Free Angeleyes - eARC by Michael Z. Williamson Page A

didn’t interfere. I actually looked around to see if I could sneak out, but I wasn’t sure if I needed to sign anything.
    As they regained a tad of composure, she noticed something that had obviously changed. “Baby’s walking,” she said.
    “Yes, he is,” her father said, still very cautious. He was looking at me, trying to gauge how I fit in.
    “Hi, Ritchie,” she said to a boy who was a year or two older. He kept wrinkling his brow at her and then at me. He wasn’t sure about this whole thing.
    Then she threw her arms around him, too.
    I was about to make introductions when she came running over and said, “Come here!” She snatched my hand, turned and began stomping back toward them, dragging me.
    I let her lead me, and she said, “Anzhee.” Then she held my arm out toward her parents and said, “Mom’s name, Ruth. Dad’s name, Mawhk.”
    “Hello,” I said.
    Ruth said, “Thank you. Angie?”
    “Yes, lady. Angie Kaneshiro.”
    “How did you . . . ?”
    “I was passing by the school when pressure failed.”
    Mark asked, “But why so late?”
    “I had to take a detour. The crowd was bad, so I went straight for an empty ship, not the nearest.” I really didn’t want to tell them I’d been passlegging. “I got here as quick as we could.”
    Mark said, “Please, come eat with us.”
    “Uh, okay.”
    Money didn’t seem to be a problem for them. We went to a place I’d walked past and never had the creds to go in. Even now, there wasn’t a huge line. We got seated, and served fast.
    Juletta babbled, and they sat on either side, hugging her constantly, while the big brother sat next to me, right across from her. I just paid attention to my deep fried chicken, which was really good stuff. Juletta munched french fries and bacon sticks.
    They had much neater table manners than I did, too. But they didn’t mention it.
    “Can we offer you a reward?” Ruth asked.
    I could always use money, but, “Uh, you can offer, but I didn’t do it for a reward, and I had to evacuate, too. I’d have taken others if I could.”
    “What do you do for work?” Mark asked.
    “I’m contract on cargo ships.” I finished my chicken and washed down the rest of my limeade.
    “On contract now?”
    “Not after that, but as soon as I can find one I should be.” I wasn’t sure that was true at all.
    “At least take a token,” he said. “You saved our little girl.” They all grinned at each other again. She really was a cute thing.
    “Sure,” I agreed. “And thank you. Though I would do it again either way.”
    He slid his hand across the table with five one-hundred Mark notes. Not as good as Credits, but they’d last me a couple of weeks if I was frugal.
    “Thank you very much,” I said.
    “I don’t know how things will play out back home, but here’s my card in case we can meet again. Our address is global and portable.”
    I looked at it. He was some sort of investment adviser.
    “Okay. I’ll ping if I can. It would be neat to see the little weasel again,” I said. Hell, I’d been grinning, too. I’d done a good thing.
    I slipped off my stool, walked around, and bowed to both. Then I gave Juletta a big hug. She was warm and cuddly still.
    “Good luck, little girl. You be good.”
    “I will! See you soon, Anzhee!”
    Yeah, I wasn’t going to explain how that was unlikely. She should have fond memories.
    I shouldered my bag and walked away. I wanted to look back, but didn’t.

CHAPTER 7

    I spent a few hours in a waiting room off one of the alcoves. I didn’t sleep well, but it was free. The chair didn’t recline and had no headrest, so I leaned across my bag. I wasn’t going to waste cash on a room for the time I had, even a bunkie. I just wanted to get onto second shift to try to find a job. I figured there’s be less traffic for midwatch.
    Pretty much everything was full, or not moving. Nothing was going in-Freehold, little in-Earth. Lots of ships were parked in orbit waiting for