Page 53 of Dancing for the Minotaur

“This is small?”

“For Monstrum transport, yes. The long-range shuttles are much larger.”

She laughed.

“Of course they are.”

Taurex smiled, but before he could say anything else, another woman appeared in the doorway behind Terra.

She was older than Terra, of course, but there was no mistaking the resemblance between them. The shape of the eyes was nearly identical and so was the slight tilt of the head as she studied him. Her hair was gray-brown and cut shorter than Terra’s, and she wore loose black trousers with a flowered blouse. One hand rested briefly on the doorframe as though she needed the support, and Taurex remembered that Terra’s mother suffered from a heart condition.

The realization made him instantly more careful.

“Hello,” he said, stepping forward.

“This is my mom,” Terra said, turning toward the older woman. “Mom, this is Taurex.”

Before the introductions could continue, however, there was a sudden commotion from inside the house.

“Is he here?”

“Move!”

“Lisa, wait!”

Two small figures came racing through the doorway, nearly knocking each other over in their haste to get outside.

Terra turned at once.

“Hey, you two! I told you two to stay inside until I called you!”

The little girl completely ignored her. She came barreling onto the porch, stopped so abruptly she nearly collided with one of the flowerpots, and stared up at Taurex with enormous eyes.

“I want to see the Bull-man!” she exclaimed.

Terra’s face turned bright red.

“Lisa!”

Taurex couldn’t help it–he began to laugh.

The sound came out as a deep rumble and the little girl’s eyes widened further, but she didn’t look frightened. If anything, she looked delighted.

“Terra,” Taurex said, still amused. “It is all right. I know I look like your Earth animal called a bull.”

“It is not all right,” Terra muttered. “Lisa, that is incredibly rude.”

“I wasn’t being rude,” Lisa protested. “He looks like a bull.”

“That doesn’t mean you call him Bull-man!”

Taurex smiled and lowered himself carefully onto one knee so he wouldn’t tower quite so dramatically over the child. Even kneeling, he was much taller than her.

“Hello,” he said, holding out one hand. “My name is Taurex. And you are?”

The little girl looked at his enormous palm for a moment, then put her much smaller hand into it with complete confidence.

“I’m Lisa.”