by Ruby Dixon
But it makes sense that there’s a computer here, and he’s giving it verbal cues. He must have let it know that I need to type, and now it’s responding. I touch the wall where the words are appearing. I don’t see a keyboard, and I don’t know the language.
“Ask it to type in English,” I tell him, my gaze flicking between the wall and his face. I don’t want to miss anything.
He tilts his head back again and says something, lips moving.
A moment later, the words on the wall change.
Greetings. We will use Human English as the default setting until otherwise notified. Do you wish a terminal to enter your answers? If so, press the button at the base of the screen and a touch-sensitive input pad will be made available.
I drop to my knees and run my hands along the wall, excited. There’s a tiny hole that feels like it might be where the button in question used to go, but it’s also broken. I shove my finger in there anyhow and hammer at it.
Something moves and there’s a hint of air that wafts over my face, then a black pad half-ejects from the wall, and then gets stuck. Rokan grabs his knife, but I wave a hand at him to call him off before he can stab it. I need this thing. It’s about the size of a book, and very flat - kind of like an iPad. I smooth a finger across the surface, just in case it acts like one, too.
At my touch, it lights up and several circles appear, each one with a letter of the alphabet in it. It doesn’t look like they’re in order like a QWERTY keyboard, but I can use this.
I press my fingers to my lips, thinking, and then type. where am i
There’s no punctuation or capital letters on the thing, but the computer screen responds a moment later, filling with numerals and a word that I don’t understand. All right, space coordinates help me none. I stare at the math formula on the screen and try a different tactic.
visual map of area
It shows me a picture of the nearby hills. Again, not super helpful. I keep typing.
geographical map
continental map
The screen changes again, and this time I see continents. The world looks like nothing I’ve ever seen before. There’s a massive body of water off to the left of the continent I’m on, dotted with islands and what look like big floating chunks of ice. Actually, most of what I’m looking at looks like an ice floe. There’s not really a green-belt that I can see, and the three continents on the screen all seem to be just as icy as this one, even after I ask the computer to show me the equator.
We are at the equator. Well that’s depressing. I think for a moment and type again.
location of earth relative to current location
A star-map appears, galaxies zooming past before a tiny arrow pinpoints a small spot on the pinwheel of the Milky Way. Just seeing that makes me sick, and I have to fight back a sob of grief.
If I needed a slap in the face to remind me that I’m never going to get home? I just got one.
Rokan touches my cheek with a gentle finger, turning me to look at him. There’s concern in his eyes, and his tail is lashing in the corner of my vision. He’s agitated. Probably worried about me. He rubs my arm and there’s a question on his face.
“I’m okay,” I tell him, and manage a smile even as I make the okay gesture.
He points at my hand, then at himself, then at the screen full of words.
Right. We came here to learn a language. I flex my fingers and start typing again.
can you teach languages
Words quickly flit across the screen.
This ship’s artificial intelligence is programmed with over twenty-thousand common languages. Do you wish to receive a linguistic upload?
Now we’re getting somewhere! i need my companion to learn asl
american sign language
The computer thinks for a moment, then words fill the screen again. I do not recognize that language in my database. Did you mean Aslaanti?
This thing has twenty-two thousand languages and it doesn’t have the one I need? I’m utterly crushed. I bite my lip and look at Rokan. Maybe it knows it under a different name. Or…I look around the old ship and I get a new idea. how long has this ship been on this planet
Emergency landing occurred 289 years ago. Please note that when this system references ‘years’, it is calculated based upon the orbit of this planet versus the planet Earth.
Okay, yeah. It wouldn’t know sign language. If the years here are anything like earth years, sign language hadn’t even been invented yet. Well, shit. I set the terminal pad down and walk away, because I need to think. I rub my fingers at my temples.
Rokan is there at my side a moment later. He takes my hand in his and then puts it to his chest, so I can feel his purring. The worry in his eyes is heartbreaking. He knows something is wrong.
I move forward and he wraps me in his arms, bear-hugging me. It feels good to be held. I close my eyes, feeling the purr of his chest against my cheek, and wishing I knew what it sounded like. I really wanted to talk to him, an honest-to-goodness conversation with no confusion. I wanted to not be the only one that knew sign language - well, other than Maddie, who isn’t here. I wanted us to really be companions, instead of me just being a burden.
I really, really hate being a burden. Bad enough that I’m dependent on him for food, shelter, and everything else. I wanted us to be equals about something.
I shouldn’t be upset. I’m teaching him sign language slowly, and our communication gets better every day. I just got my hopes up. That’s all. I slide my hands up and down his broad, warm back, and smile to myself. I can teach him.
Then, my eyes pop open as a new idea occurs to me.
I pat his chest to let him know I’m okay, then race back to the computer and pick up the keypad again. I mentally try to compose my question, and then type. if there is a language in your database, can you teach it to someone
I can perform a one-time linguistic upload through an ocular light wave. It connects with the synapses in the brain tissue and refracts to carry the information to the cerebral cortex.
I flex my hands and read that twice, trying to understand. So sounds like a laser beam shoots the info into someone’s head. Okay. That sounds freaking ridiculous. But it also sounds like it has potential. if i teach you my language can you teach it to my companion
Any information processed by this artificial intelligence can be transferred to a recipient.
so i can make a word bank and you can send that to his brain
Query: word bank?
a list of words and the translations
Affirmative.
I pump a fist, excited. Then I think for a moment and type again. it is a visual language can I input visuals
Visuals are an acceptable format.
how do we get started
Simply let me know when you wish to record your visuals and we will begin.
I’m excited. It’s a daunting task, but it’s do-able. We take a day or two and I feed all the sign language I can possibly think of to the computer, and then it turns around and dumps the information into Rokan’s brain. There are so many signs that I’m mentally cringing a little trying to think of how I’m going to remember them all. What’s the best way to go about this? The alphabet, of course, but after that? I can start with common signs, or try to go alphabetically I type again. do you have a dictionary or a list of words i can use as a starting point
Accessing a dictionary of English words and definitions. Where would you like them displayed?
I turn to Rokan with excitement, beaming.
ROKAN
The cave’s voice does not know Li-lah’s hand-speak. I am shocked and angry at this, until Li-lah explains to me with small, soothing pats of her hands that she will teach it, like she has been teaching me. She will tell it each gesture for every word she can think of. Then, it will in turn give me the language and I will be able to speak to her.
It will take many days, but she is determined to do so. She gives me a quick ki
My Li-lah is so clever. I am humbled by her quick mind. She has solved this problem without my help, and as I watch her talk to the flashing words and move her hands, I am filled with pride.
My mate is wise.
My task, then, will be to make sure that she is comfortable. I pull one of the big, square pillows over to her place by the wall. I make sure her waterskin is full, and melt more fresh water for her. I would roast fresh meat, but I dare not leave my Li-lah alone in case of predators. They are scarce in this area but I will take no chances with her safety.
I stay close to the cave, the entrance always in my sight, and gather fuel for the fire. I unroll the furs and make a warm, cozy nest for us. Since I cannot feed her hot food, I make tea instead, to go with her trail rations. All the while, Li-lah sits in the corner of the room and gestures and talks to the wall.
After several hours, her waterskin is drained, and I switch hers with mine. Her voice begins to crack and grow scratchy, and as the night goes on, she continues. Her gestures grow slower and she yawns, her voice raspy.
That is enough, I decide.
I get up from the lonely fire and move to Li-lah’s side, approaching in her line of vision. She glances over at me, finishes the hand-speak gesture, and then pauses to take a sip of her nearly empty waterskin. Before she can say anything, I scoop her into my arms and take her to the fire.
“Hey,” she protests, her voice dry and scratchy. “I’m not done.”
I ignore her words. In my eyes, she is done. She has no voice left, and she is drooping. This will not do. She is my mate and it is my job to take care of her. I set her down by the fire in the nest of furs, and she rubs her face with her hands.
“Five more minutes—“
Her words die when I put my hands on her shoulders and begin to rub them. Instead, she moans, closing her eyes. My cock immediately responds, and my khui hums louder now that I am touching her. “How did you know my neck was hurting?” she muses aloud. “Never mind, you can tell me once you’ve learned sign language.”
I nod to myself. I will tell her so many things when I have learned her words.
She sighs and leans back against my hands, and I continue to rub her shoulders, pleased that I can do this small thing for her. I want to ask her so many questions, but she needs to rest.
“Didn’t realize how many words there were in the stupid English language until now,” she murmurs. “Did you know—“
I press a finger to her lips to silence her. She needs to save her voice. Already it sounds dry and raspy enough to pain me.
Li-lah nods and I rub her shoulders and back for a while longer, then get her a cup of tea. I watch her until she finishes it, then feed her small bits of trail rations until I am satisfied she has eaten enough. She starts to get up, gesturing at the wall that is waiting for her, but I shake my head and give her a stern look. I make the stay gesture and point at the furs.
She nods and lies back down, too tired to argue. She rests on her belly, propping her chin up with her hands. “Will you rub my back some more?”
Nothing would give me more pleasure. I move to the furs and press a kiss to the top of her small, hornless human head with its soft mane. It has been days since I had her on my tongue, and I am a selfish hunter because I crave her taste. She is tired, but perhaps I can give her pleasure. I move my fingers over the shoulder of her tunic and then tap it to let her know I want her to remove it. Will she be shy or will she take it off?
My khui rumbles low with pleasure when she sits up long enough to take her tunic off and then lies back down again, presenting me with the slim line of her bare back. Seeing her like this reminds me how fragile my Li-lah is. I must always be careful of her. I am much larger than she is, my hands capable of spanning her ribcage. How my khui has chosen someone so delicate for me, I do not know, but I will have no other.
I slide my hands up and down her soft back, and she makes another sleepy sound of pleasure. She doesn’t move as I stroke her, kneading tired muscles. This has been a tiring journey for her - from the mountains to the Elders’ Cave. In addition to the walking, I have been forcing her to learn tracking and gathering. No wonder she is exhausted and the muscles in her back are taut with tension. I should rub her every night until she’s moaning with pleasure.
That thought makes my sac tighten, and I close my eyes to compose myself. Resonance must be fulfilled soon, because every day it becomes that much more difficult to resist her.
Soon, we will talk, and she will realize what it is that connects us. I can be patient for a bit longer, especially as I have seen how hard she is working to be able to teach me her words.
As if her mind is connected to mine, she murmurs, “I can’t wait to be able to talk to you. Really talk and not wonder what the other is trying to say.”
I feel the same. I lean in and brush my mouth over the soft skin of her shoulder in a gentle caress. Perhaps she is not too tired to let me put my mouth on her cunt and lick her—
She rolls over onto her back, gazing up at me with soft, hooded eyes. Her teats are in full view, and she does not try to hide them or cover them like before, and that fills me with pleasure. She is growing used to being naked around me, and I like that. Li-lah reaches up with one hand and traces my mouth. “I wonder what you sound like?”
Her words sound sad to me, and so I kiss her palm to distract her. It does not matter what I sound like. I sound like hers. I am hers.
Li-lah gives a little moan as my fangs scrape over her skin. She moves her hands to my chest, then, smoothing over me and touching me everywhere she can. I lie down next to her, propping my body up carefully on one elbow at her side so I do not crush her smaller body under mine. I am filled with need for my mate. I want to kiss her everywhere, to put my mouth on every bit of her skin and taste her with my tongue. I want to lap up her juices until she’s crying out.
“I’ve never felt this way about anyone,” she says to me, and reaches for my long braid. She plays with the tip of it for a moment, and then locks eyes with me. “Have you?”
The question makes me sad and frustrated - if she understood resonance, she would not ask. She would know that she is my mate, my other half. There is no way I could feel like this for another. She would know I have waited my entire life for her. But I cannot say these things to her yet because I do not have the words. I take her hand in mine and kiss her knuckles, and then hold it against my heart.
Her soft smile is beautiful enough to make my tail flick, a tremor rushing through my body. “I’m addicted to you, too.”
She is wrong; she is not as addicted as me. If she was, she would understand the agony I silently endure while I wait for her to understand what it is to be my mate. She would know how hard it is to hold her and wait, endlessly, for the signal that says she is ready to be mine in all ways. She would know the mix of joy and despair I feel every morning when I wake up and she is mine and I have not claimed her yet.
“Oh,” she whispers, and her fingers reach for my tail, flicking on the furs beside her. “Look at your poor tail - it’s healing crooked.” Li-lah runs her fingers down the length of it, where the bones now lie bent after the sky-claw attack. The bruises have faded and the pain is gone, but it does not lie straight as it did before. “You have a kink in your tail.” And she strokes it again.
Her fingers on my tail are more than a male can bear. I have never had mine stroked before, and I did not realize until now that it is just as sensitive as my spur. The groan that I have been fighting erupts from me and I press my head against her stomach, needing desperately to touch her but wanting her approval first.
“Eeek, watch the horns,” she says, and I lift my head carefully. When our eyes lock, she bites her lip playfully and traces a finger around the pink tip of her teat. “If you’re going to put your head down, maybe over here?” And she licks her lips suggestively.
A possessive snarl rises in my throat at the sight. I am the luckiest male alive because she is mine. I bend down and kiss her soft, pink mouth gently. Then, I move further down and kiss her soft, pink teats until she is panting and clinging to my horns.
After that, I tug down her leggings and kiss her soft, pink cunt until her juices flood over my tongue and she is exhausted from crying out.
My own pleasure can wait for another day. Just being able to do this for her? For now, it is enough.
15
LILA
It takes three long days to go through as many words as the computer spits at me. Three. Looooong. Days. Not every word in the dictionary goes into the Ice Planet Sign Language (or IPSL as I’ve been jokingly calling it). There’s not going to be any need for Rokan to know the sign for ‘book’, for example, or ‘turkey’. That speeds things along, but it’s still achingly slow progress to feed each word and gesture into the computer.
I lose my voice at the end of each evening, and Rokan pampers me with tea and cuddling (and okay, lots of making out) until I drowse off in the furs. When I wake up each morning, my throat is better, which is pretty impressive. I’ve never recovered that fast from a sore throat before, but I’ll take it. Maybe my body knows how badly I want this to be done.
During the day, Rokan has to go out hunting, so I have to close the doors to the ship for my safety. I can’t hear him knocking, and I don’t trust the computer to know to let him in, so I force myself to get up and stretch - and check for him - on a regular basis. He always returns with fresh meat, more fuel for the fire, and many, many kisses for his tired alien girlfriend.
Even if the work is exhausting, the company is excellent.
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