But maybe I’ll get to see her again today, Elli thought hopefully. The old priestess reminded her of her grandmother, who had died when Elli was only nine cycles old. She missed the old lady—the two of them had really taken to each other in the time they’d had together.
I never should have sneaked out to the Christmas party, Elli thought as the Veneration ended and they all bowed to the marble statue of the Goddess, who had a benevolent look on her stone face. But she’d been curious about the new world she was now in—curious about the rest of the Mother Ship and its inhabitants. She was especially curious about the human custom of Christmas, which included bright decorations, delicious foods, and the giving of gifts.
Elli wished she had someone special who would give her a gift. And she wanted to sit and look at the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree and eat more of the sugary-sweet cookies with their bright green and red toppings. She wanted to know all about the human holiday which included some very odd details about a strange, portly male dressed all in red sneaking into your house at night to leave presents for children all over Earth.
How did he manage to get to all the houses in time, Elli wondered? And how did he know what gifts to bring? She had heard that this male—called “Santa”—kept a list of everyone and he had divided them all into two categories—“naughty” and “nice”. This was how he determined who got presents and who didn’t.
I suppose I wouldn’t get any gifts, even if I was allowed to celebrate Christmas with the humans, Elli thought sadly as the Veneration ended. I certainly would be on Santa’s naughty list, the way I’ve been acting lately.
Well, she was paying for her sins now, she thought as she went to the food prep area. It was her turn to scrub the soup pots—which was, admittedly, better than scrubbing the freshers—but not by much.
She just wondered if this was going to be her life forever. If only she could leave the Mother Ship and go back to her home planet or at least do something interesting and exciting. If only—
“Novice Ellilah, you’re wanted in the suite of the Priestess Superior.” The voice of the Head Cook, a priestess with doughy slabs for cheeks and small, critical eyes, spoke right in her ear.
“Oh!” Elli jumped in surprise, which splattered greasy dishwater from the sponge she’d been using all over her robes and the robes of the Head Cook.
“Now look what you’ve done!” The Head Cook’s eyes narrowed as she glared at Elli.
“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Elli gasped, dropping the sponge back in the half-scrubbed pot. “I didn’t mean to, I swear! I promise it won’t happen again, Head Cook!”
“No, it won’t,” the Head Cook said flatly. “Because you’re not coming back in my food prep area again—not even to scrub pots! From now on, you’re on fresher duty every day.”
“Oh, but—” Elli began.
“Let’s see if you’re better at scrubbing toilets than you are at scrubbing pots,” the Head Cook continued. She sneered at Elli. “I didn’t want you here, anyway. I heard what kind of filth you got up to with that warrior at the humans’ party.”
Elli felt as though the other woman had punched her in the stomach.
“I…he…he drugged me,” she managed to get out at last.
“A likely story.” The Head Cook’s words dripped with sarcasm the way her ‘special of the day’ dripped with grease. “Two other novices snuck out to that party, but they didn’t act like hoydens, did they?”
“They…they didn’t drink the punch,” Elli whispered.
Shame rolled over her again. If only she hadn’t told anyone what had happened to her with the mysterious stranger in the closet at the party! But she’d been so upset and frightened and the human doctor had told her it was all right to talk about it. Everyone in the Med Center had been so nice—not like the other priestesses at all. They seemed to think it was all Elli’s fault that the male had touched her—her fault that her body had reacted to his touch.
“Please, you don’t understand. I—” she began, desperate to explain herself. She was dismally aware that all activity had stopped around them and everyone in the whole food prep area was watching.
“I know your kind, missy,” the Head Cook interrupted, shaking a condemning finger at Elli. “You’re not fit to serve the Goddess—not even scrubbing pots or toilets! But here you are, so we’ve got to put up with you. Now, go see what the Priestess Superior wants, you miserable girl!”
Hot words rose to Elli’s lips, but she knew from experience that fighting with authority figures only ended in more punishments. She didn’t want to scrub toilets every day, but it was better than being assigned endless, monotonous meditation in her plain white room.