“Oou wand do leeve us?” asked Blackie unhappily. Something in his tone stopped her dead in her tracks. She turned back to them.
“Whad did we do wrung?” asked Calico, just as unhappy.
Blondie sniffled. “I dhoughd oou liked us.”
All three tails drooped to the floor.
“And you smell zo nise,” Calico said sadly. At first, she worried she had made them mad, but a second later she saw she was wrong. She watched, amazed, as liquid gathered at the edges of Blondie’s eyes, and a tear slowly trickled out. The other two were clearly just as upset, and not far from tears themselves.
“But what about your ‘Modher’?” Pat asked. “Shouldn’t you stay in your room? I don’t want to get you in any more trouble.”
“We full adulds, now,” Calico explained. “We bond wid oou. We no more hab do do as Modher say. We go wid oou. We do whad you dell uz do do.”
Another tear trickled down the side of Blondie’s face, followed by a sniffle.
“We bond oou. We go widh oou,” BIackie whimpered. Pat didn’t know what to do. She didn’t have the time to talk them back into their room; one of their people might come into the hall at any moment. If she just left them like this, though, they might go back into the room and tell their relatives. Or worse, they might tell security. And what was this “bond” stuff?
“Don’t cry,” she said hurriedly. “You haven’t done anything wrong. I just have to get to my ship before it leaves without me.”
“Bud whad aboud us?” asked Calico. “We wand do go wid oou.” Blondie looked ready to collapse on the floor, weeping. She hated to be on the spot like this, especially when time was running out, in more ways than one. “Okay. Okay. You win. Come on.” She turned and started for the elevator.
Once in the elevator, she realized she had only one real choice for a destination. She had to get her room key, and that meant Registration.
As the elevator started to move, she leaned against the wall and hoped that no one would stop it and board. The lobby was going to be bad enough.
The aliens casually moved closer to her. All traces of their recent distress had disappeared. She had the feeling that she had been manipulated, and by experts. She shook her head, puzzled. They sometimes acted like children, and other times like adults.
Something tickled her foot and she started to rub it with her other foot. Instead, she found her foot rubbing across three tails. All three aliens had wrapped the tips of their tails around her ankle. It was bizarre, but rather cute. The silky-smooth slide of their fur against her leg sent goose bumps up her back.
She decided not to say anything. By the time the elevator arrived at the lobby, she found herself massaging behind the ears of Calico with one hand while Blackie held her other like a shy teenager. Blondie was squatting on the floor in front of her and leaning back against her legs, humming. They seemed quite content with her company.
She normally didn’t like people crowding her, and three humans doing this would have driven her to distraction. These three, though, made her feel relaxed. And their fur was just so soft and silky, it was all she could do to keep from petting all of them.
Blondie stood as the doors opened, and led the way into the lobby. Only a few steps into the large open atrium all three stopped to gawk.
Pat could understand why. The place was huge. The atrium was hundreds of feet high, disappearing overhead in the glare of artificial sunlight. Balconies from a thousand or more rooms opened onto the atrium, and over a thousand beings were visible all around.
Opposite the elevators, but almost two hundred feet away, was Room Registration. To either side were wide corridors leading to other parts of the Hotel Andromeda complex, lined with shops, eateries, and entertainments for the myriad races that passed through the complex on a daily basis.
She felt dreadfully exposed standing naked in the lobby, but it was large and bustling with activity. She headed for the registration desk. Fortunately, all she attracted were a few raised eyebrows and whistles from two men. Never had she blessed the existence of the Terran nudist colonies, but she did now.
Her three aliens were right behind her. She checked on them once and saw Calico hauling on the arm of Blondie to keep him from walking into a fountain. Blondie was more intent on staring around the atrium than in watching where he was going. She shook her head, wondering if dumb blonde jokes were popular in the aliens’ culture.
Standing in the line at Registration was nerve wracking, but finally a clerk was free to assist her.
“I’m sorry to bother you,” she said. “I accidentally left my key in the room when I went to the swimming pool.”
The man behind the counter didn’t bat an eye at her lack of clothing. “Your name, please?”
“Pat McCreney.”
“Would you like a wrist or waist strap for your key?” the man asked while they waited for voice verification and the arrival of a new key.
“Why, yes. Please. A wrist strap would be best, I think.”
Before she was finished speaking, the key popped out of the side of the terminal. A second later he was holding the strap up as she slid her hand through the opening.
“There you are, honored guest. I’m sorry for the inconvenience. Your check-in clerk should have offered you one”—he glanced down at his terminal—“last night.”
“Oh, that’s quite all right.” Her voice was steady in spite of the shakiness she felt inside.
“I hope your stay is pleasant and memorable.”
“Oh, it has been memorable,” she muttered softly, but he was already turning to the next customer. She hurried away.
This time the elevator trip was much shorter.
She stood for a moment with her back against the door. While the hall outside was not nearly as luxurious as the other, this room had real furniture. More important, her bag was sitting prominently on the floor beside the bed.
Blackie and Calico were looking in the bathroom while Blondie was opening and closing the drawers of the desk beside the computer terminal.
She looked at her watch. Oh, God. She had only ten minutes to make it to the TSL Star Cruiser Africa. She hastily jerked open the cleaning bin and saw her clothes from the previous night neatly folded at the bottom. She sighed in relief that something, at least, was going in her favor. Her three aliens watched, amazed, as she quickly dressed.
When she started to brush her unruly hair into some semblance of order, Blondie said something to his friends and they quickly surrounded her. “No. Dhad we do,” Calico said, taking the brush from her and pulling her over to the bed, ignoring her protests. After getting her to sit, they started running their claws through her hair. After a moment, she realized they were grooming her hair for her.
She sat impatiently for a minute before stopping them. “Look, that’s very nice, but I’m in a hurry.” She stood and checked her hair in the bathroom mirror. Actually, they had done a nice job on her hair, their claws making short work of the snarls. It had been good of them to do it for her.
When she opened the door, they immediately followed her into the hall. “Look,” she said, “I have to catch my ship before it leaves. You had better go back to your room before you get in trouble.”
“Bud oou sad we cud go wid oou,” protested Blondie.
“Yez,” added Calico, “oou sad we cud go wid oou, I heared oou.” Blackie started sniffling again.
Pat promised herself that this time she would not let them manipulate her into letting them get their way. “I’m sorry,” she said. “But you can’t go with me. My supervisor simply will not allow you to board the ship.”
Tears were already starting to flow from all three aliens. This time, though, Blondie continued the protesting. “Bud oou bond wid uz. Oou sad oou liked uz,” he wailed loudly.
Calico chimed in, “Oou sad we cud go wid oou,” repeating what he had said earlier, but much louder.
This time the corridor was not empty. Pat looked up to see a security
officer patrolling the hall. He was looking at the three aliens and Pat, and frowning. If he started asking questions, she might not get away from him in time to make it to her ship.
“I don’t have time to argue with you,” she said, “I have to get to my ship.” She spun on her heel and headed for the elevator. She could hear the three of them padding along behind her.
The elevator ride was quiet. Again, she tried to talk them out of following her. They didn’t respond verbally. Calico and Blondie each held one of her hands, gently stroking them. Blackie began combing her hair. None of them looked happy.
They seemed determined to come with her.
She decided that the best course of action would be to go to TSL Star Cruiser Africa’s berth and let ship security detain the aliens at the terminal while she boarded. It wasn’t a nice solution, but the best she could come up with, given her time constraints.
The elevator doors opened on the proper level for passenger boarding at this terminal. Glancing at her watch, she saw she had only a few minutes. She started down the terminal corridor at a sprint. The terminal gate she needed was at the far end, of course. The three aliens trotted along behind her.
Something was not right, but she could not put her finger on it until she arrived at the designated gate. The boarding area was dark. Confused, she at first thought she was at the wrong gate. Examining the electronic departure board at the boarding gate showed that she was, indeed, at the correct location. Still unsure, she looked up at the clock on the wall above the boarding tube.
Astounded, she saw that it indicated the time as fifteen hundred and a quarter hours. She looked down at her watch, and stared as it changed from 13:59:59 to 13:00:00. For a moment she was too stunned to move. Then she focused on Blondie. “You! You took apart my watch.” She held her wrist out to him. “You made me miss my ship,” she shouted. “You made me lose my job! Five years of hard work shot to hell.”
He glanced nervously at his friends, and licked his tips. “We hab neber seen a dhing lik dhad. Oar clodks arr in oar pouches. We meaned no harm.”
“Do oou hade uz?” asked Calico hesitantly.
This time there were no tears. This time they could see she was mad at them. This time they were afraid of her. They didn’t even try to touch their tails to her. They were very worried.
For a moment, she was absolutely furious with them. Then she realized that it really wasn’t their fault. Even without their meddling with her watch, she never would have made it to their ship on time. The TSL Star Cruiser Africa had completed passenger boarding and sealed its hatches before she had even looked at her watch. “No,” she said, her anger deflated and drained away. “No, I don’t hate you.” She sighed and started walking back up the corridor to Hotel Andromeda.
Her three aliens were still with her. What the heck, they were adults. They could do what they wanted, even follow her around all day. And ever since she had yelled at them they had been quiet and mindful, never straying farther than a few feet. Even Blondie was behaving.
She had not intended to stay on the station for more than a night, so she had not bothered to draw any of her pay. TSL tracked her earnings and anything she purchased was automatically charged against them. Incidental items were the only expenses that required real currency.
That left her almost flat dead broke. Fortunately, she had some change left in her travel kit from previous off-ship sightseeing. Unfortunately, it would only last her a day, maybe two. She had to find a job, and find it fast.
One of the many public computer terminals gave her the location of the Space Personnel General Posting Office. Once she was registered, any captain looking for a pilot would see her name. And she could look for any ships wanting someone with her skills.
They were almost at the office when Blondie suddenly eeped excitedly and trotted a dozen yards ahead. Calico and Blackie followed quickly, leaving her behind. Surprised that they had left her, she watched as they accosted a Terran.
The man was large, almost six feet tall, with black curly hair and almost as dark skin. He walked with the easy confidence of a man who was his own master. He stopped when Blondie reached him. A moment later she heard him laugh as he greeted the alien. They apparently knew each other. He did not appear surprised to see Calico and Blackie with Blondie.
She couldn’t hear what Blondie was saying. As she came closer, Pat could see the captain’s bars on his shirt collar. She self-consciously fingered the pilot’s insignia on the collar of her TSL jacket.
“Hi,” the man said, sticking his hand out as he matched her steps, “My name is Charles Coal, of the ship Australian Gold, a million-tonner.”
“Hi, I’m Pat McCreney.” As small freighters went, a million tons was a respectable size. The TSL California, by comparison, was rated at a million and a half.
As they shook hands, Charles took in her TSL uniform and the way the three furry aliens crowded in close beside her as they walked down the corridor. She was acutely aware of their tails and the way they kept touching her legs. They didn’t impede her, just kept a soft pressure that told her they were there.
“Your mates did me a good turn the other day. I’ve never seen a group work so well together, or so quickly. And they told me they had never seen a drinks machine before.” He shook his head wonderingly as they walked on down the corridor.
“I can’t believe my luck.” He smiled ruefully. “My bleedin’ mechanic’s assistant’s contract expired when we arrived here, and I’ve had the devil’s own time finding a replacement. Usually, I can get someone in a couple of hours, but I’ve been waiting for two days now.” He frowned unhappily. “And now I’m a full day behind schedule.”
She saw his gaze flit to her insignia, and a speculative look came into his eyes.
“Say, maybe you could help me. Do you know any mechanic’s assistants looking for work?”
Before she could respond. Calico spoke up, “Uz. We look por work. We wordk bery hard. We good wid macines.”
Pat was startled. Apparently, they were not as intent on staying with her as she had thought.
The captain gave Calico a surprised look, then shrugged.
“Do you have work logs?”
Calico looked puzzled. “Whad?”
“ID tags, ID papers, work reports, something that shows your previous work experience?”
They walked through the entrance of the posting office. It was more a hall than a simple room, with hundreds of terminals lining the walls, with benches, tables, and chairs scattered throughout.
Calico pulled a small card out of his pouch. A passport. He handed it to the captain. Blondie and Blackie quickly added their passports to Calico’s.
Captain Coal frowned. He glanced at the insignia on the front of the passports. It meant as little to him as it did to Pat. He moved over to one of the terminals and slid the first passport into the ID slot. A moment later, he and Pat were reading the brief description.
The aliens were called Kreene, from a star system almost as far from Hotel Andromeda as Earth was. Calico’s real name, it turned out, translated to “Quick Eyes.” Blondie’s passport gave his name as “Light Ears,” and Blackie was “Fast Runs.” No mention was made of job skills, experience, or even interests.
Also, as she had thought, they were adult males, although the passport included the phrase “unbonded and traveling secure with family.” She wondered what that meant.
Captain Coal sighed and silently looked at the three aliens for a moment. He nodded his head once, as if he had come to a decision. “Okay. I’m only looking for one mechanic, but from what I’ve seen, the three of you, unskilled as you are, should be the equivalent of one good mechanic.”
All three were excited. Blondie, no, Light Ears, was bouncing up and down like a little kid who was just told he was going to a toy shop. Fast Runs and Quick Eyes hugged each other happily. You would have thought the three had just won a lottery.
The captain looked amused. “Well,” he said, turning
back to Pat, “looks like my problem is solved. Maybe we’ll meet again someday.” He shook Pat’s hand.
The three Kreene were suddenly still. “Oh, no,” Calico interrupted. “Zhe oar bond. We go dogedher or we no go.”
Pat was as surprised as the captain. They expected her to go with them? Coal stopped and frowned. “But she’s with TSL,” he protested.
“Zhe no wid dhem. Her zheep lefd and zhe nod on id.”
Pat could feel her face turning hot and red with embarrassment. “I last served on the TSL California,” she said before he could ask the obvious questions.
“Ah, I heard about them coming in last night with most of the crew ill.”
Startled that he had heard of their troubles, she could only say, “Yea. The rest of us had to pull double and triple shifts.” Pat looked down at the floor, chagrined. She might as well tell him everything. “That’s why I’m here today. I was supposed to transfer to the Star Cruiser Africa today, but I overslept.” She sighed again. “I never got a wake-up call, and when I did get up… well, it was too late. My contract was terminated when I didn’t board.”
“Standard contract?”
“Worse. I lost all accrued pay and bonuses by missing the ship.”
“Log?” he asked holding out his hand.
Pat pulled out her ID card, standard issue for all licensed spaceship personnel in this quadrant, and handed it to him. He stepped up to the terminal and inserted her ID in the slot in the side. Instantly, her job experience log appeared on the display, updated by the captain before she had debarked last night.
“Twenty-six. Served on three ships. You’ve been certified for only four years. You had a five-year contract, with only six months to go.” He shook his head in sympathy. “You don’t have much experience.”
“But all my supervisors gave me glowing reviews and high marks.”
He frowned again and gave her back her ID tag. “I don’t really need another copilot.”
Why the Kreene were insisting that she go with them, Pat didn’t know. But if it got her a job this fast, she would go along. Once she had some money, she could make other plans.
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