by Enid Titan
His tail swayed out behind him and landed on the ground with a thud as a wide grin lit up his face.
“My guest of honor is finally awake,” he announced.
After I’d done due diligence in taking him in, with all his gigantic glory, I noticed how alien the room I lay in truly was. A bluish-silver metal created the walls of the room, which were rounded and soft as opposed to the cold, austere environments of earth hospitals. Needless to say, the lab where he’d been experimented on was far more austere.
“Vidar,” I managed to croak, after remaining silent a little too long, “Where am I?”
“You’re still tired,” he replied gently, “Have some water first, then we’ll discuss it.”
He rushed to my side, placing a warm, comforting hand on the small of my back. Vidar offered me a drink and the water sent shockwaves of relief through me. I could hardly feel any aches or pains, except my head, which throbbed from the base of my neck all the way to the top of my skull. I winced as the cold water hit the roof of my mouth.
“Careful. You’re still a bit sensitive from the surgery.”
“Surgery!?”
I scanned my body quickly for any sign of scars or stitches, but there were none.
“Yes,” Vidar continued, careful to talk in that slow, gentle way of his, “I had to perform surgery on you from the injuries you sustained while captive.”
Tears welled in my eyes as the last few hours of my horrid stay in the government facility came rushing back
“They tortured me,” I whispered.
“Yes.”
“But… It’s what we did to you. Except what we did to you was worse. I participated in that. Vidar…I’m so sorry…”
His hand remained on the small of my back as he wrapped the other around me. My head nestled in a soft crook of his chest, just beneath a bulging pectoral muscle that I wouldn’t have been able to reach if I weren’t sat atop a hospital bed.
“Do not think of what happened in the past, little earthling. Only now.”
I hugged him back, inhaling his strong, masculine scent. He was right. I could only afford to think of now — right now. And what we had right now was a reunion. Wherever we were now, I’d been overwhelmed by a strong sense of safety. I wasn’t in danger here, I could feel it.
Vidar kissed my cheek.
“We need to take things slow now that you’re awake. I’m not used to your species’ organs and I don’t want there to be any complications.”
“Right. Will you allow me to get off this bed?”
“Of course,” Vidar whispered, tucking hair behind my ear, “You will never be my prison, Minnie.”
My heart fluttered as he used the shortened form of my name. Again, I felt so small and protected in his arms. I looked up at him pleadingly, pouting my lips so that my strong purple warrior would lean down and kiss me. He obliged. I pulled away shyly, still brimming with more questions to ask him.
“How did you get me out of there?”
“I found my way to Vermont by chance. After that, it took a few days longer than I expected. I could only move at night and I attracted a fair share of attention.”
I must’ve blanched because Vidar stroked the small of my back and kissed my forehead again.
“Don’t worry, little earthling, we are quite safe where we are now.”
“Your ship?”
“My ship and earth’s orbit. If you want, you can come into the cockpit with me and see that pretty blue planet of yours.”
“We’re in space?!”
I leapt off the bed and hastened towards the doors. Vidar chuckled.
“Slow down, will you? Last I checked, you don’t even know the way.”
“We’re in space, Vidar. You don’t know how long I’ve dreamed of this! If John were here…”
I grew silent for a moment. Vidar came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me from behind, his bulging forearm warming my neck and chest. This was protective too. I leaned into his forearm, tempted to give it a little kiss.
“You worry about John,” he said.
“Yes. Of course.”
“I admit to my own selfishness,” Vidar replied, “I rescued you but I never gave the chap a second thought.”
I turned to Vidar and took his large hand in mine.
“Promise me something?”
“Whatever you want.”
“Promise me we’ll go back for John. Right after we see Earth, we have to go back for him. I can’t leave him to whatever sick fate the soldiers have planned. I just can’t.
“I promise I’ll do everything in my power.”
I squeezed his hand and Vidar surprised me by pulling free and reaching for my waist.
“Vidar! What are you doing? Ahhh!”
He hoisted me off my feet and as I flailed, he gently set me on top of his shoulders. I sat there, legs straddling his neck as he carried me effortlessly.
“That way,” he explained, “You won’t over exert yourself.”
I squealed and kicked a little. Vidar was impervious to my awkward flailing as I got used to being perched up so high on his big, strong, shoulders.
“Is this what the world looks like to you,” I laughed.
“Yes, little earthling. I’m not even considered tall in my family.”
“Whoa!”
He must have been right. I couldn’t touch the ceiling even perched on his shoulders and as we exited through the sickbay doors, I was equally safe from hitting my head on the arch, or any of the ceilings in the halls of his ship.
The halls of Vidar’s ship were wide, spacious and lined with that blue metal.
“This is huge! Is this all yours?”
“It’s a government issued ship for proconsuls of the imperium. I’m the second proconsul in my planetary district.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I govern one of the large continents in our star system. The other proconsuls on my planet govern the Southern and Eastern continent respectively.”
“Wait. When you say govern a continent… that means you’re like a president or something?”
“Something like that, little earthling.”
“I can’t believe it,” I gushed, not wanting to sound totally naive all the time, but still reeling from Vidar’s news. He’d never mentioned that before. And he’d still never mentioned what precisely he was doing on earth.
“Don’t worry about that. Come. It’s time for you to enjoy your planet the way it was meant to be enjoyed.”
He took my hand and led me through the halls. I couldn’t have found my way back to sickbay if I tried. The route was complicated, and I kept getting distracted by different doors and labels in his alien language which looked like a mixture of Farsi and Klingon.
We finally came to a large door with a gilded arch entryway. Vidar pressed his palm to a screen at the side of the door and a computerized voice announced loudly, “Welcome to the cockpit, proconsul Vidar.”
“Hello. I’m bringing a guest into the viewing room.”
“Of course, proconsul Vidar,” the computer replied with the same soothing female voice.
While there was still an uncanny valley, Minerva couldn’t believe just how realistic the voice sounded compared to any of the human programmed computerized voices.
Vidar ushered her in and then pressed a button on the panel in front of him. The protective screen in front of them dematerialized and a curved view of planet Earth came into view. From their position, she could recognize Europe and Northern Africa.
There was no view quite like it. Minerva felt small right then, extremely small. She braced herself against the panels in front of her and whispered, “It’s beautiful…”
“This planet of yours is incredible.”
“Is it very different from Pollux?” I asked as Vidar positioned himself behind me, warm and strong.
Vidar let out a deep belly laugh.
“Of course it’s very different. Your sun is yellow and brig
ht, and hot.”
“I can’t believe I’m up here and John is down there. Vidar, we have to help him.”
“I know. I know you want to. To be honest, I did not even check to see if he was alive. I have no clue what DNA signature he might leave behind.”
“How did you get my DNA?” I asked him.
“I was covered in your hair. You shed.”
“I don’t!”
“Yes, you do.”
He kissed the top of my forehead. I leaned against him and he wrapped his arm around me.
“Before we rescue John, I want to tell you something,” he said, “But I’m not sure how you will respond.”
My heart pumped faster. I couldn’t tell what he planned on saying to me but I was nervous. Since our first encounter together, Vidar always through me off. I hadn’t expected to feel attraction to him, much less the rest of my emotional cocktail that had been surging even stronger since my rescue.
He was timid for a moment and then he sighed, apparently determined just to get what he was thinking off his chest.
“I believe I’m in love with you.”
“Do you mean that?”
I wanted to ask if he meant it the way I meant it, if love for a Polluxian was similar to love for an earthling.
“Of course I mean it.”
“Vidar… I think I love you too.”
Twelve
The Mission
Vidar
As I held her close in the cockpit of my aircraft, I sensed her feelings for me were real. Without my ocular implant, I sensed the exchange of energy between us and that by confessing aloud what we both knew to be true, we’d exposed our vulnerabilities and experienced the relief of shared emotions. We were safe here together.
She was still bothered, with elevated cortisol levels and a shuddering heartbeat. I understood without having to ask.
“You will not cease your worrying until you know John is safe,” I murmured, half telling her and half asking.
“I can’t help it, Vidar.”
“While you sleep tonight, I will find John and rescue him.”
“I’m coming with you,” she insisted.
I knew she would insist, and I was prepared to do everything in my power to keep her safe, no matter how she fought against her best interests.
“It’s far too dangerous for you to come to the surface.”
“You don’t know earth the way that I do. Plus, John’s probably injured. You can’t handle him alone.”
“Yes, I can. You must stay here, Minerva.”
“I refuse!”
“Oh?”
I raised an eyebrow.
“Yup. I refuse. And there’s nothing you can do about it.”
“Nothing?”
“Not a damn thing.”
I grabbed her waist and swooped her off the ground lifting her over my shoulders as she screamed.
“AHHHHHH! Vidar! You put me down right now!”
“I refuse,” I replied, smirking.
“I can practically see you smirking!” She shrieked.
“Vidar, put me down this instant! I swear when you put me down, you’ll have hell to pay!”
“Quiet, little earthling.”
“No! I will not be quiet! I protest! I refuse!”
I finally set her down inside her room. She ran for the door, but I sent a command from my ocular implant before she reached the door and a low-level forcefield sent her flying a few inches back.
“You aren’t going to trap me in here are you!?”
I quickly slipped past her before she could grab onto me and I walked through the forcefield. She raced at it again and once more, flew a few inches back.
“Vidar! I don’t know what you think you’re doing but this is not how you treat someone you love!”
“You’re adorable when you pout, you know that?”
“I’m serious!”
I sighed, running my hand through straight white hair. I had a feeling she would be difficult like this, but I knew just how to handle her. I’d been planning it in between studying her physiology and figuring out how to heal her.
“Fine. I’m sorry. But this is the only way I can be certain you’ll be safe. I’m going to be landing the ship, camouflaging and going to find John. I can’t have you getting into trouble.”
She folded her arms and glared.
“You could get hurt.”
“I could. But so could you.”
“I can handle myself.”
“I know that. But I can’t have anything happen to you again.”
I raised my hand, putting it a few centimeters away from the forcefield so I could feel the gentle hum of ions which repelled Minerva but were harmless to me. She put her hand up a few centimeters away, her expression softening.
“You have to be careful.”
“I will be careful. I also won’t be long. Trust me, Minerva. I do love you.”
“I love you too. So I think for once in my life, I can let go and trust you…”
“I’ll return soon, little earthling.”
I wanted to touch her one last time, but I couldn’t without her getting free or worse, worming her way into my head and convincing me to do the opposite of what was best for her. She might not have realized it then, but she’d appreciate me later for keeping her safe. Amongst her species, she was now a wanted person and before, they’d shown no mercy.
I returned to the cockpit, ignoring my guilt as I prepared for the rescue mission. I scanned likely areas on her continent’s surface for life signs. I had no data with which to distinguish John from every other male except for the fact that he was undergoing extreme torture and his life signs would likely be dwindling. Sorting through the noise of dwindling life signs on that planet, even after narrowing down for known military bases and likely tactical locations, showcased the fragility of life on the primitive planet.
This data would be useful too.
Eventually, I found an anomaly. It had to be John. I’d found a likely military base in New Mexico in the middle of the desert. Military carbon emissions, personnel numbers, and tactical significance matched perfectly. Then there was the faint human life sign. I recognized that the dying human might not be John, but given that this faint sign was the closest I’d come to finding him, I had to give it a chance.
I geared up, strapped with weapons, prepared to do anything possible to keep my existence on the planet out of the public sphere, and to save John Billings — for Minerva.
Thirteen
The Escape
Minnie Hsu
Vidar couldn’t have really believed that I’d stay locked up on his ship without at least trying to escape, right? I’d tried throwing myself into his forcefield about fifty times since he’d walked away. He must have been far enough away not to hear a sound because man, I was raising hell.
After the fiftieth sharp shock, I knew I had to change my strategy. If being noisy and attracting attention hadn’t even worked to draw Vidar from his work, he was either too determined, or he’d already left his ship.
I looked at the nearly invisible forcefield for a few minutes, staring hard until I realized that the forcefield wasn’t exactly invisible… It was like there was a thin sheet of glass separating me and the outside world. Some mixture of ions and electrons held this in place and if I could just find the right material, maybe I could disrupt it…
I stripped apart every corner of my room. I didn’t think Vidar put that much thought into how strong his forcefield should be since he hadn’t even planned on rescuing John. Or maybe he’d known I would insist. Half the time, I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. He always seemed to know what I was thinking and maybe he knew when it came to John.
Vidar had walked through the forcefield easily, but I hadn’t. Why? Of course, we were different species, but we were both mammals and we should have both been susceptible to the shock.
What had Vidar told me about his species…
I recalled some of the ex
periments and then what he’d mentioned about evolution. His species had evolved from ocean dwelling creatures, similar to whales on Earth.
Maybe I needed… more water.
The quarters Vidar had locked me in were near identical to a human arrangement with a bedroom and attached bathroom, typical for a studio apartment. He’d wanted me to be comfortable, hadn’t he? I rushed into the space-age bathroom with a large shower head and a huge deep tub that could easily fit two people as large as Vidar, possibly more. I turned the knob on in the shower and stripped naked.
I got wet — really wet — and then ran out of the shower at full speed toward the forcefield. I ran through, half-expecting to be stopped, which is why when I made it through the forcefield, I landed face first into the opposing wall.
“AHHH!” I shrieked as my legs slipped out from under me and I flailed like a rag doll in the breeze as my tail bone hit the ground with a loud exaggerated thud.
“UGHHHHH,” I groaned.
That hurt like hell. My butt, thighs and entire body ached. My face hurt too. I bet my cheeks were bright red. I lay there for a few moments partly humiliated and partly feeling sorry for myself before I hobbled up to my feet.
Great, one hour awake on Vidar’s ship and I was already scampering around stark naked. If he came back and found me like this, he’d probably laugh so hard and then never let me live it down. That’s if his lusty tentacles could stand the sight of me like this without wanting to take me in every one of my holes…
I raced down one wrong hallway, then another, then I got myself turned around and realized that I’d somehow climbed two decks up. Ugh! I was running around naked and now getting bone dry and very cold. My nipples must have been rock hard and standing on end as I ran around another thirty minutes before finally coming to the doors of the cockpit.
I cleared my through, preparing to give my best “commanding Polluxian” voice to open the doors.
“Computer,” I announced, “I need access to the cockpit.”
