“We should stick together.”
When she halted and turned, Bri discovered it was Becky of Texas who’d spoken, the woman she’d called a fucking cunt because of her hateful remarks about Cory. She still didn’t like the woman.
“The … aliens,” she said when Bri merely stared at her.
Bri shook her head, almost feeling sorry for the woman. “In case you haven’t noticed there are no lines here, nothing to keep them back if they were inclined to do anything to us. We could all pile together--safety in numbers and all that--but they outnumber us and they’re a hell of a lot bigger. Anyway, I can’t see that they look all that interested.”
Someone snickered maliciously as she turned away. “Obviously, she likes the Hirachi horizontal tango.”
Bri stiffened but decided to ignore the remark.
Then she decided not to. Turning her head, she smiled vaguely, uncertain of which one had made the remark. “Actually, you’re right. I did enjoy it. Faced with the choice of resisting the inevitable and feeling persecuted, or relaxing and going with the flow, I chose to be open minded and positive, and the reward was well worth it!”
And they could lie all they wanted to, to themselves and everyone else, but unless Dansk and Kole were
really
remarkable, she’d be willing to bet she wasn’t the only one.
Actually, she thought they
were
remarkable.
A lump welled in her throat at the thought. She hadn’t seen either of them since they’d been carted away, and she’d finally locked her fear for them, and her guilt, and her grief on the dark side of her mind with all of the other horrible things she’d seen since she’d been taken. It didn’t bear thinking on, none of it, because if she allowed it to, all of it would crash over her and she’d be useless to herself and to Cory.
She didn’t know what was hardest to bear--all of it, all of them, Kole, Dansk, Consuelo, Manuel, Angie …. She was afraid that without Angie there was no hope, and truth be told, she was no longer certain what she hoped for, but the loss of everyone she’d grown close to, attached to, since she’d been taken except for Cory made her wonder if it was even worth trying to do anything.
Maybe the women were right. Maybe they would be better off to simply accept their fate? It had taken no more than one look at the planet to assure her that life was going to be hellish no matter which road she took, dangerous, a constant battle for survival. At least if they stayed they’d be fed. The fortified walls weren’t shelter, but it would keep things out the same as it kept them in, and there was no telling what was out there.
Nothing intelligent, she supposed, no help. If there’d been natives surely the Sheloni would have just used them.
What did she know about surviving in any kind of wilderness? Nothing! And even if she had that knowledge, and experience--which she didn’t--it would probably be useless in this environment.
Dragging in a shaky breath, fighting the urge to simply give up, flop on the ground, and wail ‘woe is me’, she stopped when she’d put some distance between her and the women whose attitudes were dragging her down and looked around at the walls, trying to force herself to assess the situation with reason rather than emotion. There was a knot of Sheloni standing on an observation platform at the top of the wall holding the jungle back studying their captives like someone might study an ant farm. Though she supposed they had not been brought all this way merely for entertainment.
The thought had occurred to her before, especially when they’d pitched everyone in to breed, but although that possibility would almost be welcome now, she had had to dismiss it long ago.
Dragging her gaze from them after no more than a glimpse, she looked around the enclosure. There was a rawness about it that seemed to indicate it had not been here long. The ground was perfectly bare. Surely, considering how dense the jungle, it wouldn’t have been if there’d been time for plants to reclaim it?
What of the Hirachi who’d been brought here before, though? Were there more camps like this one? Had this been created just for them?
After a few moments, since it didn’t seem that the Sheloni meant to do anything right away, she moved down toward the beach where waves crashed ashore. The water had a sulfurous smell to it that drew stronger the closer she came to it. She wondered abruptly if it actually was an ocean, or merely a large body of fresh water.
Not that anything stinking of sulfur could really be called ‘fresh’!
She stood near the water’s edge for a few moments, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in her face, and lip, toes, and ribs. Finally, giving in to her weariness, she settled on the dry, coarse black sand at her feet and, with relief, settled Cory’s weight on her lap. Staring at the walls that rose up far out to sea, she wondered why the Sheloni had found it necessary to wall off such a huge area of water.
Either restless from being held or fascinated with the water pounding against the shore not far away, Cory commenced to struggling to get down. Her arms hurt from holding him so long. Finally, she sat him on the ground next to her. He promptly rolled onto all fours and tried to scurry toward the water. Smiling faintly, she dragged him back. Apparently incensed at being denied the opportunity to explore, Cory pitched a fit.
She picked him up, meeting his indignant gaze. “NO! Behave yourself and I’ll let you play in the sand.”
He understood no, and it wasn’t a word he liked very well. He continued to fuss and fight to get down until she settled him on the sand again and distracted him by scooping up a handful of the coarse stuff and letting it drift through her palm. That caught his attention. Instead of heading for the water again the moment she let him go, he began digging in the sand and trying to stuff it into his mouth.
A shadow fell across them.
Bri’s heart was already in her throat when she whipped her head upward to stare at the Hirachi man towering over her. Blinded by the sun, she lifted a hand to shield her eyes.
Her heart executed a little somersault and began to pound with a strange mixture of fear, disbelief, and happiness. “Kole!” she exclaimed on a breathless gasp.
After studying her for several heart stopping moments, he shifted so that the sun wasn’t directly behind him and dropped to his knees in the sand beside her. She swallowed with an effort when she’d examined him, assured herself it really was him. “I thought … I thought ….” She swallowed again, unable to complete the sentence. His expression was almost unwelcoming, accusing. The desire to express her joy at seeing him alive and hale died in her throat.
She looked away, dragging Cory back when she saw that he was preparing to make another break for the water and redirecting his attention to the sand again. “I’m glad you’re all right,” she said finally.
He said nothing, and finally Bri couldn’t stand the suspense anymore. She glanced at him warily.
“How long have you known my tongue?”
She’d known he would be pissed off if he realized she did. She’d known she’d given away at least some knowledge when he and Dansk had fought, but that hardly seemed to matter given that she’d believed they were both dead. It occurred to her that she could pretend she still only knew a little, but what was the point other than keeping him from being mad at her? Obviously he already was and just as obviously it seemed unlikely he’d believe her if she tried to lie and say she only knew a little. “I don’t remember,” she hedged.
“Before they brought you to me, though.”
Bri reddened, struggled with the urge to lie, and decided against it. “Yes.”
He looked angrier for a moment, and then thoughtful. “Did you learn what you hoped to learn?”
The blush, that had only begun to abate, returned full force. She shrugged. “I had no reason to trust you,” she pointed out, abruptly feeling indignant. “You’ve no room to accuse me. You were trying to learn my language for the same reason.”
He didn’t deny it. “Partly,” he responded finally, his lips twisting in a wry smile.
Intrigued by that, Bri sent him a questioningly glance. He didn’t elaborate, and an uncomfortable silence settled between them.
“Do you carry his babe?”
Shocked by his demand to know, Bri sent him a startled glance. It was on the tip of her tongue to demand to know what business it was of his anyway. She squelched the urge, realizing it would sound like she was trying to discover if she meant anything at all to him. The question seemed to imply he did, but that was only if she attributed human traits and motives to him, and she still wasn’t sure how closely their thoughts and behavior mirrored typical human behavior. They seemed to feel the same emotional range as humans, shared a lot of similar personality traits, and yet she knew there was a vast difference in their cultures, that there were as many differences between the races of man and the Hirachi as there were similarities, and that was bound to have an effect on the way they looked at things, felt about things.
She averted her gaze from his penetrating stare with an effort, realizing she was reluctant to share her intimacy with Dansk with him. Because of loyalty and affection for Dansk, she wondered? Or because of her feelings for Kole, from a reluctance to say anything that would drive a bigger wedge between them?
Damn it! It was unfair! She’d lost Consuelo’s friendship because the damned Sheloni had decided to toss her in with the same man who’d impregnated her friend. Everyone behaved as if she was the anti-Christ or something because of the fight between Dansk and Kole, and her falling out with Consuelo! Why target
her
for their anger and frustrations? It was the damned Sheloni’s fault!
Because it was easier to target somebody they could actually punish?
“No,” she said finally. “I was ….” Embarrassment flooded her cheeks with color again, and the pain of the memory clouded her eyes. She thought he knew about the baby she’d lost, but she couldn’t bring herself to tell him if he didn’t, or explain that she had not been ‘well’ enough to resume relations when they had put her with Dansk. In any case, she didn’t think he wanted or needed the details. In truth, she could have been, she supposed. Once was enough. But she hadn’t even considered the possibility before it became evident that there was no possibility, because she hadn’t been able to think of much beyond worrying over what had become of him and Dansk after they were taken away. “I’m sorry about … about ….”
His lips tightened. “I’m not,” he said harshly.
Chapter Nineteen
Stung both by the comment and his tone, Bri stared at him. Was he saying he wasn’t sorry she’d lost his baby? Or that he didn’t care that she was worried sick about him and Dansk? Or was he only saying he wasn’t sorry he’d fought with Dansk and it had nothing to do with her so she needn’t apologize as if it had? She was glad for the distraction as Cory managed to evade her. She looked away from Kole. Startled to discover how rapidly Cory was moving, she made a lunge for him and missed, rolling onto her stomach when she threw herself off balance. “Cory, no!”
He ignored her, naturally, crawling toward the waves for all he was worth. Alarm ran through her veins like ice water when she saw that he’d put more distance between himself and her than there was between him and the water. Bri scrambled up and gave chase, swooping down to make a grab for him again when she came even with him. Her fingers brushed him, but he was wearing nothing but the cloth she used to diaper him, and she didn’t manage to grab a hold. Water washed over her ankles as she made another grab for him, but the moment the water crashed over him it lifted him from the ground, and as the wave receded it took him with it into the murky water.
“Cory!” she screamed in panic, falling to her knees and feeling blindly for him. “Cory!” Water filled her nose and mouth as she fought the waves to find him.
Kole splashed into the water beside her.
“I can’t swim! I can’t swim!” she babbled. “I can’t find him! Oh god! Cory!”
The water was waist high when she struggled to her feet and looked around frantically. Giving her a strange look, Kole dove into the next wave. The wave caught her chest high, knocking her backwards. She strangled as she went under, adding to her fear and the mindless panic that gripped her as she struggled to claw her way above the surface to catch her breath. A hand caught her waist, dragging her clear of the water at last. Coughing, sputtering, still gripped by panic, it took Bri many moments to register the sound of Cory’s indignant wails.
Relief flooded her. Sloughing the water from her eyes so that she could see, still wracked with coughing spasms, she looked for Cory and discovered Kole had him caught against his chest with his other arm. He didn’t release her until she’d managed to get her feet under her, firmly planted on the ground beneath the water. She wavered, weak from the adrenaline rush, from breathlessness, and from fighting the current, and disoriented by the movement of the water. Slipping a hand along her waist again and pulling her close against his side, he walked her up onto the beach.
It took all she could do to remain on her feet when he let her go again, but she locked her trembling knees. She needed to feel Cory securely in her arms, to know absolutely that he was going to be all right.
Kole, she saw when she looked up at him, reaching for the baby, had lifted the child away to study him. A jolt of anxiety shot through her. His expression was stern, his gaze assessing. “You are too young to brave the sea, little warrior,” he said gruffly.
The sound of the man’s voice penetrated Cory’s anger--and his cries
were
angry Bri realized with surprise. He stopped wailing, opened the eyes he’d squeezed shut, and stared rounded eyed at the man that held him. After examining the face for several moments, he reached out and caught Kole’s lip and tried to remove it.
Kole made no attempt to disentangle his lip, although Bri knew from experience that the baby’s grip was strong and painful if he managed to grab hold of anything sensitive. He let go of his own accord once he’d figured out he couldn’t tear it loose and patted Kole’s cheeks with both hands.
After staring back at the baby for several moments, Kole seemed to come to himself. He lowered the baby into her outstretched arms. Giving up the effort to stand on her shaky legs, Bri clutched him against her chest as she wilted to the ground and promptly burst into tears of relief.