The jungle that Toran Takil and Kibi traversed was very different from the one on Satamia Two. The plants and animals were similar enough, but it was scarred and fouled everywhere with dirt roads, rusty fences, electric wires stretched from pole to pole, and oil wells that leaked onto the ground almost as much as they pumped into barrels.
Kibi held a strand of barbed wire so Toran could belly-crawl underneath.
“Do the nearly-sapient cats actually live near this . . . ugly stuff?”
“No, but I wanted you to see what they have to deal with. We’ll be in their territory soon, but they must pass through areas like this to interact with other groups, to migrate during extreme weather, and sometimes just to find mates.”
Kibi blushed, and hoped Toran didn’t see.
At every fence, road, or pipeline, the large cat looked around carefully, sometimes climbing a tree, before prompting Kibi to cross. Several times she stayed hidden behind large green leaves as smelly vehicles roared by on dusty roads, with Toran Takil beside her or on a tree limb above.
Eventually they seemed to leave all the ugliness behind as they continued deeper into the jungle.
Kibi froze when she heard the first growl.
Toran responded with a throaty rumble, then said, “No need to freeze. I’ve taught you what that growl means.”
“Yeah, you’re right. There are some growls that should make me freeze,
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but that one just means identify yourself.” Or be eaten, Kibi thought silently.
“Yes,
or be eaten, but freezing is still the worst thing you could do.”
Kibi smiled, remembering the ability of all the big cats to easily read her body language, if not her mind.
“We are about to be visited,” he began. “If you were alone, you should remain standing and act assertive. But in this case, you must appear to be my inferior, so go down to your knees and stay behind me.”
I AM your inferior, Kibi thought. You’re the contact specialist. I’m just the helper.
Toran continued to slowly move forward, first along a faint dirt path, then across a large fallen log. Kibi crawled, not wanting to be caught looking too large at the wrong moment.
The contact came unexpectedly, with Toran suddenly face to face with another huge male tiger. Kibi stayed as low and inferior-looking as she could, her two dark eyes peering forward, past Toran’s shoulder, from under her shaggy black hair.
Several growls were exchanged by the two felines, and some swats, but no blood was drawn. After a long minute of exchanges that were just ritual introductions, Kibi guessed, the two tigers sat down facing each other for nearly a quarter hour of soft rumbling and snarling.
Kibi thought back to the mission briefing. The large felines on Ko-tera Three were believed to be pre-sapient, and yet she was witnessing a civilized conversation between a Nebador citizen and one of them. At a pause in the exchange, she whispered, “He seems sapient.”
“He’s right on the edge,” Toran responded without turning to her. “Simple language often arises before sapience. But remember, it’s a long way from here to . . . civilization. Bad Kitty is making that journey quickly because of his relationship with Triss, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they stepped together into a Consulate Office, in the near future, asking to move to a different continent.”
“You mean . . . she’s helping him become sapient?”
The native tiger said something in the primitive feline language, so Toran continued the conversation for a few minutes.
Kibi suddenly realized that the big cat facing them was looking at her,
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almost as much as at Toran.
Eventually Toran answered Kibi’s question. “A close relationship is the fastest way for a creature to make the mental leap into sapience. The opportunity to guide another on that path is considered a sacred task in every true civilization, a task that should never be turned down, if placed in your hands by the powers of the universe, without very good reasons. And by the way, he’s a lone male, and he admires you.”
Kibi swallowed. With Toran Takil, although she was sorely tempted, she knew that he would never break his vows with Silmula Sorafax.
This was different. The decision that had suddenly been thrust onto Kibi would be hers alone to make. She looked over Toran’s shoulder, and found the native tiger looking back at her. Their eyes stayed locked for a long moment.
After a while, the lone male tiger growled something soft, almost musical, that Kibi couldn’t translate, and laid down on his belly in front of Toran Takil.
“He is asking me for you,” Toran revealed. “I’ve already told him that you are just my servant for this journey, nothing more. You can have what Triss has — the sacred task of guiding a fellow creature into sapience, not to mention the love and protection of a powerful male animal — if you really want it.”
A moment later, Toran Takil made a soft rumbling sound and rolled onto his side. He was no longer in a position of authority, and no longer in between the native tiger and Kibi.
Kibi’s mind raced as she continued to look into the tiger’s beautiful eyes.
Thoughts about possible compromises came to her, ways she could be with this powerful creature and Ilika too.
Then she stopped herself. She was a Nebador citizen on Satamia Star Station, the steward of a deep-space response ship. That was a full-time job if any job ever was.
“I can’t be a part-time Nebador citizen, can I, Toran?”
“No.”
“And . . . this couldn’t be part-time either, could it?”
“No one can half-heartedly do anything that’s important to the universe.”
Kibi continued to look at the beautiful tiger before her, sometimes gazing
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into his mysterious eyes, sometimes admiring his sleek stripes. After a few minutes, something Toran said began to echo in her mind.
. . . a task that should never be turned down, if placed in your hands by the powers of the universe, without very good reasons . . .
“Toran, when I became Ilika’s lover, that was a sacred task too, wasn’t it?
That was placed in my hands by the powers of the universe too, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, to both questions. And yet, not all relationships are happy enough to continue when . . . another option comes along.”
“But . . . I am happy with Ilika. I just . . . want them both.”
Toran Takil remained silent.
The native tiger continued to look at Kibi with his intense male eyes.
After a long silence, Toran said, “If you decide to refuse his offer, it would be safest if I tell him.”
Kibi suddenly knew what she had to do. “No. I have to do it. I have to tell him the truth and . . . live with what he decides to do.”
“There might be blood . . .”
“I know. You’ll translate for me?”
“I’ll do my best, but I must put everything into very basic terms, so keep your ideas as simple as possible.”
Kibi nodded and began crawling forward until she was right in front of the huge native tiger. He sat up, and Kibi did the same so their heads were at about the same height.
“I have already given myself to another,” Kibi began with her heart in her throat.
Toran rumbled a translation.
Kibi could see the expression on the big cat’s face change. She immediately felt the cold tingle of mortal fear throughout her body, but somehow forced herself to go on. “But I am powerfully drawn to you . . . and tempted to be yours.”
Again Toran translated.
The expression on the tiger’s face softened slightly.
“I will accept your decision.”
Toran rumbled briefly, then fell silent.
Suddenly a powerful paw slapped Kibi so hard she fell over sideways. The
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stinging sensation on her face made her want to scream, but she managed to hold it in. Through tears of pain, she saw the native tiger turn and walk away into the jungle.
Toran Takil sat up and kept his eyes on both the jungle around them, and Kibi, as she slowly picked herself up. Eventually she was sitting again, but crying silently and cringing in pain.
“Feels like he nearly tore my face off,” she muttered through tears.
“I just see four shallow cuts that won’t bleed much,” Toran reported.
“It would have been nice if he’d kept his claws retracted.”
“They
were. That was little more than a gentle, playful, pat. If his claws had not been, you would be without much of a face, and we would be back on the Manessa Kwi trying desperately to stop the bleeding.”
Kibi swallowed and nodded.
Toran remained silent as he scanned the jungle around them for any dangers.
“What was my mistake?” Kibi finally asked through her shame and pain.
“You tried to walk the fence, not decide, not jump onto one path or the other with your whole heart. You will have scars to remind you of that lesson.”
Kibi
sighed.
“Shall we go find some more felines to talk to? I want to get at least five reactions to the ideas I’m presenting.”
Kibi cringed, and remained silent for a long moment. “Sure.”