Alien Of Our Own

by Suprina Frazier

  “Ambassadors for Christ?” Nasiir asked. “But Xander and I didn’t even know about Christ until we set out on this journey.”

  “Xander knew about Christ long before then, Nasiir,” Afua replied with certainty. “In fact, he even accepted Christ as the risen Lord one night when he was twelve years old. Isn’t that right, honey?” She turned to look at the man she loved for confirmation.

  Xander’s eyes were huge as he confirmed her words with a nod. “But how did you know? I told no one but my mother of that night.”

  Afua gave him a warm smile. “Need you even ask?”

  Xander smiled, too, even more in awe of his beloved’s amazing spiritual gift. “I believe I asked the wrong question. What I should have asked instead was, will you consent to be my wife?”

  The room instantly grew quiet.

  “Don’t you think this is the wrong time to be asking such a thing?” Badru said, being the first to speak after a noticeable silence. “I guess young people tend to act rash no matter what planet they are raised on,” he added with a shake of the head.

  Xander looked penitent by that gentle reprimand. “Let me apologize for two things, Dr. Karson. First of all, I am sorry for not asking for your approval before extending my request to your daughter,” he began, counting on his hands the way his birth mother used to. “Secondly, I also apologize for not clarifying myself earlier. I understand that the current timing is not appropriate for marriage. However, I just felt so overwhelmed with love for Afua just then that I thought I would state my intentions ahead of time.”

  “And get my answer ahead of time, too. Which is yes, by the way,” Afua interjected with a huge smile on her face. For a person who was once afraid of love, she was running full force towards it now. Who wouldn’t if they already knew that they had God’s approval of their future union?

  Xander grinned at his beloved. “Are you in agreement with this, Dr. Karson?” He turned to look at Badru again.

  Badru smiled and nodded. “Of course I am. Now can we please get back to the task at hand?” He was anxious for this mission to be over, so that they could all finally put the past behind them and move forward.

  “Yes, let’s,” Afua agreed, now turning serious again. They still had much ground to cover. “As I was about to say before, as ambassadors for Christ, the main goal is to reconcile the world to Him. I don’t think killing a man in cold blood is the best way to do that.”

  “Do you have another way then?” Nasiir asked, revealing his frustration in that question. His eagerness to complete this mission was so that he could get back to his beloved Pendo.

  Afua nodded with a resolute smile. “Yes, I do. In fact, the idea I have may very well serve as a great witness for Christ and also expose Jay Horrell for the snake that he really is.”

  ________________________________________

  [i] James 1:19

  [ii] 2 Corinthians 5:20

  Chapter 26

  Four days later, Xander and Nasiir went out on a countrywide expedition. From their ship’s computer, they’d already accessed the satellite systems over every English speaking country, which were many. Now they needed to check on various antenna towers and transmitters that would also be tapped into once their new plan was underway.

  With so much ground work to cover, Xander and Nasiir were going to be out very late tonight. And that’s with them using the transporters.

  Meanwhile, Badru and Afua stayed on the spacecraft. It was unwise for them to be seen in public these days, even for the shortest time. Badru decided to take these hours alone with his daughter to have a heart-to-heart talk. Especially since Xander had been monopolizing nearly all of Afua’s time since they arrived on the spacecraft three weeks ago.

  “I’m surprised you suggested that we use the secular media to expose Jay when you won’t even watch one minute of it yourself.” Badru sat on the purple mittah directly on her left and sighed, finding Katanian beds most comfortable indeed. He planned to get one for his home when this mission was over.

  Afua chuckled. “That’s how I know this idea couldn’t have come from me.” Due to the fact that secular media tended to try to force their morals upon others or influence them to buy products they didn’t want or need, Afua only watched and listened to religious programming. And she was very selective about some of those.

  Badru laughed at the irony of Afua’s idea, too. “And to think you’re going to marry a man who enjoys secular television, especially old movies.”

  In the time that the Karsons had been on the ship, they’d already seen Xander watch numerous classic movies. Those movies had been viewed via a 3-D media center that made the people in the films seem actually in the room with you. This was further evidence of the superiority of Katanian technology. Earth movies were still being watched on monitors and screens. However, the digital disks were much smaller now, less than one inch around, so multiple disks could be loaded at one time and played in the order of choice.

  “I know.” Afua chuckled again. “Yet the kind of secular television he watches doesn’t seem all that bad. Xander must have seen Tarzan at least seven times since we’ve been here. He says it’s his favorite movie considering the similarities to his life and Tarzan’s.” As she spoke, her face was radiant with love.

  “Right. The whole being raised by a different species thing. I get it.” Badru then went on to another subject, mainly the subject of Afua’s upcoming marriage. “Baby girl, I want you to know that I truly do approve of your future union with Xander. Not only is he the son of my best friends, I’ve found him to be a good and honorable man in the short time that I’ve known him.” Even now the way Xander handled that blonde woman with the little boy touched Badru’s heart.

  “But…?” Afua prodded, hearing an unspoken ‘but’ in her spirit.

  “But there are things that concern me about your future with Xander. Things such as, where are you going to live? This planet or the one he was raised on? If you do choose to live on Katan, will you be content to raise your family there? Especially since you all will be the only Earthlings on the planet?”

  “I’ve thought of all those things, Daddy. And even though they are things that will have to be worked out before we marry, I’m confident that Xander and I will be able to come to a mutual agreement. After all, this man is the best thing that’s happened to me since Jesus,[i]” Afua said with love shining brightly in her eyes.

  “Well said, baby girl. Well said.” Badru nodded with approval of his daughter’s confidence. He’d looked forward to the day when Afua would finally submit to true love. That day had finally arrived and he was so happy about it.

  ~~~ >< ~~~

  Several states away, there was someone who wouldn’t know what true love was even if it slapped him in the face. That person was none other than Jay Horrell. Currently he was tossing and turning in his sleep as his mind took him places he never allowed it to go in his waking hours.

  “Juna…Juna…” Jay muttered in his sleep. So focused on the woman in his dreams, he was oblivious to the woman that he’d awakened beside him in the oak wood sleigh bed.

  Adrasteia turned over and glared at Jay in the dimly lit room. Most wives would have awakened their husbands from a nightmare. Yet most wives were not married to Jay Horrell.

  Adrasteia tried that during the early days of their marriage when Jay used to call out this woman’s name once or twice a year. Unfortunately, that would only lead to a big argument, followed by barrels of denial that this Juna woman ever meant anything to him, and then days of silent indifference afterwards.

  Of equal misfortune is the fact that Jay was starting to dream about this woman a lot more these days. This was the fourth time this week and it was only Friday. And although Jay denied it every time she brought it up, Adrasteia was convinced that this Juna woman was the reason Jay had gotten himself sterilized after leaving H-NASA.

  Not wanting to add to the world’s overcrowding my foot, Adrasteia mused as she once a
gain heard her husband utter the same potent question he’d uttered for years.

  “Why couldn’t you have borne my seed, Juna?” Jay asked in an anguished voice. Then no more words were spoken as his nightmare suddenly turned lovely again as happier scenes with Juna replayed themselves in his head.

  Adrasteia practically sneered at her husband now. So you only wanted children by ‘her’, huh? Well, luckily I had a child of my own before I ever met you, she mused, still holding on to her own pre-marital secret. A secret that concerned Adrasteia and a certain Native-American man that used to drain her parents’ pool a little over twenty-five years ago.

  ________________________________________

  [i] Quote spoken by a real Prophetess (Prophetess Latrice Williams)

  Chapter 27

  After that long talk with her father, Afua went to Xander’s bathroom to freshen up. It was the only usable humanoid facility on board. Nasiir’s private bath looked more like a wading pool, even though he did a great deal of his cleaning via mouth like Earth animals did. Afua was grateful that Nasiir closed the door to his cabin when he did so, proving that he was an enlightened animal after all.

  Xander’s bathroom had blue marble walls, except for one wall that was all mirror. This unique wall was called a marah (mar-aw’: mirror). One could see one’s entire body from head to toe in this looking glass. It was outlined in gold.

  There were no windows in this bathroom. There was also no tub, only a shower-type contraption that allowed soothing water to hit the body horizontally from a long column of tiny gold vents. The entrance to the shower stall opened automatically from side to side when one pressed a gold button on the wall. Afua made quick use of that button now as she prepared to step into the east-placed stall.

  The toilet in Xander’s bathroom was ingenious with its wide oval shape, warm water rinse after use, followed by a warm dry breeze to set one to rights again. The toilet was outlined in gold, as well. There was a sink, but it was hidden within a storage block on the south wall so as not to take up too much walking space. The sink had all gold fixtures.

  When Afua questioned Xander about the bathroom’s lack of tub, she was told that young, single people on Katan did not take baths. Baths were for those who couldn’t stand for long periods of time like babies and the elderly. Baths were also for married couples who simply wanted to enjoy one another. Xander promised Afua that they would take frequent baths together once they were wed.

  I look forward to having those baths. Afua blushed about that even now as she emerged from the shower stall minutes later with a navy towel wrapped around her damp body. Another towel was tied around her wet locks.

  Afua could feel the blush spread all the way down to her toes as she recalled a few other things a very candid Xander said they would do together. Things she could hardly wait to explore with him.

  So engrossed in her yummy thoughts, Afua failed to see a short, voluptuous female with light burgundy skin and long flowing pink hair appear in the bathroom entryway.

  It was Roni.

  The determined Katanian female had slipped into Ezra’s laboratory unawares and copied the coordinates to Xander’s ship from a file. Then so that none of her relatives would miss her or question her long absence, Roni arranged to go to the oceanic Sector-57SE to study marine life for a month.

  Instead of going directly there, she used her beauty to gain exit approval from a male high council employee. Then she transported to Earth. The marine study could wait one more week.

  Roni had thought to use this week to convince Xander that they truly did belong together. She even had solutions to the issues that separated them. However, she did not have an answer as to why there was a beautiful brown woman standing in Xander’s bathroom right now.

  “Where is Xander?!” Roni asked in the Katanian tongue. Her tone was sharp and biting. Her violet eyes were glaring darts as she made her presence known to the woman whose essence was vividly lit up with the color of passion.

  There was no doubt in Roni’s mind that this brown woman was thinking about Xander. She just didn’t know if this woman had just been with him? Or was preparing to go to him now?

  A startled Afua clenched the lower towel around her body tighter. Her desirous thoughts instantly evaporated. It was a good thing she’d thought to put a towel on before leaving the shower stall. Being seen nude for a second time on this ship would have made this moment even more embarrassing.

  Although the woman looked too old to be one of Xander’s sisters, Afua quickly came to the conclusion that this had to be his mother. Who else could it be? Besides, he did say that most Katanians didn’t have wrinkles. And this female’s face was flawless.

  “I cannot understand your language. Can you understand mine?” Afua asked as the woman continued to glare at her. With a communication gap in place, it was going to be very hard to find out why the woman was giving her the evil eye.

  “I understand Earth English.” Roni nodded, having learned the language in one of her elective courses. A course that she took just to be near Xander at the time.

  “Good.” Afua sighed in relief. “Are you Xander’s mother?”

  “Absolutely not!” Roni snapped with a sharp shake of the head. “I am the woman his romantic heart loved on Katan.”

  Afua’s brows rose at that prickly reply. She instantly felt her flesh warring with her spirit as she tugged the upper towel from her head and flung it across the top of the shower stall door. “You are a long way from home, aren’t you, Roni?” she asked, immediately identifying the stranger based on a previous conversation.

  Xander told Afua all about the woman he used to love on Katan the same night she told him about her first love. They both agreed that those loves were in the past.

  This one doesn’t look in the past to me. Afua perused the defiant looking female in front of her. Despite the current stare down, she proceeded to secure the purple robe Xander recently bought for her around her frame before flinging the lower towel where the upper one had gone. Afua had to be ready for combat in case things suddenly turned physical.

  Though small in stature, the Katanian woman looked like she could put up a good fight if she wanted to. Did Roni want to? If so, would Afua retaliate accordingly?

  During her rebellious teen years she engaged in and won several fights in order to fit in with a certain ‘it’ crowd. Which meant Afua was familiar with physical altercations and could hold her own if necessary. She just hoped it wouldn’t be necessary today.

  “It is surely no business of yours, Earth woman,” Roni retorted, looking Afua up and down with disdain. She couldn’t believe Xander would want someone so tall. No, he needed someone shorter, someone that could make climbing his olive tower a lot more fun.

  Just then, Badru came to Xander’s bedroom door and announced the return of their friends. “Your fiancé and Nasiir are back…” His voice trailed off when a small, colorfully dressed alien woman in sandals hasted out of the bathroom and rushed past him without so much as a word.

  “Baby girl, did you just see…?” Badru asked his purple-robed daughter when she emerged from the bathroom moments later.

  “That Katanian woman?” Afua finished for him with a nod of her damp head. “Unfortunately, yes. She is Roni, Xander’s ex-girlfriend.”

  “Something tells me that she doesn’t want to be an ex anymore.” Even now, Badru was amazed by how quick the woman’s short legs were. She’d been almost a blur as she hurried past him.

  “Something tells you right.” Afua tied the sash of her robe tighter before going towards the control room.

  Badru took off right behind her, ready to get to the bottom of this most interesting new development.

  Chapter 28

  Even before Afua and Badru made it to the center of the ship, they could hear the loud conversation from several feet away. Although they couldn’t understand a word that was being said due to the usage of the Katanian language, the Karsons knew exactly wh
at the heated argument was about – Afua and Xander.

  Well-versed in Earth English, Roni had understood exactly what the word fiancé meant. She’d rushed to confront Xander on the issue, about the fact that he had romantically moved on with his life…at all and without telling her.

  “How could you be in love with another woman after I’ve gone to so much trouble to be with you?” Roni demanded of him.

  “Have you forgotten that our body chemistries are not compatible? Any mating on our part would mean sure death to you over a course of ten years,” Xander said, still a bit in shock over the lengths Roni had gone to just to see him again. He honestly didn’t know how to feel about it.

  Meanwhile, Nasiir went to stand beside Afua and Badru near the northeast entrance. He tried to nudge them to follow him further in the hallway, away from the confrontation.

  When they refused, Nasiir simply shrugged and began to act as interpreter. However, he did keep his voice down to a whisper over the loud angry woman in the center of the room. Despite their small statures, Katanians had big voices.

  “If I did expire ten years after we wed, it would have been the happiest decade of my life,” Roni replied, convinced that a life without children could still be a happy one, just as long as she was with the man she loved. “Besides, these would have protected me,” she added, pulling out a thick roll of prophylactics. “Since you have been gone, I did extensive research on the history of Earthlings and their mating practices. I found out that many diseases were prevented just by using these simple latex conduits.”

  “But every Katanian woman wants children. Truthfully, I want children, too,” Xander persisted, staring in awe at the antique Earth form of birth and disease control in Roni’s left hand.

  The Katanian woman had obviously had the prophylactics made on her own planet, because they were outlawed by many nations on Earth. Due to the unavailability of landfill space, most non-biodegradable materials were illegal. This included latex condoms since they were not composed of one hundred percent rubber tree sap which would have made them completely recyclable. The fact that medical care had been at an all-time high for years further decreased this need for condoms.