by Jade Waltz
All of this was rather unnerving.
If I could inadvertently put myself in this position—a position that would last for the rest of my life—with a simple kiss... What else might I accidentally risk as I explored my new world?
Thank the Stars for my shields. I wouldn’t need to worry about Xylo bringing me to my knees. One thing to be thankful to him for, at least.
But I did need to consider this new life. Was I ready to be tied to someone permanently? If it weren’t for how devastated Xylo was at the thought of me severing our bond, I’d have already asked how we could. Since he’d been so kind, I could at least wait and see where this went before hurting him that way. Regardless, my wellbeing was more important than someone I’d just met—even if I was the one inadvertently responsible for putting us in this position.
As the conversation continued and I got to know Xylo a little better, I found my attraction to him growing. I loved watching the vines shift around him as he moved about the room. He was a living canvas of nebulas and galaxies, something I had always yearned to explore. Despite spending much of my life aboard a ship in deep space, there’d been few windows on the Yaarkin ship. I found something comforting in the patterns on Xylo’s skin.
My constantly changing emotions confused me—I knew I shouldn’t feel so comfortable so soon. My attraction to Xylo and the instinctive trust I wanted to give him, though we’d just met, was insane. I’d already been burned once—by him—and it would be foolish to allow it to happen again.
Yet, I couldn’t help feeling drawn to Xylo.
Xylo wrapped his vines tightly around his torso before sitting down in the chair next to my bed. He leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees, and watched me eat for a few moments. Once he was sure I had gotten a little food in me and was comfortably settled, he began answering my earlier questions.
“Before you triggered the courting bond with me, we had planned to heal you, then hand you over to the Aldawi, who rule this territory. When we told them of you, they asked us to bring you to CEG HQ—the largest space station in the galaxy—which sits along the border between the Aldawi and Quaww territories. The Aldawi have not told us what they want with you or why, but I will discuss what has happened with the princes and see if we can find answers.” Xylo gave me an apologetic look.
“Are you planning to study me, treating me like an experiment before turning me over to the Aldawi?”
“I admit I would enjoy learning more about your species, but we would never do such a thing to any sentient being, no matter how primitive they might be.” He eyed me. “Why do you keep asking me such things? What happened to you? Where did you come from? I promise, you can trust me. The more I know, the more I can do to help you,” he begged.
To give myself a moment to gather my thoughts, I placed the empty tray on the table beside my bed, then closed my eyes and leaned my head back on the pillows behind me.
“I’m probably not the best person to answer that.” A sigh escaped my lips, and I locked my hands together on my lap. “What do you know about humans?”
“Humans are considered a very primitive species. Your planet Earth was on the ban list—meaning it was under CEG protection. It was illegal to land on or near the planet. Interacting with your species in any form was prohibited. CEG had agents studying and recording data on humans and Earth. But CEG had to pull back their agents when they went to war with the Yaarkins—”
“Those were my masters.”
“So, they did take humans before they exterminated all life on Earth,” Xylo murmured.
“The Yaarkins treated humans like animals and taught us humans are a disgusting species. I learned in my studies, humans destroyed their only planet, ruining the ecosystem with pollution, exploiting its natural resources without regard for the planet’s delicate balance. They are selfish, controlling, and hateful. A dictator rose to power and started a worldwide biological and nuclear war, decimating the population. I read the chemicals and radiation rendered almost all the arable land infertile and the water so polluted that waste and dead animals floated on the surface.”
“Yes, I read something similar. But that still doesn’t explain how you are here...”
“Well, not long after the dictator’s rise to power and the tragedy of the war, humans had first contact with aliens. It didn’t go well. They were welcomed, but a splinter faction of religious zealots claimed it was the end of the world and attacked the aliens—my former masters—the Yaarkins. The Yaarkins filled their ships with humans—most of them young females—then punished the remaining humans by cleansing the planet. I’m convinced they didn’t want any other species to have access to us, though I don’t know why.” I shrugged, not knowing what else to add.
Silence fell between us.
I was too nervous to continue, embarrassed about what and who I was. My hands fingered the blanket nervously as I refused to open my eyes.
“Selena. Look at me,” Xylo demanded.
Tears betrayed me; I turned my face away as I tried to hide them. I was ashamed—hated who I was—afraid of what would become of me and what he’d think after he learned precisely what the Yaarkins created me to be.
I heard Xylo move before the bed shifted with his weight. His smooth hand grasped my chin as he gently turned my face. I felt something cool wipe the tears away and opened my eyes in time to see a vine’s flowered tip retreating, its petals glistening with the wetness of my tears. My gaze trailed from the vine to his face, locking with his worried teal eyes as they studied me intently.
“What are you not telling me? What is distressing you so?”
“Why should I tell you? You’re going to hand me over to the Aldawi soon, anyway. Or are you going to return me to the Yaarkins instead?”
Hysterical laughter exploded from me at the thought, and I pulled away, sitting up.
Xylo’s eyes widened in shock. “Why would I do that?”
“How can I trust some species wanting me who I’ve never met? No one else should know about me—unless they are allied with the Yaarkins and plan to return me for a reward! Why else would they warn you not to spread word of my discovery?”
Xylo looked completely bewildered by my outburst.
I took a moment to calm myself, then rolled my eyes.
“I’m sorry. I’m confused by all of this. I don’t know how to feel, Xylo. I want to trust you... but I don’t. I can’t return to captivity. To be the only thing I’ve known my entire life—a prototype. An experiment. Is it wrong to want to be able to call my life my own?”
“Selena, you must calm down. Give it time, we will figure everything out. You have been unconscious for five days we know of, and who knows how long before we discovered you. If you keep pushing yourself, you will come to harm; please lie down and allow yourself to recover fully,” he pleaded. “Your health is my highest priority. I am sorry for whatever distress I have caused, but if you do not settle down, I will have to sedate you. I would hate to do so and would only use such methods to protect you.”
One of Xylo’s vines gently wrapped around my wrist, preventing me from leaving the bed. I turned to face him, my fists clenched so tightly, my nails bit into my palms. I glared at him as I tried to yank my wrist from his vine.
“The Yaarkins took us from Earth as nothing more than test subjects. They believed our human ability to survive in diverse and extreme climates on Earth meant we’d be the perfect species... the perfect base species to study. With that adaptable genetic base, they’d be able to build and customize—creating the perfect soldier. And when each experiment failed, they tried to recoup whatever costs they could by selling our bodies as sex slaves. The adaptable human body—the gateway to the Yaarkins’ future generation of perfect soldiers—also turned out to be highly-prized by their customers for sex. They started breeding more females to generate greater income”—I was finding it harder and harder to breathe—“but I don’t know the details. I only know what I overheard as my masters experimented
I closed my eyes and took a deep, steadying breath, pulling myself from the memories. I could feel every ache, magnified by my body’s fatigue. As I opened my eyes, I glanced down, focusing my gaze on Xylo’s chest once again. I couldn’t make myself look at his face.
“I don’t understand even half of what I overheard, but I’ll tell you everything I know. I hate what humans were. I hate how the other humans treated me aboard ship. I hate what was done to us. But I can’t withhold information that may help prevent others from being similarly mistreated. That may help others to be free. No one should be forced to endure what I was...”
I closed my eyes again and consciously unclenched my fists—uncurling each finger, one by one—flexing my cramping hands.
“I am the Master Scholar on this ship. I may not be the Senior Healer, but I have had medical training and have access to all CEG medical databases. If I don’t know or can’t find the medical information we need, I can meet with other healers when we arrive at CEG HQ. We will figure it out,” Xylo soothed. “I will seek council with my princes. We will need to inform the Aldawi immediately about this. And better to do so before we arrive at CEG HQ.”
I couldn’t let it rest yet. I had to get it all out, purge the poison that had festered inside for decades. With my eyes still screwed tightly shut, I gasped out, “They started by taking samples of all who were captured to genetically engineer both the eggs and the sperm. They then injected the females with the fertilized eggs. If a female’s pregnancy failed, they performed tests to find out why.... And if those tests determined she was unlikely to carry to term in another attempt, she was sent to be used as a sex slave until her body gave out. I don’t know what they were trying to accomplish. In a later round, I think they altered something and switched to an artificial womb, hoping to control the success rate. The older humans, those who survived their use as sex slaves, were given charge of the new generation. If the child they were entrusted with died, they were forced back into service until they died...” I was hiccupping as the tears poured down my face, my voice little more than a raspy croak.
The mattress shifted again as Xylo moved nearer. His vines pulled me to him, and he wrapped his arms around me, tugging me against his chest. I felt comforted by the gesture, but comfort was the last thing I needed until I managed to get this all out.
“Selena,” he pleaded, whispering in my ear.
“No!” I wailed, “You don’t understand. I am the only survivor from something they called ‘Project: Adapt’, the prototype for their next generation. They grew me in an artificial womb, then continually experimented as I grew—using mech technology to inject me with nanobots and altering my DNA. Between experiments, I was kept segregated from the other humans, left in my room with a tablet to keep me occupied. I spent my time learning everything I could—about the world, about the ship, about my masters—hoping, one day, I might find a way to escape. I never struggled because I saw what happened to those who did, and I knew they would reward me with more reading material if I complied with their tests and experiments. But every day, my only companion was pain, my thirst for knowledge, and dreams of escape the only things keeping me sane.”
I hiccupped on a sob.
“But I think not long ago, they must have deemed the experiment a failure. Nine days before I escaped, my masters put me up for auction. It was the first time... billed me as a ‘unique’ experience—including my virginity—with an exorbitant price tag... said the fee would pay for a whole new experimental generation... I was the prototype, but they’d correct the remaining problems and finally have their perfect ‘Adapt’...” I sobbed into Xylo’s chest.
“That’s when I realized how different I looked than the other females lined up on the stage with me. I was the only one with silver hair and spotted skin. Everyone stared. It was... it was...” my hands clenched and unclenched against Xylo’s chest as I sought the words to explain—in vain “I finally realized maybe this is why I was a failure. Their experiments somehow resulted in me looking like I do.”
Xylo’s vines slid free and flailed behind him, while his arms pressed me closer to his body. I gasped for air, struggling for control... but when Xylo’s hand stroked my hair, I lost the battle. My emotions overwhelmed me, and I buried my face in his chest, soaking the downy fur as tears streamed from my eyes. Xylo did his best to comfort me in silence, only my sobs filling the void.
As my tears slowly eased, I noticed Xylo almost vibrating beneath me. He pulled me abruptly away from his chest, and I looked up in shock. His face was taut with unexpressed emotion—anger, sorrow, guilt—and his vines extended nearly straight out from his body, shaking.
“How many times?” he demanded, his voice full of rage.
I crossed my arms over my stomach defensively, trying to hold myself together and looked down at our bodies on the bed. All the anger, all the pain, all the sorrow had drained out of me. I didn’t know how to define what was left.
Embarrassment? Shame? Dirtiness?
“How many times?” he repeated, implacable.
“Just once,” I murmured.
His strong arms pulled me onto his lap. I felt his vines pull the blanket up, cocooning us together in its warmth. Choked sobs continued to escape me as I burrowed into him, laying my head back on his chest.
I wasn’t afraid. I felt comforted by him; his presence made me feel safe. I could hear the thumping of what sounded like multiple hearts and his breath tickled my ear. Closing my eyes, I sucked in a deep breath.
Listening to his heartbeats, breathing in his unique scent, I gradually calmed. And that calm slid straight into exhausted sleep.
“That’s all it takes,” he whispered gently. “And that is what matters...”
Chapter Five
Xylo
Xylo hurried from Selena’s room, hoping to catch the princes for a private discussion before she woke. He had checked her vitals via her medical bracelets before leaving—thankfully, she had not tried to take them off earlier. They were linked to his medical equipment.
He was still in shock she had cried herself to sleep in his arms, wrapped in his vines. He could already feel his body starting to biologically sync with hers. Typically, he had firm control over his vines, but during such an emotional conversation, they had instinctively tried to comfort her—even when he had willed them down so he would not scare her.
He could not believe everything she had been through. It pained him to learn of all the horrors the Yaarkins had perpetrated on humans—especially those Selena had been subjected to.
He was amazed at her resilience.
For her to be able to trigger a courting bond with him—accidental or not—was nothing short of remarkable. She was the first being outside the Circuli to engage in a courting bond—there was no record of any outsider bonding with either Ulax or Wudox. Granted, their isolation from CEG prior to the war with the Yaarkins could be why. A simple lack of opportunities? But his court bond with Selena further proved Earth had been a planet the Creators had used as a playground.
Of the 117 sentient species registered with CEG, twenty-seven were so-called ‘Children’ species from worlds on which the Creators were known to have experimented. In every known case, the Children had dominated their home planet and eventually, traveled outside their star system. They had conquered neighboring star systems, massacring many lesser sentient species and had expanded their territories. They had waged many wars over many millennia. Over time, alliances had formed until eventually, CEG was created. CEG’s objective—to bring order and peace and protect the Euph Galaxy from those beyond.
The Ulax and Wudox were the most recently recognized of the Children. They had been added to CEG as Secondaries, allowing each a representative in the committee, with the Aldawi as their Primary Officer. As long as the Ulax and Wudox remained in Aldawi territory—the most extensive in CEG—they would remain Secondaries.
Before the war with the Yaarkins a hundred years ago, the Circuli had only been considered one of many minor sentient species under Aldawi protection—though Aldawi protection was not without cost. The Ulax and Wudox were required to provide soldiers for the Aldawi military and maintain an Aldawi outpost within their star system. Once they were granted membership to CEG, they were further required to patrol their star system’s sector on behalf of the Aldawi and CEG.
The Ulax and Wudox leaders didn’t believe there was a need to expand outside their star system since the Aldawi protected them, especially given what had happened to the unprotected humans. Their home planet, Circul, provided for their species’ needs with plenty of room for growth—they had had no need to explore off world.
If the Yaarkins had somehow discovered a way for humans to interbreed with the Children, the potential for hybrid offspring from interspecies couples could be both enormous and dangerous. CEG would want to conduct its own research.
Xylo worried about that now that he had a courting bond with Selena and knew her story. This could potentially cause ripples that could even impact the Ulax and Wudox’s relationship with the Aldawi—and that was without factoring in Selena’s pregnancy.
Xylo had not found a good opportunity to tell Selena the night she had lost her virginity had resulted in pregnancy. He had not known how to broach the subject with her. She was so overwhelmed by sharing her story, he had focused entirely on comforting her—not to mention he had been still trying to process the shock of the courting bond.
Selena was now his nestqueen and in charge of their newly formed clan, whether or not she knew it. She would remain so until she broke the courting bond with him. He hoped she might decide to keep him in her clan and make their bond permanent—even if she did not make him the Prime or the Second, even if she never graced him with her favor or love.
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