My shout echoed in the small suite of rooms. T’raat took a reflexive step back, and if I hadn’t been so scared for myself, I would have laughed at the fact that my big, brawny warrior was frightened enough to back away from me.
“It is how they are administered,” he said quietly.
I took a deep breath to calm myself before I spoke again. “But you’re going to shoot me. In my brain.”
“Yes …”
Love made people do crazier things, I supposed. Were microscopic machines in my brain stem any worse than, say, a tattoo of a lover’s name? At least I was getting a new language out of the deal.
Sighing with resignation, I turned around and gathered my hair into a loose bun, wrapping it around itself so it was out of the way of the inevitable.
“Do it.”
I closed my eyes and waited.
There was a small, quietpop, a strange pinch at the base of my skull, and … nothing. No actual pain. No splattering of my brains on the opposite wall. Just a weird buzzing sensation.
“These nanites will work both ways,” T’raat said as I rubbed the spot where the pinch was strongest. “They will translate Xalanite into English for you, and they will help you translate English to Xalanite, should you need it.”
“Are there different kinds of nanites?” I asked, genuinely curious.
“Yes. Some are multifunctional, like the ones that aid H’rran and me in flying Xalanite ships. Some, like the ones the human Amber received when the first Xalanite arrived on Earth, are much more basic, and they only translate in one direction. In Amber’s case, her initial nanites did not translate Xalanite for her. They merely gave her language, her knowledge of English, to Q’on, her mate.” He paused, and his tone grew wistful. “Q’on shared her language through the nanite network later, allowing most Xalanites to communicate with humans in your tongue.”
I waited for Xalanite words to start running through my head, but nothing happened. Did I get a faulty batch of nanites?
“T’raat, say something in Xalanite. I want to try them out.”
He took my hands in his and stared into my eyes. As he spoke, the words appeared in my mind a fraction of a second later, like the slight delay when a translator is working on live TV.
“Leigh, twin to my hearts, my love, my everything, you are the first being to make my hearts this happy. I had hoped to meet a mate on Earth, but I had never dreamed that I could experience such joy from a single event. Nothing in the galaxy could have prepared me for this life with you, and nothing in this galaxy or any other could ever surpass the love that I feel for you.”
For being the first Xalanite words I ever fully understood, T’raat picked some good ones.
Not only did the nanites directly translate the words, they also gave me some contextual hints and clues, as well as theoccasional visual image. When T’raat said the Xalanite word for Earth, I saw my home planet in my mind, hovering in my vision like a hologram.
The best part, I think, was understanding the meaning of the wordtyr’ilfor the first time. More than mate, more than partner. Soulmate might be the closest English word for it, but even that wasn’t quite strong enough to convey the sheer love and deep connection intyr’il. It was definitely my new favorite word in either language.
“Ssolp,”I said, picking a word that I knew I didn’t know the meaning of to test the nanites further. An image of a long, slender creature with shimmering scales, long, flowing fins and an ethereal tail appeared in my mind, and I suddenly understood. I beamed with delight as I looked at T’raat and chirped, “It’s a fish!”
He cocked his head at the English name I used. “Yes. An aquatic beast. That is quite close.”
Clapping my hands in excitement, I hopped off the cot and took T’raat’s hand. “C’mon! I want to go get some food now that I know what I’ll be eating.”
H’rran was still puttering in the galley when we got back, cooking what I now recognized asssolpon a heated metal plate similar to a skillet. I trotted up to her and said,“Is there enough fish for us all? I am famished.”
She blinked in surprise before a wide grin spread her lips.“Yes. I will prepare more.”
I walked over to a dining table and sat, patting the chair next to me for T’raat.“Sit, mytyr’il.Join me.”
He turned the chair around and straddled it, resting his arms on the back of the seat. The glimmer of joy in his yellow eyes and the intensity of his gaze made me blush.“What is so fascinating?”I asked.
“You are like a child with a new toy. It is endearing to watch.”
For a moment, my feelings were hurt. I couldn’t help but be excited. I hadn’t ever learned another language before. The Wisconsin public school system had failed me there, but now? Now … he was right. I was as giddy as a little kid with a new plaything. I should have been grateful he chose “endearing” instead of another adjective.
“Is it too much?” I asked, switching to English. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be,” he said, stroking my cheek with a scaled hand. “I am glad that knowing my language gives you such joy.”
