‘She’s one of them,’ Inesh snarled.
The villager had his arms crossed and his shoulders were pushed out as far as they could go, as though Inesh intended to fill the gap left by the open gate with his body alone. Inesh was large, true, but he wasn’t as big as a hovercar, which was the size he needed to be if he wanted to block Kuja from leaving Bagath that morning.
‘Why would you want to waste your time with that TerraCorp scum?’ Inesh went on.
Kuja glanced back at the huts. Most of the villagers were still asleep and those that weren’t wouldn’t come to his rescue — Inesh was known to be prickly and troublesome. Kuja sighed and braced himself. ‘Inesh, they’re not scum, they’re my friends. And not that it matters, but she felt…she’s different from them.’
Kuja wished he could explain that the newcomer was like a beacon to him. She stood out among a sea of lifesigns, not only because of her unique energy, but because every thought that occurred to her seemed to spring forth from her lips. She held nothing back. It was refreshing. And there was something…something very familiar about her.
Inesh scowled. ‘She’s not that pretty.’
Kuja didn’t bother to fight the flush filling his cheeks. He directed his gaze at Inesh’s boots. ‘She’s beautiful. But that’s not the point. She’s interested in learning about our ways and our god. I should not pass up this opportunity to educate her. And Bagara would expect me to offer her friendship and show her around, regardless of her interest.’
‘Doing it in the name of Bagara, ha!’ Inesh said, shaking his head. ‘But you know our god never makes a nuisance of himself by trying to convert people. And we don’t either. So don’t lie, Kuja. You just want that woman in your bed.’
Kuja thought of the aching emptiness he’d sensed inside the newcomer, the same emptiness he knew was mirrored inside himself. She needed company. And Kuja could provide it. Was it selfish to hope that she’d give him the same thing in return?
Sighing, Kuja brushed past Inesh. ‘Bagara isn’t the only one who can help people. And she does need help.’
‘Yeah, alright, but you seem to be helping yourself too,’ Inesh chortled.
Ignoring him, Kuja marched down towards the TerraCorp sleeping quarters, hands clenched inside his pockets.
• • •
‘So they do exist!’ Fei exclaimed in delight when she saw the rows and rows of plants growing in the back of Head Botanist Gerns’ room.
Fei had spent the night in the flat four-walled shelter assigned to her and had been dismayed to discover that most of the other rooms were just as bare and clinical. Gerns, the only scientist who hadn’t been offended to hear Fei’s opinion of the sleeping quarters over the breakfast buffet, had been more than happy to show off her cluttered, more homey shelter. It had been impossible to refuse the Jezlo because she was large and loud and possessed six tentacles that gyrated in a hypnotic fashion. Fei had found that she liked the botanist and had managed to say a few sentences without embarrassing herself. Until now, evidently.
Fei grimaced and turned back to Gerns. ‘Well, I knew the plants existed because I had footage and data, but seeing them in person is completely different from…well. You know. Don’t you?’
Gerns clucked repeatedly, her entire body wobbling with mirth, then shuffled over and held out one of her tentacles, poking it towards a tray that was bare of plant life. ‘Put your hand in there.’ When Fei hesitated, Gerns added, ‘Now me, I’d never hurt a colleague. I swear. Alright, maybe I would, but only if they gave me a good reason…’
Not entirely comforted, but also not wanting to offend a potential companion for the next two months, Fei gingerly slid her fingers into loamy soil that was studded with decaying leaves and insects. Her nose protested, crumpling against the smell, and she shot a betrayed look at Gerns.
‘It’s filthy!’ she cried.
Gerns clucked again. ‘What did you expect?’
‘I know that dirt is dirty,’ Fei defended. ‘But where I work, there’s none of this…this mess. I input data about soil and plants but I don’t have to touch them.’
‘Now me, I see that as just about the saddest thing — keep your hands there!’ Gerns added, flicking her tiny eyes at a timepiece on the wall. ‘You sit at your desk and throw code around without realising what you’re actually doing. This is what you’re doing, Fei. Creating whole environments! Actually creating something! Most people in the galaxy, now, they don’t get to make anything, let alone life on another planet. Makes me feel sorry for them! Okay, remove your hands.’
Obeying, Fei looked longingly at a trough in the corner which held what appeared to be soapy water. But then Gerns made an excited ticking sound inside her throat, drawing Fei’s attention back to her. The Jezlo gestured at the tray of soil which, at first glance, appeared to be as still as it had been during Fei’s entire visit.
Then it began to writhe.
Tiny green shoots stabbed up through the soil and, like a rash, they spread throughout the tray, growing higher and higher. Small buds appeared on the ends of the shoots before exploding violently into life, the colourful blooms that escaped them stopping just shy of one of Gerns’ chins. The abject joy on the Jezlo’s face reminded Fei of how she felt when her code managed to compile without displaying a single error message.
‘Amazing stuff, right,’ Gerns said with a nod. ‘Now me, I don’t know why this is, but the acid on human skin seems to set this shrub off. I’m a little too alkaline, but stark it if it’s not the most impressive thing we’ve found on Bagaran.’
‘Have you run it through a splicer yet?’ Fei breathed, wide-eyed. ‘This shrub’s genetics will be incredibly useful to study and replicate. We could speed up the terraforming process through more natural means! Our current method of accelerated growth puts stress on certain plants and weakens them and…’ Fei cut herself off, embarrassed.
But Gerns seemed more interested in trailing her tentacles over the new shoots than in rebuking Fei. ‘Not as much fun when it’s just text on a vidscreen, right? Why d’you think someone like me, not so bad at coding and not so bad at tech, decided to become a botanist instead? It’s not for the less-than-stellar pay. Now me, I like the joy my work gives me.’
Gerns then started talking quietly to her plants like they were beloved children, apparently forgetting she had human company, so Fei hurried over to the water trough and began scrubbing her hands. She’d been at it for a full minute when Kuja entered the hut.
He was wearing the same clothes from the previous day and wouldn’t have looked any different, except that the grin he was sporting was now wider and much more excited. He also moved through the shelter with a bounce in his step, as though the gravity on Bagaran didn’t lie so heavily on him as it did everyone else.
‘Kuja, now me, I said to myself that I wouldn’t let you anywhere near me until you sorted out that vandal of yours…’ Gerns began, an undercurrent of warning in her tone.
‘You like me far too much to enforce that restriction on yourself,’ Kuja pointed out, then swung his shining eyes onto Fei. ‘Feiscina Neron, right? Happy to take you out today, as promised. I have some time.’
‘Time! You always have time.’ Gerns shook her large head, clucking all the while. ‘Running around barefoot, diving into waterfalls, swinging from branches. Makes a woman jealous!’
Kuja raised his eyebrows. ‘I even spend some of my precious time with you, Gerns, though I’m not sure why.’
‘I’m good company, that’s why!’ Gerns told him.
Fei opened her mouth, then quickly sealed it. She saw Kuja watching her, patiently waiting her out, his expression relaxed and unhurried. Encouraged, she tried again. ‘Gerns is good company.’
‘She’s even better company if you buy her a drink,’ Kuja said, winking at Gerns.
The Jezlo threw her tentacles up towards the ceiling, mimicking a frustrated human. ‘Since when did you have any coin-chips to buy me drinks with? Be on your way, Kuja, and take Feiscina with you. I haven’t got the time to be playing tour guide, even if I am good company.’
Once they were outside, leaving Gerns to her work, Kuja began talking about how much he liked the Jezlo compared to some of the other TerraCorp employees. Fei nodded along with this, entranced by the way he used his hands to emphasise what he was saying. She started when he suddenly asked her what she was thinking.
‘I…I was thinking the weather’s nice today,’ Fei said haltingly.
‘Really.’ Kuja’s cheek twitched. ‘So you were biting your lip because the weather’s nice today.’
Fei darted onto a rock, hoping it would keep her out of the mud. She wasn’t wearing sandals this time, but she wanted to avoid ruining the only other pair of shoes she’d brought with her. Although, since they were canvas, she should just accept the inevitable, just like she should probably answer Kuja. Which she did. ‘You’ll think it’s stupid and I’ll regret having said it — and I’ll sound so paranoid that you’ll go back to that village of yours and never speak to me again.’
‘If I don’t speak to you for a while, it’s only because I enjoy hearing your voice a lot more than my own,’ Kuja promised.
‘Um.’ Fei cleared her throat nervously. ‘I guess I’m worried that Gerns only talked to me because my boss put her up to it. It, uh, kind of seemed like Gerns was trying to make me find meaning in my work and that’s something Moz — my boss — would want. I just hate that all these people have started talking to me lately and I can’t figure out if they’re doing it to be nice or because they want something.’
Kuja nodded solemnly. ‘I see. And you’re expecting me to leave because you just said a lot of words.’
‘You wanted to know what I was thinking,’ she reminded him, nibbling the tip of her tongue.
‘So I did. And I’d like to hear more.’
‘You’re strange,’ she said, eyeing him. ‘I’ve never met anyone like you, human or otherwise. Should I be suspicious of you, Kuja?’
A shadow fell over his face and she regretted saying anything, but then his grin returned and brightened his features once more. ‘Well, if you are, you can’t help feeling it, so I don’t mind. You’re still getting a tour. And I’m not Gerns, but I do fancy myself good company.’
Fei gave him a wobbly smile. ‘Whew. I need to be more careful about what I say. That could have gone badly.’
‘It didn’t and nor will it ever,’ Kuja told her softly.
When he held out his hand, she forgot herself and took it without hesitation, allowing him to guide her away from the sleeping quarters. Once they’d made it across the flattened area where the lab had hovered, Kuja turned to her and said, ‘I wish more people were open about what they were thinking. It’d make it easier to know if they really did care about you, or if they just want you to keep to the path they’ve created for you. I’m tired of being afraid that I’m straying and disappointing someone.’
He sounded bitter. Fei recognised that tone. She’d heard it inside her own head enough times.
‘I think maybe we should find some happier things to talk about,’ she said.
Kuja squeezed her hand. ‘You’re very right. Come on then, let me show you Bagaran. Despite what Gerns thinks, I don’t have an endless amount of free time, though I am pretty good at multitasking.’ He laughed to himself, seemingly amused at some private joke. ‘But I’m happy to spend what time I can with you.’
‘Why?’ Fei asked, staring at him.
Kuja met and held her eyes. Fei found herself disappointed that he didn’t give her a once-over. But what he said next more than made up for it. ‘Because you need company.’
Fei blinked back tears. The humidity was sending rivulets of sweat streaming down from her temples and she really couldn’t afford to lose any more moisture; the drink bottle she’d attached to her belt wasn’t big enough to cover both a trek and a crying jag.
Her eyes still burning, Fei distracted herself by letting her gaze linger on the rear of Kuja’s cargo pants as he marched down the dirt path in front of her. Her mother’s suggestion for her to have a bit of fun didn’t seem so silly all of a sudden.
I think I will enjoy him, Fei thought, allowing a wicked smile.
‘Enjoy what?’ Kuja asked, looking back over his shoulder.
Fei flinched. She couldn’t remember saying anything, but knowing her mouth it had probably slipped out. ‘Um. This walk. Your company. Everything.’
‘Oh good, because there’s a lot on offer,’ Kuja said.
And then he smirked at her.