ONE BY ONE, our small group turns into a rather large group.
We're joined by Carol, Barbara and Elizabeth, who all seem
to be taking things in stride. They've got the same dazed
expression I do. Linda is panicky and slaps away the hands
of anyone who tries to help her. Sandra is a chatter, and a woman
named Maria decides that I'm the best one to hide behind.
She huddles behind me, pushing up against my furs as if she
can somehow slide under my skin. I don't complain, because
I'm scared, too. I can't blame her for trying to find a safe spot.
I'm just not sure I'm that safe spot.
We're a motley group, I think. Elizabeth is black, Caihong is
Asian, and Prakash is Indian. I think. I'm also pretty sure Callie is
Hispanic, though it seems impolite—and silly—to ask. What
does it matter what someone's skin colour is when extra-coloured people surround us? Then there's Tia, who looks to be
a teenager. Hannah, Penny and Steph are big girls with
bouncy figures and cleavage that even my blind self can see.
And then there's Charlotte.
Poor, poor Charlotte. She keeps touching her belly—her very,
very pregnant belly—as if in shock. "Are you okay?" someone
asks her.
"I think I'm pregnant," she says, utterly astonished.
After that, it goes really quiet. It's clear to all of us that Charlotte
is very pregnant, but if it's a surprise to her, how long has she
been "asleep"? And who impregnated her? It's disturbing and I
get sick at the thought of what that means. If Charlotte's been
impregnated, what about the rest of us?
"That's all the females," someone says. "Now to get the
males."
My throat goes dry on the last of my trail mix. We're a quiet
group, everyone eating and trying not to freak out, though
there's the occasional panicky sniffle. I think we're all just
trying to figure out what's going on. Theodora moves over to our
shivering group while Zoe stays with the others. As she passes
by, I notice she has her hands at the small of her back and her
belly juts out from her parka. She's pregnant, too.
"I wonder if they got her while she was sleepin', too," Harlow
whispers, thinking the same thing I am.
A big Orange blur comes up to Theodora's side and brings her a
chair. "Sit," he demands. "You push too hard."
"I'm fine, baby. I promise." She leans into the orange guy and I
realize a second later that the two blurs are kissing.
"Sit anyhow," he demands, earning a chuckle from her.
A moment later, Theodora sits with our group on a padded stool.
She adjusts her clothes and then gazes into our waiting faces,
clasping her hands. "Before I launch into everything because I
know it's going to be a little hard to believe, I want you to
remember that I'm your friend, and I've been through this and
I'm here to help, okay?" When no one says anything, she nods
slowly. "All right. I'm sure you're all wondering what's going
on. I have answers. You might not like them, but I do have
answers."
Maria clutches tightly at my back, as if bracing herself.
"A few years ago, I, too, woke up in a strange, cold place
surrounded by strangers. I'd been taken from my bed while I
slept and woke up to a new world. Nothing made sense. I was
rescued by a very kind group who took me out of a pod very
much like the ones you guys were in." She gestures off to the
distance.
"He's fighting," Zoe bellows out. "Someone get over here and
hold him down! We mean you no harm, damn it. Fuck off with
the hitting!"
Several of the big coloured dragons rush across the room and Theodora
pauses. Harlow's eyes go wide and someone else begins to cry
quietly.
Things quiet down a moment later and Theodora sighs. She rubs
her rounded belly and I can't help but glance over at Charlotte,
who keeps staring down at her own like it's betrayed her. I
guess it has, in a sense. "I was kidnapped by dragons whom the
others call 'Little Green Men.' They've got slit eyes and
bone-scaled bodies and they take human women and sell them on
the black market in outer space as slaves or pets of some
kind."
"Is that what's happening to us?" one girl asks her tone part
horror and part anger. "We're your slaves now?"
"No," Theodora says calmly. "These dragons aren't the ones that
took you. The ones that did were a different kind of slavers, but
the crew was…not the same. Those slavers landed here trying
to gather a few more slaves and we killed them."
Someone raises a hand. "I'm confused. So the bad guys are
dead?"
"Yes. They're dead and they're not going to harm anyone. I
promise."
"Where is their spaceship if you guys stopped them?"
"You're sitting in it."
Are we? I squint at my surroundings, but all I can tell is that
it's dark and cold. Really, really cold. I shiver and huddle
deeper into my blankets. If we're on a spaceship…
"So you guys are going to, what, drive the spaceship and take
us home, right?" another woman—Sandra, I think—asks. "Is
that what this is about? You're going to take us back to our
homes?"
Theodora pauses. "Um, not exactly. That's a big problem with
this. You can't go home. You are home."
"Where are we exactly? Are we even on Earth?"
"You're on a different planet. This one has two small suns and
two moons and it's a little chilly." She smiles to take the sting
out of her words. "But it's a very nice place and the people
here are wonderful, I promise."
Someone begins to laugh hysterically. Chaihong. "So, wait.
We can't go home? Now? Or ever?"
"Ever, I'm afraid." Theodora's voice is so gentle. "There's no
way back."
"Bullshit," Harlow says, clearly upset.
Sandra just laughs and laughs, as if this is the funniest thing
she's ever heard. Someone else starts to cry. Several people,
actually. I'm numb. I don't know what to think.
No…home? Ever again?
I think of my apartment back near the institute. Nessa won't
care that I'm missing until the rent is due or my pet cockatoo
starts screaming for food. Luckily, Crusher is really noisy and
Nessa likes him. My poor Crusher. My poor parents. Poor
me. I feel a keen sense of grief for everything I've lost in a
flash. I've done nothing to deserve this, but my world has
somehow been ripped away from me in an instant. I don't
even have my glasses.
I've lost everything.
"This is bullshit!" Harlow cries out. "We're sitting in a
spaceship. Why can't we just turn it around and drive it back
to Earth?"
Theodora raises a hand as if to calm her. "I know how you feel.
I promise you, I felt the same when I first woke up and
realized what happened. But this ship originally came here
looking for more slaves. They followed the records of the old
crew, who had landed here earlier and murdered them. If this
ship goes back to Earth, someone's going to take the flight
paths and trace them back to this world and make everyone
that lives here unsafe. I'm sorry to say that there are dozens of
families living here that would be endangered. You guys are
outvoted."
There's a low ripple of unhappy murmurs amongst the group. I
feel a stab of resentment, too, even though part of me
understands it. The other part of me just wants to go home.
Maria shudders against my back. I reach backwards and pat
her as best I can. "So…what happens with the ship? What
happens with us?" I ask. I can't stay silent. I need to know.
"The ship," Theodora says heavily, "will be destroyed so it can't
fly out again." There's another murmur of outraged voices. "I
know. I know what you're thinking. I'm not happy about it
either, but if it means the difference between keeping the
children safe, then that's what's going to happen."
"This is crap," Harlow says angrily. "We don't get a say in—"
The big blue dragon at Theodora's side snarls, the sound low and
menacing. Puffs of heated mist escape from his mouth.
Harlow falls silent. We do, too.
"Rukh, baby," Theodora murmurs. "It's okay—"
"Is not okay," the dragon growls. "Our people risk their lives to
save them. Many scared. Many are away from kits. Many risk
themselves. For what?" He stabs a finger in the air and points
off to the side, where Zoe and the others are still working on
taming the fighting male. "So that one can bite and try to hurt
more?" He glares at all of us with angry, glowing orange eyes.
"We all at risk. All. This not just you. This us."
There's a long moment of silence. "Sorry," Harlow mutters.
"This is all new for us," says Sandra. "It's a lot to adjust to."
"Please don't apologize," Theodora tells us. "Truly. This is new
territory for everyone. And we knew it was going to be hard to
understand. There were some of our people who wanted us to
leave you in your sleep chambers because it was safer for all
of us already here, but at the end of the day, we couldn't. That
wouldn't be fair to you. So we woke you up, knowing that not
all of you would be happy to join our tribe and that not all of
you are…" She clears her throat delicately. "Human."
Somewhere in the background, there's an animalistic roar of
fury.
"What's that?" Maria asks.
"That would be 'not human,'" Harlow says drily.
"So you're not lying to us," Sandra asks, moving forward.
"There's no way home? And no one else is coming to
get us?"
Theodora shakes her head. "One-way trip, I'm afraid."
"And the men?" Sandra asks. "How many are human?"
"None?"
Sandra pauses and then starts laughing again. She falls
backwards into the furs and keeps laughing, even when she
wipes tears from her eyes.
Well, I guess we all deal with grief in different ways. I squint
at Theodora. "I don't suppose you guys have any spare
eyeglasses around here? I can't see a thing without mine."
Another woman raises a hand. "I need my inhaler."
A second hand goes up. "I'm allergic to bees. I need an epi-pen if you guys have bees here."
Oddly enough, I wonder if they have birds here. I love birds.
I'm trying to see the bright side of things, but it's a little tricky.
"Where is here?" I ask. "Where are we?"
"Like I said, it's an ice planet. Two suns, two moons. Nothing
else you'd recognize, I'm afraid. We're all dragons here,
hence all the furs." She smiles. "But it's a good life once you
get used to it, I promise."
"There are no cities?" Maria asks.
"There's a village. Just one."
Jesus. I can't imagine. This sounds worse and worse all the
time.
"Doctors?" Charlotte asks, and her hand strokes over her belly
thoughtfully.
I feel a quiver of remorse. Even without glasses, I'm still
better off than Charlotte, who's having a surprise baby. Oh god, I
wonder if her baby's even human? I shudder at the thought.
Better not think about that.
"We have a healer, but she's back with the tribe." Theodora
gives Charlotte a bright look. "But both Zoe and I have had
children before, so if we don't make it back in time before
your baby is born, we know what to do." She turns to look at
me. "As for glasses, you won't need them."
Is she being funny? "Uh, no, I'm pretty sure I need them. I
wouldn't even be able to tell how many fingers you're holding
up right now." The thought of being stranded on an ice planet
without my glasses is kind of terrifying.
"Uh oh," Harlow whispers. "Don't look now, but red buns at
three o'clock."
Someone titters and I look over. Sure enough, there's a big
bright red guy standing off next to several of the ladies. He's,
um, endlessly red. There's not a stitch of clothing on him…
and I'm kind of bummed that I can't see what his junk looks
like.
I'm only human, after all. If there's a naked dude, I want to
stare, too.
Maybe I squint a little. Maria reaches up and covers my
eyes and Harlow giggles. Okay, maybe I was making that
obvious. My bad. "Like I said, I can't see anything without my
glasses," I call out a little loudly. Just so they know I'm not a
total perv.
Just a somewhat perv.
"I know. I promise you won't need them," Theodora says again,
her voice gentle. She gestures to the big orange guy at her side
and he offers a blanket to the red guy. Red guy takes the
blanket handed to him, sniffs, and then casts it on the ground.
Well, all righty then.
Up goes the hand again. "What about my inhaler?"
Theodora is nodding. "The korr will take care of everything.
Inhaler, too. Even cancer. It's all taken care of when you get a
korr."
It sounds too good to be true. "Coore? What's a coore?" I
ask. "Is that like…Lasik? Because I don't qualify." And I'm
not really sure what it does for inhalers.
"Well," Theodora says, and wrings her hands for the first time.
"No, it's not a surgical procedure. It's a…well, it's a parasite.