Welcome to Nové, a planet much like your own. There is no
war or hunger. No conflict of any kind. It's a "happy life ever" on
this utopian world. Balance has finally been achieved after all life was nearly
extinguished during The Fall. There is one major industry on Nové: the making
of babies. Babies are the most important resource on the planet.
Hiperyan works in the babi industry. She loves assembling
babies. Her life is perfect; her virile mate, Dion, is ideal. But she's been
feeling a little sick, of late. It's a mysterious illness the likes of which
has never been seen by the healers she visits. Concerned when the healers begin
to die in a series of "accidents," Dion teams with his best friend,
Conr, to take action. They eventually discover that Hiperyan's illness may
jeopardize not only their lives, but all of Nové.
"The Babi Makers" is a
science-fiction novel that takes place on a planet where the
most important industry is the
making of babies. In this excerpt, Hiperyan, who works in the babi industry,
has been feeling ill. On her way to work, she stops at a healing center to see
a practitioner.
______________________________________________________
The healing center was just a little way
from the building where she worked, so she decided to drop in and see what was
wrong. She walked up to the clean white desk, behind which sat a young male who
must have only just been promoted from his second scholastic rounds. She
greeted him.
"Happy life ever," she said to the
young male, smiling even though she did not feel like smiling.
"Happy life ever," the young male
replied, as he turned his slim, muscular body toward her.
She watched the well-formed muscles of his
chest as he twisted toward her. There was a small patch of hair in the center
and that made her smile. She noticed the absence of a plastic band around his
neck, which meant he was not currently in a cluster. She could easily see
herself clustering with him, were she not already so involved.
"What do you wish to achieve on this
beautiful centichronal?" the young male asked with a smile.
"I awoke ill this morning."
"I see. That was a sad way to start
your centichronal," he said soothingly.
"Yes," the female agreed.
"And it hasn't improved."
"I'm very sad to hear of your sadness.
Perhaps we can comfort you," the young male said as he examined his
communicator to see if a practitioner was available. "Ah," he said,
smiling at the young female. "We have a practitioner available at the
moment. Let's add you to our roster and you can go right in."
The female smiled slightly and nodded.
"What is your
designation?" the young male asked.
"Hiperyan," the
female said, beginning to feel a little faint.
"Oh, that's the name
of the female who raised me," the young male said, smiling in return.
"Would you place your thumb in the reader for me?"
Hiperyan complied, placing
her thumb in a small plastic device. This action accessed all her personal
information and shared it with the machines of the practitioner. In a brief
moment, the registration was complete.
The young male rose, walked
around the counter and made his way to Hiperyan. She admired the simple silk
wrap around his waist and noticed how he must have taken two wraps and
intertwined them to make his covering. She thought she would try something like
that on the morrow.
"You don't look to be
in the peak of health," he offered as he extended his muscular arm and
gently grabbed her elbow. "Let's go into the room. The practitioner is on
his way."
Inside the room, Hiperyan
tried to find a comfortable sitting position and could not. It's not that the
chair was not comfortable; rather, her entire body ached in a manner so
unfamiliar to her. She had been ill before; that was nature's way. This time
she felt different and it made her very unhappy.
The practitioner entered
the room and looked at Hiperyan. He was an elder male whose full head of hair
shone with a silvery glow. He had given up the silk wrap of the young and was
instead wearing a silken robe. Hiperyan at once felt comfort in his presence
and hoped she would soon be feeling better.
"Happy life
ever," the practitioner said.
"Happy life
ever," Hiperyan replied.
The practitioner viewed the
notes on his communicator and adopted a frown on his lightly wrinkled face.
"It says here you've been having a sad centichronal, and that you awoke
with nausea. I'm very sad for you."
Hiperyan tried to smile,
but just could not. "It's true. My centichronal started with sadness and
has seen only more sadness."
"Did your sickness
begin this morning?" the male asked.
"Yes, but I really
haven't been feeling well for a few centichronals. Today is the worst."
"Well, the machine
examined your body as you waited in this room and finds that you are a little
out of balance. Have you been consuming regularly?"
"Yes," Hiperyan
answered. "Our foodarama ceased to function one centichronal last
decichronal, but we were able to consume with friends, and ours was replaced
quickly. Otherwise, yes, I've been consuming properly."
"I see by your record
you've completed nineteen chronals. Is that correct?"
"Yes, but my lifeaversary
was a while back. I'm nearing twenty chronals now."
"Well, that's
fine," the older male said. "When I leave this room, just sit back
and relax. I'll have our machine provide you with a mist that it will spray in
the air. You just breathe that for a few minutes and I am confident your
comfort will return shortly."
"Thank you,"
Hiperyan said. "Should I avoid work today?"
"I don't think that
will be necessary. Go to your place of work and if you continue to feel ill
then come see me. I don't think that'll be necessary, however." He turned
to leave the room. "Happy life ever," he said with a smile.
"Happy life
ever," Hiperyan replied.
She leaned back into her
chair and closed her eyes. Presently she heard the faint sound of a mist being
sprayed into the air. She inhaled deeply and exhaled, inhaled and exhaled. She
began to feel more comfortable and was happy her centichronal was finally
improving.
Soon, a bell sounded and
the room spoke. "Treatment complete. Happy life ever," and the door
to the room opened.
Hiperyan walked out of the
room and out the office with a special smile to the young male who had
registered her.
She turned out of the door
and resumed the walk to her work place.
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