Forbidden Fruit

Forbidden Fruit By Pam Brown

Nona looked at him with a puzzled expression. “I don't understand. Why don't you want to tell me where we are? We have strict rules on this kind of mission, and all crew members have to be in agreement before we take any action which might be considered out of the ordinary.”

“I'm well aware of that, but as there are only two of us I assumed there wouldn't be any problem if one of us were to, say, make an executive decision.”

“Well, I can't say if I'm in agreement or not when I don't know what we're doing, or where we're going, or even if it is out of the ordinary.” She paced around the command room, waving her hands in the air and scowling. “ You've been incredibly secretive during the whole trip, refusing to answer my questions, and now we're somewhere I don't recognise on any star map I've had access to.”

Troy smiled, and caught her as she wheeled past him. He turned her to face the largest screen on the console. “Take a look.”

The screen was blank for a few seconds, and then it lit up to reveal a planet shining in space with a luminous blue-green, and she gazed at it intently. Then it began to dawn on her. Nona stared at him and gasped, “You can't be serious!”

“You recognise it then?”

“Of course I do! This planet was given the Everlasting Off-limits Directive. The most prohibitive command ever imposed on the known universe!”

“Well, it was a long time ago -”

“And we know what a sensation it caused at the time, so why are we here? You're not thinking of breaking one of the most stringent rules ever imposed on the whole of our society?”

He laughed nervously. “No....no, but I just thought, as we're already in this sector, we might swing by........ just out of interest. You know, just to have a look, and see if we can find out how they're getting on. I suppose you've studied this planet and its history in your basic training?”

She nodded, wondering where this was going, still not happy about their position.

“All right, just consider for a moment. How did the inhabitants of this planet evolve in such a spectacular fashion? Why did they become so unique?”

She thought for a moment. “Nobody knows for certain. Oh, we all know how they evolved, because we played a fairly big part in it, if our history is correct. If we hadn't interfered in our ignorance and arrogance, they would still be swinging from the trees and grooming each other for nits.”

Troy's voice grew more excited. “That's just it! We cultivated them, fertilised them, to be a little crude, but it's the truth. And we nurtured them, developed them and taught them so much........”

“And then took advantage of them!” She waved her hands in the air again.

“Not at first, we didn't. We were allowed to observe, and interact to a limited extent.”

“So what went wrong? What happened that led to the prohibition order?”

“It didn't happen suddenly.” He paused, as if trying to remember. “There were many expeditions over a period of time, and I recall one of the earlier ones where we decided to invite a native on board...... and it was a disaster......... the poor creature freaked out and had a heart attack.”

Nona said slowly, “Are you trying to tell me that wasn't the only time they were 'invited'?”

“Of course it wasn't! Why else do you think High Command slapped the injunction on the whole planet?”

“How do you know all this? Were you on one of those missions?”

Troy smiled sadly. “Several, in fact.”

Nona looked at him in shock. “You never told me!”

“No, I didn't. I'm not proud of the fact that I was involved in the whole business, even in quite a small way.”

“So what was the business about? It has always been a great mystery because nobody got to the truth......”

Troy interrupted her. “Except those who were involved, and they were sworn to secrecy, on pain of the most terrible punishment.”

Nona laughed. “And now you're going to spill the beans, and risk punishment? Oh, yeah, I'll believe that when I hear it.”

He took a deep breath. “I can't help it. I've kept it to myself for so long, and if you're going to betray me, then so be it.” He paused, then began again. “It started slowly, and those involved knew it was wrong, they were taking advantage of an innocent, naïve society, but it got to a stage where they couldn't stop. The compulsion was so strong, and they disregarded the directives against detrimental interference with alien races. One by one they became – I suppose you could describe it as an addiction – something they couldn't resist.”

He began pacing around the control room as he spoke. “ The natives didn't suspect at first. The abductees, as they later called them, were just registered with their various authorities as missing persons, but the ones we rejected and returned to their communities, well, they weren't believed, and were regarded as mentally disturbed.”

“Why weren't they believed?”

“They weren't aware of the whole situation. They seemed to be relieved to be told they were going back, and just tried to tell their stories of their experiences, and that they were not harmed. But they were ignored.”

Nona was hesitant to ask, but felt she had to. “Why were some rejected?”

“They weren't considered – desirable enough. Maybe too old, or not compliant or attractive enough.With an abundance to choose from, the crews could be more, er, selective. Which meant, inevitably, their tastes became more refined.”

“But we're talking about people here!”

“I know, I know. But you have no idea how it gripped them, like a drug, and once they had experienced it, there was just no going back.” He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “You have to understand there was a period in our society when we became – jaded, dissolute, decadent, and nothing was new or exciting. When that happens to a civilisation, it starts to fail as a community, and people are constantly looking for something to stir the tastebuds, so to speak. This was the answer! It was so different! Those who experienced it – well it changed them, and they couldn't resist it.”

“So you were part of this – madness?”

“Oh, yes. But only briefly. I knew it was wrong, of course, and I didn't get involved long enough to get addicted.”

“But how did it feel?

“I can't describe it. There's nothing to compare it with.”

Nona persisted. “You must try. You may be the only one left to have experienced it. I mean, what were they like?”

Troy stopped his pacing. He stood with his arms wrapped around him, and stared in front of him, not seeing anything. Nona could see a tiny drop of saliva seeping from the corner of his mouth. He licked his lips at the memory.

“They were – absolutely delicious!”