Once Upon a Pet Show (A Redpoint One Romance) Read Free

to call to tell it what to do?"
    "Your bot knows you. It will respond," Damien
said, pointing at Shay's bot that was still looking up at Shay. As
if waiting?
    "Not very efficient, and possibly rude." Shay
grimaced. He looked down at the waiting bot and asked it directly,
"Wouldn't you prefer to have a name?"
    The bot gave a whistled questioning sound. The
sound of water through the pipe signaled the test of the new valve
was about to start. Shay scratched the back of his head while
Damien watched the internal workings of the valve with a scanner.
No leaks. No issues with the valve tests. One plumbing job
down.
    "Bandit," Shay suddenly said.
    "I should mention that the bot also chooses.
It took forever for Rachel to name hers," Damien said. Another
reason he hadn't bothered, just in case his bot preferred a silly
name like Rachel's did. What self-respecting bot would choose
"Pookie" as a name?
    "Bandit is a good name," Shay said. "Right,
pal?"
    The black and yellow bot chirped. A happy
chirp, not a questioning one.
    Shay grinned at the noise. "We have a
name!"
    Just like that, the bot accepted the name. No
trial and error. Damien shook his head, half in disgust, and half
in amazement.
    Shay helped gather the tools and stow them in
the proper places in the cart along with the help of both bots.
"Where now, boss?"
    "Arthur is the one we call 'boss.' Call me
Damien."
    "You got it. So, what's next?" Shay's
good-natured grin slipped. He sniffed at the air. "Life-support
this time? Wow, that smell can't be right. Or, is that another
plumbing problem?"
    Damien paused to test the air. The air was
dry, but it carried in it the smell of mold with a harsh taint of
methane and something else he hadn't been able to define the few
other times he'd come across it.
    "We don't know if it's a plumbing problem." No
matter how Damien turned, he couldn't determine which direction it
was coming around. He stopped to look down at his bot. "What
direction is the smell coming from?"
    His bot chirped at him in what was clearly a
question.
    "Sounds like your little guy doesn't know.
Bandit, how about you?" Shay's bot gave the same questioning chirp.
"Is that normal? Do they usually not know where problems
are?"
    "Usually they do, sometimes before us." Damien
finished putting the tools away, snapping the cover over the box
holding the bad valve. By the time he finished the smell was gone,
disappearing as fast as it appeared.
    Shay waved at the air in front of his nose.
"Clean air again. At least, for now."
    "For now. We haven't been able to ascertain
the source of the smell. It disappears as fast as it
appears."
    "Not good. Something needs repair."
    Damien nodded. "Yes, we know."
    Pulling up the flat computer pad out of the
pouch in the cart, Damien found a different sort of problem
awaiting. Not the next plumbing problem as he expected, but instead
a bright red alert in one of the rings.
    And, in a place no one wanted a problem right
now. "Looks like the next job isn't plumbing, but
life-support."
    Shay gave another grin. "Good. Maybe I can be
of more help. Where are we heading?"
    Damien pushed the computer pad back in its
pouch, wishing they could stay in the service tunnels of the
station as they worked out where Shay may belong. Straightening, he
said, "We go topside on a ring. Heard about Redpoint One's Exotic
Pet Show?"

 
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER TWO

    "CLEMENTINE, DON'T EVEN think about
it!"
    Vallory glared through the cage clear sides.
She'd finally made it to the official Redpoint One Exotic Pet Show
grounds and transferred the daubpups into the larger show-provided
enclosure complete with plenty of climbing material inside. The
first hurdle, only to be presented with another.
    The daubpup in question kept its back to her
but cast a glare of her own over a shoulder. The glare didn't have
a lot of power behind it, mostly because of their tufted ears,
striped thick tails, and colorful fur made the creatures look like
a huggable fantasy