FALAHA'S JOURNEY: A Spacegirl's Account in Three Movements

Epilogue: A Place to Belong

Just like a climb, love is all about timing. The window of opportunity is a tricky device. I've lost my grip. I am falling.

My body convulses and I open my eyes in a very bright place. As far as I can remember, my name is Tagranat Baro Kljvk, thirty-eight standard years old, executed on the first day of twelfth week, year 267 on the Short Count...

Yet something feels off.

"Good evening, Baro." A refreshing female voice makes me turn my head. My body behaves weirdly, as if I haven't been using it for a long time. I am lying in bed with a copper-haired, radiant being sitting on its corner. The most beautiful regna I have ever seen. Still, she seems familiar, but I can't figure where I saw this Danna before. Or is it but a faint feeling of loss and longing? She moves closer with a mysterious gleam in her auburn eyes. I feel the urge to touch her silky short hair, because the way it frames her lovely face is undeniably captivating. That face demands to be held in my palms and kissed.

"How are you feeling?" she asks.

"Like a happy shit."

What the fuck am I saying? Well, it isn't far from truth. I feel like a dead shit and for some reason I am happy to see her, happy enough to have me driven into a craving frenzy. Shut the fuck up, body, you ain't seem to be dying! I try to move my hand in her direction.

"You don't recognize me yet?" I feel the warmth of her hand touching mine. It takes me a lot of effort to hold it in my palm, unwilling to let go, though there are two vertical cerulean stripes in the middle of her forehead, meaning she has two spouses. Cerulean color also means the highest status in the society, equal to that of a kennar Head, blood-related to the Rjg. When and where did I meet someone so powerful?

"N-no." I have to admit, I don't.

"Let me fill you in on the details then." Freeing herself from my weak grasp, she gets up from the bed and looks at me again. I notice the High Command Explorer Branch badge on her bone-white jacket. The Danna dress officially only outside of their kennar, meaning we are somewhere in the mixed space. "You've slept for twelve years, Baro. During this time you didn't age; your body fitness was also preserved and you'll feel like new after the rehab. Eyu and Ore will get you back on your feet. Welcome aboard Gal Runagh, currently docked at the Falgh-Fargann port-side of Kan Diona."

"Rjgn—err—Falaha-rjg, was the death serum ineffective?"

She smiles. Those lips that look and definitely feel so soft, I want to eat them.

"What are you talking about? I injected you with the biotic liquid our Kernels take their naps in. You'll get back to normal when the drug's effects wear off." Ah, no wonder I feel high. Her smile becomes wider as she watches the fountain of emotions rushing through my face. "To them it is merely life support, though."

"Wouldn't I get you into trouble if the word gets out?!"

"Don't worry. I've negotiated with all the sides involved. It was a long and tiresome debate, but we reached an agreement. No one will come after you."

"What's the cost?"

"Ah, that. You will serve me for the rest of your life, however long that might be. You are allowed to keep your kennar name if you wish so, but you are no longer the Head. Your niece commands kennar Kljvk now—she took on that role voluntarily, and they are doing well as a part of my crew. You don't have to worry. Tagai is also watching her and their child properly. I haven't informed them that you are awake yet, otherwise Tarrenat would rush here to make your brain bleed."