Chapter 4
The moon was hollow and contained more rooms and spaces than she would ever need. The surface was barren and lifeless. Some of the craters were covered with domes. Some simply had a flat, transparent polymer that went across the top of the crater. Some of these looked like pools of water as you passed over. Some of the craters contained open bodies of water. Some fresh, some salty. Each crater was a habitat. There were underground caverns that were habitats. Many of the habitats were connected by tunnels. Some weren’t. Those usually held life forms not compatible with majority of the life samples.
Her favorite place was the garden. The garden extended for miles, but the center of the garden was particularly pleasant for her. She could up at the center of the dome and sometimes believe it was just the canopy of a home world. It could give off enough light to keep the plants alive. It could go dark and allow for her to see out into the sky. The night sky was bright here. It was also more ‘sparkly.’ Light did funny things here. It was difficult to not feel dizzy when using her eyes to sort the kaleidoscope of frequencies rushing at her.
The trees here were ever greens, and they were eons old. There were lights in the trees.
Spherical crystals that grew like fruit, but appeared as delicate as soap bubbles adorning the tree. Not adorning. A part of the tree. These were the fruits of souls. Sometimes she ate them. She had eaten every fruit in the garden and this one was the most satisfying. She could go months without eating after eating one of these.
She could also see into the fruit. She turned one in front of her eyes, careful not to break the thin, spider web of a thread holding it to the tree. As she turned it, she could see the life of the resonant soul, seeing its life from cradle to grave. She could stare at these for hours. It was necessary because spinning to fast, you simply got snapshots into a person’s life. Turning the ball back you might land where your eyes once were, and when you focused time would flow forwards again. It bothered her she never saw a life go backwards, but she knew beyond a doubt she could wind it back and watch it unfold. Sometimes a bubble would burst in her hand and spill the sweetest juice over her hands. Sometimes she felt compelled to pop it. She could also entice it to grow, to become.
She had insisted that one particular one grow. It was now so heavy the branch had lowered to the ground. The bubble was no longer a perfect circle. Nor was it transparent. She could discern a silhouette of the figure inside. It was ripe and would soon burst, spilling its contents over the grass. She was prepared to receive the guest. There was a basin and pitcher of water. A wash cloth. A robe. Most of the people were grateful for the robes.
The bubble burst and a viscous, red liquid flow. The shell deflated over the silhouette, becoming more body shape. Female. Human. Hands and knees came up and there was a struggle. Hands broke free first, and then the face was freed from the thin, gelatin like shell. The woman came up on hands and knees, retched and vomited the fluid from her lungs and gasped. She stared at the grass, recovering, then sat back, taking it all in. She became aware of not being alone.
She smiled at the guest. “Not where you thought you’d end up?”
“I don’t understand,” the newcomer said.
“Most people don’t,” she said. “I am surprised you don’t, Daphne.”
“You know who I am? Who are you?” Daphne said.
“I have many titles. Caretaker. Gardner. Collector. Midwife. Witch. Seer. Oracle.
Watcher. Healer. Guardian,” she said.
“But do you have a name?” Daphne asked.
“Lilly,” she said. She touched a rock that was beside her. “Come, sit.”
“No,” Daphne said.
Lilly gave a come hither sign and Daphne got up and went and sat exactly where she had been invited to sit.
“You will find it is easier to just comply with my requests,” Lilly said.
“Did you just use the Force on me?” Daphne asked.
“Oh! How barbaric!” Lilly said, standing. “I would never do such a thing.”
Lilly poured water into the basin. She wet a washcloth, applied a soap, and began cleaning Daphne’s face. “Hands’ at your side, please,” she said. She poured water from the pitcher over her head. She sat the pitcher down and thoroughly washed Daphne’s hair, lathering it up with suds. She washed shoulders, upper arms, back, breasts. Daphne was uncomfortable with the intimacy of the bath, but she could neither move nor protest. A part of her was happy to be clean. She tried to tell herself this was just a thing people do for each other; people care for others. Lilly poured water over her, washing away the suds. The pitcher never seemed to empty. She then cleaned her lower half, thoroughly, as intimately as a lover. She cleaned her thighs, her legs, and finally her feet. A wind came up around her, drying her. Lilly offered her a robe.
“Am I dead?” Daphne asked.
“Do you feel dead?”
“I am pretty sure I…” “You did,” Lilly said.
“I want answers,” Daphne said.
Lilly was barefoot. Creatures came to clean up birth mess, eating chunks, licking the grass. Lilly collected her washing materials. One of the creatures licked her leg.
“Thank you. It sure does get everywhere, doesn’t it,” she told it. “Follow me.” Daphne faltered.
“Please don’t make me do all the work. Walk,” Lilly said.
Daphne followed. There was a table set with fruits from the garden in a small clearing. There was water to drink. There was a noise in the background. A low rumbling, like a nearby waterfall.
“You hear it,” Lilly said.
“What is that?” Daphne said.
“The churning of space/time,” Lilly said. “The technical term is frame dragging. All of space and time, everything that is, it all is rushing towards this point, and it is broken and churned, falling around us. Time and space itself falling around us. It’s resonates everything in this space. It’s the feeling you get sitting on an oscillator. It’s like tuning into the Force, times infinity. This is infinity.” Lilly was staring at nothing, her eyes closing. She breathed in slowly.
Daphne wondered if she were on drugs, or perhaps, Force Ecstatic. She had read ecstatic states Jedi’s could enter, spinning in circles for hours… Lilly returned. “Arousing, isn’t it? Life and sex and birth and death, right here, all the time. Help yourself to food.” “Where am I?” Daphne asked.
“Here,” Lilly said.
“Are you being purposely vague?” Daphne asked.
“You killed yourself. I brought you here,” Lilly said.
“You had no right…”
“I had every right. You ended your rights to pure volition with that act,” Lilly said. “I will keep you safe.” “You can’t stop me from doing it again,” Daphne said.
“I would be very impressed if you could,” Lilly said. “But it’s a waste of time. I’ll just bring you back. Maybe you have forgotten, you didn’t seem to like the birthing process.”
“You can’t keep me here,” Daphne said.
“Look around you. What do you see?” Lilly asked.
“Forest. Lights. Animals,” Daphne said.
“How many trees?” Lilly asked.
“Hundreds? Thousands?” Daphne asked.
“There is only one,” Lilly said. “You, I, everything here- one organism. Your autonomy is limited. I can inhibit your behavior. I can make you do whatever I like. You may think whatever you like. I even encourage it, but ultimately, I am in charge of the body. I own it.
Come, see this.”
Lilly brought her closer to one of the bubbles on the tree. “It’s best to just use your periphery…”
But Daphne was drawn in, already gone. Inside, the world was changing, as if she were walking, first person view. She was moving through a world. Streets. People passing. She heard music in her head. She heard a voice that wasn’t her’s in her head. She looked down at herself, saw a body that wasn’t her, in a red dress. Lilly’s hands twirled the orb spinning her out as the world ran quickly forwards into the future. “What happened?” Daphne asked.
“You become what you watch,” Lilly said.
“That’s a person,” Daphne said, and looked around at all the orbs. “All of these are people.” “Yes,” Lilly said. “Harmonic resonance, soul couplings, mostly random samplings of the galaxy at large. I can Force tune connections; I do this when I find particular beings that interest me. I did this with you.” “I interested you?”
“You become what you watch,” Lilly reminded me.
“Why were you watching me?” Daphne asked.
“Why not? Photons are free,” Lilly said. “Come with me.”
The walked a path. It was a wild place, but yet organized. The path was a true path, not a haphazard one that’s randomly created in nature.
“Are there others here?” Daphne asked.
“Just me,” Lilly said.
“That sounds lonely,” Daphne said.
“I am never lonely, dear,” Lilly said.
“Then why do you watch others?” Daphne asked.
They came to a cliff wall and a tunnel. The airlock door was transparent and allowed them to pass without key card or commands. The tunnel ended, opening up into another cavern. The cavern was filled with statues. Beings of every kind were represented here. There were beings Daphne had never seen, and some she had only seen in books. She stopped to examine one, touching it.
“Did you make these?” Daphne said.
“Yes,” Lilly said.
“They’re amazing,” Daphne said. “So life like. This medium. I have seen it before, but can’t place the name.”
“Please, follow me,” Lilly said.
They wandered through the statues. Daphne stopped. “The Emperor? Why would you make him?”
“He was interesting. He never quite got it right, but very interesting,” Lilly said.
“He was evil,” Daphne said.
“Interesting,” Lilly corrected. “Do you suppose a person can be so perfectly evil that no coincidental good occurs?”
Lilly drew closer to the statue of the emperor. “Shh, mother’s got you.” She patted his face. Then, as if remembering something. “This way please.”
Daphne was now concerned for her wellbeing, and the mental health status of Lilly. She brought them to an alcove.
“Please, stand here,” Lilly said.
“No,” Daphne said.
Lilly motioned with her fingers and placed her. She began positioning her.
“Collector,” Daphne said. “What do you collect?” “Souls,” Lilly said.
She stepped back as the realization and horror filled Daphne’s face. Flash freezing her in carbonite captured the moment. Lilly touched the face. “That’s just perfect,” Lilly said. “I never get tired of that look. Realization. Horror. I think I shall call you epiphany.” Lilly kissed her. “Shh, mother’s got you. I will carry you to the end, my love. Sleep. Dream. I do love the dreams that come.”
♫♪►
G stood under a stream of water, his head resting against the wall. The water drummed against the back of his neck. The open shower had multiple setting, and the present mode made for rain. The whole room was a bath. Four pillars in the center, each containing their own shower head, stone benches, three alcoves, one for different, multiple stream settings, one for a sauna, one for a floating bath or hot tub. Specks in the stone wall of the shower alcove reflected the dim light, like stars imbedded in the rock. A strobe sparked, simulating lightening. Thunder followed. There was the sound of a lightsaber igniting behind him. He didn’t stir or otherwise signal that he was aware.
“You are a fool,” Alarna Burns said. “You have over reached.”
“Mother,” G said, quietly. “This is becoming dreary.”
“Did you think Kaila was the only one trying to get in the Fortress on the Spark?” Alarna asked. “Have you overstretched yourself that much you weren’t aware of me?” “This is inconvenient,” G said. “I am in the shower.”
“I never took a shower without a lightsaber,” Alarna said.
G turned to face her. She was surprised by her dress. She was dressed in a simple skirt, bare legs with shoes that laced up around her legs. Her shirt was too short, revealing her belly. He almost laughed.
“New look?” G asked.
“Your new girlfriend instructed me to wear it,” Alarna said. “Oh, I see. I have your attention. She likes girls more than boys. OMG, you are so fucking easy.”
“You did catch me in the shower,” G said.
“You’re over confidence in your personal security has ended you,” Alarna said. “It’s not overconfidence, mother,” G said. “I rely on the Force. If I didn’t see you, it was
because the Force intended this encounter. I love you. I will not kill you.”
“I know,” Alarna said, advancing on the alcove. There was no way past her, and his fresh robes on the counter held no lightsaber. “Any master who instructs more than one apprentice in the ways of the dark side is a fool. In time the apprentices will unite their strengths and overthrow the master. It is inevitable; Axiomatic. That is why each master must have only one student."
“Oh, please. Revan’s philosophy was inspired by paranoid delusions,” G said. “So if you’re going to quote him or Bane, you might as well kill me now because I am bored with their pretentious preaching. The whole dark path is about killing one’s master in order to advance, so whether I have one, or a dozen, ultimately it results in my death.”
“I personally wouldn’t have picked Kaila, but she did fuck with me, so after I kill you, I will take her and train her the way she was supposed to be,” Alarna said. “I already slept with her. It seems only fair that I enslave her the way she tried to enslave me. I have had much darker rutting over me. And she is not as dark as she pretends.”
“You can’t kill me,” G said.
“You won’t kill me, and you have no weapons,” Alarna said. “I love you. You’re the best son I never wanted. And now, I will tuck you in for the first time, one last time…”
Alarna brought the lightsaber back across in a simple wrest flex and was surprised to be blocked by a lightsaber. It appeared from nowhere, its gold beam shimmering. Its appearance arrived with a loud report that echoed through the bath. Both lightsaber caught raindrops. Water vapor rose between them, twirling through Force currents like metal dust following magnetic lines. Alarna still had an advantage of the open space, and attacked fiercely. She ended up pinning him against the wall, full body contact. His free hand went to her wrist and locked on. Her took on the weight of water. Drops ran down her face.
“I can go anywhere in the Universe, create a doppelganger anywhere I want and interact remotely in distant worlds in real time,” G said. “Did you think I can’t manifest a simple lightsaber on demand?”
“Submit to my authority,” Alarna said. “Die.”
“You have no authority over me,” G said. “You are not the one who kills me.” “This ends here. You will kill me or die,” Alarna said.
“I will not,” G insisted.
“What’s that I feel between us? My advantage?” Alarna said, smirking.
G was aware, but her drawing attention to it made the problem more severe. She surprised him with a kiss. It was not a motherly kiss.
“Umm, mother issues. I have been going about this all wrong,” Alarna said. “There is more than one way to put a man to sleep.”
Alarna kissed him again, grinding against him. He turned his head.
“Stop,” G said.
“Or what?” Alarna said. “You’ll kill me?”
Alarna pulled on him, sinking to the floor, her weight dragging him down. She put a bit Force into it. He went with her, landing on top of her. Their lightsabers remained locked. She locked her legs behind him. Lightsabers sparked the rock floor; water cooled the glowing edges of the stone floor. Mother bucked and shifted herself under him, accommodating him. Her legs squeezed him. G was surprised by her wetness, how easily they came together. Either she was aroused as he, or her past trauma simply released her female essence in anticipation of being brutalized, to reduce the possible trauma. Combat itself could be arousing, but just trying to understand this in the context of the moment influenced him the wrong direction, just making him harder.
“Shhh, baby. Come for momma,” Alarna said.
“Stop,” G said.
“Give in,” Alarna said.
“Mother!” G said.
“I have never had a man not sleep after finishing in me,” Alarna said. “A little Force talent I developed. The fastest way to get the Emperor off my back was to get him off. You will sleep. Feel the Force enveloping you as I envelope you…”
“I will not sleep,” G said.
“Shhh, that’s it. That’s it. Oh, baby, this is inevitable,” Alarna said. “You’re so big, son…”
Alarna bit her lip, her eyes revealing surprise.
“You’re not the only one with this skill,” G said.
It became a race to bring the other off first. Both used body, rhythm, weight, but they both were also using the Force. Every cell in their body was being stimulated. The secondary urgency to want relief as they arrived at their own plateau was overwhelming, making it hard to focus on other; they equally needed resolution. Alarna gasped, her voice squeaking. Her eyes locked on her son’s eyes, the subtlest of smile creeping in before she went to sleep. Her lightsaber extinguished. Her hands remained above her head. Her legs came down, freeing him. G took her lightsaber and made it go away. G relaxed into her, resting his forehead against hers. He withdrew from inside her, and laid his head on her bosom, recovering his breath. He closed his eyes, realizing, this was the first time he had ever been so intimate with his mother, and though intimate was the right word, it failed to capture all the subtle nuances of what it meant to be close to woman. The smell of her was incredibly enticing and he wanted this moment to be forever. Was there ever any way to separate mother from woman? He did not feel shame. He felt at peace. He softly kissed the breast that never allowed him to suckle. He closed his eyes as if he might surrender to sleep. He inhaled. He savored the smell of her, robbed of this primary, nurturing scent from birth. He eased off of her, his lightsaber remaining lit. He slowly recovered his breath. He extinguished the blade. The shower walls returned to the dim, artificial, silvery moonlight. He brought her arms down beside her, ‘death pose.’ He straightened her legs, lowered her skirt. A wave of his hand the shower ended. He made himself comfortable beside her, holding her hand.
“I never sleep after,” G said. He made his lightsaber go away.
♫♪►
There were probably a dozen floating cities spread out across Darthomir, brought in by companies to exploit the environment. Fully contained cities, they made for especially good remote mining platforms, whether that was ore or sea life. They offered a haven from ‘darkness’ of living on the planet itself. Captain Shay Quillen ignored the ‘darkness’ aspect as simply a manifestation of psychological angst. It was his opinion, the planet was ‘dark’ only because it was practically ninety percent wild. Humans had been at war a long time with nature. Nature was losing. The floating cities was just another way to exploit resources and prove his superiority.
Man living in the cloud was a god, separate from the environment he ruled over. ‘Abalus’ was his city, one he had had commissioned twenty five years ago. He owned it outright, due to profits and other successful investments.
It was practically invisible at night, due to the rising mists from the forest. It held position at an altitude just at the cusp of the red cloud layer, but the mist that the planet was so well known for tended to envelope the city, as if it were wanting to pull it down. His shuttle was practically upon it before it was visible from the shuttle’s port. Shay didn’t even bother to look. There was nothing to see. He simply continued reading through inventories and profit logs until the shuttle was fully seated upon its private pad.
Quillen descended the ramp, followed by a personal guard. A woman met him at the end of the ramp, kneeling. She was a tall, thick woman. Not unfit, but not the delicate, slender proportions so often seen hanging on the arms of men of Quillen’s status. She had a look about her that would probably result in Quillen being secretly ridiculed, locker room jokes that perhaps he preferred men, or more likely, monsters, but there was no obvious romantic connection. As far as anyone knew, they were simply ‘business’ partners. Her support staff, which were also her personal guard, knelt as well. His hands were gloved. He touched the woman’s face, and then slowly applied pressure to her chin, indicating he wanted her to rise. He drew closer, smelling her breath, scrutinizing her eyes.
“It’s nice to see you again, Kayo Mons,” he said. “It’s been a long time since we stood together in the same place.”
“I was expecting you earlier, my Lord,” Kayo said.
“Yes, well, I’ve been busy securing a planet. You’d be surprised how much work is involved quelling riots and retaliatory strikes. Anyway, you can expect that I will be visiting more frequently,” Quillen said.
“Now that you own the sky,” Kayo said.
“That was just pure fortune. Not unforeseeable,” Quillen said. “Darthomir is way too valuable a resource to go undeveloped indefinitely. My investments here were good business
sense. The First Order’s interests in Darthomir is merely icing on the cake.”
Quillen touch her belly. “You’re due soon.”
“Next month,” she said.
He nodded. He remained business like, told his flight crew and guard that they would be here for precisely two hour and they could do as they please during the interim. They dispersed and he returned his attention back to Kayo. They were too professional to laugh or make fun of him, but he thought he heard joking. He thought he heard ‘Rancor Face.’ He scrutinized Kayo’s face. Her face had always been hard, unreadable. Ever since he picked her out. Time had not eased that. He wondered if there moments of softness in her private life with the kids, and just like that, his musings were done. He could care less about the details as long as she continued to make him money.
“I would like to see some of our product line,” Quillen said. “Specifically, the amber.” Kayo bowed and led the way. Her guards dispersed with a single nod. It wasn’t lost on Quillen that two of the six were visibly pregnant. Judging by the size of others’ breast-they were probably nursing. “Have you heard from our first?” Kayo asked.
“Umm? Oh, yeah,” Quillen said. It took a moment to track her meaning, and then a little effort to know specifically who she was referring to. Their first child together had gone on Academy and was so successful a pilot that he was given a position on Snoke’s command ship.