by K. L. Wallen
Blaize next asked, “Humans don’t have the technology to teleport?”
Favian sat quietly taking in this conversation, realizing that he has a lot more studying to do on the human species.
“No, Blaize. They do not have the technology. I’ve sent a copy of the house plans to your data pads. There is one bedroom on the lower floor and that is probably where young Cory Hendrix sleeps, given his medical condition. The other bedrooms, including the master bedroom are upstairs.” Ivanoff waited while Blaize and Favian reviewed the house plans.
Favian stood. “I’ll ready the shots, then program the medic bots. We’ll go in as soon as Blaize orders.”
“Once we’re inside their residence, Ivanoff and I will take care of the parents. Favian, you’ll secure their youngling,” Blaize responded.
Before they went their separate ways, Ivanoff handed Favian the information he requested on the Vikings, and stated that he’d move a satellite in place to monitor the parking lot and game. He waited until Blaize left, then advised Favian to not transport down to the football game as there would be too many humans present.
*.*
Several hours later, Blaize called Favian and Ivanoff to the bridge. “It’s well past dark. Would now be a good time to transport down?” he looked to Ivanoff for an answer.
Ivanoff went to his console and saw that the Earth time was eleven thirty. “Yes. Now would be a good time.” He accepted the transporter and communication devices, and then waited for Commander Gharm to give final approval.
As soon as that was received, Ivanoff told Favian, “Follow our lead when we transport down.” He transmitted the coordinates to all of their units, and issued the order into his unit to transport. Favian and Blaize followed suit.
Ivanoff quickly moved to the back of the yard and stood perfectly still in front of an overgrown winterberry bush. He spoke Pzian quiet to Favian, “Notice the surrounding homes. These are called two-story homes. All of the lights are out, indicating the humans are most likely sleeping or are not home.” He stepped a little bit away from the bush and commented, “Scanning the eaves of this home and the surrounding homes, doesn’t show any electronic equipment attached.”
Unfamiliar with human homes, and not having accompanied Ivanoff and Blaize when they set up monitors previously, left Favian feeling outside the core. Favian stepped next to Ivanoff and scanned the adjacent homes. Raising his hand, but not extending his arm, Favian pointed as he spoke, “Would that be where they attach monitors?” He lifted his chin in the same direction as his pointed finger.
“Usually,” Ivanoff responded. “But humans are also known to place monitors near the front door so they can see who’s requesting entrance before they open the door. Also, look at the yard. There is no excrement detected by sight or smell. This tells me odds are in our favor that they do not have any dogs.” This explanation was interrupted by noises coming from the adjacent home and then a light turning on. They held still wondering if they had been spotted.
The warriors remained quiet while they heard a door sliding open, and the sound paws with long nails race across the back patio and to the grass. The male impatiently snapped, “Tuck, hurry up. It’s damn cold out here.” He rapped his fingers on the glass door as his dog, Tuck, quickly took care of business. “Come here. Now,” he harshly ordered. A minute later the door slid shut, the snap of the lock engaged, and the downstairs light switched off.
“Let’s go now while that man is preoccupied with heading back to his bedroom,” Ivanoff whispered. With their enhanced hearing, the warriors easily heard the human and dog noisily moving up the stairs inside their home. The man reprimanded Tuck all the way up the stairs for waking him up. The warriors found it entertaining that while the human male was haranguing the dog, a female voice that they assumed was the male’s spouse, was calling out to Tuck and telling him what a good boy he is.
Unfamiliar with the lock on the sliding glass door, Ivanoff led them around to the side of the house. “This door opens into what they call a garage. It’s where they keep their transports. Don’t touch them. Humans often install earsplitting motion detector alarms in them.” Ivanoff added this for Blaize’s benefit also, since this hadn’t been a factor when they earlier transported to the doctors’ homes.
Ivanoff handed the pick Olivia created for him to Blaize, who then lowered himself so he was looking directly at the lock. Blaize demonstrated to Favian how to pick a lock. He moved slowly and listened to the cylinders readjust. Ivanoff stopped Blaize when the door creaked as he began opening it. He took out a small spray bottle and instructed Favian to spray the hinges as Blaize slowly opened the door.
The warriors moved swiftly past the two small transports in the garage, to another door that had the same type of lock. This time, Favian held out his hand and carefully worked the pick the same way Blaize had. He placed his hand on the knob and waited for Ivanoff to position himself so he could spray the hinges as he opened the door. They entered the home undetected.
Ivanoff took the lead and scanned for interior monitoring equipment. He used hand signals to communicate with Blaize and Favian. The three of them moved to the bedroom on the lower floor and listened. They heard the soft sounds of slumber and knew Cory was asleep.
Favian placed his hand on the doorknob and slowly opened the door, as Ivanoff sprayed the hinges. Once the door was opened, Favian moved quickly to Cory’s side and rendered him unconscious. He signed to Blaize and Ivanoff that he didn’t need their assistance to transport Cory to medical.
Ivanoff and Blaize left Favian to deal with Cory, and made their way upstairs to the master bedroom. They approached cautiously since the door was open. Cory’s mother and father slept peacefully. The father lay on his side and had his arm wrapped possessively around Cory’s mother, spooning her backside to his front. Ivanoff couldn’t help but smile at the tender sight.
He motioned for Blaize to take one side of the bed, while he took the other. They expediently put Mr. and Mrs. Hendrix under and injected them with the sedative Favian gave them. Before they transported up, Blaize set up a monitor in their bedroom so he could ensure their safety, until they returned Cory and administered the injection to bring all of them out of their forced slumber.
Before transporting back up, Ivanoff noted their precise coordinates, and then went downstairs to Cory’s bedroom and noted the precise coordinates to the space next to Cory’s bed. He then made sure the doors they had unlocked were relocked, and transported back to the bridge.
“What were you doing?” Blaize asked Ivanoff. He was curious and wanted to know if he had missed an important detail.
“While you were setting up the monitor, I noted the precise coordinates for our return, then rechecked the doors we opened to make sure we had relocked them. No sense in, as the humans would say, inviting trouble.” Ivanoff grinned when he saw understanding cross Blaize’s face. With three of them on this retrieval mission, Ivanoff didn’t want to leave room for error.
“Ivanoff?” Blaize waited until he had his full attention. “Do you have recordings, other than what Fleet Commander Scorpak left, that I might review?”
Ivanoff’s face lit up. “Yes, I have many. You will enjoy these.” He picked up his data pad and began sending a series of monitoring feeds to Blaize’s data pad.
Well before dawn, Ivanoff and Blaize joined Favian in medical. Favian gave them injections for the parents, and pocketed the one for Cory. Using the coordinates Ivanoff recorded, the three transported to the inside of the home. Blaize removed the monitoring device, and waited with Ivanoff, for Favian to give the order to bring Mr. and Mrs. Hendrix out of their deep sleep.
Upon their return to the ship, Blaize and Ivanoff updated their commander. Ivanoff resumed his post on the bridge, while Blaize went to his quarters. Blaize was anxious to continue to review the videos Ivanoff sent him.
*.*
Unable to rest, Favian returned to medical and brought up the monitoring feeds Blaize set up at b
oth of his prospective honored guests’ homes and offices. Favian was respectful of their privacy and anytime either of his candidate’s began to disrobe, he turned off the video portion, until he heard sounds that indicated the candidate was clothed. He watched Dr. Stacy Randall sleep, restlessly, for a few minutes. When she appeared to have settled down to sleeping on her side, near the edge of the bed, he switched over to the other candidate’s home.
The prominent and equally attractive Dr. Leslie Tishman slept peacefully as if she hadn’t a care in the world. Favian found the physical difference between the two females interesting. Where Dr. Randall is pale, to the point that Favian at first thought her ill, Dr. Leslie Tishman is tan and has darker hair. She is also markedly larger than the delicate Dr. Randall. Dr. Tishman is attractive and has been working in stem cell research for five years longer than Stacy. However, Dr. Randall has superior intellect, and she undoubtedly will exceed Dr. Tishman’s accomplishments. Favian entered the commands to bring up the recording of Dr. Tishman’s prior two days at her research lab.
Favian looked up when his commander entered. “Cory Hendrix will be fine. Dr. Randall has him scheduled for a scan in a few days, and will discover then that all of his vertebrae are in alignment. I’m sure she’ll arrange for the stem cell procedure after she re-verifies the alignment,” Favian chuckled. “Would you care for some jirfpt?”
Commander Gharm took the jirfpt from Favian and sat down. He looked at Favian’s screen and scanned Dr. Leslie Tishman’s accomplishments. “This healer appears exceptionally well skilled,” he remarked.
Dorn had reviewed monitoring feed of Dr. Stacy Randall with Cory Hendrix’s parents, and afterward in her office when she prayed to her God. He was impressed with her compassion towards the family. Commander Dorn Gharm felt for the family, right along with the good female healer, as she honestly and sympathetically explained the situation. Dorn recalled when he was told by a healer of his half-brother’s demise. The healer had expressed his regrets with such sincerity that Dorn had no doubt everything possible had been done to save his sibling. The Pzianian healer and Dr. Stacy Randall are much alike, he recognized.
Favian sat down, rolled his seat back, and stretched out his legs. He took a sip of jirfpt before replying. “Do you have some time? I’d like to replay a meeting Dr. Tishman was in with her colleagues. This was recorded yesterday.” As soon as he saw Dorn motion for him to proceed, Favian reset the feed and started the playback.
“What did you say the female healer’s name is?” Dorn watched another female, who interrupted the meeting, leave with her head down.
“Dr. Leslie Tishman,” Favian muttered. He could tell his commander was as disturbed with the derogatory tone this doctor used while speaking with her peers, as was he. “The humans in the room with her are equals, the one that left is a subordinate, I assume.”
Dorn exhaled and entered the command for the video to freeze. A picture of the lovely Dr. Leslie Tishman took up most of the screen. He noticed her pursed lips and narrowed eyelids. “Do you have any feed of her interacting with patients or their families?”
“Not that I’ve come across yet,” Favian replied. “I am hoping there will be some to review. I’d like to see how she handles her patients, if she has any. I’ve reviewed her calendar for the next two weeks and see nothing indicating she has a patient.”
Dorn swiveled so he was facing Favian. “If you can’t find anything, ask Ivanoff to help. He knows how to interact with the various human computer systems.” He set his glass down on the table and looked again at Dr. Leslie Tishman.
“The female is attractive. Although, she looks angry,” Dorn remarked. “I reviewed video feed on Dr. Randall while you worked on Cory Hendrix. She is very considerate and attractive. Are you sure Dr. Randall isn’t ill?”
Favian laughed. “No, Dr. Randall is physically fine. That’s just her natural coloring.”
Chapter 11
Ivanoff was enjoying midday meal with his son, when the cafeteria door slid open and Blaize, Tyce, and Maxon entered. The three warriors gave Ivanoff an uneasy glance and went to the food dispensaries.
Rort gave his father a quizzical look, to which he received a knowing grin back. He then turned and welcomed the other warriors as they placed their trays down at their table. Rort wasn’t sure what was going on, except that his father looked as if he were about to start laughing, and the warriors all had various expressions, ranging from curiosity to shock, to disbelief. “Father?”
“I have some material I need to go through, in my room,” Ivanoff replied. He picked up his tray, took it to the recycler, and then left. He wasn’t about to get into a discussion about human sexuality in the monitored cafeteria. That’s a conversation best held in private, and one he has yet to discuss with Rort.
Blaize picked up his data pad and sent the material Ivanoff had given him over to Rort’s data pad. He included a note to read the Mandatory How to Manuals, Honored Guest Laurel MacKenna donated.
Rort checked his data pad and didn’t spot any of those instructional books. Blaize, who was sitting next to him, pointed to the material he was referring to, and then engaged Tyce in a conversation about his observations of Robert and Aideen MacKenna. Rort flagged the material and joined the conversation.
“The MacKenna younglings, called children, are very different from our younglings at the same age. Robert and Aideen are lively,” Tyce replied. Warrior Tyce Owynn is the officer in charge of interspecies relations. When he noticed the raised eyebrows and cocked heads, he elaborated. “They are siblings and correct each other a lot. Their relationship is not derisive, rather teasing and loving. I believe they would feel great pain to be separated from each other. Robert is eleven months older than Aideen. They were both born in the same Earth calendar year. I have to admit I enjoyed the time I spent with them and was able to make many notations. Hopefully, I’ll have the opportunity to interact with the MacKenna clan again and other humans.”
“You’re in luck,” replied Rort. “My father told me that Commander Gharm is inviting Director Lee, Honored Guest Veronica Rose Archer, and the MacKennas aboard this very day. He’s going to collect Director Lee and Veronica first, then the MacKennas. It is a weekend, so they should not be at their place of employment, well, except one of the Mrs. MacKenna’s, if she can’t get her assistant to cover the shop.”
Blaize stood. “I’m going with the Commander to retrieve Director Lee. Your father,” he looked at Rort, “is going down with the Commander to invite Honored Guest Veronica Archer, and then the MacKennas when we’re in range.” He took his tray to the recycler and left. Before meeting up with Dorn, he had a stop to make.
*.*
On his way back to his quarters, Ivanoff was stopped by the good healer. “Favian? Is there something you need?”
Favian shifted and then crossed his arms. “The monitors Blaize set up. Will they continue to work while we travel to the west coast to pick up the MacKennas?”
“Yes. I’m using the satellites to bounce the signals to us. The humans are unaware. Is there anything else?” Ivanoff studied Favian’s unusual stance.
“Do humans interview each other for breeding contracts, like Pzians’?”
Ivanoff noticed Favian’s biceps flex. “Their society is very different. Is this about one of your potential honored guests? Perhaps the one who is attending the Viking’s game?”
“First I saw her with a coworker, a male. He put his hands on her shoulders and rubbed them. He is the one who asked her to this game. Now, just a few minutes ago, I heard a ringing sound in her domicile, some sort of communication device because she picked it up and said hello. Fortunately, she had turned off her music when she answered and I heard a different male voice asking her if she was available to be swept off her feet and carried down a ladder. Is this a human custom?”
“Do you know who this other male is?” Ivanoff was curious. He had no idea if this was some sort of custom or not. All he could share was, “It�
�s not a custom I’ve heard of.” He then asked again about the male.
“She laughed and called him Logan. She then told him she’d love to give it a try before the big day.” Favian looked thoroughly perplexed.
Ivanoff shrugged. “Let me see if she has updated her calendar. Maybe we’ll learn something about this then. I’ll get back to you.” As soon as Favian stepped aside, Ivanoff strode the rest of the way to his quarters, only to find Blaize waiting at his door.
“Blaize? Aren’t you transporting down with the Commander?”
Blaize gave a slight nod of his head towards the door and waited for Ivanoff to place his hand on the scanner. He stepped in as soon as Ivanoff opened the door. “I am transporting down in a few minutes. I have many questions about the material you shared and the books I discovered that Honored Guest Laurel left. She wrote that they’re mandatory training manuals for men when they reach age twenty-two.”
Ivanoff didn’t know if that were truth, but didn’t think it was. “What is it that you want to know?”
“Is it true? Do humans really interact with each other like that? Sexually.” Blaize waited impatiently for a reply.
Ivanoff blew out a breath before responding. “Blaize, I have not interacted with a human female sexually, so, I cannot say. I can tell you that I witnessed a barely restrained, public, physical relationship between the female honored guests and the Scorpak brothers, and one of them with Warrior Riken Abruok. From conversations I overheard, I suspect their private interactions were significantly less restrained,” Ivanoff sniggered.