Gateway to HeVan (21 page)

Malpha was nervous.  For the first time in three hundred years, she would see the men she thought would become her
Ankida
.  Now it would never happen.  Instead, they had fulfilled the destiny the Goddess meant for them and she was being pushed onto an alien king who could probably have any woman he wanted.  In addition, he was probably shorter than her in the bargain.

Cassandra came into the room, took one look at Malpha and knew what she was thinking. 

“Pity party?” she asked.  “Is it pot luck?”

Malpha, engrossed in her own misery, didn’t notice Cassandra at first.  “What?
Oh, it’s you.  Did you ask me something?”

“It doesn’t matter; I was just being snarky.  Everything is going to be okay, you know.  Seer girl, remember?”
asked Cassandra.

“I believe you, Cassandra.  I also know the future can be changed,” said Malpha.

“Yes, it can, by you.  You need to decide what type of relationship you intend to have and then work toward making it your reality.  My mom gave me this advice a long time ago and I didn’t listen.  I don’t think I even understood what she meant.  I do now and it was good advice.  You aren’t an idiot, so you already know that,” said Cassandra.

“Thank you,” Malpha said in a dry voice.

“So, other than the ‘woe is me’ thing, whatcha doin’?” asked Cassandra.

“Just making notes on all the information I know about the various Council members.  I wasn’t able to spend enough time with Glynnis and both she and the
Nam-Nin
will need to know what they’re dealing with.”

“Well, you’ll be able to tell her in person because we’re going to be docking in about an hour.  You know, I thought traveling in space was going to be exciting.  What it is, if you don’t have a job, is boring.  There isn’t a lot to do and the scenery doesn’t really change.  So I’m going to be happy to be back on the bigger ship.  At least there’s stuff to do,” she said.

“What do you do?” asked Malpha.

“There’s a movie theatre and they even have movies I haven’t seen yet.  Sometimes I help out Jennifer in her restaurant.  Who knew I’d be getting a job as a waitress out here, of all places?  Then sometimes
, I’m a greeter for people wanting to see the queen, you know?  Sometimes I just hang out with my friend, Marta.  She makes the most amazing jewelry and I like to watch.”

“
It sounds like a lot.  I don’t think I’ve ever done any of those things in all my years,” said Malpha musingly.

“If you want to try, I’ll show you.  Though I don’t think you’re the type to be a waitress.  You’re hostess material.”

Malpha had no idea what a waitress or a hostess was but she knew if she wanted to be a waitress, she would succeed.  There was only one thing at which she had never succeeded and now she knew it was never meant to be.

Cassandra thought she had distracted Malpha but realized it hadn’t lasted for long.  Oh, well, she’d tried.  During the time they’d been traveling back to the ship Addie was on, she’d gotten to know Malpha.  She knew she’d been unhappy for a very long time.  She was too skinny for her height and showed all the signs of stress. 

Cassandra had been worried about her dad and had read up on all the symptoms of heart attack and stroke.  Her dad was fine; but she had learned to recognize killer stress when she saw it.  Malpha was hanging on by a thread.

*
***

Arjun came into the room where Addie was drinking a protein shake and watching a movie with her sister.  In deference to Grace’s injury, they were watching an action movie instead of a comedy; it still hurt Grace to laugh. 

“Addie, the shuttle is docking.  Lady Malpha has arrived.  She will be here shortly,” Arjun informed her.

“Good, is everything ready the way I asked?” Addie answered.

“Yes, all is arranged.  I’ll get my brothers and we’ll meet with Grace’s
Ankida
.  Jett has some new invention he wants to show us.”

“Wonderful!  Go now, and make sure the guards in the hallway act appropriately,” she said. 

While she wasn’t snapping at them anymore, she was still a little upset about the situation.  Arjun and his brothers felt guilty, but they also felt manipulated.  The Council members were in for a surprise when they all arrived on HeVan.

When the shuttle pulled into the docking bay, Cassandra and Malpha were both ready to
disembark.  The shuttle would refuel and then stand ready to take Malpha and her possessions down to KowLer.  Until then, Malpha carried one small bag.  She didn’t think she’d be on the ship for more than one day, if that.

“Follow me.  I know what cabin you’ll be staying in,” said Cassandra as they left the shuttle and started walking toward the door.  Cassandra also had some luggage, but she hadn’t unpacked it all for her trip to HeVan.

Even Cassandra was surprised to open the door from the shuttle bay and find Natalie and Maggie in the hallway talking.  Both of the women looked up and smiled when they saw Malpha and Cassandra.

“Hey, Cassie
—is this Malpha?” asked Natalie.

“Yes.  Malpha, this is Natalie and Maggie.  They are both
joined
to Nephilim,” explained Cassandra.

Before Malpha could say anything, Natalie stepped forward and gave her a hug.  “Welcome aboard, sister,” she said before stepping back.

Malpha might have said something then, but Maggie stepped forward next and also gave Malpha a hug. 

“Thank you so much for keeping the home fires burning.  We’re going to have so much fun!”

Cassandra quickly picked up on what was happening and had a hard time keeping a straight face.  Natalie grabbed Malpha’s bag and led the way.

“We’re all meeting at Jennifer’s.  Even Addie got permission; they carried her in a couple of hours ago.  Grace is on bed-rest, too, so they’re watching a movie.  They decided a marathon of sci-fi B-movies was called for, so be prepared for humongous insects and death by high-voltage power lines.  I had a lot of
woman time a few days ago and—let’s just say I really needed it.  So when I made the suggestion to Addie, she went for it,” said Natalie.

“You’re looking good.  How are you feeling?” asked Cassandra.

“I’m better now.  I still get weepy but it’s better now since we found out the cause.  My guys are restricted to the medical bay for another day.  Peet is because of the injury to his hand—and Reeko, because he had a reaction to the antidote.  I have orders to stay away so I’ve spent the day at Jennifer’s place.  She and Gilda are the ones who came up with the girl’s night out idea.”

“Oh, wow, this will be my first one.  Malpha, you’re in for a treat.  With so few women still on HeVan, girl’s night out must not happen too often, huh?”
Cassie asked.

“I’m unfamiliar with this term,” said Malpha in a strange voice. 

She was sure she’d entered an alternate reality.  Everyone was behaving so strangely.  A few minutes later, when they entered what the female named Natalie called a restaurant, she was sure of it.  Stretched across the wall on the other side of the room was a banner which said, WELCOME, MALPHA.  She had barely taken it all in, when more women than she had ever seen in one place together at one time rushed over and started hugging her.  All of them were pregnant.

Before she realized what was happening, she’d been pushed into a big chair and a drink was shoved into her hand.  She was still coming to grips with it
, when a voice to her left intruded on her thoughts.

“Did Natalie mention the movie marathon?  We’d do the all-night boogie but
—one, there’s no men allowed and—two, few of us are in a position to dance the night away.  So we’re going the pamper route and do makeovers.  Let me tell you, honey, you could use one.  I’m surprised you bothered to pack for this trip with those bags under your eyes.  No worries, though, we’ll take care of you,” said Grace.

Malpha
didn’t know how to respond to the female’s remarks, so she took a sip of her drink and was quite pleased with the sweet, fruity taste.  She gave a brief thought as to why a circular piece of paper on a slim piece of wood was sticking out of the glass and then decided to let it go.  It was delicious.  Right now, in this strange new reality, it didn’t matter.  She turned to the woman who had been speaking and saw a tall, slender female with sun-kissed skin, long black hair and very pregnant.

“Where am I?” Malpha asked the woman.

Good
, thought Grace,
we’ve got her off-balance.  The rum punch will help
.

“I’ve just been explaining
—you’re at your bachelorette party,” said Grace.

Malpha was going to ask the woman what it meant, when her eyes wandered to the next chair.  Lying there, sleeping, was a smaller woman with pale skin and hair of a shade of red she’d never seen before.  What was even more startling was the fact she was the most pregnant female Malpha had ever seen.  It was as if a full-sized person had crawled under her shirt and crouched there.

Grace, seeing how Malpha’s eyes had grown round, lowered her voice and said, “That’s my sister, Addie.  She’s not too happy about getting knocked up with six babies all at once.  So, no fat jokes, okay?  She’s a little sensitive about it.  She’s been on bed rest for the last two and a half months, so she’s a little cranky.”

“I’m not cranky; I’m never cranky,” said Addie as Grace just rolled her eyes at Malpha.

“Oh, yeah, you’re whipped cream, sweetness and light.”

“Pot-kettle, Grace
—pot-kettle,” said Addie with her eyes closed.

“You need to wake up, Addie; you have a guest,” said Grace.

“I wasn’t sleeping.  I was just resting my eyes in between movies.  Hi, Malpha—welcome to girl’s night out.”

Before Malpha could respond, someone came over with a pitcher and refreshed her drink.  They also brought a platter and placed it on the table between her and
the female named Grace.

“Yum
—we have nachos!  Jen makes the best.  I’m thinking we start with the pedi and then wait until you’re blissed out on punch before we go for the manicure or any waxing,” said Grace.

Malpha hadn’t had anything to eat during the day and the plate of food looked appetizing.  She watched the way the female, Grace, had picked up the small triangles of some type of crisped bread, covered in what smelled like meat and a melted substance of some kind.  Messy
—but from the look on her face, it was good to eat.  She took another sip of the fruit punch and then made an attempt to eat the alien food.

When she picked up the triangle, another piece seemed to be glued to it with the golden-colored melted substance speckled with circular slices of some type of green vegetable.  She put down her beverage and used both hands to guide the food to her mouth.

The explosion of flavors was surprising and wonderful.  Then she got the kick of heat from the spices and nearly gasped as her eyes began to water.  She picked up her glass and drank down half of it in her hurry to cool down the heat.

Ply her with alcoholic
beverages—check.  Spicy food so she’ll drink more—check
, thought Addie.

She
looked at Malpha through her eyelashes, still pretending to be dozing.  She didn’t know how long it would take to get Malpha blitzed, but they were going to do their best.

For the next hour, different women came up and gave Malpha hugs while they fed her spicy foods and kept her glass full of rum punch.  Catherine was keeping track of her intake because they wanted her happy
-drunk, not falling-down-sick drunk.

Malpha didn’t even flinch when they removed her shoes and put her feet in the pedicure basin.  By this time, all the women had eaten and had started giving each other manicures, pedicures, or were doing hair and facials.  Every so often, a woman would come up and give Malpha a hug or rub her shoulder as they talked.  Addie was pleased to see Malpha had begun to return the embraces.

On one level, Malpha was aware of what was happening.  Thinking about it, she realized she didn’t care if she was being manipulated; the results were good.  This new queen was smart.  She had discerned what Malpha was beginning to realize—what she needed the most—being around a large group of other women and simply be women.  It was unfortunate it couldn’t last.  While it did, though, she was going to participate.

“I like this shade of shiny blue.  May I have it on my toes, please?” she asked.

“Sure thing,” said the young lady sitting on a stool in front of her.

“I’m sorry; I don’t remember your name,” said Malpha.

“You were a little busy when I came over.  I’m Marta,” Marta said, standing and giving Malpha a hug which she returned.  “What color would you like on your hands?”

“I think I would like the green; it is a nice color,” said Malpha.

Marta looked at the neon lime green Malpha had chosen. “Great, it’s one of my contributions to girl’s night.  I’m glad you like it.  So, do you have any great sexy stories to share?” she asked, causing Malpha to spew the sip she’d just taken.