Barbarian Alien(57)

The ‘home’ caves aren’t what I’m expecting. I guess I was thinking it’d be something super primitive, much like the cave I shared with Raahosh, but the cave itself looks like the hollowed out inside of a donut. If this isn’t man-made, I’ll eat my leather shirt. The doors to each individual cave are perfectly rounded, a leather curtain drawn over the entrance. The center of the cave is warm and almost humid, and there’s a bright blue pool of water in the center that smells faintly of sulfur. A baby alien with tiny horns and bright blue skin splashes on the steps, clinging to what must be a female alien. She’s tall and brawny and just as covered in bumpy plates as Raahosh and the men are, which looks almost overwhelming on her female face.

It’s weird, because there are people everywhere, and I’m quickly overwhelmed by the sensation of crowding. There’s more people playing near the water, and someone’s weaving baskets in the distance. I hear the chatter of many voices, and everywhere I look, there are people. I see the freckled girl from the tubes leaning over a stewpot as someone tries to instruct her on how to cook. Over off to one side, the weepy one – Ariana – is cuddled in the lap of another alien. She doesn’t look all that weepy to me.

“Wow, this is so…” I pause, unable to think of a snappy comeback for once.

“It’s great, isn’t it?” Georgie’s arm goes around my waist. “They’ve really made room for us here. The hunters have been going out and spending a lot more time on the trails because there’s so many more mouths to feed. And Kashrem’s tanning all the hides he can because he needs the leather for us, and they’ve given us caves, and it’s all so wonderful.” Georgie gushes as she leads me inside.

It is nice of them, but all I see are people everywhere. A lot of people. It’s a nice living space, but it’s also noisy with laughter. I kind of miss my quiet cave with Raahosh. It is primitive, but cozy. It’s not like there’s exactly a shopping mall here anyhow. Fact is, my life changed completely and utterly the day that the Little Green Men kidnapped me from my apartment and stole me into outer space.

Georgie steers me through the caverns, smiling at people as they find an excuse to come out and stare. I guess Raahosh’s kidnapping of me is pretty scandalous, though I’m getting annoyed with all the whispering. He did what he had to do and I don’t regret it. I’m guessing we’re going to be grist for the gossip mill for a while, though. It’s such a small community that I’m sure everyone’s going to be in our business.

I look for Raahosh, but he’s not around. Vektal’s ahead, talking to a pair of elderly aliens with long, white hair and frowns on their faces. Vektal looks over at Georgie and me, and nods.

“Come on,” Georgie says, steering me into a side cave. “Let’s get you checked out by the healer.”

“I’m fine,” I protest, but Georgie’s stubborn. She won’t take no for an answer, so I give up and let her lead me into one of the covered grottos.

There’s a woman inside, one of the tall, strong-looking alien women. She has curling horns and long, flowing dark hair. Her belly is round and obviously pregnant, and her eyes glow brightly in her face. She says something in the alien tongue, her voice sweet.

I shake my head. “I don’t speak Na’vi.”

Georgie snickers and bats my arm. “Be nice, Liz. This is Maylak. She’s the tribe’s healer.”

“Howdy,” I say.

Maylak puts her hands out and smiles at me. “Leezh?”

“Close enough.” I put my hands in hers. “But tell her, Georgie, that I feel fine. Raahosh took really good care of me. He’s great.”

Georgie’s brows draw together as if she doesn’t quite believe me. “He kidnapped you, Liz. You don’t have to defend him.”

“Dude, the Little Green Men kidnapped me too, and you don’t see me singing their praises.” I give Maylak’s hands another squeeze. “I’m telling you, Raahosh is fine. We’re all mated and shit. So go on and tell the healer that I’m cool.” I love Georgie for saving us, but I’m starting to get annoyed that no one seems to believe me when I say I’m fine with Raahosh. When she hesitates again, I say, “Do I look like I’ve been browbeaten into submission?”

She chuckles. “I think you would talk anyone to death that tried.”

“Exactly!”

Georgie looks over at Maylak and speaks the fluid alien language. I watch their faces as they speak, but I’m unhappy that I don’t know the words. Georgie knows them because she got an info dump from the spaceship crashed somewhere around here that Raahosh’s people came from. Raahosh can speak English for the same reason, but I haven’t had the info dump, so I’m out of the loop. And I’m not a fan of being out of the loop.