Hotel Andromeda

by Edited by Jack L. Chalker

  If she could make it to the ship before it left, she might be able to talk her way around her late arrival and convince her supervisor to either overlook her infraction or, at least, merely mark it down as reprimand instead of a dismissal. While a replacement copilot may have been requested, her showing up could still save her job.

  If she didn’t make it to the terminal before then, her contract would automatically be terminated. Only a proven medical emergency or rare special circumstance could get her contract reinstated.

  With a contract termination on her record, getting another of the major carriers to accept her services would be almost impossible. She would be stuck on the second-tier job level, with short-haul small ships, tramp freighters, and other less desirable posts for the rest of her career.

  The aliens. Maybe one of them had a key.

  She took a moment to compose herself and put her plastic smile in position. She turned slowly and faced them. Speaking carefully, she asked in Universal, “Excuse me, but do any of you have a key to the door?”

  All three froze and their tails stopped in mid-swing. The humming trailed off into silence. They stared back at her, clearly not having understood her question.

  “Key? Door?” She pantomimed holding something against the door and opening it.

  They looked from her to the door, then to each other. Finally, each gave a whole-body convulsive shiver, and simply gazed back at her.

  While there were ten major languages in this quadrant, she had studied only the three that TSL regularly traded with. She started with Spacer’s Talk, sort of a polyglot that had evolved over the last few hundred years. “My name is Pat McCreney. What are your names?”

  No response was forthcoming.

  “I’m a pilot for Terran Space Lines. Actually I’m a copilot,” she said, hoping they might recognize some of the words. “I just came in last night from Terra on the Terran Space Lines California. I’m supposed to transfer to the TSL Star Cruiser Africa for the next three years.”

  They blankly stared back at her.

  She sighed, then tried Mulphridean. “I don’t know how we came to be in the same room. I know I was really tired last night when the supervisor in the TSL offices here in Hotel Andromeda gave me a registration pass.” Blondie’s ears twitched at the mention of Andromeda.

  For a moment, she thought they might have understood her but she realized the only thing they had understood was the name of the station. She tried Universal Language next.

  “I was tired because most of the command crew of the TSL California came down sick about four days ago, and the rest of us had to work double and triple shifts. Because we started docking at the end of my shift, I had to stay on duty for a third shift. I went without sleep for almost twenty-four hours.”

  While they were paying close attention to her every word, they clearly did not understand a single one of them. Actually, this was also helping her to retrace her steps from last night. Maybe she could figure out how they came to be in her room. She switched to Persiean.

  “I almost didn’t find the TSL offices, I was so tired. But I did remember to check the assignments board.” She smiled wanly. “The TSL Star Cruiser Africa had come in that day and would be leaving at fourteen hundred hours tomorrow; that is, today. I was supposed to check in at least two hours before then.” She sighed and glanced at her watch again.

  “Unfortunately, Registration never gave me my wake-up call, and I seem to have overslept by a wide margin. Now I only have an hour before the ship leaves.”

  Again, they merely stared at her. She couldn’t begin to imagine what they must think she was doing. Only Altairian was left of the spoken languages she knew.

  “Anyway, after I picked up my key from Registration, I got on an elevator, but I dropped the key and it rolled under the bench at the back. I had to reach under it pretty far to get it back.” She paused as what she had said repeated itself in her memory.

  “Damn. That must have been it,” she muttered, “when I dropped my key. I must have found a lost key.” And because the room keys also doubled as destination designators for the elevators, it had brought her to this room, already occupied by the three aliens. They must have been out when she arrived, returning after she fell asleep.

  Why they had let her sleep on, or why they didn’t leave and bring back Security was a mystery. However, they were aliens. They probably had their reasons, strange though they may be to her. They were polite, though. They were still listening attentively. If it were not for their lack of reactions, she would think they knew exactly what she was saying. They were cute, too.

  She licked her lips hesitantly. Her getting the wrong room key certainly explained why the hallway outside had been so opulent. She had thought TSL was giving her a perk for working so hard the last few days.

  That her luggage, left with the registration clerk, had not been here when she walked in should have tipped her off that something was wrong. And then she had been dumb enough to drop her clothes in the cleaning bin with the cleaning tag supplied by the clerk. That tag had probably returned her clothes to her real room, leaving her naked and without a key.

  If she had not been so tired she would have realized that the hotel clerk would never have given her a room that wasn’t propped for a Terran. While the bed had been comfortable and ready to use, it had not had any blankets or pillows. And the computer terminal/table in one corner had not had a chair to match it. Instead of immediately trying to call Room Service for some blankets, she had decided to wait for them to deliver her luggage. And had fallen asleep waiting for a delivery not destined to arrive.

  She tried Spacer’s Sign Language, usually used in emergency situations where speaking was impossible. Clearly, the three aliens hadn’t a clue as to what she was doing waving her hands and arms around. Blondie seemed quite taken with what she was doing and started mimicking her until Calico whispered something to him. Then he stopped and looked embarrassed.

  Universal Sign Language, developed for communicating with most races incapable of speech, garnered her just as little understanding. Whoever these aliens were, they were remarkably ignorant of any method of communication to outsiders of their group. Just how they had managed to get to Hotel Andromeda and in this room mystified her.

  She leaned back against the door. Great, she thought, what now? If this really was their room, then Security would be more than a little displeased with her. Instead of suing Andromeda, she might be looking at a difficult time herself. If nothing else, the time she lost explaining what had happened would cause her to miss her posted assignment.

  She could not afford to have Hotel Security find her. She had to get out, and get out now. Her stomach flip-flopped at the prospect of going it alone, but to stay and wait for rescue was worse.

  She continued pacing and thinking. Like automatons, the three aliens watched her. She stopped and looked down at them. “Well,” she asked rhetorically, “do any of you know where we are and how I can get out?”

  They looked at each other briefly, and shivered. “We are in oar room,” the middle one said.

  “You speak English!”

  “Yez,” he said proudly. “We prakdessed long dime do speek so good. Nod even Modher speeks id so guod.”

  “Why didn’t you answer me when I asked you if you had a key to the door? Or when I tried all those other languages.” She stood squarely before them, staring down Blondie.

  “We no speek dhose dongues, yesd dees one.” The other two agreed.

  She frowned. Why would they go to the trouble of learning English and not Universal? “Why English?”

  “Zo we cud bond propoorly,” said Calico.

  “Modher sad we had doo,” added the blonde. “Zhe said it waz…” He stopped and consulted with his two friends. “Zhe sad it waz good edikid.”

  They all grinned at her.

  She swallowed, a little intimidated at the sight of all those sharp, shiny teeth. “Oh.” Obviously, she wasn’t going to make any
sense of their explanations. They clearly did not understand her question, just as she didn’t understand their answer.

  She shook her head. Maybe they could get her out of here before Andromeda Security found her. “Do you have a key to that door?” She pointed at the door behind her.

  He leaned sideways to look at the door. “No,” he said sadly. “Modher dhook oar key. Zhe sad we musd sday.”

  Her hopes crushed, she said, “Oh. Damn. I gotta get out of here.”

  “Oou wand oud? Oou wand do teeve?” The three of them exchanged glances.

  “Yes! I have to go to my own room and get some clothes, and then I have to get to my ship. It’s very important.” She gave them what she hoped was a winning smile.

  “Oou wands to leaf?” asked Blondie. The edges of his mouth curved down. “Oou does nod like usz? I dod oou liked uz.” The black-and-brown one looked similarly upset, and started to shiver. “And oou dhook oar bregsdad opering, doo.”

  Pat saw her position slipping. For some reason it was important to them that she like them. Maybe it had to do with that little ceremony earlier. If she lost their trust, they might not help her. “Oh, no,” she said quickly, “I do like you. You are all very nice.” She gave them another smile. “It’s just that I have to get to my ship. First, though, I must get to my room.”

  “Oou like uz?”

  “Oh, yes,” she said, trying to make it sound convincing. “If I did not have to get to my ship, I wouldn’t mind staying here all day. But, I have to get to my ship.” While that was stretching the truth, it wasn’t by much. They had her curiosity up. Just how had they managed to get here, and why was the only language they knew—besides their own, of course—English?

  Were they part of a group on the way to Earth? If so, they were probably going to be on the TSL California. But if that were so, why hadn’t they recognized the ship’s name when she had mentioned it earlier?

  “Ooooh,” Blondie said happily, “Zhee wands do go do her sheep. Zhee hass a sheep.” He bounced up and down several times. He began chattering excitedly in his own language, but suddenly stopped. “Bud we kan nod leaf. Modher dold us do sday,” he said.

  Calico turned and pushed Blondie lightly, making him sway in place. “Dhad does nod madder,” he said. “She dhook oar bond.” He grinned. “She likez uz, zo she wands do leeve wid uz.”

  Blondie’s eyes opened wide. “Ooooh. Oou is ride.”

  All three turned and stared at her like she was the most important person they had ever seen. Their expressions made Pat uncomfortable. They reminded her, for some reason, of her best friend on her wedding day and the way she had looked at her husband after the ceremony. It had been the summer after graduation, just before Pat left for college.

  Pat wasn’t sure she was understanding properly. It sounded like they thought they were going to go with her. She definitely did not want them following her back to her room, or to the ship. On the other hand, would they still help her if they knew she didn’t want them following her?

  But maybe she had better find out why “Modher” didn’t want them leaving. “Um, if you don’t mind, and if it is not an intrusion, why doesn’t ‘Modher’ want you to leave?”

  They looked at each other for a moment, then Blackie cleared his throat. “Id was nod oour fauld. We were eggsplorin and fond a brojen wader hole,” Calico said.

  “Ya.” Blondie flashed her a quick grin.

  A broken water hole?

  Blackie sighed. “Dhe being dold us id wash zuppozed do blow bubbles in wader, bud id no wordk. Zo we dhook id apard.”

  Blondie interrupted. “Id was nod oor fauld dhe water sprayed oud. We did nod know id had, um, how oou sad, prezzure.”

  Oh, God. They had tried to fix a jammed whirlpool pump. She could just see the three of them getting soaked as water sprayed everywhere while they frantically tried to stop it. She smiled at the image.

  “We had just done id when all dhese hodel being came,” Blackie continued. “Id wordk, bud we had a few pards lefd over.”

  “I dhink dhey were upsed dhad we mad id wordk bedder dhan dhey could,” Blondie put in, shaking his head.

  They actually got it back together? In spite of the water pressure? She was impressed. To repair something they knew nothing about while wading through water was quite an accomplishment.

  “Den we found a Derran in a, um, place full of eading macines.”

  Eading machines? She frowned as she tried to figure out what he meant. Oh. One of the many cafeterias scattered throughout hotel complexes like Hotel Andromeda. And Derran might be Terran. They had encountered another Terran in the cafeteria. What could have happened there to upset “Modher”?

  “Dhe Derran complaned dhad dhe macine dhook his mony, bud no gebe food.” Blackie gave his friends a guilty look. “We wanded do help, zo we dhook id apard.” He gazed down at the floor as his tail wrapped around his ankle. “We pud id bak, but hodel beings were nod happy. Even dough id worghed.”

  “Dhe Derran was happy,” Calico burst out. “He sad ib we wanded a job, he would tak uz on hiz sheep. Dhen he dhanked uz. Bud he leafed before dhe hodel peeple found uz.”

  “Modher was mad,” Blondie said sadly. “She sad we no more coud eggsplor. She sad we musd sday here undil oour bond one god here.”

  They had disassembled a vending machine? Without tools? She was amazed. And a bit envious. She had lost more money than she cared to think about to obstinate soda and candy machines. With some good training they could become the envy of the Maintenance Division. She certainly wouldn’t mind having them in charge of the equipment on any ship she was piloting.

  If they could do that to a vending machine, maybe they could take apart the door controls and get her out of here. But first, she had better make sure there wasn’t another way out.

  “How do you get food and drink?”

  “A serband brings id.” Calico gestured toward the table with the plates and glasses. “Oou were asleep, zo we did nod wake oou or dell dem oou were here. Id wood nod been proper for oar bond one. Oou meed Modher lader.”

  These three aliens must be very important, or very rich, to rate personal servants, especially traveling in space. And the more important they were, the more trouble she was going to be in when she was found in the room with them.

  Pat glanced at her watch. Another fifteen minutes had passed. She was running out of time. Plus, she did not know when the servants would be bringing another meal. She had better be out of here before then. She had a sinking feeling that if the relatives of these three found her here, they would be even more upset than Hotel Security.

  She gave them another smile. “Do you think you could open the door by taking the control panel apart?” Breaking the locks on hotel complexes like Andromeda was supposed to be impossible. Hotel Security did not want thieves or assassins planting their own access codes into rooms. But if they could take apart a supposedly impregnable vending machine, maybe they could do something here, too.

  Blackie leaned sideways and looked intently at the panel beside the doorframe. Blondie said, “Ooooh, Modher would nod like dhat.”

  Just as Calico opened his mouth to say something. Pat said sweetly, “But I would like that.”

  Calico’s jaws closed with an audible snap, and he looked at Pat. Blondie clapped his hands. “Ooooh, yez, yez, yez.” Blackie immediately stood and walked over to the door, brushing lightly against Pat as he passed her. The other two closely followed him.

  Feeling their soft fur brushing her skin as they crowded close to her made her think of her dream last night. She blushed. She almost shrieked when a very soft tail abruptly slid up between her legs. She grabbed it in her hand. “Don’t do that, it tickles.”

  Blondie whipped his tail away from her, then leaned against her arm.

  Standing beside them, her five-foot-ten-inch build topped them by several inches. The tallest, Blondie, barely reached her nose; the shortest one, Blackie, was not quite as high as her shoulder. They were mu
ch thinner than she was, making her feel chunky by comparison. At a hundred fifty pounds, she wasn’t a professional model, but co-workers at TSL had complimented her on her figure.

  She stepped back from the door to give them more room. Soon. all three were absorbed in removing the panel from the door, their tails waving and weaving among them in intricate patterns. Using their claws as screwdrivers, levers, and cutting tools, they soon had the panel dangling from a gaping hole, exposing wires and circuits.

  How they knew what to do was beyond her, but from the short bursts of arguments between probings she decided that they were applying more guesswork than knowledge. After one such disagreement, Blondie jabbed his claw angrily into the wiring.

  There was a faint pop, a distressed yelp from Blondie, and the odor of something burned. Blondie jumped back from the small panel waving his hand. When he stopped, Pat could see a scorched spot on one side of his middle-finger claw.

  Blackie smugly said something, which Blondie replied to with a growl. Calico eeped, inserted his claw carefully, and twisted it. There was a faint mechanical click.

  Leaving Blackie to stuff the panel back into place, Calico grabbed the door handle and pushed it down. It moved smoothly and a moment later the door stood open. Blackie hissed at Calico, and together they finished securing the panel.

  Not wasting any time, Pat quickly dashed out into the hall, with Blondie right behind her. “Oou bounse,” he said, looking at her breasts. Calico and Blackie stepped through a moment later and quietly eased the door closed. Calico handed a belt and pouch to Blondie, then buckled his own around his waist.

  She blushed and forced herself to relax instead of trying to cover herself with her hands. That would just draw attention to what she was trying to hide. Anyone seeing her would realize something was wrong. She could not afford that.

  The hallway stretched empty in both directions. Walking quickly, she headed for the elevator. “Thanks for helping me, but you don’t have to come along. I’m all right now.” In truth, she hoped they would stay put. She really did not want them following her.