Molly was a unique treasure, and I would never mistake her for someone else. Harmon’s challenge and his size made him unforgettable. Allison made an impact like a battleship broadside, and her pink was hard to miss. And Alf made himself memorable by interrupting the introduction. The rest might as well be interchangeable.
“I am Karnac of the Silver Band, war mechanic from Clan Layol. I am sure we’ll all get on well.” Perhaps that was a lie — sure is a strong word. But ‘hope’ didn’t carry the same weight, and a little lie in the name of diplomacy hurt no one.
“Thank you all for the warm welcome and the… thoughtful banner.” I stumbled, trying to pick a word. Thoughtful had the virtue of being true and said nothing of the quality of the banner itself.
Allison began clapping, and everyone joined in instantly. Yes, she’s the alpha of this pack. Most human groups I’d met were circumspect about who held power. Here, everyone knew who was in charge.
As long as it worked, that was all that mattered. But… Molly seemed shut out of this, not even mentioned in the introduction. An insult I would not tolerate for long, not if it had anything to do with Molly’s anger. If I was to win her heart, I would need to find and deal with the causes of her bottled-up rage.
“Allison, might I speak with you for a moment?” I asked as the group made its way inside. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at me, and she nodded. A hand on my arm held me back, the rest of the crew filing past and into the base. Harmon paused in the doorway, looking back, and Allison had to shoo him inside.
“Sorry about that, he gets a bit protective,” she said. “And you are a fearsome looking man, Karnac. He might think you mean to hurt me, poor lamb. What did you want to speak about?”
Ah. Good, they are a pair. It explained the male’s glowers and glares; allowing one’s mate into danger should not be easy. But he had nothing to fear from me, and once he knew that, we should have no more trouble.
“It’s not anything to do with the job,” I admitted. She nodded for me to continue, her eyes widening, if anything more intrigued. “I don’t know the customs of your people well, or really at all. I know what gifts and words would sway a Prytheen female, but they are warriors like any other member of the Silver Band. Human females are different. If I were interested in one, what should I do for them?”
It felt awkward, wrong almost, to do things in the human style. But there were things worth learning from these people while we were stuck on Crashland together. If I got human advice on their approach to mating, it might take less time to prove myself worthy of her. That was the only goal that mattered to me now.
Allison paused before answering, watching me through wide eyes, her pink tongue darting out to wet her lips. Her frozen breath hung in the air like a smokescreen, making it hard to read her expression.
“Well now, someone moves fast,” she said, voice low and husky. I wasn’t sure what to make of that. “Gifts are always good, though. Something she’ll enjoy, like chocolate — there are still a few boxes left in the Wandering Star’s hold, I believe. Or jewelry; diamonds are a girl’s best friend. A necklace, earrings, or even a ring.”
She laughed at that, though I didn’t see the joke.
Hm. No heart of her enemies, no weapons, no cooking her a fine meal. Just… chocolate and diamonds? It felt so mundane. Any decent matter printer could churn out all the diamonds you wanted, just add carbon. Chocolate was trickier, though still not a grave challenge.
But if this was human custom, so be it. I would not let my disdain for the culture keep me from my beloved.
“Thank you, Allison, that is a great help,” I said, mindful of my manners. “A pity it will be a week before the next supply run, when I can get those things.”
“Oh, you don’t need them to start wooing,” Allison assured me, squeezing my arm in a way that felt far too familiar. “At least, not out here. Any girl would understand, I know she would. Just take your chance.”
Thinking about the look I’d last seen in my khara’s eyes, I shook my head. “If I am to follow your customs, I will do so properly. I would not wish to miss out on the experience.”
Chuckling, I made light of it, but the reality was serious. I’d seen Molly’s reaction when I arrived, and whatever the source of Molly’s pain and doubt, I refused to add to it. Doing things by the customs of her own people would, I hoped, stay inside her comfort zone and make it easier for her to accept me.
Despite Allison’s disapproving pout, I was confident I’d win my khara over soon.
3 Molly
The next days became an exercise in frustration in more ways than one. It was impossible to avoid Karnac, and with him came an awkwardness, draped over us like an annoying blanket.
Worse, even when he wasn’t around, my thoughts drifted to him. It didn’t matter how hard I tried to stop them, or what objections I raised. He was a pirate. A Prytheen. An enemy. But my horny mind refused to let go of just how handsome a pirate he was, especially since he worked topless.
Aside from that odd choice, he was a skilled engineer. Malfunctioning systems people had grumbled about came back online for the first time in months as he worked through all the Prytheen technology performing routine maintenance. I glanced across at him, bent over the heating unit pulled from a Prytheen transport and bundles of wiring that linked it to the base’s power supply and control network.
My attention wasn’t, I admit, focused on his work.
Sneaking a look at Karnac was always a mistake, for three reasons. First, I had no interest in him, and had no reason to look at the flexing muscles of his bare back. Second, those muscles, like everything else about Karnac, were unreasonably hot. Every time I looked over at him, I felt a heat inside of me, a tingling across my skin, and bit my lip.
Third, and worst of all, he always knew. Somehow, he’d look up at just the right moment to catch me staring at him, and he’d give me one of his infuriating grins.
Blushing, I tried to look away, but that smile of his had me caught like a rabbit in the headlights of an on-coming truck. You know it’s true, it seemed to say, you know you need me. And damn it, he made it easy to second guess my decision.
“When are you going to finish the heating repairs?” My voice had more of a snap to it than I planned, but if Karnac noticed, he gave no sign. He never seemed to notice my anger, which was one of his most infuriating habits.
“Whoever pulled it from one of the Silver Band’s ships did not know what they were doing,” he said, shaking his head. As though he was an adult bemused by a child trying to fix a car. “They didn’t bring the alignment crystal.”
One of the first rules we’d established was to not worry about accuracy when translating technical terms; alignment crystal might be a meaningful description in his language, or a brand name. I didn’t need to know. What he was telling me was that a vital part was missing, which explained why I hadn’t been able to get it working.
“That doesn’t answer my question,” I reminded him, and he laughed.
“At my current rate of work?” I nodded. “Then my best estimate is now.”
Behind him, on the workbench I’d grudgingly cleared for him, a crystal glowed and emitted a high-pitched whine. The rats’ nest of cabling leading to the odd Prytheen technology vibrated.