Alaya arrives home and discusses the issues with her mothers.
"She was thin as my finger ..."
The doorbell rings.
Jenny, "I will get it."
Vastra licks the air and informs her wife and daughter, "It is a telegram."
Jenny returns shortly and hands it to her daughter. She pulls her daughter close as Alaya reads to herself.
Alaya stands shocked, "Why didn't she tell me?" She hands the telegram to her Mother Vastra. Begging to understand she looks to her Mother Vastra, "Why didn't she say something?" Desperate for an answer she looks to her Mother Jenny, "Nothing, not a hint. Why?"
Alaya collapsed back into her seat, sitting stunned.
"She didn't want to ruin what little time you had with sad news."
"She held the burden herself."
"She held the burden so that you could have hope for a moment."
Alaya sits there, staring out the window.
"Would you like to head to the gym?" Mother Vastra asks as she is prepared to stand.
Alaya shakes her head slowly no. Mother Vastra returns to her seat.
"Would you like some tea?" Mother Jenny offers for comfort.
Alaya shakes her head slowly no.
Jenny makes tea as Vastra sits by her daughter's side. Once the tea is done Jenny places a cup in front of Vastra, her daughter and takes a seat with a cup for herself.
They sit for an hour, waiting for Alaya to wake from her thoughts.
"Together. We are supposed to go together." Is finally uttered from Alaya's mouth.
"Not this time." Mother Vastra attempts to adjust her daughter's train of thought.
"Why not? I could be of use. I would tend wounds, I have the ability. I know how to clean. I don't need much."
"You would have to wear your perception device everyday, all day." Mother Jenny offers as an counter.
"I would find privacy."
"Not during a war." Mother Vastra offers information based on reality. She needs her daughter to think realistically not decide on some romantic notion.
"I can." Alaya looks to her Mother Vastra.
"You won't have opportunity."
"I will make an opportunity."
"Not during war. There is never privacy."
"I am going to be with her." Alaya gets up, walks through the door and up the stairs to pack.
Mother Jenny, from her knotted throat, speaks to her daughter, "Dearest Alaya. If this is your choice, I wish you a quick death."
Mother Vastra runs to her wife's side, holds her close and feels her strong human wife become utterly weak. Mother Jenny cries into her wife's beating chest.
Alaya is at the kitchen entrance. "Why would you say such a thing?"
Mother Vastra pulls from her her inside pocket a sealed envelope. "Read this and be educated. Your mother just verbalize the words from her nightmares."
My Lovely Wife,
I have talked with your mothers intensively and we both agree that the best course of action is to speak of this only if it is completely necessary. Which means it is a dire situation.
If you and your mothers are able to leave for safety, the do so immediately. Leave a note in the safe-deposit box and I shall follow directly.
If you are tempted to follow me, don't. I know we said we would face life together, but this war will not allow that possibility. You can't follow me, it is imperative that you remain with your Mothers no matter what happens. This is not a negotiation, it a demand.
My biggest fear is that you come find me during this war. You have given me reason to believe you will let your emotions dictate your actions. I find your passion amazing, it is something I cherish in my memories. I feel your passion when we are sitting in the drawing room reading side by side. When we are in the bedroom ... the sounds you make, the scent we produce and that magical tongue. My dear, your passion is our greatest asset when we are together.
It also can be a curse.
If you knew that you could bring me home without consequence I would absolutely be grateful for the rescue. But that action will leave a residue and possibly ruin my career, your life, your mothers lives and our future.
What do you think happens when great scientific minds or military leaders find out about a woman who has the secret to fountain of youth in her blood?
They will use your Mother Jenny's body and drain her blood like a farmer does with milking cows. They will drain her blood within a inch of her life and then start again once her body naturally replenishes itself. They will repeat the process until she is dead and then dissect her to analyse each of her organs, like when I dissected a frog in primary school.
What do you think they will do when a half-human half-Silurian is the key to a super army?
They will do the exact same thing to you. They will cut your tongue to figure out how it works. They will cut our your ears to produce a military with sensitive hearing. They will cut you open, without pain relief, because you aren't human. They will force your body to stay alive and use you until your die of old age. After which every single part of you will be catalogued, recorded and stored in jars. Even your scales will be taken off one by one.
What do you think they will do if they find a Silurian warrior with strength of ten men?
You Mother Vastra's bacteria will be used to produce the ideal race of super humans. They will not care how tender your Mother is to you. They will not care how her sisters were accidentally murdered. They will not care that your Mother is a loving person. They will not care about her service to the crown. Dire times of war all sacrifices are expected, your mother's would be most significant.
You three are a prize.
You are a gift, a weapon to their survival and superiority.
You must not let that happen.
I am afraid my Mother April is correct, the world is changing. We must be cautious of our identities at all times.
A hasty decision could have been the beginning of the unravelling to the detrimental of us all.
Stay with your mothers.
I love you.
Your Wife Fiona Flint-Saint Clair
PS Think of our future. What shall we name our first born?
Alaya collapses on to the kitchen floor.
Jenny runs to her side, "She has fainted. Please get Fiona's medical kit from the cabinet. It is small zipped bag with the red cross symbol."
"Silurians do not faint."
Jenny calmly corrected Vastra while tending Alaya, "Your daughter is half-Silurian."
Jenny brings herself to hold Alaya's head on her lap. Vastra hands her wife the medical kit.
Jenny pulls out a small tube and breaks it. She passes it under Alaya's nose and nothing happens,
Jenny looks up to her wife, "She needs to smell this."
Vastra nods and carefully takes the tongue and dips it into the small white tube.
Alaya eyes pop open.
"You fainted dear."
Alaya sits up, "Silurians do not faint."
Vastra looks to her daughter, "You are half-human." She offers her daughter a hand to stand.
As she is finds her bearings, Alaya looks to her mothers, "Do you agree with this letter?"
"My dearest Alaya, yes. That is why we are always cautious." Mother Jenny confesses.
Jenny and Vastra are arm locked.
"From the moment we were in each others lives, before we loved freely ... we knew the cruelty of the universe. You have witnesses most by being on the side of the victor. You have seen the ugliness since you were a child, but we always defeated and won in the end. You have never seen the earlier days, before you were born, our scars, our wounds ...
Mother Jenny interrupts, "Your mother Vastra almost died too many times to count."
Vastra continues, "Weapons became smaller and easily hidden. I ... we had to become cautious and more diligent. We are more important than our enemy. If I die in a fight not only does the enemy lives another day to cause havoc, but my Jenny will be alone for a very long time."
Mother Jenny becomes instantly sad and adds, "If i die on the streets of London, your mother will curse this world and will outlive her enemies alone. We decided a very long time ago, we would not let that happen. You have to make that decision for yourself and your wife."
Alaya stands taller, "I see. You are correct. I have never been on the losing side."
Mother Vastra corrects her daughter, "You can be a scientific wonder, dissected, tortured and be on the losing or winning side. The world has changed and both sides are willing to do anything to have victory. But we have the advantage."
"How is that?"
"We know their goals, that is our advantage. We can't change their goals, but we can tweak our lives to keep ourselves from inquiring minds."
"Will we ever be safe?"
"No."
"I am sorry."
"For fainting?"
"For bringing my precious Fiona into our lives."
"Fiona is not. Besides you don't have a choice when it comes to love. Keep yourself safe, you both have a future to plan. This is an excellent question ... What is a good name for your first born?"