Page 4 of Purring, Presents, and Parties

After talking with the owner at length, Bazium realized he was desperate for the humans to have offspring. The owner believed that humans liked to engage in sexual intercourse around bedtimes. That meant he was always encouraging them to sleep.

Once Bazium explained the humans were on reproductive limiters, the owner begged for them to be taken off. The original timeline called for the couple to live with the Zalk family for half a solar, then decide if they wanted it to be more permanent or return to the compound. It was a risk because Zalk wasn’t part ofthe small group of Talins who knew humans were as smart as a Talin.

The owner didn’t realize it was the humans who decided whether they wanted children. The complicated contract the Talin owners had to sign if they wanted to foster and potentially adopt a human was filled with protections so Bazium could bring the humans back to the compound with only “general human distress” as the reason.

A private conversation with Darra and Mani verified they were perfectly happy where they were and saw no reason to return to Bazium’s crowded accommodations.

His group's recent success in finding and rescuing hundreds of humans from slave auctions, serf-like working conditions, and other poor circumstances had been a double-edged sword. More humans were living in comfort and safety on Talarian, but they were also having trouble building enclosures and cottages fast enough.

Bazium expected short tempers and maybe even fighting to break out among the humans but only a few minor squabbles had occurred so far. Ari had explained that near death was still fresh in everyone's mind, so no one was interested in being territorial yet.

Her words had been a warning, however. Left unchecked, they might end up with unhealthy crowding and growing animosity among the humans. That worry led to the program allowing a select few Talins to adopt humans.

What he couldn’t have known was that the program would take up so much of his time. It was even worse than the initial setup of their compound had been!

Eager to be with Ari, he hurried out of the compound office and practically jogged back to their little cottage. No sooner did he enter the small home than his Ident pinged.

Bazium had to fight the urge to hurl the expensive piece of technology across the room. To his relief it was Kasium, who started speaking as soon as Baz opened communications.

“I have a list of tests I need to run on Ari to sort out her problem,” he said with an excited rumble. “I need to know when you can bring her by. It will take at least four marks.”

Four marks? That was a lot of time for him to spend at the healers with Ari. It would take much of the night to rearrange his schedule for tomorrow, but Ari was worth it. He couldn’t stand to see her as she was now, missing her customary boldness and cheer.

“We’ll be there.” It was only then that he realized the cottage was quiet and the only light on was in his office. Ari hadn’t returned here?

Worry filled him. “Thank you for your gift of time and skill.” After saying the traditional thanks, he ended the communication without letting Kasium respond. It only took a few taps of his Ident to see a map of the property. Another command, and the map sent out a location request for Ari’s collar.

All the humans his group brought to Talarian agreed to wear their collars with the understanding that the human could take it off at any time. The rest of Talin society didn’t know that, but it helped with the illusion. The trackers in the collars also helped keep humans from being stolen, which had been attempted a few times.

Even though they’d been introduced less than two solars ago, owning a human pet was the fastest growing trend among Talins. Bazium worried about the few humans who’d been found by other Talins and not his group. They weren’t given the choice to become a pet and their collars were real, but at least the Committee of Pet Welfare was there to help enforce the law surrounding human comfort and treatment. It was his experience that the Committee was ruthless about enforcingtheir laws. It gave him hope that abuse would be rare and swiftly dealt with when found.

Putting those serious and weighty thoughts aside, Bazium looked for Ari. His scent glands were painfully overfull, and his arms ached to hold her.

Bazium let out a short rattle of surprise when his Ident placed Ari at Zuri’s house. He tried to connect to the main communication display in the house, but it was set to blocked. He could override and force the display to activate, but he didn’t want to disturb Zuri or Ari if they’d fallen asleep.

Clipping his Ident back to his belt, he left their little home and made his way across the compound. He knew Ari understood that everything he did was to safeguard her fellow humans. But it didn’t make his neglect any more acceptable and guilt tightened his chest.

The construction bots were still working, and he could see Goleenun and Valcinan inspecting an area. He didn’t want to bother them while they were working hard to finish within the fifteen-rotation timeline. Skirting around the active areas, Bazium jogged to Zuri’s front door then paused, unsure what to do. If they were asleep, a request for entrance would wake them up. Forcing the door open with his universal unlock code might cause them distress if they didn’t recognize him right away.

He stood there for several submarks, paralyzed with indecision, before the door slid open in front of him to reveal Ari and Zuri. The two women were leaning against each other and swaying slightly.

“Knock, knock!” Ari said.

“Who’s there?” Zuri asked before Bazium could ask Ari to clarify her words.

“Woo.” Now the two women were grinning widely at each other.

“Woo who?” Zuri responded, her eyes twinkling with laughter.

“I’m glad you're excited too!” The moment the words were out of Ari’s mouth, both humans dissolved into laughter. Their shared humor caused them to lose their collective balance. It wasn’t optimal, but fear of them tumbling to the hard floor forced Bazium to sweep them up in his arms, squishing the two women together.

Now that he was holding them close, the unmistakable fumes of alcohol filled his nose slits. “What have you been drinking?”

“Only tea!” Ari said. Her eyes were unnaturally wide, and she was forcing her mouth to stop smiling. It was an over exaggeration of the expression she wore when trying to convey honesty.

Zuri snorted. “Tea that could power something!”

The smell of alcohol, lack of coordination, and nonsensical dialogue could only mean one thing: these humans were intoxicated.

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