by Maia Starr
"Hello, Avery; what do you speak of?" I smiled as I got up from my bed and moved to the glass.
She put her hands on her hips and said, "You know damn well what I'm talking about!"
"Your nipples are hard, Avery," I said, staring at the rosebuds that protruded from her suit. She gasped and crossed her arms in front of her chest. I smiled.
"How did you get inside my mind like that? I demand to know," she said in anger.
"I do not know what you speak of. I was asleep until you interrupted my sleep with your shouting."
"You lie! Tell me how you did it! How did you get inside my mind and make me have a dream like that?"
"What sort of dream? Why don't you tell me about it? Leave no detail out," I said with a grin, hoping she would speak all the dirty details to me.
"It was a dream about… well it was a very… it was so real. I know you did it. I don't know how, but at the end of it you asked me to come here. So here I am. Why did you summon me here?"
"I summoned you? What exactly were my words?" I asked, wanting her to say what I told her. I knew that she would not, but I knew that inside her mind she was repeating the words. Come to me. Come to me now and I will fuck you hard. Like a true warrior.
"No. I am not going to play your games. Stay out of my mind!" she shouted as she stomped back toward the door and left. I had done it. I was now branded in her mind. The desire for me would build inside of her until she couldn’t handle it any more.
But as two months wore on, my desire for her built until I couldn’t handle it any more. It was affecting me as well. That was not part of my plan, yet it was happening. I never wanted to desire a human female like this. I had always sworn to myself that I would not harbor such feelings. A fun toss around in bed with a human female was fine, but not love. I had sworn that to myself because I did not want to have an offspring that was more human than Kalazaron. Now, I was coming dangerously close to repeating the same pattern as my father.
Now, however, there was more to worry about and I had to put my feelings for Avery aside because the day had arrived: we were entering Earth’s atmosphere.
"Chain him good," the tall captain that stood beside Avery said to the guards. They stood on the other side of the glass. Guns were aimed at me and I did not know what exactly was happening other than we were arriving on Earth and I was being transferred somewhere.
The guards put my arms behind my back as before and cuffed my wrists and ankles together. Then I was led out of the cell. Avery kept looking at me, but she was very silent. That was a first, I thought. She always had something to say and the last few months had been nothing but her asking me questions. But through these question sessions, I got to know her and she got to know me. I enjoyed and looked forward to her visits. I was always in the mood to see her. What was happening to me?
I was led through the halls of the ship and I almost thought I was going to be reunited with my Kalazaron warriors. Instead, I was led on to the command deck. I was astonished. Why were they bringing me there? I looked around at the flight console that was familiar, yet different. I could now see how they had captured us. They had made many advancements in their technology.
"Roll recording," Avery said out loud.
"Recording," another responded.
She looked at me and said, "Captain, we are now entering Earth’s atmosphere. You will be able to see Earth for the first time through this window view. I would really like to get your first response to the planet and what you see in the recording. It is of interest to me," she said.
I did not answer her to say that I would give her any sort of response to what I saw, but when it came into view, I could not stop the words from leaving my mouth. As we entered, the sky was blue. I began to speak, "The blue of your sky reminds me of my planet. There are more clouds here. The color of blue is different, but this is beautiful as well." I was speaking directly to Avery as though we were the only ones in the room.
The ship continued to move through the clouds and as they parted, I could see the land below and it is not what I was expecting. I had seen projections of Earth in my data, but nothing prepared me for the real thing. It was stunning.
"Beautiful. The trees. The mountains. The ocean. Your planet is alive. It looks like it is breathing. It is a living organism."
My planet of Kaethon was also beautiful, the trees and mountains, but there was more desert and rock and dirt, especially where I grew up and lived. Earth was green and blue.
"Thank you," Avery said as she looked at me and locked eyes with me. As she did so, her captain moved between us and shouted orders. "Prepare to transfer the prisoners to United Planets Building. Block C."
Moments later, I was being escorted off the ship and I could see my twenty warriors ahead of me under heavy gun guard as they were escorted across the grounds. I took in every sight as I was led down the bridge of the ship onto the ground. Then it hit me: the sweet smell of Earth. It was a wet smell, humid and warm. It was alive. It was different than the cold air of my planet. I took in a deep breath; half of me was at home here, and the other half was a stranger.
"Move!" the captain shouted at me as he pushed on my back. It was all I could do to restrain myself from turning and punching him. Instead, I took that anger and memorized every last thing that I saw along the way from the ship to the building. This way I knew where to go when I was escaping. That ship had landed in a port of sorts, just like on planet Kaethon. The ships were kept in the same area together. We moved along and I could see Avery to the left side of me. I felt better with her presence.
I was led inside a grand building and into another cell where I waited. I took the opportunity to take a water shower and rest. It was good to be off the ship.
"You are to come with me. You are to come with me to the council now," Avery said to me as she stood outside my cell.
"The council? They are to decide what is to be done with me?" I asked her.
"I would not think of it in that way. Think of it as they want to be meet and know you, for now. Come."
The guard opened the cell and let me out with Avery. I walked through the halls without chains for the first time and was led into a grand room where there were five human males and two human females sitting at a table.
"Captain Ankon, it is an honor. I am Vice President Thompson of the United Planets Association. I must apologize for keeping you captive. It is for our own safety, I assure you. We have had no other way of communicating with the Kalazaron. Your warriors have left us no other choice than to capture and bring you here in order to open communication. We believe that we can live in peace. Please, will you sit down?" the older human male said to me.
I could see where they were going with this. They thought that I was someone that could change the ways of the Kalazaron. I was not. They did not know who I was. They did not know anything about what it was truly like on Kaethon. If they did, they knew that I could not help them and their cause for peace. I sat down and listened to them speak about their demands. They did not want the Kalazaron to capture their supply ships of weapons any longer. They did not want the Kalazaron to capture their silver cargo ships from the mining planet of Merton Loy. They did not want the Kalazaron to take the human females from the ships full of brides for the miners.
"What incentive would you give for the Kalazaron to stop doing these things? So far, you were only asking for the Kalazaron to stop these things. Why would we?" I asked.
"We offer no incentive, only peace. In return, if these actions are stopped, then we will not send ships to capture your ships. Just as we have done with the ship that you were on and your warriors. We are now capable of doing this. If the Kalazaron continue to take our ships, then we will take yours in return. Call it a war if you like, but we are prepared."
The human side of me felt proud that the humans had finally had enough and were fighting back. Being a hybrid, I was teased on Kaethon and called weak because I was half human. We had always thought of the hum
ans as weaker than us. Now they were showing me that they could be strong, smart, and a conquering race. Part of me was proud of that and wanted the Kalazaron to know it too, simply for my own ego.
But, there was nothing I could do to help their demands. I had no power. I did not live in the capital city, nor did I speak with anyone in the government. But what I was about to say was going to shock these humans, because they knew nothing. Now they would know that having me, and my warriors in captivity, would do nothing for their new talk of peace.
"I understand your demands. I understand you want a peace. I cannot help you."
"Cannot? Or will not? Are you refusing?" the vice president said.
I could see Avery moving uneasily in her seat because of the tension. She was not going to like this either, but how could she know?
"I cannot. The Kalazaron that can grant you peace are the Kalazaron that live in the capital city of Konthos. I do not belong to that band of Kalazaron. I am a rebel. There is a faction of Kalazaron that split off from the capital city decades ago and have not returned. In fact, we are constantly at war with the capital city. We live in a military warrior outpost deep inside a mountain as outsiders."
There was much commotion in the room as everyone began to speak over each other. They did not know that a rebel force existed. They did not know that their one capture of a ship in order to speak and communicate with the capital city, did not belong to the capital city at all. They did not know about the rebels.
I continued, "I can only speak your terms of peace with the rebel faction. But we are a small band in our own society. We only send ships out for hunting supplies and females once a year or less, as we don't need as much. I can speak terms of peace with the rebel leaders, but not with the capital city. Any rebel going into the capital city to speak with the capital city leaders would be killed."
There was much uproar as they continued to speak to each other about this new information. I took this time to look at Avery. She was pissed. In all our talks, I had never told her that I was a rebel. I had never told her about what it was like on Kaethon, about the constant civil war between the capital city and the rebel outpost of the Blue Mountain. I did not tell her because I did not want her and her mission to decide that I was useless, that my warriors were useless for their meeting mission. I kept it to myself, with good reason.
"Thank you, Captain Ankon. As you can see, we did not know of this information. You will be led to your cell until we know further of this matter," the vice president said. Then I saw Avery get up and march over to him and whisper something in his ear. Then he continued, "You will be escorted not back to your cell, but instead to a new place. You will be escorted to proper living quarters. You will be under guard, of course, but I hope that you will find your new quarters more comfortable."
I nodded to the vice president and looked at Avery before being let out of the room. I assumed that this was her doing. She did not want me in a cell like a prisoner or captive, but as a political leader visiting Earth for negotiations. Now they knew I could only offer those negotiations to the rebel band. Perhaps they would think it is a start. News from the rebel band of peace with the humans would indeed spread to the capital city, and could spark communications of their own.
Chapter 9
CAPTAIN JAMIE HOLT
I did not like the fact that Avery was spending a lot of time with the captured captain. I knew it was part of her research, but I could tell that she was attracted to him. How could I tell? Because she looked at him the same way she looked at me. I knew her responses. She would get flushed and her cheeks would turn rosy and she would move uncomfortably. These were all the reactions that she was having when she would be in contact with the captured Kalazaron. It pissed me off. But I had a mission to run; this was bigger than any of us.
So, as I sat there with the council listening to the Kalazaron tell us that he was part of a rebel force, I grew angry. Did Avery know this? She had spent more time conversing with him than anyone else. Had he told her this? Had she kept it secret just to make me look like a fool? We had captured a useless Kalazaron for our cause. Now he was being escorted out of the room only to hear that he was being given comfortable accommodations. I grew angrier.
"Vice President Thompson, may I speak with you in private?" I said as I stood at attention at his side.
"Yes, in my office now," he said angrily. He was pissed at me. This was my mission, after all; Avery didn't even know that it had existed in this way. I was looking like a failure and I was pissed. I had to do something to save myself and I knew exactly what that was going to be.
"This mission cannot be a failure. We are bending many laws here just to do this. Now we have someone that cannot even bring a message to the majority of the Kalazaron race!" the Vice President shouted at me.
"Yes, that seems to be the case. However, we had a split second to make a decision whether to capture or be captured when faced with an enemy ship. We didn't exactly get the time to question if they were in positions of power before taking them," I responded.
"Yes, I suppose you are right. This is a mess though; we will need to figure something out. Perhaps it is salvageable if this particular Kalazaron takes the message back to his rebel base that the humans seek peace or will begin to capture their ships as well, and that message will spread by word-of-mouth to the capital city. There is still hope."
"Vice President, if I may say so, I would advise that you would send the message with a lieutenant of the Kalazaron that we have captured. I believe this captain is of high value and should stay here on Earth."
"Why is that?" He asked.
"I have heard Ambassador Jones say that the captain is a hybrid of sorts."
"Hybrid? What do you mean?" he asked.
"I cannot be sure; you will have to ask her and perhaps look at her notes and journals. But I have overheard her say that he is a hybrid of a human female and a male Kalazaron."
He gasped. "That is impossible! I do not see how. It has been known that they cannot mate successfully and produce offspring."
"That is only what we have heard; as you can see, we do not know much about them. We did not know about this rebel existence, or perhaps the Captain is lying about the rebels. How would we know? But Ambassador Jones is good with research and I do not doubt her intelligence."
"Thank you, Captain Holt. Perhaps this mission and the cargo that you have brought back can be salvaged. If he is a hybrid, there is much that we can learn. Our scientists can learn a lot from him, take samples of his blood, study him. We can also study the ship that you brought back and learn their technology so that we can better fight it. We will make do. You are dismissed, Captain. Good work on this mission."
"Thank you, Vice President," I said with a salute and began to walk out.
"Captain! Wait," he shouted.
"Yes, Vice President Thompson?"
"Bring Ambassador Jones to me. While she is with me, confiscate her notes by any means necessary; is that clear?"
"Yes, crystal clear."
I knew exactly where to look for Avery. She would be with the Kalazaron Captain. I walked over to his new living quarters and was pissed to see that it was better than my own. But he was being seen as a dignitary and representative of an entire planet and alien race, and we were working toward peace with them. He would need to be treated well from here on out.
"Is Ambassador Jones inside?" I said to the guard outside the door.
"Yes, Captain. She is in there alone with the Kalazaron warrior. She insisted on being alone with him."
"Insufferable woman," I said under my breath as I opened the door.
"Why did you not tell me you were with the rebels?! Why did you not tell me that rebels even existed on Kaethon?!" I heard her voice shouting as I walked in. She was a headstrong woman and now she was giving it to the Kalazaron Captain. Perhaps she did not know about him being a rebel. But why was she being so familiar with him? Enough to be yelling at him in this fashion,
as though they were lovers? That question made me angry as I moved into the living space.
"Ambassador Jones!" I shouted and startled both of them. I guess they were not expecting company. I wondered what they would be doing had I waited a while outside the door. It felt the tension among them. It was chemistry. I knew it well because I had experienced the same sort of arguing passion with her before. She liked debate and argument. It aroused her. Now she was doing it with a Kalazaron warrior.
"Captain Holt, what are you doing here?" she asked.
"Vice President Thompson requested that I send for you and bring you to his office," I said, standing at attention in a cold manner.
"Now?" she asked.
"Yes, now," I said to her.
She turned to the Kalazaron captain and said, "I am not done with you yet."
"I look forward to it," was his response.