Colonization

by Scott McElhaney

  ‘I really need to go home,’ I said, wishing for a moment that the aliens all spoke English like they did in the movies.

  She merely replied with two unknown words. Once we entered the corridor, I discovered that the floor I’d initially thought was glass did truly look like a silver sheet of reflective glass. While I found it slippery and had to be extra careful with each step, I could see how such a floor would be appropriate for their passage. I found it odd to be led along by someone who only stood about as high as my shoulders, yet was clearly a full-grown adult and most likely rose to nine or ten feet tall when measuring from the top of the head to the tip of the tail.

  The walls of the corridor were white and I initially imagined they were made of a shiny plastic. I would later learn that the walls were formed of a metal alloy that they manufactured for many purposes, not the least of which you’ll discover my boat is now made from. It’s stronger than-”

  “You mean to tell me that the boat we went out on last month isn’t even your boat anymore and it’s not made of wood?” Zane interrupted.

  “They knew my boat and had all the specs already thanks to Sh’tha’we taking an interest in me long before she ever rescued me,” John stated.

  “Shathoway?” my mother repeated, “And that’s the mermaid with the black hair I take it?”

  “Yes, she had been following me, watching me, and even spending time on my boat after I’d gone home in the evenings. I would learn later that she had more than a year’s worth of data on me before we ever met,” he said.

  “Why? Why was she spying on you?” Kennedy asked.

  “Because… well, she… Perhaps I should probably finish telling you everything first,” he sighed, turning a shade of red all of a sudden.

  “Oh my god!” Sarai laughed, followed by a chorus of laughter from the others.

  It took me a moment to realize what they were laughing about. And even once I realized, I found that I couldn’t even comprehend such a thing.

  “It’s not… listen, there’s a lot that you don’t know about yet,” he groaned.

  “But before you tell us, I have to know,” Sarai said, “Did this woman follow you and rescue you because she had been attracted to you – attracted to a different species?”

  John truly looked uncomfortable as he glanced around the room. I felt bad for him because the laughter that had since died down made it seem like people were making fun of him. I never laughed, I was proud to say.

  “Yes, Sh’tha’we was attracted to me. My clothing intrigued her because back then, I wore a lot of it. Our world was still cold most of the time. She liked the fact that I had brown hair – something she’d never seen before as her species only ever had black hair. She loved my eyes and without me even knowing, she took many pictures of them. And when it broke fifty degrees and I’d been exhausted from a day of fishing, I’d sometimes go swimming off the back of the boat. And yes, I didn’t allow any of my clothing to get wet.”

  There was a lot of laughter again, only this time it seemed a little more supportive of him. My father even gave him an encouraging pat on the back.

  “So she studied you naked as well,” Sarai grinned.

  “Oddly, yes. She was amazed that I was able to stay afloat and even swim without the benefits of a tail. She was brave enough to swim all around me back then and I never even knew. She never so much as brushed against me even though she said she was close enough to do so.”

  “Can we meet her?” I asked.

  Everyone looked over at me as though they had forgotten I was still there. I simply shrugged, hoping they didn’t think it was just a childish request. I really wanted to meet one of these creatures and I truly hoped that it was a possibility.

  “That all depends on the outcome of this meeting,” John said, “Because I’m here to tell you that I don’t want the Keplerians disturbed or abused in the interest of science. I’m here to tell you that these people – yes, people – are my people and if I ever belonged anywhere on this world, it would be with them. The only reason I hadn’t left the village already was because I didn’t want our village to come looking for me and eventually start searching the oceans.”

  Thatcher Stark

  Chapter Eleven

  I looked over at Henley just then and realized just what John was truly talking about. He was admitting that for the most part, he’d already left our colony for the world beneath the sea. He hadn’t outright admitted it just yet, but it was clear that there was something between him and that woman who rescued him.

  Would I leave everything for Henley?

  Yes.

  Would I go off to live in an uncomfortable environment if that was the only way I could spend forever with her?

  Yes.

  Would I leave my parents for her – those I cared about?

  While I truly loved my parents, I felt just then that I most definitely would leave them to spend an eternity with Henley. She caught my eye just then and it looked like she could read my mind. She looked at me with the same hunger I possessed for her. She smiled and winked at me. I smiled back, realizing the blessing that I had in her.

  Chapter Twelve

  So anyway, she led me through what seemed like a mile of tunnels. We passed several other people along the way, none of them able to hide their interest in the two-legged man at her side. We made our way past dozens of closed doors in the various tunnels until eventually we exited into a giant mall. This was an enormous open structure with only a waist-high metal railing that prevented me from tumbling several stories to my death. This railing and the floor I was currently standing on was something of a circular concourse that wrapped all the way around the open area in the center. The distance between the railing at my waist and the railing on the other side was probably seventy-five yards. I could see railings above and below us and it was then that I noticed these weren’t separate floors, but rather a single spiral floor that wrapped around the center at a slight incline or decline depending on which way you were going.

  She said something to me and led me downward. We circled along the passage probably two full times around before she led me into another corridor. This time we didn’t spend long in the tunnels before she opened a door with just the touch of her hand. I hadn’t seen a knob, a switch, or a button on the door that would have opened it. Inside, I discovered a round room that contained only a circular swimming pool surrounded by a three-foot walkway all the way around. And unlike the swimming pools we were accustomed to, this floor surrounding it wasn’t the slightest bit safe. It was made of the same shiny glass as the other floors ensuring a slippery path. I followed her into the room where she immediately released my hand and dropped into the water. I watched as she swam deeper into the clear water, revealing to me that the true depth of the pool had to be upwards of fifty feet.

  The whole rear half of her body which I often just referred to as her tail moved with slithering grace as she shot toward the bottom of the pool. Again, the movements didn’t remind me of those of an ordinary fish, but rather like a snake or an eel that could bend in various sections at the same time. The fan portion at the end of her tail fluttered exceptionally fast. She curled around near the bottom of the pool and then shot up toward me at a frightening speed. I took a step back, and not a moment too soon. She shot out of the water, spinning around quickly in the air and landing on the walkway beside me on what would have been her butt had she been human. Her wet hair now hung down her back as she looked up at me standing next to her. She reached out her hand to me, but I stepped away. I wasn’t anxious to drown in her arms again.

  She said something as her expression changed to what resembled human sadness. I pointed to the water, shook my head, and then covered my mouth and nose as though I were about to dive in. She said something else and then slid into the water much more casually this time. She swam over to me, raising both of her hands as though she were about to catch me. I stepped backward again and shook my head. Her words now sounded like plea
ding. She reached up with one hand and pretended to pinch her own nose. I wondered for a moment if she understood that I couldn’t breathe underwater. After all, she had seen me drown once already.

  I reached to my chest and then unzipped my coveralls which were still a little damp anyway from earlier. I then climbed out of them, leaving only my boxers on. She squealed in a way that I couldn’t tell if she was upset or happy. I took it to be a squeal of joy however based on her raised arms and repeated opening and closing of her hands. She suddenly seemed like a toddler asking for her parents to pick her up with those requesting hand gestures. I stood on the very edge of the pool, releasing a silent prayer that this wasn’t where I would die. I plugged my nose and then leapt into the water.

  The water was freezing cold. I immediately swam for the surface where I was instantly wrapped in the arms of this curious creature. Her tail suddenly wrapped around my waist and legs, reminding me of a large boa constrictor about to choke the life out of its prey. I have to admit that the thought did, however briefly, pass through my head insisting that I’d just volunteered to become her dinner. I didn’t need to worry however because instead of choking me, she pressed her cheek to my cheek, holding my face to her with one of her cool hands. I suddenly felt like I was being hugged by this woman, and an intimate hug at that. And it didn’t help matters that she was suddenly feeling like a warm-blooded creature. The hand at my face was warming up as well as the tail still wrapped around my legs.

  After several moments of her rubbing her cheek to mine, she physically took my face in her hand and turned it to hers. Then she said something that sounded like ‘con-con’. With her warm fingers, she squeezed my nose and then repeated the words. I felt her tail loosening its grip on my legs as she repeated the words again. I nodded and then inhaled a large breath of air. She squealed again, perhaps excited that I’d understood her. I imagine now that after a year of studying me when I swam in the water near my boat, she must have understood that my species wasn’t one that swam underwater. She may have even assumed that it was impossible. I think this was why she did what she did next. Still face-to-face, she tucked her arms beneath my armpits, drew me in, and then dove beneath the water, all the while keeping me pressed against her chest as she brought us to the depths of the pool. I looked upward, which happened to be toward the bottom of the pool actually as we speedily approached the silver drain in the center. She then twisted us around and shot us toward the surface.

  Much to my surprise and joy, we had built up enough speed to fully escape the water and nearly touch the ceiling before falling back into the pool. I wasn’t able to hold back a cry of excitement the moment before we hit the water. I’d forgotten to inhale a good-size breath before we raced beneath the surface, but with the speed we were going, I knew I’d be fine. I now realized that I was holding tightly onto her, enjoying the crazy ride. We circled around the bottom of the pool and then sped to the surface at a slower speed this time, breaking the surface like an ordinary human would.

  I found that I was laughing as I caught my breath. She watched me with a wide smile on her face. This was when I first noticed that she had such deadly canines. I could have sworn that I was staring into the face of an attractive demon. Those solid black eyes that reflected my image back to me were still quite frightening in appearance. Yet at the same time they were sexy somehow due to the way those eyes were subtly angled above those perfect cheekbones. And even now with the addition of such deadly fangs that threatened from within that beautiful smile, she appeared more sensual and tender than dangerous. If I had fallen prey to a carnivorous sea predator, I would have probably died willingly in her arms just due to the hypnotic smile and the way she held me.

  I didn’t know how she would react, but I had to risk a kiss. I needed a kiss to verify that she was real. I needed it as a souvenir to prove that I truly met this creature today and even socialized with her in her world. I needed it just to prove to myself that this wasn’t a dream. I brought my lips to hers in that moment and kissed this curious alien that still held onto me. It was nothing more than a quick lip-to-lip kiss and it apparently wasn’t something that offended her. It seemed that she didn’t know what to think of it as she examined me. I still felt like some kind of specimen there in her arms. Her lower body suddenly wrapped my legs again, hugging my lower half like a deadly serpent. She then leaned in and imitated the same kiss on my lips as I had done to her. She then brought her cheek to my cheek and started to rub them together. I wondered just then if the touching of cheeks was the way these creatures kissed, and if so, then she must have been even more forward than I was. She’d kissed me right when I got into the pool.

  She was still rubbing her cheek against my own, now holding my head to her. I figured I’d play along and reach my hand through her thick black hair and hold her head in my hand. She moaned, pulling my head tighter to her own warm cheek. I was suddenly feeling very guilty. If this were some sort of passionate kiss for these creatures, then I was leading her on especially as I held her head to my own. There would be no way that she could truly love me or spend her life with me, just the same as I could never truly love her or spend my life with her. We were two different creatures – different species. We couldn’t even speak each other’s languages. She couldn’t live in my world any more than I could live in hers. While she apparently found me attractive, and I honestly found her attractive, the biology just wasn’t on our side. Two different species certainly couldn’t love each other. I’d learn over the coming months just how wrong I was.

  Chapter Thirteen

  John’s living room was silent. There would be no more laughter as we all suddenly realized exactly what John was telling us. He wasn’t talking about the discovery of an alien race. He wasn’t talking about regularly visiting this race and building a friendship. This man, for all intents and purposes, had fallen in love with what appeared to be a very attractive demonic sea creature.

  And even before he continued, I’d bet everyone was thinking the same thing I was. John had not only fallen in love, but perhaps even started a family if that were even possible. And that led to the thought ‘is it even possible?’

  “Before you ask, no, our two species cannot naturally have children,” John said, “And before you ask, no, I will not satisfy your curiosities regarding any intimacy between me and Sh’tha’we.”

  “But biologically speaking…” Kennedy began, leaving the unspoken question.

  “I already shared more than I intended in regards to our relationship. It’s not easy to admit that I fell in love and learned how to make out with what you all may be perceiving as a sea creature – a fish,” he replied.

  “No, honestly I completely understand this to be a sentient humanoid life form just from what you’ve shared so far,” Rigel stated, “And with the way you’ve described her, I can envision a form of beauty there that would be compatible with our natural desires.”

  Renata punched him playfully in the shoulder, “You’re not allowed to leave me for a mermaid.”

  “Hey, you’re the only mermaid allowed in my bathtub,” he replied, followed by Henley making vomiting sounds.

  “Alright everyone,” my mother waved her hands at the Knights, “John, I do want to know something unrelated to anything physical.”

  “Sure,” John replied.

  “The language barrier and the continued visits,” she said, “I’m assuming you weren’t going out fishing everyday as we’d been believing for these past fifteen years.”

  John laughed, then nodded, “Hey, I was still bringing home enough fish to feed the village though, wasn’t I?”

  “And how long did it take you to catch the fish that kept you out all day long?” my father laughed.

  “When your wife is as fast as a barracuda, catching fish is no problem at all. She kept our village nicely stocked, didn’t she?” he replied.

  “Wife?” Henley blurted.

  He frowned, realizing the word he hadn’t meant to share
with us just yet. He nodded only slightly as he then looked at the floor.

  “I’ve been married, at least in the way that they defined such a relationship, for about fifteen years now,” John replied.

  “Why couldn’t you tell us, John?” my mother looked heartbroken suddenly, “Why couldn’t you share all this back then?”

  He frowned, “It wasn’t easy for me and as fast as things were moving, it would have been even more difficult to explain at the time. There were other factors as well, not the least of which was the way the Keplerians viewed the colonies on the surface. And since Sh’tha’we was already harboring a long-term infatuation with me by the time she’d ‘captured’ me, our relationship moved uncommonly fast. Let’s face it, the first time she took me to her bedroom – the pool room – we’d made out passionately in the eyes of any Keplerian. The cheek rubbing is comparable to passionate kissing in our society. And the intertwining of tails such as when she would wrap me tightly in her lower half, was considered a sexual proposition. Keplerians are very forward and waste no time stating what they want when they are with a prospective mate. Imagine me coming back to the village the next day saying ‘I met a mermaid, we made out, and I’m going back tomorrow because she’s insistent that we consummate the monogamous contract’.”

  “Wow, if only humans were that upfront and straight to the point,” I said a little too loudly.

  “I take back the blessing I gave you to marry my daughter, Thatcher,” Renata said with a deadly glare.

  “Hey, don’t chase my Thatch away!” Henley joked, tugging me into an embrace, “I can’t have him off chasing mermaids.”

  “You’re the only mermaid allowed in my bathtub,” I laughed.