For all the lack of feeling in his demeanor, Lidon’s rumbling voice was surprisingly gentle. “I hope Matara Tina feels better soon.”
Tukui swallowed, touched by the tough bastard’s kindness. “Thank you, Commander. Me too.”
Chapter Six
At the end of the shift, Tukui departed the bridge with Osopa. His Nobek had been on Europa for the early part of his duty, showing up on the bridge halfway through his assigned hours. Osopa hadn’t shown any emotion when he’d arrived, but his gaze had settled on Tukui for longer than usual. No doubt he’d heard about the fight and knew Tukui had been to Lidon’s office. For a spyship devoted to discretion, there were damned few secrets among the crew.
When they were released from duty, Tukui set a pace that meant he and Osopa lagged behind the others departing the bridge. Usually, he’d be in no hurry to be alone with his Nobek after getting into trouble. Osopa was as adept at peeling a man’s hide with sharp words as Lidon was with his stick.
When they were adequately alone to manage a semblance of private conversation, Tukui prodded him. “Go ahead. Let me have it.”
“You’re inviting my anger? That’s a change. You’re walking better than I anticipated.”
“He let me off with a warning.”
“Like hell he did.”
“For Tina’s sake.”
Osopa allowed himself a moment of hero worship. “Has there ever been a greater Nobek?”
“Unload on me. I want you to. I screwed up. I let Zevs get to me. As your clanmate and Dramok, I let my temper make you look bad.”
“It’s not only me. You’re a grown man with the responsibility of a Matara.”
“I know.” He stopped and grabbed Osopa to make him halt too. “You were right, my Nobek. I failed to consider Tina’s situation as thoroughly as I should have. She’s traumatized, and my thoughtlessness threatened to make it worse. And I still don’t have a clue on how to comfort her.”
Instead of giving him the tongue lashing he deserved, Osopa gazed at him with sympathy. “If it helps, she’s behaving better than most of them. She’s not crying constantly or fighting us. Maybe we’re doing okay.”
“I wish she would fight. I wish she thought well enough of herself to tell us off. To spit at us, call us names—something. She’s so beaten down, my Nobek. Afraid, no matter how hard we try to show her there’s no reason to be.”
“What do we do?”
Tukui was the Dramok. It was up to him to lead them to the answers. He cast about for any route that might lead him to a solution. “Your sister went through some issues. Then she became your mother’s caretaker, so she still has challenges to work against. You don’t have any insight?”
“She’d be more than happy to tell you how inept and useless I am when it comes to comfort and care. I’m—I’m out of my depth when it comes to our Matara.”
He allowed his emotions to show, telling Tukui how miserable he found their situation. He was as aware of his shortcomings as Tukui was.
That left one other option. “I’ll take Yorso aside. Imdikos tend to be more successful with sorting out emotional stuff.”
“He may have already hit on a solution. He’s trying to find Tina a hobby. She’s neglected that part of her life. It would be good if she can enjoy something for the sake of her own pleasure.”
“Yeah. That’s a start. Not to mention Yorso had the luck to enjoy the company of a couple of girls when he was younger. Kalquorian women aren’t that much different from Earthers, are they?”
Osopa shrugged. “My sister isn’t similar to Tina, but we’re talking about two different situations. Yorso is the most liable to have insight. He’s studied what little we’ve gathered about Earther culture. He’s probably the only man on this crew to have had relations with females close to our age.”
They resumed their walk toward their quarters. Tukui rubbed the back of his neck. It had been a long day. “Let’s hope our Imdiko’s expertise is sufficient. I can’t cope with another night of Tina believing she’s nothing more than a prisoner.”
“Talk to Yorso as soon as possible, my Dramok.”
“I will. If he’s unable guide us, I can’t imagine what we’ll do.”
* * * *
Tukui counted his blessings that Tina appeared to be in a positive frame of mind when he greeted her that evening. She remained on edge, however. Her gaze darted around the room while she plucked nervously at her voluminous gown, as if she expected to be told to strip it off. When Tukui hugged her, as he would any of his clanmates, she trembled in his arms. His heart turned to lead at the reaction.
It was a relief to leave again, so he didn’t have to see how he’d failed her thus far. He recruited Yorso to accompany him to collect their dinner. Osopa and Tina looked equally ill at ease to be alone with each other. Fortunately, Yorso suggested the Nobek tell Tina more about the weapons he’d crafted.
“Their history and Osopa’s techniques are fascinating,” he enthused. “Maybe you could give her a demonstration on their proper use.”
When Tukui and Yorso left, Osopa was schooling a more relaxed Tina on how to grip the two-headed war ax properly for both offense and defensive maneuvering.
A few steps from their quarters, Yorso uttered an impatient sound. “Ugh. Would it kill him to smile at her?”
“Give him a break. You know how difficult emotional interaction is for him.”
“He could try harder.” Yorso quit griping to flirt. “You wanted me all to yourself? Did you miss me, my Dramok?”
Tukui chuckled, but his mood was too serious to maintain lightheartedness. “I need you to assist with Tina’s issues.”
“To which I say ‘ugh’ again. If I ever meet the person who made her believe she was born to be a slave—”
“No kidding. How do we fix this?”
“What makes me the expert on broken women?” Yorso scowled. “If you knew the day I had with her, trying to give her the attention she needs while answering the captain and head medic’s coms every few minutes, you wouldn’t be making that mistake.”
“You’re the one with the experience. You’ve been with females her age.”
“Sure, but they knew the universe revolved around them. I didn’t have to convince them of it. Ancestors, what a mess. When Tina wasn’t trying to wait on me, she insisted on apologizing for breathing my air.”
“Seriously?”
The horror in his tone made Yorso pat his back. “I’m exaggerating, but only a little. She has major issues.”
“You don’t have any ideas? I’ll take anything at this point.”
Yorso considered. They were almost to the dining hall when he stopped Tukui. “We have to elevate her. Treat her as if she’s the Mother of All Herself.”
“Aren’t we already doing that?” If Tukui were the sort to cry, he’d be doing it.
“The Earthers have a saying. Something about putting the cart before the—the—oh, it’s their equivalent of our kestarsh. Anyway, our current situation is backward. We had no opportunity to romance Tina before asking her to clan. We clanned her first.”