by Rebel West
I don’t have access to the full panoply of Luminar’s equivalent of the internet, but I can search for things like transport, restaurant names, and pop singers on the planet. There is even a way to contact their version of 911—a swirly purple icon that resembles a dollar sign.
“I can’t wait to see the planet.” I wind my hands together.
“In due time.” Netta smiles. “I will leave you now. Say video again if you need to speak to me or another representative. Once your gravity adjust is completed, you will be instructed on how and where to meet your delegation. In the meantime, please enjoy a meal from the MFD and take advantage of the e-books and videos to see more of our planet.”
I nod. “Thank you so much.”
When her image flickers away in a burst of blue light, I glance to the Meal and Food Delivery system in the corner, a sleek silver device that can provide nearly any foodstuff that exists on Luminar, or at least the ones that have been programmed into its electronic brain. But right now I’m too nervous to eat, so I sit down on the sleek couch and bring up some holo vids that show local flora and fauna, and descriptions of daily life on Luminar.
* * *
“Dr. Taylor? If you are interested, we can unlock the portal that attaches your chambers to the general chambers. There you may mingle with the other humans in Adjust.”
“Yes, please.” What I wouldn’t give to be around a warm body again! It’s only been a few hours, but the longer I have to wait, the antsier I get.
“Stand by.” Without warning, a piece of the wall simply dissolves, revealing a corridor lit by soft purple and silver lights.
“Simply say portal open, or portal close to command the doors,” explains Netta. “Your room has been programmed to accept your voice commands. Currently there are,” she glances at her monitor, “two other humans in your general area.”
“Understood.” My NDA says I’m not to show myself to anyone on the shuttle, for security purposes. Because the hypersleep pods were all in separate bays, at least mine seemed to be, I’ve met nobody so far on this trip but Netta and the shuttle personnel. I have no idea how many other people were even on the ship with me, traveling to Luminar.
But if Netta offered, that must mean it’s all right, so...
I glance around and then down at my wrist, feeling unprepared, and then all at once, I’m starved beyond belief for company. I set out down the hall, which is covered in a material I don’t recognize. When I touch it, it feels like silk and steel combined.
The short hallway opens into a large common area, lit with soft white lights from the dome high above. Soft modular couches adjoin a low table, and two women sit together giggling.
“I’m not making this up! I swear, all of their men are supposed to be, like, at least ten or eleven inches. And thick.” The woman on the left, a short redhead with freckles on her nose, holds up her hands up to approximate the size. “Like this. See? As well as changing color from blue to purple to silver. And they have ridges.” She wiggles her eyebrows. “Which can… get this… vibrate.”
The other woman, tall with tight black braids, collapses into giggles. “Ohmigod. You’re crazy.” She lowers her voice. “Do you think it’s really true?”
“I fully intend to find out. I think I deserve a full ten vibrating inches for all the work I put in to get this job.” The redhead slaps her palms onto the low table.
“You do,” her friend assures her with a grin. “And then a hot alien can put it into you.”
“Right?”
“I heard they also like to spank their women.”
Chapter Three
“Noooo!” squeals the woman with braids, but the look of eager curiosity on her face belies her comment. “That’s so kinky.”
“I volunteer as tribute to study them more closely.” The redhead mimics a sort of humping motion and slaps her butt.
I clear my throat, and it sounds like a bullet ricocheting around the room. The two women stop laughing and stare.
“Hi.” I offer a bright smile. “I’m Cali Taylor. I’m a neur—I’m here on a project. I can’t say too much about it, but I’m really excited. I was told this was the common area for… humans?” The word feels strange on my tongue.
“It is,” assures the redhead.
I sit across from the two of them. “Did you just get here?”
“I assume we all arrived on the General Obama Mark 34E.” The redhead makes a face. “The hyperspace shuttle only comes once a week?”
“True.” I keep my voice pleasant. “But sometimes people have a hard time adjusting to gravity or fall ill during their quarantine, requiring them to stay in the transfer station longer.”
“Whatever. I’m Keela, by the way.” The redhead rolls her eyes. “Of course, some lucky people get the expedited med clearance and walk straight off that shuttle right onto Luminar. We got stuck with the super sloooow treatment.”
I shrug. “Netta said my personal clearance schedule was arranged by my on-planet team.”
“All it means is either a)they think you’re a germ-bag and just want to be sure you’re sterile, or b) they didn’t really want to see you right away and are stalling.” Keela smirks.
The braided woman rolls her eyes and extends her hand. “Some groups just feel that the extended medical is a courtesy. At least, that’s how I’m going to think about it.” She smiles. “I’m Meryke Grant, here as part of the animal studies group. So is Keela. And as you can tell, we’re a little bit… ah… excited about some of the prospects.” She laughs.
“So I heard.” I smile, and suddenly all three of us are laughing, harder than the joke is funny. For me, the laughter is necessary to relieve the tension I feel. Even just getting onto that shuttle was a leap of faith. Going into hypersleep in a pod full of blue LiquiSustain to travel lightyears across galaxies? Yeah, I need a laugh.
“I don’t even care,” Meryke points upward, “that they’re listening and watching us twenty-four/seven. Yes. We are interested. In your big, hard alien dicks.”
Keela screams and flops over. “Stop! I can’t breathe.” She calls up to the ceiling, “We’re just giddy from the gravity adjust. We’re totally serious scientists and not planning to create a hostile work environment for your men.”
“We’re not going to harass you!”
“She said ass!”
Even as I laugh, my shoulders tighten: yes, people are listening. Humans, monitoring their colleagues, and aliens as well, overseeing the health of their visitors. Luminarians who visit Earth tolerate similar monitoring. I’m glad that such scrutiny occurs only here in the transfer station.
“Do you feel lighter yet?” I ask, testing it by standing and bouncing on my toes. I might be different, although it could also just be nerves making me jittery.
Meryke gets up to try as well, but Keela lies back on the couch and puts her feet up. “I don’t care. I just don’t want them to start switching the oxygen levels yet.” She groans and puts a hand to her forehead. “My nose is still all fucked up from that blue goo in the pods.”
“We’re already a third of the way there.” Meryke points to a monitor that flashes a hologram to their side. It reads:
OXYGEN LEVELS
Starting (Earth) atmosphere: 20.9% Effective Oxygen
Current Atmosphere: 19.0% Effective Oxygen
End (Luminar) atmosphere: 14.9% Effective Oxygen
% complete: 31%
GRAVITATIONAL FORCE
Starting Gravity: (Earth) 9.89m/s^2
Current Gravity: 9.5m/s^2
End (Luminar) Gravity: 8.89m/s^2
I suck in a breath. “At the end, it will feel like we just traveled to Aspen, Colorado, and climbed a mountain there. It will take a while to get used to it.”
Keela scoffs. “Fuck this shit. I hate mountains. I want to smoke.”
“You can’t smoke here. That’s prohibited. Also, bad for sinuses. Did you know that the intranasal—” I respond automatically before breaking off, and thi
s earns me a scathing glance from Keela.
“I just said I wanted to. Not that I’m going to. How could I? It feels like we’re in detention and have access to only what they give us. I’m sure cigarettes don’t even exist here.” Keela crosses her feet.
“Good thing, too,” I retort, rolling my eyes. “Worst thing you could do for yourself.” I frown.
Meryke fidgets her foot and interjects, “So, tell us more about you. What do you do?”
“Well, I’m… in the medical field.” I’m not supposed to say I’m a doctor.
“So you’re a doctor.” Keela fidgets.
“I can’t go into detail.”
“Okay, Doc.” Keela laughs. “We’re all here to help, right? What’s the big secret?”
“My team had me sign an NDA. They don’t want me to talk about my work here.”
“Whatever.” Keela adjusts her arms behind her neck. “Are you some kind of a VIP?”
“A what?”
“You weren’t in the general pod bay on the shuttle, which means you must have gotten a private sleep pod room.”
A soft chime interrupts. “Oxygen levels now switching to 18.5 %. Please say I’m fine or I need help.”
After each of us says I’m fine, Keela stands. “I’m going to go to my room and watch vids of hot aliens,” she says, and calls back over her shoulder, “Oh. Nice meeting you.”
Meryke sighs. “She’s not the easiest coworker. I have to be here with her for three months, so I’m trying to make it work. Her sinuses are acting up after the hypersleep. But even when she’s feeling fine, she’s still a bitch.”
I laugh. “Yeah, no kidding that she was a pretty big asshole just now.” I point to the ceiling. “And I don’t care who hears it.”
Meryke leans forward. “So, but, I think it’s true, what we were saying before,” she says, lowering her voice, even though that won’t matter. “About their, you know.” She holds out her hands and her face lights up. “You’re a doctor. Can you tell me if it’s legit?”
It is. As a member of the Neuro Info Share Team, I’ve been one of a privileged few allowed access to Luminar holo texts to study alien anatomy, so I know the dimensions discussed are accurate.
As to color shift in action, or the vibrations… I have no idea. And spanking… my face grows hot as images pass through my mind. I’ve heard rumors about the social structure there, how the alien men enjoy spanking their females and how kink is far more common there than on Earth, but I don’t know the truth. Anyway, since I’m coming here to work, not date, it doesn’t make sense to think about that. Or daydream about it. Or fantasize, alone in my bed at night.
I can’t say any of this to Meryke, so I just shrug. “That wasn’t in the intro packet.”
Meryke nods. “They need to enhance their packet. I mean, the aliens are part human, right?”
“Yes.” This is what fascinates me most about the Luminarians. “Thousands of years ago, apparently, the aliens had a procreation crisis so they came to Earth and stole a bunch of people, mostly women, but some men and children, too. Luminarians are humanoid and realized they could cross-breed with humans and carry on their DNA. It worked, and now they’re stronger than ever.”
“I think it’s odd that even though they only let a little bit of human influx into their society, their entire genetic makeup changed so dramatically. They’re so human-like, at least in looks.” Meryke puts her chin into her hand. “It’s crazy.”
“Our DNA is powerful. Energizer bunny. Humans! Always colonizing, aren’t we?” I laugh, but it’s not humorous. This is part of the reason behind the rebel movement on Luminar, from what I’ve learned. Factions of Luminarians believe that their genetics have been polluted by human DNA—not saved—and want nothing more to do with humans.
“Well, it’s an adventure,” Meryke adds, lips twisting into a smile. “And we’re leading the way for the future, whatever that will be.”
I think about this. “Yes,” I agree. “We are.”
Chapter Four
Later, I find it hard to sleep. Despite my exhaustion, and the mild headache I still have left over from the hypersleep, I can’t drift off. But it’s only a second later that I sit up, panting, disoriented. A voice is calling me. Is that Maya? Where am I?
Netta’s holo swims in front of me, and I remember—Luminar. “Dr. Taylor, please wake up. You have visitors from your delegation. It is time to leave the EVTS, as your adjustments have completed.”
“What?” I rub my eyes, acclimating to the dim silvery light that filters from the upper dome. The air is definitely thinner now, and I panic before forcing myself to relax. Deep, even breaths, like I practiced in shuttle training.
“Please get dressed, Dr. Taylor, and prepare to meet your delegation. They will enter your chambers shortly to escort you to your destination.”
“Right now?” My heartbeat speeds up.
“When you are ready, but I encourage you to hasten. You yourself mentioned how eager you were to visit the planet.”
“I, yes.” I get to my feet, testing my balance. I’m definitely lighter as I step forward. I try a jump, and squeak in surprise at how easy it is.
Netta smiles. “It must be a good feeling for you, feeling lighter?” She pauses. “Luminarians report that it’s not as much fun to feel heavier on Earth.”
“I’m sure.” I take a few more steps. “It’s early, I think?” I glance at my wrist, trying to figure out the time. It seems like I was only asleep a few hours.
“When the pr—when your delegation lead wants something done, it happens on his schedule.”
“I see.”
Netta disappears, and I dress quickly in slacks and a nice blouse. Earth clothes. I’ll stand out, but then again, I’m not silvery blue, and I’m human—I’ll be noticed no matter what I wear.
It’s only a few minutes before a chime sounds at my door.
“Yes?” I keep my voice even, although I can barely stand the suspense.
“Dr. Taylor. It’s your delegation. May we enter?” It’s English, again, and I touch my head, feeling dizzy. It’s disconcerting to understand spoken Luminarian, and then to have English in my mind again, and I shake my head. This is supposed to get easier the longer I’m on this planet.
The wall dissolves open, and I gasp. Standing in front of me is one of the most handsome beings I’ve ever seen. Behind him are a set of four other Luminarian males, dressed in what I assume is their military formals. And it’s crazy, because in this low light, through my disorientation, I could swear this Luminarian looks just like that sexy prince from the holo vid back on Earth.
My body thrums with attraction as his eyes meet mine. He’s shirtless, and the black swirls of his tattoos on his impressively broad chest and shoulders are mesmerizing. I put a hand to my lips, then drop it to my side. I stand tall.
“Dr. Taylor.” He lifts his right arm and bows. “It is an honor to have you here on Luminar. Welcome to the planet.”
As I return the gesture, he continues, “I am his Royal Highness Lock, prince of Luminar, and brother to the ruler, Crown Prince Maxxon.”
“You’re the prince!” I speak before I can catch myself. “I recognize you from a holo vid.” My mind races. Why is he here? Where is my medical on-site team? “Yes, I am Dr. Taylor. But I prefer Cali.”
He regards me with those dark eyes. “Cali.” His lips are smooth and full, a contrast to his sharply defined cheekbones. I wonder how his mouth would feel on my skin.
“You’re my delegation lead? Are you going to tell me about my project?” I step forward.
He holds up a hand, and the others fall back without words. He closes the portal, and looks at me for a long second, until my stomach starts to butterfly. “First we need to discuss your NDA.”
“My NDA?” I blink. “I’m sorry?”
“Don’t you know what I mean?” He raises an eyebrow, and his voice, although even, is tight.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t.” My stomach c
hurns.
“Why don’t you give it a little thought.” His tone is pleasant but his eyes flash. “Perhaps something about interacting with other humans from your transport ship.”
I suck in a breath. “The gravity adjust. I wasn’t sure—but Netta invited me?” I bite my lip. He watches, eagle-eyed. A muscle clenches in his jaw but he doesn’t answer.
I take a step forward. “I’m sorry if it wasn’t appropriate. It wasn’t clear, and I assumed it was all right, since she asked. We didn’t talk about much, anyway. I don’t think they really care what I’m doing here.” When he still doesn’t answer, my palms begin to sweat, and I rub them on my pants. “Am I… in trouble?”
He crosses his strong arms across his powerful chest, and I can’t help widening my eyes. “Maybe on Earth, your NDAs are not taken seriously. On our planet, they are. If human visitors violate their own agreements, how can we possibly work together?”
He’s looking directly at me. “How can we trust that you are here to do good and come with an open heart and sound intentions, when you break the rules the very first chance you get?”
I lean forward, face hot, horrified. “It isn’t possible that one small mistake could ruin an entire interplanetary mission! Is it?”
“A single small mistake,” he snaps, “could cost a life. And a single life could lead to the fall of a kingdom. Never underestimate the power of a single small mistake, Dr. Taylor.” But the look on his face isn’t just anger; I think I see something else—fear? But the fleeting expression is gone before I can figure it out.
“I’m terribly sorry, and I’m grateful to be here. I will not make such a mistake again.” I hope I’m not trembling, but my body is hot and cold and I don’t know what to do.
He approaches me until I can feel the warmth from his body, and looks into my eyes for a second that extended into several. It’s like he’s examining me, testing me. I meet his gaze without flinching. Then he nods. “I am very grateful for your presence. You are valuable to me, Dr. Taylor. That is why the NDA is so critical.”
