“He was talking about work---god I get to talk to him, he knows I’ve refused him what more do you want?” I ask, angrily.
“I want us to be free of him,” he says, “I want you to be free.”
“We don’t get to be free,” I say, shaking my head.
“Yes we do---Nicole why are you talking like this?” he asks, desperately.
“Because I care too much about you, to let anything happen to you,” I say, moving up to check another couple of ropes.
“Let anything happen to me---what does that even mean? Nothing is going to happen to me---if I were going to drop dead from loving you—well then I’m a ghost already,” he says, holding out his arms.
“That’s not what I mean---please Ziggy, if you love me, then do this for me. don’t ask for anything more,” I say, “Know I love you and want to be with you but for now---just now, I cannot.”
“You really still have feelings for him, don’t you?” he asks, he’s angry now.
“I never had feelings for him,” I lie.
“I can tell when you’re lying---god, how can you say you love me but still act the way you do about him---”
“It’s complicated; you can’t begin to understand---”
“No, it’s not, there’s him or there’s me, now why can’t you chose?” he asks.
“I chose you,” I say, immediately, “I’ve told you that.”
“Then tell the universe that,” he says.
“I can’t,” I say, feeling my eyes fill with tears.
He looks away, angry his face red, “Have you slept with him?”
“You don’t get to ask that,” I say, closing my eyes. the memories shouldn’t be as powerful and intoxicating but they are. His warm arms around my naked body, his sweet, thin lips on mine, the way his hands moved as he made love to me, playing on my ribs and back---always so gentle, his eyes, finally, finally human as they gazed into mine. “You do not---not, get to ask that.”
“Nicole I’m sorry---” his voice is sorry now.
“You can finish this,” I say, pulling my way over to the door.
“Come back I---”
I close the door on his sentence, locking it behind me he doesn’t have the code because whenever Titus is on the Ulysses he sets all of the codes he can manage on a rotating algorithm which he of course told me. It’s mean to leave him in there but Starr will be back in a few minutes and will let him out. Sighing, I press against the wall, taking a deep breath.
“Good afternoon, ma’am, how are we?” Jordan asks, kindly, coming up carrying for no apparent reason a stack of towels.
“We’re all right, thanks Jordan,” I say, smiling tightly. I like that kid. He’s sweet. A Project 10 like me, I’ve always felt maternally towards him, and he’s returned the affection.
“Illegitimi non carborundum,” he says, saluting me playfully.
“What’s that mean?” I ask, smiling a little.
“Latin: don’t let the bastards get you down,” he says, with a sigh, “If we could get tattoos that’s what I’d have.”
“You having a shit day as well?” I ask, sympathetically, smiling tightly.
“Yes, in fact, are all men independent of how smart they seem, actually complete idiots?” he asks.
“Yeah,” I say nodding, “Present company excepted, obviously.”
“Obviously,” He says, with a smile, “Well, I’d better get these to Commander Thorn.”
“Do I want to know why?” I ask.
“He said he might need them,” he says, shrugging.
“All right, carry on,” I say, “Oh, and if anyone is looking for me.”
“I’ve no idea where you are,” he assures me.
“You’re wonderful,” I call after him.
“I know,” he says, mock bowing and making me smile again.
“Hi, again,” I say, smiling and waving completely awkwardly as Jo’s parents step out of the lift. There is nobody in the lobby of the complex, except me and Lizzie. There’s a monitor on the wall but Lizzie turned that off with her brain, and she was playing on the sofa with her dolls while we waited. Jo and I had gotten her dolls, with limited success of her playing with them. She much prefers to do things with her telekinesis, but we wanted her to have hobbies that wouldn’t get us all shot.
“Is Charlene pregnant?” Jo’s mother asks, walking up slowly, clutching a purse protectively. Her husband walks a little bit behind her, clutching her protectively.
“Yes, actually, she is, that’s what I’ve come to tell you; she would’ve come herself but---” not the way I’d planned on the conversation going but okay.
“We won’t pay for an abortion,” her father says, flatly, “Not again.”
“What---no--,” I say, immediately. She had an abortion? Is that why she doesn’t want to go to a doctor? “We want the baby. Of course.”
“She’s gotten pregnant by other men and lost them,” her mother says, looking at me critically.
“I know she’s told me,” I say, my tone sharp now. she had told me, she had three miscarriages in the past, and she’d made it no secret early in our relationship that she was not interested in any sort of birth control, because she wanted to be a parent. Independent of whether I wanted to be involved or not. which I told her was stupid rocket ships couldn’t drag me away from her or our child. “And the risk of that is mostly past, it’s after the first trimester. The only reason J----Charlene didn’t come is because we didn’t think the train journey would be good for her. she’s quit work because the doctors said she didn’t need to be on her feet as much at this point in the pregnancy.” I make that up completely. Well, she did quit work but that was because we collectively agreed that since she’d had failed pregnancies and I didn’t have that good a track record as a sire, we should be as careful as we could, and bartending kept her on her feet long hours which isn’t good for blood flow and stress and other important things.
“Right, that’s good,” her mother says, nodding, “You’re working, then?”
“Yeah, I am, that and pension from Space Forces we’re doing fine,” I say.
“I didn’t think you people could have children,” her father says, staring at me.
“I was discharged, when you’re medically discharged they reverse the sterilization procedures,” I say, icily, annoyed that he’s questioning the paternity of my child and my manhood in general. Even though it is completely true I was sterile and in fact there was the great chance the reversal wouldn’t work.
“Is she feeling all right?” her mother asks, a bit worried.
“She threw up a bit at first, and was pretty tired, but she’s feeling better now,” I say, my voice softening. Maybe this woman does care about her daughter. “She’s excited.”
“What happened to her mother?” the mother asks, looking at Lizzie and framing the question as though she fully expected the answer to be ‘I killed her’.
“She died when I was born,” Lizzie spares me a lie, looking darkly at them, so much so that I fear she will start levitating them or things, just to shake things up. that’s why I’m not prepared for the next question:
“Are you going to stay with her?” Jo’s father asks.
“Yes, I thought I’d made it clear by coming out here---we want the baby---I’ve asked her to marry me,” I say, annoyed. Jo refused before on the grounds that A) I would find out her real name B) she didn’t want to be Mrs. Somebody C) it just wasn’t her she preferred living in sin. Now that she was pregnant and there was the prospect of school visits and things where it would be more complicated to not be legally married, she was yielding, but now she refused on the principle that she wasn’t going to be some pregnant bride waddling down the aisle. I’d said we had plenty of time to do it before she was obviously expecting and to waddling stage. How wrong I was.
“But she wouldn’t?” her father guesses.
“We’re waiting till after the baby’s born, just so she can feel good about how she looks and all
that,” I lie.
“She said she’d never get married,” her mother says, frowning a little.
“We’re focusing on getting ready for the baby now,” I say, shrugging a little, “That’s the most important thing, making sure both of them are healthy.”
“Yes of course,” her mother says.
“How will you be able to care for it?” her father is staring at my artificial legs. Of course, it’s a nice day I wore cargo shorts like I usually do it makes the things easier to get on and off.
“A damn sight better than my father considering he doesn’t know I exist,” I say, my voice growing hard. Because of course it’s true. I have to use a wheelchair at least half the time, I’ll never be able to get around quick enough once it starts walking, or if it starts crying from another room or if it hurts itself or gets stuck somewhere or drowns or something. Fathers are supposed to be strong and able to rescue their children and show them how to do things like walk for example, I can’t even do that without a twenty odd minute process to put legs on. let alone checking on in the middle of the night or kneeling by a bathtub.
“I’m sorry,” Jo’s mother begins, looking a bit sadly at me.
“So am I,” I say, “My child won’t ever have to say that. or wake up hungry or cold, or lonely. or think they’ve been forgotten or lost or they were a mistake. It will know, it’s the most precious beautiful wonderful thing in the universe ever to happen to two people. I promise you that.”
“Three people,” Lizzie says, I realize she’s been squeezing my hand this whole time.
“Three people,” I say, smiling down at her.
Chapter 16
200 years Later
Location: Gliza Planet
O n a small piece of the Great Gliza Planet where small and modest houses were built, It is surrounded by seawater, long green squares, fruit trees, there on the top of a large river overlooking the small town built a modest palace adorned the area and gave it a special charm. this modest palace has been built for centuries with simple equipment of strong stones painted in white while the ceilings were painted in beautiful azure.
The sky seemed to be painted red and the sun appears next to the moon at the same time, except that the sun was brighter than the moon, on the balcony of the palace stood a woman in the fourth decade of her age wearing a red dress with long sleeves and a necklace decorate her neck, and with the beauty of her dress, her brown hair was very much in line with her outward appearance.
she stared at the sea in front of her, pensive on the red color reflected on the sea, and with that view, her memory jumped to her mother’s tales about the earth planet, The color of the yellow sun and the brightness of the sea under the sun rays to appear in pure blue, she tired from waiting to see that view, and really wished that day would come when you would see the sunset and the sea on the planet where you were originally born. while the people in front of her stared at her as she stood on the balcony of her huge palace with all the splendor.
A few centuries ago with several decades Gliza which did not go through much compared to the earth, people came to it wrote on their hearts despair and sadness. the people of Gliza are still saddened by the memory of that fateful day, the day they left their original homeland, the planet Earth.
She sighed as she remembered what her mother had told her about this bitter day and said in a firm and strong tone: “On this day we are witnessing a painful memory and a bitter event, we lost our homeland, A few centuries ago, like this day, the tyrants of the earth sent us to here and if it were not for the intelligence of our forefathers and their strong knowledge of the scientific field, we would not be alive now. These tyrannical tyrants and selfish people wanted to live on the earth alone and did not accept our presence. despite our grandparents’ attempts to overcome them, when the devastating war broke out, they were stronger and because my grandfather did not accept to deny his people forever trampled on his dignity and pride and succumbed to their decision to expel us out of the planet with all selfishness. Not only that, but they killed my grandfather and our men before we were expelled. Only women would have survived.and some men managed to escape to reach the Planet Kepler and started a new life,
Evil will never prevail, and now or later we will triumph and return to our homeland with our dignity and expel them forever. Our ancestors built this planet for us and made it a viable place to live, but not everything they did for us will go so easily, we will return and take revenge for them and restore our homeland. we remember that day, but we never counted how many years we stayed here, but just to remember that we have a homeland we will return to and whatever we have been on this planet for many years and built in it what we have built, always be confident that it is not our home and it will not be. “
She gave her speech firmly and proudly, and the applause of the crowd rang out, chanting “Earth is ours and will remain for us”
One of the women was in the crowd listening to the Queen Victoria speech as soon as she moved away from the crowd until she heard someone call her name, “Joanna Wait”
She turned to the source of the sound, a woman in her fourth decade in a simple gray dress, Joanna wiped her tears, which wet her cheeks before her friend approached her.
“Joanna, why you leave without telling me?” Her friend asked her
“I just did not look around and I thought you left the palace,” Joanna said artificially as she tried to keep the tone of her natural and quiet voice.
“We have been friends for more than twenty years, do you think I will believe this lie and that fake smile, although I expose you every time but you do not stop hiding the truth of your feelings”
Joanna Staring away across the beautiful green squares, Listen to the rustling of trees and the sound of the river.
“you remember Elaine, right?” Her friend said plaintively, And once it’s finished, the noise of nature returned, announcing a new silence between them.
Joanna felt as if her friend had trampled on her wounded heart by asking her that question, and her hazel eyes were full of tears in an attempt to mute her crying.
Her friend Emma felt sorry for what she had said. Perhaps she would have preferred to shut up instead of reminding Joanna of her pain.
Emma patted on the shoulder of her friend to say trying to comfort her “ Do not worry dear, we will someday go back to Earth, and then all the girls will come back and meet your daughter Elaine, and things will return as they were, and we will live a quiet life in our homeland,”
Joanna smiled and tears were still flowing from her eyes and then she said, “Maybe I’ll die and will not go back, maybe I’ll still cry for her memory until the grief stops my heart”
Joanna looked at Emma and added “ Do you know what it means to break your heart every minute? is she suffering now, is she in a safe place, between humans or monsters?”
“Do not put those thoughts in your head, Queen Victoria has confirmed that no harm will affect those girls who are sent to the planet Kepler”
“Queen Victoria has confirmed a lot, but is her words are always right?” Joanna said then turned away leaving she is sure that Emma will never understand what she feels because she has not lost her daughter as many mothers do on the planet Gliza.
Emma watches her leaving without being able to do anything to her, maybe she was really right.
Queen Victoria has entered to her own business suite, It was a vast messy place full of equipment and machines, resulting from failed experiments, she walked toward a black box in medium-sized random gold lines in the middle of the room, she began to check it out, as usual, trying to open it but to no avail.
A young girl opened the door, she has beautiful features with brown hair, Her belly was swollen, making her move slowly. “Madam Victoria, what are you doing?” The girl said sarcastically.
Queen Victoria said angrily: “Jennifer, how many times do I have to tell you not open the door in that barbaric way?”
“Mom, I did not mean?
” Jennifer said smiling.
“How should I guide people and remind them that we have to get back home and my daughter does not help me?” Victoria said.
“What is the point of words if cannot translate into action, do not you feel tired as you think about the same thing every day, how many times have you tried, how many years and efforts have you made to prepare huge Spacecraft? And the most important question is how many young women from our people have you sent to Kepler to send you strong trained men in return?”
“I’ll try until the last breath in my life, you do not know anything about what we’ve been suffering for years before your birth, “ She said sharply.
Jennifer approached the box and messed with it Ignoring what her mother just said “ what will be in this box as well? Did Emperor Joseph, the ruler of planet Kepler, trick you to send charming women again?
“Do not touch it! “She said angrily, losing her patience and then add,” Has anyone tricked me before? This box was found on Earth and reached Joseph’s servant and he sent it to me in exchange for some women”
She put the box back in his place, she knows very well that her mother will never accept a joke about something related to the earth.
“mom, please stop trade women of our people to fall into the hands of the Kepler men who see women as mere machines without emotions or feelings, and all this and the result is nothing” she headed toward the door she knows that her mother will not change her mind,
But only a few seconds until she heard a strange voice turned to see the box radiated from its golden lines a strong light, and only seconds until it opened his corners to reveal what they had hidden for a long time.
Jennifer was quite surprised, but not surprised as her mother was a real shock to her, for many years she tries to open it but she couldn’t and no one could. the box contained an old book and a silver glass ball.
“Is that all?” Said Jennifer, wondering in surprise
“How did you open it?” Her mother said then looked at her with interest waiting for her answer, she tries all the way to open it But it didn’t and now with that simple opens up.
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