Chapter 7
DAWN
I can count on one hand how many times in my life I’ve awakened on my own, feeling rested.
My eyes quickly scan the room, finding no one else around as I awkwardly push myself up with one arm.
Glancing under the covers, I’m shocked to see most of my bruising gone and the catch that was in my side also missing.
The arm that I’d broken is strapped tightly against my chest, and I swear I feel little fingers massaging the skin randomly.
However, a new problem is letting itself be known, and I am naked and have no idea where the bathroom is.
“Hello, is anyone there?”
My words seem to echo around me, and just as I’m about to wrap this blanket around me and go exploring on my own, a door I hadn’t noticed off to the side opens, and Troza walks in.
“I thought I heard a voice … where are you heading, youngling?”
“I need to pee.”
“Well, that is good news and it means your body is waking up. Let us get you on your feet, and if you feel like it, maybe a nice hot ablution?”
“Is that a fancy word for a bath or shower?”
She tilts her head sideways like she is having to think about what my words mean.
“Hmm, possibly … if those are your Earth words for a body cleansing? We have ionizers, but nothing gets the nerves reactivated like water. HaL had all of our translators updated with your language, but some things do not always interpret correctly.”
She helps me slide off the side of the bed, and just as my toes touch the floor, I look over at her concerned face. “The floor is warm!”
“We may prefer the cold, but most of the floors throughout the facility are heated by the hot springs that lie only a few feet beneath its surface. We may prefer and were designed to survive in the cold, but everything enjoys warmth from time to time.”
“No way … talk about an oxymoron!”
She shakes her head, her long silver braids moving slightly. “Your words are quite confusing, young one.” Her tilted smile makes me look at her twice, instantly reminding me of HaL. Before I can ask her if they are related, another door slides open, and I gasp due to the cold coming out of it.
“Forgive me. Let me reset the temperature in this room. It will heat up in a tic. I will speak with HaL about installing sensors in your main rooms, so the temperatures never drop below freezing, at least.”
By the time I relieve myself, I’m shivering so hard that my teeth are chattering.
My legs are unsteady, but I still stop long enough to pull one foot up, happy to see that only a few red marks remain where the grates on that ship had shredded them.
Troza motions to me as steam rises from a large gray object that looks like a bowl instead of a tub.
“I do not enjoy the warmth at my age as my skin and fur are too thin to provide any protection, so you will have to check the temperature before getting in. The steam can be deceiving because it is still quite cold in here.”
“Are all the rooms normally this cold?”
“This is the warmest section in the compound as it is the deepest under the mountain. The market area is open to the elements, and if I understand your temperature conversion correctly, at its highest, it would be around negative thirty. This close to the frost, it is closer to negative fifty, and that is when we are usually the busiest.”
“Oh my, that is concerning.” I reach down hesitantly into what looks like milky water, only to find it about the temperature of a hot tub. Eager, I pull at the heated blanket with one arm, only for Troza to reach over to help me. “Sorry, I’m not usually so needy.”
I’ve been in and out of the hospital so much over the years that being naked in front of another no longer bothers me, but I can’t suppress the moan that escapes my throat as I settle into the deep tub, feeling the bottom soft under my butt as the water flows around my legs and shoulders.
Leaning my head back, I close my eyes, my body enjoying the caress of the thicker water as Troza walks around the room, straightening things up as she talks to me.
“Dawn, we all need an extra hand now and then. I will examine your arm once you have had time to warm up your bones. The wrapping is waterproof, so there is no need to try and keep it dry. There are several Castile soaps on the counter that you can use safely according to ANDI. I asked before I set them out, and he told me to inform you that he is having a new communicator made for you, and it will be on the next shipment we will get in a few risings. How are your allergies now that you are up and moving around?”
“Besides the aches and pains that were a ten and are now a steady three, I’ve never felt better.
Just being able to take a deep breath without coughing or sneezing my head off is such a relief.
But honestly, I’m still constantly waiting for them to happen.
When you’ve experienced the same symptoms all your life, you notice right away when they’re no longer there.
Normally, and please don’t take this the wrong way, Troza … But as a child, I couldn’t be around anything with fur; no cats, dogs, hamsters, nothing. Yet here it doesn’t seem to be a problem, thank heavens; as well, there’s lots of fur.”
Troza’s laughter has me looking around the room for her. The squint of her silver eyes and the tilt of her mouth once again remind me of HaL, but every time I start to ask her about it, another subject comes up.
“Why would your words upset me, Dawn? This is my natural state.
If anything, I feel sorry for you that your delicate skin is so exposed.
But between ANDI, SAGE, and something called CIP, several modified outfits are headed this way.
Not as quickly as you will need them, unfortunately, as they have to ship with another order a few rotations out for confidential reasons.
The Commander made it clear that we were to do nothing odd that might alert the ones who abducted you to the fact that you survived. In the meantime, some of my closest friends are altering an outfit I hope will make your risings here comfortable and help you blend in if need be.”
“Can you change like HaL does? If that’s too personal, you don’t have to answer. I read a lot about this world on ANDI, but there was very little about you girls in that material.”
“Yes and no. None of the females have what the males call their beast. They were born to be the protectors, and we the nurturers.
Our fur is not as thick or protective as theirs either, and as we age, it gets thinner.
By the time our spirits float into the heavens, we are as bare as we were when born.
Our mammary glands are not as pronounced as in your species either.
When we are young, most other species cannot tell the females from the males if we are in our true, insulated forms.
HaL’s shift is more pronounced than any other here.
The other males can reduce their fur, but their features remain, whereas HaL takes on his father’s appearance.
He is the only one of his kind, but no one has ever treated him as different, and until he was several rotations old, none of us even knew he could shift so drastically.
It took DaR, I mean the Commander, coming to check on him for us to find that out. ”
Self-consciously, I pull my good arm over my bare breasts. “So, does that mean I am ugly to your people?”
“Lord of Light, no, just different, so be prepared for the stares, especially with that fur on your head and its vibrant color.”
“My hair, you mean?”
“Oh, yes … the words I am looking for do not always come out correctly.”
“Can I ask you a few things about HaL? You seem close, and I can tell you have lots of stories about him.”
“I will answer what I can that is not too personal.”
“Troza, I know what his runes mean. When several of his brothers met their mates, they went through something similar. But just because something tells you … hey, that girl there … she’s the one, it doesn’t always mean you feel the same way.
I don’t want him to feel obligated to me if he has another he coveted instead. ”
“Dawn, you may have read what was in this mysterious file of ANDI’s, but apparently it left out some key issues.
First, if HaL had chosen another, he would have dropped you off at medical and left.
He might have checked in on you randomly to make sure you were all right, as he does with all the others, while simultaneously planning your departure.
If he had chosen another, runes or not, nothing would have changed that male’s mind once it was made up.
HaL would have dealt with the discomfort in silence, never embarrassing the female he was with, nor you.
Probably the most important factor in all of this is touch.
He touched your cheek on ANDI, correct?”
“Yeah, we were working together to gather supplies for those trapped on Ethra. He was leaving to go planetside when he stopped and gently caressed my face. It took everything I had not to run after him. From the moment he stepped out of that shuttle, I was fascinated with him. I remember holding my cheek after he left, feeling like something drastic had just happened, but I didn’t understand the significance.
He didn’t deny that his runes were reacting to me, he simply told me there were things I didn’t know. I’m not stupid. I understand that we are complete strangers, two individuals who know absolutely nothing about each other.”
“Well, there is nothing keeping you two from that now, but this rising, we are going to get you clean and properly dressed. Once I get that healing cast off and I feel like you are steady on your feet, we will see what path lies ahead. Relax while the water is warm, and I will give you a moment to yourself. I have an appointment this morning, and she will be here anytime for a check-up. Eirwen is close to term, and I like keeping a close eye on her.”
“Ohhhmygoodness … a baby abominable snowman … I can’t think of anything cuter.”
“Once again, I do not believe those words are translating correctly because by your tone I know you are not calling that youngling revolting.”
I gasp out in horror when she frowns down at me.
“Heavens no … ugghh! I need to really think about what I’m saying now because something that was considered slang back home may be an insult here.”
Troza doesn’t say anything else, simply walks out, the door sliding closed behind her, and I slide down until my entire head is under the water, wondering how many more times I’m going to open my mouth and insult someone in this icy world.