Cantilever Jones Swings Low, Part 1
kind of sense, and we were bored, and just starting to get annoyed with each other.
{Just starting, he says…}
And that’s when Norl drew my attention to the only two people in the place who were looking more
uncomfortable than me.
{I did?}
“Let’s not get so meta we miss the first plot point, shall we?”
{Fine, Fine…}
They were dressed in dark grey robes and had the air of men who had never before been in such a dive as this
before. Their neck muscles recoiled at the very air, and they regard everyone around them like bombs or beasts
about to rampage in their directions. Which wasn’t wrong per se, and given their obvious lack of experience,
really the safest attitude to take. But that didn’t make it any less awkward to experience or observe.
They were talking to Graul, a fellow freighter captain and something of a friend. We’d crewed gas-miners
together back when we were young enough to have no lives worth saving. He already had a charter hauling orsnip
back to Brana and so didn’t need the extra work. He pointed me out to them. I waved in acknowledgment. Next
time I see him I’ll have to thank him for the reference. A quick knee to the groin oughta do it.
They wandered over to the table I sat at near the grainy windows and asked if I was Rand Thrax. I assured them
that I was and invited them to sit. I summoned Norl to do his thing, which is to swoop down from the ceiling with
a shriek, fly right in between them, and perch on my shoulder. It’s a bit hammy, but it never fails to set the right
mood when dealing with people who are unused to spaceports and independent contractors.
{It is not hammy}
“Shush”
“Don’t mind him,” I say, “He’s not been properly fed.”
“You have a psionic link with it,” said the one on the right. He had dark eyes and a pale face.
“That’s correct,” I say, offering Norl a bit of fried snack.
“How did you acquire it?” asked the one on the left. He had creepy pale eyes and skin as dark as smoke.
“The lizard, or the link?” I reply.
“Both,” they said at the same time. I admired their effort to sound creepy, and considered that what had seemed
obvious discomfort to me might have been just unfamiliarity and genuine oddness. I decided that I liked them.
“I got him out of an egg. I got the link with a simple mantra incantation when it was two days hatched. From the