Captured (13 page)

Ekkatt’s eyebrows lifted.
 
“There was no
blowing
involved.
 
You did not
blow
, you sucked, and you licked.
 
I think this
blow job
is a misnomer.”

Mari’s smile was wide. “Yes.
 
I sucked your cock, and I would say it was…um…one of the more memorable experiences of my life.
 
You…um…you made a big impression on me.”

Ekkatt must have understood her joke, because he threw his head back and laughed deep and throaty.
 
“I am bigger than your human males,” he said, his chest more than a bit puffed out with machismo.

“You are indeed,” Mari murmured.
 
She sat across from him at the small table. He served her a plate that contained a cooked grain similar in texture to Qinoa, a bowl with a soup of vegetables and the amino acid broth, and fresh fruit.
 
While reaching for another plate Mari discovered something similar to cheddar cheese, but since she hadn’t seen any cows she assumed it might be some sort of fermented protein paste.
 
Starving, Mari cleaned her plate.
 
Ekkatt offered her more, but she declined.
 
She wondered aloud how he managed to get enough calories with his vegetarian diet.

“I eat far more than you.
 
You have merely been too sick to notice.”
 
He pointed at her.
 
“You must eat more.
 
You have lost flesh, from the flight and the fever.”

“Yes,” replied Mari, “I know, but Ekkatt, on my planet, I am accustomed to exercise.
 
I am active.
 
I haven’t been active here…for reasons which are obvious, but I need activity to stay healthy and regain my appetite.
 
Would you mind if I went for a walk this afternoon?”

“Into the mountains?”

“Yes, I want to see your mountains and your birds, if you have any, your wildlife, and maybe a giant durra, but not too close.”

Ekkatt snorted.

“Ekkatt, I want some fresh air. I need to use my own two feet.”

“Your two feet are bare.
 
You cannot hike over the rocks on bare feet.”

“Well, there must be something I can do, other than just sit here.
 
Do you have a sewing kit?”

“I do not know this term.”

“If you have supplies, a pair of scissors, a needle, thread, I can make my own clothes, by cutting apart some of your old clothes or a blanket, anything.
 
Something that fits would be nice.”
 
Mari tugged at the hem of Ekkatt’s shirt.
 
“I can’t wear your clothes forever.”

Ekkatt leaned back in his chair.
 
“For you to be properly clothed, requires a flight to a settlement and I’m reluctant to leave you alone again.”

“You can’t take me with you, can you?”
 

“No.
 
The danger to both of us is too great.
 
You are safer here.
 
Very few men know of this cabin and even fewer have reason to come here.”

“What about women?
 
Do any women know of this cabin?”

“There are no women.”

“No women on your planet?”
 

“There are no women who would come here.
 
Women do not travel alone.
 
They are precious.
 
We do not leave our women unprotected.”

“You said something like that before, on the ship.
 
I’m not sure I understand.”
 
When Ekkatt didn’t answer, Mari asked, “Why don’t you have a woman?
 
I’ve been wondering because you are a very strong, intelligent, brave, generous, and kind man.
 
Why don’t you have a woman?
 
Or do you?”
 

“I am not…I do not qualify for a mate.”

“Why the hell not?”

“On my planet, there are many more men than women.
 
The women are mated with the most promising males, those who can provide the most protection, the most…what would you call them?
 
Material possessions.”

“And you can’t provide those things?”

Ekkatt seemed to hesitate.
 
“I can.”

Mari had an epiphany.
 
“It’s your job, isn’t it?
 
You come into contact with insentient species, sub-humans, livestock.
 
You are not considered a catch. Is that it?
 
Full disclosure, Ekkatt.
 
I demand full disclosure.
 
Why don’t you have a mate?”

“What is this
full disclosure
?”

“It means I want the truth.
 
Tell me why are there more men than women on your planet, and explain the reason you don’t have a woman.”

“I have a woman,” said Ekkatt.

“Well, where is she?”

Ekkatt rose from his seat.
 
He knelt in front of Mari and laid his hands on her thighs.
 
“Here.
 
She is right here.”

Mari’s eyes filled with tears.
 
She lowered her head to his and stroked his thick hair.
 
“Ekkatt,” Mari whispered in his ear, “where are your women?”

“Dead,” he hissed.
 
“They are dead.”

“What…what happened?”

Ekkatt stood and pulled Mari up with him.
 
“Come, little human, let us take your walk.”

Chapter 11

Ekkatt wrapped Mari in a blanket to keep her warm for the hike to the top of the ridge.
 
She stood beside him, unflinching on the edge of a precipice, with her hair blowing in the strong wind.
 
The human was small and slender, with pale skin and green eyes, high cheekbones and a determined little chin.
 
She possessed perfect teeth and expressive lush lips that were capable of giving him much pleasure.
 
And the long, shining red hair.
 
Ekkatt decided that of the many things he had seen in his years of travel, this woman was the most beautiful of all

“I trained on the second moon,” Ekkatt began.
 
He pointed toward the horizon where a pale crescent moon rose in an equally pale blue sky.
 
“There is a facility on the moon, a school for pilots, navigators, engineers.”

“When were you there?”

“Twenty-five years ago.”

Mari looked at him and squinted.
 
“How old are you, Ekkatt?”

“Forty-five of my years.”

“Damn.
 
You don’t look a day over thirty.”

“We are a long-lived race.
 
The life-span of my people is over one hundred years.
 
How old are you, Mari?”

“Twenty-six.”

“Young.
 
No wonder you are so enthusiastic when we…fuck.”
 
Ekkatt snorted when Mari punched him in the arm.

“Training.
 
Second moon.
 
Get on with your story,” she said, irritation sharp in her voice.

Ekkatt sighed.
 
“I was on the second moon when the first plague struck my planet.”

“Plague?
 
Like the Black Death?
 
The Bubonic Plague?
 
What plague?”

“A plague from Earth, from the Earthers we harvested.
 
From the…Mari…I am sorry to tell you…from the children.”

Mari’s hands flew to her mouth. “Oh, my God, you took children?
 
Oh, my God, Ekkatt…”
 

“I did not take children.
 
Mari, I would not have harvested children.
 
In any case, the importation of children was outlawed afterwards.
 
The plague struck first here, and then spread to the few planets that had already made their purchases.
 
But here it was the worst.
 
My planet was quarantined for several years, until the disease had run its course, and a…what you call a vaccine was developed.”
 
Ekkatt lifted his shirt and showed Mari a small round scar on his lower back.
 

“Small pox,” Mari said in a hushed voice.
 
“The plague was small pox.”
 
She pulled up the sleeve of Ekkatt’s oversized shirt and showed him her vaccination scar.
 
Ekkatt studied it.
 
The scars were exactly the same.
 
“Small pox has been eradicated on my planet,” Mari explained.
 
“We had a campaign to vaccinate every person in the entire world.
 
On the entire planet.
 

“I didn’t really need to be immunized, but because my family traveled so much, to Africa and Asia, and because my father was in the military…was a warrior, we all received the vaccine, as a precaution.
 

“Ekkatt, small pox wiped out entire nations in its time on earth.
 
In our history…I don’t know exactly how to explain this…We are many people sharing one planet.
 
We are different tribes, in a sense.
 
You know that we are not exactly alike.
 
Hundreds of years ago, when colonists came from what we refer to as the
Old World
to the
New World
, they brought the small pox virus with them.
 
The tribes who inhabited the New World had no immunity to small pox, like your people.
 

“Entire villages, entire tribes were wiped out, decimated.
 
In fact, the army used the disease as a weapon.
 
They would contaminate blankets with the disease, and then give them to the natives, and of course the disease would spread.
 
It was an early form of germ warfare.
 
Not the most shining moment in our history, I’m afraid.
 
So that’s what happened here?
 
You were infected by small pox?”

“We call it
astaei patah, blood face
.
 
I was not here to see, but I am told that the people bled from their faces, from the sores.
 
My mother, my sister, and my betrothed were among the first to die.
 
My father was a pilot, so he came in contact with many people.
 
One of those people must have infected him.
 
He and my brother survived.
 
They are scarred, but they live.
 
Thousands, hundreds of thousands of people died that year.
 
Their bodies were burned and entire cities were razed to the ground.
 

“The following spring brought the Wind of Death, the paralytic illness that struck the young.
 
Many of those who became ill could not breathe and they died quickly.
 
Those who recovered could not walk.
 
My brother was stricken.
 
He walks with two sticks.
 
My father cares for him in our family compound.
 
I send them money to help with the care.”

“The money you make harvesting?”
 
Mari interrupted.

“Yes,” admitted Ekkatt.
 
“I am paid very well.
 
I visit my father and my brother, but I choose to live here in isolation.
 
If I am not flying out immediately, I come here for a period of time, to make certain I am not sick.
 
I have no wish to visit any additional plagues upon my people.”