Page 44 of Scars & Starlight
“Sleep, love,” I tell her. “Firstlight is not far off.”
She only murmurs something indecipherable, her breathing already deepening. I don’t follow immediately. Avaren require less sleep, our nanites taking care of most of the repairing qualities it offers. I want to soak in everything that happened in these last marks. When I made Tara Novak mine.
Tara pointsto a pond near the edge of a park in the capital city of her home country. “Land somewhere there, if possible. Our house faces that water.”
As we draw closer, I’m the first to see that the houses are in bad shape. A few are missing their roofs, and many look burned down or at least scorched. I know the moment Tara realizes that because her breath catches in her throat.
“I didn’t expect anyone to still live here… But expecting it and seeing it like this is painful,” she admits in a small voice.
I stretch my arm across the narrow aisle between us and place a hand meant to comfort on the back of her neck. “Whatever we find, you’re strong enough to deal with.”
She gulps before nodding twice and gets up the moment the Talon touches the wild grass.
“Call your armor and be ready to fight, if necessary,” I warn her. The sensors didn’t detect lifeforms big enough to be Ghorvek in the vicinity, but they could be masking their presence.
We exit the ship side by side, leaving Kiko behind. I don’t want him getting damaged if an incident occurs; Tara would be inconsolable. It’s already not looking likely that we will find anything good here.
“It’s that house.” Tara tilts her chin at a gray building with every window smashed. Climbing plant life covers the naked frames, invading inside.
“Does it have a basement level?” I ask softly, not wanting to voice the obvious: there is no one living there.
My match shakes her head. “I know they’re not here. Let’s just take a quick look and then continue with our mission.”
“We’ll stay as long as you want,” I reply, then scan the area for any threats, allowing her to take the lead.
She opens the small gate to the backyard, gazing up at the looming building with naked vulnerability in her eyes. Glass crunches under her feet as she steps onto the veranda and heads to the remains of a balcony door. With how green with plant life everything is, the architecture is much more reminiscent of Avaren constructions than the images of human buildings pre-invasion we received.
A layer of dirt covers every surface of what appears the be the dining area, the nutrition-preparation area attached to it not spared by the elements either. As we carefully move to the lounging area, a small furry creature makes a mad dash across the floor, scaring Tara into a jump and squeak.
I aim my medium-range antimatter gun at the brown mass heading in the direction of the caved-in main entrance. “Is it dangerous?” I check with my finger on the trigger.
“No, no,” my princess gasps, a hand on her chest over her singular heart. “It just surprised me, that’s all. It’s a nutria. They’re pests, but not aggressive.”
NUTRIA: SEMI-AQUATIC RODENT. NON-AGGRESSIVE UNLESS CORNERED OR THREATENED.
“Very well.” I lower my weapon somewhat, still ready to protect Tara from threats at the hint of a provocation.
“Come on, let’s check the bedrooms upstairs,” she says quietly, turning to the staircase.
As much as I’d enjoy walking behind her and observing her swaying ass, I stop her with my hand on her shoulder and motion to let me pass. I check the hallway, sweeping my gun from one end to another, but find no lurking foes.
“Clear,” I murmur and wait for her to join me on the landing. “Which room?”
“The first one this way is my parents’ bedroom.”
I nudge it open with the barrel of my weapon. Smaller brown creatures hide from the sound, skittering under the bed. Tara follows with a hand on my back as I check the attached hygiene room and balcony.
“See anything that would indicate they departed from here willingly?” I ask her after a moment of silence.
“Um. Let’s see.” Tara opens the dressers and checks behind the mirror in the cleaning area. “My mom’s blood pressure medication is gone, though it could have been looted, I guess. Actually,” she continues, still rummaging through the mostly-white boxes. “If Iwere a looter, I wouldn’t leave paracetamol behind.” She waves the crumpled box at me before setting it back. “Let’s go check the other bathroom. I have an idea.”
When we get to the other hygiene area, Tara immediately checks the storage under the sink. “We used to argue so much in the mornings, my sisters and I. I wanted to put makeup on for high school, and they were always sleeping in late and getting ready for primary school in a hurry.” She straightens and puts her hands on her hips. “Nope, no tampons or pads. It doesn’t look like the house was looted, so I have to believe they packed the essentials before going… somewhere.”
I check with my nanites for clarification on more unknown words.
TAMPONS AND PADS: SINGLE-USE ABSORBENT DEVICES FOR MANAGING MENSTRUAL BLOOD LOSS. DESIGNED FOR EXTERNAL OR INTERNAL PLACEMENT. EFFECTIVE FOR APPROXIMATELY 4 TO 8 EARTH HOURS. MUST BE DISCARDED INTO NON-BIOHAZARDOUS WASTE CONTAINERS AFTER USE TO PREVENT INFECTION AND ODOR.
How barbaric! I’ll need to have the synth module prepare bioadaptive, self-cleaning liners for her next cycle. Or perhaps start her on hormonal synchronization pods if she does not wish to reproduce immediately.
