After taking in the state of Malsum, Zeph turned to look at his niece and nephew for the first time. The two were talking rapidly to Sandar and Rensom. Both were bloody, but the amount of red on one of their faces was startling.
“Do we need to dispense medical care?” he asked.
The children turned in unison while the more bloody child answered, “It’s not my blood.”
Standing up, Han took his hand. “Lirsum bit one of the Talin’s on the neck.” There was clear admiration in her voice.
“I have the med kit!” Tumoro said, squeezing past them to get to Malsum. “Hi, I’m Tumoro, and I’m the first son of First Matriarch Han and Elder Zeph. You can be the second son.”
Malsum blinked and sounded a questioning rumble. “You’re an Ugarian.”
Tumoro snort-laughed. “And you’re a Talin and Han is a human. What's your point?”
Malsum sounded a rumble of amusement. “No point. I only meant to clarify. You’re the first Ugarian I’ve ever met.” Malsum slapped a hand to his chest in greeting. “It’s good to meet you, First Son Tumoro. I’m honored to be your sibling.”
Tumoro returned the gesture then pointed to Malsum’s leg. “Can I treat you? I’ve been reading up on Talin physiology.”
Malsum sounded a negative rattle and pointed over Tumoro’s shoulder. “See to the children first.”
Tumoro’s ear did something complicated. The movements were too rapid for Zeph to judge the emotions going through the Ugarian’s head.
“Yes, I will check on the children, but then I want to focus on you.”
Something intense seemed to be happening between Tumoro and Malsum, but Zeph couldn’t fathom what it was. Were they jealous or feeling threatened by each other?
“Zeph, we need to launch,” Han said. She stepped close and pushed him in the direction of the pilot’s chair.
“Yes, right,” he said, picking her up and taking a few careful strides to sit in the chair with her in his lap. It was tight whenhe swung the chair around to face the display, but they made it work.
He already had permission to leave, so he requested a spot in the queue. Within a few submarks a launch bot rolled under them and moved the ship into place.
Everything moved quickly and efficiently, and soon they were leaving the planet.
“Head for the trade route going to Yormun Station,” Han instructed. “That’ll make it harder to find us if they decide to give chase.”
Blish was such a small colony they didn’t have offensive abilities. All their protection was defensive, so once they were past the sentinel satellites, Zeph was sure they’d be safe. Still, a little extra caution wouldn’t hurt, so he set the ship to head to the trade route as Han said to do.
It only took a mark for them to be on the trade route. Han relaxed in his arms. He rubbed his scent glands into her mane.
“Do I want to know what happened?” he asked.
“Probably not,” she said. “Let's just say it didn’t quite go as planned, but we still made it. A success is a success."
He sounded a rumble of amusement. “And we have another son?”
“I didn’t mean to, but he’s a great kid,” Han said. “I have a feeling he’s going to flourish, especially with Tumoro in his life.”
That reminded him of the strange tension from earlier. “You’re not worried they might be jealous of each other?”
Han chuckled. “Trust me, that’s not going to be a problem. But we need to keep an eye on Rishmun and Lirsum. I’m worried those two might start hunting people for sport.”
He sucked in a breath. “What?”
She rubbed a hand on his chest. “Sorry, it’s a bad joke. I don’t think it translates.”
He let it go, accepting that he might never completely understand human humor. A sound from behind them had him pivoting the chair around so they could see the rest of the ship.
The children were mostly cleaned up and sitting facing their parents, asking questions too fast for Rensom or Sandar to answer.
