Commander Zerk’k Arkti
When I woke up, the human had already risen from the bed and left the room. I cringed, furious at myself for the night before. My plan had been to let her come to know me of her own accord. Now, I was certain that things would become even more strained than they were before.
“Good morning, Commander,” Trillis said, smiling brightly when I entered the dining area. The human was sitting at the table and glanced up at me. I caught her eye for a brief moment before she looked back down at her plate, her cheeks a deep red color. I knew I had messed up.
“You should eat something before you go,” Trillis said. She was always pestering me about food.
“Thank you,” I said, sitting down awkwardly across from Lain. She refused to meet my eyes again, so I focused on eating as quickly as I could. If I didn’t get at least 5 meals daily, I was a wreck.
I was grateful for Trillis’ intervention. Most of the time I was too busy to eat properly, despite the fact that Thressl’n bodies required a lot of fuel to keep up our massive stores of energy and maintain our muscle mass. It was strange to see the human pick at our foods and seem satisfied after only a few bites. She ate about the same amount as a small Thressl’n child might have been expected to eat.
“Trillis, would you mind taking Lain to get appropriate attire? She can’t be mated to the Second in Command and look like such an outsider.”
“Of course, sir,” Trillis said, barely able to hide her sly smile. She was quietly rooting for me to embrace my feelings for the human. Even though everyone else on the planet would have been horrified to know that my interest in Lain was anything but a necessary evil required to keep our race from becoming extinct.
“I like my clothes,” Lain said. Her voice was quiet but resolute.
“What?” I asked, prickling. “I’m not asking if you like your clothes or not. Human clothes are not appropriate for this planet.”
“I didn’t ask to be here,” Lain retorted. “In fact, if I had any say in this at all, I never would have left Earth. So the least you can do is let me wear the clothes I like.”
“Those rags will not do,” I said, raising my voice despite myself. I had never been so challenged by anyone before. I wasn’t sure why she managed to get under my skin so much. “If you spent any time outside at all, you would know that. Why do you insist on questioning me all the time?”
“I’m not questioning you! I’m telling you I want to keep my clothes. Why do you insist on trying to control me all the time?”
I glowered and stood from the table. I didn’t have to go on bantering with this woman. She obviously wasn’t going to let this go, and neither of us was feeling particularly comfortable with the other. Especially after the night before. It seemed pointless to argue.
“Where are you going, Commander?” Trillis asked, hardly able to keep the panic out of her voice. She didn’t like to see me angry. She knew what I was capable of.
“I have business to attend to. Please do as I asked and get the human some decent clothing.”
“Of course, sir,” Trillis said, bowing her head as I left the room.
It took all I had not to slam the door of my hovercraft once I got inside. Who did that female think she was? How long was it she had been on Jenal’k? Was she an expert on our weather now that she had stood under the suns for five minutes waiting to join me in the hovercraft? Why didn’t she seem to get that I was only trying to protect her?
No, she wasn’t going to believe that for a second. To her, I was nothing but a lowly captor who only wanted to use her for my own selfish ends. It didn’t matter what I really thought or felt. When did it ever? We all had our place in this world, and mine was apparently to quietly accept that everybody around me was simply going to make up their mind about what I was, whether I felt like I was that way or not.
I was still in a huff when I burst through the palace doors.
“Where have you been?”
I glared at the ground before meeting the eye of Grath, Aloitus’ right-hand man. “Taking care of personal matters.”
“That won’t do. Supreme Leader Aloitus had choice words for you this morning.”
“Of course he did,” I mumbled under my breath.
“What was that?” Grath asked.
“Nothing,” I said, finally looking him in the eye.
“Never mind. Please follow me. The Supreme Leader is awaiting your arrival.”
I followed Grath through the winding hallways of Aloitus’ palace, eyeing the decorative statues and art lining the walls. Aloitus had very expensive taste, and some of the most prominent artists in the galaxy were featured on his walls; pieces that likely cost money that Aloitus had taken right out of the pockets of citizens of Jenal’k.
“Zerk’k! Where have you been?”
“Attending to personal matters,” I repeated.
Apparently there was an echo in the palace.
“Personal? Nothing is personal here. You took a human without permission! I hadn’t assigned anybody yet. What’s the meaning of this?”
Aloitus pursed his lips at me. I could have punched him in the face for the power trip he was obviously on. Nothing I was doing seemed good enough. He just wanted to cause trouble. Was being the leader of Jenal’k really so boring that he had to cause needless issues with those beneath him?
“I made my selection early on. You told me you had full confidence in me before I left, and to choose whichever female I wanted. As Second in Command, you’d think I’m owed that much at least.”
Aloitus stared at me for a moment and dismissed his guards with the nod of his head. My stomach dropped. That usually meant he was going to say something he didn’t want anybody else to hear. And that was generally a very bad thing.
“You can tell me the truth, Zerk’k. We’re friends here. You probably couldn’t wait to see what it’s like to copulate with a human.”
I cringed. Luckily, before I answered, Aloitus resumed speaking.
“I’ll tell you the truth. I couldn’t wait either. I snagged one of those little creatures myself last night. What did you think? It’s way better than our own females. They’re so exotic!”
Ah, so that was the real reason Aloitus had called me in. He wanted to compare notes and pretend he had a real friend to “guy talk” with. I was used to this and did my best to remain polite.
“The human females are quite different,” I said, trying not to let myself get pulled back into the memory of the night before. In truth, I had never even hoped to experience anything so sensual and fulfilling as what I had shared with Lain. But knowing that she wasn’t happy to be on Jenal’k, or with me in general, just made my insides swirl painfully.
“How did it go?” Aloitus asked, lowering his voice and coming in close to me, a sickening grin twisted on his face. “I have to admit, I’ve never felt that way before.”
“No, I haven’t either,” I said truthfully, though it felt wrong to speak about something like this with Aloitus. The feelings I was experiencing for Lain were hard for me to understand and accept. They seemed far too personal to gossip about. Especially when I knew I’d be in huge trouble for taking a fixation with a human too far.
Nobody saw the human females on Jenal’k as suitable partners in the long term. They were just here for breeding purposes. Then, if all went well and we knew we could trust them to keep our secrets, maybe they would be allowed to return back to Earth. Although I had to admit, the chances of that happening were very slim. Perhaps if we got our hands on one of the serums that the Vellreq used to wipe the memories of their victims clean.
Regardless of what ended up happening with the humans, Aloitus would waste no time in punishing me for needlessly complicating things with them by developing inappropriate feelings for one of them. I was having a hard enough time forgiving myself. I was almost ready to welcome the punishment for my conduct and get the whole thing over with.
“You know, Zerk’k, I’ve been meaning to ask you, what do you think the hybrids will look like? I think it’s funny that the two of us are probably going to be the first to find out. I should delay breeding for a few weeks to guarantee it. Wouldn’t that be something? Then our spawn would have a higher chance of getting good roles on Jenal’k.”
I cringed inwardly, still uncomfortable reducing my experience with Lain to this base chit chat.
“With all due respect, sir, the population situation is severe. We should begin breeding as soon as possible.”
Aloitus waved his hand in the air dismissively.
“Of course, of course. It’s just nice to have something that nobody else has, isn’t it?”
Again I was forced into a memory of the sweet feeling of Lain’s skin; the soft warmth of her breath against my body. The sickening smile returned to Aloitus’ face for a brief moment, but almost as soon as it appeared, it was gone again and replaced by a stern expression. I knew it was time to get back to work.
“I need you to go patrol the lines. I promised the people an announcement today. We have to get the females assigned. I know there are going to be problems; some people have certain…preferences, if you will. And I know the humans are going to be upset. Most of the Thressl’n don’t want to bring home a limp bride, so we are going to try to do this without any sedation.”
“That’s bold,” I said quietly. I felt a sudden surge of pity for the females who would be forced into situations such as the one I was in with Lain. What a strange experience they must be having. And although Thressl’n men had certain physiological features and scents that would make the arrangement worth their while, it still seemed a bit crass. I hadn’t thought anything of it before meeting Lain.
“I know there will be problems. That’s why I’m assigning you. I’ll be busy attending to other, more private matters.”
The sickening smile creased his face for the last time before I turned my back and walked to the doorway of Aloitus’ office.
“Of course,” I said over my shoulder, unwilling to meet his eyes again.
***
I headed to the camps on the other side of Mount Zennith, my thoughts consumed by the night before. Why was it that I could feel so strongly for this human when no female of my own kind had ever kept my interest? More baffling of all, she was so volatile and defiant; these were features thought to be most unattractive in Thressl’n females. But somehow, in this tiny, serious human, they managed to be tolerable. Almost attractive.
And yet I was fairly certain that we were incompatible. There were things about her that made me feel more furious than I had ever felt before, defying my orders and doing whatever she felt like, and we had only known each other for such a short amount of time. And I was sure she couldn’t stand me. We had barely been able to look at each other during breakfast. I could only imagine how angry she must have been at me. At least as angry as I was at myself.
These thoughts were quickly rushed from my mind when I caught a glance of the campground from the sky above. Huge Thressl’n bodies were being swarmed by the tiny pink females. Through the thick glass of my hovercraft, I could hear the commotion. It was a mess, but despite it, I couldn’t hide a smile. Apparently, human females were all capable of more than even the males on their planet were aware of.
“Commander!” Jerd exclaimed, pushing through the crowd to meet me.
“What happened?” I asked, my eyes searching the crowd.
“The females want nothing to do with the Thressl’n men. Please tell me you came with orders for sedation.”
“I’m afraid not,” I said. “I’ll do my best to handle this without it.”
“Attention!” I exclaimed in our native Thressl’n tongue. The human females balked in fear. They couldn’t understand what I was saying, but I had a lot of practice with commanding the attention of large masses of people, and I was adorned in distinct armor bearing the Thressl’n crest. I’m sure I was an intimidating sight.
“The Earth females are going to require some patience on our parts,” I said. “If you cannot get your female to agree to come home with you using their native English, then you will just have to visit them in the camps until the mission is accomplished.”
The men in the crowd groaned collectively, clearly agitated by the lack of submission. They hadn’t had any personal experience with the humans the way I’d had with Lain. The perfection of her features as she gasped on top of me was a memory that had been following me all morning.
“There is a short courtship process that the humans require before they will be willing to come to your homes voluntarily. Otherwise, you risk having a volatile creature in your home that is difficult to control. I recommend coming to visit the humans at the camps as opposed to trying to bring them home; at least for now. Once they are ready to breed, they will let you know.”
“How will we know?” one man shouted.
“There will be signs,” I said, trying to keep my voice even as I thought back to the way Lain’s soft fingers had grazed my body. “You should be able to sense the shift of energy around them. And if you’re still not sure, consult the nurses. They should give you their pheromone readout.”
I hadn’t spoken to the Thressl’n females who had been charged with looking after the humans, but I already knew that they were going to be furious. They had been thinking that attending to the human camps was a temporary arrangement. I hadn’t even consulted Supreme Leader Aloitus yet.
But the path to success seemed obvious to me. Breeding with the humans couldn’t be done until they were in heat, but each human’s biological cycle was different. As their captors and caretakers, it was up to us to make sure they were physiologically and mentally prepared for the breeding process. And despite our press on time, that meant we would have to be patient.
Now, it was time to address the human females, who had been fighting impressively to avoid leaving with the elite Thressl’n men that had been given their choice of the first females. I would have been in this crowd myself, had I not already claimed Lain the night before.
“Females of Earth. This is Commander Zerk’k Arkti speaking.”
There were a few mumbles in the crowd, but nobody dared to move. My armor had been designed to strike fear in the hearts of all who laid eyes upon me. Why hadn’t it seemed to affect Lain?
“We have brought you here due to dire circumstances on the planet Jenal’k. If all goes well, your needs will be heard and attended to. For now, I’d like you to return to your beds in the camp. Give the Thressl’n men who request it your identification. That’s the card you received upon entry. It is either obey or face the consequences.”
The crowd dissolved into murmurs.
“Everybody line up!” I barked, first in Thressl’n, then in English. “One at a time. Go to your chosen female and request her information. The most we can do for now is to work out a good system. Breeding should commence within a few days.”
The Thressl’n men were obviously angered about having to wait, but they knew they had no choice but to follow the rules. It wasn’t in our nature to object to the orders of our superiors.
“You will have to make yourself available to visit your human and provide her with the stimulation required to put her into heat. Only then can you return to your homes with them; we will also set up a copulation area for breeding purposes right here in the camp in case of unforeseen circumstances.”
The human females all looked dubious, angry, and scared, but they cooperated remarkably well. I’m sure they realized that they had no other choice. I felt bad; I knew I was lying about getting them back to Earth. There really was no telling just how long the fragile little planet would last under human supervision. Especially with the Vellreq speeding things along. But still, there was a slight chance we would figure something out.
I wondered what Lain would have done if she had found herself in the line with the other females. I’m sure she would have been the loudest and most outspoken of them all. She had showed no fear of me, despite my armor.
And even with her big mouth going, it seemed impossible to me that any of the Thressl’n would be able to resist her. I felt a huge wave of relief knowing she was safe and sound with Trillis, away from this place. That was how it was going to stay.