Tantalus - 13. Friends

Chapter 13. Friends

The first thing I noticed was that I could breathe.

I opened my eyes, remembering everything instantly. I had been trapped in a nightmare water-filled tube. I hadn't been able to move, or speak. And my body…

I sat up as if jolted by a live wire, heart hammering in my chest. I caught fleeting glimpses of a Furball-covered floor, of tall walls around me and of Jim lying nearby, naked like I was, but I blocked everything out.

Gingerly, trembling, I brought my hands up to my chest.

It was solid. I took a long, deep breath, ignored the gentle greetings of the Furballs around me, and looked down.

The skin was there, normal, just like usual. I pressed down gently and felt the firm suppleness of my pectoral muscles underneath my fingertips. I touched my sides and felt my rib cage, counted each rib even. It was normal. I ran my hands along my back as far as I could reach and I could feel no difference.

I would have thought it had all just been a bad dream, but there was one thing that had changed.

Right in the middle of my chest, in the gentle cleft between my pecs where before a faint fuzzy patch of hair had grown, there was now a slender, gently-raised line of hard material shaped like a very elongated arrowhead. I took a deep breath as I watched it, and I saw it pulse gently with the same yellow radiance that permeated the walls of the room.

A Furball came up to me, hesitant, scared of what I might do.

Kyle? it asked. It was Tag.

"Hey," I answered. My voice sounded a little strange, like it had done that time I had been out in the atmosphere of Tantalus. A lifetime ago.

I drew in air sharply, making Tag jump away in alarm.

I looked around. There were Furballs everywhere, breathing the very same air I was breathing.

I took a long, deep breath. It filled my artificial lungs with nourishing fullness and I realized what had really happened to me in that pod.

We help Kyle? Tag asked shyly.

I was speechless. I couldn't even think of an answer. I was breathing an alien atmosphere. I was alive.

Jim stirred next to me. Despite everything that was happening, my mind still spared a moment to take in how magnificent he looked, naked like he was. He looked like a statue of strength come to life as he opened his eyes, turning his head to look at me with a confused glance.

"Kyle?" he said quietly, voice hoarse. Then he cleared his throat and tried again. "Kyle, are you all right?"

I nodded slowly. "I am."

He tried to sit up but lost his balance. I reached out, steadying him. He was heavy, but not as heavy as he should have been.

"Take it easy," I said.

"What happened?"

I swallowed. My throat felt dry. "What's the last thing you remember, Jim?"

He frowned, remembering. "The bunker. Furballs pouring in through the ceiling. Were you able to fix the breach? How late is it? Are we out of air?"

I pointed at the slender, glowing marker on my chest, reaching then across to touch the one on Jim's, nestled among the soft hair covering his pecs.

"We've changed, Jim."

"What do you mean?"

"Look around you."

He did, and I followed his glance. We took in the tall, curving walls that stretched far up above our heads, making me feel as if we were inside a cathedral. Ornate, fractal shapes covered the walls, pulsing gently with energy and giving off a warm yellow glow. With a little start, I realized that I could feel the energy moving, even trace it back to its fiercely-glowing source deep underground. I was not doing it through my link to the Furballs, although I was aware of them and they of me. I could sense energy in a way I never had before. I could feel it inside me, disseminated among the gathered Furballs watching us intently, and also in Jim.

He looked back at me with wide-open eyes full of shock and disbelief.

"We're breathing the planet's air," he said in a whisper.

I nodded. "Yes."

"How?"

I made a sweeping gesture with one hand. "They saved us. Our friends."

Friends.

It was a nearly-forgotten concept for the furry aliens. I felt them take it, share it, and expand on it until they finally understood it. When they did, it was like an explosion of joy. For a very long time they had been one Mind. Now, at long last, they had friends.

Friends! they all said to us.

Jim gasped.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I… I can hear them," he said, his voice full of wonder like that of a small child.

I reached out to hold Jim's hand and our connection strengthened beyond anything I could have ever imagined. I was aware of his mind, of his being, and I knew he was aware of me in the same way. It was a communion unlike anything I could have ever thought existed. I could see Jim in his entirety, with all his flaws, yes, but also with all his strengths. I could see his strong, kind heart, his loneliness, and… his love. For me.

I knew, in that instant when I was aware of his love, that he could see how much I loved him in return. He had been my only company during the time I had thought were the last days of my life, and he and I had bonded in a way I had never been bonded to anyone else.

"You…?" I began, but I realized it wasn't even necessary to finish the question.

Jim nodded. "I guess I do."

He bent forward to kiss me. Our lips met and joy surged through our mental link.

The Furballs around us began to sing.

Their voices were purrs and soft growls and whistles, but overlaid over the sound was the true beauty of their mental song. They sang about happiness, about soft moss and cool water, but also about friendship, and about this new thing that Jim and I were calling love. As they sang, the energy within the ancient Temple surged in response, flooding the chamber of healing, and the jewels on my chest and on Jim's began to glow with an echoing light. Those who had built it were no longer here, but I knew then that if they had been, they would have been glad.

I smiled, my lips still touching Jim's. "Looks like we've made them happy."

He caressed my cheek gently, drawing back to look at me fully. "Not as much as you make me."

We stood up carefully then, the Furball song still in our minds, and the furry aliens parted to let us through. An ancient mechanized storage unit opened when we approached, displaying garments that had been cut to fit us. They were a dull gray when I picked mine up, but the fabric shimmered and appeared to change color as soon as I rested it on my skin.

There was water waiting for us, and even some kind of native fruit with a rich pink color and a vivid yellow shell.

I was content. I was at peace.

Jim and I were just about done eating when the gentle song of the Furballs was suddenly interrupted.

A deep tremor shook the very foundations of the Temple and light showers of dirt rained down from the ceiling. Then it happened again. And again.

The silence in the room where before there had been song was almost deafening, but even worse was the sudden wrenching groan that heralded the violent collapse of the ceiling on top of us.

"Look out!" Jim shouted, pulling me under him to shield me with his body.

He wasn't the only one who had thought of that. All the Furballs zoomed towards our position, crowding on top of us, keening, hoping to protect us.

Against giant blocks of rock, however, there is no protection.

I felt black knives of sorrow slice my heart open when the first rock crushed the lives of a dozen Furballs. There was another tremor and more rocks rained down.

More aliens died. I cried out, clinging to Jim with all my strength.

Then sudden, blasting sunlight.

Behind it, the culprit. A towering shape, hunkering down on four mechanical legs.

"Planetary Government," Jim growled beside me. I saw how his eyes were practically blazing with fury. "They've come to finish the job."