Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 86074 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86074 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
“I’ll see you then,” she said. “Uh—I’m getting a text from someone. I better go.”
And she cut contact with Rachel before she could betray herself with any more thoughts…thoughts of how badly she missed Dark and Light and how she was probably never going to see them again.
26
LILI
“So? What did f’loon send you?” Rachel was dancing with excitement as she handed Lili the strange black box. It wasn’t very large—only about the size of a brick—but it was immensely heavy—so heavy that Lili had to hold it with both hands as she set it carefully on the kitchen table of her small apartment. “Hurry up and open it!”
“Well, first I have to figure out how to get into it,” Lili pointed out. The box wasn’t just as heavy as a brick—it resembled one too. There was no packing tape or staples or seams or really any obvious way to get into it.
She flipped it over and looked at it from every angle before she finally saw strange writing on one side of it. It was so faint she could barely make it out but finally she was able to read it.
“DNA required to open,” she said out loud as the alien letters resolved themselves into English. Or at least, her brain made them appear to be English—thanks to the Translation Bacteria still in her system.
“DNA? What are you supposed to do—lick it?” Rachel demanded.
“Something like that, maybe.” Since she didn’t know what else to try, Lili licked her thumb and pressed it to the heavy black brick.
At first nothing happened. Then there was a hissing sound and a horizontal crack appeared right down the middle of the box. A strange blue light came from the crack—it grew as the crack widened.
“Watch out!” Rachel exclaimed. “Is it radioactive?”
“I certainly hope not,” Lili said. “f’loon didn’t seem like the kind of person to send me something dangerous.”
“Be careful, just in case,” her friend begged. “Put on some gloves or something before you open it and touch whatever is inside!”
This didn’t seem like a bad idea, so Lili went and found an old pair of pink rubber dishwashing gloves she had at the far back of her silverware drawer. Pulling them on, she carefully opened the box.
The blue glow seemed to be coming from an object that looked like a kind of seashell—the long, curly flute-like kind, Lili thought. It was an elegant spiral about as long as her hand from palm to fingers. She was about to lift it out of the box when she saw a sheet of thick black parchment with her name written in white ink.
Lili picked it up and unfolded it. In the past, she’d had to use a Kindred translator device which Rachel had gotten for her when she had first started corresponding with f’loon. But now the writing was perfectly understandable to her, thanks again to the Translation Bacteria.
Esteemed Lilibet, (the letter began)
We were beyond gratified at the kind and generous article you wrote about our humble collection. We also wish to inform you that we put on a display of the holo art you and your mates posed for and it is all that everyone who is anyone in the galactic art scene is talking about. Collectors and art lovers from all over the galaxy have been coming to view it. We have received some very substantial offers for the art, but we have refused them all. We wish to keep your holo art in our personal collection always, and we have also included a holo-coin with a copy of it for your own personal viewing delight.
“What art are they talking about?” Rachel, who had been reading over her shoulder, demanded. “You never told me that you posed for f’loon.”
“Never mind, it’s not important,” Lili said quickly, blushing. She hadn’t told her best friend what had happened between herself and Dark and Light on F’rith Three, mainly because it just seemed too private to share. And she didn’t really want to talk about it now.
Also, it was really weird to think that alien art critics from all over the galaxy were watching the holo of her having sex with Dark and Light. It was kind of like finding out your nudes had been leaked on a galactic scale!
It’s a damn good thing nobody on the faculty can get to F’rith Three, she thought. I’d lose my job and any hope of ever getting tenure!
But there was more white script on the thick black parchment to read. Turning the letter so Rachel couldn’t see it, she continued.
We would also like to inform you that we have crafted a harmonizer for you and your mates, using the secretions left on our posing platforms as a basis for the genetic components. It is delicate and can only be used once, but we believe the effects will last a lifetime if applied correctly. Simply have all parties who wish to mate hold the harmonizer in their hands for a minimum of thirty standard seconds and then touch each other. The harmonizer will enable genetic harmony and mating may then be achieved.