by Brandon Hill
Her eyes fluttered closed, and she said no more that night. I lay there, studying the details of her body: a bit more muscular than most women, but otherwise quite shapely and with breasts that were neither too large nor too small. She was very attractive overall, and any man, I surmised, would be quite privileged to have her. I imagine that if it were made public, every unfixed man in the city would crush their beer cans in jealousy at me. So why was I, throes of the burn aside, so unattracted to her, yet forced to pour all the passion generated by this agonizing pull into her during sex, to the point where neither of us could barely move? And most important, why was I taken by this burning lust that had caused me to seek her out like I had? Where the hell had it come from?
In spite of my exhaustion, I found it difficult to get to sleep, as those thoughts that spun through my head coupled with the vestige of the burn. That vestige smoldered, irritatingly plaintive. I wanted to wake Keisha up, to pin her down, and make love to her again as one possessed, but I pulled hard upon the reins of that desire. Whether my restraint was born of shame or concern for Keisha’s well-being, I don’t know. I simply let the frustrating, aching burn, a shadow of its former self, haunt the back of my mind until sleep could not help but claim me.
As usual, Keisha was gone when I awoke, and again, my clothes, which she had nearly ripped off in our passions, lay horribly wrinkled on the floor. I checked my watch, and groaned at how late I’d slept. I would have to hurry if I didn’t want to be late for work. This particular pleasure house, for reasons I could not fathom, had no shower stall, and so I had to rush home -which lay on the other side of the city-, clean off, and report to the airlock in less than an hour.
The delay at the train station was only ten minutes, but it was enough time to make me frantic once I arrived home. Hurriedly, I punched in my code, and the door opened to another, different voice that had again frightened me nearly to death. I nearly threw my knife into the darkness before the lights came on.
“You never call; you never write,” Chester was reclining on my couch, a smug grin plastered upon his rounded face. “I was beginning to think you didn’t like me.”
“Dammit! Does my home have a freaking revolving door, or something?” I exclaimed, hurriedly sheathing my knife in its holster on my rear belt loop. I stalked inside and took off my wrinkled shirt, heading for the bathroom. At least Chester’s being here seemed much more normal than Sar’vana’s, seeing how, as a part of security for the company, it was expected that he would have master codes to every mining employee’s home. “Geez… first Vani, and now you. Oh, and don’t think that I’ve completely forgiven you for the other night.”
“Vani?” I heard Chester say as I passed through my bedroom.
“Yeah, my friend Sar’vana,” I said. I hopped into the shower stall and set it to “quick” mode. I heard nothing more in the torrent of water and cleansers until it was done, and I opened the door and reached blindly for a towel from the nearby rack. When I opened my eyes, I saw Chester in the doorway to my bedroom, which, I admit, startled me again.
“Hey, invasion of privacy, much?” I said, regaining my composure.
“That’s a Felyan name,” Chester said.
“What is?”
“Sar’vana.”
And then I remembered what I said a few minutes ago.
“Crap.”
“Don’t tell me you’re two-timing Keisha for a freaking catdog,” Chester said, grimacing at my reaction.
“What …? No!” I did not know which offended me more, Chester’s accusation or his use of that derogatory term. I hopped into my underwear and then pushed past Chester to get to my bedroom. “Remember how I used to whine about that friend I had who left when I was a kid?”
“You mean she was a Felyan?” Chester said, his voice cracking a bit at the last word.
“Yeah,” I said. “I never told you?”
“Obviously not,” Chester said, his tone surprisingly harsh. “And you two never …”
“Get your mind out of the gutter, man,” I said flatly, pausing in the middle of buttoning my pants, and looking directly his way to make my point. “We were kids. And no, not even now. But she and I were very good friends.”
“When you were kids,” Chester said.
“Yeah, so?”
“You’re an adult now, Jules.”
“I’m still not getting you.”
“She’s a Felyan!”
“And so that means that I shouldn’t be friends with her?” I said, pulling my shirt on. “Look, Chester, I can tolerate your being ‘in the know’ about Keisha and me, as long as you don’t make some big production about it. But you know, if you’re trying to re-ingratiate yourself with me after the other night, you’re failing miserably. And I’ll be damned if I need someone to tell me who I can’t be friends with.”
I think that my words got through to Chester, but it was obvious that I’d hurt him somewhat.
“Jules,” he spoke my name with far less abrasiveness than before, “I’m just looking out for you, man. It’s kind of a rare sight for someone to be close to the catdogs outside the Elders and the sub-council.”
“Yeah, and I’ve always wondered why,” I said. “They’re actually quite friendly, once you get to know them.”
“They’re a little too friendly, if you ask me,” Chester said, and shuddered.
“You’re acting as if one started coming on to you,” I said, half-joking. But Chester’s reaction spoke volumes. He needed only to look away, with a sour expression that told me all I needed to know.
“Oh, wow.”
“Yeah. Can you believe it?”
“No,” I said. “I can’t possibly believe that you’d turn down a girl coming on to you!”
“What?” Chester was appalled. His face reddened in anger. “You actually think I’d …!”
And then he paused, mid-rant as he observed the very telling smile upon my face.
“Payback for the other night,” I remarked smugly as I resumed tying the laces of my boots.
“Bastard.”
“Sticks and stones, man.”
“That wasn’t funny.”
“Yes it was.”
“Jules, you accused me of having sex with an alien!” Chester said.
“Maybe you’re freaky like that,” I said with a laugh.
“Oh, I will get you back for that one.” Chester betrayed a small smile of his own.
“Good luck,” I said and slipped the leg of my pants over the boot and stood up. “You know, this begs the question of why you’re even here. I mean, aren’t you even worried about being late for work?”
Chester’s expression went completely blank. “Jules, did you even check your e-mail?”
“E-mail?” I said flatly, and then realized that I did not have my phone on my person. Urgently, due to the time, I ran back to the bathroom and fished it out of the hamper. In the hologram, I discovered the mail icon in the top left hand corner of the hologram that I, in my haste, had not noticed before. I touched it, and read the information.
“A dust storm?” I said.
“A big-ass dust storm,” Chester corrected. It’s covering New Valis, Cerulean, and Emberia, and won’t let up for the better part of the day. All mining operations are grounded.”
I gave a low whistle. “That’s over a hundred miles in either direction. “
“Hence the ‘big-ass’ part,” Chester said. “You know, even if you were running late, I could cover for you. But anyway, I think you can dress in something a bit more comfortable now.”
“Yeah,” I said, now feeling more than a little awkward and uncomfortable in my work uniform. And that was when I noticed that Chester’s clothes were normal civvies, rather than the black kevlar uniform of mining security personnel. Grateful to change my own clothes, I did.
“By the way,” I said to Chester, who now waited in the living room as I dressed, “Why did you break into my home?”
“To let you know about the
dust storm,” Chester replied.
I paused. “So you were that certain that I’d forget to check my e-mail?”
“Your record speaks for itself,” Chester said.
“Point taken,” I said, and resumed dressing.
“So this friend of yours is a Felyan?” Chester asked after several moments.
“Last time I checked.”
“Well, if that’s the case,” Chester said, with bewilderment in his tone, “then how can you resist?”
“Resist what?”
“That Felyan chick I told you about? She was all over me last night. Pretty insistent too. Said that she could get me aboard their ship for more privacy, if I was worried about what other people would say. It took every bit of strength I had not to take her up on it. Is your apathy so strong that you can push away a Felyan? I mean you sure weren’t able to push away Keisha.”
I felt a flare of anger at his insinuation, but quickly pushed it down. I wasn’t about to explain what I couldn’t even understand myself, and I had no desire to get Chester’s lecherous opinion of it. “She’s not an An’Kya Felyan,” I said. She’s a Re’Kya Felyan.”
“Oh? Well, I guess that’s a little bit better,” Chester said. If you had gotten with that kind of Felyan, I’d have to wonder if you were into animals or something.”
“They’re hardly animals,” I snapped, unable to tolerate that particular barb. “In fact, they’re probably more civilized than most humans I know.”
“Well, Re’Kya Felyans are supposed to be the ruling class, so I guess you’re right,” Chester said in grudging acquiescence. “So you’ve gotten in good with the leaders?”
“She’s the director’s daughter.”
“You’re serious?”
“She’s just a friend,” I warned. I finished dressing and stepped out into the living room. “I hadn’t seen her since I was ten.”
“And you’ve been spending the past couple of days together?”
“She’ll only be here for a month,” I said. “So we’ve decided to hang out as much as we can.”
Chester’s expression became sullen and troubled.
“I’m not sleeping with her, dammit!”
“Hey, I never said you were,” he protested
“I can read you like a book.”
“Well, then you can’t blame me for thinking that.”
“You’re right,” I said. “I can’t. I keep forgetting how pervy your point of view is.”
Chester sighed with almost parental patience. “Look, Jules, like I said before, I’m just looking out for you.”
“Why?”
“Why?” Chester was completely incredulous. “Can you imagine what might happen to you if people suspect you’re getting sweet on a Felyan? And a Re’Kya Felyan at that? Your breeding privileges might be revoked! And you know what that means. Worst case scenario is that you’d be considered a genetic threat, and purged. And there won’t be a damn thing I can do about it.”
“Don’t get your panties in a twist,” I said cooly. “You’re overreacting. Do I have to spell it out for you? Vani is just a friend. My ‘getting with’ her is not going to happen. Got it?”
Though Chester seemed mollified by what I said, I wasn’t completely certain of it. The one thing I was sure of was that I wanted to put as much distance between us as possible, at least for today. “Look, I don’t know if you had any plans for today,” I said, “but I’ve been losing valuable time to get some of my art projects done. I’m about to head off to the skylight.”
“It’s almost noon!” Chester exclaimed. “You’ll roast like a chicken up there!”
“... Said the man who just told me there was a big-ass dust storm outside.”
“Oh. Right.”
“If you’re hard up for company, you can come with me,” I said out of politeness, rather than a true want for company.
“Nah, your idea of a good time is too boring,” Chester said, much to my relief. “Remember who had to teach you how to have a proper good time.”
“Yeah,” I rolled my eyes. “I suppose your ‘good time’ today happens to be a six pack, Gestalt fights on the tank, and a girl at your side … perhaps two?”
“Not necessarily in that order,” Chester said, unabashed. The faintest ghost of a smile played upon the edge of his mouth. “You know me too well.”
“Yeah, and I still can’t tell if that’s a good or bad thing.”
5
The skylight was slightly warm, but not uncomfortably so, as I stood there, looking out at the dust storm’s shifting wall of gray and brown, intermittently revealing and concealing the scarred landscape. I had not been able to muster the inspiration to work on my art, and for the last few minutes, my gaze had remained transfixed upon the scene far below, separated by hundreds of feet, in addition to the three feet of vitriplas that protected against winds that could rip a man’s flesh from his bones. The hypnotic shifting of dust and wind brought to mind a time from long ago.
I looked to my right, and saw Sar’vana as I remembered her, a small, skinny Felyan girl whose tail whipped from side to side constantly with insatiable interest. Everything on my world was new and fascinating to her, and yet the more I explained in our days together, the more depressed she became. It was here where she told me why.
“I miss my home,” Sar’vana had said, her little feet dangling off the edge of the railing. It was close enough to the skylight so that there was no danger of falling, but I was still nervous.
“Your feet are gonna get stuck,” I said.
She made a tiny hiss at me, which was the same as someone sticking her tongue out at you. I shrugged at this, no longer intimidated by the sound as I ate the raisins from the bag of mixed fruit my parents had given me. I had offered Sar’vana some earlier, but she didn’t like the taste.
“So why do you miss your home, Vani?” I asked. “Is it because of your mom?”
Sar’vana shook her head. I’d learned awhile back that her mother had died on An’re’hara, when she was still very young. She had been very weak for a Felyan, and did not live much longer than three years beyond Sar’vana’s birth, but those had been happy days for her. Her father left the homeworld after her mother’s death, possibly to avoid the pain.
“It’s just that this planet isn’t like my home at all. It’s rocky; it’s dry; dust gets in my fur; the people don’t like us … and it’s boring.”
“I’m not boring!” I protested. “And didn’t I bring you to Blue Point just yesterday?”
“Yeah, but it’s nothing like home,” Sar’vana said wistfully. I sat there, unsure of how to cheer her up, but then her expression suddenly brightened on its own. She slipped away from the edge of the railing, and scooted over close to me. “You know, you’re right. You’re not boring at all, Jules. You make it fun.”
“So you see?” I said, grinning broadly, despite my slight discomfort at having a girl so close to me. “It’s not that boring here!
“No, I said you make it fun,” Sar’vana corrected. “Without you, I think I’d get bored to death!”
“Nah!” I said, waving dismissively.
“You wanna know why you’re fun?” Sar’vana asked, drawling out the word “why” with a curious grin.
“Why?”
She took me completely off-guard as she pounced, and began to tickle my sides mercilessly. She had learned of that human reaction quite by accident when her tail had swept across a very ticklish part of my stomach, and had quickly made a game of it at my expense. Thankfully, I had no raisins in my mouth as she assaulted my sides; I think that this memory would have had a much more negative end if I’d had. She tickled me until I screamed “uncle” three times for good measure. After I’d recovered from my conniption fit and subsequent consternation, she leaned forward, and nuzzled my cheek.
“You’re my friend, aren’t you?” She whispered.
I could never stay angry when I looked into her large violet eyes. They were more disarming to me th
an any words. “Yeah,” I said at length. I tried a show of nonchalance, but she and I both knew that my words had been genuine.
So it was at this place, where Sar’vana and I truly became friends.
My vision suddenly went dark, with the pressure of velvet-textured palms and a familiar, powdery scent that wafted into my nose.
“Guess who found you?” Sar’vana said, whispering.
“Guess who figured you’d find me?” I said.
“I didn’t surprise you at all?” Sar’vana sounded disappointed as her hands fell away from my eyes.
“Maybe just a little,” I said in concession. “I’m guessing you found out about the dust storm and figured the rest out?
“Of course,” Sar’vana said. “You weren’t home again, and so I went to the next logical place.”
“You must’ve been one step behind me,” I said. “I just got here.”
“Then I guess that makes me lucky.”
“It also makes me predictable,” I said, and Sar’vana laughed. She took me by the hand, and once again, I was both surprised and glad at how quickly it began to feel normal. “So what do you want to do today?”
“Well, there’s not much to do in New Valis this time of the year,” I said, “unless alcohol and sports on the tank are your cup of tea.”
Sar’vana wrinkled her tiny nose at this. “Obviously not,” I said, my voice shaking with laughter. “Well, then, there’s only one thing left to do.” I started towards the elevator.
“Blue Point?” Sar’vana asked excitedly.
I paused in my tracks, and eyed Sar’vana sideways, unable to avoid the wry grin that erupted from the side of my mouth. “You knew I’d suggest that, didn’t you?”
“I might’ve guessed it.” Sar’vana feigned an innocent shrug.
“Well, we ought to go there from now on, if we’re to not die of boredom,” I said, amused at the mischievous streak she’d cultivated. She could be that way when we were children, but she lacked subtlety then. Now, it seemed she’d honed her skills somewhat.
