11. Chapter 11
Mika
By the time they were done, Mazorium had purchased more items than I’d owned in my entire life all together. I stared at the bot they were loading, absolutely flabbergasted.
“My flabbers have been gasted,” I muttered to myself, remembering a line from an Old Earth show I’d watched on repeat when I was young.
“My INT couldn’t translate that,” Mazorium said with a concerned rumble. “Was that in an archaic human language?”
I snorted. “Sort of.”
Most of the items were for Nadia. She would be growing rapidly over the next few years, and Mazorium wanted to be prepared with most of what she’d need.
Even now, the tailor machine they had in the back was whirring away at a series of pants made out of the everclean material for when she didn’t need to wear onesies any longer.
They’d even discussed designing little knee pads for when she started crawling, but at my insistence it wasn’t necessary, they settled on special padded mats from a place several shops down.
That wasn’t the only thing coming from other stores. Pumlura helped Mazorium remotely buy specialty food packs, gentle body and “mane” cleansers, lotions, and salves, all to be delivered straight to our ship.
I wasn’t going to object, even though I had this bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. Nothing good ever happened to me, so if I was getting all this for me and Nadia, I was scared the universe was going to make me pay in some way.
I knew better than to try and explain that to Mazorium.
“These arrived for the human and her pup,” Famorum said, walking to the back with her arms full of boxes.
“Why weren’t they sent directly to the ship?” Mazorium asked.
She checked a tag on one of the packages. “They’re gifts from other Talins on the station.”
Ithorum intercepted her. “Let me check them first. I want to make sure there’s nothing that might accidentally hurt the humans.”
Famorum sounded a worried rumble. “Oh, yes, of course!”
“Please don’t lose any of the tags,” Mazorium said. “I won’t be able to send my thanks to the givers later.”
Ithorum sounded a rumble of agreement even as she opened each bag and box to look inside.
I looked up at Mazorium who had gone back to studying a list displayed on his Ident. He stopped and focused on me the moment he noticed my gaze. “Yes?”
“Why are we being sent things?” I asked. “Is it for favors or something?”
“Favors?” he repeated. “What does that mean?”
“She means bribes,” Ithorum explained, walking up with Famorum. She must’ve decided the items were safe because she let Famorum set them down on a table next to me.
“Bribes? What an odd conclusion to reach,” he said with an amused rumble. “The gifts are because you’re rare and other Talins want you to be happy. The more happy humans we have now, the more we’ll have in the future. It’s that simple.”
I was sure it wasn’t that simple. Could I ask Mazorium to send the gifts back?
Ithorum and Mazorium’s Idents pinged at the same time. Ithorum was faster to unclip hers.
“We are being summoned,” she announced. “I thought we’d have another mark, but Station Director Gorum is impatient. She’s moved up the time.”
Mazorium didn’t seem startled or upset by the news. “Certainly. It’s an honor to be invited. We shouldn’t keep her waiting.” He looked at Pumlura. “Please have everything delivered to my ship.”
“Of course!” she agreed. “If the opportunity arises, tell Station Director Gorum we were able to accommodate all your needs.”
“I’ll make sure to mention how helpful you all were,” Mazorium said with a rumble of agreement.
They talked a little longer about packaging and other things while I looked longingly at the tailor machine.
I’d tried to get them to use a couple of the bags to make me an outfit, but they’d been shocked.
Now I had a bunch of tomer bags and another year at least before I’d have access to a tailor machine.
I couldn’t complain, but it was a little humorous.
Soon, Ithorum was walking us through the station. My lower back was starting to hurt from having Nadia strapped to my front. I wasn’t the only uncomfortable one either, Nadia was starting to fuss.
When she started to cry loudly, making the Talins gathered on our route sound worried rumbles, I spoke up.
“I need to stop for a moment,” I said, looking around for a private place.
“Are you fatigued?” Mazorium asked.
“Nadia’s hungry,” I whispered.
He looked at Ithorum, who was keeping a wary eye on the crowd even though they were keeping their distance.
“Are there any contemplation rooms available?”
Ithorum faced us and sounded a confused rumble. “Are you in need of meditation right now? Couldn’t you wait until after the meal with the station director?”
Mazorium pointed to me. “Mika needs to feed her pup.”
Ithorum didn’t ask another question. She set off in a new direction with a rumble of agreement.
Mazorium and I followed, and she soon ushered us into a small, dimly lit room with only one chair in the very center.
The door slid shut behind us with her on the outside, probably to guard us.
The moment the door shut, all the outside noise was cut off and a faint humming sounded in the room.
Mazorium picked me up, sat down, and settled me on his lap. “The seat has no padding, and I don't want you to be uncomfortable.”
We weren’t going to be here long, so the seat wouldn’t have bothered me, but it was nice to be on Mazorium's lap. I loosened the straps securing the carrier and pulled Nadia loose. She was getting loud now.
I didn’t need to say anything; Mazorium was already taking Nadia from me so I could tug at my clothing and get my breast free. He started purring in harmony with the humming in the room, making me realize that was probably what the humming was for.
Taking Nadia back from Mazorium, I put her to my breast. She latched on, sucking greedily.
“Poor pup,” Mazorium murmured. “So hungry and unable to ask for food.”
I chuckled. “She asked for it very clearly.”
Mazorium sounded a rumble of amusement. “She uses the same method of communication for everything. It’s up to us to figure out which need she is requesting.”
I grinned. “At least she doesn’t suffer in silence.”
We teased each other about Nadia’s fussiness until she finished eating. Wide awake and wide-eyed, she looked out at the small room as we settled her back into the carrier, nestled against my front.
It was strange, but the moment felt so perfectly domestic. Except for the collar around my neck, we could’ve easily been mistaken for a couple. If we were on any other station, no one would be surprised by our pairing.
The odd part was sometimes I forgot the collar was there. The weight had become familiar and, at times, even comforting. Ignoring the implication, I focused on keeping Nadia’s head from being pinched as Mazorium set me on my feet.
The moment I stood again, my back protested. I tried to adjust the straps even though I knew it wouldn’t help.
It was surprising when Mazorium noticed my discomfort. “Is the carrier causing you pain?”
“No,” I answered, resting a protective hand on Nadia. Even though my back hurt, I didn’t want anyone else holding her.
“I saw you wince,” he argued.
“I think I’ve gotten a little lazy on your ship,” I said. “I'm simply not used to moving around so much, that’s all.” I didn’t want to admit that not only did my back hurt, but my feet were aching and my arms were like wet noodles. I’d lost a lot of muscle mass over the last few weeks!
His response was to pick me up and cradle me against his chest. My back and feet sighed with relief the loudest.
“How does this feel?” he asked. “My hold doesn’t aggravate your back, does it?”
“It’s perfect,” I said, adjusting Nadia’s carrier so she could still see out. I loved the way she watched the world.
The moment we stepped out of the room, Ithorum started speaking. “I explained the delay to Station Director Gorum. She wanted to send a medical team to assist, but I assured her it wasn’t outside normal human needs. Correct?”
Mazorium sounded a rumble of agreement. “Perfectly normal.”
“Good. With you carrying her, we can assume a more normal pace,” Ithorum said and set off at a pace that would’ve forced me to jog to keep up.
The station flew past as we moved from the shopping area, back through the hanging gardens, and deep into the administrative area. Everyone must’ve been warned in advance to keep their distance because the Talins we passed stood in doorways to watch us go by but didn’t come out into the corridor.
Finally, we came to a door with an insignia and something written in Talin glyphs. I expected a standard station director's office, large, full of personal decorations, and several stations for staff to work when necessary.
This wasn’t anything like that, well, except for being large.
All the furniture had been pushed against the far wall, and the floor was covered in a thick mat with pillows everywhere! I didn’t think I’d ever seen so many pillows in one place, not even in a store.
Had they collected every pillow in the station?
Then I realized they’d turned the office into a giant nest. It was such a ridiculous sight I almost giggled.
Three Talins sat in chairs in a semicircle at the center of the pillow madness. In front of them was an extra-high mound of pillows. They started purring the moment they saw me.
“Come in; set the human and her pup down here,” one of them said, pointing to a mound of pillows in front of her.
Mazorium stepped in and set me down on the indicated spot. I couldn’t help the laugh that burst out of me as I sank into the softness and lost sight of everyone.
I was in a pillow blackhole!
Mazorium quickly reached in and picked me back up. “Perhaps fewer pillows,” he said.
The three of them quickly tossed pillows aside until there were only two layers. When Mazorium set me down again, I didn’t disappear and was able to cross my legs, loosen the straps of the carrier, and pull Nadia free.