?” Breton could feel it, too.  

They both looked at Peris, but she was lost for words.