Read Guest Night on Union Station for Free Online

before vacation? Anyway, for all we know, you came in here looking for something else and you just decided to upgrade. Do you know where you lost it?”
    The Vergallian glowered at the girls as he considered giving them a piece of his mind, but he was so relieved to find that the pole hadn’t been stolen he decided to play along.
    “Sure. I know I had it in the departure lounge for the luxury liner to Thuri Minor because I took it out of my bag to admire it. I’d bought it specifically for the vacation, you see.” He furrowed his brows in concentration. “We had some time before boarding, and I remember that I went to buy some snacks. All I can think is that I must have left it at the kiosk because I needed both hands to carry back the tray.
    “Where was the fishing pole stored at JER 16/16 found?” Dorothy asked the cataloging system.
    “Vergallian Ferlock Pro, Deluxe Model, discovered under Star Ways departure lounge seat on…”
    “That’s enough,” Dorothy cut off the voice. “The owner is reclaiming the fishing pole, and the talon clipper is stored at JER 16/16 now.”
    “Huktra talon clipper and file, stored at location JER 16/16,” the cataloging system’s voice acknowledged.
    “Thanks,” the Vergallian said. He accepted the fully retracted pole from Dorothy and turned to go. Then he remembered his manners and slapped a five-cred coin on the counter as a tip.
    “You should take that,” Dorothy told the Frunge girl. “I’m just in training.”
    “If you’re sure,” Flazint replied, picking up the coin. She turned her head a little and watched the Vergallian exiting the room. “He lost it less than two Klunks ago, right? Want to see something funny?”
    “Sure,” Dorothy replied, wondering what the Frunge girl might have in mind.
    “Librarian. Does security imaging for the Star Ways departure lounge where the item from JER 16/16 was lost include footage of how the pole got under the seat?”
    “Affirmative,” Libby replied.
    A hologram sprang to life over the turntable. It showed the bustling departure lounge, zooming in on a handsome Vergallian, who had one arm around a beautiful woman as he admired his Ferlock Pro rod. After a few minutes of this, he opened a piece of luggage and wrapped the collapsed rod tenderly in what appeared to be a woman’s nightgown. The hologram caught a look of fury flashing across the woman’s face, which then took on an expression of intense concentration. She said something to the man, who rose and headed off to a food kiosk.
    As soon as his back was turned, the beautiful Vergallian woman thumbed open the bag, unwrapped the fishing rod, and then carefully refolded the nightgown, patting it gently into place. Then she stuck the Ferlock Pro under the seat. When the man returned with a couple of drinks and some salty snacks, she was all smiles.
    “How did she get away with that?” Dorothy asked the Frunge girl.
    “Didn’t you see when she got all focused there for a couple of seconds?” Flazint asked. “She was zapping him with pheromones. She must have wiped out the last minute of his memory so he wouldn’t remember packing the rod and then sent him for snacks. High-caste Vergallian women are scary.”

Four
     
    “So I’m supposed to find host families amongst the Union Station ambassadors for the visiting diplomats?” Kelly asked.
    “Just the top emissaries,” Libby reassured her. “The guests from the member worlds of the Cayl Empire who take advantage of the temporary tunnel will eventually number in the hundreds of thousands. Most of those will be from the local ruling classes, and they may prefer sleeping on their luxury ships to staying at the best hotels that can meet their physiological requirements. But it’s been our experience over the years that getting the important diplomatic representatives to live quietly with an unrelated species on the station for a couple of weeks before the open house officially begins can make all of the