perplexity. He took no offense. He found the mannerism agreeable. It made her seem more familiar, more Zi… Is that what he wanted? Did he wish for her to be more like his own kind so that she would be more acceptable?
“You don’t know how to build a fire?” The arches of hair over her eyes furrowed as she sank to her knees and laid the wood beside the small pyre he had prepared.
“On Zi, flammable matter sssuch asss wood is ssscarce. When heat or light isss needed, we ussse the glowing ssstonesss.”
“Glowing stones?” Leith brought out the laserlight and set the leaves and twigs aflame.
“Yesss.” He picked up a piece of wood as big around as his fist and twice as long.
“The ssstonesss are plentiful on Zi and found buried deep within the mountainsss. They are made of a clear ssstone that trapped a natural chemical when it formed. When the ssstone isss ssshaken, a reaction between the liquid and ssstone generatesss heat and light.”
She fed larger pieces of the wood to the growing fire then stopped suddenly. She grabbed his hand and held it between hers. Her warmth seeped through the thick gloves, and he wished desperately that he had removed them.
“Don’t you realize what you have? Instead of your jewels, you should have been trading the glowing stones! They would be worth a small fortune on the market.” Then, quite suddenly, she withdrew her hands from his and began placing more wood on the fire. The radiance left her face, and her smooth brow creased in a frown. “You could have exchanged them for the cargo.”
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Starkissed
61
He didn’t understand her change in attitude unless she thought she had overstepped some boundary by touching him in a familiar way. He wanted her hands to hold his again, to have this small connection to her, but she moved away to the far side of the fire, cold and distant, in dimension as well as disposition.
J’Qhir wrapped himself tightly in the solar film. This night was not as cold as the previous one. When Leith curled up close to the fire without another word, he knew he would not have to share the solar film tonight.
Something had happened, and this time it was he who did not know the meaning of it at all.
www.samhainpublishing.com
62
Lanette
Curington
Chapter 5
The shallow stream bubbled over smooth pebbles embedded in the sandy bottom.
Leith leaned over the muddy bank and saw her reflection for the first time in days—
tangled hair framing a dirt-smudged face. She wanted nothing more than to plunge into its refreshing coolness. She looked at it longingly and withdrew the omnilyzer. Offering a silent prayer, she aimed the laser eye into the stream.
A few bacteria, but nothing a human body couldn’t adjust to. Zi? She didn’t know and neither would the Commander. They took it on faith that his physiology was similar enough to human to be safe.
Leith put the gadget away and dipped her hands in, washing away two days’ worth of dirt and grime. She splashed her face and scrubbed it clean. At last, she enjoyed the luxury of fresh water spilling through her mouth and down her throat. The dew they had collected the first morning had the musty taste of leaves and a sharp metallic tang from the canteen. It had saved them from dehydration but wasn’t very palatable.
When Leith had drunk all she could, she dunked her head completely into the stream and washed her hair. Her scalp had itched for two days. She wished Steve had thrown in a bottle of shampoo among all the other useless things. She squeezed out as much water as she could, then finger-combed the tangles out.
She dumped the last of the dew, rinsed the canteen, and refilled it.
Now to find the Commander.
J’Qhir.
He had stopped calling her saàloh and now used Leith. After he told her his long, unwieldy name, she assumed he wanted her to call him J’Qhir, the only word she’d recognized. She had yet to say it out loud. It was difficult for her to think of him
“You don’t know how to build a fire?” The arches of hair over her eyes furrowed as she sank to her knees and laid the wood beside the small pyre he had prepared.
“On Zi, flammable matter sssuch asss wood is ssscarce. When heat or light isss needed, we ussse the glowing ssstonesss.”
“Glowing stones?” Leith brought out the laserlight and set the leaves and twigs aflame.
“Yesss.” He picked up a piece of wood as big around as his fist and twice as long.
“The ssstonesss are plentiful on Zi and found buried deep within the mountainsss. They are made of a clear ssstone that trapped a natural chemical when it formed. When the ssstone isss ssshaken, a reaction between the liquid and ssstone generatesss heat and light.”
She fed larger pieces of the wood to the growing fire then stopped suddenly. She grabbed his hand and held it between hers. Her warmth seeped through the thick gloves, and he wished desperately that he had removed them.
“Don’t you realize what you have? Instead of your jewels, you should have been trading the glowing stones! They would be worth a small fortune on the market.” Then, quite suddenly, she withdrew her hands from his and began placing more wood on the fire. The radiance left her face, and her smooth brow creased in a frown. “You could have exchanged them for the cargo.”
www.samhainpublishing.com
Starkissed
61
He didn’t understand her change in attitude unless she thought she had overstepped some boundary by touching him in a familiar way. He wanted her hands to hold his again, to have this small connection to her, but she moved away to the far side of the fire, cold and distant, in dimension as well as disposition.
J’Qhir wrapped himself tightly in the solar film. This night was not as cold as the previous one. When Leith curled up close to the fire without another word, he knew he would not have to share the solar film tonight.
Something had happened, and this time it was he who did not know the meaning of it at all.
www.samhainpublishing.com
62
Lanette
Curington
Chapter 5
The shallow stream bubbled over smooth pebbles embedded in the sandy bottom.
Leith leaned over the muddy bank and saw her reflection for the first time in days—
tangled hair framing a dirt-smudged face. She wanted nothing more than to plunge into its refreshing coolness. She looked at it longingly and withdrew the omnilyzer. Offering a silent prayer, she aimed the laser eye into the stream.
A few bacteria, but nothing a human body couldn’t adjust to. Zi? She didn’t know and neither would the Commander. They took it on faith that his physiology was similar enough to human to be safe.
Leith put the gadget away and dipped her hands in, washing away two days’ worth of dirt and grime. She splashed her face and scrubbed it clean. At last, she enjoyed the luxury of fresh water spilling through her mouth and down her throat. The dew they had collected the first morning had the musty taste of leaves and a sharp metallic tang from the canteen. It had saved them from dehydration but wasn’t very palatable.
When Leith had drunk all she could, she dunked her head completely into the stream and washed her hair. Her scalp had itched for two days. She wished Steve had thrown in a bottle of shampoo among all the other useless things. She squeezed out as much water as she could, then finger-combed the tangles out.
She dumped the last of the dew, rinsed the canteen, and refilled it.
Now to find the Commander.
J’Qhir.
He had stopped calling her saàloh and now used Leith. After he told her his long, unwieldy name, she assumed he wanted her to call him J’Qhir, the only word she’d recognized. She had yet to say it out loud. It was difficult for her to think of him
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