Page 60 of Cozy Prisons
Riff wasn’t finished. “Who debugged the satellite receiver and has patched the code on almost every bot to keep it going?”
On the opposite side of the table, Nataly was sitting in Daxus’s lap in a mirror image of her and Utharium.
“Happy to do it,” she said with a laugh.
Riff looked over at Palathum. “With all this talent and skill, why’s it so important that there’s more Talins here?”
She’d long since swallowed the bite Utharium fed her, so answering was easy. “It’s a safety issue. Right now, there are thirty humans and only sixteen Talins.”
Riff waved a finger around to indicate all the humans present. “Afraid we’ll revolt and take over the colony? Maybe make you guys wear the collars?”
Massium scoffed at the idea, but Palathum knew better than to underestimate humans. If Massium wasn’t careful, she’d find herself the target of the practical jokes the humans loved to arrange.
Actually, Palathum might encourage it. Massium needed to learn to respect human ingenuity.
“When’s the next ship arriving?” Rami asked.
Palathum explained the ship's potential arrival times between bites of food. That kicked off a playful debate among the humans about something Palathum didn’t understand.
Utharium had been right; it felt good to sit down with everyone and talk. Unlike how she was taught and trained to use communal mealtimes for information exchange, the humans used it as a time to bond and enjoy each other’s company.
Listening to them talk and laugh made a lot of the tension she was carrying in her neck ease. If she was honest, she knew something was wrong with her even before Utharium said anything. She’d been battling fatigue and experiencing strange twinges in her lower back. It was easy to push those symptomsto the back of her mind as simply a result of a busy schedule and too much time sitting.
Now she couldn’t ignore them anymore. It made her want to sound a mournful rumble. She didn’t want to die. Not just because no one wants to die, but because there was so much left to do. The thought of joining the ancestors before the colony was finished being built made her feel panicked.
Even worse was the knowledge that Utharium would die soon after she did. When scent-bonded partners were separated for too long, they suffered from Ending. It was a horribly painful death, and his agony would be her fault also.
Yes, she knew there was no morality to disease, even if Talin culture believed some diseases were caused by weak genetics. Still, she couldn’t help but feel personally responsible for whatever was happening to her.
“Stop,” Utharium ordered in a quiet voice that didn’t go past her earhole.
She sounded a questioning rumble. “I thought I was supposed to eat my fill?”
“That’s not what I’m talking about. I can feel your body getting stiffer. It can only mean that you’re thinking of unpleasant things.”
“It’s hard not to,” she admitted.
Utharium wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. “We’ll get an answer from Falkilm tonight. Then we’ll know what to do to prepare.”
“I don’t want you to die,” she whispered.
“I don’t want to live in a world without you.”
His words made her feel both loved and guilty. Before she could respond, Falkilm stood up from another table and quietly left the room. He would be going back to the medical building.
Utharium lifted her off his lap and set her on her feet. “It’s time.”
“Palathum!”
They both looked over to see Kamie and Kiran rushing toward her. They were obviously upset, but Palathum still found herself wondering if the couple ever did anything separately. She wasn’t sure she could recall a single moment when she saw one without the other.
“What’s wrong?” she asked the two as they came to a stop in front of her and Utharium.
“Hale and Cassius are fighting,” Kiran explained. That’s when she noticed a little blood at the corner of his lip. “I tried to break them up but got an elbow to the face.”
“Lead me to them,” she ordered, but Utharium grabbed her arm before she could move.
“I’ll deal with Cassius and Hale, you go see to what we talked about earlier.”
