I tried to ignore the stutter in my heartbeat when he said my name. “Hello, Linn’ar. What can I do for you?”
Linn’ar perked up and eagerly opened his mouth to reply when Fhi’ran cut him off.
“Actually, Jaeyoung was just leaving,” Fhi’ran insisted, shooting me a pointed look. “He is done with his tasks for the day.”
Linn’ar’s feelers drooped. “Oh.” The feelers rose back up a second later, as if an idea had struck him. “Then may I walk you home?”
An unusual sensation skittered around my heart. What was this feeling? Anxiety? No, I didn’t feel nervous around Linn’ar. What else could it be?
“Sure,” I agreed.
We left the den together. As I stepped into the sunlight, I glanced over my shoulder, still thinking about the work I’d left behind. Would Fhi’ran do the rest of my tasks for me? That wasn’t fair. They weremyresponsibility. This never would’ve happened on Earth. I’d spent countless nights hunched over at my lab station, sipping coffee to stay awake while working into the small hours of the morning. Then I’d pass out at my desk for three hours and do it all over again.
Ah, those were the days...
“Something on your mind?” Linn’ar asked.
I wrenched myself back to the present. What was wrong with me today? My usually keen focus was broken, and I kept getting sucked into my winding thoughts.
I glanced at Linn’ar, who observed me closely with bright magenta eyes. His coloration reminded me of the vibrant plant life on this planet. Could it be a form of camouflage? Or was it simply a case of convergent evolution?
As I gazed up at Linn’ar, I found myself deeply intrigued by this handsome specimen. Not in a sexual or romantic way, but a purely scientific one. I wondered if he would ever consent to being studied.
“I was thinking about my own ignorance,” I admitted.
Linn’ar tilted his head. He was much taller than me, and the gesture made him resemble an oversized bird.
“You believe you are ignorant?” he asked.
“I am. It’s a fact. There’s so much I don’t know about Eukaria, about Maeleons, and how they affect us. For example, how did Levi, a human with no biological ability to give birth, have a baby? It shouldn’t be possible. And yet, it occurred.”
“That’s simple,” Linn’ar said, happy to contribute. “It’s because he is Zat’tor’s filum.”
There was that mysterious term again.Filum. It was a Maeleon word, untranslatable by the Interstellar Translation Module attached to my ear.
Soon after we crash-landed on Eukaria, Levi was “claimed” by a Maeleon named Zat’tor. They fell in love, and the possessive feeling was mutual, but it didn’t explain what the word ‘filum’ truly meant. I had a suspicion it might be correlated to Levi’s pregnancy, but with little data, I couldn’t prove my theory. Perhaps now that Levi had settled into his role as Zat’tor’s mate, I could ask him for information.
I turned to Linn’ar. “Thanks for offering to walk me home, but I’m changing course.”
“Where to?”
“I’m going to speak to Levi and Zat’tor.”
Linn’ar clapped his claws together. “Wonderful! I shall accompany you. I’d like to see my sibling, and the baby.”
I rubbed my chin thoughtfully. It wouldn’t hurt to have another Maeleon’s perspective, especially one so different than Zat’tor. The more data points, the better.
My eyes raked up and down Linn’ar. He had a slighter build than Zat’tor, but that wasn’t saying much. It was like comparing a weightlifter with a decked-out home gym to a professional bodybuilder. With those powerful muscles and sharp claws, Linn’ar could still crush me like a tin can.
Not that he ever would. Linn’ar was kind, and his presence put me at ease. At times, he was almosttoonice—like the time I accidentally overdosed on aphrodisiacs at the Maeleon welcomefeast and Linn’ar continuously offered to ‘assist’ me throughout the night...
My cheeks flushed at the memory.
Anyway, Linn’ar was just being friendly. That was all. From what I knew about Maeleon openness regarding intercourse, it was the polite thing to do. It didn’t reflect the way he felt about me.
Besides, I wasn’t interested in a relationship, human or otherwise. It was a useless distraction from the real love of my life—scientific research.
“All right,” I said to Linn’ar, who perked up. “Let’s go.”
