Chapter 11

Kleena

What an outrageous proposition , Kleena thought as they moved down the bustling street.

Ehran’s hand was smooth and calming, despite feeling so alien to her.

It had been such a strange suggestion that Kleena still had trouble processing it, her head still in a whirlwind. Erhan had been very accommodating to her, of course. And it wasn’t as though he was repulsive, despite being a completely different species.

But he was a stranger. And in actuality, Kleena wasn’t sure if she could trust him.

“Four-hundred for the purifier,” Erhan suggested, jangling a bag of coins on his belt holster.

In the crowded market, Erhan had stopped suddenly at an inconspicuous booth, his eyes transfixed. There, Erhan found the opportunity to replace Calla’s water purifier.

The man was an alien race Kleena didn’t recognize. He had two heads and suction cups for hands, his four eyes almost gemlike.

“Are you daft or something,” the alien asked, its other head scowling. “I’d need at least seven hundred for the purifier, and even that’s a bargain.”

“I understand,” Erhan said, before feeling around in his waistcoat pockets.

Kleena had to suppress a laugh, watching him work. She knew he had been an operative, but then she also knew he was royalty on some far-off planet she’d never visited. It was almost ironic, watching him haggle with these vendors as though he were cut from their same cloth.

He could probably buy this whole market if he wanted to , Kleena admitted to herself, knowing how wealthy he probably was. Seven hundred should be a trivial sum of money for somebody as well-connected as him.

“I’ll tell you what,” Erhan reached into his pocket and pulled out a remote. “I’ve got this extra communicator. I thought it would do me a lot better than it has, but maybe you can use it?”

This time, the other head spoke. Its voice was far more off-pitch and whiny than the other one.

“And what, pray tell, would I do with something so pointless and stupid?” the alien asked. “Why would I ever need a communicator?”

Erhan shook his head. “Maybe you don’t need it,” he proposed gingerly. “But I’d bet somebody else might?”

The alien thought over the offer. And right when Erhan knew the vendor was going to disagree, he interjected again.

“I don’t know if you’re familiar with the inner workings of remotes,” he began. “But this communicator is a 39-B9G model. They have some rare and expensive parts.”

She briefly hoped Erhan wasn’t selling their only way off of the planet. He had said this was an “extra” communicator, but Kleena wondered why he’d have two on him.

But it didn’t matter. Because as valiantly as he had tried, the vendor wasn’t budging. He wasn’t about to consider Erhan’s offer. Not when he had so little to gain.

“You seem knowledgeable,” one of the alien heads said while the other clearly showed its disinterest. “So, tell me how these parts could possibly help me, and I might take you up on your offer.”

Kleena almost did a double-take. As Erhan conveyed technical information she thought below royalty—and she almost wondered if he was making some of it up—she watched him sway the alien to his favor.

“Fine,” one of the vendor’s heads said. “You’ve convinced me. I’ll sell the purifier to you for three hundred thirty, plus the communicator.”

It was even lower than Erhan had suggested.

“But only if you tell me where I can find a good engineer, or if you remove the valuable parts for me.”

They walked away from the booth with a purifier in their hands, having parted with the, hopefully, spare communicator. Somehow, Kleena couldn’t help feeling impressed. She wondered how he was so handy, even outside of his cushioned lifestyle.

“When you’re a soldier like me, you learn to adapt,” he suggested, noting her surprise. “That was nothing.”

She could still hear the coins jangling in his waist pouch, noting he still had plenty to his name.

“I don’t get it,” Kleena said. “You could have afforded to pay more. So why didn’t you?”

Erhan nodded and then sighed. “These markets like to take advantage of people, even in daylight,” he replied. “So maybe I felt like if I set a precedent, I might make things a little cheaper for the people who can’t afford the extortion.”

She shook her head in disbelief.

It was an impressive display. She couldn’t deny that.

But as they returned to their temporary home, leaving their shoes at Calla’s door, a part of his humility still vexed her. She couldn’t help feeling that it was some kind of act. Was this man—this alien—truly a prince? Or had he come here to fool her?

“Sorry,” Erhan said, carrying the jug into the dwelling. “It’s heavier than it looks.”

Calla nearly dropped everything, a spatula falling off of the oven unit as she dashed over to help.

“What did you do?”

“We felt bad about the imposition, so we figured we’d help you replace your purifier,” he replied. “Hope we weren’t out of line.”

“Out of line? My god. You nearly saved us with that stunt.”

Calla was so grateful that night she made them a special meal. But as the similar meat platter appeared in front of her that night, Kleena was starving. So despite the side glances she received from Erhan, she stuffed her face, wanting as little barrier between the food and her stomach as possible.

“Okay,” Erhan said. “I laid off you last night because I knew you were starving. But today?”

Kleena could feel her rage building.

“Our host has made us a special meal, again,” Erhan said. “If you’re gonna eat, use a fork. Or any of the other utensils provided for us.”

“Can you please fucking lay off?” Kleena snapped.

She was tired of following his customs. Tired of changing the way she lived just because of some vague, pretend connection she barely agreed to.

But as he grew silent, she found herself feeling guilty.

He had intruded himself on her life, not the opposite. She didn’t need to punish herself for not groveling to him like some kind of simpleton.

The meal was unsatisfying, despite how delicious it was. Halfway through, she found herself using a utensil, even though her manners seemed not to bother Calla.

“Hey, where’s Marcus?” Kleena asked, wiping her face with a napkin.

Calla shook her head. “I keep telling him it’s dangerous, but he and his friends stay out a little late sometimes,” Calla replied. “I’m sure he’ll be here any min—”

The backdoor burst open, and Marcus stumbled in, gripping his side. “Ow.”

Kleena worried immediately, but Calla seemed to scold him more than anything.

“Oh, Marcus… Did you ruin the front fence again ?” Her emphasis on the word “again” seemed to suggest this was a common occurrence.

“I’m sorry, Mom. It’s a bad place for a fence.”

Without another word, Erhan stood up, walking to the front door.

“I’ll take care of it,” he said.

“You sit back down and finish eating,” Calla exclaimed. “I can’t have you being so nice. We can’t depend on you like this.”

But Erhan gave a slight smile in response. “Just consider it my way of thanking you for the delicious meal and your hospitality.”

This set off a vast array of calculations in Calla’s mind.

“But no,” she said. “I… made you that meal as thanks for the purifier you bought me. You can’t—”

He was already out the door.

Kleena stood there awkwardly, not knowing anything to say in response.

“Your husband is damn stubborn,” Calla jested.

Kleena smiled but bolted out the door all the same.

The “fence” out front was barely noticeable and served little purpose. If Marcus hadn’t told them he had destroyed it, Kleena wasn’t sure she would have recognized it at all.

Still, it was a humble display, and it warmed Kleena’s heart.

“In all that rush to get outside, did you ever once think of grabbing tools?” Kleena asked.

But Erhan just smiled.

“Don’t need them,” he said. “Not when I have this.”

Pressing a button on his glove, Erhan’s finger extended several feet.

Kleena couldn’t hide her confusion.

“It’s a fing-longer. It gives me more range of motion,” Erhan explained. “With it, I can stabilize absolutely anything, including this fence.”

Kleena shook her head. “I’m going to go get tools from inside now.”

In spite of his immense haggling skills, his repair skills still left something to be desired. Kleena helped him as best she could, atomically gluing the fence back together and ensuring it stood firmly in the dirt.

The little things made it worthwhile. As she handed him tools, they often brushed up against each other.

In spite of how strange and bullish he could be, he was still a good being. She’d never met anybody so kind or so capable in her life.

Maybe this arrangement isn’t so bad after all , she thought, noticing how he humored a guilty Marcus, who had stumbled outside, still gripping his side.

“In the old days, we would have had to get new wood for this fence,” Erhan said. “But now we can just glue it back together. In four hours, it’ll be as if the fence never broke at all.”

“Wow!”