Page 88 of Truthful Deceptions

It was hard, but I kept my expression pleasant. On most stations, the employee and resident units were smaller and not as well cared for as the guest rooms. We were expected to pay as much but get less.

My gasp was genuine when we walked into a luxurious suite. The communal room by itself was larger than every place I'd ever lived put together.

Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration, but only by a little.

The food preparation area was as big as the galley on the ship, and all the furniture looked brand new.

Tolly set me down, but I didn't rush anywhere. I walked to the center and took everything in.

Mieshorum came out of one of the rooms and smacked his fist to his chest. “It's good to see all of you.”

“We missed you too,” I said and pointed to the room he came out of. “Is Sloane in there?”

“Yes, that's our room,” he said. “I can ask if she wishes to speak with you.”

“Tell her there’s another human for her to meet,” I said.

Mieshorum turned his attention to where Lexarit was setting Cleo on her feet.

“Hello, Cleo,” he said. “I read about you in the message Narmuna sent. I'm delighted that you're here.”

She gave him a little wave. “Hi. You're Mieshorum, right?”

“Yes, you're correct,” Mieshorum said. “But Sloane has given me the name Papa Bear, so I'd like to go by that now.”

Cleo choked on a laugh. “Sure thing, Papa Bear.”

I shot her a warning look, then addressed Mieshorum. “Papa Bear is a great nickname. But it's the kind of nickname you want only Sloane to use.”

“But I want everyone to know Sloane gave me a nickname,” he argued. Apparently getting a nickname from a human was a big deal among the Talins.

“We often have multiple nicknames for the same individual,” I said. “How about we call you Bear, and Sloane can call you Papa Bear?”

“Are you giving me a second nickname?” he asked, sounding an excited rattle.

“I guess so,” I said.

He slapped his fist to his chest again. “Thank you for the honor, Opal.”

“You’re welcome,” I said, working hard to keep from laughing.

“I'll go see if Sloane would like to converse,” he said and went back into the room.

“I guess we get to choose from the other rooms,” I said.

“Each room has its own elimination unit and cleansing unit,” Moreum said. “The station supply clerk asks that you send all requests directly to him.”

“All these doors are rooms?” I asked, floored. There were seven doors in the suite!

“No, that one is storage,” Moreum said, pointing to the one closest to the food preparation area. “Right now it's full. Gifts keep coming for the humans. We’ve had to utilize one of the storage lockers in bay four to accommodate everything. When you are rested and ready, we'd like to start bringing the items up here for you to go through.”

“I hope there wasn't anything edible in those gifts,” I quipped.

Unsurprisingly, Moreum didn't hear my humor. “We checked for perishable items before we stored them. All those items were brought here for Mieshorum and Sloane to enjoy.”

“This is all very nice of you,” I said.

Moreum looked at Tolly. “It is.”