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"Although I chose this lonely life… I must let the show go on…" "The Show Must Go On" - Three Dog Night The three of us poked around in the Muiran town for the next couple of days. There were restaurants and shops and even a tiny museum attached to the school where children could study specimens of local plant and animal life. We enjoyed it too. It seemed that the young of all sexes were schooled together until they neared puberty, perhaps the equivalent of ten years old, and then males continued their education in larger city institutions while females and medians learned what they needed together in small schools closer to home. Males did not again freely interact with the other sexes, except in their own families, until female/median pairs were safely bonded. Perversely, I wanted to know exactly what would happen if a young male interacted with an unescorted young median. Did they run away together and spend their time in wild sexual abandon? Or was the problem more serious, in that an early liason might prevent the important three-way reproductive bond from forming in the expected fashion? The local library was no help along those lines. Books that even came close to the subject only cautioned children to listen to their parents and do as they and their teachers instructed… or else. If they did what they should, every good child was promised the perfect marriage. After talking to Meron and Eden, I already knew that was a lie. It crossed my mind that I, as an unattached male, was not especially attracted to Meron or any other median I'd met. Was that because I wasn't altogether of their race, or because I'd formed some sort of attachment, however tenuous, to Star and Vaira? There was no way to know for sure, and it continued to puzzle me. Still, I didn't share my thoughts with my companions. I might not really be a median, but pretending to be one had made me identify with that sex. If there was any way to enlighten the Muiran society and better medians' all-too-protected condition, I wanted to help. * * * Star seemed pleased with our interactions with the locals, and Vaira was pleased to find some clothing that suited her in the local shops. Soon she disdained the common shirts and pants in favor of long colorful skirts and scarves I'm sure were meant only for special occasions. None of the citizens seemed to care what she wore, though, and I think she missed the admiring looks she often got on Earth. The average Muiran was married - if not happily, at least permanently. The single males in town were too young for joining or had suffered the fate of those who frequented the type of place where I met Meron. Either way, Vaira was off-limits, as a married woman. No point in looking. Was this faithful mating genetic, like that often ascribed to wolves and geese? There were a great many questions about the three-sexed folk for which I would have dearly liked to find answers. But no one talked about the taboos except those who walked outside them, and even they refused to consider a challenge to some of the dogma. I wondered if I could talk anyone, perhaps a scientist or psychologist (Muirans were bound to have them, weren't they?), into being more forthcoming. Perhaps if I played the former-ruler-to-be-of-the-universe card? The Muirans were a fascinating enigma, and I was determined to find out more. * * * But such personal plans would have to wait for a later time. Every day we stayed on a given planet made it more likely that our real identities would be discovered. We hadn't disguised our appearance, and Star was certainly well known, at least with the planetary rulers. With those facts in mind, we spent only five days on Muir. Our very brief stay on Syrdis proved to be our only visit to that planet. It was the time for their world-wide festival of change - the period where all the inhabitants participated in a lottery and received assignment to a different job and status. It would have been silly to risk being caught up in that chaos. No one, resident or visitor, was exempt. I'm sure it would have suited the Syrdisian sense of rightness to send the future ruler of the Federation off to tend pigs. Growing up on a farm, I'd raised pigs, and it wasn't an experience I needed to repeat. There are many planets who have petitioned Lecurela for membership in the Federation and, of these, some have been accepted. Though they were granted membership status and a certain amount of protection, they didn't have the longstanding commitment of Rigel-9, Syrdis and Thaenus. Together with Lecurela, these three had created the Federation thousands of years before. So, we confined our travels at this time to one more stop - on Thaenus [1]. Thaenus was the planet to which I had fled as a boy, when I escaped the palace guard. Chaldin was still ruler there, and I had mixed feelings about the visit. There was always a chance we'd be discovered and brought to the authorities. Did I really want to risk seeing Chaldin again? If I did, would I want to hug him, or punch him? In the end, I put such worries aside without mentioning them. I think Star knew, though, because he made a point of telling me we'd be arriving on the side of the planet opposite the capitol. Thaenus is a worldwide forest. Oh, there are oceans, high mountains, and even a sandy desert or two, but every available square foot of soil that can support a tree, does so. I do not mean to imply, however, that the population is not civilized; it's just that they've adapted living things, trees mostly, to provide them with anything and everything they could possibly want. Take houses, for example. If you want a place to live, you simply "talk" a tree into growing the way you want it - opening its living heart to your will and shaping itself inside and out into tables or beds or sources of convenient edibles. Meanwhile, the tree continues to happily reach for the sky while coexisting with humans who, in turn, fertilize, prune, and, I suppose, love it. Trees there routinely grow to giant redwood size, but the largest dwellings are grown from whole groves of trees joined and interwoven to make rooms and the passageways between. Rock and metal are also used in construction, but only incidentally. The rest is vibrantly alive. To a greater or lesser degree, all Thaens are telepathic. Perhaps because of that ease of communication, they seldom draw together in cities. The largest gatherings are usually family enclaves with parents, grandparents, children and their spouses all sharing a grove of similar trees and many acres of land. One of the few exceptions is the capitol, where unrelated citizens live and work together to do what it takes to maintain the planet - like the course corrections that keep the globe from spiraling into its sun. We didn't worry about any of that, however. There were paths among the trees, just meant for walking, and we landed at a crossroads. I doubt that Vaira sensed anything, but to me the very air was filled with energy. I was used to sensing solar radiation and magnetism and all the myriad energies that make up the background to life on any planet, but here, there was more. The trees seemed to hum to themselves, and I could all but understand their songs. Human communication zinged about in the ether as well. For a sensitive telepath, it was necessary to wall oneself away from casual messages such as "please harvest extra fruit for dinner", or "where did you put my favorite cloak?" Cell phones and texting were unheard of on Earth at that time, but these people would never need them. To the best of my memory, there were few clothing standards on Thaenus. Star agreed, so I thankfully reverted to jeans and a T-shirt while Vaira kept to the colorful garments she had recently acquired. Star continued to wear the shirts and pants popular on Muir which, being white, suited him perfectly. Striding along through the marvelous greenly moving landscape, it was difficult to believe that this was the home planet of Suria, Star's self-proclaimed advisor, thankfully left back on Earth. How had someone raised among this natural beauty become the sterile scientist-type she now was? Before Vaira had time to do more than complain about grass stains on her hem, we reached a sizable family enclave and were welcomed inside. Thaen telepathy is, thankfully, not of the intrusive sort. In our short stay, we did nothing but speak aloud. Even on a world where couples are most common, our threesome seemed unremarkable. One of the unmarried cousins, a tall thin man in early adulthood, seemed of a homosexual bent, in that he ignored Vaira's appearance but cast many a longing glance at Star and myself. Vaira did receive her share of admiring glances though, which I'm sure was a relief to her vanity. Nothing of particular note happened while we were there. We three continued our sexual liaison, and the affection of my partners, in and out of bed, was good for my morale. After five days of association with the incredibly healthy, happy people of Thaenus, I was rather reluctant to return to the imperfections of Earth and whatever changes would undoubtedly occur in my life there. Of all the planets I knew, this one seemed to have the most well-adjusted citizens. * * * As I had feared, everything was in turmoil when we returned to California. Thanks to Star's vampire connections, and also the efforts of his captain of the guard, Mephic[2], a serious gentleman of forty or so who I had met only a few times, the construction of the new house in Denver and the general process of moving there was messily underway. It was early afternoon when we arrived, and the sight of packing boxes and moving vans had me ready to leave after only the briefest of greetings to Roca and Racho. The twins seemed not to have suffered in Kareinon's capable care, but were glad to see Star and their mother… and me, I think. Los Angeles was dusty, dry, and barren, compared to Thaenus, and I went to distract myself by hanging out with the vampires for a while. Dexter, a huge packing box balanced in his arms, was the first to greet me. "Evan!" he called, "it's good to see you!" He put down the obviously heavy box and gave me a warm hug, then smiled and looked me up and down. "Glad to see you're back to your old self again." I laughed. "I guess Eve was just a passing fancy," I said. "What are you up to?" A number of people, equally laden, had passed us in the hall. "Hadn't you heard? The boss is opening a new club in Denver. There's been a big to-do over who would be in charge here, and lots of arguments about who would go and who would stay." His smile widened. "I'm going!" I put a hand on the back of his neck and pulled him in for a kiss. "Glad to hear it, since I'm going too." Of all the people I'd met in LA, Dex was one of my favorites. He grinned. "That's great! No surfing in Denver, but plenty of skiing in the winter." Ignoring the passers-by, he kissed me back. "Glad to see you haven't forgotten me." "No way," I assured him. "You free later tonight?" "Absolutely! How about we get a pizza and go back to my place? About six?" "See you then," I said, waving and making my way down the hall and into the bar area of the club. It wasn't until I'd ordered a Coke that it occurred to me what I'd done. After two weeks of intimacy, sexual and otherwise, with Star and Vaira, I was going right back to my old ways. It was difficult to look honestly at my motivations, but no matter how sad it made me, I had to admit that part of me knew I'd never really be with Star the way I wanted. Even though Vaira opened her body to me, she was still standing between me and Star. I suspected she'd see to it that he and I were never alone long enough to make love without her. I was still brooding on those not-so-pleasant topics when there was a disturbance a few stools down. "How can any of you drink this swill?" The speaker, a tallish vampire, all in black including his hair, which isn't as common a fashion statement as you might think among the "undead," illustrated his objections by picking up his glass and dumping the thick contents onto the bar top, where rivulets of red ran sluggishly off onto the floor on both sides. Rick, a bartender I had met a couple of times, rolled his hazel eyes heavenward and reached for a towel. "This is what we have, Ravin. If you hate it so much, why do you order it?" He reached over and began to mop up the mess, doing his best to avoid the drips. The other vampire's dark eyes narrowed as he all but snarled: "Because I keep hoping that you'll serve me type O from the original container, not out of a bottle!" Rick just shook his head. Apparently this was a frequent rant. Then the man's face turned toward me and his nostrils flared. I could hear him suck in air. I returned the hostile gaze blandly, though it made me want to snarl back. Who in hell was this guy? "Now that," he turned back to Rick and pointed a finger my way, "would be worth drinking." He stopped and took another deep breath. "Even if it does smell of him." I got the sudden clear message that the man was referring to Star, and it was a struggle to keep my cool. Rick grimaced apologetically in my direction, and I nodded. "I'm sorry," Rick said. "We don't have anything available here that you're going to like." He stopped and held up the dripping cloth. "I suggest you try elsewhere." Unable to resist, I turned and stared at the vampire. His face wasn't ugly, but he radiated an aura of such antagonistic… otherness, that I could scarcely concentrate on his physical features. He held my gaze for a long moment, and I felt the icy stare as a physical attack, then he moved toward the door, and it closed behind him. "What the fuck?" I asked the world in general. "I take it you hadn't met Ravin," Rick said, bringing me another Coke after wringing his red-stained towel out in the sink. "Ravin?" I said. "What kind of a name is that?" Rick poured the leftover blood from Ravin's bottle into a fresh glass and came around to sit beside me. Even though he was a vampire too, his calm blue eyes, clean white shirt, and sandy hair gave him a reassuring air of normalcy. "Believe it or not," he said casually, "it's Martian." I just looked at him. Theoretically, I was aware that the fourth planet from the sun was sparsely inhabited, but I had never seen any of its people on Earth, that I knew of. I raised my eyebrows. Rick held up a palm. "So help me. The big boss himself told me about it when they brought him in. That was…"-he scratched his chin-"oh, a couple of years ago, now. The guy was a fucking maniac at first. They had to lock him up in the basement and feed him through the keyhole." He smiled. "He doesn't come in here very often these days but, when he does, I wish he was still locked up down there." "How'd he get to be a vampire, and what's he doing on Earth?" As far as I knew, vampires were strictly a Terran phenomenon. Rick lowered his voice. "You ever meet a vampire named Delia Van Ort?" I shook my head. "Well, nobody knows how, but she got passage on a spaceship going to Mars, and when she arrived, she decided to sample the local cuisine. She must have been careless about it, because some of her blood got back into her victim's system, and the boss says he had a real bad reaction. The head guys on Mars contacted Mr. D and asked him to take care of the guy." Star's friend, Xintaie, was the one who had told me the most about Martians. In her stories, they all had hair and skin the colors of the Martian soil; the vampire Ravin did not fit that description. Could part of the negative reaction have changed his physical appearance? "Why didn't his maker, Delia, control him?" Rick looked around, but we were alone in the room. "That's the really bad part. She's dead. He drank her dry and then went berserk on the townspeople. They sent him down to the boss in these thick silver chains. It was the only way they could hold him." I took a drink of my Coke. "Why didn't they just kill him?" I'd never killed anyone, but it seemed like I might make an exception in Ravin's case, especially if he'd been worse when he first arrived. "There are so few Martians that I guess it's against their laws to kill anybody - no matter what they do." Rick shivered. "Killing your sire… that's really bad." I had to agree. "But Mr. Drackett and his friends were able to calm him down a little?" "Yeah, enough so that he doesn't run around attacking people on the streets and giving the rest of us a bad name. Mr. D felt responsible because Delia was one of his vampires. Sometimes I think the only reason Ravin behaves is he doesn't know what the boss still might do to him." Yes, I imagined that Mr. D would have no compunctions about killing someone, if it suited his purposes. "But, he doesn't come in here very often?" I'd certainly never seen or heard of him before. Draining his glass of the last of its contents, Rick shook his head. "Nope. I haven't seen him in a long time. André told me Ravin was in quite a while back, complaining about the drinks as usual, but then he left with some woman. Funny, she asked André to help her with something. They went into the back where she cut one of the veins in her wrist, and when her blood had filled up a glass, she tied on a tourniquet and asked André to give the glass to Ravin. Takes all kinds, I guess." What? I believed Rick, he had no reason to lie to me, but this story was getting weirder by the minute. "Do you know who the woman was?" I asked. "Not by name. I have seen her around, though. She came in a few times to get Mr. White - I guess he goes by Star, now. She's short, with dark hair and reading glasses - always looks like she thinks she's better than everybody else. Last time I saw her she had on a lab coat. You know her, don't you?" I certainly did. The woman had to be Suria. What the hell was happening? Why would Suria come into the Affair and pick up a vampire, especially a crazy-as-bat-shit Martian vampire? Was this another of her "experiments"? "One last thing," Rick said as I swallowed the last of my Coke and stood up to leave. "I heard from the boss that she married the guy. Can you believe it? I thought Mr. D was going to have a fit - and it's not like him to lose it like that." I remembered Vaira telling me that Suria had married someone, but this? Did Star know about it? He had to, didn't he? Shit. If only I could be back sitting under a tree on Thaenus, or having a drink with Meron on Muir. Hell, I'd settle for slopping pigs on Syrdis. I knew there was a reason I hadn't wanted to return to Earth.
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