Starfish

Twenty-One

"Doctor Nina? May I borrow you for a moment?"

"Huh? Oh, sure." Sliding out of her chair and padding across the mats, she glanced at Athe. He caught her gaze and nodded towards the biologist before raising his eyebrows, his pores flashing a muted yellow. Nina gave him a little raise of her chin. I know, man, I know! She squeezed in between the two, standing on her toes to peer over the desk at the screen. Ardus asked, "Have I spelled your full name correctly?"

Nina pulled herself up, squinting at the Dreen syllables that resembled her name in English closely enough. "Yeah, you're good. What is this, the release of damages form?"

"Yes, we both need to sign it before we leave this afternoon. Athe will be witness." He shifted in his chair and Nina felt his knee graze her side. She was warmly aware of his closeness, and the immense size of him. Ardus created a hard copy and added his signature before handing it to her. "Administrative red tape, legal jargon, all the usual liability language absolving the university of responsibility in the event of our deaths." He glanced down at her from the corner of his eye, half smiling.

"Of course." Nina scribbled her signature in both languages. "Athe, I didn't know you were a notary."

"More like a beneficiary. If something happens to Ardus out there, I get all his stuff." He added his name with a smirk. "Right, since that's done, I'll deliver this to the legal department and we can start loading the boat."

"Meet us on the loading docks," Ardus told him as he disappeared beyond the doorway. "Doctor Nina, now would be a good time to make sure you have not forgotten anything."

"I think I'm as prepared as I'm going to be. Where's your stuff?" Nina watched him gesture with a foot towards a small satchel tucked under the desk. "Did you remember your fishing spear?"

"I have decided to make one upon landing," he said, "I prefer to travel light in the field."

Please tell me that means you didn't bring extra clothes. "Ah, got it. You did say you'd show me how Dreen do it," she gave him a sly look. "I'm looking forward to seeing my first Dreen, ah, spear." Ardus gave her a slow look that would melt tungsten. The way his eyes lingered on her, blue on black and darker than an abyss, sent a pink rush across her cheeks and chest. Shitshitshit! "Heh," she flustered, "right. On that note, I'll, um, go check my bag." Nina beat a hasty retreat across the room, her stomach in knots and her face – as well as other places - hot. Suddenly self-conscious, she checked her reflection in the glass specimen cabinet and tugged at the hem of her shirt. Did he just scold me with a look? I know I should feel bad, but I think I liked it. She bit her lips. I wonder what else I can get in trouble for.

As much as she tried to look busy Nina couldn't help but notice that each time she peeked, Ardus was just looking away. It was painfully obvious. Every time she caught him, she had to turn away herself and sink her teeth into her tongue to keep from giggling. I feel like a teenager! She turned her back, straightening a stack of books on her desk, and looked into her reflection in the glass case. Again, he was watching her. Every time she picked up a book, rearranged the collection of papers on her desk, brushed dust from her keyboard, those eyes tracked her hand while his face remained impassive. That look, though... Should I be worried? A mental image she was quite familiar with by now surfaced – her body raised off the floor, feet dangling, huge dark hands around her waist and an equally dark face barely inches from hers, a dangerous slit-eyed smile revealing ivory teeth, lips drawn back in a predatory grin. Her toes curled. Nope, not worried. Excited.

Ping! A notification flashed on Ardus's desk. "That would be Athe. Are you ready?"

You have no idea. "Yes!" Nina tucked the spare battery pack for her tablet into a pocket and zipped her luggage shut. "Let's go!" Ardus pushed back from his desk and the wood creaked under his powerful hands. Nina slung her bag over her shoulder and followed him out of the office, trotting along just behind him and listening to the soft swish of his gathered trousers. "I can't begin to tell you how excited I am about this."

"Try to save some of this energy for our arrival, you will need it." He looked back over his shoulder at her, slowing his pace just enough to keep her from panting. "We will spend the better part of the evening setting up camp. The shelters are already in place, but we will need to unpack our supplies and prepare to spend the night."

Doing what, I wonder. "Right. Thanks for slowing down." Nina had to follow him closely, as she had not yet been to the loading docks behind the university. He took her down unfamiliar hallways and they emerged in sunlight before a small wharf built along an estuary, several short docks stretching out towards the sea. Different types of watercraft bobbed in the shallow water, from personal skiffs and dinghies to hovercraft resting silently on the surface and even a flat-bottomed barge loaded with crates and huge metal cases. Nina read the labels as they passed, taking in the names of shipping companies and guessing at what the containers carried. Dreen of many colors pushed carts and carried boxes up and down ramps, and some drove three-wheeled lifts or operated cranes and moved the huge shipping containers from the dock to the loading bays at the mouth of the wharf. The barge itself had been sailed across the sea, driven by a massive sail that took the wind at night and absorbed solar energy for the engines during the day via hundreds of flexible solar cells sewn into the sail. Standing along the far edge of the barge, Dreen with poles many times longer than their own bodies worked against the estuary's current to keep the barge steady. They still use manpower, Nina marveled. Except for the lift trucks and cranes, they still move freight by hand. She watched a brown Dreen stoop and lift a crate so large it would take four humans to move it. She glanced up at Ardus, her stomach flipping over as she remembered how apparently weightless she had been to him. This is a work trip, don't get distracted.

They met Athe down at the far end of the docks, where he and another Dreen unloaded a wheeled cart of its boxes and metal cases. The metal cases contained the equipment Nina and Ardus would use to examine field samples, the boxes and crates their supply of food and potable water. It looked like a lot, until Nina recalled that despite there being only two people on the trip one of them ate and drank quite a lot more than the other. Although she had read that there was a source of fresh water at the site, there was no guarantee it would be drinkable or in enough quantity. Best they used that for emergencies only, saving the clean stuff for drinking and cooking. Athe raised an arm in greeting. "There you are! Lend a hand, would you?"

"Sure thing!" Nina called back, slinging her bag from her shoulder. "Should I put this in the cargo hold or the cabin?"

"I'll take it, you can start on the cart over there. Ardus, your bag?"

"Thank you, Athe." Ardus slipped his luggage and Nina watched the play of muscle in his shoulders, thanking the gods of Dreenai and Earth for that tunic. Best. Day. Ever.

Loading the boat didn't take long, with four Dreen doing the lifting and Nina taking away the empty cart. Ardus stood in the shallow water up to his hips, between the craft and the dock, his upper body turning back and forth between their cargo and the Dreen pilot who took items from him and stacked them in the hold. Nina watched as Ardus swung back and forth between the dock and the craft, taking in the way the bright Dreenai sun brought out the cool blue tones of his skin and silver glints from the beads and wire wraps in his short barbels. She chewed on the inside of her lip, watching his hands close on a case of field tools – some simple chisels and drills for taking coral samples – and wishing those hands were closing on her instead. The way he moved rhythmically between dock and craft, barely looking as Athe handed him a box or a crate, gave her an idea. She walked over and nudged Athe in his hip. "Take a break, I got this."

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