The Ithaden’s Slave

by Daniella Wright

  “Thank you. And thank you for the tea. I will explain everything, if you just give me a minute to put my thoughts in some kind of order.” Kate nodded, of course. Mimicking their earlier interaction, she gave Sid her hand to help him stand up. He took it. For such a tall and muscular person, he was surprisingly light on his feet, Kate thought.

  Sid took a big gulp of tea, immediately looking more relaxed. “Let’s get out of here,” he said, still holding her hand. By the time it took them to cross the narrow corridor from the cockpit back in the captain’s quarters, he seemed to calm down significantly.

  There was a Quantum Lock on Earth, he explained.

  “Think of it as a…a wheel clamp, only for a whole planet. Whenever the Time Agency imposes a Quantum Lock on a destination, it basically means that no time or space traveling vehicle can get in. And no one from that destination can get out.”

  Kate felt a shiver down her spine.

  “So… my parents are trapped. My sister… Everyone on that time.” Sid, currently 3D printing something that looked like a bench on his corner surface (the diner setting was long gone), he raised his eyes from his tablet to look at her wistfully.

  “Kate, your people are perfectly safe in their own time, but don’t you see? If you hadn’t followed the note, if you hadn’t come here and more importantly, if we hadn’t gone to see the end of the Earth… we would both be trapped in the Quantum Lock of 2019 too. And then it would only be a matter of time before the Xerrks could get their hands on the baby.”

  Kate’s hand instinctively went to her belly. It wasn’t so long ago that she found out she had actually chosen to move forward with this pregnancy on her own accord. She wasn’t sure how maternal instincts were supposed to work, but all she knew at that moment was that she couldn’t let anyone hurt her family and the people she cared about. And that group, strangely enough, had expanded within these past few hours to include a green-scaled alien and a half-human baby.

  Tiredness started weighing heavily on Kate. She struggled to keep her eyes open and her attention to Sid, who was still 3D printing his new furniture and explaining to her the implications of the Quantum Lock. Apparently, the real reason he got so angry earlier was that only someone working with the Time Agency would have the authorisation and the tech to impose it. And since imposing a Quantum Lock on 2019 Earth would only benefit the Xerrks agenda… the only reasonable explanation could be that someone from within the Agency was working with the Xerrks. Maybe someone from Sid’s crew, even.

  “I don’t know who to trust anymore, Ith-rassil. I know Ror would rather die than betray me — or you for that matter. But the others? I just can’t afford to be sure at that point. And I can’t run any probability lines on them, because if they are indeed working with the Xerrks it will only tip them off. No, I have to do this the old-fashioned way, when they get back from their fuel run.”

  Kate felt slightly alarmed by what was being implied here. What was he going to do to his crew to find out if they were loyal? Part of her knew she didn’t particularly want to get the answer to that…

  “It’s just that the repercussions of all this are so high now,” Sid went on, while putting what seemed to be the final touches to his 3D printed creation. “It’s not just about the good of the Ithaden empire, or saving the Earth that’s at stake here. Whoever sides with the Xerrks, for all intents and purposes, sides with blatantly destroying time and with erasing billions of species in the universe. All to keep the Xerrks on the top of the proverbial power pyramid. And the thought that it could be someone from the people I’ve known and worked with my whole life…”

  Sid’s voice trailed off. He sounded almost as tired as Kate felt. But he had finished 3D printing, at last, judging by the small beeping sound on the tablet. As if coming out of a trance, Kate realized that the furniture he’d been making was a bed. A bit on the narrow side.

  “You need to rest, Ith-rassil,” Sid said before Kate could even begin addressing all the reasons why he was being presumptuous by making a bed. Honestly, what exactly did he think was going to happen next? “We both need to rest,” he carried on, not quite apologetically. “Ithaden don’t need a lot of sleep but even I feel knackered after the day we’ve had so I can only imagine how you must be feeling. That’s why I’ve made you this bed. You can have the room too. I’ll make a nest in the cockpit. Go ahead, try the mattress, tell me if I need to adjust anything.”

  Kate didn’t have it in her to object anymore. Realizing that he was being the perfect gentleman (gentle alien?) and with a mounting feeling of gratitude and exhaustion, she climbed onto the platform and laid down on the bed.

  “It is… oh, it’s perfect. Very soft. Thank you, Sid. And please,” she said using one of her elbows to prop herself up so that she could look at him, “you don’t have to leave. This is your room. Where do you usually sleep?” Sid pointed at the hammock he was sitting earlier, the one hanging from the ceiling near the other end of the room.

  The thought of him hanging from the air like some kind of bat with scales, not that far from where she was supposed to sleep, was undeniably odd. But it was also strangely comforting. If that day had proven anything beyond a shadow of a doubt, was that this man, well, this Ithaden, would do anything to protect her. Her and the baby who would restore the glory to his home planet, of course. The thought made her sad after a fashion, but she was too tired to pinpoint exactly why.

  Kate kicked her shoes off and stepped under the covers, bundling up with the duvet. It had some golden threads in it, as if it was spun with Ith — probably made from that material, as it seemed to weigh her down nicely, like a gravity blanket. Sid jumped onto the platform effortlessly and sat at the feet of her narrow bed.

  “Are you okay? Are you comfortable?” he asked softly.

  “Yeah,” Kate said. And she was.

  But she was also tired and sad, and not completely satisfied with all the explanations she’d gotten so far. Numbers or no numbers, they shouldn’t have agreed on wiping her memory.

  “I could have hurt it, Sid. I could have hurt the baby. Is there something else I don’t know? Something that made us take that decision? Because no matter what the numbers said at the time, making me forget was not a smart plan…”

  Kate looked at him, his green scales now gleaming in the low lighting of the room, his eyes deep and sorrowful. He reached out a hand to touch her blond strands again, like he did shortly after she came. This time though, she did not recoil at his touch. Instead, she let his fingers spread warmth on her face. She sighed and closed her eyes for a second.

  “I didn’t want you to go away,” Sid voice was so soft now, almost whispering. “But I really thought being with your parents would be the best for you, given the circumstances. Being among your own species… You always spoke about how protective Margot, you mother, was. And you had to be far away from us, if we were to try and deceive the Xerrks. I just couldn’t bear the thought of sending you some place where you would be alone, Ith-rassil.”

  Sid’s fingers were stroking her forehead now so softly, almost imperceptibly. Kate opened her eyes and looked at this strange, fascinating being. She realized there was still one question left to ask before she would be able to go to sleep.

  “Sid… I know you do what you do for your people, your Ithaden empire. You want to protect me, to protect the baby in order to save your world. Is that the only reason though? Are we… Were we something else?”

  For the longest time, Sid just stood there, looking at her. Some kind of internal battle seemed to be taking place behind his eyes. She couldn’t really tell if that battle was won or lost though because slowly but surely, Sid reached down. And his lips found hers.

  Kate had never been kissed like that. It wasn’t just the fact that she was kissed by someone who belonged to a different species than her. No, it was that strange mix of hunger, desperation and tenderness in Sid’s kiss that she never remembered experiencing before (in the few, tepid flings she had with a
ctual humans). The way his right hand cupped her head and his left arm slid under the duvet to find the small of her back, almost lifting her up completely; the way his lips forced her lips open to receive his kiss, his tongue completely overtaking her mouth…

  It was a kiss that left her trembling and woozy at the knees long after it ended. And it had ended for quite some time now. Lying in bed, the bed he created for her, Kate was desperately trying to get some sleep. But she was too distracted: replaying that kiss in her head, while trying not to stare at Sid’s strong body… He was currently hanging from the ceiling, crouched inside his hammock.

  She remembered how right, how natural it felt when he was on top of her, the warmth from his skin pouring over to hers. It felt as if they had been doing this forever. Who knows, perhaps they had been. By then it was pretty clear to Kate that her body had retained some kind of memory her brain, thanks to that memory wipe, hadn’t. Because after a brief moment of surprise, Kate had responded to his kiss passionately. So passionately, a soft moan escaped her lips when Sid finally pulled away. She wanted more, needed more, exhausted as she was. After all that craziness of the day, them kissing was the only thing that somehow made sense in the world.

  And he felt the same, she could tell. It was as if his whole body was trembling with desire. Sid’s breath was ragged. His eyes, looking at her with an intensity that made her heart beat faster, were misty; his pupils so dilated they almost looked jet black, like a predator ready to attack. Still, he managed to regain some level of self-control it seemed. Holding now both Kate’s hands in hers, Sid placed a soft kiss on her palms before getting up and walking away from her bed.

  “Get some sleep, Ith-rassil,” was the only thing he said before heading toward his hammock and disappearing in a ball of knots and fabric.

  That must have been about two hours ago.

  Kate turned to her side, facing the wall. Sid was clearly already asleep; she could hear his deep breathing. Was that kiss not that big of a deal for him? Had he just been caught up in the moment, regretting it right after? Perhaps in Ithaden culture a kiss like that didn’t mean anything more than a pleasantry… She scolded herself for having these thoughts. She was a grown woman and a pregnant one at that, not some lovestruck teenager swooning over a boy. That kiss was mighty fine but she needed sleep, she and her baby both. As for Sid, when the morning came (if such a thing as “mornings” existed on a spaceship) they would have to figure out what it all meant and where they could go from here, like sensible adults.

  Kate closed her eyes and started doing a cycle of timed breaths: inhaling for four counts, holding her breath for other four, exhaling again for four counts. Like she used to do back when she was suffering from insomnia and had to get at least a few hours of sleep before an important day at work. This time, it only took a few cycles before she felt herself drifting off to sleep. But then, the dreams started and, in her dreams, Kate was back in that white room.

  It was cold… or perhaps it was her fear that made her feel so. This time, the dream was more detailed: she could see bars blurring her view, as if she was looking at the room from the inside of a cage and high up. Then she was being lowered to floor level; a hand reaching out to her, a human-looking hand that belonged to a red-haired man with sad, blue eyes. In her dream, Kate took that hand and suddenly she wasn’t cold or afraid anymore.

  She woke up, still surrounded by this feeling of warmth and safety. Her eyelids fluttered a few times, while her brain was playing catch up with all that had happened in the past day. Yup, she was on a spaceship alright, lying on a 3D printed bed in the alien captain’s quarters. An alien captain who kissed her goodnight… and who appeared to be missing this morning, if his empty hammock was any indication.

  After a few moments of waiting to see if Sid would come back, Kate pushed the Ith-spun duvet aside and got up, her feet touching the 3D printing surface her bed rested in. She was about to put on her shoes, when she saw the bracelet next to them, clearly left for her. It was like the scanner she had worn yesterday, only smaller and with a screen attached to it; like the ancient Egyptian version of a smartwatch. Sid had probably left it for her as a communication device, she reasoned. Anxious to see him again, she wore it on her left wrist and tried to tap the screen with her right index finger. The screen came alive with a small beeping sound and, a few fragments of a second later, the door opened.

  A humanoid alien entered and headed straight for her, his arms open like in an embrace, his scales gleaming in the bright light coming from the corridor. A humanoid alien who was not Sid.

  “Oh, how excellent, you’re up!”

  It took Kate a second to recognize the alien that was coming toward her, a gleeful expression on his face, to be Ror, Sid’s crew member from the video. Ror’s scales were indeed milky white and iridescent, very soothing to look at (as if looking at a snowy terrain, Kate realized). He was smaller and leaner than Sid, scrawny even, like a teenager whose limbs grew too fast and meat hasn’t caught up with all his bones yet — if said teenager had scales, of course. His eyes were a pinkish red and round, much more resembling of a reptile or an amphibian. He had long ears, covered in golden earrings (made from Ith, probably) and there were four bulks on his head, running from his forehead to his neck like the love child of a mohawk and a man-bun. He looked much more “alien” than Sid did, still his overall demeanour was decidedly non-threatening. Kate couldn’t remember meeting him, but she already couldn’t help but find him extremely likeable.

  Ror stopped his marching just short of butting heads with her, probably realizing at the last minute how his behavior may be perceived by someone who didn’t remember him. Kate saw his vibrant smile turning into a nervous frown, while he awkwardly brought his wide-open arms together and clasped his hands, as if that was what he meant to do all along.

  “I mean, uhm, hello Kate Stoltz. I’m Ror. I know you probably don’t know who I am right now, but I promise you, I’m a friend. I’ve come to help you find your way around this ship, since you may not remember your way around this ship and I know you always liked to take showers in the morning before, when we weren’t running off to some mission, so I thought you could perhaps use one. A shower, not a mission. It helps you think, you used to say. And I think you may also be hungry, because your wrist terminal screen has turned red and we programmed it with Sidanav to do that when you need sustenance for yourself and the unborn offspring, sorry, you used to tell me I’m talking too much, but I’m excited to see you again, so, uhm…”

  Kate knew for a fact that the Ithaden had to breathe at some point, yet Ror seemed to be able to go on and on forever. She just had to chuckle at his genuine fluster. Regardless, a shower and some food sounded like a great idea. It didn’t explain where Sid had disappeared to, though. Kate placed her hands on Ror’s hands, as a gesture of amicability.

  “I know who you are, Ror. Sid showed me some footage yesterday with you in it. I’m afraid I don’t remember you right now, what with that mind wipe and all, but I understand we were close. So by all means, lead the way, I’d love to take a shower and then maybe have some breakfast. Oh, and where is Sid?”

  Kate tried to make this last part come off as a cool afterthought. Friend or not, Ror didn’t need to know she felt abandoned and slightly anxious from kissing a guy goodnight and not seeing him first thing in the morning…

  “Ah, yes, the Captain wanted me to tell you he would be busy for a few hours. That’s why he sent me, so that you don’t feel we’ve all abandoned you, not that he did, abandon you, I mean, we take a right turn here.”

  Ror looked a bit terrified as he guided Katie out of the room and toward the well-lit corridor, taking a turn at the opposite direction from the way that led to the cockpit. “We returned from our fuel run this morning, me and the rest of the crew. And Sidanav had some, uhm, concerns he wanted to discuss with us, with each of us, uhm, separately.”

  Now Kate was low-key terrified. She’d seen Sid’s ability for anger and s
incerely hoped his crew wasn’t getting the short end of the stick. On the other hand, if someone had indeed betrayed him, if they had endangered their baby…

  “I see. I’m sure everything will be alright, Ror,” she ended up saying.

  They now reached an area Kate could only compare to the locker rooms of a gym, not that she had the time to frequent gyms a lot back on Earth. There was a common room with benches and lockers, only the lockers looked more like flat screens activated by touch and the benches were all equipped with a 3D printer.

  “We make our clothes here,” Ror said, pointing to the benches. “And we store any personal items that are not to be shared with our teammates, on these storage units here. Yours used to be the last on the left, it still is gene-coded to you I believe. Now, most of us cleanse our skin under this,” Ror pointed to the ceiling, which was seemingly equipped with some kind of sprinkling or mist system. Kate’s eyes widened a bit, but he kept going.

  “Don’t worry, I know how the human body doesn’t do well in high Ithaden temperatures and I am also aware that gestating human women like their privacy. You were quite vocal about it, last time. So we created a separate cleansing chamber for you, you can just access it through here,” he said, pointing to her locker again. Kate pressed her index finger lightly on its screen. A door opening appeared on what seemed like solid wall only seconds ago.