by Ezra E Manes
Her words of truth pierced the bubble of his self-control. He tried to hold his emotions in but couldn’t and started weeping quietly.
“I love you, Gloria, and don’t want to hurt you again. I hurt you by paying too much attention to Ceripe before, and I’m sorry for that.”
She smiled and touched his face tenderly. “You won’t hurt me in that respect any more, my dear. I’m sure there’ll be occasions when I’ll become aggravated by having to share you. But I’ll manage through those times because of the good times we will have together, and with our children. With all the children in our extended family.”
Gloria paused and then let loose a startling statement like pentup breath. “Go to her and tell her how you feel, and propose marriage. I don’t believe she’ll say no.”
He pulled back and looked at her in disbelief. Her words were hard to reconcile considering how jealous she had been of Ceripe in the past. Deep down a part of him knew she was right, but nonetheless, he felt guilty at the thought of having another personal relationship. He couldn’t find words to reply and simply pulled her close, his thoughts in complete turmoil.
“I only ask one thing, Carlos,” she whispered in his ear. “Come first to my bed after the marriage ceremonies. I’m just selfish enough to want your first child, and I believe your vision.”
She hugged him close to hush additional talk. They had said more than enough. Soon her hands wandered down over his torso, and further discussion was impossible as their passion rose to meet the night.
Carlos scheduled lunch with Ceripe the next day and was at her office early waiting to walk with her to an eatery. She broke from work when she learned he was there, and they went to walk in the park before lunch.
She looped her arm through his as they entered the park, but he pulled her close to share his warmth when he felt her shiver. He wore a warm jacket, but she had worn only a sweater, and the weather was still cool with winter just beginning to wane. Buds were popping out on some trees, and early blooming flowers were poking up through the soil, heralding an early spring.
“Perhaps we should go to the eatery where it will be warmer,” he suggested. He felt her shiver again.
“No,” she replied, “I would enjoy at least a short walk in the park. The walls of my office have been closing in on me lately.”
Could she indeed be reacting to the pending marriage ceremonies, as Gloria indicated? He would soon find out.
They continued walking until they came to a small footbridge over the stream trickling through the middle of the park. Carlos stopped at the top of the bridge, opened his jacket, and pulled her in close where she would be warmer. She did not resist, and it was pleasing to have her snuggle in against him as they stood looking out across the beautiful park. It felt right holding her this way, whether guided to this destiny or not.
It is now or never, but what do I say? he thought. Just be direct.
“Ceripe, I am not well versed in the Zilan ways, so I am just going to say what I feel. I have come to love you dearly and respect you greatly. I would be honored if you would marry me.”
Her breath sucked in sharply, and she pulled away slightly so she could look at his face. She did not say anything. Had he offended her? Was she going to say no?
“What does Gloria think about this?” she finally said in a voice shaking with emotion.
“She is strongly in favor of our forming an extended family.”
“I love you, Carlos, and have from the first time we met. I will marry you.” She pressed close as they engaged in a passionate kiss, oblivious to any others in the park.
Over lunch, Carlos diverged from their small talk to tell her about his neural implant. He wanted to clear the air on anything that could become a point of contention between them in the future. He was surprised at her reaction of touching his face gently.
“I accept you as you are. Prophet, friend, and now my acknowledged love.” She smiled coyly and then added, “But there is a test you must pass before we can be formally betrothed.”
The following week Carlos was standing naked in the small, personal worship area in the home of Ceripe’s parents, and feeling more than a little foolish. As Zilan tradition dictated, he and Ceripe must meet unclothed in a controlled environment to test their physical compatibility.
Ceripe pointed out that her people believed physical compatibility was important to the long-term success of a marriage. Emotional and intellectual attractions were more important, but lacking physical attraction, the marriage would be frustrating for both parties. It was customary for each person to show their physical attributes to the other for acceptance before finalizing marriage plans, and they could not touch in the short meeting.
George Sayer had accompanied Carlos to the meeting, as Ceripe advised was appropriate. They found her parents to be friendly and accommodating, and enjoyed an excellent dinner before the appointed meeting time. Ceripe’s mother was a trim, beautiful woman in her own right, an older version of her daughter. Her father was a rugged looking man who obviously spent a lot of time outside overseeing large, cooperative farms. By tradition, Ceripe did not join them at dinner.
Now here he was, shivering from nervousness and the cool air, standing in his birthday suit waiting for Ceripe’s appearance. George waited behind the closed door to the room behind him, probably still chuckling at the novelty of the situation.
He did not have long to wait. The opposite door opened, and Ceripe walked through without a stitch of clothing on. She marched right up to within two arm lengths of him. Her slender body was lovely, and he couldn’t help but feel a flush of excitement. He looked her up and down as she watched him. The dark patch of bushy, reddish-brown hair between her legs and up slightly on her abdomen captured his attention. He felt a surge of adrenaline as his already growing erection hardened.
Ceripe chuckled at his obvious condition but did not say anything. Custom forbade their speaking during the meeting. She turned slowly so he could get a good look at her entire body, which was flawless. She stopped when she faced him again and began looking him over from head to foot, pausing and smiling mischievously as her eyes looked at his groin area. She then motioned him to turn around, which he did slowly, following her lead.
When he turned back to face her, Ceripe had come closer. She suddenly reached out and pulled him to her even though it was taboo. They enjoyed a long passionate kiss, and then she backed away with her breath coming fast and eyes shining with promise. She turned quickly and departed the room, leaving him in a most excited state.
“Well, you passed that test,” George said, laughing and throwing his pants at him. All Carlos could do was smile foolishly and blush as he fumbled with his clothing.
The Messier team became Zilan citizens on the first day of the Primary Two-Moon Phase in a formal ceremony held at the supreme leader’s offices. Carlos wore his high priest attire, and all members of the Council of Priests were present.
High Priest Zanchef conducted the combined wedding ceremony at the peak of the Primary Two-Moon Phase in the main chamber of the Temple of Zilerip. It was a very moving event for everyone involved and watching. It started at sunset and completed as night set in. Carlos again wore the attire of a high priest. Afterward they adjourned to the observation balcony high in the temple to watch the two moons align.
As dawn came, Carlos, Gloria, and the other new citizens of Zilia traveled back to the embassy compound for their first day as married couples. Ceripe had graciously offered to hold off spending any personal time with Carlos until after the next night. He appreciated this, for it helped him keep his promise to Gloria. After their long relationship, she deserved to be the first wife in his bed. And if they were indeed fertile as prophesized in his vision, she should be the first to become pregnant by him. He was confident this would happen in spite of their not reversing the sterilization administered at the Messier Colony.
The day with Gloria was tender and special, with their lovemaking passionate
but slow, as if she did not want the process of making a child to end. She was radiant afterward and snuggled in against him. He lay stroking her hair as she slept, thinking of all she meant to him. Their relationship would surely change yet again this day, but he felt more committed than ever to making the new relationship work. She was his first love, and he drifted off to sleep holding her.
Carlos accompanied Ceripe to her apartment as dawn marked the end of the next night of observations. They held hands and whispered softly, intimately, to one another as the near empty subway car made its way across Zilerip. No one interrupted their private time.
At her modest apartment, they stood embracing in the entryway. Carless remembered how she’d looked undressed at their meeting in her parents’ home, and he became more aroused. As their kiss deepened, he ran his hands down her back, brushing softly across her firm hips. She wiggled free, smiling wantonly at him, and led him into her living room.
“Wait here,” she said softly.
In a few minutes she called his name. He walked slowly through the door to her bedroom. The sight welcoming him was breathtaking. Ceripe lay nude under a semitransparent sheet that was shimmering in the light of two candles, one on each side at the head of the bed. She looked beautiful and sensual with the sheet pulled up to her neck. The thin sheet left little to his imagination, adding just enough cover to be intriguing.
He stripped without a word and slipped under the gossamer sheet to hold her. His initial awkwardness soon dissipated as he examined her nude body for the second time, this time by touch. She responded likewise, touching him gently in very stimulating places.
He was surprised when she whimpered as he pushed into her, and he started to withdraw, but she clasped him close. He waited for her to relax before beginning to move again with a gentle rhythm. It was beautiful as the tempo increased and they consummated their shared bond.
Why had he worried that he might not be able to perform after he and Gloria gave in so thoroughly to their desire the day before? The encounter with Ceripe was very sensual and fulfilling, creating a relationship uniquely theirs. He was struck by how her face looked afterward, as if she knew the prophesy of his vision had been fulfilled.
She did not press him for attention again that day, but lay close, touching him as he slept a deep, dreamless sleep. She was confident they had seeded a new life inside her womb, and they had a lifetime to enjoy each other.
Carlos, Gloria, and Ceripe moved into a new home in the outskirts of Zilerip after the Primary Two-Moon Phase had passed. The women chose a home with a large nursery and three bedrooms, and the latter made him pause and wonder why.
The other couples soon moved into the community, and the vacated Earth Embassy was renamed the Institute of Advanced Studies. The team formerly representing Earth would teach there to share the knowledge they brought to Zilia.
Soon after the Primary Two-Moon Phase, all the team wives, including Ceripe, tested positive for pregnancy. It was too early to tell, but he was confident the women would give birth to all male children. Confirmation of the pregnancies launched a celebration within the close-knit integrated team and throughout Zilan society.
Carlos was impressed at how well his old team quickly adapted to life as Zilans. The first eight lunar cycles after the marriage ceremony were wonderful for everyone, except for the normal difficulties experienced by the pregnant women. In another two lunar cycles, that, too, would pass. He was especially pleased that Gloria and Ceripe had no open flare-ups, although there were rough moments every now and then. He looked forward to the arrival of healthy babies, who would further bond his family together, and the Messier team within Zilan society.
If someone had told Carlos that he and the team had found the true state of nirvana, he would have declared it an understatement. Everyone was healthy, and there was clear evidence they were effectively countering the infertility problem in the general population—in the near term with drug therapy and in the long term by cleaning up the environment.
A new age was truly dawning, and Carlos felt blessed indeed to be playing a role, however miniscule, in advancing civilization on Zilia. Simply being a part of a major defining era in the civilization’s evolution was reward enough.
However, as often occurs, just when you think you have everything figured out and events are progressing orderly, something happens to irreversibly change the course of events. Just when Carlos and the others believed they faced an extended period of peaceful prosperity, Eve detected a spaceship traveling inward from the outer reaches of the solar system. It did not appear to be of human origin.
THIRTY-ONE
DÉJÀ VU
“Carlos, how could Eve detect the spacecraft,” George asked, “let alone determine all she has about it? I might understand if we still had access to the New Horizon, although even then it would be a major challenge. How could it be done with the lessercapable systems here?”
George had a way of indirectly addressing anything he suspected Eve of being wrong about. Carlos smiled before responding. So far, all George’s challenges had been incorrect, and now he was questioning whether the detected object was actually a spacecraft.
“Well, if you do not understand, then I certainly cannot,” Carlos replied. “Eve has indeed detected a spacecraft, and I am willing to accept her other conclusions about the vessel.”
Carlos knew Eve was monitoring the discourse, and she finally chimed in. “I was applying the considerable observation resources on Zilia to confirm the existence of a planetoid in the outer asteroid belt. Correlation of data revealed a spaceship entering a braking orbit around the large outer planet.”
“The pressing question is what we should do about it,” Carlos said, cutting off additional questioning, for time was of the essence. He looked around at the others. “Or for that matter, is there anything we can do about it?”
He agreed with George regarding how improbable it was for Eve to detect the small probe in the far reaches of the solar system, but he didn’t want to address this in v current meeting. He would discuss it with Eve in private. Even if they had the most sophisticated telescopes and sensor systems available at Earth and the Messier Colony, and looked specifically for a probe located in the outer heliocentric sphere of space, detecting it would be very difficult.
Somehow Eve had done so, using data from the Zilan multimode telescopes and large-aperture electromagnetic arrays. She had correlated the data to produce a profile of the vessel shortly after its discovery and had calculated its trajectory into the solar system. Eve indicated that the vessel was probably a sensor and communications probe that would not be carrying life forms. From the chance detection of signals from the alien probe, Eve deduced it was from unknown extraterrestrials located somewhere toward the center of the galaxy, the direction from which the probe came.
To Carlos this could only mean that the extraterrestrials detected long ago by Earth had sent the probe. Discovery of those extraterrestrials had prompted expeditions to other solar systems. Clearly they now intended to monitor the Zilan civilization. The important question was why.
There was no denying that the alien probe had entered the solar system at a significant relativistic velocity. It would be hurtling more rapidly toward Arzét if not for its braking orbit around the large outer planet. The probe would have more time to assess the Zilans during its slower track inward. Its current trajectory would take it very close to Arzét, probably to enter a braking orbit around the star.
To someone outside looking in, this scene would surely look strange, Carlos thought. All women in attendance were pregnant and nearing their due dates. The small group met at the Institute of Advanced Studies to address issues related to appearance of the alien probe. Ceripe, Starke, and others of Ceripe’s close staff were present, as were Eve and all others from Messier except Alex and Samuel, who were performing pressing duties elsewhere.
“How long will it take for the probe to reach Arzét, and do we have any idea what tra
jectory the probe will take once it circles the star?” Gloria asked.
“It is now traveling at about one-hundredth the speed of light,” answered Eve. “Its current position is just inside the fifth planet’s orbit, and it will take approximately nineteen and a half days to enter a braking orbit around Arzét.”
Carlos noticed that George had started working furiously on his portable computer when Gloria asked the question, and now he looked up and said, “Aha! Eve, I have finally caught you in a mistake. It will take slightly over twenty-five days, not nineteen and a half.”
There was silence for a few moments, and Carlos knew Eve was calculating all the possible ways that George could come up with twenty-five days. When had George started this friendly challenging of Eve? Carlos was confident that Eve was correct, and he was right.
“George, you are using Earth reference time in part of the equations, with sixty seconds per minute and sixty minutes per hour. Please look at your calculations using the Zilan time reference, which has one hundred seconds per minute and one hundred minutes per hour, with the seconds unique for this reference system.”
George sat back in his seat, blushing with embarrassment.
“The probe is in a trajectory very near the orbital plane of Zilia around Arzét,” continued Eve to fully answer Gloria’s questions. “It should exit the Arzét braking orbit oriented to pass near, and then brake into orbit around Zilia. Whoever sent the probe is probably not concerned about anyone on or around Zilia detecting it.”
“Probably because they believe we do not have sophisticated space observation capabilities,” Gloria said. Carlos was glad she did not comment on Eve providing such specific observations about the probe’s probable trajectory and final orbital position around Zilia. There was little information to support such a conclusion.
“Looking at the data, it does not appear the probe could achieve faster-than-light velocity on its own,” George mused. He had recovered from his earlier gaffe. “If so, it has been on its journey here for a very long time, or it was launched from a much larger vessel that is drawing uncomfortably close to our region of space.”
