Once Upon a Pet Show (A Redpoint One Romance) (2 page)

"Which means we do everything we can to ensure
the smooth operation of the event. This comes down directly from
Director Stemski." Arthur pointed to Vasiliy. "We have an issue
with the security portal on the 2B docking port. We have a
passenger liner coming in today with a full tour that includes the
show."

Vasiliy gave him a mock-salute. "I'll get on
it."

"Are we interrupting a meeting?" a female
voice asked from the main doorway out of the maintenance
platform.

Damien didn't need to swivel his chair around
to know who it was. Velda Morgan, the owner of the Northstar Bed
& Breakfast, and the leader of the Naughty Knitter's Club who
regularly met there every Thursday night.

"Of course they are having a meeting. Everyone
is here, aren't they?" Eddie Gilmore said to Velda.

Damien finally turned his chair. Yep, there
stood the full group. Velda with her bleach blond hair set just so
in a refined knot at the back of her head. Eddie Gilmore, wearing a
knitted blue and purple sweater, proving that the group did indeed
occasionally knit. Daisy, with her natural silver-gray hair,
hovered nearby.

Behind them stood a tall man in a t-shirt.
Taller than the women, he also stood out because of his well-formed
and defined muscles. He stood tall and at ease, despite the entire
room staring at the new arrivals.

Oh no. They did it again. Found another new
recruit.

"Anyone have any questions?" Arthur asked, his
voice tainted with the resignation it usually did when he dealt
with the women. When no one voiced anything, he gestured towards
the door. "Then head out to your assignments."

"Oh, but you'll need to assign Mr. Carlisle,"
Velda said, stepping forward quickly, her high heels clicking
against the floor. "We know he'll do well if given the
chance."

"Just a chance, Mr. Getty," the man said, his
voice as calm and at ease at the rest of him.

"Mr. Shay Carlisle," Eddie said, stepping to
the side to put a proprietal hand on one bulging bicep. "He's quite
helpful."

"He helped my husband with his back problems
after all our gardening this spring," Daisy said, smiling up at the
man. "He's the best physical therapist on the station."

"A physical therapist?" Damien asked, not
quite believing his ears. "And you want a job in
maintenance?"

"My position was taken by a relative, so no
more job." Good grief, did the man ever tense up? Didn't he know
this was the same as an interview? Shay gave a nod towards the
ladies. "They described the job requirements. I can handle
them."

Some of the others in the room lingered, some
of them with twinkling eyes as if wanting to laugh out loud.
Fascinated to see this meeting play out, just like
Damien.

"Time to get to work," Tish said loud enough
to carry across the room. Something Damien found amusing,
considering how shy and reserved she'd been such a short time ago
when she'd first arrived. At her words the last of the stragglers
started heading for the corridors leading to their first jobs of
the day.

Arthur wasn't distracted from the group in
front of him even as Tish waved goodbye and left, followed by her
three bots. Not usual, considering how inseparable and outwardly
affectionate the two were now. Usually they would kiss before
parting for their shift.

"Really, I said we could find our own people,"
Arthur said straight to Velda.

"If you could find all you need, then you
wouldn't still have so many job postings," Velda said, not ruffled
a bit by Arthur's straight-forward words.

Damien pushed himself out of his chair. Time
to get out before Author exploded over that comment. No need to
look at the console. He could find all the information he needed on
the way out of the platform through an epad.

He stopped when he realized that it wasn't
only his and Arthur's bots in the room waiting. Not as he would
have expected.

A black and yellow bot sat patiently next to
Damien's. Eyestalks straight, the scratches on its outer casings
indicating it was one of the older ones. And it had eyes only for
the new arrival.

"Arthur," Damien said. At Arthurs glare at
being interrupted he merely pointed at the bot. No need to say
anything else. The presence of the bot said it all.

Daisy didn't need any explanation, either. She
pointed at the new bot, smiling widely. "See? One of them already
likes him!"

Velda grinned as she looked at the bot with an
expression of a cat lapping up spilt milk. "I told you he belonged
here."

"I don't believe this," Arthur said with a
groan, covering his eyes with one hand.

Shay glanced over his shoulder at the bot.
Still relaxed and at ease, he said, "Look at that. I thought you
had to assign the little guys."

"Or little gals," Eddie said.

"Nope. Looks like a guy to me." Shay turned
back to Arthur. "Does that mean I get a try-out?"

"Oh yes, and you go out on jobs the first
day." Arthur pinned Damien with a weighty stare. "Have fun with the
training today, Damien."

Damien froze in mid-step. Drat. He didn't make
his escape fast enough. "What? Wait, me?"

"Yes, you. Right now." To reinforce the order,
Arthur tossed Damien an ID band.

Damien automatically reached out to catch it,
wishing he hadn't. It in essence passed him the responsibility,
represented by the high-tech band/bracelet they all wore to give
them access to restricted areas, contact each other, along with
sensors to detect dangerous substances.

Great. Start of the day and it was already
sunk.

Nothing to do about it other than to get
going. Dodging the Naughty Knitter's Club, he saw to getting Shay a
locker of his own and a simple tool belt with generic tools and
supplies. He stopped at a console to ensure the new ID band was
showing up properly.

Shay followed Damien out of the maintenance
platform, looking over everything as he did. "Nice design to the
place."

"You can thank the station for that," Damien
said, noting that the black and yellow bot followed behind Shay
everywhere he went. No doubt about it. One had already decided the
new person belonged to it.

A good sign, really. Damien should be pleased
with it. Another new recruit, no matter how he came to be hired.
Which brought to mind the nagging question of how the Naughty
Knitters Club recently managed to find several people for the
department. How did they do it?

No, not important right now. Besides, that was
Arthur's job. Now was the time to find out where the new recruit
belonged, and hope he would last in the long-term. They didn't need
more two-week specials.

"Any maintenance experience at all?" Damien
asked as they reached the travel pods at the transit platform the
maintenance engineers used.

"Nothing to speak of," Shay turned his
attention back to Damien, helping him load the pod with the cart of
tools. Both bots, one belonging to each of them, slid into place in
the back for the travel. Shay gave a lop-sided grin. "Unless you
count maintenance on the human body."

Did he mean to flex a bicep muscle at that
particular moment, as if to emphasize his words?

Damien didn't care. Not with so much needing
to be done and them down one of their senior engineers. "Maybe
plumbing will agree with you. The human body has a plumbing system
of sorts."

Shay laughed heartily at the words, cuffing
Damien on the shoulder, as if he'd just told a joke.

No joke to Damien. Rachel's department was
without as many people as his.

Damien involved Shay in everything, watching
the little things. He quickly noted that the newbie had no sense of
direction, although that typically came later. No sign of
recognizing the odd writing the station used and that no one could
really understand. Except the maintenance engineers, but even then,
they didn't read it. They knew by instinct what the writing meant.
Hopefully that would come later, as well.

But, a few minutes into fixing a valve in a
main plumbing run to one of the rings told him all he needed to
know. No instincts about where the shut-off valves were or what
tool to use. Shay tried, but he fumbled with everything Damien set
him to doing.

Yet, the new bot stayed next to the man. Which
meant the station wanted Shay around in some capacity. They just
had to find out which one.

"Not that I didn't like the old job, mind you.
Needed a change. You know how it is," Shay said as Damien completed
the valve repair. Half to Damien, half to the black and yellow bot,
and yet the bot kept both its eyestalks firmly on Shay's face, even
giving a beep as if in agreement.

With one last twist, the pipe and valve were
firmly connected. Damien said to his bot, "Turn on the inflow.
Let's see if we have a leak."

His bot gave an answering whistle as it turned
around to go to the main water valve.

Shay stepped aside and watched it go. "What's
yours named?"

Oh great. Not this again. "Doesn't have a
name."

Shay frowned. "No name? Then how do you know
which one to call to tell it what to do?"

"Your bot knows you. It will respond," Damien
said, pointing at Shay's bot that was still looking up at Shay. As
if waiting?

"Not very efficient, and possibly rude." Shay
grimaced. He looked down at the waiting bot and asked it directly,
"Wouldn't you prefer to have a name?"

The bot gave a whistled questioning sound. The
sound of water through the pipe signaled the test of the new valve
was about to start. Shay scratched the back of his head while
Damien watched the internal workings of the valve with a scanner.
No leaks. No issues with the valve tests. One plumbing job
down.

"Bandit," Shay suddenly said.

"I should mention that the bot also chooses.
It took forever for Rachel to name hers," Damien said. Another
reason he hadn't bothered, just in case his bot preferred a silly
name like Rachel's did. What self-respecting bot would choose
"Pookie" as a name?

"Bandit is a good name," Shay said. "Right,
pal?"

The black and yellow bot chirped. A happy
chirp, not a questioning one.

Shay grinned at the noise. "We have a
name!"

Just like that, the bot accepted the name. No
trial and error. Damien shook his head, half in disgust, and half
in amazement.

Shay helped gather the tools and stow them in
the proper places in the cart along with the help of both bots.
"Where now, boss?"

"Arthur is the one we call 'boss.' Call me
Damien."

"You got it. So, what's next?" Shay's
good-natured grin slipped. He sniffed at the air. "Life-support
this time? Wow, that smell can't be right. Or, is that another
plumbing problem?"

Damien paused to test the air. The air was
dry, but it carried in it the smell of mold with a harsh taint of
methane and something else he hadn't been able to define the few
other times he'd come across it.

"We don't know if it's a plumbing problem." No
matter how Damien turned, he couldn't determine which direction it
was coming around. He stopped to look down at his bot. "What
direction is the smell coming from?"

His bot chirped at him in what was clearly a
question.

"Sounds like your little guy doesn't know.
Bandit, how about you?" Shay's bot gave the same questioning chirp.
"Is that normal? Do they usually not know where problems
are?"

"Usually they do, sometimes before us." Damien
finished putting the tools away, snapping the cover over the box
holding the bad valve. By the time he finished the smell was gone,
disappearing as fast as it appeared.

Shay waved at the air in front of his nose.
"Clean air again. At least, for now."

"For now. We haven't been able to ascertain
the source of the smell. It disappears as fast as it
appears."

"Not good. Something needs repair."

Damien nodded. "Yes, we know."

Pulling up the flat computer pad out of the
pouch in the cart, Damien found a different sort of problem
awaiting. Not the next plumbing problem as he expected, but instead
a bright red alert in one of the rings.

And, in a place no one wanted a problem right
now. "Looks like the next job isn't plumbing, but
life-support."

Shay gave another grin. "Good. Maybe I can be
of more help. Where are we heading?"

Damien pushed the computer pad back in its
pouch, wishing they could stay in the service tunnels of the
station as they worked out where Shay may belong. Straightening, he
said, "We go topside on a ring. Heard about Redpoint One's Exotic
Pet Show?"

CHAPTER TWO