Borne On Wings of Steel (22 page)

"For sure!"

Mother landed between two large hotel complexes within walking distance of a crowded beach. Several starships rested beside her in their own clearly marked landing spots on the flat tarmac. All around the resting ships throngs of brightly clad aliens laughed and conversed as they walked among the pockets of lush tropical plants that graced the manicured grounds. In fact, the bright pastels of tropical shirts, knee-length shorts for males, and short skorts for females created a moving, living rainbow.

Krinia and Jysar and Elise quickly wended their way through the masses of aliens dressed in brightly colored outfits perfect for a tropical climate. They walked only a short distance when they came to a dead halt.

Standing right before them was a group of aliens unlike any they had ever seen.

"What are they?” Elise whispered to Krinia. But Krinia was staring open-mouthed as well. Elise found she couldn't keep her eyes off them as she admired their fascinating beauty.

There were three of them, all humanoid in shape—two eyes, two arms, two of every obvious body part—like most normal aliens.

The males wore a red cloth around their loins while the lone female wore a simple, bright blue sarong wrapped tightly around her feminine figure.

But it was the colors of their scaly skin that kept them mesmerized with each alien's natural beauty.

The skin of the male on the right was a brilliant orange interspersed with alternating green and yellow stripes that ran from his head down his torso, and arms and legs. Likewise, the alien male on the left was overall an iridescent green with fiery red spots over his body, while the upper part of his face, from his eyes over his head, glowed a shimmering royal blue.

And the female was even more colorful.

From her chest up, from above the top of her blue sarong dress, her smooth skin was a bright golden color. Around her cheeks and eyes thousands of tiny circles of alternating royal blue and deep purple stood out against the gold background of her skin and emphasized her dazzling blue eyes. Down each shapely leg, her golden skin was accentuated with bold, jagged stripes of eye-popping ruby red.

But what they wore around their necks kept drawing Elise's glances again and again—each alien wore an identical band of glistening silver metal. The upper and lower edges were solid while the center was of a meticulous filigree design. And yet this attractive neck-ware—it couldn't be called a true necklace because it completely covered their necks from the base up to the bottom of their chin—seemed to have some kind of practical function.

Elise shook her head in amazement, wondering what that function could be. She suddenly glanced down and noticed that in stark contrast to their overall beauty, the colorful aliens each had comically over-sized feet.

And then it struck her why the aliens wore the exotic neck-ware. For barely noticeable until she really looked, Elise made out the almost translucent webbed skin between each of their extra-long toes. She surmised that these beings must be at home in the ocean and the neck-ware enabled the hidden gills on their necks to take in the oxygen directly from the air.

"They must be Mejadic,” Elise whispered to Krinia.

"They're beautiful,” Krinia whispered back.

"Welcome to Meramee and to Leyloi, the Queen Island.” The three colorful Mejadic approached, each holding a small ring of white flowers, which they gently placed on the head of Elise, Krinia and Jysar like a crown.

They bowed deeply and stepped back with their smiling faces still to the ground.

"Thank you!” Jysar finally managed to blurt out. “I must say, I've never seen any race quite so beautiful as you are."

The Mejadic female glanced up and quickly approached Jysar. With a smile, she gently kissed his cheek. “You honor our people,” she said with a melodic voice. She quickly stepped back to join her two companions.

"What are the flowers for?” Krinia asked.

"It is the traditional greeting of my people. A crown of flowers—beauty on beauty—to make the heart rejoice.” The iridescent green male bowed once more. “I am Stazal. This is Olana,” he pointed to the female as he rose. “And he is Relan."

Krinia introduced Jysar and Elise.

"I think I'm going to like Meramee a lot!” Elise laughed as she adjusted her flower crown. And then she realized she had forgotten something. “Oh, I didn't wear my Hair Lighter."

"But your golden hair is lovely just as it is,” Stazal crooned.

Elise blushed brightly.

"We greet each new ship that arrives,” Olana explained. “Just beyond the throngs you will enter our island's part of the great festival of food and beer—Taste of the Quadrant."

"And beyond that the famed Emerald Sea,” Relan added. “It's crystal clear waters will caress your bodies with its refreshing power."

"Cool!” Elise said.

"Are you of different clans?” Jysar asked. “I mean, each of you are completely different colors."

The three Mejadic laughed.

"The Mejadic are like the islands of Meramee—no two of us are exactly the same. Each of us is unique in color and patterns,” Stazal explained with a smile.

"Super-cool,” Elise said with awe and appreciation. “None of us has ever been to Meramee before, and I for one wish we'd come here long ago!"

"Ah, your very first visit to our world.” Olana said, looking from Jysar to Krinia and back to Elise. “Perhaps we can share dinner tonight with you under the stars at our private beach? We will tell stories about our wonderful planet while we dine."

"We accept!” they said simultaneously.

They made arrangements to meet later that evening. As the Mejadic trio left, Elise, Krinia and Jysar made their way to the nearest section of the Festival. From booth after booth wonderful smells wafted on the gentle breezes as they walked among the crowds of aliens. Before long the delicious aromas worked their magic, and the trio found themselves sampling one exotic dish after another. The flavors danced on their palette as wonderfully as the aromas, and they quickly came to a new appreciation for alien cuisine.

Finally, after a few more detours toward enticing smells and delicious treats, they found themselves on the beach.

Elise felt her heart quiver with excitement.

She had never seen the ocean before—not on any world. And to see one of the most beautiful beaches in the universe framed against the glistening waters of the Emerald Sea as that astonishing first experience took her breath away.

"Look,” Krinia said as she danced onto the violet and white sand. “I see why they call them the Maiden Isles!"

Elise laughed as she danced with her.

Even Jysar tried it, with fairly comical results. But everyone enjoyed themselves to the extreme.

"See, the sand is a pure, pure white with violet streaks of sand through it. The waves and wind have shaped the beach into a vast flowing veil,” Krinia pointed out.

"Yes!” Elise said. “Just like a bridal veil."

"Hence the name.” Jysar laughed. “The Maiden Isles."

"We'll have to ask Olana how the beaches get this wonderful mixture of color here,” Elise said.

"And the other beaches too,” Krinia added. “I think we'll really enjoy getting to know both them and their world better."

They removed their outer clothes to reveal their bathing suits then took a quick swim among the waves. After they enjoyed the warm waters a while, they continued their journey down the crowded beach toward a tree-clad jungle mountain that rose in the distance. The trio laughed and talked among themselves, oblivious to everyone else.

But unknown to them, two secretive Harg followed.

They had shadowed them since the trio first met the Mejadic. The short, stout aliens were clad with bright tropical shirts in order to blend in with all the others.

"The one with the yellow mane is the human ... hmmm. Shall we take her now?"

The other, who carried himself with a sense of command, smiled knowingly. “No. The Paum has instructed me carefully. There is a way we can get the female human to separate herself willingly. The Paum has studied them carefully, individually and as a group—all of our reports and sensor scans. The Paum knows—the Paum always knows."

The Harg looked at his fellow with a vicious smile. “Tell me."

"Just a few more moments and you will hear. The red sun of Meramee is beginning to set, and they told the Mejadic they would dine with them this evening. They will turn around soon. Keep walking—faster."

The two Harg continued their pursuit and closed the distance.

Krinia admired the pale aqua green waters of the lagoon that stretched outward until it met the emerald waters of the deeper sea—the boundary a clearly defined line where one color ended and the other began. Her gaze drifted to the endless horizon and the red circle of the setting sun just above the mauve cloud tops that rested over the sea like distant, billowing islands.

"We need to get back. I'd like to freshen up a bit before we dine with our Mejadic friends,” Krinia said.

They all agreed and turned to retrace their steps back up the beach to Mother.

Almost at once, Elise found herself crashing into two burly aliens wearing bright, tropical shirts.

"Oh, excuse me!” Elise said with a touch of embarrassment The two strange aliens gently reached out to keep her from falling. She smiled apologetically at them. Then she noticed the look on their faces—looks of complete disbelief.

"Well, you're a human aren't you!” the first one said with outright surprise.

Elise felt her heart skip a beat.

She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Krinia rapidly stepped beside her as she stared at the two bull-necked aliens.

"What do you mean?” Krinia asked questioningly.

"Well, what I mean is that before yesterday I'd never seen a human before. And now I've seen them two days in a row.” He flashed a big, toothy smile.

"Where?” Elise finally blurted out. She knew Kyle and Jaric were still en route on the
Aurora
, so the alien couldn't have seen them.

"We were on Mermoona,” he explained simply. “We ran into a group of humans while we were eating Flaming Tangers at the Ocalla food booth. We'd never met any humans before and so we struck up a conversation with them."

"They're on Mermoona?” Elise repeated with shock.

But Jysar stepped forward, a wary look in his eyes. The two stout aliens smiled at him with innocent expressions. Jysar looked from one to the other with a careful eye.

"Did they tell you anything about how they got here?” Jysar asked. “Maybe ... how they've found themselves so far from their homeworld?"

The bigger of the two aliens smiled even more. “Yes, Earth I believe they called it."

Elise gasped.

The alien grew thoughtful a moment, as he tapped a forefinger against the side of his head. “Some sort of tragedy. They seemed a bit reluctant to go into it."

Krinia, Elise and Jysar leaned forward expectantly.

The alien's eyes suddenly widened. “T'kaan! Something about a war, I think."

Elise felt light-headed for a moment, but quickly regained her composure.

Krinia, Elise and Jysar questioned them for a few minutes more, getting details on where the island of Mermoona was located. They soon learned it was part of the Maiden Isles, although Mermoona was located at the farthest reach of the northern arc of islands—about a three-hour journey by boat.

Jysar finally thanked them for their surprising information, graciously accepted their apologies for almost knocking Elise down, and they all parted ways.

As soon as the two aliens walked away, Elise and the others raced up the beach in the other direction in order to tell Mother the news.

MOTHER'S OPTIC FOCUSED from one to the other after Elise, Jysar and Krinia breathlessly entered. Her sensors noted the extreme pace their hearts beat as well as registering the elevated temperature of their bodies. But it was the dilation of their pupils that truly indicated their high state of excitement.

Krinia, Jysar and Elise quickly recounted their chance encounter on the beach with two aliens. They focused on what the aliens told them—about the humans they had spent time with on Mermoona.

In the flurry of excitement, no one asked about the aliens themselves.

"I am sending a communication to the
Aurora
now,” Mother finally said. “Kyle and Jaric must hear this news immediately."

"Who would have guessed?” Elise squealed with excitement. “And it was I who helped find them at last! Kyle and Jaric will be so pleased."

But Krinia pursed her lips in doubt.

Within minutes, Mother established a communications link. A few minutes later and the shocked faces of Kyle, Jaric and Rok stared back at them from Mother's main view-screen located on her bridge.

"You're kidding,” Jaric repeated for the third time in a row as the others finally finished.

"And we were just going to Meramee to relax,” Kyle added. “We weren't even going to think about other humans."

"I will make for Meramee at top speed now,” Rok said. “I will get you estimates, but I believe we can make planet-fall within twenty-four hours."

"Good,” Mother replied. “I have discovered that Mermoona does not allow starships, or air-ships of any kind, direct access. It is an island of lush, tropical forests with very few hotels or amenities even for tourists—an island kept very close to its pure, natural state. The only access is by boat."

"Find out how to book one,” Kyle said with authority. “We'll leave immediately once we land."

Elise stepped forward. “I want to go."

Kyle and Jaric exchanged glances.

Jaric made a subtle motion with his head toward Kyle—indicating acceptance. But Kyle's eyes narrowed and his expression grew solemn. He thought a minute more, and spoke.

"I'd rather just Jaric and...” he started to say.

"What!” Elise said with obvious hurt. “I mean, I'm the one who literally ran into this information. Shouldn't I get to go too? After all, I'm a human too!"

"That's true.
In a way
...” Jaric began.

Elise's eyes narrowed in anger. “You know, I'm tired of this
boys-only
club around here!"