“I want you,” she whispered.
Sid looked up from her breasts. He was clearly enjoying himself there, taking his good time, but he could see she wanted more. With a mischievous smile, he grabbed her wrists and suddenly lifted up her torso so that both of them now sat on the couch, Kate’s legs wrapped around him. He pulled her blouse up, undressing her.
They were skin to skin now, Kate’s arms wrapped around his neck and holding him tight; her legs around his waist in a tight embrace. As their lips met once more with reckless abandon, Kate felt Sid fumbling with the elastic band on her trousers. She leaned back a bit, to make it easier for him to undress her. She was so eager to feel his touch there, so eager for them to become one…
At that exact moment, the door burst open.
Chapter Three
It all happened so fast, Kate didn’t even think of covering herself up. She didn’t have time to feel embarrassed or be self conscious about her nudity. Her attention was elsewhere.
The intruder in Sid’s quarters turned out to be Berranav. The short, bulky Ithaden looked frazzled and distraught but went straight to the point, as if he didn’t just witness an extremely private scene. He started talking in Ithaden, so fast that Kate had trouble following everything he was saying. From a quick glance she took at her wrist terminal translator, the gist was this: Combat General Xuff had paged the Captain many times, there was an urgent threat, they had to time jump right now, he was very sorry, can they please follow him.
The reason Kate didn’t have time to feel embarrassed or even react to all this, was that Sid did. In fact he completely overreacted, in a way she couldn’t have thought possible — even accounting for the all the weird stuff that’s been happening to her recently. Because once Berranav barged in and started talking to them, Sid’s skin turned flaming hot. And not in a nice, comforting way like before: Sid’s skin was quickly becoming hot enough to cook eggs on, turning a more copper tone by the second and, was that a hissing sound coming from him? Quickly disentangling from Kate before causing her any third degree burns, Sid got up from the couch to face his indiscreet team mate. He opened his mouth wide, presumably to scold him… but his voice, instead of forming words, did something that could only be described as a guttural growl. It was so primal and terrifying that the other Ithaden actually took several steps back, his beady black eyes round with apprehension.
Kate didn’t know what was happening, exactly. Was Sid having a stroke? What was wrong with him? Up until a second ago, he was so thoughtful and gentle… Now it was like his rage at being disturbed in such an intimate moment had completely taken over. She was seriously considering getting up and trying to calm him down (perhaps some of that calming cocoa?) when Sid growled again, louder this time. And, while growling still, his whole body started shaking and changing in front of Kate’s very eyes.
It was like watching a supercut of the evolution of species, but on a fast rewind pace. Sid’s arms, legs and all his humanoid aspects started transforming into more lizard-like claws, hind legs and, quite miraculously, a tail. His skin became harder and gnarly, his face elongated. He became considerably taller too, his head now grazing the ceiling, his front arms stretching out and turning into wings… Before Kate could even blink or scream, Sid had completely transformed into something it could only be described, in plain human terms, as a dragon.
With his next growl, small tufts of flame came out of his mouth, barely missing Berranav who, to his credit, didn’t run away screaming. Maybe this chainmail he wore was fire-proof, Kate’s brain managed to put together as an explanation. Truth was, she was at a complete loss as per what was happening. Was that whole dragon shifting thing normal? Could all Ithaden do it? Could her baby… oh, boy, would she be giving birth to a dragon? That last thought freaked her out so much, she felt close to growling herself. Not that she would be noticed. Because right about then, Dragon Sid stormed out of the room, his tail banging on the walls. Berranav followed suit, keeping a safe distance.
“Okay then, I guess we’re going to the bridge right now,” said Kate to no one in particular, when she was left alone in the room and had a moment to compose herself. This definitely wasn’t how she expected things to pan out mere minutes before, but that’s life in an alien spaceship for you it seems. Alien shape-shifting dragons… Shaking her head in disbelief, Kate got dressed and followed the two Ithaden. She could hear the occasional thumps and bumps on the corridor walls ahead, thumps and bumps caused by what could only have been Sid’s tail. His tail! Was he going to stay in this form for long? Could he even fit in the seat of the cockpit like this? Berranav said they had to jump right away… Not knowing exactly what to expect, Kate finally reached the cockpit.
Well, there he was, her dragon. Still in that form, but significantly smaller in size and slowly getting back to his usual, greener hue. Theth, the chameleon-like Ithaden, had both her hands on his temples, her own colors changing rapidly in the process. It was a thing to watch alright.
“She is calming him down,” Ror’s voice seemingly came out of nowhere. The milky white alien looked mildly distraught, as did everyone at the bridge, perhaps with the exception of Xuff who simply looked pissed off.
“Theth doesn’t only absorb and mimic chromosomal information, she absorbs emotional energy as well. She feeds off it, in a way. That’s why she’s always careful around us. Although it’s usually fine between Ithaden. As a human, you felt it more in the past, always complained you were feeling dizzy after spending a lot of time with her… but her gift is very useful in cases like this. It’s one of the reasons Sid always insisted Theth be a part of our crew,” Ror continued.
“And have there been…many cases like this?” Kate asked, as calmly as possible. How often did her almost lover ‘dragon out’, exactly?
She never got an answer to that question. After a second or so, Theth’s energy absorbing thing seemed to work as Sid got back to his normal Ithaden form. Kate wanted to run to him, to hug him… but Xuff got to him first — and started yelling at him. Well, not yelling exactly. The black and white Ithaden was describing the severity of the situation in a very loud voice, her patterns swirling like crazy all over her body. She was careful however not to assign any blame to Sid (or Kate) for not answering her many pages, through her choice of words. To Kate’s amazement, Sid didn’t rebuke her this time. Instead, he hung his head down in shame and headed straight for his seat.
“Everyone, strap in,” Sid said while adjusting his protective Ith vest. “You heard the Combat General, it looks like the Xerrks are on to us. We need to jump back to the Agency now. Hold tight, this may be a bumpy ride.”
Kate had no choice but to follow everyone else’s lead and take her seat. As the protective Ith vest covered her body, she took a deep, centering breath. Any time now, the cabin lights would dim and existence would become weirdly heavy…if it worked this time, of course. Thoughts of how angry Sid had become on their last failed attempt to travel to what it turned out to be a Quantum Locked Earth, crossed Kate’s mind. If only she knew back then what happens when the guy is really angry… She chuckled softly, surprising herself with the rate with which she was accepting the many different facets of that man. Ithaden. Dragon. She was thinking about that last word, ‘dragon’, when the lights went out.
Only this time, it didn’t happen slowly. The world didn’t become inexplicably still nor existence became heavier. Quite the opposite actually. Kate heard the Mechs talking to each other in hushed, panicked tones… and then the whole ship started shaking as if someone had put it in a salad spinner.
Kate tried to do a cycle of breathing. She reasoned with herself that it’s probably just a glitch and that things would go back to normal soon, whatever normal was nowadays. But she was wrong. With every passing second the ship started shaking more and more, with several systems malfunctioning judging by the many blipping sounds. Kate’s ears started ringing; the Ith vest was becoming too heavy, almost crushing her ribs. She could vaguely h
ear the Ithaden around her yelling. Just before a blackness that had nothing to do with the lights in the cabin being out overtook her, she recognized one of the screams as Sid’s.
Chapter Four
Kate woke up from what felt like a long and heavy sleep. She blinked several times, slowly coming to. Something wasn’t right, but what? She tried to move her fingers, her arms. She could move alright but it felt weird, at the same time lighter and heavier, as if she was floating but in the deepest bottom of the ocean. Wait, she was floating, Kate realized after a second. Partially floating, anyway.
She wasn’t in her seat anymore; Kate’s straps had come undone, the Ith vest rolled back. Slowly turning her head to look around, she realized that the rest of the crew was in a similar predicament. Released from their straps, they were floating like reeds, shaking gently in the ocean’s depths. The feet of the Ithaden however, as well as Kate’s feet, were firmly rooted on the ground. It must be the shoes, Kate concluded when her brain started collaborating with reality. Ror had said something about gravity boots, hadn’t he? And how her own shoes worked like that as well? Looks like everyone had taken the precaution of wearing gravity boots before starting the time jump…
No, not everyone. With a gasp, Kate saw Sid floating near the ceiling. He was unconscious and looked like he had been knocked around a few times… Flashes of them getting naked on the couch flooded Kate’s brain. Getting naked… and then being interrupted. And then Sid changing into that winged thing… Along with the flashes, a strange sense of guilt overtook her. Because of what they were doing, Sid didn’t have the time, let alone the presence of mind, to wear gravity boots before the jump. Because of what they were doing, he could have been hurt. He probably was hurt, was that blood on his shoulder? She tried calling his name, but no sound came out.
Kate started panicking. What the heck had happened to them? Where they indeed underwater? Were they in some kind of void where there was no sound or gravity? She could breathe okay though, although the air felt somewhat thin. Kate tried moving her feet, first one and then the other, to no avail: her shoes were stuck on her feet and magnetically attached to the floor. In short, they wouldn’t budge.
The thought of being trapped like this, so close to Sid and her teammates and yet unable to call for help or wake them up, was just inconceivable. Kate didn’t do feeling helpless.
“There must be a way,” she said to herself, although she couldn’t hear the words coming out of her own mouth. She kept talking, yelling, calling at her crew mates in the hopes she would somehow get through to them, wake them up… After a while, a wave of exhaustion overcame her.
Perhaps, Kate thought, before attempting to wake anyone up, she should sleep some more.
Chapter Five
When she opened her eyes again, things were looking much better. For one, Sid was there. And he wasn’t floating anymore. His face was somewhat bruised, his shoulder bandaged… but he was there alright. Looking at her, smiling, his hands caressing her hair. The rest of the crew was there as well, Ror and the Mechs looking worried, Xuff and Berranav deep in conversation, Theth standing alone in a corner looking at Kate… Gravity was also there, apparently, back to working once more. Good. Kate had had enough of this floating nonsense. She tried to move, only to realize she couldn’t.
“Rest, Ith-rassil,” Sid said. Kate realized it was the first time he called her that in front of other people. She hadn’t had a chance to ask him what the word meant yet… But when she opened her mouth to say so, she felt her throat extremely sore.
“Please, don’t try to speak. You were screaming for a long time in a vacuum bubble where no sound could come out. Your vocal cords have taken a beating, as has the rest of your body, but the Ith pod is helping you heal fast. Just give it a few more time cycles,” Sid said, leaning down and kissing her forehead.
Perhaps something in Kate’s eyes, some silent panic rising, made him add: “The baby is fine too, don’t worry. Just rest now.”
He was right. Within the course of the next hour or so, Kate started feeling stronger already, her throat hurting less and less. She was lying on a pod in the med bay, in the same room where her memory had been wiped in that footage she saw… Just like last time, she was completely covered with Ith. And just like last time, Ror was by her side.
“You saved us all, Kate Stoltz,” Ror said, flashing that toothy smile of his. “If it wasn’t for your screaming, Theth would have never been able to wake up. There may have been no sound in our bubble, but your emotional energy was enough for her to feed off and wake up. Once she did, she was able to adjust the settings on her boots enough to be able to walk and gradually reset the gravity field within the cockpit. She got us all out of the vacuum before we suffered any major organ failures. Sidanav got it a bit worse than us, since he was free floating, but nothing a few Ith bandages can’t fix… Vacuum bubbles are tricky, you see. I’ve never experienced this scenario before in real life, but during my simulations training, I had encountered it as a ‘last resort solution’ some ships could deploy when things go so critically wrong.”
“What…what happened?” Kate was able to croak. Knowing she actually did something useful, even if it was just panicking and screaming, made her feel much better than the Ith healing process did.
“When we decided to time jump to the Time Agency, you know we didn’t use any probability lines so as not to alert anyone there working with the Xerrks. Well, I don’t know exactly how it happened, but the moment we set course for the Agency, the Xerrks knew anyway. We caught several temporal anomalies on our code and there was a 76% probability of being physically attacked by a Xerrk time ship… That’s when Berranav was sent to alert the Captain and made him, as you saw, change.”
Kate wasn’t able to speak more then, but Ror must have realized what was on her mind. He was a very considerate person, Kate thought.
“I understand this is the first time you saw Sidanav in his Ancient form. It doesn’t occur often. I don’t believe it had happened in front of you when you were with us last time. As far as I know, his last ‘incident’ was when he was facing those scientists and the government, when they were deciding what to do with you. But you were at the med bay at the time so you never saw it and Theth was able to calm him down immediately…”
Ages ago, at the dawn of their civilization, apparently all Ithaden used to look like this; like dragons.
“It is said that this was our one true form. But we learned to shape shift when we first ventured outside our planet, to be able to communicate better with other life forms. We have evolved a lot since then, obviously,” Ror said raising up his arms, covered in scales but not so different in shape than the arms of a human. “Nowadays, only a handful of us can achieve the Ancient form — some of them at will, some of them when emotionally out of balance. This handful usually rules our planet.”
Kate’s mind started racing. So Sid was special. Not that she had any doubt about it in the broad sense, but this confirmed her suspicions: he must have had some key position in the Ithaden hierarchy to be able to influence Palace and government. Heck, to dragon out in front of all of them with no repercussions and to win over the argument of what to do with the human mother of the Third Sun… Who was he, really? There were so many things Kate wanted to ask him. But for now, it occurred to her that there were more pressing issues that needed solving.
“Ror, our time jump. What was all…that?” Kate managed to say, slightly less hoarsely this time.
“We were attacked, mid jump. By the Xerrks. Or at least, we were almost attacked by the Xerrks. With the mechanics under the Ith vest and unable to move and control it, the ship tried to take us as far away from the threat as possible. It succeeded, Kate Stoltz, but at a cost. I am afraid we have stranded quite a bit from our intended time mark: we are now at what is colloquially known as The Shrinking. The end of time.”
At times like these, Kate secretly wished all this had happened to her sister. Not the horrible parts of it
, of course, not the abducting and the fear and the unsolicited impregnation. (And not Sid and his kisses, of course.) But all the rest. It’s just that Jennifer was always the one with the wild imagination: the one reading comic books and sci-fi novels; the one falling for the dangerous guys and taking a gap year to go on impromptu adventures in random corners of the planet… Yes, Jennifer would have taken the news of being stranded at the End of Time with much more gusto. Whereas Kate was just nursing a horrible headache just by trying to understand what it all meant. Understand how it was possible for an End of Time, or “The Shrinking” as the Ithaden called it, to even exist in the first place.
Running her fingers through her hair for comfort, Kate found herself wondering: what would Jennifer do? Well, she wouldn’t try to overthink or over explain it, for one. No, she would be excited. She’d like to take a stroll in The Shrinking, probably, maybe take a few selfies to brag about it afterwards. Yeah, that sounded like her sister alright… Kate sighed. For some unknown reason life had chosen her, the boring one, to have all these adventures. Might as well make the most of them. Walking gingerly out of the med bay with Ror by her side to support her, Kate made her way back to the cockpit.
It was one of those ‘pitching in’ moments. Everyone seemed to be working, repairing the ship and adjusting its systems. Theth, who currently wore quite a few of the Mechs’ rings, seemed to be (for lack of a better term) talking to the ship. Adjusting her gear while mumbling inaudibly, the alien’s scales were changing so fast, it seemed as though they were made from pixels. On the other end of the room, Xuff, currently studying the captain’s console with Sid, turned around to give Theth a hand signal that looked a lot like a high-five. Whatever that chameleon-like Ithaden was doing, it seemed to be working. Kate walked discreetly away from her though; she was grateful to her for restoring gravity earlier, but didn’t feel like she had a lot of emotional energy left to spare at the moment.
The Ithaden’s Slave Page 10