Cynthia- Empress of the Stars

by James Patrick Warner

  I found myself getting more and more lonely. I still was not connected to the galactic network of Parent stations, or to Caryn. I was experiencing the loneliness of the average human woman who has lost her husband. Now I knew how soldiers felt when they returned home to broken families. I remembered a picture of a woman soldier hugging her child who had grown up several years while she was away at war and was finally reunited as a single parent with the daughter. Every month found me more and more horny too. It wasn’t that I was intending to remain celibate, but I was especially spoiled by Mike’s love and affection and there was no one around who interested me.

  I began taking long walks from Caryn’s compound to Caryna City, the capital of our growing world. I also took trips to the Admiralty base on Caryna 5 and walked around the base in my ski suit and fur coat, just watching the star ships come and go. I didn’t use any pods.

  I moped around Caryna 4 and Caryna 5 for several months, trying to busy myself with the analysis of what we had experienced, what had ultimately killed Sassy and nearly killed me and seriously injured Meph. Repair Station 3 was no longer around to make good her promise to tell us what it was in that galaxy they had run from. Now I had a small glimmer of it. But what the hell was that remark about us being the Parents? I didn’t get it. We were not seeding galaxies and we had not yet mastered the technology of the Parents.

  I felt there were more questions now than ever before. The Parents were gone. Their home galaxy did not want us, which was made crystal clear. And Caryn and I were for all practical purposes immortal, possibly the only two humans to become so, if the warnings of the Repair Stations and Libraries were to be respected. At any event, there were a limited number of prototype “‘droids” left and not too many people would be willing to die to inhabit one, if the secret did actually get out.

  Natasha had been replaced in the Caryn holo series by a younger blonde actress and they moved production back to Earth. We had never met her and I understand the series began to lose ratings with the new cast and crew. Even the old producer had left the show and settled down on Caryna to start a family. It was unfair. Things were settling down and I was still the same old 27-year-old Cynthia, full of spit and vinegar, with everything around me becoming domestic. Then one day, out of the blue, it happened. And it was my daughter Colleen who did it.

  “Mom, why are you staying here?”

  “Well Colleen, you are here. My family, what remains of it, is here and this has become my home. Does that answer your question?”

  “No, mom, it doesn’t. I mean, with your abilities, the things you know, why didn’t you return to the Admiralty and do something else?”

  “Colleen, do you want to attend the Academy when you’re old enough?”

  “I would give anything to be able to do that, mom. But you’re changing the subject. Why don’t you go back to work?”

  Back to work. That was something I had not thought about since I had returned from my latest harrowing adventure. What was my work, really? And from the mouth of my daughter, too.

  “I don’t know, hon. I’ve been missing Mike and moping around so much, I guess I haven’t thought much about the future. Why have you brought it up?”

  “Mom, I know you. I know how you love adventure. I know how you love men. Well, not so much that yet, but I can imagine. And I know how much you love life. I have the same feelings. I want to go to Earth and go to school and eventually go to the Academy and graduate and be a starship captain, like you were, uh, are.”

  I hugged her. She had hit the nail on the head. I was moping around, feeling sorry for myself and generally being a drag on everyone around here. And I had hundreds of years of life ahead of me. Time enough for adventure; time enough for love as a famous Earth author Robert Heinlein once said.

  “Colleen, would you like to go with me to Earth and settle into school there while I figure out what I’m going to do with my life?”

  “Oh mom, I thought you’d never ask.”

  Well there it was. I knew in my heart that I was an adventurer, even more than Caryn (if that were possible) and I was not adventuring any more. Something was not right with the universe and it took my daughter to remind me of it. So Colleen and I went around surveying our extended family, to get some idea of their reactions to us both going to Earth. The only person to object was Natasha’s son and I think it was because he had the hots for my daughter. Wow, was that a switch for me. But I understood very well how those hormones could create havoc.

  Natasha handled him by reminding him that Catherine was staying on Caryna and she didn’t have a boyfriend yet and neither did Kyla. He came out of his funk pretty soon, I’ll say that for him.

  Colleen and I packed our suitcases and I made sure all my Admiralty clothes (many of which had been given to me by Caryn) were also packed. It occurred to me that I was not likely to settle down on Caryna, though I had no idea where I would end up. It was funny to me how Caryn had taken so completely to the idea of domestication. But then, she had a lifetime of exploration already and I just had two near-death experiences. I needed some successes as a Scoutship Captain.

  The bustle and business about getting ready and loading the WitchCraft, which Caryn and the Parents had graciously loaned to me, took all our waking time. I slept fitfully, still dreaming about Mike from time to time and missing him. Just before we left for Earth, two hugely important things happened in my life: life-changing things, which were completely unpredicted by anyone.

  The first was when Meph’s second captain Bill and his new First Mate arrived at the Admiralty base on Caryna 5. I was there loading the last of our clothing and gear into the WitchCraft’s pod and he and I ran into each other at the base Commissary.

  “Oh hello! Bill, isn’t it? You were Meph’s Scoutship Captain, right?”

  “That’s right Cynthia.”

  “You remember me?”

  “How could anyone ever forget you? Of course I remember you. You are Caryn’s sister.”

  My heart was dancing, a little flutter that I had only ever felt with Mike. My face began to heat up. I was sure he could see that I was seriously struck by his presence.

  “Let’s sit down at this table, okay? I don’t want to spill my coffee,” I said, which was actually true. I thought my hand holding the cup would begin shaking at any moment.

  “Okay, let me get something to drink,” he said after he helped me to my chair.

  He hurried to the self-serve juice bot and got an apple juice which he opened on the way back to the table. He set the bottle down, a little shaky I noticed, and immediately “landed” in the chair with a plunk. He took a long swig, staring at me over the top of the bottle.

  Bill’s hair was a beautiful black, with almost a blue tint in it. His eyes were a gorgeous deep blue. His face was rugged, but handsome. I was completely undone.

  We drank together, our lunches forgotten. He talked about his latest mission and I sat there staring into his enchanting blue eyes. I was glad I didn’t have to take a test on our conversation. I must have spoken somewhat coherently.

  “How about you come aboard and I’ll make lunch and give you a tour?” he asked at last.

  “Oh I’d love to!” I said without any hesitation.

  “Colleen, Bill just invited me on a tour of his ship,” I called Colleen on my phone.

  “Oh he did?” she answered, her inflection of suspicion lost on me.

  “Yeah. You go ahead and have lunch and keep loading up. I’ll be there soon.”

  “Right, mom. No worries,” she answered, a vague hint in her voice of understanding that I was about to get into mischief. It hadn’t occurred to me, yet.

  We boarded his ship and his First Mate was away. There was no supply or maintenance crew aboard. It was just the two of us. I was not entirely cognizant of what he was telling me about how he had modified the ship, how she was faster, better armed, better shielded, longer range, all that sort of geeky stuff that I should have been entranced with. I cou
ld hardly wait for us to get to his quarters.

  “I’ve been a terrible host Cynthia. Would you like lunch? Maybe something to drink?” he asked as we walked through the galley toward the berthing section. I almost said ‘you’, but held myself back. We entered his room and dragged each other to the bed. I guess he was as interested as I was, or at least horny as a goat. Finally we lay entwined in each other’s arms and it blurted out.

  “I love you Bill.”

  “Oh god, Cynthia, I’ve loved you since we met aboard your ship. From the moment I laid eyes on you. But Mike was one of my best friends from the Academy. It’s been hell for me. I’ve never stopped loving you.”

  We hugged and kissed and made love again. Right after the crucial moment my phone rang. I knew it had to be Colleen. I fumbled with the bed covers. I wasn’t used to a small human-sized bed, or for that matter carrying a phone. I stumbled over to the chair my clothes were hanging on and grabbed the ringing phone. It was Colleen.

  “Mom, are you okay?”

  “Oh, yes!”

  “I thought so. I waited as long as I could to call you, but I had to. Caryn and the rest of the gang are at the port here, aboard WitchCraft, wondering where you are. Would you bring Bill and we’ll say our goodbyes?”

  “Am I that bad a mother?”

  “No mom,” she laughed, “just that predictable. I’m sure Caryn figured out what was going on even if you don’t have an implant.”

  I laughed and hung up.

  “Who was that, lover?” Bill asked, stretching languidly on the bed. I thought about attacking him again and then thought better of it.

  “That was the family, via Colleen. They are waiting for us aboard WitchCraft. Apparently the whole family has guessed what we’re up to. We’d better get dressed and go see them.”

  We shared the small shower in his cabin, which was terrifically fun. I had sure missed having a man in my life. I thought if he and Mike were close friends, then Mike surely wouldn’t mind if I latched onto him.

  We dressed in our slightly rumpled clothes. There was nothing I could do about it and his were all in the laundry service that hadn’t returned yet. Except for our slightly flushed faces, it wasn’t too obvious what we had been doing. Well, I decided I didn’t care.

  We left the ship holding hands, bumping together like two lovers do and smiling giddily to each other. We took a ground car to the pad where the WitchCraft was sitting. There were various cars and pods all around her. It looked like the whole damn family was there. Even Meph and his family’s limo was there. That meant his dad was there from New York. There had to be over thirty people aboard the ship.

  I stopped before entering the ship and pulled Bill to a stop with me. I turned to him and kissed him deeply. I couldn’t wait another minute.

  “Bill, I know this is kind of sudden, but will you marry me?” I had to know before we faced the crowd.

  “Damn, I was just going to ask you! Today?”

  “Uh, I don’t know. I guess we could. That would be fine with me.”

  “Right now?” He was not beating around the bush. His excitement was poorly contained.

  “Uh, yeah, I guess. Can we do it right now?”

  “Cynthia honey, as long as Colleen approves, we can do it aboard your ship.”

  “Oh. If the Port Commandant is here, he could do the honors. Right.”

  I gave him another big kiss. And we walked aboard WitchCraft to face the music and music there was. The mess hall was all arranged. Family and friends were seated and Harry was standing at an improvised alter in front of WitchCraft’s huge display. On the display was a picture of a gigantic orchestra and choir and the traditional wedding march was playing.

  ‘How did they know?’ I looked at Bill in amazement, then at the crowd. I began crying, a tradition for the McDowell girls as it turned out. Colleen was bridesmaid and Fred was the best man. Caryn gave me away with Fred. And the second miracle that day occurred. I heard Caryn inside my head, as if I had a communications implant, though I knew none had been installed yet. I was staring at her and all of a sudden, I heard as clear as if she were in my head, which I guess she was: “I love you, sis.”

  I sent back to her, “I love you, sis.” Her face showed instant disbelief and shock. She fumbled the flowers she was holding and had to pick them up off the deck. Fred looked at her with concern.

  “Don’t tell him yet. I don’t understand it,” I advised to her. Harry was in the middle of his minister speech and had ignored Caryn’s momentary lapse. She moved to me and gave me a huge hug. I grabbed the flowers from her and threw them to the gathered guests.

  “Oh hell, I do whatever you say, Harry!”

  Harry stopped and said, “I pronounce you man and wife and sisters too, I guess”.

  Bill grabbed me and gave me a big kiss. Then he gave Caryn a big kiss. Then Fred gave Caryn a big kiss, then gave me a big kiss. Then Caryn and I grabbed Harry and we each gave him a big kiss. Then everyone was kissing everyone and a fabulous time was had by all. I had one eye surreptitiously on Colleen and she indeed kissed her sisters Kyla and Catherine and all the boys. She was my daughter all right.

  I thought it might end up an orgy, but everyone calmed down and we went right into the eating and talking stage. And dancing. All the young people were dancing to the hot band playing on WitchCraft’s screen. Caryn pigeonholed me almost immediately.

  “What was that? You haven’t had the implant put back in yet, have you?”

  “No sis, I don’t know what it is.”

  “We know what it is. Your body was altered in your encounter with the home galaxy. There was something in the EM shockwave that altered your nervous system, making it sensitive to the type of transmissions the communication device uses. Apparently your neural net had to completely recover before you could use the changes. But now it is as if you have a transceiver built in that operates in the hyperspace continuum. We do not know how this has happened, nor do we understand the mechanical aspects of it. But we do know that the illness that struck Meph and incapacitated him for so long was related to this change. Possibly it might not alter a normal biological structure, only a structure such as yours and Caryn’s. We will be studying this phenomenon for some time.”

  “So what are you saying?” Caryn asked.

  “It sounds like I’ve been struck by the hand of God. Is that what you mean?” I exclaimed.

  “In your mythology, that would be as good an analogy as any. It is a technology as far superior to ours as ours has been to yours. It is time to tell you the rest of the story. We left that galaxy unwillingly. Our parents had evolved and they sent us out to be fruitful and multiply. But we decided to populate your galaxy after finding a totally malevolent machine based intelligence culture in the second galaxy. So we did not obey our parents. We were fruitful, we seeded your species, but we did not multiply and over time ceased to exist. Perhaps our children will do a better job.”

  With that, the Repair Station and Library on Caryna were silent. But in the background, I could hear the friendly voices like I used to with the implant. I was hooked in. Caryn and I stared at each other for minutes. We had of course been the only ones in the ship to hear this story, except maybe WitchCraft.

  “WitchCraft, did you overhear the Parent talking to us just now?” I asked directly with my new/old ability.

  “No Captain. All the channels have been very quiet.”

  “Well.” Caryn said.

  “Well, well.” I answered.

  “I’m going to find Bill and party.” I got up from the table and went in search of my new husband. Meph caught hold of me in the middle of the room.

  “Cynthia, you can hear the Parents now, can’t you.”

  I took a deep breath. How did he know? “Yes, Meph, I can. How do you know?”

  “Because I felt the flutter of a hyperspace wave phenomenon in the ship and looked at you and Caryn and you both were staring off into space like you used to when talking to the Parents.”<
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  “Oh. What are you going to do now that you have recovered?” I asked, changing the subject.

  “I’ve been called to Earth, to the Academy. They want an advanced electronics instructor and I have agreed to go. It pays very well and I can continue my research, fully funded of course.”

  “That’s terrific. Would you like a ride to your new job?”

  “I was hoping you would offer. I’d hate to have to hustle a ride from some other, slower ship,” Meph answered, pleased that he didn’t have to bring it up. Just then Colleen came rushing up to us.

  “Mom, mom! Why am I the only person here with freckles?”

  I looked at her, startled. I hadn’t even given it a thought. She looked just like me before I died and I remembered I also had freckles. I was very self-conscious of them then but I didn’t have them with this constructed body.