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“Is there an issue?” she asked. I could tell by her rigid hand placement that she wasn't happy with Narmuna for being so loud.

“I'm sorry,” Narmuna said. “We found out something upsetting. We aren't going to cause any trouble, and I won't rattle like that again.”

Tulm was silent for a moment, as if trying to decide whether she could trust Narmuna to behave. It's not that she was afraid of them, but Massoc valued those who worked hard to fit in and focused on social harmony.

“We will not put up with anyone causing distress to others,” Tulm warned him. “Violence will not be tolerated.”

The way Tulm spoke made it sound like we'd all be summarily executed if we sneezed too loud. I knew that wasn’t the case, but she was probably being strict because the guys hadn’t proved themselves yet.

Tulm focused on me. “You know what is appropriate. You need to keep your mates in line.”

I didn't want any one of us to get shoved out an airlock, so I waved my hands in an agreeing manner.

“I'll talk to them very sternly,” I said. There was no point in telling her they weren’t my mates because to her, if they acted like mates they were mates.

Tulm’s hands relaxed. “Good.”

She turned and walked again. The guys were quick to keep up, and everyone in the bay went back to work.

“You thought we expected sex from you?” Narmuna asked. “Is that why you said you couldn't service all of us?”

“Well, yes,” I said. “What did you guys think I was going to do?”

“Work with the cleaning bots,” Tolly explained. “When you demanded to go into my room I thought you wanted to start cleaning there first. That’s why I built the nest, so you knew it was a good place to rest, not work.”

This made me review our interaction in a new light. He hadn't been pretending to be reluctant, he really was. I was the one who forced the issue. I basically coerced him into having intercourse.

Then he'd given me the best sex of my life.

I felt guilty, but I was also angry about feeling guilty. This was not comfortable.

“Had you been doing this job long?” Narmuna asked.

“No, yours was my first assignment,” I said. “Originally I worked in the repair bay. But after the mining on the nearby moon closed, there wasn't enough work to keep me employed.”

“What work did you do in the repair bay?” Narmuna asked.

“Mostly I helped with replacing relay engines,” I said. “But I was studying to be able to do more inner-shell work. Inner-shell techs are in high demand right now.”

Tolly made a very quiet rumble of agreement. “That's why you're so interested in schematics.”

I nodded. “Mieshorum is very knowledgeable. He helped me understand why nodes and channels have to be multi-level with retardant mesh between them.”

“They do?” Tolly asked, then added. “No, that's not what I want to know.”

“What do you want to know?” I asked.

He opened his mouth, hesitated, then let out a sharp breath. “I'll ask later, after you've seen the medical staff.”

“I didn't know humans could be mechanical techs,” Narmuna mumbled, as if trying to correlate this information with what he'd read about humans.

“Not only can we be mechanical techs, but one of my cousins was able to become an engineer," I said, pride making me smile. “She's the smartest person I know. She designed heat-exchange units for the space stations.”

“A design engineer?” Narmuna said. His tone was unflatteringly incredulous. “That can't be true. You must be mistaken.”

I let out an annoyed huff and rolled my eyes. I might feel guilty about forcing sex on Tolly, but Narmuna didn't get a pass.

“Because you are omniscient of all things,” I snapped. “He who's only ever met one human gets to know everything about us?”