by M. Modak
Yrrep told his new friend about his home world. He shared how all the plants and animals including the elves, humans and other sentient creatures got along together without eating each other. It was different here, to say the least. At home every creature, but the Red Dragons, regarded you as a visitor, and to most, you were an honored guest. Even the more serious creatures and people who guarded their borders and customs allowed anyone to pass, though a, “guide” followed you. Nearly all of life there was united by the common experience and understanding ̶ we all live ̶ and certain tolerances were made for outsiders who did not understand their ways. For them, it could be no other way; we are all one.
The dolphin thought he was crazy because he loved hunting and eating fish. However, he liked Yrrep and helped him navigate through the many offshoots through Colombia leading to the most northern point where the last outlet began. When he exited the waterway, Yrrep bowed deeply to the dolphin and thanked him with a song his children use to sing to the wales late at night. Then he departed silently into the night in search of a place to sleep.
He had made it as far north into Columbia as the waterways would take him. Maps showed a more direct route from Peru to Panama along the Andes Mountains, but traveling over mountains was difficult, even for him, and the constant use of energy needed to protect everything living he touched sapped his strength.
That night, after running thru thick jungle, he found a tree suitable for sleeping in. Drained from elevating himself just above the foliage’s braking point, he fell into a deep sleep the moment he closed his eyes. Back home there would have been a team of elves specially trained and conditioned for a trek into the woods like this, all combining their powers to accomplish the task, but now he was alone.
In the middle of the night, a scratch across his shoulder startled him awake! With a burst of energy, he literally flew up in the air cracking his head against a thick branch hard enough to cause him to see lights before falling back onto his limb. He heard gasps from several people below though for now he was more concerned with the throbbing coming from his head. Luckily, he had a thick skull.
When he had regained his senses, he noticed that he was being watched by a gathering of little men, all naked but for a small covering around their waist, and they were all smiling. He climbed down, careful not to startle the tiny people who had successfully snuck up on him, a rare feat, and he introduced himself.
Both he and these people were used to communicating with strangers who did not speak their language. After a few minutes he understood that they believed him to be a dolphin-angel or a kind of little god that had come from the river to mate with their women. They had heard his song to the dolphin, and when they had followed him, they saw him glowing softly every time he touched anything living. And, he had just levitated, out of pure shock, ten feet up into the air, he had not jumped; they were sure of it.
He did everything he could to assure them that he was neither a god or angel, but it wasn’t until he showed them the scratch they had made on his left shoulder that they started to believe he was real. However, all his efforts failed when moments of intense scrutiny exposed his secret. To them, he was a supernatural being. His cut had healed before their eyes!
“What did he eat?” they wanted to know, “what did he drink? Would he take one of their women as his mate, just for the night?”
He told them, as best he could, that he was from another world and required no food or substance, only the light from the sun, but he did need water. On occasion, his tribe would throw a banquet and serve juice from fruit that had fallen off the most honored trees in all the land. They would sing, danced and drink residue from mind enhancing roots mixed in the water; and the young ones would eat from TOL.
“The reason,” he explained, “I need no food is because by the age of fifty, after a creature has consumed a regular diet of TOL’s fruit, only sunlight and water are needed to sustain anyone from then on. My body can easily convert light into enough power to do work.” He suspected that in time he might need to add a partial diet of fruit juice to supplement what nature could not supply here.
“And I have wives… I love them and none else.” He said as he shook his head politely.
They brought their wide-eyed women anyway, “Your women are so far away,” they said, “We want god children!”
After that, he leaped straight up so fast that he was sure they thought he had just disappeared. In the distance, he could hear them shouting in confusion and then a search party formed, but within moments, he was miles away.
That night, before falling asleep he checked the jungle everywhere for possible intruders. When satisfied he selected another tree, with ample head clearance incase escape was imminent, and he fell into a deep sleep and dreamed of his first wife and all his family.
The next day he entered a small town south of the Panama Canal. The light road he had been following converged there with other light roads looking like a spider web overhead that stretched across the sky and disappeared into the horizon.
The further north he traveled the more diverse the species of humans became. More people meant more chances for discovery. When he entered the city, he moved only at night and he stuck to the deep shadows. There had to be a better way to blend in.
He approached a large area surrounded by a bulky metal net that had sharp blades on top. In the middle sat an enormous flat building that was almost square. On his way here, he had passed several other structures that looked the same as this one. Some were in cities while others sat alone as the only sign that civilized humans had traveled that deep into the jungle.
He would have passed this building too but earlier he had seen a truck delivering packages of materials- clothes! This was not a problem at home; everyone was naked. He hated stealing. The very idea of taking something his tribe had not produced, without giving something in return and without even a thank you was outside his character; but what choice did he have. Freshly fallen leaves, strung together with dead vines would no longer be acceptable. There were too many people. He believed that the service he was providing to this world, and all life, could be considered just compensation for the work it took to make the uniform he needed, but he wasn’t going to be able to explain that to anyone soon.
He jumped the fence and landed in the shadows near the corner of the building where the truck had parked. He took two steps and an alarm sounded! Warriors of all sizes, dressed in black, came flooding out of the door closest to him; he counted 35 before he decided to act. They were trying to surround him. They all carried fire sticks, which humans called guns. He understood now that guns hurled small metal projectiles nearly as fast as he could move. These fire sticks looked bigger and were possibly more powerful than the small one fired at him days ago by a hunter.
He needed clothes bad, but fighting anyone much less all these worriers was not worth it. He was ready to leap away when a whole section of the wall behind him rapidly rolled up like a great scroll. He turned and saw her, the woman he had battled the first night he had come here. She was standing alone, holding a different kind of gun. She was partially dressed in a black tightly fitting top and skirt, and she had tied back her long black hair.
He now knew that her features were that of a different kind of human, ones who did not live in this part of the world.
In a flat tone she whispered, “I am under control. You cannot forgive me.”
Light erupted from her gun and like before he tried to out-move the small piece of flying metal, only what struck him was not metal. He felt a scorching heat tear into his chest as if a bolt of lightning had struck him! He took two steps, still intending to leap away, but he lost consciousness before his body hit the ground.
7 Entangled
Universe XJ824
September/7/2035
5:00pm
“Honey I got the Job!” Joshua shouted into the air as he walked through his apartment’s front door.
“That’s great baby! I knew the
re was something different about this interview,” her voice came from the other end of the apartment beyond the partially closed bedroom door. “I have something special for you, waiting in here,” she said in a singsong voice.
Joshua quickly walked toward the bedroom, stopping briefly to hang his bags on the back of the dining room chair, reached for the door and slowly pushed it open. Rana lay on the bed with only a black silk top on that stopped just below her exposed waist. He barely noticed that her long black hair was wet and her skin glowed. He did not see the open flames dancing on scented candles or hear the romantic music playing softly in the background. The hunger in her eyes caught him off guard. He saw the heat in her stare and it took his breath away. He forgot his day with Michael and Anna, his new job or dinner tonight. He took off his clothes and walked to the bed, taking her in his arms. They stared into each other’s eyes for a long moment lost in the wonder of their love before he kissed her passionately. “I love you,” he said.
“I love you,” she moaned.
Forgetting everything, they made love. Time was not important in their embrace only the touch of each other’s skin, the feel of each other’s tongue and the sound of their breathing that had meaning. Their lovemaking was violent then tender and without restraint. A kiss became a bite and a gentle whisper was sometimes a command. They rolled over each other, submitted to and then dominated each other. And after an eternity, they both climaxed and fell into the sheets, exhausted from their labors. For a long time they just lay on their backs panting and staring at the ceiling.
After several more minutes passed, Joshua sat up on one elbow and said, “Honey, I got the job. There starting me at 90,000 credits a year, but I’ll get a 10,000 credit raise added to my pay each month for the first year, and bonuses!”
She quickly did the math in her head and said, “Joshua that’s over 200,000 credits your first year.”
“Then after a year there going to double my salary, plus bonuses!” he added.
“How much are the bonuses?” she asked. He looked away. She said, “You always forget to ask all the right questions at interviews. But it’s part of your charm.”
“Sweetheart… it’s way more than I’ve ever made in one year. You need to see this place; it’s like going to work at some hands-on museum for grownups. Everyone I met loves their job. I was more or less voted in by the whole group, and the owners are the two nicest people I’ve ever met.”
“A job for grown up children, sounds perfect for you,” she said with a smile.
“Hey!” he frowned.
“So what’s your job?”
“Well, it’s like… hmm it’s a consulting firm that holds contracts with many industries. Actually, I’m not sure what I’m expected to do other than show up and give my opinions and use my imagination to solve complex problems.”
She gave him a look out the corner of her eyes, “You’re not doing any math, are you?”
“I can use a flexscreen like anyone else,” he said defensively.
“Complex problems, aye,” she gave him another sly smile, “I have a complex problem you need to solve, right now.”
Joshua rolled on top of her pinning her to the bed. He said, “I’ve come up with a solution, just like that!” Then they made love again.
After an hour passed, Joshua put the candles out and walked in the shower. A few minutes later Rana joined him. As he washed her back he casually said, “Michael and Anna asked us out for dinner tonight at 8:00pm at the Crystal Ball Room, but if you’re too tired I understand, we could just stay home tonight and order Chinese.”
Rana elbowed him in the ribs and said, “You jerk! What will I ware… look at the time!”
“I’m sure we can find something in the closet baby,” He said. Then he rinsed them both off and after drying, they went to the bedroom closet.
Rana was watching as he made a show of looking through all her dresses. “No, this won’t do.” He flipped through several more dresses stopping at a long black outfit, “Oh man, I hate this.”
He pulled it off the hanger, turned back and said, “My love, I can’t believe you kept this.” Rana held her mouth shut, but her pursed lips told him she knew he was up to something. He walked out of the bedroom and returned with a long black garment bag. He hung it on the closet door, pulled out an expensive red dress that flared at the end and laid it on the bed.
“I picked this up for you on the way home today.” He walked back into the dining room and returned with another black bag, opened it and removed a tailored black suit, and laid it next to her dress. Rana’s face lit up. “Baby!” she said as she kissed him over and over again.
“Honey, it’s time to celebrate!” he said. To him, the smile on her face was worth a thousand lifetimes of hard labor.
“Sweetheart,” she said, “this will be the greatest night of our lives!” Then she hurried to get ready.
*******
A young man gave Rana a big smile as Joshua handed him a generous tipping card. The valet parked their small electric car, and like all cars, it could drive, find a parking spot, and then park itself without assistance; but Joshua thought, it must be the thought that counts, at least that’s why I just tipped.
Rana stood out in the crowd of waiting people like a burst of lightning on a quiet night with her beautiful red dress and long black hair swaying in rhythm with her stride. It was 7:25pm. They had arrived early as Joshua like to be; though Rana said they were a little too early.
As they approached the reception desk, a beautiful young woman greeted them kindly. Then she looked slightly off to one side, at a holographic image of the two of them, which had appeared as they arrived.
“Joshua and Rana,” she said before Joshua could say anything. “You will be dining with Mr. And Misses. Adison tonight in our VIP booth, next to the stage. Please follow me.”
Joshua nodded with a smile and said, “That sounds right.” She turned and gracefully walked into the dining area, glancing back only once to see that they were following.
Joshua thought about how the Crystal Ball Room was once the famous Cat Theater. After the last Great Depression, the Cat suffered a drop in attendance and was sold at auction. During that time, not long ago, many people like himself had lost their livelihoods and were still trying to recover. He hoped that the new direction of space exploration the US had fully invested in and the financial changes that had taken place would help all those who were still suffering. Later, a New Cat Theater opened with all the modern materials that dominated the new construction in theaters. However, this old building held a charm technology could not replace.
On the main stage, a live band was playing a soft jazz melody. The new owners had remodeled the rest of the building, but he loved that they kept the original stage untouched. White cloth with gold trim borders covered tables that sat where once steep rows of seats had been. Long flowing drapes of gold and white overlaid the walls. The chairs were all made of thick mahogany wood that seemed to flare up from the ground ending with a swirl at their high backs.
Rana couldn’t stop oohing and awing with each new step she took. Lights, originating from hidden spotlights high in the ceiling, shined into several small crystal chandeliers that encircled a huge crystal ball, which hung from the center of the main room. The smaller chandeliers took in the white light and sent thousands of tiny rainbows from their prisms into the slowly spinning crystal ball. From the crystal ball came millions of multi colored shards reflecting onto the dance floor and throughout the restaurant at just the right intensity, giving the room a touch of magic.
On their way through the restaurant, they passed many apathetic looking people who strained not to notice Rana. Joshua loved the attention everyone paid her and he could tell she liked it too. He thought about how simple a girl she was at heart, needing very little to be happy but trapped in a body that demanded respect. He knew she thought of him as hansom though she didn’t want it to go to his head.
When they reache
d their booth, they saw that Michael and Anna had not arrived yet though a bottle of wine and four glasses sat on top of a folded note. Joshua pulled Rana’s chair back and adjusted it as she sat. Then he took his seat as Rana lifted the bottle and opened the note.
She read it aloud: Hi Rana and Joshua. If you’re reading this note then you’ve beaten us there. We’ve requested our favorite appetizers sent to you upon your arrival, so sit back and enjoy the music. I hope that we’ll be there soon.
Michael and Anna
Rana smiled, “I like them already.”
The server opened the wine and offered the bottle to Joshua and then Rana to smell its contents.
Then he poured them both a glass and confirmed that, “An order has already been made by Mrs. Addison and is on the way.” Rana’s smile just got bigger as he spoke. “And is there anything else I can get you?” he added.