Chapter 7 #2
The human’s eyes widen. “I’m going to think that’s a ‘no.’ It’s not something we humans are fond of either, but the sa-khui prefer their meat that way. So cooked meat, then?”
“No meat,” Niri says.
“Eggs? Roots?” Her small brows draw together. “I can make a great frittata—”
“We brought our own rations,” Niri replies quickly. “It won’t be necessary to feed us.”
“Oh, I see.” The human woman looks crestfallen.
I speak up, because I bet they never have visitors, and the human seems excited to cook for us. I feel bad. “I’d love to try the fritt-fritt—”
“Frittata.” She beams. “It’s a human dish. I promise you’ll like it.” She bustles away.
Farli passes by, and her hand goes to my shoulder. She leans in. “Stay-see is a good cook,” she murmurs, lips brushing against the edge of my ear. “And you have made her very happy today.”
I am more interested in making Farli happy, but I nod.
I watch her as she saunters away again, her tail swishing.
She moves toward an elderly couple dressed in furs and embraces them, talking and laughing.
These must be her parents. Her animal is in one corner of the meeting house, chewing happily on a pile of roots.
There’s an overwhelming amount of people around us, and for space-faring loners who don’t see others for months on end, it almost feels like too much.
We’re handed babies, introduced to everyone, and many of the tribe take a turn coming to sit by us.
Farli’s father offers a skin of a fermented drink that Trakan exclaims over, which makes the tribe very happy.
Chatav talks quietly with their chief, the human mate with the curly hair hovering nearby.
Niri sips a cup of tea and doesn’t eat, and so that leaves me to taste all of the dishes Stay-see and the others are pushing in my direction.
I try to ignore the textures and where the foods might come from.
I don’t want to know. The flavors are incredible, though, and I think my surprise shows on my face, because Stay-see giggles every time I take a bite.
“Told you that you’d like it.”
“I do,” I say, shoving another spoonful of frittata into my mouth.
It’s delicious, and if I don’t think about the fact that it comes from eggs, I love it.
These people don’t use eating sticks, only spoons, so it’s a little bit of a challenge.
The humans do seem to be fairly advanced, and don’t blink an eye with our talk of ships and interstellar travel.
They nod knowingly when Chatav mentions that we are a freighter, and ask questions about trading posts near here or where the closest space station is.
As I eat, one female with a huge stomach comes and sits next to me.
She is one of the smallest of the humans, and she has a baby on her hip, one in her belly, and a little boy with small horns and big, glowing blue eyes is clinging to her leg.
He watches me with a wary expression. “Hi there,” the woman gushes happily.
“You must be Farli’s new mate. I heard Haeden mention it and thought I’d come over and say hi.
I’m Josie.” She sticks her hand out, and I realize humans have an extra finger. Ugh.
I take her hand anyhow, just to be polite, and clasp it in greeting. “I am Bron Mardok Vendasi, and I am honored to make your acquaintance.”
Her eyes widen. “So polite.”
“Isn’t he?” A yellow-haired human sits down next to her, grinning at me. “That’s different. I almost expected you to beat your chest and declare Farli yours. Maybe grab her by her hair and take her off to your lair, caveman-style.”
I’m…not sure if I’m being insulted. “Hello,” I say slowly.
Josie waves a hand. “That’s just Liz. Pay her no mind.” Josie jiggles her baby and then leans in a little. “Can I ask you something? Liz and I have a bet.”
“A bet?” Now I am curious. “What of?”
Instead of answering me, Josie touches her son’s cheek. “Joden, why don’t you go find Daddy, okay?” She smiles at him encouragingly and waits for him to scamper off. When he’s gone, she turns back to me, the look on her face calculating. “It’s about…anatomy.”
I choke on the mouthful of frittata.
The humans just laugh. Josie waits until I finish swallowing and then rushes on with her question, breathless. “We want to know what the spur is for.”
It’s just as bad as I thought. “Pardon?” I wheeze.
“The spur. It’s not a human thing. We want to know the purpose of it.”
“Biologically,” Liz adds. “We can’t figure it out.”
I look over at Niri, but she is deliberately ignoring me, turned in the other direction and feigning interest in what Trakan is saying. I’m pretty sure she’s smirking, though.
I feel trapped. I set down my plate of food and rub my jaw, trying to think of the best way to put it.
Be blunt with the humans? Avoid the question?
Am I offending someone if I tell them the truth?
I don’t know how these people react, because their culture is completely different than mine.
The last thing I want is some angry husband coming to beat the shit out of me because I talked anatomy with his wife.
“Come on,” Josie says when I hesitate. Her tone turns wheedling. “You’re our only chance to find out the truth.”
“Yeah, if I talk to my mate about it, all I hear is about how it’s to pleasure me.” Liz rolls her eyes. “I doubt that’s the actual biological purpose of it, but I let him roll with that ego-stroking explanation.”
“I…ah…”
Josie leans forward and pats my knee. “Don’t be shy. Spit it out.”
“Pheromones,” Niri says, saving me from an awkward explanation. “It’s a primitive biological way of marking a female as belonging to a particular male. The spur secretes twice the pheromones that the rest of the body does.”
“And deposits them along the hooha. I gotcha.” Liz tilts her head. “That makes sense.”
But Josie frowns. “It doesn’t have anything to do with the sa-khui lack of a clitoris?”
“Clitoris?” Niri asks. “What is that?”
“Humans have a nub between their labial folds,” Josie begins. “It—”
I get to my feet, feeling uncomfortable. “I think I will just go thank Stay-see for her excellent food.”
“Sure, run away, chicken,” Liz calls out as I head away.
She’s laughing. I don’t care that she’s amused and I’m not sticking around to ask what a ‘chicken’ is.
I’m not staying around for a female anatomy lesson.
That’s Niri’s field of expertise, not mine.
I’m the one that’s good with engines and computers…
both of which are completely useless talents on this planet.
I glance around, and while most of the tribe is clustered near the fire, listening to a story Trakan is telling (very loudly and very drunkenly), there are a few around the edges, busy sharpening spears or scraping skins as they listen.
Stay-see and another female bustle around, feeding everyone, and a few others are watching several children at once.
One human female with brown skin is busy watering the trees.
They are a busy people, even on a day like this.
And I would have nothing to offer. It’s just another sign that points to the fact that Farli should come with me.
Not that I’ve seriously entertained the thought of staying here.
Ever. It’s an uncomfortable, chilly place, and now that I’ve stepped away from the fire, I can feel the cold seeping back into my bones.
I re-fasten the front of my suit and hand my plate off to Stay-see, thanking her for the food.
As I do, I see another human female, this one standing apart from the others.
Her hair is a strange orangey-red, her bleached skin dotted with spots.
She holds a small boy’s hand, and there’s something distressing about her.
The other females are small but healthy.
This one is…not. Her eyes are sunken and her arms are very thin.
Her belly is enormous, and she looks sickly.
Her gaze meets mine, and I notice that her eyes are a much paler blue than Farli’s vibrant ones.
She’s dying, I realize. Fading away.
Her mouth curves in a gentle smile of greeting to me. A moment later, her eyes flutter, and she sags, then collapses to the ground.
I rush forward.
“Mama?” says the boy.
“Har-loh!” bellows a male. “No!”
I make it to her side before anyone else—maybe because I was watching her. The female is cold to the touch, her skin clammy. Her eyes flutter but remain closed. She feels light in my arms, too light compared to Farli’s strength.
One of the hunters rushes forward and snatches her from my arms. I think he’s going to attack me, but his entire focus is on his unconscious mate. He touches her cheek, panic and love in his eyes. “Har-loh,” he murmurs again. “Wake, please.”
A mesakkah female comes to his side, her face solemn. She puts her hand to the orange-haired female’s brow and looks unhappy. “Her khui is fading. It is too hard for her to carry her kit. It takes too much out of her.”
I look over at Niri.
She meets my gaze, stony-faced. After a moment, she gives a subtle shake of her head. She doesn’t want to get involved. Neither Trakan nor Chatav are speaking up, either.
Kef that.
“We have a med bay on our ship,” I tell them. “We can take her there and see if it’s not too late to fix whatever is ailing her.”
Farli rushes to my side, hope in her eyes. “Do you think they can fix Har-loh like they did Chahm-pee?” She turns to the male and nods encouragingly. “They healed my dvisti, Rukh. And so fast. You would not think he’s hurt at all.”
The male—Rukh—turns his gaze to me. There is agony there. “Please.” He offers his mate back to me, and I take her in my arms.
How can I refuse?
“I’ll show you the way,” I tell him. I cut through the happy gathering, Farli and Rukh trailing behind me.
As I pass, Niri reluctantly gets to her feet and follows.
The captain looks frozen, and I know why—running the med bay machines is expensive, and each of the treatments it doles out ends up using precious supplies.
He’s probably seeing credits go out the door at the thought of healing one of the locals, credits we don’t have.
I don’t care. I’m not going to sit by and watch someone die when we have the ability to save them.
Not again. Never again.