Now the shoe is on the other foot, in a manner of speaking, since it is we who now treasure being little girls and worry about him maturing and wanting us as adults someday.
If you wish to read from an earlier book, from Book 01 to Book 10, use this link button to open the LC Book Index:
6981
The full irony of it is that each one of us also fears that some of our other loves might want to become adult women - because we also love them as children and when loving each other we treasure all the physical signs of the purity of childhood in our loves. I started off by imagining a way for us to be purged of the day-to-day living experiences so that we can always be real little girls for Robbie. Yuck! I hated the idea.
By the way, Robbie has realised one of the consequences of us remaining children, and not only does he not mind it, he loves it - which would definitely distress those women who are strident about females assuming more and more rights…I mean it would anger them that Robbie loves us having these rights over him, I can imagine they’d claim it is insulting for us females. lol. I mentioned, some time ago, a conversation we had with Eleni, about Jessie bossing Allan. Remember? What she did and Allan allowed, was an immature version of what I am speaking of with regard to Robbie and us.
Children who are loved, automatically assume they have rights that they won’t have in any ‘normal’ relationship once they are adults, because, with daddy, they do. Especially when the child is a girl and she is ‘daddy’s little princess’. We can, each and every one of us, twist him around our little finger - and as we do so, we can sense how it delights him. We would probably have the same power over him as adults, but I honestly doubt it will be anywhere as sweet and lovely as it is for us now. I’d like for an independent, neutral party (maybe an alien?) to compare how we feel when it happens and how a woman who has exercised her ‘rights’ feels when her man gives way to her. Can she really feel anything of beauty within herself? Can it make her heart glow? Can it even make her feel beautiful on the outside - or am I wrong, is it really sweeter feeling you’ve dominated over a man? I must differentiate, before someone misunderstands me. The way we ‘twist Robbie around our finger’ is nothing like the way we do so with others we love and are loved by, such as our pappou, Allan, Marian, Solomon, Ordinx and many more (don’t forget to include our beloved Vincent, Michael and Dimi, we’re even getting there with Gregory, as we grow to love him more and more). With Robbie, there is a slight erotic element to it that is never part of our interactions with others. Heck, it is just as true of the interactions between us wives - just look at how Cherine twists me around her little finger all the time! I’m not commenting as to whether there are any erotic traces…
A lifetime ago, we watched a movie about a young man who gets bitten by a vampire (Interview With A Vampire). To prevent himself doing the same to others he withdraws and survives by drinking the blood of rats. A little girl is about to die so, to save her, he bites her. They live together and are lovers, but she leaves and when he goes to Paris years later he finds her there, still a little girl in appearance. She dies later on, but the point I was intending to make is, though her body remains fixed in age, her mind matures and she becomes evil. I recall us discussing the movie for hours as it led us into trying to work out (by making certain assumptions) how time will affect us. We came to the conclusion, thank goodness, that it is not possible for any one of us to become evil without it being part of a process that happens to all of us. Normals find the closeness among Cherinians unsettling, and there is much for them to fear, for as long as they don’t understand what it is that drives us closer. Those who do understand see great beauty in the love and closeness we share and envy us.
I bet Arthur is saying to himself, ‘enough of Samantha writing about Samantha and her theories, give me an adventure or two to end off my book’. I’m sorry for him, but this is one of those healing times when we live quietly and do nothing that he would want in his story. We are not monitoring Anne and Johan, we are even deliberately blocking anything we sense from them. I doubt they’ll ever be this alone again.
We have two ‘private’ spaces. The one is mental, which has been inviolate until the coming of the Cherinians (among our species) and the other is physical. If you allow someone to touch you, like holding your hand for instance, the permission means you have lowered a barrier for that person. For the first years we were explorers of the lowering of mental barriers and it excited us too much for us to give any consideration to other possibilities. As a family we touch each other constantly, not only when we want to be loving or make love. It seems to be a need that does not have to be expressed as a need, more like a joy; apart from those times we need to be consoled or are traumatised in some way and then the reason tends to get in the way, so that we do not pay much attention to the need for being touched as an important part of the whole. I’d spent the day mostly watching my loves as I sat close to Robbie and read a dreary book on the latest theories regarding those we label artists. As I read and came across something I did not like or something I felt applied to both Robbie and Jade, without realising what I was doing I’d lightly touch Robbie for a moment. Robbie was aware of what I was doing, but I doubt he noticed - if you know what I mean.
6982
I don’t know the reason I became aware of what I’d been doing, but once I was, I gave it a lot of thought. I wondered how the merging of mental contact with physical contact would affect both parties if it is done deliberately between species. To try it out, I wanted a species that never or rarely touch. I chose a Fegorian. I sheathed and jumped to their niche. Hiahi is the one I know best, so I went to him. I explained my thoughts.
“You are natural telepaths, so my experiment may seem naïve to you, but will you help me for my sake? I’ll lie on the ground and your feelers and my hands can touch. I will not mind if you touch my limbs, body or face. We both need to make a conscious decision to make our physical contact part of our mental communication. I’ll even make some of my memories available for you to experience. That is as open as I can be with someone who is not part of my family.”
My mind became a haven of peaceful silence as my family muted themselves while maintaining the link so as to share. Others sensed something was happening, asked and were informed and they muted their minds. Hiahi and I ignored them as I placed myself under him and he lowered his face towards me, his feelers and other mobile appendages as delicate as feathers undulating gently until they made contact. With a start he withdrew.
“My apologies Samantha. It felt strange touching a live being, it is unnatural.”
“Before you touch me, imagine doing it, imagine you sensing the texture of my skin, the warmth, the tiny hairs. Think of them as part of a friend who has loved you for many years.”
“Would it not be easier if I project as one of your species?”
“If our effort is not successful we’ll try it that way to acclimatise you to the concept and sensations of touching another.”
He made a number of efforts and the longest he managed to maintain contact was only a few seconds. His instincts were screaming warnings he found impossible to resist. Even when he did touch, his mind, that mind that is one of the most open minds of all species, clammed shut in an urgent need to protect itself. If the poor guy could have perspired he would have been drenched in sweat. I rolled away and stood up. From a small distance I had no difficulty in communicating.
“We’ll try it your way next time. I hope it succeeds in fooling your instincts.”
The next day Hiahi projected as an Inguel. He chose that species because the sharing of souls has developed an instinctive need to be close to their family. I suggested he limits himself to touching other Inguel as that is most natural to them. If he does not suffer, we can touch during the next day. I dare not be impatient or thoughtless, for the Fegorians think slowly and need time to adjust to the smallest changes.
As we watched them, Haven sat by me, her arm around my shoulder as she whispered, “You have forgotten the lessons by Empathia? You should include with touch the other senses. Is not part of our comfort when close to the Elipians their scent?”
I grinned, “As the scents of Goldi, Diana and Jade are an attraction factor?”
“You left out Gilli.”
“No love, I didn’t, the scent of her body that you’re thinking of is an aphrodisiac, not a scent of friendship and comfort.”
“Sex is not friendly and a comfort?”
6983
I giggled as Gilli gave me a little smile. “Her scent is an assault on our senses driving us crazy. Her everyday scent is a comfort, but then so are the scents of all of you for me.” I nodded. “You’re right, scent is a strong message that affects how open we are to those we meet. I don’t know whether the Fegorians have a sense of smell. Anyway, I dare not overwhelm Hiahi, he’s suffering as it is. The old guy is braver than I’d realised.”
Haven giggled, “Fegorians, the Warriors of Cherine.”
“In a sense all who love are, however cowardly we might be.”
Her face flushed with instant anger, “Stop calling yourself a coward!” Robbie pulled at her and placed her on his lap and soothed her with his gentle hands, giving me a lopsided smile that warned me to keep quiet. As a coward I obeyed.
After the above, it is almost anticlimactic to continue writing about our experiment with Hiahi. It is not just a mundane experiment though, it is important. Even as an Inguel, it took Hiahi a few days to feel comfortable at touching a chosen Inguel, one who he is ‘friends’ with. As he managed to prolong his contacts he stopped trembling and even managed to talk with his friend. After a week of this I joined them and asked whether he could touch me. Tentatively he did so. We spent a few days with him increasing the length of time he could do so comfortably and then I told him we would try it with him in his own form in two days time.
6984
Hiahi was amazed at how being within his own body affects his ability to control his instincts. He tells us we have given his people something new to debate and investigate for the next fifty generations. He is no longer distressed at what he had seen as disrespect towards me, but insists we continue trying every day. It took four days for him to manage physical contact for over a minute with me. It was not much use as his mind was still blocked as he fought himself, but I gave a whoop of victory and once I was out of range and his mind opened, I sent him a heavy dollop of love.
Empathia. Samantha is unconscious and spending her time with Hesina who is helping heal her mind. Only Cherine is allowed to visit because she is the one trying to save Hiahi. As you’ve probably gathered, her experiment was a success. A far wilder success than she had dreamt of. When they managed to lower all barriers and came in contact, it was something like the dancing in the void where we have the compulsion to become one. By the time we were able to interfere, the two of them were left with minds that held too much of the mind of the other. Neither lost any part of their mind, it is just as if the mind they hosted was imprinted upon parts of their own minds. Arthur, only you can save our Samantha.
Kirsten nodded, as if your instructions made sense to her. She lay down next to Samantha, took the hand of Vincent in both of hers for him to help her maintain the self-awareness you specified and left her body. She has been within Samantha for eleven hours now and we can sense our Samantha is returning as the Samantha she was. It will take another two or three hours Arthur, so please be patient.
Hi. I’m back, not quite unchanged as Empathia thought, but still myself once more. I have to go to Hiahi to help him first (as his subconscious, whether their species has one or not) and I’ll return once he has recovered.
This has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life! I have grown and Hiahi is in the background of my mind, as I am in his. We feel a special closeness to each other and I no longer am as impatient of his drawn out thinking processes - and he is not as long drawn out as he was, since he’s experienced how we think. He is excited about the changes and wants all his people to go through the same learning experience. Thanks for finding the right solution. You not only helped me, if you could only feel the change in Kirsten, her mind glows from her joy at having proof that her existence is of value in preserving ours. It has only made Vincent love her all the more, which might not be such a good thing, what with his obsessive nature and all…sorry, I’m just teasing. It also has led to others accepting her and showing they love her too.
We are trying to find ways for others to experience what Hiahi and I did without the damaging results. We think the only way it can be done is with a guardian for each of them to help draw them apart before they collapse into the merging. Our biggest problem is in stopping Cherine from doing it with Robbie. They both want to, so we have to fight both of them. They point out that they’ve come very close to doing what I did during times we’ve made love. I know it is not the same, so I refuse to give in. First I want proof that Vincent can prevent them damaging each other. I get the shakes when I think how it will be when everyone is linked to everyone else in this way. I would not have to do the merging with all Cherinians. If I’ve done so with a small number and they do it with a small number of others and they also with others until all have done it, then we will all be specially linked. How does a Cherinian then become an Ipohin? Does it mean Michael, Ahní, Zenon, Simito and Zwithinia must not until they are no longer with the Ipohin? I do not think we could wait, we’d miss them too much.
6985
It seems I ran ahead too fast. One Cherinian expressed doubts, worrying such a closeness might bring us closer to achieving the hive mentality we’ve been accused of. He fears loss of individuality and dislikes the idea of another mind sharing all his thoughts, whether they are public or private. Now everyone is being more cautious and they are likely to take their time investigating and watching the effects on me. I’m keeping quiet for I do not see why I should explain to them that Hiahi is not a prime example of minds in general. His respect of privacy partly comes from those same instincts that made it so difficult for us to touch, but I trust his ethics far more; instincts can be overcome, as we proved, but beliefs and sense of honour are less likely to be set aside casually. His sense of curiosity is not the curiosity of a carnivore, his is the kind that needs to be satisfied over a great period of time with each tiny detail debated and considered before moving on to the next. I sometimes wonder whether the Fegorian mind really cares about arriving at the answer or whether the process of arriving there is infinitely more satisfying.
Anne and Johan returned and we asked them whether they would prefer to return home or travel elsewhere. As expected, they asked to visit Orgg and Jeskine. Within hours we were in orbit and Freddie filled with loud happy voices. Over a meal we were given their news and all of it was good. Jeskine glanced at Orgg and then spoke to Robbie.
“We have been reading books from your world. It is stated, in one of them, that your species started in the southern part of Africa and migrated to northern Africa and from there, on your world, they spread to Asia. Why was it not the same on our world? We have searched, but have not found any evidence of our species having lived in any other part of Africa.”
Orgg nodded. “We searched for the rock paintings and dug for bones at the same places they were found on your world. There is nothing.”
Robbie would have considered it interesting but left it as a minor puzzle not worth spending time on. Luckily Diana was in his arms and he felt how the puzzle sparked her mind, making it scintillate as it raced through ideas and facts. She turned to him with eyes bright with excitement. “They could not have originated here Robert! Evolution at that time must have been the same or else they would have developed in a different way from us. Different climates and surrounding ecology would have changed them.”
Claudia nodded in support as she added, “Even the difference in seasons, which alters the length of the day, could have affected them.”
Robbie had a twinkle in his eyes as he listened to them. “What are you suggesting loves?”
Anne grinned at the girls as she asked on their behalf, “Could we return in time to find out where mankind originated on this world?” When they heard, all the Roulans and Neans wanted to come with.
We should have jumped back at least thirty thousand years, if not ten times that, but caution drove Freddie to jump back three thousand years. Gone were the cities and we did not find any towns, just small gathering of three to twenty families living close to each other for mutual support and protection. We saw the odd small group of Neans in the area we think of as Egypt, but we could already see that they were migrating, moving further north to escape the heat that their bodies could not handle. They mostly seemed to be ignoring the odd Roulan ancestors they met. The Roulans were not aggressive and kept away from the Neans.
Tactfully, since our trip will affect the Roulans, Freddie spoke to the kings who were with us, asking them to confirm the decision already taken by him and Robbie. “King Meesartus, if I have identified all groups, there are less than ten thousand Roulans in total. We must be fairly close to the time they originally evolved. I suggest we only jumped back five hundred years at a time.” Robbie and the kings confirmed they agree with Freddie and we jumped.
6986
At first sight, apart from the Sahara desert being smaller, the only change was in the size of the Roulan population. There were only about one and a half thousand. We grew very excited at the prospect of being so close to their time of origin - even though it was puzzling that their time of origin should be so close to their present time. Freddie panned over the planet below us, showing us forests and plains teeming with animals and so on. It was Diana who noticed first.
“There is something wrong! That does not look natural.”
Freddie replied, “It would seem the area must have suffered a large fire in the recent past. I’ve noticed it over various northern parts of this continent.”
She shook her head. “No, that is not just damage from fire. Look at the shape of the land - can you zoom in on those rocks to the east?” Silently we watched as Diana and Claudia glanced at each other. “A normal jungle fire could not have melted the rock. It looks as if there has been a battle here, maybe a few hundred years ago.”
“Nuclear? It doesn’t make sense Diana.”
“No, not nuclear, it would have left radiation that Freddie would have identified. What if they fought with lasers?”
“Are you suggesting the Neans used lasers this far back in time?”
“No, but someone did.”
Robbie briefly mulled it over. “Freddie, from now jump back in fifty year leaps. We should also use the void.” By the fifth jump we could see the planet was wrapped in thick dark blankets of moisture, dust and ashes and from the flashes of lightning it was self evident that storms were lashing the surface. By the sixth jump the storms melted away and we could see a cinnabar dust surrounding the areas the two girls had thought they’d seen the results of laser action. Two jumps later those areas were devoid of any vegetation and we knew we were close to the time the damage was caused.
As we arrived from the next jump, Freddie quickly pulled back his shaft. Almost at the tip had been a spaceship. Freddie moved and cautiously extended his shaft into normal space. We saw three spaceships. We waited to see whether there were more of them on the other side of the planet, but it was soon obvious there were none, as they were all concentrating on northern Africa. A bolt flashed from one of the ships, striking close to the area our Suez canal is. Apart from melting the sand, we saw clouds of dust billow. That explained the streams of dust circling the planet. Robbie told Claudia, Haven and Jade to meet him in the void and he left his body. He rushed to the surface and began a search for survivors. If there had been any humans at the target area, there was nothing left to prove it. The Spartans had already rushed to the void and when they reported they’d collected souls we let Robbie know. He returned to Freddie and created a body.
“We need as many Spartans as possible to search for Roulans and Neans. Let me know whenever any are found. Vincent, join me, we may need to protect a number of groups.”
“Aren’t you interfering with the past?” He ignored my question and departed to pick up the girls waiting in the void.
The Roulans were careful not to expose themselves at night, but the Neans could not understand that the darkness did not provide them with any cover. Over the next few weeks, Robbie had to form a shield over small groups a number of times. During lulls Robbie, and whichever girls he had with him, would return to exercise their bodies, have a meal and cigarette. A few times he even had the time to sit back and have a second cigarette. Johan pressed forward to speak to him at such a time.
“Why aren’t you attacking the problem at the source?”
6987
Since this is his first trip with us while we deal with aliens in the past, Robbie was pleased that he’d asked. “I’m doing what I can to minimise the effects of my changing the past.”
Cherine put her hand on his. “You’re not changing the past Robert, you are ensuring the future they come from.” She nodded towards Orgg and Jeskine.
“I’ve thought of that love. However, damaging the spaceships might not be tolerated by time. Think of how many live in them. If they do not return, how many lives on their home planet are affected? What if they send more ships to find whatever power it was that attacked them? It could escalate and I cannot take that chance. Leonida, can you create a replica of the areas those people live in? You’ll need the same layout of stars, a moon and sun. If so, we can put the few survivors to sleep, bring them to your World and they can live there until we’ve returned to a time after the storms.”
Within three days we had all the survivors, but Robbie insisted on our searching for another four days. We could not understand why he was so insistent, with millions of Spartans searching, we were certain we had them all. Robbie searched on his own and ignored our arguments based on logic. Finally we felt his cry of relief and he went to the Spartan World. He’d found a Nean child hiding deep within a cave, almost dead from thirst and hunger.
Robbie slept for nine hours, had a shower to wake up properly, made toast, covered it with liberal slices of honeycomb and carrying his plate and a cup of coffee into the garden, sat among us to enjoy his breakfast. “Claudia, I’ll need you. You too Samantha. We’re going visiting.”
“The spaceships?”
“Yes. Up till now, nothing makes sense. Why are they trying to exterminate both our species? It’s not as if they want the planet.”
Freddie announced, “Robert, I see shuttles departing from two of the ships, I think they are going to dock at the third ship.”
He grinned, “That’s obliging of them. I’m just guessing, but I bet they are the captains going for a meeting with their admiral. Claudia, are you ready for some fun?”
I’ll jump the gun and mention that all three captains were of equal rank. Within the third ship was someone who outranked all three and we think he is a member of their government. ‘He’ is used without certainty of sex as we did not see any signs of two or more sexes. We had some fun arguing that detail, most claiming they are all males and their culture does not allow them to take their females into battle while, most of us girls, argued that they were all female. We argued for the fun of it without wishing to win, for we would not like to face the possibility that females can be that cold and cruel. It may be chauvinistic of us, but we do prefer the belief that females are mostly softer and driven by their hearts, whether it is true or not J.
We never heard them name themselves as a species, but one Roulan fugitive that Robbie spoke to, called them the Vilatchi. Those at the meeting were Faljasiu (the government Minister), Captains Kachilles, Souberwi and Gaxadileq. By the time Claudia’s gift kicked in, the government minister had already issued his orders. From the emoting, Robbie sensed the three captains were not in agreement with him, but they also feared Faljasiu and did not dare speak out. He presented each of them with a map, delineating the areas each ship is responsible for cleansing of all life.
“When I am asked whether we killed them to the last one, I refuse to answer that we did, with any doubts in my mind. Not one animal will be left by us to talk of stealing a ship and escaping from us. Any doubts we have will spread to the other animals at home and they will always be searching for opportunities to emulate them. Our cleansing of this planet is being filmed and the destruction must make it clear not one of them could have survived.”
“Our surveillance cameras show that our last laser shots only killed local animals that roughly resemble those that stole our ship. Sir, if we delay much longer we will not be able to recover the ship, it is already out of this solar system and we do not know where they programmed it to travel to.”
6988
“You will first wipe the land of all life as per your instructions!”
“Sir, have the computers revealed what blocked a number of our shots? Is it an energy shield?”
“The ship they stole did not carry any and none are missing from our stores back at our home planet. The computers do not recognise what kind of shield was used.”
“Could it be they found alien allies?”
Coldly, “Any ally of animals is an animal and if they are down there we will kill them all. No energy shield can withstand the concentrated firepower of three ships. When you have completed your assigned tasks I will meet with you to discuss the possibility of recovering the stolen ship. We are tracking its flight path.” He left the room.
Every single person in Freddie was distraught at the idea of the life on planet being decimated. Robbie sipped at his beer and made a show of enjoying his lamb chops and salad without reassuring anyone. Cherine sat huddled up in her chair, with her arms around her knees, staring at him, trying to hide the smile that was trying to force itself upon her face. I waited for a moment nobody was speaking. “Why don’t you tell us what you plan? Are you going to put in an appearance or are you going to destroy their laser cannons?”
“Me? I think I’ve done my share of the work, why don’t some of you handle them?”
Captain Wasoúda replied, “With pleasure Robert, Freddie, our ship will exit as soon as you are in normal space.”
Robbie grinned. “I’m sorry, we cannot enter normal space. I do not think it would be wise to reveal ourselves at this time.” I chuckled at the confusion on the faces around me. “Samantha, what would you do?”
“If it were possible to form three shields? I’d angle them so that any laser shots would be deflected in the direction of one of the other ships. If they wish to continue shooting each other, good luck to them.”
“You’re positively evil! I love it. Vincent, can Kirsten help?”
“I cannot…”
“I asked Vincent, no insult intended Kirsten, but I have my reasons.”
“You see a way that she could?”
“Have you given her a sliver?”
Vincent laughed. “We’ll need an hour or so.”
“Take your time, those shuttles need about five hours to get them back to their ships.”
The Spartans mostly waited in the void in case the ships were damaged and there were deaths. Some of them entered the ships and they were able to pass on to other Spartans who shared with us what they were seeing. The laser bursts were timed to be at exactly the same moment and their shock when their beams were bent in space to hit their own ships was almost comical. They did not try a second shot as Faljasiu ordered them to leave immediately and to use all evasive tactics to avoid the enemy following them. Robbie chose the ship Faljasiu was in and Freddie protruded the shaft and followed them.
“You might as well settle down and return to your routines. The trip is bound to take months, if their destination is close by. If not, it could take years.”
6989
Spartans had stayed within the lead ship and we watched as Faljasiu called for Captain Kachilles. The door closed behind him. Faljasiu held a rod as he ordered the captain to open. He looked as if he were about to disobey, but then two plates of his body opened, exposing the vulnerable glistening flesh underneath. “Why?” Without answering, he touched the flesh with the tip of his rod. Captain Kachilles jerked and with a sigh his body collapsed. Faljasiu leant over, ripped something that looked like a strip of tinfoil from the body and then answered, “Treason captain, for treason. The formality has been satisfied, did you expect me to take the responsibility, at cost to my life?” As he walked out of the room he gestured. Another officer approached him and he pressed the foil against his flesh. As it connected to his brain and nervous system, he stiffened.
A Spartan had collected the soul without waiting for it to enter the void and another used its healer to bring us a few cells. Within the Spartan World, the now ex captain was returned to life. Confused and afraid he lay still, only his eyes waving around as he tried to watch for obvious dangers. Robbie gave me a funny look and asked whether I was feeling like a friend of aliens, so I jumped to him. I looked around at the surroundings the Spartans had created for him with interest. They obviously had taken his ideas of what his home planet looks like from his mind. “Welcome Captain Kachilles, my name is Samantha.”
“Where am I?”
“You died, you do remember dying don’t you?”
“What I remember does not agree with the present. How did you get me here?”
“I’m sorry to tell you that your memories do not lie. That government person made you open your thorax and placed a rod inside. Your body jerked and you died. We took hold of your life essence, collected a cell from your body and created you a new body. If you think about it you should notice that you are young again.”
“Where is this place? Who are you?”
“As you can see from my appearance I am what you call an animal, a descendant of animals. I come from thousands of years in your future. Captain Kachilles, there always was more to us animals than you gave us credit for. We have evolved since your time and we now have lifespans that probably will exceed a million years. We can travel in time and we can bring back the dead. We now are also friends of hundreds of species from all over the universe. Even from beyond that. I’m not giving you this information to frighten you. Once you have died, the past is gone. What counts is how you use your second chance. Please withdraw your eyes until I tell you it is safe, as it would be a pity for you to lose your new eyes.” The Spartans carried him to Freddie and I told him he was permitted to look. “This is our spaceship. If you look at the screens you will see that we are following your ship as it returns to your home planet.”
He sighed - such a human sound. “That is why our seers could not find our future, it ends for my people when we arrive at my home world? You have returned to avenge yourselves? A ship this size, it must have weapons that can destroy a planet.”
“We are not interested in revenge. What do you mean by the word ‘seers’?”
“Those who can see the future. None exist anymore, we could not allow them to live and frighten our people with their lies - so we thought at the time.”
“You are a dangerous species Kachilles. If you are warned of danger you refuse to listen and kill those who warn you. It is obvious you have also enslaved people of other species and think of them as animals. Since we are so advanced compared to your species, and our powers make your weapons less than toys to us, what now? Will your species be the animals?”
“That is how life is. Someday we’ll be the humans again and you the animals - as it should be.”
I laughed. “Can you eat the same food as us animals or do you need something different?” Vincent went to their ship, stole samples of various foods and they were programmed into two food machines. We placed a variety within bowls for him to feed from through the proboscis he unfurled. In this he held me at a disadvantage, he could talk while eating without being considered rude.
6990
“You claim to be so advanced and yet your food is just as bad as that synthetic rubbish we feed our crews.”
I laughed. “We stole the food from your kitchens. You have a separate kitchen for the officers?”
“Three kitchens. One for crew, one for officers plus medical staff and one for the captain and official guests.” Laughing, teasing each other lovingly, Vincent and Kirsten returned to the ship for new samples.
Silently I chewed my sandwich, certain obvious facts worrying me. “Kachilles, how do you travel to other realities?”
I felt his mind tighten. “I do not understand, what you said does not make sense.”
“There is little point to you withholding information since the facts speak for themselves. The animals that I resemble, they did not evolve on the planet we just left. That suggests you stole them from a different reality, another planet almost exactly the same, where my people evolved. We do not come from this reality, we have ways of crossing over from reality to reality and so do you. I want to know how you do it.”
He opened the plates covering his thorax. “I am not a traitor, you may kill me.”
I did not want to lie, so I had to speak in a way that would lead to him coming to his own conclusions and in the interest of saving his people cooperate with us. “Close yourself, it is rude to show your inner parts while I am eating. Kachilles, when you meet a species as advanced or more advanced and powerful than yours, I presume they are not considered animals? According to your own rules, would you prefer we think of your species as animals or as potential allies and trading partners?”
In return he also tried a little misdirection. “None of the species we know of are capable of travelling to alternate realities.”
“Would you prefer to think of us as masters of time, able to travel to any time we wish? Would that not make your world even more vulnerable? We could return to when your planet had no defences. Surely it makes more sense for you to wish for us to be from an alternate reality?”
Gradually I wore him down until he explained how they had discovered that when their operators are connected to a special computer they can cross realities. There was little point in pressing him for details of the computer, since I could sense he really does not know. I veered off in a different direction. “My family would like to meet you and there are many species within our spaceship that are waiting to be introduced. Look at our sky, you can see at least three very different kinds of spaceships, so you know I speak the truth. Before I take you to meet them, I suggest we learn to read each others body language.”
“This is Robert, my father and husband. The females with him are my mothers, sisters, daughters and wives.” Nobody said I’m not allowed to have fun just because I’m ‘friend of aliens’. After all, all I’m doing is making us sound even more alien than we are - in some cases. Robbie grinned at the game I was playing. Kachilles did not seem interested in our complex relationships - perhaps he thought of them as being natural to an animal species.
Only once other species joined us did his attitude change - I do not think he had realised the Spartans were a sapient species. As he learnt of each species, there were those he showed respect towards and those he tried to hide his feelings of superiority from. He obviously had a poor opinion of the Inguel and they could sense him. With wry amusement an-Spilh advised Robbie, “The three ships are taking evasive action to avoid betraying the position of their solar system. However, we have calculated the overall direction and with a probability of sixty two percent of our extrapolations being correct, all three seem to be converging at the following point. Freddie, could you show our star map on your screens?” The captain did not physically react, but he did not know how to control his emoting.
“Robbie, since we now know where they are and it is bound to take them a few months to get home, why don’t we take a trip to our reality to check if they exist there also? We can return before they arrive.” I nodded towards King Meesartus, “Don’t forget we have to return his ancestors and the old Neans to their planet once the storms have settled. We’ve got plenty of time to do it all before returning Captain Kachilles to his home planet. I think he will enjoy travelling with us for a while.”
I hope you enjoy reading this story of fantasy, adventure and love - and should some of it be true for our reality, I hope you will love our Cherine.
Αλέξανδρος Ζήνον Ευσταθίου
(Alexander Zenon Eustace)- posted: 27th May, 2020
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