For a moment, time stood still. Sharon felt a numbing blackness pressing in all around her. Her lungs seized, she couldn’t breath. Her body felt as if she was falling, but she couldn’t see or hear anything. Then, before true panic could take hold, light blinded her and she felt air rush into her lungs.
She was standing on the other side of the gate. Liken quickly gathered her close, whispering softly, “Well done,sherree. The disorientation will pass in just a second. It is a little overwhelming at first. Just concentrate on your breathing. In, out, deep breaths…”
Sharon looked up at him and said, “I…don’t…like…portals. I’ve just…decided.” She gave him a weak smile. “That sucked.” His arms felt warm and the weight of them around her felt comforting.
He laughed. “You will be fine.” Gesturing with one arm to the room around them, he said more seriously, “Welcome to my world, Sharon.” His voice was quiet, rather solemn.
Sharon looked around her. She didn’t really know what she expected, but the room around her looked pretty much like the room they had just left. Even the bored customs officer looked the same, only his sheer size and that vague power the Shimerians seemed to have in common gave him away. He was gesturing with one arm for her to proceed. His voice carried strained politeness, although the undertone of impatience was clear. “Progress forward,Isshal. More passengers await.”
Sharon’s mouth dropped open. What an insulting planet! She heard herself say with quiet dignity, “No problem, asshole.”
Liken gave a choked laugh. “He did not call you an asshole. You insult him,sherree. He was merely addressing you formally.Isshal is the Shimerian equivalent of “ma’am”.”
The transport officer was looking at her with a combination of anger and shock. His face had gone red.
Sharon felt her own color rise along with her embarrassment. “I’m so sorry. Really. I’m new here and I thought…”
Liken laughed and said, “It is okay, Sharon. Let us move along.”
She let him pull her through the room. She definitely wasn’t on Earth anymore, no matter how familiar everything looked. Of course, she had expected something totally different for her first experience of another planet. Feeling somewhat disappointed, she followed Liken up two flights of stairs and into a large lobby area.
Liken, sensing her disappointment, said, “It is a way to help with the disorientation. Making both buildings look essentially the same makes the drama of the voyage a little more mundane. It is supposed to be calming. Being on a new world for the first time can be somewhat overwhelming. If you will notice, the signs in this building are in various languages. The top is Shimerian, but underneath are several Earth languages as well as other planetary tongues. There are differences here, but after the shock of the trip, it is best absorbed slowly.”
Understanding the common sense of his remarks, Sharon remained silent as they walked through the lobby. There were no windows, just the bland walls of an office building, although they looked pink. She knew other people had to have left the building before them, but she couldn’t see any exit doors. She let Liken guide her toward one of the walls. As they moved, she thought to ask, “What time is it here?”It had been late afternoon when they left Earth.
“It is early moonstime. Ahhh, I believe about eight o’clockin the evening, byyour time. I should probably remind you that Shimerian moonslight is different.” Liken pushed a large button on the wall. She watched in amazement as part of the wall opened and slid inside itself.
“Different how…” the words had no sooner left her mouth than she could tell he had opened a sliding door. Outside the building was a city street, similar to the streets where they had left. There were no vehicles or modes of transportation visible. There were offices made of rocklike materials similar to brick, but they were glowing in the moonlight. The light was pure silver. Looking up, she saw two large silvery moons overhead right next to each other.
Liken saw where she was looking in the evening sky.“Those are Tilus and Noman,”he explained.
Stepping out into the light, she noticed her skin glimmering as if she had been dusted in mother of pearl. It was strange. Liken’s skin remained the same color. “Why am I shiny?” It was bizarre, but kind of neat.
He said, “I do not know. I am sure there is a scientific reason, but all humans experience the same thing in moonslight. It is very attractive. Some Shimerian women even try to emulate it by applying glittering powder. It never looks the same.”He could feel his body harden at the sight of her glowing in the moonslight. She looked delicate and beautiful.
“So, there are native Shimerian women here?” she asked. She had seen women travelers paired with some of the Shimerian men back in the portal room. The women had the same dark hair and intense charisma of their male counterparts.
“Yes, but very few.” He sounded a little sad. Then, his mouth lifted in a smile, “Of course, if there were more, I might never have met you,sherree.”
Visions of him kissing another woman as he had kissed her in the empty office came to mind. She didn’t like the thought.She didn’t like the feeling of jealousy that accompanied it, either.Resolutely pushing those thoughts aside, she asked, “How do we get to your home?”
Liken watched the changing expressions on her face. That brief flash of jealousy pleased him immensely. His little librarian was feeling possessive already. Things were progressing nicely. Not wanting her to guess at his happiness, hepointed to a sign saying “shimvehi.” There was a staircase leading downward next to it. “It is like your subway. We will be using it to get toour home, Sharon.”
Shrugging her shoulders, she followed him down the staircase. Each step seemed to be difficult. Feeling strangely lethargic, she wondered about interplanetary jetlag. At the bottom of the stairs, there was something resembling a subway train. People, some native Shimerian, some obviously from other planets, were gathering in lines to get into what looked like subway cars. The individual cars had seats like benches inside where people sat.
There were no lone, unescorted females, although she did notice some women together in groups of two or three. The women were all dressed in outfits similar to the one she was wearing, although the colors were different. Some of the blouses were halter-tops and some of the skirts were much shorter. There were some women who looked like they were probably human, although she was having more and more trouble focusing on her surroundings. Fatigue was weighing down her body more with each step.
The cars formed a train that was pointed toward the gateway of a portal. Noting each side of the room had a portal, she assumed one was for coming and one for going. Looking at the portal the train was facing, she noticed it was smaller than the one back at the pactbuilding, but the eerie darkness was the same.
“Train ride to oblivion,” she muttered to herself. “Great, just what I wanted, another portalto travel.”Already exhausted, she wasn’t looking forward to another trip through that blackness. As they entered theshimvehi and took their seats on a bench-like area, she found herself slumping.
Feeling her weight sagging against him, Liken put his arm around her and drew her close to his chest. “Sherree, you are crashing. Your body is adjusting to this planet’s gravity and atmosphere. Your first trip through the interplanetary portal adds more stress. This portal merely takes us to a different city. Do not worry. Just relax. We will be home soon. You will sleep many hours. It is to be expected.”
Before he finished the last word, he saw that she was sound asleep. Feeling her soft weight against him, he sighed. Finally, she was here. Touching her hair with a soothing motion, he felt theshimvehi start to move.As his mind filled with images of the pleasures they would bring each other, he smiled. Seduction had never promised to be so sweet.