by Ma West
Now that he was there, the need for a healer didn’t seem so urgent. Her fury came in like waves upon the shore. Something about this man evoked such emotion from her. She couldn’t explain it but just hated it.
“Baroness, is that you? How did you escape?” No Tip asked her.
“Escape what?” she asked through tears.
“Never mind, help me out of these restraints. How did you do it?”
Without words, she came in close and pressed against him. He pulled back on his injured-nipple side but otherwise stood anxiously still. Her arms touched his bare skin as she held his waist in place and tilted her head for him to kiss her. Their lips embraced, their skin touched, and her body warmed deep inside. Something touched her leg, and she jerked back. Her face flushed, for while she still had her panties and top on, he did not.
For all her professional experience, she couldn’t stifle a little giggle. She felt like a virgin schoolgirl. She helped him out of his leg and shoulder restraints, and now kept a greater distance. He still seemed to have more visual filters on, and she wasn’t about to help him there, as it had been a week or so since she last shaved her legs. Then she helped him take off the ear gels.
He said, “Thanks, now tell me, what do you know? How big is the ship? How many guards, prisoners? Are you ok? What happened?”
“What are you talking about? My god, we almost died. My god, you almost killed us!” This time, she punched his arm. Then she thought about who “us” meant, and it made her nervous and anxious again.
“Stop that. Now let’s find a way out of here. And I might add, if you are so fine, how do you explain that scar on your leg? It runs pretty high.”
She hadn’t even noticed that he touched her leg, and the worry about her unshaven status returned. Between that and the new scar, she had never felt less attractive.
“What do you think, are we on a spaceship in space, on land, or in an alien world, or in an alien building on Earth?”
“My god, what happened to my leg?” It felt fully functional and normal, despite the long scar running down the entirety of her right leg and down the thigh of her left. She ran her fingers up and down along the scar. For several long seconds, she stayed motionless, staring into space. Thoughts of everything that had happened to her over the past few, well, what felt like hours came gushing out in large, uncontrollable waves of tears.
He stood there dumbfounded for a moment before closing in and hugging her gently. She struggled to hold back the tears, but the harder she tried, the more she failed and the worse she felt. She promised herself she could be strong, that she would never lose control again. Yet here she stood in the arms of a strange man, sobbing as thoughts of life overpowered her.
It took a while before she regained her composure and looked up at him. “Is this all really happening? Can we go back to yesterday? I like yesterday so much more.” She blinked the remaining tears from her eyes and gazed at his face.
Finally, he replied. “Yesterday was fine, and today is interesting, but I live only to avoid tomorrow.” He paused. Whether he was giving her time to think about it or didn’t know what to say next, she couldn’t tell. “For now, I think we should scout around, use this new mobility to get some bearings. Whatever happened, or is happening, we can’t affect it right now, so let’s move forward.”
It took a few breaths for the words to come out, but she felt relief after their departure. “I need a healer.” He looked her over thoroughly, leaning in close to examine her backside as well.
“Looks good to me. Of course, there is one more place to look, and I just happen to have the proper tool.” His face twisted in an awful attempt to look seductive, a look made all the more unattainable by the alien device still covering his eyes.
She couldn’t contain her look of revolt as he spoke. “Never speak to me like that again.” Her voice was sharp and commanding, filled will a forcefulness of will, and his face reflected understanding and reverted to that of a guilty puppy getting caught red-handed. She took a deep breath. “Now, I agree with your choice of action, but not purpose. We will scout the area, but our intention is to find and interact with a healer.” She nodded her head and began to turn.
“Uggh. Baroness, if it is of so much importance, I will assist you.” He bowed a sarcastic bow. “If I may have permission.” He moved his arms back toward the wall.
She debated about responding with anger but knew from past employee encounters that it was better to let heat-of-the-moment comments pass. So she chose the least confrontational response. “You may.”
He raised his arms up, approached the wall, and pressed against it. The cube lighting turned yellow, and an audible ding sounded. He walked back to her position. “You’re welcome.”
Chapter 9
Intro the Doctors
The gel-like patches around his eyes still heavily filtered what No Tip was seeing, especially in terms of the other life-forms. A dark, heavy blob—no, it was two dark, heavy blobs connected thinly together at the top—approached swiftly. They seemed to hover more than walk, yet there was still a gentle swaying that indicated moving extremities. The attachment at the top separated into several independent fraying tentacles. They would often connect with the partner’s tentacles for a short time and then disconnect, pull back, and find a new partner.
The baroness stood in place and waited for them. He leaned against the wall, looking as nonchalant as possible but also observing as much as possible. The now-distinctly two blobs zipped past the baroness and came to him. Several of the tentacles reached out and placed sticky pads on his skin. He tried to brush them off, but the two insisted, using spare limbs to subdue him. After all the pads had been attached, a transparent display appeared, with an outline of his body, his vitals, alien writing, and various charts and graphs he couldn’t understand.
A translation stone was placed in his hands, and a voice came across. “How are you feeling?”
He responded with his own questions, finding these stones quite easy to use, very intuitive. “Where are we? Are we in a ship? Are we still on Earth?”
The stone was pulled away, and several bursts of various perfumes erupted in an allergenic nightmare of smells too intense and foreign for his nose to process. Like adjusting to an unpleasant order, he got over this new experience too. The tone of the conversation seemed to change as each smell seeped in, until the brain had time to counterfilter.
After the smells subsided, the stone was returned to his hand. “Please, sir, we are very busy. Please only use the installed summon devices for medical emergencies.”
“My apologies,” he replied in thought, “but it is my partner there who wanted you summoned.” He walked next to the baroness, who had turned but stood with her hands on her hips. The tentacles reached out once again, covering their new patient with their sensors until the screen came up. He still held on to the translation stone and lifted it up.
One of the doctors reached out to touch the stone. “It says that there are only two types of humans. Are you sure of that?”
The baroness whirled around, grasped the stone, and tugged it out from his control. Her face hardened. “You mind?”
He smiled. “No, I don’t mind.”
She hit him on the arm, forcibly turned him, and gently kicked him in the ass.
Now that she had the stone and some privacy, maybe she could get some answers. She took a deep breath and held out the stone. “Am I pregnant?”
She received a question in reply. “Are there only two types of humans?”
“Why do I keep getting asked that? What’s wrong? Am I pregnant?” A tear spilled from her tightly clenched face.
The two beings, their exact appearance still shrouded in haze, cycled through several charts, graphs, and images. Random smells enveloped the area from time to time as the information being displayed and evaluated changed. At last, after a very sour smell had come and gone, she received a message through the stone. “Yes, yes you are pregnant. Howeve
r, alien biology isn’t our area of expertise.” A chart now appeared on the display. Several tentacles moved and swiped the listed items around in a manner that was incomprehensible to her. “We have scheduled you for a visit with Dr. Fengie. Now please stay in your assigned cubical.” A new display appeared, one that looked like a map. She tried to understand and memorize it, but it proved too difficult. A light in the cubical next to his lit up. “We have reassigned you to this location so you may be together until the doctor calls for you.” The two blobs then rejoined tentacles and departed as quickly as they had come.
No Tip had returned to his wall and was leaning sloppily against it with his arms crossed. Something about his mannerisms, the way he did things, was so teenager-ish and yet so enchanting. She tried to picture him as a father, but the only image that came to her mind was that of him smoking weed with a teenage son and his friends. She could see him telling wild stories, encouraging terrible behaviors, and being a real pain-in-the-ass husband.
Shit, she thought to herself. The look on his face showed that she had been caught thinking about him, and that made her very upset. She approached him and focused all of her energy, all of her passion, on him. He was the cause of all this. She raised her hand and prepared to lash out and attack him. Her blood started to boil, and she felt sweat forming across her body. She neared him now, but he took no defensive action.
She raised her arm high and brought it down hard on his chest, followed by a blow from the side of her head. There she kept it, with her arms now wrapped around him, holding and squeezing him until the tears came. Her mighty tears soaked his chest. He was the most infuriating man she had ever met. He gave her such power with all that anger, yet in his presence, she had never been weaker.
It was an hour or more before anything happened, and compared to the events of the past few days, they were a slog of dead time and doldrums. They sat leaning against the wall in the adjoining corners. While they were not constrained into the cells, a visual red hue would blink across their vision, with an arrow pointing back toward the cell if they left. Outside the cell was also little activity. No other cells nearby were in use, and only sporadically would a blob moving with a destination pass by.
It was a striking contrast in the baroness. Formally, she was so strong, commanding, and secure. However, now that she had relaxed, she came across so much more like—he hated to think it—a woman. She was flighty, multitasking, given unto fear-driven trains of thought, and unpredictable—a true woman.
Whatever the doctors had said to her certainly made her relax some. He had tried to get a glance at something useful but had come up dry. The baroness’s conversation certainly didn’t seem too revealing, but then again, he wasn’t privy to its content. At one point, he tried to talk her into going exploring around the ship, but she would have none of it.
The baroness’s conversations were full of questions, but he quickly learned that she wasn’t necessarily soliciting answers, and after a brief pause, she would either answer the question herself or move on to the next topic. Occasionally, she would tell a story or interject some life lesson into her trains of thought. Once “weary” started approaching “annoying,” he lay his head down on her shoulder and closed his eyes. Half expecting a slap to the face, he was greeted with silence and a gentle hand against his cheek. She helped him use her lap as a pillow and rubbed his back. Whatever annoyance had built up was soon washed away, and he melted to sleep right there.
It was quite the contrast in him too. When he was “on,” he was so confident, secure, and manly. Now, as the baroness looked down at him while he lay in her lap, he looked so innocent, weak, and needy. This was someone who needed her looking after him. She felt closer to him now than she had felt to anybody in her entire life. She pushed the fear into adrenaline and felt her heart flutter at the realization of her feelings for him. He was such a terrible talker. His conversation skills were lacking, to say the least. Did he, she wondered to herself, return her feelings?
A tone dinged, and an alien neared the cell. This alien had a different configuration—tall, skinny, and lanky. It stood very tall, nearly touching the ceiling as it lumbered forward.
No Tip jumped to his feet and took a protective stance in front of her. His paranoia was also something she would have to improve on. She touched his shoulder and pushed him off to the side. The alien held out his hand, and a transparent display appeared. The display contained a picture of an alien. It was the first unfiltered image of an alien either of them had seen. The creature was barrel shaped, with numerous long tentacles extending from the top of the barrel shape and dozens of thicker tentacles protruding out from the bottom. The alien’s skin was an orange-red leather-like substance. The words and information were still unintelligible, but the graphs showed a very high percent—neither of them was certain what it was a percentage of. After a few minutes, the display disappeared, and the creature turned ninety degrees.
“Where are you taking her?” He used a commanding voice.
“It’s time for my appointment. Would you just relax?” She brushed her hand against his neck and then walked out of the cell. The alien proceeded immediately as she exited the cell. It led her across a great hall of cells, nearly twenty or more, she thought to herself. Most were empty, but some held what she thought were animals. At last, they entered a hallway. The tall alien approached a barrel-shaped blob form and handed something over as well. The alien turned ninety degrees again and stayed motionless.
The blob who had taken control of the item was now moving down the hall until it noticed that she had not followed. The barrel shape returned, and she felt a tentacle grab her by the hand. She was led down a hall and into a room where the alien from the picture display now stood. A translation stone was placed into her hand, and the blob forms exchanged tentacles for several seconds before the one stepped aside.
It was hard to tell if the constant tentacle motion was controlled like breathing or more like a cat’s tail, possessing freedom till called upon. Several large pieces of equipment were scattered about the room. A large rectangular pillar rose out of the middle of the room. Several displays flickered and transmitted their foreign knowledge.
“Please, please come in, come in.” The voice was audible despite a lack of physical contact with the translation stone. The baroness cautiously moved forward. She felt safe, but unfamiliarity and stress kept her wits at bay. “My my my, what a lovely specimen. You have the radiant glow of life in and about you. My name is Dr. Fergundimite Exquestobar—please call me Fergie. That beautiful female who brought you in here is my mate, Ferunditime Fresuestobar, or Fengie for short. Please do sit down on the examination table so we might have a better look at you.”
The visual filter had let her see the doctor clearly, but his mate was still nothing more than a blob. The baroness held up the stone and spoke verbally, even if a little nervously. “Where am I?”
The reply came loudly after a deep-hearted chuckle. “What an excellent question. Always, always be aware of your surroundings, a very good rule to follow, indeed. Now, please come sit down.” Several tentacles held the side of the table, clearly indicating where he would like her to go.
A new voice entered her mind. This one sounded distinctly female. “Once again my husband manages to say so little with so much. Please do sit down. This ship is the mother ship to the scout ship the two of you were so unsuccessfully trying to jump onto. Congratulations, my dear.”
As the baroness sat on the table, the displays jumped to new images. The image of her and No Tip jumping off her building and starting to fall cut off to display new graphs, and various pictures of her body.
Fengie’s voice came across.” I see you were able to remove the assist devices. Shall I assume that the legs are feeling well?” He came over and removed the last of the gel pads, and her vision cleared.
The baroness held up the stone. “Yes, my legs and body feel fine. I am here for a separate reason.” The last few words were har
d to spit out.
Fengie’s voice came again. “She hides her assertiveness behind a cloud of tepidness.”
Fergie responded with a deep laugh. “Yes, yes I am very interested in observing social interactions, but please, my dear, let us meet our quota before we dive into our own curiosities and projects.”
“Yes, dear, you are right, of course, and she is an expecting mother, I see. Tell me, are there only the two types of humans, male and female?”
The conversation and question made her nervous and scared, and she couldn’t hold back some tears as she raised the stone and spoke. “Why does everyone keep asking that? What’s wrong with my baby?” Hearing herself actually ask the question hit her hard. She had never imagined being a mother. “I, I, I can’t be pregnant, can I?”
A strange, moldy smell entered the room. Fengie’s voice replied. “I’m sorry, dear, the order of your questions confused us. Yes, you are indeed pregnant. As for the health, that’s what we are here to examine.”
Fergie spoke next. “Yes, yes, exciting business here.” Several tentacles manipulated the displays, zooming in on her abdomen. An image of several hundred cells clumping together appeared on the monitor closest to the doctors.
The baroness held up the stone again and spoke with a stutter. “Is that my baby?”
One of Fengie’s tentacles reached out and slowly lowered the stone. “Yes, my dear, isn’t it beautiful?”
Fergie commented next. “From the cell growth, I would say this child is roughly,” he trailed off as he entered data into one of the displays, “one and one-eighteenths planetary rotations old.”
The baroness’s hands rose to her face, and she both smiled and cried with a fierce intensity. One of Fengie’s tentacles grabbed the translation stone. “My dear, you were leaking your thoughts out all over the place. Please take your time, and communicate normally.” Fengie held on to the stone and stepped back. “Perhaps we need to educate you on proper usage of the translation stone before we go any further. Then, my dear, we can discuss some of the particulars as to exactly how you became pregnant.”