Vara's Snow Monster Read online

  Vara’s Snow Monster

  by

  Alyssa Hope

  Text copyright 2018

  Alyssa Hope

  All Rights Reserved

  Is it necessary to say that any resemblance between aliens (blue or otherwise) and any living people (real or otherwise) is purely coincidental?

  All beings engaged in sexual acts are over the legal age of consent in their own particular universes.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1.

  Chapter 2.

  Chapter 3.

  Chapter 4.

  Chapter 5.

  Chapter 1.

  He had understood about snow, in principle, but the reality of it was shocking. He stared at Tanu in disbelief, and for once that one wasn’t making jokes.

  Tanu looked worried. ‘Are you sure we have the right coordinates? We’re in the right place? No one could live in this.’

  ‘Apparently someone does,’ Vara pointed out. ‘The Crusader’s scanners showed some living beings very near here, and there were also faint signals from an emergency beacon of a ship that must have crashed.’

  ‘We practically crashed ourselves. There’s a lot of turbulence near the planet surface, and we’ll have trouble taking off again, I think.’

  ‘Well, yes, possibly because we landed upside down. But in terms of upside-down landings, that was definitely a ten out of ten. I think the Academy should add that to the list of required exercises ...’

  ‘Shut up.’ Tanu was definitely not in a good mood.

  Vara tried to send a radio message to the ship, the Crusader, but didn’t get a response. Mindtalk likewise drew a blank. They looked at each other with concern, but neither of them were rookies, and they could cope with anything. At least that’s what they told everyone.

  Usually they were so busy doing important tasks on the Crusader that they didn’t have opportunities like this. With this mission, they knew they’d be able to prove themselves. There was a new Captain, and he’d been otherwise occupied, even a bit distracted, and Second Officer Sari had been away on some special assignment, so Vara and Tanu had leaped into action without anyone to stop them. They were going to seize on this lucky break to make a rescue and show everyone what they could do. It had seemed like a good idea at the time.

  ‘Maybe the turbulence will settle down later. We can send up an emergency beacon ourselves if we have to.’

  Sending up an emergency beacon would be an indication of defeat, and not something they would do unless they absolutely had to. They would never hear the end of it.

  ‘Come on, let’s see if we can find that ship.’

  ‘Yes, and we’ll get eaten by some huge snow monster, but we’ll have proven ourselves.’

  Tanu was already strapping on the strange apparatus known as snow-shoes, though, and Vara followed suit. They stepped out of the shuttle craft into the snow, and fell over. Getting upright again took a lot of time and energy. It was difficult to push down with your arms when your arms just kept sinking further and further into the snow.

  A long time later, they had mastered the skill of standing upright, but it was already getting dark. They retreated back inside the upside-down shuttle to plan for the next day.

  ‘We don’t have any choice. This is as close as we can get to the life-signs with our craft, even if it weren’t for the turbulence and the upside-down thing, because of the big rocks. Underneath all this cursed white stuff are hiding rocks which would disable any shuttle craft. We have to use these damn snow-things for the final part of the mission.’

  ‘The rocks may be what damaged the crashed ship we are looking for. I don’t like this planet already.’

  ‘We can do it, Tanu, if anyone can. Unless you want to wait here while I go …?’

  Tanu glared at him.

  ‘Maybe it is a beloved, waiting for one of us. You stay here, and I’ll go.’

  Tanu snarled. ‘Finding a beloved doesn’t work like that, you know it doesn’t. We are drawn to the one who is meant for us. Or to the two, to complete our triads, but do you really think that both of us can find our beloveds in a place like this? Maybe you will bond with a snow monster, but my beloveds will be beautiful, and graceful, and every bit as blue as we are ...’

  ‘You tempt the gods, Tanu. You know there are a number of earth humans who have become part of very happy triads back on the ship already, including the Captain’s Donovan.’

  Which reminded him that Donovan was the Training Officer as well, and would probably kill them when he found out that they’d wrecked a shuttle craft that they hadn’t been cleared to fly, even if it wasn’t their fault, exactly.

  ‘And Caleb who created the star map to find our Lost Children is a human. And that map suggests that some of those we look for may be on this crashed ship we’re looking for, and in need of our help. They must have escaped from somewhere.’

  Tanu shrugged, and turned to fine-tuning the instruments they would need the next day, and double-checking the contents of his pack. Vara watched him thoughtfully. Was Tanu really prejudiced against those not of their people, or just in a bad mood from falling over so many times? Vara would be happy to find his beloveds, wherever they were, whatever they looked like. The gods didn’t make mistakes. And, truthfully, he was getting tired of only having Tanu to look at across the table while they carried out their important tasks on the Crusader. A beloved would be better. Anyone would be better, but then he quashed that thought. He and Tanu had been partnered since the Academy, so some over-familiarity was inevitable.

  They set off a beacon of their own, which was supposed to rise through the turbulent atmosphere and reach the Crusader. They didn’t need help, not yet, but those who they had come to rescue might, and it was protocol to inform the Crusader of any progress. Or lack of it. They both watched as the beacon rose into the sky and then arched back down again to be lost in the cursed white stuff. Neither of them said anything.

  They set out again at first light, and both of them found it easier going with some practice on the snow-shoes. They didn’t fall over nearly as often, and getting upright again was easier with practice. The snow was deep and uneven and the sharp rocks didn’t make it any easier, so the sun was past the high point in the sky before they reached the coordinates that were their goal. There was an odd-looking building there, nestled into a clearing in some trees, but then Vara realized that it was actually a small space-craft, although he didn’t recognize the type.

  Working on the assumption that whoever had crashed here would be happy to be rescued, they made their way along a narrow beaten path to the door, and banged on it.

  There was silence from within, and then a cautious voice.

  “Who’s there?”

  “We have come to rescue you. Maybe we can come in?” Vara exchanged a puzzled look with Tanu. This was not that joyous reception they had expected.

  “Where are you from?”

  “Our parent ship is the Crusader, from Cerulea, our planet is a member of the Interplanetary Council, and we have a mandate to offer assistance to all in distress.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but we’re not going back.”

  Fine, so there was more than one person in there. Were they fugitives? Criminals who had escaped? No, that couldn’t be. Vara had a growing conviction that whoever was inside, one was a beloved of his. Whatever had brought them here to this horrible place, he would protect them with his life. Now he just had to persuade them to open the door before he froze to death.

  “We won’t make you go anywhere if you don’t want to, I promise you. It’s cold out here. Please, may we come in while we talk about it?”

  There was a brief discussion inside th
e small ship.

  Then: “No weapons, and keep your hands where we can see them.”

  The frost-ringed door creaked open, and Vara fell into love. He was still standing there with his mouth open when Tanu pushed past him with a cry of disbelief.

  “Beloveds! No!”

  The thin human who had opened the door was holding himself up with a makeshift crutch, and seemed to be searching for words. The ones that he was protecting were huddled together under a pile of blankets, and they didn’t look especially happy. From what Vara could see of them, they were thin, covered with scars, and most of them were an unhealthy dark purple. One of them seemed to be the same white as his beloved who had opened the door. As white as the snow, which he suddenly was getting fond of.

  Tanu knelt beside the ones on the bed and stroked all of them with gentle hands, looking back at Vara in agony, glaring at his human.

  ‘Gods, Vara, our Children, our beloveds, and just look at them. Did he do this? How …?’

  Vara moved his beloved human far enough into the shelter that he could shut the door. He wrapped his arms around his beloved, and purred gently at him.

  ‘Tanu, he is in as bad a shape as they are. Look at him. He had been trying to protect them, I think.’

  Another of Vara’s people, although he was an unhappy purple in color, came out from behind the door where he had been hiding with a gun in hand.

  ‘Yes, he has, and so have I. There will be no more hurting.’

  Vara tried to breathe deeply and calm himself down, and held onto his beloved more tightly, purring gently. Calm, purr, peace. Much peace. Getting excited wouldn’t help anyone.

  ‘Maybe you can tell us the story of how you all came here?’ he asked. ‘We are all the same people, all us blue ones, and we will never do anything to hurt any of you, I swear.’

  The one with the gun looked from Vara to the ones on the bed, and seemed to be deliberating. Tanu, with a great deal of fussing around and mumbling, determined that of the ones on the bed, two of them - the other white human and one of the blue ones - were his beloveds. This seemed to make him happier than it made them.

  “We will die before we go back,” the one with the gun warned Vara. “And no mindtalk. We will speak out loud, please, so everyone understands, and the injured ones don’t have to use any extra energy for silly talk.”

  Well, it was reassuring that at least most of them did know how to mindtalk, Vara thought optimistically.

  “If this is how they treat our people where you came from, it won’t be you that dies,” Tanu assured him. Vara was pleased that Tanu had decided to ignore the insult about their talk being silly.

  The armed one seemed to relax a little, and then asked, hesitantly, “Do you have food? It has been hard ...”

  They unpacked their emergency rations, and Tanu began to strip off his tunic, which seemed to alarm the two humans no end.

  Vara’s human beloved had just enough energy left to react with anger.

  “What do you think you’re doing? You hurt them and I’ll kill you with my bare hands.”

  It was a brave threat from someone holding himself up with a crutch, but Vara understood his sincerity.

  “No, no, he isn’t trying to hurt them,” he explained. “We nurse our beloveds, to heal them and to start the bond. And the other ones, it will nourish them, heal them, you’ll see.” He very much looked forward to nursing this sweet human, but didn’t want to scare him any more than he already was.

  “I am Vara. Who are you, beloved?”

  “Mikal. And I’m not so sure I’m your beloved.”

  Vara eyed Mikal and the human on the bed, both of whom seemed to be uncertain about Tanu’s intent. How much did these humans know about the Cerulean people?

  “Our people bond in triads, do you know this?”

  The human on the bed nodded, but didn’t seem happy. Mikal was a little bit more relaxed than that one, but then Vara had been purring calmly at him. Tanu had been radiating stress and excitement, and that couldn’t be good for his beloved. Or anyone.

  “Your people, humans, you bond in pairs, do you not?”

  “Well, yes.”

  “Well, we bond in triads and for life, and we know our beloveds when we see then, blue or any other color.” He thought he’d leave the morphing part for later. “You have seen that with your blue friends here?”

  He was working up to a more in depth explanation when Tanu interrupted him.

  “Vara, we have a problem here.” Tanu looked up at him in concern.

  The one who had been behind the door became defensive. “It’s not a problem, and if you hurt them ...”

  “No, no, no, not that kind of a problem. No hurting, I promise. A medical problem.” He looked at the one who had been behind the door. “Who are you, little one? What’s your name, please?”

  That one hesitated, but finally offered the information. “I am Tira, beloved of Manu and Dora.”

  “And that,” said Tanu, “is the problem. Although absolutely a joyous one, really, in any other circumstance. Manu and Dora are both bearing, and Manu – you are Manu? - is very close to giving birth.”

  Tira looked worried. “That’s why we ran. We didn’t want the babies born into slavery, and taken away from us. But we didn’t expect this, either. Gods, it is terrible that they should die because we made a bad decision. It would have been better that we die.”

  Vara put on his best reassuring expression, hoping that it was convincing. “Tanu is a medic, and our ship, the Crusader, is overhead, so it’ll all be fine. Nobody dies.” Really, he thought, it’ll be fine. All fine. Tanu was almost a medic. Well, he had signed up for Medic training. And they would get these ones up to the ship, somehow.

  When he had a chance to look closer he realized that the huddled mass of beings on the bed actually resolved into only four individuals. There were Tanu’s two, and the two bearing blue ones who were Tira’s beloveds. All four of them were in bad shape. His beloved human and Tira were in not quite so bad shape, and managed to keep their feet under them, but they were still painfully thin, and not looking healthy at all.

  Tanu and he could only nurse so many, and so much. They needed to do something about food, and many other things, and soon. Hopefully not diaper cloths very soon, he thought, wincing.

  Looking around the small craft, he came to a realization. “This is a surface craft.”

  Tira looked at him as though he was crazy.

  “What else would it be?”

  “Well, a shuttle craft, or a space craft.”

  This seemed to confirm that he was crazy. By the time he had explained – several times - that they were from a space ship that was holding in orbit around the planet, and that the blue people – which included Tira and his two beloveds, and Gali, as Tanu’s blue beloved was called - were all originally from a planet called Cerulea, he was mentally exhausted, but possibly winning.

  “I thought it was a dream,” Tira said, “that we came from somewhere else. It was real?” He slid under the bedcovers to cuddle with his beloveds and share his body heat with them. “We can go back there? Where it’s warm? There’s no snow? No slavery?”

  “It is real. You, all these blue ones, were stolen as children. But you’re going home now, you and your beloveds and your babies, and you’ll all be free. And it’s all peaceful and green, and no snow. And no slavery, ever.”

  By this time Tanu had discovered that his human beloved was as white as the snow, and he was enchanted by his beauty. If there was anyone more lovely than his blue beloved it was his white beloved, although they were really equally lovely. Vara was debating finding something to shove in Tanu’s mouth to shut him up, because Vara couldn’t get a word in edgewise about how beautiful his own human one was, and far calmer.

  Tira finally interrupted both of them to ask what they were going to do.

  “Well, short term, we’re going to go and get all of the food and weapons from our craft, and the fuel packs to genera
te some heat in here. Long term, we’ll have to go down the mountain to meet a shuttle craft from our ship, so we can get back to the Crusader. We’ll have to build a sled or something. Well, no, I guess that’s mid-term, long-term ...”

  Tira, who seemed to have very little patience, interrupted again.

  “No offence, but are you the best team they could find to send out? Just curious. Is there a back-up team they’ll send if they don’t hear from you?”

  Vara and Tanu stared at him in astonishment. Of course they were the best team. Why wouldn’t they be? Even if this was the first mission they’d ever been allowed to go on. Or snuck away on. Vara also didn’t think it was necessary to mention the upside-downess of their shuttle craft, especially since these ones didn’t even seem to know what a shuttle craft was. He didn’t want to confuse them in this time of stress.

  It was already getting late in the day and growing even colder, so it didn’t seem like a good idea to make the trek back to the shuttle craft that day. They all curled up together under the blankets, after he and Tanu nursed the bearing ones, while the others shared some of the dry nutrition bars. He went to sleep wrapped around his beloved, purring softly to him and caressing his thin body gently. The time for loving would come, but right now he just wanted to bring warmth and comfort.

  “Beloved,” he murmured again, and this time Mikal didn’t contradict him. Of course, maybe it was because he was asleep. He had obviously been exhausted.

  The bearing ones, with their precious burdens, were tucked into the middle of the pile of various blue and white people where it was warmest, and they all went to sleep praying for the safety of the unborn babies.

  Chapter 2.

  Vara woke from a pleasant dream of finding one of his beloveds and spending the night curled up with him. He stretched and hit a body with his arm, and then realized that it wasn’t a dream. He curled around that sweet body and nibbled on the neck a little bit, and the strange ear-lobes, so much longer than his own compact blue ones, and let himself enjoy the moment.