The forest people were hunter-gatherers but cultivated
small patches of grain to make beer and kept a few pseudo-domesticated animals for
meat and eggs.
Males and females usually pair-bonded though she
witnessed one amiable separation as a male left the hut of one mate
and moved his few belongings to that of another. Within the months of
Nova's observation, the same male had relocated several times. Was he
a lothario or a gigolo, she wondered? Whatever role he played in this
small society, there appeared to be no hard feelings among the females.
Was this a way of adding uncertainty to the gene
pool? For all she knew, he was the village fix-it man and moved from
home to home helping the single females, of which there were several.
Nova wondered where their mates had gone. Each had children and was
treated as an equal member of the village hierarchy.
More than ever Nova wished to walk among them as
one of them - not as a goddess.
The Velorian had become comfortable in her role
as observer; the small lives of those she protected fascinated her.
Usually, she would steal away during intimate moments, respecting a
thinking creature's right to privacy, but upon occasion the urge to
remain won over her reticence to intrude.
Over the period of several months two younglings
- recently returned from the mountain - had progressed from a rough
and tumble adolescent playing to cooperative food-gathering to a workable
hunting strategy. Week by week, Nova watched the couple evolve from
playmates, to friends, to allies. She was a spectator as the partnership
deepened to companionship.
By eavesdropping, Nova had learned bits and pieces
of the quicksilver language. She listened to Fay-sha-calim-vos-teva
(Fay) and Mez-tra-valin-tor-calt (Mez) whisper confessions of affection,
first as awkward compliments then heart-felt words of love. Each rendezvous
became more fervent, though only the rare caress was exchanged. The
Velorian recognized the procedure as a courtship and curiously watched
as the elaborate series of phrases and innuendos progressed to physical
manifestations.
Beneath a massive hardwood - one of the few true
trees in the fern forest - the couple found a hidden niche and filled
it with fronds carefully chosen for fragrance and softness. Fay examined
every detail painstakingly, which convinced Nova that first consummation
was an important moment in the life of a Gauganide.
His duties apparently fulfilled, Fay removed the
thongs, straps and flaps that were his clothing and reclined in the
fern-soft bower.
Blushing pink under her olive skin, Mez removed her
clothing, dropping each bit to mix with the pile Fay had begun. The
male whispered direction in a low voice and the girl turned slowly,
displaying her charms for his obvious approval. She added hand gestures,
caressing the air in a suggestion of touching another, on the second
revolution. Each turn became more frenetic until the woman appeared
to be mimicking a large flightless bird trying to escape a foot snare.
Nova stifled a giggle at the energetic display, but the effect on Fay
was immediately and noticeably one of profound erotic excitement. The
young female seemed inspired by his size and hardness to an increased
show of vitality.
Neither touched the other, until the mating dance
stopped with Mez, breathless, poised above Fay, who lay supine on the
fronds but at complete (and impressively rigid) attention. The young
hominid straddled her male, and lowered onto his manhood, taking her
time but also taking in the entire length in one graceful motion. Only
then did he touch her. She rocked back and forth, cooing her pleasure
as her lover's thumbs caressed the tiny flat nipples on her chest.
The cooing continued, and Nova felt her own body
responding to the sight of their mutually satisfying lovemaking. She
closed her eyes and imagined the rough tree bark as hands stroking her
breasts. Her nipples hardened as she brushed them against the deeply
grained surface. A well-positioned knot of a previously shed bough rubbed
against her, like a lover's knee between her thighs.
Nova clapped her palm over her lips to prevent the
moan from escaping, though a quick glance toward the leafy bower confirmed
that the couple within was happily beyond all knowledge of what transpired
without. She continued to allow her imaginary lover to pleasure her,
his actions mimicking the tempo and tenor of the activity below.
A shaft of sunlight, piercing the canopy and flickering
with the leafy changes brought by the breezes, licked at her back like
a lover's warm tongue. Nova caught a faint scent of her own excitement
and (very briefly) wondered if she had the rare and latent gene, which
supplied the retrovirus that could activate another P1. The thought
was followed by a pleasant image of how that exchange had occurred with
Sara and higher rational processes ceased for a time as Nova became
willingly entangled in the memory.
The soft noises of the Gauginides changed in volume
and urgency, returning the Velorian to the present. Fay held Mez's waist
in the circle of his long fingers, helping her post, riding him harder
with each stroke. The look in his face was of absolute ferocious joy.
Mez, her fluffy olive-brown hair whipping about, writhed against her
lover and whimpered unintelligible syllables of primal arousal.
Nova imagined the fullness and sleek heat of the
joining. Even while enjoying the odd threesome, she ached to feel the
warmth of their bodies next to hers. She wriggled against her tree-sized
toy and matched her breathing to Mez's, imagining Fay erect inside her.
The damp-warm sensation intensified and her own orgasm claimed her.
With a startling cry - half in pain, half in a gratification
so complete as to be frightening - Fay shouted as his climax took him.
Nova could see Mez tremble and wondered if the movement was hers or
the after-quakes of the manhood inside her. The female flung back her
head and added her full-bodied cry to the forest noises. The hazel eyes
below met the blue-green ones above, and Nova knew she'd been seen.
The young native smiled, and then, returning her
attention to her mate, lay quietly on his chest, still impaled on his
penis. She rumbled a low laugh as he murmured in her hair. His fingers
captured the softer flesh of her rump and held her steady as he pumped
a few times. Even to the outsider his message was clear. He wanted more.
Nova slipped away, all the while wishing to join
them. Though excluded, she didn't feel quite as lonely. At least one
person on this planet had acknowledged her existence and found it acceptable.
The flight away should have cooled her but didn't.
Neither did the meteoric dive into the ocean. After slicing through
the saltwater for a nonadeca or two Nova let natural buoyancy float
her to the low surging surface to roll with the swells.
No crying, she decided firmly if miserably. What
was she doing here? What was expected of her? What could she do except
wait for a threat that may never come? If she were to avoid contaminating
the increasingly attractive natives, what occupation could she find
to distract herself?
Palace building loomed as a reasonable use of her
empty hours and she understood Jemma's obsession completely.
A cloud lingered between her closed eyes and the
sun. Nova waited a moment, waiting for the warmth to return, before
peeking at the sky. Not a cloud - one of the large ocean mammals, steely-blue
and gray, had reared out of the waves and was examining the stranger.
Waves? Nova had drifted longer than she intended
and had been carried by the strong current to one of the many tiny islands.
A pod of the creatures were playing in the breakers,
surfing in toward the sandy beach. Not just playing. Competing for the
attention of the others. The closest one continued to look at her. The
dark liquidly brilliant eyes seemed to be memorizing her face. Nova
smiled. Distinctly the animal smiled back with a widening of the mouth.
"Hello." She felt a little silly, but the dolphin-like
creature may have been more like the semi-sapient cousins of other planets
and she would rather make a good first impression than have to try to
undo any ego damage later. "I'm Nova." She touched her chest and repeated
her name, slowly.
The large powerful flipper gestured in an imitation
of her introduction. "Gark!" the creature barked. A name? Or a noise?
The creature lowered his muzzle and tapped the top
of her head. It squeaked a greeting then tossed the sleek nose toward
the ongoing game. He - Nova thought it was a male - dove beneath the
surface and she felt the dorsal fin bump her hand. It seemed a fairly
clear message to hold on, so she did. The piscinine increased speed.
Nova wrapped both hands around the fin and lightly clasped her legs
around the mid-body. The hide was sleek in one direction and abrasive
in the other.
She felt the muscles tense and relax as the creature
glided through the swells. Faster, she thought, and spread her body
flatter to improve the dynamics. He dove deeper, scraping the shell-strewn
bottom. With a huge push his broad tailfins launched them toward the
weak daylight shining far above. Bubbles sped past. They were rising
faster than air could, she thought with an excited grin.
With an amazing abruptness, the two were airborne.
Nova laughed as they crashed back into the curl of a wave. With his
tailfin making constant adjustments, the beast rode the shifting edge
until the sandy beach boiled around them. Lunging and squealing, the
dolphin waited for the wave to retreat and rode the ebb to deeper waters.
He performed the same stunt again, washing further
onto the dry land but returning to the sea safely. None of the others
ventured as far and Nova wondered if Gark was brave or foolhardy in
his feat. Maybe he realized his passenger could help if he became stranded
ashore. In any case, the audience was appreciative, squealing delightedly
and leaping into the air. All gave her a curious glance, but accepted
the stranger among them with a chattered laugh and splash of a flipper
or fin.
Four of the spectators jostled around the pair. "Gark!
Gark!" they each croaked. Yes, a name. Gark flipped and cavorted among
the fans before heading toward the reef and the darker ocean beyond.
Three followed, vying for the spot inside his right wake. Her mount
swam faster and one of the admirers fell behind. He dove, leaving the
warm surface for the cool depths and another gave up the chase. Gark
sped to the surface and again spiraled through the air. The last female
followed, not jumping as high but adding a flip to the maneuver. The
male squealed approval.
The silvery female, not larger or stronger than the
others but more determined, claimed his right side and swam fin to fin
with Gark. Eventually, he stopped racing and trolled along, barely faster
than the current carried him.
Nova reached out and slid her fingers along the other
dolphin's hide. Sleeker, not as rough in the reverse, the female was
warm from her basking. "I'm Nova."
The female grinned wider as Gark chirped at her.
"Gark!" she said. Did they all have the same name?
"Gark?" Nova asked. Both dolphins squealed and made
a noise like laughter.
"Gark!" Gark-he said.
"Gark!" Gark-she said.
Tonal? The Gark-she was said at a high note with
a lingering quaver. The Gark-he name was slightly lower pitched with
no quaver after the G. She mimicked the names and, though they laughed
at her bad pronounciation, the dolphins accepted the results. With such
difficult names, Nova decided that her circle of piscinine friends would
have to be very small.
The day passed in the pursuit of food and fun. The
dolphins herded and hunted among the schools of brightly colored fish-like
reptiles. Each would offer Nova a flapping, struggling specimen and,
when she demurred, would toss the fish up, seize it and swallow it whole.
Occasionally they exchanged choice catches.
They chittered to each other in rapid bursts, made
decisions and planned. Neither tried to explain but the intentions soon
became clear as they mimicked and pantomimed whatever activity had been
chosen until Nova understood the rules or objectives. She wondered if
they thought her stupid or if, in some good-natured way, had determined
she was worthy of teaching.
When they were hungry they ate. When tired, they
rested. But mostly they played.
Games, requiring nothing but a sense of direction
and ability to swim, were devised that involved the three in tag and
shows of prowess. Nova limited herself to matching dolphin strength
and agility. In swimming, they were flawlessly graceful, not needing
superpowers to appear extraordinary.
Large underwater forests of kelp became labyrinths
to explore and execute ambushes on each other. The thick strands were
perfect for a long game of seek and find. The dolphins always found
her quickly, but Nova often had to resort to waiting for the telltale
air bubbles of an exhaled breath. Hiding again, she realized their advantage.
They could hear her heartbeat and could distinguish it from the other
denizens of the deep.
By listening closely, Nova discovered the trick of
it - though she would never be as adept as the piscinines. Her auditory
sensitivity, though keen in most air pressures, was simply not designed
for underwater acuity. The knowledge did help her hide more successfully,
until her playmates become aware of her ability to consciously increase
or decrease her heart rate. Then she was back at square one.
Toward evening, with the
sun nudging the horizon and painting a self-portrait in the distance,
the trio entered a quiet cove. Gark-he chose a spot - for characteristics
Nova couldn't divine - rested, then began swimming in lazy loops around
Gark-she. The Gark-she weaved and bobbed in the low swells, turning
to always face the male. He didn't seem to notice when the Velorian
slipped from her perch behind his dorsal fin. The female piscinine had
eyes only for him.
Again excluded.
Again a third in a duet, Nova laughed to herself - a little bitterly
but happy to have spent the day amused and with creatures who
wanted and sought her company. The time had come to part ways
but, perhaps, they would cross paths again.
The cove had a narrow beach. The stumpy
weathered extinct volcano rose step-like behind a beard of ferns
trees and Nova caught the sound of rushing water. A bath! Though
she had spent the day in the saltwater with no discomfort, suddenly
the possibility of fresh water made her long to wash away the
stickiness of brine from her skin and hair.
Even with an aerial view, the river was hard to find.
Dense vines and fallen boughs had camouflaged the hidden grotto. Nova
found the entrance by lucky chance - a glance in the exact direction at
the right moment - and descended into the cavern, carefully. Though she'd
found few dangers (and none on this planet) that could harm her, anything
unknown was a potential hazard and should be approached with respect.
Her eyes became accustomed to the gloom. The outer
wall had scores of irregular holes that admitted the light from the
setting sun. The upper opening - her entrance - was filled with the
indigo twilight of a southern evening. The first star shimmered in the
circular crevice as if viewed through a telescope. Nova wondered which
star it was. Belstar? Vel? Maybe Sol?
The grotto was roughly cylindrical, but slightly
triangular - like the prow of a ship - on the side where the outer rock
shell was pitted with openings. Opposite the outer walls, the mountain's
inner face had deep shelves tiered from the top. A stream cascaded from
one surface to the next until it fell into a shallow pool. The runoff
formed a channel through the rock facade and flowed unhindered to the
cove. Various niches gave silent testimony that water had once flowed
against the stone at different levels in some previous epoch.
The small brook had carved this, never worried about
the insurmountable difficulties, never questioning the effort the task
would take, always steadfast in its patient course. Wearing away the
rock aided by an ally too powerful to resist. Time.
If something as mindless as a stream could achieve
such a monument, what could she accomplish with her gifts and abilities?
That would take some thought. Nova chuckled to herself. She had plenty
of time to contemplate this.
The water splashed from a shelf, tempting her to
stand beneath. More volume than she had supposed, and she closed her
eyes. The pressure required her to apply some latent strength to remain
upright within the cascade. The force would eventually alter the pool,
she thought, making a deeper spot where she stood.
Enjoying the small challenge - the first since coming
to Gaugan - Nova raised her hands above her head and pushed against
the flow. Her hands, tented and tense, sliced the water into two streams,
which gushed to either side. She changed the position of her fingers
and the two streams became four. By minute adjustments she controlled
the path of the water. Perhaps she couldn't stop the flow, but she could
and had altered its direction.
A feeling of calm swept over her. Some things couldn't
be changed but, maybe, they could be influenced. Maybe she had some
minor command over seemingly immutable circumstances. The notion brought
a peaceful resolve and the internal churning, which she hadn't known
existed until then, subsided.
Nova took in a huge breath and sighed - one of relief,
of tranquility, of anticipation. Hope, too. She still had questions
as to her purpose on Gaugan but her fear and misgivings were gone. Her
purpose as a Protector would come clear with time and the role, though
set by the Council, would be interpreted by choices of her own making.
The unmistakable touch of a hand on her cheek startled
her eyes open. Nova looked into the aquamarine eyes of another Velorian.
