May 5, 2440 4:00 pm
Jimmy Chakrobarty was unsure whether having your head shoved full of an alien language for nearly two and a half hours was a good thing or not, but if everyone could play this game, it wouldn’t be fun anymore.
Dave was right; trying to drive in the condition he was in was a bad idea. Letting Quinn Roxas drive him and his truck, however, didn’t do his anxiety any good. She wasn’t driving her truck, a third one this year, after the eighth deer she hit. What was it with this girl? Did she think she was too good to hunt with a rifle?
“Oh, look, yearling elk.”
“Hands wheel, eyes road.” Jimmy snarled at his former classmate.
“No worries, it isn’t a good day to die for them.”
He muttered something about whether she thought it was a good day for him to die.
“I heard that. You know I was never exceeding 20 miles an hour when I hit any of them,” she huffed. “You act like I was lining them up on the hood ornament. Hell, I hit one of them while reversing.”
Jimmy just closed his eyes and decided to count backward from a thousand in his newly acquired V’ren. He learned backward counting as a stress management technique from Quinn’s dad. He wondered if this was the kid who forced Dave to master the technique.
“Do you need help out?” Quinn asked, having pulled into the small parking lot reserved for the cul-de-sac manager. “Jesus, you fell asleep? I have been talking for twenty minutes, and you just go to sleep. So glad I never asked you out.”
He would have let her dad, her mom, or any of her siblings help him out. He was not going to let Quinn help him from the truck, even if he landed face-first in front of the busload of V’ren and half his work crew watching. At seventeen, you could admit being punch drunk from alien tech. You didn’t accept help from the first girl you ever kissed when you were both so drunk she threw up in your mouth. Thirteen had been a bad year for them, and anything minty still made him think of the schnapps that night.
“I’m fine.” He said, deciding not to say thanks for not smashing my truck.
“I want to welcome everyone to your new home. I know all of you have had the rural rules explained to you, so I will just reiterate one: when in doubt, don’t touch it. Deliveries will be ongoing for the next few bells,” he said, realizing he was mixing both English and V’ren and hoping the translators were picking everything up and properly translating. “I am in apartment 1-A,” he said, pointing at the door. “In the morning, we will have a community meeting at the park over there, but for tonight, just let yourself figure out your new home and set it up as you like. I will be here if you need me.”
5:10 PM
Jimmy didn’t want to answer the door, but he was here to help, so he did. “Hello, would you like to come in, or am I needed elsewhere?” He said in the best V’ren he could manage.
“I am R’vel H’tash. You’re V’ren is good, how long did you spend in the interface?”
“Nearly a full day twelfth,” he said. “Would you like something to drink?” Pam had his apartment well stocked with food and beverages by the time he got here.
“Thank you, that is an impressive time, not many v’ren can last that long. Am I right in assuming you are having a headache?” R’vel asked.
“I am. Would you like to sit?”
“No, but I think I can help you. I am, I think, what you call a physical therapist in a neural science clinic.”
“I’m willing to try. What do you need from me?”
“Just sit there.”
Jimmy had never had a massage before, much less by a beautiful alien woman. His headache was much improved, and looking at her smiling down at him, he was glad for the desk covering his lap.
“Thank you, I might make it through the night,” he laughed, meaning it as he rolled his shoulders and neck, he really did feel better.
“I am glad. When is your next session?”
“The day after tomorrow.”
“Come find me afterward if you need me again,” she said, both of them hearing the knock. “Thank you for the drink.” I will allow you to attend them, while I attend my family.
Jimmy knew what had happened before the woman said “black-striped cat.” He could smell the kids, a boy and a girl, about eleven.
