by Beva John
“What if we go elsewhere, somewhere else in the Cooperative?”
“Where – like Enset or Ssru?”
She has reason to be angry and fearful. “There has to be a place for us. There are other Namvire and humans who have mated and started families. I will find where they are living and ...”
Sylvia shakes her head. “It is not going to work. You need to run your family business and the Namvire will not accept a relationship such as ours. Your species is too prejudiced.”
“Some are, but not all of us are prejudiced.”
She laughs bitterly. “You don’t even see it. You don’t hear what comes out of your mouth. It is not just humans or non-travelers. You think the Brune and Katoll are beneath you, just as they think you are beneath them. You are all racist, or more accurately, speciesist?”
“Is it wrong for me to prefer my own species?”
“No, but there is this assumption that whatever the Namvire do is best. You call the Brunes big heads and the Katolls beasts. Humans are sitters.”
“Where did you hear that? I have never called you a sitter.”
“No, but others have.” Sylvia sighs. “When I was on Earth, I wanted everyone to be treated with respect, no matter what their race. I was so excited when the Civil Rights Act was signed but I don’t know if it made a difference. Maybe racial or species equality is impossible. We’re like the Sharks and Jets in West Side Story. We are doomed from the start.”
I don’t know what she is talking about. “I love you, Sylvia and you belong to me. I am not going to give you up.”
Her eyes fill with tears. “And that’s the problem. I want you to give me up. I want to go to Little Earth.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
RAAN
I have never been to Little Earth and getting there is tricky – it is a small planet on the outskirts of the fourth galaxy. The Katoll chose the location because the atmosphere was right, and they knew it was out of the way, where humans would be easier to protect. My mother thought we should send Sylvia in a travel pod, but after our experience on Enset, there was no way I was going to allow that. If Sylvia wanted to go to Little Earth, I was going to accompany her and make certain she was happily settled.
After all of my recent expenses, I was concerned about the cost for both of us to travel, but fortunately, Azaar offered to fund the entire journey – a gift, not a loan. I was touched by his generosity. He said, “Don’t tell Mother.”
I am not going to. I sense that she is pleased that Sylvia is going, and it feels like a betrayal. Everyone in my family – even Azaar to some extent – seems relieved that Sylvia will no longer be a part of my life.
As for Sylvia, she doesn’t talk much as we travel to Little Earth. She spends most of her time reading Little Earth’s history on her data screen.
We still make love, but one time I am unable to bring her to climax. “It’s not you,” she says. “It’s me. I can’t relax any more. Maybe it’s better if we forget about all that.”
I feel like a failure. I am unable to make Sylvia happy, unable to keep her.
Little Earth has four main intergalactic ports, which are drop off areas for humans. According to Little Earth law, non-humans are not allowed outside the port cities. I accompany Sylvia as she goes through the application and registration process to become a citizen of Little Earth.
It feels very strange to be in a city that is primarily human, where I am in the minority as a Namvire. Most of the officials are female humans, but there are a few males as well. I look at them with suspicion, wondering if they are what Sylvia wants – what Sylvia would prefer. To me, they all look small and ineffective without tails or claws.
I am offered the reward for bringing Sylvia to Little Earth, but I say that I don’t want it. I want that money to go to Sylvia instead.
Sylvia says, “What are you going to do now, Raan? Are you going to go back to Bataa and work for the family store?”
“No. That is not the life for me.” I can’t live in the Vasuren Tower without being reminded of her. “I am what you humans call a rolling stone. I will get another job as a Merchandiser on another ship.” My life has little meaning now. I will send half my salary to Irlaa so she can pay for whatever new lessons she wants, and half of my salary will go to Sylvia. Although she does not want to be my wife, I will support and care for her until my dying breath.
I have already given her a name necklace so she will always have something to remind her of me.
“Whatever happened to the Silver Scrapper?” she asks.
I have been following the news. “Confiscated, and Delk is in custody. They’re in the middle of his trial.”
“I’m glad he won’t be selling human females anymore.”
When Sylvia goes to her medical scan, she asks if I will wait for her. “I am not ready to say goodbye,” she says.
“Don’t worry. I am not going anywhere until I know that you are completely settled. I will stay in the port city for as long as it takes.”
She reaches up and kisses my cheek, then follows after the human female doctor. “Thank you, Raan.”
I want to tell her that I love her, and I can’t let her go, but that’s not what she wants. And most of all, I want Sylvia to be happy, even if it kills me.
SYLVIA
I should be happy to be on Little Earth, surrounded by so many humans, but I am not. I don’t want to leave Raan. I can see how awkward Raan feels. He doesn’t fit in here, any more than I fit in on Bataa.
A Port Official named Tiffany escorts me to a Medical Facility where I will be scanned. This is so different from that first scan on the Silver Scrapper.
Most of the officials are female, which seems odd to me. But over the past few weeks, I’ve learned more about Little Earth, which is a matriarchal society. I hope I will be happy here and have a chance to make a difference in the world.
I won’t be able to get a job at first, but I’m hoping I can take some classes, get some certifications, and have a career. Fortunately, English is the primary language.
So much has changed for me in the past few months. Historic Earth, 1969, and my prior life seem like a distant dream. I am fully a member of the Intergalactic Cooperative now. I may not be a traveler like Raan, but I hope to be an active, productive citizen of Little Earth.
I will miss Raan desperately, but I know that my sacrifice is worth it. As much as he doesn’t agree, I know that if we stayed together, I would hold him back and ruin his life.
I will never forget him and his tenderness. Once on the way to Little Earth, we tried to make love and failed. No matter what he did, I could not climax. It reminded me of all the times with my prior boyfriends. But unlike them, he held me close and kissed me. He told me that he loved me, that he did not want to take me to Little Earth.
“Even though I’m a dud?”
“What does that mean?”
“That I’m defective.”
He put his fingers to my lips. “Do not say that. You are not defective. You are the human I love.” He brushed my hair back from my face. “I think you are troubled and unhappy because we are separating. I think that is why we cannot make love.”
“Perhaps that is for the best. It will make our parting easier.”
“I disagree. Even if you never climaxed again, I would still love you and cherish you.” He smiled wryly. “But I would still try to arouse you.”
I couldn’t bear to think of what could be, so I told him we should forget about all that.
As I now lie on a table in the Medical Center, I think of that day on the Silver Scrapper when Officer Hadr had me strapped to a table.
And Raan saved me.
I start to cry silently, with tears running down my cheeks.
“Are you all right?” the doctor asks.
No, I will never be all right again. “Yes,” I say and try to wipe away the tears.
The doctor scans me and looks at her data screens. “Ah, that explains your excess emotions,�
�� she says calmly.
“What are you talking about?”
“You’re pregnant. And excess emotionality is common with pregnancy.”
Pregnant? I am having Raan’s child? My emotions are all over the place now. I put my hand over my stomach. He was right. A mixed species child is possible.
But this makes everything worse. What should I do? I should tell him, but is that fair? He needs to live his life, not holding onto me.
But what about our child? I want this baby to have a father and mother if possible.
The doctor says, “It appears that the baby is half Namvire.”
“Yes,” I say, remembering the photographs that Raan had showed me. Will our nestling have a tail, I wonder, or scales? Or eyelashes?
“That causes a problem.”
Tell me about it.
She continues, “Only humans are allowed to live on Little Earth. Other species and mixed species individuals can reside temporarily in the port cities, but they are not allowed to stay long term.”
“What are you saying?”
The doctor says, “If you wish to become a citizen of Little Earth, you will have to abort the baby.”
“Absolutely not,” I say hotly. “That is not an option.” I love Raan and already I love this baby. I am not going to give him or her up.
“Then you will need to cancel your application for citizenship.” The doctor says, “But this is not a decision to be made lightly. You may have several days to consider.”
I already know what I want.
When I return to the sitting room, I see Raan staring out the window, looking as if his life is over. “Hey,” I tell him. “Things are going to take a few days here.”
He smiles, trying to look cheerful. “Is there a problem?”
“No, just paperwork – or whatever the electronic version of that is. Do you want to get something to eat?”
“Sure,” he says and together we leave the administration building and find a restaurant. The port city is a little like New York City, filled with fancy hotels, theatres and other places for people to spend their money. Everywhere we go, we are surrounded by mostly humans, but also a cross section of the Cooperative. I see Brunes, Katolls, a Penko and a few Teeks.
“Where would you like to go?” he asks. I think we can enjoy ourselves because at least on Little Earth, there is little chance of my being abducted.
“I want you to have some traditional Earth food,” I tell him, so we search out an Italian Restaurant. Raan finds spaghetti to be a ridiculous food and we laugh together as he tries to fit slippery noodles in his mouth. He watches me as I wind the pasta onto my fork. “There is an art to this, I think.”
I smile at him and choose my next words carefully. “What would you say if I changed my mind about living on Little Earth?”
Raan looks at me as if he’s afraid to believe me. “As in staying with me?”
“Yes.”
“I would be the happiest Namvire in all of the five galaxies. Have you changed your mind?”
“How would we make it work? I can’t live on Bataa.”
“You’re right,” he says. “But I can get a job as a Chief Merchandiser and I will make it part of the employment contract that I bring my wife. My human wife.”
That sounds too good to be true. “Is that possible?”
“I will make it possible.”
Tears fill my eyes. “But what if there’s a baby, too?”
Raan looks at me, dumbfounded. Astonished. Unable to speak for several seconds. “Green-eyes, are you going to have my baby?”
I nod and his eyes are misty as well. “I promise you, you will never regret having a nest with me,” he says solemnly. “I will dedicate all of my life, everything that I have and everything that I will ever have, to your happiness and that of our child.”
Now I am crying, and I have to wipe my face with the cloth napkin. It’s not just the pregnancy hormones, it is the hope of true happiness.
Raan says, “And we’ll find someone here who can marry us. With an Earth ceremony.”
I blow my nose. “That sounds wonderful.” I think briefly of my dear mother and how happy she would be to know that I have found someone who loves me and that she would be a grandmother.
Although that grandbaby is going to look different than she would expect.
Our waiter approaches. “Is everything to your liking?”
Raan smiles at me. “Yes. Everything.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
RAAN
Sylvia and I marry in a small chapel in the port city. She wears a long white dress and wears flowers in her hair.
I can’t help but think how strange this is, but I know it is right.
I take Sylvia’s hands in mine and repeat after the religious official prompts me: “I, Raan, take you, Sylvia to be my wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until we are parted by death.”
They are simple words, but I mean them. I touch my name necklace and add, “This is my solemn vow.”
She looks at me with love in her eyes and says, “I, Sylvia, take you, Raan, to be my husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until we are parted by death.”
She touches her name necklace as well. “This is my solemn vow.”
I feel like the luckiest traveler in the five galaxies. We are partners now, husband and wife, perhaps the first Namvire and human pair to have such a ceremony.
The official says something about kissing her, so I do.
After the ceremony, we go to a hotel where we can make love. It is better than our first mating, for we are together now, and nothing will separate us. We know each other better now, and every sigh, every tremor is sweeter. I love how she cries out for me when my mouth is on her cunt; how she writhes and clutches my tail.
I love her full round breasts and her stubby human toes, and I marvel to think that one day we will have our own nestling.
She climaxes first, a sweet release, and then I follow, giving her my seed. I cry out, “Mine. All mine.”
Afterwards, we make plans, and I start researching different job possibilities.
I send a message to Azaar that Sylvia and I are going to remain together. I hope he isn’t disappointed. I don’t want him to regret paying for our trip to the edge of the galaxies.
He responds with congratulations and says he might have a job for Sylvia if she is interested.
“Tell me more.”
Azaar explains that after we left, he noticed that some of the leftover items in the family warehouse were generating unusual interest, including a bidding war on some of the items. These were items featured in viewings he had made with Sylvia.
Azaar says, “It doesn’t matter what the item is, there is increased intergalactic interest if she holds the item and talks about it.”
I am not surprised because Sylvia is a beautiful human and her speaking about anything would make it immediately more desirable.
Azaar asks Sylvia if she would be willing to work for the family store, helping to promote items.
“Of course I would. If Joan Crawford could be a brand ambassador for Pepsi, I can be a brand ambassador for the House of Vasuren.”
I have no idea who Joan Crawford is, but I am willing to learn.
“Do you think your mother will approve?” she asks.
“Don’t worry about my mother,” I tell her. “The more money you make for the House of Vasuren, the more she will like you.”
EPILOGUE
SYLVIA
I can’t sleep. Junior is turning somersaults in my womb, making it difficult to lie comfortably. Although it is the middle of the night, I get out of our king-sized bed and wander over to a cupboard where drinks are stored. Raan, missing me, rises up his elbow and asks sleepily, “Sylvia my love?”
“I am
fine,” I assure him. “It is just the baby. He or she is restless.” The doctors are monitoring my pregnancy and say that everything is going well, and I should give birth in a few weeks.
I drink some water and return to bed. Raan snuggles next to me, rubbing his hand over my stomach. I feel as big as a barn, but apparently compared to Namvire females who usually carry four nestlings, I am quite small. He kisses my stomach. “Get some sleep,” he says as he pulls me close into his warm embrace. “We will be busy in the morning.”
We are on Allathone, the home planet for the Brune, primarily to arrange a trade agreement between one of the governors and the House of Vasuren, but since we are here, we will also check on one of women who was with me in the warehouse so many months ago. This woman was in one of the unopened pods.
Raan has made enquiries with all six of the original purchasers, and as we can, we intend to visit them all, to make certain the woman are safe.
Raan says that this woman was originally bought by a collector, but she may be used as a surrogate, which is common on Allathone.
Apparently Brune women with their abnormally small waists have been unable to bear children for centuries, so they use either artificial wombs or surrogates, with Earth females being the most popular choice.
It is yet another of the strange customs I’ve come across in the past few months. Personally, I feel very blessed. I am the most fortunate of all my fellow cargo, because I am happily married to my own handsome Namvire with a baby on the way. I have a job, making viewings for Raan’s brother Azaar, and I have an extended family as well, even if Raan’s mother doesn’t like me yet. I sigh, wishing the unknown woman well. How frightened she must have been when she first awoke. At least I had Lindsey.
“Shh,” Raan says. “Go to sleep.”
He’s right. We will take care of everything in the morning. There is no point in worrying. I reach over and kiss my alien husband’s cheek. “Good night, sweetheart.”