Page 40 of Ava Stargazer (Planet Xai #2)
Ava put her toe on the edge of the lake. The water was cooler than a hot bath, but not chilly. She had taken off her jumpsuit and stood in only her undergarments, some flimsy underwear and a strap she used to compress her breasts. She always wore that strap, as it was easier to maneuver around the engine with it on.
Vox insisted she wear something, in case any visitors passed by, and Ava agreed, her body feeling almost fully exposed like this outside with her midsection unclothed as it was. She didn’t have any privacy on the Phor ship, but it was just Ebel then, and he didn’t care what she looked like, other than if she had any cuts or bruises. Here on Xai, she knew others were more curious about her form.
Vox’s gaze on her was heated as he walked swiftly into the water. He turned and beckoned her to follow.
Ava left the biologics on her chest, thinking they might find swimming through the lake fun. She looked down at the water, dubious. If I can figure out how to swim, that is. She reached down and touched the water, dipping her hand in and watching the water drip off like the rain did before. Ava looked up at Vox, already swimming, admiring his clean strokes across the lake. It does not look too hard.
She loved the bath, and even though the lake water was chilled, it looked like the same sort of fun, so she walked swiftly in until the bottom gave out and she fell. Oh! Immediately, her fun turned to fear as she realized she didn’t know how to stay up.
“Help!” she yelled, reaching toward Vox.
“Steady, sweet bird,” Vox said, grabbing her around her midsection and pulling her back to the area where her feet had purchase on the slippery rocks.
Ava stood there then as water dripped down her forehead, letting her heartbeat resettle while she relished the solid ground underneath. That was . . . She shivered as her body got used to the cooler temperature.
“Wait here. Do not move,” Vox said, pointing at her as he backed away.
Ava had no desire to have that happen again and stayed put, taking a step backward to make sure she stayed away from the drop-off that lurked just a little bit into the lake.
She frowned, watching Vox as he swam across the pond easily, his lithe body moving through the water with strong motions that barely disturbed the surface. Okay, not as easy as he makes it look. He checked that she was still where he left her and had not fallen before heading amongst the reeds.
He came back a second later with some dried-out bavla stalks, swam toward her, and reached for her to put them under her arms in front of her chest. “These will help you float. We use these with our young to teach them.”
Ava tested it out, leaning forward and smiling when she stayed buoyed up by the hollow reeds. “That’s much better.” She stroked the biologics on her chest and looked at the container spinning merrily as she started to float, kicking her feet a little. “Do you like it here?”
They spun even faster. Ava reached a wet hand over her chest and touched the container, feeling like they were trying to tell her something, as they were pulsing in a pattern she hadn’t seen before. That's different.
“Vox? What are they . . . ?” She looked down at them in confusion.
Vox swam to her to put his hand on the container, splayed across her chest. He answered a second later, his tone speculative, “They want to swim too.”
Ava looked down at the container warily. “Will they hurt the lake? Or would they get hurt?”
“We will never know until you try. I trust them to behave. I worry about them finding enough to eat, but that can be monitored. Let me ask the others.” Vox shone a minute, communicating elsewhere while Ava just watched and tried to float, before saying, “Erox, Miral, and Orla are not opposed to it. This is our private lake; they will not be able to spread beyond it. Let us see how they adapt.”
She felt torn for a second, her hand on the top, at the clasp that was screwed tight. These are mine ... That hesitation only lasted a moment. Ava knew you didn’t keep things you loved in a cage just to keep them close. And you didn’t keep things a secret just to keep them controlled.
She learned that lesson firsthand.
Ava held the biologics to her again, close, her breath fogging the container. “Are you ready to light up this world too?”
The jar pulsed, and she rocked it in her arms. These really have always been my first friends. With Ebel.
A few tears fell from her eyes, joining the lake. “Go on then,” she said, softly. She added a second later, “You can come back to me whenever.”
The biologics left the container in a rush and moved around her, swirling so fast they were hard to follow. The bavla stalks began to sway as the biologics swam, churning the water.
Ava laughed as they lifted the water up with her in the air, buoying her up more than the little floaties under her arms. She waved her arms in the water, making splashes as they pushed her around, and shrieked, “Not so much! I can’t swim!”
Vox looked on, grinning, his body wet all over from the swim, and the splashing they were doing to him as well. “I have never felt such excitement.”
The swirling died down, and Ava felt underfoot delicately to catch her footing on the slippery rocks again. She held tight on to the stalks keeping her afloat. Ava lifted up her container, dripping wet from being in the lake. Not all of them left. Around a third stayed with her. “You all didn’t go,” she whispered. The remainder pulsed in her hands.
On impulse, Ava put her hand in the container, only a finger. She’d never touched the biologics before. She didn’t know why that was. They swirled around, almost like they were reaching up in the container toward her while the rest swirled around her body in the lake. Ava’s finger made contact with them and her eyes opened. “Oh.”
They pressed upon her the sensations that she’d somewhat guessed at, but could feel now without the barrier. Their gratitude and friendship. They felt like energy. Like a bolt of lightning in a bottle. She let out a soft laugh as they moved around her finger. It is like Sai said. The feeling you get when you run really fast and your heart beats hard. She watched them zoom around her in the lake, the bit that remained with her swirling in her container to match.
And then the ones in the lake tore across the surface, fast, almost too fast for her eyes to follow.