Free Close Encounters by Katherine Allred Page A

hair behind it was dry, silky and glistening with blue-white glimmers in the bright sun. It left me rather envious, and wishing my hair had the same ability.
    He sat still and allowed my ministrations, his eyes cutting sideways to keep me in sight as I moved around him. By the time I finished, he was all but purring.
    “Like that, do you?” I murmured, giving his hair a final stroke. “One more thing and we’ll be done.”
    I was reaching back into my knapsack when Brownie caught my attention. His anger had returned full force. Was he jealous of the special attention Thor was getting? No. Narrowing my eyes I studied him a bit more intently, shields completely down. His anger wasn’t due to jealousy. It was because Thor was accepting my ministrations, accepting me as…
    Damn, I’d lost the mental thread.
    Frustrated by my inability to clarify his thoughts, I gave up temporarily, went back to what I was doing and pulled a hair clip out of my knapsack. I’d bought over fifty boxes of the clips on ZT Twelve along with lots of brushes, enough for an entire population of Buri. They were relatively inexpensive when bought in bulk, functional and lovely to look at. But the one I held now was special. Not only was it one of a kind, I’d known the second I saw it that it was made for the big guy. Maybe even on ZT Twelve I’d had his name floating in the back of my mind.
    The band was solid silver, polished to a high sheen. Emblazoned on its surface was a lightning bolt made of reddish-gold metal that seemed to glow from within. Around it radiated blue lines of static electricity.
    I held it down where Thor could see it, and he took it from my hand, examining the clip minutely. He wasn’t even alarmed when it closed around his finger, just mildly curious.
    With a nod, he handed it back. Using the brush again, I pulled his hair into a queue and let the clip fasten around it. He looked gorgeous, the colors standing out with stunning clarity against his ebony tresses.
    Smiling, I faced him and lifted my hands palms up. “All done.”
    The raucous cheers that erupted made me jump and spin to face the tribe. I’d been so intent on what I was doing, and they were so quiet, I’d forgotten they were there.
    So had Crigo. At the first yell, he leaped into the air, and then had to scramble to keep from falling into the pool, his claws digging at the rock for purchase. Once he was back on solid ground, his ears flattened and he glared at the Buri, tail twitching in a frenzy of ire.
    “Max, any idea why they’re cheering?”
    “There is a thirty percent probability that you performed a ritual honoring their leader.”
    “Thirty percent isn’t too high.”
    “It’s the best I can do without more data.”
    I’d swear I heard a sniff in his answer, and I smiled. Sometimes I think he’s more human than I am. But his response did remind me that I’d asked him to check on Junior’s spear markings for me.
    “Have you found anything in your files about the Ashwani?” There was a second of silence before he answered, and I knew he was locating whatever he’d found.
    “There’s only one mention about their size, along with a notation that the Ashwani’s hair and eye color are the same. For more information we’re directed to the Federation archives.”
    Yeah, the hair and eye color, added to the spears the Buri carried were what made me think of the Ashwani in the first place. “Okay, when you get a chance, connect to the archives and get me everything you can find.”
    While I dressed, the Buri tribe gathered around Thor to examine his hair and the clip. A few checked out the oddly shaped brush. Choosing a broad, flat rock, I upended the contents of both knapsacks, spreading them out so the Buri could see them clearly.
    Turning to invite the tribe to help themselves to the goodies, I was just in time to see a male Buri with light brown hair and eyes spritz the soap into his mouth. His eyes widened in alarm when it activated,