Stardust, Starlust

by Gabriella Bradley

  “This hurts, Paul, the fact that this is my daughter and I don’t have milk for her. Also that this is just a moment in the past, that right now my daughter is already a teenager.”

  “But you will see her grow up. I’m determined we shall not miss a moment of our children’s lives, my pet.”

  “But how can we ever catch up if time here moves so quickly?”

  “Shortly, we will travel forward a day, and then another day. We can have many visits in one day and witness their growth and experience their love.”

  “What about the clone mothers? Where are they now?”

  “Waiting in another room.”

  “I’m jealous.”

  “How can you be jealous of yourself? But here is our next baby. A son this time,” he said and held out his arms to accept the babe.

  In sheer wonder she gazed down at her offspring and felt all her maternal instincts well up inside. Her daughter had a tuft of dark hair, tiny slate blue eyes gaze up her, a small hand curled in her long hair. The feeling the suckling created was unexplainable. It was like nothing she’d ever felt in her life and a tear slid slowly down her cheek at the realization that she couldn’t nurture her babies. She gazed at the little boy Paul held tenderly, at the cap of smooth blond hair, the darkish skin, like his father.

  Before long, she held four babies, two of them crying while two were sucking desperately at her nipples, and Paul held the other five, three in one arm and two in the other.

  “We need to give them up now so they can be cleansed,” Paul finally said, reluctantly handing over the babies one by one to a team of nurses waiting to take them.

  “I don’t want to let them go. Paul, can’t we take them with us?”

  “No, my love. They’ve already reached their teens now. This is the past, remember? But don’t fret. We’ll have our own family on Earth.”

  “But this is our own family. I don’t want to leave.”

  “We have to. I’d like you to meet your clones first, and then we will visit the infants once more and I will move us forward in time to when they’re a little older.”

  “I wish I had a camera so I could record all this.”

  “I don’t think your camera will function on our world, but I can give you images to keep.”

  “You can?” she asked hopefully.

  “Yes. We have a similar process here. While we were holding our babies, a computer recorded our images. I will ask the technician to print off several copies for us, and again when we move forward in time.”

  Reluctantly she gave up the babies to the waiting hands of the nurses. It was hard to get the babies to let go off her nipples, and when they did and left her arms, she had an empty feeling.

  “Come now, I’ll introduce you to the clones,” Paul said, while placing his arm around her.

  He led her to another room and waited while a panel slid into the wall so they could enter. Sharin stopped dead in her tracks. Sitting around the room were more than half a dozen replicas of herself and of Paul. She couldn’t see any difference in the women from herself, or in the men from Paul. They were all identical.

  “Paul, if you’re such an important figure on this planet, then why should it be permitted that you’re cloned?”

  “The clones will be terminated once the children have become adults,” he said matter of factly.

  “That’s like killing me,” she protested, “and yourself.”

  “Not really. You have to regard them as robots, not as real people.”

  “But they have feelings.”

  “They won’t even realize that they’re being terminated. It doesn’t hurt. When they were created, a chip was built into them that will terminate them automatically in 21 years, without pain.”

  “Our children won’t even be able to understand me.”

  “Yes. The clones can speak English, just like you and I.”

  “So they’ve heard everything we said?”

  “No, the shield is still in place. They haven’t seen us yet.” He waved his hand and suddenly all eyes focused on Paul and Sharin.

  The women sent her resentful glances, jealousy evident. It was then she realized that they had exactly her feelings, jealousy of them handling her babies, and they were jealous of the woman they’d been cloned from. But did they know?

  “Paul,” she whispered, “do they know who we are?”

  “Yes. They have been programmed to realize they are temporary parents, but they possess our feelings. I realize there is antagonism here. Maybe it’s better that we leave.”

  “Then why aren’t they antagonistic toward each other?”

  “Because of the programming.”

  “Well, then the powers that be should have programmed them differently. They should have implanted a liking for us. Not resentment.”

  “You are the first one who is insisting to be part of your babies’ childhood.”

  “I am? What about the other babies that were stolen from my ancestors?”

  “I don’t consider it stealing. It’s an agreement between your people and mine.”

  “It wasn’t my agreement,” she said resentfully. “I want my babies, on Earth, for us to raise.”

  “And how would we raise nine children all at once?”

  “There’s plenty of money. The estate can pay for nannies.”

  “And how would we explain bringing nine teenagers to Earth and raising them as our own?”

  “One of them will look exactly like you. We could never pass them off as adopted children. Sweetheart, you have to think rationally. You’ll see them growing up. Each day we’ll visit them, and you won’t miss a whole lot. They’ll know us as their real parents.”

  “But can they ever come to Earth and live with us?”

  “No. Only one daughter and one son will be able to travel to Earth. The eldest son and daughter born on my planet. The child you are carrying will also be able to travel back and forth.”

  She allowed herself to be propelled from the room. “Come, I’ll take you to another room and we will move forward in time. When is the next time you would like to see them?”

  “Every day. Every minute.”

  “Honey, we can’t do that. Three months intervals perhaps, six months, and don’t forget, they’ll be living with their cloned parents then and we’ll have to hop from home to home. It won’t be as simple as this first visit where we saw all of them at once.”

  “Three months then.”

  Sharin had no idea how he did it, but when she woke up from the trance he put her in, she was surrounded by all her nine babies and no clones in sight. She felt utter delight in their gurgles, their smiles, and had a hard time letting go of them when he said it was time.

  That day, they visited with the babies until their first birthday. They called her Mommy and ran to her as if she’d always been there with them.

  When Paul told her it was time to leave and go back to Earth, she felt like her heart would break. But she also knew the little ones would not really miss her.

  * * * * *

  When they returned to the secret room, it was still only afternoon, but she felt exhausted. “Paul, I’m so tired. Do you mind if I nap for a little while?”

  “No, my love, go ahead. I’ll go for a walk,” he said. “I’ll take you to your room. You do look drained.”

  “It’s all been too much to digest in one day.”

  “I understand.”

  “You need to shower before you go outside,” she said looking at his glowing skin.

  “Yes, I know. Don’t worry. Since you’ve given everyone the day off, no one is around to see me anyway.”

  “Right.” She leaned on him as they went down the spiral stairs and headed for the bedroom. Once he’d tucked her in, she hardly heard him leave the room.

  Her sleep was dreamless, until from somewhere far away she heard loud voices. Struggling awake, she sat up and pushed her damp hair from her forehead. “Wow! What a hellish dream I’ve had,” she muttere
d and sat up in bed.

  But as she stretched, she noticed the glow of her skin and frowned. Instantly, she was wide-awake and jumped out of bed. She ran to the window and glanced outside. Below, in the courtyard, two men were arguing. One was the man of her dreams, Paul. The other she didn’t know. He was shorter than Paul in stature, swarthy. Long black hair hung tangled around a bearded face, the clothes looked baggy, dirty. The man waved his arms as he talked in an agitated tone. Then he waved a fist in Paul’s face.

  “No dream,” she whispered, “and who the hell is this?”

  Hurriedly she jumped into sweats and rushed down the stairs and out of the front door. “Paul, what is going on?” she shouted to make herself heard above the men’s voices.

  “Sweetheart, go inside!” Paul said in clipped tones.

  “No. Who is this man?”

  “It’s Martin.”

  “I see. Well, cousin Martin. Nice to meet you,” she said in her sweetest voice, though the sight of him made her feel queasy. She could hardly imagine this man to be Mary’s son.

  “So this is the supposed heiress,” the man said with a thick accent.

  “Not supposed. She’s the only heiress.”

  “Well, cousin, nice to meet you, too,” Martin said and sidled up to her, kneeling before her.

  When he grabbed her hand and his thick slobbery lips kissed her fingers, she felt nauseated. “Please don’t do that,” she said, yanking back her hand.

  Paul came to stand beside her, placing his arm around her shoulders. “Martin, please leave. You’re not welcome here.”

  “I’ll stay if I want. You seem to forget, my mother lives here and my father was his lordship. I have rights.”

  “I can’t force you to leave, but neither do we want any trouble.”

  “I won’t make trouble, I promise. Now that I’ve met the new lady of the house, I know where my place is. Cousin, do I have your permission to stay?”

  Sharin felt uncomfortable and didn’t know what to do or say. “I suggest you go and visit your parents in the cottage. I’m sure they have a room for you.”

  “Oh, but I have my own room in the mansion. Didn’t my mother tell you?”

  She shivered. “I see. No, Mary didn’t tell me. So be it. It is your right to occupy your own room.”

  Paul squeezed her shoulder hard as she spoke, indicating that he wasn’t happy with her words, but what could she do?

  “So this man is your husband?” Martin asked as he stood up. He was slightly shorter than her and had to look way up at Paul.

  “Will be this coming week,” she answered, hardly realizing that she’d made up her mind to make their union legal.

  “Mm, so I’m still in time then,” Martin said with a sly smile as he left them, walked up the steps and entered the house.

  “What did he mean, Paul?”

  “I think he’s planning to try and stop us from marrying. The man knows too much. If he exposes me to the authorities, it could mean havoc and tragedy for my planet and our children.”

  “That can’t happen. How can we stop it?”

  “I don’t know. First of all I have to look into getting false papers immediately. But if any doctor ran a blood test on me, they’d know. We have to silence him somehow.”

  “You don’t mean…”

  “No. We’re a non violent people. There has to be a way. I might have to return to Kantassa and discuss this with the council. Perhaps they have a solution.”

  “How can they have a solution for Earth matters?”

  “I don’t know, but it’s worth a try. I’ll do anything to protect us and our family.”

  “Paul, I knew I loved you, but now I know how much.”

  “And I love you, my heart. I can’t leave you alone with this man. Maybe I’ll speak to Mary.”

  Arms around each other, they entered the mansion only to listen to a tirade from upstairs. Martin shouted at the top of his lungs, “Bastards! Couldn’t even leave my room alone! I’ll pay them back. She’ll suffer!”

  “Well, that settles it. I can’t leave you out of my sight for a second,” Paul growled softly. “Wait here while I go and settle him down.”

  “Paul, did you ever meet him before?”

  “Yes. When my father, Lord Jackson, was still alive, he brought me back here often.”

  “Just like you and I can bring our eldest children back here to visit?”

  “Yes. And Martin always hated me. And since Mary told him all the secrets, his hatred has grown so much, that he is a man to be feared.”

  “He could never overpower you, Paul. As long as I’m with you…”

  “But men like him will not fight fairly. Beware, my darling. Guard your back, your left, your right, as well as mine, and I’ll do the same for you.”

  “This whole affair has put a damper on everything. First having to leave my babies, now this. I’m not even sure now I want to deal with it all. The urge to go back to the USA is very strong in me right now, and to take you with me, to leave all this behind and live a quiet life with our children.”

  “I know, my heart. But we have a responsibility to fulfill, and a responsibility to our children. Your parents ran away, remember? And look what happened to them. If we run from our duty, then we’ll never see our children on Kantassa again.”

  “Children? What children?” a voice interrupted their conversation.

  “Oh, the children in the orphanage I volunteer at,” Sharin said quickly, and she wasn’t lying as she’d volunteered at the local orphanage not too long ago.

  “Who cares about a bunch of orphans. If you want to run back to cozy America, then go ahead. I won’t stop you.”

  “And that would suit you just fine, wouldn’t it?” Paul said sarcastically.

  “It would just give me my birthright. I am after all the eldest offspring.”

  “But not a legal offspring.”

  “Not an alien offspring, you mean.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Paul bit back.

  “You know very well what I’m talking about, cousin. Don’t tell me you haven’t informed the lady yet? Although, I find her make-up rather curious.”

  Shocked, Sharin remembered she hadn’t showered and her skin still had traces of stardust on it. “It’s just glitter, cousin. Or haven’t you heard of it? None of your women ever put it on their bodies?” she asked.

  “I see you’ve got an answer for everything. Well, I’m famished. Where’s my mother anyway?”

  “I gave Mary the day off.”

  “Well, dammit, go fetch her, woman. I’m starving.”

  “She’s not the cook. And if you know this house so well, then find the kitchen and make yourself something to eat,” Paul snapped. “Come, Sharin. We’ll Leave Martin to find some food for himself. I’m in need of a shower after jogging for a while.”

  After Paul closed the bedroom door behind him and leaned against it, she saw the concern on his face. “Paul, what are we going to do?”

  “At this point, my darling, I have no idea.”

  “You know, most of the will I didn’t even hear. I wonder if there was anything in it about him.”

  “Maybe we should give Devon a call tomorrow?”

  “Yes, that’s what I’ll do, find out from the solicitor where we stand. Paul, I think we should wash this stardust off our bodies now, and if we’re going to visit our babies every day, we’ll have to be careful to shower immediately.”

  “Yes, that’s important, though he knows my background, and the family history, thanks to your uncle and to Mary.”

  “So if I died in childbirth, like my uncle’s wife, then you could never take another woman?”

  “I could, not that I’d want to. But I could never have a child with another woman. And vice versa. If I died, you could have another man in your life, but never have a child with that man.”

  “That’s hardly fair.”

  “It would taint the blood and you’d end up with a creep
like Martin for a son.”

  “Heaven forbid.”

  “Enough talk about Martin, about everything. I want you now, I need you,” he said and opposed to his usual tenderness he grabbed her hard and crushed her body against his so hard, her breasts smarted against his chest.

  “Paul, you’re hurting me,” she said, near to tears.

  He stopped instantly and stood back. “I’m so sorry, my love. I have to take great care of you now. You’re expecting our child and Earth women are not as hardy as the clones on Kantassa who are perfect.”

  “Are you saying that I’m imperfect?”

  “Hell, no. To me you’re perfection, but you’re fragile.”

  “I don’t feel very fragile. You can make love to me, just don’t be so rough,” she said and snuggled up to his chest. “And my pregnancy still has to be proven.”

  “Believe me, you’re going to have a baby,” he said while his lips kissed the top of her head. “Have I told you yet what a glorious crown of hair you have?”

  “No, but telling me now is good,” she said, smiling shyly.

  “It’s like spun threads of moondust. It’s so silky and I love the curls.”

  “I hate my curls,” she sighed. “I can never look like the women in fashion magazines, smooth, sleek, like a model.”

  “But I love you the way you are. Models in fashion magazines look cold, calculating, no life in their eyes, and their hair looks too professional. You can be my personal model. After we have a shower together,” he sad with a grin.

  “Oh, and what do I model for you?”

  “All those beautiful dresses in the closet.”

  “I don’t even know if they’ll fit me. I haven’t tried them on.”

  “They’ll fit. But I want to see you in them…”

  She giggled as he picked her up in his strong arms and carried her to the shower in the corner of the large bathroom. Three showerheads on each side of the stall sent jets of water squirting at them. Laughing and squealing, they scrubbed the remaining stardust off each other’s bodies, until she knelt down and washed his cock and his balls. Instantly, it sprang to life under her deft fingers, and she took it into her mouth. At first she just rolled her tongue around the head, played with the hole, tasted the salty liquid that oozed from it, then she closed her lips around his cock and sucked hard, at the same time moving the skin back and forth, her hands playing with his taut sack. She felt his hands in her hair, manipulating the shampoo, but at the same time his taut grip on her hair made her realize how turned on he was.