The Watcher [Alien Nation #1]

Chapter 10

Erri had lived on the Hub since reaching adulthood, long enough to become accustomed to the cool temperatures and slightly damp air outside the ghraals' habitat. One place he thought he would never feel welcome, though, was the human habitat.

It wasn't the temperature—no other species liked it as hot as the ghraals, and the chill was just something he'd gotten used to. It wasn't the abundance of vegetation, with elegant trees and cheerful flowers sprouting from pots and planters in every available space—Dak'ghraal was mostly barren except for scrubby bushes and prickly cacti, but the plant life had stopped being foreign once he'd started to consider some of the folna as friends. It wasn't even the openness of the living space—even on the Hub the ghraal lived in burrows, but they still had traditional open-air markets, and everyone needed to see the sky now and again (except the Mu'ka, but they couldn't see anything at all, so it didn't matter).

There was just something about humans. They liked to keep to themselves. Humans like Jules, who worked for the Commonwealth government, were rare. Humans like Avery, who could see a friend in anyone, whether they had scales and a tail or a dozen arms and half as many eyes, were even rarer. Erri knew that there were some humans who seldom left their habitation deck, and he couldn't help but wonder if they had truly joined the Commonwealth of their own free will.

He didn't blame Avery for not wanting to claim the small apartment that had been left behind by her mother. He glanced up at the spot she'd pointed out to him, once; her old home was way up in Rheita District, at the top of the habitation deck. From here, all he could see was the glass-enclosed walkways that met in a star shape at the central column, directly above him. Somewhere up there was a tiny window looking into a shitty one-bedroom flat (it never ceased to amaze him how quickly the humans could cleave those who had nothing from those who had everything), nearly half a mile above the bustle of the main deck. Or at least, it would be bustling, when the humans had finished integrating. For now, it could almost be called busy. There were several people drinking coffee in the couple of cafes at the edge of Tycho Park, which covered all of the bottom deck, and he could hear faint music from one of their temples, but he wasn't sure from this distance if it was the one with the cross or the crescent on the door.

He hoped he wasn't asking Avery to go too far out of her comfort zone by meeting him here, but there was nowhere else. The VR facilities in the Quays were always so crowded, and while the ghraal had the same facility as the one he was currently waiting outside, trying to look like he belonged there, he wasn't sure Avery would appreciate all the climbing and the tunnels.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw a bright blue head in the distance. He was beginning to wonder if she'd stood him up—not that he thought she would do something like that, of course, but you never knew until it was too late. And anyway, they only had about an hour before Jules would be expecting them on the docks.

He flicked his tail in greeting when she was nearer. "Hey. You ready?"

"It would help if you'd tell me what I'm meant to be ready for," she said, but he could tell by the way her mouth twitched that she was teasing him. He normally thought it was so weird, how their mouths were so narrow, but it looked okay on her, as most things did. More than okay, actually.

"You'll see," he replied. "Let's go."

The inside of the facility looked a little like one of those hotels he had seen on some human movie. The corridors were all very airy and clean, as most things on the Hub were, and lined with doors. Most had a red light glowing above them, but eventually they came across one that was green. Expressing language through colour—how very human.