M. Hoyvil crouched back down and looked under the bed again. He could understand Potat’s telepathic speech but not as well as Antaska could. When Potat spoke, M. Hoyvil heard, “I fine, go, please.”
Because the Verdantes had only a limited ability to understand cats’ telepathic communication, they assumed that cats had the intelligence of two-year-old humans. But after Potat’s help in warning him that Antaska was in danger during their last voyage, M. Hoyvil suspected that there was more to cats than the Verdantes realized. He understood Potat’s message, at least part of it, and he stood back up.
Antaska turned and looked up at him towering in the Earthling-sized room at his full height of over eight feet tall. He could feel his hair brushing against the ceiling. M. Hoyvil could tell Antaska was suppressing a giggle.
Will I grow so tall that I won’t even fit in this room when we come back here after the hundred-year journey? he wondered.
Now that M. Hoyvil’s worries about Potat were relieved, he remembered something else he needed to tell Antaska.
“I don’t know if you noticed, but the human rooms in this residence don’t have their own bathrooms. There are large shared bathrooms at the end of the hallways—separate ones for males and females,” he said.
“No. I didn’t notice,” said Antaska.
“All the residences on the Verdante planet are built like that because one of our architects studied the habits of humans and concluded that you prefer to use the bathroom with others. He found that it’s some type of social custom when there are large groups of humans living or working together in the same building. I never thought much about it till now, but will that be OK for you?” M. Hoyvil asked her.
Antaska laughed. Then she said, “It’s not really what I prefer, but I don’t mind. It’s no problem, but can you show me where the bathroom is now?”
“I’ll take you over there. Then you can come back here and rest with Potat before dinner if you want,” said M. Hoyvil.
M. Hoyvil guessed that Antaska didn’t want to go back right away to the crowded family room.
“That sounds great,” said Antaska.
Chapter 3
Antaska and M. Hoyvil walked side by side through huge hallways wide and tall enough to allow at least four adult-sized Verdantes to walk along together. She tilted her head way back to look up at the high, domed ceiling. Its opaque surfaces reflected the natural light that was cycled from the planet’s two suns down through its depths to light the rooms of this residence.
She looked down again and noticed the many open doorways on both sides of the walls. Then Antaska looked away in embarrassment when she saw the rooms’ occupants, both Earthling and Verdante, looking out at them as they passed by.
As usual, to accommodate Antaska’s shorter legs, M. Hoyvil was walking slower on the deep-cushioned floor than the quick bouncing stride he usually took on his much longer legs. This time, he went even slower than normal, and Antaska had to slow down a bit to wait for him. A full bladder made her somewhat impatient. She looked up at him questioningly, but he didn’t notice and seemed preoccupied.
M. Hoyvil was thinking about the social events he was going to that week. Every day and night, there would be parties and dances. They gave adolescent Verdantes the opportunity to meet potential life partners before the group of young males left on their trip to outer space.
He considered the charms and personalities of some of the adolescent females he’d met on the recent trip from Earth to the Verdante home planet. Without question, M. Hoyvil had been attracted to several of the young females.
Of course, adolescent Verdantes weren’t fully physically mature and wouldn’t feel strong mating urges until they reached adulthood at an age of about 900 years. But adolescents experienced the small beginnings of those feelings, and M. Hoyvil had often been mesmerized by pretty faces, smooth skin, and shinny hair in many shades of green.
The females he took a special interest in were those who seemed to share his passion for outer space. But sometimes, M. Hoyvil had been suspicious that they were only pretending to be interested in order to get his attention.
He thought about this as he walked along. What I’d really like in a life mate is a female who is truly interested in other solar systems and other species.
Then his thoughts became more sober. Unfortunately, I know the real reason why females are only concerned with the boring stuff that happens on the home planet and Earth. They’ll never be allowed to go anywhere except those two planets.
“Hello! M. Hoyvil, welcome home!” Antaska heard some humans call out from their rooms as the two of them walked past.
M. Hoyvil answered back with a “Hello!” that Antaska understood was friendly, now that she knew he smiled by lifting the corners of his eyes and not with his mouth.
“Hello!” she also heard clearly in her mind as the Verdantes greeted M. Hoyvil telepathically.
Antaska heard M. Hoyvil answer back, but she pretended ignorance by not looking in their direction. He led her to end of the long corridor, and they reached the shared bathroom for the Earthling females.
“I’ll wait outside for you and walk you back to your room,” M. Hoyvil told her.
“OK. I’ll be right out,” said Antaska.
“Just take your time. I’m not in a rush,” said M. Hoyvil.
He took a few steps on his long legs to the opposite wall and leaned back against it.
Antaska turned and went into the bathroom. The moment that she entered, she was awed by its opulence. A high-polished marble floor led past shimmering walls with fanciful porcelain sinks facing large round mirrors. Glamor lights surrounded the mirrors. A plush red couch sat in a small foyer just past the stalls and sinks. Fabricated wood doors and walls gave each stall full privacy.
All of the doors were closed. Antaska opened one and sat down on the seat.
It’s so comfortable and cushiony! she thought.
Then Antaska noticed the sound of gushing water, ocean waves, and crying gulls playing from speakers in the stalls. The noise covered the sound of her natural waste elimination and flushing. But after Antaska flushed, she heard other sounds outside of the stall. The sound of women talking.
Antaska stood up. She reached up a hand and started to turn the stall’s gilded handle to go out. Then she froze. Antaska was shocked to hear the women talking about her! And what she heard was extremely disturbing.
“Who does that bitch think she is?” said one high soft voice. “M. Hoyvil obviously picked her because she looks like a sexy little mini-Verdante, all tall and skinny with her olive skin. It’s so unfair that I must be friendly to all these inferior sluts who pass through here on their way to outer space. I deserve to go to space more than they do, but I have to stay here forever dressed up like a toy by mistress in these horrendous getups and then bored and ignored.”
Still inside the stall, Antaska stifled a gasp. She sat back down on the seat, shocked and unable to move, while the conversation about her continued.
“Yeah. What’s wrong with her, Freeta?” said the other voice, a lower alto. “She must be crazy, stuck up. The kind of person who leads men on and then dumps them to feed her ego. She thinks she’s better than all of us because that hunky fitness instructor Eegor chased her around the whole trip from Earth to here. I’d have done more than lead him on. You know what I mean? But he never looked at me. Too busy messing with that piece of work.” The voice ended its rant on a bitter note.
Wow. Is that what people are saying about me? Antaska wondered. I didn’t lead him on! Did I? She started to feel insecure, even though she thought she’d put that situation in the past.
“It just proves what a troublemaker she is, Totanna,” said the voice of Freeta. “She just got here, and she’s already made trouble for me.”
“What did she do to you?” asked Totanna.
Antaska strained her ears to hear the answer too.
“Well, you know our mistress Ms. Janeez hasn’t found a li
fe mate yet. She’s only 750,” Freeta began.
Really?” Totanna asked. “I thought they meet their mates earlier than that at those adolescent social events.”
“No,” said Freeta. “Most Verdantes don’t pair up until the males return from their final space trips when they reach adulthood. That’s when their reproductive instincts force them to find a mate. So the females are stuck here and bored till they turn about 1000.”
“Oh. So?” said Totanna.
“So Ms. Janeez passes her time by dressing and styling the hair of her Earthling pets in creative themes. Like the outfits we both have on right now,” said Freeta.
“I love this outfit!” said Totanna. “And yours too,” she added.
”Yes, mine is ‘Red Sea, Dead Sea.’ That’s what Ms. Janeez calls this ensemble she created for me,” said Freeta. “She’s not just creative. She’s really into history and geography, and the Red Sea, Dead Sea look was inspired by her latest study of ancient Earth.”
“It’s beautiful! I just love how the red dress matches your hair and how the fabric floats around you when you move,” Totanna gushed. “I like this leopard cat suit and matching stilettos she made for me, but I hope she makes me something fancy like that too.”
At least they’re distracted from talking about me, Antaska thought from inside the stall.
“Right,” said Freeta. “You’ll love that for a while, but it loses its thrill after about fifty years or so. Anyway, to get back to my point about Antaska. These Earthlings who stop here with the male Verdantes on their way to outer space don’t need any special outfits. They won’t be wearing anything but those ugly ship suits for the rest of their lives. And Ms. Janeez has never bothered to create designs for them. Until now. Somehow, Antaska got Ms. Janeez to notice her. And now Ms. Janeez is working on a special outfit just for her!” Freeta finished in a voice hot with anger.
“Yes, it’s too bad that stuck-up hoe will be part of this household too. But at least she’ll only be here for a week every hundred years,” Totanna commiserated.
“A week is too much!” said Freeta. “This is so stressful. I need a pick-me-up. You look like you could use one too.”
“What’s that, perfume?” Totanna asked a few seconds later.
“It’s better than perfume!” said Freeta. “Just try a puff, and you’ll find out.”
“OK. Spray me,” said Totanna.
What are they talking about? Antaska wondered.
“Wow! That’s good. Real good,” said Totanna. “Is this like, drugs?”
“That’s right. We get the good stuff here on the Verdante planet. All the female Verdantes who’re stuck here take this stuff to stay in a good mood. And they leave it around, so we Earthlings can get it. As much as we want,” said Freeta.
Drugs! thought Antaska.
She’d learned about ancient Earth’s history of drug addiction, along with people dying from accidental overdose and suicide, but the problem didn’t exist in Antaska’s time. The Verdantes carefully monitored any medicine given to the humans on Earth.
“Maybe it won’t be so boring here after all,” said Totanna.
“Oh, it’ll be boring, but you can feel good while you’re bored,” said Freeta. “Meet me back here in a few hours if you want some more.”
“You got it,” said Totanna.
Then there was silence. Antaska waited another minute before she cracked open her stall door and looked out. The bathroom was empty. She walked over to a shell-shaped sink and washed her hands. Antaska studied her reflection in the large round mirror on the wall in front of her.
Do I really look like a slut? she asked herself.
All she could see was her usual tan-skinned face surrounded by pink hair, pointy nose and chin, and gray eyes. Antaska wasn’t wearing makeup, and she hadn’t changed out of her tan ship suit. She lifted an arm to inspect her skin for any traces of green color.
What did she mean by “olive” skin? she wondered. I’ve always thought my skin was tan, but now that I look closely, I think I can see some green tones. Still, I don’t think I look anything like a Verdante. Maybe Freeta and Totanna are mad because I’m going to outer space, and they’re not. I know I’d be miserable too if I wasn’t going,” she thought. Still, I hope I wouldn’t say such terrible things about people who were going!”
Antaska let out a deep sigh.
She dried her hands on the soft, fluffy towel next to the sink. Then she went out to meet M. Hoyvil.
M. Hoyvil was leaning in the same position he’d been in when Antaska went into the bathroom.
“I’m sorry I took so long,” Antaska said to M. Hoyvil as she walked up to him.
“Really? I didn’t actually notice,” he said.
Time flowed differently for a species that lived for thousands of years, and M. Hoyvil hadn’t realized that Antaska had taken longer in the bathroom than was normal. He was still distracted with thoughts of the social functions he’d attend during their short time on the home planet.
My first mating party! M. Hoyvil kept thinking. It’s so exciting, but it feels like so much pressure too. My life bonding time isn’t for four hundred years more. Why do I have to start looking now? What if I make the wrong choice? I don’t know if I’m ready for this!
Antaska was looking up at him from her two-foot-shorter height.
“I’m ready to go back now,” she said.
“Oh, right,” said M. Hoyvil. “Sorry, I was just thinking about something. Let’s go.”
They started to walk back along the corridor together. M. Hoyvil was still thinking and walking slow, and Antaska matched his pace.
What really bothers me is the thought of what will happen after the bonding, he realized. I’ll have to stay on the Verdante planet for the rest of my life! Master Meeepp and Mistress Bawbaw say my feelings will change when my body matures to adulthood. But maybe I don’t want to become an adult if I’ll have to be stuck here, he thought with a shudder.
Antaska was thinking very different but also disturbing thoughts.
Does M. Hoyvil know that his female gene relations are taking drugs? she wondered. And that the Earthlings in this residence are taking them too?
She studied M. Hoyvil’s face. His dark green mouth was closed. His enormous eyes, usually slanted up in a perpetual state of mild amusement, were slanted neither up nor down. They were less wide open than usual, and there was a distant, dreamy look about him.
Antaska was sure that her own face reflected the distress she felt, but he didn’t seem to notice. She thought about the terrible things she’d heard Freeta saying about M. Hoyvil.
There’s no way that could be true, she reassured herself as she looked at him. M. Hoyvil’s never treated me in any other way except respectfully, with at most, a mild but somewhat distant affection. It’s almost like the way someone would treat a pet, Antaska realized.
She wondered if she should be disturbed by that new thought, but her mind returned to the more upsetting revelation.
People on this planet are taking drugs! I feel like I should do something, but I don’t know what. I’m going to need help dealing with this, she decided. And there’s only one person who can help me. Potat!
Chapter 4
M. Hoyvil ducked down and followed Antaska through the door to her room. Tiny Potat was sitting up and alert on the edge of the round bed nearest to the door. She looked as if she’d been waiting for them. M. Hoyvil was cheered a bit from his ponderous mood by seeing that Potat wasn’t hiding under the bed anymore. He lifted the corners of his eyes in a smile and greeted her.
“I’m glad to see you’re settling into your room…well, yours and Antaska’s,” M. Hoyvil amended. “I’m going to visit everyone in the big family room now. Then I’ll come back and get you for dinner,” he said to both Potat and Antaska.
He wasn’t sure if Potat would want to go with them to dinner, but he knew she’d be offended if she wasn’t invited.
With a bigger eye lift at bot
h of them, M. Hoyvil turned and left the room. As he walked back to the family room, he came to a conclusion, similar to Antaska’s, that he needed to talk to someone more knowledgeable about what was bothering him.
I’ll talk to Mistress Bawbaw about this mating business, he decided. Even though adults are sometimes truly clueless, if anyone can help me with questions about females, it’s her. Mistress Bawbaw is a female, and she’s an older one too. And she’s actually had some good advice a few times in my hundreds of years living with her.
Then thoughts of Mistress Bawbaw, his primary female gene contributor, added a slight sadness to his already mixed bag of feelings.
She’s been there for most of my life, but after this week, I won’t see her much for the next 250 years while I’m traveling in space. Then when I come back, I’ll have to move away somewhere with a life partner to start my own family. Of course, I’ll visit at least every hundred years,” he promised himself.
Chapter 5
Meanwhile, Antaska was sitting next to Potat on the edge of the round bed. The little cat stared up at her expectantly. Antaska looked down at her and spoke.
“At first I thought I was going crazy, and then I tried to convince myself that it wasn’t true. But I guess by now, we both know that I can understand you,” Antaska said out loud to Potat.
“Talk to me only in your mind, or the Verdantes might hear you. They have very sharp ears,” Potat answered her mentally. “I mean the Verdantes’ hearing is sharp, not that their ears are pointy,” she clarified.
“How do I do that?” asked Antaska, again out loud.
She’d never spoke telepathically yet, even though she’d accepted that she could hear the telepathic speech of Potat and the Verdantes.
“Just think thoughts of speaking to me, and I’ll hear them,” Potat explained.
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