This is from Chapter 15 – In my early 2020 draft, I had written that humans “are not allowed” to be off world. As I wrote the rest of the story, I realized it didn’t fit the story all that well, so I removed it.

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 I thought, without the proper credentials, it was outlawed.”

“Oh, it is,” replied Grumm. “We’re breaking the law big time here.”

Spinning to look at Grumm, Alex asked, “Is that right? Am I not allowed to be here?”

“Fear not,” said Hathiant with a dismissive wave. “We have permission to have a human on board.”

“Do you?” asked Alex.

“Do we?” asked Grumm.

Alex said, “How did you know you were going to pick me up?”

As Hathiant’s coloring blushed toward tea, he replied, “We didn’t. It’s a bit of a long story, but suffice it to say, one of our previous … passengers had permissions that they did not end up using. Those permissions are linked to the ship and not the individual, so if we’re questioned, we will be safe.”

Alex stared at Hathiant for a long moment before replying, “Okay, sure.”

—–

After a pause, Alex asked, “So, what’s the deal with you needing permission to have me on board?”

Turning to look at Alex, Hathiant said, “It’s for your species’ protection. As I mentioned earlier, you bipeds are the enigma of the galaxy. I’ll admit that I’m curious to know why you don’t fall over.”

“What do you mean?”

“Two legs. That’s a terrible design. You must admit that.”

Chuckling, Alex said, “I suppose. Never really thought about it. But it’s …”

He paused as they approached a large group of Leggians.

—————–

Hathiant’s coloring flashed yellowish green. “The SessRall are the worst. They aren’t allowed to remove humans from Earth for more than a few days. They certainly aren’t supposed to leave orbit with them.”

“You know they have no regard for the rules,” said Grumm.

“What do you mean they aren’t allowed?” asked Alex, his nostrils flaring.

“There are regulations in place,” replied Hathiant, “that govern how many ships can be in orbit around the Earth, how many non-humans are allowed on the planet at any one time, and how many humans can be temporarily displaced from their homes.”

“But the SessRall simply don’t care,” said Grumm. “They play by their own rules.”

Alex looked between the two Amorphicines. “Who exactly created these rules? Who enforces them?”

Grumm waved his hand dismissively. “Oh, it’s a long story. We can discuss it later.”

Alex said, “Ray said the Grey’s ship crashed on the planet. He escaped from the wreckage.”