Close Encounters Read online

  It was at times like these when I really wished technology had come up with a reliable translator. There were many out there, but unfortunately, they tended to do more harm than good. The problem wasn’t in the languages; it was in the inflection of the spoken words. Say a word one way, and it got you smiles. Say it another way, and it got you dead for insulting someone’s mother.

  Even the most sophisticated machine couldn’t tell the difference, and an artificial intelligence like Max was too expensive to waste on such a small task. Given enough time and exposure to the Buri, he would eventually be able to communicate with them on a basic level, but that didn’t help me now. I would simply have to rely on my own ability to extrapolate word meanings from actions and body language and hope I got it right.

  With a sigh, I parked myself on a dry rock and watched the Buri play, glancing occasionally at Thor, who stood beside me, hands on his hips. Damn, he smelled good. It took an effort to stop sniffing and keep my attention on the rest of the Buri.

  The females were having a grand old time, brushing each other’s hair and putting on as many clips as they could grab. The older woman was the ringleader, snatching a clip from one female and giving it to another, all the while issuing orders like one of the martial-arts instructors from my crèche days. Auntie Em, I decided, smiling.

  No one paid the least bit of attention when I stood, picked up a knapsack, and began gathering samples of hair from the brushes. I was careful to keep them separate, placing each in its own little packet until I had specimens from every individual present. DNA testing was going to keep me busy for the next week.

  “Max, are you finished with the medical scans?”

  “Yes, Kiera.”

  “Okay, I’m heading back to the hut now.”

  After a brief hesitation, I moved to face Thor. “I have to leave,” I told him, projecting sorrow while I gestured in the direction of my hut.

  His brows lowered and he barked out a word, pointing toward one of the smaller buildings.

  I shook my head. “I can’t stay. All my equipment is at the hut. But I promise, I’ll be back when I can.”

  He studied my face as though trying to read my lips, and his expression cleared. Very gently, he lifted a hand and let his fingers slide down my cheek, then turned and snapped an order at Ghost and Junior. Both Buri stopped playing and grabbed their spears before flanking me, a distinct air of pride emanating from them that hadn’t been there before. Apparently, I’d gone up in status, probably due to the gifts.

  With a last look around the village, I turned and walked into the jungle, my Buri honor guard sticking close, with Crigo and my flock of dragon birds bringing up the rear.

  Leaning back in my chair, I glanced out the lab door to see the first rays of sunlight filtering through leaves, giving the morning a greenish-gold cast. It took the full week to process the Buri DNA, but as the results began to come in, I spent more and more time in the lab, stunned at what I’d found.

  I hit the button that sent the files to Max’s database and on to his archives, then yawned. Cafftea wasn’t going to cut it this time. I needed at least eight hours of uninterrupted sleep.

  Somehow, I didn’t think I was going to get it.

  “Did you double-check the data, Kiera?” Max’s question came as I walked into my living quarters.

  “Of course I did. There’s no way to get around the facts. As impossible as it sounds, none of the Buri are related to each other except for Thor and his sister, and the little boy to Brownie and his mate. Brownie and Thor also share a few common alleles, so at a guess I’d say Brownie’s distantly related to Thor and Churka. Second cousins, maybe.”

  “Nothing is impossible. We simply haven’t discovered the reason for this anomaly yet.”

  I scowled as I ordered a double-strength cafftea from the food unit. There’s nothing like a philosophical AI to make a bad mood even worse. Especially first thing in the morning when you’re suffering from sleep deprivation.

  Blowing steam from the cup, I carried it to the table and collapsed on a bench. “The good news is, I found no genetic mutations that would prevent the Buri from reproducing at a normal rate, or giving birth to viable offspring.”

  I took a sip from the cup, burning my tongue in the process. Good thing I healed fast. “Have you finished analyzing their medicals yet?”

  “Yesterday. I didn’t want to disturb you.”

  “And?” I glanced longingly at the lav. Maybe after I got the cafftea down I’d have enough energy to take a shower.

  “Other than a few minor anomalies, all the Buri are extremely healthy, and their physiology is almost identical to that of humans. I found no signs of illness or deformity, and no foreign substances in their blood, except in one instance. There’s nothing physical to keep them from reproducing as far as I can tell, and one female is, in fact, gestating. It was in her blood that I found traces of an unknown element that bears a slight resemblance to estrogen.”

  I brightened. A pregnancy was very good news. “How far along is she?”

  “Approximately three months. And the fetus seems to be fully developed and healthy. It’s another male.”

  I scratched a bump on my arm while I tried to think. Orpheus Two had the expected number of insects for a jungle planet, but the majority of them appeared to dislike the taste of humans. Unfortunately, the one that did had found me. Fortunately, my own immune system would take care of the reaction almost immediately. I glanced at the bump and watched it fade away to nothing before responding. “Do you think Dynatec falsified their reports?”

  “It could be,” Max responded. “But the fact is, the Buri are a healthy, vital species. They should have a much higher number of offspring, and yet there’s only one living child in the village.”

  “Damn. I was hoping this would be easy.” I finished off the cafftea and carried the cup to the recycling unit. “Anything on this Quilla Dorn person yet?”

  “Very little. She’s the daughter of a man named Zander Dorn, deceased, who was something of a recluse. Her planet of birth is Furthman Four. She spent three cycles attending a university on Alpha Centauri, but jumped from subject to subject, and never received a degree in one discipline. After that, there’s no record of her until she signed on with Dynatec ten cycles ago.”

  Ten cycles ago. Everything about this mission seemed to revolve around that time period. What in the thirteen hells had that exploration team found? And what did Dorn have to do with it?

  “Signed on as what?” I stood and headed for the lav, stripping as I went.

  “Her personnel records only indicate she’s an executive-level employee.”

  I mulled that over as I showered. Executive level could mean anything from CEO to head of personnel. Looked like I needed to pay a visit to the Dynatec crew and meet this Dorn woman. Later. Sleep came first.

  “Wake me in eight hours, Max.” I toweled off and was on the verge of climbing into bed when Max interrupted me.

  “The Buri females are approaching, Kiera.”

  A groan escaped my lips. Every day for the last week, Churka, Thor’s sister, had shown up at the hut bearing gifts. Nothing major, just dishes of food or bunches of flowers. But she gave off such an air of happiness when I accepted them that I didn’t want to risk offending her by refusing the items.

  She was always accompanied by another female, usually Auntie Em, and at least two Buri males. They never stayed long, and like the males, the women were uneasy about entering my quarters, looking with vague feelings of suspicion at all the gizmos the hut contained.

  All of them except Auntie Em, that is. She seemed fascinated by the hut’s contents. I had to keep the doors to the storage room and lab locked when she was on the premises. During her first visit, she’d punched so many buttons on the food unit that it jammed. It took me the better part of two hours to repair it.

  She was a fast learner, though. The last time she was here she’d discovered the combination that produced Panga ale
, a beerlike drink that could curl the hair of a confirmed lush with one small glass. And she drank it like water, smacking her lips with glee and exhibiting no effects from the liquor.

  I’d love to take her to Jolaria’s Jewel on ZT Twelve someday and make a few wagers on her drinking capacity. I could probably pay off my indenture with the winnings.

  “Is Auntie Em with Churka this time?” I asked Max.

  “Yes. I’ve already locked the inner doors.”

  “Thank you.”

  I slipped into my robe and went to open the front door for them. Though half asleep, I noticed the way Junior perked up when Churka appeared. She pretty much ignored him, but it was obvious the boy had a bad case of puppy love, his gaze following her with such longing that I felt sorry for him. Even without her amazing beauty, being one of only fifteen females meant she could have her pick of the available Buri males. Poor Junior probably didn’t stand a chance.

  Although I’d never experienced it personally, I’d heard young love among Naturals could be quite crushing. GEPs are raised to believe sex is simply another biological function, a lot more fun than using the lav, but nothing to get in a dither about. We’re taught from the beginning that for most of us, there’s no chance of a lifelong commitment, and my last disastrous affair had certainly proved that theory true.

  Not that there’s any law preventing GEPs from marrying, but Naturals either can’t cope with our superior skills and makeup, or they become obsessed with them to the point of worship. Neither option makes for a good marriage, and the few GEPs that have tried ended up divorced.

  As for marriages between GEPs, it isn’t financially or spatially feasible. Each of us is created with a specific job in mind, and the company who orders us pays dearly for our creation. Until that debt is repaid, we live where the company puts us, and go where they tell us to go. It’s our job, one we’ve been designed for and love doing. So, there’s not much sense in marrying when your partner is likely to be stationed on the other side of the universe.

  While we may not enjoy our solitary status, we learn to live with it. Which is why I could empathize with Junior.

  Churka smiled as she slipped by me into the hut. Auntie Em made a beeline for the food unit and punched up the Panga ale. I couldn’t help but grimace as I watched her take a long drink. It was barely daylight and the woman was already guzzling alcohol. She must have had a stomach of tempered steel.

  After making two more cups of cafftea, I carried them to the table and handed one to Churka. She sipped delicately, then put the cup on the table and removed a leather bag that was fastened at her waist.

  Since Auntie Em had co-opted one side of the table, I joined Churka on the other side, smiling as she handed me the bag. Both women went still as I examined it, a look of uncertainty on their faces. Whatever was in the bag was important to them.

  There was a metallic clink as I turned it in my hands, but for now, the bag itself held my attention. It was the finest leather I’d ever seen, soft as velvet and cured to a creamy eggshell white. The seams were hand-sewn instead of chemically fused, the stitches tight and even. The workmanship was excellent. On ZT Twelve, handmade items like this bag would send the fashion industry into a feeding frenzy.

  Churka fidgeted anxiously on the bench, and I gave her a reassuring smile as I opened the drawstring and let the contents slide onto the table. My gasp was involuntary as I saw what she’d brought.

  Two armlets of beaten gold lay in front of me, shooting sparks of sunlight to dance in prisms of color from the ceiling. Like the ones the female Buri wore, each was over an inch wide and designed to fit the upper arm.

  But that was where the similarity stopped, because these were decorated to a fare-thee-well.

  Gingerly—almost afraid to breathe—I picked one up. Dragon birds, etched in bold relief, danced across the surface. They were intertwined with clusters of flowers whose petals were an inlay of what looked like mother-of-pearl in a golden-tan shade. The center of each flower was the same shade of green as my eyes.

  Stunned, I glanced at Churka. “These are for me?”

  “Choorr,” she growled. The Buri had trouble with “Ts”, but I knew what she meant.

  “Thor sent them?” Sudden nerves had my palms clammy. In other low-tech cultures I’d dealt with, a gift like this usually implied commitment. Since I lacked the benefit of several cycles’ worth of xenologists’ findings, I wasn’t sure what it meant to the Buri or how to react.

  “Max, any idea why Thor would be giving me a gift like these armlets?”

  “Since all the Buri wear them, there is a sixty-one percent probability that they’re adopting you into the tribe.”

  Frustration filled Churka’s eyes at my apparent hesitation. Before I could move, she reached out and placed her fingertips against my temples. Lines of strain formed around her mouth, and abruptly I was receiving images. Not emotions—images. Fuzzy ones to be sure, but there was no doubt what was happening.

  In my mind, I saw myself fasten the silver clip in Thor’s hair. From there, the picture changed to Thor alone, hammer in his hand as he worked on the armlets.

  The images stopped the instant Churka dropped her hands. Her skin was pale and sweat beaded her forehead, but she looked satisfied.

  Great goddess of the fifth hell, she was telepathic! The number of races discovered to have psi talents were so slim I could count them on one hand and have fingers left over. I was so excited I almost forgot what she’d shown me.

  Thor, slaving away over the armlets he’d made just for me. I blinked, then looked down at them. By all rights, I shouldn’t keep the jewelry. Their value far outweighed the silver hair clip I’d given him, and I wasn’t sure it was fair to let them adopt me when I’d only be here, at most, two months.

  I opened my mouth to tell her I couldn’t take the gift, and then closed it again. Damn it, I wanted those armlets, no matter how wrong it was. Thor had made them for me, and I’d never really belonged anywhere before. The idea of being adopted by the Buri was strangely appealing. Plus, I really didn’t want to risk insulting them by refusing to accept the bands.

  Slowly, I picked them up and slid them onto my arms.

  Churka let out a squeal of excitement and pounced on me, hugging the breath right out of me before kissing both my cheeks. Auntie Em growled something at her, and Churka flushed.

  Releasing me, she rose to her feet, gave me a short, formal bow and made a speech I couldn’t understand.

  Weird.

  But the armlets felt right on my arms, picking up the warmth from my skin like they were a living part of me. And my acceptance of them certainly seemed to make Churka’s day. Even Auntie Em was smiling and nodding as she gulped down the last of her drink.

  They didn’t stay long after that. Churka, especially, appeared to be in a hurry to return home. As soon as they were gone, I shed my robe and stepped to the mirror that covered one wall of the lav.

  Turning this way and that to highlight the armlets, I admired my reflection. The petals on the flowers were the exact color of my hair, I realized.

  GEPs tend not to get sentimental about material things. After all, we have no family antiques that have been handed down from generation to generation, and there would be no one to leave such items to if we acquired them, since normal GEPs can’t have children. And things are, after all, just things. Easily lost, easily replaced. But I knew I would keep these armlets forever.

  With a sigh, I climbed into bed. Sleep eluded me, however. I couldn’t stop thinking about Churka’s use of telepathy. It had obviously required a lot of effort on her part, and yet that she could do it at all was amazing. Humans were one of the only species that had shown any shred of psi talent.

  I’d suspected from the beginning that Thor was picking up my emotions, and Churka was his sibling. So, did that mean the talent ran in families, or could all the Buri do it?

  It was one more mystery among the dozens I was trying to unravel, and probably the lea
st important. But I couldn’t help hoping. If I could communicate with Thor, really communicate, it might help solve all the other problems.

  A sound distracted me, and I shifted to watch Crigo enter the hut through the bottom door panel. From the odor that preceded him, he’d been out hunting again last night.

  Nose to the floor, he followed the Buri’s scent around the table, then came toward the bed to see if I was still in one piece. Starting at my feet, he sniffed his way up my length until he came to the new armbands.

  Abruptly, his ears flattened and a low snarl issued from his curled-up lips.

  “What’s your problem?” I asked him. “These are just an adoption gift from the Buri. Thor made them.”

  Before I could dodge, he raised a huge paw and swatted the bands so hard one of them flew from my arm. Luckily, he kept his claws sheathed.

  “Hey!” I jumped up and scrambled after the band, examining it closely to make sure it wasn’t damaged while the cat glared at me. A sigh of relief escaped me when I discovered it was still in one piece, and I slid it carefully back on my arm before turning to Crigo.

  “Okay, what’s going on? Why don’t you like the armlets? They’re just jewelry.”

  He continued to glare, his gaze shifting from me to the gold bands and back again. Frustration and—I frowned. Worry? Anxiety? Whichever it was, the emotion poured off him in waves.

  Puzzled, I tilted my head and studied him. “Max, any theories on why he doesn’t want me wearing the armlets?”

  “Nothing statistically valid, Kiera. Maybe he’s picking up a scent on them he doesn’t like. Or maybe he’s simply jealous of the Buri and wants to keep you to himself. He could see the gift as a threat to his ownership.”

  “Huh.” I knelt in front of him and took his face in my hands so we were eye to eye. “Listen up, cat. It doesn’t matter if the Buri adopt me. You’re still my family, and nothing is going to change that.”