Fire & Flesh

by Kerri Carr

  "Never mind that," she sighed. She wouldn't know what to do with that information anyway. "Can you get the pod to communicate with the others? Better still, can you get it to take us back there?" She ran her fingers through her hair as she paced the small ten by ten foot pod, ignoring her mother's voice telling her to stop it.

  "Jeshi," Gedha began as he limped over to her. He pulled her into a hug, stroking get hair, like he used to when they were ten. "We're going to be fine. I'm sure everyone else is also fine. We just have to get in touch with them, and that, I can do," he smiled as he moved back to the pod's equipment.

  "You should be more worried about how we get down from this mountain." Jesh finally cracks a smile, as had been his intention. "Oh please, I'm pretty sure there's no mountain here that is steeper than Mount Kulu, and we climbed up and down that thing throughout our childhood."

  After a few minutes of laser-focused tinkering—totally ignoring her pacing—he looked up and frowned.

  "What? What is it?" She hurried to his side, trying to make a little sense of what's looked like gibberish to her.

  "I... I can't get a signal from any of the other pods," he said as he continued jabbing at buttons. "Why can't I get any signal? Maybe something’s happened to them, maybe their landing was..." He babbled on, beginning to fall into his own hysteria.

  "Hey, hey, deep breaths. You were among the engineers that built these pods right? And you guys practically made these things indestructible. I mean, we just blew in at enormous speeds and we're barely scratched. They're fine. And so are we."

  Gedha began to calm down, and then started displaying the brilliance that earned him a spot in the mission. "Okay, well, maybe our transmission is off because we didn't account for the difference in atmospheric pressure, wind speed and gravity levels. This is stupid, because we accounted for all of these things during entry." Jesh saw that he was beginning to get all worked up again and distracted him.

  "Hey, didn't you people have a way to communicate with the ground base back on Gar?"

  "Well, yes, but it was on the mother ship," she sighed, this was going nowhere.

  "But..." He snapped his fingers and started typing and poking at display buttons once more, "we were all supposed to use the same frequency to communicate with each other after we detached. If I can just piggyback the signals, we might just get something."

  "Yes!" He pumped his right hand in the air as a sketchy voice started coming in through the speakers. He dialed and twisted a few knobs and the voice became clearer. At least clear enough for Jesh to know that it was her mother.

  "Hail, is this pod 147? That is the only one that hasn't reported in right?" S. P Jenks says to someone. Superintendent Jeshunasha Y Jenkins. Or S.P Jenks as she insisted everyone call her in her attempt to be more "approachable." It had never worked, at least to Jesh's knowledge.

  "Mom?" Jesh called.

  "Oh, Jeshunasha, it's you." She didn't sound particularly enthusiastic to hear from the daughter she'd basically banished to Earth because she wasn't showing enough potential and leadership promise.

  "I trust your landing was safe?" she continued.

  "We kind of had a crash. We ended up in Virginia, that's the United States of America. And we can't get in touch with any of the others."

  "Of course you landed in the United States. That's how we pre-planned it."

  "What?" Jesh yelled, shocked.

  "Why didn't we know about this? Why weren't we told? We're taking all these risks and you couldn't even give us the information we'd need?"

  Her mother sighed, put out, like she was talking with a child who didn't understand what the world was about. "Please Jeshunasha, do not whine and complain like a child deprived of sweets. We accounted for your safety and made up for your technical ignorance by paring you with Engineer Gedhansi Raol. Like I said earlier, you were perfectly safe the whole time."

  Jesh thought of telling her mother about Gedha being unconscious on arrival, but she decided, she would just rather be done with this call so they can begin trying to find their way.

  "Okay Mother. I assume that there is another mission for us since you knew we wouldn't land in Africa," Jesh asked

  "No, we've already assigned the complex missions to people a little more likely to get the job done." Jesh winced, and then waited for her mother to continue talking.

  S.P Jenks continued, oblivious to her troubles. "Your only mission is the one we gave you all initially, save our race from extinction. I trust that shouldn't be so hard, especially if you decide to have intercourse with the right gender." And she disconnected.

  Jesh turned to Gedha who was beginning to drift off into sleep, or maybe it was unconsciousness. "Hey Ged, you go to sleep, wake you every few hours to ensure that you’re okay, then you're fine, we'll begin the descent, to go... Fulfill the mission to save our race!"

  Gedha managed a small smile. "Are you going to be okay?" he asked drowsily.

  "Yes, we're both going to be fine. Now sleep," she assured him and then kissed him on the forehead.

  Chapter 3

  Right to the Mission. Right? Gedha

  Ten days. They'd been on Earth for ten days and Gedha wasn't sure if he loved or hated the place. They'd spent the first three days in the pod because Jesh insisted she wanted to be sure he was back to his full strength before they started going down the mountain. They had rations in the pod, enough to feed ten people for a month. They would eat, then come out of the pod and survey the area. First, they'd started with just a few yards outside the pod, but by the third day, they went as far as two miles. They packed up their belongings. Technically, their belongings had been packed for them before they had left Gar. It was a neatly packed backpack that contained a few clothes that the Council felt were "normal" to Earth people. Also, there was a wrist slide, a watch that straightened out to become a phone, the same kind that they used back on Gar, and could connect to Gar. He had called his mother and younger sister telling them everything he discovered about Earth, every day as he discovered them. Jesh hadn't used hers. She said the only person who she would have called was next to her, he might have had a little heart flutter. They hadn't been able to reach the others, and they'd stopped trying. There were documents stating that they were American citizens, addresses that they'd live in -Virginia, of course, as Jesh had explained to him.

  The Superintendent had known that they'd be landing in the area, and probably the Council and a few choice others, like Jesh's younger sister Bella, the S.P.'s perfect daughter and heir to the throne that Jesh had relinquished. He knew that she was hurt by the exclusion and unnecessary love her mother thought she was giving. He used to have a little crush on Jesh when they were younger, which had disappeared when she discovered that she liked females and that their friendship would be in danger if he continued.

  On the fourth day, Jesh deemed him fit to make the journey. Frankly, he was fit by the third day. He was sure she was just stalling.

  With Gar being a planet filled with people who had no problem with sexual promiscuity, it seemed like bad luck that the two people who were less interested in sexual activities got stuck together and away from all others. It wasn’t like neither of them had indulged in sex or related activities before, they had. He’d had his fair share of the female population. They were always drawn to him. He just didn’t delight in it like several of the Garrish seemed to. Jesh was the same way too, wait, okay maybe he ought to explain better. She liked sex, she loved sex, he knew, he’d witnessed several of her escapades. She just didn’t like having sex with the people that would give her children, you know, their entire mission. She liked having sex with females. She’d had sex with approximately one male. Again he knew because he was the one male. It happened just once, to fulfill her duty to Gar and to prove to herself that she was not interested in men. She wasn’t. That day had been a day for epiphanies however, because he discovered that he had it bad for her. He was saved from a magnificent embarrassment that day because he had
allowed her to speak first. Well, being a gentleman has always saved lives right?

  An apartment had already been prepared for them. Well, it wasn’t an apartment, it was a duplex and they had both sides to themselves. Gedha would be surprised if he was alone, but he wasn’t. He was paired with the daughter of the Superintendent, even if she was the less favored one. It was well furnished and in the suburbs. Jesh, ever the rebel hated it on sight. She wanted a bachelor pad in a high-rise building. Her dislike for the house was enough to finally push her to call her mother, to say that she was selling the house and buying a penthouse. The argument had been dragged on until Jesh informed her mother that she really couldn’t stop her as she was only informing her as a courtesy. Even then, the S.P. still wanting to corral and control her daughter all the way from another planet, had begun to reel out a set of rules to guide the location of the apartment and all. Jesh hung up.

  This is how he came to find himself staring out of a pure glass penthouse. The view was enough to remove any reservations and annoyance he had at Jesh for not talking to him about it first. From a city this busy and full, it was almost impossible to see any stars or the moon the way you could, so easily on Gar. They had so much space, their buildings where modest and far away from each other. Here, the city lights and skyline formed an enchanting image, a picturesque scene completely different from what he was used to. He turned to thank Jesh for insisting that they move as he heard her footsteps coming into the living room. His breath caught in his chest like a vice.

  She was wearing a red dress that molded itself to her figure. It had halter straps and went down to her knees. Her long blonde hair fell in soft tresses down her shoulders and back. She wore black strappy heel sandals. Her purple eyes, the one thing they all had in common, had turned to an intense deep shade. She was beautiful. In the space of a few seconds, he’d gone from admiring the beauty of the skyline to being floored by the sight of his childhood friend and crush in a red dress.

  In all their splendor and beauty on Gar, they did not wear bright colored or flamboyant dresses, maybe because they already had so much color around them.

  “Pick up your jaw Gedha, you’ve seen me in several dresses since we were ten, and even a few times without any,” she says, but the blush rising on her face and her smile gives her pleasure away.

  “You don’t look so bad yourself,” she continues as she walks around him brushing off some lint hanging on his shoulder. He was dressed in a navy blue shirt, sleeves rolled up to the elbow and black slacks.

  The club, Mile High situated on the twenty-seventh floor of another high rise, his choice this time, was classy, spacious and cozy all at once. Jesh made a beeline to the bar as soon as she ditched her jacket. He had taken his time, looking around, taking in the scene, and automatically cataloguing the people as suitable for the mission or not. In all that, he still kept an eye on Jesh to see if she needed him. This is the reason he immediately noticed when she sat next to her the first person that fit the mission bill. Of course, Jesh who wasn’t one to waste time when she wanted something was already seating next to her. He decides to turn in the opposite direction survey for other potentials.

  Chapter 4

  Fate? Choice? Who Knows? Alexis

  Alexis Donovan was having a liberation day. She had come back from work early to meet her boyfriend packing his stuff out of her apartment. Huh. She had always thought it was the other way around, guys kick girls out. Well it was her apartment so he couldn’t really kick her out. When she’d confronted him, he said she was boring and a “tight-ass” and he couldn’t do “this” anymore. She laughed because she realized her sister had been right the whole time as usual. God, she wasn’t going to hear the end of this for months. She already knew how her sister would react so she had decided she wouldn’t tell her until she couldn’t hide it anymore. More so, she had gained something from the lifeless relationship she’d had with Nathan Morgan. She was not living. She was boring and unexciting, you no longer took chances and had fun adventures, well, all that was going to change this night. She was going to take chances. Live life and remember the feeling she used to get in college before everything changed.

  “Who was he?” a female voice asks from beside her as she stared into the amber liquid she was swirling around. She didn’t turn around, assuming the lady was talking to someone else, she didn’t know anyone here.

  “Who was the person who made you question your life choices?” Now she looked because even if the person wasn’t talking to her, she’d just read her mind. Oh wow. She was gorgeous, if there is any slight chance of going home with her, I’ll do it. She flinched, shocked at her line of thought, she hadn’t dated or even had remotely sexual thoughts about any girls since what she’d termed her college experimental phase.

  “Just the latest asshole in my long line of assholes.” She laughs, which makes the lady smile, and wow, she squirms as that one smile sends current pooling down there.

  “I’m Jesh Jenkins,” she says holding out her shot glass. Weird name, but somehow it suits her. Alexis had never seen beauty like hers, so it was only fair that she have a name that was uncommon, different.

  “Alexis Donovan,” Alexis replies, clinking her glass with Jesh’s outstretched glass. They fell into easy discussion flirting from one topic to another, Alexis explaining about her ex-boyfriend and her new decision to be adventurous.

  “I’m going to start with my bucket list,” Alexis says, nodding her head emphatically as she throws back the rest of her drink and slides the glass across the counter for the bartender to refill.

  “What’s a bucket list?” the bartender, and a few people close to them turn to stare at Jesh.

  “What? How can you not know what a bucket list is? Are you even from this planet?”

  “No, I’m not.” Everyone laughs at Jesh’s reply and turn back to mind their own affairs. “So what is it?” Jesh asks lowering her voice.

  “Oh you were serious. Okay, a bucket list is a list of adventurous things you want to do before you die, you know, like mountain climbing…”

  “Done that.”

  “Sky diving?”

  “That too.”

  “Wow!” So, not only was this woman exceptionally beautiful, she was also living her life.

  “Well, those two are on my list, and um, the third is kinda dirty.” Alexis leans closer and whispers. “A threesome.” she looks at Jesh expecting her to look shocked.

  “Well, that’s a start, how about we do that?” Jesh replies solemnly.

  “What? Really?” Alexis is sure her mind is buzzing along with her head she was beginning to imagine things. This stranger had not just asked her to be in a threesome! How naughty, more like insane, her sensible brain tells her.

  “Yes really, here’s my childhood friend. He’ll be our number three.” Alexis turns back to see the Adonis approaching her. Oh. My. God. Were they from an Amazonian island or something? Where the hell did they make people so pretty?

  “Gedha Raol,” Jesh says gesturing at the Greek god now standing at her other side, “meet Alexis Donovan, my new friend. We’re going to have a threesome.”

  Other than a slight raising of eyebrows, Gedha gave no indication of being surprised. Maybe they had threesomes all the time where they were from.

  “Where are you guys from?” Alexis blurts out.

  “Outer space,” Gedha deadpans. They all laugh

  “Originally from Ireland, but we’ve been in the United States since we were five,” Jesh says swatting at Gedha who had moved to stand behind her. Alexis was grateful, she was beginning to get whiplash from turning her head back and forth to look at both of them.

  In all the excitement, a growing nervousness began at the back of her mind. Apart from their names and where they were from, she knew nothing about them both. They could be serial killers, kidnappers, anything. She pulled her drink back and downed it. There was no way she could go through this sober. Yes, the mystery added to the appeal of this fo
olishness, but she hadn’t gotten to where she was in life now by indulging in appealing foolish ways. Before her mind could get away from her, Gedha paid their bill, including hers, then to her surprise, he gave the bartender their home address, and cards, asking him to call the police if he didn’t hear from her by eight tomorrow morning. Okay, wow. All her inhibitions fly out the window to be replaced with a growing heat pooling between her thighs.

  On their way out, neither of them touches her. They flank her falling slightly behind as though she was someone important. As they walk into the elevator and out the door, none of them otter a single word. Just as her jittery feelings begin to creep back in, she feels a delicate hand on the small of her back indicating that she stops walking.

  “I dare you to kiss me,” Jesh says as Gedha steps away to get the car.

  “W... what?” Alexis stutters.

  Jesh doesn’t say anything, just waits, cocking one eyebrow with a small smile playing on her lips. The smile, more than the actual dare is what pushes her to actually go through with it. She reaches out and pulls Jesh’s face down to meet hers, the moment their lips touch, Jesh takes over the kiss, pushing her against the wall and repositioning her head to deepen the kiss. Alexis was so sure she’d never encountered lips so soft or a tongue that could send fire through her body. They pull each other close, hands in each other’s hair, trying to get impossibly closer. Just as Alexis reaches down to pull up her dress so she can wrap her legs around Jesh, Gedha interrupts.

  “Enough my lovelies. We would not want to have security kick us out, now would we?”

  Jesh releases her with a rueful smile, almost as if she couldn’t believe what just happened. Alexis could relate. “Don’t worry Lex, we are going to finish this.” Oh yes, they were, if she had anything to do with it.

  Chapter 5

  Gedha

  Gedha was in no way averse to sex, but recently, he had gone through some unsatisfying rounds. After her, everyone who came after Jesh was somehow let down. He usually knew it even before anything started, which was why he was shocked when he noticed that he was aroused by the human they met. When Jesh invited him to join them, he knew that he was going to have the best sex he’d had in a long while. When he came back and met them practically humping each other, he wanted to join them with everything in him. It had taken all his restraint to pull them apart and arrange for them to get home.