As the door shut behind her, Sally realized there was no handle on this side for her to get backin.
Squinting a little in the light of a strange sun, she hefted her bag and started walking. She’d have to come around to the front of the building soon enough.
Turning a corner, she found not the front of the building as she had hoped, but trouble of the bird-legged variety.
A…she supposed it must be a dumpster…stood in the crook of a building, and something large, furry, and hissing was being harassed by a small gang of two-legged turkey vultures. At least, that’s what they looked like to Sally.
Is this a doggone biker gangIN SPACE?!
Sally’s mouth parted in mild astonishment at seeing something so…so…mundaneand yet ultimately otherworldly. It was like wandering around at the Houston renaissance faire. The place was huge and full of insane method actors. She knew;she’d ridden there several times, though jousting was not her forté.
It took a moment for them to notice her, what with being too busy tormenting whatever critter was trapped behind the dumpster. When they did, they nudged one another and fell silent as she approached.
“Hi there!” she said brightly, all confidence and Southern Charm. “I don’t suppose you fine gentlemen would be willing to show me around to the front entrance? I seem to have come out the wrong way.”
One of the bird men cocked his head sharply, eyes narrowing above his gnarly-looking beak. He squawked something that finally translated in her ear as, “You absolutely did, little morsel.”
His tongue flicked out licking at his beak and he stood slowly off his ‘bike’, a hovering vehicle that looked fun to ride, when it wasn’t being occupied by an avian asshole. He took his time, rising to his full height, which, Sally realized with a nervous little swallow, was significantly taller than her own.
Taloned feet crunched into the dirt as he approached her slowly, a low, laughing sound escaping his craw as his head twitched this way and that looking at her. The rest of his crew fanned out on either side of him, not surrounding, but definitely penning her in.
Oh no. Sally’s heart started thudding wildly, her senses all warning her of impending danger.
She drew herself up and put on her best no-nonsense voice.
“Now boys, Iknowyou ain’t thinkin’ about doin’ something stupid. That just wouldn’t be good manners for someone newlyarrived to the planet, now, would it?” She didn’t wait for them to reply. “If you can just show me to the front of the building, I’ll be on my way.”
The lead vulture-man’s laughter picked up in volume and he stalked a little closer, his feathered arms crossing over the ripped, sleeveless jumpsuit he wore.
“Been a loooooong time since I’ve seen a female of any variety,” he said, moving even closer to her. “Maybe I should remind myself what all the fuss is about. What do you say, boys? Should we have ourselves a little ‘welcoming party’?”
Creepy bird noises mixed with more human-sounding hoots and hollers as the three of them fanned out around her.
Sally calmly put her bag and her hat down and shifted so the dumpster was behind her. Her hands slid into her pockets, casually pulling her bullwhip out in one hand, the taser in the other, though she kept both close to her body so as not to be obvious to her assailants.
Sally tipped her chin up, meeting the leader’s eyes dead-on.
“You really shouldn’t,” she warned him.
???
Xenoth was frantic.
He hadlosthisfemaleand she’d barely even set foot off the transport!
“What do you MEAN you don’t know where she is?!” he hissed at Captain Gargilla, ready to throw the bear across the landing bay.
“Imeanshe gotoffthe transport and wentintothe terminal and is therefore no longer my responsibility!”
Xenoth hissed, his kropek flooding out around him, the ends of every strand aiming themselves angrily in Gargilla’s direction and twitching like angry snakes. The bear was nonplussed and simply pulled a phaser from his pocket.
“Why don’t youtake a walkand gofindher?” the Captain said staunchly, his eyes narrowed at the incensed Z’arthaxian.
Truth be told, Gargilla was surprised to see a Z’arthaxian out in the open, much less there to pick up a human passenger. They were notoriously reclusive. He hadn’t even known there were any on the planet! Impressive tentacles, though.
Xenoth breathed deeply, his senses in overdrive. He couldn’t lose her.He couldn’t. Nearly three weeks without contact while she traveled here had beenhorrific. If he hadn’t been able to hack the shuttle tracking system, he probably would have done something stupid.
Urzan carefully came up next to him.
