“Dad, look at this!” Hannah said, pointing to the glass cube.
Turning to look at it, he was not sure what he was seeing for a moment.
Things were moving in the cube, crawling and scurrying in odd little ways. They were not, however, alive.
“Tedian Moon Fluffs,” the proprietor said. She looked so very aged, and yet Urle’s system estimated that she was only in her late 70s. “They come from our home on Tede, and before we were driven out I brought the only mating pair!”
“They’re so cute! Dad, can we get one?” Hannah asked.
“Yeah, they’re really cute!” Persis added.
He’d forgotten to tell them about Brooks’s order banning alien pets. It was embarrassing to be as enhanced as he was and still forget things so easily.
These weren’t technically pets, though, he considered. Just little machines. If they were reasonable in price he wouldn’t actually mind them.
“How much for a Fluff?” he asked.
“They do best in groups,” the old woman said. “I couldn’t possibly sell just one – perhaps a pair, at the least? One for each of your beautiful daughters.” The woman offered them a smile, though something about it seemed sad. For a moment Urle actually sensed some honesty in the woman.
But the Fluffs were just cleverly-made machines that did a good job of acting like they were alive.
On the one hand, the scam annoyed him. But then, if they weren’t alive, it meant they couldn’t die, either . . .
“So how much for a pair?” he asked.
“For such rarities, I normally charge 50 credits a piece – but for you, Outlander, I’ll give you a pair for just 74.”
Even with the discount that price caused him to recoil slightly. 74 credits!
He was not lacking for them – in the Sapient Union they did not even use money, and External Trade Credits were something only issued for use in places that still did. But he’d only taken 100 credits, and he’d given 15 to each of the girls already.
“That price seems steep,” he noted.
“But daaad, I’ve already named this one! She likes me,” Persis said, pointing to a blue one. “Her name is Penelope.”
“And what a lovely name that is!” the old woman said. “May I ask yours?”
“She’s Persis,” Hannah said, gesturing to her younger sister.
“And she’s Hannah,” Persis said, shoving her older sibling.
“Hey, don’t shove!”
Urle put his arms on both girls shoulders. They calmed slightly.
“Hannah and Persis? Those are both wonderful names,” the old woman said. “Those names both come from the Book of Dawn, the work of our Prophet Tede. Did you know that?”
His girls didn’t reply, their confusion palpable.
It was obviously something that wasn’t true; the names were ancient, Urle knew, and Ted Corran hadn’t been born until the mid-22nd century.
The woman must have sensed their confusion – and potential objections. “The Lord of Dawn created all things,” she added. “From the great to the small to the adorable – including Moon Fluffs!”
Wearing a kindly smile still, her eyes went to Urle. There was something almost pleading in them. She was eager for the sale, but there was also something more to it that seemed desperate.
Given the conditions here, Urle realized that such sales were probably all that kept her fed and sheltered. It was easy to forget in the SU that not everyone had the basics of life guaranteed.
He was about to agree, feeling like he was doing the right thing while also being patronizing, when a new voice spoke.
“These are machines,” Ambassador Kell said.
Urle didn’t know how he had approached without him feeling it; he almost always felt when Kell was near.
The Ambassador picked up the glass cube off the table, peering at the puffs inside. “They are clever, but just machines. There is no life in them.”
“How dare you!” the old woman squawked. She jumped to her feet. “Put that down immediately!”
She continued to rave furiously, but Kell now only regarded her as if he was eyeing an unappetizing meal.
“Ambassador, I believe you should put that back,” Urle urged.
Kell did so, but the woman continued to be furious.
“How dare you call me a liar, sir! Is this how you Union types act towards old women at home?” she demanded of Kell. “Or just those in the colonies?”
They were drawing attention, and Kell still only looked slightly curious.
“You should be calmer,” the Shoggoth replied. “You are dying.”
The woman’s eyes widened, and both Hannah and Persis gasped in shock.
Urle felt the same way. “Ambassador!” he snapped. “I insist you leave this woman alone at once.”
Kell glanced to him. “I speak only truth, Executive Officer. I believe she should see a doctor soon. There is something that grows inside her.”
The old woman sat down, in shock, as Kell walked away.
Urle was too stunned to speak, either.
But he looked to the woman; his sensors had detected no abnormalities in her health on a cursory glance, but he set for a deeper scan and saw that Kell was correct. The woman had a malignant stomach cancer. It was small currently, and likely she had few if any symptoms yet.
He let his sensors scan over others nearby. He kept his scans to passive detection of chemical signals.
Several others near them had tell-tale chemical signatures that suggested they were likewise suffering from cancers.
“Let’s go, girls,” Urle said.
There were many sets of eyes on them, but most were on Kell, who continued to browse along the stalls, seemingly ignorant – or uncaring – of their stares.
Urle was furious at the being, yet part of him was unsure if it was correct. He sent a private message;
Ambassador, you should not be out alone – return to the ship and speak with me later.
If Kell got it immediately, he offered no reaction, just continuing to walk along the market stalls, looking at their wares.
Not wanting to wait any longer, Urle then continued moving his children along and back to the ship.
Other Terrestrial 