Page 3 of Her Alien Warrior
My hand reached out for hers that rested on my knee and squeezed. The tenderness I saw in her eyes, had my daughter already found something special? Someone special? My lip quivered and I couldn't hold back my happiness for her.
"Oh, Laurel Bean, I'm so happy for you," I cooed.
"Mom," Becky said sternly, and I stared at her in shock. She was usually so shy, but there was an assertiveness to her tone, "You're diverting the main topic. This isn't about Jessica and Laurel, this is about you and how this whole trip to Trillume isn't about an adventure. This is about you creating distance so you can find someone who is more than a best friend."
"I love your father," I tried to explain.
"I'm not saying you don't, mom," Becky said quietly, averting her eyes from me.
Laurel jumped in to add, "We're saying go get laid and then find someone that is more than a best friend."
"You have the best kids," Holden sniffled, and then I was covered with limbs from everyone piling in to hug me. I could have died right then of happiness that all of them cared so much, and tomorrow I was getting on a shuttle. Even my mom begrudgingly added her arms around the group of us and patted my head in the only way she would say she supported me too. She certainly wasn't going to voice it with words that she approved of sinfully seeking out alien cock when I was still legally married to a man that met all of her standards. He should have met all of mine too, and this was probably a huge mistake I'd regret for the rest of my life, or the biggest relief I never knew I needed.
Chapter two
Renee
Becky and Holden grabbed my personal items, one suitcase and a backpack that would have to last me a month on Trillume, because I'd be asleep for the rest of the time in stasis, unless I took the opportunity to stay awake for a month on the ship to enjoy the trip before climbing into my pod. It was an option, and I considered giving myself some time to contemplate things before arriving at Trillume for the temporary exchange program. Assignments on Trillume were rare, so the only program I qualified for was exactly the one I needed to be open to forexperimenting on human compatibility with the species across the universe.
I didn't have to sleep with any of them, that was the beauty of the program. It wasn't about forcing me to breed like my mom thought, it was about gauging my sexual attraction to various species, including a base line for attraction to humans. I didn't need to be fertile, to birth some alien hybrids, or even actually have sex with any of the offerings. That data had value too. I'd just be another statistic of probability of interspecies compatibility.
Both of my daughters supported me, and even my shy, college-abroad Becs didn't seem upset that I'd be gone for a year. She was always more attached to me than Laurel was, and she never missed mother-daughter date night on Thursdays, even when she could have been hanging out with her friends. I was going to miss them both terribly.
My mother grimaced with her arms folded over her chest in one last attempt to convince me to stay… through guilt. "Renee," she touted with disapproval. "What will you do with yourself when you return? You think your husband will support you after this? You'll be on your own, with what skills, what credit to your name?"
That was the only thing that could give me pause, and she knew it. Like a heat-seeking missile she knew exactly where to strike. What talents did I have? What would I do when I returned? At least some of my concerns were covered and I used that as my armor. "The research programpays its participants, mom. I'll have enough credits to figure something out when I come home."
"What home?" she doubled down with a tremble in her voice. "It certainly won't be the one you left."
This wasn't just about me leaving my husband, I finally realized. This was about me leaving her all those years ago, and again today. "I'm not leaving you. I'm finding my life, my future."
"At fifty!" she said with exasperation. "Is this a mid-life crisis?"
I didn't even have the strength to correct her that I wasn't fifty yet, and even if I were, what did it matter? Did her life end at fifty? It certainly didn't appear so. Finally, Holden came out of the condo with the bags, and broke up the building tension that was going to have me crying before I ever reached the exchange offices.
"Mrs. G," he chided, but kept a playful tone as to not encourage her to dig her heels in and make things worse. "She's been treated at the labs with alien technology to prepare for space travel, and part of being accepted with any exchange program is access to advanced medical technology that will significantly increase her lifespan. She will outlive her own children probably, unless they joined a space program themselves," he added sheepishly and averted his eyes before rushing me towards the car and waving goodbye to my mom.
I wished I could say I had a better send off from my mother, but that was it. Her frown never lifted as we drove off. And her words hauntedme, 'what skills, what credit to your name?' She was right, I couldn't answer those questions, not really. I had enough credit from the research study to get on my feet when I returned, but return to do what with myself? And I would have a much longer life to live and pay for now. It was both a blessing and a curse.
The only thing that popped to mind was what I used to do before I had Becky, and then Laurel. I was a scheduler, for people who didn't want to use the A.I. for maintaining their lives. The rich had plenty of credits to get implants without signing up for an exchange program, and with it came easy access to a personal A.I. scheduler, but many people, even people with an average amount of credits, still chose to hire people like me to speak with them and even drive them around to their appointments. That was ages ago, twenty years to be exact, and I wasn't sure being a scheduler really qualified as a talent or skill that made me special.
I didn't know what I wanted to do with myself when this research program was over. It didn't take long for Becky, Holden, and I to reach the shuttle port, and I still wasn't any closer to knowing who I was or could be. A new wave of depression tugged at my insides, weighing me down.
Laurel was busy today, so I didn't get to give her one more hug as I stood within the lobby, waiting for my time to board the shuttle that would take me out to the research vessel. The girls spent the night at Holden's condo with me, doing one last date nightwith pizza, and root beer floats. We watched a classic that was recently remade with a sci-fi twist. I laughed and cried when the lines were adapted for the fact that we were now part of an intergalactic universe, "I'm just a human standing in front of a trill, asking them to love me."
They did a humorously awful job with the CGI for the trill, because they used a human in a green suit, instead of trusting a trill to be an actor. There was still quite a bit of backlash on giving Earth jobs to aliens even when many of the jobs we had today were with the H.E.T., Human Exchange Trade. Many jobs were already taken by A.I. programs.
I still didn't know if my species was fully ready for joining the universe, but here we were.
Some humans embraced the change and others rebelled. There were always multiple facets to humanity.
Holden wrapped me into a hug, and I was brought back to the present. "You know I'd come with you if I could," he said and squeezed me tighter.
"I know," I rasped. He had applied to join the same program but he wasn't cleared on the health exams to withstand the travel there due to bone density. I was going to miss him, and the ache in my gut was just another reminder that this was what I should have been feeling for my husband, for the nothing but kind-hearted Tyler. I sighed. I didn't deserve him, and this was the only kind thing I could do for him and for me. Leave.
Here I was waiting to leave the planet, and I wasn't worried about not seeing Tyler… The sick feeling in my gut had nothing to do with him, but how guilty I felt that I wasn't sad, or near tears for spending so much time apart. I squeezed Holden, and sniffled, pulling back to take another good look at him. I was going to miss having someone listen to me like he did, but Holden was the kind of guy that people gravitated to. He'd be fine.
Pivoting, I went to hug my daughter when my assigned case worker approached to lead me to the shuttle. Joel was a bit of a crotchety old man, but there was a kindness about him.
