Lokians 1: Beyond the End of the World (27 page)

With only a limited area of space—four
Carriers and a handful of colonies—they were unable to rear as many
children as they liked. Furthermore, there was little time to
court. She admitted that they still had sex to relieve stress, if
seldom, but it was a complicated ordeal, which had to do with their
pheromones, which were stifled by the constant fear of Lokian
attacks.

“
I had no idea,” he said. “To tell the
truth, many of us Humans don’t have relations quite as often while
in the middle of training…now we’re at war, yet I find myself
curious; your people know of other races, but you are the first
race Humans have met, so I’m certain you can understand my
interest.”

“
I thought you needed to speak of these
matters for your superior….”

“
Yeah,” he chuckled, running fingers
through his hair. “Tell me more about children.”

The alien said that after eggs were laid,
they were kept in special warehouses—egg monitoring hospitals,
really—until they hatched, at which point the babies were raised
communally; they no longer had mother and father roles; they had
only parents, which no longer meant what it used to; it meant
caregivers.

“
Once the children reach age twelve,
and that’s our age twelve, which is closer to your one hundred,
they are given assisting roles in labs, machine shops,
communications….”

“
Have you had children?”

“
I have not,” she said.
“You?”

“
No…I wouldn’t know where to begin,” he
laughed. “Obviously, a little a wining and dining, and then maybe
some music and candles to set the mood, but after the act, well…I
find my mind wanders. Does that kind of stuff work for you? Does
music and ambient lighting arouse Thewlian ladies?”

“
Do you mean for friendship or to
relieve tension?”

“
I think we can do both,” he smiled and
touched her wrist.

“
Are you suggesting the two of us
engage in sexual relations?”

“
Have you ever experienced relations
with another race?”

“
Never, though I assume some may have,”
her complexion swirled between purple and greenish.

“
So it isn’t unheard of…you see I just
like to be educated,” he sneered. “I’m just, what do you call it,
scientifically curious about what you do during sex.”

After a polite silence, she said, “Since you
can’t read my cues, I’ll use my words. Find someone else.”

DeReaux laughed, “Maybe you can just tell
me.”

“
I have work to do,” she stood and
walked away allowing her hand to linger on his shoulder as she
left.

“
Joi de vivre, I wonder if that was a
sign….”

****

The loss of friends took its toll on
everyone. Some found solace in solitude, others in groups, some
wanted to punch walls. Fitzpatrick had slept for over fourteen
hours, something she never did, but recent events had left her worn
out, totally drained.

Awake, she stared at the ceiling. It looked
perforated, which reminded her of the mesh tubes growing out of the
Lokians. Fighting those things was a serious issue; the creatures
were simply unbeatable by Human standards, which made her wonder
about the queen and their home world, so she washed up, and made
off for O’Hara’s room, only he wasn’t there.

“
Seen the captain,” she asked his
Thewlian roommate.

“
He went to Flem’s quarters to see
Day.”

Fitzpatrick nodded, frowned, and left. She
walked to the open door then knocked out of politeness. The three
greeted her and invited her in.

“’
Sup, guys,” she said.

“
Hey,” Day smiled.

“
You two gettin’ cozy,” Fitzpatrick
asked.

“
Nothing like that…I guess,” O’Hara
frowned.

Day winced, gave him a look, and excused
herself.

“
Wrong move, Captain Love,” Fitzpatrick
snipped.

“
Yeah, well it’s probably best to keep
our distance anyway,” he replied and looked down at his
boots.

“
Well, that’s a load of shit,”
Fitzpatrick spat.

“
Maybe, I should leave, too,” Flem
said, slowly.

“
No, hold on,” he said with a contained
smile. “I want to know where this is going….”

“
Listen, I’m just saying,” Fitzpatrick
mumbled while attempting to calm herself. She had gone there to
chat about their upcoming fight, but her emotions were so frazzled,
she became belligerent for no reason. “What you said was passive
aggressive—anyone can see that—and it’s offensive to a girl in her
state. I don’t know if you can pull your head outta’ your ass for a
minute, but we’re not on the
Phoenix
, and this isn’t a Navy
mission. You get what I’m saying?”

He looked her over and smiled. Unable to
fight off a smile of her own, she jokingly elbowed him.

“
Whoa, hey, easy on the ribs,” he
said.

“
Please. The traveler healed you up….”
she sighed and scratched at her hair. It was growing out just a
bit, but still too short to style. “I was wondering what the plan
is regarding this queen.”

“
Plan,” he laughed. “No plan. I have no
idea what to do. All I know is we’re going to Soft
Light.”

Shaking her head with a deadpan look, she
stood, made to turn around, halted, shook her head more grievously,
and opened her mouth as though saying something. She quickly shut
it, indicating it wasn’t worth the effort. O’Hara chuckled at her
display.

“
What just happened,” Flem was
curious.

“
Fitzpatrick is disappointed in my lack
of organizational skills.”

“
I…see….”

“
Well,” Fitzpatrick said. “At any
rate…you should probably track down Day.”

“
Yeah….”

“
If I see her first, I’ll let her know
you’ve been under a lot of stress.”

“
Thanks….”

Chapter Eighteen

O’Hara and crew all retired to their quarters
for the night; Fitzpatrick, however, tossed and turned, unable to
fall asleep. Ominous buzzing sounds rattled around. She lied there,
wide eyed, staring into the darkness.

There was a major difference in her composure
since having met the traveler. She distinctly remembered the awe,
fear, and joy, which exuded from the creature. Whatever the depths
of those emotions, they had passed, and she was left with some
consuming emptiness.

Marty…Zak…Imes, Becker; what happened? What’s
going to happen? Look at us; we’re just like a bunch of frightened
children. I sure act tough, but man, the next fight could really be
our last, my last, and that traveler; he’s able to destroy those
Lokians with his mind, but he sends us to get a ship?

Frowning, she felt the impotence within turn
into anger. Grumbling as she flung the sheets from her body, she
marched out of her room, and decided to pay the mysterious creature
a visit. The elevator door slid open after she pushed the call
button, and she walked in, taking it down to the loading zone,
where she found the traveler. He was still standing there,
meditating, or sleeping, or doing whatever he did. Deckhands
scurried around him like he was just a statue.

“’
Sup, dude?” she sat down cross-legged
in front of him.

He didn’t move, or sway, or even twitch. He
barely even breathed. She looked him over, and thought he was built
like an athlete, stocky and muscular. Thick, gray fur covered most
of his body. Only his face and the palms of his hands were
bare.

His tranquility was something she coveted.
“Not a worry in the world, huh?”

Moments eased by during which she also
relaxed. She found her eyes growing heavy.
There he stands—the
great savior—and what does he do? Nothing.
I suppose I
should just be thankful he saved us, and he is providing a plan of
action….
Whatever pessimism had possessed her melted away. In
its place sprouted a degree of calmness.

For a moment, her mind went blank; she wasn’t
talking to herself, or wondering about the future, or even the
present. It was like a daydream, but without fantastical images.
Instead, there were physical sensations; her spine tingled, her
fingers were warm.

When she realized what she felt, she started
trying to dissect the phenomenon; she wanted to think about it,
reason it out, but lacked the impetus. Then, the color behind her
closed eyes wavered. An intense, pleasing redness wormed its way
around. Long waves of energy waned away from her, giving the
impression of feeling long, not tall, but somehow stretched.

What she originally thought was fatigue, or
the sensations, which came while falling asleep, intensified; she
was totally awake, but her body was unresponsive. Scared out of her
mind, she fought to stand, but an outside force calmed her.
Pressure in the center of her brain drew her attention; something
was building up. Then, it released like bubbly effervescence, and
the image of the traveler cleared.

She thought she was imagining him, or perhaps
remembering him; an image imprinted on her mind, which she was able
to isolate and scrutinize, but he opened his eyes, and they weren’t
black pools of nothingness; they were all colors, radiating,
wafting, melting, but contained. Beyond a doubt, she knew he was
guiding her, and she tried to question the experience, but his
overwhelming presence turned her around; she saw behind herself,
and then a jolt rattled some unknown part of her. It took her a
second to comprehend that he hadn’t turned her; he was allowing her
to see in all directions.

Instantly, Fitzpatrick felt something break
around her, it was like having pierced a barrier, and she knew she
was in control. She looked all around the deck; there were aliens
at work, ships undergoing repairs, cranes, lifts, and carts were
all moving throughout the immense area. Another pang of fear, which
culminated in a bodily jolt, brought her back to reality; she was
sitting in front of the traveler, only his eyes were closed, and he
bore a smile.

“
What the fuck,” she said,
dryly.

Gazing at the creature, she figured something
transcendental had occurred. An imperative need to inform someone
possessed her, and she took off like a bat out of Hell. Dancing on
her toes while riding the lift back to crew quarters, she began to
doubt the experience.
I must be losing it…did that really
happen?
The elevator dinged, and the door slid open.

She went to DeReaux’s room first.
Best to
get a second opinion before bothering the captain.
His door was
closed. Rather than knocking and waking up DeReaux’s quarter mate,
she decided to sneak in.

“
Wake up, Frenchy,” she whispered.
Then, she tugged at his sleeve. “Wake up, you ass.”

He turned and looked at her, and grumbled,
“What?”

“
Get up, you have to come check this
out,” she pleaded. He muttered something unintelligible before
getting out of bed. She led him to the elevator. He rubbed his
eyes, complaining he needed to pee. “I think the traveler was
showing me something. I just wanna’ see if he shows you something,
too.”

He looked at her with a tiresome expression.
He wanted to blow her off, tell her to get some rest, but they had
pretty much known each other their whole lives, and he saw the
distress in her face and body language. Back in front of the
creature, she ordered him to sit down.

“
Let me grab a chair,” he
whined.

“
Sit down!”

He sighed dramatically as though it was an
extraordinary ordeal. “Okay, what now?”

“
Just relax,” she said.

He shook his head in mock desperation, but
figured placating her was the quickest road to getting back to
sleep. A moment eased by during which he experienced nothing beyond
grogginess. Mental complaints about his partner suddenly seemed
distant and disconnected; he felt like he was underwater. The
colors and shapes he witnessed behind closed eyes were marvelous,
but little more than whatever was experienced after pushing on the
eyes. It was a novelty, which made him want to scratch his head,
but it took his body an eternity to react.

When it did, it moved incredibly slowly. His
eyelids remained heavy, but he focused all of his intent into
looking around. He was shocked at the physical sensations plaguing
his body. Vibrations and waves of energy shot through him like his
heart was pumping electricity.

Frightened, he rose to his feet as if his
muscles were made of molasses; everything was slowed, even the
sounds in the ship; they were elongated. Focusing on the sounds was
like choosing portions from a recording and playing it back. He
knew the traveler was showing something of monumental importance;
he recalled a similar sensation while fighting on Sahagun, and what
he was experiencing was the ability to take all the time in the
world to observe whatever he chose, whatever he saw with his eyes,
heard with his ears, touched with hands. They were all separate
events for him to witness.

He brought his gaze to the traveler, whose
eyes were closed. An order to move, to walk around and explore,
pressed him. Though he managed to pick up his pace, there wasn’t
any way to move at a normal rate of speed; he knew it wasn’t his
muscles he was using, but some vibratory force, some base energy
lodged deep within.

He sluggishly reached out to touch
Fitzpatrick. Before making contact, DeReaux’s brain was flooded
with sensory input. He saw all her angles, every possible way she
might move, and he knew where to strike, or trip her, or maneuver
around her. Then, the elevator dinged in an drawn out fashion. Ever
so slowly the door slid open, and a Thewl ambled out like he was on
slow motion, instant replay. With a crack, time caught up, and
everything was back to normal.