It's the year twenty fifty-five when the space transport Eros was making it's routine trip to a nearby planet Cliffordius deep within the Siberian Galaxy. It is approximately forty-seven billion light years from what was known as Earth. Eros was carrying a cargo of needed supplies to the planet Cliffordius where humans have set up a base camp with a diplomatic agreement with the Cliffordians. They are a native species with no knowledge of basic survival from a human's perspective. We have been sharing our knowledge with them in exchange for being able to erect a space dock for travelers.We have agreed on specific rules of diplomacy and basically what each species can and cannot do. One of the major rules were no interplanetary relationships between species. It has been enforced since our agreement back in twenty forty-seven and the penalty for breaking this rule was exiled to an isolated planet two galaxies away from each other, and that any offspring would be destroyed at the moment of birth.
Let me back up some and catch you up to speed. Earth was going downhill fast with humans depleting its natural resources daily. No one could come up with a plan to sustain the Earth or its natural resources, so a plan was to find another planet that would sustain human life where we could begin over again with the knowledge of how not to deplete its resources and new ways of using solar power. The Siberian Galaxy has one of the hottest suns, even incinerates hotter than that of Earth's sun. Humans have traveled around galaxies looking for new places to colonize before the demise of Earth. We have been able to establish colonies on Mars, Jupiter, Ceres, and a few planets in nearby galaxies to Earth.
When we discovered Cliffordius, it had an atmosphere quite like that of the Earth but was much richer in Nitrogen than Oxygen. We landed our shuttle and began exploring while wearing suits to make up the difference in Nitrogen-Oxygen ratio. The planet was in no way barren, on the contrary, it was lush with green scenery, mountainous areas, and very exotic plants and flowers we had never seen before. We don't know what it was, but maybe these trees and foliage flourished more off of Nitrogen and less on Oxygen. We continued our exploration of the planet until we came upon its inhabitants which were very welcoming to strangers.
They were humanoid in shape but had no body hair and were very easy to the eyes. Instead of having natural skin tones like humans, their skin tone stayed in the ranges of lavenders and bubblegum colors of pink. Their eyes were a bit larger and more apart than our own. They did not have a nose but instead it was two nostril holes planted in the middle of their faces. They had no lips but had a mouth. We have four fingers and a thumb, whereas they have only three fingers and what seems to be a thumb. We were not aware of any genitalia and found it to be difficult to determine which was female from male. It did take some time to remember how to tell them apart, but eventually, we did.
They showed us around and took us back to where they lived. Communication was difficult at first, but our scientists invented a language translator just like we use on other planets. The Cliffordians were a gracious host and we traveled back and forth discovering more area and resources that this new planet had developed. Everywhere we explored and ran tests, the soil was rich with nitrogen and we found alien creatures which would be added to our collection of bugs. As far as I was concerned this planet flourished with life. Granted it didn't have the same animals you would find on earth but these creatures were similar to our own.
Our department heads met with the ruler of Cliffordius and everyone came to an agreement which was put in place. Being that their natural resources were rich, we showed them how to plow the ground and plant seeds that would harvest their own type of food to sustain life. We built condensers to create water and moisture from their own atmosphere to also assist with their gardening. We weren't sure if they bathed or what their grooming habits were, so we didn't touch that subject. In exchange for helping them, they gave us free access to their planet and some of its resources.
We found these inhabitants to be very kind and forth giving in nature and saw no threat of confrontation or brutality. We seemed to coexist well together and humans also became their defenders against other harmful alien species. We learned their language and they learned to speak ours so communication was becoming very profitable for both of us. We set up base camps and colonies that were supplied with oxygen regenerators so that we could move about without suits. All of our housing or pods were interconnected so we could freely move around.
The Eros was bringing more supplies and parts that were needed to expand our colony so that more research could be done. We were learning much from these inhabitants and it was an honor to provide them with new skills. A few of their so-called science people followed our guys around and stood over them while they worked. It was more of being curious as they watched for long hours as our scientists ran test after test. They showed so much enthusiasm when projects blew up or didn't react the was they should have.
We have transported approximately four hundred and twenty-three people to Cliffordius to colonize the planet. The Cliffordians were great in number and were perceived to not be a threat in any manner. We have lived amongst each other for approximately eight Earth years and seemed to be doing well. Everyone has been obeying the few rules that were set in place until one of our female scientists, Rebecca, had grown fond of one Cliffordian inhabitant. They were being noticed around each other quite a bit and acted a bit strange when approached by another scientist. It was common to see both of our species intermingling with each other, but these two were acting like they were doing more than mingling. When you saw one there was the other and vice versa. As long as there were no complaints or anyone speaking of their actions being more intimate, I say leave them alone. We were learning from each other and promoting a good coexisting life with one another.
One day, as a group of us were heading to one of the science labs, we noticed these two being a little more comfortable with each other. As we walked into the room, the Cliffordian was rubbing Rebecca's shoulders and she was grinning from ear to ear until she noticed us there and sort of sprinted away from him as if they weren't doing anything wrong. I had my concerns but kept them to myself for now. A little shoulder rubbing wasn't anything to run to command about. I let it go, until one day Rebecca came running to me and wanting to speak to me privately. I was the one everyone trusted with confidentiality and their dirty little secrets.
We headed for my quarters where we could speak informally with each other. When I asked her what the problem was, all Rebecca said was that she needed to be transferred off of this planet to somewhere else. It took a bit of prying for her to tell me what was going on and of course she was my friend. Rebecca finally broke down and told me she had broken one of the major rules and when I asked which one, the look on her face was enough to tell me which of the rules she had broken.
She broke down crying collapsing in my arms as she started blubbering about her relationship with her Cliffordian counterpart. I knew something was up between them but they never let on it was this serious. Rebecca told me in confidence that she had been in relations with the Cliffordian for about seven months and now she is trapped because she ran a test on herself and she is now pregnant with a Cliffordian child. My jaw dropped to the floor as she told me how it happened and I even panicked a bit at first before getting grips on things and informing her not to worry I would handle things.
I left Rebecca in the hallway after telling her to go back to work and let me see what I could do. I began looking at all the travel vouchers and logs seeing where I could possibly send her where there would be no repercussion of her actions. Rebecca was carrying a new life inside her and who knows what will be birthed from her womb. I finally found a transport that was heading back to what used to be Earth which is now just a lifeless planet with a few basic essentials for survival. Most of the Earth's inhabitants have already been transported to other planets for colonization and only a small number refused to leave their home. I got Rebecca a seat on the transport and thought everyone would be okay until the commanding officer asked me why she was heading back to Earth without his approval? I tried to come up with a good excuse which didn't go over so well and the commander took her name off of the list and sent me back to my duties.
I was at a loss of ideas and quickly reported back to Rebecca with what news I had of an Earth transport leaving in the morning. I informed her that I had put her name on the list but the commander had taken it off due to non-approval. She decided to break down again crying and becoming hysterical because she was in fear of her child being destroyed. She also didn't want to be sent into exile for her rule-breaking, so I told her the only thing she could and that was to sneak onto the transport right after they do cargo check. Rebecca stopped and looked at me with some hope in her eyes and agreed that would be best for both of them.
The next morning, in Earth time, Rebecca was nonchalantly walking around the transport dock acting like she was checking things and when she saw it clear to sneak aboard the Earth transport, she did. Rebecca hid behind a couple of large cargo crates and remained there until the transport made a safe landing on Earth. During the trip, she noticed her belly was getting a little bigger and sat there talking to her unborn child while rubbing her belly bump. It was a long trip so her unborn child kept her company.
Once Rebecca felt the transport landing at the space dock on Earth she was very careful as to not be seen while exiting the cargo area. She grabbed her things and headed out of the space dock area and wandered around while feeling her child kicking and moving about inside her. She needed to find somewhere to settle until her child's birth which wasn't too far off. Every day her belly seemed to get bigger so labor was eminent. She found an abandoned house on the outskirts of town that looked promising and secluded.
Rebecca went inside and found the place to be kept well cleaned and there were still pieces of furniture and household items left in good condition. This was a good place to have her child so she made it a home for her and this alien child she was carrying. Later, after setting things up she needed to go out and find food and water to sustain the two of them. She wandered about and ventured into a couple different stores finding and gathering food and bottles of water. She used an old shopping cart to push everything back to the house she made her home. She stocked the cabinets with dry goods and placed the water inside the refrigerator, which at this point there was no power but keeping it safe inside and out of view.
Tired from her shopping, Rebecca went over to the old sofa and laid back to relax when out of nowhere she had this very sharp pain in her stomach. The longer she sat there the more intense they became until she knew for a fact she was in labor. She managed to get up off the sofa and headed for the bedroom where she had prepared everything for the delivery of her child. She had scissors, water, towels, and everything she needed to make the delivery as easy as possible.
Once she laid back on the bed and got comfortable the pains grew until Rebecca had the notion to push. She pushed what seemed to be several times until she heard the strong cry of her child resting on the bed below her. She sat up, reached for her child, and nestled it close to her chest wrapped in a towel. Rebecca held it for a few minutes while she rested before laying the child back on the bed and cutting the umbilical cord. She took the water and cleaned her newborn child and then began looking the child over for any deformities.
Rebecca noticed her child's skin color was a little on the pink side and that she had no hair. When checking her hands she noticed that the child had three fingers and a thumb. Her feet and toes were that of a human and that her eyes were like her fathers. The child took most of her characteristics from her father and Rebecca named her Siberia for the galaxy her father lives in and where they fell in love.
She would not forget her lost love and had dreams of him almost every night since she left Cliffordius. Looking into her child's face Rebecca could see her long lost love. She still felt his closeness even though they were billions of light years away from each other. She only wished that he could see his child and hold her in his arms. How was she supposed to tell her child who her father was and that she would never see him? It was just Rebecca and her child alone in the world.
As the years went by and Siberia grew in age she still asked her mother about her father and it tore Rebecca apart having to hide him from her. One day Rebecca finally broke down and told her daughter about her father and where he lived and explained why Siberia would never see him. It broke both of their hearts and every night since then Siberia would go outside to a starlit sky looking upwards and speaking to her father as if he could hear her. Siberia hoped her voice would reach her father light years away.
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