by Robin Roseau
“I suppose we’ll be going home, then,” Felicia said.
“You and Taisha have two-week vacations,” Amanda replied. “If you want them.”
“If we want them,” Felicia echoed with a snort. “Do you think you could handle another two weeks here, Taisha?”
“It’s rough, but somebody has to do it. Bay has some trilo-bots to show you.”
“I don’t think so. Are you staying, Amanda?”
“I miss my husband,” she said. “Felicia, if you’ll pack up all the gear you brought, I can bring it back. I think I’ll take the next flight home.”
“You and Finley are always welcome,” Jasmine said. “If Beginnings is full, we can make other arrangements.”
“That’s sweet, and I suspect we’ll take you up from time to time. But getting him to leave work for more than a three-day weekend is a challenge.”
“Do you need help, Felicia?” I offered.
“I’ve got it.”
“Then the only dangling detail,” I said. “Is Muriel. How is she?”
“She’s talking to me again,” Jasmine said. “And she accepted a movie invitation last night.”
“Good.”
Actress
It would seem like that’s the end of the story. We came; we saw; we battled the alien technology. We were bloodied but emerged victorious. But, of course, along the way, Felicia and I both made friends, and the story isn’t remotely complete.
It began two days later. I was relaxing on the beach, a lovely little drink beside me, when Felicia plopped down on the chair beside mine. She took a huge gulp from her drink, and when I looked over, she appeared frustrated.
“Trouble in paradise?”
“No.” The one word was said tightly.
“Right. So, we’re not friends?”
She looked over at me. “Oberon.”
“Ah. He picked Danette?”
“Yeah. I’m mad at myself. I like Danette. I actually think she’s a better choice for him.”
“But you’re hurt and disappointed.”
“Yeah,” she admitted.
“I’m sorry.”
“And I’m insanely jealous of you,” she added.
I laughed. “Should I be sorry?”
“No.” She took another gulp from her drink.
“For the record,” I said with a gesture. “Not a good idea.”
“Nova is on strict orders not to ply me with another one,” she replied. “She says she has something virginally fruity in mind.”
I gestured again. “If it’s the same thing I’m drinking, it’s really quite good. You know, if you wanted to try girls, I know a few.”
“I thought about it.”
“You did not.”
“You can spare the Niecor.”
“She’s pretty fabulous.”
“You know, I think I’ve bought into Western society’s views on femininity.”
“We’re inundated with images. Consider this. You’ve played a computer game or two.”
“Or maybe more than that.”
“Ever play any with gods and goddesses?”
“You’re calling her a goddess?”
“Have you?”
“Yeah.”
“Well?”
I watched her think about it. “I’m not sure it’s that simple,” she said eventually.
I shrugged. “Maybe not.”
She sighed. “Danette liked both of them.”
“Danette and Oberon are a better fit than Forever,” I said. “Maybe he has a brother.”
“He does.”
“174 light years away?”
“Yeah.”
“The Ardents are pretty damned fabulous, and we seem to have a bunch of them.”
“Jasmine told me that would be a phenomenally bad idea. She said they tend to be a little more protective than I’m likely to tolerate.”
“Some women like that.” A moment later, we both made faces. Then I smiled, cocked my head, and accessed my visor. A moment later, I said, “Violet, Felicia seems fond of Luxan physiology, but Oberon made a different decision. Do you think you can scare up another friendly male Luxan? You can? Excellent. Should I warn her? No? Okay, then.”
She paused. “You didn’t. That was a fake conversation.”
“Nope. She says she can toss you into the arena with 12 of them late next week.”
“She did not.”
“And said not to warn you.”
“She did not! Did she?” I could hear the hope in her voice.
“No. That was a fake call. But I think I made my point.”
“I don’t want it to happen that way.”
I accessed the visor, for real this time. “Jasmine? Do you have about one minute?”
“Sure. For you.”
“Can you conference in Felicia?”
“You’re full of it,” she said. She paused, then her tone changed. “Oh. Maybe you’re not.”
“Do me a favor,” Jasmine said. “Turn and look at each other.”
We did that, and a moment later, the video image shifted to display images of all of us. “Your visors can’t do selfies,” Jasmine explained. “It’s going to get confusing if you look away from each other, though. What’s up?”
“Are you really going to let Felicia go home?”
“How serious a question is this?” Jasmine asked.
“I don’t know,” Felicia said.
“I’ve introduced you to the males I felt might make a good fit for you,” Jasmine replied. “I could claim you right now and promise a match, but I don’t like taking people who are doing important things for humanity, and Felicia, you are.”
“So, you’re sending her home,” I said.
“Felicia, are you saying you want to give up your job for an alien match?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “How can I answer that?”
“Which means,” Jasmine said. “That I need time.”
“Time?”
“I’m working on things. They aren’t going to come to fruition within the next week and a half.”
“Oh.”
“What if it were a different question,” Jasmine asked. “Keep your job.”
“I wouldn’t have been upset if you’d kidnapped me for Oberon,” Felicia replied.
“Even if it cost you your job?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“I’m not sure you’re being honest with yourself,” Jasmine replied. “But I hear what you’re saying. So, I’ll ask again. If I were to show up at your house in six months and steal you, but you got to keep your job, how upset would you be?”
“I suppose it would depend upon what happened after that. I’d rather you invited me, and I got to spend time with him. I know some species like to meet first, but Luxan are happy to claim someone they don’t even know.”
“Felicia,” Jasmine said, “There are currently no males on Earth I am driven to introduce to you. If you were to accept the Tutor invitation to the station, I would make arrangements there, but I would probably do it behind your back, and it may be you wouldn’t realize anything was going on until you discovered yourself in my care.”
“In one of those cells?”
“Yes.”
“But I would have met him?”
“Yes, and I might have found a way to ask you about him without you knowing. Or it may be someone interesting will arrive here, and I’ll ask you to visit on short notice. Or perhaps arrange a meeting in some other fashion.” She paused. “And I might play games with your visor so you don’t know you’re meeting a Luxan.”
“Why?”
“Because they don’t need the kidnappings, but they do need the challenges, and some of them are very, very fond of kidnappings. And because in your testing, so are you.”
“I am not.”
“Yes, Felicia, you are. You are not, however, remotely a good fit for the species that require a kidnapping. No, that wouldn’t be at all good.”
“I reall
y like Oberon, Jasmine.”
“I know you do. You can blame me. I made sure she had more time with him while you were working on the robot.”
“She’s a better fit.”
“Well, that’s what I made sure to engineer,” she said. “Danette is a very good financial planner.”
“What does that have to do with it?”
“While her clients may not agree, I don’t view financial planners as critical to the advancement of humanity. I don’t care if I take her from her job. I care about yours, however.”
“Oh.”
“I want some time, Felicia. If you establish another relationship, then I wish you all the happiness. But if you don’t, you’ll be coming back here, willing or otherwise. Are you telling me ‘no’?”
“I’d love to come back, Jasmine.”
“Good. I’ve given the two of you a few days, but I want to fill your calendars again.”
“Sounds good,” I said.
“Sure,” Felicia said.
“Good,” Jasmine said. “Cape and Bight want to take you to dinner tonight.”
Felicia laughed. “Sure.”
“Good, because if you said ‘no’, I was going to involve Sudden Quiver.”
“You would not!”
“Oh, please,” Jasmine said. “Of course, I would. Maybe I still will.”
“I got the impression they didn’t need any help from an Octal,” I said.
“They’ve asked about you, Taisha.”
“I don’t do guys or married women. Jasmine, those are hard limits for me.”
“Which is why I told them ‘no’ on your behalf. Cape has tried three separate approaches. The woman is nothing if not persistent.”
Felicia would go home on schedule, but she had a very good time until she did. I am convinced this isn’t the end of her story.
* * * *
I had more dates, but I want to come back to those separately.
I woke to a weight settling on the bed, and then I felt a brush of tentacles before she slid under the covers and wrapped around me. “Good morning,” I whispered. “It’s Saturday, isn’t it?”
“Did you worry you slept through it?” Jasmine asked.
“The days run together. How do you manage to make it all the way into my bedroom without waking me?”
“You had a late night, and I’m capable of being very quiet.” She wrapped a little tighter, and I snuggled backwards into her.
“I’m surprised Andie is okay with this. She seems as territorial as a Luxan.”
“Not hardly,” Jasmine replied. “Andie, Skye, and Posey know their wives are utterly trustworthy, and that makes it easy for them when we offer affection to our favorites.”
I lay still for a while, accepting the simple joy of being held. But finally, I said, “I can’t believe you stopped by without a particular reason.”
“I’m inviting you to breakfast. I arranged a distraction for Felicia, and now I have one for you.”
“Oh, a distraction, hmm?”
“Yes.”
“Is that all you’re going to say about it?”
“You know me,” she replied. “Take some time getting ready.”
“Give me more hints than that.”
“You’ll hate me if you don’t take some time to look nice. That’s all you’re getting from me. If you bug me about this, you’ll still go where I’m taking you, but then I’ll offer you to several events you absolutely won’t like.”
“You will not.”
“Why do you people always say that when you know I would?”
“I’m not saying you are unwilling; I am forbidding you.” She snuffled and then began pushing me from the bed. “Hey!” I complained.
She won.
* * * *
We shared a nice breakfast, and then she led me to her waiting jumper. As soon as we were clear of the cove, she blinded my visor. “Don’t fuss. You’re going to enjoy this.”
“I think we should have another game of Shoot the Catseye.”
She snuffled. “We’ll see.”
I cocked my head. “That actually didn’t sound like ‘no’.”
“Because it wasn’t.”
Well, well.
We landed. Jasmine helped me to my feet, and then said, “We’re going to be outside, but there is shade. We’re not the first people here, but the others here know this is a surprise for you. The others who we surprised have already had theirs.”
“I’m the last?”
“Yes. You’ll understand shortly.”
“All right.”
She helped me from the jumper. I could hear the ocean, and I could easily tell we were walking through sand in the morning sun. But then we turned, and there was shade. “Most of you already know who this is,” Jasmine said, raising her voice. “This is Taisha Saint-heart.”
Then my visor began to brighten. We were on a beach, under a canvas pavilion. There were chairs and some sort of display case, and about 15 people watching me. I recognized most of them: Posey and Violet, their wives. Prudence and Verity were both here, as was Carolina and Aventurine.
There was one BP, and I recognized Amaryllis.
And there were three more Catseye. I recognized Bluebell; she was partially wrapped around Skye, with Violet on Skye’s other side. Audra was also sandwiched, Posey on one side, and a human on the other, then a Catseye on the human’s other side.
I recognized the human, and I found myself staring, and for the first time since arriving at Beginnings, it was at another human woman and not one of the aliens. “You’re Yvette D’altrea.”
“I am,” she said. She slipped away from Catseye tentacles and approached me. Jasmine released me, and then Yvette offered a hand. But then she shook her head. “No. I think I prefer this.” And she pulled me into a hug, caressing the bare skin of my back with her hand. I did the same with mine, already knowing she’d have as bare a back as I did.
“Ms. D’altrea,” I whispered.
“Call me Yvette,” she replied. She held me for a while, much like a Catseye hug, but then she stepped away. “Let me introduce you to my wife.” She took my arm, and together we stepped forward.
I recognized the woman, but Yvette said, “This is Foxglove Blue.”
“Ms. Blue,” I said. “A pleasure.”
“Foxglove,” she said. And then she offered tentacles, which turned into a proper Catseye hug. I didn’t complain.
After that, it was a typical Catseye greeting. I was passed around, meeting Azalea, Violet and Posey’s other mother, but also shared greetings with the Catseye I already knew. Eventually they led me to Amaryllis, and I looked up, way up. She didn’t hug, but she took my hand in hers and gazed down with a kind expression.
“You have stirred things up.”
“Should I apologize?”
“No. You have guessed why we are here.”
“I believe so, yes.”
“Maybe she has guessed,” Prudence said. “But I haven’t.”
“Shortly,” Jasmine said. “Shall we take seats? I imagine we’ll want to wander shortly, but I thought I could formally introduce what most people already know.”
Posey stepped to my side and wrapped tentacles around me. I laughed, but she pulled me to two of the stools, and we climbed up. Audra was already reclaimed and sat between Bluebell and Yvette, and the affection was obvious, as was Foxglove’s for her wife.
“I’d like to say: I loved the movie. I absolutely loved it. Foxglove, congratulations.”
“Thank you,” she said. “It was an amazing experience, but the movie would have failed miserably if Yvette wasn’t such an amazing star and professional.”
“We had a great cast and one of the best production crews in the world,” Yvette added.
“What was your favorite scene?” Posey asked me.
“I’m torn on that,” I said. “The final scene made me cry, but the scene in the submersible.” I shook my head. “No words. Looks, and occasional, inadvertent
touches.”
“I think that was the scene that clinched her award,” Yvette said, “And is perhaps the most important scene I have ever filmed.” She smiled at her wife. “I’m glad I filmed it with you.”
“We’re all very proud of Starlight,” Amaryllis said. “I was glued to my seat during the awards ceremony, and I do not know if I have ever screamed louder than when they read Foxglove’s name.” She shifted her gaze. “I was expecting yours, Yvette.”
“I won’t pretend false modesty. I think it was one of my best performances, but only one of my best. I believe that Foxglove’s was better.”
“Only because of you, Yvette,” Foxglove said. She looked over at me. “Yvette and I met poorly, and I was quite rude to her. I was perhaps the last Catseye in known space she wanted to film with.”
“Seriously?”
“We were worse than our characters,” Yvette confirmed. “I had to convince a human audience of human emotions. I’ve had a lifetime of practice. Foxglove hadn’t ever acted.”
“Never?”
“Never,” Yvette confirmed. “She had to convince the same audience, which means they had to empathize with someone quite alien, while never forgetting who she is.”
“Yvette insisted I never ‘act human’, as she put it,” Foxglove explained. “There were times we changed the script to be in keeping with Catseye behavior.”
“And that was the hard part, to do that while also engaging with a human audience,” Yvette said.
“Well, it was brilliant,” I said. “Are you going to do more?”
“We’ve been approached,” Yvette said.
“They wanted to do a television series.”
“Really?”
“It was good money, for television, but shows like that are a lot of hard, hard work, and Foxglove has other duties. If she had wanted to do television, I would have done it with her.”
“We decided it was a mistake,” Foxglove explained. “It was a romantic comedy. I think I’ve made my only movie.”
“They keep sending me scripts,” Yvette said. “If I find one that’s good enough, I’ll share it with her. So far, there’s nothing that’s half as good as Starlight, and we agreed if we can’t make a better movie, we’re not doing it.”
“I don’t blame you.”
There was a pause, and then Jasmine said, “Well. Most of you know why we’re here. Two of you do not. Prudence, this is where I want your department to live.”