Under a Starless Sky

Shen woke to find himself on a stone table. The room had a cave like feel to it, lit by a fire place and orange candles. The smell of oranges filled the room, reminding him of Loxy. The memory of his first kiss with her, the taste of orange prominent on her lip, the smell of it on her breath, brought tears of longing to his eyes. He sat up.

An elderly woman, Japanese in appearance looked up from her writing. It was clear she was also eating something while she worked. She finished chewing, wiped her hands on a cloth, and became attentive to him

“Ah, finally awake,” N’Ma said. “Lanore must have been extremely cross to ‘sleep’ you so hard.”

“N’Ma,” Jon said, bringing his hands up in the appropriate gesture.

“You remember me?” N’Ma said.

Shen nodded.

“Take your clothes off. I am going to examine you,” N’Ma said.

“Excuse me?” Jon asked.

“You said you remember me. I am a Shamanka,” N’Ma said.

“A Shaman?”

“Do I look male to you?” N’Ma said, amused. “Clothes off. Lay on the stone.”

N’Ma turned back to her writing, completing her thoughts. She then sprayed the page with a perfume bottle, perhaps to prevent pencil smudges. It was a simple enough pump, but it seemed more sophisticated than the tech Shen had seen at Easterly. The glass work was sophisticated. The top had some sort of metal alloy, most likely gold. There were copper artifacts on her desk. Jewelry. A pendent with a crystal in it, hanging on a marble bust. It had a Trek like feel, something he had seen before but couldn’t place. N’Ma tracked his focus.

“It’s from Sinter,” N’Ma said. “A gift from a friend.”

N’Ma got up and came over. She didn’t ask to touch him. She touched him at specific places on his body that corresponded to Shen’s knowledge of esoteric energy points, Chakras. She touched 21 points. A hand on his shoulder while she straightened the arm and manipulated through points of articulation. She poked the underarm and he glared at her. She thumped his abdomen, listened to his heart, smelled his breath, and had him sit up and tested reflexes with a small mallet. And then she kissed him. It was a tongue kiss. He brought his hands up to push her away- but she blocked, held his head against hers with the other hand. She gained the information she wanted and backed away.

“Why are you so afraid?” N’Ma asked.

“That is inappropriate,” Shen said, sitting up.

“I can’t gauge your health by heart alone. I need all the intel. Smell, sound, taste…” N’Ma noticed a reaction and was suddenly amused. “You’re experiencing puberty? You think I was soliciting a gift?”

Shen blushed. “That’s a normal physiological reaction…”

N’Ma went and wrote down the word. “Lanore said you had a funny language. It seems to have meaning. Define physiological.”

“Physiology, related to the body, or physicality. I have a penis. All sorts of things could result in erection. Elimination. Touch. Memory. Touch triggering memories…” He wanted to say stress, and fear, but he didn’t want to give her more ammo.

“What sort of memories would an eight year old have of such?” N’Ma asked. “I know the boys and men play this game in the barracks, but my understanding is you refuse to sleep in the barracks.”

“What happens in the barracks is inappropriate,” Shen said.

“Boys will be boys,” N’Ma said.

“Fuck that,” Shen said.

“Proving my point,” N’Ma said. “If you’re old enough to get hard, you’re old enough to be tooled.”

“That is so wrong. What if I had said, if you’re old enough to bleed- you’re old enough to breed.”

She wrote

capable doesn’t equate to emotional and intellectual

seemed curious. “I agree with that assessment, but we have to have a measure of

is a person says, I am ready, how about that,” Shen

results in babies. If the equipment is working, that’s what it’s for. No judgment. It is

fear. It is boundary declaration, only you people don’t hear and respect that because my boundaries are

are us. As a Shamanka, I am privy

Shen said. “If a male forced a female

would die,”

you protect children

over to the men where you learn to be a man,” N’Ma said. “You

choice? A boy gets awaken at night by an older boy, that’s not choice. That

Are you asexual? Do you wish to be labeled third

“No,” Shen said. “I want to have a choice in what happens to my

do! Gift or fight. You’re clearly

up and got dressed. He

smell the fear in the

I

“There are only two emotions, child. Love or fear,”

“Oh. You’re one

“Explain this?”

love, and all negative emotions are derivatives of fear,” Shen said. “It makes me

is a Yoda? An expression?

N’Ma finished writing.

“Well?”

a question, will you be direct

will always endeavor to answer you

lie. Don’t sugar coat things,”

N’Ma nodded. “Ask.”

“What’s your assessment

color abnormality, insufficient pigment, maybe an imbalance of essential

an adult for telling you to walk into the path of a train,” Shen snapped. N’Ma put a hand up to silence him while she wrote down what she heard. She then asked him to

living with the males be harmful? That’s your life. You’re not female,” N’Ma said. “Even if you go third gender, it doesn’t get you female accommodations, but my understanding of third gender means you would prefer the company of males to females. You’re not bringing life into the world. You don’t get to own property. Your job is to bring gifts, make

“I get it,

our men,” N’Ma said. “They have their ways, we have ours. That’s it. We come together on the boundaries, but we have

“I want a different way,” Shen

kind, child. It will kill you. We would not be here if our

a different way,” Shen

“Okay,” N’Ma said.

“Really?” Shen said. He was expecting

our food, but you will sleep outside. You will receive food when you bring gifts. Rocks. Gems. Seeds. Honey.

“This is

is lonely. You will likely incur more acts of violence against your person by taking this path. Most men will see you as enemy. Someone who opposes civility. You will be ridiculed. You will be hated. In the end, most likely you will find

“Play, fight, or flight,” Shen

“That is the way of it,” N’Ma