Chapter 15
KIERA
The fence on the north side of the snuffler enclosure had gone down sometime in the night.
Kiera found out when she came around the bend in the winding path between habitats and saw three of the plump, transparent—bellied creatures bouncing merrily through the silver—threaded grass like overinflated beach balls.
“Oh no,” she said aloud, stopping with her hands on her hips. “Not again.”
The snufflers seemed completely unconcerned by their escape.
One was nosing at a clump of lavender moss.
Another had rolled onto its back and was waving its stubby little legs in the air for no reason Kiera could determine.
The third gave a pleased, tuba—like toot and bounded off toward the spooler habitat.
“Buck!” she called, looking around. “Buck, come here, boy!”
The big wolf came at once, trotting up the path with his ears pricked and his tail held high. The sight of him still made her feel better every single time. He was just so solid—so big and furry and calm and capable. Even when she was frustrated, looking at him somehow made things seem manageable.
Buck looked at her and gave a soft whuff as if to ask what was going on.
“I need your help,” she told him, pointing. “See those three little escape artists? I need you to round them up and herd them back toward their pen, all right? But gently—don’t scare them too much.”
Buck chuffed as though he understood every word—which honestly, at this point, Kiera was beginning to suspect he actually did–and took off at once, loping across the silver—threaded grass with that easy, powerful grace of his.
The snufflers noticed him and gave startled little honking sounds.
Then, predictably, they inflated their bellies to twice their normal size and began bouncing in three different directions.
“Oh, great, there they go,” Kiera muttered. “That always makes things easier.”
But Buck handled the situation beautifully.
Instead of chasing wildly, he circled around the bouncing creatures, cutting off their escape routes and nudging them back together with a series of low barks and strategic feints.
Within moments, the three escaped snufflers were bouncing back toward the breached enclosure in one puffing, squeaking little cluster.
Kiera smiled despite herself. Despite how irritated she’d been at the situation, it was a pleasure watching the big wolf work.
If she’d been on her own, she would have spent half an hour or more rounding up the escaped snufflers and would have ended up hot, sweaty, and aggravated.
But for Buck, the task barely took five minutes.
She walked over to inspect the fence while Buck finished herding the snufflers inside. Sure enough, one whole wall of the enclosure had flickered out. The support posts were still standing, but the shimmering energy barrier between them was completely gone.
Kiera frowned and made a note on her wrist—screen.
Ask Commander Rarev to send someone to inspect fence grid again.
This was getting ridiculous. The sanctuary fences were strong and well—made—Monstrum made—but lately they seemed to be having more and more little outages.
Not enough to cause a major disaster, thank God.
So far it had never been more than one fence at a time.
But even one fence going down at the wrong time could cause serious trouble, depending on what kind of animal got loose.
She was crouched beside the fence post, dictating one more note into her wrist—screen, when a shadow fell across her.
Kiera looked up—and immediately felt every muscle in her body tense.
It was Higgs.
The big alien rancher came strolling over the rise as if he owned the place, big hands hooked into the straps of his dirty purple overalls, his broad green chest bare under them.
He was from Guckluck Three and looked, to Kiera’s eye, like somebody had taken a large bald man, dipped him in dill—pickle juice, and then left him out in the sun until he got sweaty.
The pickle resemblance was further supported by his skin, which was dark green and covered in tiny natural bumps that were supposed to be attractive among his people—or so he had once told her at length—but to Kiera they only made him look more like a Kosher Dill.
His bald head gleamed faintly in the pale purple sunlight and, when he turned to the side, she could see his potbelly which was pooching out the front of his overalls. He had small silver eyes set too close together in a fleshy face and was wearing what he no doubt imagined was a charming smile.
To Kiera, it looked more like a smirk.
She tried not to judge people solely on their apperance–she honestly did. But it wasn’t just appearance with Higgs…he also smelled.
Even from several feet away, she caught it—the unmistakable scent of body odor mixed with something weirdly familiar.
Like B.O. and sour cream and onion potato chips, she thought, suppressing a grimace. How in the world did he smell like that? There weren’t even any potato chips on Plo’nix.
“Morning, sweetheart,” Higgs drawled, sauntering closer.
Kiera straightened slowly, every instinct telling her to go straight back to her home-dome and lock the door. But Buck was still out in the meadow, turning the last stubborn snuffler back toward its pen, and she wasn’t about to leave without him.
So she braced herself instead.
“Morning, Higgs,” she said shortly.
“You’re looking mighty fine today, little lady.” His little silver eyes swept over her in a way that made her skin crawl.
Kiera tried not to make a face. She was wearing work clothes—a long—sleeved shirt and practical cargo pants tucked into her boots—but somehow, he still managed to make her feel as if she were standing there half—naked.
“Er, thanks, I guess,” she said, again keeping it short.
“You been avoidin’ me,” he said, coming closer still. “That ain’t nice.”
“I’ve been working,” Kiera said. “Which is what I’m doing now, actually,” she added pointedly. She wondered if he even remembered coming and banging on her door drunkenly at three in the morning. She’d thought at first that he might be coming to apologize for the incident, but apparently not.
Higgs ignored her attempt to cut things short.
“I got me a new ship,” he announced, puffing himself up. “Fast one too. Was thinkin’ maybe I’d take you over to Felona Six this weekend.”
Kiera frowned at the idea of going anywhere with the big sweaty pickle.
“Felona Six?” she said, making it a question.
He nodded grandly.
“Yep. They got coogle—dancing there. Finest coogle—dancing in this whole sector.”
Kiera had absolutely no intention of going anywhere with him in any ship, under any circumstances, but Buck still hadn’t come back and Higgs was lingering, grinning at her in that oily, self—satisfied way of his. So she stalled.
“What’s coogle—dancing?” she asked, making her voice politely curious.
Higgs brightened immediately.
“Oh, you’re gonna love it,” he said, clearly pleased to have a chance to lecture her on something new. “It’s like this–everybody lines up in rows on this big floor, right? But the floor moves under you. Kind of bucks and sways like the back of a coogle during mating season.”
Kiera stared at him uncertainly. A coogle, as far as she knew, was a large shaggy beast from Felona Six with six legs and a neck like a camel. Why anyone would want to dance like one during mating season was beyond her.
Obviously taking her expression for enthusiasm, Higgs forged on eagerly.
“So anyway, you gotta keep your feet moving the whole time or you fall on your ass,” he went on enthusiastically.
“There’s stompin’ and clappin’ and this one move where everybody slaps the person in front of ‘em on the hip and turns three times. Then the music speeds up and the floor starts jerkin’ sideways and whoever’s still standing at the end wins free drinks. ”
Kiera tried to look appropriately impressed though inside she was thinking that coogle—dancing sounded like country line dancing designed by sadists.
“Wow,” she said faintly. “That’s…something.”
“It sure—nuff is,” Higgs agreed, nodding as though he personally had invented it. “And I figure once you see me dance, you’ll change your mind about me. Give me another chance to show you what a good guy I am.”
I would honestly rather get eaten by a Vorn, Kiera thought, but she didn’t want to antagonize her nearest–and only–neighbor, even if he was being an asshole.
She wanted to tell him she had no interest in him and that he needed to stay the hell away from her, but she was alone out here with nobody but the work—bots and Buck.
So as much as it irritated her, she needed to let Higgs down easy.
“Thank you, Higgs, but I don’t think I can make it,” she said, smiling politely. “I just have way too much work to do–the sanctuary is opening soon and I have a lot to get done before it does.”
The big alien’s expression darkened instantly.
“What do you mean, you can’t make it?”
“I mean I have work to do,” Kiera repeated, frowning. “Also, I’m just not in a place right now where I want to go out. I’m not looking for a relationship–of any kind.”
She tried to keep her tone polite but firm. She had learned that outright rudeness just seemed to encourage him, as though he enjoyed pushing harder when she was uncomfortable.
But Higgs wasn’t one to take “no” for an answer. He took another step closer, so that the choking cloud of B.O. and sour cream and onion chips wafted right in her face.
“Aw, come on now.” His voice went wheedling. “You just ain’t givin’ me a fair chance, girly. You’d have a good time. I promise.”
“No, thank you,” Kiera said again, more sharply this time. “I don’t have the time of the energy to go out right now.”
His affable smile vanished and was quickly replaced with an angry sneer.
“You think you’re too good for me? Is that it?”
Kiera’s stomach tightened. Where was Buck?