4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Damascus

It'd been several rotations, but Progress was still docked at Bathma because the healer decided Merrick was too frail to be moved. Damascus had waited solars already, so a few more rotations didn't matter. What was difficult was everyone else on Progress.

Damascus was used to being in places where he was ignored or looked down on, but this was the first time he'd experienced active dislike from everyone around him. Every interaction Damascus had with the crew was barely civil. A few of them outright ignored him when he asked a question or made a request.

Giving up on making friends or even friendly acquaintances, he spent most of his time either in his tiny cabin or training in the well-equipped exercise room.

In fact, he was in the exercise room again now, taking a break before setting up to do another endurance test with the training bot. Even though he'd already completed two and wasn't sure he'd make it all the way through a third, he had to try. He was fatigued but not truly exhausted yet.

Only absolute exhaustion would make it easier to deal with the images of Iris floating around in his head and the urges those mental pictures caused.

That human was haunting both his waking and slumbering mind!

The moment he'd lost faith in the Talin Empire, he'd consciously and deliberately started ignoring taboos and some of the more minor laws. He wasn't obvious about it while still in the military, but if an opportunity presented itself, he didn't refuse.

Two interludes with a passionate Marshet on Sloka station.

A long night of pleasure with a Ugarian in rut.

Several orgies with an extended marriage polycule where he hadn't even been sure who was touching who. There'd been so many hands, tentacles, and bodies that his time with that group was a blur.

After he was forced out of the military, he'd stopped hiding his flagrant disregard for Talin customs and laws. It wasn't as if he ever planned to settle down on some Talin colony and become a productive citizen. No, his plans were very different. If he set foot within the Talin Empire again, it would be for his execution.

But not before he accomplished his goal.

If he wasn't worried about being shoved out an airlock, he'd pursue the little human and see if she was as interested as him. But no, he couldn't afford to anger Palathum. She wasn't the kind of Talin you challenged unless you were ready for dire consequences.

The nearly silent door to the room slid open, drawing his attention. He had an excellent view from his spot on the floor, but his bulk was mostly hidden by the training bot. Curious to know who would be willing to share space with him, he waited silently. He expected to see a member of the crew, or maybe even Utharium striding through the door intent on using training as an excuse for reprisal against him.

Instead, a tiny human stumbled into the room.

Damascus remained perfectly still, watching the adorable creature make for the second training bot standing at its charging unit on the far side of the room.

"Beepers!" the child exclaimed, hugging the unit. "Missed you!"

Where had this young human come from, and why were they alone? Should he stand up and make himself known, or would that scare the cub?

When the child pulled away and started tapping randomly at the bot's display, Damascus realized he needed to act before the bot activated and started running a program that might do damage to the tiny creature.

He started up a loud, comforting rumble as he stood. "I don't think you should be touching that."

The child startled and swung around. He waited for the small human to run away in fear, but instead, the cub's lips drew back, showing all their teeth as they rushed at him.

"Friend!" the cub screeched.

It was only because he'd read some of the literature on humans that he knew the showing of teeth was called a smile and was a sign of happiness, not a threat display.

Except in the eatery when Iris had bared her teeth at him. She'd clearly known what she was doing because her lips hadn't curved up.

Unsure what to do, he let the cub wrap arms around his legs. "Greetings?"

The cub drew back, smiling up at him. "I is Mia. Who're you?"

It was cute that she'd declared him as a friend before even knowing his name. "I'm called Damascus."

The cub slaughtered his name in the most adorable way. "Dammie-ass-cuss."

"You should call me Da," he offered.

The child clapped while repeating the new name. "Da! Da! Da!" Then they grabbed at his hand and tugged. "Make Beepers work, please?"

It was hard to tell with this young human, but he thought they might be female. Or did humans decide what gender they wanted to be once they matured like the Marshet? The literature he read hadn't said, but for now he'd think of the child as she. The adults who should be caring for her could correct him later, after he reprimanded them for being inattentive.

Damascus let her drag him to the training bot. With her free hand, she pointed to the bot while looking up at him. "Wake Beepers up."

Leaning forward, he tapped the display until the bot was activated but in idle mode. In this state, the bot would follow simple commands then wait until further instructions were given. None of the combat training programs could be activated, only the basic exercises for coordination or endurance.

"Beepers!" Mia screamed, letting go of Damascus's hand so she could hug the bot. "Comes with me, we plays!"

The bot's round, conical body ambled forward on hundreds of tiny spider legs hidden under it. Mia laughed with delight and ran across the room, looking over her shoulder to make sure her "friend" was following.

Her enthusiasm and ability to turn even a training bot into a toy reminded Damascus of the Nimon young on Lotrom. His Standing Squad was assigned there, and they'd all expected the civilian inhabitants to be hostile. Far from being uncivil or mean, the Nimon families welcomed the Talin military, excited to no longer be within an active war zone. All around their small planet was evidence of previous bombardments, along with far too many memorials for the dead.

He could still clearly picture the Nimon children playing in an area that had been flattened by displacement bombs fired from both sides of the conflict. Small green plants were already starting to grow, and some of the children used the tiny buds to decorate each others' spine crests.

Unwilling to let the memory unfold far enough to remember what happened to all those children, Damascus focused on Mia. He followed the training bot across the room and watched as Mia expertly ordered the bot to pick up a small focus ball and toss it to her. She caught it and tossed it back. Her throw was poorly executed, but a long arm shot out of the top of the bot to catch the ball anyway. Transferring the ball from the catch basket to the tossing tube, the bot shot it gently back at her.

After a few throws it was clear someone on the ship had specifically programmed this training bot to play with Mia.

Suddenly Mia stopped and looked up at him. "Do you wanna plays?"

Before he could answer, the bot tossed the ball, hitting Mia on the side of the head. It was a soft blow, but it startled her and she took a step back, tripping over her own feet and falling on her backside.

It didn't look like a bad fall to Damascus, but after a brief, shocked silence, Mia's little eyes welled with water and she started to make pained wailing noises.

Panicked, Damascus rushed to her side. "Where are you injured?"

Mia didn't answer, only cried louder and held out her arms. It took him a moment to understand she wanted to be picked up. He silently cursed at himself. She wanted medical attention, and he was kneeling there doing nothing. Gently picking her up, he cradled her against his chest and rushed out of the exercise room.

Running as fast as he could without jostling his precious cargo, he rattled loudly at anyone who got in his way. Shocked and surprised rattles sounded from the crew as they jumped from his path. When they saw he was carrying Mia, they followed. Soon he had twelve crew members following close behind and shouting at others to clear the hall and let Damascus through.

Someone must have contacted the infirmary because the healer was ready when he burst through the doors.

"Gently place her here," Healer Raltinum ordered, pointing at the smallest medical bed Damascus had ever seen. Despite being too little for an average Talin, it was still much too big for the tiny human cub.

"What happened?" Iris shouted, running through the door that hadn't even had a chance to close since he rushed in followed by most of the crew. "I heard Mia got hurt. I thought she was napping, but she snuck out."

"It was my fault," Damascus admitted, mentally preparing himself for the ire of not only Iris, but the entire crew. "I was in the training room, and she came in and demanded I turn on the second training bot. They started throwing a ball back and forth while I watched. Mia looked over at me when the bot shot out a ball, which hit her in the face and made her trip to the floor. I don't know how badly she is hurt, but I should've stood closer so I could keep her from danger."

There was silence as everyone stared at him. None of the Talins rumbled or rattled, and Iris's expression was…confused?

Why wasn't anyone moving to assess and treat Mia?

"She fell?" Iris asked.

"Yes, backward," he explained, and pointed to his own hindquarters. "She should be scanned for broken bones, displaced joints, and possible soft tissue tears."

Biting her lip and looking like she was trying not to smile, Iris walked over to Mia. The child had stopped wailing and was sitting there sniffling, tears slowly trickling down her cheeks.

"Damascus said you fell down," Iris murmured, holding out her arms once she reached the bed. Mia crawled into her embrace.

"Da's wrong, I gots knocked down," Mia answered, and a few angry rattles sounded from the crowd.

"Quiet please," Iris admonished the crew. They stopped their rattles, but a few continued to glare at Damascus.

"Who knocked you down?" Iris asked, her expression never changing as she rubbed the little girl's back.

"Beepers," Mia said with a sigh. "She didn't means to. We was playing and the ball cames at me and hits my face, and I wasn't lookin' and I fells. Don't be mad at Beepers. Beepers is my friend."

"I'm not mad at Beepers," Iris assured her as a few crew members started murmuring among themselves. "Nothing bad is going to happen to Beepers, but you're in trouble. You know what you did wrong."

Mia pulled away from Iris with a mutinous expression. "You was busy."

"You were supposed to be napping," Iris said. "Remember what we agreed on?"

"After naps, we goes visit Beepers. Why can't Beepers live with us?" Mia asked as Healer Raltinum moved to stand next to her.

"I'm going to do a quick scan, Mia," she said.

"Do I gets candy after?" Mia asked.

The healer sounded a soothing rumble. "Of course you–"

"Nope," Iris cut the healer off. "Children who run off without permission don't get candy."

Mia frowned and looked like she was about to start crying again when Iris shook her head. "If you start fussing, I won't take you to play with Beepers after Healer Raltinum finishes checking on you."

"We goes check on Beepers?" Mia asked, the tears all drying up.

"If you're good for the healer, then we can go check on Beepers," Iris agreed, making Mia give a little cheer and look to the healer. Stretching both her arms out, she smiled at the Talin. "Ready!"

Amused rumbles sounded from the crew, and they started filtering out. It was clear from this interaction that the child hadn't truly been hurt, only startled.

Apparently he overreacted. Embarrassed, he turned to slip out with the crew. Mia called out, stopping him before he reached the door.

"Da?"

He turned to find Mia and Iris both looking at him. Mia's expression was worried, and Iris's was curious.

"Yes, Mia?"

"You stays, please?" She looked at Iris. "Da is like Beeper."

"Because he's your friend?" Iris asked.

"And 'cuz he lives in the room with Beeper," Mia agreed with a nod. "He can comes with us to plays with Beepers."

"I can do that, if you want," Damascus offered, keeping his eyes on Iris. She shrugged and turned her back to him to chat with Mia, distracting the cub as Raltinum did a quick scan.

A shrug could mean many things, including indifference. He wasn't well versed enough to know what Iris was trying to say so he remained where he was, waiting for Raltinum to finish with the cub.

Rubbing a hand over the top of his head, Damascus tried to figure out what he was doing. He shouldn't be volunteering to stay close. If anything, he should be giving the human woman and her child a lot of space.

These two were dangerous—they made him want things he had no right to want.