A Kiss is a Question

"See if you can guess," said Menaea. "Guess what it takes to dissolve the membranes which protect our interior."

"Love?" gasped Angelo.

"Exactly," said A'nish. "Commander, the human definition of the word 'nude' or 'naked' is to be without clothes. For an Aquilan, there is only one time in their entire existence that they are truly naked. It is this moment you are about to see."

The male and female in the center began to glow even brighter, and Angelo watched in wonder as their skins began to burn away - leaving their great bodies floating in the gaseous interior. Once their skins were gone, the colors within were even more exposed and beautiful. The brightness was almost overwhelming.

"Commander," whispered Menaea, "what you are about to witness is the most sacred and precious moment in all of Aquilan existence. It is not that love is taboo for us. Love is so holy as to be unmentionable out of respect for the two of our kind who are prepared to join one another in the ultimate act of love."

"Now watch," said A'nish. "You are the first of your kind to ever witness this blessed event."

The male then swam slowly into the female - who had expanded outward so that he might fully enter with no contact. Once he was fully within her inner chamber, she slowly contracted to envelope his entire body. Where before sparks had flown at their points of contact - now a red glow began where they touched and began to spread throughout the two Aquilans.

Angelo could not suppress a gasp as, in less than an instant, the structures of the two Aquilans collapsed in upon themselves with a frightening rapidity. From there, their two masses merged into one and expanded outward into a great blue sphere - within which were countless swirling organelles. Faster and faster the white lights inside the globe swam until the edges of the sphere began to blur. Finally, with a great explosion, the contents of the sphere shot outward and where there had been a bright light - there was now nothing.

Elsewhere, throughout the huge tank in the center, tiny little organisms were now zipping about. All of the crew had their hands upon the glass and were calling out greetings. Just then, two tiny tubules and three tiny cylinders...tiny, tiny Aquilans, came zipping up to the glass. Marcus, Menaea, and A'nish all put their hands to the glass and called out joyfully.

"Hello young ones!" squealed Menaea.

"Greetings, children," said A'nish with a smile.

"My best wishes," said Marcus. "I knew both of your parents. I am sure you will all do great things."

Soon, the little ones flitted off again. They sought out older Aquilans. Not the full adults, who were already back to coupling - but the adolescent ones. For the most part, the tiny newborns sought shelter within the interior of the females - but Angelo could see that the youthful males also showed a protective bent toward these tiny creatures.

The crew began to exit, smiles replete across their faces. Angelo thought he caught a brief glimpse of Leneria - but she was soon gone.

He walked back in silence with his three escorts at his side.

"What do you think?" asked Marcus.

"I think it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," said Angelo. "But I'm also trying to decipher what it all means."

"What do you think it means?" prompted Menaea.

"I think," began Angelo, "that it means Leneria is frightened beyond measure. Just as your drive for sex has not left you since entering these bodies - you are also still hampered by the ancestral instinct that to give into love means the end of your life."

"You are most perceptive," said A'nish. "Now do you understand why the one you love is so reluctant and upset?"

"I do," said Angelo. "But I also think it is a bit irrational. She is a human now, not an Aquilan. She is also a scientist. She should know better."

"Instinct and memory are irrational, Commander," said Marcus. "Logically, she understands these things. Right now, she is struggling to overcome her inner demons which she inherited from half a millennia as another form."

***

Later that night, Angelo was rapping at the door of the medical suite.

"Who is it?" came Leneria's voice through the crack she had allowed the door to open.

"It's me, Lennie," said Angelo.

"I do not like that nickname," she said.

Her tone belied otherwise.

"Lennie, listen," said Angelo, ignoring her objection. "You don't have to say anything, but I want you to know, you're not alone. Everyone feels the way you do, Aquilan or otherwise."

There was no answer.

"Lennie, everyone is afraid of the sacrifice they have to make for a partner. They're afraid of the time they'll have to give up, of the hours they could be dedicating to their career or to their passion. Then, along comes children, and there is a huge sacrifice. Maybe not as big as what Aquilans give up, but it is still a sacrifice. But Leneria, what you have to ask yourself is whether those sacrifices are worth it. Is it worth it to know that even if you're giving up some things, you are gaining others."

Still, there was silence.

"Lennie, if you come along with me - I probably won't ever make admiral. I'll make captain, and I'll probably even work my way up to a full star cruiser - but I'll never go beyond that. If you're with me, I won't put in the time it would take to climb all the way up the fleet ladder. But the thing is, I won't care. I'll have you. Having you, that's enough for me. Do you understand?"

Still, there was no answer from beyond the door.

"Think about it, Leneria," he whispered. "You'll sacrifice. You won't die, but you'll give some things up. I hope it is worth it to you, because I love you, my Leneria. I love you Lennie. Goodbye."

Two days later, there was still no sign of Leneria. She had remained holed up in the medical suite - or if she had come out, Angelo hadn't seen her.

***

The day came for his departure. The fleet ship was approaching the Alshain.

What he hadn't known was there was a farewell ceremony aboard ship before the next liaison came aboard. Angelo chose to don his uniform anyway, and he stood out like a sore thumb among the hundreds of nude, beautiful bodies which greeted him in the recreation lounge.

"Farewell, Commander," said Lietseleh, who was first in the farewell procession. To his surprise, she bestowed a full, mouth-on-mouth kiss upon him but it was not sexual in nature. The next woman did the same. The males hugged him fiercely, and he found himself overwhelmed by the friendship and love he was being shown.

At last, he neared the end of the farewell procession. He found himself face to face with Marcus, who greeted him with a somber expression.

"Commander, you have done great things here," said the strapping young man. "You have finally set us down the path of being human."

"I don't know about that," said Angelo. "I think you were starting to learn before I arrived."

"Perhaps," admitted Marcus. "Angelo, you told me once that a kiss is a question, correct?"

"It certainly is."

"I see now what you mean," said Marcus. "Commander Telegin, if you wouldn't mind. Please send a message to Neirna. Tell her I would very much like to ask her a question, but I can only ask it in person. I have cleared it with our people. She will be allowed to return if she so desires."

"I'll send it on a tight beam as soon as I can," said Angelo. He gripped Marcus' shoulder tightly in friendship.

A'nish was next. She kissed Angelo deeply and long, patting his cheek fondly in farewell.

"A'nish, could you promise me something?" asked Angelo.

"If it is possible, of course, Commander."

"The next liaisons; tell them everything. I understand why you guard your secrets so closely - but they need to know. I suspect if anyone could tell them, you would find a way."

"I will do my best, Commander," she said.

And then came the last; lovely, crimson Menaea, her naked body standing as one final temptation to Angelo. Though his body tried to tell him otherwise, his mind knew better. His heart belonged to another...another who he might never see again.

All the same, she took him by the hand to a small enclave, where no one else could see them. Menaea sat him down on a padded couch and then climbed up to straddle him, taking his face in her hands.

"Oh Commander," she sighed. "I think it is lucky you are wearing these horrible garments which separate our skin. Even though you have and Leneria share such amazing love, I am sorely tempted for one final farewell. Angelo, such good times I had with this marvelous body of yours."

She pulled him to her then, and kissed him deeply and affectionately. It was an odd kiss which only one who had spent time among the Aquilans could understand. Here was a stunningly beautiful, naked woman straddling him, kissing him passionately - their tongues dancing about, her breasts pushing into him, her hands running desperately through his hair. It was a question, indeed - but it was also a farewell - the only sort of farewell she could properly give.

"Why are you crying?" asked Angelo when she finished her kiss.

He had looked up and seen tears upon her cheeks.

"I just think... I think it wasn't fair," she murmured. "We were so good together, Commander. I cannot understand why it was not me who was the first of our human kind to be struck by love. You are human. Can you explain why?"

"Oh Menaea," said Angelo. "If I could explain that, I'd be a very, very wealthy man. No one has been able to answer that question since time began. But listen, beautiful girl, you will find love and gods help the man who you end up with. He'll be lucky to survive the honeymoon."

"Goodbye, Commander," said Menaea with one final kiss. "May your travels be safe, and may love find you sooner than you expect."

As protocol dictated, the Alshain was now empty. All Aquilans were sequestered away, far from the entrance where - like sirens - they might beckon to any crew that might be assisting with the boarding party.

The hatch slid open, and Angelo was greeted by a new face.

"Commander Telegin," said the young woman with a snappy salute. "I am Corporal Nistri. Permission to come aboard?"

"Granted," said Angelo, and he surprised her with a salute followed by a quick hug.

She was of Arcturan descent, which tended to give a blue-green tint to the skin. The hue could either be disturbing or evocative and with her it was the latter. Was his heart not so crushed by the obvious loss of Leneria, he might have chosen the same approach as Neirna. As it was, he could only admire her.

He led her to the Liaison Cabin and sat her down on the bunk.

"My predecessor chose to keep me in the dark," he said. "Her initiation to this ship was certainly pleasant, but it wasn't all that helpful. I'm going to tell you as much as I feel I'm allowed."

He proceeded to reveal as much as he could to her; the nudity, the openness, the reluctance toward emotions, and of course - the sex."

"One hundred and thirty-seven?" asked Nistri.

She could scarcely contain her disbelief.

"Yep," said Angelo, matter-of-factly. "But that's not even the record. Commander Stendson, the woman before Neirna, she ran the gamut. Every man on board."

"A woman?" gasped Nistri. "Truly?"

"Oh come on," said Angelo. "These are modern times. How many men have you slept with in your life - honestly?"

"Forty, I suppose," said the blushing officer.

"There you go. Now guess what, you've just entered Candy Land; every best specimen of a man from every shape and ancestry. Plus, they juice the air here. If I could give you any advice, just dive in and enjoy it as much as you can until... until..."

He broke off, brushing back tears.

"What is it, Telegin?" asked Nistri.

He then told her what he had been sure he wouldn't tell anyone. He told her of Leneria and their unspoken love. He felt he needed to omit the facts about the beautiful Aquilan mating he had witnessed - that was something which needed to come from one of their own kind. However, he did confess to Nistri about his love for Leneria, and how he had felt they were almost there.

"Why didn't she come with you?" asked Nistri.

"She... she wasn't ready to get naked," said Angelo sadly, "not truly naked."

"I don't understand," said Nistri.

"You will," he said. "Go find a beautiful chocolate-skinned woman named A'nish, she'll explain. But, speaking of naked, it's time for you to lose the threads. Here, I'll help."

The fleet dress uniform was not an easy get up, especially for women due to some archaic lacing someone had worked into the official doublet. Nistri might have objected, but the matter-of-fact manner with which Angelo handled the situation set her at ease.

Once she was out of her clothes, Angelo shook his head in wonder. She was hiding much more beneath the uniform than one would have expected.

"Damn," he said. "Maybe I should have given you the Neirna treatment. That's some body, Commander."

"There's still time," said Nistri in a sultry tone. "I wonder if this pheromonized air is already having an effect. That, and all of your talk, it got me going a bit."

"No," said Angelo with a wry smile. "As pleasant as it would be, I think I'll save that honor for the Aquilan boys. Lucky dogs."

Angelo gave her a quick hug and then departed toward the waiting transport.

All along his walk, he kept listening for sounds - hoping to hear the sound of footsteps or the bell notes of the beautiful voice he had come to love so dearly.

There was nothing.

He boarded the transport and did a quick debrief. Upon exiting that session, he was surprised to be handed his new insignia. Just like that, he was a captain. Oddly, it didn't feel nearly as rewarding as he had once thought it would be.

He excused himself and was shown to his quarters - a rather spacious two-room suite, fitting to his new rank. Once inside, he threw himself onto his bunk - too distraught to even muster tears. He was simply numb.

"Do you like my dress?" asked a voice.

He shot up in surprise. Leneria had been waiting in the anteroom. He hadn't noticed her at all, having been wallowing in sorrow.

She now stood in a stunning green dress which complimented her in every way possible.

"Lennie," he said. "You came."

"I came," she whispered. "Commander Angelo Telegin, I came. I left the only home I have ever known - for you."

"Lennie, I..."

"Let me finish," she said. "Angelo, I am terrified. I know that this is a logical step in my human progression - but there is still that huge part of me that is certain my life is over, that I will dissolve the moment we kiss. I have shed every barrier for you. I love you, Angelo. I stand before you, naked. Though I am in human clothes, the Aquilan in me is bare and exposed. I am terribly fearful. Will you have me, Angelo? Shall we stay together, and see where life leads us?"

"Will I..."

He rushed to her and scooped her up in his arms, twirling her around and then letting her slide down his body, her mouth descending to his.

If a kiss is a question, they both received the answer that gratified their hearts.

***

Once again -- my thanks for reading this. Votes, comments, and emails are always appreciated.