?You?re all right,? it said. ?You?re doing fine. The female is good for you.?
?She?s going to Mars.?
?I heard.?
?I wish I could keep her here.?
?She?s very strong. I think she?ll survive Mars.?
?I changed her a little. I didn?t mean to, but??
?I know. I?m going to check her very thoroughly just before we leave her, but from what I?ve seen in you, you did a good job. I wish she were not so old. If she were younger, I would help you persuade her to stay.?
She was as old as my Human mother. She might live a century more here on Earth where there was plenty to eat and drink and breathe, where there were Oankali to repair her injuries. I could live five times that long?unless I mated with someone like Marina. Then I would live only as long as I could keep her alive.
?If she were younger, I would persuade her myself,? I said.
Nikanj coiled a sensory arm around my neck briefly, then went to give the male captives their morning drugging. Best to do that before they woke.
Marina was already awake and looking at me. ?There?s food,? I said. ?It doesn?t look very interesting, but it tastes good.?
She extended a hand. I took it and pulled her to her feet. Four bowls from Lo had been salvaged from the fire. We took two of them down to the river, washed them, washed ourselves, and swam a little. This was my first experience with breathing underwater. I slipped into it so naturally and comfortably that I hardly noticed that I was doing something new.
I heard Marina?s voice calling me and I realized I?d drifted some distance downstream. I turned and swam back to her. She had not taken off her clothing?short pants that had once been longer and a ragged shirt much too big for her.
I had taken off mine. She had stared at me then. Now she stared again. No visible genitals. In fact, no reproductive organs at all.
?I don?t understand,? she said as I walked out of the water. ?You must not care what I see or you wouldn?t have undressed. I don?t understand how you can have
nothing.?
?I?m not an adult.?
?But
?
I put my shorts and Tino?s shirt back on.
?Why do you wear clothes??
?For Humans. Don?t you feel more comfortable now??
She laughed. I hadn?t heard her laugh before. It was a harsh, sharp shout of joy. ?I feel more comfortable!? she said. ?But take your clothes off if you want to. What difference does it make??
My underarms itched painfully. Because there was nothing else for me to do, I took her hand, picked up the bowls, and headed back toward camp and breakfast.
She walked close to me and didn?t shrink away from my sensory tentacles.
?I don?t think you have to worry about becoming a woman,? she said.
?No.?
?You?re almost a man now.?
I stepped in front of her and stopped. She stopped obligingly and watched me, waiting.
?I?m not male. I never will be. I?m ooloi.?
She almost leaped away from me. I saw the shadow of abrupt movement, not quite completed in her muscles. ?How can you be?? she demanded. ?You have two arms, not four.?
?So far,? I said.
She stared at my arms. ?You
You?re truly ooloi??
?Yes.?
She shook her head. ?No wonder I had dreams about you last night.?
?Oh? Did you like them??
?Of course I liked them. I liked you. And I shouldn?t have. You look too male. Nothing male should have been appealing to me last night?after what those bastards did to me. Nothing male should be appealing to me for a long, long time.?
?You?re healed.?
?Yes. You did that??
?Part of it.?
