Chapter Four
Stevan
“My Lord,” Catherina said as she entered the room, dropping to one knee with her head bowed.
It was a fair imitation of the proper etiquette, and I smiled at her attempt. Hethra had obviously coached her.
“Rise and approach,” I commanded.
Now that Catherina was appropriately dressed I could see how lovely she was. She didn’t move with the grace of a Firaspatciti woman, but she hadn’t had the years of combat training to make her movements fluid and graceful. Combat wasn’t why she was here.
We were in my private quarters. Very few were invited here, and no one, not even Kergah, entered without invitation. I motioned to the place sitting to my left, my weak side, the side of honor. She probably wouldn’t understand that by placing her to my vulnerable side I was granting her the honor of showing trust, but the staff would see it. While they were sworn to secrecy over what happened in the palace, and especially in my private quarters, I knew they gossiped among themselves.
“Please, sit.”
She lowered herself into the chair. While she didn’t move with the grace and power of the Firaspatciti, she still had a feminine grace of her own that reminded me of the Aquallia woman. Bretlan appeared as if by magic and placed a sampling of the food on her plate.
“Is it safe?” she asked, looking at the food with suspicion.
“Perfectly. Anything your body would normally reject or would poison you will be handled by the nanites. I told you, Catherina, you are perfectly safe here.” I smiled as she struggled with her fork, obviously not knowing how to use it. “Like this,” I said, showing her the proper way to hold the utensil.
“I’m sorry. I can’t use chopsticks either.”
I didn’t get the reference but nodded in understanding. “It’s a lot to take in, I know.” I watched as she nibbled at a Snath steak, her eyes opening wide as she smiled and took another, larger bite. “See? Try the Tarkerberry sauce with the Snath,” I suggested as I pointed with my fork.
She did, her eyes opening even wider. “This is amazing.”
I smiled. “I want you to be comfortable during your visit.”
“Visit? That implies I can go home.”
“That’s right.”
“I’m not your prisoner?”
“No. You’re my guest.”
“So if I said I wanted to go back to Glasgow, to Earth, you’d send me?”
I licked my lips. “After a fashion.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you’re my guest, but I can’t return you to your home. Not right away.”
“Why?”
“I need you.”
“Need me? Why?”
“Try the wine while I explain,” I said, holding my glass. Bretlan appeared and filled my glass before retreating again.
“Just tell me what you want. I think I deserve that much.”
Her eyes hardened as she made her demand. If she had been anyone else I would have had her whipped for her impertinence, but she didn’t know our ways.
“I brought you here because we are dying. All of us. The entire galaxy.”
I saw her face turn white and her pupils dilate, a sure sign that her fight or flight response had engaged.
“Why? And what does that have to do with me?”
“The why is easy. We are breeding ourselves into extinction. The youngest person on our planet is eight years old. That’s sixteen of your years.” I watched as her face went white again. “That’s right. There hasn’t been a child born on the Fire planet in sixteen of your years. That’s where you come in. The Peoples of the galaxy are dying because we have bred within our people for so long that genetic mutations are creeping in, mutations that are making us sterile.”
“What about these nanite things? I thought they fixed all that stuff.”
“This isn’t a flaw, not like a disease. It’s part of our genetic makeup. But… the peoples of the galaxy can interbreed. We are all of the same basic stock. Our weakness is another’s strength. Our strength is another’s weakness. We know interbreeding is possible as there are successful pairings that are producing offspring, but it’s not enough.”
“I don’t understand. What has any of this got to do with me?”
“Humans are young and vigorous breeders. We need that.” I watched as her eyes opened wide. I smiled. “No. I can see what you’re thinking. I didn’t kidnap you to breed with you. Even if there was no law preventing it, there aren’t enough humans to satisfy the demands of three thousand, four hundred and twenty-six worlds. You won’t be used as breeding stock. But, perhaps you can educate us on how to breed among ourselves.”
She sat back in her chair, her eyes wide as she stared at me.
“Why me?” she asked softly.
“We only recently discovered Earth. We were investigating it when I saw you attack a much larger male that had preyed on one of your elderly. Many of the Peoples went through a period when the strong preyed on the weak, and I assumed Earth was the same.” I shrugged. “It is the same. I thought you were preying on the male as the male preyed on the elderly woman. But then you returned her purse to her, and I saw a kindness in you. Humans have what we need, what the galaxy needs. Strength and ferocity, but at the same time, you have the capability to be gentle.”
“But why me? Why didn’t you just come to Earth and ask for our help? Do you know how many people would jump at a chance to fuck an alien, especially if they look like you or Hethra?”
She looked aghast at what she’d said.
“I’m sorry. I should have said that… uh… my Lord.”
I chuckled. She was charming in her own bumbling way. “No offense taken. The reason is… we can’t.”
“Why? You could do so much good on our world! The nanites alone would be a revolution. I’m sure there would be millions lining up to help you.”
“We can’t, Catherina. Not that we won’t, we can’t. It would violate one of our most sacred laws.”
“What law?”
“We are forbidden from interfering with the younger races. Until they become aware of the Peoples of the galaxy on their own, we are unable to make contact with them.”
“So you, or other people of the galaxy, haven’t been visiting Earth in spaceships?”
I smiled and shook my head as she took another sip of her wine. “No. First, we don’t use space ships because they’re too slow. We use the portal. Secondly, we didn’t even know Earth existed until a few months ago.”
“But now?”
“No, not even now. They can’t know of the Peoples existence until they discover us on their own. Perhaps that will happen in a few thousand years.”
“Thousand?” she asked, her voice in awe.
I nodded. “That shows how unready you are. Your race is so young you think in hundreds of years, where the rest of us think of thousands or even millions of years.”
“But if we can’t know about the Fire planet…”
“If I were to return you, do you think anyone would believe you if you told them what had happened?”
She slumped. “No. Probably not. But the nanites?”
“They are as simple to remove as they were to inject. We would inactivate them and put you back in your room.” I smiled and offered her a bit of bread. “Before you decide, don’t you want to hear my proposal?”
I kept my smile on my face. I could return her, and perhaps someday I would, but right now I needed her. I’d told her the truth, she was my guest and not my prisoner, but I had to have her help, and I wouldn’t return her willingly. If I couldn’t get her help voluntarily, I would make it a condition of her return. She watched me, her large brown eyes even wider than normal.
“Okay. What are you proposing?” she asked softly.
I motioned, and Bretlan approached, dropping a small bag in my hand. I opened the bag and dumped the contents on the table.
“Humans seem to put great value in these stones. If you help me, I will send you home with as many of them as you can carry.”
It was amazing how large her eyes could get as she stared at the stones on the table. Her hand was shaking as she reached for one and carefully picked it up.
“Are these diamonds?”
“Is that what you call them? Yes. We use them in certain industrial applications, but apparently, Humans value them highly.”
I smiled as she returned the stone to the table. She was flushed, her skin becoming almost as red as the Fires. Humans were the chameleons of the galaxy, turning various colors depending on their emotions. So far I’d seen Catherina in her healthy pink, a bright red and a pale white. The color changes appeared to be completely involuntary, and I wondered what other colors she could turn.
“What do I have to do?”
“You have to teach us. You mentioned that Humans would jump at the chance to fuck an alien. We need that adventurous spirit.” I paused, trying to figure out how to word what I wanted to say. “There is another people, the Aquallian, whose men have become sterile. The Fires and the Aquallia, we are in most dire need. The last child born on Aquallia is not twenty years old. They are a weak people,” I said, working hard to keep the disgust out of my voice. “They are willing to go quietly into the long darkness, but we can save them, and at the same time, they can save us.” I sighed. “Fire women have become to warlike. There is no longer any tenderness, any urge to nurture the young. Their bodies are beginning to reject the bearing of children.”
“And the Aquallian women?”
“They are loving and nurturing. We need that back in our genetic mix.”
“And the Aquallian men? They won’t mind you breeding with their women?”
I smiled, their weakness disgusting me. “I don’t care what they want.” I tamped down my revulsion and sighed. “No. That’s what they need from us. The entire Aquallian race has no drive, no willingness to fight for what’s theirs. They have become weak, and the Aquallian males are losing the ability and desire to reproduce.”
She stared at me. “Sounds like a match made in heaven.”
“No. The Aquallian women, those that have volunteered, haven’t been able to conceive. They are missing a vital hormone needed to make their egg fertile. We have tried to create the hormone artificially, but it isn’t working.”
She shook her head. “I still don’t see what you want me to do. I’m not a doctor.”
“Catherina, this isn’t a medical problem. If it were, we would have solved it long ago. The Aquallian women can conceive with a Fire male, but for some reason, it is extremely rare that it happens, and we don’t know why. This is true throughout the galaxy. There have been pairings of various peoples, but they are few, and fewer still produce offspring.”
“I still don’t understand,” she said.
“We need you, Catherina, to teach us how to interbreed. Humans are a young, healthy and full adventure. That is what we lack. We need you to teach us how to step outside our people and begin to mate with others.”
She stared at me for a long time, then took a gulp of her wine. “You want me to create an intergalactic dating agency?”
I frowned. “I don’t know this word… dating. How does a fruit…?”
She twittered. “That’s a date. Dating is when you spend time with another person because you enjoy their company.”
“A mate?”
“No, not exactly. It’s not a mate. It’s what people do before when you are looking for a mate. You date people to find a mate.”
“A companion?”
“Yes! That’s a good word. A companion.”
I smiled. “That’s exactly what we need. A dating agency. I need you to teach Fire males to date Water females and Water female to date Fire males. Then later, other peoples. Perhaps the Gatheran males should date the Fire females.” I paused as the idea began to form. “Yes, this is exactly what we need. We can begin to interbreed, allowing the peoples genetic material to once again spread through the galaxy.” I paused again. For the first time in twenty years, I felt hope that galaxy wasn’t headed into the long darkness. I looked at Catherina. “Will you do it? Will you help us?”
“I want to. I would. But what about my life back on Earth? People will be looking for me.”
She wasn’t going to like what I was about to say, but she had to hear it.
“Nobody will look for you, Catherina. Not for long. Humans prey on each other all the time. The police will look for you for a few days, perhaps a week. But they will find nothing because there is nothing to find. You have simply disappeared without a trace. Soon you will be forgotten.” I looked at her and placed my hand over hers. “I’m sorry, but you know it’s true.”
She turned white again, and tears began to leak from her eyes. “My family…”
“Will mourn your loss, then they too will accept.”
She stared at me with her big eyes. She knew the truth, I could see it on her face, but she wasn’t willing to accept it. I admired the strength in her. She wouldn’t give up easily, fighting the inevitable to her last breath. That was a trait that the Fire and Humans shared.
“I want to go home,” she demanded.
“No,” I said softly. “Not now. Think about it for a week. Allow me to show you what life here can be like. Then, if you still wish to return, I will send you home.” I hardened my resolve. “But make no mistake, Catherina, I will not allow the Peoples to die. I have seen greatness in you, a greatness that may be our only chance to survive. If you don't do this, I will find another that will.”
“So, I am your prisoner,” she said softly.
“If you chose to think of it that way, then yes, for the next week you are my prisoner,” I said, my voice hard. “After that, I will release you.”
I should have her whipped for her refusal, but I needed her, and she wasn’t of my world, and her customs were different. The Fire were a strong, proud, people, willing to defend others to the death, but we weren’t brutes.
“You may go,” I said in dismissal. “You will be treated as my honored guest. You will stay here, in the palace but you are free to travel. I will assign you a companion, someone to guide you. You will be issued two guards who will willingly give their life for yours.”
“Jailers you mean,” she snapped, her voice cold and hard.
“Guards,” I corrected. “Not everyone is happy that I refuse to let the Peoples go quietly into the long darkness. They are for your protection. Now leave me. We will speak again in one week. If you wish to return to Earth then, I will grant you your freedom.”
Catherina rose and strode away without offering the bow. I could have her killed for that, but I tamped down the anger. I wasn’t angry with her, not for her slights anyway. The more I spoke with her, the surer I became she was the person I needed. She was fierce and strong, but she had a softness and caring about her. She was worried about her family above herself and the wealth I offered her. I wondered if all Humans were like her, but I knew they weren’t. I’d seen the male predator attack the elderly woman. Perhaps I could send her home and select another. Maybe I would get lucky a second time, but I wasn’t willing to bet the fate of the galaxy that luck would strike twice.
I initiated a portal, limiting it to the transmission to sound only. “Kergah.” I waited until the portal located Kergah and opened.
“Yes, my Lord?”
“Kergah. Have Quathaul assigned as a companion to Catherina.”
“The Aquallian woman, my Lord?”
“Yes. Also have two guards, female only, assigned to her at all times.”
“Yes, my Lord. It will be done.”
“Thank you, Kergah.” I closed the portal then drummed my fingers on the table. Perhaps the Aquallian could succeed where I’d failed.