20. Chapter 20
Mika
I looked down at Nadia. She was sleeping like a champ with a little smudge of lunch on her cheek. She was so damn adorable. She even managed to eat some of the mushy food I’d shaped into a six on a plate before making a fun mess with the rest of it.
“Turning six months old is a lot of work,” I murmured as Maz walked back into the fenced-in area he’d created for us.
“She liked the special meal you fixed her,” Maz said, standing over me and holding out a mug of tea. After I accepted it, he sat down on the mat with me. Once Nadia fell asleep, he’d helped me clean up, then taken the dirty plate back to the galley and returned with tea.
“I think she liked the small amount she managed to get in her mouth,” I said with a chuckle.
“I know she’s still feeding from you and only learning to eat solid food, but I worry. What if she never gets enough into her mouth to keep her nourished?” Maz asked with a worried rumble. “I should design a food conveyance system for her.”
I snorted the tea I was trying to sip then started violently coughing. Maz let out a little squawk at the same time he sounded a loud rattle of surprise. He set his mug down and took mine and then spoke with frantic speed.
“Mika, what happened? What can I do? You’re not breathing correctly!”
I needed to comfort him, but I was struggling between the urge to cough, the desire to laugh, and the requirement for air between the two of them.
“I…fine,” I gasped. He reached down to grab me, probably to carry me into the ship, but I smacked at his arms. “No, fine.”
The day was too beautiful to go inside. There were fluffy clouds moving across the sky, and the air smelled soft. At least that’s how I described it.
He hovered over me until I was able to talk.
“I pulled a little tea into my lungs,” I explained.
“How?” he asked as if he could prevent it in the future.
I wasn’t going to tell him that he’d made me laugh when I was trying to drink and that never went well.
“It just happens sometimes," I said, keeping it vague.
“I hate that you can accidentally choke on your food,” he exclaimed, slumping back down to the mat next to me. “I was learning to relax every time you eat, now I need to be vigilant every time you drink.”
“I’d tell you not to worry, but I know it wouldn’t do much good,” I said.
“No it wouldn’t,” he agreed. Purring, he spread his legs and pulled me between them. I snuggled up against him with a happy little sigh.
“Life doesn’t get better than this,” I said.
“Are you sure?” he asked, surprising me.
“What more could I want?” I asked. “Or are you not content here?”
“I find a great deal of satisfaction in this life,” Maz answered. “I’d never required a lot of interaction with others, and any lack I felt is filled up with you and Nadia. I worry that this life might be too isolated for the two of you.”
I’ll admit that I was a little concerned about Nadia growing up without other children to play and interact with, but for right now it wasn’t an issue.
“I’m happy here,” I said, making sure he heard the truth in my voice. “When your assignment is over we can reassess.”
“Yes, that’s a good point,” he agreed. “I will send out messages to Talins who own humans with children. By the time we’re done here, I should have places we can visit where Nadia can interact with children and you can converse with other human parents.”
“I’d like that,” I said, although it might be hard to meet humans who were owned. If any of them were being mistreated or neglected, it was going to be nearly impossible for me not to react.
“I’ve also reached out to several healers to see if any of them will visit here so we don’t have to leave,” he said.
“That’s a good idea.” Not having to go to another Talin space station sounded great. “Do you think any of them will visit?”
“Without a doubt,” Maz said, interrupting his purring to sound an amused rumble. “A chance to meet a young female human with a very young pup is an opportunity few would pass up.”
A little shiver of fear went through me “Can you make sure they come alone?”
“No, they’ll need a crew to fly them,” Maz said. “But I can make sure only the healer is allowed on our ship. Does that make you feel better?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Much better.”
I took another sip of tea as something wet plopped down on my face. I looked up to see that, during our short time chatting, the irregular, light, fluffy clouds had been replaced by a solid mass of gray.
“Huh, that’s interesting,” I murmured as another drop smacked me in the forehead. Rain, this was called rain.
While I was making my observations, Maz jumped to his feet and started gathering things up.
“What are you doing?” I asked. I wasn’t ready to let go of our lazy afternoon.
“We need to move back into the ship,” he answered. “I can carry everything; please take Nadia and make your way inside.”
“Do you need to go back to work so soon?” I asked. “I thought you’d scheduled the rest of the day off to enjoy Nadia’s six-month celebration.”
“I did, but it’s going to rain,” Maz said. “We can continue to celebrate inside.”
I was slow to get to my feet, feeling like a few drops shouldn’t chase us away, but then the intermittent drops turned into a proper shower. In the time it took me to gasp, my shoulders and the top of my head were soaked.
Maz had already gathered most of the pillows and blankets but dropped them all to scoop up Nadia.
“Too late,” he announced. “Hurry!”
Nadia wasn’t happy with being woken up so abruptly and made her displeasure known. I grabbed her favorite toy and rushed after him. Maz hit the top of the ramp and kept going deep inside the ship, probably to change Nadia’s everclean suit. It had changed color in the sudden deluge.
I paused at the open door, staring out at the sheets of water falling from the sky. I’d never seen anything like it. All the times it rained before, the moisture from the sky had fallen gently. Sometimes it was more like a heavy mist.
I had never imagined clouds could carry so much water! It couldn’t possibly last long, could it?
“Are you well?”
I turned to find Maz carrying Nadia back to me. Seeing her in a new everclean suit and snuggled in a soft blanket made me realize I was wet and cold.
“This is also rain, right?” I asked, pointing out the open door.
“Yes, this is rain,” he agreed.
“But what about before, when it wasn’t this violent?” I asked. “Waterfalls make sense. Water flows down the hill, finding the path of least resistance. But how can so much water gather in the sky?”
“The sun and wind evaporate water molecules," he said.
I shook my head. “Maz, I know how evaporation and sublimation work. I dealt with both all the time on the station.”
He purred. “I’m sorry. I started too simply. If you dealt with space station systems, you might not realize a system as large as a planet can cause massive storm clouds. Much more water than you’d expect can be held in those clouds.”
I nodded, understanding better. I hadn’t been thinking large enough. “It’s so powerful.”
“I noticed the storm system moving in last time I checked the satellite, but I’d hoped it would pass by us.”
A shiver went through me. I needed to change and warm up, but I didn’t want to stop watching it. I was in awe and fascinated.
“You’re cold,” Maz said, nudging me away from the open door with his body. The hatch shut and the sound of the storm was gone.
“A little,” I admitted and let him urge me to our room. I changed as he put Nadia down in the nest. She’d already fallen back to sleep.
Maz was quick to help me dry off and dressed me in the warmest outfit we had. It felt good to be bundled up, even though it wasn’t that cold on the ship.
“We left our tea outside,” I said. “By now they’re cups of rainwater.”
“I can make us some more,” he said. I followed him halfway to the galley then stopped at a long, narrow, oval window. It was one of the only ones on the ship. I was distracted by the storm outside.
I must’ve been there for a while because he came up next to me with two steaming mugs. Wordlessly I accepted one, and we both stood there, staring out.
“It’s raw and beautiful,” I finally said, deciding on how I thought about it. “Do you think it will last long?”
“At least a few rotations,” Maz answered.
I thought he must be wrong. It couldn't possibly do this for a few hours let alone days. I was so wrong.
“Four days!” I exclaimed, sweeping dramatically into the lab with Nadia in my arms. She giggled as I made her fly through the air. “We’ve been trapped inside by the rain for four days. This is intolerable! Her Highness Nadia is distraught!”
Maz was at one of the workstations, processing information from some ground bots on the other side of the planet. This wasn’t the first time I’d done this today, so he didn’t look up from the display, only purred loudly.
“It might last another three or four days,” he reminded me. We’d had this discussion before also. “Please inform Her Highness Nadia that as soon as I finish this task, I’ll see to her entertainment.”
I turned Nadia around so she was facing me. “Nadia, Master Maz has asked me to tell you that he is too busy right now, and if you could please return later, he will be able to rumble and dance for you.”
Putting my ear close to her gurgling mouth, I pretended to listen. I nodded and looked back at Maz.
“Her Highness Nadia would like me to inform Master Mazorium that she finds this acceptable. We will be in the playroom waiting for your esteemed presence.”
Maz sounded a rumble of amusement as I flew Nadia out of the room. For someone who’d spent most of her life on space stations with limited space and tiny apartments, I’d quickly gotten used to being able to enjoy the outdoors. Being stuck inside felt nearly intolerable.
At first I didn’t mind the storm and constant rain. I’d found it fascinating and beautiful. That enchantment evaporated by the third day.