Magical Middy Tour

This is an attempt to write something that's probably far too ambitious for my modest abilities. Feedback, criticism, suggestions and comments will be cherished!

*****

IT took just a flicker of her magic to make her body light enough to float a few feet above the ground.

Bayeth made happy cooing sounds as the breeze ruffled her short, pale blue fur, her body twisting and rolling slowly, allowing the air currents to take her where they would.

For the moment, she was in her natural form. Small even for a Middy, just over four feet tall, she had coal-black eyes and hair a slightly darker shade than her body fur that cascaded down her back, soft and straight, all the way down to her upper thighs when she was standing.

She was, by the standards of her race, still a youngster. It was hard to calculate age on a planet that didn't orbit a star, but there were others who kept track of such things. They would have been able to tell her she was only a few years over 100.

Bayeth didn't care. She slept when she was tired, ate when she was hungry, played when she was energetic, and relaxed when she was calm.

Despite her youth and small stature, she wielded immense power. Middys instinctively knew how to tap into the planets magic reserves and channel them for their own use, and few could do it as automatically or efficiently as she could.

She spotted a herd of antelope a few hundred feet ahead. Giggling with delight, she sped ahead and down, sipping daintily from the magic. As her feet touched the ground, she transformed into a perfect replica of the herbivores, and spent a couple hours romping and bounding across the fields with them.

These animals were not natural to her planet. Centuries ago, they had been predatory cats. Bayeth's ancestors had changed them into gentle, harmless plant eaters during the historical epoch called 'the Perfecting.'

Anything dangerous, unpleasant or negative had either been transformed or removed-everything from disease-causing germs and bacteria to stinging insects to the largest carnivores.

To keep the ecosystem balanced, they used the planet's own magic. Every few 'months,' a psychic call would go out, and Middys would gather in the sacred places, pooling their gifts and talents to keep the air clean, the water fresh and clear, the plants blooming, and the animals healthy.

Panting, Bayeth let her body change back to its normal form, laughing softly as the antelopes surrounding her first jumped, startled, then crowded round to nudge and sniff her curiously. Their cold noses tickled!

She scratched one of the smaller males under the chin for a while, and it squeaked with pleasure. Then she patted it tenderly on the head and let herself float away again.

She wrapped a clear protective bubble around her body and napped, floating like a feather on the air currents.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

1500 YEARS AGO

'WE WERE expecting an uninhabited planet.'

Dwyerd, the top ranking scientist of the colonization fleet, paused and looked at the assembled group, his mouth twisted in a rueful half-smile.

'There was no reason to think otherwise. Our probes and readings showed exactly none of the tell-tale signs of industry, agriculture, cities...by the stars, there weren't even any indications of the use of controlled fire!'

All around the table, there were nods. The seven women and five men, the leaders of the 1.2 million Estans that had traveled nearly six hundred light years to live on this planet, listened and waited for the scientist to finish going over background information they already knew and make his point.

'Instead, we found the Middys. They have no use for any of those things.'

Klayt, the head of Labor, cleared his throat. He was a short, powerful, no-nonsense type, and his face reddened with discomfort as he spoke.

'They won't let us harvest timber. They turned our saws into feathers as soon as we tried.'

Still blushing, he shrank back into his chair, avoiding eye contact with any of the other leaders.

Jarden, the chief agronomist, spoke up next. Her black eyes glowed with a mixture of amusement and awe.

'We can't plow or plant either. They turned our tractors into these bouncy balloon toys.'

She chuckled. 'Then, while they were playing on what used to be our tractors, one of them waved her hand...and created all those melon-bushes out of thin air, in less time than it's taking me to tell it.'

The head medic spoke next, holding up one of the 'melons.' It was light brown, about a foot in circumference, the outer shell scratchy like burlap.

'We analyzed these. Two or three a day will provide all the calories, vitamins, and minerals a person needs.'

He tapped it on the table and it split easily in half. Smiling, he took a bite of the reddish inner meat.

'And the damn things are delicious. We all agree-every time we eat one, it's the best thing we've ever tasted.'

'A good thing too,' the agronomist said, and it was clear she was fighting not to laugh. 'When we tried to hunt a few of those big orange and white herbivores, our bullets turned into pretty butterflies and fluttered away.'

'They don't kill anything,' the biologist, Yreve, said. 'In fact, there don't appear to be any predators on this planet. The ecosystem makes no sense.'

'They call it the Perfecting,' Dwyerd answered. He had spent more time with the Middys than anyone. In the week since the colony ships had landed, he had learned enough about the gentle race of creatures to leave him awestruck-and terrified.

'Almost as soon as they were intelligent enough to use this planet's magic, the Middys changed or removed all the carnivores. Animals still die, of course, and the Middys just make sure each species births just enough offspring to replace them. Perfect, magical balance.'

They continued to mull over and discuss the incredible events of the first week. It was a scheduled meeting. They were supposed to be discussing the progress they had made with regards to food and shelter, but the Middys had made those concerns irrelevant.

The colonists had awakened from hypersleep a week before landing. The twenty four ships had orbited the planet ten times, gradually dropping through the atmosphere...

And when the doors opened and the first of their race set foot on their new home, they found themselves surrounded by Middys-standing, floating, flying, giggling with delight and filled with innocent curiosity.

The little blue creatures absorbed their language in seconds. They knew immediately who they were, where they came from, and what their plans were. They wouldn't allow the colonists to harm or change their planet, or anything living on it. Instead, they gave them something even better.

The melon-bushes were the one example, but paled in comparison to the four cities they had been given.

'That was the most incredible thing I ever saw,' Yreve said. 'A bunch of them have an orgy-a FLYING orgy!-and in an hour, voila'! Luxury housing for over a million people appears out of thin air.'

Captain Benj, the commander of the entire colony fleet, spoke up for the first time.

'Does sex power their magic?' he asked.

'No,' Dwyerd answered immediately. 'I think they started to combine their abilities to make the cities, and the magic made them all feel so good that...well one thing led to another.'

'They don't really seem to have any sexual taboos,' Yreve added, 'and while they do have two genders, thanks to the magic their gender identity is pretty fluid. They don't make pair-bonds, or couples, and the concept of sexual jealousy is completely foreign to them.'

'So life is just one big orgy?' the medic asked, and their was laughter.

'Hardly,' said Yreve, chuckling. 'But if two adult Middys are together, and both feel like it, they just do. And if any others want to join, they're welcomed into the party.'

'So what does power the magic?' the commander asked.

Dwyerd stroked his chin, frowning. 'We don't know. For the Middys, it's just...there. All they have to do is reach out mentally and take some.'

'Is it instinctual, or do they have to be taught how to use it?'

'I think they're born with the basic ability, and get better with practice, experience, and maturity,' the scientist answered.

'Where do the Middys think the magic comes from?' Zettna, the morale officer, asked.

'They don't really think about it.'

'They must have some theory,' Zettna pressed.

Dwyerd smiled crookedly. 'Lilla, you're the sociologist. You can probably explain this better than I can.'

Lilla ran her fingertips across her lips. She was a short, plump woman with a perpetually kind expression.

'The Middys way of thinking is so different from ours it's almost difficult to grasp. For us, scientific curiousity-the driving need to figure out how and why things happen-has been the engine that drove our people for all of recorded history.'

'The Middys are just the opposite. They just accept what's in front of them, without worrying about the underlying causes. The concept of scientific research is unknown here. They don't even have myths! There's no stories about how the world was created, or how they first acquired the magic.'

Dwyerd flapped his hand in an 'exactly' gesture. 'Our arrival is the perfect example. Do you realize they had no words for planets, or aliens? They literally had no idea there *were* other planets, because they didn't care. Our ancestors looked up at the stars and burned to find out what they were. The Middys look up at the stars and think 'oh, how pretty.'

Zettna took up the thread. 'Then spaceships land on their planet, and a million aliens step out. Any other primitive race would freak the fuck out'-she paused as the group chuckled-'but the Middys just thought 'oh how fun' and accepted this massive, world-changing event with very little fuss or concern.'

Captain Benj cleared his throat. 'We're getting off topic. Back to the magic, if you don't mind.'

He looked at Dwyerd. 'So we have no idea what powers it?'

'No sir,' the scientist answered. 'There's no anomalies or unusual fluctuations in this neighborhood. The only thing exceptional about this planet is how unremarkable it is.'

'Maybe it's something common on a lot of planets, but the Middys are the only race we've discovered that can tap it,' Yreve mused.

There was a pause in the discussion. Dwyerd took a deep breath.

'There's one thing-one thought-that scares the hell out of me.'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

THE PRESENT

Bayeth sat on a branch, nibbling on the trees sweet red fruit. Looking down, she saw Shrenn bouncing towards her. The big male had changed his legs into powerful limbs with long, flat feet, and covered ground in huge twenty meter leaps.

He was surrounded by long-eared, scaly little hoppers that bounced right along with him, using rudimentary wings to keep pace. Each time Shrenn landed, he caught one of the foot long animals with his hands and fed it a soft seed. The hoppers were squeaking greedily, bumping his legs and chest as they bounced along.

'Looks like you made some friends!' she called merrily as he passed her tree.

'Bay!' he greeted with delight. He flung several handfuls of the seeds to the ground, and floated up as the hoppers chased after their treats, his legs reverting to their normal form.

He grinned and held up a hand. 'Wanna play?'

'Still think you can beat me?' she laughed, and turned a couple of somersaults in midair until she was floating about ten meters away.

'Today's the day!'

Laughing, he swung his arm forward, throwing a ball of air at her. In an instant, she changed one of her arms into a flat paddle, half the length of her body. She smacked the air ball back at him as her other hand reached out to create her own air ball. She flung that at him as well.

With his own transformed arm, he smacked the first ball back in her direction, then spun and dropped in the air to dodge the second.

'Nice moves!' she yelled as she volleyed back at him, then darted to her left to return the next ball he threw.

It was a game Middys had played for centuries. Two balls were kept in play. The players took turns creating them out of thin air and throwing them at their opponent. Whoever got hit with one first, lost.

Bayeth and Shrenn had played since they were children. He was stronger, threw faster, and hit harder, but she was so much quicker she usually won.

Back and forth, back and forth the air balls sailed at blurry speeds. Whenever a player dodged, whoever's turn it was made a new ball and flung it into the game.

They laughed and squealed and exchanged good natured taunts, both having a grand time. Finally, Bayeth spun upside down and slapped a return at his head, and at almost the same moment threw a new ball at his legs.

He couldn't handle both. He managed to deflect the first with his arm, but the second bounced painlessly off his left knee. Grinning, he spread his arms wide, conceding the game.

'You're still the best!' he called as she twirled with glee.

With a quick burst of speed, she was in his arms.

'Yes I am,' she giggled happily.

'The very best,' Shrenn cooed as his hand cupped her soft buttocks.

She looked at him, her dark eyes shining. 'I deserve a reward!'

'I've got just the thing,' Shrenn said grinning as his male organ emerged.

'Just what I wanted!' Bayeth giggled, and her own female genitalia appeared. He thought the dark blue inner flesh contrasting against her pale blue stomach and thighs was the most erotic thing he had ever seen.

She wrapped her slim legs around him in mid-air, shuddering with delight as he plunged into her.

Bayeth leaned back, her body at a 90 degree angle to his, and Shrenn held her hips and thrust in again and again, driving her close to the peak of pleasure.

'Who's the best?' he laughed as she squirmed on his cock. 'Who's the best?'

'Ohhh you are, you are-the very best!' she moaned and he picked up speed, his strong hips swinging between her thighs.

She climaxed as his feet touched the ground, and he laced his strong hands at the small of her back, savoring her joyful coos as he kept fucking her.

Her head and arms hung down limp, her tiny body twitching as he drove her to the edge again.

'Ohh yess Shrenn now now now-cum with me now!'

He groaned and let himself go as she pulsed around his shaft, spraying his sticky fluid deep inside her. Gently, he lowered her quivering body to the soft grass and pulled her close, listening to her purr.

'We're both the best-at something!' she giggled as they rubbed their noses together in the Middy version of a kiss.

They held each other for a few moments, basking in the afterglow. Their was no worry about STD's-they didn't exist on this world-nor was there any risk that Bayeth would get pregnant. Female Middys give birth to two babies in their life-a boy and a girl-half way through their life cycle. For Bayeth, that time was still two centuries in the future.

She gave Shrenn a gentle poke in the stomach and slid off him, her external sex organs vanishing.

'Time for a swim!' she announced.

He reached around her and tickled her little butt with his fingertips, making her squirm and giggle.

'Nope, time for a nap,' he smiled.

'Suit yourself,' she smiled back and flew away. There was a pond nearby-she could sense the water-and she dove into it, leaving barely a ripple on the surface.

She saw a school of brightly colored, striped little fish, each no larger than one of her toes, and gleefully transformed. She swam and darted through the crystal clear water with them, nibbling on plants and algae, perfectly happy and content.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

1500 YEARS AGO

'The question is-where does the energy come from, and where does it go?'

Dwyerd took a sip of water and continued.

'They can create...transform...and even destroy huge amounts of mass. There should be enormous amounts of energy used up or released-but there isn't.'

He shook his head. 'It violates all the most basic laws of physics.'

Tamra, who was in charge of child-rearing and education, smiled.

'It's magic. Can it be explained with physics?'

'Yes!' Dwyerd said emphatically. 'There has to be an underlying explanation. That's the history of our people-using science to explain the things that were once caused by demons or supernatural forces or yes, magic.'

'Now. We've known for a long time that it's theoretically possible to harness virtual particles and create mass-but it's remained theory because there's no possible way to find enough energy. Even to make a single molecule takes absurd amounts of energy.'

'And consider this. It only took a few kilograms of fissionable material to power our ship for billions of kilometers. That's how much energy is released when you destroy matter. And yet-we've seen the Middys make tons of matter disappear. Basic physics tells us that there should be a massive release of energy-theoretically, enough to destroy the whole planet.'

He took a deep breath. 'Our instruments register nothing.'

'Of course, we don't really know what to look for,' Jarden commented.

Dwyerd smiled crookedly, conceding the point. He turned to the commander.

'Captain, there is one huge and obvious concern.'

'I'm listening.'

'A Middy possesses an astonishing amount of power. When I think of that much power in the wrong hands, it scares the hell out of me.'

Expressions grew serious as the scientist continued. 'If someone could figure out a way to control just one of these creatures, he or she could conquer an entire planet in a day.'

'I don't think that's anything to worry about,' Lilla countered. 'You can't lie to them, or trick them-and the Middys have no interest in political or military power.'

'WE can't trick them,' Dwyerd admitted, 'but we all know there are a dozen races out there that would immediately make taming or enslaving a Middy their top priority. Who knows what kind of deviousness they might come up with?'

'Would it matter?' Yreve asked. 'If the magic comes from the planet and the Middys merely channel it, then you'd think removing them from the planet would mean they can't use the magic any more.'

'That may be true,' Dwyerd replied,' but it also may not be. Who knows how much power is stored inside them? Who knows if they could still tap into the planet's power from great distances? There are a lot of ambitious people and races that would do just about anything to find out.'

The commander was frowning and nodding thoughtfully as Dwyerd continued.

'This planet was easy to find. We were twenty light-years out when our computers chose *this* world as the most promising planet to colonize. If we can find it that easily, so can others.'

'There's nothing we can do about that,' the always practical Klayt commented. 'That's just an accident of geography.'

Dwyerd smiled mysteriously. 'Maybe there is something we can do about it. I have a really radical idea.'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

THE PRESENT

KAMACK was just finishing his morning toast and tea when it began raining purple flower petals in his kitchen.

He smiled crookedly and shook his head. The deep purple flowers swirled through the air, only to vanish as they touched the floor. Nahkee did love to announce herself!

Sure enough, after a minute there was a soft 'popping' noise and the little blue Middy materialized in the midst of the falling flowers.

'Surprised?' she giggled as the some of the flowers weaved into her hair, forming a lovely purple headpiece that contrasted adorably against her navy blue hair.

'I wondered if I'd see you today, sweet one. You know I'm going to see your mother and Rayed later. Are you coming along?'

Nahkee's mother, Cadice, was one of the most respected Elders on the planet. Kamack met with her a few times a year, mostly out of pure courtesy but also to discuss any difficulties between the Estans and the Middys.