civilized

hissed, claws bared, then whirled their shaggy mounts and followed the gray matriarch. The male rode a step closer, bone-white teeth bared. “I realize you have not been properly brought up, but you should try not to be insulting.”
Heyoka held very still.
The male turned his head one way, then another, examining Heyoka with feral black eyes, as bottomless as the deepest space Heyoka had ever seen while journeying between the stars. “When Ankt rests below the horizon, come to the males’ house by the river.” His black nose twitched above his white throat. “It would be helpful if you would take a proper sandbath first. You cannot expect civilized people to deal with the Dead.”
Then he too turned his beast and rode after the other five back across the tarmac, heading toward red sandstone cliffs that rose like a barrier in the distance.
Mitsu deactivated the sonic blade and eased it back into her boot. “What in the Thirty-eight Systems was all that about?”
“I’m not sure.” Heyoka rubbed his aching knee.
“Do you really want to mess with this bunch?” Mitsu hoisted her duffle bag and shifted it to her shoulder, grunting a little with the extra weight this gravity imposed upon her. “They’re so primitive. I don’t see that you’ll ever find much in common with them.”
“We don’t have to love each other.” Heyoka hefted his own bag with the double-flash Ranger insignia on the side. “Besides, I don’t have any choice. I have to understand what happened to me, or—” He shaded his eyes, studying the stubby g