“I have spoken with her,” Sivaha said. “She is confused about exactly what she wants. It frustrates both the Prime Valkyrie and me, but we will care for her because you do.”
“She’s going to do the rite so she can marry me,” I said. “She gets it now.”
“Yes, I am glad she is going, but let us talk about your plans with the other clans. The easiest solution is to repeat what you did with me.”
“You are joking,” I said.
“No,” she said as she laughed lightly. “Kill their husbands and take them as wives.”
“Come on,” I groaned. “I just said I had too many women.”
“There is the Jotnar, Idonan, and Waymund clan,” she said. “Each will have a navy, hundreds of systems, and billions of citizens. Your back will be unprotected if you go there looking for an ally. You need to conquer them as you conquered me. Kill their kings and take their queens. It will be less life lost, and then you will have someone committed to you who can manage her own arm of the Vaish Overlord Clan.”
“Have you spoken much to Kuroda?” I asked. “You sound just like him.”
“No, I have not, but if he is also giving you this advice, I am happy he agrees.”
“It’s something to think about,” I said as I switched to wash her.
“I have already bathed, but I would enjoy your hands on me again, Husband.” Her brown eyes pulled me in like a gravity well, and then I pulled her out of the shower soaking wet so that we could ravish each other on the bed.
I dressed when we finished, brushed my teeth, and then walked out of the bathroom to find her asleep on the bed. Her beautiful body was lying uncovered, and I studied it for a few moments before I covered her with a sheet.
Damn, how in the hell did I get so lucky?
I left my suite and walked out to the bridge. Nikki was the only one there, and she told me that we had only an hour or so left in hyperdrive before the warpdrive reset. Then we’d be in Nordar 13 in forty-three minutes.
I thanked Nikki for the update and then went to visit my mother and sister in their room. It was time the three of us had a talk about our father, Yu, and all the shit that had gone on recently.
It probably wasn’t going to be fun, but I needed answers.
“Hey, Eve, are you awake?” I asked into my transporter as I stepped in to the elevator.
“Yes, my love,” I heard her whisper. “I will meet you in front of your mother and sister’s room.”
“How did you know?” I asked with a sarcastic smile, but the vampire woman didn’t answer me.
I found her waiting in front of my sister’s room, and I gave her a tight embrace before I kissed her.
“Was your night well?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I admitted.
“I am glad she makes you happy,” Eve said as she brushed her fingertips across my cheek. “For that, I will love her as well.”
“She is thankful you are doing the rite,” I said.
“Yes,” Eve said with a nod. “Her attitude has changed dramatically since you both spent time together. Before she would have prayed that Zea and I die during our rite, but now she wants what is best for you and us as a collective.”
“Good,” I said. “I’m still not too happy about you all doing this rite, but--”
“It is the correct choice for us,” Eve said. “We will need our bond to be strengthened for the coming challenges.”
“That’s something else I am worried about,” I said. “I don’t want you and Zea to submit to me. This whole thing started when I tried to save you from Elaka Nota’s labs, remember? If you are submitted to me, and I die, then you will as well.”
“You are quite hard to kill, my love,” Eve said with her usual gentle smile. “If there was a situation in combat where you fall, I would not wish to live much longer, anyway. The grief would be unbearable.”
“So you say,” I sighed and then held her face in my hands again. “It still doesn’t sit right with me.”
“You are used to serving us,” she said. “Maybe it is time for us to serve you?”
“Let’s change the subject,” I said. “Did you pick up anything in my mother or sister’s thoughts last night?”
“Your mother was very grateful,” Eve said. “But since there was no talk of you or your sister’s condition, it did not come up in her thoughts.”
“Alright,” I said as we turned to face the door. “Let’s do this.”
Both my sister and mother were in the room. I caught that I was the topic of their conversation, but then they both went quiet as Eve and I entered.
“Good morning,” I said as I smiled at both of them.
“It is a good morning,” my mother said as she stood to hug me. “I still can’t believe that I am here with you all. My dreams have all come true.”
“Adam, why are we being held here?” my sister huffed after my mother and I ended our hug.
“For your own good,” I said. “We have dangerous equipment and cargo onboard. I don’t want either of you being hurt.”
“We aren’t idiots,” Hanekawa spat. “I’m going crazy being cooped up in here.”
“We’ll be home in less than two hours,” I said. “Then you’ll have a nice big room and freedom to explore my battle fortress. Did my wives tell you about the spas?”
“Yes,” my mother said as her eyes opened wide. “I do not think my imagination is powerful enough to picture such a place.”
“Whatever,” Hanekawa said as she cast her eyes down at the ground.
“So it is time for us all to have a talk,” I said as I sat on the bed next to my mother. “We have to talk about our family.”
“Then why is she here?” Hanekawa nodded to Eve.
“Because she is my family too,” I said. “Oh and also, whatever I say is the law now.”
“Ugh,” Hanekawa rolled her eyes. “Just because you are some sort of space king doesn’t me--”
“That’s actually exactly what it means,” I cut her off. “I love ya, Sis, but I’m in charge. So get over it.”
My sister crossed her arms and shook her head at me, but I saw Eve smile out of the corner of my eye.
She does love you. Even when you tell her what to do and she is annoyed, she thinks of what you did to keep her safe and feels endless gratitude.
“Mom, do you know about our condition?” I asked as I looked at her.
“Your condition?” she asked with some confusion, and I sighed. There really wasn’t any way to break this easily to her, so I figured that ripping off the band-aid quickly would be the best choice.
“Yeah. Both Hanekawa and I can turn into tiger-creatures. I was experimented on after I was sent to jail, but Hanekawa can do it, and seems to think that we have always been like this.”
“Ahhh,” she said as she took a deep breath. My mother always looked tired from working non-stop, but she suddenly seemed to age ten years.
“You knew,” I said as I tried to keep my voice calm.
“Yes,” she admitted, and tears began to crawl down her cheek.
“We’ve already talked about it,” Hanekawa said. “When Calvin came to get me, she explained what happened.”
“So you wanna fill me in?” I asked, and Hanekawa gestured across the room to my mother. “It’s her story to tell.”
“Yes, it is,” my mother said as she wiped her tears away. “It was in me, and your father too. He couldn’t control it, so I told him to leave.”
“Wait, he didn’t leave us? What do you mean it was ‘in’ you?” My stomach spun as my fears were validated.
“I changed once when I was angry,” she whispered as she looked up at me. “I was horrified, and I swore to never let it happen again. It took a few years, but my eyes returned to their normal brown color.”
“Fuck,” I sighed. “And our father?”
“I met him on the street. We were walking opposite directions and saw each other’s golden eyes through the crowd. We’d never met another,
and our attraction was stronger than gravity. You were born soon after, and then Hanekawa two years after.”
“But you said he left us?” I asked again.
“It was for your protection,” she said. “He had more problems controlling his anger than I did, and he wanted to change every night. He began patrolling the streets, looking for reasons to shift. He told me that he helped people, but he came back one night covered in blood. He said he’d killed one of the gang bosses while they were bribing the police chief. He said they had seen him, and he didn’t want to put us in danger. I agreed and asked him to leave.”
“So, you didn’t really ask him,” I said after a few moments of silence.
“I did,” she said.
“No,” I replied. “You are just taking the fucking guilt like you always have.” I ran my fingers over my face and then tried to force my shoulders to relax. “How do you keep from shifting?”
“I do not know,” she said. “I’m just terrified of changing. I didn’t want to bring attention down on us, so I focused on working and caring for you.”
“You need to just accept who you are,” Hanekawa said. “We are more powerful and better than humans. As soon as Calvin showed me, everything has been easier.”
“Perhaps I should speak with him,” my mother said.
“No,” I replied. “No one is speaking with Calvin until I’ve figured out what to do with him. Mom, is there anything else you want to tell me? What about your parents?”
“I never suspected anything from my mother and father,” she said. “That was why I was so surprised when I changed.”
“But all these years…” I sighed. “Hanekawa was sick, and you knew why, but you never told us.”
“That is cruel, brother,” my sister said. “Mom had no way of knowing.”
“No, he is right,” my mom said. “I suspected, but again, I didn’t want it to be true. I never noticed either of you change, and I kept as close of a watch as I could on you both. Since you weren’t sick, I thought that Hanekawa’s condition might have been something else unrelated.”
The three of us talked for another half hour, or maybe it was an hour, I lost track of time as I tried to reconnect with the two women who had been the largest part of my life growing up. I’d given up everything to keep them safe, and the realization that I hadn’t known the whole story was a bit of a hard pill to swallow.
But at least all those Yakuza assholes who broke their promise were now dead.
Eve and I bid my sister and mother goodbye, and then we left the room. Kasta still had her drones guarding the doors, and they were locked from the outside, but I’d soon move them all to better quarters on Odin Geirr.
“Let’s chat with Yu,” I said as we stepped to the next door. The metal slid open after I pressed the keypad, and I gasped when I saw the blond scientist hanging from the roof with a bedsheet tied around his neck.
“No!” I shouted as I dashed into the room.
I grabbed around the man’s waist to lift the tension from his neck, but his body already felt stiff.
Adam! No! It’s a trap!
Eve’s words hit my brain as soon as Calvin pushed his hand down on me. I heard an electric snap, and my entire body filled with agony.
I grabbed his hand where it pressed on my shoulder and twisted his wrist. The bone snapped like an old twig, and the man let out a scream as the sheet he’d wrapped around his neck came unwound. He fell on me, but I was already pushing my other arm up into him, and I flung the tall skinny man across the room. He bounced off the wall with a thud, landed on his bed upside down, and then tumbled onto the floor.
“Well, that didn’t go quite as I expected.” He set his hand on the floor so that he could get up, but I brought my foot down on his fingers, and he hissed with agony.
“Nope,” I growled as I looked at the device that had fallen into my hand when I broke his wrist. It was a modified taser crafted from one of Persephone’s lighting components. All the lights in the room were working, so I couldn’t guess where he got it from.
Pulled apart the ceiling in the corner, pulled out the relay, then wired it so that it bypassed the unit.
“Well, you can’t blame me for trying,” Yu chuckled as he looked up at me. “I am both disappointed I failed and proud you took the shock like such a champ. How about we just forget this ever happened?”
“I’ll have a new cell for you when we arrive on my home system,” I said as I reached down to grab him by the puppy scruff. “I’ll make sure there aren’t any lights or a bed with sheets.”
“How about a toilet?” he asked as I picked him up. “One of your crew has to watch me shit each time I need to go. I have to admit it’s not one of my sexual fetishes.”
“I’ll have them leave a bucket for you,” I said.
“That’s not nice, Adam.” He frowned.
You have actually made him angry with that comment.
“Or you can start telling me more, and I’ll consider letting you shit like a civilized… whatever species you are.” I released my hold on his neck and then pushed him back so that he sat on his bed.
“Ask away,” he said as he cradled his broken wrist. “I’ve always been honest with you.”
“What do you know about my species?” I asked.
“Ahhh,” he said as his mouth twisted up into a smile. “You’ve come to the realization that you aren’t human. Took you long enough.”
“Now I’m thinking your shit bucket will be very small,” I growled.
“Fine!” he spat. “I don’t know what they are called. All I know is that they were one of the first species to come to the Milky Way. There were the grays, the lizards, the tigers, and then the humans at first. Then other’s came later, or evolved from them.”
“Wait,” I said, “humans came first? I thought that the SAVO had created them as food for--”
“Adam, Adam, Adam, try not to think too much about this, eh?”
“Alright,” I growled. “I’ll spend my meager brain power thinking about the hole you are going to shit in when I put you in your cell.”
Something about disposing of his waste is a trigger point. Notice how clean he is? It is important to him, so continue to use that for leverage.
“Okay, okay,” he waved his hands. “I’ll can it with the clever insults. It really is hard being me talking to you though. You are used to it, but I have to pump the brakes if you know what I mean.”
I stared at the man without speaking, and the smile slowly faded from his mouth.
“These SAVO, as you call them, came after the others,” he continued. “I don’t know from which galaxy, and maybe it doesn’t matter. The grays were good at running and hiding. The tigers were all about fighting as were the lizards. The humans couldn’t decide what they wanted to do, so yeah. At any rate, they all lost, got enslaved, devoured, and then the SAVO realized they ate too fast and were still hungry. They did some DNA seeding for a bunch of planets, and then they went into hibernation for a few billion years. During that time, the galaxy has continued to expand, more travelers have come here from other galaxies, and things have evolved on other planets. There is a lot for them to eat now, and they might take their time to consume at a slower rate. Or hey, maybe they will just gorge and then sleep again.”
“How can I defeat them?” I asked.
“They have bodies,” he said with a shrug. “They can die, but we’ve never seen one’s body.”
“We?” I asked.
“Come on, Adam,” he sighed. “I’m sure you can guess what I am. Yeah, there are probably a hundred million sentient species in the Milky Way right now, but if I’m not human, or tiger, or lizard, then what am I?”
“A gray,” I replied.
“Ding, ding, ding!” Then his eyes turned black, and his voice changed to sound like a cross between a frog’s and a man’s.
“We are the watchers and the hiders. Most of our kind died to our enemies, but we left behind our records for future ge
nerations. We will never be what we once were, but we swore vengeance on our enemies.”
The voice caused goosebumps to slide down my spine, and I let out a slow breath of relief when his eyes shifted back into human looking ones.
“Well fuck,” he said. “I didn’t quite mean for that to happen. Our history is written in our DNA, and it sometimes comes out when I least expect it.”
“So your kind is coordinating the battle against the SAVO?” Eve asked.
“Heh,” he said as he smirked at her. “Don’t you want to know.”
“I do,” she said as she crossed her arms.
“Adam, you don’t actually trust this one do you?” he asked. “Yeah, I know she’s really fucking hot, but come on. She can’t be worth the sex. She’s just going to betray you to her masters.”
“I do not serve them,” Eve growled.
“That’s what I’d expect you to say.” Yu rolled his eyes and then shook his head. “Adam, dump her out an airlock near a sun and be done with her. You’ve got a bunch of other women on board that you seem to be fucking.”
Eve’s body was rigid, and her eyes were glowing like coals. Her jaw was clenched, and her chest heaved as she took ragged breaths.
“I will never betray--”
“It’s okay,” I said as I put my arm around her slender shoulders. “I know you would never betray me.”
“Ahhh, the penis tells the brain what to do,” Calvin sighed. “How hard is it for you to fight your nature, Adam? Do you think she’ll be able to fight hers?”
“I already am,” Eve said. “I have figured out a way around the desire to kill and feed.”
“Oh?” the scientist said as he raised an eyebrow. “Do tell.”
“No,” Eve said with a laugh. “I owe you no answers.”
Calvin’s face grew angry for a flash of a second, and I guessed we had found another way to piss him off. He didn’t seem to like not knowing something.
“I’m done with you for today,” I said to Yu as I stepped back toward the door. “I can only handle so much asshole in one sitting.”
“Awww, and we were just getting started,” he said. “I have more stuff to tell you.”
“I’m sure you think you do,” I said. “Why don’t you sit alone and think about it while I do more important things?”
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