Reclamation

Shrugging his shoulders to settle the tank more comfortably, Perivar slid back the partition to expose the gelatinous membrane that separated Kiv's half of their quarters from his. The membrane had cost more than all the rest of his equipment combined, but it was worth it. Working with Kiv meant contracts from other Shessel and the Shessel had a lot of work that needed doing.

As usual, Perivar paused before the membrane, hoping that one day he'd get used to going through it.

After four years it was starting to seem unlikely.

Perivar stepped through the membrane. The gooey gel pressed against his skin, clothes, and mask and stuck, sealing him inside a flexible envelope that would screen out the ultraviolet rays Kiv and his children basked under. When Kiv stepped through into Perivar's space, the gel kept in his body heat so he wouldn't drop into a stupor in Perivar's arctic climate, or drown in the flood of his oxygen. It was a good method, but not very sturdy, which was why the children used the unbreakable capsules.

Kiv was a bulky, earth-toned match for his five daughters. Uncoiled and standing straight on all his legs, he was so tall his eyes were level with the crown of Perivar's head. A skintight, vermilion garment encased him from his neck to his last set of toes. He'd started wearing the thing as soon as the last of his children were hatched and he made the shift from female to male. Kiv had never been able to explain properly whether being required to wear clothes indoors was a mark of advancement or decline in the Shessel's social order.

At the moment, Kiv was half-coiled around the base of his map table. Like Perivar's it provided information about the space between the stars, but it did so in a series of lumps and indentations that shifted under Kiv's primary and secondary hands. Only one of the other children was in evidence. Ere draped herself across her parent's shoulders and stretched her arms so that her primary hands covered his and moved with them. Kiv buzzed and whistled at his first-named daughter, teaching her to read and understand the map in front of them.

Perivar glanced at the cables overhead. Sha must have taken the capsule straight into Kiv's living rooms to hide with her other three sisters.

"Sha delivered your insult, Kiv," Perivar said. "I heard it and I understood it. Now you understand this. I owe Eric Born more than one favor."

"He's contraband." Kiv did not point his snout toward Perivar, or stop reading the table. "And he is running yet more contraband."

"He swears she's a volunteer." Gods, I hope she's a volunteer.

Kiv's hands froze. "What could you possibly owe…"

"A contraband runner for?" Ere finished for her parent. She wasn't being rude, she was showing how well she knew Kiv.

"He's not a runner," Perivar insisted. "And you don't want to know what I owe him for."

Kiv buzzed so softly, Perivar's translator couldn't pick it up. Ere shook herself loose from Kiv's shoulders and scurried down his back. Kiv tilted his head and waited until she'd scrambled through the door to their living area before he turned ears and eyes toward Perivar. All his hands left the map board and pressed themselves tight to his long sides. At the same time, he drew himself out so his eyes were level with Perivar's. The fluid motion took Kiv less time than it would have taken Perivar to bend his knees to sit down.

"I understand what you say. Now you understand, Perivar, this worries me. I cannot become involved in activities the human population of Kethran consider illegal. The Embassy Voice will speak against me. I will lose my license and be sent home."

Perivar sighed and his breath made a white mist on his face mask. "Eric says the circumstances are exceptional and that it will only be this once."

Kiv dipped his snout. "I know you think that I'm better off not knowing this, but what did he do to earn such trust?"

No, Kiv, you really don't want to know that. Really. "Helped me…break from my old partners. Then he kept his mouth shut and himself absent for six years." The last, at least, was the whole truth.

The short hum Kiv gave out did not translate. He drew back on himself, shrinking and retracting his whole body. Perivar knew enough about his partner's body language to know Kiv meant to make Perivar uncomfortable so he could understand Kiv's discomfort. It worked amazingly well. Perivar's skin began to curdle under the gel. "If trouble comes from this, Kiv, I swear it won't touch your children."

"And how under any sun do you expect to keep such a promise, Perivar?" Despite his harsh words, Kiv stretched his arms and laid all his hands on the edge of the map table. The coil of his body loosened near the base. In response, the tension in Perivar's skin eased.

"How do you intend to proceed?" Kiv asked.