by Ava Castle
“We’re going to a place like nowhere you’ve ever been before,” he said in front of me, and the excitement in his voice was contagious.
“This whole place is like nowhere I’ve ever been before.”
“Not like this.”
We walked away from the huts and back out toward the desert. The sand felt cool beneath my feet. It was soft like the sands on the beaches along the Gulf of Mexico back home, except I didn’t hear the roar of ocean waves. I wondered, did this world have oceans like Earth? We wandered away from the few lights of the village into the darkness surrounding it.
We walked a few paces away from the village, until the night seemed to swallow it up. I looked around. The world had a glow to it, but I figured that was from the countless stars in the sky. My companion was beginning to glow, too, to light our way in the dark.
“Look up,” he said. “See all the stars, all the worlds in our night sky.”
“I am.” My vision expanded to take it all in. The sky was riddled with lights, some big, some small. They were different colors. Some were brighter than others. They seemed almost stacked on top of each other.
“Let’s sit down. Come on,” he said, guiding me down onto the cool sands with him.
“There are so many stars. I wonder how many of these same ones are visible from Earth,” I said.
“I take it you miss your home.”
“I can’t help but miss it a little bit. You know, it was my home for my whole life until I landed here.” The irony of the statement wasn’t lost on me, though. Earth hadn’t been my home for a few years, even before we were shot out into space.
His arms wrapped around me and pulled me close to him. His glow also put out warmth, keeping me from being cold in the desert night.
“I wonder if one of those stars is our Sun back home. I wonder, because on really dark nights we can see some stars that are really far out there, but nowhere near this many. And how many moons do you have?” As I stared, my eyes started to make sense of everything that was above me. I started to differentiate between the different points of light, and I started to see the spaces between them.
“We have five moons, but you can usually only see two or three of them on any given night. Tonight, I see one, two, three, four of them,” he said, and we both marveled at the sight. “Let me guess, you guys only have one.”
“That’s right, just one. I don’t know that humans could handle having more than one sun and one moon.”
“Gods, I can’t imagine. Your skies must be so dark. Your world sounds so harsh compared to ours, with your hot and cold seasons, your fluctuations of weather from day to day, and your single sun and moon. Your night sky, especially, must be pretty bare.”
“Gods, ha! I like that. Let me guess, you have more than one.”
“It’s just an old saying. Religion exists as a kind of background these days, but that’s a long story for another time,” he said, a somber tone entering his voice.
It was obviously a touchy subject, but I was sure we were eventually going to come back to it. It seemed too sore not to.
“But let me guess, just one of those, too, huh?” Radon laughed. His musical laughter filled the night around me.
“I guess it depends on who you ask about that one,” I told him. “According to some humans, there is only one. According to others, there could be hundreds. It’s a complicated subject back home.”
“Well, let’s not do complicated right now,” he said, holding me tighter and letting me rest my head on his chest.
I couldn’t miss a home that wasn’t home to me. It didn’t make any sense. Still, I stared into that night sky and wondered where our sun was among those stars. If I could spot it, I could spot about where we had been in the universe.
Part of me hoped we were far enough away that Earth’s sun wasn’t visible in the sky. It seemed more appropriate not to have that reminder hanging over my head every night, like somehow that would make it easier to move on in this new life. This new home.
Chapter Fourteen
Becca Cross
“Something is different about you,” the first doctor said.
“Yes, you look…different,” the second one mused.
“That’s what I just said. I wonder what it could be.”
“Have you been getting out more? Are you starting to adapt?”
“I am, thank you both for noticing,” I said, trying to match their joyful, sing-song tone for once.
“That’s what we do.”
“We notice things. Up you go.”
They assisted me in getting onto the cold metal table. I no longer needed a guard to escort me in. I was no longer a threat by that point. However, I did still need some assistance getting onto the table, due to its height. There were Valmorians who were comparable to humans in height, but some–the doctors, especially–were significantly taller than what I would have considered normal back home. They weren’t completely out of scale, but people their size had been featured in freak shows at the turn of the twentieth century.
I also didn’t have to get completely naked. That seemed to have been a one-time thing. That was very comforting, not having to put my bare skin against the cold metal.
“Are Alecia and Number Three still here?” I asked, a little more eagerly than I had wanted.
“They are. They’re doing very well.”
“Number Three goes by Terri now. She says her full name was Theresa back on Earth.”
“Terri,” I repeated, searching my memory. “I didn’t meet a Terri before we left. Then again, it’s not like I knew all of the girls. We were pulled from different places, I think.”
“Curious. We’d like you to tell us more about your time before you came here.”
“When we have the time to hear it. Right now, our hands are full.”
“Yes, especially with Lecia.”
“The mouthy one.”
They both laughed in unison, and I realized that not only did they almost constantly complement each other’s thoughts and finish each other’s sentences, but their voices were in perfect harmony.
“You just said they were doing better. Please tell me she’s gotten her mouth under control.”
“She has toned it down.”
“But she’s still a bitch.”
They laughed even harder, and I realized the second doctor was simply trying to mimic Alecia’s style of speech. His scales rippled, and I thought he must have been blushing.
“That was a pretty good impression,” I told him.
“Thank you.”
“Now, let’s get down to business. You’re here for another of your routine checkups, so you know the drill.”
“Arm,” the second doctor said, and I extended my left arm so blood could be drawn.
“Chest,” I was told, and I tilted my head back as the first doctor listened to my heartbeat.
“Okay, time to feel around.” Their hands poked and prodded my body. They had previously explained they were checking for lumps or any other abnormal growths.
“Cup,” the first doctor said, passing me a specimen cup so they could collect a urine sample. They helped me down from the table and led me to a restroom, where I was granted a little privacy, unlike my first visit to them.
It struck me as odd that they never referred to each other or themselves by name. They were simply “The Doctors,” and that was how everyone else referred to them. It was fine by me, but I wondered if there were more doctors than just the two who monitored me. I wondered if there were private practice physicians, like on Earth, who used their actual names.
“Can I see Lecia or Terri?” I asked when I came back out.
“Sadly, no.”
“Why not? Is everything okay?”
“It’s not allowed. You might be able to visit them if you arrange it with the Masters.”
“That might not be a bad idea, Becca.”
“Not at all. I’m sure they could use a friendly face, especially Lecia.”<
br />
They helped me back up onto the table. The first doctor held the cup of my urine up to the light and examined it by eye. The second doctor patted my hand and seemed to smile behind his little mask.
“Okay, we’re going to run some tests.”
“We’ll be back momentarily.”
“But Radon is here to keep you company.”
The door to the examination room opened, and he walked in to stand next to me while the doctors left the room.
“They seem a little bouncier than normal today, don’t they?” he asked.
“A little. You know, if they weren’t so damn adorable, they’d be creepy, like clowns.”
“Clowns?” he asked, but I shook my head and held up a hand. That was yet another thing I’d have to explain to him some other day. I was beginning to wonder if I just needed to keep my mouth shut with Earthly comparisons. I didn’t want to influence Valmorian culture too much with references to Earth cultures.
“So far, this has been a pleasant visit,” I told him, grabbing his hand.
He pulled my hand up to his lips and kissed my fingers.
“Oh, goody.”
“We have great news.”
“And we want you two to be the first to know.”
They were glowing, just like other Valmorians did at night, but it wasn’t dark in the room. It was as bright as ever, but they were still glowing warmly. Radon squeezed my hand and I looked up into his face. We both already knew.
“Becca, you’re pregnant,” they said together.
“Oh, baby, that’s wonderful news,” Radon said as he pulled me upright and into his arms. I opened my mouth to speak, but all I could do was cry. They were tears of joy, streaming down my face.
“Oh, dear, don’t cry.”
“No, this is a joyous moment.”
“These are joyful tears,” I said, laughing. “This is great news, the best news I’ve ever received. It’s my second chance.”
They didn’t ask about my peculiar statement. The doctors simply handed me a box of tissues and accepted that I was overjoyed. What I was really thinking was that after everything that had happened prior to being sent away to their planet, I was getting an opportunity to finally start a new family. I was going to have a home again, a life again. I was literally getting a second chance, a chance to do it right.
“What does it mean?” Radon asked the doctors, bringing me back into the moment.
The doctors looked at each other and had another of their facial expression conversations. I wanted to laugh, but I was also horrified at the prospect that this was the first time they were going to have to deal with a Valmorian-human hybrid pregnancy.
“It means that we’re going to have to keep a close eye on your pregnancy.”
“No pressure, but everything is riding on this.”
“The future of all Valmore.”
“Yeah, we know that. That’s kind of why she’s here, guys,” Radon said, standing behind me with his hands on my shoulders. Never before in my life had I felt as much support from a man as I did at that moment.
“We just have to watch it closely.”
“That also means we need you to listen to our advice.”
“You have to couple your physical needs as a pregnant human…”
“With your baby’s needs as a Valmorian.”
“Which may be influenced by your human genes as well.”
They shared a wide-eyed look at that point, and I thought their heads were going to explode.
“Guys, guys,” Radon said, waving his hands to get their attention. “When are you going to tell Morigon?”
“Right away.”
“And can I please see Lecia now?” I asked.
“Right, we can do that,” said the second doctor. “I will get your friend, and he will get Morigon.”
Both doctors disappeared, to return a moment later with our guests. Alecia came in and threw her arms around me. While we embraced and laughed, and cried, Morigon entered the room behind her.
“What the hell is going on?” Alecia asked me. “I don’t see you for a week or two, they got me stuck in here constantly seeing these wacky doctors and talking to a shrink, and when you finally show back up, you’re with one of them? What gives, Becca?”
I looked up at Morigon, waiting to be addressed by those of us in the room. Then, I leaned forward and whispered in her ear so no one else could hear me, “I’m pregnant.”
Her eyes opened wide and she looked up at Radon, then back down at me, before squealing and hugging me again. She practically jumped up and down holding my hands.
“That’s great fucking news, Becca,” she shouted, and the doctors high-fived behind her, apparently overjoyed by her language.
“I’m sorry, what’s great news?” Morigon asked, stepping forward.
“Master, Becca and I have conceived a child,” Radon said humbly. I figured his calm, respectful approach was part of the program, remembering how confrontational and defiant he had seemed towards Morigon and his guards at first.
“This is great news,” he bellowed. “All of the village must be alerted that we are well on our way to saving the Valmorian race.”
“Yes, sir,” Radon said.
“Son, you have no idea how proud you have made me today.” He grabbed Radon and embraced him, though his tone still sounded a bit force and political to my ears.
“Yes, sir. Thank you, but the real miracle is sitting right here on the table,” my companion said, putting his hands back on my shoulders. He wasn’t just my assignment anymore. He truly was my companion through his words and his deeds.
“Indeed, Miss Becca. Thank you for your service to the Valmorian people.” He gripped my hand and gave a firm shake.
“Thank you for your service,” Alecia said, mocking him.
“And Miss Alecia, it’s nice to see you here. I’m sure you will enjoy celebrating with your friend at her wedding.”
“Wedding?” My jaw hit the floor.
“Oh now what? You’re gonna arrange a marriage for these two? Hell, no,” Alecia protested, waving her hands animatedly.
“But, sir, I thought we abandoned lifetime coupling ceremonies like that years ago,” Radon interjected.
“Well, I think it’s time to bring it back,” Morigon argued.
“Sir, if we may…”
“We are still in the earliest stages of pregnancy here.”
“There is no guarantee her body can carry a Valmorian child full-term.”
“We still don’t even know what, exactly, is causing the miscarriages among our own.”
“Hey, Morigon, I think what your doctors are trying to tell you is that you don’t need some ceremony to get everyone’s hopes up about this great new hope when you don’t even know if it’s going to work out, capiche?” Alecia explained.
“Yes, I got that, Miss Alecia.”
“Lecia. Please.”
“Right. Well, listen, we’re going to go through with this. It’s a leap of faith, but it took one hell of a leap of faith to get us this far. I think our ladies here will agree with me on that. And, Radon, you have come a long way, son, from the punk kid who wanted to fight me on this to the man you are today, standing here with your companion, the proud father-to-be. There will be a wedding, and it will herald a new era for Valmore. An era of hope.”
Radon squeezed my shoulders as Alecia hugged me. The two doctors clapped, and Morigon glowed warmly with pride and hope. It was a new day indeed, for all of us, as we were preparing to move forward with faith, hope, and love to guide us.
ter: grayscale(100%); " class="sharethis-inline-share-buttons">share
