by M. Garnet
She hoped he didn’t see her open mouth and went over to look in the boxes. She picked up a piece of meat and sat down on the bed, chewing away, listening to him as he used a unit that was like a phone.
“You know the knit shirts you have in the front window, well, this is Commander Bleak. Send up six in my size in all colors. Also, I need a couple of small belts or maybe long necklaces…yes, yes, that will do. Put it on my bill.”
He took a couple of items from the boxes, pushed them together with some bread, then looked over at her. “I would really like to spend the night with you, but I am going to disappoint you as I am going out to the spaceport to arrange for us to travel to my home. It seems we made so much from the sales, the Council is giving my whole team six months off. I need to arrange for a very fast transport. It will mean that we will be in space sleep to protect us from space jump trauma.”
He was gone and she sat, totally lost, chewing on the meat. She had a list—slave, bracelet, sleep, jump, rich, travel, even trauma. Wait—trauma? She’d already had lots of trauma. There was a knock on the door. She got up and found that she could open it. A young man was there with several boxes.
“The Commander’s clothes.” He glanced down at her bracelet. “I take it you handle his items, so where should I put this stuff?”
“Oh, just on that chair over there. Yes, I have to unpack. I need to take care of it just the way he likes it.” She smiled at him so she wouldn’t choke on the last bite of meat. He laid the boxes down and left. She guessed that slaves didn’t give out tips, or maybe tips were not given out on this world.
She opened the first box and found the shirt was a beautiful blue made from a very soft material, reminding of her of hand washed cotton. There were no markings on the shirt, but the soft material plus the color was wonderful. She held it out. It was large enough to fit him. That meant it would cover her nicely. Inside this box were two smaller boxes. She pulled one out to open it and it contained what she had only heard about—a diamond rope necklace that was about three feet long. She stood up to wrap it around her waist over the dark shirt she was wearing. She hooked it to gather in the shirt at her waist, letting one end hang downward, then looked in the other box. It was the same type, only it had green stones that might be emeralds. Who knew in this far away place? She put away the jewelry, folded the shirts and tried to turn out the lights. Finally, she just went to bed. She covered her head with the extra pillow. It was nice to have pillows.
He woke her up in the morning with his shower. She rose up and stretched, wondering if she should take a shower. He came in naked. She tried not to look at his large tanned body.
“We must leave right away. You have time for a quick shower, then change. We must leave.”
She got up, going into the bathroom. She scrubbed her teeth, jumped into the shower that evidently was set for a quick one because it didn’t run very long, then the air blew almost too strong, her hair flying over her face. She came out to find the blue shirt with the diamond rope on the bed. He must have already packed all the other shirts. She was holding the dark shirt up to her as she entered. He just reached over, tore it out of her hands and turned his back. She jumped, then reached for the blue shirt and pulled it on. She settled the necklace onto her waist.
“Do we eat?” She swallowed to calm her voice.
“No, not much food when you are doing a jump.” He looked over at her as he was gathering up items.
She had to ask. “Okay, and not to get out of line, but do owned slaves get to wear shoes?”
He looked down at her. “When we get to my home, I will get you an assortment of proper shoes for a slave. Little one, you aren’t going to understand this, but I feel a pull to you. In turn, you are causing a pull to my brother. You are becoming important to me. This is strange.”
She only had a moment to look at him in confusion. They rushed away in a vehicle that was waiting. They approached to enter a strange looking space vehicle that turned out to be a shuttle that took them out to a very large ship that she never got to see. He explained that for deep space , a special ship was used, and lots of people boarded. They were put into sleep pods. These people were awakened when they got to their destination. Shuttles took them off to their final destinations. Evidently, the large deep space ship couldn’t land, but it could make a trip within what she would call hours. It would cause trauma to anyone who was awake, which was why the sleep pods.
He watched her as she was carefully placed down into a comfortable pod. She had a quick thought of a casket, but but saw that it was all some type of metal, lined with some type of soft material like foam that immediately accepted her body. It enfolded her into it like a womb. The top was transparent, so she watched with apprehension as the hinged wing was lowered. She thought she was going to have a panic attack from being enclosed in such a tight area. She felt the tension building in her body.
* * * *
He saw her panic attack start, but as she started to raise a hand to push it, the pod put her asleep in the middle of it. He stood for a moment, looking down at her. He couldn’t believe how beautiful she was. She had all that spirit within that small frame and he wasn’t sure he could turn away.
He looked at the tech, who was also staring at her. The lab tech clearly realized he was being watched by a very important man as he worked. He visibly fought to find the proper words.
“If I may say so, sir, a proper gem for such an important personage. I understand you want the pod delivered to your planet location intact without waking the contents?”
Bleak frowned at the tech and nodded. “Frost the cover so no one can see the contents. I will retire to mine.” He waited until the transparent cover was opaque, then stretched out in the pod next to hers. He relaxed as the cover closed and the chemicals in the air of the pod first instantly recognized his species, then put him under.
The next thing he knew he was opening his eyes as the cover was opening. A different tech was waiting. Most of the time the deep space ship went unmanned with the techs coming on at each stop.
“Sir, your shuttle is waiting. You might want to take it slow—” He was interrupted as Bleak lifted himself out of the pod and went over to check on Lorelei’s, which was still in the opaque mode. All the read-outs were in normal.
“I forgot, you are a Commander and used to space travel, sir. The shuttle is down at the first connection. The pod you are taking with you can be moved along that same connection. It seems you have a private shuttle. It is a pleasure to serve such an individual of your rank. If there is anything special we can do, let me know.”
“You can move that pod with utmost care.” He went to the locker where his personal items were stowed. He put on his jacket, taking his belt with his weapons, then headed out, following the pod to the shuttle.
In the shuttle, he went forward, smiling at the pilot, an old friend. He used the com to send a message to his twin. He then sent out the first touches to see if he felt the familiar touch contact. It didn’t take long to feel the part that said he was going to be complete. It grew stronger as the shuttle lowered through the clouds of the storm-filled planet.
GigasVnee was a water world full of storms and not much land. It was deemed a young planet with little land that was mostly mountainous rocks being slammed with huge waves from the oceans and the storms that moved constantly in the atmosphere. Normally, ships would have ignored it, except that within the shelves of the rocks laid bare from the time eons ago when the rocks had pushed up, it exposed a small vein of silver tissues that someone could extract. They were like hair and could be pulled apart. They were the most important item needed to help the large space ships do deep space jumps.
It didn’t take much, only a few of the threads, but since this was the only planet where the threads had been found in abundance, the world had been under the protection of the Council. A constant political battle surrounded the planet. Added to this valuable ore, the planet had pr
oduced six sets of Twinned Dissnue. The Twinned Dissnue had shown up over the millennia on different planets, but they were so rare you could still count them in small numbers.
Separately, they were brilliant, used as scientists, military Commanders, strategists, inventors, and politicians. Together, in their pairs, they scared the heart from all the governments that had to deal with them, because no one could guess how powerful they could be or what they could do. So, it was felt it was better to keep them apart, keep them happy, see how much could be gained from them. When they did get together, the Council worked to keep them in neutral and keep them happy. So if there was a Twinned Dissnue on the planet GigasVnee, they were not only to be reckoned with, but they were very, very rich. They were so rich, their family ran the government on the planet ever since it had failed in its attempt to take over the boys as children.
Everyone knew when Bleak headed for home. His pilot pointed out the large number of ships parked in orbit around the planet. He shrugged. They wouldn’t land, and most couldn’t endure the weather. Sometime while he was here, they would have to put up with visitors, but he and his brother were used to that. They even enjoyed the game.
The shuttle approached a rocky face of a large mountain hanging over the black waves of the ocean far below. Fighting the downdrafts, the shuttle entered a large opening. Once out of the storm and settled, with Bleak out before the dust gathered back to the ground, he was smiling as he greeted his brother without seeing him.
They didn’t even say words, just wrapped around each other’s minds, finding a home that was lost, seeing double vision as they both looked out of each pairs of eyes. He was down the ramp and into the damp cavern seeing his brother as they approached each other, but they didn’t touch. They just stood, both unsmiling, both staring at an exact replica of themselves. Oh, there were differences. Leant had let his black rich hair grow, flowing around his shoulders. He wore soft shapeless clothes that draped over his broad shoulders. The military look of Bleak was in the dress and the trim of his hair. But that was the only difference.
The people around them cut a wide swath, almost afraid of the two large handsome men who weren’t moving and weren’t speaking in any manner that those in the hanger could hear. They were duplicate images of each other, not mirror images—exact images. These workers were worried. They had heard the rumors and didn’t know what to expect, but this long silence wasn’t what they thought would happen. For those who were close enough to know the men, they knew that a lot was happening. The two men were talking, sharing, filling each other in on all that happened since they had last seen each other. In their way, a way that no one else could, in a way more intimate than anyone else could understand, they shared their minds.
Still, what many wouldn’t understand was that there were many things that didn’t get exchanged. This first meeting was the tying together, the need to know that they still fit, like half a hand replacement operation and the first time the fingers interlocked perfectly.
Dee, who was overseeing the unloading of the shuttle, approached the two men. He had lived with them through birth, through the fights their father had put up with to keep them when the local Government came in on the first birthday to take them for their own good. Their mother had died before the birth, but they were born later as two healthy boys. They walked early, played with toys from the older kids in the compound, but they never said a word, never cried and never laughed until they were six years old.
Eventually, Dee and their father had sat down with them. The two older men had a long talk that they listened to. They looked at first, one, then the other of the older men.
“You are very special, and we knew you are communicating with each other, but the world you are in also communicates by talking, so you must start talking to people. You must start learning the proper way to pronounce the words. It is important that you can tell people what you want and what you need. You need to impress them with what you know. You can still talk to each other in your minds. You can hide a great deal of your intelligence from the idiots around you that want to use you. You can play games and learn everything you are capable of learning. Still, talking must be part of it. Do you guys understand?”
Two pairs of disturbing green eyes looked between the two men who loved the boys so much. The boys looked at each other. In small, little voices said, “Sure, no problem.”
So, from that time on they talked.
Chapter Seven
“Hey, fellas, where do I put the pod? It’s still active.”
At last, the two brothers seemed to be alive again, as both looked at Dee. Bleak went over to reach out. He took one of Dee’s hands to shake. With his other, he drew the man close to his muscular chest. He was not surprised to feel the old man was still strong and in shape. He probably worked out every day.
“ Okay, grouch, let’s put it in the rest area between Leant’s and my bedrooms, then later, when we open it, you can move the empty pod into storage. Treat it carefully.” He looked over at Leant. “It just might be our catalyst. Also, I have some fresh fruit coming down on an additional shuttle. There was no time to find what you might need, but it always seemed like you guys could use fresh fruit. What doesn’t get eaten right away you might have the cooks do something creative with. As usual, I went overboard and probably brought too much.”
There was laughter as the three men went back into the long rock hanger. They took a built-in mover up to the main house where Bleak finally began to relax. He could feel Leant pushing him to undress. In his mind, Leant wanted him to bathe and get out of the military clothes. He turned to look at his twin.
The large open rooms, carved out of the living rock, one leading into another, were dim and shadowy, but with lights in hidden corners. The outer walls were the imitation windows that could be set to let in air, wind, temps, or to shut out everything. It was the opening from ceiling to floor wherever possible that he loved. This was where he had been raised. This was where, as a boy, he and Leant had raced the wind with rain from the storms that everyone else avoided. They had run along the cliffs over the crags, chasing the rock salamanders. Growing up, the two of them were naked more than they were dressed, as it was better in the storms.
He went into his room and started dropping his clothes as he headed for his bath, which was a pool set against the outside transparent wall. By the time he reached the water he had managed to get rid of boots, pants, and even the tight shirts. He could breathe.
Leant talked to him in his mind. The pod is here. It is frosted, so I can’t see what or who is in it. Should I start the awake process?
He laughed back at his twin. What, still the curious little boy?
Okay, ok, you have me, who is it? Leant was standing by the Pod.
Bleak sank lower in the warm bubbling water of the bath. Start the process. I will be out in a minute. He then got out of the bath to step into the drying booth and went to a drawer to pull out loose pants that tied at his waist. He chose a long open shirt and walked out, laughing at his brother as he saw the surprise in his brother’s mind when Leant looked at the beautiful woman in the pod.
Leant put his hands on the hood so the he could bend forward to look at her.
Bleak came up so that he could put a hand on one of Leant’s shoulders. They couldn’t sneak up on each other, since when they were within a reasonable distance of each other, they knew exactly where the other one was at all times. It was an unconscious feeling, like knowing where your left foot was, even when you weren’t using it.
Her name is Lorelei and she is our slave—look at her bracelet.
Leant moved sideways and looked at the wristlet It is beautiful, she is beautiful. We don’t have slaves.
Well, we do now, but watch it, she is waking up. She is a real hellion. There is no telling what she will do. By the way, she is not broken as a slave. She does not accept the position, so the whole thing is complicated. Oh, and one more thing, fucking her is
like going into the sun and coming out the other side. My being with her is what drew me back home and to you. There is something that seems to want to join the twin deeper. Bleak watched his brother.
Leant looked at her as the lid came up. Bleak knew that Leant saw fear hit her. Evidently, she had gone into a panic affect with the lid enclosing her. Coming out of the sleep, the residual fear was still in her system. She flailed her hands. She swung wildly and then Leant was surprised at how fast she just stopped. She must have realized that the lid was up. They watched her take control of her reactions.
* * * *
Lorelei looked up at Bleak, but something was wrong. First, behind his head, she could tell they weren’t on a ship. They were in some type of room or building. The ceiling was at least eighteen or twenty feet above his head, with soft lights. There were hangings of some type. She also noticed something wrong with Bleak…his hair had grown out. How long had she been in the sleep pod? He had said they would only be on the trip for a couple of hours. What had happened? She felt a couple of strong hands around her waist, lifting her from the pod, and she looked at Bleak. The real Bleak military hair cut at the right short length.
“Easy, you might feel a little wobbly at first. I’m not sure how jumps affect people from your planet.” He set her on her feet. She looked at him and then across the pod at the replica of him with the long hair. She jerked away from him. She saw the other man grin at her actions. This was strange, because she didn’t believe she had caught Bleak grinning very often.
She backed away from them, not able to take her eyes off them. They were more than twins, they were duplicates except for the length of their hair, and now that she was looking at them, their dress. She looked closer at Bleak. He was not in any type of uniform. He had on loose white trousers with a long loose top that was unbuttoned, showing the dark muscles of his chest down to where the trousers hung below his navel.
