Homesick
Chapter Forty-Four - Gold, Gems, and a Leather Pouch

To everyone’s surprise, getting Obiiilion through the access way proved less of a problem than expected. Also, the triangular shape of the corridor, though often cramped and inconvenient to the crew, proved an appropriate shape for her. She also seemed particularly comfortable with the low gravity of the vessel. After Daaarrm had left the departure deck, she even enjoyed deliberately bouncing herself off the walls like some giant beach ball. Sally watched this display, shaking her head with professional disapproval.

When the five of them were in the mess hall, Scott opened the food locker and grabbed an armload of ration plates for Obiiilion, delivering them with the zeal of a well-trained dog.

Obiiilion shuffled through the tins, trying to interpret the pictures on the labels. She shook a few of them experimentally and tried in vain to smell them. In all cases she looked disappointed at their small size.

“Open this,” she said, handing one back to Scott, who dove onto it diligently.

Daaarrm ignored her, looking down at the window as if admiring the planet below.

“Okay, Darm,” Sally said. “We’re here, we’re not giving Scott back, and we’re not going down to the planet ourselves. You’ve also seen about as much of my ship as I intend for you to see. If there’s anything else you’d like to discuss, now would be the time.”

“Captain, again, please don’t be so quick to judge us. We want you to think of us as your guests!” He opened his hands in a benevolent gesture. “And we do not come without gifts.” Daaarrm then reached into his jacket, but hesitated as he caught the glint of Ian’s gun flying into view.

“Steady on there, Mate!” Ian said. “Nice and slow.”

Clearly impatient with Ian’s threat, Daaarrm made an exaggeratedly slow move to draw out a small, black pouch from his jacket. He dangled it before Sally. “Yours!”

“No thanks.”

“Open it,” he said with a playful smile. “It’s not a weapon, I assure you.”

Looking to Ian, as if communicating her intentions with her eyes, she slowly took the bag. It was sealed with a drawstring that wasn’t tied. She opened the mouth of the pouch and carefully allowed its contents to spill out onto the table, holding it far from her body as she did. From out of the sack rattled several large diamond-like crystals followed by a handful of marble-sized gold and silver ingots. From deeper in the bag came an assortment of blue and green gems and several small plastic bags filled with white powder.

“These are the most valuable substances on your planet, are they not?” Daaarrm asked. “Yours! Gold, as you call it! Silver metal! And that’s probably the purest cocaine you’ll ever find!”

“God have mercy!” Ian mumbled. “They’ve found the databanks!”

Sally looked down at the treasure, obviously unimpressed. “I don’t know where you get your facts, Darm, but they’re not completely current. First of all, we’re not into drug trafficking, and second . . . of . . . all . . .” Sally paused. As she started to speak, she’d begun to feel uneasy about something and was now beginning to realize what it was. It had nothing to do with what lay on the table, but rather what she still held in her hand. As she had been listening to Daaarrm and appraising the jewels, she had allowed herself to unconsciously handle the material of the bag. Something about it felt wrong to her, yet strangely familiar. She stopped and looked more closely, feeling it between her fingers. She held it up to the light, trying to see through it. The material was thin, almost translucent, and yet strong. It had complex organic patterns like any leather would, but they were far finer than leather should be. Now it came to her in a rush of realization. She knew the feel of this material. She had even cut and sewn it on many occasions. It was human skin! The bag she held in her hand was made out of carefully processed human leather!

She let the bag slip from her grasp, finally losing her cool with a shriek of disgust. Then, when she turned her gaze back to Daaarrm, she shrank back again as this revelation led to another. Daaarrm’s jacket, his pants, and his boots were all clearly made of this same material! Looking more closely, she could see that the thickness of the leather had been achieved through layering. That one jacket probably represented five human hides! She took another look at Obiiilion’s fluffy poncho, which covered her massive bulk like a rain tarp. She saw it now as a patchwork quilt of human scalps!

“Why, you unspeakable barbarians!”

At first, Ian didn’t get the point. He looked from her to them, confused.

“You expect us to give Scott over to you so you can work him to death and then process his skin for clothing?”

Ian squinted, scanning them up and down, and then his eyes grew wide and dark. His mouth puckered in a tight scowl and his whole face began to quiver with sudden rage. He raised the gun in Daaarrm’s direction and took an angry step nearer to him, though Sally couldn’t tell if it was to strike or shoot. But he stopped in mid-step, seeing Sally’s alarmed look.

Of course, Ian realized. Right behind Daaarrm was the three-inch-thick piece of reinforced glass that separated them from the eternal vacuum of space. He lowered the gun, letting his anger ebb, and exchanged glances with Sally.

Somehow, Obiiilion had missed the entire episode. She remained transfixed with her meal, slurping down one ration tin after another with no regard for the plastic utensils sitting on the table.

“Oh, I see!” Daaarrm said, regaining what little composure he’d lost. “But, surely you wear clothing made of skins.”

“Clearly we think differently about what kind of skins we use,” she growled, “and how much respect we show human life!”

“Well, to us this is respect,” he said, stroking the sleeve of his jacket. “What better way for our Brethren to attend us than to provide us __”

“Enough!” Sally shouted. “I don’t want to hear it! I don’t want to hear anything from you about this, just shut up! You’re disgusting and I want you off my ship!”

Daaarrm didn’t flinch. He looked at her calmly, like a parent waiting for a child’s tantrum to end.

In that brief silence, Vlad’s voice crackled from the intercom. From the call tone she knew it was private and only she could hear it. “Captain, their ship is not prepared yet. I’ll need more time.”

Daaarrm took a casual step towards Sally. “I’m sorry if you disagree with our lifestyle, Captain, but I’m sure some aspects of your culture would be equally disquieting to us. However, if you wish us to leave, we will do so.” Then he grew more serious. “But first I will need to see the navigational equipment that will bring us back down to the planet. I’ll need to know you intend for us to get there.”

Ian’s gun hand was poised again and he was watching for Scott, who was standing between Daaarrm and Obiiilion, not knowing who to jump in front of. “I don’t like the sound of that, Captain.”

“You’ll just have to trust us on that point,” Sally said. “There’s no way I’m taking you to the cone.”

“It’s a reasonable request. And, in return, maybe I can tell you some things about 4702 that you might want to know.”

Poole appeared, but only faintly, her eyes wide with interest.

Sally started to say something, which would probably have been another insult, but restrained herself. “Who knows?” Poole whispered.

“Can you tell us how to cure him?” Sally asked.

“Perhaps,” he said, grinning. “But that I will tell only you. And, besides, I wouldn’t want to interrupt my associate’s meal.” He motioned to Obiiilion. “Shall we go to this ‘cone’ of yours?”

Sally looked to Obiiilion and then to Daaarrm, sizing up possible outcomes of various scenarios. Her face tightened as she made up her mind. “Ian can hear everything I say. If you try anything on me, he’ll blow her head off. When he’s done with her, he’ll come for you. Got it?”

Again, Obiiilion didn’t react even to the prospect of her own demise. She remained engrossed in her stack of tins.

“Oh, I don’t think he’ll have cause to use that device on her,” he said with a chuckle. “Obiiilion will get along quite well with him, I’m sure! She’s quite charming when you get to know her.”

She then looked to Ian, ignoring Daaarrm’s comment. “You’ll manage here with Scott and our guest.”

Ian started to protest again, but finally just watched uneasily as Sally and Daaarrm left the room together. On the way out, Sally gave him one more look and patted her jacket.

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