Close Remembrance

by Anna Zaires

  “Do you play any sports?” he asked Edgar when their beers arrived. It was one of the many things the Krinar had in common with humans: games that required physical ability and skill.

  The actor nodded. “I played soccer in college, and I still do that occasionally for fun. I also recently took up boxing, to get in shape for my next role.”

  “Oh, really?” Korum said. “Do tell me about it.”

  * * *

  Mia smiled to herself when she saw Korum and Edgar on the other end of the bar. She knew exactly what he was doing and why: her lover wanted her and Jessie to have some girl time.

  “Wow, Mia,” Jessie said after the bartender handed them their cocktails. “I have to say, I’m beginning to see why you fell for him. He’s so much nicer than I initially thought.”

  Mia grinned. “Yeah, he’s great.” She had no idea how Korum had been when they met, but she had some suspicions based on what he’d told her – and what she’d observed from his interactions with others over the past month. The love of her life was definitely not someone she would ever want for an enemy.

  “You seem different too,” Jessie said. “Stronger, more confident . . . and even more beautiful. Whatever he’s doing for you seems to be working.”

  “He makes me happy,” Mia told her. “Oh, Jessie, he makes me so unbelievably happy. I never thought I could be in love like that. It’s like a fairytale come true.”

  “Complete with an extraterrestrial Prince Charming?”

  Mia laughed. “Sure.” Korum was not exactly Prince Charming, but she didn’t plan on telling Jessie that. She liked the new friendly dynamic between her lover and her friends, and she had no intention of upsetting it.

  No, she knew that Korum was far from perfect. She loved him, but she was not blind to his flaws. He was possessive to the extreme, paranoid about her safety – and manipulative when he needed to be. She hadn’t missed the way he had deliberately spent time with Jessie, softening her up. It had worked too; her former roommate seemed to have a much better opinion of him now.

  “It doesn’t bother you that he’s so much older?” Jessie asked, her dark eyes gleaming with curiosity. “Edgar is twenty-six, and he jokes that I’m the younger woman. I can’t even imagine dating someone Korum’s age . . .”

  “He’s not that old for a Krinar, believe it or not,” Mia said, smiling. “There are some who are much, much older. But, yes, sometimes the age gap is a challenge. There are definitely times when I feel like he’s amused by me. He never makes me feel stupid or anything like that, but I know he thinks I’m very young.”

  “He doesn’t treat you like a kid?”

  “No.” Mia shook her head. “He doesn’t. He’s ridiculously overprotective, but that’s as far as that goes.”

  Jessie regarded her thoughtfully. “Do you think this is a long-term thing for you?” she asked, a small frown marring the smoothness of her forehead. “I mean, marriage and the whole enchilada? How would that even work with a K if they don’t age like we do?”

  Mia took a big gulp of her cocktail and coughed when it went down her windpipe. “Um, I’m not sure we’re at that point yet,” she said when she finally caught her breath. Korum had impressed on her that nobody outside of Lenkarda was supposed to know about her lengthened lifespan. It had something to do with a mandate set by their Elders. Mia hated the restriction, but she knew better than to break these rules. As Korum had explained, humans who knew too much would get their memories wiped – and Mia would never want to subject any of her friends or family to that process.

  “But eventually?” Jessie persisted. “Have you thought about that? If you guys stay together, what happens when you get older? And what about kids?”

  Mia shrugged. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.” She didn’t want to think about children right now. It was the one thing guaranteed to spoil her good mood. The DNA differences between humans and Krinar were too great to allow for biological offspring – a fact that made sense but was still agonizing to dwell on.

  “Anyways,” Mia said, wanting to change the subject, “how about you and Edgar? How serious are you two getting?”

  Jessie’s smile was as bright as the sun. “I met his parents last week,” she confided. “And next week, I’m taking him to meet mine.”

  “Wow . . . Jessie, that is big!” As far as Mia knew, this was the first time her friend was going to have a guy meet her family. Although Jessie’s parents had been in America for a long time, they still retained some of the traditional Chinese customs and attitudes. Bringing home a boyfriend was a serious matter, and the boyfriend in question had to be ready to answer some very probing questions about his career and future life plans.

  “Yeah,” Jessie said wryly. “I warned Edgar that he’s going to get grilled, but he’s cool with that.”

  Suddenly, Mia felt a light touch on her bare arm. “May I buy you ladies a drink?” an unfamiliar male voice asked, and Mia turned her head to see an attractive dark-haired man who looked to be in his late twenties.

  “We’re here with our boyfriends,” Jessie said quickly, an anxious note in her voice.

  “Okay, no problem,” the guy said, and disappeared into the crowd.

  Mia looked at Jessie, eyebrows raised. Her friend had just been uncharacteristically rude, and she couldn’t figure out why. And then she saw where Jessie was looking.

  Korum was staring in their direction, his jaw tightly clenched and his eyes a bright golden yellow. Mia smiled and waved to him, wanting to diffuse the tension. She knew he didn’t like any man touching her, but the guy had been harmless.

  “He’s not going to flip out again, is he?” Jessie sounded scared.

  “What? No, of course not,” Mia said automatically, and then she remembered Korum telling her something about an incident at a nightclub in the early days of their relationship. He’d said that she and Jessie had gone out on their own, and some guy had kissed her. Based on Jessie’s reaction, Mia guessed that Korum had downplayed his own response to that.

  “Uh-huh,” Jessie said doubtfully.

  “He won’t,” Mia said with confidence, looking directly at Korum. She knew perfectly well that he could hear her.

  He stared back at her. His eyes still had those dangerous golden flecks in them, but one corner of his mouth tilted up, a ghost of a smile stealing across his face. Mia continued looking at him, her own eyes narrowed, and the smile became a full-blown grin, transforming his features from merely gorgeous to out-of-this-world sexy. Then he turned away and continued speaking to Edgar, as though nothing had happened.

  “Holy shit,” Jessie breathed, her eyes huge. “You did it! Mia, you fucking did it . . .”

  “Did what?”

  “You tamed a K.”

  Chapter 20

  Another two weeks passed after the New York trip. Mia found herself loving her new life . . . and contemplating not going back to finish her last year of school.

  Lenkarda was as close to paradise as she could imagine. Summer was the wet season in that region of Costa Rica, which meant sunny mornings and tropical rain showers in the afternoon. As a result of all that rain, everything turned lush and green, with the waterfalls and rivers full to bursting. Mia often spent her mornings exploring the woods nearby, taking pictures of the local wildlife, and the second half of the day working in the lab with Adam.

  Haron, the mind expert from Arizona, had agreed to take over Saret’s lab as a temporary solution to keep the place open. Too much important research had been going on there to simply shut it down. Mia had first met the K during their brief trip to Arizona and she wasn’t sure she liked him that much. She got the feeling he regarded her as something of a medical curiosity, due to her condition. Nevertheless, he didn’t mind if she continued working in the lab, and he mostly left her and Adam alone – which suited Mia just fine.

  With each day that passed, Mia became more and more entrenched in life in Lenkarda. Her friendship with Delia continued to develop,
and the two girls often went swimming and snorkeling together – something that eased the minds of both of their cheren. “At least Delia can call for help if anything happens and vice versa,” Korum said one evening while they were lying in bed. “And she knows which areas to avoid.”

  Korum’s overprotectiveness drove Mia insane. When she complained about it to Delia, the older girl laughed. “Oh, just get used to it. Arus is the exact same way, believe me. You’d think after centuries together he’d realize I’m capable of taking care of myself, but no. If he had his way, I’d never leave the house without him.”

  “How do you cope with that?” Mia asked, studying her hands. She knew about the tracking devices there, and she really hated them. When she’d found out about the shining – after questioning Korum as to how he always seemed to know her exact location – she had been furious and insisted that Korum remove the devices. He refused, explaining that he needed to know that she was safe. They ended up having a long argument that culminated in Korum taking her to bed. The devices were still there for now, but Mia had every intention of removing them at the first opportunity.

  Delia shrugged her slim shoulders. “I don’t know,” she said. “I know that Arus loves me and that he’s afraid of losing me. I’m as necessary to his existence as he is to mine – and I try to make allowances for that. Over time, both of us have learned the value of compromise, and you and Korum will too.”

  Having Delia for a friend was like having a mentor and a girlfriend all wrapped up in one graceful package. At times, she was as wise and mysterious as a sphinx, but, other times, she was just like any other young woman Mia’s age, acting as playful as a teenager. This unusual personality mix was relatively common among the Krinar, Mia discovered. They lived for a long time, but they never felt old. Their bodies were as healthy at ten thousand years of age as they were at twenty, and everybody around them shared their longevity, so they rarely experienced the types of losses that an unusually long-lived human would.

  “You know, you don’t fit the stereotype of a brooding immortal at all,” Mia told Korum once, after a particularly fun play session in their zero-gravity chamber. “Shouldn’t you be all moody and hating life instead of enjoying it so much?”

  Korum grinned in response, white teeth flashing. “How could I hate life when I have you?” he said, lifting her and twirling her around the room.

  When he finally put her down, Mia had been breathless with laughter.

  “Life is to be enjoyed, my sweet,” he said, still holding on to her, the expression on his face unexpectedly serious. “That’s why I love you so much. I enjoy you, Mia – you enhance every moment of my existence. Your smile, your laugh – even your stubbornness – make me happier than I’ve ever been before. Even when we’re not together, the thought of you makes me feel content, because I know that you’re here, that when I come home, I can hold you, feel you –” his eyes gleamed brighter, “– fuck you.”

  Mia stared at him, her nipples hardening as her skin prickled with arousal.

  “Yes,” he said, his voice low and husky, “let’s not forget about that last part. I very much enjoy fucking you. I love the way you moan when I’m deep inside you, the flush on your cheeks when you’re turned on . . . I love the way you smell, the way you taste. I want to eat you like dessert . . .” He reached between her legs, his fingers parting her folds, stroking her there, spreading the moisture around her opening. “Your pussy is sweeter than any fruit,” he whispered, sinking to his knees and lifting the bottom of her dress, “more delicious than chocolate . . .”

  And Mia nearly climaxed right then and there at the first touch of his tongue. Moaning, she buried her fingers in his hair, holding on to him as his skilled mouth brought her to a peak, pleasuring her until she shattered into a million pieces.

  * * *

  “Say that again,” Korum demanded, staring at Ellet.

  “I think I found someone who can reverse Saret’s procedure and undo Mia’s memory loss,” Ellet repeated, crossing her long legs. They were sitting in Ellet’s lab, where Korum had brought Mia after rescuing her from Saret’s clutches.

  “Who?”

  “An up-and-coming apprentice at the Rolert lab. Apparently she has just developed a way to undo almost any mind procedure. It’s all very hush-hush, which is why we didn’t know about this earlier. You can imagine the implications of something like that. Everyone who’s undergone any kind of rehabilitation would want this.”

  “The Rolert lab,” Korum said, staring at Ellet. “On Krina.”

  “Yes.”

  “I see.” Korum got up and started to pace.

  “Do you even need it anymore?” Ellet asked, staring at him with her large dark eyes. “Mia seems quite happy as is . . . and so do you.” There was a slightly wistful note in her voice.

  Korum glanced at her sharply. Though they had been lovers, he’d never had any deeper feelings for Ellet – and he had been sure she didn’t have any for him either.

  As though to answer his unspoken question, Ellet smiled. “I’m happy for you,” she said softly. “I really am. What you and I had has been over for a long time. I just never thought a human girl would be the one to make you feel this way.”

  Korum sighed, running his hand through his hair. “Me neither, Ellet. Believe me, it’s quite a shock to me as well.”

  “Oh, I believe you,” Ellet said, still smiling. She was beautiful – objectively, Korum recognized that – but her looks now left him cold. Every woman he saw these days was measured against Mia and found wanting – another side effect of his obsession with his charl.

  “Can you please connect me with this apprentice?” Korum asked, returning to the subject at hand. “I’d like to speak to her.”

  Leaving Ellet, Korum headed toward his own laboratory, where his designers worked. Although they could all work remotely, meeting only in virtual environments, something about physical proximity tended to foster the creative process, resulting in improved team cohesiveness and more innovative project outcomes.

  Entering the large cream-colored building, Korum greeted Rezav, one of his lead designers, and went into his office, a private space where he usually did his best work. This past week had been a quiet one, with his employees relaxing after last month’s rush to finalize the designs for the new shields. Normally, this would’ve been the perfect time for Korum to work on his own designs – but the past couple of weeks had been far from normal.

  Making sure that nobody could enter his office, Korum attached a virtual reality node to his temple and closed his eyes. When he opened them, he was standing next to a large river, surrounded by the familiar green, red, and gold tones of Krina vegetation.

  The sun was bright, even hotter than at the equator on Earth. Korum could feel its rays on the bare skin of his arms, and he basked in the pleasant sensation. Drawing in a deep breath, he let his lungs fill with pure, clean air and the heady aroma of blooming plants.

  “Quite different from Earth, isn’t it?” a deep voice said to his right, and Korum turned his head to see Lahur standing there, less than five feet away. He hadn’t heard the Elder’s approach – but then no one could move quite like Lahur. The ancient Krinar was the ultimate predator, his speed and strength as legendary as the man himself.

  “Yes,” Korum said simply. “Quite different.” If there was one thing he had learned during his recent interactions with the Elders, it was the importance of saying as little as possible. Lahur – the oldest of them all – liked silence and seemed to have contempt for those who spoke unnecessarily.

  The fact that Lahur was speaking to Korum at all was incredible. Korum was no stranger to the Elders, having appealed to them numerous times for various Council matters. However, all of his prior communications had been done through the official channels, and the Elders almost never met with the Councilors in person – either virtually or in the real world. So when Korum had reached out to the Elders on Mia’s behalf several weeks ago, he had never
expected to have his request taken seriously, much less to be granted a virtual meeting.

  A virtual meeting that had somehow turned into an entire series of interviews in the weeks to come.

  Lahur stared at him, his eyes dark and unfathomable. Like Korum, he had been conceived naturally, not in a lab, and his asymmetrical features were closer to those of the ancients than to the modern Krinar.

  “We have considered your request,” the Elder said, his unblinking gaze trained on Korum.

  Korum didn’t say anything, only inclined his head slightly. Patience was the key here. Patience and respect.

  “You wish your charl’s family to be brought into our society. To have them share her extended lifespan.”

  Korum kept silent, holding Lahur’s gaze with his own.

  “We will not grant you your request.”

  Korum fought to hide his disappointment. “Why?” he asked calmly. “It’s just a few humans. What harm would it do to bring them to Lenkarda and have them share fully in my charl’s life?”

  Lahur’s eyes darkened, turning pitch black. “You argue for them?”

  “No,” Korum said evenly, ignoring the way his pulse had picked up. “I argue for her – for Mia.”

  Lahur stared at him. “Why? Why is one of these creatures so important to you?”

  “Because she is,” Korum said. “Because she means everything to me.” He knew he had just done the equivalent of exposing his throat to Lahur, but he didn’t care. It was no secret that Mia was his weakness, and trying to hide it from a ten-million-year-old Elder was as pointless as beating one’s head against a wall.

  To Korum’s shock, a faint smile touched Lahur’s lips, softening the harsh lines of his face. “Very well,” the Elder said. “You have convinced me – and I’ll give you one chance to convince the others. Bring the humans here and let them speak on their own behalf.” He paused for a second, letting the full impact of his words hit Korum. “I would like to meet this Mia of yours.”