Nova

by Lora E. Rasmussen

  Just under the ceiling and wrapping around the entire length of the middle to upper room and into the bedroom was a large, sinuously curved, yet symmetrically designed water tank. The tank was replete with the deep blue of warm saltwater and brilliant green of underwater plant–life. Brightly colored fish of dozens of species darted to and fro throughout the rather impressive aquarium that flowed above the front doorway and to the sides of the bedroom doors.

  The piscine creatures were actively flitting from rock to rock to swaying water grove in either energetic or languid patterns known only to themselves. Each streaking fish, crawling crustacean, and deceptively delicate, slow moving mollusk was, K’llan knew, native to Avara’s homeworld of Kylos.

  Finally, several open spaces were fashioned into the walls and held framed images rendered in charcoal, ink, and led. The themes primarily focused on various land, city, and star scapes but there was an occasional person or starship to be found as well. Each was exquisite in detail and remarkably life–like, displaying an astute sensitivity and high level of observation, as well as skill. K’llan could not help but to smile in remembrance of the first time she was a guest in the Captain’s quarters and asked about the depictions decorating the walls. She had learned that the pictures were created by the Captain herself. Just as then and every time she was in these two rooms, Z’arr found herself drawn to the lush images and swept into the timeless moments Avara seemed to effortlessly capture. Once more, she thought how representative such a craft was of the person who is Avara Serros.

  Even now, K’llan could feel the strength of Serros’s concentration on K’llan, charged with seemingly endless energy yet enduring patience and sensitivity.

  Turning towards Avara, the Vosaia finally replied, “The answer to your question is somewhat… complicated.”

  The Captain took a seat on the couch and gestured for K’llan to do the same. “How so?”

  Following suit and sitting a foot or so away from her Human friend, K’llan responded “I know you are aware of the Vosaia biological urge to Feed in order to survive. Before the Blood Schism, it was the norm for Vosaia to Feed on other sentients and consume life–soul energy, or nya, for sustenance. Many rituals surrounded the act of consensual Feeding, as well as rules of etiquette and decorum.”

  Pausing for a moment to carefully consider her vocabulary, understanding the importance of this rather personal topic in a way that Avara did not, K’llan absently traced the ridge of her sapphire streaked brow as she reached for the right words. “At the same time, though made a crime for Vosaia to perpetrate within our species, it was also common for Vosaia to non–consensually Feed on others. The ultimate expression of non–consensual Feeding was, of course, symbolized by the legal slavery of sentients.”

  K’llan again found herself searching for the appropriate lexis to explain one of the most significance developments in her people’s history. “It was with this practice in which the origination of deep dispute first rooted within Vosaia society and ultimately expressed itself in the split between Vosaia and Karukai. During the Blood Wars and with their end, within society there developed a… cultural stigma, I suppose you could say, in regards to casual Feeding of any kind. This stigma became further stressed and solidified by a host of legal definitions and limitations of how Feeding can be enacted. The emphasis is prompted by the potential to go too far when Feeding, and thus cause harm to the person being Fed upon.”

  With a somewhat self–deprecating shrug due to her own familial connection, K’llan added, “All of this was, of course, made truly possible in such a wide–spread manner by the development of Vitani.”

  K’llan watched as Avara nodded slowly in response, understanding lighting her lustrous night–blue eyes as she clasped her hands together, elbows resting on her knees and position canted towards K’llan in an oddly inclusive manner. Without the utterance of a single word, the action symbolized a quiet acceptance of both Vosaia culture and of K’llan. Musing, Z’arr knew that it was this manner of inclusivity and acceptance, fused with her unbendable strength of will and moral code that encouraged others to so enthusiastically follow Captain Avara Serros into almost any circumstance she directed. In this, Avara resembled no other individual K’llan had ever encountered.

  “So,” Serros began, mouth working to keep up with her mind, “essentially, there are no longer regular customs and traditions around the sharing of sustenance due to its association with Feeding, Vitani or no.”

  “Exactly.”

  “And yet, as you alluded to, consensual Feeding is still allowed.”

  At the Captain’s statement, which also represented an implicit question, K’llan felt a slight flutter in the core of her being, a pin of anxiety delicately stabbing through surface–flesh. Of course Avara would not be satisfied with anything even remotely representing a half–answer. It simply was not in her nature to do so.

  “Yes, consensual Feeding is not disallowed.” Z’arr continued, forcing herself to directly meet Avara’s gaze. “As I said, however, except in very specific… circumstances, it is never a casual act. You must understand,” K’llan uttered, and she could feel herself unconsciously gripping her right knee in emphasis of the importance of the concept she was trying to communicate. “Firstly, it is an intensely deep and personal joining. Not only is the very life energy of the two people involved exchanged, but so are the most intimate and private memories, thoughts, and experiences. Feeding is typically conducted only between the closest of individuals; that is to say, almost always between Life–Mates.”

  Avara’s eyes widened slightly and her lips compressed in concentration. K’llan could feel the Human react to the emotions Z’arr knew she was broadcasting. She also knew Avara could sense K’llan’s need for her meaning to be understood and her vague, but very real anxiety regarding the potential for rejection due to their cultural differences. Feelings that were further underscored with heavy significance by the link the two of them had, in an almost unheard of fashion, spontaneously developed.

  Yet still had yet to discuss.

  “I see.” The Captain slowly mouthed a moment later. “You said Feeding is never a casual act except in very specific circumstances?”

  K’llan could not help herself. She felt a low bubble of laughter peal forth despite the loaded discussion. “You are more exacting than any Professor I ever studied under, Avara.” She remarked, letting the bemused warmth she felt filter between herself and Serros. “Yes, so I did.”

  Serros issued one of her trademark, crooked grins that did much to dispel the quiet tension of the unexpectedly weighty topic. “Sorry; I frequently drove my own teachers to distraction, and not always to good result.”

  “I can only imagine.” K’llan responded, still laughing slightly. “Mm. How should I say this? Though looked down upon by some within society, there are what you would call… prostitutes, I suppose would be the most appropriate if not entirely accurate term. Those who allow Feeding by Vosaia who are willing to pay for the pleasure. As it is consensual, it is quite legal.”

  “Ah, I see.” Serros answered, mulling the thought over. “That description makes Feeding seem almost sexual. Is that an accurate assessment?” Interestingly, K’llan read not a hint of reserve or embarrassment, only curiosity.

  K’llan nodded in the affirmative. “There is a reason why Feeding is usually only shared between Life–Mates. As I have described, there is certainly the emotional, cognitive, and spiritual connection in the act, but also a decidedly physical exchange. Feeding does not have to, but almost always does, include sexual intimacy. Additionally, due to the emotive exchange, physical release is magnified many times and is more… pleasurable than purely corporeal sexual release alone.”

  To K’llan’s own slight dismay and despite over two–hundred years of life, she found that it was she who experienced a slim thread of embarrassment at her own declaration.

  “Ah. And have you ever… participated in consensual Feeding?”


  K’llan fought the urge to squirm under the hawk–like gaze of those too bright eyes. And the unmistakable interest that lay pulsing in the space between them. “No. Though I have taken lovers in the physical sense that Humans understand, I… always had yet to meet someone with whom I wished to share such a joining with.”

  To her vast relief, Serros did not pursue the grammatical tense or half–stutter K’llan had just issued. She could not decide if Avara’s decision to cease her questing was due to an understanding or lack of understanding. The Vosaia could, however, feel a bloom of what could only be described as faint satisfaction rippling off of Avara, though K’llan was not sure of its exact meaning. Nonetheless, she did recognize the pleasure and warmth she felt flowing from Serros as the Captain said “Thank you for sharing such a personal matter with me. I am honored by your trust.”

  “Of course, Avara.”

  “Well,” The Captain began as she stood up and offered a hand to K’llan, a playful smile curving her naturally rouge–touched lips, “as I know there is at least one every day ritual we Humans and Vosaia do share, shall we each have a glass and begin this evening’s entertainment?”

  K’llan responded with another laugh, an experience that was quite common, she had noted, when spending off–hour time with Avara Serros. Taking the Human’s slender yet strong fingers in her own for a brief moment, Z’arr could once more feel a shot of the Captain’s emotions; genuine fondness, regard, and delight at being in her company. They were all sentiments that were echoed by K’llan. “Most certainly.”

  Still faintly smiling, Avara released her grip and walked over to the cabinets located next to the petite kitchen area of the cabin and retrieved two small bottles, which she then uncapped and poured the contents of into cobalt–colored glasses. The one she handed to K’llan was filled with Vosaia Irenoth, the same drink she had consumed when the Captain had asked her to join Nova Squad. Since the two had developed their friendship, it was a beverage the Captain consistently kept on hand in her quarters. Serros’s own glass was filled with Kylosian Honey–Water, her preferred social drink.

  After raising then clinking their glasses in the Human tradition K’llan had grown accustomed to, as had become their habit, they then settled at their respective places. Avara was seated on the bench of the small Human piano located to the left of her work–desk, a miniature Milvan constructed of stained, polished hardwood. K’llan sat in the desk–chair placed next to Avara, her silver, sokath–crafted firanelle gripped in her left hand, while cupping her chin on its base. The instrument’s matching bow was loose in her right hand.

  “Shall we begin with Irlen’s Seventh?” K’llan asked, and at her friend’s affirmative nod and count–off, they began.

  Within minutes, K’llan felt herself slipping into the notes that she and the Captain created. Tone, rhythm, and emphasis placed on both keys and strings countering and yet blending perfectly. As always seemed to happen they played together, K’llan felt the relaxation of thought and feeling as she was immersed within the music they generated and the emotion the Vosaia felt pouring from Serros like heated water into a chill pool.

  An only too frequent occurrence these days, K’llan found herself speculating as to how much Avara was truly aware of the depth of the connection that the two shared. If Serros understood that, especially at times like this when duties were relaxed and they were in each other’s company, her nya and the Human’s both merged with, and were sub–merged within, one another’s.

  There was no doubt that their friendship had continued to expand in the last few months as they not only worked quite closely together but also often spent off–hours in each other’s company. It had begun with sparing matches of macti as they’d noted very early (in truth, during their first encounter and night–filled rooftop chase), that they were quite close in skill level. Certainly, they were the most practiced on the ship in that particular form of martial arts. The bouts quickly turned into regular engagements.

  After the first month, the two experienced a mutual recognition regarding their life–long study and love of music, passed on to both of them by their respective mothers. Soon, Avara and K’llan met weekly then bi–weekly just as tonight; to play together, share a drink and conversation.

  Gradually they had begun to comprehend more about one another, from perspectives and opinions to likes, dislikes, and experiences. K’llan knew that Avara was introduced to art from her father, a mechanical engineer and painter. It was a love that Serros carried even through the Academy where she Majored, somewhat unsurprisingly, in Tactical Strategy, but Minored in Art History. Though Avara had spoken but a little of the matter, K’llan also knew that the Captain had lost her father to violence when she was barely eighteen years of age, and that continuing to practice art was not only something she enjoyed for herself, but in some way, acted as a living memoriam to the deceased parent she adored.

  In return, K’llan had shared that, though an unusual love–match in Vosaia society, her mother Ry’anlyar Z’arr had chosen as her Life–Mate not only a male, but a Human male, and that K’llan too had also lost her father at a young age. Though her memories of him were sketchy, as she’d communicated to Avara, her interest in the military that eventually resulted in her becoming a Vosaia STF Agent was initially spurred by his own life’s vocation.

  Still, despite the closeness the two had built, K’llan could not be certain how Avara, a Human, viewed their relationship. K’llan discerned that Captain Serros felt and sensed their psychic bond, just as K’llan knew it was distinct in Avara’s experiences. Yet she was unsure if Avara Serros understood what such a connection meant to a Vosaia and within Vosaia culture, how unique their bond truly was.

  K’llan found the topic somewhat maddening to consider.

  Despite the other friendships she was developing, most notably with Commander Marcus Perez and Major Ca’rrakk, Z’arr did not feel that it was a subject she could raise with another aboard the Excalibur. The issue was further made opaque by the fact that Avara seemed to possess a penchant for forming close friendships. Indeed, she had crafted several with various crewmembers, most notable Perez, Adeline, and her Captain’s Steward, Gaius. Yet also with Naxos, Ca’rrakk, and Dr. Argos. K’llan wished she could discuss the topic with her mother, who of all Vosaia would most certainly understand and in be able to offer some flavor of insight, but as of yet, Z’arr had not had the courage to broach the topic over the Net.

  K’llan’s flying thoughts found anchor in the gentle yet swelling emotion she suddenly became aware that Captain Serros was broadcasting. The two were playing through the chords of a minor–keyed Human piece that Avara had introduced K’llan to some ten minutes before and, almost as if by their own violation, Avara’s fingers gracefully danced across the ivory and hematite colored keys of her Milvan to stretch far beyond what they had as of yet worked on together.

  Soon, K’llan stopped the high–toned counterpoint she was playing and just listened, absorbing the music as well as the flood of feelings that seemed to be swelling within her friend. The tune itself, a melancholy–laced sonata, seemed entirely appropriate to the emotional tide stretching from Avara to K’llan.

  A profound sense of loss and old grief intermingled with a quiet, yet persistent note of victory and pride. The song was only made all the more beautiful for the heartbreaking poignancy that corresponded to Avara’s emotional discharge. As the last two minor keys sounded throughout the star and salt–water cradled cabin, so immersed was K’llan in the Human’s music and nya, she could feel the hot spring of tears tracking their path down her pale cheeks.

  Finally, as the silence seemed to stretch through the domicile like a vast–winged bird and Captain Serros said nothing, just sat staring forward at something that was not present, K’llan knew she had to speak. With equal certainty, she also found that she intuitively recognized what to say. “Avara… what was the exchange I felt between you and Commander Perez during the debrief earlier this evening?�
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  At first it was if Avara had not heard the Vosaia’s words, but Z’arr knew better and simply waited. Shaking her head as if to obtain freedom from some invisible bond yet still not looking at K’llan, Avara replied, “The song is called ‘Lamentation.’ It was written by Sigrun in dual commemoration of the Kylos Raze in 3395 and the VanDorn Strike of Kylos in 3409.”

  The tone with which Avara answered was so uncharacteristically lifeless, that K’llan felt her heart ache in concern for the Human that, despite all questions, she knew she deeply cared for. “Your Father?”

  A nod. “Yes. Countless others as well, including most of Marcus’s family. It’s one of the reasons why he and I are so close. My brother Bedwyr was also lost in the Raze, just like my Da. After, my Mam took Marcus and his brother Alejandro in, adopted them as her own. And I also… I also lost Nai Fen in the Strike, the person who had been my closest… friend since childhood. Next to Marcus, of course.”

  K’llan did not have to ask for any clarification to understand the importance of this person, Nai Fen, to Avara. Her roiling emotions clearly trumpeted that the two had not only been extremely close, but unlike Marcus, they had also unmistakably been lovers as well. In all probability, for many of Avara’s still relatively young forty–four years.

  “You know,” Serros continued in that same, bleak tone. “Today, you can hardly find any trace of the damage those two attacks caused. Tens of thousands dead, and yet… the developed settlements have been rebuilt and both the sea and the green have reclaimed what was theirs. But if you look closely, delve into the rainforest, dive to the deep–sea depths, the scars are still there, still unhealed. Still not forgotten.”

  Avara finally turned her head and her brilliant eyes met K’llan’s gaze. Smiling faintly, she offered an apologetic shrug and murmured, “Forgive my maudlin turn; such dark thoughts are unlike me. It’s just that the anniversary is fast approaching.”