Dark as Daylight Ch. 16

Chapter 16

61. Getting to Know You

It had been some time since our groups had fully integrated, and it was marvelous to see how well we were getting along. Using hand signs, gestures, and some words we both could understand, they were able to explain what they had gone through, while they were on the dark side of the planet. They told us how their young, and old died, while waiting to be rescued. We could see the pain etched in their faces as one by one, they related a particularly sad story about a particular member of their group died a senseless death. Tears rolled down the faces of the survivors of this horror, and joined ours on the green grass below our feet.

As we listened, we found it more and more amazing that so many of the members, of their original 120-member crew survived. Their tyrant of a captain should have sent scouting parties to all points of the compass, or used the brightest star in the heavens, to find a way out of that barren place, as soon as they became stranded there. Staying in that frozen wasteland doomed all 120 of them to death.

Only the luckiest, strongest, and healthiest of them had survived. 11 men, 16 women. We guessed that they were between the ages of 16 and 40 years old, and attempting to determine their marital status turned out to be a great deal of fun.

After we finished eating one evening, Monty picked out the closest married couple, had them stand, and announced them by name. She took his left hand, put it in her right hand, and bound their hands together with a ribbon. When she was finished, she raised their hands to the heavens above, and said, "ONE."

Leaving the initial couple standing, she did this with two more couples. Then she asked all the married couples to stand. She stood beside Jackson, held his hand, and on her signal all the standing couples raised their hands to the heavens and said, "ONE."

Our new friends understood immediately.

The women scurried around, sat by their man, and put her right hand into his left. She raised a single-digit into the air and said a word that sounded like, "One." They bowed their heads towards each other until they touched, and when they did, without losing contact with each other, they rotated their heads down until their lips made contact, and kissed.

We had a feeling it would have gone much further if there weren't children amongst us. The women were flushed, and the men had looks in their eyes that, apparently, is universal in nature.

Moments later, their hands released, and the heat their bodies was producing cooled quickly.

Not all the men, nor women participated in this rite of passage. Since there were more women than men, we understood why. Some of their mates could have died during their long wait, or even on the trek to find us. We would figure this out as time went by, and as our communication skills improved.

Our discussions had just started slowing down, and we were about to start cleaning up the dinner area, when our new friends signaled for us to stay where we were.

Some, but not all the women, who had previously paired off, began exchanging partners, and said, 'One' again."

We thought about it for a moment, and out of the strangest mouth came a possible answer.

Elizabeth said, "Apparently, swapping partners is allowed."

When everything calmed down, and it happened a third, and fourth time, and each time the woman said, "One." It was always the woman who chose to move, not the man. Some chose to move regularly, while others stayed as 'one' dedicated couple, in a sort of semi-monogamous relationship.

The women, who chose to move somewhat indiscriminately, did so only after an appropriate period of time. They drew lines on the ground, some were short, and some were longer, to show us how long it was allowed for them to be separated from their primary mate. Our problem was, we didn't know how long the time was, using our time measurements, between each of those lines. We were confused, and it was something we had to work on first thing in the morning.

We also noticed some of the men, and women did not pair up. They either had not married yet, or had lost their mates during their terrible time in frigid isolation.

Apparently, while we were discussing it amongst ourselves, Newton said something Elizabeth did not find funny.

He cried out in pain, and a millisecond later, he was lying on the floor, in the fetal position, gasping for breath. He must have been a very bad boy, considering the amount of pain he was displaying.

Adam moved to kneel beside him to help his flippant friend, when Laura's hand brushed against his testicles. He stopped midstride.

"He is in pain dear; I only wanted to help him."

"Do you wish to be in pain, my love?"

"You know the answer to that better than I do, dear. Why would I be in pain when all I would be doing is offering solace to another human being, who happens to be my friend?"

"Why would Elizabeth have hurt her husband, while listening to our new friend's, and the way their culture has cohabitated over the centuries, and possibly eons?"

"Laura, he has already paid the price for his ignorance, or arrogance. Isn't it okay for another human being to come to his aid sweetheart?

As a matter of fact, you may be the right person to go to his aid. Your tender touch might be the perfect way to bring home that lesson. Just don't kill him in the process."

"What a loving thought, dear. Liz is my best friend. I think I will go to her husband's aid, just to be sure he never makes the same mistake again."

Newton was holding his balls, ever so tenderly; caressing them back to life, after his wife's murderous reproach. He went rigid as he saw a shadow looming over him. He worried it was his wife coming after him for a repeat attack. He was wrong; what he feared turned out to be much worse than he was prepared for. He tensed every bone in his body, and prepared for the worst.

Laura knelt beside him, took his shoulders in her hands gently, which took him completely by surprise.

"Are you okay, Newt? You have been down here a long time. Adam is very worried about you."

"I don't know how she does it, Laura? But all 5 foot nothing of her hits Ground Zero dead center every time. She knows I'm joking with her. I give her no cause to be jealous of any other woman. She reacts so quickly, and without thinking, while I wind up in pain, and embarrassing us all."

"Do you want to go to the infirmary? I can have Adam take you there, if you'd like."

He was totally relaxed at this point; not ready for what was awaiting him just below the horizon, if he answered this question incorrectly.

Adam didn't know whether to hit the alert button, or to begin crying for his friend. If he was in pain before, he was going to be in hell in a moment.

"No, I'm going to stand up now. I'm going to stand up to my wife, and explain to her why she should not have hit me."

Adam shook his head. Quietly, he said, "That was the wrong thing to say my friend."

The light clothing, they were wearing made access to the pressure points around his neck, and back, child's play for Laura's expert hands to find.

Newton never felt them move along the fabric until pain, like millions of volts of electric current passed through his body, and came out through his eyes, and lungs.

Every security agent jumped to alert, looking for the carnivore that slipped through our security screen and attacked one of our company.

The 2nd scream help them locate the source of the scream. It was close to the center of the meeting area.

The 3rd scream was pure agony, and everyone saw Newton's body floating above ground level.

Delicious yelled at her son, "Newton, you will stop that this minute. That's Breach of Patent, and it's my patent."

While some laughed at his predicament, Joe Finch called out, "Lucy would you go to the infirmary, please, and get me 20 mgs of Valium, and 8 mgs of Demerol. Also, please ask the kitchen to send 60 pounds of ice to Mrs. Elizabeth Thyme's room tonight to take care of her husband's swollen body. She is responsible for this travesty. I don't want her to bring him to the infirmary for care later this evening. All of this nonsense should have been handled privately."

"Why, what did I do? I only hit him once."

"You could you have stopped this attack on your husband?"

"No one can beat Laura, not even Gordon."

There were loud boos, and catcalls, among the audience.

"Is that true, Gordon?"

"I don't know; it is a theory that has never been tested."

"Why not?"

"She had a runny nose. I had a broken toenail. Things like that."

"You seem fine now, Laura. Do you wish to take on Mr. Gordon Oliver Stars Luck for the Number 1 spot on Our Physical Conditioning Chart?"

"No, I hear he's depressed. It would not be a fair fight."

"Are You Depressed Mr. Luck?"

"Yes, Dr. Finch, I am. My doctor has me on exceedingly high doses of medication, because of it."

"There are 2 doctors on this ship, and I know both personally. Which doctor is medicating you?"

"Doctor Daniels is my physician."

"Is that true, Doctor Daniels?"

"Yes, Mister Luck is my patient."

"What medication is he on?"

"You know better than to ask me that question, Doctor Finch."

"Gordon, you sneaky bastard, you have me by the testicles, because of Doctor-patient confidentiality. You could be taking aspirin and Doctor Daniels couldn't tell me what she ordered for you."

"You are correct Doctor. Even if you looked at my chart, and saw what she was prescribing for me, you could not announce it to the world. It would eat your insides up, so badly; you would never want to have sex again."

Sandy yelled, "You wouldn't do that to me, Gordon."

"It would not be me Sandy. It would be your out-of-control husband. He couldn't stand knowing what I am being treated for, and the medication I am on for it."

"I knew there was a reason I didn't like you."

"There is more and more of that going on around on this ship. My mother said that to me yesterday. Thank God Teddy still loves me."

"Teddy loves everyone."

"Laura, can I pick up my cousin, and take him to his room?"

"You are such a wuss, Gordon."

Gordon moved menacingly towards her, until Newton's body was between their feet, and they were nose to nose.

In a strained, but measured voice he said, "And You are a High School Graduate."

Laura was stunned. She had no idea what he meant by that remark. Everyone knew he was the boy genius. He had patents worth billions of dollars, which he left behind to see what was just around the next corner of the universe.

Well, so did she. However, her money came from her mother's inventions, not hers. She and her mother worked on 'Stasis' together, and came up with the answer. Without their answer to the problem of 'Stasis', deep space travel was not possible. He would be dead if it wasn't for her invention. He was her living proof that their invention worked.

"He's going to drive me nutty. What does he mean: 'You are a High School Graduate?' Of course I graduated high school. What did he think I was, the village idiot?"

That's it, she thought, that's his plan. He is going to try to drive me nutty over those 3 little words. I'm not going to allow him to do it.

She wondered if he was given 10 years, and told to find the answer to the problems of stasis, 'Could he have done it?'

She couldn't answer that question. Look at the support system he had. Look at the support system she had. Money was not a problem for either of them. Brainpower was not a problem for either of them. Brainpower! She was a High School Graduate. He never graduated from high school. He had no Degrees' at all, as far as she knew. What did he mean? She had to know."

She turned to Adam, and kissed him.

"Stay here. I will be back soon."

"You are not allowed to fight with Gordon. Is that understood, Missy?"

"What did you just say to me?"

"You can go into the spacecraft, and follow him to Newton's apartment. You may corner him, and ask him what he meant by 'High School Graduate', but you will not fight with him. Is that understood, Laura?"

"Did you just give me an order?"

"You bet your pretty ass I did. And you will follow it to the letter."

"I love it when you get uppity."

"I pick my fights very carefully. Now go have fun."

She began walking away, but returned to him with a frown on her face.

"How did you know I was thinking about 'High School Graduate?"

"All his life, Gordon was surrounded by brilliant people: Doctors, Scientists, PhD's, and lawyers with more letters after their names then you could count. These were the top men and women in their fields. However, he was always smarter than they were. They knew it. He knew it, and they knew he knew it. The only person on this ship that is as smart as he is, is you. That's why he likes you. He called you down on it, by calling you 'A High School Graduate. 'Now, Go Play!'

"You are sure about this?"

"When he has your pretty ass pinned to a mat, you can ask me again."

"You know that's never going to happen."

"Do you know the area of your body you said I could never have?"

"The answer is still no. The answer will never change. Absolutely, positively no."

"You just said he was not going to pin your ass to the mat; so, what are you worried about? You could ask me for everything and anything in this universe, with no fear of having anything to lose. Why are you trembling in fear?"

"You and I will discuss this further, later this evening. You are going to be black and blue, because of this conversation."

"I can't see why. I offered you everything I know of, in exchange for one chance at Paradise. You can not lose. You said so. You Are Never Wrong! It is written in large black letters, on our marriage license, isn't it, DEAR?"

"I knew I wouldn't regret writing that there one day."

"Go Play!"

She was off like a shot, but just as fast, she came to a screeching halt. She turned, and smiled at him.

"I don't like you. Loving you is better." She disappeared.

He had a lot of work to do, and he wanted to get to it desperately; but his feet wouldn't move. She said, 'stay here', and he was not about to tempt fate, where she was concerned. She was a wonderful woman, a fantastic mate, a phenomenal lover, and a bitch when she was angry with you. This should be fun!

****************************

"I'll get that door for you Gordon."

"I didn't hear you walking behind me, Laura. Is Liz with you?"

"No, I think what the doc said pissed her off. So instead of taking it out on Newton again, she's staying outside, and becoming better acquainted with more of our new friend's."

"I know it's early, and our communication skills are very limited, but have you attempted to ask them about their hibernation process for deep space travel?"

"No, I haven't broached any technical terms with them yet, although we can do math problems together very easily. It seems math is universal. The language they write it down in is different, but the symbols they use when making a graph are the exact same as the ones we use. I find that astounding."

Moments later, "Dammit Gordon, could you be just a little more careful, and not hit my head against the headboard anymore. I'm in enough pain as it is."

"Stay where you are. I will go get Laura, and have her massage it for you."

"Noooooooooooo, keep her away from me. When you two fight, I'm betting on her to win."

"Is that a nice thing to say to your cousin? I just carried you all the way to your apartment, and I didn't drop you on the floor once."

"I'm not kidding Gordon that woman is vicious."

"You should be able to take her. You train hard, not as hard as me, but you are a man. You'll be 20 years old next month, and you are in perfect physical health. Since Laura had Tiffany, she doesn't train anymore. All she does is play with her little one. You should be able to take her if you notch your training up a little bit."

"Why aren't you going to fight her?"

"Since I did the 'Body to Body' transfusion with Zoey, my insides have been changing. Doctor Daniels doesn't know what's going on, but she wants me to take it easy. Zoey and I transfused 5 pints of blood between our bodies instead of 3. I guess this is one of the side effects."

"I would like to be able to open my eyes to see if you're telling me the truth, but my head is in such pain I can't."

"Do you know what a breast feels like?"

"Of course, I know what breast feels like."

"If you tell anyone I let you touch me, I swear I'll kill you. Do you understand?"

"Gordon, we are like peas in a pod. I would never do anything to embarrass you."

"Keep your eyes closed, and turn your head away from me. This is going to be very embarrassing."

"Okay, they're closed, and they are staying closed."

Gordon grabbed Laura's arm, and pulled her to the side of Newton's bed.

Laura shook her head rapidly, mouthing the words 'NO'.

Gordon whispered in her ear, "Trust Me."

For no 'good' reason she could imagine, Laura stopped fighting, and acquiesced to Gordon's command.

"Newt, I've loosened the straps on this sport bra as much as I can. I'm going to help you put your hand in the side a little way. You know the difference between skin, and breast flesh. If you open your eyes..."

He took Newton's hand and placed it on Laura's left side. He let it move forward, until it touched the bra.

"Go only as far as you need to satisfy yourself that I am growing breasts."

Newton's hand slid under the material of Laura's bra. She was looking at Gordon, wondering what the hell she was doing. She was getting ready to bolt, when Newton removed his hand.

"What the hell is happening to you? Are they going to be able to reverse this process, Gordon?"

"I don't know what's happening to me, and Doctor Daniels doesn't know if it's reversible. I know it's odd, but I prefer that Doctor Finch doesn't know about it either. I haven't even told Teddy about it."

"That might upset her."

Gordon whispered to Laura and another plan sprung into action.

Laura knocked on the outer door.

"I'll get it Newton."

"Hello Laura, what's up?"

"Elizabeth wants to know if her wimp of a husband is going to come outside again, or if she is going to have to find another mate, to mate with?"

Still racked with pain, Newton forced himself out of bed.

"I have been too good a husband to her. I have let her run over me for too long. It's time I took the reins of our household back firmly into my hands, where they should have been all along."

"Newton don't bite off more than you can chew. You are in no shape to take on a major battle, or even a minor skirmish at this moment. She will eat you up and spit you out in the condition you are in."

"She put me in this condition. Either I get myself out of it, or she can find herself another mate. This has gone on too long. Either I stand up for myself, or I bow out in defeat. I love her very much, but with her history of running away from home, and being abused as a child, it's possible I handled her wrong. I'm going to tell her how I feel about us, and then let her make a decision on our marriage."

As soon as Newton cleared the door, Laura slammed it closed.

Gordon turned his back to the door. "I hope they can work this out, they are perfect for one another."

He turned to look at Laura and instead of seeing a smiling face looking back at him, he ducked just in time to have a knee pass over his head.

"Oh good, it's playtime."

"Play time my ass, you let your cousin touch me."

As he kept the kitchen table between them, he said, "It was all part of a plan to keep us from having to fight publicly. You called me a wuss. I should seek revenge for that, but we have much more important work to do. Now be nice or I will have to touch you."