Chapter 6

6

Drak

An-nana is a very nice travel companion. She is not as loud and disruptive as Rem but not as stoic and silent as Al'rik. She tells me many vivid directions to lead me to her home, and I enjoy the soothing sound of her voice.

She is very small in the passenger seat of the ship, but she does not jostle around and worry me. It is a smooth ride thus far. With no Urth trees too tall to fly over, we are able to see the ground and use it to navigate.

There is a system in the ship that can locate things but I am not sure that An-nana knows the measurements I will need to locate her home. It is okay though, this way I can hear her as she directs us.

"It should just be straight from here," she says quietly, her voice more sad than before.

We are starting our search at An-nana's family home, but she is certain we will not find them there. I believe this to be true as well, having heard my Mean One's description of them. We agree we must check, just in case.

Besides, I think I am going to like seeing An-nana's former home. I wish to know many things about her, and now I am going to get to see many things about her.

"The leaves are not so green anymore," I comment casually, hoping to continue speaking with her. It is a dull flight when you are not speaking, shooting, or speeding through the sky at rates An-nana would find alarming.

"It's Autumn," my Mean One tells me.

"Crisp months?" I ask, not understanding the translation.

An-nana sighs, but she does not snarl at me. "Earth has four seasons," she explains slowly, giving me time to absorb the information. An-nana is a fine teacher. "Winter, the coldest, at least on this part of the planet. Spring, the time when it rains more and flowers bloom. Summer, the hottest time, and then Autumn or what some people call Fall. It's when the leaves turn orange and brown, draining the green from them in the process, and then they fall off of the trees to prepare for Winter. Because of snow."

"Ahh," I hum, considering her words. Aprix's seasons are not like what she has explained. We do not experience such drastic changes.

"Which is your favorite?"

"Huh?" she asks.

"Season," I clarify. "Which season is your favorite?"

"Before the world ended?" she mutters under her breath. "Autumn, I guess. That's hunting season here."

A sound reason to prefer one season to the next. "You must only hunt one season per year?"

An-nana shrugs. "Depends on local laws, but yeah. It's to control animal populations so they don't let a species die off or something."

"This deer is the animal you described to me before, yes?"

"Yes," she answers, and I try to picture it in my mind once more.

A four-legged creature that has horns as a male and tastes very good when cooked in many hu-nim dishes. It has short tan fur and is skittish by nature. I should like to see one of these. Perhaps An-nana will be happy if she slaughters one.

I will not stray from my task in assisting with looking for her family, but I will keep an eye out for such a creature. I will be disappointed if she wishes to keep it as a pet. So far, I have not been impressed with Urth's pets. Harold the very dumb chick-han is amusing, but I do wish he would die already. I wish to cook him and test if his meat is poisoned like An-nana believes it may be.

Stee-vee, the hu-nim mated to Marrec, swears that Urth has creatures like Ch'ta. Cats, they call them. But I have not seen proof of this fact yet. Maybe I will look for these cat creatures too. If they truly look like Ch'ta, I will recognize them immediately, much easier than the deers.

"What building is that?" I ask, gesturing to a particularly large structure below us.

"It's an abandoned mall," An-nana answers, but she does not look up to see it. She has this area memorized well. "It's full of a bunch of stores and restaurants and stuff. They used to be really popular because it's convenient to have so many things in one place, but now—I mean, before—everyone just started shopping online."

Virtually she means, like we have on Aprix.

"I like to gather things myself," I muse, scratching my chin. "I like to hold things before I decide if I want them."

Mean One blinks at me like she does not know how to reply. She makes that face at me a great many times during the day. I hope it is because I fascinate her. Surely, it would be unkind of The Mother to let a female mesmerize me so greatly without making us even.

"I like to shop in person too," she finally states, turning to look out her window.

Another thing we have in common.

"The flying contraptions hu-nims use, have you been in one before?"

Stee-vee has explained these to me. Planes , she called them. An inferior version of even the most primitive ships. They do not leave this planet's atmosphere, but they do soar through the skies much faster than their typical ground travel.

"A plane or a rocketship?"

"I do not know this rocketship ," I reply, mangling the unfamiliar word through my teeth. "Is it like this ship?"

"Not even close," she says humorously. "Humans have gotten to space with them before, like to the moon and stuff, but they're nothing like this. They're huge and really hard to make. It takes years and years to get them ready for flight."

"So you have not been in a ship-rocket?"

"Rocketship," she corrects kindly. "And no. I've never been on a regular plane, either. People have to have money to go on flights."

I huff at this. The hu-nim concept of money still baffles me. I understand the idea since many planets have electronic funds to trade, but it is not the Aprixian way.

Why should An-nana be denied the joy of flight because she does not have hu-nim funds? It is a maddening idea, but I am grateful to give her something no one else has before. Perhaps this will make her more fond of me.

"This ship is better than Urth planes," I inform her, in case she has not realized. "Stee-vee has told me as such."

"Yeah?" she asks evenly.

"Yes," I agree firmly. "Do you like it?"

My Mean One takes very many minutes to consider this question. She is a peculiar female when it comes to discussing the things she enjoys. An-nana could discuss what she does not like for hours, but she shies away from admitting when she is pleased with something. It is a good thing that I am a patient male.

"It's nice," she finally decides.

My lips spread into a wide grin. "I think it is nice too."

I am wondering what else I can say when An-nana speaks first.

"We're here," she whispers, finger outstretched to gesture at a bright blue structure ahead. "The blue barn," she adds. "You can land in the field next to it."

"I do not sense anyone," I inform her, refusing to get her hopes up. "We will still look. I will be able to smell better down there."

"You can smell down there from up here at all?"

"Of course."

She lets out a rare laugh. It is breathy and smothered but a laugh indeed. "That's not an ‘ of course ' question, Drak. I can't smell literally anything other than you. Humans can't smell through glass."

She can smell me?

Does she like what she scents? She has never complained before.

An-nana likes my scent, I decide. If she did not, she would have complained by now. My Mean One is not one to hide her feelings.

I begin to lower the ship, slowing down to start our landing.

"Aprixians can smell very well," I explain, but she already knows. "I hope my smell does not offend you."

She stiffens, refusing to meet my eye. "It doesn't."

Oh, yes, An-nana likes my smell. Is that embarrassment turning her skin a pretty shade of pink and warming her core temperature?

Perhaps my mean hu-nim will recognize my greatness after all.

She is a smart creature, so surely she must see it?

From what I have been told, hu-nim males are inferior to Aprixians in every way. Smaller, weaker, have less control of themselves, but there are good ones. Stee-vee has made sure to tell me this. She is like my little sister now that she has mated to Marrec. Marrec is not my brother by blood, but he is much like my family. I get most of my hu-nim information from B'rook since Stee-vee returned to Aprix with Marrec, but I wish An-nana would teach me instead. B'rook is nice, but she does not bring me the same joy that being in An-nana's presence does.

When our ship lands with a soft thud, I instruct my hu-nim companion to remain still. I must get out first and take a scan of the area before I trust it to be safe.

The air here is clean and crisp, much like the air around the so-roar-itee dwelling. There isn't the same stench of death that radiates around the more destroyed city areas. As I do a scan of our surroundings, my boots softly dig into the plush grass under my feet. This stretch of land appears relatively untouched.

Logically, I understand why. It is secluded; only a small number of hu-nims resided here before their disease breakout.

Once I am sure that I smell no other hu-nims, and no zom-bays lurking near, I move to help An-nana out of the ship. I have never been more grateful that hu-nims are short than I am now. Lifting her in and out of our ship is going to be one of my favorite things about this trip.

"I have you," I say, my words firm and my devotion unwavering as I carry her out of the ship. She seems to believe me, relaxing as I move to set her feet onto the ground. She should believe me; I will never let An-nana fall.

When her eyes go round, taking in the place around us, I frown.

"Is this not the right location?"

"No," she replies with a hollow voice. "This is it."

I do not think my Mean One is happy to be home.