Gateway to HeVan (5 page)

“
So, if or when this King Ben KowLer arrives, he needs to meet with a queen.  It would be an insult and won’t help our cause to pawn him off on someone else, even my grandmother.  No offense, Granny Mac, but he’s met with a regent; we need to do one better here.  I understand why you went hard line last night.  You always think of my health and protection first, I get it.  But today, we need to make a friend.  We need to make King KowLer our ally.  To do that, we need to show him a level of trust,” Addie said, finishing her speech. 

Then she reached for her protein shake and let the others talk amongst themselves as she listened. 

Arjun, Kylan and Rune were not happy because they knew she was right.

King Ben KowLer had finished dressing and was having a meal with his sister, Princess BianCa, when his servant, GrumIo, entered the room to tell him they were in range of the HeVanian ships.

“Well, sister, are you ready to enact your role as my ambassador?” Ben asked.

“I’ll help in any way I can.  You bring up a good point, though; it’s time you married.  You were promised a queen and you deserve one.  Besides, after two years of marriage, I still haven’t been to our country estate.  Something like this always comes up and I don’t have a chance to go.  Well, I’m determined to get there before the cold season ends,” answered BianCa, as they got up and prepared to shuttle over to the other ship.

There seemed to be some turmoil within the Nephilim power structure.  As king, he had experience manipulating situations for his benefit.  He wasn’t pleased to think he’d been manipulated by Malpha.

The trip from their ship to the HeVanian ship didn’t take long.  He and his sister checked their clothing.  They had both worn a traveling version of their royal vestments, to show respect and also to impress.  BianCa wore a long dress of white silk with a sleeveless blue silk tunic over it, heavily embroidered along the lower edge and up the center seams.  The tunic was belted with a wrap of blue silk, the ends hanging at the right hip.  The white dress had wide sleeves gathered at the wrist.  Over it all, she wore a silver cloak.  The tunic mimicked the embroidery on the cloak.  The cloak had a stiff collar which framed her head from the ears back.

The king’s clothing was similar except he was wearing black leather pants with a white silk shirt.  His tunic stopped at the knees and his sash was gold, as was his cloak.

They didn’t bring any guards with them because King KowLer wanted the visit to be seen as non-confrontational.  He wasn’t worried about the fact that he wasn’t wearing his normal weapons.  He was a weapon.  He was planning on confronting the Nephilim about the break in the current treaty.  But he was doing it under the cover of etiquette, nice clothes, manners, and political doublespeak.

He and his sister were surprised when the airlock door into the ship opened.  Standing in the docking bay were three young women.  The first one
, in the middle, had shoulder-length brown hair.  She was wearing light blue pants in a fabric unfamiliar to the king; they rode low on her hips.  Instead of wearing womanly slippers, she was wearing heavy boots.  Her top bared her arms and her midriff.  He could see a gold ring in her navel.

The second woman had short blonde hair cut like a man’s.  She also wore similar light blue pants―only hers were much shorter.  Her entire leg was almost bare.  She had two triangles of fabr
ic covering her breasts with ties he could see went around her torso and neck.  Instead of shoes or slippers, her feet were nearly bare in sandals.  These had two thin straps starting between her first two toes and then wrapped around either side of her feet.

The third woman―or more accurately, a girl―was the most female-like.  Her hair was also blonde and quite long.  It hung just passed her waist.  She wore a patterned dress with a scoop neck.  Unfortunately, it clung to her like skin and the hem stopped
above the middle of her thighs.  The shoes she wore resembled the slippers KowLer women wore; only the back end was lifted two or three inches by some type of post.

None of the women wore any kind of official emblem; he wasn’t sure how to address them.

“Hi, welcome aboard.  I’m Natalie and these are my friends, Jennifer and Cassandra,” said the middle woman, as she stepped forward and held out her hand.

“Why do you hold out your hand?  Am I supposed to give you something?” asked the king.

“Though we are Nephilim, we only recently learned of our heritage.  We were born and raised in a different culture.  On the world of our birth, there are many ways to greet people.  We clasp the right hand.  There are several variations, depending on how closely you know the person you’re greeting.  Though we have monarchies on our world, my country is a democracy, so the clasping of hands is the correct greeting,” explained Natalie.

Ben bowed his head and held out his hand, “Thank you for the explanation.  Shall we try again?”

Natalie shook his hand, which seemed to shock him for a moment but he caught on quickly.  Then she introduced him again to Jennifer and Cassandra so he could shake their hands as well.  After that, he introduced his sister and the three girls greeted her also.

“What is your position?” the king asked.  “Are you an ambassador?”

“Nope, just a regular citizen,” said Natalie, as she motioned them to follow her. 

Ben
KowLer walked beside her as his sister followed with the other two ladies.

“When we found out we were Nephilim, we made the decision to emigrate.  We didn’t pack very much because we’ll be
joining a new culture.  We each brought our favorite and most comfortable clothing as well as personal family mementos.  That’s why we’re not all dressed up.  Clothes aren’t that important, but I really like yours.  We’re all looking forward to doing some major shopping when we arrive on HeVan.  I’ve been lucky; yesterday evening, I met the two men with whom I will
join
. Jennifer hasn’t met her
joins
yet and Cassandra is just sixteen.  Almost every other female on board met their
joins
back on Earth and is pregnant, including the queen.  Addie is having sextuplets so the docs put her on bed rest.  She asked us to come and bring you to her because we don’t really have any other duties and we’re female.  This was the best way to give you a more traditional Nephilim greeting, mixed with a little Earth casualness.  It’s a simple way of preparing you for this visit.  Addie wasn’t a queen a year ago, so she’s not like other monarchs,” said Natalie.

As they walked through the ship, they noticed warriors at several of the main corridor junctions.  They entered a lift to get to the correct deck.  When they exited, both Ben and
BianCa were surprised again.  Lined up on the sides of the corridor were people.  He could see a great many pregnant women.  Each one was flanked by at least two men―a few had three.  As they passed a grouping, Natalie would wave or say ‘hi.’  But she didn’t stop to introduce the two visitors.

There was one section of wall with no people
—just a door.

“Why are the occupants of this room not in the hall?  I would suppose your queen asked all the mated women to appear?” asked the king.

“Maggie and her
Ankida
are in medical.  One of her
Ankida
was injured coming through the Gate.  He’s going to be in a coma for the remainder of our voyage and possibly for some time after that,” she said.

“I’m glad he will recover from his injuries,” was the only response the king thought to make. 

He wasn’t informed that one of the Nephilim had been injured.  He made a note to speak to Ral about it later.

Finally, they reached a larger door at the end of the corridor
flanked by two warriors carrying large spear-shaped weapons with curved blades at the ends.

“We’ll leave you here,” said Natalie, as she passed a hand over the door sensor.

King KowLer and Princess BianCa turned to say goodbye to the three girls.  Turning back to the door, they were confronted by another tall warrior.  Like most of the warriors they’d passed on their walk from the docking bay, this man was a head taller than the king.  It was disconcerting to be looking up all the time.  He remembered hearing the Nephilim were very tall.  Surprisingly, this warrior appeared shorter than the stories he’d heard.

The warrior stepped back to allow them entry.  Before they could step forward, two large animals came to the door.

“Don’t be alarmed; they are my wife’s pets.  They’re very friendly and only want you to pet them,” said Rune.

Before he could signal the dogs, a female voice from within the room called them back. 

“Come in, I’ll introduce you to everyone,” said Rune, gesturing with one hand.

The surprises continued when, after passing down a short hallway, they stepped into a large living area.  Seated in a gel chair was a woman with pale milky skin, long hair the color of fire and enormously pregnant.  This was not the surprise, though.  What was shocking was that she seemed to be glowing.  She was surrounded by a golden aura and flickers of gold sparkled in the air.

“Hi!  As you can see,” Addie said, as she waved to her body in the chair, “I’m not really in a position to get up.  My name is Aditya Marie Perez Azazyel. I am the
Nam-Nin
or High Queen of the Nephilim.  This is Arjun, Kylan, and Rune,” she said, pointing to each of the men.  “They’re my
Ankida
, mates or
joins
or husbands, depending on how you look at it.  Mostly, they’re the guys who put me in this condition.”  She took a minute to pass her hands over the mound of babies resting inside her.  “Over there on the couch is my sister, Grace Melina, and her three
Ankida
, Jalen, Justyn, and Jett.  My grandmother, Glynnis, might stop by later; she’s down in medical right now checking up on the injured pilot.”

Addie paused in her introductions to allow her
Ankida
and Grace’s to exchange greetings with King KowLer and his sister.

At this point, the princess stepped forward.

“Greetings, I’m Princess BianCa of the KowLer people.  This is my brother, Ben KowLer, King of the KowLer and Proctor of the Clan of KowLer,” said BianCa. 

She and her brother were both taken aback by the reception they
had received so far.  For herself, she liked it.  But her brother was more straitlaced and very much the king.  It looked as if he were about to get a lesson on how to lighten up.

“It’s really nice to meet you both; please be seated.  Grace and I aren’t very graceful these days and we’ll get cricks in our necks if we keep trying to look up at you.  Ben―you don’t mind if I call you Ben, do you?  You’re all dress
ed up and everything but I’m not a pomp and ritual type of queen.  I think it would be better if we just became friends,” said Addie.

As Ben sat in the chair next to the queen, he wondered if this entire situation were some kind of ploy.  The negotiations between the
KowLer and Regent Malpha had been lengthy and filled with political maneuvering and ritual.  The sessions with her Council members still gave him headaches just thinking about it.  He watched his sister take a seat near the queen’s sister, Grace.

Grace looked at the princess as she took her seat.  “We left in kind of a hurry.  Some criminals I put in jail tried to kill us so I didn’t get a chance to shop for maternity clothes.  We’re just learning how to use the clothing replicators on the ship
.  None of the women who came along are clothing designers.  So our grandmother and two other older ladies on board―who actually have an idea of how to sew―figured out how to make stuff for us.  I have to say, you look gorgeous in that outfit.  Is it comfortable?” she asked Princess BianCa.

“Oh, yes, it’s quite comfortable.  At least without the cloak, it is.  The collar makes it difficult to turn my head,” she confessed in a whisper.

“Go ahead and take it off, then.  We can hang it up for you, if you want.  I have to tell you, I miss my jeans and being able to see my feet,” joked Grace.

“I envy you.  Recently, the women of the
KowLer have had difficulty becoming with child.  As to jeans―my translator says they are a type of leggings.  The women of the KowLer don’t wear such garments.  We only wear dresses or long skirts,” she said.

“Oh, you poor thing!” said Grace.  “You’re about my size.  Or the size I was before I looked like I swallowed a beach ball.  Come with me,” said Grace. 

Then she scooted to the edge of the couch and used the armrest to push herself up.

Addie looked up at her sister when she stood.

“I’m taking BianCa over to my place; we’ll be back in a bit,” said Grace.  She then shooed her
Ankida
back when they tried to follow them.

“Okay, no need to hurry.  I’m hoping I can convince Ben and
BianCa to stay for the movie,” Addie said.

“Cool, maybe we can talk the guys into pizza and beer,” said Grace with a grin.

“You’re an evil sister to remind me of all I can’t have,” said Addie and she stuck out her tongue at Grace.

“Don’t worry.  The beer will be non-alcoholic
—for us, anyway.  And you can have one slice of cheese pizza.  It’s not as if you’re dieting,” was Grace’s parting comment before she took BianCa by the arm and dragged her from the room.

“You and your sister are so free and easy with each other,” commented
BianCa as they left and began walking down the hallway.

“Well, she’s only been a queen for about six months now.  I used to be a cop
. On my planet, that’s another name for law enforcer.  Now I’m going to be head of planetary police for HeVan.  She bribed me,” said Grace.

“You will not stay in your home and care for your young ones?” asked
BianCa, surprised.