The Galaxy, and the Ground Within (Wayfarers #4)(72)

He folded his abdominal legs and sat on the floor before her. ‘Am I correct that you overheard what I told the others in the kitchen?’

‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I wasn’t being nosy, it’s just – you know – it’s not that big of a ship.’

‘Not to worry. I assumed as much.’ Speaking so freely about the subject was new to him, and he found it brought misery and relief in equal measure. ‘One of my boys is named Segred, and he was a wild one from the moment he hatched. This one day, I was at a production meeting for a new sim – oh-so very important, like every meeting of that sort is. Life and death, you know. I had to be there. I got a call in the middle of it that Segred had been taken to the infirmary. He and his idiot friends had gone to – it doesn’t matter where. This lagoon on the outskirts of our city. They’d thought it would be a marvellous idea to climb the tallest rock face there and take turns dropping off of it into the water. Only, there were other rocks below the surface which they didn’t take into account, and Segred crashed against one as he came down. Cracked his shell all the way through – here and here.’ He gestured at two spots on his thorax.

‘Oh my,’ Ouloo said, clutching her cup. ‘That’s got to be bad for you folks.’

‘Very bad, especially given the lagoon water that poured into the wounds.’ He exhaled through his spiracles at the awful memory. ‘I spent two tendays sitting with him in the infirmary as he dealt with a raging bacterial infection that was very difficult to treat. It was ugly. I’ll spare you the details. But watching my child fight to stay alive was the worst experience I’ve ever had.’

‘Worse than getting kicked out?’

‘Oh, stars, yes. They can name me a cultural threat a hundred times over if it means I never have to go through something like that again.’

‘And … was he …?’

‘He was fine. Physically scarred yet infinitely wiser.’

Ouloo bobbed her neck. ‘I hope … I hope that …’ She couldn’t bring herself to say the words.

Roveg tilted his head to catch her eye. ‘I’m not telling you that everything will be all right,’ he said. ‘I’m telling you I understand how horrible it feels to be able to do nothing.’

She took another flower wrap. ‘How did you get through it?’

‘Not easily. But his mother and I started doing this … sort of game, I suppose. We would talk about the things we were looking forward to doing with Segred once he had healed. The things we wanted to see him do. It was frightening, at first. I felt as though we were jinxing it. But the longer we did it, the more it felt like we were willing a future for Segred into existence. Like the more we said it, the more certain it was. I know there’s no reason or logic to that whatsoever. I know Segred’s recovery had nothing to do with that and everything to do with imubots and antibiotics. That game didn’t help my son. It helped me.’ He gestured supportively with his thoracic legs. ‘So. What are you looking forward to, with Tupo?’

Ouloo cradled the cup in her paws. ‘I’m very excited for xyr to tell me what gender xe is,’ she said. ‘I’ve been planning the party in my head forever. Crushcake with groob jam if xe’s a girl, ten-berry fancy if xe’s a boy, citrus cloudcups if xe’s neither or somewhere in between. I have the recipes saved on my scrib. I know it might not happen for years – there’s no way of predicting when kids land on it, xe could be all the way grown by then – but I love imagining the party. It gets a little more elaborate every time. There will be lights and pixel clouds and I’ll hire a band if I’ve got the money for it.’

‘Sounds spectacular,’ Roveg said. ‘Do you have any guesses, as to—’

Ouloo waved one of her paws at him. ‘Oh, no, no, no,’ she said. ‘I won’t do that with xyr. Some people – not everybody, but some – think it’s cute to make bets on it, but I think it’s a stupid thing to do. When I was not much older than Tupo, I overheard my – it’s odd for me to say relatives, because we don’t use those terms among ourselves, but that’s the word you would use. Anyway, they were talking about me in that way, and most of them thought I’d tell them I was a boy. Had me confused for standards. No, I absolutely won’t do that with Tupo. Xe’s the only one who knows what xe is.’

‘Noted, and admirable,’ Roveg said. ‘And I have always thought the party sounds like a lovely custom.’

‘Quelin don’t have anything similar, right?’

‘No, not at all. If your parents got it wrong, you let them know, you update your records, and everybody gets on with their lives. It’s a casual matter. Nobody hires a band. Which is our loss, really.’

‘Well, no matter which recipe I make for—’ Ouloo took a shaky breath.

Roveg bent his legs in an empathetic gesture. He’d felt that hesitation before. ‘It’s all right,’ he said. ‘Will it.’

Ouloo’s eyes narrowed and her jaw tensed. ‘No matter which recipe I make for Tupo,’ she said with fierce intention, ‘all three of you are invited.’

‘I wouldn’t miss it,’ Roveg said. As soon as the words left his mouth, they circled back and slapped him. Oh, he wouldn’t miss the party of the child he’d known for four days. Stars, no, he wouldn’t miss that.