Author : Roi R. Czechvala, Staff Writer

Paul was nervous. His hands shook violently. Petals from the bouquet of daisies and indian paintbrush he had picked for her fell to the floor. Get hold of yourself man, he thought to himself, you’ve been talking to Lucrezia for over a year now. What about that night you spent together? He managed to control his hands, but the butterflies were still flapping like mad in his stomach.

He had met her by body proxy in a Farovian bar and soon they would meet for the first time in the flesh. His own flesh. He shivered in anticipation. Her shuttle was in orbit, waiting for glide path confirmation into Port McAuliffe. For the umpteenth time he made his way to the ticket counter and inquired about the status of her flight.

The young woman, noting his approach, sighed, rolled her eyes and affixed a plastic smile to hide her annoyance. When will flight 0968 arrive, he asked.

Sir, I’ve told you, all information is regularly updated on the board. She gestured to the information display floating above the waiting area.

Yes, I know, but I thought…

Yes Sir, if I hear anything, I will let you know. The indulgent smile had become a gruesome rictus. He thanked her, looked expectantly to the hovering display and took his seat.

Her family were an adventurous lot and had emigrated to the first planet humanity had colonized; Faroff. The name, according to history, was a witticism of one of the original survey crew. Paul was a groundhog and proud of it. His family had never left Earth and he was damned if he would.

They had met in ether. They both held a fascination for early twentieth “movies”. Their correspondence was casual at first, comments and observations on early DuoD cinema. Casa Blanca, Rashomon, Citizen Kane and The Seventh Seal were mutual favourites.

Their banter over celluloid entertainment soon gave way to personal inquiries; mutual respect became affection and inevitably blossomed into love. She wanted to meet and after long talks he agreed to meet her by body proxy. He hated the idea of using the body of another. It stank of prostitution to him. What foul loathsome individual would allow his body to be used by another. But his love for her trumped his disdain. If it was possible, their love grew stronger. He never knew what became of the proxy after he severed the link.

A blast of sound shocked him from his reverie. Flight 0968 now arriving at shuttle gate 87, was announced, blaring into his aural implants. The embittered ticket girl smiled warmly at him.

His love was easy to spot in the crush of disembarking passengers. At two and a half meters, she easily towered above the crowd. He rushed to the embrace of her many, triple jointed legs. He barely managed to get his arms halfway around her carapace. She stroked him soothingly with her antennae and exuded pleasant pheromones.

Her mouth parts moved in a seemingly disjointed fashion. Strange clicks and whistles issued forth. The translating device affixed to the hard bony plates of her abdomen spoke. Oh Paul, I am so happy.

Tears of joy ran down his face as he smiled up at her. I got us a room, he said winking.

As he climaxed and filled her gonads with his seed, he looked into her multi faceted eyes. I love you, he said happily.

And I love you; she replied. With loving tenderness, she embraced him once more and ate his head.