by Dan Glover
"Have you ever given birth to children, Lady Lily?"
"Ah... now that is a question worth asking, my sweet Nate... but I am hungry and I grow thirsty from all this talk. Let us adjourn to the kitchen where I will make us some lunch."
Something in the way she held her mouth told Nate not to question Lily again about children... a sadness lurking around the edges, perhaps, or the slightest of trembles on her lower lip.
Watching her as she rose from her lounger, draped a covering over her nakedness—all the while gazing back at him with those eyes—Lily proceeded to take him by the hand and lead him into the lower kitchen.
"Sit while I prepare eggs and toast, sweet Nate."
With the gigantic flock of chickens they kept there were always mountains of fresh eggs and the girls of the People baked fresh bread daily... it seemed to be the one chore they actually enjoyed doing. Nate sat and enjoyed watching the way Lily moved under the thin pelisse covering her body.
When she turned unexpectedly and caught him staring he became more flustered than he cared to admit. To hide his embarrassment he pulled something out of his back pocket to show her.
"We will be traveling back to the Lake soon. Perhaps we could take a different route this time, Lady Lily. Let me show you... I've been working it out on the map."
Nate unrolled a large sheet of paper upon which he plotted a course to the south of the way they normally took. Lady Lily studied it intently before slowly shaking her head.
"This way will take us through the dead zone. Many years before your birth a nuclear reactor exploded there. The land is still too dangerous to travel through. In ten thousand years we might make that trip, but not until then, my sweet one."
"How did that happen, Lady Lily? Did someone bomb the reactor?"
"No... it was an accident. The humans did not realize the power they were playing with in building those reactors."
"The humans did fight wars, though, Lady Lily... right?"
The Lady stared at him her eyes deep pools of green he thought he might drown in. He often envisioned making love to her yet he never dared to admit his lust. She was his mother as surely as Natalia and yet she was not.
"The old ones fought all the time, darling Nate. I remember when they were monkeys in trees throwing stones at one another, bashing the brains out of their opponents and eating them raw. If the Great Dying did not come along I imagine they would have managed to destroy themselves by now anyway."
"When there are more of us, will we start fighting too?"
"Not as long as you have us around, my love. Lady Lauren and I will never allow that. If such a thing happened we would leave the People to their own devices."
"The People will die without you."
"Yes, they will... not you, however, darling Nate. You are like us in that regard."
"It's not fair that we all have to stay together all the time, Lady Lily."
"Not fair? Do you desire to harm your sisters, sweet Nate?"
"No, of course not... I love them."
"And we love you too... so why all this talk of war and of fighting? Do you wish to leave us, darling Nate?"
"No... but I feel trapped here, Lady Lily. The world is so big. I want to see more of it."
"Oh, dear one... we will see this marvelous world together. We have all the ages in front of us to do so. Let us before we make our trip to Lake Baikal take a day, just you and I, and go to the harbor where we might find a ship that yet floats. Failing this, perhaps we might find materials to build a boat large enough for the People to go on a journey all around the seven seas."
"Really? You would do that for me, Lady Lily?"
"I will do anything for you, my love. You have but to ask."
"You surprise me, Lady Lily. Sometimes you are so... so... so difficult. And yet there are times, like now, when you are so wonderful."
"All I do I do for your brothers and sisters, and for your mothers, Natalia and Lady Lauren. But most of all I do these things for you, lovely Nate. We are all of us bound together until this world fades away, the sun goes out, and the stars fall from the sky."
"I'm sorry, Lady Lily. I've been ungrateful."
"No, my love... you are a male. You have the impatience of a man. That is your lot. This is nothing to apologize for. Remember... if you ever feel this way, my door is open to you. Come to me anytime, my darling. We will solve any problem you have, together. That I promise."
"There is this person who I like a lot but I don’t know how to tell her, Lady Lily. Do you have any advice?"
"What is this girl's name, darling Nate?"
"Oh... I'd rather not say right now, my Lady. Let us just say she seems to lead me on at times but when I attempt to get closer to her she grows cold and pushes me away. I never seem to know how to approach her."
"I cannot tell you anything about the People and their customs but among my kind there are only very specific times when a male and a female come together."
"Why is that, my Lady?"
"First of all, you know that the males of my kind perished centuries ago. I've told you the tales of those terrible times. Before their passing, however, they were very few. For every hundred females only one male was born."
"Is this why there have been no males born among the People since the Great Dying? The doctors say you and Lady Lauren passed something along to those in close proximity to you that allow the People to survive when all others die. Does that something cause the dearth of males now?"
"I would say yes but I cannot know this for a fact."
"What of these specific times, Lady Lily?"
"I cannot help but notice the People are always ready to mate. On the other hand the females of my kind enjoy playing with the same sex even when the males were still here. The females of my kind are only moved to mate with males during the times of the seven year iteration. It is only then that they are able to conceive and only once in their life. Some of my species wait for that moment for thousands of years, or more."
"Wow. And I thought I've had a long time to wait."
"I am proud that you have such patience, my darling Nate. Believe me when I say your sacrifice is not for nothing. It may be that it falls to you to save both our races."
"I don’t understand how I can do that, Lady Lily."
"You are a special person. One day soon I promise to teach you just how special you really are. Now, let us talk of other things."
Chapter 19—Two Hearts
"Come, my love. Our train is here."
Lily gently touched Natalia on her shoulder rousing her from her nap. They were sitting in the depot on hard benches and Lily smiled as she thought how tired her lover must have been to fall asleep there. Natalia grinned, rose from her seat, and took her lover into her arms kissing her hungrily.
"I dreamed of us again. We were living in that tiny stone cottage by the shore of an enormous blue lake that you told me about. We were happy there, lovely Lily. These kinds of early morning dreams always come true, you know. I had this same dream three days running now."
"I want you, my love. Let us hurry to our sleeping compartment."
Lily whispered into Natalia's ear while helping to carry her luggage onto the train and thinking of their time there.
They arrived in Moscow in the dusk of the night before and though Lily felt somewhat exposed they decided to walk to a nearby hotel where they took a room.
"It is five rubles for one bed or eight for two. What is your choice?"
"One bed, of course."
Natalia replied with a wicked smile to the old woman sitting behind the counter. They spoke in Russian. Lily understood the discussion although she hadn’t heard that language in many long years.
The room was like a closet. They giggled as they padded down the hallway wrapped in towels to take a shower before resolving each other's needs and desires. Lily felt as if she were still on the train. The swaying motion seemed to have filtered its way into her bones.
"
Touch me here."
She whispered to Natalia as they crowded into the tiny shower cubicle together. She held her lover's hand over her left breast.
"What do you feel, darling Natalia?"
"I feel your heart beating, my love."
"Now, touch me here."
Lily held Natalia's hand over the right side of her lower stomach.
"Oh! How is that possible, my sweet Lily? I feel your heart beating there as well. Is that a pulse I feel?"
"No, my darling... my people have two hearts, wondrous Natalia. Even though we are quite alike in some respects there many differences between us too."
"Two hearts... does this mean you fall in love twice as hard?"
"That, and so much more, my darling. Take me dancing. I haven't been dancing in so long. Dance with me?"
"Perhaps we should get dressed first, my sweet Lily."
Lily could hear the music from two blocks away, the throbbing grinding beat, and the rhythm of sex. Her hips began swaying of their own accord as she lightly bumped into Natalia who walked so close by her side they might well have been Siamese twins.
"Sometimes, I think the world is too sad a place for anyone to live in, sweet Natalia. Maybe it would be better if everyone was dead."
"What brings on such thoughts, my lovable and wonderful Lily? We are together in the night. The stars above sing to us and to us alone. Listen!"
"More than anything I want to be normal. I'm frightened all the time, darling Natalia. I know they are coming for me. I want to be nobody. I want that little cottage that you dream of, my love. I want us to live there forever. I don’t care about money. I don’t want to be famous. I don’t want to be anything at all but Lily, Natalia's lover."
"Hush, my darling. Come. Let us dance tonight. Tomorrow we will be on our way to finding that tiny cottage on the shores of your Lake Baikal. No one will stop us. I will kill anyone who tries. That I promise you."
When they entered the club Lily felt the music permeate her body in the same way the waters of her Lake once did. Natalia's body pushed against her sending shivers of want rushing through her bloodstreams. She felt erect nipples caressing her stomach as Natalia was so much shorter than she.
"Care to dance, lovely ladies?"
The man who approached them was the type of Euro trash who seemed to frequent the clubs there. Without a word he cupped Natalia's breast in his hand as he nuzzled Lily, his mouth found hers for an instant.
"Get out of here, loser."
Natalia snarled in Russian like a drunken sailor ready to plunge a blade into her would-be suitor. He probably realized his mistake early the next morning but tonight the man wound up prone on his backside having been shoved to the floor. Lily planted a foot in his chest threatening to cave in his rib cage until Natalia pulled her away whispering words of caution and of love.
"Come away, my sweet Lily. This creature is not worth our time."
"Goddamned bitches!"
The man got up off the floor and charged at the two women with hate and shame in his eyes.
"Excuse me, my love."
Natalia dipped into her pocket to pull out a slim rubber object a mere thirty centimeters long which she deftly aimed in an arcing swing at the side of this enraged man's head. He walked right into the bludgeoning blow going down without a sound. He lay twitching on the dance floor as the dancers stepped over him careful to avoid the oozing puddle of yellow puke issuing from his gaping mouth spasmodically opening and closing like a fish out of water.
"A blackjack is a woman's best friend, my darling Lily. No one will bother us again this night."
Natalia was right. Not another man dared to approach the two gorgeous creatures dancing closely and rubbing their bodies together, kissing and caressing one another, all but tearing each other's clothes off as they gyrated to the deafening music.
"You dance like a Gypsy, my darling Lily. Where have you learned such skill?"
"My people are born to dance, like yours, Natalia. It is in our blood. If I had a soul it would reside there too."
"We Gypsies have no soul either. That might be why we are a hated people. But we love so deeply we might as well have two hearts like you, my irresistible one."
"Take me back to our room, precious Natalia. I need to feel your naked body against my skin. I warn you though... I may keep you up all night."
"Ah but sleep is much overrated. I will sleep after I die."
"Hush, my sweet Natalia. Do not call your death upon you so carelessly. I fear I will die if I lose you now."
Now as they were boarding the waiting train Lily heard a familiar voice calling out to her. At first she thought she was imagining things until a shiver of realization shot through her mind.
"Stop! Stop, Lily, please... we just want to talk."
Looking over the crowd she saw her tormentors, Hector and Karen, pressing through the mass of people to reach her before she could gain the safety of the train.
"They are coming for me, darling Natalia. Do you see them?"
"Point them out, my precious Lily."
"There... the man and the woman working their way through the crowd... do you see them now?"
"Yes, my darling Lily... you take the woman. I will stop the man."
Natalia hesitated not for an instant. Moving through the crowd like just another passenger waiting to board the train, Lily watched out of the corner of her yes as she outflanked the man coming for Lily, cold cocking him to the asphalt with one well-aiming blow to the back of his head from her blackjack.
While Natalia was engaged with Hector, Lily rushed to Karen like an old lover ready to embrace her long lost partner once again. Though it might have appeared to the casual observer that they were merely greeting one another in a loving fashion Lily was in fact squeezing Karen so hard in a Russian bear-hug that the woman couldn't breathe. Lily's size worked to her advantage... the smaller woman had no chance. Karen struggled as her tongue lolled out of her mouth, her face turned blue, and then finally she went limp. When Lily let go the woman collapsed onto the tarmac, a wilted rag doll.
"We should finish them now."
Natalia had a grim look on her face as she approached her lover, a stiletto in hand, ready to use it.
"No, my darling Natalia, we cannot do that here. There are too many people about. We will be seen. The police will arrest us for murder. Come. Let us board the train. We will take advantage of this moment to escape. Now that we know they are so close we will be ready next time."
"That was more than amazing, sweet Lily... the way you subdued that woman. She never had a chance."
They were in their sleeping quarters on the moving train cradled in each other's arms with hungry flesh satisfied but for the moment.
"My people possess a strength that is four times that of humans, darling Natalia. You did well too, and against a man. I am impressed."
Natalia shrugged her shoulders as if she was used to clubbing men to the ground. Lily wondered if perhaps she was... not that it mattered.
"And yet you are so gentle with me, my delicious Lily..."
"But of course, my precious Natalia. I love you. I will never harm you. Thank you for helping me. I could never have taken them both on at once."
"That man had a weapon, my lovely Lily. I have it now."
Natalia removed a 9mm pistol from her deep jacket pocket thumbing the release mechanism to drop out the magazine. She showed one of the bullets to Lily.
"These are hollow point bullets, my precious Lily. They're meant to explode into dozens of fragments when they come into contact with flesh. They call these cop-killers. They are outlawed in Russia and most of Europe. This man meant business. He should die."
"You are willing to kill for me, sweet Natalia?"
"I will kill for you, my love, my Lily... I will not let them take you from me. We must waylay these people. We must make sure they can never follow us again. It is our only chance. They are right behind us. Trust me on this."
"I
do trust you, my darling Natalia. I trust you with my life. We will do as you say but we must pick our place of conquest carefully. We cannot be seen. The police here will arrest us, separate us, and I will lose you forever."
"It is settled, then. Now, kiss me, my love."
Chapter 20—Destiny
"Nate asked me about the identity of his father today."
Natalia wasn't surprised to hear Lily's news. He had asked her the same question too only a day or two before. She put him off by changing the subject and he was not so obnoxious as to continue asking as other children might.
"What did you tell him, my lovely Lily?"
"You know I will never reveal this to him without your blessings, my darling Natalia."
"Will he think less of us when he discovers the truth?"
"I think the truth is that the three of us—Lauren, you, and me—could well have lived out the rest of time right here, by ourselves, alone and happy. I cannot help but believe there was some reason why the two doctors showed up here that day with those children in tow. Our destinies are now intertwined in ways no one could foresee."
"I didn’t know you believe such things as destiny, lovely Lily."
"I believe that two magnificent races were at an end... mine and yours... my own kind dwindling slowly like an old log rotting away in a forgotten forest while your people winked out quickly as if a star grown too large suddenly exploded. That makes no difference. What matters is that any ending contains the seeds of a new beginning just as each beginning holds the husk of its own demise.
"The wise ones of my kind taught how the universe began with a simple melody and over time the music became more complex and beautiful. Ages ago my kind and yours emerged from the same origins as the music. It is perhaps time our races mingle once again and in this fashion they may both be saved from extinction. We may yet become more than the sum of us."
"You are so eloquent, dear Lily. If we explain to Nate his origins in this way he is sure to have pride in his heritage."