Once Upon a Pet Show (A Redpoint One Romance) (18 page)

As she did, she became ever more aware of
their embrace. Did he just nuzzle the top of her head? If he had,
she didn't mind a bit.

She took in a deep breath and then firmly
pushed away from his chest. Leaving his comforting warmth, she made
herself turn away and go back to the intersection. She glared down
at the door. How dare it make her fearful.

"You need to fix it," she said simply,
mentally demanding the door to open.

A man's voice echoed down the corridor.
"Sounds like you have your marching orders, Damien."

Vallory recognized two in the group. Arthur,
Damien's boss, and Tish. An older man with dark brown hair and a
gray streak followed. Behind him came a small army of bots of all
sorts of colors. Three of them even sported moving holographic
colors whirling around their eyestalks.

Damien motioned to the older man. "Zane
Bristol, the boss here before Arthur. He returned to the station to
help us with this problem."

That didn't sound good. The worry returned,
multiplied. Nothing on his face reassured her, either. "You really
don't know what's happening, do you."

"No, honey, I don't."

Vallory went tense again but this time not
about the doors. She wasn't worried about that with so many people
and bots around her. He said 'honey?' A term of affection? The warm
glow inside her blew into a full flame, even as another part of her
filled with dread. Dread of the end of the pet show.

She came back to herself just as Damien
finished the story of her entrapment.

"You shouldn't have come into the corridors
alone," Arthur said sternly, moving his attention away from the
closed door to her.

"She was chasing one of her animals. Another
escape artist," Damien answered for her. Really, he didn't need to
do that. She could hold her own.

To her surprise, Arthur's tense face smiled.
"Another Irvine?"

"Possibly," Damien said with an answering
smile.

"Irvine?" Vallory echoed.

"The lizard responsible for bringing Rachel
and Ignacio together. He's on display in one of the other
buildings." To Arthur and Zane, he asked, "Any
insights?"

"Not from me. This has perplexed me from the
very beginning," Arthur said, the tense expression
returning.

"It feels cold when I look at it," Tish said,
rubbing her arms briskly. "But, I know it's not. The temperature in
here is right."

"Another dead spot," Arthur muttered. "We're
getting far too many of them."

Zane didn't answer so quickly. He stepped
forward and ran his hand across the door, and then down a seam on
one side where it met the wall.

"It does feel dead. Completely shut down," he
finally said. He took a step back, regarding it before turning
away. "We need to see how big an area is affected. What systems we
remember in the area. Perhaps we will find other clues."

"We stay together," Tish said quickly. "No
going alone with this sort of thing happening."

Zane gave her a gentle smile. "Of course.
Safety first."

"Speaking of safety." Arthur turned to Damien.
"Can you escort our guest back to her lodgings? She shouldn't be
down here if this area is having problems."

Even as Damien agreed, Vallory was already
heading for his bot. The bot whistled at her on her approach. Yes,
leave the area.

But, leave the station? She glanced back at
the intersection. Damien stood there, talking quietly to Arthur. So
strong and dependable. She knew the dependable part. How often had
he come through for her already?

Yes, her father would have liked him. Station
problems or not, she wanted to stay. Stay with someone
specific.

Lord, she was in trouble.

CHAPTER TWELVE

DAMIEN ENJOYED THE all too short walk back to Northstar Bed
& Breakfast. A small moment after a nice dinner, even with the
distraction of the station issue. Nothing particular special, yet
he found her on his mind constantly. At all times, even while
trying to concentrate.

Thinking of how soft her hair felt when it
brushed against his arm as he helped her up from the seat in the
restaurant while he changed out a ventilation section. Her soft
hands came to mind when switching the systems for a ring sector to
the backup so the cleaning bots could properly scrub ventilation
ducts. Her soft flowery scent when tracing an airflow switching
problem.

All things that needed his full
attention.

A simple dinner and walk did this to
him?

No, not just a simple dinner. It turned into
so much more than that. He still smiled at the sight of her pushing
away from his chest to march back to the maintenance corridor
intersection to glare at the bulkhead that nearly trapped her in a
dead part of the station. If looks could kill, the door would have
turned into a molten puddle on the floor.

"Why couldn't it be a local girl?" He dropped
a broken part into the back of the cart, disgusted at himself. Then
he would have a chance of a working relationship. One with a
future.

Not like this one. Not with Vallory's chosen
lifestyle and career. After all, what would a xenobiologist do on a
station like Redpoint One even if she wanted to stay? No matter how
he turned it around, the entire situation had 'disaster' written
all over it.

"Damien, we have a situation," Arthur's voice
said through the ID band around his wrist.

Somehow he knew what he would say next. Where
he would be going. Steeling himself, Damien answered, "Here. Go
ahead."

"The stink is back, this time hitting one of
the other buildings at the pet show."

Yep, there it was. An emergency to send him
right back to the place he didn't really want to go today. Too much
of a chance of running into Vallory. By now her morning meeting
would be long gone. Absently, he wondered if Tish and Rachel caught
up with her?

"I know there isn't much you can do, but
anything you can think of would at least give the appearance that
we are trying to find a solution." Arthur's frustration came
through loud and clear in his voice. A frustration they all felt.
They were the maintenance crew, after all. Why couldn't they fix
it?

Damien settled the last few items into the
cart. No way out of this. Time to just do it, and hope the issue
wasn't in Vallory's building. "Got it, boss. I'm on my
way."

When he found the problem in one of the front
buildings designed for small pets suitable for table-top cages, he
felt a sense of disappointment. Not Vallory's building. One side of
his mind told him this was a good thing. Less chance of running
into her. The other side threw a fit at that thought.

If this kept up, he would need mental
help.

Guards at one of the main entrances of the
problem building not allowing anyone into the building surprised
him. Even when he identified himself, one of the guards shook his
head. "Sorry, sir. We'll be ready for you in approximately fifteen
minutes. The investigation should be finished by then."

His heart sunk. "Investigation? Another
theft?"

"Sorry, sir. I cannot say."

The man didn't have to. Damien could see that
he was right by the man's subtle reaction. Which brought to mind
someone who'd been on the receiving end of nasty accusations. She
didn't need more today. Might be a good idea to warn her that there
had been another incident so she could head off any
issues.

"I'll be back in fifteen minutes." To his bot,
he added, "Stay here. I'll be right back."

His bot complained, and then followed anyway.
Probably because of the direction he was heading. The war inside
him continued. He shouldn't use this as an excuse to see her, and
yet no matter how that made sense, he couldn't stop the long stride
from taking him to her building.

The building was as busy and crowded as the
rest of the show, but he didn't need to worry about how to find
Vallory. Unless she was running around with Tish and Rachel, he
knew right where to find her.

And there she was, kneeling by the front door
into the enclosure. Two daubpups on the other side pushed at the
front as if trying to get to her.

Not pets, he reminded himself as he walked the
last remaining distance. Endangered animals in need of protection.
The knowledge made him look at the creatures differently. Didn't
this mean they were in reality wild animals? They didn't act like
wild animals. With Vallory, they were as affectionate as any
lap-pet.

His bot backed the cart out of the way in the
aisle running between her and Mr. Pyman's enclosure. Moving around
a family watching the daubpups, Damien knelt down to Vallory's
level. "How are the daubpups?"

She jumped with a startled squeak, losing
balance enough that one knee went down to the hard floor. He
reached out to grab her upper arm to prevent her from tipping
completely over. She recovered enough to glare at him. "Don't do
that."

"Not my fault. You were concentrating
hard."

She sighed, looking back into the enclosure.
"Yes, I was. I do that a lot."

Not much of a spark there today. Because of
the memories of last night? "Tough day?"

"Yes, and about to get worse."

He didn't like the strain in her voice at all.
His bot noticed, as well, to judge by the way it hovered quietly on
her other side. She absently reached out to stroke the top of its
hard body, while her eyes never strayed from watching the inside of
the enclosure. The actions of the two daubpups just inside the door
took on a new feel. Like the two were wanting to come through to
comfort her. As if they knew something was wrong.

"What is it?" he asked, his voice more sharp
than he intended.

She didn't react like he thought she might.
She simply pointed towards the back corner of the enclosure where a
thick layer of dried grass lay. He saw the nose of the new baby pop
up once before it burrowed back onto the grass, the movement of the
grass the only indication of its presence.

He was about to say he didn't see anything
unusual when a new shape appeared from the grass. A furry head with
pointed ears that rounded at the very top. Oblong eyes with a pink
nose. Short spotted fur. Nothing like the shapes of the
daubpups.

He tensed. "What is that? Did something get
inside? What about the baby?"

"The baby appears to be playing with it. Don't
you recognize the animal?"

But, the animal had already disappeared into
the grass. The blades moved and shivered as the two bodies played
underneath. "Didn't get a good enough look. Looked like a cat, not
a rat."

Her voice dropped down to a whisper. "That's
because it is a cat. One of those that was stolen the first
day."

Damien froze. Oh no.

What was it doing in there? How did it get in
with the daubpups? He couldn't see Vallory jeopardizing the new
baby by putting another animal in there, even if she were the
thief.

"I've quietly called the show officials to
help me extract it," Vallory said, still talking in a whisper. "I
don't want to go in there to get it before they get here with the
proper cage. So far it hasn't bothered the baby."

Damien heaved a sigh of relief, even as he
realized his doubt had been increasing by the second. "Good that
you called."

"Yeah, well, it's already going to look bad."
The hand on top of one knee clenched. "I'm not a thief, but how is
this going to look?"

"I hate to increase the bad news, but I just
came from one of the other buildings. There's been another
pet-napping."

The hand still stroking his bot also fisted.
With visible effort, she relaxed her hands, even though the rest of
her remained rimrod rigid. "Wonderful."

Damien stood and searched the public aisle in
both directions. Full of crowds and exhibitors talking to people
about their pets. Maybe if the officials arrived quickly, they
could get the cat out and all of them to a safe location before
anyone noticed.