Kest lies down on his back, then lifts me on top of him and collects the blanket around us. I’m still working to catch my breath, and even Kest seems to be inhaling more deeply than usual. When I look up, I see millions of shining stars.
“Oh, my God,” I whisper. I haven’t seen a night sky like this since I was a kid in camp. Living in the city, you can never see the stars shine so bright.
Kest brushes back my hair and kisses the top of my head. “Whether you’re a human who’s never left Earth or a Dominar who’s traversed the galaxy a thousand times, it doesn’t matter: the stars are always beautiful,” he says. “My people think of ourselves as ancient and powerful, but compared to the stars, we are still children, all of us.”
I smile. I never thought I’d hear such a sentiment from a Dominar. “Can you point to Earth?”
Kest laughs. “That one,” he says, pointing his finger into the air.
“Which one?”
“I told you, that one. Trust me, it’s there. I’ve seen much of the galaxy. I know my way around.”
He kisses me again, then releases the Yckjer clamps. I had totally forgotten about them, but now the pain returns, as the blood returns to my poor, punished nipples. Kest rubs them until the sensation subsides, then holds me tight against his body.
“Are all the planets you visit like Earth?” I ask.
“Many are, but not all.”
The fire pops, shooting sparks off into the sky. Kest throws in a few more branches.
“And these planets have people… like humans?”
“Well, every inhabited planet is unique in some way, but they are like humans, yes.”
I nod, trying to wrap my head around the idea. Other people like me, living off on other worlds, probably as oblivious to our existence as humans are to theirs.
And then a strange, beautiful creature arrives from the stars…
“Kest… claiming a pet… is that something your people do all the time? Or is it something special?”
“Well, we do take pets frequently, much like humans have lovers. But to claim one for themselves? That is much rarer. It’s why my claim over you was met with some incredulity.”
I nod, understanding. “Because we’d both just met. So why did you do it?”
He gives me a squeeze, as though afraid he might lose me.
“I told myself it was to protect you; to keep others, especially Bakan, from trying to move in. But I did it on instinct, and I trust my instincts.”
“Oh,” I say. I don’t know what I expected, but it’s interesting all the same. How can someone who has lived for thousands of years still just have instincts, and act on them over reason?
“But you’ve had other pets. Why not claim one of them? Didn’t you like them?”
Kest chuckles. “Sure I did. But I had reasons, I guess. Just like humans: sometimes even though people love each other, they just can’t make it work. Same with me. Most of the time, my pets didn’t want to leave their home worlds, and I didn’t want to force them to.”
“I see.” Do the Dominars give their pets a choice? Or just Kest?
“What about you, Haley? How is a woman as intelligent, talented, and attractive as you single? I haven’t stolen you from a husband or boyfriend, have I?”
I sigh sadly. “No, I was alone. Didn’t even have any close friends or family. I guess I’ve always been a bit of a loner. Focused on my career—didn’t want to settle for guys that didn’t excite me—the usual human excuses, I guess.”
“They sound like good reasons to me,” says Kest. “Sometimes there’s no arguing with what the heart wants.”
“No,” I mumble, my voice catching.
My heart pounds, and for a second I feel as though I can’t breathe. This is all so unbelievable, I’m still wondering if I’m really losing my mind. Despite the scary and lonely moments, this trip has been weird and wonderful in ways I couldn’t comprehend back on Earth. Lying with Kest underneath the Ohalessan sky, I realize I’m not sure I can bear the pain of leaving.
But I have to, right? I have to get back home, to Earth.
“When this is all over, are you sending me back home?” I ask, hoping he won’t answer.
Kest hums, brushing my hair. “Is that what you want, pet?”
“I think so. I mean, isn’t that where I belong?”
He lifts his head and kisses my cheek. “Haley, home isn’t always a place. It’s something you feel. You know?”
“I guess.”
“So, what are you feeling right now?”
I close my eyes and inhale the otherworldly scent of the alien world, and the alien man beneath me. “I don’t know.”
Chapter Fourteen
For a few weeks, Kest and I tour Ohalessa, visiting all of its diverse regions. The world is so unfathomably beautiful that I shed tears just thinking about it. For all of Earth’s truly breathtaking majesty, Ohalessa captures the soul of time and life itself. We climb cliffs behind waterfalls that seem to ascend higher and higher, roaring with raw fury. Kest takes us underwater in his ship to see coral reefs that are home to millions of aquatic species; when they swim by, they flash a bright, diverse palette of color that leaves me speechless.
When I’m feeling as though I’ve seen it all, we fly to the site of an active volcano. Magma sprays in the air, glowing neon pink until it rejoins the flowing lava. Later we go underground to explore expansive caverns full of crystals that shimmer and glow. Kest claims they’re alive, and that they absorb light and sound, preserving their energy.
“Now you’re part of this universe forever,” he says, running my fingers over the cool, smooth crystal.
In the forests, jungles, and vast grasslands we see animals that are exotically beautiful and hysterically adorable—some are weird and ugly, but those are the ones that taste delicious. I even manage to hunt a few with Kest’s bow.
“Maybe when we get back to the Dominus I’ll requisition you a bow of your own,” Kest offers. “One a little lighter and easier to handle.”
“I’d like that.”
Throughout our time on Ohalessa, I never tire of sleeping underneath the stars, which we do most nights. I don’t ask Kest to point out Earth again, and he doesn’t offer it. Some of the nights we sleep naked, unafraid of anything. On others, Kest teaches me to fashion garments from the local foliage. Some of it is surprisingly comfortable, and it makes me feel like some kind of Polynesian island princess.
On our last morning in Omardu jungle, Kest cooks us a pair of small reptiles, then loads all our gear back into the ship.
“Where to next?” I ask.
He smiles, pulling me in for a long kiss. I taste the smoke and salt on his breath and smell the musk he built up during his hunt. He clutches my rear, hugging my body close to his, and I can feel his heart beating with mine.
“I was thinking before we have to head back to the Dominus that we might go somewhere that will remind you a bit more of home: the city of Orandropa.”
A city! A real, live alien city!
To be honest, I had, at times, gotten homesick—not necessarily for New York, but for the one thing you can’t get out in nature: the activity of lots of people. I could sit outside at a café and watch the city go by for hours, wondering about everyone’s stories. No matter where you go in the city, there’s culture everywhere. It’s an experience—for better and worse—that can’t be found anywhere else: crazies proselytize in the streets, musicians and buskers fill the lonely silence between arriving subway trains, colorful characters share anecdotes and don’t care who else is listening.
The thought of encountering all of this on another freaking planet makes my heart soar. What will it be like? Will it feel like home, or be undeniably different? Even on Earth, there’s no place quite like New York. Of course, everywhere I’d been to on Ohalessa had made me tremble in awe—I don’t see why Orandropa would be different.
However, one big concern worms its way into my mind—one I haven’t worried mu
ch about in weeks.
“It sounds wonderful, but… what about Bakan? Wouldn’t it be easier to find us in the city?” I’m a good foot shorter than every Dominar I’ve seen so far; I somehow doubt I’ll blend in.
Kest nods. “Perhaps, but we’ll be surrounded by my people. Even if he finds us, he wouldn’t dare try anything. If you like, you can wear something to cover your face. It’s not unusual for some of the more possessive Dominars to conceal their pets’ beauty.”
“Like, a mask?”
“Or a veil. Or nothing. Whatever you prefer. Just think of what you’d like, and your nanites will send the design to be fabricated.”
“Okay, Kest. Let’s do it.”
As our ship lifts off, I imagine a black, feathery mask with a pretty violet trim. While I’m at it, I imagine myself a pair of heels and a sleeveless, strapless pencil dress to match my mask. Though it reaches down to my ankles, it hugs my figure in just the right places. I make Kest turn around until I’ve put it on, and when he finally turns to see it, he smiles and licks his lips. “You look lovely, pet.”
“Thank you, sir,” I reply, doing a twirl.
“There’s just one thing missing.”
As I watch, a black telering rises from a compartment and floats on over to me. I lift my chin and let it fasten around my neck. A hologram springs to life: a reflection of me so I can see how I look. The collar matches my outfit perfectly.
Not wanting to be outdone, Kest creates a dashing black tuxedo. Considering the practical jumpsuits he usually wears, seeing him in a tux is bizarrely… alien. However, he looks smoking hot, his broad chest flattered by the perfectly bespoke fabrication.
“I give humanity credit, the fashion is superb.”
I laugh, taking his hand and giving it a kiss. “What are we going to do first?”
“We’re going to the Ohalidium.”
“What’s that?”
Kest makes a show of straightening his black bow tie. “Imagine the Louvre, only it’s tens of thousands of years old and has collections from countless species and planets.”
I’ve never been the best appreciator of art, but how could I say no to that? “Can we see exhibits from planets you’ve been to?”
Kest pauses, and a look crosses his face: surprise and regret, almost wistful, as though I’d salted a still open wound.
“What’s wrong?”
He sighs. “We can see them, but it may not be a happy experience.”
Oh. I think I get what he means. “All the more reason why I should.”
He nods with solemnity. “As you wish, pet.”
Soon the city Orandropa comes into view. At first it looks the same as any city skyline, though more modern; its towers rising in graceful curves, with massive arches and high spires. However, it takes me a moment to realize that Kest’s ship is flying above the clouds, and I’m only seeing the very tops of the massive structures.
“Holy shit,” I blurt out.
Kest chuckles. “My people don’t have a concept of heaven; we have a real one.”
His ship dives gently and passes through the fluffy white. When the mists clear away and visibility returns, I nearly faint: Orandropa extends as far as the eye can see, a mammoth metropolis that glimmers with light. I don’t get a true sense of scale until Kest takes us even lower, toward a landing platform on top of a high-rise that would dwarf all but the tallest skyscrapers on Earth. Here, it’s just one of many.
Kest activates the autopilot, allowing it to move us into a lane of passing ships. I stare out the window, shocked by how many are flying by in the other direction, just like on roads back home. It never occurred to me that there would have to be lanes in the sky, but why not? It would be chaos if everyone just flew anywhere at any time.
When we arrive at the platform, Kest’s ship drops us off, then heads off on its own to a proper docking station. We take a lift down to the planet’s surface, while inside my nanites download a map of the city. Like on Earth, Orandropa has a mass-transit rail system, a serpentine nest of tunnels that I doubt I would have figured out without the help of the nanites.
However, we’ve landed only a few blocks away from the Ohalidium; at Kest’s request, we walk.
“Give me your hand,” he says. “And try not to stare.”
“Yes, sir.”
I don’t do a great job of obeying. Now I know what it must be like for tourists seeing Times Square for the first time: there’s so much to take in all at once, all of it vying for my attention. Foot traffic is thick, with Dominars of all colors and dress making their way. Some travel in pairs, and many I can tell are clearly pets: they wear collars, telerings, and face coverings, or walk with their arms locked behind their backs or at their sides.
All around, aromas from restaurants waft outward, enticing patrons inside. Musicians play from balconies and acrobats leap between buildings, spinning in the air and landing on their feet.
“This place is incredible. I can’t believe people actually live here.”
Kest laughs. “This district is more for visitors than residents, but I know what you mean.”
While making our way to the Ohalidium we attract more attention than Kest expects, causing him to hurry his pace. More than one Dominar looks as though he’d like to inspect me closer, but is instead forced to settle for a quick glimpse as we go by.
Shaped like a dome, the museum itself occupies several city blocks. Surrounded by lush gardens full of fruit trees, hedges, and flowers, the dome is covered in blue vines that glow with luminescence. Rows of statues line the outer perimeter of the gardens; depicting revered Dominars, they face inward, expressions stoic and calm.
However, the most impressive visual splendor on the museum’s outside comes in the form of a massive hologram that hangs over the dome. I grin happily, realizing that I actually know what it is: the Milky Way. Though I’ve seen pictures of our galaxy, I’ve never seen it in such glorious detail. I watch, open-mouthed, as the galaxy slowly turns.
“Do you see how many of the stars have a blue ring around them?” Kest asks me.
I nod. There must be thousands of them in the projection.
“Those are all the worlds owned by the Dominars.”
Good God.
He lets me stare at the hologram for a time, then urges us inside. The Ohalidium is so enormous, elevators alone aren’t sufficient: it has its own internal transit system conveying visitors from one end of the building to the other. We ride a ways, finally stopping at a floor marked Primitive Species, Past and Present.
Although there are banks and banks of artifacts, much more is presented through interactive holographic displays.
“And if there’s something you see that you want to know more about, just request it, and it will be downloaded to your nanites,” says Kest.
I nod, barely acknowledging him. The exhibit is riveting: many of the races presented are just like humans, from appearance to historical development. The museum have examples of their technology, from weapons as basic as spears, to computers far surpassing humans’ current level. Holograms of their planets show cities as dense as New York, as beautiful as Paris, and as dangerous as Baghdad.
Throughout my hours of exploration, Kest never loses patience. He lets me browse, only interrupting to tell me which of the worlds he’s visited.
“I lived on Mlins for only twenty years. They advanced so quickly, by the time I arrived, they were nearly ready for the Dominars to make contact,” he explains, smiling proudly. “I was almost disappointed; I would have liked to stay a lot longer.”
“What about this one?” I ask, pointing to the display of a man who looks more like a caveman than a human.
“Vraka? No, I wouldn’t go there. They’re barely sentient hominids. They won’t be ready for millions of years.”
After a while, I’m starting to grow drowsy. Kest takes my hand. “Tired, pet?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Come with me. One last exhibit, and then we’ll get d
inner.”
I do as told, and soon we’re entering a new wing: Primitive Species, Extinct.
The title releases a burst of adrenaline. As we make our way through the exhibit, much of what I see is similar to the one we just left. The major difference is the holograms of their worlds, which often look barren and burned. Some are utterly covered in thick clouds, obscuring their surfaces. Others look pristine, as though intelligent life never existed there in the first place. A few have visible ruins: cities blasted and crumbling, being retaken by nature following the death of their societies.
“Is this what will happen to Earth?” I ask, zooming in on an abandoned city.
“Possibly,” Kest answers. “In my professional opinion, yes.”
I turn in place, realizing that the extinction wing goes on and on. There must be thousands of exhibits.
“Why are there so many?”
Kest sighs. “When you sow seeds in a garden, you plant many, hoping a few will grow.”
“What do you mean?”
He takes my hand and ushers me toward the exit. “My people have seeded almost every habitable world in the galaxy, Haley. Sometimes, when a society falls, we reseed the planet, when it’s ready. Not every world survives.”
“That’s awful,” I mutter, shaking him off. “If you created them, you should care for them.”
He nods, turning away. “I think so too, but not all of my people do. Just as the gardener doesn’t expect every seed to sprout, neither did the ones who first seeded planets like Earth. They felt that if their progeny couldn’t survive on their own, they didn’t deserve to.”
“Tough love.”
“The toughest.” Kest drapes an arm over my shoulder, and this time I let him. “Come on. I don’t want your last memories of this trip to be unpleasant. Let’s go eat.”
* * *
He takes me to a dinner at a restaurant that would put Earth’s best chefs to shame. I thought the animals we hunted tasted great; the same meats, prepared by Ohalessan culinary experts, blow away my every expectation. If I could have eaten for hours, I would have.
His Human Captive Page 10