Candidate (Selected Book 4) (32 page)

"Do we need to talk about what we both just said?"

"I don't think so," she replied. But she stared at me. Then she muttered in, I presume, Catseye.

"Oh, that is your reaction," I asked.

"I have to spoil the mood. I need to be Administrator Brighteyes for a moment. I'm very sorry, Andie."

"Then I am again Andromeda," I said. "Say what you need to say, but then you will allow me to put the mood back where I want it before you leave."

"All right. Good. You haven't adjusted your schedule for tomorrow. Andromeda, I need you to arrive on time for both swims. Please access your visor while I wait."

"Oh. Of course. Thank you for the reminder." It only took a minute, and I even told the visor to warn me to skip the suit. "Done," I said after a moment. "Was there more?"

"No. Thank you. I'm sorry, Andromeda."

"It's fine," I said. "I am going to do something, and I am going to say something. You are not going to respond except to say, 'Good night, Andie'. All right?"

She nodded. So I stepped back up to her, captured a tentacle -- a different one this time -- and looked into her eyes. "I had a lovely evening with friends tonight, Jasmine. Thank you." Then I lifted the tentacle and kissed it again, but I pulled it away before she could invade. "Good night."

She nodded. "Good night, Andie."

I woke early, took care of my needs, and asked the visor if I could get dressed.

Access granted.

The door opened, and the visor led me to the changing room. I was somewhat surprised by what I found. Again there was a lightweight skirt and sandals, but the blouse was backless. I stared at it for a while.

Can you wear this? Please.

"Aww, damn it," I said. "You said
please
." I looked at it. "Bare skin."

Yes. Please, Andie.

"Aww hell, you said please again and called me Andie. Fine, fine." I slipped into it. It actually was really quite comfortable, and it wasn't like I needed clothing for warmth. "How do I look?"

Very nice. Thank you.

"Do I need to pirouette so you can see everything?"

I can see everything just fine, Andromeda. Step outside. I'm waiting.

And so, a moment later we were face to face. "Good morning, Jasmine."

"Good morning, Andie. Last night, you did not allow me to respond to what you said. Will you do so now?"

"Yes."

She stepped forward and pulled me into a hug, and when the tentacle slipped across my lips, I kissed and then accepted it, closing gently around it.

We held each other for a long time, and then she withdrew. Her tentacles slipped inside her own blouse, and then I saw it zip up.

"Handy," I said. "Ready?"

"Ready," she said. She led us to the elevators, and we went up a short distance. We moved to one row of the cellblocks, and then she turned me to her. "Remember what I said. If they wake, get out."

Then she gestured. There was a cart and it was stacked with clear containers. Each container had a woman's name, identification number, and cell number. Only some women would receive clothing in this way, as we'd left their personal clothing with the rest.

I pushed the cart forward, stopping in the space opposite the first pair of cells. I then turned to the left cell, Jasmine to the right. I identified the cell number. My visor told me I didn't need clothing for this one, but it gave me information on the occupant. And then I stepped forward, and a doorway formed.

Yes, I was aware of the irony.

The woman was deep asleep. I knelt beside her bed and looked into her face. She looked so young and innocent.

I glanced over to make sure she had clothing waiting, then smiled. She had Hello, Kitty pajamas. Cute.

I used the visor against the woman's wristband. It was the right woman. I turned off the wristband and removed it, then I was able to deactivate her visor and gently removed it from her face.

Then I whispered, "Karen, you're going to be fine. I know this is scary, but you're going to be fine."

Then I stood, looked around once more, then exited the cell. The opening closed behind me. I dropped the wristband into the waiting bin then looked up. Jasmine was watching me.

"I know. I was slow."

"It's fine," she said. "We have time."

"I just." I looked back into the cell.

"I know," Jasmine said gently. "You don't have to do this, Andromeda."

"It's still going to happen, and maybe in time I'll have enough influence to make this easier for them."

"That's the very reason I'm here," Jasmine said. "And you already have that influence."

I nodded and then pushed the cart to the next.

It was my third cell that needed clothing. I collected the proper case and carried it in with me. I verified everything, saw to the woman, and left the clothing for her. Back outside the cell, Jasmine said, "Do the clothing first, in case she wakes."

"Right. Sorry."

"It's fine. It's very rare they wake up. But I don't like accidents."

"Right."

We worked the cells. In our area, there were eight cells on a side, sixteen in one section, then we turned right, and walked to the next corridor to do the next sixteen.

"And we're done," Jasmine said.

"What about the others?"

"Clover and two of the guards handled it."

"We still have a few women who aren't done here."

"We rotate through the cell blocks," she said. "We can house 256."

"That's how I get an entire block to myself."

"Something like that," she said. I wondered about that, but then she said, "Early breakfast in your cell."

"And swimming after," I said. "Jasmine, I will do this, but if I may have privacy in the locker room, I would appreciate it."

She nodded. "I'll see what I can arrange, but please don't be mad if there isn't as much privacy as you might prefer."

And so I returned to my cell, changing out of the clothes I'd only worn for an hour. Breakfast arrived, and then it was time to leave again.

I still had clothing privileges, for what they were worth, and so I was only a little self-conscious walking the corridors. I didn't directly encounter anyone, but there were aliens on the catwalks above me, looking down into the cellblock. I wondered what they were looking at. I hadn't seen anyone else in here with me, and they didn't seem to be paying any particular attention to me until I stepped out of my cell.

I imagine it wasn't common for an unescorted mating candidate to step right out of her own cell.

I reached the locker room, but at the door, I heard voices. I came to a stop, paused, then stiffened my back and strode in, just in time to see a few feet retreating in the direction of the pool.

Timing, or perhaps Jasmine. Either way, I appreciated it.

I grabbed a robe. Yes, I knew I had promised not to wear one, but I needed a moment. I stepped to my locker. Both suits were there. I thought Jasmine would steal them from me, but she hadn't. I couldn't tell if she was watching, but she didn't try to caution me about the robe, either.

I slipped out of the camisole and undies then pulled the robe on. I closed my locker but then turned around to gaze into the mirror along the wall. I stepped over, leaned against the window, and searched my face.

It was still unusual for me. I was growing accustomed to wearing the visor, and I barely noticed it most of the time, if I wasn't directly using it. But seeing its reflection reminded me it was there, and reminded me of the alien nature. And so I couldn't stare into my eyes, but I could search my face.

I didn't need a pep talk, not really. I just... Maybe it shouldn't have been a big deal to me. I'd had to swim naked the first few days. I should be over it, right? But it was a big deal for several reasons, and I couldn't treat it casually.

Finally I took a breath, held it for a moment, then let it out slowly. I pushed from the mirror, nodded, and said, "Let's do this."

I walked to the clothing rack, replaced the robe, and then, my head held high, I walked into the pool area.

Once there, I stopped, looking around. I wouldn't say the pool was full, but it wasn't empty, either, and when I appeared, it took seconds before every pair of eyes turned to face me.

Well, every pair except Cherish's -- she was at the bottom of the pool and wouldn't realize I had appeared until I dived into the water. But I didn't know she was there any more than she knew I was.

I scanned the room. No humans. No males. And so I nodded, casually walked to the edge of the pool, paused, and dived in.

They watched me. They all watched me, although I tried to ignore them. I swam along the surface for two laps, but then I swam over Cherish, and she gestured to me. So on my next turn, I dived, and we swam together for a while, holding hands like we frequently did.

Then there was a large Wookie body above me, and to the side of Soft Rain, a blue Octal. They swam along the top, and when I surfaced at the end for air, we greeted briefly.

They swam a few minutes with me, but then they moved away, and they were replaced by others. And there were other aliens who watched from the edge of the pool, or from other places in the water, some above, some below.

I swam.

And then at the shallow end I encountered a tentacle or two. I surfaced, and I let Jasmine pull me into a hug. "Thank you," she whispered to me.

"If that tentacle goes any lower, I'm going to bite."

She laughed, and the tentacle across my lower back ceased its descent.

"Swim with me."

"Catseye are terrified of water deeper than this, Andromeda. I'm going to stay at this end."

"All right," I said. "I'm doing something that terrifies me, but if you're not that brave, I understand."

She snuffled. "I see our truce is over."

"Maybe I shouldn't have said that until later. Please don't make this harder for me, Jasmine."

"I won't. You should go now. But some of them hope to talk to you, and some hope for a much closer look than you're giving them."

"Chest or somewhere even more intimate?"

"Probably both."

"Then tell them to get a medical degree and become gynecologists. I might allow a closer look at my chest, but anyone who pokes her eyes near my nether regions will get them poked out of her skull."

"Even if it's Dark Skies?"

"She's seen everything already and wasn't at all rude about it."

Jasmine released me, and I went back to swimming.

I'm sure I frustrated them. I refused to hold still. I swam, back and forth, and it was clear only about half of them could swim at all. Finally I sighed and pulled Cherish to the surface.

"Wish me courage," I whispered into her ear.

"No one wishes to hurt you -- or even embarrass you, Andromeda. They are only curious."

"I know."

I took a breath and held it, and then I turned away from her, standing in the shallow water that reached only to my belly button. I looked around.

I hadn't noticed, but Cedar was there. Clover was not. But there was a Greenbear, another Wookie, two Ardents, three Catseye I didn't know, and a few other species whose names I hadn't yet learned. Some of them had stopped watching me, but when I turned around and held still, everyone turned to me.

"Soft Rain, is the other Wookie a friend?"

"Not directly," Soft Rain said. "Would you like an introduction?"

"Sure."

It turned out the Wookie didn't speak English and didn't have an English name. Soft Rain had to translate back and forth. The Wookie spent the entire time staring at my chest.

"That's just like a man," I said. "They can't take their eyes off them, either." I looked down at my chest. "Really, I don't know what the big deal is."

Soft Rain rumbled her laughter. Then the other Wookie asked a question, and Soft Rain said, "She wishes to know if you will be in the arena today."

"Does she hope to win me?" I asked.

"She isn't sure," Soft Rain translated. "Um. I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"I'm just the translator here."

"Tell her no, she doesn't get to touch. I'm not a toy to play with."

At least some of the aliens understood English. They were clustered around us, and some responded to what I said. I thought I was getting a lesson in alien laughter.

Dark Skies stepped to my side, actually shoving aside one of the Ardents to reach me. The woman let her. "I could make you like it," she said.

"And yet, you aren't going to," I replied.

That exchange got translated into at least two languages, and then I heard what I was sure was encouragement to the Octal. But Dark Skies simply caressed my arm for a moment and pulled my ear down. "If you want my help, I am here. A little bit will give you courage."

"Thank you, but I'm fine. Thank you for being here, though."

She caressed my arm again and then stepped away.

The Wookie spoke, and Soft Rain said, "She says you have not answered her question."

"I'll handle that question," Jasmine said. We turned to her, and her back was to the edge of the pool. She was clutching the edge, and I thought she was even more terrified of the water than she'd let on.

"You weren't exaggerating earlier, were you?"

"No," she said. Then she switched languages and spoke for a minute. Then she switched again. In all, she spoke in at least four alien languages.

"But no one has a claim?" asked one of the Catseye, seated at the edge of the pool with only her feet in the water.

Jasmine answered that as well, and then I saw quivering tentacles.

Interesting.

I asked for -- and was given -- introductions to everyone else. The visor remembered names for me, and then it did something new. It began displaying names underneath people's images when I turned to face them. I turned to Jasmine. "Did you do that?"

"Yes."

"Thank you."

We talked for a few minutes, but I'd set a timer: fifteen minutes warning before I had to end my swim.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I need more exercise. It's going to be a busy day for me. I'll be here again this afternoon." I turned to Jasmine. "And tonight?"