Cherry pounced on Aster. "I don't believe my eyes! You finally came to your senses. Quick, tell me how it happened."
"Hush! He'll hear you. I'll tell you every steamy detail when he's not around."
"From the way he looks at you, I'm not sure that day will ever come."
Rom dragged out the process of getting cleaned up and dressed. He was sure they were talking about him, and if he read Cherry correctly, she was completely on his side. When he figured a reasonable amount of time had passed, he returned to the living room.
Breakfast was laid out on the small table, Aster was dressed and the bed had been put away. It was as if nothing extraordinary had occurred in the room.
Cherry snickered. "Poor Rommy. All his toys got put away while he wasn't looking. I swear the bed will fall back out of the wall as soon as I leave." Cherry burst into giggles when she saw how shocked Rom was that she had guessed his thoughts.
"I think you have the makings of a tracker, Cherry."
"A what?" she asked with real interest.
Rom described Innerworld's version of a detective.
Aster spoke up. "Could a tracker check on Victor?"
"What's this about Victor?" Cherry was genuinely frightened at the mention of his name. Aster briefly told her about the unpleasant encounter, much to Cherry's dismay.
Rom explained, "Unless Victor gives us reason to suspect him of breaking the law, it is against the privacy code for a tracker, or any other person, to invade his mind. We're going to have to wait and see what he's up to."
Anxious to change the subject, Aster asked Cherry how her date went the other night.
"Fabulous. Their names are Thor and Apollo. You know, like the gods. What's amazing is neither one thinks there's anything wrong with sharing my attention. We all work together at the IC." When Rom's eyebrows shot up, Cherry hastened to add, "At Fantasy World, Rom. I'm an actress now. Anyway, last night I went with them to the big dance you told us about. You were right. I had a blast! Wow, can Apollo dance! Oh, I almost forgot another shocker! Nick was there, and guess who he's gotten chummy with? Tarla—Rom's assistant! The two of them met the other night and, bang, lust at first sight."
She stopped for a breath and noted the eye signals passing between the couple. If she hung around them too long, she might start thinking about love herself. For now, she was looking forward to about fifty more years of fun with the likes of her two new playmates. Unable to sit still any longer, she abruptly stood up. "Well, I'm off for a rousing game of screwball. I came to drag you along, but I guess Rom can keep you occupied now." She gave them both a hug and skipped out the door.
"Drek!" Rom gasped. "I feel like I was scooped up in a tornado and dropped down again. Is she always like that?"
"I'm afraid so. You get used to her."
"She was wrong about one thing."
"What's that?"
"The bed didn't fall back out of the wall when she left." He wore a wicked grin as he stalked her.
"Rom! You just got dressed!"
"But you didn't. And I bet I could get undressed faster than you could order clothes."
Much later, Aster leaned over him and combed her fingers through his hair. "What are we going to do today?" His response was a deep rumble in his chest. "Besides that. It's Sunday. Do you have churches here?"
Rom pulled back his head and gave her a puzzled look. "If you mean the House of Spiritual Renewal, I'll be glad to take you there. I think you'd find it interesting, to say the least. I have one condition though. Afterward, I'm taking you to my house to stay. Mentioning Victor made up my mind and I won't take no for an answer. I doubt if he'd bother you there."
"I can't think of any better excuse to keep sleeping with you." She kissed him quickly. "Just kidding."
"Good. Let's get moving." He knew if he didn't leave the apartment soon they wouldn't be going anywhere for some time. It was uncomfortably obvious that the length of time of relief he felt after each coupling was decreasing. He wondered how much time he had before even that respite was stripped from him.
On the way to his car, he asked, "Do you want to drive?"
"No, thank you. I need a lot more practice before you let me loose on a street full of pedestrians."
Once again Aster found herself soaring above the desert. When the commuter landed, she gasped at the monument before her. She had never been to Egypt but she recognized an enormous stone pyramid when she saw one. "Good heavens. It looks like the Great Pyramid of Giza!"
"Actually, the one you're referring to and this one were both copied from the original—on Norona." He took her hand and led her inside.
Each large stone in the entrance hall was engraved with the identical prayer translated into several hundred languages. Aster easily identified a few, but some of the alphabets were unknown to her. She found the block of English and read it in a hushed voice: "God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, and Wisdom to know the difference." It was the Serenity Prayer. Aster had always felt there was something special about it and now she was certain.
Unlike the pyramids in Egypt, there were no walls inside the Great Room. Tall, thick candles illuminated the edges but the air seemed cool and fresh. The only other objects were square black cushions strewn on the floor.
In spite of the considerable number of people, the room was eerily silent. Some of the worshippers knelt, some sat lotus-fashion and others stood with arms outstretched and heads tipped toward the peak of the pyramid.
Rom kissed her cheek. "I'll wait for you outside. I can't do this today. Take as long as you need." He left her alone.
Aster moved farther into the room and sat on a cushion.
Aster's grandmother had baptized her a Catholic and Aster discovered some peace, practicing the religion. After Dennis's death she had automatically turned to the church for emotional support and she fondly remembered the priest who had helped her deal with her grief and loneliness.
Now, sitting with her feet beneath her, she folded her hands on her lap and closed her eyes. A strange warmth began at her fingertips and toes and slowly crept through her entire body. It felt comfortable and exhilarating at the same time. She quashed her natural tendency to control the feeling and gave in to the elusive sensation of being levitated.
Thoughts and images flowed freely into her mind—her grandmother, Cherry, her coworkers, Dennis. Bits and pieces of her life flickered by. Blank spaces of her past were remembered. She saw herself as a child in the commune and knew it had not been the totally carefree, happy life she chose to recall.
Her grandmother's face appeared, soft and tender for a brief moment, before the usual harsh demeanor took over. The woman had not known how to share her love with her granddaughter any more than she had with her own son. But she had done her best.
Dennis's face drifted in the distance. It was different somehow, not quite right. His hands moved to his ears and removed a mask that had been his face. Beneath was an ugly distortion of his pleasant features.
The mental journey ended with a glimpse of the shipwreck and her arrival in a foreign land. The original feelings of panic and frustration were replaced by comfortable acceptance and the certain knowledge that it was all meant to be. Her future was with Romulus.
Gradually, the warmth dissipated and Aster was again aware of her surroundings. She said a small prayer of thanksgiving for surviving it all. Lord, I know I should have trusted you when you brought me to this place. Thank you for Romulus. He has given me the first deep happiness I have ever known.
When she exited, Rom took her hand. He could tell something had happened and waited for her to talk.
"You could have warned me," she said simply.
"I've never heard of a Terran making the bridge. You did, didn't you?"
Aster looked at him with sparkling eyes. "It was strange and wonderful but I don't understand how it happened."
He put his arm around her shoulders and walked her
to the car. "I think it might have something to do with me, or rather with us. I want you to tell me if anything else unusual happens to you."
Aster automatically began to worry. He sounded so serious. Apparently, the good feeling from the pyramid was not meant to withstand any stress.
Rom turned the commuter's controls over to the computer. "You're special, Aster. And I don't just mean how I feel about you. Your soul took flight in there. Any Noronian can make that separation, but you should not have been able to. I don't understand that any more than I understand what's happening between us. Two weeks ago I didn't want anything in my life but my work. If you left me now, well, I don't know what I'd do."
"Oh, Rom, what a lovely thing to say. I feel exactly the same way." She curled up next to him and put her head on his shoulder. "Will you tell me about joining?"
"Yes, when you're ready."
"Ready for what?"
"Never mind. I'll know."
"I think there's something else we should talk about."
"What's that, shalla?"
Aster felt a definite glow when he called her that. "I realize it's a little late, but we didn't use any protection yesterday. I'm really not ready to deal with pregnancy on top of everything else."
Rom arched an eyebrow at her. "What did you do, avoid the notebook section on reproduction?" When she lowered her lashes, he knew he guessed right. "Okay, here goes. When a Noronian boy becomes a man, a quantity of his sperm is frozen for future use. His tubes are closed off at that time.
"When a couple wants a baby, the mother's egg is removed, fertilized with the father's sperm, and reinserted in the mother's womb. There's nothing left to chance that way and it ensures a controlled growth of the population."
"I understand. That's already been done in my world."
"A long time ago, doctors experimented with raising the fetus outside the mother's body. Unfortunately, the children were unhealthy mentally. There's simply no way to replace the biological mother completely. I'm sure childbirth itself is considerably easier here than in Outerworld though."
"Do the parents get to pick what the child's sex will be or what the baby will look like?"
"Genetic planning, you mean. No, not anymore. It was outlawed centuries before I was born, except for the control of hereditary diseases and handicaps."
Shortly, they entered a single-family residential area. Rom continued through the neighborhood until they came to a high stone archway leading off the main road. He pressed a button in the car before driving under the arch. "No one, including Victor, can pass through here without the proper access."
The paved street was now covered with cobblestones. Instead of sidewalks, hard dirt paths wound their way through neatly manicured lawns and flower gardens. Aster's gaze flew from house to house, from right to left. They looked like country cottages, complete with thatched roofs.
"It's like an old English village! Which one is yours?"
He pulled into a driveway at the end of the street. Magnificent rose bushes of every size and color bordered a two-story house.
"English Tudor—my absolute favorite!"
Her reaction was better than Rom had hoped for. As he opened the front door for her, he explained, "The woman who designed this neighborhood said she got the idea out of an Outerworld picture book."
Aster loved the masculine decor on the first floor. There were no dividing walls, only comfortable-looking furniture to define area uses.
Rom led her out the back door and onto a brick patio. Three terraced steps lined with more of the brilliant roses led down to a small pond.
"I'm all out of descriptive adjectives. Would a kiss be as good as a compliment?" She placed her arms around his neck.
"Even better," he murmured in his huskiest voice. When all she received was a peck, she pouted. "I want to show you the upstairs." Rom gave her a hug and they went back inside.
A bedroom and bath comprised the entire second floor. Unlike the downstairs with its dark woods and earth tones, this area was a striking contrast of ebony and ivory. Beneath her feet was plush cream-colored carpeting. The furniture looked like it had been intricately carved out of teak and inlaid mother of pearl. On one side of the room was an enormous bed covered in thick black velvet. The same material was draped above and behind the bed and over the windows.
Opposite the bed an oriental screen divided the room in half. Aster stepped around it and sighed. The bathroom was done with black marble fixtures and a white marble floor.
Rom touched a panel on the wall and water rushed into a circular whirlpool tub. He removed his shirt then his pants. Aster stood mesmerized by his striptease.
His eyes turned brown as they raked over her. Aster swiftly discarded her clothes, amazed at how quickly her body responded to a simple look.
By the time Rom was helping her up the steps, the water reached the proper level, shut itself off and the jets activated. The hot bubbling water soothed their muscles without cooling their ardor.
Rom reached for Aster but she gave him a tiny buss on the mouth and pulled away.
"What do you call that?" he asked in disbelief.
"I'm just giving back what I got from you outside."
"Yes, but I knew what I had waiting inside." He splashed a handful of water into her face. Playfully, she pushed both palms through the water to drench him, only to get a thorough dunking in return.
"Uncle!" she cried.
Rom looked at her curiously. "Uncle?"
"It's a saying, like, you win or I give."
"Well, since I won, what will you give me?"
Aster tapped her index finger against her chin. "Gee, I don't have anything with me at the moment."
"That's not quite true. You have the only thing I do want at the moment." His mouth claimed hers before another word could be exchanged.
The next week hurried by in a rose-colored haze. During the day, Aster plunged into her on-the-job training at the Economics Center. At night she reveled in their lovers' games, eager to become all Rom would ever hunger for.
Rom returned to his usual unexcelled efficiency with one major change. His recent impatience and intolerance for errors had been miraculously moderated.
Everyone in the Administration Building had heard about their chief holding hands with the new Terran female in the cafeteria at lunch by five o'clock on Tuesday. By Wednesday, Aster became the recipient of knowing smiles or curious stares wherever she went.
Although no one would say anything to his face, Rom knew there was malicious gossip as well. He hoped to postpone the day when Aster would become aware of it too.
Much to Rom's relief, Victor reported to work at the Rehabilitation Clinic where he could be observed and remain far from Aster.
On Friday afternoon Rom had a meeting with Outerworld Monitor Control regarding the lack of progress on Operation Palomar. Although a backup team had been sent out to assist the tracker, Emissary K66 had not yet been located. Also, nothing had been picked up to indicate that Outerworld's scientists were aware of any impending danger. In four weeks, the situation would reach the critical stage.
When Rom let her know he expected to be late, Aster went home ahead of him.
Several hours later Aster heard his car door shut and put down the book she was reading. As she got out of her chair, the front door flew open, crashing against the wall. Rom hesitated in the doorway until he located her then entered, slamming the door shut behind him.
He looked awful. His hair was a mess, perspiration stained his shirt, three long bloody gashes marred his left forearm. But the worst was his eyes. The whites were blood-red and the pupils were so dilated no color could be seen.
"Good Lord, Rom! What—"
He came at her, grabbing a handful of her hair to yank her head back. His mouth crushed hers in a bruising kiss. He smelled like a beast and the sound that came out of his throat was more animal than human.
"I must... have you... now!"
The tremendous heat radi
ating from his body made her feel like she was trapped in an oven. She could barely breathe, he held her so tightly. With much more calm than she felt, she said, "All right, but let's go upstairs and clean you up first."
"No... can't... wait." His words were barely intelligible.
He was sick, that much was obvious. Aster didn't struggle as he pushed her down on the floor and flipped up her skirt. She flinched once when he ripped her panties and tore open his slacks. Other than that, she lay still as he plunged savagely into her. A primal scream filled the room then he collapsed.
Immediately, his skin cooled against hers. He hadn't hurt her, nor had he actually raped her, since she was always willing to make love to him, but this was something else entirely. Aster felt his chest shake and realized he was sobbing.
"I'm so sorry," he choked out. "I know that was the worst thing I could do to you. I had no idea how bad it could get. I'll get help. Tomorrow. I promise." He rolled away from her onto his back with his arm covering his eyes.
"Rom? What happened? What do you mean you'll get help? What's wrong?" Aster sat up and pulled his arm away from his face. His eyes were damp but back to normal.
Quietly, he said, "I thought I could control it. I swear that won't happen again." Straightening his clothes, he sat up and brought her fingers to his lips. "Please forgive me. I never meant to frighten you again." His gaze remained on her hands.
"Rom, I don't know what you're talking about. What frightens me is knowing you aren't well and I don't understand." She turned his hands over in hers. "There's blood under your fingernails. You scratched yourself, didn't you?" He looked away from her. "Don't deny it. I've seen you scratching your skin all week. You said it was nothing. But there is something very wrong." Aster pressed her palms to his cheeks and forced him to face her. "Talk to me, damn it!"
Rom groaned. "Something happens to Noronians' bodies when our mating time comes. It's been building up in me for weeks before you arrived. When I touched you that first time, it was like throwing a match on dry kindling. It feels like my blood is boiling and biting insects are crawling all over my flesh. I didn't even realize I'd cut myself tonight.
ROMULUS (The Innerworld Affairs Series, Book 1) Page 16
