Starfish

22.2

Trailing along behind the Dreen, Nina mulled over what she'd said about Earth. It's not all that bad, some places are starting to come back. Not in my lifetime, but we're trying. She looked up at Ardus's back, letting herself smile at the broad blue-black shoulders and sleek swimmer's build. He carried the heavier of their equipment, their battery packs and drinking water, slung over one shoulder while his personal tools clipped to a belt at his hips and a loop of thick canvas around his chest like a bandoleer. He clinked lightly as he walked, pushing through the vines and brush and holding them aside for her to pass. He seemed comfortable in the forest, not just familiar with the territory but generally at ease with his surroundings; he was as content here as he was in his office, not at all dismayed by the wet heat or the hungry bugs. He built his career on field work, even his earlier papers have that familiar quality. I can tell he likes it out here.

She also thought about this morning, after she'd stumbled out of her cabin briefly disoriented and wondering why she'd woken up on Punalu'u's black sand beach back home. He'd made her breakfast, given her a drink that both warmed her against the morning's damp chill and woken her up as well as a cup of coffee. He'd given her the very blanket off his back, already warm from his own body heat. She recalled the smell on the blanket, the spicy-woody scent she'd become so familiar with. It smelled good, it smelled like him. Changing into her field clothes she'd caught a whiff of it lingering on her skin, and she'd felt a strange tingle in her lower belly. Pheromones? Whatever it was, she liked it. Looking up she traced the curve of his spine with her eyes, watching his tunic pull tight over the flat plane of a shoulder-blade when he reached for a low-hanging vine and pushed it out of his way. Damn, that's a nice back. She let her eyes work their way down. Wish those trousers were tighter though.

They broke through the treeline on a wide clearing, Ardus stopping just inside the shadows as though following an instinct that told him to stay hidden. He crouched suddenly and Nina followed his lead. "No need," he told her, "the grass is just tall enough to hide you. Your...uniform is the right color, you will blend in. There," he said, pointing into the clearing. The space was about as large as the sport fields at the university, big enough to accommodate twenty or so deer-like creatures clustered along the edge to the northeast. He spoke softly, nearly a whisper, his eyes almost level with hers. "We are lucky, those are rusty-striped striders, and this is their season of migration. They have come down from the north after mating over the summer, and here they will spend a few weeks before continuing south for the winter." He shifted, his shoulder touching hers. "There are likely many pregnant females among this herd."

Nina leaned in, following his line of sight. "Will they drop here?" she asked, turning to look at him and meeting his large blue eyes barely two hands' breadth from hers. A silent moment drew out, her grey eyes locked on his blue-on-black, the heat and humidity of the day simmering between them. With visible effort Ardus pulled himself away, looking back at the herd and pointing at a closer creature. 

"Look, that female is enormous. If she is not carrying twins she will drop soon, perhaps while we continue our work." He stood and gestured for her to follow him back into the forest. "We should come back tomorrow, let the herd graze undisturbed." He stepped back, retracing their trail and melting into the trees.

For a moment Nina couldn't move, her feet strangely rooted and unresponsive. What was that just now? He'd been so close, the closest his face had ever been to hers with the exception of that one time in his office. I could have... No, we still have work to do. If I started something now I wouldn't be able to stop. Scrambling to catch up she entertained the idea of what might have happened, conjuring an image of the two of them collapsing to the forest floor on the edge of the clearing and making enough noise to scare the strider herd all the way to their winter grazing grounds. For the briefest of instants, after the surprise had left his eyes, something had passed between them, an electric current she would have recognized even if they didn't share a spoken language. He wants me. He wants me, but he's afraid. Of what? Is he afraid he'll hurt me because he's bigger? He's too careful. Just once Nina wished Ardus would be reckless.