Oasis of Eden

by deGrey, Genella

  Jade disregarded the server’s strangled cough. The tone of Ageit’s voice was probing, but since Eli had said he was an old friend, she figured she could trust him. “Can you perhaps tell me what Zsa-ninah means?”

  Ageit’s face looked as if it would crack off, his smile went so wide. “Zsa-ninah is an endearment of sorts—it can also be a name a man calls a woman with whom he is considering forming a monogamous bond. It would be quite another story, let me tell you,” he chuckled, “if a man called you ‘Ninah’, which means one of many wives.”

  At once, Jade’s glass tipped over, dousing the front of her gown with water. “Oh!” She stood quickly and tried unsuccessfully to avoid the puddle. “Is there a towel—”

  She looked up at the server and stopped short. Havliah stared down at her with malice blazing in her eyes.

  A hand encircled Jade’s wrist. Compelled to sidestep away from Havliah, she came to a stop and glanced at her savior. It was Ageit who had pulled her from harm’s way.

  His gaze bored into to Havliah’s. “Have you gone stupid, then?”

  Avoiding the angered banter between Ageit and Havliah, Jade glanced down at the front of her dress. She frowned hoping Tar-Quinia wouldn’t think she’d treated her new clothes so carelessly on purpose.

  Jade practically jumped out of her skin when Havliah dropped the glass pitcher at Ageit’s feet. It had smashed into dozens of pieces when it hit the hard-packed ground.

  “I understand,” Ageit said with distain, “that the Omari has already banished you. I think it would be wise of you to leave this very minute.”

  A hiss escaped Havliah’s lips. She turned and lifted her fist to Jade, who stood wide-eyed and frozen to the spot. The hand stopped in mid-air. It was Eli who yanked Havliah’s wrist and twisted it behind her back.

  “You’ll never learn, will you?” Eli growled at Havliah. “Do not finish serving for Me-Ma. Leave Omari Amun, now.” He escorted her all the way to the entrance and shoved her outside.

  Regaining her senses, Jade noticed that the tent had gone silent as a tomb. Her gaze found Eli’s.

  “Are you hurt?”

  She swallowed. “No, only my gown…” She looked down and lifted the soaked fabric away from her skin.

  “Fear not, my dear,” Ageit patted her shoulder. “Why don’t both of you come to my tent. It’s closer than the Omari’s. We can dry it for you there.”

  Eli nodded, snaked an arm around her waist and guided her forward. Following Ageit, they took the serving entrance and headed for his tent.

  Chapter Ten

  “Ah, my humble tent.” Ageit held the flap of fabric aside for her and Eli. Once they were all inside, he lit a lamp then handed Eli a stack of folded cloth. “Help her, Omari. She seems so distraught.”

  Ageit turned his back to them and busied himself with straightening things around the room.

  Eli knelt at her feet, and Jade looked around. The place reminded her of her father’s former study. Every surface was covered with dusty old junk and papers and half-empty crates. What was it about scientists and archeologists that caused them to never throw anything away?

  Her thoughts were sidetracked when Eli lifted the skirt of her gown with one hand and slipped a drying towel inside with the other. His knuckles grazed the front of her upper legs, and his eyes took on a playful twinkle. Jade returned his look with a hot one of her own. Dropping her hem, Eli grasped another towel and pressed the wet fabric between the two folded ones. The back of his warm hand nudged the juncture of her thighs.

  “You make my kitty purr,” she whispered to him.

  Slowly Eli licked his lips, and Jade almost lost her balance. She reached out to a nearby table corner to steady herself.

  By the time Eli was finished drying the front of her dress, it seemed the moisture had seeped into other, more intimate places. Jade’s breath left her lungs. She couldn’t wait until the feast came to an end, and she was back in Eli’s tent sprawled across his pillows—

  “So.” Ageit turned back to Jade and Eli. “While you are here, would you like to see how far I’ve progressed with the room, Omari?”

  “Have you finished, Ageit? It’s been a good year or so since I’ve seen what you were proposing to do.”

  “I have finished!” he said with fervor. “You will be so astonished.”

  “It works then?”

  Jade detected a bit of skepticism in Eli’s voice.

  “Of course it works! They said it would, had you any doubts?”

  “Well, you have to admit—”

  Ageit turned to Jade. “Let me explain. It will take your mind off your troubles. Do sit down. Here, I shall clear a spot for you.” With a sweep of his hand, he pushed a pile of junk from atop a tall, fluffy, red cushion.

  Jade thanked him, and Eli joined her upon the pillow. “This story is amusing,” he whispered to her loud enough for Ageit to hear as well.

  “Have I ever told you a falsehood, Elydian?”

  Elydian slid a glance to Jade then turned back to Ageit. “Tall tales are your specialty.”

  Ageit cleared his throat, ignoring Elydian’s verbal barb. “They came—no, I must go farther back. It was about thirty years ago when they first came to me.”

  Eli interrupted. “Wait. You’d better tell her who came to you.”

  “Yes, of course. The Planetarians.”

  “The Planetarians?” Jade repeated, unsure if she’d heard him right or not.

  “Yes. They came in peace, you see. Always in peace. They are even responsible for the language we now speak. Their mission was to unite biologically compatible beings, connecting them across the galaxies. In their world, there existed strife, prejudice—which, in the opinion of the Planetarians, was fear-induced. Sadly, their government found out what they were trying to accomplish, and after their last visitation five years ago, they were forced to destroy the only doorway they had created connecting their planet to ours. If they hadn’t, they would’ve put us all in danger. I, however, under the Planetarians direction, I have completed another doorway.”

  “Where have I heard this tune before?” She hadn’t meant to say the thought aloud. “Ageit, can you show me your doorway?”

  Before Ageit could respond, a loud roar erupted in the direction of the feast tent.

  Eli jumped up. “Can your story wait just a little while longer?” he asked, almost giddy. “It’s time!”

  “Yes, yes. Go on then.” Ageit waved a hand at Eli.

  “Come on, it’s starting!” Eli took Jade by the hand and pulled her out of the tent.

  Even though Jade found his enthusiasm charming, her thoughts whirled as she tried to remember where she’d heard Agiet’s story before.

  Eli came to a stop at the edge of camp. “Look to the sky, Jade!”

  Jade glanced up. A huge full moon glowed so bright it looked almost smooth and white.

  She blinked once.

  She blinked again.

  The moon was in the process of an eclipse. But that wasn’t the actual phenomenon. There was another, slightly smaller moon behind it, and they were separating.

  “Eli—” she whispered as she stared at the moons.

  He didn’t answer.

  “Eli?”

  “Yes?” he replied without looking at her.

  She struggled for breath. “What do you call this place?”

  “Hm? This place?”

  “This…this planet?”

  “Eden, of course. Why?”

  Jade felt what little air she’d obtained exit her lungs. “Eli.” She swallowed over a dry throat. “I am not from here. My planet is called,” her voice faltered, and she worked through a strangled cough, “Earth.”

  “Earth—?”

  Unable to form a coherent reply, she nodded, her gaze fixed on the moons.

  The grip they’d had on one another’s hands slipped away, and each of them took a single step in the opposite direction.

  On the verge of tears and unable to stand the
re watching something she shouldn’t even be privy to, she practically ran back to Ageit’s tent. Her mind jumbled explanations and scenarios of what exactly was going on here. She remembered the glyphs back at the dig: Beings from the sky, visitations, travelers, doorways—

  Doorways!

  “Ageit!” She called and burst into the tent at the same time.

  “Oh! My dear, you startled me.”

  “I’m sorry, I—”

  “Are you tired of watching separations, as I am? Really, I could find much better ways to spend my time. My father always said—”

  “Ageit, I’m so sorry to interrupt, and I’m sure I’d be happy to chat with you another time—but there’s some information I need from you.”

  “Yes, yes. Anything for you. What information are you—”

  “I need to see your doorway. Right now… I mean—” She really needed to slow down or she’d run mad. “I mean as soon as you can show it to me.”

  He smiled. “Scientifically minded, are you?”

  She should lie and make him feel comfortable. But for heaven’s sakes, this was not the time for deception, no matter how well-intended. “Not really, no. I think—” She spun away from him, took a few steps forward and then turned back. “I think I’ve fallen through your doorway by accident.”

  Ageit laughed at her statement. “Impossible, my dear. My artifacts are askew, and besides, you’d have to have to be wearing these to do that.” He reached into a box and pulled out a pair of gold wrist cuffs, roped edges and a winged sun decorating each one.

  Jade held her fist high in the air and yanked a ruffled cuff down her arm, revealing one of the bracelets she’d gotten from Dr. Harper’s find.

  A masculine intake of air caused her to glance at the entrance to Ageit’s tent. Eli stood just inside, staring at her wrist. Shame washed over her, an emotion she thought she’d left behind as a young girl. Jade lowered her arm.

  “I’ll go and prepare the doorway,” Ageit said quietly and then ducked into the next room.

  She turned to face Eli.

  “Is this true? You really aren’t from Eden?”

  “I know I’m not.” Jade drew her bottom lip between her teeth. What would he think of her now?

  “That’s why we couldn’t find—”

  “My camp. Yes.”

  “But how? When?”

  “It must have happened that first night I came to Omari Amun. And I’m still unclear as to how it transpired. I knew things were screwy, but I didn’t know to what extent.” She wrapped her arms around herself, searching for some sort of comfort. “And Ageit just mentioned that his artifacts were askew. That must be why I landed in the middle of the desert and didn’t enter through his tent in the first place,” she murmured, mostly to herself.

  He fell silent, and the guilt shook her to the core. “Eli, I’m sorry. Had I known—”

  “Don’t.” He took a step toward her.

  She moved to close the distance but stopped about a foot short of him. Neither of them attempted an embrace, even though Jade’s body practically cried out for him to hold her in his strong arms.

  Finally, he broke the awkward silence. “I’m sorry if I hurt you.”

  Jade shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. You didn’t hurt me, not remotely.”

  “But you said you don’t consummate…and I—”

  “I’ll be fine, Eli. Truly.” She had no idea how to reassure him of this—or herself, for that matter.

  He nodded, and his gaze lowered to the carpeted floor of the tent. The silence thickened between them once again. Oh, Poolie, what a mess. In her wildest fantasies, she’d never thought she’d have sex with an alien from another planet. It was enough to give her the heebie-jeebies for a good ten years. But now, as said alien stood before her, it didn’t seem to matter to her all that much. Of course, what he thought of her was a different matter all together.

  She startled when he finally spoke.

  “I guess this is the reason I didn’t know what you were saying half the time.”

  Jade laughed or sobbed or something. She felt tears coming on, but she refused to shed them.

  “Jade, listen—”

  “I have some thinking to do, you don’t mind if I scram for a while, do you?”

  He wanted so badly to be there for her, but she was likely to refuse. He’d have to give her the space she’d requested for now. “N-no. Not at all. Please use my tent. I will give you your privacy.”

  Jade nodded and headed in the direction of his tent.

  Elydian ran a hand through his hair. What must she be going through? He couldn’t imagine how he’d handle the news Jade had received tonight. The need to protect her nearly overwhelmed him.

  For the first time in his life, he’d lost his enthusiasm to watch the moons. Determined to give Jade a full night and day to process her plight, he sat down, intending to stay in Ageit’s tent until the following evening when he made the announcement of his choice for the games for the Omari-Nah Champion Competition.

  Elydian looked up as Ageit entered. “Are you two ready to see the doorway?”

  “I’m afraid that will have to wait for a more fortuitous occasion.” He hadn’t meant to be cryptic, but he didn’t have the strength to let Ageit in on Jade’s secret. Besides, that was her decision to make as to who knew and who didn’t.

  “Oh, very well then. Perhaps another time.” Ageit seemed crest-fallen.

  “Are you up for a guest for one night, my friend?”

  “Did you have a lover’s tiff with that pretty young thing?” Ageit tilted his head and chuckled.

  Elydian sighed. “Something like that.”

  “Of course you can stay. Consider my humble tent yours.”

  Elydian nodded and reclined onto the red cushion he and Jade had occupied earlier.

  “So.” Elydian knew by the tone of Ageit’s voice that he was trying to lighten the mood. “Have you chosen our representative for the games?”

  “I have. I will be announcing it tomorrow night.”

  “I know how you love to wait until the very last minute, but come now. Give me a tiny hint.”

  His friend’s attempt wasn’t helping. “Ageit, you know as well as I that if I tell you, everyone in camp will have heard by the time I officially make the announcement.”

  “I had to try, you know.” Ageit gave Elydian a guilty grin. He turned and disappeared into the next room.

  Elydian scraped his hands down his face. “Jade, my Zah-ninah” he murmured, the pain for both himself and for her ground in his throat like gravel beneath a boulder.

  * * * *

  Elydian had hardly slept that day. The combination of the heat of Ageit’s tent and his concern about Jade kept his body and mind in constant occupation. The sun had finally set and the entire camp had gathered once again, this time to hear their Omari’s choice of representatives for the Omari-Nah Champion Competition. As an unmarried Omari, he must choose from among the women of his camp to compete in the games. It was an honor to be chosen, but there was danger as well. Many had been maimed or even killed, so fierce were the competitors and their desire to win.

  He watched as Jade made her way to Me-Ma and sat beside her, only nodding her greeting. Elydian’s chest constricted. Her eyes were swollen a bit, likely from crying, but she held her head high. As if Me-Ma could sense something was amiss, she put her arm around Jade’s shoulders. Me-Ma was invaluable to him.

  He stood and cleared his throat. “As is our tradition, it is my honor to reveal the name of this year’s competitor for the Omari-Nah Champion Competition.”

  A stir of excitement pulsed through the crowd, and he continued. “Tar-Quinia, will you please step forward.”

  “Just a moment, if you please.” A voice shouted from the very back of the gathering.

  Faster than a blink of an eye, Jade watched Eli’s face grow dark. She could have sworn a scowl marred his chiseled features before his countenance returned to a pleasant look. St
raitening, Jade followed his gaze to the crowd. Lothar-Canute strode toward Eli, a smug look on his face.

  All of Omari Amun went silent.

  “I bring you greetings from Anuk-dye, my Omari.” He bowed to Eli.

  Eli nodded. “Thank you, Lothar. How was your journey?”

  Jade couldn’t wait to hear what the self-important man, who normally didn’t venture further than the edge of camp, had to say.

  Lothar took a deep breath through his nose before he spoke. “Tedious.” Then he grinned. “But I’ve come bearing a great surprise for you.”

  “Indeed? Again, I thank you.” Jade could hear the skepticism in Eli’s voice.

  The creep glanced about as if to make sure he had then entire camp’s attention, and then puffed out his chest. “I have arranged a journey to Anuk-dye for you to attend the Omari-nah Champion Competition. I have even included in the gift our camp’s Omari-nah’s contestant fee into the games.” He glanced over his shoulder at Jade. “I’m certain our newest member of Omari Amun, the beautiful Jade, would be most honored to compete.”

  Jade’s stomach clenched. She’d never been very good at athletics.

  Eli tried to interrupt. “Lothar—”

  Lothar held up his hand, effectively silencing Eli. “Since she was such a late entrant, and because I, her sponsor, am affiliated with the judges, she’ll be able to choose the competition in which she will participate before they set the permanent slates.”

  Jade heard Eli’s sharp intake of breath and knew she had no choice in this matter if she wanted to support Eli’s efforts to remain the Omari.

  * * * *

  This was not a gift. It was a death sentence.

  Jade was fragile—small in comparison to the females on Eden. She knew nothing of their history, nor did she have enough experience with the people of Eden to be familiar with their traditions.

  Elydian forced himself to smile. “Lothar, what a generous gift—but I’m afraid it’s too late. We would need to arrange transportation for both of us and—”

  “I have already considered the time, Omari. I have a litter waiting at the edge of camp to carry you and Jade to your destination.”