In The Lair of the Draca (Book 2)

In The Lair of the Draca (Book 2) Chapter 30: The Star Child is Found

Julian could not stop staring. The alien woman, whose belly was rounded in the center, gazed back for a moment, then lowered her head abashedly as though she had done a shameful thing. In her arms, she cradled a large basket full of clothing. Her golden-white curls, while still elegant, shagged at her chin and looked uncombed.

Jeanette, for her part, thought she had detected a sadness in the woman's eyes-- but she had no sympathy. Why did foreign women-- alien women, for that matter-- think that they could get away with stealing human men away from women like Jeanette? Why, she might as well call them for what they were: ETs, although the term was hugely politically incorrect. She had disliked alien-human relations on the Celestial, and she would continue to do so now-- Julian was hers. He had saved her, not this mysterious ET, from certain death and immolation when the Celestial was destroyed, and she was not going to let him go easily. No, not by a long shot.

Julian shifted his bundle, careful not to make any sudden moves, and lowered his head slightly to communicate a non-threatening posture. Jeanette did not have to look into his eyes to see that there was a sparkle there; he grinned ever so slightly, and the left corner of his mouth quirked, giving the smile a lop-sided look.

"Lost. We need food and help," he said clearly, enunciating each word for emphasis. The alien started a bit at his tone, then focused on Julian's expression. She, too, wore a hint of a smile...but she said nothing.

Undaunted, Julian extended his bundle. "We need food," he said slowly, "and we have a gift for you. A child. Dead."

The alien seemed to freeze. The tousled apron she wore fluttered a bit in the breeze; Sport cavorted happily about her ankles, sniffing and licking as though he had found a long-lost friend, but she ignored him.

Shifting her basket, the alien extended a careful finger toward Julian's bundle. "Ch- child?"

Jeanette and Julian exchanged looks of shock. Not only could this woman speak-- but she obviously knew their language! What were the odds of that? Several billion to one?

"How-- how you you know our words?" Julian asked her; a hint of the old suspicion had crept back into his voice.

The demure little woman tucked one strand of straggly, flaxen hair behind a tiny ear. "Others. Like you," she managed shyly. "They teach. ...Child?" She gestured toward the bundle again, but Julian could barely conceal his excitement.

"So there are others? Others like us in your village? But how did you come to find them? Where did they say they were from? Did they come from a ship--"

"Julian." Jeanette touched his shoulder until he paused; the small woman was obviously taken aback by the rapidity of Julian's eager speech. Her charming eyes glazed, and she looked everywhere: at the sky, at the ground...anywhere except for him.

Realizing his mistake, Julian stepped forward and laid a gentle hand on her bird-like arm. The woman jerked, but she did not move away. "Forgive me," Julian expressed kindly. "Yes, we have a child. Will you look?" He pointed at the pale-faced child inside the bundle of rags. "Look. See child."

The woman stepped forward timidly and peeked carefully into Julian's bundle. What she saw made her complexion blanch even further; she stepped away and brought a shaking hand to her mouth, as though trying not to throw up. A look of acute pain flashed in the steely grey of her almond-shaped orbs.

"Child," she whispered carefully. "Qukat." A single tear crystallized, trickling down her left cheek.

Julian glanced at Jeanette. "She knows who this child is!" he hissed. "This is it...we've found shelter, food, and a People willing to take us in. They know that we have brought a missing child home. We're saved!"