Twin Moons
By Dana Quell

	Dralynn Orisma hung her feet out the open window and regarded 
the night scene there with a calm interest.  Stars shone in the blacki velvet sky, 
and Karinah's two moons illuminated the ground below.  Hovercrafts flew 
through the sky as well, silent birds of metal and machine.
	Her pet Lazar, Ritalie, walked up to her and sat next to her, 
obviously wanting some attention.  Dralynn smiled, then reached over to stroke 
her pet's black fur.  Ritalie was pregnant and, according to the animal doctor, it 
wouldn't be long before she gave birth.  Unlike Karinashian birth, Lazar birth 
was quick and painless, and the mother-to-be only had to carry her unborn 
child around for two weeks before it was fully developed enough to be 
expelled from its mother.  After birth, the newborn took four more weeks to 
grow and then it became a fully developed adult.  They also lived long, as such 
was the way of their evolution.  Semi-intelligent creatures they were, they had 
learned to survive long before Karinashians came along.
	Sighing, she shook the thought out of her head.  It was beginning to 
get late, so she reached over, turned the light off, and went to sleep.

			*

	The next day, Dralynn met with her friend at the movies.  Adamy 
Schrike had insisted on seeing the new Fublie movie.  Up on the big screen, the 
silent actor made flailing motions with his arms and seemed, to Dralynn, an 
immature Krackiayan who had yet to grow up.  She didn't understand her 
friend's fascination with the actor- all he had going for him was his dark good 
looks, and een that was going fast due to aging.
	So instead of paying attention to the movie, she let her thoughts 
wander back to the stars from last night.  'I wonder if anybody else lives out 
there,' she thought.  'We can't be the only ones in this universe.  Maybe the only 
ones in this lonely little corner, but not in the universe.'
	The Karinashians had indeed been proven alone in this section of 
space, quite recently.  A batch of probes sent out a couple of years ago sent 
back telemetry concerning harsh and uninhabitable planets, hot and cold stars, 
gray, oxygenless rocks.  Not a shred of life or life-sustaining conditions 
anywhere.
	Dralynn refused to believe that they were the only sentient beings in 
the entire universe.  She couldn't believe it.  If she did, she would betray every 
belief she ever held, and then she would be lost.
	Suddenly Dralynn was aware of a dark shadow looming over her 
shoulder.  It was her sister, Aradnea.
	"Ritalie's time has come.  Hurry," she whispered, gesturing for 
Dralynn to come with her.
	She looked over at Adamy, who nodded.  Her friend must have 
figured that this would happen anyway.  Dralynn smiled her thanks, then got 
up and headed silently up the aisle out of the theater.
	Arriving at her house, she turned to her sister.  "Where is she?"
	Aradnea pointed down the hallway.  "In the bathroom," she replied 
softly.
	Dralynn nodded, then took off for the bathroom.  Ritalie lay on the 
cool tiled floor, her eyes blank, staring into space.  Aradnea followed her in.  
She was older by a few years, and was receiving training from an animal doctor.  
Therefore, she knew what had to be done.
	Dralynn watched as Aradnea went to work.  After the Lazar had 
been born, her sister's eyes went wide.
	"What?  What's wrong?" Dralynn asked, immediately panicked.
	A smile spread across Aradnea's face.  "Nothing.  Ritalie's going to 
have twins."
	"Twins," Dralynn sighed.  What was she going to name them?
	"Here it comes," Aradnea breathed.  She brogt her hands up to show 
the two newborn Lazars.  Ritalie lay ehind her, exhausted.

			*
	A week later, Dralyn cuddled the twins, who still did not have names.  
Ritalie lay on the bed, knowing they were in safe hands.  It was dark, and she 
stood near the window, watching the stars once again.
	Imagining the beautiful scene from  a bird's eye view, she smiled 
and glanced down at the Lazars in her arms.  Two pairs of twin orbs blinked 
innocently back at her.
	So it was that she knew that life here was flourishing and it didn't 
matter if there was life elsewhere.  Dralynn also knew that she had to call the 
twins Faith and Luck, because at some point of their lives everybody needed 
both.