Ice Planet Holiday (3 page)

Uncomfortable silence falls. No one moves. I’m not sure anyone knows what to do.

I feel like I should say more. After a moment, I suck in a breath, steel myself, and meet his gaze. “We didn’t resonate. I don’t want to be with you. We’re done. I’m not yours. You can leave now.”

He stares at me with hard eyes, as if waiting for me to crumble and change my mind. Waiting for me to meekly get my things and follow behind him like I have for the past year.

I don’t.

Megan’s mate, Cashol, steps forward and puts a hand on Bek’s shoulder. “Come. Let’s leave this for another day.”

Bek glares at me a moment longer, then turns and storms away. Tiffany rubs my back, offering silent support.

And just like that, I feel like I can breathe again.

S
omething tickles my nose
, and I swipe at it, yawning as I burrow further under the furs. The sled isn’t the worst place to sleep, not by a long shot. The sides are curved and so I roll into the middle, which makes it perfect for curling up with a few pillows and napping.

Oh, who am I kidding? Nap? I’ve slept the entire trip. I’ve woken up once or twice to pee, but the rest of the time? Nap upon nap upon nap. My blankets have shifted, though, and my face is cold, so I try to press it under the furs again.

The thing tickles my nose once more.

I crack an eye open and stare at the sad, wilted plant touching my cheek. “What the fuck is that?”

From where he holds the twig of sickly-colored greenery, Vektal grins. “It is not poison! For the celebration. Now you will shower me with kisses, yes?”

I snort giggle to an upright position. “Something like that.”

He gives me a wicked grin. “I will save my prize for later. For now, we are close to the ancestors’ cave. Do you want to walk for a few?”

I yawn and stretch my legs, and then decide that I do. With his help, I get up from the sled and peer around. Sure enough, there’s the solid, rounded hill of snow that covers the centuries-old spaceship that Vektal’s ancestors arrived in. The cave ‘mouth’ is open, and the snow at the front is churned, which tells me that someone’s been hunting recently. Vektal reaches for my hand and I link my four fingers with his three as we head toward it.

It’s a short walk, and Vektal leaves the sled outside. I step into the ship, noticing that the debris has been cleaned out and swept from the front halls. In the distance, I can hear the clatter of metallic objects and the low murmur of voices. A baby wails, then is quickly silenced again.

They don’t know we’re here yet. I nudge Vektal. “We should call out to them.” I have mental images of Harlow wielding a saw of some kind and then dropping it on her foot, all because we startle her.

Vektal cups his free hand to his mouth. “Rukh! Harlow! We have come!”

I wince as his booming voice reverberates off of the ship’s narrow walls. “Thanks, babe.”

Rukh emerges down one of the long halls a moment later, patting a tiny baby on one shoulder. He lifts his chin at us in acknowledgment. “They are here, Har-loh,” he calls out, voice thickly accented. “You are right.”

We head toward them and I hear the crash of metal, and Harlow’s voice yelling something. My fingers itch to hold tiny Rukhar and I waddle forward, putting my arms out. “He’s getting so big now!” He’s still tiny as heck, but even a few weeks has made a difference.

Rukh gives me a wary look, holding his son close. After a moment, he reluctantly hands him over. I’m not offended. Rukh’s still so new to people (other than Harlow) that I don’t blame him for being wary. I take the baby from him as Vektal touches his shoulder in greeting.

Rukhar looks much like Raashel, but different. He’s got a tail, bluish skin, and he’s a lot tinier. He’s a preemie, though, and I expect that. He’s filled out since I last saw him and looks so good. His small face screws up at the sight of me and he bellows loudly, breaking into an angry cry.

Harlow emerges from deeper in the ship a moment later, a filthy leather apron over her tunic. She’s got grease smudges on her face and her bright red hair is pulled into a messy bun on top of her head. She has metal bar that almost looks like a wrench in her hands. Her eyes widen. “What are you guys doing here? Is something wrong?”

I jiggle Rukhar, trying to ignore the fact that he’s screaming at the sight of my face. My own baby kicks me in the girl parts again, and I wince. “Nothing’s wrong.”

“We are having no-poison day!” my mate proudly declares. “Georgie has asked for it.”

Harlow’s brows draw together and she gives me a confused look. “Do what?”

“Christmas,” I explain to her. “The man hasn’t grasped the concept of mistletoe yet.” I reluctantly hand her baby over to her when he continues to scream, and she tucks him under her apron to feed. “We’re going to have a holiday. There’s no name for it yet. Just a quasi-Christmas Thanksgiving get together. To celebrate, um, stuff. And we want everyone to be there.”

“It sounds like fun,” she says, nibbling on her lip. She glances over at her mate. He’s not exactly good with people. I think that’s one reason why they were so quick to rush off to the ancestor caves once Harlow was able to travel. “The timing is good, too.”

“Are you done?” I ask. I know she’s been working on a stone cutter to try and increase our living quarters so we don’t have to split the tribe. It’s obsessed her since she came back.

Her face brightens and she nods. With one arm holding her baby to her breast, she waves me into her work area. “Let me show you!”

I follow her in and the room is a mess of metal parts. One of the walls has been torn open, wires hanging from a broken panel. It looks like she’s been scavenging, and there are metal bits and unexplainable parts over every flat surface in the room. In one corner, their furs are thrown together in a bed.

“Wow,” I say after a moment. “You’ve been busy.”

“Not really,” she tells me, pushing aside a few things and then pulling out a thin, rustling film that she spreads on a table. “The computer spits out all the information I need. I just put it together like a big jigsaw puzzle.” The baby at her chest hiccups, and she automatically hands him over to Rukh. The big sa-khui male takes the baby and begins to burp him, while Harlow closes her dress and then goes back to the chart. She gestures at one corner. “I’m almost done with this last part here. If I work through the night, I’m pretty sure I can get it done, and then we can all head back and try it out.”

“It works? Really?”

“Well, the laser part of it works.” She thumbs a gesture over a shoulder and I see a big burned hole near the ceiling. Oh. “I’m working on something that will lock it into place because right now it’s a wee bit…forceful.” She shrugs. “Worse comes to worst, we can strap it to one of the big guys and let ‘em rip in an area we know is safe.”

“Er, how do we know an area is safe?”

She snaps her fingers and rushes over to another table, picking up something that looks like a lunchbox studded with wires. “I made this!”

I study it for a moment, but I still don’t know what it is. “And what is that?”

“Sonar! It works like a stud finder.” She flips a switch and the thing whines, high pitched. “When we put this against a cave wall, it’ll send out electric pulses to determine if the wall is solid or if it’s hollow. If we can find some hollow areas behind the walls, it’ll be a lot easier to make the cave bigger. I don’t know how long the cutter will last.”

I’m impressed. “And you made all this?”

“Well, it’s just a matter of trying to make tools we had at home.” She blinks like it’s no big deal. “It won’t do any good if the walls of the cave are solid, but with all the water and melt activity here? I bet they’re not.”

“Okay, then. I’ll take your word for it.”

“So tell me more about the holiday?” she asks, turning off the whining ‘finder’ and setting it down. “Is there going to be cake?”

I groan at the thought. “I wish. I don’t think this planet has anything sweet at all.”

Harlow’s eyes narrow and she gives me a sly grin. “Just because we don’t know about anything doesn’t mean the computer doesn’t.”

The tribal cave is in an absolute flurry of preparations. Josie has put herself in charge of decorations, and she’s picked out the saddest-looking pink flimsy tree for the center of the cave. Or close to the center, since the bathing pool is there. She’s put a white-fur tree skirt around it and has enlisted the children - Farli, Esha, and Sessah - into helping her make bone ornament decorations. I’ve been stringing dried seeds from the
ja-feh
plant onto a line of sinew because they’re pretty colors even if they do taste terrible. The tree’s going to clack like nobody’s business if a stiff breeze gets into the cavern, but it’s about the spirit of things more than how pretty it is.

While the humans make decorations, the men hunt and everyone works secretly on gifts. The sa-khui are intrigued by the thought of giving each other furtive presents, and you can’t walk through the main cavern without seeing someone scramble to hide something they’re working on.

I do my best not to hide in Megan and Cashol’s cave. For one, I’m tired of hiding. And there’re so many people around that I can’t help but be caught up in their happiness. Bek goes out and hunts early in the mornings and I’m left - happily - to myself. He hasn’t confronted me, but I know the day is coming.

Vektal, Georgie, Harlow, and Harlow’s strange mate Rukh return a day or two later and there’re more greetings and happiness, even though Harlow’s poor mate looks as if he wants to run away from all the noisy, excited people. I get to hold Harlow’s baby Rukhar while she goes through the cave with a square ‘finder’ and makes marks on a ‘schematic’ she’s drawn on a dvisti hide. She’s found several places to widen the cavern, but doesn’t want to do it with the caves full because it makes a lot of noise and a lot of smoke. Vektal has instructed her to wait until after Not-Poison Day. The strange holiday name is sticking, even though Georgie makes exasperated noises every time someone says it.

Late that night, Josie and I decide to make colorful paper chains. There’s a plant that grows near the cave that releases papery sheaves of bark, and I paint them with green dye and red dye, both made from berries. Josie takes each one as it dries, turns it into a loop, and then sews it onto the chain. We want to string them around the doors to add to the festivity, plus it gives us something to do with our hands. Josie, Tiffany, and I are the only ones that don’t really have a mate or a new family to care for, so there’re no presents to be made. We’ve agreed not to give each other things, and are focusing on holiday decor instead.

I’ve just finished dabbing a bark-sheaf to a bright green shade when I feel someone stand behind me. “Claire. We must talk.”

Bek. My stomach shrivels and my entire body freezes. I hunch my shoulders and don’t get up. He can’t do anything while I’m sitting in the main cavern, other than spit insults at me. Josie’s eyes are wide as she looks at me, and I know it’s going to be all over the caves in the morning, because Josie’s a terrible gossip along with being a motormouth. “I’m busy,” I say after a moment.

He throws something at me, and I blink at the pile of crushed leaves that land in my lap.

“Um, what’s this?” I have to ask. I can’t figure it out.

“That is your poison for a kiss,” he says, voice surly. “Vektal says a male that presents his woman with leaves will receive a kiss from her.”

I swat the leaves off of my lap. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I’m not going to kiss you. I’m not your woman. I don’t want to be with you, and I don’t want to talk to you right now. Just leave me alone.”

“We need to talk. You belong to me.”

“There’s nothing to say, and
no
, I don’t!” My courage is starting to fail because he’s not backing down at all. It’s hard to be strong, especially when it’d be so much easier to just cave and go meekly back to his furs. I get to my feet and brush off my lap. Even though I’ve told myself I don’t want to hide in the caves, that’s the only place I know he won’t follow me.

I head toward Megan’s cave when he grabs me by the elbow and starts to drag me along with him. His hand is big and his grip is tight, and I can’t pull free.

“No,” I hiss, but he ignores it and steers me toward his cave. I’m not in the mood to be yelled at for the next hour or two. I know if he berates me enough, I’ll cave. I’m not strong, not like Georgie.

“Um?” Josie says in the background, a question in her voice.

“Do not interfere,” Bek snarls back at her, and shoves me toward his cave.

I drag my feet, trying to pull myself free. Just as I’m about to be pushed into the cave, someone emerges from the next cave over. It’s Ereven, shrugging on a thick fur cloak. He looks surprised to see me and Bek, and then pauses.

I avert my face, ashamed that he’s going to see me bullied by Bek.

“Are you ready for our walk, Claire?” Ereven asks.

I look over at him, surprised. Ereven’s expression is calm, patient. He doesn’t move, though. He doesn’t blink when Bek snarls in irritation, either. “Yes,” I blurt out. “Yes, I am.”

“Good,” he says, and moves in and gently wrests my arm from Bek’s grasp. For a moment, I think they’ll fight, but Bek stands down and storms his way into his cave. Ereven’s grip is loose on my arm as he guides me toward the cave mouth. “Come, then.”

The urge to flee into my bunk is overwhelming. I’ve never spent time with Ereven. I don’t know him more than a casual passing in a group. Why’s he helping me out? But he’s helped me, and I don’t want to repay his kindness with cowardice, so I nod and go outside with him.

Just a few steps into the night air and it’s bitterly cold. A light snow is falling - when is it not? - and I’m not dressed for the weather. My simple leather tunic is lightweight, as are my leggings. I don’t want to flee inside, so I tell my cootie to suck it up.

As if he can read my thoughts, Ereven shrugs off his heavy cloak and settles it on my shoulders. His eyes glow blue in the darkness. “Better?”

It smells like smoke and leather and its owner. It’s kind of nice. I snuggle deeper down into it. “Yes, thank you.”

We walk out into the night snow, feet crunching in the fresh powder. It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust to the dark, but both the Big Moon and the Little Moon are out, and I can soon see fairly well in the dark. His steps are slow and unhurried, and I do my best to match my smaller stride to him.

He’s quiet. Not in a bad way, but as if he’s not in a rush to give his opinions…unlike Bek. It’s nice, because I’m rather quiet myself, and being around Bek just made me retreat further into my shell. “Thank you,” I say after a moment. “For saving me back there.”

Ereven nods slowly. “Does he hurt you? Say the word and I will speak to Vektal about his actions.”

“No. He’s just…angry. I told him we’re not together anymore. Actually, I don’t think we’ve been together for a long time, but he doesn’t like to believe it.” My breath huffs out into a frozen puff of laughter.