by Kimber An
“Dad!”
Delano’s eyes popped open in clarity. “Rowan?”
“Dad, Bo patched me through com. I’m crammed in a LifePod with five of your crew and I accidentally elbowed environmental controls. Can you tractor us into the hangar bay before we all suffocate please?”
Delano dropped the dagger and jumped up.
A minute later, he ran onto the flight deck without his helmet or even his red cape. He stopped as the hatch popped and Beling got out first
“Come quickly.” Beling reached back to help the others out.
“Dad?” Junior finally emerged.
Delano grabbed his daughter in both arms and spun her around in their very first hug.
“I’m okay, Dad. I’m all right.”
Delano set her down, uncomfortable with his paternal outburst. “How did you escape?” He gripped her shoulders and stepped back.
“Escape? I didn’t escape. I told Mom I needed to come back to you and…she let me go.”
Delano searched her cute little face. “She…let you go?” The flame of hope re-ignited in his heart. Olivia’s letting me hold the baby?
Junior nodded, smiling a bit. “Yeah.”
Delano thumped his daughter’s shoulders, feeling very awkward. He dropped one hand and turned towards the door, but he couldn’t let her go. He thumped her back, nodding again. “All right,” he said, because he couldn’t think of anything else. “All right.”
“Well, not yet,” Junior said as they began to walk along. “It’s not all right yet, but it’s going to be.”
Delano looked at his daughter, feeling the moisture of his own face. “Are you hungry? We have banana pancakes.”
“Banana pancakes? Really?”
“We ran into some human smugglers.”
“Oh, let me guess!” Junior twirled and waved her hands, laughing. “You whipped out your sword, spun it around the smugglers’ bodies a few times, and said, ‘Hand over the bananas and nobody gets hurt.’”
Delano remembered doing exactly that and felt rather stupid about it in retrospect. “A dad’s gotta do what a dad’s gotta do.”
A couple of days later in the Mydis’ gymnasium, Junior spun around in a flying leap and shot a fluorescent purple ball into a clear cylinder high on the wall. She pointed three fingers at the barrel-shaped android in the corner. “That’s three points, Govina!”
“Lady Rowan, my designation is Governess Android 291. I am unfamiliar with this game.” Her design was almost entirely functional. Facial circuitry made a nose-less humanoid face.
“No kidding. You n’t believe what I went through to get the matter converters to cough up something which resembled a basketball. What’s next?”
“Art history.”
Junior groaned. “Art’s fun, but I hate history. Can’t we study the charges against my father now?”
“Captain Delano’s criminal record in the United Fleet is not part of this curriculum.”
Junior took a shot at the cylinder again and missed. “You really need a personality, Govina. It’s bad enough there aren’t any other teens on this ship. I didn’t realize how mind-numbingly boring non-family starships are. I mean, good grief, what do grown-ups do for entertainment around here without little kids racing through the corridors, setting off fire alarms?”
“I do not understand the question.”
“No kidding.” She retrieved the ball and jump-shot the next one. “All right. Go ahead with art history.”
“Yes, My Lady. We will begin Lesson 29: 18th Century Europe, Earth.”
“Why do Menelaens care about 18th century European art?”
“Artistic ability is one of the five most valued talents in Menelaen society. The art referred to as ‘Classical Art’ on Earth, as well as the art of Ancient China, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, and Cambodia are highly valued in Menelaen society.”
“What about Russia? I love art from Tsarist Russia.”
“Yes, Russia, as well.”
“And Navajo? That’s my favorite Native American art. Dad’s best friend, Graham Codetalker, is Navajo.”
“Yes. Please stay on task, My Lady. Please identify this painting by title, artist, and date.”
The far wall lit up with a painting. Junior didn’t immediately look, but retrieved her ball first. When she did, she sucked oxygen into her lungs. She’d seen this particular painting many times before in books and holographic databases, but this time it sent chills through her. “’Cupid and Psyche’ on canvas by Francois Gerard, 1798.” She stepped up to the two meter high representation of the famous painting.
“Excellent. The next painting is…”
“Freeze program.”
Govina stood motionless and silent.
Junior studied the painting. The mythical couple looked about her age.
Psyche sat upon a stone, naked and vulnerable. Cupid reached for her face to kiss her and he had wings. Her face the image of bewilderment. His - absolute adoration.
Junior’s pulse quickened. She felt a touch - the slightest feeling of a kiss - on her eyelash, and rubbed the spot. She glanced around, suddenly afraid her father walk in and see her staring at this painting and be angry. Very angry. Like she’d done something terribly wrong. Against him. “Computer, delete this image from the database.”
The painting vanished. But, the feeling didn’t.
Junior swallowed angst. “Govina.”
The android governess reactivated. “The next painting…”
“Govina, I’m going to lunch.” Junior dropped the ball and walked out.
About an hour later, she lifted her chin from her arms folded on knees, sitting on a crevice above the hyperspace engines. The crew work below blurred.
Dad walked in and nodded in response to his crew’s address. He propped his hands on his hips and looked up. “Why aren’t you in class?”
“I don’t feel pretty good.” She settled her chin back down. “I don’t…sleep well and…I have headaches.”
“Why haven’t you reported to med-bay?”
“Isaiah’s not there and, besides, I like this engine. It has a nice hum.”
“All right. Come on down. I was getting bored on the command deck without even an asteroid to blow up anyway.”
She smiled a bit at that.
“Come on down.” He motioned for her. “I’ve got a great rock-climbing holographic program.”
Junior climbed down part way and then dropped to her feet.
“So, how’s school?” Dad thumped her shoulder as they walked out.
The memory of the painting brought a wave of nausea. “Fine.”
“I know it’s boring without your friends.”
“I didn’t have time to say good-by to Ret and Rehama, and we’ve been best friends since we were babies.”
“Things will be better once we arrive on Menelae. Naana will retain ladies-in-waiting to keep you company. I‘ve specified they have athletic ability and share your love of science.”
Junior’s mind wondered off on how her daddy was buying her new friends.
“I‘ve created a future for our family on Denahi,” he continued. “When we arrive on Menelae, the Empress will elevate me to Viceroy of Denahi. Then, you will be a princess and your mother will be queen.”
“A princess? You mean one of those screaming wimps who cower in the corner while Robin Hood gets to have all the fun kicking the Sheriff of Nottingham’s butkis?”
He chuckled. “You’re going to have the best of everything. I‘ve worked hard for this a very long time.” He led the way into the HRC. “Computer, run Program Delano-Yosemite-Auch.”
Instantly, the lush green grasses grew up and a gray jagged peak rose up before them. Junior drew breath, smelling the cool mountain breezes. “El Capitan!”
Delano smiled, also looking up at the famous California peak in Yosemite National Park. “Yes.” He grabbed the climbing gear from a nearby rock and tossed it to her. “Your mother and I honeymooned here.
”
Junior caught it and smiled over her parents’ honeymoon. Watching her father find finger-holds and toe-holds on the sheer rock, the smile faded. She scanned the ground, the ferns and off into the distance, re-thinking events which had brought her to this point. Dad meant to kidnap Mom too. The thought tensed her whole body and made her stomach roll. She had been the bait. Once across the border, Dad thought he could convince Mom to stay with him too.
She ran the bright pink rope through her fingers. I’m the bait again.
Dad had no inclination to return home at all.
Junior watched him move up the rock, reaching for the next finger-hold, and the bottom fell out of her heart. “Dad…I really don’t feel much like rock climbing. I think I’ll go…study…something.” She dropped the rope.
“Rowan? What’s wrong?”
“I don’t like to be called ‘Rowan.’” She walked out. “Not that it matters to anyone.”
Junior tried to study Menelaen history, but it wasn’t anymore interesting than human history. Tired, she still didn’t want to go to bed. She found the antique copy of Lord of the Rings her father had given for a belated birthday present and fell asleep when it fell open in her hands.
***
Dreamtime.
Ariez remained in shadow when she appeared and swallowed the anguish of his burns. He observed her through the evergreen boughs as she approached their tree house. Clouds blocked a full moon and faraway thunder heralded another coming storm if he failed. He drew courage from knowing he could not be there if she had truly rejected him.
All Menelaen males were at the mercy of their females, but the Courtship Rites protected them beforehand and the Marital Bond after. However, she never quite comprehended his explanations of either. His father had warned him marrying a human female would be challenging, even if she was the Holy Bennu.
If she was Menelaen, anger would be justified. He could withdraw his suit and file a complaint of ‘false pretenses resulting in bodily harm’ with the Bureau of Family Affairs.
The Empress would preside over the case herself.
However, the Holy Bennu was not Menelaen and her heart was pure.
Sniffing brought Ariez out of deep thought. She weeps. She thinks of me and she weeps.
Then, she felt his presence and searched. The cloud passed from the moon and her tears reflected the light. She searched for him, but saw only his shadow. “Ariez?”
He stepped forth.
Gasping, she stumbled back at his appearance. She understood she had hurt him again. She turned away and felt the tree trunk, searching for the rope ladder to escape her own guilt. “I’m sorry.” Her voice was weak and she sunk into the ferns and anguish. “I’m so sorry.”
“I know.” Ariez knelt beside her and let the moon illuminate his burned face.
On instinct, she passed hands over him and the burns vanished. Relief softened her, but confusion quickly returned. “I didn’t want him to die, but then something else happened too and…” She watched him take her hands. “I can’t remember what it was, but it…it hurts.”
“Your father tried to coerce you into rejecting me.” He thought better of referring to Delano as a sorcerer. That only confused her more.
She watched their hands together. “Why would he do that?”
“He knows I am too powerful to manipulate. He wants you to marry my half-brother, Kaliban. Then, he could rule the Empire through your son.”
If not for their growing bond, she would’ve laughed and said he was playing a game. “But…I…I don’t know anyone named Kaliban and I…love you, and I’m…too young to…”
“You came of age two years ago.”
“I did?”
“Yes.” Ariez smiled in spite of the lingering darkness. “I will not allow the sorcerer to succeed, I promise you, and I will protect you from Kaliban. I will find a way across the border. Once I have resumed my true identity, I will have more than enough power to rescue you.”
She trailed gaze up to the moon and back down. “I’m not sure I need to be rescued.”
Ariez passed a hand over her cheek and she winced at the tickle, but then her lips curled. “Do you remember our first kiss?”
Pink softened her face. She ran her finger up his neck. “Your father had just died.”
“He was murdered, assassinated by Ara’s Loyalists. I had just come of age and she feared my growing power with my father’s help.”
“You wanted to die too. I held you while you cried.”
“And then you kissed me.” Ariez took her chin and brought her lips to his. “I was fourteen years old. You were twelve.”
She smoothed her fingers over his eyes. “You still hurt. Why?”
“It is…” he blinked back the pain “…unnatural for the Courtship Rites to carry on so long. Maintaining this…” he waved a hand over their forest now glittering with dawn “…is…difficult. I am…tired.”
“When were we supposed to…to whatever?”
“Nearly three years ago.” Ariez let his head fall against her shoulder and she held him. Her scent soothed his pain and he dared kiss her bare arm. It was a prelude to completion and never done in Dreamtime.
The Holy Bennu could not yet be with him in Waking Moments, however, and she trembled when he kissed her, banishing all angst from his body.
Chapter 11
Junior walked onto the command deck with Naana.
“Sleep well?” Delano asked, standing forward of his chair.
“Great!” Junior grabbed the rail and swung around to stand beside him as the Menelaen homeworld came into focus. A blue marble in space, like Earth, it swirled with white clouds. From her studies, she knew there were only two continents. Because of this, a rich oceanic culture thrived in submerged cities.
The Northern continent was shaped like a bean on its side, mountainous and temperate. The Southern continent resembled an apostrophe, brown-edged with green on the shoreline, being mostly desert. Only pre-industrial societies existed there.
“Dad, do you think Menelaens really are the same species as humans?”
He glanced at her.
“I was reading the medical database this morning.” Junior remembered to lower her voice in front of the crew. “They believe they‘re like us, only more highly evolved.”
“I believe we’re the same species. Of course, I don’t think they’re more highly evolved. They simply have special adaptations to suit their environment.” Delano stepped forward to issue orders to his crew. “Standard orbit. Hail SkyDock.”
“What adaptations?” Junior watched as their ship settled into orbit. Other starships docked to the feet of the white spider-like space station.
“It has to do with their…reproductive…practices.”
“Oh, that reminds me! Why don’t Menelaens have very many babies?”
“Shhhh.” Delano admonished and then continued in a whisper. “They haven’t recovered from the multi-phasic radiation the Intari poisoned them with during the War yet.”
“The Intari poisoned the Menelaens? Isn’t that…”
“Genocide? Yes, attempted genocide, at least. You never read about it in your United Fleet history text because the education board feared it be too divisive. It was a stupid concession for our people to make, since we suffered infertility from it too.”
“But, why haven’t the Menelaens recovered yet?”
“Menelaens reproduce more slowly than humans.”
“So…did the Menelaens slow their reproductive abilities on purpose or was it a natural biological adaptation?”
He waved her off. “It’s not something you need to know.”
“Why not? Is that why you censored that part of the medical text? You know, Mom and I had The Talk a long time ago. I know all about sex.”
Delano narrowed his eyelids. “Menelaen courtship rites are very complicated. You couldn’t possibly comprehend or reciprocate.”
“Why not?”
“Enough. You�
�re too young to marry and you won’t marry a Menelaen in any case.”
Junior released an overly dramatic sigh. “You expect me to come live with you in the Menelaen Empire, but you don’t want me going out with Menelaen boys. What do you expect me to do? Die a virgin?”
“Yes.” He wasn’t anywhere near ready to crack a smile. “Only, you’re not allowed to die.”
Junior shot him a right sturdy glare. She knew she took after her mother on that point.
“After learning human females reproduce quickly, the Menelaen conquistadors raped the female officers of their first captured battleship. The females went insane and took great pleasure in burning the Menelaens alive. Their pregnancies ended in miscarriages and they spent the rest of their lives in a catatonic state. Humans and Menelaens are not physiologically compatible.”
“So, why did you put five bodyguards on me then? Seems to me Menelaen males would want to stay as far away from human females as they could.”
“Normally, they do, but…” he leaned back and frowned at her braids “…they’re as obsessed with red hair as human males are with large breasts. Once a Menelaen male engages in the Courtship Rites, his reasoning ability is compromised until the Marital Bond is complete. By then, it’s too late.”
“So I’ll go blond, good grief.” Junior remembered her mother saying something about death not being a deterrent for boys when it came to sex. She raised both eyebrows. Guess Menelaen boys aren’t all that different from human ones after all.
“You absolutely must not become involved with a Menelaen boy.”
“Whatever.” Junior yawned behind her hand. “I have boyfriend back home on the…” Then, she realized she could no longer remember his face. “Anyway, I have a boyfriend.”
“Don’t count on him waiting. Boys your age lack the skills necessary to maintain a romantic relationship.”
“Oh, yeah?” Junior propped hands on hips. “Remind me which one of us is divorced.” She watched him fold arms across his massive chest and knew the conversation was over.
