The Galaxy, and the Ground Within (Wayfarers #4)(83)

Even Tupo did not break the weighty silence that ensued. ‘It doesn’t stand out much, does it?’ Speaker said, her voice soft but steady.

‘None of them do,’ Roveg said, ‘unless you’re looking for one in particular.’

‘Do your people have constellations?’ Ouloo asked.

‘I don’t know,’ Speaker said. ‘I’m familiar with the concept, but I don’t know if we did.’

‘Do you have them?’ Roveg asked, looking in Ouloo’s direction.

‘I don’t know, either,’ Ouloo said. ‘I don’t know much of anything about my species’ homeworld.’

‘We have them,’ Roveg said. ‘I used to know some of them. I’m not sure I’d be any good at it now.’ He looked to Pei. ‘You?’

‘They’re not a thing for us,’ Pei said. ‘We only paid attention to the stars that have an obvious colour. Ancient astronomers on Sohep Frie didn’t think the others were important.’

Roveg laughed. ‘Because they weren’t talking to you?’

‘Exactly. The coloured stars, though – oh, you could lose tendays reading about Aeluon astrology. Some people still pay attention to it. Blue stars are good luck, yellow stars are bad luck, and so on. It’s incredibly stupid.’

‘I have never heard an Aeluon call superstition stupid before,’ Roveg chuckled.

‘Yeah, well, this Aeluon’s not scared of yellow stars,’ Pei said. ‘Or prime numbers. Or years where it doesn’t snow.’

‘Why don’t we have constellations on Gora?’ Tupo asked.

‘Because we don’t need them,’ Ouloo answered. ‘Constellations are so people without tech can find their way around the sky.’

‘Yeah, but we couldn’t use tech for days,’ Tupo said. ‘Not really. We should have some for emergencies.’

‘You should make some,’ Roveg said. ‘Draw them out and put them in your museum.’

‘Oh,’ Tupo said. ‘I forgot.’ The child rolled over, got to xyr feet, and walked off somewhere out of Roveg’s line of sight. ‘I have presents for you.’

Pei saw Tupo fetch something from a table. Xe returned on two legs, holding three bundles wrapped in scrap fabric with xyr forepaws. ‘I wanted to give you all something. You each get a piece from my museum collection.’

Xe handed the first of the bundles to Pei; she unwrapped it without missing a beat. Inside the fabric was an opalescent stone. It was unpolished, but even in the nearly disappeared light, a bit of sparkle winked back at her.

‘You get this one ’cause it looks like you,’ Tupo said. ‘It’s pretty but it’s also tough.’

Pei laughed delighted green at this. ‘I love it,’ she said. ‘Thanks, kid.’

‘Can you help me unwrap this?’ Speaker said, cupping her bundle in the suit’s palms. ‘String is tricky for the suit.’

Tupo picked the bundle back up, unwrapped it with xyr paws, and held up a bright red crystal, nearly the length of Speaker’s forearm, embedded in a chunk of grey rock. ‘Okay, so maybe this isn’t a good present, because it’s more for your sister, I think. You said she likes crystals, and I know you really want to see her, so I’m giving you a present to give to her, since we didn’t get to meet her. If that makes sense.’ Xe placed the crystal back in the suit’s hands.

‘Tupo, that’s perfect,’ Speaker said. ‘That’s a very Akarak sort of way to give someone a present.’

‘Yeah?’ Tupo said happily.

‘Yeah.’ She clicked her beak with fondness. ‘And tell you what – next time I come back, I’ll drag Tracker along with me. I think she’d like your museum.’

Ouloo beamed. ‘We’d love to have you back,’ she said.

Roveg could tell what was in the bundle as soon as the child gave it to him, and he was oh-so glad Tupo could not read him. He understood exactly why Tupo was giving him this, and he understood that Tupo did not understand how Roveg felt about it, and stars, did he feel complicated.

He unwrapped the bundle and extracted the poem stone.

‘I really liked it when you read to me,’ Tupo said. ‘Your language is really cool.’ Xe threw a furtive glance toward xyr mother and lowered xyr voice. ‘And also, I thought about what you said about museums stealing stuff, and um, I don’t want to be that kind of museum.’

‘Thank you very much,’ Roveg said, bowing gracefully. ‘I humbly accept the repatriation of this fine artefact. I’ll give it a place of honour in my gallery at home.’ He was being intentionally flowery, but it was also the truth. The cheap knick-knack in his hands now carried with it a sentiment of the present he would cherish, and a reminder of the past he would always loathe. Only the finest art could accomplish both those things at once.





Epilogue





THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING YOUR LOCAL PLANETARY CO-OP





Day 240, GC Standard 307





PEI


She didn’t have the colours to express how good it felt to be in space again.

It shouldn’t have mattered, in some ways. Her shuttle was the same shuttle. Her chair was the same chair. But there were stars out her window now – not merely above, but all around. Gora grew ever smaller below her, a massive curve shrinking into a modest sphere. The debris field was still patchily present, and seeing it up close was disquieting, but the automated wreckage drones were on the job, scooting this way and that in methodical stripes, passively pulling in junk with their magnetic collection arms. It was surprisingly satisfying to watch.