Chapter 10
AMBASSADOR AVERY JONES
It was a shock to me when I stood there listening to Captain Ankon tell us that he was of a rebel faction. I had spent many hours speaking with him on the Harvest 80 and not once did he mention this. There were many times when he refused to answer questions about his home, and I had assumed it was because it was too painful for him. I assumed that he lived in or near the capital city of Konthos. If he did not live in the capital city, I assumed that he was of that government; after all, he was a captain. Never once did I think that there was a separatist group. I stood there shocked with the rest of the council as he told us what he really was. I felt dumb because I should have known this as a researcher. I felt betrayed because I thought that he had opened up to me in our conversations.
After the first greeting, I went straight to the Kalazaron captain’s living quarters to give him a piece of my mind. I wanted answers. But I was not expecting for Jamie to barge in and begin a fight, though I should've seen it coming. The entire trip back to Earth he had been acting like a jealous boyfriend even though we had not coupled since before the capture of the ship. I think he felt some sort of ownership over me, and I grew to dislike him more and more every day. Now that dislike was sealed as he went after the Kalazaron captain out of rage that began as though it were two children fighting.
Now, I was being led to the vice president’s office, and I knew why: because of the rebel information. He was going to lecture me about my lack of knowledge, or so I thought.
"Tell me about the Captain Ankon. Is he a hybrid?" he asked as soon as I walked in.
"What? Where did you hear such a thing?" I said in shock over his words. I had told no one. I wondered if the vice president had figured it out for himself just by seeing him.
"Captain Holt said he might be a hybrid. Is it true?" he asked me. Of course, I should've known that Jamie would be the first to want Ankon to suffer by being experimented on.
"I am not sure. I think he may be, but he has never said that he is," I lied.
"You are sure of that?" he asked me as he moved from his desk and walked toward me. "Your notes are being taken from your living quarters as we speak. If we find that you are lying about his hybrid station, you will be suspended. For how can we trust you on this project if you are going to withhold information?"
My eyes grew wide at his words. "You are doing what?! You cannot do that. That is my research. They are my notes and I have worked hard for them. I am the one that paid for this mission, after all. Therefore, I own the data."
"No, you do not. You went on the mission under the banner and approval of the United Planets Association. Technically, we own the data. Of course, you can continue to be a leader on this project and continue your research. You will get your data and notes back after we have made copies. But you must be truthful, Ambassador Jones."
I sighed, knowing that my notes did say that he was a hybrid. It was in some of the first notes I had taken in my journal when Ankon had asked me how I knew that he was a hybrid. I was backed into a corner. "He is a hybrid. He has not given me many details and refuses to talk of his parents. But he is human female and male Kalazaron offspring."
"Good, that is better. Why, may I ask, would you keep such information from me? Have you grown fond of this Kalazaron warrior? We have all heard the tales of the power these male warriors hold over the human female. I always thought them to be myth, but are you proving those myths right?"
"No, I withheld it for two reasons. One, because I am not entirely sure if he is lying or not. I did not want to report on a lie. Two, I did not want to start a fury of scientists trying to experiment on him. This is a diplomatic project where we are trying to make peace. What sort of peace can come from the Kalazaron knowing that we are doing experiments on one of their own?"
"Yes, I see your point. But that is not your decision to make. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Vice President Thompson, it is crystal clear."
"Good. You are dismissed until we figure out the next steps to take. Your notes will be returned to you in time," he said.
"Thank you, sir," I said, restraining my anger as I began to walk out of his office.
"Ambassador," he said.
"Yes, sir?"
"You are correct about the experiments. Having a hybrid of a human and a Kalazaron is too valuable. We will probably send a lieutenant back to Kaethon with the message of peace. But the Captain will stay here indefinitely. I know the council well enough to think ahead on what their response will be, and this will be the way. We will start slowly just with a blood draw to confirm that he is hybrid. Once he is confirmed, I do not know the types of experiments that will be conducted on him. You must prepare yourself and think of him as a subject of science, as I cannot have your compassion getting in the way of this mission. Is that clear?"
I turned and looked at him and faked a smile as I said, "Crystal clear."
"It is inevitable. If there are hybrids out there, we need to be prepared."
"I understand. Let me know when I can be of assistance, as Captain Ankon trusts me. It will probably be an easier time for you to get him to participate if you use me."
The vice president smiled at my compliance and said, "I will keep that in mind, Ambassador Jones. Good day."
"Good day. Oh, and by the way, Captain Holt just attacked Captain Ankon only moments before I arrived here. It was quite a fight. If I were you, I would keep Captain Holt far away from Captain Ankon, unless you want your valuable hybrid to be murdered on your watch by one of your men." The vice president's jaw fell open as I walked out. As I walked down the hall, I was already planning. I was planning an escape.
Over the next three days, I laid low. The news of the hybrid spread like wild fire. Not only did it spread amongst the scientists, but amongst the public. I did not know how they found out, but there seemed to be a lot of holes and leaks in the United Planets Association. There were many people gathering around the building in protest. As I walked outside between buildings, I could see them on the lawn outside the fence. Many of them were holding signs with the names of women, missing women.
"Where is my daughter?!" shouted a man.
"My sister! Do you have my sister?" another woman shouted. There were many shouts and voices, all asking for women that had gone missing in space. They wanted answers, just as I had wanted answers about Dr. Jade Roberts. As I walked to my car, I knew that I owed one person an explanation to that question.
"Are you sure?" Jill Teren asked as I sat in her million-dollar home by the fireplace.
"I am only sure of what the Kalazaron said to me. I thought I would give you this information. He said that he had heard of Jade Roberts and that she was a happy woman married to a Kalazaron of high power. But they live in the capital city; the Kalazaron that we have are from a rebel base. So, they only hear information."
"You believe him?" she asked.
"Strangely, I do. He would have no reason to make up such information. He has told me about other human females that are not happy and that are treated badly as slaves, whether at the base or in the city. So why would he make up this information about this one?"
"That is shocking information. I must say that I am relieved. Thank you for telling me. I wish my mother were still here so that I could give her the information as well and give her some peace. But you bring me a peace. Knowing that perhaps things were well for Dr. Jade Roberts is important."
"Yes, I agree. It seems that human females on Kaethon can sometimes find love with a Kalazaron warrior and be happy. I do not know much about Captain Ankon’s parents, but it seemed to be a marriage of love that he was born from. His mother was a human female and his father a Kalazaron. So, some women are treated well. If you think about it, here on Earth it is the same way. Some women are treated well and others are not."
"Yes, that is true. Thank you for giving me this information. I am glad that I funded half of the mission. It seems to have been a success. The fact that you returned makes it a success; I was fearful that you would be lost, just like Jade," she said to me.
"If I am ever lost, know that it is of my own doing," I said to her. Jill looked at me strangely and then she smiled.
"I understand," she said.
"I want to give this to you," I said, handing her a disk. "It is all of my research from this mission. I want it to be part of your library. I want it out in the public for everyone to know."
"I will see that it is done quietly, of course," she said. I stood up and gave her a big, long hug. It was a goodbye hug.
After a week of playing the good and obedient ambassador, I had gained the vice president’s trust to do some research that would give me access to Captain Ankon.
"Come with me to your ship," I said to Captain Ankon as I walked into his living quarters. He looked at me with anger in his eyes. I did not know what they had been doing to him up until then, but something told me he didn't like it.
"Why? So you can experiment on me?" he said with anger.
"No, I am doing research on your ship. I need to take notes and details of how it works. I need you to show me how it works, how to start it, how to steer it, and more. I need to know about all the technology on it. How the shields work and weapons, everything. The vice president has let me take charge of this project, if you will cooperate."
"Just me and you?" he asked.
"Yes, just us once we are inside the ship. We will have guards with us to escort you to the hangar where the ship is kept. But once we board the ship, I can tell them to wait outside. He arched an eyebrow at me as though he knew where I was going with this.
"I am ready," he said to me.
Moments later, we were boarding the ship and I had the guards wait outside. I went through the motions of the research for a few minutes before I turned to him as a friend. "I am sorry for everything that is being done to you. Please know that I have nothing to do with it. I want to help."
"How can you help? As you said, you have nothing to do with this. You are not in power here," he said, moving closer to me, putting an inch between us.
"I know. I want to help you escape."
He stopped moving abruptly. He looked down at me and put his finger under my chin and tilted my head back until my eyes met his. "How can this be done? Do you mean to escape the building and for me to live here on Earth?"
"No, to escape back to your planet."
"Impossible. Even if I could escape, I would not leave without my warriors. Helping me escape might be easy, but helping twenty of us escape will not."
"I understand that. I cannot help twenty of you escape. Only one of you."
He looked at me for a long time and said, "Remember that dream? Remember the dream you thought I implanted in your head? How I touched you? How I licked you? How I tasted you?" his voice grew husky.
"I remember. How could I forget? I have thought of little else."
"I did it. Just as you suspected, I did it on purpose. I wanted to know what it was like to be with you. I could not restrain myself. Just as I can't now," he said as he moved towards me and kissed me.
His kiss was deep and passionate. His hands moved down my back and cupped my ass. I moaned and squealed at his delicious, strong, large hands on me. He was so overpowering with his hybrid body. It made me feel so small.
I realized that this was the first time that he was actually on me like this in real life. Before, it had been dreams, yet they felt so real that this was familiar to me. It felt the same as it did in the dreams.
I let my hands moved over his strong chest and down his strong stomach. I let my hand linger over his spiral tattoo on his belly. He saw it as a shameful mark and I saw it as beautiful and special. I could feel him getting hard as he pressed his body against mine. I wanted him to take me right then and there, and it was so hard not to give into that. Just a few more seconds, I told myself as his hands ran up and down the length of my body.
“You feel so good, Avery. I love touching your warm, small body,” he whispered between kisses. His words set my whole body on fire. I could not believe that I had an alien hybrid touching me. He was a fierce warrior, and so strong and rough. I desired him above all else. I was losing myself to this lustful desire and deep attraction that we shared.
I did not want him to stop. I was completely infatuated with this Kalazaron warrior. It was true: the Kalazaron had power over the human females. I did not understand it, but I had fallen under the same spell that many human females had been under before me. I was willing to risk it all for him. But it was more than that. I knew that what the United Planets Association was doing was wrong. In my heart, I knew it was wrong, and I had to follow my heart.
"We have to stop. I have a plan. But we will not be successful if we spend all our time doing this," I said breathlessly, pulling away from him.
"But I could do this forever," he said as he stole a few more kisses.
"Listen to me. We are to come here to the ship once a day for a week so that I can collect the research. These notes must be full at the end of the day every day. They will be checked. But I want to give you this," I said, handing him a disk.
"What is it?" he said looking on strangely.
"It is information that will show you how to fly an Earth ship. A very small Earth ship."
"I already know how to fly your ships. Every time we have taken an Earth ship, we study it and we fly it."
I was impressed by his knowledge and felt safer knowing that he already knew how to fly an Earth ship and had practice at it. But I knew that a lot could have changed with the new technologies and I wanted him to have everything possible. "Here, take it just in case. There have been many changes. Please study it. You would be fine and very small ship. It must be fast but still able to make long ranges. After you have studied it, on the last day that we come here, I will take you to the ship and you can escape."
"We can escape," he said.
"I told you I cannot help the other twenty," I said. He pulled me into his arms and said, "I meant you and I. Will you come with me, Avery?"
I gasped at his words. I had been thinking it, but I did not think he would want me to. I was scared that he blamed me for the experiments that he had been undergoing.
"You would want me?" I asked him.
"I have been restraining myself against wanting you. But I cannot control it. I want you, Avery. It is hard to explain. We have little time."
"Yes, we have a little time. Let us focus on this now," I said to him. Then we went to work. We filled the notes for the day, still leaving plenty that needed to be researched on the ship so that we could meet every day the whole week. We did everything by the book. We did not show emotion for each other. At the end of the day, we parted and I went to my living quarters. Could I do it? I looked out my window at the beautiful Earth around me. It would be hard to leave, yet deep down, I knew. I had known all along; I was going to Kaethon.