by Viola Grace
The overseer drummed his fingers on the desk. “It will require a change to the allocation of resources.”
“Not really. There will need to be a bit of control for import of the luxury items, but there aren’t a lot of us here, so a little bit will do. It is amazing what a woman will be willing to do if she can dress up on a weekend.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean that based on the arc of compatibility in most of the females you have brought here, some will be considered breeding capable in a matter of months or weeks, but unless you continue to examine them, you won’t know when that time comes.”
He grinned, exposing bright, white, long canines. His rich grey skin was an excellent foil for them.
“We will definitely know, but getting them to come around might be the problem.”
“Allowing them to continue social behaviours will make things easier when the time comes. It is just a suggestion.”
He cocked his head. “You seem very eager to gain the participation of your people.”
Isabella wrinkled her nose again. “I want everyone to work at their full capacity. That means that your men and my people need to work together in a slightly more relaxed atmosphere. That requires ways to relieve tension.”
“My men have physical centres where they can practice combat.”
“So? Open those same centres to the humans or, at least, some of them.”
Iktabi leaned back slightly and sighed. “This is going to require additional conversations.”
Isabella was nervous. The Dorbin-Rrassic were on the rare side of the Rrassic, and there wasn’t much about them in the data logs that she had squirrelled away. “As you wish. Is there anything else?”
“No, that is sufficient for today. Have a pleasant evening.”
He inclined his head and got to his feet, bowing slightly. The wings flared out, and she was given a hint as to how large the span would be. She was guessing at over twenty feet. Folding the wings tight to his back made a lot of sense when he wanted to walk a hallway.
She got to her feet, bobbed a quick bow and headed for the door.
“If you could leave it open, that would be appreciated, Cataloguer Thems.”
She left the door open and headed back through the halls to her desk. Isabella grabbed her courier bag and threw it over her shoulder. With a brisk stride, she left the arrival offices and aimed for home.
The moment she was in her small apartment in the admin quarters, she slid down the door and landed on her ass.
“What the hell am I doing?”
Two months had been spent waiting for the others to start being decanted. D’mere had been with her for the first four days, but when his transition to Luthin had begun, he had left her in her quarters with a data tablet and unlimited access to Rrassic information.
She had been able to rifle through a large quantity of data before the new administration had been set in place. Two days before the next human was removed from its tube, she was briefed on her role in the new situation.
With her existing skills for personnel distribution and organization, she was an ideal candidate for cataloguing and assigning the staff that she met. The Rrassic gave her a list of positions that they needed to be filled, and it was up to her to take a look at the skills of the humans being brought in on a daily basis and assign them to their most suitable place.
The problem arose when she was informed that some of the ladies were breeder class. The whole Mars Needs Women vibe of the situation was creepy, but she had her orders. If their compatibility was high, the ladies would be housed in an area where courtship could be controlled and they would be under guard around the clock.
Isabella groaned and got to her feet. “Stupid, stupid, stupid.”
Before that day, four women were breeding compatible but had been mentally unsuitable for making out with an alien. They needed to get used to the idea, so Isabella had assigned them to farms as administrators. The women would get used to the Rrassic over time, dealing with them on a day-to-day basis.
The excuses she had used in their files ranged from the feline allergy to a sexual preference for little people. The reasons were just bizarre enough to be true and uncomfortable enough that no one would question them.
Now, she had put her foot in it. Not only had she used the same allergy that she had used on a file two weeks earlier, but she also had done it to an nearly perfect match for the Rrassic. Lianne wasn’t suited for life as a kept woman. She had always been a work-obsessed person. She needed to be useful, and her skills as a forklift driver were exceptional.
Isabella didn’t know who had put the files on the humans together, but they were very detailed. It made hiding the women in plain sight difficult, but she thought she had pulled it off.
She removed the clasp off the bun she had at the back of her head and unravelled her braid. Rocking her head back and forth, she dialled up a meal from the dispenser. Her foot throbbed, so she removed her boot and pulled the broken ID chip out.
She put the chip on the meal tray and limped into her small living space. She kicked off her other shoe and ate her food. When she had finished her meal, she walked to the recycler and put the tray, complete with cracked ID chip, and listened to it crunch as it was crushed and mulched for reuse at a later time.
“Not the perfect crime, but it is pretty darn good.” Isabella got a glass of water and headed to her home terminal.
Isabella had been on Imrahl for four months and on duty for two of those. She kept her position as a cataloguer by keeping on top of what was going on at the outpost.
She stared at the back of her wrist and flexed her fingers before she got to work. There were more humans coming in the next day, and she needed to figure out where to put them.
Chapter Three
“Cataloguer Thems, please come with me.” The Zjin-Rrassic at her desk wasn’t friendly.
Isabella smiled at her client for a moment. “I can be with you in just a moment.”
“Now. Another cataloguer will take your client. The overseer wishes to see you now, so you will come now.”
In break of protocol, he grabbed her arm and hauled her to her feet.
Isabella’s eyes widened, and she moved to sooth her client. “Someone will be with you shortly.”
The man nodded nervously as she was hauled out of her office and down the hall.
“What is this about?”
“The overseer will inform you, but there are many Rrassic who are not pleased.”
She winced and moved to keep up so that the grip he had on her would be less obvious.
A chill went through her when she saw the Saya-Rrassic in the corner of Iktabi’s office, and when the overseer didn’t invite her to sit, she knew he was pissed.
“Cataloguer Thems. Six months ago you assigned a human to a job at the port.”
She licked her lips and nodded. “Yes. I have assigned several humans there.”
“But, this human was a perfect match for the Rrassic.”
Isabella’s kneels wobbled, and she felt a cool touch on her mind.
The Saya-Rrassic spoke softly. “She is familiar with the case.”
Iktabi grabbed a tablet and turned it around, showing her the file. “You marked this woman as having an allergy to felines, and therefore, she was not suitable for a direct breeding contact.”
“Not suitable, just not ready. She needed to ease into life on Imrahl. I didn’t want her going into shock or being stressed because of the mating situation.”
She held her hands against her belly and tried to appear calm.
“That decision is not within your purview.” The snarl he gave her showed a few very sharp teeth.
“I beg to differ, but it is. I was charged to make sure that the right personnel were in the right place for maximum effect. I have done so. Lianne is a gifted lift driver; she is less interested in dating and socializing. I put her in the ri
ght place.”
“You overrode existing protocols.”
“I did. For their peace of mind as well as mine.”
The cool prickle in her thoughts preceded the calm voice saying, “She is correct. She genuinely thought she was engaged in the prescribed behaviour to give her clients the best fit on Imrahl.”
“I didn’t think, I knew.”
The Saya’s third eye opened, and it stared at her. “Just so.”
Iktabi drummed his fingertips on the desk. “Are you saying that she was correct in her assessment?”
The Saya smiled slightly. “I am saying that she thought she was protecting the mental state of her charges. Nothing more. She did not follow their careers or contact them personally. What they did after she bought them time was their own business.”
Isabella tried to speak a few times, but she was locked in place. The cool sensation in her mind had turned to ice, and she was stuck in the Saya-Rrassic’s control.
Iktabi leaned back in his seat. “What am I going to do with you now?”
A ripple of fear ran through her.
“She believes you are going to destroy her.” The Saya was appalled.
The overseer sat up and leaned forward. “Why?”
Her mind was free. “Because I know what we are.”
She hadn’t meant to say it. She didn’t want to say it, but the psychic touch had made truths rush to the surface of her thoughts. She clamped her hand over her mouth.
Iktabi raised his brows. “We will return to that subject shortly. For now, your friend is being brought in. Sit.”
Isabella sat and she waited.
The relief that flooded Isabella when Lianne was allowed to continue work while the Rrassic was courting her was intense. She had a thousand nightmares about what would happen when they were found out, but this was the gentlest solution to the problem.
When Lianne and her escort were gone, Isabella was released from the Saya’s control. He nodded to the overseer and left.
“Probation?” She looked hopefully to Iktabi.
He nodded. “Since you are the only one of the cataloguers to have committed these actions, you will be on probation and your actions will be monitored on a daily basis.”
“So, I can return to work?”
Iktabi laughed, flashing those disturbing canines. “No. Not your previous job. As the outpost has expanded and the population has settled in, I find I have need of an assistant to help with the day to day of Imrahl. You will be filling that position.”
With her eyes wide, she sat still. “An assistant?”
“My assistant. You have knowledge that they should never have let you acquire. If any of the original staff were here, they would be facing disciplinary charges.”
“No. They wouldn’t.”
His lips quirked. “Really?”
“Really. There were no rules for dissemination of information to humans when I arrived on Imrahl. The regulations of what humans could and couldn’t know were put into place weeks later. My knowledge is a product of being observant and locating the right data to back up my findings. I figured it out.”
“So, you are the sole one to blame.”
She sighed. “There is no blame, there is only the truth.”
“Have you told anyone?”
She bolted to her feet, and he jerked, his wings flaring. “Of course not! Things are weird enough for the arrivals without dumping this on them.”
He quirked his lips. “That is a long time to not tell anyone.”
Her hands curled into fists. “I have kept silent for a good reason. You know it.”
“Perhaps you should tell me what it is that you know in detail.”
She was tense, and she wanted to run. “You know.”
“Yes, but I want to confirm how dangerous to the outpost you actually are before I lock in on a plan of action.”
Isabella glared at him and stepped away from his desk, pacing restlessly. “Humans were abducted from Earth.”
“Yes.”
“However, instead of being simply injected with Rrassic DNA, the minds of the humans were copied, their clothing was removed and they were returned to Earth. That is why we all have a memory of some kind of abduction.”
“So far you are right on point.” Iktabi leaned back.
“We are clones. Half human and half Rrassic, but our sexual compatibility is activating at an unpredictable rate. The ones who are up and running immediately are the breeders, and everyone else is still developing.”
“Yes, that is basically it.”
She held up a hand to silence him. “But, the Rrassic are still at war. You need personnel in the worst way. Humans were close to being compatible and we are on the list for attack by the Yoboth, so we were investigated and targeted.”
Iktabi leaned forward with his hands folded together. “It seems you have worked this out, but why would we spend all this time when we are at war?”
“I haven’t been able to find the records, but I think that the ports and gates are in time. I think Imrahl is running fast.”
“Well, it seems you are wise beyond your appearance.” Iktabi rose to his feet, his wings flaring wide. “Now, there is just one matter that must be attended to.”
She stepped back as he came around his desk and began to close on her. “What is that?”
“I need to determine how you are going to adapt to the restriction of your daily habits. From this moment, you will not be more than thirty feet from my side unless I will it.”
Isabella stared into his dark eyes as he stood within inches of her. “Why not just lock me up?”
He reached out and stroked her cheek lightly with one rough finger. “I never waste a resource.”
A knock at the door made them both look. The Saya returned with a box in his hands.
“Overseer, I thought you would need these.”
“Put them on my desk, Lekorh. Thank you.”
The Saya nodded, his third eye mercifully closed. As much as she had gotten used to the other Rrassic, the Saya were disturbing to her. Isabella looked at the box covered with carvings and designs of the High Rrassic.
Even in the Rrassic histories, the High Rrassic were nearly myth and legend. The High Rrassic were beings in a class that hadn’t split their genes into the seven Rrassic variants that made up their military.
Iktabi left her and went to the box, using his thumb on one of the gems before she heard a click.
“What is that?”
He didn’t answer. He widened his wingspan and blocked her view. Whatever he was doing wasn’t for her vision, apparently.
He turned to her, and there were wide silver cuffs on his wrists, two smaller ones were in his hands.
“Their original purpose has been altered, but they can be set for a proper distance, and they will send out a beacon if you exceed it.”
She blinked as he took her wrists and clicked the bands into place.
Isabella stared at the metal as the bands writhed against her skin until they fit snugly and she couldn’t fit a finger between her body and the metal. It was almost as if it was fused to her skin.
“As your situation has now altered and there is still a day of work to do, man the desk in front of my office. You will be my voice and handle the day to day. Make arrangements to move in to my quarters. I have a guest room that will be suitable.”
She stared at him, sure that her eyes were taking up half her face. “Move in?”
“Indeed. During the day you will have fifty metres of play from me, but at night, it will go down to ten.” He turned and returned to his desk once again. “You can go and assume your duties. Lekorh should have put a data pad out for you to go about your tasks.”
She was frozen in place. “I...”
“You are dismissed. Meal break is in two hours.”
Stunned, Isabella made her way out of the office and to the desk that was waiting for her.
The pad was slim, and when she opened it with an ocular scan, files began to appear. It seemed that she had just gotten an upgrade to her security clearance.
A determined Zjin-Rrassic walked past her with long strides. She didn’t even try to stop him, but she heard him speaking urgently to Iktabi.
She heard the growl of his voice. “What were the findings?”
“She was—is—a breeder. Since she is also the most competent loader that we have, she will remain on duty each day with an escort to and from the port.”
There was a pause. “That isn’t what I was anticipating.”
“Tough. Isabella was about to start cursing, and it takes forever for her to get that irate. She knows Lianne, and this is the best combination of situations.”
“The assessor changed the file?”
“She did. She assessed that Lianne would not thrive in the position of breeder. It would have been one change too many for her after coming here.”
“How will you punish the assessment officer?”
Iktabi chuckled. “I will work something out. Was that everything?”
The Zjin growled again, “How—when will Lianne be at the community hall?”
“She has to be at one of the mixers every four days. Her escort will ensure it.”
“Can I get a notice?”
“Ask my assistant to put you on the notice list. The Luthin who escorted her in are already on it.”
“What?” He sounded frantic.
“Even the Saya who was here was interested in her, though he probably won’t act on it.”
He snorted. “Let him try.”
“The Regiz have also brought a few of their people into town. You might have a fight on your hands.”
The laugh was not amusing, it was deadly. “Let them try.”
“Excellent. See my assistant on the way out. Good hunting, Sorrok.”
Isabella was suddenly facing an angry Zjin. “You are human.”
Isabella nodded. “I am. What can I do for you, Hunter?”
“I need to be put on the alert list for Lianne Whelling. When she goes to the community events, I need to know.”