He hesitated. ?Yes. All right.? His body was tense?ready to run.
I made a sighing sound so that he would hear it. ?If you lie to me, I can?t help knowing.?
That frightened him and made him stiffly resentful in my grasp, but he said nothing.
The female came completely out of her cover and faced us. I kept the male?s body between my own and her rifle. Looking at her, I had absolutely no doubt that she would shoot. But I needed a few moments more with the male before I could have anything serious to show them. The female had tumors, too, though hers were not as big as the male?s. Her face, arms, and legs?all that was visible of her?were covered with small irregularly spaced growths.
?Let him go,? she said quietly. ?I won?t shoot you if you let him go.? That was true at least. She was afraid, but she meant what she said.
I nodded to her, then spoke to the male. ?I haven?t hurt you. What will you do if I let you go??
Now the male gave a real sigh. ?Leave.?
?You?re hungry. Take the food with you.?
?I don?t want it.? He no longer trusted it?probably because I wanted him to have it.
?Do one thing for me before I let you go.?
?What??
?Move your neck.?
I kept a firm hold on him, but drew back slightly to let him turn and twist the neck that had been all but frozen in place before I touched him. He swore softly.
?TomAs?? the female said, her voice filled with doubt.
?I can move it,? he said unnecessarily. He had not stopped moving it.
?Does it hurt??
?No. It just feels
normal. I had forgotten how it felt to move this way.?
I let him go and spoke softly. ?Perhaps when you?ve been blind for a while, you?ll forget how it feels to see.?
He almost fell turning to look at me. When he?d gotten a good look, he took a step back. ?You won?t touch me again until I see you heal yourself,? he said. ?What
Who are you??
?Jodahs,? I said. ?I?m a construct, Human and Oankali.?
He looked startled, then moved around so that he could get a look at all sides of me. ?I never heard that they had scales.? He shook his head. ?My god, man, you must frighten more people than we do!?
I laughed. I could feel my sensory tentacles flattening against my scales. ?I don?t always look this way,? I said. ?If you stay to be healed, I?ll begin to look more like you. More like the way you will look when you?re healed.?
?We can?t be healed,? the female said. ?The tumors can be cut off, but they grow back. The disease
we were born with it. No one can heal it.?
?I know you were born with it. You?ll give it to at least some of your children if you decide to go where you can have them. I can correct the problem.?
They looked at each other. ?It isn?t possible,? the male said.
I focused on him. He had been such a pleasure to touch. Now there was no need to hurry back home. No need to hurry at anything. Two of them. Treasure.
?Move your neck,? I said again.
The male moved it, shaking his misshapen head. ?I don?t understand,? he said. ?What did you say you were called??
?Jodahs.?
?I?m TomAs. This is Jesusa.? No other names. Very deliberately, no other names. ?Tell us how you did this.?
I took sticks from the pile I had gathered and built up the fire. The two Humans obligingly sat down around it. The male picked up a baked tuber. The female caught his arm and looked at him, but he only grinned, broke open the tuber, and bit into it. His single visible eye opened wide in surprise and pleasure. The tuber was new to him. He ate a little more, then gave a piece to the female. She scooped out a little with one finger and tasted it. She did not take on the same look of surprised pleasure, but she ate, then examined the peeling carefully in the firelight. It was dark now for resisters. The sun had gone down.
?I haven?t tasted this before. Is it only a lowland plant??
?It grows here. I?ll show you tomorrow morning.?
There was a silence. Of course they would stay the night in this place. Where else could they go in the dark?
?You?re from the mountains?? I asked softly.
More silence.
?I won?t get to the mountains. I wish I could.?
