Page 80 of Tempted by Celestial Bodies

“First of all, it’s not a gift of cloth, it’s a blanket. You showed up here totally naked and that’s unnerving as far as introductions go. Second, I’ve never heard of Oh-soo-thans. Third, that’s a real sweet term of endearment and all, but at no point have I ever offered anything that could be considered divine guidance. I can’t even give sound advice, because I am clearly not of sound mind anymore.”

He appears confused at first, then shakes his head.

This is no hallucination, Beloved One. No, you brought me here. I offered you my pledge, remember? I mean to worship you with gifts of sacrifice and pleasure.

“Your pledge? Sacrifice? Are you telling me you’re not here to abduct me?”

The alien’s eyes widen in fear and surprise.

Does My Goddess wish to be abducted?

I’m not considering it—of course I’m not. I’ve worked too hard to get to where I’m at, right? Who wouldn’t want to stick around in a lonely tin can stuck on the moon when a hot, possibly radioactive alien offers you a ticket to the stars? I swallow thickly and check to see if my bio-cuff indicates some kind of brain bleed.

“Abducted…no! And you’ve got it wrong there, pal. I’m no goddess; I’m just a human. A lone mechanical engineer whose job it is to get this station up and running,” I explain, unnerved by this obvious case of mistaken identity.

Mechanical engineer? Is that the name of this divine aspect?

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I whisper, more to myself than to him. This is nuts. I am having some kind of mental breakdown and am going to need to be sedated. “No, engineer is a job. It’s my profession.”

The alien’s shoulders sag with relief.

That is good. I do not wish to waste time now that the ritual has begun. I had hoped you would find this form I have chosen pleasing.

“Form? This isn’t what you normally look like?” I ask, my curiosity getting the better of me. If this is insanity, maybe I should just go with it.

He nods again, and then an image condenses in my mind’s eye.

I’m floating in a warm, fathomless sea. All around me, massive gelatinous blobs decked with glittering rainbow tentacles drift together as one. Sunlight filters in through waves above me and all around, bizarre fish and invertebrates dart through huge coral and rock pillars.

“Whoa,” I breathe. “That’s you? You’re like, giant space jellyfish!”

He tilts his head again, and this time he reminds me of a bewildered puppy. It’s oddly endearing.What the hell am I saying?I ask myself. I can’t be thinking the figment of my psychotic mind is endearing. Or hot. Definitely not hot.

I do not know this jellyfish. I must say, Venerable Sindaria, your responses to my pledge have me…perplexed.

“You’re not the only one,” I say. “Right, let’s start there. My name isn’t Sindaria. It’s Anya. I’m not a goddess. I’m a human, from Earth. See? That rocky brown planet just outside the window? That’s where I’m from originally. Lately, we’ve all been hanging out on colony ships, though, because our home world can’t support life anymore.”

Realization seems to dawn, because the hot alien frowns up at me.

You…you did not devastate that world with your brutal wrath?

“Sorry, buddy. It took generations of humans to wreak that kind of havoc. I don’t even like killing spiders. Well, I didn’t, anyway, before they all died out.”

That is not something the Goddess of Death and Carnal Pleasures would say.

My face twists in sympathy, but he continues.

…unless she were truly testing my devotion. Beautiful Sindaria, I will not fail you.

I blow out a resigned sigh.

“Do you have a name, jelly guy?” I ask.

A name? We are the Oseuthans.

“No, I mean you personally,” I say. “Like, my name is Anya, not Sindaria. Anya.”

I see. If you wish to be called Anya, I will do as you ask, My Terrifying One. Glorious Anya, we do not need names. The Oseuthans are linked in consciousness. We are all Brother to each other.

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