Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Author: Invid Fan
Title: The Bells of Tanah
Universe: The Bells of Tanah
Summary: Supermarkets.  Not the first thing you think of when it comes
to interstellar travel.  But, one cold winter night, the stock boys and
cashiers of a small Bells store find themselves far from home...
Keywords: mf, MF, mff, aliens, science fiction, cons, rom

   ****

   The Bells of Tanah By Invid Fan (c)2012

   **** Chapter 1 **** "You should see me with makeup sometime."

   Chuck sighed.  Not this again.

   A can began to fall off its stack, obviously not placed there to its
satisfaction.  With practiced anticipation, Chuck casually, but quickly,
moved his hand to steady the problem item.  His other hand brought another
can of green beans up, filling the last empty spot on the shelf.  A quick
tug on a few of their neighbors brought the front ones flush...  and he was
done.

   With that box, at least.

   Still kneeling on the floor, Chuck leaned backwards and cracked his
back, one hand grabbing the cart behind him so he didn't fall over like an
idiot.  He sometimes got nervous enough around the more attractive cashiers
as it was, without making them laugh at him because of clumsy mistakes. 
Speaking of which...

   With a turn of the head he saw Alicia standing a few feet away, in front
of the boxed mashed potatoes.  Her own hand cart, the same brown four
wheel, two level design as his, sat behind her with tomorrow's sale signs
awaiting placement on the store shelves.  She was looking down at him,
waiting for a response.  A response to...  ah, right.

   "Why?"

   Alicia blinked.

   "Why what?"

   Chuck chuckled, shaking his head, which turned into a yawn.  Intelligent
conversation could be difficult near the end of the night.  He grabbed a
half filled box of canned corn from the cart, an experienced eye judging
that he could fit all of it in the allotted shelf space, with some
cheating.

   "Why should I see you in makeup?  You look fine how you are."

   And, she did.  Long, curly blond hair framed a face full of life, blue
eyes that twinkled in any light, lips that always had a smile on them, a
scar running up her right cheek, from a half inch away from her lips to
just next to her ear...

   Chuck saw her react to his glance, smile fading a bit, and mentally
kicked himself.  The scar seemed to be all she thought others saw, which
every glance of his confirmed.  It was old, he could tell that.  This
wasn't some recent disfigurement Alicia was traumatized by.  The eighteen
year old had lived with it for awhile...  adjusted to it.  Or, more likely,
been warped in some ways.  At least, so went his professional analysis as a
fellow teen.

   Forcing his eyes over to hers, he tried to put all the reassurance he
could into his gaze.

   "Seriously, you look great now."

   She smiled, nose crinkling in that cute way she had.

   "Thanks...  but you should see me in makeup."

   ****

   Chuck pushed the cart down the back aisle, trying not to think about how
much longer till closing time.  He hadn't wanted to work at a supermarket.
Hadn't wanted to work, really.  Mowing a half dozen lawns a week over the
summer had been more than enough income for him, especially as someone
entering senior year of high school that didn't date much.  But, that
wasn't good enough for Dad.  Oh, no.  Chuck had to learn to have a "work
ethic" or some such, and that could only be acquired through slavery to
"The Man".  Or, in this case, "The Manager".  So, Dad had given him an
ultimatum: either get a job...  or pay for college himself.

   No, it had made no sense to Chuck, either.

   Thus, here he was.  Working the evening shift at the Clarence Bells
supermarket on a Saturday evening.  Gosh, what a fun use of his youth.  At
least some of his co-workers were cute...

   "Chuck!"

   ...  then there was Melinda.

   He was tempted not to stop, to keep going towards the back room, and the
safety to be found there.  But, there was always the chance Anthony had
sent her to find him, so...

   It's not that he didn't like the girl, or that there was anything wrong
with her.  Sure, she wasn't the most attractive cashier, with big glasses
and a body seemingly without curves.  While Alicia could turn the required
white blouse, black pants, and ugly tan store vest into an incredibly curvy
fashion statement, on Melinda, it just sort of hung there.  It also wasn't
that she was dumb or anything, really.  Chuck didn't know her well enough
to really pin down something like that, the two of them going to different
school districts (the store was near the town line, but most of the
employees, apart from him, came from Clarence).  No, it was just... 
Melinda liked him, and he didn't look at her in that way.  Simple as that.
A few years ago, the idea of a girl throwing herself at Chuck would have
seemed a wonderful concept.  Maturity, and having actually had a
girlfriend, had taught him that it was wise to pick which port you pulled
into in a storm.

   Which didn't mean he in some ways didn't like the attention.

   Melinda came up to him at the end of the paper goods aisle, right hand
clutching a sign trumpeting half off no-name toilet paper.  Her eyes,
behind those black frames, were wide, her expression not sure if it should
be excited or worried.  If she had long hair, she probably would have been
chewing on an end, but given it was short and curly that wasn't really
possible without some real effort.  Not that he wouldn't put it past her to
try if he said he'd have found the result sexy.

   "What is it?"

   She came close, biting her lip.  That, Chuck thought, WAS sexy.

   "Have you looked outside?"

   He looked at her, a bit perplexed, then raised his eyes over her black
hair towards the front of the store.  The large glass windows were far
enough away he couldn't see much.  Just white and black, really...

   He dropped his gaze back down.

   "What?"

   "The storm!  It's a real blizzard out there!"

   "Really?" Chuck raised his eyes again, seeing one could interpret what
he saw as that.  With no sound, apart from the annoying store ads and
mindless music coming from the ceiling speakers, there was no real sense of
whatever it was doing outside.  "Bad?"

   "Um, yeah!  Dad texted me, asking if I'd rather walk home so he didn't
have to try and drive in it!"

   Chuck chuckled, looking down at her again.  She came up to about his
shoulders.  He wasn't sure what that came out to, height wise, although as
he was going into engineering it probably was a math problem he should be
able to do.  Let's see, he was five foot eleven, carry the one...

   The small part of his brain not taking part these important calculations
noticed Melinda was looking at him expectantly.  Mentally shaking his head,
he shrugged at her.

   "Well, nothing we can do about it.  We'll be closing soon, so with luck
we won't get trapped here."

   She laughed for a moment, then her cheeks began to darken.  It only took
a moment for Chuck to realize where her mind was going.  Shaking his head,
he grabbed the handle of the cart and pushed it onwards towards the back
room.

   ***

   Anthony leaned against the bottle return counter, looking down the
length of the front aisle.  He loved closing.

   Here he was, in charge of the entire store, with few customers and no
real chance of problems.  No owner breathing down his neck, no other
managers to have disagreements with.  Just him, and a half dozen slaves to
do his every whim.  What could be better?  Oh, sure, a job that actually
paid a decent salary, and didn't require him to waste his weekends stuck at
work until after 10 PM would be nice.  But, the bars in Buffalo closed at 4
AM, so there was still plenty of time to go out if he was in the mood, and
as of last week he now had a steady female companion so it wasn't like he
had to go out trolling for that.  Plus, this wasn't one of those huge, open
all night superstores with thirty aisles, but a nice, quiet, edge of
suburbia oasis.  All in all, it was a good life.

   "You gonna stand there all night?"

   Even the bitchy females were fun.  With a grin, he turned and raised an
eyebrow at Hannah.  The twenty four year old raised an eyebrow back,
meeting his gaze.  Anthony just chuckled.

   "Is there something else you'd like me to do?"

   "If I thought you'd be any good at it, yes."

   He grinned as she turned away to finish whatever it was the office girls
did, a smile on her lips.  Anthony liked Hannah.  Liked Tammy, the other
girl working in the office tonight, but Hannah was special.  For one, she
was married.  That meant he was free to flirt with the busty brunette as
much as he wanted without having to worry about it going anywhere.  That
she had started the whole thing, despite being married, was interesting but
not his problem.  It was a good release, and kept him from doing something
stupid with the cashiers.

   His gaze went down to Nona, the lone girl at a register.  The darker
skinned Southeast Asian looked bored, leaning against the conveyor belt,
cell phone in hand.  She was very cute, but, what, 16?  17?  Untouchable,
basically, as were the other two he had off doing sale signs, something the
owner's younger brother should have realized or he wouldn't now be coming
to work here.  Really, the stupidity of walking up to a kneeling cashier,
stopping right next to her, and saying, "While you're down there..." And
this guy was now to be putting in his forty hours a week here because
nobody else would hire him?  Great.  Supermarkets were no place for that
kind of thing.

   Oh, sure, there was the constant sexual tension between stock boys and
cashiers, pairings and un-pairings, managers having to fire couples found
engaged in the back room...  he still regretted having to get rid of Owen
and Veronica, but Mr.  Vento had come up next to him in the open cooler
doorway and seen Veronica bent over the 2% as Owen tried to give her some
fresh cream.  After that, Anthony tried to work the schedules so no couple
worked too much of a shift together.  Sure, it probably ruined their social
life, but that wasn't his problem.  He didn't care what they did, so long
as it didn't cause trouble for him.

   He didn't like trouble.

   The door to the office opened, both Hannah and Tammy coming out towards
him.  Tammy was a bit too plain for his taste, an unremarkable face framed
by long straight dirty blond hair that she wore pulled back into a tight
pony tail.  Small breasts too.  He knew one of the stock boys kind of had a
thing for her, but as it was one sided he hadn't bothered to do anything
about it.  Let Justin lust from afar all he wanted.

   "There're no customers left," Tammy told him, her voice low and soft. 
"Should we close up?" Anthony's eyes flicked up to the clock over the
counter, showing quarter to ten, then to the front windows.  You could
barely see the first row of parking spaces, filled not with cars but a
sprinkling of shopping carts, despite the light coming from the poles.  He
considered, then nodded.

   "Do it.  Time to get the fuck out of here."

   ****

   "Attention all customers, this store will be closing in five minutes. 
Please bring your items to be cashed out.  Greg, please bring in the
carts."

   The three boys looked up at the ceiling speaker, Tammy's voice
interrupting an important discussion over who should be traded at the
deadline.  All had agreed the team needed a new center for the third line,
but who to get rid of?  Chuck looked at his watch, still chuckling at
Justin's idea of just trading everybody and starting over.  The guy did not
know hockey: the Sabres were only two points out of the playoffs...

   "What the fuck?" Greg pushed himself away from the freezer door, pissed.
Ignoring the amused looks on the other's faces, or more than likely
enjoying them, the football player strode over to the nearby intercom
phone. Picking up the receiver, he hit a few buttons.  The overhead speaker
gave a staticy beep.  "Why?"

   His voice echoing through the store, Greg hung up and stepped back,
turning to grin at his coworkers.  A moment later, Tammy's voice came on
again.

   "Because you're ugly and Chuck's mom dresses you funny."

   Adjusting his glasses, Justin cocked his head at Greg.

   "She's right, his mom does.  You really should talk to her about that."

   "Fuck you!"

   A reply was on his lips.  Chuck could see that.  The smaller boy had a
comeback all ready.  But...  Greg had turned, going over towards the coat
pegs.  The moment was over.  A small sigh came from Justin, tactfully
ignored.  Greg came back, buttoning up a school jacket that really wasn't
suitable for the weather.

   "Typical," he groused, pulling a red knit hat out and pulling it over
his curly hair, "send the Black guy out into the snow." Chuck raised an
eyebrow, turning to Justin.  Justin just shook his head.

   "Hey, I'm African American, so leave me out of this." Jumping up from
the milk crates he'd been sitting on, the thin boy began walking over
towards the utility area.  "I've got the buffer."

   ****

   Chuck pushed the large dust broom down the baking goods aisle, trying
NOT to mentally repeat along with the paper towel ad currently playing
throughout the store.  It was so hard, though, much as it was hard not to
sing along with even the most hated Christmas song on its twentieth
playing. The fuckers just burned themselves into your brain.  He tried
focusing on the broom: long wooden handle, wide brush, able to cover a full
aisle in just two passes.  In the aisle he'd just finished, he could hear
Justin start up the buffer, whistling some tune or other.  The buffer was
fun: a mini Zamboni, you just stood behind as it went along its way and
tried to keep it from hitting things as it polished the tiled floor.  Oh,
and made sure it kept moving.  Paul hadn't done that, as the burned spot
over in produce kept reminding everyone.
Moving quickly, now trying not to sing along with some bad pop song, he
pushed the growing pile of dust and dirt along into aisle three.  Nine to

go...

   He felt a shudder.

   The lights went out.

   A moment later, a few small, dim emergency lights came on.

   The sound of the buffer faded, Justin obviously not wanting to use the
battery operated machine in the dark.  It was replaced by Justin giving a
yell.

   "Captain!  Captain!  All the stars have gone out!"

   Chuck chuckled, although he had no idea what geeky thing Justin was
quoting.  Some things don't need context.  To his surprise, from the other
side of the store Melinda's voice came back.

   "You fool!  You've hit the button again!  Turn the view screen back on!"

   "Nerd!"

   "Oh, look who's talking!"

   "Damn it," came Anthony's voice, "we have no time for a nerd fight! 
Chuck, Justin, cover the freezer and cooler cases!"

   Laughing, Chuck maneuvered the broom and pushed his way back to the rear
aisle.  The main back room entrance was over at the far end in
frozen/dairy. Justin quickly caught up with him, having abandoned the
buffer to its fate in bulk, then turned and went into the meat department.
Well, that settled that division of labor.  He'd cover all the meat and
fish cases, while Chuck did Frozen.

   A quick pop into the back room, now lit by just a red glowing "Exit"
sign over the back door (you never knew what backup system worked until you
needed them), Chuck was soon out again with a cart loaded with covers. 
They were a mixture of folding metal, foil quilts, and cardboard. 
Obviously, just temporary things meant to keep stuff from going bad for an
hour or three.  With practiced ease, he began tossing them on the reach-in
freezer cases that ran down the center of the aisle.

   "Need a hand?"

   It was Melinda, naturally, coming towards him from the cashier room
(that mysterious place where drawers were counted, and no stock boy was
allowed).  With a grin, he took out two covers and pushed the cart with the
rest towards her.

   "Go for it!"

   It was nice having a slave.

   ****

   Alicia just wanted to get home.

   This was the worst part of the day, for her.  Her work was done, and she
had to sit here waiting for everyone else to get their shit together. 
Didn't matter that her drawer was counted a half hour ago, that all the
stupid make work they'd tossed at her was done.  No...  she had to wait
because nobody was allowed to leave until the office had all the money
counted and accounted for.  People could steal whole cases of food out the
back door and nobody would care, but God forbid there be a dollar
difference between the computer and the safe!

   The weather wasn't helping either.  Leaning her butt back against the
register three counter, she gazed over the row of carts out the window. 
She didn't want to drive in that.  This, she thought, was the downside to
having a car: you actually had to drive in crappy weather.  Well, maybe she
could catch a ride with someone, or call her boyfriend to pick her up.  If
he'd pick her up.  Alicia wouldn't blame Daren for telling her to go to
hell, rather than risk death driving in this.  It was BAD.  So bad, she
couldn't even see...

   Alicia's blue eyes widened.

   "Oh my God," she whispered.  Blinking, she looked again.  No change. 
"Anthony!  Get over here!"

   "What?" His mustached face popped into view behind the office cashier
window.  He was the only person she knew who actually had a mustache, which
was strange enough.  True, without it his face probably would be rather
boyish, and with it he was rather handsome...  but this wasn't the time for
that!

   "Come here, quick!"

   He vanished, reappearing a moment later from around the corner.  A hand
was up running through his short black hair.

   "What is it, Alicia?"

   "Look outside!"

   The manager raised an eyebrow at her, then with a sigh came to stand
next to her and looked out the window.

   "Now, what am I suppose to..." He trailed off.  Eyes focused on his
face, she saw his brows furrow, his head cock.  "What the..."

   "You see it, too?  Or, rather, don't see it?"

   Anthony ignored her and walked forward towards the glass.  Stopping at
the wall, he put one hand on an empty shopping cart and stared.

   The parking lot was gone.

   Well, everything IN the parking lot was gone.  For all he knew, under
all that snow the actual lot was still there.  But, there were no light
poles.  No shopping carts, or cart corrals.  Turning to his left, he looked
out through the glass doors, through the unlit foyer with its gum ball
machines, and through the pair of outer glass doors down the front of the
store.  Even without lights, he could still see a fair distance down the
front sidewalk, with its covered awning and columns.  Out the front, he had
to figure he could see the same distance...  and all he saw was snow.

   "This..." He shook his head.  Alicia, at his side, unconsciously grabbed
his left arm with both hands.  He looked down at her.  "Did Greg come back
in?"

   Alicia's eyes shot open.

   "No!  He should still be out there!" Her eyes swept the snow.  "Where is
he!  Anthony!"

   "OK, OK, don't panic.  Maybe he snuck in while we weren't looking."
Disengaging from her hands, not noticing Alicia's slight blush as she let
go, he turned to face the darkened store.  "Everyone up front!  Now!  Drop
what you're doing!" From the office, Hannah's voice came back, saying the
safe wasn't counted.  "Don't care!  Everyone up by the registers!"

   Alicia stepped away from him, arms hugging herself.  Suddenly, she felt
cold.  She wanted Daren to be here.  He'd know what to do.  From the
office, Hannah, Tammy and Nona came around the corner, followed by Chuck
and Melinda.  Naturally, Melinda would be with Chuck.  Alicia liked the
slightly chunky brown haired guy well enough, but didn't see what Melinda
saw in him.  She could do better.  Up from the baking aisle came Justin.

   No Greg.

   Her eyes met Anthony's, his mouth seemingly giving a silent curse.  He
stepped up.

   "Has anyone seen Greg?"

   "He's doing the carts." Chuck cast a puzzled gaze past the manager, only
taking a second to do a double take.  "What the fuck!?"

   ****

   For the next few minutes, all was confused bedlam.  The teens pressed
themselves against the window, not believing what they saw, what they
didn't see.  The faint lights coming from over the registers made even the
inside of the store now seem spooky, unreal.  Finally, Anthony stepped
back. It was time to regain some control of the situation.

   "OK, let's think here.  I'm going to go out and see what's up.  There
has to be some explanation."

   "Like what?!" interrupted Melinda, obviously scared.  "My dad's car
should be out there!  He was picking me up!"

   "We'll find out!  Chuck, go get your coat and mine from the back.  It's
the dark blue one.  Tammy, Nona, get some flashlights and batteries from
the shelf.  The rest of you...  just, find someplace to sit."

   "I'm gonna call Dad," Melinda said, whipping out her phone and dialing
with the practiced ease of a modern teen.  The others watched her quickly
looking down at the display, confused.  "There's...  there's no signal."
Six other phones were quickly in out of pockets, then slowly returned to
them.  Anthony put a hand to his forehead.  He didn't need this,

   "Hannah, check the office phone.  Chuck, Nona, GO!  Get the coats and
flashlights!"

   They went.

   ****

   "I'm scared."

   Nona just looked at Tammy.  The plain girl was a year older than the
Junior.  She shouldn't be frightened.  Being scared was...  well, for
children.  Grabbing two large hand lanterns off the bottom shelf, Nona gave
a snort.

   "Well, don't be.  It's not helping.  OK, these two need...  oh, wow, do
we have any of the large six volt lantern batteries?"

   "Yeah, here." Tammy tossed four into the brown plastic basket.  She then
tossed some D and C batteries in.  "Might as well get some regular
flashlights as well."

   Nona gave her a quizzical look.

   "They're gonna be pissed if we just take all this from the store for no
reason."

   "Well," Tammy replied, grabbing the plastic encased flashlights herself,
"when Lenny comes through that door I'll be more than happy to pay for our
theft myself."

   ****

   "OK, here's the plan.  Chuck, Melinda and I will go outside and look
around.  The rest of you...  make yourself busy.  Finish covering the
cooler cases, if nothing else." The looks Anthony got back weren't happy.
The office phone was dead, and the store was getting colder.  The batteries
in the store's emergency lights wouldn't last forever.  They wanted to go
home.

   So did he.

   Anthony turned to the teens next to him.  Chuck had actually been
thinking and brought up all the jackets, resulting naturally in his stalker
requesting to go out with the two males.  It made no difference to him.

   "Ready?" They nodded.  "OK.  Onward."

   Reaching up, Anthony unlocked the automatic door so it swung freely. 
Too freely, really, and once inside the foyer he eased it closed so it
didn't just slam shut.  Going to the outer doors, he freed them.  Pausing
to put his gloves and hat on, Anthony turned on his flashlight and opened
the door.

   The wind hit them, not quite like a wall, but hard.  It took some effort
to keep the door open for the other two to exit, then to ease it closed. 
It was cold, too, the wind going right through his jacket, not to mention
his thin dress pants.  He took two steps...  then realized he had no boots.

   Great.

   Well, he'd just have to deal with wet socks and sneakers when he got
back inside.  Looking up and out at the darkness, he tried to make some
sense of it.  There was...  nothing.  Just snow.  No buildings out beyond
the parking lot.  No street.  No nothing.  He cast his flashlight beam over
the snowdrifts.  Nothing.

   "Anthony, look."

   Chuck was flashing his light down at where the lip of the concrete
sidewalk should be.  He removed a glove, reached down, and felt the snow.

   "It's...  different.  Seriously, feel it.  The snow on the store side is
dry, but the other stuff..." He grabbed a handful and squeezed, "is wet."

   "And look how much of it there is!" Melinda took a step off the curb,
the snow up over her knees.  "No way this much fell in an hour!" She turned
to get back on the sidewalk, almost falling, as the snow didn't want to
give back its prey.  Anthony grabbed her hand, Chuck grabbing the
flashlight then her other hand as they pulled her back.  She fell against
both of them with a grunt.  "Thanks!"

   "No sign of Greg...  GREG!" The other two joined Anthony in calling for
the missing stock boy.  Only the howl of the wind came back.  "OK, this is
stupid." He shone his light down the front of the store, past snow covered
shopping carts towards the far end of the sidewalk.  "Let's walk around the
store.  See if his car is still there." Without waiting for a reply, he
started off.

   The snow here was only up to their ankles, but already the wind was
causing more to drift.  Melinda called out a couple more times for Greg,
then stopped.

   "It's like the silence is mocking me," she mumbled to Chuck.

   "Mock it back."

   "I'd rather you two didn't mock anything that might not like it,"
Anthony said over his shoulder.

   Coming to the end of the sidewalk, he cast his light over the side
parking lot...

   The cars were gone.

   "What the FUCK!?"

   He stepped off into the snow, eyes trying to understand.  No cars lined
the west side of the store.  No road, no car wash beyond the nonexistent
road, no...  no anything.

   "Oh," Melinda said, dryly, "I think I know what's fucked."

   ****

   The eastern side had them even more confused.

   They now knew why the store had no power.  The power lines attached to
the rear of the store now lay, cut, in the snow, their five foot length
giving some evidence to Melinda's theory that somehow the store had been...
well, scooped up and deposited elsewhere.  She'd yet to air it, though. 
She wanted nothing more than to be proven wrong.

   Rounding the corner, the final unexplored side showed that such a
"scoop" had picked up more than just the building.  Extending out from one
of the two loading bay doors was the tractor trailer which had contained
that day's delivery.  It had been left overnight, to be picked up when the
next truck came with Monday's load.  Stepping forward, the three found the
snow was suddenly just a couple inches deep.  Chuck knelt down, feeling it.

   "It's the dry stuff again." He pushed down.  "I also feel asphalt under
it.  So...  we have SOME of the parking lot.  We probably should see what's
under the other snow..."

   "Later," Anthony said.  Melinda bit her lip, noting they were getting a
bit chapped.  They should explore all they could now.  Who knew when they'd
get another chance...

   Anthony suddenly ran forward, around the end of the trailer, the other
two sprinting to follow.  They skidded to a stop as the adult gave a jump
for joy.

   "Yes!"

   His van was still there.

   So, too, was Hannah's red minivan.  Both were parked right against the
store, almost as if the scoop had to extend out that far to get the trailer
and just accidentally got them as well.  Chuck came up next to Anthony.

   "So, do we try and drive home?"

   "On what road?  I have four wheel drive, but there's no way we're
getting through those snowdrifts.  At least, not tonight.  In the morning,
we'll see what the situation is."

   "If there is a morning," mumbled Melinda.  Chuck glanced at her.  She
blushed a bit, although with her cheeks numb from the wind there probably
was no change in color.  Anthony fished out his keys and unlocked the blue
van.  Opening the passenger door, he reached in and pulled out a small
duffle bag.  Looking at the others, he gave a small smile.

   "Overnight bag.  Let's get inside."

   ****

   "What is happening!?!  I want to go home!"

   Alicia's crying had the others gathered at the front of the store at a
loss.  The "away mission", as Melinda called it, had given their report to
the increasingly worried teens.  Justin, sitting on a stock cart, felt
horrible.  He knew what he should do.  Be a man.  Go over to the girl, put
his arm around her, and tell her it would be OK.  She'd turn, bury her head
in his chest, he'd pull her in close...

   Hannah moved over and sat next to the weeping blond on the counter,
pulling her into a hug.

   "Shhh, it's OK, we'll get home soon.  Just you wait and see. 
Everything's OK." She started rocking back and forth, Alicia's crying
turning into sniffles.

   Justin had waited too long.

   Again.

   Story of his life.

   "OK," Anthony said, pushing off from the wall, "it's getting late.  The
storm isn't going to let up anytime soon, and the power isn't coming on, so
we might as well see about getting some sleep."

   "We're going to SLEEP here?" Nona looked at him in disbelief.  He
shrugged.

   "It's either that or just stay up and get more tired and cranky.  Do
whatever you want.  As for me, I'm going upstairs to sleep in the manager's
office.  There's a rug on the floor of the conference room, so a bunch of
you can probably lay down there."

   "But there's no lights!" Alicia looked at him in shock, eyes red and
wide.  He shrugged again.

   "That's what flashlights are for.  Feel free to raid the store for
drinks and snacks, but stay out of the beer cooler.  Oh," he added, "and
there's no water in the bathrooms, so don't flush."

   ****

   Chuck pushed open the thin metal door leading to the bakery, shining his
light inside.  Unlike a lot of the newer places, the Bells bakery wasn't
really visible from the store proper.  Oh, if you went up to the bakery
counter, turned your head and leaned over, you could see into it, but
otherwise it was isolated in the back corner of the store.

   Exactly what Chuck wanted.

   He walked in, carrying a rolled up rug under his free arm.  Panning the
light around, he saw there was less room than he had thought.  The main
work table took up much of the space, as did the mixer and various machines
he had no idea the use of.  Taking a few more steps, he was relieved to see
there was indeed enough room on the floor between the table and the walk in
cooler for his plan.

   That was a welcome change.

   Putting the flashlight down on the table, he dropped the rug on the
floor and unrolled it.  "Rug".  Really, it was more of a long mat, just
something so customers didn't slip and fall.  But, it was better than
sleeping on the floor.  Walking over to a corner of the room, he was
relieved to see the bag with used bakery aprons was nice and full. 
Removing it from its metal holder, he drew the drawstring closed, brought
it over to the other side of the table, and dropped it at the end of the
rug.

   Now he had a pillow.

   "Just like home," he muttered.  With a sigh, he turned off the
flashlight, got down, and lay on the rug.

   What a fucking day.

   He was nowhere close to sleep.  That he knew.  If anything, lying down
let more blood into his brain, causing it to whirl faster.  What was going
on?  Where were they?  Where were his parents and sister?  Hell, where was
his CAR?  Staring at the dark ceiling, he chuckled.  At least the car came
below his family in the ranking of things he missed.

   Morning.  Morning would tell them everything.  They might not like what
they discovered, but in the light of day they'd know.

   Maybe.

   Chuck didn't know how long he stayed like that, in the dark, thinking.
He could faintly hear the wind, assorted mystery noises, the creaks and
groans of a large store no longer in its native environment.  Closing his
eyes, he tried to will them away.

   The sound of the bakery door swinging open came to his ears.  Opening
his eyes, Chuck saw a flashlight sweep through, landing on his sneaker clad
feet.

   "Chuck?"

   It was Melinda.  Pushing himself up on his elbows, he saw her walk
around the work table, coming to a stop at his feet.  She looked...

   Her flashlight turned off.

   "Chuck, I..." He heard the sound of the plastic flashlight and her
glasses being put on the counter, her coat sliding off her body onto the
floor.  In the darkness, he could sense more than see her drop to her
knees, pause, then begin to crawl on all fours over him.  He reached up,
whether to push her away or hold her he wasn't sure.  His hands ended up on
her arms as she came to a stop, her face above his.

   "Melinda, I don't..."

   "I know," she said, softly.  "I know.  But..." He could hear the tears
in her voice.  "Please." With that, she slowly lowered her body onto his.
He could feel her plastic name tag pressing into his coat, her thin legs
straddle him.  His hands, of their own accord, slid up her arms to her side
as he felt her lips on his.  They were soft, moist...  her body trembled
against him, whether from the cool air or something else he didn't know. 
When her small tongue flicked out and gently licked his lips...  he gave
in.

   Chuck's left hand slid down her side, coming to rest cupping her ass
cheek.  His other moved up into her curly hair, grabbing Melinda's head as
his mouth opened and sucked her tongue in.  She moaned, pressing herself
against him and slowly gyrating her hips against his hand and crotch.  It
had been a few months since he had been with someone, since Carol.  He
could feel Melinda's hands running through his short hair, his tired mind
becoming overwhelmed with sensations.

   With a mind of its own, one of his hands found its way up the front of
her shirt, pushing her bra up.  Her breasts were small, barely fitting his
cupped hand, but he felt a hard nipple scrape against his palm.  One of her
hands was between his legs, cupping a cock which had already slipped out of
the front of his boxers and was trying to find a way free from his dress
pants.

   Melinda sat up on him, his hands still under her shirt and vest.  He
felt her legs move, heard fabric sliding, then felt her legs once again
straddle him.  Trembling fingers unzipped his pants, a warm hand let his
dick free into the cool air.  Chuck sucked in a breath at both
sensations... then again as a tight, moist, burning hot enclosure slid down
onto him.

   "Oh, God..." He had never been in a girl without a condom.  Never felt
sex the way it was meant to be...  She rode him, silently, his hands
falling to her hips as if he lacked the energy to do anything else...  he
could feel his release coming.  Everything was forgotten.  The days
problems, its mysteries...  even, and he would later cringe at the memory,
who it was with him.  Melinda's body brought him to the brink of
pleasure... then over it.

   ****

   She shouldn't have done that.

   Melinda lay down on the now sleeping Chuck, head resting against his
chest.  She had put her pants and coat back on, the store now too cold to
sleep next to him the way she wanted.  She had, however, unzipped his
jacket so her head could lie against his heart.  She could hear it beat,
slowly, its constant rhythm telling her all was well.

   Her Stepmother, her first one, had given her some important advice when
the twig of a girl first began to show interest in boys.  "Never," she had
said, "sleep with a boy you love.  Only sleep with a boy who loves you."

   It was wisdom proven true, every time she broke it.  There had been
Ricardo, and Trent.  Both boys she had thrown herself at, only to regret it
when, after taking what she offered, they let her fall to the ground.

   And she had done it again.  With a boy she REALLY liked, and seemed to
at least enjoy talking to her!  She could have just asked to sleep next to
him, like she was doing now.  Asked to just be with him, and if something
happened in the night...  well, he'd be the one doing it.  The one coming
to her.  Not...

   Tears coming to her eyes, she wiped her face on his shirt.  She just
didn't want to be alone.  She never wanted to be alone.  Where was Dad? 
She wanted her daddy...

   ****

   On the frozen wasteland of an unknown world, the store slept...

   **** Chapter 2 ****

   Anthony opened his eyes.

   There was light.

   Light...  light could come from two sources.  There was the artificial
kind, all of which were off when he drifted to sleep, and there was...

   Daylight.

   He sat up, shivering.  His coat, which had been covering his nude form
at some point, was wrapped around Hannah.  Her coat covered her legs.  They
were very nice legs, he now knew.  They felt good, at least.  Like the rest
of her, his experience with them last night had been mostly one of touch,
and taste.  His eyes still hadn't really had a chance to enjoy her.

   Anthony stood, stretching, one hand dropping to scratch his chest.  He
was, he had to admit, more scrawny than lean.  Not a body that attracted
the ladies at the beach.  It was his wit, charm, and other qualities which
more than made up for that.

   Looking down at Hannah, he wasn't sure what had caused this.

   Oh, yes, the desk over there now held four empty cans of Labbat Blue, as
well as the rest of the six-pack.  They were adults, though, and two beers
weren't enough to excuse hooking up.

   Well...  next to her purse, on Lenny's desk, was her open wallet showing
a photo of her one year old baby.  If Hannah needed to blame last night on
the beer, Anthony would let her.

   He walked over to the window.  There were no windows to the outside up
here, naturally.  Even if such an arrangement had been possible, through
the large exterior "Bells" sign, second floor windows would have just
looked strange to customers.  They'd wonder who was living up there, if
they were monsters, etc.  So, instead, a long, three pane window stretching
the length of the office looked down into the store.  From here, managers
could spy on cute cashiers and customers in safety.

   Anthony wondered if any of his predecessors had hid binoculars in their
desk.

   Looking out, he saw the morning sun streaming into the front of the
store.  On the other side of the windows, snow still covered the...  well,
former parking lot.  He sighed.  No more excuses.  Today, they had to find
out what the hell was going on.

   "Anything...yawn...  down there?"

   Half turning, he saw Hannah sitting up.  One hand held his coat up over
her front, then with a tired laugh she let it fall.  Her largish breasts,
hanging down a bit, said good morning to him.  Anthony raised his eyes to
hers.

   "You doing OK?"

   "Yeah...  thanks." With a grunt, she pushed herself to her feet.  In the
daylight, with thoughts of seduction long gone, he still admired her grace
of movement.  Hannah hesitated for a moment, perhaps seeing him for the
first time as well, then walked over to Anthony and put her hands on his
bony hips.  Her breasts lightly pressed against him.

   "Thank you, Anthony...  for, well, being there for me.  I've...  never
been away from Mary for so long before."

   "Anytime," he said, kissing her on the forehead.  "Now, let's get
dressed and see what daylight has brought us."

   ****

   Opening the door to the hallway, they saw Justin sleeping a few feet
away.  He was curled up on the rug against the wall, grey winter jacket
wrapped tight around him.  Anthony chuckled.

   "Girls kicked him out, I guess," he whispered.  Hannah nodded, moving a
couple feet to the right and opening the door to the conference room.  In
the darkness, they could see at least three forms on the floor.  Leaving
the door and the one to the office open to give the sleepers some light,
the two carefully stepped over Justin and walked to the end of the hall,
turned, and walked down the stairs.  Anthony's flashlight came in handy,
but as they opened the door at the bottom they were greeted once again with
sunlight.

   The two walked, not quite hand in hand, down past the bottle counter and
office to the open space between the registers and the windows.  As one
they turned, looking at their new reality.

   It was still just snow.  Endless snow...

   "Oh, you guys are awake!"

   Pivoting around, they saw Chuck and Melinda coming up pushing a cart. 
Well, Chuck was pushing.  Hannah would have expected it to be the other way
around, but the winds of relationships blew in strange directions.  On the
cart were a couple boxes of cereal, a gallon of milk, bowls and an
assortment of fruit.  Anthony chuckled.

   "Do you guys do breakfast in bed?"

   "Only if you're on the first floor," Chuck replied, grinning.  He
stopped next to register one, and began unloading.  "Help yourself."

   ****

   The milk was still cold, which was something.  Hannah dreaded what this
place would start to smell like once stuff started going bad.  Then again,
she realized, looking out the window, keeping things cold was NOT going to
be the problem soon...

   She looked down at her cereal.  Kix's, with sliced bananas.  Little Mary
liked bananas.  Was Mark, right now, feeding her breakfast?  Did they know
she was gone?  Were they looking for her?  Did Mary miss her Mommy...

   She closed her eyes.  Stop it.  Stop it right now.  Panicking like some
blonde, like Alicia, wasn't going to help.  Her baby was fine.  It was HER
that was in deep trouble.

   "I, um, have a theory."

   Hannah opened her eyes and looked at Melinda.  The mousey girl was
sitting on the now empty cart next to Chuck, their thighs touching.  That,
she thought, was interesting.  Had there been some comforting going on down
here as well?  Anthony, now dressed in blue jeans and (under his jacket) a
Sabres t-shirt (his emergency "got laid" outfit, as he had called it),
swallowed and cocked his head at Melinda.

   "Is it bunnies?"

   The poor girl's eyes must have doubled in size behind her glasses,
followed by a laugh just exploding out of her.  She rocked back, only saved
from falling over onto her head by Chuck dropping his almost empty bowl
onto the conveyor belt and grabbing her.  Hannah raised an eyebrow at
Anthony, who shrugged and grinned back.

   "Hey, I have a way with women."

   "So," Hannah asked, once the girl had herself under control again,
"what's your idea?"

   "Well...  it's a STUPID idea, really, but then this is a stupid
situation."

   Chuck raised his glass of orange juice.

   "To stupid situations!"

   The four raised their glasses.

   "How stupid?" Anthony inquired.

   "Well...  it's like...  well, what if the entire store was just sort
of...  scooped up, and teleported somewhere else?"

   "Yup, that's stupid," Chuck agreed, cheerfully.  His expression, though,
was of one who agreed with the girl.

   "HOW?  I mean," Hannah said, sweeping her arm towards the window, "it's
obvious we're somewhere else, but how is the question!"

   "But it's one that doesn't need an answer!" Melinda pushed her glasses
up, shaking her head.  "It doesn't matter why we're here, as it was
probably something random.  Maybe something quantum.  Whenever there's some
unexpected or unbelievable bit of science it always gets blamed on
something quantum.  If we accept that we're here, not worrying about the
why, we can move on to trying to survive."

   "Heat," Chuck said.  "Power.  It's gonna get cold.  Plus, we have food
for awhile, but much of it has to be cooked."

   "And it won't last forever," Melinda added.

   "How long," Hannah whispered, "do you two think we're going to be here?"

   Melinda closed her eyes.

   "It's too long already..."

   ****

   Within the hour the rest of the employees were awake, and fed.  The fact
they could not shower, bathe, or even put on clean clothes, added to some
of the girl's stress.

   "You can use distilled water," Anthony told them, firmly, "to use with a
wash cloth, but that's it for now and go easy on it.  It's not like the
faucets are working." There were some shirts and sweatshirts with Buffalo
team logos, over in aisle 8, but sizes were limited and clean underwear
would be hard to find.

   As the others talked, and talked, Justin found himself standing at the
window.  The sun felt good.  You could feel the temperature difference,
even just walking from ten feet away to here.  When night came again the
last of the store's heat would probably be sucked out, but for now,
whatever star that was (and it seemed a bit red to his eye), it was their
only friend.

   Probably his only friend, too.

   The slight teen let his body lean forward, forehead coming to rest
against the cold glass.  He wasn't that sorry to be here.  Unlike the
others, it seemed, his home...  had just been a place he slept.  Nothing
special.  It's not that his parents were bad, really.  They...  just didn't
understand him.  And not in the normal way the previous generation never
fully comprehends what the fruit of their loins is doing, despite it being
no different than what they did.  He was a loner.  Geek.  Nerd.  Justin
didn't have all that many friends, and the ones he did have tended to be as
quiet and non-social as he had come to be.  He wasn't sure they'd miss him,
or that he'd miss them.

   Work, he had found, was no different in that regard.  He knew these
people, had known many of them for years, so there was no escape from his
past, no chance to reinvent himself.  He envied Chuck, who had come in with
the ability to start over.  He was the only one who just talked to Justin,
accepting what he saw without knowing or caring about how he had been in
the past.  Chuck was the only reason he hadn't quick this stupid job.

   Well, him and Tammy.

   And Alicia.

   But, mostly Tammy.

   He wasn't sure what it was about the plain white girl.  There was just,
well, something.  Maybe it was the eyes, or her smile.  He was a normal
male, had loved from afar many times, but...  he was eighteen now, despite
his smaller size.  A man.  It was time to start acting on those feelings.
Maybe, last night had given him a new life.  A chance to start over
somewhere new.  With at least a few people he felt he could, someday, call
friends.  Or, in Tammy's case, more.  Lifting his eyes to the horizon,
Justin asked himself if this could be a new home...

   There was a building.

   "Chuck!"

   "What?"

   "Get over here!  Quick!"

   The heavier teen, a full head taller than him, ambled over.  Melinda
followed.  For a brief moment, Justin regarded her with a feeling of... 
was it jealousy?  No!  Can't be!  He wasn't gay!  That wasn't it!  No, no,
no.  Besides, he had always gotten along well with the girl, even if they
weren't friends.  It must have been nothing.  His eyes quickly went back to
Chuck.  His friend was looking out the window, scanning the snow.

   "What did you see...  ah!  That?"

   "You see the black...  whatever, too?"

   "God, yes!  Anthony!  We have a building on the horizon!"

   ****

   Anthony stared out at the small blob in the distance, not so much
ignoring the excited conversations around him as pushing it to the back of
his awareness.  He had to think.  Decide.  Be leader.  Not just, as he had
been with this group up till last night, the fun adult who kinda suggested
things to be done.

   And his choices could save or kill them.

   Wonderful.

   A hand gently touched his shoulder.  Hannah was looking at him,
expectantly.  Well, now.  There was no way he was going to disappoint a
woman with beautiful eyes like that.  With a smile, he turned, back to the
window, hands raised.

   "OK, everyone, settle down!" They did, wonders of wonders.  "OK, we have
to start making some choices.  The first one is, do we stay here, or do we
go out and try to find out what the fuck is going on?"

   "We go out," Tammy said, in her quiet voice.  "I want to get home, and I
can't do that staying here." There was general agreement.  Anthony nodded
at them.

   "Agreed.  Now, that being the case...  I say we all go out and walk over
to our mystery building there."

   "ALL of us?  Why?!?" Alicia, standing next to Nona, hugged herself
tightly.  "I don't want to go out there!" Her scar, which seemed to fade at
times, almost glowed a deep red on her white skin.

   "There're only eight of us," Anthony said, gently.  "Splitting up just
doesn't make sense, as neither half would be big enough to do much.  Plus,
I don't want to leave anyone here.  Look, we'll go out, take a look, then
come back.  Simple.  No risks." He forced a smile.  "Don't worry.  We'll be
OK."

   ****

   They packed for an excursion they hoped would need none of what they
gathered.  Tammy, who had done some work in the deli, made two meals worth
of cold sandwiches.  The bread and fresh produce would probably be among
the first food they lost, along with the loose sliced lunchmeat, so she
felt no need to skimp on the sandwich fixings.  She even grabbed the best
bread.  Hannah put together some first aid kits, her former Girl Scout
training coming in handy.  The store had no actual pharmacy, so over the
counter painkillers were the best she could do.  They had lots of bandages,
though.

   At the front of the store, they packed it all into Anthony's duffel bag.
A second bag, recovered from Hannah's minivan once she remembered her gym
clothes were there, was filled with bottles of pop and water.  Anthony
looked at the space remaining, then told the others to start getting ready
to go out while he got one more thing.

   "Why do we need so much?" Alicia picked up Hannah's bag, grunting at the
weight.  "It's not that far!"

   "We're just being prepared," Hannah told her lightly.  "Better to have,
than not have."

   A few minutes later, the sound of the meat department door banging shut
came to them, followed by Anthony walking up the canned good aisle.  In his
hands, along with a flashlight, were eight long knives.

   "Why do you have those?" Nona asked, nervous.  Chuck stepped up as
Anthony put them on the register counter, picking up a rather large black
handled knife.  He turned to the light brown skinned girl.

   "We don't know what's out there.  Best to be safe."

   "And if someone out there doesn't like us coming at them with knives?"

   "I'd rather apologize than have to fight with a bottle of Pepsi,"
Anthony said.  He looked down at his arsenal.  "How do we carry them,
that's the question." Chuck regarded his chosen weapon for a moment, then
his face lit up.

   "Got it!"

   He raced towards the back room, returning with a large, empty box made
of thick cardboard.  Picking up the knife again, he shoved it down between
the inner and outer layers of the cardboard.  It stuck, blade safely
contained.  Melinda looked at him, eyes shining with approval.

   "You may want to use smaller pieces!"

   ****

   It was tough going.

   The snow was deep.  Not as deep as feared, thankfully, as the wind had
caused lots of drifting.  They were able to wind their way through the
shallower parts, but it still was often almost to their knees.  Four of the
girls had boots, a benefit of being "weak" enough to have worn them to work
before changing to sneakers for their shift.  The three males and Tammy,
however, just had their sneakers.  All, apart from Anthony, had pants that
did nothing to keep them either warm or dry.

   Chuck looked up at the sky.  It was clear, blue.  The sun was high,
bright, and reddish yellow.  It was, unquestionably, not their sun.  This
was not their world.  Lowering his gaze, he tried to see something out
there besides their goal.  Nothing.  In every direction, just endless
white. No trees.  No mountains.  The only landmarks were their store behind
them, looking forlorn and out of place, and the strange structure ahead. 
He almost dreaded what they might find there.

   A gloved hand took his.  He looked over at Melinda, whose attention
seemed to be focused on their intrepid leader Anthony.  Last night had
been...  wonderful, confusing, and probably a half dozen other emotions. 
He didn't love her.  He knew that.  As one of his Mom's old Tori Amos songs
said, "so you can make me cum, that doesn't make you Jesus." If she felt
the same way, if it had only been about the comfort of companionship for
Melinda, he could deal.  Sex didn't have to be about love.  But...  he knew
that wasn't the case.  And, he couldn't push her away NOW!  She needed him!
He had woken with her crying on his chest, and they had made love again,
slowly.  The way she had clutched him, as if afraid even in the throes of
orgasm that he'd leave her...

   No.  He'd be her friend, if nothing else.  Be honest, promise nothing,
but...

   His hand squeezed hers.

   ****

   After a half hour, they reached the structure.

   "That's...  interesting."

   Anthony walked up to the building, the others staying ten or so feet
away.  It was a series of flattened domes of various sizes, attached to one
another like soap bubbles.  The tallest points seemed to be about seven
feet tall.  Anthony, at least, would have trouble standing inside near the
edges.  Construction seemed to consist of small grey tree trunks bent over
to form an arch, then smaller arching trees and branches lashed under it to
form a shell which that was re-enforced with woven sticks.  A primitive, if
well made design.  Removing his glove, he reached out and touched one of
the trees...

   It was fake.

   He ran his hand quickly over more.  Plastic, or, something like plastic.

   Stepping back, he considered.  Well, humans put vinyl siding on homes
designed to look like wood or brick, so why not the same thing here?  He'd
never seen a design like this before, but then, Anthony couldn't say he was
all that into documentaries on natives.  The question of whether they were
still somewhere on Earth or, well, elsewhere was still open to debate.

   Or so he wanted to believe.

   They began to walk around it.  All told, it was about as long as a human
house.  There were no windows, but maybe there were some on the roof. 
Melinda gave it a critical eye.

   "I almost think it's sort of roundish, the building, but not quite. 
Maybe there's an inner courtyard, with windows.  The snow on top would
block any windows up there."

   "Maybe the creatures who live in it don't have eyes," Tammy offered. 
Alicia shot her a glance.

   "That's not helping."

   Coming to a dome smaller and rounder than the others, they saw an
entrance.

   Originally, like the building itself, the door had been designed to
resemble something from the builder's primitive past.  A large curved
opening, six feet tall, framed by another bent tree, with a woven grass
door attached to the top of the arch and swinging open.  It wasn't the
construction that drew the human's eyes, though.

   It was that the door had been smashed open.

   "What the fuck." Chuck stepped up, glancing inside.  "I see snowy
footprints, some snow blown in.  I think this happened last night." Melinda
moved back to his side, hands going to his arm.

   "Robbers?"

   "We don't know if the bad guys were inside or outside." He looked at
Anthony.  "What do you want to do?"

   The manager stared at the dark opening for a moment, then shifted his
shoulders and let the duffle bag he had been wearing like a backpack fall
to the snow.  Bending down to unzip it, he took out a large cardboard
sheathed knife and handed it to Chuck.  Nodding, he took it.

   "Why?" asked Nona, a look of disgust on her face.

   "Because it makes me feel a lot better," replied Alicia, taking the
smaller blade offered to her.  She removed the cardboard, letting it fall
to the snow as she held the knife before her.  With a disgusted snort Nona
reached down and grabbed the discarded sheath and handed it to Anthony.  He
nodded thanks, holding out the last knife.  She looked at it, then with
another sigh accepted the blade.  She kept it covered, though.

   "I'll go first," Anthony told them.  He maneuvered the bag back onto his
back, accepted the uncovered knife Hannah had been holding for him, then
stepped up to the door.

   The entryway was small, maybe eight feet across and a few feet longer.
The ceiling, going by the minimal clearance over his head, was maybe six
and a half feet high.  Light came from long, thin clear windows set into
the ceiling and upper walls, invisible from outside, casting an intricate
pattern of shadows on the floor.  The walls looked, again, like branches,
small thin ones forming similar but more complex patterns.  Anthony touched
them, this time finding the wood real.  Made sense.  You put the more
expensive stuff where you yourself could enjoy it.  The floor was matted
grass, half covered now by snow.  Footprints, more melted than snowy, led
through an arch in front of him.  The prints were...  human-ish.  Motioning
for the others to follow, he entered the next room.

   The creature in the middle of the floor was dead.  That, at least, was
obvious.  Anthony could hear various gasps from the girls behind him.  His
eyes swept the room.  It was a house.  A normal, civilized house.  One from
an obviously different culture, carved wood being the predominate theme,
but nothing that would have looked out of place in some part of the Earth,
or at least in its fiction.  The thing on the floor, though...

   It was man shaped, roughly.  A primate, at least, somewhere between
Melinda and Chuck in size.  Brownish grey fur covered its body, which lay
face down on the woven rug.  Red blood, not yet fully dried, pooled around
it.

   "What is it," Alicia whispered.  Looking back at them, Anthony could see
her white knuckles around the knife handle, which she held up between her
breasts.  Hannah moved up next to him, her own knife lowered but in front
of her all the same.  With unspoken coordination, they dropped to one knee
and examined the body.

   It was not an animal.  It wore clothing, consisting of a wide cord belt
attached to loose shorts of woven black fabric.  Twisted cord suspenders
crisscrossed over its back, and front.  Hannah, with only a brief
hesitation, reached out and pushed the body over onto its back.

   Four lifeless eyes stared back at them.

   They were set two on each side of its long, thin flat nose, the outer
two a bit higher on the face.  A ring of white fur surrounded each eye,
striking compared to the dull grey fur of the rest of the head.  Its nose
was black, lips pink, hands and feet black and leathery, with long fingers
and toes.  The fur on its chest was a lighter grey, almost white.

   "I have to be dreaming..."

   Anthony turned back to Nona.  Her hands were raised to her face,
expression one of...  shock.  He cocked her head at her.

   "Did you not think you were dreaming before?"

   "No, I mean...  oh, God in heaven, it's a Spectacled Monkey!"

   He blinked.

   "A what?"

   "A Dusky Leaf Monkey!  I have a stuffed one at home!  They live in
Malaysia!  I saw them when my parents took me there to visit relatives! 
They only have two eyes, of course, and are small, but that's one of them!
What's going on!?!"

   "Oh, NOW she asks that," Tammy muttered, dryly.  Hannah shot the blonde
girl a look, then turned to the panicked Malay.

   "It's probably just coincidence.  ANYTHING we see will, probably, look
at a certain angle like something from home.  Just...  calm down.  We have
to stay calm."

   "I...  I know..."

   The sound of something falling in some other room stopped all further
conversation.

   "Fuck," whispered Chuck.  He quickly moved over to the far side of the
room, and the doorway there, Melinda a step behind..  Looking out, he saw
an oval shaped hallway.  Out from the second doorway on the right, rolled a
small wooden bead, and a sound that could be a door closing.

   He looked back, eyebrows raised questioningly.  Anthony rose, looking
around.  This was it.  Stay or go.  Flee, or make contact, for good or ill.
Know, or never know.

   Well, he had always liked the Planet of the Apes movies.  Maybe he could
get Hannah to dress as Nova...

   Moving up to Chuck, the teen pointed to the source of the sound. 
Adjusting the grip on his knife, Anthony slowly moved into the hall and
began to slide along the wall.  His back passed over a closed door, which
he knew was horrible tactics.  For the first time in his life, the twenty
five year old wished he had spent more time playing first person shooters
and less time with naked females.  Chuck, he saw, was hugging the opposite
wall, trailing a bit behind him.  Justin stood with the girls, knife still
sheathed, a look of indecision on his face.  That was fine with Anthony. 
No reason for them all to be out here doing stupid things.

   His shoulder hit the door frame.  Taking a deep breath, he poked his
head around the corner.

   It was a girl's bedroom.

   The reeds covering the wall were a bright green, the color of spring. 
Flowers of yellow and orange and pink were woven into it, making swirls and
swoops.  An oval bed hung from the ceiling by four woven dark green vines,
the bed itself covered by a tangle of multi colored blankets.  There were
furnishings, what might be a stool, a table...

   And a large, light brown, wooden closet.

   Anthony stepped inside.  Looking around, he could see nowhere else
someone could hide.  Chuck came up behind him, nodding when Anthony looked
at him questioningly.  He moved to the opposite corner of the room, knife
held ready.  Melinda popped into the doorway and quickly ran over next to
him.  Shaking his head, Anthony slid over towards them as the others came
in as well.  The eight humans formed a semi-circle around the room, focused
on the closet.

   Hannah, next to him, touched Anthony's arm.

   "Now what?" she whispered.

   Damn good question, that.

   It was Justin who took the initiative.

   "Come on out.  We won't hurt you."

   His words hung in the air, as the others looked at him in disbelief. 
Alicia moved in front of her classmate, eyes shocked.

   "EXCUSE me?"

   He stayed put, not flinching from her closeness.

   "I say we try and be friendly.  Can't hurt."

   "Yes it can," she muttered, squeezing her grip on the knife.  She looked
around, but to Anthony's surprise the others seemed to agree with the
Justin.  The boy reached out a brown hand and gently placed it over her
trembling white one.

   "Put the knife down...  please." He swung his gaze around the room. 
"Everyone, put your knife down.  Somewhere you can get to it easily, but
empty your hands." He put his own down on the bed, then moved into the
middle of the room.  Holding his hands up, he addressed the closet.

   "Please...  come out.  We're friends."

   Nothing.

   He repeated it.  Still, there was silence.

   "If that thing is empty," Hannah mumbled, "we could be here all day."
Anthony chuckled, then with a shrug tried to draw on long forgotten French
classes.

   "N'ayez pas peur...  um, nous sommes des amis!"

   Hannah chuckled, then raised her voice.

   "Que son tus amigos!"

   Anthony met her grin with his own.  He would have expected her to have
tried Hebrew, but then he'd never bothered learning Latin either.  On the
other side of the room, Chuck gave his own try.

   "Eway omecay inway eacepay!"

   "Ha!" Melinda just barked it out.  "You went there!  Really?"

   "You never know," he grinned.

   Nona, grinning, gave a shrug and looked at the closet.

   "Keluar lah....kami tidak akan mengapa-apa kan kamu."

   She began to shrug again, at the pointlessness of it all, when...

   "Kamu....Ada kah kamu boleh di anggap kawan?"

   The muffled voice was high pitched, but soft.  Nona's jaw dropped, every
eye in the room going from the closet to her, then back.  Anthony was
quickly at her side, whispering.

   "Tell her it's OK, tell her to come out."

   "I...  I was never good at Malay!  I only use it when relatives visit!"
She looked up at him, pleading.  He put a hand on her shoulder.

   "Do your best.  It has to be better than my French."

   Nona closed her eyes, shoulders slumping under his hand.  A moment
later, her back straightened as she stepped forward next to Justin, who
backed up a step.

   "Ya, kami adalah kawan.  Kami orang asing, sesat.  Kami perlu
pertolongan dari kamu."

   She paused, then added, "Nama saya Nona, apa nama kamu?"

   The door swung open.

   Standing there was a slightly smaller, slimmer version of the fallen
creature.  Her fur was blackish grey, except on her chest which was a dark
white.  A brown cord around her waist held up a light green skirt, covered
with white flowers.  Twisted cord suspenders crossed and became brown woven
cups up where her breasts were, before going over her shoulders.  Her four
brown, white fur rimmed eyes were covered by glasses, four round lenses
held in a thin wooden frame.  From the top of her head, a string of
multicolor wooden beads fell down past her left ear.

   She stood there, looking out at them.  One black finger raised, pushing
the bridge of her glasses up.

   "Saya Daium."

   **** Chapter 3 ****

   The alien creature sat, on its haunches, beside its father.  Its legs,
knees seemingly in the wrong location, were pulled up to her chest as she
hugged them.  Her eyes, circled by white fur behind those strange four lens
glasses, stared at the body with alien, yet all too human sorrow.

   Nona had said her name was Daium.

   Chuck sat on the floor about ten feet away, left arm against some sort
of carved statue (a tree trunk gradually forming into one of these
creatures.  Pretty, if a bit abstract and freaky).  He had removed his
coat, hat, and gloves, as had the others sitting around the room, the house
warm despite the still broken open front doorway.  Melinda wormed her way
under his left arm, pressing close.  It felt...  good.

   Looking at Daium, Chuck started to realize it was the monkey-like alien
not being surprised by them, as they were by her, that was getting to him
more than her actual appearance.  Shouldn't this Daium be shocked by
hairless creatures?  Or was the fiction of this world as full of creatures
like them as theirs was with humanoid apes?  Did they have a sci-fi "Planet
of the Humans"?  Or, and this really got him thinking, was she just not
surprised by ALIENS?  God, what had they gotten themselves into...

   The blackish furred creature reached out a shiny black hand.  Her
fingers trembled a bit as she, slowly, began to stroke the fur of her loved
one.  Voice high pitched but soft, she spoke.  Nona, her entire body
leaning forward in concentration, translated.

   "They came last night...  the...  somethings, some sort of soldiers,
maybe.  Daium and her dad had been fleeing them, had come to this place to
do their work in secret.  They were found...  her dad told her to hide, to
not come out, as they didn't care about her.  He...  she heard them, heard
it.  Her father never told them what they wanted."

   Closing her eyes, Daium pressed her hands together before her face, long
fingers intertwined, pointing upwards.

   "Pokok yang mempunyai benih tidak akan mati..."

   "A tree that has seeds...  never dies." Nona swallowed.  "I'm sorry,
guys, this...  I'm getting weirded out by this entire thing." Daium opened
her eyes, looking at the girl.  Nona's shoulders slumped, eyes closing. 
"I'm sorry."

   Anthony pushed himself to his feet and walked over.  Chuck saw Daium's
eyes follow him.  Despite her obvious grief, those eyes showed...  an
awareness of the situation.  A wariness.  An intelligence they'd have to
get used to quickly.  THEY were the intruders, invaders, the ones out of
their element.  They needed this girl, and such help could only come
willingly.

   And they had to beware the price.

   Squatting down next to the dark haired Malaysian, Anthony put a hand on
her shoulder.  Her eyes opened and raised themselves up, glistening with
the start of tears.

   "I want to go home..." It came out as a whisper.  The others shot
glances around the room.  Chuck felt Melinda press even harder against him.
His hand found itself cupping a breast, which he gently squeezed.  Her soft
hand came up to cover his.

   "You're doing great," Anthony told Nona, smiling.  "I know it's hard,
but you're strong, and we need you.  Without you, we couldn't talk to our
new friend here."

   "How do we know she's a friend?"

   Anthony looked over at the creature.  She had pushed herself away from
the body, legs crossing on the floor in emulation of the humans.  Her white
chest, contrasting with her black (with a hint of grey) fur, reminded him
of a cat he once had.  The cat hadn't had a skirt and some sort of
suspenders/bra setup, though, or beads hanging next to its ear.  He looked
back at Nona.

   "I tend to trust anyone with a flowered skirt, at least until after the
first date."

   "THAT will get you in trouble," Tammy muttered loudly from the corner.
Anthony ignored her but grinned.  He cocked his head over at their host.

   "I think it's time we introduced ourselves to her.  Let's show her where
we're from."

   ****

   Daium looked across the snowy expanse at the distant rectangular form of
the store.

   Her head swiveled, checking the surrounding area.  It went back to her
house, then again to the building with "BELLS" written on the front in
large, red letters.  With an expression of clear puzzlement that
transcended species, she reached both hands up and removed her glasses. 
Her four eyes squinted into the distance, then looked down at the lenses in
her hand.  Carefully, she spit on each lens, brought out a small thin green
cloth from a pocket in her skirt, and cleaned her glasses.  Satisfied they
were clear, she put them on and looked again at the store.

   "If," Melinda muttered, "she says 'You came in that?  You're braver then
I thought', I'm gonna scream."

   "I'll make sure I translate it that way, then." Nona, coat on but
unzipped, the temperature rather warm now, once again tried to put her mind
in Malay mode.  "Ya, kedai kami hanya muncul di sini.  Bodoh, bukan?"

   Daium looked at her, expression one of...  of what?  Worried confusion?
She stood up strait, almost matching Nona in height, adjusting her glasses.

   "Bawa saya ke sana.  Selepas saya mendapat beberapa perkara pertama."
She vanished back into the house.

   Anthony cast her a questioning glance.  Nona shrugged.

   "She wants to go to the store.  Maybe she needs to do some shopping."

   ****

   The girl returned not with empty shopping bags, but with a large,
filled, backpack and a wooden case with a handle.  She had changed into the
equivalent of a hooded snowsuit, with gloves on both her hands and feet. 
The suit was white, made from some sort of quilted cloth.  If it wasn't for
her face, and the pink backpack, she'd almost vanish in the snow.  She
walked up next to Nona, looking at her expectantly.  Anthony laughed.

   "Well, I guess that means it's time to go home.  We can have lunch
there."

   "Let's hurry," Alicia said, "I have to go to the bathroom!"

   ****

   Nona, walking next to Daium, soon found them trailing the others as they
retraced their footsteps.  Part of this was due to the furry girl's shorter
stride, her legs a bit bent and bowed when standing upright.  Spectacled
Monkeys tended to prefer being on all fours, or in trees, and Nona could
see this creature probably would prefer to do that if the snow wasn't so
high.  More so, though, it seemed Daium just wanted to get her alone. 
They'd only been walking for a few minutes when she started talking.

   "You are...  Nona, right?"

   "Um, yeah.  Nona."

   "Hmm...  does your species have jantina?"

   "Um, what?"

   "Jantina.  Male, female..."

   "Oh, yes, sorry!  My Malay is VERY bad.  I don't use it much.  Yes, we
have male and female."

   Daium looked her up and down, eyes speculative.

   "Which are you?"

   Nona returned a look that required no translation.  Daium's eyes
widened, and she reached out a gloved hand to gently touch Nona's shoulder.
Only the fact she couldn't feel it through her winter coat kept Nona from
reacting.

   "I am sorry if I offended!  You all dress the same, except the one who
leads!"

   Nona shook her head, clearing it.

   "Sorry.  I'm not offended.  It...  we are far from home, and tired.  We
don't want to be here." She took a deep breath.  "Yes, I'm female.  Almost
adult.  We have to dress this way at work.  Human females tend to have long
hair on their heads, and breasts like yours." Daium nodded in
understanding. Nona looked ahead, and began pointing to the others.  "That
is Anthony.  Adult male.  Our sort of leader, as he was our leader at our
job.  Next is Hannah, adult female.  Tammy, female, adult.  Chuck, male,
almost adult.  Melinda, female..."

   "Female?" Her voice was so shocked, Nona couldn't help a laugh from
bursting out.  Daium's eyes then widened.  "Oh!  That is why she was
sitting against that Chuck!  They are mated!"

   Now it was Nona's turn to look shocked.  Chuck and Melinda, actually
together?  She glanced at their backs.  Damn it, their hands were joined,
weren't they.  You'd think she'd be more observant about such things.  Her
companion, she noted, certainly was.

   "So, where was I...  yes, Melinda, female, not quite adult.  Justin,
male, almost adult, and Alicia, female, almost adult." Daium nodded.

   "I am female, adult...  maybe.  Sometimes.  Father said I was, but..."
she shrugged, the movement looking weird on her.

   "Why were they after you?"

   Daium didn't reply.  The alien kept her eyes on the growing form of the
supermarket ahead of them.  So, Nona thought, information was only flowing
in one direction.  That would have to change...

   ****

   Anthony stopped them in front of the glass doors, pulling out his cell
phone to check the time.  A bit after noon.  Once everyone's batteries ran
dead, there'd be no way to tell time.  He was almost looking forward to
that.

   Alicia was bouncing up and down.

   "Come on!  I have to go!" A couple others nodded in agreement, getting a
chuckle from him.  Anthony looked over at Nona and Daium.

   "OK, we're here.  Daium, there's no power at the moment, so it's going
to be cold, and a bit dark.  After we do some human stuff, we'll sit down
and, while we eat, exchange information with each other.  OK?"

   Nona conveyed the message the best she could.  The creature cocked her
head a bit, reaching up to adjust her glasses, then nodded at him.  Good.
That settled that.  For now.  With a smile at their new friend, he turned
and unlocked the front door and led them in.

   Once through the foyer, Alicia, Melinda, and Tammy made a mad dash
towards the back of the store and the restrooms.  They only made it twenty
feet before remembering to come back for flashlights.  Laughing, Chuck
grabbed a second flashlight and followed.  Anthony turned to Hannah.

   "Could you come upstairs for a moment?"

   ****

   Once in the manager's office, he took a seat and swung the office chair
around towards Hannah.  Chuckling, she set herself into Lenny's chair. 
They looked at each other.

   "So," Anthony asked, stretching his legs, "what do you think?"

   Hannah let her body go limp, head falling backwards.

   "Oh, God, I don't know..." Her chair began swiveling back and forth. 
"Does any of this make sense to you?"

   "Not even a little." He grinned.  She liked that grin.  Always had, ever
since getting the job.  Hannah had always had a thing for guys in
mustaches, so combining that with Anthony's sense of humor...

   Which still didn't explain last night.  She closed her eyes.

   "What do we do?"

   "We keep safe, and try to get home."

   "Keep telling me that last part.  Please."

   "I'll get you home, Hannah.  You'll see your daughter again."

   "Liar..."

   ****

   Justin and Nona watched as Daium slowly took in the large grocery store.
Sunlight lit up most of it, at least to some degree.  Up by the registers
there was more than enough light to read.  Daium walked up to register
three, one hand hesitantly touching the metal side of the counter convertor
belt.  She seemed to frown.

   "It looks like we're confusing her," Justin commented.  Daium turned at
the sound of his voice.  He smiled, which got yet another confused
expression from her in return.  Considering something, he turned to Nona.
"I need your translation skills." He began walking over to Daium without
waiting for a reply.

   "Daium." She turned from the gossip magazine she was contemplating as he
approached.  Still smiling, Justin brought out his iPod.  "The store may
not have power, but for now this does." He turned the touchscreen device
on, holding it out to her in the palm of his hand.

   Her eyes lit up.  Gently, she took it from him, turning it this way and
that.  Adjusting her glasses, she leaned in towards the glass screen. 
Justin moved up next to her.

   "Touch it like this." He reached in and hit the iBooks icon.  A moment
later, the screen changed to show his book library.  She looked at him,
startled, then removed her glove and moved her own finger over to hit one
of the books.  It opened.  Her eyes darted up.  Turning quickly, she looked
at the cash register next to them, with its blank computer monitor, then
down the row at the other eight.  Head whipping around again, her eyes
landed on the remaining flashlights.  Handing the iPod back to a surprised
Justin, she grabbed one of the smaller flashlights and quickly flipped the
switch.  Holding it so the light just missed her eyes, she looked in at the
glowing bulb.  Turning it in her hands, she spoke quickly.  Nona shook her
head.

   "She's asking something about...  source of...?"

   "The batteries!" Justin grabbed another flashlight, unscrewed the top,
and poured the two C batteries out onto the counter next to Daium.  She
picked up one of the cylinders, turning it over, looking at the markings,
then dropping them and examining the connections inside the flashlight
itself.  After a moment she put it down, stepped back, and seemed to think.
The two humans exchanged a glance.  Soon, Daium's eyes refocused and turned
to Justin.

   "Di mana bekalan kuasa kedai anda?"

   "Um...  I'm sorry, the store what?" Nona shook her head, confused.  "I
mean, saya tidak faham."

   "I know.  She wants to see where we get our power." He regarded the snow
suited creature for a moment, then smiled.  His eyes...  seemed to capture
hers.  Hesitantly, she picked up one of the batteries, and indicated with
her other hand the whole of the store.  He nodded.  Grabbing a hand
lantern, he walked around the register and motioned the two girls to
follow.

   ****

   Justin took them down the frozen aisle, through the swinging door and
into the dark back room.  Flipping the lantern on, he cast light around,
giving the newcomer a good look at the space.  A concrete floor and tall
roof contained two loading bays, complete with power lifts, on the left
hand side.  The main room here had the walk in freezer and cooler, break
room, and rest rooms.  A long wide aisle ran the length of the store behind
the meat department and bakery, divided into storage areas, one per grocery
aisle.

   "Welcome to where we work," he told Daium.  Assuming there'd be no
reply, he walked across to a small wooden room made of plywood and two by
fours, with glass-less windows, next to a metal door.  "That's the
receiving office, if we need any keys they should be in there, and over
here on the other side of the door..." His light flashed on wall mounted
metal boxes.  "...  are the fuse boxes." Opening the first one, Justin lit
the rows of switches, then the electrical diagram on the inside of the
door. "Tell her this controls everything."

   Nona repeated that in Malay.  Daium, looking fascinated, walked over and
stood next to Justin.  Her snowsuit brushed against his jacket...  and both
paused for a moment.  His eyes flicked over to her face, even with his, her
eyes turning on him.  He could feel...  a blush coming.

   "Now," he said, stepping away from the girl, amazed that he could even
keep talking, "As for where our power comes from, or at least came from..."
Pushing on the long handle, he opened the back door.

   "There."

   On the exterior brick wall, behind the fuse boxes, were grey metal boxes
with clear plastic cylinders attached to some of them.  Coming from their
tops were thick black cables, traveling up to the roof, then flopping down
to the ground.  Justin picked one up, showing Daium the end.

   "Whatever brought us here cut that."

   Tentatively, she took the cable from him.  With Nona holding open the
door, Justin ducked back inside and quickly returned with some keys.  He
wasn't sure the store was supposed to have a copy of these, but that wasn't
his problem.  Opening the boxes, he was happy to see instructions and
schematics for repairmen.  He called Daium over.

   Seeing the drawings, and the various connections and circuits, she let
out a cry of joy.  With one quick movement her pink backpack dropped into
the snow, and wooden case was placed flat on a snow drift and opened. 
Inside...  were electronic instruments.

   Justin and Nona exchanged a glance.  This wasn't some primitive monkey
girl.  This...

   "Apakah nombor ini?"

   Nona, propping the door open with a piece of wood, came out and looked.

   "She wants to know what the numbers are."

   "Don't tell her yet!"

   "Wait, what?" Confused, she saw Justin pop back inside then return with
a magic marker and a piece of cardboard.  He lay the cardboard over on the
snow, knelt down, and called Daium over.

   "OK, Daium, time for you and I to start communicating!" He raised a
closed fist.  "Zero." He wrote a zero on the cardboard, then raised one
finger.  "One." As he wrote the one, Daium's eyes widened.  Nodding
happily, she moved to kneel next to him.  With rapt attention, she saw
Justin write up to the number ten.  As he went on to eleven, she suddenly
gave a gasp of understanding.  Hand eagerly asking for the marker, she took
it and wrote the number twelve, looking at Justin for confirmation.  With a
laugh, he nodded, putting a hand on her shoulder.  Damn, she was smart! 
She did thirteen, fourteen...  jumping up, she grabbed her new number
decoder and went back to the boxes.  Nona looked at Justin in disbelief.

   "Um, how did you..."

   "Oh, she's smart!  All she needed to know was that we use a base ten
system, and what our symbols are for zero to nine, and she can decode all
our numbers.  We can do that same with her stuff, naturally."

   "Maybe you could..."

   "Come on, you're smart.  You're no Alicia..."

   "Justin!"

   Daium's call had both their heads whipping around to look at the four
eyed girl.  She had a small wooden oval object in her hand, with a glowing
screen on its surface and various wires coming from the end.  She was
pointing at the diagram again.

   "Cara yang melakukan perjalanan kilat semasa?"

   Nona shook her head again.

   "Which way does the what travel?"

   "Probably the electrical current." Justin moved over to see where she
was pointing.  "Yup." Naturally, as he looked at the setup, Justin realized
he himself had no idea.  The multicolored wires were as confusing to him as
it probably seemed to her.  More so, maybe, as while he knew some stuff,
and could probably find the ground, he'd never worked on anything like
this.

   A groan came from beside him, as Daium put her hand to her forehead.  It
was the universal expression of, "damn it, how could I be so stupid".  She
reversed some of the wires from her device that she had put into the mass
of wires before her, then considered the result.

   "Is there a party out here or something?  You're letting all the cold
out."

   Chuck and Melinda looked out the receiving door, taking in the sight of
the snowsuit clad alien playing with the power boxes.  Behind them, Tammy
and Alicia stayed inside but tried to angle for a better view.

   With a cry of joy, Daium dropped her tool back into the wooden box and
leapt over to Justin.  She hugged him, tightly, then just as quickly jumped
back.  Her expression...  Justin had no time to decode it before she began
running away from them through the snow.

   "Where the hell is she going?" Chuck asked, stepping out of the store.

   "Don't ask me," Nona said, "it's to the point where they barely even
need me translating."

   As they watched, Daium stopped before an oddly shaped snowdrift and
began digging.  Chuck, seeing that was a hard thing to do with your bare
hands, turned to Tammy.

   "Toss me the snow shovel next to the door, would you?" Catching it, he
walked out to the struggling alien.  Getting her attention, he began
digging.  After a moment's hesitation, she smiled at him and began
directing his efforts.  Soon Tammy was over to help as well.  Within a
couple minutes, they were done.

   It was a grey box, maybe three feet square and two feet high.  There was
a door on the top, with a black handle recessed into the metal.  Daium
opened the hatch...  revealing what looked for all the world like a long,
coiled garden hose.  Swiftly, she grabbed the end and ran back to fallen
power lines.  Dropping to sit on the snowy ground next to her tool box, she
removed her glove-like shoes and began connecting the cables with all four
appendages.

   The humans looked at her, stunned.  Laughing, because he didn't know
what else to do, Justin looked at Tammy.  She hadn't bothered putting her
hair up in her usual pony tail, so it fell down around her face.  The
result hardly looked like her, or at least the her Justin had been pining
after.  Those eyes, though...

   "What?"

   Her amused question shook him out of it.  With a grin, something her
expression showed was out of character, Justin motioned back through the
open receiving door.

   "Could you go get some duct tape?  She might need it."

   Tammy cocked her head at him, considering...  then nodded and vanished
back into the store.  The remaining five teens watched their new friend
work.

   "If she does this," Alicia muttered, to nobody in particular, "I may
stop thinking she's evil and dangerous."

   "Oh, we can't have that," Melinda replied, pressing against Chuck's
side. Alicia gave her a look of disgust.

   "Stop throwing yourself at him, will you."

   "Oh, bite me."

   "Didn't know you were into that."

   "Will you two shut up," Chuck softly scolded them, looking back.  "We
can schedule the bitch fights for after lunch."

   "She started it," muttered Melinda.  He ignored her

   ****

   Tammy arrived a few minutes later, tape in hand and both Anthony and
Hannah in tow.

   "OK, what am I missing?" Anthony looked over the gathering as Tammy
tossed the roll at Justin.  The teen grabbed it, quickly found the edge and
unrolled an inch of tape.  Squatting down next to Daium, he showed it to
her.  Pausing in her activities, the creature tentatively touched both
sides of the grey strip.  Eyes widening, her face broke out into a smile as
she nodded happily at the boy.  Taking the tape, she set it down on her
toolbox and went back to work.

   "Well," Tammy told the manager, "once we figure it out, we'll tell you."

   ****

   Hannah was about to suggest they go inside and eat some lunch when the
creature, finished wrapping tape around the joined cables, leapt to her
feet and ran barefoot to the strange metal box the hose came from. 
Reaching inside, she did something....

   The entire store, inside and out, lit up.

   "Oh-Kay," Anthony muttered.  "One problem solved, twenty million to go."

   ****

   The humans sat, winter gear discarded, around the second floor
conference room table.  Heat blared out of the vents, quickly making this
small enclosed space rather toasty.  Once they had checked to make sure
everything was working, most of the lights and such were turned back off
until needed.  Only the freezers and coolers, and heating, were active in
most of the store.

   Well, that and the rechargers.  Anthony, looking against the far wall,
could only laugh at the eight iPods and cell phones plugged into a quickly
set up power strip.  God forbid what would have happened if they had kept
going with no music!

   While that important activity was going on, the kids themselves were
eating the sandwiches made that morning, plus a bag of chips and a good
allotment of caffeine filled coffee and pop.  Chuck had gone through both
his lunch and dinner sandwiches, and was eyeing Melinda's second salami,
cheese, and tomato on rye.  Laughing, she pushed it over to him, but not
before grabbing half of it for herself.  Everyone, even those who usually
punished themselves diet wise, was hungry.

   Daium, again wearing just her green skirt and suspender/bra, sat next to
Justin.  She had moved the chair so there was some room between the two,
but Anthony noticed her eyes always going back to the brown skin teen's
face.  He wondered if Tammy should start feeling jealous.

   Well, they could worry about the usual relationship drama later.  Most
of the food was gone, conversation was starting to pick up, so it was time
to get to the important things.  Anthony stood and, after grabbing a square
cardboard box from against the wall, walked to the head of the table. 
Putting the box on the table and picking up a marker from the whiteboard on
the wall behind him, he raised his hands.

   "OK, everyone, quiet down.  It's time we got to the important task of
figuring out what the hell is going on."

   "Should only take a minute," Chuck chimed in.  Anthony ignored him.

   "OK, now, Daium, we, humans, are from a planet called Earth." As Nona
quietly translated next to her, Anthony reached into the box and pulled out
a globe.  It was an old globe, probably acquired as some sort of vender
gift/bribe years ago, and had been used for various "international" food
displays.  According to its markings there was still a USSR, but that
didn't matter for their purposes.  Placing it near their wide eyed furry
guest, he pointed to a spot near where Lakes Erie and Ontario meet.  "We're
from here."

   He pushed it closer, Daium's hands slowly taking the globe and running
over it.  It was one of those fancy ones with raised mountains, and Anthony
watched as her long black fingers traced out the Rockies.  Her eyes came up
to meet his, and he wondered if, until now, she had really believed their
story.  Moving over to the whiteboard, he drew a circle.

   "This, is our sun.  There are two small inner planets," which he drew,
writing their names, "then the Earth and its moon.  Then Mars, the gas
giants, and...  out to Pluto." It took him a moment to recall the correct
order, but thankfully the old "Mary's Velvet Eyes Made John Stay Up Nights,
Period" was still rattling around his head.  He kept Pluto, just because,
even though when that mnemonic device was written Pluto hadn't been
discovered yet.  Pointing back to the Earth, he looked at Daium.  Her eyes
were glued to his.  "We, humans, have visited our Moon.  We have also sent
robots to all the other planets, but haven't yet gone ourselves.  We have
looked out into space, discovered endless stars and galaxies, planets... 
but have never found ANY life but that on our own planet."

   Daium shot to her feet when Nona's translation got that far.  She looked
around at them, at the gathered humans.  Her expression was one of total
shock.

   "Saya...anda ...  anda tidak perlu ..."

   Not even needing the translation, Anthony shook his head slowly.

   "You are the first, Daium."

   She looked down at the table, mind obviously whirling.  After a moment,
she straightened.  One hand going up to adjust her glasses, she pushed the
chair back and walked around the table to Anthony.  Nona followed.  Nodding
to both girls, Anthony handed the market to Daium, then quickly showed how
the eraser worked in case she needed it.  When she nodded in understanding,
he moved away and took his seat again.

   Daium stood, looking them over.  Her eyes seemed to fall on each human,
seeing them for the first time.  Turning to the board, she began to draw,
speaking softly so only Nona could hear.  The Malaysian turned to her
friends.

   "We are on the planet...  Tanah."

   **** Chapter 4 ****

   Daium was panicking.

   A first contact!  Her meeting with these strange fur-less creatures was
a first contact, and she was fucking it up!

   Oh, by the First Tree, this was bad.  Yes, her situationwas bad, that of
her people, her culture...  but, a first contact!  Ruining a new species!
How would she ever face her ancestors, let alone herself!  Everything she
had been taught, everything she'd ever read, everything she BELIEVED, went
against what she had done!

   But, what could she have done?

   Her father was dead.  Killed, by the very ones who should have been
helping him.  Killed because he would not help them on a hopeless path. 
Killed, because it was already over...

   She looked out at them, sitting at the table.  Waiting.  Waiting for
her, the black furry stranger, to tell them about a universe they were in
no way ready for.  Could she just...  lie?  Just make something up, then
hope to get them home quickly, before they found out?  No...  no, mostly
because she had no hope of returning them.  They could be from anywhere in
the universe.

   Daium's eyes flicked over to Nona.  It was her fault.  She spoke the
sacred language.  Why, in the name of the ancestors, would Daium even
consider that someone speaking that language was from some unknown
primitive world?  What were the odds of the same language developing twice,
and the two coming into contact?  She mentally sighed.  It was probably
caused by something quantum.  Professor Arliza always blamed this kind of
thing on quantum anomalies.

   Well...  what was done, was done.  She had to tell them.  Tell them what
they were in for.  Tell them about the place they'd be spending the rest of
their lives.

   May her father forgive her.

   "This is the planet Tanah."

   Writing the name next to her neatly drawn circle on the wall, she heard
Nona repeat it in their strange language.  Taking a deep breath, she went
on.

   "We are here, in the northern wastelands.  My people, the Orang...  We
are from here.  Were created by the Gods and put here, so the stories go.
Put here in paradise.  Not HERE, in the land of endless snow, but the rest
of Tanah, the forests, the lakes, home..." She paused.  Not so much to let
the translation catch up, but to get a hold of herself.  Just the thought
of home, family...  maybe if she kept her back to these creatures, she
could think.

   "There...  there are many, many worlds." That's it, she thought.  Treat
this like they were children.  "Many species and many cultures on many
worlds.  Some have banded together, work together.  Some have spread out
and conquered.  Others keep to themselves, or hide.  As you see among the
animals and creatures of any forest, so the galaxy is no different.  We who
travel among the stars find our own niche, our place in the evolutionary
ecosystem...  or we die." Daium could hear Nona have problems with a couple
of those words, but she pressed on.  "My people, as of this week...  have
died."

   "WHAT?!?"

   Nona's cry of surprise was ignored.  Still facing the white writing
board, Daium hung her head.

   "We...  we went, we did, what we shouldn't have.  We went against what
nature said we should, what our role was in the universe of life.  And...
we are paying."

   She could feel it coming.  The sorrow.  Last night, she had cried
herself to sleep, her father dead in the other room.  She thought she could
get away with just that.  An hour's grief, then get on with life.  With
what had to be done.  But, no.  She wanted Dad.  And Mom.  And her sister.
Where was Sumi?  Was she even still in this world?

   "We...  They attacked.  Showed us our place, how little we mattered. 
And, I can't blame them.  We would have done it too.  Would have, were
GOING to if what Father said was true.  But, they came first...  oh,
forgive us..."

   Daium fell to her knees.  The tears came.  It was gone.  All gone.  The
Forest of the Ancestors.  The City of Light.  The Orang...

   The universe had spoken.  The Orang were not needed.

   She felt hands on her shoulders.  Felt her body being turned, her head
brought to rest against soft fabric covering a beating heart.  Brown arms
wrapped around her.  A voice...  she didn't understand a syllable of that
voice, but it spoke to her soul.

   It's name was Justin.

   ****

   Alicia watched as Justin held the crying fur ball on the floor.

   None of this made sense.  None of it.  And, she didn't want it to make
sense.  She wanted it to be a dream.  A fantasy.  As Jesus was her savior,
all she wanted was to wake up and be home with her parents.  And Daren. 
Beautiful, hunky Daren...  if this was a dream, why couldn't he be here
with her?  Even more so if this was real!  He'd know what to do.  He'd know
how to save them...

   But, instead, she had...  well, Chuck was OK.  As a friend, although not
more.  He made her laugh, and was easy to talk to, but that was it.  And
Anthony was funny.  As for everyone else...  they didn't like her.  She
knew that.  They thought, because she was blond, that she was dumb.  That
because of her scar, she was ugly.  They hadn't seen her with all her
makeup on: you could barely see it then, and she looked smoking hot when
she put her mind to it.  And, damn it, she wasn't dumb!  She could think!
Just because she didn't CARE much of the time, didn't mean she couldn't do
all they could do (if not more) when she wanted to.

   Take now, for example.  She wanted to go home.  Nothing was more
important.  If, as this thing had said, they were on some planet far from
Earth, how would they get home?  With a ship.  This creature had come here,
with her father, fleeing war.  How do you flee a planet at war?

   "Nona...  ask her if she has a space ship."

   It came out of her quiet, cold.  Chuck shot her a glance, proof that the
whining slut Melinda couldn't hold his attention when Alicia wanted it. 
Not that Alicia cared.  The rest of the room was still focused on the
crying monkey, so, pushing back her chair and standing, she tried again.

   "Nona, ask Daium if she and her father came up here because they have a
spaceship."

   Anthony cast a disapproving glance at her.

   "Later, please."

   "No, Anthony, now.  We don't have much time."

   "What the hell are you talking about?"

   "Is no one here thinking but me?" She closed her eyes.  God, they could
be so stupid, distracted by some crying pet.  "Look, evil people came last
night and killed her dad, right?  They were looking for something.  And
didn't find it." Her eyes opened, catching Anthony's.  "Don't you think
they'll be back?  Don't you think they'll come, tear that house apart, look
around the area...  and see our little store here?  Don't you think we
should probably try and HIDE, or FLEE?  Wouldn't that be GOOD?  God!" She
pound on the table, now the center of everyone's attention.  Even the chimp
was staring at her, all four eyes wide in surprise.  "If the two of them
came here to flee, or fight back, or whatever, then what she's hiding is
probably something we need!  Let's find out!"

   In the silence that followed, she saw Nona drop to one knee and begin to
whisper to Daium.  Good.  Tell her.  Alicia watched the alien's reaction.
Her four eyes widened...  then closed.  Her head dropped...  and she
nodded, slowly, as if it took all her will.  Justin, still holding her, put
a hand on the back of her head and began to pet Daium.  Alicia turned to
Anthony.

   "Looks like I was right."

   ****

   "Mother fucker..."

   Anthony just stared.  They had landed on top of it.  Literally.  Well,
maybe a bit to the side, but, damn it, no wonder Daium couldn't believe her
eyes when she saw the store.  Her secret spaceship was right under it!  She
probably had given them power in the hope they could then fly off and leave
her in peace!

   The hidden elevator shaft had popped up from under the snow not five
feet from the power outlet now connected to the store.  All nine of them
had fit in it easily, the car having probably been designed for cargo.  It
had no walls or railing, either, which made the short trip down very
memorable.  Alicia had clung to him, a feeling he had enjoyed even as
Hannah rolled her eyes.  Hey, if they were going to start a human colony a
billion light years from Earth, the DNA from the three males would have to
be spread around a bit.

   Yeah, right.  Keep dreaming.

   After maybe twenty feet of dirt and rock, the view in front of them
opened up, and there she was.  A space ship.  Not even thirty feet away. 
Fucking cool.

   Now, naturally, all of them had seen space ships.  Humans had been
making them for over half a century.  But, Anthony had to admit, this was
something else.  For one thing, it was big.  Easily longer than a football
stadium, and he doubted all of it was engines like the largest Earth ones.
As the elevator came to a stop at the walkway running level with the middle
of the ship, he tried to take it all in.

   The front was a sphere.  Recalling the house, (and had it only been this
morning when they had seen that?), these aliens obviously liked their
spheres and domes.  Maybe forty feet in diameter, it was as smooth as
glass, the color reminding him of nothing so much as wood from a cherry
tree.  Stretching out behind this was...  well, it almost looked like half
an egg on its side.  The flat oval upper surface stretched out easily three
hundred feet.  Behind that, another sphere, smaller than the one at this
end, with a number of smaller spheres attached to it.  It was as he was
trying to make out more detail on this apparent engine that he realized the
middle section actually WAS egg shaped: the upper half was a clear dome.

   Daium walked forward a few paces, then turned to face the intruders. 
She gestured, as if to say, "Well, there it is.  Now what?" She didn't look
happy.

   Anthony sighed.  Looking over her at the ship, he wondered the same
thing.  Now what?  Leave?  Abandon the store?  It had food, if nothing
else. The effort to unload all of it would be immense.  And, despite
Alicia's rather good points...  his gaze dropped back to Daium.  It wasn't
theirs.  They couldn't just take it, or even demand a ride.  He had morals,
damn it, at least outside the bedroom.  The people who had killed her
father had been, not the aliens now nuking the rest of the planet or
whatever was going on, but her own people.  Soldiers, or something, who
wanted the ship.  He, they, humans, were better than that.

   "Nona, tell her...  tell Daium that the ship is hers.  She can do what
she wants.  We won't take it."

   "Like hell!" Alicia practically spat it at him, scar a dark red on her
smooth white face.

   "Shut up and listen!  Daium, we are your friends.  Or, most of us want
to be." His harsh gaze silenced the angry blonde.  "We also want to go
home, to our families...  or, at least, where we can be safe.  If you can
fly your ship, and you were planning on leaving anyway...  please, let us
accompany you."

   She had been planning on leaving.  Anthony was sure about that.  She had
packed, after all.  Filled a backpack with the intention of never going
back to that house.  The culture was different enough that he wasn't going
to fault her for leaving her father there.  Hell, on a practical side,
moving him would tell the world there had been a survivor.

   ...Anthony had flipped him over.

   Fuck.

   The black furred girl's eyes bore into him, as she digested the
translation.  Her eyes flicked to Alicia...  then Anthony saw them slide
over to Justin.  She...  God damn it, if Anthony wasn't seeing her blush
looking at the kid.  Well.  This could be good or bad.  He hated dealing
with hormonal teens.

   Which, yes, meant he'd made a horrible career choice.

   Daium's eyes came back to meet his.  Slowly, she nodded, turning
slightly to Nona.

   "Nona, bagaimana anda berkata, 'ya'?"

   "Yes."

   Daium took a step forward, holding her right hand out, palm facing him.
Her other hand took his left, putting it up against hers.  Her skin was
unexpectedly smooth.

   "Yes, Anthony.  Yes."

   ****

   There was a tree in the ship.

   A tree.

   In the ship.

   On the bridge, no less.  Right there, going from the bottom of the
sphere up to the ceiling, a tree.  Trunk, branches, leaves, the works.

   Captain Picard would never have stood for that.

   Melinda just shook her head, eyes unable to focus anywhere else.  They'd
entered the bridge sphere through a hatch right in the middle, and found
themselves on a six foot wide walkway running all the way around the
circumference.  Various control panels with seats were set against the
wall, ringing that damned tree.  Over on her left, two sets of short
stairways, one up and one down, led to two doors.  It took a moment for her
to figure out that one must lead into the hull of the middle section, while
the other led to that large flat enclosed upper section.

   There was so much wasted space.  That was her main problem with it.  The
ship had this huge open sphere, and the only thing used was this ring?  It
made no sense!

   "Um," Chuck said, next to her, "why are there control panels on the
ceiling?"

   "What?" She looked up.  Well, God damn it...  there WERE control
stations of some sort up there.  All around!  Walking over to the edge of
the circular walkway, which thank the heavens DID have a railing, real wood
too, she looked down.  The lower sphere had various computer or whatever
stations as well!  What the hell!

   "Ha!" It was Tammy this time with the insight, grinning.  "It's gravity!
Or, no gravity!  Once this ship is in space, there's no gravity, so you can
float anywhere!"

   "What kind of sci fi ship doesn't have gravity?  I want my money back."
Chuck shook his head disgusted.  He paused, then looked over at Nona.

   "Can she fly this by herself?  There's an awful lot of places for a crew
to man."

   Daium listened to the question, pondered for a moment, then slowly
nodded at Chuck.

   "Yes." She paused, considered again, adjusted her glasses, then nodded a
bit more confidently.  "Ya.  Yes.  Yes."

   "She knows one word," Alicia muttered.  "Wonderful."

   Daium pulled Nona's head close to hers, the two whispering.  After a
moment their heads separated, Daium straightening her shoulders as her eyes
met Alicia's.

   "Bitch."

   That did it.  Seven humans collapsed in laughter, while the remaining
one raised her eyebrows and regarded her rival.  Daium returned the gaze.
Looking at the two through tears, Melinda could only shake her head.

   This was going to be interesting.

   ****

   "No, seriously, what do we do now?"

   Hannah stood close to Anthony, bodies touching in a way she still
couldn't rationalize in her mind.  She loved her husband, damn it, had
loved him through two years of marriage and at least a year before that. 
So, why had she suddenly jumped a coworker at the first opportunity?  Why
did she feel...  so at ease with this guy?  And why, more importantly, was
it only the thought of little Mary, and not Mark, that made her want to go
home?

   The tall, lanky, mustached twenty something put his arm around her.  She
knew he was with someone, too, although she thought that bond was only a
week or so old.  Hannah pressed closer to him, enjoying the feel of his
body heat.  She thought too much.

   They were standing next to a bridge console, watching as Daium sat in a
chair and put floor plans of the ship up on a screen.  There were no
computer monitors, per say, but instead the entire curved inner hull of the
bridge was one big touchscreen.  You could put your images anywhere.  The
ghost of Jobs would be proud, although he might not like the varnished wood
used for seemingly everything.  The ship, Daium had told them, had been a
hobby of her father's.  When done, he had planned to take the extended
family to the stars, living on their own for years at a time as they saw
the universe.  Thus, it was built to be beautiful and artful as well as
functional.  The house where they had found her was the same, a retreat
where they could stay while playing with the ship.  As for why her father
was building the ship way up here, away from everyone...  well, Daium had
not really wanted to question him about that.  She was sure he had his
reasons.

   "What I can't understand", Chuck was saying, leaning in close to the
image, "is the point of that upper dome.  What were you going to put
there?"

   "Bapa mahu taman."

   "Her father was going to put a garden up there."

   "Man," Alicia muttered, "they like trees."

   "I'm just curious as to how they'd grow in zero gravity," Nona replied.

   Hannah felt Anthony release her, stepping forward.  His face...  he
obviously had thought of something.  Dropping down to one knee next to
Daium's chair, he got her attention.

   "Daium.  Is there a way, maybe, that you could just move the entire
store into that part of the ship?"

   "You have GOT to be fucking kidding," Nona told him, face incredulous.
His eyes wandered up to hers, as Daium just looked at the two in confusion.

   "Just translate it, Nona.  Can we put the store here?" He pointed to the
upper dome.

   Hannah watched Daium's face as the request was relayed.  Her white fur
lined eyes widened, then darted down to the alien keyboard.  A second later
the image of the store was projected onto the wall, obviously from some
external security camera.  Alien measurements popped up all over the
picture.  Daium's long black fingers danced over the keys, calculations
scrolling up before them.  Her brows furrowed, glasses sliding a bit down
her nose.

   As suddenly as she had started, her fingers stopped their task.  One
raised to push her glasses back up, after which her whole body seemed to
shake.  Her head fell forward, the string of colored wood beads by her
right ear swinging down like a plumb line.

   "Bodoh." It came out soft.  "Bodoh.  Bodoh, bodoh, BODOH!" Daium's head
came up, falling backwards, mouth and eyes full of hysterical laughter.

   Amused, Anthony raised an eyebrow at her.

   "So, assuming 'bodoh' means something like 'stupid', is that a yes?"

   "Yes!"

   ****

   "No."

   "Come on, Chuck, why?"

   "Because Justin and I have this down, and Alicia needs your help up
front.  Just go, Melinda!"

   Justin kept his mouth shut.  He had never been one for getting involved
in the fights of others, mostly out of fear they'd turn on him.  He had
been small enough most of his life that even the weakest girl had a good
chance of thrashing him, and a few had.  Just one more thing that had added
bricks to the wall (Oh, the disbelief on his Dad's face when he caught
Justin listening to "white boy" music like Pink Floyd.  You'd have thought
he had just spit in the face of Chuck D).

   The two males had been tasked with, for want of a better word, wrapping
up the store.  There was no way, no matter how gentle Orang tech was, the
various bottles and cans were going to stay on store shelves through the
move.  Hell, beyond that, they weren't designed for zero g either.  So...
the two teens were using large rolls of clear plastic (or its alien
equivalent) to wrap up the shelves.  The Daium supplied wrap wasn't much
different than what was used to wrap the various pallets of product
delivered to the store, although thicker and more like a garbage bag.  The
girls were supposed to be doing other parts of the store.  But, naturally,
that meant Chuck would be out of his stalker's sight...

   Melinda...  looked like she had just been kicked.  Without another word,
she vanished.  Chuck just sighed.

   "No, before you ask, I don't know what the fuck is going on." Using the
knife Daium had given them, he cut the end of the roll and held the new
edge of the wrap as Justin quickly taped it up.  "Mind you, that's the case
with more things than just Melinda."

   "Hey, I'm not gonna press."

   "Thanks."

   They moved the upright roll over to the shelves on the other side of the
aisle.

   "So...  last night, did you and her...?"

   "Go boing boing?"

   "Well, I wasn't going to put it in such romantic terms..." He paused as
one of the small robots, a squat wood trimmed R2 unit for want of a better
description, rolled up to the base of the shelf and began attaching
brackets and fasteners to secure the unit to the floor.  "You know, if
these things don't hold, we're going to have these huge fucking shelves
floating around in here.  I'm not gonna like that."

   "Too bad.  I'm gonna make sure Anthony sends you in first."

   "Thanks..."

   ****

   Anthony pointed to the two cars parked on the side of the store.

   "Take those first, make sure they're fastened down somewhere out of the
way." Daium made a note in her hand held computer, as much like a Maple
encased iPad as anything else.  "Take that trailer, too.  It's not actually
attached to the store.  I'll lower the metal shutter."

   Nona relayed it, then put a hand to her forehead.

   "Anthony, I'm getting damned tired of translating.  I'm sorry.  Thinking
in Malay makes my brain hurt."

   He chuckled.

   "Well, once we get settled I'm sure she'll start picking up more
English. We outnumber her, so even without our famous English language bias
it just makes sense for her to learn our language.  I'm sure we'll start
picking up some words too."

   "I'll make sure I drop some for you."

   ****

   It was an incredible sight.

   The large doors over the spaceship hanger had opened, tons of snow
falling down on the ship as a result.  Staying safely on the bridge, they
had heard it banging against the hull, worse than the loudest Buffalo hail
storm.  Once the blizzard had stopped, the humans walked out of the ship to
watch the rest of the proceedings with their own eyes.  The clear dome over
the middle section had opened up, retracting into the lower hull itself. 
Large robotic cranes traveled up tracks onto the surface, gently grabbed
the store...  and began moving it.

   Naturally, the structure wasn't designed to be lifted.  Braces had been
added to the walls, and as soon as it was a couple feet off the ground an
army of small robots came tearing out of the pit to screw and glue supports
to the cement foundation and the building itself.  Within half an hour it
was like the bottom of the store had gained a second skin.  Gently, the
cranes moved the Bells first over the ship, letting their workplace
seemingly float before their eyes, then lowered it down.  It took ten
minutes to make the eighty foot trip, the whirl of motors echoing in the
cavern.

   With a thud...  it was done.

   ****

   "I have to agree, it does look incredibly stupid."

   "Oh, I don't know," Anthony replied, arm around Hannah, looking up at
the ship.  "Once we get it hooked up to power again, just picture the ship
flying through space with that red neon Bells sign lit up!  That's style,
that's what it is.  All the better spaceships will be copying us."

   "It's a good thing you're sexy, or nobody would listen to a word you
say."

   "Oh, don't I know it.  Speaking of which...  we'd better go check out
the office.  Make sure it survived the move..."

   ****

   Anthony's finger ran down her bare back, tracing her spine.  Hannah
shivered.  That touch...  much more so then the hard cock inside her, it
was that gentleness...  oh, God, what was she doing?

   She rose, raising her body off of him.  He was still as hard as when
they started, something she was in no way complaining about.  Mark had been
growing distant, becoming a five minute wonder.  Sitting up, she looked
down at her lover.  His eyes...  Anthony's eyes were not on her breasts, or
where they were joined.  They were on her face, on her own eyes.  His
hands, now that her back was unavailable, were tracing patterns on her
thighs.  Hannah raised herself up, slowly, until just the tip was still in
her, until just the head of his manhood connected them...  with a groan,
she lowered herself, beginning to ride him.  Up, down...  she could feel
her breasts bouncing.  She wanted him to touch them.  Not grab them, like
Mark did, but...

   Anthony's fingers gently cupped her breasts.  He let her own movements
rub her nipples against his palms.  She leaned forward, letting the
pressure increase, her own hands dropping to his chest to support herself.
God, she was going to come again.  She was going to come, and come, until
he finally released into her.  Until he...

   Until he made her feel wanted.

   ****

   They were lying on the office floor, the part not currently littered
with discarded clothing.  The rug, Hannah had to admit, was not the
softest. There was also the occasional nail sticking up a bit, one reason
she had rolled him over and gotten on top this time.  He, however, made a
nice mattress, feeling warm against her skin.  She shifted a bit, dragging
more of her left breast onto his chest.  An unseen hand slid up her thigh
and cupped and rubbed an ass cheek.

   "Why are we doing this?" she whispered.  She wasn't sure she wanted an
answer, but...

   "Probably something quantum."

   Her body began shaking, giggles more than laughter threatening to burst
from her uncontrollably.  She pressed her head into Anthony's shoulder, in
a losing effort to regain control.  After a few moments...  tears of
laughter became tears of grief.  His arms, strong, moved to pull her
closer. Hannah sobbed.

   "That's why," he whispered.  "Shh...  I'm here..."

   ****

   The room had probably been shaking for a few seconds before Anthony
noticed.  The contents of Lenny's desk, under the plastic sheet, had begun
to vibrate in the corner of his eye.  Hannah must have felt something too,
as her red eyes quickly lifted.  He could feel her half grabbing on to him
tighter, half pushing up to get a better look.

   "What is it?!?"

   The shaking increased, now accompanied by a slight pressure downwards.
Anthony's eyes shot open.

   "We're taking off!"

   ****

   "Duduk!!"

   "Everyone, sit down!!"

   Nona slammed herself into the nearest seat on the bridge.  It wasn't the
most comfortable thing, her ass and that of Daium's people obviously being
slightly different, but that was the least of her worries.  Her hand
grabbed blindly over her shoulder, looking for the strap she knew was
there. Her eyes were up on the wall over in front of Daium.  A vehicle.  A
vehicle, visible from a camera mounted somewhere outside Daium's house,
coming towards them.

   From their new friend's reaction, this was NOT good.

   "Where the hell are Anthony and Hannah?" Chuck's cry came as another
image showed Daium already had the ship starting to rise up from its
moorings.  Bringing the safety strap over her chest and slamming the end
into its mate by her thigh, she looked around and counted.  Everyone else
was here.

   "I saw them going into the store!" Tammy yelled, as the unfamiliar whine
of engines increased.  "They should be fine!"

   "Look!  More trucks!"

   They'd cleared the opening of the secret hanger.  The ship, now visible
to the world, increased its speed.  The first vehicle, a strange affair
with tank treads, had just reached the house when Daium cut the feed.  Nona
swung her head up to her...  only to have her eyes distracted by the most
beautiful sight in the universe.  The entire curved hull of the ship... 
had vanished.  All around them...  sky.  Sky...  moving from reddish blue
to black, from planet bound...  to space.

   "My God," Melinda whispered, "it's full of stars..."

   **** Chapter 5 ****

   The planet was burning.

   Justin could see that, out of the corner of his eye.  On the curved wall
at the back of the bridge, the planet Tanah was falling away from them. 
The acceleration, while not as bad as what he had seen US astronauts go
though, was still enough to limit how much he could turn his head.  Or, to
be more exact, how much he dared look.  What he saw, in those sideward
glances...  black clouds, covering most of a large land mass.  Huge glowing
sections where night fell across the dying planet.  The scope of it!  His
eyes returned to Daium.  Her gaze was squarely on the forward view.  She
knew...  and didn't want to.

   "God..." Tammy's voice came from somewhere behind him.  "Why would
someone do that?"

   "We did it," Chuck said, voice calm, sad.  "Humans.  America.  On a
smaller scale, but...  it's no different than the firebombing of Tokyo, or
using nukes.  The intent is the same." Justin disagreed slightly, as it
didn't seem like this was an attempt to force a surrender, but he was way
ignorant of the politics of this.  A moment's reflection, sadly, told him
that to even consider something like this as political just proved Chuck's
point.

   "Do you think there're survivors?" Melinda's whisper was desperate for
some shred of hope.  Justin willed Chuck to lie.

   "Probably," the stocky boy said, once again proving Justin's faith in
him.  "Planets are big, and it sounds like they had some warning.  If
nothing else, I'm sure some escaped, like we're doing."

   Alicia's voice, shaken, came from his left.

   "Where is she taking us, Chuck?"

   "I don't care..."

   ****

   The force of the acceleration lessened, then ended.

   With a deep breath, Justin let himself relax.  Before them...  a
blackness he had never seen.  There were stars, yes, but he wondered if
they were really visible, or if the computer was putting them in.  How much
of the view was real, how much simulation?

   Did it matter?

   Such deep philosophical questions could wait.  Flexing his shoulders,
which were suddenly sore, he unbuckled and tossed the safety strap out of
his way.

   To his shock, it continued in the direction he threw it until fully
extended, then began to float slowly to the left.

   He was in space.

   Space.  Him.  In space.  Justin Boslon, son of Marc and Tracy.

   Slowly, still not believing it, despite the last twenty hours, Justin
grabbed the arms of his chair and began to push himself up while staying in
the sitting position.  It took effort, as he was moving mass if not weight
and wasn't the strongest teen, but slowly his butt left the seat.  Once his
arms were fully extended, he let go.

   He was floating, a half foot or more above the chair.

   "Heh...  hehe...Hahahahahaha!"

   He couldn't help it.  He was in fucking space!  The laughter just poured
out of him.  He felt his head lean back, his body starting to follow. 
Afraid for a split second he was about to spin uncontrollably, Justin
frantically grabbed at the chair, managing to get a hold of the back.  The
position of his body, legs now straight off to the side, floating in air,
caused another wave of laughter.

   Daium was looking at him, amusement clear on her four eyed, alien face.
Grinning at the girl, Justin just shrugged and laughed again.  She grinned
back, unbuckling from her seat.  With a sudden, graceful movement, she
pushed off at an almost perfect forty-five degree angle up towards the
middle of the bridge.  His mouth dropped in appreciation, as she came to a
perfect landing on one of the large tree branches over his head.  It
dropped even further when he realized his view now was right up her green
skirt.  She had panties, or the alien equivalent, a bit lighter in color
than the skirt.  Justin's eyes quickly went to the much safer ground of her
face, but on the way they lingered a bit at the woven cups covering her
breasts.  When he reached her eyes, they were regarding him with...  was it
nervousness?  Almost without thinking, and certainly without paying
attention to the zero g antics of his fellow humans on the bridge, Justin
got his feet under him and pushed off from the chair towards a point near
Daium.  He came in a little fast, but still managed to stop himself without
too much trouble.  He copied Daium, wrapping his legs around the branch,
facing her.

   They sat, talking silently with their eyes, ignoring the world.

   ****

   "Gah!  Coming through!"

   Alicia found herself flying head first towards Justin and the chimp at
much too fast a speed.  This, she thought to herself, tensing at the
approaching collision, was what happens when you try and show off at
something you're not good at.  Melinda had been spinning in air, taking to
space like she was born there (this, actually, would explain much about the
homely geek), so NATURALLY Alicia felt she had to do something to top that.
Flying seemed like a good start, so here she was.  Crashing.  That'll show
her.

   She expected the two to get out of her way, let her go slamming into
that big branch.  And, they DID move, separating a bit.  However, as she
approached each shot a hand out to grab at her, to try to both slow her and
change her course.  Justin managed to get her bare forearm, which she'd had
held out to cushion the blow.  Daium's arm managed to wrap around her body,
just under her breasts, stopping her forward momentum and knocking some of
the air out of her lungs (her dignity had already fled).  Her feet and legs
kept going, swinging around under her, lightly hitting the bottom of the
branch.  She hung there, in space, held by her two saviors.

   "Thanks, Justin."

   "Anytime." He let go of her, a slight blush visible on his brown face.
Or so she thought she saw.  He should blush, having touched her.  So, quite
frankly, should the other one.  Alicia looked down, where a long blackish
furred arm just touched the bottom of her breasts, then up into the four
eyes of Daium.  Those eyes were puzzled for a moment.  Alicia saw them
glance down, notice where her arm was, then shoot back up to meet hers.

   "Ah!  Maaf!" The creature released her, face now embarrassed.

   "That's OK," Alicia found herself saying, with more calmness than she
would have expected.  She grabbed the branch, floating between the two. 
This was the closest she'd been to Daium, and...  hell, maybe she was
starting to accept the alien a bit.

   Looking around the bridge, Alicia also had to admit that she was also
starting to accept this design, and Orang designs in general.  The tree
made perfect sense here, giving handholds in the middle of the sphere and
in general making the bridge more livable.  They'd have to see about
putting some out around the new home of the Bells.

   The sound of a door opening came from below.

   "Everyone OK?"

   Anthony floated in, followed by Hannah carrying two shopping bags.  They
looked a bit disheveled, leading Alicia to wonder what exactly they had
been doing, all alone.  The thought made her heart race a bit.  Chuck,
standing on the central walkway with both feet in foot holds most likely
made to be gripped by long toes, waved to them.

   "Oh, we're fine.  Did you guys manage OK?  Sorry about the lack of
warning."

   "Well, I'm sure you had reasons." He looked up as Justin launched
himself from next to Alicia and floated down a yard or two away from
Anthony.  He had managed to flip around and land on his feet.  "I see you
guys have been practicing.  Good."

   "How's the store?" Tammy came up next to Chuck, loose hair floating all
over the place.  She reached up to grab it, muttering.  "Looks like this is
going back into a ponytail."

   "The store is OK," Hannah said, arm around Anthony for balance.  "Lots
of dust floating around, inside and out, so we'll have to deal with that.
Oh, and..." Her eyes went hard, as she turned to regard Melinda.  "SOMEONE
forgot to cover the toilets."

   Melinda's hands shot up to cover her mouth.

   "Oh shit!"

   "Exactly.  Any volunteers to clean that up?"

   ****

   Luckily, they had robots for that.

   Daium activated the ship's complement of mechanical helpers, dubbed
"R2's" by the male humans, telling her shipmates that everything should be
better by morning.  She wasn't sure that was true, but this was her ship so
she kind of felt the need to project an aura of competence.  The idea of
letting them know how much of this was her Dad's design, and how little
comparably she had done, was kind of embarrassing.  Not that, really, she
should care what these aliens thought of her, but, still...

   A rumble in Daium's tummy, and comments from the humans about food, soon
had her leading them for the first time into the heart of the ship.  Going
through the bottom of the two doors on the bridge, or, at least, the one
closer to the roots of the tree now that 'up' and 'down' were no longer
absolute, they entered the gathering area.  Tables, chairs, video screens,
various entertainments.  She was relieved, never having taken the ship up
before, to see that everything was in fact secure.  Her dad always said;
never assume something works until after the tenth test.  She did like the
decorations he had put in here, a nice white wood paneling with dark brown
geometric patterns inlayed.  It reminded her of the family home, and the
living room she had spent so much time in.  Floating through an archway,
she showed them the kitchen.  Or, was it galley?  Tammy, looking around,
muttered something in their incomprehensible language.

   "Daium," Nona asked, drifting closer to her, "I assume all this stuff is
for cooking in zero gravity?  Do you know how to use it?"

   Her first instinct was to say, yes, of course!  It was her ship!  But,
looking at it again...

   "Um, maybe.  I can probably figure it out." She shrugged at her
translator.  "I'm not a good cook anyway." Making her way to one of the
three refrigerators, she opened it and pulled out a rambutan.  Ignoring the
looks of the others, she deftly peeled the red spiny skin and popped the
white fruit into her mouth.  Mmmm...  she needed that.  Getting down to the
seed, she debated whether she should just eat it, despite the rather bad
taste when uncooked, but decided to just be herself.  No need to act all
proper in front of her new companions.  Turning her head, she spit the seed
out.

   "Don't worry," she told Nona, "I'll grab it in a minute."

   ****

   Making sandwiches in space requires a certain skill.

   The entire concept of the construction of one, after all, is based on
the idea of the weight of each layer keeping the ingredients in place.  One
can put cheese on top of meat with a fairly good idea that it will in fact
stay there.  Without gravity, though, those assumptions and techniques fly
out the window.  Humans would have to create new food preparation skills
from scratch.

   Tammy's first attempt, after realizing the problem, was reasonably
successful.  Looking around the kitchen, with its alien utensils that were
somewhat similar to theirs (she'd have to raid the Bells kitchen utility
aisle later to bring in real supplies), she found a set of thin spikes that
attached to the counter.  By impaling the bread on it, then the meat and
such, she was able to create edible results.  Tomatoes were a bitch, as
only one slice in the middle of the bread could be attached this way, but
so be it.

   "I was really looking forward to a HOT meal," Melinda grumbled, taking
her sandwich spike.  Tammy sighted.

   "I know, me too.  But, it's gonna take time.  It's not like food is
going to stay in a frying pan.  Tomorrow I'll explore all this equipment
and see what I can do."

   She was looking forward to it, actually.  Tammy loved cooking, always
had, and the idea of being the first human to actually have to do this kind
of thing...  well, it excited her.

   "I should have paid more attention to that female cook NASA sent up to
the space station," Chuck said, shaking his head.  "She tried a bunch of
stuff, to see what worked and what didn't."

   OK, the second, but Tammy could be the first to actually do a good job.

   Anthony had his cellphone out, looking at it as he munched away at his
meal.  Crumbs floated away, which Daium said wasn't a problem so long as
most eating was done in this section.  They'd be filtered out of the air
rather quickly.

   "Would you guys believe it's already after 8 PM?"

   "Is that it?  I feel like it's been days already." Alicia shook her
head. She was floating, back to a wall, drinking a diet coke out of the
bottle with a straw.  The hole around the straw had been covered with some
plastic wrap, with mixed success, some of the drink still floating away.

   "Know what you mean." Anthony looked around.  "We probably should, after
Daium shows us around a bit, try and get some sleep.  Or, at least, get
some alone time.  I'm sure all of you have some music or books on your
phones to keep you entertained."

   "What about tomorrow?" Chuck asked.

   "Tomorrow, we try to finish moving in, learn about the ship, about
Daium, teach her about us...  hell, I don't know." He brought a hand up to
his forehead, then ran it through his hair.  "We'll worry about tomorrow
when it comes."

   "That's leadership," Alicia said, rather good naturedly.  Anthony
grinned up at the girl.

   "The best thirty thousand a year can get you!" His expression turned
more serious.  "Look, you're all adults.  If you have ideas, see problems,
feel free to speak up.  I won't pretend this is a democracy at the moment,
as for now we probably do need me to be the evil overlord, but if we're in
this for the long term..." Tammy's expression, along with all the others,
turned grim, "then we all have to be responsible, and take charge when
that's clearly the best option."

   "So," Chuck asked, "when we challenge you for leadership, should it be a
knife fight, or just poison you?"

   "Poison.  I don't like bleeding."

   ****

   This ship wasn't built for family excursions.  Chuck was certain of
that. It was much too big.

   The hatch from the gathering area led to a long hallway, running the
length of the central lower section (the solid part of the "egg", the store
now sitting in the domed upper half).  On either side were cabins, twenty a
side.  Given how much space that was in zero g, the ship could easily hold
over a hundred people!  Daium was being rather quiet about this.  Chuck let
it slide...  for now.  She showed them her room, decorated much the way the
one they had found her in.  Woven green reeds on the walls, with swirls of
flowers woven into them.  The bed was attached to both the floor and
ceiling by green vines at the four "corners" of the oval mattress.  She
told them she might end up just sleeping in a bag attached to the wall,
pointing out the built in hooks.

   At the end of the hall, the engine room.  The sphere at the back end of
the ship was the actual engine, and from here there were access tubes into
it.  Melinda dubbed them "Jefferies Tubes", for reasons he didn't feel like
asking about.  Apart from the tubes, the rest of the place was beyond him.
He had the feeling, though, that this would end up his part of the ship. 
Most of the others looked more frightened than interested in all the
controls and monitors.  He was going to school, or had been planning to at
least, for engineering.  Plus, he had worked on his junker of a car a bit.
That would probably be useful experience here...

   Running under the living space was the storage and robotic level,
filling the rest of the half-egg.  Here supplies, both food and equipment,
shared space with an incredible assortment of droids.  They were all
inhuman, running on wheels or treads, and even as they watched, a number
were being modified to fly through the air using fans.  His car repair
experience suddenly seemed more apt.  Daium replied to his question with
the interesting tidbit that at no time had her people even considered
making robots look like people.  That would just be...  wrong.

   It was almost 10 PM by the time the tour ended.  By the type of
coincidence they were becoming numb to, Daium's day was close enough to
that of Earth that their sleep patterns would match up.  Floating outside
Daium's cabin, they watched her open the door and stand in the doorway. 
She looked back at them, tired.

   "Malam yang baik."

   "Goodnight to you, too," Justin told her.  Her eyes seemed to go to him
for a moment...  then the cabin door closed.  Chuck looked around.

   "So, we just pick a cabin?"

   "I think so," Hannah replied, yawning.  "I don't think it makes much
difference, they're all about the same."

   "Just don't pick that one there," Anthony reminded them, pointing.  "It
would be rude to use her father's room right now."

   "What are we gonna do for clothes?" Alicia moaned.  "I am NOT wearing
these panties again!"

   "Don't wear any," Chuck replied, grinning.  Her eyes narrowed.

   "You'd like that."

   "So would any hetero male or gay female," Tammy told her.  She looked
down at her own outfit, the same white shirt and thin black pants as all
the others apart from Anthony.  "We can probably get these cleaned, but we
should also think about raiding any supplies and creating new, more
functional outfits.  What Daium wears is probably all we'll need."

   "Well," Justin told her, maybe a bit forcefully, "we're not stealing her
clothing."

   "There's a bunch of whites, aprons and such, in the bakery and meat
departments.  They can probably be made into stuff." Chuck looked around.
"Assuming one of you can sew."

   Nona laughed.

   "Maybe there's a sewing robot here."

   ****

   Chuck's room, in his mind, was definitely a "male" room.  The reeds on
the wall were a dark brown, as were the vines holding the bed.  Light came
from bulbs woven into those reeds.  The room was about ten feet wide,
fifteen feet long, and seven feet high.  Furnishings were sparse, just what
he assumed was a dresser with some drawers, and cabinets.  Looking around,
a wave of homesickness swept over him.  What he wouldn't give to see that
stupid lamp, with the faded porcelain cowboy body, he'd had since nursery
school.  Or the beat up desk, from that garage sale across the street.  His
mom, standing in the doorway, telling him to clean up this pigsty...

   The door opened, Melinda floating in.  Grabbing one of the bed supports,
he swung himself around to face her as the door closed behind her.

   "Can't find your room, Melinda?"

   She bit her lip, eyes not meeting his.

   He sighed.

   "Melinda...  I need some time alone.  You've been hanging on me all
day." The gaze that came up to meet him...

   Chuck gave in, opening his arms.

   "Come here..."

   ****

   Justin floated in the darkness.

   In his head, the music of Pink Floyd softly echoed, weaving between one
thought after another.  He let it wash over him, into him.  He didn't know
how often he had listened to this album, in the year since discovering the
group, but never before had it...  meant so much.  It was home.  Earth.

   "Shine on..."

   He'd never see Roger Waters play.  Never see the new tour of The Wall.
He'd never hear that new Rush album.  Never read a new novel.  See a new
movie.  All he had was the contents of one iPod.  One flash drive with the
sum total of all the human culture left to him.  God, he did want to go
home after all...

   A soft flash of light played over his eyelids.  Cracking them open,
Justin saw it came from just over the door.  It came again, traveling
through the darkness up the ceiling and over his head.  Maybe it was some
sort of doorbell.  Well, he thought he could guess who would know such a
thing existed.  Floating over to the door, he hit the button.

   The hallway lights were dim, not blinding as he had expected.  Daium,
however, was there, floating in the doorway, still dressed as he had last
seen her.  She looked at him with an expression he couldn't place, a
nervousness.  He smiled what was probably a tired, confused smile.

   "Hey, Daium.  What's up?"

   Her eyes darted around, then settled on his face again.  One hand slowly
gestured at the dark cabin behind him.

   "Saya boleh memasuki?"

   "Wha...  oh, sure, come in." He moved aside, letting her enter.  As she
drifted past the doorframe, one hand went out and slightly turned the light
control.  They came up just enough to match the hallway, enough to see
comfortably without much adjustment for his eyes.  Closing the door after
her, Justin saw Daium come to a stop beside the bed, one hand holding a
vine as she sat in space.  Floyd still flowing through his ears, he went
over and sat in front of her, legs crossed mirroring her.

   Realizing the music wasn't going to help him deal with his new friend,
Justin took the white earbuds out of his ears and put a hand into his pants
pocket to turn the iPod off.  Daium looked at the earphones, questioningly.

   "Apa itu?"

   "What, these?" He caught them in his free hand, the other now holding
the iPod.  "They're for listening to music." Seeing her expression, he
laughed.  "Here, let me show you." Maneuvering a little closer, he took one
of the buds and slowly moved it towards her ear.  As it came closer...  her
eyes lit up.

   "Ah!"

   "That's music."

   "Mu-sic." She was trying the word out, rolling it around her mouth.  He
went to bring his hand back, only to have Daium gently take it and move it
back close to her ear.

   Justin could feel the blood rush to his face.  Her hand was warm, smooth
against his skin.  It was a hard smoothness, like the calluses his
grandfather had, yet nothing like that.  Her eyes, behind those glasses,
were locked on his.

   "Music", she repeated.  "Music."

   "Yes..." A thought came to him.  A daring thought.  Turning off the iPod
and letting go of it and the headphones, he stretched his fingers out and
touched the back of her ear.

   "Ear."

   Her breath caught.  Her own hand, slowly, came forward, mirroring his
touch.

   "Ear."

   Justin brought his other hand up, touching her other ear, fingers gently
caressing the lobe.

   "Ear-s.  Ears."

   "Ears..." He felt both her hands caressing his ears, the feeling almost
overwhelming him.  He'd never been touched before.  Never had a hand,
female or otherwise, make him feel like this.  Sliding his right hand up,
he briefly touched the string of beads tied there, then gently held some of
her fur between his finger.

   "Hair."

   "Hair."

   His hand slid back down the back of her head, her fur incredibly soft
and warm, then up to her cheek.  Daium's hand mirrored his.

   "Cheek."

   "Cheek."

   With a smile, one of his fingers slid over to her black nose.  It was
flat, hairless, with two nostril slits at the bottom.

   "Nose."

   She smiled too, touching his larger nose, sliding a finger up until it
touched the bridge of his glasses, then back down to the tip.  It paused
for a second, then moved down and touched his lip.  Her smile faded, as
Justin's own finger moved down to her pink mouth.

   "Lips," he whispered, softly running his finger around them.  She did
the same, her other hand going back to cup his cheek.

   "Lips.  Cheek."

   Justin placed his fingers back on her cheeks, then, slowly, ran them
down her neck, to her shoulders.  Daium shuddered, her own hands trembling
as they made their way down his neck.  His fingers stopped when they found
the braided cord that made up her suspenders/bra, hers when they reached
the collar of his dress shirt.  The two stared at each other, time
stopping. After an eternity...  Daium removed her hands from Justin,
brought them up to her own shoulders...  and undid two clasps.  The straps
came undone, but stayed in place for the moment.

   In a dream, Justin brought his own hands back and began unbuttoning his
shirt.  Her eyes followed every move, her breathing almost stopping.  The
last button done, he shrugged the shirt off and tossed it aside.  It
floated over towards the wall, joining the iPod.  Hands moving back to
Daium, Justin took hold of the straps and, seeing no objection, slowly
peeled them and her bra away.

   Her breasts, like the rest of her chest, were of white fur.  The hairs
were shorter, though, gradually decreasing in length until they vanished in
the center, replaced by light pink nipples.  Justin's hands, acting on
their own volition, gently dropped down into that white fur.  Pausing for a
moment, as they reached the swell of her mounds, his fingers began to trace
their outline.  A whimper came from Daium's throat, her own hands beginning
to rub his smooth, brown chest.  As his fingers completed one circuit
around her breasts, Justin began to spiral them inward.  She moaned again,
closing her two inner eyes for a moment, one of her hands moving to his
bare back and drawing Justin closer.  Fingers finally reaching those pink
nipples, Justin cupped both her breasts with his hands and ran a thumb over
the nubs.

   "Ah!"

   Daium pulled him against her, head buried in his neck.  He could feel
her entire body against him, trembling, as he continued to caress her
breasts.  Her breathing was coming quickly, hot air against his skin. 
Hearing her mumbling, he pressed his head even closer to hers.

   "Justin, Justin, yes, yes..." His heart was bursting.  Nuzzling against
her soft face, he whispered.

   "Daium...  lips..."

   Her head came up, eyes wet, mouth quivering.  Leaning over...

   Justin kissed her.

   ****

   A kiss.

   Her first kiss.

   Daium's heart was about to burst.  This creature.  This beautiful, brown
skinned creature...  She loved him.  Daium knew that.  Had known, all day.
It was fate.  The Gods.  The Ancients.  Or pure chance.

   She loved Justin.

   His lips were soft, wet.  They slid over hers, uncertain, questioning.
Daium slid a hand up his smooth, strong back into his curly hair, holding
his head in place.  She never wanted it to end.  Fingers rubbed her nipples
again, pleasure shooting throughout her body.  She wanted to mate.  Wanted
to be one with this male, wanted...

   The last vestige of her self-restraint came to the fore.  Both hands
quickly found themselves on his chest, and with great effort she pushed
them slightly apart.  Their lips separated, a line of liquid connecting
them for a moment, before vanishing.

   The human looked at her, those big brown eyes boring into her soul.  She
had to leave.  Now.  That she had been the one to come, the one to start
this, the one to WANT this, only made it more urgent to flee.  It would
happen.  She knew that.  She and Justin were destined for each other. 
Soon, they would bed down together, he would give her children.  They would
be one.  But...

   Not tonight.

   He seemed to understand.  Hands leaving her breasts, which ached for the
return of his touch, Justin caressed her cheeks.  He smiled.

   His smile was music.

   **** Chapter 6 ****

   Alicia floated down the corridor, yawning.

   She was never a morning person.  Or a noon person.  Hell, there were
times when late afternoons could be dicy.  But, she definitely wasn't into
mornings.  The getting up, the not falling back to sleep...  all too often
it seemed so pointless to her.  Especially when all it would get her was a
day going to various boring classes.  You'd think, now that there was none
of that, the teen would take the opportunity to sleep in.

   But, no.

   It was 7:20 AM human time, 7,13 H Orang time, and here she was, not just
up but dressed and on her way to breakfast.

   Dressed...  you could call it that, but she almost felt nude.  She had
worn less when swimming, barely, and sometimes she and her girlfriends had
hung around the house almost naked when nobody was around.  But, those were
special occasions.  Just wearing this, around people like Anthony and
Chuck...  well, to be honest, maybe she liked it.

   The previous day, they had gone through the Bells to see what fabric
they could scrounge.  Chuck had been right, there were a number of dirty
white aprons in the bakery and meat departments, as well as a few green
ones in produce.  For the most part the fabric was thick, rough.  NOT
something the women wanted rubbing against their skin all day.  A few of
the whites, though, had been of a thin, smooth cloth.  Looking over the
samples of this, Hannah had decided that since the ship was warm anyway
(getting rid of heat always being the main problem with space ships), they
had just enough of this fabric to create four sets of outfits per person,
so long as they were VERY skimpy.  Alicia currently sported a bikini
bottom, a piece of cut cloth with ties on the side, and a bra consisting of
two cups and braided straps.  Daium had suggested the braiding, to secure
up her good sized boobs so they weren't banging against things, and Alicia
had to admit so far it was working well.  Everything was kept out of the
way, not floating around randomly, there was no chafing, and, damn it, she
looked good.

   Actually, the only one who didn't look great in the new attire was
Chuck. His simple loincloth, a piece of fabric passed between his legs then
tied around his waist, did nothing to cover his slight chunkiness.  He
didn't seem to mind, though.  Having Melinda all over his body for the past
few days had probably done wonders for his self image.  And, really, he
didn't look that bad.  By now Alicia simply accepted his new look as the
way he was.

   Floating into what they were calling the "Commons", for reasons she was
unsure about but had no objection to, Alicia saw Tammy over in the kitchen.
Daium watched the woman with interest, one hand holding a well placed
handle.  Alicia floated over.

   "Morning."

   "Morning, Alicia."

   "Morning, Bitch."

   Alicia raised an eyebrow at the eight eyed fur ball.  It had been said
with such matter-of-factness, that she HAD to know what she was saying. 
The twinkle in those white fur rimmed eyes seemed to confirm that, as if
Daium was just waiting for Alicia to object.

   Well, maybe she wasn't going to.

   "And a good morning to you, too, Daium." She turned to look at Tammy. 
The older girl had taken over the cooking, moving into the kitchen the same
way Chuck and Melinda seemed to be moving into the engine/robot sections.
The microwave from the break room had been brought over and hooked into the
ship's power supply, Tammy currently nuking scrambled eggs.  Sausage, part
of the refrigerated meat that wouldn't take well to re-freezing so had to
be used up quickly, sat already cooked in a container attached to the
counter, next to a bunch of bananas tied to a hook.  "You seem to be
getting the hang of this."

   "Well," Tammy admitted, looking in at the eggs, "I'm cheating so far. 
Just nuking things is rather easy, and apart from adding some milk to the
eggs I'm not really mixing anything.  Dinner will be more of a challenge,
as I'm going to try to use some of the Orang cooking stuff." A hand reached
up to scratch under her left tit.  Alicia tried to ignore the movement.

   "Should we all be hiding behind blast shields when you do?"

   "Might be a good idea." She looked around.  "You the only one up?"

   "Justin on bridge." The two girls shot their eyes at Daium, then
exchanged a glance.  It wasn't that her English was improving every day. 
It was, rather, the way she said Justin's name.  There was no need to
interpret the meaning of that.  Tammy let out a sigh.

   "Well, breakfast is almost ready.  Those who sleep in will just have to
eat cold eggs."

   ****

   Anthony wished he had some idea of how to help Hannah.

   The mother of one was re-arranging the shrine in their bedroom.  Her one
physical photo of little Mary had been taped to the green reed wall,
surrounded by some pink plastic flowers she'd found in the store.  If there
was ever a way to print out the pictures on her phone, they'd add those as
well.  The stuffed yellow bunny, left in the back seat of her minivan, sat
below the picture, tied to the dresser and wearing a pink bib.  As Anthony
watched, Hannah took the rattle that had been taped to the wall and
repositioned it in the bunny's hand.  When he was a kid, Anthony was always
the kind to re-arrange the nativity set whenever he walked by during the
Christmas season.  Move the lambs onto the roof, put Joseph outside having
a smoke, and so on.  That part of him could see Hannah going over to touch
her only connection to her child every time they were in this room.

   And, who could blame her?

   "Ready for breakfast?"

   He could see her sigh, bare shoulders slumping.  She'd be OK, once they
joined the others.  Once there were things to do, distractions.  It was
only here, with him, that she let her loss overwhelm her.  So he could
rescue her, comfort her.

   He'd do anything for her.

   Anthony's mind had easily moved past thoughts of the redhead he had
started dating a week and a lifetime ago.  Georgia had been beautiful,
witty, everything he could want.  But, he knew she was safe and sound... 
back home.  There was no sense of loss at the idea of never seeing her
again.  Not when this creature was before him.

   Hannah turned, looking stunning in her white bikini.  As her head came
up, it was like a shadow vanished from her eyes.  She chuckled, looking
Anthony up and down.

   "I still think you should go with bikini briefs."

   "What, you don't like this?" He spun for her, showing off the loincloth
identical in style to Chuck and Justin's.

   "Oh, it IS you, don't get me wrong." She floated up to him, one hand
dropping down to rub the front of his outfit.  "I just wish it showed you
off a bit more." He put his arms around her, cupping that wonderful ass.

   "It's work enough fighting you off, and you want me placing temptation
in front of all the other women?  You're cruel, that's what you are..."

   "Hmm..." Leaning in, she kissed his neck.  "Now, what was that about
breakfast?"

   ****

   "So," Alicia mumbled, mouth full of sausage, "do we know yet where our
furry leader is taking us?"

   "Somewhere," Chuck offered, helpfully.

   "She's going to take us around the bridge, show us how to work, or at
least give us a feel for, the various stations." Justin took a sip of his
orange juice, pausing to once again admire the zero g compatible squeeze
bottle.  They'd found a whole cupboard full of them, although it was still
a bit tricky getting liquid into the bottles in the first place.  Noticing
Alicia was about to speak, he continued.  "Once we know how to read the
sensors and navigation screens, we'll know where we're going."

   "Can't she just tell us?  There's no reason for it to be a secret."
Alicia shifted her eyes to Daium, as did the others.  "If we're in this
together, then let's be in this together."

   Daium's eyes came up to meet hers.  The Orang seemed to consider the
matter, then sighed.  Letting go of her half eaten mangosteen, she adjusted
her glasses, looked around, and considered her words.

   "Before we...  leave this sun, we go...  meet others.  Maybe."

   "Others?" Anthony drifted a bit closer.  She nodded.

   "Orang.  Maybe.  Do not know."

   "Survivors," Melinda whispered.  Daium nodded, sadly.

   "Maybe."

   ****

   "Your English is really improving," Nona complemented Daium as they
watched the others half clean up, half goof off as they finished breakfast.
"It'll be better than my Malay soon."

   "Thank you." Daium smiled shyly at her interpreter.  Nona raised an
eyebrow.

   "I think I know WHY you're trying to learn so fast.  You really like
him, don't you?"

   There was no hint of embarrassment as Daium turned to look across the
room.  Her dark skinned friend stood out among the others, shorter and
thinner than everyone except Melinda.

   "Yes.  I...  I have never liked a male, before.  He is special."

   "That's one way to put it," Nona said a bit dryly.  She'd never thought
much of him, although exposure had been limited.  She cocked at eye at
Daium.  "Are there any special phrases you want to learn from me, so you
can talk to him later?"

   Daium thought for a moment, then nodded.

   "How do I tell him I want to mate?"

   ****

   "This," Nona told the gathered humans, "is the sensor and backup
navigation station." She motioned with her hand at the control panel Daium
currently floated in front of.  About three feet long, it was part
keyboard, part mass of colored buttons with various symbols.  There was
order, but not the grid system they were used too: swirls of colored
controls were more common, occasionally intertwining.  Looking at the
patterns, Alicia wondered if each color denoted a function, or a type of
sensor.  A trackball also sat on either side, as did braided fabric straps
that could be fastened behind your back to hold you close to the controls.
On the curved wall above, rectangles and circles of various data were
projected.  Taking her eyes away from the screens, Alicia looked down
below.

   "Is there any reason this thing is up on the ceiling?"

   They were up among the tree branches, although none were close enough to
be a danger to inattentive humans.  Two other stations were up this high,
spaced somewhat evenly around the bridge.  Anthony considered the
situation.

   "My guess," he said, "is that this thing is useless unless you're in
space.  So, there's no reason to have it where you can get to it if there's
gravity.  Apart from repair, that is.  There's probably a backup somewhere
down lower." Nona passed the guess on to Daium, who turned to grin at him.

   "Yes!  Good!"

   Anthony gave a playful smirk to Hannah.

   "I get a gold star today!"

   She rolled her eyes.

   "Boys."

   Alicia ignored them.  Looking closer at the displays, she caught a
change.  There was a circular pattern that seemed to be an attempt to show
various readings in three dimensions.  It had a color scale from light to
dark blue, and into that a small speck of green had momentarily appeared.
Placing a hand on Daium's shoulder, she pulled herself a bit closer.

   "What was that?"

   Daium's eyes shifted sideways, her expression otherwise unchanged. 
Alicia waited a second, then, a second green blip having come and gone at
the edge, she pointed.

   "There.  What's that?"

   "What's what?" Melinda asked, on the other side.  Her face scanned the
mass of unfamiliar data, eyes squinting behind her glasses.

   "Two blips, or one blip twice.  Weren't there a minute ago."

   Daium broke into a grin.

   "Good!  Good, good, Bitch!"

   "Is that your name now?" Chuck asked, grinning.  Alicia shrugged
irritably.

   "I'll wear it with pride.  Now, Cheetah, what the hell is that I'm
seeing?"

   Still grinning, Daium shifted her body to show one long black finger
pressing a purple button.  She released it, then put her other hand on
Alicia's bare arm.

   "Test!  Test, good eyes!  Alicia good!  Want job?"

   "Job"?  Alicia looked at the others, somewhat confused.  She didn't move
Daium's hand.  The touch was...  not unpleasant.

   "I think," Justin told her, "you're being offered the job of working the
sensors.  This may require a good eye to catch what the computer doesn't.
Hell, maybe their computers aren't that good in this area."

   "That makes no sense."

   "It's easier to gather the data than to interpret it," he said,
shrugging.  "We'll find out as we learn more.  Do you want the job?"

   She looked over the controls.  It didn't look that bad.  She'd always
been good at finding Waldo, so maybe she did have a talent for it.  A faint
wave rippling through a series of lines caught her eye.

   "Is that another test, Daium?" She pointed up above the Orang's head.

   Daium's head shot up, her sudden intake of breath sending a wave of
tension through the humans.  One hand went to the left trackball, as a
square of waveforms grew to crowd out all the other displays.  One wave was
isolated, rotated, compared...

   "Kakak!" Daium pushed herself backwards, using feet and hands, throwing
herself towards the tree.  Landing, she twisted and launched herself at
Justin.  "Sumi!  Sumi!" Daium plowed into him, arms and legs wrapping
around the teen as she kissed his face over and over, their bodies now
drifting into the wall.  "Sumi, Justin, Sumi!"

   Alicia raised an eyebrow at Nona.

   "Oh, Miss Interpreter."

   The Malaysian shook her head.

   "Kakak means sister, and Sumi sounds like a name, so..."

   Justin grabbed Daium's face by the sides, to stop the kissing for a
moment.

   "Daium!  You found your sister?" She just grinned, leaning in for kiss
on his mouth that needed no translation.

   Melinda looked at the lip locked pair, shaking her head in disbelief.

   "OK, I have NOT been paying enough attention lately."

   ****

   Nona's heart still stopped every time she stepped, or floated, from the
bridge into the dome.  You couldn't even see the clear shield above them.
Only the blackness of space, the stars, the universe...  and Bells.

   She didn't know if she'd ever get over the silliness of this.

   With Tammy floating ahead of her, Nona pulled herself along the
guideline towards the open side door into the store.  With fifty feet of
open space between the hatch and the supermarket, the inconvenience of
getting stuck off the ground with nothing to push off of had led Anthony to
run a rope not just to this side, but from the produce side door to an
emergency hatch into the engine module.  There was no need to take chances.

   Tammy reached the door, brought herself vertical, and waited.  Nona had
never paid much attention to the dirty blonde.  She was an office girl,
after all, older, and a quiet one.  Not the type to gossip with the
cashiers.  Nona had definitely not expected her body to be so well toned.
Her limbs were thin but well muscled, those of an athlete.  Her breasts
were small, true, but they fit her form perfectly.  Unruly hair back in its
traditional ponytail, she looked like a bikini clad track star...  who was
giving Nona an amused look over being stared at.

   Whoops.

   "So!" Nona reached the door, blushing as she brought herself up next to
Tammy.  "What was it you needed to get again?"

   The blonde chuckled.

   "Tampons.  We should probably get a bunch, just so you girls have them
ready." Turning, she pushed off through the bottle room and out into the
front of the store.

   The various robots had done a good job cleaning up, getting rid of the
dust and dirt from a building never meant to be in space.  Yesterday when
they had raided the place for food, clothing and the microwave, it had
still been a bit hard to breathe in places.  Today was much better. 
Relishing the feeling of flying, Nona maneuvered up to the tiled ceiling.
From here, she felt like a ghost, looking down on Tammy as she pushed off
of registers and displays on her way to feminine hygiene products.  There
was definitely an athletic grace to her movements...

   Shaking her head, Nona dropped down into the aisle next to Tammy.

   "So.  What brand do you prefer?"

   "I usually just get what's on sale.  Ah, these are a good price." She
grabbed a pack, tossing it in a cloth bag she had grabbed on her way
through the store.  She grabbed another of a smaller size, then some pads.
"If there's anything you prefer, grab it."

   With a slight blush, Nona grabbed a box off the bottom shelf and handed
it to her.  Tammy put it in the bag without examining it.  Nona appreciated
that.

   "So, anything else we should get while we're here?"

   Tammy chuckled, looking down towards the other end of the aisle.

   "We probably should start stocking up on pickles and diapers, given how
the others are acting."

   "What?"

   "Come on, girl, think!  I'm sure Hannah and Melinda are on the pill, but
you know that's wearing off as we speak.  We'll have babies within a year."

   "A year..." Nona closed her eyes.  A year.  Away from home for a year.
She had wanted to get away from her parents for a bit, but not like this...

   "I'm sorry..." She felt Tammy's hand on her bare shoulder.  Shaking her
head, Nona opened her eyes and forced a smile.

   "It's OK." She paused, thinking of something.  "Tammy...  you haven't
really told us much about yourself.  Or, at least I haven't heard much.  Do
you have family back home?"

   "No, not really." Tammy floated back a bit, coming up against the side
of the aisle.  "Haven't talked to my family in awhile anyway.  Plus," she
shrugged, "Beth dumped me a month ago, so I'm not with anyone..."

   Tammy paused, amusement creeping onto her face, and it took a moment for
Nona to realize the cause was the expression on her own face.  She
grimaced, shaking her head to clear it as one hand went to her forehead.

   "Gah!  Sorry!  I just did NOT expect that!" Her arms, reflexively, found
themselves crossed over her chest.  Tammy let out a half amused, half
disappointed sigh.

   "You have no problem being in front of the guys, but now you're afraid I
might look at you.  Nona, look..."

   "No!  That's not...!" She started to drop her arms, only to realize that
would expose her bikini clad breasts, which SHOULDN'T be a problem, but...

   "Look, I'm gay, not a pervert, OK?  I have lots of self control, believe
me.  The last thing I'm going to do is force myself on hetero girls."

   Nona dropped her arms, suddenly tired.

   "Please, I'm sorry.  I know.  But...  don't say I'm not even your type.
I feel bad enough now without having my ego crushed."

   Her eyes lifted, meeting Tammy's.  The older woman slowly shook her
head.

   "I'd never say that."

   ****

   Melinda watched Chuck struggling with the Engineering manual.  He had
the Orang computer tablet floating to his left, and the spiral notebook
with Nona's quick and dirty Malay-English dictionary to his right.  A third
notebook had his notes.  He had insisted, and she had quietly agreed, that
they had to start working these things out without having Daium and Nona
there all the time to explain and translate.  Those two were spread thin
enough as it was.  Eventually, they hoped to actually program English into
the computer system, but for now Chuck was seeing what he could do on his
own.

   The main problem, as Nona had explained it to Melinda, was that most
Malay tech words were actually English words modified for local
pronunciation.  These words weren't in the Orang vocabulary, nor any words
borrowed from Arabic or elsewhere on Earth.  It became a matter of guessing
and trial and error to work some of the more technical terms out, which is
where Chuck might actually do better.  He at least knew something about
physics and the like, having read far ahead of what he'd needed for high
school, or even the first few years of college.  His iPhone even had a
large number of downloaded college lectures, which she'd started listening
to.

   What help this would do, when dealing with a culture this advanced, was
questionable.

   "I think I'm about burned out for the day." Chuck put a hand on the
engine room wall and pushed, sending him back away from the evil books. 
Letting his body relax, his eyes closed.  Melinda grinned.  Bare feet
gathered under her, she slowly traveled on an intercept course.  Chuck's
body slowly turning, she came up against his bare back.  Arms going around
him, she pressed against his large, warm body.

   "Anything I can do?" she whispered.

   "A brain massage would be nice, although the skull opening procedure
might be annoying."

   She chuckled, rubbing her hands over his chest.  Light hairs were coming
in over a good chunk of it, and she enjoyed the feel of them.  They almost
tickled...

   "Melinda..."

   His voice...  was serious.  Her eyes widened a bit, as she bit her lip
and stilled her hands.  This wasn't good.  She felt him turning in her
arms, pushing off a bit to create some space.  She didn't want space
between them.  She wanted...

   Chuck's expression was one of tired exasperation.

   "Melinda...  you have to start giving me some room."

   "Wh-what?"

   His eyes closed.

   "Look, I like you.  I do.  But..."

   "No!"

   It came out of her as a shout.  Chuck's eyes shot open.  Yes, he should
look at her!  Melinda's mind was a mass of anger, fear.  Her hands went to
the sides of his head, not QUITE grabbing him, eyes boring into her man.

   "Don't you DARE say you 'like' me!  I know what comes after that.  Don't
you push me away now!  Please!  I'll do anything!  You know that!  Please!"
She knew she sounded like a psycho bitch.  Knew it, and knew it wasn't
helping.  It never helped.  Her mind went back to Trent, and Ricardo.  It
hadn't helped keep them.  But what else could she do!  Tears started
flowing.  What else could she do!  She didn't want to be alone...

   A hand touched her cheek.  It was gentle.  She wanted to think it was
loving.  She needed it to be loving.  Maybe she could pretend...

   "Melinda, I'm not asking you to go." Her tear filled eyes stared at him.
It was true.  She could see it in his face.

   "But..."

   "But you have to give me space.  I...  I am NOT the most social of
creatures, most of the time.  I need my alone time.  Smothering me WILL
drive me away.  I haven't said anything, as I know you need me, but...  if
you're going to share my cabin at night, you can't be with me all through
the day."

   He was serious.  He wasn't sending her away.  He...  he was setting the
terms!  Giving her boundaries!  She could handle boundaries.  Melinda's
hands dropped down, one caressing his cheek, with two days growth of
whiskers, while the other returned to his chest.

   "Will you keep me when the others come to you?"

   Chuck chuckled, eyebrow raised at her.

   "Excuse me?"

   "When Alicia, Tammy, or Nona realize they need someone, and they come to
you...  will you keep me?  I'm willing to share..." And she was.  She'd
thought about it.  Thought about what they would have to do, with only
three males and five, now six, females.  They would have to share, to keep
the peace.  Melinda could do that, so long as she knew Chuck would always
come back to her...

   "IF, and I do mean IF, it ever comes to that, then yes.  I won't push
you away, unless the normal things that push men and women apart come up
between us.  And, giving me some space will help prevent that."

   To prove the point, Chuck leaned in to kiss Melinda.  She whimpered as
his strong arms wrapped around her thin body.  She felt the ties on her top
being undone, then her panties pulled out from her body.  Her own hands
frantically dropped to his loin cloth, undoing them.  His cock sprang out,
already hard.  Strong hands grabbed her ass cheeks, maneuvering her body.
Feeling him against her entrance, she wrapped her legs around him and
forced herself down.  Groaning into each other's mouths, they slowly
thrust, the awkward movements sending them towards a wall.

   He was hers.  Her father had driven away four wives, and countless
girlfriends.  Melinda was going to keep her chosen man.  Keep him, however
she could.  She would never be alone...

   ****

   Dinner that night was steak.

   Not just steak, but mashed potatoes, rolls, corn on the cob, and
carrots. The steak was a bit more well done than Tammy liked it, but for a
first try she was very happy.  The Orang appliance she had tried was like a
sealed two sided grill, which let the juices either run off or stick around
and flavor the meal.  Given the species seemed to be vegetarian, their
equipment was surprisingly adaptable to meat.

   So much so, that if she found a book entitled "To Serve Man", she would
be the first one to flee.

   The nine sat at a large table bolted to the floor.  The chairs had seat
belts, making her feel like she was belted into a baby chair.  It also made
the meal feel more...  normal, something the others seemed to like as much
as she did.  The table also doubled as a video screen.  At the far end,
Anthony was looking at a display of the solar system.

   "So," he mumbled, swallowing his food before going on, "this supposed
meeting place is over here, out beyond the sixth and final planet." He
pointed with a fork.  "And just two more days to travel that far?  Damn,
this ship is fast."

   "Oh, it's faster than that," Chuck chimed in.  Tammy noticed his hair
was even more messed up than earlier.  Melinda must fuck him once an hour.
"The ship seems to have two engines, just like the ships in Star Trek. 
Right now we're using what Melinda calls the "impulse" engines, but once
we're out of the system we'll switch over to the "damn, Einstein was wrong"
engine."

   "Well," Justin chuckled, "he obviously wasn't furry enough."

   "Two days..." Hannah looked at the spot on the map.  "Then what?"

   "Then," Anthony glanced at their host, "I think Daium is reunited with
her family."

   Alicia looked at her with sad, envious eyes.

   "Lucky bitch..."

   **** Chapter 7 ****

   "Gentlemen, what are your intentions?...  I'd like to go home."

   Justin's arms wrapped tighter around Daium.  She felt warm, comforting.
On the wall, images of the crew of Apollo 13 trying to deal with
encroaching death, farther from home than man had ever been before. 
Actors, pretending to defy fate.

   Maybe this movie hadn't been such a great idea.

   Daium, sensing his mood, turned to rub her cheek against his.  The two
floated in the darkened Commons.  Around them, the others, taking in the
movie from home each in their own way.  Justin had thought it would be fun,
a way to pass the time.  Show Daium what Earth had been like, how they had
gone into space.  Now that she had figured out how to hook the conference
room DVD player into the ship, they'd raided the rental vending machine and
found this.  But...

   It was about people making it home.  People that weren't them.

   "Humans...  brave." She whispered it to him, her glasses reflecting
images recorded untold light years away.  He nodded.

   "Some of us.  Those who can't run away."

   ****

   Daium followed Justin into his cabin.  He wasn't surprised.  The last
few nights, they'd kissed, cuddled, talked.  Well, made noises at each
other.  What communication there was mostly consisted of the non-verbal
type.  The best kind, Justin had come to discover.  Closing the door behind
her, Daium dimmed the lights.

   "Listen to music, Justin?"

   "Sure." Going over to the iPod plugged into the wall, he scrolled
through the options.  He was so happy he'd splurged on something large
enough for almost his entire collection.  Poor Alicia, doomed to only have
8 gigs of bad pop music.  He was in a Genesis mood, he thought.  Early
Genesis.  Seeing the cover he wanted, Justin hit play.  A moment later, it
came through the speakers Daium had installed.

   ""Can you tell me where my country lies?" Said the unifaun to his true
love's eyes "It lies with me!" cried the Queen of Maybe For her
merchandise, he traded in his prize"

   Justin's eyes closed.  Head nodding slightly to the beat, he pushed off,
floating backwards towards the center of the room.  The fact he did not
fully understand the songs only seemed to add to their meaning.  There was
magic in the words, pulling him in.  If he opened his mind enough,
understanding would come...

   Soft fur pressed against his body.  Lips kissed his face, a small wet
tongue tentatively touching his skin.  Daium.  Justin's arms went around
her.  Eyes still closed, his mouth opened, inviting her in.  He could feel
her whimper into his mouth, could feel her body tremble against his. 
Justin ran his hands through that wonderful fur, up her bare back, down
over the smooth skin of her rear...

   He didn't feel any clothing.

   Opening his eyes, he looked up into her dark blackish brown ones.  Their
lips separating, she brought her black nose to touch his brown one.  Her
breath on his face was sweet, with a hint of fruit.

   "Daium?"

   One of her hands came up to caress his cheek, a gesture almost more
intimate then a kiss.  She almost seemed to be getting up the courage
for...

   "Justin, I...  love you."

   Time stopped.

   His mother had said she loved him.  Not of late, although she naturally
probably still did.  In his entire eighteen years on Earth, and now off it,
no one else had ever uttered those words.

   Even if he had heard them a thousand times, they would have meant
nothing compared to now.

   "Oh, Daium...  I...  I love you too..." His lips moved towards hers, but
she pulled back.  Justin may have been unfamiliar with love, but even so
this seemed odd.  She obviously saw the confusion in his face.  Smiling,
Daium pushed her body off of him.  As he had felt, gone was her clothing.
Bare breasts, white fur surrounding pink nipples.  The white fur of her
chest continued down, between her thighs...

   Daium, reaching the bed in the middle of the room, grabbed one of the
vine supports and swung herself onto it.  She landed on all fours, facing
away from him.  Hands gripping the side of the bed, she...  presented
herself to him.  Her skin was black, on her furless bottom, smooth cheeks.
In the middle, shining pink, like a beacon between her legs...  an opening.

   Her sex.

   Looking over her shoulder at him, Daium looked anxious.

   "Please, Justin...  I love you.  Mate with me..."

   If he allowed himself the luxury of thought, maybe he wouldn't.  For all
Daium was a person, her appearance was animal.  She was asking him to take
her like an animal.  He was a human, and humans shouldn't...

   Shouldn't what?  Love?

   He was Justin, and she was Daium.

   Justin's loincloth came off almost of its own free will.  He came up
behind her, eyes not on her sex but on her face.  It was beautiful,
loving...

   "Justin..."

   Hands grabbing her hips, he pulled himself down, kneeling behind her. 
His cock, hard, bumped against her opening.  It almost seemed to swell open
at his touch.  Her ankles shifted inwards, legs swinging over his to lock
him in place.

   He thrust.

   It was tight.  Hot.  Wet.  The angle was wrong.  He was bent downward,
the head of his shaft scraping against the top of her walls....  Her moan
was guttural, primal.  He felt himself responding the same way, hands
squeezing her body for leverage as he pulled himself part way out, only to
thrust in again.  The bed began swinging, her fingers and toes gripping it
with a force that could break bones.  He could feel his release coming
quickly.  He had done nothing since leaving Earth.  Not even the state of
frustration Daium had left him in the previous nights, had resulted in self
release.  Semen floating around his room had seemed an unattractive option.
Now...

   "Oh, God...  Daium!"

   He was her Mate.

   ****

   The two of them floated, her back pressed against him.  Justin was still
half hard inside her, held in place not just where they were joined but by
his hands gently playing with her breasts.  The sounds of Genesis still
filled the room.  Not music he would have thought romantic, before, but
now...

   "Tomorrow..."

   Daium's voice was soft.  He brought his head even closer, hands stopping
their teasing.

   "Tomorrow...  I will meet my sister alone...  You, all of you....  safer
here."

   "Will you be safe?"

   She was silent for a moment.

   "You...  you will be safer here, my Justin..."

   ****

   Alicia's first disappointment was that, despite years of seeing ads for
movies and TV shows she never herself got around to watching (because,
like, why?), you don't actually see other space ships in space.  Distances
being what they are, ships being as small as they are, if you can see it,
you're probably going to hit it.

   Her second disappointment was that Orang ships were boring.

   They were four hours from Daium's goal when the first ship was detected
by the sensors.  Alicia, up among the branches, forced herself to pause
mid-scolding of Chuck for looking up between her legs when her displays
began to show new information.  Squinting at the screen, it only took a
moment to decide it was time to call in help.

   "Daium?  What does it mean when I see lots of numbers and the image of a
bunch of circles?"

   "Ah!  Ship!"

   Daium, who had been over next to Anthony trying to explain the computer
database (Wikipedia this wasn't), launched herself up.  Grabbing branches
as needed, she quickly swung herself around and over to Alicia.  Somewhat
used to this by now, Alicia held out an arm for the Orang to grab as she
landed next to her.  Daium's furry body pressed against her for a moment,
warm, comforting.  As always, it confused her.  She wanted the creature to
back off, to give her room, yet...

   "There." She pointed, but Daium's eyes were already on the image.  A
black hand came up to adjust those strange four lens glasses, the other
reaching out in front of Alicia to start tapping keys.  She felt it brush
against her breast.  Once again, she surprised herself by not pulling back.
On the wall before her, and much larger on the wall down below, an image of
a ship obviously taken from reference files was displayed.  Like the one
they were in, it was comprised of mostly circles.  A spherical bridge,
slightly ovoid middle, and another sphere at the back.  Unlike their ship,
though, it had small spheres attached to the main body.

   "I'm going to assume those are some sort of weapons," Chuck commented
from below.  Alicia heard Daium sigh next to her, turning her head to look
down at the others.

   "Ship for war, yes.  Small."

   "Sentry," Anthony concluded.  "Daium, they obviously know we're here. 
Have they contacted us?" Alicia saw what were obviously incoming
transmissions.  Fingers moving quickly, Daium seemed to be sending replies.
In a moment green leafs appeared next to all the signals.

   "We may pass." Daium let out another sigh.  Eyes meeting Alicia's, she
gave the teen a tired smile.  "Forgive me for touching," she said, quietly.

   "It's OK."

   Eyes regarding her questioningly, Daium gently touched Alicia's hand...
then was gone, dropping down to the center of the bridge.

   Why was Alicia's heart beating so fast?

   ****

   "Daium, if something's wrong, tell us."

   Hannah had just left the bridge, Anthony's eyes on the hatch swinging
shut behind her.  The closer they came, to whatever was ahead, the more
nervous Daium seemed to get.  Now, he had to admit, turning off all the
lights in the Bells was probably a good idea, as attracting the notice of
warships was usually something to be avoided and their store WAS a strange
addition to most ships.  But, these were her people.  She should feel
safer, surrounded as they quickly were becoming by what was left of her
race.  Instead...

   One hand on the trunk of the bridge tree, Daium looked at Anthony.  He
couldn't read her.  He brought a hand up to his face.  It always helped him
think when he stroked his mustache or chin.  He had no idea why, and wasn't
about to waste time now considering the matter.  He was distracted by the
smoothness of his skin- Hannah had made him shave an hour ago, better to be
presentable for whatever was to come.  Chuck had done the same.  Anthony
wondered how Alicia would react if he asked if she had shaved for the
occasion...

   Justin caught Anthony's eye.  Nodding at the boy, Anthony gestured
towards Daium.  Maybe her boyfriend could get something out of her.

   "Daium...  please, tell us.  What's going to happen?"

   Her four eyes flickered up, expression becoming...  upset?  Whatever she
knew, it wasn't good.  Now Anthony was starting to worry.  He opened his
mouth to speak, pausing when Daium pushed herself off towards the station
they now knew controlled the ship's robot helpers.  Hands moving with their
usual speed, she remained silent.

   A hatch opened.  A small egg shaped R2 unit, four feet tall and two in
diameter, floated in.  Attached to its circumference...  handguns.

   "What the fuck..." Nona looked at Daium, unbelievingly.  "Weapons? 
Daium, why?!?"

   "Ours is not to question why," Chuck mumbled, coming up to the droid. 
Looking at Daium and getting a nod, he took one of the guns from its
holster.  It looked like a flintlock pistol with a clip, more than anything
else.  Wooden grip, smooth metal barrel and trigger.  Hand away from the
trigger, he took a peek inside and saw rifling in the barrel.  He turned to
Anthony.

   "I've shot rifles and shotguns, but not pistols.  You?"

   "Just paintball." He floated closer to Daium, grabbing on to the walkway
railing.  "Tell us."

   It took a moment, but finally her eyes met his.

   "I will go, alone.  Will be back.  Let NO ONE ELSE IN!" Her voice was
pleading.  She looked at Justin.  "Justin, Love, please!" Anthony watched
as the teen took her in his arms.  Well.  This wasn't good.  Something
wooden touched his right hand.  Taking the offered pistol, he looked down
at it.

   "I guess family reunions are the same all over the galaxy."

   ****

   It was like a bush in space.

   From a central collection of spheres, tubes ran out, split, branched out
again.  At the ultimate end of each branch, a spaceship docked.  Large,
small, almost all based on the same collection of spherical shapes.  Other
ships surrounded it, a screening force protecting this last collection of
Orang.

   "That's fucking weird," Alicia commented.  Daium, next to her, nodded.

   "It is new.  Not here before." She didn't look happy to see it.

   "It kind of," Chuck said, "reminds me of a Mulberry harbor." Melinda,
leaning against him as always, looked at him questioningly.

   "Mul-what?"

   "Mulberry harbor.  Artificial harbor they built for D-day.  Instead of
trying to capture a harbor, they just brought a pre-fabricated one across
the English Channel with them.  This looks like something similar: the
middle part travels to where they need a space station, then all those
walkways or whatever get attached.  Make it as big as you want."

   As it was when they first launched from Tanah, the walls of the bridge
now showed the view around them, as if they were floating in space. 
Floating in space with a big tree next to them.  Just like God intended. 
The ship slowly turned, bringing them closer to the end of one of the
branches.  They slowed.

   "Part of me just wants to jump the rest of the way," Tammy muttered. 
They could see what had to be the docking connection slowly coming closer,
an oval the same shape as the door on the bridge.  Closer...  they could
make out blinking lights around its edge, then...

   There was a clang.  The sound of connections being made.  The bridge
walls returned to their normal wood appearance.

   Daium, now dressed in what could only be described as a more formal
version of her usual attire (a plain dark green skirt, braided suspenders
and bra cups of a polished dark brown plant), slowly moved over to Justin.
She placed a hand on his cheek.

   "Wait.  Be safe."

   He nodded.  She kissed him once, gently, then pushed off from him
towards the hatch.

   Justin wondered if he'd ever see her again.

   ****

   Daium's mind was a mass of confusion.

   Why was she doing this?  Why was she here?  It was dangerous!  She had
not just herself to think of, now, but Justin!  And, with luck, their
unborn babies!  She had been unable to protect Dad, and now she brought her
lover into the heart of the storm?

   She was an idiot.

   Floating down the long tubes, using the flexible railings when needed,
she wondered what she hoped to find.  There were more ships than she had
expected.  Many more.  This was part of the fleet, obviously.  Many were
damaged.  Some of the ships also seemed to be refugee ships, or at least
civilian ones not caught up in the attack on Tanah, but...  why were they
HERE?  Why was SIS here?  She had to know.  Had to tell Sumi about Dad. 
She'd want to know.  Maybe sis could come with them.  They could be a
family again...

   As more tubes began to feed into hers, Daium started seeing other
Orangs. It was a shock, when the first, a brown furred soldier who could
just barely be an adult, came up past her.  He hadn't reacted, so it
thankfully must not have shown on her face.  Daium had to make them think
she came here like everyone else, on a ship with other Orangs.  She was
nothing special, nothing to take note of...

   Before she was ready, Daium found herself in the first gathering area.
So many people...  She pulled herself off to the side, not wanting to
continue before she adjusted.  Maybe her kind had a chance.  If this many
had survived, maybe they could start over, live on in peace.

   Maybe Dad hadn't died in vain.

   Cautiously moving into the space, the familiar sound of merchants
calling out their wares drifted to her ears.  She grinned.  Where there
were Orang, there were shops!  Maybe she had time to stop and buy
something. A gift for Justin, perhaps.  What would he like?  What do you
get a human?

   A ring.

   Nona had told her about rings.  How humans exchanged rings to signify
they were truly mated, and to signal to others that they were not
available. The very idea excited her.  She could buy two rings.  No.  She
could MAKE two rings!  Carve them out of wood!  Take some of the ship tree,
shape and smooth it, carve the sacred symbols of love into them...

   When her mind came back to the here and now, Daium noticed she had
drifted into the next part of the station.  All around, crews of various
ships talked, argued, consoled.  Somewhere, in this mass, was her sister.
She had seen Sumi's ship docked, had intercepted the signal that, while not
meant for her, indicated she was alive.  Daium would trust in fate to draw
them together.

   "Daium?!?"

   The shocked voice came from behind her.  Whirling, Daium sent a quick
thank you to the heavens for having such good timing.  There, before her,
with two of her lieutenants, was Captain Sumi.

   "Sumi!!!!"

   Daium jumped her sister, arms and legs wrapped around her older sibling
as she squeezed tight.  She could feel those around her staring, laughing,
but she didn't care.  Sumi was alive!!!

   "Sis!  Wha...  why are you here!"

   "I got away, Sumi!  I got away!" She hugged tighter, head on her
sister's shoulder.  She could feel the suspenders, bronze, symbol of her
sister's office, digging into her skin, but didn't care.  Nothing mattered
now!  They were together!

   "I...  see." Sumi's hands, slowly, came up to hold Daium.  It felt so
good, so right, to be held like this...  "Where's Dad, Daium?  Is he here?"

   "No..." She could feel the tears coming.  "Dad...  they killed him,
Sumi! They killed him!"

   There was silence for a moment.

   "How do you know?"

   "I was there!  They didn't know he wasn't alone!  They killed him and
left, and I got away!  Oh, Sumi, it was horrible!!!" She waited for her
sister's tears.  They'd cry together, grieve together...

   "The idiots.  I told them..."

   There was no grief in that voice.

   Something was wrong.  The hands...  the hands on Daium's back suddenly
weren't comforting.  She tried to think.

   "Told them what, sis?"

   "You know what Dad did, don't you, 'sis'."

   Daium pulled her head back, looking at Sumi in growing confusion and
worry.

   "He tried to stop the war.  What are you..."

   "HE TOLD THEM WE WERE COMING!!!"

   The room went silent.

   Daium was shoved back, as much by her sister's fury as by her arms. 
Strangers grabbed her from behind, unnoticed in her shock.  All four eyes
wide and murderous, Sumi grabbed Daium by the fur of her chest.

   "They came on us out of nowhere!  We didn't have a chance!  Butchered
us, then hit Tanah!  You helped him, didn't you?!?"

   "He tried to stop the war!  He TOLD everyone the Ludzie knew we were
coming!  You were supposed to call it off!" Sumi had to SEE, that Dad was
RIGHT!

   "You think that mattered!?!  They were going to hit us regardless!  You
two only made the genocide easier!"

   "No...." No.  It couldn't be.  Her eyes shot around the room franticly.
Every eye was full of hate.  Full of disdain.  Oh, God of the first Tree,
what had she...

   Her head jerked around back to her sister.

   "You're still going to hit their home world Dom, aren't you?  WHY!?"

   "Because they did it to us, that's why!  Damn it, at least Dad had some
smarts!  We hurt them, and they've had to pull every ship they have to go
after Tanah.  Dom is defenseless.  We hit them back, we can still win
this."

   They were insane.  Everyone was insane.  Dad was right.  The Orang had
gone wrong.  She couldn't think.  This...  all this...

   "Take her back to the Memusnahkan, then find out what ships have arrived
today and send out a squad.  I want her crew."

   "Sir."

   Daium felt herself pulled backwards.  Sumi gave her one, last, disgusted
look...  then turned away.

   **** Chapter 8 ****

   "I don't suppose any of you have figured out how to play cards in zero
gee yet?"

   Alicia's question, like most of her more snarky comments, just washed
over and around Justin without him taking much notice.  That was the key to
group harmony, he fully believed: just ignore things and don't take every
word personally.

   The kiss from the creature who had just left the ship, though....  he
took that more personally than anything in his existence so far.  Doing so
probably wasn't any more wise, in the greater scheme of things, but for now
there was nothing he could do.  Daium's love, and attention, was all. 
Tammy and the others, he could ignore.

   Chuck's humor, for whatever reason, was much more agreeable to him.

   "Should we practice with our neat-o new guns?  Get some apples, we'll
float them over Melina's head."

   "Hey!"

   "Don't worry, I never shoot a girlfriend the first month."

   This was the first time Justin had actually heard Chuck mention the
relationship that was so obviously going on.  Wanting to see the psycho
stalker's reaction, he turned in time to catch her face dissolve into an
expression of mindless adoration.  Yup.  He was so glad she hadn't focused
on him.

   "Well," Anthony sighed, "there's nothing more we can do until she gets
back." He looked over at the dirty blonde.  "What do you think, Tammy, time
for a quick lunch?" She mirrored his sigh.

   "Don't you mean, 'back to the kitchen, Wench'?"

   "'Bitch', yes.  You're not busty enough for a Wench."

   "Oh, you're gonna looove what I make for you today..."

   Justin's eyes went back to the hatch as the others began making their
way off the bridge.  There was some conversation, but he ignored it. 
Didn't they know how serious things were...

   "Um, Justin..."

   Alicia's voice came from his left.  Great.

   "What?"

   "We need to talk, while Daium is gone."

   ****

   The two drifted into the central dome.

   Through the clear shell, Justin could see the space station looming all
around them.  The passage Daium had taken ran away from the ship, joined
quickly by other tubes, flowing inward towards the center.  Following their
path back out, he saw the docked spaceships.  The closest, dimly lit by the
distant sun, floated a few hundred feet above them.  It was large, dwarfing
their own.  Small shapes moved over its hull, congregating over patches of
skin, black and mangled.

   He felt exposed to the universe.  What better place for a private chat.

   Leaving the door to the bridge open, as much for the security of the
light as so they could hear Daium return, Justin turned to Alicia.  She had
floated a few feet away from the guide line, hand touching the wall.  Her
almost nude figure, partly in shadow before the stars...  well, Justin felt
his heterosexuality and human sexuality confirmed, in case he had any
doubts.

   "What do you want to say, Alicia?"

   She seemed to gather herself.  Still looking into space, she spoke.

   "You...  well, you and Daium.  You're a pair now, I suppose." There
wasn't disapproval in that voice.  He was glad of that.

   "Yes.  She...  well, we love each other."

   She turned to him.  Her smile...  was sad.

   "Did you have anyone back home?"

   He looked at her, uncertain of where this was going.  She knew he didn't
date.

   "No."

   "I did.  Do.  Did." She let out a sigh, hand brushing back and forth
against the smooth wall.  "Darin.  I...  well, I love him.  Thought I
loved. You know what I mean."

   He didn't but nodded anyway.  At some point, she'd get to the point. 
Looking into his face, and obviously not seeing what she hoped, she changed
subjects.

   "Do you read comics, Justin?"

   Well, THAT came out of nowhere.

   "Some..."

   "I don't.  Well, I've read some romance manga that friends showed me. 
They were OK, although the guys looked a bit too girly for me.  Anyway, my
older cousin reads them.  He showed me a couple once, when we were bored.
One I remember was this 'furry one'...  kind of appropriate, which is
probably why I remembered it." She laughed, laughter trailing off when
Justin kept silent.  "Anyway.  It was called something like Sharon the
Panda, or Shanda the Panda, or something.  It was about this woman who ran
a movie theater.  A new guy came to town, and the two of them really hit it
off, fell in love.  The usual.  But, her girlfriend, a lesbian, well, it
turned out SHE loved Shanda too!  She and the guy hated each other,
naturally, competing for the same girl.  Shanda, though, well...  she
wanted both of them.  If they wanted to be with her, and make her happy...
they had to deal with each other."

   Justin was now very confused.  Running a hand through his hair, he
stared at her.

   "And?"

   Alicia closed her eyes.

   "And...  I think I love Daium."

   Her eyes opened.  The two humans stared at each other.  Justin was at a
loss.  This...

   "...why?"

   Alicia hugged herself.

   "She touches me, Justin.  Her hand brushes against mine, and I feel
fire. A shoulder touches me, and I break out in goosebumps.  I..." She
shrugged.  "Darin didn't make me feel that way.  My first boyfriend did, in
sixth grade, but even that wasn't like this.  I can feel her eyes on me,
and I want....  does she talk about me, Justin?  Does she say anything
about me?"

   How could she ask questions, after putting him in no condition to think?
He shook his head, as much to clear it as to try and answer.

   "No!  Well, we don't talk, much, with words I mean, her vocabulary is
still limited unless she studies ahead of time, although she's learning
amazingly fast.  But...  you love her."

   Alicia's eyes were bright with tears.

   "Yes.  I don't want to, but...  well."

   Justin rubbed his eyes under his glasses, suddenly very tired.

   "And just when I had this whole alien relationship thing worked out. 
So, what do we do?"

   Alicia floated up to him, hand touching his bare shoulder.

   "We talk with her.  If she...  well, if she doesn't know what she's
doing to me, we get her to stop and break my heart quickly and move on.  I
can deal with that.  But..." her hand lightly ran up Justin's neck, ending
at his cheek, so reminiscent of his first night with Daium that his breath
caught.  "...  if there's something there, something she wants, then... 
the three of us...  come to an arrangement."

   ****

   Daium let the guards pull her limp body through the station.

   She deserved this.  Her sister was right.  What Dad did...  what she had
helped him do...  yes, he hadn't told her everything.  Had not filled her
in on the details of HOW he was trying to stop the war.  But, had she
asked?

   No.

   Maybe this is why Daium had come here, had searched for her sister.  For
she had doubted, had questioned, some of what Dad had said.  But, only to
herself.

   Now she had to answer for her crime.

   She paid no attention as soldiers and civilians parted around them.  The
world no longer existed.  All her mind could do was replay her sister's
words, over, and over...

   Her movement stopped.  Eyes closed, she noticed that.  Her mind attached
no meaning to the event, but the words it heard started to wake some sense
of self preservation.

   "Corporal.  What do you have here?"

   "Traitor.  Taking her back to the Memusnahkan."

   A strong hand grabbed Daium's head, lifting her face up by her hair. 
Opening her eyes...  she saw the towering figure of Commander Jeli.  Her
Uncle.

   ****

   Her eyes and his locked for what seemed like ages.  He was a tall Orang,
even for a male, towering even over the human Anthony, should the two ever
meet.  Bluish grey fur, well groomed.  Suspenders made of silver and gold
links, as was his belt, which held two holstered pistols.  He projected an
aura of strength, power...  and, as he shook his head at her, disgust.

   "What are Sumi's order's for her?"

   "Sir.  Take her to the Memusnahkan, lock her up, then locate her ship
and take the crew." Commander Jeli shifted his eyes to the two guards.

   "She knows we don't have time for this," Daium heard him mutter. 
Released, her head dropped back down.  Would she never be able to look one
of her own in the eye again?

   "Corporal, I'm going to approve your transfer.  Your partner, too."

   "Um, excuse me, Sir?"

   "I'm transferring you to my ship.  Go.  We leave in half an hour.  I'll
take charge of the prisoner."

   "Um, but, the Captain..."

   "The captain...  what?"

   There was humor in that voice.  A humor that contained all the joy its
speaker would get from having you flogged for disobeying a direct order,
and in fact wanted you to do so as it would liven up an otherwise dull
evening.  Daium felt herself suddenly released.

   "She'd understand fully, Sir!  Going now!"

   Large hands, somewhat gentler, took hold and pulled her along.  Behind
closed eyelids she sensed a change in the light around her.  Her back hit a
smooth wall.  Her Uncle's voice, full of disappointment, came to her.

   "Oh, for the Tree's sake, open your eyes."

   Daium did, raising her head.  They were in one of the docking tubes,
alone, for the moment.  Her Uncle's four eyes showed no happiness to see
her.

   "Uncle..."

   "Call me Commander, if you want to get out of this."

   "Commander...  Jeli." He nodded.

   "Better." Sighing, one of his large black hands went to her chin, gently
raising it up.  She felt like a child again, sitting on his lap as the
family gathered.  She had always been quieter than her siblings and
cousins, preferring a warm lap to snuggle in than running around playing.
His lap, when Dad was busy, had always been there for her...

   "Dad..."

   "I know, I know.  I don't forgive, mind you, but I know.  Success
absolves many crimes, failure demonizes them, and I'm sure you know where
on that spectrum you fall at the moment." His shoulders slumped a bit. 
"Why did you come here?"

   "Sis..."

   "Ah.  You always were more intelligent than you were smart.  Well,
what's done is done.  The question is, what do we do next."

   She said noting.  There was nothing to say.  His large hand moved to the
top of her head, petting it as he often had.  Daium closed her eyes.

   "You have a ship?" She nodded.  "A crew?" She nodded again.  When he
didn't speak again, she opened her eyes and looked up at him.  Her Uncle
was looking down the passage, thinking.  After a moment, she could see a
decision form.  His eyes once again met hers.

   "In half an hour, the two fleets leave.  I'm launching a combat jump to
Tanah, to distract and pin the enemy, while the rest jump to wipe out the
vermin on Dom.  I don't expect either to go well, but there's always hope."
Her eyes shut, momentarily, opening again when his hand began to put
pressure on her head.  "What civilian ships we've gathered will be sent out
to a rendezvous point.  Before we leave...  you, and your ship, will set
out in any other direction and never come in contact with the Orang again."

   Her eyes stayed on his, head held in his firm grip, as tears began to
flow.  Exile.  She was being exiled...

   Commander Jeli grabbed a communicator off his belt with his free hand.

   "Rinda, where are you?  OK, good.  I want you to grab your pack, if you
have time, and be at the end of dock 38 in five minutes.  Go." Hitting a
few more buttons, he spoke again.  "Lieutenant.  Rinda will be coming out
of the ship in a minute or two.  I want you to give her all the combat
packs you can load on her.  Actually, if there's one there, toss some on a
droid as well.  As much as you can, all the small arms you can and any data
chips.  This is a long term mission.  Go."

   Putting the device back on his belt, her Uncle looked down at the
totally confused Daium.

   "I'm sending my daughter Rinda with you.  You may not remember her. 
She's just out of the academy, but she's good.  I'm proud of her.  I'd give
you more people, but there's no time.  Take her, make her your military
officer.  Take your ship, and go.  As far from here as you can.  Cross the
universe if you have to.  Go, and...  start over."

   "Start...  over?"

   "We're done here." Looking back towards the interior of the station, the
distant babble of his race drifting towards them, he sighed.  "Even if we
survive this, which I doubt...  well, I'll do what has to be done with a
lighter heart if I knew there was another population of Orang out there. 
Take your ship, my daughter, and go breed.  The men and women of your crew
will form the seeds of a new branch of our race."

   Daium's eyes shot open.  First, in shock.  Then, half a moment later, at
the realization that a certain part of this plan wasn't going to work out
the way he expected.  Should she tell him?  Tell him that there were no
Orang males on her ship?  That the only babies that would be coming would
be either human, or (she hoped) human/orang half-breeds?  Have him send
some males?

   ...No.  No, she wouldn't tell him.  If he sent males, they'd insist that
she mate with them.  That she not be with Justin.  No.  She would never do
that.  Screw genetic purity.  Her eyes met his.

   "Yes, Sir."

   ****

   Rinda flew down the tube as fast as she could.

   Transferred.  He was transferring her.  Why, in the name of the first
Tree, would her father even consider such an act?  Had she not pleased him?
Had she not performed as well as, if not better, than any other crew
member? She hoped, prayed, that this wasn't just him trying to protect his
little girl.  She was no delicate flower, unsuited to the task ahead.  She
knew they would likely die.  That the jump back to Tanah, forcing a
deceleration so soon after accelerating, would drain all their power if not
in fact damage the engines.  They'd be stuck in orbit, outnumbered,
outgunned.

   It would be glorious.

   Only the fact she was being sent with so much combat gear gave her some
hope.  In addition to her own pack, luckily already set as she'd expected
them to abandon the ship during that hectic retreat, she wore one backpack
full of ammo and survival gear and carried two others.  Three pistol belts
were around her waist, with two automatic rifles slung around her
shoulders. Next to her, the rectangular droid carried a half dozen more
rifles and five more combat packs.  Maybe this was an infiltration mission.
Maybe she was being added to an attack squad!

   Maybe she'd get to kill some alien scum.

   Coming to the end of the passage, she saw her father, her Commander,
standing next to some woman.  She was dressed like some kind of nerdy
nature lover, all that carved wood.  Even her glasses and hair beads were
wood!  Motioning to the droid, Rinda grabbed the railing on the tunnel
wall, coming to a stop.  The droid halted beside her, front fans kicking in
to cancel its momentum.

   "Sorry I'm late, Commander." She was actually a minute early, but on
such jokes their relationship had been built.  Her father smiled, nodding
at her.  She could feel herself blush under her blue fur.

   "I forgive you, Private." He motioned to the woman next to him, who
straightened herself.  "This is Captain Daium.  I'm transferring you to her
ship, where you will be her military advisor.  You will obey her in all
matters as you would me.  More so, if possible." Rinda chuckled, memory of
past arguments flitting through her mind.  Her father looked at the
stranger...  no, not stranger.  Her Captain.  "Time is short.  Go." He held
out his hand, and, hesitantly, Captain Daium took it.

   "Goodbye, Sir."

   Her father turned to Rinda.  There...  there was sadness in his eyes. 
Why would there be sadness?

   "Goodbye, my daughter.  Be well."

   "Fight well, Dad."

   One large hand went to her head, rubbing it, as he had for as long as
she could remember.  They smile at each other...  then, he was gone,
pushing past her back to the ship.

   Well.  Her questions would have to wait until they met again.  Turning
to her new Captain, she saluted.

   "Private Rinda, reporting for duty.  Sir."

   The woman nodded.

   "I'm giving you a field promotion to Lieutenant, although we're not big
on rank on my ship.  Come on, there's not much time." She pushed off,
heading down the corridor.  Rinda and the droid followed.

   ****

   Rinda noticed they were traveling out around the edges of the station,
seemingly avoiding crowds.  Well, that was one way to travel faster, even
if the path was longer.  There also was less chance of some busybody
questioning why they were transporting guns, but given the general chaos
she could see even from here that also wasn't likely to be much of a
problem.  People were moving back to their ships.  Everyone was focused on
their own problems, their own future.

   What was hers?

   The hatch to the ship was quickly approaching.  It was wood.  The god
damned hatch to her new ship looked like wood.  Now, obviously, it wasn't,
but why in the world would anyone want their spaceship to LOOK like wood?
What was the point?  So you could hide in the forest with your huge
spacecraft?  Captain Daium paused at the door, waiting.  As Rinda
approached, the Captain hit the switch to open it.  Rinda and the droid
floated in without even slowing.

   A tree.

   There was a tree.  On the bridge.  A tree on the bridge of the
spaceship. A walkway ran around the circumference of the bridge, as was
usually the case, but a stupid tree filled the center!  Chest bumping
against the walkway railing, she grabbed it, stopping.  And the railing,
wood!  The curved walls of the bridge sphere, they looked wood too!  Oh,
whoever designed this ship was insane!  It wasn't a warship, that's for
certain!

   The hatch behind her closed, sealing.  The Captain went shooting past,
making for the navigation controls.  Where was the crew?  A ship this
size...

   "Daium!"

   The voice was strange.  Male, and yet...  looking to her left.  Rinda
found herself rearing back.

   There were aliens on the bridge.

   They were smooth.  Hairless, apart from their heads.  Their shape was
Orang, but horrible parodies of real beings.  Only two eyes, but they at
least had the right number of limbs and mouths.  Had she seen feathers,
Rinda probably would have shot them for being too like the Ludzie.  As it
was, her pistol was in her hand without her even willing it there.  Their
skin ranged from white to dark brown, hair from yellowish to black.

   "Captain!  What are they?!?"

   They turned to her.  Rinda saw surprise, but...  not fear.  One of the
creatures, seemingly female given the swell of breasts behind thin white
cups, with darker skin than all the others expect one and black hair
floating around her head like a halo, came forward with empty hands
stretched out.

   "Don't be afraid.  We're friends of Daium.  My name is Nona."

   "What are you doing here?!?"

   "You are on OUR ship," she replied, eyes narrowing.  The fact the
creature was in no way frightened to have a gun pointed at it began to
unnerve the young Orang.  The gun wavered in her hand.

   The walls suddenly went black.  Rinda's gaze whipped around the bridge.
All around her, she saw space!  The station, the ships at dock!  By the
Tree, no warship had this!  Where was she?!There was a jolt.  Swinging
around, she saw the docking tunnel backing away from them, or was it the
ship pulling away from the station?  It was them.  The view began
accelerating forward, Around her, she saw the strange creatures move to
various control stations, speaking strange words.  Daium spoke back to
them, in this strange tongue.  The dark skinned one, Nona, moved to Rinda's
side.

   "Don't be afraid," she repeated.  "All will be explained soon.  Are you
Daium's sister?"

   "What?  No!  Why would I be?  I'm Rinda, daughter of Commander Jeli.  He
transferred me to this ship, to be Military Advisor." She motioned to the
stockpile of weapons.  The alien's expression turned a bit disgusted.

   "I...  see.  Well, regardless, it looks like you're one of us now." She
held out her hand.  "Welcome."

   **** Chapter 9 ****

   From his position near the back, Anthony looked over the bridge.

   The newcomer, a very heavily armed addition to their group, still stood
next to the entrance.  She was blue.  Not that surprising, he supposed.  He
thought he had seen blue monkeys before, and naturally from now on the
people they met could look like anything that could be imagined, and a few
things that couldn't.  And, truth be told, they had expected Daium to
return with companions.  Her sister, most likely, although this didn't look
like it would be her.  Her weapon, now held not quite pointing at them,
looked similar to the one he had in his hand, out of sight behind a bank of
readouts.  Primitive in outward appearance, but reasonably modern with
regard to the clip and cartridge designs.  The rifles, though, would look
at home with any US Marine unit.

   Nona, pausing in her attempted calming of the girl (if she indeed was
female: it was hard to tell under all that equipment), looked back at him.

   "Her name's Rinda, and she's a bit confused about us."

   "Well, that's a welcomed change!  Usually we're the ones confused." The
girl's four eyes swung to look at Anthony.  He smiled.  She looked cute, in
a furry way, especially as the gun lowered more.  Her expression became
even more uncertain.  "Tell her to put her weapon away, and come over here.
Once Daium is done getting us the hell out of here, we'll fill her in."

   Eyes still locked on him, Rinda seemed to nod in agreement as Nona
passed on the message.  Slowly, she moved the gun back to her waist... 
dropping it back into its holster.

   Anthony let out an exaggerated sigh, putting his own gun in the holster
he'd stuck against the console a half hour ago.  He looked across the
bridge at Justin, now standing next to a very busy Daium.

   "Talk to me, Justin.  What is she doing?"

   "Plotting a course to take us away, using the...  well, 'warp' engines.
They haven't been tested yet."

   "Cool!" Melinda launched herself up to one of the lower tree branches,
landing on it like a monkey herself.  Anthony pictured her in a leopard
bikini instead of the white one, and liked the image.  The newcomer's eyes
also followed Melinda.  "Justin, make sure she doesn't leave the emergency
brake on!"

   "Ha!"

   Chuck turned to Hannah, Tammy and Anthony, expression apologetic.

   "Nerd humor, I assume.  I suggest we ignore it."

   "Already have," came Alicia's voice from the sensor station above them.

   "We weren't talking to you," Melinda yelled back.

   "We're such a happy crew," Anthony said cheerfully.  His eyes went back
to Rinda.  She had finished unloading her weapons and gear.  Her skirt,
unlike Daium's usual leaf and flower patterns, was a solid blue, a few
shades darker then her fur.  Her suspenders, and the attached bra, looked
to be a dull steel.  Couldn't be too comfortable, unless there was some
padding.  Still smiling at the Orang, he nodded and motioned for her to
come.  Expression uncertain, she pushed herself along the handrail towards
him, Nona just behind.

   There was a flash of light, almost blinding.  Instantly, the walls
returned to their wooden appearance.  Anthony's hands shot to his eyes,
rubbing as he saw stars behind his eyelids.  Realizing there was still a
stranger on the bridge who didn't trust them, he tried to open them.

   "Tell me that was supposed to happen..."

   "Sorry!" Daium's voice came from somewhere in front of him.  Blinking
rapidly, he saw her floating closer, expression worried and apologetic.

   "Next time," Alicia said, from above, "PLEASE turn the screens off
first! Jesus, that hurt!"

   "Sorry, sorry, sorry!  First time!"

   Shaking his head, Anthony finally cleared his vision, although his eyes
were still a bit watery.

   "Oh, that's OK.  What doesn't kill us, is just fucking annoying."

   "And the first time often hurts, anyway." Hannah blinked rapidly, then
opened her eyes wide as if stretching them.  Anthony chuckled.

   "If it hurts for a guy, he's REALLY doing something wrong." Daium came
to a stop in front of him, four eyes whirling with concern.  Taking a deep
breath, Anthony put a hand on her shoulder.  "Don't worry about it, Daium.
We'll survive.  Humans are strong." Seemingly as one, the two turned to
look at Rinda.  "And so are Orang.  I assume, Daium, you didn't tell her
what was going on?"

   She shook her head.

   "No..."

   "Well, why don't you two go talk for a bit.  Once she knows, meet us in
the Commons and we'll all introduce ourselves."

   ****

   The two Orang women floated in front of the store, looking up at the
large glowing BELLS sign.

   "So...  this thing just appeared in your back yard."

   Daium laughed.

   "Yup.  It just plopped down in the snow sometime in the middle of the
night."

   "That's...  incredible."

   "And stupid.  I knew nothing about it until I heard these strange voices
outside the house.  Next thing I know, these creatures are around me, and
one of them starts speaking our language." That, naturally, wasn't really
what happened.  However, there were some things Daium was willing to let be
forgotten.  History that is not passed on, does not exist, and she wanted
to start off on the right foot with this girl.  Truth and trust from now
on, but...  well, certain past actions and relationships were not really
important in the grand scheme of things.

   Rinda turned to her.

   "HOW do they know our language?  That's really bugging me, Captain.  It
seems so...  wrong."

   "From what they've said, there are dozens, hundreds of different
languages on their world, although a small number are used the most. 
Nona's parents are from a small country that speaks our language, and she
only knows it because it's all some of her relatives use."

   "It's still wrong..." Rinda ran a hand through the fur on her head. 
Daium just laughed.

   "One reason I'm learning their language.  Come on, I'll show you
inside."

   ****

   Rinda floated between two cash registers, trying to take it all in.  It
was so...  alien, and yet the same.  She could guess the function of just
about everything.  That shouldn't have surprised her, as she'd thought the
same thing when learning about alien species in school, but this was her
first time seeing one first hand.  What the fingers can touch, her father
had said, the mind can believe.  She ran her hand over plastic covered
booklets.

   "Why is everything wrapped?"

   "So it all doesn't float away.  This place wasn't built for space, after
all." Daium came up next to her, reaching over her shoulder to grab the
plastic.  An opening revealed itself, obviously cut into the wrapping. 
Daium reached in and pulled out a magazine, handing it to Rinda.  Opening
it, she saw color pictures of female aliens, many wearing not much more
clothing than the ones on the bridge.  Most of their breasts were bigger,
though.

   "Dad...  didn't know about your friends, did he?"

   She looked at Daium.  The Captain sighed, not meeting her eyes.

   "No.  No, he didn't."

   "There's no mission, is there."

   "Oh," the Captain chuckled, eyes turning to her as she adjusted her
glasses, "the Commander gave me a mission.  He told me to take my ship, and
you, and travel as far from the Orang home world and fleet as possible. 
Travel far way...  and set up a breeding colony."

   Rinda's jaw dropped.

   "Breeding colony."

   "Yup," Daium replied dryly.

   "My father, rushed me off of his ship on the brink of a life or death
battle...  to become breeding stock."

   "Yup."

   Her mouth opened again, then closed.  Something nagged at the back of
her mind...

   "But...  there's no males here."

   "Nope."

   "You..."

   "Had no desire to be bred like an animal by some soldiers picked out by
your father, no." The Captain almost spit out the words.  "So, I decided
not to mention certain details.  It's not like he asked about the
composition of my crew.  He didn't even check to see what the gender
balance was."

   "What is it?" Rinda, asked, curious.  "I can kind of tell the males from
the females, I think..."

   "Three males, five females.  The girls all wear something covering their
breasts."

   They floated, silently.  This was all too much for Rinda.  She was a
soldier, damn it.  Military life pleased her so much in part because of its
order, its routine.  There might be chaos around you, but you knew what to
do, were surrounded by others just like you.  She didn't belong here.  When
she saw her dad again...

   Rinda's eyes shot open.

   "You're not going back," she whispered.  Daium shook her head, sadly.

   "No.  Even if your father hadn't ordered it..." She looked out the large
glass windows, beyond which lay the dome and the blackness of space.  "It
wouldn't have been the right place for my friends, and...  I think, now, I
belong with them."

   "Great for you, but what about me, Captain?" Rinda couldn't keep the
bitterness out of her voice.  "Trapped away from our people, with no boys
around..."

   A smile flickered over the Captain's mouth.  Rinda's mouth once again
dropped open.

   "Oh, no, don't say it..." Daium gave a helpless shrug, smile widening.
"No!  You did NOT breed with one of those things!"

   Rinda suddenly found the Captain in her face, noses touching, strong
hands grabbing her by the suspenders.  She tried to back away, only to find
herself pressed against one of the plastic wrapped displays.

   "They are PEOPLE, Lieutenant, and you'd better remember that.  They're
as smart, as emotional, as us, and at the moment better liked by the
Captain.  You WILL treat them with respect, with courtesy, and will learn
their language.  Understood?"

   She did.  She understood as only three years of military training could
make her.

   "Yes, Sir..."

   ****

   "To new friends."

   Anthony raised his bottle of beer.  The others did the same, Daium
lifting a glass of some liquid none of the humans had dared try yet.  After
a moment's pause, the blue newcomer followed suit.  Her eyes darted
everywhere, obviously far from at ease.  Taking a sip of Canada's finest,
Anthony couldn't blame her.  Daium had told them about being drafted into
some stupid mission, and being unable to get out of bringing the girl
along. The fact that being here was probably saving her life let the humans
at least be quick to accept the situation.  Rinda, however...

   "OK, is it just me," Chuck asked, "or is there something fundamentally
wrong with drinking beer from a straw?" He put the Labbat Blue down in its
secure holder on the table, shaking his head.

   "If we made one of those beer hats, would that be more acceptable?"
Alicia smirked at him, taking another drink.  Chuck's eyes lit up.

   "Hey!  Could you?  That would make studying the ship much more fun!"

   Anthony held out a hand, forestalling more of that.

   "The beer's not going to last that long as it is.  Don't make me just
get rid of it to stop you guys from getting plastered."

   "I never had beer before this started," Nona commented, looking at the
label on her bottle.  "Never really saw the point."

   "Same here," Justin agreed, "although in my case it was just not getting
invited to parties."

   "We should have a party!" Melinda leaned forward, eyes excited.  "Lots
of beer!  Chips!  Music!  Dancing!"

   "Orgy!" Alicia laughed.  "Give us single gals a shot at the men!"

   "OK, Hannah, write that down," Anthony chuckled.  "Alicia's limit is one
bottle!" He saw Daium looking confused, understandably.  "Don't worry,
Daium, you're not missing much.  I wish I didn't understand them either."

   Things settled down once bellies were full.  Tammy had outdone herself
again, creating fresh scalloped potatoes, salad, and an assortment of fresh
vegetables.

   "The problem," she confided in Anthony, sitting next to her, "is that
too much of the boxed stuff on the shelves needs milk.  That'll all be gone
next week.  We've tossed a bunch in the freezer, but I'm not sure that'll
be useable.  We'll have to see."

   "Do what you have to.  At some point we'll have to move to all Orang
food, but the longer we can put that off the better." He sighed.  "If only
it had been spring, there'd be seeds in the store so we could try growing
stuff."

   "I'm saving all the seeds I can, but I doubt most of it will do
anything." She didn't look happy.  Hannah reached over and touched her
hand.

   "You're doing great, Tammy."

   Tammy's expression, looking down at those soft fingers on her skin,
saddened even more.

   "Thanks..."

   ****

   Daium, Rinda, and Nona floated in the middle of the bedroom chosen for
the new arrival.  Nona handed Rinda a spiral notebook.

   "I've been making a Malay...  I mean, Orang to English dictionary, so I
don't have to be everywhere doing all the translating.  We're slowly
working on getting the ship computer to use English, but that's taking
awhile.  If you need anything, I mean anything, just ask."

   Rinda nodded, flipping through the pages.  The words were written in a
neat, clear script.  Each letter was perfect.

   "English is spelled differently than it's pronounced in some cases,"
Nona went on, "or at least the rules can get complicated.  Just give it
your best shot, and don't get angry if you accidentally say something very
funny."

   "Thank you..." Rinda closed her eyes.  She was tired.  Somewhere, behind
them, her father was either dead, dying, or fighting.  Her mother, she
thought, was on one of the refugee ships: Dad had been a bit vague about
that.  Her friends, her comrades...  they were fighting without her.

   Two hands lightly touched her shoulders.  One human, one orang.  Opening
her eyes, she saw their expressions mirroring hers.  Daium's hand squeezed
her.

   "My sister is somewhere fighting, too.  I...  I'm sorry you had to be
here." Rinda just stared at her.

   "How did you know...?"

   She shrugged.

   "I'm the Captain."

   ****

   The movie that night was Titanic.

   Rinda watched, enthralled.  Nona sat next to her, quietly filling her in
on various plot points and quirks of humanity.  The ship...  she had never
seen such a vessel.  There were no oceans on Tanah, only rivers and small
lakes.  Nothing that required such a large water traveling craft.  And, the
designs!  The clothing on the aliens!  The hats!  It was so much to take
in!

   "This," she whispered to Nona, "is all true?"

   "The story, yes, the ship, and what happens.  Some of the characters,
like the two in love, are made up, but most represent real people." That
boggled her mind the most.  Orang entertainment ran more to plays and video
recordings of such.  The idea of recreating reality in such detail... 
truly, these where aliens.

   The emotions, though...  those were fully Orang.  Rinda felt her whole
body tingle as the boy drew his picture of the girl.  She wanted to run her
hands through her hair, touch those places on herself not to be touched. 
Glancing over at Daium, she saw her and the dark skinned boy pressed
together, arms around each other as they floated side by side.  The two
other males also had females pressed against them.  As, on the screen
before them, two young humans mated, Rinda slid a hand between her legs.

   She didn't think anyone noticed.

   ****

   "He...  he died...."

   Rinda looked at Nona, still not willing to believe it.

   "He died.  He DIED!" Her eyes filled with water, white fur around them
turning dark grey.

   "So that she could live..." Nona's eyes also were full of tears.  She
didn't bother wiping them away.  They'd just be replaced by more.  Without
even thinking, she reached out and took the girl's hand.  Rinda squeezed.

   "So sad..."

   ****

   Nona opened the door for Rinda, then moved aside.

   "Like I said, if you need anything, just come get me.  My cabin is just
there." She pointed.  Her attention then went down the passage to Justin
and Daium, entering his cabin.  "You could also go to Daium, but I suspect
she's going to be busy again tonight."

   Rinda also looked at the Captain, agreeing.  What those two were doing
no longer seemed so evil.  These creatures, these humans, were...  she
looked at the woman next to her.  That smooth, light brown skin...  it
looked as soft as the softest fur.  Her hand had felt soft and warm in
hers. What would it be like, to touch one of these humans...

   The woman's expression became a bit confused, embarrassed.  Rinda
realized she had been staring.  Getting ahold of herself, she smiled.

   "Thank you, Nona."

   "You're welcome." She got a smile back, a smile she quite liked. 
Turning, Nona floated away.  Rinda couldn't help but memorize the look of
those curves.  You never really saw the curve of the hip on an Orang, under
all that fur...

   Shaking her head again, Rinda entered her room and closed the door.

   Her room.

   It wasn't yet.  There was nothing here that spoke of her.  The walls
were made of a light brown wood, woven branches.  Wood meant nothing to
her, unless part of the Tree.  She had not been raised to worship plants
themselves as Daium obviously had.  Ah, well.  If she had managed to make
her cabin on her Dad's ship her own, she could do it here as well.

   Going over to her pack, she began digging down into it.  She didn't have
much.  As a soldier, she hadn't needed much.  The military provides all. 
Well, no, it didn't, but she was new enough to not have accumulated gear
like those around her had.  She only had clothing, some grooming supplies,
and...

   Her hand closed on stuffed fabric.  A first tug did nothing, so with her
other hand she reached in and began removing clothing, tossing them
randomly into the room.  It was like an act of defiance against the last
three years.  At last, she had her treasure before her.  The doll, about
the length of her forearm, had bright orange fur.  Its eyes were blue,
staring back as if in reproach for leaving her trapped in there.  Her mom
had made the doll, back before she was even born.  Sitting on her chair,
belly swollen, she had taken needle to fabric, talking to her baby about
the doll forming in her hands.  Rinda had been born already in love with
the toy, and such bonds were not ones to be broken by something as trivial
as military service.

   "Oh, Dolly..." She stroked its fur.  The toy was old enough that no name
besides its description existed, the name she had first known it by.  Mom
was Mom, Dad was Dad, and Dolly was...

   With a sudden burst of tears, Rinda hugged Dolly to her chest.

   She wanted her Mommy.

   **** Chapter 10 ****

   Hannah and Anthony floated above Bells, lost in each other's pleasure.

   Slowly, Hannah kissed and nibbled on the tip of his cock.  It still
smelled and tasted of its recent visit inside her, and with eyes closed she
reveled in the pure sensuality of the moment.  That taste meant he had sent
his seed up into her while she was her most fertile.  She was smelling the
possible creation of their child.  The thought made her quiver...  his
lips, gently sucking the folds of her pussy while his mustache rubbed
around her magically, doubled, then redoubled that reaction.  No longer
content with just licking, she took all of him into her mouth.  Anthony
moaned into her sex.

   She hadn't been like this, before.  Been this...  free, sensual.  Was it
him, or was it...

   Opening her eyes, she pulled back, just the head remaining in her mouth,
and looked between his legs.  There, beyond, was the blackness of space. 
There were no stars, or galaxies.  Only streaks of color, coming, going. 
Exactly how they were traveling she wasn't sure, none of them were, but the
universe was flowing past as they went where no human had ever been. 
And... she wanted to bring new life into this.  Life from him.  The feeling
was primal, instinctual.  She wanted once again to feel life growing inside
her.

   She groaned again around his cock.  She could feel her orgasm building.
Somewhere she had heard that every release of pleasure helped egg and sperm
complete their own mating dance.  Hannah had no idea if it was true, but
shuddering she relished in the thought.  She began mentally chanting to the
racing sperm inside her.

   "Do it...  do it..."

   Releasing him from her mouth, it quickly turned into a scream of
pleasure, echoing throughout the universe.

   ****

   The two rested, Anthony spooned against her back.  He was back to half
hardness, resting between her soft, ample ass cheeks.  One arm around her
waist, his other hand playing with a breast.  Hannah half sighed, half
hummed.  She was happy.  Looking up into space, she wanted to be here
forever.

   "This," he said lightly, kissing her neck, "has been one of the best
dates I've ever been on."

   She laughed.  Her right hand went up to cover his hand on her left
breast, guiding it in its movements.

   "I'm surprised the sign worked."

   They had taped a "do not disturb" sign on the door leading from the
bridge to the dome.  Grabbing one of the floating droids Daium had finally
programmed to understand English commands, the two lovers had proceeded to
enjoy an afternoon outing.  Once they were ready to go in, they'd call R2
over and have him drag them back down to some handholds.

   She was still in no hurry for that.

   Hannah felt him shift.  He was going to ask something, she thought. 
They now knew each other well enough that such knowledge was coming easier.
Gently rocking her hips against his hardness, she waited.

   "Hannah...  is it...  well, is it too soon for this to be something more
than what we've been pretending it is?" His free hand captured her left,
thumb rubbing her wedding ring.

   She shuddered.  Part of her still loved Mark.  She would always love
Mark.  He had given her little Mary, after all.  Her beautiful little
Mary...

   Anthony let go of her hand and hugged her against him.

   "I'm sorry.  I shouldn't have..."

   "No...  no...  you should.  You...  I'm going to have your baby,
sometime.  I WANT your babies.  And..."

   "I love you."

   He whispered it into her ear.  Tears, unbidden, began to fill her eyes.
She couldn't help it.  It was stupid.  She loved him.  Why couldn't she
just say it, just...  She felt herself being turned.  His face came into
view, lit by the faint light coming from the store under them.  His eyes...
they confirmed everything his mouth and body had been telling her.  He was
hers, if she was his.

   "We both know the truth," she whispered.  "How I feel.  Will...  will
you wait, until I can say it?"

   "Forever."

   Pulling her against his body, his lips drew the answer her voice
couldn't give.

   ****

   Chuck looked down at the mass of shapes, and their corresponding holes
in the alien machinery behind him.

   "I sense great frustration in the near future.

   The sound of flipping pages coming to his ears, with a chuckle he looked
up at Rinda.  The Orang was settled five feet away, three spiral notebooks
scattered in the air around her.  Expression showing great concentration,
she attempted to translate his words.  Smiling, Chuck decided to save her
the trouble.  Reaching over, he lightly touched her arm.  The warm soft
fur, as it always did, surprised him.  The color made him think of an old
stuffed animal, not a living, thinking creature.  With a start, she looked
up from her work, one page floating half flipped.

   "It's not worth it, Rinda." She looked at him, puzzled.

   "No?"

   "No.  Do not bother." Grabbing one of the books, he quickly flipped
through to the passage he wanted, turning it back to her and pointing. 
"Joke."

   A moment's pause, then she laughed.  It was a throaty laugh, deeper than
Daium's.  Looking at him, she smiled.

   "Thank...  you?"

   "Yes!  Got it!" He grinned back, her smile infectious.

   Chuck was really starting to like the girl.

   ****

   The idea, now that they had experience bridging the two cultures, was to
let Rinda float from human to human, getting to know each one, and the
ship, practicing her English.  There'd be no translator following her
around: Rinda had asked for this.  She knew she wasn't going to have an
easy time learning, and wanted the pressure of having to do it herself. 
That was what got her through the Academy, what she was used to.  Nona had
agreed quickly, relieved to no longer be just a translator.  Freed, she
began poking around the small medical lab, having always had thoughts of
medical school.  Melinda, Chuck's hints finally taking, was now spending
some time cooking with Tammy.  Thus, for the first time in ages, he was
alone in Engineering.

   Well, almost alone.

   Rinda came over, looking over his shoulder as Chuck pulled a long
slender box with prongs at the end out of the machine before him.  The two
considered it, looking occasionally at the schematic on the computer pad
next to them.

   "Any ideas?" Chuck glanced at her, amused.  Smiling she shrugged.

   "No."

   "Me either."

   The ship ran on two completely separate engines, both housed in the
large sphere that made up rear of the ship.  The first, which they were
calling "impulse" drive, worked the way most humans assumed an engine
worked.  Not in a way they could yet understand, mind you, but the general
idea at least made sense.  With it, you could travel at a reasonable
fraction of the speed of light, making travel within a solar system a
matter of days, or just a couple weeks depending.  As it was not being used
at the moment, Chuck had run an automated diagnostic on it and was
physically checking out the parts while he had the chance.  The droids
could, and probably mostly would, do what repairs and maintenance that were
needed.  Still, Chuck wasn't willing to put all his apples in that cart. 
Luckily, Daium had promised he couldn't actually hurt anything.

   The other engine, the one now in use, was a different beast.  He
couldn't begin to understand what it was doing, and Daium's attempts to
explain it were thwarted by the continued gaps in her vocabulary.  What
Chuck did know was how it affected the ship.  The "warp drive" allowed them
to travel amazing distances in rather short time spans.  They, somehow,
either phased to a slightly different plane of existence, or something
similar, first accelerating for half the trip then decelerating for the
second half.  This had several interesting consequences.  First, they were
perfectly safe while traveling.  No matter, or energy, could affect them
once the trip started.  They were seemingly isolated from the universe. 
Second, because of this there was no stopping or changing direction.  Once
a destination was set, that was it.  Only once they arrived could they do
anything.

   Another interesting bit was that long distances were easier than short
ones.  While you COULD warp from one planet to another in a system almost
instantly, the strain on your ship would be incredible.  Chuck thought of
it as jumping off a building to quickly gain speed, then hitting a cement
floor to stop.  Only warships, overbuilt to withstand "combat jumps", could
even think of attempting it.  Even trips of a lightyear or two could be
tricky, making it often easier to travel to a point 5 light years away then
back to the neighboring system than to jump directly.  The fact that trip
might only take you less than day made the delay more than reasonable.

   Their current course, set by Daium, took them 480 light years from
Tanah. They'd be there in another three weeks...

   Chuck, making a note in his book, slid the power regulator back, where
it settled into its socket next to a dozen almost identical units.  The
entire process, he thought, was reminding him of his old Electronics set.
His parents had given it to him at around age ten, with the hope he'd get a
big leg up when it came to computers.  He'd loved the thing, basically just
a board with lots of resisters and such attached.  By plugging wires in to
connect the various components, he had made doorbells, alarms, a radio, and
other fun things.  However...  he didn't learn squat.  Chuck just treated
it like a model or puzzle, following the instructions to get the thing to
work with no actually understanding of the underlying concepts.  The same
was true here: after a week and a half, he was getting a good idea of what
did what, but with no idea why.

   For now, he had no problem with that.

   Feeling a twinge, Chuck gave a tired groan and rotated his shoulders. 
He needed a break.  Looking over at his companion, he shook his head.

   "You're tiring me out, with your constant sitting there.  Have any
questions?"

   Understanding at least the last three words of that, she seemed to
consider it.  The differences he was noticing between her and Daium were
many, if also subtle.  Rinda was slightly more...  immature.  Not in a bad
way, but her emotions were a bit more pure.  Less tinged with shades of
grey.  Physically, while shorter she was more muscular.  Definitely
stronger than Melinda, and Chuck liked that.  Even with the fur, you could
see the curves of muscles, how they moved when she exerted herself.  Her
eyes, large and green, were...  well, beautiful.

   Not that it meant anything.

   Smiling, Rinda broke off her contemplation.

   "No.  No questions."

   "How are you going to learn if you don't ask questions?" He shook his
head.  "Well, back to work.  If you'd be so kind, pull that one out
there..."

   ****

   Tammy wished Melinda had come to spend time in the kitchen long ago.

   Already, after just two days, she'd completely changed things. 
Yesterday, for example.  Out of the blue, Melinda had asked if Tammy had
taken a look in the bakery freezer and cooler.  Actually, it wasn't out of
the blue: the last of the pre-baked bread had been used up, the rest now in
the main freezer to forestall the growth of mold.  This was the first Tammy
had heard of that department even having freezers and coolers.  She was an
office girl, after all!  So, that morning they'd taken a trip over to the
store to check it out.  Oh, the fun stuff in there!  Frozen pastry dough,
muffin batter, cookies...  none of it secured down, naturally, so it all
floated free.  Where lids hadn't been on tight, the air filled with
floating glop.  In the cooler, the biggest surprise was the one pound
bricks of moist yeast.  Tammy had never heard of such a thing!  They had
expiration dates, which meant that if they were going to bake bread they'd
have to figure out how to do it soon.  They had grabbed one, as well as a
fifty pound bag of flour and something called "bake crisp", and dragged
them through the ship into the kitchen.  All yesterday had been experiments
in how to deal with flour.

   It hadn't gone well.

   In the end, after much cleaning up, Hannah had come by and suggested
putting everything in a small sealed container to get the flour wet and
sticky, then using the mixer.  That worked.  They ended up with enough
dough for two pizzas, which after sitting overnight would be made for
tonight's dinner.

   Before then, however, Melinda had another insight.

   ****

   "I wish we didn't have to lose all this," Tammy moaned, as they floated
through what was left of the produce department.  "It's such a waste!"

   Around them, half empty bins of fruits and vegetables.  They had eaten
what they could, frozen what could be frozen.  Still, here and in the large
produce cooler, they had week's worth of food on the verge of rotting. 
Melinda went up to the covered tomato display, putting a hand on it.

   "How much have you canned?"

   Tammy looked blankly at the black haired girl.

   "Canned?"

   "Um, yeah.  We still have canning supplies from the fall in aisle nine,
and I THINK there's even a bunch of canning jars in the back from that
display."

   "Canned...." Tammy's eyes shot open in understanding.  "Canned!  Oh,
God, I'm so stupid!  Of course!" Her head swung around, taking inventory.
"We can do the rest of the tomatoes, those peaches and pears, make pickles!
Oh, you're brilliant!" Laughing, she grabbed Melinda, pulled the surprised
teen against her, and placed a kiss on her lips.

   As soon as she saw the expression before her, Tammy realized that might
have been a mistake.

   ****

   "So...  you're, like, a Lez."

   The two were floating about four feet apart, between the lettuces and
cucumbers.  Despite the use of that term, Tammy was thankful that Melinda's
tone wasn't scornful.  It was more...  curious.  The teen also wasn't
covering herself.  If anything, her bikini clad body was unconsciously on
display.  Not, really, that there's another way for someone in a bikini to
be most of the time.

   "I prefer the term phallicly challenged."

   "I've had boyfriends with that condition," Melinda scoffed.  There was
silence for a moment.  Tammy drifted a bit to her left, and a bit closer.

   "Do...  do you have a problem with it?"

   "Wha?!" Melinda looked actually shocked.  "Why would I?  It's not the
20th century, after all!" Tammy saw a thought cross her face.  "Wait, has
someone had a problem with it?"

   Tammy nodded, glumly.

   "I told Nona, and...  well..."

   Melinda scoffed.

   "Oh.  Her.  Well, I'm surprised, but maybe it's the Muslim thing kicking
in.  I know they're not big on that, but she's never really cared about
that kind of thing before, so, who knows..."

   Tammy hadn't known the Malay was Muslim, although now that she thought
about it, it seemed obvious.  She was so used to focusing on Christian
bigots; this possibility had slipped past her radar.

   "But, you don't care?"

   "No, of course not!  If anything, it solves one problem."

   "Oh?"

   "Yeah!  I mean, with only three guys, and first five, now seven, girls,
I figured I'd have to share Chuck.  Now I no longer have to worry about
you!"

   Tammy barked out a laugh.

   "Oh, you never had to worry about me there!  But, if you think seven to
three is bad, imagine one to zero." There was bitterness in her voice.  She
didn't want there to be.  She liked this girl.  But...

   Comprehension shown on Melinda's face.

   "Are you sure?  Have you asked?"

   "Asked who?  Nobody has set off my 'Lez-dar', if that's what you mean,
and it's not like my physical and emotional needs come up in conversation
often." Again, bitterness came through.  She crossed her arms over her
chest, hugging herself.  Part of her didn't want to be having this
conversation.  She was a private person, out of both general personality
and social reality.  But...  she hadn't talked to any of them, really. 
And, she did want to talk to someone...

   Looking up, she saw Melinda was only three feet away.  Her eyes, behind
those glasses, were sad.

   "Hey, I'm sorry..."

   "Look, don't be..."

   Melinda's hand reached out and, after a moment's hesitation, her fingers
gently slid over Tammy's bare forearm.  Tammy shuddered, closing her eyes.

   "Don't..."

   "When I was in middle school, my girlfriend and I...  well, we
practiced." Tammy's eyes shot open, taking in Melinda in a new light.  She
whispered, hopefully.

   "...and?"

   "And, I liked it." Her hand slid up Tammy's arm.  "If you need someone,
as a friend..."

   "Chuck?"

   "Maybe he'll be relieved to be rid of me some of the time." Tammy
absorbed that, about to speak when Melinda explained.  "I love him.  Or,
what I call love, anyway.  I can't give you that.  But..."

   "But you'll sleep with me.  Pity sex." The bitterness came back.

   "I'll be your friend and hold you.  Please you.  That's all Chuck is
doing for me, if you want to know the ugly truth..."

   Reaching up and taking Melinda's hand from her shoulder, Tammy brought
it down and held it between them.  Taking a deep breath, she let herself
relax.

   "Thank you.  I...  I'll think about it."

   "I'm not going anywhere."

   That brought a chuckle out of her.

   "Too true.  So, let's see what canning supplies we can scrounge up..."

   ****

   Daium sat on the bridge, alone.

   She had the bridge screens turned off.  Hyperspace, at least to her,
lacked the beauty of reality, and tended to be distracting.  Not in the way
she liked to be distracted, caught up in the incredible mystery of the
universe.  No, it just seemed weird, and she couldn't afford to have her
mind taken away from her task.  This was important.

   In her hand, she held a small circular piece of wood.  It was a dark
brown, the color of the Sacred Trees.  Remembering that her father hadn't
finished all the carvings he intended for the ship, some hunting had found
his supply of wood.  This piece, originally cut from one of the boards used
in a bedroom, had been perfect.  Cut in two, she'd spent the past two days
whittling this half down.  First the rough shape and size, then she'd carve
out the middle, smooth it, cover it with words of love...

   Holding it up, she imagined the ring on her love's finger.  Maybe they'd
have a ceremony.  Two ceremonies, one Human, one Orang.  Or...  well, maybe
she should actually ask Justin what he wanted to do.  That was only right.

   Bringing the knife back down to the ring, she began whistling.

   ****

   "That's a nice tune."

   The knife didn't slip.  That was good.  The rest of her body had jumped
at the voice, but both hands stayed as solid as a rock.  Growling, she
leaned in even closer to her hands.

   "What do you want, Bitch?"

   There was a moment's silence.  Daium instantly regretted her words.  Her
English sometimes came out the wrong way, harsher than she intended.  She
was about to turn when Alicia's voice came again, closer.

   "Justin hasn't talked to you yet, has he?"

   The voice was...  sad.  Alicia was never sad.  Angry, yes.  Sarcastic,
often.  But not sad.  Spinning her chair around, seatbelt keeping Daium
firmly in it, she saw that Alicia had used the railing to pull herself down
to a floating seated position level with her.  Her breasts, despite the
braided straps, set up a rhythmic bounce.

   "We always talk," Daium replied, not understanding.  She wanted to
understand.  What was Alicia talking about?

   "I asked him to talk to you.  He obviously hasn't found a good time yet.
Don't blame him.  I don't know how to say it either."

   "Say what, Bitch?"

   Alicia winced.

   "Don't call me that."

   Now Daium WAS confused.

   "What?  But..."

   "Yes, I know, it's a joke, and I don't mind, much, but...  not now. 
Please."

   Daium nodded, slowly.  So, this was serious talk.  She could do that. 
Looking to her left, she saw the sheath for the knife and grabbed it,
putting the blade away.  Alicia's eyes widened on seeing what she had been
doing.  Releasing the knife to float with the various bits of whittled
wood, Daium put the future ring in a small pocket on her skirt.  She then
leaned forward, all attention on the human before her.

   "What do you want to say?"

   Alicia's eyes seemed to be looking for something in Daium's face.  Not
being able to see herself, she didn't know what might be there.  Maybe
something left from lunch.  So, she looked back.  Alicia floated there,
sitting, legs crossed, looking like some mystic who actually got the whole
levitation thing working.  Daium had never believed in that kind of thing,
but always WISHED it was true.  It would just be fun.  Just like Alicia was
fun.  Oh, Daium would never tell her that.  That was part of the game. 
But, the Orang had come to like the girl.  Liked to look at the girl. 
That, she knew, was strange.  Females didn't do that.  There was just
something about her.  That skin, for example.  It was so...  smooth!  She
just wanted to reach over and touch it.  Run her fingers over it.  And
those breasts...  what did they feel like?  What did they...

   With a start, Daium felt warm soft skin against her knees.

   While her mind had been elsewhere, Alicia had pushed her body forward,
knees now pressed against Daium's.  Daium shuddered at the contact.  Eyes
meeting hers, she saw Alicia give a knowing smile.

   "You feel it too, don't you," she whispered.  "I can see it."

   "F-feel..."

   "When you touch me, Daium.  When you gently touch my hand, or brush
against me, I...  I feel like that.  You're teasing me, Daium."

   Teasing...  had she been?  Not in that way!  She liked teasing the
human, but not in that way!  Or...  yes, she had been.  By the Tree, she
had been.  And, Alicia had never told her to stop.  Never pulled away...

   "I..."

   Grabbing the chair arms, Alicia pulled herself closer.  Her upper body
came up, floating parallel to Daium's own.  Alicia's face came a few inches
from hers, those breasts, barely contained, so close.  Daium's eyes just
took them in, then went back to that face.  She had looked at that face
often, when she thought Alicia wasn't looking.  Something about it just
fascinated her.  She took it in now, closer than she'd ever been.

   Something was different.  Her eyes, narrowed confused.  Something...

   "Your scar!"

   Alicia's eyes widened in surprise, head jerking back a fraction.

   "What?"

   "Your scar!  You have covered it!" That was it.  The angry red line,
running from her jaw to her right ear, was now barely visible.  If you knew
it was there, you could see it, but otherwise it was gone!  "Why?!"

   She started to reach a hand up, stopping when Alicia's head moved back
even further.  The human's eyes were confused, maybe even a bit hurt.

   "I, well, I always do, when I want to be beautiful.  Don't...  don't you
like it?"

   Daium just stared at her.  How could she think something like that? 
Slowly, her left hand came up again.  This time, Alicia stayed still, eyes
wide, as Daium's finger touched the hidden scar and traced its length.

   "Your scar makes you beautiful, Alicia.  It makes you, you." The raised
line of the scar tissue felt hard, compared to the soft skin around it. 
She also could feel the makeup, the powder that concealed.  "It is your
history, Alicia, your story." Bringing her index finger back to her mouth,
Daium wet the tip, then brought it back to the girl's face and began
rubbing it along the red line.  Slowly, the beauty mark began to reveal
itself behind the offending makeup.

   Alicia's heart was in her eyes.  Her red tongue came out, wetting lips
that Daium now saw were redder than usual.

   "You're making me love you, Daium," she whispered.  "Damn it, you're
making me love you.  I told Justin.  Told him, that, if you wanted both of
us, I'd do that.  All three of us, together.  But damn it, if you don't
want me, you beautiful thing, then please, please stop..."

   Three.  The three of them.  Together.  Alicia was a woman.  Did human
women love each other?  Mate with each other?  Is that what Alicia wanted
to do with her?  Is that what SHE wanted to do?  Is that why Daium couldn't
keep her eyes off the human, the same way she had kept looking at her
Justin...

   "Is...  is three possible?  Three people?"

   Alicia reached a hand up to cover Daium's on her cheek, smiling.

   "Yes.  Three is possible.  And more.  I never have, never wanted to. 
But..."

   "...but all of us are someplace new."

   Daium knew her answer.  It was an easy one, one her heart had made
quickly.  Her mind had needed some convincing, but Alicia had done a fine
job there, too.  She wanted to kiss the human.  Kiss her, touch her. 
Explore her.  But...

   "Come to our cabin tonight, Alicia.  If we are Three, we must be Three."

   Eyes shining, Alicia pushed herself away from Daium.  Her smile lit up
the room like a nova.

   "Tonight, then, Daium." She then laughed, putting a hand to her face. 
"That will give me time to take off the makeup."

   **** Chapter 11 ****

   There was still pizza left to be eaten.

   Well, technically, not pizza.  Pizza pods.  Real pizza would be a bit
impractical, given the cooking situation.  There was no way to cook
something flat so all the ingredients stayed on the dough, so instead Tammy
and Melinda had wrapped cheese, sauce, and other goodies in dough and baked
that.  Technically that probably made it a calzone, but Pizza Plant called
them "pods" so they were going with that.  Didn't turn out that bad,
either. They probably shouldn't have let the dough sit overnight, but for a
first attempt it was very good.  Same with the wings.  Anthony had donated
his mother's recipe, which was hot but not TOO hot.  Much better than most
of the commercial crap.  (if it says "Buffalo Style", it's not)

   Hannah watched, amused, as Rinda took a tentative nibble on a wing.  The
Orang's had nothing in their culture against eating meat, they just
generally didn't.  Maybe all the good tasting stuff had gone extinct.  The
blue furred girl rolled the piece of drumstick in her mouth, considering
the flavor.  Hannah counted.  Three, two...

   "Ah!"

   The humans broke into laughter as Rinda let go of the wing and grabbed
her water bottle.  Chuck, rescuing the fleeing wing, dipped it into the
dish of blu cheese.  Holding it out for her, he grinned.

   "Try it now.  Come on, it's not that bad!"

   Her eyes turned to him, wary now.  Slowly, she took the wing with her
left hand, right still clutching her drink as if ready to put out the fire.
Eyes staying locked on Chuck, she brought it to her mouth and took another
bite, this time with the cold blu cheese.  Her eyes widened in surprise.

   "Mmm!"

   Chuck turned to the others.

   "We'll make Buffalonians out of them yet!"

   ****

   "So, have any of you heard of the vanishing Park Edge?"

   Dinner was over, apart from the nibbling.  Two dozen wings remained,
eyed by all as they mentally calculated what could be grabbed without
seeming to be greedy.  Hannah took another sip of her beer, looking over
the table.  This had been a great idea.  Everyone was relaxed, happy.  It
had been a taste of home.  Later, she suspected, for some that reminder of
home would bring sadness, but then maybe not.  Already it seemed like this
was how life had always been.  Life on Earth, back with family and
friends...  it was a dream.  She had always felt that way as a kid at
summer camp, the day before leaving.  There would be no leaving this,
though...

   Justin, sitting on one side of Daium while Alicia surprisingly sat on
the other side of her, pushed up his glasses and looked up at Hannah.

   "What the hell is a Park Edge?"

   "It's the edge of a park, doofus!" Melinda laughed, sticking her tongue
out at him.  Chuck, next to her, let out an exaggerated sigh, asking the
world to feel sorry for what he had to put up with.  He turned to his
roommate.

   "So, what, you think she's talking about some suburban sprawl gone bad?"

   "I don't know!  Ask her!" Grabbing her half empty beer, her second,
Melinda took a swig.  Pausing to let out a burp, she looked back at Hannah.
"So, what IS a park edge?"

   "It's a supermarket that vanished in the 70's."

   Hannah had their attention now.  Anthony, on her right, put a hand on
her knee under the table while giving her a puzzled look.  She put her own
hand on his knee.

   "I honestly never remembered it until today, Honey.  I went up into the
store office to look for some things, and tucked away was an old Park Edge
flyer and it brought back the memory."

   "Wait." Alicia leaned forward, breasts taking the lead.  "Are you
saying...  we're not the first?"

   ****

   1978.  Next to the recently built Eastern Hills Mall, on the border of
suburban Williamsville and the, at that time, rural town of Clarence, was a
small plaza.  It consisted of Child World on one end, a couple restaurants
on the other, and in the middle...  Park Edge Grocery Store.

   There was nothing special about it, just one of many stores under the
umbrella of local chains.  Every day its employees came to work, trying to
do more for their customers to keep them from visiting the competition:
Super Duper, Tops, Bells.  The local market was fierce.  Every Thanksgiving
stores gave away free turkeys to those who collected enough Turkey Stamps,
every Easter they gave away free hams.  Anything to win a few more
shoppers.

   One night, during a rare spring blizzard...  the store vanished.

   ****

   "I remember my dad mentioning it, years ago, when I first got a job at a
supermarket.  It was a ghost story to scare me.  It was written off as some
sort of freak fire, he said, or explosion, even though there was no sign of
either.  Just a hole between the two ends of the plaza."

   "Oh, God," Nona groaned, hands going to her head, "this makes no sense."

   "What, it did before?" Alicia just laughed at her.  Nona shook her head.

   "I could pretend this was God, or the universe, punishing me, or you
guys, or maybe that it was just one of those things.  But...  it happened
before?!?  What, something out there is collecting supermarkets?  It's so
stupid!"

   Chuck raised his beer.

   "To stupid gods!"

   Tammy was deep in thought, finally shaking her head.

   "I...  seem to remember the name, at least.  I think there was one near
where I grew up in the Southtowns.  Never heard this story, though. 
Jesus..."

   "Don't think he did it," Anthony put in, cheerfully, "although if we
find him out here we can ask."

   "You do that," Nona told him dryly.  Taking a deep breath, then letting
it out, she looked at Hannah.  "Any other stories we should know about? 
Furry aliens searching the Earth for the best wing recipe?"

   "Nope," Hannah told them, sighing.  "At least, nothing else important.
Just stupid local legends, like that fallout shelter in the gypsum mine. 
My family has been in the area for awhile."

   "How come," Justin asked, "I never heard any of this?"

   Melinda took another beer out of the case, floating it over to him.

   "Too much reading, not enough drinking."

   ****

   Nona's attempt to slip out of the Commons without much fuss didn't go
unnoticed.  As she stepped into the doorway leading to the main corridor,
Daium gently held her arm.

   "You are not staying for the movie?" Her eyes, behind those glasses,
seemed concerned.  Nona noticed, though, that she spoke English.  She was
confident enough now to not even slip back into her native tongue when just
speaking to Nona.  That, she thought, was incredible.

   "No, I'm...  I'm tired, Daium.  Just tired.  I want to be alone." Her
friend, and she did see Daium as such, slowly nodded.  Her hand slid up and
down Nona's arm, almost petting her, then let go.

   "Sleep well."

   ****

   Nona closed her bedroom door behind her, locking it.  Letting out a
sigh, she removed her clothing.  First the bikini top, freeing breasts as
yet unseen by any non-doctor male, then the bottoms where the same was
definitely true of what was revealed there.  It's not the same, she
thought. There was always this great sense of release when she retreated to
her room at home and shed her clothing, as if she was shedding all the
day's problems.  She was no longer wearing enough for the same to be the
case here.

   Maybe she should try and scrounge fabric for a burka.

   Yeah, right.  That would help.

   Almost without thinking, Nona grabbed her phone from where it was
charging against the wall.  Flicking it on, her finger went to the photos
icon.

   She had almost deleted it.  That's how angry she had been, in the week
leading up to all this.  She had almost deleted her photos of her parents.
Especially this one.  Her dad, taken at his last birthday.  Dad, smiling,
happy.  He...

   She didn't blame them, for how she turned out.  Nona had aged enough in
the past week to truly understand it was all on her.  On how she had
reacted to the world outside her family.  Especially, the way she found
herself now.

   She had abandoned God, and now couldn't find him.

   It was the fault of her friends...

   No, no, don't blame them.  It was...  not their influence, really, but
her reaction to it.  That was it.

   Nona was Muslim.  Daughter of two immigrants, Malaysian students who met
at the University of Buffalo and decided to stay.  That hadn't been the
original intent, naturally.  Both had planned on returning to friends and
family.  But, graduating a year before Mom, Dad had found a job at a local
company so they wouldn't be separated.  When Mom herself was offered a job
upon graduation, well...

   She couldn't blame her actions on not being raised well.  Her parents
did their best.  They taught her to love God, that he loved her, and all
the joy that relationship had.  She loved being a Muslim.  It was, well,
what made her, her!  All her little friends were children of her parent's
friends, with the same beliefs, the same life.  It was, well, how the world
was.

   Then she went to school.

   It is one thing to have your friends picked out for you, to form bonds
based on a small group around you.  It is another once you are part of a
large crowd.  There, old bonds break and new ones form, based on
personalities and interests.  By the end of Kindergarten, she was part of a
second circle.  A circle of girls, and a few boys, unlike the other. 
Christians, Jews, even a Hindu.  They accepted her, brought her in, showed
her an entire new world.

   Children do not see religion as adults do.  It is not about dogma,
faith, truth.  Nor is it about NOT believing the religion of others.  Sarah
going to temple instead of a mosque was just something she did, no
different than the fact that her parents had different jobs than Nona's. 
It wasn't even something to talk about with her parents, because who
cared?. Now, if kids DON'T like each other, then such differences do become
important, the subject of teasing, harassment.

   But, not among friends.

   As she grew older, the fact that all of her girlfriends went to church,
or temple, did influence Nona, though.  She heard them talk about the
singing, the fun, and...  she wanted to be like them.  Wanted to be normal.
All around her, to be Christian was to be American, and for all that her
parents reassured her that wasn't the case, her eyes and mind saw
differently.  Nona didn't latch onto her Muslim faith as an identity to be
proud of, as others she had known since birth had.  She believed, yes,
worshiped, prayed, fasted, but...

   The fights with her parents came at about the time they do for most
teens.  Her mind needed to rebel, to find its own way.  What better way to
be her own woman, than to reject the faith of her family.

   She was such an idiot.

   She stopped praying, unless in public.  She ignored the fasts.  Ate
pork, drank beer.  She asked her friends about their beliefs, taking it all
in uncritically.  She convinced herself this was what she wanted.

   The last fight...  she had wanted that fight.  That could be the only
explanation as to why she left that book on Jesus right there on the coffee
table.  She had gone off on her father, about how she was going to convert,
about how badly Islam treated women (as if her mom, and she herself,
weren't sterling arguments against that).  About how she hated them.

   Her father didn't yell.

   He didn't even speak.

   He just...  looked at her.  Sad.  Disappointed.

   It would have hurt less if he had hit her.

   The truth, of course, was that she did believe.  Had always believed. 
Had, even in her most extreme moments, known that eventually she'd turn
back to God.  This was just a phase.  Another year, or two, and the bonds
between her and both family and faith would be restored.

   That was before she was torn away from both.

   Nona picked up the blue spiral notebook she'd been using.  This, she
thought, was all that was left.  Written here, in her small, neat,
handwriting was all she could remember of the holy word of God.  She had
been an indifferent student, when it came to memorizing the books of the
Koran, even before her rebellion.  Now the stark realization that all she
had of God, of her faith, was her faulty memories,was tearing her apart. 
She had seen Melinda the other day reading the New Testament on her iPhone.
The girl had the complete guide to her religion at her fingertips.

   Nona had nothing.

   The alarm on her phone went off.  8 PM.

   Facing a wall at random, Nona positioned her body...  and prayed.

   ****

   Alicia still couldn't believe she was going to do this.

   She followed Justin and Daium into their cabin.  For all she was
probably the most experienced of the three, for all that this was her idea,
Alicia was trembling.  She...

   Daium reached around Alicia, closing the door, then smiled at her.  That
didn't help Alicia's composure.  Pushing off, Daium floated to the center
of the room.

   "Justin, music?"

   "Sure." He sounded, and looked, about as nervous as Alicia did.  She
took comfort in that.  Making his way to the iPod attached to the wall, he
looked back at his mate.  "Any requests?"

   "Genesis.  Trespass."

   Justin chuckled.  Giving Alicia an amused look, he apologized.

   "Our, or at least her, idea of romantic music probably isn't yours,
but...  this is a good album."

   "Oh, as long as it isn't death metal or rap, I don't care." Her arms
hugged herself, unsure if they should be covering her breasts or propping
them up for a better display.

   "Oh, don't worry, it's not either of those." His finger touched the
screen.

   "Looking for someone, I guess I'm doing that."

   Alicia's eyes met Daium's.  Yes, that's what she was doing.

   The two women stared at each other.  Now that the moment was here, now
that it was time to act, to give in to what her body and heart had been
yearning for...  she wasn't sure she could do it.  Especially, she thought,
eyes shifting over to Justin, with him here...

   A look of recognition passed over his face.  Smiling, a smile Alicia had
to admit she liked, he came up next to Daium.  She looked at him, all four
eyes seeming to reflect her heart.  Alicia blushed.  This was so... 
private!  Looking between the two, he spoke.

   "Daium...  if you want this, if it makes you happy...  well, so long as
you're with me, I can share.  Your heart is big enough for all of us."
Daium's hand went to his cheek, gently stroking.  He leaned in, placing a
brief, tender kiss.  Alicia's face got even redder.  OK, now she KNEW that
what she and Daren had hadn't been love.  God...  Breaking the kiss, Justin
turned Daium to face Alicia.  Moving behind her, his hands went to the
Orang's shoulders.  A moment later, slowly, he pulled down her suspenders.

   Alicia's heart stopped.  Daium's breasts were perfect.  Half circles,
with short white fur, tipped with pink nipples.  His hand reaching her
woven belt, Justin undid the buckle and pulled down her skirt and panties.
Daium moved her legs to help, but Alicia didn't notice.  All she could
focus on was the white fur of her chest converging down between her legs,
forming a strip between her brown furred thighs...

   Hands trembling, she reached up and undid her top.  The two cups of
fabric floated away, as she was rewarded by two gasps.  Daium literally
moaned.

   "Beautiful..."

   Before she could change her mind, Alicia slipped off her panties.  She
floated before them, a blonde goddess.  Her large white breasts floated,
free, begging to be kissed.  Between her legs, a trimmed triangle pointed
down towards wet lips also begging for attention.  She paused a moment,
allowing their eyes to drink their fill, then pushed off from the wall
towards Daium.

   Their arms reached out for each other, and the moment smooth black skin
and brown fur touched soft white skin, their bodies and mouths rushed
together as if magnetically charged.  Alicia felt a tongue on her lip,
instantly opening her mouth to let it in.  Her own tongue challenged the
intruder to a duel, causing its owner to whimper.  Alicia's hands ran
through fur softer than any she had ever felt, exploring every inch she
could reach.  She felt her breasts grabbed, squeezed, then petted.  One of
her hands moved between them to grab Daium's breast, rewarding her with
another moan.

   She wanted more, though.  Alicia had never been with another girl, but
she knew what she wanted.  What she had wanted ever since she'd admitted
these feelings.  Breaking the kiss, she began climbing down Daium's body.
She paused for a moment to suck at those breasts, Then before she could be
distracted, continued downward.  Arms spreading those furry legs wide, she
brought her head between them and saw the bare black skin of Daium's rear.
Saw the wet, pink slit.

   "Alicia?" Daium's voice was excited, confused.  "What...  Ah!"

   Alicia's kiss turned questions into moans.  Daium tasted...  like fruit.
She dug in, exploring with lips and tongue.  God, it was incredible!  She
was making herself come, as well as Daium!  She felt hands on her body,
moving her.  Daium's body was also moving, rotating.  A gentle hand moved
her head back, so a leg could pass by her face, then Justin's hand moved
her back against Daium's sex.  Her mouth had just barely returned to its
adopted home when she felt lips on her thigh.  Oh, God, was she...

   "Ooooh!" Wet lips found Alicia's pussy, soft fur pressing against her
inner thigh and stomach.

   She didn't know how long she was lost in pleasure, lost in the taste and
sensations of her lover.  She had come at least twice, probably more, as
the pleasure just went on, and on...

   Alicia felt her body, and Daium's, shifting.  Felt hands, human hands,
on her thighs.  Fur and lips were replaced by something hard and male at
her entrance.

   Justin.

   She pulled her tired lips away from their meal, groaning.

   "Do it!"

   He slipped into her.

   It was too much.  All of this, it was too much.  He wasn't so much
thrusting as flexing his hips, lacking much purchase floating as they were,
but neither cared.  She didn't even know if she could come again, and he
was probably so worked up that...

   Within a minute, she felt Justin release into her.  She was rewarded
with a small orgasm, just a ripple.  Daium's hands caressed her body, as
Justin stayed inside her, pulsing.  Her only coherent thought, was that
this had been sooo worth it...

   ****

   The three floated together, linked, cheeks touching in a triangle of
love.  Arms and legs intertwined in ways that, if seen from the outside,
probably looked painful to untangle.  But, then, so do most scenes of love.

   Alicia's eyes were looking down, past Daium's breasts, at her white
belly.  Her voice, while tired, loving, and a bit raw, was also skeptical.

   "You really think you can have his baby?"

   "Yes." Daium's smile was the smile of truth, or at least hope.  Alicia
had no choice but to return it.  She felt Daium's hand run up her thigh
onto her own smooth belly.  "Will you have his baby, Alicia?"

   Her eyes went to Justin.  His glasses were off, stowed safely away
somewhere.  Without them...  damn it, he did look cute.  Without even
thinking, she found herself planting a sweet, artless, kiss on his lips. 
She felt his arm tighten around her.

   "If it happens," she said, softly, "it happens..."

   **** Chapter 12 ****

   Chuck needed to piss.

   With a yawn, he made his way down the central corridor of the ship.  His
brown hair was a bit wild, without the excuse of having slept on it wrong.
True, hair didn't really stay in place in space, and he needed a haircut,
but Melinda never helped matters given her habit of grabbing his head
during sex.  Not that he was objecting.

   The thought of Melinda had him shaking his head, making the hair problem
worse.  She had been...  well, drunk tonight.  Drunk as a skunk, although
all the skunks Chuck had seen had been relatively sober.  After helping her
tipsy form back into their cabin, she had jumped him, going on some sort of
incoherent rant.

   "You can't watch me, Chuck...  you can't watch me if I go Lez with her.
You can't, she won't want it...  do you want to?  Do you want to watch me
fuck her?  I'll do it...  I'll go Lez if you want...  you can watch!  I
want you to watch..."

   His father, in one of his rare attempts at giving dating advice to his
son, had told him not to avoid crazy women.  That, if he found someone who
was willing to do anything, ANYTHING he wanted, to just go with it and
enjoy while it lasted.  There'd come a time, however, when she decided to
start doing anything SHE wanted.

   At that point, he should run like hell.

   Chuck wondered if he was there yet.

   Their group was so small, though...  they had to stay on good terms with
everyone.  Had to adapt to everyone's quirks.  Had to, well, not be
jealous. Chuck wasn't exactly sure who Melinda was talking about, but he
knew the pairings that existed now would not all last, that like some bad
teen soap there'd be messy breakups and switching of partners.  That's just
how human society worked.  That said, even though Melinda could be a pain,
even though the thought of being with Alicia or Nona did excite him...  he
was in no hurry to end what he had.  He liked her.  Despite all her faults.

   Hell, maybe because of them.

   Entering one of the two restrooms, Chuck made his way to the piss
sucker. He was sure it had a real name, but given its function for males
this seemed more appropriate.  There were several devices, depending on
which waste you wanted to excrete and your gender.  Some even seemed to be
made for non-humanoid races, unless the Orang had a third gender with
attachments not apparent on Daium or Rinda.  The one he wanted was a long
hose, with an adjustable drawstring bag at the end.  Grabbing it with his
left hand, his right fished his cock out of the opening in his boxers.  He
had slipped the boxers on instead of grabbing that stupid loin cloth.  Oh,
how he wished he had a dozen more pairs of these...

   Putting his soft male member in the opening, he pulled the string to
close the bag around it.  Hitting the green button on the wall before him,
a motor began whirring he could feel the vacuum begin sucking inwards. 
With a sigh, he began to piss.

   You couldn't aim.  That was his main problem with the whole process. 
Now there was no fun to be had while taking a piss.  You couldn't step back
and go for distance, or try and paint the inside of the bowl.  Heck, no
checking the color, to see if today's was a deep yellow or more like clear
water.  If one of them started pissing blood, how would they know?

   Well...  there'd probably be other symptoms.

   Chuck let the beer drain from his system.  Tired...  after this, back to
his cabin for more sleep.  He needed sleep...

   There was a "bing" from the wall in front of him, followed by the sound
of the vacuum powering down.  Removing his penis from the contraption, he
wiped the tip with his underwear and slipped it back inside.

   Mission accomplished.

   Pushing off, he traveled to the door, hit the button, and looked out as
it slid open.

   There, in the open doorway across the hall, was a nude Rinda looking at
him with four shocked eyes.

   ****

   Rinda's fur was wet, or at least still a bit on the damp side, a darker
shade of blue than normal.  It was slicked down, smooth.  The black skin of
her face, hands and feet seemed to shine, as if polished.  Chuck's eyes,
though, were drawn to the white fur of her chest, to the two breasts and
their pink tips.  They were on the small side, maybe about the same as
Melinda's.  He'd have to use his hands to measure, naturally...

   Realizing he was being a bit rude, Chuck brought his eyes back up to
hers, smiling an embarrassed smile.  The room she was leaving was the
bathing room, as, like any sensible species, the Orang didn't shit where
they bathed.  She obviously hadn't expected anyone to be up this late. 
Raising his right hand to badly cover his eyes, he turned his head away.

   "Sorry!  Didn't mean to look!  I'll be going!" Making a show of grabbing
blindly for one of the wall hand holds, Chuck turned his body back towards
his cabin.  This had been interesting.  Now he kind of understood Justin
and Daium a bit better...

   "No!  Do not go!"

   His grip on the wall tightened, lower body continuing its forward
momentum as he turned the upper half to face her.  His right hand moved to
grab a ceiling handhold as he came to a stop.  She hadn't covered herself.
His gaze must have shown his questioning confusion, as he could see her try
and come up with the right words.

   "Chuck, talk?  Please?  My cabin?"

   He shrugged.  Sleep would have to wait.

   "Sure.  Lead the way."

   ****

   The stuffed animal was the first thing he noticed.  Orange, almost to
the point of glowing, it floated in the vicinity of her bed.  It obviously
had been well loved over the years, something he could appreciate.  He
still had his own Teddy, back at home, much of its fur gone.  His mother
had even, long ago, given it two open squeaker operations...

   The thought of his mother sobered him.

   Still not covering herself, Rinda moved over to the desk, and the
various spiral notebooks floating there.  Closing the door behind him,
Chuck took a good look at her backside.  Her butt was black, furless,
smooth.  It didn't look like there was a crack, as humans had.  As she bent
over, he could just see pink showing between parted legs.

   His cock, deciding it was recovered enough, made up its mind to wake and
see what was up.

   Looking back to give him a small smile in apology, Rinda spent the next
few minutes looking through her phrase books.  On a small tablet computer,
she typed some notes.  Whatever this was, she obviously felt accurate
communication was important.  Chuck just shook his head.

   "Rinda, should we go get Nona, or Daium, to translate?  It would be
easier..."

   "No!  No, no..." She looked panicked.  "No, I can talk, speak..."
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath.  "I can talk to you, Chuck. 
Alone." As she once again met his gaze, Chuck nodded.

   "OK.  Take your time." He thought about pulling his legs up into a
folded position, while he waited, but realistically he wasn't flexible
enough.  He settled for just floating by the door.  Relieved, she went back
to her notebooks.  When she was ready, Rinda positioned them around her in
space and motioned Chuck to come over.  Using some ceiling handholds, he
maneuvered until he floated about five feet in front of her.

   "So...  what do you want to talk about, Rinda?"

   Licking her light pink lips, she swallowed, then spoke.

   "Chuck, you and Melinda...  you are Mates, yes?"

   Being asked that in the middle of the night by a nude girl set off
alarms in his male brain.  They were the good kind of alarms, meant to keep
him from not noticing what said nude female seemed to be after.  His dick
hardened even more.  Now, before all this, the way his life had gone, it
would turn out Rinda was the one who had designs on Melinda and was in fact
asking for permission to go after her, leaving him all alone.  He had more
confidence now, more optimism.

   "We do mate, but are not, really, Mates.  Melinda knows there are not
enough males for all the females." Which was true, and she'd said as much,
but part of him still felt like a jerk for saying it.  The other part was
still taking in the alien tits and pussy in front of him.  Rinda nodded.

   "In..." she looked at her notes.  "...school, the Academy, more boys
than girls.  Us girls helped boys, mated often.  Expected." Chuck raised
his eyebrows.  She nodded, completely unembarrassed.  "On ship, same.  Few
females, had to help males most nights." She smiled.  "Only ones I liked.
Enjoyed it."

   Well, he was glad for that.  For a moment he had been afraid she was
saying she had been gang-raped over and over.  Instead, it sounded more
like some porn or girls gone wild video.  A hell of a recruiting tool, too,
although you'd probably only get a certain type of female to volunteer (as
opposed to every male).  Which might be what they wanted...

   "So, why are you telling me this?"

   She closed the distance between them, eyes staying on his face.

   "I have been here four days.  Alone.  I am not used to being alone. 
Anak Patung," she pointed to the doll, Chuck's eyes following her long
black finger, "was my only friend.  She is NOT a good..." Another glance at
her notes.  "Lover."

   Chuck's mood began to change.  Rinda came closer.

   "Chuck, I need someone.  Need someone to hold.  To kiss.  To..."
Reaching her right hand out, her fingers brushed against the bulge in his
boxers.

   It was like ice had been poured into his veins.  First Melinda, that
first night in the bakery department, and now Rinda.  No.  Not again.

   His left hand intercepted her right, removing it from his package.  He
pressed their palms together, fingers interlaced.  His right hand did the
same with her left.  Her skin was smooth, but damp.  She was sweating. 
Looking into her four eyes, Chuck tried to speak slowly, calmly.

   "Rinda...  No." Her eyes shot open, hurt and shock in them.  "I'm sorry,
but no.  Melinda said the same thing.  Said she loved me, yes, but more
that she needed someone to hold.  To kiss."

   "Yes!  Kiss me!"

   "Rinda, it's...  you haven't even bothered to say you LIKE me!  I'm not
going to mate with you just because your dolly there isn't good enough!"
Chuck was getting pissed.  The fact he couldn't have, wouldn't have,
resisted this if he didn't have a steady supply of sex from Melinda made
him even angrier.  Hell, he had been ready, if she just hadn't echoed
Melinda's words, from over a week and a lifetime ago.

   All four of Rinda's green eyes began to shimmer.  A moment later, tears
pooled in her eyes.

   "Like you," she whispered.  "Like you, Chuck." Pulling her hands free of
his, she grabbed one of the notebooks.  Furiously flipping to the back, she
shoved the page at him.  "Like you, Chuck!  Like you!"

   She had drawn him.

   Not a great drawing, to be sure.  She was probably a better fighter than
artist.  But...  Rinda had sketched him working on the engine.  Watched him
work, sweat, almost nude apart from the white cloth wrapped around his
junk, she had put pen to paper.  The rough lines showed her focus on the
muscles of his arms, on his shoulders...  his face was done with constant
corrections, as if she just HAD to get it right.  Especially the eyes.  On
the opposite page, were closeup studies of his two eyes...

   He closed his eyes.  He needed a moment.  His mind was a confused mess.
He needed to...

   Lips touched his.

   Chuck had not been kissed by many different females.  Five, maybe, all
told.  Six, if you included a cousin who acted on a crush once (he was the
only male kid on Dad's side of the family, so the poor girl's options had
been limited).  This...  this felt the same, in a way he hadn't expected.
Yet, at the same time...

   Eyes still closed, he accepted the kiss, reaching his hands out to touch
her body.  As soon as she sensed his acceptance, Rinda reached out her own
hands, grabbing his rather ample waist and pulling them together.  Her warm
furry body pressed against his.  The feeling...  he tried to understand it.
Every hair of hers seemed to activate a nerve under his skin, causing a
tingle from his feet to the top of his head.  Only his now hard cock, in
his boxers, was uninvolved, and very unhappy about that.

   As if reading his mind, or maybe her goals and his just meshed, as their
tongues touched Rinda slid her hands and pushed Chuck's boxers down.  As
his cock sprang out against her, she broke the kiss and moved back a touch,
looking down.  Her eyes were wide with excitement.

   "Oh!  It's..." One black hand tentatively touched the head.  Her
forefinger rubbed the tip, spiraling its way out from the central opening.
Reaching the edge of the mushroom like head, her finger then traced its way
down the underside of the shaft.  Ignoring his balls, Rinda gently took the
entire shaft in her hand.  Only the pink head was visible, poking out from
her black grasp.  Breathing in quick, excited breaths, she brought her eyes
back up to his.

   "Chuck...  do humans just mate, or...  do they play?"

   Reveling in the feel of her warm, smooth palm, all thoughts of
resistance were gone.

   "You want to play?" She nodded, tongue licking her lips.  That signaled
what his first request should be.

   "Kiss it."

   Her four eyes widened.  She looked down, then back, her hand squeezing
tighter.

   "Kiss it?  Humans kiss that?" Excitement at the very idea seemed to make
her body hum.

   "Yes, when we play." Bringing his hands up to her shoulders, he gently
pushed her downward.  "Kiss it, Rinda..."

   She needed no further prompting.  Her tongue left a trail down his
chest, and stomach.  Reaching his cock, she released it from her hand,
letting her eyes get a close up view of the entire tool.  Her warm breath
made it quiver.

   "Bigger than Orang," he heard her whisper.  There was a moment's
silence, as she decided how best to proceed, then...  she kissed the tip.

   Her eyes flicked up to Chuck's face, getting the reaction.  He smiled
down, one hand going to pet her head.  He could feel her pushing back, so
he petted harder.

   "Good...  kiss it again, then lick it."

   He felt her lips once again touch the head, followed by her tongue
flicking out against the cleft under the hole.  He groaned, hand now
holding her head, gripping the hair.  Not waiting for more instructions,
her tongue licked all over the head, then began moving down the shaft.  She
seemed to be trying to follow his inarticulate instructions, going back to
those spots he reacted the most to.  Looking at her, Chuck thought she also
was...  taking in the smell, as well as the taste.  Her flat black nose
seemed to be expanding and contracting, whatever pheromones he had
obviously crossing species quite well.

   "Suck it, Rinda...  take it in your mouth...  don't bite, though...  no
teeth..."

   Looking up, she grinned, flashing her white teeth at him.

   "I said NO teeth," Chuck reminded, playfully.  She nodded, then returned
her gaze to her toy.  Pausing, as if psyching herself up for it, Rinda took
the head in.

   Maybe it was the shape of her mouth, or the position of her tongue, but
it felt different than any other blow job.  The novelty of it doubled his
pleasure.  Slowly, she moved her head up and down, using her tongue without
being prompted.  She was obviously enjoying herself, pausing now and then
to look at her handiwork and exploring a bit more with her hands.  She felt
his balls, gently, something she had obviously learned from her Orang
lovers.  Chuck could feel himself building up.  On her next upstroke, he
stopped her, just the head remaining in her mouth.

   "Rinda...  oh, God, you are incredible!  It's so good!  But, I'm about
to come.  Shoot." Removing him from her mouth, she looked at him confused
for a moment.  Recognition came, though, followed by a grin at being able
to bring a male to that point with just her mouth.  He smiled back.  "Some
human girls drink it, let me shoot in their mouth." Her eyes widened at
that, but he could tell she'd be willing to try.  "Or...  we can mate now."

   Holding his quivering cock, she considered.  He could see the first
option was very tempting, and if there was a repeat of this, that would be
on the table.  Looking up, though, she released him.

   "How do humans mate?"

   Chuck didn't hesitate.  His hands went under her arms, half pulling her
up and half pushing himself down.  Once they were face to face, he looked
around.

   "Grab those two straps." He pointed above her, Rinda complying, her
breathing once again coming fast.  Reaching down, Chuck spread her legs. 
He saw her pink lips, half open, wet.  With one hand he caressed it,
bringing a loud moan from the Orang.  While more foreplay would be fun, it
obviously wasn't needed at the moment.  Maneuvering, he placed his cock at
her entrance.  Her legs, on their own, wrapped around him, body
understanding what was needed.  Hands on her hips, eyes on hers...

   He entered her.

   She screamed, a scream of pleasure.  Legs tightened into almost a death
grip aground him, he just stood still, waiting for her to relax.  She
didn't.  Her pussy rippled up and down his length, causing him to just push
in harder.  Releasing the unneeded handholds, her hands went to his ass,
aiding her legs in preventing any movement.  How was he supposed to...

   He felt her squeeze his entire shaft.

   Chuck came.

   ****

   "...Orang boys quick.  Had to learn to feel good quickly, or not at
all."

   "Mmmm...  Humans can be like that, but we like to take our time, too. 
Make it last."

   "Would like that..."

   They floated silently, Chuck still half hard inside her.

   "We have to tell Melinda we did this, you know.  I don't think there's
going to be any secrets on this ship."

   "Tell...  must you go back?"

   "Yeah, I probably should.  Um...  would you like to come back with me?"

   ****

   Tammy floated down the corridor, yawning.  She was up first, again. 
That was good.  She would get first crack at the shower, then go see what
they could do for breakfast.  There were still some eggs left in the
kitchen, although she'd have to go back to the store for more...

   Two doors opened on either side of her.  To her left, through the
doorway she could see a very disheveled Justin, Daium and Alicia.  In the
right-hand room, an equally disheveled Chuck, Melinda and Rinda.

   The two trios stared at each other.

   Tammy's gaze went from one to the other.  OK, this was ridiculous.  From
behind her, she heard the door to Anthony and Hannah's room open.

   Fuck it.

   "OK, since I'm the only one not getting any..." Tammy ripped off her
top, then slid off her bottoms.  Slowly turning, showing her body off to
all three surprised groups, she yelled.  "I'm gay and need a woman!  Any
takers?!"

   ****

   A very sleepy Nona floated into the Commons.  She had had dreams.  Not
necessarily bad dreams, although she had woken up a few times.  They hadn't
been comforting, though.  What she needed, she thought, was something in
her stomach.  Something to calm her down...

   All conversation stopped as she entered the room.  Fourteen human, and
eight orang, eyes stared at her.  Unconsciously, her arms came up to hug
herself.

   "OK, I've obviously missed something..."

   **** Chapter 13 ****

   "OK, let's see if the brakes work on this thing."

   Anthony fastened the seatbelt around his waist, looking around the
bridge as he adjusted the shoulder straps.  They were all here.  A month
after being forcibly ejected, or rejected, from the Earth, all eight humans
had survived to reach another star system.  They would be the first humans,
if all went well, to walk on TWO alien worlds.  So far, they were tied with
all those who had walked on the moon.

   A big day: they had even dressed in real clothes for the event.

   "Don't say 'break'," Chuck asked, voice pained.  "I'm just hoping I put
the impulse engine back together right."

   "You did good," Daium reassured him, looking over from her place at the
very front of the bridge.  "I looked it over."

   "Good," he laughed, "now it's your fault if it doesn't work!"

   Melinda shook her head, arms raised up as she stretched her back.

   "That's my man, always thinking."

   ****

   They were a family now.

   That, at least, Anthony knew.  The future could hold anything. 
Unsolvable problems could be behind every new corner, but, that almost
didn't matter.  The last month had let them all accept their new life, to
at least some degree.  Let them all get to know each other's faults,
habits...  and, more importantly, forgive them.

   Perhaps not LIKE them, but at least tolerate them.

   Things had not degenerated into a wild orgy, for which Anthony was
thankful.  As he learned in college, such things can only hurt in the long
run when there's no escape from the company of others.  Oh, there had been
some mixing and matching, to be sure.  He was staying above it, though, and
out of it.  So was Hannah, to his relief.  Although...  she had vanished
with Tammy a few times.

   Anthony tolerated that.

   "Computer shows downshifting from warp to impulse drive coming up."
Chuck's voice was calm.  That was good.  It was also serious.  Anthony
would have been more relaxed if his sense of humor was more evident, but so
long as this worked...

   "Got a fix," Rinda added, from the console next to him.  "Coming out in
three, two, one..."

   The lack of any sound, or indication, was disappointing.  Alicia's voice
drifted down from her perch at the sensors above.

   "I'm picking up signals.  Multiple transmissions, not directed at us...
we're in real space."

   The curved walls of the bridge faded out.  Looking past the tree that
filled the center of the sphere, Anthony saw the image of a planet before
them.  It was mostly blue, from this distance, with white and red clouds.
Two moons, both small and rocky, half shown from behind it.

   Hogh.

   "Praise be to God," Nona muttered.  Melinda cast her an amused glance.

   "Too early for that," Melinda said.  "Daium!" She turned to the brown
Orang.  "We're still landing on this place, right?"

   "Yes.  Need to get supplies before moving on.  Check engines." Her eyes
slid over to Rinda.  "News."

   Her blue cousin let out a sigh.

   "Do we WANT news?"

   "No," Daium replied, turning back to the planet before them.  "But we
need to know some things."

   ****

   They were coming up on the planet fast.

   Alicia kept up with the steady stream of data flowing through her
displays.  Much of it could be ignored.  That was the key, naturally. 
Prioritize.  Don't get overwhelmed by the trees attacking you from the
forest.  Or, something like that.  She was helped by most of the important
transmissions being sent in a universal code, rather than the local
language.  Nona and Daium had finally managed to program English fully into
the ship systems.  Some mistakes still managed to get through, though.

   "OK, this one is directed at us, I think.  We're being asked to give
them our...  title ship?  What the hell?"

   "You drinking again, Alicia?"

   "Only when I'm forced to see you in shorts, Chuck...  Ah, OK.  They want
our ship name." She paused.  "We haven't named it yet, have we?"

   "Daium," Anthony asked, "does the ship have a name?"

   She seemed to think a moment, which Alicia thought odd, then shook her
head, turning to look at them.

   "No.  Pick a name."

   "The Good Ship Lollipop!" Tammy shouted, laughing.  Alicia regarded her
fellow blonde.  The occasional sex had really relaxed her.  If only Nona
would come down off her moral horse and have some fun...

   "Titanic!"

   Rinda nodded at that choice.

   "I liked that movie!"

   "The first person," Chuck announced, "who suggests 'Enterprise' gets
smacked." Melinda pouted.

   "How about the Macross?"

   "I," Hannah put in, "vote for The Bells of Tanah.  All in favor?"

   "Sounds like a Bing Crosby movie," Anthony told her, grinning.  "I'm for
it."

   "Dad liked Bing," Nona added, voice quiet.  "He thought he would have
made a better Muslim than priest."

   "What do you think, Daium?" Justin looked over at his wife.  "The Bells
of Tanah sound good?"

   "No!"

   There was silence.  Closing her eyes, Daium took a deep breath.

   "No...  no, Justin." Her eyes, meeting his, were full of sorrow.  "Don't
name it after Tanah.  We have to forget Tanah.  Just...  call the ship
Bells.  Please."

   "Daium, Love." Alicia waited for her eyes to slowly rise up to meet
hers. "There's something you're not telling us."

   "Yes."

   She left it hanging there.  Giving a sigh, Alicia turned back to her
screens.

   "OK, Bells it is...  acknowledgment sent.  We have permission to land."

   Her eyes slid downward again, meeting Justin's.  She WOULD tell them...

   ****

   The Bells entered the atmosphere of Hogh.

   They were coming in like the space shuttle, despite the lack of wings.
Chuck split his attention between the readings in front of him, giving the
speed and health of various parts of the ship, and the view around him. 
They were rushing through the clouds, like some sort of immersive IMAX
movie.  He had some memory of such a film from Disney World, back in the
other reality, when he was there with his family a decade earlier, but such
comparisons were silly and shallow.  This...  this, well, was incredible.

   So, too, was the return of gravity.  As the ship dropped, the force
pulled him down into his seat.  The pressure was only a few g, nothing
compared to what an Earth ship would go through.  He still wasn't sure why,
but in no way was complaining.  It was going to be bad enough once they
landed, once they had to actually WALK.

   He hoped he remembered how.

   As they broke through the clouds, the travelers were rewarded with a sea
of blue.  Below them, stretching to the curve of the horizon in every
direction, was sea.

   "Incredible," he heard Hannah whisper.  Alicia, now down at their level
and strapped in, looked at it longingly.

   "I wanna swim..."

   "Remember," Justin told Daium's wife, "we're strangers in a strange
land. Let's keep to ourselves, do what we have to, and leave.  No field
trips."

   "Party pooper..."

   "Ew," Melinda said, mock disgust on her face.  "You're not coming to my
party, if..."

   The ship banked again.  There, visible on the water, was the spaceport.
A large series of artificial islands, rising up like oil rigs.  The outer
platforms held landing pads, a few dozen at least, most circular or oval.
Causeways connected them to a ring of buildings, themselves connected to
large square islands with open courtyards, seemingly alternating between
greenery and what could be markets.  There obviously had been an attempt,
early on, to create some sort of artistic symmetry.  However, need had sent
out new spokes which started the pattern over again, if on smaller scales.

   Chuck was, in a way, relieved to see suburban sprawl was universal.

   One of the outer pads began to flash lights.  The ship, on autopilot but
carefully monitored by Daium, descended closer.  As they passed the tops of
the closest building, the scale of the place finally became clear.  The
entire complex was easily miles across, if not tens of miles.  The shadow
of their football stadium sized ship approached the indicated landing zone,
slowing.  At the last moment, the ship swung around, facing the causeway,
before starting to drop the final two hundred feet.

   "Um," Hannah asked, nervous, "do we have landing gear on this ship?"

   Daium spun her chair around, horrified.

   "Knew father forgot something!"

   There was silence...  finally broken by a beep, and a message on various
screens that landing struts had deployed.

   "Oh, guess he didn't." Daium spun back around, not quite hiding a smirk.

   "Jesus mother of Buddha!  Don't do that!" Alicia laughed, the rest
joining in.  A moment later, the ship shuddered, the view outside stopped
moving, and the slight sound of the ship faded.

   They had landed.

   ****

   It was an hour later before they cracked the outer hatch of the bridge.
It took that long for them to feel comfortable standing unaided.  For the
past two weeks they had begun exercises, which probably should have been on
the agenda all along.  They were new at this whole space thing, though, and
the various corporate videos had somehow missed much that was now relevant.
Anthony had also begun human trials of some of the Orang drugs to see if
they were safe, to deal with some of the symptoms a couple of the humans
had noticed.

   So far, so good.  He wasn't dead yet.

   Hannah stepped out onto the gangway.  Closing her eyes, she let the
breeze hit her face.  She could smell the salt, as well as other, less
natural odors.  Metal, oil, garbage.

   It wasn't Earth, but it would do.

   Coming up next to her, Anthony put his arm around her waist, avoiding
the pistol, and guided her down the ramp.  Made of metal grating, it had
extended up from the surface of the cement landing pad, letting them
descend at a nice twenty degree angle.

   Hannah wasn't looking forward to climbing back up.

   The Bells sat in the middle of the pad, its cherry wood like exterior
standing out against the bleak grey and tan of its surroundings.  From the
curved bottom of the egg shaped central section, long thick landing
supports had extended, looking a bit like skis.  A railing, waist high on a
human, ran around the edge of the oval platform.  Fifty feet from the nose
of the Bells, the railing was interrupted by a tall archway.  Beyond, a
long bridge leading to another platform with squat, square buildings.

   Standing in the archway was a giant crab.

   Daium turned to the others.  She was dressed, as she had been on their
last exposure to the outside world, in her best dark green skirt.  Polished
wooden vines twisted into both her belt, and her suspenders and bra cups.
From her head, on the right side by her ear, hung a leather strap with four
colored wooden beads.  A holster on her belt held a wooden pistol, similar
to those now worn by her human companions.

   "Anthony...  friends." She paused a moment, gathering her thoughts,
reaching up to fiddle with her four lensed glasses.  "Please, stay here for
a few minutes.  Rinda and I," she gave her blue furred cousin a glance,
gaze then going to the waiting crab, "will go talk to him.  See what is
going on.  Once all is set, we will go into the spaceport."

   Anthony cocked his head at her.

   "Are you sure you don't want at least Nona with you?"

   She shook her head.

   "No.  We won't be speaking the Holy language."

   He nodded.

   "OK.  We'll stay here, ready to either jump to your aid, or run back
into the ship.  Hopefully neither."

   "Yes...  hopefully."

   ****

   Rinda managed to hold her tongue for a whole five seconds, after the two
started away from their friends.

   "They know something is wrong, Captain," she said quietly, eyes on the
creature before them as her hands strived to stay near, but not too near,
her two sidearms.  Daium nodded.

   "Lots is wrong.  Stay quiet, let me talk.  Remember, the Orang are no
more." Daium could see her bristle at that, but to her credit Rinda stayed
quiet.  Coming up on the guard, the two Orang stopped five feet away from
him.  The Mard was four feet high, from the tip of its legs to the top of
its shell.  The body was roundish, five feet in diameter, a hard shell with
lots of bumps and seemingly random points.  Most of him was red in color,
but streaks of blue and gold wrapped around his six legs as well as his
body.  The two claws at the end of his front legs were blue, three feet
long, with white teeth that looked very pointy.  Two eye stalks projected
from the front of its body, both now focused on them.

   "Terrgvatf.  Jrypbzr gb gur znwrfgvp cynarg Hogh."

   Daium nodded.  She had been right, they used Common here.  Good thing
she had been practicing.  Mentally reorganizing her thoughts, she gestured
back at the ship.

   "Thank you.  We are the crew of the Bells.  I am Captain Daium, this is
my companion Rinda."

   "I am Dockmaster Vei." His eyes went down to their sidearms.  "We allow
weapons, but be warned: Tales of your people have made it here.  You have
no army with you to fall back on." As the two Orang glanced at each other,
his eyes looked over them at the ship.  "If you do, leave now, or you will
not leave."

   Daium could see Rinda's hand almost move towards her weapons at the
implied threat.  Keeping her eyes on the Dockmaster, she smiled.

   "No army.  Just us, and our friends.  We are here to supply ourselves,
then leave.  Nothing more."

   "Good." Turning, he began across the bridge.  "Welcome to K'Aghak"

   ****

   "So...  those crab things built this place?" Alicia looked over the
bridge railing, admiring the total lack of supports under them at the
moment.  Her pace increased.

   "No," Daium told her.  She walked between Alicia and Justin, holding
their hands.  With a slight smile at Alicia's apparent worry, she herself
slowed down.  Alicia wasn't so much jerked backwards, as forced to stop for
a moment.  "The Mard live in the ocean, have their cities down there. 
This...  was built by otherworlders.  For communication and trade."

   "Wouldn't it make more sense to have that kind of thing in orbit?" Chuck
looked up at the blue sky.  "On Earth they kept saying that only once you
didn't have to keep going into and out of gravity wells would space travel
really be worth it."

   "Space stations are vulnerable," Rinda told him.  She squeezed his hand.
Melinda, on his other side, saw this and mirrored the action...  in the
spirit of friendly competition, naturally.  "Make the enemy come down into
the atmosphere.  That's good defensive tactics."

   Nona looked between the two Orang, expression confused.

   "But, what about contamination?  Bringing in all those alien bacteria
and such, without any sort of quarantine?  Hell, on Earth we worry about
doing those things just between continents!  One foreign animal brought
over can destroy entire native ecosystems!"

   Rinda shrugged.

   "If the invader wins, you were too weak to survive and the universe is
better off without you."

   A momentary silence fell over the group, broken only by their footfalls
on metal plates.

   "Well," Anthony finally said, cheerfully, "I must say I find such a
philosophy refreshing.  It explains quite a bit, actually." His eyes met
Daium's, who dropped them in response.  "So," he changed the topic, "what's
the plan once we get off of this bridge and Alicia kisses the ground in
relief?"

   "We split up," Daium replied, looking up at the buildings closing fast.
"I need to get some information.  Rinda, go with them, let them explore the
markets."

   "We're coming with you," Justin told her.  Alicia nodded in agreement.
Daium shook her head.

   "You don't speak the language.  There's nothing..."

   Justin stopped, the others following suit ten feet from the end of the
bridge.  Two giant crabs stood on either side of the arch, watching. 
Raising his left hand, Justin displayed the carved wooden ring.  Alicia
also held out hers.

   "We didn't accept your ring, Daium, to let you go off alone among
strange aliens.  We ARE coming with you." Stepping closer, he lowered his
lips to her ear.  "No secrets," he whispered.

   ****

   Rinda, tourist map in hand, led the six humans across a second bridge to
a large open market.  Stalls and tents filled the square platform, the
sound of alien voices filling their ears.  Like much of what they had seen
so far, it wasn't so much alien as...  different.  Any good movie set
designer could come up with something similar without much effort.  What
solid buildings there were had that temporary permanence feel that denotes
no planning.  Made of standard slabs of metal or ceramic, maybe even
plastic, they were mostly one story squares or rectangles.  The tents were
more varied in appearance, and color.  So too were the inhabitants.  Large
purple bear like creatures, grey insect men, round blobs that half
slithered, half rolled...  all either shopping, or selling.

   "Looks like a Renaissance Fair," Chuck commented.  Melinda gave one of
the, possibly, female insects a close look.

   "Not enough cleavage for that."

   Anthony's eyes focused on how they, themselves, were being observed. 
Humans, most likely, were unknown to those here.  If not, well, that could
lead them to a way home.  But barring such miracles, the main question
would be if they would be able to pass unnoticed, just another random alien
species as yet un-encountered, or if they were something different. 
Something...  that would draw unwanted attention.

   As the seven made their way through the stalls, he did notice eyes, and
other sensory devices, following them.  However...  it wasn't the hairless
humans that seemed to be the focus.

   It was Rinda.

   Passing a three sided tent, Hannah stopped to look at the display that
made up the fourth side.  Metal shelves and bins had what seemed like toys,
stuffed animals, dolls...  Reaching out, she picked up a fluffy ten eyed
fur ball.

   "Chuck...  does time run normally for us?"

   "What?"

   "I mean...  I never paid too much attention to this kind of thing, but
I've seen stuff on NOVA about Einstein and stuff...  is time for us the
same as it is on Earth?  Is it the same day here, as there?"

   "Why do you want to know," Anthony asked, arms going around her waist as
he hugged her from behind.  She leaned into him.

   "Be...  because, I need to know if Mary's second birthday is in three
weeks, or if I...  missed it." Her eyes, haunted, met Chuck's.  Reaching
over to pet the stuffed alien, Chuck shook his head.

   "Usually...  no, there's no relativistic effect on us as we travel.  Oh,
we lost maybe two hours after we left Tanah, but once in hyperspace our
travel time matched the passage of time out here.  But...  we don't know
how long it took that first trip.  If it was instantaneous, or..."

   Her eyes closed.

   "So I could have missed it..."

   Nona put a hand on her bare arm.

   "Time is what we say it is.  I'm keeping the calendar of home, trying to
remember when the holy days are.  Put her birthday on the calendar.  We can
all celebrate it, when the time comes." There were murmurs of agreement. 
Smiling, eyes wet, Hannah thanked them.

   "Well, I guess that means I'll have to buy a gift for her." Turning to
the yellow-green crab behind the counter, she held out the toy.  "Rinda,
ask him how much for this..."

   **** Chapter 14 ****

   Alicia had almost lost the capacity for awe.

   She was walking, up metal stairs, on the outside of a rather ordinary
steel building on an all water planet, surrounded by crab aliens, holding
hands with her monkey lover.

   God, what would her parents think?

   Probably, sad to say, the whole lesbian thing would freak them out the
most.  Her mother, in particular, seemed to have a real thing against that.
Any time one of THOSE women showed up on TV, there'd be this disgusted rant
that had nothing to do with sexual preferences, but, you know, had
EVERYTHING to do with it.  Dad would say nothing, just nod, a disapproving
look in his eyes.  A gay guy appearing on screen would signal his turn.

   Hmm.  Alicia hadn't thought of her family in awhile.

   Turning her head, her eyes caught Justin's.  He nodded.  Justin was
another thing her mother would have ranted about.  Again, she never would
have pointed out his skin color as an issue.  She would just, well, point
out possible problems with associating with one of his kind.  The fact
Alicia wasn't, technically, in a relationship with him wouldn't have
mattered.

   Nor, really, would that have been believed.

   Alicia and Justin weren't in love.  They weren't married.  They were,
both, married to Daium.  They both wore her ring, and she wore two rings.
It was a distinction that was almost the definition of splitting hairs,
given they shared one "bed" (or at least floating space), and their bodies,
freely among themselves.  But it was one she had insisted on.  She DIDN'T
love him.  There was no spark.  If Alicia wasn't warmed up by Daium, she
probably wouldn't even be wet enough to take his cock.  Before this, she
had been all heterosexual, so it wasn't that.  The geek was just...  well,
you know.

   She had come to like him, at least.  The more time they spent together,
the more a reasonable understanding had developed between them.  That he
would father her children was perfectly fine with her, and...  well, who
knew.  Maybe love would blossom by then.  Alicia was awaiting her next
period to see if there in fact was one: if not, they'd discover if nine
months was enough time for another pair of rings to be exchanged.

   Alicia wasn't gay, either.  Fifteen minutes alone with Tammy had
confirmed that, which both luckily, afterwards, had been able to laugh
about.  Justin had started calling her "Daiumsexual", a reference to some
game called Dragon Age 2.  In that game, apparently, rather than give the
characters consistent personalities, as in the first installment, the
creators made them all attracted to whatever gender the player's character
was.  She could buy that.  The theory about herself, that is, not the game.
She didn't care for fantasy games that much.

   Which made it all the more ironic that her life was now a fantasy.

   At the top of the third flight of stairs, Alicia stopped.  Her legs were
hurting.

   "Can we pause a moment, guys?" She squeezed Daium's warm hand, getting
one in return.  Justin nodded.

   "Sounds good." Letting go of Daium's other hand, he moved over to the
railing on the small balcony.  Stairs continued up for another two floors.
Looking out over the endless ocean, he chuckled.  "I'm wondering why the
hell there ARE stairs, to be honest.  Not very multi-species friendly." He
turned to look at Daium.  "What are we going up to, anyway?"

   With a sigh, and a pause to lean down and rub her calf muscles, Daium
leaned back against the tan brick wall.

   "There is a former...  Orang office, on the top floor.  They made only
stairs to keep most from reaching it."

   "Sort of an embassy?" Her expression showed she clearly didn't know that
word, so Justin tried again.  "A place for diplomates, to help with trade
and other things?" Daium shrugged and nodded.

   "Close enough.  It closed, when..."

   She went silent.

   Alicia and Justin exchanged another glance.

   "OK," Alicia told her lover, moving to sit on the metal landing, "dish."
They were on the shaded side of the building, luckily, so the metal was
cool.  The last thing she wanted was a burned ass.

   Daium looked down at her, confused.

   "Dish?"

   "Tell us," Justin translated, sitting down himself, leaning back against
one of the railing supports.  "What the heck are you and Rinda keeping to
yourself?"

   Daium looked between the two.  Alicia smiled, patting the floor next to
her.  With a sigh, Daium let herself slide down the wall, onto her butt. 
Bringing her knees up to her chest, green skirt rising to reveal green
panties, she hugged her legs.

   "It..." she started, then paused.  Looking over at Justin, she asked,
"On Earth.  How many races are there?"

   Alicia wondered why she'd want to know about that, or why she'd even
think there were different races of humans.  It's not like the difference
in fur color between Daium and Rinda seemed to indicate different races. 
She saw Justin furrow his brow for a moment, before widening his eyes in
understanding.

   "Now?  None.  There's just humans.  Long ago, there were more.  Every
year we learn more about them, where they were and how long they lasted. 
The last were what we call Neanderthals, who lived in Europe when Humans
came out of Africa a hundred thousand or so years ago.  I can't remember
the exact dates.  They had fire, art, possibly religion, but so far as we
can tell they died out after a few thousand more years of living beside us.
Some think we bred with them, but I'm not sure if that's proven." Alicia
was impressed.  She hadn't even considered that meaning to her words. 
Justin then laughed.  "Oh, almost forgot, a few years ago they found
remains of some very short human-like creatures that lived only a few
thousand years ago.  They're not sure if they're mutated humans, or a
different race that survived alongside man." He looked at Daium.  "Why?"

   She hugged her knees tighter.

   "There were three races on Tanah, when the first cities were built.  The
Orang, the Khn, and Nhan Dan.  We were similar, but different, as the
species of similar animals are different.  We...  sometimes we fought,
sometimes we had peace.  As the world filled, we fought more."

   She paused.  Alicia reached over, running her hand through the soft
brown fur on her arm.  This didn't seem to help, but Daium went on.

   "The Orang were the first into space.  The first to reach orbit, the
first to reach the next planet.  There...  we discovered aliens."

   The two humans leaned forward, eyes wide.  Daium looked between them,
sadly.

   "When I discovered you and your friends were from a new world, were
innocents in the ways of the universe, I was afraid I'd be repeating the
errors of that first contact.  They...  the Pobl told us about the
universe. About what was out there.  They offered to trade, needing fuel
mined for their ship to make it home.  We did.  We traded for knowledge,
for...  for weapons." She swallowed.  "Five years later, the Khn and Nhan
Dan were no more."

   Alicia's veins filled with ice.  Genocide.  She saw Justin's expression
harden.  Daium just nodded, eyes downcast.

   "That was a century ago.  The Orang used the knowledge.  Went out into
the universe.  We explored those systems around us.  Found three of them
populated, by unrelated bird-like creatures.  They occupied the first
worlds we had seen nearby that could hold Orangs.  And, the birds on two of
the worlds were primitive.  We..."

   "You attacked." Justin's words were cold.

   "We destroyed them.  Wiped out two whole races, on two worlds.  My... 
Father was appalled.  He, as a youngster, had supported the first attack,
thinking maybe the creatures would surrender, be made subservient." She
shook her head.  "He was young, and a fool.  He realized his mistake too
late.  He tried to stop the second, joining the government, trying to gain
influence and allies.  But...  he was one Orang.  Even my sister, my Uncles
and Aunts, were for the wars.  I was the only one on his side.

   "Word spread about the Orang.  Our traders, to the wider universe, began
to be looked on with suspicion...  hate.  We were young, upstarts, bursting
out of our system like a plague.  Father heard rumors that forces were
gathering to contain us.  He...  he decided to stop the madness before we
were destroyed."

   "But it didn't work," Alicia said, quietly.  Shifting over, she pressed
the side of her body against Daium, arm going around her.

   "No...  he...  didn't tell me his plan.  I didn't know he told the
Ludzie they were our next target.  I thought he was just telling the
military that the plans had been leaked, to try and get them to call it
off. I...  I didn't think!" Turning, Daium buried her head in Alicia's
chest, crying.

   Holding her sobbing wife, Alicia looked at Justin.  He was staring out
onto the spaceport spread out below them.  Their ship, the Bells, was just
barely in view.  She saw him take a deep breath...  and let it out.

   "Does Rinda know what your father did?"

   "No," she sniffled, head coming up.  Her glasses were askew, the four
lenses a bit fogged up.  Alicia gently removed them, pulling a tissue out
of her pocket to wipe the round lenses, returning it to Daium's face
without comment.  "Well...  Rinda doesn't even know we're related.  My
Uncle introduced me as just a Captain, not her cousin.  She probably knows
the name of the traitor, and hates him."

   "And you don't want to tell her, obviously." Groaning, Justin pushed
himself to his feet.  Daium looked up at him in fear.

   "I can't tell her.  Please, Justin...  let the knowledge die with my
people.  Once we are far enough away...  it will not matter."

   "What's up there?" Justin looked up the side of the building, the door
not quite visible through the two metal landings above.

   "Receivers.  Collecting, decoding, all transmissions.  I...  it can tell
us what the people here know, if we've outrun knowledge of what happened.
Or if events have overtaken us."

   "It's still there?" Alicia asked.  Daium nodded, standing, helping
Alicia to her feet.

   "One of the messages you detected but couldn't decode was from here.  It
will let us in."

   ****

   Justin followed Daium into the "embassy".

   The three found themselves in a reception room.  A desk, probably for a
secretary, sat near the door.  Seats lined the walls of the small
rectangular room.  Coming in behind him, Alicia closed the door and looked
around.

   "Why is it deserted?"

   "There were...  local problems.  The government pulled most of our
people out of places like this." Sliding her hand along the edge of the
wooden desk, Daium walked around it to a carved wooden door.  Pausing for a
second to remember, she began touching various wooden symbols.

   Justin felt Alicia's breath on his right ear.

   "What do you think?" she whispered.  Eyes sliding to her face, he saw
the return of the calculating bitch.  His gaze flicked back to Daium.

   "Trust her, not them."

   She nodded into his shoulder, stepping away.  The door on the far side
opened, revealing a larger room with computer monitors.  Daium turned to
them.

   "In here."

   ****

   Daium slid into one of the padded chairs, hands quickly manipulating the
keyboard.  She didn't want to take too long here.  Yes, every race probably
had a place like this on every world they could, but it still, technically,
was against local laws.  Having the system reply back had been a risk: a
spy station that only listens is undetectable.

   She started with the month old news, that which had the most time to be
decoded and confirmed.

   Nothing.

   No mention of the Orang, of Tanah.  Every ship that arrived at a port
broadcast the news from its last port of call (a feature she had disabled
on the Bells), as that was the fastest way to send information.  The home
worlds of some empires sent out unmanned, incredibly fast courier probes to
their colonies, but they were outside such a system.  The names of a few
Ludzie ships triggered alerts, but the news from them was the usual
nothing.

   She let out a sigh.

   Grabbing a memory stick from a pile next to her, she shoved it into a
slot and began downloading the data.  Some of it might be useful later.  On
the screen, that morning's ship arrivals scrolled up...

   ****

   Chuck pushed the handcart down the street, one eye on the women in front
of them, the other on a roll of fabric not quite settled on the pile. 
Deciding not to chance it, he reached out and moved it over a touch,
securing his load without breaking stride.  Next to him, Anthony pushed a
similar cart piled with boxes and bags of unknown food.  The mustached
manager looked over at the stock boy.

   "Brings back memories, doesn't it?"

   "It's good to know our lives haven't changed."

   They stopped, noticing the girls looking over yet another stand.  This
one had various alien fish, displayed both on ice and live in tanks. 
Tammy, consulting with Rinda, had already bought crates of perishable food
items, including some seafood, ordering them delivered to the ship.  The
Orang had given her a small device which could sample items, check to see
if they were not too poisonous and had some nutritional value.  The Humans
had already given it a good workout as they cut a path through the markets.
They were on their third city block sized platform, the ship a good mile or
more away.

   Chuck stretched.

   "You know," he told Anthony, voice at a reasonable but still easily
heard level, "I heard you and Hannah talking about gender stereotypes the
other day.  I have to agree with her: the whole thing about women and
shopping is just silly.  You never see that in real life."

   "Oh, I know," Anthony agreed, leaning on the cart.  "Now that I've had
time to think about her argument, I'm in full agreement.  Women aren't
genetically geared towards shopping any more than men are.  The whole
cliche of men following their wives around carrying packages is just
something you find in comic strips."

   "You know we can hear you," Melinda commented without turning.  The
others were ignoring them.

   "That's the only reason to speak," Chuck replied cheerfully.  Eyes
shifting around, he lowered his voice, leaning a bit towards Anthony. 
"Rinda is still drawing stares."

   Anthony nodded.

   "We're a bit too far from home.  Time to head back." He raised his
voice. "Hannah.  It's getting late.  Unless you've picked something out,
let's start back."

   The five women turned as one, alerted by the change in tone.  Rinda's
eyes met Chuck's, following his gaze as it shifted to a three foot tall
orange frog.  Its large yellow eyes never left the Orang, although it
showed no indication of doing anything more.  Eyes going back to Chuck,
Rinda nodded.

   "Let's head back," she told the others.  "I'll remember how to get here.
We can come back tomorrow."

   "You sure?" Nona gestured at a tank of live blue shrimp.  "Surely, we
have time..."

   A loud squawk from up the street silenced her.

   Chuck's hand dropped to the pistol holstered on his belt.  Anthony and
Rinda did the same, all eyes going to a commotion fifty feet ahead. 
Creatures were quickly moving aside, clearing a path.  A path for...

   They were Raptors.  Green feathered Raptors.  That's the only way Chuck
could describe the three aliens now stopped in the middle of the street. 
Easily eight feet tall, they had both small feathered arms, and large
wings, now extended upward as if to make themselves more fearsome.  Yellow
beaks, and red tuffs of feathers on their head completed the picture.

   Their yellow eyes on Rinda, the center one spoke.

   ****

   "Orang!"

   Rinda shuddered at the squawk of the Ludzie.  She had never seen one in
person.  Had never fought one.  The battle of Traitor's Ambush had been
ship to ship, she just a helpless passenger, her fate out of her hands. 
Here, before them, speaking Common like some freak, were the creatures who
had destroyed her people.  Her world.  Her family...

   She stepped out from the shop stall.  She had to distract them.  Keep
them focused on her, not the Humans.  This wasn't their fight.  These
seemed to not be soldiers, at least.  Probably just the crew of some ship,
looking for a fight.

   She'd give it to them.

   "What do you Egg Layers want?"

   Insults do not translate well, cross species.  Rinda tried to overcome
this, putting all the distain she had into her words.  Stopping in the
middle of the street, forty feet from the abominations, she crouched
slightly, fingers twitching next to her two holstered pistols.

   A smiling beak is a frightening thing.  Three formed on three feathered
faces before her.

   "I want to tell you of your world, Furred One.  We want to tell you of
what we did to your home.  Your trees.  Your babies..."

   These creatures had done no such thing.  They were soft.  Had been
nowhere near the fighting.  Rinda's eyes flicked to the spectators.  She
felt the mood.  They were against her.  If she did anything...

   The leftmost Ludzie's hands suddenly dropped to something hidden in its
feathers, where a waist on a civilized creature would be.  Rinda's hands
grabbed her pistols.  Before they were even half way out, she saw two metal
rods come up out of those feathers.  Too slow.  She was too slow...

   A series of bangs rang out from behind her.

   All three of the feathered monstrosities let go squawks of pain and
surprise, rearing back as chunks of red flesh and feathers exploded from
their chests.  The one tried to bring its two guns to bear on the new
threat, but two more shots tore into it, spinning the creature around.

   All three fell to the ground.

   Rinda spun.  It was Anthony and Chuck.  Behind the cover of the two
carts, they had drawn, covering her, firing at the first sign of danger. 
They...  it had not been her protecting them, but...

   Chuck darted forward to her, weapon still out.

   "Melinda!  Take my cart!  To the ship!  We'll decoy!" She saw Anthony
already spinning his cargo laden cart around.

   "Wha..!"

   "YOU'RE the target!" Chuck grabbed her arm, pulling her off between two
stalls.  Her weapons, half drawn, fell back into their holsters.

   Behind her, she could hear the crowd crying out for medics, for
security...  for justice.

   **** Chapter 15 ****

   You don't always make the wisest decisions in the heat of the moment
with no information.

   Chuck meditated on this important fact as he wove his way between tents
and stalls in the alien bazaar, Rinda at his side.  He had split them up.
Taken the Orang, the obvious target of the feathered dinosaurs, and fled
like a bitch in the hope the others could make it back to the ship without
too much trouble.  The fact this meant each group was now that much weaker
hadn't occurred to him.  The fact the others now had nobody who spoke the
local language was also a downside running through his mind.  Most
importantly, though, was the realization that bridges dictated the routes
back to the ship, and if they were all going to use the same bridges they
might as well have stayed together.

   If a decade of watching The Amazing Race had taught Chuck anything, it
was that running without a plan was suicide.  With that in mind, seeing no
immediate danger he pulled Rinda into the shadows of a zebra colored tent
and stopped, panting.

   The damned gravity was also going to be an issue.  He could tell that
already.

   "Rinda, check the map.  Assuming the others are going back the way we
came, find us a different route back to the ship."

   She was looking at him, all four eyes round in awe.

   "You shot them," she whispered.  "All of them."

   He shook his head, laughing tiredly.

   "They were big and close together.  I also hit the wrong one at least
twice." He grabbed the water bottle from his belt and took a gulp.  He
hoped he hadn't killed them.  Really hoped they survived.  He had shot to
kill, of course.  He knew that much, that if you tried to wound you'd
likely just miss.  But, damn it, he was a future engineering major, not a
soldier!  They had been living, thinking people!  For all they had seemed
to be threatening Rinda in that strange language...

   She was still staring at him, mouth agape.

   "Map!  Please, Rinda!"

   Shaking herself, getting her mind back where it belonged as her training
kicked in, Rinda quickly pulled the folded tourist map from her belt.  As
she looked, Chuck handed her his water bottle.  She took a quick swig,
handing it back without her eyes leaving the map.

   "Thank you..." A moment later, nimble hands swiftly refolding the map
neatly and returning it to its proper place, she nodded towards the south.
"That way.  We..."

   A buzzing came from her belt.

   Chuck watched Rinda grab the communicator, a sinking feeling coming over
him.  Moving together, they heard Daium's voice.

   "Rinda!  There's a Ludzie ship here!  Get back here!"

   Chuck closed his eyes, shaking his head.  Well, duh.  Opening them, he
saw Rinda just staring at the phone in amazement as well.

   "Um, we already know, Captain!  We shot three!"

   "You WHAT?!?"

   Sensing this perhaps needed a human touch, Chuck gently took the device
from Rinda's hand.  She gave it up willingly, eyes on him, but Chuck had no
time to decipher her expression.

   "They were about to fire on Rinda.  We split up: I have her, the rest
are running back to you the way we came.  I'm going to find a different way
back, over to the outer ring then to you, in case they're hunting for
Orang's."

   There was a pause, Alicia's voice replacing Daium's.

   "We're two platforms west of the ship.  We'll wait for you at the next
bridge we come to."

   Rinda quickly whipped the map out, pointing to their position and the
bridge in question.  Chuck nodded.

   "Sounds good.  Only one bridge to cross to get to your platform.  Gotta
go and beat the alarm.  Later."

   Flipping the off switch, he handed it back to Rinda, leaning in for a
quick kiss.  Her lips kissed back almost desperately, trying to follow
after as he pulled back.

   "No time, my friend.  Let's go."

   ****

   Alicia turned off the phone, looking at her wife and husband-in-law in
disbelief.

   "OK, didn't expect this."

   Daium was rooted in place, expression shocked.

   "What...  what happened?  We were supposed to be away from fighting!  I
didn't want this!"

   "No time," Justin said, gaze quickly sweeping the Orang office.  "Quick,
anything we need to steal from here that we can get in five seconds?"

   Daium shook her head, eyes following his, face still worried.

   "No.  Have all the data.  Rest is nothing."

   "Out, then!" Grabbing her hand, he half led, half pulled Daium out
through the waiting room and onto the exterior staircase.  Alicia was a
step behind, closing the door to the spy center behind her.  She doubted
they'd be back, but regardless, there was no reason to leave it open to
strangers.  The trip up, in almost full Earth gravity, had been painful. 
The trip down was comically fast, half running, half falling.  At least
twice, only the railing kept her from just continuing forward at the bottom
of a flight and going right off the platform.  They reached the bottom with
so much momentum they just kept running for a hundred feet, before slowing
as gravity and aching sides demanded their due.  Not stopping, Justin
passed his water bottle around.

   Alicia drank thankfully, taking a long swig and handing it back.  Her
other hand she kept near her pistol.  They had practiced with the weapons.
Not so much out of future need, or so they told themselves, but because it
was something to do.  The ship was, despite its size, small, as was their
group, and boredom was always an issue.  You couldn't just have sex all the
time.  Rinda had taught them the basics, drawing on her military training.
There was only so much you could do in zero gravity, but target practice
had definitely been on the agenda.  Alicia had been good at it.  It had
surprised, and pleased, the blonde.  Chuck joked that with her facial scar
and a gun, she looked like a pirate.

   At the very least, she could use a bottle of rum right about now.

   They were in the middle of what on Earth might be called an office park.
Buildings of various shapes and sizes, occupied by delegations from
hundreds of worlds.  Mostly private and commercial, from what Daium had
been able to tell them, trading both for the products of this water world,
and among themselves.  This series of artificial islands was the planet's
only surface habitat, condensing all their contact with the universe into
one space.

   Perhaps this was why it was so god damned ugly.

   The trio passed between two rusting metal structures.  Each loomed up
over them about six stories, just boxes.  Alicia liked her buildings
pretty, stylish.  At the very least, they should tell you what they are
even without a sign.  Like that one up there, next to the bridge.  It was
built like a seashell, yet looked menacing.  It said military.  It said,
police.

   So did the half dozen giant crabs blocking the bridge.

   Daium halted, hand going out to the metal wall to keep her balance, the
other two copying her lead.  Alicia's hand crept closer to her weapon. 
Justin's eyes flicked down at the movement.

   "Don't, Alicia.  We're outnumbered."

   "We ARE getting through."

   He nodded.

   "Alive, though.  If we're going to fight, we need to hook up with Chuck
and Rinda first."

   "NO FIGHTING!"

   Daium literally growled at her lovers.

   "No fighting!  I'll talk to them." Her eyes went to the center one.  "I
think that's the same one I talked to earlier.  Let's go." Taking one step,
she paused.  "But...  be ready, my loves."

   ****

   Daium was sweating under her brown fur.  Damned sun.  This planet needed
trees.  Glorious, tall trees with green leaves, providing shade,
protection...  providing all that was needed for life.

   This world had nothing but danger.

   Ah, well.  It served her right.  She had picked the planet.  Had the
entire universe to choose from, and she had picked this for their first way
station.  They had to stop somewhere, and it had seemed far enough away.

   Silly Orang.

   Walking across the hot metal, deciding then and there that the human
concept of "shoes" for things other than snow boots was one she really
should adopt, she kept her gaze on the red Mard with the blue claws.  Yes,
it definitely was the same one she had talked to earlier.  Its eye stalks
were on her, and she took some comfort in the lack of any overt
aggressiveness in the crabs as the three of them approached.  They were
simply blocking the bridge to the next platform.

   "Dockmaster Vei," she greeted him, stopping just out of what she hoped
was claw reach.  Justin and Alicia stood on either side.  Her protectors.
Standing straighter, she drew strength from them.

   "Captain Daium," Vei replied, voice deep and amused.  "It seems your
crew has run into some problems."

   She nodded.

   "I just heard.  They were threatened, and defended themselves.  We're
returning to the ship."

   "They fired on peaceful Ludzie crewmen, fresh off of their ship.  Are
you Orang THAT warlike that every dispute must be settled this way?"

   HER people warlike?  As if the Ludzie were much different?!

   Daium willed herself calm.  He was baiting her.  If she struck out, his
job was that much easier.  The crab chuckled, as if taking her silence as
agreement.

   "The Ludzie ship brought news, as well.  News of your planet Tanah."

   She felt the humans on either side of her tense.  They didn't understand
the words, naturally, but both the taunting nature and the name Tanah had
jumped out at them.  She gritted her teeth.

   "Yes.  We know."

   "And you did not tell us.  Your ship did not broadcast your news to us,
as is required.  This is almost as wrong as what your people have done. 
Tell me, what do you think I should do?"

   Oh, there were so many ways she wanted to answer that.

   She heard something behind them, saw the guards looking over her head.
Justin leaned his head closer and whispered.

   "Chuck and Rinda."

   She nodded.  So.  They were now two groups instead of three.  All she
had to do was convince this idiotic official in front of her that it was in
his interest to let them go on their way...

   Daium smiled.

   It was obviously a disquieting sight.  Dockmaster Vei seemed to rear
back a bit, as did the guards on either side.  She adjusted her glasses,
all four eyes fixed on his.

   "Yes.  Tanah is no more.  But, the Orang are.  Our fleets have struck
back.  Taking vengeance, as is our right.  Now, we are regrouping.  Our
warships and civilian transports.  All converging on one system.

   "Here."

   Vei staggered back, as if struck.  The others shot their eyes into the
sky, as if warships were just then about to tear down onto their world. 
Daium just smiled wider.

   "We are just gathering, naturally.  We will not stay.  It will be good
for your economy, all those ships needing to be supplied.  So long, that
is, that there is no reason for them to be upset with you.  We Orang, at
the moment, are in a rather bad mood."

   The Dockmaster's eyes narrowed.

   "What do you want?"

   "Free passage for all my crew back to the ship, and no hindrance when we
take off.  Delivery of any and all supplies they may have legally purchased
from your fine merchants." She paused, considering.  "You may also want to
tell the two Ludzie ships now here they may want to leave the system rather
quickly."

   She crossed her arms over her chest.

   "Now."

   ****

   Melinda didn't think they were going to make it.

   They had crossed over the first bridge without much problem.  The humans
had left the commotion behind, quickly getting lost in the milling crowds.
The crab guards hadn't even looked at the five as they pushed two carts of
supplies past onto the swaying bridge.  Once across, though, Melinda had
looked back.  The guards on this side seemed to be getting some sort of
call, probably from headquarters.  One was starting to look up towards them
as they pushed their way into the crowded market.

   The word was now out.  The guards at the next bridge would be alert. 
And...

   And the cart was getting damned heavy.

   "Tammy, could you..."

   "Sure."

   The blonde moved in to keep the cart moving, Melinda gratefully stepping
away.  Nona and Hannah had already relieved Anthony on the other one,
giving him a rest.  They were moving quickly through the stalls and tents,
metal wheels making enough noise on the metal ground to make all thoughts
of sneaking anywhere too silly to even consider.  Not that five humans all
dressed in the same black pants, white shirts could really hide.  They
stood out, among the alien weirdness.  Or, at least, she thought so.

   She hoped Chuck was OK.  Wished he was here.  Wished he was there to
protect them.  He had been awesome!  She always knew he was great, but the
way he had shot those bad guys!  Man!  She just wanted to jump him as soon
as they got back to the ship!  Yeah, Anthony had shot too, but she had no
desire to do anything to his mustached body.  He was no Chuck, after all!

   "Turn here!"

   At Anthony's command the three women wrenched the two carts to the
right, sending them down a new street.  Melinda, at the rear, looked
around. They hadn't come this way.  It made sense: their trip through the
market had been rather wandering, haphazard.  They hadn't gone to every
stall, and now Anthony was using the map to find the shortest way back to
the ship.  Every second counted.

   Still, she couldn't help but look at the merchandise as they passed. 
Most of it seemed to be art, or at least what some alien race considered
art.  Carved stone and wood, paintings of God knows what, jewelry of
various types.  Reminded her of the Allentown Art Festival, which her
parents had dragged her downtown for as a kid.  All that was needed was a
stall selling bad watercolors of the hockey arena, or a Buffalo Bills
logo...  like that one there to her left, hanging on one of the tent
supports...

   Melinda stopped so fast she almost fell over.  She blinked.  It was
still there.  A painting, of some sort, looked like oil, of a Buffalo Bills
helmet.  An old one.  She wasn't into sports, but knew the team now had
orange helmets instead of white ones.  Or had they gone back to white
again? She didn't watch so didn't know.  But, still!  Turning, she saw the
others already two stalls away.

   "Guys!  Stop!  Over here!"

   Anthony stopped and turned.

   "We don't have time...  stop!" His hand shot out to Hannah's shoulder,
eyes wide.  Melinda turned back to the picture.  Still there.  God.  Why
did they have to find this NOW, when they had no time?!  She could hear the
others coming up behind her.  Anthony quickly moved to her side.

   "Oh, good eyes, Melinda.  Good eyes." He looked around, quickly focusing
on the alien manning the stand.  Melinda's gaze followed.  It was an
insect. Grasshopper like, five feet tall, crouched next to a cash register.
It was looking back at them with what could only be interpreted as
amazement.

   "Anthony, what do we do?"

   Motioning her and the others to let him do the talking, Anthony looked
at the insect while pointing to the picture.

   "Excuse me, where did you get that?  Do you speak English?"

   The creature's sparkling gold eyes widened.

   "Jung ner LBH qbvat urer?  V gubhtug nyy lbhe xvaq jrer qrnq!"

   Anthony shook his head.

   "Sorry, don't speak gibberish.  Can we buy this?  How much?"

   The shopkeeper's eyes seemed to sweep over them, one three digit claw
coming up to stroke it's chin.  The grey alien turned to the fabric door at
the back of the tent.

   "Danny!  Goldie!  Pbzr bhg urer!"

   There was a rustling.  The orange flap lifted...

   In walked two teens.

   One stood on two feet.  He was male.  Mostly human.  Younger than the
store workers, but no longer a child.  Dressed in just a blue skirt, or
kilt, his skin was a light brown, perhaps a tan.  He had two human legs,
two arms, a normal body, chest bare and a bit scrawny at five feet tall. 
His hands, while five fingered, seemed to have claws rather than
fingernails.  It was his face, though, that startled the humans.

   He had a snout.

   It was flesh colored, like the rest of his head, jutting out a good four
inches.  The nose at the end was flat and black, the lips of his mouth also
black.  His hair was red, a dirty brownish red, shaggy.  From the top of
his head, two rounded ears stuck up.  Hair grew from them, the backs at
least.  He looked at them with green, shocked, human eyes.  His
companion...

   She was on all fours.

   Covered with a golden fur, shaggy but well kept, she wore no clothing.
Her face was more human than his, fur thinning out then vanishing to reveal
tan skin.  Her blue eyes, set above a button nose and red lips, echoed his
surprise.  She reared up, startling Melinda.  Standing on bowed legs, she
looked to be about four and a half feet tall, from her clawed toes to the
rounded ends of her ears.  She also was thin, although the fur covered any
curves.  Her breasts, covered apart from the black nipples with shorter
fur, were about baseball sized.  While clearly not her preferred mode of
walking, she stood next to the boy, taking his hand.

   The two groups just stared at each other.

   Finally, the storekeeper chittered something to the two.  The boy seemed
to cringe, the girl stepping closer to him in fear, but in a moment he
straightened and looked at Anthony.

   "Wi..."

   He paused, wetting his lips.

   "Will you buy us?"

   "Buy?!?" The word was almost spit out of Nona's mouth.  Her face was
livid.  Anthony held his hand up, silencing them.  Melinda could understand
how her friend felt, though.  Were these...  slaves?  Pets?  Either was
horrible!  Anthony was keeping cool, though.  She could see his mind
working.

   "Does she understand this language?"

   He addressed it to the boy, whose eyes widened even more.  They flicked
to the grasshopper for a split second, then went back to Anthony.

   "No..."

   "If you had someplace to go, could you flee here?" He said it casually,
looking at the Buffalo Bills picture, hand running down its frame.  Melinda
tried to keep her expression passive.  The boy seemed to be trying to stay
calm as well.

   "Yes..."

   "We are eight Humans, from the world your parents or grandparents were
from.  Tell her we do not want you, then go gather all you can and leave
immediately.  Go to landing pad sixty three.  If you beat us there, tell
them Anthony sent you." He turned to the shopkeeper and shook his head. 
"Sorry, no.  Don't want them.  Come on," he told the others, moving
quickly. Grabbing a cart handle, he began pushing.

   Melinda moved.  She didn't dare look back.

   "Oh, God," she whispered, helping Tammy move the second cart, "who are
they..."

   "Our future," Tammy muttered.

   ****

   Chuck wasn't sure if he was reassured by the crab escort all the way
back to the Bells, or worried.  Word of current events seemed to have made
it this far, causing countless alien eyes to glare menacingly at their
little band as they passed through the streets.  He wasn't sure, if push
came to shove, whose side the guards would be on.  It wasn't something to
be tested, that's for sure.

   They were moving quickly.  Anthony had called a few minutes earlier,
voice tense.  Apparently, his group had picked up crab bodyguards as well.
That was a load off Chuck's mind.  He had been worried about Melinda,
regretting not grabbing her for this side trip.  That would have been
selfish, yes, but he doubted she would have objected at being put in danger
so long as she was with him.  He hoped she wasn't upset at being left...

   The final bridge to the ship was in sight.  Only a few hundred feet
away, the bulk of the Bells beckoned to them.  Home...  and, it was that,
wasn't it?  This was home.

   Not Earth.

   No.  They couldn't go back now.  Neither Orang would be welcome there,
and most of those who now called those girls friends would not abandon
them. He could see Nona leaving, given a chance to go back to her family.
That would be more than understandable.  Would Hannah go?  To be with her
husband and daughter?  Chuck wasn't sure.  If the chance came now, then
probably yes.  In an instant.  In a few months, though, when the inevitable
happened and she and Anthony produced a baby...

   No.  This was home.  The sole outpost of humanity among the stars.

   The bridge archway stood before them.  A crowd had gathered, aliens of a
rather displeased demeanor forming a half circle around the entrance.  Crab
guards kept them back, using their mass and claws to clear room.  Chuck
couldn't help but laugh, to keep his nerves in check.

   "I see we're popular."

   "Very," Alicia agreed.  The crab at the head of their group let out a
loud sound, startling the humans.  A moment later a path cleared,
reluctantly, through the mob.  Chuck tried not to make eye contact with any
of them as they quickly passed through.  They were strangers, and he wanted
to keep it that way.

   Once they were through, the guards joined their brothers in the line,
while the Dockmaster moved to the center.  He began shouting various
threats and commands to the mob, to little apparent effect.  The humans
stood there, unsure.  Chuck looked at Daium.

   "Do we wait for Anthony, or do we go to the ship?"

   "I say we wait," Rinda told him, standing at his side while giving the
crowd an unforgiving stare.  "In case we need to go get them."

   "Agreed," Alicia added.  "We don't want to have to fight our way out of
the ship.  We might as well hold here, while we can."

   A commotion in the crowd distracted them.  Something was moving through
it, with no regard for others.  The humans and Orang tensed, hands on their
sidearms.  The disturbance reached the edge.  The nearest crab tried to
react, but two figures dashed around him.

   Chuck and Rinda had their weapons out instantly, Alicia a split second
behind.  The two figures slid to a stop.  The kilt wearing boy put his
hands up, dropping burlap sacks, while the furry four legged girl dropped
down to the ground, looking like nothing so much as a frightened dog.  Her
eyes looked up at them tearfully, voice soft and frightened.

   "Anthony sent us!"

   **** Chapter 16 ****

   With a groan, Anthony sat down on the conference room carpet.

   He was tired.

   He was also half amused and half angry at himself.  For someone whose
job the past few years had been to be on his feet all day, an hour or two
walking a market had taken quite a bit out of him.  In shape he wasn't. 
You'd think the sex alone would have helped with stamina.  Alas, no.

   Luckily, there were more important things to occupy his mind than his
physical failings.  Or, to be more exact, important people.

   The two newcomers sat on the floor in front of him.  The boy, Danny, sat
Indian style, his kilt luckily covering his junk.  Anthony was in no way
homophobic, but he really didn't need to know if that looked human right at
this moment.  The girl next to him, Goldie, was the reason they were on the
floor.  Her body simply wasn't built for chairs.  Oh, she had told him she
COULD get into one, but after a bit her back and pelvis hurt.  So, here
they were.  Anthony had led them up to the second floor of the old store,
as it was the only place with a carpet and he didn't want their new friends
on the cold hard ground.  Not that they probably weren't used to it. 
Goldie lay with her front legs extended, like a dog, although their
non-human features reminded him more of a bear.  Her furry side was
touching Danny, his hand occasionally going to her head to scratch between
her ears.

   The three sat in silence, each taking the measure of the other.  Hannah
was downstairs, getting some food and refreshment.  The others...  well,
Anthony had them doing various other things.  They had to get ready to get
off this stupid planet, and...  he wanted to ease the two kids into their
group.  There was no need to have anyone else here just now.

   Never one for silence, after a few minutes Anthony decided they might as
well do some exchanging of info.  He leaned forward, getting their
attention.

   "So...  Danny, right?"

   "Yeah..."

   His voice was wary.  Doubts about what he had done were no doubt
flooding his head.  Anthony smiled at him in his friendliest, most
reassuring way.  Not TOO friendly, though.  No need to hit on the kid.

   "Are you two brother and sister, or just friends?"

   The two teens glanced at each other.

   "We had different mothers," Danny replied.  "Our...  father..."

   "FAKE father!" Goldie spit out the words, venom in her soft voice. 
Danny nodded.

   "Our fake father was the same." Seeing the next question coming, he
added, "Our mom's looked like you."

   "I hope they looked more like me," Hannah said, walking into the room
holding a shallow cardboard box.  Walking around the conference table, she
smiled down at the kids.  "I have food and drink, but wasn't sure what
you'd want." Handing the box to Anthony, she gracefully sat down next to
him before taking it back and putting it on the floor between the two
couples.  "I have water, some fruit, and a salty snack we call Doritos."

   "I'm thirsty!" Goldie said, eyes wide as she looked at the tray.  Hannah
laughed.

   "Drink first, then!  Um, I brought cups and bowls.  I wasn't sure which
you'd prefer." Anthony could see the uncertainty in her.  She didn't want
to offend, treat these two like animals, but it WAS a practical question.
Danny solved that by leaning forward and taking the empty plastic bowl.

   "I'll have a bowl.  Goldie uses a cup."

   Nodding, Hannah put ice in each, opened the jug of water and filled
Danny's bowl, then filled a cup and placed it between Goldie's paws.  The
girl used her padded clawed fingers to lift the paper cup to her lips. 
Danny lifted the bowl to his face, lowering his flesh snout as a large
tongue came out to lap the water.  Both adults busied themselves getting
their own drinks so they wouldn't stare.

   Over the next few minutes a small lunch of some of the last apples, a
hunk of cheddar cheese, and Doritos were quietly consumed.  The kids were
obviously not used to much, eating quickly.  For desert they gave them some
packaged snack cakes, which despite rumors don't last forever, but after a
month were still good.  The girl just closed her eyes and smiled in ecstasy
at the sweet taste.

   "Hmm!"

   Anthony couldn't help but smile.  He liked her already.  The boy too. 
Eyes swinging over, he saw himself the subject of intelligent
contemplation. As it should be.  Nodding to the boy, he put down his glass,
twisted his back a bit to stretch out a kink, and leaned forward.  It was
time.

   "Well, now that we're all fed and watered, I think we should talk."

   Danny nodded, hand going back to his sister's head.  She gave a soft,
happy growl.  Anthony put an arm around Hannah.  She leaned into him.

   "There's going to be lots of time to get to know each other, with luck.
I'm hoping both of you will want to come with us, although naturally if you
don't you're free to go any time." From their expressions, it was clear
they did not want to go back.  But, neither were they all that comfortable
with the idea of having such a choice.  Freedom was an idea they'd have to
be eased into.

   "Have you met others like us?" Hannah asked.  "Are there others out
there, alive?  Where are your parents?"

   The girl lowered her head.  Danny began to run his hand down her back.
His eyes stayed on Anthony.

   "Our moms are dead.  They were the only...  are you two humans?  Really
humans?"

   Anthony nodded.

   "Yup.  There's eight of us, as I said.  Two months ago we were on Earth,
home of all humans.  Now we're here wandering around the stars.  I... 
well, I'm going to assume our story is somewhat similar to what happened to
your parents."

   "Mommy told me stories," Goldie said, softly, looking up at Hannah.  "At
night.  She'd hold me, cuddle me.  Tell me stories of Earth.  Of how she
came to be my Mommy.  And, then, when..." Her eyes began to tear up.  "When
Mommy could no longer tell me stories, I told them back to her.  I'd hold
her, and show her I remembered all that she'd taught me."

   "Tell me," Hannah said.  Anthony could see the tears in her eyes.  "Tell
me the story your Mommy told you of how she came here."

   The girl nodded, face suddenly looking shy.

   "Mommy always held me when I told stories..."

   Face breaking into a smile, Hannah opened up her arms.  With a bound
that knocked over the empty water cup, Goldie sprang to her feet and
quickly moved into Hannah's lap.  She snuggled into her breasts, half
little girl, half puppy.  Hannah began rocking, face full of emotions. 
Anthony could see the thoughts of her own daughter once again passing
through her eyes.  He reached over to pet the girl's head.

   "Tell us, Honey.  Tell us what she told you."

   ****

   "Once upon a time, there was a magical world called Earth.

   "It was a magical place.  Full of people like Mommy, who were all
wonderful and loved each other.  Nobody was unhappy, or mean, or evil. 
There were schools, where little kids could go to learn all sorts of
things, and playgrounds where they could play.  There were stores where you
could buy things.  One of them was called Child World, and it was full of
toys!  Every toy you could ever want!  And, next to that store full of
toys, was a store that sold food called Park Edge.  That was where Mommy
worked.

   "Mommy was seventeen years old, and beautiful, and worked helping people
pay for food.  There were all kinds of food in the store: there was meat,
bread, fruit, candy, cake, cool-aid...  the people who worked there with
Mommy were all nice and happy, and so were the people who came to shop. 
Mommy loved helping them.  She loved being with her friends who worked
there.  There were other girls who she had grown up with and talked to ALL
the time, and boys that she liked.  Especially this one.  Real Daddy.  She
REALLY liked my Real Daddy.  He was cute, and smart, and tall, and named
Steve Kline.  Mommy had never kissed Real Daddy, but she wanted to!

   "One day, there was a party.  The owner of the Park Edge, who wore lots
of necklaces including a SPOON, let the kids who worked there have parties
after the store closed.  He was so nice!  He even went to the parties to
have fun with them!  So, that night, they had a party.  There was food,
music, dancing...  Mommy danced with Real Daddy, drank punch with him, even
held his hand!  She was having so much fun!

   "Then...  suddenly...  the lights went out!

   "They weren't scared.  Lights went out sometime.  Some of the boys went
to turn the lights on, but it didn't work.  They got small little lights
that they could carry, so the girls wouldn't be scared, and everyone went
to the front of the store.  There were big long windows...  like the ones
in this place!  They looked out.

   "There were no other buildings.  No Child World, with all its toys.  No
cars.  No trees.  All they saw, in the dark, was sand.  Only sand.

   "Mommy was scared.  The owner told them not to be scared, that
everything would be OK.  He'd go out and see what was out there.  So, he
went out.

   "He never came back.

   "Mommy and the others slept.  In the morning, they looked out and saw
sand as far as they could see.  Sand, sand, and more sand!  Nothing but
sand!  Now, they were all scared.  Except for Real Daddy.  Real Daddy told
them that they'd be OK.  They had food, after all, and bathrooms.  So they
had breakfast.  And lunch.  And dinner.  Then slept.  They ate and slept
for DAYS.  It was starting to stink, though.  Not only were there no
lights, but there was no power for the coolers and freezers!  All the food
was going bad!  They tossed it all out the back door, but it still smelled.
They had no water, either.  They had fruit drinks, and something wonderful
called Coke and Pepsi, but no water.  They couldn't cook, as they didn't
have much wood to burn.  They didn't know what to do!

   "Then, one day, Real Daddy decided to go get help.  He told them that
all the boys would go out into the desert and try and find help.  Mommy
didn't want him to go.  Mommy hugged him, kissed him, told him not to go!
But, Real Daddy said he had to.  That he would bring back help to save
them. He said:

   "'Don't worry, Kathy.  I'll be back.  I love you.'"

   ****

   "He never came back."

   Goldie paused, snuggling deeper into Hannah.  Looking over at her
brother, Anthony saw his eyes wet with tears.  The two had obviously only
had each other for a long time.  With a sigh, Danny picked up the story.

   "They waited for the guys to come back for days.  Things got bad.  One
of the girls got sick, with a fever.  Then, one night, they heard something
breaking though the windows.  They thought it was the men, back with help,
but...  no.  It was the giant spiders."

   "Giant spiders?" Hannah looked at him with a horrified expression.  He
nodded.  "Yeah, that's what our moms said.  Eight legged furry creatures.
Evil.  They couldn't understand a word they said, but knew when they were
being enslaved.  They were so tired and scared, they didn't even fight. 
The spiders took them out of the store, marching them across the desert. 
The sick girl died.  They came to some vehicles, which took them to this
place where they were digging in the sand, down to where there was water.
They made our moms work, digging, carrying.  Three others died, leaving
just our two moms."

   He shook his head.

   "They had no idea what was going on.  My mom said she kept hoping it was
all some dream, that it wasn't real.  After doing that forever, the spiders
took the two of them to some sort of city, and sold them.  They were put in
a ship, and sent to another planet.

   "They were sold a couple times.  They worked, cleaning, moving things,
whatever else creatures wanted done.  Finally, they were sold to our
father..."

   "FAKE FATHER!"

   Goldie yelled it at him, face red.  Danny nodded.

   "Fake father.  Mom said he and his people looked like bears, although
neither of us have seen a real one.  Fake father saw our moms, how they
looked, and...  liked them." Anthony nodded in understanding.  "We were
born a short time later.  He kept our moms, and us, for years, and all in
all Mom said it wasn't bad.  Better than before, and now she had me to
love. But..."

   "Last year Mommy got sick," Goldie said.  Her grip tightened on Hannah.
"Fake Father got married, to another bear, and suddenly Mommy and Aunt
Paula got sick.  I tried to help Mommy.  I told her stories, helped her
eat, washed her, but..."

   Danny quickly moved to sit on the other side of Hannah, so he could add
his touch to help sooth his sister.  He finished the story.

   "After they died, we were sold.  Goldie likes to draw, and we were sold
to the woman you found us with.  I worked, and Goldie made stuff to sell.
She did the picture you were looking at."

   "It was a WONDERFUL picture," Hannah told her, stroking her head. 
"You're a wonderful artist!  And it helped us find you!"

   The girl's face lifted.  Her blue eyes were red, her face tear streaked,
but there was hope.

   "Will you keep us?"

   "Forever..."

   ****

   Tammy hated discovering her friends were evil.

   Well...  not exactly evil evil.  Wrong and bigoted, maybe.  Pure evil
was rare.

   The first time had been when she was in middle school.  Her best friend
had been Sue.  They had known each other since birth, it seemed.  Always
together.  Closer than twins.  It was often hard to see where one girl
ended and the other began.  There were never any secrets between them.

   Then puberty hit.  Sue became boy crazy.  Tammy...  less so.  It took
her awhile to work out why, mostly because of Sue.  Sue was pretty.  Sue
was beautiful.  Tammy loved Sue.  But...  not THAT way.  Not romantically.
And, if she didn't love her beautiful best friend romantically, then how
could Tammy be gay?  It made no sense!

   Eventually, though, she worked things out.  Confirmed, thanks to a first
kiss with Quinn behind the Burger King, that yes girls were her thing.  So,
armed with that knowledge, and no longer having to worry about it
interfering with their friendship, she told Sue.

   Sue slapped her.  Told her she was evil.  Told her to get the hell out
of her bedroom, then go to Hell.  To never talk to her again.

   Tammy grew up quite a bit that summer.

   Now, once again she was seeing someone she considered a friend in a
different light.

   Her eyes flicked across the cargo hold to Rinda.  The two Orangs were
having a hard time with their new shipmates.  Daium's reaction was one of
pure shock.  Yes, she had told anyone who asked (and a few who didn't) that
she wanted Justin's baby.  Would have lots of his babies.  However, it was
obvious now that while she had thought about it, she hadn't actually
THOUGHT about it.  Had, truth be told, probably not actually thought the
genetics would work.  It was just a dream.  A fantasy.  Now, though, she
was confronted with the result of some other human/alien union.  It was
possible.

   And she was scared.

   Rinda's reaction had been much more primal.

   Fear.

   Hatred.

   Tammy liked the girl.  They had even made love a few times.  There were
some things friendship could not survive, though, and Tammy was one to want
to get those things out in the open as soon as possible.  Seeing the droids
were bringing the latest delivery of goods in without any need of
supervision, she walked across the bay to Rinda.

   "So, Rinda.  What's on your mind?"

   There was a pause.  The kind you get when you're not sure if you're in
the right company to talk about what you were planning on talking about. 
Rinda wasn't looking to make sure there were no kids around before telling
a dirty joke.  This was the pause before going off on those Blacks or Jews.

   "Nothing."

   "Come on.  You've been much too quiet." Tammy pushed herself up on a
crate of alien carrots, sitting with her legs dangling.  She let her bare
feet half slip out of her shoes.  Rinda liked her feet.  "Tell me what
you're thinking.  It is about the kids?"

   Rinda sucked in a breath.  Tammy waited, face calm.

   "They're a perversion."

   It came out low, harsh.  Tammy tried to hide a wince.

   "They're just..."

   "They're half breeds!  Mutants!" Rinda's face was one of utter contempt.
An element of surprise entered on seeing Tammy's face didn't echo hers,
that in fact all sense of friendship was slipping from it.  "They...  they
told us, Tammy!  Taught us, taught me!  About half breeds!  In school!"

   "What did they teach you?" Her voice was soft, understanding.  Rinda
looked away.

   "They told us that those the Tree created pervert the beauty the Tree
gave them when they mix with lesser beings.  My teachers took us to the
museum, where we saw the results of such evil unions!  Bones of deformed
creatures!  Stuffed skins showing horrible mutants with two eyes or four
legs!  Such things are to be killed!"

   "Would you kill your own baby?"

   Rinda's head shot towards her, eyes wide with confusion.

   "What?"

   "You're mating with Chuck," Tammy said, softly, sadly.  "Of such things
come babies.  Would you hate your own baby?  A baby given to you by your
lover?"

   Rinda shook her head violently, waving her arms.

   "No, no, no, no.  That's not going to happen.  And that's different. 
That's not the same as those two!"

   "Is it?"

   "Yes!  Yes!  You must see..."

   Her voice trailed off.  Tammy cocked her head at the Orang.  Some
realization had come to the girl.  She was silent...  then, slowly, put her
right hand on her bare belly.

   "Oh great Tree in the Sacred Grove...  Oh, Tammy..."

   Tammy knew that look.  Had seen it on a handful of girlfriends in high
school and college.  Pushing herself off the crate, she slowly walked to
Rinda and hugged her.  The Orang trembled in her arms.

   "You sure?"

   "I...  there was no bleeding but I thought nothing of it!  Why would
I?!? I'm too young!  I'm not mated!  I can't be!!"

   "Shhh...  hush...  it'll be OK.  We're here for you."

   "What do I do?"

   "You have Chuck's baby."

   Rinda's head shot up, all four eyes wide.

   "But!?"

   "But nothing.  Do you love him?"

   Rinda bit her lip, then nodded.  Tammy smiled, leaning down to kiss her
black nose.

   "Then you have his baby and love it.  We're making a new life here,
Rinda.  Forget all you were taught.  Listen to your lovers.  Listen to your
heart."

   "Lovers..."

   ****

   "Cargo bay doors closed."

   "All exterior doors sealed."

   "Danny and Goldie are strapped in, in the commons."

   "I'm getting a communication asking when the Orang fleet is going to get
here."

   "Ignore it.  Start the engines.  Liftoff in five minutes."

   Rinda heard none of it.  Her mind was still a mass of thoughts.  A baby.
A mutant baby.  CHUCK'S baby.  A baby of her own...  Could she?  Could she
have his baby?  Her eyes went to him.  His face was deep in concentration.
She loved how he looked when he was like that.  He was so...

   So alien.

   And she loved him.

   Her eyes went to Melinda.  Melinda had talked to her about wanting
Chuck's kids.  Was waiting for it to happen.  What would she say?  What
would she say when Rinda told her that, no, it was she who would be first
to give him a son or daughter?

   Her feet moved without her even being aware of it.  She walked over to
Melinda's station, slipping into the empty chair next to her.

   "Melinda?"

   "Um, yeah?  Busy."

   "Melinda...  um..."

   "What?"

   "Will you be angry if I'm pregnant?"

   She said it softly, voice not carrying beyond her friend.  Melinda
stopped mid keystroke, turning to look at her in disbelief.

   "Wha?"

   "I think I'm pregnant.  Are you angry?"

   Melinda's mouth was open, but no sound emerged.  She shook her head to
clear it, glasses sliding down her nose.  Her right hand reached out,
grabbing Rinda's shoulder.

   "I'm pregnant too."

   ****

   "YOU'RE WHAT?!?!"

   Anthony closed his eyes, sighing.  Now what the hell was going on.  Two
minutes till liftoff, and that gets screamed.  Wonderful.

   "I'm pregnant too!!"

   OK, that got his attention.  Cracking his eyes open, he saw both Rinda
and Melinda hugging each other, hopping up and down.  His eyes, like those
of every non-pregnant person on the bridge, went to Chuck.  The brown
haired teen was just staring at his roommates, his expression of
bewilderment quickly becoming a joyous smile.  Undoing his seatbelt, he
jumped to his feet.

   "Gonna be a daddy!"

   **** Chapter 17 ****

   "We need gravity."

   Nona looked around the commons as she floated against the wall.  Nobody
was paying attention.  Typical.

   Glancing back down at the computer pad in her hand, she double checked
her interpretation.  Yup.  Still said that.  You could never be too
conservative in how you read the Orang medical texts they had on board. 
Not only were many of the medical terms different than what she was used to
on Earth, lacking any Malay words originally stolen from English or Latin,
but there were differences in the underlying philosophy of how to treat
people.

   More magical mumbo jumbo, for one thing.

   Still, with no human medical books, this was what she had to work with
to keep everyone healthy.  Nona at some point had to trust at least some of
the information.

   She looked over at the far corner.  Melinda and Rinda floated before
Chuck, who had a hand on each of their bellies.  The girls had an arm
around each other, huge smiles on their faces.  They...

   Well, damn it, they glowed.

   Nona sighed.

   She wasn't jealous.  The fact she was alone, emotionally and physically,
was her choice.  She wasn't going to pick a male, or (eyes flicking over to
Tammy, shuddering) female, just because they were the only options.  Not
only was it wrong, in God's eyes, but it was wrong in HER eyes.  Nona
doubted she could even do it if the Prophet came down himself and ordered
her to procreate.

   Didn't mean she was happy, though.

   "I said," she repeated, louder, cutting through the voices, "we have a
PROBLEM." That got to them.  She caught Anthony's eye, who nodded.

   "Everyone quiet down," he told the room, pushing off from the wall where
he had been helping the new kids get used to things.  The shaggy girl (what
was her name again?) was trying to move by swimming with all four legs. 
That it wasn't working only seemed to make her smile more.  The boy was
busy holding his kilt down, so he wasn't flashing all of them.  His face
was red, blush increasing at Nona's gaze.  She looked away.  Hannah would
have to use some of the new fabric they'd bought sooner than expected.

   Anthony came to a stop next to her, bringing with him the attention of
the room.  He smiled down at her.

   "What is it, Nona?"

   She smiled back, blushing just a little.  If he wasn't with Hannah...

   "It was somewhat of an issue before, as really neither humans or orang
were created for space, but now it's a real issue.  We need gravity."

   "Why?" His eyes went to her pad.  She admired his attempt to get some
meaning from it, but none of it was in English at the moment.

   "It's the babies."

   "What about them?" Melinda asked.  All the women in the room were
nodding at the question.

   "Well...  babies need gravity.  We were created to grow up in it.  They
need it to form bones, to become strong.  Probably in the womb, most
definitely afterwards.  I really don't want to experiment with some of the
drugs to try and simulate the effect if there is any way to just have the
real thing."

   She looked around, hoping they understood.  The information was sinking
in, at least.  After a moment, Melinda's eyes widened.

   "Oh!  Of course!" She looked over at Justin.  "The Moon is a Harsh
Mistress!"

   The brown skinned boy frowned, sandwiching Daium between Alicia and
himself, then looked back in understanding.

   "Oh!  Yeah!  Duh!  Why didn't we think of that?!"

   "What are you two geeks babbling about?" Alicia asked, reaching around
and poking him.

   "It's an old fact in science fiction!  Kids born on the moon, or in
space, will be too weak to ever return to Earth!  Their bodies just won't
be able to handle the higher gravity!"

   Nona nodded.

   "And they won't grow up the right way.  The Orang haven't really
experimented with it, but the few examples they have in the computer are...
bad." She could see Melinda and Rinda tighten their grip on Chuck.  The
chunky boy sighed, looking over at Daium.

   "So...  you helped build this ship.  Can we jury rig some sort of
gravity field?  Or would it be easier to just pick some planet we can park
on for a couple years?"

   All eyes went to Daium.  She looked around, face full of worry.  Biting
her lip, she glanced at her two lovers.  Seeing the looks of trust and
friendship, she seemed to deflate a bit.  Head lowering, her voice came out
hesitantly.

   "We, um...  I could just turn on the gravity..."

   You could hear a pin float.

   Chuck was the first to react.  He let go of Rinda, bringing his hand up
to smack his forehead.

   "So that's it!  God damn it, why didn't I figure that out!  Stupid!"

   His two companions looked at him in confusion and concern, hands going
to his chest.  They had both spent time with him in Engineering, and knew
he'd worked hard to understand.

   "What?" Melinda asked.

   "The takeoff!  And landing!  I was wondering why the hell we weren't
really feeling much of a g force!  Not as much as we should, at any rate,
and now it's obvious!  The ship was dampening the affect of gravity!  And
if it can do that..!" He looked at Daium.  "Why?"

   Even with her black, leathery skin, they could see her blush.

   "Dad...  well, he thought there was no point in even being in space if
there was gravity.  So, he built the ship to function without it, and..."

   "I could have been cooking with gravity the entire time!" Tammy looked
dismayed.  "We could have made REAL pizza!"

   "I will admit this has been more fun," Hannah interjected.  Tammy
glanced at her.

   "True..."

   "The garden!" Alicia looked at Daium in surprise, giving her a squeeze.
"We were wondering how the hell the dome was going to be a garden in zero
g, what kind of plants were going to be put there!  That was to have
gravity, wasn't it?  Zero g in the rest of the ship, full gravity in the
dome!" Seeing her wife nod, she looked at Nona.  "Would that work?  Gravity
in the dome, keep the rest of the ship as it is?"

   "They'd have to sleep there," Nona warned.  "Expectant mothers and
babies.  Spend a lot of time there, the more the better."

   "Put bedrooms in the store." Alicia looked around.  "We've emptied out a
good chunk of the food already.  Turn it into living quarters and a
nursery."

   "That's a lot of work," Rinda said.  Chuck laughed, giving her a good
squeeze.

   "We have droids, and lots of time on our hands." He looked at Daium. 
"We'll need supplies, though.  You haven't picked our next destination yet,
right?" She shook her head, relief at not being berated for her actions (or
inaction) clear on her face.  "Good.  Find a planet that's safe, close, and
has plants, lumber and supplies we can buy.  I assume you'll want your kids
to grow up in a wooden room, with a garden outside."

   Rinda gave a snort of disgust.

   "What is it with Orang and trees..."

   ****

   Trust was the key issue.

   Danny considered the matter as he floated there.  These were strangers.
Human strangers.  The first, and only, humans he and Goldie had ever known
besides their two mothers.

   Or, so they said.

   Danny knew better than to trust anyone.  Slaves can't trust.  To trust
is to be betrayed.  To trust is to be taken advantage of.  To trust...

   To trust, his mother had said, was human.

   The woman now requiring his trust was not his mother.  Hannah was
beautiful, though, like his mother.  Also female, as his mom had been. 
That she was both these things, and NOT his mother, was causing a reaction
both new and embarrassing.  She was measuring him.  Her arms, holding a
measuring tape, were going around his waist, their soft skin touching him
just below his ribs.  He could feel his face burning.  Below her hands,
just inches from them, his dick felt like it was being squeezed.  It was
hard, throbbing...  there couldn't be any more blood in his body, given his
face and dick seemed to have drawn so much into them.  And she had to see
it.  This woman, female, had to know what he was going through.  That her
large soft breasts, covered with fabric but still there, were driving him
insane.  He didn't know why, but that only made it worse!  Oh, god...

   ****

   "There."

   Hannah released the boy.  His eyes were on the far wall, body trembling.
With a sigh, rolling up the measuring tape, she realized this probably
hadn't been the best way to do things.

   His problem was obvious.  VERY obvious, and almost poking her in the
leg. It was also the reason she had been checking his waistline.  They
weren't prudes here on the ship, for the most part.  Maybe Nona was, but
even she had yet to actually seem embarrassed by any exposure of skin, by
either gender.  But, nobody wanted male genitalia floating free. 
Especially the boy himself.  Anthony, seeing the problem Danny was having,
had confided in Hannah that as a teen he had been horribly embarrassed by
anything which drew attention to his erect member.  So, this was for their
new companion's benefit as much as theirs.  That didn't excuse
inappropriate contact, though.

   "I'm sorry, Danny.  I should have done that differently."

   "It...  it's OK.  Really." His eyes still didn't meet hers.  Both his
hands held his kilt down, outlining the not quite adult manhood in its blue
fabric.  She was almost flattered, but remembered enough of the boys she
had known as a teen to know most of his reactions would be almost all
random at this point.  The body testing its equipment.  Being around
non-related females for the first time probably didn't help, either.

   "No, it's not.  I generally don't molest boys before they've bought me
dinner."

   He didn't react.  So much for attempted humor.  Reaching out, she gently
touched his bare shoulder.

   "I have what I need.  Thanks for your patience.  I'll have a pair of
shorts for you sometime tomorrow.  Blue, you said?"

   His face finally turned to her as she pulled back her hand.  The poor
boy's face was as red as a beet, and she tried her best not to either laugh
or look sympathetic.  Neither would help.  He forced a smile.

   "Thank you...  Hannah."

   ****

   The moment the door to the cabin closed, Danny let out a groan.  Why the
hell was his dick doing this?!?  God, it was so embarrassing!  Lifting up
his kilt, he looked at the offending appendage.  It was huge.

   Well...  maybe only four inches, but compared to how it always had been?
It was a monster!  He'd never had it this bad before!  Mom had told him
some things, before she died, about some of the changes that would happen
as he became a man, but to be honest he hadn't been listening.  For all his
body had been thirteen by the human calendar she had kept, his mind had
been younger.  Both, though, had grown in the past year, and his thoughts
were full of regrets.  Reaching down, he grabbed the throbbing cock.

   "What the hell are..."

   His entire body tensed as his hand held the offending dick.  GOD!  Danny
let go, startled.  The feelings were still there, if fading.  It had
felt... good.  Yes, good, but also...  bad?  He honestly couldn't tell. 
There was nothing in his life to compare it to.

   Body trembling, he grabbed it again.

   He could feel it pulsing.  Squeezing, he decided the feelings, for all
their strangeness, were great.  He stood there, just holding it.  He
somehow knew there was more, but had no idea what.  He did know he was
starting to feel a bit faint, as if all the blood that had been in his face
was now free to go join their brothers down below.  Looking down, he
laughed.  It was like his dick was pushed inside something.  Maybe he
should pull it out!

   "Ah!"

   Danny had only pulled his hips back a half inch when the feelings
overwhelmed him.  He quickly pushed back into his fist.  Pleasure...  was
it pleasure?  It had rippled down the length of his dick as he withdrew it.
He couldn't even describe it.  Did he dare try that again?

   Well...  already that day, he and his sister had run away from their
master to be with strange aliens.  What was one more risk?

   He pulled back again, getting half his length out before the pleasure
became too much and he shoved it back in.  He did it again, getting almost
to the head.  Something...  something was happening...

   Danny shoved forward and squeezed.

   Incredible, alien pleasure rippled through his dick.  He could feel a
pulse, and...  something shot out!  He jerked his hand away!  A whitish
yellow goo had come out of him!  His cock pulsed again, and this time he
saw the stuff fly out.  It shot out of him like from a gun, flying four or
five feet before slowing.  He reached down to grab is dick again, and a
third, much weaker strand came out.  Letting go, still not fully aware, he
watched as his dick began to soften.  More of the goo came out of the hole,
stuck to the end like a white booger.  Letting out a breath he didn't know
he had been holding, Danny closed his eyes.

   "What the hell was that?"

   Cracking an eye open, he looked at the floating ooze.

   "Whatever it was, I think it needs to be cleaned up..."

   ****

   Anthony had to smile as he entered the bridge.

   Daium was sitting in her usual spot facing the front wall, now like the
rest of the inner sphere showing the incredible image of the universe
around them.  Strapped into her seat, she was bringing up screens of
information, moving and dismissing them randomly but with great purpose. 
Floating next to the blackish grey Orang was the golden furred Goldie.  She
had both front hands/paws on the console, eyes glued to the ever changing
images.  As he came closer, the wonderment on her human face made him smile
even more.  The entire universe was new, just waiting for her to discover
it.

   They'd have to try hard to keep reality from beating that hope out of
her.

   "So, Captain, any luck?"

   Goldie's face whipped around to him, alarmed.  Anthony resisted the urge
to pet her.  Treat her like a human.  That was the goal.  He did grin at
the girl, though.  Daium, for her part, just shook her head.

   "Not yet.  The information I got from the planet is sending up lots of
warnings about most of the nearby systems.  Damn it, I didn't realize we
had pissed off this many people off."

   "What do you mean, 'we'?  Besides, always judge someone by the quality
of their enemies."

   Now she did take a quick glance at him.

   "I haven't been impressed yet."

   "Well, that's probably good for us," he chuckled.  Reaching forward, he
hit a button and changed all the text into English.  "All we want is a big
shopping center, probably a week or less away.  You have nothing that fits
that?"

   She shook her head, the string of wooden beads next to her ear
continuing the motion after she stopped.  Goldie watched the movement
intently.

   "I don't want to risk anything.  I don't want any possibility of
danger."

   "Life is danger."

   A word caught his eye.  Touching the planet above it, a new screen
opened.

   "OK, what's this place?"

   Daium scoffed.

   "A pirate planet.  Outlaws.  Not a place for civilized creatures."

   "And how are the Orang seen?"

   There was silence.

   "You're saying we should go there?"

   "I'm saying if it has what we need, and we can protect our own, at least
there we know the score.  Nobody from the outside is going to come in and
bother us."

   She was silent again.  Anthony put a hand on her soft shoulder.

   "You know the universe better than we do, so I'll leave it up to you. 
But, if we're going to survive we need to pick our sides.  The information
I see here has them as more anti-government than evil.  Having dealt with
one government, somewhat, I know what I'm willing to try next.  With you
and Rinda playing the part of evil Orang, we might be OK."

   She sighed.  Images of twenty other planets quickly scrolled by.  She
paused one, looked for a moment, then dismissed it again.  A low growl came
from her throat, Goldie pushing herself back a bit at the sound.

   "Fine.  I see no other options.  Five days."

   "Have another destination pre-programmed, just in case we have to make a
quick exit from that system."

   Daium's expression softened a bit at that.

   "Good idea, Anthony..." She considered a moment, bringing back some
planetary images.  A moment later the walls of the bridge returned to their
wood panel state.  "Done.  We're in hyperspace."

   "Aww," Goldie complained, pushing away from the console and floating
towards the central tree.  "I liked looking in space..."

   "Trust me, it was good to turn it off just then." Anthony glanced at the
displays as Daium unbuckled herself.  "Actually, Goldie, I think it's your
bedtime."

   "BEDTIME?!?"

   "It's been a long day, and you're probably more tired than you think."

   "I'm almost fourteen!  I don't need a...  yawn...  bedtime!"

   Anthony looked at the grinning Daium.

   "What do you think, should Hannah read her a story when she tucks Goldie
in?"

   "I bet she'd like that."

   Goldie's eyes were so wide they had to hurt.  Anthony had been right. 
She had been deprived so long...

   "A story...  a happy story!?"

   "All bedtime stories should be happy stories."

   ****

   Melinda let them have their way with her.

   Rinda had her head between the black haired girl's legs, muzzle against
her sex.  Her rough tongue forced its way inside her, abusing the pink
folds.  Chuck was mauling her breasts, gently biting the nipples in that
way that drove her crazy.  They were punishing her.  She had delayed
telling them she'd missed a period, wanting to be more certain.  That was-
gasp- wrong of her.  Her lovers...  ah....  deserved better.  Mmmm...  this
wasn't much of a deterrent, though...

   Eyes closed, Melinda felt Chuck release her abused breasts and shift
himself.  His strong hands grabbed hers and moved them until her fingers
touched handholds on the ceiling.  She knew what he wanted.  She grabbed
them, as he pushed her body against the hard surface of the room.  Her
tender breasts ached so good as they were flattened.  Rinda stayed between
her legs as Chuck moved his body to press against Melinda's back.  His cock
settled against her ass.  He began thrusting, running its length through
her crack.  She pushed back against him, as much as she could with Rinda's
death grip on her legs.

   A shift in the angle brought Chuck's cock against her asshole. 
Melinda's body froze.  He wouldn't!  Oh, Jesus, he had to!

   "Do it!"

   Hot breath filled her ear.

   "No..."

   His cock began to slide farther down, Melinda groaning in frustration.
They were punishing her!  She felt, for the first time in seemingly hours,
Rinda pull back from her pussy.  It was instantly replaced by cock, Chuck
thrusting fully into her.  She screamed into the wall as he pounded her
against it.

   It was too much...

   ****

   Melinda was lazily licking her juices off of Rinda's muzzle.  She was
exhausted, content.  Now and then Rinda's finger would dip between her
legs, bringing back a mixture of Chuck's love and hers for the two women to
clean off.  Rinda's body was pressed against Chuck, his hands casually
playing with her breasts.

   The three lovers floated in silence.

   Releasing one of Rinda's mounds, Chuck's hand drifted down her body to
her tummy.

   "I wonder what it will look like," he mused.  The two humans felt Rinda
shudder between them.

   "Me too..."

   "It will be beautiful," Melinda said, confidently, making Rinda's eyes
meet hers.  "All our children will be perfect and beautiful.  And unique.
We're starting a new race here."

   They felt Chuck laugh.

   "Hey, that's right.  Human and Orang.  What will our decedents be
called? Hurang?  Oruman?"

   "Neither of you...  have a problem with that?"

   "No," Chuck told Rinda, kissing her neck.  "It's actually good we met
those two, so we now have some idea of what to expect.  No, whatever the
genetic gods decide to bless us with, they are our children."

   "I almost envy you," Melinda added, hand joining Chuck's on her belly.
"I mean, Chuck's a little hairy, but..."

   "Hey!"

   Rinda smiled.  It was so different.  When she had been at the Academy,
even on her father's ship, there had never been this after sex.  She had
never had...  lovers.  Even the friends she had mated with, those she
actually cared about, had never been this close.  Was it something human,
that Orang just lacked?  Something she was giving her children?  Was she...
was she, in fact, improving her race?

   A thought struck her.

   "Um...  Melinda?  How many children do humans have?"

   "Huh?"

   "How many do you have?  At once, I mean.  Inside you."

   "Oh!  Maybe four or five."

   Rinda just stared at her lover.  Four or five!  There was no way...!

   It only took a moment for the corner of Melinda's mouth to twitch, at
which point Rinda just laughed.  Chuck squeezed her breast in response,
joining her as Melinda broke into a grin.

   "Got you!"

   "Seriously!  How many!  Orang just have one!  How many little Chucks
will I have in me?"

   "Hopefully not many, as Chuck IS big..."

   "Hey!"

   "But usually it's just one baby.  Two, twins, isn't that uncommon. 
Three, triplets, are rare but you do see it.  Any more than that is VERY
rare, and not good."

   "Hmm..." Rinda moved both her hands down to cover those of her lovers
over her unborn child.  "So if I want lots of little Chucks..."

   "Lots of sex is needed, yes..."

   "Show me..."

   **** Chapter 18 ****

   "Coming out of warp in three, two, one..."

   "Gah!  What the HELL?!?"

   Alicia's shout froze Daium, her finger poised over the view screen
controls.  Maybe if they didn't look, whatever was out there would not, in
fact, be there.  Maybe if they didn't look, they wouldn't be seen.  Wasn't
that how the universe worked?

   Sadly, no.  She pressed down, the walls of the bridge vanishing,
replaced by ...

   The bulk of enormous engine pods ahead of them.

   "AAAHHH!!!"

   It was a collective cry of horror, impressive despite the looming death
before them.  The ship jerked, automatic systems trying to find safety for
The Bells.  Daium reached for the controls, wanting to do SOMETHING, but
knowing her reflexes would never be enough.  To her left and right, she
also saw the gleaming white panels of spacecraft, so close she
unconsciously squeezed her shoulders together..  Those panels shifted
upwards, as The Bells dropped down.  Perched above, Alicia yelled out
again.

   "Fifty spacecraft!  Sixty!  What the hell is this place?!"

   The blackness of space exploded around them, signaling safety, at least
for the moment, as they escaped their entrapment.  Looking up past Alicia,
Daium saw the bottoms of three craft.  The ships were large, easily twice
the size of The Bells.  Before she could even contemplate the design, the
rectangular bridge of one of them seemed to crumple, as if it was being
sucked into itself.  A moment later the body of the ship blew apart.

   "Daium!  Warp!  Now!"

   Anthony's cry cut through any confusion in her mind.  Hands flashing
over the console, she cut the visual feed, brought up a destination, and
hit Enter.

   ****

   Anthony was the first to speak.

   "Well.  That was different."

   "What the hell was that?!?" Nona's curse, rare for her, seemed to break
the ice.  The others echoed the sentiment, if more profanely.  Unbuckling,
Anthony pushed off with his legs towards Alicia.  The blonde seemed to
still be shaking when he got there, eyes wide as they greeted him.  He
placed a comforting hand on her bare arm.

   "What did you see?"

   She took a raged breath, calming herself.  As the other slowly joined
them, she brought up the recorded readings.

   "I swear, it looked like some kind of Star Wars battle.  Like we came
out in the middle of some invasion.  What kind of planet were you sending
us to, Daium?!"

   Anthony saw Daium catch his eye.  Obviously, Alicia knew it had been
Anthony's idea, and exactly what the planet was.  They had five days to
plan and talk things out, after all.  Still...

   "Yeah, Daium, what's the big idea?  You should know better!" He watched
her four eyes widen, then narrow.  A growl could be heard.

   He'd pay, eventually, but it was worth it.

   ****

   Five hours later, the Bells entered the atmosphere of Te with much less
excitement.

   From what Alicia and Daium were able to figure out, from the limited
data the ship had absorbed, they had stumbled into the middle a punitive
raid by the Daoine on their destination.  The "pirate" planet had been
putting up a spirited defense, to the point where Rinda's view of the
tactical situation had the Daoine on the verge of getting their butt
kicked.

   Not that any of them wanted to go back to check.

   Te, once they broke through the clouds, reminded the humans of home. 
Below them, a large city hugged the coast of a blue ocean.  Beyond, green
forest, broken up by roads and smaller towns.  In the distance, a mountain
range rose up on the horizon.  The spaceport, like the last one, was on the
ocean.  A flattened island, possibly artificial, stood a few miles off
shore.  Half its twenty landing pads were occupied, mostly by smaller ships
comparable to The Bells, although two huge vessels loomed over the others.
Hannah looked over the peaceful scene, shaking her head.

   "And we didn't come here first, because...?"

   Daium sighed.

   "They declared a trade embargo against Tanah."

   "But we're not Tanah!" Nona looked at the Orang confused.  "Why would
they treat us like we represented your people?"

   "Because that's often easier than giving the benefit of the doubt,"
Anthony told her.  The ship banked, conversation pausing as the sun on the
horizon passed across their view.  Anthony squinted, holding his hand up to
partially block it.  The glare was so fleeting the screens didn't even
bother adjusting.  A moment later the ship slowed to a hover, paused, then
slowly settled onto the ground.

   "That's three alien planets!" Melinda unbuckled, standing.  "Man, we're
leaving those astronauts in the dust!"

   "Naw, these are all fake landings," Alicia told her.  "I mean, look at
those shadows out there.  Totally unrealistic.  I sense conspiracy."

   "Agreed," Justin said, coming up behind her with their pistol belts.  "I
blame the Jews."

   "Hey!" Hannah popped her head around from the other side of the tree. 
"We only control the banks!  You want the Freemasons!"

   ****

   The days of them dividing up on an alien world were over.

   The twelve sat together on the train car, watching the city approach
through the blurred bridge trestles.  While Daium and Rinda had gotten some
looks from the Dockmaster ,and others, they had passed the two Orang off as
employees of "Captain" Anthony.  Given the makeup of the crew, this was not
so much a fiction as a slight distortion.

   Goldie sat with her paws on top of the seat back, looking out in wonder.
If she had a tail, she'd be wagging it.  It was so...  so wonderful!  The
sun was almost on the horizon, the buildings of the city partly lit in the
dusk.  They seemed to sparkle in the twilight, a place of magic and wonder.
She knew that, yes, once they were on the streets they'd find just boring
reality.  But, then again, you never knew...

   A hand touched her head.  Even without looking, she knew who it was. 
She could identify everyone's touch.  For so long, after Mom and Aunt died,
there had only been Danny.  Now she was surrounded by people who loved her,
who comforted her.  At times this fact threatened to overwhelm her, but it
was a GOOD problem.  Too much love was good!

   "Have you ever seen a city before, Honey?" Hannah's hand scratched her
head.  Goldie gently shook it.

   "No...  we were kept deep inside buildings, at home, and our owner
didn't let us out much after we were sold.  This...  cities are beautiful!"

   "They can be," Anthony said from next to her.  He was tightening Danny's
belt.  The boy's new pants had started slipping down, and he had yet to get
used to them.  All the humans had new clothes, replacements for their one
set of work outfits (as well as now having better 'around the ship' wear).
The girls wore knee length skirts, varying in color, with loose fitting
white blouses.  The four males had black pants made from a jeans-like
material, and white buttonless shirts.  Nona had embroidered an orange
Bells Supermarket logo in the right breast of each shirt and blouse, just
because.  The two Orang respectfully declined the offer of new outfits, not
understanding the appeal of "shirts", but had asked Nona to put the Bells
logo on their existing skirts.  Someday, if the right plant material was
found, new suspenders and bras would be woven with the design up in the
right location.

   Goldie wore nothing, but a leather necklace with a stuffed fabric bell
hung from her neck.  Turning her head, she looked at the man slowly
becoming her Father.

   "Some cities aren't beautiful?"

   "It's never a case that ALL of something is beautiful," he said, letting
go of Danny's belt and reaching up to muss the boy's hair.  Danny playfully
tried to knock the hand away, missing, a smile on his muzzle.  "Even when
there is beauty, there's usually also something ugly right around the
corner.  And, naturally, the opposite is true.  Lots of beauty where you'd
never expect it."

   She nodded, eyes going back to the sparkling buildings, now looming over
them as the train reached the shore.  She had so much to learn...

   ****

   The Moun were not exactly a nocturnal people, but like humans, activity
did not stop with the setting sun.  The lit streets were alive with locals,
long snouted furry mammals with eight eyes.  They walked on two legs,
making it a world humans were well adapted to.  Shopping list in hand,
Tammy led the way down a wide busy street.

   "I'm never going to get used to this," Nona said.  Her eyes tried to
stay on the back of Tammy, or on the buildings.  Melinda looked at her
questioningly.

   "Really?  I mean, yeah, it's weird, but I'm over it.  My sense of awe
got beaten out me on the last planet."

   "I'm just never going to see this as normal." Nona sighed, running a
hand through her long black hair.  "Maybe it is just me.  I never had much
imagination."

   "Nothing wrong with being practical."

   "If I was practical, I'd just see this as normal and move on."

   "Ah, don't beat yourself over the head with it.  In a year, you won't
even remember..."

   Melinda trailed off, realizing what she was saying.  Nona just nodded.

   "I know." She paused, then glanced at her companion.  "Melinda...  do
you still pray?"

   "What?" The change in subject obviously shocked her.  Nona persisted.

   "I know you have, or had, the Bible on your iPhone.  Do you still read
it?  Do you still pray?"

   The two locked eyes for a moment.  Melinda dropped her gaze.

   "No," she said, embarrassed.  "I mean, I did when this first happened.
Half of them had to do with Chuck," she laughed, smiling as Chuck gave her
one of his glances before returning his attention to Rinda.  "The rest were
about getting home, but yeah I prayed and read the gospels.  But..."

   "But what?"

   "Why are you asking?"

   They were stopped at an intersection, Tammy consulting a map.  Nona
gestured to the crowds of creatures walking past and around them.  Melinda
thought she saw tears in her eyes.

   "Where do I find my God, in a world like this?"

   "In your heart."

   Hannah's words came from behind.  The teens turned, Hannah nodding to
them as she held Anthony's hand.

   "We brought our Gods with us, in our hearts.  So long as we do not
abandon them, they will not abandon us."

   Anthony cocked an eyebrow at her.

   "Yeah, but you guys keep getting your Temple destroyed."

   "That's how we learned God doesn't like Temples any more.  See, we
listen!"

   ****

   Daium unrolled the papers, spreading them out on the table.  Beside her,
the white furred carpenter bent his head down for a better look.  He
towered over her by a good two feet, yet still she detected some fear in
his stance.  Damn it, what was being said about her kind?  Behind them, his
three apprentices stood back respectfully, while her companions wandered
around the shop.  Tammy was staying somewhat nearby, as she had ended up
doing most of the design work.  The humans were always surprising Daium...

   "So," Daium said, pointing, "what we'd like to do is convert the inside
of this into living space, with wood used wherever possible.  Nice
carvings, using some designs from our cultures.  We'll also need furniture,
again to fit our specialized needs." She indicated plans Chuck had made for
cribs and high chairs.  "If time is an issue, we can just buy the raw wood
and do some of it ourselves, but we'd much rather have actual craftsmen do
much of it." Some, Anthony and Chuck in particular, had been all for doing
it themselves.  Daium could understand that, but the sooner they moved the
women into gravity the better.  Nona had confided in her that she really
didn't know how pregnancy had occurred at all in weightlessness, so Daium
wanted her, Alicia and Justin's room done as soon as possible.  It wasn't
right her cousin was going to give birth first!

   The craftsman looked over the drawings, using his fingers to make
certain measurements.  Holding a hand out behind him, one of his underlings
quickly moved to place a thin calculator in his palm before moving back
against the wall.  He thought for a moment, fingers entering seemingly
random figures.

   "You have the money?"

   Daium cocked her head, hand adjusting her glasses.

   "We have money.  How much we give you, naturally, will depend on many
things."

   The creature smiled, casting an appraising eye down at her.

   "We do good work, and aren't cheap.  How much time do you have?"

   Looking down at the plans, she considered.

   "Don't know, to be honest.  Give us a price list and timetable for each
part, and we'll do them in the order of importance.  I'd say we could stay
a week at the most, but something could come up sooner."

   He nodded.

   "Mennen m 'chez mwen an, ak diven!"

   The apprentices scattered.  One quickly brought a stool, placing it
behind the master and sliding it forward once he was seated.  A tall thin
glass, holding a dark read liquid, found itself in his large hand.  Taking
a sip, he pulled a pen out of a pocket.

   "So, this room here..."

   ****

   It took an hour to hammer out all the details, and another hour for the
woodcrafter to call his suppliers and secure their confirmation on what was
needed.  They walked out of the shop with signed contracts, and a wooden
puzzle set Goldie had been fascinated by.  Danny carried it for her.  He
too, had found the toy irresistible, but had been loath to make a fuss over
it.  He was fourteen, after all.

   Looking at the prices on the papers Alicia now held as they walked,
Justin whistled.

   "Wow.  Can we really afford this, Daium?  Not that I'm really that
familiar with intergalactic finances, but this has to be a lot."

   A slightly guilty look crossed the Orang's face.  Alicia sighed, handing
the papers to Justin and moving next to her.

   "OK, what haven't you told us now?"

   "Nothing bad...  this time."

   "Well, that's something." Alicia put her arm around her, giving Daium a
hug.  "What is it?"

   "Well...  it seems Dad looted the treasury."

   Alicia, and most of the others, stopped in the middle of the sidewalk.
Daium was stopped as well by her wife's arm, caught off guard by the sudden
lack of movement.  Chuck just shook his head, laughing.

   "OK, do tell."

   "I didn't know he had done it," Daium said, eyes flicking to Rinda for a
moment.  "I found the money a few days after we left Tanah.  He must have
taken it just as word reached us of what happened to the fleet.  I don't
know, maybe he felt it was just going to go to waste, and since we were
going to leave the planet anyways..."

   Rinda chuckled.

   "Man, I wish I had known your dad.  He sounds like he was something
else!"

   "That's one way to say it," Justin remarked.  "How much did he take,
Daium?  He obviously couldn't wipe out an entire planet's wealth."

   "No, no, nothing like that.  And, really, what is wealth varies from
system to system.  There's a hidden room behind the bridge that's now full
of platinum and gold.  So, as long as we stay in systems that value those,
we can support ourselves for quite some time."

   Alicia broke into laughter.

   "Oh, man, my mom would be so conflicted!  On the one hand I'm a dyke, on
the other I married a billionaire!"

   ****

   Anthony decided, partly thanks to money not being much of an issue, to
forgo a trip back to the ship.  It was late, and Goldie in particular was
tired.  A local hotel was found, and five rooms rented.  Nona didn't look
all that comfortable with the idea of rooming with Tammy, but the fact
Goldie would be there too probably stopped any objection.  Danny seemed
ecstatic about having a room to himself, as any teen boy would.  With tired
good nights, they retired to their rooms.

   ****

   Anthony threw himself onto the bed, clothes already a heap on the floor.

   "Mmmm, a soft bed in gravity...  how long has it been?"

   "I don't know...  how long has it been since you've made love to me in
gravity?"

   Rolling onto his back, Anthony saw Hannah standing at the foot of the
bed.  Her clothes had also deserted her, leaving soft curves and smooth
skin.  He smiled.

   "I don't know.  Time stops whenever I see you."

   "Oh, good answer..." Taking a step forward, Hannah leaned down and
climbed onto the bed.  She moved over him on all fours, eyes never leaving
his.  Her breasts hung down, swaying as she moved, a tempting target for
his eyes.  Anthony knew the danger, though, knew it was a trap she was
setting.  Once her face was over his, Anthony's hands ignored the obvious
and drew her face down for a kiss.  She whimpered, body melting against
his. Now his hands roamed free, caressing at will.  As they reached her
breasts, Hannah pushed herself up, allowing easy access as she looked down
at him.

   "I hope you're well rested," she asked, voice husky.

   "And why is that?" He flicked a finger across one of her nipples.  She
grinned an evil grin.

   "I'm ovulating and we're in a gravity well.  You're giving me a baby
even if it kills you."

   "Oh, woe is me..."

   **** Chapter 19 ****

   "So, this is a human bed..."

   Daium slowly walked up to the wooden bed post.  She wanted to saunter.
Oh, by the Tree, she wished she could saunter.  Alicia could do it. 
Probably took no effort.  Whenever she walked, there was a swing of her
hips that made Daium, and all so inclined, stare helplessly in lust. 
Tammy, Hannah, they all had the gift.

   But not Daium.  Maybe it was a human thing.

   Luckily, such deficiencies didn't seem to matter to her wife and
husband. She could feel their eyes on her, as they stood in the doorway of
their new bedroom.  Could feel their desire as she ran a black hand up the
carved post of their new bed.  A large bed.  Built for three...

   Arms wrapped around her waist.  Daium gasped.  Without even looking, she
recognized Justin's strong, brown hands undoing her belt.  Another pair of
hands, still strong but more delicate, undid the fasteners on her
shoulders, letting her suspenders and bra fall free.  The angle had been
weird...  she could picture Alicia, pressed against Justin, reaching over
him to get to Daium.  If there was symbolism in such an act, all three had
moved beyond it having more than a historical meaning.

   With a tug, Daium's skirt and panties fell to the floor, the weight of
her suspenders and belt creating a nice 'thump' sound.  Hands slid up her
hips, through the black and grey fur, as she lifted her feet and kicked the
unneeded clothing away.  She thought the coming hands would head up towards
her breasts.  Her nipples were aching in anticipation, breasts already
feeling the touch they knew was coming.  The movement stopped at her waist,
though, fingers gripping where her hips began to swell.  What were they...?

   The sound of clothing dropping came from behind her, followed by
something touching her hairless bottom.

   He was going to take her like this!

   Alicia was suddenly before her, nude body sauntering towards the Orang.
Her face radiated desire, scar practically glowing.  As if in a dream,
Daium found herself fully pressed against the furless human, mouth open to
accept the invading wet tongue.  Her own hands went to Alicia's breasts,
squeezing the beautiful orbs.  The girl's hands dropped to Daium's waist,
covering Justin's.  As the four human hands became one, Daium could feel
her husband shift...  and thrust.

   She let out a groan, lost in the moans of her lovers.  Justin was taking
her hard, practically shoving her body against Alicia.  The teen held her
ground, keeping Daium from falling as the mating went on, and on.  She
wanted to get on all fours.  She wanted Justin to ravage her, like the
animals they all were.  She wanted...  she wanted...

   She exploded at the feel of his seed inside her.

   ****

   Alicia was content.

   She lay in the center of the bed, blankets and sheets carefully made by
Hannah now tossed onto the floor, which would probably be their usual home.
Justin, tired from his just completed activities, sprawled on her right. 
She could feel the trail left by his wet and very tired cock beginning to
cool on her leg and thigh.  Daium lay on her left, face nuzzling her neck
while a hand played with breasts still tender from the Orang's teeth.

   All in all, a good breaking in of the new room.

   It had taken an extra day on the planet, but the modifications to the
store seemed to now be complete.  Or, at least, this phase.  The small
second floor above the bank and bottle return counter had been expanded
into eight bedrooms and a nursery, leaving the main grocery space itself
untouched (if with much lower ceilings).  As the need arose, they could
made additions later.

   In the years to come.  The years...  the decades...

   Alicia let out a sigh.  It was time to talk.  One hand reached up to
touch Daium's head, the other stretched out to Justin's shoulder.  Both
slowly moved into positions more convenient for conversation.

   "Something on your mind, Alicia?" Justin yawned out the question.  She
nodded.

   "We need to decide what to do."

   "Now?  Tomorrow?  Next week?"

   "In twenty years."

   Both were silent.  She looked between them, pushing herself up so she
was sitting against the headboard.  Daium and Justin did the same, taking
her hands.

   "We need a goal."

   "Be happy.  Be safe.  Make babies." Daium recited it as if they were
commandments.  Hell, maybe they were now.  Alicia, smiling, shook her head.

   "That's what we're doing now.  But, what we're also doing is just going
to random planets, going someplace that has something we need to buy. 
After our hold is full...  what do we do?  Where do we go?"

   Justin was thoughtful.

   "Do you want to find Earth?"

   "Well..." She saw tears start to weld up in Daium's eyes.  Squeezing her
hand, she leaned in for a quick kiss.  "I don't want to go home, no.  We
should look, though.  For Nona, Hannah, others who may want to go back.  If
nothing else, I want to tell my family I'm alive."

   "I doubt we'll find it, but looking can't hurt," Justin agreed.  "That
wasn't what you were thinking of, though..."

   "No."

   Her lovers were silent, waiting.  Alicia took a deep breath.

   "I think...  we should find a home."

   "Home?" Daium looked puzzled.

   "The ship is wonderful, Daium.  I love it.  But...  I don't want to
raise my children on a ship.  Do we really want their entire lives to be
inside these walls?  To know nothing else, except for a couple weeks a
year, when we visit a planet?  Are the three of us going to grow old
together inside this shell?"

   Daium's eyes widened, then closed.  Her head dropped, hand releasing
Alicia as she hugged herself.

   "Tanah is gone," she whispered.  "This ship...  is all that I have of
Tanah.  Don't mind living here..."

   The mattress shifted.  Alicia scooted closer to Daium, as Justin climbed
over them to sit on the other side of their wife.  The two humans hugged
her.

   "What if," Alicia asked her, softly, "we found an empty world we could
live on?  What if, Daium, we found a forested world where...  where we
could PLANT the tree on the bridge?  Or, at least, some of its seeds?"

   Her eyes shot open.

   "The seeds!  The seeds of the Tree!"

   "Think about it," Justin told her, nodding to Alicia.  "Our babies, on a
new world, full of trees.  Living, growing, mating, in a village in a
forest."

   "Where?" Daium looked between them, so obviously wanting to believe. 
"Where?  There is life everywhere!  Where would we find a planet not
already taken?"

   "We won't know until we look," Alicia said.

   "It could take years," Justin added.  "Decades.  But..."

   "But we look."

   ****

   Hannah had a beautiful blush.

   She didn't blush often.  She wasn't, really, that type of woman, one of
the reasons Anthony not just loved, but had always liked her.  There was a
strength and sauciness to her that appealed to him.  That being said, when
she DID blush, he enjoyed it.  Such was the case now, as the two of them
made their way down the store staircase.

   "So," Anthony said, cheerfully, moving forward to open the door at the
foot of the stairwell, "the upstairs seems to have been finished off
nicely."

   "Yes..." Her entire face was red.

   "And," he went on, taking her arm as they walked past the bottle return
counter, "the bedrooms seem to have been tested out already...  although,
maybe I can talk to Chuck about weighting the doors so they close by
themselves."

   "Yes...  do that..."

   A laugh finally escaped Anthony, drawing a glare from Hannah.  He could
only grin in return.  Seeing the man wasn't going to break, wasn't going to
see the seriousness of the matter, she broke down herself and laughed,
shaking her head.  He put an arm around her waist, hugging her against him.

   "What do you think, does that qualify as wild monkey love?"

   "God!" She put her face in her hands, stopping before the entrance,
composure gone again.

   "I say we don't tell them," he went on, eyes leaving her and glancing,
out of habit, around the store.  "Maybe we just give everyone a reminder,
now that there are kids..."

   There was something out the front window.

   It was faint.  The dome was bright just then, Te's yellow sun shining
down into the ship.  Raising his hand to try and fend off the glare,
Anthony squinted.  Something.  A ghostly image, just beyond the window, on
the new stone path through the as yet empty plant beds.  A...  man.  An
adult man...  and a little girl...

   They were gone.

   He blinked.

   They were still gone.

   Anthony cast his gaze around the store.  Nothing was out of place.  No
strange images that he could see.  No ghostly people.

   He knew he had seen it.  After all they had been through, nothing, no
matter how strange or stupid, could be greeted with complete disbelief.  He
might not KNOW what he saw, might easily misinterpret it, but the basic
situation had to be accepted until they had reason to do otherwise.  That
was a core survival tactic.

   However, it didn't help that he was the only one who saw it.

   Hannah had finally gotten herself under control.  Responding to her
squeeze, he looked over, smiling.  She raised a questioning eyebrow.

   "Problem?"

   "Nope," he laughed.  "Just checking to see if Danny is hiding anywhere
whacking off."

   "Oh God!" She laughed, face returning to its red state.  "Why did you
have to tell me that's what the stuff on his underwear was?!?  I don't know
if I can keep doing laundry!"

   Anthony began walking her towards the door.

   "Come one, what do you want him to do.  Tissues are too valuable to
waste like that, for all we have a whole aisle of them..."

   "Still...!"

   He took one more look though the window.  The day was bright.  Ghosts
were nowhere to be seen.

   For now.

   ****

   Danny trailed behind the others as they walked through the botanical
garden.

   It wasn't by choice.  The walking behind, that is.  The flowers
themselves, he found interesting.  However, once again, his body was
betraying him.  He was hard.  More than hard.  Rock hard, every step
causing the tip of his penis to rub against his underwear.  It was NOT
going to go down.  He knew that.  He'd have this huge thing sticking out of
him five hours from now, five days from now!  And the world had to see it.
How could they not!  The eye of every alien, let alone his friends had to
be on him and his problem!

   Only, it wasn't really a problem.  At least, not according to Anthony.
The relief Danny had felt, when Anthony took him aside and told him what
the hell was going on with his body, almost equaled the joy at being saved
from slavery.  This was something human.  Something male.  Something
normal! His body, exposed to potential mates for the first time, and at the
right age, was testing the plumbing.

   He had been SO glad to hear that!  Danny had told Anthony everything,
every feeling he was having, without embarrassment.  Anthony had just
laughed, joked, telling him all he needed to know.  About sex, the hows and
whys.  About love, lust, and attraction.  About...  human do's and don'ts.
That had fascinated him.  Humans paired up.  One man and one woman, or a
same gendered pair, sometimes.  Things were a bit bent, now, due to the
makeup of their group, but that was still the norm.  Pairs often didn't
last, especially when first together, but when paired a woman was off
limits.  Danny could LOOK at them, lust after them, even dream of them as
he touched himself.  But, he was not to even TRY to touch them.  He
suspected Anthony stressed this due to Hannah.  The effect of the curvy
woman on Danny was obvious, so her man was just protecting his own.

   Anthony need not have worried.  Hannah scared Danny.  She was TOO sexy.
Hell, he only had to think about her for a minute before he exploded into a
gooey mess.

   A few days ago, he learned not to do that while walking through the
city.

   The women walking before him, now, though...  well, they were all
pretty. Rinda was taken, so by the rules was off limits.  Danny didn't
think she was his type, anyway...  not that he would turn down a kiss or
anything!  (Anthony had also explained this to him, that his mind would
separate sex from even friendship).  Tammy...  now, she WAS free, and
something about the curve of her neck and the way she spoke set his heart
aflutter.  He HAD thought of her!  But...  it was the woman next to her
that his eyes kept going back to.

   Nona.

   Maybe it was because she was the closest to his age, even if only by a
year.  Maybe it was because she was the quietist of all the humans, often
off a bit by herself.  She was beautiful, too.  Her dark eyes peered out
from under long, dark hair.  Her skin was more of a golden brown that
Justin's, looking so smooth on her delicate limbs.  He wanted...  he just
wanted...

   ****

   Nona let out an irritated sigh as they moved through the beds of pink
alien sunflowers.  Tammy chuckled.

   "Oh, just ignore it.  He'll get over it eventually."

   "It was annoying in middle school, it's annoying now."

   "All boys are annoying."

   There was a part of Nona that knew she shouldn't think that was funny,
that she should be upset, offended, or something, at the reminder of
Tammy's sexual preference.  That part was out voted.  Instead, she
chuckled, echoing the older girl.

   "I was just never comfortable with that kind of attention." As the path
turned, her eyes shifted a bit, catching a glimpse of her stalker.  He was
staying about seven feet behind them, obviously embarrassed.  About what,
she wasn't sure, and she certainly wasn't going to examine him closely to
see what he had to be embarrassed about!  What kind of person would do
that!?  She did, though, look at his face again.  That snout...  it SHOULD
freak her out.  It was so...  alien!  But...

   His eyes had begun to shift towards hers.  Nona quickly looked away. 
There was no sense encouraging the boy, making him think she was at all
interested in him.  Hell no.  Then she'd never get rid of him...

   Rinda and Goldie, walking a few feet ahead, paused next to a bed of red
flowers.  Goldie sat her furry bottom on the path, small nose sniffing a
particularly beautiful blossom.  She looked up at the older women.

   "Do we have this one yet?"

   Rinda furrowed her brow, hand going to the pad holstered on her belt.

   "I think so..." As the screen came on, Nona saw that day's purchases
scroll by.  Even buying all that, the dome garden was probably only going
to be half full.  The season here was just wrong to buy plants in bulk, it
seemed, at least without being able to wait for delivery.  Rinda's finger
moved down the screen.  "Um...  yes.  We have it already.  Well, what we
have has a bit of pink on the tips of the petals, but it's the same thing."

   "This one smells different.  Can we get it?"

   Nona shook her head, looking around.  She wasn't a flower person.  She
liked them, but the same way a person might like trees.  It didn't matter
what the tree was, so long as it gave shade, and such was her feelings
regarding flowers.  One variety, a hundred varieties...

   Rinda's answer was interrupted by her phone going off.  Returning the
pad to its holster, her other hand had the phone quickly up to her face. 
The sickeningly sweet expression there made Nona want to gag.

   "Hi, Chuck...  Nothin." Rinda began to sway a bit, almost forgetting the
others already.  "Just buying flowers.Yeah...  Oh!" Her eyes came up, still
not seeing but at least focused on more important matters.  "Yeah!  Got it!
Love you!"

   Tammy cocked an eyebrow at the youngster as the phone vanished again.

   "And?"

   "The gravity tested out OK.  We're leaving as soon as we get back and
unload."

   "Aww..." Goldie pouted, putting her chin on the ground.  "I like it
here."

   "Too bad!" Tammy replied, happily.

   "You're mean..."

   Nona half tuned them out.  Leaving...  again, going somewhere that
wasn't Earth.  Why...  why couldn't...  she just wanted to go home...

   Something blue caught her eye.

   Ignoring the others, Nona walked a bit farther down the path.  She
didn't know what she thought she saw.  It was just a blue flower.  Just
another blue...

   Nona's heart stopped.

   She fell to her knees, not even feeling the rough stone now pressing
into them.  She was dreaming.  It was either a dream, or a miracle.  A
miracle...

   A shape knelt down next to her, its young, male voice cutting through
her thoughts.

   "What is it, Nona?"

   She reached out a shaking hand.  She was afraid.  What if touching it
broke the spell?  What if it wasn't even really there?  What if...

   Brown fingers touched the green stem.  Trembling, they moved up, to the
silky smooth petals.  Ever so slowly, she tipped the flower towards her,
looking inside.

   There were small, yellow, Arabic looking words on the red center.

   "Oh, Jesus!"

   Tammy's shocked curse cut through the fog in her mind.  Nona looked up
at the others, eyes wide.

   "Is it on the others?  Check the others!"

   Tammy practically threw herself to the ground, grabbing a plant in each
hand and turning its flower towards her.  She then did two more.  The
others just focused on Nona, not understanding.

   "Nona, tell me..." Danny's hand began to reach out, only to fall to the
ground.  She never noticed.

   Tammy sat back on her heels.

   "I don't believe it." She shook her head.  "All of them.  They all have
the same letters." She looked at Nona.  "What does it say?"

   Nona stood.  She looked up at the sky, blue and clear.  Her face...  her
face was of one at peace with themselves, and the world.

   "It says, 'God is Great'."

   ****

   Danny half held on for dear life, half tried not to stare at Nona.  He
didn't know which was more fraught with danger.  The delivery truck, one of
five carrying flowers back to the ship, seemed incredibly unstable.  Those
wheels could NOT be round.  They had been offered rides with the cargo,
almost fawningly, given how much the group had spent there, and foolishly
they had accepted.

   Danny didn't expect to live to see tomorrow.

   Another bump caught him shifting his grip.  He slid down the seat, hip
touching Nona.  He quickly pulled himself away, face red.

   "Sorry!"

   She laughed, smiling.

   "It's OK.  I won't kill you for THAT one."

   His brain froze.  Literally froze.  Danny saw that smile, and all
coherent thought left.  He looked away.  She was talking.  To him! 
Conversation!  He had to keep this going.  Had to keep talking to her. 
But, what?

   "Why didn't you take the flower?"

   He kept his eyes averted.  Much easier to regain some calm while doing
that.  His question was met with silence, though.  Had he...  offended her?
Should he look, to see if she was upset?  Or...

   "It would be wrong."

   He did turn back to her.  Her voice...  he had never heard someone speak
like that.  She saw his expression, shrugging apologetically.

   "I know, I know, it's probably just some random coincidence.  Like Daium
speaking Malay, or all our genetics being compatible.  But, even so, even
if it's just a normal flower...  I'd be tempted to worship it.  That would
be wrong.  We worship God.  Not the Prophet, not angels, not idols, or
flowers." She shook her head.  "The flowers...  I know they're there.  I
know they exist.  That is enough."

   The question rose to Danny's lips.  He tried to fight it back.  It was
stupid.  It would upset her.  Best to be quiet.  She was being so nice...

   "What is God?"

   She looked at him in shock.  He had offended.  Damn it, he had done it
again!  He had to apologize!  His hands tightened into fists, as he tried
to think of what to say...

   "Do...  do you want me to teach you about God?"

   Their eyes met.

   "Yes..."

   ****

   "OK, everyone seated?  Good!"

   "Glad you waited for an answer!"

   Anthony ignored Alicia's saucy reply.  He was the Captain on the bridge
after all.  A hat.  That's what he needed, a hat.  Then they'd respect him.

   "Stations, check in!"

   "Engines, on line!

   "Doors sealed!  Dome gravity on!

   "All droids secured."

   "Kids in the commons and strapped in!"

   "Good!" He looked to the front of the bridge.  "Daium, do we know where
we're going?"

   "No!" The Orang laughed, looking over at Justin and Alicia.  "But I know
what we're looking for!"

   "Good enough for retail!" Sitting down, he fastened his straps.  Raising
an arm, he shouted, "Engage!"

   There was silence.  Melinda unbuckled herself, walked around the bridge,
and whacked Anthony on the head with her hand.

   "Do that again, and we mutiny."

   ****

   To be continued in:

   The Bells of Home

   Related stories:

   The Bells toll for Mary Bells, Book, and Candle

   Edited by SciFi Nut

   Comments more then welcome.  invidfan@localnet.com
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