by Lil Gibson
She felt lazy, sated and deliciously sore as she headed toward the large dining hall with all the murals. They transcended art and seemed to tell stories about the history of the Gattonians. Engrossed in her examination, she didn't notice Rosik until he stood beside her. "These are simply lovely, do they depict the history of your people, or are they just beautiful pictures?"
Rosik answered thoughtfully, "They tell stories of our ancestors. It is an ancient craft handed down generation to generation. We have artisans that do nothing but study art form and history from the time they are toddlers. It is a much-respected pastime and they are well compensated.
"This grouping depicts Gattonia with our skies and buildings, while these over here tell a story of our early encounters with the Egyptians and the making of the pyramids."
"You used to wear space-suits. There are similar drawings in the tomes of the pyramids, but where theirs are primitive, yours are lush and detailed," she spoke reverently as she examined each scene in detail.
"We wore pressurized suits to protect existing life forms from our contaminants, not for self protection. After the Egyptians and other species we encountered had been sufficiently inoculated, we shed the protective attire. But this precaution is already familiar to you because of your own history with the Native American Indian." He spoke matter–of-factly. Her head positively spun from his revelations and what it all meant. She felt like he’d just opened the door to OZ.
"I asked Zorroc about the pyramids," Cat interjected as her gaze lit on another grouping. "This group of murals seems to illustrate Gattonians and Egyptians working together to design and construct several pyramids, complete with larger than life sculptures of varying shapes."
"Ours was one of many species to visit your planet. Egypt was designated the universal landing point onto your world, and the pyramids, the result of the combined effort of many off-worlders, all of whom were treated as gods. Egypt nourished a simple and superstitious people. Not only were off-worlders treated as gods but also many of there own creatures, native to the land. And if an alien species remotely resembled one of their native creatures, as ours did, they became even more revered."
"What do these represent?" The section of wall showcased a group of four murals. The first depicted a beautiful, young Egyptian woman and an equally handsome man talking to a group of Gattonians. The next mural portrayed a journey by boat to lands far away with battles fought along the way. The third conveyed a land of green rolling glens with simply clad people, fairies, goblins, leprechauns and pookas in various shapes and forms dotting the hills and trees. The final mural showed a space ship lifting off into the sky leaving the bustling hillsides below.
"This tells the story of Scota and her husband Mil Espaine and their service to our people when we were in need of assistance. One of our ships crash-landed north and west of Egypt, stranded in a foreign and unexplored land.
"Scota, the daughter of a powerful pharaoh called Nectanebus, and her husband, Mil Espaine, a commander in her father's army, were preparing a journey to Mil's homeland. It happened to be close to the location of our downed ship. Though Mil perished in a battle along the way, Scota continued on and led us to our crew. She became so revered by Mil's people that eventually they named that particular piece of land after her. In ancient times it was known as Scotia. Now it is called Scotland. The Celtic people, initially confused and unsure of us because of our appearance, later gave us the name of an already established spirit called "pooka" because of our feline eyes and man like body."
Fly specs! She'd been wallowing in fly specs while miracles surrounded her at every turn. It made so much sense. So they really were pookas, she'd been right all along. She was married to a pooka. She yipped and flung her arms around Rosik to thank him for the history lesson but was immediately hurled away by the force of a frosty gale wind named Zorroc. Her cat man had arrived at an awkward moment. He had the look of a glacier but was panting too hard to be totally still.
Rosik looked amused. "You have a very curious mate, Zorroc," he intoned calmly.
"How much have you revealed to her?"
"Pretty much everything. She is a very enthusiastic pupil," he added while lewdly arching his eyebrows.
Zorroc leveled a censorious look at his mate and commented softly, "Curiosity, killed the Cat."
"Yes, but satisfaction brought her back," she returned playfully. "I think I'll write a book titled 'I married a Pooka', what do you think, best seller material?"
Zorroc gave her a mock look of ferociousness before turning an amused eye toward Rosik, and addressing them both. "There is a meeting to debrief Catarina on her abduction, to try and make sense of how the Dargons found us to begin with. You will both come with me." He snagged Cat's waist in a possessive gridlock and led them to a large conference area where Sycor, Bandoff, and Prolinc waited.
"Tell us all you can remember, Catarina, take your time for this will probably take the remainder of the afternoon," stated Prolinc in pure security mode.
She licked her lips and began her tale trying to leave nothing out.
They determined it had been no random finding. Their party had been set up and it almost had to have come from one of their own crewmembers or a high-ranking official apprised of their location. That being the case, it followed that they remained at risk. Which woman had they been after; because it was clear, they searched for a specific name. Was it Cat? Zorroc had a sick feeling that was exactly who they had targeted. For what purpose, blackmail, ransom, murder? None of the options were palatable. Could there be an assassin among the crew that would eventually go after Cat?
"It is impossible to believe one of my crew could be capable of such perfidy," Zorroc stated as the full measure of betrayal began to take shape.
"Maybe they are not. Maybe they just think they are reporting routinely to a friend or higher source—who in turn relays the information to the Dargons?," Rosik proposed. "You are the Leader of our people, Zorroc, surely you have political enemies. Who would kill in order to fulfill their own political aspirations? I am sure our viper will be found in that nest."
Zorroc considered the commander thoughtfully. Rosik had never before served directly with Zorroc, therefore the two did not know each other well; but with each passing day he began to trust Rosik as one of his own command. His mind was razor sharp and if Rosik had a less than stellar attitude, well, Zorroc supposed he had earned that much. His loyalty toward Zorroc had been unflinching and stood greatly appreciated.
"There is something else," Rosik continued. "The Miramid had been ordered to another galaxy three days before the attack on your ship. If not for crucial repairs necessary for galaxy jump, your distress beacon would not have reached us. Your rescue would have been postponed for days at least, maybe even a month. It was sheer luck we remained available to assist."
"The muck gets deeper the more we probe. Catarina,” Zorroc directed, “there was a time that you were blocked from me and I could not read you; what was happening?" All eyes turned to Cat; the question eliciting surprise from Rosik. He had not known they were mind-linked.
"One of the Dargons came to me stark naked except for a stupid cape and a large knife. His name was Gorn. I guess you guys don't know about Star Trek either, huh?" Her hunch was confirmed by their blank stares. "Well, he started pounding around in some sort of Aboriginal type dance and his appendage grew to massive proportions.
“What! Use your imagination. Anyway, he smelled terrible and the entire cave reverberated and then he stopped right in front of me, waiting for me to do something," she finished, reliving the picture of the sweating, stinking, panting monster with a dick the size of her leg and shuttered.
"What happened then," Prolinc asked almost against his will.
"I clapped," she answered.
Surely he could not have heard right, Zorroc stared fixedly at Cat; he thought she had said she clapped. "As in clapped your hands?" he asked.
"Well, yeah, what would you have done?
"
The room went silent for several seconds. That is when it began…a slow rusty vibrating rumble from inside Zorroc that escalated into a roar of laughter so loud no one could move for the astonishment it produced to the others in the room.
He should be furious, she could have been killed, but instead he could not stop laughing, the image of a naked, embarrassed Dargon had been too clearly etched in his consciousness.
* * *
Cat's days took on a pleasant routine. She spent her early mornings with Zorroc, eating, loving, and bathing followed by intensive training with the women at the X-center teaching self-defense tactics. Both Gattonian males and females showed up from time to time to observe and even participate in the classes. There were three instructors; Dee, Cat and a Gattonian female named China. The entire group was getting to know one another and she’d met a number of both women and Gattonians that she particularly enjoyed. Angel, closeted with Carpov, worked around the clock on a vaccine for the female crewmembers and women.
The afternoons represented free time, and her evenings were spent in the great hall having dinner and socializing. Sandra continued to take every opportunity to sidle up to Zorroc. The male crewmembers had taken to calling her 'Sandra the Syphor'. A nickname started by Sycor.
China observed Sandra's latest foray before focusing on Cat. "Does it not distress you that she constantly dogs your male? If she were after my mate I would cut out her clitoris and feed it to her."
"China, just the mental picture alone is enough to make me nauseous. Besides, not even Sandra would be stupid enough to get between you and Westel. Where is he tonight?"
"He is on skeleton duty for the next five days. It happens to both of us once a month. Usually we try to time it together but this time it did not work out. Look, Prolinc is headed toward Zorroc, I think he has decided our leader has suffered enough."
"Prolinc looks like a dark thunderous cloud since Dee moved in with the aunts. I think we have a great deal to learn about your culture. Just how demeaning is the role of Chosen One?" Cat asked, relieved to see Sandra saunter from the room.
China studied her for a moment before answering. "Many middle houses agglu-mate to create an alliance with a higher house. These alliances are business arrangements and rarely form a love match. Although the match is required to produce heirs, tender feelings are not normally involved. A Chosen One is the love match for a male or female in this situation to make the alliance palatable. The female is restricted from taking a lover until two offspring have been produced then she too is free to take a Chosen One. These are normally life-binding joinings and except for the producing of heirs with the agglu-mate, monogamous. There is no shame in being a Chosen One and the relationship is less binding than agglu-mating or lifemating, for the Chosen One may lifemate elsewhere if she or he so chooses," China finished knowing that Dee remained much over-rent by Prolinc's coming alliance to another female.
"Do you know Prolinc's intended?" Cat inquired while studying Zorroc in a board game with Prolinc.
China started uneasily. "You do not?"
A bad feeling clogged Cat’s throat making it difficult to answer. "No."
China hissed and seemed to deflate. "Well, you did not hear this from me, agreed?"
Cat nodded hoping she could block the knowledge from Zorroc.
"Nadia is Prolinc's intended; Zorroc's only sister."
"Spit!" She glanced again at Zorroc to confirm his attention on the game. "Come on let's walk, I don't think I can sit still to hear this."
"The solarium is down this way, it will give us privacy." The two moved silently down the corridor. "You know that Zorroc's mother died in childbirth and there was a child?" With Cat's affirmative nod China continued. "Nadia's father had little to do with the babe so the responsibility rested with the aunts and house staff along with Zorroc and Prolinc to raise her. She followed them everywhere like a small puppy and they tolerated her well and spoiled her. With the death of his father, Zorroc became legal guardian of Nadia and that is when Prolinc's family began to make their move.
Prolinc had been sent to live with Zorroc when the two were small children and were inseparable growing up. Prolinc's family used this bond to forge an alliance with the House of Ra thereby elevating them to a level that should have been impossible to attain."
"Wait a minute," Cat whispered and shook her head as if trying to fit all the pieces together. "If their houses stood so far apart, how did the two boys get together in the first place?"
"Even as a small child, Prolinc had very strong telepathic and guardian abilities. The two were raised together in order to form an unbreakable bond of friendship and mind-link. Prolinc is charged with guarding Zorroc with his life for the rest of their time in this realm. He was chosen for his talent and his family fastened onto his tail for the upward rise in status," China spat.
"I take it Prolinc's family is not on you're A list of favorites."
"They are users. They used Prolinc as a boy, use him still as a male, and make him feel less than he is in the process. They treat him as an unnatural anomaly and they would bind him to a female he thinks of as a little sister, just for their own selfish gain," she ended with a disgusted hand gesture.
"How do you know all this? Either Gattonia is a very small place or it must have one hell of a grapevine. Is all this stuff chronicled somewhere for curious cat people?"
China espied the humor evident in Cat's sparkling eyes and realized the jest for what it was. "Either earth women have very skewed humor centers or this defect resides solely with you," she volleyed back. The two grinned in growing affection and camaraderie.
"Spill, China, how do you know so much about the situation?"
China shrugged. "From my parents mainly; I am cousin to Prolinc. Our families, for better or worse, mainly worse except for Prolinc, are joined and as an adult watching this farce of an alliance is frustrating. She is sixteen years and innocent as a babe while Prolinc is a male grown. Theirs will be an unnatural union."
"Why doesn't someone call it off? Surely the aunts and Zorroc want something better for Nadia, to say nothing of Prolinc."
"Zorroc sees it as a way to help his friend and protect his sister while Prolinc sees it as a way to please his family. He remained ambivalent about the union before the coming of Dee; she has definitely put a monzu in his suit."
"What's a…"
"There you are, my Cat, I thought I had lost you. I trust you have been entertaining my mate well, China," Zorroc asked softly. At the sound of Zorroc's voice, the two jumped in startled synchrony.
China excused herself and beat a hasty exit while Zorroc and Cat followed at a more leisurely pace. He kept a light hold on the back of her neck and played with the soft hair at her nape. She calmed him, she challenged him, she loved him, and she made him laugh. He was beginning to treasure her, Zorroc realized uncomfortably.
* * *
Equal parts exhilarated, befuddled, anxious, and frightened, Cat contemplated her changed world. The tapestry of her reality had unwoven. Reality. Perception. Truth. Fact. Ontology. All of these had splintered into a million gleaming shards. She truly felt like Sleeping Beauty awaking after a lifetime of dreaming. She recalled a poem by Edgar Allan Poe that she’d memorized at the ed-center.
'You are not wrong, who deem that my days have been a dream.
Yet, if hope has flown away in a day, in a night, in a vision or in none—Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.’
What dwelled in our make-up that allowed us to create our own reality when the truth stared us right in the face? We blithely deny what we don't want to acknowledge, perfectly at ease in our ignorance, in the very small box we have encased ourselves. Her box had been comfortable but confining, she now could admit.
Why hadn't she seen that Marie and Helen were different? Well, actually you'd have to be blind not to see they were different. But from a different planet? She snorted,
they were not even related; shouldn't she have intuited that on some level? She’d just accepted everything at face value and what aligned compatibly with her limited frame of reference. Had she ever really believed in the existence of extraterrestrials or unexplained metaphysical phenomenon or Santa Clause? Okay, okay! She was pretty sure about the Santa Clause thing…wasn't she?
And what of Zorroc? He’d stood directly in front of her and yet it had taken several confrontations before she’d begun to accept the reality of his existence.
When had her species lost the ability to detect the miracles swirling and cascading around them? A true reality. And, was she changed as a person after discovering the truth of her background? In many ways, the past weeks had flown by with the surreal reality of a dream—make that cyclone. She'd had scant time to ponder the mysteries of her ancestry or how it affected her as a person. Angel and Dee treated her the same and she, herself, felt no different. To think she belonged to this ancient, exotic civilization eclipsed overwhelming. Yet, she still embodied the sum total of all her experiences plus her core being. Something no one could change or steal.
Instead of feeling overwhelmed, she felt freed. Never again would she accept anything at face value. She’d look beyond or within and try to determine the truth or her truth, and not what outside influences conveniently fed to her. The sleeper had awoken, as Paul Atredies had declared in Dune.
* * *
As Bandoff entered COM Central, he recognized the now familiar uneasiness. The feeling had been growing steadily since Dyfainius had approached him at the onset of their mission. As senior member of the High Council, he ranked number two behind Zorroc and wielded unparalleled political leverage. At first, Bandoff had been flattered beyond measure to be singled out by this great and powerful leader. His directive had been easy to comply with and seemingly harmless. Just report in every week to let him know, personally, how their ship fared.
Dyfainius had been relaxed, genial, and complimentary of Bandoff's efforts to date and Bandoff could go far as one of Dyfainius's minions. His parents and Milli, his intended, would be so proud. Why then did he sense something amiss? His suspicions had grown with the attack on their ship but surely if anyone could be trusted with unimportant and non-confidential information, it would be the members of the High Council. Maybe he could broach the subject with Sycor, he seemed comfortable and at home in political waters. Zanan was on COM duty. After the two greeted each other, Bandoff said he needed to COM the home planet.
