And the Suns Never Rise: A Story of Alpha Centauri

Christiana Begins to Believe

"I am the next of kin? What about Okaa-san?" Christiana asked, her mouth open in shock.

"Please, I am more of a Mother to you both than Holly. Plus, you are over twenty-two Colonial Years old and therefore almost adults in the eyes of the law. Finally, you two are unmarried womb-mates. I set it all up a few months ago. I never thought that we would need to use it this soon." Miss Harrison responded.

"Then I am in charge of Haruhi-nee's treatment?" Christiana inquired, a look of despondency creeping up on her normally cheerful face.

"Yes, but the good news is that you can ask Haruhi about her options when she wakes up for her treatments," Miss Harrison pointed out. "After all, she has several options which will sustain her. The only problem is we are running out of time."

"What do you mean?" Christiana replied, her visage warped into yet another unfamiliar expression. One of confusion.

"The very treatments which are sustaining her are also going to kill her in the near future," Miss Harrison explained. "Come on, let's get you an iced tea so we can discuss this in more detail. If they need us, the doctors will come and find us."

---

After they both got a drink from the nearby vending machine, they sat facing each other on upholstered plastic chairs with a low table bolted to the floor in between them. The chairs that they were in were also bolted to the floor so that the furniture would not float around the small waiting room if and when the ship accelerated or went zero-gee. With this in mind, the duo also wore the three-point harnesses built into the chairs so they wouldn't be injured in case of any unexpected change in gee. Even the cans they were drinking from had sealable straws and magnetic bottoms for the same reason. The cans stuck to the metal coasters on the table and the straws prevented spills inside the cabin.

"I have a lot of stuff to tell you, most of which will sound completely insane. This information is so secret, in fact, revealing it to anyone not already in the know can lead to your death and the death of the person you reveal it to," Miss Harrison revealed. "I promise you that this information will change the very way that you view the people around you as well as how you see our society. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand," Christiana replied with a gulp of her throat. 'I hate these long lead-ups, and what does this have to do with Haruhi-nee's treatment?' she thought, wishing to get to the heart of the matter.

"You see, back on Old Earth, there were many myths about non-humans. These were stories about supernatural creatures, beings that could not possibly exist. One of these creatures is the vampire, a being that exists by feeding on human blood. The thing is, some of those creatures do in fact exist to this very day," Miss Harris explained.

"Even if what you say is true, and I do not say that it is, what does this have to do with Haruhi-nee?" Christiana replied

"You will see in a couple of minutes when I administer Haruhi's treatment. Speaking of which, it is about time for her next one," Miss Harris revealed. "Come and see Christiana. Come and see."

Then, after taking the young woman by the hand, Miss Harrison led Christiana to another section of Sick Bay,

There a doctor nodded and then waved them through into the treatment area. There the caregiver gave Haruhi-nee an injection. Moments later, Haruhi-nee began to stir. When she opened her eyes, she said, "Time for another treatment," and opened her mouth wide. Much to Christiana's horror Miss Harrison took a scalpel and slashed her own wrist and held it against Haruhi's hungry mouth.

"That's it, slow and steady," Miss Harrison directed the girl. "Oops, don't take too much. Oh, and I have a visitor here for you."

"I know, I can feel her," Haruhi said mysteriously. The unsettling thing was that Christiana had known that her other half was on Hope the minute the shuttle first docked. "Come here onion breath," Haruhi-nee said, a large grin forming on her otherwise pale face.

"Hey, there bacon breath," Christiana, who was still a bit shaken after seeing Miss Harrison feed her blood to Haruhi-nee automatically responded to her womb-mates childish taunt. It was the same one that they used at breakfast every day when they were small.

"It's good to see you," Haruhi said quietly.

"It's good to see you too," Christiana said as she brushed away a tear trailing down the older twin's face.

"They won't tell me the truth, and I always know when you fib," Haruhi began. "How bad is it?"

"It's bad, but they have some options to get you all better," Christiana said truthfully.

"Thank you for telling the truth," Haruhi-nee said with more tears.

"You're welcome, chibi."

"Hey! I'm not that much shorter than... okay I'm pretty short."

Christiana noticed that her Sister's eyes were closing on their own. "It's time for you to sleep and for me to eat something. The food on the shuttle was awful!" Christiana said in an attempt to keep things jovial.

"Ok, just don't leave Hope, okay?"

"Ok, get some rest."

"Bye, bye."

"Bye"

---

"So what you were saying about these 'vampires' was true?"

"Yes, of course. I would never lie to you."

"Because we are gene sisters and because you have been a wonderful friend to Haruhi-nee and myself?"

"We will have to discuss this in more detail in the near future, but we are closely related on the genetic level," Miss Harrison noted. "But back to the vampires. Vampire blood can heal many wounds and give humans super speed and perception. However, if a person is given too much or if their bodies are very low on blood, then they become vampires themselves."

"So you are a vampire and you have been giving Haruhi-nee enough of your blood to heal her, but not enough to change her?"

"Exactly!"