by Kylie Chan
‘What – she’s pan-reproductive? I could …’ Richard dropped his tablet onto the seat next to him. ‘After you transplant my body parts, I could get her pregnant with a half-human child?’ He was broadcasting near-panic.
‘Only if she chooses to,’ Marque said. ‘Her species have complete control over their reproduction. The half-dragon children are usually genetically very close to the non-dragon parent, with a slightly larger size and a few scales to denote their dragon heritage. All species regard their half-dragon children as exceptionally handsome.’
‘Good lord, that’s a yes,’ Richard said. The panic intensified; he was close to meltdown.
‘Could Shiumo get me pregnant if I had sex with her?’ I said.
‘As I said, only by choice. Both parents must agree to the impregnation.’
‘Holy fuck, that’s a yes as well,’ I said, stunned at the implications.
Richard stared at the tablet as if it was venomous. ‘How many current spouses does she have?’
‘Twenty-four.’
‘Damn!’ I said. ‘And they put up with her going off by herself all the time? She said she hasn’t been on the homeworld in ages.’
‘Most of them have relationships with other dragons as well.’
‘I wish she’d told me this before I became involved with her,’ Richard said, still deeply in shock.
Marque’s voice was impatient. ‘She did, Richard. She told you she wasn’t monogamous. It’s not her fault that you’re too dim to see all the implications.’
‘That’s unfair,’ I said.
The opal reappeared on the tablet screen. ‘Do you want me to cancel the transaction?’ Marque said.
Richard stared at the stone without touching the tablet. ‘Let me think about it.’
He pushed the tablet away, and leaned on his elbow to study the streets of New London outside the car window. We passed a street market selling black-market food and electronics, the watchers at the end of the street alert and on edge. Our clean and well-maintained Armed Forces vehicle stood out among the worn and rattling civilian cars.
‘You all right, sir?’ I said.
Richard didn’t reply.
His tablet pinged and Shiumo’s image appeared on it. ‘Richard?’ she said, her voice tentative.
‘Hi, Shiumo,’ he said without looking at the screen.
‘Marque tells me that it never occurred to you that I would have other spouses and children. You humans really are very dense sometimes, my love.’
‘When is the last time you saw them – the ones on your homeworld?’ he said.
‘About thirty years … Marque?’
‘Thirty-two,’ Marque said.
‘Is that where I’ll end up?’ Richard said. ‘On your homeworld, waiting thirty years for you to come visit me?’
‘Only if that is what you wish.’
‘They want that?’
‘Uhhh …’ She turned away from the screen. ‘Marque, bring the list up, and I’ll explain them one by one.’ She turned back to Richard and took a deep breath. ‘The Nimestas you already met – what a tragedy. I have no children with them. Their reproductive cycle is extremely unusual and I don’t think it will ever happen for us – particularly now.
‘Let’s look at the list. Clickclick – their species is hermaphroditic so I’ll just use “they” as a pronoun. Clickclick is half-dragon – we call them dragonscales – and has parented a dragon off me.’
‘Whoa! Wait, wait …’ Richard picked up the tablet to see her face. ‘One of your spouses is half-dragon and has a full-dragon child with you?’
‘That’s how it works. Clickclick is also the spouse of two other dragons and three dragonscales on Dragonhome. I’m looking forward to seeing them again. Next? Oh, Lisenthrezaquorimatoliani. He’s hibernating on his own world; he’ll wake up in five years or so. BasksInSunshine asked for a fifty-year separation while she recovers from having the children.’ Shiumo sighed. ‘There are three or four that visit my ship for a few weeks at a time – they’re folded on by me or other dragons – but right now everybody’s busy with the children or their other spouses or … just life, I guess. Nobody’s visited me in months and I’ve been lonely. I’m glad we found love together.’
‘How many children do you have, Shiumo?’ I said.
‘Oh, hello, Jian. I didn’t know you were there. I’m not sure. Marque?’
‘Since Red-Fading-To-Rose-Violet that’s impossible to quantify,’ Marque said.
‘Oh, yeah,’ Shiumo said. ‘Red-Fading is an aquatic … like a super-intelligent version of your coral. It manipulates its environment by telepathically controlling its motile spawn, and I parented a few thousand spawn with it about a hundred years ago.’
‘Holy shit,’ I said under my breath.
The car stopped; we’d arrived at the train station.
‘I guess I’ll talk to you later,’ I said to Richard.
‘Give my regards to your family.’
‘I will, sir.’
As I pulled my duffel out of the back of the car, I could hear them still speaking inside.
‘Please don’t leave me,’ Shiumo said sadly.
‘I said I love you, Shiumo, and I meant it.’
‘I love you too. I’m folding to Kapteyn in an hour to select a landing site. I’ll be back tomorrow to pack up the colonists’ equipment.’ She sounded even more forlorn. ‘Don’t leave me, Richard. I love you so much.’
‘I won’t. I love you too. You explained it all; it’s just me being human. I won’t leave you. And I’d like to meet some of your other spouses – they sound very interesting.’
‘Do you mean it?’ she said, her voice high-pitched and sweet with hope.
‘Absolutely. I’ll see you in five days, okay? I cannot wait.’
‘Me too,’ she said.
I closed the rear hatch and threw my bag over my shoulder. Richard climbed out of the car and stood in front of me.
‘You going to be okay, sir? That was a big revelation.’
He shrugged. ‘She did tell me she wasn’t monogamous. I should have worked it out earlier. I’d like to go to the dragon homeworld and meet some of them now.’
‘Me too.’ I hefted the duffel and looked down.
‘It’s been a mad few weeks,’ he said.
‘I went from security officer on the Britannia to an alien’s attaché. Mad does not even begin to describe it.’
‘I’ll see you in five days, Jian.’ Richard spoke to the air above my head. ‘Look after her, Marque.’
A floating sphere shimmered into view. ‘Don’t worry, I will. The train will be here soon, Jian, you’d better move.’
Richard shifted uncomfortably. I made up his mind for him and embraced him. We pulled back, smiling.
‘Go,’ he said.
‘Keep in touch,’ I said, and headed to the train station.
15
The water on either side of the train causeway had disappeared. The area was now mud flats, dotted with the corpses of drowned trees and crumbling ruined buildings. Large machines ran over the surface of the mud with fingers rotating into it. Plumes of salt sprayed from the machines’ back ends into trucks that followed them.
The train was filthy: the windows were rimmed with grime and the seats were stained; the floor was covered in dirt and muddy shoe prints. I realised I was noticing this for the first time because I’d grown accustomed to the constant pristine cleanliness of Shiumo’s ship. It was free of all dust and dirt, and always smelled pleasant – nothing like the damp mouldy odour of the train. I’d even started noticing other people’s body odour. I was becoming soft. I’d have to keep an eye on myself.
I had a flash of concern about the mind control, and shook it off. If Shiumo was controlling me, I wouldn’t be able to leave her at all.
I heard my name and glanced up at the screen at the end of the carriage. It was showing a video of our visit to New Paris – Richard and I were escorting Shiumo through the streets of the r
ecreated Montmartre district. I winced; I didn’t often watch the news on the network. I’d been too busy organising Shiumo’s schedule and attending the never-ending conferences. A large cheering crowd was gathered on the other side of the barrier, and I saw something I’d never seen before: a sign held up by an angry group that said ‘Alien invader, leave our planet!’
A young woman stormed towards me from the back of the train. She pointed at the screen. ‘Is that you?’
I didn’t sense any malice from her. ‘Yes, it’s me.’
My tablet pinged and I checked it. A message scrolled across the top: You are perfectly safe. I will defend you. If you are mobbed I can put an energy barrier around you. Relax.
‘I knew I remembered you!’ the woman said. ‘We went to school together.’
I studied her face and came up blank. But if she was my age and lived in this part of Wales, we probably had gone to school together. There was only one in the district.
‘We were at Llanfair Prep together,’ she said, poking me in the arm. ‘Don’t you remember?’
‘That was twenty years ago,’ I said, bewildered. I tried to remember her name and failed.
She pointed at the screen. ‘What’s she like, the alien?’
The crowd in New Paris were having an argument about the sign now, and some jostling was occurring. Someone grabbed the sign, threw it to the ground and stomped on it.
‘She’s absolutely lovely. She really wants to help humanity,’ I said.
‘Any chance …’ She took her tablet out of her bag. ‘Could you sign this for me? And maybe get her autograph? I know you’re close to her.’
A few more people had heard the conversation. Two men and a woman were now standing in the aisle next to me, their faces bright with curiosity. I vaguely recognised them from around the mountain, but didn’t know any of them personally.
I took the woman’s tablet and signed the lock screen for her. Her name was Beatrice, and I still had no idea who she was.
She grinned with delight as she took the tablet back, then bent to speak conspiratorially to me. ‘Uh … can you give me a tour of her ship? I’ve seen it on the network and it looks amazing.’
‘I’d love one too,’ one of the men said. ‘Can you sign my tablet as well?’
‘Sure,’ I said, and sat on the armrest so I could reach over to take his tablet.
‘So,’ Beatrice said, ‘a tour?’
‘I’ll suggest to Shiumo that we give selected people tours of the ship,’ I said. ‘But she may be concerned about security. She lives on board.’
‘You live on it too, don’t you?’ Beatrice said.
I nodded as I signed the next tablet. There were now ten people crowding in the aisle next to me – probably the entire population of the train.
‘What’s it like living up there?’ Beatrice said.
‘Oh, there’s a good idea,’ Marque said from my tablet. ‘A documentary about life on the ship. We should do that as soon as Shiumo’s back.’
Beatrice squealed. ‘Oh my god, is that the round thing speaking?’
The train closed its doors on the first stop, and the engine hummed with effort as it started the climb up the mountain.
I grabbed my duffel bag. ‘Yes. The next stop’s mine. Do you mind?’
Beatrice blocked me. ‘Is there anything at all we can do to get a tour?’
‘Please move and let me out,’ I said.
‘You didn’t sign my tablet!’ a woman shouted from the back. ‘It’s for my little boy. He’ll be thrilled when I tell him I met you!’
‘Quickly,’ I said, and took the tablet and signed it. I pushed my way through the crowd. ‘I have to get off! Let me through.’
‘General Maxwell was right: you should have taken private transport,’ Marque said when I reached the doors, the people still following me. ‘On the count of three, take a big step forward. One … two …’
I stepped forward and there was a snap behind me. The small crowd was crushed against what appeared to be glass.
‘Energy field,’ Marque said. ‘I’ll turn it off when the doors close.’
The train doors opened and I stepped out. The sky was a clear bright blue, with no clouds, and the air was cool and dry.
I inhaled deeply. ‘Wonderful.’ Then I felt a bolt of shock. ‘Oh no … my mother’s rice and coffee won’t grow in this.’
‘I’m advising them through the network about alternative crops,’ Marque said. ‘There they are.’
‘Jian!’ Mum ran to me and enveloped me in a huge hug.
Dianne and Victor stood back, grinning. When Mum was done, they stepped up and hugged me as well, both throwing in passionate kisses for good measure.
I smiled at them: Dianne, short, black, and bright with intelligence and pregnancy; and Victor, tall and skinny with terrible acne and scruffy blond curls, and a beautiful smile that melted my heart.
‘God, I missed you guys,’ I said.
Cheering erupted from nearby and I turned to look. Most of the population of the village – nearly fifty of them – were standing at the station exit, clapping and calling out to me.
‘They won’t let you spend time with your family until they’ve given you the keys to the village,’ Dianne said. ‘So come up to the community hall for dinner and a lot of boring speeches, and then …’ She nudged me with her shoulder. ‘We can have some private time.’
My spouses had booked the biggest of the village hotel’s twenty rooms – plenty of room for the three of us. It even had its own small bathroom with a shower. We all entered the room together, Mum too, and fell to sit on the bed.
‘It’s so far away,’ Mum said. ‘You should have stayed at Mrs Chan’s inn.’
‘We are not letting Dianne sleep in that rat hole,’ Victor said indignantly. ‘She needs to sleep somewhere new and clean, and this hotel has two stars.’
‘Oi! Stop using my pregnancy as an excuse for everything!’ Dianne said.
‘We are looking after you and our baby,’ Victor said.
‘It’s only one stop, Mum, and we’ll be back tomorrow,’ I said.
‘I guess you’re right,’ she grumbled, and stood. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’
I gave her a hug. ‘I’ll be home for five days – plenty of time for us all to be together.’
She nodded into my chest.
‘Go home and feed Puppy,’ I said, pulling back. ‘And Chicken, and Chicken, and the other bird – I forget what its name is …’
‘You are very cheeky,’ Mum said. She patted me on the arm, and went out.
‘Chicken!’ Dianne and Victor shouted in unison just as the door closed.
I sighed and sat on the couch across from Dianne and Victor, who were still sitting on the bed. I leaned my elbows on my knees and wiped my eyes. ‘I am so sorry.’
‘What for?’ Victor said.
‘I told you I wasn’t psi.’
‘Oh, that.’ Dianne waved it away. ‘We can deal. To tell the truth we weren’t terribly surprised –’
‘I was!’ Victor said.
‘Well, I wasn’t,’ Dianne said. ‘I understand why you didn’t want to tell us.’ She took my hand. ‘It’s okay.’
She pulled me onto the bed next to her and put her arm around me. I leaned my head on her shoulder, and Victor put his arm around both of us. All three of us sighed with bliss. It had been a long time since we’d been together like this.
‘I lied to you,’ I said. ‘If I were you, I wouldn’t forgive me.’
Victor squeezed me. ‘Like we said: we forgive you. Now tell us about the dragon.’
‘Yes!’ Dianne released me. ‘Tell us all about it! What planet is she from? She’s psi too, right?’
‘Your mother showed us photos – did you really go sightseeing to Jupiter?’ Victor said.
‘Yes. It’s so beautiful.’
‘Can you take us?’ Dianne said. She and Victor shared a look. Both of them were excited. ‘We’re your spouses – we should be l
iving on the ship with the alien as well. We can help.’
‘Oh,’ I said, suddenly suspecting that they were like the people on the train, using me to access the royal alien celebrity.
‘Think what an opportunity it would be for me,’ Dianne said. ‘I could be the Earth’s first exobiologist. She’s refused access to her biology, but if she’ll let me study her I could win a Henno prize!’
‘She has to take us up there so we can be with you,’ Victor said.
‘That AI – what’s it called?’ Dianne said. ‘How does it fly?’
‘Anti-gravity,’ I said, full of disappointment in them. ‘Its name is Marque.’
‘Can it tell us how it does it?’ Victor leaned forward eagerly and his emotions turned to greed. ‘Think how much we could make if we sold that technology!’
‘The technology is not for sale,’ Marque said, and Victor gasped.
Marque shimmered into view above us.
‘You were watching us?’ Victor said. ‘Voyeur! Go back to the alien.’
‘No,’ Marque said. ‘I’m here to look after Jian-sama.’
‘I can put it on privacy, don’t worry,’ I said.
‘So can you get us up to the ship?’ Victor said. ‘We want to be there too.’
I looked at their intent faces and spoke telepathically: I’ll see what I can do.
Both of them jumped and scooted away from me.
‘Don’t do that,’ Dianne said. ‘You could hurt the baby.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ I said.
‘That is freaky as shit. Cut it out,’ Victor said.
‘You said that if I was a psi, it was a deal-breaker,’ I said.
‘Yeah, but that was before the dragon,’ Victor said.
‘If you’d found out I was psi before the dragon, would you still forgive me for lying to you?’
‘Of course,’ Victor said.
‘Absolutely,’ Dianne said. ‘Jian, we love you.’
They were lying. Everything coming out of their mouths was a lie. They wanted to use me to get to Shiumo.
‘I cannot believe I am doing this,’ I said under my breath. I rose and picked up my duffel. ‘I’m sorry, I need to be apart from you for a while. I don’t think I can –’
