Sarai, стр. 18

He headedtowards the pard’s library, which was in a huge room overlookinggardens that tumbled down the hill at front of the den. He’d beenin there a couple of times, mostly sitting quietly while Alekynread or used an e-tab to browse the compnet, which Jamie gatheredwas some sort of internet. He’d asked to use one, thinking he couldfind out more about his captors and their planet, but Alekyn hadjust shaken his head. “Later, perhaps, my sarai,” he’d saiddismissively.

Jamiesighed. He had to find a way home, had to escape the almostoverwhelming need he felt even when just thinking about being withAlekyn.

The books inthe study — and they were books — were written in a gracefullyflowing script that reminded Jamie of Arabic calligraphy. Naturallyhe couldn’t read it — it seemed the translator in his brain wasonly good for spoken words.

Or maybe theNaferi didn’t believe in educating their sarai, which made sense ina morally distorted, they-are-only-slaves sort of way. Things likecompliance and the requisite number of orifices, he reckoned, wouldbe higher on the list of desired sex-slave attributes thanliteracy, which might lead to things like having the wherewithal toplan an escape from a life of fucktoy enslavement.

After all,how could he navigate a way home if he couldn’t read signs orwhatever to help him on his way?

When hewandered in, he found the study already occupied. Bram was there,absorbed in reading something on his e-tab, occasionally makingnotes. A pile of papers and books sat on the table near him,obviously being used as reference materials. Jamie stood silently,sizing him up. Bram was something of an enigma — he was muchquieter than Eled and far less dominant than Tig, who tended, asAlekyn’s second in charge, to act as something of an enforcer.Jamie had the feeling he’d never have gotten away with anything ifTig had claimed him.

ButBram…Jamie hadn’t really talked to him at all, despite the factthat all the pardmates were evidently invested in “getting a human”of their own.

He guessed they just liked the way he lookedor something.

“So, Bram,” he plopped himselfdown on a nearby couch, “What are you reading, man?”

Bram lookedup, unsurprised. Jamie had been super-quiet in his approach, butall the Naferi had acute hearing, probably because of those largecatlike ears.

“I amresearching astro-historical material, Alekyn-sarai,” he murmuredand flicked a long dark tress of hair back over hisshoulder.

Jamiegrimaced internally, feeling anger pinch at him. There it was again— no one called him by his name. It was as if his identity hadbeen erased and now he only existed as an extension to Alekyn, achattel rather than a person, which was all in keeping with thesex-slave thing.

He gnawed on his bottom lip. It wasdemeaning being considered property. Now he knew how women andother slaves had felt in the olden days.

“What’sastro-history when it’s home?” he kept his voice light and curious,hoping that deflected any potential suspicions. No, I’m not secretly acquiring any sort ofknowledge to help me get away from here.“I’ve never heard of it.”

Bram restedhis e-tab on the desk. “That is notsurprising. After all, your species is not very advanced,Alekyn-sarai.”

Condescending bastard. Jamieresisted the urge to throw the nearest heavy object athim.

“Is thatso?” He smiled through gritted teeth. “Perhaps you could educatethis representative of a not very advanced species inastro-history?”

Bram didn’tpick up on his sarcasm. “It involves analyzing how space voids andnavigable starpaths have changed over the millennia. For example,this map here —”

He pressedsomething on his e-tab and a hologram showing a collection of starsappeared floating in the air off to one side. Jamie was instantlymesmerized — it showed thousands of stars spinning in a complexdance of light and dark.

“This showsthe entrance to the Solris Void,” Bram juggled something on thee-tab and this time the view zoomed to a dark space between acluster of stars. “It’s newly discovered.”

The namesounded familiar to Jamie. “Solris?” he queried. “Sounds like Latinfor sun.”

Bram’seyebrows quirked. “Indeed?”

“Yes — it’sLatin. Sol is an old human word for sun.”

Bram tippedhis head to one side, studying the hologram. “It’s the void thatexited in your solar system, but the name is probably acoincidence.”

“Yeah, onlyso many combinations of words in the universe, right?” Jamiegrinned at him.

The Naferididn’t look impressed. He shrugged indifferently. “Possibly,Alekyn-sarai, but only a xenolinguist could answerthat.”

Sigh. Talkabout being literal minded. Obviously he was interrupting Bram, butwho cared? He was going to find out as much as he could, no matterhow annoying that made him. Particularly about this void thatopened near Earth — that might be a way home for him. He had toplay it safe with his next few questions; the last thing he wantedwas to alert any of the pard to his plan to find a wayhome.

“So astro-history involvesanalyzing space void and starpath trajectories and navigation overa fixed span of time?,” he queried, casually leaning back on thecouch, his eyes fixed on the kaleidoscopic loop of whirling andspiraling miniature stars floating next to Bram’s seatedform.

Bram did adouble-take. “You understood what I said?”

“Don’t sound so surprised. I maybe from a not-very-advanced species, but there’s nothing wrong withmy brain.”

Bram’s jawdropped, then he looked chagrined. “I apologize. I did not mean toimply that, Alekyn-sarai.”

Jamiesnorted. “Perish the thought. You didn’t even think about it,right?” he didn’t wait for an answer. “And stop calling meAlekyn-sarai — I have a name. Jamie Munroe. Use it.”

For amoment, Bram stared at him. Then he nodded. “It seems strange toaddress you so, but, yes, Jamie Munroe, I will call you by yourname.”

“Jamie.”

Bram looked at him askance.

“Just callme Jamie, not Jamie Munroe. The first name is my given name and thesecond is my surname. You can call me by my given name; you don’thave to use both.”

“Are yousure?”

God, whatwas it with these people? “Yeah, I’m sure. I’m fucking your brotherso it’s stupid to insist on formality, don’t you think?”

Bram paled.“I…er…yes?” he said uncertainly.

“Yes,” Jamieresponded firmly. Then on a whim, he asked, “So can you show memore starcharts?”

Bram lookedas if he was going to say no. Jamie looked up at him, all big eyesand fluttering eyelashes. “Please? I’m so bored and the starchartsare so pretty to look at,” he murmured winsomely.

To hisamazement, Bram fell for