“Your world,” she corrected. “I keep telling you it’s not mine.”
“So you say. And I suppose you know not what is a gaali stone box?”
She grinned now. “Sure. That’s got to be one there next to you, since it’s the only box in here. Now what’s a gaali stone?”
He didn’t tell her, he showed her, opening the box. Tedra gasped as the tent filled with light. She dropped down to her knees beside him for a closer look and saw the five smoothly rounded stones inside the little box, each glowing with a bright blue light. She could stare at them without her eyes hurting, yet they gave off such light that the inside of the tent was as if it were lit by the sun.
“Amazing,” she said in fascination. “It’s some kind of energy source, right? I wonder how it would compare with crysillium, which was discovered just a few hundred years ago. Before that, our ships could travel only at hyperspeed. Now we get stellarspeed, which is ten times faster and makes it so much easier to visit neighboring Star Systems. But these stones look like pure energy. Are they hot?”
Challen had been staring at her in vexation as he listened to her, but she didn’t know that. He answered her question now by picking up one of the gaali stones and placing it in the palm of her hand. It was actually cool to the touch, which was even more amazing, and seemed almost weightless. And when he closed the box on the other four stones, the tent was then lit only with a dim light by the one stone still uncovered. The more the brighter, obviously, and Tedra had to wonder what a really big stone could do.
She suddenly became all business as she glanced at him. “This is something I could trade for, Challen. Is there a lot of it on Sha-Ka’an? Is it easily obtainable?”
He took the stone from her, set it on top of the box, and moved the box away from her. “Eat the food I have brought you,” was all he said.
“All right, so maybe you don’t have the authority to trade with me, but you could at least answer my questions about your gaali stones.”
“You will not speak to me of trade, woman. You will eat now; then will you work upon my body as I did earlier mention.”
The reminder that she was to give him a massage sent all thoughts of trade right out of Tedra’s mind. She felt her body come alive with arousal just from the thought of touching his. She squirmed where she sat back on her heels, glanced at the plate piled high with large chunks of roasted meat and some type of root vegetable, and wasn’t hungry anymore.
“Why don’t we do the massage first?” she suggested, only to see him shake his head.
Her disappointment was almost palatable. Well, what had she expected? He was made of stone, after all. What had made her think that a massage might arouse him enough to finally share some sex with her? He didn’t look any more interested in sex-sharing now than he had all day.
She picked up the plate and stared at the food in an effort to get her mind off the question of whether she was going to get breached tonight or not. There were no utensils to eat with, so she hesitantly picked up a chunk of meat with her fingers, trying to ignore the fact that it had been a live animal not so many hours ago.
Challen had leaned back on an elbow on the fur, but watching her, he couldn’t help but see the face she made with her first bite. “You have no liking forkisrak?”
“I suppose I’ll get used to it since I’m going to be here at the very least a month.”
“And where do you think to go when a month passes?” he asked indulgently.
“You told me not to speak of it.”
He snorted. “There is other meat roasted ifkisraksuits you not.”
She was surprised at the offer. At least it wasn’t in his plans to starve her, which was reassuring after she’d waited so long for this nourishment.
“Thank you, but one kind or another isn’t going to make any difference, since it’s the meat itself I’ve never had before. We have stuff that tastes like yourkisrak.We even call it meat, and it comes in a variety of different tastes, textures, and colors. But it’s not real meat. We stopped killing animals for food centuries ago.”
“Unreal men, and now unreal meat. What else is unreal in your Kystran?”
She gave him credit for concealing his disbelief behind a bland expression. But she’d take any opportunity she could to tell him of the wonders of the modern worlds. She never knew when she might hit on the one thing that might convince him she wasn’t just spinning tall tales for his amusement.
“There are lots of things, I guess, though I pretty much take them for granted. Take pets, for instance. Since many of our animals became extinct during the Great Water Shortage, the few remaining live animals suitable for pets are so outrageously expensive that only the really determined are willing to pay the price, especially when mechanical pets are so much cheaper. Now, I’m not talking about pets like yourfembairthere, but something cute and cuddly, with all the behavioral qualities of the animal it’s meant to resemble.”
“You own such a pet?”
“I’ve got Martha, who gives me all the trouble I can handle. What do I need with a mechanical dog programmed to dump on my carpet every so often?” At his blank look, she made a face. “That was a little humor, barbarian. Actually, it was a toss-up for me between buying a house in the suburbs and buying a pet. I chose the house, wanting a little privacy more than companionship, since I did already own Martha, who is a companion of sorts, just as Corth is. But I would love a pet as soon as I can save up enough exchange tokens again to afford one.”
“A real pet would cost as much as a place to live?” He was no longer hiding his disbelief.
“Just about.” She grinned. “Aren’t the rare things here more expensive than what you have in abundance? What about your gaali stones? Are they very—”
“Now do we change the subject,” he said shortly.
So much for slipping that by unnoticed. “Very well, but I’ll change it. I have some questions for you anyway. What would happen if I ask for protection of another warrior before my service ends? Would you two end up fighting over me?”
