Chapter 11

Ghok nurses the steaming coffee cup on the table before him, scarcely aware that it is even there. The young waiter practically had to twist the alien’s arm to get him to order. Ever since being subjected to the brew when he first arrived, it had become a staple in Ghok’s morning routine. So for him to turn it down means something. The waiter also did his best to get him to order one of the place’s tempting meals. What could be better than saying that the only alien to ever visit Earth ate at their restaurant? Ghok just wasn’t plain hungry.

Rachele is far less fazed by the afternoon’s events. She orders a double serving of apple pie to go along with her hot tea and begins eating it almost as soon as the plate hits the table. It was she who suggested that they come to this restaurant. They have an awful lot to discuss and being so far along, she can hardly stand around on the curbside all afternoon. She made a point of picking out the most secluded booth in the place, and so long as they keep their voices down they will have all the privacy they need.

Ghok looks on in astonishment as the woman devours the meal before her like a vacuum cleaner. She glances up at him and notices his furrowed brow. “I’m pregnant,” she justifies her appetite with a shrug. “I’m sure the women on your planet are the same way.”

“Yes, they are,” he replies with dry sarcasm that makes the atmosphere extremely uncomfortable. “So ... you’re looking well,” he comments in an effort to dispel the silence.

“Thank you,” she politely acknowledges.

“Is everything ... going okay?” he asks, struggling to find words for the question in a way that feels appropriate.

“Yeah,” Rachele nods in a cheery tone. She is about to make a crack about life being as good as it can be with a person stuck inside her, but she quickly decides against it. “I’m healthy. Baby’s healthy...”

“Good,” Ghok says, trying to sound pleased. “How far along are you?”

“Almost full term,” she replies in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Full term...” the alien softly repeats. “So, you’re ready to give birth soon. I should have known the first time we did it on Vulta.”

“I didn’t think...” Rachele confirms softly, sensing that the tone of the conversation is taking a turn for the worse. “I just didn’t expect...”

“For two different species to conceive?” Ghok asks.

“Well ... yeah...” she counters with a defensive glare.

“Not knowing, and yet you threw yourself at me,” he accuses her. “I went against rules set by the Nehrezl. I came to this world. And now what is going to happen to me or the baby?”

“Had I known what would have happened, I would have never done what I did. But you seem to have suspected it, so why didn’t you stop me? Why did you go on along with me?” she challenges him in a calm, confident voice. Ghok opens his mouth, but Rachele cuts him off before he can answer, “Honestly?” The question gives the alien pause. “You know, I don’t know if you remember, but things were happening pretty fucking fast on that moon the first time. I didn’t go there with the intention to fuck the first alien I met, and fuck up your life in the process. I think it’s safe to say that at the time neither one of us really gave a shit about whether or not what we were doing was sensible.”

Ghok shakes his head with an angry scowl as the woman defends her deceitfulness. There is truth in her words about his own carelessness, but he is too bitter and too fearful of the future to see it. “You lied to me,” he tells her.

Rachele rolls her eyes in frustration. “I never said I was pregnant.”

“I imagine that if it happened on Vulta, then you knew at the funeral.”

“It doesn’t happen that fast,” she defends.

“Maybe back in your history,” he counters and accuses. “But your technology has come a long way. You can know at practically the moment of conception.”

“Okay, so what?” Rachele asks. “So what if I knew.”

“The whole night we ... you knew the whole night and you never said a word,” he fumes.

“I ... okay, I knew I was pregnant, but I hadn’t figured out what I was going to do about it,” she justifies the omission. “As a matter of fact, at the time, I was pretty sure I was going to terminate it.” It is an admission that catches Ghok’s full attention. He is surprised by the poignant honesty he can see reflected in her eyes. “I figured if nothing was ever going to come of it, then you never needed to know,” she says.

“I had a right to know,” he responds after taking some time to consider what she has just told him. “Even more so when my life on this planet can be in danger.”

Rachele cannot argue with his feelings. She certainly didn’t decide to keep the pregnancy from him lightly. “I guess you’re right,” she sheepishly admits as she gobbles another bite of pie. “I thought about calling, you know? But who the fuck wants to have that conversation, right? In the end I guess I just figured that you’d be better off without the worry.” Only now that she says the thought out loud does she realize that Ghok’s face is absolutely covered in worry. She feels sorry for him, but she also realizes that his fears about the prospect of what will happen to him are just what she needs to secure the cooperation that she so desperately needs. “Listen,” she begins in her most genial tone. “I know this all must come as a pretty big shock to you. If you’re worried about the prospect of your future, then don’t.”

Ghok stares at her in confusion. “I’m not sure I follow,” he says a moment later.

Rachele leans in closer and lowers her voice, betraying how anxious she feels about what she is about to disclose. “I’ve arranged for the baby to be taken care of. Everything is taken care of. The problem is no one but a few select individuals know the truth about the baby. So if you show up now and cause a big fuss ... well, it could really fucked things up.” She studies his face as he absorbs what she is telling him, but his expression is unreadable, alien. “Look, it’s better this way—for you, for me,” she asserts. “I was distressed and fell into a fix to the problem. Once I give birth, I can move on one more time and it can be like this never happened.”

Ghok doesn’t react, but Rachele can tell that her words have struck a chord with him.

“This doesn’t have to be a problem. All you have to do is just leave this town and forget that you were ever her. Forget that you ever saw me,” she bargains.

Still, the alien doesn’t answer. This just makes her increasingly nervous.

“Please?” she begs in the soft, sweet voice she had successfully used countless times throughout her life to get her way. She reaches out and places her hand gently upon his.

Ghok looks up at her but says nothing. Rachele gleans from the lack of fire in his eyes that he has no inclination to fight her in this matter. There is no irrational broody instinct inside him pushing to claim his offspring for himself. She is cautiously optimistic that once he has processed everything she has told him, Ghok will appreciate the logic of what she has said and will just leave her in peace. She leans back, giving him some time to think while she continues with the delicious pie before her.