Mating Flight

by Mating Flight (lit)

  Lefair sat across from her at the table. "During a mating flight the males are virile and the females are fertile. The percentage of flights that conceive a child is more than ninety percent. I don't remember the exact figure. Even the non-winged flights are usually fertile."

  "During the confirmation they brought up the fact that I'm an alien. So since I'm an alien, why would I be fertile like Averans are? I haven't been on your planet long enough for it to have affected me."

  "You had a mating on the ground after the flight, didn't you?"

  "Yes." Sheleigh's cheeks warmed at the question.

  "Did you fly with Kleet in your mind?"

  "Yes, I did."

  "I don't think you're as dissimilar from us as people would like to think. You're obviously biologically compatible with Kleet."

  "Obviously."

  "We wondered, Kelfer and I, when Kleet first mentioned that he was considering you as a mate. Kelfer gave permission for Kleet to make overtures to you. Early this morning he reported that you were physically similar to Averans and that you were a virgin. We weren't expecting that at your age."

  That rat! He'd initiated intimacies with her last night to see if her body was capable of accepting his. That's why he'd insisted on leaving the lights on and taking her pants all the way off. He'd been performing a scientific assessment of her anatomy. He'd poked, prodded and probed her and she'd thought he was stimulating her. Hah! He was making sure his penis would go in. After he'd decided they were compatible, he'd stopped his intimate explorations and plotted getting her to the cliff for the mating flight. There he could bond her and impregnate her. The conniving rat. Everything he'd done had been premeditated. He claimed to love her, but love didn't connive.

  "I've upset you somehow. That wasn't my intention."

  "I've been upset quite a few times today."

  "Our ways are different than what you're used to, that's all. You're an intelligent woman and strong. You'll adapt to our ways."

  "I've lived a long time the way I am. I don't think I can adapt to everything in your society. Lefair, how did you feel when you saw the recording of your mating flight?"

  Lefair sighed and smiled. "It was so beautiful. I'd loved Kelfer from the moment I saw him. He was handsome, strong and confident. Kleet's a lot like his father. Anyway, when Kelfer asked me to fly the mating flight with him I was thrilled and I wanted to shout it from the cliff tops so that everyone would know. I was proud to show the recording that let everyone know Kelfer was my mate and father of my child. It's still one of my most treasured memories. Kelfer and I watch the recording every year on the anniversary of the flight to remind ourselves why we committed to a life together."

  Now there was a perspective Sheleigh had never considered. Of course, Kleet hadn't asked her to be his mate and hadn't asked her to fly the mating flight. Those things obviously made a difference in perspective.

  "Where's Kleet?" Lefair asked, looking around.

  "At the council hall. They're discussing whether aliens can be mates."

  "But if he's there, how can you be here? The council hall is several miles from here. Or doesn't separation bother you?" Lefair looked alarmed at that thought. She was probably thinking about alien incompatibility.

  "It bothers me, but I'm not going to let Kleet dictate where I have to be each day. I got a little panicked on the flight here, but I'm doing better now. How do you think Kleet is handling the separation?"

  The com bleeped imperiously. "I expect that's him now."

  "I won't go running to him."

  "I'm sure he'll want to discuss it with you himself." Lefair went to the com unit. "Hello?"

  "Mother, is Sheleigh there with you?"

  "Hello, Kleet. Yes, she's here." She looked at Sheleigh. "He wants to talk to you."

  Sheleigh sighed and moved to the com unit. "Yes, Kleet?"

  "What are you doing there? I told you it could only be small separations. What are you trying to do to me? Get back here."

  "No."

  "What? You can't be at our home. You have to be in the council hall building near me."

  "I'm not coming. I've got work to do here if I can find my things from my apartment."

  "Bring them here. You can do your work here."

  "I said no. Is there anything else you want?"

  "Sheleigh! Don't you feel the separation? You did this morning."

  "It's not as bad as it was this morning. I can tolerate being here without you."

  "Well it's horrible for me," he snapped. "I need to be able to function. There's important work to be done today."

  "Yes, like discussing how aliens can't be mates. Now you can tell them this alien can tolerate separations from her mate. They'll probably do a recall on the voting this morning and more will vote no."

  He audibly sucked in his breath. "Don't even joke about something like that. I'm sending the guards to get you. Be ready when they arrive." He cut the connection.

  Sheleigh fumed. That dictatorial rat. She'd show him. She wouldn't even be here when they came.

  "Lefair, I need a transport."

  "Dear, I heard what Kleet said."

  "I'm not going to jump when he snaps his fingers. He wanted me because I have strength. Well, he's going to see that strength in action."

  "I won't help you against my own son."

  "At least I know where you'll stand on any issue." Sheleigh left the room and took the hydrolift to the lowest level of the residence. She would walk along the river and get as far away as possible.

  The barred gates at the river level were secured to keep trespassers out, but no one had thought about keeping anyone in. She simply walked out onto the river path and kept going. Her anger kept her blood fired for the first half hour, but then the separation began to pull at her and her steps grew less confident. She walked slower and slower, until finally she couldn't go another step. She cursed herself for her weakness in being enslaved to a man. She cursed Kleet for binding her this way. She cursed herself again for being a slave to her hormones. Then she cursed Kleet for being an arrogant beast.

  She considered hiding close by. This was obviously as far as she could get from him. But hiding was for weak people. She sat down where she stood and waited for the guards to find her. She didn't have long to wait. Five minutes later Kleet's air transport pulled up next to her.

  "Hello boys," she called to them and watched their faces show confusion. One of them was a woman, so Sheleigh corrected her oversight. "And girl."

  "My lady, will you come with us please?" Clearly the captain could not decide if he could order her or not.

  She rose and dusted off her trousers. "Will you use force on me if I don't?" She was curious about what he would say.

  "My lord Kleet told me not to accept no as your answer."

  That bastard. "Would you shoot me if I walked away?" Oh, that would be a predicament.

  "My lady, please don't make my job impossible."

  Why not? They were making her job impossible. "I need something from the residence. I'll meet you there." In an hour.

  "We'll fly you there. It'll be quicker."

  "You'll understand, captain, if I don't believe you. I think I have a better chance of getting to the residence if I walk there."

  "Please, my lady, we'll take you there."

  "I understand your orders say otherwise."

  There was silence and she thought the captain was probably evaluating the wisdom of tackling her or throwing a net over her. That last visual was sort of funny, allowing her to unbend a little.

  "Oh, very well. It's not you who deserves my anger anyway. You're just obeying orders." She climbed into the transport and listened to a collective sigh of relief. "Captain?"

  "Yes, my lady?"

  "Next time I'll run. Or jump in the river. I'm interested to see what you'll do."

  He swallowed. "Thank you for the warning, my lady."

  The flight was as wild, probably wilder, than every other flight she'
d been on, with the granite walls passing dangerously close. Each minute she felt the separation anxiety lessen, which only served to make her angrier. By the time she stood in the corridor outside the council hall, she was fuming. Kleet came out to face her, stopping in front of her. Without thinking about it, she raised her palm and slapped his face. The sound echoed in the corridor, followed by gasps.

  "Bastard!" she flung at him with venom.

  "Ah, another Earth word. What does this one mean, I wonder?"

  "It means, you're a son of a …" She didn't get to finish as Kleet grabbed her and fused his lips to hers.

  Chapter Nine

  Mate! The word roared through her mind. Her body reacted to the mate recognition of its own volition. One arm snaked up around the back of his neck to hold him firmly in place. Her other arm clutched him desperately around the waist. His arms crushed her to him as he devoured her lips. She couldn't get close enough to him. She clawed at him as she tried to get inside him. Then her hands were on his buttocks. She pulled him tightly to the juncture of her thighs. He lifted her onto her tiptoes into his thrusts. Oh, how she wanted him. Her mate, her mate.

  "Kleet, come back into the council hall."

  Whose voice was that?

  "Kleet, stop that. You can see your mate later."

  Kleet broke the kiss and she saw Kelfer beside them. But her mate was pressed to her body and she sought his lips once more. He dipped his head and offered himself, and she took him hungrily. She made greedy noises in her throat. He growled.

  "Kleet, that's enough!" Kelfer's angry voice broke through the fog of mate-passion.

  Kleet lifted his head and she made a sound of protest. "Father, give me five minutes. I need to fly her."

  "We don't have time for that."

  "She went home two hours ago. I need to fly her."

  "Oh, I didn't know that. Five minutes, then."

  Kleet moved quickly across the hall with her still pressed tightly to him.

  "Out!" he commanded someone, but before she could see who it was his lips sealed to hers. Mate-passion roared hot through her and she whimpered. She felt a breeze on her bare buttocks, discomfort between her legs and then her mate was with her.

  She made hungry, desperate sounds as they merged into one. "Hurry, hurry!"

  "I am. Ahh."

  "Mmmmm. More. More!"

  "Ahh. Harder, Shel!"

  "Deeper. I need you in me!"

  "I'm trying! Shel!"

  They leaped into free fall, flying fast and free into an exploding nova. Kleet caught her scream in his mouth and gave her his shout. It was fabulous and over far too soon. She whimpered.

  "Don't ever go away like that again." He kissed her lips. "Don't ever stay away when I tell you to come."

  "I came. Twice."

  "Shel." A rebuke and a laugh, then another kiss.

  "If this is my welcome, I'll stay away more often."

  "I'm serious. It may not bother you, but I felt like I was being torn apart. If you feel anything for me, you won't want me to suffer like that."

  "Kleet," she protested.

  "Our five minutes is up. I have to go back to work." Another kiss. He started to withdraw from her body, but she clutched his buttocks.

  "No, don't leave me."

  "I have to. We can do this again tonight." He withdrew and she whimpered with emptiness and pain.

  "I've hurt you. I'm sorry, I forgot you were sore."

  "Me too." She kissed him.

  There was a knock on the door. "Kleet, time's up."

  Kleet shut his trousers and adjusted his clothes. "Don't leave the building, Shel." When she would have protested, he added. "Please. For me."

  "All right. For you."

  He kissed her once more and slipped out the door. She realized her pants were completely off. How had he done that? She quickly donned them and winced at the soreness between her legs. Kleet was a powerful and vigorous lover. She straightened her hair and clothing the best she could and stepped out into the corridor. The owner of the office leaned patiently against the wall. She was mortified to see it was Harrier, the liaison for her program. She felt her face flame red.

  Quickly she blurted, "I'm sorry. I didn't know it was your office." Then she could have kicked herself for saying something so moronic.

  "I understand the heir made you his mate this morning. Congratulations." His voice was smooth and cultured.

  "Thank you."

  "I hadn't realized you two were committed to each other, but it appears to be a fiery union. I understand you carry more than one child in your womb."

  Ignoring the first part of his statement, she responded to the latter part. "The doctor believes it's twins."

  "They'll probably be non-winged."

  She thought it was a strange comment for him to make. "It's likely. Do you know of an empty office in this building that I can use for the next few months." Or years, however long it took Kleet to become used to separations.

  "Ah, the mate bond. It might make more sense for you to share my office since we work together already."

  "I don't want to inconvenience you."

  "There's plenty of space and you'll be close to the heir." She couldn't control a blush. "I see that interests you. It's settled then." He ushered her into his office.

  "My computer and all my notes are at Kleet's home. Today has been so hectic." She ran a distracted hand through her springy curls. "I don't know where to start. Is there a recorded history of your society?"

  Harrier handed her a bound book, which she took and caressed. It had been a long time since she'd handled a book. They were simply too bulky to travel in space. She opened the book and gazed avidly at the strange symbols that were the Averan language. How she wished they were more than just symbols to her.

  She looked up at Harrier. "I can't read your language. We were only taught to speak and understand it."

  He looked startled, then dismayed. "I'm sorry, my lady," he stumbled over her new title. "I just assumed ... you're so fluent."

  She waved away his distress. "It's no problem. Do you have an oral recorded history?"

  Soon she was ensconced in the records room in the bowels of the building listening to an old voice recorder. She let the history of Kleet's people seep into her mind. She'd been correct in her guess that Averans had been a primitive people until approximately ten generations back. They'd lived in open caves, foraged for food, and flown everywhere they needed to go using their own wings as transportation. They were a highly evolved raptor/humanoid hybrid. Because they were raptors, they mated for life.

  Families lived together in groups, neither patriarchal nor matriarchal, with a number of bonded mates heading them. Child rearing was shared equally between males and females, as was foraging for food. What grains they ate were found along the river, along with tuberous roots. Eventually they raised their own crops by carving flat levels into the mountainsides. They raised wool-bearing animals in the mountainous peaks. They grew fruits on vines, which liked the rainy mountainsides. Each extended family covered a large area in order to sustain their needs. Each bonded couple provided the cohesiveness to help hold the group together. Without that cohesiveness, the early Averans wouldn't have survived.

  Population growth was practically nil in those earlier generations. Many children were killed learning how to fly. Sheleigh swallowed nervously and rubbed her flat stomach. These days Averans didn't need to fly to survive. She tried to be a clinical observer while she listened to the tale of survivalist existence where weaker family units perished and units not headed by a bonded pair disbanded. But this was her children's heritage, revealed to an outsider for the first time.

  Shocked, she stopped the recording. This history wouldn't have been provided to her if she didn't have Averan issue in her womb. Everything that mentioned wings was hidden from sight or hearing, the same way Averans hid their wings under their capes. That's why USP's First Contact report didn't mention wings. The Averans were used
to hiding the fact that they were winged, but they hadn't started out that way. Their society had revolved around flying.

  Something had happened ten generations ago to change them from an open, non-technological, flying society to the secretive, technologically-advanced people they were today. Technology didn't come to a society in a leap such as the one the Averans had made. It didn't come ... it was brought. But no USP member had been to this planet before ... Sheleigh drew in breath. Some species outside of USP had been here and given the Averans technology. But what had caused them to fear outsiders?

  She drew only one conclusion: Malchovists. USP's mortal enemy made species afraid. They didn't give things to species, they took things away. They raided and they murdered unprotected civilizations. A visit by two different species would explain the mystery, if one species were benevolent and the other was the Malchovists. Would anyone admit the truth if she asked?

  The Averans' secrecy seemed to center on having wings. But why the wings? She knew that societies hid things they considered weaknesses, such as birth deformities. Had the Averan interactions with these other species led them to believe that being winged was a weakness? Before she could pursue that thought there was a scuff behind her. She turned.

  Kleet smiled. "Here you are. I've been searching everywhere for you. I knew you hadn't gone too far." This was said sardonically. "Luckily I ran into Harrier and he said you were down here. Are you hungry? It's time for the mid-day meal."

  She realized she was hungry. The sandwich she'd had instead of breakfast had been hours ago. "Sure." As she rose his arm slid around her and her senses clamored with mate-recognition. His lips lowered to hers. She should turn away from him on principle, after the way he'd treated her this morning. But she was in accord with him at the moment, with her mind full of her children's inheritance, so she raised her lips to meet his.

  It was a wonderful kiss, full of Kleet's love, strongly possessive, rich in promise and it throbbed with the mate bond. She found herself in his strong arms, up tight against his hard body, affirming his claim on her.