Tarkken

by Annabelle Rex

  Angela put the final tick against her checklist just as Nell and Garrant arrived with Mikey.

  “Everything sorted?” Nell asked.

  “Yes,” Angela said. “Just got to sort ourselves. You’re through here.”

  She guided them to one of the rooms, then headed back to her own. Randar was almost fully dressed in his best suit - not exactly like a Human suit, but close enough to have the same weak at the knees effect.

  “You look gorgeous,” she said, going up on to her tiptoes to press a kiss to his lips.

  Almost two years, and the novelty of that had not worn off yet.

  “As do you,” Randar replied.

  “I’m not even ready yet.”

  “No, but you’re always gorgeous, whatever you’re wearing.”

  “Flattery will get you everywhere,” she said, grinning as she looped her arms round his neck and kissed him more thoroughly. “You did remember to finish packing our bags, didn’t you?”

  “Yes,” he said. “They’re ready and waiting for us.”

  “Do you think I packed enough? Have I got the right sort of things? You did check through it all, didn’t you?”

  His hands trailed down her back to cup her ass, giving it a firm squeeze.

  “You’ve got plenty. And if there’s anything we don’t have and we need, we can always buy it. They do have shops on other planets, you know.”

  Angela dropped her head so it rested against his chest, listening to the sound of his heart beating.

  “Sorry,” she said. “I’m just so nervous. And excited,” she added, shooting him a smile. “I know we went to the Olympia and this is sort of the same, but... I don’t know, there’s something about the thought of visiting other planets that has me a bit...”

  “Worked up over nothing?” Randar said, kissing her forehead.

  “I guess it’s just that, when you travel on Earth, you can usually buy the same stuff - or near enough the same stuff - that you would buy back home. Everything is recognisable.”

  “That’s what I’m here for. To assist with any and all deciphering.”

  “You’re going to tell me which moisturisers are the best for my skin?” Angela said, quirking an amused eyebrow.

  Randar laughed, a low rumble in his chest that she felt in his whole body. “I’m fully prepared to go into any shops and discuss with shop assistants what we need until we find something fitting the requirements. But it’s not going to be as difficult as you’re imagining.”

  A calm swept over Angela. It wasn’t just the thought of leaving the only planet she’d ever known to travel the Universe. It was this rush of last minute preparation. When Cael had presented his idea to her, she’d been only too happy to take on the task of getting things ready, but it hadn’t been an easy one. She’d been feeling more than a little frazzled. But, standing in Randar’s arms, she was reminded that, whatever happened, everything would be okay, because they would be together.

  “Now,” Randar said, stepping back from her. “Why don’t you go and make yourself even more gorgeous, and I’ll take over giving everyone else directions from here.”

  Asha never paid much attention to where the cars were going. She always just trusted her driver to get her to where she needed to be. But when she looked up from her conversation with Marta, she frowned.

  “I’m pretty sure ‘right through the middle of town’ is not the most efficient route to Heathrow Airport,” she said.

  Her first thought was that they were picking someone else up, but with Cribishk in the front seat and her, Marta and Tarkken in the back, it wasn’t like there was room for anyone else.

  “We’re not going to the Station,” Marta said.

  “We’re going to Buckingham Palace?” Asha said, glancing out of the window.

  “Yes.”

  Asha frowned. “I wasn’t being serious.”

  “I know,” Marta said. “But I was.”

  “Okay…” Asha said. “And why are we going to Buckingham Palace?”

  Marta just smiled a cryptic smile, the slight hint of red in her eyes the only indication she’d spent any time crying. “You’ll see.”

  The enormous gates swung open to admit the car, and they were quickly ushered through several grand corridors by serious looking men in red uniforms. Asha resisted the urge to ask what was going on, as all three of her companions had smug smiles on their faces, and she was in no mood to indulge them.

  Then they turned a corner, and a voice called out.

  “Aunty Asha!”

  Asha ducked to sweep Sassi up in to her arms and the little girl planted a kiss on her cheek.

  “What are you doing here?” Asha asked, glancing further down the corridor to see Allendi grinning at her.

  Allendi wearing a really nice dress and grinning at her.

  “What is going on here?” Asha asked, increasingly suspicious.

  “Party!” Sassi said.

  “A party?”

  “Yes, and Aunty Asha needs to go and get ready,” Allendi said, lifting her daughter out of Asha’s arms. “Nell’s room is the one on the right there.”

  “Come on,” Marta said, grabbing Asha by the arm and steering her towards the room Allendi had indicated.

  “What are you lot up to?” Asha asked.

  But the answer was in front of her, the moment she stepped through into Nell’s room.

  A white dress. A beautiful white dress, hanging from a wardrobe door.

  Marta wrapped her arms round Asha from behind, resting her head on Asha’s shoulder. “Do you like it? Angela did most of the picking, but me and Nell gave her some pointers.”

  “It’s beautiful,” Asha said, mind still working through the implications, “but…”

  “Tressian still had a record of your measurements from the Olympia. I know it was a year ago, but you’ve not changed that much.”

  “Piotr’s Law doesn’t just give the Intergalactic Community adoption rights,” Nell said, and Asha noticed she was wearing a dress the same light grey colour as Allendi’s. “They can get married, too.”

  Asha’s brain was still stalling, an overload of emotions coursing through her.

  “Isn’t he supposed to ask me first?” she said.

  “No time for that,” Marta said, pushing her forwards. “And we all know what your answer is, anyway. Now, come on. We’re on a tight schedule here. Angela didn’t plan all this down to the minute for the bride to cause problems.”

  Asha allowed herself to be manhandled by her sister and her best friend as they steered her towards a waiting hair and makeup stylist. Within half an hour, Asha had been transformed from her ‘Important International Meeting’ outfit into a bride.

  “Well,” Marta said, guiding her to one of the floor length mirrors. “What do you think.”

  Asha looked at the girl in the mirror. The dress was an off the shoulder number, the sleeves forming a straight line with the bodice. The bodice had intricate lace detailing, the same pattern dotted about the tulle skirt. It wasn’t too large, not too fancy. But it was beautiful. Over the top in just the right sort of way.

  “I can’t believe that’s me,” she said.

  Nell looked close to tears as she drew Asha into a very careful hug. “You look beautiful.”

  “You’re going to look like a panda if you keep that up,” Marta said, grinning.

  “It’s been an emotional day,” Nell said, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue. “I decided early I would forgo mascara.”

  “Just one thing needed to finish it off,” Marta said, reaching behind her. She pulled out a tiara. “The Queen sends you her warmest wishes and loans you this as a wedding gift.”

  The hair stylist rushed over to set it properly on Asha’s head, fixing it in place with pins.

  “Now you look like a proper princess,” Nell said, grinning, even as her eyes continued to leak.

  Asha looked in the mirror, touching a finger to the glittering headpiece.

  “Can’t get m
arried to a prince without some bling,” Marta said.

  The three of them stood together a moment, looking at Asha’s reflection in the mirror, and Asha knew they were all thinking along the same lines as her. About where they’d started. About how far they’d come.

  “Okay,” Asha said. “When is this show supposed to start?”

  A knock sounded at the door and Angela walked in, Allendi with her, holding a bouquet of wildflowers.

  “Just about now,” Nell said.

  Asha’s heart pounded as she followed Angela through the corridors of the palace, out towards a section of the gardens that had been allocated to them. A generous leaving gift from the King to Cael. It was already late afternoon, but the long summer days meant it was still warm, still light as Asha arrived at one end of a long corridor of flowering bushes that lead to a clearing where chairs had been set out and Cael stood with his back to her at the edge of a raised platform.

  “Good luck,” Angela whispered in her ear, then headed down the path in front of her, giving someone the thumbs up as she ducked to the side.

  Music started playing. A low, hauntingly beautiful tune that Asha recognised as Allortasian music. Allendi smiled at her.

  “I couldn’t be happier to call you my family,” she said, then turned and walked down the aisle.

  Nell dabbed her eyes one last time, giving Asha’s hand a squeeze before she set off.

  “Don’t trip on your dress,” Marta whispered, shooting Asha a brief, wicked grin, before she too headed down the aisle, leaving Asha alone.

  Asha took a steadying breath. In the whirlwind of the afternoon, she hadn’t had much time to think. But the aisle stretched out ahead of her, quite long, and wasn’t a bride supposed to walk down them really slowly? Or was that just so they didn’t trip? She hadn’t been briefed on any of this, didn’t know what she was supposed to do…

  And then Cael, who had been talking to Garrant, glanced back and saw her, his eyes widening as he took her in. And Asha smiled and walked towards him.

  “A lot of Human customs are very strange to me,” Randar said as he swayed from side to side with Angela - an action that supposedly amounted to ‘dancing’. “But I have enjoyed this wedding. It’s nice.”

  “Romantic,” Angela agreed. “Don’t Karrathun have weddings?”

  Randar shook his head. “The Match test really negates any need for it.”

  “Oh, you don’t need to get married, even as Humans dating the old fashioned way. It used to give you some benefits, and I think there are still some legal things with it that make it worth doing. But it’s not about need. It’s about want.”

  “Did you want to get married?”

  “Bit late to be asking me that, big guy, we’re leaving tomorrow,” Angela said with a laugh.

  “We could always come back.”

  She looked up at him, smiling. “Would it surprise you if I said a wedding is my idea of Hell?”

  Randar thought about it - the dressing up and the dancing was definitely Angela’s idea of a good time, but the standing up in front of everyone and being the centre of attention? Not so much.

  “You’ve been in the spotlight a lot since we Matched,” he said. “I know that hasn’t always been easy.”

  His woman had grown in confidence a lot since they met, but she would never be comfortable with the kind of attention the Human press gave her.

  “I am looking forwards to getting away from all that,” Angela said. “Having you all to myself with no one looking, no one judging. That’s going to be wonderful.”

  “I can’t promise there won’t be looking or judging,” Randar said. “I think everyone we meet is going to wonder what I did to get so lucky.”

  She laughed. “Keep them coming, my love. Keep them coming.”

  Randar grinned, drawing her even closer.

  He looked round the area they’d been given - just a small space, as it was just a small party. Ardan and Allendi were sat together beneath a tree, watching the two children play together, her head resting on his shoulder, both of them smiling. Marta was dancing with Nell, the two of them laughing about something, while Garrant slouched elegantly on a chair, watching them with a twinkle of amusement in his eyes. Even Tarkken looked relaxed - the palace security apparently good enough to allow him to switch off for the night. And Asha, dancing with Cael, looked radiantly happy. Randar couldn’t have been more delighted for his friend that he’d found such a wonderful Match.

  “When we go to Karrath, I’m going to take you to do some proper dancing,” Randar said.

  “Proper dancing?” Angela said with a grin. “You don’t like Human dancing?”

  He liked the feel of her body close to his. He liked holding her. But he could do those things without the need to sway from side to side.

  “It’s… limited. In scope.”

  Angela laughed. “There are proper dances. I just don’t know any. Perhaps I could download some videos on how to do the tango. We can practise while we travel.”

  “Tango?”

  “It’s a very sexy dance.”

  Randar grinned. “I like the sound of that.”

  Nell was stood off to the side, watching the other guests have a good time when Garrant headed over to her, glass of wine in hand.

  “I don’t think I’ve seen you have a drink all evening,” he said, holding it out to her.

  “Is it a requirement?” Nell said, arching an eyebrow at him.

  “No,” Garrant said, grinning. “I just thought maybe you were having such a good time, you forgot.”

  Nell took the glass, but turned, setting it down on a nearby table.

  “Thank you,” she said, giving him a slightly nervous smile. “But, it’s not a good idea for me to be drinking right now.”

  Garrant frowned. Nell wasn’t a big drinker, but she did like a glass of wine. It wasn’t like her to…

  Garrant’s eyes widened, his heart thudding with realisation.

  “Nell?” he said, his voice hoarse in his throat.

  Her eyes started to fill with tears again - as they had been doing all day. Getting overly emotional at everything. Stars, he was an idiot for not realising sooner. She nodded, and he swept her into his arms, kissing her fiercely before catching her face in his hands, pressing their foreheads together.

  “I love you,” he said.

  Stepping back, he shifted his vision, moving into the heightened state of awareness that Iparshana could achieve. Nell’s aura glowed golden around her, as it always did. But there, at the core of her, a little spark of life that was not her own. Garrant touched his fingers to her stomach, no outward indication there yet of what was growing inside her.

  A child. Their child.

  “I didn’t think it was possible to be as happy as I am right now,” Garrant said.

  “Me either,” Nell said, and Garrant drew her in, so grateful to the Goddess for helping them to find each other while this miracle was still a possibility.

  It was very late - or quite early, depending on your perspective - when the shuttle took them all up to the Station. For Marta, this used to be normal working hours, but she’d had to adjust her routine some, so she felt pleasantly sleepy as she stepped off the shuttle, her feet bare, her heels in hand.

  They bid their good nights to each other, wandering back towards their rooms. But Marta lingered in the main walkway, turning instead towards the park and the massive glass walls that looked down on the planet she’d grown up on.

  “I do think I’ll miss this view,” Tarkken said, walking up behind her. “Humans might have been one of the more challenging species I’ve had the pleasure of working with, but your planet is beautiful.”

  “I still find it weird, looking down on it like this.”

  His arms slipped round her waist, his breath tickling over her ear as he pressed a kiss to her neck. Marta relaxed back in to him, a feeling of deep comfort and contentment filling her, all the more potent for the knowledge that he could feel it t
oo. Right on cue, a smile spread across his lips, still pressed against her neck.

  “It’s been such a good day,” she said.

  “It really has.”

  “Want to end it on a really high note?” she asked, imagining his naked body over hers, knowing the surge of lust she felt would travel through her body and in to his.

  “Definitely,” he said. “But I wanted to give you something first.”

  He caught her hand in his, turning it palm up, depositing a small, round item in it. Marta looked at it, confusion filling her.

  “It’s a... button? If I press it does something blow up?”

  Tarkken laughed. “I know better than to hand you that sort of power.”

  Marta grinned. “Can I press it?”

  “You can, but it won’t do much.”

  “You’ve given me a button that doesn’t do anything? How romantic.”

  “Come with me,” he said, taking her hand and pulling her out of the park.

  Marta felt giddy as she followed him through the quiet corridors of the Station, almost everyone else in bed besides them. The only sounds beside their own footsteps were the hum and clunk of Station machinery and the pneumatic hiss of the opening doors. He took her through the public areas, back into the private areas, deeper and deeper until they passed through the central point and arrived at the docking bay. An enormous transport shuttle was docked and ready to take them out into the Universe tomorrow. Marta and Tarkken didn’t have a concrete plan, but the shuttle would only take them as far as a waystation. They had until then to decide.

  “Why have you brought me to the docking bay?” she said.

  “Why don’t you try your button and find out?”

  Marta gave him a look. It wasn’t like Tarkken to be playful and she didn’t trust it. Still, she raised the button and pressed it.

  A hiss sounded, and one of the ships in the docking bay began lowering a ramp. Marta turned to Tarkken, stunned.

  “A ship? This is a key?”

  He grinned at her. “It is a key. To our ship.”

  “But... I may only have a rudimentary understanding of value outside of Earth things, but aren’t spaceships, you know, extremely expensive?”