Chapter Five #2
Mathon paused. “Yes, it is. How do you know that?”
“Hmrain studies at the Education Station. We waited for a bulk transport to take us, so we had more time than others to study.”
“Why were you kept together?” Mathon frowned.
“We have similar genetics. Our grouping will blend easily into other species and create a predictable set of hybrids. We are a population boost for sparsely inhabited areas.”
Mathon looked around. “Like this continent.”
“Correct. I am guessing the overseer was suggested to get a batch of us for an expansion boost. Unfortunately, they didn’t add any incentive to mixing with local populations, so most of my people are socializing with their own people.
We were even put in one neighbourhood. That sort of thing breeds insular behaviour. ”
She shrugged. “Few of us have moved outside it.”
Mathon frowned. “How many is few?”
“Twenty or so. Five of them have taken pigment alterations. Most have taken upland or lowland characteristics. I am the only deep-sea adaptation that I am aware of. The lab was very excited.”
Mathon frowned. “Why?”
She touched his arm and turned him around to face the bay. “I am far more likely to fall in the water than run up a hill.”
He chuckled. “Fair enough. I can see the logic. Now, how can I get a few more boxes of food to take home?”
“Nice distraction.” She chuckled and headed back to the stall.
“Thank you. You have met my wife and son. It is important to know when a topic has run its course.”
“I have noticed that Hazor is rather nosey.”
He smiled and followed her back to the stall.
“How many?”
“Two more each? And one of akko? I never knew it could taste like that.”
“I spent my first year here taste-testing things and getting others to do the same. Bribery was occasionally involved.”
He smiled, and she got into the stall, interrupting Sunny as she mixed and grilled the four orders and the full box of akko.
She grinned and moved quickly. The joy of having the meat and vegetables thin was that they cooked quickly and still tasted good. She squirted on the sauce and tossed it again right before serving.
Sunny took up the akko station, and he looked at the order, grinned, and filled the box. He got the orders ready and was about to leave when she put a hand on his arm and got some string out, turning the sliding boxes into a parcel.
Sunny got payment, and Cloudy walked outside with the boxes tied with string.
She handed the orders over to Mathon. “Here you go. They will stay warm for one hundred and twenty minutes, at least, and the akko is in a separate section, so it will remain cool.”
He nodded. “Thank you. The food is really good.”
“Thank you. It took a lot of trial and error, but we got there.”
“Would you ever come to the palace and make a meal for Vecchin and Yvetha?”
“Are you sure that I can make more than one thing?”
He laughed. “I am willing to take my chances. The result will be interesting at any rate.”
“It would, but I would require transport there and back on the same day.”
“I believe that could be arranged.”
She snorted and looked toward the dwindling crowd at the end of the dock. She checked the time and looked at Sunny. “Ten minutes and then we close it up.”
“Got it. Is this place always this entertaining?” Sunny grinned.
“Nope. Usually, the most exciting thing that happens is that we get some bitter greens and hear about it for an hour.” She chuckled. “That was a fun day.”
He laughed, and they finished their work and started cleaning up. It was tricky, since they had to go around the parents and son and two guardians sitting at the tables.
She made some shaved fruit for Morsek and Arkon. Hazor tracked her with his gaze and looked at her with weirdly puppy-dog eyes for someone with black sclera.
She paused and looked at his parents. “You as well?”
Hazor answered, “Yes.”
She shrugged, grabbed three more, and then dumped the blades into the sanitizer while discarding the last of the frozen fruit.
She delivered the three ices and headed back to the stall, running through the morning prep with Sunny and grinning. “You are enjoying yourself.”
“Well, I am making more than Dad in a day, so that doesn’t hurt.”
She smiled. “I am giving you a third of my half.”
He blinked. “Seriously?”
“Yeah. The overhead is covered by the end of breakfast, and after that, each meal price is getting divided between me and Emgoth. I am giving you a third of mine, and he needs his half for recovery.”
“Wow. That is generous of you.”
“He does most of the paperwork for licences and stuff. I do the accounting and the product testing.”
“And you chat with vendors and work out best cuts and best prices.”
She blushed. “How do you know that?”
“I chatted with the delivery guys when they had a meal before returning to the job.” They finished up and triggered the sterilizing cycle. She had armloads of her clothing from earlier, still damp. “Well, I am doing laundry tonight.”
He laughed. “Right. Come on, sis. I will walk you to the transport.”
She nodded and folded her salty clothing into a wad. “So very adventurous day.”
He laughed, and she locked the unit to run the sterilization cycle on all exposed surfaces.
She was going to have a good night until she was blocked by Hazor and his mother and father. “Oh, hey. I was just going to run home and put this stuff in the wash. Then catch up on some bookkeeping, and...”
Hazor wrapped an arm around her, checked his wrist, and said, “See you, Sunny.”
Sunny laughed as Hazor held her and gained altitude before angling toward her neighbourhood and flying in the direction of her apartment.
She was glad she didn’t have a problem with heights, but then she realized there were a lot of people on the street, and he was going to land in front of her place. Cloudy winced as he gracefully settled and smiled. “Which entrance is yours?”
She snorted and pointed to her door. He hadn’t let her go.
She palmed the scanner and opened the door. He walked up the stairs, and when they entered her space, he froze. “Gym equipment?”
“Yes. Can you set me down so I can get all my uniforms in the laundry and dress like a normal person for once?”
He nodded. “Certainly, if you kiss me.”
“Vecchin don’t kiss.”
“I know, but humans do, and the result is exhilarating.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t give bribes or pay extortion.”
He grinned and set her down. “Disappointing but very wise.”
She went to her bedroom, grabbed a change of clothing, took a quick sonic shower, and got dressed in a long tunic and trousers. They were very comfy in a style used by upland Vecchin.
She hung everything out in the cleaning cupboard and set it to cycle.
She walked out into her living and exercise space, and Hazor was checking the settings on her machines.
“You are stronger than you appear.”
“Yes.”
“Interesting. Do you have workout gear? It might be helpful at assessment.”
“No, they prefer to generate something with all of the sensors in the right places.”
He glanced at her. “Right. What would it take to see you in a dress?”
“A date or a lot of liquor or both.” She smiled. “Shall we go?”
He looked at all the machines with a smile. “Why didn’t you go for public service?”
“I needed to train with it. I have only gotten the hang of it in the last four months.”
“Where did you practice?”
“I rented a boat and went to Makthall Island.”
He smiled. “That would be remote.”
“It was. Since the effect is known, I just had to work on projectile accuracy.”
Hazor was looking at her and laughed slightly. “I don’t think Mother knew just how close she came to getting zapped.”
“I would never. That is why I needed to practice.”
He held his hand out, and she took it. They walked outside, and he lifted her again, flying her to the assessing centre.
“Oh, yay. Everyone has seen me, and I am at the centre on time. Hooray.”
Her parents came out the door and stared at her. Her father frowned. “Cloudy?”
“Yes, hi, Mom. Dad. This is Hazor, son of Yvari and Mathon, grandson of Vecchin and the honoured Yvetha.”
Hazor was grinning at her. “You forgot guardian of Siloven.”
She ticked things off on her finger. “Oh, right. That one.” She drew in a deep breath. “These are the Doctors Merryweather. Elspeth and Thunder.”
Her mother smiled. “I am Elspeth.”
Her father inclined his head. “I am Thunder.”
Hazor bowed to them both, and that sent a ripple of shock through the crowd that was watching. Wherever he went, a crowd formed.
A researcher opened the door, and Hazor grinned. “I look forward to getting to know you better, Elspeth and Thunder. I intend to be involved with your daughter.”
Cloudy smacked her hand over her face. She grabbed Hazor and pushed him toward the building. “Come on, nosey.”
Her parents were appalled and amused as she shoved the guardian into the assessing centre. He was laughing so much that it made it difficult to get him through the door. Once they were inside, she let go and straightened her tunic. She flipped her braid over her shoulder.
Hazor had to stop wheezing with mirth at the desk. “I am here to register Cloudy Merryweather for assessment. Both Hmrain compatible and guardian status.”
The Vecchin flatlander twitched her ears and smiled. She typed a few characters, and one of the doors swung open, letting a researcher in with a lashing tail and twitching ears. Hazor was stunned. “Dr. Winthrell?”
The uplander grinned at him. “Little sprout! You found me.”
Cloudy muttered, “Sprout?”
Hazor murmured, “He knew me when I was twelve. I got bigger.”
The doctor looked at her. “You... aren’t right.”
“I am a human with sea Vecchin pigmentation and gills. I work at a food stall near the docks, so it comes in handy.”
Hazor chuckled. “I guess you learned to describe that carefully.”
“Oh, yes, I learned that working by the docks has familiar connotations.”
The doctor looked at her. “Come in, come in. Let’s get you a suit, and you can change for the assessment.”
The feline physician smiled, led her through the doors to the back, and hummed. “Merryweather? Like the two who work here?”
“Yes. They are my parents.”