by Robin Roseau
"Then it's your responsibility to make this work. Are we agreed?"
"We are."
"I don't want to have to decide about stuff. But I don't deal well with being left in the dark. I need to know what's going on. I need to know that the right things will happen. I'd like an idea of what the next few weeks will be like."
"All right. Let's start with the next few days. Tonight, we're staying in. Unless you're tired, I want us to spend the time relaxing together and continuing to get to know each other. We'll have dinner. We'll talk. Eventually we'll sleep. You're going to ask me to tell the visor to make you sleep. I want you well rested, and I am afraid you'll fret in the dark of the night."
I nodded. "You're probably right."
"Tomorrow we're going to tour the station. I can't possibly show you everything in one day, so we'll start with a monorail trip around the entire ring. I'll teach you the structure of the station. We'll go to my office and a few other important places. We'll eat lunch somewhere. Then over the course of the next week or so, I'll show you more places. There are restaurants and pubs. And there are places for entertainment and others to shop."
"Museums?"
"Yes. Several. So for the next two or three weeks, our time during the days will be largely spent teaching you the station. In the evenings, we may stay in or we may go out."
"'I'd like that."
"There are people active at all hours, but the station is most quiet from about midnight in New York and begins to wake up a couple of hours after that, when it is morning in England."
"A small quiet window."
"Yes. And you should know, not all species sleep."
"Oh. I hadn't thought about that."
"Once you get a feel for what the station has to offer, then we can decorate our home together."
"I'd like that."
"Feeling better about things?"
"A little less lost," I said. I snuggled closer. "I want to tell you something."
"All right."
"I've been bitchy the last few days. Please don't comment. But according to your rules, you have certain rights. While I don't like anything about any of that, I agreed to them. I want to let you know if you start exercising the rights you believe you have, I might not complain. If you're polite about it. And sweet. And I get lots of pampering."
She growl-laughed. "Did you just give me permission to touch?"
"Yes."
"All I want?"
"Within the established limits."
"Good."
* * * *
Together, we put our things away. She wouldn't let me see everything she had but invited me to change into clothes more appropriate to staying in. We talked for a while, and then she ordered dinner for us. Afterwards she asked if I knew what I wanted to do.
"A game," I said. "Winner gets a foot massage."
She laughed. "All right."
She enjoyed the massage.
She had nice feet.
Afterwards she stood and then pulled me to my feet. With no more than a smile, she led me to our bedroom. I stood at the foot of the bed, looking up at her. She moved closer, and closer still.
I waited for her.
Her hands found their way to my waist. I glanced down before looking back up, smiling. She gently pulled me to her, one hand sliding around behind me to clasp my bottom. The other rose to my cheek, caressing before she lowered her head to mine.
We'd been kissing all day, most of it my idea. But there was something special about this kiss, and I enjoyed it immensely.
Then, breaking the kiss, but still clasping the back of my head, she asked quietly, from inches away, "You told me I may exercise my rights, under the rules."
"Yes," I said softly. "Please don't try to seduce me yet."
"Yet?"
"Yet."
She nodded, and then her hands moved. She found the buttons of my blouse and began to release them. I closed my eyes. I smiled.
She slowly undressed me down to my undies, caressing bare skin as it appeared. I quivered to her touch, but neither of us said anything.
There was a pause, and I waited for her. Then I felt silk, and she slipped a camisole over my head. She led me to the bed and tucked me into place before seeing to her own needs. Soon, she was beside me, and I moved to her, asking for another kiss. Then I lay against her, draped half across her, as she gently stroked my skin.
* * * *
In the morning, I could barely contain my excitement. We both wore casual, comfortable clothing. And then she took my hand and led me towards the front door. "I'm going to turn off your visor. It's only for a few minutes. There's something nearby that I want you to see, and I don't want it spoiled by an early view."
"All right. But then you have to kiss me."
She laughed and did, indeed, kiss me. My visor was dark before she was finished.
I clutched her arm tightly, and a moment later we stepped out into the corridor. We turned right and walked only about two minutes, neither of us talking. Then she turned me around, standing behind me with her hands on my shoulders.
"Are you ready?"
I bounced up and down just a little. "You can't tell?"
"Are you ready?"
I laughed. "Yes, I'm ready. Let me see. Let me see. Let me seeeeee!"
The visor brightened, and I'm sure if the visor wasn't holding my eyes in place, they would have popped right out of my head.
Ahead of me, everything was green. Green, green, and more green.
I stared.
"That's... that's..." I looked over my shoulder at her. "That's an oak tree!"
"I don't know the varieties," she replied.
I turned back. We were in a long corridor, and well in the distance, I could see as the floor and ceiling curved upwards to follow the curve of the station.
The ceiling was well overhead.
To either side were doors -- doors to other homes like ours. And above them was a second and a third level with walkways along them.
Well over our head was the monorail line, and as I stood there gawking, a train passed over our head. The only noise it caused was the sound of a light breeze.
But in the space between, it was green. Trees, bushes, grass. Plants of every kind.
A bird flew past, and I started to cry.
Bronze wrapped her arms around me, holding me against her.
"Why didn't you tell me? I've been so afraid."
"I wanted you to see. I didn't want to build it up. It's not a forest. It's a strip. We're in the section devoted to Earth. There's a similar section for most of the species present in near space, excluding those species that actually prefer the life of other worlds."
"You used to live in the Temier area."
"Yes. It's a quarter of the way around the ring. I'll take you today. I want you to see it. It's not all that different."
"The Catseye-"
"Prefer to live based on where they are based. We are in Earth space, so they prefer this area. Not all, but most are nearby. And you'll see more humans here than the other regions, but some do not relocate to this section when they come with their mates. And of course, only some of the people who have taken human mates live on the station. Some don't even live in Earth space and may be a dozen light years away."
"That would be lonely."
"They stay here first while the mating candidates decide. But yes, I imagine it would be lonely."
I looked around. "That's a willow," I said, pointing. "And... Bronze, those are my favorite. Quaking Aspen!"
A train passed, and the leaves of the aspen quivered under the breeze it caused.
"Did you see the way the leaves shook? That's how it gets its name."
"I saw."
"How?" I turned to her. "How did you do this? You've only been here for a few years. These trees aren't ancient, but they're far more than five years old."
"Early surveys brought samples of your life. When the station was built, we included Earth species."
"We could have sent you away."
"And then, if things happened as we predicted, these two ships could contain the only growing samples of terrestrial life. Deep in space, somewhere else, a portion of Earth would survive, if humanity itself did not."
I turned around, my back to her, and stared at all the green. I pulled her arms around me, holding them tightly to me.
"The light here is not harsh. You will not burn from it. But the light in this area is exactly like sunlight without any of the deadly rays. It will not cause cancer, but it will assist with vitamin D production."
"It's beautiful, Moirai. It's so beautiful."
Oh, there was no mistaking where we were. We were on an alien space station, far, far from anywhere. But here, in this place, was this bit of Earth, this fairly significant bit of Earth.
"We have only a few birds," she explained. "None that dine on insects or each other. But they are very colorful, and you will see them. I'm sorry. We have no other animals. But perhaps the birds are enough."
"Yes," I whispered. "Enough."
"I have more to show you, but I know this is what you feared missing almost the most. Do you think you can be happy here, Sapphire?"
I turned in her arms again. "I'm starting to believe I can, Moirai. Please kiss me."
We walked amongst the plants for a while, perhaps a half-hour, holding hands most of the time, except when I insisted on hugging a tree here and there. Bronze laughed at me. I found some flowers and knelt down, naming them.
Finally I turned to her. "Thank you. What is next?"
"I will teach you how we travel about the station rim." She took my arm and led me to a set of stairs to the second level. There was a walkway overlooking the park, but it was divided. The side closest to the wall was a simple sidewalk, but the side closest to the railing was a slidewalk, a moving walkway like they have in some airports.
"The other side," she said, pointing across to the other side of the park, "travels in the opposite direction. You can get on and off wherever you like, but you must be careful of people coming from behind you."
It was at that point that a nearby door opened and a pair of Catseye stepped out, both female of course. I recognized them immediately, but I was temporarily surprised to see they wore clothing that had never been seen on Earth, and all eight limbs were visible: two legs, two arms, and four tentacles. I stared, but they barely glanced in my direction. Together, the stepped onto the slidewalk and were quickly gone.
"Was I rude?"
She laughed. "You will receive similar looks. Eventually everyone becomes jaded until they encounter another new species. But you have seen Catseye before." She laughed again.
"Not dressed like that."
"Did they shock you?"
"No. Surprise, but not shock. But I shouldn't be surprised. Jasmine hides her tentacles for a reason, but if I'd thought about it, I would have realized that reason doesn't exist here. I hadn't thought about it."
"If you are ready," Bronze said, "the protocol is to wait for a significant gap and then step smartly. If you wish to stand and watch the trees, then we move left to the railing. If you wish to walk, then we walk on the right. And while it is the responsibility of people entering and exiting to avoid contact, you still watch for safety."
I nodded. "I love these at the airport. You can move so quickly."
She smiled. "You can."
"But I want to watch the trees."
"Lead the way."
I looked. The slidewalk was actually in sparse usage, although it wouldn't always be, so timing my entrance was no effort at all. No one was coming. I stepped onto it, Bronze immediately behind me, ready to support me if necessary. The alien slidewalk was faster than the ones at the airport, but not significantly, so it was no trouble stepping on. I moved to the left and grasped the handrail just like one might on an escalator. Then I turned sideways to watch the world go by below us. Bronze moved closer, and we stood side-by-side.
I was expecting it to end periodically, but it appeared to be continuous without break. One got on or off anywhere one desired.
And so we traveled along. Now and then, a train went past, still well over our heads. We moved from Earth trees to those of another world, the division exceedingly clear, although I didn't know what kept the plants from one world populating another world's area. I had so many questions, and the answer to that one wasn't important, so I never asked.
But then Bronze said, "We've passed one train station, but the next is coming up. I want us to get off there. Do you see above?"
I looked ahead and nodded.
"There will be stairs. Step off before we reach them, but it can be quite busy nearest the stations, so it is good to get off early. If it is dangerous, ride past and wait for a safe opportunity on the other side. We can backtrack on foot."
And she was right. I didn't recognize the species ahead, but I presume they were associated with the section of the station we were passing through. A few had gotten on in front of us or behind, and a few were descending the stairs from above, entering the slidewalk. And so I waited until we were perhaps fifty yards from the stairs before I looked over my shoulder, made sure no one was coming up behind me, then stepped into the 'walking' section of the track then onto the sidewalk. Again, Bronze was right there, ready to catch me, but I didn't need assistance.
"It's not the first time I've been on one of these," I said. "We have them in our airports."
"I have seen you trip down a river bank. You will not become offended if I watch over you."
"I appreciate it. Come on." I took her hand and pulled a laughing Bronze towards the stairs.
It was actually two flights of stairs to the monorail platform. The third level held no slidewalk, but there was a walkway spanning the two sides of the park. They had appeared periodically, but I'd paid little attention.
But we continued to the top level, which was really only a half level, high above the park grounds below us. There we found a platform that could have been a subway platform in any major city.
Other than the waiting aliens, there was one distinct difference. There was a railing separating the platform from a long fall off the platform. "If this were a human city, those would be doors, and this would be an enclosed platform, not open to the air like this."
"I have seen that, but I have never asked why."
"So that this doesn't become a place of tragedy, accidental or intentional."
"So people don't fall. How clumsy would someone need to be to do that?"
"You've seen me walk."
"You're not that clumsy, Sapphire."
"Children misbehave. They grow bored and pay little heed to their safety. Teenagers become filled with angst, especially after a breakup, and this is high enough to permanently end their angst. Husbands and wives fight, and 'accidents happen'. Business rivals may wish an easier market for their goods. Pickpockets get caught, and anything can happen in the ensuing scuffle." I looked away. "Homosexuals are hated by a variety of groups, and this would be a convenient location to reduce our number."
Bronze pulled me into her arms.
"Surely there must be rivalry amongst the different species."
"There is, but the things you have suggested do not happen here, and not only because we are under surveillance. Do you wish to discuss it further?"
"No. You can hold me more tightly than that."
It only took a few seconds to shake off the mood. I turned in her arms to look around again. "What species is this?"
"I am unable to reproduce their vocalizations. And I am embarrassed to say I do not know what they are called in human sounds." She changed languages and called out. Three turned in our direction, and then two stepped over. Bronze and the two other aliens spoke for a minute, and then one stepped forward.
It -- I couldn't tell if it was male or female or some other gender entirely -- held out a hand. It was clearly a hand, tinted blue like the rest of the creature, with four fingers
, equally opposing, long and spindly. When it spoke, it was in deeply accented English. "I am called Wild Rose."
I offered my own hand but let the alien control the brief clasp. I spoke very precisely. "My name is Sapphire."
Bronze spoke. "It is customary to speak your full name for a first introduction."
"Ah. Yes. My full name is Sapphire Fletcher."
We clasped briefly. I was very gentle. "I am sorry, but my companion does not speak any human language and has no name you could understand. But he offers greetings." And so I clasped briefly with the other.
I could see differences between the two, but I couldn't tell if the differences were due to gender or simple variation.
"My mating candidate wondered what your species is called," Bronze explained. "I had to profess I couldn't say using words she would recognize."
"Oh, yes, you are freshly mated!" said Wild Rose. "Then we must offer our congratulations." It turned to her companion and spoke rapidly, but then back to me. "We offer congratulations in our style, although tempered for a human." And then it clasped my shoulders in both hands and leaned forward to brush me, cheek to cheek, one side, then the other, three times. Bronze received a similar greeting, and then the aliens switched, and I received my congratulations from the other.
"Thank you," I said. "But now I have questions." I looked over my shoulder at Bronze, who had moved back in place behind me.
She nodded. "Go ahead."
"You are so earning points today," I told her with a smile. I turned back to Wild Rose. "May I ask?"
"Of course, if we may also ask."
"Of course. I do not yet know what your species is called."
"Ah, yes. Your original question." But it turned its attention to Bronze. "Have you explained how the species are named when we arrive in a new space?"
"No, only that we take names the local population could speak if our original name is sufficiently unpronounceable."
"Ah. Well, in our language we are called," and then it made a series of noises that no, I could not produce. "Which you cannot say. When we come to a new peoples, we sometimes let those people give us names. We listen to what they call us naturally, and if it is respectful that is the name we use."
"Which is how the Catseye were named."