Starfish

Two

     "Well, yeah." Nina twisted her napkin into a knot the size of her fist.

     "And the resulting child wouldn't be a hybrid, but just another human, with the features of its parentage. It might have your skin color but have Doctor Yang's eye shape, but it would still be a viable, healthy human."

     "Yes, exactly. Biologically, it wouldn't make any difference."

     "So if you're all the same species, as we Dreen are all the same species, then why does it matter if you have brown skin and Doctor Yang doesn't?"

     "It doesn't matter, if you look at it rationally, but not all humans are rational. Some are ignorant, which is one thing if you don't know any better, but some do know better and they still act stupid. I never understood it."

     "Such a strange species," Athe drank the last of his drink. "Please don't be offended, Doctor Ma'atanoa, but sometimes I wonder if those humans who destroyed that cargo ship are the same species as you. In the few days I have known you, you seem vastly more intelligent than those who would harm innocent people."

     Nina's grin spread across her entire face, her cheeks dimpling. "I have to say, I've never felt the need except in traffic."

     Athe shook his head, amused. Then he looked up. "Oh, interesting."

     Nina turned in her seat, her feet dangling a foot above the floor. "What?" She followed Athe's gaze and saw a familiar black shape, silent and dull among the bright colors of the Dreen. "What's the matter?"

     "Doctor Ardus rarely eats here," Athe explained. "It's been...well I really think it's been at least a year since I've seen him in the commissary."

     "Weird." Nina watched the head of the Biology department make his way along the outer rim of the great space lined with trestle seating and a few free-standing two- and -three seat tables. He seemed to edge along the walls, dodging chairs and Dreen with his dark face passive, his eyes avoiding the gazes of curious Dreen. Nina noticed a few ladies in scrub uniforms – probably laboratory technicians – watching him intently, some whispering to each other and breaking out into secret titters and bubbly giggles, their pores glittering yellow and pink. One turned in her seat and spoke to Doctor Ardus, but the doctor breezed by as though she didn't exist. The table shrugged, pores green and purple. He entered the line, grabbed a few things he could hold in his hands, paid, and left as quickly as he had come.

     "Athe," Nina asked, stacking her plates, "how long have you known Doctor Ardus?"

     "Oh, perhaps twelve or so years. He hired me when I graduated. Why?"

     "I was just curious why he dresses the way he does. Everyone else I've seen wears bright colors and lots of jewelry, but he looks so dull. He isn't all...sparkly like you."

     Athe's pores dimmed, almost darkening completely. He cleaned up his space with an awkward hesitance, fiddling with the arrangement of utensils and plates. "It's...not something I have any business talking about."

     Her cheeks warmed. "Oh, sorry. I didn't know."

     "It's understandable. Doctor Ardus is a...a private one. He's been at the university so long he's essentially a part of the campus, but he doesn't do much socializing."

     Nina wondered at this. "He looks sad. You know, underneath that dark face."

     Athe glanced at her, then swept her dishes up with his and carried them off to the receiving trays. At his return, he gestured to follow him. "We should get back to the office," he said, "I have errands to run for him and you have work to do."