Last night, although no one gave me the stink eye, my new people didn’t show me as much warmth as during the wedding celebration or the morning after. News traveled quickly in a small village. Yamir hadn’t shared the subject of our conversation that had stirred her anger—which still lingered—but unloading my farming equipment had given me away.
My poor Olix had been in damage-control mode all evening. I never would have guessed how deep the wounds of the past still ran, even though only two of those who had actually suffered under slavery still lived today.
Try hard as I may, and despite the genuine empathy I felt for their ancestors, I couldn’t understand their current reaction, let alone agree with it. How could I? I wasn’t in their shoes. I hadn’t lived through the fallout of rebuilding their society and sense of self after routing the invaders. Still, as much as I believed they were taking the wrong approach with this specific issue, I had to respect their feelings and not try to force my will or views onto them.
I no longer thought it possible to achieve Kayog’s dream of turning the Andturian into farmers like my people on Meterion. There was still a sliver of hope they would change their minds, maybe once they saw the success of my own crops, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Nonetheless, after Olix explained to them how refusing me would equate to someone depriving them of ever eating jovam roots again, the people suddenly showed a bit more empathy towards me. Yamir remained a little stiff, but in the absence of me trying to promote farming, she slightly relaxed. The rest of the evening went on smoothly, concluded by a very hot night with my husband.
Olix was a quick study who seemed to genuinely enjoy foreplay, however clumsy he had been at first—not that I was much more skilled to begin with. Last night, he insisted we shower together. My initial shyness was short-lived. My man’s hands were all over me in no time, and I loved how he touched me. I never expected to get so turned on by someone who looked so different, and even less that he would grow this attracted to me. And yet, since our first night, I’d caught Olix stealing heated glances at me throughout the day. During that shower, his desire for me had been undeniable.
In truth, I suspected he’d barely resisted the urge to prop me up against the stone wall and bang me right there and then. I’d wanted him to, but after we dried up and took things to bed—or our sleeping nest as he called it—I was beyond grateful for his restraint. It would take a few more nights of slow and careful penetration for me to adjust to his girth without feeling on the verge of getting split in half. Still, sex last night had been even better than the first night—after the initial awkwardness—and was promising to become epic in the future. I just had to work up the courage of bringing up oral sex…
But for now, kinky thoughts needed to take a backseat. I’d once again slept in this morning, although not as late as yesterday. Olix had already been up and about for a while by the time I emerged from the house. After greeting the people all busy crafting on the plaza—including my mother-in-law who seemed a bit warmer today—I made a beeline for my shed to unpack my treasures. I had to make haste as I wouldn’t be able to work tomorrow.
I’d found out that, although they followed a 7-day week and 12-month calendar, the Andturians didn’t have a traditional 5-day work week. Adults worked and children studied for two days in a row, rested one day, and worked two more days, rinse-repeat. Saturdays and Sundays held no special meaning to them. Every day was either a work day or a play day, with the rare holiday marking special moments of their history—like their liberation from the Vaengi, Summer Solstice, or the Day of the Spirits.
After my conversation with Olix, I had spent the evening pondering how I would go about things. Unpacking helped me clarify in what order I would proceed. Kayog had mentioned including a gift for me in my belongings. I had not expected the two large bags of germinating mix that I found there. I squealed in delight as I had expected to have to beg for manure and make the kind of rough mix that would never compare to a proper compost mix that would take months to create.
I had wanted to bring some from my homeworld, but it never would have passed customs. Even the seeds that I had brought almost didn’t make it. Thankfully, I managed to sweet talk my husband and his sister into bringing in a few tables from the common storage. I would need more stuff, but would try to carefully work my way into getting the assistance I needed without being too pushy.
For now, I wanted to get my seeds started. In a week from now, Olix and most of the Hunters would set off on a hunting expedition that would last at least a couple of weeks. As much as it saddened me, I hoped that by the time he returned, I’d be able to make him sample a few things that might stir his interest into seeing more of what allowing me to work the land could provide.
I picked up my propagator racks from one of the containers. Each rack contained thirty cells that I filled with germinating mix before planting one seed per cell. After covering the seeds with more mix, I lightly watered them then placed a greenhouse cover on top of the rack to keep in the moisture. I repeated the process with a variety of vegetables, from tomatoes to broccoli, cauliflower and kale, cabbage, and squash, and obviously potatoes. I hated that I couldn’t start from an actual piece of potato as my original seed, but that would have never passed customs.
I was almost done with my tenth rack when a knock on the door startled me. To my pleasant surprise, Luped was paying me a visit—although I suspected it also involved some snooping.
“Already hard at work, I see,” my sister-in-law said, her lizard eyes flicking this way and that.
“No choice if I want to eat some potatoes soon. It will take at least two months from today for them to grow, but three months is more likely,” I said with a pitiful face.
She gave me a commiserating look. “At least, you have hope it will come,” she said.
“Indeed. I’m pretty excited about it,” I replied.
“I see that you’ve already used up two of the tables we brought,” Luped noted.
“Yeah,” I said scrunching my face. “Getting the seedlings started quickly is my number one priority. After that, I will go looking in the common storage for something that could act as shelves for my racks so that I can keep the tables closer to the windows for the sprouts that will need a lot of sun. Then, I will need to get hay, straw, or woodchips and find a way to get some really strong hooks on the ceiling of the backroom to grow mushrooms.”
“Hooks to grow mushrooms?” Luped asked, surprised.
I nodded. “There are different ways to grow mushrooms, but hanging them in a tube is my preferred method. It also makes it easier to harvest—I find.”
Luped pursed her lips, pondering. “I can build the shelves and install the hooks for you,” she said. “You just need to give me the measurements and the type of weight you need to hang.”
My jaw dropped, and my eyes all but popped out of my head. “Really?” I asked, floored.
Luped nodded. “I am the main Builder and architect of the clan,” she explained. “I mainly work with wood and stone, but I have been studying a lot of the foreign techniques involving metal. This will be a nice change from my usual tasks.”
I squealed and, without thinking, I hugged Luped and hoisted myself on my tiptoes to kiss her cheek. She froze, looking at me with a stunned expression. I flinched, promptly letting go of her before giving her a sheepish grin.
“Sorry, I got carried away in my enthusiasm,” I said, embarrassed.
I could see her wheels spinning, an uneasy expression settling on her face.
“I didn’t mean to offend you,” I added slightly worried. “It is common for humans to kiss people on the cheeks as a sign of thank you.”
Luped slightly recoiled, confusion replacing her discomfort. “Thank you?” she echoed. “I thought a kiss was a sign of affection or love between mates?”
“Oh God!” I exclaimed, understanding dawning on me. “Did you think I was coming on to you?”
Luped’s beautiful blue scales darkened with embarrassment, and I couldn’t help myself from chuckling some more.
“You are a very beautiful Andturian, but I am not making advances to you,” I reassured her. “I am only attracted to males, and I saved myself for my husband, your brother. If all goes well, there will never be another male for me.”
Those words pleased Luped tremendously, and she smiled in approval.
“Humans kiss for various reasons. It all depends on where you kiss,” I explained. “Adults only kiss their mate on the lips, but sometimes, they can do it to their very young offspring, too, as a sign of love or affection. With everyone else, it will be the cheeks, which can be as a greeting, as a thank you, or to show affection. It can be the forehead, usually as a sign of tenderness or as a blessing. It can also be on the back of the hand or on the fingers in greeting, but usually as a sign of respect and deference.”
“Hmmm, it is a complex system with many nuances,” Luped said with a slight frown.
“It is,” I said with a nod, wondering what she would say if I told her some kissing involved tongue play.
“I accept your thank you kiss with a warm heart,” Luped said. “You are bringing new things, ways of thinking, and craft that could be useful to the people. Change is always frightening. Do not expect much support from the clan. But as long as what you do doesn’t undermine my brother, you will have my aid.”
My heart skipped a beat upon hearing those words. After her mother’s reaction yesterday, I had not expected help from anyone, least of all from her. But this?
“That means a lot to me, Luped,” I said, my throat constricted with emotion.
She looked at my seedling equipment and the other crates I had only partially emptied, a slight frown marring her forehead.
“Andturians didn’t use to have currency,” she explained. “We still don’t. Before the arrival of the off-worlders, we used to trade for goods with the other species. We mostly offered decorative items, weapons, and medicine crafted according to our ancestral methods. Our base materials were the bones, horns, fur, and organs of the creatures we fed from and of course, stone, wood, and metal. But everything has changed with the tourist resorts.”
“The demand has increased beyond your capacity?” I asked.
“No, it has disappeared,” Luped said bitterly. “Their industrial replicas have hurt our business. Why wait for the monthly market and pay full price for our goods when they can get them instantly for cheaper in one of the spaceport or resort stores? The quality they get is terrible, but visually, it is disturbingly similar. And those corporations can build dozens of replicas in the time it takes us to build a single one.”
My heart ached for the Andturians. These were common questionable practices whenever galactic corporations managed to set foot on underdeveloped planets.
“There are legal recourses you can take against that. The United Planets Organization has strict rules against such things,” I argued.
“Yes, but the complexity of the complaint system is almost impossible to navigate,” Luped countered. “And the other native species do not suffer the same way from these practices. Therefore, it makes our case harder to defend.”
“I see,” I said with a frown, determined to look further into this.
“And now, with animals running scarce, our sales prices have to be even higher, which makes us even less competitive,” Luped said. “It is disheartening. I wouldn’t care if that simply meant our people going back to being isolated from strangers. But if this keeps on, we will be starving. All the pressure currently rests on my brother’s shoulders as the Spear of the Andturians. Every clan looks to him. And the Conglomerate making offers to buy our lands are making matters worse. If the next couple of hunts and public market sales aren’t successful, I fear some of the neighboring clans will give in. It will destroy my people.”
I felt blood drain from my face. I had known the situation to be difficult, but not this dire.
“Tell me, Susan,” Luped said, eyeing me with a strange expression, her head tilted to the side, “why did you come here despite Kayog telling you of our hardships?”
“Honestly, because I knew I could make a difference,” I said matter-of-factly. “You have amazing lands, and I have expert skills in farming. I was thrilled at the prospect of turning the situation around for your people in the space of two-to-three months. But I never expected there to be such fierce pushback. I understand your history, but I don’t understand allowing past tragedy to let you starve when such a simple solution exists.”
“And now that you know that things are not going to be what you thought?” she insisted.
In that instant, I realized she wasn’t asking this lightly. My answer could define the future of our relationship going forward.
“I left my world to come here. I have sworn to be by Olix’s side, for better or for worse, until death do us part in both the human wedding ceremony and the Andturian one,” I said, holding her gaze unwaveringly. “My word is my bond. I do not know what the future holds, but whatever comes our way, I will face it with him.”
Luped’s face softened, and the tension that had creeped up in my back faded.
“I do not know if my people will ever embrace what you have to offer, even if they starve to death,” Luped said with a frown. “We are pretty much indoctrinated from birth against it, and it’s not a natural interest for us. But we must evolve. The rest of the world is moving forward, and we are being left behind. I believe that if we are not careful, we will be driven off our lands and then become extinct. Olix is fighting a difficult battle between honoring our ways and trying to lead us into the future. I also believe that you are a clever female. As long as it won’t hurt Olix, I will assist you in any ploy you come up with to help us move forward.”
I grinned, my heart soaring at finding this unexpected ally. I extended a hand towards her. Luped stared at it, a little confused. She repeated my gesture, leaving her hand in front of mine. I grabbed hers and shook it.
“You’ve got yourself a deal,” I said with a grin before explaining what shaking on a deal meant.
She shook her head at me, amused. “Now that we are in agreement, please give me the details on what you need built so that I can get started,” Luped said. “You also asked for hay, straw, or woodchips. We have hay and woodchips. Do you have a preference?”
“Woodchips would be ideal,” I said. “The smaller the better, but I have a shredder if needed. I would need the equivalent of six of these crates.”
“Very well,” Luped said, giving me a funny look but not arguing.
While she went to fetch the woodchips, I pulled out my datapad and browsed through the specs of shelves and hooks I’d been considering while planning all the things I could grow on Xecania before my departure from my home world.
The woodchips she brought back needed more shredding. They were leftovers from the Crafters, which they used to start the fires in the cooking pit of the Great Hall. I gave her the specs for the shelves and hooks, then shoved a bunch of woodchips in the shredder, leaving it to work its magic while I continued preparing my seedlings.
Luped came back a short while later with a hovering platform ladened with wooden planks and tools, immediately going to work on the shelves outside the shed I was using as a greenhouse. Watching her lift those huge planks like they weighed nothing blew my mind. But more importantly, although I mostly considered myself a loner, seeing her working ‘with me’ through the large windows was a major boost to my shaken enthusiasm. I didn’t feel so unwanted.
By the time she finished building the first set of shelves, I was done with all my seedling and shredding. Sadly, tomorrow was a play day, so she would build my hooks the day after, and then make more shelves. Before calling it a night, I used one of the fire stones—a polished stone similar to the glowstones that lit our house but that could heat like a hot plate—to boil some water. I filled a few empty containers with the shredded wood chips and poured the boiling water over them to let them pasteurize overnight.
When we rejoined the rest of the clan for evening meal, the curious and speculating looks of the Andturians failed to retain my attention. The dark and hungry gaze of my mate had me throbbing in all the right places and wondering what the heck had him so triggered.
