by Alma Nilsson
But Tir grabbed her hand forcefully, “Don’t you ever raise a hand to me you barbaric, human. I will tame you if it is the last thing I ever do in this galaxy.” He saw the look of shock on her face and wanted to take back his racist comment but could not. He had already said it.
When Tir let go of her hand, she slapped him hard, “Don’t you ever call me a barbarian. You’re the one who forced me to marry you. Sex is one thing, but marriage is an archaic and cruel practice which is why most of the galaxy, as you know, illustrious Alliance Admiral, gave it up centuries if not millennia ago.”
Tir looked at her and said icily, “Would you rather I married you off to one of my junior officers? I could have. I thought you deserved better than that,” and he wanted to add, ‘And I have loved you since the moment I set eyes on you,’ but instead said, “But I would not have trusted you to have married anyone less than your equal, otherwise without a doubt, we would have had a mini-revolution of human women on our hands in less than a couple of years.” She still looked angry, even though he was paying her a huge compliment. “Kara, listen to me. We’re going to have fantastic sex — we’ re not going to be murdered by anyone anytime soon if we can help it. You’re going to get your own ship again, and we’re going to save both the Alliance and human civilizations. But we need human women to balance our numbers. The sooner we have a child, the better we can maybe figure out what has happened with our own women. In return, the Alliance will protect Earth, and you must admit you need protection. The Alliance will allow humans to develop as they would choose, except for a few differences, women and protection. As my wife, you are not a pet, but for the moment, you are still my prisoner. The sooner you accept your position, the sooner I can trust you and then you can start freely enjoying your new status in the galaxy as an Alliance citizen.” When she did not reply immediately, he asked, “Right?”
“I guess when you put it like that, it does not sound too terrible given my other option was death by your command.” She did not add that, ‘And it still might be.’
He mistook her face expression, “I know you don’t hate me. We don’t know each other well, but there is something between us. You do not have to believe in religion or destiny to feel that.”
She nodded, “Fine, I just want to sleep now.”
They got back into bed, and he turned out the lights. He held her, and after a long silence, she said, “I think the gods sent me to you to keep you from being Emperor. I always want to be on a ship, out free in the galaxy.”
“Me too,” he agreed.
In the morning, he woke up before her and got out of bed to check his ships’ statuses. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened during the night. He made sure his squire had her shoes made by the time he brought breakfast for them. When breakfast was laid out, he went into the bedroom to wake Kara. She was sleeping so soundly he did not want to wake her, but he knew that she would be upset if she missed another meal, so he said her name gently. She didn’t stir. He touched her arm, and she shooed him away. Then he picked her up and stood her up on her feet and instantly, she tried to get back into bed. He picked her up again and smacked her rear.
“Really?” she murmured, rubbing where he had smacked her. He saw she had some bruises from last night and he wanted to kiss those away but reminded himself that he would have to do that later as they had things to do this morning.
“I didn’t want to wake you, but I knew you wouldn’t want to miss breakfast.” Tir left her standing naked next to the bed with her eyes closed. He went to his wardrobe and got out a clean dress for her and some warm, black stockings. He placed them on the edge of the bed for her.
Kara slowly began putting on her clothes. First, the thigh-high stockings which felt nice and warm and then the navy dress. She struggled with the clasps and after some minutes had only managed three out of ten clasps before he came to her rescue. “I’m making progress,” she said sarcastically.
Tir smiled but didn’t say anything.
Thanks,” she said when he had finished helping her.
He handed her the necklace he had given her to signify their marriage, “You should wear this.”
“Every day?”
“Alliance women would wear it often at intervals with the jewelry they already had.”
“I will skip today as my interval,” she saw some disappointment cross his face, and she couldn’t believe it would mean so much to him. “It’s heavy, and I’m not accustomed to wearing any jewelry. Get me something much smaller, and I’ll wear it daily if that makes you happy,” she lied
“Don’t lie to me. You are terrible at it. In the Alliance, your jewelry reflects my status. If I got you something, small people might not think I’m much more than a slave.”
“How many Alliance men are married to human women?”
“One.”
“One other than you?”
He shook his head and motioned his finger between them, “Only us.”
“Good. Then there will be no confusion. Everyone will know I am your wife dressed in these clothes as I guarantee there is a good reason no other women in the galaxy ever willingly wear Alliance dresses and I need not wear any jewelry. But I do need shoes.”
“You think Alliance dresses are unattractive?” he was surprised. He thought they were attractive.
She looked at him in disbelief.
Just then, the door chimed, and the young man who was becoming a familiar fixture came in with shoes for her. He laid them in front of her. They were flat, black boots and looked warm and comfortable. Kara put them on immediately and felt much better, almost good enough to wear his jewelry as she reminded herself to try to make him as happy as possible.
When the young man left, Kara asked, “What is his name?”
“Squire Mux, you can refer to him as Mux. Now let’s eat.”
Kara sat down to another bland breakfast of some form of bread and bland vegetables, like potatoes but with less texture if that was even possible. She was still starving though, so she ate everything and then asked, “Do you have coffee or tea? A warm drink, perhaps?”
“No, only water or wine. In the Capital City, we have begun importing human drinks and food. When you move there…”
She interrupted him, “I’m not leaving you given that I could be assassinated now that I’m your wife.”
“I can only keep you here as long as the war continues. After that, you will have to leave.”
“No, you will give me a ship after the war if not before,” she said determinedly.
“We’ll discuss it when the time comes. As I’ve said many times, you must prove yourself, and I mean really prove yourself.” He had not considered that she would want to remain with him. It was forbidden of course, but if he was being honest with himself, he never wanted her to leave either. “Now you must go to your ship and get your things, then inform your crew of their futures. I would prefer it if you wore the necklace I gave you yesterday not for your crew but for mine. We are married.”
Kara said nothing but nodded acquiesces.
Then they both rose from the table.
Tir retrieved the necklace from the bedroom and put it on her. “Let’s go,” he said, and they walked out the door together trailed by four, large, heavily-armed Alliance guards.
“You’re not taking any chances, are you?”
“You managed to take out more than one Alliance ship with your inferior vessel. One ship could have been luck, but any more than that was skill. I’d never make the mistake of underestimating you.”
They arrived at the docking bay, and there was her Dakota. The Admiral and his guards followed her onboard the old ship. She was not ashamed; it was a great ship and had served her well. She would be sad to see it go without her. Kara went to her small quarters; that was just a room with a bunk and a desk. Only the Admiral followed her in. She got down a duffel bag and started putting clothes and things in it. She had an extra uniform and asked, “Do you mind if I wear this to speak to
my crew, it might be the last time they see me for quite some time.”
Tir stopped investigating all the random human things he had become fascinated with on her small desk and considered her question. “Fine, but this is a favor I am doing for you, do not forget it. I’ll want something in return later.”
Kara nodded and took off the dress and necklace and laid them politely on the bed as she took out a pair of underwear and a matching bra, she never thought she would be so happy to see them and put them on. She specifically chose the one sexy pair she had onboard, thinking Tir may appreciate them.
“What are those ghastly things,” he asked, looking at her bra and underwear with slight disgust.
“Undergarments. Human women like to wear them for comfort.”
“Those undergarments look unattractive,” he said and wondered if human clothing was so uncomfortable humans had to cover their more sensitive areas with extra clothing. “If you wear those undergarments under your Alliance dresses, I’ll cut them off.”
Kara turned around and gave him a skeptical look.
Tir just shook his head, “I’m giving you fair warning.”
Kara was not one to be intimidated, “I’d love to see you use your sword to do that without hurting me. Don’t think for a second I would just stand still and let you ruin some of my clothing.” She smiled to herself thinking Alliance men probably found the ugly dress I had on before attractive if they think black lace bras and underwear are unattractive.
Kara put on her red uniform then and zipped it up. She felt much better now. Then Kara slipped the dress and necklace into her bag with her other things. She also was sure to grab some old-fashioned pictures of her parents from her desk, a book, her computer, and all her other personal items that were the most important to her. When she finished, she turned to him, “We are going to take some coffee and tea too, come on,” and she led him to the mess where she pillaged not only coffee and tea but some spices as well.
“Is that everything?” Tir asked.
She nodded.
Tir then motioned for one of his guards to take her belongings, “Take Captain Kara’s personal items to my quarters after it is all thoroughly inspected.” Tir did not want to take any chances.
Kara was annoyed by the use of her name incorrectly and that his guards would inspect her things. She focused on the improper use of her name first, “That’s not my name,” she admonished.
“Your family name is now the same as mine, and we do not use family names in general conversation, so yes, that is your name. Come.”
Kara walked with him out of the docking bay and down the corridor. She wanted to correct him again, to defend her name, a name that she would always have, but soon they entered the brig, and she became solemn seeing her crew behind the forcefield. They all stood up and saluted her. She had never felt so guilty in her entire life.
Kara addressed her male crew first. She had no doubt they had heard what had happened that she had been forced into marriage with the Admiral to save their lives.
“All male members of the crew Dakota will return to Earth with the promise to the Alliance not to engage in this war any further as terms of the agreement I have made with the Alliance through Admiral Tir.” After she finished her announcement, their forcefield went down, and her male crew was hastily escorted away by the extra guards before she could even say proper farewells. But Kara made eye contact with all of her men as they walked by her in a single file line. Their faces all said one thing to her, ‘This is not over, Captain,’ and she wholeheartedly agreed. This story was far from over.
Then Kara moved to stand in front of the holding cell where her female crew were waiting to hear their fate. She looked at them all evenly, “All female crew of the Dakota will be sent to the Alliance Capital Planet to be married to Alliance men. They have a demographics problem. We must sacrifice ourselves to preserve humanity. I have been assured that if we cooperate, less human women will be taken.” Kara had been assured of no such thing, but she couldn’t tell these women that they were just being taken as wives, a social practice that was only observed by the most backward of civilizations in the galaxy. “Alliance men will treat you with respect and there are laws to protect you. Ask for new translators so you can read and stay in contact with each other. Be strong and be proud to be human. They need us more than we need them right now, don’t forget that. I will find you all.” Kara felt guilty and silently vowed that she would escape and free them from this Alliance slavery, even if it took the rest of her life. These women were her responsibility, and no one owned human women.
Kara looked at her crew and let them protest. She hated that she was doing this to them, and she vowed she would retrieve every last one of them from the Alliance.
Tir looked at Kara, “Calm your crew, Wife.” He purposely used her new title to humble her in front of her crew because he knew humans thought it was a disgrace to be married.
Kara pretended she didn’t hear him. She knew he would do nothing to hurt her or them. The Alliance desperately needed human women as they were too religious to employ their superior medical technology to manipulate nature. When she saw the last woman go through the door, she said under her breath, “Don’t give up on me.”
Prisoner
Kara watched the last woman walked onto the transport that would take them to the supply ship and then on to the Alliance Capital Planet, and sighed, “It’s better than being dead.”
“If you all assimilate soon, you will be together again on an Alliance starship,” he said frankly, “Superior and more important lives than you could have led with the human fleet.”
“Why do you keep saying that?” she was trying not to be rude, as she wanted to win his favor and escape as soon as possible, but keeping an even temper when he kept repeating this ridiculous notions of his was grating on her nerves. “Not everything in life is about being the best. We are human. I’m human. My heart will always long for Earth.” She looked up at him. He was a bit shocked by her little speech. “You better get used to hearing that as it will not change as long as I’m alive.”
He smiled then, “We’ll see about that, Kara. Alliance citizenship is a gift. You must begin to come to a compromise in your heart,” he lightly touched her chest where her heart was located to mark his meaning.
Kara was just annoyed. She felt guilty for putting those 26 women from her crew in this situation.
When she didn’t follow him immediately, the guards pushed her forward a little then she started walking behind him to their next destination. She wished she was heading back to Earth with her entire crew, not here married to this alien, not sending her female crew off to be alien brides. And underlying everything, she was especially upset with herself for enjoying his touch so much.
Tir was amused by her little speech about being human. He liked her pride and loyalty to her own, despite them being so lowly in the galaxy. At least when he had earned her respect and trustworthiness, it would be real.
They were making their way to the conference room now. He was going to have a strategy meeting with all his captains. He wanted Kara to be there to put her on the spot about Jahay locations and ships. He had purposely not told her about this so that she would have no time to prepare adequate lies. He only wished he could have kept more than her doctor behind as a hostage to hold over her head, but it would be better for the Alliance and his relationship with Kara if he showed some compassion towards the humans in his care now.
Kara realized after a couple minutes of walking that they were not returning to his quarters. Her mind was racing with possibilities, all of them terrible. It crossed her mind that he was going to torture her for information about the war and the Jahay. Tir was correct before in assuming that the Jahay did not share such information with her, but of course, she and her crew had easily intercepted and decoded their communications, and she knew a lot more than she was supposed to. However, now that her crew was gone, he had very little leverage over her. She
wondered then if he thought she would tell him what he wanted, she reckoned he would be arrogant enough to think so. One thing was clear for her, though, she had no loyalty to the Jahay. True they had never taken Earth as slaves or tried to colonize them, and they were supposedly humanity’s ally, but they had forced humanity into their war, and it was because of them, she and her crew were now in this strange situation with the Alliance. The Jahay were in dispute with the Alliance over some occupied space, far from Earth and Jahai. But this had nothing to do with humanity or Earth, and she felt little loyalty towards the Jahay. Another truth was that the Admiral had saved her entire crew, granted he had ulterior motives for the women, but he had still saved them and allowed the men to return to Earth unharmed.
When they arrived at the large conference room with a table, and twenty-some chairs all occupied with Alliance officers, she then knew what was going on. There were two chairs empty, one at the head of the table and the other next to it on the side. Tir pointed to a chair next to his for Kara to sit down, and she sat without speaking. She was just happy she was wearing her uniform to show that she was not just some human woman married to Admiral Tir. Every time she remembered she was married, it sent a wave of shame through her. Although she righted herself now and looked back defiantly at all the curious Alliance men, who were staring at her, they all had the same color grey skin and long black hair, just like humans, their facial features varied. She then looked up at Tir and thought, Well, at least I don’t find you attractive because you are exotic to me as an Alliance, you are good-looking among your people too.
Tir did not look at Kara but instead addressed his captains, “As you all know the last battle with the Jahay was a success.”
Kara doubted he used the word ‘success’ often by the reaction of the other men. And she could verify it from her end as well, and it had been a clean and well-won victory.
Tir brought up a virtual map above the conference room table of this section of the galaxy with Alliance and Jahay ships marked. He began discussing the battle, fast-forwarding through to different events, stopping at different times to talk about how things had happened to either criticize or praise some of his captains.