Goddesses Pt 05

"Sir I'm going to have to submit a proposal for a tug ship to be sent out... ASAP."

The chief flight coordinator slowly turned in his chair to face the young man. He squinted at his uniform: the grey and orange of the remote scouting division. "Oh? That's going to be tough to squeeze in to this week's schedule, lad. What is it you've found out there that is so important?"

"You may recall the ship disappearance of 2107? The shuttle from Earth which never made it back to Eva."

The coordinator's eyes focused, his posture straightened. "Yes, of course. A bit of a tarnish on our otherwise excellent flight track record. Go on...?"

"We've found it. Or at least something that fits its description... we're ninety percent sure this is it. It's flying well off course but it isn't too far out." The young man held out a tablet, on which a blurry image of the outdated vessel could be seen against the starry backdrop.

The flight coordinator squinted at the image, then looked up at the young man, incredulous. "My god, son. That's... That's definitely one of the old ships. Wow." He wheeled closer to peer down at the image. "By The Eldest..."

The young man nodded. "The proposal?"

"Submit it. I'll take care of the rest."

"Consider it done, sir."

Chapter 1

"She's coming to."

"Get her air tube out."

Gloved hands opened my mouth. I coughed as hard plastic scraped my throat, then slowly began to breath on my own. It wasn't the processed air of an Astro-X ship. It was my second time coming out of stasis... or my third, by a looser definition. I knew what to expect.

"Can you drink?"

I nodded, and the familiar hot orange fluid of recovery drink was thrust before me. I took a couple deep draws from the straw.

"Are you able to speak?"

"Ah... yes," I whispered. I sensed a mutual inhaling of breath around me, then whispering. People had gathered to see me awaken. I didn't bother trying to open my eyes, knowing they weren't yet ready to see.

"That's good. Eva, are you able to get out of the stasis chamber?"

"...Let's try."

They unstrapped my head and torso and, weakened, I let the arms of strangers catch me. Barely exerting my own force I stepped out of the chamber and was guided to a stretcher, where I was wrapped in a blanket, laid down and promptly wheeled away.

***

I'd been given a private room where a lone a nurse quietly tended to me. She wouldn't speak, so I resigned myself to just lie and wait for my strength to return. I had so many questions. Where was Val? Was she okay? Where was

I

, even?

When finally I seemed to have recovered the nurse quietly slid open a drawer. She took out a folded hospital gown, which she set at the foot of my bed. "Please wear these until you've found clothing. Are you able to receive visitors yet?"

I glanced at the soft teal fabric of the hospital dress. "Ah, sure. I'll take anyone."

She nodded and left. I unwrapped myself from my blanket and slowly set my feet on the cool floor. Cautiously I stood. My legs didn't fail. I slipped into the sterile gown and tied a lace behind my back, pulling it tight against me, then sat back down on the bed to wait.

There was a knock on my door. "Come in."

It slowly opened, and there stood Marla, Angela and Melissa. Their clothes had changed but they of course looked exactly as they had long ago on Earth... youthful, beautiful and perfect. The twins' faces were creasing into looks of joy and sorrow as they ran to me. "Eva! Eva, oh my god, it's true!"

I was held tight in their arms as their hot tears wet my cheeks. "Angela, Melissa..." I looked back to the doorway where Marla stood, a placid smile on her face. "Mom..."

"This is unbelievable! After all these years," Angela gushed.

Marla gently sat down on a table, still looking very genuinely pleased. "...Welcome back."

"Where have you been," Melissa demanded.

"I... I've been asleep, mostly."

"No doubt, that ship they salvaged is practically

ancient

!"

I blinked. "It... it is?"

The twins nodded quickly.

My stomach seemed to sink into the bed. "...What do you mean?"

"It left Earth in the twenty-one hundreds. It's been missing for a long time."

"Then what year is it?"

"It's twenty-two-forty-three."

"Oh... oh god, not again...!"

Angela giggled, "yes! But now you're here, on... on your planet!"

"Darling, what do you mean by 'not again'? Is this not the first time you've spent a long time in stasis?"

"No, mom," I said. My directness seemed to surprise her, and indeed, as far as I was concerned we'd seen each other weeks ago, while to her it had been centuries. "I've been doing a lot of sleeping, it seems. Practically since the last time I saw you."

Her brow furrowed, "you've been in stasis for

centuries

? All this time? How... how is that possible? The technology wasn't available back then."

I tiredly leaned my head on one of my sisters' shoulders, and though they were attentively listening they cooed softly and held me closer. "Let's just say, uhm... that I went for a very long, cold hike up a mountain."

"You just... froze?" Angela said.

"Yeah. And I've only been conscious since then for a couple weeks, at first in what was to me the future of Earth, and then mostly on that ship. Were there any other survivors? The pilot?"

Marla's expression became cautious. "A good few human passengers, as well as some animal cargo, did last the extended stasis."

"And Valerie?"

My mother could tell how much Val meant to me. She turned her gaze to the ground, not having any more good news to convey.

My heart broke. My sisters came crushing in even tighter, and I took some solace in knowing that I at least was amongst family.

***

"So, since you were awake aboard that ship, I take it you've learned a bit about the planet Eva?"

The world of goddesses was utterly mind boggling. I could barely comprehend what the capitol city of Evita had become as I stared out my window in astonishment. "Yes, I've learned a little. But I think things may have changed since then. For one thing I was told the city was brand new, but now I can see that it's had time to grow..."

We were seated inside what I suppose could be described as a car, though to my eyes it was so outlandishly futuristic that my old definition was being stretched to the limit. The vehicle, which was made of jagged pieces of gleaming, coloured metal, was fully automated and hovered above "roads" which zig-zagged through the astonishing, towering citadel. Those roads were not confined to the ground, for above us more such vehicles zoomed towards their destinations over seemingly endless bridges. Inside the seats were arranged in a circle, and at its centre we were gathered around a low console which Marla used to command our travel.

I was still dressed in my hospital gown. Luckily the climate was balmy and pleasant, so I wasn't under clothed. My sisters and mother, meanwhile, were looking fabulous in the fashions of the future.

"Grow it has, darling. It all has. Our world is a bustling, fascinating place... and you and I created it."

I shook my head, deeply moved. "How big is the city now?"

"I think it's about equivalent in size and population to any major North American city from your time. And then there are other settlements sprawled out over the sub continent."

"Okay. And what about the other continent?"

"We don't really talk about it," Angela said.

"Why's that?"

"Because they don't believe in you," Melissa replied with a coy grin.

"Uh... I'm sorry?"

My mother began a lengthy explanation: "What your sister meant is that... well, there's been a rift between us and the Lemurians over the past century. We have differing ideals, and as our populations have grown and cultures have diverged they have begun to covet our position as the original rulers and colonizers of Eva.

"They believe we should live simple lives, as goddesses did before humans dominated Earth. No technology, no economy. And while there's nothing wrong with that they have gone on to think we on the southern continent, a technological society, are therefore traitors to the race. So they challenged us, proposing leadership be moved north, and that the planet should be renamed."

"Well, I wouldn't mind the renaming," I said. "I find it a little weird having the planet named after me."

"It does seem to have been a short sighted move, now that you're with us again. But you have to understand, that by the time our first ships had touched down on this soil you were already a legend to goddesses. It only made sense at the time.

"Under the guidance of The Eldest they wouldn't back down on their stance. Eventually we just cut contact with them. They can call the world whatever they want, but as long as they adhere to their technophobic ways they'll be doing so on their own. It's illegal now to send any travel nexuses their way, and there is no electronic communication between us."

"They went so far as to deny that you've ever existed," Melissa said. "They decided you were propaganda created by the Dennis dynasty, a romantic legend to legitimize our rule of the planet."

"You have to admit, it's a hard argument to fight," Angela added. "Since the day we arrived I could count on one hand the people here who had actually ever even seen you."

"But that's all going to change," Marla said with a delicious smile. "Now that you're with us, there can be all kinds of change."

"We'll start with her clothes," Angela said, eliciting a stifled giggle from her twin.

Chapter 2

In a deep marble hall, north and across the equator, The Eldest solemnly waited for her second. She sat on an ornate cushion, while accordingly regal clothes of creme coloured linen draped loosely off of her ancient yet youthful figure. Her skin was fair and soft, her hair a spectacular explosion of broad black curls which she wore high, displaying the gleaming gold hoops of her earrings.

At the sound of footsteps she looked up and saw her visitor approach. She nodded to her second and motioned to another cushion in front of her. Genera sat down, dressed in the traditional formal wears of an Aerotian goddess... scant coverings for her chest and loins, held in place by fine chains. Her long black Mediterranean curls, tighter than the Eldest's, were tied back in a bushy ponytail.

"Good day, Genera."

"Good day to you too, Eldest." Genera held her deep blue gaze, showing that she was both confident yet respectful in her presence. At almost two hundred fifty years old she was no child, but then The Eldest's age was measured by the millenia. She was reputed to be the only goddess to remain from the time before the great deluge which had ended their initial rule of Earth. She was older than the civilization they had left behind, and to the Lemurians she was the sole word on what it was to be divine.

"I trust you've been well?"

"The times of late have been tense, but neither I nor my worshippers have yet personally felt their sting."

The Eldest nodded.

"...and I have your appointing me as The Second to thank for that."

"It only makes sense that you, the goddess of Aerotia, should be such. How many generations of Lemurians are lineated from you? More than I would care to count. But unfortunately the rest of our people cannot be so... prioritized.

"Wherever I walk I hear growling stomachs, I see hollow eyes devoid of passion. The contamination robs us of our spirit, and it threatens to rob us also of our lives."

Genera nodded, "this I know too well." Earthly vegetation in Lemuria was being supplanted by native growth. The violet and maroon plants, fatally poisonous to any Earthly biology, was reclaiming the soil at an increasing rate, threatening to starve goddess, human and animal alike. The recent round of harvests had yielded weakened, diseased crops. Food was being rationed.

To make matters worse there had been no more births. As the soil's microbial makeup slowly turned back to its native state, trace chemicals in Lemurian food were rendering Earthly zygotes unviable.

"This is a matter of survival. Genera, it pains me to admit this, but in our situation, here on an alien planet, there may be some need for technology after all." She dipped her head regretfully, "or else we will starve."

From the dour look on The Eldest's face Genera could see that admitting the fact in just the privacy of her company had already immensely harmed her pride. She chose her words wisely: "Eldest, that is a very bold statement. A kingdom of goddesses has never been a place for machines, but, we must observe that our kingdom lies within the harshest of environments. Our situation may indeed call for some compromises to protect our harvest. I must agree with you..."

"Please, not a word of this to any others."

"I will hold this conversation in confidence."

"Good." The Eldest began to sift the material of her gown through her fingers, "there must be some sort of biological science, some chemical devilry the scientists of Eva Australis have to address this issue. They are always...

tinkering

."

"There may be, yes." Indeed, talk on the streets often went in that direction:

Surely they aren't also starving in the south!

"I have a task for you then. You will find a way to contact Eva Australis and investigate whether they do in fact have a cure for our harvests."

Genera balked a moment, then nodded, trying to hide her displeasure. The Eldest was asking her to do the impossible; there was an ocean between their nations, and the travel and communications infrastructure had long been removed.

The Eldest smiled forgivingly, "yes, I know, I am asking you for a lot. But just think of some way to do it. You have all of my facilities at your disposal."

Genera nodded again, slowly accepting her challenge. "I do know one thing we can try," she said.

"Oh?"

"We can offer them... Jessica," Genera said with some hesitancy.

The Eldest leaned closer, "I'm sorry? Speak louder."

"Jessica. We can offer her to them."

"Jessica, that reclusive orange haired woman on the outskirts?"

"Yes, she." Just the thought of her, so achingly beautiful and misunderstood, made Genera's heart flutter.

"How can she be of any use to us? She is an embarrassment. I would expect no less than treason from the likes of her!"

During the earliest times on Eva Jessica chose to live in Lemuria, preferring a simple life over the fast pace of modernity to the south. Attitudes toward Eva Australis began to change, and she soon found that with passing time the likelihood of her ever being able to move south to that place dwindled while the story of her life provoked increasing levels of outrage from her fellow citizens.

She had the audacity to claim not only that the legend of Eva Dennis was true, but that she was her mother.

Genera at least believed her, as she and the fair haired female shared a long history. She knew she was quite sane. In a way, Jessica was not only the mother of Eva, but also of all of the Aerotian goddesses... after all, if it weren't for her Genera never would have risen to her divine potency.

She was the most misunderstood person in Lemuria. No one knew how much of an influence she had played in the populating of their nation.

"That may be so, but she was sired by Marla. I think the southern queen should still have a soft spot in her heart for her."

Lord knows, I still do

. "And if her words seem treasonous, they will only help endear her to them for us."

"I was not aware of that relation between she and Marla Dennis. And it is true, they would probably enjoy some of the vile things she says." She took a deep breath. "Very well. Have her do it."

"But even if we do convince her to help us, how are we to contact Eva Australis?"

"I will see to that."

"Very well. Will that be all?"

"Yes. Please hurry. If you need me I will likely be in the archives."

"...The archives?" The archives were a seldom visited place full of Earthly literature. It was of little importance to the Lemurian lifestyle. The Eldest was the last person she would expect to go there.

She chuckled, "yes. It seems we are having to make all sorts of compromises. I have some researching to do, if ever that Jessica should cross the ocean."

Genera nodded, then bowed her head respectfully before she rose from her pillow and left.

Chapter 3

She'd been given a reason to visit Jessica, and for that she wasn't going to waste another moment. That in doing so she was meant to rescue her nation... well, it seemed unlikely that the plan would properly pan out, but to simply be able to spend an evening with the reclusive beauty was reason enough for her to attack the task head on.

She'd returned home to change her clothes, preferring something soft and unintimidating before she would present herself to her. In the end she chose to wrap herself in a pink sarong. It was comfortable, and it was her preferred outfit when she, just a girl, had first met the goddess. Those times on Aerotia were centuries in the past, but neither she nor Jessica would ever forget the innocence and pleasure they'd shared. She turned to her mirror and saw herself dressed as she was at age eighteen in those layers of light gauze, flirtatiously baring the tanned skin of her ample cleavage and shoulders as well as her legs from the mid-thigh down, clinging to her every curve. Jessica wouldn't be able to resist her.

She filled a basket with rare goods, then covered it with a clean rag. It would be her offering, a token of good will. She dared not reveal it to the starving eyes of the village.

She clutched it close to her belly as she left her home, walking the stone lined gravel paths. It was turning evening, and citizens were retiring to their own homes to eat unsatisfying meals. At her back loomed the grand palace of Lemuria, an immense structure made of marble columns and levels, surrounded by statued depictions of goddesses. Her home was one of the little villas clustered around it, separate dwellings for those who held rank but preferred not to live within the royal halls.

Jessica's home was a long walk from the centre of the city and it would be hours until she reached it. The mood reminded her of how it had been in Aerotia, when she as a young lady would sneak out of the temple to visit her goddess' secret forest abode. Before her the moons were beginning to rise above the treeline, their silvery light spilling out of the gaps between palm leaves. That they were a pair was a reminder that despite the night's similarities to those old days on Earth, the times were very different.

Nevertheless, dressed in her humble and unassuming sarong Genera felt feminine and young. For once she could let herself be caught in the moment and forget that she was responsible for the well being of Lemuria. That night, she would simply be Jessica's worshipper.

When finally she'd arrived the moons were high over head, washing the forested floor with their soft, cool light. After knocking she heard some shuffling, and eventually the door opened a crack. "Who's that?" Jessica whispered.

"It's me." Genera lifted her basket, pulling the rag away so its contents could be seen. "I... brought some gifts, too."

Jessica squinted into the relative dark. At the sight of the fresh bread and untainted vegetables, the smell of preserved meat, her stomach ached.

"I thought maybe you'd like to join me for dinner?"

"Come in," she replied quietly, opening the door.

Genera stepped inside and set her basket down on a table. The house was really just a hut, the humblest of abodes in a secret clearing of the woods. Her bed, her kitchen, her table and belongings were all arranged in sections of the same circular room. The only break in the open space was an Aerotian styled veil which partitioned Jessica's sleeping space off from the rest. The floor was planks of purplish-brown alien wood, worn smooth over the years, and a column of the same material was in the center of the room, holding the thatched ceiling up.