Sweet Starfire

lifted his head, Cidra had to put out a hand to steady herself. Wide-eyed, she stared at him.
    “I won’t, you know,” Severance said too calmly.
    “W-won’t what?”
    “Enjoy what’s left of the night.”
    “What’s the matter?” she flung back. “Didn’t your arrangements for a little special handling work out?”
    “No. Fred doesn’t take to strangers on board.” He released her and pushed her gently toward the door panels. “Go inside, Cidra. I’ll see you in the morning.”
    Cidra was safely through the panels when she realized with a secret satisfaction that Fred had never seriously objected to her presence on board Severance Pay.
    A muted but nerve-rasping whistle woke Cidra several hours later. The sound seemed to pierce right through her mind, bringing her to a sitting position in bed with a pounding heart. She was gazing at the door to her room, trying to remember where she was when it opened. Desma Kady stood there, struggling into a white lab suit.
    “Don’t worry, Cidra. It’s just an equipment alarm from the lab. Probably means the air filtration system has gone down again. I didn’t see any lights when I looked out the window, so it could be that the lighting timer has failed too. Damn. If it isn’t one thing, it’s another. You have no idea how hard it is to keep machinery in good repair here on Renaissance. The last time this happened we found several kilos of swarming doomlizards tangled in the filtration fans. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
    “Can I help?”
    “Don’t worry. This will only take a little while, I’m sure. Stay where you are and get some sleep.” She waved absently and left.
    Wide-awake now, Cidra went over to the diazite window and watched Desma hurry toward the long lab building. Nights on Renaissance were a couple of hours longer than on Lovelady. She estimated it must be about three hours from dawn. Through the gloom Cidra saw Desma disappear into the lab. She leaned on the windowsill and waited. The thought of going into that long, dark building full of bugs was not a pleasant one, but she supposed Desma was accustomed to her “pets.”
    Cidra didn’t know when or exactly why she began to worry. When the low level illumination she had noticed earlier that evening in the lab didn’t come back on soon after Desma disappeared inside, she began to get nervous. Desma had seemed to think the problem was a minor one that could be easily solved.
    Minutes ticked past and there was still no sign of her hostess returning from the lab. Perhaps she could use some assistance after all. Cidra put on her delicate emerald-floss slippers and walked down the hall and out into the night. Her black-and-silver gown made her almost invisible in the shadows. The company that had the current contract for street lighting here in Try Again didn’t believe in importing top much heavy, expensive fluoroquartz. Most of the buildings on the street were shrouded in darkness, including the lab.
    Visions of a long barn full of horrific insectoid creatures were very bright in Cidra’s mind when she tentatively opened the door Desma had already unlocked. The fetid smell from the interior assailed her as soon as she stepped inside. It seemed somehow worse in the oppressive darkness. The small, scurrying, screeching, and clacking noises were at full volume as the creatures in the cages went about their shadowy night business.
    “Desma? ‘
    There was no response. Cidra took another step inside. Tiny pinpoints of light darted about in the cage to her left. Up ahead she could see another faint, phosphorescent flicker. The natural luminescence of some of the inhabitants wasn’t nearly enough to light the aisles in front of the cages. Cidra took another cautious step, letting her eyes adjust to the deep shadows. She could barely make out the entrance to the first aisle.
    “Desma? Where are you? Did you find the problem? Want me to get a quartzflash?”
    Still no answer. Perhaps Desma was working on the machinery at the rear of the building. Slowly, not wanting to touch the cages she was passing, Cidra moved down the aisle. She knew that if she kept going straight, she would wind up at the back of the room where the control panels were installed. The fact that Desma was not responding was really beginning to alarm her.
    When her foot caught on an object in the middle of the aisle, Cidra’s first thought was that one of the caged horrors had escaped and she had just become its