of Sally's hands.
"What's so funny?" I ask. "Raiska, are you okay."
He looks up with tears in his eyes. "A clock. A human clock is a 12-base system that runs twice per day. If a clock were broken—" he laughs harder, then gasps for breath, "if a clock were broken, meaning the hands did not move, it would still accurately tell the time twice per day. This is the funniest human expression I've ever heard."
"It's probably the only one you've ever found funny," I mutter. "Or even understood."
Raiska still makes a habit of butchering expressions—either saying them with the wrong words, or using them in wildly inappropriate situations.
"Well, anyway," Chaz says, "maybe Raiska can prove this broken clock right again today. I have a theory that the Council wants us to think there's more stuff out there we don't know about. Stuff we can't know about, and that's why they are making up all this bullshit—" he looks at all the little kids listening to him, "bullcrap about higher dimensions that we aren't smart enough to see or what not. Just between you and me, Raiska, let me know I've figured it all out."
He taps a finger to his head twice, to emphasize that this brilliant insight came out of his brain.
Raiska looks at me. We know each other well enough now that we can read a lot in each other's facial expressions. He's asking me for permission. I grant it with a nod and devilish smirk.
"Stand back, everyone," Raiska says. "Uncle Chaz, your television could not properly display my brother Uskon's dual daggers, as they exist on six dimensions, while your television screens can only display two dimensions. It's mathematically and physically impossible for any pre-contact human technology to show higher-dimensional colors. However, you can see these colors with your naked eye if you are viewing a six-dimensional object in person."
Raiska looks around to make sure no one is near him, and he reaches out his hand.
He summons his scythe. It surges with six-dimensional color, and those impossible colors bathe the room.
Everyone stares in amazed wonder. Uncle Chaz and Cousin Chuck's mouths hang wide open.
Raiska tucks the scythe away and grins. "The higher dimensions are real, little humans."
Kula and Ellie arrive later. It helps when Kula gets here, because it takes more than half the pressure off of Raiska. Everyone is fascinated to see an alien operate a charcoal grill. The half-alien baby is a big hit too, though Ellie is mostly trying to keep him covered. She’s very protective of her baby.
My brother Jake and his girlfriend Ellen arrived late, and they finally get a chance to sit down and talk to us.
"So..." Ellen asks, "how did you two meet?"
I try to think of the best way to start. I've forbidden Raiska from every saying "The Breeding Games" aloud, so I'm not worried he'll say that.
"We met at the library," Raiska says.
"So...at work?" Ellen says. "Were you looking for a book, Raiska?"
Raiska shakes his head and smiles.
Oh, God, I didn't forbid him from saying "Fertile Prize." I speak over him just in case he would be dumb enough to say that out loud.
"No, no," I say. "He was...."
"I was looking for Annabelle," he says. "The Ulkar were after her. It was my mission to protect her."
My brother laughs and puts an arm around Ellen. "If the Ulkar ever come for you, babe, I'll protect the shit out of you."
Raiska shakes his head. "The Ulkar have ascended. The likelihood of Ellen being targeted is less than .0001%."
Ellen scoffs and hits Jake playfully on his arm. "That's why he's saying he'd 'protect the shit out of me,' because he knows it's never going to happen. That must have been so romantic, Annabelle, having such a big... strong..."
"Woah, now," Jake says, putting a hand on Ellen's thigh. "Let's keep our eyes on the prize."
Raiska cocks his head at Jake. "Annabelle already told you about being the fertile prize?"
Dammit.
"The what?" Jake says, looking at me, and then his eyes fall down to my belly. He starts laughing. "Is that why the Ulkar targeted you? Because you're..."
He gets a grossed out look on his face and stops laughing. "Alright, scratch that, let's never talk about that again."
"Agreed!" I say, and then I look at Raiska. "Add 'fertile prize' to the list of things you never say out loud."
"What other words are on the list?" Ellen asks, licking her lips as she looks up at Raiska.
Twenty-Six
Happily Ever After
Our daughter was born on Lakria.
I knew the