To her credit, she didn't scream or faint. A squeaking sort of sound came out, and she looked between the two of them wildly, then turned a rather unbecoming shade of gray before turning away altogether.

"Thanks, mate," he snarled at Ringer, who merely sat and wagged his tail as if

to say, "No worries." Little s.h.i.t."Talia-" He reached for her, but she stopped him by stiffening her shoulders. "It's cold, at least let me cover your shoulders up."

She said nothing, so he pulled the blanket over her and waited. He was really bad at waiting. "Say something," he prodded, at a loss as to how to handle her and hating feeling so helpless.

She turned her head slowly to his, her eyes unfocused, and, he noticed, purposely not looking at Ringer. "I-" Then she simply shook her head and tucked her chin.

Despite her resistance, he dragged her into his arms and held her against him.

It was like hugging a marble statue, but he didn't care. She was trembling. It was hardly noticeable, but it made his chest hurt. And it was something he could do, hold her, give her his warmth, until she decided what she was ready to know.

"I should have told you," he said quietly, when, after what seemed like a

lifetime, she still hadn't spoken. "But I didn't want to scare you off."

She laughed then, a semihysterical little wheeze. "Oh, well, thanks. Much appreciated. You come and tell me I'm some sort of royal healer and, by the way, I have to travel a couple hundred years into the future to save a queen

I've never even heard of, but let's not scare Talia with the idea of some sort of... of..." She shuddered, unable to finish."He won't hurt you."She looked up at him then. "I wasn't really in fear of my mortal life, thanks."Archer grinned. He couldn't help it. She scowled. "I'm not having it on with you, really, but I can't help the smile. You make me do that a lot, Talia."

"Well, you're very welcome. Glad I could help."

Now it was all he could do not to laugh outright. She was scared within an

inch of her life, but rather than cling and squeal, she was being sarcastic and

pouty.

He tucked her rigid frame a bit closer, angling himself so Ringer was somewhat out of her direct line of vision if she were to look up at him. And he found he wanted that badly. He slowly stroked his fingertips up and down her back, then through her hair. Over and over again, until she slowly began to unwind. No, he wasn't a patient man, but somehow killing time this way, for the sake of her comfort, didn't seem to tax him too greatly.

When she finally relaxed, he shifted upward so she could pull herself more tightly into his chest. Perhaps it would go easier if she could listen without her reactions being viewed. "Want me to tell you about him?"

There was a long silence, then finally a tentative little nod against his chest.

His smile was wide and his heart beat a bit steadier now that she'd given him another piece of trust. A valuable gift, and one he'd guard carefully.

"I was coming back from completing a difficult transaction. I'd been off-Earth for almost a month and all I wanted to do was get home, take a long hot steamer, and eat some food that didn't come from questionable sources."

Her breath caught and he paused, waiting to see if she had any questions. But he felt her breath skim out across his skin and she relaxed slightly back against him. So he continued.

"I had docked and was signing off on the s.p.a.ce entry/exit forms when I heard a rustling behind the refuse transformers."

Talia's head came up. "The what?"

He bit back the smile. "Refuse transformers?"

"What exactly do you transform your refuse into?"

She didn't ask about off-Earth travel, but she wanted to know about recycling.

He grinned. "I guess it's best described as a sort of liquid gas."

"And what do you do with that?"

"Reuse it in other ways."

"All of it?" She shook her head, then smiled a little. "I guess it's rea.s.suring to

know you all figured out some way to solve that problem."

He just stared at her until she looked up at him. "What?"

He shook his head. "I can't figure you out."

Her smile grew. "Well, some things haven't changed, then. Men have been

trying to figure out women for eons. And vice versa. I guess you haven't solved all the world's mysteries, then."

"Not hardly."

She quieted then, her expression turning serious once more. "Tell me more,"

she said quietly.

"About Ringer?"She shivered, just a little. "Are they-what do you call them anyway?""Shifters."She managed a nod. "Are these... shifters... common?""Somewhat. They're the vagabond type, hitching rides around and about. A number of them have ended up here on Earth."

She was trembling, but pushed on. "So he followed you home?"

Archer laughed. "No, I found him in the transformer, hardly more than skin

and ribs he was, but ready to fight me to the death over a moldy chicken bone." He sobered a bit as he recalled the rest of that night. "He tried to shift, into something large and threatening, but he got stuck between animals." He shuddered, as did Talia. "It wasn't pretty. I couldn't leave the little bloke like that. So I took him home, figuring he'd finish up after he'd warmed up a bit, and had some food."

"Does he have a basic shape? I've only seen him as a dog."

"Well, you've probably seen him as a few other things without knowing. But

no, he's whatever he wants to be. There's no natural form as far as I know, but they each have their own preferences."

"And he's been with you ever since that night?"

Archer glanced at Ringer. "Yeah. We're mates, him and me. He can be a pain

in the a.s.s, but all in all, he's done all right by himself. And by me."

Ringer chose that moment to turn round and round on the corner of the blanket and plop himself down. Talia trembled and Archer looked concerned."It's okay. I just keep seeing him do that... thing... he did." She made a face.

"Maybe we should stick with talking about trash and other developmental

strides of humankind. Emphasis on the word human."

He smiled at that and decided that kissing her would be the most reasonable thing to do.

She was breathing a bit unevenly when he lifted his head. "Well."

"Yeah. Very well," he said. "Now, where were we?"

"I was sort of liking where we just were."

"You don't want to know any more? Have you asked Baleweg anything about

our time?"

She shook her head. "I... I think I was afraid to ask anything more. I wasn't ready. He didn't push.""And now?" He tilted her face to his. "Aren't you even a little curious where I come from, Talia?"

She stared at him for what seemed like forever, before asking, "Are you curious about my world?""1 guess I've sort of figured out what I need to know to get by. After all, I'll only be here for a short time."She nodded. "Exactly. I figure I'll go on a need-to-know basis, too."Archer frowned. He didn't at all like that idea. Why, for Christ's sake? What made her situation any different from his? What did he want from her

anyway? Dangerous question, mate. You really want to answer that one ?Ringer yawned and stretched, thankfully pulling Talia's attention away from...from wherever the h.e.l.l they'd been going. She finally let herself look at the scruffy mutt and Archer remained silent while she came to terms with it.

Suddenly she grinned. "It just occurred to me that he must have scared the bejeebers out of the local animal population here, changing from one thing to

the next." She turned to Archer, her soft heart in her eyes. "How did you name

him?"

Her resilience never ceased to amaze him. It was one of the things he loved- "Well," he said, clearing his throat, "he's able to change into any small mammal shape. A dead ringer. Which is exactly what he'd have been, too, if I hadn't forced him inside with me."

"Ah." Talia smiled. She continued to rub her arms and he tugged her close

again.

"You keep getting away from me." He thought about what she was facing, wondering if he'd be as practical in dealing with it all as she'd been. Probably not. He rolled to his back and pulled her and the blanket across him. Ringer leaped up when his little blanket nest suddenly disappeared and grumbled as he jumped off the rock. Considering the problems he'd caused this morning, Archer didn't feel the least bit bad about it.