the light in her room had dimmed some, but not much. She remembered reading that the day/night cycle on this world wasn’t quite like Earth. The days actually lasted longer here and the nights were shorter. So some time had passed, but not too much; a couple of hours at most.
She sat up on her bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “Who is it?”
“Nava,” replied the voice of her hostess from the other side. “May we come in?”
We? She thought curiously, before realizing that Nava must have come with her husband. Excitement began to course through her but before she could respond the door opened and in came Nava along with another Ursan. Each of them bore a tray before them. Lyssa carried a tray that looked to be filled with warm water as small curls of steam rose up from it, accompanied by what looked like a sponge of some kind that half-floated in the warm liquid. The other Ursan’s tray was laden with bottles something fragrant that Lyssa could smell from where she was.
This isn’t her husband, Lyssa thought as she watched the second alien walking into her room. There was no basis for her to formulate this theory; somehow she just knew that it wasn’t. It didn’t feel right.
But her curiosity rose up within her. “What’s this?” she asked.
Nava gave her a small bow. “Apologies, Lyssa… but, something has happened.”
There was a tone of urgency to her new friend’s voice that made Lyssa sit upright in her bed with worry. “What? Is everything alright?”
Nava nodded. “Nothing is dangerous… but it seems that our predicted time table has changed rather unexpectedly. My spouse has been forced to accelerate his plans and so we must. You recall what I spoke of earlier, that my sistren and I must share genetic material with you to form our mutual bond?”
Lyssa nodded.
“Well, things have changed in the last couple of hours… for the benefit, I think, but time is already growing short. My husband will be able to receive you much sooner than we anticipated, but the science we predicted to work in our favor has worked too well. We must compete against the clock and we must share our genetics with you now.”
Lyssa felt a sudden sense of foreboding and could not find the words to respond properly. All that managed to leave her lips was a string of incoherent words.
“Lyssa, please… we are losing precious time. If you choose not to undergo the bonding, we will respect your wishes. But if you are willing, we must bond with you now ,” Nava said imploringly.
A whirlwind of thoughts went through Lyssa’s head about what was happening – what could have been happening – and why. But Nava’s words rang in her mind like the gonging of a church bell and she knew that she could not delay. Not even for a minute.
“Yes,” she finally managed, “whatever you need.”
Nava turned to the other Ursan beside her and spoke in the strange language of the planet that Lyssa did not understand and together the two natives approached her and settled on the bed before Lyssa could rise fully to her feet.
“Please remain on the bed,” Nava said, “this is Mava… one of my sistren. Our work will not take long.”
Lyssa obeyed and reclined back onto her bed.
Nava settled on the bed near Lyssa’s legs, setting her tray apart and soaking up the sponge with the warm liquid that her tray held while the other Ursan, Mava, settled further up on the bed nearer Lyssa’s torso. At once, Nava squeezed her sponge – she was certain that is what it was – and emptied it of a good portion of the warm water and began to gently wipe bathe Lyssa’s legs.
The sensation tickled her at first, but after a few beats the feeling went away. What lingered was something different. It felt as if Nava was applying some kind of lotion to her skin, she could feel her flesh turning almost creamy. Nava continued her work, washing her feet and slowly began to
Marc Nager, Clint Nelsen, Franck Nouyrigat