milliways_bar | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Jim could be dealing with the latest intelligence on the Tholians. Or finishing personnel reports. Or catching up on any number of things that he sometimes feels like he never has the time to finish.

But the sun isn't quite so low in the sky. And the air isn't that cold. And the snows are melting. Some days just demand leaving any and all work behind in favor of saddling up.

So while you could find Jim inside later on, you could just as easily find him outside right now, taking Rachat for a ride.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I bought my horses from Sallie Reynolds, the old woman from the future," Teja says. "This is Orion; I have a brown with a spotted rump also, by name of Bramble."

"Two horses...a bit extravagant of you." Jim half-smiles. "I don't think I've met her, but that's Captain Reynolds's mother, I think." Word about such things spreads even when you don't seek it out. "Have you found any difference between horses of your day and hers?" Which is more or less Jim's.

"Not much," Teja says. "These are sturdy, sensible horses, a bit stubborn and temperamental, but quite clever, and willing to learn much, once they accepted you as their leader. Carlotta has been teaching this one circus tricks, even. I am sure they would have made apt war-horses, also."

"Equine evolution hasn't shifted much, aside from the decline of certain breeds of thoroughbreds in my timelines." Too much inbreeding. "I can't say I've ever had a war-horse, though."

"Their training is special," Teja says. "They must advance when all other horses would flee, and must not shy at things that would drive an untrained horse straight into rearing madness."

"How do you do that?" He rides Rachat to his stall and begins to dismount.

"Training them to not startle at noises, by getting them used to loud sudden clamour," Teja says. "Getting them used to the smell of blood. To fire. Such things."

"Do most horses take to that?" He suspects that Rachat might. And that none of the horses at home would ever be suited for war.

"One may breed for a temper that takes to it," Teja says. "We did, of course. But not all bred true."

"No, I wouldn't expect that. Not I know about breeding. I would guess your day knew a lot more than we did." Even if his time has the advantage of knowing the genome.

"We did," Teja says. "We needed them, for work, and to go elsewhere, much as the future uses cars. But my friend Totila knew much more about them than I; my family never bred horses, and he was a virtuoso on horseback, while I was but a rider."

"I'm like that. I tend to be aggressive to make up for my failings as a rider. Kate tends to put me to shame." Which he hasn't admitted to Kate.

"Some are just better; their grasp of the horses' nature almost seems to be in their blood," Teja says. "I couldn't do what Totila did; nor could I hope ever to do what Carlotta does."

"I'll take your word for it." Seeing as he doesn't know either.

He ties Rachat down for a moment and removes the saddle.

"Still, I would not be without my horses," Teja says, starting to once more brush Orion's coat.

The dappled gray clearly enjoys the attention.

"We can't have horses in space. So I've had to do without for some time in my career." Not a big sacrifice, of course. But he is glad to have the Bar for a chance to ride.

"It must be so truly strange, to live on a ship always," Teja says.

"It takes some adjusting. Some crews don't make planetfall for years. But once I get in the right state of mind, it seems normal." Which probably means the Bar makes it that much harder that it used to be.

"How large is your ship?" Teja says.

If it is too small, then the crew would be in dire trouble, from simple lack of space.

Jim gives a number that would be about the size of ten aircraft carriers, and thus much larger than any ship in Teja's day. "But we carry a lot of equipment, supplies and crew, so there isn't really space for a stable. Or a meadow."

"But at least not all men would be forced to sleep in one dank, cramped hold, cooped up like fowl," Teja says.

"No, those days are long past."

"How many men are there, on your ship?" Teja asks.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only