Chapter 20
Almost one year later - Christmas Day
Zephrum
“Sit,” he ordered the young jinjoos in front of him. Mitzy immediately plopped her fuzzy rump on the ground and wiggled, eager to please. Her three siblings were behind her and also obeyed the command, but a little slower.
“Very good,” he praised and tossed each a pellet.
Each one flicked out a long tongue to catch the pellet, except for Ditzy who looked down to follow the path of a bug flying between his front legs and missed the pellet altogether.
Mitzy was quick to grab his pellet off the ground before he even realized a treat had been tossed.
Taking pity on Ditzy, he tossed a pellet between the jinjoo’s legs so he could find it.
The sweet jinjoo flicked out his long tongue, missed the pellet entirely, and pulled a pebble into his mouth. That allowed Mitzy to steal another one.
Giving up, Zeph stepped forward and held a pellet out in the palm of his hand. Ditzy managed to get it that time.
“I hope you grow smarter as you get older,” he said, petting the jinjoo’s' soft, fluffy head. One of the main reasons for raising jinjoos was for their fur. It was cut off several times a year and sold to processors who turned it into luxury clothing. The other, less common reason, was for dexterity shows. Evolving in a mountainous environment, jinjoos had the ability to balance all six hooves on a bit of jagged rock no bigger than his thumb. The first time he’d seen a vid of it, he’d been sure it was fake.
Jinjoo competitions were a series of jumps, climbs, and balance holds. Competition was fierce, and the winners could bring home large purses.
Ditzy was never going to be a prize winner, but Mitzy was already showing promise. It was impressive how very different two siblings from the same litter could be!
These were their first jinjoos, born from the bonded pair Han had bought about half a solar ago. So far the training was slow, but he and Han were learning how to be good owners and trainers at the same time Mitzy, Ditzy, Lazy, and Tansy were learning to be good jinjoos.
Tansy, the most alert of all the siblings, focused his eye on something behind Zeph. Before he could turn, a familiar voice spoke up.
“Uncle Zeph, Mom told me to come out and help you,” Lirsum said. “Is there anything I can do?”
“Please check the water dispenser,” Zeph instructed. “After that, you can come in here and help me with the lift command.”
The six-solar-old child was quick to open the gate and rush off to the far end of the enclosure to check the water trough.
Both children had struggled after first arriving on Inneeko. The lack of strict structure had made it difficult for Lirsum and Rishmun to settle, even after being enrolled in the nearby school.
After almost an entire solar they were only now finally starting to accept that, even with a schedule, there was always some chaos.
Unlike the other children, they liked doing things that showed results, so they were always volunteering for chores. It made them every adult’s favorites, although Sandar was starting to limit the work they could do and demanded they play some of the frivolous games with the other children.
When she’d heard about it, Han had laughed and said that had to be a first.
Unfortunately, the other human and Ugarian children didn’t know what to make of Lirsum and Rishmun. They weren’t unkind, but Zeph admitted it was probably hard to incorporate a couple of children into your games who didn’t understand the concept of fun.
Then the jinjoos arrived. All the kids wanted time with the soft, fluffy animals, and Han had told them only Rishmun and Lirsum could get them that. His niece and nephew were suddenly the most popular children in the community.
Rishmun was quick to create a peer group that fit him. Lirsum was slower, but recently she’d started calling one of Han’s young cousins her friend.
They were all relieved!
“Kal wanted to help train the jinjoos,” she said when she returned to his side.
Zeph wasn’t sure how to respond to that. The kids were allowed in the pen to pet the young jinjoos, but training was a different matter.
“Hello!” Han sang out, entering the pen. She walked to his side and tugged at his arm. Obligingly, he leaned over so she could press her lips to his.
Lirsum pretended she didn’t see it. Partially because she was still unlearning all her former empire training, but also because she was at the age where adults could be “gross.”
All the human and Ugarian adults assured him, Sandar, and Rensom that it was only a phase. He hoped so, or she might struggle when she got older.
“Yullie is favoring her right mid-foot,” Han said after they finished the brief hello lip press. “I’m going to have the medic come out to look at it tomorrow.”
“Not today?” Lirsum asked. Zeph was proud of her. It took a lot for the child to question an adult. That was noted by the way Lirsum spoke loud enough to be heard but hunched her shoulders as if waiting for a reprimand.
Han turned her full attention to Lirsum. “I thought about it, but I wanted to give Yullie the night to rest and see how she is tomorrow. As you know, their midlegs are their most sensitive ones, and she might have simply taken a bad step when she was playing in the pasture earlier.”
Because Han was addressing Lirsum as if she was also an authority figure, the little girl straightened her spine and sounded a soothing rumble.
“Your logic is sound,” Lirsum announced, making him have to stifle a rumble of amusement.
“Thank you,” Han said. “Could you and Kal do something important for me?”
Lirsum sounded an excited rattle. “Yes, of course!”
“Yullie could use a thorough grooming,” Han said. “It will help distract her from her leg. But you’ll need some help because Nack won’t like it if Yullie is getting all the attention.”
“He is a very needy jinjoo,” Lirsum agreed.
Han nodded her head. “You’re right, he is. Because you’re far more familiar with Yullie and Nack, you’re in charge of Kal. You need to make sure she doesn’t upset them or that they don’t accidentally hurt her.”
The added responsibility made Lirsum practically vibrate with importance. “I can do that. Should we start right now?”
“Yes,” Han said, then pointed in the direction of an open area being prepared for a Christmas celebration. “But make sure you have enough time to clean up and join us for the feast. After eating, you and Kal can go back to grooming if you want to.”
“Mom told me I should play at least one game after the feast,” Lirsum said.
“Then I guess you can go back to grooming after eating and playing one game,” Han agreed.
Lirsum asked a few more clarifying questions to make sure she was fulfilling all her social obligations, then ran off to find Kal.
The moment she was out of sight, he grabbed Han in a hug. “Thank you. I didn’t know how to tell Lirsum that Kal couldn’t help with training.”
“No worries,” Han said with a chuckle. “Kal doesn’t want to train anything; she wants to tell them they’re beautiful and feed them treats. We can put her and Lirsum in charge of keeping Yullie and Nack groomed. That should make both the children and the jinjoos happy.”
“You’re brilliant,” Zeph declared.
Han gave him a toothy grin. “I know.”
He sounded a rumble of amusement then looked behind him when something bumped him in the back. It was Mitzy. While her siblings had wandered off, she’d remained waiting for the next instruction and treat.
“She’s so focused,” Han said, reaching into his treat pouch to toss Mitzy a pellet. “She’s going to be a champion.”
Mitzy was good, but he didn’t think any of their jinjoos were going to be champions, not after he’d watched vids of the highest performers.
But that didn’t matter. After selling all the ships and splitting the wealth three ways, there were plenty of credits to last a lifetime even if the jinjoos never won a single prize.
Thinking about the wealth made him think about Malsum and Tumoro.
After they’d given the pair one-third of the credits, the two decided to start their own company.
No one knew where they were or even what their business was.
It was all very mysterious, and Zeph had a bad feeling it was illegal, or at least bordered on illegal.
So far one human and three Ugarians had shown up to claim one of the many domiciles Malsum and Tumoro had bought but not rented out.
The human and Ugarians explained that Tumoro and Malsum had sent them there to live.
Other than that, they remained completely closed-mouthed about their life before arriving at Inneeko, even as they found their place among everyone else.
Zeph hoped Tumoro and Malsum would make it back for the holiday celebration, but the last message said they wouldn’t be back for at least another half solar. He was sure part of the reason was to avoid interrogation!
Or they were in a bad spot and couldn’t find a way out.
“Hey, what are you thinking about?” Han asked. “You started making that worried rumble sound.”
“I’m concerned for Malsum and Tumoro,” he said.
She let out a sigh. “Me too. I know Malsum’s strong and smart, and Tumoro knows his way around a lot of species, but they’re both so young. I wish they’d stayed close to Inneeko for a few years.”
“We didn’t have to share the money with them,” Zeph said. He’d argued against it, but Han had been firm, and he’d given in.
“I know, but that wouldn’t have been right,” Han said with a little frown. “They both put themselves in danger, especially Malsum when he helped me and the kids get back to the ship. They proved themselves, so we need to trust them.”
“But we still have that contract ready if they need us, right?” Zeph asked.
Han had negotiated with a local charter company so that they would always have a long-distance speed ship ready to take them anywhere they needed to go at a moment's notice. It wasn’t as expensive as buying and maintaining one themselves, but it wasn’t inexpensive either.