Sen declared. She swatted the robot-fly away.
‘Bona riah,’ Kax said. Not only had it absorbed Palari, it spoke it in a Stoke Newington accent.
‘It’d better not be a girl, ’s all,’ Sen said sullenly.
Kax wore sturdy boots that reached the knee and several belts festooned with pouches and pockets. Nothing more. Everett wasn’t familiar enough with reptile sex to know where even to start looking, let alone what he was supposed to look for – supposing lizardmen (or lizardwomen) had visible parts. Supposing that after sixty-five million years of evolution they even reproduced like the lizards in the biology lab tank. Kax in return was very interested in human sexual features, as far as the Jiju could make out beneath the layers of clothing.
The robot-fly buzzed over to land on Captain Anastasia’s breasts. Mchynlyth and Sharkey tensed. Sen was a heartbeat behind them.
‘What are these physiological features?’ Kax asked. Its halo was rotating. Everett had a theory that this meant it was absorbing information and feeding it to Kax.
‘At ease, omis. And polone,’ said Captain Anastasia. ‘They are female human sexual features. They enable us to feed our babies with milk. We call them willets, in our Palari speech. Breasts, in King’s English. There are a lot of slang names for them. Most of them made up by men, who historically have found them attractive and fascinating.’
‘Willets,’ Kax said. ‘Will. Ets.’
‘It touches my willets, it gets a knife in its whatever-its-got,’ Sen hissed.
Now the fly buzzed in Mchynlyth’s face. He flicked at it,and it buzzed away, then danced in closer. With a furious roar Mchynlyth lunged, caught the fly in his gloved hand and crushed it. A sudden cry and a Govan oath. Mchynlyth opened his fist. Blood leaked from the slashed palm of his heavy work glove. A golden blade dropped from his open hand and slashed across the clearing to rejoin the halo around Kax’s head.
Kax whistled a cluster of fast and furious notes at Mchynlyth.
‘Aye, tweet tweet, my friggin’ lovely, to you too,’ Mchynlyth glowered back.
Kax raised its crest of fine quills and uncurled from its perch. The halo rippled. Everett moved in between Mchynlyth and Kax, hands raised.
Back off, people
.
‘Stand back, Mr Singh,’ Captain Anastasia ordered. She pushed Everett sharply out of the way and took his place. ‘I’ll have no fighting here. Mr Mchynlyth, let’s get this back to the ship. Kax … put them blades of yours to some use. Can you clear us a path through the undergrowth?’
The Jiju flared its nostrils, blinked membrane across yellow eyes.
‘I shall do that.’
*
Mchynlyth’s scheme was simple. Hook the impeller pod to cables. Fix each cable around the trunk of a tree. Ratchet ratchet ratchet ratchet. Impeller moves five metres. Repeat one hundred times.
Everett’s biceps burned. His shoulders ached. His chest throbbed at every twist or turn. Even his stomach muscles twitched painfully. But again Mchynlyth yelled,
Pull!
And Everett pulled on the ratchet. Pulled with all his strength. Pulled until his hands were raw. Pulled until the red dots swarmed in his vision.
‘Haul off!’
Everett collapsed, lay on his back panting, staring up at the dappled light through the red leaves.
Only sixty left to go.
He got back on his feet again.
Kax tilted its head from one side to the other in that curious bird look it did.
‘But you’re exhausted, Everett Singh,’ it said. ‘You need to recover your strength.’
I need to do right
, Everett thought as he unshackled the ratchet from the tree, slung the cable over his shoulder and hauled it to the next tree. I need to do more right than anyone else. I need to be ten times the crewperson of anyone on
Everness
and maybe then I can live with myself.
He hauled the cable around the massive tree trunk and hooked it on to the hasp. And hissed in pain as the metal ratchet rasped the raw skin of his palms.
‘Cha break,
‘Bona riah,’ Kax said. Not only had it absorbed Palari, it spoke it in a Stoke Newington accent.
‘It’d better not be a girl, ’s all,’ Sen said sullenly.
Kax wore sturdy boots that reached the knee and several belts festooned with pouches and pockets. Nothing more. Everett wasn’t familiar enough with reptile sex to know where even to start looking, let alone what he was supposed to look for – supposing lizardmen (or lizardwomen) had visible parts. Supposing that after sixty-five million years of evolution they even reproduced like the lizards in the biology lab tank. Kax in return was very interested in human sexual features, as far as the Jiju could make out beneath the layers of clothing.
The robot-fly buzzed over to land on Captain Anastasia’s breasts. Mchynlyth and Sharkey tensed. Sen was a heartbeat behind them.
‘What are these physiological features?’ Kax asked. Its halo was rotating. Everett had a theory that this meant it was absorbing information and feeding it to Kax.
‘At ease, omis. And polone,’ said Captain Anastasia. ‘They are female human sexual features. They enable us to feed our babies with milk. We call them willets, in our Palari speech. Breasts, in King’s English. There are a lot of slang names for them. Most of them made up by men, who historically have found them attractive and fascinating.’
‘Willets,’ Kax said. ‘Will. Ets.’
‘It touches my willets, it gets a knife in its whatever-its-got,’ Sen hissed.
Now the fly buzzed in Mchynlyth’s face. He flicked at it,and it buzzed away, then danced in closer. With a furious roar Mchynlyth lunged, caught the fly in his gloved hand and crushed it. A sudden cry and a Govan oath. Mchynlyth opened his fist. Blood leaked from the slashed palm of his heavy work glove. A golden blade dropped from his open hand and slashed across the clearing to rejoin the halo around Kax’s head.
Kax whistled a cluster of fast and furious notes at Mchynlyth.
‘Aye, tweet tweet, my friggin’ lovely, to you too,’ Mchynlyth glowered back.
Kax raised its crest of fine quills and uncurled from its perch. The halo rippled. Everett moved in between Mchynlyth and Kax, hands raised.
Back off, people
.
‘Stand back, Mr Singh,’ Captain Anastasia ordered. She pushed Everett sharply out of the way and took his place. ‘I’ll have no fighting here. Mr Mchynlyth, let’s get this back to the ship. Kax … put them blades of yours to some use. Can you clear us a path through the undergrowth?’
The Jiju flared its nostrils, blinked membrane across yellow eyes.
‘I shall do that.’
*
Mchynlyth’s scheme was simple. Hook the impeller pod to cables. Fix each cable around the trunk of a tree. Ratchet ratchet ratchet ratchet. Impeller moves five metres. Repeat one hundred times.
Everett’s biceps burned. His shoulders ached. His chest throbbed at every twist or turn. Even his stomach muscles twitched painfully. But again Mchynlyth yelled,
Pull!
And Everett pulled on the ratchet. Pulled with all his strength. Pulled until his hands were raw. Pulled until the red dots swarmed in his vision.
‘Haul off!’
Everett collapsed, lay on his back panting, staring up at the dappled light through the red leaves.
Only sixty left to go.
He got back on his feet again.
Kax tilted its head from one side to the other in that curious bird look it did.
‘But you’re exhausted, Everett Singh,’ it said. ‘You need to recover your strength.’
I need to do right
, Everett thought as he unshackled the ratchet from the tree, slung the cable over his shoulder and hauled it to the next tree. I need to do more right than anyone else. I need to be ten times the crewperson of anyone on
Everness
and maybe then I can live with myself.
He hauled the cable around the massive tree trunk and hooked it on to the hasp. And hissed in pain as the metal ratchet rasped the raw skin of his palms.
‘Cha break,
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