Serix continued to glare at Ryan when he offered Cassie a hand to stand up. The human’s antics were becoming increasingly frustrating. Fortunately, Cassie immediately came over to Serix and took his hand once she had gotten up. Ryan didn’t look particularly happy about it, but he said nothing more as he led them out of the dining hall. Maybe he was finally beginning to understand that he didn’t have a chance with Cassie? Somehow, Serix doubted that. The human was too stubborn to give up so easily.
As they walked, Ryan began explaining the different types of jobs that were done around the compound. Of course, keeping the garden alive was the biggest concern for the humans, since they needed the food. What interested Serix the most was the way the humans seemed to rotate jobs. In his society, the Lunairans were assigned one position for life based on how they tested for certain attributes. To have more than one job was unheard of. There were occasional volunteer positions that opened up, such as the Scouting mission, but they never lasted long, and the participants always returned to their original positions once the work was complete. The diversity in human life continued to fascinate him.
Ryan eventually led them to a part of the caves they hadn’t seen on the tour. These tunnels were slightly narrower, but much taller than the ones they had been through so far in the main sections of the compound. They tapered off and then opened up into passageways that were wide enough for all three of them to walk side by side if they wanted to. These larger tunnels then brought them to an enormous cavern. It was long enough that Serix couldn’t see either end of it from where he stood. However, the most impressive part of this cave was the flowing body of water that ran down its middle. Serix stared at it, eyes wide with amazement. If the ground wasn’t so slick from the spray of the water, he would have been tempted to climb down and get a closer look. He had never seen an underground river before.
“We gather water from here for all sorts of jobs and tasks.” Ryan explained. “We gather the water from this section of the river, and then down river if where we bathe and all.” He gestured at the section of the water he was speaking about. “This place is a big part of our survival here, but it’s also dangerous with the rapids upstream.” He turned and pointed at the other end of the river. “Never go up there. There’s not enough footage and people have almost died being stupid enough to go up there.”
Serix peered at the far end of the river Ryan had indicated. Sure enough, the water flowed much more quickly upstream. If someone were to slip and fall in, he would get sucked under in a matter of seconds. Serix swallowed. He made a mental note to stay far away from that side of the river, instinctively thinking ahead about his own safety. With all the humans that wanted to see him dead, an ‘accident’ could easily be staged in a dangerous place like that. He wasn’t going to give them that opportunity.
Ryan brought them back to the section of the compound that they were familiar with, leading them next to the gardens where he planned to let Cassie start working. He said nothing about Serix, of course, but he didn’t need to. Serix wasn’t going to leave his mate’s side again, so he would start in the gardens as well, whether Ryan liked it or not.
Once the two arrived at the ‘farm,’ the red-haired male, Jerry, approached them with a grin, “Ah, so Ryan sent us the newbs to put to work. I don’t know if that’s such a good idea. It takes a pretty skilled person to put seeds into the ground. What do you think, Victoria? Think they can handle it?” He turned to a dark-haired female who was working nearby. She smiled faintly and nodded, and Jerry turned back to Serix and Cassie. “Okay, the Queen gave her judgment.” He bowed teasingly at her, grinning all the more brightly when the female gave a slight laugh. “You can start digging holes for us to plant in. Cassie can put the seeds in.” He tossed his tool at Serix who, not expecting the sudden action, fumbled to catch it. With that, the red-haired male went back to his own work.
Serix turned the tool over in his hands. Having been trained only in combat, he wasn’t sure what to do with it at first. He snuck a glance at Jerry, who had grabbed another tool and started digging. Serix watched him use the spade-shaped end to turn the soil over and make shallow holes for the black-haired female to drop seeds into. He repeated this action, making a neat row of the holes and spacing them evenly apart.
After observing the human for a moment, Serix understood the basic idea and went to work with Cassie. He started on his own row of holes, turning over the soil with the spade-tipped tool as he had seen Jerry do. As he worked, Serix was beginning to realize something else about the Lunairan society that worried him. With their specialized training, his people were incapable of surviving on their own. He only knew how to fight and operate the Lunairan military technology that his rank would have permitted him to use, had he completed his schooling. There were others who only knew how to organize storage units or teach history to young children. In fact, the number of Lunairans who worked in the synthetic garden on the ship was extremely slim.
Serix had an unsettling feeling that his leaders intentionally structured the society in this way. Without the knowledge of how to grow their own food or perform other necessary life functions, the Lunairans were completely dependent on their leaders to survive. Even if some of his people ever decided to openly rebel or run away, the sub-society they created would quickly fall apart because they would have no way to maintain it. It was a frighteningly clever setup. He decided to take every opportunity to learn the survival skills he lacked, just in case he and Cassie ever ended up on their own again.
“How you holding up, Serix?” Cassie asked, grinning up at him from where she was planting her seeds.
“Just fine,” Serix smiled jokingly back at her. “You probably couldn’t tell since I’m doing such a good job, but this is the first time I’ve ever done work like this.” He went back to digging, finishing up his first row and starting a second one.
“Oh, you have got to be kidding me,” a familiar voice growled behind Serix. He turned to see Hunter standing with his arms crossed over his chest, glaring down at the Lunairan with even more hostility than usual. Serix’s eyes fell on a dark spot that marked the human’s slightly swollen jaw. He grinned. Hunter had come off worse in their fight than he had. The small cut on his own cheek was already closed and healing.
“We’re letting the alien near our crops now?” Hunter went on viciously, turning to Jerry. “What’s Ryan thinking? It could damage the fields or poison our food.”
“Lighten up, Hunter,” Jerry said, not bothering to look up from his work. “He’s just helping.”
“Its kind can’t be trusted!” Hunter snarled. “They’re all murderers; every last one of them.” He shot Serix another glare. “I still say we should have gotten rid of this one like we did all the others yesterday.”
Serix opened his mouth to respond, but one glance at Cassie told him to let it go. As much as he hated to let the human spit threats at him like this, he couldn’t let Hunter get to him again. Ryan was already looking for an excuse to lock him in the hold. For both his and Cassie’s sakes, he couldn’t give him a reason to do so. He turned away from Hunter and resumed working.
“Hey, alien, are you listening?” Hunter leaned over him. “You don’t belong here. Go back to your ship and fly away with the rest of your miserable species.”
Serix grit his teeth and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He knew the human was just trying to get a rise out of him. Hunter knew just as well as he did that one more fight would get him locked up. He was out of chances.
“I left them,” Serix said plainly.
“You left them?” Hunter raised a brow. “That was a stupid decision. You’re not welcome here, and you’re not welcome there, either. Huh, seems like you don’t have a home anywhere, do you, alien? You’re just a worthless outcast.”
“My home,” Serix snapped, finally turning on Hunter. “Is wherever she is.” He took Cassie’s hand in his and glowered at the human.
“Hunter, come on,” Jerry said impatiently. “You’re wasting daylight. Get to work, ya lazy bum.”
“I’m not finished with you yet, alien,” Hunter said in a threateningly soft tone. “Not until you’re out of here.” He shot the Lunairan one final glare and went back to his section of the field.
Serix let out his breath and cast a grateful look at Jerry. If Hunter had taunted him just one more time, he didn’t think he could have held himself back. The human really knew how to rub him the wrong way. He leaned against Cassie and sighed, “Sorry. I know you want me to stay out of trouble. He’s just so infuriating.”
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