The Color of Air

His memories burst within my being in a firestorm of sweet sensation. I relived our night together from his side, savoring his cocky assurance, his quick wit, and the depth of his pleasure. He felt more deeply than most, a true gourmand of the senses. I felt again that I had chosen well.

I wrapped him meticulously in a thin membrane. I did not want to absorb him as I had the others. I prayed that I had designed well and would not lose him. I had never tried this before.

"Awake, my darling. It is done; we are joined."

I could feel him stir and begin to listen to the thrum of our joined body. After a few moments he said wonderingly, "It worked. I thought at the end I was being eaten after all. My sole regret was that I could only be eaten once. Will everything else in life be a pale shadow after that?"

"Oh, no, my love! You don't even have the words yet to express what awaits us. The universe will be our playground, and I finally have someone to share it with."

We stood and went into the bathroom to excrete the necessary extra mass. Captain Drake looked back at us from the mirror.

"You've become me."

"We can take any form that we wish. This one is expected to pilot a ship this afternoon. We can explore others in the privacy of our cabin during the voyage."

"You can travel virtually undetected through society, can't you?"

"We can indeed. Don't forget this is your body now, too."

"I can tell pronouns are going to be confusing.'

"I'll teach you some substitutes."

"We should go meet our passengers now. They're paying a lot for discretion and we don't want to make them nervous."

We tossed rumpled uniforms and evening dress in his luggage. We pressed a thumb to the latch and said "Ship". The luggage got to its feet and headed for the docking ring to board ahead of us.

We took a last look around before leaving. A sense of wonder coiled warm yellow through our mind. "What is it, my love?"

"Our senses are so different from what I had before. I can see tastes with my skin and hear fragrances echo through the air. When you told me your name, I had no idea how exquisite the color of air actually was."

"Wait until you see the galactic disk rising in the radio spectrum, my love"