The Hulg looked at her then focused on Ruby sound asleep in her hair. “Hmmm, let me look up jeweled lizards.”
Myrum finally shook off his shock from her earlier words to speak up for Ruby’s welfare. The Hulg wouldn’t find anything about her, so Myrum named the class of bugs Ruby could consume.
The Hulg was quick to start gathering bugs from various cages and dropping wet food balls in to keep them alive until Ruby could consume them.
While he was doing that, Myrum stepped to a corner of the small, crowded shop. Amina’s hand was still linked to his, and she followed him without protest.
“Thank you for helping me with Ruby,” he said.
“I wish I had one like her,” Amina said, pulling her hand free of his. It was difficult, but he let her. Reaching up, she gently extracted Ruby from her hair and held her out to Myrum.
He was torn. She liked Ruby, and he wanted to give this human everything and anything she wanted, but the lizard's companionship made traveling tolerable. It was possible for him to do this without Ruby but not guaranteed that he’d remain mentally stable.
“Do you live on this station? Give me your contact information. I will return and find you, then I can let Ruby decide if she wants to stay with you.”
The thought of seeing her again made something inside him light up. He’d thought he was dead inside, only alive in body but not spirit. Amina made him want to find joy in the world again. He wished he could bundle her up in a scarf next to Ruby and take them both.
Amina gave him an approving smile as she reached up to settle Ruby on his shoulder. She was so close he could smell her despite the strong stink of the station around them.
“I like that you talk about Ruby as if she is sapient,” she said. Ruby roused enough to wiggle into the fabric around his neck and relax with a huff of mild annoyance. She didn’t like it when her naps were interrupted.
“She is sapient,” Myrum said. “At least, I think she is. Are you afraid to give me your contact information? I promise not to share it with anyone else.”
One of Amina’s pockets started chiming insistently. Frowning, she pulled a small information square out of one of the pockets and read the messages flowing across the display. It was in Universal, so he couldn’t read them, but her frown turned to concern.
“Oh damn it, I’m in trouble,” she muttered and shoved the information square back in her pocket.
“I can help,” Myrum said quickly. “I can protect you. Let me rent you a room here and arrange an account for you until I get back. Then I can escort you to a better place.”
She shook her head and gave him a fond little smile. “It’s nothing like that. I’m late and my friend is worried. That’s all. It’s been nice spending time with you, Myrum. Maybe someday the universe’s web will bring us back together.”
No, he couldn’t leave it at that. If she left without giving him her data, the odds were against them ever finding each other again.
“Please,” he begged. “I’m no threat, and I could be an immense help.”
“I don’t think you’re a threat, but I’m not some needy, helpless creature that needs to be rescued,” she said. Her words were mild, but he could tell she was slightly annoyed with him. “I’m glad I could help you and Ruby. The two of you made visiting this station much more fun than I expected.”
With a last little wave, she turned and hurried away. He knew better than to grab her, so he decided to walk with her and talk more about what he could do for her.
He didn’t even make it a stride before the shopkeeper was suddenly between him and the door. He was holding a large, collapsable cage full of various bugs. Ruby made a hiss and jumped from his neck onto the cage and tried to get her tongue through the see-through polymer mesh.
Myrum grabbed the cage to collect Ruby so he could rush after Amina. Except the Hulg was quick to block him again, this time deliberately.
“You can’t leave without paying!” he said, holding up an information square with the price of the bugs.
It was faster for Myrum to press his Ident to the Hulg’s information square than to try and extract Ruby from the cage. Once the payment went through, he pushed past the Hulg and raced out of the shop. Only micromarks had passed, but Amina was nowhere to be seen. He couldn’t even catch a whiff of her scent amid the stench around him.
He’d lost her.
Looking down at Ruby, who was now staring at the bugs with obvious frustration, he whispered, “What do we do now?”
She swung her gaze up to his, as if she understood. Jumping back to his shoulder, she flicked a tongue out against his cheek. Her version of a pat. It was actions like this one that made him sure she understood what was going on.
“I don’t know what I’d do without you,” he murmured, tucking the cage under an arm and moving into the corridor to make his way back to the docks. Now that he had all the food Ruby would need for the journey, he should probably report to the Ugarian freighter Holian arranged for the last leg of his journey into Ossiso territory.
“I wonder if this crew will be any friendlier than that last ship,” he murmured, already missing Amina.
Chapter 4
