by Vivian Venus
“I’ve seen images. Things from the old Earth. But no, I haven’t.”
“Well, these green ones that look like trees are called broccoli. These orange ones are carrots. The mushy stuff is mashed potatoes. They’re all vegetables, like sath.”
“Okay,” he said, staring at the plate like he wasn’t sure what to do. “Thank you, Miss Pearce.”
“Call me Casey.” I smiled at him. He was still intimidating, but I was slightly less nervous about him now. Part of me wanted to watch him eat the food to see what his reaction would be, but I didn’t want to be rude. He took the plate back into the room and I went back downstairs to eat my dinner, silently praying that he didn’t plan on walking around shirtless like that all the time.
Chapter 4
Grahf
Was it natural for food to be this color? I pushed the green bits and the orange slices around on the plate, and sniffed the pale goop. The sath smelled delicious, but everything else was curious. Still, it couldn’t possibly be any worse than battlefield rations or mess food. I sat down in the small, human sized chair and started with a bite of the sath. Its rich flavor filled my mouth as I chewed; it was juicy and perfectly cooked, and it transported me straight back to Ezrok. It really had been a long time since I had eaten properly prepared sath like this. That woman…she was small, delicate like humans were, but I could sense her spirit was strong. I was drawn in by her, even just from being in her presence for this short time.
As an Ezrokian warrior I’d quartered in the homes of many different species on many planets, many times with females and each time without any issue. Of course I’ve had propositions from females thinking they could garner favor by offering themselves to me – it was not surprising, considering Ezrok reputation for their voracious sexual appetites and legendary abilities to pleasure any female. A lesser warrior may have accepted – and there were countless of them – but I was strong.
But there was something about this human female that felt different. Resisting the desire that rose up within me was no trouble, certainly nothing a day of meditation and practice with my weapon couldn’t resolve, but it was still alarming. I had never met a female that had any effect on me.
I quickly took a bite out of the odd green plant and chewed. “That’s delicious,” I commented to the air, shocked. I tried the orange one, then the pale one, and the flavors all mixed together perfectly. Then I took a bite of the sath and let everything combine in one delicious mouthful. I could get used to these human ingredients.
After finishing I brought the cleaned plate downstairs to the kitchen where I found Casey washing the dishes. “The food was delicious,” I said.
“Well good, I’m glad you liked it.” She held out her hand, and I handed her the plate.
“You are a…most competent chef,” I said, feeling like a fool.
She chuckled. “Is that a compliment? Thank you. I’ve really only ever cooked for myself.”
I watched the way she washed the dishes, her hands quick and elegant, and I found my heart quickening. She was quite gorgeous in a way I had never experienced before with any female. I felt a response deep down inside as I gazed at her, a stirring I had long kept withheld with my training.
“Did you need anything else?” she asked, looking over her shoulder. I blinked, instantly snapped out of the spell.
“Nothing,” I said, and quickly left the kitchen.
I went outside. It was dark, the sky filled with a blanket of glimmering bright stars as was typical of a backwater planet with little light pollution. My shuttle sat silently off a ways from the house, and I walked to it and dropped the entrance ramp. I would sleep in here tonight. I needed to clear my mind.
I settled into the cramped pilot’s chair, not the most ideal place for a night’s sleep but I could manage. Turning on the ship’s secondary systems, I checked the ships log in a hope that I had received a message from command telling me that it was a mistake sending me away and that I was needed back on the front. Nothing, of course.
“Begin new log,” I commanded, and a tone sounded indicating that a mission log had begun recording. “Warrior Grahf Del Dien reporting. I’ve been on Mars for just a few hours and already I have encountered a highly unexpected obstacle: a human female. Casey Pearce has not said more than but a few words to me, and I somehow have found myself intrigued by her existence. She is delicate, with skin that looks as soft as an Ezrokian sea lily, and yet her hands are worn and practiced as any warrior. She does not cower in my presence as so many other species do, yet I still sense a fragility that ignites my desire to guard her. This is all very strange. I must meditate. End log.”
***
I dreamt of battle.
Veldarian shape shifters swarming over the red Martian cliffs, reinforcements nowhere in sight. The farm was nothing but a smoking ruin, the corpses of the Veldarians lying scattered around in their true form, blob-like, amorphous, true monsters. The only species capable of standing up to the might of the Ezrok. I held my beam staff and let loose a volley of energy, hitting my targets precisely on point. I was exhausted but not yet defeated. I had a woman to protect.
I spun my staff, flipping over them, piercing their flesh with the end of my staff and then injecting them with a bolt of energy, blowing them to bits. The swarm intensified, we were being overrun. I felt the hot lick of an energy blast soar against my arm. Then another. I was down, the enemy was on me. I looked up, saw them advancing on her. I couldn’t let them take her. I wouldn't. But I couldn't move…all I could do was shout her name.
The roar of ships. Reinforcements? I felt the ground vibrating and the noise of engines overhead…growing louder.
I snapped awake, the seat of the shuttle vibrating with the noise of passing engines. My energy was racing from the dream, and I willed myself to calm and looked out the viewport window to see what was happening. Passing overhead was a large luxury class space yacht kicking up dust and whirling the sath in wild torrents of its exhaust. Several of the bundles of harvested sath which had been collected and piled up by Casey’s helper bot came loose and began to scatter as the yacht descended to the ground and powered down its engines. Who was this careless person?
The door to the house flew open, and while I couldn’t hear her from the sound dampened interior of the shuttle I could see her waving her arms angrily, her face tinged red. The ramp to the yacht descended, and a man walked down with a smug look on his face. Casey pointed at the sath that had been scattered around, and the man shrugged, placing his hand on her shoulder. She angrily pushed his hand away. I didn’t like what I was seeing. I hit the release to open the ramp.
“—touch me, Zyp! What the hell is wrong with you?” Casey’s furious voice came through as the ramp opened.
“Relax, Case. C’mon it’s not a fucking big deal. I got bots that can clean that shit up in a heartbeat. If you come on out with me, I’ll have it all taken care of in no time. What do you say?”
“I told you, Zyp. I’m not interested.”
“Something the matter?” I asked firmly as I walked up to them.
“It’s nothing, Grahf, don’t worry about it,” Casey said.
The male human turned to me, eyeing me up and down with a look of contempt. “Jesus, you got posted with one of the shimmer-skins? I was wondering why the shuttle was there.” He wrapped his arm around Casey’s shoulder and pulled her in close, and I felt a pang of anger rise up inside me. “Why are you really here? Come to rape our women? Is that it? You know, I’m proud to say my granddad slaughtered at least ten of you Ezrok bastards during the Crunch.”
Casey pushed his arm off. “Get off of me, damn it.”
“What, Case, are you on that thing’s side? Don’t fucking tell me. Come on, come here. You need a real man, a human man. I’ll take care of you so you don’t have to do this shit farm work anymore.” He moved his hand out to touch her again, and I stepped forward. This male was tall, well built, but I still dwarfed him. He looked up at me, eyes fil
led with hatred and weakness. I could see he was no warrior, just a child fueled by pure emotion.
“Back off, shimmer-skin. This has nothing to do with you.”
“Just leave, Zyp,” Casey said.
He glared up at me, and I returned his pitiful look. If he wanted a battle of wills, he would never win. I narrowed my face into a battle stare, channeling my energy into my eyes to break his spirit. It was almost immediate. He took a step back, his forehead dotted with beads of sweat. Then he spat on my boot and without another word turned heel and hurried back to his ship. The yacht powered up its over-tuned engines and as he lifted up he purposefully dusted the sath bushels with his exhaust, breaking them open and scattering even more of them across the ground before bursting away like a defeated animal.
Casey let out a sigh. “I’m sorry about that,” she said.
“The Ezrok can be brutal during times of war…though the war with humanity was guided hatred and not honor. I understand the reason for his reaction to me.”
“Still, he shouldn’t have said those things. He’s an asshole.” She looked over at the scattered sath. “Great…the harvesters are due to arrive soon. There’s no way that I’ll be able to get this cleaned up on time.”
She bit her lip and crossed her arms on her chest. I felt a pang of anger at the man who did this to Casey. Disgraceful. “Is this a significant loss?” I asked.
“In terms of total contributions, no. But it’s illegal for me to consume any sath meant to go to your harvesters. Whatever I can’t gather up will be wasted.” She tapped on her wrist communicator and pulled on a repulsor manipulator glove. “Notch, I need you out here,” she said into the communicator.
“I’ll assist you,” I said.
“You don’t have to,” she replied. Notch, the bot that seemed to have a distaste for my presence, droned outside, its sensor flashing red as it took in the sight of the scattered sath.
“What the hell happened here? Did you do this?” it demanded.
“Zyp. Came by trying to get me to take a ride in his new yacht. Grahf here scared him off.”
“Of course. Next time he comes by I’m going to burn his legs off.” It turned to me. “My apologies. I spoke too soon.” I nodded in acknowledgement.
“You won’t burn anything of his, because you’re a robot and I’ll get in trouble for it,” Casey said. “Now come on, let’s get to work.”
“We’re only going to be able to save a fraction of this before the harvesters arrive,” Notch said, its repulsor manipulator drive humming up. He buzzed over and began to push the scattered sath into a pile. Casey began to do the same with her glove. The amount of sath they were moving was alarmingly small – their technology was extremely outdated.
I stepped forward. “I’ll collect the sath, you two bundle them up.” Before they could say a word I lifted my hand and engaged the repulsor manipulator that was imbedded there, reaching out with it as an extension of my mind. I could feel the tens of thousands of sath stalks scattered across the red soil, and then lifted.
“Whoah,” Casey whispered, and I smiled unable to contain my satisfaction at seeing her amazement. This was technology at least thirty years more advanced than what she was used to dealing with. All the individual stalks flew together into tight bundles just as they were before they were disturbed, and she and Notch hurried over to bind them up again with black magne-cord.
In just thirty minutes the scattered sath had been recollected and prepped for collection. Sweat dripped down my face, my mind tired from the intense level of concentration controlling the repulsor manipulator needed at that level. “I’ll get you both some water,” Notch hummed and went back into the house leaving Casey and I alone.
“I’m impressed,” she said, grinning. She had removed the long sleeved shirt she was wearing had it tied around her waist, sleeveless tank top showing off her sun kissed skin, arms toned from a life of labor. I had never been so attracted to a female in my entire life. A lifetime of training gone in the blink of an eye. I was an Ezrok elite warrior – disgraced in title and rank but unmatched in tested battle, and somehow this human female had managed to break my defenses in an instant. “Thank you, Grahf.”
The whistling sound of a ship approaching from atmosphere wasn’t enough to break our gaze – I felt myself smile back at her, an expression that felt foreign to my face. Wind whipped at our clothes, tossing Casey’s brown hair wildly around her face as the massive harvester bots hovered overhead and began to lift up the bales of sath with their invisible repulsor arms. Her eyes stayed with mine as she turned away, finally breaking contact as she walked back towards the house. I was spellbound by her – the toughness and spirit I sensed through her eyes, her perfect body that was both delicate and tough at the same time.
It was unacceptable. I needed to resist…to remember my training. And yet, instead of retreating to the safety of my shuttle, I found myself following her back into the farm house.
Chapter 5
Casey
“I’m afraid we don’t have much variety of food around here,” I told Grahf as I prepped the broccoli, carrots and potatoes again. The tightness in my chest had loosened up and was replaced by a new fondness for the tall alien. No…maybe it was more than that. The way he had come to my side when Zyp was harassing me, I never wanted a man to help me like that, I was perfectly capable of taking care of myself, but after it had happened my heart was pounding like crazy. I remembered looking up at Grahf as he stared him down, his face furious and intense, and feeling this thrill that he was doing it to protect me.
Ridiculous, I know. But he was so…honorable about it. So genuine. Maybe it wasn’t that I never wanted a man to do that for me, but it was that I never expected one to ever want to.
“Can I help?” he asked.
“Sure,” I said. “Could you wash these?” I pushed the basket of potatoes over to him and he picked them up and began to run them under the tap. They looked like pebbles in his big hands. “So what’s your story, Grahf?” I asked. “You’re one of the first Ezrok to return to Mars since the war here. What earned you that honor?”
He made a noise that was more a snort than a laugh. “An interesting way to look at it. I suppose that is true. For myself and the other warriors tasked to this mission, it was more of a punishment than an honor.”
“A punishment? What for?”
“Disobeying the rules. Breaking rank. Causing trouble. Warriors too valuable to discharge, so they did the next logical thing.”
“Send you to a backwater planet where you couldn’t cause trouble...”
“I apologize,” he said after a moment, “I didn’t intend to mean any offense.”
“None taken. I’m well aware that Mars is out in the middle of nowhere, relatively speaking.”
“Mars is a valuable planet, the crops supplied from your farms feed warriors on the Veldarian front lines. These are washed.”
I pulled out a salt shaker and a bottle of sath oil. “We’ll bake them today. Cover them with a bit of this oil and the salt.” I peeled the carrots and started to chop them up, Grahf’s words on my mind. He didn’t seem dangerous or have any ill intent, but again the stories of the war floated around in the back of my head. “So you’re a bad guy, huh,” I said, unsure how else to ask.
He laughed. “Perhaps that depends on your definition. I was a commander once, a respected warrior who led Ezrok soldiers into the thick of battle, and they saw it fit to take me away from my life’s purpose. If what I did justified that punishment, then yes, I must be a bad guy.”
I wanted to ask him what it was that he did, but I resisted, unsure if it was really worth finding out. “So the whole warning of potential Veldarian invasion doesn’t have any weight to it. It’s just a reason to put you all here.” I chop another carrot and toss the prepped vegetables into the frying pan, the hot oil crackling furiously.
“I’m sorry. Given Ezrok reputation and our shared history it must be uncomfortable to have me ar
ound.”
“Put those potatoes in the oven, will you?” I pulled open the oven door, and Grahf slid the tray inside. “You know. My parents hated Ezrokians. My grandparents too. They all took their hate to the grave with them, they were never able to forgive them for what happened. My father hadn’t even experienced the war, but he still carried that hate. But he also taught me that a man should be judged by his actions and not his reputation. I’ve taken that to heart.”
“He sounded wise, your father.”
“He had his moments,” I smiled. I stirred the sizzling vegetables and added in sliced stalks of sath, and a rich, flavorful aroma filled the kitchen.
When the meal finished cooking, Grahf took his plate and went to go up to the room. “Hey,” I said, stopping him. “You’re welcome to eat down here. With me. If you want to.” I suddenly felt awkward, like I was asking the big guy out on a date.