Our Treasure

by S M Matthews

  Lam speaks to me, “I think he was right, there seems to be a direct link between being really smart and really unlucky. It’s not enough to be suspicious unless you’re specifically looking for it. I’ve got a historian…a molecular biologist within days of a historical genealogist. Then another historian.” He makes a sharp sound and his ears fold completely down.

  “What?” I ask him.

  “The historian was female; she had her cub with her. That’s awful.”

  I watch him as he skim-reads further, thinking. It’s a horrible thing to happen to any family, and if I’d seen that on the news about a woman and her child I’d have had the same reaction. They certainly have empathy the way that we do.

  I listen as he continues.

  “Here’s another; a museum curator. All accidental deaths. They are spread out enough over the years that unless you were specifically looking for this, you’d never find it. And I don’t even have the full record, ours is probably quite out of date. Plus considering records that might have been Council sealed if it has been investigated or whatever. There could be more.” He sits back in his chair, thinking.

  “Right…so what are you going to do about that?”

  “Do? I’m going to do a really thorough job of forgetting the whole thing. Whatever this is it is nothing to do with us, and I would like to keep it that way.”

  “But we have to assume that whatever it is, it has something to do with humans? So that means it does have something to do with us.”

  He nods, agreeing with me, “and hopefully soon enough the only human I’ll have anything to do with, is you. As far as I am concerned, we keep you secret, we keep everyone safe. Life goes back to normal.”

  “Normal for you maybe,” I say mock huffily.

  I smile at him, but he sighs sadly. “I really am sorry for what has happened to you, and honestly, now that I know you better…if we could fix it for you, we would. If it was a simple as taking you back…as much as we would hate to let you go, we would do it. For you.” His rough growl sounds so…forlorn…I think he’s being honest with me. My heartstrings are certainly being given a little tug. “We thought we were doing the right thing in buying you, we just saw it as a rescue with a profit margin…”

  That does sort of make me smile…it feels like we’ve all been dragged into this together.

  He rubs at his eyes and I very nearly tell him to be careful. Those claws are lethal weapons, but he’s had them his whole life and still has both eyes, so I guess they manage.

  “Got more than you bargained for?” I ask him.

  “Most defini-”

  I cut him off, “Holy shit!” I point at the monitor, “What the fuck is that?”

  He leans over to look, then lets out a sharp huff of surprise as he gives his mane a little shake. I’m already getting up, intending to leave and go down to the bay. They cannot seriously be letting one of those girls go with whatever that thing is. Lam doesn’t let me get one full step, I squeak as he stands and grabs me around the waist. I start to protest but I don’t get time to get a word out. He shushes me as he moves back and sits in the chair I’ve just vacated. He pulls me onto his lap, facing the monitor again.

  “Wait,” he tells me, his chin resting on my shoulder, “just wait. Watch.”

  “He can’t seriously be going to get near it. It’s on fire.” I breath, terrified. How can it be moving on the ship the way that it is?

  “This place is a desert, it’s still in the light, wait for it to move into the bay.” He has his arms locked around my middle, my legs dangling down either side of his thighs. I would normally be shooing anyone off for being this handsy but…the more I look the more I make sense of what I’m seeing. And it’s fascinating. Whatever it is looks like it’s made out of shining, swirling feathers. The moment it crosses out of the natural light and into the shade of the hold, everything about it goes dull. It just shimmers now, but all of the feather type things lie flat and sleek. Like someone just abruptly pulled the plug on it. The further it gets away from the natural light, the less it shimmers, and it becomes more dull. More grey.

  “It’s like it’s reflective,” I realise. I feel Lam nod against my shoulder. It shrugs and flicks something from its back…wings, I realise.

  Neb moves further into the hold and then goes back, carrying a crate. He deposits this next to the bird person. It is vaguely humanoid, if walking on two legs and being upright is enough. It looks kind of stooped though…almost like it wants to lean the rest of the way forward and walk on all fours.

  “I hope he doesn’t check his order; you’re wearing some of it. I thought we were going to have to deliver, I wasn’t expecting them to come aboard.” Suddenly the shiny material and open, flappy back of my jumper makes sense. It stalks over to look at the humans, Neb follows. They are obviously chatting. It moves the way a long-legged bird does, with an exaggerated lift to its step. Its feet are large and flat, it’s build looks very slim, I think it would be taller than Neb if it stood up straight.

  “Can you zoom it in?” I ask Lam, and he nods, his chin rubbing my shoulder. He lets go of my waist, reaching past me with both arms to tap at the console. He’s even more birdlike than I realised, his eyes on either side of his head, with a short dull coloured beak. “Hang on, you said them?”

  His soft fur tickles at my cheek and neck as he nods again, “They are two, it is a symbiotic relationship. All I know is that the outside shiny bit and the actual thing underneath are different beings. Most of the things that live here take on the symbiotic relationship for protection from the suns. To be honest I think that one is a bit of an anomaly, it’s the only one we’ve ever had buy anything. When we’ve been here before, most of them watch from a distance, maybe one or two will get close. There are a few of them that are different though, we happened to meet another of them on a different ship whilst trading here, and the ship they were on had the language. How they got it though, I don’t know.”

  They’ve shown an interest in the humans, but I don’t think they’ve tried to buy one.

  We sit and watch, and I realise I’m relaxing into Lam. I look down, he has his forearms crossed, resting relaxed in my lap, his front still pressed to my back. I’d had my hands clutched together at my throat with surprise. Both at what I’d seen and being manhandled I think, but I force them down. I am certainly not usually the type to clutch at my imaginary pearls. I cautiously rest my hands on his forearms and look back at the screen. The fur on Lam’s forearms is ridiculously soft, and I wiggle my finger a little into it whilst I watch the screen. He takes a deep breath in through his nose, and sighs. It’s a contented sound, and it relaxes me further.

  Eventually they take their box and go, and I watch eagerly as they make their way back towards the natural light.

  It’s magical, the nearer they get, the more of a shimmer it catches. Then as they step over into the light, it comes alive again, like the power’s been turned back on. It all swirls and shimmers, all hot colours, reds and oranges and white. I understand now why I couldn’t recognise the shape underneath at first. I wonder what other awesome stuff lives out here.

  I turn my head, almost getting a mouthful of cheek fur, “Do you guys have documentaries?”

  CORA

  I’m leaning against the bars of the cage. It’s dim in here now, we left the place where the market was a little while ago.

  There’s one girl left, and I’m wondering what they are going to do with her. At some point she’s been rolled a little onto her side, all her long dark hair in total disarray. She looks so young...I’d put her at late teens. She’s been covered by a blanket by one of them though, and I’m grateful.

  I hear the door and look over, one of them has come in, and he makes his way over to where I’m standing. He leans his shoulder against the bars and crosses his arms, facing me. He waits.

  “Neb?” I hazard. It’s harder to tell in this light, but he grins and nods. I’ve surprised myself, I am getting it. I am righ
t most of the time now, and it’s funny how you start to notice the little differences in them. “I still think name tags are the best way to go for now.” He chuffs out a little laugh. “What are you going to do with her?” I tilt my chin at the single occupant left in the cage.

  He sighs and rubs at his mane, ears flexing in a ‘shrug’. “We’re not sure yet. She can’t stay here and I don’t think we could just…dispose of her.”

  My mouth drops open for a second, “You did not just say that. Tell me you were not even suggesting-”

  “No, no.” He waves his paws at me, ears drooping. “I mean, we probably wouldn’t have anyway, even before we met you.”

  I sigh. These people. Honestly.

  “Can’t you just wake her? Can’t she stay here?” I know what he’s going to say, but I have to ask.

  He’s already shaking his head before I’ve finished asking.

  “We have you to worry about now, and we’d have to feed her, clothe her. It wouldn’t be fair.”

  “So you’re going to take her somewhere then? And what, just hand her over?”

  His ears shrug again, “Do you have a better plan?”

  “Yeah, take us home.” I sound petulant even to myself, I know full well it isn’t happening. I understand the reasons why. I’m just bitching for the sake of it now. At the time I’d taken Lam’s sincere explanation…but I’d watched Neb down there. Selling people. I know I’m not treating him fairly…they were all equally involved but…seeing that lone girl laid out there, on the cold floor. It’s rattled me all over again.

  He blows air out of his nose, frustrated. “The Ta’Naw were not giving over that information, and we have no way to force it. Getting all of you out of there was the best we could do at the time. Who knows what they would have done to you otherwise…being thrown out of an airlock might have been preferable.” It’s become a litany; we've had this conversation so many times.

  “Oh my bloody hero! Never mind all the money you made in the process!”

  He puts his head back, making that chuffing laughing sound. Then he grins at me, showing his fangs. He looks feral.

  He stands up straight and takes a step toward me, resting his hands on the bars either side of me; I’m forced to back up until I hit the bars. He has me trapped and I have to put my head back just to look at him, he’s so tall.

  He growls, “don’t forget we had another motive.”

  He’s still wearing the sort of sleeveless jacket thing, and it’s open, so when I instinctively put my hands out to stop him coming any closer they land on his naked stomach. His abs are as firm as they look, and the fur is soft like velvet. My fingertips move a little, I can’t help it, I really want to explore.

  I get my shit together. We are supposed to be discussing the wellbeing of a young woman. A vulnerable young woman.

  “What are you going to do with her?” I ask again, quietly.

  “We’ve thought of a couple of options.”

  “And they are….?” I don’t even try to hide the frustration in my voice. “Don’t play games with me, not about this. Please.”

  He leans right down, snuffling at my face and then my neck, his abs move under my hands and I allow my fingers to creep a little through the super soft fur.

  He purrs right next to my ear. I realise there’s an actual rumble coming from him. He is actually purring. I move a hand to the middle of his chest, and I can feel the rumble there. Wow.

  I push him back and he lets me, I’m under no illusion that he’s letting me move him; he’s so much stronger than me.

  “The girl?” I ask again, and it comes out husky and rough sounding, I clear my throat and ask again.

  “Well…we could just drop her off, maybe try again to sell her. There’s an unregulated outpost not too far away. She could wash up with…well, anyone.” He puts his head back a little and yawns, like this is boring him. “People looking for a slave maybe…or worse.” He adds.

  “And the alternative?” This is like pulling teeth, he’s not volunteering anything, and I can feel myself getting frustrated and angry again. He’s not taking the life of this girl at all seriously.

  “There’s a research station, I suppose. A nice, regulated, safe, research station.”

  “Well? Why is this even a discussion, why don’t you just take her there?”

  He leans back and scratches at his mane, making a great show of thinking about it.

  “It’s further away, so much more inconvenient. And should they decide to search us they'd probably confiscate a few things, which would be bad for us, obviously.” The bastard’s inspecting his claws now, completely disinterested.

  I take a deep breath, stamping down my irritation, and do my best to sound sincere, “Please, can we do the right thing and take the defenceless young girl to the nice, safe-sounding station?”

  He grips the bars again, leaning his face right down to mine, “What do I get out of that?” He presses forwards, pinning me against the bars, one of his legs slide between mine and I’m forced onto my tiptoes. My hands are trapped between us again, and I am aware of the hard ridges of his ribs under his fur.

  He presses his face into the crook of my neck and I have to tilt my head to accommodate him, he holds there, and takes a really long, deep breath.

  “You’ll get-” I start to speak, but it comes out all breathy. I’m very aware of his thigh pressing against me. I try again, “you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you did the right thing?”

  He laughs, the chuffing blowing warm breaths across my neck. It makes me tingle, and I have to squeeze my eyes shut.

  “Satisfaction is definitely what I’m after.”

  Ohmygod he did not just say that.

  He pulls back away from my neck and I open my eyes again to look at him. His pupils are so large that all that’s left is a bright green sliver around the edge. It’s so bright in the dimness.

  “What do human males do to declare interest in a female?”

  “They…what?” It’s so out of the blue I’m totally thrown by the question.

  “If I wanted to mate you, what would you expect me to do first?” and he highlights his point by lifting his leg a little, pressing his thigh even more firmly against my core. I dig my fingers into his ribs to stop myself from wriggling on his leg.

  He’s making it really difficult for me to think straight, “Dates? We go on dates.” His head tilts to one side, one ear up, one down. He doesn’t understand. “You meet up, specifically to do something together, it could be anything, usually though it’s romantic.”

  He nods now, understanding. “You will allow us to court you and we will take her to the station.”

  He gently lets me go, lowering his leg so I can get my balance back. I feel like I’m waking up from a daze. I’m cold now without him, I put my hands under my arms to hold onto his warmth. He grins at me, then turns as if to leave. I watch his swishing tails, and my eyes are drawn to his ass. I shake it off.

  “Wait, hang on, what about going to the station? When will that be?”

  He turns on the steps to look back at me, and he has a massive, shit-eating grin on his face. “We’re already on our way there.” He turns back and carries on his way.

  Oh wow. I can’t help but chuckle to myself. What a bastard.

  My face splits into a big dumb grin, I’ve just been completely played. By an alien. I didn’t even know that was on my bucket list.

  LAM

  Cora and I are in the galley, and she’s slowly working her way through the stock, rating every single food we have. I should be filming this, some of the expressions she’s making are fantastic. She’s barraging me with questions in between her food reviews. She’s as curious as a kit.

  Saying that, she’s expressly told me she doesn’t want to know the origin of any of the foods she’s trying in case it puts her off.

  “So you’re the oldest?”

  I nod, checking on the tiny ‘samples’ that need to be heated.


  “So you’re in charge?”

  “That’s…a difficult thing to explain if you have nothing to compare it to. None of us are specifically in charge because we all usually just think the same way and therefore agree on most things. I suppose when we do disagree I do seem to…lead the majority.”

  She huffs derisively. “Uh huh. ‘The majority’, out of three of you. So is that a really polite way of saying ‘yes I’m the boss’?” She pokes another half-bitten lump onto the ‘truly awful’ plate.

  I shrug, “I’ve never really thought about it that way. It’s not important anyway. Try this whilst it’s still hot.” I drop more bits onto the ‘taster plate’.

  I’ve been enjoying myself immensely, grazing at everything alongside Cora. It’s been interesting to see how our tastes differ. And I’ve found she’s been asking questions about things that are so fundamental, I’ve never given them thought until she’s asked me. Some things I’ve found difficult to…quantify to her satisfaction. She likes to understand though, and she definitely isn’t one to give up once she gets hold of a thought.

  “So you’re medically trained, Neb’s technically minded and Ceph’s…what?”

  Her lines of questioning have seemed to be featuring us more than any other subject. Even if she is trying to break them up with questions about Homeworld and family.

  “Ceph is…Ceph.”

  She nods, I crouch and fiddle with the storage compartments, retrieving some of the dried goods. “So you and Neb had to get an education, but Ceph didn’t need to. Obviously he can get by on his good looks.”

  I stand to look at her too quickly and hit my head on a compartment I’d left open, causing it to snap shut. Luckily the thick fur of my mane took the brunt, and I rub at it, frowning at Cora.