try to remember everything I know about Otherworld, which is shamefully little. An earthlike planet, colonized by a small group of scientists and volunteers. I hope they have done a good job in creating a strong community. However, this senator seems precisely like all the men I had to deal with on Earth.
Yeah, I have always been treated as an object, and apparently this is my destiny. The senator of the colony is willing to save me just because I’m a statue in his school. I’ll continue to be his prize for my whole life, probably.
“Prince?”
Phae approaches and puts his arms around me, massaging my back, and I’m grateful to have him at my side in a moment like this. He’s the only one able to give me all the affection I need, without asking anything back. I let my clothes fall and lean on him, resting my forehead on his chest.
“You okay, Prince?”
“Yes, yes, honey.” I touch his face. The comparison with the slimy senator makes him look even more precious. “Don’t worry. This senator is exactly like all the people I met. I can twist him around my fingers like nothing.”
“But when you arrive, he will… yes, he will do to you the things we did together, right? The talk was all about that, right?”
No, he’s not stupid. I bite my lower lip. Giving my ass to the senator is a price I have to pay, and it isn’t even the thing that scares me the most. But do I really have to inflict Phae, so innocent, with this shit?
I grin. “I don’t know if the senator will remain so interested in my body after nine years of hard life on this ship.”
Phae gasps, shocked. “ What? ”
I put my hands on his shoulders and look into his eyes. “Listen to me, Phae. The senator has no way of knowing if I actually go back in the sarcophagus or not. And when the rescue ship comes, they certainly won’t go home empty-handed, even if they discover I’m not frozen. Meaning I am not obliged to go back in there.”
Phae turns pale. I sincerely thought to make him happy with this statement. Instead he’s shocked. So I add, “In the rescue vessel, I am confident we’ll find a sarcophagus for both of us. It’s not very common for a clone to undergo suspended animation, but I think I’ll be able to persuade whoever is in charge to—”
“But you can’t spend nine years awake here in Ship! Nine broad cycles are more than three thousand cycles, Prince!”
He can’t read, but he certainly knows arithmetic. I caress his cheek. “I know, Phae. But we could be together. And I’m not that old. I’m twenty-two, and when the rescue vessel comes I’ll be thirty-one and the senator will still be a lot older than me.”
Phae is confused. “But you can’t even drink or eat Ship’s food!”
“I’ll get used to your food. If you can eat it, I can too, Phae.”
I don’t deny the prospect of spending nine years here, eating rotten food, fills me with dread. I regret the fact the aliens are gone. Maybe we could have gone with them. Learned to breathe liquid like fish and swim in their water planet, or something like that. The idea is almost more attractive than staying on this junk, eating rotten freeze-dried food for nine long years. But how can I abandon the only person who ever loved me?
We are two, but there’s only one sarcophagus. I can’t go back inside and leave him awake. It’s not fair. Perhaps one time I would have done it without flinching, but now I’m different. The bad experience has changed me, but especially Phae changed me with his love. I can’t pay him back by leaving him alone.
Phae trembles slightly. He hugs me tight, as if I am extremely valuable. This destroys my heart every time. He treats me as if I am the most precious thing in the universe.
I say, “We’ll be together, Phae. We could make love.”
“But you are a human purebred. You’re not a clone. You’re not born on Ship, unaware of what exists out there. This isn’t your only way of life. You aren’t a guardian angel,
Yeah, I have always been treated as an object, and apparently this is my destiny. The senator of the colony is willing to save me just because I’m a statue in his school. I’ll continue to be his prize for my whole life, probably.
“Prince?”
Phae approaches and puts his arms around me, massaging my back, and I’m grateful to have him at my side in a moment like this. He’s the only one able to give me all the affection I need, without asking anything back. I let my clothes fall and lean on him, resting my forehead on his chest.
“You okay, Prince?”
“Yes, yes, honey.” I touch his face. The comparison with the slimy senator makes him look even more precious. “Don’t worry. This senator is exactly like all the people I met. I can twist him around my fingers like nothing.”
“But when you arrive, he will… yes, he will do to you the things we did together, right? The talk was all about that, right?”
No, he’s not stupid. I bite my lower lip. Giving my ass to the senator is a price I have to pay, and it isn’t even the thing that scares me the most. But do I really have to inflict Phae, so innocent, with this shit?
I grin. “I don’t know if the senator will remain so interested in my body after nine years of hard life on this ship.”
Phae gasps, shocked. “ What? ”
I put my hands on his shoulders and look into his eyes. “Listen to me, Phae. The senator has no way of knowing if I actually go back in the sarcophagus or not. And when the rescue ship comes, they certainly won’t go home empty-handed, even if they discover I’m not frozen. Meaning I am not obliged to go back in there.”
Phae turns pale. I sincerely thought to make him happy with this statement. Instead he’s shocked. So I add, “In the rescue vessel, I am confident we’ll find a sarcophagus for both of us. It’s not very common for a clone to undergo suspended animation, but I think I’ll be able to persuade whoever is in charge to—”
“But you can’t spend nine years awake here in Ship! Nine broad cycles are more than three thousand cycles, Prince!”
He can’t read, but he certainly knows arithmetic. I caress his cheek. “I know, Phae. But we could be together. And I’m not that old. I’m twenty-two, and when the rescue vessel comes I’ll be thirty-one and the senator will still be a lot older than me.”
Phae is confused. “But you can’t even drink or eat Ship’s food!”
“I’ll get used to your food. If you can eat it, I can too, Phae.”
I don’t deny the prospect of spending nine years here, eating rotten food, fills me with dread. I regret the fact the aliens are gone. Maybe we could have gone with them. Learned to breathe liquid like fish and swim in their water planet, or something like that. The idea is almost more attractive than staying on this junk, eating rotten freeze-dried food for nine long years. But how can I abandon the only person who ever loved me?
We are two, but there’s only one sarcophagus. I can’t go back inside and leave him awake. It’s not fair. Perhaps one time I would have done it without flinching, but now I’m different. The bad experience has changed me, but especially Phae changed me with his love. I can’t pay him back by leaving him alone.
Phae trembles slightly. He hugs me tight, as if I am extremely valuable. This destroys my heart every time. He treats me as if I am the most precious thing in the universe.
I say, “We’ll be together, Phae. We could make love.”
“But you are a human purebred. You’re not a clone. You’re not born on Ship, unaware of what exists out there. This isn’t your only way of life. You aren’t a guardian angel,
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