Valishnu Rising

by Chogan Swan

  Kest sighed. “Yes, I know all that, Amber. But it doesn’t mean it’s what she wanted to discuss.”

  “Well,” said Ayleana. “As it happens, sex IS, indeed the very nub of my gist.”

  She disentangled her tail from their legs and turned to face them. “Kest, as much fun as it usually is to embarrass you, I’m not trying to … right now.”

  She flashed him a quick grin then turned to Amber. “And, Amber, I know you’ve been worrying. I suspect some of that is about what might happen to the dynamics between us.” She waited, keeping eye contact with Amber.

  “I won’t deny worrying, Aylie, but I trust you,” Amber said. “You brought me into this threefold cord when you already knew how I felt about Kest. You also know I’ve loved you from the minute I met you, and you have never let me down. But people can have things come between them. Life has taught me that.”

  “Okay,” Kest said. “I need to concentrate on this conversation. Can we sit in a circle or something?”

  Amber giggled and sat up. “Is that better?”

  “I wouldn’t say better,” Kest said, sitting up. “I’m not stupid.”

  “Here’s the thing.” Ayleana held up a finger. “I know I’m coming late to this pajama party–”

  “Without the pajamas,” Amber said.

  Kest snorted, and Ayleana rolled her eyes before continuing. “… and the two of you have had a good thing going already. But—since I’ve actually had the green light on sex after Shwydie fished me out of the ocean—I’ve been considering the options. I’ve also been reviewing the memories of a couple of hundred years of my branch-sister living on Earth.”

  She paused for a moment. “And though it almost seemed like too much information at the time, I learned that my branch-sister had experiences with partners of both sexes. All of those partners enjoyed those experiences … a lot.”

  Ayleana paused. “I don’t want us to be restricted to taking turns with each other, because that leaves one of us on the outside, and I don’t think that will work well. I know how to give pleasure to either sex. And—given my ability to multi-task—I believe I can offer pleasure to both of you at once. What I need to ask is about more though, and here it is…. Do you have room for me to be included in the emotional side of your intimacy? Because what I’m asking you both is that you let me in.”

  Amber turned to Kest. “I want you to know right from the start that I have no problem with this. If I were still young and insecure like I was twenty years ago….”

  She paused to smirk. “It might have been a problem. I’m a human woman. I won’t be sucked into comparing myself to Aylie just because she’s also female. The three of us have always been good together. This shouldn’t be any different.”

  Kest looked from Amber’s face to Ayleana’s and back again. “Why are you both looking at me?”

  Amber shrugged. “That should be obvious after what I just said.”

  Kest held up both hands, though it wasn’t exactly surrender. “I have no objections on principles. But I’ve got to say I’ve got a horrible case of performance anxiety.”

  He turned to Amber. “I can’t even keep up with you alone sometimes.”

  “Oh, Kest.” Amber shook her head. “You’re looking at this all wrong. It’s not all on you. Didn’t you hear what she said? The girl’s got skills … not to mention a tongue and a tail.”

  She turned to Ayleana and smiled. “So, you say you’ve been considering the options…. What do you want to do first?”

  “I think I’d like to start with hugs,” Ayleana said.

  “Group hugs?” Kest said. He hopped into Ayleana’s lap, pulling Amber with him.

  Amber, laughing, wrapped her arms and legs around Kest and Ayleana as they all fell off the bed and into a tangle.

  CHAPTER 22 – COMING OUT

  Una woke to the soft, melded aromas of the Sisters Rodriguez and the sound of many small fists drumming on her door. “Momencito,” she called, rolling out of the bed.

  The sheets still held Barton's spicy musk from the hours they'd spent here last night before he'd been called away for a late-night flight to Puerto Peñasco. His reaction to the news that Alice was a spy had simply been a long silence followed by, “Well, that explains a lot.”

  Una unlocked the door and opened it to a sliver of dawn shining behind Bandit and fifteen faces raised to hers, smiling fifteen different versions of the same teasing expression.

  “Good morning, Una,” they said in a soft stereophonic chorus. “May we come in? We have something to discuss with you.”

  Bandit just barked once.

  “Stay, Bandit, guard,” said Ambrosia.

  Una stepped back and aside as the sisters filed past into her room. “Of course. Can I get you girls anything to drink?” she said.

  “A glass of water would be nice,” said Ambrosia.

  Una nodded and turned to move to the cupboard.

  The sisters in her path moved out of the way, rolling aside like dancers performing a familiar ballet.

  “A glass for everyone?”

  “No, we share everything, Una.” Ambrosia giggled. “Only Aliyah, Abedabun and Acacia are thirsty. I'll have a sip too, because I will talk for us.”

  Una filled a glass and held it up. “Which of you is Aliyah? It's past time that we were all reintroduced. You've all changed a great deal since my last memories of changing your diapers, and I'm not completely sure I have all your names where they belong.”

  “I'm Aliyah,” said the one who looked like a small carbon copy of Amber. She took the glass from Una's hand and took a sip.

  “Abedabun,” said the smallest, raising her hand to take the glass from her sister.

  “Acacia,” said the girl next to Abedabun.

  “Adeline,” said the next sister to the left.

  “Aphrodite,” continued the next, the only one who wasn’t skinny as a twig.

  “Alabastra,” said a light-skinned one who displayed a striking resemblance to Jonah.

  “Assegai,” said one Una had guessed already because of her extra height and darkest skin.

  “Astrid.”

  “Amaranda.”

  “Aryana.”

  “Adalwolfa.”

  “Alessandra.”

  “Azurine.”

  “Abigail.”

  Una nodded and touched hands with each one, sampling their DNA with a brush of her finger filaments. At the end of the line, she smiled at them all then turned to Ambrosia. “So, you clearly have a specific reason for visiting me this morning.”

  Ambrosia smiled back at her. “Yes, we want you to adopt us as partners, and we want to adopt you.”

  “I'd be glad to hear you out,” Una said carefully. “But I imagine your mother would expect to have some say in the matter.”

  Ambrosia laughed, an oddly knowing sound in such a young throat. “How old are you, Una? How long has your awareness existed? Have you matured in an orderly, linear fashion? We know that ShwydH lives in you, but twelve of us think some of HumanaH does too. We have debated this. Is it true?”

  Una nodded.

  “Like us,” chorused the girls in a whisper.

  Curiouser and curiouser.

  Ambrosia waved her hand to indicate her sisters. “We remember everything we experienced during infancy, and because adults talk with each other when babies are in the room, we know many things that were not intended for our ears. ShwydH and HumanaH discussed the nature of crèche cloning once while they were babysitting for us. Luckily for us, they were speaking English at the time. We had already become good at overhearing things, but we still haven’t fully unlocked the Nii language.”

  Ambrosia waved her hand in a gesture that included all her sisters. “We're almost eight years old now, but each of us experiences not only what happens to our own bodies, but those from our sisters as well. We observe time in fifteen different tracks. For example, when Aryana learns a new technique in Krav Maga, we all have it.” Fifteen pairs of han
ds flashed through a block and counter-attack sequence to demonstrate.

  Una paused, tapping her fingers on her leg as she thought. “Does this sharing happen no matter how distant one of you is from another?”

  “Alabastra and Azurine were raised by Jerry and Wendy and we would sometimes lose touch when they traveled, but they would catch up with the rest of us when they returned,” Ambrosia said. “We've always tried to appear normal for our age, and we've managed to use age-appropriate pressure to stay in range of each other as much as we can. This place is a new environment for us, and we've stayed even closer since we've been here because the risks were unknown. The distance where we lose touch is about two kilometers now. We can maintain the network out to twenty-five kilometers when we are evenly spaced. That's about twice what it was three years ago.”

  “So you're saying you grow up fast,” Una prompted.

  “It also helps to have different points of view and opinions to consider,” said Adelwolfa.

  “Well, that's your opinion,” said Assegai.

  Adelwolfa stuck her tongue out at Assegai, and they grinned at each other.

  “Yes,” Ambrosia said, taking the conversation back. “Despite occasional lapses.” She glared at Adelwolfa and Assegai. “For us, life experience and maturity comes faster than human normal. We still allow our early-childhood caregivers input, but we are mature enough to decide our own path. We just haven't let them know that yet.”

  Una nodded. “Thank you for trusting me with your secrets, girls. I will keep them, of course. But what is it that you have in mind for me?”

  “For us,” the sisters chorused.

  Una nodded, acknowledging the distinction, as they redirected the focus.

  Ambrosia continued. “For starters, imagine being able to get immediate information about what is going on around you out of your sight.”

  “By putting you at risk? I can't protect all of you spread out that way.”

  Ambrosia shrugged. “We aren't defenseless, Una, and we know that you can make us stronger. Our bodies won’t always be this small. We suggest you take a long-term view of our offer.”

  Una laughed. Somehow, it was refreshing—receiving advice on strategy from children. They made a valid point. She herself was still young in this body, and she could hardly consider herself defenseless.

  “We have also considered a further possibility,” Alabastra said as Ambrosia took a sip of water.

  “You might be able to join with us,” Abedabun finished.

  Una shook her head. “My dears, you truly do not want any of ShwydH's memories, if that is what you mean.”

  “We doubt it would go so far, but all of that is only a theory at this point.” Ambrosia said.

  “Certainly not a deal-breaker,” Abedebun agreed.

  ∆ ∆ ∆

  Una pushed open the door to the administration building, leaving it wide enough for Assegai to slip through behind her. The sisters had persuaded Una to accept their help on a trial basis through a representative. Today's representative followed in her wake like a pilot fish trailing a shark.

  In return, Una had agreed to support them as they began to make a case for emancipation status through the Nii Federation. Tomorrow, the girls would start taking a battery of proctored online tests through XYMBI that would earn them college credits. Though in truth, trying to proctor an exam for someone who could ask for help undetected was impossible.

  Una smiled.

  You are such a troublemaker, Una!

  She was actually enjoying stirring the pot of the Earth-based annex of the Nii Federation.

  It's a fun job, but somebody has to do it.

  At least the testing would prove they could guide their own educations.

  Education?

  Like with conjoined twins, a consciousness both individual and collective made it hard to decide whether to use the plural form or the singular.

  Una turned left at the first corner and arrived at Governor Handy's office door. The governor met her in the waiting area and pointed to a side office. Una turned to follow him. “She's with me,” Una said when Handy looked at Assegai and raised an eyebrow.

  Inside the office, Daniels was already waiting. Alice—AKA Andrea Brown—was framed in the display of the monitor on his desk. The display showed her seated in the small interview room further down the hall.

  When Assegai saw the monitor, she pulled gently on Una's arm and gestured for her to come close. Una bent down.

  “We suspected that one was a spy. Are you certain of it?” Assegai murmured in her ear.

  Una nodded.

  “Did you know your spy is not alone?”

  “A cell?”

  Assegai nodded and pulled her close again. “At least one other. We've seen them exchanging signals. We think she signals to tell him if there is information. He shows fingers to indicate a time and a drop location. We first spotted them three days before you arrived, but we've only seen one drop. They did it in a security camera blind spot.”

  “When was that?”

  “The day after you arrived.”

  The day I visited Alice in the kitchen.

  “Describe him for me, please.”

  “Caucasian; 180 centimeters; light brown hair; brown eyes; he works the motor pool as driver and mechanic.”

  Una tapped her fingernail on her teeth and turned to Governor Handy. “Governor, I've changed my mind about trying to turn her for now. But I'd like to put her in a position where we can feed our enemies false information. Go ahead and do the job interview with her. Tell her she did well on the interview and you will be in touch with her soon.”

  Una turned to Daniels. “I want to see the picture database again.”

  She paused and looked at Assegai. This trial partnership had already prevented her from making a serious error. An operating cell was tricky. Trying to turn Alice would have probably tipped off the contact the security team hadn't spotted.

  Assegai smiled at her and raised both eyebrows.

  Yes, you and your sisters just saved my ass. Una nodded.

  “Mister Daniels, can you record the interview? I'll come back to it after my meeting with Jonah. But let's check the database now. Show me all the males who work the motor pool, please.”

  A few minutes later, Una and Assegai stood at the kitchen door, having just picked up brunch to eat on the move as they headed to Una's next meeting.

  “Have you and your sisters decided whether they’re ready to come out to Tiana and Jonah yet?”

  “Still debating,” said Assegai. “We’re waiting to see how the meeting goes.”

  “What about you alone?”

  “My vote is for, yes. But we all know I'm too reckless on my own, and being right 96% of the time just doesn't cut it for something this big.”

  Una grinned. “I completely understand the importance of secrets. I'm sure I won't be coming clean today, myself.”

  She took another bite of her salad and set off toward the meeting room where Jonah would meet with her. Assegai trotted at her side.

  When they reached the meeting room, Assegai ran ahead to open the door, standing at attention as Una walked in.

  Tiana and Jonah were seated at the table, but looked up to stare at Assegai who stared straight ahead, face stern.

  What are the sisters up to now?

  Una stood in front of the desk. She smiled neutrally, waiting for Assegai, though she wasn't sure what she was waiting for.

  Assegai closed the door and took two steps to the table to pull back a chair for Una.

  “Thank you, Assegai,” Una said, sitting in the chair. “Won't you sit down as well?”

  Assegai took the chair to Una's right and sat down, still silent.

  Una smiled at Tiana and Jonah. “Tiana I'm so glad you could come,” she said. “It makes it so much easier. I’d like to know about your side of this unseen communication the two of you have as well.”

  Tiana turned away from Assegai to look at Una. “Why
have you brought Assegai to this meeting? That was indiscrete.”

  Una turned to Assegai. “Assegai?”

  Assegai nodded to Tiana. “My sisters and I have known about this for years. The reason for that should be obvious. When I overheard the conversation last night between Una and Jonah, my sisters and I all agreed that it was long past time for us to hear the entire story. I'm here to represent them. We came to Una, asking for a seat at the table and for her to support our right to know.”