"Corrie, don't frighten them.  You'll only make it worse."  Maria said softly at her ear.  She looked at the ladies who now cowered in front of them, then back at Coral.  What she saw scared the living hell out of her.  "Baby?  Baby!"  Connie quickly lifted her eyes and saw Coral's eyes roll back into her head.  She then went limp.

"No no no no no!"  Connie dashed to the bed, with Tandy right on her heels.

"What's happening?"  She asked Connie fearfully.  Connie put her forehead to Coral's and started to cry.

"She wanted to hide, but the only place to hide is in her own mind.  Where her memories are locked away."  She trembled and fell backwards.  "It's too much!  How can she endure all that?"  Tandy tried to help, but she also fell away, and shook like a leaf.

Maria watched them, took a deep breath, and laid her forehead against Corals.  She started to tremble, and shake but she didn't pull away.

"I won't leave you alone."  She whispered, and slowly, the torrent of images, all the bodies Coral has seen in her long life, slowed to a trickle.  A hand was offered to her as she looked around.

"Corrie?"  There was a faint smile on that serene and alien face, but Maria couldn't help but stare.  Even though she was alien, she was also beautiful.  She could see a pale muted red that looked devastatingly beautiful on the slick, smooth, yet soft skin.  If she didn't know her skin was soft, she could have sworn it was like the carapace of an insect.  Coral smiled at her gaze that looked everywhere.  She could see the coal black eyes she had seen before, and long finger thick strands of hair that tumbled down her back.  The hand that reached for her had only three digits, but were not like human fingers.  They were long and slender, and wrapped twice around Maria's hand to envelope it.

"You're much taller here, Corrie."  She whispered.  Coral smiled.

"This is my original form."  She smiled sadly.  "I came from a planet that resembled Mars for the reddish hue, but it wasn't barren like Mars.  It was filled with life, and everything that grew there had the same hue as the atmosphere.  Even us."  She gestured to a few plants, and one tree.  "We are related to the plant life here, and cocoon ourselves inside them to give birth."  She pointed to a single tree that bent over, and had a large pod on one end.  It was filled with fluid.

"That is me when I was pregnant with my first daughter."  Maria looked around, and frowned.

"There is no one else here."  Maria said, and listened to the background.  There was nothing.  Coral smiled softly and sadly.  She didn't have the heart to explain that she was a refugee from another planet, and she brought the tree with her.

"We only needed the plants back then.  They had the seeds, and we had the wombs.  It was a symbiotic relationship.  We spread their seeds to the planet as we went, and they made us pregnant.  But this was a long time ago, when things were not so complicated."  Maria took her hand and held her firmly.

"You can't stay here, Corrie.  This isn't your home anymore."  Coral smiled sadly.

"Is it any less of a home then out there?  Where they fear me, and not love me?"  Maria started to cry.

"Did you see how they reacted when you went to hide?"  Coral turned her head slightly.

"No.  I was already part of the way here."  Maria reached up with her hand, although she couldn't touch Coral's cheek like she wanted to.  Coral was at least twice as tall as she was here.

"Then look outside right now.  They tried to share these memories so you weren't destroyed by them, but they couldn't handle it."  Coral grew unfocused, then appeared to be concerned.

"They still can't handle it.  I have to go to them or they will unravel."  She sighed sadly.  "These are my memories.  No one can handle them for long."  She turned to Maria, and placed her hand on her forehead.  "No matter how much you care for another person, Maria, these memories are not for you.  This world is not yours, nor should you know of this while your body and mind are still so human."  She pulled a blue ball of energy from Maria's forehead, and put her to sleep.  She let the ball float into the background.

"It's not yet time, and I am not yet strong enough."  She watched as several blue lights floated in the background.  "I am sorry, my daughters."  She looked the lights one last time, then closed her eyes.

"Lock up the vault!"

"Baby?  Why do I feel empty?"  Connie looked up at Coral as she knelt in front of her.  Coral smiled sadly.

"You saw some things you shouldn't have.  Don't do that again.  My mind is a terrible place, mom."  Connie then watched as she lightly touched Tandy's forehead, and a small blue light followed her fingers before it disappeared into the air.  She stood up and walked out of the room.  Connie scrambled to her feet, but found her in the hall.

"Baby...."

"I need some air....."  She stopped as Tandy rushed into the hall and wrapped her arms about her waist.

"Can't leave.  Can't leave.  Can't leave.  Too empty.  Can't leave.  Can't leave.  Too empty."  Tandy couldn't stop.  She held her tightly and pulled her back into the bedroom.

"What's wrong with her?"  Connie watched as she grew incoherent.

"Her mind..."  She touched her forehead, then frowned.  "Nothing is wrong there."  Tandy pulled her onto the bed, and held her to her belly.  "Ah, I see.  She's been pushed ahead a bit."  She touched Tandy's forehead again, and softly smiled.  "In here until you can handle it.  Is that okay?"  Tandy nodded quickly.

"It's my duty.  I know what I am now.  Why I need to have you so close all the time, and I feel so empty when you're not around."  Tandy smiled, and held her firmly.

"Everyone, lay down.  We're going to sleep, to comfort her.  She's a little further along than the rest of you due to that experience.  She's...."  Tandy put her hand on her cheek.

"Embarrassing.  Not yet until I can do it."  She looked at Connie and Maria, and blushed.  She looked at the bed, and sighed.  "We need a larger bed.  Not enough pets."  Tandy seemed to be quite far along in her progress.  She just needed the DNA for her to catch up physically.

"Soon, sweet concubine, soon."