Dragon in the Dark (Kindred Tales)

“Not as such. It’s actually part of the plant’s life cycle. The male blossom enters the female blossom, which sucks it to make it deposit its seed. Look there—you can see it happening now.”

He pointed to one side of the pool and Iyanna looked more closely. Sure enough, one of the dark blue blossoms, which was closed tight so that it resembled a torpedo (or maybe a penis, she thought) was nudging at the fleshy lips of a bright red pleasure bloom.

The red lips turned towards the blue torpedo and began to suck at its tip. The blue blossom thrust itself suddenly between the lips and deep into the crimson pleasure bloom, which continued to suck vigorously. Iyanna could see the sides of it bulging as the blue blossom started thrusting in and out. Its outer petals were coated with a thin, shimmering layer of some kind of moisture and it appeared to be getting more and more excited. If plants could get excited that was, Iyanna thought.

Suddenly, the blue blossom plunged all the way into the crimson one and the two of them stilled. Iyanna could see rippling bulges along the sides of the crimson flower’s petals and then, less than a minute after they’d started the whole mating ritual, the blue blossom withdrew. As they watched, it wilted away to nothing, shriving to a tiny blue ribbon while the crimson blossom remained perfectly healthy and even seemed a bit larger to Iyanna.

“My goodness—what happened to it?” she demanded staring at the defunct blue blossom.

Rarev shrugged.

“It had served its purpose—to ‘impregnate’ the female pleasure bloom with its seed. Now the female bloom will bud and produce offspring—some male and some female and the cycle will continue.” He frowned. “We hope it will, anyway.”

“You hope? Don’t you know?” Iyanna asked him.

The Monstrum commander shook his shaggy head.

“Ever since we’ve come to this ‘verse, the pleasure blooms have not been thriving as they used to. In fact, some even say that the ones on the Dark Side of the ship are dying. Which is serious business, since the Monstrum who live on that side of the Mother Ship are far less likely to be able to call human mates.”

“Why not?” Iyanna asked, her scientist’s mind endlessly curious.

“Some of them would be extremely frightening to human women,” Rarev said, frowning. “And for some, their immense size is an issue.”

Iyanna thought of the enormous bed in the other room and shivered. The Monstrum were already so much bigger than humans that she was certain having fun in the bedroom must be difficult at times. Like a Great Dane mating with a Chihuahua, she thought. She couldn’t imagine trying to be with a Monstrum even bigger than a normal sized one, like Commander Rarev.

“I, uh, can see how that might be a problem,” she said.

The Monstrum commander sighed.

“Yes, well, it is our problem, and you need not concern yourself with it. Just don’t go to the Dark Side of the ship without the guide I will provide for you.”

“A guide?” Iyanna asked.

“His name is Stor’kuum—he’s the oldest Satyr Monstrum on the ship—and one of the most knowledgeable. I’ve arranged for the two of you to meet tomorrow morning after First Meal,” The Monstrum commander told her. “He’ll come to your suite to get you and show you around.”

“Thank you very much.” Iyanna nodded gratefully. She had already observed that the Monstrum Mother Ship was something of a maze—she was glad that Commander Rarev was assigning her a guide to take her around it.

“You’re very welcome. Now, would you like me to show you how to use the food prep devices before I leave you?”

“Oh, certainly. Thanks so much.” Iyanna nodded. “Though…I’m not much of a cook,” she added. She hated admitting that—her Granny had tried to teach her how to cook but though Iyanna had definitely inherited her green thumb and affinity for plants, she wasn’t great in the kitchen.

“Your problem, child, is you’re too impatient!” her Granny always lectured. “Always rushing into things, wanting to dive in head-first. You cook everything on the highest heat to get it done fast but then you end up burning it!”

Well, that was true enough, Iyanna admitted to herself. She wondered what kinds of foods she’d be expected to work with in the Monstrum food prep area and if she could keep from burning them.

However, as it turned out, the only machine she really needed to learn to use was the food rehydrator. It was a microwave-sized appliance which turned small white cubes—about the size of sugar cubes—into full-sized meals. Some were from various Monstrum cuisines, but others were plain old Earth food. They were labeled in tiny black script.

Vegetable curry, read one. Another said, eggs and bacon. And others were labeled, oatmeal with strawberries, California sushi roll, burger and fries (condiments on the side), pepperoni pizza, chicken Caesar salad…and the list went on and on.