talking?”
He carefully turned his head toward her. “I-I feel better,” he croaked.
“You look a great deal better. Your voice will come back eventually. Just don’t try to say too much if your throat hurts.”
“Sit … up?” he requested.
“All right. If you feel like it. It’s a good idea to move your hands, feet, and joints if you can. The scars leave them stiffened if you don’t. That’s why so many who’ve been exposed to the plasma limp or walk in a stooped posture.”
Marcos carefully pushed himself into a sitting position. The light blanket on his body fell to his thighs and exposed a great deal of his torso to the cool cave air. His skin stung, and he winced, but he quickly decided that any day above ground was a good one. All thoughts of death were gone. He’d gotten this far with her help. He could go the distance.
“You said you’re called Marcos. Unfortunately, that’s all I know about you. Well … I know you’re supposed to be a merchant. That’s what Prometheus called you.”
“P-Prometheus?”
“That’s the slug leader who attacked you.”
“D-Doesn’t … s-sound like a Limaxian name.”
“It isn’t,” Nova confirmed. “I think he went by the name of Garstid when he first arrived. Being the leader of the slugs, he thinks he’s above humans. Using a human-sounding name is a way of making fun of us. It’s just another way to show us who’s master.”
Marcos sat still as she picked up her cloth, dipped it into a bowl of water, and began to reapply it to his body. It hurt badly, but he closed his eyes for a moment and willed himself to accept her help. “I didn’t h-hurt you?”
Nova shook her head. “It’s all right, Marcos. Don’t worry about knocking me against the wall. You were having a horrible nightmare. I don’t hold it against you.”
The cold of the cave, combined with the cool cloth, made him shiver worse. “How long?”
“How long have you been sleeping?” she asked as she readjusted the blanket over the lower half of his body. “Almost two days.”
He stared at the scars over her bald head for a moment and realized he must look much the same, likely worse. The skin of her hands and forearms looked soft and normal. It seemed that just the upper part of her body had been scorched by the plasma, as the telltale scars ran across her cheeks and neck. The long caftan she wore gave him no clue as to how badly she might have originally been burned.
After turning to fill a cup with hot vegetable broth from the fire pit, she hesitated. “I know. I’m not all that attractive, but I’m alive.”
Marcos lowered his gaze, ashamed at having been caught staring.
She lifted the cup to his lips and let him sip some of the hot broth.
The soup actually tasted good. It made his throat feel better when he swallowed.
“Good. You’re doing much better than I would have expected. But then, I don’t know how you survived at all. You’ve been burned quite badly.” She paused. “I was running away when it happened to me. Just my head, back, shoulders, and a few spots on the front of my body were exposed.”
“W-what did you do?”
“Nothing. Just like you,” she angrily responded. “Slugs went into the marketplace and fired at everyone just to make an example of us. Many of the miners and merchants here tried to fight back when the slugs first landed. But we had no real weapons. My father and mother, the head constable, and many of the miners and merchants from work co-ops were killed. Anyone I ever cared about is dead. I survive only because I hide in this cave. My father thought we might have to have a safe place to stay secluded, so he prepared this cave for us. Only he and my mother never got here.”
“I’m sorry, Nova.”
“You’ve nothing to be sorry about. It was the slugs and the governor who killed everyone. But you … what you did the other day was one of the few brave things I’ve seen on this planet. I saved you because I think you
He carefully turned his head toward her. “I-I feel better,” he croaked.
“You look a great deal better. Your voice will come back eventually. Just don’t try to say too much if your throat hurts.”
“Sit … up?” he requested.
“All right. If you feel like it. It’s a good idea to move your hands, feet, and joints if you can. The scars leave them stiffened if you don’t. That’s why so many who’ve been exposed to the plasma limp or walk in a stooped posture.”
Marcos carefully pushed himself into a sitting position. The light blanket on his body fell to his thighs and exposed a great deal of his torso to the cool cave air. His skin stung, and he winced, but he quickly decided that any day above ground was a good one. All thoughts of death were gone. He’d gotten this far with her help. He could go the distance.
“You said you’re called Marcos. Unfortunately, that’s all I know about you. Well … I know you’re supposed to be a merchant. That’s what Prometheus called you.”
“P-Prometheus?”
“That’s the slug leader who attacked you.”
“D-Doesn’t … s-sound like a Limaxian name.”
“It isn’t,” Nova confirmed. “I think he went by the name of Garstid when he first arrived. Being the leader of the slugs, he thinks he’s above humans. Using a human-sounding name is a way of making fun of us. It’s just another way to show us who’s master.”
Marcos sat still as she picked up her cloth, dipped it into a bowl of water, and began to reapply it to his body. It hurt badly, but he closed his eyes for a moment and willed himself to accept her help. “I didn’t h-hurt you?”
Nova shook her head. “It’s all right, Marcos. Don’t worry about knocking me against the wall. You were having a horrible nightmare. I don’t hold it against you.”
The cold of the cave, combined with the cool cloth, made him shiver worse. “How long?”
“How long have you been sleeping?” she asked as she readjusted the blanket over the lower half of his body. “Almost two days.”
He stared at the scars over her bald head for a moment and realized he must look much the same, likely worse. The skin of her hands and forearms looked soft and normal. It seemed that just the upper part of her body had been scorched by the plasma, as the telltale scars ran across her cheeks and neck. The long caftan she wore gave him no clue as to how badly she might have originally been burned.
After turning to fill a cup with hot vegetable broth from the fire pit, she hesitated. “I know. I’m not all that attractive, but I’m alive.”
Marcos lowered his gaze, ashamed at having been caught staring.
She lifted the cup to his lips and let him sip some of the hot broth.
The soup actually tasted good. It made his throat feel better when he swallowed.
“Good. You’re doing much better than I would have expected. But then, I don’t know how you survived at all. You’ve been burned quite badly.” She paused. “I was running away when it happened to me. Just my head, back, shoulders, and a few spots on the front of my body were exposed.”
“W-what did you do?”
“Nothing. Just like you,” she angrily responded. “Slugs went into the marketplace and fired at everyone just to make an example of us. Many of the miners and merchants here tried to fight back when the slugs first landed. But we had no real weapons. My father and mother, the head constable, and many of the miners and merchants from work co-ops were killed. Anyone I ever cared about is dead. I survive only because I hide in this cave. My father thought we might have to have a safe place to stay secluded, so he prepared this cave for us. Only he and my mother never got here.”
“I’m sorry, Nova.”
“You’ve nothing to be sorry about. It was the slugs and the governor who killed everyone. But you … what you did the other day was one of the few brave things I’ve seen on this planet. I saved you because I think you
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