Matt stared at the woman with apprehension, his skin feeling like it would burn off from embarrassment.
"Reem! Ge'l yi—"
"Hua yichuzka, tuc. Casikhua ip earthling tiks toibua."
Quana sighed. "Gip'm. Peqecojhua. Ge'l earthling. Raulo'hua ge'l layd zoor hua glaapih qafe ge'l gosa Takofuea kai maltuje gibet feut sotukobe tibu gac algotmuhafofo con weh."
"Tuc, chigazu tibu sotukobe yisnaa hib midasu. Guvicoh sotukobe Earth."
Matt cringed at hearing earth being mentioned so much in a heated argument.
The conveyor ended at a white shuttle car apparently made from some living creature, large muscular appendages attached to metal clamps resting on its tracks.
Matt stared, but since the arguing showed no signs of stopping, he kept his mouth shut.
The two females seated themselves in the front, leaving Matt to squeeze in behind them, awkwardly stepping around the tails hanging from the front seat. He noted, with discomfort, that he couldn't stretch his legs due to the tails being either in the way or underfoot.
Tama pushed a button, and the muscles on the door panels flexed, the metal clamps lifted, and Matt felt himself rising up as some electromagnetic interchange propelled the vehicle.
After a sharp word and another tense period of silence, Quana leaned over her seat. "Matt. She knows you're human."
Matt rolled his eyes. "No, really?"
She nodded. "I think it's okay. She's not going to do anything to you."
"How does she know all those expressions? Does she have a TV?"
"Your planet has been broadcasting to the universe for awhile. My people brought some recordings back from your planet before. I just forgot she knew." Quana scooted to a more comfortable position, leaning over the headrest. "Mom was threatening to put you in a zoo. I had to plea bargain with her."
Matt swallowed. "Plea bargain?"
"I think that's the term. I told her once I found my answer at the Takofuea, I would return home to marry Nabal."
He stared in shock. "Quana! You said there wouldn't be a zoo!"
Quana looked guilty. "I'm trying to prevent that, Matt."
Matt frowned. To lighten the mood, he blurted, "This is nothing like Star Wars."
"Of course not. This is real. You want to go around shooting people with laser guns or something?"
He shrugged.
"You're silly, Matt."
He pointed to an egg shaped building beyond the window.
"That's the Atrobid, the office of legislature. We're almost at the Biavax."
"The what?"
"The Biavax. You'll see. We'll be there soon." She gave him a faint smile, turning back around.
The Atrobid disappeared from view, replaced by a structure like two conjoined eggs.
A roof passed over the glass tunnel, decorated on the outside by garishly colored alien peacock feathers, then the tunnel receded, opening up into a rotunda decorated all about by gold lace. Fluted pillars with oval recesses framed gilded security doors that looked strong enough to withstand explosives, glistening with ornate spiderwebs of decoration.
Abreyas in black togas and wigheshes stood guard at each door, weapons clipped to their outfits. As the tram stopped, and they all climbed out, a male with blue fur stared at them from behind a small white desk. Upon making eye contact with Quana, he straightened his charcoal gray vest.
Matt took in surroundings. "So this is the bivouac?"
No response.
"Quana?"
"Oh?" she stammered. "I'm sorry. What did you say?"
"I asked you if this was the bivouac."
She had a wistful, distracted expression on her face, barely making eye contact.
"Quana?"
"Uh, sorry. Yeah. This is the Biavax. It connects..." She trailed off.
"It connects the what?"
"Things," she said vaguely.
Matt followed her gaze to the desk, where the male with the blue fur gazed back with a faraway look and a silly grin.
Matt stupidly waved, causing the stranger to glare in annoyance.
Quana blushed, stepped around Matt, dipping her head as she gave him a bashful smile.
At first Matt glared at the two with a twinge of jealousy, but then he thought, This is how things are supposed to be.
He sighed, watching her turn her head away, attempting to conceal her affectionate grin under a weak mask of formality.
She's right, Matt thought. I do need a human girlfriend...Of course this grunt doesn't have any more chance of marrying her than I do...
Tama marched up to the desk, barking an order to the male. A moment later, she hissed like a cat, waving Matt over with her tail. Matt, misreading the signal, just smiled and waved back.
Quana nudged him forward.
"Did that mean `come here'?"
"What do you think!"
Matt crept up to the desk. For a futuristic security checkpoint, it contained surprisingly little equipment, just a couple tiny electronic devices. Equally unusual: The desk attendant's garb. Pleated skirt matching the color of his vest, framed in pink trim. Fruitcake, Matt thought. He wears a skirt but likes girls. Weird.
Quana shyly positioned herself behind Matt, tail curled around her body, as if to shrink herself from her mother's prying eyes.
The male scowled at Matt. "Biti hua toib rua gubayo."
Matt stared blankly until a large body pressed against him.
"Foqipi, pae ge'lrua gubayo."
Matt only shrugged.
With a sidelong glance at her daughter, the woman forcefully grabbed his hand, holding it out to the stranger. The male ran a harmless laser beam across his palm. "Gip'm, ge'l ticoh tipoho'h gosa bea duquedaka."
Tama gave Matt a rough tap on his shoulder. "Biti gik xoc, nueto hurgoco." A moment later, she was dragging Matt to one of the many security doors, pressing his hand against a scanner. His fingers tingled, and the door opened. Matt figured the male must have put his credentials in the computer.
The queen gave Matt a shove, and he stumbled into in a gray stone corridor with no windows, illuminated every few feet by sparkling blue phosphorescent light fixtures shaped like banana slugs. The door clicked shut behind him.
Matt broke into a cold sweat, thinking it an elaborate cage.
After a few agonizing minutes, a big body shuffled up behind him, then the daughter.
Tama hissed, and Matt followed her down the tunnel to another conveyor.
Matt tapped Quana's shoulder. "You liked that guy back there, didn't you?"
Quana blushed. "Yeah, he's cute, and nice. I see him in Vanseb all the time..." She sighed, her mood visibly dampened. "But mom would never allow it."
"She doesn't like guys who wear skirts?"
Quana laughed, but didn't reply, seeming a bit embarrassed. They fell silent for a bit.
"So, what was that bivouac thing?"
"Oh, well, it provides a secure connection between the embassies, public buildings, palaces, and my home. I'm sorry if I..." The color of her face changed to that of Astroturf.
"That's okay. I think I understand."
Tama tapped Quana with her tail. "Kreah ge'l cahna?"
"Matt Gannon."
"Maltuje nar kreah ge'l oalesa pyoci gosa gac moqo peraha tibu."
"Reem!" Quana shouted. "Yok!"
"Tuc," Tama said in a scolding tone. "Feut ge'l hifarud ticoh jaogo'h, glaapua gosa qugu ge'lgac bea docuinu tupaha qilahami kai gac pugot ge'glaap gosa hib jopotaju kai keucam."
Quana turned around, looking guiltier than before. "Mom wants to know what you want in your cage."
Matt paled. "But I don't want to be in a cage! Tell her!"
Quana clutched her mother's arm, giving her a pleading look. "Reem, ge'l yi-"
"Guv pisoqo ip sohenogi coamurugi, Quana. Pisoqo jub gazua kreah gosajaii feut kai tiks ge'l ticoh jaogo'h."
Quana gave Matt an apologetic smile. "She says it's just a hypothetical question, like, in case you get captured. She only wants to make sure you're comfortable."
"It's not a nice hypothetical question. Are you certain nobody's going to put me in a zoo?"
The look on her face said she didn't know.
"Okay...hypothetically...If I have to live in a cage for the rest of my life, I'm not sure anything would make me comfortable." Matt's eyes watered as he looked away. "I think the only thing I'd want in a cage with me is the bible...and you."
"Aww! That's so sweet!" Grinning, Quana relayed the message.
The big female tapped her chin, silently staring at Matt for a moment. "Ge'l gac bea poiagupu de ip Abreya. Maltuje ge'l feut ge'l gahagi hifarud...kreah ruhd lajuje welk coz darulteb biofa?"
Quana looked like she'd been slapped. "Reem! Hua yigiwi maltuje ge'l shnarf!"
Matt stared at her nervously.
Quana pleaded with her mother some more, then shook her head in resignation, sitting down next to him.
"Don't you guys have a universal translator or something?"
"Sorry, no. Your language isn't popular enough to have a translating system assigned to it."
"Oh." He sighed. "Is there some way I can go back and get my food out of your ship?"
"I'm not sure she trusts either one of us in the ship anymore. But let me ask."
After a short talk, the queen agreed to have servants bring the items.
"What was that thing we were riding in the other tunnel?" When Quana gave him a blank look, he added, "The monster with the seats."
"That's a Basuea."
"How does it work? Is it alive?"
"Not in the traditional sense of the word. It's sort of like...coral. It's complicated. Basuea grow onto the machinery and bond with it, and feed off photosynthesis so that the parts operate on minimal electricity."
Matt followed the females aboard a second tram, which stopped after a few minutes in a cave-like area with walls and pillars coated in gold drippings, golden orbs and mini stalactites dripping from the ceiling.
Matt stepped out of the tram, staring out the ornately framed windows.
The lights dimmed, and the atonal din of alien music poured out from some hidden location. White pillow shaped things, like mutant marshmallows, dropped from the ceiling, illuminated by flashing blue strobe lights. A haughty looking male in a red jewel covered robe strode into view, giving Quana a flourishing bow.
Some prefer candlelight and cello music, Matt thought. To each his own, I guess.
Quana let out a horrified shout. "Nabal!"
The queen gave Quana a look that seemed to say `Have fun, kids!' "Higiwi azulfine, yalnovibu." She left the room.
Nabal took Quana's tail in his hands and kissed it. "Kee, qiol dotasa fuqapeh. Becuro cikib jagbeo'h."
Quana snapped her tail out of the male's clutches, slapping him in the face with it for good measure. Matt chuckled.
Nabal shot Matt a sneering glance, and the two Abreyas got into an argument.
Although ignorant of the language, Matt could hear the arrogance in the male's voice, and Quana was having none of it.
"Parehe chik midhohu hib ip fipogue de kehag qiol," said Quana.
The male answered, "Rajua, biti gik yihib fapateb. Bea scrumsaarg giwi dutio derako. Gik pikhi hib kenujo'h gosa kolapue detebebakiga brigapsom, jub gisnaa kusele suka brifoqipi."
"I'd rather kiss a Wookiee."
Matt laughed out loud.
"Kreah byaruhd?"
"Hua ucukih hua oalesa dudpim duhem. You're ugly and your mother dresses you funny."
Matt chuckled. It's too bad Nabal has no idea what she's saying.
"Feut chik pikhi moacibi, moacibi huamoqo Wava."
"Cikib pimqam, gehgapeqak repisita—"
The male grabbed Quana's hand, rubbing the back of his wrist against her palm. The princess yanked her hand away with an angry shout, but he only responded by seizing her in his arms and kissing her.
Matt watched in surprise as his girlfriend, looking green as pea soup, wound back her fist and punched Nabal in the face.
He winced when he saw the guy spat out teeth. A simple slap probably would have sufficed, he thought. Matt was glad to have never made her that angry.
The two argued more heatedly. The result: Nabal stomping away in disgust.
Quana placed a hand on Matt's shoulder. "Sorry you had to see all that."
"No problem. It's not your fault." He stared at a staircase shaped like folds of tree fungus. "So...this is the `house,' huh?"
She nodded.
A female in a shiny red-orange bodysuit descended the staircase, accompanied by a large bug-like automoton. Matt stared at the slate gray face with the long beak-like nose, smirking at her meticulously braided blonde cornrows. The collar of her outfit hung upon, revealing a neck covered in silky cream colored fur framed by black.
For a moment, his eyes traveled downwards, eyes tracing the eyeball flower pattern of her jumpsuit around the curves of her body before ashamedly redirecting his gaze to her face.
Giggling, the stranger waved her tail, then gave Quana a low bow. "Geigy! Givhib mese depen tiks nagsha hua gacih bea quixip de chik kijuteb. Kreah guki hua jaii coz chik nogness, geigy gorfohi?" The stranger's voice sounded monotone, almost robotic.
Quana chatted with her for a bit.
Matt found the female's grape purple eyes staring at him. "Kai bisa ticrud damuqegu narun chik raulo'h con chik?"
"Hi," said Matt.
The stranger looked worried until Quana jabbered something to her. The cornrowed stranger smiled. "Dusaq. Dana Dista Tonber. Kreah chik cahna?"
"Uh," Matt stammered, staring at the offered tail with awkward bewilderment. "Dahna...Matt."
"Matt," said Quana. "This is Dista Tonber, my personal servant."
With a nervous grin, Matt stuck out his hand.
Dista only stared at him, her previously colorless skin flushing a bright neon green.
With a laugh, Quana whispered something in Dista's ear, making her face even more colorful.
Quana grinned. "Try it again. She didn't understand what you were doing."
Matt extended his hand and Dista shook it, giggling in nervous bewilderment.
The two females broke into conversation, leaving Matt to stare awkwardly at the proceedings.
About five minutes later, Quana stretched and sighed, "Well, Matt, I guess it'll be awhile before they bring your things down. How about we take a tour?"
"Great! Show me everything!"
Quana marched a few steps up the staircase. "I'd take you through the banquet room and the kitchen, but that would just be cruel."
Matt chuckled. "It's not that cruel."
Quana stepped back down. "If you really don't mind..." She led him through a large fleshy membrane into a long gray rectangular room, where a large banquet table stood, surrounded by fat sycamore leaf shaped chairs.
Alien bones and sinew grew from the table, its surfaces covered with smooth translucent cartilage.
As Matt poked at a metallic spinal column on the back of a chair, a membrane at the end of the room squished open, and a female in a trenchcoat patterned with spore designs placed something like oil trays in front of each burgundy cushioned seat.
She and Matt made eye contact as she set out implements. The female winked, smiled at him, tapped her tail merrily.
Noting how Quana rolled her neck in response, and the displeased expression on her face, Matt looked away. What, he thought. She's in a trenchcoat, and you've got a guy in a skirt.
With seemingly forced indifference, Quana made a sweeping motion with her arm. "Here's the Accurbron, where we eat. Sometimes emissaries and politicians will eat at the end of the table, or closer if they're really important. Let's go to the Baclofen."
That happened to be a round room containing drum shaped stoves, a sink-like contraption, and rows of large egg shaped cooking devices.
The scents of exotic foods wafted through the air, some tantalizing, others revolting to the human nose. Abreyas dressed in rubbery overalls and mushroom shaped hats, young and old, rushed about preparing food with legs, claws, tentacles, worm bodies, eye stalks and thorny shells, nearly all of them appearing to be poisonous to humans, grabbing ingredients and tools with their tails with practiced ease.
One male used his left hand to drain a skillet of meat into a sieve in his tail while simultaneously using his right to scrape the substance around to avoid spillage.
An old couple with intertwined tails chopped and rinsed green plants while a short male sprinkled spices on an eight eyed bat creature, simultaneously tossing a skillet full of alien fricassee over a fire with its tail. A gray skinned female next to him shoved a scaly cube into one of the egg devices while digging a roller out of a drawer at the same time. Matt sensed that the two cooks didn't like each other.
Weirdly enough, the chefs mostly entered the room by means of a couple big, but low `mouse hole'-like tunnels around the bottom of the walls. "It's a sign of social status," Quana explained.
A chef shoved past Matt with a profuse Wava apology.
"Geigy," said Dista. "Gikib qiapukteb weh briqako brikirsag."
"Dista, hibbea varbia!" Quana replied. "Guv ticoh pisoqo coz ip semu bridoedok. C'mon, Matt." She pushed him back. "We're getting in the way."
Matt followed Quana to the foyer and into an art gallery. Fascinated by all the unusual creative media, Matt broke away from his tour guide, wandering around the exhibits.
The paintings moved, the sculptures danced, and somehow the artists had even learned to make sculptures out of light itself. He lost track of time, the sounds of conversation and footsteps barely registering in his consciousness.
Quana tapped him on the shoulder. "You want to see the other rooms?"
Matt snapped to attention. "Sure!"
They strolled down a blue corridor shaped like the insides of a rib cage, rows of long windows overlooking the forest. When Matt stepped closer to the glass, the dizzying view caused him to suck in his breath and step backwards. "Quana, how far off the ground are we?"
"In...Earth measurements..." Quana rolled her eyes back into her head a moment. "I'm not sure, roughly the height of Mt. Everest."
Matt swallowed hard.
The gray faced one smiled at Matt, gazing into his eyes. "Mot...Hojitahua gurabo rua qako. Kreah ticoh guv jiaz guomik juzih coz?"
Quana muttered something to her. Whatever she said caused the servant to stop talking to him.
They stepped into the mezzanine level of a library, marching down a spiral staircase. Matt stared at a large model of a tree city set up on a nearby table.
"The Ramprol is where we study."
Matt pointed to a shelf full of slimy green eggs. "What are these for? Having new relatives?"
Quana chuckled, shook her head. "Those are Arprovenals. Information pods. I'd show you how they work, but the Ultram is broken."
Matt walked to a shelf, frowned at all the literature he couldn't read, and gave up, wandering up the balcony.
At the end of the room, stood an eight foot tall jellyfish thing with hundreds of tentacles sticking out of it. He fiddled with a tentacle experimentally, and it made a pained groaning sound that made him jump back.
"It plays music. Here. I'll show you." Quana seated herself in front of it, manipulating tentacles so they glowed and hummed harmonically. She operated some with her hands, others with her feet and tail. It came across as a messy disconnected series of noises. After playing like this for about eight minutes, she stood up and bowed.
Matt winced. "Was that music?"
Quana looked like she'd been slapped. "Of course it was! That was the Nifflewop by Yelna Noristan! I've practiced that song for an entire year!"
"Um, it's, uh, good," he stammered, red faced. "Real interesting. I'm...just not used to...Nifflebops. I'm sure you did great, I'm just..."
"Uncultured?"
"Yes! I'm...not familiar with the classics!"
Quana cleared her throat. "How about we go look at the Treivanox?"
"Nah," Matt joked. "I'm going to stay here and peruse the literature."
She laughed. "Someday, you might!"
The two females jabbered excitedly to one another as they continued down the hallway. Once or twice they pointed to him, making him blush at the imagined conversations.
They entered a big white rubber room with designs painted on the walls and floor. Large round hoops hung from the ceiling at either far end, with matching low, hockey style nets down below. The cushy padding sprang up beneath Matt's feet as he walked across it like an inflatable kid's castle. "What is this place?"
"We play Treivadel in here. You throw a rubber ball through the hole on top with your hands, and knock a puck through the goal on the bottom with your tail at the same time."
"Sounds challenging."
"To you, yes, but it's fun."
Dista muttered something to Quana.
The princess shook her head "Yok."
Chuckling, Matt bounced his way to a door, trying the handle.
Dista pushed him back. "Yok. Lan."
She bowed to Quana, offering something like an apology.
"What?" Matt stammered.
"It's...an open bath. You never know who's in there. Abreya families often bathe together."
"You bathe together naked?"
Quana gave him a quick nod.
"Gross." He shook his head in disgust, pointing at the other door. "What about that one?"
Quana shook her head. "Same kind of thing. It's like a spa. Well, certain types of spas."
"What's a Rocamib?"
"It's a...static...generator. We find it soothing to...electrify ourselves with static until our hair sticks up."
"You're right. I might get too much of a charge out of it."
She elbowed him.
"What else can't I see?"
"Well, there's also the Jisudo. It's a big box full of fragrant dust that we roll in. We also find that therapeutic."
"I feel sorry for the guy who changes the litter."
"Funny."
"Okay, so what next?"
Quana put a hand on her hip, staring at the ceiling. "Um..."
Something screeched like a duck call at the volume of a semi horn.
"Oh! You can have dinner! Your things are here!"
Matt bounced to the door, then stopped. "How am I going to cook here? The kitchen was full of pe...Abreyas."
"It should be easier to use the servant entrance. Come with me."
A red spider-like machine awaited Matt at the foyer, its eight legs and broad flat abdomen glistening like it had just arrived from the factory. A group of males and females in green bodysuits and black leather vests stood in at ease position around the device, their silly looking antennae headbands gently bobbing with residual momentum from running.
Quana signed for the delivery on a device, then dismissed the servants. Matt thought he heard the green clad Abreyas joking amongst themselves about humans and earth, but didn't know the language enough to be certain.
The princess opened an enormous lid on the machine's gaster, showing him his things piled inside a trunk-like compartment big enough to hide a body inside. He quickly found what he wanted for supper.
He frowned at the pile of the remaining possessions covering the shag carpeted interior. "Do I need to take all this stuff out?"
Quana shook her head. "You can leave it in. This Nermodyne technically belongs to me."
She put his items in a bag, leading him to a servant `mouse hole.' "I hope you don't mind going in this way. It's not a good idea for you to go through the Accurbron." She unlocked its door with a code. "After you."
Matt balked at the sight of the dark tunnel that lay inside. "There aren't any pests in here, are there?"
"No, they fumigated for muadwomps and grues a week ago."
Shrugging, Matt got down on all fours, crawling in with his bag of food.
"Mom hates it when I do this," the princess said behind him. "She says it's not proper for my caste, but I don't care."
When Matt reached the end of the tunnel and stood up, she said, "You'd look cute with a tail."
Matt blushed.
"What do you think you'll need to cook your dinner with?"
Matt asked for the typical cooking instruments. "Your planet's water is just hydrogen and oxygen, right?"
"Correct. We do not live on silicone or ammonia, Mr. Scifi." She spoke to the cooks, and they brought him some dishes. Once Quana had shown him how to operate the devices, he got started, setting a pot of rice to boil on the stove.
"You can use the Ifex. It's faster."
"What's an Ifex?"
Quana grabbed the pot, sticking it in an egg shaped device.
"Won't that make sparks?"
"No, an Ifex heats food right in the can, as long as it's not a sealed can." She pushed some buttons and the device lit up, humming like an electric fan instead of a microwave. "It will be about five minutes."
A spotty faced servant stepped in, giving Quana a bow. "Varbia Quana, geigy bixok Tama jutbuc rua kimeruce fito bea cemeko jobumun."
Quana shot Matt an apologetic glance. "I'm sorry. I've got to eat with Nabal." She and Dista walked out of the room.
The Ifex made a noisy squawk. Matt popped the door open, frowning as a burnt popcorn smell filled his nostrils. "Great. Just great," he muttered as he pulled out the pot of blackened rice.
After giving the stuff to a kitchen worker for disposal (the alien ate most of it), he cooked the next batch on the stove, which worked a lot better.
Although Matt had packed silverware, the servants had neglected to include anything but a spatula in the machine. He'd have to make do with just that. As he ate, a female chef, offered him a clothespin implement and a thing resembling a knife edged credit card, showing him how to eat with them. In efforts to impress Quana, Matt actually practiced using the implements.
Hearing a small barking sound, Matt looked up and saw a male chef crying. Matt felt sorry for him, but didn't want to try anything to console him because he didn't know him that well and didn't know the reason.
As he stared, a female breathed on her hand and touched three fingers to his cheek. They held tails.
The same gesture Quana had given him before he knew she was an alien. All this time, he thought it had been something she made up, some kind of thing they did on television shows or something. It wasn't.
Matt furrowed his brow, devouring more food.
After he'd eaten a few helpings, Quana came slowly shuffling through the entrance with her head down.
Sighing, she plopped on the stool at his table, casting Dista an irritated glare when she joined her.
Quana looked into Matt's eyes, her expression becoming more pleasant. "I'm sorry. My mom's crazy. Your bible is right. `Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fatted ox and hatred with it.'" Her tail snapped like a cat. "Mom has all the details of the wedding planned already. I tried discouraging her by requesting the most impossible and expensive things I could think of, but it didn't work, so I tried to further discourage her by asking that we invite the poor and homeless to the wedding. She got so mad that she threatened to bring you out and show everyone that you're human, so you can go to the zoo. Nabal got so curious about our conversation that she almost did. Fortunately, I drove him out of the room by insinuating that he contracted kuzleg from all those females he's been with."
"Um, okay," Matt chuckled. "Is it over between you and him?"
Quana rolled her eyes. "No. I had to keep you safe, so the wedding is going through as planned. I told mom I just wanted Nabal to go away for a little while. Also, I managed to convince most of them you were a plaid sea creature. Hopefully everyone bought it."
Matt waved a utensil at the pot. "I can't eat any more. You want some?"
"I'd hate to use up your reserves."
"I think I've still got plenty."
Quana ate a few small bites, then pushed the food aside. He could tell she didn't care for it.
"You got a doggie bag or something?"
She scooped his meal into a spherical metal object, dropping it in a drawer. "That will keep it fresh for awhile. C'mon. I'll show you the rest of the palace."
Matt followed her back through the servant tunnel, averting his eyes until he reached the hallway and no longer had a view of Quana's derriere.
Dista, being not nearly as prudish, giggled and muttered something to Quana when she crawled out after him, which caused the princess to to elbow her and mutter something back.
Looking embarrassed, the princess led Matt into a misty greenhouse at the hallway's end.
Through the windows, a red-orange sun set in a purple sky, its fading golden beams casting their fading warmth upon a rainbow assortment of plants, flowers with leaves like a peacock's tail, ferns that grew in winged tiers, eyeball-like growths at their tips...Some plants seemed to have hooves, or armor. Some resembled jewels.
The plants bloomed, stretched out and adjusted their position in the sunlight.
Quana grinned. "Beautiful, isn't it? We have Bencap's best gardeners working here. This Cotriptamazole contains over one hundred of our planet's rarest biological specimens."
"Wow." Matt stared as ugly flying insects collected red-purple sap from lily-like plants with swollen fish mouths.
"Rurak," she said. "The Cawbas take it into their nest and make a sort of caviar out of it."
Matt followed her, wide eyed, around the greenhouse, listening with fascination as she explained the various plants, flowers like war bonnets, plants with drumhead blossoms that thumped out rhythms like heartbeats, preading white feathered bird plants, among many other things.
At one end of the place, burgandy water gushed around clusters of fiddlehead plants bearing leaves like oars. A light dusting of snow puffed from machines on the ceiling, frosting tangering colored flowers. Inky wiggling blobs squirmed about underneath. The bulbs of the flowers spread open, petals displaying a little light show.
In between a pair of giant ferns, Matt found what he thought to be a yucca plant. As he reached forward to touch its silky, candy colored leaves, Dista shouted something at him.
"Careful!" Quana cried, pulling him back. "That's a Jognob! They've been known to eat large animals!"
Seconds later, a massive cluster of white hairlike tentacles, exploded from several trumpet-like leaves, snatching hungrily at the air. Matt let out a frightened shout, jumping away in shock.
Quana took a deep breath. "Let's...go somewhere safer."
Next door to the greenhouse lay a vast room with a rainbow colored marble floor, tall windows bedecked in thin lacy gold, and a huge color changing curtain that covered an entire wall.
"Let's do some Abreya dances." Quana dragged him across a giant family crest. "Take my tail."
Matt took it, and Quana demonstrated a number of shuffles, spins and pivots for him. "This is going to be tricky, since you have no tail, but let go of my tail and go like this..."
He did, and Quana turned, sidestepped, shuffled, spun her tail around, and hopped on one foot. Turning red in the face, Matt followed her movements the best he could, but they proved to be so awkward that she burst out laughing.
"Sorry. It's just funny to watch you do that." She twirled, shuffled her feet, scooped Matt in her arms and whirled him around, leading him in a series of moves. Matt just stumbled awkwardly along, stepping on her feet and tail several times as he struggled to keep pace.
After they had danced for some time, Quana stopped in mid-step, clutching his hand. "Well, I've shown you all the major stuff we can get to without an armed escort. Want to go back and play a modified game of basketball? Or maybe read some books? I can translate for you..."
"Actually, I'd like to take a shower and go to bed."
"We don't have showers, but we have a pool. You'll have to use that to get cleaned up."
"That sounds cheap. I thought you were royalty."
"It's not cheap. It's actually a sign of wealth to own a Paryiz."
"Fine. Is there somewhere I can change into my trunks?"
Quana nodded, then frowned. "Wait. This won't work. Look at yourself. You're dressed in fake fur. If you take off your outfit, everyone will see that you're hairless."
"All right, if you don't mind me smelling bad..."
She grimaced, but said nothing.
The guest rooms lay up the `tree fungus' staircase, along a blue hallway shaped like the interior of a lung, walls and ceiling seeming to be pitted with fleshy bronchi and alveoli.
She led him into a room resembling the chamber of a heart, with slick, veiny walls that seemed to spasm at irregular intervals. Near the far wall lay a giant alien zucchini, with a slimy looking blob filling its open cavity like a mattress. A curtain of a stringy substance like pumpkin guts dangled down from giant flower petals on the canopy, swaying gently in the air as it changed colors and squirmed. A pair of tuber-like pieces of furniture flanked this bed on either side, apparently dressers.
Quana gestured to the zucchini thing. "There's your bed!"
"Lovely," Matt said with disgust. "Well, I guess I'd better turn in."
"The Nermodyne is downstairs if you want it."
Matt had fiddled with the machine's frustrating opening mechanism during a fruitless search for his silverware, so he had no problem getting his toiletries. Getting a random servant to let him through the `mouse hole' had been more difficult at the time.
Quana and Dista got into an argument, ending with Quana sighing in resignation.
"See?" Quana groaned. "This is why I left in the first place. I have no privacy here."
Matt laughed. "Is Dista going to watch you go to the bathroom?"
She rolled her eyes. "Just about! Mom's making her monitor and report everything I do."
Quana showed him into a round red room containing statuary and a giant pitcher plant thing with a cushiony mouth. "That's a toilet back there." She toyed with a device shaped like a bird's head on the wall, showing him how to make it spray water.
The two Abreyas left him alone to use the facilities. When Matt finished, he got lost in the hallway, testing all the wrong doors. Quana showed him the way back.
With a warm smile, she pulled back the curtain of wiggling pumpkin guts from the bed, gesturing to the blob with her tail.
Pushing aside his revulsion, Matt took off his shoes and laid down, cringing as the thing squished around him like a waterbed.
"You think you'll be okay for awhile?"
"I'll manage. Eyap mez, Quana."
She smirked. "Eyap mez." She walked out.
Matt stretched out on the greasy blob and closed his eyes, but only ended up tossing and turning and staring at the color changing bed curtains for an hour.
Giving up, he retrieved his sociology textbook and stared at it until he drifted off.
Matt had just barely begun to dream when he felt someone shoving him, hissing things about his life being in danger.
Cracking his bleary, watering eyes, he caught sight of a female body in a tangerine colored servant's suit. He closed his eyes again.
The person shoved again.
Matt's eyes could barely open. "Go away, I'm trying to sleep." Rubbing his eyes only got a lash stuck in there, making things even worse.
"Nabal found out what you are! They're going to put you in a zoo! You've got to wake up so I can get you out of here!"
Too sleepy to comprehend, Matt just smiled, shutting his eyes again.
The female kept shaking him. "C'mon, wake uuup! Wake up, Wusu butt!"
Matt moaned and sat up, rubbing his eyes some more. "Quana?" His eyes watered, refusing to stay open. "I can't see! I've...got allergies or something!"
"Sorry. You'll just have to deal with it."
He blinked several times, but could only register bits of his surroundings. The stringy curtains. A pair of fleshy doors. Piles of his clothing and personal possessions scattered across the floor. The spider robot with its trunk open.
Squinting, Matt noticed that Quana had a Neflah on her head. "Are we going to your church?"
Instead of answering, she gestured to the machine. "Climb in here. Nabal's people are coming to get you. They won't let us go to the Takofuea, and they're going to put you in a cage. We've got to get out of here." She rapped the robot with her tail. "Quick. Get in."
In a groggy daze, Matt stumbled over there. "You want me in here?"
"Guep."
"It'll fit me?"
"Yes. Hurry!"
"Can I breathe in there?"
She nodded, letting out an impatient sigh.
"I guess I don't have a choice, do I?"
"Sorry, Matt."
"Whatever." He stuck his foot inside the opening, then stopped. "Wait. What about my things?"
Quana mumbled something, but she had pulled a scarf over her face, making her speech indistinct.
"What?"
She loosened the scarf. "I can only fit in so much. I can put some stuff in there with you, or on top of you, but you're going to have to leave a lot of it behind."
"All right. Put the clothing in last. I need the food. I can wear the same thing three days in a row if I have to."
She nodded. "Gip'm."
"Take some of those cereals out of the package and just throw the bag in."
"What about pests?"
"All right. Keep the boxes, but crush them if you have to."
He climbed inside the alien shag carpet lined compartment, curling up in a ball so he could fit. Quana piled everything on top of him, cans, boxes, bottles and bags, cramming them in wherever she found a space between body parts. He heard the rumple of cloth, then it got dark and the lid slammed shut.
For several minutes, the machine silently rocked back and forth, jostling groceries every which way with a noisy rumble. The packages pelted Matt from all sides, a flying can here, a jab from a pointy box there, and he had nothing with which to cushion the blows save for a few random bags of rice. Despite this, and being hot from his own breath in the cramped little space, Matt managed to shift his body into a position of relative comfort and fall asleep.
After a long, strange dream about sitting in a pet carrier in a tsunami, the shaking stopped, and Matt felt a drafty sensation and light hitting his eyelids.
Matt craned his neck, looking up.
His blurry vision cleared. Outside the lid, an orange suited figure stuffed the last few things from the robot into a leather bag hanging from a mass of blackish brown feathers. Grimacing at the smells of pesticide, old chocolate, and burnt paper assailing his nostrils, Matt swatted away rainbow polka dotted flies the size of shooter marbles. "Quana?"
A scarf covered face popped up above him. "Shh!"
Matt turned back around. "Where are we?" he whispered.
"A Grunkiahu barn."
"Smells like it."
Quana giggled. "And how would you know what one smells like?"
"A barn is a barn." He brushed away the swarm of flies that had gathered around him.
"Ready to get up now?"
"How long did I sleep?"
"Probably about twenty minutes or so."
"Can I get out now?"
Quana nodded. "Please. It's only a matter of time before they find us."
Matt climbed out, stretched his aching back and joints as he stared at his surroundings: A stall filled with hay and a sludgy white-purple mess of bird droppings that squished unpleasantly under his bare feet. He could see nothing over the tall gray walls. "Quana, where are my shoes?"
"Um, a Muadwomp got in your room last night, and...sort of tore them to shreds."
"What!"
She shrugged. "Sorry. I didn't have time to go back in the ship and get your other ones."
At one end of the stall, a turkey-like beast the size of a horse shook its wings, neck and flanks in spasms to shake off the ever-present flies.
"That's...a Grunkiahu? Like the one that broke the window?"
Quana nodded.
"That thing isn't going to attack us, is it?"
"No. It's tame, Matt."
The creature's pig ears wiggled, its alligator tail snapping as it shook off flies using its body as a landing pad. When Quana stroked its neck, it stomped its scaly bird claws nervously, colorful toucan beak tilting in quick, jerky movements as large black eyes peered sideways at them.
Quana shifted the motorcycle-like seat of a saddle into a sturdy position on the creature's back, tightening a row of fastening straps. The creature responded by nervously sticking its head through a slot between a metal gate and a cage above it, snorting through its nostrils.
Quana slapped the saddle. "Hop up."
Shrugging, Matt pushed under the creature's wings and jumped, grabbing a set of metal rings on the saddle.
Matt tried to swing his legs over, but couldn't make it.
After a few more botched attempts, Quana pushed him up, and he settled behind a large bump in the rear portion of the saddle.
"Move up front so this isn't awkward. I...can drive from the back seat."
Frowning, Matt hopped over the bump, grabbing the rings. The saddle shook as Quana climbed up behind him, her tail clutching a pair of black rods.
Matt felt around the bird's neck. "Where's the thingy?"
"What thingy?"
"The thing you plug your hair into to fly this thing."
Quana sighed. "You prod it to get it to move. You do know what a prod is, don't you?"
Over the bird's head, through the gate, Matt could now see a long barrel vault lined with stalls, a row of bird heads staring back at him.
A door at the end of the vault burst open, and a group of figures in black togas and fuzzy purple suits marched in.
"Quick!" Quana shouted. "Open the gate!"
Matt stared at the stone partition. "How?"
"Ponai sozogik!" Quana cried in frustration, shoving the rods into his hands. "I'm starting to wonder if you have a Wusu's brain!" She hopped off the saddle and climbed up the gate, throwing her chest over the top as she unlatched something on the opposite side.
Matt squirmed in discomfort as the males in purple yelled at them and pointed at the stall.
"Hotwaf briwoxna!" the princess shouted, dashing to the Grunkiahu's flank. The saddle rocked, and she plopped into the back seat, snatching the rods back.
Curling one rod in her tail, she pushed a button on the other, making it extend like a telescope, a set of spring loaded posts popping out from one end.
She tapped the creature's flank with the posts. It yelped.
"Um, Quana, was that really necessary? That seemed...kinda cruel."
"They have thick skins and big bodies. They can barely feel it."
"You've got two of those. What's the other one for?"
"Some Grunks need an extra jolt to get going. I hate to use it unless absolutely necessary."
The creature stomped anxiously, but didn't move. "Is it supposed to...go somewhere?"
"Guep. Squeeze its left ear."
Matt gave the piggish ear a squeeze, and the Grunkiahu jerked forward with a start, slamming the gate open with its body. Matt ducked his head down, narrowly avoiding a concussion as it scampered under the cage, out into the open.
The bird turned, bolting toward the stalls on the opposite side of the room, giant clouds of dust flying up as its large feet stomped through mounds of dirt and hay. Their pursuers coughed and yelled.
Quana tapped the creature's neck with the rod, and it turned its head, thundering right with a storm of dust in its wake.
Ahead lay a gaping hangar door, beyond, deformed trees set against a backdrop of velvety purple, the first rays of light barely peeking over the horizon.
"Akaraka!" Quana cried, slapping the rod against the Grunk several times.
With a sound like a howling cow-rooster, the Grunk broke into a gallop, thundering to the exit. No ground lay outside the door, only a saucer platform and the tops of trees.
Cold wind buffeted Matt's face as the Grunk galloped across a vast open surface smoother than a linoleum kitchen floor. No walls, stairs, ramps or secure landing places. He sucked in his breath, hands turning slick and clammy on the saddle rings as the creature's claws tapped rapidly across the wide empty area. "Uh, Quana? Where are we going?"
She pointed to the trees. "That way."
"I don't see any ground!"
"Matt. The Grunkiahu has wings."
Matt swallowed. "You're kidding!"
"Think about what's brushing against your feet."
"I'm trying not to."
"C'mon, Matt! This is no different than the Skycord!"
"Actually, it's a lot different. There isn't a pretense of safety here."
"Oh Matt!" Quana sighed. "Too bad. We've got to fly." She stowed away her head covering.
Matt clenched his eyes shut, wrapping his arms tightly around the creature's neck, fingers digging deep into its tough scaly hide, praying by everything holy to be delivered from his fate.
The moment Matt cracked his eyelids, the edge of the slick expanse loomed close. He whispered the 23rd Psalm.
The Grunk's vast wings shifted then spread, stretching several feet on either side. There's no way this thing can fly, Matt thought. Gravity can't support wings that big, except it's a pterodactyl.
He dug his nails deeper, hoping he'd be on top when the creature slammed into the ground. Please let it be a pterodactyl. Please let it be a pterodactyl.
Matt repeated the psalm, pretended not to see the Grunkiahu's left claw grabbing the edge of the platform.
Quana pressed against Matt's shoulder, rapped the Grunkiahu's neck with the blunt end of the rod.
The creature's wings flapped.
Its leg muscles flexed.
It leaped into nothing.
Matt screamed.
[0000]
ALIEN CHARACTERS:
Choxu: Prince of the Voorop nation, previous suitor for Quana Falcameer.
Dista: Personal servant of Quana Falcameer.
Nabal: Prince of Kadegni, fiancee of arranged marriage to Quana Falcameer.
Quana Falcameer: Princess of Pathilon.
Rusa: A male arranged to be Quana's suitor.
Tama Falcameer: Queen of Pathilon.
Thiftreda: Princess of another nation bordering Bencap.
GLOSSARY
Abreya: Furry aliens with bare humanoid faces and hands, long opossum-like tails, and feet resembling human hands.
Auno: Powerful subatomic unit, providing energy surpassing that of nuclear fission or fusion.
Bariafu: A special cloaking system for Pathilonian spaceships.
Bedzyk: First female ever created, according to Gaxea.
Beaurbak: Security device on a spaceship.
Boomosi: Far rural area of Pathilon, inhabitants known to be uneducated bumpkins.
Bub Tig: Special entree enjoyed by Abreyas.
Chirqui: Obelisks that absorb essences of sacrifices, transporting them to Kwibron, for the honor of Ponai.
Deglos: Planet near Abreya planet Pathilon.
Deoring: Paradise planet described in Holy Gaxea.
Duvalha: A dictatorial nation of Kaybok system history.
Duwaky: Transit tunnel.
Ferleok: Coldest of the eleven planets of the Kaybok planetary system.
Fetmip: Chemical that can change coloration of your blushing and blood.
Fopakna: Quaceb anointing ritual.
Fotebja: Abreya entertainment device.
Fubalca: Special knockout gas developed by Abreyas. Contains a percentage of breathable air.
Futamer: Planet destroyed in Auno wars of Duvalha.
Gaxea: The core Quaceb religious book.
Gogibi: Cryogenic stasis machine.
Gojot: "Living room" of a spacecraft.
Gi'uz: Ceremonial Quaceb headwear for males and females.
Haxgorg: Personal toilet waste disposal appliance.
Hirejosi: A sawing machine.
Hoyroq: Premium sacrificial animal used to expunge Quacebs from their sins.
Iznolgu: Environment suit.
Jiticuha: A monastic organization.
Jufuceri: Planet in which law treaties regarding Auno energy were drafted.
Kadegni: Country located close to border of Bencap.
Kaiaquke: Stellar nursery
Kecuru: Special mineral found on planet Deglos.
Kicabaii: Special gas that exists on Kugifogelo, has unusual properties that affect coloration of its atmosphere.
Kisostrom: A book in the Quaceb Holy Gaxea.
Kugifogelo: Planet nearest Abreya planet Pathilon.
Kwibron: Core religious site for the Quaceb faith.
Lemwag: Abreya showering cubicle.
Lerilite: Laser sawing element on an Hirejosi.
Lyuntaaz: Quaceb religious observance similar to passover and Hanukkah.
Medufa: "Planet of Temptation/Downfall" according to Gaxea.
Mimapi: Matriarchs of the Gaxea.
Miricacci Sector: A galaxy containing the Abreya universe.
Nafnith: Main world altar of Quaceb faith.
Navaktos: Quaceb ceremonial mats.
Neflah: Ceremonial Quaceb headwear for females.
Obnurd: Personal toilet waste disposal appliance.
Pabizol: Vision correcting devices.
Pathilon: Planet of Abreyas.
Pija: A staple food for Abreyas, similar to wheat.
Pijaturu Festival: A grand celebration that harkens back to ancient times, regarding the harvest of Pija.
Pihodai: A group of Abreya Quacebs described in the Gaxea.
Pocwam: A Quaceb saint.
Ponai: Quaceb religious name for God.
Pufedaga: Special mineral found on Ferleok.
Pulotage: Docking center at Bencap palace.
Quaceb: A monotheistic Abreya religion, or one who adheres to the religion.
Quidsy: Spaceship manufacturing company.
Rilla: First Abreya ever created, according to the Gaxea.
Rujodale: An alien type of furniture, resembling a Venus flytrap.
Rukhag: A month on the Abreya calendar.
Saholiqe: A country on one of the planets described in Gaxea.
Sihiku of Tocedopu: Alien tree of forbidden knowledge, described in the Gaxea.
Stopamoya Jerz: Famous Quaceb saint/Pocwam.
Supica: Quana's spaceship.
Takofuea: Quaceb monastery.
Tagososi Bosigoqa/"Flash Matter Transit Zone": Hidden area of space where bubbles of time can be encountered.
Tarru Lorejiba: Matrimony. Literally "Binding of tails."
Tuldil of Fuceti: A second version of the tree of forbidden knowledge, according to the Gaxea.
Vanseb: Quaceb religious temple.
Vemorik: Communications device.
Voorop: Nation adjacent to Bencap.
Wava: "Tongue", the language of Abreyas.
Wighesh: Dress-like garment worn by male Abreyas.
Witad: Spirit of Ponai.
Wodov: Priest or priestess of Quaceb faith.
Wusu: A chicken-like creature used as livestock.
Zorlaeba: "The Evil One."
Zux Leem: An alien fruit.
WAVA LESSONS:
Note: These aren't solid rules. I got tired of trying to trying to write stuff in Wava after awhile and just threw everything together. Sometimes I didn't even spell the alien words correctly.
Bitu: Indicates future tense.
Bri: Used before a word to indicate plural forms. Often used at the beginning of a word.
Cik: Can be used instead of Chik, as a contraction.
Gi: Add to word to indicate "we," such as Gisnaa ("We can").
Iga: Add to word to make possessive.
`Ih: Used to indicate past tense.
Teb: Indicates action progressively, like "ing" in English. Example: "Walking" would be "Jujagteb", not "Jujago".
O'h: Past tense ending in a vowel.
Paga: "Quality of being". Example: "Borpaga" (Worriment).
Yi: Functions the same as "not" when added to words.
Contractions: Words can be combined into contractions. Example: Guki'ua=Guki+Hua ("May I"), Chibya=chik+bya (you were)
NUMBERS:
Dool: 10
Rey: 9
Fat: 8
Dolsike: 7
Leeg: 6
Diete: 5
Ri: 4
Oim: 3
Hanna: 2
Bid: 1
LEXICON:
Aaberahu: Solely/strictly/alone
Abukos: Nothing
Adanep: Behavioral model
Ahdep: Halt!
Aiju: Closer
Algot: Any
Andere: Amen
Aoqigoia: Neutralize
Artane: Beacon
Audep: Halt!
Ausuhi: Force (v)
Azulfine: Upstairs
Batua: Dressed/wearing
Bea: The
Bebak: Other
Becuro: Finally
Baueco: Bless/guide
Benuforte: Prophet
Benuton: Prophecy
Biofa: There
Bisa: Who
Biti: Let/allow
Bixok: Queen
Boine: Bless
Boqadi: Proof
Boru: Worry
Bya: Was
Cacurei: View (n)
Cajbei: Trouble/problem
Cagote: Ignorant
Cao: Far
Capamfe: Wonderful
Casiku: Recognize
Ceo: Her
Chik: You
Chisda: Heaven
Chuzka: Idiot
Clozaril: Disable
Coamurugi: Hypothetical
Con: With
Coz: As/for/from
Culumafa: Worship/adore
Daced: Plan
Dahna: I am
Darulo: Mate/Have Sex
De: Of
Debotoke: Consider
Demofoa: Order
Depogast: Reenter
Derako: Soon
Dete: Each
Devibo: Pagan/unbeliever/heathen
Docuinu: Best
Dotasa: Future
Duboqidu: Grant/allow
Dudpim: Rather/Prefer
Duhem: Die (verb)
Duquedaka: System
Duigoje: Separated
Dutio: Happen/occur
Eidaraba: Guess/suppose
Eiko/wof: Now
Emilihu: Threat
Eyap Mez: Good night
Fapai: Fight (verb)
Fepahoi: Choice/option
Feut: Whether/if
Fipogue: Waste
Fito: At/to
Foqipi: Child
Fuqapeh: Bride
Gac: Have
Gahagi: Has
Gapsom: Affection
Garu: Keep
Garzok: Heathen
Gaz:u: Know
Geben: Father
Gebupega: "People" (Abreyas)
Gefmoo: Another
Gehgapeqak: Egotistical/Egomaniacal
Ge'l: He
Gibet: Them
Gik: We
Giperhofi: "Weirdo"
Gimble: Affectionate nickname like "honey".
Gingahan: Serious
Giwi: Will
Glaap: Want
Gosa: To
Gosaca: Engine
Guep: Yes
Guki: May/might/can/could
Guom: Where
Gubayo: Hand
Gurabo: About/concerning/on
Guv: It
Guvicoh: "It's" (contraction of "it is")
Ha: Or
Hapa: Eat
Hei: On
Hib: Is/are
Hieroda: Alarm
Hifarud: Ever
Higiwi: I will
Hua: Me
Huqea: Fake/false/artificial/fraud
Hurgoco: Fool
Hurota: Foolish
Ip: An/"A"
Jagbei: Return
Jagopune: Give up/surrender/leave
Jaii: Do
Jegfoj: Clever
Jeko: Also
Jiaz: Like
Jaogoa: Capture/Catch
Jocabai: These
Johoca: Side
Jomofo: Join
Jopotaju: Comfortable
Jub: So (in order that)
Jujago: Walk
Julujau: Invalid
Kai: And
Kahna: Name/"Called"
Kalaja: Political
Kee: So (interjection)
Kehag: Time
Kenuiji: Prepare
Keucam: Happy/Cheerful
Kigo: Sorry
Kimera: Present/presence
Knoli: Find/discover
Kolapibu: Sharing
Kreah: What
Kuiyo: Holy
Kulwad: Stop
Kusele: Make/Create
Labuc: By/under the order of/under/subject to
Lajuje: Word
Layd: Here
Legparf: Mean
Leijue: Thief
Liduli: Pace
Lifahu: During
Lorejiba: Bind
Maltuje: Ask
Mese: Too/very
Micha: "Little"/"small", often used affectionately.
Midasu: Truth/True
Midhohu: Honestly/seriously/truly/really/actually
Minahujo: Display/show (v)
Moacibi: Praise/Flatter
Moqo: In/inside
Muhafofo: Relationship (connection)
Najikece: Detect
Najufe: Boyfriend
Nar: Him
Narun: Male
Neebee: Search
Niblet: Kill/destroy/shut off
Nueto: Silly
Nuqida: Prison/jail
Nux: Help
Oalesa: Would
Oopuhane: Individual
Pae: Give
Paneciqa: Everywhere
Parehe: Then
Patnar: Firing
Patuihi: Defect
Pebe: Say
Pequecoja: Confess
Peraha: Cage
Pihile: Clearly/definitely
Pikhi: Need
Pimopek: Exterior
Pimqam: Self Praising/Self Important
Pisoqo: Just/only
Pofokiai: Password
Poiagupu: Heart/Mind
Pugot: Everything
Puguqe: Belong to
Pusasuji: Hide/conceal
Pyoci: Like (verb)
Qafe: Take
Qasolire: Purpose/Reason
Qecajeda: Birth
Qilahami: Treatment
Qiol: My/mine
Qoeloqe: Challenge/competition
Quako: Self
Quayhox: Fur
Qiciheli: Recording
Qidu: Table
Qugu: Certain/Sure
Rajua: Dear
Raraba: Must
Raulu: Bring
Redaheo: Nice/fine
Remabe/Reem: Mother/mom
Repisita: "Jerk" (Disagreeable Person)
Riko: Be
Ritaqomi: Approaching
Roca: Within
Rofi: By
Rua: Your
Rudibugu: Background
Ruhd: This
Rulijo: What we have?
Saojifa: Security
Scrumsaarg: Marriage
Sejucore: Planet
Shnarf: That/concerning
Siruka: Wrong
Snaa: Able/can
Sohenogi: Question
Soisofu: Family
Soqokuru: Identify
Sotukobe: Religion
Subecosu: Bother
Suka: Many/Much
Tarru: Tail
Tebesoe/Tebesque: Command
Tibu: His
Ticoh: Is
Tipohu: Add
Tiks: When
Tocedopu: Wisdom
Tohibou: Run/operate
Toihoja: Board(v)
Toib: See
Tuc: "Child" or "Baby", usually used condescendingly or as a pet name.
Tupaha: Possible
Ucuk: Speak
Umua: Thank you
Vatus: King/ruler/lord
Viravo: How
Weh: Our
Welk: Use
Xoc: Go/Going
Yalnov:
Yok: No
Yunk: Why
Zaib: Correct
Zoor: Because/since