by Alan Black
“But it is true freighters go to strange places and see strange things.”
Stone snorted. “Sorry, Commander. What freighters see is a series of station after station after station after station after station.” He waved a hand causally at the crowd along the inner curve. “The weirdest thing we see is station crew.”
Someone in the crowd saw the wave and waved back at Stone.
Jay and Peebee waved back. Then they waved at everyone and waved again if anyone waved back. The two drascos held up their balls and tried to show everyone. It was obvious they wanted to play, but Stone and Wright kept moving them along the corridor.
“I am glad those loaders gave them different colored balls,” Wright said. “Now I can tell which is which. Jay has the blue one and Peebee has the red one.”
Stone grinned, “Are you sure they haven’t switched them around by now?”
Wright shook her head. “No…I…well, dang it. I don’t know.”
Stone laughed, “They haven’t switched. I was just checking to see if you were paying attention. Besides you should know who is who. They are twins but not identical.”
Wright laughed with him. “Maybe they are not identical, but they are pretty interchangeable.”
“Commander, next two curves should bring us to the Ruby Rock hanger space.”
“None too soon, Mister Stone. I don’t mind a parade as much as the next girl, however I really need to get cleaned up before the next one.”
The crowd was quickly dwindling away. They were down to a few workers who stopped their tasks to stare and wave at the drascos.
“It looks like we are passing out of a commercial zone, Commander,” Stone said. “This looks like a series of warehouses and long term storage areas. That is exactly the type of hanger space Uncle Jim would have chosen, especially if he has contracts with any specific warehouse company.”
Stone glanced behind him. The station security officer following them was nowhere in sight. He nodded his chin at the man escorting them.
The station officer held one hand to his ear, obviously receiving instructions in an earbud. The man shook his head. He turned to Wright and Stone. “Um well…I got another call. Hanger seven is just a little ways on ahead. Do you think you can find it?” He scurried away before Wright could answer.
“Commander, have you noticed how quickly we were left alone?”
“No, there are…” Wright looked around. “I thought there were people all around us. I guess not.”
“We are still close enough to those businesses that we should have a few hangers-on following us along the curve for a while.”
“This is unusual?” Wright asked.
“Unusual? Oh, yeah! Middle of the day in a busy part of the station; you would have to work at finding a place to be alone even in a backwater little place like this. Maybe not in the part of the station where we parked the pod, but this is a working part of the station.”
Wright nodded, “Considering how our security escort dried up, I think we should keep our eyes open.”
“Yes sir,” with a grin, he added, “and me without my Captain Allnut space laser pistol.”
The next curve of the corridor brought them into sight of the hanger doors for the Ruby Rock. It also brought them into sight of four men lounging against a warehouse bulkhead. They were trying to look as if they were four loaders taking a lunch break in a quiet spot, all-in-all they were failing miserably. They looked just like what they were: four young fists for hire. At a nod from one of the men they rose to their feet in unison.
They shrank back slightly at the sight of the two drascos, but they emboldened themselves with makeshift clubs and began to spread across the corridor. They ignored the drasco’s waves and slapped their clubs into open palms; a threat easily recognized by the first caveman.
“So much for safety in being seen,” Wright said.
Stone said, “Commander, stay behind Jay. I think-”
A shriek split the air. “Cousin Trey! It is you.” A young girl of about ten years old sprinted through the open hanger doors. She ran between the toughs and launched herself at Stone. She was a mass of bare feet and tangled hair. She wrapped herself around him almost knocking him off his feet. She must not have had her ship’s ident with her because as she crossed the warning line marking the corridor proper from the hanger area she set off the station intruder alarms. Lights flashed and automated voices sang out that station security was on the way.
Jay and Peebee reacted to the alarms in typical drasco style. They dropped their balls, rose up on their hind legs and hissed like broken steam pipes. They puffed out their chests and their arm flaps snapped as they waved their hands. Their tail spikes rang out as they slapped the deck. The talons on their fingers flashed like knives in the harsh light of the corridor.
Cousin Melanie shrieked in horror and buried her face in Stone’s neck.
Stone dropped his cousin Melanie to the deck and stepped between her and the drascos. It seemed Jay and Peebee were confused more by the light and sirens than by Melanie jumping on Stone.
One of the toughs, apparently either much more courageous than his partners or much stupider, raised his club and tried to get around Jay stretching to reach Stone.
Peebee’s hissing stopped in mid ‘ssss’. She dropped to the deck faster than Stone or Wright had ever seen her move. She leaped sideways twisting her double knees. Her body flattened out and her tail shot over her head. The tail spike arrowed straight at the tough’s chest skewering his club neatly in the middle.
The four toughs had almost been ready to run at the sight of the hissing drascos. Peebee’s speed and tail spike did the trick. The men turned and ran.
Peebee still had the man’s club impaled on her tail spike. She drew it back, sniffed it and shoved it in her open mouth. She chewed it a bit as if reflecting on its flavor then spat it out into her hand and tossed it to Jay, who proceeded to stop hissing and plop the club in her mouth to taste.
Stone reached down and patted Melanie on the head, “Do me a favor, couz? Run and pick up those red and blue balls for me.” He pointed at the balls that had bounced down the corridor when Jay and Peebee dropped them.
“You be here when I get back?” Melanie looked up at him.
“Either here or inside, okay?” Stone answered.
The girl raced off. Peebee started to follow then stopped, deciding to try again the taste of the club Jay had just dropped in disgust.
Two men stepped through the hanger doors, each carrying a short-barreled short-stocked shotgun. Stone recognized the style gun as the type his grandfather and father carried for security on stations. It was normally referred to as a coach-gun. Stone was not sure what a coach was or why you would need such a gun to shoot one.
Wright looked at Stone. “Well, Mister Stone. This is your show. Do you know either of those men?”
“No sir. It doesn’t matter if I know them, they are wearing Family Stone patches on their utilities.” Stone joined Peebee in waving at the men. “Gentlemen, I am-”
“We know who you are,” the man in front interrupted. “Or who you appear to be. No offense, signore. If you have business with the Family Stone, I suggest we take it inside and away from the station’s eyes and ears.”
A boy not much younger than Stone, poked his head out of the hanger. “Hey, cousin.”
Stone grinned, “Hey, Jimbo.”
Jimbo shouted, “Melanie, Mom says to get your can back on board before she takes a paddle to your bottom.” He waved at Stone. “Come on. Don’t you know better than to stand around with the door open? You are letting the riffraff in, or out as the case may be.”
Stone looked at the man who had spoken earlier. “Okay with you?”
The man shrugged and gestured in Melanie’s direction. “I am just watching the kid play.” Melanie had collected both balls and was rushing back.
Stone looked at Wright. “Commander, if you would be so kind as to follow me?”
&nb
sp; The man said, “Um, what about those two whatever they are things?”
“They go where I go,” Stone said with a smile. He turned to wave at the young girl. She ran toward Stone with the balls, but hesitated getting close to the drascos. He waved at her to throw him a ball. She tossed it in a gentle arc. He missed the catch anyway and had to catch it on the bounce just inside the hanger doors.
Melanie laughed, “Still can’t catch a ball in standard grav, can you?”
Jimbo snorted, “Maybe he can’t, but I bet he can out-catch you in zero gravity, shrimp. Hey Trey, what is wrong with your…um…thing there?”
Peebee was staring at the ball in Stone’s hand. She dropped to all fours ready to leap in any direction. Her face squeezed into a tense almost hostile anticipation. Her body quivering with tension.
“Oh, this is Peebee,” Stone answered. “She is a drasco from a planet called Allie’s World. We own that, by the way.”
Jimbo nodded, “Nice.”
Stone wound up and pitched the ball as hard as he could in the gap between the Ruby Rock and the hanger bulkheads. It bounced off the side of the ship and careened to the hanger bulkhead. Peebee was hot on its trail. She caught it in mid-air and crashed back to the deck with a little wonk.
Jimbo nodded again, “Nice.”
Melanie shrieked, “Way nice! Can I throw this one?” She held up the other ball.
“That one is Jay’s ball,” Stone explained. “You throw it hard and she will bring it back.”
Melanie pouted, “It doesn’t look like she wants to play.”
Jay was sitting at Stone’s feet watching the two crewmen with the shotguns as they closed the hanger doors.
Stone shrugged. “Throw it real hard. Maybe she will chase it, maybe not.” Peebee ran up and dropped the ball at his feet. She was quivering with anticipation. “If not, then you can throw this one for Peebee to chase.”
Melanie reared back and threw the blue ball as hard as she could. It bounced against the hanger bulkhead. Jay had been sitting quietly. The next second she was streaking across the hanger deck.
Rather than race after the ball, trailing it the way Peebee had done, she streaked away at a tangent, leaping up against the side of the Ruby Rock and caught the blue ball as it bounced off the hanger bulkhead.
Melanie squealed with delight.
Looking nonchalant Jimbo said, “Nice. She played the bank shot.” His nod implied he had seen it all and done it all.
Wright and Stone looked at each other. Stone shrugged as if to say ‘why am I surprised?’ The two crewmen backed away as Jay skidded to a stop in front of him.
Jimbo waved to the open airlock of the Ruby Rock. “Come on, couz. Mom will skin us both if we keep dallying around out here in the front yard. She said for me to get your tail inside muy pronto.”
They watched as Melanie threw both balls at the same time. The drascos streaked away.
“Yeah,” Stone said, “No doubt she would do worse if I brought Jay and Peebee on board with me. They aren’t quite fully housebroken yet.”
Melanie squealed, “I can stay out here and watch them. Andy and Alex just locked down the hanger doors so we can’t go anywhere or get lost.”
Wright shook her head. “Mister Stone, I don’t know your Aunt Ruth, but I think she might be more unhappy if you left her daughter alone with Jay and Peebee than if you had to clean up a little drasco droppings.”
Melanie grabbed one ball, taking it from Jay’s mouth and threw it in one direction. She grabbed the other ball Peebee had dropped at her feet and threw it in the other direction, shrieking as she watched the drascos race after the balls.
A disembodied female voice boomed from the ship’s external speakers. “You better believe I will do more than skin you alive if you leave my baby alone with those…whatever they are.”
Wright looked at Stone as if to say, ‘See?’
Aunt Ruth’s voice floated back at them. “And don’t roll your eyes at me, young man. You may be navy but I can still paddle your backsides.”
Stone looked at the ship’s external video pick up and grinned “You probably could Aunt Ruth, then I would have to file charges against you for assaulting a navy officer.”
A chuckle echoed from the speakers, “Yeah, I guess you could.”
“Melanie,” Stone said, “throw them one more time and then we’ve got to go in.”
“Aw. I can watch them, honest.”
Jimbo said, “Yeah, and they would eat you the minute Trey is out of sight.”
Melanie looked wide eyed at the drascos. “Really, Trey? Would they eat me alive?” She threw the balls as hard as she could straight up.
Stone shrugged, “I don’t know.” Along with the others he watched Jay and Peebee bounce from the hanger bulkhead to the side of the ship, leaping upward. Jay streaked past Peebee’s red ball. She slapped it hard with her tail just as Peebee was about to catch it in her mouth. Jay caught her blue ball before gravity could drag it back to the deck. Peebee’s red ball sailed up over the top of the Ruby Rock. Peebee scrambled after it, disappearing for a second then racing back to drop the ball at Melanie’s feet before Jay could get back. “Most likely they would just play you to death. Unless you are careful they can play kind of rough.”
“Then you can just leave them outside alone,” Aunt Ruth said.
Wright said, “Excuse me, Signora Stone. I am Commander Wright. I don’t actually think that is a good idea. These are baby drascos and only a few weeks old. They have imprinted motherhood on Mister Stone. They would not react kindly to being separated from him at this stage of their development.”
“Well, crap!” Aunt Ruth said. “And I suppose you are the foremost expert on baby drascos in all of human space?”
Wright laughed, “Yes signora, I am one of the top two known experts.”
“Okay, get in here. I need you both in my living room, pronto.”
“Yes, Aunt Ruth,” Stone said. He turned to Melanie who was just getting ready to throw the balls again. “Hold up, couz. Maybe we can play catch with them later. You heard your mom. Hand the balls back to Jay and Peebee.”
He took Jay’s head in his hands and breathed into their open mouths. “Melanie, I want you to do just like I did, okay?”
Jimbo nodded. “Let ol’ stinky breath breathe on them as a warning not to poop on Mom’s deck.”
“No, Signore Stone,” Wright said to Jimbo. “That is the way the drascos smell. It helps them to identify friends.”
Jimbo looked at Stone. He hitched a thumb at Commander Wright. “If smell is what it takes, no wonder you two are in good with these critters. Bad breathe and bad b.o. not-withstanding, I kind a figured it was critter identification. Not to mention, of course, you two could use a toother and a shower.”
Aunt Ruth’s voice blared from the speakers. “James Stone Junior. You know better than to speak that way to a guest in our home.”
Jimbo grinned and winked at Wright, careful to keep his face turned away from the video pick up. “She ain’t in our home yet, Ma. She’s just standing on the front porch.”
“Then you know better than to speak to an adult that way, young man.”
“Aw, Ma. How was I to know she is an adult? She don’t look old much older than Trey.”
“You know what I mean, James.”
“But Ma, you don’t think she looks old, do you?” Jimbo managed to hide his grin as he swiveled around to look at the vid pick up.
There was no response.
Jimbo grinned at Stone. “Verbal trap. I got her. She either admits that your Commander Wright looks young enough to not be treated like an adult and that gets me off the hook or she has to insult a female guest and say she looks old, thereby getting me off the hook.”
“Wrong,” Aunt Ruth replied. “I said adult not old. As far as you are concerned ‘adult’ means anyone older than you are. So that is sixteen or up.”
“What? I gotta start checking idents now?” Jimbo asked.
&
nbsp; “Okay, but James you go get a mop and a bucket for Trey’s dragon things. Because I don’t care if you are off the hook for being disrespectful to an adult and navy officer if one of those things…drascos...makes a mess on my deck then you are cleaning it up.”
“Okay Jimbo, you breathe on Jay and Peebee. Careful,” Stone said as Jimbo reached out to pet one while he breathed on them. “You have got to watch their hides. They are a bit rough in spots.”
Jimbo slid a hand gently along Peebee’s shoulder. “Crikey, couz. What are these guys made of? They feel like a pile of rusty pig iron.”
“They are just about as tough as pig iron,” Stone said. “Don’t let them rub up against you.” They trooped through the open airlocks and into the ship. “You could lose a couple of layers of skin if you aren’t careful.”
“I think they’re cute,” Melanie pouted. “I’ll bet they are big enough to ride.”
Commander Wright said, “They are baby drascos Miss Stone. Their hides are still kind of tender. They will toughen up as they get older. Even now they would not be comfortable to ride on without a very durable saddle of some sort.”
Melanie brightened up, “I got a saddle.”
Wright asked, “Bovine leather? I mean cowhide?”
Melanie nodded.
“Sorry, Melanie,” Stone said. “It would probably be shredded in no time on these two. Besides you have seen them chasing those balls. They bounce around turning on a pinhead so quick you would need to strap yourself in to hang on.”
“I could add a couple of straps to my saddle,” Melanie said, her voice becoming thoughtful. “I know I could design-”
“Design nothing, Mel.” Aunt Ruth stood in an archway and interrupted. “You and Jim have had enough of a break. You have homework to do.”
Jimbo and Melanie said in unison. “Aw Mom-”
“I don’t want to hear ‘aw Mom’ from you two. Shag your rear ends back to your cabins and get to it. I will check it later.”
“Jimbo, study your math hard,” Stone said.
