Alexa was very quiet on the way home from the event. I had been shocked by how much food she had managed to put away, even after the third course was finished. The bubbling elixir had brought out a cheerful, carefree side of her personality that I hadn’t known was there; especially after spending the night before tossing and turning as I contemplated ways to address the concerns she had with my home.
“This is beautiful,” Alexa breathed when we walked through the door. I was shocked.
“That isn’t what you were saying last night,” I said, raising a brow at her.
“It’s just…well, when humans are stressed, I guess everything looks terrible,” Alexa stammered, smiling nervously at me. “But after a while, we adapt, and things start to look a little bit brighter.”
I nodded. “That makes sense. Well, I hope you like your accommodations better tonight.”
“Better than the cellar?” Alexa said. Her cheeks reddened suddenly, and she looked into my eyes, a bright, beautiful smile on her face. Why hadn’t I noticed how beautiful her eyes were the day before?
“The cellar? Wait, that is a joke, right? Human humor. Very interesting.”
I laughed stiffly.
“I’m sure whatever you give me will do,” Alexa said.
“What changed in you tonight?” I exclaimed. “All you did last night was complain, and now you are saying you will accept whatever I give you. Maybe I should give the elixir to you every day.”
Alexa grinned, and my hearts thudded involuntarily in my chest. She was stunning.
“Well, I will try not to be so hard on you from now on, all right?” Alexa said.
I walked to the kitchen, and Alexa stayed in the place where I left her. I glanced back at her and raised a brow. “Is something on your mind?”
“I just…no, nothing.”
“All right…are you hungry?”
My stomach was growling. It was already time for another meal.
“I don’t think I’ll need to eat again for a year,” Alexa said, her beautiful eyes boring into me as she smiled. “Thank you for the offer though.”
“Of course.”
She stood awkwardly in the doorway for a moment, and I got the impression that there was something she wanted to ask, but felt afraid to.
“You don’t have to be scared of me,” I said, pulling a chair out at the table. “Please, sit. I enjoy company while I cook.”
“Thanks,” she said, sitting down at the table shyly. “It’s just…do you remember me?”
“Remember you?” I asked incredulously. “How could I forget you? You squawked at me about nearly breaking your ankle, snubbed my home, and nearly made me think you had been kidnapped or had run off at the event. You’re pretty fresh in my mind.”
“I don’t mean those things,” Alexa said with a sigh. “Never mind.”
The blood rushed to my face, and I was drawn back into the moment that had kept me awake all night the day we had delivered the humans. I knew exactly what she was talking about. The way our eyes had locked and I’d felt like I had never seen a more beautiful female in all my life. How it didn’t even seem possible for anyone else so perfect to exist anywhere in the universe.
But how could I have those feelings about someone so unbelievably rude?
Still, the evening had been going quite well so far. Maybe Alexa was right. Perhaps stress just made humans do some really strange things.
***
After my meal was done and I was ready to sleep for the night, Alexa was still lingering nervously outside the kitchen. It was as if she were afraid to move.
“What’s wrong?” I finally asked her. “Is something bothering you?”
“I just don’t know where I’m supposed to sleep,” she whispered.
“I thought you said you were over the weird smell,” I said, sighing irritably.
“I am!” Alexa said quickly, a smile brightening her worried face. “It’s just…I don’t remember where the room is. I need you to show me.”
“All right,” I said softly. I took her by the elbow and walked her as respectfully as I could down the hallway to the room I had set aside for guests. “This door. The third down. That is your bedroom. And if you don’t like it, I can remodel it for you soon. But I am about to leave for work on a mission that may take me a few revolutions to complete, so try not to let it bother you too much if you can help it. All right?”
Alexa nodded, and I tried not to focus on the warmth of her skin under my hand. She had looked good that morning after trying on the dress, but somehow it seemed to fit her even better now. The intricate Thressl’n fabrics clung to her body in all the right places, and a surge of warmth washed over me. There was no way I had chosen the wrong female. Even if she had been a little bit difficult at first, if things stayed this peaceful between us, it was possible I had finally found my mate. All I had to do from there would be to woo her.
“Here it is,” I said gently, keying in the code slowly enough for her to remember. “You get inside like this. If there’s a code you’d prefer, just tell me and we will re-set it when we’re remodeling.”
“All right,” Alexa said softly.
I had the absurd urge to kiss her then, a parting kiss as we went our separate ways down the hallway to sleep. Her gaze lingered on me for just a few moments longer, a shy smile bright on her face, before the door closed between us. Would my hearts be able to take much more of this female?
The hallway of my home had never felt more lonely than it did the moment Alexa was out of view. I lingered by the doorway for a few moments longer, wishing I could go inside and show her how I felt. Would she believe that I meant no harm? That of all the things I wanted in my life, she was quickly becoming the top of the list?
No, I couldn’t tell her a thing like that. It was alarming enough to be feeling it. Hearing it out loud would just be unnerving, probably for both of us.
I made my way miserably down the corridor until I finally reached my bedroom and keyed in the combination.
I washed in my private bath and changed into my sleeping clothes before I finally collapsed on my bed. Spending time out in space was the thing I loved more than anything in the world. Flying was always something I had been passionate about, and the fates had been kind enough to assign me as the commander of the fleet. I got to spend every day of my life doing what I loved.
But the mission to Earth had taken something out of me. We had traveled so far, for such a long time, only to invade a planet that didn’t know we existed and steal females from it. Sure, the reasoning made sense. Who knew when the Vellreq were finally going to push Earth’s leaders into detonation? According to our calculations, it was likely to happen at any moment. In truth, we had saved all of these women from a terrible demise.
And yet the truth in that statement didn’t make me feel any better about it. We had stolen them because we needed females. They hadn’t had a choice in the matter. And so, regardless of whether I wanted to mate with this female or not, I was not going to force my will upon her. Sure, we had given their lives an extension by bringing the females to Jenal’k, but that didn’t mean that we were the good guys. Not by a long shot.
Nothing made that more obvious than commanding the fleet in the war in the Kalron territory of the C’loggh galaxy. Whether I liked it or not, it was becoming more and more clear that things weren’t always as they seemed.
***
“What’s all this?” I asked, shocked when I woke up to find Alexa in the kitchen. She was wearing a ceremonial covering over the front of her clothing, and beaming out at me. I tried not to panic when I saw that the ceremonial cloth was full of food stains. I tried hard not to let the strain in my voice come out, but it took all the effort I had not to shout.
“I thought that I would try my hand at cooking,” Alexa said shyly, a beautiful smile lighting her face. “You know. Since you’ve been so kind to me and everything. And I love the way that your food tastes. I just wondered if I could make it myself. So, surprise, I guess. I was hoping to be done before you came out.”
“I…this is too much. Thank you, but please, allow me to help,” I said, reaching out to try to remove the ceremonial covering from her body. I gripped it, suddenly acutely aware of the closeness of my hand to her breast. I snatched my hand away and felt heat flooding my face. What was I doing? That was highly inappropriate.
“I wouldn’t refuse some help,” Alexa said, her voice defeated. She straightened the ceremonial cloth with a Kelro’ch-stained hand, leaving a bright pink smear down the front of its pure white fabric. I squeaked in anguish, but again attempted to compose myself before speaking.
“Well then, it’s a good thing I am here. The Thressl’n have a very complex cuisine, one that is coveted all across the galaxy. It makes sense that you would want to replicate it…”
I wasn’t sure if I was trying to comfort Alexa or myself.
“I just wanted to do something for you,” Alexa sighed. “You know. To make up for what a bitch I’ve been…apparently…”
Her wording startled me.
“Do not refer to yourself that way,” I said. “Come on, I will show you what to do next. What exactly were you going for here?”
Alexa laughed desperately. “Anything edible, I guess.”
“That’s a good place to begin. Can I ask…why do you have that hanging off of you?”
I gestured at the ceremonial covering and Alexa glanced down at it, surprised.
“You mean it’s not an apron?” she asked with a frown.
“I…um…no. It’s not. In fact, it should probably go into the tub before the stains set…”
“I’m so sorry!” Alexa cried, whipping the covering off and rushing to the bathroom. “I’ll fix it for you.”
“Please don’t,” I said as kindly as I could. “Why don’t you stay here and mix the sloshnar and Tena’k powder together. I’ll come out when you’re done, all right?”
Alexa looked crestfallen, and I pursed my lips. There was no time to tend to her feelings. The ceremonial covering had been passed down through my family for centuries. I had to get it clean.
Relief flooded me when the food washed off the cloth easily, and I returned to the kitchen feeling much lighter. But to my surprise, Alexa was hunched over the counter with her shoulders quaking.
“What… are you sick?” I asked, walking nervously toward her. “Do you need something? A medic?”
“No,” Alexa sighed, looking up at me. Her eyes were filled with an alarming clear liquid, and I backed away.
“Are you sure?” I asked, unable to hide the disgust on my face. “What’s that in your eyes?”
Alexa stood straight and wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve.
“Nothing to be alarmed about. It happens sometimes.”
“But why?”
“I guess if you’re sad. Sometimes if you’re really happy. I don’t know. Extreme emotions.”
“So humans expel waste from their bodies…because they feel things?” I asked incredulously.
“That’s one way to put it,” Alexa said, sighing. “I think I’m just going to leave the cooking to the experts. Sorry I messed up your robe.”
“What? You didn’t mess up anything!” I exclaimed, panicked at the thought of Alexa suffering. “I mean, you did kind of mess up the Tehh’lerah, but most people do. It’s a hard dish to master.”
Alexa grinned through her tears.
“So how do you do it right, then?” she asked.
I grabbed a spoon and smiled warmly at her. “I’ll show you.”
***
The rest of the cooking session went well, and just as we removed the Tehh’lerah from the heat, the bell rang, and my front entrance hissed open.
“Temal, come!”
My cousin entered the room, her golden eyes on the floor and her rust-colored hair styled short today.
“Alexa, this is Temal. She takes care of the house while I’m away and helps me look after things even when I am on Jenal’k.”
“Hi, Temal,” Alexa said shyly, bowing as I had showed her. It warmed me to see her attempting my customs, and she did it unthinkingly. It was such a drastic change from the person she was when she had first arrived.
“Greetings to you,” Temal said, studying my female curiously and returning Alexa’s bow. “I didn’t think that anybody had acquired a human yet.”
“Well if you would ever attend the events, you would have seen that each of the men commanding the ships to Earth had been rewarded with the first choice in females,” I said, raising a brow at her.
“They’re so boring, Chaz’z! And you know I can cook better than the food at those feasts anyway. So can you, for that matter. I taught you myself.”
Alexa shifted uncomfortably while Temal and I bantered, and I realized that she might feel left out of the conversation.
“Temal is my cousin,” I said brightly. “We were raised together because her ranking as a keeper of house and home had been decided not long after I was chosen to become Commander of the Fleet. It paired comfortably with mine, and we got along well enough to agree to be matched together.”
Unfortunately, my explanation seemed to confuse Alexa more than ever, and I backtracked. “When we are young, it is decided by a sort of lottery what we will end up doing in our futures. Because of the coveted jobs available mostly to males, the Thressl’n began to favor male children, and fewer females were born. That is why we need the women of Earth.”
“And here I was thinking you were such an advanced species,” Alexa said. Was that bitterness in her voice? Or maybe sarcasm?
“We accept our fates,” Temal interjected, looking sourly at Alexa. “We wouldn’t want to devolve into the type of chaos you are subjected to on Earth. Why do you think so few choose to frequent that side of the universe, human?”
I put my hand on Temal’s shoulder to silence her, and did my best to smile pleasantly. “We all have a lot to learn about each other. Let’s get off to a good start, shall we?”
Temal glowered and nodded her head, and Alexa smiled at me innocently. I knew that Temal didn’t like humans. She never had. Every time we received a broadcast from Earth, she fumed about it for days. And on top of that, she was one of the Thressl’n women who were considered the lowest rungs of society. There were two camps of Thressl’n females: women who were considered nurturers and powerhouses that guided business, and the women who cleaned up after those in power and were expected to smile about it. Unfortunately, my cousin was in the second camp.
Most government tasks were assigned to males, and I didn’t see the trend changing anytime soon, despite the consequences of that preference. Especially not when men like Supreme Leader Aloitus and Zod were leading the Thressl’n. Although it was highly unfair to the women on our planet, sometimes unfair was just the way people wanted it.
“Would you females like to join me for a walk through the gardens before I leave tonight? It’s going to be a few days before I return.”
Temal glanced at Alexa and wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Actually, I have a lot of work to do in the house today. My day off left a lot to be desired. And apparently, there’s a horrifying mess in the kitchen.”
Alexa and I couldn’t help but laugh. Our attempt at cooking together had been delightfully disastrous. I hadn’t taken into consideration, however, how that might affect Temal. I had done my best to clean up, but the Thressl’n women in the house and home profession could see things that the naked eye often could not. It was all part of their training.
“My apologies, Temal. I will try to bring you something nice from Kelroa when I return.”
This brightened Temal’s face, as I knew it would, and she bowed deeply at me before retreating to the kitchen.
“I take it she’s not a fan of Earth,” Alexa said quietly.
“No, not really,” I admitted, though it pained me to have to do so.
“I guess I’m not much of a fan of Earth either,” Alexa said with a sigh. “Otherwise I would have chosen a different career path.”
“What career path did you choose?” I asked, my curiosity overwhelming. I had never considered the option of choosing one’s ranking in society. It seemed both startlingly unsure and exciting.
“Investigative journalist,” Alexa said.
“Ah…I don’t know what that is. Perhaps you would like to accompany me for a walk in the gardens? But if you do, maybe you should bring a parasol; the weather is hot today.”
Alexa smiled at me in a way that made the heat rise to my face. Again, I thought to myself how no creature here, or in any other universe, might compare to her beauty.
“That sounds nice,” she said. “Do you have a parasol I could borrow then?”
“Of course,” I stammered, walking briskly to the closet and retrieving one for her. “Please, take this.”
“That’s grandmother’s!” Temal exclaimed from the kitchen doorway. I looked sternly at her.
“Mind your rank!”
Temal’s eyes widened, surprised. I usually didn’t like to pull rank on her, but the way she was treating Alexa was starting to get on my nerves. You couldn’t judge a whole race of people based on singular events pushed forward by singularly greedy people. I had learned that the hard way as Commander of the Fleet, and soon I would be learning a whole lot more.
“Apologies to you,” Temal said bitterly, bowing deeply at me. She turned her back before I could give her my words of forgiveness and disappeared into the kitchen. A few moments later, I could hear her scrubbing the floor furiously, and I sighed deeply.
“Just give her some time,” Alexa said, linking my hand with hers and squeezing it gently. A sudden peace washed over me, and the heat from Alexa’s hands seemed to warm my entire body. How had I ever lived without this female in my life?
“The gardens are this way,” I said, not acknowledging my cousin’s emotional outburst. I would have to have a talk with her privately. If she continued to treat the human poorly, I would have to fire her.
“It’s so beautiful!”
Alexa’s clear hazel eyes were wide in wonderment as she gazed at all of the lush greenery of Jenal’k. Much of my collection was exotic and had come from Mount Zennith, and even I had to express amazement at the beauty of my garden. I had forsaken a large house so that I would have space for my huge sanctuary of plants, though most men in my position would have built a palace instead.
“This is my sanctuary,” I said, smiling at Alexa. “I’m gone from home so much that when I come back, I don’t need a lot of rooms in a fancy house. I need a place where I can unwind and be comfortable.”
“I love it,” Alexa said, turning her dazzling eyes on me. Her face was radiant with pleasure, and a fleeting, forbidden thought drove me to wonder just what it might look like when other types of pleasure flickered across it.
“Anyway, you still haven’t told me,” I said, trying to shove the forbidden thoughts out of my mind. It was surprisingly difficult. “What is an investigative journalist?”
Alexa looked down at her hands and laughed quietly. “It’s someone who goes around uncovering mysteries and conspiracies. Corruption in places where people are getting hurt because of other people’s greed.”
“So then…you choose to go against the wishes of your people?” I asked, surprised that one might decide on such a risky career path.
“Only the people with something to hide and more power than they deserve,” Alexa said, jutting her chin out defiantly.
“And who determines who deserves power and who doesn’t?” I asked, finding myself at odds with her words. My planet’s philosophy would dictate that we accept what we are fated with or suffer.
“How you use your power should determine whether or not you deserve to have it,” Alexa said confidently. “Some people take advantage of what they’re given and profit at the expense of others.”
“That’s no different than Earth’s concept of capitalism,” I pointed out, cleverly I thought. Alexa ignored the point though, and continued speaking. I had never heard a female so passionate about something before. It was attractive.
“Well, I think that’s wrong. There’s an unspoken moral code that one should follow, and when the people in power are doing things that hurt others for their own profit, and then lying about it, that’s when an investigative journalist should get involved and expose those lies so that nobody else falls victim to them. Are you trying to tell me that there is no such thing as corruption on Jenal’k?”
“Well, no, it’s just that we listen to our leaders. They are chosen by Fate, you understand. There are divinities that we hold very dear and who guide our way. And until recently, everything has run very smoothly upon listening to their guidance. So I don’t see any reason to—”
“Wait a second. You said ‘until recently,’ which means there is a problem with the system. When there is a problem with the system, it’s somebody’s job to speak up about it, don’t you think?” Alexa was staring hard at me, and raising questions in my mind that made me feel very uncomfortable.
I hesitated to answer. My job was to protect the secrecy of the men above me and command ships in a war that, to my knowledge, nobody on Jenal’k understood. Why the war was happening was simple, but the reasons were left obscured by distance and time. It was to the point that nobody was asking, “Why is the war happening in the Kalron territory,” and instead they would say things such as, “I hear there was a Thressl’n casualty in the war on the other side of the galaxy. What a shame.”
The Thressl’n enlisted to fight had been carefully selected. They were men with nothing to lose, or men with nothing to gain from the career paths they were already on. It was a dangerous time to be living in, but nobody knew just how little safety they had to rely on. And if I didn’t do my job right, Jenal’k itself could end up being a target.
All because Supreme Leader Aloitus was after something the Kalron had. Something I wasn’t sure was worth the lives of countless casualties.
“I don’t think I want to talk about this right now,” I said finally, clearing my throat. “But I wonder…of all the paths you could have chosen, why this one? Isn’t it dangerous? Earthlings aren’t huge fans of the truth, are they?”
Alexa laughed softly, and I noticed suddenly the way her cheeks formed into shallow, alluring dimples when she smiled. I had to tear my eyes away before she caught me staring.
“No, the truth is a difficult concept on Earth because they’ve made it such a subjective thing. It’s different for everybody.”
“But facts are facts,” I said. There was clearly a lot I had to learn about Earth.
Alexa shrugged. “I chose the path I’m on because I wanted to help people. And I love photography. It was a great way to combine two of my passions: sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong, and taking pictures.”
I grinned. “Taking pictures?”
“It probably seems silly to you. Thressl’n technology is so advanced that I doubt you would ever covet photography like I do.”
“It is a rather primitive art form, don’t you think? There are satellite feeds you can insert location points into and get a feed of an image from any date or time. Isn’t that good enough?”
Alexa looked at me as if I were the biggest idiot in the world.
“You don’t think the people doing corrupt things and owning satellites could alter images to keep themselves out of trouble?” she exclaimed. “I want my own camera.”
“You want a camera, huh?” I asked, chuckling and shaking my head. “Well, I’m not sure what to tell you about that.”
Alexa smiled at me, and all of the tension I was feeling from the conversation melted away. “That’s okay. I think I can keep myself occupied here.”
She was just so unbelievably beautiful.
“I hope so. Will you be okay while I’m gone?”
“I should be fine, though I don’t know what I’m going to eat,” she laughed.
I grinned. “That shouldn’t be a problem. I will arrange meals to be delivered if you aren’t confident after yesterday’s lesson.”
“Would you be?” she exclaimed. We both laughed. It had been a pleasant disaster.
“Like I said, meals will be arranged. But don’t let anybody inside with you. There is a lot of hostility about the humans, kind of what you’ve seen with my cousin. It would be safer if you stayed inside and kept to yourself. I would take you with me if I could.”
“Where are you going?”
“To war,” I said without thinking.
“What? I thought you guys were relatively peaceful. I mean, despite kidnapping hundreds of women and forcing them into camps where people like Zod can abduct them.”
“Zod?” I asked, thrown off-guard at the mention of him.
Alexa’s cheeks reddened deeply, and she looked quickly to the ground.
“Well, you know, he seems so arrogant. Like some of the men on Earth. So I can only imagine how he might treat a human woman if he got his hands on her.”
“He was particularly eager to claim his female,” I agreed.
Alexa glowered darkly at the row of flowers in front of us. “I’m sure he was.”
“Are you okay?” I asked, reaching out to touch her on the shoulder. She seemed to relax under my touch, and she turned to face me.
“Chaz’z, there’s something I should tell you,” Alexa said. “I—”
“Commander!”
The bangle on my arm barked at me, and I sighed.
“Apologies to you,” I said to Alexa, turning away to speak to Supreme Leader Aloitus.
“Yes, sir?”
“Take off has been moved to three rotations from now. You are expected at headquarters immediately.”
“But—”
“Are you questioning my command?!”
“No, sir! I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“That’s what I thought.”
I pursed my lips in irritation and turned to face Alexa.
“I’m afraid I will have to leave sooner than was thought. Please look after the home for me. I will be back as soon as I can.”
Without thinking, I embraced Alexa. She gasped at the feeling of my arms around her waist and craned her neck up to look at me. It was as if our bodies had a mind of their own, and without thinking twice, I leaned over and kissed Alexa, lightly at first, but soon a passionate fire was ignited. Waves of desire washed over me as I drank in the sweetness of her supple lips, and she gripped the cloth over my shoulders. We were both breathless when we broke away from each other, and Alexa wrapped her arms around herself and looked down modestly at the ground.
“Stay safe,” she whispered, her clear eyes shimmering with the same strange clear liquid as I had seen once before.
“That means you are sad!” I exclaimed happily, proud that I understood this strange human phenomenon.
Alexa gave me a strange look, and the smile on my face faltered.
“I am sorry,” I stammered. “Was that not appropriate?”
To my relief, the attractive dimple returned to her cheek, and her captivating eyes drew me in, deeper than I thought I could ever look into somebody else.
“It’s not offensive,” Alexa said quietly. “Because I don’t think you would ever find real pleasure in my pain.”
Alexa’s lips parted into the most dazzling smile I had ever seen, and my hearts hammered hard in my chest. I would have stared at her all day, mesmerized, were it not for the communications device around my arm.
“Commander!” Zod’s voice agitated me immediately. “You need to pick up the St’arghach for the offering! Someone forgot it! Do you want to tempt fate, Rog?!”
“I’m sorry, Captain Zod,” Rog’s muffled voice said. I sighed deeply.
“I’ll pick it up.”
“Zod’s going too?” Alexa asked, her brow creasing.
“Yes, but we should be stationed in different areas, so I will survive,” I said with a dismissive laugh. The worry didn’t leave her eyes, and she smiled unconvincingly at me. “It will be all right.”
“Sure…” Alexa said. “You’d better go.”
“I’d best,” I said, reluctant, for some reason, to part with her. Why did it feel like I was risking everything by leaving her? She would still be here when I got back, wouldn’t she?
I did my best to smile at Alexa one last time, fighting the foreboding in my chest. One way or another, I would have to go. Whether I liked it or not, Alexa would have to stay on Jenal’k. I would just have to trust that when I returned, things would be just as I’d left them.