Starfish

21.2

Ardus had fallen into an easy rhythm, his feet planted securely in the soft estuary bed, silty mud squeezing coolly up between his toes as he spun between Athe and the craft's pilot. I really did need this, I have missed working in the field. He reached for the next case, turning it so that the clasps that held it closed would not catch his tunic. Doing so he glimpsed Nina moving items from the cart. Perhaps this is the opportunity I need. I would like to talk to her more, tell her more about myself. Briefly he recalled the comment she'd made about his...spear. We will be alone for three days, I have planned for leisure time, there is the possibility... He shook himself. I will swim that current if or when I come to it, no sense in worrying about it. The next box was a set of drilling tools, and the one after that the first of the dried rations. Good that she is accustomed to Dreen food, this was much less expensive than packaged human food. He handed the box over, barely looking as the pilot took it and set it in the hold. A heavy can of water followed, and a second and third. I would like to spear some redfins, they would make a good campfire meal. I could spit them on stakes and roast them over a fire, with a little salted kelp and some of those green fungi from the forest at the head of the –

His train of thought vanished. His hands had closed on something soft, not like a box or case at all. Eh? It felt warm to the touch, lighter than the boxes and crates he'd been lifting, and decidedly round. Ardus gave a testing squeeze with his fingers, met with a soft gasp and giggle. His head whipped around and he found himself holding Nina by the hips, his fingers pressing into the soft flesh of her waist. Her tiny feet dangled several inches above the dock's planks, and she'd wrapped her hands around his wrists for balance. He blinked, trying to process how it had happened. "Doctor...?"

Hi!" She grinned broadly at him. "Mind putting me in the boat too?"

"I...ah...I suppose I could." He cut his gaze to the side where the pilot was arranging boxes in the hold, seemingly oblivious to the situation Ardus found himself in. Athe was standing on the dock, conspicuously pretending interest in the sky overhead. He turned back to Nina, aware of the cool water flowing around his legs. "However, it has suddenly occurred to me that I am standing in several feet of water."

Nina's smile dissolved, replaced by mild alarm. "You wouldn't..."

"I might." Turning slowly, Ardus raised Nina over the water and held her in the air, his grin widening. "I must admit the idea is tempting."

"Ardus, no, please, don't –" Her little hands on his wrists tightened, as though that would save her. "Don't do it, I'll tell Reda!"

"Tell her what, that you fell in?"

"Athe!" But Ardus's personal assistant was looking quite intently at something in the totally clear, cloudless sky. "Do you think it will rain?" he wondered aloud, the pilot oblivious to the drama playing out behind him. Nina wriggled, but Ardus simply adjusted his grip. She weighed hardly anything, all he would have to do was loosen his fingers and she would slip right through. "Is there a problem, Doctor? I was under the impression you were a strong swimmer."

"Ardus, put me down. Now."

He shrugged. "All right then." He let her drop. Nina let out a short scream, stopping only when her feet touched the deck of the craft. Ardus had dropped her just inside the gunwales, well clear of the water and dry. After a moment's shock she glared at him, a shaky laugh exploding from her. "Oh you jerk!" She stamped her little foot and made to grab at his tunic. Ardus leaned back beyond her reach, chuckling. Nina stretched up on her toes. "Get back here!" she demanded.

"Why should I do that?"

"So I can drown you!" She snatched at him again, but whiffed and missed.

"Are you two done fooling around yet?" Athe – not distracted by thoughts of weather anymore – asked. "If you don't get a move on you'll miss the outgoing tide."