by M H Ryan
“Wow,” Benji said. “How’d she take it?”
“She died. Literally,” Hanna said. “And I was thirteen, and my dad, who had the mental capacity of a slow child, hated that I was thirteen and smarter than him. So I began to fake it for him. Through most of high school, I faked it, getting As and Bs but never excelling at anything. Then one day, watching him eat straight out of a bean can with his fingers, I realized that my best chance out of his world was to do what my mother had always wanted me to be. So I entered the chess club. I won nationals and scored 1600 on my SAT. That stamped my ticket to anywhere I wanted to go.”
“And then you went to FU?” Sherri asked.
“UF,” Benji corrected. “Go, Gators!”
“I had gotten used to the dichotomy of two Hannas. I could play chess for any school, and I wanted to go somewhere warm, somewhere fun. I needed to balance between, as Emma would put it, dog and goat. Plus, I did some research on a particular group of girls, and the chances of me successfully integrating was well over eighty percent.”
“You researched us?” Sherri asked.
“Well, the current group, yes, and I fell in love with you all before I even spoke to any of you. There was this special energy that an athletic group of women had that drew me in.”
“That’s why you’re on Instagram, isn’t it?” Cass asked. “It’s your duality.”
Hanna nodded and then glanced at me.
“Don’t ever hide your intelligence from us again,” I said. “Don’t be ashamed if you have it all. Out here, there is no zero-sum game. What you bring to the group elevates us all.”
“Okay,” Hanna said and looked at some of the girls. “He’s kind of hot when he’s bossy.”
“He’s our leader and husband,” Benji said, looking at her hand. “And we’d all be dead without him.”
“No argument here,” Aubrey said. “His big dick is just a bonus.”
“Oh my God, Aubrey,” Benji said.
“Come on, Benji,” Aubrey said. “It’s a little late for modesty after we both fucked him, together.”
“I was there,” Kara said and raised her hand. “Best night of my life…well, until that fire and near-death stuff.”
“Sorry, Hanna,” I said. “I’ve given up on trying for discretion in this group.”
“It’s refreshing. I knew you all were fucking in the first ten minutes, and now I won’t have to pretend I don’t know,” Hanna said.
“So tell me, what are you pretending not to know about this place we’re in?” I asked once again.
She shifted in the sand and then sat up into a kneeling position as she stared at the sky. “The stars are different.”
“How?” I asked.
“You see the Pegasus constellation?” she said, pointing to a section of the sky.
I gazed at the brilliant sky, stars twinkling in magnificent glory, but for the life of me, I had no idea where the constellation Pegasus was.
Hanna walked over to me and knelt, leaning against me as we stared at the stars. I followed the direction of her finger as she spoke.
“Okay, see the brighter one there?”
“Yes.”
“Follow the line down two more stars, and that forms the body. Now look just to the right, see that star that looks like a smudge, the brightest one?”
“Yeah, it looks bigger as well.”
“That is or was Pegasus A and B. They were a binary star system on a death spiral in our time.”
“Our time?” Cass asked.
“Here, and now, they have either merged, are merging, or even gone supernova,” Hanna said.
I studied the star and also took in the smell of her, like burned wood and sweat. Her skin pressed against mine, and I caught myself staring at her.
“So this is Earth?” Benji said. “Just at a different time?”
“This is Earth,” Hanna said. “The moon tells us that much, but when are we? I’m not even sure if that is the right question either. This celestial pattern could be millions of years in the future, or we could be in a different universe altogether, but there are other things as well.”
“Such as?” I asked.
Hanna stayed next to me, sitting on her heels, placing her hands on her thin, tan legs. “You’ve noticed, as well, there’s no trash. I’ve noticed the lack of satellites in the sky; even the geostationary ones I know of are gone.”
“So, we might not just be of a different time, but we might be of a different place?” Aubrey said.
“Just like I said, a parallel Earth,” Benji said.
“I brought that up,” Sherri said.
“Yeah, right,” Aubrey said. “I knew this place was wack since we arrived. The plants are all jacked up, and shit’s weird in the ocean.”
“Yeah,” Cass said. “It doesn’t take a genius to figure we’re strangers in a strange land.”
“Heinlein,” Benji said. We all stared. “What? I’m not just movie quotes, you know. I know books as well.”
“Okay, yes, we’re somewhere strange, but us being here shouldn’t be possible. The last thing we all remember was the storm. It wasn’t any ordinary storm. It was a wall of darkness, reaching to the mesosphere. Lightning shot around in it as if it was alive. I think that was the portal your mom was looking for, Eliza. She had been searching for it, I think, since the moment she got to our planet.”
“I’m sorry my mom brought you all here,” Eliza said, bringing her knees up to her chest.
“Don’t be,” Sherri said. “This has been the best adventure we could have ever wished for, and we saved your ass from dying of boredom on Chicken Island.”
Eliza smiled and stretched out her legs. “I’m glad you did.”
“But a portal that could move between worlds or even parallel universes would require about as much power as the universe holds. The act would destroy our planet and probably our entire galaxy.”
“Yet, here we are,” I said. “Why do you think we’re here?”
“I don’t know.”
“But, you have a guess?”
“I have many guesses,” Hanna said and laughed. “This could be some kid running a simulation and plugging in people into this scenario to see where it goes. I mean, this is a universe where magic is real, and that makes everything we know, like portals and physics, thrown out the window. Who knows, this could be some Newhart thing, and it is all just a dream. I mean, this is a fantasy for me, being stranded on an island with some hot guy, fire shooting from my hands. Are you fucking kidding?”
“As first wife,” Aubrey said, clearing her throat, “you only have approval for flirting at the moment.”
“What?” Hanna asked.
“Ignore her wife hierarchy,” Sherri said. “She feels like she has a say who Jack can have sex with.”
“Is there a waiting list?” Hanna asked, half amused and half curious.
“There are some vying for the favor of our said Jack, so if you are interested in such a future exchange, you can discuss such endeavors with me at a later point in time,” Aubrey said while waving her hands around.
“That’s the most formal sentence you’ve ever spoken,” Kara said. “Did you practice that?”
“No. Maybe,” Aubrey said.
The girls laughed, but Hanna only smiled, and I could tell she was trying to figure out the sincerity of Aubrey.
“She’s joking,” I said.
“Or am I?” Aubrey said with an eyebrow raised.
“Hanna, can you tell me how my mom got back here?” Eliza blurted out, silencing everyone.
“I imagine it has something to do with the boats. It isn’t a coincidence that there are two of them here. That and the region of the sea, and maybe even a specific time or event that happens. Sort of like a broken cuckoo clock that chimes on random.”
“So, she just sailed for years, trying to find this opening?” Eliza said.
“That would make sense,” I said. “She always had us changing course, pissing off the cust
omers because we’d take twice as long as expected. She never cared, though. She always stared at the horizon.”
Emma scooted closer to me and held out her hand close to mine. It was her silent question if it was okay to touch me, to read, and share my thoughts. I kind of wished I could see what was going on in that pretty head of hers. Probably a slew of metaphors that made complete sense to her.
I held her hand, and she nestled up against me with Hanna on the other side of me. I wondered if Aubrey had given permission to Emma for this, and if this was some batters-up moment for Emma. She didn’t respond to my thought.
“Jack wants to know what’s really troubling you?” Emma said as her head rested on my chest.
“Troubling?” Hanna laughed. “Where do you even begin? The stones. The ripening. This captain Mario. These fish people and their behavior. The cave seals and Ben’s underground lair. It’s like this puzzle that is missing pieces, so I’m cramming things together to make them fit. It might not be right. It forms a troubling picture for us, one that I hope is wrong.”
“What’s your picture?” I asked.
“I think we entered the world of a madman, this king. I think he is trying to change or even terraform this world into what he wants. You said you think he looks like us, but looks can be deceiving. He could be someone or something that is far from us and is trying to destroy this world to make it his own. The ripening could be that transformation, and it is manifesting into what we would consider evil.”
“Evil?” Carmen said. “I don’t think what is here is evil, just different. We shouldn’t be scared of something just because it’s different.”
“No, it isn’t,” Hanna said. “You have had the most influence with the stones. They might have embedded into you by now, change, or ripening you for this king.”
“That’s crazy,” Carmen said, crossing her arms.
“It’s crazy that you don’t think they’re evil,” Kara said, standing up. “They almost killed me. They tried to take Jack from us. They destroyed islands and corrupted a man into becoming a demon that spread them like a disease across these islands.”
“Yeah, Carmen,” Benji said. “If anyone understands what these stones are, it’s me. I’ve seen in them. They are… evil. Yet you keep them.”
“I keep them, yes, because they aren’t evil, they are power. They are what saved our asses back there. Not Emma’s boost or Cass’s steel. It was the stones that turned the tide of the battle.” Carmen stood.
Benji stood as well.
“They are turning you dark on the inside, just like they do the islands. We’ve seen it, and so have you,” Benji said, pointing at her.
“She’s right,” I said. “We can’t have those stones in the group. You have to give them up.”
Carmen’s face turned red with rage. “Fine, you want it? Here.” She threw it on the sand near my feet, and I felt the urge to touch it.
Emma pressed her hand against my chest.
Carmen began to storm off.
“The second one?” I said.
“This is bullshit, and you guys will regret this. I can’t stop that bird next time without these,” Carmen said.
I didn’t say a word and waited for her.
“Fuck this and fuck you guys,” Carmen said and threw the second stone down on the sand next to the other one.
Hanna kneeled next to one of the stones.
“Don’t touch them,” Benji said, getting closer to the stones.
With two of them, so close to me, I leaned forward, only to be pushed back by Emma. She huffed and kept her hands on me.
“We need to get rid of these things,” Benji said, glancing at me.
“How about you show me some of that magic, Cass? Think you can wrap these things up and send them too far to be of any trouble?” Hanna asked.
“Not a bad idea,” Cass said, carrying a thin piece of metal.
The metal tore into two small pieces, which she dropped over the two stones. The metal wrapped around the rocks like shrink wrap and floated up.
“Give me a boost, Emma?” Cass asked, holding out her hand.
“Sure,” Emma said, breaking our connection and getting to her feet. “The faster we get rid of these, the better.”
“Fate has a way of helping these stones get where they want to be,” Eliza said.
“What?” Cass said. “I can send these things to the other side of the planet.”
“And they are puckered up tighter than an altar boy at shoe-tying camp, with that metal,” Emma said.
Some chuckled but Cass said, “Kind of offensive there, Emma,” as she took Emma’s hand.
“Not as offensive as a carnival barker with Tourette’s.”
“Now, that is offensive as well. You know people with Tourette’s aren’t just cussing, right? They have to live with all kinds of things going on,” Cass said.
“About as much going on as an Asian hooker at an anime convention, I imagine,” Emma said.
Cass opened her mouth, but Emma interrupted.
“I can do this all night, how about we just get rid of the evil?”
With that, Cass lunged her first toward the sky. The two stones shot into the darkness. It sounded like a gunshot and sand sprayed over us from the kickback. I searched the sky for them, but in the black sky, they were gone in an instant.
“Good riddance,” Benji said and looked back. “Where’s Carmen?”
“She went to one of the huts,” Kara said. “I think I’m going to turn in as well. The last couple of days have been brutal.”
“Yeah, me too. Even the stone drama had me nodding out,” Sherri said. “Tomorrow is going to be fucking awesome, though. Jack, we have an army now, and we can rescue the last of the girls.”
“Don’t forget about my mom,” Eliza said with a yawn. “She’s out there, looking for me... Goodnight, guys, and, oh, really glad you’re in the group now, Hanna.”
Eliza went to me, knelt, and kissed me. I held her for a moment and enjoyed her embrace. “Goodnight, Jack.”
“Night, my love.”
“Ah, I want some of that.” Aubrey rushed over to me.
Soon, the wives formed a line, and each one of them waited for their good night kisses and hugs.
With most of the girls off to bed and a dwindling fire, it was just Emma, Hanna, and I.
Emma nestled against my chest once again as the cold air fought against the warm fire.
“Jack?” Hanna whispered as she sat on the other side of me. “Emma can hear your every thought, right?”
“Yes.”
“I guess it’s pointless for me to tell you anything that Emma won’t hear, but I think you should hear this anyways,” Hanna said.
“What’s that?”
“Carmen is lying. She has another stone and I don’t think we’re going to get it from her,” Hanna said. “I think she might be dangerous for the group, as well.”
“Harsh,” Emma said, and then moved in front of me and got between my legs as I sat on the sand.
I leaned back to give her more room on me.
“We’ll keep an eye on her,” I said as I embraced Emma onto my chest.
I felt her amazing body and her large breasts pressing against my shirt. I glanced at the clasp at her back of her bikini, as my hand moved across her back.
“And what of the fish-men?” Hanna asked. “If you were able to turn them so easily against their master and become their new master, the coin could be flipped again on us.”
“We could do hypotheticals all day, Hanna,” I said. “If we try to count for all the variables, we’ll be paralyzed from any actions.”
Emma moved up my chest and started kissing my neck. I felt her tongue between her lips, press lightly against my neck. It sent a chill over me.
“Yeah, but this king is something or someone that controls this world. It’s just dumb luck he hasn’t moved on us already, but with that bird and the other Mulshar, our luck is going to run out. It’s like we’ve
been playing a game of chess without an opponent so far. When he sits at the board, we don’t know if he’s going to be some duffer or a Grandmaster. We need—”
“Hey, Hanna,” Emma said, interrupting her. “For someone so smart, you’re about as clueless as a man shopping for tampons.”
“Oh, shit, you’re going to fuck him,” Hanna said. “I mean, I knew you were… just to say that I… well… Right here?”
“Not if you keep squawking about things that we have no control over,” Emma said.
“Okay, yeah…umm, well, I guess I’ll go then. I can’t sleep, as I need to break down everything—”
“Hanna, I love that you’re here, but girl…”
“Yes, sorry. Are you two really going to—”
“Maybe, if you shut up,” Emma said, and I couldn’t help be amused by the exchange.
It wouldn’t be so bad if Hanna stuck around, though. That little pink outfit she had on, made her look so sexy. I wouldn’t mind taking it off for her.
“Well, um, be safe or whatever,” Hanna said, getting up and then standing there as Emma moved up to my mouth.
Emma kissed me deeply, sliding her tongue into my mouth and then gliding it across my lips.
“I have a hut for us,” Emma whispered. “Things have been arranged.”
“Oh, really?” I said and then kissed her.
We got up and brushed the sand off each other.
Hanna stood there, staring at us.
“It’s okay with Jack if you want to watch or even join in,” Emma said. “He likes you.”
“What?” Hanna’s eyes went wide and seemed to dance in the scattering of firelight.
“Emma,” I said. “My thoughts are private, remember?”
“There’s too much to do and too much to figure out,” Hanna said, staring and taking me in. Fear built in her eyes, as if there were a battle inside herself. “You like me?” Hanna asked.
“I—”
“Don’t answer that. I need to think about everything going on here. It’s like there’s something in the air here, I swear,” Hanna said, turned, and walked away into the darkness.