A World for the Taking Ch. 01

"Yes," Tammy replied. There was no need to ask which article Jean meant. Everyone knew Tammy was only interested in the weather and anything that came down about the jZav`Etch.

"What do you think?" Jean wanted to know.

"I think I'm a dTel`Qohar," said the cat girl.

"Is that how it's pronounced?" Mike asked. He was squatting in the shallows trying to catch crawfish.

"That's what the article said," she replied.

"Do you think you'll ever go see them?" Roy asked hesitantly.

"The jZav`Etch?" she asked and looked at him. He was propped up on one elbow, not looking at her. Her eyes traced the line of bruises and scratches that colored his side. Something about that pleased her. At least, she found it attractive somehow. Roy's eyes were cast down at a point on the stone and his lips were pressed together in an expression she could not read.

His question was a good one. Sometimes she thought about going to see the jZav`Etch and their worlds. She wondered if she had any relatives and how they might react to her. And then she would think about her family and friends here. She would think about the forests and her favorite steelie, Boudi. And recently she had begun including Roy separately from the rest of her friends. She did not want to let him know that, though. She liked the way he blushed and stammered and the way he would try to impress her with silly stunts like swinging on that vine earlier. Better to keep him guessing for now.

"I don't know," she finally said. "Maybe someday. I don't think I would stay."

"Oh," Roy said ambiguously and lay back on the stone.

Tammy smiled at him secretly. To mask her interest she turned to her sister and asked, "Jean, would you mind brushing out my fur? It's almost dry."

When it was nearly suppertime the four teens headed back through the forest to where they had left their mounts to graze. They saddled them and rode back up the valley until they came upon the Trunk Road which connected the various stations along this side of the valley. Jean and Mike said goodbye to Roy and turned their steelies for home, but Tammy reined in Boudi, turning her across the trail to block it. Roy reined in also and blinked at her, not knowing what to expect. Suddenly, as if she had only decided just that second, she leaned out of her saddle and kissed him full on the lips. Roy was so stunned he could not speak.

"You do look kind of like Tormund," she said in a rush and then kicked her steelie mare in the sides, sending her into a loping gallop.

Roy stared after Tammy. His heart thumped hard in his chest and he felt as if in that moment he might float away on a puff of wind. He watched until the three siblings were out of sight and then watched some more. Eventually his steelie got tired of standing there and began its trek home without prompting. Evening was coming on and there was feed in the barn.

*****

Summer turned to autumn. The rains came, followed by the snows of winter. The drifts piled high among the trees and throughout the valley the settlers hunkered down, biding their time until spring. Everyone went to the Mid-Winter Festival on New Year's Eve, though. It was a time to see old friends and meet any new settlers who had come recently.

The Mackey family arrived in their big, over powered farm spinner, its blades churning up the deep snow as Bob guided it in for a neat landing. They were greeted at the door of the meeting hall by Mary Horne and her husband Paul, a tall, slim man with hands and feet that seemed too large for him. At one end of the hall trestle tables were set up with one row entirely dedicated to food. Deborah and Jean carried their dishes to these tables while Bob saw to the family's coats.

"I wonder if Susan Watts is here yet," Mike said hopefully.

"She's over there with Steve Yamato," Tammy said, pointing discretely.

Mike frowned but quickly shook it off. Straightening his back he pasted on a smile and strode across the wide floor as if he owned the place. Steve Yamato was actually one of his friends, but the two boys had been vying for Susan's attentions ever since they were preteens. Tammy pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. She was anticipating the antics the boys would go through tonight just to get Susan to pay more attention to one than the other.

"Tammy?" said a voice from behind her. She turned and there stood Roy Jr. He said, "I was hoping we could dance later."

"Dance?" she asked, noting how his voice sounded deeper than the last time she had seen him.

"Um... If you don't want to..." Roy began uncertainly.

"No, no!" she said, reaching out and grasping his wrist. No one ever asked her to dance. Well, no one but her dad or her brother. "I'd love to. Um... When the music starts."

"Yeah?" he asked.

"First song?" she said smiling.

"First song!" he agreed.

"Good evening, Roy," said Bob coming up behind the tall teenager.

Roy's expression fell, his eyes grew wide with dread and he turned to look down apprehensively at the powerfully built man.

"Been a couple months," Bob went on. "You been doing alright?"

"Pappaaaa..." Tammy said in a tone that was somewhere between a warning and a plea.

"Alright," Bob said, holding up a hand. "I'm going to find a table. Dinner starts in about fifteen minutes."

The teens watched him stride towards the far end of the hall with some small relief.

"Don't worry about him, Roy," Tammy said reassuringly. "He likes you, you know."

"He did like me," said Roy, trying to get his breathing back to normal. "I'm not so sure now."

"He likes you," she insisted. "He's just being a dad. You should see him when Yoshi Takemori comes by to see Jean. Dad puts him to work in the barn most of the time."

"Really?" Roy asked, half smiling at the image that brought to mind. Yoshi was short and skinny and the idea of him dealing with the big steelies the Mackey family kept was amusing. The Takemori family did not even own steelies. They had a station house right outside of Waimea, the only town in the valley, and used their flyer for almost everything.

"Doesn't do that with you," Tammy said, smiling back. "Come on. Let's see what's for food."

That night everyone in the community had a good time. There were only three fist fights and those were on the lawn outside the hall. And there was one impromptu wrestling match in the middle of the dance floor between two women who were interested in the same man. But there was no general brawl as had happened twice in the past ten years.

Tammy and Roy danced twelve times. Her father only cut in twice, being generally occupied by Deborah or otherwise distracted by keeping Yoshi Takemori from getting too friendly with Jean. Mike and Steve nearly drove Susan to distraction as they continually pestered her for dances and regularly cut in when one or the other succeeded in getting the attractive young woman on the dance floor. Finally, Susan had thrown up her hands and dragged them out into the snow saying they had better go ahead and have it out and she would wait inside for the winner. The boys had not fought. Instead, after a brief discussion, they found two other girls to dance with until Susan began cutting in.

At midnight the clock counted down and everyone cheered, raising their various drinks to salute the old year and welcome in the new. There was more dancing and singing and drinking until about two in the morning when everyone had had enough.

Roy walked Tammy to the family spinner and under the watchful eyes of Bob and Deborah the teens gave each other a very proper, and more or less chaste, kiss. Tammy was walking on air.

Winter turned to spring and the new year rolled on. Time passed much as it always had. Concern for Tammy's fate lingered, but the initial fear subsided. Summer again passed into autumn and the rains again turned to snow. At the Mid-Winter Festival Roy met Tammy at the door and Bob and Deborah were quietly very pleased for their adopted daughter.

The big event of the evening was the introduction of a new family who had come to expand the settlement. This would have been notable all on its own, but what was really interesting was that these folks were Vespans. There were four of them, three adults and one adolescent. Their coloring was sufficient to tell one from the other, but none of the Humans could determine which was the male, which the female and which the other gender English had no name for. What was worse, being Vespans, none of the adults appeared disposed to clarify the matter.

After dinner, when the dancing started, Tammy and Roy were the first on the floor. When the second song started, though, the adolescent Vespan cut in, asking Roy if he would mind. Roy, with an uncertain glance at Tammy, agreed and was in the middle of holding out his hands to take the petite alien into his arms to have a turn around the floor when the Vespan teen took Tammy by the hand and waist and spun off. Tammy shot a merrily bewildered look at her boyfriend, but went willingly.

"You're a jZav`Etch," the Vespan said.

"I am," Tammy confirmed.

"I'm a Vespan."

"I know." Tammy thought this was a strange way to open a conversation. Aliens were alien, though, and she wanted to be polite. "You speak English very well."

"I know," said the Vespan. "I'm female, if you were wondering."

"Female?" Tammy was surprised. "Why didn't you dance with Roy?"

"Because I wanted to dance with you."

It was a matter-of-fact answer that did not really satisfy. Tammy did not object to dancing with another girl, but she was puzzled. Before she could get clarification, though, the Vespan girl spoke again.

"My name is Te`ja Vemoar," she said and spun Tammy. All the other dancers dipped, but the size difference between these two was too great. Tammy towered over the Vespan girl.

"You can call me Te`ja," she said, recovering Tammy's waist.

"My name's Tammy Mackey."

"I know," Te`ja said easily. She seemed completely at ease. "I wanted to introduce myself. We're the only outsiders and I was hoping we could be friends. Do I dance well enough for you?"

"Yes," giggled Tammy, delighted by the girl's forthright conversation, though she had never considered herself an outsider. "We're drawing quite a bit of attention."

"That's Humans for you," Te`ja said with a chirp of a laugh. "My parents warned me about it. They were right."

"You don't like Humans?" asked Tammy.

"I like them," replied the Vespan. "They just need to get used to seeing us. All the males are curious. I can smell it."

Tammy had not consciously noticed the change in the atmosphere of the hall, but now that her dance partner pointed it out, she did. Looking at the Vespans she could understand. The three adults all looked very feminine by Human standards. They were uniformly petite and slim with wide hips that suggested femininity and all three had small breasts. With powder blue and powder green skin and a subtle mottling of slightly darker coloring that accented rather than complimented their features. They did not need makeup. Surmounted by glossy crests of feathery scales swept back from their foreheads their faces also looked very Human, though clearly not. Oversized, almond shaped eyes, high cheekbones and lush, Cupid's bow lips of a shade darker than the rest of their skin all worked together with the result that they could have been supermodels had they not been so short. Aside from their skin coloration and their feathery crests, the one marked distinction between them and Humans was their three jointed legs that resembled Tammy's own.

"Your... Um... father doesn't mind men looking at him like that?" Tammy asked.

"No," said Te`ja with a good imitation of a Human shrug. "He has had several Human lovers. That's the right word, isn't it? Lover?"

Tammy blinked. She had heard rumors, but no one had ever spoken so openly about it with her. She was hardly more than a girl, after all.

"Your father slept with other men?" she asked. "Had sex with them, I mean."

"Yes," Te`ja replied, unconcerned. "Humans are different. We don't look at things the same way they do."

Before Tammy could ask more the music ended and Te`ja released her. The petite Vespan smiled and said, "Thank you for the dance. I would like to get to know you better, Tammy."

"You're welcome, Te`ja," the cat girl replied, returning the smile. "Maybe you can come over for dinner. I'll ask my folks."

"Your folks?" Te`ja asked.

"My parents." Tammy pointed to Bob and Deborah who were standing with her Uncle Dan and a woman she did not know talking and laughing about something.

"They are Human," Te`ja said.

"Of course they are." Tammy took the girl by the hand and led her off the dance floor. She explained, "They adopted me. They're the only parents I've ever known."

"Oh," said Te`ja as if she finally understood. "Vespans do that too. I just did not realize Humans would."

"Want to meet them?" asked Tammy.

"Yes," agreed Te`ja. "If I am going to be invited to your home for a meal it would be better, would it not?"

Tammy introduce Te`ja to her parents and her uncle. He in turn introduce his new girlfriend, Carla DeRoche. She had worked on OS1, the orbital station, until recently and was now employed in the planetary administration offices. The adults exchanged pleasantries with the Vespan girl. Bob was a little clumsy about it, but Deborah was open and welcoming. Carla, having met Vespans before, was more comfortable. They spoke briefly and Tammy asked if Te`ja might come over for dinner some evening.

"Of course!" Deborah laughed. "We were just inviting Carla. Perhaps your whole family would come."

"Perhaps," said Te`ja. "I will ask."

While they were talking Roy joined them and slipped his hand into Tammy's. She did not look at him, but gave his fingers an affectionate squeeze and bumped him with her shoulder hard enough to make him sway. Deborah's eyes twinkled at that. Bob pointedly did not notice.

"Roy is really growing up," Deborah whispered in her husband's ear as the three teens strode away to the Vespan family group.

"Getting bigger all the time," agreed Bob.

"That's true, but not what I meant," said Deborah.

"I know what you meant," Bob chuckled. "I'm not blind. I just don't want to scare him off."

"Tammy has grown up a bunch lately, too," observed Dan. "I still remember her as a scrawny little kitten full of piss and vinegar."

"Maybe you should visit more," Deborah chided her older brother.

"I'll be able to now," he said, giving her a warm smile. "I got reassigned to the Mid-Valley Range. I'm home again. I'll be moving into my station, finally."

"That's great!" Bob said, genuinely pleased. "We'll be able to go fishing!"

"Come spring thaw, I'm going to need some help with the cabin," said Dan.

Bob and Deborah were more than willing to commit to the effort. The whole family would pitch in, they promised.

"There's something else Dan wants," Carla said and held out her left hand. Upon it glistened a white diamond set into a simple golden ring.

Drinks were called for and a toast was made. Dan danced with his sister and Bob took Carla for a turn around the floor. The wedding would be in the spring as soon as the cabin was finished. Word spread and the whole party saluted the couple with heartfelt goodwill.