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“Oh, okay.” Luci felt a little better. He seemed to take this very seriously, she thought. And though she barely knew him, he seemed like a good guy. At least, Lady approved of him and she could usually tell the good apples from the bad ones.
“How often will I need to feed these, uh, cattens? Is that the right word?” he asked, clearly changing the subject.
“It’s kittens,” Luci corrected him, smiling. “And let’s see…” She examined the kitten she was holding, who was almost finished eating, and nodded to herself. “Eyes and ears open and he’s pretty perky.” She looked under the tail. “Oops, this one’s a she, though,” she added. “Anyway, judging from the weight and size and the way these guys are so lively, I’d say they’re probably around four or five weeks old. Which means they need to be fed every five to six hours.”
“All right.” He nodded gravely. “I can do that.”
“Oh, but do you want to?” Luci was surprised. She had fully expected to take the kittens over—not many people wanted the trouble of caring for three fragile little creatures who needed round the clock care.
But the big Kindred was nodding.
“Sure. I’m on leave here, down on Earth. I was going to use my time to explore but I find without a guide, a lot of your culture is a mystery. So I don’t mind spending my time with animals instead of people.”
Luci thought about offering to give him a tour of Tampa…but then she bit her tongue. Raze seemed like a nice guy but she had her three kids to think about. Now wasn’t the time to be bringing a new man into their life when she and Tony had been divorced less than a year. Not that it would be a date or anything but she couldn’t deny that Raze was extremely attractive—in a really big, intimidating kind of way.
“Let me get you all the equipment you need and show you everything you need to do, then,” she said instead. “Kittens are fragile. Even when they seem healthy, they can go downhill quick. So you have to keep an eye on them.”
“Thank you—both for the equipment and for your time tonight,” Rave said gravely. “How can I pay you?”
“Oh, no—I can’t take your money!” Luci protested. Besides, did Kindred even use Earth money? She doubted it. “I love caring for animals—it’s my job,” she told him.
“But I can’t just take all your supplies and not repay you somehow,” Raze protested. “Is there are least something I can do for you in exchange?”
Luci sighed.
“Not unless you know how to fix ‘Earth vehicles’ as you call them. Mine broke down today—that’s why I had to take the bus home.”
Raze brightened.
“Maybe I can. I’m a mechanic up on the Mother Ship—I work on all kinds of engines there. I can’t imagine yours would be too difficult considering…” He trailed off.
“Considering what?” Luci asked, curiously.
“Well…” He coughed. “I admit I was going to say, considering how primitive your technology is. But that kind of makes me sound like an asshole.”
Luci laughed.
“No, that’s okay—we are kind of primitive compared to the Kindred, I guess.” She shrugged. “You can take a crack at it if you want, but you’ll have to come to my work to look at it. I can’t afford to get it towed to a garage.”
Raze nodded thoughtfully.
“I can do that.” He raised his eyebrows. “As long as you don’t mind telling me where you work? And will you be able to tend the cattens—I mean kittens—while I work on your vehicle? I don’t want to leave them alone in my domicile—I mean, my apartment.”
“Well, sure—that’s no problem.” Luci smiled at him tentatively, but then she thought of something. “Oh, but won’t you need tools? I mean, if you have to get down into the engine and do…whatever you have to do to fix it?”
“Luckily I brought some with me” Raze said. “I was hoping to get to look at some of your primitive engines while I was on leave.”
“Wow, that’s convenient!” Luci said. “I’m glad you brought them.”
“I am too—though I haven’t had a chance to use them until now. I ought to be able to fix whatever is wrong with your vehicle without any other tools. Unless something needs to be replaced, of course,” he added.
Luci didn’t want to think about that. There was no way she could afford a new carburetor or alternator or even a new battery right now. But at least she had someone who was willing to work on the car for free—that was something, anyway.
“Of course,” she said, echoing his words. “But if—”
Just then her front door opened and four voices called for her at once.
Four
Raze looked up and saw an older human female and three young human children—all under the age of seven cycles, he estimated—coming into Lucia’s apartment. The minute she saw him, the older female gave a gasp and put her arms around the three children, who were calling for Lucia.
