by Alma Nilsson
“What do you know about this House Hil on the Fourth Planet?”
“Nothing.”
“And we are just allowing them to go? Poor Babette.”
“It’s good that we know nothing. And in the end, everyone is getting what they want.”
“How is that?”
“Babette and Mir are saved from being without a House and condemning their children to an even worse fate. Which is good for the Empire. The daughters of the god of peace can cause great misery.”
“And what does House Hil get in exchange?”
Ket looked at Dru and really wondered if she understood the Alliance culture at all sometimes, “They get a prestigious man, the god of peace, and a man in the military fleet as part of their House which will raise them up several standards. In addition, I suspect the Fourth Alliance Planet will now have their gossip columns sometimes featured on the Capital Planet.”
“And you think that’s a good thing?”
Ket shrugged, “It’s the way the Empire works. And from what I’ve seen of Babette, she is just mischievous and curious enough to keep us all interested in her day-to-day activities but not so outlandish she would cause any real scandals. So yes, I would say House Hil would be very pleased with this arrangement.”
“Shouldn’t we take them for these same benefits then?”
“Drusilla, no. We are true believers. If we offered this to Mir, he would decline because he knows we would be offering it to him and not because of Babette. I don’t know House Hil, I don’t know what Tir said, but an arrangement was made that was tricky in the delivery to bring this all together. I think you are purposely being obstinate thinking I will change my mind or my father will.”
“I’m not. I’m just asking questions.”
“You still are an awful liar. Look if you want to build a relationship with Mir, you can still do that by supporting this arrangement.”
“How can I do that? I’m marooned on this planet.”
“Who says you are? You are human.”
Dru smiled, “And Kara is my mother.”
“Who says you might not have separate missions for Kara? You’re still entitled to be an officer in the fleet just like the rest of the former Dakota crew.”
Dru smiled broadly at Ket, “I take it back, you can be good at scheming sometimes.”
“Sometimes?” Ket smiled. “Now, today is the 4th day. Lift up your dress, Wife.”
Mir returned to the Capital Planet and went directly to Babette. He walked into House Human and found her in her room. He embraced her so tightly and said, “I’m so sorry. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.”
Babette was worried then, “What do you mean?” she said into his uniform and ranking jewelry. “Aren’t I your other half?”
He kissed her then and said between kisses, “Yes, you are. You always are. Why do you doubt that?”
“I thought if you’re a god, you should know everything.”
“Babette, I will make mistakes just like any man. And I should have taken responsibility for our wedding night. I’m sorry.”
“I didn’t think about it either. It’s both of our faults.” She hugged him tightly then, “And you can’t use your magic to make this all go away to take us back in time? I wouldn’t mind getting married again.”
Mir smiled, “No, of course not. What’s the point of life if you can’t experience mistakes? That’s why we are here.”
“In all of our lifetimes together, have we made a lot of mistakes?”
Mir looked into Babette’s blue eyes and said softly, “Oh, have we ever. But I loved every mistake with you.”
“And do you think this move to the Fourth Alliance Planet will be a mistake as well?”
“I don’t know,” he answered honestly. “But I know that if we stay here, our fates are set, and our children’s fate. A life on the Fourth Planet is completely new. Who knows, maybe next time I’ll be born on the Fourth Planet?”
Babette had no idea what the scale of his comment was for the Alliance religion, so she just smiled, thinking it was quaint. “I’m worried about being the only human and for our hybrid child.”
Mir stroked her hair, “There’s no human here, just one of the Lost People who has returned. And because of that our children are not hybrids.”
“Child,” she corrected him.
“Children. Always twin daughters. Always.”
“You never know there is a first for everything.”
Mir shook his head, “No, this I know.” He touched his finger over his heart, “And there will be no racism towards them or you. We are all Alliance.”
Babette wanted to believe him so much, but she had already experienced so much racism in the Capital City she imagined it would be much worse in a more rural area of the Empire. But she didn’t want to ruin the moment by bringing up those negative thoughts. Instead, she asked about the slave woman who had stopped her on the street, “What do you think she meant?”
Mir knew from Babette’s description that it had been Raga, the messenger god and found it amusing she would visit Babette and not him. He realized, of course, that he had made a mistake in marrying her too early, “I think she just meant that we shouldn't’ limit ourselves to the Capital Planet.” This was a lie. He knew that Raga meant more than that, but it wasn’t the time to tell Babette yet. She needed to grow into her new role to realize who she was.
“Oh well, it was spooky.”
“But you survived unharmed,” Mir smiled trying to make light of it. “Speaking of, we must go see my family. This will be the only time for my mother to meet you.”
“Does she want to?” I thought all of House Rog hated humans?”
“No, ‘hate’ is a strong word. Some of them don’t want to admit their ancestor’s guilt in abandoning the Lost People. In the future, they will change their minds, just not for us and not now.”
“And your family?” Babette didn’t want to meet his family. She was really concerned they would hate her. Tell her that she wasn’t worthy of being Mir’s wife. If it was up to Babette they would never meet.
Mir shrugged, “I don’t know, but we should go now. Directly afterward, we will leave for the Fourth Planet. I assume you have everything in order and have said your ‘goodbyes’ as I asked you to?”
Babette nodded, “Yes. But really, maybe you should go alone?”
“No, I want you to meet my family.”
“Do you always have the same parents too then, through all these lifetimes?”
“Yes.”
“How is that possible? I mean, I know theoretically or in this case mythologically speaking, but,” Babette trailed off feeling overwhelmed again by all of this new strangeness.
“You are a part of this too. Every lifetime. It is you Babette.”
“Why can’t I remember then?”
Mir looked at her seriously, searching her eyes, “I don’t know. I didn’t want to alarm you by saying it before, but usually, by now, you do remember. Maybe my parents will spark the memories for you.”
“They know me? They will remember me when we were all Alliance?” Babette found this preposterous. She had no idea how people would recognize each other’s souls in different bodies. All she knew was that she loved Mir and being with him felt right.
“Of course.”
“And did they like me?”
“Babette, what kind of nonsense is this? We are bound together, all of us, for eternity choosing this path again and again, that I can learn and bring the knowledge of life back to the gods after every life. And that every time I can be a better mortal.”
“We are doing this just so you can better yourself?” If Babette didn’t love him so much she would question why she would continue to sign up for this again and again.
“No, ‘Mir’ is not just a name it also means peace, world and society, it’s hard to translate exactly.”
“What’s the end goal?”
“We will know when we get there.”
Babette left it at that. She was overwhelmed. She didn’t want to meet his parents, and she was uncomfortable thinking about them all being reincarnated. She just didn’t feel like she had lived before and definitely not as an Alliance woman.
Mir landed the transport in the parking for the House Rog and walked past the maximum living towards the slave living. Babette had never seen where slaves lived. It was forbidden for people of different classes to enter each other’s areas, except for slaves. They walked with the gods and, therefore, could go anywhere they wanted in the Empire.
When Mir opened the gate to the slave neighborhood, Babette didn’t think it looked much different from any of the other houses she had ever seen. However, when they stopped in front of what she supposed was his childhood home, she began to see the differences. Above the doorway in green was written, ‘Those who serve the gods live within.’ And then once inside the house, the first thing through the doorway was a shrine to the goddess of home. Mir immediately bent to pray. Babette did the same. Then proceeded into the house. All the stone walls had been painted green, and Babette was surprised that it actually seemed comfortable, unlike the cold modern House Human.
Mir said to Babette, “You stay here. I’m going to check outside for my parents. They are expecting us.”
Babette stood in what she assumed was the middle of the drawing-room. She just looked around and thought, Do I recognize any of this? If I was born and married to Mir countless times before, I too, would have been born a slave. But nothing felt familiar. She closed her eyes and smelled the air. But nothing felt familiar. It was all alien Alliance.
Suddenly an older man walked in through the other door that lead to a different part of the house.
Babette opened her eyes and then she became dizzy.
The man stopped abruptly when he saw her.
Babette didn’t know what to say. Everything seemed so strange suddenly. The room was spinning. Yes, she knew this man. She knew him. “I know you,” she said, and her voice shook although she wasn’t frightened.
He came closer and took her hand, “As you should. We’ve spent a lot of time together. Do you remember now?”
Babette closed her eyes again, and memories began sweeping over her. Memories of life, death, and then life again. Finally, she opened her eyes and said, “Wait. Doctor James wants to distract Mir from his true path.”
“I know,” Kem said. “But have no fear. The goddess of home is lagging behind us in her planning. You chose to be one of the Lost People, the goddess of home had to bribe Doctor James to take up her cause. And Doctor James can be swayed again.”
Babette was reassured with that answer, “What’s your name now?”
“Kem.”
“Such a good name. And your wife?”
“Kis.”
Babette remembering who she was then said authoritatively, “We must all meet now for the reckoning.”
“We were all worried that in your human form you might never remember who you are. It’s good, that my face brought you into the light. Mir is already preparing now.”
“It’s strange, I don’t know how I could have ever forgotten any of you or my duty to the Empire,” Babette said, realizing what a dark haze she had been living in. “I am ready. I remember everything now.”
“Good. Come with me. I have your things. You will need them for the ceremony.”
Babette followed Kem through the house into a back room. He opened a black wooden chest. He took out a beautiful green dress and said, “I was worried you wouldn’t come. Or that you would come and not remember.”
“Then what would have done?” Babette asked.
“We talked about it and we decided that we would have just lead you through the ceremony. Everyone needs to witness you and Mir together to know the reckoning is again upon us. That your daughters will come to judge us all.”
She smiled, taking the dress and immediately taking her maximum class dress off. Along with her human undergarments. She didn’t want those anymore. She put the green dress on and said, “I feel like me now.” She looked at her reflection in the mirror and touched her hair, “I wish I could cut this. It feel so wrong being long as if I am in disguise not being of the slave class.”
Kem looked at Babette and said, “But the pale color of your hair and skin don’t bother you?”
Babette smirked at her reflection in the mirror, “No, humans are adorable. I don’t mind the different colors in my skin and hair, it’s just the length of my hair reminding me of my duties in this life. Now that I remember I feel weighed down by it all.”
Next, he handed her some jewelry, all with green stone jewelry and then a small crown. He put it on her head himself. She looked at her reflection again, “No one can deny now that the Lost People have returned.”
Kem knelt to Babette and she touched his head, “All will be as it should. The goddess of home will be punished for her transgressions.”
Kem rose and began leading Babette out of the house. As they walked he asked, “How is it being one of the Lost People other than your hair and skin color? Are they so different?”
Babette thought for a minute and then replied, “Yes, they are. They walk with the gods more than the Empire, but ironically they have forgotten who the gods are.”
“Once everything is in order, they will remember.”
Babette and Kem walked towards the main square. All slave neighborhoods were set up identically in the pattern most pleasing to the gods, intersecting triangles and the squares were always made where four triangles overlapped. Babette was met by cheers, and she passed the other people making their way to the Common where the ceremony would take place.
As she neared, she could already see Mir there standing next to Kis, surrounded by many people already.
Babette strode up next to Mir and without speaking to him, addressed the crowd, “I stand before you as Babette one of the Lost People. However, I think you all know my name even before I could remember it. My name is Sib. I am the unseen, and I have returned. Born from across the galaxy, without my memory or knowledge of who I really am, I felt the pull of home. Of the gods. And of the Alliance Empire. I have returned, married the god of peace as is my destiny and will once again bear him the twins. The reckoning has begun.”
Babette felt nothing but Alliance in these moments, surrounded by her own people. She smiled. “The Lost People have returned. We are at the turning point of swaying the Empire back on its true path of righteousness.” Babette then said, “Let the gods show us the way.”
“Only through their grace will we succeed,” everyone echoed.
Then Babette turned to Mir and nodded.
Mir was so pleased to see that Babette had gotten her memory back. He had been very concerned that it had taken so long. He supposed it was her human form that had suppressed. However, there would be time for them to privately rejoice afterward. Right now, he needed to be serious. He took Babette’s hand and raised a ceremonial knife to her wrist. He gave her pale skin a gentle rub with his knuckles as he always did before he swiped the sharp blade across her skin. His mother held the chalice below it to catch her blood.
“The mother of twins who will bring their grace or wrath to the empire, share with us your power.”
“Take what you will but remember with their blood comes the obligation to the cause. Those who drink will be called up to serve.”
“Thank the gods,” the crowd chanted over and over again.
Mir looked into Babette’s blue eyes as he slashed her other wrist and positioned her other arm over the chalice. Her eyes barely showed the pain, and although they were blue, he recognized her soul, and it felt so comforting to really see her again.
Three cups of blood were filled and emptied into the believers. Then Babette, supported by Kem and Mir, was escorted back to Mir’s childhood home. There she rested until she could regain her strength.
“Unfortunately, we must pack that dress away again,” Mir said, strok
ing the beautiful green fabric.
“It’s odd to think of us wearing anything but green,” she commented. “I know that sounds strange, but I’ve only been human a short time in comparison now that I have my memories back.”
“Yes, but you got used to it quickly,” Mir said. “Now, do you want help changing clothing?”
Babette didn’t miss the sultriness in his voice, “Yes.”
Mir led Babette to an upstairs bedroom and went down on one knee, slowly lifting the long green hem up. His mouth skimmed her legs and thighs over her stockings, “I’m a little disappointed you are not wearing your human undergarments. They are nice.”
Babette smiled, “Get back to your objective, Husband.”
Mir ran his hands over her bare rear and pulled her sex close to his mouth, “And your human smell is magnificent. Please always be one of the Lost People. From now until forever.”
Babette put her hands in his hair and urged him forward. He was more confident in his ability to pleasure her now and she in him, “Make me come fast, Mir. I want to remember what it feels like with you when I know who I am. I’m desperate for it.”
Mir was not surprised by her words. She usually always remembered who she was after the first time he brought her to climax. He had been surprised that even after they had married, she hadn’t remembered. Mir did as he was bid. His tongue licked, and his mouth sucked on her folds and clitoris. He then put two fingers inside of her hot wet vagina and moved them slowly in and out, the way he knew that she, the unseen, not the human Babette, liked it. She became deadly still, and he knew that he was giving her exactly what she wanted, and in moments, she would be coming. And then he did something he had never done in a million years; he took his hand away before he finished.
He stood up, undid his trousers, and asked, “May I enter you, and we come together?”
Babette looked at him in shock. This was not right. A man serves a woman. Not together, not equality. This was the Alliance. “Are you suggesting this because I am in my human form?”