Chapter Four
Aton
Toni strode briskly down the busy street. I followed at a distance close enough to protect her, but not so near as to be noticed. After the call from the Intergalactic Dating Agency, she’d informed me she needed to go to court to work. She gave me the location of her hut and asked me to meet her in the evening. After the difficulty finding her, I couldn’t risk not being able to locate her again, so I decided not to leave. Besides, I wished to learn everything about her, including what she did for employment.
On Dakon, we worked. We hunted kel, tanning their hides for clothing and bedding, trapped phea, cooked, chopped firewood, dug up and broke stone to build huts, and crafted bows, arrows, and other tools. No one paid us for working; the fruit of our labor was our payment. If we produced more than we needed, we traded for something we didn’t have.
I’d only been on Earth for a little over a day, but from what I could tell, most people worked by sitting at tables and staring at glowing flat boxes. I was curious to see if court was any different.
“You can check into the assimilation class while I’m in court,” Toni had said before she’d left.
Much of what I had observed on Earth thus far mystified me—the class would be very useful.
Except, I couldn’t attend because I wasn’t supposed to be here. After being escorted off the Earthbound spaceship and being told my admission had been denied, I’d sneaked aboard another craft.
Getting here had been the easy part. Finding Toni had been much harder, but as soon as I saw her, recognition settled over me as if I had known her my entire life. Every nerve ending had tingled, my horns had swelled and pulsed, and my manhood had hardened. Arousal continued to course through me as I followed her, enjoying the sway of her backside.
She was taller than most Earth females, although not as tall as a Dakonian. When I’d carried her up the stairs, she’d weighed nothing at all. A strong gust of wind could topple her. I’d always envisioned my female as hefty and stout, but after meeting her, I realized she was everything she needed to be.
Mine.
Toni strode into a tall stone-and-glass building and entered a gauntlet. She had to present her bag for inspection by uniformed people with weapons. They motioned her through a whirring machine. She emerged on the other side and collected her bag before striding to a riding box. I joined the line to pass through to the other side. An armed female eyed my horns with suspicion. Not everyone on Earth was friendly, I had discovered. “What’s your business here?” she asked.
The Fates whispered an admission I’d followed my mate would not yield a good result. “Uh…I’m going to court.”
She motioned for me to pass through the whirring machine.
I emerged on the other side to see Toni enter the riding box. The doors closed. I glanced back at the guard. “Where is court?” I asked.
“Civil or criminal?”
I found it hard to imagine my mate worked with criminals, so I took a stab at the other choice. “Civil.”
“Fourth floor,” she said as she peered into someone’s bag.
I entered the stairwell and bounded up the steps until I arrived at the fourth level and exited onto a crowded hallway in time to see Toni emerge from the riding box then disappear through two thick double wooden doors.
* * * *
The silver-haired man hated my mate. He looked as if he’d swallowed something foul whenever he glanced in her direction. “I’d like to call my next witness, Miss Angie Brett,” he announced.
A female, one arm bound to her chest by bandages, limped to the front and climbed into an open box next to a robed tribe leader.
Another female approached her. “Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?”
“I do,” Angie said, and sat down. Frizzy, blue-pink hair the same color as the drawing on her arm, dangled in her face. She tucked it behind her ear as the silver-haired man approached. He smiled reassuringly, his manner so different from the way he’d been scowling. He and Toni had spoken only to the female tribe leader and the people who got called to sit in the box, but despite their lack of interaction with one another, I sensed a familiarity between them. His animosity struck me as personal.
“Can you please tell the court what happened on the morning of March 8?” the silver-haired man said.
“I’d gotten my aid payment, so I went to Shop-Mart to buy groceries. We were out of soda pop and ramen noodles, and my little boy needed his favorite cereal, Sugar Crunchies.”
“Did you get your groceries?”
“No, sir.”
“Why not?”
“I was injured in the store.” She lifted her wrapped arm.
“I’m so sorry you were hurt. Can you tell the court how it happened?”
“The aisles were so cramped and narrow, I could hardly get my shopping cart through. I was reaching for the Sugar Crunchies when the shelf fell on top of me.”
The poor female. I sympathized with her, but when I glanced at Toni, she didn’t appear to be moved by her plight.
“Were there any store clerks around?”
“No. There was a big crash when the shelving collapsed on top of me, but it took a long time before another customer found me and called for help.”
“How badly were you injured?”
“My arm got broken in two places. They had to put in metal pins to hold the bones together. Then it didn’t heal properly, and I had to have a second surgery.”
It would be hard to care for a kit with one arm.
“How has being injured in Shop-Mart affected your life and livelihood?”
“Well, before I got hurt, I had a great job lined up that I was sure to get, but I couldn’t accept it because I couldn’t do it with one arm. I’ve been in constant pain. It keeps me up at night. I can’t give my little boy the attention he needs. It’s so hard to feed, bathe, and clothe him with one arm. My sister helps me as much as she can, but she has a job.”
“Thank you, Miss Brett.” The man looked at the tribe leader and said, “No further questions.”
“Your witness, Ms. Sutterman,” the tribe leader said.
Toni stood up. “I’m sorry about your leg injury.”
Angie rolled her eyes as if my mate had said something stupid. “My arm was broken, not my leg.”
“Oh, my apologies. I noticed you were limping when you approached the witness stand. So your leg is fine?”
“Uh…yeah. I guess so.”
If her leg was fine, why had she been limping?
“Do you go to Shop-Mart often, Miss Brett?”
“Objection!” The silver-haired man interrupted the conversation. “Confusing.”
I didn’t see anything confusing about the question.
“Overruled,” the tribe leader said. “Answer the question, Miss Brett.”
“I don’t know. How often is often?”
“Once a month? Once a week?” my mate continued.
Angie shrugged her good shoulder. “Once a week.”
“And do you shop alone?”
“Objection!” The man popped up out of his seat. “Irrelevant.”
“I will show that it’s directly relevant, Your Honor,” she said.
“Overruled.”
“I usually shop alone,” Angie answered.
My mate arched her eyebrows. “Who cares for your son while you’re shopping?”
“Objection!” the man called out. “Irrelevant.”
How would he know it was irrelevant until he heard what she had to say? The man seemed to be trying to rattle my mate, to interfere with her work. She’d been very polite in letting him speak, but now that it was her turn, he didn’t afford the same courtesy. He was rude, argumentative, and I didn’t like him.
“Overruled, Mr. Markham,” the tribe leader said, and made a face of annoyance. I wasn’t the only one irritated by the man’s behavior. My mate, however, appeared cool, calm, and unflappable. “You may answer the question, Miss Brett,” the tribe leader said.
“I thought you were asking if I shopped with another adult. I take my son shopping with me.”
“Did you take him with you to Shop-Mart—”
“Objection! Asked and answered.”
I leaped to my feet.
“Stop interrupting my mate! Let her speak.”
The dozen people sitting in a wooden pen off to the side snapped their heads in my direction. The tribe leader pounded on a wooden block with a hammer. “Observers will refrain from making comments or interrupting the proceedings, or they will be removed from the courtroom.”
Toni motioned for me to sit down.
I sat, but I glowered at Markham. His eyes narrowed with calculation as he shifted his gaze between my mate and me.
“The objection is overruled. Let’s get on with it,” the tribe leader said.
Toni fiddled with some papers before lifting her head. “On March 8, did you bring your son with you to Shop-Mart?”
“Yes.”
“How old is your son?”
“Three.”
“You said earlier that the aisles were scarcely wide enough to push a shopping cart through. Did you put your son in the shopping cart seat?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“He likes to walk with his mommy like a big boy.” She smiled at the twelve people penned off to the side.
“With you, you mean?”
“Yes.” Angie twisted her mouth so derisively, my sympathy began to evaporate.
“And did he walk with you?”
“Yes.” Angie frowned.
“Right by your side down every aisle?”
“Objection!” Markham stood up. “Fail to the see the relevance.”
“Overruled.”
“Mostly,” Angie said.
“Isn’t it true that before the shelf collapsed, your son was running up and down the store aisles?”
“Objection! Immat—”
“Overruled. Answer the question.”
“I don’t remember,” Angie said.
“Your Honor, I would like enter into evidence the Shop-Mart security surveillance vid—”
Markham objected. My mate objected to his objection, and then the tribe leader motioned them forward, and they huddled in front of her dais. Words and gestures were exchanged, but I couldn’t hear. When the huddle broke apart, my mate’s lips curled with satisfaction, but Markham glowered.
“May I direct the jury’s attention to the monitor.” A large screen descended from the ceiling, and then a moving picture appeared on it.
“Do you recognize this place, Miss Brett?” Toni asked.
“It looks like Shop-Mart.”
It reminded me of the trading post on Dakon, only the shelves were stocked with way more items.
Angie appeared on the screen wheeling a cart full of boxes and cans down a row between tall shelves. She shuffled along, her head bent as she peered at her handheld device. Did everyone on Earth have one of those? A little kit careened around the corner. She didn’t seem to notice.
“Is that your son?” Toni asked.
“Yeah.” Angie pressed her lips together and folded her good arm over her injured one.
Still peering at her device, Angie moved from behind her cart and headed for one of the shelves. From the other end of the aisle, the kit raced toward her. Still focused on her device, she rose up on tiptoe as she reached for a box on a high shelf, and the kit plowed into her. She pitched forward into the shelves. Boxes went flying, and the shelf collapsed.
Seconds later, several people came running.
The screen went blank.
“Isn’t it true, Miss Brett, that your own son, whom you let wander unsupervised, tripped you and caused you to fall into the shelf?”
“Objection—argumentative!” Markham said.
“I’ll rephrase, Your Honor.” My mate paused. “Did your son trip you?”
Angie glanced at Markham.
“Answer the question, Miss Brett,” the tribe leader said.
“Yeah.” She scowled.
“Did you fall into the shelves after your son tripped you?”
“I suppose.”
“Yes or no?”
“Yes.”
“Is it possible that the shelves collapsed after you knocked them down?”
“Objection!” Markham cried. “Calls for speculation.”
“I withdraw the question, Your Honor.”
* * * *
“What are you doing here?” Gripping my biceps, Toni hustled me to a less crowded place along the corridor. After my mate had finished questioning Angie, the tribe leader had called for a recess, and then Toni had motioned for me to follow her out of the courtroom.
“I wanted to see you work,” I said. I’d traveled three months on a spaceship; of course, I wanted to spend every possible moment with her.
“You almost got me in trouble with the judge. Observers aren’t allowed to speak. The only reason she didn’t expel you was because she recognized you were an alien and probably weren’t familiar with our laws and procedures.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to get you in trouble, but I didn’t like the way that man kept interrupting you and preventing you from doing your job.”
“He was doing his job.”
“His job is to stop you from doing your job?” That seemed inefficient and counterproductive. How could anyone get anything accomplished?
A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “More or less—sometimes more. He represented his client’s case; I argued for mine. That’s how we play the game.”
First, she’d called it work, now, it was a game? Earth terminology baffled me, but I was certain about one thing. “He has a grudge against you.”
Toni lifted one slender shoulder. “It’s no big deal. He’ll get over it—eventually.”
“Why were you arguing about the injured female anyway?”
“We were determining who’s at fault for her injury.” Toni dropped her voice. “She’s Phillip’s client. I represent the store. She let her son run around unsupervised, tripped over him, fell into the shelving, and broke her arm. She’s claiming the store is responsible for her injury.”
That made no sense. “How is the store responsible when her own son is the one who tripped her?”
“If the store is deemed responsible, she’ll get a lot of money. If she’s responsible, she gets nothing,” my mate said. She started to say something else, but stopped, and her expression hardened as she peered around me.
“Good job in there, counselor,” said the silver-haired man who’d given her such a hard time. His smooth, wide smile seemed friendly, until I noticed the calculating gleam in his eyes.
I didn’t trust him; this was a man waiting for an opportunity to strike. I stifled a growl and stepped closer to my female to protect her.
“I don’t believe we’ve met.” His gaze bounced off my horns. “I’m Phillip Markham.”
“Aton.” I shook the hand he offered to better size him up.
“New in town?” he asked.
“I just arrived from Dakon.”
“Dakon, is it?”
“Yes.”
“What do you want, Phillip?” she said.
“I came to introduce myself to your friend.”
“We’re not friends. We’re mates,” I said.
His jerked his head, but then a smile even colder than the one he’d greeted us with appeared on his face. “You replaced me with an extraterrestrial? What did you do, join one of those dating services like your sister?”
Toni jutted out her chin, and her gaze turned frosty. “My personal life is none of your business. And, by the way, you’re not doing your client any favors by badgering me in court. Even Judge Richter started to get annoyed.”
“Don’t flatter yourself, Antoinette.” He stalked off.
“Asshole,” she muttered.
“What does he mean, you replaced him?” I asked quietly.
She sighed. “Phillip and I were engaged…to be married. We used to work for the same law firm—the company he founded. He was my boss. We started dating. He asked me to marry him. Then I, uh, left him at the altar. It got awkward around the office so I quit and opened my own law firm. Now he carries his bitterness into court.”
“You were going to become his mate?” I disliked the idea of her with him.
“Only until I came to my senses.”
“He was not the right man for you. I am.” The Fates had chosen her for me, but even if that hadn’t been the case, Phillip did not deserve her. I could tell he didn’t like her. I sensed no fondness in him, no softness.
“About that.” She touched my forearm, igniting a sizzle clear to my horns. “Listen, Aton. I waited a long time for you to arrive. I’m thrilled you’re finally here.” She peered up at me. “We should date a little before you start announcing to everyone we’re mates. That implies a deep level of intimacy, and we’ve just met.”
“I want to be intimate with you.”
Her cheeks colored pink. “Uh, well…yeah, but you don’t need to announce it. That’s kind of personal.”
“Then what should I tell people? What should I call you?”
“How about Toni? Or friend. Or date.”
“You don’t want to be my mate?” Was she disavowing me? Had I displeased her? The instant I’d laid eyes on her, I’d known she was the only female for me. But, she didn’t feel the same?
“It’s not that at all.” She gave my forearm a squeeze. “I do want to be your, uh, mate.”
My heart soared. Our bonding had been sealed! While Earth customs were very complex, on my planet we preferred the easy way. For a couple to become mates, a male only had to ask a female. If she accepted, they were bonded.
“We need to learn about each other before we start sharing our news with others.”
“I understand.” I nodded. Nothing could separate us now. Although I wanted to shout out my happiness to the world, for her, I could hold back until such time as Earth customs deemed it appropriate.
“I’m glad. Are we good?” she asked.
“We’re very good,” I replied.
She glanced at her handheld device. “The recess is almost over. I have to get back to work. You have my address, right?”
“Yes, you gave it to me. You don’t want me to watch you work, do you?”
“There will be more testimony by other witnesses in the Brett v. Shop-Mart case. Phillip and I aren’t done presenting evidence. I can’t have you making outbursts in court.”
“I don’t like the way he speaks to you.”
“It’s only talk. It doesn’t mean anything. This shows why you and I need to spend time together, get to know each other, and you need to become more familiar with Earth ways. So…I’ll see you, tonight, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Promise me you’ll leave?”
I didn’t like it. I should stay to protect her, but she hadn’t appeared to be in any physical danger from Phillip. I had no choice but to respect her wishes. “I promise.”