Chapter 17

WEDNESDAY 8:40 A. M. CST Angelo's Bakery, Chicago, IL

The last thing Mike expected to be seeing this morning was a moon walking, break dancing, back flipping, alien mentally shouting out the phrases 'Home and Nest' with joyous abandon. But that's exactly what was now in front of him. It took about five seconds for Mike to compare what he was seeing with the mental image of Little One and the free electron dance.

'Well, now I know where Little One learned it's moves from, ' Mike thought with a belly laugh. Mike then beamed out gently to Miklit, 'Calmly, Friend, calmly. I take it that this is pleasing to you?'

With its gyrations beginning to diminish and it's mental shouting scaling back somewhat, Miklit sent, 'Forgive me, companion, but the shock of being plunged into my Home and Nest environment was just too much of a surprise.' This was sent while Miklit's olfactory organ clusters were still doing a great imitation of a furnace bellows. 'I almost expected to see Alpha-1 in greeting pose, or hear the shrieks of Little One begging for treats.'

'I'll just bet you did. Will you excuse me for three to five time parts? There is a task I need to take care of and then I will return.'

'Certainly, companion, I will not come to harm among your friends.'

Turning to Angelo, Mike said, "Hey Angelo, I need to run my dad his promised snack. Do you mind if I leave my buddy here for a few minutes? Oh and by the way, if Miklit's reaction is anything to go by, it looks like you've got yourself a Pan-Galactic hit with the Bolos."

"Que?" Angelo blurted out, while snapping his head away from his mixer.

"Oh sorry, Angelo, meet Miklit. It's come a quarter of the way across the Galaxy to sample your wares," Mike laughed out, then grabbed a hot Bolo and cup of Marga's love. Ducking out the alley way door, Mike made his way back to the stand, thinking, 'Thank God for the time dilatation at Lake's Edge, otherwise I'd have screwed the pooch for sure, '

"Here you go, Pop," Mike said while handing his dad the snack. Then he tossed out, "Pop, I hate to do this, but something else came up while I was at Angelo's. How about I cover you for the afternoon shift and you can kick back or take Mom somewhere away from this madness?"

"OK. That works. Just make sure you're back before noon. You know how your Mom gets when I wind up making her wait lunch on me and I really like my family jewels right where they are instead of hanging on the wall."

"Will do, Pop," Mike shot out with a laugh. "See you in a bit and thanks."

Ducking back into Angelo's, Mike was just in time to see Angelo set out little sample piles of ingredients on his work table while Miklit went down the line sniffing each item. Reaching the last pile, Miklit sniffed, paused and then shook its head no.

Angelo cupped his chin in his hand for a second and then raised a finger in the air. Grabbing his hot gloves, he then pulled a fresh batch of Bolos from the oven. He then brought these over by Miklit and as he got closer you could see Miklit begin to tremble while doing a darn good imitation of a bobble head nodder doll.

Looking over at Mike, Angelo said, "Hey compadre, looks like it's the finished product that's the winner. Wonder how we'll ship them that distance and still be fresh?"

"Oh crap, I forgot to tell you. Right out on the end of the Navy Pier is a gateway. If Miklit's people join in with our free trade federation network, it'll be a gateway to Miklit's planet, plus thirty seven others. You could be the first interstellar baker," Mike said with a grin.

"Mierda Santa! You just don't do anything small, do you?"

"Why bother with that when you can do it big?" Mike replied with a chuckle.

"Madre de Dios," Angelo coughed out as the enormity of what Mike was saying finally hit home. "I'm gonna need a lot of help."

"Yep ... got any relatives you want sponsored into the U.S.?" Mike asked.

"Es verdad, Amigo? You would do that?" Angelo replied.

"Sure, you've always been part of the family anyway; why not help where we can?" Mike answered back.