After I sat down, I stared across the table at Betra and insisted to myself he was not that damned cute. Stupid libido. Thank God that just because a girl enjoys eye candy, it doesn’t mean she has to touch.
Betra cured me of any impending crush pretty quick. His expression was friendly enough and he was polite as he asked me how I was doing. Yet he was weird, too. He fixed me with a searching gaze that made me feel like a bug on a pin. He inhaled deeply, over and over. During our meeting, he kept asking me how I was feeling. Not once or twice, either.
A sample: How are you feeling, Shalia? (To which I responded, fine.) Are you settling in okay? (Yes.) Do you have any questions you’d like to ask me? (Not really.) Be sure you contact me if you do have questions. Are you feeling all right? (For the second time I tell him yes.) I’m here to help you, day or night. If I’m not in my office, com me. (Okay.) So, you’ve been feeling okay? (That was three.) Is there anything you need, anything at all? (At this point I remembered I was low on teeth-cleansing tabs, but I can order those from my room. I told Betra I was set and made a mental note to get the tabs.) Your father Nayun commed me. He wants you to stop in Medical to be checked over. (Okay.) You’re feeling well these days? (What the fuck? How many times do I have to tell you I’m fine? I answered yes. I wasn’t a bitch about it.)
I thought Dad was a mother hen. No wonder Betra hasn’t been clanned. Imagine living with someone who asks you the same damned question all day long. He takes being a caregiver into the OCD realm.
Betra’s sniffing made me paranoid. It is disconcerting to carry on a conversation while the other person’s nostrils keep flaring wide. As soon as I could get away from him, I hurried to my quarters and took my second shower of the day. Maybe I missed a pit this morning.
Boredom and overly solicitous men who sniff a lot. This is my life. Fun, fun, fun. Then again, I could be at the Academy, in mortal danger every second of the day. With Nang nearby.
I can’t win.
December 7
Katrina kills me. That woman is not well in the head, which means I spend every moment I can with her. Hey, I gotta do something on this ship to discourage me from lapsing into a coma.
Candy and I sat with her for lunch today. The Matara dining hall, separate from the ship’s crew’s dining hall, is huge. It’s bigger than required for the paltry five or six hundred Earther gals Kalquor managed to convince to journey to their home world this trip. Someone said this vessel is supposed to be a troop transport, used to carry foot soldiers to battlefronts. Since most of them have been dumped off on Earth, we’re its main cargo. Katrina has named the ship, christening it the Pussy ‘Porter. “Or should it be the Vagina Vessel?” she asked us as we choked on herbed rizpah fillets.
I told you she’s not right.
It wasn’t only her crazy, in-your-face comments that had me alternating between hysterics and astonishment. How Katrina carried on with the Kalquorians who brought us our meals and checked on us was beyond scandalous. Katrina is not shy in any way, shape, or form. She touches the men. Blatantly. Intimately. Not a single masculine rump passed by that she didn’t rub, squeeze, or pat. The guys loved her for it. Several went out of their way to guide meal carts past Katrina, walking slowly so she could give them some attention.
“When is your next party?” a young Imdiko asked, pausing to speak to her. I thought he could have been her grandson, he was so innocent-seeming.
Katrina grinned up at him. “I’m still recovering from the last one. I haven’t made plans for tonight. Was it you who I discussed private consultations with?”
The Imdiko grinned from ear to ear. “If I say yes, will you trust me?”
“Hmm,” Katrina said, ogling that muscled body up and down. “I suspect you might be trying to be dishonest with me. You need to be taken in hand, young man. An hour after evening shift starts?”
“Yes, Matara.” The Imdiko walked off with a swagger in his step.
Candy’s face was beet red. “Did you just arrange to–are you going to have–is he spending the night in your quarters?”
Katrina glanced at her with surprise. “Well, he was trying to be deceptive. That naughty boy requires guidance.” She sighed, as if bearing the weight of the world. “I will do my part in putting him on a more honest path. It’s the least I can do for the empire that has rescued me.”
“You have parties?” I asked, having caught that part of the Imdiko’s conversation.
“Intimate get-togethers,” Katrina said offhandedly. “Salons, where we have a few drinks, I inform them on how to make Earther girls happy, entertain questions, and gather intelligence on what they enjoy. You should join us at the next one. I’ll tell you when as soon as I schedule another.”
“Is that all that happens at your parties?” Candy sounded suspicious. “You talk and drink?”
“Well, it is often necessary to indulge in practical exercises. To demonstrate key points,” the older woman said with an unrepentant grin.
Candy looked at her as if she wondered whether to condemn or worship Katrina for her flagrant sexuality. For my part, I could only laugh.
Yes, the Kalquorians love Katrina. As we neared the finish of our meal and the dining hall began to empty out, the attendants congregated at our table. They flirted with our elder stateswoman with delight, and she flirted back with abandon. She was the belle of the ball.
At first, Candy and I might as well have not been there. Katrina possesses so much personality that even my chatty and flirtatious friend was quiet and observing. I believe Candy was taking mental notes on what the men responded to. I’m not sure Candy will ever manage the uninhibited joy that delighted the men paying Katrina court. I’m not sure anyone but Katrina can manage it.
But as more men gathered, I found myself amongst the crowd. A funny thing happened then. The ones closest to me abruptly turned from the laughter and teasing going on around Katrina. They zeroed in on me.
“You are lovely, Matara,” said one. He was a Dramok. “What is your name?”
“Shalia,” I said, a bit uncomfortably. The guy’s eyes had gone dark, the pupils widening the way Kalquorians’ do when they’re ready to fight or have sex.
“Matara Shalia,” said an Imdiko standing at my shoulder. “You are beautiful. Do you enjoy parties like Matara Katrina does?”
He was no less avid than the Dramok. I envisioned myself as a mouse caught between hungry and playful cats. “I’ve never been to Katrina’s parties, so I couldn’t say,” I answered. I tried to catch Candy’s eye, hoping for some help escaping the immediate vicinity. However, she was enthralled with the talk and laughter centered on Katrina.
The Dramok’s fingers stroked through my hair. I jerked, trying to move away from the unwelcome touch. He smiled apologetically.
“I’m sorry. I have not introduced myself, Matara Shalia.” A crease appeared between his brows. “But first–you have not been claimed by a clan?”
I was confused and worried by the situation, which the Imdiko on my other side wasn’t helping. He stood close enough that I could feel the warmth of his body. He sounded impatient with the Dramok. “Of course she isn’t clanned. She’s entering the lottery or she wouldn’t be here.”
“I was concerned about the yadbis.”
“Apparently, he was unable to claim her or she didn’t want him. She’s available.”
“I’m not clanned,” I said, though a voice in my head warned I might do better to allege I was taken. Those two were so damned intense. It was beginning to scare me.
Suddenly, Imdiko Betra was at our table. His eyes narrowed at the pair standing over me. Then he did his weird sniffing. He barked a few words in Kalquorian at my admirers. His tone was low and threatening, every bit as feral as I’d ever seen Esak. I didn’t know an Imdiko could be that frightening, but Betra was.
Whatever he said snagged the attention of all the Kalquorians surrounding our table. Every purple eye was on me in an instant. More nostrils flared. Betra snarled som
ething else, and every man, including my too-friendly pair, stepped back. Even the Dramoks in the group were listening to whatever he was telling them with attitudes of compliance.
Except for Betra, the men all bowed, turned, and left us. Just like that. Katrina, Candy, and I stared at our liaison.
“What the hell?” Katrina asked. “You sent them all away? Why?”
“It was necessary,” the Imdiko said. “I apologize for interrupting, Mataras.”
With no more explanation than that, Betra also turned and walked off. While I’m glad he scared the Amorous Twins off me, I was as lost and irritated as my companions.
That is one strange Kalquorian.
December 8
I had the craziest conversation with Dad. He commed me this morning, before I’d rubbed the crud out of my eyes.
I was happy to see his big, broad self nonetheless. His hair was a coarse cloud around his head, as if he’d just woken up himself. There were circles under his eyes. I’d swear he’d passed a sleepless night. I was on alert immediately.
“Are you okay? What’s wrong?” I burst out after his smiling ‘hello’.
“I’m fine, my daughter,” he answered, softening at my concern. “I can’t com and say hello?”
“Of course you can,” I answered. “You seem a little...I don’t know. Tired.”
“Bitev snores.”
A distant voice called. “Serves you right. You steal all the covers.”
A second voice added, “And he hogs the sleeping mat. I nearly fall out of bed every night.”
I laughed as Dad rolled his eyes at the clanmates I couldn’t see. It must have been early in the day if the whole gang was in their quarters. I called, “Good morning, Dad’s clan.”
“Good morning, clanmate’s daughter,” came the chorus. Then Dramok Bitev shoved into the transmission, pushing my chuckling Dad off to the side. His lined but handsome face beamed at me. “Shalia, you do realize that a clanmate’s child is claimed by the entire group, don’t you? You barely know Rak and me, but if you belong to Nayun, we should get to be fathers as well. At least that’s Kalquorian custom.”
I was delighted. The last few days on Earth I had eaten many meals with Nayun’s clan. I adored his Dramok and Nobek enough to wish I had had the opportunity to get better acquainted. “Am I adopted, then?”
“If it meets with your approval.” Bitev’s lean features stretched in a grin.
I grinned back. “In that case, hi Dramok Dad.”
Hands shoved Nayun out of the picture and Nobek Rak put in a rough-and-ready appearance. “Don’t forget me, my daughter.”
“Good morning, Nobek Dad.”
My first Kalquorian father tried to yank him out of the transmission. “She already said good morning to you. Now go to work. I’m running late and I need to talk to her!”
Rak rolled his eyes at me, unimpressed with his Imdiko’s argument. “Can you believe this man, denying a father the joy of speaking to his new daughter?”
I laughed at the way they carried on. After good-humored jostling with Imdiko Dad and affectionate words aimed at me, Bitev and Rak left for their duties.
“Sometimes I envy you Earthers having only one mate,” Dad told me with pretend grumpiness.
“You don’t mean that,” I told him. “You love those two.”
Eyes twinkling, Nayun put a finger to his lips, as if to forestall me from giving away any secrets. “Now then. How are you, Shalia?”
“Bored,” I sighed. “You’d think I’d be grateful for how quiet it is here after all that happened on Earth. Hey, your quarters aren’t right.” I peered behind his bulk at what I could make out of the room.
“New quarters. We’re in Atlanta. We transferred.”
I got excited. “Really? Have you seen Dusa, Esak, and Weln?”
Dad sounded grumpy at my question. “No, we’ve been too busy settling in and assuming our duties. This place is huge compared to the Academy, and the work is constant. Speaking of Clan Dusa, did you ever finish the vid of their clanning ceremony? I want a copy, if it’s ready.”
I smacked my forehead. “Holy smokes! I forgot about it. I can’t remember the last time I worked on it, but it was nearly done. Thanks for mentioning it.”
Dad chuckled at me. “I can’t imagine what might have distracted you. Let’s see, building blown up, Earther attack, shot at—”
“—locked in a burning building, rescuing my mother and father from said burning building and nearly dying in the process,” I finished for him.
“Ah yes, the reason for my com. You need to report to the transport’s medical department and have them check you for any residual issues.”
My brows drew together. “Residual issues? What residual issues?”
Dad gestured vaguely. “Well, you suffered considerable lung damage. Oxygen deprivation might have had some other effects that didn’t show up in the short term.”
I frowned. “You said I was healthy before I left. Tissue regeneration, blood oxygen levels all normal, heart functioning well, all that.”
“I know, I know.” He smiled with an attempt at reassurance. I wasn’t convinced. “I have no reason to doubt you’re doing fine. Still, you could humor your worrywart of a dad and schedule a checkup.”
I snorted. “Did you say ‘worrywart’? Who have you been around that talks like that?”
Dad reddened. My mouth dropped open, and I made an indignant sound.
“What’s her name? When did you meet her? She’s there in Atlanta? Is the whole clan in on this or just you?”
Dad refused to look me in the eye. “We’ve had a couple of dinners with the young lady, that’s all. I need report to my duty station, my daughter—”
“Oh no you don’t!” I yelled at him. “How serious is this? How young is this young lady? She’d better not be younger than me! I have to meet her before this goes too far!”
“Shalia, I have to go.” Dad was beet red. “I’ll com you later when I have more time. I’ll answer your questions then. In the meanwhile, go to Medical and let them check you over. I’ll talk to you soon.”
Before I could stop him, he cut the transmission.
Well! That man has some explaining to do. A couple of dinners, indeed. After the lame excuse that Bitev snores and that’s why Nayun appeared so tired, I’m betting those men have been up to a lot more than dinner dates. As bad as Dad was blushing, there’s DEFINITELY a lot more to it than that. He is in for it when I catch up with him.
December 9
I don’t get it. What is it about me that men are so fascinated with? I wish I could figure it out, because I’d bottle that shit and sell it for a fortune.
I suppose I’m attractive in my own way, but I’m not the prettiest girl ever. I don’t have a perfect body. I’m intelligent, but not the most scintillating speaker ever. There are other women for the Kalquorians to prowl after. What about Candy? She’s so cute and bubbly...man bait if I ever saw such. Katrina, while older, is attractive too. She’s got personality to spare. She’s happy to have sex. What more could they ask for?
Yet I have a new beau falling to my questionable charms. My liaison Imdiko Betra, of all people. Yes, he of the flaring nostrils and obsession with asking me how I feel. The weird guy.
I didn’t realize at first what was happening. When he stopped by this morning with a container full of goodies, I was under the impression that it was just another Kalquorian thing, a sort of, ‘welcome to our culture and please like us enough to have our babies.’
The container had some amazing stuff in it. Fuzzy slippers that my feet wanted to wallow in. A robe to match. Pretty hair adornments that I’ll have to beg Candy to do for me since I’m pathetic with styling. Extra soft linens for my sleeping mat. Some exotic foods from other planets such as nellus from Plasius and drocori cubes from Joshada.
“You spoil us girls,” I said.
“I’m glad you are happy with the items,” he told me with a placid smile. “How are you?�
��
I decided to nip that in the bud. “I’m fine. I’m terrific. I’ve never felt better in my life. There are no words to describe how wonderful I feel.”
Betra blinked at me. “Oh. That’s wonderful, Matara. I’m glad to hear it. You will alert me if there is anything at all that you require?”
“Sure,” I said.
I thought that would be the end of it, but he had something less pleasant to ask me. “I have been informed that you should visit our medical facility for a checkup. When should I tell them to expect you?”
I almost growled. Dad was poking his darn nose in again, comming others to bug me with his worries. Then I got emotional, considering how sweet he was to be concerned over my welfare. I miss him.
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