Jupiter slumped in the warm water of the bath. He could not help himself, tiredness encompassed his being. Bone weary from the hunt, exhausted from the vigilance needed on the flight south, and hungry for lack of food. The warm water lulled him as steam rose all around.

With his head on his chest, he fell asleep. Even when he slipped, and he awoke coughing from bathwater, he dozed again almost straight away. An hour passed when a splash hit him in the face. He started awake, and his heart raced in fright.

A bump on his leg under the water jolted him and he sprang up fully awake, but he could see nothing. The cold air of the mountain top had filled with the bath house with steam. A shape erupted from the steaming water.

‘Breeze.’ Jupiter said as the imp bounced into him.

Jupiter relaxed back into the bath. The cold air chilled him as if flowed over his warm wet skin.

‘Where have you been?’

Jupiter knew he had to get going, out of the bath and steam. His dreams had made it seem like hours had passed. But the relaxing warmth kept its hold upon him.

Looking… Watching… Seeking…

‘Well then. What did you find?’

Secrets… Safety… Friends…

‘Good. That’s the impression I got as well. Though the caravan…’

Yes… Must Watch… Listen…

‘Good job. I knew I could trust you.’ Jupiter said and yawned. ‘I can trust you can’t I Breeze?’

Yes… Yes… No…

‘What do you mean no?’

Try… It Is… Hard…

‘Just do your best. And that’s been more than anyone else expects of imps.’ Jupiter laughed. ‘That’s your superpower isn’t it? No one sees you. To them you’re just an annoyance.’

Breeze splashed him again and churned the water making waves that overspilled the bath onto the plank floor of the bath house.

‘Well no one should under-estimate your sense of crazy. Eh Breeze.’

No… No… Yes…

And then after a pause when Jupiter had made no move.

Others look… Eat… Want…

‘Sure. You’re right I guess. I’ll get going.’

Jupiter dried himself off on a soft felted towel, and threw the damp cloth over Breeze who squatted to warm himself over the boiler pipe that brought hot water for the bath.

The clothes Vilakmat had laid out were layered items with a soft fabric inner, and a felted layer quilted to the inner. Outer clothing made of a soft leather had a subtle pattern to the texture accented by the cut and stitching. It fitted him well, warm, waterproof. He noted that the stitches seemed to somehow emphasize his muscles - or perhaps stylize was a better term.

‘Come on Breeze. Dry yourself off,’ Jupiter said. ‘Let me help you.’

Jupiter gave Breeze a rub down. Jupiter noted the imp’s fur-feathers had the same multi-layering too. Stiffer outer layer’s with a downy fuzz underneath. There was not a lot of water to dry off. Breeze just imitated him rather really needing to dry off.

‘Breeze. These people from the caravan… they may not like imps. Vilakmat was not so pleased to see you either. And he seems to be one of the good guys.’

Seems… Yes… No…?

‘Stay out of sight.’

Dit Dah Dah Dah… Dah Dit Dit.

‘Did you just morse code JD to me?’ Jupiter laughed. ‘Crazy imp.’

Breeze began to dance but Jupiter walked out on him, ran down the covered way, and up the stairs to the room he shared with Maggie.

He opened the door. But before he could step through a squeal made him turn his back on the room.

‘Sorry Maggie. I didn’t know…’

‘It’s okay. I’m decent… now…’

Jupiter had seen her in a light shirt and baggy pants when he burst in. He turned to see Maggie just finish tucking in her blouse.

‘It’s not like I’ve not seen you in just a T shirt and shorts…’

‘It’s the principle of the thing.’ Maggie pulled on a long felted jacket. It fastened with hooks to one side and a pair of sashes that reached from behind her then wrapped under her chest in a cross held with a sort of broach or buckle. The effect was to emphasize her womanly shape and Jupiter pursed his lips.

‘Don’t you dare.’ Maggie glared at him. ‘The correct thing to say is… you look lovely in that outfit.’

‘You look lovely in that outfit.’ Jupiter grinned at her. ‘No. I mean. I’ve only ever seen you in that old Comsat T shirt and Qhawana’s cast off felt jacket.’

‘Well we can’t all have figure hugging wetsuits to act all hero-like in.’

Jupiter grinned. He struck a pose. ‘And now?’

‘Like a gentleman pirate.’

Jupiter got a strange sense of deja vu but shook it off when he noticed Maggie stared. ‘Come on. We’d better get to the dining table.’

‘Yes. The caravan came in while I was napping, and you were soaking in your bath.’ Maggie smiled. ‘Your bath was just what I needed.’

‘You’re welcome.’ He felt a lot cleaner and less stinky than had for a long time.

Jupiter looked out the window to the east. Two skyships now swung on the pylon’s cross beams, with a third being pulled into position by a gharumal. It let out a moaning bellow of protest joined a moment later by a chorus of rumbles from the stockade. Four of the gharumal had been hobbled together.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

‘I don’t know if being seen downstairs at dinner is a good idea or not.’ Maggie said from behind. Jupiter turned. The warm golden light from a glow-globe filled the room, but there was a chill in the air. ‘Couldn’t we just get food sent up? Sleep. And tomorrow leave first thing?’

Jupiter strode to the door. ‘Come on. It will be fine.’ He stepped out down the stairs to the rising hubbub in the common hall. ‘I’m super hungry, for food, but also to see who traveled in on the caravan.

Tamm and Pariqhamtu already sat at a table. But when Jupiter made to join them, Tamm shook his head in a very humanlike way. Pariqhamtu even wagged one of her thumbs and subtly pointed with the other to another free table.

Jupiter walked on past the pair and stood looking at the fire pit, held his hands to the heat and rubbed them together. He sat cornerwise to Maggie so they both had good views of the dining room. Groups had already taken up places next to the kitchen and fire pit while human servers brought mugs of some drink.

They’d had so little contact with humans on Eoth that it fascinated Jupiter to see them now. They all looked different to Qhawana who now seemed a strange old man compared to these people. And Red-Back too. She played at being a pirate for the sake of her rebel captain. Nothing she did was normal, or real, and instead done all for show.

‘Avast, yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of zhavaqiko,’ Jupiter said under his breath.

‘What are you talking about?’ Maggie sipped at a wooden cup.

‘What do you think they’re drinking?’ Jupiter sniffed the contents of the cup set beside him.

Maggie shrugged. ‘Probably beer. There’s not a place on Earth that does not seem to drink too much of it.’

‘But this is Eoth.’

‘Well. We’re pretty sure that the humans here are the same as on Earth.’

‘Probably. I mean they look the same… act sort of…’

‘The same. So they drink the same. Look.’ Maggie nodded to an adjacent table where a large man drank from a mug. He had a white foam mustache on his upper lip that he wiped off with the back of his hand.

‘Yeah. Let’s order some.’ Jupiter grinned broadly at Maggie.

‘No. You can’t.’

‘Why not? No law against it… Besides. I’m captain.’

‘Peter Drake,’ Maggie hissed under her breath. ‘You will not drink beer, or anything like it. Especially when we’re on the run from the Imperial navy… trying to get home… and… we have no idea who these people are…’

Jupiter grinned at her. ‘Got yah…’

Maggie shoved him on the shoulder playfully but not gently.

‘So I’ll just have a zhavaqiko-ho-ho.’ Jupiter gave her a grin and got a withering smile in return.

Ruka joined their table, along with an older woman and a small boy.

‘My aunt, Sukhiaraq.’ Ruka said as she sat next to Maggie. The sky boy took the seat next to the older woman and pressed against her side. ‘This is Kiriyaq, one of the staff’s boys.’

Sukhiaraq smiled at each of them and Jupiter felt more welcomed than he had since he had arrived on Eoth.

‘I’ll not join you,’ Sukhiaraq said. ‘I will be busy with the kitchen. Ruka will look after you.’ She left them but returned with a platter of flatbreads and a bowl of chopped vegetables in a sauce.

Jupiter sipped from his cup, water flavored with a sweet-sour fruit. It gave a slight fizz to the drink.

‘But no foam.’ Jupiter drank and looked wistfully at the table of beer drinkers. He ripped the flatbread and dipped it in a sauce less spicy than Qhawana made and sweeter. Like banana but with some sour apricot and tomato fruitiness. A chopped herb mixed into it made his lips feel cool like mint, but in a way he did not recognize.

Beyond them, furthest from the fire and the kitchen, a group of surly looking manisaurs ate from bowls of white meat. They did not drink the foamy beverage and instead drank what Jupiter guessed was zhavaqiko. The familiar, slightly fruity coffee-chocolate, scent hung in the air after a server passed with a tray of steaming drinks.

Jupiter couldn’t hear what Maggie and Ruka spoke about. They had their heads close to one another and the hubbub of the common hall overrode their voices. The rising and falling of the interwoven Thaluk language of the humans, and the warbling of the manisaurs made for a friendly but noisy atmosphere. It amazed him how the two young women could find so much to discuss after having just met. Jupiter sighed. Kiriyaq was too young to have much to say even if he could make himself heard.

So he watched the other tables. It struck him how strangely normal everything had become. But he still remained on edge.

The quiet hubbub changed though when, towards the end of the meal, a troupe of five manisaurs entered the dining hall. All dressed alike in a uniform. Not navy, but something else. Conversation paused while everyone, human and manisaur alike, looked up. Most hurriedly looked away again and slowly the rumble of conversation returned. But he sensed a note of disquiet and hesitancy about the sound now, as if everyone spoke in more of a hush.

Out of the corner of his eye Jupiter saw the arrivals check the room over. Jupiter rubbed the palms of his hands on his leggings, then took a sip from his cup, even though it was long empty.

‘This is not good,’ Jupiter leaned close to Maggie.

‘Just act normally. They’re not paying us any particular attention.’ Maggie returned to her conversation with Ruka.

‘Yet.’ Jupiter said under his breath. He stood with his cup in hand and went for a refill. The idea of a beer tempted him again, if only to irk Maggie, but instead he took a fill of water from a jug beaded with condensation.

The new group moved to a table on the opposite side of the fire pit. Jupiter sat down once more and stared at the flames and the group beyond, but Maggie was right. They did not pay any attention to any of the other tables and instead pretended they were oblivious to the reaction to their arrival.

‘Who do you think they are?’ Jupiter said when Ruka cleared the table and left Maggie. ‘Police of some sort perhaps?’

‘No. Just young manisaurs wanting to make their mark on the world. That makes them dangerous according to Zuka.’ Maggie patted the bench next to her and Jupiter slipped next to her. The little boy Kiriyaq stared at Jupiter with huge eyes.

Jupiter smiled and got a little one in return. ‘Yeah. They look dodgy. Let’s finish up and get out of here.’ Jupiter began to rise.

But Ruka brought fruit and pastries, and as she passed Jupiter she patted him on the shoulder as if to calm him. He shrugged, relaxed back into his seat. A sweet fruity jam burst into his mouth when he took a bite from the pastry. Ruka gave Kiriyaq his own plate of sweets and went to the fire pit kitchen.

‘Oh wow. This is good.’ Jupiter dabbed at the flakey pastry that clung to his lips and fell onto the front of his quilted jacket. ’Glad I stayed to try this. Sort of like a sultana slice, but more crumbly.’

Maggie nodded as she ate hers. ‘Either we’re in no danger, or we’re about to be handed over as prisoners. I can’t work out which.’

‘I know what you mean. I get that feeling too. But surely we can trust Ruka? She seems nice. What did you talk about?’

‘Oh. The usual.’ Maggie looked away and paid attention to her pastry. ‘Just girl stuff.’

Jupiter felt his face go warm. ‘I really don’t feel so good about this. Ruka arriving like that, too timely. Like we’re being manipulated somehow. You reckon we should split?’

‘Mmmm?’ Maggie’s reply was lost in a cloud of pastry that filled her mouth. But she stood up and took up Jupiter’s hand to draw him after her.

‘Goodbye Kiriyaq,’ Maggie touched the little boy on his shoulder, but he had his face stuffed with crumbs and bits of fruit paste from the pastry. ‘Later fella.’

As Jupiter rose Maggie placed his arm on hers and led him off to the stairs. Out of the corner of his eye he tried to see if anyone noticed. Then Maggie stopped.

‘My handkerchief. Can you?’ Maggie nodded her head back at their table.

It was the perfect time for him to see if anyone watched them. He picked up a cloth Maggie had left next to her plate. A serving napkin, but it would do. A pair of eyes on one human table glared at him. Tamm and Pariqhamtu locked gazes with him. Pariqhamtu’s aura flashed a question, a suggestion of meeting later. But she looked away when Tamm touched her leg. None of the other manisaurs seemed to take any notice.

‘Hope that’s your sister, friend,’ said a man at the nearest table.

‘What? Oh her. Just my cousin.’

‘Cousin?’

‘Thravin - My mother’s sister. I’m taking her to her aunt’s place.’

‘In Qhayuvakham,’ said Maggie.

The human town seemed to satisfy them as they said no more. But Jupiter wondered what they thought of his words. Even if they understood his meaning via the connexion, wouldn’t they hear his English words? He joined Maggie who had stopped at the stairs. Ruka’s aunt stood next to her.

‘For an otherlander you speak good Thaluk.’ Ruka’s aunt Sukhiaraq spoke to them now in a whisper.

‘I what? I spoke Thaluk?’

‘Yes. At least, that’s what I heard. A strange accent to it, but then your looks already show you are not from around these parts.’

Jupiter stared at Maggie in confusion. ‘I didn’t even notice.’

‘There you go, speaking your strange tongue again.’ The serving woman shushed them. ‘You must not. It will draw attention.’

‘Thank you for the meal.’ Maggie smiled at the small woman. She looked around for Ruka but she had disappeared.

‘My pleasure. Now best for you to leave the common hall. Before anyone pays you any mind.’

Jupiter nodded as he stood but glanced back into the dining room as he and Maggie left. The late arriving manisaurs stared at him, but their quiet aura gave him no hint of their emotions.

It chilled him anyway.

Maggie tugged on his quilted sleeve and urged him to leave. But instead of heading up the stairs to their room, she led him outside.