Amusement sifted through her. “Nothing bothers you, Jak’ri. You’re a total badass.”
He eyed her quizzically. “Is a badass a good thing? My translator isn’t clear on that.”
Ava smiled. “It’s a very good thing.”
He grinned.
Still, she couldn’t help but worry. The lowest leaves were way, way, way above them. A fall from that height would definitely kill him.
Touching her elbow, Jak’ri leaned down for a quick kiss. “I’ll return safely.”
She nodded. “How are you going to cut the leaves?”
He patted a small pouch he’d attached to his O-rifle sling. “I took a laser scalpel from the medic bag.” Stepping up to the tree, he eyed the thick, rough bark a moment, then began to climb. “I don’t know how heavy the leaves will be, so don’t try to catch them when they fall.”
“Okay,” she replied absently, absorbed with watching his swift ascent.
Damn, he was good. And his confidence—the surety with which he placed his feet and gripped the bark with his fingers—coupled with the flex of muscles revealed by his shirt and pants whenever they stretched taut merely fed her attraction.
Several of the little leapers scrambled up after him, hooting and cavorting as if it were a race or some game he played with them.
The rest remained on the ground near Ava.
In astonishingly little time, Jak’ri neared the lowest branch and climbed onto it, inching toward the massive leaves.
He was so far up now she couldn’t even estimate how many stories above the ground he must be.
One of the big leaves sagged, then fell toward her, floating down like a discarded parachute.
The leapers in the tree hooted louder and gave chase.
Ava stepped back as it hit the ground. Bending, she brushed a hand across its surface and smiled fondly. It even felt like an elephant ear plant, just thicker.
Jak’ri moved to another branch and cut a second leaf.
Ava suspected he didn’t want to hack away all the leaves on one branch in case the Gathendiens looked up while hunting them. Nor would he hack away enough to produce a thin patch in the canopy that concealed them.
By the time he started back down the tree, half a dozen leaves covered the ground around her. One of the leapers that had been keeping her company wandered over and sprawled atop them.
“Don’t get too comfortable,” she warned. “That’s our bed, not yours.”
Tension thrummed through her as she turned back to watch Jak’ri’s descent. Climbing down always looked more harrowing to her than climbing up did.
When he was near enough to the ground, he jumped the remaining distance and landed in front of her with a grin.
Ava threw her arms around him, glad to have him safely on the ground with her again.
Chuckling, he hugged her close. “I’m well, Ava,” he murmured reassuringly. “But when I was near the canopy, I could see the sun sinking toward the horizon. We should hurry and get settled before the nocturnal hunters awaken.”
Remembering those huge paw prints, she shuddered. “Right.”
If Jak’ri thought getting the packs into the cave was hard, that was nothing compared to rolling the big leaves up and shoving them through the tight passage. Nevertheless, they succeeded.
Jak’ri smiled. He and Ava worked well together, laughing and teasing instead of growing irritable whenever the task began to frustrate them.
As the already dim light began to fade, they walked some distance away and took turns relieving themselves, then had a quick wash in the stream. He kept a close eye on Ava as she waded into the water. If the barrier he’d coated her feet with had cracked, that gash on her foot would hurt like srul when the water touched it.
The barrier must have remained intact, however, because she simply sighed and said the cold felt good.
Jak’ri wished they could linger and soak their weary bodies. But they didn’t dare. Those paw prints outside the pod had been terrifyingly large.
The friendly little leapers retreated to the trees as he and Ava entered the cave for the night.
The leaves the two of them had arranged as a mattress gave off a scent Ava likened to freshly cut grass that went a long way toward banishing the mustiness of the cave. Jak’ri sat on them and patted the space next to him.
Smiling, Ava sat close beside him as he began to rummage through the pack he’d carried. After a moment, he drew out a hesku.
“What’s that?” Leaning closer, she peered at it curiously. “It looks like a pancake wrapped in burlap. I love pancakes. You haven’t been holding out on me, have you?”
He chuckled. “No.” According to his translator, a pancake was a flat pastry of some sort. “Watch.” Jak’ri set the flat round object on his palm, then slowly clenched his fist around it, crushing it into a ball.
Light burst forth from it.
Ava gasped and threw a hand up to shield her eyes. “What?”
Grinning, he flattened it out once more and set it on the ground in front of them.
“It’s so bright!” she exclaimed as she lowered her hand. “What is it?”
“A hesku.” Jak’ri had been relieved to find several of them among the supplies on the escape pod. If there had been no habitable planets nearby, he and Ava could’ve conserved the pod’s power by shutting off the interior lights and using the heskus instead.
Here on the planet, the malleable discs could provide them with more light than a campfire would without emitting smoke or the scent of burning wood, both of which could give away their location.
Ava leaned closer to examine it. “Is it electronic?”
“No. It contains two minerals that produce light when they react to one another. They’re separated by a stiff but thin barrier inside the packet that shatters under sufficient pressure and allows them to mingle.”
“How long does the light last?”
“Hours. Until morning at least. And we can extend that if we pick it up, shake it, and apply more pressure.”
“Is it hot?”
“No.”
Ava tentatively touched the tips of her fingers to it. “It isn’t warm at all!”
He nodded. “If the temperature in here should drop too much during the night, we can add water. Then the hesku will generate heat as a second chemical reaction takes place. Once we do, though, it won’t be safe to touch again until it’s dry.” He patted his thigh. “Let me look at your foot.”
Ava shifted so she could prop her foot in his lap.
Jak’ri studied it carefully. “The kesaadi coating remains intact. Nothing appears to have pierced it.”
“That was a really good idea,” she said with a smile. “My feet would be in pretty bad shape if you hadn’t thought of that.”
Warmed by her praise, Jak’ri dragged the medic bag closer and withdrew a small towel to spread under her foot. Then he sprayed the sole with the retsa. When the cleanser swelled into a thick foam, he spread it over her foot and waited for it to melt away like water.
Ava’s eyes widened. “That foam removes the rubbery stuff, too?”
Though the bandage remained, the clear kesaadi he’d coated the bottom of her foot with to protect it and hold the bandage in place had dissolved. “Yes.”