#gorntegas

No one had cared for her when she was injured, because any minor injury was concealed and every major injury was culled. She had learned to hide the burns and abrasions that she sometimes acquired in the training, to treat them with salvaged minerals. She had not learned to extend an injured limb into another's reach and let soft fingers apply a treatment. She trembled as the human's fingers touched her. A Gorn did not weep, not an adult Gorn who had survived the cullings, certainly not a trained Pilot. But her claws clenched, and her valve-fold loosened and became damp, her tiny stunted ovipositor hardening within. "Shhh," said the human, a meaningless sound but meant for comfort. "I'm almost done. Just another second." "Don't stop," said the Pilot. DISAGREE, said the translator. The human made her amusement sound, and in only another moment, as promised, she withdrew her soft fingers. "I do not mind if I die," said the Pilot. "Not if you touched me that way toward the end. Not if I were not alone." The translator said nothing.

The pilot has one hundred percent used Erica as a weight lift before, Erica tried the same one and almost ruined her spine.

Once they are rescued, yet before Uhura can incorporate the gorn language into the universal translators Erica is simply referring to her as Sweetheart, my love, babydoll, darling etc.