Two
Stevan
“Enter!” I called at the chime. Kergah stepped into my office and dropped to one knee, his head lowered in deference. “Rise and approach,” I said almost before his knee touched the floor. Kergah was one of the few that I would allow to not give the ritual offering of this life, but he insisted on doing so anyway. “Speak freely,” added as he approached.
“My Lord,” he said with a smile.
I had known Kergah most of my life, from the time I joined the ranks of the Firaspatciti guard more than thirty years ago. In that time, I had gone from Squat, a derogatory term for an untrained soldier, to Leader, then Commander, finally to Stevan as we became friends, and now Lord. Perhaps even more than my own father, Kergah had influenced my life and made me the man I was today. Now I had him on my weak side, the man I trusted to support me and provide guidance, a task he had done admirably.
“What news?” I asked.
Kergah shook his head in obvious disgust. “Perhaps it is the time we journey into the long darkness. It’s as if some have lost the will to fight for life. Pockets of protests are popping up on every planet. Some are more vocal than others, but the movement isn’t going away and is gaining strength.”
I nodded in understanding as my lips pursed in annoyance. I knew the risk when I’d tunneled to Earth and brought Catherina back to Firaspatciti. I’d certainly bent, if not broken, one of our most sacred laws, the law that had been handed down by the Ancient Ones that stated the older Peoples were not permitted to contact or interfere with the younger. There was only one punishment for breaking the Prime Law, and that was death. Kergah had offered to go and perform the forbidden task, making his life forfeit if required, but I couldn’t, and wouldn’t, ask him to do what I wouldn’t.
I hadn’t contacted or interfered with the Humans, but I when I had snatched Catherina away I had certainly violated the law in spirit. I still believed it was the right decision and had assumed that when the Firaspatciti and the Aquallia started producing offspring, the Peoples would see the results for themselves and the protests would wither and die. I’d been wrong.
Catherina was almost single handily bringing us back from the edge of extinction, her gift of seeing the positives in the People and instinctually knowing what groups or individuals would make good mates, was beginning to work. The overall birth rate was still too low, but more and more Peoples were looking outside their own worlds for mates, and her ‘dating agency,’ as she called it, was successfully pairing more and more groups up. She was touring the universe, continuing to promote the idea that all the Peoples were special and we were stronger together than apart. I’d listened to several of her speeches early on and had seen firsthand the reaction the Peoples had to her. She was slowly winning the hearts and minds of the Peoples, and while we still had a long way to go, we as a People had at least taken the first tentative steps to save ourselves.
But rather than celebrating her success, more and more were joining the protests against her and what she was doing. Each planet ruled themselves and I had no authority over them, but even on Firaspatciti, some were protesting.
The protests were split into two factions. One group didn’t like the fact that I had broken a law that the Firaspatciti had sworn to enforce. They felt I’d placed myself above the law. I hadn’t, but at least these people’s concerns I could understand. If it became necessary, I would submit myself to judgment and accept the consequences of my actions. I could go into the long darkness at peace with my decision, knowing I’d done all I could to protect the Peoples of the universe. I would gladly give one life for trillions, even if that life was my own.
It was the second group I didn’t understand. This group was less upset with me breaking the Prime Law and more upset that Catherina was having success in getting the Peoples interbreeding. They felt it was our destiny to go into the long darkness and that she, or I, or both of us, were trying to change the fate of the Peoples. These protests I couldn’t understand at all. While I wouldn’t presume to prevent them from voicing their opinion, even on Firaspatciti, I would fight to my last breath to see them and their kind utterly destroyed.
“People have the right to their opinion, even if it’s wrong,” I finally said.
I spoke with reason, but what I really wanted to do was move against them with force and silence them forever, by whatever means necessary. I shoved the desire away. The Lords of Firaspatciti had moved away from ruling with brutal authority hundreds of thousands of years ago, and I wouldn’t return us to that dark and bloody time in our history.
“I agree, but I feel we can no longer ignore them. You have to answer them and show everyone what you did was done in the best interest of all the Peoples.”
“If they can’t see that for themselves, me telling them will make little difference.”
Kergah shook his head. “I disagree. Sometimes people are so distracted by the diversionary attack on their flank they fail to see what is directly in front of them. You need to show them.”
I thought it over. “Perhaps. But how? Catherina is doing that now.”
“Maybe you should go with her.” He smiled at me. “Perhaps some of her reflected glory will land on you.”
I snorted at his teasing. Everyone who met Catherina seemed to love her. She was like a flut and could blend in anywhere. It was an amazing thing to watch as she connected with all the different Peoples of the universe. She could be as hard as the Firaspatciti, or as soft as the Aquallia. I’d heard the tale of how she’d backed down a Hedordian male with her sharp tongue and argued a Kaller into silence, neither an easy task.
I made a decision. “I think you’re right. I need to stop allowing our enemies to dictate the terms of our battle. I’d thought the Peoples were smart enough to recognize when someone was helping them, but obviously, I have been giving some too much credit.”
Kergah nodded. “A fault you’ve always had, Stevan. You always assume the best in people. An admirable trait, but unfortunately, that isn’t always the case.”
I grinned, about to return his teasing insult from earlier. “That is why I have you, my curmudgeonly old friend.”
He smiled, taking the insult as intended. “So long as you listen. There’s another worry, closer to home.”
I knew where he was going with this. “Are the women still having difficulty finding mates?”
Kergah nodded. “They are, my Lord.”
With the success of the Firaspatciti males mating with the Aquallia women, Firaspatciti men had become in great demand with the Peoples of the universe. It was seen as a mark of honor to mate or bond with a Firaspatciti male. The same had become true of the Aquallia women. Unfortunately, that had placed great pressure on the Firaspatciti women and the Aquallia men, and the two groups were beginning to complain bitterly that they were being neglected.
I pursed my lips. I felt for the Firaspatciti females. I hadn’t understood the joy that came with mating and being bonded until I’d met Catherina. It wasn’t right that the two Peoples that had done the most to start the long march back from the long darkness should be the same two Peoples that had to pay the highest price for the success.
“I’ll talk to Catherina,” I finally said. “I’ll ask her to personally try to help our women and the Aquallia men. It only seems fair that we help them.”
Kergah nodded with a smile. “I’m sure we’ll have no shortage of volunteers, and having Catherina personally taking on the task will be considered a great honor since she does so little of that now.”
I grinned in return. “I agree. Perhaps that will quiet the grumbles.”
Kergah nodded in agreement. “The protest movement on Firaspatciti is still small and unorganized, but adding all our females to their ranks wouldn’t be wise. Even Getther is unhappy with the current situation. She thinks it’s unfair that our women are being neglected as the men find mates elsewhere.”
Getther was Kergah’s bonded mate, and if she made a comment to him about it, the mood was much grimmer than I’d realized.
“She’d right, and I will have Catherina address it immediately. I’m ashamed to admit I hadn’t taken the problem as seriously as perhaps I should have.”
“You can only fight on so many fronts at a time, my friend. Our women are tough and strong, and they understand that.”
“Yes, but now it’s time to turn our attention to protecting our own homes. The universe will just have to share Catherina for a time.”
“If I know your bonded mate, she will relish the challenge.”
I smiled. “Yes, she probably will. She has complained to me in private she misses helping people. She knows what she is doing is important, but perhaps this will satisfy her need to ‘play Cupid,’ as she put it.”
Kergah looked at me strangely. “What does that mean?”
I laughed. “I have no idea. It has something to do with a tiny man with wings who shoots people with a string-powered spear.” I shook my head in wonderment. “She is a mass of contradictions, idioms, and customs that I feel I’ll never understand. I’m amazed that she keeps them all straight.”
“But you’re enjoying the challenge of figuring her out?”
I smiled. “Very much, my friend. Very much. Nearly every week I learn something new about her, something that makes her more special to me still.”
“So you have taken her lesson to heart by embracing your differences and finding the beauty therein?”
I nodded slowly. “Yes, very much. To be such a young culture, they have a certain wisdom about them.”
“Or perhaps they still remember a lesson we have forgotten?”
“Perhaps, but that doesn’t make the wisdom any less valuable.”
Kergah nodded slowly. “No it doesn’t, and that wisdom is spreading.” He paused and gave me a sideways half-smile that said more than words ever could. “Getther pleased me with her mouth the last time we mated. A most… interesting… experience.”
I smiled as I remembered the first time Catherina had done that to me. I’d found it shocking. Using our mouths to please each other was unknown on Firaspatciti and I had initially resisted, but she’d used it as an example of embracing our differences, and now it was a regular part of our mating.
“Have you done the same?” I chuckled at his slightly disgusted look. “Celebrate our differences, my friend. I once felt the same as you, but now I find it gives me great pleasure to please Catherina with my mouth.” I paused, then decided to continue. I could tell Kergah anything and be confident the information would go no further. “It’s oddly pleasing to have your mate crying out as you focus on pleasing her. Receiving pleasure by giving it. I know it sounds odd, but it’s true.”
Kergah continued to watch me, obviously thinking over what I’d said, then nodded once. “Perhaps I will try it then. I’m not sure what to do, though.”
My smile spread. “Don’t worry. I didn’t either, but you’ll figure it out. You’ll have the pleasure of learning together, where Catherina was much more skilled than I was. I felt like a Squat again.”
Kergah chuckled. “And now?”
I couldn’t stop my smile from spreading even wider. “She’s stopped correcting me.”
Kergah smiled and nodded. “You always were a quick learner… especially when properly motivated.”
I chuckled. “Believe me, Catherina keeps me properly motivated.”
Kergah’s smile softened. He’d taken a Squat and turned him into a leader, and I could see the pride he took is helping me become the man I was.
“Of that, I’m sure.”