was too involved with my own healing to detect anything else.
Aaor came to sit next to me. It did not touch me, but I was glad it was there. My other siblings and Dichaan kept watch for resisters.
Ahajas spoke to one of the captives?the one who had been so frightened.
?Why did you attack us?? she asked, sitting down in front of him.
The male stared at her, seemed to examine her very carefully with his eyes. Finally he reached out and touched a sensory tentacle on her arm. Ahajas allowed this. He had not been able to hurt her when she captured him. Now that he was drugged, he was not likely even to try.
After a time, he let the tentacle go as though he did not like it. Humans compared ooloi sensory arms to the appendages of extinct animals?elephant trunks. They compared sensory tentacles to large worms or snakes?like the slender, venomous vine snakes of the forest, perhaps, though sensory tentacles could be much more dangerous, more sensitive, and more flexible than vine snakes, and they were not independent at all.
?You were coming to raid us,? the male said. ?One of our hunters saw you and warned us.?
?We would not have attacked you,? Ahajas protested. ?We?ve never done such a thing.?
?Yes. We were warned. A gang of Oankali and half-Oankali coming to take revenge for the garden.?
?Did you destroy the garden??
?Some of us did. Not me.? That was true. People drugged the way he was did not bother to lie. It didn?t occur to them. ?We thought your animals shouldn?t have real Human food.?
?Animals
??
?Those!? He waved a hand toward Lilith and Tino.
Ahajas had known. She had simply wanted to know whether he would say it. He looked with interest at Oni and Ayodele. Since my metamorphosis, they were the most Human-looking members of the family. Children born of Lilith-the-animal.
Aaor and I got up in unison and moved to the other side of the tree we had been leaning against. I was still in pain and I had to watch my healing flesh closely to see that it did not go wrong. It could go very wrong it I kept paying attention to the captive and his offensive nonsense.
8
Sometime later the rescued female made a small, wordless noise, and without thinking, I left Aaor and went over to where she lay on the ground alongside Nikanj. I stood, looking down at them. The female was completely unconscious now, and Nikanj was busy healing her. I almost lay down on her other side, but Lilith called my name, and I stopped. I stood where I was, confused, not knowing why I stood there, but not wanting to leave.
Some of Nikanj?s body tentacles lifted toward me. Gradually it detached itself from the female and focused on me. It sat up and extended its sensory tentacles toward me. ?Let me see what you?ve done for yourself,? it said.
I stepped around the female, who was still unconscious, and let Nikanj examine me.
?Good,? it said after a moment. ?Flawless.? It was clearly surprised.
?Let me touch her,? I said.
?I haven?t finished with her.? Nikanj smoothed its tentacles flat to its body. ?There?s work for you to do if you want it.?
I did. That was exactly what I wanted. Yet I knew I shouldn?t have been allowed to touch her. I hesitated, focusing sharply on Nikanj.
?I?ll have to check her afterward,? it said. ?You?ll find you won?t like that. But for the sake of her health, I have to do it. Now go ahead. Help her.?
? I lay down alongside the female. I don?t think I could have refused Nikanj?s offer. The pull of the female, injured, alone, and in no way related to me was overwhelming.
I might still be too young to give her pleasure. That disturbed me, but there was nothing I could do about it. When I had something to work with besides sensory tentacles, I could give great pleasure. Now, at least, I could give relief from pain.
The female?s face, head, breasts, and abdomen were bruised from blows and would be painful if I woke her. I could find no other injuries. Nikanj had not left me anything serious. I went to work on the bruises.
I held the female close to me and sank as many head and body tentacles into her as I could, but I couldn?t get over the feeling that I was somehow not close enough to her, not linked deeply enough into her nervous system, that there was something missing.
Of course there was?and there would be until my second metamorphosis. I understood the feeling, but I couldn?t make it go away. I had to be especially careful not to hold her too tightly, not to interfere with her breathing.
The beauty of her flesh was my reward. A foreign Human as incredibly complex as any Human, as full of the Human Conflict?dangerous and frightening and intriguing?as any Human. She was like the fire?desirable and dangerous, beautiful and lethal. Humans never understood why Oankali found them so interesting.
I took my time finishing with the woman. No one hurried me. It was a real effort for me to move aside and let Nikanj check her. I didn?t want it to touch her. I didn?t want to share her with it. I had never felt that way before.
I stood with my arms tightly folded and my attention on the now silent male prisoners. I think Nikanj worked quickly for my sake. After a very short time, it stood up and said, ?I think she?s inspired you to get control of your abilities. Stay with her until she wakes. Don?t call me unless she seems likely to hurt herself or to run away.?
?Was she working with them?? I asked, gesturing with head tentacles toward the males.
