Gateway to HeVan

by Lucy Kelly

  “Oh, yes, it’s quite comfortable. At least without the cloak, it is. The collar makes it difficult to turn my head,” she confessed in a whisper.

  “Go ahead and take it off, then. We can hang it up for you, if you want. I have to tell you, I miss my jeans and being able to see my feet,” joked Grace.

  “I envy you. Recently, the women of the KowLer have had difficulty becoming with child. As to jeans―my translator says they are a type of leggings. The women of the KowLer don’t wear such garments. We only wear dresses or long skirts,” she said.

  “Oh, you poor thing!” said Grace. “You’re about my size. Or the size I was before I looked like I swallowed a beach ball. Come with me,” said Grace.

  Then she scooted to the edge of the couch and used the armrest to push herself up.

  Addie looked up at her sister when she stood.

  “I’m taking BianCa over to my place; we’ll be back in a bit,” said Grace. She then shooed her Ankida back when they tried to follow them.

  “Okay, no need to hurry. I’m hoping I can convince Ben and BianCa to stay for the movie,” Addie said.

  “Cool, maybe we can talk the guys into pizza and beer,” said Grace with a grin.

  “You’re an evil sister to remind me of all I can’t have,” said Addie and she stuck out her tongue at Grace.

  “Don’t worry. The beer will be non-alcoholic—for us, anyway. And you can have one slice of cheese pizza. It’s not as if you’re dieting,” was Grace’s parting comment before she took BianCa by the arm and dragged her from the room.

  “You and your sister are so free and easy with each other,” commented BianCa as they left and began walking down the hallway.

  “Well, she’s only been a queen for about six months now. I used to be a cop. On my planet, that’s another name for law enforcer. Now I’m going to be head of planetary police for HeVan. She bribed me,” said Grace.

  “You will not stay in your home and care for your young ones?” asked BianCa, surprised.

  “I wasn’t planning on getting pregnant. I love the girls already, but I’m not sure what type of mother I’m going to be yet. That’s the bright side to having three husbands. There are plenty of hands around to share the labor, or change the diapers, if you understand me,” she said with a wink.

  BianCa was thinking of how to respond to such a revelation. On KowLer, the women didn’t leave the home. They were primarily responsible for the care of the household and the children. As she was pondering the situation, they arrived at Grace’s door.

  “Okay, let’s go hit the closet. You can get out of your cloak and put on something more comfortable,” said Grace.

  “You are very kind,” said the princess. BianCa was shocked. She didn’t know what this strange woman had been planning when they left. But she had to admit to some curiosity about this clothing Grace had mentioned. Besides, if her brother tried to give her a hard time about it, she had the excuse of diplomacy to fall back on.

  It didn’t take long for the two of them to become friends. They both learned a lot about each other’s cultures. BianCa decided to accept the gift of the Levi’s 501 button-fly jeans and a knit golf shirt in pink.

  “What is this animal embroidered on the front of the shirt?” she asked Grace.

  “It’s an alligator. It doesn’t have any specific meaning; it’s just the logo of the guy who designed the shirt. You look cute and a lot more comfortable than before. If you have to run, or get dirty, you don’t have to worry about all the white you were wearing,” said Grace.

  “Well, I couldn’t possibly wear these clothes outside of my home, but I think I’ll enjoy wearing them inside,” said BianCa.

  “If you’re brother or husband gives you any flak, just tell them you couldn’t turn down a gift from the HeVanian Queen’s sister. Now, since you’re free of white clothing, do you want to meet the puppies?” she asked.

  After putting her formal clothes in a garment bag Grace unearthed for her and a romping visit with Sugar’s pups, they headed back to Addie’s cabin. On the way, Grace let BianCa in on the joke about the movie and how Addie was telling her Ankida it was a documentary about a real person instead of fiction.

  It was a giggling BianCa who re-entered Addie’s quarters. Ben was happy to hear his sister’s laughter. She had been forced to marry for political reasons but her husband, the duke, was a cold man. She and her husband had failed to have a child like many others. It had been some time since he had heard her laughter. When she entered the room and he saw what she was wearing―to say he was shocked was an understatement. He didn’t say anything because she was smiling.

  BianCa rushed into speech before he could say anything, “Look, Ben, Grace has gifted me with clothing from her birth world. She explained this is the most popular clothing on her planet. Both men and women wear these,” she said.

  King Ben KowLer had stood upon seeing his sister. Since none of the other men in the room acted in a lustful manner and even took her attire in stride, he took a breath and smiled at her. He could tell she was nervous.

  “It is a new look for you, sissa. Do you like them?”

  “Oh, yes! I love them. I won’t wear them in public, but I shall wear them in my home all the time,” she said.

  He may have said more but Grace interrupted.

  “Say, Addie, did the king mention their women were having trouble getting pregnant lately?” Grace asked.

  Ben was really shocked now. It was a strict planetary secret about the females of their world being unable to conceive for the past six and a half years. Their doctors had not been able to find a reason for the lack of fertility.

  “Is this right?” Addie asked him.

  While Grace and BianCa were out of the room, they had been circling around each other with meaningless chit-chat. It seemed Grace had been more successful than she at breaking the ice. Grace turned to the king as she re-took her seat on the couch.

  “Didn’t Addie tell you?” she asked and waved a hand at her sister. “She’s the Goddess of Fertility. Anyone within a three thousand mile radius of her, who is having unprotected sex, gets pregnant, even if they’re taking a chemical preventative birth control. Didn’t you wonder why nearly all the women on board are pregnant?” she asked.

  “She’s right,” said Addie with a half-smile. “It’s one of the reasons we left Earth so quickly. Even people with fertility problems were suddenly getting pregnant. It started with the local area but by the time we left, it had stretched over a thousand miles. It’s only gotten stronger since then. If you like, we can orbit your planet for a few days.”

  “I would be very grateful if you did. I won’t tell anyone why you are orbiting. It might not work and I don’t want to get their hopes up,” he answered.

  “Why don’t you and your sister stay on board for a few days? We’ll hammer out an agreement about the Gate while we’re orbiting―two birds, one stone. I didn’t bring up the subject before because I haven’t reviewed the agreement Regent Malpha put in place. If you would provide me with a copy of your negotiations and the final agreement, we can discuss it afterwards,” she said.

  “I agree,” he said with a smile. “And I also would like to get out of these presentation clothes,” said the king.

  BianCa interjected. “I know the women of KowLer would be happy to provide you with maternity clothes. We’re well known for our embroidery. If you provide us with all the women’s sizes, I’ll have the clothes sent up while you’re in orbit. Do you have infant clothes?” she asked.

  “We originally expected to arrive at HeVan before anyone actually gave birth. I like the way you think, though; we should prepare for any eventuality,” said Addie, musingly.

  “We’ll include some things for the babies, then. Believe me, the women of KowLer will be so grateful, a few clothes will be a very small payment by way of a thank you,” BianCa pointed out.

  “You’re very generous. I know we’ll all love the gifts,” said Grace and Addie at
the same time.

  The chime for the door sounded, interrupting their conversation. Soon Glynnis and her Ankida arrived. Arjun made the introductions. Glynnis went right up to King Ben KowLer and began shaking her finger at him and scolding him on the behavior of the “young man” she’d spoken to the night before. Addie started laughing at the look on Ben’s face.

  “Granny Mac, you don’t need to scold; we’re working everything out. King Ben wasn’t responsible for the accident,” said Addie.

  “He’s the king, isn’t he? The buck stops there, I say,” she said emphatically. She turned and seeing BianCa, sat next to her on the couch. “Hello, you look like a nice young girl. Was it terribly difficult having him as a brother growing up?” Glynnis asked her with a smile.

  Her question set the tone for the rest of the visit. They didn’t have to try very hard to convince Ben and BianCa to stay for the Indiana Jones movie marathon. When Arjun, Kylan, and Rune told Addie they forbade her from pursuing archeology, Ben was shocked when BianCa and Grace burst into laughter.

  As Addie had first suggested, it was easier if they all became friends. Ben and BianCa knew they would miss this unusual queen when she left their world.

  Chapter Six

  Princess BianCa spent most of her time on the HeVanian ship and rarely returned to her quarters on Ben’s private ship. Grace had even assigned quarters for her on the ship. The fact they were over the engine room and weren’t as luxurious as her stateroom on her brother’s ship, didn’t bother her. It was the first room where she could be completely private. She kept it clean herself, leaving her servant on her brother’s ship. She enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and the lack of a rigid social structure. She also enjoyed wearing the jeans given to her by Grace. She knew when she returned to KowLer, her opportunities to cover her legs like this would be rare. She was treating this as a short time away from her normal life. With the queen’s help, perhaps she would be able to give PietRo a child. It would make things easier between them.

  They had been circling KowLer for eight days now. She’d been trying to reach her husband, the duke, and was worried because he wasn’t answering her hails. Finally, on her ninth transmission, he answered her.

  “I’m sorry I haven’t been answering you, wife. I’ve been in important meetings and couldn’t be disturbed,” he said.

  Their marriage had been an arranged one to solidify the relationship between their two clans. Clan LucenTio was the second largest clan after KowLer, so tying them together with marriage had made sense to her father.

  She wasn’t in love with her husband. She hoped if she were able to give him a child, then love between them would grow. If not, she would love the child. She was happy to see him so she could tell him of the Nephilim Queen’s abilities.

  “I’m sure someone has told you of the Nephilim Queen and her gift of fertility. She will be leaving soon; I thought we could try again to have a child,” she said in a soft voice.

  The duke smiled, “I would like that, too, wife. I need a son to carry on after me. I would also like to meet this queen. Do you think it could be arranged?” he asked.

  “Yes, I believe so. I’ve become friends with both the queen and her sister, the Lady Grace. I’m sure they would be pleased to meet you. They have even assigned a cabin for me on their ship so I wouldn’t have to spend hours each day in a shuttle. I’m actually transmitting from there now,” she explained.

  “Give me the hailing frequency of their command deck and I will make arrangements to arrive tomorrow,” he said and signed off.

  The fact he didn’t say goodbye or ask how she was didn’t bother her. She had grown accustomed to his brusque manner. She knew he was very busy as Proctor of his clan and often didn’t have time for the niceties. He was as trapped in this marriage as she was. She heard his father was much the same. While her own father was a hard man, she remembered how his eyes always lit up when he saw her mother and children. BianCa still hoped for love to grow in her marriage. They had only been married for a little over two years; there was still time.

  BianCa reached for the communications panel again. She wanted to tell her new friend her husband was coming for a visit. Perhaps a dose of the Nephilim would loosen him up the way it had her brother.

  ****

  Natalie was spending time each day with her Ankida, Peet and Reeko, getting to know them. She was happy they had agreed to court her slowly. Sometimes it was hard; she was insanely attracted to the strong, dour warriors. When they described their province on HeVan, she realized it was much like Scotland. She began to think of them as highlanders, like the men in the historical romances she often read. Of course, she had two men, which was a new one and the main reason she was moving slowly.

  They each spoke of their childhoods and what growing up was like on each of their planets. She introduced them to movies and had given them a large list of must-see videos so they could understand her culture better. It also gave them something to do while she went about her duties. They had wanted to act as her personal guard, but she had put a stop to that idea.

  Where was the danger? Natalie thought.

  Being one of only a few women on the ship who wasn’t pregnant, Natalie and Jennifer had both requested duties on the ship. Jennifer worked in the kitchen and Natalie was in charge of all visitors. She’d enjoyed being the official greeter when King Ben first came on board. Her background in marketing made her a natural for the role. Her seventh degree black belt added an extra boost of confidence. In addition to their conversations—Peet and Reeko, when they learned of her expertise, enjoyed working out with her. They all learned and it gave them more opportunities to hold her close.

  The warriors she dealt with every day responded to female authority, making it much easier to juggle all the requests they still received from the Venger on a daily basis. Many of the House representatives wanted to meet individually with the queen. They had concerns about the situations in their individual Houses and this was the perfect opportunity to discuss them with Addie. The queen was more or less a captive audience; her Ankida made sure she didn’t overtire herself.

  For those who were given an appointment, Natalie met their shuttle and escorted them to Addie’s cabin. After their time was up, she interrupted the visit and escorted them back to the shuttle bay. She often wished for roller skates on busy days. It seemed as if she spent all her time walking the corridors between the shuttle bay and the queen’s quarters. She considered it her cardio exercise.

  Still, she was glad to have something to do. Long space voyages were pretty boring. It was almost like taking a cruise: look out the porthole and the view was always the same. The fun happened when they hit port.

  They had cut back on the travel between ships during most of their flight due to the difficulty in docking while both ships were moving. In those instances when it was necessary, they allowed the shuttle to come into the landing bay. It was only during these brief stops for supplies or for other reasons when she got super busy, that she enjoyed it. Besides, all the walking made her butt look great. Since she had met her Ankida, this was especially important to her.

  They had been orbiting the planet for eight days. They had agreed to orbit for ten to allow for the maximum amount of women to become pregnant. Being in one place for so long, resulted in a lot of comings and goings between the two ships. They were also taking advantage of the king’s hospitality and reloading the ship’s stores. They now had more than enough beautiful maternity clothes and also two store rooms full of things for the babies as thank you gifts from the grateful women of KowLer. If they stayed for much longer, though, they would need water. It was much harder to fill the water reservoirs without docking at a station. Arjun didn’t trust the KowLer that far as of yet. Natalie decided to stop in and see what Jennifer had cooking as soon as she got a break.

  Jennifer was really busy using all the new fresh ingredients and she was having a great time trying out new foods and making up recipes for the food repl
icators. More and more women on the planet were becoming pregnant. The numbers were currently in the tens of thousands and growing every day.

  Natalie had heard Addie warn King Ben that his infrastructure would be taking a hit with the coming baby boom. She related stories about the baby boomer generation on Earth and how it had over-stressed the government at times. This would potentially be the largest generation and as it aged, the culture would have to adapt with it.

  All these thoughts were running through Natalie’s mind as she made her way to the docking station. She was there to greet two representatives from the House of Seraph. Halfway there, she received a transmission that Duke LucenTio, BianCa’s husband, had arrived early. She guessed he was anxious to see his wife.

  If the space ship’s a rockin’, don’t come a knockin’, she hummed under her breath.

  As she neared the docking station, she wondered if he were anything like King Ben. Just before she opened the door to the docking station, her personal communicator beeped so she stopped. She pressed down on the crystal. “Hello, this is Nat.”

  “Natalie, this is Peet. My brother and I would like to invite you to eat your evening meal with us. We heard Jennifer has developed a new recipe you will particularly like,” he said.

  “Really―did she say what it was?” she asked.

  “She said it was called lasagna with a fresh salad on the side,” he repeated word for word.

  “I’m there! I love lasagna. By the way, how do your backs feel today?” she asked, twirling her hair around a finger and trying for nonchalant. She knew they were getting close to the time when they would need to join and she was nervous about it.