Saidan walked to the door and slid it open. He gasped as he saw something in the hallway. I didn't need to hear his voice to know we had a problem. I rushed out into the tunnel to see a dozen hooded Valerian figures standing before us. Each had a makeshift weapon in their hand, and I knew they hadn't come to make friendly conversation. I stepped in front of Saidan protectively.
"Who are you?" I asked. "What do you want?"
The ringleader of the mob stepped forward. "You're the ones who killed Little Sister. You plunged this world into a dark age. You're going to pay for that."
I stood in silence, squeezing Saidan's hand.
"That's right." The ringleader tapped his club against his open palm. "She provided for us. She kept us alive and safe. Now she's gone, and we have to struggle just to keep our bellies full. Order has been replaced with chaos."
"That's rather ironic, coming from the leader of a lawless mob." I couldn't believe we'd come this far, only to lose at the end. Unarmed and still weak from radiation sickness and lack of exercise, I had no chance of protecting Saidan. I hit the transmitter's emergency broadcast beacon, hoping that Christine would get the message and hurry the hell up.
The ringleader pulled down his hood and I saw the leader of the Supply Building standing before me. I almost laughed.
"You were at the same meeting we were. The one where we chose to destroy Little Sister. You gave the green light to our actions!"
"I've changed my mind." His voice was unyielding. "We made a terrible mistake, but only because we were misled by you, off-worlder. You came here and disturbed our peace. You seduced one of our finest scientists and destroyed our way of life. There has to be a price to pay for your arrogance."
One of the figures in the black uniform of the Re-Education Building stepped forward. "You've broken the carefully-created laws the Sisters put down on this world for us. Relationships were banned for a reason. It's unnatural to want another in such a carnal fashion. The cloning tanks were a clean method of reproduction. Now you've filthied our world with these primal urges."
"You're wrong." Saidan stepped out from behind me. "This is the nature of organic beings. It doesn't have to be ugly. It is whatever you make it." He took my hand. "I didn't do anything I didn't want to. I struggled a lot against this, wondering if it was right." He drew a gun from his belt and I looked at it in shock. It was a laser gun, of the type destroyed in the E.M.P. I realized he must have found it in the cage with the transmitter.
"I will protect what's important to me." Saidan fired a laser blast at the tunnel ceiling and the mob receded, stepping back with their primitive weapons. I didn't doubt that Saidan would shoot them if he had to. He would kill them all to protect me.
"Lay a finger on them and you'll spend the rest of your days in a jail cell." The mob turned around to face One, who had a small army of Valerians at her back. "You will let them go."
"You would risk civil war for these two?" The ringleader laughed.
"I am the elected Leader of the people. You will stand down." One stood resolute, staring down the leader of the mob with absolute confidence. The Valerians at her back were armed and ready to fight if need be. I stood tensely, wondering if a Valerian civil war would begin right there and then. It was a war that could destroy the entire race.
Perhaps the leader of the mob knew that, because he threw down his weapon. His followers took his lead, throwing down their homemade clubs until they formed a pile on the floor. The Valerians behind One stepped forward and gathered the weapons up.
"You may go." One dismissed the mob and they looked at each other with shock and surprise.
"We will not be punished?" The mob's ringleader looked at One, trying to figure out if it was some kind of trap.
"You have the freedom to hold your own political beliefs, as long as you do not infringe on the rights of others. No violence occurred here today, so no punishment will be given." One dismissed the leader of the Supply Building with a dismissive wave and he scuttled off with his mob, perhaps to come again another day.
"You knew that to punish him would be a bad idea." I stepped forward to meet One with Saidan at my side.
"Punishment only breeds resistance. If I was to punish him for this transgression, it would only make him stronger. His reverence for life under the Sisters will crumble so long as we pay it no mind." One dismissed her own followers and they headed back along the tunnel, leaving us alone with One.
"You've found a way to leave, haven't you? I can't stop you." One shook her head. "Perhaps you belong amongst the stars, Saidan. Be careful out there."
"I will. Thank you." Saidan bowed and stood up straight.
"Julian, I hope you are not the last human I ever meet. Your presence here has been very enlightening. Do not be worried. I won't allow myself to become a corrupted dictator like the Sisters. I have lived around people too long to allow myself to think I am better than they are. As for the 'true' Valerian race, well, they are long gone. We are all Valerians now." One smiled at me, her wisdom apparent in her words.
I nodded. I had a sense that everything was going to be okay under One's command. "I wanted to thank you for everything. For saving us from the Re-Education Building. For listening to our plans."
"I knew you were in love the second your eyes met," she said. "I was fascinated by it, so I let it grow. I wanted to see what it would become. I could have told the Sisters at any time. I could have had you punished. But I wanted to know what it was that we had been missing."
"Thank you," I said.
Saidan nodded. "Yes, thanks."
"Well then, let's get you out of here while the mob is still in disarray."
One led us through the tunnels and we climbed the stairs together in silence. I knew I should have more questions about the future of Valeria, but I felt they didn't really matter. We were leaving. Valeria would have to decide its own struggles without us. It was no longer any of my business.
We stopped at my level. I realized I had nothing to take back with me, but I waited with Saidan while One went to welcome Christine and the others. Within an hour, three figures in full radiation suits were bounding towards us. Christine handed a suit to me as I introduced Saidan.
"Put it on and we can get out of here, Julian."
I slipped into the large, unwieldy suit. I took One's hand and shook it. The doctor appeared from down the hallway and I shook his hand as well. Saidan bowed to them before following me. We ventured up into the light, leaving behind the dark, underground facility for the last time.
The light was blinding, but Saidan guided me through the streets. Valerians everywhere watched our unusual group walk through, but we were not harassed. The small shuttle sat on the same spot my ship had landed just a few months earlier.
It felt like years since I'd arrived on Valeria, but that didn't stop me from looking back at the purple sky one last time as we boarded the shuttle. I knew with a deep certainty that I would never return. Valeria was a fledgling world that had to find its own path. The United Planets would place it off-limits for the foreseeable future. The Valerians had to decide what kind of world they wanted to create by themselves. The future was truly in their hands.
When we reached the main ship, we had to go through an extensive decontamination process that seemed to last hours. Our old clothes were destroyed and we were issued comfortable clothing that bore the insignia of the ship we were on. I was so exhausted by the time we were shown to our quarters that I waived a good meal in order to get a good night's sleep. Saidan and I curled up in the bed together and I slept for a good ten hours.
I woke to find Saidan standing at the window of our cabin, looking out at the stars. I joined him there. He was looking out at the planets of his solar system as the ship made its way to a safe wormhole creation point.
"We can come back someday, if you want."
"I don't suppose I ever will." Saidan turned away from the window. "Julian, can I listen to Riva Melodia now?"
"Oh, of course!" I said. "Computer, list Riva Melodia albums in memory."
"Searching. We have Stars in Space, Beyond The Fabric Of Time, Frost King, Ancient World and their latest album, Time Again."
"Computer, play Time Again." I turned to Saidan." I haven't heard this one. They must have released it while I was away."
We pulled up two chairs and sat in the middle of the room, listening to the sound as it swam around us. I turned on the visualizer and felt a little bit of vertigo as the walls seemed to fade away into a sea of stars that moved with the music.
"Incredible." We sat and soaked up the music before I had a realization. Saidan couldn't understand our language, but there was a fix for that.
"Computer, halt music. Request translation earpiece." Saidan looked at me in disappointment, but I hushed him as he moved to complain.
"That will be twenty thousand credits. Deduct from your main account balance, Julian?"
"Yes, go ahead." The earpiece fell out from a slot in the wall. It reminded me of the food dispensers at Feeding Time, and I realized it was going to take a long time for those memories to stop invading my life. I took the earpiece over to Saidan and he sat still as I fitted it over his ear.
"Can you understand me?" I asked in English.
"That is so weird," he said in Valerian.
"It's only one-way, but you'll be able to understand what the ship and crew are asking, as well as Riva Melodia's lyrics. Computer, restart music."
We sat back down and continued to listen. I was moved by the music, such a simple pleasure after being denied so much for so long. I let myself become lost in the sounds as we went on a musical journey through space and time. Saidan reached for my hand and our fingers entwined. I looked up to see him crying and, touched on a deep level by his tears of awe, I leaned over and kissed him.
"Incoming communication from Captain Christine Merrick. Accept?"
"Yes," I said, pulling away from Saidan. "What's up, Christine?"
"Are you going to eat, or just sit around listening to Riva Melodia all day? I want to see you in the mess hall, stat. I've yet to talk to your friend."
"Okay, we're on our way." The communication ended and I ushered Saidan to his feet. "Come on. Christine hates to be kept waiting."
*~*~*
The mess hall was virtually empty when we arrived. Christine was a striking figure with blood-red hair and sparkling green eyes. We approached her table. She broke into a broad grin and noticed Saidan's translation earpiece. She reached out her hand and shook Saidan's.
"So you're the one I've heard so much about. Saidan, right? Come on, grab a tray and sit down."
We each took a tray and walked along the food line. I tried to explain what different food items were to Saidan, but it was hard to explain flavors and textures I'd taken for granted my whole life before arriving on Valeria. He ended up getting a little bit of everything and we went back to Christine's table. I ate voraciously, so glad to get my hands on real food again. Christine and I watched Saidan sample everything on the platter.
"Everything has so much flavor," Saidan said. "It's overwhelming." I translated his words to Christine.
"Food on Valeria nothing to write home about, huh?" Christine asked.
"One flavor of protein bar. Bland," I said. "Don't visit Valeria for the food."
"I'll keep that in mind," Christine said, grinning. The door to the cafeteria opened and four figures walked in: two male, one female, and one genderqueer alien that made up Christine's quintet.
"Oh, let me introduce you," Christine said. "The Merrick family. My husbands Quinn and Vash, my wife Selena, and our partner Xin. Everyone, this is Saidan."
"So, um, are you all married to each other?" Saidan blushed as he asked the question. "I mean, do you all love one another, or do they just love you?" I translated for him so that the others could understand and I ended up blushing as well.
Christine laughed. "I see he has your level of curiosity, Jules. Yes, we're all married to each other. We love and are loved freely within our little family. I suppose it's a little strange to you, huh?"
"I think it's fascinating," Saidan said. "There's always someone there for you. You're never alone." I passed along his message and Christine smiled.
"Thanks, Saidan. You're right. It's nice to have a family."
"Don't get any ideas, Saidan," I said. "You wouldn't believe the amount of drama that goes on between them."
"You're just too jealous to share," Christine smiled.
"Yeah, that's about right," I admitted.
"Can I look around the ship?" Saidan asked through me.
"Absolutely," Christine said. We got up from the table and Saidan walked to the door, but Christine held me back.
"Wait, Julian. There's something I have to tell you." I motioned Saidan to go on without me. "There's a reason I came all the way out here to find you. Professor Lankis died last week. Complications from KEVAC Syndrome."
I slumped down into a booth and Christine sat opposite. My legs suddenly felt weak. "I wasn't able to help him. I didn't learn anything."
"That's not true and you know it. He knew what you would find on Valeria wasn't scientific knowledge, but your own human heart." Christine laid a hand on my shoulder.
"Yeah. He knew it better than I did." I ran my hands through my hair, fighting back very real tears. I'd known Lankis was dying, but I'd hoped he might still be alive to see my changes.
"Of course he did. He was a genius. Earth is poorer without him. All we can do is continue his work, Julian. You and I, his two greatest students." Christine held up her glass. "To Professor Lankis."
"To Professor Lankis." Our glasses collided and we drank to the man who had taught us everything.
"Saidan is one hell of a scientist himself, you know."
"I don't doubt it," Christine said. "I couldn't imagine you falling in love with some village idiot. The Foundation's going to be very interested in him."