Dawnwind 1: Last Man Standing (18 page)

He blinked.
 
“Um.
 
No?”

“Liar.”
 
She stroked the bridge of her nose again.
 
“Remember?
 
I have a very sensitive sense of smell.
 
I can tell that you’re uneasy.”

He fidgeted.
 
“It’s not unease, Uqqex.
 
Not entirely.”

The Zerraxi woman studied him for a second.
 
“Ah.
 
You’re attracted to me.”

“What? No! I mean. . . .”

She glared at him.
 
“You should choose your next words very carefully.”

“It’s not my virtue that I’m worried about.”

“Ah! So you are attracted to me.”

“Uqqex, it’s been over six years since I’ve had sex with anyone.
 
At this point, trees are starting to look attractive to me.”

“I sincerely hope that last statement was exaggeration.”

“It was,” said Epcott.
 
“Mostly.”

“Has it really been that long?”

He shrugged.
 
“About that.
 
It’s been four years since I arrived on Juni and I was alone on Earth for about a year.
 
Before that, well, dating wasn’t a priority for anyone with the plague and all.”

“I had no idea.”
 

He shrugged.

“And you haven’t been with anyone since you came to Juni?”

“No.”

“I thought you and Olu. . . .”

Epcott burst into laughter.
 
“That would be like having sex with my mother, Uqqex!”

“But you must have had offers.”

He shrugged again.
 
“Sure, from random strangers.
 
Xenophiles.”
 
His expression was one of withering contempt.

“Ah.
 
You’re a romantic.”

“I don’t know if I would say that, but. . . .”

“Do you want to have sex with me, John?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I’m too messed up to get involved in a relationship right now.”

She sighed.
 
“I didn’t ask if you wanted to have a relationship.
 
I asked if you wanted to have sex.
 
There is a difference, you know.”

He hesitated.
 
“I’ve never been comfortable with casual flings.”

“Definitely a romantic,” said Uqqex. “And a terrible liar.”

“Er...”

Leaning forward, she kissed his cheek.
 
“Sleep on the floor if you want, but you don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

As she drew back, Epcott pressed his hand to his cheek.
 
“Um.”

“But, just so you know, when I asked how you wanted to sleep, I meant did you want the right side of the bed or the left.
 
I wasn’t thinking about sex.”

“Oh.”

She stood and slithered out of her clothes.
 
John watched as Uqqex pulled the covers back and slid beneath them.

“Good night.”

She turned on her side, putting her back to him.
 
Her shoulders were dark, and Epcott noticed the telltale white scars marring her flesh.
 
For a few moments, he sat there, frowning, before he undressed and slid into bed next to her.
 

She chuckled and reached for his hand, patted it.
 
“There.
 
See?
 
Not hard at all.”

“Give it time,” muttered Epcott.

Uqqex laughed, and snuggled deeper beneath the covers.

* * * * *

 
The next morning, Uqqex woke alone.
 
Glancing at the wallscreen, she saw sunlight spilling through the knotlimbs.
 
Yawning, she pushed aside the bedclothes and took a deep breath.
 
Her nose was always most sensitive upon first waking, so Uqqex easily detected the scent of distressed Junian.
 
 
Curious, she climbed out of bed, and padded to the door.
 
Poking her head out, she saw Sef and Tijo sitting at the bar.
 
Mother and child were nibbling on fruit.
 
There was no sign of Kaz or Epcott.

Uqqex gathered up a fresh dress, and then availed herself of the wastechamber and the wetchamber.
 
Her morning ablutions taken care of, she padded into the daychamber.
 
Sef offered her a fleeting smile.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning,” said Uqqex.
 
“How did you sleep?”

“Fine.
 
Mister Epcott and Kaz are at the airfield.”

Uqqex nodded.
 
“Have the peacekeepers arrived?”

The subtle tang of anxiety rolling off Sef became much more potent.
 
“No, not yet.”
 
She fiddled with the fruit plate on the counter.
 
“Would you like some breakfast?”

“I’m not a morning eater.”
 

Uqqex leaned against the counter and smiled, carefully, at the child.
 
Junian children tended to get unnerved if she smiled too widely and showed off her sharp canines.
 

“It looks like your boy is feeling better today.”

Sef nodded, and stroked Tijo’s cheek.
 
“Yes.
 
I think it was the sleepwine.”

Tijo said nothing, just continued to work his way through a large, red fruit.
 
He watched Uqqex with wide, black eyes.

“He looks just like you.”

“Do you think?” Sef smiled, sat a little straighter.
 
“Kaz thinks he looks more like him.”

Uqqex blinked.
 
“Kaz?
 
Your house-brother?”

Sef’s smile evaporated and her scent changed again, becoming complex. “No! No, of course not!
 
I meant. . . .”

“It’s all right,” said Uqqex.
 
She took the young woman’s hands.
 
Sef’s fingers were flushed with blood; her face had gone deathly pale.
 
“I won’t tell.”

Convulsively, Sef clutched at Uqqex’s hands.
 
“Please....please...don’t....”

Her pleas were interrupted by the return of Kaz and Epcott.
 
Both men wore warmsuits and were carrying luggage.
 
They deposited the bags in the foyer, and then began to strip out of the suits.

“Morning, Uqqex,” said John, removing his suit’s transparent helmet.
 
“You missed all the excitement.”

“Oh?”

“Some time last night the transport’s impeller core overloaded.
 
The thing exploded like a bomb.”

“There was debris everywhere,” said Kaz.
 
He removed his helmet, tucked it under his arm.
 
“We were lucky to find our luggage.”
 
He noticed Sef’s bloodshot eyes and frowned.
 
“What’s the matter?”

“It’s nothing.”
 
Uqqex smiled.
 
“Just some lingering nerves from last night.
 
That’s all.”

Kaz drew Sef into a warm embrace.
 
“It’s alright, Sef.
 
We’re fine.
 
We’re all fine.”

John glanced at Uqqex, who kept her expression neutral.
 
Shrugging, the human put away his helmet.
 

“The peacekeepers commed me early this morning,” he reported.
 
“They should be out here with a cleanup crew soon, to haul the transport away.”

Kaz looked uneasy.
 
“I don’t see why the peacekeepers are interested in this.”

“Standard procedure, I think,” said John.
 
“You did broadcast an emergency signal, and they’ll want to talk to you, find out what happened with your flight plan.”

“But, that was most likely a fault with the Transport Authority’s system,” protested Kaz.

“Even more reason for them to talk to you.
 
So they can track the fault and make sure it’s corrected.”

“But . . . .!”

John frowned at the youth.
 
“Is there something you’re not telling us, Kaz?”

Kaz hesitated, looked at his house-sister.
 

Sef sighed, sagged on the barstool.
 
“Oh sweet pantheon.
 
You might as well tell him, Kaz.
 
Before the peacekeepers get here.”

“Tell me what?” asked John.

Walking to Sef, Kaz rubbed her back.
 
“We stole the transport.”

“Why?” asked John, his frown deepening.

“It was the only way we could get to Timis Dov,” said Sef.
 
She wiped her eyes.

“You couldn’t have caught a passenger transport?”

“No,” said Kaz.
 
“We couldn’t.”

“Why not?”

Kaz and Sef exchanged weary looks.

“Our situation is . . . complex,” said Kaz.

“I imagine it’ll get even more complex when the peacekeepers show up,” said John.
 
“I’m not sure what the penalty is for stealing a transport, but. . . .”

“I’d rather go to a rehab center than back to White Hill,” said Sef.

John turned to Uqqex.
 
“Do you know what’s going on here?
 
Because I’m completely lost.”

“We were leaving our family,” said Kaz.
 
“Moving to Timis Dov, to stay with our Uncle Tez.”

“Okay, but why did you have to steal a transport to do that?”

“Our family refused to let us go,” said Sef.
 
She looked at her son, sitting with fruit juice smeared across his face, watching the adults talk.
 
Taking a deep breath, she looked at Epcott and said, “Tijo is Kaz’s son.”

Uqqex watched Kaz tense, but John’s reaction surprised the youth.
 
The human glanced at Tijo, looked at Kaz, and said, “So?”

Sev stared.
 
Kaz let loose a burst of nervous laughter.
 
John looked, questioningly, at Uqqex.

“Sef and Kaz are house-siblings,” said Uqqex.

“I don’t get it.
 
What’s the problem?”
 
He looked at Sef.
 
“The two of you aren’t related by blood.
 
Right?”

“No,” said Sef.
 
“We’re not related by blood, but that doesn’t matter.”
 
She looked away, her face hardening.
 
“Our relationship is considered perverse.”

“This must be one of those cultural things that no one talks about,” said John.
 
“Because I don’t see the problem.”

“It’s Tijo,” said Uqqex, softly.
 
“Most Junians would consider his conception to be incestuous.
 
His parents would be looked upon as deviants.”

“I am never going to get my head around these people,” said John.
 
“So, your relationship is a crime?”

“It’s a sin against the gods,” said Kaz.
 
“At least, that’s what our family thinks.”

“Ah.” John nodded.
 
“I think I’m beginning to see.
 
So, what does this have to do with you stealing the transport?”

“Kaz and I want to live as spouses,” said Sef.
 
“Publicly.
 
Our family wouldn’t hear of it.
 
They said it would be shameful, an affront to the gods.
 
An embarrassment to them.”