Once Upon a Pet Show (A Redpoint One Romance)

by Marlow, J. A.

  "Out exploring with Zane?" Arthur asked, still holding Tish close.

  She smiled up at him, eyes bright. "Nothing so fun. We both are picking up a problem."

  Wonderful. He'd missed a spot in the industrial park after all. "What kind of problem? Something around here?"

  Zane glanced around the area. "Something deep in the station. We thought we would find you and head down together. After another outbreak of the smell, Ami has a few spots for us to investigate, as well."

  Good. He hadn't missed something obvious in the area.

  "Something going on here?" Tish asked. She scowled at Rachel. "No working."

  "Don't get after me. He already did." Rachel thumbed towards Arthur.

  Tish pulled away from Arthur, glancing between Officer Redsong and the rest of them. "Something up? Animal problems?"

  "Not ours. Maybe with the ones missing," Rachel started.

  As Rachel huddled with Tish to catch up on the current gossip, Arthur moved closer to Zane. "A problem deep in the station?"

  Zane didn't smile. Worry filled his eyes, causing the lines around his mouth to deepen. "I'm not sure what it is, but it's getting overwhelming. Tish felt it from the other side of the station."

  And he hadn't? Arthur turned his head away, closing his eyes. Usually the station did the same to him, no matter what department the problem was in. It was one of the reasons he was promoted to his position when Zane left.

  A few breaths later he opened his eyes. If not for the excitement at the pet show, he would have noticed it sooner. "A pressure. Can't breath. A throb?"

  Zane nodded. "We have life-support, so I don't think it is literal. Nevertheless, we should find it."

  "And hope it's something we can repair." Sometimes they couldn't. Sometimes the station wouldn't allow them to.

  "So, what is happening here? I thought Rachel wasn't allowed to work?" Zane asked, looking past Arthur.

  "You are correct. She notified me of a maintenance issue in a place there shouldn't be one. We're waiting for a search warrant."

  Zane pointed down the road. "Then what are they doing?"

  Arthur turned to find Ingacio coming back out his warehouse, and Tish and Rachel at the front door to the empty warehouse in question. Not knocking on the door. Just going ahead and opening it.

  "Redsong!" Arthur shouted, not even bothering with her official title. He started walking fast towards the women.

  "We don't have a warrant yet." Officer Redsong broke out into a trot.

  A flurry of bot whistles and beeps erupted from the open door of the warehouse. Rachel appeared back outside, hands on her hips. "Are you coming, or not?"

  "I don't have legal right to enter this building," Officer Redsong said, glaring at her. "And neither do you."

  "Actually we do. As part of any lease or sale agreement on this station, the maintenance crew are permitted free and unfettered access to all station infrastructure so we may conduct our duties." Rachel grinned at Arthur, adding with deceptive innocence. "There's a clog in here we can access only from within the warehouse. As this warehouse is currently empty, we don't have to ask any of the current tenants for permission. Just go in and do it."

  Zane blinked rapidly several times. "She's right. We simply have to report it afterwards."

  Arthur tried not to smile. "It didn't occur to you to tell me your logic so we could all go in together? We don't know if these people are in there, or if they are, if they are dangerous."

  "And I still don't have permission to enter," Officer Redsong said, taking a step back from the door.

  Tish appeared at the door, leaning against the doorjamb. Violet hovered next to her, looking up at the rest of them. "Actually, you do, if requested by the maintenance crew to deal with an illegal activity." She nodded inside. "I would call this illegal, considering the cages of animals that shouldn't be in here. I would say it looks like they were beginning to get ready to start smuggling them out."

  Arthur's gut tightened. He pulled her out, going through the entrance himself. His bot closely followed, both of them studying the bare interior. Through a door on the left he saw a section of the bigger warehouse area. A small light illuminated several metal square shapes in the far corner.

  "See, it's safe," Tish said, coming up behind him.

  "The people who did this might still be around. No, it is not safe." Didn't she know what a risk she took just barging in the warehouse? Who knew what could have happened.

  "Oh, they were here." She pointed to the back. "The bots chased them into the back office and locked the door."

  The two went into a warehouse infested with thieves?

  Arthur grabbed Tish and nearly crushed her in an embrace. In her ear he harshly whispered, "That was a stupid thing to do. You could have gotten yourself killed."

  "Like I almost did with pirates and warbots?" She hugged him back, apparently not upset at all. "We had our bots with us."

  He set her back to arm's length, his hand on her shoulders to keep her in place. "I'm serious, Tish. This station is dangerous enough right now without you doing something like this on purpose. We can't afford to lose you." He swallowed hard. "I can't afford to lose you."

  Her smile diminished. Small teeth bit at her lower lip. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you, but waiting for a search warrant when we could easily go in? They could have been here and gone by the time Officer Redsong got one through the courts."

  "You should have told me what you were doing first. Next time, I ask that you do." He gave her a tiny shake in emphasis.

  The smile returned. "Deal."

  "Search warrant now cleared," Officer Redsong said, moving into the front room of the warehouse. "Backup will soon arrive. Where are they?"

  Rachel pointed to the back. "Office at the very end, where the bots are guarding. Amazing how menacing bots with flickering welders can look."

  "Good job. Now we can end this blight on our station and one of its events," Officer Redsong said with a satisfied smile.

  Other officers soon swarmed to the warehouse. Ignacio forced Rachel to stand back as Arthur determined the cause of the clog in the bathroom. Easy to find. A wad of fur in the smaller pipes, and then it flowed smoothly again.

  Now that he was attuned to the station, he couldn't ignore it. Neither could Zane or Tish, from the looks of it. The furtive glances at the door leading out of the warehouse. The unease. The need for action. It set him on edge.

  A sharp beep from his wrist set his muscles tensing. No voice, just the beep.

  The sense of dread increased. The type of call he'd expected, but prayed would not happen.

  "Zane," Arthur shouted as he headed fast out the door. He paused outside, deciding the best way to get where he felt they needed to be.

  Zane soon followed, but so did Tish and Rachel. He pointed Rachel towards the warehouse. "No."

  Rachel set her chin, crossing her arms. "You need all the help you can get if someone is trapped. I do have a specialty here, too."

  "Your specialty and abilities are not in question. Your health is."

  Rachel didn't flinch a bit at his hard stare, even daring to take a step towards him. "I follow and don't lift a finger. Now, aren't we wasting time? Who was the alarm from?"

  "Damien," Tish said as Arthur ran a hand through his hair.

  "Who went out with Vallory Schist looking for her missing pets," Arthur said. "Fine, Rachel. But, I mean it. Not a finger."

  A grin appeared. "You got it, boss."

  He didn't waste any more time. Not with one of his people trapped.

  Finding Damien, however, proved difficult. The station couldn't tell him Damien's location. To him, that meant only one thing.

  Damien ran into another dead part of the station. No, not just dead. As if it didn't exist. In the time they'd started having the problem, he'd noticed the pattern. The section would 'die' and all utilities would rebuild and adapt around it. As if the area wasn't there.

  Only, he couldn't
ignore it like the station, not with someone inside.

  With the help of another transmission burst from Damien, and Ami on the communication line providing additional tracking information, they zeroed into the area. By now, an entire entourage trailed behind them and along nearby maintenance corridors, including several worried newbies. Not a good early impression for them.

  "This isn't normal," Tish constantly reassured them while Arthur and Zane concentrated on finding the area.

  "Don't worry about me. Just tell me what to do if it happens," Shay said, his confident smile still in place. The new hire was still working with Cody on the station weapon systems, and from all reports, continued to be helpful and enthusiastic for the job. Too bad Cody had also reported that he was showing no aptitude in that area, either. Might be time for Arthur to take him out himself, see if he could spot where the station might have interest in him.

  Izabela was not so easily reassured. "How often are people trapped?"

  "First one I know of," Tish said. Good, she didn't mention the close calls.

  Another transmission burst. Arthur froze. This one came from so close that his communicator blared with the sound.

  A sharp whistle cut through the air. A bot with a smooth white back shell appeared at a corner of the corridor. It spun in a frantic circle before taking off.

  Arthur broke out in a run to follow, the others close behind.

  Damien's bot turned another corner. Arthur's shoulder grazed a juncture box as he took the turn at full speed. The bot sat in the middle of the corridor, frantic in its whistles and chirps.

  A blank wall, with nothing of importance about it. Yet, Damien's bot kept staring at it.

  There he saw it. The stub of a corridor slowly disappearing as pipes moved to adjust around the dead area. But through them, just barely, he could see and feel it. A dead space. One that would soon be swallowed up in the station.

  "Aren't we right next to one of the station private areas?" Tish asked, peering through at the same space. "Maybe the station is making it bigger?"

  "Private areas?" Shay echoed.

  "An area that belongs to the station alone. No humans or anyone else invited," Arthur automatically said even while he reached through a space between two pipes to try to touch the wall behind them.

  No good. Too far back. He pulled back.

  Zane shook his head, pulling out a flashlight to shine a beam of light into the dark space. "No, not expanding. The station doesn't kill an area to absorb it into its own private spaces."

  Arthur turned to the group. "Pair up. See if you can find a door or a hatch we can use to get into the area."

  Izabela looked terrified now. Simon Mang took her arm and pulled her along with him, quietly describing the openings they were looking for. Tish scowled at the opening, not bothering to follow the others as the group split up. He noticed Zane didn't, either. Probably sensing the same thing he was.

  "We aren't going to find a door," Tish finally said. Worried eyes turned to him, an expression he wished he could banish. Only, in this situation, he didn't have that power. "You know it."

  He reached out to take one of her cold hands into his. "Yes, I know it, but that doesn't mean I'm giving up. Zane, I don't care if the station won't like it. We break out the torches and start cutting."

  Zane's expression was as grim as Arthur knew his was. "You'll get no disagreement from me."

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  TRAPPED IN A small section of a station corridor was bad enough. The lights going out made it all the worse.

  Vallory's voice trembling in the darkness, "I don't suppose you fix lightbulbs?"

  How Damien wished right now that he could. To take away the terror rising in her. He would do anything to reassure her. Except lie.

  He reached out for her, pulling her into his arms, finding her trembling, but not crying. So brave. "Sorry, no. Don't worry, the others are looking for us."

  "You're sure they can hear it?"

  "We tested many types of transmitters before we settled on this one. Trust me, this signal can go through half the station and still be heard. And yes, we tested it against the few dead areas we know about."

  She sniffle-laughed. "Good. Then tell them to hurry."

  He didn't tell her of the cost of such a strong transmission signal. The power cost. While the transmitter took up one entire pouch on his belt, the battery pack would last for only so long. He reached down and set it to a slower regular broadcast level, knowing the buttons by heart after playing with it so much during testing. Regularly-spaced bursts should work now. Just enough to help Arthur and Zane zero in on their location.

  After that?

  Something else he best not say out loud at this point.

  "Damien?"

  He leaned back against a pipe, his feet firmly planted, holding her against his chest. A nice position to have her in. She was nearly as tall as him, with her head nestled against his shoulder. A subtle movement of his head, and he could kiss the top of her forehead.

  A thought he best not dwell on at the moment, although it did help take his mind off the situation a little. "Hmm?"

  "I hate to add to our worries, but the air is getting a little stuffy." Voice still strong, but worry infusing it.

  She had reason to worry. He'd noticed it, as well. As the head of the daytime life-support, he knew how the station reacted to dead areas: as if they weren't there. Which meant no utilities to the area, including life-support.

  "What do we do?" she asked.

  "Settle down and breathe shallow. Wait for the others." He reached out to the side, his fingertips brushing against the cool solid wall of the station blocked off area. He pulled Vallory with him as he re-situated their position.

  Vallory knelt down with him, one hand always on him. Something he found he liked a great deal. "Are you sure you don't know of another way out?"

  "I tried, love. I couldn't find one."

  She froze. Because he'd said it out loud? She'd been with him while he'd searched the small area in minute detail, trying to find something, somewhere, that would allow them to get out. He'd been honest about all of it. She'd been brave all through it. No screaming or panicking, like some would have responded to the situation.

  "I did try," Damien repeated.

  With them both in a sitting position against the wall, she curled up against his chest again. "I know."

  Another tremble went through her body. A hand went up to rest on his chest just above his heart. He could even feel how she breathed.

  "So, we just wait? And hope?" she asked.

  He tightened his arms around her. "Right now, yes. Don't worry. The others won't rest until they reach us."

  "Not that I want you trapped in here with me, but I'm glad I'm not alone this time." She snuggled further into his arms. "And you might not want to hear this yet, but since we don't know if we're going to get out of here alive…"

  "Hey, we're not dead yet!" And he wasn't about to give up help. Arthur would take a welder torch to the station to get through to them, if needed.

  Into his chest, Vallory whispered, "I love you."

  His heart skipped a beat.

  Then started beating hard and fast. Trapped in a pitch-black space with the air running out, and his heart was soaring. Such simple words, yet what power they possessed.

  "I'm sorry," she whispered.

  Sorry? As if she regretted it?

  No, that wouldn't be it. She meant to say it. It was no accident. Which mean she was sorry for him, and that was something he couldn't let go uncorrected in the current situation. Not when he knew how dire it was.

  "No saying sorry for speaking the truth." He reached up to capture one of her hands into his, loving how smooth and warm if felt under his work-calloused fingertips. "You have more bravery than I do."

  Still did. He felt it. Wanted to say it.

  Yet, the old worries still lingered. Her life. His life, heading off in a different directions. How could that be
compatible for the long-term?

  They were both here in the station in the same place and time now, a part of him reminded himself. Even if it was life-threatening. The emotions were the same. Vallory was actively trying to figure out how to make it work, even going so far as willing to leave her daubpups, once she settled them, to make it happen.

  How could he not meet her half-way, when this was just as important to him?

  Only, he hadn't said that out loud. She still sat tense in his arms, as if waiting for him. He swallowed, forcing out, "I love you, as well."

  Relief filled him. So few words, so hard to get out, but now that they were spoken they could move beyond. He had a feeling saying it the next time would come much easier.

  "We still have issues to talk about. How to make it work," Damien said, the practical side winning out again.

  Vallory relaxed, nearly draping herself on his chest. "I know. A lot of things. Like I said, I need to get the daubpups situated, but then I can make plans of my own."

  "What if I talk to a few people I know to see if we can make that happen sooner rather than later?" He didn't know many people in the field, but he bet Ami could find out. The woman was a genius at finding out information. Ignacio would help, as well.

  "I would like that."

  "On my vacations I can come out to visit you onsite as you set up the daubpups." The more he thought about it, the more ways he found they could find time with each other. It would be worth the effort if he could have her in his life permanently. "When the time comes, there are places here for you."

  "For a xenobiologist?" Vallory asked.

  "Oh yes. The rings are full of interesting parks and reserves. Trust me. We can find you an interesting position. Ignacio will help."

  She yawned, adjusting how her head lay against his shoulder and the crook of his neck. "Ignacio already helped me find several good contacts."

  Which she'd already said. He didn't remind her of the fact. His mind was getting muddy as the air grew heavier and harder to breath.

  Time was running out. He hoped his bot had the intelligence to go for help. Hard to tell with them sometimes. Sometimes so intelligent, sometimes so simple, and one could never count on which would be which in a given situation. Another reason to have a human around them to help keep them on track.