Captured (25 page)

“Can you locate the sound?” asked Mari.

“Yes, but Mari, while I do not know what this noise is, the one thing it cannot be is a dog.”

“Ekkatt, that’s a dog.
 
I’m telling you.
 
It’s a dog.
 
If your people can bring women here then they can sure as fuck bring dogs here.
 
That.
 
Is.
 
A.
 
Dog.
 
Where there are dogs, there are people.
 
I’m going to hike towards the sound of that dog, and you will come with me.”
 
She crossed her arms and stared at him.
 
“What difference does it make anyway?
 
If it’s not a dog then we die regardless of which direction we go.”

Ekkatt shrugged.
 
He couldn’t argue with her logic.
 
“Then eat.
 
We will pack up and follow your barking dog.
 
Your reasoning is impeccable, little human.
 
It always has been.”

He saw a corner of Mari’s mouth turn up in a weak smile.
 
“From the day I woke up?”

“Yes, from the day you woke up.”

“How long has it been, Ekkatt?
 
Two months, three months?”

“Perhaps three of our months.”

“You know, it’s odd,” she said, “but I barely remember a time when I didn’t know you, when I wasn’t here.
 
It feels as if I’ve always been with you.”

Ekkatt understood exactly what she meant.
 
He no longer thought about his life before Mari.
 

“I did not realize how little I had until the moment you woke up.
 
What did you ask for, Mari?
 
Do you remember?
 
Did you plead with me to return you to your home?
 
Did you beg for mercy, for food, for water?
 
No.
 
You were angry and you said,
fuck you, asshole
.
 
You asked for your clothes, like a civilized person.
 
I had never spoken with a human before, other than to tell them to
move
or
go there
or
sit
or
stay
or
wait
.
 
Everything you said to me on that voyage opened my eyes.
 
I could not close them again.
 
If you say that sound is a dog barking, then I agree, it is a dog barking.
 
If it is not, well then, it is not.”

Mari stared at him for a moment.
 
He watched her eyes fill with tears.
 
“I’ll eat if you eat,” she indicated the remaining protein concentrate.
 
“If you don’t eat, I don’t survive.”
 

He pulled out his portion of the food and ate it quickly.
 

“Ekkatt,” she said, “I must warn you that if it isn’t a dog, I’ll probably cry.
 
You should be prepared.”

Reaching out a hand, he stroked her hair.
 
Mari had kept it braided, but still, there was no avoiding tangles.
 
They hadn’t been able to bathe properly in weeks.
 
He didn’t care.
 
The strands shone a deep, dark red in the sun.
 
Mari was beautiful, despite the smudges of dirt on her face and the dark circles beneath her eyes.
 

“I think,” Ekkatt began, “I have never loved you more than I love you this day, little human.”
 
He watched Mari’s eyes fill with tears once again.
 
They spilled over her lashes, sliding down her cheeks.
 

Mari threw herself into his arms, knocking him backwards a few paces.
 
“Damn you,” she cried.
 
“I wanted to be the one to say that.”

Ekkatt held her until her sobs quieted.
 
She finished her protein supplement, and they repacked everything in silence.
 
Ekkatt helped Mari adjust her straps.
 
Both packs were quite a bit lighter than they’d been at the start of their journey.
 
The two of them followed the intermittent sound through the forest and arrived at the base of a high ridge by late afternoon.
 
There the sound vanished.
 

“On the other side,” said Mari.
 

Ekkatt didn’t argue with her.
 
Together they wound their way to the top of the ridge, where they stood side by side, looking down over the valley below.

“German shepherds,” Mari spoke in a hushed whisper.
 
“Ekkatt…look…dogs.”

“And kir, there are kir,” Ekkatt mumbled, as stunned as Mari.
 
“The dogs are guarding the kir.”

The shock was so great at first that neither of them noticed the tall, young men standing at the edges of the flock until they heard one call out to his fellows.
 
He pointed in their direction.

“Fuck me,” breathed Mari, “Masai…”
 
Before Ekkatt could reach her, her knees buckled and she sat down heavily on the grassy slope.
 
Tears streamed down her cheeks.
 
“I lied,” he heard her say.
 
“I said I would cry if there
weren’t
dogs.”
 

Ekkatt slid the pack off his shoulders and dropped to the ground.
 
He pulled her against him.

“We have found our home, little human.
 
We will live, our child will be born, and she will live without fear.”

“She?”
 
Mari asked?

“Yes, Mari, I feel it in my bones…she.”

* * * *

Tails wagging, the dogs were the first to reach them.
 
Mari wrapped her arms around the closest German shepherd and buried her face in his thick hair.
 
She inhaled.
 
The dog smelled of home.
 
Mari had traveled across the galaxy to her death only to find a new home and a man who loved her with all his heart.
 
She heard voices, speaking in Attun, English, French…she lost track.
 
She felt Ekkatt’s arms slip around her. He lifted her from the ground.
 

“All will be well, my little human,” he murmured in Attun.
 
“All will be well.”

THE END

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