"Nothing so primitive." His grin was almost rakish as he enlightened her, "We have no fire. Didn’t you notice? Have not had fire on our planet since there was vegetation growing on the land." He swallowed his drink and put the container aside.
"Is that a fact? Then how do you heat things? Oh, I guess you use laser beams or suchlike."
"Something of the sort. You will see our furnaces when you visit the manufacturing plants."
"I can’t wait. And we’re getting away from the subject of punishment. So, tell me, what do you do? It would be hard to drown one of your lot, I guess."
"All right." His sigh was long-suffering. "I will explain, for I see you aren’t going to let the subject drop."
"Too right. I think you’ve kept enough from me already. I told your parents anything they asked, didn’t I? I think I have a right to know some of your customs and way of going on." Deep down she knew he didn’t have to tell her a thing if he didn’t want to.
His long legs shifted and he looked uncomfortable. It was so oddly out of character, she stared at him. He looked as if it was being dragged from him. "An implant is put into the offender’s brain during a minor medical procedure. All thoughts of rebellion are stemmed without violence and the offender is no wiser."
"No wiser? My God! And you reckon we’re primitive." Melanie was forced to wonder how many Amaryllisans walked around with their true natures stolen from them in this way.
"Very few," he said tightly, and she glowered at him.
"Oh, all right then. It’s only a few so it makes no difference their heads have been messed with. It’s totally barbaric. You meddle with a person’s brain? And what else is stemmed? Do you take away their reproductive organs if they don’t look as if they’ll have a normal baby? Do you operate if their ideas don’t come up to the council’s expectations of what good little Amaryllisans should behave like?" She was more shocked than she cared to admit. Until this bit of news she had really believed him about there being no crime. This was the worst crime against humanity of all.
"Fancy taking away a person’s right to freedom of speech," she spluttered. Somehow she felt betrayed, as if suddenly he was a complete stranger to her. Which he was, of course. She’d been kidding herself they were getting close. It was a good thing she’d learnt this now, before she convinced herself she was falling for him.
For a long moment he watched her, no doubt reading every little thought going through her confused brain.
"You have the completely wrong idea about this," he eventually said. "Very few people commit misdemeanors calling for such strict measures."
"So, what would be your idea of a dire crime calling for such an abominable punishment?" she asked belligerently.
He sighed. "The male you saw with the head plate for instance, had taken another’s life."
"He’s a murderer, you mean? I thought you had none of that sort of thing here."
"Normally we don’t. But as you said earlier, no civilization is perfect. Every now and then, perhaps once a megnum a… I’m not sure what you would call it, malfunction is the nearest I can find to explain, happens."
"You mean they have a glitch in their brain. Like they’re a screw loose?"
"I cannot imagine what you mean by this, but suppose you mean they are not as intelligent as the rest of us. Yes. Most have the operation because they do something to endanger the lives of the population."
"And who did that man kill? His lover, or his child?"
"He took the life of a boy. Normally he would have been exterminated, but because of this…glitch, as you call it, he was allowed to live. After the operation life goes on normally for these offenders, except the aggressive and adverse instincts are removed from the person’s brain. They can live normal lives."
"Normal, as in like robots?" she queried tartly. Exterminated! Good God, this was becoming more like a sci-fi movie every minute.
Obviously tired of the conversation, he got up, leaving her there, chewing on a nail, while he mounted the spiral staircase. At the top he stopped to glance down on her and then he disappeared into his room.
Nothing he’d said had allayed her fears. If anything she was now more frightened than before. Here she was stuck on this godforsaken planet with no means of getting home without Reve’s help. Supposing he got the idea into his head to do away with her. There was every chance once he’d picked her brain, found out everything he wanted to know of Earth, he would exterminate her.
With a small wail, she put her head in her hands. Why in hell had she decided to go along with this charade?
"Because the alternative was being murdered by a mobster," he said in a calm level voice, as clearly as if he was standing beside her.
Melanie jumped up, staring about her. He wasn’t in sight. "How did you do that?" she yelled.
"No need to raise your voice, Mel-aanie, don’t forget it hurts my ears," he chided. "I can hear you even if you do not voice your anxieties. Face up to it, I know your every thought, can read your mind."
"Well, I wish to blazes you’d get your nose out of my head right now." With her hands pressed to her ears she looked up to the balcony.
"I’m afraid it’s impossible. Soon you will be able to read my thoughts just as well." There was a short silence. "Give it a try now. Let us see if you have yet gained your insight."
Melanie shivered. This was so weird. The man was out of sight and talking to her as if they were side by side.
"Never!" she shouted.
"You are hurting my ears again by speaking in such a high volume," he muttered.
"What did you say?" she asked quietly.
Then it hit her. He hadn’t muttered it at all, yet the thought had clearly gone through her mind.
"I said I wish you did not have to shout, Earth woman. My ears cannot take it."
She whispered, "I’ve no desire to learn the thoughts of an alien."
"It cannot be changed." She thought she heard a soft chuckle. "From now on I will have to watch what I think. My days of peace and tranquility are numbered."
"You can say that again, mister." Melanie prowled about as she tried to take in this new development. Something told her she had a long way to go before she could read any thoughts he wished to conceal from her. "Perhaps you might see fit to send me back to Earth now, if you’re so worried about me picking your mind."
"Soon we will go. Come now, get refreshed and I will continue with your tour. How would you like to see the glass houses where we cultivate our crops? Then we might fit in a visit to one of the communal houses so you can assure yourself our children are not being brought up like robots."
"I’d like that." Melanie couldn’t suppress a giggle. Frightening it might be, and a trifle bewildering, but this thought transference business sure had a lot going for it. Now he came to mention it, the idea of knowing just a few of his thoughts made her tingle with expectation. Her heart lightened again.
She was sure she heard him groan loudly, and mutter something about nosy women. Inside her head.
Eleven
Melanie stripped and then stretched out beneath the light blanket. Why hadn't she tried this nude stuff before? More to the point, why hadn’t Chris suggested it? It had never occurred to her to wonder why he always pulled on his pajama pants and she’d automatically slipped into a nightgown after sex. So many changes in her life. This was just a very minor one, but a pertinent one nonetheless.
She wiggled her toes and yawned. No sense in trying to work it out now. She closed her eyes and placed her hand beneath her head. As tired as she was, sleep wouldn’t come easily. So many new experiences and exciting things had happened to her this day. Far too many to digest.
Reve had taken her to see the training establishments as promised. One for the five to ten year olds, and one for the over ten students. The kids all seemed happy enough, if one could term their rather sedate and serious attitude as happiness. They were so intense, and obviously didn’t know what it meant to play. Life was al
l lessons and practice. They were all dressed in similar outfits to the adults--the only concession to their immaturity being bare feet. She hadn’t known what to expect, in fact had feared she would see clones of some current child star. But they all looked like the average child one saw on the street. Too much like an average kid from the Sydney streets. Melanie guessed Irena must have implanted an image of some kid she’d seen in the park or somewhere. Their stares were inquisitive as she was introduced as the visitor from Earth.
Melanie had chuckled. She could imagine a group of Australian children just staring in curiosity if an extra terrestrial had been brought into a classroom. Pandemonium would break out. It was also reassuring in a way. If they weren’t terrified of her then she couldn’t look so different to them.
Once they turned ten, they went into instruction houses. These were similar places to the universities on Earth, but the subjects taught here were far more diverse and the training intense. The young Amaryllisans were trained to be instructors, pilots, food and water analysts, among many other highly skilled tasks. Once finished they were ready to go straight into their chosen fields. No extra curricular lessons. They certainly didn’t have a student’s union and wouldn’t think of going on a march in defiance of authority.
The introduction here brought forth a different response. These older students were inquisitive, but in a more serious vein. Their questions were intense and probing. It brought home to Melanie just how true Reve’s words were. These Amaryllisans were so far ahead of her in the brains department it was humiliating. Most of the instruction was done through video type lessons or with a personal trainer.
"Can I see one of your hospitals?" she’d asked Reve when they emerged, her head whirling from the training establishment.
"Hospital?" He’d stared hard at her. "There are no such places here. We have no sicknesses to keep a patient in bed. Any wounds sustained are treated with what you call laser surgery. Any infections are instantly halted." He pointed to his wristband. "Our compu-bands are programmed to repair minor wounds or illnesses."
"Can I see where you perform the laser surgery then?" she asked, and he’d taken her to a transparent dome reminding her of a huge humicrib. There were portholes in the side where the doctor, or whatever they called him, put his arms to operate the knobs controlling the laser.
"Come, I will show you our store," he’d said then, and she’d expected to be taken to his idea of a shop. This misapprehension had soon been shattered. When he slid back the door, they were in what must be a refrigerated building for it was freezing inside.
"We have parts for all the body’s main organs kept here," he said proudly.
"My God, you have body parts stored here?" she’d squeaked, earning a peculiar glance from the Amaryllisan in charge. "It’s like the story of Frankenstein." Melanie shuddered at the thought, imagining what some freaks at home would do with this technology.
"Frankenstein?" Reve questioned, giving her a funny look as he read her thoughts.
"I assure you the organs and limbs are taken from deceased Amaryllisans," he said gravely. "Then, only the perfect parts are kept and re-used."
She'd seen a man on the news before she left home who'd had an operation to give him a dead man's arms. "Well, I guess we’ll be doing exactly the same thing in the not too distant future. Already we use organs, and limbs, but only when the person has just died. We don't store parts like this." Another shudder ran through her as she glanced to the many-labeled compartments, some tiny, some fairly large.
"Ah, so you are not so far behind us after all, perhaps only a few centuries."
"I guess not. And we do store embryos and have sperm banks, now I come to think about it. What about the women when they give birth? If there are no hospitals, and hence no maternity wards, where do they have their babies?"
"A skilled medico delivers all infants in the familiar surroundings of the females’ home," he explained. "The baby is born within a few moments of the mother getting her first signs of the impending delivery."
Melanie stared at him in amazement. "All of them?"
"Of course. Our women gave up enduring the pains of childbirth many megnums ago. Why would they suffer when it can be performed painlessly?"
"Why indeed? And how come the medico is there when the woman only has such short notice?"
He glanced at her as if her query was idiotic. "The birth is timed to the exact moment, of course."
"Of course." No messing around with wrong diagnosis dates and mixed up days of when you conceived here.
Now Melanie yawned again and turned onto her side as her eyelids drooped.
~ * ~
Reve walked over to stand by the sleeping couch. For a while he watched Mel-aanie as she slept. Every now and then she made a small snuffling noise at the back of her throat which reminded him of a child engrossed in dreams. Although an intriguing creature, she had the innocence of a babe.
But she was most certainly no minor. How she had questioned and probed during their whirlwind tour. No, her mind was alert, her senses sharp, and her reflexes astonishingly quick.
He hadn’t known what to expect these Earth people to be like from the reports brought back. He’d expected a lower form of life. This woman was definitely a surprise, and a pleasant one. And undeniably a revelation. Doubtless, from what she’d said, many other Earthmen and women differed in uncountable ways. Irena had chosen well. His parents had been equally enamored too. Their thought patterns had shown how they shared his view. Here was a person who was quick-witted and complex.
"Mel-aanie." He said her name in her head and she rolled her shoulders and muttered indistinctly in her sleep. It sounded like his name, which pleased him inordinately.
Nothing on Amaryllis would prevent him sharing his body with her this night. His senses had been heightened and his awareness of her attributes strengthened with each passing moment.
"Reve." There was no doubt it was his name now uttered on a breathless sigh.
Taking her small sigh and the soft curve of her mouth as a sign of her acceptance, Reve bent to remove the covering from her body and eased it down so his eyes could feast on every delectable part of her slowly. Stretching every limb with a sensuous invitation, she made no move to conceal herself but held out an arm in welcome.
With a sigh of his own, Reve sank onto the couch beside her and his fingers smoothed over her curves as he tangled his legs with hers. With a mumbled word of acceptance, she put her small hand on his chest and stroked until his breath caught somewhere inside his chest cavity.
"I wish to try this kissing again," he told her, his mouth hovering above the pink lips that pouted and beguiled.
"Oh yes." The pout changed to a sultry smile of invitation.
His mouth covered hers. Who was doing the seducing here? With a sigh of contentment she opened for him, and he tasted again the wondrous delights she offered, while their limbs tangled and their hands continued to roam over every accessible part of each other’s skin. The passion rose in him and his whole being began to throb and hum.
"Again," she prompted, when he pulled back a fraction to test her awareness.
"Yes, of course," he agreed with a small chuckle, soon changed to a groan when her lively fingers massaged the curve of his back before ending up on the mound of his seat. "To satisfy your every wish is all I live for."
Her answering smile drove him on, and with his tongue he delved deep, savoring, learning her shape, her taste. With each thrust of his tongue, she writhed beneath him and emitted small sounds that threatened to drive him to a savagery he knew he must contain.
Reve had known more than a few females in his time--willing Amaryllisan women who knew every facet of passion from an early age. Knew instinctively how to please the male they were with at that particular time. Pleasure could be gained on many levels using sensory perception. But this Earth woman brought forth feelings in him he had never experienced before. While she satisfied his lust, she also satisfied s
ome deep-seated hunger, which until now he hadn’t even thought of.
With a deep stroke of his tongue, he took her over the edge; but this time he went with her and found a stunning release that took the breath from his body.
By the Great Bodka, she was like a spirit from the fabled gods, luring him on, bewitching him. Taking a moment to regain his regular breathing and to recapture some of his equanimity, he watched her as she trembled in the aftermath of her release, while small panting sounds came from her exquisite mouth.
Murmuring words of reassurance, he turned her onto her stomach in one easy movement then began to lick his way down her spinal column. "So tasty, so delectable." He delighted in her immediate response as she hunched her shoulders and moved about restlessly, while letting out more of those soft purring sounds.
"Reve."
"Yes, my sweet one?" He had reached the top curve of her bottom and while he stroked her legs with his hands, he continued on his journey with his tongue.
"That’s so nice," she whispered, a note in her voice assuring him she was as highly charged as he. "It drives me crazy."
"It does?" he said, feeling more intensely aroused at her declaration than he could ever recall feeling. "I’m so glad you like it, Mel-aanie. For I intend to taste every small indentation, every tiny mound, and every curve. And also each and every delicious one of these fine hairs covering a skin as soft as the petals of the meuri flower." With his nose he caressed her back and traced each small indentation as he had with his tongue. The aroused sound of pleasure she made had his own pelt standing on end.
A ripple ran through him, similar to a soft breeze sweeping over water. But this was full of sensual delight, firing his passion to greater heights. If he wasn’t careful with her he could easily frighten her by this savage hunger engulfing him.
"I wish to touch you too," she murmured in such a beguiling way it stirred his blood until it ran like a fiery heat through his veins.
Drawing a deep breath he said against her shoulder, "Then you must have your wish." Reve turned her with one of his hands on her hip and the other on her shoulder. "Give me your hand and I will show you where I wish you to begin your exploration."
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