Chapter Eight Davix
We follow the new creatures as they retreat through the hallways until we reach a large, cylindrical chamber.
There, the creatures file through until only the leader creature is left.
It says some words which Zann doesn't understand and then seals a transparent door at one end.
At first, I think that we are being abandoned, but a few hours later the leader creature brings others to clean up what is left of Lianov.
I am grateful that we don't have to live with the stench of his remains. And the cleaning is not the last we see of the new creatures either. Several times a day, the leader creature returns to open the door and sit and talk. Sometimes it attempts to talk to one of us, but other times it appears to just talk to itself or to a flat, rectangular device that it holds in its hands. I do not understand its behavior. Zann is the only one of us with a hope of understanding it and he doesn’t, but it chatters away incessantly anyway.
Zann and Krish often sit and watch it and listen to it, but I am less interested in the creature than in my newfound freedom.
I take a good bit of time to explore the ship.
There is an abundance of edible food, but since we do not know what will happen next, we have been cautious about consuming too much at once.
Still, it is a welcome feeling to have my belly somewhat full, and I can feel myself recovering from the long, slow starvation.
It is also a welcome feeling to have freedom of movement for the first time since our capture.
We found a way to completely remove our chains – the device that the creatures used to cut the chains was taken away with them.
The skin on my wrists and ankles is healing slowly, and I run and climb throughout the ship to restore and rebuild my muscles.
In one chamber, I find a series of knobs and buttons that cause water to spray from many places in the chamber.
After my initial surprise, I have delighted in its use and the feeling of water against my skin even though the blood of the Lianov creature has long since been washed away.
Zann, Krish, and I have also taken the opportunity to sleep and rest when possible.
I do not trust the new creatures, and Zann agrees that it is safest for at least one of us to always be awake.
Unfortunately, sometimes my turn to be awake coincides with when the leader creature opens the transparent door and sits.
At least it does not chatter as much when Zann is not here.
It glances at me from where I glare at it at the opposite end of the chamber.
Although its appearance is strange to me, I am growing more accustomed to it.
While some of the new creatures closely resemble Alek in size and shape, the leader creature and some of the others are different.
To start, the leader is a tiny thing. It barely reaches Krish’s shoulders.
It is also oddly shaped. It is rounded above and below its midpoint, with prominent lumps on its chest. Instead of horns, it has long fur on the top of its head – something I failed to notice initially – which is often tied into a tail or knotted at the back of its head.
It is otherwise much like us as far as I can tell.
It is always hidden under coverings, though I have learned this is true for most of the creatures we have encountered since our capture.
It also has an odd but not unpleasant scent that differs ever so slightly from the other creatures.
Although I do not trust it, I must admit a grudging respect for it.
I am not sure what I expected to see when I grabbed its head and forced it to meet my eyes.
What I did see was fear and determination.
That is proof that it is not stupid, for it would be stupid not to fear us after what we did to the Lianov creature.
But the determination was unexpected and although I am generally uninterested in the creature, I can respect its courage.
“Davix.”
For a moment, my name is spoken so softly that I think I am imagining it.
I turn my head back towards the ship where we have lived freely for the last five days, searching for one of my brood brothers when I hear it again.
I whip my head around to see the leader creature staring at me intently.
It speaks words I do not understand and then repeats my name again. “Davix.” I just stare at it.
It points a finger to its chest and says something else, slowly and carefully. I tilt my head and listen. “Koh-REE-nah,” it says, pointing to itself.
“Davix,” it says pointing at me, and then it points to itself again.
“Co-rin-a,” it repeats, pointing to its chest. I do not know how it determined my name, but I think it is trying to use that knowledge to tell me its name.
Why it is telling me, when I have shown so little interest in it, baffles me.
The fact that I am incapable of speech or sound, whether it knows that fact, also irritates me.
I bare my teeth at it and stalk away in search of Zann.
If it wants to chatter, he can listen to it.
I find Zann and Krish curled up in a nest of blankets in what we assume was Lianov’s chambers based on its size and trappings compared to other rooms. The bed is large and luxurious.
It is almost too soft for my tastes, though I will sleep in it because it is where the others want to sleep.
I shake Zann’s shoulder gently, rousing him.
When his eyes blink open, I sign to him, “It said my name. The leader creature said my name.”
“It talked to you?” he asks softly, sitting up. Krish is still asleep. Zann glances down at him and then extricates himself from the nest we’ve built.
I nod. “It said my name,” I sign. “And I think it was telling me its name.”
“Corrina,” Zann replies.
I glare at him. “You can talk to it? Understand it?”
Zann motions me towards the bathing chamber connected to this room and pushes a button to close the door. “It’s been talking to us the whole time. You know that.”
“But you understand it now?” I ask.
“I am starting to understand words sometimes,” Zann replies.
“I can’t really understand it. Not yet. But sometimes, I catch individual words.
” He makes the hand sign for words to emphasize his point.
“And Krish and I have tried to communicate with it more in the last day, including telling it our names.”
“You told it my name?” I sign accusingly.
“We did not,” Zann says, placing a large hand against my chest. “It is clever though and may have figured it out on its own.” He looks thoughtful. “We try to speak quietly when it is around because it can understand us, but it listens when it can.”
“I don't trust it,” I sign.
Zann nods his head. “I don’t know that I trust it either.
But it set us free and has not threatened us in any way.
Krish is,” he pauses and glances back at the door which remains closed.
“Krish is inquisitive. You know this. He sees it, and this whole,” Zann gestures around himself to the ship, “capture as an adventure.”
“It is a bad adventure.”
“Yes, it is. Or was. But what is happening now is, well, is not bad. At least for now.” I frown and start to respond, but Zann grabs my hands gently.
“It doesn’t know that I am starting to understand it.
Maybe we will be able to learn something if it doesn’t know I understand.
But the more I listen to it, the more I understand.
I think it is the chip,” he taps the scarred hole at the base of his right ear. “It is learning, I think.”
“After you learn its language, what next?”
“I don’t know. It will depend on what I can learn,” he says. I nod begrudgingly. “Come,” he says, changing the subject abruptly. “Show me how to use this bathing chamber. The last time I tried, I almost froze.”