Ten
Stevan
I stepped into our quarters and smiled. Catherina was sitting in her favorite chair, staring at a memory cube, but she didn’t look happy. I walked to her and gave her a slow kiss, but I could sense something was bothering her.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“It’s these fucking Aquallian men!” she snapped. “They’re so damned passive they won’t do a goddamn thing to help themselves! I’m about ready to wash my hands of them. They deserve to die out.”
I stared at her a moment. Never had I heard her be so harshly critical of a People. In the past, she could always find something positive about a People, no matter who they were. She glared at me, her eyes narrowed and hard with her color high. She always turned slightly red when her passions were up, one of the color changes she exhibited with her involuntary telegraphing of her emotions, so I knew this was more than mere annoyance and frustration.
“What of the women?”
She blew out air from puffed cheeks, something she often did when she was trying to release tension.
“That’s going better. The Hedordians and Firaspatciti are beginning to understand each other. There are several pairs mating. With all but two, the mating is still just physical gratification, but those two are becoming very close. They are becoming companions, and they are beginning to encourage the others. I expect several more to pair up soon, and there may be some shuffling going to happen, but I think we’re past the hard part there. They just need some steady encouragement, and the occasional helping hand, to work things out. I expect we’ll be ready to open it up to a larger group soon and I don’t think there will be any shortage of volunteers on either side. The Fires are much more compatible with the Hedordians than with the Waters.”
I sighed with relief. I had kept my concerns to myself, but I’d been worried she couldn’t work her magic a second time and the Firaspatciti females would have been left competing for mates on an unequal field.
“That’s excellent news! Any thoughts on how to overcome the problems with the Aquallian males?”
“No, not at the moment.”
I gave her plenty of time to offer me something, a crumb of hope, but she said nothing more. “Nothing?” I prompted.
“They have to want to mate, Stevan. I can’t force them to want to fuck.”
“I understand, but the entire universe is watching what we do here, especially when you’re involved. We—well, to be honest—you, are winning over the universe. The resistance isn’t going to go away easily and I think we need to show steady progress to keep them on the defensive.”
“I understand, but what would you have me do?” she snapped. “I’ve tried everything I can think of, but I can’t find anything that works.”
“There must be something.”
“Yeah? Like what?” she growled. “Let me ask you this. What would it take to get you interested in fucking Kergah or Bruth?”
“That’s not the same thing.”
“It most certainly is the same thing!” she snarled, jumping to her feet and stomping around the room, her hands telegraphing her extreme agitation. “If you’re not interested, you’re not interested, and there is very little anyone can do to make you interested. The Water women are as near a match for the Water men as any women in the universe. Most of the Peoples of the universe are seeing a decline in births because they can’t conceive or can’t carry a child to term. But not the Waters! Oh, hell no! There, the men simply don’t want to get it up anymore. They are more interested in doing almost anything other than fucking, and when a pretty woman comes on to them, they haven’t gotten a fucking clue about what to do! So, you tell me, Stevan, how am I supposed to solve that?”
“I understand,” I said softly, trying to calm her down. I’d never seen her so upset and I wasn’t sure what to do about it. “What do you need?”
“Time! I need time, I need the Waters to start showing some initiative, and you pressuring me isn’t helping!”
“I’m not pressuring you!”
“No? It certainly feels like it.”
“I’m not pressuring, Catherina. You’ve already worked miracles. But time is the one thing I can’t give you. This has to work, and you’re the only person that can make it work. If you can’t, perhaps within the lifetime of our grandchildren, the Firaspatciti and Aquallia may no longer survive as a viable culture.”
“I can’t do it,” she said, her shoulders slumping.
I took her into my arms. “You can. I know you can. You’re the only one that can.”
She shoved out of my arms. “I can’t, goddammit! I can’t save the universe by myself! You’re asking too much of me!”
She turned her back to me before storming to our bedchamber and slammed the door, but not before I heard the first of her sobs. She hadn’t cried in months. Normally, I could take her in my arms and soothe her worries, but tonight she’d rejected my attempt. I followed her to the door and tried to open it, but it was locked.
“Open the door.”
“Go away!”
The lock was a simple latch, designed to let someone know the person inside wanted privacy, not actually keep someone out. I pulled my short blade and easily opened the lock.
“I said go away! You ask too much from me, Stevan! I can’t do it!” she said as she sniffed and wiped at her eyes with her hands.
She was sitting slumped in the center of our bed. I crossed the room and sat down on the edge. She was out of reach, but that didn’t matter. “Do you remember when I first bought you here, how scared you were?”
“Yes,” she said softly.
“I saw a strength in you then. I knew from the moment I looked into your eyes you had a strength you weren’t aware of. Look at how much you’ve accomplished. The danger hasn’t passed, but for the first time in a hundred years, the Peoples have hope. The vote on Pearakut proves that. More worlds are joining with Aquallia and Firaspatciti every day and announcing they will not go quietly into the long darkness. That’s because of you, my dear Catherina. You and no other. You brought the Firaspatciti and the Aquallia together. Fire and Water as you call us, opposites in every measure, and yet you managed to find a way. You showed us our true selves. The Aquallia have a strength we never suspected, and against every odd, you found a tender side within us.”
I smiled at her. “Look at how much I’ve changed since you started giving me ‘lessons.’ I still have much to learn from you, but what I’ve already learned is there is more to the Peoples than the stereotypes. There is more to the fierce and deadly Firaspatciti than aggression and violence. There is more strength in the gentle Aquallia than I could have imagined. It wasn’t until you showed me, that I understood how difficult their position in the Peoples is. To care for the aged, sick, and dying is a task I could never do. It takes more strength than I possess to continually watch those under your care suffer and die, yet they handle it with such grace it astounds me. You showed me that, Catherina.”
I paused to see if I was reaching her. She was staring at me, her eyes full of tears. “Because of you, I’m truly seeing the Peoples for the first time. You are making us stronger and more resilient than ever before. Please, don’t give up on us, Catherina.”
She whimpered and held her arms out to me. I smiled and crossed the bed to pull her into my arms. I held her as she wept, her body racked with her sobs. I couldn’t imagine the pressures she must be feeling, but she only had to carry the load alone a bit farther. The peoples of the universe were swarming to her aide, eager to help her with her burden. She just hadn’t seen it yet.
“I’m sorry I yelled at you,” she sniffed when her sobs lessened.
“It’s no matter. I’m sorry you’re feeling so overwhelmed. I didn’t mean to make you feel pressured.”
“I know.”
“The Peoples of the universe stand ready to offer their hands. How can you use them?”
“That’s just it. I don’t know. I don’t know how to reach the Water males.”
“Then perhaps it’s time for them to go into the long darkness.”
She nodded. “Maybe. They seem to have no desire to mate. It’s like they believe women are unnecessary. But they’re doctors! They know reproduction takes two, yet they can’t seem to find it within themselves to do anything.”
“You can’t save them from themselves, no matter how hard you try.”
She pulled back and looked at me. Her eyes were red and puffy, but the tension that had been in her face and body when I entered our quarters was missing.
“I know. I hate to give up on them, but I’m simply out of ideas. They are kind of like the Amazonians back on Earth. They live in their own little world and they… don’t…”
“What?” I asked when she stopped, her eyes opening wide. The tension was back.
She looked at me, her color rising once again. “On Earth, there was this mythical band of women, the Amazons, that had no use for men. They were supposed to be great warriors, more than a match for any man, and to reproduce, they met with a man once a year to mate and become pregnant. Other myths say they took men as slaves to mate with them. In any case, it was the Amazons that were the aggressors and controlled the mating.”
Something about this was exciting her, but I didn’t know what and said so.
“Maybe the solution is as simple and turning the tables. I’ve been trying to make the Aquallian males more aggressive so they would pick their mates. Maybe I have it backward and I should put the females in charge of selecting her mate.”
“But, you said the Aquallian men didn’t like aggressive women. That’s why you didn’t pair them up with the Fire women… not that any Firaspatciti woman I know would have a thing to do with—” I forced myself to stop. I was falling back on old stereotypes.
“I did, and there’s no way that pairing would work. But the Estaans might be a little more open to the idea. They’re very laid back, like the Aquallia.”
“Laid back?” I asked.
The nanites had translated her words, but I didn’t get their meaning. Humans spoke a great deal in riddles.
She grinned. “It means to be relaxed and difficult to upset. Unflappable. Calm.”
I smiled. “The Aquallia are very laid back indeed, and so are the Estaans.”
“Yes, but the Estaans are more open and interested in trying new things. They seem to enjoy puzzles and teasing answers out of difficult problems.” She paused and I could see her thinking. “This might work if I can get the Estaans on board. Hell, I can’t break broken. If it doesn’t work, I’m no worse off than I was before.”
I smiled at her. Just like that she’d gone from the dark pit of depression to the shining height of anticipation.
“This is why I have so much faith in you. You never seem to be completely stymied, only temporarily puzzled. You should learn to have the same faith in your abilities the rest of us do.”
She giggled wetly and wiped at her eyes again. “It’s much harder to believe in yourself when you’re the one that’s stuck.” She began to crawl out of the bed. “I should go and try to figure out how to pitch this idea to the Estaans.”
I grabbed her hand before she moved out of reach. “Stay. That can wait until tomorrow.”
“But—”
“Catherina… stay. The Estaans will be there in the morning. You need to put your worries aside for a time. Tell me about these Amazons. They truly didn’t have any men among them?”
She paused, pulling gently at her hand, still trying to move away, then relaxed and came back to me.
“First, they’re a legend. They never really existed. But legend says that they were huge, powerful, incredibly beautiful women. They lived on an island, or something, and had no contact with other people. They were supposed to be incredible warriors and were fearless in battle.”
“I like them already,” I said with a smile.
“Down boy. Anyway, depending on the legend, they either captured men and held them captive and forced them to mate with them, or they traveled from their island once a year to mate with a particular group of men. I think they were Greek and were supposed to be great warriors in their own right.” She paused, obviously thinking. “I can’t remember much more than that, but either way, the mating was for the sole purpose of producing offspring.”
I pulled her to me and dumped her to the bed, covering her with my body. “So they had no use for men except for mating?”
She smiled up at me. “So the legend goes.”
I leaned in close. “And they only mated once a year?” I whispered, my lips only micro-lengths from her own.
“According to one version of the legend,” she replied softly.
“Who would want a woman like that?” I breathed as I took her lips.
She drank deep from the kiss and then pushed my lips from hers and steered them to her neck. I nuzzled her in the way she liked, enjoying the soft sighs and gasps of her pleasure and rising passion.
“You don’t want to be used for pleasure by a beautiful warrior woman?” she asked, her voice breathless and soft as her hands tangled in my hair, holding my lips to her neck.
“I am… every night,” I murmured, teasing her. She pulled my lips to hers and our tongues danced. “You’re a warrior, Catherina,” I whispered as I pulled back from her lips, opening the binding on her tunic and then kissing down her throat to the swell of her breasts. “You are leading us in the fight against the long darkness, a battle only you are fit to command.” I paused as I left her breasts and watched her eyes. “I’m yours. Command me,” I breathed before taking her lips again.
She pulled my lips harder into hers as she began to thrust at me gently before forcing my lips to her neck again. “Take me,” she sighed.
I took my time undressing her, kissing her lips, her neck, her breasts, listening to her sighs, smiling as her chest heaved beneath my lips. As I moved lower, kissing down her stomach she began to move under me, her erotic writhing enflaming my own passions.
“I want you,” she gasped, clutching at my shoulders and pulling me higher up before pushing my own clothing from my body. “I want to feel you inside of me.”
I watched her face, losing myself in her beauty. She helped me shed my clothing, my tunic joining hers in a wad on the bed. She smiled as she pulled me down between her legs, drawing my lips to hers.
“Please me,” she ordered softly.
I took her lips in a long slow kiss as I slowly entered her. As her warmth and wetness surrounding me, I sank deep with a near silent groan of bliss. I held myself there until she had her fill of my kiss and again pulled my lips to her neck.
“As you command, my Lady,” I whispered as I slowly began to thrust.