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“Tell me . . . Lorissa,” Inan made a slight pause before using her first name. “Wasn’t I supposed to be one of the two replacements on the team? Who is the other one?”
Lorissa switched her attention from the bar back to her teammates.
“Oh yeah!” said LeMarr as if he had an idea. “While yous two definitely inspire me immensely with your knowledge of caveman latte making technology, I still cannot really say that any of us here have grown any, ahem, wings . . .” He toasted, so very obviously proud of his stupid pun that Lorissa couldn’t help but betray a tiny smile that ruined her deadpan face. They both burst out laughing.
Inan drank the rest of his synthetic cranberry juice politely showing interest in the many knife marks that were scattered along the edge of the plastic table trim.
LeMarr waited a second for him to catch up, but then continued with a sigh of resignation: “The Moth-Owl guy, the hero!” he exclaimed as it should have been obvious. “I very much expected him to be the second pick. Makes all the sense in the world to me”.
“Oh, you mean Kessissiin? Yeah, I was wondering the same thing,” said Inan with genuine interest, reinvigorated by catching onto the joke.
“Yes, Kessissiin! That’s the one,” said LeMarr pointing a finger pistol at Inan. Both men looked to Lorissa.
“I mean, really, it’s like refusing an Abmon the quarterback position,” said LeMarr smiling.
Lorissa rolled her eyes at the metaphor.
“He wasn’t rejected. It’s undecided yet,” she said in an official tone.
“Owww . . .” LeMarr droned with meaning, making his upper lip look like a toucan’s beak.
“Oh shut up!” Lorissa waved dismissively. “We do not and should not know squat at this point, and anything you might make up speaks more about yourself than anyone else,” she added sternly looking at LeMarr.
Lorissa wondered herself about the apparent indecision of Pirra in appointing Kessissiin to the last remaining spot on Response One, but she despised gossip. In fact, she was sure that it was actually detrimental for her and her team’s ability to do their jobs. Response branch was a structure first and foremost, and while she would not attempt to smother her teammates when they were having a drink, she would not condone any rumors about their commanding officer either.
Her last reply seemed to have a certain finality about it, and the conversation died down for a while. She used this time to pop some more cheese puffs and check what was going on at the bar. A hunch told her that the group of unsavory spacers she saw earlier, who were now discussing something animatedly pointing fingers in the direction of the bar, meant that their time off would soon be over.
Just as she finished her drink some of those men suddenly shifted to one side, and she saw who they were conversing with.
“Pizdetz. Get up,” Lorissa said curtly, got to her feet and put her empty glass on the table with great deliberation.
“Wha-?” Inan began to ask, but then the sound of a loud conversation made him look behind him. To his surprise he saw the weird mind-reader girl – Nor was her name? – and Jaya Yaepanaya half surrounded at the bar by a bunch of men in Glorian uniforms.
Other Terrestrial 
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