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Harry pulled his mining goggles over his eyes to protect them from the whirling sand. This made it even harder to see, but that didn’t matter. What he needed now was a cave, and a Ximv’s feet and ears were the best cave-finding tools. Despite the unfamiliar terrain, Harry’s instincts led him true, and in a few hundred slow, careful steps, he slid sideways into a small, cramped space that, from its echo, was more of a divot than a proper cave.
Dropping to his knees to clean the sand out of his long, furry ears, Harry swore creatively in a mix of English and his native Ximvw. “Bob fucking Roth was right,” he said to himself, pulling off his goggles and wiping the sand out of his four primary eyes. “At this rate, I’m going to die here.”
“Your language is rather crude, but I take your point,” rumbled a deep voice in heavily-accented Ximvw.
Harry jumped. (Being a Ximv, he could jump very high indeed.) He dug his claws into the roof of the little cave and perched there, upside down. More sand fell from his clothes and boots. From this more secure vantage point, he looked to see who had spoken.
The most battered-looking Vorm Harry had ever seen in his life coiled around a chunk of sandstone at the very back of the sad excuse for a cave. His left three eyes were blind, surrounded by a web of scar tissue that looked almost like an acid burn. Scars on his long torso suggested that he had been stabbed at least twice, and one of his right arms was amputated at the second joint. Still, the Vorm’s head frill was proudly erect.
Harry took a very deep breath and slowly released his claws from the cave roof. Vorms were known for their rigidity, but they didn’t tend to be dangerous to other lifeforms. “You’re a sight for sore eyes, neighbor,” he said. Rubbing his center eye cluster, he added, “And boy are mine sore!”
“From the reading I did before I came to this planet, the storm might last for days,” said the Vorm. He inclined his head in a bow. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” he said stiffly.
“Likewise.” Harry tried for a non-threatening smile. “I’m Harry. Harry Clown.”
The Vorm raised his frill. “The comedian? I was under the impression that you were a Homo Sapien.”
Harry’s ears drooped. “Common misconception,” he said airily, hoping his new companion wasn’t too familiar with Ximv body language. “I have a human agent, and he’s had me performing primarily in the Milky Way. I’m not all that popular back home, actually. Different… different storytelling sensibilities, I suppose. But here I go, talking on and on without asking about you.”
“I am Xrina Gabriel Agreste of the Northern Holdings,” said the Vorm.
Harry bit back a startled curse in his native Ximvw, because much in the way that everyone from the Milky Way galaxy had heard of Harry Clown, everyone from the Shirp Mne galaxy had heard of the Agrestes. “What happened to you?” Harry blurted out before he could stop himself.
The Vorm looked almost amused. “These are old,” he said, gesturing to his scars. “An occupational hazard, I’m afraid. My policies tend to be… unpopular.”
Harry realized that he was staring at the aftermath of several assassination attempts. He rubbed his central eye cluster wearily. “That surprises me. You and your family have an immaculate reputation on Drvw.”
Gabriel inclined his head, looking weary. “That is part of the problem,” he said. “Many of my subordinates and rivals would prefer it if I took a more aggressive stance against offworlders. It would also be convenient for them if I… went away.”
The suns must have been setting outside, because it was quickly growing cold inside the cave. Harry shivered, drawing his legs up to his chest for warmth. Ximv had evolved to be cave dwellers, but he was far from home. The caves of Drvw were much warmer.
“Is that why you’re on a dead planet millions of womps from our home galaxy?” Harry asked, because talk was distracting. There was a certain comfort to holding a conversation, even if it was with an alien stranger. It made home feel a little closer at hand.
“To some extent, yes,” said Gabriel. The tip of his tail lashed. “It is a difficult story to tell, but it will pass the time.”
Outside the cave, the wind howled, sounding almost like a live thing. Harry reminded himself that every lifeform native to this planet had died out long ago. Possibly he and Gabriel were the only living things on the world. It was hardly a comforting thought.
“As you can see,” said Gabriel, gesturing to his scarred abdomen, “I have many enemies. Most of them are honorable enough to target me and me alone.” His mouthparts clacked angrily. “But three cycles ago, one of them poisoned a ceremonial goblet belonging to Emilie, my wife.” Sorrow rumbled in Gabriel’s voice as he added, “She has fallen into a coma, and our doctors do not believe they can cure her without a sample of the plant from which the poison was derived.” He raised his frill. “So I am here, doing the only thing I can do for my family. There was an Eyoan citadel a mile east of here, before the disaster. If I can find the ruins… if any plant samples survive—”
The burning look in Gabriel’s eyes told Harry all he needed to know about the likelihood of success. This was a suicide mission, one that Gabriel’s love, grief, and honor would not permit him to forsake. It was in that instant that Harry began to love him, just a little.
“I’m going to the citadel, too!” he said, because it was quite true. “It’s… a research expedition. I wondered if anything remained of the library there.”
Gabriel looked skeptical. “All this for a joke?”
“No.” Harry searched for the words to explain. “I’m not happy with the trajectory of my career,” he said. “I perform for crowds of humans who don’t even try to pronounce the non-Anglicized version of my name. I’m popular, but…” He sighed. “I came here looking for a story. Something the Ximv from the caves where I grew up would be proud to hear me tell.”
Harry’s ears drooped. It really was a long way to come for new material. Perhaps he and Gabriel were united in that way: both of their quests felt half-doomed and yet utterly vital.
“Something I’d be proud to tell,” he said. “I don’t just want to make people laugh anymore. I thought I might find something here, some lost story worth preserving.”
Gabriel made an approving noise. “Noble,” he said. “If foolish.” The way he said it made it clear that he knew his own trajectory was comparable. “Come here,” Gabriel added. Before Harry could ask why, he said, “You’re shivering. It is only practical for us to share heat.”
Harry crossed to Gabriel’s side of the cave and allowed his companion to wrap him in the soft, heavy coils of his body. It was more comfortable than he had expected, and very warm.
Three days passed in a pleasant, if cramped, fashion. Between them was enough mutually consumable food to share. Gabriel told Harry all about the Northern Holdings, the xrinasbry he ruled, and his wife Nathalie, who was managing Emilie’s care and the affairs of the estate in his absence. Sometimes, when he was in an especially mournful mood, he talked about Emilie. They had a son, Adrien, and Gabriel said without saying that he was deeply concerned about how the loss of two parents would affect the boy if his mission failed.
Harry quickly exhausted his repertoire of human-friendly jokes. In an effort to cheer his companion, he unearthed material from early in his career. He was more than a little bit pleased to find that Gabriel appreciated the humor in stories that Bob Roth, his manager, had insisted were utterly unrelatable to the average intergalactic audience member.
When Harry’s well of jokes and Gabriel’s well of stories dried up, they traded songs. Gabriel had a warm, deep voice that reminded Harry of bathing in the underground thermal pools on Drvw. Most of the songs Gabriel knew were prayers or epic legends. He sang them in Vormish first, then did his best to translate. Harry sang old mining songs, childhood rhymes, and even a few romantic ballads, hoping Gabriel’s grasp of the Ximvw language was not good enough to pick up on the longing in his voice.
By the afternoon of the third day, Harry knew that his love for Xrina Gabriel Agreste of the Northern Holdings ran deeper than a vein of qvlt. Vorms tended to be polyamorous, but it would have been deeply inappropriate to proposition a man in fear for his wife’s very life. Harry let his feelings flow beneath the surface, like an underground stream. If they survived this… if Emilie survived this… Well. He could wait.
In the evening of the third day, the storm died away at last. When Harry peered out of the cave entrance, featureless dunes seemed to stretch away in every direction. A dark red haze all but blotted out the suns. It was hard to believe that this had once been fertile farmland.
“East, then,” said Gabriel, strapping on his pack. He hesitated. “If you still intend to join me.”
Harry would have followed Gabriel anywhere. “Might as well,” he said cheerfully, shouldering his own gear and pulling down his mining goggles. “You make for a fine story even if the library I came for turns out to be gone.”
Gabriel chuckled to himself. “Adrien would like you,” he said. “He is always taking risks. Following his heart.”
Harry grinned. “I look forward to meeting him,” he said. “Assuming the offer to let me perform for the people of your xrinasbry stands now that you aren’t trapped in a cave with me.”
Another chuckle. “It does. Someone must show that dreadful manager of yours how… appealing you can be.”
The insides of Harry’s ears flushed. Did Gabriel know enough Ximvw to flirt with him on purpose? Surely he must. After all, the man was a politician from a world not all that far removed as his. It paid to be able to understand your neighbors.
They crested the dune at last, and Harry stopped short, clutching one of Gabriel’s arms. “It’s here,” he whispered. “It’s really here.”
Windswept and desolate, the distant citadel rose from the barren sands. The broken remnants of a stone bridge marked a path for them to follow.
Gabriel leaned against Harry for a moment, looking out at the citadel’s towers and spires. “Without you—” he began, but he seemed too overcome by emotion to finish.
Harry looked up into Gabriel’s face. The shining glimmer of hope he saw there was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. “I know,” he said. “I feel the same way. After we get what we came for—”
Gabriel’s mouthparts clacked. “We shall discuss matters further. Very well. Onward!”