Candidate (Selected Book 4)

by Robin Roseau

  "Oh, that would be lovely," she said. "The purple covers are mine, and the blue covers are yours."

  "We do not eat the same food."

  "I am afraid not, although that could be remedied. I will explain shortly."

  "All right." There were several platters on the table. I removed the covers from all of them, then looked under the table and found the shelves used to hold the covers.

  "Ah, you have answered a question," said Sugilite. "You have shared a meal with a Catseye."

  "This is a Catseye invention?"

  "They are not the only ones, but it is a Catseye custom, and Jasmine Brighteyes has placed her mark on this place for those shelves to be there. Of course, in a Catseye household, you would sit, and we would lift the covers together. But this is not a Catseye household. Please continue."

  Her food looked perfectly fine, although I didn't know what any of it was. There was some sort of meat in a sauce and two different unidentified vegetables. I served the amounts she requested then filled her water glass. Then I moved to my own seat and served myself.

  Sugilite used silverware, although the construction was different from a human knife and fork. But once she was eating, I dived into my own meal.

  "It's very good."

  "I do not take credit," she said. "It is the cooks here. This is why we have someone like Jasmine Brighteyes here. When you put a Catseye in charge of these details, you can be assured the results will be of high quality. All Catseye are competent in these matters, and Jasmine Brighteyes is as competent as any."

  "Do I detect respect, Sugilite?"

  "Was I not obvious?" She squeaked again. "Yes. I respect her for what she is. There is no one who could do as good a job here as she does, and I believe if she were offered more freedom, she would do an even better job, especially if she were given the personnel support she repeatedly requests."

  "We've had that discussion."

  "I imagine." She squeaked. "Solving her problems, at least temporarily, through the use of one of her mating candidates." Another squeak. "I would not have considered such a bold move."

  "I asked for a job."

  "And I would have left you in your cell and not even have offered the opportunity to ask. Which is another reason she is here and I am not. She will achieve results I would not."

  I actually straightened at that. This felt no different than when someone would compliment Gerri to me. I felt proud.

  "Does she know you feel this way?"

  "I imagine she will by sometime tomorrow, or you are not half as loyal to her as you should be."

  I didn't have an answer for that, and I covered my lack by drinking from the water. Then I said, "You mentioned food."

  "Ah, so I did." She gestured. "To you, this contains poisons. It is not so poisonous to you that being in the same room is dangerous, and a small amount wouldn't even make you sick. A meal would, and a diet of my food would kill you."

  "And my food?"

  "There are no poisons, but I would not care for the taste, and my body would not achieve what I require from food. It is not food to me any more than grass is to you."

  "All right."

  "This, however," she gestured towards her food. "This is food for your body, if not for the poisons. Your digestive system could be altered to process the poisons harmlessly, and the rest would be perfectly good food. The taste may require a process of acclimation, and so you may not fully enjoy the process of learning to eat from a Kitsune plate, but you would learn. And there are things we can do to hasten the process."

  "Oh?"

  "Imagine if your friend, Dark Skies, were here, telling you how much you enjoyed the food."

  I laughed. "I think I understand."

  "The details would be different, but you see."

  "I see."

  "If you were to become mated to a Kitsune, your body would be altered. You would be altered so you could eat our food. You would still be able to enjoy human food, but you would be joining a Kitsune household, and you would make the required adjustments."

  "I guess I understand that."

  "Furthermore, of course, your reproductive system would be altered."

  "Jasmine mentioned something about that. I find it, well, improbable."

  "And yet, true. Do you doubt us?"

  "I wouldn't say doubt. I would say it is difficult to envision these changes. The food is easier to believe, if it contains the things I need. There are people on Earth who have an intolerance to lactose, but some of them can consume an enzyme additive that mitigates the intolerance."

  "The process is similar, but not in detail," said the Kitsune. "And you're right. That is a smaller change, at least to make your body compatible with Kitsune foods. You wouldn't be so easily altered to the food of just any species. Altering your reproductive system is far more significant, and it depends on how much alteration was desired."

  "I don't understand."

  "It is not difficult to alter you sufficiently you could serve as a host mother to a Kitsune fetus. This makes you an incubation chamber, in effect."

  "I see." I didn't care for the thought.

  "It is a greater step for you to actually reproduce with us, sharing your DNA. There is an intermediate step involving the laboratory where a sample of your DNA could be spliced into Kitsune DNA, and the results implanted back into your body for incubation."

  "I met a mating candidate that would love to talk about this with you. I understood much of what you said, but if you go deeper, I won't."

  She squeaked again. "The mating candidates with a love for the sciences often become the most enthusiastic about their revised position here."

  "I have noticed that as well. Or the space nuts."

  "Space nuts?"

  "I'm sorry. Slang. People with a passion for looking to the heavens. They perhaps read our science fiction."

  "Ah, of course. Some of you attend conventions, dressing in your favorite characters from books and movies."

  "Yes. I was never one to do so, and society makes a joke of them, but I believe the ones who make jokes are the ones who are immature, not the ones who dream of other worlds and other possibilities."

  "It is good to dream and to have vision," she said. "Do you dream and have vision?"

  "I haven't in that direction, although I think most of humanity has become more receptive to such thoughts since you arrived on our planet."

  "But you have other dreams? Other visions?"

  I thought about it. "I don't know. I suppose it depends upon what you mean. I have, perhaps, been more worldly and immediate in my vision. I see the possibilities that are close to me. I see the changes I can make to improve the planet, or my portion of it."

  "Such as changes to the mating candidate process?"

  "Yes, that is a good example. I was very good at my old job, and that was because I didn't just do the job, but I always looked at how it could be done better, and how the company could be run better. Sometimes I was in a position to do something about it. Sometimes I wasn't."

  "And when you couldn't, did you grow frustrated like you did the evening we met?"

  "Sometimes. It depended upon how directly I was personally affected and how egregious a difference it was between what was happening and what could happen."

  "So your frustration is not necessarily selfish?"

  "Nothing I am doing while working for Jasmine Brighteyes is about me. It is about the other women. While we have something in common, I could have a much easier time here if I simply made myself available and lived a life of leisure, allowing the aliens to entertain me and lavish me with lovely clothing and fine food."

  She squeaked and squeaked and then reached over and patted my hand for a moment. "So you find these clothes lovely?"

  "I didn't say that. Maybe I was referring to the kimono that Jasmine Brighteyes offers to me."

  That was more squeaking. "You are a naughty tease, Andromeda."

  "I noticed something about the clothes. I n
oticed Jasmine would appreciate the style. I cannot say for the color, but she would appreciate the bare back."

  "Have you noticed my back is bare?"

  "I thought perhaps the reason is similar to why the Wookies wear no clothing at all, and why the Catseye wish they could keep their tentacles free."

  "Exactly so. Unless it is necessary for protection from the elements, we do not care for clothing against our fur. It is disconcerting and grows distinctly uncomfortable. We do not wear clothing for modesty so much as protection, style, and to appease other species."

  "Such as humans."

  "Such as. I understand the colors are not a choice a human might make, but do you like the fit?"

  "I love the fit," I said. "This is not a style I could wear at home much of the year, of course."

  "Because it shows too much skin?"

  "Because Minnesota has a winter that lasts nearly six months, some years."

  She squeaked. "Of course. I do not automatically think of winter. There is no equivalent in the Kitsune language."

  "You do not have seasons?"

  "We do, but it is not cold or hot so much as wet or dry."

  "But you have colonies, and surely there is variety."

  "There is, and those colonies may have local words for the concept."

  "Oh. I see."

  "So you do not mind exposing your back?"

  "No. I've grown increasingly comfortable with it since arriving, especially once the Catseye decided I wasn't going to run away, screaming, if a tentacle poked out."

  "You do not mind that they mark your back? Jasmine Brighteyes did more than mark it."

  "She was upset," I said. "I felt it was no different than if my hand were held too tightly because someone was upset. Indeed, it was not so much later I was asking for a hand to hold."

  "I am glad you did not ask for mine. You would have crushed it."

  "I wanted the Wookie's. Do you know if I crushed the tentacle?"

  "The thick part of a Catseye tentacle is very strong," she said. "You wouldn't want to hold the tip so tightly."

  "So Jasmine tells me."

  "So you enjoy Jasmine's touch?"

  "And Clover's," I said. "They assure me it is touch between friends."

  "So soon, and such an imbalanced relationship, but they call you their friend." She squeaked. "This is good. Jasmine Brighteyes is an excellent judge of character."

  "You are effusive in your praise."

  "Maybe I am, as a human might say, sucking up to her, hoping you will repeat my words to her."

  "You are the one who holds more power. Shouldn't she suck up to you? She is more able, biologically speaking."

  She liked that but then said, "You have stopped eating. Am I am overly distracting you?"

  "You have also stopped. I am larger than you, but I am still a small human."

  "Ah, and so you are replenished from your busy day."

  "Yes, thank you."

  "Well then. If you cover these trays, we can clean and then return to more comfortable seating."

  * * * *

  Ten minutes later found us back on the sofa, but this time Sugilite subtly kept me facing more forward, and she had a hand across the back of the cushions, lightly touching the skin that was exposed over the sofa.

  "Is this a hint you would like me to return the favor?" I asked.

  "No. Well, not now, at least. I wish to touch you. Do you mind?"

  "It feels very nice," I said. "Are you flirting with me, Sugilite?"

  "We have been flirting since you arrived," she replied. "It is only flirting. I was told you could be charming, and Jasmine Brighteyes did not lie. Did you require a visit to the Octal before coming?"

  "No, only a small nap. I don't typically nap, but it has been a difficult week, and I wanted the calm a nap offers."

  "Very good," she said.

  We talked for an hour or so. I'm not sure how she did it, but Sugilite got me to move more onto the edge of the cushions so my entire back was exposed. I didn't even notice until I realized her fingers were exploring the limits the blouse allowed. But when I looked over at her, it seemed like she was doing it almost subconsciously and not as an attempt to seduce me, so I let it go.

  It felt nice, too.

  A short while later, she said, "There is something I wish to discuss with you." And in that simple sentence, I wondered if we had just arrived at the entire purpose of the evening.

  "Of course."

  "Do you like the way I am touching you?"

  "It feels very good," I said. "I actually feel a little guilty and selfish."

  "You shouldn't," she replied. "If what I am doing feels good to you, then I hope you will simply enjoy it."

  I smiled. "I have certainly been doing that."

  "There is a concept that is shared amongst most of the sentient species we know," Sugilite said. "Even when spoken in English, the words used change, and the manifestation changes."

  "All right. What concept?"

  "Humans have slaves and servants."

  "Slavery is illegal."

  "It hasn't always been," she replied. "And it still exists on this planet. Do you wish to argue that?"

  "No," I said. "Unless it is pertinent to your point."

  "It is not," she said. "Have you played Boardwalk?"

  "Yes."

  "So you understand the Catseye concept of a vassal."

  "I understand it in the terms of the game," I said. "And Jasmine mentioned it once during a period of teasing."

  "Did she claim you as a vassal?"

  "No. I was teasing Jasmine and suggested I should offer myself to Clover and Peony as their Third. Do you know that concept?"

  She squeaked. "I did not know you did. So you have talked to a Tutor, then. That is another example of the concept I mention."

  "Yes, I have spoken to a Tutor. I think you missed another example that humans have. Do you know what a mistress is?"

  "Yes," she said. "And you're right. That is a good example. You also have trophy wives."

  I laughed. "Yes."

  "Well, most of the sentient species have this concept. Some no longer practice it. For some, it is considered entirely acceptable. There are species, including two in the Federation, that actively enslave other species. Neither of those is near human space, which is a good thing for humanity."

  She let me think about that before continuing.

  "Sometimes the relationship is entirely voluntary, such as a Catseye vassal or a Tutor third. Sometimes there is a level of coercion. Sometimes there is a great deal of coercion. Sometimes the relationship carries balance. You understand that there is mutual benefit in being a vassal to a Catseye."

  "There is mutual benefit to being a slave in that you receive food and clothing."

  "But the two are world's apart. If you were to become the vassal to a Catseye, she would expect a great deal of loyalty, and she would feel free to use you to her own ends. But she would also protect and nurture you and your career, and give you opportunities you wouldn't otherwise find on your own. There is great mutual benefit, and you can walk away at any time whereas a slave cannot. Even a human servant may not be able to walk away, as she probably has little economic standing. But if you are vassal to a Catseye, you can walk away and suffer setback but still come out ahead in the end, having been her vassal."

  "I understand," I said. "And do Kitsune have this concept."

  "We do. I wish to speak with you hypothetically. This is an intellectual conversation, and I want your honest reaction."

  "I'll try."

  "First, there is no human word that exactly fits this relationship in a Kitsune household. It is a little like a Tutor third, but of course without the biological requirement of maturity gained through adversity."

  "What word should we use, then?"

  "Let us use the Tutor word, I believe, but cautiously."

  "All right. So, a Kitsune third."

  "Yes. So, hypothetically, let us say I wished
a human for a third, what do you think?"

  "I think I would want to know what you expect," I said. "Are we talking about me specifically or a human woman in general?"

  "Perhaps both."

  "Well, you can find women who are easily bought. There are many different ways you could pay her. How easy is it to walk away from being a Kitsune third?"

  "More difficult than being a Catseye vassal, and it depends upon timing."

  "Humans have a concept of indentured servant."

  "Ah. Yes. There is this element, I suppose."

  "So she stays until she pays her debt?"

  "There is an element of that, and there is an element of duties that cannot be interrupted."

  "We're talking a surrogate mother, aren't we?"

  "That is one portion, yes."

  "So she can't leave when pregnant. Is she also responsible for raising them?"

  "Yes, although releasing her once her youngest reaches a certain age is easier."

  "Are we talking two years old or twenty?"

  "She could be released when the child stops nursing."

  "So there are two year cycles, or about, during which she could not leave. And you could keep her pregnant and never allow her to leave."

  "We would not make her pregnant without her consent. On the other hand, as you have said, we can find women who are easily bought."

  "I am not easily bought."

  "Not true. If your mother were sick, and I offered to cure her, you would pay, wouldn't you?"

  I sighed. "Yes."

  "Human lift expectancy is currently less than one hundred years. Kitsune life expectancy is forever, although we tend to go a little mad after four or five hundred years. The memories grow to be too much."

  "I am not sure I can be bought that way."

  "I could roll your apparent age back ten years."

  "That certainly wouldn't do it."

  "I could roll your mother's back by thirty." I didn't say anything to that. "Tell me, Andromeda. Are you sure you are difficult to buy?"