by Calista Skye
It was obviously a test. “Enemies are not for talking to,” Xark'ion said. “They are for killing.”
She gave him an alien frown. “Acerex has tried to kill their enemies for centuries. It hasn't worked too well. I think it's about time for another way. Perhaps it works, perhaps not. If it doesn't, then at least we will know it doesn't. But considering the amount of bloodshed that could be spared if it works, it's absolutely worth trying.”
He could feel her scent, sweet and flowery, with a spicy edge. So very alien. So very enticing. But her words weren't making much sense. “Surely after we find this enemy, we can just kill him and end our troubles once and for all.”
“There is very likely not just one enemy,” Ava said. “The Kunuru is an entire species, not just one individual. You can't kill a whole species.”
He couldn't quite decipher the alien expressions on her face, but her beauty was almost too much to bear. This was another test. She must know he would protect her.
He looked her right in the eyes, and the connection was so strong that he felt his crotch twitch again. “I can try.”
She fixed him with those warm eyes, and he was surprised to see that there was a hardness in them. “No, Captain, that's not the idea. We will do our best to find the Kunuru, and then we will try to talk to them. There is to be no killing or attempted genocide. Shall I take it then that you will not volunteer for this?”
Leave Ava alone among enemy aliens? He wanted to shudder. “I am a warrior. Not an investigator. And being without my sword will ... pain me. Perhaps I can bring my whole squad. Would that not be a better approach?”
She frowned, and it made her face even more beautiful. “I'm not sure if I can put this any simpler. This is a diplomatic mission. There are to be no weapons brought. There will be no squad of warriors. I will do the investigating, and you – or the man who finally agrees – will assist me. And he will represent Acerex. Not as a soldier, but as a diplomat.”
'The man who finally agrees'? Anger welled up in him. He would allow no other man near Ava. And yet ... “A delicate and enticing alien female alone among the enemies except for one unarmed warrior. It seems foolhardy.”
“We're not asking what you think of the plan, warrior,” Queen Harper said coldly. “We are asking if you will volunteer. But now I think perhaps we're wasting our time. If you really see no sense in this, then you are certainly free to go back to your squad and continue your valuable service as before.”
It was the obvious thing to do. The squad needed him. After Groti'ax's death, he'd have to make some changes and select a new member among the many who wanted to join. He would have to get to terms with running it without Groti'ax's support. And he'd have to practice with his new sword to gain even basic skills with it. These alien women wanted him to leave his sword completely behind, and then go seeking out the enemy! To talk to them. It was a head-shakingly insane idea, from start to finish. It was doomed to a catastrophic failure. Any warrior who agreed to go along with it would have to be quite deranged.
Ava lowered her eyes, and that little movement and the disappointment it spoke of broke his heart. If in fact she was going in among enemies, then she had to be quite brave despite her soft exterior. And she'd need the best protector she could get.
He straightened. “My queen, I volunteer.”
7
- Ava -
The door closed behind Xark'ion and Ava let her breath out. “My dancing stars. That was ... interesting. Was that even a yes?”
Harper cupped her round belly and stretched. “Some of these guys are too intense for their own good. I was sure he'd just laugh and tell us to go screw ourselves. In the politest way possible.”
“Me too. He obviously didn't like the plan at all. And then he agreed. As far as I can tell.”
Harper rubbed her chin. “He's different from most warriors. Any one of them would just say yes or no about ten seconds into the conversation. But he took his sweet time. And now I'm not sure if he's the best choice after all. Did he strike you as being as borderline genius as his record seemed to indicate?”
Ava got to her feet to stretch her legs. “No, not really. But that's fine with me. He clearly has a working brain, and I did expect any warrior to be obsessed with war and swords and killing. So I'm willing to give him a chance. What kind of diplomat training are you going to give him?”
“Us? Nothing. Nobody in the kingdom would have any idea about any of that. You and Lily are the closest thing to diplomats around here. And none of you had much training before you started being ambassadors, did you?”
“Nope, nothing. And I don't think it would have done us much good if we had been trained, either. I mean, it's just talking to aliens. Back on Earth, it's a whole game of cocktail parties and protocol and being as useless as possible, which I guess requires years of training. Here in space, none of that stuff applies.”
“Learning by doing is usually the best way,” Harper agreed. “So I guess what I'm saying is that I hope you will train our first diplomat really well. He seems to need it.”
Ava hugged her friend. “He does. But don't worry. He's in safe hands. Well, hopefully safe. I guess that'll be his job to ensure. Just make sure he doesn't bring a sword. Or a dagger or a butter knife or a sewing needle. And I'd be very skeptical of any thumbtacks he'd want to take along. I know these guys. They would turn a broken toothpick into a deadly weapon.”
“Don't worry,” Harper said. “Now that he's volunteered fair and square, I think, I'll have Vrax'ton talk to him. About all this. And get a final 'yes' out of him.”
Ava left the royal quarters and walked in the direction of her own cabin. She stopped at the railing by the huge picture window that showed only black space and an infinity of stars.
She took a deep breath. That warrior ... the way he looked at her was so damn invasive, but at the same time it made her forget to breathe. She'd never had anyone look at her like that, in space or back on Earth. It was a look that said more than any words ever could.
Lust. That was it. That look was pure lust.
The thought sent hard tingles to her nether parts, and she unconsciously rubbed her thighs together. That huge, strong and confident warrior with that intelligent glint in his eye lusted after her.
Well, apparently the feeling was mutual.
Yeah. This could get interesting.
8
- Ava -
“So you didn't bring your sword?”
Ava sat down in the co-pilot's seat. She could fly a shuttle in a pinch, but she just never had the inclination to do it. She'd happily let Xark'ion do the flying. The Acerex usually weren't that good at flying, at least not according to Charlotte's high standards, but it wasn't like this was a gunship or that they'd have to evade enemy fire.
“I did not,” the huge warrior said heavily as he sat down. The seat creaked as the side bolsters had to widen to the max to accommodate him. “And my heart will bleed until I see it again. But the king was very clear: No blades on this mission.”
The turbines whined as they spun up to operating speed, and the shuttle lifted from the hangar floor of the Friendship.
Ava ran her eyes up and down the warrior. There certainly weren't many places he could hide a weapon with a bare torso like that. And his pants were already strained over his huge thighs. And that impressive bulge.
“Good. What else did he say?”
He gave her a very green glance. “My conversation with the king was in private. I doubt he'd want me to repeat it to anyone else. But he did stress the importance of the mission. And its non-violent nature.”
“And what do you think about that?”
He didn't look at her. “These are new times. Aliens now have the ear of the royal house. New ways of handling war are being tried. Something called 'peace' is to be attempted. Very well, if the king finds it necessary to try, then I suppose we should give it our best attempt.”
He didn't sound very enthusiastic, but it was prob
ably the best she was going to get from an Acerex warrior.
Ava herself felt pretty good about the mission and what could happen if they succeeded, and this, finally being on the way, was making her happy.
“That's right. Xark'ion, this could be the solution to all the troubles Acerex has. We find the main enemy and make them understand that you're not a threat and that you will never attack them. You're just defending yourselves. That could be enough. It might make them back off completely.”
Xark'ion pulled back on the controls, and the shuttle shot into space. “Or attack with all their might.”
Ava shook her head. “See, that's the least probable thing that could happen. They are already attacking you with everything they have, including other aliens. No, I think we'll end up being friends with them. As well as getting the other aliens out of their own troubles. I mean, they are the ones that have really been suffering losses in the battles against the Acerex warriors. We'll just clear up any misunderstandings there might be, and the Kunuru might well stop with their attacks. They must be as exhausted as the Acerex from all the fighting.”
“And if they will not listen to reason?”
“Then we will be no worse off than we are now. And we will have established contact. Friendly contact. If they won't talk now, maybe they will later. Alien species can be tough to predict. They may need time to think.”
She expected him to protest, but instead he took his hands off the controls and glanced at her sideways. “Never a good idea to give your enemy time to think. I wonder, do we have a means of communication between us?”
“We have the interpreter devices. I don't think anything else is needed.”
“In combat, it can often be useful to communicate in other ways.”
Ava groaned inwardly. “I'm sure it can. But we're not going to have any combat. I really hoped that was made clear.”
He gave her another glance. “It was made clear. Repeatedly. Very well, do we have a destination for this adventure?”
Ava ignored his tone and consulted her pad. “I have one clue about where we might find the Kunuru. Apparently they're close to a species called the Solp, and I think I know where to find them.”
Xark'ion took the controls again and turned the shuttle to the left and up. “Woor Five.”
She stared at him. That information had taken her weeks of research to find. “How do you know that?”
He adjusted his course and checked the navigation chart on a little screen. “Everyone knows that. We've fought them many times, and we know where they always return to after we push them back. It's a little further than we want to send our armies, so I don't think we've ever attacked it.”
“So it's common knowledge that the Solp live on Woor Five? Why couldn't people just tell me that when I asked them?”
Xark'ion set the shuttle's systems for the multi-lightyear trip to the alien world. “They probably didn't want to tell you. It's military intelligence, after all. We have learned the wisdom of keeping our secrets. Especially from ... aliens.”
“But you have no problem telling me where they live.”
He shrugged. “I have some problem with it. But the king ordered me to consider you a friendly alien.”
Ava turned off her pad. They were about to travel very fast through space, and electronic devices would sometimes develop mysterious and unfixable faults if they were left running during those transits. “That's very kind of him.”
Xark'ion pushed a button, and the acceleration started. “He's a kind king. Too kind, some say.”
There was a hint of dissatisfaction in his neutral tone.
“And what does Captain Xark'ion say?”
“I say he's the king. Is there a need to say anything else?”
- - -
The planet was gray and dull from space, and the small oceans it had would be considered little more than lakes on Earth. Most of all they resembled dirty brown puddles, but some of them had to be a hundred miles across. It didn't look at all like any inhabited planet Ava had ever seen.
She leaned forward. “What happened here?”
They had been underway for six hours, and the close proximity to the huge Acerex warrior was both exhilarating and worrisome. Because he took up so much of her mind and her attention, she wondered how she would be able to concentrate on the mission.
Xark'ion maneuvered to enter the atmosphere. “It's not known exactly. It could have been some kind of mass extinction event that devastated the planet entirely. There are ruins in many places, and it seems the alien civilization that lived here was highly advanced and had large cities. Now they're all gone, and the Solp have made it theirs.”
“So this isn't the Solp homeworld?”
“It is now. But they obviously weren't the first sentients here. They didn't build any of it. When you meet the Solp you'll understand why.”
The surface of Woor Five filled the viewscreen. Here and there Ava could spot networks that looked like roads, radiating out from large nodes that could well be the ruins of ancient cities. “What are they like?”
The shuttle hit the atmosphere and started to shake, first mildly, then violently. “I've only fought them twice. They're not the best fighters, but they attack in swarms. Sometimes they have the aid of sophisticated weapons, although we've never seen them use the same kind of weapon twice. It worried us that they seemed to be very inventive. Some squads were sent here to find out more, and they reported that the Solp are only scavengers. They don't invent, they just find things left behind by the original inhabitants here. And sometimes they figure out how to use them.”
“Uh-huh. Do you know anything about their connection with the Kunuru? Or maybe you know where to find the Kunuru? Perhaps it's one of your military secrets?”
“I'd never heard of the Kunuru until you told me about them.”
The shuttle shook hard, and Ava closed her eyes and grabbed a hand-hold with both hands. “Okay. Do you know anything else that may be helpful for our investigation?”
Xark'ion didn't reply, and Ava didn't press the point. She was pretty much used to traveling on interplanetary shuttles, but she didn't like entering an atmosphere. It was too uncontrolled. But Xark'ion was obviously a better pilot than most Acerex warriors, and the experience wasn't as unpleasant as it could be.
The trembling subsided, and now they were flying through the air like an airplane.
Ava opened her eyes. Outside, everything was gray and brown and seemed unspeakably dirty. There was no vegetation anywhere, just mud and rocks and ruins.
“This is the ugliest planet I've ever seen.”
Xark'ion pulled back on the engine power. “The event that killed the original inhabitants must have been somewhat intense. Here we are, diplomat Ava.”
She looked out the windows. Nothing called for her attention. Where to start on a ruined planet? “I guess we can go anywhere there's a Solp to talk to. Maybe they all know where the Kunuru can be found.”
Xark'ion brought the shuttle lower, until they were skimming the surface, going slow enough to spot any movement. Still there were no plants or even weeds.
“It's completely destroyed,” Ava marveled. “There's just nothing left alive. Imagine that a civilization could to this to itself.”
“It's not an easy thing to imagine,” Xark'ion said and slowed down further, then banked left, circling a large ruin that looked like a huge heap of shattered concrete. “And yet, here it is.”
Ava stretched her neck to look out. “We landing here?”
“It is my understanding that the diplomat wanted to see the Solp aliens.”
Then she saw them, and at first she wondered why she hadn't spotted them before. They were milling all over that ruin, so it looked like the concrete was alive with movement. But the creatures were just as gray as their surroundings.
At first they reminded Ava of coyotes, with dirty, grayish fur splotched with brown streaks and spots. But there was nothing dog-like about them. They had s
ix stiff, short legs each, and they moved awkwardly without any knee joint. The head was small and round and had fur in tufts, making them look as if they had scabies. They had long snouts with three nostril-like holes and six small, black eyes on stalks, making them look a little like a cross between a rat and a spider.
As they became aware of the approaching shuttle, they all scurried out of sight in a split second.
Xark'ion put the shuttle down on its skids and set the engines to idle, but didn't turn them off.
Ava put on her most advanced translation device, which looked like a headset with a thin microphone boom along her cheekbone. It was probably one of mankind's most impressive inventions, and it could learn and translate a completely new and alien language in just a few minutes. Provided that language was based on sound.
“Do you know if they can talk?”
He shrugged. “They make sounds, certainly. But I don't know if that can be considered talking.”
The ground looked wet and muddy, and Ava suddenly wished she wouldn't have to go out there. But the atmospheric readout on the display told her that the air was fully breathable. And this was the first time Xark'ion would see her do her thing. She wanted to give him a good impression of her methods.
She closed the mechanism on her knee-length planetfall/alien encounter boots. “I think I should try to talk to them alone first. If the Acerex have fought them like you say, then they may not appreciate seeing you here.”
“My orders are to protect you.” The tone was flat, and it didn't invite to any discussion.
“And you'll protect me by staying out of sight until I ask you to join me. Let's not try to provoke trouble the first time we contact these guys. You've fought them, you say. They may be well aware of that.”