The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers (best novels in english .txt) 📕

Nowhere was this rule more evident than with Ouloo, who looked like she belonged in Pei’s bed about as much as Roveg himself would. Her red furry frame sprawled against the pristine white polymer like an old rug – a nicely kept, freshly washed rug, but a rug all the same. Roveg had never seen a Laru belly-up before, and he did his best not to stare in curiosity at the oil-black skin that peeked through thinner layers of fur, or at the subtle seam of the pouch where Tupo had once lived. He thought of the keratin pockets that lined the edges of his own abdomen, where he’d once guarded four bubble-like eggs, two to each side. He’d barely been able to feel them, but he’d been keenly aware of their existence. Every step, every decision to sit or stand or lie down had been made with their safety in mind.

How things have changed, he thought grimly.

Ouloo was not asleep; he had not expected her to be. He could not dream of sleeping under such circumstances. Even so, he did not wish to startle her, and walked into the room with light steps, carrying a tray he’d brought from his own shuttle. ‘I’ve brought you some food,’ he said.

The Laru’s eyes were wide open, fixed on the ceiling. She did not look at him. ‘I’m not hungry,’ she said, her voice barely a whisper.

‘I didn’t think you would be,’ he said. He looked around for a table, or whatever Pei had that would pass for a table. He settled on a lump-like thing that appeared to be made of the same stuff as the bed, only firmer. ‘But hungry or no, I thought you could use some looking after as well.’ He set the tray down on the stylish lump and it moulded itself accordingly, creating a supportive platform. Stars, but it really did feel like it was showing off.

Ouloo gave him the barest of glances, but as she did so, caught a glimpse of the tray. This was enough to make her neck rise up. Roveg had assembled a spread of Laru-friendly nibbles: grilled quickbread, a hurriedly made batch of whitefish salad, tiny wraps of grain paper stuffed with nut butter and edible flowers, and the last of his smoked eel and crackers.

‘Did you … make this?’ she said.

‘Well, I’m of no help to them,’ he said, meaning the two sapients in the med bay. ‘My skills are a bit useless in a situation like this. So … this is what I can contribute.’

Ouloo sat up, resting on her back legs. ‘I can’t remember the last time somebody cooked for me,’ she said. Whether she was stunned by the gesture or just the entire terrible night, it was impossible to say.

‘Then it’s high time someone did,’ Roveg said. He lifted the carafe from the tray. ‘Mint fizz? I thought about making you mek, but I assumed you’d want to stay sharp.’

‘Stars, no, I don’t want mek,’ Ouloo said. She paused. ‘I wouldn’t mind some fizz, though.’ She examined the tray. ‘What are these?’ She pointed a toepad forward.

‘Flower wraps,’ he said as he filled a cup for her.

She picked one up and took a bite. ‘Oh, that’s scrumptious,’ she said. For a moment, her eyes brightened, but they dulled just as quickly. ‘I shouldn’t be enjoying myself.’

‘Oh, don’t think for a minute I ever expected you to enjoy yourself.’ He handed her the cup. ‘This is encouragement, not a cure. You’re probably going to walk away from this with mixed feelings about flower wraps. Which is a shame, because they are scrumptious, and I’m delighted you think so.’

Ouloo popped the rest of the flower wrap into her mouth and moved to take a sip of fizz. She paused. ‘Is this one of mine?’ she asked, holding up the cup.

‘Ah, yes,’ Roveg said. ‘My drinkware is almost certainly the wrong shape for you, so I took the enormous liberty of retrieving that from your house. I hope you’ll forgive me.’

The Laru scoffed. ‘After this, you three can have my house, if you want.’ She said the words with a paper-dry laugh, but her neck sagged as she spoke. Roveg didn’t need to be told why. Nobody knew what after this was going to look like.

He folded his abdominal legs and sat on the floor before her. ‘Am I correct that you overheard what I told the others in the kitchen?’

‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I wasn’t being nosy, it’s just – you know – it’s not that big of a ship.’

‘Not to worry. I assumed as much.’ Speaking so freely about the subject was new to him, and he found it brought misery and relief in equal measure. ‘One of my boys is named Segred, and he was a wild one from the moment he hatched. This one day, I was at a production meeting for a new sim – oh-so very important, like every meeting of that sort is. Life and death, you know. I had to be there. I got a call in the middle of it that Segred had been taken to the infirmary. He and his idiot friends had gone to – it doesn’t matter where. This lagoon on the outskirts of our city. They’d thought it would be a marvellous idea to climb the tallest rock face there and take turns dropping off of it into the water. Only, there were other rocks below the surface which they didn’t take into account, and Segred crashed against one as he came down. Cracked his shell all the way through – here and here.’ He gestured at two spots on his thorax.

‘Oh my,’ Ouloo said, clutching her cup. ‘That’s got to be bad for you folks.’

‘Very bad, especially given the lagoon water that poured into the wounds.’ He exhaled through his spiracles at the awful memory. ‘I spent two tendays sitting with him in the infirmary as he