the hands to pluck out the white larvae. Akin watched it, fascinated. It looked at him, tensed for a moment, then selected another seedpod. Akin was smaller than it was. Apparently it did not see him as a threat. He stooped near it and watched it. He inched closer, wanting to touch it, see how the furred body felt.
To his amazement, the animal let him touch it, let him stroke the short fur. He was surprised to find that the fur did not feel like hair. It was smooth and slightly stiff in one direction and rough in the other. The animal moved away when he rubbed its fur against the grain. It sniffed his hand and stared at him for a moment. It clutched a large, half-eaten larva in its hands.
An instant later the agouti flew sideways in a roar of Human-made thunder. It landed on its side some distance from Akin, and it made small, useless running motions with its feet. It could not get up.
Akin saw at once that it was Galt who had shot the animal. The man looked at Akin and smiled. Akin understood then that the man had shot the inoffensive animal not because he was hungry for its meat, but because he wanted to hurt and frighten Akin.
Akin went to the agouti, saw that it was still alive, still struggling to run. Its hind feet did not work, but its forefeet made small running steps through the air. There was a gaping hole in its side.
Akin bent to its neck and tasted it, then, for the first time, deliberately injected his poison. A few seconds later, the agouti stopped struggling and died.
Galt stepped up and nudged the animal with his foot.
?It was beginning to feel terrible pain,? Akin said. ?I helped it die.? He swayed slightly, even though he was seated on the ground. He had tasted the agouti?s life and its pain, but all he could give it was death. If he had not gone near it, Galt might never have noticed it. It might have lived.
He hugged himself, trembling, feeling sick.
Galt nudged him with a foot, and he fell over. He picked himself up and stared at the man, wanting desperately to be away from him.
?How come you only talk to me?? Galt asked.
?First because I wanted to help Tilden,? Akin whispered quickly. The others were coming. ?Now because I have to
have to help you. You shouldn?t eat the agouti. The poison I gave it would kill you.?
Akin managed to dodge the vicious kick Galt aimed at his head. Iriarte picked Akin up and held him protectively.
?You fool, you?ll kill him!? Iriarte shouted.
?Good riddance,? Galt yelled back. ?Shit, there?s plenty of trade goods here. We don?t need that mongrel bastard!?
Kaliq had come up to stand beside Iriarte. ?What have you found here that we could trade for a woman?? he demanded.
Silence.
?That boy is to us what gold used to be,? Kaliq spoke softly now.
?In fact,? Iriarte said, ?he?s more valuable to us than you are.?
?He can talk!? Galt shouted.
Kaliq took a step closer to him. ?Man, I don?t care if he can fly! There are people who?ll pay anything for him. He looks okay, that?s what?s important.?
Iriarte looked at Akin. ?Well, he always knew he could understand us better than any normal kid his age. What did he say??
Galt drew his mouth into a thin smile. ?After I shot the agouti, he bit it on the neck, and it died. He told me not to eat it because he had poisoned it.?
?Yeah?? Iriarte held Akin away from him and stared. ?Say something, kid.?
Akin was afraid the man would drop him if he spoke. He was also afraid he would lose Iriarte as a protector?as he had lost Galt. He tried to look as frightened as he felt, but he said nothing.
?Give him to me,? Galt said. ?I?ll make him talk.?
?He?ll talk when he gets ready,? Iriarte said. ?Hell, I had seven kids before the war. They?d talk all the time until you wanted them to.?
?Listen, I?m not talking about baby talk!?
?I know. I believe you. Why does it bother you so??
?He can talk as well as you can!?
?So? It?s better than being covered with tentacles or gray skin. It?s better than being without eyes or ears or a nose. Kaliq is right. It?s looks that are important. But you know as well as I do that he isn?t Human, and it?s got to come out somehow.?
?He claims to be poison,? Galt said.
?He may be. The Oankali are.?
?So you go on holding him next to your neck. You do that.?
To Akin?s surprise, Iriarte did just that. Later, when he was alone with Akin, he said, ?You don?t have to talk if you don?t want to.? He ran a hand across Akin?s hair. ?I think I?d rather you didn?t, really. You look so much like one of my kids, it hurts.?
Akin accepted this silently.
