Maybe I am dreaming, Kelly thought. However, he turned to the raised seating and started lecturing in a language that she couldn’t come close to understanding. It seemed like a mixture of every language family she had heard – a little bit of Spanish, a little bit of English, a little bit of Chinese, a little bit of Arabic – and was an incomprehensible mess. Or, maybe I’m not, she finished.
The vision of classical beauty that was standing before her droned on at his audience for a while and was met with courteous applause at what Kelly could only assume was the end of his piece. To her surprise, he then turned to her and began to speak to her directly.
“Though I won’t apologize for our actions exactly, I will apologize for any possible shock to your system that we’ve caused. We’ve been planning this for years, you know,” he began, pausing while he awaited her response. It took her a few seconds to collect herself, but she managed to deliver, not questioning that he could speak English – after all, she was in a ship that managed to make it across the universe. It would make sense that they could learn a new language or two from a less advanced civilization.
“Planning this for years?” she asked. “What do you mean by that, exactly?”
“Considering you’ll be living among our society from now on, I might as well tell you. Our faction picked you out of a large sample size of possible candidates for future integration. Our species as a whole has always been largely invested in the futures of others, and have taken appropriate action when necessary in order to preserve the ones that are favored more and can be helped. Over the eons, we’ve managed to make the process a bit easier by integrating the experience into one of the chosen specimens so that it’s a bit more… familiar by the time it actually comes around.” He paused, giving her time to digest the information that he had just given her.
“So, you mean that you all… gave me the sleep paralysis problem when I was a kid?” she asked.
“Precisely. The feeling of restriction is similar to what transport feels like, and we would have been watching over you to make sure that everything was positioned correctly to grab you up safely. If we showed you what that was like early on, then you would be more used to it when it came around for real and would be less likely to get scared or die on us.”
Kelly was intrigued at the care taken to maintain her person. “So, you want to keep me safe and happy? For what?”
“Successful integration into our society.”
“Why will I need to be doing that?” Kelly asked, suddenly somewhat panicked.
“Because we have foreseen a date of a catastrophic cosmic event for your planet. On the following date from your transport, your planet was to undergo a collision from a large asteroid that you had not been able to detect. We saved a large number from your species, but you in particular were chosen by a much smaller community.” The way he recounted the information was almost infuriatingly cool, and the news of her planet’s destruction was overwhelming and confusing.
“You saved me from the fucking apocalypse? Why? What’s so special about me and others like me?” she was beginning to panic as the reality of the situation set in.
“You most closely resembled our ideals from the members of your species who originally gave us form. It suggests the highest possibility of successful interspecies breeding that will give us extended longevity in the stars, as we rely on the sustained, deep seated genealogical belief in our ascribed forms in order to keep them, and having form is incredibly useful in this universe.”
Kelly’s head was swimming now, but the beautiful face and perfectly toned muscles in front of her continued speaking.
“Not only does your physical form fit in with those who first created us, but you are particularly fertile and receptive. Of course, we don’t just see you as breeding stock – we do want to integrate you into our society, and others like you. We also don’t want you to see us as your gods, as you once did.”
“Don’t tell me your name is Zeus or something,” Kelly interrupted, unable to believe what she was hearing, but still somehow finding a way to listen and accept what she knew was the truth.
“Actually, it is,” he responded, smiling to reveal perfect straight white teeth, “And you and I have been bonded. It’s the most viable pairing. We’ll be doing a lot of getting to know each other over the next few weeks, and I’m sure we’ll come to love each other’s company.”
Life in interstellar transit was easier to adjust to than Kelly would have thought it would have been. It might have been made easier knowing that there was no home planet for her to return to, though she really had no way of knowing whether or not that was true. Clearly the alien masters that had abducted her had knowledge far beyond what she knew of, and they could have easily told her a farce to keep her from fighting back or becoming too depressed. She didn’t think that was the case, though. After that initial bewildering show of her person to the other Tu’Fallians (she had now learned the name of their species, which was also the name of their planet), she had been treated more than hospitably by her possible rescuers; she had her own lodgings, was never intruded upon, and areas of the ship didn’t seem off limits to her, though there were places that she definitely knew that she didn’t belong in.
One of the things that made her quite sure that Zeus had been telling the truth when he told her that her planet had met an unforeseen (to humanity, anyways) disaster was that she wasn’t alone on the ship. I mean, clearly there were the Tu’Fallians, who came in all shapes and sizes depending on which intelligent life in the universe they had influenced first and had subsequently given them form, but she wasn’t alone. There were other humans on the ship, and enough of them that she couldn’t remember everybody’s name or face. In fact, she was quite sure that she hadn’t even seen all of the humans aboard their vessel since she had been there.
Another thing that assured her of her conviction that she had not been lied to was that every other human that she spoke with had similar experiences to her their entire lives. They too, were plagued by sleep paralysis. They too, had a preoccupation with extraterrestrials and life among the stars. They were all adventurous types who didn’t shy away from something new. All in all, it seemed to her that the claim that they had seen disaster coming for their planet and decided to help was true. After all, when the Tu’Fallians reached out to human consciousness, human consciousness was what was able to give them form and enable them to reproduce and persist in their existence. It would make sense that instead of allowing them to perish, the aliens would continue the relationship built on good will by helping out humans this time around.
Of course, there was the other bit that Zeus mentioned. He had gone into more detail on one of their courtship excursions around the huge starship. He had almost seemed awkward approaching the subject, even though the both of them knew that there was really no changing the actions that were to come or events that would follow by their consequence. During that particular walk of theirs, he had made it a point to take her though the huge atrium that they had aboard. It was hard for her to remain focused on the task of getting to know her new husband (though she didn’t even know if marriage was an institution on Tu’Fal, or if these things were just intrinsic in the type of relationships that Tu’Fallians had) as he took her through this area of the ship. Her eyes were drawn all over the place to plants she had never seen or would have been able to imagine. There were blue fruits, leaves of bright violet that were as large as the average person’s bathroom, and tiny cacti-type plants that were so small that they looked as though they could be nothing more than clay miniatures.
“Your people had a seed bank in Svalbard,” Zeus told her, noticing the fact that her eyes had grown into dinner plates, “We have a living garden of Eden, with specimens collected from each planet that we have visited. This is simply what we took with us to create the oxygen needed for the ship and what we picked up while saving all of you, but I will take you to the main garden on Tu’Fal when we arrive.”
Kelly had looked up at him after he said this, shocked at his consideration.
“What, do you think that I would just keep you locked in our home?” Zeus asked, amused at her disbelief. “That’s not how we do things. Just because your species isn’t as technologically advanced as we are doesn’t mean that your emotions, your soul, is not. Your life is just as advanced as ours is, and it deserves all the pleasures that come with it.”
Kelly found herself smiling at the prospect of this Greek god taking her around his home planet and showering her with gifts and excursions. Though she certainly wasn’t unattractive, this supermodel of a man was someone that she would have certainly considered to be out of her league on Earth. Maybe, she thought, this event was really me just getting lucky. What could I have done to deserve this?
“So how did you get your name?” she asked.
“Well,” he said, folding her arm in his as he led her out of the door to the atrium, “I am not the first and I am not the last to bear this name. I understand it’s taken from your people’s mythology. The fact of the matter is that Tu’Fallians will try on many names and identities for themselves as their lives progress, until they have found their life-mate. When that time comes, then they pick a name and stick with it – something that will embody what the rest of their lives will embody. This is because, for the most part, we are a near-immortal people. When our mate is found, however, our life span shortens to match who we have chosen, as to not continue on in this universe as one half of a whole.”
This man just kept surprising her. What he was telling her about his species’ culture and way of life was enough to put a sparkle in any girl’s eye, but the implication that she was the other half to this literal god’s whole was almost too much for her to handle. However, she quelled the nervous fluttering in her stomach enough to keep a level exterior – human or not, she figured, a man still doesn’t like to be served up what they want on a silver platter. It isn’t really fun unless there’s a bit of a chase. She smiled at him.
“That doesn’t explain how you got your name still,” she said through her flirtatious grin.
“Ah, you’re quite right,” he said, flashing his own grin back at her, which was enough to almost send her into a tailspin. “I chose mine for many reasons, but the first and foremost being that I would like to be the father of many and the savior that my people need.” He paused. “Though, not just my people,” he continued, “I suppose yours as well, in a way.” His face took on a look of concern as he gazed down at her.
“That doesn’t scare you off, does it?” he asked.
“Even if it did,” Kelly said, making sure to fill her voice with honey, “would that change whether or not that was the end result?”
“Yes and no,” he responded, “You’d have the opportunity to find someone else to fit your desires, seeing as how you are safe and with us, however… I do have to say that I wouldn’t like the prospect very much.” They stopped at a large, open window that wrapped around one of the large, winding bends that had become the defining characteristic of their vessel to Kelly. He stopped and turned himself and her toward the window, wrapping his arm around her shoulders as he did so. She felt herself growing warm under his touch. Though she barely knew him, his open and kind demeanor juxtaposed against his bulging muscles and Adonis-like physique made her excited for their future.
“I always thought that there would be more stars,” she said, looking out at the void out from under his wing. “It’s just so black out here.”
“Most of the universe is just empty space, you know,” Zeus replied. “I think that’s why your species casually referred to it as ‘space’,” he added with a bit of a cheeky grin. He tightened his arm around her a bit and rubbed her shoulder as he did so.
“Take it all in,” he said, “We’ll be arriving at Tu’Fal before you know it.”
“What’s it like?” Kelly asked. He had told her very little about what was to be her new home, only the customs of his people and her expected role in their society.
“I’ve shared quite a bit with you in a short amount of time,” he responded, “But I’d rather save that bit for when you get there. Don’t you always find that a bit of surprise makes it more fun?”
Kelly stopped and thought about it.
“Yes,” she replied after a moment, “But by the same token, aren’t I just no fun then? Since you knew I was to be yours?” Zeus’ immediate look of mild offense and hurt feelings struck Kelly – they had just met, but he seemed so invested in her already. She wasn’t used to this sort of treatment, as back on Earth, she was generally expected to hold some sort of a subordinate role to her partner’s whims and interests.
“Yes, it is true that you and I were paired, but… that does not mean that I knew that you were going to be mine,” he said, “I knew your name. I knew your karyotype. I knew that even though you lived in America, that your family was originally Greek, making my name choice that much easier. I did not know the look of your shining eyes, nor did I know anything about your open mind and adaptable spirit. The bit of surprise made it all the more fun.”
Kelly struggled for a moment with what to say in response to that. Clearly she would have a lot to learn from the way they did things on Tu’Fal – she was so used to living in a society of go, go, go that she had almost forgotten that it was possible for two people to purely connect and be interested in one another without much of an ulterior motive. Sure, the both of them had a responsibility to preserve their respective species, but beyond that… they didn’t have to like each other to accomplish that. However, here they were, taking walks through gardens floating through intergalactic space and slowly but surely learning the important details about one another. She decided that she didn’t really have anything good to say to that, so she stopped at a somewhat meeker than she would have liked “thank you”, and leaned into Zeus’ side, enjoying the feeling of his strong, capable arm around her and his large hand gripping her shoulder. After a while of looking out of the window at the endless pantheon of stars, Zeus turned to her and said:
“I should begin walking you back to your cabin. It’s getting a bit late, and even though there’s no night or day cycle while you’re travelling through space, there will be on Tu’Fal, and you’ve got to stay to a schedule to avoid the worst jet lag you’ve ever experienced.”
Kelly nodded and followed his confident lead through the atrium again and back to her room. After he dropped her off with a respectful kiss on the forehead, she lay in her bed looking at the ceiling. She rolled over and palmed the touch pad that formed her light switch and sighed.
Everybody I’ve known is gone, or at least I’ve gone from them, but I’m not upset about it. Am I really that petty, to be distracted by a pretty face, or am I really just adaptable as he said?
She drifted off into a peaceful sleep, deciding that the answer to her question was moot, and comforted herself as she floated into a dream of Zeus’ deep, expressive eyes.