“Are we going to see the Elders right away?” Mia asked as they were lying in bed the evening before their arrival. Since they were both less busy with other matters, she and Korum had spent a lot of time with each other during the trip. Mia was taking a break from learning about the mind, and Korum didn’t have any urgent Council issues to worry about. Mia slept late, hung out with her family in the mornings, and spent the majority of her day with Korum – an activity that invariably culminated in several hours of sexual bliss.
“No,” Korum said. “We’ll go see the mind expert first, to restore your memory.” And to undo the softening – but that part went unsaid. Mia knew they were both anticipating and slightly dreading the reversal of the procedure, unsure of just how much – if anything – would change between them as a result.
Staring at the transparent wall in their bedroom, Mia could see unfamiliar stars and constellations in the sky. They were already in the Krinar solar system, a strange and beautiful place with ten planets circling a star that was roughly 1.2 times the size of Earth’s sun. Krina was the fourth planet in terms of distance from its sun, and it was strikingly similar to Earth in its size, mass, and geochemical composition. “That’s why Earth is so important to us,” Korum explained. “It’s closer to Krina than anything else we’ve come across in all the years we’ve been exploring the universe.”
The main difference between the two planets lay in its moons. Earth had only one, while Krina had a grand total of three – one about the size of Earth’s and two smaller ones. “We get some spectacular tides,” Korum told her. “They’re more like small tsunamis. Earth is better in that sense; in most places, you can live right next to the ocean and not have to worry about anything more than an occasional hurricane. On Krina, the ocean is more dangerous, and we don’t have any settlements within twenty miles of the shore.”
To Mia’s surprise, she learned that when Korum referred to the ocean on Krina, he meant The Ocean – as in, one huge body of water. Unlike Earth, where the original supercontinent of Pangaea had broken apart into several continents, Krina had one giant landmass that served as home to all the Krinar. Tinara, Korum had called it.
That fact also explained something that had puzzled Mia before: the relative lack of variety in Krinar appearance. Her lover’s people all tended to be dark-haired with bronzed skin, and, while there were variations in coloring, there were significantly fewer differences among Ks than between humans of different races. The Krinar were more homogeneous – which made sense if they had all evolved together on this supercontinent.
“So why does your cousin Leeta have red hair?” Mia asked. She’d met the beautiful Krinar woman a couple of times since her memory loss. “Is there a gene for that in the K population?”
Korum shook his head. “No, not really. Some of us have hair with a slightly auburn tint to it, but nothing like the shade Leeta is wearing now. She has altered the structure of her hair molecules since coming to Earth, probably because she likes that look.”
“And there are no blond, blue-eyed Krinar?”
“No,” Korum said. “No Krinar with hair as curly as yours either. With your curls and blue eyes, you’ll really stand out on Krina.”
“Oh great,” Mia muttered. “I’ll be stared at even more.”
Korum smiled. “Yes, you will be. But that’s not a bad thing.”
Mia shrugged. She knew the Krinar didn’t regard staring as rude, but she was still uncomfortable with that specific cultural difference. “So when are we meeting your family?” she asked, switching gears. “Are they going to be there to greet us when we arrive?”
“No. I told them we’ll visit them right after you regain your memory. You’ve already met my parents once before, and you’ll probably feel better if you remember that original meeting.”
Mia yawned and turned over, pressing her back against Korum’s chest and letting him spoon her from behind. He hugged her, pulling her closer. “Go to sleep, my sweet,” he murmured in her ear, and Mia drifted off, feeling warm and safe in his embrace.
* * *
“Oh my God, is that it? Is that Krina?” Marisa rose from her seat, pointing at the planet that was growing in size before their eyes. Mia was staring at it too, her heart beating like a drum from anticipation and excitement.
“Yes,” Korum confirmed, smiling at them. “That is indeed Krina.”
They were all sitting around a floating table, having breakfast. It was their last meal on the ship before their arrival. Connor was unusually quiet again, and Mia could see that her parents were just picking at their food, apparently too nervous to eat normally.
They were sitting in one of the rooms that had a wall facing the outside of the ship – a wall made of the same transparent material as the Krinar houses. Korum had chosen it on purpose, to let them watch as they approached Krina for the first time.
Their ship was moving with incredible speed, and soon the planet was visible in greater detail. “We’re coming from the Tinara – the supercontinent – side,” Korum explained. “That’s why you don’t see a lot of water, the way you do on Earth.”
And it was true. The sight before them was quite different from NASA images of Earth from space. Mia could see only a thin ring of blue; instead, everything was dominated by a giant brown landmass in the center – the supercontinent. As they got closer, she realized that what she had mistaken for a brown hue was actually a combination of green, red, and yellow colors.
Soon, they entered the atmosphere, and Mia noticed a faint reddish glow around the ship. “That’s our force shields protecting us from heat and friction,” Korum explained. “We’re still moving fast, so if it weren’t for our shields, we’d burn to a crisp.”
Gradually, the glow faded, and the ship slowed. As they broke through the cloud cover, Mia saw a large forest spread out below them, strikingly colorful . . . and unusually untouched. Where one might’ve expected to see cities and skyscrapers, there were only trees and more trees.
“We’re going to a special landing area for intergalactic ships,” Korum said, apparently anticipating their questions. “It’s a good distance from any of our Centers.”
“Why aren’t we taking a transport pod down, the way we took it to get to the ship?” Mia’s dad asked. “Why land this whole ship?”
“Good question, Dan,” Korum said. “When we were on Earth, we took the transport pod up because there are no good landing areas for ships like this. That might change in the future, but for now, it’s easiest to keep these types of ships in orbit around Earth. Here on Krina, we’re equipped for this, so there is no reason for us not to land.”
Now Mia could see a large clearing ahead, with some structures that resembled giant mushrooms. It had to be the landing field. Sure enough, their ship headed directly there and a few minutes later, they touched the ground.
They were officially on Krina.
As they exited the ship, Mia felt a blast of heat reminiscent of Florida weather at its hottest. It was also difficult to breathe, and she felt light-headed as she tried to draw in more air. Grabbing Korum’s hand, she waited for a wave of dizziness to pass.
“Are you okay?” he asked, wrapping his arm around her back to support her.
“Yes,” Mia said. “The air is just thinner here, I think.” It was also unusually and pleasantly scented, like blooming flowers and sweet fruits.
“It is thinner,” Korum confirmed. “Our atmosphere in general contains a little less oxygen than you’re used to, and this particular region happens to be at a higher elevation. You should adjust soon, though, with your nanocytes.”
Mia was already starting to feel better, but now she had a new worry. “What about my parents? And Marisa and Connor? How will they adjust?” Her family was just now coming out of the ship, about ten yards behind them.
“Most humans tolerate our atmosphere well, after an initial acclimation period,” Korum said. “But don’t worry; I know your parents aren’t in the best of health, so I made sure our medicine experts were on hand.” He pointed toward a small pod that had just landed next to the ship. “They will help your family with any kind of issues.”
At that moment, two Krinar women exited the pod. Tall, dark-haired, and graceful, they came up to Korum and smiled. “I’m Rialit, and this is my colleague Mita,” said the shorter woman to the right. “Welcome to Krina.”
Korum inclined his head. “Thank you, Rialit. And Mita. I would like you to help my human companions. My charl is fine, but her relatives may require your assistance.”
“Of course,” Rialit said, turning toward Ella and Dan. They and Marisa seemed a little pale, and Connor looked like he was trying to gulp as much air as possible.
The medicine experts hurried over, holding some small devices, and, a minute later, everyone appeared to be back to normal. Korum thanked the two women and they left, their pod taking off a few minutes later.
“Wow,” Mia’s mom said, staring at the departing aircraft, “I can’t believe they run those little things over us, and we can breathe again. What did they do to us?”
“I think they created a small oxygen field around you,” Korum said. “This way, you will have a more gradual adjustment. The field will dissipate over the next couple of days, but it’ll do it slowly, so your bodies will get used to breathing our air.”
“Amazing,” Dan said. “Simply amazing.”
Mia smiled. “Isn’t it, though?”
While they were talking, Korum had started the process of creating a transport pod to take them to their final destination: his house. Mia’s sister gasped as the ship began to take shape, and Connor and her parents simply stared in shock. Mia grinned at their reactions; it wasn’t that long ago that everything Korum showed her seemed like a miracle. Now she could do a lot of the same things, even if she didn’t understand the technology behind it. Then again, most people didn’t understand how phones and televisions worked, but they could still use them – just as Mia could use her fabricator.
Once the pod was done, everybody climbed inside and got comfortable on the floating seats. “Love these things,” Marisa said, a blissful look on her face as the seat conformed to her shape. Mia guessed that her sister was already starting to feel some pregnancy-related aches and pains, and she determined to talk to the medicine experts about that. Marisa was likely too shy to say anything herself.
As their pod took off, Mia looked down at the transparent floor, her breath catching in her throat at the realization that she was actually here. On Krina.
On the planet that was the origin of all life on Earth.
Chapter 25
The flight to Korum’s house took a mere two minutes, the aircraft flying too fast for Mia to see anything more than a blur of exotic vegetation below. As soon as they landed, she jumped up, eager to see Krina up close.
“Hold on, honey,” her dad said, catching her arm as she was about to run out of the ship. “That’s an alien planet. You don’t know what’s out there in the woods.”
“He’s right, my sweet,” Korum said. “I need to show all of you a few things first, to avoid any potential issues. Stick close to me for now, and don’t touch anything.”
Exiting the pod, he led them toward an ivory-colored structure that was visible through the trees.
As they walked, Mia marveled at the beautiful vegetation that surrounded them. While green colors predominated, there were a lot more red and yellow plants than one would find on Earth. In places she could even see bright purple leaves peeking through the wide rounded stalks of grass-like growth that covered the forest floor. Here and there, flowers of every shade of the rainbow added a festive touch to everything. These flowers seemed to be responsible for the pleasant smell Mia had noticed upon their arrival.
The tree trunks were of varying colors as well. Brown was common, but so was black and white. One tree that Mia particularly liked had white branches and bright red leaves with yellow centers. “That’s gorgeous!” she exclaimed, and Korum laughed, shaking his head.
“That particular beauty is poisonous,” he said. “Whatever you do, don’t let any of the tree sap get on your skin – it acts like acid.”
“Really?” Mia stared at her surroundings with newfound caution. Her parents looked frightened, and Connor put a protective arm around Marisa, pulling her closer to him.
“There’s no need to be scared,” Korum said. “You just need to know that you can’t touch the
alfabra
tree. Same thing for that plant over there –” He pointed toward a pretty-looking green bush that was covered with white and pink blooms. “It likes to eat anything that lands on it, and has been known to consume larger animals.”
Something flew by Mia’s ear and she reflexively swatted at it, gasping when she felt a sudden light pinch. Lowering her hand, she stared at it in disbelief. “Oh my God, Korum, what is that?”
A blue-green creature was sitting in the middle of her palm, its huge eyes almost half the size of its three-inch body. It had only four legs, but there seemed to be hundreds of tiny fingers on each one, all of them digging into Mia’s skin. There were also tiny wings that didn’t seem big enough to propel it through the air.
“That’s a
virta
,” Korum said, gently lifting the creature off Mia’s palm and throwing it away. “It’s harmless – you just shocked it and it grabbed on to you. They eat some leaves and an occasional
mirat
.”