The Twisted Vine

by Alyce Caswell

  ‘What we do here is so much more important than people realise,’ Moz told Fei as he kept pace with her. ‘You’re doing the Creator God’s work, Feiscina. Just keep that in mind.’

  ‘I’ll try,’ she said, wishing she meant it.

  • • •

  The moment she set foot on the ground outside the village, Fei felt as though she had been plunged into thick, steamy soup. The air was warmer than she had expected and her hair immediately started to rebel in the humidity. She glanced down at herself, regretting her attire. While much of Bagaran was covered in rainforests, its spaceport was located on one of the planet’s grass-smeared continents and could experience considerable gusts of wind.

  She had tried to cater for both climates by pairing lime denim pants with a short-sleeved shirt bearing the bronze logo of a lasball team on Enoc, not that she’d ever actually watched them play. The sandals, meant to keep her feet cool, became impractical as soon as she stepped off the ramp of the small vehicle that had carried her from the spaceport; a rock immediately dug into one of her toes, drawing blood.

  There was a conspicuous gap in front of the symmetrical living quarters that belonged to the TerraCorp employees, marking where the laboratory should have been. The scientists wore miserable expressions as they sorted through carefully stacked piles of debris, tagging what items they could for recycling. The village, by comparison, looked far more accommodating with its chaotic sprawl of huts and the frenetic movement going on inside its palisade walls. Fei even caught the strains of distant music before it rose into a crescendo and petered out, replaced by applause.

  Bagath was one of hundreds of villages on this world. They all had access to the Web, thanks to the relay station orbiting the planet, and they were connected to each other by ‘hoppers’, tiny planet-bound vehicles that bounced across the atmosphere. The bubble-shaped hopper that had deposited Fei had already vanished, heading back to the spaceport two hours away. TerraCorp had chosen to stage their research near Bagath because it was the smallest village on Bagaran and the area was less disturbed by people.

  Fei found herself walking to the village, her bag slapping her back as her mother’s words from the night before her departure echoed in her ears. ‘Bagaran? Isn’t that a little wild for you, honey? They don’t even have cities. I just looked it up. It’s populated by heathens! Savages!’

  ‘No, Mum, “heathens” just means they worship a different god; they’re not actually savages,’ Fei had responded while standing in front of the mirror in her apartment, three or four different outfits clutched in her hands. The electronic irises in her eyes had been blood red at the time, though she had been considering switching them to safe, approachable blue. ‘And Bagath has a working shield. They say that if someone does attack us, we can retreat behind their walls. Isn’t that nice of them?’

  ‘Nice?’ The incredulity in her mother’s voice had raised its pitch into the stratosphere. ‘They have no respect for the Creator God! And they probably indulge in impure behaviour…’

  ‘Then I guess I get to indulge in impure behaviour for a couple of months,’ Fei had retorted.

  Instead of being appalled, her mother had sounded relieved. ‘Oh good, you really do need to relax and have a bit of fun. Just make sure your pregnancy implant is working. And for God’s sake don’t catch anything.’

  Fei waved at the few villagers she passed. Their casual clothes and boots would not have looked out of place in the universities of Enoc. These ‘heathens’ seemed ordinary enough.

  But when she passed through the gate, she saw one that was more than ordinary.

  Shoving copper hair out of his eyes, he grinned as he helped the other villagers raise brightly painted branches onto the eaves of the village’s huts. The freckles on his face were spread in just the right way to emphasise how handsome he was. And there was something oddly familiar about him, something that made her want to walk over and ask him if they’d met before.

  ‘Who let you in?’ a much closer man demanded.

  Fei nearly swallowed her tongue in panic. The bulky villager beside her was brown-skinned and should have stood out as much as she did among this crowd of beige-toned, pale-eyed ‘heathens’, but he didn’t. This was probably due to the comfortable earth-caked clothes he was wearing, something many of the nearby Bagathians had in common.

  Fei tried not to look down at her bright outfit again. ‘Hi. Um. I’m visiting.’

  ‘Are you here for the festival?’ he asked.

  Fei managed a shrug. Her sea-green hair flopped over one shoulder. ‘Maybe? I’m…I’m a follower of the Creator God, actually, but I’m…’

  Disgust filled his features. ‘You one of those Chipper-lovers then?’

  Fei backed away against a hut, dropping her bag in the process. No words came to her rescue. When he continued to advance, her hands flew to her sides and found purchase on the vine that was growing on the wall behind her. It wouldn’t protect her from this man, but holding onto something made her feel braver. She clenched the thin, ropey plant, her nails cutting in and drawing ooze.

  ‘Inesh, leave her alone,’ the freckled man Fei had seen earlier said as he jogged over.

  ‘But she’s a Chipper-lover and I’ll bet she’s from TerraCorp,’ Inesh argued.

  ‘Doesn’t matter. You’re being very rude when you could be helping us prepare for the festival.’ The newcomer flashed a smile at Fei. ‘Are you from TerraCorp?’

  ‘Yes,’ Fei answered and rubbed her hands together, grimacing when she realised they were now smeared with the ruins of the vine. ‘Oh. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt it. Um. Do vines get hurt?’

  ‘Are you alright?’ was his next question.

  Fei nodded mutely. With both Inesh and her anxiety now banished, she found herself completely entranced by her rescuer. He was even better looking close up. The loose cargo pants did little to hide his well-formed backside and the smattering of mud on his skin somehow suited him. Humming cheerfully, he reached for the leaking vine and snapped a piece clean off. He then coiled it into a circle and tied the ends together before taking her wrist and slipping it on like a bracelet. Fei held out her arm long after he had let go of it.

  ‘That way it’s not wasted,’ he said, chuckling at her open-mouthed expression. ‘The vine doesn’t mind, so I won’t.’

  ‘I thought you were all…’ Fei hesitated.

  One coppery eyebrow shot up into his hairline.

  ‘…savages,’ she finished in a rush. Mortified, she clapped a hand over her mouth to keep anything else from escaping her. But he didn’t seem to be offended.

  ‘Well, I don’t own any shoes so I can understand how you got that impression.’ He poked his chest with his thumb. ‘I’m Kuja Rforine. Forget Inesh. He has trouble remembering that Bagara doesn’t care if the people in his domain devote themselves to other gods.’ Kuja’s lips firmed. ‘Bagara will even let them worship Oceania, the water god, though he’d rather they didn’t. He just wants them to be happy and well.’

  ‘What does Bagara offer that the Creator God doesn’t?’ Fei asked, looking over his shoulder at the villagers. They were now stringing up gossamer banners that shimmered as light played over them.

  Kuja shrugged. ‘Depends on what you want from him. Would you like to come to the festival and find out?’

  Fei bit her lip. What could it hurt? She was used to the Creator God ignoring her. A sub-level god doing the same thing wasn’t going to feel any worse, right? ‘Sure. I can do that. But I need to put my things down first and, um, let TerraCorp know I’m here.’

  ‘Relax, you’ve got a few days,’ Kuja said, his grin causing something hot to swell low in her abdomen. ‘But if you’re looking for something to do, I can show you around the area tomorrow, once you’ve settled in.’

  Fei felt her lips tweak into a small smile. He had offered his time so quickly and without question. She supposed she should have been suspicious of his intentions, but there was something dark and se
rious in his emerald gaze and she found that she trusted him. And if he did have certain intentions towards her, well, Fei decided she had no problem with that.

  ‘Sounds good,’ she said and meant it.

  She picked up her bag and left the village.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  ‘She’s one of them,’ Inesh snarled.

  The villager had his arms crossed and his shoulders were pushed out as far as they could go, as though Inesh intended to fill the gap left by the open gate with his body alone. Inesh was large, true, but he wasn’t as big as a hovercar, which was the size he needed to be if he wanted to block Kuja from leaving Bagath that morning.

  ‘Why would you want to waste your time with that TerraCorp scum?’ Inesh went on.

  Kuja glanced back at the huts. Most of the villagers were still asleep and those that weren’t wouldn’t come to his rescue — Inesh was known to be prickly and troublesome. Kuja sighed and braced himself. ‘Inesh, they’re not scum, they’re my friends. And not that it matters, but she felt…she’s different from them.’

  Kuja wished he could explain that the newcomer was like a beacon to him. She stood out among a sea of lifesigns, not only because of her unique energy, but because every thought that occurred to her seemed to spring forth from her lips. She held nothing back. It was refreshing. And there was something…something very familiar about her.

  Inesh scowled. ‘She’s not that pretty.’

  Kuja didn’t bother to fight the flush filling his cheeks. He directed his gaze at Inesh’s boots. ‘She’s beautiful. But that’s not the point. She’s interested in learning about our ways and our god. I should not pass up this opportunity to educate her. And Bagara would expect me to offer her friendship and show her around, regardless of her interest.’

  ‘Doing it in the name of Bagara, ha!’ Inesh said, shaking his head. ‘But you know our god never makes a nuisance of himself by trying to convert people. And we don’t either. So don’t lie, Kuja. You just want that woman in your bed.’

  Kuja thought of the aching emptiness he’d sensed inside the newcomer, the same emptiness he knew was mirrored inside himself. She needed company. And Kuja could provide it. Was it selfish to hope that she’d give him the same thing in return?

  Sighing, Kuja brushed past Inesh. ‘Bagara isn’t the only one who can help people. And she does need help.’

  ‘Yeah, alright, but you seem to be helping yourself too,’ Inesh chortled.

  Ignoring him, Kuja marched down towards the TerraCorp sleeping quarters, hands clenched inside his pockets.

  • • •

  ‘So they do exist!’ Fei exclaimed in delight when she saw the rows and rows of plants growing in the back of Head Botanist Gerns’ room.

  Fei had spent the night in the flat four-walled shelter assigned to her and had been dismayed to discover that most of the other rooms were just as bare and clinical. Gerns, the only scientist who hadn’t been offended to hear Fei’s opinion of the sleeping quarters over the breakfast buffet, had been more than happy to show off her cluttered, more homey shelter. It had been impossible to refuse the Jezlo because she was large and loud and possessed six tentacles that gyrated in a hypnotic fashion. Fei had found that she liked the botanist and had managed to say a few sentences without embarrassing herself. Until now, evidently.

  Fei grimaced and turned back to Gerns. ‘Well, I knew the plants existed because I had footage and data, but seeing them in person is completely different from…well. You know. Don’t you?’

  Gerns clucked repeatedly, her entire body wobbling with mirth, then shuffled over and held out one of her tentacles, poking it towards a tray that was bare of plant life. ‘Put your hand in there.’ When Fei hesitated, Gerns added, ‘Now me, I’d never hurt a colleague. I swear. Alright, maybe I would, but only if they gave me a good reason…’

  Not entirely comforted, but also not wanting to offend a potential companion for the next two months, Fei gingerly slid her fingers into loamy soil that was studded with decaying leaves and insects. Her nose protested, crumpling against the smell, and she shot a betrayed look at Gerns.

  ‘It’s filthy!’ she cried.

  Gerns clucked again. ‘What did you expect?’

  ‘I know that dirt is dirty,’ Fei defended. ‘But where I work, there’s none of this…this mess. I input data about soil and plants but I don’t have to touch them.’

  ‘Now me, I see that as just about the saddest thing — keep your hands there!’ Gerns added, flicking her tiny eyes at a timepiece on the wall. ‘You sit at your desk and throw code around without realising what you’re actually doing. This is what you’re doing, Fei. Creating whole environments! Actually creating something! Most people in the galaxy, now, they don’t get to make anything, let alone life on another planet. Makes me feel sorry for them! Okay, remove your hands.’

  Obeying, Fei looked longingly at a trough in the corner which held what appeared to be soapy water. But then Gerns made an excited ticking sound inside her throat, drawing Fei’s attention back to her. The Jezlo gestured at the tray of soil which, at first glance, appeared to be as still as it had been during Fei’s entire visit.

  Then it began to writhe.

  Tiny green shoots stabbed up through the soil and, like a rash, they spread throughout the tray, growing higher and higher. Small buds appeared on the ends of the shoots before exploding violently into life, the colourful blooms that escaped them stopping just shy of one of Gerns’ chins. The abject joy on the Jezlo’s face reminded Fei of how she felt when her code managed to compile without displaying a single error message.

  ‘Amazing stuff, right,’ Gerns said with a nod. ‘Now me, I don’t know why this is, but the acid on human skin seems to set this shrub off. I’m a little too alkaline, but stark it if it’s not the most impressive thing we’ve found on Bagaran.’

  ‘Have you run it through a splicer yet?’ Fei breathed, wide-eyed. ‘This shrub’s genetics will be incredibly useful to study and replicate. We could speed up the terraforming process through more natural means! Our current method of accelerated growth puts stress on certain plants and weakens them and…’ Fei cut herself off, embarrassed.

  But Gerns seemed more interested in trailing her tentacles over the new shoots than in rebuking Fei. ‘Not as much fun when it’s just text on a vidscreen, right? Why d’you think someone like me, not so bad at coding and not so bad at tech, decided to become a botanist instead? It’s not for the less-than-stellar pay. Now me, I like the joy my work gives me.’

  Gerns then started talking quietly to her plants like they were beloved children, apparently forgetting she had human company, so Fei hurried over to the water trough and began scrubbing her hands. She’d been at it for a full minute when Kuja entered the hut.

  He was wearing the same clothes from the previous day and wouldn’t have looked any different, except that the grin he was sporting was now wider and much more excited. He also moved through the shelter with a bounce in his step, as though the gravity on Bagaran didn’t lie so heavily on him as it did everyone else.

  ‘Kuja, now me, I said to myself that I wouldn’t let you anywhere near me until you sorted out that vandal of yours…’ Gerns began, an undercurrent of warning in her tone.

  ‘You like me far too much to enforce that restriction on yourself,’ Kuja pointed out, then swung his shining eyes onto Fei. ‘Feiscina Neron, right? Happy to take you out today, as promised. I have some time.’

  ‘Time! You always have time.’ Gerns shook her large head, clucking all the while. ‘Running around barefoot, diving into waterfalls, swinging from branches. Makes a woman jealous!’

  Kuja raised his eyebrows. ‘I even spend some of my precious time with you, Gerns, though I’m not sure why.’

  ‘I’m good company, that’s why!’ Gerns told him.

  Fei opened her mouth, then quickly sealed it. She saw Kuja watching her, patiently waiting her out, his expression relaxed and unhurried. Encouraged, she tried again. ‘Gerns is go
od company.’

  ‘She’s even better company if you buy her a drink,’ Kuja said, winking at Gerns.

  The Jezlo threw her tentacles up towards the ceiling, mimicking a frustrated human. ‘Since when did you have any coin-chips to buy me drinks with? Be on your way, Kuja, and take Feiscina with you. I haven’t got the time to be playing tour guide, even if I am good company.’

  Once they were outside, leaving Gerns to her work, Kuja began talking about how much he liked the Jezlo compared to some of the other TerraCorp employees. Fei nodded along with this, entranced by the way he used his hands to emphasise what he was saying. She started when he suddenly asked her what she was thinking.

  ‘I…I was thinking the weather’s nice today,’ Fei said haltingly.

  ‘Really.’ Kuja’s cheek twitched. ‘So you were biting your lip because the weather’s nice today.’

  Fei darted onto a rock, hoping it would keep her out of the mud. She wasn’t wearing sandals this time, but she wanted to avoid ruining the only other pair of shoes she’d brought with her. Although, since they were canvas, she should just accept the inevitable, just like she should probably answer Kuja. Which she did. ‘You’ll think it’s stupid and I’ll regret having said it — and I’ll sound so paranoid that you’ll go back to that village of yours and never speak to me again.’

  ‘If I don’t speak to you for a while, it’s only because I enjoy hearing your voice a lot more than my own,’ Kuja promised.

  ‘Um.’ Fei cleared her throat nervously. ‘I guess I’m worried that Gerns only talked to me because my boss put her up to it. It, uh, kind of seemed like Gerns was trying to make me find meaning in my work and that’s something Moz — my boss — would want. I just hate that all these people have started talking to me lately and I can’t figure out if they’re doing it to be nice or because they want something.’

  Kuja nodded solemnly. ‘I see. And you’re expecting me to leave because you just said a lot of words.’