The Visitor staggered back up the path into the mountains from which she’d come only earlier that day. She was rapidly coming to the end of her resources; not physical, but mental. She’d come through the crashlanding on Sol 3, Terra or Earth as some of its inhabitants called it, without injury. But when she’d tried to leave the wilderness where she’d managed to set down and surreptitiously approach an enclave of Terran civilization for reconnaissance about whether repair parts could be obtained, she ran into a difficulty she did not expect. Her mindshields seemed not to be able to deal with one particular human emotion: sexual passion. The closer she got to the large human enclave, the more difficult it became to keep that emotion out of her mind. Thousands of Terrans admiring each other, kissing each other, and mating with each other, and she couldn’t seal it out. No wonder the planet was listed as a restricted zone! She’d reversed course and fled, letting distance between her and those projecting minds be her shield since for the moment she’d used up her strength to provide any other.
It was still hours before the arrival of the terminator into night when she came to a meadow she’d passed earlier. Suddenly, her defenseless mind was whipsawed by Terran passion, strong and near at hand. She looked in the direction from which the thought came and saw a Terran male on a ground cloth, the remains of a portable meal beside him. He had displaced his lower garment, and was manipulating his copulatory organ while fantasizing about potential mates. She judged that he was a mature specimen, but still youthful. She tried to resist resonating to his emotion, but could not. She approached him openly.
Go back - Go to the parent episode.
Mon Jun 9 22:30:49 2003