Wow, survived something
of a long week. Just now catching up on Orphan Black and again, this show eats
my brain. I'm about halfway through this week's episode and I'm sitting on the
edge of my seat as I type this. LOL
Tonight's post is
from A Day in the Life, a free read and companion piece for one of my first
releases, Shyler: Finding Home, a Furlough 99 novella. Told from an awesomely
cool droid's point of view, I hope it provides as much entertainment as it did
when I wrote it.
Here's the tagline:
Alphie is a kick ass
droid who assists Inspector Shyler Lumen. He's also not afraid to offer
unwarranted advice.
And a sneaky peek…
Just when he thought
his circuitry would fry from the banality of it all, he spotted a dynamic woman
exited a civilian transport. She looked determined, cranky and in a rush. Also
somewhat lost.
Alphie decided she
needed his brand of humor to shake her up a little.
He moved to stand in
an obvious location. Hopefully she'd need assistance and ask him for help.
She moved in his
direction and Alphie tugged on the bottom of his vest, catching her eye. With a
quick wave, she indicated she'd like to speak with him.
Alphie started toward
her.
"Can you tell me
who runs security on Furlough and where the best place to meet would be?"
Her eyes narrowed and he knew the moment it pinged that he was a droid.
"And um… maybe how I can get a message to them."
Alphie gave her
credit. Clearly caught off guard, she kept it all business, going with the flow
until she could figure out how advanced his model was.
He quickly scanned
through his personality files and picked one he thought she'd enjoy. His eyes
blinked rapidly several times, spooling the information then he looked directly
at the woman.
"Oh, they'll
find you, sweetie cakes. Trust me."
The woman laughed out
loud and seemed much more at ease. She didn't have a backwater planet look to
her. No, more like a big city vibe, one that would not be offended by something
a little off beat. His over the top drag queen persona definitely did the trick.
Mission one
accomplished.
Oops. Maybe not. Her
gaze slid sideways and she narrowed her eyes. The earlier outburst stopped a
gentleman on the glide path in his tracks.
Alphie immediately
recognized him. Marshton Gray. Stakeholder in Furlough 99, Luxury Quadrant and
head of Grayswell Industries. And someone the woman thought she should know.
She must be from Queen
City, Mars, but clearly didn't move in the same circles as Gray. Her eyes
followed him, like she'd seen him before but couldn’t place where.
She dismissed him and
focused on Alphie. "I'm sorry. They'll find me?"
Her jaw dropped open
when he rolled his eyes. "Sweetie cakes, you've got enforcement written all over you." He added air quotes to
emphasize enforcement and she chuckled.
"I'm ISP. Not
exactly trying to hide it. Don't have time to waste going covert." She
glanced toward Gray again and he moved away slowly, maybe too slowly and Alphie
wondered if it piqued her curiosity or if he'd have to call for the security
team she wanted to see.
Maybe if he
distracted her. "Hmm… Inter-Stellar Police, not exactly total enforcement.
At least not the kind we used to have around here. You guys at least provide
trials for the accused." He'd been around long enough to have that
unpleasant data stored in his memory banks.
The inspector, from
her demeanor she had to at least have rank, clearly didn't know what to make of
his off the cuff observation. He liked that.
She got back to
business. "Give me a public place that has privacy so I can park it until
the security people find me."
He scrolled through
several locations before choosing what he perceived as the best one.
"You'll want the Den." Oops, her first time here, she wouldn't know
the shorthand nickname. He clarified. "Den of Iniquity… the bar up on
Level 4. Ask for Varina, she'll point you to a place you can 'park it'."
"Right.
Thanks."
The inspector strode
away and Alphie had a feeling he'd be seeing or hearing from her again in the
near future.
He'd look forward to
it. But first, he probably ought to assist the very lost looking couple over by
the food court.
Seriously, I loved
writing Alphie so much I had to give him a brief spotlight of his own.
That's it for this
week. Catch everyone on the flip.
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