Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 110492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 552(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 552(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
“Oh, the haggling over price won’t come until later,” Vic assured her. “First he has to examine it and see what’s wrong. Come with me—I think you’ll enjoy this planet. It’s unique.”
“All right.” Torri was happy to be convinced. She hadn’t really wanted to stay in the ship, but she didn’t want to bother Vic while he was talking business either.
Vic opened the doors of the ship and she shivered as a cold wind blew in.
“I th-think I’d b-b-better put on another sweater,” Torri said. Her teeth were already chattering.
“Bring your entire bag,” Vic advised. “I’ll carry it for you—it’s not good to leave personal items in your vehicle when a Gemmite could see them and covet them. It leads to extra haggling and a great deal of difficulty.”
“All right.” Shrugging, Torri got another sweater out of her duffel bag—a red one—and quickly put it on over the one she already had on, which was a sleek black cashmere one Nana had gotten her one year for Christmas because it looked “fancy.” Thus, double insulated from the chilly Gemmite wind, she handed her duffel to Vic, who slung it over his shoulder.
They got out of the ship and Vic took her hand to lead her through the maze of ships that were parked in the alien mechanic’s lot. They were all shapes and sizes, from huge ones that looked like they were made for giants, to one tiny one that looked like a toy model rocket ship, which Torri had to step over carefully.
The sky overhead was a cloudy orange that made her think of the pictures she’d seen of the Martian atmosphere. But instead of red dust, there was some vegetation growing underfoot—long strands of purple, grass-like stuff with feathery orange fronds on their ends.
Eventually, they came to the entrance of the shop. It was just an archway cut in the long building, which was filled with even more ships in various states of repair.
“Hello? La’Gross?” Vic called as they entered. His deep voice echoed in the cavernous space—the mechanic’s shop was as big as a warehouse, Torri thought.
Suddenly, an enormous shape stepped out from behind a ship to their left.
“Eh, is that you, Kindred?” it rumbled.
Torri looked up at the alien—and up and up. The Gemmite mechanic had grayish pink skin that seemed to sag all over his enormous frame. Vic had said the Gemmites were about the size of a rhino, but he had neglected to say that they were the size of a rhino standing on its hind legs. The mechanic towered over both of them, wiping his broad, blunt fingers on a greasy cloth. He looked almost fifteen feet tall to Torri, who felt like she was looking at a giant.
But the oddest thing about him—besides his immense size and sagging pinkish-gray skin—was the fact that all the features in his enormous, dinner plate-sized face were compressed into a tiny area, no bigger than the size of Torri’s palm.
How can he see with such tiny eyes and how can he get enough to eat with that tiny little mouth to keep his big body going? she couldn’t help wondering.
“La’Gross! Good to see you again,” Vic said heartily, looking up at the enormous alien. “I can see your business has grown since last we met.”
“Last time we met I was a young buck, just starting out,” La’Gross rumbled. Despite his tiny mouth, he had a deep, booming voice that reminded Torri of thunder. “Now you see me near the end. Soon my four sons will take over and I’ll be booted out to lie in the sun and think of past glories. But never mind, never mind. What can I do for you, Kindred?”
“The com-link on my ship is broken,” Vic explained. “I need it fixed quickly. The Scourge are on the way to this lovely female’s planet…” He pointed at Torri. “And I must be able to reach the Mother Ship to ask them to come.”
“As to that, I am happy to let you use my own communications device,” La’Gross rumbled. “For a fair price, of course.”
“I wish I could take you up on your offer, but only my com-link is encoded to reach the Mother Ship,” Vic said regretfully. “So I need it fixed quickly, before the Scourge reach Torri’s planet.”
“The Scourge are bad news—no two ways about it,” La’Gross agreed. “But who is this lovely little female called ‘Torri,’ anyway? I can’t quite see her in this light.”
Then, to Torri’s shock, his tiny, compressed face suddenly came towards her, though La’Gross himself didn’t move. The pinkish-gray skin around his face seemed to stretch like bubble gum into a kind of elephant’s trunk at least four feet long, which allowed the tiny face to come down to her level and look her right in the eyes.