Adventures of Tash and John

Her heart was racing. She could feel a small bead of sweat running down the back of her neck. Suddenly she was very aware of the stillness of the world around her. A warm early-afternoon light was filtering into the room. The shadows it cast as it ran across the rooms furniture caused odd angled and thin projections along the wall beside her. The screen flashed. She gulped. She now realized her mouth was dry and contemplated just canceling this whole endeavor and getting a glass of water. No, she had come this far. It was too late to back away now.

The screen flashed at her again, letting her know that her requested function had been completed. This was it, she thought, no backing down now. She had come this far. Well, maybe if she were to accidentally drop... Her thought was cut off by the computer letting her know that a connection had been established and a video feed would be brought up momentarily. Before she knew it there was another woman looking at her. A female Kai'ani, much older than her. The other woman held a look of confusion for a moment before her face lit up.

"Tashaiea!" The woman exclaimed, smiling warmly as she did so.

"Hi mom!" Tash replied as enthusiastically as she could.

"We haven't gotten a message from you in ages, let alone an actual video call." Her mother said 25 seconds later. It may have been a live call, but the travel time of the information still took a few seconds. "You're obviously not at your apartment, unless you've changed your décor tastes." Her mother noticing the fairly extravagant furniture in the room behind her. "Where are you?"

"I'm on Artasia-Ra. It's close enough to Kai that I can get a live feed." Tash explained to her mother.

"Oh!" Her mother said excitedly. "You're finally back to our home space? After so many years? We never thought you were ever coming back. And as your mother, you know I have to know why."

"Well, I met someone and I've been traveling with him for quite a while now." Tash said, trying to phrase her words as carefully as possible.

25 seconds later Tash could see an almost ear to ear smile form on her mother. She knew she was about to get a flurry of questions.

"HIM you say?" Her mothers smile kept growing. "Oh Tashaiea! I knew you would find yourself a suitor! My sister said that you were simply too odd to attract a suitor, what with your alien entertainment programs and ridiculous figurine collection." Tash felt a little stab in her heart at that last comment. "But I always knew you would. And look at you now! Traveling with a male! Is he of Kai?"

Tash tried to think very carefully before answering that last question.

"He's not really from around here." She finally decided to say, not exactly a lie.

"Oh, he's from a colony then? What family is he from? What's his name?" Her mother started firing off rapidly.

"Umm..." Tash's mind started racing on how to explain that John wasn't exactly what her mother was expecting. "His name is John." She finally said after a few seconds of blanking. "His family doesn't do traditional family names."

"John?" Her mothers puzzled response came 25 seconds later. "I've never heard that name before. Although I have heard that some of the colonials don't stick to traditional family ranks..." Her mother paused and looked as if she was thinking over the matter. Her look quickly changed back to one of joy "Oh, it doesn't matter! My daughter has a male! I'm so proud of you Tashaiea! I knew you could do it!"

"Thanks mom." Tash cracked a weak smile. "I have to go though, John and I are leaving tomorrow and we're heading back out of home space."

"Nonsense!" Her mothers reply came. "You two are coming to Kai so that the family can meet him. In fact I just booked you two for a transport leaving Artasia-Ra for Kai for tomorrow afternoon."

Tash's terminal flashed showing that she had indeed booked the two of them on a rapid transport bound for Kai tomorrow afternoon. The younger woman's heart sank in her chest. This was what she got for trying to talk with her mother. She was about to say something when her mothers reply continued, cutting her off.

"You're coming home Tashaiea." Her mother said sternly. "I'm not taking no for an answer."

"Alright." Tash croaked out. A panicked frenzy had started in her head.

"Oh it's going to be so good to see you again!" Her mothers joyful demeanor returned. "I'm so proud of you! We'll see you in a few days!"

The transmission was suddenly cut off by her mother before Tash could stagger anything else out. The young woman sunk back in her chair and let out a loud groan. It wasn't long before she hear the familiar footsteps of her lover coming out of the room behind her. John had been in the other room doing... something. Calibrating his leg braces she thought. It didn't really matter as he was now behind her with his hands on her shoulders. He started massaging them lightly and Tash allowed herself to kind of drift off into the pleasant sensation. It wasn't long before John spoke up however.

"What's wrong babe?" He asked, still rubbing her shoulders.

Tash let out a sigh. "That was my mother. Decided to live call her. Regretting that now."

John suddenly stopped rubbing. After a second Tash leaned her head back so she was looking at John upside down. She could see a look of confusion on his face.

"I thought your mother was on Kai." He said finally.

"Yeah?" Tash said, feeling confused herself now at John's question.

"Isn't Kai lightyears away from here? How were you talking to her?" John asked, his confused look growing.

Tash just stared at his upside down face for a little while with a dumbfounded look on her face. After a few seconds it occurred to Tash that John actually didn't know how she had done it. He wasn't just playing dumb.

"Do humans not use Quantum Space Compressed Communications?" Tash asked, translating the words as best she could from her native language.

"Quantum what now?" John replied.

Tash sat up and turned around in the chair to face her boyfriend.

"Sending a compressed data stream through forced open microscopic holes in space-time? Human's don't do that?" Tash asked, legitimately curious now.

John responded after a moment of thinking.

"I've never even heard of that before now. I didn't even know that was possible." John stated, his surprised look still with him.

"Well then how do Humans talk over long distances?" Tash asked with genuine curiosity.

"We don't, at least not like like that. We send message probes to one another, fired at FTL from drone carriers. If two people aren't within at least a few light minutes of each other, real time communication is basically impossible." John tried his best to explain. "I've been on some of the most advanced ships in the fleet and I have never seen or heard of anything like that."

"Well you can't put them on ships. Or at least I don't think so." Tash replied. "It's still pretty secretive about how they actually work. My people don't really like to share our technological advances with other species. All I know is that it takes a stationary relay station to make the holes and to send and receive data. The Voss use something similar but ours seems to be much more advanced."

"Huh." Tash heard John say. He looked like he was thinking over the information she had just told him. "Can I use it to contact Earth?" He asked after a moment.

"Does Earth have a relay station? Because if not then no. Data can only be sent between two stations that have the holes in space-time." Tash clarified for him.

"Oh, okay." John said after a moment. He was silent for a little while before speaking back up. "So what did your mother want?"

Tash groaned again and spun back around in the chair.

"She wants us to come to Kai." Tash said in an annoyed tone. "I told her I was seeing someone and she got all crazy and bought us tickets to leave tomorrow."

"Well that doesn't seem so bad." John tried to comfort her. "I would love to meet your family."

"No you don't." Tash quickly replied. "My mother is going to throw a fit when she sees you."

"Why?" John asked cautiously.

Tash sighed in a way that made John understand what she was about to say.

"It's because you're not Kai'ani." Tash said at last. "My mother is a strong believer in genetic purity of her line. Apparently the amount of tests that she made my father do before she finally bred with him was bordering on the insane. Everything had to be completely planned, right down to my hair color." Tash paused and made eye contact with John. "She's a fanatic. And once she finds out that her pride and pure daughter is with an alien that can't even contribute to our family line, she's going to freak."

The two sat in the quiet of the end of Tash's last comment for a minute before John finally broke the silence.

"I still think we should go." He said reassuringly.

"No..." Tash was able to get out before John cut her off.

"How long as it been since you've seen your family?" He asked, almost demanding.

"A few years." Tash said with a sigh.

"Exactly." John said. "Fanatics or not I know your family will want to see you. And what's the worst that can happen? If she kicks us out I'll just find us a place to stay. At least that way we can still make the most of the trip." John walked over to her and pulled her up out of the chair, giving her a kiss when she was fully upright. "I think this will be good for you. Don't shut out your family because of me."

Tash sighed and said alright. John gave her another kiss for her troubles and let go of her to walk back into the other room. John was being incredibly too optimistic about this she thought. She could almost feel the anger of her mother already. Tash closed her eyes and slumped back into the computer terminal's chair. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad. It would be nice to see her father again and it had been a long time since she'd been home. If anything it would be fun to show John around where she grew up. A small smile crept across her face. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

The following morning came far too fast for Tash's liking. She hadn't been able to sleep much the previous night. Thoughts of the inevitable conflict with her mother had kept her awake and her eyes seemed to spend more time staring at the hotel bedrooms ceiling than at the inside of her eyelids. John of course had no such troubles and was fast asleep beside her, a quiet snoring coming from his mouth as it always did. At first her lovers nighttime noises had annoyed her and kept her awake. But as time went on she started to find them soothing. Just a little reminder that she was no longer alone. When the morning finally did come she was the first one out of bed. A rare occurrence.

She considered waking John early so that they could watch the sunrise together but eventually deciding against it. She'd let her man sleep, she kind of felt like having some alone time right then anyways. As quietly as she could Tash walked into the main room. The sun was just now coming over the horizon and a warm orange glow filled the room. Tash walked over to the mineral tub, removed her only piece of clothing (as usual she just wore her panties to bed), dropped it to the side and slid herself in. She let the relaxing heat of the water wash over her. She was going to miss this tub. Tash felt like it was the only place where she could just let her problems wash away. She was able to let her mind go blank and just focus on the soothing sensation of the water on her skin.

The young Kai'ani wasn't sure how long she had been in the tub before she heard a rustling sound from the bedroom. It seemed like John had finally woken up. The Kai'ani opened her eyes, apparently having closed them some time before that she couldn't remember. She rotated herself in the tub so that she would be facing the direction that John would inevitably come from. Some 10 minutes later she heard John make his way into the room. She had closed her eyes again, but this time didn't bother opening them. She could hear John coming closer to her.

"Getting one last soak in the tub?" She heard John say.

"Mmhm." Tash replied, not bothering to open her eyes.

"How long have you been in there?" John inquired again.

"A while." The woman responded, not actually knowing how long herself.

"Are you going to get out anytime soon?" She could hear the smile in John's voice through the inquisitive tone.

"Mm-mm." Tash said shaking her head and sliding a little deeper into the water until it was just under her nostrils.

"You can't stay in there forever." Her man stated.

Tash just blew bubbles in the water.

"Tash," John's tone turned to a more serious one. "I know you don't want to see your family, but I'm sure they want to see you. Our transport leaves in a few hours and we still need to get packed. So why don't you get out and help me? Because I'll drag your wet, naked ass to the spaceport if I have to."

Tash groaned. She lifted her mouth out of the water and opened her eyes. John was standing about 2 meters away from the tub, looking down at her with a concerned look on his face.

"I don't wanna." Tash complained.

John sighed. "Well if you won't do it for your family then will you at least do it for me? I want to see what your home looks like. And I promise, if things don't go well we can leave. Alright?"

"Okayyyy." Tash said a few seconds later after letting out a groan.

Reluctantly the young Kai'ani started pulling herself out of the water. The coolness of the air in the room caressed her bare skin, causing her to shiver slightly. She could see John's eyes tracking her as she moved. It's not like her Human had never seen her naked but it was still a nice feeling to know that she could still command his attention just by being there. Tash considered putting on a show for John and then decided against it. She was really too tired for that right now. Besides, they could always play later. When she was fully out of the tub she grabbed a towel from a nearby shelf and wrapped herself in it. She turned away from the shelf and back to John.

"There," Tash said. "Happy now?"

She could see a small smile across her mans face as he, probably subconsciously, started looking her up and down.

"Yes." John said, refocusing his attention on her face instead of her body. "Why don't we get packed and then go grab some breakfast, okay?"

Tash smiled and nodded. "Okay."

It didn't take long for the two to repack all their belongings in the few bags they traveled with. Tash made sure to carefully pack her now recently mended dress in the center of her clothes bag. They had taken it and gone to see the tailor a few days prior. The shopkeep had offered to fix the dress free of charge stating that he was glad someone had taught Khera a 'lesson in humility'. Apparently the woman that Tash had beat the shit out of was not a very well liked individual. She tended to use her name and family influence as a reason to do whatever she pleased, often at the expense of others.

That attitude had started to shift however after her quite public and humiliating defeat at the hands of an offworlder and an alien. Tash and John had apparently inspired the public to finally say 'No' to some of the high born woman's more outlandish demands. That was good, Tash thought. She hoped that the bitch would get so upset that she would trip and break her face open or something. The thought made her smile. When they were satisfied with their packing job, Tash and John headed out of the room and down to the hotel's dining area.

The room wasn't terribly full. Only a few other guests, all Kai'ani, were sitting spread out throughout the room. They all seemed like business types to Tash, with their formal attire and well groomed features. A few of them momentarily stopped what they were doing to look at John. It didn't last long however. After looking over the alien guest they all seemed to return to whatever more important tasks they happened to be attempting to accomplish. Tash and John found a nice secluded table in the far corner of the room and sat down. Tash looked over the electronic menu and ordered them some drinks and appropriate breakfasty foods.

John had been pretty much just eating whatever Tash had ordered him. Partly because he didn't know what any of the foods were and also partly because he seemed to be able to eat anything. Tash was herself a little bit more picky, but was slowly starting to appreciate a wider variety of foods. She supposed it was kind of a necessity when you traveled a lot. Their food was brought to them by a young Kai'ani male. Tash had ordered a couple of flaky pastry like baked goods and a salad made from local edible plants. The couple thanked the waiter for their food and dug into their meal. They ate in relative silence before John decided to break it and speak up.

"So, you've never really told me much about your family." John said after taking a sip of his drink. "Anything important I should know before hand?"

Tash sighed into her salad. "I try not to talk much about them."

"Yeah I noticed." John chuckled slightly. "How come?"

"My family and I..." Tash paused, stalling so she could find the right words. "We don't really agree on many things."

"Oh?" John said with an intrigued look on his face. "What might those be?"

"Ugh." Tash vocalized with an almost annoyed look on her face. "It's mostly my mother really. She does not agree with my... lifestyle choices."

"Okay." John said, clasping his hands together on the table and leaning in.

Tash paused again and seemed to slump back in her chair. She tried to take another bite of her salad before deciding against it, letting her utensils fall back in the bowl and instead took a sip of her drink.

"We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." John reassured her.

"No, it's fine." Tash said after setting down her drink. "My mother doesn't agree with my photography. She also won't see the value in my hobbies. She kept telling me that if I spent as much time on trying to find a male as I did on my collections, I would have a contribution to the family by now."

A small scowl flashed across the young woman's face. "'Tashaiea, stop spending so much time in your room!', 'Tashaiea, stop playing around with those figurines!', 'When I was your age I had already claimed your father Tashaiea, why can't you go out and find someone?'." Tash said in a mocking tone. "Si'nveh..."

The last word Tash had muttered under her breath. John's translator seemed to tell him that the closest English translation was 'bitch'. He frowned.

"I'm sure she means well." John said.

"She never does that to my brother." Tash pouted.

"I didn't even know you had a brother." John said, trying to change the subject.

"Yeah, Kesse." She replied. "He is a few years younger than me. I guess my mother is never on him because he is male. He doesn't have to worry about the family line. Just focus on being a suitor."

"Is he your only sibling?" John asked.

"Mmhm, it's just myself, brother, mother and father. Pretty average family." She stated.

"I have a brother and a sister myself. Hanah and DJ. They're fraternal twins, both younger than me. I guess I haven't really talked much about my family as well." John admitted.

"Fraternal?" Tash asked, mulling the word over in her head while displaying a puzzled look.

"Yeah, it means they're twins, both born at pretty much the same time, except they're different genders. They don't look alike either." John attempted to explain.

Tash made a humming sound before speaking up. "Twins are very uncommon for Kai'ani. And I've never heard of twins being opposite genders either, or not looking the same."

"It's pretty rare for Human's too, but it does happen. But anyways," John continued. "Tell me about your family. I don't want to be too caught off guard when I meet them."