Page 24 of Saved By the Servali

“Nothing! Nothing, Daddy. The Felids I’ve met are awesome, and so are their families. I think you’d like them.”

“Well, I’m not gonna follow you to any blasted planet where I have to use a litter box.”

“Dad! They have Felid features, but the genetic splicing was hundreds and hundreds of years ago! They have nicer bathrooms than we do!” Nessa sat back and sighed. “I can’t believe I’m having this conversation.”

“Neither can I. Oh, some guy called me a bunch of times, looking for you. He said you're fired.”

Annnd we’re lost again.Nessa bit her lip, nodding. “I know, Dad. I’ll um... I’ll handle it. Don’t worry. What was his name?”

“I don’t know. I can never remember how to get my messages after the first time. “

“It’s okay. I’ll figure it out. Love you, Dad.”

“Love you, Ness.”

She ended the call, heart tight.

“Layla!” she called, voice loud and clear to make sure any tears knew their place.

Layla came into her office at once. “Ready to talk to Sheriff Dane with Talos and Ru?”

“In just a minute. How do I get a call through to the MIWP on this thing?”

“NESSA? NESSA, GIRL, you look amazing.”

Nessa rolled her eyes as Merton’s face filled the screen. Good. Let him suffer. Shedidlook good in her current Felid-curated outfit of charcoal pants suit and silvery blouse, clothes she could have never afforded or had occasion to wear back at the MWIP. She looked powerful. Knowledgeable. Perfect for speaking to people with weight to throw around.

“Merton, my dad got a call saying I was fired. You’re the supervisor of my division—why would someone call him and say that?”

“Uh... Probably because you haven’t clocked in for days and gave no notice before leaving. You know the rules. Miss three shifts without notice or approval, and you’re out. Out of a job and out of staff housing. All of your stuff is sitting in a box in the Inspectors’ Staff Room.” Merton shrugged, bulky form shifting in his swiveling chair, seeming too large for the tissue-paper thin white shirt and cheap black tie. He mopped his shining brown face. “You can pick it up until the end of the cycle. If you don’t collect it by then, they toss it. I’m gonna miss you.”

“I was kidnapped, Merton! I didn’t just leave a job I’ve worked at for years—not to mention a place where I have been trying to get a promotion for the past six months.”

“I know, I know, you deserve it, Nessa! But you have to understand, people saw us together last time we went out, and I need to—”

“‘Wait a year before you can sign off on my promotion,’ I know, I know. I didn’t sleep with you to get ahead. I slept with you to have a good time.”Which didn’t happen—and why is the issue the promotion and not the damned kidnapping?!

“Exactly. That’s what I would tell the promotions review board, too.”

“Well, tell the review board I got shoved into a shuttle by two assholes with hot-beam lasers, and I’ll be back in a couple of weeks!” Nessa hissed, slamming her hand down on the flat white desk, making the database computer she was using jump.

“Well, this is new to us! We thought you just disappeared somewhere. Hopped a shuttle and took off.”

“There are cameras and security drones everywhere. Someone had to have seen what happened.”

“Um, yeah. I’ll look into it, and don’t worry, I’ll make sure I tell the review board what really happened,” Merton nodded, mopping his face again. “Can I have the details of the incident—and where you are now?”

“Right, you need a report. Well, I was completing routine inspections in my section when two men approached me. They owned the shuttle in berth thirty-eight. Shouldn’t you be typing this in?”

“I’m recording. Keep going.”

“Sure. Anyway, they tried to give me 300 credits ‘for my trouble,’ which immediately made me suspicious.”

Merton muttered and shook his head.

“I know, idiots. When I started to inspect their shuttle, a lot of things didn’t pass, including the exterior siding. The life system and pressurization boxes were—”

“What happened when you went in the shuttle?” Merton demanded.

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