Page 91 of Mazorium Buys a Human

“Osun,” she said.

It was closer, so I gave her a rumble of agreement. “Very good.”

She beamed at me briefly, then was distracted by the display again. “Look! Look!”

It seemed she was pointing to a flock of birds. Before I could comment about it, she was pointing to something else and demanding I look at that also. She continued that until Mika pulled the little girl into her lap.

“Da needs to concentrate on landing,” she said. “Show me what to look at, but you have to try to name it for me.”

“Look,” Nadia said. “Osun, Mama, osun!”

“What color is the ocean?” Mika asked.

They continued talking as I guided the ship to the spot I chose. It was far enough back from the beach to keep us safe from high tide or storms. If anything severe happened, I had a secondary spot we could retreat to.

The landing went smoothly. It wasn’t long before I was able to lower the ramp and open the hatch. When I turned to face Mika and Nadia, the child was visibly vibrating with excitement.

“Time, Da?” she asked. “Time to esplore?”

“What are the rules?” I asked.

Nadia’s expression turned serious. “Stay close so I can sees you.”

“Yes, exactly,” Mika said. “What’s the other rule?”

“No touching,” she said.

“We’ll know what you can safely touch soon,” I promised. “Until then, we need to be very careful, especially with the plants and animals.”

“Okay, Da,” Nadia. “I’ll be good. Can I see the osun now?”

“Yes!” I grabbed her up and swung her on my shoulders before standing and running through the ship.

Her laughter filled the corridors. Soon we burst out into the bright sunlight with Mika right behind us.

“Osun!” Nadia demanded, wiggling on my shoulders.

“I’m going to get there first,” Mika said, running past us. There was a thin grouping of high bushes between us and the beach.

“No, Mama!” Nadia said. “Da, get Mama. Go, go!”

I jogged after Mika, making it seem as if it was hard to keep up. We carefully made our way through the bushes, and my feet were soon sinking into cobalt-blue sand.

“This is beautiful,” Mika breathed.

“Down, please,” Nadia said, tapping the top of my head.

I pulled her off my shoulders and set her down. She immediately dropped to her knees and sank her fingers into the warm sand, enjoying the entirely new texture of the substance.

Mika pressed herself against my side. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and we both looked out at the glittering ocean.

“It’s breathtaking,” she murmured. “I didn’t think I’d like any place as much as our stump, but this is nice also.”

Relief filled me. “I’m happy to hear that.”

“I’m still glad we have the stump to return to,” she said. “And even happier that my parents are already settling in there.”

“Their domicile was the first one finished,” I said. “Iris assured me that it was perfect for humans. I also got a message stating that your sister and her family are on their way. By the time they get there, the second domicile should be done.”