Page 45 of Tattle Tail
“My apartment had rodents. She is an efficient hunter.” Her arms tightened around the carrier.
“How did you get her? How old was she? I bet she was cute as a kitten.”
“A welp. Immature wuaps are called welps,” she said. “I would not know. She was an adult who had been surrendered because of behavioral problems.”
“That’s surprising. Nettle seems really chill.”
Nettle, who took offense at being considered chill, gave an ear-piercing yowl.
“I suppose that’s why you named her Needle; she’s all prickly,” he added.
“That is not what her name means—” Peaceable let out a long sigh. “I know what you are doing. You are attempting to distract me.”
“Meddling do-gooder, remember?”
“You have many flaws, but your intentions are not one of them.”
“That sounded like a compliment. Thank you. You’re my friend too, sweet pea.”
“We are not friends,” she said.
“Now you’re hurting my feelings over here.”
She tossed him a sharp look. “You understand my meaning.”
“Yeah, I do,” he said. Joseph wasn’t in the habit of kissing his friends or thinking of them when he stroked himself in the shower. The way he thought about Peaceable wasn’t friendly. What it was, he had difficulty putting into words. “Something more than friends,” he eventually said.
Her tail flicked against the chair. “Something like that.”
“When this is over,” he said, not sure of what he planned to say as the words tumbled out of his mouth, “we should go on a date. Not a practice date. A real date.”
For a long moment, she didn’t respond. Did he misread her? He thought…well, he had lots of thoughts about Peaceable lately. He hoped she had thoughts about him, too.
“That is acceptable,” she said.
“Yeah?” He glanced away from the screen toward her.
“Yes. I would like that.” Color rose in her cheeks, and she glanced away.
He nodded. A real date with him was acceptable. How could a fella live up to those lofty expectations?
The ship avoided another major collision and cleared the asteroid field. At some point, exhaustion came over Peaceable and she fell asleep. He tried his best not to be charmed by how her mouth sagged open, but the damage was done. She was adorable when she slept.
With an hour left of oxygen in their suits, they entered the planet’s orbit. He started scanning, searching for a suitable landing site, preferably with access to fresh water, edible food, and warm weather.
“Wake up, sweet pea. We’re here.”
Chapter 13
Peaceable
“Why is this planet abandoned?” Peaceable had uttered the question several times since they landed.
The planet—she didn’t even know its name—had a large temperate zone with arable land and enough natural resources to ensure the success of a colony. Someone had once thought that the planet was a good place to make a home. The settlement had done well enough to upgrade from utilitarian metal structures to brick. Real red brick, made from local clay. The original colonists took time away from raising food and surviving and spent their energy on aesthetically pleasing building materials.
This had been a prosperous colony. So…where were all the people?
“It’s that asteroid belt,” Joseph said.
