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He snorted. “So witty. I mean, aside from that.”
“A little. Why? They found it funny that I didn’t know them by name.”
“Are you serious? Where are you living that you don’t know our guardians?”
“Here. I spend days here and get one day off a week that I spend with my family.”
“You need to take an interest in local law enforcement.”
“I am not going to start screwing peacekeepers.”
Emgoth froze. “Have they been after you?”
“One or two. Their buddies usually talk them down.”
“Why are they after you?”
“Because, dumbass, I smell like I am in heat all the time, so the dry-land Vecchin find me fascinating.”
Emgoth blinked. “Oh. Right. I forgot about that.”
“Good. You should forget.”
“Only one of those guardians has Vecchin blood. The other two are off-worlders.”
She glanced back ostensibly to check their food progress, and they were done. “Right. They also eat fast. I am going to grab their empty packs, and we can get the prep done.”
“Well... go.” Emgoth laughed.
Cloudy went out and collected the empty packs from under the three. “Anything else? Now that Emgoth is back, he does a nice shaved iced fruit.”
The nosey one said, “You can’t?”
“I had quite the medic bill the first time, so I am not allowed near the spinning blades anymore. Emgoth is both bigger and stronger than I am. He can do it without four days of recovery.”
They looked concerned.
“Oh, wow. Those are faces. I am fine, and I learned a lesson about hopping while hanging onto the handle.” She grinned as she got ready to walk away. “So, ice?”
Three hands went up in the air, and Emgoth had been watching, so he nodded and got the frozen fruit out and put it on the shaver. She got the sweet sauce and drizzled it on each of the ices, put small paddles in, and then brought them out on a tray. “There you go.”
They dove into it happily, and she returned to the stall, continuing the prep for the last rush of the day. Shift change.
When she looked outside, the guardians were gone. She smiled, went to put the cups in the trash, and blinked when a com code was sitting written on one of the flat scoops. She wasn’t going to use it, but she put it in her pocket to keep it from the next rush. It was sitting where nosey had sat.
Cleanup and prep continued, and she and Emgoth got into their rhythm. He loved being able to make enough to get to his family at a time early enough that he could help his adult kids with homework and still have enough money to take a day off now and then. She could run the stall; she just needed some muscle to make the ices.
They got ready, and when the local businesses opened up and staff who had delayed their lunches made a straight line for the stall, they got to work.
* * * *
Hazor muttered, “I am going to have to call my uncle about his Terran. My new aunt sounds very different from the woman I met today.”
“They are a species, not clones, Haz. You and your sister are different. Mekked and your mother are different.” Arkon smiled. “I am different than all the people on my world. Extend the server today the same courtesy.”
Morsek grinned. “So what are the odds of bringing the skimmer into that port again? That food was good.”
Hazor snorted.
