“The Johansen female asked Krish to breed with her,” Zann replies flatly. “She asked if she could touch him, to convince himto change his mind. Ryder got angry with her, and then they all left. Wenschel apologized for letting her come along.”
I nod. “Perhaps it will be best if we live elsewhere,” I sign.
“Perhaps,” Zann agrees. “But I like to be close to Corrina. It makes me happy to be with her.”
“Yes,” Krish says. “Corrina is different. Her presence is pleasing. I wish she had stayed.”
Zann shrugs. “She is very busy.”
I hesitate. “Corrina did not have ‘stuff’ to do,” I sign finally. “I went to the observation deck, and she came after me and sat for a time. I think she went back to her sleeping chamber afterwards.”
“Then why would she not stay?” Krish asks. “Does she not enjoy spending time together?”
“I think she is sometimes not comfortable spending time with the soldiers,” Zann offers. “She does not want to appear to be too friendly.”
“Humans are baffling,” I sign, and I strip out of my clothes and crawl onto the nest.
“Yes,” Krish agrees. “But at least Corrina is not that way with us.”
Zann and Krish strip and curl into the nest with me, and we are silent for a moment. “I did not like Johansen touching me,” Krish says finally. “But I do not think I would mind if Corrina touched me.”
“It is different with Corrina,” Zann says sleepily. “She is our friend.”
“Yes,” Krish agrees, but there is something unspoken in his tone.
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Zann
“You want me to come to your chambers and watch a movie with you?” Corrina asks the following day at lunch. She is staring at me curiously.
“Yes,” I nod. “When you are done working.” I lean forward across the table. “There will not be others there.”
“Um, okay,” she replies hesitantly.
“I know that it can be hard for you to relax around others,” I continue, “so we thought you might be more interested in spending time together if there are not others around.”
“But it won’t be just you?” she asks.
I shake my head. “Davix and Krish will be there, of course. And you. If you will come.”
Corrina smiles, and I cannot help smiling back at her. I know before she answers that she will come to visit us. I am glad that we will be able to spend more time together. I find myself wishing that she didn’t have to work so that we could have more days like the day we spent at the lake. Perhaps I will have to askher if she will take us there again. I know that we could find our own way there, but I want her to join us. I smile to myself. Next time, she will have to come swimming with us.
???
“Oh,” Corrina says when I open the door to let her into our quarters later. She steps in quickly and triggers the door closed behind her. “You’re not dressed,” she states, glancing at me and my brood brothers.
“We prefer not to wear clothes if we can,” Krish says. “Does this bother you?”
“Uh, no. It’s fine. I was more surprised than anything else. Besides, this is your place. You should be comfortable.” She glances around the room and pulls up a chair. “What are we watching?”
“We thought we would let you pick,” I tell her, settling into the nest. “Is there something you enjoy?”
“Well,” she replies. “Honestly, I really enjoy wildlife documentaries. There are some really good ones about old Earth, but there are also some interesting ones that are more recent that have been filmed on other planets. But we don’t have to watch one of those.”
“I would be interested in seeing wildlife on other planets,” Krish says enthusiastically.
“This would be a video about being outdoors?” Davix signs. I translate and Corrina nods. “That would be good,” Davix says.
“Then we all agree. We will watch a wildlife documentary,” I tell Corrina. “Pick one that you enjoy.”
