“I guess so.” She nodded and reluctantly opened her mouth.
Calden popped the bite in and then waited to let her chew.
Maddy did, her eyes widening as she finished and swallowed.
“Hey, that’s really good! The purple stuff tastes kind of like scrambled eggs mixed with pancakes and the green chunks are like really firm bacon.”
“I don’t know what those foods are, but I’m glad you’re enjoying your First Meal.” Calden smiled at her and Maddy found herself smiling back because it was such a rare expression on his usually-serious face. Also because it was such a sincere expression. She remembered how Pierce had smiled—that half-grimace he used to give her that didn’t ever reach his cold gray eyes. But when Calden grinned, it lit up his whole face and she could tell he was honestly and genuinely happy.
Comparing the big Kindred to her dead husband brought her up short. For a moment, she wondered if she was going to cry again. But no tears came.
Maybe I cried myself out last night, she thought. Or maybe it was because as more and more memories of her husband came back, she realized how far apart they’d grown before the end. Their marriage had been dying a slow, painful death for ages before they had blasted off in the Kennedy—they hadn’t really loved each other for the last five years.
It was sad to think of, but Maddy couldn’t help feeling relieved in a way. Though she still felt the pain of Pierce’s loss, it was much easier to bear than if they’d loved each other deeply, as they had when they were first married.
Before we lost our way and lost each other, she thought as she allowed Calden to feed her another bite of the strange, alien breakfast. As peculiar as it looked, it tasted pretty good and it was certainly better than the weird liquids the Mentats enjoyed consuming.
It was nice of Calden to be so patient with her—and be willing to feed her—though it did make her feel a little like a dependent child. Their size difference, of course, didn’t help the situation. Maddy thought that he’d better not start making choo-choo noises and telling her to “open wide” while he guided the fork to her mouth or she would lose it.
Not that he was likely to know any of the cultural norms she associated with feeding a kid, she thought with a sigh. She was the only one who knew those now and unless she had a child of her own someday (extremely unlikely since there was no one to make a baby with, except for Calden himself who was obviously much too large to have sex with) no one else ever would.
Maddy pushed the thought away and wondered how she could pass the time while she waited for her hands to heal. She was already learning to do a few necessities on her own, without Calden’s help. For instance, when she’d woken up that morning, she’d had an instant and urgent need to use the restroom. It seemed strange, on reflection, that she hadn’t had to go at all the day before but at the moment, the need was too great to consider it much. But though she was willing to let the big Kindred feed her and dress her, Maddy was damned if she’d allow him to help her in the ladies room.
Luckily, he had a toilet that wasn’t unlike what she was used to and it had a kind of bidet feature on it for cleaning up afterwards. It sent up a stream of water to clean you which it followed with a blast of hot air to dry the area in question—a completely hands-free operation.
It was too big, of course and Maddy had to balance carefully to avoid falling in but once she got the hang of it, she was able to work it pretty well. The buttons on it were motion sensitive so all she had to do was wave a forearm or elbow over them to get the thing to work. It took her a little longer than it would have with functional hands but she didn’t care about that—she was just grateful to be able to handle her business in privacy.
Although what I’m going to do if I get my period before my hands start working, I have no idea, she thought, opening her mouth obediently for another bite as Calden fed her. He was feeding himself as well, eating from an identical pile of fluffy purple mounds and green cubes as he alternated a bite for her and then a bite for him.
“Thank you for this,” Maddy said, after swallowing her current bite.
“Hmm?” He raised an eyebrow questioningly over a large silver mug while he sipped something that steamed and smelled spicy and sweet.
“For feeding me—for being patient with me and letting me cry all over you again last night,” she said by way of explanation. “For not leaving me alone and for saving me in the first place. I know I’m a lot of trouble to you. You’re a scientist—you don’t need to be babysitting me while you’re trying to do your research.”
“You’re no trouble at all,” he assured her. “I’m sorry you feel such pain and loss.” His topaz eyes became shadowed.“I wish…I hope…I may be able to help you through it.”
“Thank you,” Maddy whispered and her throat felt too tight to swallow. She shook her head when he offered her another bite. “Can I have something to drink instead?”
“Would you like to try some of my chewl?” He held out the steaming silver mug to her. “It’s a bit spicy but it’s also a strong stimulant—I find it clears my head when I first wake in the morning.”
“Sounds like coffee.” Maddy shrugged. “Sure—I’ll try it.”
He held it carefully to her lips, reminding her that it was hot, and she took a small sip and then a bigger one.
“Mmm!” She smiled at him when he took the mug away. “That’s good! Kind of like melted red-hots. And really sweet.”
Calden looked guilty.
“I fear I have a weakness for sweets. I know I put much too much sweetener in my chewl but I can’t seem to break myself of the habit.”
“Well, it hasn’t done you any harm that I can see,” Maddy remarked, letting her eyes rove over his tall, muscular body. He was wearing another pair of black trousers with his lace up boots and another black sleeveless t-shirt which clung to his sculpted abs and showed off his well-muscled arms.
“You’re very kind.” Calden nodded gravely. “Would you like some more?”
She shook her head.
“What I’d mostly like now is a shower. Um…” She bit her lip. “But I’m not sure how I can take one on my own.”
“You can’t—not in your present state,” Calden said frankly. “And I take it you object to having me shower you as I did yesterday?”
“Yesterday was an exception because I had slime all over me,” Maddy pointed out.
“A water shower isn’t something you can have everyday anyway,” Calden remarked. “As I’m sure you know, water is a precious resource aboard a space station and I actually used considerably more than my daily allotment getting you clean yesterday.”
“Oh, I’m sorry!” Maddy exclaimed. “I didn’t know I was using all your water.”
He shook his head. “Please don’t feel bad—it was necessary to get the nutrient bath out of your hair and, uh, body…” he cleared his throat, “In order to make sure you were healthy and well. But today I think we’d better use the enzyme baths.”
“Enzyme baths?” Maddy frowned. “That doesn’t sound too safe.”
“It is as long as you take a few simple precautions,” Calden assured her. “And it gets you cleaner than plain water ever could.” He frowned. “But I think we’d better wait a little while until the baths clear out. The reaction of the Mentats to you so far has not been…positive.”
Maddy snorted. “That’s an understatement. So the baths are communal?”
He nodded. “They are. And most of the Mentats go in the morning. If we wait about an hour, most of them will be at work in their respective labs and stations and we should have the baths to ourselves.”
“Sounds good to me.” Maddy sighed. “So I guess I just sit here for an hour with my hands soaking in the slime?”
“That’s not necessary. I’ve instructed the simulator to make you some travel gloves to wear so you can move around freely.” Calden got up from the small table they were sharing. “Let’s see if they’re finished.”
He went to on
e corner of his room where a complicated-looking machine about the size of a large printer was located with a bin beside it. Reaching into the bin, he pulled out a pair of oversized black gloves with drawstrings at the wrists.
“Finished!” He brought them over to Maddy, a grin of triumph on his face.
“They look kind of big,” she observed when he held them out to her.
“They are because they’re made for someone my size,” Calden explained. “But the insides of them are waterproof. So we can pour the nutrient bath into the gloves and then seal them around your wrists to keep it from leaking out. Your body heat and the insulation from the gloves will keep the chemicals working and you can move around the station freely and come with me to the lab and the baths if you wish.”
“Wow, you really thought of everything.” Maddy smiled up at him. “Thank you, Calden—I’m glad I don’t have to sit here all day and wait for my hands to start working.”
“You said that you didn’t want to feel alone,” he said seriously. “I won’t leave you by yourself when you’re still getting over your loss.”
His sweet words made Maddy tear up.
“Calden, I could hug you,” she said, looking up at him. “And I would if my hands weren’t all covered in slime.”
“Would you like a hug?” He looked at her seriously. “Though your hands are occupied, I could hug you if you like.”
“Yes, please,” Maddy said softly. “I would like a hug—if you don’t mind.”
“Of course I don’t mind.” He knelt beside her chair and carefully enfolded her in his long arms, making sure not to disturb the mini nutrient-bath units her hands were resting in.
The warmth of his big body was as comforting this morning as it had been the night before. Maddy wondered why it was so easy—and felt so right—to touch him. She usually took a while to warm up to strangers and Calden was about as strange as they came—a nine-foot-tall giant with gray skin and glowing topaz eyes. Yet touching him—being close to him—brought her the same feelings of comfort and security being wrapped in the special quilt her grandma had made her when she was a little girl used to.
Well, not quite the same feelings as grandma’s quilt, whispered a little voice in her head. Being wrapped in the special quilt didn’t make your heart pound or your head feel light. Which were definite sensations she was feeling now, wrapped in Calden’s strong arms. But though her stomach felt fluttery, like a million butterflies had just taken off in it, she didn’t want to stop hugging him.
Maybe it was his scent—so warm and spicy and masculine. It wasn’t like any aftershave or cologne she had ever smelled—it was more like someone had taken the natural, warm scent of his skin and magnified it somehow. However it had happened, the fact was the big Kindred smelled freaking amazing—so good Maddy had to fight the urge to turn her head and press her mouth to his throat for a surreptitious kiss.
“Thank you, Calden,” she said instead. “You’re very kind to comfort me this way.”
He drew back a little and looked down at her.
“Of course, Madeline. Any time you need a hug, please let me know. I haven’t had much experience with the matter but I understand that physical contact helps mitigate the feelings of grief after a loss.” He looked down, suddenly shy. “And…I like holding you.”
“I like it too,” Maddy admitted softly. God, should she really be getting so close to the big Kindred when her husband had just died? A sudden surge of guilt made her pull away. Calden took the hint and stood again, though he didn’t move very far away.
“I’m glad you were the one who found me instead of one of those Mentats,” Maddy said, trying to get over the momentary awkwardness from the intimacy they had shared. She shivered. “Ugh—I can only imagine what they would have done with me.”
“The recovery droids found you,” Calden remarked. “But you are welcome. Now let’s see if we can make these gloves work.”
It took some maneuvering and a bit of spilled slime but eventually Maddy’s hands were incased in the nutrient-bath-filled gloves and they were sealed firmly but not painfully around her wrists so that the slime couldn’t escape or leak out.
“Perfect,” Calden said approvingly. “Look at you—all ready to go anywhere.”
Maddy looked down at her hands in the cartoonishly oversized gloves and burst into laughter.
“Anywhere like Disney World, you mean. All I need is a Mickey Mouse outfit to wear and I’d be ready to go outand greet the kids,” she remarked.
“Go out to where?” Calden asked, frowning.
“Disney World. It was an amusement park back on Earth. We lived in Florida—where it was located—and my parents used to take us there when we were kids because Florida residents get a discount.”
She sighed, thinking about meeting Mickey and Minnie Mouse when she was a little girl and how excited she’d been to have tea with the Disney princesses in Cinderella’s castle. That was probably all gone now, erased by the heavy hand of the Scourge.
“I perceive that something has made you feel sad.” Calden was watching her with an anxious look on his face. “Is there anything I can do to make you feel better? Would you like another hug?”
In fact another hug sounded good—too good, Maddy thought to herself. Too tempting.
“Just get me a bath.” She looked down at the gloves. “Um, will I be able to wear these in the, uh, enzyme baths?”
“I believe so—they are waterproof inside and out. Though to be on the safe side, you should probably hold them above the surface of the enzyme liquid when we enter.” He looked at a timepiece which hung on the wall of his room. “I believe if we just wait another half of a standard hour the baths will be mostly cleared. Do you mind if I do some work?”
“Oh, of course not.” Maddy gestured with one heavy, oversized glove which sloshed a little when she moved it. “Please, don’t let me stop you from getting your job done. I’ll just wander around and look at all your cool alien stuff, if you don’t mind.”
Calden smiled. “Help yourself. Although I don’t know how interesting the contents of my domicile will be to you.”
“Anything new is interesting,” Maddy assured him. “What was it you said to me? All knowledge is valuable.”
His face grew grave. “That is the motto of the station. I used to believe it whole-heartedly. Now…I wonder if the cost of the knowledge gained must be balanced against its value.”
Maddy wasn’t sure what to say to that. Instead of answering him, she got up from the table and moved around the room, which wasn’t actually that big for someone Calden’s size, though it seemed vast to her—mostly because all the furniture was built on a bigger scale than she was used to.
The room was mostly square with the immense bed in one corner and the simulator where he’d made her gloves and the shirt-dress she was still wearing in another. A third corner held a small kitchen nook with a cabinet, a cold-storage unit, the small, two-person table, and the microwave-looking appliance which Calden had used to make their breakfast. The last corner was set up as a work station with a kind of holographic computer screen hovering over a complicated-looking keyboard. Sitting beside it was a small, stunted plant with drooping, slivery-green leaves.
Maddy didn’t exactly have a green thumb, but she did have an interest in growing things. Her father had kept a full garden for years and had taught her a lot about growing some of his favorite fruits and vegetables—mainly tomatoes and watermelon.
“Oh, Calden, what’s wrong with your plant?” she asked, moving over to get a closer look at it. “Poor little thing looks like it needs some water—look how droopy it is.” She got closer and took a deep sniff, noticing that the plant exuded a faint but sweet fragrance.“Mmm, smells good, though,” she added. “Does it bear flowers or fruit?”
“It’s supposed to but mine doesn’t. It’s…a plant native to my home world,” Calden said, sounding hesitant. “I’ve tried to give it everything it’s supposed to have for nourishm
ent but it simply won’t thrive.”
“Aww—poor little thing.” Since she couldn’t touch the silvery-green leaves with her hands, Maddy nuzzled her cheek against them instead.
To her surprise, the little plant quivered, almost as though it was alive and reacting to her touch. The leaves rustled and the sweet fragrance seemed to intensify.
“Oh!” She looked up at Calden. “Did you see that? It almost seemed to respond to me! Is that normal?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. I’ve certainly never observed it doing that before but this is the first plant of its kind I’ve ever seen. I only took the seed out of convention when I left the Kindred Mother Ship because it was required. And I only planted it because of nostalgia—it reminds me there are others of my kind out in the universe somewhere, living their lives as I live mine.”
“Well…” Maddy took a long look at the little plant. “I was going to say it needs some water but it seems like it’s perked up now.”
Indeed, the drooping branches had straightened and some of the leaves, which she could have sworn were brown and curling, were now the same silvery-green as the rest of the plant. The smell was definitely stronger too. She pressed her face into the cool, ticklish leaves and inhaled again.
So good! The scent was indescribable—sweet and tangy and somehow seductive at the same time. It made Maddy feel almost dizzy and gave her a strange tingling at the tips of her breasts and the spot between her legs.
But for some reason, seeing her so close to the plant seemed to worry Calden.
“I think the enzyme baths should be clear by now,” he said, standing with a frown. “Come, Madeline—let’s go.”
“Well…all right.” She left the little plant reluctantly, (it really was looking about a hundred percent better than when she’d first seen it,) and followed him through the sliding metal door panel and out into the vast, curving hallway. But she promised herself she’d check on the plant again—it seemed to like her.
Awakened by the Giant Page 8
