by very bad and powerful beings. You go there if you want to work and die.” He tilted his head a little. “You wish to go to the mines?”
“No!” Lauren cleared her throat. “No, I was just wondering. But there should be a place I can go that’s not the zoo or the market, right?”
“Not possible. You must be returned.”
Lauren swallowed hard.
She had to think of something else.
“What about if I pay you back what you paid for me?”
Geblit paused at that. “You have credits?”
Lauren shifted in the box.
“I could work for you. Buy my freedom.”
Geblit was already shaking his head.
“No. You must leave. My Cargga will not tolerate you in our dwelling.”
With that, he hopped into the hovercar, his two scrawny legs settling his haunches unto the seat. As soon as he settled, he spun her box around, his eyes narrowing as he looked for something on the box itself.
Lauren sighed, anxiety growing as she tried to think of something else.
"You know, I don't need to be carried around in a box. I can walk just fine,” she spoke absentmindedly, her mind on a way to get out of this jam.
"It is what the zookeeper advised. I know nothing about your species. I have to take precautions. I do not want to touch you when it's not necessary."
She would have been burned by that if he wasn't an alien and one that looked like a cockroach had sex with an octopus.
Or would it be the other way around…an octopus having sex with a cockroach? It would be the larger of the two, hence it stood to think that it would be doing the sexing.
The big balloon thing at the back of Geblit’s head pulsed as he scrutinized the box.
Then it came to her.
"You don't want to touch me yet you were planning to add me to your mating?" She almost choked and vomited on the word.
"Hush!" Geblit's four eyes darted to his neighbors’ houses. "You were a present for my female. I will do anything to please my Cargga." Four eyes regarded her.
“Even though you are hideous, I would have kept you. The exchange is a horrid place for a female of any species, Torian or creature.”
Lauren surveyed him. "Hmm, I’m not a creature but I’ll take it. How...considerate of you."
"I am considerate. Yes," Geblit replied, turning his eyes to the box once more.
Lauren almost rolled her eyes at his arrogance.
But at least he was seeking to please his wife’s wishes. She guessed that meant he was nicer than most aliens were.
“I should have known my dear Cargga would never accept you. I should have taken into consideration the fact that you are hideous beyond belief."
She took it back.
He was not a nice alien.
He was a bad alien.
A horrible alien.
Turning away from him, she looked out over at the other mushroom houses. It was a strange-looking neighborhood.
Beautiful.
But strange.
The mushroom houses were all cream-colored, some having many adjoining mushrooms and some with only a few. Geblit's dwelling was one of those that had many adjoining mushrooms and she assumed that meant he was well-off.
Surrounding all the houses were perfectly manicured lawns of orange grass and well-maintained gardens of various flower species she'd never seen before.
And like an edited photo, the pink sky made a great backdrop to the already colorful scenery.
It was calm and welcoming—kind of like most upper-scale neighborhoods she'd been to back on Earth.
Her eyebrows rose a little when it dawned on her that she was in an upper-scale neighborhood right at that moment. This was the upper-class of alien life.
Not bad, she thought. It almost made her forget she was at the bottom of all barrels on this planet.
An exclamation of righteous indignation hit her ear and had her swinging her head to look at Geblit.
His oval mouth was open and stretched, his eyes bugged out.
"What is it?"
"I have been bested," he managed to get out with much, much difficulty. It was almost as if each word choked him a little.
"What do you mean 'bested?’"
"The slimy zookeeper put ‘no returns’ on the label."
The look on his face was of such utter devastation that she felt sorry for him. And, considering that she was the one who had no home except for the box in which she lay, that was saying something.
"What in Raxu’s name will I do?"
She could only look at him. She was at a loss for words.
What could he do?
Whatever he decided, her life literally depended on it.
She couldn't just jump out of her box,