Page 36 of On A Rift's Edge
A slight queasiness about the message to go to Garreth’s office remained as Kat knocked on the door. Garreth’s cheerful voice telling him to come on in was a welcome relief.
The sight of the man sitting in a chair in Garreth’s office was not so welcome.
Paul stood up, extending his hand to Kat for a businesslike shake. “Kat, it’s good to see you again. Garreth was telling me all about the ranch. Fascinating place.”
“Good to see you too.” Kat did his best to put warmth into those words. He didn’t want to see Paul at work, and even worse, this would make it more difficult to blow him off Sunday night.
“Mr. Cicero has made a generous donation to our rescue and rehabilitation program, and I understand I have you to thank.” Garreth beamed at Kat, who tried not to show how confused he was.
“You were so inspiring and enthusiastic about your work on the ranch.” Paul said this to Kat without looking at him. His focus was on Garreth. “I felt I needed to contribute to the cause.”
Kat had barely gotten a word in during his one and only date with Paul, so he wasn’t sure where this philanthropic surprise was coming from. He reminded himself that people like Paul gave money to a lot of causes, and the ranch’s programs with both Earth and Riftworld species deserved the support.
Still, Paul showing up where Kat worked was weird.
“Paul asked if you could show him a few of our animal ambassadors and explain the Riftworld education we do here at the ranch.” Garreth gestured to the venture capitalist. “I told him I couldn’t think of a more passionate supporter of the program than you, with the exception of Kaveh.”
“I know how busy you and your staff are, and I greatly appreciate the opportunity to hear from an expert on the health needs of alien species.” Paul gave Garreth a quick goodbye handshake and was pulling Kat toward the door before Kat could even respond.
“I asked Javier to cover for you, so take as long as you want,” Garreth called after him, and Kat had little choice but be dragged away by the last guy in the world he wanted to hang out with.
Paul could walk quickly when he wanted to. He was already through the great room and headed outside by the time Kat disengaged himself from his grip. Kat moved in front of him, put his hat back on, and held the door open to make his escape from Paul’s violation of his personal space look like politeness.
“Thank you.” Paul stepped into the bright sunshine of the outer patio, where the dinner bell stood near the rift storm gong. “So gallant of you. And I love your cowboy hat.”
He said it like what Kat was wearing was a costume, not the same work attire everyone else wore. “I was, uh, surprised to see you here.”
“I’m a spontaneous person.” Paul admired the metal gong. “My, that looks loud. Can I ring it?”
“Not unless you want to see the entire ranch go into lockdown.” Kat stepped in between Paul and the gong. “It’s a warning device for when a rift storm is blowing in. There’s no advanced human technology involved, and the sound carries for a good distance.”
“This lets you hunker down when monsters attack.” Paul was assessing the metal structure like an auction item, and Kat decided he needed to get this tour over with.
“I’ll show you the petting zoo.” Kat pointed away from the gong, then remembered he was supposed to check in with Kaveh if anything unusual happened or his routine changed. The two of them were going to catch up over lunch, but that was a few hours away. “Oh, I forgot. Kaveh’s here today, and I’m sure he’d be interested in meeting you. Plus, he can tell you everything about our rehabilitation program for injured Riftworld species.”
Paul smiled. “Garreth already set that up and asked him to meet us there. I’m so excited to shake hands with an actual dragon!”
It was odd that Garreth hadn’t mentioned this, but the thought that Kat wouldn’t be alone with the venture capitalist droning on for hours cheered him immensely.
It was a short walk to the petting zoo, which was quiet this early in the morning. Ranch visitors tended to stop by later in the day.
Since the phantom attack several months ago, the damage to the outer fence had been repaired and new guardweed planted. Scorch marks on the compact building that housed a mini-clinic and various living spaces for the animal ambassadors were no longer visible under a new coat of cheerful sunshine-yellow paint.
It was amazing to think he had come close to dying here a few months ago, trying to save two children who had snuck into the petting zoo and had been left unprotected when the phantoms attacked. Thank goodness Lyall, Remi, and Kaveh had been able to drive them away. His family didn’t know about his brush with death, and he didn’t want to share those memories with Paul.
“We have a weekly lecture series here.” Kat pointed at the rebuilt stage where they did their animal ambassador demonstrations as he scanned the area for any sign of Kaveh. He could be inside the building. Or maybe he was running late.
One of the juvenile phoenixes, colorful flying reptiles from the Riftworld who could create and manipulate fire, fluttered down to perch on the stage, cocking her head in their direction.
Paul’s eyes sharpened. He stepped forward to open the fence door without asking and approached the phoenix. “Is that one for sale?”
“Bad guy.” Snow, the half-phoenix, half-cockatoo hybrid, landed next to the phoenix and fluffed his feathers in Paul’s direction. Orange sparks began to glow along their tips. “Go away.”
Kat was surprised and alarmed. Surprised because Snow was the definition of chaotic good, and he had never seen him show this type of hostility toward anyone. Alarmed, because Snow had almost lit the rodeo corral on fire during his one and only full phoenix manifestation.
“That’s not nice, Snow.” Kat moved in between the parrot and the venture capitalist. Garreth would not be happy if his latest big donor had his eyebrows singed off. “This is Paul, and he’s a guest visiting the ranch.”
“Bad guy, bad guy.” Snow opened his beak, and a spurt of fire came out.
