by Amalia Rey
16
Marv
Naomi did that hot and cold thing again, the one where she becomes completely despondent. I wonder what it means.
I have a lifetime to figure her out.
For now, I guess I can show her around.
“Those are asteroids,” I tell her, pointing to a row of three large rocks coasting through space to our left.
She sits forward and studies them. Her attention shifts to a moon in the distance. “And that? Is that a planet?”
I smile. “No. It’s one of the many moons of Jakari. The planet is a little further, but it’ll be on the right. When you see it, you’ll realize that moon is tiny.”
She seems captivated by the scenery, and I tell her about the different tribes as we fly. “There were twelve tribes,” I explain. “A long time ago, they split into different parts of the galaxy, where they could each grow in peace.”
“What about my people?”
“Your planet is home to the Samari.”
“Samari?” Her eyes were on me again. “I haven’t heard that word before. We call ourselves humans.”
“Earthlings, Samari,” I say. “Basically, your tribe didn’t want to deal with technology. They felt like it would destroy the galaxy, so they opted to go dark. They settled your planet without tech.”
“When?”
“Thousands of years ago. They landed in that large continent that your people call Africa.”
She nods, thinking it over. “But we have tech now.”
“Not really,” I tell her. “Watch this.” I touch a keypad and say, “Nari, show my mate the solar deck.”
A computer screen pops up in front of Naomi. “What is it?” she asks.
“Oh. Right. Nari, switch to her Samari language. Which one, Mate?”
“English.”
The Narulian symbols fade away and are replaced by a string of hard looking letters.
“You may search for any of the ancient wisdom.”
“But this just looks like the Internet,” she says.
I shrug. “You’ll see the difference. Let me help.”
Naomi still looks confused, so I talk to the narrator again. “Nari, show her the agriculture of Narul.”
Sea veggies pop up on the screen, along with dozens of other staple foods. Naomi placates me by touching the screen to learn more about sea veggies.
“Wait, how come I can understand you when you talk to me?” Naomi wants to know.
“I implanted a translation device behind your ear. It doesn’t work for written language, but it works to communicate between all the tribes.”
“So, we’re basically speaking to each other in two different languages?”
“Yes.”
“Is that why sometimes it sounds strange? Like it doesn’t translate right?”
I nod.
“Interesting.” She thumbs through the solar deck, studying the foods of my planet. I watch with great pride as she studies my homeland. She moves from food to history.
“When we get there, I’ll take you to meet the King.”
She seems interested. I think about the honor of bringing the first female home. And not just the first female, but the window to bringing all the other females.
I can’t wait.
“How much longer is it?” she finally asks.
“You see that purple star up ahead?” I ask, pointing to Narul.
“Yes.”
“That’s where we’re going. We should be there in another ten or so Earth minutes.”
17
Naomi
I’m not sure what I was expecting. I skimmed through Narulian history, studied the different plant life, and even read a news update about the Badlands. But when we enter Narul’s atmosphere, I suddenly feel terrified.
This is real.
This is beyond real. This is more than being transported into a space alien’s research station dorm room. This is me traveling to a world that has never seen a human. A planet that has no females.
What if they kill me?
Even worse, what if they kidnap me and force me to mate with someone else?
Marv is sorta starting to grow on me. Although, his admonitions of love are a bit premature. It’s been two days.
The bright orange and purple atmospheric gases give way and we see the planet beneath us. Like Marv said, it’s mostly aqueous. There’s a brilliant blue colored ocean, complete with rising and falling waves that flow beneath us.
Are there whales? Or other sea creatures? I should’ve read more.
At least the water seems right. There are small island land masses around the planet, with one large land mass in the middle.
“Where do you live?” I ask.
He points to the central mass of land. There are lakes and rivers surrounding the main city. As we approach, everything comes into clearer focus.
The trees are bushier, but similar. They have bluish green leaves on them, though. The grass has a purplish color.
Are we really this similar?
“Wait, they breathe oxygen, right?”
Marv laughs again. “We’re more alike then we’re different. All the tribes originated from one master family. Yours is just the recessive one, but other than that, you need the same air, water, and amount of food. Although, the food will be different.”
I nod. There isn’t much more I can do at this point. We’re here.
Marv talks into his radio comm device, announcing our arrival. “General Marv to Base. Incoming.”
General?
He did say that he had an important job at the space station.
“Looking for private landing. Need to speak with the King, of immediate importance.”
“Land in Zone 14.”
Marv understands where that is and takes us down. We land in a small patch of pinkish grass next to a large building.
“Let me do the talking,” Marv says as I stand. My legs feel like jelly.
Suddenly, my stomach lurches. Is this how I’ll feel after all space travel?
“I need to throw up,” I tell him.
He guides me to the bathroom on his ship, where I lose my breakfast. Once I’ve cleaned my mouth, I join him.
“Okay. I’m ready.”
“You’re okay?”
“First time entering a planet’s atmosphere. I guess I’ll get used to it?”
“That’s my female.”
“No, we say ‘That’s my girl.’”
“Mmm. As long as you’re mine, I’ll say whatever you want.”
Touché.
18
Marv
“King Hiro,” I say as we walk off the ship.
My King is waiting for us, just as I requested. He knows that I have something important to say and has chosen to give me audience.
“What is this?” the King asks, eyeing my mate. “How?”
Naomi is already adorning the traditional lavender skin of our people. She walks beside me, quiet as can be. I wonder what she’s thinking.
I decided to gather my belongings later, and I have my arm wrapped around her shoulder in a clear, possessive move. She is my mate. I only carry my rucksack.
Naomi glances up at me, her eyes filled with worry.
“The council met on the research ship. The V’aalarans have found a way to bring Samari females to us.”
The Samari had long been considered our only chance. The only tribe that still had females.
But they were out of reach, until now.
“She is Samari?” the King asks, his expression filled with wonder and curiosity. “But they’re so far away. How did you bring her here?”
“The V’aalarans developed an App to select females. They materialize here.” I reach into my rucksack that has been hanging over my shoulder. I pull out the ta
blet and show him. “This device will help us bring females. We can start with your sons.”
“My sons. That means I could have heirs.”
Naomi clutches my arm, fear obvious across her face.
“This is Naomi,” I say. “She is my mate. She will give me heirs, also.”
The King bows slightly in my direction. It is a small gesture, but it means that he is deeply appreciative.
He turns to the men beside him. “Summon the council. Bring my sons. Today, we shall change our destiny.”
To my mate, he smiles and says, “Welcome, Naomi. If you need anything, the Narulian people will provide it for you. You are now one of us.”
She glances at me nervously, then nods. “Thank you, King.”
Wow. She even knows how to address a King. A part of me had worried that she might say something outrageous.
She squeezes my arm again. Alright. She isn’t comfortable.
“I will show Naomi my quarters and then return to the meeting.”
“Very well. I will provide you with two guards to protect her until we have brought more females. The males on this planet have not seen a female in ages.”
“Can I just stay with you?” Naomi whispers.
“Actually, maybe we should do that. If you’re okay with it.”
“Well, I was drunk when I used the app, so I’m a bit curious.”
I chuckle. She has a point.
“Alright. King, she will stay by my side. She is a strong mate, indeed.”
“Indeed.”
19
Naomi
I’m holding Marv’s hand as we walk into an underground fortress. Narul is nothing like what I would have expected. Everything is bunkered and fortified.
I guess when he said Badlands, I wasn’t really paying attention.
Evidence of prior battles marked the landing pad above us. There were decaying buildings, and the hangar wasn’t nearly as state of the art as the space station.
But down here, below ground, Marv takes me by the hand into his secret kingdom.
The walls are made of the same smooth black sheet metal that I saw on the space station. There are small boxes along the wall with little computer panels. They are becoming easier to spot, now that I know what to look for.
Each small box has a surrounding indentation in the wall, and there’s a small red dot on it. I would have expected a purple dot.
Marv glances at me.
I shrug, trying to send him my best “I’m okay” vibe. Although, to be honest, I’m terrified.
When he was talking to the King, I sensed his fear. Even as he spoke with calm, clear words, he was afraid for me. Afraid for my safety.
I am the first female.
We walk behind the King, surrounded by his armed guard. They don’t look primitive at all; rather, they’re all adorned in thick black gear that looks like it is bulletproof, waterproof, and whatever other proof they might need up here.
There’s an elevator device, and it drops us deeper below Narul’s surface.
“Have you always lived below ground?” I ask, trying to make pleasant conversation. Marv squeezes my hand again, tight. I glance at him, and hear his words in my head, ‘Please let me do the talking. Trust me.’
He knows I can hear him. I nod.
Oops. He had told me that, on the ship.
“Only since the Fall of the Females,” the King responds, his eyes roving over me again.
Thankfully, I am fully clothed.
I still feel gross just from the way he looks at me. But Marv is right. Give them other females, and I’m not a commodity.
Living on his satellite thingie might not be such a bad idea.
We round the corner and enter a large conference room. There are a dozen dark purple men in there, and when I enter alongside Marv, they gasp in unison.
“A female?” one of them asks.
“Yes. And each of you shall have one of your own. Everyone have a seat,” Marv commands.
I hover next to him and watch as he commands his men.
With each precise word, it becomes clearer to me. Not only is he a General, but he is well respected. This is why I have not been kidnapped.
But one of his soldier men is leering at me, and I don’t like it at all.
20
Marv
My mate is hovering behind me, and for that, I am glad. These males have never known the sheer pleasure of mating, and they would kill for the opportunity.
Old customs have fallen to the wayside. They want what I have. So, I must give them their own mates.
“Males, let me explain the App to you. There is a device that Samarians use on Earth, called a cell phone,” I say. “They are all addicted to it and they use it for everything. The V’aalarans found a way to create an App for their device, one that looks like a regular dating App. We get to screen the females, and if one of them selects us and we select them back, they are instantly transported to us.”
“Can they leave?” Prince Yi asks.
I shake my head. “The device only brings them here. There is no path to return.”
“And they do not fight?”
“Not too much,” I say, wincing. I know that some of what I need to say will be hard for my mate to hear.
“And if they do?”
“Subdue them, if needed. But honestly, try to win them over. They are strong and need to be treated as such.”
“How did you win this one over?”
I glance at my mate. She looks annoyed.
“I’m still working on that.”
“But you mated, nonetheless. She agreed to be your mate?”
“Yes.”
Naomi’s fingernails dig into my arm. I forgot that she was holding onto me.
Ouch.
“Alright. Show us.”
I walk Prince Yi through the process of setting up his profile. He starts searching for a mate and finds one that he definitely likes. But she does not swipe up.
“You may wait. Or you may move on.”
“How long does it take?” Yi asks.
I glance at Naomi. She swiped fast. “How long, my Love?”
She clears her throat and stares at the Prince. “If she has not responded by now, you should move on. There are plenty of other Samari in the sea,” she says.
Interesting phrase. I’ll have to ask her about that later.
Yi swipes past a few more attractive females. He finally stops on another one. Rachel.
“Now what?”
“Wait a moment,” I command. He has already initiated the sequence that causes lights to flash at the top of her screen.
The screen begins to glow.
“She has accepted you.”
Everyone sits in complete silence, in awe that Prince Yi will have a Rachel soon.
“Now what happens?” my mate whispers from behind me.
“She will materialize in front of you. And then you will place a communication device behind her ear.” I fish into my pocket and take out a handful of them, which I drop onto the table. The males pass them around, each eager to have a comm device.
Naomi reaches up to her ear and starts touching the skin behind it. She finds the spot where I planted the device and sighs.
In front of Yi, a female form begins to take shape. She is tall, dark skinned, and has long hair in braids.
She starts screaming in her language, and even though we can all understand her, she can’t understand anyone.
“Naomi?”
“Oh.” Naomi takes a step forward. “Rachel?”
Rachel turns to glare at her, her eyes filled with fear. And hate. “What is this place? Why am I here?”
“This is the planet Narul. You have been summoned here to be Prince Yi’s mate.”
“I
agreed to no such thing!” the female shouts. Naomi sighs, a sad expression on her face.
“Yi, place the device.”
Yi glances at Naomi, who bows her head before speaking. “Rachel, I’m so sorry. Yi will place a device into the skin behind your ear. This will allow you to understand their language.”
“How do you understand me?”
“I’m from Earth.”
“And you let them take me?” Rachel demands. Her hands are immediately on her hips, anger snarling her lower lip.
Naomi cowers behind me. “I’m so sorry.”
Rachel folds her arms over her chest. “Fine. Place your damned device. I have something to say.”
Yi leans forward and inserts the device behind her ear. He waits for a moment as it connects, then tells Rachel, “I have never seen a more beautiful female in all my life.”
She stares at him, still fuming. “Take me home. Now.”
“This is a one-way trip, my Princess.”
“And each of these men is expecting to find a woman?” Rachel asks, staring directly at Naomi.
Naomi squeezes my hand even tighter, so much that I feel severe pain radiating up my arm.
“They have no women. I cannot stop them. I used the App, too.”
“The App?” Rachel says, then her mouth drops open. “Oh, my.”
Prince Yi’s younger brother, Fio, is already plugging his way through the App as well. He pauses over a female, Greta. “She looks kind,” he says to the group, oblivious to the conflict on Rachel’s face.
A few moments later, Greta appears in front of us, and the sequence repeats.
By the time each male in the room has selected a female, including the King, Naomi is in tears.
“They didn’t agree to this,” she whispers.
“We need them,” I tell her.
Rachel catches her eye, now having witnessed the same breakdown amongst a number of females. The same raw terror that she experienced was repeated a dozen times.
“Let me take you to my quarters.”
“But these women…”
“They will be treated like Queens.” I turn to face the males. “Remember, treat them like Queens. Each and every one of them.”