Sk'lar

by Elin Wyn

  “As you will—Phryne.”

  “You did good work at that anti-alien settlement. Most men I know would have turned around and started busting heads if they got hit with this planet’s equivalent of a tomato.”

  “I am not most men, Phryne.” Why did I say that? It came out with much more bravado than I’d intended. Her scarlet eyebrows arched and she looked at me askance.

  “Indeed. Your record speaks for itself. I can see why you’ve been given command of Team Three.”

  “I am happy to serve in any way I can.”

  She grunted and stared at her pads again. I leaned forward before I spoke.

  “Ah, begging your pardon.” I think that was how the humans phrased it. “But I was going over Vidia’s itinerary, and it seems to me that there are some glaring omissions in security protocol.”

  “Glaring omissions?” Phryne fixed me with a hard gaze. So help me, despite my greater size, I felt like shrinking back, but I fought the urge. “I designed the security protocol myself, Commander.”

  I shifted in my seat uncomfortably.

  “I don’t mean to call your competence into question, Phryne.”

  “But that’s what you just did.” She sighed, and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Look, Commander, I realize that you’re good at your job, but this is my playpen. You’ll just have to trust my judgment on these matters.”

  “I have been assigned to protect Vidia. I would be remiss if I didn’t bring any potential threats to light.”

  “Fair enough. But let’s just humor the human, all right? In fact, let’s assume that I know what I’m talking about and have a lot more experience with this sort of detail than you, hmm?”

  I struggled to keep my face placid in the face of her brusque arrogance. The K’ver were exploring the galaxy when the human race was still hardening the tips of wooden spears in a fire. But I held my tongue, because that was what a good soldier did. He followed orders, even if he didn’t agree with them.

  “As you wish, Phryne.”

  “Good.” She flashed a mirthless smile and returned to her datapads. “Take your team and secure the next location Vidia is speaking at. You have the itinerary.”

  “Yes, Phryne.”

  She studied the pads for a time, then glanced up at me.

  “You can consider yourself dismissed, Commander.” She refocused on the work before her. “But do go ahead and send over a list of those ‘glaring omissions’. I’m curious to see what you think you’ve found.”

  “Understood.” I stood stiffly and offered a salute before turning on my heel and marching out of the office.

  Securing the sight didn’t take long. Vidia would be debating other candidates at an easily secured room in the government building. With weapons scanners, security monitors, and just plain old eyeballs, I believed we would be able to keep her—and her opponents—safe from any untoward advances of the anti-alienists.

  Again, I considered it a waste of Team Three’s capabilities to be put on simple guard duty, but I was determined to fulfill my obligations to the best of my ability. It would be the same if I were assigned to clean latrines. Pride had no place in the life of a soldier, even if—or especially if—they were in command.

  I dismissed my team and headed off for some much-needed R and R. There was a cantina that catered to us military types not far from the government building. When I arrived, the sun had already set and the place was packed. In here, K’ver mingle with other species without incident. Some groups were even mixed, though for the most part, people remained voluntarily segregated.

  That’s when I spotted Phryne Manka herself. The human commander was sitting by herself at the bar, drinking a tall glass of carbonated amber fluid. I believed the humans called it ‘beer’.

  I’m surprised that they weren’t put off by the fact that it closely resembled the look of their urine, but I should not judge.

  I started to just ignore her, then realized it would be impolite not to say hello. Sidling up to the bar, I ordered a Pangalactic and waited until she noticed me. Her gaze snapped over, and a slight, crooked smile played at her thin lips.

  “Sk’lar.” She politely inclined her head.

  “Phryne.” I did the same. “How does this evening find you?”

  “Honestly?” She scoffed. “I’m bored. Tell me, do you know how to play pool?”

  “Is that the game with the slate cloth-covered table, the long sticks, and colored balls?”

  “Yes.”

  “Never heard of it.”

  Phryne’s eyes narrowed in anger, but a moment later she chuckled. “You’re kidding, aren’t you?”

  “Perhaps a bit.” My lips peeled back in a smile. “I am considered not without skill in the Terran game of pool.”

  “Great.” She finished her drink and stood up. “Come on. I’m challenging you to a game.”

  “Very well.” I downed my Pangalactic and followed in her wake as she headed for the row of pool tables at the eastern edge of the bar. “But I must warn you that my K’ver implants have increased my manual dexterity and hand-eye coordination to the point where a human will be hard pressed to defeat me.”

  She paused, looked me up and down, then continued on her way. “That almost sounded like you were talking shit, Sk’lar.”

  “I would never be so bold.”

  “Oh, I highly doubt that. Here, I’ll rack, you break.”

  “No, as the challenged entity, I insist on racking. You break.”

  Phryne grinned and gestured to the table. “Rack away.”

  I set up the colored balls into their peculiar little pyramid. The truth was, I wasn’t all that good at breaking. I could sink my shots, but sometimes when I broke, I slammed the cue ball too hard and ended up making a mess of the table.

  Phryne selected a cue stick, then rolled it on the table, ensuring it was reasonably straight. Then she leaned over, thrust her backside out, and lined up a shot.

  A sharp crack, and then the balls were dancing in a wild, zigzagging pattern across the table. She sank three striped balls and two solid, then glanced up at me smugly.

  “I’ll take solids. You need a handicap.”

  “A handicap?” I couldn’t help but laugh. A waitress passed by and I took down two glasses of the Terran beer. “I think we both need a little handicapping.”

  Phryne was a master at this game. My enhanced reflexes allowed me to keep pace with her, but I soon realized it’s not just about physical dexterity. The game was all about setting up shots, and Phryne not only knew how to sink her balls, she knew how to clog up the table so I couldn’t get any easy shots.

  She won the first two games, then I managed to emerge victorious—but only because she scratched on the eight-ball. The fourth game I won on my own merits, but at that point, she’d downed several glasses of beer and was most likely not at her full potential.

  As the drinks flowed and the balls rolled, we both relaxed. I was discovering that, despite our obvious differences, a smile is a smile and a laugh is a laugh no matter what planet you’re from.

  Unless you’re a Xathi. The thought of one of those bugs trying to laugh just seemed absurd.

  Gradually we started standing closer and closer together. The bar was quite loud, and we had to put our mouths to each other’s auditory canals in order to hear properly. When she spoke in my ear, Phryne leaned her head on my shoulder. Later she helped me line up a tricky bank shot and actually molded her body onto my own. The feel of her warm, soft skin was pleasant, more pleasant than I would have expected.

  And her scent wrapped itself around my brain, haunting me long after she’d moved away.

  Bit by bit, the other patrons left, until a none-too-pleased manager came to inform us that the bar was closed. We took in the sight of stools up on tables and a busboy busily mopping the floor, and heeded his word.

  “That was most enjoyable.”

  She looked up at me and smiled, standing a little unsteadily. In fact, I was standing
unsteadily, as well. The whole world seemed to be intent on twisting to the left no matter how straight I tried to stand.

  “Yeah. You know what else is enjoyable?”

  “Enlighten—“ I let out a loud belch. “Enlighten me.”

  She laughed hard, eyes squeezing shut and tears pouring out of the corners.

  “Oh my god. You are just too much.”

  “That is what she said.”

  Phryne stopped laughing and stared at me starkly with that intense gaze. Just when I thought I had angered her, she laughed anew.

  “Nice. You’ve really picked up the human lingo.”

  “So what else is enjoyable besides drinking too much and playing pool?”

  “Well…” she traced a line with her finger on my ample chest. “You’ll have to come back to my apartment to find out.”

  With a sudden flash of heat, I found this guard duty assignment much more palatable.

  Phryne

  There was a dull ache throbbing between my eyes. I didn’t want to open them. There was pressure on my chest like I’d fallen asleep with a thick table leg draped across my body. The pillow under my head wasn’t the pillow I preferred to sleep on. My blankets were out of order. I had a very specific way I liked to sleep.

  Memories from the night before flooded back to me in a rush. I’d drunk last night, of that I was certain.

  I didn’t drink often.

  Correction, I didn’t use to drink often.

  Since the Xathi invasion, I’d found myself spending more nights at a bar. Of course, I was very careful about my consumption. Momentary stress relief wasn’t worth any permanent, or even temporary, damage to my body.

  Yes, I drank more than I should’ve last night. The K’ver was there, Sk’lar.

  I beat him at pool.

  Twice.

  We had a fun night. I couldn’t remember the last time I had a fun night like that. Vidia would say I’ve never had a fun night like that. But Vidia didn’t know about the midnight parties at the orphanage. No one did.

  God, was the last time I had a fun night really when I was living in an orphanage? What did that say about me? Nothing good, I imagined.

  I squeezed my eyes shut as I threaded the memories of last night into something that resembled a coherent narrative.

  I beat Sk’lar at pool. I drank too much. I walked home from the bar.

  But I didn’t walk alone.

  Like a flashbang, the memory of my lips melded against Sk’lar’s lit up my consciousness.

  Shit, we kissed.

  That wasn’t like me. I didn’t kiss people.

  Well, I didn’t kiss coworkers.

  My job was a high-stress job. Of course, I occasionally sought out stress relief other than drinking.

  I opened my eyes to look down at the source of the weight on my chest, though I already had a good idea of what I would find.

  A dark arm shot through with angular blue lines of circuitry was draped across my torso. Sk’lar breathed deeply as he slept next to me. Unlike me, he was above the blankets. His shirt was gone.

  In the low light of the apartment, only the faint glow of his embedded circuits illuminated him. He looked otherworldly as he lay there.

  I closed my eyes and let out a sigh.

  Of course he looked otherworldly. He was otherworldly.

  This was exactly why I carefully monitored my drinking.

  Aside from Sk’lar’s lack of shirt, he still wore his pants and his boots.

  I sat up a little to look at the leg thrown off the side of the bed and stifled a laugh.

  He wore one boot.

  When I reached forward to stretch, I noticed my arms were bare. I’d worn a long-sleeved top to the bar; the same one I’d worn to work that day. With a sense of dread, I peeked under the covers at myself.

  I was covered only by my panties.

  With a gasp, I clutched the bedsheet against my body.

  I seriously needed to remember what had happened last night.

  Ignoring the sleeping alien beside me, I closed my eyes and emptied my mind. I remembered walking back to my apartment with Sk’lar. Actually, I didn’t remember seeing him, but I definitely remembered hearing his voice from somewhere behind me.

  We were laughing. A lot.

  Obviously, I’d invited him up to my apartment. That in itself was odd.

  On the rare occasion that I decided to relieve some stress, I never did it in my own space. I always went to the other person’s place. No one, not even Vidia, had been to this apartment. God, I really did have a lot to drink.

  Or I was really enjoying my time with Sk’lar.

  At some point, we kissed. I already knew that. But what else did we do?

  Judging by his clothing, we didn’t do anything more than kiss.

  At least that was one humiliation I was spared. I liked remembering the sex I had.

  With great care, I extracted myself from the bed. Sk’lar groaned once but didn’t wake up. Good.

  I made a beeline for my bathroom with my hands over my breasts. I felt like a skittish teenager afraid of being caught. It was ridiculous.

  I turned the hot water all the way up, fully prepared to take advantage of that luxury today. Thick white puffs of steam filled the room in seconds. I couldn’t see the door anymore. In my steam sanctuary, I finally took a breath and gathered my thoughts.

  Clearly, I had some kind of attraction to Sk’lar that only drunk-me was able to show. Talk about dysfunctional.

  Why him, though? I barely knew him.

  Yes, he was very handsome. Not just for an alien, for anyone.

  What was so damn special about Sk’lar that he was able to break through so many of my carefully drawn lines in one night?

  When the shower door opened, I nearly jumped out of my skin.

  “Sorry,” Sk’lar laughed. “I would’ve thought the head of Nyheim security would’ve heard the door open.” Through the steam I saw him strip down, and I quickly looked away.

  “I was thinking,” I said in defense. “What are you doing in here?”

  “I figured we could talk.” He stepped into the shower even though I hadn’t made room for him. For the first time, I hated the fact that my shower was so spacious.

  “And you think now is the best time for that?”

  “Of course.” Sk’lar made himself comfortable under the stream of hot water. “There’s no way to hide anything.”

  I summoned all of my will power in an effort not to glance down and failed. I looked away quickly but not before I got a sense of how well-endowed he was. Thank god for the steam. Otherwise, my blush would’ve been obvious.

  “I meant that metaphorically,” Sk’lar smirked. “Why the cold shoulder, Phryne? Not that such a thing is possible in a shower this hot. It’s like the fires of Pystatheins in here.”

  “I don’t know what that means.” I turned my back on him to grab my soap. “And I’m not giving you the cold shoulder.”

  “You were the friendliest person on this planet last night,” Sk’lar contradicted. “You were charming, funny, and a genuine pleasure to spend time with. I refuse to believe that person is only activated with alcohol.”

  “I keep a strict line between my professional and personal lives,” I shrugged, uncomfortable with where this conversation was going.

  Oddly, I wasn’t uncomfortable at all with him being in the shower with me. Some traitorous part my mind quite liked it.

  Or maybe that wasn’t exactly my mind…

  “You aren’t working right now, yet I’m talking to workplace-Phryne.”

  “What’s your point?”

  “I liked the person I spent time with last night. I’m eager to meet her again. But I can’t meet her if you’re going to put a wall between us all over again.”

  His words caught me off guard. Whatever response I was able to come up with died on my tongue. Something inside me shifted and the usual reserve I’d feel in a situation like this disappeared.

&
nbsp; “What are you suggesting?” I asked.

  “I’m asking you to not shut me out just yet.” I felt Sk’lar’s hands on my shoulders. My first instinct was to tense up, to pull away, but this time I fought through that initial instinct. One of the caretakers at the orphanage used to say that someone’s first reaction was what they were conditioned to do. It was the second reaction that showed their truth.

  My second reaction to Sk’lar’s touch was to relax into his hands. I focused on how he felt, the texture of his skin and circuitry, the comfortable weight of him.

  “Okay,” I agreed. “I’ll do my best not to shut you out. Yet,” I added with a laugh.

  “That’s all I ask.”

  “But I can’t compromise my professionalism,” I said quickly.

  “Anyone who’s known you for longer than a moment is smart enough to not ask you to compromise your work. Besides, as of yesterday, your work is my work. We both need to do exceptionally well.”

  “For Vidia’s sake,” I agreed.

  “For our sakes, too.”

  I looked over my shoulder with a frown.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Nothing.” An easy smile spread across Sk’lar’s face. “Now, I’d like to enjoy a little more non-work-Phryne before we go into the office.”

  Sk’lar and I quickly finished our joint shower and prepared for the day. All the while, we talked about non-work-related topics, which was a struggle for me at first. We kept it simple. We talked about the food we liked, places we liked to go, and other things normal people would consider, well, normal.

  When we stepped out of my building, we’d each returned to our professional selves.

  We were halfway to work when someone called my name.

  “Phryne!”

  I spun around, confused. I didn’t recognize the voice. I didn’t know many people outside of work.

  As the woman moved closer, I recognized her. Moira Constantine. She had lived in the orphanage, too, though she was eight years my senior. She aged out of the system while I was still a kid.

  “Moira.” A smile bloomed across my face. Seeing her was like seeing a distant relative. The orphanage was the only family I’d ever known.

  Moira didn’t smile at me. In fact, she wasn’t looking at me at all. She was glaring at Sk’lar.