Page 49 of Tempting Cargo
“Oh my gods, look, it’s really cute that you want babies, but don’t you think it’s a little soon? Have you talked to Shohari about it? Oh! I wonder what they’d look like. What if they had a maneandheadspines? Don’t you think that would be the cutest thing?”
How could I speak to two people in the space of ten minutes who were equally challenging in totally different ways?
“Forget I asked. It’s clearly possible, then.” Shit.
“Oh. Not without medications, usually.”
Thank fuck. “That’s what I was getting at. I really don’t want to accidentally get her pregnant.”Or have already done that.
“Got you. Sorry. Ship’s medic. Be professional, Muzati.” She pulled a tool from her headspines and hit the side of her head with it. “No, while a few sapient species can interbreed relatively easily, kri’ith generally can’t. There are fertility treatments for interspecies relationships who want to have offspring. But the chances of you getting a non-human pregnant are pretty low. I think. Unless humans are, like, extra virile or something. I mostly deal with injuries. I’m not a virility specialist, Garrison. You do know this is a trading vessel?”
I sifted through her words to find what I needed. “Pretty low is still possible. How do I find out?”
“I could run a sample through Comnica and see if humans are similar to any other sapients. We could reasonably estimate the chances from that. Or the captain can just get a contraceptive. Why aren’t you having this conversation withher, human? Do you not thinktalking about thingstogetheris kind of important?” Her golden stare was piercing, as if by glaring hard enough she could laser some information psychically into my brain.
“I will. But I don’t want to freak her out. Or accidentally say something culturally insensitive and mess everything up.”
“Hmm. She can be like that. Can I be serious with you a minute?”
Muzati? Serious? “Uh, sure.”
“Shohari’s my captain. Obviously. But she’s also my friend. And I don’t want to speak out of turn. But I really, really want what’s best for her. And I can’t tell you the stuff that she couldn’t even tell us until recently. Even though that’s important. And I can’t tell you what she just said, apart from I heard what happened and, honestly, are your gonads okay? Do you need a medic? Shall we go to the medbay?”
Give me strength.
“I’m fine.” Physically, at least. Mentally, I was fraying by the minute in various directions. “You wanted to tell me something.”
She sighed dramatically. “I want to tell you lots of things. But, just— She might not say the right things sometimes. Or say anything. But she’s worth taking a risk for. Understand?”
Well, that made as much sense as anything else, but she looked so earnest, I didn’t want to let her down—or risk her trying to explain things again.
Especially that.
“Okay,” I said. “Yes, absolutely. Thank you.”
“Any time. Love talking to you, Garrison. And I’ll find you in the galley later and take you down to medbay so we can get your sperm analysed, so then you know whether we might be saying hello to little baby Garrisari next year. Gassi? Hariga? Shoharrison? Or maybe you should choose the name. Bye.”
She pulled herself back into the hole and started making a rough melodious sound that could have been singing.
I dragged a hand over my hair. At least it sounded like we’d probably not made a baby.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Aurora Five Station
Shohari
AURORA FIVE wasthe same as I remembered. The corridors were high and narrow, and its recycled air still smelled of bodies and seared metal. Grey-green paint still peeled off the rusty metal walls—though there was less paint and more wall, so something had changed at least.
At this time of night, the cacophony of machines was muted, but below the hubbub of people, the station’s heartbeat, the thrum of equipment that ran at all hours, persisted.
I wasn’t sure why the two humans wanted to stay here, but a job was a job. Maybe this backwater station was the only one to take a chance on an unknown species, making the better options no option at all. What did I know? Industrial stations weren’t much more to me than marginally cheaper refuelling stops.
The office corridor was quiet and dark, but we walked the long way round anyway, keen to stretch our legs even though this wasn’t the most scenic of places. That, and if we took the direct route to the commonhouse, the two females wouldn’t getto experience the best part of A-Five before they saw their stark accommodations.
We didn’t linger in the bright, busy market corridors, but I saw their faces light up, the spectacle and sheer variety of shops and stalls no doubt a balm after weeks of ship travel and Draim Station. We turned another corner, catching the myriad scents of the food stalls before the hustle and bustle gave way to quiet utility again.
Garrison chatted with the other humans as we walked. I could almost hear him making sure the two females were happy enough with this place. I could have worried he was ignoring me, but his frequent glances told a different story.
