A canary in a space station

A rule nobody made. The story begins: 'To the best of my knowledge, there's never been a regulation that forbids one to keep pets in a space station. No one ever thought it was necessary — and even had such a rule existed, I am quite certain that Sven Olsen would have ignored it.'

Sven. He was a wiry (thin but strong) little man. That was useful: he easily earned the 150-pound bonus, a reward for crew members who weighed little. Many others had to diet for it, because in space, weight costs money.

He was one of their best construction men. In space, girders (metal beams) float. Sven gathered them and made them do 'the slow-motion, three-dimensional ballet' that got them into place, then fused (joined) them when they fitted exactly (dovetailed).

Hard work, because 'a space suit is not the most convenient of garbs (clothes) in which to work.' But one advantage over builders on Earth: 'They could step back and admire their handiwork without being abruptly (suddenly) parted from it by gravity.' (No gravity, so you can't fall!) That joke sets the funny tone of the story.

Why a canary? It was a sensible pet for space:

• Claribel weighed almost nothing;
• she ate almost nothing;
• unlike most animals, she was not bothered by having no gravity.

Meeting Claribel. The narrator heard a musical whistle by his ear and thought it was the intercom. Then came a long, complicated tune, and he looked up so suddenly that he hit his head on a beam.

'When the stars had ceased to explode before my eyes, I had my first view of Claribel.' A small yellow canary, hanging in the air 'as motionless as a hummingbird — and with much less effort, for her wings were quietly folded along her sides.'

She did a backward loop no bird on Earth could do, and left 'with a few leisurely flicks'. She had worked out how to fly without gravity, 'and did not believe in doing unnecessary work.'

For days, Sven did not confess (admit) she was his. By then it didn't matter: she was everyone's pet.

He had smuggled her up on the last ferry, partly out of scientific curiosity: he wanted to see how a bird would fly with no weight but working wings.