Across the Galactic Divide

"Silence...!" A voice roared.

"And that would be the great and powerful OZ himself." James kissed his lover in his mind, as she fled.

"I will see this ooman! The mind will be open to me!" There was silence in the building and a bigger group of the cop like people came up.

"Dude, you got to get a new gig. Marvin the Martian got you beat on this one." He huffed and looked at the procession. "Take me to your leader." He smiled and they recoiled. After following them though the twist and turns; he was placed in a ground conveyance. He sighed, he moaned, he groaned, he huffed, and then looked everywhere but at his entourage. "What time is it anyway?" He asked then laughed. "Time to buy a watch... duh!"

"Kolta will examine you." The one brave enough to say anything motioned James through the swirly door. James shrugged and stepped into the lion's den.

It was a good thing James wasn't agoraphobic. This Kolta had a high opinion of himself. His office was in the middle of the Great Ten Planet Empire. In the middle of the projection that made the room look like open space, sat a small shriveled person, who was playing with an intricately balanced plate with what looked like grains of sand on it.

"Balance is such and special thing." It said, although James always put a male connotation to Kolta. "Just the right miss-drop of one tiny grain and the whole thing will tip out of balance. Even one as primitive as you should see the need of balance and control. I mean you were once a warrior. I have seen it in your mind, even as you tried to keep it from me. I abolished war before your species could even make fire unaided." It looked at James and he knew what he was facing. This person was more than mind sick... there wasn't a mind to be sick. This person was the definition of bat-shit crazy.

"All is shared in perfect balance. You tipped that balance, so I had to make adjustments. I hope Salla enjoys your world as much as you seem to be enjoying ours... if he makes it past the great center." There was a whiney sneer in the voice.

"I thought the timing had to be right or it would end badly." James asked, wondering how the insane always seemed to be running the asylum.

"Oh, I'm sure if Salla tries hard enough, he will find a useable shell. Someone in a vegetative state, or ending their life... no matter. You came here, so Salla had to go there. You see balance!" It tipped a grain in one place to take another off the plate with no movement, not even a wobble.

"No wonder Illyria said you were mind sick." James said offhandedly.

"That name is forbidden! She will be purified...! Never say it again ooman!" Kolta twitched uncontrollably and his plate went flying across the room, scattering the grains everywhere. "See what you have done. It will take me many meatrose to get it balanced again. Salla should have spaced you before you formed." It raged at James.

"I see... some great place you have here. Just filled with the milk of goodness and kindness." James said sarcastically.

"Balance... I found balance. I found the way to extend life... to transfer to a shell. I stopped the war and balanced the galaxy! Me Kolta the Great. Kolta the Creator of Balance!" It was hopping in frustration.

"Let me see if I got this right." James scratched his head, not showing his fear. "Once upon a time, you did a good thing... I'll have to admit stopping a war that no one can win and saving the population is a good thing. But... the price is that everyone has to kiss your ass for eternity. Nope, sorry. I'm not seeing it." James shook his head in confusion.

"They call you the Life Bringer. I am the Life Bringer. I made the balance for all life." Kolta sneered. "There is no need for children any longer. Not in my galaxy." James felt the stab of fierce thought. He wondered how this babbling idiot....

"So, that is your game. You think because I'm Human, you can trick me to letting my guard down." He smiled tightly and the thought probed the strength of his mind.

"You will not leave until your mind is mine to control." The crazy lilt left the voice. "I will control the life you bring. If one cannot transfer, then I will make a life to replace it. It will all remain in balance!"

"I see," James fought the intrusion, "some grand plan you've got there Kolta. And, if I don't accept this destiny you've chosen for me?" James asked humorously.

"You will serve me willingly or in a cage. But either way human; you will serve... either way." Kolta panted with exertion. "I didn't come to rule The Ten Planets and billions of my people by being the idiot you envisioned." Kolta turned on him.

"And, what if you were to learn that there are people out there already having children? How would that count on your balance plate?" James smiled and tightened his mental fence. If he was still in his natural form, he would have been sweating.

"No... you lie! I would know about it. There is no new life. There is only the transfer and balance." Kolta shrugged intensifying his thought.

"So, a stagnant society... endless life; if you want it or not, and an underground that looks to start natural reproduction again. Sounds like a bad Bradbury book." James laughed as a sharp stab came at his mind.

"Overwhelm Kolta with the images of your former life... like you did with me before we were bonded." James could hear the fear in Illyria's voice.

"You know what." James gritted out of his clenched jaw. "She's right." He smiled. "You are mind sick! Crazy as a Lune, and an idiot...! You're Looney-toons, a whack job, dorkfish, moron, imbecile, fucking nuts, and nucking futs. You are nothing but a beer fart in a shit pond." With every vision from his mind, the hold against his mental fence weakened. "You belong in the rubber Ramada, the padded cell, a clown convention." He broke free and laughed. "In other words Kolta, you're crazier that and bag of cats in a pissing contest. So, are we done yet? Or... do I need to go on Gilligan?"

Kolta was gasping as the visions flashed in his mind. "Open all the way to Kolta... give him what he wants." She told James and he did.

"So, you wanted to know what's on my mind. Well, here it is." He dropped his fence and laughed harder.

"Stop it... stop it... please stop it. You are too strange. My mind... I will destroy you ooman. Balance.... I need balance." Kolta's voice got weaker until he was just sitting there and looking off into literal space, twitching.

"So, can I go now? Are we done here... or what?" James asked, slamming up his fence again as Kolta twitched and gasped. "I'll take that as a yes and get out of your hair." He whistled as he made his way back to the door, kicking the grains as he went. When it opened, he saw the frightened faces. "If you have someone who can help poor Kolta... I'd send for them. He's been royally mind fucked." He stepped past and went out into the hall and waited for the hammer to fall.

*****

James wondered if whoever designed this place, ever heard of color variance. They had to have the technology. Hell they were so far past where humans were he didn't understand it all. But really, every building, every city, everything built out of the same material? Can you say boring!

"Where are you my love? I need to see you." James pleaded with Illyria. What they couldn't do by grilling him, they might accomplish out of shear boredom. He was going stir crazy.

"I am sorry my love, but we can't take the chance that Kolta will recover. Only half of what Kolta told you was a lie. The rest is the truth. He insists on keeping the same number of people no matter what. That is how we do what we do. One will come to us, not wanting to transfer again and we will act as the new life is them who have been purified." She tried to explain.

"You mean they get rebooted back to the idiot stage if they want to die?" James grumbled. "Has free will deserted this part of the galaxy?" He stomped around in his room. "I need to see you, not this dark room you hide in." He insisted at the end of his rope. He knew the challenge had kept his mind stable. Not that was gone and he could feel himself slipping.

"I am in your mind love and always will be." She smiled and in an unconscious gesture rubbed the life growing inside her.

"You're pregnant...! That is what you are hiding from me. You carry my child... no children!" James was mad at her now.

"Please understand love... if they find us, they will do what they did to Salla. I do it for all of us... for our love to grow...." She begged her mate to understand.

"Bullshit! I will not be a seed mule for kids and not be there for them. Remember this Illyria...." He flashed every family scene he could dredge up in his mind even after he felt her cower against him.

"Please stop Holy One. You are killing her!" A voice said, entering his mind where no other could. "I am her mother, and you are killing mine and your children... let her go and take me instead." The voice demanded.

"Tell me where my wife is or I'll rip it out of your mind!" James was beyond pissed and didn't care if he was broadcasting.

"I will bring you to her Holy One." He felt the mind crumble and snapped his mind closed.

"You always were an asshole when you're pissed." He could have sworn Mary was shouting at him in his head. The tone, the words, everything were the same. "You over protecting grouch of a bear. Say you're sorry... right now!" The voice demanded.

"Sorry dear.' James sighed as he brought his temper under control again. He didn't have a choice. It was ingrained into his soul.

"Don't tell me you're sorry... tell the mother of your children, you horses ass. We love you, but we won't be putting up with that kind of bullshit and you damn well know it!" James hung his head.

"Yes dear. I love you dear. I'll be better as soon as we're together again... I promise dear." James had learned you never go against his wife when she was in a mood and it looked like even from death, she could and would put him in his place.

"See Illyria; that is how you handle our husband. Now stand up and get some food... you are eating for five you know." As suddenly as Mary was there, she was gone. James sat there and wondered if it was still all just a dream.

*****

"Who was that...? Karna asked hearing the other voice in her head through her offspring. She knew no one could find them in open space. She chose this place with great care.

"That is Mary. My bond mate's first mate. I tried to give her a transfer when I learned of her, but she said no." Illyria Stood up and rubbed her children to calm them. "I never knew she could act outside of his mind. She is there and will always be there. She is the one who talked me into getting a girl child or I would only be carrying males."

"She is stronger than the Holy One and not corporeal? What race is that strong? We could rebuild the Ten Planets and Thirteen Moons with help from a race that strong." Karna placed the bowl of food in front of her child. "I never believed the legends. Castnatas would talk me to sleep after, telling me of them." She sighed. "My Bond Mate hated it, but she understood that I could reproduce and she could not. I think she would if she could."

"He knows the holy words of bonding. That was how I knew he was my true Bond Mate. He said the words in his language from across the great center. He was always my bond mate and always will be. Mary is happy for us." Illyria sighed. "Sometimes it is so confusing the images in his mind. He has known great happiness and greater sadness. He has known a long life in a short time. I wish the Tacract would let him go. He doesn't know what they are taking from him." She sighed, pushing the bowl away.

"Mary was right... you need to eat more. I remember with you, I never thought I'd get enough food. You are carrying our future my offspring." She sighed and ran her hand over Illyria's head, wondering if she made the right choice.

*****

"We cannot let you contaminate our worlds any farther than you already have." A voice said as James stood in the lighted ring again. He was no longer mad, but resigned to his fate.

"I haven't done anything but listen to you question me and try and break into my mind." He argued.

"If you let us in, we can assure ourselves that you will not cause any more distraction, and then you could go out as a citizen of the Ten Planets." Another voice said.

"You want me to be your puppet on a string. Nope.... sorry, not happening." He held up his hand. "As I see it, I am not one of you. I didn't ask to be sent here. So, I am not bound by your laws of balance. You say you have done away with murder and war, but I know of one person that was murdered on the orders of this collective. Oh, sure Salla might get to where my planet is, and might find a host body. But that is a mighty slim might."

"We will not throw away our laws to save one. It is for the greater good that we limit your influence." A voice behind him lectured.

"Sell it to the Marines. That's a line of crap on my planet as well as it is here. It means you refuse to let anything hamper your power base. A wise person once said. The more things change, the more they stay the same. The only constant in the Universe is change."

"That is circular thinking." A shocked voice stated.

"Yep, sure is, and that is my point. Look," James huffed. "I'm not going to go out and start a revolution. You couldn't make me want to run this place. I just want to go be with my Bond Mate and live quietly in some out of the way corner of this great race of the Ten Planets." He tried to be reasonable.

"It has already started according to you. There are already people having sex and procreating, rather than going through transference. You are the catalyst. Remove you and it will go back to balance." A voice said from behind him. He wondered if they were doing it on purpose just to make him dizzy.

"That is linear thinking and incorrect. It was happening long before I was pulled across the center of this galaxy. I've just showed you one of the mistakes you were making." He tried to get them to see reason. "It has also come to my attention, that some of you... don't want be transferred to another shell. They want to be let go. As it is already, you are a dying race. You are going to need these breeders sooner than you think. Still, that has nothing to do with me. Yes, I'll mate with my chosen. Yes, we'll have as many children as she wants. Not really my choice. Yes, someday they might find mates, bump bellies and have kids of their own. Hell, they might even be able to restore what was lost in the Great War."

"We are in balance." A voice insisted.

"Yeah right... Kolta kept saying the same thing, but how is the balance thing really working for him right now? It took me to show you just how mind sick Kolta is. Hopefully you have the ability to help him. I heard that once Kolta saved the Ten Planets; well good for him. But, even Kolta needed a break. Hell, find me a sustainable planet somewhere and dump me off. I won't contaminate your balance and we can make babies to our hearts content. Sounds like a workable plan to me... and I can be building a regenerative gene pool, instead of you taking my sperm by force while I sleep."

"That is a violation!" A voice shouted.

"It didn't stop you did it?" James sighed. "Look, think it over. I'm getting tired of this dog and pony show. I've been polite so far. I didn't push Kolta until Kolta pushed me. But, I am getting tired of the game and I just might change the rules since I'm getting better at broadcasting my thoughts... thanks to these little meetings of course." He bowed.

"You are an uncooperative and unbending person. Our existence relies on the populous adhering to all the rules set forth by the ruling Tacract." A voice said.

"It's called free will." He shrugged. "I was kind of was born with it. I mean I will not lie, kill, steal, bear false witness, covet what is my neighbors, and all that kind of normal stuff. But, I will not let anyone else rule my everyday actions and thoughts. Call that primitive if you will, but it doesn't seem to me that I'm that far behind you, since you haven't grown a day since the ending of the Great War. You've stagnated."

"Who taught you the old laws?" A female voice demanded.

"We have the same laws on my world. We called them the Ten Commandments. The first three are a bit dodgy unless you really into religion, but the rest are pretty straight forward."

"If he is the Holy One, we cannot stop him from doing the Creator's Will."

"Silence... that law was banned after the war!" Voices overlapped in argument.

"I got it now..." He saw everything, if he wanted to or not. "The Great War was about who was right... who was Holy and who wasn't." James sighed. "Halfway across the galaxy and it's still the same I'm holier than thou; bullshit. Did any of you eggheads' ever think that you are all right and all wrong? Never mind... it is hard to teach a closed mind." He waved his hands in rejection.

"Our minds are always open. It is yours that is closed to us." The female said drowning out the bickering.

"No, my private mind is close to you, or we wouldn't be having this conversation in a language I could understand now would we?" He tried to find the voice in the crowd. He knew that voice.

"Where is your Bond Mate?" The female asked before the next member could form the thought.

"So you can space her and my children... I don't think so sister." James snapped out.

"Are you sure she is with offspring?" The roar went up.

"I carry his children, as you can see." Illyria stepped into the light. Her body glowed with her pregnancy. "I stand with my Bond Mate and show you the gift of life he has brought me." The noise swelled even farther. "I carry a Quad of his offspring!" She shouted above the tumult.

"Love... are you okay?" James gathered her up and shoved her behind him.

"I am fine our husband." She touched his face. "They will not harm me or the children. Kolta was the threat, not the Tacract." She wanted to kiss her mate, but knew it wasn't the right time or place.

"You are one of the purified!" A voice called out. "I know you from Houda!"

"She is my daughter!" The female voice called out. "I gave life to her. We have used the excuse of the purified to train the born." Karna stood up in the middle of the Tacract. "Look into my mind and the mind of the others that have given new life and you will finally see the truth we had to hide from Kolta." There was a shocked silence.

*****

"Well, that was interesting." James hugged Illyria as close as the huge bulge of her middle would allow.

"Kolta will be purified... or he will perish." She was sad. "He was once the greatest of us. He saved us from war and collapse." She put her hand and his over the top left fetus. "Maria wants to meet her father."

"How do you know?" James rubbed the bump as it moved under his hand.

"Do not the women of your world know? I knew as soon as each offspring started growing in me." Illyria looked at James, shocked. "Every time you made love to me, you gave me a new life until I was full of your life and could carry no more." She smiled and touched each of her offspring.

"Not all..." He laughed. "Some women could tell right away they were pregnant, but only a few knew with what sex of the child. You could have tests done, but most liked to be surprised." He rubbed the other bumps. "The rest are boys?" He looked at his lover in surprise.

"The rest are male and will be fertile when they come of age." She smiled knowing for some reason that was important to her Mate.

"So, what happens to us now?" He asked pulling her down to his bed, snuggling in behind her.

"The Tacract will do what it was intended to do when it was created. They will argue, plan, and work together; until a consensus of ninety percent can agree on what is best for the Ten Planets. They will make their decision known to all. The others who can have children will have to make a choice. Mother... Karna, liked your idea of a colony of birthers. She has wondered if they should have done it before, instead of having to hide it. I know it almost broke her bond when she had to find a male who could give her life."