“Fine. Why did you come here?”
“To drop off devices owed to your government.”
“You handed off to the military, though.”
“Yes. The government and the military are one and the same, aren’t they?”
“Basically,” I mumble. “You aren’t a virgin, are you?”
He laughs, the kind someone does when they’re shocked. “Yes. Err, no. I am not a virgin.”
“Who did you sleep with?”
“A Kurian.”
“Did you love her?”
“No. We were friends. It was… interesting, but there wasn’t no spark. It felt good, but it didn’t feel right. Does that make sense?”
I shrug. I wouldn’t know because I am a virgin, a detail he doesn’t need to know.
“What’s your job on Kuria?” I ask.
“I’m a pilot.”
“You’ve piloted to Earth before?”
“This is my first time.”
“And you thought you could find a woman here, didn’t you? You came here wanting to find females to screw.”
“Did the thought cross my mind that I might find love here? Maybe. I wanted to explore, to see the world.”
“An alien explorer. Want to explore an Earthling’s body, that about right?”
He just shakes my head. “You ask some pointed and personal questions, you know that, don’t you?”
I say nothing.
“You want to know about my sex life more than anything else.” He shakes his head again. “I’m starting to think you’re the one with sex on the brain, not me. You can ask me anything at all, and this is your line of questioning? You don’t want to get to know me. This is just to embarrass and humiliate me, to get back at me for what I did. Ava, I’m sorry. I’ll answer all of the questions even if that’s why you’re asking them, but I really do want to get to know you. The real you. And I want you to get to know me, the real me.”
“And you weren’t your real you on the date?”
“I was.”
“Including when you tried to get me into your bed?”
He hesitates. “Is it wrong for a man to want to have sex with a beautiful, intelligent woman that they’re attracted to?”
“Maybe. Maybe not, but on the first date… I’m not that kind of girl.”
“I realize that now, and I’m sorry.”
I point to the carcass, not even sure what it was. “The food’s burning.”
“It’s not.” He’s been turning it some as we talk, and it looks done to me, but he doesn’t remove it yet.
“Do you have any siblings?” I ask after a moment of silence.
Now he starts to withdraw the stick holding the meat from the fire. He begins to use a dagger to cut the meat and lay out the strips on two plates. My plates. I make no mention of him swiping my items. After all, he is cooking me a hot meal.
“I don’t,” he finally says as he hands me a plate. “Do you?”
"No siblings, not that I know of at least." I blow and take a bite. It's delicious. He seared the outside to trap all of the juices inside. I'm still not sure what the animal had been while alive, but it's so delicious I don't care.
“Not that you know of?”
I shake my head. “I don’t even know anything about my parents.”
“But who raised you?” he asks.
I shift uncomfortably. I don’t like the personal nature of his questions, so I turn the question back around on him. “It must have been interesting being raised by a Novan and an Earthling.”
"Yes. There's a time when my parents would butt heads, but they love each other dearly. Every day it seems they're still learning something new pertaining to the other species."
“Like what?”
“Mom likes to sit down and talk things out more than my dad does. Dad is more of a doer. He doesn’t necessarily like to ask for permission first.”
“Just do it and then ask for forgiveness later type deal?” I ask.
“Yes, exactly. That’s how just about all of the Novans are, actually.” He shrugs. “Apparently, there are a lot of differences between Novan females and Earthling females, but I wouldn’t know that personally. It causes my parents some issues, but they work everything out.”
I say nothing, grateful that he seems to have forgotten about my parents for the moment.
“My mom likes to tease my dad and say he has issues.” Rix grins. “The first time she did, my dad got really upset about it. He stormed out of the house. Mom chased after him, and they had to do some talking for once. They then disappeared for a long while. I figure they went to the ship.”
“Why? To leave for a romantic getaway?”
"No. They, ah… They didn't want to come back to the house because I was there. I could hear what they were talking about, what they wanted to do to each other… They said things that no eight-year-old should ever have heard."
“Oh!”
“Yes. Well, yeah. They love each other very much. Still do. Still have their hands all over each other.” He shudders.
I can’t help smirking. No one likes to think about their parents having sex, and that includes Kurians.
“Your parents have any issues?”
I scowl.
“Okay. How about you. What made you decide to become an inventor?”
I say nothing.
"Do your friends come to visit you here often, or do you go to them?"
“Who says I have friends?”
“Everyone has friends.”
Silence falls, and he grimaces. He has to realize I don’t want to answer questions like this. He’ll get the hint, right?
“Did someone hurt you? Physically? Is that why you—”
“You know what?” I ask. “Thanks for the food, but I’m done eating, so I think you should go.”
I grab my plate, don’t bother to worry about the other one, and stomp back toward my camp.
I don’t need him or his personal questions.
Pushing him away is the only way I can stay safe.
13
Rix
I screwed up. Of course I did. I was trying to challenge Mom, to do what she does when she wants Dad to stop teasing her so he'll talk about something serious. There are some occasions when Dad
