Page 71 of Escape Velocity

“A dog. You never saw one before?”

“They don’t have. . .,” she started to say but bit off the end of the sentence before she could slip up and mention Naxion. Eyeing the sizable teeth, she asked. “Will it bite?”

Dubois was listening to them and answered, “Non. Unless you threaten one of us.”

The security man kept his gaze on Amber. “You’ve never seen a dog? Where’d you grow up?”

She froze. “Why do you ask?”

“You are a curiosity.”

She shot Max a quick glance before saying, “My parents ran a shop on the Freedom Station.”

“Ah. That is interesting.”

Embroidering the lie, she added, “It’s quite different from here. You have so much . . . open space. And such pretty plants.”

“Oui.”

“Our marketplace is in a huge chamber within the station.”

Max jumped in to change the subject. “You say this is a camp, but it looks like a village.”

“It’s better for us to move from time to time, when we have hunted out the game in the area, or if the waters rise in one location.”

Max nodded, thanking the fates that there was no more time for a private conversation as men, women, and children had come out of the houses to stare at the newcomers. Some of the women and children looked fearful.

“No need to worry. They are traders,” Dubois called out.

A tall man with iron gray hair stepped forward. “What do they have to trade?”

Dubois gave the man a respectful nod. “This is our chief among equals, Charner Gatroux.”

“Thank you for allowing us to speak to your people,” Max said. He, Rafe and Amber all introduced themselves.

“We have unique handmade clothing from off world,” Rafe said.

Several women scoffed. “We can make our own clothing,” one of them said.

Amber fingered her skirt. “I am wearing one of the dresses we brought. They’re for special occasions, when you want to look your best for your man.”

She held out the delicate fabric, then let it fall gracefully back into place before raising her arms and executing a couple of twirls.

A crowd of women rushed forward to have a closer look, and Max could hear them exclaiming.

A tall woman with salt and pepper hair and wrinkled skin gave Amber a speculative look, and Max wondered what she was thinking. But his attention was pulled back to the gray-haired chief.

“You have not come here in the past,” he said. “Why do you venture into the bayou country now?”

“Because we are always looking for new customers,” Rafe answered.

“We were hoping we could stay the night,” Max said, “And talk about what other goods might interest you.”

“That can be arranged,” Gatroux said.

“Can Madam Amber show us more of the dresses?” one of the women asked, her gaze fixed on the head man.

“Yes.”

---