Candidate (Selected Book 4)

by Robin Roseau

  "I need food," I told them. "I bet you do as well."

  "Yes," they agreed. "We have a present for you."

  "Two presents," Harp clarified. "First we have a robe for you to wear while you are here." She climbed from the bed, visited the closet, and then returned, holding a robe open. It was not, shall we say, big and fluffy, but I thanked them and let them slip me into it. It kept me far more exposed than I preferred, but it was better than wandering around naked. "This is not your gift. Well, it is yours, but it is just a robe. Come."

  They led me into the living room and set me down in the center of the sofa, Harp beside me. "This first gift I made," Jaguar said. "I obtained the raw materials, processed them, and produced this. I will say more when you see it." She stepped away and returned with a flat box, black, about ten inches square and an inch and a half thick. Jaguar sat down beside me and set the box in my lap.

  "Is there a custom in your culture for how to open this?"

  "No."

  I couldn't tell what the box was made from. It had a latch, which took me a moment to work out, and was hinged with invisible hinges. When I opened it, the inside was black, and there was cloth obscuring the contents. I folded back the cloth and stared.

  Nestled inside was a necklace. I found myself staring at it.

  It was a choker with a band that would go all the way around my neck, growing more ornate at the front. It appeared to be made of white gold and was festooned with red gemstones I thought were rubies alternating with diamonds.

  "This is beautiful," I managed to say. And priceless. They barely knew me, and they were giving this to me?

  "It is platinum," Jaguar said. "I grew the gemstones."

  "You grew them?"

  "Yes. Humans have known how to make artificial diamonds and rubies for a while. I grew these myself. This necklace is not about the rarity of the gemstones but their beauty and presentation. The platinum is from an asteroid we mined."

  "Wait. When you said you made this, you mean you mined the metal, smelted it, or whatever you do, cast it, grew the gemstones, cut and polished them, then arranged them like this."

  "I come from a long line of jewelry makers," Jaguar said.

  "This is how she spends the dark nights," Harp added.

  "The diamonds represent Harp, but normally I wear them."

  "And the rubies represent Jaguar. I wear them."

  I stared at it, stunned, not knowing what to say.

  "We cannot tell what your reaction means, Andromeda," said Jaguar.

  "It is the most stunning piece of jewelry I have ever seen," I said. I turned to look at her. "You barely know me."

  "Oh, I see," she said. She caressed my arm. "We may become a triangle. We may not. In one of your jewelry stores, this would be very expensive. You worry this is too large a gift."

  "I love it, but yes."

  "We want you to have it," Harp said. "There are several paths the three of us could take."

  "We may discover we cannot form a triangle with a human. To learn this is a bittersweet gift. It is knowledge, and knowledge has value. You are giving us your time to help us learn this."

  "We may discover," said Harp, "that we can form a triangle, but perhaps not with you. This is also knowledge."

  "We may discover," said Jaguar, "that we can form a triangle, but that we are not a compatible triangle. This is sad, but possible."

  "Or we may discover," said Harp, "that we will become a triangle."

  "In all such cases, we want you to have this," said Jaguar. "When you wear it, you will think of us."

  "What you do for us, even if we do not form a triangle, is precious to us, Andromeda. Please, will you wear it?"

  I nodded. "Yes," I whispered.

  It was Jaguar that put it in place. "There is a little nanotechnology in the clasp," she said. "And in the making. It is very strong. You can open and close the clasp with your visor, but there is a secret if you do not have your visor. We will show you."

  "Thank you," I said. I hugged first Jaguar and then Harp.

  "It is not something you would wear every day," said Jaguar. "But we want you to wear it tonight. Tomorrow, after we capture you again, we want to take you on a date, and you will wear it then."

  "It is... do you have a mirror?"

  "Yes." They helped me from the sofa and together led me to the bathroom. There I stood in front of the mirror. I glittered. It was absolutely stunning. Yes, it was quite out of place. I was wearing no makeup, my hair was mussed, and I was in a bathrobe. But my neck glittered.

  I turned to them. "Thank you."

  "This is a gift with no expectations," said Jaguar. "We understand it seems unbelievably precious, but it represents time, not treasure. I made this while we were coming here from materials I had. I made it for you."

  "Oh, Jaguar," I said. I closed the distance and hugged her again.

  She held me for a minute, but then we moved to the dining room. "We will give you your second gift after dinner. The food has arrived." They helped me to sit, and then they took trips to the kitchen, returning with all the features of a fine dinner.

  "We cannot eat your food," said Jaguar. "If we become a triangle, we will teach your body to eat ours."

  And so I had my meal, and they had theirs.

  I was so stunned, both from the way they were treating me, and for a gift that I thought meant a lot more to all of us than they were letting on.

  "She is quiet," Harp said eventually. "Have we overwhelmed you?"

  "Yes, actually."

  "She makes such gifts for me," Harp said. "They are lovely, but she has made so many I have told her to stop. She was ecstatic to have a fresh opportunity."

  "I have kilograms and kilograms of platinum and gold," Jaguar said. "They can be used for other things, but what is the good of having such supplies if I don't use it to make the things I love to make?"

  "I want to know something. If I come with you, what will I do to make a living?"

  "We do not understand the question."

  "A job," I said. "Employment. Here, I help Jasmine Brighteyes."

  "Oh," said Jaguar. "We understand now. Anything you want. You do not work for money. Money is irrelevant. You live your life to be fulfilled."

  "Some human mates are satisfied with the roles of a mate, to make a home, to love their mates, to raise the children."

  "We do not believe this would satisfy you, but it is one path. You would spend some time learning. Some humans spend the rest of their lives learning."

  "Others become poets, writers, or artists," said Harp.

  "But there are many jobs, some you could do now, and some you could learn to do."

  "You should ask yourself what you want to do," said Harp. "If you could do anything at all."

  "I want to be fulfilled. To me, I must feel useful. I must feel I contribute meaningfully both to the family and to society."

  "There are so many choices," said Harp. "Humans are forced into their decisions. If you were rich and didn't need to work, would you have held your old job?"

  "No."

  "What would you have done?"

  "I don't know."

  "Well, you have to decide. We can help you, but you have to decide. But you can do almost anything, if you have or can learn the skills."

  "There are things you must learn," said Jaguar. "You must learn to live safely in space. We do not live on Earth. You could, if you want, learn to pilot our ships. You would not have to, but we would encourage you to."

  "I could fly the jumper?"

  "Well, yes, but we meant the space ships. The jumpers do not go into space."

  "We would want you to learn how to navigate," said Harp. "And how the systems on the ship work."

  "We hope you will learn our language," added Jaguar. "Human throats can speak our words, but with a heavy accent."

  "Some humans learn many languages," added Harp. "That is your choice."

  "Some humans also learn other skills," said Jaguar
. "If there is a musical instrument you wish to learn, you should make sure we know so we bring one when we go."

  "Some humans spend hours a day trying to master Boardwalk, but they never can beat a Catseye."

  I laughed. "I play Boardwalk about as good as I feel I ever will."

  "We have other games we would teach you. Some you could play very well, with effort."

  "So it is not what would you do. It is what do you want to do."

  "What about children?"

  "We are first focused on becoming a triangle," Harp explained. "We want children someday, but we will decide as a triangle. We will agree."

  "The two of you must have an idea what you want."

  "We will live a very long time, and space is vast," Jaguar said. "We will have children. They will be Whiteblack, not human. But you will be a mother equally with us."

  "Will I carry them?"

  "We will all carry them," Harp said. "We want more than one. We may have several close together like a human family, or we may spread them out, a decade or two in between."

  "Or several at once, then two decades later, several more," suggested Jaguar.

  "You will be called Mama Andromeda," Harp said. "I am Mama Harp. Do you see?"

  "I see," I said. I smiled.

  "We can combine our DNA," Jaguar said. "The three of us combined into one new child. Your body would be altered to carry our children, so you will grow fat and waddle. It is safe. We will all waddle in our turn."

  "We will take very good care while you are with child," Harp added.

  It all sounded amazing.

  We finished the meal and cleaned up. And then they led us back to the living room. This time it was Harp that set a box in my lap. It was a cube of about eight inches in a similar box to the necklace.

  "I made this for you," Harp said.

  I opened it, and nestled inside was a glass globe, and inside the globe was a slowly rotating Earth.

  I took it out and set it on the coffee table, leaning forward to stare at it. "It is beautiful," I said.

  There were clouds, and night and day. I looked for Minnesota, and there was a storm centered over the Dakotas. It looked like it might be spilling snow at home, or just about to.

  "While we are nearby, it knows the weather and displays it," Harp said. "If we were too far to know, then it guesses based on weather models."

  "You made this."

  "I thought no matter what happens, you will become mated to one of the aliens. Perhaps it will be one who lives here on Earth, but most of us are not here. And so you should take Earth wherever you went."

  I started crying then turned to her and pulled her into my arms. "Thank you," I said.

  I hated crying, but maybe just this once.

  They let me cry, Jaguar at my back, but then I pulled away.

  "We do not understand why you cry," she said.

  "I am overwhelmed," I said. "Your gifts are so thoughtful. They are both so beautiful, and you made them for me. You didn't even know me when you made them."

  "We told you. We act as if what we wish to be will be. To act in another way is to ensure the other way occurs."

  Harp set her hand on my arm. "When you look at it, you will think of home. You will also think of us."

  * * * *

  I stayed for a couple more hours. We cuddled, touched, and talked quietly.

  "Am I staying the night?"

  "No," said Harp. "We must send you on your way."

  I asked for a little more kissing, a little more hugging, a little more touching. And then wearing nothing but the bathrobe, visor, and new necklace, and carrying the globe, I stepped from their apartment.

  Immediately words appeared on my visor.

  Come see me. Jasmine.

  The visor led me to her apartment, which was near. The door opened as I approached, and Jasmine appeared from deeper inside a moment later. She came to a stop.

  "Stunning," she said.

  "She made it," I said, the awe in my voice. "Jasmine, it's too much."

  "No, it's not. Come. Let's sit a minute." She led me into her living room, giving me a hug before we sat. "I want to see that, too."

  So I pulled out the globe and set it on the table.

  "Lovely," she said. "You fear there are expectations."

  "Yes."

  "Only that you give them a fair chance."

  "What about Charoite."

  "She isn't done wooing you, either. Tell me, Andromeda, do you still feel I am at risk of being in default of our agreement?"

  "No."

  "Good."

  "God, Jasmine," I said. "I don't know what to do."

  "I know. Let this progress and see how you feel."

  "I was falling in love with Charoite, but I really enjoy Harp and Jaguar, too. They are a little harder to understand."

  "They have spent far less time with humanity, and Whiteblacks are considered an oddity even amongst all the other species. But they are good people, and you would be happy. I am sure of it."

  "They told me I could do anything I want," I said.

  "Almost everyone you might pick will tell you that. How do you feel about that?"

  "I don't know. It's overwhelming, but what about this isn't overwhelming?"

  "Well then, you'll like this." She helped me pack up the globe, and then we stood. Once in the hallway, she wrapped tentacles around me and led me through the facility.

  She didn't take me to my cell. Instead, we entered one of the occupied cellblocks. "There is a back route," she said. "I am leading you by the shortest route." And so we stepped through the rows of cells, each with a woman inside. Most slept. A few stared into space. Most of those wore visors, so I knew they were occupied. A few turned to watch Jasmine and I step past them.

  "You are letting everyone see your tentacles."

  "I have decided to take your advice. I talked to some of the guards."

  "Oh Jasmine, that's wonderful!" I said. "Good. This is better."

  "It feels so good," she said. "I can breathe. One of the guards asked if she could touch."

  "Which one?"

  "The one you call Piper."

  "How was she about it?"

  "Nervous. She's not ready for hugs, and I don't have the sort of relationship with her I have with the humans I hug."

  We reached the end of the cellblock, turned left, and then came to a stop, turning right. "This is yours," she said. "It cannot be seen by the other women; we never bring them here, and we dimmed the front where they could see." Then she led me forward, and the door opened.

  The entrance was a living room. It was small and wouldn't host more than four or five, but it was definitely a living room. In one direction was a bedroom. There was a closet and a bathroom. The bathroom had both a shower and a tub.

  In the other direction was a kitchen with a small table, big enough for four to share an informal meal. The kitchen was equipped; Jasmine showed me the controls. "The visor can give you a full tutorial and also has cookbooks and can even give you lessons." There was a refrigerator. It was stocked with basics.

  I turned to her. "It's amazing."

  She led me back to the bedroom. All the different clothing I'd been wearing was there. And there were sheets, pillows, and blankets on the bed, although the sheets and blankets were transparent.

  That caused me to look up, and the ceiling was also transparent.

  "There is privacy when you are using the toilet," Jasmine said. "Otherwise all spaces here can be viewed from above. Directly above, they would need to lean over the railing, and you might be hard to see from some places. You will be watched more here, Andromeda, but I believe the extra facilities will be worth it to you."

  "Thank you, Jasmine," I said. Again that day I was overwhelmed. I pulled her into a hug. "Thank you."

  "You have the same rules you have always had," she said, "plus one more. You will not use anything I am giving you to hide. You will not wear any more clothing inside here than I have been g
iving you in your cell. You will not use any as makeshift blankets or to hide from anyone up on the veranda above. You may do what you have always been able to do: turn your back. Am I clear?"

  "Yes, Jasmine. I won't abuse that rule."

  "You may change for work in here, of course, but you will not linger in here dressed for work. If you will be here for a while, you may take everything off and sit in undies. And the robe for the hallways is not to be worn in here, either. You may wear the kimonos, however."

  "I understand."

  "If anyone wants to look, you will let them look."

  "I got it. I got it."

  She smiled at me.

  * * * *

  Our second challenge began much like our first, but the distance meter was accurate to ten meters instead of one meter. I decided to use the topology against them. As fast as I could, I ran from the starting point, went around the gorge, and then backtracked as close to it as I could, right at the bottom of the cliff. Then I sat down, had a bite to eat and a drink of water, and waited.

  Fifteen minutes later and the aliens were running. From what I could tell, they had figured out where I was, but not exactly. The distance closed quickly until it stopped at forty meters. Then it varied from forty to sixty for a good twenty minutes.

  I could envision them at the top of the cliff, trying to figure out where I was. Then, of course, they finally realized I was at the bottom. They began moving away, quickly. I decided they were circling around to the east, so I took off. They had a long path to go, so I hoped I could get far enough in time. I did my own circle, ending at the top of the cliff.

  Again they searched for me, this time at the bottom. That didn't last as long before they began running again. But Harp's distance was increasing faster than Jaguar's.

  "They split up!" And that only meant they were going opposite directions. Whichever way I ran, I'd run into them. I took off, heading south, back towards the starting point.

  Their jumper was there, the ramp down. I eyed it for just a moment. Then I kept going, running south another half kilometer. Then I waited.

  I couldn't tell exactly what was happening based on their numbers. Their distance shrank, then slowly converged to the same number, almost two kilometers away. Then the numbers began shrinking rapidly. When it reached a half kilometer I dashed into the woods a hundred meters then began running north again.