Early Byrd by Phil Geusz

we
could hear it trickle and rush. We came upon an opening, a sort of
green-roofed cave amidst the vegetation, and Li smiled again before
lying Rapput's travois down. Clearly, this was where we were to
spend the night.
    "When this is all over, he won't be
insulted," Tim said, nodding. "Or at least he won't have been
insulted by us ."
    "He'd have been really hurt," I added. "It
would've made him look bad to his own kind, too. I can see how, now
that you've explained it."
    "Honor is the most important thing there is
to an Artemu." Li shrugged. "That's part of why you two are armed
as well. Not only would Rapput expect it, but you might as well
start to learn how to think that way yourselves. And it won't hurt
your future at all if the other Artemesians are aware that you
honorably bore arms in this crisis as well."
    My face fell; I didn't like being reminded
that I was still a hostage. "So why are we camping so near to the
cold water, Mr. Li?" I crossed my arms and shivered to reinforce my
point.
    "You tell me," he answered. "Think it
through for yourself—it's how we learn. But I'll give you a hint.
We won't have a fire tonight either. Instead we'll all huddle with
Rapput, who luckily for us has a body temperature higher than
ours."
    I frowned again, but it was Tim who came up
with the right answer. "Night-vision gear," he said. "Starlight
scopes. Infra-red detectors."
    Li smiled. "Excellent, Tim!" He drew his
assault pistol then returned it to its holster. "This is advanced
military gear. While clearly they don't have an unlimited supply of
the stuff, we have to assume they have imaging equipment. So—"
    "—so we're camped in weeds so thick that
they can't see any further than we can despite all the gadgets in
the world," I finished. "Leaving both sides equally blind."
    "Not equally," Li answered, reaching for
Tim's pillowcase. It held most of the food, and I was pretty sure
he wanted to dig back into the poutine. After all, he'd burned an
awful lot of energy. "They'll have to make noise to get close. So
in a pinch, we shoot at the sound. Which our weapons are
excellently suited for, I'll add."
    I nodded back. It made sense. Then I sighed
and untied my right sneaker. The sooner I dealt with my blister,
the sooner it'd stop hurting.

19
     
    Rapput, it turned out, made an excellent substitute
for an electric blanket. He regained his senses for a few minutes
while we were nestling up close to him and arranging the comforters
and such, long enough to grasp what was going on and what he needed
to do to help. So it was that Tim slept curled up in the small of
the alien's back, while I spent the night hugged to Rapput's chest.
It was a lot like sharing a bed with a huge dog, except that Rapput
was warmer and softer than any dog could ever be. He even smelled
nice once you got used to him—sort of like cinnamon. And unlike any
dog, he kept his hand cupped over the top of my head all night
long, which I suppose would've made me feel even more safe and
special if I were a real Artemu. Even Li snugged up close, which
was of course right and proper under the circumstances, though
sometimes he disappeared. Presumably, this was to scout.
    Despite Rapput's pleasant presence, no one
slept much. The ground was terribly cold, for one thing, and not
nearly as soft as it might've been. Tim and I'd been through a lot
the day before, so much that even we'd have admitted it was
bothering us. And even worse, Li had gotten me thinking about a lot
of things all at once, so many that every time I thought I had one
idea all chased down and worked out it blurred and merged with six
others and I had to begin all over again.
    Tim and I had killed two men, and we hadn't
played fair doing it. Every time I looked back and thought things
through logically, I was convinced we'd done the right thing. Even
if Rapput hadn't been involved and the aliens wouldn't have killed
everyone by throwing rocks, we'd been kidnapped by force and
kidnappers didn't deserve a