"Might I remind you he's escaped three times now?" Rachel said. She couldn't resist sticking her tongue out at Irvine. "And all three times he messed up systems in my department."
"They really aren't very intelligent," Ignacio said.
"Do you have a lock for this door or not? Should I get out my duct tape?"
"Wait, I have something that will work."
The flat toes of the newt attached to the clear material of the enclosure. It climbed up the side, the cupped bottoms of the toes acting like suction cups so that it positioned itself upside down above the door. With both front arms it pulled at the door.
"You might be determined, you little slime, but you aren't getting out," Rachel told it. "Go swim in your pond and leave my pipes alone."
Ignacio appeared next to her, kneeling by her side, laughing all the way. "Shall I guess your department? Plumbing, perhaps?"
Her first impression had been correct. He'd hardly heard a word she'd said when she first arrived. "Yes, plumbing, and that's where I found him."
Ignacio hooked a metal bracket through a hole in the bottom ledge of the door Rachel was using to keep it closed, and an identical hole in the ledge at the bottom of the larger human-sized main door. With a click, he turned the curved bracket so it locked down the door.
The newt turned its head to hiss at both of them, flashing its yellow gills.
"Go swim in your pond," Rachel said again.
"Crawling around in your pipes, was he? Doesn't surprise me he would gravitate towards them if given the chance. I'm still working on adding to his enclosure to mimic the tree tubes of his native environment."
"His what?" Rachel asked, rubbing her hands to get the feeling back after pressing down so hard to keep the sliding door closed.
"Hollow tree roots in fast running water. It's a very unusual environment," Ignacio said. He smiled at the newt, putting a finger under where one of its feet still stuck to the wall. The newt stepped away in response, hurrying to the water. "Another one of my rescues. He would look for environments closer to that found on his native world."
"I don't think you understand. He wasn't among the pipes. He was inside a water pipe," Rachel said. She grabbed her bucket and stood up. "The valves of Redpoint One will not close if it senses something living might be harmed from the action. Irvine cut off the water to several apartment blocks today."
Ignacio rose to his feet, one hand still on the enclosure. "Are you sure? How would he get inside a pipe?"
"Of course I'm sure. I had to disconnect two pipes to fish the little snot out."
Something in her face must have told him not to pursue disbelief because he turned to watch the newt swimming. He also appeared to be battling with laughter. Not something she wanted to hear at the moment now that she was on a roll about the problem.
"I would like to know how Irvine accomplished the feat," Ignacio finally said.
"Wonder about it all you want, just keep him from doing it again," Rachel said. "My job is already hard enough."
Ignacio laughed, rubbing the back of his head and succeeding in making his hair stand up even more. "Keeping the feeding door locked down should take care of it."
"Thank you," Rachel said, not knowing what more to add, but wanting to linger a little more. A most curious feeling. Why did she want to stay around newts and salamanders even more? She preferred other animals, really.
She was surprised to find him not angry with her request. So many people would make excuses for their pets being in areas they didn't belong. Offended anyone should call their pets anything less than perfect in all ways.
"Would you like to see the other enclosures?" Ignacio asked suddenly into the awkward silence. "I don't have as many as the big programs, but I'm quite successful with those I do work with."
Rachel let the handle of the bucket roll across her fingers, setting it swinging. Part of her wouldn't mind, but the more she thought about it, the more she knew she needed to make this another long day. "As much as I would like to, I have to get back to work. Thank you for letting me watch the birth."
She turned away to head for the front door, her mind already turning to the list of repairs. Maybe she could get some of the smaller repairs out of the way and start with the big stuff again in the morning.
"Perhaps you would allow me to take you to dinner one of these evenings to make up for your inconvenience?" Ignacio said, and then stopped.
Rachel stared at him in shock, not quite believing what she'd heard, to find red staining his face. "Dinner?"
He flushed even more, but stood tall and said, "I'm inviting you to dinner. You saved my newt from possible death or dismemberment in the piping of the station. Let me show my gratitude."
Rachel opened her mouth to say it wasn't needed. She'd done her job. Nothing more.
Then she stopped. A dinner with a handsome man who did something worthwhile with his life? Who could feel and display real emotion and passion while also carrying on a decent conversation with a little wit thrown in? How long had she been looking for something like that, even if he did breed lizards? After dating so many losers, maybe this could be the start of something special.
Rachel licked suddenly dry lips and smiled. "Dinner it is, then. Day and time?"
***
He must be insane. An angry woman appears at his front door with one of his runaway newts, and he asks her for dinner less than an hour later?
A date? A real honest-to-goodness date?
Working alone with his newts and salamanders must be getting to his brain.
Before bed he allowed himself to look in on the Silky Newts. He spotted four of the babies, still looking fine and healthy. He would need to write up a report to the Wilkins Conservation Society on the development. They would be thrilled with the possibility of more Silky Newts released into their refuge within the year.
He should be thrilled, too. And, he was, but now something else distracted him. Sleep didn't come as easily as it should after such a long day. He knew the reason why to both problems.
He ended up oversleeping. He woke up in time to make a morning appointment only because he'd programmed a warning alarm into one of the apartment cleaning robots.
The distraction continued, making his meeting with a conservation group more stressful than it should. When it was over he grabbed a fast-food breakfast, eating it on the way to the site of the upcoming Redpoint One Exotic Pet Show.
Paul Elliott waited for him in the center of the circle of buildings, tapping the watch on his wrist. "Not like you to cut it so close."
"Long story," Ignacio said, trying to pull the wrinkles out of his shirt. He threw the wrapper to his breakfast in a nearby garbage can, promising himself a decent dinner. "What's going on?"
"We have the finalized floor plan for the buildings," Paul said, gesturing to two metal buildings on the flat hard surface of the fair grounds. "We'll be able to start setting up the insides by the end of the day."
Neither of the two buildings appeared large enough to handle the sheer number of exotic animal displays they would need. "Which one is for the rare animal exhibit?"
"It's not erected yet. It will be on the south side." Paul handed him an e-pad with the fair grounds marked clearly, pointing to one elongated rectangle on the plan. "The committee approved the extra environmental controls you asked for but decided to set up one of the temporary buildings for it instead of one of the permanent structures. Thought it could be tailored to your needs easier."
"Good. Several breeders have said they'll refuse to come if we don't provide them," Ignacio said, trying to keep his attention on the design.
The building looked plenty big. The Pet Show didn't allow pets over the size of large canines, so they should have plenty of room. Much better than the previous year when he'd been forced to turn down displays for lack of space. The committee listened to his complaints and suggestions after the problems last year. Always a good thing.
He tried to match up the tenta
tive plan he'd made for the displays with the scale of the building. He even brought out the pocket computer to refresh his memory, and still he couldn't get them to work together.
"What's bothering you?" Paul asked. "And don't try to tell me it's the show. You're too organized to be worried."
He should have known his friend would pick up on his mood so fast. He looked up from the pad with a frown. "Marcie has been gone for four years. It's nothing to be guilty over. It's only dinner."
"What dinner?" The shocked expression on Paul's face startled him.
If Paul didn't mean the dinner with Rachel Henderkito, what was he talking about?
"I figured you were reacting to the Silky going into labor," Paul said, still staring at him in shock.
Of course. Why hadn't he thought of that instead? It would have been an obvious answer to give Paul and end any questions. "Uh, she's fine. A litter of six, all of which were swimming strong this morning."
"A litter of six when you would have been in high-heaven with three. What is this about dinner?" Paul asked, his eyes sharp on Ignacio's face. "Dinner with who? I'm guessing from the comment about Marcie it is with someone of the female gender."
"It doesn't matter," Ignacio muttered, returning his attention to the map of the buildings, determined to concentrate this time. "I'm going to call it off anyway. I don't know what I was thinking when I asked her."
"A woman. You are going out to dinner with a woman, and you were the one who asked? Where did you meet her?" Paul demanded.
"She returned Irvine after he escaped. It's not important." Ignacio took off towards the future site of the exotic animal building, wanting to pace it out to make sure he had the dimensions right in his head.
"Oh no, my friend. You are not getting off that easily. I want all the details. And, did you say you are calling it off?"
"It won't work. I'm busy with the breeding."
"Did she freak about the newts?"
"No, she watched the birth. She was fine with all of it."
"And you don't want to go out with this woman?" Paul put out a hand to stop him. "Ignacio, what is this really about?"
"This isn't the right time. We have the show to get ready and I have a batch of Friskies to get ready for shipment at the end of the show." As he said the words he tried to reinforce them in his head. Everything he'd said was true, he had a lot of responsibilities to take care of right now. It didn't leave much time to start creating a romantic social life. "Forget I said anything."
Paul parroted his words back at him before saying in his normal voice, "Forget it? I'm your friend, which means I support you. In this case, support means I make you go through with something in your best interests."
"Paul, the show."
"Ignacio, your life," Paul said, mimicking his tone. "You are going to that dinner, end of discussion. This is exactly what you need. Trust me."
Ignacio didn't quite think so, and yet he found himself not putting up as big of a fight as Paul wheedled out of him the time and day of the date. Even the excuse of watching over the new litter was shot down when Paul volunteered to come over for the few hours he would be away.
It appeared whether he liked it or not, baby newts or not, he had a date to get ready for.
CHAPTER FIVE
"I FEEL SILLY coming without knitting stuff," Tish said, fidgeting with her skirt.
"You're fine," Rachel said again, amused at how nervous Tish was acting. They were meeting up with a knitting club, not a group of sharks.
The night period for the ring had just started, casting the fertile center of the ring into deep shadows. The Northstar Bed and Breakfast sat in the midst of its own wild gardens, in contrast to the more manicured paths of a park sitting to one side of the property and the vast formal gardens of a famous horticulture club on the other. The ground terraced away down to the bottom U-Valley of the ring, the height of the building allowing grand views of the other side of the Ring.
The blue and white two-story gabled building evoked an older time. It should feel out of place in the high-tech environment of Redpoint One, but in the green of the rings it stood tall and proud, a natural part of the landscape.
Once again, Rachel envied Velda being able to live right in the middle of the ring instead of deep inside the station. To wake up to this scenery every day would be divine. Others obviously felt the same thing, as Velda rarely had an empty room.
Rachel hiked up the strap of the bag slung over her shoulder. "I have you covered. Remember, fun."
Before Rachel could ring the bell, the front door flung open. Velda stood in the middle of the opening in all her glory. Bleach blond hair in a stylish bob ending just above the shoulders with the top fluffed high. A red dress with matching high heels and decked out in sparkly jewelry. Makeup done just so. She looked ready to go out to a dinner party.
"Rachel, it's about time. We were about to start without you." Velda stopped, squinting at Tish. "Who is this? Do we have someone new?"
Rachel pulled Tish forward. "Tish Douglas, this is Velda Morgan, the owner of the Northstar Bed and Breakfast. Velda, this is one of our new maintenance engineers."
"The Tish? Arthur's Tish?" Velda asked, her eyes starting to gleam.
"Arthur's Tish?" Eddie asked from somewhere in the room behind Velda.
Eddie and Daisy appeared in quick order, helping Velda to pull Tish inside. Rachel followed, amused at how the women took to settling the new person into a comfortable chair and getting her a hot cup of tea, introducing themselves and basically being the nice gentle pills that the ladies usually were.
"Now, first order of business," Eddie said, settling back into her own chair. "Do you knit?"
Tish shook her head. "Never even tried."
"Do you hear that, Daisy? We have someone to teach," Eddie said with a grin.
Daisy pointed a knitting needle at her. "How can I teach when the two of you haven't finished teaching me yet?"
Rachel settled the bag of knitting supplies next to a chair, accepting a cup of tea herself. On one edge of the couch Eddie wound up a mass of yarn.
A small dog with a pointy nose and a tuft of purple hair on the top of his head falling partially over his eyes emerged from a medium-sized duffle bag with one end open. Standing on thin legs with another tuft of hair at the end of a thin tail, the poor thing looked like an exotic rat who had stuck its head into paint. And maybe its nose into an electrical socket.
He sniffed at each of their legs before hopping up onto Tish's lap. Tish held up her tea out of the way of the curious dog's nose as he began his examination of the newcomer.
"Oh, don't mind Siggy," Eddie said. Siggy tried to reach to his head with a hind leg to scratch, missing completely. He tried again, nearly falling over in the attempt. "Give the poor dear a scratch, would you? He gets a bit neurotic when he can't reach an itch."
Daisy laughed. "Siggy gets neurotic at everything."
"A new member of the knitter's club," Velda started, sitting down in one of the high-backed wood chairs while Tish scratched Siggy's head. The dog leaned into the scratch, falling over in the process. "So nice to have you here. I heard you were from Earth? How did you come to be clear out here?"
Rachel cringed, knowing the story was still a sore spot for her friend, but Tish answered, "I went in for a big operation, and when I came out I decided to make a big change in life. I didn't have a job or anything else holding me back."
"Same with my Sam and I," Daisy said, nodding as she struggled with looping the yearn around the end of the knitting needle. "Wanted a bit of excitement, he saw a posting for a formal gardener, and we've been here ever since."
"Near death can change one's perspective," Eddie said with a nod.
Velda nodded in solemn agreement. "You came to the right place. Redpoint One is just the place to make you feel alive. The crossroads of several trading routes. We see it all. Are you in the theatre? Many traveling shows stop here on their tours."
Before she knew it
, the ladies had Tish laughing and sharing as if she'd always been a part of the group. Daisy managed one more row on the scarf she'd been working on for weeks and leaned back in her chair. Siggy left Tish to explore the room before disappearing into his carry case, only to appear a moment later to wrestle and attack a purple duck squeaky toy. Rachel didn't bother getting out her own knitting, but instead relaxed on her part of the couch and enjoyed the conversation.
When Velda went to brew more tea and refill iced tea glasses, Tish leaned over to Rachel to ask, "When do we knit?"
"Daisy was knitting," Rachel said, nodding towards the woman.
Eddie wound up the last of the yarn into the new neat ball, holding it up triumphantly. "Tangles are gone!"
"Very nice," Daisy said. "What are you going to knit with it?"
"Not sure yet. I'll think about it. I'm all knitted out now." Eddie dropped it in her bag.
"Always an excuse," Daisy said with a laugh.
"How much actual knitting goes on in here?" Tish asked, narrowing amused eyes at Rachel. The squeaky toy bounced under the coffee table, and it squeaked again when Siggy pounced on it. Only, somehow, the squeaky toy came out on top of Siggy, making it appear as if the toy were winning the wrestling match.
"We get out the needles once in a while, right ladies?" Rachel asked the room.
Daisy reached over to the bag sitting on the floor next to her chair and pulled out a large wood knitting needle. "I have mine!"
"As do I," Eddie said, waving a thin metal knitting needle in the air.
"And a whole drawer full over there," Velda said, pointing to the drawer of an ornate table sitting next to the wall with a vase of flowers on top of it.
Daisy dropped her needles back into her bag, giving Tish an evil happy smile. "And we use them just enough to keep the husbands believing we are only knitting."
"If you have or want a husband," Velda said as she set down a full pot of hot water in the middle of the coffee table. "Either way, a bit of love and companionship never hurt anyone."
Rachel didn't say anything. She didn't care for the direction the conversation was going. She'd worked so hard to get a distraction in the room for the night, and she wasn't about to let it derail.
Turn of the Pipes (A Redpoint One Romance) Page 4