Chapter 9
I sit up and yawn. Amichai stretches like a cat and blinks up at me lazily.
Okay, well I rested—now what? I think.
My eyes flicker over the room. It's simple and well made. The walls are made out of genuine wood—as are the floors. There's a small dresser, a medium rug made of white wool, and a small bookshelf with some books on it. A large window overlooking a mountain range. A rectangular mirror. A small desk: some paper, some pencils, a few pens…
I like it. The simplicity is comforting.
"How are you feeling?" The door creaks in and a strange woman looks at me. I frown at her and feel my eyebrows turn downward when I see her.
Who is this?
"Good…I guess…" I say hesitantly. Amichai watches her quietly and his tail thumps on the ground happily as she approaches the bed and puts her hand to my forehead.
"Well, it seems as though your fever finally broke, huh? Come on." She tugs on my arm and helps me stand. "Let's get some more food into you."
More? I ate before? I don't remember this…
We walk into the kitchen. Khan and the baby—Noah—are already seated at the table. Khan is feeding the baby some sort of mushy substance (oatmeal…?) and nods at me when I walk in. The woman's hand never leaves my elbow and that's probably the only reason I don't fall flat on my face.
"You were pretty out of it yesterday." The woman remarks.
She helps me into a chair and hands me a plastic bowl of scrambled eggs and half of an already peeled orange. Amichai limps over to sit beside me. I eat half of the eggs and sneak him the other half when no one is watching. Khan raises an eyebrow at me and I shrug before quickly breaking eye contact.
"There's plenty of food." The woman laughs at me when she sees Amichai licking his lips and she gives Amichai his own bowl of eggs. "See?" She pats the top of his head while he wolfs his portion down greedily. "Do you want anymore?" She asks me and I shake my head.
"Nah." I say. "Thanks though." I drink some water from a cup she places in front of me.
"So, I see you've found my book." She slams Rose's diary on the table and my water about shoots out of my nose. I choke and sputter before quickly swallowing.
"You're book?" I cough.
"Yes." She sits down at Khan hides a smile.
"You're Rose?" I ask incredulously. This can't be possible. The Rose from the diary went to my planet during the Eugenic Wars. She should be dead. By now, she'd be well over three hundred years old.
"I froze my brother and me cryogenically. All Augments have superior intelligence—it wasn't that difficult to figure out how to build a cryotube." She shrugs. "I froze us deep in the ruins of that temple and left my journal for my people to find, assuming that one day, they'd come back and find me too." She smiles and Khan and takes his hand in hers affectionately.
I swallow the urge to gag.
Eww…old people love!
"But you left the Augments." I point out.
"A lot of us left. There were hundreds of us. Many went and hid within the normal populace to maximize our chances to live." She shrugs. "I did as well…and I regret that decision."
…
They get into a fight a few hours later.
I stumble to my feet and creep down the hallway. Angry shouted words are exchanged and glass cups fly across the room. One shatters over my head and I leap just out of reach of the falling shards. Rose snarls at Khan and he yells right on back.
Amichai whimpers and points his nose at a door. I can hear the baby crying on the other side of it. I wobble into his room and look at him.
"Do you want to go outside and play?" I ask him. He nods and sniffles pitifully. His pale blue eyes look at me sadly and I tussle his hair and smile at him: he reminds me of my little Aaron. "Alright, then get your jacket and shoes."
I help him get dressed and grab a tennis ball off of his floor. We slink down the hallway and into the mudroom. I then 'liberate' a pair Khan's black combat boots (which are WAY to big for me) and his long gray coat before stepping outside into the blinding snow. Shivering, I take the baby's hand and lead him away from the house and out of range (for the most part) of the screaming. He shivers but smiles quietly.
"What we play?" He asks me.
"Fetch." I answer and he frowns uncomprehendingly.
"'Fetch…'" He tests the word and smiles. "How?"
I wave the tennis ball I had found in Noah's room under Amichai's nose teasingly. He yips and pances around us. Noah giggles as Amichai darts close and tries to snatch the ball away from my shaking fingers but I snap my hand out of the way just in time: his jaws snap shut in the empty air and he whines eagerly. I shiver and drawl the coat closer around me.
"Go get it!" I throw the ball and it arcs high into the dry, crisp air.
Amichai bounds after it like a bullet and throws up small puffs of powdery snow as he flies over the arctic wonderland. He leaps into the air and catches the green ball before it hits the ground and races back over to us. Noah cheers loudly at the feat.
"I throw?" He asks with wide innocent eyes.
I give him the ball and he 'tosses' it: it drops at his feet. Amichai winks at me, picks the ball up, and snuffles the boy's hand. He squeals and takes it toy from Amichai before throwing it again—this time a few feet away. Amichai twists quickly and snatches it up. He hands to the ball to Noah and waits eagerly for the next…'throw'.
The wolf's front end drops to the ground and his hunches stick up in the air. His ears point eagerly at the boy and he watches the child with bright golden eyes, his mouth opened in an easy amused smile. His long tail flicks from side to side in anticipation. Noah tosses it at him and Amichai jumps up to catch it in his mouth. He hops again and runs in a tight circle around the baby. Noah laughs and giggles and Amichai rubs against him affectionately.
"Good boy," I praise and Noah tries to echo me.
"Goo' boy! Goo' boy!" He shouts and claps his little hands.
I watch them for a minute before turning my attention to the crunching snow behind me: Khan. He doesn't look angry at me for stealing his stuff. In fact, he doesn't even seem to notice. He smiles at Noah and turns his gaze to me—the smile doesn't vanish. I let him stand beside me and together, we watch the two play.
Amichai yips and prances about like a puppy but he's careful not to get too ruff with the toddler.
"You took him outside." Khan says softly and he looks at me.
I shrug. "Kids may not be very smart but we tend to remember acts of violence—especially those within our own households. I didn't like listening to it and he sounded upset—he was crying, you know." I say accusingly; Khan looks away from me and stares at the ground... I can see the shame burning in his icy blue eyes. I continue to speak: "So, I figured we could both do with some air. So, was it worth it? Your fight?"
He glares at me: "That's none of your business." He snaps at me.
"It's not." I agree and I look back at Noah and Amichai.
Noah is now throwing snowballs. Amichai tries to fetch them but they crumble in his mouth when he catches them. He whines at the failed attempts and Noah laughs at him before finally tossing the tennis ball at Amichai's feet.
The gray wolf snatches it up and trots a few feet away from the boy, taunting him with the ball like the toddler had taunted him with the frowns at him and shouts that Amichai is cheating. The wolf wags his tail and laughs at the toddler: he doesn't care about the rules. He wants revenge.
"The fight over now. Everything's resolved." Khan says matter-a-factly.
I nod and shiver into his coat. He raises an eyebrow at me as if he is finally just catching on that I 'borrowed' his stuff. He's not getting this coat back: I like it a lot. It's warm.
"Is that my coat?" He asks.
"Not anymore."
He glances down at my feet.
"And my boots?"
"I don't speak your language."
He smirks crookedly and shakes his head: "I'll need those back later."
"I thought Augments were superior: what do you need a coat and shoes for?" I say and he rolls his eyes.
"I think I might get him one." Khan murmurs quietly and I frown at him.
"One what?" I ask and he nods at Amichai.
"You do realize of course, that Amichai is one in a million, right? If you go get your son a wolf, it'll probably kill him." I say and he sighs.
"I meant a dog." He explains.
"You may want to run it by the lady first and make sure it's okay." I point out and he raises an eyebrow at me: the thought never crossed his mind.
"Rose?"
"It's unlikely that she's the same Rose from the dairy but she does seem to go by that name, yes? I think she's pulling a prank on me." I state. "So, all's good then?"
"Yes." We watch Noah and Amichai frolic some more and I turn the coat collar up against the wind.
"You're not getting this jacket back."
"I will pry it from your cold dead fingers," Khan jokes and I kick him lightly in the shin: he lets me.
"Try it: I dare you." I challenge and we both smile.
Khan snickers at my audacity and elbow him playfully in the ribs: the coat cushions the blow. He feigns pain and mock staggers away, chuckling the entire time under his breath. I call Amichai over and Khan moves to scoop Noah up.
"Time to go in. It's getting a little too cold out," He says into the boy's hair.
"But I want play fetch!" The toddler whines and I smirk. A pang of homesickness cuts through me. I remember those days.
"We can play tomorrow, if your parents don't care." I reassure Noah and he beams and looks at Khan: Khan consents.
…
That night I'm awoken by Noah screaming and Amichai snarling ferociously. I leap out of bed and stumble down the hallway. There's a crash and I know without looking back the panicked footsteps behind me are Khan's. Noah screams again and Amichai gives a blood curdling snarl. I rush into the room and find Amichai with a huge writhing snake in his jaws and another one as slithering towards the terrified toddler.
I don't think—I act.
I launch myself across the room and grab the boy and quickly throw him behind me: putting myself between the serpent and the baby. The snake strikes. It lunges forward with its mouth opened wide, its fangs gleaming. Khan is in the room within seconds. A phaser set to kill is poised in his capable hands. He blasts the snake into the wall. It hisses it pain and I push the baby towards the door. He cries and runs to Khan and wraps his arms around his father's leg. Amichai snarls one last time and jerks his head hard to the side, snapping his snake's neck.
His golden eyes scan the room and he creeps forward to sniff at both snakes in turn. Satisfied, he limps over to me and begins to lick his leg which had been injured during the brief tussle. Khan sighs with relief. Rose rushes over to us and drags a still terrified Noah into her arms while Khan gathers up the dead remains and moves to bury them outside. I follow him after ordering Amichai to keep an eye on the toddler should any more snakes be lurking in the house.
"What in the world? Where did those things come from?" I ask him. I stumble on the stairs and he turns quickly to catch me before I fall off.
"I don't know." He answers. "I've never seen this particular breed before."
"They're all over the place where I'm from." I shrug. "I'm surprised you haven't seen them. They're called 'the Devil's Serpents'." I say, "But they reside only on my planet—nowhere else. How is this possible?" Khan digs a hole and quickly tosses the snakes in.
"They were probably brought here by your ship." He replies calmly. "Hopefully, those are the only the ones. If not, I'm sure your wolf will help out again. Thank you, by the way." He says and I squirm uncomfortably under his praise. His hand claps onto my shoulder, "If not for you and your wolf, my son would be dead."
We walk back inside.
Amichai spends the rest of the night in Noah's room.
The next day, Khan brings a female blue German Shepherd home with him. She and Amichai sniff each other curiously and they wag their tails in greeting. Amichai watches her stiffly as she sniffs Noah. He bristles at her in warning but she makes no move to harm the child. Khan and I stand beside each other as we watch the proceedings take place and Rose watches from the couch. Eventually, Noah elects to call her 'Sky'.
The name sticks.
