Thankfully, she knew to stop the hopping around when we finally reached the massive ship, lest we startle one of the twins or their acolytes as they worked on something important.
While I was still continuing to help them with basic engineering tasks, much of my education had been put on hold so I could teach the mimics that were interested in that field of science. Once they massed my level of understanding, which generally only took them about a month, they moved on to learning and helping the twins directly.
Sometimes I was a little jealous that they were able to learn so fast, absorbing pages and pages of information in just a couple of hours, but I tried to fight it. After all, I wasn’t the one who had been a slave anywhere from a century to a millennium, so my pride could take a backseat on this.
“Hey there!” Ciangi said, looking up as soon as I was in. “Long time no see.”
“Only because you never leave the lab here,” I shot back, laughing as I approached her.
“Aw, come on,” she retorted. “I get out of here…sometimes.”
“I can attest that is definitely not the case,” Harunya said, coming up from behind Ciangi and handing her a steaming mug of something. “The last time you came home to your room was two weeks ago.”
“Two weeks ago? Really?” The blonde sipped her tea slowly. “Huh, I must smell then.”
Harunya ruffled her hand through the smaller of the Coin Twin’s hair. “That I can also confirm. Tonight, you will shower.”
“Yeah, yeah, if I get up the security grid to where it needs to be.”
“No. No ifs.”
“Uh-huh, whatever you say.” She gave Mari and I a wink over her mug that Harunya couldn’t see. “So, how are the twins?”
For a moment, I was confused, but then the tall, golden-skinned woman rubbed her rounded belly and I remembered that she was pregnant. It didn’t seem like a thing I would forget, but considering she was only just beginning to show, I was pretty sure that it just hadn’t clicked in my mind yet.
“Fine, as far as the scanner in the medical bay says.”
“Good to know.” The blonde’s attention turned back to us. “Anyways, I know you’re here for Mimi, so you should head out. She’s by the gun bay with Bahn.”
“Alright then. You two be good now.”
“Never have and probably not gonna start now.”
We shared a short laugh and I headed into the area where the new generation of mimics had burst into adulthood. We’d made a ton of modifications and had improved both the integration of the massive, stolen cannon as well as its runoff. While we did have an entire species of mimics to absorb any nuclear overloads, we still weren’t really sure of the health ramifications of such rapid forced growth. Sure, Mimi and the others were doing fine so far, but Mimi wasn’t even two years into being her fully grown self.
“Hey there,” I said, seeing her halfway in one of the maintenance hatches of the console.
She quickly pushed herself out and looked at me with a brilliant smile. “Hey there, glad to see you in one piece.”
“In case you’ve forgotten, we don’t really live like that anymore. No rapid hunts for food, or running for our lives, or any of that normal fun stuff we used to do.”
“You never know,” she taunted, coming forward and giving me a hug. “And we’re all aware that it’s only a matter of time before Earth decides to deal with us.”
“Huh, you really know how to make a guy feel secure,” I joked, returning her hug. I could feel much of my tension easing at her touch. Not that I was super wound up, but teaching always took a bit of a toll on me.
“We’re a new civilization that’s already made enemies with two separate, technologically advanced worlds. We don’t get to feel secure.” She seemed to think better of her words as she stepped back. “But, even if we don’t feel secure, that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun. So…”
“Yes?” I supplied when she trailed off.
“So, I want to go on a date.”
“A date?” I echoed like a silly parrot.
“Yes, a date. I read about it on the net that dates are special events that two people in a relationship do together, whether that relationship is platonic or romantic. Most popular are seeing special holos together, meals out in nature, and sleepovers. I thought, as a celebration of our six-month anniversary of peace, I believe they’re called, we might do one such activity.”
I smiled outright at that, quite amused. It wasn’t often I got to see the fearless Mimi look nervous or uncertain. “You already spend the night every night.”
She pushed her lips up in a pout that was just downright adorable. “You know what I mean.”
I laughed lightly. “Of course, I’d love to go on a date with you, and happy six-month anniversary.” I felt a small rush of nerves. “I, um, didn’t get you anything. I’m sorry.” Geez, I was terrible at this. I never even thought about an anniversary being a thing. Considering our time with each other had been full of imprisonment, war, and a whole lot of running for our lives, I didn’t know how long we had kinda been a thing or not.
“When did you want to do this?”
“Well,” she said, taking my hand. “How about now?”
“Now?” I asked. “As in right now? Today?”
“Yes. Now as in today. As in right now. I hid all of the food at Pyjik’s place. I was able to get your favorites from the synthesizer menu on your ship and I woke up early today to make sure I could get them all done before Bahn showed me his progress here.”
“Wow. You really are something, you know that?” I said, pulling her into a hug again.
“Can I come?” Mari asked, nearly inserting herself between the two of us and looking up with bright, sparkling eyes.
“Actually,” Bahn said, saving the day before either of us had to break her poor little heart. “I think it’s gonna be a bit lonely here. Would you mind hanging out with me while I run some tests on the defense grid?”
“Okay…” she said with a bit of a sigh.
“Speaking of the grid…” I said, turning to the taller of the twins. His long, long black hair had grown even more, nearly reaching his behind. It made my own ponytail look miniscule in comparison. I supposed I could cut my hair, but I never really learned how, and I felt like I was cooler with long hair anyways. Whenever I was stressed, it gave me something to tug at, and the texture was a nice distraction against my fingertips when I was feeling overwhelmed. “How is that going?”
“No!” Mimi said, forceful enough for us to know that she meant business but not so much that she startled any of us. “Date. Now.”
“Alright, alright,” I said, raising my hands in surrender. “I’ll swing by tomorrow for an update.”
“Make sure you do,” Bahn said with a laugh. “We’ve really made some great progress here.”
“I’m sure you have,” I said with a nod. But then Mimi had my hand and was pulling me out of the ship.
I didn’t resist, of course, following along more than a little amused. I couldn’t remember the last time I had seen her so excited about something benign. Usually her shoulders were heavy with all the responsibility that came with leading an entire civilization. Her world had long since become about worrying over supplies, structure, and progress. I liked seeing her having a little frivolous fun.
We reached Pyjik’s house without being stopped a dozen times, which was probably a first for us. The main lieutenants from the first war had all created houses in separate sectors of our little community, that way someone was always close by if help was needed.
It was funny how different each of their places were, as different as the mimics themselves.
Pyjik’s was a fairly standard log cabin, where she lived with three or so juvenile mimics. Astaroth, who lived all the way in the forest sector, had a massive treehouse that spanned at least seven different towering arbors, which nearly a dozen adult and juvenile mimics went in and out of.
Meridyna had a large, American-
styled house in the southern tier. As far as I knew, only non-shifting mimics stayed with her. There weren’t nearly as many of them as there were before the war, so I was pretty sure she cared for all of them, feeding them daily and ensuring they had a more natural growth pattern.
Lastly was Urdet. He didn’t have a home as far as I knew, at least not in the traditional sense. He was in charge of constructing the mimics’ library, which was a combination of both physical and digital records. He spent all of his days and nights there, building new floors, creating new servers, organizing data into the appropriate categories, and creating interfaces for future mimics to learn from.
While projects like that probably didn’t seem nearly as cool as a defense grid, or combat, it was one of my favorites. Access to information and history was truly the sign of a civilization. While we were a small one, we were definitely on our way.
As soon as we approached the door, Pyjik was waiting there, a literal picnic basket, like the kind from ancient Earth sims, in her wiry hands.
“I believe this is for you!” she announced, smiling brightly at us.
“That it is!” Mimi said, taking it in her free hand. “Thank you for guarding it!”
“No problem! It’s the most excitement I’ve had since the great battle.” She sighed and leaned against her door. “Never thought I would miss a war, but I just don’t feel that useful anymore. Are you sure there aren’t any space stations I can invade? Ships to steal?”
“We’ll talk about you accompanying Gonzales on her next mission at another time. I have the rest of the afternoon off.”
“Wow, really? I think that’s a first in like…forever.”
“Exactly. And so, I’d like not to have it interrupted. You be safe now.”
“Yes, Leader Mimi.”
And with that, we were heading off to the forest again.
I let Mimi drag me along, just enjoying her company. It was rare that I got to see her when the sun was up, and I found the sight of her with the natural light reflecting off her pale face and white hair that much more captivating.
We passed by trees, then the clearing, until we finally reached the area where we had built our emergency animal holding pens. Like everything else, we had expanded and improved on that too. We now had a sizable area with all sorts of holding pens, with an appropriate number of creatures in each.
Part of it was for research, so that we could better understand the unique life in her little slice of the universe. Part of it was for conservation, just in case more aliens came to attack. After all, they had limped off with their tail between their legs, but they knew where we were and what we were capable of. We all kind of knew that there was always the chance of them returning with greater numbers, but there was nothing we could do but prepare our defenses and try to make sure we weren’t so helter-skelter if they did come back.
Then again, we all knew that humans were much more likely to be the issue. Sooner or later, Earth was going to get even for how we had ‘wronged’ it.
Finally, we reached a smooth area on the other side of the pens and Mimi pulled a blanket from her basket. Laying it out, she flopped down and patted the ground next to her. “So, you ready for our date?”
“You know what?” I said, sitting beside her. “I am.”
3
Don’t Take Time for Granted
“So, what inspired you to choose a picnic, out of all things?” I asked as Mimi pulled snack after snack out of her little basket.
“You like food, and I like you. From what I know about your species, the logic follows.”
“That it does,” I said, laughing lightly as she handed me a sandwich. While it certainly wasn’t some sort of top-of-the-line, gourmet sandwich, I enjoyed every bite of it because it was made by the woman I loved.
My stomach did a little mini-flip, not exactly the best movement considering that I was actively eating, and I did my best to calm it down. I guess even after six months, my body still reacted at the thought that Mimi and I shared a connection that was different than what we felt for anybody else.
“This is nice,” I said, laying back once I finished my sandwich.
“It is, isn’t it?” Mimi asked, resting her head against my chest. “I can see why Ciangi is always yelling at me to slow down for a moment.”
“Me too.”
“…I can hear your heartbeat,” she murmured, nuzzling into my shirt.
“Does that bother you?”
“No. I like it. It lets me know that you’re alive.”
“Yeah, I suppose it’d be pretty stressful if I wasn’t.”
“You have no idea,” she said softly.
I let myself drift off for a moment, but I could sense that something was amiss. “You okay?”
“Just thinking.”
“What about? You’ve got your upset face on.”
She sat up, her brows furrowing. “Do I?”
“Well, not really before, but most definitely now.”
She grimaced and let out a long sigh. “I was thinking…sad thoughts.”
“Like what?”
“Like…the fact that, as far as I can tell, my species doesn’t suffer from the cellular degradation that yours does on a regular basis.”
“Yeah, you guys do seem to have stacked the deck on genetics.”
My attempt at a mild joke didn’t seem to please her. “Surely you understand what that means, right?”
I felt like normally I would, but with the way she was looking at me, my whole mind went blank. “Uh…should I?”
“Yes. You are going to grow old, Higgens. And I am not. While my kind can die, it’s either due to starvation or damage, via violence or accident. Even if our lives go perfectly, we have a maximum of maybe eighty years together, then you’ll be gone, and I’ll be all alone.” She looked at me with such large, sorrowful eyes that I felt my heart squeeze. “You’ve been with me for my entire life where I truly had consciousness, and imagining an eternity without you is…is… Well, it’s awful. How can I be happy knowing that’s what’s in store for us if we get a happy ending?”
I stared at her for several moments, completely sideswiped. Sure, I had faced my own death a lot with varying levels of bravery, but I had never thought of what it might do to others. Was that selfish of me?
“I guess I never thought of that,” I murmured, feeling vastly inadequate for this conversation.
“It’s fine. I suppose that is not your worry to have.” She sighed, and the sound just about broke my heart. So often she was strong and fearless, it was easy to forget that she was just figuring stuff out along the way just like the rest of us. “I’m sorry if I ruined our meal.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that,” I said, reaching over and rubbing her shoulders. “These are things I need to hear. If it’s bothering you, it bothers me. But I don’t know if there’s anything we can do about it in this situation.”
“I know…” she murmured, reaching up to hold one of my hands. “Perhaps I am putting the animal before the wagon. We have a lot of pending doom to get through for both of us to get to eighty.”
I snickered lightly. “Do you perhaps mean, ‘put the horse before the cart’?”
She tilted her head curiously. “What’s a horse?”
“Nothing important,” I said, smiling and pulling her close enough to kiss the top of her head. “Let’s just get through this next year, okay?”
“Okay,” she said, heaving a bit of a sigh. “I suppose that is better for my mental health.”
“Probably for all of ours. What we need to do is just take everything one day at a time and keep building up our little corner of the galaxy.”
I pulled her close to my side and we sat like that for several minutes, just holding each other, listening to the avian creatures singing and trilling, along with the rest of the wild sounds. Originally, those cries had been both foreign and terrifying, but I had long since grown used to them and found a certain sort of comfort in their alienness.
“Higgens?”
“Yes?”
“I remember reading something else about human courtship traditions. I’d like to try it.”
“Really?” I asked. “What d’you wanna do?”
“Well… I’d like you to dance with me.”
I sat there a moment, trying to think if she would understand the meaning of ‘two left feet,’ but how could I chicken out when Mimi asked for so little?
“I can do that,” I said, standing up and offering her my hand.
Her face illuminated, all the stress and worry from our last conversation fading in light of my answer. She allowed me to help her up, then I pulled up one of the few songs I had saved to my wrist scanner for when I was working. I picked a slow one, with a gentle beat, that was more soothing than boogying.
Trying not to hold my breath, I wrapped one of my arms around her waist and then placed her hand on my shoulder. Even after all of our time together, my heart was picking up speed and I could feel my face flushing. I got our other arms into the position that I had seen on about a thousand different sims, then slowly moved a foot forward.
Naturally, Mimi seemed to pick up on my moves quickly, as she did with everything else, and soon we were gliding around our little picnic.
Well, gliding was probably a generous term, but we were doing alright for a couple of newbies who had never cut a rug before. I didn’t want to brag and say it came naturally, because I was about as athletically inclined as a swamp rat, but there was always something easy about being with Mimi. Even with fingers missing from my hand, and my six-month-old burn scars still pinkish in color, I felt like a debonair gentleman come to call on her. It was hard to remember that there had ever been a time in my life without her; that’s how much we seemed to fit together like peas in a pod.
The world, and all of our troubles, drifted away on the notes from my scanner, transporting us to someplace where there were no wars, no coups, nothing but us and all the possibilities we had stretching out before us.
Mimic Betrayed (Space Shifter Chronicles Book 6) Page 2