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Chapter One
Cloudy got another lunch pack together for the hungry crowd. “More shredded akko?” She looked out at the colourful men and women with stripes and spots on their skin and fins or scales in lieu of hair. The female waiting for the pack nodded. “Tal.”
Cloudy handed the pack over and set up the next four for a single order. Food service was always an option, and her unremarkable results had given her menial tasks as her choices. So she was here, at a port, serving lunches and early dinners to the folk who worked next to and under the nearby ocean.
The dock workers were friendly and treated her like a little sibling for the most part. She was a lot less bulky than the Vecchin were.
One of her regulars asked, “What do you spend all your funds on, Cloudy?”
“Blending in, Sorcan. How do I look?”
“Less like a corpse from the water four days dead.”
She boxed up the four meals. “Flatterer.”
She held it out to him, and he nodded and took the boxes with a grin.
The next order was up on her screen, and she got to work on it. Cloudy got up at four and went to bed around seven. It wasn’t the worst life and had familiar echoes of her time on Earth.
Life on Siloven had a predictable pattern. There were tides, loading, unloading, festivals every two months, and days off spent with friends and family.
Cloudy had shocked her family by opting for the alterations that would make her time on a world filled with water breathers a bit easier. So far, her skin was dark green and silver, and she had gills installed, but they hadn’t been tested in open water. That was scheduled for next week.
She had done her time and achieved citizenship, and now, she was free and clear, working for the food outlet on the docks. Her family had gotten the bond payout and were now just waiting to churn through bureaucracy for their own citizenship. Cloudy had gotten in because one of the local lawmakers was a regular breakfast and lunch visitor to her stall.
When the lunch rush eased, she looked at Emgoth. “So that is getting easier.”
“Cloudy, without you, I would push this stall into the bay.”
“Aw. Sweet. How are supplies for the afternoon shift?”
He checked the cuts of meat and fish. “We are good, but I will take some out of the freezer and put them in the fridge for tomorrow morning.”
“Good. I will clean up, and we will be ready for the afternoon rush.”
“Once the meat is set, I am going to go and get some more produce. We need more of the akko.”
“Sure. You go. I will hold down the fort.”
He chuckled and left. She spoke Vecchin fairly well, and Vecchin manual for the deep-sea Vecchin who stopped by for a snack.
She kept cleaning until there was a gentle tap on the order section of the stall. She smiled and went over, waving and speaking with mouth and hands. “Hello, what are you in the mood for, Guardians?”
The most surreal part of living on another world was the appearance of guardians. Superheroes who were usually related to the Hmrain who owned the world acted in a public service capacity to keep their people safe.
The Vecchin guardian asked, “What is your species?”
“Terran. Human.”
He jolted. “You don’t look human.”
“I am aware. I put funds into changing my appearance so that I would get less commentary from the local population.” Her words and hands kept pace. She felt a contact on her mind, and her shield slammed up and sent him staggering backward.
The guys with him looked up. “What did you do?”
“He touched my mind; I slapped his face, so to speak. I do the same thing if someone contacts me physically. Now, are you interested in food? My grill man just left, but I can manage whatever you would like.”
The guardians grinned and placed their orders. The one who had tried mental contact ordered sheepishly. She typed in the order and said, “Guardians eat free.”
