Synopsis

Name: Kamdi
Species: Earthling
Location: Quron
Class: Unclassified

They couldn't place her in a box. They tried. Goodness knows, they tried, but after every single assessment, the results were the same. Unclassified. And that was just too bad because her world - the civilized world - ran on a class system. One that ensured peace, and stability, and prosperity. Still, there was room for the Unclassified. Even those who did not quite fit could still be productive members of society. Or so Kamdi thought, until she dared to fall in love.

A rare sci-fi story, with a Lagosian as the protagonist. The opening scene; Chapter 1 is below:

Quron was a planet of sand and rock, grasslands and forests, lakes and rivers. It teemed with life, the way Earth once did.

With night falling, Azkin’s Cove was virtually deserted. One Earthling and one Qurian remained. Both tall and lean, they stood close together on
the small, enclosed beach, watching the vertical fall of water course down the sheer cliffs of luminous green and purple ferns, aglow with the light
of frolicking fireflies.

“It’ll be dark soon, Kamdi,” the Qurian said. “We have an early shift tomorrow.”

The Earthling smiled, her teeth flashing white against her vibrant skin of titian brown.

“And then what, Xhyon?” she asked.

The Qurian sighed, his yellow-green eyes filled with concern. “Then we board EQ and return to Earth.”

“Back to the planet of plastic and fog.” Her voice was flat; soulless.

“Kam. Kam, look at me.” Kamdi turned to face him. Slowly. Reluctantly. Her eyes were deep and dark, and so very expressive, an open window into her anguish, and a perfect mirror into his. He reached out gently, deliberately, giving her sufficient time to step back.

She didn’t.

The comforting hand he placed against her cheek had been amber brown only moments before. Now pale ochre, his skin’s pallor increasing with the deepening dark, he brushed his thumb against her high cheekbone.

“Kamdi, you can simulate everything you see here back on Earth.”

“Will that work?” she asked.

“It’s a start, and if it doesn’t…well, I suppose you could look into joining EQ’s crew permanently, and journey to Quron at least once a month.”

“And quit being an agent? That’s my job. My purpose.”

“Not if you’re constantly depressed.”

“It’s not a constant, Shy. It comes and goes, like a wave, like the tides. Sometimes I’m deluged by it. Other times, it’s just a passing sprinkle, or it’s far, far away, on the horizon. This will pass. This is the crash at the end of two weeks in the paradise of nature knowing that I will soon return to a planet devoid of it.”

Xhyon dropped the hand that had been caressing her cheek, and entangled his fingers in hers, squeezing. Soothing. Reassuring. “A night’s sleep will do you good. Let’s go.”

Kamdi pulled away.

“Not yet.” She dipped a toe into the pool. “I need to remember this, Shy. Vividly. The sight. The sound. The rich, clean smell of it. I need to sear this place, this moment into my mind, into my memory.” She slowly stepped further into the water, her clothing, the black caoutchouchit polymer that formed her second skin, receding with each step revealing teasing slivers of naked, dusky skin that disappeared beneath the surface of the gently lapping waves. She turned to face him when the water reached her neck. “Common in,” she said smiling. His expression was priceless!

“The water feels amazing.”

Xhyon shut the jaw that had dropped open. “What are you doing?”

Kamdi laughed out loud. It was entertaining to see Xhyon flustered. Standing at over 6 feet, lean and muscular, with his chiselled jaw and piercing, cat-like eyes, he commanded respect, in stature, in pose, in attitude. Every inch of him oozed an easy, care-free confidence. Though not at the moment.

"Taking a nude dip in a pool," Kamdi replied with wide-eyed innocence. "And inviting you in," she added with a wink.

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Two leisurely kicks brought her to the edge of the waterfall. Water pattering on the surface of water. Yielding. Merging. Rising. Harmonizing. In its very own perpetual dance. The smile she threw over her shoulder was beguiling, sly and openly inviting.

Xhyon’s jaw dropped again, before that veneer of confidence snapped back into place, like the lobes of Earth’s long extinct Dionaea muscipula.

“Kam, this is highly out of character. I would not want to take advantage of your vulnerable...”

He lost his trail of thought. She was getting out of the pool. Pale rivulets of water CENSORED, like ribbons of moonlight. CENSORED His heart began to race.

She soon stood in front of him, still smiling, those oh so reflective eyes looking deep into his. He’d always been fascinated by those eyes. The deepest of shimmering black in a sea of white. The wind ruffled the still dry tumble of delicate spiral curls framing her face. When wet, they would turn wavy, lengthen and drop. His fingers itched to run through them, and feel every difference in its myriad of soft textures.

She must have been thinking the same thing because her hand reached up to his high bun, slowly unraveling it. She let down the cords of his hair, running her fingers though the springy softness of his shoulder-length locs, never once breaking eye contact. “Shy,” she said. “I believe I’m the one taking all of the advantage.”

Chapter update to follow shortly. Get ahead by reading the rest on

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