One of the things that made her quite sure that Zeus had been telling the truth when he told her that her planet had met an unforeseen (to humanity, anyways) disaster was that she wasn’t alone on the ship. I mean, clearly there were the Tu’Fallians, who came in all shapes and sizes depending on which intelligent life in the universe they had influenced first and had subsequently given them form, but she wasn’t alone. There were other humans on the ship, and enough of them that she couldn’t remember everybody’s name or face. In fact, she was quite sure that she hadn’t even seen all of the humans aboard their vessel since she had been there.
Another thing that assured her of her conviction that she had not been lied to was that every other human that she spoke with had similar experiences to her their entire lives. They too, were plagued by sleep paralysis. They too, had a preoccupation with extraterrestrials and life among the stars. They were all adventurous types who didn’t shy away from something new. All in all, it seemed to her that the claim that they had seen disaster coming for their planet and decided to help was true. After all, when the Tu’Fallians reached out to human consciousness, human consciousness was what was able to give them form and enable them to reproduce and persist in their existence. It would make sense that instead of allowing them to perish, the aliens would continue the relationship built on good will by helping out humans this time around.
Of course, there was the other bit that Zeus mentioned. He had gone into more detail on one of their courtship excursions around the huge starship. He had almost seemed awkward approaching the subject, even though the both of them knew that there was really no changing the actions that were to come or events that would follow by their consequence. During that particular walk of theirs, he had made it a point to take her though the huge atrium that they had aboard. It was hard for her to remain focused on the task of getting to know her new husband (though she didn’t even know if marriage was an institution on Tu’Fal, or if these things were just intrinsic in the type of relationships that Tu’Fallians had) as he took her through this area of the ship. Her eyes were drawn all over the place to plants she had never seen or would have been able to imagine. There were blue fruits, leaves of bright violet that were as large as the average person’s bathroom, and tiny cacti-type plants that were so small that they looked as though they could be nothing more than clay miniatures.
“Your people had a seed bank in Svalbard,” Zeus told her, noticing the fact that her eyes had grown into dinner plates, “We have a living garden of Eden, with specimens collected from each planet that we have visited. This is simply what we took with us to create the oxygen needed for the ship and what we picked up while saving all of you, but I will take you to the main garden on Tu’Fal when we arrive.”
Kelly had looked up at him after he said this, shocked at his consideration.
“What, do you think that I would just keep you locked in our home?” Zeus asked, amused at her disbelief. “That’s not how we do things. Just because your species isn’t as technologically advanced as we are doesn’t mean that your emotions, your soul, is not. Your life is just as advanced as ours is, and it deserves all the pleasures that come with it.”
Kelly found herself smiling at the prospect of this Greek god taking her around his home planet and showering her with gifts and excursions. Though she certainly wasn’t unattractive, this supermodel of a man was someone that she would have certainly considered to be out of her league on Earth. Maybe, she thought, this event was really me just getting lucky. What could I have done to deserve this?
“So how did you get your name?” she asked.
“Well,” he said, folding her arm in his as he led her out of the door to the atrium, “I am not the first and I am not the last to bear this name. I understand it’s taken from your people’s mythology. The fact of the matter is that Tu’Fallians will try on many names and identities for themselves as their lives progress, until they have found their life-mate. When that time comes, then they pick a name and stick with it – something that will embody what the rest of their lives will embody. This is because, for the most part, we are a near-immortal people. When our mate is found, however, our life span shortens to match who we have chosen, as to not continue on in this universe as one half of a whole.”
This man just kept surprising her. What he was telling her about his species’ culture and way of life was enough to put a sparkle in any girl’s eye, but the implication that she was the other half to this literal god’s whole was almost too much for her to handle. However, she quelled the nervous fluttering in her stomach enough to keep a level exterior – human or not, she figured, a man still doesn’t like to be served up what they want on a silver platter. It isn’t really fun unless there’s a bit of a chase. She smiled at him.
“That doesn’t explain how you got your name still,” she said through her firtatious grin.
“Ah, you’re quite right,” he said, flashing his own grin back at her, which was enough to almost send her into a tailspin. “I chose mine for many reasons, but the first and foremost being that I would like to be the father of many and the savior that my people need.” He paused. “Though, not just my people,” he continued, “I suppose yours as well, in a way.” His face took on a look of concern as he gazed down at her.
“That doesn’t scare you off, does it?” he asked.
“Even if it did,” Kelly said, making sure to fill her voice with honey, “would that change whether or not that was the end result?”
“Yes and no,” he responded, “You’d have the opportunity to find someone else to fit your desires, seeing as how you are safe and with us, however… I do have to say that I wouldn’t like the prospect very much.” They stopped at a large, open window that wrapped around one of the large, winding bends that had become the defining characteristic of their vessel to Kelly. He stopped and turned himself and her toward the window, wrapping his arm around her shoulders as he did so. She felt herself growing warm under his touch. Though she barely knew him, his open and kind demeanor juxtaposed against his bulging muscles and Adonis-like physique made her excited for their future.
“I always thought that there would be more stars,” she said, looking out at the void out from under his wing. “It’s just so black out here.”
“Most of the universe is just empty space, you know,” Zeus replied. “I think that’s why your species casually referred to it as ‘space’,” he added with a bit of a cheeky grin. He tightened his arm around her a bit and rubbed her shoulder as he did so.
“Take it all in,” he said, “We’ll be arriving at Tu’Fal before you know it.”
“What’s it like?” Kelly asked. He had told her very little about what was to be her new home, only the customs of his people and her expected role in their society.
“I’ve shared quite a bit with you in a short amount of time,” he responded, “But I’d rather save that bit for when you get there. Don’t you always find that a bit of surprise makes it more fun?”
Kelly stopped and thought about it.
“Yes,” she replied after a moment, “But by the same token, aren’t I just no fun then? Since you knew I was to be yours?” Zeus’ immediate look of mild offense and hurt feelings struck Kelly – they had just met, but he seemed so invested in her already. She wasn’t used to this sort of treatment, as back on Earth, she was generally expected to hold some sort of a subordinate role to her partner’s whims and interests.
“Yes, it is true that you and I were paired, but… that does not mean that I knew that you were going to be mine,” he said, “I knew your name. I knew your karyotype. I knew that even though you lived in America, that your family was originally Greek, making my name choice that much easier. I did not know the look of your shining eyes, nor did I know anything about your open mind and adaptable spirit. The bit of surprise made it all the more fun.”
Kelly struggled for a moment with what to say in response to that. Clearly she would have a lot to learn from the w
ay they did things on Tu’Fal – she was so used to living in a society of go, go, go that she had almost forgotten that it was possible for two people to purely connect and be interested in one another without much of an ulterior motive. Sure, the both of them had a responsibility to preserve their respective species, but beyond that… they didn’t have to like each other to accomplish that. However, here they were, taking walks through gardens floating through intergalactic space and slowly but surely learning the important details about one another. She decided that she didn’t really have anything good to say to that, so she stopped at a somewhat meeker than she would have liked “thank you”, and leaned into Zeus’ side, enjoying the feeling of his strong, capable arm around her and his large hand gripping her shoulder. After a while of looking out of the window at the endless pantheon of stars, Zeus turned to her and said:
“I should begin walking you back to your cabin. It’s getting a bit late, and even though there’s no night or day cycle while you’re travelling through space, there will be on Tu’Fal, and you’ve got to stay to a schedule to avoid the worst jet lag you’ve ever experienced.”
Kelly nodded and followed his confident lead through the atrium again and back to her room. After he dropped her off with a respectful kiss on the forehead, she lay in her bed looking at the ceiling. She rolled over and palmed the touch pad that formed her light switch and sighed.
Everybody I’ve known is gone, or at least I’ve gone from them, but I’m not upset about it. Am I really that petty, to be distracted by a pretty face, or am I really just adaptable as he said?
She drifted off into a peaceful sleep, deciding that the answer to her question was moot, and comforted herself as she floated into a dream of Zeus’ deep, expressive eyes.
Chapter 3
When they finally arrived on Tu’Fal, what awaited Kelly was far more
beautiful than anything she could have imagined. She obviously didn’t know what to expect going in to landing on an advanced alien planet, but she knew that it’d definitely be a decadent experience. When their craft landed, they exited in quite a comfortable fashion; the ship was large enough and had enough exits that nobody needed to really file out of the ship, and there wasn’t much of a wait. Kelly just had to gather the clothes and toiletries that the Tu’Fallians had provided for her and clear out with the rest of the group.
Leaving with the group was the most disorienting part of the entire process. That is, until Zeus arrived to lead her into her new life at her side. She felt his presence before she saw him; she guessed it had something to do with the permanent bonding practices that the Tu’Fallians engaged in. She hadn’t been told much of anything about that, but she figured it had to do something with pheromones or vibrations; they seemed far past the base needs of sex appeal and the associated chemicals with their advanced technology and philosophies. However, the ever-present protective and possessive nature of her arranged mate definitely showed her otherwise.
Her stomach was churning as they approached the door out – since she had been beamed up, essentially, she had never gotten a chance to see what the portals to her tiny world had looked like. They were similar to any other bay doors, with the bright light of their landing area outside shrouding definition around the frame. As humans, Tu’Fallians, and other races she could only hope to name one day left the ship, she could hear cheering and shouting, and could only hope that that cheering and shouting was for a good reason.
“You have nothing to be worried about,” Zeus said into her ear, leaning over. She was initially startled when he began doing things like that, preempting her need for reassurance or kindness, but she had grown used to it after their month and a half (she estimated) voyage through the stars where they had grown to know each other closely. She squeezed his hand in return to show that she had heard him and believed him, and looked up at him smiling.
“I would think not given the resources put into this ship, but I have no frame of reference…” she responded.
“Believe you me,” he said, “You and the others we have brought are of the utmost importance. You’ll see shortly.”
And so they did.
Upon the exit of Kelly, Zeus, and the rest of their Earth group (which she had taken was to be representative of classical culture and the beliefs of those times that had given form to the family line that Zeus was from), they too, were greeted by cheers and shouting. Kelly put her hand up to guard her eyes from the light, as she found natural light a bit extreme after her extended stay in artificial light manufactured in the void. When her eyes focused, she found beings that looked incredibly similar to the Tu’Fallians that she had come to know within their on-ship community. They all highly resembled humans – from far away, you would almost say that they were human. However, when you got up close, you noticed the exact perfect proportion of their muscles, the tone that they had, their unmarred skin, and their facial symmetry. They were all literal embodiments of classical beauty, and stood at a height that was slightly taller than you would expect a person to be, though not completely out of the ordinary.
Through their laughing and cheering, they threw offerings upon those disembarking. There were glittering, iridescent flower blossoms that found themselves getting stuck in Kelly’s hair as she walked arm in arm with her own personal lifeboat through this alien world as inspired cries in languages innumerable erupted around the landing party.
Tu’Fal’s saviors, their seed banks, had arrived planetside again, and the fate of this species was decided for the better because of it.
Kelly was curious as to where they were headed to, but knew better than to try to ask amongst all the din. Instead, she held her head up high and continued to walk proudly with Zeus in the procession of chosen ones. As she walked, she could only hope that wherever their destination from disembarking was just as opulent and shining as the simple procession through the large, flat, paved landing area.
Her mind wandered as they walked. There wasn’t much interesting in the way of scenery, but the finery that the myriad of residents wore and offered to them was enough to keep her occupied. Colors she had never thought of assaulted her vision as she caught glimpses of a skirt here or a flower there, and other colors still made themselves known, but avoided her definition when she focused on one thing or another. When she looked down to examine the lot they were walking through, she noticed that even the pavement glittered in the light that was able to find its way through their shadows. The streets were literally lined with gold, it would appear. She hoped it wasn’t actually pyrite.
Soon, their parade took a left turn, then a right, and another left. They passed through glass walls that were similar to the invisible and indestructible doors that were on many of the rooms in the space cruiser, but on a grander scale. Once inside, the light dimmed, though the glass was untinted. It was enough to see without straining, and what she found was just as beautiful as the glimpse of the outside surroundings that she was able to gather.
Everywhere she turned, things sparkled and shined. There was something in everything that naturally occurred on Tu’Fal that made it glimmer in the light and radiate knowledge and a long, proud tradition – longer and prouder than anything any race on Earth could have imagined or hoped for. Once they were inside, the crowds began to thin and disperse around them. They were going somewhere that the general public wasn’t necessarily allowed, it seemed, and that was probably for the better. After all, they needed to hear what was going to happen next. It wasn’t like they could just be turned loose to do what they pleased without meeting the authority that had brought them there.
The shining silver and glass corridor they had been walking through suddenly ended with a large audience floor. At the far end of the floor stood a raised dais with a half circle table. At the table sat eleven figures, though none of them could be properly made out. They all seemed to be invisible, but for the shimmer that their form left on where they were located. When one of them turned to talk to another or cough sile
ntly while they awaited their explorers and refugees to be in their places. It was almost as if their pure will made an imprint upon the physical world so they could communicate with the masses, and stopped there. She looked up at Zeus to ask a question, but thought better of actually opening her mouth immediately. He was staring intently at the dais and the figures seated at the table, eyes full of reverence. She assumed these were the leaders of their society, the ones who saved her and the other chosen members of the human race. It was probably uncouth to speak in their audience without being spoken to, she assumed.
“You have all been brought here to preserve the life spirit and force of all of the reaches of the cosmos.”
The voice that she and the others in their party heard was not just one voice, but all eleven. The many voices that were one did not have any that stood out as being male or female among them. Instead, all were simultaneously both genders and neither. Nor was this statement actually audible – it seemed to resonate within Kelly’s bones, originating from within her own eardrums, though she knew it was external in nature.
“From this point on, you are residents of Tu’Fal. Your planets have been destroyed by natural phenomena, but we took an interest in your species and your flora and fauna long before this was even to be known. When it was, we took steps to save your peoples. In return, we ask only for partnership; truly loving partnership.”
ROMANCE: HIGHLANDER ROMANCE: Seduced by highlander (Historical Mail Order Bride Time Travel Romance) (Military Fantasy Romance Short Stories) Page 120