IGNACIO PUSHED HIMSELF up to his feet, extending a hand down to her. "We best leave her alone now. She'll need a while to calm down from the birth."
Rachel accepted the help, finding her knees not wanting to work, making her wonder how long they'd been kneeled in front of the enclosure. She flexed her knees a few times once standing to get the blood flowing again.
"Should I even ask what a baby Silky Newt eats?" Rachel asked.
"Smaller versions of what the parents do, which is insects. They have plenty in the water already."
Rachel could only hope the warehouse possessed a system to contain the insects. They didn't need an accidental infestation of alien bugs on the station. A quick glance around the warehouse revealed many robots of different sizes and shapes working the various areas. The prongs of a forcefield array lined the doors leading in and out of the main area.
All in all, a very clean and organized operation with good technology in use. So many different enclosures and varieties of ecologies in such a small area, and none of them showed any signs of inattention.
"I had no idea we had a facility like this at Redpoint One," Rachel said.
"There are quite a few. Redpoint One has many self-containment areas that are perfect for this type of program. Add into it the annual Exotic Pet Show, and the location is even more ideal."
"I forgot it is coming up," Rachel said with a groan. Just what she needed. More strange creatures on board and getting into trouble. Well, not so much the creatures, but rather some of their fussy owners who liked to complain about every little tiny thing.
She sharpened her eyes on him. "I thought you said you release them back into the wild. Are you selling them as pets?"
"Oh, no, they are not sold as pets. However, I do help organize the show and specifically oversee the exotic animal portion. It helps bring awareness to the work people like me are doing." Ignacio pointed to one of the enclosures on the other side. "For instance, I displayed a few of my Frisky Daubian Salamanders last year. When an illegal smuggling operation was broken up, an officer remembered my display and contacted me to rescue a few specimens. They joined my breeding program after they healed from the trauma of their trapping."
"Frisky?" Rachel echoed with a laugh. "I'm sorry, but what a name."
Ignacio gave an evil grin. "Oh, that's nothing. Want to see my Pointed Spear Newts?"
Rachel gave a fake over-dramatic outraged gasp complete with a fluttering hand to her heart. "Dear sir, I do believe you were just a little vulgar."
"Thank you for laughing. Some people don't get that joke, or truly do become scandalized."
"So, Redpoint One management knows all about this?" Rachel asked, stumbling over the words a bit. She didn't want to insult the man, but she worked for the station. She needed to find out, she told herself.
"Oh yes, I have all the permits. All the paperwork in order. I have to in order to qualify for the various grants that help me fund all this." Ignacio walked across to the other side of the wide aisle dividing the warehouse in half to grab the white bucket she'd delivered the wayward newt in. "I put everything into this, even to the expense of personal living quarters. Which is why I applied to live on-site so I can be on call for animal emergencies."
Which answered her next question. Good. She really didn't like the idea of getting him into any trouble with the station. In fact, she didn't want to get him into trouble at all. She reminded herself to say think you to Director Stemski for being so broad and open-minded for the allowable activities on the station.
Instead, she had to suppress the offer to help out in some way. She'd always been a sucker for animal rescue, but right now her full focus needed to be on the station that supported programs like this. No one would be able to live on the station if she didn't find a way to get the plumbing issues under control.
And Irvine, the Mandian Ruffled Newt hissed at her again.
But, this time it didn't come from the pond above the long waterfall. It came from the feeding door at the base of the door behind Ignacio's feet.
"Don't you dare, you crazy thing!" Rachel shouted as she dove for the door.
Ignacio froze, the bucket still in his hands, watching her with dazed eyes as she dove for the door.
She slid down on her knees, pulling down at the sliding door just before Irvine could get a foot out of the door he'd pried up.
"What are you doing?" Ignacio demanded.
"Keeping one of your precious newts from making another jail-break." Rachel glared at the creature hissing at her from the other side as it continued to try to lift the small feeding door. With one rush the anger and frustration of the day returned. "Which reminds me, Mr. Manetti, we need to have a talk."
"He was opening the feeding door?" Ignacio asked from somewhere above her head. "I've never seen him display so much ambition or intelligence."
"Might I remind you he's escaped three times now?" Rachel said. She couldn't resist sticking her tongue out at Irvine. "And all three times he messed up systems in my department."
"They really aren't very intelligent," Ignacio said.
"Do you have a lock for this door or not? Should I get out my duct tape?"
"Wait, I have something that will work."
The flat toes of the newt attached to the clear material of the enclosure. It climbed up the side, the cupped bottoms of the toes acting like suction cups so that it positioned itself upside down above the door. With both front arms it pulled at the door.
"You might be determined, you little slime, but you aren't getting out," Rachel told it. "Go swim in your pond and leave my pipes alone."
Ignacio appeared next to her, kneeling by her side, laughing all the way. "Shall I guess your department? Plumbing, perhaps?"
Her first impression had been correct. He'd hardly heard a word she'd said when she first arrived. "Yes, plumbing, and that's where I found him."
Ignacio hooked a metal bracket through a hole in the bottom ledge of the door Rachel was using to keep it closed, and an identical hole in the ledge at the bottom of the larger human-sized main door. With a click, he turned the curved bracket so it locked down the door.
The newt turned its head to hiss at both of them, flashing its yellow gills.
"Go swim in your pond," Rachel said again.
"Crawling around in your pipes, was he? Doesn't surprise me he would gravitate towards them if given the chance. I'm still working on adding to his enclosure to mimic the tree tubes of his native environment."
"His what?" Rachel asked, rubbing her hands to get the feeling back after pressing down so hard to keep the sliding door closed.
"Hollow tree roots in fast running water. It's a very unusual environment," Ignacio said. He smiled at the newt, putting a finger under where one of its feet still stuck to the wall. The newt stepped away in response, hurrying to the water. "Another one of my rescues. He would look for environments closer to that found on his native world."
"I don't think you understand. He wasn't among the pipes. He was inside a water pipe," Rachel said. She grabbed her bucket and stood up. "The valves of Redpoint One will not close if it senses something living might be harmed from the action. Irvine cut off the water to several apartment blocks today."
Ignacio rose to his feet, one hand still on the enclosure. "Are you sure? How would he get inside a pipe?"
"Of course I'm sure. I had to disconnect two pipes to fish the little snot out."
Something in her face must have told him not to pursue disbelief because he turned to watch the newt swimming. He also appeared to be battling with laughter. Not something she wanted to hear at the moment now that she was on a roll about the problem.
"I would like to know how Irvine accomplished the feat," Ignacio finally said.
"Wonder about it all you want, just keep him from doing it again," Rachel said. "My job is already hard enough."
Ignacio laughed, rubbing the back of his head and succeeding in making his hair stand up even more. "Keeping the feeding door locked down should take care of it."
"Thank you," Rachel said, not knowing what more to add, but wanting to linger a little more. A most curious feeling. Why did she want to stay around newts and salamanders even more? She preferred other animals, really.
She was surprised to find him not angry with her request. So many people would make excuses for their pets being in areas they didn't belong. Offended anyone should call their pets anything less than perfect in all ways.
"Would you like to see the other enclosures?" Ignacio asked suddenly into the awkward silence. "I don't have as many as the big programs, but I'm quite successful with those I do work with."
Rachel let the handle of the bucket roll across her fingers, setting it swinging. Part of her wouldn't mind, but the more she thought about it, the more she knew she needed to make this another long day. "As much as I would like to, I have to get back to work. Thank you for letting me watch the birth."
She turned away to head for the front door, her mind already turning to the list of repairs. Maybe she could get some of the smaller repairs out of the way and start with the big stuff again in the morning.
"Perhaps you would allow me to take you to dinner one of these evenings to make up for your inconvenience?" Ignacio said, and then stopped.
Rachel stared at him in shock, not quite believing what she'd heard, to find red staining his face. "Dinner?"
He flushed even more, but stood tall and said, "I'm inviting you to dinner. You saved my newt from possible death or dismemberment in the piping of the station. Let me show my gratitude."
Rachel opened her mouth to say it wasn't needed. She'd done her job. Nothing more.
Then she stopped. A dinner with a handsome man who did something worthwhile with his life? Who could feel and display real emotion and passion while also carrying on a decent conversation with a little wit thrown in? How long had she been looking for something like that, even if he did breed lizards? After dating so many losers, maybe this could be the start of something special.
Rachel licked suddenly dry lips and smiled. "Dinner it is, then. Day and time?"
***
He must be insane. An angry woman appears at his front door with one of his runaway newts, and he asks her for dinner less than an hour later?
A date? A real honest-to-goodness date?
Working alone with his newts and salamanders must be getting to his brain.
Before bed he allowed himself to look in on the Silky Newts. He spotted four of the babies, still looking fine and healthy. He would need to write up a report to the Wilkins Conservation Society on the development. They would be thrilled with the possibility of more Silky Newts released into their refuge within the year.
He should be thrilled, too. And, he was, but now something else distracted him. Sleep didn't come as easily as it should after such a long day. He knew the reason why to both problems.
He ended up oversleeping. He woke up in time to make a morning appointment only because he'd programmed a warning alarm into one of the apartment cleaning robots.
The distraction continued, making his meeting with a conservation group more stressful than it should. When it was over he grabbed a fast-food breakfast, eating it on the way to the site of the upcoming Redpoint One Exotic Pet Show.
Paul Elliott waited for him in the center of the circle of buildings, tapping the watch on his wrist. "Not like you to cut it so close."
"Long story," Ignacio said, trying to pull the wrinkles out of his shirt. He threw the wrapper to his breakfast in a nearby garbage can, promising himself a decent dinner. "What's going on?"
"We have the finalized floor plan for the buildings," Paul said, gesturing to two metal buildings on the flat hard surface of the fair grounds. "We'll be able to start setting up the insides by the end of the day."
Neither of the two buildings appeared large enough to handle the sheer number of exotic animal displays they would need. "Which one is for the rare animal exhibit?"
"It's not erected yet. It will be on the south side." Paul handed him an e-pad with the fair grounds marked clearly, pointing to one elongated rectangle on the plan. "The committee approved the extra environmental controls you asked for but decided to set up one of the temporary buildings for it instead of one of the permanent structures. Thought it could be tailored to your needs easier."
"Good. Several breeders have said they'll refuse to come if we don't provide them," Ignacio said, trying to keep his attention on the design.
The building looked plenty big. The Pet Show didn't allow pets over the size of large canines, so they should have plenty of room. Much better than the previous year when he'd been forced to turn down displays for lack of space. The committee listened to his complaints and suggestions after the problems last year. Always a good thing.
He tried to match up the tentative plan he'd made for the displays with the scale of the building. He even brought out the pocket computer to refresh his memory, and still he couldn't get them to work together.
"What's bothering you?" Paul asked. "And don't try to tell me it's the show. You're too organized to be worried."
He should have known his friend would pick up on his mood so fast. He looked up from the pad with a frown. "Marcie has been gone for four years. It's nothing to be guilty over. It's only dinner."
"What dinner?" The shocked expression on Paul's face startled him.
If Paul didn't mean the dinner with Rachel Henderkito, what was he talking about?
"I figured you were reacting to the Silky going into labor," Paul said, still staring at him in shock.
Of course. Why hadn't he thought of that instead? It would have been an obvious answer to give Paul and end any questions. "Uh, she's fine. A litter of six, all of which were swimming strong this morning."
"A litter of six when you would have been in high-heaven with three. What is this about dinner?" Paul asked, his eyes sharp on Ignacio's face. "Dinner with who? I'm guessing from the comment about Marcie it is with someone of the female gender."
"It doesn't matter," Ignacio muttered, returning his attention to the map of the buildings, determined to concentrate this time. "I'm going to call it off anyway. I don't know what I was thinking when I asked her."
"A woman. You are going out to dinner with a woman, and you were the one who asked? Where did you meet her?" Paul demanded.
"She returned Irvine after he escaped. It's not important." Ignacio took off towards the future site of the exotic animal building, wanting to pace it out to make sure he had the dimensions right in his head.
"Oh no, my friend. You are not getting off that easily. I want all the details. And, did you say you are calling it off?"
"It won't work. I'm busy with the breeding."
"Did she freak about the newts?"
"No, she watched the birth. She was fine with all of it."
"And you don't want to go out with this woman?" Paul put out a hand to stop him. "Ignacio, what is this really about?"
"This isn't the right time. We have the show to get ready and I have a batch of Friskies to get ready for shipment at the end of the show." As he said the words he tried to reinforce them in his head. Everything he'd said was true, he had a lot of responsibilities to take care of right now. It didn't leave much time to start creating a romantic social life. "Forget I said anything."
Paul parroted his words back at him before saying in his normal voice, "Forget it? I'm your friend, which means I support you. In this case, support means I make you go through with something in your best interests."
"Paul, the show."
"Ignacio, your life," Paul said, mimicking his tone. "You are going to that dinner, end of discussion. This is exactly what you need. Trust me."
Ignacio didn't quite think so, and yet he found himself not putting up as big of a fight as Paul wheedled out of him the time and day of the date. Even the excuse of watching over the new litter was shot down when Paul volunteered to come over for the few hours he would be away.
It appeared whether he liked it or not, baby newts or not, he had a date to get ready for.