“Yes,” he smiled with amusement. Was he thinking of their ill-fated excursion into the village too? “But we do not advertise with smell and body movements, something we have learned to contain, so it is only harmless admiration. We require this power of restraint because the Epoptes have given us a highly sensitive olfactory system. Pardon me for saying, but you have not learned this yet, and therefore have been exuding a very seductive signal. It was the cause of that riot in the city square.”
That explained a lot of things, she thought. Perhaps Azaes’s own reactions to her. Without meaning to, she’d acted a temptress with her pheromones. And how could she help it? Especially with those enticing
vishna
trees around, whose aphrodisiac-like perfumes heightened her sensual perceptions and desires. She wasn’t even aware of all the smells she emitted. Humans had long ago lost the ability to discern all but the most obvious human smells, like sweat, severe body odour or fluids emitted during sexual excitement. She knew that humans detected many more aerosols, at least on a sub-conscious level and a chemical level. There was the obvious example of women who, in close quarters, eventually developed synchronous menstrual cycles by detecting the chemicals they gave off.
She wondered how the Eosians, with their enhanced senses, could stand it and not submit to the powerfully delirious aromas of the
vishna
. Maybe it was a little like the uncanny way everyone in the small industrial town she’d grown up in dealt with the constant air pollution. They could still smell it, but they’d learned to deactivate that part of their brains so they no longer consciously smelled it. However, the heavenly perfume of the
vishna
tree was nothing like the cloying noxious smell of a chemical factory.
“With your enhanced olfactory abilities, how do you repel the effects of the
vishna
?”
“It is difficult,” he conceded with a crooked smile. “Mostly we do it through avoidance. You may have noticed that few of them exist in the town’s environs and none in the town centre, except for the one
vishna
that we saw. Even here, in the outer city, our forests have been altered to include more of a mixture and we generally keep to the clearings. We don’t enter the deep jungles where the
vishna
has multiplied into great numbers unless we have to, like Azaes did to rescue you. And he is used to and less susceptible to the effects of the
vishna
, being a
soul-drifter
, who regularly imbibes the
vishna
essence.”
“Listen, Diaprepes,” she began, “I need to go there, into the jungle, back to my ship to fix it. But how am I going to…” she trailed for a moment. How would she fare, then?
“Ah,” his smile grew ironic. “I see. Well, your senses are not as developed as ours for one. But you should be careful not to let the jungle overwhelm you. We have lost people in there. Others have gone mad,” he ended grimly. She didn’t like the sound of that. “There are stories of those being transformed into super-strong beings obsessed with sex. It is said that the jungle will rob you of your soul and give you back just one sexual obsession from which you’ll die slowly and tortuously.” He shook his head and pushed a rueful smile. “It’s all conjecture, wild tales that have not been proven. In any case, you will be flying over the forest,” he added more cheerfully. “That is not so bad. Then you will be in the clearing that your ship carved in the jungle and eventually inside your ship. The danger lies deep in the mature
vishna
jungle itself. You have no need to venture there.”
Great, she thought with a long exhale. In other words, once she got to her ship, she was effectively trapped there. “What’s in the forest?” she asked, trying to ignore the anxious fear that dug into her throat.
“Well, aside from the
vishna
, itself capable of driving you mad, most new leaves of many plants are brightly coloured and very poisonous. Then there are nocturnal predators like the
sheese
, unenlightened relatives of the
shwarma
, which are like large wolves that hunt in packs and tear apart their victims. Oh, and the in areas of recent disturbance, the pioneer Stinger plant can be a nuisance. Its brilliant red leaves and stems are as attractive as its poison is irritating. The Stinger’s translucent white hairs are made of silicon. They cover its leaves and stems so when you brush against it they sting and release a painful poison and histamine. It is awful.” He grimaced and no doubt spoke from experience. “Then there’s the
hooto
, a giant raptor with poison-tipped talons and many different kinds of invertebrates and small amphibians that are poisonous and emit poisonous barbs or aerosols… “
She had to ask, Genevieve thought with an inward groan. Her body stiffened with anticipation as Diaprepes blithely continued his litany of the jungle’s vicious who’s who.
“…And of course,” he ended, “there are the
igapos
.” He paused with a faint enigmatic smile and she felt her lip curl into a grimace.
She swallowed involuntarily. “
Igapos
?” she repeated, imagining some huge beast with claws as long as her hand.
“They are living moving swamps, created by the sudden swell of the river and flood of the forest during the wet season.”
“Let me guess…we’re in the wet season.”
Now it was his turn to grimace. Diaprepes nodded solemnly then continued, “The
igapos
are said to flood forested lowlands within minutes and to reach as high as thirty meters.
“Good, God,” she murmured. Like an inland tsunami.
“The
igapo
dissipates through the soils almost as quickly as it forms. I’ve heard that after an
igapo
event, the forest canopy can be littered with dead creatures, which provide the trees with nutrients when they rot. The violence and speed of the
igapo
is dangerous enough like drowning or simply dashing unsuspecting victims against the trees. But the
igapo
brings with it the kuiper beast.”
“Oh, great,” she whispered.
“The
kuiper
is a vicious predator that uses the
igapo
to feed on the maimed or drowning creatures of the forest.” Diaprepes eyes grew serious and he changed the subject. “To return to the subject of marriage, I was about to say that we take the vow very seriously because the Eosians do this for life.” He stressed the word
life
with such gravity, she wondered if he intended something more than she read from it.
“We too have that custom, of mating for life,” she offered, somewhat relieved that he had changed the subject.
“But we live
much
longer than you do,” he said almost gruffly, waving her off. “We wait for many years before making our choice and then years after before mating. And not everyone is permitted to have offspring. That is decided by the
Sthanu
Circle.”
God! She didn’t like that, being told if she could have children or not by some exterior board. That should be up to her and her mate, just like the act of intercourse itself.
“How do you think we keep from overrunning this place like a plague unchecked?” Diaprepes added.
Was he referring obliquely to her species and their sad inability to contain their own numbers? Genevieve sighed, feeling some shame. She’d done them all a disservice. Azaes especially. So, she’d guessed right all along
—
from the moment she’d set foot on this planet she’d transgressed every possible sacred edict of Eosian conduct, defiled their most revered tenets, tainted their codes of conduct. When she’d made her foolish compulsive seduction attempt on Azaes, she’d committed one of their most severe taboos. She, one of the more prudish humans she knew. God! How naïve yet wise these Eosians were. Like precocious children. All paradoxes.
Perhaps Diaprepes could help her escape while Azaes was occupied with meetings in the town. Perhaps she could convince him that by helping her leave, he’d be helping Azaes regain his reputation. It was worth a try. “Wasn’t that the scree that brought me here?” she asked innocently, pointing to the young scree reclining and purring gently at Diaprepes’s feet.
He nodded enthusiastically. “Yes!” He beamed, obviously glad she’d changed the subject. “I am impressed you recognize it!” She wasn’t about to tell him that she’d only guessed, hoping for an opening. It was equally obvious to her that he liked her. A lot. She could see it in his eyes, the way he looked at her.
“Listen, Diaprepes,” she said, moving forward until she stood a breath away from him and looking directly into his eyes with an earnest intensity, “I must leave here to get to my ship so I can fix it and return to my home. That’s the only way I can help Azaes. As long as I stay, he is endangering everything you hold dear on Eos, perhaps compromising his place as
kushu
of your circle. I don’t belong, Diaprepes. And I’m ruining things, breaking sacred laws. I must return home, to my people, and give them an important message that will help both Eosians and humans. We must not send any more missions here. But Azaes would never think of letting me go. He wants to keep me here and experiment with me. He’s too obsessed with humans. But you aren’t…”
Diaprepes swallowed, eyes still glued to hers. “I might be,” he said in a thick voice “...at least with one human in particular.”
“Oh, Diaprepes!” she remonstrated mildly and crossed her arms over her chest. “You don’t mean that.” Then she dropped her arms, leaned forward and touched his arms. “Don’t you want to help me? And your brother too? You’d be helping everyone by getting me off this planet.” She blinked back something stinging her eyes. “Before I ruin anything else.”
“I want to help,” he said, still clearly uncertain.
“I was thinking of that young scree,” she suggested. “I flew it once to come here. It knows the way to my ship, so it could take me back, couldn’t it?”
“Yes,” he agreed. “If I instructed it, the scree would do as you say.” Then he frowned slightly in thought. “But I’ll do it only if you…” he struggled with the words and she realized he was blushing. “Your scent is very strong now, Genevieve. No doubt because of your recent experience.”
Interesting, she contemplated, how the smell she gave off appeared more powerful to him than the aroma emitted by the
vishna
. Or was it simply that her smell was
different
and they weren’t prepared for it and therefore vulnerable? “You’ve never smelled a woman who…” she trailed again, face heating with embarrassed confusion.
He blushed even harder. “Once, Shiva let me smell her desire,” he said dreamily. “I lusted terribly for her, but she was already promised to Azaes.” He frowned briefly. “I don’t know why she did that. Perhaps to tease me. Her smell was overpoweringly delicious.” He hiked in a tremulous breath and continued, “My sister keeps it a secret, but I know that she has touched and given a boy her smells. They might even have…well, she’s very young and impetuous still. She sneaks out of the house at night to see him.”
Was he jealous of how she took her liberties? So, they weren’t as restrained as Azaes made them out to be. For a moment Genevieve wondered if Azaes was the only one who willingly followed the code…ever the strong and resolute patriarch.
Diaprepes refocused on Genevieve with a pleading expression. “Please, let me touch your magnificently small breasts.”
She jerked loose of his arms but couldn’t help a sudden smile of amusement. Male youth. They weren’t much different from one end of the galaxy to the other, always obsessed with breasts, no matter what their size. Perhaps here, because the usual breast size of an Eosian woman was large, small breasts like hers were particularly alluring. She tilted her head and placed her hands on her hips. “What about your code of conduct regarding not touching?”
“The code only applies to intercourse. It says nothing about touching,” he corrected her with a triumphant grin. Then he said something that sent her heart slamming: “I know that you reserve your most inviting scents for Azaes, but I might do as a distraction for the moment…”
Swallowing convulsively, she felt suddenly giddy. It couldn’t be true, she thought petulantly. If anything, she was angry with Azaes, annoyed with his arrogance, rudeness and lack of compassion. How could she be interested in him?
“Very well,” she said, throat swelling. It was a small price to pay for freedom and the possibility of going home again. Diaprepes was a very handsome man, just like his older brother. His young face wore a softer expression, one that had experienced less in the world. And he was sweet. He’d been her friend since the beginning. Genevieve closed the distance between them, conscious that her breasts were swelling with emotion as she watched Diaprepes, whose eyes were glued to her, take in rapid shallow breaths.
What the hell, she thought, and decided to give him more than he’d asked for but what she thought he really wanted. She was leaving and would never see these people again, so a slight transgression in her behaviour wouldn’t matter. She’d already blown her wad when it came to transgressions, anyway. And Diaprepes had been so kind to her. She’d considered him a loyal friend among unfriendly people. Letting her compassion rule her, Genevieve swept him into her arms, pressing his face against her breasts. He seized in a sharp breath. Chalk it up to her pheromone signals. She was obviously emitting some strong ones.