“Yes. One human can be quiet. Five? No.” He shakes his head.
“What does that mean?”
He considers me for several heartbeats. “That humans don’t know how to be quiet. You talk.” He touches his lip. “I talk.” He touches the bony crest above his ear. Then, keeping his fingers pointed at the floor, he extends his arm toward me. “Touch.”
I frown but cautiously reach for his arm. I don’t touch the dark markings on his skin as I know they conduct electricity. And the kam are how the Honey talk silently. It’s like they have a built-in comms device. His skin is warm to the touch, and I feel something in my fingertips.
Then, his voice is in my head.Honey do not speak aloud when hunting.
All those hunting trips with humans have made him wary, and he expects this mission to fail. “What happens if we are caught?” I whisper.
The women will be able to choose a mate, the men will become brutes, and I will be killed.
I pull my hand away and lean back in my seat. He seems untroubled by that scenario. “Do you want to die?”
His large eyes watch me as if taking in everything. “No. Do you want a mate?”
I can’t tell if he’s asking whether I would be happy with that fate or if I’d ever consider a Honey mate. Given that he has shown no interest in flirting, I decide it’s the former. “I do not want to be forced to choose anyone. Even a human man.”
But I will be forced to do my part for the continuation of the human race. For a heartbeat, I allow myself to consider what my life might be like if I were captured by a Honey tribe. Sabine and Mia and the other women were all prepared never to return to the human colony and to make a life with their mates.
I glance at Hrad as he stares out the window as if resigned to his fate.
Fuck that. I refuse to let life happen to me.
4
HRAD
Ihave never met someone so talkative. It’s like she needs to fill every silence, yet she is filling it with information. Telling me about the ship and how it works as if there’s nothing to worry about.
I am not a cloud-seeker. I would never get on a ship to sail the stars the way her people did. While every adventure carries risks, there are some that I am not willing to take. I’m sure I could refuse this voyage, but then one of my mated brothers would need to take my place, and I cannot do that to them.
Alisha tucks a strand of dark hair behind her ear. “I need to finish my checks, but you’re welcome to stick around…just don’t touch anything.”
She points at all the buttons and levers and screens in what she called the cockpit. I understand most of what the humans say, but every so often there is a word that makes no sense. Cockpit is one of them. This part of the ship has nothing to do with cocks or mating equipment. Nor is it a hole in the ground.
I’m tempted to ask, but I do not want to be discussing those things. It is bad enough that mates were mentioned. I expected her to say something or do something to imply that she wasinterested. Human women either make their availability clear, or they sneer as though I am something unworthy of their attention. In a Honey tribe, that would be true.
She stands and I follow her out of the cockpit, not wanting her to think I am tampering with her ship. It is clear that it is hers, and that she takes her responsibility seriously. Which I appreciate, as I do not want to fall out of the sky.
When she sees that I’m following, she gives me a nod and then continues to point out things about the ship as if believing I am staying to learn more. In part, I am, as I want to unravel the knot of fear within my chest. Already it has loosened.
While I do not like to admit it, there is a small part of me that fears running into another tribe. I do not fear death, as that is how all lives end, and I have lived far longer than many banished warriors. I think it is the fear that I have merely survived and not lived. There is a difference because I have seen it in my brothers, and I have glimpsed what it is like to live in the colony.
There is no scramble for food and water and shelter, and I can sleep without worrying that I will be found and killed while wrapped in my blankets. The first time that tension eased was when we crossed the sea, but I did not recognize it at the time. The months living on this continent opened my eyes to the life that banished warriors are denied for being born the fourth son.
She moves through the cargo hold, checking that every crate is secure, and marks items off on her tablet. When we exit the ship, the stars are out. I take a moment to stare up at the sky and appreciate them; while also hoping I do not join them too soon before remembering they are suns, not the fires of banished warriors. Can they be both?
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Alisha stands next to me; face tilted to the sky. My parents said the sky on Earth was so polluted no one could see the stars.” She glances at me. “Too much light from the cities and smog in the sky.”
The colony has a few lights scattered around the perimeter, but otherwise it is blanketed in darkness. Keeping the lights on all the time uses too much electricity. They do not seem to know about oil lamps and candles.
“Do you know which stars the other two human ships were heading toward?”
She pauses for a moment and turns before pointing at a constellation we refer to as the Loom. “LSP4 is the star at the bottom point…and the other one is…” She turns again and points to the Bowl constellation. “LSP7 is in the middle. When did you learn about the other two ships?”
“It was one of the lessons. Do you know whether they made it?”
