by Dylan Keefer
She finally broke eye contact when a bowl was placed in front of her.
“Oh, this looks interesting,” she said, looking at the goop.
“It’s like a… you call a soup,” said Meg.
Nivea nodded and took a spoonful. “Oh… that’s… alright… that’s a… flavor. It tastes like a can of black beans poured into a pot of coffee.”
“It is recognizable to you?” asked Jiom. “Brilliant.”
Meg giggled, “I do not believe that is a combination Earth people would willingly make, Jiom.”
He put his thumb under her chin lovingly and said something in their language. She smiled bitterly and replied in English, “Thank you.”
Nivea continued to stare at Jiom, trying to get some kind of idea of what he had said.
“I have an idea,” said Jiom, suddenly, “Do I use the word correctly? Idea? I think that the three of you should stay with us.”
“Oh?” said Mr. Harrison. “What do you mean stay?”
“For the… wedding, is the word you use for it, yes? The joining ceremony? Meg and myself.”
“Oh, you want us to be present at the wedding,” said Mr. Harrison.
“Yes, you have helped return her to me, it is logical for your presence. Unless my fiancé does not agree.” He looked to Meg.
“I… oh, no, I wouldn’t mind that,” she said, looking at Nivea. “Would you like to stay for a bit, Nivea?” she asked.
“I wouldn’t mind that at all,” she said, giving Meg a soft smile.
After dinner, Jiom asked Nivea to follow him, because they had something to discuss. Meg was told to return to her quarters. Nivea hoped that referred to a comfortable bedroom, and not locked in where she had originally found her. She followed Jiom like he asked, and they came into a well-decorated bedroom. When the door slid shut behind them, Jiom turned to her abruptly.
“You are romantically interested in me,” he said.
“What? No!” Nivea replied.
“You stared at me in such a fashion all through dinner, right in front of my fiancé, unafraid of the consequences.”
“I apologize, I wasn’t considerate of our cultural differences. I was rude.”
“You do not need to lie. You were unafraid of Meg’s reaction. You must know that she has no affection for me. And though you spoke with her very little, when you did it was with a familiarity that she and I do not share.”
“I apologize─”
“Apologize no more. I am simply telling you that I know you must be the oblivious, fumbling astronaut who tried to take Meg back to Earth with her. She probably told you terrible things, but now that you have met me, would you take her place? Would you be my bride?”
“There has been a terrible misunderstanding. I was not trying to-to show my interest by staring at you. I’ve never met anyone who looks like you… it made me stare… your skin. I realize that is quite rude, I apologize.”
“Given the opportunity, you would not try it?”
“Try what?” she asked.
“Me,” he replied and glanced toward his own bed.
She glanced over at it too and immediately started to stumble over meaningless sentences. “I-I, well I just-um, see- I─”
“No need to continue speaking. The look on your face answers my question. Well then, Meg seems to like you, perhaps we will keep you as her pet.”
“Sir…” there was a slight pleading in Nivea’s voice, “I just want… I want to go home.”
“Hmm… we’ll see. Follow me,” he said going for the door. She was surprised they were leaving so quickly, but she supposed he had thought that was going to go differently.
They walked down the hall until they came across another room, one that was almost identical except that Meg was within it.
“We do not have enough rooms on the ship for our accidental stowaway, so she will bed with you.”
“Yes, Jiom,” Meg replied, repressing a smile. Jiom said nothing and left.
“Nivea,” Meg said as she came to hug her. “I’m so sorry for getting you into this. I should’ve just stayed inside my escape pod.
“No, it’s okay, really. It’s not your fault.”
“What did he want with you?”
“He thought I was attracted to him. I didn’t account for cultural differences… although now that I think about it someone might have interpreted my staring that way on Earth also─”
“No, this is not culture, Jiom is just arrogant.”
Nivea laughed. Meg joined her momentarily, but there was a touch of sadness in her.
“Is something wrong?” asked Nivea. “Other than the obvious.”
“I killed a man.”
“What?”
“I didn’t want to. I’m an idiot. Jiom told me to press a button and I did, and then the man died.”
“I’m sorry, Meg… Jiom is a very strange man.”
“He is… I lie when I act as if I know things so well. The truth is, his culture is very different from my own… he doesn’t know that he is strange.”
“…Meg?”
“Yes, Nivea?”
“He wants me to come with the two of you back to his planet. I think he thinks you’ll be happier, more complacent. But Meg, I want to go home.”
“… If I can escape again… if we can escape, and get back to my planet, my father can get you home.”
“Really?”
“I believe he would.”
“Let’s go. I’ll follow you.”
Meg stood up and went for the door, but on the other side were two guards.
In her own language Meg said, “I… Peh… I just wanted to go see Jiom.”
“We can hear through the door,” one of them said.
“…I’ll just go back inside then…” she said fearfully, not trusting her ability to convince them.
“… Wait,” one of the guards said.
“Yeah?”
“We might be able to help you.”
“Why would you do that?”
“It was not lost on us that you didn’t want to kill Shaz even though he strangled you. And Moss and I are alive only because of your input.”
“No… no I don’t want you feeling indebted. Shaz, did you call him?”
“Yes.”
“Shaz, he would still be alive if I had not pressed that button.”
“That’s not necessarily true. Besides, you didn’t know.”
“Well, he would definitely still be alive if I hadn’t told Jiom.”
“We refuse to blame you for your ignorance.”
“Yes,” said the other guard. “The government you will be a part of, it is not for you. You will not have the stomach for it.”
“Let us help you.”
Meg nodded and gestured for Nivea to come. They followed the guards down the hall.
“What’s going on?” whispered Nivea.
“They’re helping us.”
After walking around several corners they came to a huge door.
“Escape pods and small-carry ships,” said one of the guards.
The door opened, but on the other side sat Jiom and Mr. Harrison. Jiom was holding a communication device.
“Kramer,” whispered Meg.
“Yes, Father,” said Jiom in his own language. “Meg is very ill. Doctors say she will not make it to the planet.”
“Do you think she was ill before she boarded?” replied Jiom’s father.
“No, no I believe she caught something from one of our own. We thought her immune system was properly prepared for going to another planet, but evidently it was not.”
“Well, if that is the case, it cannot be helped. It is not the fault of the Hilerions.”
“No, Father. I must go, I have some business to attend to,” said Jiom and ended his communication with his father.
“I’m sorry, Meg,” said Mr. Harrison, “But I’m afraid you’re never going to see your planet again.”
“Why are you doing this?” asked Meg.
<
br /> “Tell her, you spoiled brat,” said Mr. Harrison.
“How dare you speak to me in this manner?” said Jiom.
They stared at each other for a moment before Mr. Harrison said, “Well?”
“… You called me cruel. This has affected me emotionally. It is obvious that you will never be happy on my planet, or anywhere with me. But returning you home and saying that the wedding is canceled would embarrass my government. If you were to die however, that would be no one’s fault.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” said Nivea suddenly. “You’re going to get rid of her just because she hurt your feelings? You’re just proving her point that you are cruel!”
“I am not cruel!”
“You’re a murderer!”
“How else does one command!?”
“Stop it! Stop it, both of you! Jiom, Nivea is upset with you because she thinks you plan to kill Megan,” said Mr. Harrison.
“It’s just Meg,” said Meg.
“Right, Meg, sorry,” replied Mr. Harrison, “but Nivea, Jiom doesn’t plan to kill Meg. He’s apologizing because she will never see her father again because she is going to return to Earth with us.”
“Oh… Well… then… um…” Nivea stumbled over her words.
“Go, before I change my mind,” said Jiom.
“Come on,” said Mr. Harrison.
Mr. Harrison, his assistant, Nivea, Meg and a violet-skinned woman boarded a small ship. The violet alien would be flying them to Earth.
As they made their way through space, Nivea couldn’t contain her smile. She couldn’t wait to be home.
Meg sighed.
“Are you okay, Meg?” asked Nivea.
“I shall never see my father or my home planet again.”
“That’s no different than when I found you. At least you’ll live, right?”
“Yes, but… Jiom took my opinion into account. He disliked being judged by me.”
“That just proves there was some good in him after all.”
“Exactly… and that I had some sway over him even if it was small…”
“What are you getting at?”
“Have I made a terrible mistake?”
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Dylan Keefer started out as a web designer working full time and writing in his free time. He has been writing ever since his childhood, but he wasn’t published until he released his debut novel on 11/14/2016.
He grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania and read classics by Edgar Allan Poe and William Shakespeare, as well as reading modern classics by Ray Bradbury, George Orwell, Aldous Huxley and William Golding.
His writing style is best described as testing the limits of the human condition. Writing in genres ranging from Mystery, Thriller and Suspense, Science Fiction and Fantasy, and Literary Fiction; with themes being psychological, dystopian and coming of age.
Website: purplepress.org
Facebook: facebook.com/dylankeeferauthor
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