And What of Earth?

by Stuart Collings

  She ran towards the entrance of the ship and turned around to look for her dad. He was still standing in the backyard of #13. “I love you Daddy!!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. She pounded her heart and pointed at him. She mimed hugging motions. He was trying to speak but she couldn’t hear him. She masked, and mimed that she could zoom in and lip-read.

  She pointed to the Stones and back to him and repeated the action three times. “Don’t worry honey. I’ll look after them.” She mimed talking on a phone. “Call you?” She did a thumbs up and pointed at the school. His face showed a lack of comprehension. She ‘finger-walked’, pointed to the school, and mimed the phone again. “Go to the school and phone from there?” She gave him a thumbs up. She pounded her heart again and pointed at him. “I love you too, honey. Be brave. Be strong.” She was crying now, hidden behind the mask. He then did something he hadn’t done since she had been a young girl. He snarled, made a clawing motion with his right hand and said “Go get ‘em, Tiger!” She snarled to herself, and imitated the claw.

  She unmasked and again shouted “I love you Daddy!” She looked at the Stones, silently pleaded with them, then masked and quickly boarded the ship. There was something she had to do, in the next few minutes, or it would be too late.

  She hurried up to Poke’s cube. How she could ever hope that Poke would still be a friend to her was foolhardy, she told herself. You’ve done burnt that bridge to ashes. But she’s the only one on board who can help me in time.

  She took one hesitant step inside the cube and stopped. Poke was sitting curled up on the bedroll, eyes downcast, looking devastated. It took several seconds before she realized that she wasn’t alone. “Mother?”

  “Poke, I’m sorry for having mistreated you earlier — last night and this morning. I lashed out at you when you weren’t the one at fault. Will you forgive me?”

  “The Mother never apologizes. You need to learn that. We accept what she says and does to us.”

  “I wasn’t the Mother then, Poke. If I had been, I would never have spoken to you that way. Then again, I would never have been blindsided by what I had discovered.” She moved closer. “What’s wrong, Poke? You look like you’ve had your heart ripped out.”

  “It is nothing, Mother. I will get over it. I will abase myself now.” She swung her legs around and prepared to prostrate herself at Jennifer’s feet.

  “Poke, no. You don’t need to do that. And I don’t have the time. I need your help right now. Get up. I need to contact Myka’s mother right away, before anyone else does, and I don’t know how to do that. Hurry, please.”

  The alien stood and waved her arm in the air, which caused a virtual display to appear. She spoke a few words, and the picture flickered through three different faces before it stopped. “She will be connected in a moment, Mother. I will leave to give you privacy.”

  “No. I may need your help. I’m going to have to speak in Command to her. I need you to prompt me when I speak in the wrong voice.”

  “Mother, I cannot use the Command voice. To do so means death.”

  Jennifer’s face showed exasperation behind her mask. “I’m not going to kill you. Just prompt me with the suffixes. Please, Poke. It’s vitally important!”

  A new face appeared on the display. Sad eyes stared back at Jennifer. “It is true then. I could not understand why my symbiote changed color. I will make preparations.”

  “Hold, Mother. Although the symbiotes have declared that I am ready to act as Mother of the Empire, I know that I am not. I was counting on getting at least 3 to 5 years of training before the appointment was made. I am determined to get that training.” Jennifer switched to the Command voice. “Mother, I forbid you to go on your Last Hunt. I forbid you to kill yourself, or cause yourself any harm. You are to meet us at the landing pad. You will train me, and teach me, and guide me. You will assist me in the duties needed to protect our children.” She hoped her mother-in-law would notice the use of the plural possessive. She switched back to the Common voice. “I need you, Mother. The Empire needs you. If you follow tradition and kill yourself, then you put all of our children at risk. I cannot let you do that. Will you obey, Mother?”

  The eyes staring back at Jennifer brightened slightly. “I must. Just as your children have obeyed me for over 20 years, so I must obey you.”

  “I will ensure that you are still honored, Mother. Until I am ready, we will work as a partnership. As a team. You will continue to head the household. I will be a daughter to you, before I seek to elevate myself above you in the household and the family. And I will be a good daughter to you, Mother. That is my promise. And, I hope, a good student as well.” She switched back to Command. “You will wait five-hundredths before you contact the Emperor and let him know. Also, no one is to tell your son. I wish it to be a surprise for him, for when we arrive.”

  “I will obey, Daughter.” With that, Jennifer signalled Poke to sever the link.

  Jennifer heaved a sigh of relief. “I wasn’t sure that I would get a hold of her in time.” She paused and tried to listen to the noises of the ship. “When are we going to lift off?”

  “We already have, Mother. We will be docking with a light cruiser in about 10 of your minutes.”

  “I never noticed. How am I getting to Homeworld, and how are you getting to Paratanda?”

  “Those going to Homeworld will be transferred to this ship. It will be quite crowded. Those going elsewhere in the Empire will transfer to the cruiser. I will be staying on board.”

  “I thought that you were taking leave for Reflection?”

  Pokaifashta looked surprised. “My leave was revoked. I received word just prior to you entering my cube.”

  “I didn’t order it. You’re going home for Reflection, Poke. Myka already assigned you to be my assistant last week. Does that assignment apply now that I’m the Mother? If so, do you have my signing authority?” she used the English term. Poke did the affirmative gesture. Jennifer switched to Command again. “I order you to take leave for Reflection, and to make the necessary arrangements to get to Paratanda as close to on time as is possible.” She switched to English. “Will that work?”

  Poke’s face brightened. “Yes, Mother. That will be sufficient for me to reinstate my leave and my transport. Thank you Mother!” She started to drop to her knees again.

  “Please Poke, no. I may be the Mother for all the Wakira, but we are still sisters. I can’t bear the thought of my one and only friend among the Wakira having to prostrate herself at my feet. I need it to be just as it was before last night, two aliens bonded in friendship. When we’re alone together, we will speak in English and it’s Jenn and Poke. Only when we’re with others will we speak in the language and be Mother and subordinate. You promised me this before I joined with the symbiote.”

  Poke looked as though she had just been honored. “You are most generous. Jennifer. But I will have to abase myself sometime. I will be driven to do so. Compelled by forces inside me. It is this way with all the Wakira.”

  Jennifer huffed another sigh. “Then do it when you get back to Homeworld. In private. In my office, wherever the hell that is.” Will you still be my friend, Poke? After all the wicked things I said to you? “While en route to Paratanda, make whatever appointments you deem necessary for my staff. You know far more than I do. And, as soon as the time with your family for Reflection is over, please hurry back to me. I will feel lost without you being with me. I will be leaning heavily on your guidance, support and friendship.”

  “I will be there, at the start of day 1 of nineday 1.” She looked up at a chronometer. “If you intend to see the Emperor before his mate calls, you best hurry!”

  “Crap! I thought six minutes would be enough. Have a wonderful time with your family. Tell them that their new Mother gives them personal greetings.” She started to turn and stopped. “Ohhh. My bag! Can you make sure that it arrives with me at Homeworld?”

  “I will Jennifer. I thank you again for allowing
me time for Reflection. Now, hurry!”

  Jennifer raced down the corridors, down the lift and down the familiar corridor that led to Myka’s former office. “Greetings, male” she said to the sentry posted outside the door. “I will see the Emperor immediately.” He opened the door and stepped aside.

  The heads-up display told her the name and rank of the male in the office with the Emperor. She asked him to give her and the Emperor a couple of moments alone. Once he left, she made a point of switching to their Passive (almost submissive) voice. “Father, I apologize for any insult that what I will ask might cause. It is not intentional.” She switched to Dominant. “Have you carried out my instructions, Father?”

  “Yes, Daughter. The bombardment has been cancelled. The embassy has been staffed with a small group to begin with. Your species will be quarantined, and mentored.”

  Back to Passive. “I thank you, Father. I hated having to use that voice with you. It was the only thing I could think of to keep my species, and my children, from harm. I take my new role as Mother very seriously. And I promise you, Father, that I will be a good daughter to you, and will always be your servant.” A buzzer sounded and a new virtual display appeared. “Is it the palace?”

  He looked at her in surprise. “Yes, it is. How did you —?”

  “You will want to accept the communication, Father. Trust me. I hope to see you at evening meal, or morning meal, whichever the next meal will be.” She turned and left the office, but held the door partly ajar.

  “Beloved! I have not had the time to —. You already know? She spoke with you? Oh, Beloved, when her symbiote changed color my heart broke —. She what? Ohhh, this is marvellous news! I was sure that I would never breathe your scent again—! He’s not to know? Why?—”

  Jennifer closed the door. “Thank you, my son.”

  “It is my honor to serve you, Mother.”

  As she walked back down the corridor, her heads-up display directed her to her next destination. Once she arrived at the door, she hesitated and considered knocking, then realized how foolish that would be. She quietly opened the door, and slid inside the tiny room. He looked up at her but said nothing.

  She quietly walked over to the sleep platform that was next to the chair where he was sitting. “Why did you not come out onto the field?” she asked as she sat down.

  “You were right, Jennifer. I am a coward. I could not bear the thought of looking into your eyes, your face, and seeing the feeling of betrayal you would have felt, had Father decided to destroy your world. To spend my life without you would have been hard enough. To spend it knowing that you despised me would have been unbearable. So I stayed here, and hid. Now, your people are safe, and you are alive, and now I will feel that revulsion, that enmity from you for the rest of my life. As you once said to me as a joke, life sucks. The term does not translate at all, but I know what it is supposed to mean.”

  She patted him on his knee. “I don’t hate you, Myka. Our Father told me that you had argued strongly for keeping Terra unharmed. And my species unharmed. I misjudged you badly. I dishonored you badly. Worse than what you thought you had done to me, 5 weeks ago.” She reached over, gently cupped his chin, and forced him to look at her. “We’ll get through this somehow, Myka. Together, we can make this work. This is a tremendously sad day, for both of us. And I know that within minutes from now, I’m going to be crying yet again. Your thoughts are of your mother. Mine are of my father. Though still alive, I will never get to rest in his arms again. And, no doubt, you are feeling something similar. But life isn’t over for the both of us. It only seems that way. Together, we can make this work. Together, we can be happy once again. You must believe that, Beloved.” She unmasked, and let her scent drift his way. She patted the mat beside her. “You have waited long enough, my mate. Come, drink in my scent.”

  Slowly, he slid over to the spot, looked longingly into her eyes, then slowly buried his face into her hair. In seconds, she could hear cooing sounds. She put her right arm around him and held him close. As the knuckles of his right hand mindlessly started caressing her left cheek, she stared over his shoulder at the blank wall.

  Is this all I’ll have to look forward to?

  Year 3106, Reflection, Day 1

  2.39 (about 15 minutes before midday)

  Landing vehicle doh41792bah

  Jennifer was apprehensive as the landing craft descended through the atmosphere of Homeworld. She had no doubt that the ship was safe enough, and that the landing would be safe and gentle. It wasn’t the landing that was making her anxious. It was what was going to follow.

  “Daughter, I want to remind you that, until the scientists can determine what has happened, you will need to remain masked at all times, except when you are in your apartment in the palace, or in your main office complex. They have been fitted with the necessary air scrubbers to eliminate your pheromones from the air.”

  She looked at him through her mask. “I remember, Father. It’s probably a good thing to keep my face hidden — it will be enough of a shock to my children when they first see how short I am.” She looked at Myka. “Stocky?” she said in English. “Is there a word in the language for stocky?” After a brief exchange, the word with the closest meaning was determined.

  Less than 5 minutes until landing, her heads-up told her.

  “Father, what is the normal protocol for disembarking?”

  He was momentarily baffled by her question, then realized what she was probably going to do. “Normally, Daughter, the Emperor would disembark first, followed by the Mother, then any other members of the Imperial family, then any military personnel by rank. However, since this is your first time on Homeworld, you would be the first to disembark.”

  She hesitated briefly. Be the actress Barb always said you should have been! “Father, just this once, I would like to break with tradition. I would prefer that my mate disembark first, then you then me. Would this be acceptable to you?” Figure it out, Your Majesty! He’s got to see her first!

  He was pensive for a moment. “Very well. We will break with tradition this one time. Pup, you will disembark first.”

  Myka was perplexed. He looked at the both of them. His Father was practicing his inscrutable face, in time for that afternoon’s meeting with the Andante Vice-Chancellor. Jennifer was unreadable because of the mask. He stared at her, almost accusing her of being up to something. “I obey, Father.”

  “Good. That’s settled then,” the older male said. For the remaining seconds of the descent, they were silent.

  Touchdown was almost unnoticeable. As the ship lowered itself into its resting position, the three of them stood. Myka moved to the front of the line. “I am not understanding this,” he said aloud in English.

  “Work with me, Myka. Indulge me this one time.”

  The rear door opened and Myka walked down the short ramp to the landing pad. At the bottom of the pad, he stopped. He turned and looked back up the ramp at Jennifer, then looked across the pad again. Then at Jennifer once more. “Go to her, Beloved,” she told him. “She waits for you.” His face brightened, making him look like a young boy, and he ran across the pad, out of sight of his father and his alien mate.

  “I take it that that is what most males look like when they receive a gift?” she said, cheekily.

  “Only the younger ones, Daughter. The rest of us are much more reserved than that.” He stood in front of her and stared into the mask. “Thank you Jennifer, for this incredible gift. My father’s life was empty and miserable after my mother went on her Last Hunt. You have spared me much heartache.”

  “I could not let you, nor my mate, suffer because of what the symbiotes have decided. And I will need her help, Father. Help, and support, and teaching, and guidance, and I don’t know whatever else. So, all four of us benefit from this. It was a very easy gift to give.” She put her hand gently on his chest. “Go to her, Father. She waits for you too.” Without hesitation, he turned and walked briskly down the ramp and out o
f sight across the pad.

  She tried to rub her forehead, but couldn’t because of the mask. “Damn mask,” she cursed quietly. “I can’t play with my ponytail either.”

  She counted slowly to sixty, then threw her shoulders back and lifted up her chin. “Showtime again, Jenn,” she told herself. “Act like you own the place.” She walked slowly down the ramp and stood at its base. Across the pad from her, the three of them stood in a tight circle like a group hug. Right hands caressing the left cheeks of the person on the right, and left hands firmly placed on the calming spot on the left side of the back of the person on their left. “Welcome to your new family, Jenn.”

  She started striding across the pad to join them. Halfway across, one thought came into her mind…

  What have I gotten myself into?

  END