Even before the rescue of the Earthers from the space pirates, the Alliance General Assembly was debating the prudence of opening formal relations with Earth. While they were not as technologically advanced, they were falling victim to frequent illegal operations. All of Alliance Law Enforcement in that sector was kept busy keeping human traffickers and pirates from plundering the planet of the clueless peoples. Making them aware of the dangers they faced might eventually help them protect themselves.
Then with the Narovian Genetic Matchmaking Service operating on Earth, requests for passage to Earth had tripled. The Earthers generally didn’t know Alliance citizens had been regularly visiting Earth for centuries. While many Earthers’ knew it or suspected, it was not commonly accepted knowledge.
Nor did they know of the starport on the dark side of the moon or the centuries old vast underground city on Mars. Shortly after rescuing the Earthers from the pirates, Captain Marrek received orders arrange official first contact with Earth.
“We have been ordered to make formal contact,” Marrek stated to the departmental meeting. “The Alliance decided that we will openly put into Earth orbit and broadcast in numerous languages since they have no single governing body to represent the planet. Otherwise, the individual governments are likely to suppress the knowledge of the Alliance from the general population that we are seeking to protect.
“The danger is negligible because Raptor One is equipped to deal even with their nuclear weapons should they decide to attack. Whatever form our relationship takes with Earth will be in the hands of diplomats. Questions?”
“Do we think Earth is ready for this revelation?” Lieutenant Dolken asked.
“It doesn't matter what we think… but I think results will be mixed. Some will accept us, some will defy us, and some will panic initially. My job is to make the broadcast and wait for responses, so that’s what we will do. We’ll put into Earth orbit in one week.”
#
“People of Earth, I am Captain Dargan Marrek of the United Alliance of Planets, Law Enforcement. We have not come to Earth to cause you any harm, but to offer your world open diplomatic relations with the Alliance. We do not intend to interfere in any way with the governance of your world. While we prefer to deal with one-world governments, we have decided to make this invitation open to all the Earth’s governing bodies. Diplomats are ready to negotiate with those interested, and we are authorized to transport your representatives to Mars City to meet with them. This message will rebroadcast hourly for twenty-four hours, and we will await your responses for forty-eight hours. Contact us via….” He gave the contact info and added, “Marrek out.”
“Now, we wait,” Marrek, said to his staff. Within the next two hours, various governments began contacting Raptor One with questions, trying to determine whether it was a hoax. It may have helped a little that Marrek was a feline with blue hair that makes him look obviously alien. Of course, a pair of contacts and a blue wig would have accomplished the same look on a sapien. Still, it was clear there were many skeptics that still didn’t believe the alien contact was genuine.
So, Marrek requested and received approval to do a few circuits of Earth with the Raptor to convince the Earthers they were indeed real. Raptor One was bigger than an aircraft carrier, and there was no way anyone on Earth could mistake it for anything but an alien vessel. On the final trip around the planet, Raptor One came to a stop, hovering over the Capitol building in Washington, DC.
Of course, the military had all manner of weapons pointed at the ship, not knowing they would be of little use against the Raptor should they attack. Within twenty-four hours, representatives of the major world powers had converged on Washington to meet with Captain Marrek for the first contact. News of the alien presence was being broadcast live throughout the world.
Brakar, Zes, and four additional Enforcers accompanied Marrek to the White House. Their Terran mates were more than a little apprehensive about this meeting, fearful that the Earthers would panic and attack. However, the Enforcers carried devices that provided personal force fields around them that could protect them from most earth handheld weapons.
Before their arrival, the Alliance transferred the terms of their relationship with Earth. It included the exchange of certain medical technologies and the offer of emigration to anyone on Earth who wished to settle in Alliance territories. Cultural exchange was also offered. Marrek’s earnest address was met with skepticism. The Earthers were convinced that his arrival was a prelude to invasion and subjugation of the planet.
Captain Marrek was grilled for hours by the world representatives than by the press. When he and the other Enforcers were taking their leave, US military personnel attempted to detain them. That’s when their force fields come in handy. Shoving the militaries out of the way, they returned to their shuttle and took it back to their ship amid an escort of jet fighters.
It was a wasted effort on their part. None of their weapons could break through the shuttle's shields, anyway. Once the shuttle was back aboard Raptor One, Captain Marrek had the pilot take it back up into high orbit.
None of the Alliance Enforcers were surprised by the less than cordial reception. They were obviously suspicious that the aliens had ulterior motives for contacting them. Marrek’s mission was only to make contact and put the offer on the table. It was up to the Earthers to take it or leave it. If they rejected open relations with the Alliance, things wouldn’t change from their end. The Alliance would continue covert operations and civilians would continue visits to the planet.
Rhonna Jarold was watching her favorite entertainment news show when it was suddenly interrupted by Captain Marrek’s announcement. Just then, her roommate Jackie sauntered in carrying a bowl of cereal and milk she was calling dinner. “What the heck? Did you change the station?”
“Yes, but this is on every station. Except for the funny eyes and blue hair, he is gorgeous. ---Says he’s from the United Alliance of Worlds. Wait a minute, he’s repeating it.”
“People of Earth, I am Captain Dargan Marrek of the United Alliance of Worlds, Law Enforcement. We have not come to Earth to cause you any harm, but to offer your world open diplomatic relations with the Alliance. We do not intend to interfere in any way with the governance of your world. While we prefer to deal with one-world governments, we have decided to make this invitation open to all the Earth’s governing bodies. Diplomats are ready to negotiate with those interested, and we are authorized to transport your representatives to Mars City to meet with them. This message will rebroadcast hourly for twenty-four hours, and we will await your responses for forty-eight hours. Contact us via….” he gave the contact info and added, “Marrek out.”
“Do you think he’s for real?” Jackie asked.
“I don’t know. But what if it is? That could be awesome.”
“It’s kind of scary too---aliens from another planet or planets. What if it’s a prelude to invasion?” Jackie asked.
“It might not be too bad if they all look like him,” Rhonna joked. “Really, Jackie. Why could they come here? If they can travel here through interstellar space, I don’t see what we have that they would want.”
“People. Maybe they want people for food or something.”
Rhonna laughed. “Or maybe they need women for mates to bear their children, like in those alien romances we read.”
“Oh, hell, Rhonna, those are just adult fairy tales. It sure would be nice if a big handsome alien could come and take us away from all or this.”
“That would be the day,” Rhonna shook her head.
The entertainment show came back on the air as if Marrek’s announcement never happened. However, it came on again during the next program and hour later and the next. Normally they would have gone to bed at 10 o’clock to get up in time for work the next morning. They decided after the third repeat of Marrek’s announcement to check the news and the internet as they tried to determine whether he was real or if he was perpetrating a hoax.
They flipped through local channels and national news network. Most reported the oddity of the broadcast, but no one would speculate as to the origin. However, internet sources seemed to indicate that it was real. There was an Alliance website with detailed information about the member worlds and their people. The site enumerated particulars of the proposed relationship with Earth in detail.
It sounded almost too good to be true, yet there was a ring of truth to it. At least Rhonna and Jackie were beginning to believe it. They stayed up well past midnight reading and discussing the possibilities, but managed to get up in time for work. Rhonna worked as a secretary for a car dealer, and Jackie was a payroll clerk for a temp agency.
Neither woman considered her job as a step on a career ladder---just a way to earn a living. Rhonna painted on the side and hoped someday to make a living as an artist. Jackie just wanted to find a husband and start a family, but she was starting to conclude that it wasn’t going to happen in small town northwestern Pennsylvania.
Even at work, they texted back and forth all day speculating about Captain Marrek’s broadcast. By the end of their workday internet, social media had posted telescopic pictures of Raptor One orbiting Earth over Eastern Europe. Even then, skeptics continued to insist it was a hoax, but when darkness fell over northwestern Pennsylvania, Rhonna and Jackie made short drive out to the countryside away from the streetlights of nearby towns and turned their binoculars to the night sky to see for themselves.
It was big enough and low enough to be seen with the naked eye, but the binoculars showed it clear enough to see that it was a huge space ship. Rhonna was shaking with excitement as she handed the binoculars to Jackie. “There---do you see it?”
“I sure do. It is a spaceship, and it sure doesn’t look like any of ours,” Jackie asserted. “I wonder what they’re going to do next.”
“Probably come down here. I sure hope it doesn’t go like ‘The Day the Earth Stood Still,’ and they get attacked as soon as they show up.”
“That would be par for the course,” Jackie murmured.
“They said on their website that anyone who wanted could apply to settle on any of their worlds. Let’s do it!” said Rhonna.
“Yeah, and those feline aliens like that gorgeous Captain Marrek are looking for mates, maybe we could be considered.
“But you must be genetically matched, Jackie.”
“Yes, I know. That’s why I ordered the kits from YourGeneticOrigins.com. They should be here tomorrow. It was free.”
“Free?” asked Rhonna, “What’s the catch?”
“I said we agreed to be tested for a possible feline mate.”
“What if I don’t want a feline mate?” Rhonna worried.
“No one is going to force you, but I read all about it. The felines have these pheromones that make you fall madly in love with each other---for life---just like in our books.”
“But those are fiction, Jackie.”
“Well, that space ship up there is not fiction. And it’s just a cheek swab; you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to…but I’m going to.”
“No, I’ll do it. I’m just not going to count on the results.”
“Well, don’t worry. Even if they find your mate, you get to decide if you want to meet him before they even give you the results. Once you meet them face to face, you no longer have a choice.”
“Okay, that’s good,” said Rhonna. “We might as well go home and get to it, now that we’ve seen the ship is real.”
The two went back to the small house they shared and swabbed their DNA then filled out the short questionnaire that came with the kit. Jackie mailed them from work the next day, but it was two weeks before they heard back. In the meantime, Captain Marrek and his team landed in Washington DC to meet with the President and many world leaders. TV networks broadcast their arrival and departure live, but what was said in the meeting remained classified.
Both Rhonna and Jackie received their DNA results on the same day. There were no surprises regarding their ancestry. Rhonna was an Irish-English redhead with hazel eyes, and Jackie was half Native American and French with long dark hair and pretty brown eyes. The surprise was that Rhonna had a feline match, but Jackie didn’t to her utter disappointment. Jackie’s paperwork did indicate her DNA would remain on record for a potential future match.
But it just didn’t seem fair that Rhonna was matched when Jackie was the one who wanted it. “Gosh, Jackie. I’m sorry you didn’t get one, but maybe you still will. I’d give you mine if I could---but he really is gorgeous. He is a government official on Narova, but I have to go to Mars City to meet him---he would arrange it.”
“Are you going to?” Jackie asked near tears.
“I don’t know. It all sounds so wonderful, but he wants his mate to live on Narova. I’ve never even been out of the country,” Rhonna lamented. “If I decide to go, would you come with me to Mars City?”
“But, I would be a third wheel. What would I do while you’re bonding?”
“Let’s go to the Alliance website and find out. It’s supposed to be a big city---maybe you’ll meet someone…” Rhonna suggested. “Even if you don’t, it’s a chance of a lifetime---to actually go to Mars and mingle with extra-terrestrials. What do you say, Jackie? Will you come?”
“It’s too good to pass up. ---And I want to make sure this what’s his name Narovian feline humanoid is good enough for you.”
“His name is E’Dar Karinott, and he is on the Narov City Council. He’s the equivalent of thirty-four years old to my twenty-six, but he doesn’t look that old. He has been looking for his meomee for eight years. He wants a family and so do I,” Rhonna sighed.
“What if it doesn’t work out?”
“That almost never happens because of the pheromones, genetics, and the reverence the felines have for meomee mates. It also says meomee sex is considered the best. Guess I will find out,” she giggled.
#
It was another two and a half weeks before they received instructions for their journey to Mars City. They had to travel to the mountains of West Virginia to catch their ride to the launch site in a remote location near the Monongahela National Forest. It was well hidden in the side of a hill where there were no roads to reach it. They traveled in a large military type helicopter with the windows blacked out so they could not see the route taken. There were twenty people in all, including two felines with their blue hair and catlike eyes. They were the only obvious aliens. The crewmembers all looked sapien whether they were or not.
There was no wait to board the shuttle to the mother ship in orbit around Earth because they were already cleared before the helicopter ride. The shuttle was nondescript. If anything, it resembled a white bus without wheels and a slanted front and back. Passengers boarded through a door on the side and seated themselves among the thirty seats available. The interior reminded Rhonna and Jackie of a tour bus they had taken once.
About ten minutes after loading, the shuttle lifted off even more smoothly than the helicopter. Even though they could see out the window by their seats, the two women were not sure of the exact location from which they were departing. Once off the ground, the shuttle sped upward so fast that their arrival at the mother ship almost seemed instantaneous. They got just a glimpse of Earth from space before the shuttle entered the docking bay of the starship. All the passengers from Earth remained on the shuttle for a short time it took for them to make Mars orbit. Within a few more minutes, they were disembarking at the starport-docking bay at Mars City.
E’Dar Karinott was waiting for Rhonna to disembark at the docking bay. He was tall---taller than she expected---about six foot three inches she guessed. Though his clothing was not overly snug, she could see he was in excellent physical shape with well-toned muscles, tight abs, and broad shoulders. They recognized each other immediately from their respective pictures. E’Dar had not received hers until she consented to meet him. Rhonna knew from her literature to stay several feet from E’Dar at he faced her with his hands clasped behind his back.
“Meomee, you are even more beautiful than your image,” spoke slowly in heavily accented English.
“As are you,” Rhonna murmured, breathily. Even several feet away it seemed like she was magnetically drawn to him. The physical attraction was even more powerful than she expected. They hadn’t even touched yet, and she wanted him naked and inside her.
Watching her friend’s silent exchange with E’Dar, Jackie sighed. “I am the third wheel after all. You are going with him, aren’t you?”
“I am,” Rhonna barely glanced at her friend, unable to take her eyes off E’Dar. “E’Dar,” she said, this is my friend Jackie Baker. She came with me---because I was a little scared to come on my own. You said you could arrange something for her while we get to know each other better.”
“Ah yes. My friend Bladen Tark is here on leave from Alliance Law Enforcement. He has consented to escort your lovely friend and show her the sights.”
Momentarily, a handsome young man with short dark hair and amber eyes, wearing a military type uniform approached. Bladen was not quite as tall as E’Dar but pretty close to six foot even, his body just as buff as the Narovian feline. He smiled appreciatively as he took in Jackie’s dark haired beauty. “Jackie Baker meet Bladen Tark. He is called Blade. Be glad to know; his English is better than mine. He has been on Earth undercover. He is a good man. I know for a long time.”
Bladen stepped forward and extended his hand to Jackie as if to shake her hand. As she took his hand, he shook it then lifted it to his lips, lightly kissing the back of it. “A pleasure to meet, you Jackie,” he said. “If you haven’t eaten may I take you to dinner, and I can tell you more about the city here and what there is to do.”
“Sure, that would be nice,” Jackie smiled back at him, clearly charmed. “I just need to stop by our hotel to leave off my luggage.
Rhonna looked to her friend and back at E’Dar uncertainly. He looked back at her, hopefully, seemingly smitten already, but remained at his distance.
“Meomee, I have arranged for us to dine alone so you can know if you wish to bond,” he said in a reassuring tone. “I will not come too close, okay?”
“Okay,” she nodded. “I want to drop off my bags at our hotel.” She knew even before she made the trip that E’Dar was booked in the same hotel.
“Come to the hotel café when you are ready. Ask for me, and they will bring you to our dining room. I will wait for you there.”
#
Café was an understatement for the hotel’s elegant restaurant. Rhonna attributed it to E’Dar’s command of the English language. As she approached the apparent host, it dawned on her that she knew very little of Narovian Galactic Common that he spoke. She approached the host and simply said, “E’Dar Karinott?”
The young feline gave a single nod of his head and motioned for her to follow him. He led her to a banquet room, pressed the control panel to open the door, and then motioned for her to enter. E’Dar was sitting at the far end of a ten-foot banquet table. He stood as she entered and gave her a slight bow in greeting.
“Please sit, meomee,” he said and waited for her to seat herself before he sat. “I chose food for you from your writing online to me. If not like, we get other food.”
“It smells wonderful. I will try it, thank you,” she replied, removing the clear cover. Instead of an Earth-type fork, knife and spoon there was a small pair of tongs, a fork sized spatula, and a spoon as Rhonna expected. She had read extensively from the material on the customs of E’Dar’s people.
The food on her plate looked and smelled a lot like what she normally ordered from her favorite Chinese restaurant. But, it tasted even better. “Mmmm! This is wonderful,” she said and smiled at him.
“Glad you like. Now, what can I tell that I did not write?” he asked.
“It’s not that,” Rhonna said. “What you wrote was what made me decide to come meet you. I want to spend time with you in person before I decide on a lifetime commitment to you. That is a very big step in my world.”
“My world, too. Is why I only want my meomee? Consent mating failure too much. Too much hurt. I do not want,” he said slowly, searching for the right words. “Meomee loves all life---I almost love now. Bonding will make love…” he looked at her with eyes full of hope.
Rhonna wanted to take things slow, but she was beginning to realize it wasn’t going to happen. She came to meet because she was almost sure she wanted to share her life with him. Until she decided, she must keep her distance. But she realized she didn’t want to. She pushed back her chair and stood.
E’Dar stood as well, looking uncertain. Rhonna pushed her chair in and walked slowly to him. Stopped in front of him and looked up into his eyes. “I think I know enough, meomee.”
E’Dar pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her. “Ah, meomee. You are mine, and I am yours,” then he kissed her, softly. “We should go to my suite. We need to bond.”
“You mean sex…“ Rhonna teased. She knew that’s what he meant. She had read the brochure.
He just smiled down at her then claimed her mouth in a heated kiss that filled her with a deep, aching need. The evidence of his desire was pressing against her belly.
“We’d better go then,” she said when he freed her mouth. “Your pheromones are turning me on like crazy.”
Reluctantly, he released her and reached for her hand. They both jerked their hands back at the snap of a static type shock arced between their fingers. “Recognition,” Rhonna said. That was also in the brochure.
E’Dar reached for her hand again, and there was no shock. He led Rhonna from the private dining room. He paused to ask the attendant to send their meal to his suite, and they walked onto the elevator. They could hardly get to his rooms soon enough before they were pulling clothes off each other on the way to the large bed in the bedroom. Rhonna’s whole body clamored for E’Dar’s touch. By the time, they stood facing each other naked, Rhonna’s nipples were taught and erect, and E’Dar’s cock was the same.
They had fantasized this moment in their emails to each other. E’Dar moved close and cupped her breasts in his hands, rubbing his palms against her sensitive nipples. Rhonna leaned into them, wound her arms around his neck, and turned her mouth up for his kiss, pressing her belly against his erection. Their mouths fused together, their tongues caressing and exploring. When they parted, E’Dar kissed his way down over her throat and chest to suckle first her left nipple and then her right’ encouraged to do so at length by Rhonna’s moans of pleasure.
“Now, I need you now,” Rhonna murmured when he lifted his head. With that plea, he lifted her in his arms almost as though she were weightless and carried her the few steps to the bed. There he laid her toward the middle and climbed in after her. He lay beside her and slid his hand down over her belly and between her legs, slipping two fingers inside her slick opening. She was ready, and so was he. The pheromones made their desire too intense to take the time to savor their lovemaking. That would come later. He rolled over on top of her, supporting his superior weight on his knees and forearms, and she parted her thighs to welcome him. Even though she was well lubricated, his organ was somewhat larger than the average male and it was a tight fit. He worked it in slowly because the last thing he wanted to do was cause her pain.
“Ahhh! E’Dar, E’Dar!” she exclaimed when he had filled her.
“Yes, meomee,” he murmured and kissed her.
Then he began thrusting in and out slowly at first then faster, harder, and deep. Rhonna cried out in pleasure with each one, clinging to his shoulders and arching to meet each thrust. As he sensed his release building, he reached between them to massage her clitoris, and her release came quickly. Her contractions around his shaft set off his release as well. It was so intense for both of them that they cried out repeatedly as it went on and on.
“Rhonna, beautiful Rhonna. You are mine, and I am yours,” he asserted, caressing her face as he kissed her lips tenderly.
“I am, you are,” she told him, glad that he was making no move to part from her. Incredibly, he was still hard as he held her tenderly captive, kissing her, and tweaking her nipples with his thumbs. Then for whatever reason, he took her hands, laced his fingers through hers, and held them down on the bed just above her head. He thrust into her once and stopped, staring down into her eyes and she arched her back rubbing her sensitized nipples against the hard wall of his chest. He grinned down at her, apparently understanding that she was asserting her femininity as he was asserting his male prowess.
Now that their first intense need was satisfied, E’Dar made love to her at length. He thrust into her a few times and stopped to kiss and caress her at length, then thrust a few more times. He seemed expert in keeping her in a heightened state of arousal for an extended period. Her breath came in short gasps, and she squirmed against him each time he stilled inside her. “E’Dar, please…” she groaned plaintively. He had held her on the verge of climax; it seemed for hours. Control was a legend among the felines in that they could make intercourse last sometimes for hours.
“Patience meomee. It feels so good in you; I don’t want to finish too soon.”
“When you put it that way I don’t either.” With that, she set her mind to enjoy being held at the brink of ecstasy and began to relish it. After a time E’Dar drew back as if to thrust into her but instead drew the head of his cock up through her channel and pressed is against her clitoris, pressing and rubbing. Then he slid it down into her opening and drove it home. It only took a few more thrusts for them both to climax long and hard.
Afterward, E’Dar rolled them on their sides and pulled out of her, then held her tightly against him. She was all he ever dreamed and more. He loved her, as he always knew he would, but he wasn’t ready to tell her yet.
Mars City was built on the side of a deep canyon in the northern hemisphere of the planet Mars. Begun, sometime around the first Crusades on Earth, it was completed a few hundred years later. It was a city of about a million permanent residents housed completely underground, self-contained, and self-sustaining and included an Alliance Law Enforcement base. It had its own light and heat source and an agricultural district that grew fruits and vegetables. The meat was cultured in a laboratory environment from animal cells and proved to be more economical than raising and killing animals.
“How is it possible that we don’t know all this is here?” Jackie asked as she strolled along a pedestrian walkway with Bladen Tark.
“Because the entrance is hidden by a special field and a similar field disguises the ships that land and take off from here,” he told her. “We use the same technology on Earth to disguise our base there. In fact, after I finish my leave, my next assignment is on Earth.”
“That’s why your English is so good,” Jackie said.
“Yes. Our main base is in North America. I’ve been there before, too. Aside from the lower technology, I rather like being there,’’ he said and stopped. “I thought this little café would be a lovely place to eat. The food is close to what you might find in one of your Earth eating places.”
“That sounds good. I like to try new things.”
“Is that why you came to Mars City with your friend?” Bladen raised his eyebrows.
“It was an incredible opportunity, even though she got a feline mate and I didn’t. This was a big step for Rhonna, and she didn’t want to make the trip alone. I would never have gotten the opportunity to travel in space otherwise,” she explained. “I figured I could be a tourist until the next shuttle back to Earth.”
“That’s in about a week,” he said. “That’s when I’m heading to Earth, myself.”
“Great, it will be nice to know someone on the way back,” she said.