"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.