Page 7 of Invasive Species
Her lips twist as if I’ve said something unsavory.
Keeping my stance even, I curb my questions. I want to ask why she was in the dead ship in the first place. She accused me of wrong-doing, of constantly sneaking in. I could never sneak, I’m too bulky for that, and medics are designed to be visible, favoring a bright green tint to our scales. Definitely not built for stealth. But of course she suspects me; she’s a female, and they can see inefficiency in all actions clones take.
I stare above her head. “Tomorrow, one of the Parthiastocks and I will retest the shuttle, uncover if there are any other robots aboard.”
Her foot resumes bouncing. “How will you do that?”
I glance at the dial on the wall. “Pressing things. That seemed fairly effective.”
Her cheeks flush. She has very pale skin so every change is obvious, but she only seems to turn shades of red. I don’t know what her coloration means yet, so my senses focus in on the rest of her body.
Quickened breathing. Slower heartbeats—perhaps from a singular heart? No wonder humans are smaller.
She shakes her head, red curls cascading down her back, and scowls. “Don’t do that. I don’t want anyone else getting hurt.”
It sounds like… concern. But she could be trying to trick me, make me think she’s not like other females. “Clones are expendable,” I remind her, keeping my voice flat.
Now she goes pale, warmth leaving her face as her blood supply diverts to key organs. A mild shock response, notsomething I’d think a living being could fake. “We really have come from different worlds, haven't we?"
I have to answer her question, but it’s a ridiculous one. "We have."
She chuckles. "That's called a rhetorical question. If you ever go to the Valleys, people are full of them."
I venture to ask, "Valleys?"
"Yes. Valleys of Wales, the land of my fathers."
"Your father owns Wales?"
Now she really does laugh, and my scales harden in defense. I’ve said nothing funny. But her cackle isn’t cruel; Arra-bellah's laugh soars high and free. My scales still bristle; somehow, I’ve made a fool of myself and likely lowered my worth in her estimation.
She chuckles as she wipes her eyes. "I needed that. Hey, get off the floor, you’ll wear your knees out."
“My knees won’t wear out. I’ll replace them with tech printed from the ship when they do.”
She beckons me up and I rise smoothly. Now I tower over her, and her attention travels up my bare torso, wandering across my pectorals and to my face. Her pupils dilate even though she doesn’t stand in my shadow, breathing speeding up yet again in a physical reaction to my proximity.
She shakes herself. "So, yeah, I’m from Wales. You might have noticed I’ve got a slightly different accent."
"I had noticed, yes." The cadence of her voice is more musical than the other humans’. Throaty and lilting, as if she sings her words rather than says them. I press my lips together. Dare I ask? "So this place is… not-Wales, then." There. A statement, not a question.
"England, yeah." She leans forward on the seat, eyes narrowing at me as if trying to focus on the smallest of my scales around my eyelids. "You’ve got a different accent to the others, too."
My hearts beat faster. I can’t lie, not directly to a female. "I… I do, yes." My words typically flow, my vocabulary more vast than theirs. Ilia and Dom speak as if they're chewing words.
"So, where are you from?"
She cannot know how much that question cuts me. "Still from Oloria," I say, managing to control my voice so it doesn't tremble. "I’m no different from them. A clone."
Again that searching look, the stare that leaves me bare. "You're not quite like them." She slips off her seat and stalks toward me, her scent unrolling around me. It’s warm, spicy, edged with sweetness.
And dangerously distracting. I barely resist the urge to step back as the tiny human approaches.
She murmurs, "You talk back to me. You make snide remarks. You even accused me of snooping."
Drok na, I did.
I wrench my gaze from her green eyes and stare above her head. "Ilia left me in charge. If you have complaints, address them to me directly."
