by Claudia Rose
The lights on the screen danced and pulsed, spiraled and flamed, in shapes and patterns too beautiful to describe. Bruce realized that somehow he was seeing images of the birth of the Universe.
“And when the explosion occurred,” continued Ghanjihi. “It was not only matter that was hurled outward by the mighty conflagration. For in that firmament were the seeds of life. Along with the exploding matter flew countless trillions upon trillions of spores. Every living creature in the universe at this moment, from the greatest to the least, has its evolutionary origin in that one moment of generation. And of all those spores, the most potent is the variety that produces humanoids.”
The image on the screen zoomed in on a cloud of space dust, and then it focused even more closely, onto a single grain that was passing close to an insignificant yellow star orbiting a small green planet
“Infrequently, defying odds of one in a trillion-billion, a humanoid spore encountered a planet capable of nurturing it into life.”
On screen, the tiny grain was captured by the gravity of the planet. As it entered the atmosphere it flamed briefly, but without being consumed, and continued on towards the surface of the world that had taken possession of it.
“Since the cataclysm, five humanoid spores that we know of have seeded life on suitable planets. Of these, the most recent to evolve have been your species, the Terrans, who inhabit the planet you call Earth. Before that, four other spores had also been nurtured into life by suitable planetary incubators. The oldest species of humanoid is the Reven. Our ancestors, the forefathers of the Vedi, came into being a cosmic blink later. Then some time after that additional humanoid spores produced the Gortsoitrevnia and the Trrivv.”
The images of evolving humanoid life forms that had been accompanying this section of Ghanjihi’s explanation gave way to pictures of a beautiful world that was clearly home to a mighty civilization. Even from space it was possible to see the great cities that dotted the planet. As the view became clearer, the inhabitants of these cities were revealed to be humans of quite astonishing beauty.
“Eons ago,” explained Ghanjihi. “The Reven were like gods and the ancestors of the Vedi were their slaves. The Reven were striking to behold. The shortest of them was over eight feet tall. The least of them was refined and powerful. “
The nearest thing Jenna could think of that compared in beauty to the people that appeared on the screen were the most perfect sculptures of Michelangelo. But these were people, not statues, they walked, talked, lived and breathed.
“Even back then the Reven were incredibly advanced scientifically. The greatest technology of your own world would have amused a Reven child. But with their knowledge came arrogance. And with their arrogance came cruelty. Not content with using my ancestors as their slaves, they played games with our genetic make-up, turning us blue on a whim, and adding an extra pair of arms to enhance our utility. The Vedi were a cosmic joke as far as the Reven were concerned.”
The creatures that appeared next on the screen were nothing like Ghanjihi or Ranisha. Admittedly they were blue and had four arms, but there the resemblance ended. The slaves of the Reven were pathetically small and hunched. They scurried this way and that, like ants, doing the Reven’s bidding.
“It was such a simple thing for the Reven to tamper with another species like this. Their technology is vastly superior to anything else the Universe has seen. Reven have mapped the pathways of the brain and modeled its every synapse. They have unraveled the mysteries of the very building blocks of humanoid life. What your Terran scientists attempt now, mapping the human genome, is simplicity itself to the Reven. In their experiments they studied, not the make-up of DNA but its morphology. They had learned that chromosomes are not fixed structures, rather they are mutable, with the capacity to adjust at a molecular level to the activities of the organism.”
Various images of complex experiments, and close-ups of Dan’s familiar double helix, illustrated Ghanjihi’s explanation.
“But in their arrogance, most Reven came to believe that they could perfect nature by replacing sexual reproduction with technological reproduction. They contended that sex was bestial, and pointed to the undignified coupling of the ancestors of the Vedi as primary evidence for the baseness of such activities. Some Reven were horrified and resisted, but the majority over-ruled them, and the dissenters were banished.”
On the screen angry Reven confronted each other in heated debates, with large crowds shouting down a determined minority.
“The Reven then selected the most superior of their number, and cloned them. The originals were some twenty in number. Every successive cloning was a link in a chain, or strand, of clones that connected back to the original donor of the DNA. But what the dissenters feared came to pass. Over the millennia the clones began to mutate. Their genitals shriveled from misuse, their beauty faded, their bodies shrank and atrophied, the only thing that continued to develop were their large brains. And every generation of clones was inferior to the preceding generation.”
A succession of images showing the devolution of the Reven flashed across the screen. The gods of earlier diminished pathetically until they looked like the grotesque, barely human stick figures that Bruce and Jenna had encountered.
“With each successive cloning, more and more Reven embryos have to be destroyed. Now, less than 20% of Reven from each cloning meet the criteria for existence (criteria which they have regularly relaxed). Soon, if this situation persists, there will be no Reven left. They are looking at extinction within a finite time period.”
Ghanjihi stopped to allow the import of everything he had said sink into their minds. Bruce took it as an invitation to interrupt.
“So the Reven are victims of their own grand plan. But how is it that you Vedi have changed so much in the same time. Your ancestors were far from impressive, Mahatma.”
“Ghanjihi,” corrected the Vedi humorlessly. “What you say of my ancestors is true. But recall the Reven that resisted the majority. Certain of those rebels took it upon themselves to find ways of preserving the beauty and grandeur of their race. They spliced Reven chromosomes into the Vedi DNA to produce a hybrid creature. When their compatriots found what they had done their rage was terrible to behold. Any rebels caught died prolonged and cruel deaths, but the greatest effort was put into exterminating the Vedi. Genocide was almost the outcome, except that one Reven ship manned by rebels and carrying a payload of less than two hundred genetically enhanced Vedi, escaped to set up a new colony on a distant, inhabitable planet. Then, while the Reven declined, the Vedi developed secretly into a mighty and powerful people.”
Images of the Vedian colony growing into a mighty civilization scrolled across the screen. The colonists increased in number, developed cities, and learned the secrets of space flight.
“Eventually the Reven conceded what we Vedi already knew—that their only hope of survival was to reintroduce genes for sexual function back into their DNA. But this is not a simple task, even for the Reven. The only place they can source these genes is from other humanoid species, and in that process they have to beware of contaminants. Not all humanoid DNA is compatible. If they splice an ill-suited segment of a chromosome into their own genetic structure they risk damaging other aspects of their brain function or metabolism.”
“So for many hundreds of years they have been kidnapping Vedi, Gort and Trrivv for their experiments. Through us they have acquired most of the genes they need, but there are a few crucial gaps to be filled. Once those gaps are filled they will have the ability to clone a new type of Reven. These clones will have restored capacity to breed sexually. Through them, the Reven plan to restore their species to its former glory.”
Ghanjihi looked into the eyes of each of the others one at a time, as if to ascertain whether they understood the significance of what he was telling them. Apparently satisfied, he continued.
“The mission of the Vedi has been to prevent the Reven from filling the gaps in the genetic
sequence. We learned, from their mistake, that sexual function is the Universe’s gift to its life forms. For us, sex is life and religion. We have elevated the Tantra of sexuality to the center of our society and culture, and celebrate its gifts.”
Ranisha took up the telling of the story.
“Whenever we can, we intervene to prevent the Reven from capturing and experimenting with other humanoid species. We have had many overt battles, but our greatest triumph has been concealing from them the existence of the fifth humanoid species in the Universe. We have known of you Terrans for many thousands of years. We sent our ancestors, Premlord Kharman and Lady Sutran, to visit your world a long time ago. Their mission was to educate your species in the importance of sexual function. Some of your people understood the wisdom better than others, but you have practiced sex adequately enough to survive and develop.”
Ghanjihi reached up and reactivated the screen. Images of splendidly attired Vedi moving among the awestruck ancestors of some of today’s Indians appeared, and then were replaced by a kaleidoscope of pictures of the nineteenth and twentieth century’s industrial and technological revolutions. Steam power, electricity, flight, wireless, atomic bombs, space travel, orbiting satellites, digital technology—these things and many others flashed across the screen.
“But unfortunately in the last century you began drawing attention to yourselves,” explained Ghanjihi. “It was easy to hide you before you discovered space travel. But once you began escaping from the protective envelope of your atmosphere, all the while beaming ridiculous messages into the void, the secret was out. Your species shares the Reven’s love of technology, and you are also just as dangerous in the misuse you make of it. You have come very close to destroying yourselves by fooling around with the atom. It is no secret that radical elements within the Vedi Congress have proposed that we let you wipe yourselves out as the best way of forever depriving the Reven of the missing chromosomes they need to complete their work. But the majority has ruled that such a step would be too easy. To allow that would be to sink to the level of the Reven themselves and deny the working of karma. We have resolved instead to try to save you and bring you into the fellowship of humanoid worlds. But now the end game is upon us. It may be that in this very ship the final pieces of the puzzle will be discovered. If that occurs, only the cosmos will have the power to intervene.”
“So what is going to happen to us, exactly?” asked Jenna.
“The experiments will most likely begin tomorrow. You, Bruce and Jenna, will be the focus of their observations. They will place you in sexual situations with various combinations of others here, and observe the effects of these activities on your DNA, in the hope of isolating the optimum configuration of genes to fill the gaps in their sequences.”
The import of this registered in Jenna’s mind.
“You mean they expect us to fuck you? Are they mad? Are you mad?” She gazed at the hulking figure of Mort in horror. “I’ve never had sex with anyone I didn’t want to, and I’m not about to start now. There’s no way those little stick-men are getting me to play their sick games.”
“Review your experiences, Jenna,” responded Ranisha, smiling softly. “Have any of us been able to resist the Reven up till now? Did you not see my suffering? Did you not feel the pain yourself? Remember that the Reven understand our nervous systems better than we understand our own thoughts. They have spliced controller chips directly into our brain stems. How do you think we communicate? The Reven controller chips allow our minds to speak directly to each other. There is absolutely nothing we can do to resist their slightest whim. They will select who they wish, and they will make us perform in whichever way they want. And outside of their experiments they will prevent us from pleasuring each other. When we suffered pain while attempting to pleasure each other, it was because the Reven controller chip sensed that we were violating their parameters and it punished us for our actions. Bruce was unharmed the first time because his responses were instinctive rather than intellectual, but he was not so lucky the second time because what he did was a matter of conscious choice.”
“Do not be concerned about the fact that the Reven will compel you to take others here as lovers,” added Ghanjihi, continuing when Ranisha paused. “The controller chips will rule us for the duration of any experiment, and while that is occurring the acts will seem both pleasurable and natural. The best thing we can do is accept this and surrender to the pleasure their experiments will bring. We will not suffer. The Reven require us to be in optimal condition. They will feed us well, keep us in relative comfort, and mate us as they wish for the duration of their program.”
“Well I suppose it could be a little worse,” conceded Bruce. “I’ve been watching too much X-Files, I thought they were going to suspend us on spikes and start amputating bits.”
“No,” responded Ranisha with a smile. “Even the Reven are not so crude. They will use us, and once they have what they want, they will vaporize our brains quickly and efficiently.”
“You mean they’ll kill us?”
“Oh yes. Reven always kill if they can. There is no more xenophobic a species in the cosmos. If their experiments succeed and they rejuvenate their race, their next task will be to wipe the rest of us out. They could do so now if they wished, but they need us for our DNA.”
Bruce considered this for a time. He had no doubt Ranisha was telling him the truth, yet the prospect of his imminent demise didn’t seem that big a deal.
“Given that I believe they will kill us, why do I seem so unconcerned?”
“That is the controller chip again,” answered Ghanjihi. “It is designed to limit the impact of that knowledge. The Reven need us to be calm, relaxed and cooperative or their experiments will fail. While the controller chip commands us we can all face our deaths with perfect equanimity.”
“Maybe so, but I’d prefer not to die if I don’t have to.”
“Likewise, my friend. The Reven know we will make every attempt to escape, but as always our attempts will be futile.”
“So let us enjoy the time we have left,” interjected the husky melodious voice of Zhorta, the female Gort. “It will surely be interesting. And perhaps the cosmos will intervene.”
Chapter Seven: First Night
There was a long, reflective silence following Ghanjihi’s presentation. Bruce was not the only one mulling over their impending deaths.
Jenna, however, was still more bothered about the likelihood that she was going to be required to perform sexually with any number of the beings here in the room with her. She still couldn’t credit that the Reven would be able to force her to do anything that she didn’t want to do. Privately, however, she conceded to herself that their new “friends” were undeniably attractive in their own unique ways. And she was surprised to feel a tingle of perverse excitement at the possibilities they represented. Ever since the Reven had stimulated her mechanically, she had been much more aware of the sexual side of her nature. Particularly when around Bruce she felt sexually hypersensitive. She desired him desperately, and was frustrated that abstinence was being forced upon them.
Slightly aroused now, she gazed surreptitiously around the room, trying to imagine what it might be like to have sex with the others here.
She was both attracted to, and fearful of, the Vedi. Her inadvertent breast-to-breast contact with Ranisha had stimulated her in unusual ways—but the steely blueness and two pair of arms was unsettling.
The Gorts were something else altogether. Both Mort and Zhorta were strangely beautiful, but they too were most unearthly, and definitely, she thought, too large for her to handle. They reminded her of something—she thought for a moment. That was it! The Gorts made her think of some illustrations that she’d once seen done by the seventeenth-century poet and artist William Blake. Blake was into drawing scantily clothed figures with huge sculpted bodies. Jenna particularly remembered heavily muscled angels of fearsome proportions and great beauty. Mort would have served well as
the model for one of those. Just look at him, all abs, pecs, biceps and gluts. Even Zhorta made Arnold Schwarzenneger look anorexic.
But there was another question Jenna had about Mort. Where was his cock? He had balls, they were pretty obvious, but where his shaft should have been she could just make out what appeared to be a sort of vertical slit. I don’t think I’ll go there at the moment, she decided.
As for the Trrivv, Jenna wasn’t confident that she and Mmerr would ever transcend their rocky start. And those tails…they just seemed to have minds of their own. And dirty minds at that! But there was something dangerously sexual about both of them, she imagined that sex with a Trrivv was probably akin to being caught in a tornado.
Abruptly Jenna’s reverie was interrupted by a metallic voice echoing in her mind.
“Attention subjects. Illumination will cease in 30 minutes and a period of rest will be enforced. Retire to sleeping quarters.”
Ghanjihi and Ranisha rose fluidly to their feet and faced Bruce and Jenna.
“What the voice says is true,” confirmed Ghanjihi. “The light will not last a lot longer, and then the controller chips will stimulate the sleep centers of our brains and we will find it increasingly difficult to remain awake. If you return to the room in which you regained consciousness, you will discover that it is set up for you to rest in. Goodnight.”
He turned and walked though another door, into a cubicle that appeared, from what Jenna could see of it, to be hung with beautifully textured silk.
The others stirred themselves, said goodnight also, and began filing through various doors.
The last to go was Ranisha.
“It has been an interesting day Bruce and Jenna. I am very pleased to have met you and I believe we will get to know each other well. There is something between us, a bond of sorts, that I do not understand—but I think it will lead us into an interesting future.”
