“I won’t,” Bonnie called from her bed. “As a matter of fact, I’ll be waiting at the portal. You were right about one thing. It’s time I got out of bed and tried to get someone interested in helping me find Peter. If we’re lucky, maybe Ginger Mae will turn up too.”
Kenya stood at the door, trying to suppress her shock.
“You better wait until Netty gets back from the service. You can’t just go wandering off by yourself. It’s too dangerous.”
Bonnie slipped from bed to yank on clothes that were already three days old and about as fresh as a tuna left in the noonday sun for twenty four hours. Her eyes glittered, feverish and mad.
“I’ll be fine. I just need to find Tobi.”
“Tobi? What in the world do you need Tobi for? You leave her alone. She has enough problems without you distracting her. We must have a least a dozen calves ready to be born.” She put her hands to her hips in anger, all thought of Bonnie’s tender sensibilities gone as her fear for Tobi’s safety, so deeply ingrained over the decades, left her bristling.
Bonnie brushed past her looking like a demented slip of a ghost. Not a word was said as she focused on her destination and left Kenya behind.
The stunning new mom yanked on her hair in consternation. I need Kane. Better yet . . . Baby or Echo. She turned quickly on her heels and out of the survivors’ quarters, her shapely caramel-cream legs flashing as she beat a hasty retreat to find Kane in the nursery.
***
Bonnie sat in the grass with Tobi, both pensive and yet each feeling better for the support of her best friend. They had been through so much together over the decades. They sat in front of the opening of a sphere that Bonnie had identified as the one from where she’d emerged before the Earth exploded. On her lap lay the Bible she’d swiped from Dezi’s room before leaving the survivors’ quarters. She’d been surprised to see it there, wondering why it hadn’t been taken for the use during the service.
What difference does the damned book make, anyway? It’s just full of lies told to cover the truth. But in her heart, she knew the words could still give comfort and that’s exactly what she needed now.
It hadn’t been easy. First she’d had to find Tobi. Emerging from the Oolahan fortress, she had scanned the grassy horizon, seeing not a soul. The brightness of the alien sun beat down unmercifully, causing her to close her eyes in a tight squint, a headache writhing like a dervish in her heavy head. She swiped at the filthy hair that hung in her eyes. Maybe I should have eaten something. A dizzy spell caught her off balance.
In the distance, she could see the tops of the domes that housed the portals. She swallowed at what appeared to be hundreds of them. From time to time, she thought she saw a flashing blob of what could only be the Kreyven, rushing from portal to portal in its urgent business. Or what was more likely to be the Kreyven and its many duplicates doing the Womb’s business.
She felt a wave of relief as her instinct took her to a grove of greenery represented by a giant curly-leaved tree that suspended its foliage like flexible pieces of giant, macaroni-shaped chlorophyll; so tempting to a hungry herd of elephants and their pregnant females. As she approached, she heard the expected familiar trumpet as Tobi separated herself from her herd to welcome her favorite human pal.
After the proper sloppy kisses, Tobi knelt down to assist Bonnie’s climb up onto her broad back. From there, Bonnie could scan the horizon. She shaded her eyes, searching for other wildlife. Frowning in frustration, she glanced back at the gleaming minion fortress. The silence and inactivity were surprising. Must be the memorial service. At least I’ll be left alone. Urging Tobi forward, they headed toward the dome that contained the portal where she’d emerged the day Earth exploded. With Tobi’s help, she dismounted, stumbling as she stepped onto the ground from Tobi’s trunk.
I’ll show them, she predicted. I know what I’m talking about. How would I like it if the situation was reversed and Peter allowed himself to be deterred from my rescue?
Her finger absently plucked at the sweet freshness of the well-clipped grass, tossing the shoots over to Tobi who snorted them greedily into her mouth with her trunk. She realized her heart was not really in it. As she looked around in a desultory way at the number of portal-covered spheres, she wondered again about Peter. She glanced inside the portal from Earth and got a thrill dreaming about how surprised Peter would be to find her waiting. Waiting . . . for how long? I guess I’ll wait forever. But that’s no help to Peter. Her spirits sagged and she rolled onto her side in a fetal position. Tobi’s trunk roamed over her body. Low rumbles from deep in her belly vibrated through Bonnie’s entire body.
“It’s okay, girl. Don’t worry about me.”
“Why do you speak to this large animal?” From out of nowhere a tentative but sparkling finger stroked her mind. She sat up abruptly.
“Echo?” There was no response.
“Why do you not answer me, child?” The bright finger swirled in her brain.
Bonnie leaned her head back to find the sight of a golden minion fluttering its wings, its tail held straight up in the air, the thick, darker fur on the end twitching. Most notable was the stunning butterfly attached to the creature’s antlers, trailing flame-like sparks as the butterfly’s wings languidly caressed the air.
“I am not an it.” Her mind felt the minion’s indignation.
“Well, I am not a child.” Bonnie’s surliness embarrassed her. Offering the Oolahan a sign of contriteness, she patted the grass next to her.
“Please . . . come sit with us.”
The minion gracefully descended from overhead, its own wings beating so rapidly they appeared invisible. Bonnie didn’t get a good look until the creature landed and glided over the grass to select a spot a few inches from her.
The creature stared into Bonnie’s eyes, twisting its head to the right, then to the left, its features scrunching up as it appeared to be searching for something. Bonnie inched backward on the grass facing the dome, the Bible slipping from her lap. Glimmering strokes caressed Bonnie’s mind. The sensation relaxed her.
“You are one of the humans. Why are you not with the others in the great hall?”
Bonnie felt herself withdraw, the answer too private.
“You cannot hide from me, child. I can feel your depression and your anger. Are you not grateful you were saved from the fate of your planet and the rest of your humankind?”
Bonnie hung her head. “If it’s any business of yours, I’m unhappy because my husband, Peter, is missing. I want to go find him but no one is listening to me.” A tear leaked out from an eye and she wiped it away impatiently, looking up at the minion with a sudden hopeful surge. “Can you help me? Who are you exactly? Aren’t you the one I saw a few days ago when we got here? You were aboard a sphere that came out of a portal.”
“Yes,” the creature answered. “I am an IV Navigator.”
“IV? Ivey? You’re a girl? And what is a navigator? You fly planes?”
“No, I don’t fly planes, child. I comb the stars. I bounce from portal to portal in the service of the Womb. I locate planets or stars that the Womb has decreed in need of intervention. It might be because of the actions of a life form or just that the star is in jeopardy of causing damage to a planet as its magnetic pull increases or diminishes, throwing it into an altered orbit. Every action has a reaction that must be anticipated. I map the pathway, reporting back to the Womb who then decides the course of action and sends my Brothers or Sisters to begin the intervention.”
“So you destroy life and planets like you did on Earth,” Bonnie stated.
“You are misguided. We do no such thing. There are many levels of intervention. Sometimes the Womb decides to eliminate a destructive species to save many others. Sometimes it is a plant, sometimes a creature. And sometimes it may just be an enzyme, protein or DNA alteration.” Ivey waved her leather arm back toward the Oolahan sanctuary. “Sometimes we need to bring them here to our labs and test the effect of the interv
ention before we can release the creature again. It takes time. So much time, so many interventions.” Ivey’s eyes flashed and glittered, the tendrils in Bonnie’s mind darkening ominously.
“I must admit, we have never seen a species as avaricious and blood-thirsty as yours. It is an additional sadness that you evolved from our own DNA. The Womb was quite correct. It was a devastating mistake. But we are only Oolahans. We sometimes make errors. Such is the way. But we have learned from them. Something the human race has never developed the capability to do.”
Bonnie felt herself mesmerized by the gold glowing nature of Ivey’s eyes. Her thoughts raced, ignoring Ivy’s thought words. A navigator—could she . . .?
“And yes. I am a female.”
Bonnie scrambled around so that she was sitting on her knees, her hands supporting her at her sides resting in the thick grass. Her breaking heart began to rocket with the faith that had spread unbidden into her breast spreading like a wildfire.
“Ivey, you said you map pathways. Does that mean you can always find your way back?”
Ivey rolled her radiant eyes. “Sister, why could my duties possibly interest you more than in passing? I can see right into your emotions which I find quite unstable at the moment. I don’t know why but I was drawn to you the moment I laid my eyes on you. I think it may have something to do with the fact that you reek of anger, yet great sadness and pain have possession of you.”
“Bonnie . . . my name is Bonnie. And I think I can use your help.” Bonnie smiled for the first time since landing on Oolaha. Her spirits took flight so high she didn’t think she would come down until Peter stood in front of her.
“Sister Bonnie, I am sorry for your great sadness but my dedication is to my calling in the service of the Womb. I am unavailable for help as you suggest. Perhaps one of my Brothers or Sisters can be of service . . .”
“No . . . I need you. You’re a navigator; only you.” Bonnie’s face paled, blood draining as fast as her spirits had risen. Her voice rose and before she realized it, she was screaming. Ivey scooted back closer to the dome.
From the corner of Bonnie’s eye she caught movement. It was coming from inside the dome. Her mind registered the slight motion and dismissed it, her thoughts firmly on how to persuade Ivey to help her.
Ivey stood and prepared to leave. “I am sorry, Sister. I must get back to my duties. I have much to complete today. I wish you well.” Ivey bowed. “The Womb be with you.”
A faint buzzing filled the air as a tiny pellet flitted from the dome toward Ivey. Glancing inside the dome, Bonnie saw a great scrambling as the creatures that kept it clean rushed to the dome’s wall and peered out, their golden eyes wide in the tiny faces that pressed up against the dome wall in dismayed horror.
Ivey’s face turned to a study in terror as her fur stood on end. She crouched low, frozen as the bee-like pellet landed on Ivey’s crinkled leather arm.
Without a thought, Bonnie reached for the Bible and slapped it against Ivey’s arm, flattening the invader. The minion collapsed as if in a faint. Her butterfly jerked up into the air as if on a string.
Ivey’s back arched. Glittering fluid began to flow from her nose. A thick viscous liquid, golden in hue began to drip from her ears. Soon her fur was soaked and matted. Before Bonnie’s eyes, she watched as Ivey’s form began to shrivel and collapse in upon itself.
Glancing up, Bonnie saw a dark line flying toward them from the fortress. As it grew in size, Bonnie could see it was hundreds of minions; Forbation and a few others in the lead. When Forbation landed, he motioned frantically to two others who rushed to Ivey’s side. A syringe emerged in the hand of a minion attending Ivey. Quickly, it was inserted into her arm. Another two inserted a tube in her other arm. Golden fluid that flowed from a tank down the tube operated by two more minions completed the tableau.
Forbation’s antlers split open. Bonnie watched a red projectile detached from the emulsion it floated in to take to the air. It flew straight to the Bible where the invader lay stunned and broken. It rested on the invader as two minions carefully approached, long metal tongs in their hands, a strange box attached at the end.
Bonnie’s hands massaged her pounding temples as she was assailed with disturbing images of dissected and shriveled minions, swirls of darkness overcoming her as she dropped to her knees.
Forbation turned on Bonnie, his golden eyes like slits, hand raised and shaking. “You do not belong here, human. I wish the Womb would ship you all back to your own planet.” Forbation laughed bitterly in Bonnie’s head. “But we all know how that turned out, didn’t we?”
“No, Brother.”
Forbation and Bonnie turned to see Ivey struggling to sit, her thin arms held out in supplication as life-giving fluids were pumped into her. Her body had taken on a more robust bulk, the ministrations of her fellow minions a miracle.
“No, Brother Forbation. The human Sister had nothing to do with it. She saved me.”
Bonnie’s head ached with the competing swirls in her brain. She held up one hand in surrender, the other supporting her forehead. “Please . . . you’re hurting me.”
Ivey lay back down, her reserves exhausted. Gentle hands held her down as they finished reviving her precious life fluids with their medical support. Forbation rushed to her side. They stared at one another for several minutes. It ended when Forbation nodded his head to the rest of the waiting minions. A collective sigh was heard in Bonnie’s brain.
As Bonnie watched, the minions took turns wobbling up to Ivey to touch her face. They then gave their wings a shake and took to the sky to head back to what they’d been doing before the emergency.
It wasn’t long before the remaining minions packed everything away, being extra cautious with the tiny invader that sat securely in the box guarded by Forbation’s implant projectile.
Backing away from what little remained of the crowd around Ivey, they took to the air with their burden. Bonnie’s eye followed them until she could see them no longer.
“What just happened, Forbation?” Her face screwed up with consternation. An aura glinted in her brain, gentler . . . calmer.
“Please forgive my outburst, Sister. But if you had not been disobeying our directives to not wander around, Ivey would not have come looking for you and would have avoided this danger.” Forbation signaled with his hand. The rest of the minions completed their rescue, packed away their equipment and took to the air, Ivey supported between two of them.
“Will she be alright?” Bonnie asked, her voice shaking with fright and the humiliation of her responsibility.
“Yes,” replied Forbation. “Fortunately she wasn’t too far away for us to save her.” Forbation turned to glare at the tiny eyes that still peered with terror through the dome. “This shouldn’t have happened at all.” The furry golden-eyed creatures that maintained the interior of the dome raced back to their hanging homes at the top of the dome, severely chastised by Forbation.
Turning to Bonnie, he explained. “They know better. It’s their job to maintain the stasis inside the domes. I don’t understand how they let a rencet through.” Forbation’s aura darkened. “I’m sure it had something to do with their attention being distracted by one of our new guests,” he claimed in a pointed tone. Bonnie ignored his rebuke.
“What exactly is a rencet?” she asked.
Forbation aura was angry and raw. “Only the deadliest and most insidious creature known to Oolahans. We thought they had been eradicated decades ago. They are deadly poisonous to most living species, especially minions. They were part of a sorely needed intervention. But when the minions left their planet, the Kreyven had accidently left the portal link intact, just a fraction of a hole. Not enough to do any damage. So we thought . . . We have no idea how many rencets escaped. They can no longer breed, of course. We took care of that before we left their planet. Now the other indigenous life forms on their planet have a fighting chance. Long before now, the rencets would have all died out. Unfortunately, the p
assing through the portal and visits to who knows where, this side of the solar system, has rendered them either invulnerable or forever enduring.” Forbation scratched his forehead in consternation. “We will get to the bottom of this mystery in our labs.”
Bonnie stood to return to her quarters. A final blast from Forbation reminded her she was just a visitor.
“Do not come out here again, Sister. Something unstoppable may happen to you next time. The staging areas at the portals are not safe. You should not have come here.”
Bonnie cast her eyes down in shame but the bitterness of her words sounded crystal clear. “I am looking for my husband. No one wants to help me. So I’ll do it myself.”
Forbation puffed up in consternation. “Please don’t make me regret leaving you free. This is not the portal through which you arrived.” He swept his hands from horizon to horizon. “Look at all the portals. Your simplistic carelessness almost cost us one of our most valuable navigators.”
Bonnie lifted her head to scan the panorama in front of her. Portals littered the landscape as far as her eye could see. Letting the number of portals sink in, her heart sank. Her busy eyes frantically tried to identify one over the others.
“They all look the same . . .”
“Well, they’re not, I can assure you.”
Bonnie slowly turned to Forbation. “Which one is the portal we emerged from?”
The Elder minion stared at her unblinking. Not a single twinge of an aura filled her mind. He gave a final defined blink of his large, glowing eyes and took flight. Within seconds he was aloft and on his way back to the minion refuge, leaving the disheveled Bonnie to lug her exhausted body back to the survivors’ quarters in disgrace.
For she knew, if one minion knew of her thoughtlessness, they all did, including the Womb.
Chapter 8
Abby and Cobby walked behind the rest of the survivors as they made their way back to their quarters from the memorial service for their loved ones and friends who had perished with the destruction of Earth. Dried trails of tears left evidence on their drawn and somber complexions.
When Aliens Weep Page 7
