That is the one thing Sabine has always hated the most about the colony; that her life has been planned for her and that she will never find someone to be hers. But to choose an alien?
I don't believe it.
I shake my head. She's smarter than that…isn't she?
But by refusing to return to the colony, her life is now her own to live. She chose her mate, a man to be hers, just like this alien said. "Wait, do the men get no say in who their mate is?"
"Of course we do, but as always, it is the woman who has the final say." His lips curve in a closed-mouth smile. "My brothers' tribes have too many men. Your tribe has too many women. You do not banish your excess of women?"
We have too many women, so we can breed up the colony. Every woman must have a minimum of three children. There are plenty who resent that, but most see it as a cost that needs to be paid. A cost our parents burdened us with before we were even born. Why is it only the women who must pay?
"You banish your men?"
"All fourth born sons become banished warriors." He shows me a marking on the back of his hand.
It looks like dark ink and disappears up his arm and into his sleeve, some spills out the neck of his loose gray shirt, the cloth of which has been mended and patched several times.
"Does that mean you are banished?" I point at the marking.
He pulls up his sleeve, revealing more of the dark lines and patterns. I'm not sure they are ink as they seem to shimmer a little in the light. I file it away to ask about them later.
"My markings tell the story of my life, my tribe, my family, and my status, or lack thereof."
"And all your brothers are banished?" That can't be right, as he said only fourth born sons were banished.
He laughs and I glimpse his teeth. They look as though they are rusty. "My brothers in spirit, in banishment, not in blood."
I need to record some of this because he's told me a lot about their culture in this small exchange, and there are threads I want to pull at. But I doubt the leaders of the colony are interested in his culture and the way they banish fourth born sons to keep the gender imbalance in check. "Why are there too many men in your tribes?"
The smile fades. "No one knows. It's always been that way."
Is it something to do with the soil, minerals, viruses, bacteria? Questions race through my head. Will it mean humans eventually suffer from the same imbalance?
I can't keep asking him random questions and I need to do more than talk if I am to prove that I am making progress. "Would it be okay if I took some samples?"
He taps one bar. "I am a creature in a cage. Do I have any say?"
I want to reassure him that of course he has a say, but if I do not do my job, and he does not prove his use, there will be trouble. If he refuses, then I will be told to sedate him to do what I need to.
"At the moment, no."
"In my tribe, we treat captured warriors much better. They may wander freely once they have proven they are no threat. You are treating me like a beast."
I can't argue with that assessment.
"This was not my doing, but if I do not do my job, then I will be in trouble, and they will send someone else. We need to work together."
I want him to work with me, because I want to learn everything about him and his people.
6
TIRIL
She does not want to work with me, she expects me to obey. If I were a brute in another tribe, I would also be expected to obey. It is the cage I do not like. We stare at each other through the bars. I can see the resemblance to Sabine, now I am aware they are sisters. It is in the curve of her lips and the tilt of her chin. They both share a stubbornness and a curiosity about the world.
However, I do not want to make her life harder, nor have someone else take her place. And I do not want these humans to think my kind is trouble. I need to show them we can share this land, this world. If Edilk hadn't seen the falling star, we would never have crossed the ocean to come to this continent, and we would never have met the humans…and they would never have met us. Not for a few years, anyway. But a tribe that sailed the stars can also cross an ocean.
"What do you need from me?" I keep my voice steady, and my sentences short so the whisperer can work.
