“For being my friend anyway.”
“We’re about to be family. I’ll forever be your friend, I promise.” And he would. He had to. He made a note to make a better effort to be strong for her sake.
She nodded and gazed out her window.
It didn’t take long to get to the hidden loading dock behind the Big Bang Truck Stop leading to the basement facility. He backed his truck up to one of several dock doors and parked. Cam parked next to him, got out and went inside, presumably to get help unloading the sand-claw beast.
Axel and Lucy got out of the truck and met at the back on the passenger side.
“Eugene,” Lucy called.
The tarp moved like something big had sat up. Axel pulled the tarp back to see a perfectly docile sand-claw beast, seated like a dog given a command, tongue hanging out, slobber pooling on the bed of his truck, unevenly placed, glassy, soulless black eyes staring at seemingly nothing.
Before Axel could say anything, and he didn’t know what to say to Lucy anyway, the metal door beside the loading dock’s roll-up entry burst open. Cam strolled outside, a very hostile and angry Harrison Duvall close on his heels to see his precious pet, the one he wasn’t supposed to have on Earth, sitting in the bed of Axel’s truck, slobbering like it was his job.
The owner of Astro Pet Care, wearing a T-shirt with the company logo and looking rather mortified followed him out.
“What is the meaning of this interruption? I was about to retire for the evening,” Duvall complained. Must be nice to retire before nine o’clock at night. Lucy’s father wore an open-necked shirt, casual, though expensive, slacks with no belt and a fancy silk robe slightly open in front. It was common attire on Alpha-Prime for the rich elite who liked to lounge around after dinner. Duvall also sent a rather irate gaze to the Astro Pet Care owner, but didn’t say anything to the man.
“The meaning is sitting in the back of my brother’s truck.” Cam pointed to Eugene.
Duvall squinted in that direction.
“Dad, it’s Eugene,” Lucy announced. “He got loose.”
“Lucinda?” Apparently, her father hadn’t seen her standing next to the truck, either. He reached into the pocket of his robe and pulled out spectacles. “What are you doing out here, Lucinda? Get back to your room this instant.”
“Why did you bring Eugene to Earth?” Lucy asked, ignoring her father’s commandment to “go to her room” like an errant child up well after bedtime. “He’s not allowed here or on the airship.”
“I beg your pardon. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Duvall sent his furious gaze in Axel’s direction and a more repugnant expression shaped his features. Before he could comment on Axel’s presence, Lucy pointed to the sand-claw beast.
“Right there. It’s Eugene. I can’t believe you brought him.” The beast released a loud snort and then made a horrid sound, part grunt, part squeal and part noise typically only found in nightmares.
The owner of Astro Pet Care paled. “I’m so sorry Mr. Duvall, sir. We didn’t realize he was missing until this morning. We thought he was just in his hidey-hole sleeping. When he didn’t eat his morning food, we checked his cage and found he’d chewed through the back wall of his hideaway and also the metal wall to the outside.”
Duvall pursed his lips and shook his head saying nothing.
Cam gave Axel a look that clearly expressed his anger, then motioned for Duvall and Mr. Astro Pet Care several steps away for a discussion.
Axel heard furious whispering from Cam and only a few stray words from Lucy’s father, none of which made sense, but after a tense discussion, the three men separated. The Astro Pet Care owner walked away, shoulders slumped as if he carried the weight of the world. Maybe just a Designer’s disapproval, which probably weighed the same.
Duvall looked even less happy than when he’d arrived. He gave Axel another dirty look before turning his ire on Lucy.
“Lucinda. Why are you out with your sister’s bridegroom?”
“We were discussing a book in a café until a local sheriff interrupted us because of Eugene.”
Axel lowered the gate on his truck. The noise seemed to distract Duvall from his line of questioning.
Cam grabbed the rope Wyatt had secured around Eugene and led the subdued beast off Axel’s truck and onto the platform in front of the rolling dock door. He pushed the automatic button and the door rolled open.
“Remove the shackle,” Duvall commanded.
“Not a chance,” Cam shot back. “Come on, Eugene. Follow me.”
The beast stared with sad little misaligned eyes at its master as it walked by him. Duvall started back, then turned and walked away as if he didn’t care one whit about the illegal animal he’d brought along and then abandoned the moment it was discovered by Earth authorities. Eugene followed Cam into a hallway that led to where they kept cages for animals such as these, dangerous unshackled beasts.
Poor Eugene. Betrayed by his master and likely bound for the next gulag ship headed back to Alpha-Prime to be released into the harsh wilderness of the Outer Basin.
