The Sarran Senator

by A. C. Katt

  ::My new offspring say that on Sarran we barter.::

  ::Do you hunt, my fox?::

  ::I do, not for a long time, but I used to hunt with my sire…deer and waterfowl. Why do you call me fox?::

  ::Because your hair is the color of an Earthen silver fox and its thick texture, shine, and colorful beauty move me.::

  Sam was momentarily speechless, so Tarin continued.

  ::We hunt. We use some of the fresh meat and we barter the rest for vegetables grown in small copses in the forests and fields. I know you write, I read your book on the Earthen Gulf Wars. You can earn credits by citizens downloading your books, which with all of the Earthen fems, will be in demand. Our Warriors will want to know Earthen history.::

  ::How can I research Earthen history on Sarran?:: Sam was puzzled.

  ::Here on your comm unit, you can research anything. Jonal and Tonas brought back every bit of media from Earth for the fems, including items in ancient and government archives. I’m afraid we know all of Earth’s secrets: government, military, and personal. They were unaware that Earth required payment for the entertainment media. They rectified this on the second trip out; but I’m sure Mark and Juraens made no mention that we had all of Earth’s treaties, documents, and secrets. These things will help us help the Earth unite.::

  ::About the credits, I was under the impression that everything here is free.::

  ::That’s a misconception. Food, shelter, clothing, medicine, education, and basic household goods are free and anything can be fabricated. But the fabricator, although it eliminates poverty, can’t reproduce the special properties of anything handmade. Anything like coffee, chocolate, and cocoa cost credits. The government controls the allocation of credits although you can make speculative investments as you did with the items I mentioned. Jonal and Tonas are masters of PTA, Primary Trade Application, and have made a fortune in credits over the years by bringing back to Sarran useful objects for trade. We are not only Warriors, although that is our principal function.::

  “Tell me about you…” Sam asked Tarin. “I know I love you, deep in my soul, but I know nothing about you.”

  “There isn’t much to say, really. I grew up in Vineleaf, the village next to Castle Air. My birth Triad perished when the Zyptz’s virus killed my Zinna. It was a dark time for me because I had just lost Nezier, followed closely by my family.”

  Sam saw Tarin’s eyes fill up so he pulled him close, rubbing his cheek. Tarin shrugged as if the act itself could banish bad memories. “I liked to tinker. When I went to the Academy as a youth, they recognized my engineering abilities and put me on the fast track to command in the engineering corps. I rose to Commander in fleet engineering, then I bonded. We served together against the Zyptz.”

  Sam nodded and said, “I also started my career in a military academy. I went to West Point, the United States’ college for army officers. I served my country in the first Gulf War, the Somali War, and the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. I made two-star general, then resigned my commission at age forty-two. I ran for senator from New Jersey, my home state, and won the election and became a senator five years ago.”

  “You’ve said nothing about your femspring and her offspring.”

  “That is because I’m afraid I’ll lose your respect.” Sam’s eyes filled up.

  Tarin’s hand came up and cupped his new bonded’s face for the second time.

  “With me, you never have to be afraid you will lose my love or regard. Nothing in your past is unacceptable to me.”

  Sam began slowly. “I met Mary when I was sixteen and turned seventeen the following June, entering West Point that year. I always knew I was bi-sexual, but at the time heterosexual was the norm on Earth. I graduated at twenty-one and we got married. She became pregnant with Sara almost immediately. When Sara was four, Mary contracted a virulent form of breast cancer and after torturous treatments was dead within a year. I had Sara tested for the BRAC 1 and BRAC 2 breast cancer-causing genes. I was pathetically grateful that she didn’t carry them in her genome.”

  ::That must have been terrible for you, being left with a femspring that could only remind you of her Zinna and having to leave her to go to war.:: Tarin’s hand moved from Sam’s face and came down to the table and grabbed Sam’s upturned palm.

  ::I had a housekeeper, Dee Dee, who died six years ago just after Sara married. She took care of my Sara while I was away; there was no other family. When I wasn’t deployed, I spent time with Sara, but not enough. She married young, thinking to please me by choosing a local politician who was being groomed to run for Congress.:: Tears began to flow down Sam’s cheeks. ::He beat her and Michael. I didn’t know because I didn’t pay enough attention. I was too busy fighting foreign wars and then as politician trying to save the world instead of noticing what was going on in my corner of it.:: Sam brought out the holos he kept in his pocket since the day Juraens and Mark first showed them to him.

  Tarin’s face blanched. ::This Warrior is now dead?::

  ::He is no Warrior. He is a sniveling coward. My former government doesn’t execute Warriors for this crime. They don’t execute members of the population for very much except for treason, terrorism, and certain types of murder. He knew he could get away with it because I was busy on Earth’s version of council and I…:: Sam started to sob.

  ::Take my hand, my fox, we are going to my home at Soarer’s Nest.::

  Sam found himself transported into the room of a manor built in the same fashion as Zaron and Bron’s gatehouse. Tarin started a fire in the grate and pointed to a leather-like sofa. “I could turn on the heat to take away the chill, but a fire warms the heart as well as the body. Have a seat and I will be right back with some Asta.”

  Tarin came back with two plain glasses containing the smooth Sarran brandy. ::Scoot over here, next to me, and let me hold you. You have kept this bottled up since you found out. You don’t have to be…what is the Earthen word? Ah—macho. You don’t have to be macho with me. There are times when I’ll need you to be strong. This rising you need me to be. There is no shame between the bonded. When you trust me enough, you will open your mind to me and I will open mine to you and we will know all, the good, the bad, and the indifferent.::

  Sam stared into the fire. “It was my fault. I thought she loved Bradley. I didn’t look deep enough.”

  ::I know now why the Goddess saw fit to bond us together. I too, feel guilt. Nezier fought beside me and took a killing blow meant for me. Perhaps, if we had your femspring’s bonded, Mark, Nezier would not have died, but we had no battle-hardened trauma surgeons back then. We had been at peace too long. Nezier lingered for a week then succumbed to his wounds. He never awoke so I could say goodbye. I have always felt it was my fault and that I should have died with him. Most Sarran don’t survive the death of their bonded. It’s like the bonded share one soul.:: Tarin’s breath hitched.

  “As to your survival, it looks like the Goddess had something in mind for you, so you survived. How could Nezier’s death be your fault? He died from wounds he received honorably in battle.” Sam faced his new bonded.

  “But he died defending me.” Tarin’s eyes filled up.

  “Would you feel this way if he died defending a fellow Warrior?”

  Tarin cocked his head and appeared thoughtful. “No, I don’t think I would.”

  “Then it wasn’t your fault. He would have done the same for anyone. Else you wouldn’t have loved him or been bonded to him.”

  ::You left your Sara in a Warrior’s hands who swore to take care of her. You are not the type of Warrior who breaks an oath. You couldn’t know he’d break his.::

  ::From then on, I resolved to look a bit deeper into everything that means something to me. I will allow nothing to fester because of my lack of attention. I suppose both of us carry unresolved guilt. If I could have killed Bradley, I would have and damned the consequences, but Sara was about to go to another world and I swore I’d be available to her in case anything went wron
g with her and Michael. If I killed the fucker, I would have gone to prison or worse, faced execution.::

  ::Goddess forbid, my fox. The Goddess surely stayed your hand so we could be together will our fem, offspring, and grandspring. On Sarran we take bonds very seriously. The Rite of Dissolution is a terrible thing that usually results in the death of the guilty party. One of the Triad has to have abused a fem, offspring, or femspring, committed treason, murder, or rape for a Triad to dissolve. Since in bonding and Triad we know each other’s thoughts, it’s a criminal act not to report a Warrior or fem planning a crime unless it can be proven by the guilty party that he was able to shield his thoughts from his Triad or bonded. It is very rare for a one of a Triad or WarriorPair not to know what the others are thinking or doing. After the offending party dies in dissolution, the remaining Warrior and or Fem are mind wiped so they can start anew.::

  ::You must be able to read my thoughts.::

  ::If I probe, I can. You too are HiPsy. By probing, you can read mine. If you open yourself to me, I will know all of it. But I won’t look without your permission and you, Samuel Johnson, are an honorable man and wouldn’t look without mine. But when we are truly one, we will know all except that which we deliberately keep shielded. We all learn from our mistakes, my fox. Your grief brought you to me and mine brought me to you. We have each other now. Because your Sara is bonded, you know what it means. My feelings for you are very strong. It was a struggle to go home last moontine without you.::

  ::I spent the darktines pacing with need. I feel the pull of the bond. But I don’t know the rules.::

  ::They are very simple. No penetrative sex until we bond with our fem and from now on, we look for our fem together. It’s all outlined in the Codex. The mixing the Elders proposed is ideal for our purposes. I already love you, my fox. Prepare to look for our fem with a happy heart.

  “Not very discreet with our discovery of the bond, were we? I wanted to grab you last moontine take you to Soarer’s Nest with me and make love until moontine the next rising.” Tarin put his arms around Sam’s neck and kissed him fiercely.

  “And I wanted to take you off to the nearest bedroom and ravish you. I have never felt an attraction that strong. It had me pacing the floor until dawntine and I’m known for iron control,” Sam said in a heated, raspy voice.

  “I thought I’d never want anyone after Nezier. I thought that part of my life was over.”

  “I believed I would never love again. Oh, there were some fems and Warriors that I bedded after Mary, but we meant nothing to each other except as fond acquaintances. I never brought a fem or Warrior home to Sara.”

  “For me it was five cycles and two risings ago that Nezier passed. I’ve had no interest in anything until last cycle when I went back to work. I didn’t even give away his things until the last phase. I feel guilty because the tie between us feels stronger than the one I had with Nezier and I know that was a true bond.”

  * * * *

  Chapter 4

  Have enough courage to trust love one more time.

  —Anonymous

  Soarer’s Nest: 13:00 tines

  ::We will need to get our promise rings and Asta glasses, but we can decide where to live and get our rings and glasses later. Right now I want you under me.:: Tarin pushed Sam’s shoulders down into the softness of the couch pillows. Sam turned on his side so they faced each other.

  ::I foolishly didn’t bother to ask, although I should have consulted Mark, but now that I’ve taken the vial, does my equipment work the same way?::

  ::Yes and no. Externally you will see the slick that pours from under your foreskin. This enables one of us to penetrate the other and our fem without pain when we bond. Internally, there will be a type of a tube, a Secondary Sperm Valve that connects your channel to the seminal vesicle in your partner. When a Sarran Warrior receives sperm from his bonded, it opens the valve. The sperm goes through the valve to connect to the seminal vesicle where they mix with the sperm of your bonded. It is only when they mix that we can impregnate our fem. Our offspring are born with half of our fem’s DNA and one-quarter of each of ours. After we form the bond with our fem, we may make penetrative love with her or without her, as the Triad chooses.::

  ::I feel foolish asking for such basic information. I had the whole voyage to research this aspect of Sarran physiology. I was concentrating on helping Michael adjust to Sara’s Warriors.::

  ::You did the right thing, my fox. From the holos you showed me, Michael had reason to be wary.::

  ::Now I feel like a pre-pubescent offspring in health class, not knowing how my body is supposed to function.:: Sam blushed. ::How do I please you?::

  ::All the ways you’d please yourself without penetration. Let me show you.:: Tarin sat up, got off the couch, and knelt in front of Sam, removing the boots Mark and Juraens had fabricated for him on board the Brightstar. Tarin kissed the inside of Sam’s knee. Sam moaned. He never knew he had a hot spot there.

  Tarin removed his own boots and then attacked Sam’s flightsuit. The one-piece garment came off quickly, giving Tarin access to Sam’s body.

  Sam looked at his lover in appreciation. “You have a beautiful, hard form. I love your wavy blonde hair and blue eyes. You are everything I ever looked for in a man. If I had met you before Mary, I doubt I would have joined the army. I’d have become a college professor and lived in a house very much like this with you always at my side.”

  Sam ran his palm down Tarin’s side from his shoulder to the curve of his ass. “Beautiful…I can’t believe how lucky I am and it seems even our dreams are in alignment.”

  Tarin blushed. ::I keep in shape because any Sarran Warrior can be called to battle at any time. You were in governance, how did you train? You have a hard and well-made body, my fox.::

  ::In the Senate Gym. I exercised and had a trainer. If I were going to be the President, I had to be in the best shape I’d ever been in my life. The job is debilitating. Although the United States is only one country on Earth, the President of the United States carries the weight of the world on his shoulders because we act as the planet’s police and are the only major power left on Earth. Russia and China have the land mass and China has population, but the United States still has the upper hand in weaponry. We, like the Sarrans, also have fierce Warriors.::

  ::Being on council is much the same as you describe the presidency. The Elders aged quickly during the war and later when the Zyptz took our fems, the Elders bore the brunt of finding a solution. Our population is dangerously low, a mere twenty-thousand WarriorPairs. If you add the unbonded Warriors and offspring, it is another ten thousand. We need all of these bebes our fems are carrying and we must keep them safe.::

  ::You have too much open land to police properly. What you need is a type of radar that lets the government know immediately if the atmosphere has been breached, or better still, something that shields the planet from all but our own vessels.::

  “I’ve been working on that project with Bron. It’s almost ready.”

  Sam was about to speak and Tarin put a finger on his lips. ::My fox, I want to know everything about you. We could talk until dawntine but right now, I want to love you. We’re naked and wanting. Can we make love?::

  Sam smiled and kissed his bonded’s eyes. “I was counting on it.”

  * * * *

  The Earthen brought Tarin to him and kissed his face. He traced his Warrior’s cheekbones with his tongue, then bit his earlobe and moved his tongue behind Tarin’s ear. Tarin shivered. Sam trailed his mouth along Tarin’s jawline and stopped at his chin. He gently nibbled at Tarin’s lips, which opened to him. Their tongues dueled in a fever of need; each trying to taste the depths of the other’s mouth.

  Sam drew his lips over his lover’s chest. He stopped at Tarin’s brown nubs, nibbling, sucking, and laving the tips until they pebbled beneath his tongue. He ran his hands through the hair on Tarin’s chest, playing with the whorls over his pecs.

  “I must apologize.
Since Nezier died I have not used the depilatory cream. I’ll go and…”

  “Don’t apologize, I love your chest hair. I like knowing you’re a man and not our fem. It’s shaped like a perfect T, leading down to the prize. If it’s not against custom, please don’t use the cream. Let me show you how much I love it, and you, exactly as you are.”

  “No, it’s not against custom. Nezier didn’t like getting hair in his teeth,” Tarin said abruptly.

  Sam laughed out loud. “Thank you for telling me that. At least now I know I’m not competing with a perfect man.”

  Sam worked his mouth down Tarin’s chest, stopping at his navel to lick at the Sarran slick. ::You taste sweet, my love, more viscous than an Earthen male. I wonder if I’ll taste the same as I did before.::

  Tarin reversed his body so that his mouth was on Sam’s shaft. ::You taste slightly salty. My sires and Zinna took me to the sea once. To me, you taste like the sea, my fox. I loved the ocean.::

  ::My home state has a large shoreline. I used to love to swim along the shore. Lately all of my swimming has been done in a pool. There is something lost in the translation.::

  ::Castle Water is by the sea, as is the Duchy and its estate, Falling Waters. You will have your ocean, a bigger one than you’ve ever seen. We are not a seafaring race, except for the fishermen who stay close to the coast. From one end of the sea to the other is thirty days on our swiftest boat. Our planet has a single continent. It is more efficient to travel over land.::

  ::So no cruises then…::

  Tarin laughed at the picture Sam sent of a yacht.

  Getting back to business, Sam lapped at Tarin’s navel where a pool of slick had collected. He put his index finger and his thumb at the base of his Warrior’s cock and began to suck lightly around the head. The slick poured like water from under the foreskin. Sam took Tarin’s long thick cock deep down his throat, massaging it with his throat muscles.