Page 2 of Accounting for Drakes

The kit was nearby, so she went through the rescue protocol she could remember, anchored three sites, and got the thin energy consumer that would let her carefully dig through the rocks.

The world around her was an energy projection in a computer, and the tiny unit would let her remove parts of the area around her.

The blockage in the tunnel disappeared in a few minutes under her focused, careful shots.

When the cavern was clear, she descended slowly and then saw the guest trapped under a stack of rocks.

She looked at them and tried to remember what to say. “Um, hello. Do you require assistance?”

The male lying there grunted; his eyes flashed black and silver. “No kidding. Can you move the rocks?”

“Sure. Would you prefer manual or electronic removal?”

“Get. This. Stuff. Off. Me.”

She nodded and quickly went to work with the small unit.

When he was free, she helped him stand and dusted him off.

“I am sorry. It was supposed to close the entry and force you through the tunnel to the caverns beyond.” Her hands brushed his back and the back of his thighs.

He paused. “Are you going to clear off the rest of me?”

Abil blinked. “Of course, sir. Apologies, sir.”

He looked at her and shook his head. “I can’t believe Mbrak employs simpletons.”

She recoiled and backed away from him. She hit her emergency extraction.

She sat up and removed her face monitor, rubbing her eyes as the tears started falling. She scrambled loose from the filaments and scuttled back to her locker, changing and getting into her normal clothing as quickly as she could. She clutched her clipboard, filed the rescue on the admin terminal, then walked to the supply room and took inventory of the two million items that the space station stocked.

She had the quantities and usage of everything in her mind, but the people parts of things were tricky. She needed to link to another mind to communicate effectively, but Mbrak said that was rude. She wasn’t allowed contact with strangers, which left her with family, and family thought her needs were creepy. She got that through the links.

She paused and took a deep breath. She had survived her first ten years on her own, hunting and gathering for food and clothing herself. No other being had been there to talk to or interact with, so she was missing all those pieces.

Styra had said that social stuff was like dancing, but Abil didn’t know how to dance either.

Even for one of Mbrak’s family, she was odd.

* * * *

Mbrak joined the otherdrake for dinner and smiled. “So, how did you enjoy being trapped in the cavern with normal human strength?”

Yorath snorted. “That was delightful.”

Mbrak laughed. “Well, we sent in a rescue.”

“The simpleton? Yes. I am aware.”

Before the server could come to the table, Mbrak paused and got control of the rage that had boiled inside him. “What?”

“The woman who could barely form a sentence with the demeanour of the most menial servant. That one.”

“What did you say to her?”

“The creature? I said I was surprised that you employ creatures like her.”

Mbrak got up and said, “Get off my station.”

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