“Say, I’m curious about how two fellas like us have ended up here. I was kind of wondering how you got recruited. Was it like me? Did you die somewhere, maybe getting run over like a dog in the road?”
“Negative. Offensive. Do not compare me to a dog, human. To call any of my kind a mammal is—”
“Right, right, sorry. I should have compared you to a garter snake, or a skink, maybe. Anyways, how did you come to work for Armel?”
Raash stepped from one thick foot to the other, and his tail lashed for a moment. While he did this, the machine behind him sloshed and churned. I was pretty sure it was gestating a new copy of a lizard, probably one of the boys I’d had a disagreement with, so I had to finish this conversation before he was reborn. I was pretty sure that either one of the guards would come out accusing me of something unpleasant.
“Are you still thinking, or…?” I asked.
“Irritating. Demanding. Insulting and provocative.”
“Ah, I get it. You don’t remember. I understand. Sometimes, when an alien like you comes out of a revival machine meant for humans, he gets kind of twisted up, and his brain doesn’t work right. Don’t hurt yourself trying to answer me, I won’t—”
Raash took a threatening step toward me. I was pissing him off something fierce.
“You suggest Raash is a bad grow? That Raash is an imbecilic lump of meat that should be recycled?”
“Hold on, hold on. I didn’t suggest anything of the kind. You said it, not me.”
“It will not happen. If anyone is to be recycled today, it will be the McGill.”
“I’m sure you’re right about that.”
Raash paced around a moment, but then he suddenly started talking. “There is no work on Cancri-9. Humans have stolen the mining business. Humans monopolize the mercenary business. Some of us are forced to leave our homeworld and seek work among the stars.”
“Hmm… I believe you. Sorry about that, Raash.”
The surprising thing was, I did understand, and I was sympathetic. I came from the swamps of southern Georgia, after all. My people understood travelling to find work. Hell, I’d joined the legions in the first place for similar reasons.
“My downfall came when Earth changed her policies. They rarely revive nonhumans now. My specialty as an operator of large-scale machines isn’t needed any longer.”
All of a sudden, I got it. Raash had been let go. He’d been laid off, effectively. He hadn’t sought work in the next province out of spite—he’d been pushed out.
“Oh… I get it. That happens sometimes. Too bad, you were the best.”
He straightened his curving spine and drooping tail. “Raash is the best. Raash will always be the best at specialty revivals!”
I grinned, and it wasn’t even an act. It was hard not to like a guy who had pride in his shitty job.
“Everyone says that,” I told him. “They’ll miss you sorely back at Legion Varus.”
“They are lost without my services.”
Right about then, the revival machine farted again. The big mouth sagged open, and I saw some wet scales in there.
“A saurian brother… how strange.”
“Welp,” I said, “that’s my cue to be moving on.”
Raash didn’t pay me any attention. He was busy digging the lizard out of the steaming maw.
I reached up, and my finger flirted with the button on my harness. I almost pressed it, but not quite.
“Hey, Raash.”
He didn’t turn. He was too busy working on his buddy. “What is it, human?”
“Do you like it here? Do you ever miss Floramel?”
He whirled around, his tail doing that clutch and spin thing again. “You dare torment me with her memory?”
“Uh… no, that wasn’t what I meant—”
“Of course I miss her. I lost my job, she lost interest. My tail is broken…”
“Ah, jeez. I’m sorry about that, Raash.”
“Leave. Your every word is an insult.”
“No, no, I mean it. Tell me, what if I could get you out of here, back to Earth?”
Raash gave me a strange look. “You are a primate in a tree. What are you chattering about?”
“Well… look, I’ll give you a piece of friendly advice: don’t go up against Earth with this legion of lizards. You guys are going to lose. It’s a foregone conclusion. You’ll probably get yourself permed, in fact.”
Raash’s head had been tilting to the right, and now it tilted farther. “I understand now. I’ve been tricked. You are not with Armel. You are a committed enemy.”
“What?” I laughed nervously, “that’s just plain crazy-talk. Listen, I’ve got to be going to see Armel now. It’s been real nice talking to you, Raash.”
Raash kept giving me that strange look. The lizard he’d been reviving was still coughing and gargling spit on the delivery table. He was a few minutes away from being aware enough to identify me, so I figured it was time make tracks.
“Human,” Raash said. “I do wish to go back to Floramel. Show me how this might be done.”
I froze, and he took a step forward, then another.
Raash was a big boy, you have to understand. He was bigger and stronger than I was, but nowhere near as quick. Still, if he got in close…
He pointed over his shoulder then. He pointed at the revival machine. “Look, human! You see the name in red on the list?”
I did, and I froze for a second. The queue said Tribune Maurice Armel—and the print was in bright red.
I began to take a step back, but Raash reached out, making a lunging grab. His move was a clumsy one, but I was distracted, and he managed to clamp one big claw onto my right wrist.
