Page 28 of No Strings Attached

Bahbi had held her tightly, wishing the moment would not end. But it had, and she had lowered her arms and taken his left hand in her right. She had looked up at him with a fierce smile and growled, “Let’s eat!” He had laughed and allowed himself to be tugged forward.

The kitchen crew had some surprises for them. Unsettling ones. Apparently, Qlu had provisioned for snake guy and Mister Beastly so that they could be fed their more traditional fare after purchase and could be provided another meal by their buyer during the voyage home.

For Mister Beastly, it had been a raw, bloody haunch, still on the bone, of something that must have been 20 feet tall and weighed thousands of pounds. The head cook had whispered to Acken, and he had gone back to retrieve the giant slab of meat and present it to Mister Beastly. Mister Beastly had immediately sat down on the grass with it, a few feet away from the table, and began to gnaw off huge chunks. Everyone watched in horrified amusement until Vi had cleared her throat and muttered something about it not being polite to stare. Bahbi no longer wondered that Mister Beastly’s rations had not been enough for him.

The cooks had then led out a live twon to the Ophidian—one with its horns cut off, thankfully. The giant snake hadimmediately started wrapping around the twon, and everyone at the table looked away except Acken, who had watched in open mouthed fascination. Unfortunately, Bahbi thought, they had all still heard the noises that the twon had made.

Vi had asked the head cook, “There’s another one of those animals back there? And another one of those hindquarters?”

He had nodded solemnly, and Vi had shivered, then reconsidered and said, breathlessly, “Thank god.” The cook nodded back, just as serious.

Before she let him walk away, she placed her hand on his arm and asked quietly, “Got anything alcoholic back there? Maybe that’s the best way to start, before bringing out the food.”

He nodded in either agreement or assent, Bahbi wasn’t sure, then hustled back into the kitchen.

Shortly after that, they were all raising full glasses of gleen while the cooks brought out plate after plate of fruits, vegetables, breads, meats, and sweets. When they finished and stood to take their place as servants behind those seated, Vi had laughed and shouted, “Nope! Sit down and grab a plate, we’re all feasting together tonight. For fuck’s sake, you all made this feast! Now eat!”

Then she had looked at the security system trio, sitting still and awkwardly at the table as the former captives started digging into the serving bowls. She yelled, “You three, too! As soon as I get some food in my belly, you’re going to tell me your names and something about yourself. But first, we feast!”

She had raised her glass, tilted it, and downed the gleen, laughing and making as if she were going to slam the glass back down onto the table. At the last moment, she set it carefully down. Then she started grabbing the food that was nearest to her. Bahbi watched her. After she had tasted several different things on her plate, laughing in surprise as the taste of the things apparently did not match her expectation of how they wouldtaste, she threw her head back over her shoulder and yelled, “Hey, Qlu, you asshole! Great food!”

A combined cheer went up from the table.

Bahbi had never had alcohol before, and now he was feeling…buzzy? His brain felt carbonated. Everyone was stuffed to the point of groaning, the serving dishes decimated, the table looking like a warzone. Bahbi wanted nothing more than to curl up right there in the grass and go to sleep, but his carbonated brain kept bubbling at him that there was something he was forgetting. He looked over at Vi, a sleepy contented look on her face as she listened to another one of Acken’s seemingly endless supply of outrageous stories, and a bell dinged in his mind.

As soon as there was a lull, he pulled himself together a little and said, “Um…I told Vi that I would remember the things she was worried about forgetting and bring them up after the feast.”

All eyes turned toward him and he looked down, feeling a little out of his depth. “Um…first…the three cargo ships on their way back and the Trallian crews.”

Vi nodded and smiled at him.

Acken said, “Oh yes, Ihadforgotten about them.”

Bahbi felt a little steadier and said, “The second was the buyers coming here for an auction.”

Snake guy hissed and Mister Beastly growled from where he had been sitting in the grass, cleaning the blood out of his long, white fur with his tongue.

“The third was how long our supplies here will last for us and the Trallians we are holding.” Since nobody spoke, Bahbicontinued, “And the last thing was having to do with checking out Qlu’s ship.”

Vi sat up and when she spoke, she slurred her words just a little, “And the most important thing of all: HOW THE FUCK DO WE ALL GET HOME?!”

Bahbi looked at her in utter shock. The thought that the group would separate, and each individual go home, had simply not occurred to him, nor had it likely occurred to any other Trallian. They could not go home. Ever. There was no place for them in that society. He looked at the non-Trallians and saw a similar realization on Caussus’s face. He had nowhere to go, either. Acken didn’t pick up and amplify the “home” sentiment, either, in his normal way. Everyone was looking down or looking inward while Vi looked around, confused.

“Hasn’t anyone else thought about going back to their home?”

A bright green light pulsed and temporarily blinded them all.

Vi looked over at Malachite, nodding, then asked, “Who here, besides Malachite, has a home they want to get back to?”

No one spoke, hissed, growled, or even moved.

“Oooookaaaay,” Vi said, looking around. “You know what? This was a good day. A great day! And we’re not going to end it on that note.” She picked up her glass and raised it, “TO FREEDOM!”

The cheer boomed out and back from the cavern walls.

As Acken, Caussus, and Trak endlessly speculated on ways to deal with the buyers on their way to Qlu’s auction, Bahbi watched Vi start to drift off to sleep. He walked around the tableand was leaning over to gather her up and take her upstairs, when the chatter broke off.

Acken gave him a narrow-eyed look and asked, “What are you doing with her?”

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