Jerry chooses that moment to jump from the back of my air-sled onto my ponytail. He makes his “hungry” chirp and climbs on my head with his clingy little claws, his tail swishing.
Sinath makes a disgusted sound in his throat. “That thing is getting germs all over you.”
“Thatthingis my best friend and the only reason I’m not in the same spot that Liesje is. I didn’t ask for your opinion, anyhow.” I clutch the steering controls of the air-sled tightly and hope I don’t have to shove a custodian out the passenger door.
That’ll be a tough one to explain to the authorities.Yes, have you met him? Huge, huge dickhead. I couldn’t take any more.
He makes a hmph-ing sound in his throat and is silent for the rest of the ride. Suits me just fine. I focus on the skies and sledding the familiar way back towards the hills where my farm is nestled. The rain rests on the windshield for a little longer than it should, as if hinting at forthcoming snow and ice, and I’m so excited. Between that and the gray skies, I’m reminded of blustery New England winters and I miss Earth fiercely.
My eyes get itchy and my throat gets tight, and I blink rapidly until the feeling passes. On the horizon, Liesje’s farm appears and I steer the sled toward the ground. “Here we are. We’ll visit Liesje and then you can see why I want the tree.”
To his credit, the custodian frowns, and I hear his tail thump against the door. “This is an occupied farm?”
“It is.” I know it looks bad. Of course it does. The sled is surrounded by yellowed weeds and parked haphazardly in front of the small house. The supply crates that should be in the barn are still stacked next to the door and covered with a tarp, since they’re too heavy for me to move on my own. Her fields should be brown, bare earth at this point but Liesje hasn’t bothered to change the settings on her bots to clear the fields now that the harvest is done. That’s a more manual process (because the bots will happily clear EVERYTHING and need to be watched) and one I haven’t been able to manage around my schedule just yet.
We get out of the sled and I hesitate, looking over at him. Custodian Sinath—I don’t know his full name—is fearsome looking. He’s not as big as some of the others, but he’s still taller than a human, with broader shoulders. His horns arch proud and high, and his features are lean and narrow. It could be misconstrued as mean looking, and I don’t want Liesje to be afraid of him. I march up to his side, ignoring the patter of rain. I eye his stark gray uniform and the short, military-cut hair that gives no softness to his features. “Can you open your collar?”
Those sharp, blade-like eyes focus on me. “Can I what?”
“I’m trying to soften you up in case she’s scared of mesakkah. You’re not exactly the
friendliest man.” I purse my lips, thinking. Rektar’s like a big teddy bear and his wife Lucy is the nicest. Maybe I should wait for him.
“I am plenty friendly,” he tells me, offended.
“Then lean down, Custodian Friendly,” I say, and when he does (still scowling), I reach up and mess up his severe hair. He rears back, but I grab the front of his tunic and give him a tousled look that falls over his brow and around his horns. “Great, now you look like you belong in an alien boy band.”
“Do I want to know?” He eyes me, but he doesn’t seem angry.
“Nope.” I release the tunic I didn’t realize I was clutching and unfasten his collar. “Sorry. I get a little focused at times.”
Sinath grunts, and his gaze focuses on my mouth for a moment before he straightens. “If I seem like this band boy, it will make things easier?”
“Maybe.” I tilt my head, studying him. He still looks rather severe and unfriendly, though I might be biased because Iknowhe’s unfriendly. At least to me. On my neck, Jerry chirps a protest at the cold rain, and it gives me an idea. I pry him off my neck and hold him out to Sinath.
The alien takes one look at the fat, squirming rodent in my arms and then gives me a withering look. “You’re joking, right?”
“You can’t be the enemy if you’re holding a cuddly pet,” I say cheerily, and give my wriggly buddy a bounce. “He won’t bite.”
At least, Ihopehe won’t bite. I can’t blame Jerry if he bites Sinath, though. The guydidtry to twist his head off.
For a moment, I think Sinath is going to tell me to piss off. That he’s going to ignore my pet and storm his way back to the air-sled and demand that I drive him back to Port. It would fit my impression of him. But all he does is sigh as if he’s defeated, takes Jerry from my hands and tucks him against his chest like he’s holding a teddy bear in front of him, and nods at the door. “Ready.”
Okay. My opinion of him just went up several notches.
We knock on Liesje’s door. She doesn’t answer right away. She never does, even when she knows it’s me. Actually, I’m pretty sure it’s always me. It takes three rounds before she finally comes to the door, and when she arrives, she looks just as listless and sad as ever. Her hair is greasy and unbrushed and I’m pretty sure that’s the same tunic dress I saw her wearing last week.
She gives me a sad, apologetic smile, and then her expression changes to one of confusion when she spots Sinath behind me.
“Hey there!” I say brightly. Shoot. I should have told Sinath not to mention the holiday thing. It’s supposed to be a surprise. “We were in the neighborhood and thought we’d drop by!”
My voice might be a little too enthusiastic, because Liesje gives me a nervous look, holding onto the door as she eyes us. “Is something wrong?”
Behind me, Sinath clears his throat. “I am doing patrol rounds and asked Devin to introduce us. I noticed your fields are not cleared and I wanted to ensure that your bots were working properly.” I turn to look at him just as he bows at the waist, the movement awkward due to my pet in his hands. “My name is Custodian Sinath sa Venner but you may call me Sinath. Or Sin. I am told it means naughty things in your language.”
And to my surprise, Liesje chuckles.
ChapterThree