Dark Space - Marianne de Pierres [92]
The woman fell heavily onto the ground.
Mira sat up, holding her throat. ‘Are you l-loco?’ she gasped.
Mesquite rolled over slowly to face her. ‘Aristo women do not fight, eh? Well, aristo thinking will not keep you alive through this, Mira Fedor,’ said Mesquite. Her expression became suddenly apprehensive. ‘It did not save the Principe, or his familia.’
But Mira cared not for her philosophies. ‘How dare you touch me?’ She climbed to her feet, furious enough to strike the woman.
Mesquite brushed the dust from her protecsuit, unfazed by Mira’s reaction. ‘Adapt if you want to survive.’
Mira left her and went inside. She took Vito from one of the cluster of makeshift cradles that was serving as a nursery and thanked the young familia woman who’d been minding him. He snuggled into her arms.
‘He doesn’t eat much. Dribbled out most of his latte,’ said the minder.
Mira sighed. ‘He is Pagoin. They cannot metabolise it so well.’
The woman nodded doubtfully, as if she didn’t understand. Then she frowned. ‘Did you have a fall, Baronessa? Your fellala. . .’ She gestured at the fresh red smears on the back and side of Mira’s robe.
‘Si. An accident. Please, my name is Mira.’
The young woman smiled this time. ‘And I am Josefia.’
Mira took Vito to her corner where the korm was roosting, one eye closed. She retrieved the knife that Cass had given her from the small bundle of clothes that she had been allotted and secured it inside her underlines Then she lay down on the bedfilm, cradling Vito close to her. He squirmed a little. He was stronger now that he’d had some food, but his expression stayed solemn.
Mira lay there, trying to picture him in a few years. It Wiry and serious, she thought, no easy laughter for Vito. Her heart ached for that young man. Would she be there to see him like that, to tell him about this terrible time and where he had come from?
She knew she wanted to be, and in that instant Mira felt Faja close to her.
* * * *
The following night Mira took the korm to the early sitting at the mess. Mesquite surprised her by producing a meat-extract soup that the korm could digest. Mira watched the alien gulp the food, avoiding Innis’s sulky glares. He seemed sober though Kristo told her he’d been drinking behind Cass’s back. Kristo had taken to calling for Mira at the dorm to walk her to meals. She welcomed his company and his unobtrusive manner.
‘G’d,’ said the korm. It had collected some rudimentary ‘esque words but its palate wasn’t designed for speech. It replaced some letters with whistle sounds, making its pronunciation difficult to understand.
‘Dj^s^r^t?’
Mira shrugged. ‘I don’t know where she is.’ The korm’s crest filled and coloured. Mira had come to recognise this as a sign of emotion in the child.
‘F^nd?’ it insisted.
‘Where would I find her?’
‘F^nd h^r!’ The korm lurched to its feet, upset, body quivering. It fell into a fighting crouch—the same one that Mira had seen it adopt in Loisa, against the Saqr. Its action knocked over the table, which tipped onto the next. Marrat’s dinner crashed to the floor, Innis’s spilt across him.
The korm rushed out, leaving Mira.
Marrat began to clear up the mess but Innis was at Mira’s side immediately, his face only a breath away from hers. ‘That ginko of yours is no more’n an animal. Should be kept outside with the quarks and the cane,’ he said.
Mira’s fingers curled into the skin of her felalla. Why did he come so close? ‘The korm is upset. It has lost its friend. We have all lost someone.’
Innis’s expression became petulant. ‘You been turnin’ my sister against me.’
Mira stared at him in honest surprise. ‘How could I do that? Why would I care to?’
Innis’s glower lightened into something slightly more amenable at her answer. His hands fell to his sides and he took a step back.
‘I guess I’ve been riding you, Baronessa. Maybe we could work things out better. Don’t need it to be like this. Not with the ginkos