[Mercy Merchant]

Alyce was not tired at all, but had not wanted to press her luck with Al.  She was surprised when he got onto the bed and more surprised when he put an arm around her and help her hand.  Her brain started imagining things and her body started reacting to those things and her eyes flew open.  That she wanted him to touch her was ever clear in her mind.  That she wanted him to touch her all over her body was even more clear.  That she wanted to toss the covers off and show him exactly what she wanted to do with him was driving her insane.  Al's words set her finish the job of waking her up and she rolls to a sitting position, leaning against the wall to her back and holding onto his hand.  Alyce arranges the thin sheet about her waist, leaving her torso exposed to his gaze and says, "OK, I am not as sleepy as I had thought I was.  Something you just said woke me up completely and I am not exactly sure what it was.  Would you like to talk for a bit?  Just talk?  I have a ton of questions about you and you probably want to know some things about me.  So, fair enough.  Unless you are too tired, of course."

She pauses then says, "Frag it, I am awake anyway, so I will read if you don't want to talk.  Do you think I could have another cigarette, please?  I will get my ashtray."  She actually brings his hand to her cheek and holds it there for a few seconds before dropping it and getting out of bed to go get her ashtray from where she had left it then bends over her pack to get her book.  Returning to the bed, she sits on top of the sheet with her back to the wall, placing the book by her side.  When Al returns with the pack of cigarettes, she takes one and the light he offers then pats the bed next to her.  "OK.  Chin wag.  Ask away and I will ask some.  Be sure to tell me if you are uncomfortable answering anything and we will not go there.  And I will start off by saying that I am incredibly comfortable being naked in front of you; wouldn't you be more comfortable with your clothes off as well?"

[adamu]

“Heh, jist right now, probably not,” he answered. The smile on the face and the look in his eyes would have let any sighted person know he meant it as a compliment. But he still wasn’t sure exactly what she could see, so he added, “’Fraid at the current moment that could be a mite too revealing,” and figured that had to be crystal clear.

It was not lost on him that she might feel rejected by his passivity, given the circumstances, but wasn’t sure how to soften that. It was a lot of things, but it wasn’t rejection. He knew he should just talk it out with her, explain the misgivings that made him cautious, and the hopes that made him circumspect. But when he tried to form those thoughts into actual words he drew a total blank.

Cigarette delivered, he arranged himself across the foot of the bed – he was delighted she wanted to stay up and talk, but couldn’t stand sitting side by side in conversation – always got a crick in his neck – wanted to see who he was addressing.

Of course he had other reasons for wanting to look at her, and he made no attempt to moderate or conceal where he directed his gaze. The lights were still out – why would she turn them on to read a book? – but the window was wide and the moon was bright. The room was hot, but to Al it was getting a hell of a lot hotter, and he knew he should dial things down a notch, but that would be too much. There was something so intimate about being there talking through the night, he didn’t want to pull things back. He realized he wanted her friendship at least as much as her body – yet another sign he should probably run for the hills – but also every reason to stay.
 
So chin wagging it was. “So whatcha wanna know. My Pa used ta say ta never do nothin’ ya wouldn’t want onna front page o’ the paper, an’ I reckon I done followed that advice pretty good. So you ask whatcha want, an’ I’ll do my best. Long as somewhere in there ya tell me what it’s like bein’ a fancy cello player inna symphony.”

[Mercy Merchant]

Alyce smiles, her heart a bit more hopeful than before, but more certain than before that there was another woman in the picture.  From what he was saying she surmised that he had a growing hard on for her, but was determined not to act on it, the sign of an honorable man, yet he was alright with looking at her, even encouraging it.  She mentally shrugs; who can really understand men, anyway.  After he brings the cigarettes over and lights one for her, she says.  "The cello is one of my passions.  My mother was a concert level violinist for the Vladivostok Symphony and she used to tell me that her three loves were me, the violin, and my father, in no specific order.  She loved to play, but was not really good enough to get a full-time spot, but was a fairly regular backup for them.  I can remember her practicing for hours in the compound.  See, I was raised in a secure compound that EVO had in Vladivostok.  I was one of the first UGE kids and the Russians were rounding up all of us they could find and sending them off to prison camps.  EVO refused to cooperate and had all of their employees with UGE kids brought to the compound.  Otherwise I would likely not be here.  The stories that leaked from the camps were almost too horrible to imagine.  It was fortunate indeed that EVO supported its people like they did.  And even then it would have been hard to refuse the security forces if not for the Vory.  They sided with EVO in this, at least in Vladivostok.  I grew up with Vory soldiers for guards and had at least one and many times two whenever I left the compound."

"Ooops, sorry for getting off the subject.  I was a very fast learner in all of my academics.  I have a sponge for a brain, a mutation that they never really figured out and is not normal even among the UGE.  I can remember just about everything I have ever seen, heard, done, tasted................well you get the picture.  And I can recall it at will.  I was a hit at parties for remembering where things were and what colors they were, etc.  And I really liked to study, so I was way ahead of my year group at the small school in the compound.  Mother decided that I should learn something besides classroom work and encouraged me to learn to play an instrument.  For some odd reason I chose the cello.  Loved it.  Still do.  And I am good, very good, actually.  My "regular" life gets in the way of my playing full time because I go on expeditions like this a lot, usually two a year on average.  So I play backup for the symphony.  But it does allow me some travel as I have played concerts with the symphony in almost every capital of Europe plus lots of other large cities there.  I have played in several places in Asia and the UCAS as well.  My passport has a lot of marks on it.  I also play in a small quartet for parties and functions that want to have a more classical style of music."

She pauses to take a few drags on the cigarette.  "OK, your turn.  What was it like growing for you?"

[adamu]

“Well, pretty much nothin’ like that. Lived onna mountain in Arkansas. US, UCAS, then CAS, but Arkansas is Arkansas. Family’d been there past memory, farmin’, huntin’, preachin’. Moonshinin’ come later, o’ course. We was up well away from any sorta town, but we had community, we did. Knew all the brethren onna mountain, an’ they families. I was the middle outta nine kids, an’ we’d see the neighbors at meetin’ ever’ Sabbath. Pa was a handler, an’ he taught the art ta me. Reckon he hoped I’d carry on his ministry. I’ll allow as I had a knack fer it, preachin’. But he an’ Ma, they’d both been out inna world afore settlin’ back home, he inna army, an’ she out Hollywood way. A real beauty she was, an’ is ta this day. Was him but more her showed me my destiny, an’ it was foregone that I’d chase it. Like I still am today. Close now, though. Won’t be long.”

He got a faraway look in his eyes, if cybereyes can get faraway looks, then carried on. “Reckon they’s mostly all still there. Course Clem went off ta college, Lord pertect ‘er, but after her I was the only one ta leave, which is some comfort when I think o’ my folks gettin’ on. I don’t hear much from ‘em – reckon I’s a bit hard ta pin down – but I know Memphis took over the ministry, which is probably best, cuz I do have a bit o’ backslidin’ in me. Come ta think of it, we had a lot in common with them Pearic people. That ain’t really a name, ya know, it jist translates ta ‘people apart’ or somethin’. It’s a generic term fer all the uncivilized tribes ‘round the country, here an’ in Thailand, what’s still clingin’ to they old ways. Them folks tonight, they’s the Chong. Jist the four villages left. Yeah, lot in common with the Guthries.” The thought made him grin. “’Ceptin’ o’ course we speak English, an’ they don’t. An’ we’s all river-baptized, whereas they poor soul’s got no hope less’n they’s saved. Hey, maybe these missionaries we’s bringin’ can offer ‘em some o’ the Good News.”

He shook his head. “You’ll pardon me, I’s ramblin’ in eight directions now. Fer some unfathomable reason, I am findin’ it hard to maintain my concentration.” He licked his lips, smiled slyly, then looked down and shook his head. Brought his eyes back up to hers. “So hey beautiful, ya jist said how much ya love yer big ol’ fiddle. An’ a few hours ago you was jist about over the moon at deliverin’ that baby. Seems ta me neither o’ those perfessions has much inna way o’ mosquitos nor minefields nor Azzie sadists, nor any way gen’rally ta git yerself killed. So what the hell ya doin’ out here?”

[adamu]

Alyce finishes her cigarette while Al is talking and absently takes another from the pack on the bed, lighting it from the stub of the first one.  "I never had any siblings.  Sad that, I suppose.  I had companions at the compound, mostly other UGE kids.  But I was a very good student and my father and the EVO leadership wanted to push me to see how much my brain could handle.  I guess you could say I was a child prodigy and quickly outstripped my age group, so did not have any friends.  My father was a brilliant technician and developed some of the best stuff EVO had at the time.  And he used me as a guinnea pig for a while, until mother put her foot down.  So I had some of the first implants, stuff that was cutting edge at the time but was obsolete soon after, which meant I needed more surgeries to upgrade the stuff.  It was fun, actually, and I got to learn lots of things and could repair implants at an early age."
 
"So have you ever thought about going back to see your family?  Ever tempted to take a girl home to meet your parents?  My parents died in '33, assassinated by the same Yak squad that blinded me.  We were driving to meet my fiancé's family for a dinner party when the car was riddled by bullets from a couple of bikers.  Mother threw herself on top of me and saved my life.  Father and the two Vory guards up front died instantly, but she lived long enough to tell me she loved me.  The assassins had targeted my fiancé and his family as well.  It was all a Yak versus Vory thing.  My future father-in-law was the local Bratva, or gang boss, for Vladivostok and the Yaks were trying to cut in.  The Yaks botched the attempt on the boss, but shot my fiancé up pretty good.  I made it to the clinic where he had been taken and was helping there when the Yak leader and his goons came along to finish the job.  The Yak made him watch as he raped me, then made me watch as he killed my fiancé before killing me."
 
"Except I did not die.  Only almost.  Lost the eyes forever, but was given new cutting edge implants to make up for the loss.  Lots of new stuff.  I helped the Vory track the Yaks down.  We found and killed all but the leader and two of his associates, who had gotten away.  But not so far away that I could not find them.  It took some years to track them to London and I was sent as part of the team to find them.  I found them and "watched" as the two henchmen were tortured and killed.  The leader was sent back to Vladivostok where I understand he suffered a very long and horrible death before having the body sent back to his family in many small bags, but not before I was allowed to get my own back in the form of cutting his dick off while he watched.  Being blind and all, it took a few tries to get it right and I made sure he knew who I was.  Naughty me, and not very Christian, but I confessed my sin to the priest later and paid my penance, so all is good with God.  I stayed in London and shopped my skills about.  It helped that I had the full support of EVO and the Vory and they got me some early jobs.  It seems that I fill a niche slot for what I do.  I am independent, a freelancer that can keep her mouth shut and can be counted on to do the job.  My CV, or resume, is very long to people in the know.  People contact people and I get a call to go with some expedition to the middle of nowhere.  I have had lots of adventures and lots of fun doing this sort of work.  I am actually quite good at what I do and the word gets around.  I have even worked on an expedition with a AAA after working against them on an earlier expedition.  I have no real corporation loyalties except to EVO, but even they do not push for information on what I have done for others.  It is all quite professional."
 
"Your turn.  What happened between your service as a bilge rat and the Sahara?"

[adamu]

"Not a hell of a lot, actually. The one was right after t'other. Spent a crazy month an' all my pay inna Hamburg Free Port Trade Zone, then signed onto a tramper headed fer the Indian Ocean via the Suez. I was headed fer L.A. see, an' I reckoned headin' on east warn't much further than retracin' my steps west. But we only made as far as Gibraltar. Got hit by pirates. Took a few down, but we was outgunned. Once all my mates was dead I took a dive over the side, made it to Morocco. Hooked up with a caravan headed outta Fez. There, asked an' answered." But he didn't feel like she'd answered his last question at all. Maybe she just got sidetracked. Or maybe it was something she didn't want to talk about. Either way, he didn't press.

"So whatcha readin'? That Braille?"

[adamu]

Alyce takes a couple more drags.  The way he said the last part sort of implies that he does not think she answered his last question so she runs her answer through her head.  Ahh.  Stubbing out her cigarette in the ashtray, she says, Before I go to that, I should add something to my last answer, just to be fair in the whole ask and answer thing.  I do it because I like it.  I like the excitement.  I like visiting foreign countries, even if most of what I "see" is jungles and swamps and the people are more like the Pearic people here than London or Seattle or Paris.  I could do this sort of work all my life and be happy.  It is partly the challenge of overcoming the obstacles that mother nature and man put in my way.  Your life sounds so diferent, so.....I don't know........alive.  At least when you tell it.  I love my cello and would try to bring it along or find a new one in whatever city I ended up in for a while.  I love medicine even more and could certainly find uses for my skills in almost any place in the world.  I am a fragging good doctor, Al, and I can share that skill with natives and be happy.  Saving a life or bringing a life into the world is a great feeling, something that just cannot be duplicated any other way."
 
"But even that may not be all of the answer.  It started right after I went freelance.  My EVO contact at the time got me a job with one of their AA affiliates doing some work in Brazil.  God it was miserable.  Bugs, ants, rodents the size of cows, heat, humidity, natives that spoke no English, hell, spoke no recognizable language at all.  And I loved it.  I was practically in heaven.  And I was appreciated for my abilities, even though it was a tough row to hoe.  The team leader took me on as a favor to EVO, but was dead set against having a blind twit filling his comms and medical slots.  He doubled up with another guy, some quack from Germany.  The man broke morale on the third day and fled the country.  I stuck it out and proved myself.  It was one of the most difficult jobs I ever had, and one of the most rewarding.  The team leader became a good friend and I would visit him and his wife and family in Hamburg a couple times a year after we got back.  Sadly, he died two years ago in an auto accident.  I went to his funeral and we all just sat and cried while telling stories about him."
 
Alyce goes silent for a bit.  "Sorry about that.  Did not mean to get that involved.  Anyway, I do it because I like to live and this is life to me.  There are maybe a handful of people that can go into a jungle with a team and keep the comms up and people alive like I can.  I know a few personally; we are sort of like a small family, even when we compete against each other.  business in the field, bars when it is over.  Not really sure if that answers your question yet or not?"
 
She picks up the book from beside her and opens it to show Al the pages stamped in Braille then hands it to him.  "Yes, Braille.  But this is a special book, not only because "Pride and Prejudice" is one of the best stories ever written, but due to its make as well.  Basically, the story is about two people from much different social class backgrounds who clash throughout the story only to realize how much they love each other in the end.  So much of what is in this book is true in so many ways and it applies to lots of different people.  I had the book made specially for me after ruining a score or more on trips like this one.  The cover is a new material that is as pliable as leather but will not deteriorate in the types of climates I frequent.  The pages are also special, impervious to water and blood and just about anything else I could think of that might get on them.  The raised characters are of a metal embossing that will not wear away through use or misuse.  This is my favorite book ever; a timeless classic in my opinion.  Besides being a bloody good read, it gives me hope that there is a man for me out there somewhere, no matter if he is from my station.  For such a man I would go anywhere and do anything to be with him.  I just have to be patient enough to wait until that man comes along.  Problem is, I might be waiting a long time for that man.  No one has really shown an interest in me as a person.  I do not count the men only interested in casual sex and then moving on.  No, I expect that some day I will find a man willing to put up with me and all my baggage and want to share his life with me as much as I want to share mine with him.  Someday."
 
"OK, now you again.  Oh, wait, you did not answer my question about going home to visit your family.  Any desire to do that?"

[adamu]

After spending the last half hour wanting to ravish her, Al was suddenly filled with the urge to grab her by the shoulders and shake some sense into her.

Here he was asking her about her music and her books and killing himself not to just bend her over and mount her, and partly because he was determined not to rush what he feared could be the best thing in his life, and she was sitting here whining that she'd never met a man that liked her for more than a fuck. All the while trying to get him into bed from the moment she'd met him.

But he still liked her to pieces. Friends, he thought, as he added one more mental hash mark to the could-be-a-crazy-devil-woman-underneath-the-charming-equanimous-facade side of the equation.

Kept enjoying the view while answering her. "Now that's a fair question. Reckon it done crossed my mind. Thing is, I gotta git ta LA first. Reckon I been headed there fer the last twenty years, so can't be much longer now. Goin' home, that'd jist take me off course. First Hollywood. Then I can think about home. Till then I got my ma's dream, an' my pa's jacket. Some things carry meanin', ya know. Like yer book there. Or maybe them glasses ya wear all day. Or a tat. Or a scar."

He stood up, rolled his neck around, stretched one arm up and then the other, then rolled his shoulders around a couple of times. Her cigarette was out, so he handed her another one, then pointed at her pack, where she had the two cartons she'd bought him. "Communal property now. But that's as close to a damned hippy socialist as I reckon I'll git."

He stood by the bed and openly looked her up and down, taking his time, knowing it couldn't go on forever if he wanted to keep his sanity. "Reckon ya done give me enough ta chew on fer a spell," he said, sitting down next to her now. "Ya got any more questions fer me, then shoot."

[adamu]

Alyce's ears pick up the subtle difference in Al's voice and breathing and knows that she has said something wrong.  When he offers her another cigarette and lights it before standing near her, she again picks up the telltale change in breathing that indicates he is looking at her with some desire.  When he sits on the bed near her, her heart hammers in her chest and she is amazed that Al does not hear it.  Her nipples had softened during the chat, but now harden perceptibly at his nearness and her loins dampen with desire.  Her throat constricts and she swallows several times to get her throat to work properly.  She takes the cigarette from her mouth and places it carefully in the ashtray, before twisting on the bed so as to end up kneeling in front of him with her face about level with his.

"Al, please listen to me before you say anything.  What I need to say is important to me and it needs to come out.  I know I just said something wrong a minute ago; I could tell by your breathing.  I am not sure what it was and am not sure that you would tell me, but I said something that bothers you.  And it is my fault.  I am so very sure of myself but unsure how to talk to you.  It is like I am fifteen again and walking out with my first boyfriend.  I am so tongue tied and afraid of saying the wrong things that of course I do say the wrong things.  So let me try to say things calmly and clearly.  You may, of course ask any questions or make any comments you like, but please wait until I am done."

She reaches down and fumbles for his hands, taking them in hers and lifting them up between them.  "These hands, these worn, calloused, wonderful hands.   My body aches to have them touch me.  And touch me.  And touch me.  All over and everywhere you want them to be."  She places his hands back on his lap and reaches a finger to his lips.  "I want these lips to touch mine.  I want them to kiss me and explore my body everywhere you want them to go." She lifts her hands to his face and runs gentle fingers along his features.  "I would know this face anywhere.  Strong, defiant, confident.  My eyes are dead but these eyes can see me.  I want them to gaze at me, to visually devour my body, and to look at me the same way every day for the rest of your life.  I want these ears to want to listen to my voice and not tire of it, even though I should say many silly or stupid, or just confusing things.  I want this mouth to tell me anything you want in the voice I have come to know."

She lowers her hands to her breasts, lifting them up a bit and running a finger lightly over each hard nipple.  "Your mere presence excites me to no end.  My nipples harden when you pass by and can get incongruously harder the closer you are.  I want you to make love to me.  I have had numerous lovers but there was never anyone that affects my body like you do.  I can be a tiger in bed and expect that you can hold your own in that regard, and I can promise you excitement that few others can give you.  But I need gentle, too, and the passion of love, not just the passion of sex.  I look at you as the man I am willing to wait for.  A man to get to know before consummating what we feel.  We have been sitting here for about an hour now and I cannot explain to you adequately how hot it is that you can just sit there and look at me and keep your pants on.  It really turns me on.  I hope that you never tire of looking at me.  But I could use a bit less of you with pants on."

"But what I want more than anything is to get to know you.  I am immensely attracted to you and cannot deny that.  My body wants nothing more than to have you take your pants off and shag me like crazy.  But I want you to know me before you do that because I think it is important.  Do not mistake me; if you remove your pants, I will join you in sex with abandon, throwing all caution to the winds and reveling in the joy of the experience.  And you might stay with me.  But I think that if you wait and get to know me that the sex will be ever so much more enjoyable and satisfying.  So what do you think?  Can you kiss me, hold me, touch my body and wait for the rest of it?  Are you even interested at all?  Because if you are I would like you to kiss me, I would like you to reach out and take my breasts in your strong hands and mold them to your touch.  And if you are not interested, please tell me."

[adamu]

“Well,” he said, stubbing out his cigarette on the wall beside the bed, “I ain’t one fer half measures.”

She was making it so easy, her words sweeping away so many obstacles, opening so many doors. But if he gave in now, he’d never really know if he’d had a choice.

He laid down, settled his head on his pillow, put his hands behind his head, if only to hold them there. Closed his eyes. Then opened them and turned to look up at her, still kneeling over him. “That ain’t the same as not innerested.”

He was quiet for a while, seeming to fall asleep. She could tell that his heart and pulse were racing, but to anyone else he would have looked at peace. Eventually, he spoke one last time. “Reckon my thoughts is my own, an’ ya keep playin’ guessin’ games with them sensors o’ yours, then yer gon’ keep diggin’ yerself inna damned hole. Some things it ain’t in me ta talk about the way you do. But did it occur to ya that I might be thinkin’ ‘bout some things the same way you are?”

It was half the truth, anyway.

[adamu]

Alyce is disappointed at his reaction to her offer, but heartened at the same time.  He was not rejecting her outright, perhaps just her method.  And perhaps he was giving himself the time to learn more about her.  She had to admit she had been more than ready to let him take her right then, despite what she had said about waiting.  His last words were full of potential; she would just have to be patient.
 
Smiling, she picked up the ashtray from the bed and made sure her cigarette had burned down and took it over to the table.  Padding back to the bed, she crawls in under the thin sheet and positions herself on her side with her face towards Al.  Not that she could actually see him, but she could imagine she could.  Without saying another word, she falls asleep.
 
Morning comes way too early.  Slipping out of the bed, Alyce grabs her toothbrush and paste from her pack and tosses one of the now mostly dry shirts on before racing to the bathroom.  One of the miners is using the shower, but he has the curtain mostly closed and she takes advantage of that to use the toilet.  Moving to the sink, she uses her toothbrush as quickly as she can.  It is not quite quick enough.  She is just bending over the sink to spit when the shower stops and the curtain is pulled back.  She is showing him the lower curve of her bare ass under the shirt and he whistles appreciatively and calls out, "Now that is one fine ass.  I wish I could see that every time I came out of the shower.  Care to show me a bit more?"
 
Finished at the sink, Alyce straightens and turns.  "Sorry.  This nice ass is already claimed."
 
The man raises his hands and shakes his head, saying, "Too bad about that.  Not gonna poach.  But you let me know if he doesn't appreciate that and I will come kick his ass for being dumb."
 
Alyce smiles and nods, turning to leave but stopping at the door.  "Nice package, by the way."
 
There is a hoot from the man as she opens the door and leaves.  She makes her way back to the room and puts her toothbrush and paste away before dressing.  She can tell that Al is awake and moves to sit on the bed near him.  "There was some guy in the bathroom admiring my ass."
 
"So back out to the village this morning?  I would like to check on the baby and mother.  I am hungry, you want to go down for some breakfast with me?"

[adamu]

Al had seen what she'd worn down to the head. Hell, he'd watched her since she'd gotten up, and felt a pang of loss with every item of clothing she put on.

The thought of her flirting half naked with some guy in the bathroom made him restless in a way he couldn't explain. He didn't say anything.

But he did respond to the next thing she said. "Damn straight I'll join ya fer breakfast." He stood up, went down the hall, then came back and put on his T-shirt. Put on his Docs and then picked up his jacket, making sure there were plenty of smokes in the pocket. It was too hot to wear, but he never left it anywhere.

His breakfast was coffee, bacon, and eggs. He ate faster than she did, and then played with a deck of cards while waiting for her to finish. They had different models of classic cars on the faces. He shuffled and reshuffled, and then he'd look a the top card, and always seemed disappointed by what he found.

And he watched her. It was just surreal how beautiful she was to him. "Danger, Will Robinson," he muttered to himself, and then shook his head to wave off her questioning look.

They were in the camp and sweating in the heat by mid-morning. Alyce wanted to see the baby and mother, and although they had other business in the camp, Al offered to stay with her to interpret. He was still not interested in entering the tent, but he could hear and be heard well enough from where he was chain smoking outside. It was as good a way as any to start the day.

[adamu]

Alyce grabbed her medkit and picked a couple packs of fags from the pack before going down to breakfast.  Al was finished before she was, but her worries about him being impatient with her came to nothing as he seemed content to be doing something with a deck of cards while waiting for her.  She remained silent during the meal, figuring she had already said too much earlier and just deciding to let things work on their own for a bit.  The barely moving fans do little to dispel the heat and Alyce has already unbuttoned her top buttons so she can use her small cloth to get at the beads of sweat.
 
The temperature outside is already near the boiling point and the humidity is soaring when they leave the hotel for the camp.  Alyce bums a light from Al as they walk in companionable silence.  Once in the camp, Al offers to stay and interpret, but Alyce shakes her head.  "I will be alright, I think.  A little Latin from me and some local from her and we will be just fine."  Her face it towards him and her eyes would be looking right at him if she could see.  "Some things do not need words.  You go do what you need to do and come get me when you are ready."
 
With that, she calls out as she lifts the tent flap and disappears inside.  Indeed, he can hear her rattling something off and there is no screaming from anyone inside the tent, so it must be all good in there.

[adamu]

Of course, interpreting was just a facade. Fact was, with this Senor character lurking about somewhere, he didn't like the idea of letting her out of his sight. But she was a big girl - she wanted him to get on with business, so be it.

It didn't take him long to find three of the older men among the refugees. Just one would have created too much temptation. And two could be worse, depending on which ones. Three was pretty safe. Once he had them all in one tent - easy enough since they were still thinking of Alyce as some sort of hero from the land of the gods or some shit - he gave them all the money he'd taken from the three miners. Their thanks and tears embarrassed the hell out of him, and he quickly turned to business.

He'd figured on killing two birds with one stone - give their money back and then hire his help from among them. They'd be sturdier than a bunch of unemployed laborers from town, they'd know the land, and since he'd be the only one that could talk to them, he'd have a built-in faction of allies watching his back.

But it was a total bust. They were clearly uncomfortable saying no to him after what he'd done, but the terror in their eyes was plain as day. He didn't know how many of their crazy stories he believed, but it was clear they believed them. No amount of money in the world was going to get them back up there, not the way things were anyway.

It was a disappointment, but good to know. Terror by light of day and sober was a lot more credible than drunken stories around a late night campfire.

He'd better make sure Alyce could remember every detail they'd heard the night before.

[Mercy Merchant]

Alyce enters the tent to find the new mother nursing her newborn son on a mat on the ground.  A sudden picture of her nursing a child entered her mind, but she shook it away.  She remembers Al's rather odd behavior when she talked about him being a father so imagining his child by her is just going too far.  The tribe's witchy woman is present and the two doctors carry a good conversation; Alyce in Latin and the other woman in their dialect of Khmer,  Even though neither understands a word of the other's speech, there seems to be some sort of bond that allows them to figure out most of what the other is saying.  Alyce motions to the baby and the kit and the witchy woman nods, giving her permission for Alyce to examine the infant.  Alyce waits until he has fed his full and been burped before hooking first him then the mother to her kit's biometric scanner.  Chanting her Latin and making hand motions over the instrument, she determines that both mother and baby are doing well.  Before disconnecting, she checks on the stiches she had used on the mother and nods, putting her hands on the wound and chanting some words of healing.

When she is done, Alyce nods and smiles at the women in the tent and leaves.  Standing outside the tent, she considers walking about the small camp, but decides to remain where she is as she really has no place to go and does not want Al to wonder where she is.  She does not have to wait too long before the man emerges from one of the tents, along with three older natives.  She waits for him to come over to her and give her the rundown on what he has learned.