Eventually, Charon approached Dayu. He dipped his hand in a small container held by one of the priests, and slowly rubbed it on Dayu’s head. He said, “Now, as the sun is newly risen on this new bright, may all see, and welcome, and rejoice in the presence of a new person, Dayu of Joshii and Tarue.” He reached over and pulled the thin covering off the sash, revealing the name.
Charon went to Nif and repeated the procedure.
As he approached Lori, holding Eric, she unwrapped the baby blanket covering him, revealing a small sash on his chest. Charon paused a moment, looking closely at Eric, with some joy, Lori thought, and hoped, and he repeated the words spoken earlier. He used much less oil, just rubbing it on Eric’s head with two fingers, slowly mixing it in his hair. Charon looked up, and gestured to Captain George. The Captain walked up, stopped close to Lori and Eric, bent and whispered a name in the child’s ear. He stood, and stepped back. Charon pulled the small covering off Eric’s sash, to reveal his name, embroidered there in a fine, gold thread.
With that, he stepped back, and all began to sing a hymn of praise. Later, Lori learned that the name of Mackanima, the despised despot, had been stricken from the song, replaced with the words, “Sun-god.”
The hymn ended, the gong sounded three times, and the ceremony concluded with a truly spectacular dose of fire weed, the flames leaping high into the air, the smoke rising quickly to the rooftop, both to slowly diminish, and die out.
Charon and the other priests went to the parents, and offered congratulations, and small gifts, mostly of food and a few coins, to the newly named citizens of the planet. The kits, rehearsed, bowed and nodded to the priests. Lori and Hunter did also, and presented Eric to all who passed, giving them a quick look at her babe in arms. Others in attendance, FakFak and a number of invited guests, followed. The group adjourned to the covered patio for an elaborate breakfast, a feast, really, with the kits the guests of honor. More gifts arrived, to their delight.
As they departed, Lori handed Charon a small pouch with gifts for him and the priests, newly minted silver coins from Earth. FakFak also passed some coins to them, from Uta, a generous gesture unexpected by Lori and Hunter.
Charon and FakFak sought audience as soon as the humans awoke later that bright, and Lori granted it. Sipping hot tea, and nibbling on toast and cereal, she ushered them in with a wave, as she sat at a table. Tari brought a crying baby to her, and she opened her light gown to nurse him.
The two natives chatted about up coming events for a few minutes, until Lori casually switched Eric from one breast to the other. Talk stopped. Staring, they watched the nursing baby, as Lori wiped a drip of milk from her vacant, empty breast.
“The child, it is eating of fluids from your body?” FakFak said incredulously.
“Yes,” Lori answered, as Tarue gave a brief explanation of the process.
Looking at them, and knowing the taboo of mouth feeding on this planet, she said, “Feeding of the young is often a strange, and wonderful process, done differently, it seems by each of the intelligent species. And for differing lengths of time. And so it is worthy, and necessary, if the young are to survive, and prosper.”
More silence.
“They know of mouth-feeding,” Tarue said to the silent natives. “And find it not offensive. Indeed, others among the alien visitors care for their very young in similar fashion.”
No comments from the audience.
“Those growths on your front, this is their purpose?” Charon said at last, pointing at Lori’s breasts.
“Yes,” Hunter said. “Though we males find them objects of great beauty, which add immensely to the allure and attractiveness of our mates.”
The startled looks from the natives showed that feeling was not a shared one.
Lori and Hunter talked of the event later, after another long day, as they dried off following a rather cool bath, and prepared for bed. None of the wall openings had glass windows, nor the doorways doors. Instead, now, dark drapes gave a measure of night, muting the still bright sunlight outside, and closing the room off from passers by, though allowing bursts of light as they waved in the random breezes. Lori lay down on her back, as Hunter finished drying his legs. He stood at the end of the bed, looking at her naked form.
“Man, you look nice,” he said.
“And you look horny,” she said, noticing his growing tumescence. She eased her legs apart a little, for him to see more of her.
“Must be those growths on your front, that does it,” he said with a laugh.
“Not this?” she said, opening her legs more.
“That for sure,” he said, as he stood there, towel in hand, letting her watch his penis rise. When quite stiff, he reached for it, stroked it a few times, and climbed up onto the bed, and into her arms.
As they moved, Lori saw the drape in the doorway part, and two heads peeked in. The kits are checking up on us, she thought, and closed her eyes again, and enjoyed Hunter’s attention.
The next night, thanks to a warm bath arranged by Morales bringing a military heater to the suite, one in which the kits joined them, the room was crowded as they prepared for bed.
“You will lie together again?” Joshii said to them.
Thinking he was talking about sleep, Hunter said, “Yes, we like to lie together.”
“As do we,” he said, and began nuzzling Tarue’s neck, then moved up to her face, and her mouth.
In a flash, Lori realized the taboo associated with mouth feeding. She whispered to Hunter, “Their foreplay is similar to the mouth feeding motions of the young. No wonder they find it something to hide.”
“Think so?” he said, preoccupied with stroking her breasts. To his delight, she let him, not moving his hands away, as he feared she would, she watching the two natives. The kits sat off in the corner, quiet, but watching also.
His erection returned, in full glory, and he nibbled on Lori’s neck and ears, and kissed her throat, and then lips. She let him lean her back down onto the bed, and then climb over and onto her, and into her. Now Tarue and Joshii joined them, Tarue on her back, too, and Joshii on top, pushing against her with circular motions. The women made similar, quiet mewing sounds, as the men pushed into them. Then Lori groaned with the joy of Hunter’s stroking her, and Tarue said, “It is good, so good,” and moaned a little, too. The bed bounced with their lovemaking.
Lori found a small hand taking hers, and opened her eyes to see Nif holding it, while the kit held her mother’s hand with her other one. Nif huddled on the bed in a small ball, and looked from one woman to the other, keeping a tight hold on both hands. Beyond, Lori saw Dayu holding his mother’s other hand. Joshii’s hands came to the side, and covered his kits’ hands. And as a group, they went on, till a long climax, Joshii and Tarue both murmuring a soft song, and lingering afterglows, released them.
In the dimness of the room, they looked at each other, and Lori said, “That was very special. Very, very special. I enjoyed seeing you making love, and sharing the time with you.”
“You enjoyed this?” Joshii said, sitting up at last, a contented, weary look on his face.
“Yes, indeed, I did,” Lori said. “It was very special.”
“You have done this many times, and still no new baby,” Nif said, to the humans. “Will you not have one soon?”
Hunter said, “Well, sometimes it takes a long time. Guess we’ll just have to keep doing it until it works.”
“Yes, so it is for us, also,” Tarue said. “We, too, must keep doing the mating, until the Sun-god smiles on us, and perhaps it works.”
“The kits are welcomed in the mating bed?” Tari asked.
“Oh, yes, as the result of our union, they are loving evidence of what we do. We do not hide the act from them, and welcome their closeness. But that ends when the eyes clear, and maturity happens. Then it might be too powerful, and they understand, and withdraw, or leave us in private.” Tarue patted the kits on their heads, and both she and Joshii drew them to the
ir chests in a loving embrace.
Over the next few brights, Lori came to regret her words. Joshii, it seems, passed the word on to Charon, or someone, and she soon found natives mating everywhere they went. People would even stop what they were doing, and begin to mate, watching Lori all the while. She could hardly object, to do so would be devastating for sure, and tried not to make too much of it, but found it disconcerting, and distracting, some more vocal and active than others, none thinking too much if others were present, or not, and all waiting the blessings of the Sky Lady on their congress, or something.
On a second occasion when Joshii and Tarue were in bed with them, Lori broached the subject to him after they finished.
“Joshii, I am distressed that we interrupt, or distract others while in the mating positions, and thereby diminish their enjoyment of each other, at moments when they should be concentrating on one another, and not on me.”
“You do not wish people to mate?”
“On the contrary, I wish they do so whenever they want, and whenever it is customary. But they should not start when I appear, or members of my party, especially if we are on trading missions, or such. That is not fair to them, and makes us feel uncomfortable, in that we are interrupting and intruding in private and precious moments.”
“You wish people to stop mating when you are there?”
“No, what I wish is that people not start mating when I am there, but wait until they have their own undivided attention, so they may concentrate on their joy, and not feel I am a distraction.”
“You are not so for us.”
“Yes, but you do not start when Hunter and I appear, nor do we do so when you do. It just occurs on occasion, when we are alone, and resting, not out among the people, or engaged in trade, or discussion, or viewing the people in their daily activities.”
“You do not find it worthy?”
“Joshii, I find it joyous. But not when it is done for me, or for my arrival. People should love for themselves, not for me. Do you understand?”
He looked at Lori a long moment, and said, “I think I understand.”
And indeed, he did, for they saw far fewer native joinings, almost never during the bright, and only rarely in the dim. Joshii and Tarue left them to themselves most nights, too, but not always, thankfully, and Lori loved sharing a bed with them from time to time.
Chapter 15 - Skirmish
The passage of several weeks found Lori busy, active, enjoying herself, and pleased with the trading and business. Hunter, after some initial skepticism on the part of the natives, expanded his banking enterprise, and soon American dollar coins began to supplant the crude native ones. Despite Lori’s annoyance, everyone began calling them, “Lories.”
“Looks like it’s turning on old saying on its head–here the good money is driving out the bad.”
Lori took time off from incessant visiting, and showing her face, as she called it, often with Tarue and the kits, and always with Tari, to explore and chart the huge planet. The concept of a long weekend was unknown, but twice Lori went off for two to three days to visit interesting locales, record the flora and fauna, look for shy natives, and prospect for gold. No new big strikes were discovered, but the old one, north on Gold Island, continued to supply limited quantities of the precious metals to the few hardy prospectors who went there.
She also took an afternoon off from time to time, stopping at a sandy beach in the southern climes, to rest and swim with the kits and her son.
Eagle One interrupted her on one such occasion, buzzing her on the radio, faintly heard as she returned to her towel, with rivulet of salty water drifting off her bare body.
“Yes,” she said, as she started to dry her face and hair.
“Lorelei, an anomaly. Faint readings suggest engine plumes, from sector Echo 25, November 11.”
“One of ours?” she asked as a chill ran down her spine, even in the hot sun.
“No ships reported out. Multiple readings present.”
“Where are they again?”
The air car repeated the coordinates, and Lori wrote them in the sand.
“I’ll call the captain, and see what he says.”
As she sat there in the sun, nursing Eric, she tried to call Captain George. It took a half hour for him to respond. “Hey, great lady, I’m on leave today, remember? I’m standing on the shore of a beautiful lake, fishing.”
“Catch anything?”
“Nothing yet, but the day is young.”
“You have radio contact available with the K?”
“Always, what’s up?”
“Don’t know. Eagle One reports an anomaly in Echo 25, November 11. Says it looks like it might be engine exhausts. We have anything going out or coming in?”
“Not that I’m aware of. I’ll call the ship, check with the others, who knows, the illi-illi are always off joyriding somewhere. Multiple exhausts?”
“Possibly.”
“OK, I’ll have someone check it out, and get back to you.”
“Thanks, enjoy the fishing.”
Less than an hour later, Captain George called back.
“Catch anything yet?” Lori asked lightly.
“Hell no, fishing’s off. Look, your damn air car was right, how the hell’s it do that? We got multiple starship exhausts, looks like at full throttle, in deceleration, heading our way. Four at least, maybe more, can’t tell for sure.”
“Not ours?”
“Nope.”
The implication stunned Lori. She sat there for a moment, just the faint static in the earpiece. “Holy shit,” she said.
“It’s got steaming halos,” the captain said.
“You watching it?”
“Me, no, I’m on my way to orbit, fishing will have to wait, looks like we got bigger fish to fry for now.”
“Got a vector, and an ETA?”
“Not yet. But we’re looking at days, maybe a week or more, at current velocity, if they’re even heading here. Can’t tell for sure. But it looks like we’re not alone in the cluster.”
“Think it might be another convoy from the Milky Way?”
“Hard to tell. Approach is way off for that to be likely–they’re coming in from around the bend, not the edge. We’ve got to analyze the exhaust signature, pretty faint so far. But hey, thanks, thank the air car, for the heads up. I’m gonna kick some ass up there–we should have spotted it ourselves.”
“Yeah, OK. Keep me posted.”
“You got it, Sky Lady.”
Lori stood up and walked to Eagle One. She said, “The captain sends his compliments on your discovery. He confirms engine plumes in deceleration, maybe on the way here.”
“Yes, I know,” the air car said.
“Think they’re heading toward Uta.”
“Yes.”
“Think they’re human, or from our galaxy?”
“No.”
Succinct, as usual.
“Where do you think they’re from?”
“This cluster, on the arc, and inward ten degrees.”
“Show me,” Lori said, climbing into the pilot’s seat, and looking at the display screen. The image showed the blazing stars, and a long line, curving inward, solid at first, then dotted, with several stars circled, as possible origin for the ships. She was looking at it when Hunter came over, carrying Eric.
“Hey, lady, you’ve abandoned our baby to the crabs and vultures.”
“Ain’t got no vultures on this planet, not yet, at least. Here, look at this.”
“What is it?”
“Visitors. Maybe?”
“What? Here?” He looked at the track. “Aliens? Friendly?”
“Too soon to tell.”
“Then we might have vultures after all.”
They kept the news away from the natives at first. But the next day, when air cars and lighters began dropping ship’s captains at the ed center, everyone from FakFak on down wanted to know what’s up. A foggy, damp, misty day, cool, too, gave a s
urreal look to the group meeting, held under the tall roof toward the back of the former temple, with the rest of the city lost in the glowing haze, while tendrils of vapor drifted by.
They invited FakFak, Charon, and several other local officials to join them as two science officers, an Anawoka analyst, and a human navigator told what was know about the suddenly appearing exhausts. They counted five ships, maybe a sixth hidden from view by the others, on approach, vector projection and rate of deceleration suggested planet Uta as destination. ETA, at present rates of decent, was eight days, fourteen hours.
“Five brights,” someone said.
“Yes.”
“So what are we dealing with?”
No answers to that, but Captain George said, “We want to send someone out, to get a look at what’s coming in, try to make contact, if that’s possible, and high tail it back here if it’s not.”
“How does one ‘high-tail’?” a bigboy asked.
“A human expression. It means come back very fast. Very fast, indeed.”
“Any volunteers?” Lori asked. She was ready to send the Koyaanisqatsi out, if no one did. But someone did.
“We will go. We will send two fast scouts, one close, one far, and bring back the information,” Captain Igan of the Ixixil ship, Terrez, said.
Of all the races, this one was the least likely to be successful in a contact, assuming the visitors were new to the area. But Lori knew they could fly far and fast, and nodded, with thanks.
“When can you leave?”
“Immediately.”
“Very well. But scouts are to avoid conflict or combat, seek only to establish contact, and alert the visitors of the presence of others in the system.”
“Agreed.”
“What about a translator?”
“Our acceleration will be too great for our good friends from Lucipara. But we have their excellent programs, and will do our best with that. And we’ll send no visuals.”
T-47 Book II (Saxon Saga 6) Page 26