Page 47 of Pets in Space 10

“Well, for one, find the company archives and look for that old project Tikka mentioned. With as much data as the company handles every day, older records are probably sequestered to keep from cluttering current queries and operations. Legal or Informatics would know, but I don’t think we should involve them yet.

” Her hand fluttered as she frowned. “This might not be a real pattern, just converging randomosity.”

He twitched a brief smile at her made-up word, but the point was valid.

Maybe stress and anxiety were warping their rational judgment.

If so, making odd requests to other departments wouldn’t help.

They needed more information first. “I want to ask Cora more about those off-the-books visitors. She might know about the company archives, too. I think she’s been around nearly as long as the company has. ”

The arrival of another shuttle-shaped cart with their food ended their discussion.

He was glad to set aside their problems and focus on the food.

Though his first bite of his toasted poultry-and-cheese sandwich he’d ordered tasted delicious, Amalena’s veggie sampler looked good enough to try the next time he ate there. Maybe she would share.

A deep, resonant thrum vibrated through the floor and the wide window.

Outside, a massive interstellar cruiseliner lifted from its launch cradle on a pillar of brilliant light, ascending with majestic slowness before accelerating into a streak that vanished against the twilight velvet of the sky.

Only high-end cruise operations could afford the cost of ground-launching a ship that could hold a thousand passengers and crew.

Anything he could afford always involved shuttles to orbit paths well out of planetary gravity and atmosphere.

Amalena sighed, her fork poised mid-air. “Someday, I’d like to travel in style.”

“Me, too.” The last glimmer of the ship’s trail faded. “But maybe on something a little less crowded.”

“My friend Iovanna would love this place,” she said, dipping a crisp, purple-streaked vegetable into one of the sauces.

“She’s a journalist by day and a total foodie by night.

She’d probably interview Y’Loro about his supply chain and end up with three new story leads and the recipe for this excellent dip. ”

Gaerynx laughed. He liked the easy way she talked about her friends, the way she painted a picture of a life that existed outside the perimeter of RyoGenomica.

He still hadn’t mastered that. Amalena’s company was an unexpected combination of relaxing and stimulating, almost like a date.

With determined effort, he pushed the thought away.

She was a colleague and talented manager, and they were there to strategize, not socialize.

When the meal was nearly finished, the conversation drifted toward more personal topics.

“So,” Amalena began, a thoughtful expression on her face, “I’m on a campaign to give Merix more social opportunities.

He was a street cat when I found him. My cat whisperer veterinarian friend says he’s probably lonely.

Merix is dubious about dogs but good with other felines — reserved but calm.

Maybe you could bring Pavrel over sometime? ”

He blinked, surprised by the invitation and the fact she knew his kulak’s name. “You know about Pavrel?”

She laughed. “I met him. You brought him on campus last year. The day after what you called his ‘daring escape and unfortunate encounter with a delivery drone.’” Her fingers made air quotes.

“Your veterinarian friend Rhys came down from the third floor between meetings to check the bone knitter the emergency vet clinic made him wear. Poor Pavrel had to wear that inflatable collar the whole time and stay in the carrier next to your desk for three days. Everyone on the campus, including me, manufactured excuses to talk to your staff or wander past your office.”

He remembered. Pavrel, irritated by the healing device and a bit dopey from the pain patch, had held court from his carrier, eagerly accepting sympathetic coos and smuggled treats from the parade of visitors. He’d loved every second of it.

“That’s an interesting idea,” he said hesitantly.

“Pavrel can be a bit of a handful. But he usually assumes other humans and animals are his friends until they prove him wrong.” He could also defend himself from unfriendly actions, as a few of his brother’s more obnoxious buddies found out the hard way.

The kulak’s slightly rounded shape was pure muscle.

“Merix can be a bit of a grump,” Amalena admitted. “But I’d like to try because it would be good for him.” She laughed at herself. “Sorry. I sound like a hovercraft parent setting up a play date for a toddler.”

The image was so endearing that it made him smile. “I’m potentially game to try, though maybe after we get past this work thing.”

“Deal.” Her answering smile was bright. It felt like quiet assurance that this alliance was the right move.

They left the restaurant together, the cool night air a refreshing change from the warm interior.

He walked with her to the rooftop lift, an unspoken decision to see her off safely.

The flitter stacker made rhythmic hydraulic noises as it retrieved her small green vehicle and set it down gently on the designated launchpad.

“See you tomorrow,” she said, her smile softer in the glow of the rooftop lights.

“Tomorrow,” he echoed.

He stood back as her flitter lifted nearly silently into the air, then merged with the streams of lights that flowed like ribbons in the city sky. He watched until he lost sight of it in the night. A rising wind made him raise his collar and shove his hands into his pockets.

Ground that been solid just a week ago now felt uncomfortably unsteady in the aftermath of the reorganization. RyoGenomica, his safe harbor for six years, was caught in a looming storm, and he was right back in the middle of the chaos he’d tried so hard to escape.

But this time, for the first time, he wasn’t weathering it alone.

Amalena was in it with him. She saw the patterns on his helmet and remembered his pet’s misadventures.

She met cynicism with sharp-witted resolve.

She not only noticed his creative side, she saw it as a strength.

Something about her changed the quiet, predictable landscape he’d made for himself, but in a good way, like a vibrant, unexpected color added to a too-muted palette.

First, though, they had to follow through with their plan to save themselves and the company.

He laughed quietly at himself, the sound lost in the chilly spring wind. How pretentious did that sound? This was just another job flameout that he had no control over. Clearly, he’d watched too many thriller vids.