by Celia Kyle
“You should not have to sacrifice any part of yourself to be with us,” Hiren said. “Be brave, my Oso. Be strong. You have already overcome so much—the invasion of the Zignills and then keeping your family intact through great hardship. As far as I can see, there is nothing you cannot accomplish.”
“Hiren is correct. Take what you desire, seize it. Do not allow anyone, especially a male like Secretary Wells, to keep you from your prize,” Sevith declared.
Jenna nibbled her lip, looking back at her siblings and then at her mates. “But what will we do when Wells finds out I’m betraying him? I won’t spy for him. I won’t.”
Sevith and Hiren stood straighter, appearing as proud and powerful as ever. Jenna was so stunned by the subtle but potent shift in demeanor that it almost knocked her back a little, but she stood her ground.
A fiendish smirk cross Sevith’s face. “Do not concern yourself with the likes of Secretary Wells,” he warned.
Hiren agreed, “We will take care of him. All you have to do now, our Oso, is say yes.”
Jenna marched right up, closing the space between them. She stood on tiptoe to kiss them each on the cheek. Then, with a fire blazing in her eyes, she said, “Yes. Yes, I choose you. I choose both of you.”
Twenty-One
The triad made its way through the Drokten Main with purpose in their stride.
Hiren led the pack this morning because this was his domain.
They made their way across the lobby. Jenna’s heels clicked as she walked, her hips swaying in the sexy new dress they’d purchased for her. Hiren wore his formal diplomatic black and gray chest plate, almost matching Sevith’s embossed commander plate. The two Drokten walked on either side of their female in protective formation. She stood between them as they entered the elevator. The sliding doors closed in front of them and Sevith coded in the exact floor they wanted. Then the lift began to move.
Meanwhile, Hiren couldn’t keep his eyes off Jenna’s perfect teats under the fabric of that new blue dress they’d talked her into purchasing. Drokten blue. She’d shown an interest in the clothing, and Hiren as well as Sevith, had both wanted her to have it. It nipped at her waist and exposed much of her shapely legs, and it made him want her in his arms and his tongue in her mouth. Their human female was so soft and fuckable.
“Now is not the time,” Sevith remarked out loud. “You can have her later.”
“The time for what?” Jenna asked.
Sevith met her gaze. “The time to breed you,” he rasped. “We will do that tonight.”
“Oh… you will?” she glanced down, fingering her skirt and brushing off imaginary dust. “Heh. Promises, promises…” she quipped.
Hiren let out a bark of laughter. She wants us to claim her as soon as possible.
Sevith’s lips twitched. She will soon get her wish, he responded.
Jenna looked up again. “Are we sure we’re prepared for this?” their female asked, changing the topic. “I don’t want to go in there unless I know we’re ready.”
“For the fifth time,” Hiren answered in a gentle tone, smiling kindly at her, “I have done my homework, as you humans say. I promise we are more than ready.”
“Drokten may be more prone to war than your people,” Sevith spoke up, “but that does not mean we lack subterfuge. I would have rather had the human officials brought in and interrogated until we got what we wanted, but Hiren’s work got us everything we needed.
“I reached out to our communications officers,” Hiren said with a faint smile that betrayed just a touch of his smugness. “After pulling a few strings, I more than confirmed what you suspected.”
“And just so we’re all on the same page,” Jenna said, “is that what he’s expecting to hear when we walk into this meeting with him?”
“Oh, that,” Hiren said with a dismissive wave. “I received his agenda for the day from one of his aides who has been interested in helping our cause. He is in a meeting, yes, but he is not expecting us.”
Jenna’s eyes widened, but Hiren simply smiled at her.
There was no need to go into all the gory details of how he got this information, but he’d kept eyes and ears in the right places. Hiren was experienced with diplomacy, and he knew what was expected at a place like Drokten Main. He fully anticipated that humans were gathering all the data on the Drokten they could, openly or otherwise. And so, he didn’t think it was unbecoming of him to do some digging on the humans in return.
It hadn’t taken many inquiries with his intelligence officers to start noticing spies. Secretary Wells had been given a striking amount of liberty and authority to oversee the pairing of human women with Drokten mates, and that meant nobody but Wells himself could cover up his digital print. According to Hiren’s informants, Wells got too greedy. He didn’t cover his tracks well enough, and that made it easy to identify no less than six of the agents Jenna claimed he had been recruiting to spy on the Drokten. And that was only one piece of a puzzle that was coming to his desk very swiftly.
Sevith and Jenna had agreed that Hiren ought to do most of the talking, being that he was the most equipped to handle this kind of situation. But if they thought Hiren was going to be gentle, they had another thing coming. This human male had put their Oso and her siblings at risk. He’d also formed a large network of humans who were plotting to break the peace accord between the Drokten and the humans, and Wells and his sycophants wanted all Drokten dead in the process.
The secretary was about to pay for his treachery.
The elevator doors slid open on the thirtieth floor. Secretary Wells was supposed to be holding a meeting that hour. Their triad made its way down the hall. Hiren reached the doors of the correct conference room and flung them open. He and Sevith both marched in as if they were aboard their own ship, nostrils flaring and eyes blazing with bloodlust. All the humans in the room froze, and Hiren held back a smile as he realized they were indeed interrupting something important, just as he’d planned.
Your excitement is palpable, Sevith pointed out.
Quiet, we’ve always wanted to storm into a human meeting like this, he quipped.
A grim smile of satisfaction spread across Sevith’s face.
“Secretary Richard Wells,” Hiren bellowed, eyes flitting to the man in question, who looked like he’d just witnessed a shadow charge from the pits of fire. “On behalf of the Drokten Council, I demand a word with you.”
Wells sat at the head of a large, glassy black conference table that nearly a dozen other older humans sat at, all of them equally shocked at the triad’s sudden appearance. On the screen behind the table appeared to be some kind of presentation displaying various numbers and charts, and it was unclear what the exact purpose of this meeting was. Hiren didn’t care. Whatever it was had just come to a screeching halt, and it was less important than what Hiren had in mind, as far as he was concerned.
Wells’ jaw dropped, and everyone else in the room looked more or less as shocked. After a moment, Wells pushed his glasses up his nose, cleared his throat, and stood from his chair. “What an unexpected surprise,” the male said, barely restraining himself as he tried to keep his cool. “Ambassador Hiren, Commander Sevith, and I see you’ve arrived with Jenna Perry… Thank you for dropping in so unexpectedly. Just give me a moment to call this meeting to a recess, and I can—”
“That will not be necessary.” Hiren strode to the front of the room, silencing Wells with a wave. Wells blinked a few times, staring in disbelief as Hiren made his way up to him and set a simple Drokten data tablet, which contained the seal of the council, on the table before him. Hiren stood so close to Wells that he could almost smell the man’s fear. Hiren turned and spoke to the other humans. “I am here to inform you and all other humans on this planet that the Drokten fleet no longer agrees to carry out any negotiations or agreements with respect to human-Drokten relations as long as Mr. Wells is orchestrating these affairs.”
“Ambassador Hiren,” a human woman with iron-gray
hair said, leaning forward with a look of utter confusion on her face. “Rest assured, the human authorities from all of Earth’s governments will be happy to take this issue concerning Mr. Wells seriously, but this is a shocking interruption to an unrelated meeting. If you would—”
“What I find shocking,” Hiren said to the female politician, whom he knew well. In fact, he knew all of these humans. And he also knew that none of them were in on the conspiracy, which was why he and Sevith and the Drokten fleet were still here, willing to negotiate in good faith. Richard Wells was the single operative who needed to be eliminated for peace to continue between their species.
Hiren took a step toward Secretary Wells. The man took one back on reflex, flinching away. Hiren never tore his eyes from the weaker male. “The evidence you need is on this tablet, which is right now being remotely uploaded to all of your data services. You will see I have compiled a long list of correspondences and financial exchanges that prove Secretary Wells’ direct involvement in hostile actions against the Drokten people.”
There was a collective gasp from the humans in the room. They all began picking up their own tablets to check the evidence.
“This is a baseless accusation,” Wells spat.
An uneasy murmur went up around the crowd of human authorities. They looked at their screens and then between each other before looking back at the triad while whispering under their breaths in alarm.
Wells turned to the humans, smoothing his hair out and attempting a feeble smile. “Ladies and gentlemen, please accept my apologies for this outburst. The Drokten are not always understanding of human customs.”
“We understand perfectly well, Mr. Wells,” Hiren said, advancing on the male and making him back up steadily. “I, for instance, understand what a poorly hidden spy looks like on payroll, and how the females on your guest list for the mating accords gathering was riddled with enough agents to staff a small battleship!”
“This is a misunderstanding,” Wells croaked, wide eyes looking desperately at the other officials at the table. “That woman over there infiltrated the gathering I organized last week,” he snapped, pointing to their Oso. “She has been misleading our Drokten guests with these unfounded accusations.”
A growl rumbled in Hiren’s throat. His arm shot out and he pushed Wells back against the thick glass window of the Drokten Main tower overlooking the city below. Instincts boiling up in Hiren’s body made him want to tear Wells apart right then and there, but he contained himself just enough not to actually eliminate his enemy in front of the other humans.
“Ambassador Hiren, this is a very serious matter you’ve brought to our attention,” the same woman said as half the room stood uneasily around Hiren’s display of power. “Secretary Wells was tasked with facilitating the cooperation of our species, and if these accusations are legitimate, we will take swift action to correct it.”
“This is all due to Jenna Perry’s accusations,” Wells barked at the others. “You aren’t listening to this alien-crazed woman, are you?”
Sevith wrapped a defensive arm around Jenna, holding her close.
“I’m the only one qualified for this position,” Wells continued. “He just wants someone spineless in my place so it’s easier for them to get the upper hand!”
“Secretary Wells,” one of the humans shouted back, “stop with these ridiculous outbursts.”
“If this male continues to threaten our triad and Jenna’s family,” Hiren snarled, half-tempted to thrust Wells through the window and let gravity be the judge of his crimes. “I will immediately eliminate him.” The humans didn’t realize how much restraint Hiren was exercising. It wasn’t unheard of for Drokten negotiations to turn violent from time to time.
Wells opened his mouth to comment and then quickly closed it. This was the only reason he remained alive.
“Mr. Wells, I am suspending your authority as a human representative at this facility,” the female in charge said, glaring at the secretary, “pending an investigation into the handling of the accords and a thorough character review. Effective immediately.”
“Madame President,” said another male at the table, bowing his head respectfully, “I sense there has been a gross miscarriage of diplomacy here. Drokten Main exists to foster friendliness between our two species, and Mr. Wells’ role was meant to round that out to its fullest potential. Regardless of seeing any evidence, I can tell that aspect has clearly been...mishandled,” he said with a glare at an incredulous Wells. “I fear there will be criminal charges.”
“I suggest,” Sevith spoke up, “that you consider assigning such jobs based on merit and experience. Someone who knows the details of human-Drokten relations intimately would be much more suited than some wealthy politician. Someone like Jenna Perry,” he didn’t fail to add, looking down affectionately at their Oso.
Hiren’s heart was pounding, and he allowed himself a triumphant smile at Wells, who clenched his jaw.
Their Oso elbowed Sevith in his side. “Don’t suggest me! And um, we can worry about all that later,” Jenna said with a nervous smile that diffused the tension in the room. Her voice alone soothed Hiren’s raging nerves. “All I want right now is to be able to claim these two Drokten as my husbands and live with them in peace.”
“I think we can all agree on that,” the high-ranking human female said, pressing a button on the conference table. “Security, please send an escort to Conference Room 44-B. I need one of our staff members detained for questioning. And, Miss Perry,” the female said, “I want you to know, on behalf of all of Earth’s governments, that we are happy for you and Commander Sevith as well as Ambassador Hiren. I am hoping you will let us create some sort of celebration to mark this occasion.”
Sevith gave the human a curt nod of approval. Their Oso gave a watery smile of gratitude.
“Take your time,” Hiren proclaimed to the group, not moving his arm an inch from where it held Wells’ uneasy form. “I’ve been waiting for the chance to watch him squirm.”
Twenty-Two
As entertaining as it was, making their enemies pay for their treachery, Hiren couldn’t have been more relieved to be back aboard the Avash.
The human authorities were eager to keep them talking at Drokten Main for as long as possible, mostly to make sure that he and Sevith weren’t about to pull out of Earth and trigger an intergalactic dispute. Hiren had no intention of that, but he hadn’t minded using that to their advantage in insisting on a hasty retreat.
They were long overdue for a rest, and what was more, they had family to tend to.
“I cannot believe this is real,” Bea said in an awe tinged voice.
Hiren walked down a long corridor of the ship with Jenna’s sister on one side and Noah on the other. Sevith and Jenna were bringing up the rear, mostly to ensure little Noah didn’t make a break for it the second he saw something interesting. And he was finding something interesting every five steps.
“Whoa!” the boy gasped as they passed a room where two Drokten were sparring with each other. Sparring was a routine part of a Drokten warrior’s life. “Can I do that?” he asked.
“That’s for Drokten,” Jenna said quickly, which made the boy somewhat crestfallen. “...we’ll talk about it,” she backpedaled noncommittally, and that seemed to give him enough hope that he had a spring in his step.
“You are very young, Noah,” Hiren said with a soft laugh. “Humans are not warrior trained from an early age as Drokten are, but I think some of our computer simulations might be suitable for you to start with, if you find yourself with a little too much energy.”
Jenna gave Hiren a look, but Sevith squeezed her hand reassuringly. Both the Drokten knew that while the simulations were harmless, they could be changed to a child setting.
Hiren glanced over to Bea. “The same goes for you, of course,” he added.
Bea, was staring into an open officers’ lounge. The Drokten inside were staring openly at their group. She looked up at him in confusi
on. “What?”
“Females as well as males participate in warrior training,” he explained. “And if you do not find that suitable, you of course have access to our extensive digital libraries from Drokt. You can access them from your tablet. I will give you a subscription code.”
That seemed to get her attention, but she looked back to Jenna with worry in her eyes. “Thank you, that...sounds fantastic, but I can’t read Drokten.”
“Oh, this is no problem. Every Drokten who comes into contact with humans has a universal human translation chip implanted into their brains. The quick, painless procedure allows us to speak, read and write a variety of human languages.”
“That’s how you can all speak English so well? I didn’t know that was why.”
“Yes.”
“You can speak all the languages on the planet? Even Russian?” Noah questioned.
“Even Mandarin? And French and Italian?” Bea asked, wonder in her voice.
“Yes, all of them,” Hiren answered proudly. “And if you want, we can do the same procedure for you in reverse. We can implant the Drokten language chip into your brains. That will allow you to speak, read and write Drokten. We will have the finest tutors available on Drokt to finish your education once we arrive there, but already knowing Drokt will make it easier for you to learn and to make friends with the other Drokten children,” he added.
The group got into an elevator, and Sevith directed the lift to the officers’ quarters, where all of them would be staying. But as the doors started to slide shut behind them, they turned to see a number of Drokten warriors who had stuck their heads out from the various rooms they had passed. Most of them were trying not to look too obvious, but others didn’t hide their curiosity.