She slid the door open as she answered. "Because the stowaway is Alora."
Sure enough, the brown furred girl from Pegillas named Alora sat on the floor just inside the door. She shielded her eyes from the sudden bright light. The room she had been hiding in had been dark since before we left her home planet.
Alora was wearing a light blue dress this time, similar in style to the one she had on the previous day but a little fancier. And perfectly clean. It looked brand new. At her side was a woven bag the size of an old briefcase. Peggy luggage. She had packed for this trip.
"Alora! What are you doing here?"
"I am here to work," she answered while her eyes adjusted to the light as it dimmed. I assumed that Portia was reducing the brightness in response to the girl's reaction. Android stuff. Things that I was sure we would take for granted quickly.
"I don't have a job for you here," I told her sadly as I kneeled down in front of her. She rose up to her knees before me looking like she wanted a hug. Hiding out in a dark room on our ship may have been even scarier for her than running from gantha-beasts. "Your job is back in TruPort. I gave you money so you could stay with your family and not have to worry about anyone being taken ever again."
"My pa will do the job at home," she answered. "You have saved me three times now. And my whole family on the third time. My debt to you is bigger than a tree. Bigger than a city. It is so big, my father say I must serve you for three years."
"Three years? No. That is going overboard. We have to take you back."
"Do not take me back, please," she pleaded as she bowed before me, placing her hands on the floor in front of my knees. "I will be ashamed if you do. My father will be ashamed of me. I will be dirt."
"No, you will not be dirt," I told her. "You have an important job there now. You will be tree, or whatever your expression is for someone with a purpose."
"It is an easy job that even my baby sister can do. Too much money. I must serve you in your flying house."
"Shall I instruct Lin to set a course for Pegillas?" Portia asked me. There was no sign of irritation, of course. If it were me, I would be pissed off.
I released a heavy sigh and sat on the floor to think about it. When I did, Alora climbed onto my lap and put her arms around my neck. Her little furry head lay on my shoulder like a child seeking protection and comfort. The daddy vibe came back stronger than ever. Perhaps that was her intent.
I had gone down there expecting to fight the shadow monster. Finding the Peggy girl instead threw my mind through a loop. I didn't really want to go straight back to Pegillas. It wasn't like her family was worried about her. She claimed that her father even sent her to me. To work for me for three years!
"One cycle," I finally told her.
"What is a cycle?" she asked, looking up at me with those big eyes of hers. In many ways she resembled a pet as much as human girl. The urge to speak baby talk was challenging to ignore.
"We will visit three other places, selling and buying cargo," I explained. "When we return to Pegillas after that, you'll go back to your family."
"Thank you," she said as her grip tightened around my neck. "I will clean your house, wash your clothes, rub your back, throw out the poop..."
"We have devices for all those things, Alora. But I'll find something for you to do. Let us first get you settled into one of the spare bedrooms. And something to eat. Do you need to use the bathroom? The room where we pee and poop?"
She nodded with exaggeration, her eyes getting even wider. "I must pee like a waterfall. I almost make stinky lake in this clean room."
The next few minutes was spent getting her settled in and alerting Lin and Nancy to our new guest. We had a real stowaway after all. I shouldn't have dismissed Portia's statement of that fact so easily. The trickiness of the shadow mon…, of Freddy’s appearance had thrown me off. I discounted her as if she were a confused human woman. That was stupid of me.
Alora had planned to beg me to take her with us. When she arrived at the ship and found the door open and unguarded, she decided to hide in the cargo hold instead. Then we would have no choice but to accept her. That must have been when Portia was working in the engine room as she waited for the food delivery to arrive.
None of that mattered now. We had a new crew member for the next few stops. Seeing her so happy suddenly made me feel even better than I did before. Once Lin and Nancy got over the initial shock of the Peggy girl being onboard, they welcomed her warmly. I could see their motherly instincts returning quickly.
We could pretend to be parents for a little while, trying it on for size. Like foster parents before having their own children. Only Alora was a teenage girl of another species. Still, there would have to be some changes made around here. No more fucking in the hallways for one.
Chapter Twenty-Three
We still had a few hours before jump. Normally that would be private
