Sirein: A Dystopian World Alien Romance

by S. J. Sanders

  Chapter 7

  Ji’wa drifted on a current just above the colonial dome anchored into the seabed, his eyes scanning over it, looking for any sign of problems. To his relief, it appeared to be secure, and the dome itself was fully operational. Touching the comm device at his throat, he communicated with his team scouting the area.

  “The colonizer has successfully anchored and settled as far as I can tell. Report your findings,” he intoned against it.

  Although he had done plenty of training drills in the pools on board the ship, it still felt a little strange applying its use in the deep water. Despite how odd it felt, he knew that the vibrations of his vocal cords against the small unit against throat would send his message to his co-commanders and his patrol unit. It was an almost disorienting contrast in his mind against the sounds of his vocalizations outside the colonizer dome.

  His words were nothing like the sounds of his vocalizations melding into a song as the sound was warped beneath the weight of the water. Talking was impossible when submerged, but the comm was dependable as it transferred his words accurately to anyone receiving it. He just had to get used to it in a way that training had not given him the opportunity to do.

  Just below him, a sirei with brilliant pinkish bioluminous markings glided over the sea floor as a brilliant scarlet fin flashed.

  “The stone is different from anything recorded on Sirenx, but appears to be a durable foundation,” Ger’se, his second-in-command, commented as he skimmed the rocks.

  “There are hydrothermal vents seven chori away. That may be what made the colonizer choose this location. The water temperature around them is warm, and there is a variety of lifeforms living around it. We could plant seral forests and tangi gardens nearby without interrupting the local wildlife. Within the next season, we would have crops as well as a protective zone around the colony,” Ik’ma interjected pleasantly.

  Ji’wa smiled in satisfaction as the reports came flooding in. Even En’il was excitedly reporting nutrient levels that exceeded his expectations. He had initially been alarmed by the signs of tech surrounding the planet at their approach. A sentient indigenous species with technological capability, though inferior to that of the sirei, was worrisome, yet he was pleased to discover that it seemed to be confined to large landmasses. Despite his initial wariness, he had to admit that this planet was everything they had dreamed of.

  In the near distance, he could see the slope of the rock formations that indicated the presence of the protective rocky island barrier and smiled. It wasn’t big enough for a nesting cove, but the ring of islands around them would provide some shelter until they could send out exploration teams to find adequate territory to call their own.

  That was, of course, if High Command approved it. They were being far more obstinate and resistant to proceeding than he had anticipated.

  With a flick of his finger against his comm, he opened a direct channel to Ger’se. “Approve opening the vents. Let our people out of the dome, but caution them to stay nearby for safety reasons while we familiarize ourselves with our new home.”

  “Yes, Ji’wa’sa. I will see to it immediately.” He paused. “Should we send an exploratory team out to look for an island habitat?”

  “Not at this time. High Command has forbidden exploration for the time being. I am going to the surface to make some preliminary observations. I want to get a look before we organize a team.”

  Silence.

  “You do know that is considered reckless and unauthorized for members of command. Not to mention, from what you say, you would be disobeying a direct order from High Command. Even now you are technically deviating from orders. You are supposed to be supervising from inside the dome, not out here with us,” Ger’se said.

  “I am aware. I am also very much aware that this command was foisted on me due solely to my direct lineage from my sire. You and I both know I never wanted it, and in truth, given my failure to even find a mate, I shouldn’t be in this position without an heir. My father should have named a mated male his successor. I feel entirely ineffectual in my position. Now that I have the opportunity to do something, I refuse to sit idly while others do it.”

  “Very well,” Ger’se grumbled. “What should I tell the High Council if they comm?”

  Ji’wa made a dismissive click in the back of his throat and shrugged, though the male couldn’t see him. “I don’t care. Tell them that I ate something that disagreed with me and I am currently indisposed.”

  “Really? You want to go with that?” his friend asked. “You want word to circulate among the pods that the first day on New Sirenx, you were stuck in the sanitation pod?”

  “I don’t particularly care what they think. We are no longer confined in ship with disapproving elders and the command. The High Council is far away in the prime dome, and I can outswim the Li’lal’fa co-command and elders.”

  Ger’se chuckled. “I still think you are crazy, but your order is noted. All the same, I will try to come up with something better if I can.”

  Ji’wa smiled in response and turned away from the glowing dome of their city, his attention drawn to the sunlit waters above.

  With a flick of his tail, he flattened his dorsal fin along his back and propelled toward the surface with the long fin that swept up his tail. The pink bioluminescent lights along his body dulled as the water brightened from the sunlight pouring into the upper strata. Although sunlight filtered down to their dome—a necessity for sirein health—it was nothing as bright as the sun as he neared the surface. His eyes nearly ached with it, his pupils slitting in response.

  He stilled as a shadow passed overhead. Something long and narrow. Was it a predator?

  He slowed, the webbing between his toes and fingers catching the water as he spread his digits. Very slowly, he swept his tail from side to side, propelling himself in a gradual ascent as he circled around it. He was certain that at any moment it would lower its large head and attempt to snatch him out of the water, but it didn’t move, so he allowed himself to drift closer.

  As he came within range of the creature, he got a better look at it and laughed. It wasn’t an animal at all! It was roughin texture, like prisk wood, and intentionally shaped as if it were something crafted by a being possessing intellect. He eyed it with appreciation as he drifted closer. On a generational ship, he never had the opportunity to see many things carved out of wood. He had one heirloom from his sire, no bigger than his palm, that depicted a mythical creature in repose.

  He wondered if it was possibly a floating kafal set upon the seas to honor a deity. Such were the traditions of his people. The kafals were suspended on long cables, tethered to underwater cities and island nations before their sun became too unbearable to sustain life on the surface. They served the dual purpose of honoring the sun goddess I’dura and collecting solar power through the orbs attached to it.

  He was almost within range of it when a face, distorted by the moving surface water, peered over the side and looked down at him. He stilled in fascination. It wasn’t a kafal… It was some kind of primitive vessel. That would have to mean that the native species were indeed terrestrial if they required such things. His kind had built vessels to travel over larger islands, so he understood the concept behind it well. Still, to see one with his own eyes that was fashioned by another species was a marvel to him—but no more than the creature staring down at him.

  Its face was scrunched peculiarly, its nose oddly narrow and pointed as it extended off a face that was almost shaped like a sirein. Just an ugly sirein. Even the head filaments were similar, despite the lack of horns, facial ridges, and bioluminescent markings. Then again, he reasoned that a land-dwelling species might have never developed such traits. It probably didn’t even have a tail.

  It leaned forward even more, and he ventured closer. Just one more chori and he would be close enough to reach out and touch it. He was tempted to sing to it. Would it respond?

  In a quick movement, it disapp
eared, and he stilled, his tail fanning out to its widest sail to keep him steady. Perhaps he was scaring it?

  He sank down to a lower depth, his eyes never leaving it. He thought he saw the creature peer over the side again, but he couldn’t be certain now at the distance between them. He jerked in surprise when a whirl of water stirred around him and perked with interest as the vessel began to move forward. It had several strange rotating fins set along its bottom.

  How delightfully primitive!

  With a swish of his tail, he darted forward through the water, following it.

  He found it curious since they had seen abundant signs of tech, but it was possible that those who lived out in the waters didn’t have access to the same. It was all conjecture, but he was mentally stimulated in a way he hadn’t been since his youth, before he’d been forced to assume the mantle of his father’s responsibilities and put aside his own interests.

  He surfaced just behind a tall, narrow rock jutting out of the water, his eyes widening at the sight. The vessel was steadily moving away. He knew what he was about to do was forbidden by the High Council, but at that moment, it seemed inconsequential. He had to learn more about what this creature was.

  With a flick of his fin, he propelled after it. He followed it until it came to rest at a sandy beach on a flat-topped island pushing out of the water. Only then did he get another view of its passenger as a sort of platform extended from the vessel to the sandbar.

  He swam up to its side and peered at the creature stepping out onto the sand. It raised its arms over its head and stretched before placing its hands on its hips. A low voice, too low for his translator to make out the words, just barely reached his ears. It was talking to itself.

  He scanned the beach. It was obviously not the creature’s home. There were no structures or even protective growth or rock facings. It was just sand with a short rocky slope just behind it. Far too small to be anything except perhaps a place to rest. His eyes tracked the creature as it slowly turned and walked nearer to him.

  An unbidden trill of excitement left him as he was now able to get a better look at it. Even its basic body shape was similar to his own species, despite being frightfully dull in color and lacking a tail. The similarities were astounding! It seemed to be alone.

  He frowned in sympathy as he watched the creature sink down onto the sand, its brow wrinkling oddly. He glanced back at the vessel to see if anyone else would emerge. There was no movement from within its housing unit and no sounds of life from the vessel at all. He felt his sympathy increase. It clearly had no help and no one to speak to. It must have been a lonely life without a pod. There weren’t even signs of a mate.

  Ji’wa glanced around to make sure he wasn’t being observed and dove into the warmer water of the shallows. He sang a few notes as the water washed over him. He imagined younglings diving playfully in the safety of calm water once they found an appropriate cove. The water would surely be even more pleasant. Emotion pinched his heart as he acknowledged that none of those younglings would be his. In the thirty-eight calculated orbitals since his birth, he had plenty of time to meet every female sirein on the ship a multitude of times since reaching sexual maturity, and not one of them caused his sex to prime and mature.

  Banishing such depressing thoughts, he surfaced once again and swam up to the beach. Water sluiced off him as he stood, placing his feet on the soft sandy bottom. The creature had not noticed him yet… No, not creature. It couldn’t be anything other than a person, regardless of how different. Despite its differences, it was so startling similar to a sirein that he couldn’t help to be captivated. He wanted to study every similarity and difference between their species. Even the clothing covering it was unique.

  Sirei also wore clothing; however, they only wore the loose ankle-length robes while in the dome as a decorative statement in the colony ship, although supposedly the style was originally designed to protect them from the elements above water in their cove cities. This being seemed to wear clothing more functionally.

  This being’s clothes were in a bad state. The fabric looked like it might have once been decent but needed to be replaced long ago. Barely held together with rough stitches, it made his finer sensibilities curl with disgust beneath the rush of sympathy that flooded him. Perhaps he could bring it some robes from their storage?

  It seemed weary and cold as it hunched forward and rubbed its arms briskly. With the wind blowing from behind him, he could not catch scent of it, but he suspected it was experiencing discomfort. He could be reading the being wrong, but he recognized the slump of its shoulders as one perhaps not physically exhausted but worn thin in other ways. A feeling he had known all too well over the revolutions.

  He stilled as it turned in profile to him. He was certain that any moment it would glance over at him and react with hostility, but it did not. It did not even notice him. Its face in profile was more attractive than it had appeared from underwater. The face still bore the same noticeable similarities to his species, but this time, as a soft sigh left the gentle curve of its mouth, its face was smooth rather than distorted. The nose was still odd, but seemed to fit its features. The lips were full and the ears rounded rather than finned. He wondered at how dull its senses were as he watched it raise weary arms once more in a long stretch, pulling the fabric taut over its shapely chest.

  His attention sharpened. Its shapely chest?

  He stared at the shape of a pair of breasts thrust forward. Obviously, this was another shared trait between this new species and a number of others among the stars, although admittedly to different degrees and not among all species.

  There was little chance of mistake. It was a lone female.

  Ji’wa spun around, his dorsal fin on his back lifting with agitation. Despite the conclusion he had reached moments earlier that the being was alone, his instincts denied it. There had to be a male around somewhere. No pod would allow a female to live alone and unprotected. He could not imagine a species so similar to his own in appearance being so callous toward their females. He eyed the vessel, considering scaling its side and searching for the presence of a hidden male.

  He was just about to sink his claws into the wood when the breeze shifted, casting a tantalizing scent his way. It teased his scent receptors, and he let out a loud hiss of interest as he closed his eyes in ecstasy. The scent intrigued something deep within him. He dropped into a crouch, all his fins flaring so that the sharp ends were exposed to any possible threat when a sudden scream split the air.

  From his peripheral vision, he saw something rise out of the water that made him freeze in horror. A pale gray body rose from the opposite end of the beach, a long dorsal fin running down its length. That might have almost looked familiar, like something from his homeworld, except it had a monstrous wedge-shaped head covered in stunted horns and finned crests. Its maw opened wide in a horrible shriek as its mouth dropped down toward the female. Ji’wa roared, but it utterly disregarded him as its head dropped, jaws snapping at the female.

  She screamed again and turned as she raised a weapon and fired ineffectually at it in her attempt to escape and flee. Although its head was slightly smaller than her body, its movement seemed clumsy rather than graceful. It was possible that it was a juvenile.

  That could work in his favor. If it was, it might be inexperienced enough to not notice his approach in its attempt to capture its prey. The female cried out as one of its fangs scored her body. Ji’wa snarled. With his tail stretched out behind him and his tail fin fanned to keep him balanced, he darted forward, removing a vibrational cannon from the gauntlet around one wrist. It deterred predators beneath the water, but above, it would hopefully disorient it enough to give him an opening to save the female.

  The blast hit the air at the same moment that the creature lifted the female, her small torso caught in its mouth. Red blood slicked her body, and her cries filled the air. He fired again immediately after the first blast. The two vibrational blasts hit the creatur
e’s system, and it shrieked with pain, its long body twisting and writhing as it dropped its prey. The female hit the sand with a thud, her cry silenced in a sharp expulsion of air. Ji’wa fired a third blast, driving the creature farther away as it turned and dove into the water, its long, slender body streaking away.

  His cannon still raised, he watched for several moments to see if it would circle back and return. With no sign of it, he stooped by the female’s side. Sand crusted her body, and she blinked up at him through glassy, pain-filled eyes.

  “Hoo’r’u? U sav’d meh?” she mumbled.

  She lifted a bloodied hand, but it flopped down weakly beside her. Although he didn’t understand her words, he understood the need for comfort. He grasped her hand in one of his and ran his thumb over the soft skin. He tried not to get distracted by it. Sirei had soft scales in vulnerable places on their body, but her silkiness of her skin threatened to ruin his concentration. She needed him to be at full attention.

  “Tsh, tsh, tsh,” he soothed as he ran his opposite hand over her head comfortingly.

  Her eyes fluttered closed, a sigh leaving her as a tremor ran through her body. Ji’wa lifted her into his arms and carried her up the walkway onto her vessel. He glanced around, moving directly toward what appeared to be the habitation area. Stepping down into it, he knew that he had chosen correctly as he immediately recognized signs of furnishings. Following traces of her scent, he walked back to her personal sleeping chambers, where her scent was thickest, and gently laid her out on what he could only guess would be her sleeping nest.

  He hated to leave her alone as he searched her home for a bowl and a water source. It took him a moment to figure out how to extract water from a spigot. Grabbing a clean cloth from a bin, he returned to her side and began the arduous task of cleaning the sand and any filth from the few punctures still seeping blood. He frowned at them. They weren’t as bad as he had initially assumed. It must have been a juvenile, unpracticed in delivering a killing bite. Relief filled him, and he closed his eyes in gratitude. This was not beyond his abilities to mend.