Sam's Secret (Icehome)

"Almost there," Sam calls back to me, and I nearly stumble again. You're almost there, she had said earlier when she touched me. Instantly, I am back in the cave with her soft hands on my shaft. I stagger after her, my khui ringing in my ears with its insistent song.

"I am coming," I call back, my tongue as thick as my feet.

We cross the valley, heading for the spot that the egg—the pod—was yesterday. Sam is all determination today, her strides sure-footed and swift as she approaches it. The pod does not look disturbed, the same smears of snow from where we touched it undisturbed. She kneels next to the pod and brushes more of the snow off of the surface with her sleeve, clearing it. "None of the lights inside have changed," Sam says as I approach, and there is relief in her voice. "I was worried."

"I am glad." And I am. If something would have happened, Sam would have blamed herself for going back to the fruit cave and touching me instead of freeing this strange-looking male. "How do you wish to handle this? Should we take the pod somewhere safe?"

"I'm not sure," Sam says. She rests on her haunches, chewing on her upper lip in that funny way of hers. "It might be too heavy to move. Can you push it?"

I stab the spears into the snow and brace my hands against the pod. It feels heavier than stone, impossible to move even for my strength. After a few attempts, with Sam adding her strength to mine, I shake my head. "Maybe if we had five hunters here, we could budge it. But just one will not do it."

"How the hell is this thing so heavy?" She nudges it with the toe of her boot, making a face. "Okay, plan B, then. We open it here and help our new friend someplace warm until he wakes up."

I pick up one of the spears, holding it out to her. "Shall we crack it open?"

Sam grins up at me, the sight of her amusement robbing me of my breath. "There's probably a catch somewhere that opens the lid. I'm hoping no prying is necessary. Help me clean it off?"

We brush all of the snow and ice off of the surface of the pod, and as we do, I look at the ugly male inside. His features are peaceful in sleep, but strange to see. His face is that of a person, but his mouth splits like a snow-cat, and he has tufted, triangular ears atop his head. His cheeks, brow and mane are all a strange, orange-striped shade and he has whiskers, just like Fluffypuff, Kate and Harrec's snow-cat pet. I cannot see his hands, but he wears strange gray clothes that come up to his throat and look like something one of the humans would wear. Mardok has said there are many peoples in the stars above, but I did not truly think about it until now. Not even Ash-tar or the red-skinned a'ani struck me as strangers because they look like the humans.

This male does not look like a human or a sa-khui. I do not even know if he is male or if we are assuming even more. It makes me feel ashamed. I have been determined not to like this male because he has shown up and ruined my time with Sam. If this male has gone through the same terrible situation that the humans did, he deserves my compassion, not my frustration. It does not matter if his face is ugly. Gren is ugly and he is a friend of mine.

I decide that this male, too, shall be my friend.

"Here we go," Sam finally says. Her fingers dig into the side of the pod and she bites her upper lip again, as if she is snarling at my side. "It…just needs…a push…" Something clicks and she sags against it in relief. "Finally."

The pod hisses, and the lid lifts off without either of us touching it. I bite back my choked surprise, reminding myself that Mardok had many strange things he knows of, that these moving parts are normal to him if not to me. That it is not the work of spirits or magic, but things I cannot see. A ma-sheen.

The male inside does not stir, and Sam touches his face, frowning. She holds a finger under his nose and gives a sigh of relief. "He's breathing. I wonder how long it takes for him to wake up?" She looks up at me. "Do you know?"

I shake my head. "I was not at any of the awakenings."

"Right. Okay." She turns back to the male and runs her hand over his limbs. "I think he's attached to it somehow. Let's look for tubes to pull free and maybe that'll kick-start the process."