The loss of every baby conceived with Lacertan parents has been a very harsh blow not only to the project and to the Moran family but to our world itself. It’s also, as you know, met with considerable backlash from conservative groups on Lacerta who don’t want the institution of the Lotteries changed or challenged.
Our new approach will be to combine the methods of the Lotteries with the use of Proliferon. Our first subjects will be a Lacertan male who has already volunteered and a human female who will be chosen by Lottery. A section of the planetary computer core will coordinate with the Lottery system to screen candidates from all over Lacerta and elsewhere in the Commonwealth to identify potential mating partners for the volunteer. The final selection of the aspirant, however, will not be made by the computer core, nor by the Lottery computer system. It will be up to the volunteer himself.”
Off-camera, the mediate replied, “That’s a highly unusual procedure, Dr. Garver. The Lottery system has never been used that way before. Why has the method been changed for this selection?”
“That is because of the identity of the male volunteer,” the doctor replied.
Sierra sat up on the bed, rapt and fascinated by a situation unlike any other she had ever heard described. Don’t tell me, she thought, they’re going to keep his name confidential until the selection is called out. That’s what it’s going to be, just watch. They’re going to have the known galaxy guessing about this, and it’s going to be an interplanetary obsession. Oh, these people know what they’re doing; this nexus is going to have cosmic rating points while this is going on.
The wall switched back to the mediate in his Bureau studio. “The identity of the male volunteer has just been made public, in the interest of full transparency.”
Now, Sierra’s brows arched. She was not expecting this.
The image on the wall changed again, and there he was, a male Lacertan clad in a red and white skinsuit typical of the garments that his people wore. At the sight of him, Sierra gasped so hard that she felt as if she could suck the air from the room. The dark male dragon man was so stunning, so amazing-looking, his image on the wall nearly knocked Sierra from the bed. The caption said his name: Tynan Moran, Prince of Nest Moran, Nimbus City.
Again off-camera, the mediate addressed the Prince, who was apparently of a similar age to Sierra. “Prince Tynan, it’s going to come as a surprise to the galaxy at large to know you’ve submitted yourself as the male test subject for the fertility drug whose development your family sponsored. What will you say to the inevitable allegations of favoritism or undue use of privilege, even conflict of interest that will arise from this?”
Calmly and smoothly, Tynan replied, “Such charges may be made, but I’d like to point out that while we are exerting our privilege, we’re also incurring any risks that may come from this continued testing. That is, my family and the subject, whoever she may be, will be taking on those risks. We may be facing the same disappointments that the last round of testing brought. That will be for us—and the human woman who’ll be participating with me—to bear.”
Slack-jawed, Sierra took this in and thought, ‘Participating.’ That’s the perfect way for a Prince to put it in public. What he really means is, the human woman he’ll be screwing like a crazed borgathi, trying to get her pregnant.
Tynan continued, “We have other reasons for going in this direction. Our family wants heirs. My two brothers and I are willing to become fathers to continue our nest, but in spite of our wealth and position, we’re the prisoners of Lacertan biology the same as everyone else. We face the same odds of making a female pregnant, whether human or Lacertan, as any other Lacertan male. Remember, even when we’re paired with a human in the Lotteries, pregnancy isn’t guaranteed. The last we heard, Sir Thrax Helmer and Agena Morrow were still trying.”
Sierra nodded, remembering the famous story of the Lottery-paired Knight of Lacerta, Sir Thrax Helmer, and the human athlete, Agena Morrow, whose mating coincided with the invasion of the alien Scodax. The two of them had played a critical part in saving Lacerta from that invasion, so Lacerta and much of the galaxy had taken an interest in their status. She almost chuckled a bit at the thought of what Thrax and Agena must be up to. Assuming he was not somewhere performing some official Knightly duty, Thrax was very likely in bed with Agena, or wherever else he enjoyed doing it, humping and coming on top of her like there was no tomorrow.
The dragon Prince finished, “It may appear to the rest of our world and to the rest of the quadrant that the Morans are taking unfair advantage, and we know there are plenty of other males on Lacerta who would be every bit as eligible as I am to perform in this test. We’ve invoked our right of first access as one of the highest-ranking families on our planet, that’s true. Our society does consider it important to perpetuate families like mine, which is why we’ve done as we’ve done. But I’d like to point out that while I may be the first, if this is successful, I won’t be the last. My service may be paving the way for millions of others to help our society grow. I’m only the vanguard. The charge is yet to come.”
“Thank you, Prince Tynan,” said the mediate.
The wall switched to the mediate in his studio again. “And so, Nest Moran will soon be making the formal solicitation for human female candidates to submit their genomes and biographical profiles under tight encryption to the computers of the Ruling Aerie on Lacerta, which will begin the screening process for maximum compatibility with Prince Tynan, the youngest of the three Moran brothers of Nest Moran in Nimbus City. And then…it will be a matter of waiting and guessing to see which names are submitted to the Prince and which woman he’ll select to join him in Nimbus City—possibly to change the course of the history of Lacerta. This has been Douglas Ross for the Terran News Service.”
Sierra hit a surface on her nightstand to shut off the holovision. The wall went blank, and Sierra, exhaling with a huff, fell back onto the headboard of her bed. Her mind was filled with the face and eyes and voice and skin-suited body of Tynan Moran, which actually made her feel a bit guilty, considering that she would shortly be helping herself to another night of Dr. Clark’s eager, naked and erect ministrations.
Still, Sierra knew herself well enough to know that an idea, once it dug itself into her mind, would not just go away. She thought of everything she had been contemplating since her near-death experience with Udarian mitochondrial disease. She thought of everything she had been feeling since her stay in the hospital and her visit to the maternity ward, which she’d expected to be nothing more at first than a way to pass the time. And it occurred to her how those two things happened to dovetail together.
Could she do it? Could she actually do it? Submit her genome and her holobiography to the Lottery system of the planet Lacerta to be matched for compatibility with one of the very Princes of that planet? And then… Certainly, sleeping with Tynan Moran would be no problem; she would have a man—or dragon—like that on top of her in bed under any circumstances except infidelity to a spouse. But could she actually get pregnant with him? And have his baby? And have everything that would go with having his baby?
Could she?
She frowned and sighed. It would certainly be an adventure, an adventure unlike any other she’d ever had. But was that reason enough? Was this something she could actually, seriously do?
Sierra would have to think about this one long and carefully.
CHAPTER THREE
A month after her ordeal with her illness, Sierra was back on Earth. Reaching the home planet, she did her homework and made her decision.
Having done the requisite things to carry out her choice, Sierra took a sabbatical from work and travel. She stayed on Earth to await the word, yea or nay, from Lacerta.
She fully expected it to be nay, in which case, no harm done. Some other woman of original terrestrial stock would enjoy the plentiful penetrations of Tynan Moran and perhaps have the honor of giving birth to the first Proliferon-conceived human/weredragon baby. Sierra
would wait and see.
There were things to occupy her on Earth—chiefly regular daily exercise, as she did not care to be physically idle. She ran, swam, lifted weights and climbed rocks. She practiced Yoga and martial arts. There was always something.
Curiously, for whatever unaccountable reason, she mostly lost interest in sex. Of course, Sierra still considered it the most pleasurable activity of all, but now, strangely, she did not feel in much of a hurry to engage in naked mattress exercise with any of the available and very beautiful men she saw every day. Why was she now so detached from the desire to roll and lie with a willing and well-hung stud?
Could it possibly be that in some corner of her heart, some nook or cranny of her mind, she thought she was saving herself for Tynan? Saving herself for a dragon male who had a quadrant of the galaxy full of women wanting to join him in bed and be the mother of what could be one of history’s most celebrated children? What made her think he would even choose her? Was that really what she thought?
Sierra did her best to discourage her expectations, in spite of the fact that she’d entered herself to be nominated. Yes, she had a chance. She had as much of a chance as any of the countless other women who were sure to have stepped up as well. And that was the crux of the matter: there would be countless other women in the running. She didn’t have an exact figure for it; only the computers on that planet so many light-years away knew how many women had entered and were entering. But she knew that the odds against her were high. She might as well enjoy her self-granted time off while she waited. So, in the weeks that followed, she returned to the sex life to which she’d been accustomed.
And yet…in the small hours of the night and morning, lying next to men she had thoroughly enjoyed, and in the bright hours of the morning after they left her bed or she left theirs, Sierra could not help but wonder what was happening on Lacerta. Was Tynan Moran also having other partners while awaiting his computer-given choices?
He was male, and he was Lacertan; of course, he was. And who were all those other women out there transmitting their genomes and holobios across space for the Lacertan computers to peruse? She would never know, she realized. So, she might as well just wait and enjoy the time spent waiting.
One afternoon, she passed the time at her favorite gym with her friend Donna, who worked as a trainer there. Sierra decided that her diversion for today would be swordplay practice. She brought her Lacertan Knight powerblade, and Donna, a brown-skinned woman with thick curls of black hair, brought her own powerblade of Earth manufacture. With the energy foils on their lowest setting, the two women dressed in protective suits that would insulate them from low-level blade strikes on their bodies and stepped out into a wide room with padded floors to go through their paces.
Recovering from her illness had not dulled Sierra’s moves one iota. Lunging, thrusting, parrying, bobbing, weaving, lunging again, she was as skilled as she had ever been. She engaged Donna in a dance of flashing, gleaming blades, back and forth across the room. She panted from behind her mask, not with exhaustion but with exhilaration. Her confidence growing with every swoosh of her blade, every sizzle of Donna’s blade against hers, every precise twist and sway of her body, she matched Donna’s moves and assured herself that she was in charge.
Her breaths of exertion turned to soft laughs, and she could sense Donna smiling with approval behind her own mask. Her friend was fighting to win, but happy and proud to see Sierra still a worthy and formidable competitor. And when at last Sierra swished her blade to deflect Donna’s to one side, then rapidly moved in to slash her blade across the protective surface of Donna’s breast plate for the win, Donna stepped back, removed her mask, and bowed, conceding. Lowering her own gleaming sword of energy, Sierra whipped off her mask and nodded, accepting her friend’s concession.
“Great match,” said Sierra, breathing out through pursed lips.
“Same to you,” Donna acknowledged. “As always. Let’s have a sit-down for a bit, before the drinks you get to buy as the winner.”
Sierra laughed again as the two of them deactivated their weapons and plopped themselves onto the mats, discarding blades and masks. They sat, breathing deeply, letting their heartbeats slow down, otherwise silent just for a moment.
That was when Donna blurted the question that had been on her mind as much as Sierra’s. “Do you really want to do this? I mean, Tynan Moran—go to bed with him, yes. Any healthy heterosexual woman in her right mind should want to go to bed with him. I’d want to go to bed with him myself. But get pregnant with him and have his baby? Is that what you really want, Sierra?”
“Well,” Sierra replied thoughtfully, “I don’t think he’ll be looking to sleep with anyone who’s not interested in having his baby. And considering who he is, getting pregnant with him is the only way I’m likely to get anywhere near him, anyway.”
“But honey, we’re not talking about just letting him have sex with you. This is being the mother of a baby—a dragon Prince’s baby! Are you even ready for what that’s going to mean? It’s a game-changer for Lacerta, but honey, it’s a life-changer for you. You’re going to be the mother of a little dragon boy or girl. You’re going to be responsible for bringing that little life into the world.”
She paused and rolled her eyes, taking in the full enormity of what they were discussing. “And bringing that life into the world—you know what that’s going to do to you! Not just your life, but you! Sierra, if this works, you’re going to be pregnant! Actually pregnant! Carrying a baby! Having a baby! Giving birth! Are you really ready for that?”
Sierra sighed. They were all very good, very natural, very pertinent questions. Her only answer was, “Donna, I’ve been all over space. I’ve faced the robot horsemen of Klaerian. I’ve wrestled a Khoshavarian shark whale under water. I nearly went deaf running from the Banshee People of Arkhasslia. Labor pains don’t really scare me.”
“You say that now,” Donna said skeptically. “Wait ’til the water breaks and the first pain hits, then get back to me.”
“I’ll do that,” said Sierra, rolling her eyes.
“And what about raising the kid?” asked Donna. “Just giving birth to the little Prince or Princess is the least of it. Go through the labor, push out the baby, and that’s done. Excruciating as hell but done. And then…you’re a Mom with a kid to raise. Without having anything with the guy but sex. Great sex, yeah; he’s a Lacertan and all. But still, it’s either help him raise the kid or let him and his family do it. Can you do either one? And what are you and Tynan really going to be to each other once you’ve done this for him?”
“It sounds awfully cold-blooded the way you’re putting it,” said Sierra.
“I don’t mean to sound that way,” Donna said. “But those are the facts. Why do you even want to do this? What’s really in it for you? I know that sounds cold too, asking what you get out of it besides the sex that it’ll take to make it happen, but it’s a real question. Why do it? Why do you need to do this?”
Sierra looked off into space, considering her answer. Donna watched her, knowing that at moments like these her friend needed an “empty” moment into which to gather up her thoughts. She was patient—and then, Sierra looked back at her and answered.
“Donna,” she said, “I almost died. Really—almost died.”
Sympathetically, Donna said, “I know, honey.”
“And the thing is, I didn’t almost die in a way that I ever thought I would. It’s strange to put it this way, but if I’d died the way I’d lived, I could have lived with it. Do you know what I mean?”
“That is a strange way to put it,” Donna agreed. “But I get it. Dying from an alien disease you picked up somewhere wouldn’t have been ‘you’.”
“No, it wouldn’t have been. A death from some random thing, a death lying down helpless and weak in a hospital bed—that would have been too sad. When my time comes, I want to be on my feet for it, eyes wide open, a blade or a pistol or something in my hand—but not
like that. I chose the way I’ve lived, and I’d want a death that I’d choose.”
“So, what does any of that have to do with having Tynan Moran’s baby?”
“When I was in the hospital, Donna, I thought a lot about the way I almost died. And I had a lot of time to think about other things. I’ve never been afraid of anything but dying a passive, helpless death. Then, I faced that fear, and…I don’t know, something happened. When you’ve been close to death, it makes you think about all the things in life you never got to know. In the hospital, I realized that there are things I’ve never known, and never would have known if I hadn’t pulled through—a whole other side to life. A different kind of adventure, I guess.”
Now, Donna looked truly concerned. “Sierra,” she said, “having a baby isn’t an adventure. It’s a responsibility.”
“I understand that,” said Sierra. “But you see…it’s something unknown. It’s like a place I’ve never been. I’ve spent my whole life going to places I’ve never been, not being afraid of whatever I’d have to do once I got there. A different kind of life is like another unknown place. While I was recovering from almost dying, I started to think of how maybe I’d like to know something different in life.”
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