Aery nodded. And then a sound from her lab, birds squawking, and she leaped to her feet to re-cage the creatures before they could get into the fishtank.
"You birds are going to the first vendor I can find on Nakata. Same with you fish because I'm tired of trying to clean up bubbles of water every time our gravity turns off. As for the turtle..." She hesitated. The turtle was so cute. But she couldn't keep him. "I'll find a good home for you." she promised. "And... even for you puppies and kittens, because a spaceship is no place for you guys." She sighed. "Some of my plants have to go too... Venus Flytrap and Bamboo and Jade... I'll just get rid of everything. Maybe I can get myself a few more biospheres." She smiled, thinking happy thoughts about a baseball-sized biosphere she'd seen once, one full of miniature dogs. Well, canine-esque creatures, since they were actually a whole separate species that looked like canines, but in miniature.
"We keep them as pets." Kiki had come up beside her, hovering on her magnificent tech-wizard wings. "The little dogs and cats and butterflies and birds. Even the bears and fish. They're all knee-high or smaller to our people, but they're terribly sweet."
Aery looked at her sidelong.
"Oh, didn't you know? That's the only export that Lilliput has, creatures for biospheres. My family raises hound dogs. I took an interest in the fish." Kiki giggled, a bitter giggle that turned into crying. "I miss them, sometimes. I had three of the sweetest hound dogs and I wasn't allowed to bring them on such a mission."
Aery, not at all sure how to comfort such a tiny girl, said nothing, turning to stare out the window.