When I awoke she was
standing silently at the foot of my bed. The closest I could come to describing
her was that she was a cross between a giant lizard and a human being. She was
stark naked, standing bolt upright and staring at me with strangely
comprehending eyes. This creature definitely did not come from our solar
system. The texture of the skin and the colour was unlike anything I’d ever
seen before. This was an alien being.
I waited for a while in
case I was hallucinating, and also to give myself time to take in my
surroundings. I was in another cave, but this time it was furnished - with
strange wall hangings and unusual light fixtures. The bed was upraised with a
sort of springy moss for a mattress and a woven jute-type blanket. The air in
here was cool and sweet, very unlike the warm farty atmosphere of the other
cave. This was like heaven, except for the strange creature staring at me from
the end of my bed.
“Hello,” she bubbled at
me. “My name is Gennetta.” It was the same bubbly music coming from her mouth
that had come from my guardian angel. “How art thou?” she enquired melodiously.
I was completely taken aback and paused for a while to gather my wits.
“I am fine, but a little
confused. Your speech is beautiful…as beautiful as the angel who brought me
here. Perhaps I could speak to her?”
“Thou speakest to her
now.”
Not for all the tea in
Chinasia was this scaly looking creature anything like my angel. And yet…the
tone…the cadence of the music rang a bell in my heart that wouldn’t stop
vibrating. I looked again and knew it was her. It would seem that I had fallen
in love with a monster.
“I am that angel thou
sawest; in spirit anyway. In body, I am this.” She indicated her body with
graceful, delicate little hands. Then she noticed my frown of disappointment
and, I am ashamed to say, slight revulsion at the thought.
“Am I not pleasing?” She
leaned forward slightly with an air of concern. Even though her features were
very different to ours, it seems I could still read her emotions quite plainly.
“No,” I stumbled. “You
are pleasing…just…different.” It just didn’t seem possible that the voice of my
beautiful angel could come out of this snout-headed creature. And her nakedness
was even more unsettling, because her feminine parts looked, for all the world
to see, very human indeed, though a little greener than most – and…I hate to
say it…a little arousing. My heart was a ping pong bat of contrasting emotions
which threatened to wear me out if she hadn’t stepped in and put an end to my
metaphysical see-sawing.
“Thou hast been ill of a
while and all of this is unsettling. I do understand. But soon thou shalt be
well,” she bubbled, and my soul swam like a fish in the river of her song.
With great gentleness
she helped me sit upright, my skin thrilling to the feel of her fine sensitive
fingers. Truly, if I closed my eyes I was in heaven. I was hard pressed not to
curse my eyes for what they saw.
And then she fed me,
delicious fruits and nuts very similar to those grown on earth, (which I found
out afterwards they fetched from the valley at night) and water, clean and pure
like I’ve never tasted in my life.
“Thou art strong of
heart to have survived such an ordeal…and courageous.”
“And I’m very grateful
that you rescued me. But how come I saw you as an angel then and not now? And what
kind of spaceship was it that you rescued me with?” Isn’t it funny how a man is
usually more interested in the spaceship than the girl?
“I was ‘an angel’ as thou
calls it, because only my ‘angel’ could go into outer space to fetch thee back
here. My body would have died without air…just like thine.
“But how do you do it?
How do you change into an angel?”
“In my dreams. I do not
know how. I merely wish it to be when I go to sleep. I knew of thy plight…and
came to help thee.”
“How did you know?”
“Thou called me.”
I could see there was no
way I was going to get her to clarify that in any way that I could understand,
so I just let it lie and asked another question.
“But how come you looked
like a human being, and not as you are now?”
“Because that is the form
most pleasing to thee. An ‘angel’ can be anything you want. But to answer thy other
question; the spaceship vehicle that fetched thee here was bone-craft…the same
as these lights, and it took many, many years to make.” She paused here to
gather her thoughts for a difficult explanation. “We make everything out of
bone. The bone has many supernatural qualities and powers other than bestowing
heat and light. We women can become one with it for our own use, as I did with
my spaceship vehicle. Does that help thee to understand?”
“A little.” I remembered
the tiny craft as it had drifted down into the cave where I was marooned. At
first I thought it was just another delirium induced vision. It had hovered in
front of me like some great dinosaur egg, humming like an electrical substation.
Although I couldn’t see her I knew my angel was behind all this. I could feel
her presence. An invisible hatch had irised open and instinctively I had climbed
into the womblike interior. Inside I could vaguely discern her flowing form
glowing within the walls of the egg, her shape mingling with its molecular make-up.
“You said ‘we women’. What about the men?”
“The men are incapable
of releasing their angel as we can. This is a cause of great animosity between
us. But that is a story for another time.”
So, taking for granted
that I wasn’t delirious or mad, it was then that the obvious question arose in
my head.
“How come you speak my language?”
“And that is a much
longer story and needs good health for the telling and listening. So for now
let this suffice. Soon I will tell thee all thou desirest to know,” she said,
her song soothing me and taking away all my questions.
For a few days I drifted
in and out of consciousness while my body and mind repaired itself. In one of
my awakenings my angel again stood at the foot of my bed, and I flowed out to
meet her. I was sure she was my soul. I felt like she was the missing part of
me. This time she looked just like she did the first time she appeared to me on
the asteroid, with long silvery robes flowing down around her body. She smiled
and the music it made washed over me in ripples and waves. I laughed like a
baby being tickled. It was an exquisite pleasure. I wanted her to do it again
and again.
No, I lie, it was different this time. This time I was
aware that she was also Gennetta, the strange lizard creature with the hooty
snout, yet that didn’t detract from my enjoyment of her. I didn’t really seem
to care. I was in love. I wanted her more than anything else in the whole
world.
At that realization a
hidden thought surfaced, borne up from the depths of my suspicious nature.
‘This is too…..’ I thought, ‘too much like a spell.’ What strange powers did
this alien have that she could turn me into jello with a simple smile? She
smiled again and once more I couldn’t care less. I was as possessed as Hercules
had been by the sirens…but there was no mast to tie myself to so I walked
happily, nay, ran with arms open wide, to my doom. But it was not I that moved; it was she who walked
towards me and slipped gently into my arms.
“Good morning. I trust thou
slept well,” she chirruped from the doorway of my room with a little smile in
her voice and her head coquettishly canted to one side.
“I don’t know if I slept
much, but I had a very pleasant night thank you,” I said, trying to hide my
blushing face because I was completely unprepared for meeting her again…in the
flesh.
“Is that so? In what way
pleasant may I ask?”
“No, you may not,” I
couldn’t stop beaming all over my face.
“Ah. Men will have their
little secrets. But it is time for a bath. I have brought thee a robe, which I
made specially myself. I know how humans like to put on clothes. But I shall
not mind at all should thou wish to go naked…like we do,” she said, pointing to
her body with a smile.
“I think it will be a
little while before I am brave enough to do that. Thank you for the robe. That
was very thoughtful of you.”
She led me down a long,
well-lit tunnel in the rock with many rooms going off to the sides, all filled with
tapestries and woven cloths depicting strange settings and scenes. Some
bedrooms were like mine, others were bigger with chairs and tables – for what
purpose I didn’t know. All were empty, but I didn’t comment.
I could hear the
chattering long before we got to the room where they were gathered. We stopped
just inside the door of the very large room and Gennetta gave me time to take
in the scene. It was full of girls politely pretending not to notice us.
“That is Shim,” she
said, pointing to a girl close to us. “She is my second in command.”
“Second in command? It
sounds like you’re an army.”
“We are…in a way. And that
is…………..”
I forgot each name
almost as soon as I heard it. For one, they were unusual names and hard to
recall; for another there were just too many. The room, which looked a bit like
a dressing room, without the dressing, but with a lot of towels and drying
going on, was filled with about twenty five to thirty females of all shapes and
sizes. Indeed as diverse as any group of women on earth; all naked.
“Girls,” said Gennetta,
getting their attention. This is Eric, the earthling.”
“Hello everyone,” I said,
and waved shyly at them. They all chorused back a collective musical ‘hello’
that filled the room and echoed round the walls for many minutes. I have never
heard such a beautiful sound in my whole life.
“I am honoured to meet thee
all,” I said and bowed just so they got the message. How I came to behave and speak
in such a formal manner I don’t know. I suppose it was my way of trying to
equal their beauty and delicacy and poise. They made me feel gallant and
gentlemanly.
“The bath is this way.
The girls have let us be alone until thou art less ashamed of thy body. This
way,” she indicated with those exquisite hands of hers.
It was a room of
waterfalls, feeding the many pools dotted about the floor. Mosses and ferns and
subterranean plants grew all around and lent an air of nature to the barren
rock walls. Once more the room was lit by those strange bone torches whose
light reflected off the streams of water that cascaded from the roof. Some
fresh water spring above must have been channelled down here. The room was warm
and welcoming. I hoped the water wasn’t too cold.
“Would thou likest me to
leave thee alone so thou mayest shower?”
“No, please. The room
would be too empty without you. And besides,” I said, regretting my quick reply
immediately but trying to live up to my decision, “you’ve already seen me
naked.”
“Come then.” She helped
me off with my robe and led me to the nearest pool. I remember very little of
that first bath, except for the touch of her hands and being painfully aware of
her closeness and being terrified of my body’s responses to her. How could I be
so attracted to such an alien creature? For my part the water couldn’t have been cold
enough. It was indeed an agony and an ecstasy. Emotionally I don’t think I was
anywhere near ready for this. Her simplest touch brought tears to my eyes. I
felt so thankful that she loved me. Or was it that I loved her? And, as was her
nature, she noticed the moment of my mood and leaned in to hold and comfort me,
and I hugged her to my chest in sheer blessed relief for what seemed like
forever. She was the loveliest creature it had been my good fortune to know. I
could feel her heart beating gently against my ribs and knew then that this was
where I wanted to be.
But even forever comes
to an end and the next thing I knew I was being led back to my room, my mind a
chaos of confusing voices and commands, chastising and criticising me. That was
until she spoke, or laughed, and her music would chase all my doubts and fears
away and I’d be happy again.
There followed long lazy
days filled with only the two of us. Heaven knows I can’t remember what we
spoke about but I just remember being charming and wonderful. I was also back
to full health and she had taken to showing me more of the cave complex by way
of getting some exercise. We were always in one another’s company, as if that
was our natural habitat and often sat for long times just holding hands and
looking at one another, communicating via our eyes it seemed. Sometimes she told
me about her life. Sometimes she didn’t say words…just music…like laughter; it
flowed from her when she was happy.
And then one day the
bubble burst. Shim stuck her head around the corner while we were whiling away
the hours and hooted her message at us.
“There is work to do
Gennetta. Thou knowest that too much loving makest thou lazy.”
I threw a quizzical look
at Gennetta but she just nodded to Shim and got up off the bed.
“There is something we
need to do,” she said to me.
“Is this about the war?”
“Yes.”
“I want to come too. I’m
not letting you….”
“Not this time,” she
said with a firmness I hadn’t experienced before. There was no music in it and
I was left in no doubt that she meant her words.
“It is not wise to go to
war when thou knowest not what thou fighteth for.”
“Are you going to be alright?”
“I am. It is more of a…reconnaissance
mission. I shall be back soon, never fear.”
And with that she was
out of the room and gone.
I sat in stunned silence
for about half an hour, not knowing what to do with myself, and then I went to
sleep. It seemed the best way to deal with my separation anxiety.
I awoke to a most
terrifying scream and found myself rushing down the corridor before I was even
awake. All I had to do was follow the sound that never let up. My brain refused
to think but my legs were running like hell. I skidded round a corner and came upon
a scene of utter carnage. There was blood and lizards everywhere. Two women
were lying on the floor in great pain; huge gashes had been rent in their flesh
and others were busy trying to staunch the flow of blood with cloths and
towels. Bowls of water were being brought in, cups of yellowish liquid being
prepared and held in readiness.
“That will ease the pain
and stop any infection,” said a woman at my side. Then the most horrible
thought struck my head and my heart stopped. Gennetta! Where was Gennetta? I
looked frantically over at the two injured women but it was impossible to
identify them. Desperately I scoured the room and in seconds my eyes found her
and my heart started pumping again. She was working with the others trying to
save the injured girls. Tears started streaming down my face and I just
couldn’t stop crying. I had to get a grip.
“Just sit here. There is
nothing thou canst do,” said a kindly voice in my ear.
Many hours later I was
awakened by a gentle hand shaking me.
“Come. It is time to go
to bed,” said my Gennetta. “There is nothing more we can do for them.”
I had fallen asleep
against the wall of the cave. I really don’t know what the matter was with me,
except I can say in my defence I was not completely recovered from my ordeal.
But that excuse was starting to wear thin.
“Are they alright?” I
asked as we walked back to my room. “I mean, are they alive? They looked
terribly hurt.”
“They were. But they
will live. Not to fight again any time soon though. It was a bad night. We did
not expect them to be so fierce.” She nodded her head as if she was lost in
thought.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Nothing. Perhaps
later.”
“This war, I presume it’s
the men? You say there is friction between you because they cannot do the angel
thing. But why go to such extremes?”
“It is very complicated.
It is not only because they are jealous of our powers.”
“Then why are you at war
with them?”
“They……there are many
reasons; but I suppose the most important one is because they wish to invade Earth.”
It sounded quite silly
really, hearing someone say it out aloud. The only place that ever happened was
in the movies. I never for one moment ever believed it was really possible. I
gave a little bit of a snort of laughter and tried to cover it up with a cough
so as not to offend her. But she sat there looking at me without a
waver….waiting for my reply.
“You’re being serious?”
“Yes,” she said simply,
and my mind started to do a slow hundred and eighty degree turn as I struggled
to make place for her words.
“Can they do that? I
mean…”
“Yes they can. They have
the means and they have the motivation.”
I looked around for the
April fool joke. This was a statement I just didn’t want to take seriously.
Slowly the gooseflesh began to rise on the back of my neck. This wasn’t good. I
didn’t know what to say to her in reply. My mind was whirling with arguments
and counter arguments until I was quite dizzy.
By this time we had
arrived back at my room. I didn’t really want to speak anymore, so I just lay
down on my bed; a new kind of despair seeping up into my soul. She sat down on
the bed next to me and absentmindedly stroked the coverlet while she organized
her thoughts. Finally she began to speak.
“The only way to explain
everything adequately is by going back to the beginning and telling thee the
whole story.”
I just lay there,
looking up at the ceiling.
She took a deep breath
and began.
“Many millions of years
ago our sun began dying, and by association, our planet too. It got colder and
colder and the growing ice flows forced us to take refuge in these mountains.
We could see what was coming, but rather than give up and die, we (I of course
mean our very distant ancestors) began burrowing into the rock as deep as we
could go to prepare hibernation chambers for a select few, for the work was
hard and place could not be made in time for everyone. These few survived deep
underground in suspended animation for many millenia while the ice grew thicker
and thicker up on the surface. It could have stayed so for all time, but then a
miracle happened. A new sun appeared in the sky. Mythology tells us that a
giant dragon, sleeping in the darkest reaches of the sky, woke up to lay an
enormous cosmic egg that began to shine like a new sun.
It is upon this egg that
we modelled our space ship. Legend has it that it was the dragon that taught us
the song to sing to the bones, and that is how I control my space-ship, but therein
lies the largest bone of contention between men and women. The men cannot sing.
They cannot communicate like we women do, and they cannot control the bones. It
is all about controlling the bones, for in them is great power. The only way
for them to control the bones…is to control us.
“Anyway, as this new egg-sun
waxed, the ice flows retreated and the warmth spread down into the rock
chambers (where we are now, by the way) and revived the sleepers. They came out
of their burrows very much weakened, but alive. The plants and trees sent up
shoots again, and even some animals and insects emerged, having by some miracle
survived the apocalyptic winter. In no time at all the planet and our species
were thriving again. All went well for many millennia, until the Great Tragedy
happened.
“But that is a story for
another night. Suffice it to say that this new disaster led to the opening up
of the wormhole that connects our two planets’ solar systems together. That is
how I know thy speech. I have been to Earth…through the wormhole. I have been
studying thy people for a long time. I have also met many of them in my angel
form. That is why I am so pretty; I mimicked the best of the women there. But
thou art the first human I have met whilst in my flesh. That is why I am used
to the sight of thee. I do not find thee as….strange as thou findeth me. Over
the years I have grown very fond of humans, but now our men wish to invade Earth
and destroy them and I cannot let that happen.” She looked up at me and had a
very determined look in her eye.
“But enough of that. Come,
it is time for me to show thee the valley of bones.”
WHAT KIND OF WORLD HAS HE FOUND HIMSELF ON? AND WHAT OF THIS NEW RELATIONSHIP HE HAS WITH THE ALIEN?
