The Exchange,

Chapter 18
The exchange part 18

Chapter Description: Sandy and Lyce find themselves at the mercy of Kim, While Anya and Arlie discuss important issues.

Thick black tendrils lazily oozed towards her and realising they were close she ran round to the other side of her office desk. She flung her desk chair at the nearest tentacle. For some reason she knew if the tendrils touched her things would go from bad to much much worse. The tentacle retracted quickly and then slowly advanced again. It seemed there were tentacles everywhere, they were closing in. Suddenly she realised with utter certainty that she wasn’t going to escape .

Sandra was jolted awake and opened her eyes quickly to stare up at Kim. Kim looked worried. Sandy looked around, panicking. Where was Mummy? The nightmare was prominent in her mind. She needed a hug

"You were making strange noises in your sleep sweetheart, thought I’d better just check to make sure you were okay."

Sandy was thankful for Kim waking her, but she really wanted her mummy. She noticed she was being carried down a corridor. The last thing she vaguely remembered was being held by Arlie. Why couldn’t she fall asleep in one place and wake up in the same place? She craned her neck around trying to see what was going on. Lyce was walking obediently at one side of Kim while up ahead Becky was bouncing and skipping.

"GONNA PWAY GONNA PWAY ALL DAY ALL DAY!"

She sung happily and completely out of tune or key. Her happiness was evident though.

Sandy tried to squirm so she could face Lyce but Kim held her tight.

"Stop squirming Sweetheart, we’re almost home. I bet you’re a soggy little girl by now. Don’t worry Aunty Kim will get you all freshened up. I’m so glad your mummy agreed to let me look after you while Arlie and her talked about stuff. We’re going to have so much fun."

Sandy didn’t feel soggy, but it was hard to tell. She sucked on her Dummy, her hat continuing to jingle as Kim strode down the corridor. At least Sandy now knew what was going on. It felt odd having your activities and choices chosen for you. She had been given no say in this new turn of events. It made her feel like the child she appeared to be. Sandy looked at Lyce. Poor Lyce was practically having to walk triple time to keep up, but he never complained.

Sandy noticed that she hadn’t seen this part of the ship. The walls looked the same but every so often they would pass a plant or flower arrangement. There wasn’t anything like that around where Sandy and Lyce lived. Why was it different? Suddenly the group stopped at a metal door. Becky was already jumping up and down on the step and Kim chuckled.

"You are always so full of energy you terror"

She ruffled Beckys hair and Becky squealed in protest, then tried to flatten down her now messy hair as her Mommy activated the door. But instead of the door opening up to an apartment it opened into what almost looked like a large plastic tunnel, the sort found at aquariums. The thick plastic was see through, and as Kim stepped into the tunnel she giggled at both Lyce and Sandys gawping mouths. Through the plastic was a meadow, several flat fields of long yellowing grass, swaying gently in the breeze, the fields were inhabited by a herd of grazing animals.

Sandy’s eyes widened in fascination. They looked like large woodlice, or slaters as she had called them when she had been a kid, The creatures had grey plated armour and fourteen large chunky legs. They had six eyes all on stalks, their eyes wavered left and right and back and forth. There must have easily been a hundred of these animals in the meadow and they all had their heads down, scuttling around, using their mandibles to graze on the long grass.

Sandy tugged and tugged at her purple bracelet wanting it off more than ever. It was bad enough she hadn’t managed to communicate with those jelly fish Node creatures but these things were beyond intriguing right into a realm of their very own. Kim noticed what Sandy was doing and a brief concerned expression clouded her smile. She didn’t approve of the inhibitor one bit. If the child had exceptional skills then she should be allowed to use them. Especially if she was going to be a ranger.

The group continued walking through the plastic viewing tunnel when Kim suddenly halted and turned round. She sighed animatedly as she noticed Lyce had stopped walking, he was about 5 steps behind. He was just rooted to the spot and Kim walked up to him, her expression was bordering on looking stern. She had so dearly wanted to look after Sandy that she had eagerly agreed to look after Lyce too, but in all honesty she had no interest in him. She saw him as a hindrance. She shifted Sandy’s weight onto her left side then she offered her right hand to Lyce.

"It’s okay Lyce, they can’t hurt you. They’re called Qwents. They’re one of our primary food sources on the ship. They’re really docile and stupid to be honest. So there’s no reason to be scared. Honest!"

She smiled although the smile did not reach her eyes. She impatiently waved her hand in front of Lyce’s face. Slowly he took her hand, but he never tore his gaze from the closest of the Quents. Sandy could see he was actually shaking a little. His complexion a little on the pasty side. She hoped he was okay.

Becky had run ahead, through the remainder of the tunnel and was at the next set of doors at the other end. She was pummelling on the door.

"LEMME IN LEMME IN!"

She half shouted, half sang, and eventually Kim got to the door. It opened with a quiet whoosh. They had arrived at Kim and Becky’s apartment.

Meanwhile Anya and Arlie walked in amicable silence through the clearing. The exotic rainforest noise and smells surrounded them as they walked side by side not really saying anything. Both parents were currently fretting over their little charges. Anya was feeling guilty and worried already. Had she been too hasty in leaving Sandy with someone else? The little tyke had been through so much and even though she was an adult trapped in a child’s body she was still vulnerable and even for an adult human the ordeals she had been through had been phenomenal.

Arlie was currently mentally pawing over everything he needed to say over the next few hours. He was worried how Lyce would react. Would the new situation be better or worse for Lyce’s new upbringing? He guessed there was only one way to really find out.

Anya had an inclination as to where they were going, and she tried not to get her hopes up but they were certainly heading in the right direction for the destination she had in mind.

"It was really nice of you to take me out like this."

She said with a smile on her face. Arlie had always looked out for her. She felt blessed to have someone like him in her life.

"Seriously you don’t have to thank me. I wanted to talk to you privately anyway and I just thought it would be nice to turn it into a bit of a...date,"

His sentence had started confidently but had been rushed towards the end as he tripped over the last word. he scratched the back of his head feeling annoyed that his heart was beating ten to the dozen, he had practised this over and over in his head all day and already it was going wrong.

Anya had heard what he had said and didn’t really know how to react. Secretly she had fantasied about getting together with Arlie, but had been too worried about ruining their friendship to consider it worth a shot. She didn’t know what she’d do without him. He had practically been a constant in her life, had helped comfort her through the loss of her first child Lynn, and had just generally always been there for her.

She plastered a warm smile on her face and let the comment slide, maybe it had just been a joke on his part anyway. She pulled her slender fingers through her long wavy brown hair and looked up at the canopy of rainforest branches. It was beautiful here. It reminded her of home.

They continued to walk in silence. Both of them contemplating the other, and as Anya had expected they rounded a corner in the pathway to come to a large building. It stood out quite drastically from the rest of the ship as the building was made out of logs, rather than the metal of the rest of the ship. Anyas heart skipped a beat, she had always wanted to go in here but had never had the time nor the money. She looked at Arlie, her smile one of radiant joy as she pointed to the structure.

"Are we going in there?"

Arlie nodded with a nervous smile on his face. He knew Anya had wanted to come to the hot spring for a long time, but it was very expensive and being an unnecessary luxury very few people ever used the facilities. People complained that it wasn’t a natural spring, well of course it wasn’t they were in the middle of the galaxy, but it was a wonderful reminder of their home world Ixion, it kept the homesickness at bay occasionally, and it was a wonderful way to relax. Arlie was happy to see Anya so excited.

"Shall we then?"

He offered his arm to Anya, in much the same way he had done when escorting her and Sandy to the ceremony. Anya moved in close, grinning and slipped her arm through his. Together they entered the building.

Kim and Becky’s apartment looked fairly similar to both Lyce’s, and Sandy’s in terms of room structure. Once inside the door Kim shooed Lyce and Becky into the lounge area, there was a box of toys in there, although most of them were all over the floor.

"Why don’t you two play for a bit, I need to sort little Sandy out. Don’t I. Yes I do! Yes I do!"

She tickled Sandys tummy as Kim spoke baby talk to her. Sandy instinctively squealed at the tickling but felt embarrassed by the attention. It felt strange being some where that looked quite similar to home and yet unable to communicate. She looked up at Kim who was just beaming down at Sandy with such an intense look of motherly love that Sandy smiled timidly at her, and tried to pull her jangling hat down in front of her face to hide.

Kim carried Sandy into what Sandy guessed to be Beckys room but there were some odd things, a changing table was in one corner, there was a playpen in the room too. Surly Becky was too old for these things? The bed was a toddler bed, more suitable for Becky, but some of the toys on the shelves were things like building blocks and Sandy saw a teething ring. Kim saw Sandy looking over the room and she carried the baby over to the changing table and laid her down, she smiled gently. Then, shocking Sandy, Kim removed her purple inhibitor bracelet.

"Don’t tell your Mommy that I did this okay. I just think you might prefer being able to experience a few things while you’re here. I’ll have to put it back before your Mommy comes to collect you though okay. It’ll be our little secret."

The second the bracelet had been removed Sandy could sense a background noise that hadn’t been there before. A low depressed murmuring. Sandy was really excited to have the bracelet off, but Anya had told her it had to stay on all the time. She felt guilt creep into her mind a tiny bit, but the information she would learn without the bracelet soon made her push the guilt to one side.

Kim started pulling Sandy’s costume off as Sandy continued to look around the room.

"I had been so sure I was going to be your Mommy that I pre-empted buying a few things, and well...as you know, I’m not your Mommy, so I should really get rid of this stuff but I just can’t bring myself to. Not yet, which is just as well because it’s coming in handy now huh sweetheart."

Sandy had been trying to cover herself up as Kim stripped her of everything but her disposable nappy which Sandy was pleased to see was still dry.

"Ugh! Disposable Diapers? Cloth diapers are much much cuter!"

Kim said with disgust and stripped Sandy of her dry nappy leaving her feeling pretty vulnerable and embarrassed trying to cover as much of herself up as possible which only caused Kim to burst into laughter.

"Awww is baby bashful, how adorable. Don’t worry sweetheart, its nothing Aunty Kim hasn’t seen before."

Kim dipped her head below the changing table and appeared seconds later with a cloth nappy which she folded quickly and slid under Sandy’s squirming butt. Powdered and pinned in within a minute, Kim smiled tenderly at Sandy and then walked over to a wardrobe. Opening it wide Sandy noticed that there were several outfits far too small for Becky to fit into. Sandy felt sorry for Kim. She really had wanted to look after a baby, Sandy guessed Kim was using her to go on a bit of a mommy trip at the moment. Sandy sighed, feeling more like a doll than a human being as Kim waltzed back over to the changing table, holding a pair of ruffled pink plastic pants and matching booties. Was that all Sandy was going to be dressed in? Kim threaded Sandys feet through the pants and pulled them up over the bulk of the cloth nappy, then put the booties on.

"There! All done."

Kim gently picked Sandy up and held her to her bosom, Kim still wore the tight busty snake skin looking dress from the ceremony party and with an unexpected lapse into her childish mindset one of Sandy’s small hands grabbed onto Kim’s breast, the infantile part of her expecting to be breast fed now. Kim instantly knew what Sandy wanted as she jiggled Sandy up and down.

"Sorry sweetheart, Aunty Kim can’t do that for you. But your Mommy told me she has some bottles in your changing bag. Let’s finish getting you ready first though, okay?"

Kim walked back over to the cupboard and pulled a large white shawl out. She laid it on Becky’s bed then placed Sandy on top of the shawl in the centre. It felt really soft, Sandy liked it. Then Kim wrapped the shawl around Sandy a few times and folded it in. Suddenly Sandy realised she couldn’t move. She wiggled and squirmed but she was stuck fast, her arms pinned to her side, her legs restricted. She recognised with annoyance that she had just been swaddled. She wasn’t that young was she that she needed to be swaddled like a newborn. She squirmed with all her might but it had been expertly done and she couldn’t go anywhere or do anything.

"Hey. Let me out!"

She whined at Kim who simply touched Sandys nose with the tip of her index finger.

"Sa ba ba zuuu, sa ba ba zuu? What are you trying to say sweetheart. Aunty Kim can’t understand you. Lets go get you your tasty baba and see what Lyce and Becky are playing shall we?"

Kim picked up the cocooned Sandy and hummed a lullaby as she walked from Becky’s room, through the house to find Becky running around the room looking confused. Kim looked around but couldn’t see Lyce.

"Wheres your playmate Becky?"

Becky stopped running and shrugged.

"We’s pwayin’ hide an’ go seek. I’m a seekin’"

She said proudly. Kim looked around the room she could hear muffled giggles coming from the sofa.

"Have you tried over there?"

She said pointing to the sofa. Becky nodded.

"He’s snot there! I looked alweddy"

Becky said shaking her head at her Mommy. Kim stepped over to the sofa and looked behind sure enough Lyce wasn’t behind the sofa. But she had heard giggling. She guessed Lyce was under the sofa cushions. She pointed at the sofa.

"In here!"

She whispered as she lifted the cushion and Lyce gasped at being discovered. Kim wasn’t very keen on boys at all but she smiled at him nevertheless and waited as he carefully extracted himself from the sofa, She put the cushion back then, walking over to Sandys changing bag she got a bottle of milk, and returned to the sofa to sit down. All the while she cradled the trapped Sandy, almost totally ignoring the other two children in the room.

Lyce stood there feeling a little self conscious. He could tell Kim didn’t like him, although he wasn’t sure what he had done to deserve her disliking. Perhaps it had been because of his reaction to those Quent things. Lyce shuddered. He didn’t like them one bit. He noticed Sandy struggling to get out of the blanket and he walked up to the sofa and spoke to Sandy.

"Sandy, do you wanna play too?"

He asked hopefully, but before Sandy could answer him Kim cut in.

"No Lyce, Sandy is much too young to be rough housing with you and Becky, she’s only an ikkle baby. She doesn’t want to play with you. She needs her baba and then she needs a nap."

Lyce looked at the squirming Sandy, that didn’t sound right. She looked like she wanted out, and hadn’t she just been for a nap? Lyce wanted to argue but Kim intimidated him, so he backed away feeling rejected.

Kim had placed the bottle into Sandra’s mouth and her baby instincts took over as she fed greedily. Already Sandy was feeling sleepy as she filled up on milk. She didn’t want to sleep, she had slept already.

The nightmare was still fresh in her mind and she was scared that if she fell asleep she would be back in that room, ready for the tentacles to descend on her, but she could tell she was already fighting a losing battle, a combination of Kim gentle rocking her, the milk and the swaddling, which whilst annoying, called to some infantile part of her that recognised she was safe. She felt drowsy and she whimpered as she drifted off to sleep.

Lyce watched as Sandy drank up her bottle and then fell asleep. He sighed feeling fed up. He had wanted to play with Sandy, but it looked like he wasn’t going to get the chance. Lyce returned to Becky who was laying down on the floor, on her front, kicking her legs back and forth as she drew a picture. She looked up at the forlorn looking Lyce and handed him some paper.

"Dwar wif me"

She said happily handing him a blue crayon. Sighing, Lyce sat down and started to draw, feeling bad for Sandy. He would draw her a nice picture to cheer her up. He would hate to be treated the way Kim was treating Sandy right now.

Anya was in heaven she lounged neck deep in the hot mineral water feeling it cleansing deep into every pore of her body. Her brown hair was splayed out in the water as she leaned back, tingling from the pleasure of it all. Arlie was in the separate pool, There was a male and female pool, well it was the same pool, only it was split equally into two by a large wooden fence. It was high enough that breasts would not be visible from the male side unless someone were to deliberately go right up to the fence and look over. No-one did though. It was against the rules.

"Anya?"

Arlie spoke from his side of the fence. The rest of the hot spring was deserted it was just him and her and he felt here was the best place to have the important conversation he’d been steeling himself for all day. He could see her head bob up from over the fence, Her hair was plastered to her face and she pulled it away from her eyes.

"Yes?"

She said expectantly. She smiled at him. Her smile always radiated with happiness. She was at her most beautiful when she smiled the way she was smiling now. He gulped, then decided to just rush into it.

"I want us to partner up. Either you move in with me or visa versa. But I’ve been thinking and decided I want to help support you and Sandy. I...want us to be together. All of us."

Anya’s smile faded and Arlie’s heart suddenly dropped into the pit of his stomach.

"Arlie...."

She looked away from him. His heart dropped a bit further, he had blown it. He was certain.

"Arlie. I can’t let you do this for us. I mean I appreciate the sentiment. I really do...but I can’t impose myself and my problems on you. It wouldn’t be fair. You have so much on your plate already what with being chief engineer and Lyce on top of that"

Arlie jumped to his own defence.

"You don’t understand, it’s because of my position that I would be able to do this, and you just have to look at how Sandy and Lyce are together to know that if they were to be brother and sister they would take to it really well. But..."

He massaged his hands together feeling awkward at having to reveal his emotions but knew that at this moment, here and now, it was important to do exactly that.

"...Anya, I’ve always admired you, and when I’m around you you make my life better by light years. I know you and I have a long history and I would never want to do anything to jeopardise that, but...well..."

Anya had turned to look at him, her eyes a mixture of confusion and hope. She needed him to say the words. He looked into those deep eyes of hers, knowing what he was about to say was the utter truth, and wishing that he had said it back to her twenty years ago.

"...I love you."