Captive - Cheryl Brooks Page 0,116

you two are in love and going to have lots of babies and be happy for the rest of your lives.” He touched Klara’s arm with a sucker-tipped finger and let out a blissful sigh. “Nothing quite as delightful as the essence of a pregnant woman in love.”

Nexbit snorted. “Like you’ve ever touched a pregnant female before in your life.”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t like it.” The Norludian smacked his lips. “Yummy and stimulating.”

“Okay, okay. Enough of that.” Moe carefully removed Temfilk’s hand from his mate’s arm. “You need to get your jollies somewhere else.”

Temfilk spread his arms wide. “Where do you suggest I go to do that? These Haedusians have never done it for me.”

Moe could easily understand the difficulty. However, that problem was not his to worry about. “Which is yet another reason why we need to go somewhere else.” He tipped his head to one side. “Where do you want to go? Your homeworld?”

Temfilk shook his head. “From what I’ve heard, I’d much rather go to Rhylos. More diversity there.”

“True,” Moe conceded. “It’s an expensive place to live, though.” He glanced at Klara, then back at her two cohorts. “If you come with us on the Sunrise, we can visit Rhylos now and then. I haul cargo all over the galaxy. I’ve even been known to carry passengers, although not very often. My ship’s not fancy enough for most interstellar travelers. No spas or pools or midnight buffets or anything like that.”

“Hey, if you have beds and edible food, it’s all good.” Nexbit said. “We really don’t care where we go as long as it’s away from here. And the Racks would never leave Klara. She’s like their mother or something.”

“I dunno. They’re seeming more independent all the time.” Klara nodded in the direction of the three Rackenspries. “Just look at them over there, playing with some of the Haedusian kids.” Her eyes narrowed. “Wait a second. Are they…gambling?”

Moe followed her gaze. Sure enough, the furry little critters were rolling dice and something was changing hands, possibly credits or some form of the local currency. “Looks that way.” Turning, he shook his finger at Klara. “Didn’t you teach your boys not to take advantage of the other children?”

She shrugged. “Hey, when you grow up on the street, you learn all sorts of useful skills.”

Moe stared at the Racks and started in their direction. “Hold on, you guys. Where did you get that money?”

Jal held up a coin and pointed at Lis, who, in turn, pointed toward a beaming Nedwut who was gazing at what appeared to be a portrait of Klara.

“You sold him that picture?”

Lis nodded vigorously. “Yah, boss.”

Moe couldn’t imagine how Lis had managed to find the materials, unless he’d left Velkma’s house carrying her pencil and a few of the wanted posters. If so, their captors evidently hadn’t done a thorough search of his pockets. “Okay, but there’s a better use for your money than shooting craps with the local hooligans.” He needn’t have bothered. With the next roll of the dice, Jal squealed with glee and gathered up the pile of coins. “So…Lis can draw, Jal has incredible luck with dice, and you”—he looked at Bik—“can do…what?”

As if on cue, Bik yawned.

“I’m right there with you, man,” Moe said. “This has been one very long, highly eventful day. What do you say we all head back to my ship for the night?”

“That sounds perfect to me,” Temfilk declared. “Do we really each get a room of our own?”

“Not exactly,” Moe replied. “There are only six rooms, so some of us will have to double up.”

“No worries,” Nexbit said. “We’ve been doing that for years. Never knew what it was like to sleep alone until they threw us in jail.” He shuddered. “Didn’t care much for it, myself.”

“Me, either,” Temfilk said with a nod. “It was kinda spooky being all alone like that.”

Moe heaved an inward sigh, pleased that the only fights would be for which of them didn’t share a room. Then another, less cheery thought occurred to him. “Guess we should save one room to lock Pelarus in, huh? Although throwing him in the hold seems more fitting.”

Nexbit gazed at Moe with obvious horror. “Does that mean you’ve been picked to get rid of him?”

“Not yet,” Moe replied. “We were talking about marooning him on Orpheseus Prime, but we need to run the idea by the Ladies Auxiliary first. The trouble is Mom and Dad don’t want to go back there, and neither does