Jack was sitting on the exam table while Angela's avatar gave him a once over. S'haar now realized the many devices above and around the table were Angela's actual eyes and ears, and the reason Angela's avatar existed was for the ease of mind of her mortal friends rather than any kind of necessity on the AI's part. All of these machines and devices being a person was almost too much for S'haar's mind to accept, but the friendly blue girl leaning over, listening to Jack explain what had happened was something else altogether. S'haar did not doubt that she was a person, and right now, she was an outraged person.
Angela was shouting at Jack, who had the good sense to look contrite at the moment. "What do you mean you broke your foot kicking a particularly large argu'n in the face? Do you have a death wish? Did you want to leave me stranded on this planet? Was that your plan?"
Jack was holding his hands up palm out, clearly signaling his surrender in the face of the tiny woman's fury. "I didn't have a plan, it all happened so fast, and there I was dangling from his hands. I thought S'haar was going to take longer dealing with her thug, so I was trying to buy her some time, that's all."
Angela's face was a mask of disbelief. "So you thought the best way to resolve the issue was to KICK THE EIGHT FOOT TALL BEHEMOTH IN THE FACE? WHAT DID I BOTHER MAKING THAT GUN FOR?"
Jack looked like he knew the next words out of his mouth wouldn't exonerate him in any way. "I was still hoping to resolve things without killing anyone..." His voice had risen an octave by the end.
Angela looked like she wished she could slap him. "If being held by your neck by a man twice your mass who could snap said neck on a whim isn't life and death, when exactly do you think it would be?"
Jack didn't look like he had a good response, so he wisely kept his mouth shut and shrugged apologetically instead. Angela stared him down for a few more moments until he started to squirm, then the AI shifted her gaze to S'haar.
S'haar was more than a little worried. If Angela was this angry at Jack, her own brother, how much angrier would she be with the bodyguard who failed to keep him safe.
Angela gave S'haar an indecipherable look before she spoke. "S'haar, thank you for getting my hopeless brother home in one piece *despite* his best efforts. If it weren't for you keeping him safe, I don't know what I'd have done. If I had a body, I'd give you the biggest hug! Instead, you'll just have to accept my thanks and know that I owe you a big one.
Glaring over her shoulder at Jack, she amended her statement. "We both owe you a big one."
S'haar had expected many things when Angela finally addressed her, but gratitude wasn't anywhere near the top of the list. Shaking her head, she responded. "You don't owe me anything. It's my job to keep him safe. Besides, I'm just beginning to understand the crazy new world you two have introduced to me. It would be a shame to lose either of you at this point."
Angela looked at S'haar with eyes dilated to the point of being all pupil. "You're like the big bad-ass big sister I never had..."
Turning back to Jack, Angela was back in charge. "Luckily, this is a relatively easy injury to heal up. Ideally, we'd spread this out over multiple treatments, but we're in a bit of a time crunch, so we'll have to speed it up a bit. I can still safely heal this up in about a day. The problem is anesthesia slows down the treatment, so we'll be giving you a low dose of pain medications instead. Just enough to take the edge of the pain off. They'll still slow down the process, but not nearly as much, and maybe the pain will teach not to act without thinking again."
S'haar laughed. "more pain, meds? You might want to keep his dose a little lighter this time, given what he was like the first time."
Angela turned back around, her hand on her forehead and a look of concern on her face. "I'm afraid to ask, what did he do now?"
S'haar slightly enjoyed ignoring the pleading look Jack was giving her from behind Angela. "Well..."
After a few minutes of explaining Jack's behavior as the night progressed, culminating with the resolution involving a slap and subsequent creative use of ropes, Angela's face went through a performance of expressions.
Settling back into a look of fury, Angela turned back to Jack. "You did WHAT? I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU! I THOUGHT YOU HAD BETTER MANNERS THAN THAT! YOU ARE LUCKY IT WAS S'HAAR WHO DEALT WITH YOU AND NOT ME! I WOULD HAVE HAD YOU HANGING OUT THE WINDOW BY THE ROPES SHE USED! IF YOU EVER DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT AGAIN, I'LL SPEND THE NEXT YEAR COMING UP WITH IDEAS TO TEACH YOU MORE RESPECT!"
Deep inside, S'haar couldn't help but feel a little bad for Jack. He was outnumbered by women who had no hangups about making it clear to him where he stood in the pecking order. All Jack could do was weather the storm and hope he'd live to see another day. However, outwardly S'haar couldn't stop herself from laughing as Angela continued berating a man seemingly ten times her size.
-
Rapidly healing a broken foot was not Jack's idea of a good time. Even the reasonably strong pain meds he'd been allowed to take couldn't compensate for the bones and muscles shifting around inside his foot. It didn't feel like his foot was on fire so much as it felt like his foot was severely asleep, and he was putting pressure on it, causing pins and needles to shoot up and down his foot. The problem was the pins and needles sensation refused to leave. It went on for hours. Sometimes it seemed like it would never end. It was something of an understatement to call the experience annoying. More than once, Jack had wondered if jamming a knife into his thigh might not be a worthwhile distraction.
At least the whole thing didn't have to be done in the cramped med bay. Instead, they had wheeled the machine out into the living room, and Jack had set up shop on the couch. He decided that it was time to introduce S'haar to another classic movie since he had nothing better to do.
At the same time, Angela thought now would be the perfect time to teach S'haar her first lesson in human cooking. She called it "making popcorn." Angela began her lecture. "We're not going to make microwave popcorn like some barbarian. This is the good stuff, stovetop popcorn. All you need is a little oil, salt, and of course, corn kernels. Now, let's get started."
S'haar learned that popcorn was a long-honored tradition among humans and was required to be eaten while watching movies. She was further delighted to discover that it was a light and salty snack that went perfectly with a beverage of some kind. Angela and Jack debated which drink to serve it with, which was apparently complicated by S'haar's inability to taste "sweet." In the end, they went with a carbonated citrus drink that probably would have been too sour if it hadn't been balanced out by the salty flavor of the popcorn.
Jack thought it would be a good idea to show S'haar a more realistic depiction of earth history this time, and after her encounter with her recent ex, he suspected that she could do with a good revenge story as well. He chose "The Count of Monte Cristo."
Refreshments in hand, they began the movie. At first, they had to pause the film periodically for Jack to explain concepts such as ocean vessels, a gold-based economy, and books. However, as the film continued, S'haar found herself more and more engrossed, only occasionally interrupting the movie to make fun of the fight scenes. It turns out the intricacies of swashbuckling swordplay is not as impressive to someone walking around in their own organically grown full-plate.
S'haar approved Jacopo's declaration of loyalty after the knife fight, cheered when Edmond tricked Villefort, and practically lunged at the screen when Mercedes was shot. When the movie was finished, she stood and applauded, a custom she'd learned after the first movie. Jack had chosen well this time.
As the night wound down, Angela performed one final "inspection" of Jack's foot and declared, "Ready to go! You'll probably be a bit sore for the next few days, but the more you use it, the quicker that'll fade."
With the feeling of his bones regrowing and the muscles reattaching themselves finally gone, Jack's leg felt oddly numb. Rubbing his leg in an attempt to restore feeling, Jack thought out loud. "Well, I can deal with that. We need to resume getting this place up and running anyway. We can spend the cold mornings in the cave mining, then we'll switch to harvesting trees and shaping lumber in the afternoons.
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Jack scratched his beard, noticing it was past time for a trim. "Eventually, I want to build some storage and guest housing, but that'll be tough to do on our own. We might need to bring more people here to help out with some of the larger jobs. We'll need somewhere for them to stay other than the ship. Aside from the crowding issue a bunch of seven to eight-foot behemoths would create, I don't think it would be the best idea to invite the whole village inside for a tour."
S'haar was imagining the reactions of some of the more superstitious members of her village and silently agreed.
-
Over the next couple of weeks, the work progressed slowly but steadily. Jack was pleased to find one physical aspect where humans still held the advantage. Good old human endurance. It didn't completely make up for the gap in their strength, speed, and coordination, but S'haar needed to take breaks more often than Jack. Soon they fell into a pattern where Jack would take on the slow and steady jobs while S'haar tackled anything involving heavy lifting.
Jack would mine and sort the ore, then S'haar would load it up and cart it back to the ship. Jack would cut down the tree and trim the branches, S'haar would haul the tree to where it could be shaped. Cutting the logs down to a manageable size was a two-person job, so they moved at S'haar's pace for that one. The scraps that couldn't be shaped were set aside to be used as fuel or traded in town. Apparently, firewood was a lot more valuable to a cold-blooded species.
Jack was pleased with the progress they'd made. They had more iron ready to go than they'd had in the first load, and Angela had all the raw materials she'd need to get the transceiver made. They didn't want to draw too much attention to the gold and silver, so Angela would expend the necessary energy to purify those herself.
Looking at the load of iron, Jack had just one more thing to do before they went back to the village. He turned his attention to S'haar, who was catching her breath after filling the cart. Jack then put his plan into motion. "Well, we're pretty much ready to go, but I'll need to finalize a few things here first. You don't need to hang around for that, though, and we could use some more fresh meat. Why don't you take the day off to go hunting? You can test out the new spears Angela made you, and maybe just take a bit of time to relax."
Jack had Angela make the spears in question the night before. Two smaller spears weighted toward the front for throwing, and a larger spear more balanced for melee. At first, Angela had protested the delay in what she said was more crucial work, but when Jack told her of his plan, she readily agreed.
S'haar couldn't help but feel something was a little off, Jack obviously wanted her out of the house for a while, but she supposed he was entitled to his secrets. The spears were of far better quality than any she'd ever seen, Just like everything else these two made, and the gifts probably warranted indulging Jack's whims, at least for now.
-
S'haar was enjoying the solitude. Not that Angela and Jack were lousy company, she'd only known them a few weeks, and they were already some of the closest friends she'd had ever had, but S'haar had been alone for far too long not to enjoy a little peace and quiet away from the noisy duo.
S'haar brought the sled with her to help with the transportation of any prey she caught and was currently dragging it behind her as she lazily ambled through the hills. In the distance, she could hear the mating calls of a churlish. She briefly considered tracking it before deciding to indulge herself by following the river instead. It was a surprisingly warm day for this time of year, and there was only a gentle breeze to disturb the plants around her. S'haar's tongue flicked out, tasting the air. She was enjoying the sights and smells around her. These days she wasn't worried about where she would sleep tonight or when her next meal would be, so she could take some time to enjoy her surroundings.
Following the river around the bend of a hill, S'haar found her target. A young kovaack was enjoying a refreshing drink from the river. He was a bit on the small side for this time of year, probably a runt. This was an excellent opportunity to try out the new spears with minimal risk.
As she hefted the first throwing spear, she marveled again at the balance. She'd practiced throwing them before leaving and knew she could consistently hit within a foot or two of her target at about 70 feet, and she could throw them over 300 feet if she was just going for distance, but she'd be unlikely to hit anything at that range.
She crept close as she could while still giving herself time for a second throw before switching to the long spear. At about forty feet, she stopped, took aim, and threw. She hit her target squarely in the joint of his front right leg.
The kovaack turned, and seeing S'haar, he let out a challenging bellow before beginning his charge. His fear and anger overcoming the pain in his leg, he closed the distance rapidly.
S'haar took advantage of the kovaack pausing to challenge her by preparing the second spear. As he lowered his head to charge, she threw again, this time burying the spear in the skull just above his right eye. However, it didn't go deep enough to kill the beast, and his charge continued.
S'haar held her last spear, but rather than brace for the charge, she waited. At the last moment, she lept to her left, avoiding the large horn thrust her way. The kovaack pivoted, digging into the ground with claws dull from digging up roots and tubers. The sudden reversal of momentum put too much stress on his injured knee, and he hesitated for a second.
S'haar took capitalized on his hesitation, as well as the blind-spot caused by blood flowing down into his right eye. She used the force of her digitigrade legs to launch herself forward with terrifying speed before using her full body weight to bury the spear up to her hand into the eye of the beast.
It was as if something snapped, and the beast collapsed all at once. As he fell, he let out a final "wuff" as the air was forced out of his lungs by his own weight.
-
As S'haar pulled her catch back to the cave on the sled, she couldn't help but imagine a nice kovaack steak sizzling on Jack's odd grill. She had field dressed the kovaack and would tie it up to drain tonight, which meant she probably wouldn't have the opportunity to butcher it until they arrived at the village, but it was still nice to think about.
S'haar noticed a large pile of containers sitting just outside the ship as she walked into the cave. Wondering what was going on, she bumped into Jack as he carried another crate to add to the collection. As he started to lose his load, S'haar grabbed the falling container, quickly hoisting it up and walking over to place it with the rest on the stack.
S'haar spoke her shoulder as she stood back up. "Isn't this the kind of thing you hired me to help out with? What was so important about moving some crates that you needed me to disappear for a while?"
Looking back, Jack was rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish grin on his face. "That obvious, was I? Well, no worries, the important part is ready. How about I help you string that monster up, and then I'll show you what we did while you were gone?"
-
After getting the kovaack tied up in a particularly sturdy tree so the blood could drain overnight, the two went inside. S'haar walked into a disaster. There were crates and boxes piled everywhere. Standing in the middle of the mess, Angela was dressed in something Jack later explained was called overalls. She had a clipboard and seemed to be taking inventory before looking up and seeing S'haar. She turned and spoke to Jack. "I told you we'd never get this done before she got back."
Turning again, Angela addressed S'haar, welcome back! I hope the hunt went well?"
S'haar was not going to be distracted from the mess before her. "What in the world is going on here? Is there some weird human tradition involving making a mess like this? It looks like you emptied an entire storage room into your living room."
Jack had a big grin as he walked to the other end of the room, stopping just short of a door S'haar had rarely seen him use. Looking back at her, he spoke. "That's exactly what we did! Although I realized pretty early on, it would have gone faster with your help. However, I wanted this to be a surprise."
As S'haar walked up to him, Jack opened the door. Looking inside, the storage room looked almost empty aside from a bed placed against one wall covered in leathers and skins with a pelt rug off to one side.
Jack spoke up behind her. "You've been sleeping on the floor of our living room long enough, and I don't think you'll be leaving us anytime soon. I figured you deserved a room of your own where you could get some peace and quiet once in a while. It's a bit empty right now, I didn't have the materials to do much, plus I figured you'd want to choose your own furnishings. So I just had Angela make up the frame and mattress for the bed. We used the skins we brought back with us for the blanket and rug. When we return to town tomorrow, you can pick out a few other things to make it feel more like your own."
S'haar turned around and picked Jack up into a bear hug, spinning him around like she'd seen people do in the movies he'd shown her. Angela openly laughed at Jack's predicament. Meanwhile, Jack let out a very manly "Yelp!" before finding a slightly strained voice. "Ugh, as happy as I am at your reaction, could you ease up a little? I don't have your bony plates to protect me from being crushed."
S'haar put Jack down with a quickly muttered apology before flinging herself onto her new bed. Jack grinned at her surprisingly childlike antics while watching from the doorframe. He continued his explanation. "The door has its own lock, and Angela promises she won't let me unlock it unless it's an emergency. We can communicate through the sound system, but you can even shut that off if you want. You can tell Angela if you want the lights on, off, or dimmed, also if you want the temperature warmer or cooler. The room is yours to fill or decorate as you please."
Sitting up with a seriousness that did nothing to wipe her excitement a moment ago from Jack's mind, S'haar responded. "This is the first room I've ever had all to myself. Even growing up, our house only had two rooms, so I slept in the common room. I guess I'm trying to say thank you, both of you."
Jack's grin grew a little wider. "You're welcome. You've more than earned it!" Jerking his thumb over his shoulder, he indicated the disaster behind him. "Now, I don't suppose I could talk you into helping move the rest of this stuff outside? The containers should keep the contents safe from any exposure in the cave, anything more sensitive I already moved into one of the other storage rooms."
S'haar stood up and walked out of the room, hesitant to leave her new room already but unwilling to let Jack do all the work himself. Instead, she just grinned as she hefted a particularly large crate. "Of course! That's what I'm here for after all!"
Jack couldn't help but notice S'haar moved with a bit of a bounce in her step that he'd never seen before.