Page 38 of Zalis
Gemma sat stunned as he cleaned. “Your mother sounds nice, but my mistake involved you.”
He turned around to face her, that sparkle back in his eyes. “No.”
ZALIS
“There you go, being a brick wall again,” Gemma said.
Idioms. The translation chip took the meaning literally and the end result was confusion. A brick wall? He could not be a support structure or barricade.
“Explain this idiom,” he said.
“I tell you how I feel or what I want, and you just sayno.” Her voice went lower and rougher. It sounded nothing like him. She said, “It’s like talking to a brick wall. Stubborn. Obstinate. Unyielding.”
The last did not sound particularly insulting. He liked this idiom. “I am a bulwark, an unyielding barrier and fortification. You needed such protection. Involving me was not a mistake. It was a good choice.”
She tossed her hands up, as if conceding the point. “Fine. You’re a brick wall but you’re my brick wall.”
He liked the sound of belonging to her. “Your bulwark,” he said.
“I’m not going home anytime soon, am I?”
“Correct.”
“So, you can say something other than no,” she muttered.
“You cannot leave for Earth, but you do not have to remain with me, if that is what you wish,” he said.
Her entire body went rigid, as if alarmed by the thought. For reasons that were entirely selfish, this pleased him.
“I will give you all the pertinent information so that you may make an informed decision. You have options,” he said, producing a black marker from a pocket and drawing directly on the table. He tapped a circle at the center of the table. “Forgive the crudeness. This is meant to be a star chart. This represents the core of the Sangrin system.”
He drew a smaller circle, then several others scattered across the table, each successively getting closer to the edge of the table. A projection table such as the one the warlord had would eliminate most of his demonstration. He did not mind. The work was slow but enjoyable, particularly the way Gemma watched his hands.
“This is Tholla, where you were held. These are smaller planets and colonies,” he said, making an X at the edge. “This is theJudgment’scurrent location. We travel in a circuit. It is a predictable pattern.”
With a different pen, he traced a route through the system. With yet another pen?—
“Seriously, where are you hiding all those pens?” Gemma asked.
“Pockets.” He demonstrated the pockets in the hidden folds of the sleep pants.
“You keep markers in your pajamas?”
“Inspiration often strikes as I am falling asleep. It is prudent to have a pen on my person to write the idea down, rather than fumble in the dark.”
She chewed on her bottom lip as he spoke. “All right. That makes sense.”
He marked the surface of the table with triangles. “These are known Suhlik attacks. A mining colony, a merchant ship, a research vessel, an abandoned station, among others.”
She leaned forward, examining the map. “That’s a lot. What kind of coverage does it get in the media?”
“Minimal.”
“Seriously?” She looked up at him. “The moon base got attacked a few years ago and it was all over the news for months. How can people just not talk about it?”
“Earth’s invasion is within recent memory. The Suhlik invaded Sangrin more than a century ago.”
She made a thoughtful noise. “I guess it’s easier to ignore something when it’s a long way from home.”
