Between tapping at the keys and checking his notes, Ardus cast brief but warm glances across the office at the little human woman. Nina sat chewing on the end of her stylus, organizing and compiling data from their trip and creating timelines of activity from the video cards. She documented species, counting individuals and comparing the numbers to previous years and calculating the differences. Each time she caught him looking at her, her little mouth curled into a smile and her cheeks reddened.
She is mine, Ardus watched his forearms glow gently purple and blue, aware that his face most likely repeated the patterns of waves and flashes that mirrored his feelings. She had referred to herself that morning as his "girlfriend", explaining that the term meant a female partner in the early stages of a relationship. She wants to take it slowly, day by day, to see if we are compatible. That sounds reasonable, very much like the first few months of my relationship with Timam. There would be annoyances of course – every relationship had those whether they were professional or private – but Ardus had agreed to be open and honest with Nina and work through the differences in their species with scientific as well as compassionate techniques. Already they had solved the issue of where they slept by agreeing to at least two nights a week sleeping alone, to give each other privacy and a break if needed. So far, so good.
Athe, Nia and Meem kept coming up with reasons to visit the office, the pretense of coming to see his newly lit pores, to inquire about the trip to the northern beach, and to offer more frequent than necessary updates on worms and projects – a thin cover for being nosy about the unusual pairing. Doctor O'Connell stayed conspicuously absent, which suited Ardus just fine. He suppressed a sigh of irritation when Athe let himself in once more. "No, no," his assistant assured him, "it's real business this time." He laid a folder on Ardus's desk. "Nia has a new insight on your blood draw from a few weeks ago." Ardus nodded, remembering the battery of tests he'd requested when the anxiety and physical agitation over Nina had reached near fever-pitch. Had I really been so bothered?
"What did she say?" Nina asked, tapping keys without looking over. Ardus had explained to her over the weekend his suspicions, and the biologist in her had piqued interest.
Opening the folder Ardus picked out a few points. "Hmm... It would seem that the minor elevation in certain hormones tracks with reports from other Dreen who have gone dark and returned. Nia has pulled a study from an endocrinology laboratory that aims to imitate this fluctuation, possibly giving hope to those who have lost their pores." He cleared his throat and read aloud, "'In determining the possible causes of aluminescence' – that is, going dark – 'it is the opinion of Doctors Utha, Yuni, and Toa that such physiological and psychological changes are linked with the biochemical reactions present in Dreen pores. Therefore, the disappearance of Dreen pores may be due to fluctuations in hormones and other bodily essences associated with significant physical or psychological trauma.'"
"Sounds like they're on to something, doesn't it?" Nina looked up, her interest apparent now. "Maybe you should write to them, tell them about your experience. Can't hurt to provide more data, right?"
"I will need to consider that," Ardus nodded. "As reluctant as I am to intrude on others' territories, it is still true that many sciences overlap."
"Speaking of overlap," Athe interrupted, "Boda's turning sixty-eight this week, would the two of you like to come to dinner? I know you two just started seeing each other-"
Ardus began to protest, but Nina answered for them both. "We'd love to! Can we bring anything? Ardus just taught me how to make stuffed eel rolls."
"Oh, he did?" Athe made a face at Ardus. "Not baked eel?"
"Not yet," Nina answered sweetly, cutting her eyes at him, "he says they're an advanced dish. He might let me boil some water though."
Ardus huffed, unable to keep the smile off his face. "We will come to Boda's dinner, along with any dish you request. For the moment, however, I have a letter to write to the endocrinology center." He bent back to his terminal keys, the corner of his mouth still curled. He heard Athe slap his hand against his thigh and make a sound of satisfaction.
"Well that settles it! Boda will be so pleased to see you both." Excusing himself, Athe took with him some texts to return to the library and copies of Ardus's compilations for Reda, to prove that his expedited field schedule hadn't been a lark. When he had gone Ardus said, "I would expect more invitations in the future. It is a social tradition to invite new pairings to things like birthday dinners and such, as a kind of trial by storm."
"You mean they're going to give us a good ribbing," Nina smiled at her terminal screen. "Athe's inviting us so he can tease us."
Ardus nodded. "I am afraid so. It is common to harass couples and prevent them from spending time alone, inviting them to parties and functions to wear them down so they do not, er, enjoy themselves too much." He watched Nina's smile turn to a smirk.
"Let them try, they have no idea what they're up against."
"I would put nothing past Athe, he may take to calling at the last moment to keep us from going to bed early. And I would not trust Nia or Meem either, so keep your eyes and ears open for an excess of plans, tasks or projects."
Scratching a note, Nina asked, "How long are they going to harass us?"
"Customarily, a month or so."
Nina looked aghast. "A month?"
"Possibly longer, if their interest does not wane. With ours being an especially novel relationship I would expect a much longer period of interruptions, invitations and unexpected visitors. I am telling you this," Ardus peered over the top of his terminal screen, "so that you are not caught unawares." He saw her mouth curl, something like a grin but tinged with resolve. She seems up to the challenge, he thought, recalling a particular afternoon that seemed years ago. "I could use a challenge." Well, we shall see.
Taking up a data card Ardus prepared to upload the files from their trip to the university's public drive. He created a sub-folder and dated it, adding hours of video to the thousands that had been added over the years. There was a gap, however, between the last time he had gone with Timam to the research site and the first time he felt himself enough to go alone. The cameras had filled their memory banks and shut off when no one came to retrieve them or check for damage, and several years of data were missing. It cannot be helped, Ardus reminded himself. He punched in a command and the data card blinked silently in its slot as the files copied over; he would give the cards to Athe to wipe and reformat later, and re-use them on future trips.
Getting back to his footnote while the data copied, Ardus was aware of his tendency to be distracted by the small woman. Though her size is no indication of her tenacity, or strength, or capacity for sex. He marveled that she nearly matched him in his reanimated state, and wondered if she'd have the patience to contend with the Dreen practice of interrupting a newly established pair. At half a sentence into his footnote he looked up, recognizing the sound of webbed feet on the polished floor outside his office. Feet moving in a hurry, claws scrabbling on the smooth surface. Voices, raised in alarmed tones, filtered through the doorway and Ardus watched the frosted glass slide open with a sharp clack! From the corner of his eye he saw Nina's head whip sharply up, her forehead furrowed in an emotion between annoyance and surprise. Athe stood panting in the doorway, folders pressed to his chest. "Athe, what-"
"Turn on the broadcast!" Athe gasped, his pores flashing bright yellow. Papers slipped from between the folders and floated to the floor. "Something's happened at the Port!"
Ardus felt his stomach sink, all the buoyancy from the weekend draining away as quickly as though someone had pulled a plug from the bottom of a tank. "Stay calm," he said, even though his own insides were trembling and icy. He looked over at Nina and saw her throat working as she too swallowed back fear. He nodded to her and she rose from her desk, crossing to stand beside him as he switched from his working screen to a bulletin. The image displayed before him gave him little information, but according to the Dreen speaking to the audience something had gone very wrong. The screen bordered with red, a visual cue that this was an emergency situation.
"Early reports are unsubstantiated but what we've managed to learn is that upon docking at the Port of Dreenai, a hub for travelers between Dreenai and Earth, a cargo container of some materials bound for Dreenai exploded. We are unsure as to what caused the issue, but authorities advise that civilians stay as far as possible from the Port until further notice while the damage and danger to the public is assessed."
Ardus sighed heavily. "It looks to be an accident, no need to panic yet."
"I'm worried about Boda," Athe explained, "he was on an errand for Nia to the Port."
"Go check in with him, then, if it will ease your mind. Let me know if you need anything."
"Thank you, Ardus."
Ardus waved him off, urging Athe on his way.