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the shield generator. Xhani didn't so much as grimace as she hefted her side of it.
       Gabriel watched them work as he absently picked through the tools. His mind couldn't help but wander, as he watched the way Jhuun's body moved and strained, toward more illicit thoughts. Gabriel had accessed and read the basic information about Eunnoian culture and society, enough for him to learn about customs and history and language, but the translated texts provided to Humans were woefully lacking in one very important, to Gabriel's carnal Human mind, subject matter—there was very little biological information provided, and as a result, no information at all about Eunnoian sexuality.
       Such musings didn't come as a surprise to him. Humans especially seemed to hold a fascination about aliens and their after-dark activities, and while he certainly hadn't found the Wreeth sexually attractive, he certainly had been curious to know how they functioned, just as he now found himself curious about Eunnoians, though he wondered if his curiosity would have been quite as intense had it not been for the knowledge of Jhuun's previous romantic relationship.
       Gabriel had already noted that Eunnoian females had no breasts. But what other differences existed and what similarities did they share? His eyes were drawn to Jhuun's back as he bent to hold the generator, to the spine comprised of vertebrae that were not Human in shape, to the dark indigo skin that Gabriel already knew did not have the texture of Human skin. He wondered if there were any spots that were sensitive to touch, any secret erogenous zones on that nearlybare body, wondered if there was anything interesting, or even remotely familiar, biologically speaking, hiding beneath those light shorts.
       He thought back to the Eunnoian couple in the Idea Room, to the brief touch of one's fingertips to the throat of the other. He wondered how it would feel to touch Jhuun in that way—was the touch meant to be as erotic as it had looked?—and he wondered how the alien would react. He suddenly felt a suffusion of heat to his face, and to his groin, and quickly shook his head to clear it of such inappropriate thoughts. No doubt Jhuun would be horrified if he knew what Gabriel had been picturing. Surely Eunnoians had a bit more mental self-control than he did.
       "What did you call it, a lokun?" Gabriel asked, clearing his throat. "What is it?"
       "It's a small animal," Xhani said. "Covered in— Jhuun, be watchful, you're going to hit the wall— covered in black fur, much like the kind on your head. It can glide in the air."
       "Sounds kind of like a bird," Gabriel said, picking out the screwdriver he wanted from the box. "But with fur instead of feathers."
       "If you must compare it to an animal from your planet, then yes," Jhuun said. Together he and Xhani set the generator down, facing the nose of the M-Alpha. "We catch it, remove the skin and roast it. Very delicious."
       Xhani made a trilling sound of disagreement. "It is hardly worth weeping over. I would, however, return to the homeworld for a dish of nakhema."
       Now it was Jhuun's turn to make the trilling sound. He made a fist and pressed it to his stomach in disgust. "That is a dish I do not miss."
       "What is it?" Gabriel asked. At his side, Bianca laughed gently.
       "It's a sea vegetable," she explained. "I was able to taste some a while back. It reminded me of spinach, but with a much stronger texture. It's…an acquired taste."
       "Quite healthy," Xhani said, looking quite officious, and quite offended that Jhuun did not share her tastes. "And a delicious dish, when prepared with the correct spices."
       "I would prefer a taste of lokun," Jhuun said.
       Xhani imperiously muttered something in Eunnoian that made Jhuun smile, and she went to join Bianca's side as Gabriel went to crouch by the shield generator. He tried not to blush as he sat close to Jhuun, recalling how