Once Upon a Pet Show (A Redpoint One Romance) (8 page)

CHAPTER FIVE

VALLORY REACHED THE back inside corner of the
building, her arm feeling like it was going to pop out of its
socket. Yes, do this earlier and grab one of those utility carts
the show provided in the utility rooms. She used her exhibitor
badge to get through the gate into the utility room.

Signs warned people away from everything on
the right. Another warning sign marked a portion of the floor that
would drop down into the station as a freight elevator. To the left
lay the big door to the incinerator.

She pushed the bag into the opening and
started the sequence as soon as the door closed. No organic
contamination allowed to linger in this place. The biologist side
of her approved, even while she worried about a different
biological contamination.

She had an alien animal roaming around, and if
she knew Penny, the little annoying creature wouldn't settle for
exploring the busy local area.

No, she would head out to do some intense
exploring of quiet remote areas.

A click and a brief beeping alarm signaled the
freight elevator in use. Vallory stepped away from the floor now
flashing in alternating red and white. The floor receded, then slid
to the side somewhere under the building. A new 'floor' appeared to
take up the space, several new canvas bags on it labeled as various
sorts of cage lining.

"So, station, anticipating our need? Do you
know where Penny is?" Vallory said to the floor. No one answered,
but she didn't expect one. This was her problem, with her own
little trouble-maker. Nothing to do but start the hunt.

Pulling out a pocket computer from the purse
hanging angled across her torso, she found the guess correct. The
tracking signal coming from Penny's collar indicated a good
distance from the pet show.

Vallory hurried out of the building, using the
signal to determine a direction. It led her right out of the
grounds and down a level into the metal halls of the station, and
still she wasn't close. Down another level and she came to an
industrial area,with high ceilings and businesses and warehouses
lining each side of the roads. At least, the wide space between
felt like a road. There were even sidewalks running along both
sides. How odd to be in a place where all the 'buildings' went all
the way up to the tall ceilings.

No one on the busy sidewalks paid her any
attention as she continued to follow the signal. She stopped at a
dead-end side road where a large space allowed freight containers
to turn around.

Vallory scowled at part of the wall. No
freight containers there now, and no doors or passages to allow her
to continue the race. Even if she could find a way to the other
side, if she continued to delve further into the station she could
also end up getting good and lost.

She put that out of her mind. She would deal
with it when the time came. Right now, she needed to find
Penny.

With regret, she pushed away from the wall to
head away. She would need to find a different way to follow the
signal. Maybe descend another level of the ring and then try to
follow the signal again. Or, maybe she could find a corridor in the
right direction by going onwards to the next ring
section?

A small bot skimmed the ground past her,
towing a miniature trailer with a pile of matte-white and shiny
metal parts in the back of it. Such cute little things, with the
bigger round shell and then a smaller front rounded shape out of
which sprung the eyestalks. Half the size of Damien's, with a shiny
half-oval red shell. Put some dots on it, and it could look like a
ladybug.

No human in sight, and it appeared to be
heading straight for the wall she'd been leaning against. "There's
a wall there."

The bot gave her a high whistle, one of its
short eyestalks glancing back at her as it continued forward at
full speed.

Just before it hit the wall, a seam appeared
in the surface. A door swung inwards revealing a long corridor with
spaced lights. More than wide and tall enough for a human, and
maybe even big enough for the cart Damien's bot was always towing
around.

The computer beeped, telling her the signal
was growing stronger.

The wall must have been interfering with the
signal. Penny might not be all that far away after all. Before she
could rethink the wisdom, Vallory stepped forward. She slipped into
the corridor just before the door closed.

The small bot whistled again as it sped down
the corridor with its small trailer. Vallory hurried after it,
keeping it in view while also watching the indicated direction on
the computer.

The corridor turned, and then split into two
directions. She paused. The bot continued to the left, still
speeding along. Obviously it knew where it was going and what job
it needed to do.

Only, the signal said she should turn to the
right. A very clear signal, but she hated to leave the bot. It
didn't speak, but she'd felt better having it within shouting
distance. With a heavy sigh, she forced herself to turn to the
right.

"Penny, don't do this again," Vallory said at
the corridor and to anyone who was listening. It would be too much
to hope Penny was listening, much less obey.

She shivered as she was forced to take another
turn. Her suppressed fear of getting lost burst forth with renewed
strength. She didn't know how she would get out of the area, and
she hadn't seen any of the helpful computer panels that were spaced
along the regular halls, larger corridors, or streets of Redpoint
One.

"Penny, where are you?" Vallory called out.
Maybe she should have gone back for Damien to help her with this.
He would know the station and how to find his way around, as well
as the secret doors that led to the public areas of the
station.

The computer stayed locked on Penny. That was
a good thing. What a relief that the collar stayed on them when
they decided to make one of their escapes. If it didn't, she would
be up a creek without a paddle. The previous biologist who worked
with them had tried to insert a tracking device under the skin.
That didn't go well, and the daubpups had avoided his presence ever
since. Hence her taking over the study, and later, their
care.

Another shiver ran through her. Did the
temperature just drop? She rubbed an arm with her free hand as she
made another turn. "Come out, Penny. It's time to go
back."

Another shiver, but this time not due to
temperature. She paused among the pipes, conduits, boxes, and other
shapes running along all sides of the corridor. Only the floor
remained flat. Everything else was filled with, well,
stuff.

The place didn't feel right. Not like at first
when she first followed the small bot into the corridors. She tried
to remind herself that of course the back rooms and utility
corridors of the station would look like this. Raw, industrial, and
yes, alien. She'd expected that. Redpoint One, after all, had been
built by a long-lost alien species. Xenobiologists didn't even know
what they looked like, only that they must have been around the
same size as humans to judge from the size of the rooms, corridors,
and access-ways.

She shivered again, goosebumps appearing up
and down her arms. A cold sweat chilled the back of her
neck.

The station. Something felt wrong in this
area. It had to be this area. She'd been fine when going through
the other parts, just worried about getting lost.

Not here.

The shadows grew darker. The air temperature
dropped. A soft ping echoed down from somewhere further down the
corridor. She caught her breath at the sound of a metal
clang.

"Penny?" She hated how her voice cracked. She
cleared her throat.

Realizing she was holding her breath, she
forced herself to let it out. It didn't help the tension in her
lungs, or the rest of her body.

A light blinked out.

Vallory stared up at it, eyes wide. Why did it
go out? There weren't all that many along the length of the
corridor to begin with.

A hum split the air, causing her to jump, the
soft noise loud to ears so attuned to her surroundings.

A hum? Where was that coming from? It sounded
like behind her.

She turned, seeing something move in the
shadows. A large movement. Something that went all the way from
floor to ceiling. It felt wrong. It shouldn't be moving. She didn't
know why, but she knew nothing should be moving.

She forced herself to take a step towards it,
to try to see what it could be. Then another.

Vallory gulped. A door? A door was
closing?

The chill on her skin turned to freezing as a
fresh sweat broke out. Suddenly, the distance between her and the
slowly closing door seemed a light-year away.

Not that far. She repeated that words to
herself as she broke into a run. She could get to the other side
before it closed if she ran fast enough. She was in pretty good
shape. She could run fast for a sprint. Just for a short
distance.

Penny could take care of herself. All the
daubpups could. Nothing she'd seen so far could keep them contained
if they didn't want to be. Penny could get out even if the door
closed.

Which meant she needed to worry about herself.
Needed to get to the other side of the door. Her feet pounded
against the metal floor of the corridor.

So close.

A flash of copper.

Vallory skidded to a halt instinctively. She
whirled around just in time to see Penny coming out of a pipe and
wall, solidifying into her solid form to perch on top of a front
pipe.

Penny cocked her head at her and squeaked
before giving a pleased hum.

"Now's not the time. We have to get out of
here." Vallory shoved the computer into her purse as she rushed
forward. Penny allowed herself to be picked up and cradled in both
of her arms.

That was, until Vallory turned back towards
the closing door.

Penny let out an angry yowl, sounding like a
wild alley cat. Her soft paws prickled with tiny claws that dug
into Vallory's skin. Then she tried to climb over Vallory's
shoulder.

Daubpups weren't really big, but still the
size of a medium-sized dog. Enough to make that climbing
uncomfortable.

"We need to leave, Penny. Stop it!"

Which Penny ignored, of course. She planted
all legs on Vallory's shoulder, pushing her head to the side with
the big body there. Vallory trying to catch her didn't work. Penny
launched herself right back to the pipe behind them.

Vallory whirled back, shaking her hair back
away from her face. "Fine, stay here. Come to me on the other side
when you are ready…"

The words trailed off. Her steps backwards
also faltered.

All because of the sight of a new moving
shape. A small one on the same pipe as Penny, nuzzling Penny's
front chest. One with a stripe of Penny's copper fur, but then also
stripes of gold and a deep emerald green.

What little air remained in Vallory's lungs
expelled.

Another daubpup. One only as big as Penny's
head. It could be only one thing...

A small baby daubpup.

She held her breath as she stared. So
beautiful. So cute.

But, here and now? Why?

A sharp clang echoed down the
corridor.

With horror she looked back at the door. How
could she forget about it closing?

The door stood still, half closed over the
entrance of the corridor. Good, still time to get through and out
of this crazy part of the station.

Vallory turned back to the daubpups, lifting
Penny from the pipe. "We can't wait. Come on, bring your
baby."

Penny cooed at the new little daubpup, who
looked up at Vallory with large nervous eyes. Big round eyes with
the same copper flecks among the brown that Penny's had. Vallory
didn't want to scare it, but they really needed to get out of the
corridor. She held out an arm to it.

"Time to go, little one," Vallory said in the
softest voice she could manage.