Collecting Read online

  He reached down, and his arm flexed as he pulled up a truly spectacular haul. He lifted her two fish and added them to the stringer, carrying the whole works over one shoulder.

  She didn’t bother getting dressed, merely stowed her gear and stomped into the habitat wearing her swim gear. Em paused and pointed. “The kitchen is down there.”

  Rivvin opened his mouth to speak, but she slipped through the habitat doors and closed them behind her. Emharo sighed and clenched her hands into fists. “Damn it.”

  “Em, precious? Why are you here in your swimsuit?” Her mother was coming toward her with a stack of journals.

  “My collecting was interrupted by Rivvin getting between me and a predator. I didn’t want to stop to change.” She stalked to the steps that led to her temporary quarters.

  Her mother was looking up at her in surprise. “I have never seen you this rattled.”

  Em frowned. “He can do all the fishing. I will look for medicinals in the tide pools as far from him as I can be.”

  There was a smile on her mother’s lips as Em stared down at her from the balcony. “Why are you smiling, Mom?”

  Emaline Baker made her way to the door to the lab hall. “Oh, nothing. Take a shower and get changed. You may want to keep your distance, but you will be joining us for dinner.”

  Chapter Three

  The greenhouse had been arranged to accommodate the guests and the doctors working at the research lab.

  Emharo was dressed for dinner, her hair was up and she was politely serving the guests the food that Weelar had prepared. It smelled great.

  Rivvin was dressed formally, as well, wearing a deep blue shirt the same colour as his hair and dark trousers tucked into military-style boots. His hair was braided away from his temples, and the rest of it flowed loose down his back.

  Morro and Weelar were dressed for dinner, as well, but they were barely noticeable to Em, who kept her gaze as averted from Rivvin as possible. She wanted to stare at him, but it would have been glaringly obvious during their little dinner party. Instead, she did rounds with water, wine and trays of food kept warm on the sideboard.

  Morro commented, “This is an amazing range of foods, Harold.”

  Em’s father smiled, “We are fortunate in our child and our niece. Our niece Neeka is away from the lab for now, but she is as skilled at hunting as Emharo is at collecting what we need for any given project.”

  Emharo paused when everyone at the table turned to look at her. “What?”

  Rivvin cocked his head. “Have you always had this skill?”

  Em looked to her parents and nodded. “It is one of my mother’s favourite stories.”

  Emaline lifted her wine glass and smiled. “The first time we noticed it, Em was five. She and Neeka were playing on the beach, and Neeka cut herself. Instead of running for help, Em ran to the shoreline and picked up a fish, opened it up with her fingers and took out a nasty-smelling gland. She pressed it to Neeka’s cut, and then, they walked back to the lab together. When we wiped the residue away from the cut, it was gone, only a wide line remained. The gland she had found had the ability to knit tissue. The only perplexing thing was how she had found it to begin with.”

  Harold smiled, “She explained how she found the fish and it glowed and the inside glowed brighter than the outside, so that is what she used. We tested the fish and have now crafted a coagulant for use after surgeries.”

  Em continued to eat her meal while keeping an eye on everyone at the table to make sure they were not missing anything she could provide.

  Morro asked her parents, “Do you harvest the fish for the product?”

  Her mother smiled. “No, we have protein synthesizers that are used to provide basic ingredients. Once she brings something to us, it is our job to copy it for use in the city.”

  Em finished her meal and got to her feet, picking up the water and wine pitchers and making a swift round of the table.

  Rivvin looked up at her while she refilled his cup. “Does your cousin share this skill?”

  Emharo frowned, “Not precisely. She is a hunter. Her skill lies in tracking and dispatching her prey. I like the sea, she prefers the land.”

  Morro cleared his throat. “Is she nearby?”

  Em smiled, “No, she will be gone for a few weeks. She is taking some of the city folk on a trip through the wilds. Ever since the Tokkel raids, more people have been interested in learning how to live away from the city. Neeka teaches a crash course in survival.”

  She poured Morro a glass of water and finished her rounds before resuming her seat next to her parents.

  Rivvin looked at her directly, without any subterfuge. “Emharo, are you engaged or have a gentleman caller of any species?”

  She blushed and squirmed in her chair. “Um. No. Aside from the Gaians, the only compatible species here are those of the Nine, and you are the first that I have met.”

  Her mother piped up. “She isn’t seeing anyone. The last eligible male in the area left after the summer training session here at the lab, and she managed to ignore him the entire time he was here.”

  “Emaline, what are you doing?” Harold Baker was curious.

  Emharo buried her face in her hand and leaned on the table. “Well, Rivvin, as you have heard, the answer is no. I am not socially seeing anyone.”

  He had his shark-like grin in place once again. “Good.”

  Morro looked at him with concern. “Rivvin?”

  “Be quiet, Morro. If you have an objection, raise it privately.” Rivvin’s voice was flat.

  Morro shrugged and continued to eat.

  Emharo turned to Weelar, “Thank you for your excellent managing of the ingredients. The food was wonderful.”

  Everyone immediately followed that train of conversation, and soon, Weelar’s pale skin was turning lavender from the praise.

  Em exhaled and took a gulp of the wine.

  Conversation turned to the research, into the uses of renewable products and the exclusive discoveries that were unable to be synthesized. Em didn’t bother chipping into the conversation, she simply sat and nursed her wine while the biologists, chef and her parents spoke.

  The urge to do something took over, so she whispered to her mother, “May I be excused? The nocturnal plankton is blooming.”

  “Yes, dear. Please be careful.” Her mother leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek.

  Em got to her feet with relief. “Please excuse me.”

  The three men of the Nine rose to their feet as she exited, and she could feel Rivvin’s gaze on her back. Fortunately, she would soon be underwater and he was stuck being a guest.

  * * * *

  Rivvin watched the relieved set to Emharo’s shoulders and smiled inwardly. He looked to her mother, “May I ask where she is off to?”

  “There is a phosphorescent plankton bloom out in the bay, and she wants to gather samples. She is taking the boat, I hope.” Dr. Emaline Baker smiled hopefully.

  “You can’t keep her in, can you?” He was beginning to realize that whatever Emharo’s talent was it was part compulsion.

  Emaline shook her head. “No. She would always leave in the middle of the night and come back with what she felt was needed for the next day. It got to the point where we would simply give her a list to collect before she went to bed so that we could generally control where she went.”

  “Would you excuse me to accompany her?”

  Emaline looked at him with hope. “Would you? That would relieve my mind.”

  Morro frowned at him. “Rivvin, what are you up to?”

  Rivvin sighed, “What nature intended. You will understand when it strikes you, Morro. I will see you after I return.”

  Rivvin got to his feet, bowed to those sitting at the table and quickly moved to follow his lady down to the dock. If he gave her the chance, she would be free of him, and with their bond so tenuous, he needed to strengthen it as quickly as he could. The chemical bond he had formed with her would o
nly last another two days. If he didn’t press his suit, she would be lost to him.

  He jumped in the boat next to her, and she shrieked in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

  “Accompanying you on what I am sure will be a matter of biological interest.” He meant his biology, but it was not necessary for him to inform her. Rivvin was sure she would figure it out soon enough.

  Chapter Four

  Em paused. “I will have to go back to the habitat.”

  Rivvin cocked his head, his dark eyes unreadable. “Why?”

  “I don’t usually bring a suit for night dives, and today was no different.”

  His teeth flashed in the darkness, “I don’t mind if you don’t. My swim wrap is in the guest quarters.”

  She snorted. “I don’t mind. Skinny dipping for science, why not?”

  She freed the mooring rope and turned back to the engine.

  He sat as she activated the small propeller and the boat eased into the dark water. “Do you often go out at night?”

  She shrugged. “Many of the samples my parents want are night blooming. We are trying to grow planktons and lichen to light pathways and give passive evening light for larger buildings in the city.”

  “You have an affinity for the sea?”

  She smiled as she listened to the waves against the hull. “I suppose I do. I know the habits of the animals, the signs if they are going to flee or attack.”

  “Have you been damaged?”

  “Of course. One can’t go into a living ocean and not face danger every time. I have had my share of bites and scars, but I also have access to the very compounds that will mitigate the damage.”

  They glided out into the centre of the bay, the large glow under the surface indication that they were in the right place. “Can you drop that rock?”

  Rivvin followed her gesture and lifted the rock easily, dropping the makeshift anchor into the softly lapping waves.

  Em took a deep breath and stripped out of her shoes, trousers and, finally, she untied the sash that held her shirt closed. She unpinned her hair and let it cascade down as a partial covering before tying her knife to her leg.

  Rivvin was completely nude, and unless the Nine had a completely different physiology, he was interested in her lack of clothing. Hopefully, the cool water would chill his interest.

  Before she could change her mind, she slipped the shirt from her shoulders and dove into the water. The light of the plankton attracted her, confirmed by whatever it was that showed her what she needed. Talent, instinct, intuition, whatever it was, she knew what she needed when she saw it.

  She assessed her surroundings for a moment before turning toward the surface.

  Rivvin stopped her from returning to the air, and instead, he pressed his lips to hers.

  She clutched his shoulders for balance and felt his chest swell as he exhaled into her. Oxygen came to her through his mouth, and she quickly plugged her nose shut as he breathed into her.

  Able to continue, she broke free of him and noted his smug smile. It may have been a sneaky way to get a kiss in, but it was effective.

  He held her hand and pulled her down toward the base of the vegetation. She quickly worked and cut a dozen strands of the stuff, hauling it toward the surface.

  Rivvin took it from her and moved swiftly through the water.

  She kicked gently back to the surface, exhaling as she went.

  Inches from the surface, Rivvin caught her again and breathed for her. This time, she relaxed into it and held tightly to him as he gave her the air she craved.

  He held her with barely an inch between their bodies as they tumbled along with the current. When he began to swim them back toward the boat, she lifted her head, a stream of bubbles coming out of her mouth. She saw the predator a moment before Rivvin did.

  Em went limp and immobile while Rivvin went on the offensive. He swam toward the beast, and to her astonishment, in the dim light of the plankton, she could see spikes emerge from his forearms.

  He slashed at the predator, and the predator’s head flipped around, sending a tendril of blood through the water. Whatever was in Rivvin’s spikes, the predator slowed and fluttered slowly toward the sea floor.

  Em went into action. She swam to Rivvin and grabbed his uninjured arm, swimming with him back to the boat. More predators were only a minute away and getting out of the water was the best idea for both of them.

  She climbed the ladder into the boat and held her arm out for him. He waved her off and made his way out of the water just as the huge bulk of an even larger beast cruised below them.

  Rivvin sat and looked at the wound on his arm. “It isn’t bad.”

  Em was already looking through her very personal med kit. “It isn’t bad, but if you want to hit the water tomorrow, it needs to be tended to. Hold still and stop poking it.”

  He prodded gently at it one more time. “I heal quickly.”

  She took out a powder and sprinkled it on the wound. “This will speed the healing even more then.”

  He wrinkled his nose. “It stinks.”

  She laughed. “I am aware of that. The smell belongs to the protein, so when you can no longer smell it, it has fully absorbed.”

  She set the powder aside and looked at the wound. “Do you mind if I wrap it?”

  “If you stay unclothed, you can carve me off piece by piece and I will sit here quietly.” His tone was low.

  A blush scorched her cheeks. “You just had to mention that, didn’t you?”

  She quickly went and slipped into her shirt, tying the sash in place.

  “You were really so worried that you tended me before your modesty?” He reached out and touched her cheek.

  “Bleeding in this water is rarely a good idea.”

  “I can see that. The water under us is teeming with predators. How do you normally manage?”

  She shrugged, “I normally hide in the plankton for as long as I can then swim to the surface with as controlled a motion as I can manage.”

  “How did you see it before it was there?”

  She knew what he meant. “Everything down there has its own colour, even you. The colours tell me if something is friendly or not, toxic or not.”

  Em put a wrap on his cut and a light sniff told her that it was almost complete.

  He pulled his trousers on, to her relief, and she did the same. She left off her shoes as the boat was covered with plankton and the shoes would get in the way.

  Rivvin sat next to her and asked, “What colour am I?”

  “Electric blue.”

  “What does that mean?”

  Em bit her lip. “I don’t know. I have never seen anything that colour before. Will you be taking a boat out tomorrow?”

  Rivvin nodded. “Yes, it is being delivered by shuttle tomorrow morning. If you would care to assist, we are looking for shoals of fish suitable for consumption but not rare.”

  She thought about it. “Does the size of the fish matter?”

  “They should be no more than four metres long. We are looking for larger meat fish with the option to eat them raw.”

  Em nodded. “I know a few places where there are likely gatherings of suitable fish. You plan to tag them and then take the whole shoal?”

  He nodded. “That is the plan.”

  She grinned and took the helm once again. “Well, we have our target vegetation for this evening. Back to the lab with it.”

  His skin seemed to slough off the saltwater, but hers was itching. “And a shower.”

  He blinked. “You bathe after swimming in the sea?”

  “My skin doesn’t do what yours does. It gets dry and flaky if I don’t wash the salt off, but I have a place for that when I don’t want to wake my parents.”

  “Is it nearby?”

  She chuckled. “Well, since you don’t need it, allow me to have this one little secret.”

  He didn’t look happy about that while he slipped his shirt on over the bandage. “You
didn’t ask about my spikes.”

  “I thought you would mention them as you felt it appropriate. They are normal for your folk?”

  He cocked his head. “Not really, they come out when our mate is in danger and at no other time.”

  She blinked. “Are you saying…”

  “That I would like to begin a courtship with a union with you as the goal, but I will need clues as to how to do it within your traditions.”

  Em was stunned. “A mate? You want me as your mate?”

  He smiled at her, a slow and wicked smile. “I believe that you will exhaust me, run me a merry chase, run out and do whatever you feel to be right at any given time, and still, my body is called to yours.”

  Chapter Five

  Emharo tied off the boat while Rivvin collected their harvest. “Have you not experimented on samples of this before?”

  She was relieved to have another topic to discuss. “Of course, but we only take what we need for any round of work. Fresh plants have different properties to the dry ones, and so, I hack off only what my parents require.”

  “You swim there alone, at night?”

  She could feel his disapproval. “Of course I do. You already knew the answer to that.”

  “Why?”

  Em rubbed her forehead as they walked up to the lab. “It is in me to be busy. I crave occupation. It is more of a compulsion than anything else.”

  Rivvin hefted the plants as they moved through the doors into the greenhouse area of the lab. Em opened the storage tank, and he dropped the plankton into the cool seawater.

  She yawned but knew that she needed to get cleaned up before sleep would be possible. “Thank you for an intriguing evening, Rivvin.”

  “I will escort you to the habitat.” He inclined his head and offered his arm.

  Em paused. “I am not going to the habitat quite yet. I need to wash the salt off, and there is a place nearby that will serve that function.”

  “I will escort you there, then, wait for you and return you home.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Fine. I hope you are comfortable in the wild.”