Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 108211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
Goodie Tight-azz nodded in approval.
“Good—that’s very good. All right—you can stay, as long as you can pay.”
“I can,” Andi said cautiously. “Er, do you take standard cred chips here?”
“Standard cred chips?” Goodie Tight-azz frowned. “What are those?”
“Here—let me show you.”
Andi reached into the money pouch secured around her waist and withdrew a twenty-cred chip. She showed it to Goodie Tight-azz, but the Zo’rathian woman shook her head.
“Nay—I’ve never seen the like. I can’t take that!” she protested. “I’m afraid we can’t do business after all.”
She started to shut the door in Andi’s face but Andi said,
“Wait—please! I have something else you might want.”
Grudgingly, Goodie Tight-azz opened the door again.
“All right—show me,” she demanded.
Andi reached into her money pouch again and withdrew two more chips—one solid silver and one pure gold.
Goodie Tight’azz’s eyes lit up with a greedy glow.
“Well, now…why didn’t you say you had precious metals?”
She snatched the two chips of metal from Andi and bit them both to make sure they were real.
“All right,” she said decisively. “These’ll do—at least for one night.”
“Only one night? Are they real gold and silver?” A new voice behind Goodie Tight-azz made Andi look over the landlady’s shoulder.
Standing just behind her was a Zo’rathian girl who looked to be in her twenties—if the Zo’rathians aged like humans, that was. She had long, loose Barbie-pink curls and moss green skin. Her eyes were wide and golden and she was looking over Goodie Tight-azz’s shoulder with interest at the two metal chips.
“That ain’t none of your business, Goodie Flow-da!” the landlady snapped, closing her hand on the coins.
“But you charged me that amount to stay a whole week!” the girl with the Barbie-pink hair protested. “Why are you charging this nice lady the same amount for a single night?”
Goodie Tight-azz’s cheeks went bright green and Andi realized she was blushing—either with embarrassment or anger, or maybe both.
“Fine!” she snapped. “This pays for a week, but if I catch you letting that big Manimal of yours do anything improper, you’re out on your ear and no refunds!”
“Oh, uh, thank you.” Andi nodded and the girl behind Goodie Tight-azz smiled at her.
“Whatever,” Goodie Tight-azz snarled. “Come on—I’ll show you to your room.”
She turned and stomped into the house, leaving Andi and Cade to trail after her. As she passed the girl who their new landlady had called Goodie Flow-da, she winked at Andi and murmured,
“I’ll see you at Third Meal!”
“Oh, uh, thank you. I’ll see you!” Andi nodded and then hurried to catch up with Goodie Tight-azz, who was moving at a terrific pace.
17
ANDI
The room she had rented was round, like the rest of the house. There were two round windows on the wall, a round door that led into the bathroom area, and even a large round bed covered in a colorful patchwork spread where all the fabric patches were round instead of square.
“This will be your room for the week,” Goodie Tight-azz announced, nodding at the interior. “There are certain rules you must obey. First, as I said earlier, no hanky-panky with your Manimal.” She stared up at Cade with a stern frown.
“Of course.” Andi nodded quickly.
“And no Manimals on the furniture—that includes the bed!” Goodie Tight-azz went on.
“Er…then where is Cade supposed to sleep?” Andi asked, looking at the round bed doubtfully. It was certainly big enough for the two of them, though she wasn’t sure how she felt about sleeping with her huge Hybrid Protector while he was completely nude.
“There’s a Manimal bed under the main bed. Look.” Goodie Tight-azz stumped into the room and grabbed a lever on the wall which Andi hadn’t seen earlier. She lifted the lever and the bed rose three feet off the ground, revealing a dark, cave-like space underneath.
Andi leaned down and peered into the space. She saw a thick, puffy pet-bed type mattress lying on the floor, under the bed. It seemed to be covered in fur and it was, of course, round.
It didn’t seem fair to make Cade sleep under the bed, but she had no wish for the two of them to be kicked out into the chilly Zo’rathian night, so she simply nodded.
“I get it—thank you.”
“Very good. You have a few minutes to change before Third Meal, which will be held in the Dining Room at the end of the hallway and down the stairs,” Goodie Tight-azz snapped. “Oh, and don’t use too much hot water!” she added. Then she turned on her heel and left, grumbling to herself as she went.
Andi couldn’t quite make out what she was saying, but it didn’t seem to matter. They had found a place to stay until the Moon shuttle came back and for that she was grateful.
She explored the room briefly—there wasn’t much to see except for a few pictures on the wall of Boom-boom plants that someone had painted. They had round frames, which didn’t surprise Andi at all.