Dr. Ariadne Salzar-Newman is not a mad scientist.
She is a scientist—and a brilliant one at that—but she's hardly mad.
According to MSS Venture's resident psychologist, the Florivan Elder Navy Irleeim, she's only "amusingly eccentric, with a bit more of a fascination with the Strange than is healthy for a human." Navy would know, too, considering how long they've been officially observing her and occasionally assisting with her experiments. If their Navigator's wife has to be set on studying things that could kill her, after all, it's far easier to protect her if they're involved from the beginning.
Dr. Salzar-Newman's latest endeavor towards mitigating the dangers of starships traveling via the so-called "Quantum Space shortcut" is not one Navy would ordinarily have approved. Bottled miasmas are one thing; eggs are another entirely. Still, having taken one of their Florivan patients under her wing as a part-time assistant, she's safer than usual this time. Navy knows, too, that working with her will be good for Cobalt Mereday—if only because her unique brand of oddity seems to be the only thing capable of helping them.
Even Dr. Salzar-Newman has no reason to suspect just how much of an effect this particular project will have on her family and her protégé, nor how far-reaching the consequences will be. Something new is about to hatch...
Feathered Friendship is the first in a series of novellas, short stories, and longer works set in the Strange Space universe. These optimistic science fiction stories center around the enigmatic Florivans and the humans around them and offer readers an entertaining glimpse into a world beyond our own.
