Ice Planet Barbarians

Vektal trembles with horror over how the creatures, whom he calls “metlaks,” could have killed Georgie. He is frustrated at her helplessness and insistence on going to the mountains. He finds her mysterious and dislikes that she is injured, something he notes his people’s healer could fix “with a touch” (71). When Georgie cries, he comforts her and promises that he will take better care of her, despite knowing that she can’t understand him.

Georgie gestures her interest in a knife, and he gives her one. He is pleased when she seems happy with this small gift. He likewise cooks meat at her request, despite finding this strange. The rapid snowfall prevents them from traveling further that day, so Vektal promises to take her to the mountain the following day, baffled but deciding that “it must mean something to her” (75). He teaches her words for the things around them. When this exploration turns into naming the parts of his body, he becomes aroused and stops her from touching him, concerned that he will lose control over his arousal and have sex with her before she is ready.

Georgie is surprised when Vektal stops her from touching him, especially as she notes that he is physically aroused. She finds him attractive and “pure pleasure to touch” (77). She is confused and somewhat hurt by his refusal until she realizes that he is doing so for her comfort. Using their limited communication skills, she shows him her willingness and teaches him about kissing. They remove their clothing, exploring the different facets of one another’s bodies, each clearly liking the other despite these differences. When they are naked, Vektal pauses to inspect Georgie’s bruises, but she directs him back to sexual exploration.

Vektal performs oral sex on Georgie, and they then have penetrative sex. She finds that the protuberance above his penis provides clitoral stimulation, which she decides is more pleasurable than her preferred sex toy. They cling to one another after they are finished having sex. Georgie, fretting about her friends, wants to ask about the mountain but holds off, worried that Vektal will think she only had sex with him to get what she wants, when she really did it out of her attraction to him. She thinks it’s fortunate that inter-species sex cannot result in pregnancy, as she believes this to be the case.

Vektal cuddles against Georgie, the calming of his khui indicating to him that he has made her pregnant. He looks forward to a lifetime partnership with Georgie and to raising children with her. He worries over the dark circles under her eyes, resolving to get her a khui soon. He urges her to dress so that they can climb the mountain and leaves to check his hunting traps while she gets ready. When he finds a strange lump in the snow, he unburies it and is horrified to find the dead body of another human woman.

Georgie cuts up the dead guard’s uniform, turning it into ties so that she can build makeshift cloaks out of the furs in the tent. She intends to bring as many as possible with her up the mountain for the other women. Vektal returns, distressed. He strokes Georgie frantically, evidently checking her health. He urges her to follow, leading her to the body, whom she recognizes as Dominique. She teaches Vektal the word for “human,” finally managing to communicate that there are human women up the mountain. As he rushes that way, Georgie frets over the fate of the other women, wondering why Dominique went out into the snow with little clothing.

When she reaches the ship and pulls aside a tarp covering the hole in the side, a snowball strikes her in the face, alarming Vektal. Georgie quickly identifies herself and explains that Vektal is a friend. Georgie is relieved to find the five remaining women alive, though ill. She covers them with the furs. Vektal enters the ship, and Georgie finds herself relieved that he shows no sexual interest in the other women. When he speaks, Kira’s translator lets her understand him; he asks if Georgie wants to “mate” at the ship, causing the other women to tease her about being delayed by “alien nookie” (95). Georgie grows annoyed when some of the other women joke that they, too, would trade sex for food and warmth, and she scolds herself for “falling for a big blue alien” (97).

Kira’s one-way translation means that the women can understand Vektal, but he still cannot understand them. He announces that he will fetch fire and urges the other women to guard “his mate.” The revelation that Vektal considers himself and Georgie to be “mated” shocks Georgie.

Vektal marvels at the additional five women, as his “tribe” has only five adult females and over 20 “unmated” males. He considers the arrival of Georgie and her “tribe” as a symbol of hope and survival. He worries, however, that none of the women have a khui and wonders how to best provide for them on his own, without leaving Georgie for the many days it might take to locate another member of his tribe, something he is unwilling to do.

He returns to the ship, bringing firewood, furs, and meat. The other women tease Georgie about liking Vektal when she hugs him, but they all agree that they like him, too, once he builds a fire. One of the women, Megan, has a terrible cough, but Vektal says that he cannot help, as she suffers from “khui-sickness.”

Georgie asks Kira for a translation for the word “khui,” but Kira’s translator doesn’t know the word. Despite this, Georgia is happy to have provided, via Vektal, food and fire—so much so that she doesn’t mind the women’s teasing. Georgie insists on feeding the other women before she eats, which Vektal dislikes. The women are happy to be fed but recognize that their situation is “grim.” When Georgie claims that she allied herself with Vektal for survival, she feels uncomfortable over how this elides her genuine attraction. Liz wonders how Vektal will respond when the women try to leave Not-Hoth, but Georgie brushes off the question.

Liz explains that Dominique bolted into the snow after metlaks hooted outside the ship the whole first night. Tiffany pursued her but had to return because of the cold. Liz insists that they need to leave the ship before their captors return.

Vektal is uncertain why the other women watch his affectionate touching of Georgie with suspicion. He dislikes that the other women take all the blankets for sleeping. Though Georgie brushes this off, Kira overhears and gives Georgie a blanket. Vektal draws Georgie aside to a private part of the ship, and while she cuddles close and kisses him, she rebuffs more intimate sexual touches, as the other women can hear them. Vektal is reassured that Georgie seems to be as disappointed by this as he is.

The next morning, using Kira as a translator, Vektal explains that he cannot take all the women by himself to his people, of whom he is chief. He doesn’t understand Georgie’s explanation about the six women in the pods or her allusion to the trackers implanted in the women’s arms. He explains that he and Georgie will return to the rest of his people and then come back with a larger group to help the women, which will take several days. They leave the food and blankets behind, which distresses Vektal; he fears Georgie’s discomfort but recognizes her impulse to provide for the others.

He takes the most direct route down the mountain, despite its lack of “hunter caves” stocked with supplies, deciding that speed is more important. They hurry through the day, stopping for the night at “the elders’ cave” (109). He debates the wisdom of taking “unmated hunters” to retrieve the human women, as he knows that they will be eager to meet potential mates. In the elder’s cave, Vektal and Georgie have sex. Vektal is pleased both with Georgie’s body and with the idea that they will soon have children together. He worries, however, that her lack of khui continues to make her vulnerable. Georgie sees a blinking light, which makes her realize, though Vektal cannot understand, that the cave is a spaceship.