Serendipity (Book 1 of the Dana Halliday series)

BRAIN-TO-MOUTH FILTER. EXTRA RING FINGER. EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH.

Klea and Novernyi turned, and the Cennett woman spoke. "Yes, that's the medical center. The main entrance is on the level below. Are you quite all right, Dana?"

"Me? Oh sure, yeah." I'd temporarily forgotten about my floating back teeth. Novernyi was giving me a hard, plaintive look; I shook my head a minute fraction, hoping to indicate I wasn't going to drag her into the medical center. "Just curious what a real hospital looks like out here."

We started walking again. Klea chatted on, Novi and I answering when we had to. Once we made it to the main station, we were the objects of a good deal of curiosity, from all the various species. I felt like we were walking through a throng of rude construction workers or frat boys, but none of them dared more than whistle, or catcall, or hiss at us depending on species. The floating drones appeared to be a good deterrent. We even felt safe enough to hit another restroom on the way, where I was grateful to find a basically Earther-style toilet in addition to several other baffling designs.

At last, we reached Serendipity, and Flynt caught up. He opened the hatch, and Novernyi entered after saying her good nights. The Bruttar woman was paler than ever, but she didn't take my clumsily veiled offers of help. I turned back to Kleathanna.

"Thank you for dinner." Might as well remember my manners. Better late than never. "It was delicious."

"You are very welcome. My staff does their job well."

"Is it common for Sturv to work for other species? Seems like they would prefer not, at least the few I've met."

"Well," Klea sighed. She went on, as oddly gentle as when she spoke to Novi. "One thing my dolt of a husband has correct. You are a neo."

I opened my mouth and then shut it. If you don't have anything nice to say, as my dad would have reminded me. Sorry, Dad, I kinda forgot that tonight. Besides, had she just called Gabe a dolt?

"And I don't mean that as an insult, Dana. How are you supposed to know how things work out here if no one tells you?" She smiled fondly at me, but her black eyes had gone distant. "My staff are Indentured." Her voice capitalized the word. "It's a common Sturv custom, to work off one's debt, which they all owe to Gabe."

"Oh. Like, for how long?"

"The current lot?" She laughed a short, harsh chuckle, definitely not her Gratifying Voice. "Possibly for life. We'll see. Don't worry about them, they have it much better than they would with some of their own people."

My newly refurbished brain-to-mouth filter couldn't stand up to that. "For life? That's kinda like slavery, isn't it?"

I'd pushed my verbal luck too far. Kleathanna rounded on me, suddenly straightening to her full height.

"It is not like slavery." Her entire body seemed to bristle under her billowing cloak, as though her hair were coming to life. "Trust me on that, Doctor."

I recoiled from the sudden angry invasion of my space, and Flynt was there in an instant, aiming to wedge himself in front of me. Faster even than Flynt, two of the drones zipped forward. What looked like a pair of coiled steel springs shot out of them, one wrapping around Flynt's neck and the other round his waist. They drove him to the ground and held him there on his back. The third hovered between Klea, me, and the struggling Fenn.

My feet started forward before my brain could register what was happening, and the third drone darted in front of me. When I bumped into it, a shock went through me, and I cried out in surprise. It wasn't enough to knock me down or anything, but it was an effective warning.

"What are you doing?" I yelped.

Klea was all calm and smiley again. "How fortunate. Let me show you something, Dana. Did you know that a Fenn can't lie on his back?"