For a moment, my name is spoken so softly that I think I am imagining it. I turn my head back towards the ship where we have lived freely for the last five days, searching for one of my brood brothers when I hear it again. I whip my head around to see the leader creature staring at me intently. It speaks words I do not understand and then repeats my name again. “Davix.” I just stare at it.
It points a finger to its chest and says something else, slowly and carefully. I tilt my head and listen. “Koh-REE-nah,” it says, pointing to itself.
“Davix,” it says pointing at me, and then it points to itself again. “Co-rin-a,” it repeats, pointing to its chest. I do not know how it determined my name, but I think it is trying to use that knowledge to tell me its name. Why it is telling me, when I have shown so little interest in it, baffles me. The fact that I amincapable of speech or sound, whether it knows that fact, also irritates me. I bare my teeth at it and stalk away in search of Zann. If it wants to chatter, he can listen to it.
I find Zann and Krish curled up in a nest of blankets in what we assume was Lianov’s chambers based on its size and trappings compared to other rooms. The bed is large and luxurious. It is almost too soft for my tastes, though I will sleep in it because it is where the others want to sleep. I shake Zann’s shoulder gently, rousing him. When his eyes blink open, I sign to him, “It said my name. The leader creature said my name.”
“It talked to you?” he asks softly, sitting up. Krish is still asleep. Zann glances down at him and then extricates himself from the nest we’ve built.
I nod. “It said my name,” I sign. “And I think it was telling me its name.”
“Corrina,” Zann replies.
I glare at him. “You can talk to it? Understand it?”
Zann motions me towards the bathing chamber connected to this room and pushes a button to close the door. “It’s been talking to us the whole time. You know that.”
“But you understand it now?” I ask.
“I am starting to understand words sometimes,” Zann replies. “I can’t really understand it. Not yet. But sometimes, I catch individual words.” He makes the hand sign for words to emphasize his point. “And Krish and I have tried tocommunicate with it more in the last day, including telling it our names.”
“You told it my name?” I sign accusingly.
“We did not,” Zann says, placing a large hand against my chest. “It is clever though and may have figured it out on its own.” He looks thoughtful. “We try to speak quietly when it is around because it can understand us, but it listens when it can.”
“I don't trust it,” I sign.
Zann nods his head. “I don’t know that I trust it either. But it set us free and has not threatened us in any way. Krish is,” he pauses and glances back at the door which remains closed. “Krish is inquisitive. You know this. He sees it, and this whole,” Zann gestures around himself to the ship, “capture as an adventure.”
“It is a bad adventure.”
“Yes, it is. Or was. But what is happening now is, well, is not bad. At least for now.” I frown and start to respond, but Zann grabs my hands gently. “It doesn’t know that I am starting to understand it. Maybe we will be able to learn something if it doesn’t know I understand. But the more I listen to it, the more I understand. I think it is the chip,” he taps the scarred hole at the base of his right ear. “It is learning, I think.”
“After you learn its language, what next?”
“I don’t know. It will depend on what I can learn,” he says. I nod begrudgingly. “Come,” he says, changing the subject abruptly.“Show me how to use this bathing chamber. The last time I tried, I almost froze.”
Chapter Nine: Krish
Davix wants little to do with the strange creatures, but I am sitting in the cylindrical chamber before the time when the leader creature – Corrina – usually arrives. Zann figured out that the numbers on the walls in places correspond to the cycle of light and dark on board the ship, so we’ve been able to learn when Corrina will appear. I lift a hand in greeting as Zann approaches and sits beside me, and we wait. And wait. And wait.
“Corrina should be here,” I say finally. We can see a little bit of the other ship through the transparent door, and the other creatures seem to be rushing more than usual. “Something is happening,” I say, watching a group of creatures hurry past. One of them is still carrying part of its coverings as it rushes to catch the others. “Something different.”
“Have you seen Corrina or second leader?” Zann asks, tilting his head and peering through the door. I shake my head. Though Corrina often comes to spend time in this chamber by herself, sometimes second leader comes also. They look very different from each other, but the way they interact reminds me of me and my brood brothers. I wonder if they were raised in the same communal nest cave. Second leader is much larger than Corrina and has fur on its lower face in a mixture of silver and black.The top of its head is smooth like ours. At first I wondered if the quantity of head fur was a sign of Corrina’s authority, but head fur seems to be more related to whether a creature has chest lumps. Though even that differs, because some creatures with chest lumps have a lot of head fur and some do not. And some creatures without chest lumps have more head fur than those with chest lumps. And head fur seems to come in a seemingly endless array of colors. I have also observed that the creatures come in a variety of skin shades, ranging from dark brown to a pale pink that is almost white. They are very interesting creatures. Our own kind have skin tones that vary slightly in intensity, but we all share similar coloring.
The sound of the door opening interrupts my thinking. I glance towards the sound and see Corrina standing with its hands on its hips. It nods at me and glances at Zann, then says something to him slowly and carefully. And then it stares at him. And waits.
Zann glances at me, but I don’t know what he expects from me. Finally, he lets out a heavy sigh and nods. “Some. I understand some,” he says loudly and firmly.
Corrina closes its eyes and tips its head back to murmur something softly. The corners of its mouth quirk upwards in what I have learned is a pleased expression. It opens its mouth and begins to speak again, still slowly and carefully. When it is done, Zann nods and turns to me. “We are arriving at a thing called a station,” he says. “Corrina asks if we will come with them. For more,” he pauses and thinks for a moment. “Medicine and food and learning.”
“Davix will not like it,” I murmur.
“If the choice is being left in this ship for the rest of his days or coming to the station, he will come.” Zann pauses. “Besides, I am our leader, and I say we go.”
I nod. “I will let you tell him that,” I say.
When Zann does tell him exactly that, Davix’s hands are moving so quickly that I can barely understand him. Zann does not seem to have the same problem. Or Zann is just ignoring whatever Davix is trying to say. “Enough!” Zann finally barks. “We cannot stay here, so we will go where Corrina asks us to go.”
