Page 57 of Into Orbit
The starling had mostly kept quiet, flashing the occasional grin at our stoic guard, as if he found the entire situation amusing. He might have, I supposed; he seemed to have an odd sense of humour. Starlings lived long, and they tended to lose their minds after a few tens of millennia; it wasn’t entirely a surprise to find one that was slightly unhinged, especially if he had been in captivity. They weren’t made to be kept in a cell.
‘Vesper?’ the human croaked, her voice cracked and quiet.
I frowned, but the starling answered, and I realised it was his name. ‘Right here, little lodestar,’ he said. ‘Haven’t moved an inch.’
‘I feel …’ She trailed off, staring at me. ‘You’re new.’
‘I’m new,’ I agreed. ‘Greetings. I am Willow. He.’
‘Anna,’ she rasped. ‘I don’t suppose you have any water?’
I passed her the utilitarian glass next to her cot, then carefully helped her sit so she could sip at the water inside. I’d already laced it with another dose of antibiotics and painkillers.
‘I feel better,’ she said, after she’d finished.
‘You are far frombetter. But you have improved,’ I said. ‘Could you manage some food? The starling – Vesper – said that you haven’t eaten for days.’
She wrinkled her nose, but eventually nibbled at a nutrient bar from my bag. When she pushed the remainder back into my hand, she glanced at the glass wall and the Roth behind it. ‘Hello, tall, dark, and looming.’
His face didn’t change, but his eyes were fixed on her with an intensity that almost mademesquirm; I couldn’t imagine how it might make Anna feel.
‘Is he always that … attentive?’ I murmured.
‘Always,’ she answered. ‘I hated it at first, and now I’m afraid I have Stockholm Syndrome.’
I frowned at her.
She sighed. ‘A human thing. Never mind.’
‘Humans have a lot ofthings,’ I said solemnly.
She blinked at me. ‘You know humans?’
‘I knowahuman,’ I corrected. ‘Now I know two.’
‘Did your human have a nervous breakdown when you met them?’
I smiled. ‘My human walked on board our ship as if she owned it.’
‘How nice for her,’ Anna said grumpily. ‘I wish I could have done that. Instead, I was scared, and then I gotbitten, and then I got sick, and now …’ She trailed off, staring at the Roth, who met her gaze without blinking.
‘Were you injured anywhere else?’ I said carefully.
She cleared her throat. ‘Only my mind and spirit, but unless you’re a counsellor as well as a medical doctor, I suspect I will need to work through that myself. Or with Vesper,’ she went on, shooting the starling a tentative smile. ‘I don’t think we will be leaving any time soon.’
‘If you need help, I will find you help,’ the Roth said, his voice deep and throaty.
I glanced at him, surprised.
Anna sighed again. ‘I wish I could understand him.’
I frowned. ‘You don’t have a translator?’
A line appeared between her fair brows. ‘A translator?’
Anger stirred in my stomach – anger, then relief that my translator had been updated to include human languages, because otherwise, this might have been a disaster. ‘You couldn’t do it?’ I said to Vesper. ‘I thought starlings could facilitate translation without any kind of techplant.’
He gave a half-shrug, and a wide smile. ‘I am a selfish being at heart. I’ve been rather enjoying having her all to myself.’
