“Receive him?” Her words formed a picture in Charlie’s head of herself and Stavros standing in a receiving line after a wedding—their wedding—greeting and thanking everyone who had come. He would look handsome in his tux and she would be wearing a big white dress… Ha—like that would ever happen!
“Yes, receive him—into your body,” Nar’sa said, leading her deeper into the pink room which appeared to be made of many twisting hallways. The Hossan seemed to be picking which way they went at random and Charlie hoped she knew what she was doing. Normally she had a good sense of direction but she was already hopelessly lost—wandering through the pink corridors was like walking through a giant seashell.
“Receive him into my…” Finally the other woman’s words registered. “Oh, you mean sex?”
“Penetration. Where the male enters the female—is that not how love is made by your people?” Nar’sa cast a look over one slim shoulder at her.
“Yup, that’s it all right.” But it’s not going to happen between me and Stavros! she thought but didn’t say. There was no point in getting her hostess suspicious or setting back their mission anymore. They had already been pushed back to the outer circle—The Circle of Enlightenment, whatever that meant. She didn’t want to be kicked completely out of the Temple of Learning. Still, she had to know what was expected of her and Stavros. “Um, are you expecting us to do that tonight?” she asked. “I mean, because I was under the impression that this resort was more about therapy and counseling—”
“Make love tonight? Oh no—no indeed!” Nar’sa’s eyes flared briefly the pinkish color Charlie thought meant she was shocked. “No, you are beginners—new to the ways of each other’s bodies. You must go through the Circle of Enlightenment and the Circle of Discovery before you even think of attempting such a thing.”
“Oh good.” Charlie felt a sense of relief. “And this, uh Circle of Enlightenment. What’s it all about? I mean—”
“Most of the classes and exercises you will do involve talking to each other. Intimacy building and trust exercises.”
“Oh, okay. Trust exercises.” Charlie nodded. She had this place pegged now. Like plenty of other people, she’d been forced to take part in team building retreats for work that included trust exercises. Where one person fell backwards and a coworker caught them…well, that didn’t sound too bad. And she was pretty sure she could trust Stavros to catch her. Even if the big warrior was still kind of pissed off at her for speaking her mind earlier, he was too honorable to let her fall on the floor and crack her skull or bust her ass.
“Do not worry—you will be fine.” Nar’sa smiled at her. “And now, here we are, at the pool of cleansing.”
The narrow hallway they had been walking single file in suddenly opened out into a large room with a high ceiling. But the pool the Hossan talked about, was nowhere to be seen. Instead, there was a solid, shimmering turquoise wall that went from the pink metal floor to the ceiling, twenty feet overhead.
“Where’s the pool?” Charlie asked, looking around. “And what is that weird bluish wall?”
“The wall is the pool. It is not a pool of water,” her hostess said. “But a pool of cleansing plasma. When you walk through it, you will be stripped of all impurities.”
“Along with my skin and hair! Stars are made of plasma—isn’t it some kind of superheated gas? Huh-uh—no way.” Charlie shook her head. “I’m not going in there.”
“This is cool plasma,” Nar’sa said, smiling at little at her fear. “Do not worry—it dissolves only impurities.”
Charlie shook her head, not convinced. “Look, I’m sorry but I just—”
“Watch.” Nar’sa untied her crimson robe and let it drop to her feet. Charlie had a moment to notice that she could actually see bones and organs—including a beating pinkish-purple heart—through the alien’s transparent skin. Then she stepped into the wall of turquoise which flowed around her without losing its shape.
Charlie watched in fascination as the alien woman moved through the swirling bluish-green depths. True to her word, she didn’t seem to be in any danger. She didn’t even seem to be having difficulty breathing. She simply glided along effortlessly in a way that was half swimming, half walking. It looked a little like she was strolling around inside a massive cube of blue-green Jell-O.
Charlie frowned as she watched. It looked safe enough. Actually, it kind of looked fun. Charlie found herself wanting to try it, despite her misgivings.
Well, here goes nothing. Taking a deep breath, she took a step forward and thrust one finger into the shimmering turquoise wall. When her finger wasn’t instantly seared off she let out a sigh of relief. The plasma, as Nar’sa had promised, wasn’t hot at all. In fact, Charlie felt nothing but a cool, tingling sensation. Feeling braver, she stepped closer and put her whole arm in. The tingling increased but again it didn’t hurt. In fact, it felt strangely refreshing.
Charlie went ahead and stepped all the way into the wall of clear turquoise plasma. To her delight, the tingling enveloped her entire body like a burst of tiny tickling bubbles all over her skin. When she opened her mouth in a gasp, the plasma flowed in, filling her throat and lungs with the sparking sensation—like she was breathing champagne. It tasted like rain and sunshine mixed together—Charlie couldn’t think of a better way to describe it than that—and it filled her with a sudden euphoria.
“Ahh!” she said, or tried to say. But the plasma apparently didn’t conduct sound because she didn’t hear anything. In fact, the whole experience was completely silent and yet, she had never felt more vibrant and alive than she did just then, standing naked at the edge of the vast plasma cube.
Nar’sa turned and made a beckoning gesture to her.
Charlie nodded and took a step towards her—but found that she was gliding instead of walking. Only the tips of her toes skimmed the floor and her body was propelled effortlessly along as she moved through the swirling, sparkling plasma towards the other female. Nar’sa’s eyes glowed with light and she made a motion Charlie didn’t understand. Then she did a flip—slow and graceful and beautifully acrobatic. She made the motion again and Charlie understood.
Oh, she wants me to do it too. She’d always been athletic—in fact, she’d gone to college on a track scholarship—so she didn’t mind trying even though gymnastics wasn’t really her thing.
To her delight, it was amazingly easy to flip—the plasma supported her completely. Soon she was doing cartwheels and somersaults and all kinds of maneuvers that would have been impossible on dry land and even difficult in the water. But the cool turquoise gel seemed to make everything not just possible but completely effortless. She glided all the way up to the top of the clear turquoise cube and then back down again, flipping and turning all the way. She laughed soundlessly as she went—the sensation of the plasma all around her, and the things it made possible was amazing…positively addictive.
Afterwards she wasn’t sure how long she had spent inside the pool of cleansing. It might have been only a few minutes or it might have been hours. She seemed to lose track of time as she and Nar’sa flipped and spun and played tag and chase—acting like she hadn’t acted with anyone since she and Missy were little girls.
No, don’t think of that. Don’t think of Missy!
The sad memory of her sister brought Charlie up short. Suddenly, she was ready to leave the pool and she made motions to Nar’sa, trying to indicate as much.
The alien woman nodded and began gliding towards the far side of the turquoise cube. She stepped out of it gracefully and motioned for Charlie to do the same.
Charlie followed her but it was harder to get out than it had been to get in. She felt as though she was pushing against a thin but resistant skin as she tried to get out of the vast turquoise cube. At last, Nar’sa reached in, took her hand and pulled. With an almost audible pop, she suddenly found herself standing naked and breathless on the other side.
“Wow! That was…amazing.” Charlie shook her head
. “I’ve never felt anything like it before.”
“I am glad you enjoyed it.” Nar’sa smiled. “The plasma enjoyed you too—it did not wish to let you go.” She cocked her head to one side, studying Charlie. “You have a vast energy inside you—an untapped joy. But it is clouded by something else…sadness…distrust. A pain from your past, perhaps?”
Charlie frowned. There was no way she was going to talk about her past to someone she’d just met.
“Thanks for helping me get out,” she said shortly.
Nar’sa studied her for a moment more, then nodded.
“You are most welcome.”
“Well…” Charlie took a deep breath and looked down at herself. After being submerged in the swirling plasma for so long, she would have expected to see some evidence of it on her hair or skin but she didn’t. There was no trace of it left, either inside or outside her. In fact, when she looked down at herself she was completely dry. Completely dry… and sparkling clean.
“I look like I’ve been soaking in bleach or something,” she murmured, examining herself. Indeed, all of her summer tan was gone—her skin was as pale as though she’d been through a nine month winter. But it wasn’t the sickly fishbelly white she associated with a long period out of the sun. Her skin glowed like a pearl and her whole body felt clean and moisturized and tingly. It was as though she’d been scrubbed down and then rubbed all over with some light, non-greasy oil or lotion. The way she felt reminded her a little of using the super expensive sea salt and coconut oil scrub she liked back home, only better.
“You look lovely.” Nar’sa smiled at her. “A few more trips through the pool and your shell will achieve the desired transparency to show your inner being.”
“Really?” Charlie looked at the other woman in surprise. “You mean I would become…like you? You’re not…I mean, your people aren’t normally, uh, see-through?”
“Naturally not. We are born with shells as opaque as yours. But constant exposure to the cleansing plasma of the pool renders us as you see us now…and allows a complete and final joining with the one that we choose to love.”
“Um, how many trips through the cleansing pool would it take for my shell—uh, my skin—to become transparent?” Charlie asked apprehensively. As much fun as the cleansing pool had been, she really didn’t want to become a living X-ray.
“Only a few hundred or so.” Nar’sa smiled encouragingly. “It would probably take longer than the short stay you have planned here but I can see about increasing your cleansing times if you like at least minimal transparency.”
“No, no—that’s okay,” Charlie said quickly. “That’s sweet of you but I’d really rather concentrate on uh, on the therapy. Stavros and I have a lot to work through.”
“That you do. It is very wise of you to know this.” Nar’sa nodded at her. “Very well then, once a day to the pool will have to suffice. For now, let us get you dressed and prepare you for last meal.”
“Oh, is it supper time here?” Charlie’s stomach growled and she realized that the delicious strawberry cupcake she’d had back on the Mother Ship had been hours ago.
“It is indeed.” Nar’sa was already leading her down another long pink corridor as they left the shimmering cleansing pool behind. “You and your mate will be dining together in the main feeding room. That is usual for most meals.”
“Okay—that sounds good.” After the soothing trip through the cleansing pool, even the prospect of seeing Stavros again couldn’t upset her. After all, they were just partners. It wasn’t like there was anything between them. “Um, I am going to get some clothes though, right?” she asked. Just because her partner had seen her naked once didn’t mean she wanted to give a repeat performance.
“Naturally. I have your robe here.”
They had come out into another vast room, this one empty with rows of blank white rectangular pillars about six feet tall. Nar’sa walked to one of the columns and touched it lightly three times with her right hand. Then she motioned for Charlie to do the same.
A bit apprehensively, Charlie did so. To her surprise, the entire six foot tall rectangular pillar lit up from within and began glowing with a pale pink light.
“There, now this locker is keyed to your touch,” Nar’sa murmured. “It will provide you with fresh garments every day as well as any equipment you might need for your various classes. Not that much is needed in the First Circle.”
As she spoke, a small door slid open and Charlie looked inside to see a white robe with a broad blue sash hanging inside.
“There you are—your novice robes.” Nar’sa smiled at her proudly. She touched another locker and got a crimson robe exactly like the one she’d discarded before stepping into the plasma. She put it on as she spoke. “Be glad, my dear. These robes prove the cleansing pool has determined that you are fit and worthy to begin your instruction here.”
“Oh goody,” Charlie muttered. She wondered what would have happened if the pool hadn’t decided she was worthy. Would she have been sent away? Or forced to just go naked? It didn’t bear thinking about—she was so glad to get some clothes on again! Not that she had body issues or anything…well, okay, her hips and ass were way too big, that was a given. But even if she’d had a perfectly pert derrière, she didn’t like walking around with everything on display. It was going to feel good to cover up!
She took out the robe—which appeared to be just floating there in midair in the glowing pillar-locker—and put it on. It fit her more like a dress than a loose robe and it seemed to join together at the front with some kind of invisible magnetic closures. She was just about to put the sash around her waist when she realized something.
“Hey—this is see-through!”
It was true. Though the robe covered her in an apparently modest way from her chest all the way down to her feet, when she moved in certain ways, the soft white fabric, which felt like a cross between cotton and silk, had a disconcerting way of going partially transparent. That was, unless the light was hitting it just right—in which case it went completely transparent.
Charlie was aghast. Her breasts and the neatly trimmed thatch of curls between her thighs were extremely visible. Her nipples were poking against the thin material and playing peek-a-boo depending on how she moved and twisted or how the light hit her.
“I can’t wear this!” she protested, looking up at Nar’sa. “It’s…it’s indecent. Why can’t I have a red robe like yours?”
Nar’sa laughed gently as though this was the best joke she’d heard all day.
“Why, because you are not of the Third and Inner Circle yet. The Circle of Oneness.”
Charlie bit the inside of her cheek in aggravation. So here was yet another thing she and Stavros had screwed up by overplaying their parts as unhappy spouses. She supposed it was her fault—she had started it. The whole “don’t touch me, I hate you” routine had seemed right at the time. And to tell the truth, it had been kind of satisfying to give vent to some of the irritation she had been feeling for him.
Well, now she was paying for it—paying in a big way. Had she just been thinking how nice it would be to get covered up and not put everything on display? Ha, Charlie—looks like the joke is on you! You’re going to be walking around in a see-through robe this whole mission. Hope slapping your partner was worth it! whispered a snarky little voice in her head.
“You need not be ashamed or worried,” Nar’sa said, breaking her train of thought. “You will not be the only one wearing such a robe—they are assigned to all novices.”
“I’m not worried about all the other novices,” Charlie burst out. “I’m worried about—”
“About your mate?” Nar’sa said gently. “About Stavros? My dear, I do not think you have anything to worry about. I saw the way he looked at you when the two of your were unclothed, even briefly. Clearly he finds you most desirable.”
“Yeah, well…” Charlie could feel her cheeks getting hot and she looked away. “That’s…what I’m
afraid of.”
“You need not fear to give yourself to him,” Nar’sa said. “Not right away, of course. But when you’re ready. First you must learn each other’s bodies.”
“Uh, right.” Charlie cleared her throat. “Well, anyway, how does this sash fit? I don’t suppose I can wrap it here, can I?” She tried to wrap the broad, royal blue sash around her breasts but Nar’sa shook her head. Taking the sash from her, she wrapped it around Charlie’s waist and tied it on the side which had the effect of pulling the clinging white fabric of the robe even closer to her body.
“There,” she said, standing back. “You look lovely.”
“Thanks,” Charlie looked down at herself glumly. If anyone had told her she would have to go around in a see-through robe in front of God and everybody—and don’t forget Stavros—whispered the snarky little voice, she might not have been so quick to volunteer for this mission. Then again, who else could have gone in her place?
I’m doing this to save my planet, she reminded herself grimly. Eyes on the prize, Charlie. You can do this—you have to do this.
“Well,” she said out loud. “I guess we should go to dinner now, right?”
“In a moment. It appears that the locker holds something else for you—perhaps something to be used in your first class.”
Charlie looked into the glowing locker again, which had been empty a moment ago, and was surprised to see something she recognized. It was a hairbrush. A big, old fashioned one with medium-stiff bristles and a heavy wooden handle.
“What’s that for?” she asked apprehensively. It reminded her of the one her mom had used on her as a little girl. The trouble was, Mama had been just as apt to use the heavy thing for dishing out a whuppen as for brushing hair.
Nar’sa shook her head. “I do not know—clearly the cleansing pool thought you needed it. It’s purpose will doubtless be revealed in time.”
“Are we supposed to do some kind of weird BDSM thing where Stavros spanks me or something?” Charlie asked, frowning. “Because I’ll tell you right now, I’m not up for that. It might get some girls off but it doesn’t do a damn thing for me.”
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