“Missing something, pardner?”
I spun around. Someone catching you unawares in the Stacks was not a good thing.
The being who’d hailed me was standing back behind the cab, holding a couple of credit slips in his hand. I looked him up and down as I walked over to him slowly. His fox-like face was long and narrow, covered with fur, with lighter circles around his eyes. High leather boots and faded jeans with a broad belt were topped by a long, open leather vest. That showed off a narrow chest covered in reddish-brown hair streaked with white. A broad-brimmed hat with two notches cut to accommodate a pair of pointed ears sat atop his head.
That caught my attention. It had been over a year since I’d seen anyone wearing a cattleman and cowboy boots. I thought I was long past it, but a quick flash of homesickness washed over me, gone as soon as it came.
“Sorry if I startled you,” he drawled. His voice was high, with a lilt to it that reminded me of slow summer days back home. He was a good half meter shorter than me and skinny enough that I wondered if he had been missing some meals.
I shook my head. “Bit distracted, that’s all.”
Closer now, I could see that his eyes were black. A single tooth poked up over his upper lip, giving him a snaggletooth appearance. A streak of white rose up from the corner of his mouth to cross the bridge of his nose and up over his forehead, off-center.
“These would be yours, yes? Saw that there Iggy toss ‘em your way, at least, before he vamoosed.” He held out the slips, a pair of tens. His three fingers were long, covered in the same thin red hair and showing dark skin underneath.
“Ha!” I took the slips. “Thanks. He still stiffed me, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought.”
He shrugged, rolling his shoulders in an odd way. “Sorry to hear that. Glad I could be of help.”
“I do appreciate it, mister…”
“Roy, to my Human friends.” He held out a hand. “Pleased to be making your acquaintance.”
Want to know what happens with Roy and Denton? You can read about their adventures in Space Cowboys 2: Electric Rodeo from Raconteur Press!
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