“Hi—you must be Doctor Reynaud. Welcome to the Mothership.” The light, feminine voice wasn’t exactly what Molly had expected when Braxx carefully lifted her down from the high door of the shuttle but she smiled readily all the same.
“Hello,” she said, putting out a hand. “It’s nice to meet you…”
“Oh, sorry! I’m Sophia, Commander Sylvan’s wife,” said the strange woman, taking her hand and shaking it. “He asked me to meet you because he’s running late. And this is my good friend, Kat.”
“Hello,” said another voice which was slightly lower.
Molly turned blindly towards it and held out her hand again. “Hi. Nice to meet you.”
“Oh—over here.” Kat had apparently moved to the left because her voice came from there now. She took Molly’s hand. “Are you seeing me okay? Did you forget your glasses or lose a contact lens or something?”
“Doctor Reynaud is blind,” Braxx, who was standing behind her, growled. His voice had a low, menacing quality to it, as though he was daring either woman to make something of her disability.
“Oh…” Sophia’s voice trailed off uncertainly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize.” Kat apologized as well.
“Don’t worry about it.” Molly gave them a friendly smile. “Yes, I’m Dr. Reynaud, the Anthropologist and yes I’m blind. But that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.”
Kat let out a surprised sounding laugh.
“Of course it doesn’t! I like you, doll.” She sounded like she was smiling. “Why don’t you come with us to Sophie’s place?”
“Sylvan will join us there,” Sophie said. “Here—will you take my arm?”
“Mine too,” Kat said.
Before she knew it, Molly was walking arm in arm between the two of them, chatting as if they’d all been friends forever. She had an open, frank, friendly personality herself and she recognized the same openness in the two Kindred wives. Braxx followed behind them silently—Molly thought she could feel him like a storm cloud at her back. For some reason he didn’t seem comfortable here on the Mothership—or maybe that was just her imagination.
Sophia and Kat, on the other hand, seemed perfectly at ease. They had apparently decided to give Molly a tour of the ship because they led her far from the echoing metal corridors and out into a much airier, open place which almost felt like it was outdoors.
But that was impossible, wasn’t it? The Mothership was a space ship—albeit a huge one—so how could any part of it feel like the outdoors? Yet Molly could distinctly smell fresh scent in the air—what she thought of as a green, growing scent—like grass and flowers and trees and soil. Also, she was no longer standing on hard metal—the ground had a giving, springy feel beneath her feet. Did they have some kind of a garden in the middle of the Mothership?
“So this is the common area right here,” Kat was saying. “It’s kind of a big park where families can come and picnic and play. Overhead is the green sun.”
“The what?” Molly turned her face up towards the warmth she felt coming down from overhead.
“It’s the Mothership’s power source—the way they can fold space to get from one part of the universe to another,” Sophia explained. “It’s really pretty amazing.”
“It sounds amazing,” Molly admitted. She lifted her feet and set them down again carefully. “And the grass feels like it must be really soft.”
“Actually, we’re right near the Sacred Grove where you’re supposed to remove your shoes,” Kat said. “Do you think we should take her in to meet one of the priestesses, Sophie?”
“Oh yes—please do!” Molly exclaimed before the other girl could answer. “I’m sorry,” she added, slightly apologetic. “I just get really excited when it comes to learning about new cultures and their religions and I’ve always been curious about the Kindred.”
“Well, you came to the right place, doll.” Kat sounded amused. “Come right over here—we can leave our shoes and go into the grove.”
“All right—as long as you bring me back to my shoes again or I’ll never find them.” Molly slipped off her low heeled business shoes and held Sophia’s and Kat’s hands as they led her into a whispering corridor of leaves which brushed against her cheeks and tugged gently at her long hair as she passed.
“This is the Sacred Grove.” Sophie’s voice was hushed and reverent. “It’s filled with green and purple trees and it’s where the Kindred priestesses commune with the Goddess.”
“Do you believe in the Goddess?” Molly asked them frankly. “Did you two convert to your husbands’ religion after you were married?”
“I believe in her because she’s real,” Sophie said firmly. “Not just because I ‘converted.’”
“Sophie’s right—she’s a real person,” Kat assured Molly, squeezing her hand. “I know you’re probably trained as a scientist to be skeptical but believe me—she is.”
Molly simply nodded politely, keeping her doubt to herself. She was trained to ask questions and observe, not to make judgments about another culture’s beliefs.
“She does not believe.” A new voice—female and strong—suddenly rang out in front of them.
Molly nearly tripped as Sophie and Kat came to an abrupt halt on either side of them.
“It’s one of the priestesses,” Kat whispered in her ear. “Be respectful.”
Molly wanted to ask for a verbal description of the priestess—she’d heard they had green hair and eyes which were also green, not just the irises but the whites of them as well. But there wasn’t time and besides, she didn’t want to appear irreverent.
“I’m sorry?” she said instead, tilting her head in the direction of the new voice. “I don’t understand. Could you please explain?”
“I said, you do not believe, child.” The voice came nearer—it sounded like a woman in her forties or fifties, Molly thought, and there was a scent like herbal incense around her. “You do not believe now, but you will. In the darkness, you will have no doubt.”
“Forgive me, priestess, but my whole life is lived in darkness,” Molly said gently. “You see, I’m blind.”
“That is why you will believe,” the priestess said mysteriously. “For in the darkness, you will see again. But let me urge you, my dear…” A strong, cool hand was suddenly placed on Molly’s cheek and she had to fight not to flinch back from the unexpected contact. “Do not attempt to see the truth with your eyes. It is with your heart that you must look. Only then will you find what you seek.”
“Umm…” Molly wasn’t sure what to say. Though she was used to encountering other cultures and religions, the priestess had somehow knocked her completely off her guard.
“See with your heart,” the priestess repeated. Then the cool hand was withdrawn and there was a whisper in the grass as she glided away.
“Wow…” Kat drew in a shaky breath. “Sorry, doll—we should have warned you. The Kindred priestesses can be a little intense.”
“A little?” Sophie gave a nervous laugh.
“Well, maybe more than a little,” Kat admitted. “Anyway, are you okay, hon?” she asked Molly.
“I’m fine,” Molly assured her, although she wasn’t exactly certain she was. The encounter with the priestess had shaken her somehow and she couldn’t help hearing the woman’s words echoing in her head, “See with your heart…”
“Oh!” Sophia exclaimed. “Sylvan is bespeaking me. He’s back at our suite now and he wants to talk to you, Dr. Reynaud.”
“You can just call me Molly,” Molly offered. “And what do you mean when you say he’s ‘bespeaking’ you? Did he call you somehow?”
The explanation of how the Kindred and their females form a telepathic bond when they get mated was both fascinating and lengthy. It lasted until they got back to the suite Sophia shared with her husband and children and wouldn’t have stopped there if Molly had been able to keep it going. She had to remind herself again that her mission was to study the Tal’ossi, not the Kindred.
But she was finding the Kindred more and more fascinating…especially the tall and mostly silent Braxx who stayed protectively behind her, no matter where she went.