Page 38 of Mazorium Buys a Human

“Thanks, Ithorum,” I said, working an arm free so I could touch her shoulder.

She placed a hand over mine. “Perhaps sometime in the future, I can visit you and Nadia.”

“Yes, I’d like that,” I agreed, completely forgetting I was a pet and couldn’t agree to anything.

“Thank you, Mika. I can’t wait to see how much Nadia has grown when I see you again,” Ithorum said before letting go of my hand and looking at Mazorium. “Listen to your human, Mazorium. She’s clever and understands how the universe works.”

Then she turned and rushed off, leaving us to figure out how to get back to our ship alone.

Chapter 12

Mazorium

I wished Ithorum hadn’t scared Mika to the point she demanded we walk a circuitous route back to the ship. I was sure Gorum would never stoop so low as to try actual thievery. Although I had to admit, I wouldn’t have thought she would threaten me with the Committee of Pet Welfare either.

“Do you have a map of the station on your Ident?” she asked when we got to the long-term housing section of the station. We had three directions to pick from, and I wasn’t sure which path we should take.

“I’ll have to set you down,” I warned her.

She made a hum of agreement, and I carefully put her on her feet. In our haste to leave, we’d left the carrier behind, but the way she was holding Nadia told me it would be a fight to pull the baby from her arms.

My sweet human was afraid.

I unclipped my Ident and tried to access the station’s unibase. I wasn’t able to connect. Confused, I tried again—still nothing.

“That’s odd,” I murmured, checking my Ident’s connection capabilities.

“What’s odd?” she asked.

“My access to all station systems has been revoked.” I tapped a few more times, hoping it was an error easily resolved. Nothing changed. “That should only happen if I acted badly or didn’t pay all the docking fees.”

“Shit,” Mika muttered, looking around as if someone was going to jump out at us.

I sounded a soothing rumble. “It must be a mistake, or Gorum is punishing me for denying her. It’s a petty thing to do, but harmless.”

My assurances didn’t seem to calm Mika down. She kept casting her eyes around, looking for danger. “We need to get out of here fast.”

I reached for her, but she jumped away from me. I was upset by her actions. “Are you worried I’m going to hurt you?”

She rolled her eyes, a clear indication she thought I was being ridiculous. “Of course I’m not scared of you. It’ll be better if you aren’t carrying me and have your hands free.”

I stifled my rumble of amusement at her caution. “If this makes you feel better, it’s fine. Remember, I’m ready to carry you again when you’re fatigued.”

She paused looking around long enough to do the up-and-down movement with her head that indicated agreement.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t any signage at the intersection, forcing me to guess which direction we should go. “Let’s try this corridor.”

She nodded and moved to walk at my side. It was clear I’d made a poor choice when we found ourselves at a dead end. Mika remained silent as we doubled back to pick another path.

When we got a spot with a display, Mika rushed ahead. Shifting Nadia to one arm, she tapped the display, then made one of her adorable, frustrated huffs when she couldn’t read the Talin glyphs.

“I don’t understand what you guys have against Universal or Common. Everybody uses them,” she grumbled and stepped aside so I could navigate to a map of the station.

“Talin glyphs are superior,” I explained as I studied the map.

She mumbled something I didn’t catch and waited with obvious impatience.

It didn’t take long for me to memorize a route that would get us out of the residential area and to one of the major corridors leading to the docks. “This way.”