by Alma Nilsson
Jane was not alone for very long at the reception as Head of Imperial House Zu, a permanent member of the High Council, came over to greet her as soon as she saw Jane. Kes and Jane got along reasonably well, which was good because House Zu and House Human were interlinked by her captain’s marriage to Admiral Tir and, more recently, to protect Doctor James. As Jane was inexperienced in managing her house and that House Human’s ranking was so low, it had been decided that Doctor James would be moved to House Zu for protection. As a result, Jane was indebted to House Zu for the moment. That move had saved Doctor James’s life and House Human from being seen as a weak target open for bullying in the Empire.
Kes smiled as she saw the human representative walk in. Jane of House Human was an honorable woman, and Kes liked her. She only wished that the other human women were as respectful of Alliance ways as Jane, especially her daughter-in-law. Kes couldn’t really believe that Jane and Kara were friends as they were so different, and Kara was so impulsive, “Jane, the gods are shining their light on you tonight, even in that ghastly human dress. Whatever possessed you to buy it and then wear it? Are you ill? It looks so uncomfortable.”
Jane smiled, “I must admit, it feels so good to wear some clothes from Earth again. You should try it sometime. You must have a stunning figure.”
Kes snorted, “No, I think Kara pushes the boundaries enough for my entire House. And now,” she reached for her IC and showed Jane an image from one of the most popular Capital City gossip columns, “Also, Doctor James is marrying in this revealing human dress from my House, and I know that Kara has seen it and done nothing as I recognize her little hand there in the side of the image. I assume you didn’t have time to tell Doctor James that no human clothing could be worn for religious ceremonies. Right?”
“Is marriage a religious ceremony?” Jane asked, innocently. Of course, she had known what James had been planning on wearing. James had sent her an image of herself in the sexy silk sequenced dress with embroidery, and Jane had approved, even though it wasn’t up to her anymore to police Doctor James’s actions.
Kes gave Jane a sidelong look and thought, Humans are so sneaky, “Of course, a marriage ceremony is of course religious. But then I forget, you still are learning about our religion. And there’s only so much we can expect of humans.”
Jane ignored the racist comment, nodded, and took a ceramic cup of zota, the preferred alcoholic beverage of the Alliance, from a passing slave. “Doctor James might already belong to House Vo as we speak, so the fine will go to them anyway, isn’t that correct?”
Kes laughed, “I doubt it. You know traditional Alliance marriages take some time.” She leaned in closer to Jane to speak conspiratorially, “And I’ve heard they will take the ancient binding tattoos, so it’ll take even longer. I almost feel sorry for my daughter-in-law having to witness that tonight.”
Jane also knew they were taking binding tattoos. James could not abide by the Alliance Empire’s system of slave artists. James had been adamant that she could not share a husband, no matter how long he was away in the galaxy. The purpose of the tattoos was to physically bind two people together, so it would be impossible for them to have sex with anyone else, ever in their entire lives, as it was rumored to be irreversible. If a couple who had taken the tattoos tried to have sex with another person, they would at first become physically ill, followed by passing out. Jane thought this was all well and fine for keeping couples from straying sexually, but she could easily see how this would backfire in the event of a rape of a woman. However, she had never heard of any women being raped. There were only a few exceptional cases from years ago, and these were always mentioned with the greatest of concern, so Jane supposed James had nothing to fear from the binding tattoo.
Traditionally, binding tattoos had been a means of keeping fidelity in marriages when Alliance men began leaving the planet on missions for years out in the galaxy. At the same time, lifespans began extending beyond 300 years. However, hundreds of years ago, binding tattoos had been officially abandoned for the culture of slave artists, which were basically free-range prostitutes that worked both on the planet and on starships. Both men and women had access to slave artists, and it was socially acceptable to have sex with them. Alliance people believed that it was unhealthy to go without sex or some kind of release for long periods of time. On planet though, women had to travel to private spas to enjoy slave artists, as far as Jane knew anyway. On the ship, they were readily available and had their own quarters, which no officer, including a captain, was allowed to enter. Jane personally thought the idea of slave artists made a lot of sense and even had a favorite of her own onboard the Zuin. “I don’t know what Doctor James and Doctor Ket are planning. I didn’t get any details as she is no longer in House Human,” Jane lied.
“Of course not,” Kes said being polite and accepting the lie. “I’m sure Kara knows and, as usual, refuses to tell anyone anything, not in her best interest.”
Jane smiled. She wasn’t going to be drawn into the ongoing conflict between these two strong women in her life, “I think Doctor James and Doctor Ket are a good match, so it’s good for the Empire.” It was forbidden to speak about love in polite conversation, so Jane had to say, ‘good match’ which she thought conveyed the same idea.
“Good for the image of human women,” Kes said casually. “Doctor James is a fine example of what human women can accomplish in the Empire if they just open, accept and apply themselves to their new lives here. She has done so well. First in her class at the medical school and a prestigious position on the Imperial Floor of the Capital City Hospital.”
“And she wasn’t murdered,” Jane commented solemnly. She still felt guilty for not being able to protect James from almost being murdered twice as she was alone on the Capital Planet in the brick and mortar House Human.
“She won in the end. The gods showed their justice.”
“Thanks be to the gods for showing us justice,” Jane replied with the set response. But she didn’t really believe that any of the patheon of Alliance gods had anything to do with it. It was human will that had kept James alive among these vipers.
“Thanks be to the gods. How are the new one-thousand?” Kes asked, referring to the 1,000 human women who had volunteered to return with her son, when he had been on Earth last year retrieving his own wife, who had been tried by the human government as a spy.
“I’d say they are integrating as well as can be expected as they should be just arriving on the Capital Planet now.” Jane got out her IC and looked for any updates from Madame Bai about the women being transported down, but there were none, yet.
“Ah yes, the quarantine,” Kes said sarcastically. “Have you spoken to Doctor Anu about when they will be released? Are you sure it will be today? I’ve heard there have been some false starts before. You don’t want the slaves in House Human to become lazy without anyone to look after.”
Jane laughed at the thought of the slaves at House Human being anymore rude or lazy than they already were and then replied, “They are being released into Madame Bai’s care as we speak. It’s all been arranged with Doctor Anu. Without a doubt, the slaves at House Human will be busier than they ever have been before. They’ll be going from one woman of maximum class to look after to one-thousand.”
“I’m glad to hear it. We were all beginning to become a little suspicious. And as much as Doctor Anu is a competent doctor, she is no cultural guide. Madame Bai has proved to be an excellent teacher. I only wonder if the rest of you would have integrated more naturally and easily if you would have been forced to remain on the Capital Planet instead of joining the Alliance fleet and being allowed to roam the galaxy with the men.”
“Kes, now would you really want Captain Kara sitting across from you at the evening meal every night?” It was customary that Alliance families lived together and had dinner together every night. As such, breakfast was the most common meal to meet friends for in the Empire.
“No, you’re right. I guess I
can sacrifice the bad habits of 20 human women for forgoing having the pleasure of looking at my daughter in-law every night over the evening meal.” Kes smiled and changed the subject, “And how do you think these new human women will find the Alliance men?” Kes knew that Alliance people were considered only tolerable in appearance by human standards.
“Oh, I’m sure just like the rest of us, they will thoroughly enjoy the men’s stunning physiques,” Jane said, and this was no lie. Although Alliance people were grey-skinned, they were obsessed with their bodies and took meticulous care to make sure they were as strong and healthy as they could be.
Kes gave Jane a knowing smile, “I must speak to Kada of House Olu now, but I’ll find you later to continue this conversation. As I’ve heard a rumor about one of yours, a Rachel?”
“Yes, find me later,” Jane said nonchalantly. Rachel had been playing with fire recently by spending way too much time flirting with their first officer on the Zuin, Commander Koz, but never agreeing to courtship. This was something that was severely frowned upon in the Alliance. No one should waste another’s time without being serious. The problem was, Rachel was hardly ever serious about anything and despite Jane’s warnings she was refusing to be serious about her behavior towards Commander Koz and people were beginning to talk about it.
For the next hour, Jane talked to many Alliance women in the High Council. Most of whom she knew only by sight or quick acquaintance from last year. Now she was finding these women to be not only more welcoming but almost accepting. Jane reckoned it was because she had now been the Head of House Human for a year and had actually had to make quite a few serious decisions about her members’ lives. It also helped, of course, that two of her members had married into Imperial Houses. Through all of these conversations, Jane found out a lot of useful information about running her House, all of which she had pretty much been doing by the trial and error method thus far, which meant that she always felt that she was barely scraping by with what was socially acceptable. She was grateful for the connections and the tips these women were giving her now.
After several hours, Jane decided that it was time for her to leave the reception. Surprisingly though, a tall and strong Alliance man approached her before she could walk to the exit. She could see behind him; her security guards and his security guards were engaged in a very friendly conversation and Jane summarized that they all knew each other. She quickly took in his colossal stature, his long grey hair pulled back in an elaborate braid and his ranking jewelry and immediately bowed. He was Admiral Jei, the Admiral of the entire Alliance Fleet. Arguably one of the most powerful men in the known galaxy, that is, if you didn’t know the Empire was actually controlled by the Alliance women on the planet and that Alliance men were second to women.
“Chief Jane, Head of House Human,” Admiral Jei said. “I’ve wanted to meet you for some time now. Thank the gods that our paths crossed tonight,” Jei looked into Jane’s very human eyes, which were the same color as the daytime sky. He had never seen eyes this color in a being that didn’t have some transparent part to their bodies, which he thought was never attractive. As he investigated her appearance further, he noticed that she had the smoothest, cream-colored skin he had ever seen. And that the brown color of her hair that seemed to change depths in the light he thought was more than just a little alluring. He thought her facial features were pleasing and soft, which gave her a younger appearance than her 39 years. And her scent was very appealing. She smelled sweet and heavy all at the same time. He wanted to touch her short brown hair and breathe in her scent further, but he controlled himself, You’re no longer a young man. You’ve had your children and your chance to be a husband. Treat her as you would any officer.
Jane looked up into his hard grey eyes and tried not to be intimidated by his size or rank, “The gods have truly shone their light on me that I would be so singled out by you, Admiral.”
“The gods are great, indeed,” he replied with a bit of humor. He knew that the humans had been forced to accept the Alliance religion into their lives, but he doubted that any really believed in it. As he could not imagine believing in the gods himself and felt it must be the same going the other way, as being an atheist was probably like being part of a religion as well. Jei didn’t believe that one could force oneself to believe or not to believe in religion over the course of a day or a week. Belief in the gods was something that was built up over time.
Jane gave him a little smile. On the planet, women kept to the stringent religious codes of the Empire, the hours of prayer, and times of day one could eat were all held in strict accordance with the gods. The men, on the other hand, were more relaxed about it all, especially onboard their starships. Jane had walked between these two worlds since she took her place on Captain Kara’s ship. However, she had never met anyone in the military at a function where she was performing her role as Head of House Human, squarely in the women’s world. She was momentarily befuddled as to how she should behave towards the Admiral. On the planet, she, as Head of House Human and High Council Member, was superior to him in societal ranking. However, in the fleet, she was far below him. This was a problematic situation as someone's rank was so crucial in the way you spoke with someone in the Alliance, and now she stood in front of him as an impossibility. Jane looked at the Admiral and if she was going to guess his mood from his face expression, she would say ‘serious,’ so she decided to try and keep the conversation as neutral as possible as to avoid any awkward ranking situations, so she asked, “Do you always attend this reception, Admiral? I don’t remember seeing anyone from the fleet here last year?”
“Oh no, I just happened to be on the Capital Planet now, so I thought it would be convenient to attend tonight,” Admiral Jei’s flagship the Kzi was being upgraded. He thought it would be prudent to stop by this reception to intimidate some of the High Council members who were blocking his requests to conquer some new territory that he thought would be strategically advantageous in the Huz system. He was tired of waiting. It was an added bonus when he saw Chief Jane. He had forgotten until he saw her that she would be here. Jei had wanted to meet her for a while. He was duly impressed with the way that she had handled House Human over the last year, and he suspected that most of the fleet’s human integration rules had probably been written by her, rather than her human captain, who took all the credit. What he had not realized was that she was beautiful. He, of course, had seen Jane’s picture before. It was in her file. A plain Galaxy Court, GC, full-body picture with clothing. In that picture, she looked dull, for a human, ‘average everything human,’ he had said coldly when he had first seen it. But now seeing her in person, in that magnificent human dress, and with the exotic human face paint, he was captivated.
“I see,” Jane said, desperately trying to think of something else to say.
“That clothing? It’s human? Is that allowed?”
“I had the law passed recently in the High Council,” Jane said proudly. “Human women are allowed to wear human clothing for 50% of the time, but not at religious ceremonies.”
“Is that right?” he asked rhetorically, pulling out his IC and showing her a picture of Doctor James in her white silk dress. “She’s getting married, and I’d say that’s a religious ceremony.”
“I didn’t know what she was planning on wearing for her marriage ceremony, Admiral. Maybe you are unaware, but she’s no longer a member of House Human. I’ve no doubt she was given permission from Captain Kara or someone else in House Zu to wear that dress tonight.”
Admiral Jei laughed at Jane, “I don’t believe you. But, overall, you’ve done a good job in your new role. I’ve been impressed, but you’ve taken these little things here and there, hoping no one would notice.”
“Excuse me, Admiral? What are you referring too?” She asked innocently, knowing, of course, exactly all the little things he was referring to. But she couldn’t figure out from his demeanor how he really felt about her transgressions. Alliance people
often said contradictory things to what they really believed, believing, of course, they were not being contradictory in their expressions at all. It was still confusing at times for Jane.
“Oh, you know what I’m referring to Chief. The clothing, ranking jewelry, religion, and you continue to cut your hair.”
Jane’s hand immediately went to the ends of her hair, which was only chin-length but didn’t reply.
“How is it that it’s the same length now as it was when you arrived over a year ago? I’m certainly no expert on humans but I think that’s odd.”
Jane didn’t reply. She just looked into his grey eyes, trying to figure out if he really did want an answer.
“From now on, Chief. You won’t cut your hair. I don’t care what Captain Kara does, as you know, it’s difficult for me to enforce anything with her as Admiral Tir has her so well protected, but you. You’re mine just as everyone else in the fleet is, and you’ll comply, or I’ll publically punish you myself. Understood?” His mind, quite out of his control, swirled then, visualizing himself physically punishing her, and he almost felt aroused. Something that took him by surprise as he was a man of 206 years and had a regular slave artist that resided in his quarters onboard the Kzi. It wasn’t like him to waste his time chasing sex or romance. He was too old for that. And he had already done his part for the Alliance. He had married and had children, and they had had children and so forth. His wife had died some years ago, and as there was a shortage of women, Jei had already decided that he would never marry again. And he liked having Vran in his quarters, he wouldn’t want another wife. Yet, here he was infatuated by this young human woman before him.
Jane was intimidated by his strong words, “Understood, Admiral.” She believed that he would actually hold her to these rules and the last thing she wanted was a public punishment in the fleet. She had seen some men publically punished by Admiral Tir and it served its purpose to keep them most of them in line.