“I think you are,” Azdrei’in agreed when Artemis said she was safer on the mothership than she had been on her own planet. His people wouldn’t hurt her. Most likely, there were varying opinions among the Lunvalgans that were watching her in the loading bay. Before he’d left to scout out the earth, he had heard quite a few different thoughts and theories about the human race among the others. Some believed that earthlings were a scourge that needed to be eradicated and that killing them off was good thing; some were more neutral and simply believed that the Eilix knew what they were doing when they’d decided to release the virus on them; and some, including himself, wondered if there was anything that could be gained by studying the humans and learning about how they had lived and functioned on their planet.

It wasn’t hard to tell which camp each onlooker belonged to as they stared at Artemis. The more hostile Lunvalgans regarded her with cautious, unfriendly gazes while the rest observed her with intrigue. She was safe among all of them though. Since she was here to speak with their fertility specialists, she was a guest on the mothership, and that meant that no one would be allowed to lay so much as a claw on her without facing repercussions. Even the disgruntled people would have to tolerate her presence as long as she was under their leaders’ protection.

Following the other warrior through the long, silver-white halls of the ship, he glanced down at the human when she asked about children. “There are not many,” he told her, letting his translucent eyes wander over the other Lunvalgans that they passed. Occasionally he nodded a passive acknowledgement when he caught the eye of someone he knew. “The youngest children stay with their parents, and then they are moved when they don’t need them anymore. They stay in groups to play and learn together in a different place here… Some people watch them who are not their parents.”

It was difficult to explain that adolescent Lunvalgans were raised communally. Because pregnancies failed so often, it was more important for mated couples to keep trying to have more children than it was for them to take the time to raise the ones they did have. There were more males than females among them too, so many of the males who were not paired up with a mate were assigned to be caretakers for the children between the time period where they left their parents and the moment they were old enough to be assigned to jobs of their own.

When Artemis attempted to speak to one of the nearby females, Azdrei’in cracked a smile. “You said it right,” he assured her as they rounded a corner that led to the individual rooms they assigned for sleeping. The other warrior stopped next to an open doorway and gestured with one hand at the space on the other side. It was mostly bare, with a few built-in shelves in one wall for storage and a bed fit for one person that hung from four cords that were attached to the ceiling. Soft, white lights illuminated the room from the corners where the walls met the ceiling as well, and there was an adjacent room attached to the side with a waste receptacle built into the floor.

“The earthling will stay here,” the warrior directed. “Azdrei’in, you may return to your personal quarters in the northern wing until you are summoned tomorrow.”

Azdrei’in glanced into the chamber. Before he’d left for the earth, he’d shared a room with three other male warriors, but it was located in another part of the mothership far from the space that had been designated for Artemis. Knowing that she had been opposed to separating from him, he turned back to the other male, “I will stay in this room as well. The earthling does not speak our language and has made it clear that she will be opposed to it if I leave her alone here.”

“Are you sure?” the other warrior asked bemusedly.

“I am,” he confirmed. “Have someone bring my bed and perhaps some of my clothes from my quarters to this room. It is my duty to make sure the earthling is looked after, so I will stay with her while she is here.”

The other warrior looked amused with his answer, “You take this assignment very seriously, hm? Very well. I will have your belongings moved into this room for you.”

“Thank you,” Azdrei’in said appreciatively.

The other male turned and walked off, leaving them alone, and he turned to Artemis. “This is your room now,” he told her in English, stepping inside and beckoning her to follow. “This is your bed. Mine will be here soon, and I will stay here with you.”