Page 3 of Pirate By Parrot

“At least he’s warm.” Mel chuckled.

There was a squawk.“Hot as fuck!”

Minerva stared at the bird. “He has quite the grasp of language.”

“My brother ran a strip club. It was a competition to get nasty phrases to stick. I don’t even hear them anymore.” She smiled and then coughed wildly and slowly sucked air in as blood bubbled out. “Your timing is incredible.”

Mel looked at the other woman as her vision straightened, and things came back into focus. The grey was fading more slowly with every massive seizure. Not really a good sign.

“Get off your knees, bitch!”

She flipped her bird off and leaned back in her chair. The delicate fan-back framed her, and she could see her skin was flushed and grey at the same time. She wondered what season her colour palette currently was.

She leaned back in the chair and got her breathing under control.

Minerva looked at her. “May I help?”

“What are you thinking?”

“Well, Gaia would like you able to survive the trip to space, so I need to put in a patch of some sort.”

“Will it hurt?”

“You don’t like pain?”

“Nope. But I can deal. I just like some warning so I can plan my epithets.” She wheezed.

Minerva smiled and got up, pressing her hand to Mel’s chest, lining it up with the bronchial pathways and filling her lungs with a soothing warmth.

Mel breathed in slowly, and a tear trickled from her eye. “Thanks for that. I didn’t think I was going to make it to the shuttle.”

Minerva stroked her hair. “You have done a lot in your life. Server, ambulance driver, combat medic, and back to server. You have lived a life and touched many others.”

“I got around.” Mel leaned back with her eyes closed and just breathed. She heard motion by the door and opened her tired eyes.

A man in an astonishingly fitted business suit came toward them with another tablet. He frowned when he saw her, but it was a worried look. She gave him a thumbs-up. “So, am I signing for me or the parrot?”

He smiled. “For yourself. The parrot will sign first.”

Minerva took the tablet and went to speak to Marco. The woman’s eyes were glowing, and Marko bobbed his head in excitement. The tablet was held up to line up with the bird’s eye, and there was a bright scan. The claw came out next and pressed into the tablet.

Minerva, with glowing eyes, smiled as Marko flapped excitedly.

She turned toward Mel and said, “My little feathered child is excited. She dreams of the stars.”

Mel sat up. “She?”

“Yes. She. She likes you very much and wants to continue as your companion, so hers was a companion agreement for emotional assistance.”

“Wow. Marko, I guess you need a name change.”

Minerva turned back and then smiled. “She likes Marko. It has been her name all her life. If you want to change it, just add a syllable.”

“Markona is as far as I will take it, Marko. Promise.”

The bird bobbed excitedly and flapped as she screamed.

Minerva nodded. “Now, this is a companion agreement for you so that she is registered to you and you alone until either of you pass on. She is being adapted to all environments and will even be able to fly in space if necessary. She will be, in your parlance, the sturdiest fucking bird in history.”

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