He swallowed quickly, muddied one hand deliberately, and wiped it over his face. If he were simply dirty, the men would pay no attention. But if only his mouth were dirty, they might decide to try to make him throw up.
The man spotted him, cursed him, snatched him up, and carried him under one arm to where the others were building a shelter.
They had found a relatively dry place, well protected by the forest canopy, and they had swept it clean of leaf litter. They had stretched latex-sealed cloth from a pair of small trees to the ground. This cloth had apparently been in the boat, out of Akins sight. Now they were cutting small branches and sapling trees for flooring. At least they did not plan to sleep in the mud.
They built no fire. They ate dry foodnuts, seeds, and dry fruit mixed together, and they drank something that was not water. They gave Akin a little of the drink and were amused to see that once he had tasted it, he would not take it again.
It didnt seem to bother him, though, one of them said. And that stuff is strong. Give him some food. Maybe he can handle it. Hes got teeth, right?
Yeah.
He had been born with teeth. They gave him some of their food, and he ate slowly, one small fragment at a time.
So that Phoenix we killed was lying, Akins captor said. I thought he might be.
I wonder if it was really his kid.
Probably. It looks like him.
Jesus. I wonder what he had to do to get it. I mean, he didnt just fuck a woman.
You know what he did. If you didnt know, you would have died of old age or disease by now.
Silence.
So what do you think we can get for the kid? a new voice asked.
Whatever we want. A boy, almost perfect? Whatever theyve got. Hes so valuable I wonder if we shouldnt keep him.
Metal tools, glass, good cloth, a woman or two
And this kid might not even live to grow up. Or he might grow up and grow tentacles all over. So what if he looks good now. Doesnt mean a thing.
And Ill tell you something else, Akins captor put in. Our chances, any mans chances of seeing that kid grow up are rat shit. The worms are going to find him sooner or later, dead or alive. And the village they find him in is fucked.
Someone else agreed. The only way is to get rid of him fast and get out of the area. Let someone else worry about how to hold him and how not to wind up dead or worse.
Akin went out of the shelter, found a place to relieve himself and another placea clearing where one of the larger trees had recently fallenwhere the rain fell heavily enough for him to wash himself and to catch enough water to satisfy his thirst.
The men did not stop him, but one of them watched him. When he reentered the shelter, wet and glistening, carrying broad, flat wild banana leaves to sleep on, the men all stared at him.
Whatever it is, one of them said, it isnt as Human as we thought. Who knows what it can do? Ill be glad to get rid of it.
Its just what we knew it was, Akins captor said. A mongrel baby. Ill bet it can do a lot more that we havent seen.
Ill bet if we walked off and left it here it would survive and get home, the man who had killed Tino said. And Ill bet if we poisoned it, it wouldnt die.
An argument broke out over this as the men passed around their alcoholic drink and listened to the rain, which stopped then began again.
Akin grew more afraid of them, but even his fear could not keep him awake after a while. He had been relieved to know that they would trade him away to some other peopleto Phoenix, perhaps. He could find Tinos parents. Perhaps they would imagine that he looked like Tino, too. Perhaps they would let him live with them. He wanted to be among people who did not grab him painfully by a leg or an arm and carry him as though he had no more feeling than a piece of dead wood. He wanted to be among people who spoke to him and cared for him instead of people who either ignored him or drew away from him as though he were a poisonous insect or laughed at him. These men not only frightened him, they made him agonizingly lonely.
Sometime after dark, Akin awoke to find someone holding him and someone else trying to put something in his mouth.
He knew at once that the men had all had too much of their alcoholic drink. They stank of it. And their speech was thicker, harder to understand.
They had begun a small fire somehow, and in the light of it Akin could see two of them sprawled on the floor, asleep. The other three were busy with him, trying to feed him some beans they had mashed up.
He knew without his tongue touching the mashed beans that they were deadly. They were not to be eaten at all. Mashed as they were, they might incapacitate him before he could get rid of them. Then they would surely kill him.
He struggled and cried out as best he could without opening his mouth. His only hope, he thought, was to awaken the sleeping men and let them see how their trade goods were being destroyed.
But the sleeping men slept on. The men who were trying to feed him the beans only laughed. One of them held his nose and pried his mouth open.
In desperation, Akin vomited over the intruding hand.
The man jumped back cursing. He fell over one of the sleeping men and was thrown off into the fire.
There was a terrifying confusion of shouting and cursing and the shelter stank of vomit and sweat and drink. Men struggled with one another, not knowing what they were doing. Akin escaped outside just before they brought the shelter down.
Frightened, confused, lonely almost to sickness, Akin fled into the forest. Better to try to get home. Better to chance hungry animals and poisonous insects than to stay with these men who might do anything, any irrational thing. Better to be completely alone than lonely among dangerous creatures that he did not understand.
But it was aloneness that really frightened him. The caimans and the anacondas could probably be avoided. Most stinging or biting insects were not deadly.
But to be alone in the forest
He longed for Lilith, for her to hold him and give him her sweet milk.
3
The men realized quickly that he was gone.
Perhaps the pain of the fire and the wild blows, the collapse of the shelter, and the sudden wash of rain brought them to their senses. They scattered to search for him.
Akin was a small, frightened animal, unable to move quickly or coordinate his movements well. He could hear and occasionally see them, but he could not get away from them quickly enough. Nor could he be as quiet as he wished. Fortunately, the rain hid his clumsiness.
He moved inlanddeeper into the forest, into the darkness where he could see and the Humans could not. They glowed with body heat that they could not see. Akin glowed with it as well and used it and the heat-light from the vegetables to guide him. For the first time in his life, he was glad Humans did not have this ability.
They found him without it.
He fled as quickly as he could. The rain ceased, and there were only insect and frog noises to conceal his mistakes. Apparently these were not enough. One of the men heard him. He saw the man jerk around to look. He froze, hoping he would not be seen, half-covered as he was by the leaves of several small plants.
Here he is! the man shouted. Ive found him!
Akin scrambled away past a large tree, hoping the man would trip in the dangling lianas or run into a buttress. But beyond the tree was another man blundering toward the sound of the shout. He almost certainly did not see Akin. He did not seem even to see the tree. He tripped over Akin, fell against the tree, then twisted around, both arms extended, and swept them before him almost in swimming motions. Akin was not quick enough to escape the groping hands.
He was caught, felt roughly all over, then lifted and carried.
Ive got him, the man yelled. Hes all right. Just wet and cold.
Akin was not cold. His normal body temperature was slightly lower than the mans though, so his skin would always feel cool to Humans.