Chapter Twelve — Part 5

“Don’t hit me, please. I was just remembering the way you beat that little prick uncle of mine around. Here he is, twice your size, and he’s being pounded like a twelve year old.”

“Sure, a twelve year old. Did you say that both of you were related?”

She stopped laughing and wiped a tear off her cheek. “I’m sorry to say that we are. My uncle has fallen in with bad company. He wants the Elves to segregate from all other tribes of Humanity, and enslave the fairies. He wants Elf kind to be the only intelligent life in this galaxy.”

“Why is it he would want that?”

“It’s really very silly. All the races of man come from Earth. The differences aren’t so much of species but of culture. Elves, fairies, and angels went to war for Earth, against the Human Race. In the end, we left Earth for other worlds, and the angels for Otherspace. It’s in the Elfin lore — related from the eldest and long dead King Exodus and his recordings of a conversation with the mighty Avatar, Wisdom.”

“Never knew where angels came from, I never thought to ask.” I flapped my wings out, then let them snap down violently, a sign that I was thinking.

Uruza misinterpreted it. “Have I offended you?”

“No, tell me about this discourse with Wisdom,” I said. “My father’s done so much I don’t know about.”

“Even though the Human Race is the current holder of the Jewel of Earth, five great races have been spawned from it in the past. Because only one sentient race can hold a biological niche at a time on any one planet, many races have left Earth behind so that new races could grow and shed their home world as well.” Uruza paused. “Don’t you angels have anything akin to a history lesson?”

I frowned. “I’m only a Guardian Angel, I always fell asleep in my classes.”

“The angels were the first Human Race, and after the great angelic wars, angelic law was established and the angels moved into Otherspace. The next three races evolved simultaneously, only a few thousand years after the angels, and within a few thousand years of each other. The fairies, the Elves, and the humans all went to war.”

“But what about the Forever Children?”

“The Forever Children are called the mother race, because they carry no individual genetic codes. If they mate with an Elf, an Elf will be born. If they mate with a human, a human will be born. I don’t know if this holds true for other sentient species that aren’t human, or even if they can mate with non-humanoid species, but I suspect that it does. They left Earth shortly after the angels, and we Elves still don’t know how or why they left. There’s said to be at least one on every planet that harbors life.

“There are also the fairies. The Elves call the fairies the Grandfather race, because they came before us, and are very wild and generous souls. You’ll know if you ever meet a fairy. Although they have wings, they look like smaller versions of us. Even the smallest is large enough to mate with other Homo Sapiens.

“If you aren’t careful around one, you’ll probably end up pregnant — the creatures are masters of seduction. They left Earth for the planet Isastan, and after a few thousand years, my people joined them. Since then our races have successfully merged as one.

“I’m hoping that the advanced humans who’ve left Earth will also join us on Isastan. It’s my belief that the reunification of the human tribes can only strengthen genetics and culture. Wastik and I are very polarized on this issue.”

“Your uncle voiced a lot of opposition to your marriage with Fluff. He even put me down for being an angel.”

“He wants power. I don’t know that he really believes the racist nonsense he’s spouting, but his followers do, and he is using them as a level to gain the Elfin throne of Isastan. Since he’s got the Scandivats on his side, we’ve got a problem. He has a strong following among the Elves. We’re fighters by nature, so when Elves go to war, it’s not a pretty thing.” Uruza adjusted her loincloth, rising to lean against the wall.

“Mother Tester thought that something had been damaged in the machinery of the universe, and that as soon as the part was fixed or removed and replaced, everything would return to normal. Do you think it might be Wastik?”

“You’re asking me if Wastik has the power to break the universal machinery. I don’t know. I do know that if there was some event or condition he came across that he could use to his advantage, he would. It would be better for everybody if that man was dead.”

“If I have to kill, then things must really be bad.”

“I’ve heard that angels who kill become demonic in appearance — have you killed before?”

“I think I’m an exception to the rule. I look a lot like my mother is all.”

“Just like her. And just like her, you have two bodies at the same time. Except her other body is Wisdom.”

“Not exactly. I can’t split into two separate entities at the same time. I can’t be human and angel, or male and female. I’m Bit no matter what body I’m in, a woman soul in kindred bodies.” I leaned against the wall, next to Uruza. “I’ve tried very hard to be strong, but strength is useless against loneliness.”

For a moment Uruza’s eyes softened, as if she understood. The blare of the service horn ended our conversation. As we came out of Otherspace, I shifted human again with nothing but a bodysuit to cover me. It wasn’t unattractive, it just wasn’t what a Captain of a pirate vessel was supposed to be wearing. I had to walk to my quarters to change before going to the bridge.

Uruza said one last thing to me as I left the cargo bay for my room. “I’ll kill for you, if I have to.” The tone in her voice turned my blood cold.

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