curved around a huge tree, and Akin lost sight of him. There was no sound of his following. Then there was a burst of sound?hurrying feet, heavy breathing.
?Wait!? the man called.
Lilith stopped and waited for him to catch up. He was, Akin noticed, still carrying the stalk of bananas. He had thrown it over his left shoulder.
?Watch him!? Lilith whispered to Akin.
The man came close, then stopped and stared at her, frowning.
?What the matter?? she asked.
He shook his head. ?I just don?t know what to make of you,? he said.
Akin felt her relax a little. ?This is your first visit to a trading village, isn?t it?? she said.
?Trading village? So that?s what you call them.?
?Yes. And I don?t want to know what you call us. But spend some time with us. Maybe you?ll accept our definition of ourselves. You came to find out about us, didn?t you??
He sighed. ?I guess so. I was a kid when the war started. I still remember cars, TV, computers
I do remember. But those things aren?t real to me anymore. My parents
All they want to do is go back to the prewar days. They know as well as I do that that?s impossible, but it?s what they talk about and dream about. I left them to find out what else there might be to do.?
?Both your parents survived??
?Yeah. They?re still alive. Hell, they don?t look any older than I do now. They could still join a
one of your villages and have more kids. They won?t though.?
?And you??
?I don?t know.? He looked at Akin. ?I haven?t seen enough to decide yet.?
She reached out to touch his arm in a gesture of sympathy.
He grabbed her hand and held it at first as though he thought she would try to pull away. She did not. He held her wrist and examined the hand. After a time he let her go.
?Human,? he whispered. ?I always heard you could tell by the hands?that the
the others would have too many fingers or fingers that bend in un-Human ways.?
?Or you could just ask,? she said. ?People will tell you; they don?t mind. It?s not the kind of thing anyone bothers to lie about. Hands aren?t as reliable as you think.?
?Can I look at the baby?s??
?No more than you are now.?
He drew a long breath. ?I wouldn?t hurt a kid. Even one that wasn?t quite Human.?
?Akin isn?t quite Human,? she said.
?What?s wrong with him??
?I mean
What?s different about him??
?Internal differences. Rapid mental development. Perceptual differences. At metamorphosis, he?ll begin to look different, though I don?t know how different.?
?Can he talk??
?All the time. Come on.?
He followed her along the path, and Akin watched him through light-sensitive patches on the skin of his shoulder and arm.
?Baby?? the man said peering at him.
Akin, remembering what Margit had told him, turned his head so that he faced the man. ?Akin,? he said. ?What?s your name??
The man let his mouth fall open. ?How old are you?? he demanded.
Akin stared at him silently.
?Don?t you understand me?? the man asked. He had a jagged scar on one of his shoulders, and Akin wondered what had made it.
The man slapped at a mosquito with his free hand and spoke to Lilith. ?How old is he??
?Tell him your name,? she said.
?What??
She said nothing more.
The man?s smallest toe was missing from his right foot, Akin noticed. And there were other marks on his body?scars, paler than the rest of his skin. He must have hurt himself often and had no ooloi to help him heal. Nikanj would never have left so many scars.
