Dance of Time (7 page)

Zez took the hint and retreated to a safe distance. She put her arm around Korlin and watched the hatching.

Little heads started poking up out of the sand, and the turtles flapped their way to the huge bulk of their mother.

It was a magical night as the incubated eggs tore open with their occupants tumbling free and heading for their family.

Suddenly, the activity stopped. The eggs were empty and the turtles were heading out to sea.

One of the researchers suddenly stood up and started cursing. She skidded down the hill with a shovel in her hand.

Zez didn’t know what the woman was after, but when she said, “It’s drowning!” Zez didn’t hesitate. She ran to the woman’s side and held the buried hatching turtle in time.

They worked together to claw and shovel away the remains of the eggs and the liquid that had supported them.

The lone hatchling was seven feet under, and the slime and sand was sticking to both Zez and her companion.

When they cleared the little head, Zez nodded. “I am letting it go now. Korlin! We need a lift for this little guy.”

A tendril of mist closed around the hatchling as Zez let him go, and he started flapping. She leaned away and kept her digging buddy clear of the barbed limbs.

Zez crawled up the slope of sand, and the other woman was next to her. They were both filthy and grinning.

“Hello; I am Zez.”

The other woman laughed. “I guessed. I am the communicator. Laura Swell.”

The woman stuck out her hand, and Zez shook it.

“I think a dip in the sea might not be a bad idea.”

Zez pulled herself out and helped Laura to her feet. They looked at each other and then sprinted for the water.

The turtles were humps reflecting the moonlight in the distance, and the last hatchling was rapidly catching up with his people.

Zez jumped into the water, and she shouted as the cold liquid covered her head. Laura jumped in after her, and in a few minutes of icy cleansing, they staggered out together.

The naturalists were celebrating.

“So, Laura, how did you know that that hatchling was stuck.”

“I have been able to hear animals since I was a kid. It was why I was accepted to the Volunteer Project.” Laura was wringing out her hair.

“Volunteer? Like, Terran Volunteer?”

Laura’s face was hard to read in the minimal light, but she nodded. “Yup. What is your species?”

“Technically? Terran. Most of it anyway. My ancestors were stolen a few centuries ago.”

Laura blinked. “Really?”

“Really. I am mostly Terran, a little Nyal and a hint of Moreski. There aren’t proper records. Stolen primitives don’t get a high price.”

Korlin walked up to them. “So, I see you have introduced yourselves.”

Zez looked at him. “You knew?”

“Of course, it was part of the surprise.”

She hugged him and made the introductions.

Laura was fascinated by the idea that Nishans had mist as a standard form.

The naturalists had tables ready, and a nocturnal celebration began.

Zez sat with Korlin on one side and her new Terran friend on the other.

She turned to Korlin. “Thanks for today.”

He lifted her hand to his lips. “The first of many.”

The application of surprises became random. Zez tried to trick Korlin a time or two, but since he tended to send a nearly invisible vapour cloud with her when she went shopping, there was an extra level of difficulty. When she managed a surprise, it was extra special and he appreciated it after he stopped laughing.

Their partnership was made of tension, laughter and shared joy. It was a pretty solid base that lead her into love.

Back at Necridid again, Zez stepped out and shook out her hair. The crowd gathered to watch their arrival rushed forward the moment she was clear of the ship.

“Aunty Zez!” The younger ones took turns hugging her legs while their eldest brother supervised.

Zez hugged each and every little body, one by one.

When she faced the young man, she smiled. “So, you have made it to Specialist, Zeross.”

He inclined his head formally before breaking into a grin. “Communications Specialist, Aunty. Where is Uncle Korlin?”

She pointed, and the cargo hatch was opening. “Korlin went shopping on Morganti. We went a little crazy.”

Mikki was waiting with Penross, letting the children have their first attack.

With the herd of littles around her hips, Zez walked to her sister and hugged her. Penross soon took his turn.

Zez smiled. “So, Penross, what is the count up to now?”

“Eight under the age of ten, and Zeross. He is an amazing caregiver, and I will be sorry to see him set off on assignments.” Penross’s features were showing the march of time.

Mikki was also slowly weathering, but it was gentler for her.

Zez looked at the children and looked back at her sister. “So, how many more are you after?”

Mikki looked at the cargo area where the children were clamouring for attention from Uncle Korlin.

“I think we are done. We have more little ones than I had dreamed of, and I want to be there for them as they grow, not fanatically watching a tank.”

Zez smiled. “Good. The children you have are all set up, but I was looking forward to a bit of a break to remain here and learn more about them.”

Mikki chuckled. “You want to learn about children?”

“Yes. I think it would be safer to experience them here before our daughter arrives.”

Mikki widened her eyes and stared at Zez’s belly. “You are pregnant?”

“Not anymore. We have our own gestation unit on the ship. The medics and researchers estimate her to mature enough for birth in twenty-four months. This is my trip home to nest.”

Korlin was carrying the gestation unit in question carefully. The children were clutching their presents at a careful distance.

“So, Penross, is our home ready?”

Penross grinned and winked at his wife’s shocked face. “Everything is just as you requested. Hop on the skimmer, and we will be on our way.”

The entire family stepped on the large, railed platform, and they lifted up, moving from the spaceport, across the meadows and to an area that smelled of anchored stone and cut wood. They circled a hill, and there was the house in a low-lying area with a creek burbling behind them.

Zez leaned her head against Korlin’s shoulder. “It looks lovely. Thanks for keeping the surprise.”

The sprawling ranch house was just as some of the Terrans had described it. It was low, one level and looked out at the meadows with a lazy approval.

“Are you ready to spend five years here, Korlin?”

He chuckled. “With occasional forays for the Sector Guard? Definitely. I am ready to spend forever here with you.”

She smiled over at Mikki. “You think you will be up for babysitting?”

Mikki was smiling brightly. “If it brings you home faster, I will watch over a dozen of your little ones. Welcome home, Zez.”

Zez lay in their new bed that night, watching the soft glow from the tank in the room with them. “She’s so tiny.”

“But fierce. She hung on in there until we could get her out.” Korlin stroked her shoulder and kissed her neck.

“Do you think we are setting the wrong example for her?”

“By making love while she is just an egg? She would be exposed to much worse if she was still inside you.”

Zez giggled. “Right. She’s my first chance at a next generation.”

“She will be fine. We will make sure of it, and so will your sister and her brood.”

Zez looked at the small person forming inside the tank. “She will have a lot of cousins.”

“Yes, she will. She will be surrounded by those who want the best for her. It isn’t a bad legacy to begin with.”

Zez smiled. “It really isn’t.”

She settled back in the arms of her partner of nearly two decades, and she listened to the soft mechanical hum of the machine with its heartbeat sounds linked to Zez’s own.

The smile on her face seemed permanently etched. Nothing could dislodge it.

* * * *

Out in the yard, Zez’s parents looked toward the house.

“Should we talk to her, warn her of what is coming?” Her mother was nervous.

“No. She will face it with that mate of hers, and her daughter will survive, no matter what comes. Koreza will be great. We have seen it.”

She smiled with tears in her stellar eyes. “Who would have thought that Zez’s perfect mate would have been a cloud of mist?”

“The universe around us. It always had a plan for her. We just didn’t know what it was. We still don’t and finding out is worth some more exploration.”

“I feel so useless here.”

“We have pushed them into each other’s path, and now, they are tangled together. We are done meddling. The rest has to move on without our interference.”

She smiled at her mate, and laughter bubbled out of her. They disappeared together with only the sound of her amusement hanging in the air.

* * * *

Zez lifted her head, smiled and lay back again. Her watchers were amused, and that was a good sign. If they didn’t speak with her, it meant that they didn’t have anything grim to impart, and that meant things were going fine.

Everything was going to work out. Zez looked at the canister and started thinking of baby names.

Koreza had a nice ring to it.

Conference season is nearly upon me, and my schedule might be a little off. I will try to make all release dates, but I have no idea what will happen next. Kind of like writing.

Thanks for reading,

Viola Grace

Viola Grace (aka Zenina Masters) is a Canadian sci-fi/paranormal romance writer with ambitions to keep writing for the rest of her life. She specializes in short stories because the thrill of discovery, of all those firsts, is what keeps her writing.

An artist who enjoys a story that catches you up, whirls you around and sets you down with a smile on your face is all she endeavours to be. She prefers to leave the drama to those who are better suited to it, she always goes for the cheap laugh.