Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 135784 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 679(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135784 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 679(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Sophie makes a soft whimpering noise and buries her face against my shoulder, and I've just about got her comforted when the entire station lurches and the lights flicker. A cry goes up from the crowd, and a warning tone rings throughout the station. I'm familiar with what it means, but Sophie looks up at me, her eyes terrified even through the masking device.
"It's a solar storm," I tell her. "No one's in danger."
She swallows hard and nods.
I don't tell her that this puts a bit of a kink in our plans. That we can't exactly go back to my asteroid outpost with the storm going. Our small shuttle won't be able to handle it. But she doesn't need to know that yet. I turn back to haggling the price with the vendor, gesturing at the station. "My price has to go down now if you want to offload these crates of food on me. I've got to get a room for overnight."
"Bah." The szzt throws his hands up. "Sleep in the halls like the other drifters."
I would have before, but I won't do that to Sophie. I shake my head and hold out most of my newly acquired credits. "Not with my mate with me."
"That ugly beast? You poor fool. You should save your credits and get yourself something you can stand to look at." As my gloved hand reaches out, he hears the creak and smirks. "Looks like you cheap out everywhere, my friend."
"Looks like," I say flatly. "Those are all the credits you'll be getting from my cheap ass. Do you want to trade or not?"
It takes a few more rounds of haggling, but once he sees my run-down cybernetic parts, the battle's as good as won. He knows I don't have the credits to toss around and I end up getting enough meat and noodles for about six weeks at a decent price. I load up the sled while Sophie clings to me and the entire station shivers with the onset of the storm. All around us, you can tell who's used to station living and who's not. Those that have been through this before—like myself—ignore the howling wind and the way that everything around us shakes. Those that haven't look utterly terrified, and the occasional shrill cry goes up from the market, only to be quickly silenced by an embarrassed friend.
We return to the ship and load it with the food supplies, and I have to grease the palms of the dock officers, explaining that now I have to stay until the storm passes. They take another chunk of credits for watching my ship, and then I lead Sophie back into the halls of the station.
Her fingers dig into my side and she leans close. "Why aren't we leaving?"
The station gives a low, metallic groan again and I pull her close, steering her down a different hall. "We can't go anywhere with that storm outside. It'll finish rushing through eventually, but for now, we're getting a room."
I expect her to protest, but she just nods and moves closer to me. Without the sled to tug around, it's easy to tuck her against my side and walk with her clinging to me, and I feel like a keffing king, which is stupid. They don't know that the female clinging to me is a gorgeous human with big, dark eyes and the most fascinating pink-brown mouth, or teats that jiggle just a little when she laughs.
Not that she ever laughs for me. But sometimes, she laughs for the carinoux. I fight back a surge of vicious joy that the creature's not going to be with us tonight. He'd have chewed my arm off already simply for touching her.
We head into the belly of the station, where the cantinas are located, and tinny music pipes through the walls, nearly muffled by the sounds of the storm buffeting at the station's hull. It's getting crowded in this area, and I can't help but notice that the cheapest of hotels has a line out the door of people waiting to buy a bed for the night, thanks to the storm. Sophie and her disguise can't share a room with a half-dozen strangers, though, so I head toward the more expensive of establishments. It'll hit me harder in the credits, but I promised I'd keep Sophie safe, and I will.
There's no haggling for the room. With the storm blaring in our ears, I have to pay the highest price, and the bony ssethri behind the counter slides me the key-chip with a smirk. I ignore that and take the elevator to our floor. I can't help but notice that even now, with no one else around, Sophie still holds tightly to me, as if she's afraid to let go. I should tell her to take a step back.