Pandora
I’d never felt stronger or more myself than when we orbited Tau. The further the ship pulled away, the sicker I got.
Xantha and Corrin refused to let me leave with Firuza. I wasn’t safe with her father, they said. I had every reason to believe they were right. They didn’t tell me that they wouldn’t even let me send Damir a message. Firuza told me he was on the home world with my son before she’d left.
I put up a fight and tried to go with her but Corrin bared her lioness’ teeth and her claws, threatening me into submission. I couldn’t fight a creature with claws and teeth, or with Corrin’s rage.
I scowled and cowered in my room as their ship left. Xantha tried to cheer me up but I wasn’t ready to hear her. I lay in bed for half a day, my egg brood growing in my stomach, moving and shifting in my abdomen. It was like they could feel their father’s absence too.
After the second day, I wandered out onto the bridge. My sickness had improved and the egg brood inside me began protruding from my stomach like a little baby bump — but lumpier. Like oatmeal. I could move the eggs around with my fingers but if I disturbed them too much they all vibrated together and provoked intense nausea.
I learned that lesson the hard way.
Corrin squeaked, “Look who finally decided to join us.”
“Leave, her alone,” Xantha grumbled.
“Whatever. You give her the scoop.”
“We’re still going to Sekhmet-delta, right?”
“That we are. Corrin is dropping me off at home. Our attempts to liberate women in this sector didn’t exactly go as planned. I’m going to see my family again.”
“I’m very glad for you.”
“I wish we could help, but I’m sorry. I know you’re mad but Pandora, we couldn’t trust you with these people.”
“I mated with one of the men on that planet. If you’d teleported me down, he would have kept me safe.”
“How could we trust that?” Corrin snapped, rising from her seat with her hackles prematurely raised. She was far quicker to anger than her friend Xantha.
Xantha held her back.
“Don’t worry, Corrin. I’ll talk to her.”
Corrin returned to her seat and Xantha put her arm around me.
“Don’t worry. We know going to Sekhmet-delta won’t kill you. It’s within the same star system which means you and the egg brood will be safe.”
“Then why do I feel so horrible being away from him? When the ship first pulled away, I felt like my heart was getting ripped out.”
For the first time since her ill-conceived attempts to liberate me, Xantha saw what I was feeling. A mixture of pity and regret crossed her face.
“I’m sorry.”
“There’s also the issue of my son. We left him back on the ship with these Taurean males. But he’s human. I can’t be sure that they won’t hurt him.”
“He was male. We couldn’t take the risk. Taurean culture values males more than anyone. It’s why they make their women wear the veil.”
“It’s not just that, Xantha.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Yes, I know they have all their clever ideas about tradition and protection. But science has come far enough to give them space travel, the power to conquer other worlds and the power to fight against their own sun as it turned into a gas giant. Why have women’s rights taken the back seat? Have you ever thought to ask?”
“Has it occurred to you that Taurean women might have? Perhaps they’ve looked at their situation and while you see oppression and pain, they see something different. Maybe they see safety. Maybe they see power. Maybe they just see things differently and that’s not wrong.”
Xantha was stunned into silence for a moment. She’d never considered that Firuza was no victim. Neither had I, really. I spoke from my own frustration rather than with frustration for Xantha.
Xantha twirled her finger around one of the kinky curls in her silver hair considering Firuza too. The friend I’d been relying on to get me off that ship had abandoned me to be taken to the other side of the galaxy. She’d never intended to bring me back to Tau because she’d known these two would never let me go. As long as they have one captive, then they would leave her be. Firuza was more calculating than I’d given her credit for. My instinct not to trust her had been spot on.
And once again, Damir let me go. Could he truly be feeling what I felt if he could let me slip out of his grasp so easily twice? He’d promised me the “effect” would go both ways and I wouldn’t be forced to suffer the fate of raising his brood of “around twenty” children alone. Not to mention the fact that my children… our children… would be alien. There was no way around it. A human didn’t crawl out of an egg.
Xantha took my hand after her moment of consideration.
“If it’s nothing to you then, take it off. At least when you’re amongst us.”
“What about on Sekhmet-delta?”
She smiled, “My planet is more liberal. The Taurean Commander in charge of our sector leaves us to be governed independently.”
I noticed her excitement to speak about her home planet and I needed her distracted so I could think of a way to find my son and Damir. I’d take Corrin and Xantha’s word that his species would protect my son. Optimism was my only chance at survival. That and playing my cards right.
“Is Sekhmet-delta beautiful?”
“Beautiful?! Of course! It’s called the never-ending forest. The planet glows a brilliant emerald from space all from the thick density of trees on our surface.”
“So you have no oceans?”
“We have lake beneath the tree canopy and so much beauty. Oh, Pandora, once you get used to it, you’ll never want to leave.”
Corrin scoffed.
“You talk about it like it’s paradise. All forest? Sounds like there are a lot of bugs.”
“Of course there are bugs silly.”
Corrin shuddered.
“No thanks. The last thing I need are fleas snacking on my flesh.”
“They wouldn’t snack on your flesh. The forest fleas are kind.”
“Kind fleas?”
“Mhm…”
I got the feeling that if I were ever above ground on an alien world, I’d be in for a massive shock. Space ships were sterile ultimately, humanoid and all too familiar. Like stepping into a science lab, but not completely alien. To see a kind flea, or forests so dense they created a glow in space… I could hardly believe any of it were real, neither could I imagine it.
A few weeks ago, I would have never been able to imagine a creature with dark brown skin and white eyes, either. The universe was greater than I could have ever imagined. And now, linguistics conferences, and dating all seemed so small to me. What seemed big was what my heart wanted. And my heart wanted Barney… and it wanted Damir.
Finding a way off of Xantha’s planet would be tricky, but not impossible. There had to be someone who would take me to Tau or help me communicate with Damir. Maybe without Corrin, Xantha would be kinder. She certainly had a warmer heart than the cold meow-mouthed Denebolan who was either catty or sleeping with no in between.
The next day after I gave up on my silent treatment, I felt funny movement in my abdomen and intense pain as my skin stretched to about four inches between the early morning and noon. Damir intended to take me to a physician but he’d never had the chance.
I could hardly sit up in bed. Xantha brought breakfast to my room and stroked my hair.
“You’re in a bad way, aren’t you?”
“You can say that.”
My skin was pale and I felt devilishly sick. And I missed Barney. If anything bad happened to him, I’d never be able to forgive myself. I should have fought harder. I should have died to protect him. Never mind that in death, I would have been unable to, the guilt clawed at me and my time in bed gave me an unfortunate amount of time to fall into a deep pit of self blame.
Xantha came to sit at my bed side once she saw how ill I truly was. She held my hand and uttered a word or two of comfort. I pretended to sleep for a while but she caught me peeking.
“You’re awake?”
“Mmm.”
“Don’t worry. I’m still here.”
“Mmmm.”
I sat up. The jig was up and if she hadn’t figured it out, Xantha would soon figure that I was awake.
“Xantha?”
“Hm?”
“I need you to distract me. It hurts.”
“I looked it up in the computer and the medical logs — while primitively Arietan — do indicate that this is somewhat normal.”
“How do these aliens know about Taureans? I mean… are you sure?”
I wasn’t exactly in a position to act like an authority figure. I might have been a know-it-all at the linguistics conference and every other damn place in my life but when it came to this egg brood that Damir had planted betwixt my fertile thighs, I had no certainty and I had to submit myself to that.
Xantha seemed to understand my discomfort.
“Arietans and Taureans crossbreed. They’re similar in many ways although they’ll never admit it. There aren’t many female Arietans so they mate with other species quite often. Taureans with excess daughters can make a pretty penny in marriage contracts.”
“Marriage contracts?”
“It’s basically slavery.”
“Is that what you had?”
“Pardon me?”
“Sorry. I figured maybe something horrible happened to you. Something that made you want to save women like me. Whether or not we need saving.”
I smiled to let her know that I didn’t mean my criticism as harshly as it sounded. Xantha let go of my hand and stared distantly out the small window in my dark quarters with its glowing red light.
“No. I didn’t have a marriage contract.”
The dark shadow that crossed her face scared me. For the first time since we’d met she didn’t seem large and in charge and she didn’t glow with that ebullience I’d grown accustomed to.
“I shouldn’t have asked,” I apologized quickly.
“No. It’s fine. I can tell you about it if it will take your mind off things.”
“I don’t want to be rude.”
“No. You’re right. It would make a lot more sense if I told you.”
“Both Corrin and I survived slavers. We were taken by the last captain of this ship, a brute named Baneb.”
“You told me.”
“He made the mistake of taking a human woman captive.”
“That story was true?”
“You sound surprised.”
“No,” I covered quickly, “I’m not. Tell me about her. How did a human woman get into outer space.”
“It’s the same question I could ask you. This one had an explanation.”
“Tell me the story,” I whispered.
It was getting harder to hold my eyes open and the skin on my lower abdomen felt as if it would rip. My cheeks must have been mulberry flushed and I could feel my skin sinking into my brow bone to create that sallow look of pain and illness. Xantha pressed one of her metal “First Aid” instruments — as she’d explained them — to the side of my head and continued her story.
“Far away from here there’s a planet made of ice. The silver kingdom is called Devor and ruled by the royal family. Many years ago, they had a crisis. Women voluntarily became infertile. They could no longer reproduce.”
“I don’t understand,” I whispered.
I was starting to feel groggy, but desperate to hang onto Xantha’s every uttered detail.
“You will,” she whispered.
She got up from the bed and pressed a cloth to my face. I shuddered.
“It’s cold…”
“Shh,” she whispered, “Just listen.”
My teeth chattered for a few moments but then I adjusted to the temperature of the cloth and Xantha settled into her seat next to me.
“The Devorans are very superstitious and very philosophical. Their prince went to Earth because their gods told them the birth crisis would eventually end their species. There he found his mate, Ariana.”
“A human?”
“Yes. She had hair that was orange. I thought all of you would be that way, really. She was orange-haired and feisty and… I miss her, really.”
“What happened?”
“Right. I guess I’m telling it all out of order, aren’t I?”
“No. You’re fine.”
“Right. Well Titan, the prince of Devor, took Ariana from her home. She was lonely and they were destined.”
“She was okay with being kidnapped?”
“Not at first!”
“What happened…”
“Well, the Princess of Devor was very jealous. She kidnapped Ariana and sold her to Baneb as revenge.”
“That’s how you met her.”
“Yes it is. She was pregnant with the prince’s son.”
“Wow.”
“She fell in love with him at first sight, Ariana did. She was a romantic. When she came in here and saw Baneb and how he hurt us, she set us free. She didn’t mean to… but she did.”
“What do you mean she didn’t mean to?”
Her story fascinated me.
“Spending all that time around Devorans made Ariana temporarily telepathic while she was pregnant. She got scared and she killed him. She stopped his heart and the other men. She hardly knew what she had done.”
“Wow. She sounds incredible.”
“Maybe you’ll meet her one day.”
“I doubt it. I think these eggs are going to kill me.”
“Nonsense. You can’t die.”
“Why not?”
“Because I haven’t finished my story and you’ll want to hear the rest when you wake up.”
“No… Xantha, finish now.”
But I was too tired to plead with her and Xantha sponged my forehead clean before leaving me to fall asleep. As I drifted off, I thought about the red-headed human woman she’d talked about, the eggs I carried inside me, my son Barney and then Damir. Sleep was the relief I needed from my pain. For at least an hour, I couldn’t feel the painful tugging at my skin that I longed so desperately for the end of.
I woke up to the sound of Corrin’s purring in the middle of the night. Xantha was asleep too, at least I thought she was. Her chest shuddered and she twitched in her sleep. My eyes adjusted to the red light and I watched her toss and turn for a few minutes. She whimpered and I whispered her name.
“Xantha?”
She whimpered again. Corrin’s ears twitched and I thought it better not to wake her in the middle of the night. Who knew how she’d get without Xantha to hold her back.
Xantha thrust her neck back and started talking in her sleep.
“NO! NO! DON’T TOUCH ME! GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME!”
Her eyes snapped open. She was still asleep. Her eyes glowed white in the darkness and she began to make this rasping, choking sound as she thrashed around in bed.
“Xantha!” I whispered.
Xantha kept screaming. Her eyes were open and light poured out from them as if it were emanating from her. The light was white, but looked almost yellow.
“Xantha!”
She screamed and the choking sound continued.
“Xantha!”
“She does this most nights,” Corrin’s voice squeaked across the room.
“We have to help her.”
“It’s no use. They’re night terrors.”
Xantha let out another terrifying scream.
“What happened? Why is this happening?”
“They’re nightmares.”
“Her eyes…”
“Yes, they glow. Bioluminescence. It’s why her hair is white. Her hair glows too. It’s quite beautiful…”
Corrin’s voice had a nearly wistful tone.
“Try to get some sleep. We’ll be at Sekhmet-delta soon and you should be rested. I expect you’ll be in for some culture shock.”
Corrin curled up and before I could ask anymore questions, she fell asleep again. Xantha kept thrashing and her eyes continued to glow. I tried to sleep but catching snippets of her sleep talk made it difficult.
“… I’ll kill him…”
“…Mama…”
“…stop…”
In the morning, I’d barely slept and the stretched skin on my stomach hurt even more. My belly protruded like I was six months pregnant. It had only been a week or two since I’d mated with Damir. I’d already started losing track of time.
Corrin was gone by the time I woke up. Xantha was up, but she waited up for me with breakfast.
“How did you sleep?”
“Fine.”
“You don’t have to lie. Corrin told me that my sleep talking woke you.”
“It’s no big deal.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine.”
“No. It isn’t. But I haven’t seen my family in decades. I’m not sure what I’ll be coming home to you see.”
“Decades. That’s a long time.”
“Yes. I look forward to going home. It’s been too long.”
“Do you think it’s been too long?”
“No. We can always go home,” Xantha said hopefully.
I didn’t know if I believed her. As much as I wanted to go back to Earth and live my normal life with Barney, that didn’t exactly seem realistic anymore. I’d be committed if I ever tried to talk to anyone about this stuff. And how could I not talk about it? I couldn’t exactly stop Barney either and if he said this to anyone… I couldn’t stand to think about what could go wrong if he spoke about aliens and spaceships at school. It would be a nightmare.
“Are you alright Xantha?”
“I could ask you the same. You’ve grown practically overnight.”
“Corrin will be sad that you’re leaving,” I said.
Xantha scoffed, “No she won’t be. Corrin loves being alone.”
I recalled the way Corrin had looked at Xantha as she slept, with that forlorn, wistful look in her eye and that soft, gentle voice, unlike any I heard her have before.
“Oh come on. She loves having you around.”
“If she did, she would come to Sekhmet-delta,” Xantha replied stiffly.
“Right…”
“I never finished telling you the story yesterday.”
“Oh yes. You told me how Ariana killed Baneb and the men on this ship.”
“Yes. She saved our lives and then Corrin and I took this ship and we’ve traveled all over the sector the past few months. I guess it could have never lasted forever…”
“Why not?”
“In case you haven’t noticed, our mission didn’t exactly go as planned. And it’s dangerous in this ship.”
“That isn’t all that’s dangerous, is it?”
“I don’t know what you mean?”
“Never mind. What happened to Ariana?”
“She and the prince had their son… Prometheus. I heard a rumor that they were pregnant with another child. A daughter.”
“So this human woman lives on Devor?”
“Yes. She does. She’s lovely, Pandora. I think you’d like her.”
“Yeah. It might get lonely out here otherwise, being the only human.”
Xantha stroked my hair and felt me up for a fever again.
“You’re a bit warm still,” she said.
“Don’t worry. I think this is all normal.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Instinct. A mother has her ways.”
Xantha smiled and held my hand until I fell asleep again. By the time I woke up, our ship was in orbit at Sekhmet-delta. Xantha woke me up as Corrin blasted an announcement throughout the ship.
“Can you walk? Come on, I want you to see the planet for yourself.”
“Alright. I’m coming.”
“Lean on me. I’ll help you. I want to see it from space again.. finally.”
I leaned on Xantha’s soft shoulder as she took me to the bridge. As we walked, I noticed for the first time that she smelled flower sweet and she was pleasantly plump, the way I had been before I picked up running. Now, I was fat anyway. Twenty eggs had stretched me stomach out bigger than I’d ever been when I was pregnant with Barney.
We got to the bridge and Corrin gestured toward the view screen.
“Well… It doesn’t look that impressive to me.”
Xantha propped me up against a wall so I could make my way to the screen on my own and she ran ahead to get a better view. Before I could follow her, Xantha let out a loud, blood-curdling shriek and collapsed on the bridge.
Corrin’s fur stood up straight on the back of her neck and her whiskers twitched.
“What happened?”
I looked out the view screen for the first time and saw the scene below. The planet wasn’t the emerald green that Xantha expected from space. There was some green, but most of the planet was arid and desolate without a drop of green and with small clusters of forests, barely visible from space.
Sekhmet-delta wasn’t the same home Xantha left when she was a little girl. A lump formed in my throat.
“She must have been surprised?”
“You think? She’s always been so dramatic. I tried to warn her that a lot can happen in two decades. She’s just upset because… well… I think she wanted to see home before she died.”
“Died?!”
“Most on her home world only live to around 35. Xantha’s 33.”
“She doesn’t look like an old woman.”
Corrin sighed.
“There are no old women in her species. But I don’t have time to catch you up. Help me lift her into the chair at least.”
Corrin was strong enough not to need my help but she’d be damned before she let a lazy crew-woman on her ship. I helped as best I could to get Xantha into a chair and Corrin stroked her hair as we waited for her to wake up.
“She must have realized the planet would change. You’ll look after her for me, won’t you?”
“I can. But I have to find my son, Corrin.”
Corrin rolled her eyes.
“I’ll never understand breeders.”
“Breeders? A bit offensive, don’t you think.”
“Not to me it isn’t.”
I bit my tongue. Getting into an actual cat fight wasn’t my idea of a good time.
“Well,” I replied, “You could always stay and look after her.”
“No,” Corrin purred, “I can’t.”
She kept stroking Xantha’s hair and staring at the sleeping woman longingly.
“Why not? I can tell you two are… close.”
“We are. I know that. But you don’t understand what I’ve been through. Or what she’s been through. After that, it isn’t fair to be tied to another person. It feels good to belong to no one but myself.”
I’d forgotten that despite her harsh temperament, Corrin had been through hell too. Her temper was a cover for the pain she felt. I could see it now as she wrapped a tight coil of Xantha’s hair around her finger and let it go so it bounced back in place.
“I need you to take care of her. I have to get out of here.”
“Where will you go?”
“I don’t know. Taureans don’t concern themselves with foreigners too much, but their political situation is unstable. I could go far — to the twin stars.”
“Huh?”
Corrin rolled her eyes.
“Castor and Pollux. The twin stars. Each one has its own set of planets and they’re quite divided but at least when you’re dealing with artificial intelligence you don’t have to worry about slavery.”
“Artificial?”
“Ok. Let’s try to wake Xantha. I don’t want to sit here explaining galaxy social studies to you.”
Just when I started sympathizing with Corrin she got all harsh and impatient again. I scowled as I tried not to remind her that the reason I was with her in the first place was because she had kidnapped me and separated me from my son. Corrin got Xantha awake but she wasn’t the same when she woke up. The zest for life that I’d known her for had been sapped away.
“Should we contact your family?”
Xantha shook her head, fighting back a single tear that threatened to roll down her cheek.
“No. If they’re still there, we’ll find them.”
She held my hand and squeezed it. Corrin scowled.
“Are you sure? It looks like a wasteland down there.”
“Could you be more insensitive Corrin?!” Xantha snarled.
“What? It’s not my fault your emerald planet looks like a desert dump.”
“Sekhmet-delta is NOT a dump!”
“It sure looks like one.”
“Ladies!” I chimed in.
“WHAT?!” They both shouted at me in unison.
“Shouldn’t we stop arguing and maybe… say a proper good-bye?”
I froze in terror as both of them glared but then Corrin’s expression softened and her claws retracted in.
“You’re right. If you tell me the village, I’ll contact the satellite and teleport you two down there to their immigration center.”
“Thanks,” Xantha murmured.
She sniffled and pushed back another tear which she probably thought nobody noticed. We didn’t have to pack anything, but Xantha puttered around the ship making sure Corrin would be alright once we left.
At the teleportation pad, Xantha ran for Corrin and wrapped her arms around her. Corrin raised her hackles and bared her teeth before adjusting to Xantha’s tight squeeze.
“I’ll miss you Corrin!” Xantha confessed, emitted a loud sob as she buried her face in Corrin’s tunic. Corrin patted her back awkwardly.
“There, there, don’t you worry.”
“B-but I’ll miss you!” Xantha blubbered.
“I know you will, but you have to be strong. I’ll come back through this sector.”
“But when!”
“Soon…”
Corrin pried Xantha off her.
“Now go. It’s been a long time since you’ve been home.”
Corrin teleported us to the surface. We appeared on the teleportation pad in the near complete darkness, in what looked like a thick dense forest. I blinked to try to get my eyes to adjust to the light. Xantha opened her eyes and they began to emit a white glow, helping me to see in front of us.
“Hello, I’m Xantha Lavender of clan Lavender. I’ve been away for a while.”
The man at the teleportation pad was Xantha’s height, with skin just as brown as hers and white hair in long dreadlocks twisted in a high bun on his head. He ran his scanner over Xantha and was seemingly satisfied with her introduction.
“Who is the stranger?” He asked, with a voice as deep and sonorous as Xantha’s.
“My guest.”
“Name and species?”
“She’s human, we don’t have any in this sector.”
“Noted. And you’re in the Lavender clan?”
“Yes.”
“An escort will be with you to take you to your new village.”
“An escort?!”
“Just how long were you away?” The man asked.
“Most of my life,” Xantha whispered, fighting back tears.
“Well, you were just in space which means you saw the planet.”
“What happened?”
“Your village leader will explain to you. I don’t have time there are other ships coming.”
“It’s okay. Thank you.”
“Come with me.”
The man led us through a thicket of forest. At the edge of the forest was a vehicle that looked like a floating chrome egg. The side of it opened and a guard dressed like the one at the teleportation pad hopped out.
“Two to where?”
“She’s Lavender clan and this is her guest. Take them into the village.”
“Were they pre-approved?”
“No but the genetic readings from the teleport show she is who she says she is.”
“The guest?”
“Unknown species.”
“No threat to us then.”
“No.”
“Be careful with this one,” the teleport expert said, “She doesn’t know about the conflict.”
“Has she been living under a rock?”
“Actually,” Xantha asserted, “I’ve been living as a slave.”
“My apologies,” the man replied, his cheeks flushing a deep mulberry color, “I’m Xenophon. I’ll be your guide for the journey.”
Xenophon was the tallest of Xantha’s species that I’d seen and he was still only six inches or so taller than her, not even as tall as I was.
“Thank you. May I ask why I can’t walk to the village?”
“You’ll see, Miss Xantha,” he checked his communique to see if he got her name right.
“Fine. Come on, Pandora.”
I nodded and followed her onto the egg. I was soaking up so many details of her world that I wasn’t paying attention to their conversation. I was trying to get a look at the world beyond the forest line, the world that had surprised Xantha so much from space.
Xenophon helped me into the back of the egg-transport and I sat on a plush red-velvet seat by Xantha’s side. Xenophon sat across from us and pushed a button on the egg. The walls egg surrounding us turned from white chrome to translucent. I screamed. Xenophon chuckled.
“She’s never been in an egg before?”
“No.”
“It’s outfitted with universal translator. Top of the line. This was one of the newest ones in before the blockade.”
“You have to tell us what you mean,” Xantha insisted.
I tried not to look down at the translucent floor beneath our feet as we hovered six feet over the forest floor. I didn’t like heights, but I liked letting strange aliens know my weaknesses even less.
“Keep looking out the windows. As we travel to your village, I will try to explain. How long have you been away from Sekhmet?”
Xenophon pressed a pad on the side of the egg and seemed to be typing in co-ordinates of some kind.
“Two decades.”
“Then you are almost at your expiration?”
“Two more years.”
“I envy you.”
“Why?”
“I am only 18. I have to live the rest of my life in our changed world.”
His tone frightened me. Xantha must have been frightened too because she squeezed my hand. Xenophon pressed another button and the egg lurched forward. Startled, I braced myself against the velvet chairs.
“You’ve never been to our planet?”
I shook my head.
“What sector are you from?”
Xantha interrupted, “Please Xenophon, no questions. My guest is tired.”
Tired, and sickened by the eggs moving in my stomach and vibrating and twisting and turning. They didn’t like the motion. I clutched my stomach and Xenophon cast me a curious look but didn’t question Xantha’s request.
“We’re about to break the forest line. Prepare yourself, Xantha.”
The egg emerged from the forest. The line of trees came to a sudden halt. Xantha gasped sharply. The difference was stark. The thick canopy of forest overhead where we’d teleported had created a dense woodland so dark, we could barely see. Now the ground beneath us was desolate, with felled trees and fields filled with detritus and broken tree limbs. I saw a creature bent in one of the fields, thrashing about.
“What is that?”
“It’s an ant,” Xantha replied, stifling a sob.
I squinted and looked closer. The creature was an ant, only it was about the size of a bicycle. I clutched the velvet seat and stared at it through the window.
Xenophon comforted me, “Don’t worry miss, they can’t detect us in the egg.”
“It’s huge…”
“It’s rather small for an ant actually,” Xenophon replied, continuing to look at me like I was a crazy person.
We continued for about fifteen minutes over bleaker and bleaker wastelands. The egg was temperature controlled but I got the sense that the sun beat down on the fields, causing the earth to crack where there were no trees to cool the soil and keep the moisture trapped.
“Where are all the trees,” Xantha choked.
“It’s been a long war, Xantha. It’s been going on a whole year.”
“A war? We do not fight! Our people have lived in peace for a generation here.”
“Not since Ulugbek. Things have been getting worse for years. Last year, it all came to a head. The council leaders gathered together and petitioned for an alliance with the Devorans. Ulugbek found out and he slaughtered all the leaders. New ones had to be elected.”
“Xuvo is gone then?”
“Yes.”
Xenophon explained to me that council leaders once they’re chosen are given special herbs to extend their lifespan. The herbs are rare and tended to in a special garden so that they’re protected and used for the spiritual purpose for which they’re intended. This would allow leaders to work for three generations before their “expiration” as he put it.
With the premature death of their council, the planet was tossed into chaos with elections and Ulugbek wasn’t content to destabilize the planet’s leadership. He broke the Treat of Sekhmet and sold 80% of the planet’s canopy to U-corp.
“U-corp?”
Xantha shrugged. She didn’t know either.
“Senator Uraz’s corporation.”
Xantha gasped and we exchanged worried glances.
“Do you know the senator?”
“We crossed paths with him, I think,” Xantha mumbled noncommittally.
She stared out the translucent walls of the egg at the wasteland that spread.
“Our village…”
“Territory receded 70%. Most of the younger men and women have taken up arms. But we don’t live as long as the Taureans do. We don’t remember. By the time we’re all dead, our children won’t know why we fought. They’ll be tired of it and they’ll want to accept things the way they are.”
Xantha’s lower lip trembled. She’d imagined these forests for years and when she imagined her return, I’m sure she couldn’t have predicted anything like this absence. A war began, a war that perhaps Damir himself had been a part of as Uraz’s ally.
The wasteland stretched out for a few more minutes until we came to a check point. Guards, each one no taller than Xantha, decked out in animal furs and long robes awaited us.
“I’ll handle them,” Xenophon said before he stepped out of the egg. With Xenophon gone, Xantha was brave enough to allow a single tear to roll down her cheek.
“Oh this is just horrible, Pandora,” she squealed, “It’s horrible!”
“I know. I’m so sorry…”
“No. Don’t be. I was gone so long that I just assumed nothing would be different. But everything’s different!”
Xenophon returned to the egg.
“They ask that we go opaque but we’ll be in the village center in about five minutes.”
“Thank you Xenophon.”
“It’s no problem, Xantha. You didn’t tell me that you were part Chartreuse.”
Xantha blushed and lowered her gaze.
“Yes, my mother was Clan Chartreuse.”
Xenophon bowed his head, a white dreadlock falling to the front of his face.
“My lady…”
“Please. I don’t bother myself with all that formality.”
The egg went opaque and our view of the outside world was cut off. I imagined that we were heading into another deep forest. I’d seen tree lines in the distance just before Xenophon activated the opaque visual shield.
I tried to listen to what happened outside of the egg. I couldn’t hear anything and Xantha’s fidgeting distracted me anyway. When the egg came to a stop, the incessant moving around in my stomach stopped too. Xenophon sighed.
“Your village is much smaller than when you left it. I hope you don’t find it too surprising.”
“I was only a little girl. My memories have mostly faded anyway.”
That wistful sadness in her voice returned. Xenophon opened the door to the egg and we emerged into Lavender village. Xantha emerged first and I followed. We were in the forest again and the village before me was similar to where we’d landed but different from any village I’d seen before.
The forest was so thick and dense that no light penetrated. The village was lit with torches and fire, flames that flickered warm light across thatched houses that couldn’t rightly be called huts. Technology blended with nature so seamlessly that I could hardly tell where nature ended and tech began. Once Xantha set foot on the ground she removed her shoes and wriggled her toes in the earth.
“Take your shoes off, Pandora. Feel it…”
A smile crossed her face again, still wistful and sad, but with a hint of promise behind it, like finally she could imagine things getting better.
“It’s different,” she admitted, “But it’s still home. The layout of the village I can remember as if it were yesterday.”
“Is your family here?”
“My parents would have died by now. But I have a sister here and a brother. I don’t know if they’d remember me.”
“Of course they will,” Xenophon boomed, “Our people have excellent memories and with a face like yours, I doubt they’d forget.”
“Thank you, Xenophon for the escort.”
“The wasteland is getting more dangerous by the day. The whole canopy was mined by Ulugbek. Hovercrafts are the only way to get across.”
He bid us farewell and Xantha led me through the dark sprawl of thatched houses past a large well in the center of the village, where I could smell soft earth and running water from a spring. Women and children all with dark brown skin and white hair played and did chores in the town center. A few waved to Xantha and some of them bowed as they saw her.
We came to a house that was larger than the rest. A woman sat on the porch in cross legged lotus position. Her eyes snapped open as our footsteps must have disturbed her.
“Xantha?”
“Xiomara, it’s me.”
Xiomara shot up and raced over to us, wrapping Xantha in her embrace and spinning her around. They were around the same height and looked so similar that if I didn’t know Xantha, I might have been unable to tell the difference.
Xiomara pulled away with tears in her eyes.
“I thought you were dead,” Xiomara said, pushing some of her sister’s hair out of her face.
“Not quite. I’ve been desperate to come back for years but I couldn’t work up the courage after I got free.”
“You came to expire at home. I can’t blame you. But you ought to come inside… there are people waiting to meet you.”
Xantha hesitated and replied, “Where is Xerxes?”
Xiomara bit down on her lower lip and sighed, “I was hoping to avoid this. He’s in the war.”
“A war that I only just heard about.”
“I’m sorry you have to see our planet like this. Believe me, it hurts me too. But come inside. The children will be surprised to see their long lost aunt.”
Xiomara peered around Xantha’s shoulder and finally took a look at me, acknowledging my presence.
“Excuse me, pardon my rudeness…”
Xiomara was decked out in silver jewelry unlike Xantha. Her nose and ears were pierced and her hair was braided in flat cornrows around her head that released into a giant puff of beautiful white curls.
“Hi, I’m Pandora.”
“Pregnant Pandora, that will be easy to remember. You are pregnant, right?” Xiomara asked, catching herself in a moment of potential humiliation.
“I am indeed.”
“Oh thank goodness. You can come along inside too. Any friend of Xantha’s is a friend of mine.”
Xiomara planted a peck on my cheeks and then took my hand, leading me into the large thatched home. The house was silent except for the sound of the fireplace flickering. Xiomara called softly, “Boys! Xanthippe! Come here!”
Three boys, the size of teenagers, and a girl around Xantha’s height came around the corner.
“I want you to meet your aunt, Xantha.”
Xantha gasped when she saw them.
“My goodness…”
“Hello,” they all said, bowing their heads slightly.
“Before she left our home world long long ago, Xantha would have become a high priestess just like mummy. She’ll be here for a year or so until she expires. I want you all to to get to know her. She’s a very wise woman and she’s been halfway across the galaxy.”
Xanthippe grinned. Her mischievous grin was all to familiar to me.
“Who’s her friend?”
“An alien! We haven’t had many of those around since the war. I expect your best hospitality!” Xiomara chided, “She’s pregnant so Xanthippe, I want you to clear out the spare room and make it comfortable.”
Once Xiomara sent her children off and she followed after them to make sure they did as they were told, Xantha grabbed my hand.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you but I didn’t want to say anything around Corrin. Xiomara is a high priestess of my village and a doula. It’s a very privileged position and she’s helped thousands of women in our clan give birth. When it’s your time, she will take care of you.”
“What about Damir.”
“If you write him a letter, he may come here. But I doubt a Taurean male will be able to get here now that there’s a war. I’m sorry. I had no idea.”
“I’m sorry that things weren’t as you expected.”
“You’re sweet, Pandora. You know that?”
The family settled me into my room which had low ceilings and a warm bed in the middle with its own fireplace. Then they brought me down to dinner. Xiomara explained that their people didn’t eat animals. I’d seen Xantha eat meat before but thought better than to tell anyone at the table. Their dinner was lovely but as we ate, the climate grew colder and I began to feel the separation again.
Xantha led me to bed and I needed every bit of her help to get there.
“It’s been a long day, hasn’t it?”
“Yes, it has. Tomorrow, you can contact Damir.”
“Thank you.”
“I think I’m starting to understand you better Pandora. Since we’ve got here, there’s only one person I can think about.”
Xantha reached into her pocket for a lock of golden hair the same color as Corrin’s mane.
“I miss her. I never thought I would actually miss her.”
