Aliena Too (11 page)

Bad move. “You have a prospect?” she asked sharply.

What could he do but tell her? “Aliena.”

It did not go well. She soon broke off the dialogue and ran from him. All he could do was watch. He should have known better than to even mention Aliena.

The child Maple went to Lida. Then Aliena spoke to him, and he somehow knew that this was not being translated to the others. “Humans are far more emotional than starfish; it is their strength but also their weakness. They suffer jealousy, which is something we have yet to properly understand. I am with her via the glasses she wears. She is, at base, a reasonable person. I believe she feels guilt for trying to love Gloaming instead of you. It is more complicated than I can fathom. But I think she will adapt.”

Then Lida and Maple were returning. “Yes, she is accepting the situation. You should encourage her.”

Lida came to the wall. “Dear—”

“Kiss me,” he said, lifting an arm.

Lida kissed the wall opposite the tip of his limb. “I've been giving Gloaming sex. If you want to be with Aliena, you have my leave. It's only fair.”

She was coming around. They exchanged parting amenities, and Lida promised to visit again. Then she left. He was relieved, but also saddened. It was ending between them, as it had to. Had he his choice of a perfect world, he would never have left her. But that kind of choice he never had.

That night when Aliena touched arm-tips with him for sleep, she said one thing. “If you should win the right to breed, I will be amenable.”

That was immensely reassuring. Now all he needed to do was win the race, somehow beating ten starfish in their own element.

In the morning Aliena gave him a pleasant arm-tip twinge. “I will not participate in the race, or influence it, but I will be watching it. If you lose, you lose. I will regret that. But remember, your usefulness to the project will not end; this race is merely for maturity and breeding rights, not for anything else. And there is something else you should know: those who do not win will not breed, but they can emulate it. Their association merely will not be fertile. So for you, with your human interest in copulation, this is not necessarily the end. There may be a female who would like your association in this respect. Males and females will be allowed to associate, after the race, in whatever manner they choose.”

That was interesting. So it was really a fertility race, and they had a way to ensure that only the winners would be fertile. “Thank you. I still hope I can win.”

She moved away without further comment.

In a moment he picked up on her remark about copulation. Evidently she, being a starfish, did not have that kind of interest. It was for breeding only. So probably when the two genders of starfish mixed, they would not be looking to copulate. He was disappointed, but it was better, as usual, to be realistic.

This was the last day before the race. The layout remained as it was, but would change tomorrow. His exploration of it was almost complete. There was an isolated section that might or might not have something worthwhile for him.

He moved rapidly, but the distance made it take time, because starfish were not swift travelers. The section was barred by an isthmus of plant-overgrown land on which predators roamed: hostile territory. He did not need to fear them today, because they were mostly illusion. But tomorrow, when the starfish participated in emulation, the predator emulations would be all too real. He had rehearsed how to fend them off, but hoped not to have to.

He made his away around the isthmus, remaining in the water, though this expended valuable time. But he wondered: was there something here that could really be useful, and that was why it was protected against easy study? As far as he knew, none of the students had come here, believing that it would not be a productive expenditure of their time or effort. Actually, no other starfish seemed to be exploring at all today, maybe saving their energy for the morrow.

A figure loomed before him. Quincy's spines elevated; was this a live predator, rather than an emulation?

“Greeting, alien.”

It was another starfish! But he didn't recognize it. “Greeting, stranger,” he returned.

The starfish approached him. Now he saw its color: dark pink. A female! And by the standards of her kind, a newly nubile and very attractive one.

“Yes, we too are entitled to explore the setting,” she said. “We females worked from the other end of it, so we did not overlap your section. But we will all be together tomorrow.”

“Together tomorrow,” he agreed. “I will not interfere with your exploration.”

“I am not seeking information at the moment, but dialogue.”

“You actually wanted to talk with me? Even though I can't talk well?”

“It is true that others are contemptuous of your pidgin, and wary of your origin. But I am of a different inclination. We starfish do vary in personality.”

“You sought me,” he said. “Why?”

“I hope you will not reject me if I am candid.”

“Who are you?”

“Do you mean you require a name? Then name me.”

He pondered briefly. “You are exploring, as I am, so I name you Explora.”

She made a ripple of shades of red. “And you are Quincy.”

“I am. I will try not to reject you for candor. I already know that I am somewhat freakish in your culture, despite having a good host body.”

“I have two interests in you. One is that I understand that humans are inordinately interested in efforts of breeding, even those that are not expected to generate offspring.”

“That is true. Relative to you, we are obsessed with it. At least our males are.”

“I am similarly obsessed. I think constantly of getting together with a male, any male, and doing it just for the sake of doing it. Even without reproduction, it's the pleasure of the act I crave. This makes me an oddity among my kind, but perhaps not among your kind.”

Could this be true? There might indeed be considerable variation among individuals, even of the same brood, but for a female to have such an extreme interest seemed unlikely. Then he caught on. “Aliena sent you.”

“Not directly. She mentioned that she was working with an alien whose interest in such things was considerable. She surely knew I heard.”

He could test this. “Do you want to do it now?”

“Yes. But I can't.”

“Why not?”

“Because such efforts are not allowed among those who have not yet raced. We would both be disqualified from the race. I might live with that, as I have very little chance there anyway, but you would not care to pay such a price.”

“You care about my future among your kind?”

“Yes. Our contact with Earth is paramount. It would be dreadful for me to spoil it.”

“Then why exactly did you intercept me here?”

“To introduce myself to you, in the hope that after the race you will seek me out for this kind of diversion.”

This was more than interesting. A female who cared about the inter-world contact, and was also hot for sex. He didn't trust it, tempting as it was. In fact that very temptation alerted him. She could be here to test his mettle, or to eliminate him from the race. Or to find out his strategy for the morrow, so that it could be nullified. But it would not be expedient to suggest that openly. He would simply have to be careful.

“I wish to explore the last section of the layout, in case there is anything there that might help me tomorrow, despite the change that will occur.”

“I will be happy to help you in any way I can.”

“But you're another competitor in the race.”

“No. Not against you. You must compete against males. I compete against females. Any help I render you will not adversely affect me.”

“But if you help me instead of helping yourself, and I should win, you will have forfeited your own chance. Why would you want to do that?”

“Because after the race, whatever the outcome, erotic activity will be allowed. I hope you will have a favorable opinion of me.”

It did seem to make sense. Well, he would give her a chance to help him, and see. “Then let's explore this last cranny of the layout.”

“Gladly,” she said, literally brightening. She was even more attractive when she did that, like a pretty woman smiling.

They made their way around the isthmus and into an isolated shallow pond with a single large tree growing from its center, a virtual island. In the tree was a huge nest made of branches and foliage. It was surely for giant flying creatures, protected from land predators by the surrounding water, and from water predators by its height. And there were water predators; shark-like creatures swarmed, causing both Quincy and Explora to elevate their spines in warning. The big fish sheered away, disappointed, but did not retreat far. They were watching their chance.

“Well, now we know,” Quincy said as if disappointed. Actually he had an idea, but did not share it.

“I am curious why this is part of the layout,” Explora said. “There must be a reason.”

She was correct. Quincy saw a reason, though he doubted he understood enough of the setting to take advantage of it. “We can explore it further, if you wish.”

“I do wish. I think that tree means something.”

They moved to the base of the tree under the water. It was covered with thick moss. The roots spread widely, radiating out to take up the greater part of the pond before delving into the soil below. The tree was well anchored despite growing in muck.

“This is insect repelling moss,” Explora said. “I study plants and recognize it. It can be harvested and used to protect creatures in water or on land from bites.”

“So if there's an ambiance, the birds are protected too,” he said, intrigued. “If I were a bird, I think I would consider this to be an ideal nesting site. The chicks would be protected from all matter of dangers.”

“Yes. But we are not birds, and we would not want to stay here any length of time. We have a race to race. So I don't understand its presence here.”

“There must be a reason.” And he thought he knew what it was.

“We had better return. We will need rest tonight.”

“Yes.”

“Do you wish to work together in the race?”

“I hadn't thought of it. You wish to?”

“Yes. I think I can help you, and make a good impression.”

And be near enough to interfere? Yet suppose she was sincere? Her information about the moss was indeed useful. He did not want to wrong her by misjudging her. His empathy related to her too: she stood to gain by associating with him.

Quincy made a decision. “Meet me here tomorrow, if you wish. We can work together.”

She glowed. “I will.”

They made their way back around the isthmus, then separated, because their bases were at opposite ends of the layout. Quincy went on home as dusk closed.

Aliena was there. “I wonder,” he said as they ate and prepared for the night. “I'm sure you won't tell me anything about the race. But are you free to tell me about a person?”

“You wish to know more about Explora?”

So she knew about that already. He had suspected as much. “Yes. It is in my mind that she could be a plant, someone sent to discover my plan and torpedo it.”

“Torpedo?”

“That word must be in your dictionary. I mean to stop me from winning.”

“Do not be concerned. Explora is exactly what she said. Starfish are not much into deception. She has an intense interest in the mechanics of reproduction, matching that of the typical human male. This is highly unusual in our species and threatens to disqualify her from participation in our society; both males and females are wary of her remarkable obsession. Yet in other respects she is a good and competent person. She does want to make a good impression on you, in the hope of being able to indulge that interest at a later time. You can trust her.”

“I am relieved to learn that. She's pretty.”

“She is that,” Aliena agreed without rancor. “You would enjoy interacting with her in that manner. This is why I mentioned you in her class, knowing that she would pick up on it. She may, after all, be useful.”

So Aliena
had
set it up. No jealousy at all. Quincy wasn't sure how to react to that.

“You are thoughtful,” Aliena said.

She was being honest with him. He had to be honest with her. “You said that if I won the race, and wished to breed with you, you would be amenable.”

“I did.”

“That implies that you are developing some feeling for me.”

“True.”

“Yet you are setting me up with another female who wants to breed.”

“Yes.”

She didn't get it? “Among humans, breeding is a very personal act, normally restricted to married couples or those in love.”

“Yes.”

“So if you wish to breed with me, why set me up with another female?”

“I am not human. With starfish, breeding is done primarily for the continuation of the species, and few in any generation get to do it. There is pleasure in it, but no more than in other things, like eating, eliminating, or surviving. Your host body is an excellent one, quite fit for breeding, as is mine. So it is reasonable that we do it, on one occasion, and then move on. But since you are human, your desire to do it will continue, in contrast to mine. It seems likely to interfere with our relationship. So when I found a starfish who could accommodate you in this respect, I arranged for the two of you to meet. That should prevent this matter from interfering with your mission.”

“My mission?”

“To help teach emotion to starfish, so that we can better relate to other human beings.”

That made cynical sense. “So your feeling for me is not possessive, or in the manner of a human romance.”

“Correct. My human romance is with Brom.”

“Who is fucking Star.” Even as he spoke, he regretted saying it.