Genetic Attraction: part 4

The doors opened, revealing a spacious room that disappeared on either side as it wrapped around the gargantuan bole like a hollow belt.  The opposite wall was the tree itself, with its grooved, mossy bark left in its natural state.  But those details only flitted through the back of Flyspur’s mind, barely touching his awareness. What had caught his undivided attention was the crowd.  The room was brimming with eagerly chatting Jssfloon.  They stood talking in clusters or sat on cushions around low, round tables, or stood at what appeared to be a buffet near the far wall.  Although, he noticed that no one was eating or carrying drinks.  

    “The guests of honor have arrived!”  Kya announced loudly, one upper hand making a flourish in the air while both lower ones gestured toward Flyspur and Rover.

    The entire gathering grew instantly silent, all eyes turning on the newcomers...on Flyspur.

    “Howdy!”  Rover said, touching his hat.  “Rover Finnigan at your service, folks.  Me and Bl...uh...Flyspur, here are much obliged to be part of this here shindig.”  

    There were cordial murmurs of acknowledgement.  But the crowd still seemed to be waiting for something more.

    Flyspur shrank back, automatically trying to retreat and make himself as small as possible.  There was no rational thought-process behind the move, just a heart-pounding, primal instinct that told him to hide behind Rover.  But he couldn’t.  Rover’s hand was suddenly on the small of his back, gently coaxing him forward.  He slapped discreetly at it with a lower arm and dug his heels into the floor.  But Rover was stronger than he was and he slid back up next to Kya.  Nervously, certain everyone could see his soul spots pulsing like red alert lights, he clasped both lower hands and forced his throat to work.  “H..hello.”

     The crowd exploded with polite greetings!.

    An adolescent girl, with her tiny lower arms bounded up to Flyspur, green eyes wide, and no hint of discomfort like he might have expected back on Jssfloon.  “Are you really from the homeworld?”  She blurted, clearly unable to contain herself.  “I mean really?”

    He smiled at her exuberance.  “Yes.  I am.”

    What smelled and looked like her twin appeared next to her.  “Of course  he is!  Look at all the fur his tail and his eyebrows.  And his soul spots disappear.”

    Flyspur blinked at this. The mostly hairless tails and the singular eyebrows of these Jssfloon had been obvious and he had noticed them immediately.  But the soul spots...He had just assumed that Kya and her group of greeters had simply been excited to see Rover and himself.  They certainly seemed so.  But now that he was paying attention there were dark spots on everyone’s face, even those who seemed calm.  They had become permanent markings.  And the tail fur, had it become a tradition to shave their tails, or was that genetic too?    

    A third girl skipped out of the crowd, identical to the first two.  Another sister...a triplet.  He could barely reign in his surprise.  “Can we braid your tail fur?  You have so much of it!”

    He recoiled automatically but the girls didn’t seem to notice.  “Um…”

    “Now girls.”  Kya said, gently but firmly, making a shooing motion with all four arms.  “I’m sure our guests would like to sit down and eat before we flood them with questions.”  She motioned gracefully toward the tables of food and her green eyes fell expectantly on the first mate.  “Flyspur, Rover Finnigan, please lead the feast.”

    Flyspur was suddenly struck by the realization that no one was eating because they were waiting for them!  He could feel everyone’s eyes boring into him as he stood there, frozen.  

    Rover tapped Flyspur’s heel with the toe of his boot, as discreet a signal as the captain could manage.  “Come on, Blue.”  He said with a laugh.  “I’m sure these folks can’t wait to get at some grub.”

    Kya gave Rover an even stare that bordered on scolding before smiling at Flyspur.  “No need to rush.”

    Spurred forward by Rover’s kick Flyspur picked up a plate and silverware and worked his way down the table, trying to choose a small sample of everything.  He suspected that, as with many gatherings on the homeworld, many of the guests brought dishes and he didn’t want to unintentionally snub someone.  Rover followed right behind, sniffing things curiously and piling on everything in sight, occasionally popping something into his mouth.

    After waiting until they were down the table a ways Kya picked up a plate and followed.  She held her plate in her left upper hand while her left lower one daintly selected bits of food and passed them to her right which transferred it upward to her primary right, which placed it on her plate.  It was a graceful and efficient circular motion that the other guests took up as well as polite line quickly formed behind her.  

    “This way.”  Once she filled her plate she motioned with a lower arm for them to follow her to the tall arching  windows.  A low table spread before them.  It was made from the same milky pink, plastic-like substance as everything else.  It's edges were elegantly carved with scenes of the treetops.  Atop its shiny surface sat several round pots of various sizes that seemed to be made of the same substance and small cups set daintily at each place.  

    A tiny fire burned smokelessly beneath the largest of pot, releasing a warm sweet scent that wafted throughout the room. Kya gestured for Rover and Flyspur to sit across from her as she lowered herself gracefully into the mounds of pillows that surrounded the table.  

    Rover plopped his bulky frame down, shuddering the pots on the table.  He set his plate down as she had before running his fingers along the patterned edge of the table and a little across its surface in curious admiration.  “Purdy stuff, this.  Ain’t never laid eyes on it before.”

    “Myta.  It is sap from our trees.  We use it for nearly everything.”  Kya daintily lifted one of the pots and a greenish liquid trickled into Flyspur’s cup sending minty smelling steam swirling upward.

    Flyspur reached for it but then hesitated.  They were so far removed from Jssfloon.  Had their customs changed?  Was this part of an important ritual?  She was watching him again!   Should he take it before her or after?  Should he drink it in sips or down it in one gulp?

    “Blue…”  In the back of his head he heard Rover’s voice.  “Take the cockeyed cup.”  

    “It won’t bite you.” It was Kya’s voice broke through his mental panic.

    He blinked and looked up at her.  She was smiling in curious amusement as she filled Rover’s cup.  “It’s just tea.  You’re staring at it like it held a baby sprill.”

    “Sorry.  I’m sorry.”  He picked up his cup and took a small sip then forced himself not to stare at the cup.  “Good….it’s very good.”

    Rover took a swig of his and nodded in approval.

    “Please.”  She motioned to their plates.  “We will have many things to discuss.  Eat while we talk.”

     “Don’t mind if I do.”  Rover said with clear delight and began to work on the mountain of food piled high on his plate.  He had a method.  Pick up an item, examine it closely, then pop it in his mouth.  He caught Flyspur’s gaze and gave him a grin.  Flyspur flicked his tail once.  “You got yourself quite the spread table back there!  Good stuff too.”

    Kya’s braids swung a little as she nodded her thanks.

    Shoona stalked over and sat beside the Jssfloon leader with a plate of her own.  She instantly began picking through her food, watching both Flyspur and Rover evenly.

    That seemed to be the signal to begin.  Kya steepled her upper fingers with a twinkling smile.  “So!  There are so many questions!  So many stories!  So many answers!  Where shall we begin?”

    Rover looked down at Flyspur, who seemed to be trying to blend into the background.  He rolled  his eyes.  Give the kid a little more time.  He turned back to Kya.  “We’re just a hankerin’ to know exactly how you lot got yourselves way out here in the boonies.  You’re far-and-gone away from Jssfloon.  And from what I know about you folks you don’t take to the skies on a regular basis.”

    Kya gave a sagely nod of acknowledgement.  She turned to Flyspur.  “Do you have any hypothosis?”  

    Flyspur’s eyes widened.  He swallowed hard.  “Um...well.”  He cleared his throat.  Why did she keep picking on him?  Was she enjoying watching him writhe in agony?  “I have been considering it...and...with your population and level of adaptation.”  He motioned to his eyebrows and soul spots.  “I would venture to say you are descendants from one of the Venture expeditions.”

    She broke into a pleased smile.  “So you have heard of us!  How delightful!   We were certain that we were abandoned by the homeworld.”

    “Only two moons into our voyage we lost contact.”  Shoona remarked blandly as she poked with disinterest at her food.

    “Well, not we ourselves, of course.”  Kya clarified.  “But our ancestors.”

    “Hold on, now.”  Rover shook a thin pastry at Kya.  “What is this ‘Venture’ business?”

    “Flyspur…”  Came a small voice.

    He turned at the interruption to find the three little girls who had met them at the door standing politely behind him, their tufted tails swirling merrily behind them and their tiny lower arms held together in respect.

    “Yes?”

    The three looked at each other and chuffed excitedly.  They turned back to Flyspur, all smiles.  The one in the middle spoke.  “If it is not inconvenient…”  

    “Can we braid your tail now?”  The one on the left continued.

    “Your tail fur is so long and lovely!”  The one on the right finished.

    Kya’s eyes twinkled in amusement, watching the interaction with interest.

    “Um...I don’t see why not.”  Flyspur stumbled, again shocked at the eager attention from his own species.  He moved his tail from where it had been curled at his side to lay straight behind him.  

    The three girls squealed with delight and instantly dropped to their knees and began discussing how best to go about beautifying this massive amount of fur.

    Flyspur turned to watch them.  “I don’t believe I got your names.”

    “Syryn.”

    “Jynel.”

    “Nyfa.”

    Flyspur gave them a nod and a smile.  “Pleased to meet you.”

    “You little gals make him look right and purdy, now.”  Rover said with a wink.

    “We will.”  The middle one answered seriously as if he had just given her an important mission.  She instantly began separating a lock of purple fur into three strands.

    Flyspur turned back and gingerly took a bite of his food.  With all this commotion he wasn’t really hungry, in fact his stomachs were churning.  But it would be impolite to leave a full plate.  The greens were crisp and slightly spicy.  Pleasant taste to be sure.  He glanced up and caught Kya's sparkling green eyes watching him and suddenly he forgot how to swallow.  He choked and brought a hand up to his mouth to cough.  

    Rover thumped him a couple times on the back.  "You breathe air.  You swallow food."  The captain said with a bit of a chuckle.  "Don't get the two confused."

    "Are you okay!?". The three little girls chorused behind him.

    “Hold your tail still next time you choke.”  One of them insisted.

    “We have to braid that part again now.”

    Flyspur took in a shaky gasp as his windpipe cleared.  He took a long sip of tea, hiding his face briefly behind the cup and wishing he could just keep it there.

    Shoona raised an eyebrow and glanced between Flyspur and Kya before turning back to her food.  "Apparently they don't know how to eat on the homeworld."

    Kya watched Flyspur with a mixture of amusement and concern.  "Are you well?"

    Flyspur cleared his throat. "Yes.  Sorry."  He glanced once at Rover who seemed to be biting his cheek to keep from laughing.  Flyspur wanted to curl up under the table.  How could he possibly make a bigger fool of himself?

    “Stop switching your tail!”  Siryn insisted as she grabbed it and tried to hold it steady.

    “Hold it still or we will mess up.”

    “Are you nervous or something?”

    Flyspur gulped.  “Um...no...I...I…”

    Kya seemed to take pity on him and became all business as she turned to Rover.  "The Venture, Rover Finnigan--"

    "Just call me 'Rover',ma'am."  He touched his hat.

    She nodded in acquiesce.  "Rover...The Venture was a part of Jssfloon's space exploration program."

    "Jssfloon?  Explorin'?". Rover couldn't help but exclaim.  "Wouldn't have believed it!  The Jssfloon I know barely poke their nose out of the atmosphere."

    Kya's full lips tightened imperceptibly and her tail twitched once.

    "There was a time, when we first discovered space travel, that we were a little more adventurous.". Flyspur explained quietly.

    Rover nodded, the answer satisfying him.  “Well, way to go!”  He looked at Kya with a grin she seemed to force herself to match.  “Sorry.  Didn’t mean to interrupt.  Just gettin’ my facts straight.  Keep a’ goin’.”  He waved a hand encouraging her to continue.

    She steepled her lower fingers and tapped them together for a brief moment, as if waiting for Rover to interrupt again.  When he didn’t she gave a small nod and continued.  “At the time we were aware that other races existed in space but we had not made contact yet.  The Venture expedition was a way to remedy that.  The project consisted of three ships,  the Dream, the Wisdom and the Friendship, all with the goal of discovering societies outside our own.  Each mission was to be gone three years and then return with their findings.  Our ship was the Wisdom.”  Now that she had caught Rover up on Jssfloon history she turned back to Flyspur.  

    Rover grinned, his eyes flicking from the girl to his best friend, as pleased as punch by the clear attraction between them.  

    “We were an optimistic people back then.”  She said with a sigh.  “Thinking it wise to search for friendship and dreams.  What we discovered was quite different, I’m afraid.”

    Flyspur’s eyes widened, forgetting his discomfort for a moment as he became engrossed in the narrative.  “What happened?”

       Unable to keep herself from the conversation, Jynel leaned in, a section of Flyspur’s tail fur still in her small hand.  “We met the Krell.”  He could feel the other two girls shudder.  

    “We wanted to be friends.”  Syryn added.

    “They didn’t.”  Nyfa finished.

    Rover and Flyspur swapped glances.  They had dealt with the brutish, aggressive species themselves.  They were powerful and scaly with spikes that jutted out from almost every surface of their muscular bodies.  Their idea of a pleasant conversation consisted of beating each other with clubs.

    Kya picked up on the look.  “You know them?”

    Rover scratched the back of his neck.  “We...heh...we had ourselves a powwow or two with ‘em.  They ain’t so bad iffn’ you wear a good forcefield and some duritanium armor.”

    “Is that so?”  Shoona raised a cold eyebrow at Rover.  “Well, your friends boarded our ship and murdered over half of our crew.”  

    Rover held up both hands in surrender.  “Here now.  I sold ‘em a crate of fungus.  Doesn’t exactly make us bosom buddies nor nothin’.”

    Kya touched Shoona on the shoulder and the scientist clamped her mouth shut, letting out a resentful chuff and gave a defiant flick of her tail.  

    The monarch continued the narrative.  “Our numbers were sorely depleted and we were badly scarred by the experience.”  

    “Don’t blame you none.”  Rover said, poking with interest at something round and squishy on his plate.

    “So much so that we admittedly began avoiding other races and searching for an uninhabited planet to settle down upon where we could live in peace with our own kind.  Our search was long and our crew now small.”  

    “It must have been a frightening time for you.”  Flyspur remarked.

    Kya closed her eyes in a sage nod.  “But it wasn’t without it’s benefits.”

    Shoona took this as an invitation to speak again.  “Of course, during this time of wandering we were anything but idle.  We had with us a team of brilliant scientists, all of them, of course assigned to the mission for purposes of inspecting any new life we were to discover.  But when our purpose was altered they put their minds to much more practical matters.”

    “Are you going to tell them about twinning!?”  Syren asked eagerly from behind Flyspur, practically tugging on his tail in excitement.  

    Jynel leaned over his shoulder, her long braids, slapping him in the face.  “That’s why we didn’t all die out!  I’m going to be a geneticist when I grow up!  I’m going to make it so we all have lots of tail fur like you!  It’s so pretty!”

    Kya smiled at their eagerness and took a dainty bite of her food.  

    Shoona nodded.  “They are correct.  Our numbers had become small and if we were going to continue as a community we knew we would have to do something about our reproduction statistics.”  She glanced at Rover.  “You see, Jssfloon females can only have two births, or more accurately two pregnancies.  With, of course, the exception of the rare Third.”

    Rover polished off the last bits of food on his plate and had another sip of tea.  “I grew up on Jssfloon.  Got that drilled into me second day of school.  The kiddos mean everything.”  He gave the three little girls braiding Flyspur’s fur a grin.  

    They stared wide-eyed up at him for a moment and then continued their work as if trying not to make eye contact.

    “I see.”  Shoona was clearly unimpressed.  “Then you will understand why we began extensive research to extend the boundaries of reproduction.  After some study we realized we had not the capabilities to stretch the pregnancy limit.  However we discovered that, with some modified genes, we could increase the number of children in each birth by programming early cell division in the womb.”

    “Our scientists have tried that as well, but with only limited success.”  Flyspur said, his eyes wide with interest and becoming less squeamish about the taboo subject.  “Not every pregnancy takes to the procedure.”

    “That is because you are doing it as a birth specific procedure.  To be completely successful you have to rewrite the DNA of the entire individual.”

    Flyspur blinked rapidly, his purple eyes wide.  “Oh.”  Then his brows lowered in thoughtful concern.  “How could you have tested your theories before implementation?  It sounds like quite a drastic undertaking.”

    “There wasn’t much time for testing.”  Shoona said curtly.  “It was either experiment on themselves or risk extinction.  Fortunately the mutations were acceptable.  The side effects were mostly superficial.  Slight alterations in appearance and--”

    Rover snapped his fingers and pointed at Shoona who compressed her lips in annoyance.  “So that’s what’s with the tails and eyebrows!”  He grinned at his deduction skills.  “And them permanent soul spots.”

    “Yes…”  She gazed at him through hooded lids as if his very presence annoyed her.  She flicked her tail and continued.  

    Rover didn’t seem to notice.  “I knew there had to be somethin’, eh Blue?”  He elbowed his first mate.  

    Flyspur shrank back from him a little.  “Um...one thing I don’t understand.  Why didn’t you simply return to Jssfloon?”

    “The Krell, damaged our machinery.  Most of our starcharts were destroyed as was our travel history.”  Shoona shot Rover a look as if he personally had been responsible for the disaster.       

    “It was quite unfortunate.”  Kya said kindly as if to counter her sharp-edged friend.  “But after some searching we discovered Ploona.”  All her arms swept outward in a gesture that encompassed her world and her people.  She smiled.  “And we are so glad we did.”

    “For awhile we were afraid we would never find a suitable planet that wasn’t already spoken for.”  Shoona remarked.

    “Well, it’s a right purdy place you got yourself here.”  Rover had polished off his plate and patted his stomach in satisfaction.

    “It...it is quite lovely.”  Flyspur agreed quietly.  He found himself watching Kya a little too intently and hid his face in his cup again.  

    “We are all done!”  Syryn gave Flyspur’s tail a little tug.

    “You should see it!”  Jynel leaned over his shoulder, her excited face centimeters from his.  

    “Um...okay.”  His flexible Jssfloon spine allowed him to easily twist around.  

    “We’ve never done a tail like yours!”  Nyfa exclaimed.

    “Alright, Blue!”  Rover’s mechanical hand gestured for his friend to stand.  “Come on and model that thing for us.”  

    Flyspur shrank as his eyes flitted to the room full of people that surrounded him on all sides.  “No...really...I…”

    “Oh, get up.  Let us have a look at them little gal’s work.”  Rover grabbed Flyspur by the back of his shirt and gave him a little shove.

    With a slight squawk and a wave of all four hands Flyspur recovered from the push and found himself on his feet.  He flicked his tail once and was startled that it felt heavier than before and it...rattled.  He whipped around.  Hundreds of tiny, interconnecting braids curved and twisted around his tail, all capped with shiny pink beads that rustled when he moved.  He gave the girls a small, embarassed smile.  “Thank you.”

    “Do you like it?”  Nyfa’s little lower arms tapped together anxiously.

    “I..I do.”

    “Well, don’t that look right purdy!”  Rover gave a little chuckle.  

    Kya clapped her lower hands in approval.  “Lovely.  You did a marvelous job, children.”

    There was a burst of applause as the other guests eagerly expressed their agreement.

    Three little tails whipped back and forth as the girls nearly burst with delight at the attention.  

    Flyspur tried to pull a smile that just made him look like he was about to puke.  It was just as he feared.  They were all watching him!  His face was as hot as the teapot on the table and he wouldn’t have been surprised if he didn’t start smoking from embarrassment.

    “Braids look silly on males.”  Shoona remarked blandly and sipped her tea.

    Flyspur was about to plop back into the pillows and shove his face into his teacup even though it was empty when the air around them vibrated with an unearthly groan.  

    A murmur of alarm whispered through the room.  Heads turned, hands reached for each other and all faces turned toward the windows.

    The three girls collected instantly, clinging to each other for comfort, their eyes darting all around them, searching for the source of the sound.