The cargo was very valuable; had it been lost the house of Motok would have suffered a high price financially. Elma was saying, ‘‘Your house will get a reward for that,’’ to Alenna.
Now Alenna being very astute said, ‘‘If possible could we have a larger cabin and if it’s not too much trouble piloting lessons for Jake?’’
Elma smiled and said, ‘‘I will see what I can do.’’ Alenna had her long-term plan and getting me piloting lessons was part of it. Jenna had been having navigation lessons from her mother Elka since she was twelve and was already quite experienced, so this had also fit into her plan.
On our return to Alkarr, Elma called ahead as soon as we had dropped out of star drive. Having told Helena what had happened and how I had saved the day, there was to be a surprise for us. After we had unloaded all that fish we proceeded to the family’s main residence on Alkarr. On entering, we could see they had a party ready for us. After being thanked by all of the family we tucked into the food. I hadn’t said much to the girl’s father, but on this occasion I was invited into the man cave by Rolf. A man cave was the only place a man could be alone; a room within the main residence and no female is ever invited to enter. However, as I said, I had hardly spoken to Rolf, and all that was about to change. The man cave was also where Alkarren males entertain other males for drinks, board games and other occupations that interest men.
The first thing to strike me was that he had a family tree stretching around all the walls, which went back more than a thousand years. He had photographs of many of his early ancestors. He showed me a forum that I was unaware of that only men talk on. I did not realise that Alkarren men actually talked to other men having not spoken to any other since I had arrived on Alkarr. He then invited me to sit down, and then Rolf gave me an alcoholic drink distilled from a native berry. Now, not being used to alcohol, I was aware that if I drank too much I would indeed get drunk, so intended to make it last the whole time I was in there. We talked about many things including his family and my life on Earth. Rolf asked about its people; I replied saying Earth had many good people, but unfortunately there were a number of bad people. I informed him of the wars and murders, yet he did not think Earth would be joining the alliance for a very long time. He also told me that Alkarrens had been going into space for almost a thousand years. In fact, they had invented the wheel when humans were still living in caves. He then asked me what Alenna’s plans were. I guessed and said I thought she wanted us to have our own cargo ship. He then said, ‘‘let’s drink to that,’’ but oh no he topped up my drink and soon I was feeling a bit tipsy. When the time came to leave, my head was starting to spin. No sooner had I stepped outside the room than Alenna could see at once I was unsteady and came over to me. She then smelt my breath. Alenna waited for her father to appear out of the man cave. The moment he stepped outside she scolded him saying, ‘‘Thank you dad for getting my husband drunk!’’ in her very stern voice.
He just replied, ‘‘Give him some swamp drizzle.’’ This is a name given to a strange concoction. My head was now really spinning. Minty came over with this concoction. I was made to drink it; the taste was very bitter.
‘‘Drink the lot,’’ demanded Minty, but you know in just a few minutes this drink had completely sobered me up.
Later back on the ship the girls wanted to know what was in their father’s man cave, but I kept telling them as a man and out of respect for their father, I could not give them that information. The next day Elma informed Alenna that we could move into the larger spare cabin next door to ours, which had eight bunks in and that we could remove some to make way for baby cribs. Her other request was also granted. I was to learn how to pilot the cargo ship, which was quite exciting for me.
Just a month later, Jenna and then Minty gave birth, but instead of me naming the babies as tradition, I gave the girls the final choice of name giving each three names to choose from. Jenna chose Ellie and Minty went for Jessica, so what was the difference with the babies you may ask? Well, they had lost their webbed hands and feet; their eyes were not so blue but on the other hand they still had tails. Jessica’s hair was lighter than normal for Alkarrens. I assured Minty that it was fine on Earth as hair colour varies considerably, informing her that there was black, blonde and all shades in-between and of course not forgetting red-head ginger.
By this time we knew Alenna was also expecting. As for my leaning of the Alkarren language it was becoming more natural now to speak it. Also I seemed to be doing all the heavy manual lifting while usually accompanied by two of the wives as at least one now had to be on nursery duty. During the next few months Alenna also gave birth to another daughter; however, this time she chose Rachael in respect for my sister back on Earth. I still wondered how my sister was doing, especially on her birthdays and at Christmas time. I continued to keep a record of events, which reminded me also of the month and day back on Earth.
There were seven full members of the Alliance of independent worlds plus a number of probationary members, along with many dozens of inhabited worlds. Most of these were colonies of the seven, but there were four or five like Earth that were not yet ready to be contacted as they were not yet advanced enough or were too warlike and not at all friendly.
Time soon moved on. I had been on Alkarr for five years and during that time we had two more daughters: Jett and Misty. In that time I acquired my pilot certificate and on top of that my Alkarren is almost fluent.
Chapter 3
My First Return to Planet Earth
Now to go to Earth requires special permission from the Alkarren government. Every few years an opportunity arose from the ministry of agriculture, where they commissioned a cargo ship to go to Earth to collect seeds or plants. Commissions were rotated and Alenna’s family were given the last one. Now, a number of houses that ran cargo ships turned down this highly paid job as they did not want to take the risk of being caught and taken captive on Earth. Another house with a rival transport business had just been offered the latest commission to go to Earth and collect tomato seeds. This house known as the house of Tinter had contacted Alenna in a bid for me to offer my assistance in obtaining these seeds. My only conditions were that I produced the plan to get them, along with the opportunity to make contact discreetly with my sister. Any other conditions were down to Alenna.
Alenna had made an outline deal with the house of Tinter, then she had to have a meeting with Helena—prime wife of her birth house—to get permission about something or other. I was not party to these meetings at that time, so did not know what happened or had been agreed. I then had to produce my plan; it was fairly simple. I would just go to a garden centre and buy the seeds as I still had around a hundred pounds remaining. I needed to go to a place I was familiar with. My plan was for us to land in a field near a garden centre on the edge of a village close to where my sister and I used to live. I would then just walk in, buy the seeds, and leave. Well almost…I needed to meet my sister at the garden centre. I would also give her some photos of the family together with a long letter about what happened to me from when I left Earth to the present time. I had hoped she was still at our aunt and uncle’s house, which was just a few miles away from the garden centre in the nearest town.
Alenna said she had struck a deal which was very lucrative. The fee for the job would be split fifty-fifty between us and the house of Tinter, as we were doing the most risky part. However, what she had not told me was that with big deals there was always a catch and this was to be no exception. Alenna arranged for us to go to the café; she said that I had to go and was very insistent that I did so. Reluctantly I decided to tag along. While it’s not unusual for girls to look at me and smile (after all I am human and a curiosity to them), I was aware that a number of girls and I presumed their mothers with them all looked away every time I looked their way, which was rather odd I t
hought. I was going to mention it to Alenna but decided not to; anyway, as soon as we returned to the ship Alenna went out. I asked Minty where she was going, and she told me that Alenna was tidying up the deal we had made to go to Earth.
When Alenna returned she needed to speak to me at once; she informed me about the catch. So with some hesitation she told me that I was going to get a new wife. I replied to her that I did not want another wife and it would make me feel like I was being unfaithful. However, she told me that Alkarren girls didn’t see it that way and looked forward to another wife joining us. Anyway, she explained that I couldn’t refuse as it was part of the deal and going back on a deal would shame our house, so reluctantly I agreed. Alkarren girls were not forced to marry; they only had to say no if they didn’t want to, unlike the men who had little say in the matter once they have chosen their prime wife. Alenna said that having let her and her sisters choose our daughters’ names, I could get to choose between three girls.
It was time to go, so she took me to the residence of the house of Tinter along with Jenna. When we arrived we were shown into a room where there were four chairs on one side and on the other side of the room sat the three girls along with the prime wife of that house and the girls’ mothers sitting just behind them. I looked at the girls realising these were at the café earlier and they were the ones who kept looking away. I still did not let on to Alenna I had seen them at the café. Two of the girls were holding hands and whispering to each other, the third just kept smiling at me. Alenna said that when I had chosen the girl, she would then cross the room and sit on the spare chair next to us. But before that, I would be expected to ask some questions.
I asked the first two general questions: what their names were, and what they liked. I could tell that they were both very close by the way they kept looking at each other every time they answered a question. When I asked the third girl, to my surprise she answered in broken English. This girl had gone to the trouble of learning English, so she must have really wanted to join our house. After just a few more questions I asked her to come and sit next to us, which she did with her face beaming with excitement as she crossed the room to sit next to us. Later she whispered in my ear that she had a crush on me from the first time she had seen me, which had been a few years before. I thanked the other two girls while remarking how close they were to each other, and wishing them luck in going to a house together.
So, I had a new wife: the dreamy Lumi. But the time had come to prepare for my return to planet Earth. Jenna and Minty were to stay behind to look after the daughters, while Alenna and Lumi were coming with me to Earth on the house of Tinter’s cargo ship, which would probably be the last time Lumi would travel with her mother’s house. We had been given a cabin for the duration of the trip, yet there was one main problem. Lumi had two slightly younger sisters, who I had not met before, and according to Lumi they were not to be trusted. Alenna and Lumi were going to stick to me like glue throughout the trip.
The trip to Earth seemed to take ages; as guests on the ship we were not expected to do any work, which would have helped pass the time but finally we arrived without any incidents from Lumi’s two sisters. Now, while the ship was invisible to radar, it did not have an illusion field like the shuttles did; it did not reflect light very well either, so we had to stay in a very high orbit and hope no one was viewing a star as we passed in front of it.
The first thing I needed to do was to survey the area from space. The observation equipment on the ships was very good as you could zoom in and see people. A person’s head would be clearly visible.
It was the end of February, but as I observed the area there was a problem. The ground was covered in snow. I checked the garden centre, which was still in operation. I could see that some snow had been removed from the car park and could see tracks to the main road. In addition, the path to the door had been cleared. I wanted to go alone but I was subject to protocol now that I was married to Alkarrens, so I warned Alenna and Lumi, who were to go with me on the shuttle then on to the garden centre, that it would be cold and they would need to wrap up warm. I told them to wear the mandatory mitts to keep warm and hide their webbed hands, and if anyone made a remark about their blue eyes, they were to say that they were wearing contact lenses.
I needed to contact my sister Rachael. First, I hacked into the internet via a microwave radio beam, which enabled me to phone our aunt and uncle’s house. After waiting for some time for someone to pick up, my aunt finally answered. On hearing my voice she screamed with delight. She said, ‘‘Where have you been for so long?’’
I replied, ‘‘You would not have believed me if I told you.’’
By this time Rachael, who had been in her room and having heard the commotion of my aunt screaming, had come to see why. I heard my aunt tell Rachael that I was on the phone, she just about snatched it from her in her hurry to talk to me, and by this time she was sobbing at the end of the line, murmuring, ‘‘I thought you were dead.’’
I said to her, ‘‘I am so sorry that I had failed to contact you; however, where I have been for the last five years, it was impossible for me to do so.’’
I asked if she wanted to see me. “Yes,” she said. I then gave her instructions to meet me at the garden centre, while I stressed that she must meet me alone. Rachael was still sobbing uncontrollably when she said, ‘‘Goodbye.’’ I had to be cautious in case we were detected; however, the brief talk with my sister had left me with a tear in my eye. Even Alenna and Lumi, who were listening to our conversation, were also overcome with emotion. The three of us hugged for some time.
The next day we were up early to get ready. No sooner than we had finished our first meal of the day, we were ready to depart. Alenna had a hat that covered her head bangle, and they both were wrapped up snug and warm. I made sure I had everything with me, including a communication device which I hoped to give Rachael. It would have been little use to her at that time. Still, I hoped to take her with me one day and whenever that day arrived I would be able to call her direct from orbit.
We boarded the shuttle before being flown to the field where we were to disembark. First we needed to scan the area before landing for humans; we could not detect any people nearer than the garden centre so we landed. When the door was opened the girls stepped back as the cold air hit them; they were not used to that on Alkarr, but some of the planets we transported to, were very cold indeed. The girls nodded to inform me they were ready, then we trudged through about six inches of snow to the gate of the field. I helped the girls climb over the gate. Now we were in the side lane, it was slippery and we all held hands making our way to the main road. On reaching it we could see all the snow had been cleared off the road onto the verges. I warned them we would have to walk on the road. If a vehicle came they were to get up on top of the snow on the verge and stand still.
We had almost reached the entrance to the garden centre when two cars were proceeding towards us. The girls panicked; however, I assured them they would be all right helping each one in turn up on top of the snow. I then held on to them standing between them and the highway. They were shaking as the cars went past. There were no roads on Alkarr; any transport takes off vertical in designated areas before flying to their destination. They then land the same way. The girls gave a sigh of relief when the cars had passed. We continued forth, and were soon going through the gates to the garden centre.
As we approached the doors of the main building we could see this tall girl standing outside. I stared at her for a moment. It couldn’t be, I thought. But it was…it was Rachael, and she was so grown up. When she saw me she ran at me, almost slipping over in the snow as she went, but no sooner than she had reached me, she threw her arms around me and started to cry. I comforted her and then looked at Alenna and Lumi. It was time to make an introduction.
Rachael was stun
ned with the news of my wives and daughters. I then called her Auntie Rachael; she did look a little confused but managed to ask where I had been for so long. I told her it was a long story. I went on to tell her that I had not been on earth and now lived on another world. She thought I was quite mad and did not believe me. I then informed her that Alenna and Lumi were not human and that they came from a planet called Alkarr. Having then spoken in Alkarren to both of the wives, they then removed a mitten each; Rachael was astonished as she touched their webbed hands. I also said to look closely at their eyes and that was their true colour. In the meantime, we needed to get inside and to get what we came for.
There was a large selection of many vegetable seeds. I took ten packets of a tomato that were good for salads plus ten packets of a plum type which are best for cooking. I also purchased one packet of cucumber seeds, while wondering what the agriculture ministry would make of them. Having made our way to the till, Rachael and Alenna had by this time, struck up a good rapport and were chatting away. I handed the money to Lumi instructing her in turn to hand it to the cashier. Lumi stood back then the woman held out some change. Lumi looked a little confused as to what to do, and Rachael could see that, so she said she would take it. On Alkarr all transactions are done electronically; they did not have a cash currency.
Chronicles of Jake 1: My Return to Planet Earth Page 4