The Varkari

Jungle

I watched him disappear from the room and quickly jumped up. I was weaker than I had previously thought, using most of my adrenaline to try to flee the medical bay and from struggling to get out of his grip. There was a large bay-type window overlooking a manicured garden that did not appear to have any latches or handles. The other two well-hidden panels hid a bathing chamber and something like a closet.

Cursing under my breath, I rushed back to the window and began feeling along the sides for a seam.

"It does not open," his deep voice said from behind me. I whirled around to face him, my face paling to find him leaning casually against the wall. I had not even heard him come in, yet there was a tray of food sitting on the table beside him. "This is my den and, as such, is the most fortified. One could crash their shuttle against that window and it would not crack."

I still stood with my back to it, in case it did magically pop open, and weighed my chances of being able to avoid him should he lunge for me.

He sighed and brought the tray over to the bed, placing it on top of the covers, far enough away that I would have to sit to reach it. "You need to eat something or my venom is going to make you nauseous."

Gross. The last thing I wanted was to have his venom in me at all, let alone sitting there giving me grief. It might actually be a good idea for me to accept his offering if only to dilute the chemicals coursing through me and to give me enough energy to escape later.

Those gold coin eyes watched me like a cat as I slowly moved to the edge of the bed and carefully put one knee on it, sitting with the other to my chest. The plate held nothing identifiably edible and I raised an eyebrow at him, receiving a small smile in return.

He pointed to a purple berry or fruit the size of a mandarin orange. "This is a quka. They are very plentiful in this area. We use them for their pigment, but they have been deemed appropriate for consumption."

"You do not know if they are bitter or sweet?"

"We did not take them with us when we went among the stars so you may be the first to decide," he shrugged, pulling out his tablet. "It does not appear appetizing to me, but I would like a thorough description to send out."

My advice was going to be used for the human women to determine what they could and could not eat. I sucked in a huge breath and picked it up. "Okay, well, it feels like a peach..." I brought it to my mouth and bit in, expecting the texture to be similar. My teeth pressed through something like a rind, though it was not bitter and found a deep burgundy flesh beneath, not unlike a pineapple with tiny black seeds. "There is an edible orange-like rind and it feels like eating a pineapple but tastes like a pomegranate or cherry. Sweet."

His fingers flew over the screen, expression curious and confused, but when he looked at me, it changed to softness. I flinched as he raised his hand toward me, but allowed him to sweep off a stray droplet on his grayish finger to analyze. With some trepidation, he licked it, tipping his head to one side. "You know of so many fruits. They all taste different?"

"Do people taste different?" My tone was resentful.

"Yes," he answered easily.

"What does this quka taste like to you?"

"Too sweet. Too concentrated. It might-..." He stopped himself and shook his head, gesturing for me to try something else.

I finished the quka, too hungry to nibble on things, and picked out a long, green stalk of something that I imagined looked like celery with aloe vera spikes on the edges. This, I was dubious of and with one bite which produced some yellow slime from within, I sputtered and spat the rest out.