by Nikki Clarke
Something bumps into my legs, and I turn automatically.
“Oh, excuse me—holy shit!”
I jump back into Bati, whose arms come around to steady us. The large, blobbish thing that basically looks like a giant poop emoji with glowing antennae slinks past me at a surprising quick rate. KJ whimpers, his grip tightening around my neck. His breath is quick beneath my ear. Maybe I should have explained the whole alien thing to him first.
Warble.
“Sir, this young human, he is yours?”
“I want Bati!”
KJ pulls back from me and angles his body up at Bati who plucks him from my arms without a thought and settles him at his side. He leans in, speaking softly to my son for a moment. As he speaks, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small wrapped square of the blue candy Ah’dan bought KJ before we left Lyqa. He unwraps it and passes it to my son, who takes it and plops it into his mouth before turning into Bati’s shoulder and burying his face. Bati rubs a soothing hand over KJ’s back before smiling down at me.
“He is mine,” Bati says finally, dragging his eyes back to the Qitoni. The man’s membrane lined mouth turns down, but after a short stare-off with Bati, he taps the tablet again.
“May I inspect your visitor’s pass?”
Bati reaches into the woven leather pouch hanging from his neck and pulls out a thin square of clear material. The Qitoni takes it from him and lays it over the tablet. A second later, it dissolves, disintegrating onto the screen in a million little dots.
“You will visit (warbled sound) and then the west forests?” He asks after a few seconds of staring at the screen. Even though the translator provides tone, it’s hard to get a read on this dude. The tightness of his face doesn’t allow for many facial expressions, so I can’t tell if this is standard procedure or if they’re giving us the third degree because KJ and I are here.
“My dahni would like to visit your recreational parks. Then we will complete our ta’ani maul in the west forests,” Bati returns.
A low gurgle hums out from somewhere inside the Qitoni. My translator doesn’t do anything, and I realize what he just did was the human equivalent of “hmm”.
“Welcome to Qiton. The tracking and purchasing features on your citizenship bands will remain activated during your stay. All purchases are suspect to inspection upon departure. Enjoy your stay.”
After this warbled declaration, Bati steers me away with a hand at my elbow.
“Dude, that was weird as fuck!” I hiss out, keeping my voice low just in case the Qitoni have spidey-hearing, too.
Bati chuckles. “They take some getting accustomed to. Qitoni are not as similar to humans as we are. She was nice, however.”
I stop and blink up at him. “That was a woman?”
“Qitoni are a single gender society. They are all female,” Bati replies easily and increases the pressure on my back to get me to start walking again. I resist it and continue to stare up at him.
“Wait, a second. If they are all female, how do they have babies?”
Bati looks nervous. He lowers his head.
“They are a self-populating species, lehti. They are also somewhat sensitive about discussing their procreation openly. I can explain later.” It’s the first time I’ve heard him speak softly. It’s barely audible. I guess if you come from a people that can hear everything, you learn to have a real inside voice.
“Right, my bad.” My mouth pulls down in apology. Bati takes my arm again and steers me toward a row of open doors leading outside. Before we step out, I stop again. Bati pauses, too, staring down at me patiently.
“Are you okay, my lehti?”
I take a deep breath. “No, I’m fine. Maybe not exactly fine. I’m a bit nervous. I guess I wasn’t expecting all of this. I just kind of need to know what’s waiting for us outside those doors.”
He pulls me against him. I’m surprised when his hand slides over my ass and holds me in a gentle grip. Bati can be kind of handsy when he wants.
“Tiani, do you think I would bring you here if it was unsafe? Do you think I would bring my dahni here if it was unsafe? You must get used to being in the universe. Things will be strange. Some things will be dangerous, but that is for me to worry about. And you should know that I would never put you in harms way if I could help it.”
“Okay.” My voice shakes. The pressure of his hand is making everything below my waist tingle.
“Now, on Earth, you have oceans, yes?” He pats my ass and pulls his hand away.
“What, uh, yeah.”
“The Qitoni are an aquatic people. So if you have ever been in the ocean on Earth, it will look like that.”
“Oh, like the beach?”
He tilts his head to the side, his eyes shifting up. He does this when his translator provides information on English words.
“Perhaps. It will be like being in the ocean.”
I’m really going to have to teach Bati more about Earth and about context in the human language.
“See, my lehti, it is like being in the ocean.” His smile is wide as he squints up into the bring pink sun overhead.
Strike that, I’m really going to have to listen more carefully when he tells me things. He did say in the ocean and not at the ocean, and as I look around, that’s exactly what it looks like. Like someone tossed me overboard and I’ve sunken down into a coral reef. Except…there’s no water.
The scene in front of me is straight out of something from a nature show back home crossed with that movie where the kids shrink themselves into tiny people and run around their backyard.
Huge, flat, seaweed trees line the streets. When we step from the hard surface of the transport center, my feet shift, sinking into the soft ground. Startled, I lose my balance and reach out to steady myself on Bati’s arm.
“Do not be scared. The ground is soft because it lives.” At my panicked look, Bati shakes his head. “No, it is the earth of this planet. I do not know the word, but my translator is providing there term sponge. Is this correct?”
I look down at my feet. The ground beneath me is a burnt orange color. All across the surface are holes of various sizes. I lift to my toes and bounce. The ground gives way slightly with a moist squish. It’s almost like being on a trampoline. As I continue to bounce, liquid seeps from the ground and soaks into my thin canvas shoes.
“Is that water?”
“It is. This planet has a hydro core.”
“That means it runs on water?”
“It is a host organism of an aquatic nature. The Qitoni live in it as the dominant parasites.”
“Wait, you mean the planet is like, alive, alive?”
“It is an instinctual conscious being, yes.”
“Uh, okay, and what does that mean? Is it going to open up its mouth and eat us?”
I’ve stopped bouncing. In fact, I’ve stopped moving all together. The image of a large, gaping mouth opening up to swallow us down fills me with a paralyzing terror. Bati laughs and pulls me into his side, making me squeal. This doesn’t feel like the time to be making sudden movements.
“Tiani, I have told you that there is nothing to fear here. The planet is not conscious in the way you are thinking, but it is responsive. It will defend itself in the ways that it can. However, the Qitoni have existed in symbiotic harmony without issue for many millions of years. You can move freely.”
I exhale a shaky breath and take a step forward onto the squishy, moist earth.
“No, not there. That’s its eye!” KJ shouts.
I yelp and jump back. My eyes fly to the ground where my foot landed, but it looks like the rest of the surface. There is no giant eye staring up at me. Beside me, Bati and KJ burst into a fit laughter. I turn and narrow my eyes on them. For someone who was quivering in fear a moment ago, KJ’s bounced back well enough. Little monster.
Bati’s nearly bent over. His deep, melodic laugh washes over me like a warm wave. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him laugh before. His smoo
th, blue-black face is transformed by his wide grin. He looks young and sweet. It makes me want to kiss him.
I snap out of my trance and strike out with one of my fists to catch Bati with a playful punch to the arm. “You guys are buttheads, you know that? Don’t scare me.”
Bati chuckles one last time before holding his hand out to me. “Take my hand. That way, if anything unexpected happens, I will be right there to save you.”
BATI
“Can your youngling play with us?” The Qitoni girl at the front of the small group before us stares up at me with wide, swirling silver eyes.
Her scent is excited, as are the other children’s in the group. This is probably the first time any of them have seen a human child. The girl’s tight skin keeps her excitement from showing even as the membranous flaps of her mouth pull across her face in what I realize is a smile.
“I think he would be happy to play with you,” I tell her. KJ regards our exchange with quiet interest. He can’t understand us. I did not think to fit him with a translator, but these things don’t matter with children.
The large playground in front of us is filled with mostly Qitoni girls and a few species of children from nearby planets. The open space features moss-covered hills, bridges, and play beds. In the center of the play area is a large, hollowed sea willow. Holes cut into the twisting, green truck allow children to poke their heads through. Most of the children are in the tree and the sandpit. Qitoni children are known for their ability to make intricate sculptures from the fine, black sand. At the moment, a group are working hard on a recreation of a native sea creature.
Tiani shifts closer to me on the other side of KJ, sandwiching him between our legs. She smells nervous. Her scent is tangy and sharp in my nose.
“I—uh, maybe he’s not ready—”
“Let’s play!” KJ leaps from between us and bolts in the direction of the sea willow. When he’s a few feet away, he turns and waves for the group of children to follow. They race after him, catching up just as he reaches the tree.
“KJ, wait!” Tiani takes a step after them, but I stop her with a careful arm across her chest.
“He will be okay, Tiani.”
“Oh my god, this is so hard!” she groans, pressing her hands to the sides of her face. “I don’t want him to be scared.”
I follow her gaze to where KJ is waving gleefully at us from one of the observation holes in the tree.
“He did not smell afraid, and it is clear he is enjoying himself.”
“That kid, man.” Tiani shakes her head as KJ runs in a circle with one of the Qitoni girls before collapsing to the soft turf in a fit of giggles.
“He is a wonderful, tolerant boy. It is an admirable trait to have so young. It speaks much to your efforts in raising him.”
Her mouth turns up, and her skin brightens. She is embarrassed?
“I guess, I should practice what I preach more. I’ve been told I’m not the nicest.”
“You are beautiful. Inside and out,” I tell her because it’s true. Our gazes lock for a moment before she chuckles and clears her throat, looking off the the side again.
“So what exactly do we do for this ta’animajig?”
We’re sitting on a moss patch at the edge of the playground on the vibrant banks of Qiton’s southwest seas. The scenery is alive and lush. Thick beds of violet moss cover the flat grounds. The feathery soft blades are moist as is all of Qiton’s aquatic landscape. Tiani reaches beyond the element-resistant blanket I spread out to protect our clothing and runs her hands through the fluttering blades. I observe her profile as she watches KJ play with the group of Qitoni children a few yards away. Most of her is covered by the thin, gauze fabric of the dress I had made for her before we left Lyqa, but I can still see most of her face. The smooth brown skin glistens with a thin sheen of moisture from the damp air. It reminds me of how her skin looked after we joined, and it triggers an inconvenient tightening in my crotch. I shift and will my first heart to slow down.
“Ta’ani maul,” I finally answer. My voice is tense. “It is a kind of game. Probably more suited for children, although some of the more advanced adventures can be quite elaborate.”
“Elaborate how?”
“Do not worry, my lehti.” I take the liberty of smoothing my hand down her spine. Even through the material, the heat of her body warms me all the way to my soul. “The one I have chosen for us is very simple. We have a list of fairly common items to collect. They can be retrieved in a central location. It may not be very exciting for us, but I think our dahni will enjoy it.”
She stares at me with her head cocked to the side.
“What does that mean, dahni? The translator supplies something, but I think it’s wrong.”
“It is not incorrect. It means ‘son’.” I wait for her expression to turn. It doesn’t. Instead, she tilts her head ever further in question.
“You’ve been calling him your son?”
I don’t respond right away because I don’t know how to. She waits for an answer, so I gather my thoughts and face her, finally.
“There are some things I have not explained to you that perhaps I should have,” I begin.
“About the whole leht thing?” she replies, startling me with her candor.
“Yes, about the leht.”
She looks away, and a faint scent of sadness emanates from her. “I’m sorry I treated you so badly, before. I didn’t want to know on Earth. I mean, I knew there was something between us. I could feel it. Here.” She presses her hand between her breasts where I’m sure her heart beats as quickly as mine. “Since KJ’s father left us, I’ve had a hard time being close to men,” she admits, and her sadness shifts to shame. It makes my skin twitch. She has nothing to be ashamed of.
“The leht is a biological function of my first heart. It lays dormant until Lyqa men meet the one they are meant for. The moment it is triggered, it beats only for that person, to serve that person, to protect that person, to—love that person.”
“So you have to be with the person you choose? What if you don’t want that person? What if that person doesn’t want you?”
I swallow hard around the pain that crowds my chest at her words. I know it is too much to hope she isn’t speaking of us. “Tiani, I have not forgotten what you said on Earth. I do not have hope to change your mind, and I am not trying to force you to accept something that is not in your nature. I will not lie and say that I do not feel a deep attachment to you that is partially based on my first heart, but also the fact that you are a beautiful, intelligent, charming woman.”
“Charming?”
My shoulder hitches. “When you want to be.”
She snorts and looks away. “I’m a jerk. I was a jerk to you, and I didn’t have to be. You shouldn’t want to be with me.”
She smells like despair. She fumbles with the moss, keeping her head turned away. I can’t help it. I want to see her eyes. I cradle her cheek with my hand and turn her to face me.
“You are human, my lehti. You are allowed to be hurt and scared and even unpleasant at times. I know your heart. I feel your heart. It beats with mine, here,” I tap over my right chest muscle. She looks down to where my hand rests.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, that you are my lehti. The woman of my heart. We are tied through our heartbeats. Whenever we are near, our hearts will sync. You may have noticed.”
She presses her hand between her breasts. “Is that what I’ve been feeling? Why my heart has been beating so loudly since the night we were together?”
I take her hand from her chest and place it over mine. I put my other hand where hers was between her breasts. “Listen.”
She tilts her head in focus. After a moment, her eyes widen.
“Oh my god, that’s really intense.” Her scent clouds over with anxiety, and I know she is panicking with the weight of my revelation.
“I do not tell you this to pressure you into loving me back, Tiani. I underst
and why you feel as you do, and I would have you know that I love you. I will always love you and KJ. And anyway I can be of assistance to you, I will.”
Chapter 10
TIANI
I don’t know how to respond to Bati’s declaration, but something warm and nice rushes through me at his words. It makes me lean in and press my lips to his. His lips flinch, but after a moment, he kisses me back. Taking hold of my arms, he turns into me, deepening the kiss. His tongue flicks through my mouth, and I moan around it.
“My friends are leaving.”
Bati and I jump apart and turn to KJ who’s standing out of breath in front of us. His eyes are wide with excitement. I’m happy that he’s had a good time. This kid is special. He really is.
“Wha—what, baby?” My heart is beating fast, too fast. I realize now that it can’t be my heart. It’s Bati’s. The beat is a heavy thump over my own.
“My friends said it’s high time. They have to go.” He points back to the playground where Qitoni mothers are ushering their daughters to waiting transports. The Qitoni girl from earlier waves frantically at KJ as her mother lifts her into their pod. I turn to Bati.
“High time?”
He laughs. “High tide. The sea is coming in from the east.”
He points to the ground. Cloudy, black water rises at the base of the moss, seeming to come up from the ground itself. It spills over the edge of the blanket and soaks into my dress. I jump to my feet and the soft soles of my canvas Qitoni sandals slosh in the forming puddle.
“Is this normal?”
“It’s the beach!” KJ jumps into the puddle and squeals. He dances around in a circle, flicking up handfuls of water. I do my best to dodge the spray. Bati smiles and motions for us to get off the blanket.
“It will rise for the next few hours. We are safe. If it gets too high, we can swim.” He folds the blanket, compressing the plastic-like material until it’s a square small enough to fit in his palm. He tucks this back into his pack. He’s so focused on his task that he doesn’t see the face I make.