A Touch of Lilly

by Nina Pierce

  * Ba’alkin dagger *

  Illegal on all planets except Krystallos Three, but commonly sold on the black market. Its unpredictable nature is due to the fact that it seeks out negative emotions and is often deadly in inexperienced hands.

  * Beta Mrenn *

  Home planet of Ka’als. Active volcanoes and lava pits dot the bare landscape. Only the Ka’al’s mahogany skin make it possible for them to be out in the intense sunlight. The planet is most active at night when most other life forms can roam its crowded cities.

  * Braugtot *

  An alien that can take the shape of any being. They are distinguished only by the tattoo on the side of their face, which is unique like a fingerprint. In their natural form, both males and females tend to resemble humans.

  * Brenic *

  A thick liquor made from the fruit of the Tilada tree on Reigis Alpha. It is often added to Regent’s ale to give the drink a higher alcohol content.

  * Canus Delta *

  A planet very similar to Earth in the Nebulae Galaxy.

  * Cochlear Translator *

  Worn by most inhabitants in the Nebulae Galaxy. It both records and translates conversations in the wearer’s native language.

  * Dallas Eight *

  A frozen planet with ice caps.

  * Drikspa *

  An alien distinguished by its horn-like boney structures on either side of their skulls, chalky-white skin and red eyes. Females are both smaller in stature and their boney structures aren’t as large as the males and tend to lay flatter against the skull.

  * Gall’s Blood *

  Harvested from galls, an animal similar to a cow and found on most planets. The blood is orange in color and fermented for several years. It is both expensive and contains a high alcohol content.

  * Garalon Five *

  Located in the Plaintar Quadrant, it is too far from the galaxy’s sun to receive natural light, it is lit only by its three moons.

  * Hij’Rozhod *

  Also known as Mist of Death. The assassin responsible for the deaths of 14 government officials who oppose the sex slave trade.

  * Ickbata*

  Small aliens with large snouts and four limbs, each with three-three jointed appendages. Scaly skin that is soft to the touch. They have jade eyes that sit high on the head. Males and females are distinguished by the shape of their snout and the odor they emit. Males smell like leather while the females have a distinctive cinnamon scent.

  * Ka’al *

  Large aliens, males stand over seven feet tall and females are well over six feet tall. Due to their violent history, both sexes carry themselves like soldiers. Their deep red skin protects them from the harsh sun of their home planet, Beta Mrenn. They have flat noses lined with ridges and golden eyes.

  * Krystallos Three *

  Luna crystals, used to create energy for all the planets of the Nebulae Galaxy are mined solely from this planet. Large water purification plants located here supply clean water for the galaxy. The deep underground caverns where the mining is done has also created a ripe environment for an illegal sex slave trade operated by several organized crime rings.

  * Nebulae Galaxy *

  Consists of a dozen planets with a weak central star whose light doesn’t reach the outer planets. Various life forms, including humans, inhabit all but three of the planets.

  * Pteran Omega *

  A desert-like planet with a large asylum for holding the criminally insane.

  * Q’orstan Aerlheit Lunivarsium (QAL) *

  The space equivalent of the FBI.

  * Regent’s Ale *

  A weak liquor made by fermenting the plentiful grasses found on Reigis Alpha. Brenic, a thick liquor made from the fruit of the Tilada tree is often added to the drink to create a higher alcohol content.

  * Reigis Alpha *

  Earth-like planet inhabited by the largest colony of humans.

  * Seraphelium (pronounce Sara-feel-e-um) *

  A race of females whose touch can control a man’s libido by raising his endorphin levels.

  * Treljon Laser*

  A handheld weapon capable of shooting a beam of energy up to 150 yards. Operators can choose different levels of energy depending on how deadly they want the impact.

  * Xerick *

  Two headed aliens with royal blue skin and eyes to match. Excellent spies as they have large eyes and eight ear holes on the sides of their heads. They are asexual, having no distinguishing gender characteristics.

  * Znedu (pronounced Nee-do) *

  Long and lanky aliens with hooved feet for existence on desert planets. Hairless with large head and eyes. Genders can be distinguished only by height and size of breast ledge.

  Also Available

  by Nina Pierce

  Please Enjoy this excerpt from

  Healer’s Garden

  Chapter One

  May, 2267

  Jahara Hriznek’s life was over. The evidence weighed heavy in her hands. In the time it had taken to do the retinal scan, her future had been stolen from her.

  As she stood at the tall bank of windows, staring at the distant mountains, Jahara knew nothing could change this new course of her life. She felt the hollow reality as obviously as the barren expanse of desert stretching between her and the horizon. There was nothing to break up the monotony of the landscape. Nothing to take her mind off the inevitability of the days to come. Nothing to bring back the future she’d thought lay before her when she woke this morning.

  No helo-vehicles were out this time of day. It was still much too hot for people to leave the climate-controlled confines of the buildings in the city on the other side of the mountains. It would be a few more hours still before the sun sat low enough to make the commute across the blistering sands a safe one. Then the nearly empty roadway, three stories below, would bustle with solar powered helo-vehicles and buses.

  She wouldn’t be among the commuters winding their way from the Eastern Territory’s capital city of Lexington into her little village. Jahara had taken a much-needed day of rest from the healing facility.

  The city’s new government expansion had brought with it careless male workers whose stupidity forced them to the hospital in droves for emergency services. Those healers not completely repulsed by the men’s presence were forced to work overtime to treat the injuries. Jahara had been fielding complaints and filling in for overworked healers for weeks.

  For one day she’d wanted to think about nothing more taxing than what music selection she would pull from her computer files. She’d planned on using some of her monthly water allotment and soaking in a hot bath rather than her daily chemical wash. Jahara had even considered calling Merenith and convincing her to take the day off from the animal clinic and lounge around with her. She had no doubt her current lover and she could find ways to entertain each other.

  But none of that had happened.

  The messenger service had shown up at her door early this morning, delivering the wretched news. Had she known they were making their way to her, Jahara definitely would have worked at the hospital today and long hours into the night. Using her hands to heal males was preferable to holding this retched projection disk.

  Now, as Jahara glared at the palm-sized disk, fear burned the back of her throat and trembled along her chin. Hot tears of anger welled in her eyes. She shouldn’t be so upset. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t known this was coming. Her twenty-eighth birthday was next month. It was law. Her birth-mother, the Dame of her family, had held off the inevitable as long as possible. Jahara’s position as medical director had, up until this day, kept her from fulfilling the horrid obligation. But no woman, no matter how prestigious her position, ever ran from it. The thought soured in her stomach.

  She’d known what the packet contained the moment she’d opened the door to find the government currier standing in the hall. Jahara had wanted to flee, to shut the door and hide from the responsibility, but instead she calmly leaned forward and let the and
roid do the eye scan that proved the disk had found its way into her hands. She stared down at the official government seal over her Dame’s image on the disk. Even offspring of the chief administrator of the Eastern Territory weren’t exempt from this law enacted by Congress nearly a century and a half earlier.

  Throwing the disk at the wall, she let out a feral sound of frustration.

  As if chastising her, the bells chimed at her door. The normally soft chirp sounded loud in the silent womb of her living abode where she’d closed herself away. Jahara didn’t want to answer it. Didn’t want to know there was more to fulfilling her obligation. When it rang again, the sound almost persistent, she reluctantly skirted around the couch and slammed her hand on the touchpad, retracting the pneumatic door.

  “Having temper tantrums, I hear.” Merenith leaned in for a quick kiss. “I heard you all the way down the hall.” The short crop of blonde swished about her chin as her lover shook her head in disbelief. Her pouty lips were pulled tight between her teeth to mask—humor? Concern? Jahara couldn’t be sure.

  “You have no idea what kind of a day I’ve had.” Jahara stepped back and invited the willowy beauty through the door. “The worst day of my life, as a matter of fact.” As she passed, Jahara marveled as always at the beauty of Merenith’s body. A descendent of the Olakuma clan, Merenith’s ancestors had long ago lost any semblance of body hair. It was unnecessary in their life in the desert heat. Merenith’s skin was all tawny satin, save for the velvety blonde eyebrows and thick lashes that once protected her people from the harsh sand thrown up in the hot winds.

  The woman stared at her, arching one of those elegant brows, the skeptical expression marring the flawless contours of her face. “Worst? I think you’re exaggerating just a bit.” Merenith bent to brush the dust of the desert from her heavy work boots.

  “You have no idea.”

  Straightening, Merenith tenderly pressed her lips to Jahara’s and wrapped her in her arms. The comforting scent of jasmine, hay and the animals Merenith tended filled Jahara’s nose. She pulled Merenith in tighter, wishing they could stay this way forever and ignore the projection disk.

  Merenith might be four years her junior, but Jahara wanted to believe that what they shared was the stuff made of fairytales. At her age, Jahara was desperate to find the woman who would complement her in every sense of the word—a woman who could be the sun to her moon, the color on her drab canvas, the shadow that moved in synchronized harmony with her—a woman who would satisfy every part of her. She had hoped Merenith would become that person. But their relationship was still so new. There was no doubt fulfilling her obligation would have some affect on her career, but that she could rectify. Jahara just wasn’t sure she would survive if it stole from her the one thing she wanted most—true love.

  “Jahara, there’s no need to be so upset.” Merenith cupped her chin, coaxing Jahara from the soft cushion of her breasts. Her gaze seductively swept over her face. “Things really aren’t as bad as they seem.”

  “You don’t know what I threw across the room.”

  “It’s the invitation you’ve been denying would come.”

  As if her words had burned, Jahara pushed out of Merenith’s arms.

  “Oh, don’t be so defensive,” Merenith said. “Your Dame called me.”

  “M’Dame called you?”

  “Since her office sent them out, she knew you’d get the disk today and be upset by the news. Why do you think I came over tonight?” With a shrug, Merenith brushed past her and around the overstuffed furniture of the great room. She bent to straighten the imitation animal rug in front of the fireplace. “You mind if I help myself to some wine? I think you could probably use some.” The humor glinted deep in Merenith’s blueberry eyes as she shot a glance over her shoulder before walking around the bar separating the living space from the cooking area.

  “You think this whole thing’s funny?” Jahara could no longer hold back the tears that had threatened only moments ago. “Just because you’ve already fulfilled your obligation, you find the fact that now it’s my turn rather amusing? Well, let me tell you. The whole thing is disgusting and if my Dame wasn’t administrator, I’d petition to get out of this thing once and for all. It’s a stupid law anyway.”

  Merenith came out of the kitchen nook. Setting the wine bottle down with two glasses, one side of her mouth curved in a melancholy smile. “No, I don’t find this humorous at all. But you’ve said it yourself. You’ve used your position at the hospital and your Dame’s place in the government to put this off since you were twenty. Now the time has come. No one gets around this law.”

  “Have you read the document?” Jahara shook her finger at the small piece of metal on the floor. “I have only two weeks to put things in order at the hospital. Two weeks!” Her voice echoed on the high ceiling where a fan churned the cooled air. “How do they think the medical director of a major healing facility can get things in order before being whisked away for two years?” Jahara couldn’t bring herself to think how this would affect their relationship. She had wanted so much to develop something permanent with Merenith. But pushing the doubts past the hot lump in her throat was impossible.

  “Jahara.” Merenith came to her, gently kissing the tears from her face. “Don’t think about it. If you’re worried about us…don’t be. I can visit you. They allow that.” Holding her cheeks, Merenith pushed the black tendrils of hair from Jahara’s face. It still amazed her how Merenith seemed to understand what she was thinking without her having to explain.

  “Let’s not talk anymore about it. Tonight, let it be about us.” Merenith brushed her lips featherlight across Jahara’s mouth. “Let me show you how much I care about you. Let me help you forget.”

  Merenith’s silken tongue swept seductively into her mouth. Jahara needed to lose herself in this woman and believe that what they shared would be enough to carry her through this ordeal. But even as Merenith’s skillful hands danced over her skin, Jahara felt the familiar emptiness settle itself deep in the pit of her stomach. The cold hollow had nothing to do with the proclamation on the disk and everything to do with a hole in Jahara’s heart that it seemed no one could fill.

  * * * * *

  The night hung heavy in the desert, like the unsettled feelings surrounding them. Sitting in the light of the holographic fire, their shadows danced on the walls of her living abode. Even Merenith’s presence wasn’t a comfort. Jahara held the disk in one hand, a glass of wine in the other. They’d already eaten a simple meal of soy protein and vegetables. They’d taken time to walk in the park across from the living complex, feeling the heat of the day relinquish itself to the cool desert winds of evening. They’d talked about their days, skirting any mention of the projection disk or the impact it would have on their future. But like an elephant standing between them, the pronouncement on the disk could no longer be ignored.

  “Merenith, how did you survive this … this place?” Jahara shook the piece of metal in her hand.

  “What, the Garden of Serenity?” Merenith asked, staring at the flickering light.

  “Of course, the Garden. All the stories I’ve heard, it sounds so awful. One of my birth-sisters swears copulating with a man is the most animalistic ritual she ever had to endure. The other gave up her government position to raise both her birth child and that of her partner’s. But neither sister talks about actually birthing the babies, only about the mating and the pregnancy. I can’t imagine being a human incubator for nine months!” A shudder of disgust shook her body. “Not one child—but two! And at my age. What are they thinking?”

  Merenith was uncharacteristically silent.

  Pressing a small button, the disjointed head of her Dame appeared and Jahara listened again to the words she hoped never to hear. “Jahara Hriznek, we are pleased to inform you—” Jahara looked up at Merenith. “They’re kidding me, right? They think I’m happy about this?”

  Merenith poured more wine into her empty glass, but didn’t me
et Jahara’s probing gaze.

  “—that you have been chosen to report to the Garden of Serenity, located in the southern section of the Eastern Territory, no later than 1400 on June the first, 2267. It is so ordered by decree of Congress, written on the Fourth day of July, 2112: In order to reestablish the human population and create a more heterogeneous gene pool, we mandate every woman before the age of thirty must birth, if physically able, two healthy infants—”

  Jahara closed down the projection. “Blah, blah, blah …” Jahara gulped her wine. “I particularly like the part about the extensive blood work and wellness checks that must be completed before I go.” Jahara threw the disk at the fire, watching it clatter unharmed through the hologram. If only she could truly burn it and pretend this had never happened.

  “If you ask me, it’s all a crockadung,” Jahara muttered. “It’s not my fault they used up the frozen sperm supply. Look at us, our clan ancestors had the right idea, keeping the bloodlines clean by using only specific breeders.” Jahara held her hands in the air as if she were on display. “I think it’s a stupid law written by a group of old-fashioned, uneducated women, desperate to have sex with men. How barbaric.” She swallowed the acidic revulsion burning her throat.

  A shiver rippled through Merenith and Jahara assumed she felt the same.

  “I think the repopulation plan is going just fine without my help. I mean, how can they expect a professional woman to give up her life for two years just to birth offspring?” Jahara looked at Merenith sipping her wine and contemplating the question she’d just posed. This was her third glass, very unlike Merenith.

  “It’s not horrible,” Merenith said at last. “Unpleasant definitely, but not the worst thing that could happen.” She stared blindly at the flames and Jahara knew she was thinking back to her own time at the Garden. “Think of it like a vacation. You told me you haven’t had one of those in years.” Curving one corner of her mouth, Merenith turned to Jahara, lifting her shoulder. “I didn’t mind being pregnant. The birthing stuff isn’t even so bad, especially if the offspring are male. You just leave them at the Garden. I’m not even sure what they did with him. The girl I birthed was harder to leave behind, but I had no way of caring for her at the time. I know she’s at some school where they love her.”