by Serena Vale
Nava crossed her legs and folded her hands in a very earthy-ladylike manner. “Well, among our people the reproduction process is not as it is for your people. Genetic material must come from a variety of sources before offspring can be cultivated.” She bit her lower lip in a manner that Lyssa would have thought for certain was a nervous gesture. “And by all our models and predictions, a specialty procedure will have to occur where you are concerned.”
A strange flutter of nervousness and excitement rose up inside of Lyssa. Numerous questions exploded into the front of her mind but she managed to keep her faculties intact. Only two questions surfaced in her mind that demanded to be answered.
“You said that your bond… the other two… they’re your sisters?”
Nava nodded. “Yes… though, not biologically so. By your language there is no word that could accurately define what we are. The link between us is genetic now that we are a part of the same bond. But we are a family. We are part of a whole and connected to the same male.” She tapped her hands together uncertainly. “We are genetically linked… a family unit. I do not know how else to explain it.”
Lyssa blew out a small breath of air. It was a new concept, what she had come here hoping to achieve. It stood to reason that there would be uncertainty floating around. That made it easier to consider her second question.
“So… what’s this specialty procedure that you mentioned for me?”
“It’s hard to explain in certain terms. But, I think I can explain so that you will understand.” She folded her hands one over the other. “On your world, conception is required only between one of your gender and one of your male’s, yes?”
Lyssa nodded. “That’s right.”
“Well, my husband believes that this can be turned to our advantage. But perhaps more importantly than that he believes that your species holds genetic material that could be advantageous to us as well and that is what he would like to cultivate.”
She felt a sense of flattery in her stomach. “He thinks humans have superior genetic material? First time I’ve ever heard that one.”
“Well not superior… but certainly he believes that there is something useful in it.”
“Like what?”
“I cannot say. That is for him to decide. But as for the procedure, my sistren and I will have to give you some of our genetic material before you meet with my husband.”
“Give me some genetic material?” she asked, feeling somewhat unsettled. “I don’t understand.”
“In our race, genetic compatibility depends on many different factors to produce the strongest and healthiest offspring. Each combination of genetic material is different, resulting in a different individual in each instance. No two of our children are alike, though they are all birthed at once. Such has always been the practice of my people. Three females – as you think of them – would bond with a single male and he would siphon genetic traits from each of them, cultivate them in his own body and then pass that genetic material into any one – or even all – of his females for them to produce progeny.”
Lyssa felt a stirring of excitement and a sense of confusion to go with it. “So… multiple births are involved?”
“Not that you will be required to do so,” Nava said, holding up her hands as if halting her from continuing with her thoughts. “By all of our projections you would not survive such a thing.”
“Comforting… so… how do I fit into all of this?”
“Our researchers have found that your species is actually genetically compatible with our own. Or at least, 1% of your species is compatible in such a manner. You are a part of that percentile. That is why my spouse decided to bring you here.”
Lyssa found her excitement rising.
Chapter 3
The tree was not at all what she had been expecting. Though to be perfectly honest, she wasn’t sure at all what it was that she had been expecting. More of the same, I suppose, she had thought as their pod reached the end of its destination. But once they emerged from the strange conveyance she saw what was to become her home. And though she was fascinated, she was also a tad disappointed.
The tree was like most others that she had seen thus far. It was a few hundred meters tall and thick in the trunk, held firmly in moist soil by twisted and deepening roots. But sitting in its branches was not the typical metallic platforms that she had seen in the other trees. What she saw there was decidedly not so advanced. It was primitive… insect-like even. It looked… well… much like a hive, the kind that insects on Earth might build. It was bulbous on the outside looking as though it could have indeed been built from mud and twigs by creatures possessed of a hive mind. All that it was lacking was a swarm of winged creatures to be buzzing in and out of it from random points.
“Not exactly the Ritz,” she said, without realizing that she had said it aloud.
Nava chuckled. “Not to worry, Lyssa. It’s not as it appears. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.” She put one of her hands on her shoulder. “You have an expression on your world. ‘Not all things are what they seem’. Is this not so?”
She nodded. “Yeah… that’s true.”
“Fascinating,” Nava said approvingly. “My spouse values this expression, simple though it is. He has used it to his advantage more than once and has gained many trees for it. He has even applied it to this, our home dwelling. But come, you are about to see for yourself the wonders that your species has spun on us.”
She found that her hostess was right from the second they reached the front door, though it wasn’t a door at all. At the base of the tree she found that an elevator had been built into the trunk of the tree. Nava pressed her hand against some kind of glass plate that was built into the tree trunk, a wave of light pressed against her flesh like a palm reader and the sliding doors to the elevator silently parted open. It was just as any she had seen on Earth and when they stepped in, there was nothing that she anticipated to find. There was no foul or oozy smells, and the elevator itself was crafted of metal, plastic, illuminated and powered by electricity, and much to her surprise there was even music playing within.
“The Girl from Ipanema?” she asked, looking at Nava.
Her hostess nodded as she pressed her hand against a second reader plate, the doors closing and slowly the elevator began to rise. “My husband has developed an interest in your culture as well as your genetics. He thought that elements such as this would make you more at home.” She rocked on her feet. “To be honest, I have developed a liking for it as well.” She leaned in closely to whisper, “Though, I must be honest… I enjoy the works of Mr. Elvis Presley the most.”
Lyssa could not help but smile.
When the elevator reached the end of its ascent she found that Nava had been quite correct in her claims. The inside of this place wasn’t a hive. It was not even anything remotely like that. What she was stepping into… it very well could have been the Ritz for all she knew. The place was brightly lit as if sunshine was streaming in through outside windows, though she saw none. There were carpets on the floor and the floor itself was perfectly leveled when she had been expecting twisted and winding tunnels like the inside of an ant colony. There were paintings and photographs hanging on the walls – none of which she recognized – and all were done with a true artists’ eye. There were potted plants sitting in corners, overhead fans cooled the mildly warm air, and there was a gentle melody that she knew could only have been that of a piano playing from somewhere else in the… house? Hive? She didn’t know what to call it. But whatever it was, it was simply astounding and quite the opposite of what she had been expecting.
“Amazing,” she said, stepping off of the elevator and looking around. If she did not know any better she would have thought that she was back on Earth. “I… I can’t believe…” she said, taking it all in.
“Yes,” Nava said. “It took a lot of research to perfectly mimic the residential space for someone of wealth from your world. But, I find that it was worthwhile.
”
“Really?”
“Indeed. Before all of this, we attempted to craft our living space based solely on what we had read of your world. The results were… unimpressive.” She shook her head. “But enough of that, I’m sure you must be tired from your long journey. Come, I’ll show you to your room.”
Lyssa followed her host through the halls and she found that the place really was built like a house on Earth. Perhaps maybe it was build more like a mansion, come to that. She had seen more than a dozen programs on the net as to how the other half lived and she had been plenty impressed by what she had seen. But this… somehow… was more impressive. Here was a recreation of something halfway across the galaxy and in an alien environment.
She’d seen mock ups of alien dwellings in museums back home and they had always done so a fraction of the actual scale. But this… this was truly impressive. As they walked she saw other places that most people back home weren’t rich enough to have in their living spaces.
She saw that there was a sauna, a private library, a gym, a yoga and dance studio, a bar that was tended by another of the Ursans, a kitchen and a dining area, a private swimming pool, a small series of offices, and a few other rooms that she couldn’t really identify that looked suited more to the needs of her hosts than for her. Taken together this place was almost the definition of a place in the sky.
Nava brought her to her room and her breath was stolen away yet again.
“This is my room?”
“Yes.”
“All of it?”
Nava nodded.
Lyssa couldn’t believe what she was looking at. The room was easily four times the size of the living unit she had had back home. It was twenty meters to a side… maybe a little more and about ten meters tall. If she had been able to measure the dimensions of the hive from outside she would have thought that what she was looking at took up a fair portion of the overall structure.
It was a single room, this one. It was divided up by folding wooden space dividers, reminding her of pictures she had once seen of old houses in Japan. Her room contained its own kitchen, a private bathroom, several shelves that were loaded with books and every one had a title that she recognized. There was a holographic screen that she recognized as an expandable frame floating just above the surface of a bedside table. She knew such devices, she could make it as large or as little as she liked and even carry it across the room to wherever she liked since the image was literally composed of air. Beside that simple screen was another case filled with hundreds of needle-sized film fibers, loaded with movies that she had listed as ones she enjoyed… and more.
She saw a free-standing wardrobe close by her bed and it was loaded with labels and fashions that she had never hoped to be able to afford back home. And they were not simple clothes either, but designer ones, available only to the rich and socially powerful. A living space like this at home would have marked her as one of the stupendously rich.
The only thing that seemed odd about it was her luggage. She saw the three simple bags that she had brought with her from home had arrived ahead of them. They were all sitting on her bed and waiting to be unpacked and stored. The three bags looked as out of place in a setting like this as a person clad in white at a funeral.
“Wow…” she said, looking around.
“Did I not say you would enjoy it?” Nava said.
She nodded to her hostess. “You did.” She sighed and took it all in. “But this is a lot of space. Are you sure that this is all for me?”
Nava nodded again.
She took a few inspective steps around the place, savoring. She recalled a few people on Earth who had told her that she would never amount to much, if anything. She wondered what those people would say if they could see her now. She had never imagined something like this when she’d left home. And to come here and find this place as it was… she felt like the simple girl in the old fairy tales who had suddenly found her Prince Charming and had been carried off to a new and better life.
“It’s wonderful,” she said.
“I’m glad you’re pleased,” Nava said, folding her hands at her waist. “Now I will allow you to rest a while. My husband will no doubt wish to see you before this evening. He is… anxious to begin.”
Lyssa almost laughed at that, but kept herself under control. “Um… yes, thank you.”
Nava gave another nod as she pointed at a small fist-sized ball that lived on the wall near the door. “This is a voice orb. My husband and I are the only ones who speak your language, so the rest of the staff requires these in order to understand you. Just speak into it and the orb will do the rest. If you are hungry, your private pantry is stocked with foods from your world – I imagine the local cuisine would not be much to your liking as it must be eaten live… and some of it would likely be toxic to you – or if you like, the cooks in our kitchen are well versed in preparing dishes from your world as well. They can make anything you like at all.”
She nodded. “Thank you… I think I will.”
Nava gave her strange smile, then gave a small bow and exited from the room, leaving Lyssa alone.
She looked around at her new lodgings, knowing that this place would be hers from now on. Ursa was her new home and this was where she had chosen to plant her flag.
“There are worse places in the galaxy,” she said softly to herself.
She slipped out of her traveling clothes and began to unpack her bags. She settled all of her old clothes, shoes, and the few other bits and pieces she had brought from home with her and was about to slip into one of her old sleeping shirts when her eyes alighted on something else, hanging close by on her wardrobe rack.
A white dress of some kind, it sparkled as she looked at it and it almost looked as if it could have been made of some kind of rind stones. It shimmered in the air, like light itself was dancing on it. It was something that looked formal. Maybe it was…
A smile split her face and rather than get into one of her old and dingy shirts, she approached the rack of new clothing, removed the dress from its hangar and slipped into it. Despite the size and shape of her body, the dress fit perfectly.
“It’s not a bad life,” she said softly to herself, feeling fatigue creeping into her. “Not bad at all.” She yawned and rather than think on it any more, she crept onto the bed and without bothering to crawl under the blankets or sheets, she simply settled on the amazingly soft mattress and felt sleep claim her.
She heard a loud and insistent knock at the door that woke her. When she opened her eyes she had almost forgotten where she was, surrounded by such a large living space and all the finery of someone that was rich beyond the dreams of avarice. But once she put her memory back together she calmed down.
She noted that the light in her room had dimmed some, but not much. She remembered reading that the day/night cycle on this world wasn’t quite like Earth. The days actually lasted longer here and the nights were shorter. So some time had passed, but not too much; a couple of hours at most.
She sat up on her bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “Who is it?”
“Nava,” replied the voice of her hostess from the other side. “May we come in?”
We? She thought curiously, before realizing that Nava must have come with her husband. Excitement began to course through her but before she could respond the door opened and in came Nava along with another Ursan. Each of them bore a tray before them. Lyssa carried a tray that looked to be filled with warm water as small curls of steam rose up from it, accompanied by what looked like a sponge of some kind that half-floated in the warm liquid. The other Ursan’s tray was laden with bottles something fragrant that Lyssa could smell from where she was.
This isn’t her husband, Lyssa thought as she watched the second alien walking into her room. There was no basis for her to formulate this theory; somehow she just knew that it wasn’t. It didn’t feel right.
But her curiosity rose up within her. “What’s this?” she asked.
Nava gave her a small bow. “Apologies, Lyssa… but, something has happened.”
There was a tone of urgency to her new friend’s voice that made Lyssa sit upright in her bed with worry. “What? Is everything alright?”
Nava nodded. “Nothing is dangerous… but it seems that our predicted time table has changed rather unexpectedly. My spouse has been forced to accelerate his plans and so we must. You recall what I spoke of earlier, that my sistren and I must share genetic material with you to form our mutual bond?”
Lyssa nodded.
“Well, things have changed in the last couple of hours… for the benefit, I think, but time is already growing short. My husband will be able to receive you much sooner than we anticipated, but the science we predicted to work in our favor has worked too well. We must compete against the clock and we must share our genetics with you now.”
Lyssa felt a sudden sense of foreboding and could not find the words to respond properly. All that managed to leave her lips was a string of incoherent words.
“Lyssa, please… we are losing precious time. If you choose not to undergo the bonding, we will respect your wishes. But if you are willing, we must bond with you now,” Nava said imploringly.
A whirlwind of thoughts went through Lyssa’s head about what was happening – what could have been happening – and why. But Nava’s words rang in her mind like the gonging of a church bell and she knew that she could not delay. Not even for a minute.
“Yes,” she finally managed, “whatever you need.”
Nava turned to the other Ursan beside her and spoke in the strange language of the planet that Lyssa did not understand and together the two natives approached her and settled on the bed before Lyssa could rise fully to her feet.
“Please remain on the bed,” Nava said, “this is Mava… one of my sistren. Our work will not take long.”
