Read Online ARC: Under Nameless Stars by Christian Schoon - Free Book Online

that anything which appeared too good to be true generally turns out to be just that. But she could see no alternative.
    “Can you agree to this proposal?” he asked.
    “You know what? I can,” she told the smiling dolphin. “I can agree.” She wanted to hug him. Do dolphins hug?
    “Outstanding decision,” he said, extending a mech-hand. “We must clasp hands to seal our new association. It is customary among friends.” She took the metal-and-neoprene hand and marveled at the delicacy of its touch.
    Yes,she thought, smiling up at him. This is what a friend would do. Something just like this.
    Still holding her hand, he put his large head down close to hers. “Your hair really is quite red. Shocking, almost.”
    From the chair where Zenn had left her backpack, there was a trilling sound, followed by the appearance of a violet-and-cream rikkaset. Katie yawned, then climbed out of the pack, sat on the arm of the chair and gave Jules an intense, inspecting look. She signed at Zenn:
    “Walking-fish-man have food for Katie?”
     

 
    SIX
     
    After Zenn introduced Jules and Katie, the rikkaset was given an apple from the bowl of fruit to nibble. Jules showed Zenn to one of the cabin’s bedrooms. It was small, but displayed the same opulence as the rest of his quarters, with fine, colorful weavings covering the walls. At first, the dolphin looked on from the doorway as Zenn stowed her backpack in the room’s small closet. But when she looked up again, he was gone. She found him standing before a large mirror in the small hallway leading to the cabin’s exit door. He was twisting his body awkwardly in a futile attempt to check the back portion of his walksuit.
    “These devices are always getting out of alignment,” he muttered, gingerly poking at one of several dozen small nozzles mounted at various points on the suit. The nozzles periodically puffed out tiny mistings of water onto the areas of his skin not covered by the suit itself. “If they are not properly directed, I get dry patches…” Zenn couldn’t suppress a grin.
    “Mister Vancouver, I just wanted to thank you again. For letting me stay. For trusting me, when you don’t even know me.”
    “‘Mister Vancouver’?” The dolphin threw back his head in an open-jawed, chittering laugh. “You make me feel like a family-elder with dull, broken teeth! I am Jules, please.”
    “OK. Jules. Thank you.”
    “It is my own pleasure to have your company. And the small one Katie as well. As for trust…” His bright eyes narrowed just a bit. “I have this positive feeling concerning you, Zora Bodine. And I am generally correct in my impressions.”
    “Zenn,” she said, coming to a decision. “My name isn’t Zora. It’s Zenn. Zenn Scarlett. You should know my real name.”
    “A secret name? But this is even better. This is a key ingredient in the printed-on-paper adventure novel, you know. Secret names. Kidnapped persons and scoundrels. I wager you are also carrying… a treasure map. Am I correct? Do I win?”
    “Um, sorry, no. No map.” And she actually felt a kind of remorse at failing to fulfill his expectation.
    “I see. I neglected to state an amount of this wager. Which I have lost, fairly and squarely. You may name a reasonable amount.” He produced his credit relay and held it out.
    “Oh, no. That’s not necessary, Jules.”
    He quickly put his relay back in its compartment on his walksuit.
    “That is very generous of you. To allow me to get down off of the hook, as they say. Thank you.”
    Zenn grinned at him. She was starting to feel that, yes, this dolphin was in fact eminently trustworthy.
    They went back out into the main room, where Katie had fallen soundly asleep, curled into a ball in one of the chairs.
    “So, Jules, you’re going to Enchara?”
    “I am not pointed at Enchara. I travel to the water-planet Mu Arae. I search for a friend. A close friend.”
    “A friend from Earth?”
    “Yes, my First Promised. She was on a