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“You no introduceme!”Max’s indignant voice cut through my mind.
A choked laugh escaped me, and Mollie pulled back to shoot me a questioning look.
The hug broke up, and I took a few steps back to better see everyone.
“I’m so glad to see all of you,” I said, ready to be both their captain and something more. Something better. “I know many of you have been through ordeals none of us could have imagined when we left Earth. But we’re together, and we’ve found strong allies. I have no doubt we’ll succeed in this new world, because you know what I see? I see a bunch of kick-ass women ready to get shit done!”
Rousing pep talk, check.
“Me!”Max wailed.
“Now for the important part of my speech.” I leaned over to scratch his head right between his little horns. “This is Max.”
“Real name.”He butted my hand with his horns.
I bit back a laugh. “This is Maximum Good Hunter, but he’ll let you call him Max.”
A pretty woman with tan skin and dark wavy hair grinned. “Now you’ve done it. Lila and the others are coming!”
A door slid open, and a wave of pets poured through.
Max shouted,“New friends!”and raced to meet them.
Three kreecats ran across the floor—the hot-pink Space Kitty, a bright purple one, and another black one like Max, only with blue eyes and horns. A purple robot dog trotted in their midst while another flew overhead. Beside it glided a…
“Is that a flying squirrel?” I squinted at the golden creature. “And is it… glowing?”
“That’s Glitter! She’s a starwisp. They can take on different shapes, and she pulled this one from my mind,” Mollie said. “And I should warn you that she’s telepathic with everyone, not just me.”
“Okay.”
The animals met, the kreecats swarming each other, their little noses wiggling. They coiled around each other, stroking their cheeks across all the others with happy purrs.
“See,”I sent to Max.“I told you you’d want to meet Space Kitty and the others.”
“They Lila and Beans,”Max said.“And different now. Have smells.”
“You know their names? You can talk to each other?”
“Of course.”
“Hello! I’m Vree!” said the robot pup on the ground in a boy’s voice. “I’m the very first pet on theDaredevil. I’ve been here years!”
“I’m Neenee.” The flying one landed beside him, and once her fan-blade wings folded down, she stepped out of them to run over to the others. “And I’m the first to fly!”
“Except for me,”Glitter said. Her little squirrel body swelled outward, becoming more diffuse until she looked like a stingray.“I was born flying!”
I laughed. “Are they always like this?”
“Oh, yeah. You get used to it.”
“Or you don’t,” Wrin said as he stepped up beside me, his tone sardonic.
A plump blonde with a wealth of freckles dotting her light skin approached. “Hi! I’m Hazel. Cara’s still on Breyva, but she wanted us to get you settled in.”
“I wanted to show her the ship.” Wrin’s warm hand gripped my shoulder.
Hazel shooed him away and looped one of her arms through mine. “She’s ours for the next bit.”
