Aloitus Cloch’h (Supreme Leader of the Thressl’n)
“Supreme Leader Aloitus, I came as soon as I heard the news. Please, tell me it’s not true!”
I sighed and looked across my desk into the sincere face of Laike Ostra’ki. He was a handsome young man I had come to depend on throughout my reign. Unfortunately, the engineers that fate had decreed were quite difficult to work with and rarely had innovative ideas of their own.
However, Laike Ostra’ki had always been independent and, frankly, brilliant in his work. I had always known who was behind it when a new breakthrough in Thressl’n technology occurred, and I was beginning to suspect Laike’s family of selling his calling to a wealthier Thressl’n family who were dying for their son to be an engineer for the palace.
In fact, I had been privately investigating the matter in the little spare time I had, hoping for any chance to bring Laike closer to my orbit. His knowledge was essential.
“I’m afraid it is true, Laike. The Vellreq have been questing for dominance for years now. And they’ve finally found the race of vulnerable people they can use to accomplish the task. If Earth is not liberated of their virus once and for all, it could mean the end of us all.”
“I understand, Supreme Leader Aloitus. But what would you have me do about it? I’m but a simple Repair and Maintenance man.”
“Laike, you are far more than that, and we both know it. In fact, I suspect one of your caretakers of treason.”
“With all due respect, sir, I was orphaned and would like to maintain a positive memory of my family if at all possible.”
Laike’s face had fallen, but I could not allow him to feel that Fate had betrayed him any longer. There were more sinister elements at play. It would do him well to receive the proper ranking once and for all.
“Perhaps it was for your rank that your parents were killed,” I said thoughtfully. “But I digress. You were meant to be an engineer. To be by my side. And I’ve been conducting my investigation to try to put you in the place where you belong. I am very sorry that there was no breakthrough before you decided you’d had enough with Jenal’k.”
Laike grinned cheerfully. “Please don’t apologize, sir. I should be sorry for abandoning my post.”
“It is not your rightful post. Your post is on my team, fighting with the most brilliant and capable men on Jenal’k to subdue this threat. We need machines, Laike. Large machines that will handle whatever the Vellreq can throw at us. They are coming, with alarming speed. My ship was surely spotted, and they will recognize our crest.”
“I don’t mean to second-guess your command,” Laike said, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. “But the Vellreq are quite offensive in their approach. Perhaps we should work on defending Jenal’k and its people first, and weapons technology after.”
I considered this for a moment, and although I didn’t like it when others spoke out of turn and corrected my thinking, I realized that Laike just might be on to something.
“Is it possible…do you think….to create the ultimate weapon within a shield?” I asked, unsure as to how to bring my thoughts to life in a way that Laike would understand. I was envisioning something cutting-edge. Something that had never been done before. A shield that acted as a superweapon.
Fortunately, Laike’s eyes lit up, and I knew he had a handle on my idea.
“That’s brilliant, sir! My wife and I have been exploring the galaxies, learning everything we can about the Vellreq. I know much of their strategies and the way they fight. It would be an honor to serve you.”
“Wife?”
“She’s an engineer from Earth. We can do so much together!” Laike exclaimed. “I have a lab at home; I’d prefer to work there if it’s all right. I can’t wait to tell her the good news!”
Laike stood from his seat and bowed deeply at me before scurrying to the door. He turned to me with a lopsided grin, and I had to smile despite myself. Laike’s cooperation was a huge relief to me. The burden of the upcoming attack was weighing heavily on my soul.
“I can’t wait to get to work! Thank you, Supreme Leader Aloitus!”
And with that, he disappeared from my office, leaving me to continue drawing up my plans of attack.
***
With Laike Ostra’ki on my side, a victory was beginning to look fathomable. It was quite a relief, though there was still much work to be done.
However, there was the small matter of the Earth female, roaming the halls of my palace and creating needless distraction after needless distraction. Not because she meant to be a nuisance, of course, but because she had a power over me that left me captive to her intoxicating beauty. And she was strange. Never in my life had I encountered such a bizarre, fascinating creature.
We had taken to eating meals together, as I could not, for the life of me, get her face out of my head. It followed me everywhere, despite the focus I desperately needed for my studies. The Vellreq were a dangerous enemy. Now was certainly not the time to be distracted by the foibles of beauty.
“It is third meal time,” Peko’s voice informed me through my communications device. I was tempted to skip the meal to focus on my studies and avoid another awkward meal at the table with the woman who had been driving me to distraction, but my stomach was gurgling. How unfair that Thressl’n metabolism could be so cruelly inconvenient!
“All right, thanks to you, Peko,” I said with a deep sigh.
“Of course, sir. Chef made your favorite today. We all know you’re under a lot of pressure. Please remember to take care of yourself.”
I considered whether or not to respond, and decided against it. The sentiment was warming, but there was little time to think of myself. Not when my people were in such grave peril.
I had to have faith in my plan. Only then would we make it out of this alive.
***
“Greetings to you, female,” I said, sitting down at the head of the table. I glanced down as a tray of steaming hot food was set down in front of me, and I realized that I had already skipped one meal that day. My body would begin to deteriorate if I made that a habit.
“My name is Melinda, not female,” the defiant creature stated. She had been getting under my skin, the way she tilted her head up regally as if she had been born above the Thressl’n and would always hold a position on her pedestal to look down upon the rest of us from. It was as infuriating as it was alluring, and I ignored her statement.
“Thanks to you, Peko. Chef.”
The members of my staff bowed elegantly. At least some people around here knew how to treat me with respect.
The staff disappeared to their quarters, leaving me alone with Melinda, who was picking at her third meal as she always tended to. We had been together for about three rotations at that point, and I was growing used to her strange habits, such as the way she didn’t seem to need to eat five to seven meals a day, and the way she pilfered food to snack on in her bedroom for those times when she did end up feeling hungry.
We were quiet until the sudden clank of Melinda’s utensil on her plate startled me into looking at her.
“I’m bored here,” she said, eyeing me contemptuously. “If you’re going to keep me captive on this planet, isn’t there anything more fun to do than look at all this fancy furniture in the palace?”
I was surprised by the prospect of boredom. As supreme leader of the Thressl’n, it was rare for my time to be free for any pleasurable endeavors.
“Boredom is unfortunately a luxury I am not familiar with,” I said, looking sternly across the table at my female. Her supple lip pouted and a shocking wave of heat coursed through me. She was quite voluptuous and tempting, it was true. But all of her bad habits made her unapproachable.
“Don’t you guys have anything fun to do here? I might as well be stuck on Earth with Korta where I can’t do anything.”
“Korta?” I said, my hearts pounding. Of course! I had kept the human with me all this time and hadn’t thought to ask her if she knew any of the Vellreq’s secrets. Of course, she was just a human. It was doubtful that the Vellreq would have shared anything of interest with her.
Still, she had been in close proximity to them for much longer than anybody I knew personally had, except an old prisoner of war who had passed on a decade beforehand.
“He’s not much fun either; I can tell you that,” Melinda sighed. “He keeps me locked in my room all day until he wants me to do something.”
“What can you tell me?” I asked.
Melinda’s eyebrow arched, and the superior beauty once again made her face shine with an insufferable sensuality. “What do you mean?”
“What do you know about King Korta?” I demanded, slamming my fist into the table. If there was anything she knew, it could save the lives of my people and hers as well. She had to tell me.
“God, I’m not going to tell you anything if you’re going to be such a brute about it!” Melinda exclaimed, rising from her seat and glaring at me from across the table.
“Apologies to you,” I said tersely. “But I am under a lot of pressure right now, and every bit of information can help.”
“Why do you need to know about the Vellreq anyway?” Melinda asked. “Is something happening?”
I cringed. I couldn’t let the human know of the dangers that were surrounding us. If she had any clue that she had been used as the card to initiate war against the Vellreq, she might not be able to handle it. Being abducted at all was difficult enough.
“I am just curious. There are many threats to the universe, the Vellreq being among the top tier. Of course, you would know that, wouldn’t you? Being engaged to one?”
Melinda snorted. “I’m not engaged to anybody. My father practically sold me like a pig at an auction.”
I was sincerely disturbed to hear that. Although females often occupied a lower rung on the power hierarchy, the Thressl’n truly revered them. They were considered sacred bringers of life, and without them, our mighty race would be nothing.
Unfortunately, because of the corrupt Thressl’n throughout history, who were infamous for attempting to cheat fate by ridding themselves of daughters for a greater chance at posterity and power, the females of our planet were beginning to feel underappreciated and had come to resent the females from Earth that had been brought to Jenal’k to make up for the disparity between males and females. I would have to find a way to make it up to them if we survived the war that was brewing.
“As I said before, apologies to you. The Vellreq are a vicious breed, Melinda. In a way, I had thought you might be relieved to be rid of your initial captors.”
“And just sing a song of gratitude to be bodily removed from my own planet and captured by another race of well-meaning but completely misogynistic aliens? I don’t think so!”
Melinda stormed out of the dining hall, and I looked from her to my plate of food. It was still hot, and the reality was I was quite hungry. But somehow, I couldn’t fathom eating knowing that she was so upset.
“Melinda, wait!” I called. I stood and followed her out of the dining room. Earth females were more trouble than they were worth, I decided. But somehow, regardless of her crude behavior, defiance, and infuriating tendency to talk back to me, she had a power over me that nobody else ever had. And I was determined to do whatever I possibly could to see to it that she was mine.
Even if that meant bearing the brunt of her baffling emotions.
***
“Go away!” Melinda exclaimed, her head buried into the huge pillows of the bed. Oddly enough, the one I had placed there for safe keeping, tailored by my grandmother, seemed to be missing. Perhaps it was being laundered.
“I am not going anywhere,” I said with a heavy sigh. “I know this is not an easy transition for you, and I have been quite consumed by my work, so I have not made things any easier. Let us go, then, to a special place that will not bore you. Perhaps a change of scenery will help you feel a little bit better. I do not wish you harm, female…erm…Melinda.”
Melinda lifted her head miserably and looked at me with a disbelieving expression on her face.
“Where do you plan to take me? I was hoping I could just go with Peko or something.”
“Peko does not know how to navigate the area I intend to take you to. It is dangerous for the Thressl’n to travel that way unless they are adapted to the temperature.”
“What are you talking about?” Melinda asked, real puzzlement creasing her beautiful features. I couldn’t believe what was coming out of my mouth. I was swamped with work and hadn’t eaten in two meals now. How could I possibly continue pushing my responsibilities aside for this female just to make her happy?
But that was exactly what I was doing. The sight of her restlessness, anger, and fear was growing tiresome. I wanted to show her the truth of myself. But not in a place where others might see it. No, I would take her to the place I had spent most of my happiest times as a boy. We would go to the rivers of Mount Zennith.
“I’m sure that as the daughter of one of Earth’s Prime Ministers, you understand there are few places safe to travel among the populace. I am the Supreme Leader. I would be hounded by questions and conversations I am not ready to have outside the public domain, and so would you. Instead, I shall take you to a special place that was discovered as a comforting, beautiful safe-haven for a supreme leader in training.”
Melinda was quiet, listening to my proposition carefully.
“Where is it? How should I dress?”
“Your human attire should be fine. It is not like the Red Deserts. We will go beyond that point.”
Melinda stood from the bed and walked slowly toward me. It pained me that she was unsure about me when all I wanted to do was show her the reality of my life. That I was not the monster everybody thought that I was. I had been trained to play a villain all of my life. The guardians of the scrolls had told me from day one that the masses need a powerhead that they could easily loathe during bad times, and love during the good. I was not to make friends, or even show myself as vulnerable, likable, or emotional in the least.
Because of it, I hadn’t made friends, and everybody always saw me as an insufferable, arrogant man. It had never bothered me before. My only goal was to protect my people, whatever the cost. But now, when Melinda’s eyes narrowed as she perceived me the way everybody else seemed to, I felt an urgent need to correct her. I was not a bad man. I did not want to be cruel to her.
“This way,” I said, leading her through the winding corridors of the palace until we reached the underground garage where my private hovercrafts were parked. The glass was tinted so that nobody could see inside, but the outside looked as plain as any other hovercraft you might encounter. It was how I made my private escapes during those times when I needed a break from the strenuous tension of leading a planet full of Thressl’n.
“You’re going to drive?” Melinda exclaimed, amusement and delight in her voice. I smiled at her, surprised to see her cheeks flush red.
“Yes. Is that not the custom on Earth?” I asked.
“My father has everybody drive him everywhere. Ever since he got into politics, he’s hired people to escort him anywhere he needs to go.”
“Really?” I asked, puzzled. “Does he not value his independence?”
Melinda snorted, a funny, surprising sound that brought a bubble of laughter to my chest. It was difficult to suppress it. I was not supposed to show any emotion to others. Especially not a human. They were considered the lowest of the low. The only person I was to show myself to was my mate. What would the Thressl’n think if I took this female as my mate publicly? It would be chaos.
“My dad doesn’t value much except money,” Melinda said, completely oblivious to my internal struggle. “It’s really hard for him to think about anything except himself and his own comfort.”
“I see,” I said, unable to filter the disapproval from my voice. And how could I? I spent every waking hour doing everything I could to protect others. Even if I had to look unlikable and selfish, my truest mission was to serve my people. It was not the kind of job that allowed me time to wallow in my own petty desires.
“Yeah,” Melinda said quietly.
We fell silent as Melinda became entranced by the beautiful view of the Thressl’n settlement in the Red Deserts. It made me proud to see the astonished look on her face. There truly were few sights more remarkable than the smallest sun setting mid-day over the Red Deserts.
Tendrils of colors snaked through the sand and buildings, bringing all of the colors natural to the planet Jenal’k shimmering to light. Beings from all over the galaxy came to view the sight but once in their lives, and tourism was a great source of funding. One I had unfortunately been forced to dip into to take on the Vellreq once and for all.
I glanced from the sight below us to Melinda, whose face was completely at peace for the first time since I had laid eyes on her. She was absolutely the most stunning creature I had ever seen. Whether my people approved or not, I knew deep in my heart of hearts, I would have her as my own. And soon.