“Can you find out what happened back at the council?” I ask Loola.

“I can try,” she says. “Can you stop him from leaving?”

“I hope so.” I run up the ramp and onto Vax’s ship. I don’t know how I’ve ended up being the relationship mediator between two galactic civilizations, but hey, here we are. I sprint down metal corridors, presuming Vax is headed for the bridge.

I can’t tell how, but I know that he’s not serious about leaving. I’ve only been around Vax a short while, but I feel like I’ve already learned a lot about Argonians in that short space of time. Argonians are definitely intimidating creatures. They’re huge mountains of muscle and rage-filled testosterone. They’re prone to have tantrums. They forget their own strength.

Underneath all that there’s a sensitive side though. I know because I saw it the first time Vax mated with me, after he hunted me down like some wild dog. Hot flushes brush over my skin at that thought and I catch the stray urge. Not now brain. I tell myself. I really need to stay on track right now.

I run through the door leading onto the bridge and stop to see Vax sat at the controls, leaned back in his chair. He glances back to look at me and I approach him slowly.

“Changed your mind about leaving?” I ask.

He shakes his head but says nothing at first. “You have no idea how frustrating it is, Piper. They won’t even concede in the slightest that they were at fault. They want me to say everything that went wrong was because of the Argonians… I can’t!”

“I understand,” I say, shuffling behind him to drop my hands on his shoulders. “Why don’t you tell me what happened today?”

His brow furrows in frustration, he pinches his thumb and forefinger to the bridge of his nose and then he tears them away. “I just, I can’t! All I remember is anger! It’s like a cloud of rage came over me!”

Seeing red. I get that. I’ve had times when I saw red myself. Plenty of jerk wad ex-boyfriends have made me see that color. White alien letters flash on the ship’s screen in front of us. Vax hits a button and Loola appears, she looks somewhat relieved to see we haven’t left yet.

“I don’t want to talk to another Riga woman today,” Vax growls.

“That’s okay. I just wanted to talk with Piper, I can give you a minute if you’re busy.”

Vax pushes himself from his chair and stretches his arms out wide. “No need. I’m going for a long and hot soak. Feel free to join me Piper… when you’re done with this.” Vax stalks from the bridge and disappears down the hallway, I turn back to face Loola’s image on the screen.

“What’s going on?”

“There’s footage from the meeting today. I got it for you. I thought It might help.”

“Thanks. Can you send it over?”

In a few minutes I have hold of the footage, and somehow even figure out how to get it playing on the bridge’s computer. I sit there and scrub through the footage, instantly realizing what was wrong with the alien parties dialogue. It was like watching children bicker back and forth. Vax had his traditional Argonian stubbornness, but the Riga were hardly any better. I only have to watch the tape for a short while to understand what has to happen tomorrow. I shut the footage off (another stroke of luck), leave the bridge and find Vax back in his boudoir, soaking in a nice hot bath.

I strip my clothes and walk across the floor on silent feet, slipping into the water beside him.

“Piper!” Vax says, slightly startled. “I did not hear you there. Did you talk with your friend?”

“I did,” I say as I climb onto him in the water, spreading my legs against his length. “Let’s forget about all that for now though. You’ve had a hard day and you need to unwind. I know how to fix this, we can do it all tomorrow.”

His blue eyes flush with sparkling black and he curls his hands around my waist, tugging me against him. Smiling, he leans forward and kisses me, gliding his hands down to my ass. “Miss Denzel, I do believe that’s the best thing I’ve heard all day.” Lips find my throat and I drop my head in pleasure. I melt into him and we become one in the heat.

There’s nothing like a good bath at the end of the day.

* * *

The Riga ship pivots around in the dead of space until it’s domed half faces the neighboring sun once more. Light breaks over the city of Riga, illuminating the silver towers and reflecting into the cyan trees with a million shades of breathtaking light. Vax and I walk through the early morning air to the council chambers.

“I don’t like this one bit,” he says. “What if it doesn’t work?”

“I think it will,” I say with some confidence. I smooth out the creases on my black space suit. I wanted to look smart for my meeting with the council today and Loola helped me to pick it out. It’s less revealing than the orange jumpsuit Vax picked for me. He’s wearing his usual attire: tight black trousers and nothing else. He turns a lot of heads on our morning walk.

We arrive at the chambers a few minutes early and stand outside the main entrance. Tall doors of extravagant marble stretch up above us. I like the Riga and their city, but they do have a liking for dramatic excess. A mechanical-sounding bell chimes somewhere in the distance behind us and the tall white doors swing open. Vax looks so nervous it’s almost cute. I give him an encouraging nod, he walks through the doors and I follow him, hoping that my plan is going to work.

As soon as we enter the doors we find ourselves in a long and tall room. At the far end of the room the council sits on an elevated marble table. Vax and I approach the table and stop. Six Riga women sit there. At the center there is a Riga woman with pure-white hair and dark black eyes. She looks old.

“You wished to meet with us again, Vax Enzala?”

“I did,” Vax says gruffly, his voice echoing across the hall. He looks over at me and I nod at him in encouragement. The Riga woman continues.

“Very well. Then we will pick up from yesterday. I take it by coming here, that you acknowledge that it was the Argonians that were solely responsible for the Horkax invasion?”

Muscles clench in Vax’s jaw, he tucks his hands behind his back and gives a slight nod. “I do not. I do come here to change the argument I put forward yesterday however.”

Murmurs sprout up on the bench until the white-haired Riga silences them. “Enough, enough! What do you mean by this, Argonian? Yesterday you claim that we, the Riga, were entirely at fault. Now today you claim it is not the Riga or Argonian?! So, who was it?! Do you know something we do not?!”

“Yes and no,” Vax answers cryptically. “You may notice that Piper Denzel accompanies me today. She is an earthling. We have only been together a short time, but she has already taught me much.”

The white-haired Riga lets out a pitying laugh. “No disrespect to you Miss Denzel, earth is charming little planet, but your race is many thousands of years behind ours.”

“Maybe so,” I say, “but I think we have a lot to teach to both Argonia and Riga. Your kind may not be able to mate with each other, but you could live side-by-side in great benefit. It is your stubbornness that prevents that.”

“Whatever do you mean?!” the woman says with rank disbelief.

I look over at Vax and nod. “Tell her Vax.”

Vax nods back nervously, faces the panel and swallows at something in his throat. He looks up at them and takes a deep breath, I know what’s about to come can’t be easy for him. “I’m… sorry,” he says.

The council stare at Vax in bewilderment. The white-haired elder in the middle stands and pulls her glasses off. “I… I beg your pardon.”

“I’m sorry,” Vax says again, but louder this time. “When I came yesterday I wasn’t looking to discuss the invasion, I was looking to place blame. I think our first fault is that you tried to do the same thing too.” They look back at him in silence, not sure what to say or do. Vax continues.

“Our kind have prospered so because we see the universe in black and white. We are both empirical forces. Argonians lead with brawn and Riga lead with brain, but neither, neither of us lead with hearts. I can’t come here today and say the Argonians were solely at fault, because that is simply not true, but I also can’t come here and place that blame on you, the Riga.

“We let earth down together, and we were both responsible for letting the cosmic shield fall. Argonia and the Riga are equally responsible for the Horkax finding earth, and we should shoulder that blame together.”

Finished, Vax steps back from the platform and holds his arms behind his back once more. The elder Riga with white hair remains standing all the while, staring down at Vax with her glasses held in her hand. None of them make a sound. They’re all completely dumbfounded. The silence begins to stretch on too long and I get worried, but then… then she finally speaks.

“I have been a political ambassador alongside Argonia all my life. Four hundred years I have spent dealing with Argonian warriors, and never in my life have I heard something like this.” The elder disappears from the table, and reappears a moment later, shuffling across the marble floor to stand in front of Vax. She’s slender, but her height has shrunk in her age. Vax’s immense height dwarfs her. She offers her hand up. “In all those years I have never heard an Argonian apologize. I accept your apology.”

Vax takes the elder woman’s hand. For a brief second, I’m terrified he’ll crush the woman in her frailty. The elder continues. “Too many years we have met the head-strong Argonian ways with a clouded mirror of stubbornness. I acknowledge your message of peace Vax Enzala, and I accept it. Both our kind were at fault, and the only way we can move on from that is to work together once more. I will send message to your leader, Raka, tonight. If the Argonians need assistance going forward, then the Riga will be there to provide it.

Vax looks over at me and beams. There’s a look in those blue eyes that I’ve never seen before, and I think it’s something like wonder. The rest of the elders rise in the room and break into a chorus of applause. I stare at Vax and feel my stupid little heart swell with immeasurable pride.

I’d taught a muscle-headed alien to apologize, and potentially just saved earth from disaster. I definitely deserved some reward sex for that. Right?