Perhaps there were gods after all… If so, then they just might have blessed him at that moment.
Letting out a sigh, he returned to his desk to finish what little work remained before he could return to his chambers for the evening. Now that it was upon him, he was eager to get away from all the detailed data entry work. He longed for the simple data logs and hours of privacy and leisure during travel that came with salvaging.
Soon.
27
Tarik offered her one of his tight but warm smiles as he handed Harahna to Terri.
“Do not be concerned. The registrar did not question what his eyes saw. While his comments were unflattering, he did not suspect anything regarding your offspring’s mixed heritage.”
A relieved sigh escaped Terri as she hugged her baby close. She dodged the little hand playfully batting at her face before distracting her daughter by wiggling her fingers until one was captured and stuffed into an eager little mouth. Despite being only a couple of weeks old, Harahna was developing at a rate that didn’t cease to shock her.
“Did the registrar see the symbiont?” she asked.
The medic’s smile widened slightly.
“No. Argurma protocols kept him back far enough that I was able to keep her right hand between her body and mine.”
“Good,” she sighed in relief.
“And I brought something for you,” he added, directing her attention to a small bag he lifted.
A familiar honey-sweet smell filled the room, making her mouth water with anticipation.
“You brought me vansik?”
“On Veral’s instruction,” he clarified. “He wanted you to have an appropriate treat from the oases of the Galithilan. It is one of the few exports that come from our far-kin, and he said that you never had the opportunity to have it fresh. Only replicated.”
His lip curled slightly, betraying his opinion on replicated food. Terri offered him a commiserating grin. She had some imported foods on space stations, but until she reached Argurumal, she really hadn’t had the opportunity to taste the difference between replicated and fresh foods. A sniff affirmed that this was the fresh stuff. The difference in the aroma of the vansik was incredible.
Terri took the bag and brought it close to her face, inhaling as a chuckle escaped her.
“It really does smell better too. I can’t believe how much I love to eat these little things considering I’m not usually one who enjoys eating bugs,” she confided.
A surprisingly raspy chuff escaped the medic that was echoed by Malraha from where she was seated in a chair next to the baby’s bed. Navesha smirked from her position by the doorway.
“You would be surprised to know that many Argurma hold the same aversion, and yet vansik is among the few exceptions that appeal to us all,” the female commented as she looked at the bag with what might have been longing.
Her smile widened at the thought but dropped when the door chimed. Navesha straightened and touched the door panel.
“Registered identity is Featha’katala,” Navesha reported.
Malraha immediately stiffened, and Tarik stepped back quickly from the doorway.
Featha. Wonderful.
Biting back a sound of dismay, she nodded to Navesha, who promptly put in the acceptance code.
The door opened to the tall crimson robed Argurma. She stood there, her eyes trailing around the room before she stepped inside.
Tarik’s mandibles drew close to his cheekbones deferentially when she gave a sharp glance in his direction before raising her hand and flicking her fingers in a dismissive gesture.
“Leave us, Medic.”
“At your orders,” he replied stiffly.
He wasn’t happy about it—his body language screamed it—but he complied. It seemed that no one argued against Featha. The female had such a strong presence that Terri could suddenly understand how she had kept order in the Monushava House.