“Does he have any recommendations in the interim?” Miv asked.
“He says to try moving slowly while letting her know we are in charge. Push her limits a bit at a time. Attempt a small amount of nonthreatening touch to begin with, perhaps.”
Simdow thought it over. As he did so, he noted how Katherine watched them all closely. Her shoulders still hunched defensively and she kept her hands cupped in her lap, as if to shield her sex.
He didn’t want her afraid. He didn’t want Miv upset. Still, Simdow could understand the need to test Katherine a little bit from time to time.
The Dramok gave his attention to his worried Nobek clanmate. “All right. I’ll work on a few ideas on how to get her to let us closer—”
He was interrupted by his portable com’s urgent summons to answer. He pulled the small rectangle from his belt and spoke into the flat device. “First Officer Simdow here.”
Captain Tranis’ voice came through loud and clear. “Simdow, I need you to report to the bridge.”
Damn it, he’d not had nearly enough time with Katherine, but they were in an emergency situation. Simdow had known his rest shift wouldn’t last the full measure. Keeping his tone respectful, he answered, “Yes, Captain. On my way.”
No sooner had he clicked off when Miv’s com came to life. He was ordered to the brig for guard duty.
Still speaking Kalquorian, Simdow looked his Imdiko. “Vadef, perhaps you can work with her? Get her a bit more comfortable?”
Vadef looked at Katherine, and his gentle smile spread over his face. “I’ll do my best, my Dramok.”
Simdow turned to her as well. “Miv and I must report for duty, my Matara. Vadef will remain with you. Whatever you need: food, drink – simply let him know.”
She bit her lip as if bothered by something. Simdow needed to get to the bridge, but he waited patiently for her to say whatever was on her mind.
Finally, she said, “May I ask you for a favor, Dramok Simdow?”
“You may ask me for whatever you like.”
Katherine peered up at him, tension easing at his warm tone. “Will you check on the girls before you return? Just to make sure they’re not sick or hurt?”
He nodded. “I will. If you can think of anything to make them feel better, let me know.”
“Marci will want her stuffed bear if she doesn’t already have it. It’s a toy that comforts her. She doesn’t sleep well without it.”
Simdow was pleased to be able to do something to make the fierce child who had confronted Miv feel better. Moreover, it would make Katherine feel better. “I will com the men on the colony and make sure she gets it.”
Katherine gave him a small but real smile that made his heart thump hard. “Thank you.”
Simdow and Miv took their leave, heading in the same direction for the ship’s transport system. The Dramok was startled when his clanmate suddenly spoke with feeling.
“I hope we can earn her trust.”
Simdow drew a deep breath. Miv was touched and already caring for Katherine to speak in such an open manner about his wishes, wishes that Simdow shared with all his being.
“We will do all it takes to make it so,” he assured his clanmate.
At the transports they went their separate ways, Simdow already counting down the seconds until he would see Katherine again.
* * * *
Katherine felt some relief when Simdow and Miv left her alone with the smallest and least threatening man of their group. She still shrank a little from Vadef when he left the desk to sit next to her. He settled on the edge of the bed close enough that she could feel his body heat. It made her feel squirmy and strange inside.
She peered up at him. He was the most beautiful of his clan, though all three men possessed arresting features. Katherine had seen the initial vids of Kalquorians before Earth’s propaganda machine had kicked in. The official vids shown to Earthers had altered the aliens’ looks, making them into demonic-seeming creatures. The makeup and computer generators had rendered the nearly Earther-identical Kalquorians into monstrous creatures fit for the deepest pit of Hell.
Having seen the earliest images of the would-be beasts from the Kalquorian Empire had been part of the reason Katherine had wanted to meet with them. They were so similar to her race. They looked like super-humans with their tall, muscled bodies. They hadn’t seemed malevolent at all. And if they didn’t follow her religion, what of it? Misguided didn’t mean wicked.
Vadef was regarding her as well, his expression so hopeful he almost resembled a young boy hoping for a special treat. His face was far too open and guileless to belong to someone evil. His smile was too sweet. How could he possibly be wicked?
“Your name is Va – Vadef, right?” She stumbled a little over the coarse syllables.
The Imdiko smiled bigger, as if delighted to hear her say his name. “Yes. What can I get for you, Matara? Some food? Something to drink perhaps?”
“Water?”
He was up in an instant, seeming happy that he could do something for her. He opened a door that suddenly appeared in the seamless wall and drew out a transparent pouch full of liquid. He opened it and brought it to her.
Katherine took a sip, then a bigger gulp. She hadn’t realized how thirsty she was. After a few more swallows, she finally lowered the pouch.
“Better?” Vadef asked.
“Much. Thank you.”
She took another sip and Vadef sat down next to her again. This time he sat so close that their bodies brushed lightly. Katherine froze.
Her stomach tumbled in a wash of warmth. A sense of dizziness overcame her, yet her whole body seemed extremely aware of its surroundings – especially of the man right next to her. Her heart pounded as a ticklish shiver ran up her spine.
Katherine wondered if she was getting sick. Her stomach often bothered her, but this was a different sensation from what she was used to. She definitely felt strange. Squirmy. Twisty. Hot.
Vadef shifted next to her. His body was so warm. He wasn’t much taller than her, but he was definitely bulkier. His arms were more than twice the circumference of hers, as were his legs. She thought despite being the smallest Kalquorian she’d seen so far, he was still much stronger than her.
Her stomach coiled tighter. A fine tremble had taken over her body. She was definitely getting sick, though the sensations weren’t unpleasant. They were certainly nothing like the pains she suffered from several times a day.
Katherine looked around the room to distract herself from Vadef’s heat. A vid still of him and his clanmates hung on the wall to her right. They were all in their black uniforms, but not a single one of them was stiff or formal looking. The trio of Simdow, Miv, and Vadef looked back at her from some recent moment in time, glasses of green-tinged liquid raised as if toasting to her good health. Their grins made them seem boyish. Katherine couldn’t help but smile a little in response. They looked very happy.
Vadef shifted again, and once more Katherine was aware of how insubstantial she was sitting next to him. “You’re all so big,” she murmured.
He chuckled. “I’m not nearly as big as my clanmates. Or most Kalquorians, for that matter. I’m more like Earther-sized.”
Katherine shrugged and dared to look up at his smiling face. “Earthers come in different sizes and shapes too.”
“So I’ve noticed.” He cocked his head inquiringly. “You’re tall for a female of your kind, but rather thin. Have you been ill?”
“My stomach hurts when I eat. I have a lot of responsibility, so I think I’m just stressed.” Whatever was going on with her now, she might be able to attribute to stress as well, Katherine realized. Her stomach still roiled in that funny, not-bad way. It was kind of like being scared but not quite.
Vadef’s expression became concerned at her admission of pain. “Hmm. We did quick handheld medical scans of all of you. Yours didn’t show anything of note, but a deep scan might be a good idea just to make certain. I’ll schedule it.”
Katherine drew a little away from him. She needed some space between them, though his warmth felt nice. “I’m sure it’s not necessary. I don’t want to see your doctors.”
“Dr. Degorsk is very good. He’s funny too.” Vadef sounded as if he was trying to encourage a frightened child. “I know all about doctors, and our ship’s head medic is one of the best I’ve met. I was sick for a long, long time when I was a child. That’s why I’m smaller than the norm for my people.”
Katherine’s interest piqued. She hated for anyone to suffer, especially children. This Kalquorian who had been nothing but nice so far deserved sympathy for extended illness. “What was wrong with you? You look perfectly healthy now.”
“Oh yes, I’m all over it. I was born with a compromised immune system. It didn’t function properly, and I was constantly picking up every infection and virus that was around.”
She felt a pang to hear he’d been ill as a baby. “How long were you like that?”
“Until I was 17. My doctors found a new therapy that worked, and I’ve been just like everyone else ever since.” Vadef smiled as if to prove how healthy he was.
Poor Vadef. He’d missed out on a normal childhood then. He was the least frightening of his clan, too. It was awful how the most innocent tended to be the ones to suffer the greatest.
Curious to know more, Katherine asked, “You’re an Imdiko? The gentle breed?”
Vadef gave her a surprised and delighted smile. “That’s right. Actually, Imdiko translates into ‘caregiver’. My breed is known for the urge to tend to others’ needs, to make them happy and comfortable.”
“You have the kindest expression of your clan,” she told him.
He rushed to reassure her. “Simdow and Miv are kind too, my Matara. It’s just that they’re geared to leadership and protection.”
“Or fighting? Your Nobek didn’t get that crooked nose or those scars from being kind,” Katherine pointed out.
Vadef flushed to be corrected. “Nobeks are very much warriors and they can be quite uncontrollable as children. However, they are not aggressive against women … at least not usually. I can tell you with all assurance that Miv cannot stand to see a female suffer violence.” His tone became firm as he defended his clanmate.
“That’s good to know,” Katherine said. “He’s quite intimidating. That leaves Simdow as the Dramok. He’s a member of the breed that leads the clan and the Empire in most cases.”
Vadef nodded. “How is it you know so much about Kalquorians, Katherine?”
She drew a deep breath. “When our people began to have problems with each other, I thought the Church should make an effort to find common ground. I researched the little bit I was able to find in hopes of being part of that.”
Vadef gave her a half-smile that was as sad as it was kind. “I guess your hopes didn’t exactly come to pass. We Kalquorians didn’t want to fight the very people we were hoping could save us.”
Katherine’s neck ached from staying turned in his direction. She twisted her body around to face him. It helped lessen their closeness. She felt a sense of relief, but at the same time she had the sensation of loss.
She frowned, and Vadef leaned close, his expression worried. Katherine quickly rearranged her expression to be friendlier.
She invited him, “Tell me about the problem with your kind, Vadef. You’re truly going extinct?”
He nodded, his gaze going distant. The worry on his features deepened. “In less than 300 years. Too few females survive being born, and the few that make it to adulthood are rarely able to have children.”
Katherine said, “Your people are known for so many medical and technical breakthroughs, though.”
Vadef sighed. “It’s true. Most of my people also have extremely hardy genetic material, which keeps us healthy for the most part. Unfortunately, it’s also this characteristic that has made it impossible to reverse the damage we sustained when the virus that caused our women’s infertility became an epidemic.” Sorrow made his face more poignant than ever. “It couldn’t have been more devastating to the Empire than if it had been custom-made to eradicate us.”
Katherine had to restrain the urge to stroke his unhappy face. “What a terrible loss. And what horror that it has reduced you to abducting innocent Earther women.”
Vadef’s gaze jerked to her face. His eyes widened. “Please don’t see us as monsters, Katherine.”
“I don’t. I see desperation that leads to monstrous acts.”
Had Vadef looked miserable before? It was nothing compared to the hurt on his expression now. Katherine hated that she had put that emotion on his face, but she could not tell him lies just to make him feel better. Not when he and his kind were destroying lives to save their own.
The Kalquorians needed to own up to the truth of their actions, no matter what hopelessness had made them feel they had no choice.
Chapter 6
Simdow hurried to his quarters after coming off duty. It had been a long but exciting day. They’d captured General Hamilton who had the information that would allow the Kalquorian fleet to invade Earth and end this stupid war. They’d found many women to help save his race. Better still, he had a Matara for his own clan, an actual woman to share his life with.
He was nervous too. Simdow had read the medical team’s reports on the Earther women they’d captured. On the advice of the Kalquorian medical and psychological boards, the spyship’s men had begun the process of re-educating the other women to accept sex as a natural and pleasurable function of their bodies. Most of the Earther females loathed themselves simply for being women – an abhorrent state of affairs. They saw themselves as inherently wicked and vile, brainwashed by their religion and government from birth. Many were now being forcibly coerced into exploring sexual release by their captors, bound and intoxicated as they were pleasured. It seemed merciless on the surface, and Simdow felt a pang of sympathy for the women. However, he thought he could understand the home world’s tactics in making the Earther females understand that their bodies were to be worshipped, not reviled.
Katherine didn’t seem to despise herself. She was afraid of him and his clanmates, but so far he’d seen nothing of actual revulsion. More than ever, Simdow was convinced he didn’t want to subject her to coerced sex. No matter his empire’s best guess on how to cope with the Earther females’ poor self-perceptions of themselves and intimacy, he was determined not to go that route with her.
He entered his quarters to see all three clanmates sitting on the edge of the bed. Vadef balanced a tray of food on his knees, and Miv held a cup in his hand. They were feeding Katherine in the traditional manner of clanmates. All paused to look up at him.
Simdow held his hands up in mock surrender. “I know, I’m later than I said I’d be. My apologies.”
Vadef’s smile was understanding. “Given the situation we’re in, I suppose we can forgive you this time.”
The Imdiko put the small morsel of pilchok he held to Katherine’s lips. She accepted it daintily, even chewing with seeming pleasure. Simdow was glad she wasn’t fighting the Kalquorian custom of a clan hand-feeding their Matara. He knelt at her feet and gave her a smile.
“How are you doing, Katherine?”
Miv offered her the cup and she washed the food down before replying. “I’m all right. Your Imdiko and Nobek are treating me very well.” She managed a weak smile. “Although I find this business of them feeding me rather odd.”
Simdow fought to not stroke her legs. He ached to touch her but restrained the urge for the moment. “You will get used to it. It is our greatest pleasure to serve you.”
Vadef handed him a tray from the small desk. “Miv and I already finished our meals. Eat while we tend her.”
Simdow tucked in. He was starved.
Katherine gently chastised him. “Not so fast. You’ll choke if you don’t chew.”
He was touched by her concern, especially since she didn’t trust him at all yet. “I miss
ed a meal with everything that’s going on.”
“Yes, you look like you’d be happier with a shovel than that version of a fork. Slow down, Simdow.”
He forced himself to eat like a civilized man, warming under Katherine’s gentle insistence. She was so caring.
After a few moments of not bolting his food like a ravenous zibger, Simdow said, “I checked on your little ones.”
She animated immediately. “Are they all right?”
He nodded. “Perfectly fine. We found the smallest one’s toy animal and a few other activities to distract the girls with. They are all eating and doing well.”
Katherine relaxed, but Simdow didn’t miss the sadness that drifted over her face. “May I speak to them sometime? A vid or com perhaps?”
Simdow thought there would be no harm in such communication. It would reassure his Matara and might make the children happy as well. They had been most demonstrative of their feelings towards her. “I’ll see what I can arrange.”
He joined in feeding Katherine. She accepted their attentions with docile quiet until half the tray was empty.
“I can’t eat another bite,” she said. She winced and her arms folded over her stomach as if in pain.
Before Simdow could voice his concerns, Vadef said, “She will see Dr. Degorsk tomorrow about those stomach pains. She gets them every time she eats.”
Simdow frowned at the tray. The portions had been small to begin with, even taking into account the fact she would require so much less food than a Kalquorian male. “You haven’t had much, my lovely. It’s no wonder you’re so thin. Wasn’t there medical care on the colony?”
Katherine shrugged. “A couple of the nuns are trained in nursing and herbology. It’s only stress.”
Miv’s brows knit together in worry, but he kept his tone unconcerned. “You’ll find out for sure tomorrow. Dr. Degorsk is an odd one, but he is a very good doctor.”
Simdow watched as Vadef took their trays and placed it in the dish deposit slot for return to the kitchen for cleaning. When the Imdiko settled at Katherine’s side again, penning her in once more between them, Simdow asked, “Have you napped today? Rested at all?”
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