Tales of Reign

by M E Wise

  Dae took his wrist. I could see the readings before she said a word. A final breath escaped his chest. His eyes went cold and empty unlike the clever and lively person who was there before. “He’s gone.” Dae belted into sobs.

  “But he isn’t gone is he!” I said hurt and in disbelief. “He’s right there. We’re right here.” I screamed. “We’re right here!” I demanded as if he would stand and face me. “I’m right here.” I took a breath and held it tightly and scanned the room for his consciousness. It was gone. He was gone.

  The breath I held welled up in my chest and burst free with an agonized strain. My eyes filled with pain and the suffering came rushing forward. I seized with this thing! This horrible end to an innocence and hated it. I sobbed hard and uncontrollably for the first time in my existence. For the first time that I could remember. For the first time for someone else. Dae held onto me and kissed my face. There was no consoling this thing! Death had ended Ben’s sharing and the silence was too much to bear.

  “Nothing will ever be the same.” I sobbed. “I know, I know.” She said softly.

  The Hermes ship and the space outside seemed to observe this silent passing. The dimly lit expanse we jumped to even had a dying star. The light that once shown from it will shine on in distant skies for years to come. We sat a while longer. Finally, Dae stood up and pulled a sheet over his face. A custom, real and symbolic of removing the body from sight; the truth underneath though still presses outward with its form. We left him alone and went to sit at a viewport and watch the galaxy go about like nothing happened.

  In that first Voice was death. Other’s knew that Voice. And all that would live and die thereafter.

  

  “Reign.” Hermes came over the COM near politely. “We should preserve the body for treatment on Mor’h.”

  “Why?” I said morosely.

  “For proof of his life. Preservation. An example of our mistakes. A solution. And to rest on Mor’h.” Came a very earnest reply.

  “To rest on Mor’h.” I said quietly.

  “I think he would have wanted that Reign.” Said the ever present Dae. “Finish the trip.”

  We all appeared in agreeance. Dae and I moved Ben into a storage chamber on the Hermes from his resting spot on the Aires. More tears were shed. Just one more wrong committed in a great series of wrongs. How can we make this right?

  After sealing the temporary tomb, I see Dae against the backdrop of the light outside. I feel immense love. That is a beautiful start. Learn to love the rest of it again. Find meaning in the thing you want all of this to become. Find a future in the living to not forsake those who didn’t live to see the promise it holds. I go to her, it’s all I need to do.

  Sovereign Chapter 1

  Innocent Minds Suffer Fragile Hearts

  Our final phase jump was bittersweet. The Hermes craft had seen us home as intended, suffering equally as we all had along the way. Such personifying elements were not lost in their irony. A ship of blended minds, a crew with broken hearts and the empty vessel of a once joyous character found their way home. None would be the same again; our legacy now stained.

  Opal bell craft buzzed by us in formation like a string of lights. Their luminescent surfaces distorted the galaxy it reflected. “They look like flying mirror balls!” Beamed Dae. I did my best to join her elation but I couldn’t. Her excitement must rival my own, when I first approached Pluto’s Belt over a month ago. She raced from viewport to viewport. “Is that Mor’h!” She pointed wildly at a distant blue and pale purple dot. “Yes. Mor’h also has several small moons rather than one large moon like Earth’s Luna in the Sol system.” I lean in and smell her scented hair, “there are the two largest. Vo’Luma and To’Lumo, they are named for their pairing. Closer and closer still, I think it means.” She smiled largely back at me. “On the distant side is the smallest; mostly caught in the sun’s grip is the shadow moon, De Braga, meaning dark watcher.”

  “How ominous!” She says with a wiggle. Dae always found a way to express her sex appeal in a way not to flamboyant. “Was astronomy a thing for you?”

  “I was always looking up and away. Wan Sah, my Lo’ Don, or teacher-caretaker, said I had not rooted firmly. They use a lot of allusions toward plants.” I found myself smiling. “You’ll see. It’s something to experience, especially since it is all new to you.”

  Mor’h grew closer and closer. Our communications were still unusable. But now in Mor’h local space I could get the usual tinges of other sharing’s and links grouped together like clusters of blossoms on a single shrub. I had grown use to suppressing the nature of this unspoken language over the last few weeks; my mind had grown quiet. “Lo’Mor’h are the small ones you will probably meet first, the Tah’l rarely make themselves available but given the nature of our unexpected turn of events I wouldn’t be surprised to see one.” S’lei came to mind, what a strangely graceful being she is. My mourning would have to wait for now. I am home.

  I point out the Lotus Array, the prominent land features and bodies of water near the Cathedraline and the city proper. Dae soaked all of it up eagerly. Had I had such a tour guide in the Sol system perhaps the entirety of that trip wouldn’t be such a bad memory. Then I saw something strange, beyond the Livewell Sea was an arid desert of sorts but for seemingly the first time I see a mighty spire among the sands. Had I seen it before? It loomed though, majestic and daunting as if calling me to explore whatever was there. Then it was lost in the dense cloud cover. Dae looked to my deep contemplation. I notice and pull her close. We go back to enjoying the moment.

  

  We were being taken down in a bell craft from the Lotus Array. Separation of the Hermes and the Aries would need to happen in space before the two crafts could make land fall. So we docked with the same array I had visited as a young man. Dae met her first Mor’h in Dalia, a more vibrant personality than the usual caste of Lo’Mor’h. She was very quick to assist all of Dae’s needs and answer questions. I welcomed the break from being the singular host. I couldn’t’ help but feel Dae was more well received than myself. I wasn’t jealous as the idea would suggest, just acutely aware. I briefly felt Dalia link and welcome me in a sharing; it was very genuine.

  The spaceport was overcrowded with Lo’Mor’h of all castes. As we exited the craft ceremonious chimes rang out and the occasional percussion beat loudly. An incredible perfume of mixed variety filled the air. The Lo’Mor’h nearly vibrated with color in their own shimmering skin, bold garments and near celebratory behavior! I was quite overwhelmed. Dae loved it! She stood a head taller than most of the Lo’Mor’h and waded through like a queen ahead of me, Dalia in her constant stead. Dae sneezes several times mortified that she may have offended someone. The Lo’Mor’h never even made notice of it, I however find it hilarious and reminiscent of someone greatly missed in our reception.

  From my platform I could see a separate bell craft being unloaded. An obvious cylindrical chamber was floated out like a leaf on the breeze. Ben’s body was being transported away for preparation. I don’t have any idea what the Mor’h do to commemorate expired life. No Tah’l had ever died that I am aware of in my time here. The Lo’Mor’h would just disappear for a day or so and come back in refreshed clones with their conscience completely transferred. Part of me secretly hoped Ben would come back like the Lo’Mor’h but I couldn’t help but feel ashamed and angry with myself for the selfishness of such an idea. Grieving was not a rite I had ever underwent. Stages is what Dae said, stages of pain, levels of denial and then I would accept it.

  My first and only real friend was still gone amongst any

  conciliation.

  I don’t know why but I stayed fixed on the landing platform. My feet felt no urge to move and the rest of me agreed with them. Maybe it was the long time spent in space. Some adjustment was guaranteed after such a duration. Or had I just realized we were safe for the moment. Safe from all of the disastrous events we survived to get here. Dae froze in
the middle of the port and spun like some old movie scene I had once watched. I admired her life; the ability she had to be part of things. She stopped abruptly and the crowd hushed. Lone chimes sang out and S’lei had made her grand entrance onto the platform. She stood like a towering angelic guardian. Her petal like hair fixed upward like a rosebud, the ridges of her pronounced pine-cone like textured crown completed the headdress. Her large eyes greeted Dae as she flowed over to her in her usual way.

  Dae looked back to me and I nodded in assurance. “Welcome, beautiful Human!” Says S’lei awkwardly. Her very lengthy reach extended and her robes flowed with the wind. “Thank you! All of you are amazing.” Dae said looking around. “Your home is a paradise. Your majesty…,” Dae questioningly addressed S’lei.

  S’lei laughed in that strange way the Mor’h did to try and mimic our habits. Dae laughed as well and put her hands to her chest. “Thank you from the heart.” She motioned. “From our hearts.” S’lei adds and reaches out and softly places her hand over Dae’s. There was no spoiling of the sharing. The Mor’h had embraced Dae openly. Dae’s red hair flowed in the same breeze as the drapery and silken wear of the surrounding attendees. She was incredible.

  “It pleases me to see you well.” Came a familiar presence in a link. I turned and found Q’ua Z standing silently, his hands folded behind his back. Wan Sah also entered the sharing, “we regret the nature of your experience.” She emerged from the crowd adorned in a deep purple robe I had never seen her wear before. “Your soil will again find your roots healthy and strong.” Says Wan Sah aloud in a much better English than ever before. It was obvious they had made personal efforts to improve these mannerisms while I was away, or I had a greater effect on them than I had imagined. But how bold is that arrogance.

  “This day will be archived for all seasons!” S’lei linked and shared widely. Dae reacted overwhelmed. She began to cry tears of joy as I felt her mind in the link amongst the many there. This sharing was so delicate and personal. They must have made it a collective goal to learn a better way of linking. Again I thought maybe that council sharing had something to do with it. And yet again I find myself strangely at center of the changes made.

  I needed some time to process all of these happenings; the failures and search for the successes. “Your thoughts are weary Reign.” Said Qz in improved English too. “Do not spoil the sharing.” He chastised me as he had so many times before. I felt his attempt at humor was the normal offbeat nature he maintained in the link. I pulled away as I felt many others doing from the sharing. It was like the entire community group knew we were grateful, overjoyed and most certainly exhausted. I moved carefully and deliberate down to the spaceport square. The crowd parted like I was royalty as I made my way toward an awaiting Dae. “To bed?” I questioned. “Lead the way!” She teased with a kiss.

  “My Reign,” said S’lei in a very unusual claim of ownership. “Your growth and sharing were most missed.” She articulated in a near mothering way. “Travel well to a new soil we have provided you.” I pleasantly accepted the odd invitation to board the nearing magnetic lift tram. “Rest well.” S’lei says as we are whisked off. We pass the column where I once stayed. I wasn’t sure what to make of this. We preceded through the greater city proper and Dae smiled greatly and took in the architecture and pointed out the Cathedraline. The tram heads through the commons and toward the River Pathe, stopping outside of a garden path with fountains leading up to a domicile.

  The entrance leads down as the doors slid open. It was obviously tuned to my link signature or it would not have opened. The Mor’h really didn’t have a value for human privacy but they did keep their spaces and important areas secure, they didn’t use locks but had specialized scanners that confirmed who you were at link. Apparently this was my new home. “Our new home!” I corrected myself to address Dae.

  “Well, well, aren’t we presumptuous?” She barked. Only to cut her eyes and tear inside at a run!

  The space was large with multiple rooms unlike my previous abode. Which lead me to rethink whether it was a cell or not, humorously knowing more now. The balcony literally reached over the River Pathe. Large scaled horseshoe like crustaceans swam in groups with the flow. Dae stood in awe of the view. I must admit I felt very nostalgic too. A new home. A beautiful woman. What more could I want? Safety. A lingering absence still haunted the space.

  I pulled Dae by the hand toward a large sleeping quarters accessed from the balcony. We made love until the sun went down and slept soundly without fear.

  

  The morning came with the rare sound of rain. Mor’h had monsoons in this region, short rains or thunderstorms more frequent on Earth were not normal here. I could count from memory maybe a few lengthy rains that didn’t go on for days or weeks. Much of the weather here reflected the south of Asia on Earth or a mix of Japanese sea-bound climates. I had slept so well that I felt stiff but well rested. I half expected to wake up still cramped in the Hermes; floating cold and without gravity in space, making the wondrous reception yesterday a vast and vivid dream. The reality was a privilege.

  “Reign!” Came a shrill cry from outside of the room. I flew out of bed and ran for the noise. Dae stood wrapped precariously in a sheet trying to hide her nakedness. “We have guests.” She stated slightly unnerved. Dalia stood in our living area blankly staring at Dae. She was handing her breakfast fruit on some sort of serving tray. “I did not mean to startle you.” Says Dalia flowingly placing the tray on the circular table at center room. She backs away, her hands together and eyes down. Her long gown masking her Lo’Mor’h movements well.

  “No, no!” Dae sensed maybe she was being ungrateful or offensive. “I was just taken by surprise. You are quite welcome here. Please.” Dae motioned for her to sit. A tight smile formed on Dalia’s white tinged lips. She did not sit; only stood there with no other observable action beyond this. “Help me out Reign!” Whispered Dae from the corner of her mouth.

  “One moment.” I said to Dalia, linked and exchanged a momentary sharing.

  “Privacy then.” She said politely with her hands out. She wisped from the room and off into a quarters not explored yet. “They are quite taken with you. Must be your pheromones!” I joked and kissed her cheek while pursuing a pear-like fruit.

  “Pheromones!” Prattled Dae. “Seriously that was weird.”

  “Not for the Mor’h it’s not.” I say completely understanding her dilemma, and quietly acknowledging to myself that finally someone else was the alien now.

  “What is it they are most interested in?” She asked.

  “I told you, the Mor’h are for the most part a dwindling if not dying race. However, they could sustain their current preservation indefinitely but it isn’t beneficial. I get the sense you represent life to them. Fertility.” I said with a smirk.

  “So I’m special because I have ovaries!” She was somewhat upset. “That’s a bit underwhelming.” She says walking toward the balcony. “I didn’t choose the different chromosomes. Or how I was born. I did become the youngest to graduate in my medical school. I even wrote the first and only paper on Halfer genetic obfuscation theory ever published as a woman.”

  “Sorry, what?” I asked.

  “Halfer Obfuscation Theory. The idea that the genetic structure of the condition was manipulated and could not be random. The genes had been so tampered with as if to look like an accident but not being an accident. Obfuscated!” She said in a blindingly brilliant display. “But I got laughed at for the alien suggestion! Although I never suggested one at all!” She griped.

  “Well, you were right. Isn’t that some vindication?” I asked calmly.

  “No! Not really!” She spoke with her hands as much as with her mouth. “HOT! They mocked me incessantly!”

  “Hot?” I rephrased confused. “Yes HOT! H-O-T!” She fired back. “Those bastards took the acronym from my chosen presentation and threw it back in my face.” She said swinging her hands and nearly losing th
e sheet covering her. She paused and flared her nostrils.

  I walked to her and placed my arms around her from behind circling her to the view outside. “Yet you stand here on the precipice of the greatest experience any human will ever have.” I said. She relented. “You know,” she said in that womanly way, “you never said you loved me.” She turned and faced me. I was frozen again. “You don’t have to.” But I knew that wasn’t true in either sense.

  “I love you.” I admitted earnestly. “I love you for everything I know that it means to do so. And for all the ways I will learn to prove it’s worth.” She looked completely smug. “I know.” She says as she drifts away, leaving me disarmed and with no option but to link. Her heart is beating fiercely and she is thinking so many future thoughts I can’t keep up. And then I am caught! She turns and points to her head with her mouth agape, “You dirty peeping Tom!” She says in her flirting way. “My headspace is my own. Unless I hear you knock, don’t come barging in!”

  I hear a shower come on from her direction. I am guessing she has found some bathroom or like facility. I notice some fabric folded on a far bureau; the towels I remember from before but the other two folded packages I have not seen before. I unfold one to reveal an almost kimono like garment. One female and one male, so similar they could have easily been pulled from a samurai film. I loved those films in the holo files!