Patrick swears.
We resume walking a little quicker this time. For a couple of minutes, neither says anything. I don’t know what else to tell him. There is so much and yet so little, because I’ve only just begun. And the colony could take him away at any moment. I press my lips together, remembering the hot, silky feel of Tiril’s cock on my tongue. I'm sure Patrick would love those details, but I'm not ready to share.
“So you’re studying him?”
The way he says it makes me feel uncomfortable. “I’m trading information at the moment, because his people know how to survive. We could learn so much." I glance at him. "And they have far more men than women.”
Patrick laughs as if we are having fun, but his voice is low. “The colony will view his people as a threat.”
“They already do. I’m hoping to show them we can work together."
He shakes his head. “They don’t need us, we need them.”
“They want to know why there are three or four men for every woman. I might have let slip that we created the gender imbalance here, and he understood from that we have the technology to make changes.”
Patrick glances at me. “You like him.”
"No."
"Liar. I can tell from the way you talk about him."
“We are becoming friends." Sucking his cock crossed a line. I shouldn’t have done it, even though we both wanted it.
Patrick shakes his head. “It’s more than that. I can tell from the tone of your voice.”
There's no point in denying it. Instead, I draw in a breath and hope that no one else can tell when I talk about Tiril. “He’s intriguing. My sister…Hooked up with one."
“Ah…so they areveryhumanoid?”
“Very, and very impressive. I have taken a lot of measurements."
“Only measurements?” Patrick asks, without looking at me.
I want to admit I’ve done more, but I also want to keep it to myself so it can't be tarnished with questions. “This is where it gets interesting. When the males have sex with a woman, they have a second puberty and they become bound to the woman for life. Not having sex with their mate is painful and potentially fatal.”
“Are you sure he isn’t trying to con you with the alien version of blue balls?”
I snort with laughter and cover my mouth. “No, he described the changes in great detail.”
“So Sabine…” He glances at me.
I nod. “Is mated to an alien. I don’t think she wanted to come back.”
“The leaders didn’t want her back, because she'd be talking about aliens, and they don’t want us to know about them either."
“That’s what I don’t understand. Why all the subterfuge? They live on the other continent and aren’t an immediate threat.”
“Then why are they here?”
“They banish all fourth born sons because of the imbalance. They crossed the ocean to avoid fighting with the tribes. The warriors here don’t have a home to go back to, and it’s my understanding that there are only a handful of them.”
“Yet the leaders are worried enough that they let them keep your sister and the others.” He stops and begins stretching.
“I think they knew this planet was inhabited before we left Earth. If it’s revealed there are aliens, everyone will suspect they lied about it anyway." It may not be enough to bring the leaders down, but it would be a serious wound.
“There must be a record of finding them, because we have all the data from the initial probe.”
“We have it, but we aren’t allowed to access it freely.” I tried; I thought I might have a chance given my work.
