- Ava -

“Such a cliché,” Ava said and tossed the medicine ball at the wall of the gym. “The girl who falls for her bodyguard.”

Harper hefted a pair of small, pink dumbbells and started doing bicep curls. “Or just the girl who falls for a great guy?”

“Yeah, well. He's a bodyguard. Aren't I supposed to keep some professional distance? And the first thing I do is jump into bed with the guy. Before we turn a diplomatic mission into some kind of sex trip.”

“A very successful mission,” Harper reminded her. “As long as he is still doing his duties as your bodyguard and diplomatic partner, then I see no problem with it. It's not like you picked him to use as a sex toy. He's responsible, too. If he didn't want it, he could have withdrawn.”

“I guess. He did kiss me first. Well, not first, maybe. But a good second. Gah, I never saw such lust in a man. Directed at me! It was totally ...”

“Intoxicating?” Harper suggested. “Incredible? Mind-bending? Soul-changing?”

“Yeah,” Ava sighed. “All those.”

Harper put the dumbbells down and posed in front of the mirror. Her tight exercise outfit showed off her large bump, like she was carrying a beach ball around. “That's what a good Acerex can do to a defenseless Earth woman. All four of us have been there. You and I and Lily and Charlotte. Huh. We've been in here for ten minutes. You'd think I'd have some muscles by now.”

“I know, right? I heard someone say that it can take up to an hour before they show,” Ava played along with fake outrage. None of them were gym rats, but the regulations on the Friendship prescribed a certain amount of time exercising. “It's a total scandal. Yeah, I guess we've all been there. Or rather, we're all there every night. Stars, are they all like that? I mean, their ... um... equipment?”

“They're well endowed,” Harper agreed and got down on a mat. “Pretty addictive, those things.”

Ava put the ball down and started doing step-ups on a plastic box two feet tall. “Tell me about it. Ever since we got back from that Solp thing, we've been going at it every night. As in, multiple times. He only needs fifteen minutes, then he's ready again. And so am I.”

Harper did a half-hearted leg raise. “Not sore at all, I'm sure.”

“Oh, don't get me started. I was genuinely walking funny for three days. Now I guess I'm all widened out for him. So if this doesn't pan out, and I have to go back to Earth to find someone, I better hope that guy's hung like a redwood tree.”

“And otherwise? Any Mahan talk between you two?”

“Not much. I'm not it, probably. But he sure seems to like me fine, even so. Do we really need the fated mate thing as icing on the cake? I mean, sure, it would be nice. Knowing for sure that I'm his one and only for life. But I'm okay with an ordinary relationship, too. That's all I could ever expect from an Earth man, after all.”

Harper rolled over on her side and started lifting the upper leg. “Just love and a life together through thick and thin with no guarantees for anything, no magical outside force that tells one of you that you're his fated mate. Just making it work through the ups and downs, staying together because you want to, not because one of you is compelled to. Sounds just as nice, actually. Better, even.”

The step-ups made Ava breathe heavier, and she supported herself on her knees while catching her breath. “But of course before we get to that point, there's the whole Kunuru thing to handle.”

“You don't have to handle it,” Harper said. “We know where they are, we suspect they've downright eradicated several entire civilizations and we're pretty sure they're behind all the attacks on the Acerex. Yes, you're the most experienced interstellar and intercivilizational diplomat we have. You're in charge. But please consider bringing a larger force. More people. Some with better weapons than just swords.”

“I'll be careful,” Ava said and took a sip of recycled water from her bottle. “But this is what I've been working towards all along. I will do this my way. Not because I have any special rights to determine Earth's whole policy. But because just approaching them alone, in a friendly way, has usually worked with all the aliens I've met with so far. Earth agrees. It is the best way. And it's the way I'll try first.”

“Alone? You'll bring Xark'ion, I hope.”

“Yes, I'll bring him to the star system. Whether or not we'll let the Kunuru see him we'll have to play by ear when we get there. But this is pretty great, Harper. We'll do something nobody else has ever done: we'll talk to the Kunuru. As friends. If it works, we can solve every problem the Acerex have. Imagine: no more wars! They can start using their energy and brains on other things that will improve their lives infinitely. And we prepare the ground for Earth's own friendly and safe expansion into space. We're just as advanced as most of these species. But we'll be friendly with everyone. Even the Kunuru. We'll be unique!”

Harper smiled. “You're really fired up about this, aren't you?”

Ava laughed. For the first time, she was pretty sure it could all succeed. With Xark'ion by her side, how could it not? “Oh, you have no idea. Heck, I'm fully aware of why I'm the one who's doing this. Earth hasn't had the time to get any other diplomatic group going. We four girls from Gideo Station have such a head start on everybody else. I mean, when it comes to meeting and dealing with aliens. We're the tip of the spear, so to speak. We're the only ones with experience. They have to use us.”

“I'm sure they'll give you support if you need it.”

“There's nothing they want more than that. And that's kind of them, I'm sure. But every time I talk with Earth, the conversation always turns to weapons and military force. And that's exactly the wrong approach. No, we'll get this thing with the Kunuru done before Earth sends a large army to deal with it in the only way Goanesi knows.”

Harper flopped down on the mat, arms and legs spread. “For what it's worth, you have my support. Shit, I'm beat. After just twenty minutes. And we're supposed to be here for an hour. Fine, I'll just flash the pregnant card to get out of this exercise stuff. Just carrying this belly around is exercise good enough.”

Ava put down the dumbbells she'd reluctantly picked up. “Does that card work for the friends of the pregnant woman, too? Has to, right?”

“Of course. Just look at me! Of course I desperately need you to support me while I waddle back to my cabin.”

Ava wiped the sweat off her face with her towel. Harper was extremely pregnant, but she obviously didn't need anyone's help with that or anything else.

“Of course. And you need someone to help you open doors, too.” She opened the door out of the gym and held it open for Harper in an exaggerated way, as if the queen was some kind of immense transport aircraft needing room.

“Oh, definitely. No pregnant woman ever opens doors. I think it's against the law.”

They left the little gym and walked towards Harper's royal quarters.

Harper grabbed Ava's wrist in the friendly gesture they'd picked up from the Acerex. “So when is your excursion to the Kunuru?”

“Tomorrow. No need to wait any longer. I've rested for a week after the Solp thing. In the daytime, at least. And I'm actually really excited to see what the Kunuru look like.”

“Just be fucking careful. Hey, I know you've met all kinds of aliens before. But these guys ... I have a feeling they'll be different.”

“Aren't they all? I won't take any chances. With Xark'ion with me, I don't think I could, even if I  wanted to. We'll hammer out the final details this afternoon. And then he's invited me to his village.”

- - -

“This is pretty great. I've never really looked at the stars from down here. They're totally beautiful.”

Ava leaned back, supporting herself on her arms. The stars were different from the sky seen from Earth, but still she recognized some of the constellations. Acerex and Earth weren't that far apart.

It was springtime in Xark'ion's village, and the air was still warm enough for them to sit outside his large tent after the sun had set. Xark'ion had given Ava a thick fur to sit on, and then he had placed an even thicker one around her shoulders. He himself wore only his leather pants, as usual.

He had grilled meat and vegetables over a crackling fire, and now they were just sipping a hot beverage and enjoying the togetherness.

“It's been a while since I have, too,” he said. “And even then, they never seemed beautiful to me. Exciting, perhaps. Sometimes threatening. We all knew the aliens came from there, and that our own warriors went there and sometimes never came back. As we also would.”

“Did you avoid looking up when you were a kid?”

“I don't think I avoided it. There was excitement, too. Going to the stars to fight for Acerex. But as I grew older, and the Trials approached, one of them filled my mind most of the time.”

“Which one?”

He studied the sky and pointed. “That one. Right between the big, red one and those two that look so similar.”

It was just a small point of light among all the others, twinkling innocently. But Ava knew what that had to be. “The Fire Planet.”

“Most of the boys who went there never came back. But when you're young, you can't imagine that you yourself won't make it. I only saw those who came back, some with honorable injuries, all celebrated and given the fire tattoos. It was all I ever wanted to be. Groti'ax and I spent many evenings planning and speculating about it. It's forbidden to talk to the untested boys about the dangers there, so that everyone has the same chance. But we picked up enough little pieces of information to make guesses. About some things, anyway. Some were right, and probably saved our lives. Some were ridiculously wrong and almost killed us.” He smiled at the memory.

“And both of you survived.”

“It was either both or none. Already then we were as one. If Groti'ax had died there, I would have stayed with him. As would he for me.”

“He must have been a good friend.”

Xark'ion drew breath to say something, then changed his mind and just sighed. “Yes.”

“How did he die?”

“Oh, the same way most warriors die. In battle.”

It was an attempt at brushing her off, but Ava wasn't having it. “That much I knew. If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. I will respect that.”

Xark'ion sighed and looked into the fire. “I am the captain, the leader of our squad. I was a good leader because Groti'ax led the squad with me. Not in name, but in reality. A squad should only have one leader. But ours had two. Certainly he would defer to me in front of the others. But he knew me so well, he would give suggestions in secret ways. And I always followed his suggestions. I'm not saying that he led the squad. If he had, I would have stepped down and recommended him for the captaincy. Our cooperation was a natural thing. We'd done it since we were toddlers. I have a gift for seeing the larger picture and finding the enemy's weak spot. Groti'ax was gifted with a command of the sword that few had seen before. He was extremely well liked among the squad. I'm more ... aloof. It is a fact that our squad had two leaders.”

“It's like an officer and a squad sergeant,” Ava said.

“Hm?”

“In Earth armies, we have the same structure. The officer is in charge of the strategy and the tactics. But his sergeant is often just as experienced and can give valuable suggestions, and she's usually closer to the other soldiers in the squad. Sounds like you two came up with that structure on your own.”

Xark'ion frowned. “Really?”

“Really. It's just more efficient.”

“Huh. We have much to learn from Earthlings, even in military matters. I would not have thought it. Your people seems so focused on peace, although your weapons are formidable. Well, we were in battle. We were losing. It was a chaotic battle against a new enemy. I felt overwhelmed. We usually won. But we also usually fought living things. These were machines. Robots. And I misjudged. I split the squad in two. One group around me, one around Groti'ax. And instead of sending his group against the enemy's weakest spot, I directed them to a place where they would be surrounded. As soon as I realized my mistake, I recalled the order. But it was too late. The enemy machines were all around them. I went in with my group to break them out, but Groti'ax told me to stay back. So I did.”