07:13 07/04/2587 –(8734/664/27/56)

Nish tried to rub her eyes but was prevented from doing so. At first, panic set in, and she quickly awoke, only to remember that she was still wearing the mask from the night before.

It had been difficult to fall asleep, but in doing so, she gained just a bit more appreciation for what Gabriel and Erilur had to endure.

Pista was gone; the little Jokun must have gotten up early to go and bother Gabriel. Nish was just grateful that her sundress was also gone, which meant she had remembered and felt the need to get dressed.

Despite the discomfort of the mask, Nish found the bed to be excellent, and once she had fallen asleep, she slept like a baby.

Nish scooted the edge and stretched, her wings reaching their full glory and relaxed. Part of her just wanted to go back to bed and spend the next hour or so waking up properly, but Nish was hungry, and she needed to find her daughter. If for no other reason than to stop Pista’s childish antics from getting out of hand.

It was a little more cumbersome for Nish to get dressed than her daughter; her wings made it tricky to tie up and zip the articles she wore. “I really wish I could go back in time, meet the person who came up with this stupid tradition and break their wings,” Nish grumbled until she was finally presentable.

Entering the kitchen/living room, Nish was greeted not by her daughter driving the others up the wall but by Erilur and Risoti talking at the table. At the same time, Pista sat quietly on Gabriel’s lap as they watched a nature documentary on television.

Gabriel’s heard the door open and close, looked at Nish and said, “sleeping beauty's finally awake.”

“What?” Nish spurted out, blindsided by the compliment.

Gabriel shook his head before explaining, “It’s a fairy tale. A princess was cursed to sleep for a long time. What I meant was that you were the last one up.”

“Oh, yes, I see,” Nish replied; the comment had just been a turn of phrase that did not translate well into basic.

“Morning mummy,” Pista said, her eyes lighting up at seeing her mother up and about, or maybe it was the drink she was sipping on.

“I worry I might have gotten her addicted,” said Gabriel before turning to the television screen.

Nish also looked at what could hold Pista’s attention for more than five seconds. The show was occupied by a fuzzy quadrupedal animal hanging from a tree. It was a placid-looking thing, dangling from the branches, moving at an impossibly slow pace and half-heartedly nibbling on a leaf.

It was then a human, covered in clothes, no masks or suits, stood before the animal. It did not flinch, scream or holler. The strange creature simply took a lazy glance at them and then got right back to doing pretty much nothing.

The human started to speak in a language Nish did not understand, though much like Gabriel, their voice was melodic. Nish did not need to understand, however, as subtitles in galactic basic were displayed at the bottom of the screen.

“This remarkable creature is a sloth, and it has adapted to the struggle of life in a most unique way, rather than getting stronger, faster, tougher or smarter. This wondrous and adorable animal has gone down the path of doing as little as possible,” the presenter said, showing their teeth and laughing.

“It’s Earth,” Nish whispered.

“Well done,” Gabriel said, “Erilur took nearly twenty minutes to realise that.”

“In my defence, I wasn’t really paying attention,” Erilur called out from the table.

Of all the creatures Nish ever imagined living on Earth, this utterly defenceless creature was not one of them. “I don’t understand,” said Nish, watching the sloth doze in the sun, hanging from a branch and swaying ever so slightly in the breeze.

“Yeah, that’s why I turned subtitles on,” Gabriel pointed to the screen.

“I meant, how can that thing even survive on your world?” she asked. Whenever she had thought of Earth, especially in her younger days, she had imagined vicious predators, powerful herbivores and swift and deadly ariel hunters, not these dopey creatures.

Gabriel looked at her dead in the eyes with an intensity that was a little unsettling. “Sloths are remarkably well adapted for their environments; they are well camouflaged due to the symbiotic algae covering their bodies,” he explained.

“They need very little food; they seldom need to return to the ground, there are predators in the Amazon, and the sloth not only survives but thrives,” he added.

“Earth is a world of extremes, all extremes, not just the powerful and vicious,” Gabriel finished, turning his attention back to the screen.

“Honestly, the way some of you people talk, you’d think we were under assault by fire-breathing, poison-spewing super plagues 100/100,” Erilur stated, chewing on a snack. Which Gabriel only just realised meant she had gotten it using his credentials to order it from the kitchens.

Gabriel might have said something about this violation of his privacy if he were a more confrontational man. “Be nice,” Risoti said, gently slapping the back of Erilur’s hand.

Pista buzzed and hid her face in Gabriel’s chest; the documentary had switched to a bird of prey attempting to hunt the sloth. He had watched this show before and knew that the sloth survived, although the sloth was probably long dead, considering the episode was over twenty years old.

“It’s fine, see, Mr sloth made it,” Gabriel said, pointing at the animal casually poking its head out from the leaves.

Pista did not look back but not because she was scared; instead, she had found something else to interest her.

Reaching into Gabriel’s top, at first, he thought she was attempting to jab his belly button again. Instead, Pista’s hand clamped around a metal object, and she carefully removed it to find a locket attached to Gabriel’s neck by a chain.

Pista examined the object; it was silver, plain and pretty heavy, considering it was so small. She found a latch and tried her best to open it. Though her fingers were nimble, she lacked the nails which would allow for quick and easy opening, and after a few minutes, Pista gave up.

“What’s in it?” she asked, still holding onto the locket.

“Pictures,” replied Gabriel.

“Of what?” asked Pista.

Gabriel hesitated for a moment; something Erilur noted, “of me… and my sister.”

“You have a sister?” Pista asked excitedly, “I want a sister,” she trilled joyfully.

Gabriel smiled weakly as Pista asked, “what’s she called?”

“Jariel, her name’s Jariel; we were named after angels,” Gabriel explained after a brief pause.

“What's an engel?” asked Pista, finally letting go of the locket. In response, Gabriel quickly tucked it back beneath his shirt.

“Some humans believe in a being called God, and God has servants called angels, people made out of light,” Gabriel explained. Trying to keep his explanation as simple as possible, not just because he had little interest in the topic but also because Pista was a kid. He doubted she was interested in the distinction between archangels and seraphim.

Wanting to change the topic, Gabriel decided to ask Pista, “what about you, Pista? Any family you want to tell me about?”

Pista looked directly into Gabriel’s eyes and brushed her antennae through his hair before saying, “mummy says not to talk about the sperm donor.”

Risoti resisted spraying her drink inside her mask while Erilur nearly choked. Even Gabriel, not one for overt reactions, leaned back and wondered if he had heard what he had just heard.

“Pista!” Nish called out.

“You do!” Pista replied, unsure what she had done wrong.

Gabriel, Risoti, and Erilur were all staring at Nish, and she shrunk under the gaze, her antennae drooped, and her wings were pressed hard against her back.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“I take it there’s a story there,” said Erilur once she had gotten control of her spluttering.

“Not really,” replied Nish with a nonchalance that made Gabriel believe her.

“Did he leave you?” asked Risoti, eager for some gossip.

Nish did not reply. Was she embarrassed? Risoti wanted the story, but not if it made Nish too uncomfortable. Then she recalled what had happened during the interview, and Risoti changed her question, “What I mean was, did he end your romantic relationship?”

“No, Tufanda, don’t do monogamy like you lot, well, some do, but I’ve never met any. My cousin told me that her friend’s sister knows someone who’s tried the whole partner-for-life thing,” Nish replied, her wings regaining some of their former volume when she realised they were not criticising her parenting style.

Though she could not fathom why they were so interested in this, it was a minor footnote in her life as far as Nish was concerned. Apart from the fact it gave her Pista, that was irreplaceable.

“So, why the turn of phrase?” asked Erilur, with a wave of her hand, trying to keep the question as diplomatic as she could.

“Tufanda men may not form a long-term romantic partnership with the women, but they are supposed to help with the child-rearing, financial support, days out with his kid, turning up for school events, etc.,” Nish explained.

“And I take he… did the deed and then scarpered,” stated Risoti.

“Yep, last time I get pulled in by full antennae and deep eye spots,” Nish said; even now, she occasionally wondered how she could have been so moronic. The signs were all there after all; personally, she blamed it on mating season hormones, plus she had been young and stupid.

“Sorry,” Gabriel said, both regretting what had happened and that they had brought it up.

“It’s fine. We’re better off without him,” replied Nish. The was silence for a while as everyone avoided the other's gaze, apart from Pista, who had regained her interest in the show.

“Mummy, mummy, look at that!” Pista squealed as a manatee chomped vigorously on seagrass. It was undoubtedly a marvellous creature, and Nish found the desire to see Earth for herself building within her; perhaps their next holiday should be more on the extreme side.

“Lovely, but I’m hungry; I really need some breakfast,” Nish said, “and to get this thing off my face.”

“Fair enough,” Gabriel responded and told them of a restaurant on the twentieth floor; the three could visit it while Gabriel and Erilur went to the one that catered to Deathworlders.

Pista and Risoti were not pleased with being spilt up, though for different reasons. But Gabriel was adamant that this was the most efficient way and comforted them as he still needed to get dressed so they had time to prepare for the unbearable heartbreak.

They should all use the decontamination room together as it took about ten minutes, and doing it in two goes was going to be annoying.

***

It was funny without the mutual suffering they endured in the hospital, Erilur and Gabriel had very little to talk about. Gabriel supposed that Erilur was pining for her lady love, which might dampen her communication skills, though if this was the case, he had sorely underestimated just how close two people could get in a short amount of time.

The silence was becoming uncomfortable even for Gabriel, even more so as the was only one other person in the restaurant, so he decided to spark a conversation.

“Um’ what animal does your bacon stuff come from?” Gabriel asked, pushing around his toast.

Erilur looked up from her meal, and Gabriel got a distinct impression that she was analysing each word he had used. He supposed this was to be expected, her profession required her to understand behaviours and word choice, and he guessed it was hard to turn that switch off.

“This particular strip, nothing, it’s cloned; the animal it was cloned from was a Berel,” Erilur explained. “It’s a medium-sized herbivore, feeds mostly on fast-growing plants, makes them good livestock,” she added.

She paused between bites and put down her fork, “Gabriel, might I ask you a personal question?”

“Depends on the question,” Gabriel replied.

“Right,” Erilur said, taking a moment to compose the question. “I’ve noticed that whenever you talk about your family, you… pause briefly. Do you have an explanation for that?”

Gabriel’s eyes locked onto her, and he grabbed his toasted carbohydrate produce from his plate and began to chew. When he swallowed, Gabriel replied, “My family and I have a complicated relationship.”

“Yet you keep a locket with a picture of your sister, literally right next to your heart,” stated Erilur.

“This line of questioning is over,” Gabriel stated coldly.

“None of us saw the picture. Is it even your sister?” said Erilur, musing more to herself than Gabriel.

“This line of questioning is over!” Gabriel ordered, as close to shouting as possible without crossing that line.

Erilur was unperturbed by the anger; she had seen enough of it in her profession and knew how diffuse the situation. “Very well, I am a professional; however, if you ever have any problems and need to talk, you can call me at any time,” Erilur reminded him.

“I’m fine,” Gabriel reiterated.

Gabriel’s P.D.A. pipped, and any tension was quickly forgotten. He had received an email from the mayor’s office before it officially opened. “They must be desperate to talk to you,” Erilur said, finishing her breakfast.

Reading through the message, Gabriel said, “they want to discuss compensation for what occurred.”

“Money, are you going to turn that down?” Erilur asked, wondering what would win out, greed or introversion.

“No,” Gabriel replied, making the correct choice.

***

“Thank you for meeting me on such short notice,” Mayor Posunefri said as Gabriel and Nish sat opposite her.

“Not a problem, though I would like to keep this brief, I do have a holiday to get back to,” Gabriel replied, taking note of the serpentine woman’s distinctive patterning. It was like a mosaic, filled with vibrant reds and oranges.

“Quite so,” Posunefri said, a little taken aback by the bluntness, but at least this meant she would not be here for hours.

“Firstly, I would like to extend an official apology for what occurred on the 661st, for the trauma you suffered and the injuries you sustained,” Posunefri explained, her tongue waggled in the air in a complicated motion that probably had some meaning, but Gabriel had no idea what.

“We also know words are cheap, so we would also like to offer you sixty thousand credits each, Mr Ratliu, Ms Nish and Ms Pista,” Posunefri added as Nish buzzed at the news, and Gabriel leaned back. That was a sizable amount, more than he made in a year.

“On top of that, we will fully reimburse you for the cost of your stay here,” Posunefri stated, and there was even more silence from the two sitting opposite her.

It was Gabriel who spoke first, “in exchange for signing a waiver refusing to sue.”

Posunefri made a snorting sound, and after a few seconds of composing herself, she said, “I… Yes, that is the gist of it.”

Gabriel supposed that was fair; the whole point of suing would be to get a cash payout, and this way, he would get the money immediately, plus another ten grand for the reimbursement.

“I’m game, sounds fair,” Nish stated, who had no more desire for a lengthy trial than Gabriel.

“Sure,” said Gabriel, as blunt as ever.

“Good, I’m glad we could agree so quickly; now there are two more things, Mr Ratlu, for your act of heroism, we would like to award you the Tex loop. Also, if possible, we would like to ask your opinion about the security of our facilities,” Posunefri explained, feeling much more confident with how this was going.

“Do I have to?” asked Gabriel, a little too much like an annoyed child than he intended.

“Well, no, we understand that you are a civilian and your expertise in security is….” Posunefri said, but Gabriel cut her off and refined his question, “No, I mean do I have to accept the award?”

Posunefri was given pause. As far as she knew, no one had ever refused the honour. “It… is not a legal requirement,” she replied.

“Then no,” stated Gabriel.

“But, you are willing to give us some advice about habitat safety,” said Posunefri.

“I can tell you about what I’ve seen in other, more secure zoos, but I don’t know how much help it will be,” Gabriel explained.

“All we ask is that you tell the staff at the zoo what you’ve seen in more secure facilities; that way, we can get a leg up before the specialists arrive,” replied Posunefri.

“Specialists?” asked Nish.

“The unfortunate events that day have raised serious safety concerns about the zoo. We will perform a comprehensive safety review to prevent anything like this from happening again,” explained Posunefri. “Mr Ratlu will not always be there to save someone. We all got incredibly lucky.”

“Good,” Nish explained, unsure what else she should say. Gabriel had expected far more feet dragging. It seemed longer lifespans were not the only advantage habitableworlders possessed. They had more common sense as well, at least in certain fields.

“When do you want me to perform my inspection?” asked Gabriel, he did not want to do it, but if it helped just one person, there was no good reason to refuse.

“You seem like a man that prefers to get things out of the way, so we can do it within the hour if you would like,” Posunefri replied, her tongue twirling in a figure of eight.

***

“Drones, that’s why I jumped in; you have no drones,” Gabriel explained, peering over the Vetoru enclosure. It was just the Vetoru enclosure, as Treni the carnedon was still at the vet's, undergoing close supervision as her jaw healed.

Gabriel was happy that he had not killed her, though he felt only marginally better knowing that he had possibly crippled her for life.

“I see,” Fesul replied; that would be very expensive, even more so than they had initially planned.

“I’ve never seen them used; the main goal is to stop people from getting in, period,” said Gabriel. “On that note, I would remove any trees close to the fences; some people can fly, after all,” he added, gesturing to the same tree Pista had leapt from days ago.

There was a rustle from the bushes below, and a familiar head emerged from the foliage. It was the vetoru pack leader; Gabriel knew it was them because of the triangle pattern on its forehead.

The Vetoru looked up at the fence and hissed when it saw Gabriel. The creature made an alarm call, and the entire pack, or what was left of them, emerged from the undergrowth and began honking, roaring and hissing at Gabriel.

“They do not like you,” Fesul stated bluntly as the Vetoru threat display intensified.

Gabriel had been right to come here on his own. The last thing Pista or Nish needed was this blunt of a reminder. Gabriel was also relieved that the entire area had been cordoned off. While there was nothing wrong with the exhibit, and it was as secure as it had ever been, the staff had decided that until new and improved measures were put in place, it was best that the public not be allowed access.

This had a benefit from Gabriel’s perspective; it meant he only had to talk to Fesul, and no one was here to gawk at him.

Having enough of the beasts’ cries, Gabriel walked away from the enclosure and out of sight. Once he was gone, the Vetoru calmed down, and the noise stopped.

“It was a remarkable thing you did,” Fesul said as he too removed himself from the Vetoru’s sight, though they were not bothered by his presence.

“So I’ve been told,” replied Gabriel as he took a better look at the alien. Feline was a word Gabriel would use to describe Fesul. His face was feline, though he was covered in millions of tiny grain-sized scales rather than skin.

He had no tail and walked on his knuckles like a gorilla, occasionally rearing on his hind legs to gesture. Gabriel's leading theory was that he did this to emphasise, similar to hand gestures in humans, the higher he stood, the more serious he was.

“What happened to the ones I killed?” asked Gabriel, that pang of guilt crawling back up again.

“Vetoru have a complex mourning ritual, we simply left the bodies there, and they did what they did,” Fesul explained. “I think they lay sticks on the body and perform a dance. You would need to ask one of the keepers for a play-by-play,” he added.

“Isn’t that a biological hazard?” asked Gabriel.

“The enclosure is large, and neither vetoru nor carnedons will eat dead members of the same or the other species,” replied Fesul.

That was better than he feared; it was of some comfort to know that the beasts had received a proper send-off.