C.L. Scholey - Zuri's Zargonnii Warrior (Unearthly World # 2) by C.L. Scholey Page B

see-through. Your puny shuttle wouldn’t have kept us out, the material is too fragile. I see no need for a variety of useless things that break and need to be replaced. Doesn’t that cause a lot of unnecessary garbage?”
    “I suppose. Humans have different tastes.”
    “Male Zargonnii have one taste—tough. Durable is a good thing.”
    Kobe brought over the food platter he had retrieved from the Gathering Hall. All Zargonnii ate their meals in the Hall, but their rooms had running water for drinking and bathing. Kobe thought the Hall would be too intimidating for Zuri. Zargonnii males wouldn’t hurt her, but they might crowd around for a glimpse. She was a novelty to their world, even if she did stink when scared. Kobe had never seen food come up once it went down. The smell was potent, her defense mechanism, though she claimed it wasn’t. She was different. The warriors might want to touch her breasts, they were an oddity. Males knew what breasts were, they belonged to a babe. But if no babe was present, they were fair game. He knew for certain Zuri wouldn’t like that, even if it was just done out of curiosity.
    The Zargonnii knew of many odd species, but this female’s looks were so different; their Earth had to be millions of planets away. How odd it must be for humans, sequestered away, all alone in their small area of the universe. A spoiled only child. A lonely existence. Poor creatures. Kobe’s world was so diverse. He had met at least a hundred different beings in the first ten years of his life. To his knowledge, Zuri had met four—two wanted her dead or enslaved as a bargaining tool. No doubt the Tonan would have sold her to the Gorgano if the deal was lucrative enough. Filthy bastards, neither race had any compassion.
    Zuri was studying the food before her on the nitride-eel plate. She touched a few things and set them down. There was a decided frown to her features. Kobe picked up a baya fruit. It was round, a decent size fitting nicely between his hands, dark purple, a sweet treat. Zuri looked at it like it was warm death on a platter.
    “That’s a baya fruit,” Kobe explained. “Don’t you like the purple color?” Perhaps purple was a new color for her.
    Zuri shook her head no. She took the fruit which looked outrageously big between her small fingers and banged it with her knuckles. She rolled it within her hands looking confused. Kobe reached for the fruit. He studied it and her curious look thoughtfully.
    “You have no idea what to do with this do you?”
    “No. Too hard. Not eat, break teeth.”
    Her broken words were all in Zargonnii but soft-spoken, dainty. She didn’t bother to try to master the guttural sounds. Her throat was so delicate Kobe wondered if she would ever speak his language without the accent. Easily Kobe ripped the fruit in half exposing the moist insides. He handed half to Zuri and told her to scoop out the flesh. Kobe could eat the food whole; obviously, her blunt teeth would never manage that. She tried to scoop out the flesh; her fingernails were blunt. Even opened, the food was giving her a hard time. Kobe frowned when he noted all the food on the plate would give her the same problem. He had foolishly chosen his favorites, thinking she would be pleased. He hadn’t taken into account her lack of strength, blunt teeth and size. This wasn’t a Zargonnii female; he couldn’t treat her like one. Having her here with him was going to prove difficult.
    The hand-sized piece of faya meat was poked by a small finger, then left untouched. Distressed, he realized she would starve if he didn’t figure out what to do. After a mouthful of the baya, which she chewed and chewed…and chewed then tried to swallow, Zuri dropped the fruit and looked miserable. Her legs curled tighter under her, her arms wrapped around her body. She looked like a frightened male babe after being abandoned. Kobe hated the feeling it provoked in his guts.
    Kobe sat thinking; he needed to fix this