by Gregg Vann
I looked up from the instrument panel and back toward the rear of the ship—the direction of the shower and bedroom. I’d raped Meela in that bed, and murdered her in it as well. Then I cut her body up in the shower, using a laser scalpel to minimize the mess.
I remembered her skin blanching soon after death; the beautiful green glow was gone, replaced by a sickly white pallor.
As the memories continued to swirl through my mind, I heard the sound of screaming, and saw intermittent flashes of pure horror. My feet drenched in Meela’s blood, tracking it through the ship as I went to fetch the supply box; my hands turning purple as I wrapped the pieces of her body up in plastic; the sight of Meela’s corpse, stuffed down inside that horrible blue container.
It all happened not ten meters from where I was sitting.
What had I done?
No!
Not me, I thought. HIM.
IT WAS HIM!
{Decompress-Reset…OVERRIDE}
Yes. Of course it was me.
I did it. And I must pay for the crime.
I resumed my landing preparations.
A little over an hour later, I entered the Blenej atmosphere, dropping directly into Wiya’s airspace. The rain was coming down in thick sheets—a torrential downpour that completely obscured the large city, and taxed the considerable abilities of its flight controllers. Only the brightest lights from the metropolis managed to cut through the murky darkness, providing a negligible amount of hazy illumination at low altitude. But despite the rough flying conditions, I could swear I saw other craft surrounding me during my descent.
When it became my turn to land, I was told to proceed to an isolated customs hangar and wait for a ground escort—the controller informing me that it was an order, not a request. I was instantly wary about having minders during my visit, but maybe it was unrealistic to think the Blenej would just let me wander around freely. I acknowledged the instructions and put the ship down exactly as directed, inching it into an open docking berth that was exposed to the elements.
I grabbed my robe and triggered the hatch, waiting patiently as the metal walkway extended out to the wet pavement below. Thick, muggy air drifted in through the opening, and heavy rain pelted the outside of the ship. I noticed water splashing across the bottom of the ramp as it flowed over the smooth contours of the fuselage and down to the ground. So I cinched the robe around myself tightly, and then pulled the hood over my head before departing the ship.
I was almost halfway down the ramp when I saw my escort.
It was The Red.
Tears
There has to be evil
so that good can prove its purity above it.
The Buddha
“Stop!”
A voice rang out loudly, rising above the steady roar of wind and rain. The sharp command was followed by a distinctive high-pitched whine, cutting through the air. The all-too-familiar sound of energy weapons powering up.
“Lie down flat on your stomach with your arms extended straight out!”
“Here…on the ramp?” I called back.
Through the deluge, I could dimly make out four distinct shapes—all heavily armed, their weapons pointed directly at me.
I saw one of them motion to the others to stay behind, and then he strode toward the ship alone. As he approached, I noticed that his top two arms held a rifle, but he was also clutching a club in one of his bottom hands. The soldier repeatedly smacked it into the open palm of his opposing hand, the hard impacts matching the cadence of his steps exactly.
This was trouble.
We met on the ramp, halfway between the ship and the ground. My senses were screaming at me to run back into the vessel, and to not stop until I reached orbit. But I knew I had a responsibility here…and I would meet it.
That resolve never wavered, even as the Blenej speared me with the blunt end of his club, striking me hard in the stomach. The blow caused me to double over, breathless.
“Down! Now!” he yelled.
The Red then struck me repeatedly on the back until I fell flat on my stomach. I quickly pulled my hands from underneath me and stuck my arms out straight, before he took the opportunity to help me with that as well.
“I am unarmed,” I gasped. “I have permission to be here.”
“And I have permission to kill you if you make any threatening moves. So please do.”
There was no doubt in my mind that he meant it. That he wanted it. If I gave this soldier the slightest excuse or provocation, he would shoot or beat me to death—maybe both. He signaled down to one of the other Reds to come up the ramp and join him.
They both began searching me, roughly emptying out my pockets and rifling through the folds of my robe. They even pulled out equipment for an internal scan, looking for anything I might have hidden inside my body.
The new arrival waved his scanning wand across my torso for a second time, shaking his head. “I can’t penetrate one of the structures in its chest. It’s heavily shielded.” He reached down and pulled my head back by the hair, placing his face mere inches from my own. “Maybe we should cut it out and have a look.”
“No,” the other Red said forcefully. “It is the abomination. The Green Mother has permitted it.”
“This is too much, Hes! She asks for our help, and then lets this murderer liv—”
“Silence! It’s not for you or me to say. She has given us an order.”
The soldier reluctantly acquiesced. He didn’t agree—that much was clear—but would thankfully follow his instructions. “Gah!” He kicked me in the ribs to vent his frustration, and then snapped, “Get up, machine!”
I slowly pulled my hands in from the sides and pushed myself up into a crouched position. Then I cautiously stood up straight—no sudden or threatening motions. No excuses.
“Am I free to go?” I asked hopefully.
“No!” They said in unison.
“I am Ne Hes,” the Blenej holding the club said. “And I am in charge of the escort detail during your visit.” He spat the word out. “You tell me where you want to go, and I say yes or no. No discussions. No appeals.”
“I would like to see the Green Mother,” I said.
“Wha…no. You can’t!” the other Red protested.
“Let’s go,” Hes said. “She already told me to bring you to her first.”
Hes’s companion was startled, but said nothing more as we walked down the ramp, meeting up with the other two soldiers waiting below. The Red encircled me and we moved out as a group—through the busy spaceport and into the city proper.
When Hes walked a little ahead to lead the formation, his partner leaned in and whispered, “When I get my chance, murderer, I will kill you.” He pressed his gun barrel into my ribs to amplify his intentions. Hes either heard him, or otherwise sensed trouble.
“Back off Trex!” He barked.
The Red angrily stepped away from me, dropping back to the rear of the group.
It was only a short journey to the Life Palace where the Green Mother dwelled, but the strange combination of Blenej Reds and a human walking down the street together guaranteed us many stares and whispers. The Reds were alert and typically assertive, staring back at the onlookers and forcing many of the Green to look away.
“Damned monsoon season,” I heard one of my guards complain. He and Trex were walking side by side several paces behind me. As if on cue, Trex stepped into a deep puddle and the water flowed over the top of his cuff, pouring down into the boot to soak his foot completely.
“Gah!” he said disgustedly. “I can’t wait to get back home. How do The Green deal with this every year?”
“I have no idea.”
We rounded a corner and the Green Mother’s residence came into view. It was one of the largest buildings in the city, and the literal birthplace of every Green. With our goal in sight, we increased our speed, marching straight toward the structure and the shelter it promised from the rain. But even at the quicker pace, I had ample time to reflect on
the unique biology of the Blenej people. And the occupant of the impressive building ahead was an important part of it.
Like most known species, the Blenej have two genders—but actual reproduction is accomplished by the Mother. She is like a Terran queen bee in some ways, but there are several marked differences in their respective reproductive roles and methods.
When a Blenej couple copulates, the female can choose to retain the sperm in a cyto pouch, and then infuse it with her own DNA. With her mate’s consent—and sometimes without—she can take this pouch to the Mother, and then transfer the blended sperm to her via a special orifice. The Mother provides an egg for fertilization, and three months later, births the child for the couple—who then go on to raise it themselves.
Each Blenej color has its own specific and singular Mother—Reds, Greens, and Blues. And there are only three total in existence at any one time. Unsurprisingly, the Mothers are huge, and capable of churning out thousands of children per week if the demand or necessity exists.
If I hadn’t killed Meela, would she have kept the sperm? Given it to the Mother to conceive a child? No…my seed died with her. Within her.
It wasn’t as if the sex was consensual. The truth was that she’d rejected me, and I took what Meela wouldn’t give freely. Even my own deep pool of narcissism couldn’t negate that reality.
I pushed those thoughts aside as we reached the lavishly decorated building, taking shelter under a wide, tricolored awning that ran the full length of the exterior wall. We followed it around to the back of the palace, where we found a single door placed in the center of the immense rear wall. It appeared to be a seldom-used service entrance. Hes entered a code into the security panel, and the door swung open to allow us entry.
I stepped inside, and immediately felt a wave of warm, dry air blow over me. The foyer was small, barely big enough for the five of us to fit in it together. And on the opposite side of the tiny room I saw another door, set into the interior wall.
“You go alone from here, murderer,” Hes said. He pointed at the opposite door with three arms, including the one holding the club. “She is expecting you.”
“We’ll be here waiting for you, human,” Trex added in a threatening voice. “Don’t do anything stupid.”
Hes scoffed. “The Green Mother can take care of herself.”
I walked through the inner door, leaving my escort behind.
A long hallway trailed off to the left, sloping down into darkness. I carefully followed along the barely lit path until I hit a dead end, and then the hall abruptly turned to the right. I continued shuffling my way forward until I finally reached an airlock of some sort. I tried peering through the single large window mounted in the center of it, but I couldn’t detect anything on the other side. There was no sound, smell, or even a trace of illumination. Curiously, cautiously, I spun the wheel latch to open the door.
Bright lights came on as I stepped out into one of the largest interior spaces I’d ever seen.
And sitting right in the middle of it was the Green Mother.
“Come closer,” I heard her say. Her voice was soft, yet full of authority.
I hesitantly walked toward the enormous green vessel of undulating flesh. Her size was astounding! The Mother’s thick skin rippled as underlying muscles flexed and contracted as needed to move the giant creature, and she turned to face me by pushing off the ground with her four massive arms, spinning around until we were face to face.
“You took one of my children, Fallon Gent. And now I find you standing before me, unarmed. Brazen indeed. Or perhaps you are just simple, foolish and stupid. Normally, I never would have consented to this charade. But your monk’s promises of immortality have given them much power, even here.”
She opened her cavernous mouth and drew in a deep breath. “Why are you here, machine? Why have you come to Blenej? You cannot bring her back.”
“No, Honored Mother. I can’t. No one can. She is beyond our reach, and even the Bodhi can’t restore Meela now. But I need to make an effort—to help in any way that I can. It’s why I wanted to see you.”
The Green Mother clenched her upper hands into large fists and her voice grew louder, reverberating off the metal walls. “You will find no solace here, Gent. What you’ve done can’t be fixed, healed…or forgotten.”
“I know this. But there are things I wish to offer, nonetheless.”
She leaned down, looming over me menacingly. The Green Mother’s eyes were almost a full meter across, but they met mine directly. “I’m listening,” she said.
“First, I wish to bequeath my musical instruments and all research related to them to the Musicians Guild—to be kept in a trust, in Meela’s name. Second, I pledge to never play music again—ever—in this life or the next. That talent was used to seduce and kill Meela, and I will leave it behind to help atone for my crimes. Lastly, I—”
“You can do this?” the Green Mother asked. “Gent was an artist of some renown. Your monks will allow you to make this sacrifice?” She backed away from me, and then looked off to one side in obvious contemplation.
“I can and have,” I assured her. “I will not be happy about it when I’m reborn in my new body, but that is the point. And lastly, I wish to set up an annuity to pay for the annual release of Meela’s soul.”
“So you know about that, do you? Even if you hadn’t offered, I would see it done myself. Meela didn’t live long enough to marry or have children—to have a family that could see to the ritual after her death. You took everything from her murderer. Everything.”
I could see the fury building inside her and I felt the danger. Green or no, there is real anger here, and a true threat. I must be careful. I immediately lowered my voice, projecting a calm and submissive tone to help diffuse the situation.
“There is one other thing, Honored Mother. I would like to sit with Meela’s soul…now…for this year’s release.”
“You will not!” she answered. The Green Mother propelled her huge body toward me threateningly, and I could smell the aroma of exotic perspiration mixed in with her rage. She was impressive—frightening, even—in full form and purposeful movement. Yet I held my ground.
“I must,” I countered. “I owe it to her. It is the very least that I can do.”
She again lowered her gigantic head to match the height of my own, her broad nose mere inches away. The Green Mother’s breath was hot on my face. “The least you could have done was let her live.”
She backed away and spat on the ground. “I don’t even know what you are…not really. Are you an innocent machine, sent to do the work of an animal? Or the animal himself, hiding behind a pawn?”
“I am neither,” I explained. “I am Fallon Gent. But my actions…my perversities, are suppressed by a Shepherd Personality. The restrictive program guides me, promoting empathy for my victims by triggering memory stimuli that reminds me of the horror of my actions.”
“So you are nothing more than him. No independent mind?”
“There is an Operational Matrix installed to control this body. It is programmed to help devise and carry out the proper atonements. But no individual growth or development of that matrix is possible. Everything is built on top of the soul I carry—added to it. So without Gent’s soul, the foundation, there is no sentience.”
“I understand.” The Green Mother sighed, and then closed her eyes halfway. Her anger faded to nothingness and she looked tired, sad even. “I will permit this once, and once only. You may sit with Meela this year and then never again. Never return to Blenej, machine. If either you or the reborn animal attempts to come back here, you will die. Do you understand?”
“I do, Honored Mother, and I appreciate your indulgence in this matter. With your permission, I will go now and have Meela brought out. And after the five days of mourning, I promise to depart in my ship and never return.”
“Very well, machine. Your escort will remain at your side until you leave the planet.”
; “Of course. Thank you, Green Mother.”
“Don’t thank me. This changes nothing. If it wasn’t for your cursed monks, I would have had your ship vaporized before it touched the ground.”
She saw the surprise on my face.
“Don’t look so shocked, machine. My children are just as kind and passive as they seem. They are beautiful creatures, untainted by violence. I, however, am not. Nearly 80 years ago, I was the Red Mother.”
What?
“I don’t understand,” I said.
“We Mothers shift, changing color, alignment, even places over time. And we forget nothing. I remember the rage of The Red. Those soldiers outside are my children—even if they don’t know it. This is the secret of how we are all bound together. How we are truly one species. We Mothers are the ties that bind; the link between that connects us all.”
The Green Mother turned away from me, and then used her massive arms to pull herself toward a large opening on the other side of the room. She stopped at the oval doorway, and without looking back, said, “I don’t know why I tell you this, machine. I suppose that in some small way I want you to understand the Blenej better—to realize how you’ve hurt us. But in the end, it really doesn’t matter. You will be dead, and the animal will return. My words will have been wasted.”
“I will remember,” I assured her. “I am him.”
She slid through the opening and turned to look back at me, speaking softly before the door closed her in behind it. “No, machine. You are not. I can see it now…your monks are wrong. It’s possible they don’t even know it themselves. But it’s more likely that they do, and are lying to you. You poor creature…”
She disappeared behind the sliding door and I turned to leave.
They never understand, I thought to myself. Never.
But despite my casual dismissal, the Green Mother’s final words continued to echo through my mind.
When I returned to the small entryway, I found that three of the Red had left; only Hes remained. I began to explain what happened, and where we needed to go next. But before I could finish, the Blenej waved me to silence. It was apparent that he’d already been briefed on my conversation with the Green Mother.
