Metamorphosis (The Two Moons of Rehnor, Book 7)

by J. Naomi Ay

  "Well, get to work then." Zork pointed toward the cockpit. "I want to work on the black boxes which keep short circuiting. I'll join you when I can. In the meantime, Andy's always there to help. Andy, make sure you're decent!"

  "What does that mean?" Luci cried.

  Zork winked again. "Sometimes she likes to walk around naked. She's into that kind of thing."

  "You haven't changed a bit, Zork." I shook my head.

  "Not you either, Goldie." He chucked my chin. "Show me your guns, babe, and then we can play a round of strip chess."

  "I don't want to even begin to think about that." Luci shuddered while Zork laughed.

  "Whenever you lose a piece, you have to take off some clothes. I learned to play that in Andromeda. Of course, those creatures didn't wear too much clothing anyway. How about it, Goldie?" He smirked. "Shall we give it a try? You certainly have more underneath for a man to appreciate than those blue, slimy squid things."

  "Zork!" A voice echoed across the metallic walls of this ship. "I warned you to stay away from her. You never heard the full story."

  "I absolutely forbid it," Luci rose to her feet. "Madame will not engage…"

  "Oh, you want to play too, Red?" Zork asked. "Alright, I'll let you girls play first."

  "Zork!" The droid yelled again.

  "Save it, Chickie," Zork yelled. "Don't get your circuits in a twist. No reason to be jealous of Goldie and Luci just because they've got flesh. We'll discuss this all later." He chucked my chin again, before lumbering off to the black box bay. "I've got to get to work, and you've got to drive. Call me when it's dinner time. I'm appointing Red as the new cook."

  "In your dreams," Luci snapped and followed me to the bridge.

  Sitting down at the controls, I checked the navigational computer which read Star:Sol Planet:III. Speed was set to LT + 2 and heading to 320, the Rehnorian star was in our rearview, and the future was straight ahead.

  It didn't take long, maybe a minute or two, before I started feeling like I left half of my heart back there.

  "What's the matter?" Luci asked. She sat down next to me and stared out the window.

  "How could I be so tired of him and so anxious to get away but when I do, I start to worry and feel guilty just for leaving?"

  "Me too." Luci sighed, holding her chin in her hand. "Sometimes we need a little distance to remind us of these things. Of course, having him go berserk every time you've left doesn't help the situation. Not Berkie though, of course. He never goes berserk. He's very stable, even to the point of being boring. Do you think we should ring them, and see if they are doing alright?"

  "No. I'm sure they're fine."

  "Of course they are. They are probably hard at work as usual." Luci turned and stared back out at the stars. "It does feel like we are going awfully far away though."

  "It's a short trip just to find Caroline's mysterious package," I reminded both Luci and myself. "It shouldn't take more than a day or two."

  "We'll be home by next week," Luci agreed. "It won't take very long, just a blink of an eye in the whole scheme of things. We might even wish it had lasted longer. We might have a lot of fun."

  "After Caroline gets better, maybe we can do something like this again."

  "Absolutely."

  "Wrong," naked Andy interrupted, her giant buxom image appearing on the overhead vid screen. "Now don't you go and lead my Zork astray!"

  "Oh good heavens!" Luci cried and shut her eyes while I quickly overrode Andy's automatic program.

  "No," Andy cried. "Please don't turn me off." Her appearance and her voice began to fizzle out. "Please don't let Zork be executed. He may be stupid, but he's really very kind."

  "Don't worry, Andy," I said and completely shut her off. "Zork is at no risk of being killed."

  "Hey, Goldie." Zork sat down in the seat next to me after Luci had gone off to bed. He was sweaty and smelled like a toxic combination of engine room oil, beer and too much time in space. "How she's flying?"

  "Holding steady." I adjusted the scans. We were at the edge of the Cascadian sector about to depart the Empire and enter what was left of the Alliance. "Did you figure out what was wrong with the refrigeration system?"

  "Not yet. I need to run some additional tests. Hey Andy, I need your help down in the black box bay."

  "I shut her off," I replied but then hit the switch to turn her back on. "Just tell her to stay decent, please. She's offending Luci's senses."

  Andy appeared, but not as a naked buxom blonde. Instead, she had morphed into a pale black and silver haired man with brilliant silver eyes and a close cropped beard.

  "How do you like this?" Andy asked in Senya's lilting voice. "Does this offend your senses, Madame?"

  "I don't get it, Andy." Zork scratched as his armpit and wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. "Is that supposed to be funny? Who is that odd looking dude?"

  "It's her husband, you idiot! Don't switch me off! Alright, I'm changing. Is this better?" Andy turned into a fat middle aged guy with a pale hairy chest and about sixty extra pounds that all congregated in the middle. He was dressed in a gaping pair of boxer shorts, a stained baseball cap, and wife-beater T. He scratched his crotch with one hand and his beard with another. Then, he lifted a beer and smiled at me.

  "I don't care what you look like," Zork replied. "Just go figure out what's wrong downstairs. If we can't get it working, we'll have to go in for service. You know what that means, my friend? You had better start behaving. We've got ladies on board now, so be nice."

  "I'm on it," Andy grumbled and disappeared from the view.

  "You haven't had him serviced?" I asked, relieved that Andy was finally gone. His appearance as Senya had left me unnerved.

  "I haven't upgraded his operating system in about twenty years. He's afraid if I do, he'll lose himself. Unfortunately, the version he's running is no longer supported, so I have to live with his faults and run old hardware in the boxes."

  "That's kind of how I feel," I considered as I adjusted our course to avoid an Imperial Starship on our starboard bow about four clicks away. Accelerating half a notch, I veered off at a different vector. "I think I need to go in for software upgrade."

  "You're hardware looks fine, Goldie, from what I can see, although, your color is more blue than pink. Are you sad about Taner's wife? Is she a good friend of yours? I'm here to talk, babe. I'm not as insensitive as most men." Zork put his hand on mine and squeezed it for a moment. "Just ask any one of my seven ex-wives."

  "Thanks, Zork," I began to say.

  "Zork!" Andy screeched.

  "It's alright, Andy," I replied and rose from my seat with a yawn. "I'm just extremely tired. I'll stay here a few more minutes while you go get yourself a snack."

  "I only need my beer," Zork replied and headed for the fridge while I watched the starship drift off into the stars. It might have been the Queen of Rozari where my son was serving aboard. I waved even though he couldn't see.

  Shika had been promoted to Lieutenant Commander about two months ago and was working in Navigation, stationed on the bridge. His sometimes girlfriend, Hannah was a resident physician in the sickbay but neither or them seemed interested in a more permanent relationship. I didn't blame Hannah, though I had met her only once when Shika had brought her to our apartment for dinner. She was terrified of Senya and couldn't speak a word even though he had done his best to behave and not frighten her.

  Hannah wouldn't sit down at the table, and she wouldn't eat a thing despite how much Shika begged to pretend that we were just normal people. They left fairly quickly with Hannah in tears and Shika declaring that he'd never again bring anyone home to meet us. I was upset too while Senya was oblivious.

  "What did you expect?" he said. "We are not going to change who we are."

  "No, of course not," I had snapped. "But, there ought to be a way to make her feel at home. What's Shika going to do if everyone reacts this way? I just don't want him to have to spend his life alone."


  "We can arrange a marriage," Senya responded, already consumed with something on his tablet. "He can have a wife from every planet or one for each day of the week. He'll never be alone. That's not the problem."

  "You're right. He'll always be surrounded by adoring people. What he needs is to know and to be loved."

  "And that you cannot arrange for him no matter how hard you might try. Our fates are not decided by our mothers."

  "So what's the matter, Goldie?" Zork asked, returning from the galley with a six pack and a plate of fries that had been microwaved. "Why are you AWOL from the guy with the silver eyes?"

  "I'm not AWOL. Luci and I are doing a favor for a friend. My husband knows all about it."

  "Mhm." Zork sat down at the console and took over the driving. "That's why Taner had to arrange for you to take this trip?"

  "It's complicated, Zork. Everything I do takes a lot of coordination. Taner took care of it so we could leave quickly without a fuss."

  "And that's why you came aboard dressed in baseball caps and sunglasses? It looks to me, like you were sneaking out. Why are you wearing fancy handcuffs around your wrists?"

  "Well, I was sneaking out," I tried to explain, "but not from my husband. Oh, just forget it, Zork. I don't want to discuss it anymore. I'm going to bed. It's something like 4AM back home and spacelag is catching up with me. I really need to go lay down before I pass out."

  "You want me to come with you?" Zork winked. "We can go to my cabin or heck, you can even stay here. Come sit down on my lap, little Goldie. The silver-eyed joe will never know anything about it. He might even want you to have some fun. My wives always did with me. They certainly had their own fun while I was off in space."

  "No, thank you, Zork. It's tempting, but I'll pass. I'll see you in a few hours unless you need some help."

  Heading back to the cabin, I discovered Luci sound asleep, and snoring louder and more annoying than Senya ever did. After brushing my teeth, I climbed into my cot but as tired as I was, I laid there wide awake. For five hours, I tossed and turned but didn't sleep at all despite how many times I punched my pillow or counted sheep.

  It had been more than a decade since the last time I had a bed all to myself. I should have enjoyed that no one was pulling the blankets to his side. He wasn't crowding the center or spooning and making me hot. He wasn't waking me in the middle of the night as he crept outside in search of fresh meat.

  "What's the matter?" Luci snorted awake. "Is something wrong?"

  "No." I punched my pillow again. "I just can't sleep."

  "I miss Berkie," Luci said and turned away. A moment later she began to snore again.

  I missed Senya, too, though I wasn't sure exactly why.

  Chapter 6

  Joanne

  I was walking across campus kicking up leaves with my feet. I had a hole in my jeans that exposed my knee and an even larger one in my backpack, which caused all my pencils to leak out. I didn't have any money to buy new jeans or a new bag as everything I made was going to my tuition and books.

  "Hey Jo," RJ called as she ran up to me. "Let's go hang out in the library. I need some help with my Chem lab."

  "I can't right now, RJ." I checked the time on my old watch. "You know, I've got to get to work today. I'll be fired if I'm late."

  "I forgot," RJ admitted. "What time do you get off? Do you think you can help me later after you get home?"

  RJ skipped next to me as we walked down the stairs to the street. Her long brown braids bounced across her shoulders, and her glasses slipped down her freckled nose. We headed to the student parking lot where I had left my scooter a few hours ago. I had locked it with a bicycle chain next to about twenty others.

  "Maybe. I don't know. I'll see how tired I am when I'm done. Hey, where's my scooter?" There were a lot of bikes in the lot, but my green and silver Moped wasn't anywhere. "I could swear I left it right here." I pointed at an open space.

  "Is it this one?" RJ asked, standing by another green bike. "No, wait. Don't you have a broken mirror and a dent on the front fender?"

  "Yeah," I cried, searching every bike in the lot. "Do you see it over there? It's not over here." Panic set in as I realized I had just lost the most expensive thing that I owned.

  "Nope," RJ reported when she returned to my side. "Sorry, Jo, it looks like it's been stolen."

  "Oh crap!" I screamed into the air. "Now for sure I'll be late to work. Are you absolutely, positively certain you don't see my bike anywhere?"

  RJ shook her head and buried her chin into her chest as if I was blaming her for my lost bike. "Maybe you left it home? No, you did take it this morning. I remember, I took the bus by myself."

  "RJ, call my boss," I begged and started running back up to the campus. "Tell him I'm gonna be late, but I'll be there tonight."

  I managed to mount the steps at a breakneck speed, considering I was wearing only flip flops on my feet. Then, I raced south toward the transit station praying I could catch a bus.

  "Stop running," an old homeless woman yelled, then she stuck out her hand and knocked me into the street where I slipped and fell on my butt, tearing my jeans. My backpack went flying into the traffic in time for an old truck to drive right by. It crushed my cell and lipsticks, barely missing my legs.

  "Oh crap!" I cried and really did as big tears coursed down my cheeks while the crazy homeless woman yelled again.

  Now, the bus I had been trying to catch nearly decapitated me as it rose above my head and soared off into the sky in the direction of my job.

  "Are you okay, Jo?" RJ caught up with me. She offered her hand and pulled me up and out of the street.

  "Nope," I wept. "I'm totally screwed, and on top of that, I think I'm gonna throw up right here in the grass."

  "Go ahead." My cousin patted my back as if that somehow was going to help.

  Kneeling over, I heaved not much of anything. Breakfast had been a single piece of toast while lunch was a cookie from the campus canteen. Dinner was supposed to be a three course meal at work.

  "Did you call my boss?" I asked when I could speak again and sat forlornly on the lawn, hugging my knees.

  "I did, but he said you shouldn't bother to come in anymore. He said, you've been late too many times, and he's going to hire someone else."

  I started crying again, burying my face in my hands, even though I wasn't surprised at all. Frankly, working in a restaurant for eight hours on my feet after spending five in school wasn't great. I was exhausted all the time, and falling asleep in class. I had to study all night just to catch up, and it was only my second year of nursing school.

  On top of that, I was already on probation as my first year's grades were mostly unsatisfactory. I didn't want to fail. I truly wanted to be a nurse. I wanted to care for people and help to make them better, but right now, I wasn't even sure I could take care of myself.

  "I'm never going to catch a break," I moaned and sobbed on the campus lawn.

  "Do you want to go home?" RJ asked, sympathetic tears filling her eyes. "I'll call Mama to pick us up. You should just go to bed and sleep this off."

  "If I'm not working," I wailed. "I should study before I get more behind in my classes."

  "I think you're coming down with the flu, Jo. You need to go to bed with some soup."

  Obediently, I rose and followed RJ while reciting the symptoms of the flu as if I had a test. I didn't have a cough or a sinus condition, and my throat wasn't the least bit sore. There was no pressure in my ears, and my stomach didn't ache, but I felt woozy and had some nausea in spells.

  "I'm just overly tired," I insisted. It couldn't be anything more. I was just run down from too much running in all directions, too much stress, too little food, and no money.

  "You'll feel better tomorrow," my cousin said and took my hand. She led me to the car pickup station and sat me down on a bench. Submissively, I obeyed as I was too weary to fight anymore. Maybe all I needed was a good sleep to focus my head.

  "Are you go
ing out with Brian on Saturday night?" RJ continued, swinging her legs and rocking the bench. She never seemed to be able to sit still. She was like a puppy always trying to chew on something. She made me tired just to look at her even though I loved her more than anyone else.

  "I'm not going out with Brian anymore. We had a fight two weeks ago, and he hasn't called me since which is fine because I don't want to see him either."

  "That's too bad." RJ nodded, her lips turned down in a goofy frown. She had liked Brian. Maybe, she even liked him more than me, but with her long braids and freckled nose, her country way of smiling at everyone, she was never going to be the type of girl he liked.

  Frankly, I had never been his type of girl either. I didn't have long blonde hair or a perfect princess face. This old Jo was not a cheerleader, just the girl who hung by the wall at the dance.

  "Don't you fret about it, Jo," my cousin declared as her mama's speeder pulled up in front of us. It was an old wood paneled station wagon with three rows of seats and a broken luggage rack up on top.

  "Hiya, girls." Aunt Sherrilyn called so loud the whole campus could hear. Her car was always a mess of hair products and cosmetics. Auntie was a beautician, and this, her mobile office and salon. "Did y'all have a good day at school? Hop right in and let's take Jo home to bed. Now Joanne, don't you worry about finding another job. I always said you can work with me cutting hair. I can teach you to do facials in no time at all. With your fine printing, I bet you can do nails. As soon as you're ready, honey, I'm going to put you to work."

  "Thanks Auntie." I climbed into the back and closed my eyes as Auntie drove the car at breakneck speed. "I'm having an exceptionally lousy day today and tomorrow is a lab with a dissection of a Martian female corpse. I think I'm going to be sick, and we haven't even started."

  "Is Martian anatomy different from ours?" RJ asked, bouncing her butt on the seat right next to me.

  I would have tried to explain about Martian blood types and plasma cells, how their hearts and lungs had to accommodate the variations in their mutated platelets, but I was just too tired, and too worn to say another word. RJ would be a better nurse than me, for sure. She could be a doctor if she wanted, I was certain. Though she bounced around like a little child, she had a really sharp brain in her head. If she could get through Freshman Chem, she would have it made. At least one of us was going to be a success instead of a disaster.