Ranek explained how his friend had gotten trapped inside an escape pod, only to find themselves on this planet, greeted by pirates. As he did, Commander Chaos added his own asides in the form of little yips and growls. The pup was still hungry.
“What if nothing went wrong, and the pod was pre-programmed to come here?” Maya finished, watching for Faith’s reaction.
“But that would mean… the delivery company.” Faith’s face clouded up.
Maya put out a pacifying hand; she didn’t want her friend to act before they had the proof. “I mean, it’s a strong possibility. Let’s see if we can find the proof first before we unload a can of Maya and Faith-flavored whoop-ass on them.”
Ranek’s raised brow was almost comical. His translator must be struggling with their English slang.
“Yeah, good idea. I’ll do some sleuthing and work my magic while you make your way back with Mr. Sexy-But-Not-Really-a-Merchant.” She gave Ranek a once-over that had Maya’s little green monsters rearing their heads.
“I’ll meet you back at Reka 5,” Maya said, shoving the errant jealousy down.
First of all, Faith was married, and she was the poster girl for her namesake. And second, she had no right to get jealous over Ranek. They barely knew each other. Okay, so their little impromptu makeout session had been fire. But still. She had no claim to him.
They said goodbye and ended the comm. And just in time too, because Commander Chaos had started to chew on Ranek’s boots.
“Chaos, no. Leave it.”
The pup looked up from his expensive choice of chew toy and huffed. But he did leave the boots alone. Too bad he went straight tohershoes. After all, Maya hadn’t said no to those yet.
“I think he’s still hungry,” Maya said, her own stomach grumbling. The two of them hadn’t eaten yet. “But do you think there are other food sources here? He can put away a lot of food, and I don’t want him going through all your bars.”
“There are ingredients for the food replicators. The replicators themselves are rusted, but some of the ingredients are known to last nearly forever.”
“Oh, you mean the freeze-dried stuff. Yeah, that might work as long as we have water to reconstitute it in.”
“This station does not lack fresh, potable water.”
“Then let’s do it. Show me the stash.”
Chapter 7
Ranek
“Leave it,” Maya commanded, stepping back from the reconstituted pile of tepin meat in the bowl.
The dragus eyed the meat for a second, salivating, then looked away like he couldn’t resist the temptation otherwise. Commander Chaos stood there waiting for her to give the signal, his eyes wide and refusing to look at the tempting treat.
“Good boy! Okay, go get it!” The dragus descended on the tepin, gobbling it up in one gulp. “Geez, Commander,” Maya groaned. “Would it kill ya to chew it? Did you even taste that?”
The dragus gave her a look that said he totally did, and it was yummy, and he wanted more.
“Fine.” Maya tossed several more pieces into the bowl before wiping her hands with a disposable wipe they’d found in the medical supplies. “I’ll never get over how he acts like an adorable puppy. They really do thrive on pack mentality. The length that Commander Chaos will go to be called a good boy is unbelievable.”
The dragus must’ve caught the two very important words, because his tail started waggling from side to side the moment Maya said them.
She sat down at the table and reached for one of the food bars, then wrinkled her nose at the words on the packaging. “Horn beast and something root? I’ve never seen this flavor before. Strange packaging too. And what’s that word?”
Ranek raised a brow. Tallean glyphs were not easy to learn, and even some Talleans went much of their lives barely able to read more than the basics required. He’d been under the impression that most humans relied simply on translations.
“That’s kaua root,” he said, grabbing another bar for himself.
“Never had it before.” She peeled open the package and took a bite, making a little moue of distaste at the flavor.
“It’s a common ingredient on the inner planets.”
“The inner planets.” She leveled him a look.
