Page 19 of Surrender

Talia reached for the flask again. He handed it over with a warning. “Easy with that. Honey mead goes down as sweet and easy as a maiden touched by the goddess of love. But, in the morning, she’ll make you wish you were as dead as that hare if you’re not careful.”

Talia took a gulp. “I like it,” she announced. She giggled again then cocked her head to listen to the echo. “I like giggling, too,” she confided in a whisper. “I never made a noise like that before.”

“Did you and your girlfriends not drive your father mad with your giggles? I remember many a formal dinner, once my sister and her friends were old enough to join us at the banquet table, with the king telling them to hush. It would only set them off in another fit. Despite his blustering, my father couldn’t help smiling at them. He said they brought back memories of my mother, Queen Astra. They met when she herself was a giggling young lass.”

“We smiled. But no one ever laughed out loud in my family. It was considered crude to give in to an unchecked display of emotion. My father is a diplomat. My brother and I were expected to follow in his footsteps. Diplomats are trained never to let their feelings show. It’s hard to know what might be considered bad form on another world. Lives could be lost over an unintended insult.”

He broke a leg off the hare on the spit, took a bite. He handed it to her casually, the same way he’d handed over the flask. “You have a brother?”

She nodded then bit into the hare. “He didn’t join the diplomatic corps. He’s a commander in the Interstellar Starfleet.” She waved the rabbit leg in the air, pointing it at the heavens. “He’s out there somewhere right now. On the other side of the galaxy.” She took another bite, chewed thoughtfully. “He’d have been very interested in all those bizarre creatures at the auction. We’ve never even heard of most of those planets back on Earth.”

Talia leaned closer to him, giggling again. “It’s going to make quite a stir at the Federation when I describe all those alien penises in my report!”

He reached for the flask. “I think you’ve had enough of this.”

She took one more swallow then sighed and handed it back. “Perhaps you’re right.” As if noticing the joint of hare in her hand for the first time, she shook it at him. “This flesh is really good. I had no idea dead animals were so tasty,” she added then had another bite.

They finished off the hare. Talia chattered nonstop all the while, prompted by questions from Kylar about her life on Earth, her preparation for the posting to Gadolinium. He finally coaxed her to lie down on a bed of pine needles he’d scooped from the base of a nearby tree.

“We need to rest.”

She lay back then let out a soft cry. “I’ve never looked up at the night sky before! I studied planetary geography, of course, learned the names and positions of the known galaxies and their primary suns. But I never once stopped to look at what I studied.” Her voice dropped to an awed whisper. “It’s beautiful!”

He stretched out on his back next to her. “Yes, it is. My ancestors explored their whole world by tracking the movements of the stars. Now, we use maps and roadways to move around on Gadolinium. Star portals whisk us to other planets. We know the bright beacon in the sky over there isn’t really a jewel in the crown of a goddess. Sometimes I wonder if they were not better off staring up at the heavens and believing in magic and mystery.”

She glanced at him in surprise. “How could ancient superstitious beliefs be better than knowledge gained through scientific processes?”

“Not everything can be reduced to a list of dry facts. For example, science can’t explain love.”

Talia choked back a skeptical laugh. “Love? I heard your people still cherished that archaic concept, but I never believed in it.”

He rolled on his side and stared at her. “Next you’ll be telling me even love has been outlawed on Earth.”

“Not outlawed. Just abandoned as useless, the same way you’ve abandoned the belief that the star shining so brightly over there is actually a jewel adorning some heaven-dwelling deity. Love is a fabrication created by primitive minds who needed to keep the family unit together to ensure survival of the species. Our young require years of care before they’re capable of existing alone.”

“May I ask you a personal question?”

“Go ahead. I’ve already told you a great deal of personal information.” She giggled again. “Maybe those stories we were told about the effects of strong drink are true after all. Your honey mead has certainly loosened my tongue.”

He grinned. “Sometimes alcohol temporarily interferes with rational thought too. For example, you said something odd earlier – about Earthers no longer having sex. Surely that can’t be right. Was it the alcohol talking?”

“No. Not at all. Physical intimacy between two people is another outdated concept. It caused so many problems for our ancestors. Wars have been fought over mating rights. Whole civilizations put at risk because of uncontrolled sexual urges.”

Kylar looked stunned. “How does life go on?”

“You mean procreation? That’s been simplified. When a couple chooses to have a child, egg and sperm are harvested and joined. The resulting fetus is grown to gestation in sterile lab conditions, doing away with all risk to mother and child. The infant is raised in a nursery along with hundreds of other infants, all receiving proper nutrition and exercise, both mental and physical, to ensure optimum development then presented to its family unit at age two.” She recited the speech from memory, just as she’d learned it years ago in primary school.

“You mean your mother didn’t cradle you at her breast? Your father never laid with the woman he loved, marveled at the life they created when she took his hand and placed it on her belly to feel the babe kicking?”

Talia found herself uncomfortable with the image of raw intimacy his words evoked. “Modern science has done away with the dangers posed by those ancient customs. Women no longer need to fear giving birth to damaged infants either. Each child created is perfect.”

He rose on one elbow, looming over her. “Life isn’t meant to be perfect. Life is meant to seize and savor, to wring out every dram of pleasure. Without sorrow and strife, how can we truly appreciate moments of pure joy?”

Kylar went on, his voice becoming more impassioned. “There is no joy as sweet as that moment of oneness, the uniting of two bodies, two souls. Forget making babies. Are you telling me Earthers no longer make love with each other at all?”

“As I said, we have no need to take part in such unsanitary practices. We take care of our physical needs efficiently, on a regular basis, once every three weeks. We are no longer slaves to those base animalistic urges that created havoc in our species.” She crooked a finger at him, motioned him closer. “Can I tell you a secret?”

He nodded. She leaned over and whispered in his ear. “Ever since I came here, I’ve been feeling those urges.”

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