He reached up and brushed the golden piece that wrapped around his ear’s shell, adjusting the metal slightly.
Designed to add to appearances, he hated it.
Necessary, though, for the blocking of other emotions and thoughts. Many of his people wore them. The ornate details only added to the vain reputation his people had. Very few knew they actually helped control the overwhelm.
Karuk had to stay very aware of his surroundings now, so he welcomed anything to block out the noise, even if it annoyed him.
He had joined a manufacturing company, working to build whatever needed construction. He may have not started as a builder, but he learned quickly, and had worked in a few different places thus far.
This was his latest assignment. Some far-off unknown humanoid world, building a space station.
Limited humanoids to deal with. Once he got used to his team, he’d be settled. He rarely had to deal with many outside of his work team’s circle, and that was fine with him.
No locals he’d have to deal with, as far as he knew.
He wasn’t even sure where they were, just that it took a while to get here.
Some place called Earth, where the humanoids, similar to Terrans, were interested in mating with aliens.
Made him wonder what the world’s population was like if so many of their people will mate with aliens they’d never seen before.
What was the world like?
Did he care about that?
Not really.
It was only a place to hide.
To get away from his past.
At least, until they release him.
He wondered if they noticed he was gone yet.
Karuk released the helmet,and the air hissed, warmer than the air in the space suit’s reserve. The hum of the air pressurizer hit his ears, making a rumble. He ran his hand over one ear, adjusting his special ear clip. If he didn’t, he’d be able to hear all the thoughts of those around him, and even for those few seconds, he heard enough.
They were not happy with him.
Others on his team removed their own hull work suits.
Aggressively.
The three males and one female surrounded him.
The female, her hard ridges on her nose showing her Nevillian heritage, glared at him.
Point of fact, everyone glared at him.
The team was not fond of their newest member. He didn't need to read their minds to know that.
Karuk was not as tall as the two Xairians or the Paxian on the team, and they all regarded him as an annoying little addition to their group.
“What were you thinking, Pretty?” Resko, the Paxian, fired at him now that he was free of his gear.
“That was stupid,” Girrick added, a Xianan with his gray-purple skin.
Karuk was still pulling the gear off. He wasn’t as used to the zero-g suits as the others were, and couldn’t disrobe as fast as they did.
