“I was a botanist on our prior world, and I’m pretty sure I can teach you how to create some agricultural pastures that will grow staples consistently and close by.” Hetta sounded bolder the more she talked, although almost as one, all the N’Akron turned to look at me.
Erica and Jackie sighed in unison. “And with the wreckage from the ship, I think I can produce some more translators so we don’t have to deal with this much longer,” Erica muttered.
“And I can handle the nanotechnology to make them permanent implements, too,” Jackie added.
Everyone was waiting on me to translate, but it was hard when I really had no idea what half of what they said meant. I turned to look at Dana, and although it took her a moment to notice my distress, she gave me a soft smile when she did.
“You know how we eat dohli and czik? Hetta can make it so we can grow the food that draws them in and we can establish herds of them for our own use. We can also do that with some vegetables on their own, because I’m pretty sure you have them, you just may not know where they are. And finally, Jackie and Erica want to return to the ship so they can take everything we might need to help get the tribe set up on the right foot.” Dana gave me a reassuring look, her hand going on top of mine on her leg.
“I can also probably get a better idea of Caterri technology,” Erica said, shooting V’Annor a glance, where he was against the wall. Once she caught eyes on him, it seemed to relax her some, because she let out a long breath and then nodded firmly. “I might even be able to improve these, which would make hunting much easier.”
As I translated, the elders bristled, clearly not thrilled with the human females who were telling them what they could do to help our tribe, but they needed to get over it. While the tribe wasn’t mine at the moment, it would be, and I wanted to ensure it was as strong as it could be. We were headed towards recovery, but we had a ways to go first.
“Why are we taking advice from these females?” Another elder, named V’Yrisk, was shooting red eye-beams towards all of the human women. “They also pursue this technology that clearly cannot be trusted. Maybe they are Caterri spies, and that is why they brought that Caterri back. Maybe it is going to report back so the Caterri know how many of us there are and what our strengths are.” His voice got higher the longer he went, and a few of the other elders were nodding in agreement.
“Because females are stronger than we are.” I spoke without allowing for any dissent, standing to my full height and staring down the elders who were now shifting on their stools. “Dana is a prime example. Not only did she help take down ten Caterri, she is fertile and as a group, the humans are knowledgeable in many areas. They aren’t just treasures to be hoarded, but resources to be valued.” Although I looked from elder to elder, I kept most of my attention on my father.
I didn’t miss Dana’s sharp inhalation of breath, or the way her hand squeezed mine and ducked towards my inner thigh for the briefest of moments. It took most of my concentration to not come in my pants, because while I didn’t understand why, I knew whatever I had just done made her happy.
The silence lingered after I spoke, but finally my father sighed. “So be it.” He fixed me with a hard stare, although when his gaze turned towards the humans, it softened a fraction. “You are in charge of their well-being. Ensure they do not interfere with tribe business.” He waved a hand in dismissal, and I stood where I was, trying to wrap my mind around what had just happened.
20
Dana
My hands were shaking, both from the tension of what had just happened and the sheer arousal from watching N’Ashtar dominate a room full of his superiors. Not that it was really appropriate to be thinking about any of that at the moment, but hey, I couldn’t control what got my lady bits going. When he turned to smile at me and squeezed my knee, I let out a long breath. I had made a good choice, going with him. Being mated to him. He would take care of me, and I would take care of him.
“If that is all, Father, we shall take our leave.” N’Ashtar bowed respectfully, and out of a lack of ideas for anything else to do, I did a curtsy, which earned me a bunch of strange looks and looked entirely out of place for the setting.
Whatever. It wasn’t like we didn’t all know I had a lot to learn. At the same time, I felt like I had learned so much since I had met them. My life had changed a ridiculous amount, from what I thought was smart and successful to knowing I was loved and my life feeling like it had meaning again. I didn’t need a man, but my life was certainly better knowing I had one.
“Do you want to talk to your friends?” N’Ashtar asked, pulling me aside just enough that I was shielded if I wanted to be. I shook my head, still a bit raw. I loved my friends, I did, but after the whole kidnapping, the traveling back, being accosted by N’Ashtar’s dad, and then being verbally flayed open for the tribe, I didn’t think I could meet Hetta’s or Jackie’s or Erica’s questioning looks with anything but tears and I had something else I wanted to do instead.
“Let’s go somewhere private,” I murmured, stepping into him. I pressed my body against
