Chapter 9

I got several calls from Laura the next day. I noticed from the first one that her number wasn't blocked anymore; I made a point of adding it to my phone book and setting it as a priority number. She always sounded happy to talk to me, and a little sad to hang up. For my part, I looked forward to hearing from her, and talking to her.

She made her last call of the day from the break room at the bar. I could hear the noises in the background as the patrons watched the latest match of the Phoenix Football league. It wasn't quite the game that I knew from home, combining some elements of American Football with the game they called 'soccer.' There were both human and Craxill players on each team, with the human players staying on the field more or less continuously, while the Craxill rotated in fresh squads periodically.

Over the cheers as a goal was scored, I heard her say, "I can see you tomorrow night. We need to talk, privately. Can I come to your place? I'll bring pizza or something, and we can eat, then I'll tell you everything you need to know about me. Then, if,..."

She trailed off, and I stepped into the gap.

"Don't panic on me. I won't lie to you and say there's no way you can scare me off, but there's certainly nothing I can imagine that could possibly be so awful that I wouldn't give you a chance to explain.

"As to the pizza, unless you insist, I'll take care of it. Let me know when you can get here, and Naltort will have something in the oven waiting. I think he's trying to entice you into joining our family just to get a chance to eat his cooking."

Laura sounded relieved, but still a bit nervous as she agreed.

"I love you, Laura. Trust me, and trust yourself. It will all work out." I tried to project confidence, to give her some of my energy.

"I love you, Sean. I'll try; it's been hard having hope after so long. And Lisa will be devastated if we don't work out. She's still talking about how nice you are."

"I only want the best for her, and for you. Now go clean your face, and go out there and smile for all your customers. I'll talk to you tomorrow; send me your schedule so I know when it's OK to call you."

I could hear a forced smile in her voice as she promised she would, and I let her go back to work.

I heard from her several times during the day, and called her myself a couple times. I told her where to meet me, and she told me when she'd be there. I passed that on to Naltort, who promised a pasta dish that would knock her socks off (where did he get those old clichés?) and to Tarmant, who promised the place would be spotless.

She showed up at precisely the time she'd promised, and I welcomed her in, then got her a drink and sat her down at the dining table. I got Naltort's dish out of the oven where it was holding, and presented it to her with a flourish.

"Naltort promised me you'd love this; I have no idea how he manages it, but he's the best chef I've encountered here, even including Ian Rorke's bride Mantarl."

"I'm sure he's right; it smells delicious already."

I let her dish some out onto her plate, and took some myself. It was a variation on the concept of lasagna, layers of wide noodles and cheeses in a tomato-based sauce, but there were a number of Craxill foodstuffs in the mix as well as the traditional human elements.

Laura was right; the scent itself was making me ravenous, and once I actually tasted it, I was nearly in heaven. The basic taste was exquisite, and there were subtle nuances that came and went with each bite, like will-o'-the-wisps chasing each other through the bogs. I was impressed, and a look at Laura told me she was as well. Needless to say, we demolished the majority of the dish, and when we were done I put the rest in a traveling dish for Laura to take home.

"Take it with you for lunch tomorrow," I told her. "You'll be the envy of the girls."

Laura had been all smiles as she greeted me, and throughout dinner, but she suddenly looked scared as she realized it was time to 'tell all' as she'd told me she planned. I touched her hand, and said, "I trust you. I love you. You don't need to tell me anything except that you love me too, and we'll go from that."

She shook her head. "No, I need to tell you this, all of it. Let's cuddle up on the couch while I gather my nerve."

We did that very thing, and she lay her head on my chest and began to speak.

"I was a student like you, from the Lakota Territory in North America, three and a half years ago. I had a boyfriend, a very aggressive, arrogant Phoenix native. He was dating a young Craxill couple, but they weren't particularly eager to 'close the deal.' In fact, they were beginning to have second thoughts about bonding to a human at all. They'd only started dating Roger because their parents expected it, pushing them to 'settle down' in a proper bonding."

She shuddered, and continued. "Parnam and Simtare came from New Way families, but Simtare in particular found the entire idea of sexual experience with a human unnatural and she didn't want any part of it. She and Parnam mated without human guidance (Simtare called it interference) but Roger tried to force them to bond with him anyway. Simtare insulted Roger and he swung his fist at Simtare. Parnam slapped his hand way, and slapped Roger's face, slashing his cheek. Roger grabbed a kitchen knife and killed him.

"Simtare went feral, and pounced on Roger. When they found her, she was whimpering over Parnam's body, while the shredded parts of Roger's corpse cooled beside them. It took a week or so for her to calm enough to testify, and for the forensics to come back that supported her story. She was charged and acquitted on the basis of justifiable homicide.

"I called Roger my boyfriend, but really, he was my live-in rapist. I've got ... odd sexual response patterns, and when I described how he treated me, and showed the evidence, it was more than enough to tip the balance into Simtare's favor. She was grateful to me, and when I found out that I was pregnant with Roger's baby, she kept me alive while my school career and my life fell apart around me.