Turn of the Pipes (A Redpoint One Romance) (5 page)

"Hello Rachel." Ignacio nodded. "Basically a
newt cesarean, but then I risk the mother's life. She's so very
valuable."

Ah, money. An animal breeder. The enclosures
made more sense now, as did the location. All except for living in
a warehouse area of the station.

Only, the thought didn't set well to her.
Ignacio watched the newt with all his attention as the lizard
climbed back on her rock. His clothes were worn and showed signs of
fading. Well-worn shoes completed the look. A working man. There
must be easier ways to make a living, unless she was drastically
underestimating the value of the creatures.

"There she goes," he said in an excited
whisper. He pointed at the rock, leaning towards the clear
enclosure wall. "See, she's resting her back legs flat against the
rock and arching her back."

His soft voice described other visual cues.
The flap of skin at the back of the newt's head flipped up again to
flash yellow.

"Is yellow distress or a warning, as well?"
Rachel asked.

Ignacio gave a deep throaty laugh, one that
rumbled through the air. "That is a human distress color. Right now
it's another good sign."

After the stress of today, this was almost too
much. She felt sorry for the little thing, obviously laboring under
the shade of the plant. Rachel shivered. "This is
scary."

The newt arched even more, and then started
pushing up and down on its front legs, in a newt version of
push-ups. The tail twitched and then went still, with only the tip
moving back and forth.

And out emerged a wet and covered miniature
form of the mother. Then another.

"It's happening! She's doing wonderful!"
Ignacio said in a loud whisper, reaching out to take her hand from
where it rested against the glass. "Two babies. The species just
came that much further away from extinction."

The word jarred her. She turned to stare at
him, missing the third birth. "What do you mean,
extinction?"

"The Silky Newt. Only a handful in the wild, a
few more in zoos. And here in my little breeding program. And a
fourth? This is wonderful." His hand squeezed hers, the calluses on
the edges of his fingers rubbing against her waterlogged
skin.

Her attention returned to the little newt
barely in time to see a fifth appear. "And after you raise them?
What happens to them then?"

"Back to the wild in special game preserves,
of course," he said, his eyes still on the newt. "We are starting
to make real headway."

Rachel's head spun. A breeding program for
exotic newts on Redpoint One? Why had she never heard of this
before? Did the ladies of the Naughty Knitter's Club know about it?
They seemed to know about everything going on in the space
station.

"I think she's done," Ignacio said, turning a
big pleased grin to her accompanied by a bright spark in his eyes.
"Five rare newts have now joined the world."

"She's still arched. Probably going to be a
sixth," Rachel said with a grin of her own.

They returned their attention to the enclosure
in time to witness the new arrival. The mother dropped her arched
posture and turned to clean the new wriggling arrivals. The first
baby took the attention only for so long before launching itself
into the water.

Rachel gasped as its head went below the
surface. Surely, the mother should keep them closer for a while
before allowing them into the water, alien animal or
not.

The baby came up to the surface to glide
through the water with the same grace of the mother. It arched out
into the open water before turning back towards the shady edges of
the pond. It nestled up between the floating leaves of water plants
and under a leafy fern, to stop and look around the world. With
another splash, a second and third baby entered the
water.

"Unlike human babies, Silky Newt babies are
quite capable the moment they are born." Ignacio pointed. "Look,
the mother is joining them. An excellent birth despite the rough
beginning."

The mother swam out in the pond among the
babies until each of them returned to the shady banks of the pond.
Only then did the mother join them to rest among the water
plants.

"Amazing," Rachel said with a long exhale. A
bad day and she got to watch a birth, with all babies born fine and
strong.

Ignacio turned his attention to her, the same
spark still bright in his eyes. The affectionate smile on his face
might not be for her, but she found it transformed his angular
face. Here was a man who loved what he did, who worked to make a
difference.

She'd never seen such an attractive face
before in her life.

CHAPTER FOUR

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."