The Light-years Beneath My Feet Read Online Free Page B

unencountered. All he knew was that the effect was eye-catchingly attractive. And those eyes         .         .         .
    Abruptly, the visitor was standing before him. Of all the aliens he and his friends had encountered in their journeying, both on the Vilenjji capture ship and subsequently on Seremathenn, this was so far indisputably the most physically striking. He found himself mesmerized by the multiple switching tails, the shimmering pupils, the achingly elegant upthrust hearing organs, and legs that were as perfectly proportioned as a fractal that had been stretched out straight as a ruler. Apparently, the creature had sought him out and intended to speak to him. He waited eagerly to see if the visitor’s appearance was echoed by its voice, and to learn its gender. Surely it claimed one. No species so stunning could possibly be ignorant of the splendor of sexual reproduction.
    “You, human! You pretty damn good cooker, you is.”
    He winced inwardly. Fingernails dragging across a blackboard. Old-fashioned dentist drills preparing to bite enamel. Metal car parts dragging across a concrete roadbed. A chill ran down his spine that had nothing to do with the moderate temperature in the room.
    The sound of the exquisite creature’s voice was excruciating to his ears.
    Eyelids like translucent lilies momentarily slid down over the spectacular oculars as the creature blinked. As it did so, an iridescent golden frill erected and flexed on the back of the alien’s head and neck. “You like cook. You no like talk?”
    Unless it was failing for the first time since it had been implanted in him, the Vilenjji translator was providing a faithful rendering of the creature’s speech. Swallowing, Walker concentrated on the being’s physical beauty while struggling manfully to overlook the sound of its voice. The latter lingered in the air, clinging to his ears like a leech to an open wound. Taking note of the external translator clipped to one slender ear, he felt confident in replying.
    “No, I do like—I enjoy conversation. I’m glad you took pleasure from my little demonstration.” Desperately, he looked around for someone else he knew, someone he could inform his beautiful but sandpaper-voiced questioner that he absolutely had to speak with—right there and right now. But he recognized no one else in the milling cluster, and George had wandered off somewhere out of sight.
    “Enjoy?” One willowy arm reached out to encircle his shoulders, its touch more caress than grasp. “Was overwhelming! Remarkable. Never seen nothing such like it before.” The exquisite face bent toward his. “You can prepare many foods suchlike?” The delicate flowerlike fragrance that emanated from the small mouth somewhat mitigated the unrivaled harshness of tone it accompanied.
    Holding his ground as well as any cultured Sessrimathe, he forced himself not to turn away. “I’ve learned how to prepare many specialties, yes, including a few of my own devising based on recipes from my homeworld.”
    “Earth,” the creature snapped. Issuing from that small, ornately painted mouth, the single syllable sounded like a pencil being pushed through a cheese grater. “Home of humans.”
    “You’ve been doing some research. On me.” His surprise was genuine.
    The tips of both ears inclined slightly forward as all four tails came up slightly. “No special research. Perused preparatory materials that accompanied your presentation. Never hear of humans before today. Never hear of Earth before today.” She paused thoughtfully. “Self-centered naming. Sessrimathe say you first of your kind they ever encounter.”
    Walker nodded. While thoroughly entranced by the creature’s physical appearance, he could not wait to escape the sound of its voice.
    “I am Viyv-pym-parr of the Niyyuu, second daughter of Avur-pym, reigning regent of Kojn-umm Province on the world of Niyu, fourth world of the sun Niy.”
    Oh,