Page 29 of The Space Traveller's Lover
“Whatever this is between us, it’s certainly strong. When it was time to bring you into our world, I told Zula, ‘She will be with me.’ She dismissed it outright, saying, ‘It will never work out between a replica and a space warrior.’”
“And what do you think?”
“I won’t pretend it’ll be easy,” he concedes. “But you’re not an ordinary replica. There’s something about you that makes me feel very different. That’s why I asked Athguer not to change your memories or your emotions. And I’m ready to see where it’ll take us.”
“What can you do to me? It seems like you can change my body any way you like,” she reproaches him.
“Shaillah, there wasn’t another option.” Rothwen brings her head against his chest and kisses her forehead. “There were necessary things I had to do to bring you here. I had to make those decisions, tough decisions, for us to be together. I cannot explain everything right now. But I can promise you this—once your transition is complete, no one will ever change you again, without your permission.”
“If that’s what it takes to be together,” she whispers, “then so be it. It was meant to be.”
“Yes, it was—even if it meant breaking all the rules, taking all the risks.”
“How come?”
“As a rule, we never bring replicas from other planets into our domain. We study them, change them, control them—in their environment.That is why I have to break all the rules for you.”
“And the risks?”
“We had never turned a hybrid replica into our race fully. I had Athguer’s word that it would work. He is a genius, but there were no guarantees.”
“I see,” Shaillah ponders, a nervous glare flashing through her face. “What would have happened if it’d failed?”
“We would’ve returned you—back to your waiting friend. And you would’ve never known anything about it.”
Shaillah opens her mouth wide in astonishment, her mind racing through countless what-if thoughts.
“But that was the easy part,” Rothwen continues. “If it succeeded, we didn’t know if your body would be strong enough to withstand the entrance into our dense atmosphere and connect to our brain network. I have to give it to Athguer. He did this first part of the transition to perfection.”
“First part?”
“Yes, there’s a second part. It will give you superpowers. But don’t worry about it. You are already a Rom-Ghenshar. It won’t be as risky as before,” Rothwen reassures her.
“I feel numbed,” Shaillah mumbles while in deep thought, playing back her perilous journey inside her mind.
“That’s why I was with you every step of the way. We could’ve sent one of our guardian robots, but I decided I had to bring you in, personally. I was prepared for anything, Shaillah. If you had shown the slightest weakness, I would have asked Athguer to try again until we succeeded,” he says in a resolute tone.
“I’m pleased it went better than expected.” She breathes out a sigh of relief and pauses as if checking her inner thoughts. Then she adds in a nostalgic tone, “But I still miss home.”
“That’s normal. Something you and I must deal with. But now, embrace your new life. Together, we can venture on to greater things.”
Rothwen jumps up, his glossy boots creaking on the polished floor. Then, taking Shaillah’s hands, he pulls her up and announces, “Let me show you. I have a special present for you!”
He leads her out of the purple room and into the space-tunnel enclosure. Soon they’re crossing the high gaping archway and walking around the hexagonal platform by the golden balustrades. She admires the captivating landscape as she leans over the top rails. The glimmering yellow sun is slowly starting to set against the pink-orange sky as the restless ocean waves keep breaking into foamy whirls over the rugged shoreline.
She gazes at the broad-winged manta ray-like creatures skimming the water surface, then soaring so high into the sky that she cannot tell if they are some kind of alien bird or flying fish.
“They’re neither. They’re our own species, calledlyshars,” Rothwen explains. “They’re preparing for the sunset … they always mate at sunset.”
Shaillah watches as the lyshars flip over and pair up, their bellies touching. Then they dive as one and disappear into the sea, splashing through the water’s crimson sunset reflections.
“So beautiful,” she exclaims.
Rothwen, standing behind her, caresses her shoulders. “Yes, they pair up for life—unlike us, Rom-Ghenshars,” he remarks in a derisory tone.
“Humans do. Well, most of them do.”
“Yes, they got it all wrong. I prefer to be free, go wherever I want, be with whomever I want, and so on.”
