Page 41 of Sky Song
“I don’t sleep. I know what sleep is, I’ve seen other species do that. Rix enter a state we call stasis where most of our body functions cease. Breathing is sporadic, but it’s normal. It’s how we recharge.” Slowly, he reached out and pulled one of her hands from behind her back, placing it back on his chest, closing his eyes. “Only one of my hearts beats during stasis.”
Cricket held her breath feeling the slow crump and release action, barely detectable under her palm. “Only one heart?”
“Out of four.”
He called hermy hearts.
“Lyle.”
“Hmm.”
“Are you sure?”
He smiled slightly, eyes still closed. “Positive. I’m aware of my heartbeats. Only one’s beating now until I’m more alert. Then there will be two.”
“And the other two?”
He hesitated, and it was a strange kind of pause. “Three when there’s physical exertion, like running. Like dancing, like flying a speedy cutter. Just plain excitement.”
“And four?”
“Strenuous things. It’s our battle mode. That’s what makes Rix strong and fast, our hearts. Because we have so many, our bodies can endure more stress and generate more power, fast.”
“It is… bad for you? When all four hearts are working?”
“No, not bad. Not bad at all…” He sounded curiously wistful.
He rested, and Cricket sat, leaning against him, eyes wide open tracking the daylight as it lightened the windows and became golden, thinking what a curious experience it was, unlike anything she’d ever dreamed about in her life. Strange, but good. She wouldn't have traded those moments for anything else.
Too soon, reality intruded when Lyle roused himself from his trance. He blinked slowly at the daylight, eyes still gray-ish and sickly. She rose from the couch, and when he rose after her, he stumbled.
“Takes you a minute to wake up, doesn’t it?” She tried to make light of it, but a niggling worry pierced her.
He smiled his lazy smile at her, amber teeth reflecting the morning light where his opaque eyes couldn’t. “A minute,” he murmured. “Go, do your thing. I’ll be alright.”
Cricket hesitated, but in the end went along with his carefree attitude. “How do I know you won’t abscond with my heirloom jewelry the minute I turn my back on you?”
“That necklace hanging off your mirror with pink beads shaped like internal organs? That heirloom?”
“It’s a headband, I’ll have you know. They gave it to me two years ago for my work anniversary. Terrance’s idea, I’m sure.”
“You didn’t like their gift?”
She couldn't stop from laughing. “I don’t even wear headbands. But this one is so bad that it was worth keeping. Remember I told you I used to be sick?”
“I remember.”
“When I was six years old, I caught the flu, and because we were so poor and had no connections, mama couldn’t book an appointment with a doctor until I took a turn for the worse. Long story short, I developed serious complications, primarily in my lungs. My co-workers know that Dr. Ragberg treated me. Those beads are shaped like lungs.”
Lyle laughed, more himself now, releasing a soft pulse of energy. “Next time I see this Terrance, I’ll ask how he’d like to wearhislungs on his head.”
He was joking, but something in his meaning was oddly literal. “Don’t hurt Terrance, I beg you,” she cried. “We’re already understaffed because of Kim’s disappearance.”
“Something befell that alien-hating female zealot? Shocking.”
“Have mercy. She disappeared.”
“Good for you.”
