Aries

by Enid Titan

“Your mother was Xanflorae? But look at you!”

  Xantha gasped.

  “Arietan females are few and far between. When we mate, our offspring are mostly male and our genetics dominate. Mothers give birth to us and we’re often abandoned when they discover what we look like.”

  “A Xanflorae mother would never abandon her young!”

  “You might be right in most cases, but my mother was a slave girl. She left me behind when she ran, and the geneticists on the homeworld found my father.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “You have nothing to apologize for. It is rather curious to get to know one of my own. Even if it’s only a small part of me.”

  Xantha reminded Ramses of their dinner agreement and left him with Rory.

  Rory peered out from behind the corner.

  “You never mentioned your mother was another alien.”

  “I never knew her.”

  “Do you wish you did?”

  “She’s dead. The species doesn’t live very long.”

  “What are you talking about? Xantha looks old!”

  “She is. She’s 36.”

  “Thirty-six!?”

  “Yes. Miracle for someone like her to be pregnant. But with them, it can happen at any age. It’s just that most stop… pollinating by then.”

  “Pollinating? She looks like a person!”

  “The Xanflorae are plant-mammal hybrids. One of many kinds of hybrids in the galaxy. Their home planet is two planets over.”

  Rory giggled.

  “I can’t believe it. Two planets over? To even conceive of such a thing half a year ago would have been mad.”

  “Nearly four months have passed, Rory,” Ramses muttered, suddenly growing very solemn.

  “I know. But we’re together again. All of that is in the past.”

  Ramses grabbed her hips and lifted her, pressing her against the wall and staring into her cornflower blue eyes. She’d been through too much. He could see it on her face.

  “This is my fault,” Ramses whispered, “You lost months of your life because of me.”

  “It’s not your fault. You came back for me. I’m fine…”

  “Rory, you don’t understand. These four months have been hell. I can’t stand being away from you.”

  “I can’t stand it either.”

  “I think I…”

  “What?”

  “Never mind.”

  “Tell me, my horned beast,” Rory whispered, kissing Ramses on the shoulder.

  “I think I love you,” he whispered.

  She kissed him and then pulled away, pressing her forehead to his as she whispered, “I love you too.”

  At dinner, Rory and Ramses seated themselves at their assigned places. Rory had been to formal corporate dinners before, but the customs of this house were unfamiliar to her. They were the first guests to be seated and she stared at her place settings nervously before whispering to Ramses, “What do we do?”

  “We wait. A Taurean owns this place, so when he comes in, we rise to greet him.”

  Rory had never seen a Taurean before. What Pandora said of her husband had been brief, but she’d hinted that Damir Ul’Had was similar to Ramses. A trumpeted announcement echoed through the dining room. As the children piled into the room, Rory began to understand why.

  Pandora and her husband entered first, surrounded by the ten of their children that would join them for dinner. From what Rory understood, there were many more children in the tunnels. When the Taureans entered, Rory tried her hardest not to stare.

  The male was tall, nearly as tall as Ramses and huge, muscular, and green. His shoulders were plated in thick green scales and instead of a nose, he had slits where plumes of steam emerged. His horns were thick and powerful, thinner and longer than Ramses’. Damir wore a silver military suit and Pandora as she stood by his side wore long black clothing that covered nearly every inch of her skin, except her head. Her hair had been twisted into long black braids and then pulled back into three buns behind her head.

  She was petite next to him; even if she was a bigger woman than Rory was, next to her alien mate, she was small.

  A human being in outer space. I’ve got to hear that story, Rory mused to herself. At this point, there wasn’t anything she wouldn’t accept. The impossible had become true in an instant. Damir and Pandora sat near the head of the table. The head was unoccupied, per Taurean tradition as Rory later learned.

  Xantha and Corrin appeared next but sat at the other end of the table past all the children. The way Xantha spoke to them, Rory figured it was her preference. They clamored over her, calling her aunty, and whispering questions to her until Pandora gave them a sharp look.

  Pandora rose and announced, “The Devoran royal family will now arrive. Prince Titan of Devor, his mate Ariana, and their children, Persephone and Prometheus.”

  Rory looked about, but no one else rose. She reached under the table for Ramses thigh. He gritted his teeth, flashing her a weak smile.

  “What’s wrong?” Rory whispered to him.

  “I had no idea the royal they were referring to was Prince Titan…I assumed it was his sister.”

  “Do you know him?”

  “Yes. I know him. We’ve known each other for a very long time.”

  Rory was distracted momentarily from questioning Ramses as the royal family entered the room.

  “They’re blue,” she breathed, a little too loudly.

  Pandora smirked and winked at her and Rory whipped her head around to see the pair of aliens and their children. They weren’t all aliens. On the Prince’s arm was a human woman with scarlet red hair. Her cheeks were flushed as if she were embarrassed by all the pomp and circumstance.

  They sat across from each other, with Titan next to Damir, and Ariana next to Pandora.

  “Can we eat yet?” A reptilian voice squeaked at the other end of the table.

  “One moment,” Pandora said, “We’re still waiting for Barney.”

  A human boy, no older than thirteen arrived, running as fast as he could.

  “I’m late! I’m sorry!”

  Pandora laughed, “It’s okay. You come sit here.”

  “Mnemosyne worked me so hard in sword fighting and I just fell asleep,” Barney continued, taking a seat next to his mother, and across from Rory.

  Once Barney was seated, chefs brought the food out. Rory tried to ignore the fact that all the Taureans food was living. The children, although they were half-human, looked and ate like reptiles. Even Barney had living, moving mealworms. Special plates were brought out for her, Titan, Ariana, and Ramses. Everyone had meat, except Ramses.

  “Why’d they give me a steak and you a salad?” Rory whispered.

  “I’m vegan…”

  “What?”

  “I’m vegan.”

  “You drank my blood!”

  “I didn’t digest it,” Ramses muttered.

  “What? You have fangs!”

  “They’re… sexual in nature.”

  “You’re not a bloody vegan!”

  “I am.”

  Damir seemed to catch wind of their tiff and he chimed in.

  “All Arietans are vegan. They’re born that way. They can’t digest milk, cheese, eggs… It’s a dang shame.”

  He punctuated his sentence with a handful of mealworms. Rory’s eyes widened. Ariana joined in and offered her a warm smile, “You get used to the alien stuff after a while. It’s a pleasure to meet you. When I met Pandora, I couldn’t believe there was another human out here.”

  Her accent was distinctly American. Rory nodded politely and swallowed a bite of her steak.

  “How did you two get out here?”

  “It’s a long story,” Pandora and Ariana replied simultaneously.

  “I’d love to hear it sometime.”

  “Of course,” Titan replied with a disarmingly smooth voice, “I’m sure you look forward to leaving this place as well, despite its beauty.”

  Rory’s che
eks flushed. How could he have known what she was thinking? Ariana noticed her blushing and apologized on her mate’s behalf.

  “Titan’s not supposed to be creeping around in people’s heads but sometimes he can’t help it.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Telepath,” Ramses replied uncomfortably.

  Perhaps that was why Corrin sat so far away. Rory remembered her unfavorable opinion on telepaths.

  “Before we get into your next move,” Damir steered the conversation away from business, “Perhaps you would tell us how you met?”

  “Earth,” Rory answered, recalling the stranger in the nightclub with the magnetic energy that had drawn her in.

  “I’d love to go back there someday,” Ramses replied, “Beautiful planet.”

  “Agreed. We worry that others will find it before it’s time,” Titan replied.

  “Whose worry is that precisely?”

  “All of us, really,” Pandora replied, “We talk about it all the time. If Earth was invaded...”

  She trailed off, and a sad look flashed before her eyes. Barney rested a hand on his mother’s shoulder for comfort. A human son. Rory wondered about that too.

  They talked politics for a while. The conversation was simultaneously dazzling and refreshing. The tussle over prime ministers resignation and Brexit seemed so small compared to the intergalactic conflict that could ensue if aliens invaded earth.

  Before, Rory had summarily dismissed these kinds of conspiracy theories. But here she was now at a table sitting with people with horns, and blue skin! And green skin! Rory finished her food, but then she grew very quiet.

  After dinner, Pandora and Ariana took some time to get to know her on their own — as human women stuck in outer space. Ramses went off to discuss business with Titan, who had immediately recognized the man seated at the table.

  They had much to discuss, Titan thought. Rory waited for Ramses to return. By the time he came back, Ramses was angry. He didn’t say anything to Rory, but he went straight to bed in their guest room and lay there for a while.

  “Ram? Are you alright?” Rory asked after he’d been lying there a while.

  “Yes. I’m alright.”

  “What happened when you talked to Prince Titan.”

  “Prince Titan,” Ramses scoffed, “I knew him before he was interested in his home world’s titles… when he was a young man.”

  “Young man? He mentioned at dinner that he’s over a hundred. He doesn’t look a day over 37, mind you.”

  “He is over a hundred. So am I.”

  “What?!”

  “Yes. I turn 102 in the next rotation.”

  “So you’re… 101 years old.”

  “Earth years. Yes.”

  “This doesn’t make any sense.”

  “I’m sorry. I could explain it to you later, perhaps. There’s a lot on my mind.”

  “Care to tell me any of it?”

  “Yes. Prince Titan wishes me to visit my planet’s high command. My father sits on the council and Titan will have me ask him a favor.”

  “That doesn’t seem so bad.”

  “You don’t know my father. Titan wants to negotiate amongst planets in our systems to make the first contact with Earth. Terra as they call it.”

  “I thought spacemen were anti-interventionist. Don’t you lot have the prime directive?”

  “The what?”

  “Never mind,” Rory mumbled.

  “I don’t worry about first contact. I worry about my father. And the insurance companies. But I owe Titan a favor from a long time ago.”

  “From a hundred years ago…”

  “From about 60 years ago, actually,” Ramses corrected her.

  “Well, it can’t be so bad. He’s your father after all.”

  “You don’t know my father…”

  “Well, I’ll get to know him.”

  “I hope you don’t,” Ramses whispered.

  He kissed the top of Rory’s forehead and continued, “We leave tomorrow. Titan is sending us in an Arietan ship. He’s got one, lucky bastard, and he’s giving it to us in good faith.”

  “What does that mean about us and going back to earth?”

  “I promise, as soon as this is finished, I’ll take you there,” Ramses whispered, kissing Rory on her forehead and holding her close.

  He wasn’t certain that particular promise could be kept.

  7

  Dreams

  Rory hadn’t dreamed about The Clone Master in four days. They’d been soaring through space — just her and Ramses — on his new ship — The Pygmy. Their ship made them new clothes, matching blood-red military uniforms with gold trim. Rory liked the sight of the clothing on Ramses. He was… fit. Attractive. And more importantly, hers.

  Pandora and Ariana gave her a way to contact them both. Their dreams of seeing managed first contact for earth were mesmerizing. Still, Rory couldn’t help but wonder what appointed them to make these choices for their planet. It was sheer, dumb luck that they were taken. She couldn’t begrudge their decisions. What would you do if you knew the whole world could be thrust into an intergalactic mess at the drop of the hat? They were only doing what they thought best.

  Rory thought it best not to brood. She missed Candice and home, but she tried not to think about those things. She tried not to think about foggy Septembers in London or hearing Big Ben. She tried not to think about summer caravans in Wales that she would never have again.

  Space was dark, empty, and black. Rory could have done with a bit of blue. And as they drew closer to the Aries system, Ramses grew more and more agitated. Rory could sense he had a lot on his mind.

  At least the past four days she could put her fears of encountering the steel beast again behind her. X-25. When she was alone and closed her eyes to wash her face, or to rest her head at night, she could hear his wheezing behind her and almost feel his breath on her shoulders.

  For four days, Rory hadn’t thought of him. Perhaps this meant a glimpse of freedom. Ramses hadn’t been joking about being vegan either. Now that they had a ship again, he’d taken to replicating food for her.

  Ramses explained how they grew plants on his volcanic homeworld. He explained how Arietans evolved fangs while Rory ate mushrooms and grilled shrubs, which seemed to make up the majority of Ramses’ diet.

  After they’d eaten on the fifth night, Rory asked, “How much longer do you think we have?”

  “Not too long,” he murmured, “A day. Maybe two.”

  “Are you nervous to see your father?”

  “A bit.”

  “What happened there?”

  “I don’t want to talk about that.”

  Rory rushed close to him and wrapped her arms around Ramses, burying her head in his strong, reddish chest.

  “What’s thissss for?” He whispered.

  She loved when he slurred his s’s out in his natural Arietan accent, sultry and sweet just for her.

  “It’s because I love you. I know you’ll always take care of me.”

  “I will,” he murmured, “And when I get the insurance claim on the ship, I will give you the world and everything in it.”

  “Right. And all this traveling. It’s free is it?”

  “Not exactly.”

  “Do I owe you money then?”

  He chuckled.

  “Earth money isn’t worth much.”

  “Well, what is?”

  “I wanted to avoid this Rory, but on the homeworld, my clan, the Vulcani clan, is considered very successful. My cousin Baneb, even if he participated in an institution I don’t entirely support, he was only one of many. And we are all immensely wealthy.”

  “Put it in terms I can understand. You researched earth.”

  “Do you know the founder? The great founder of that internet shopping site.”

  “Jeff Be—“

  “That’s the one. Imagine him.”

  “Okay…”

  “The poorest one of my clan is ten t
imes richer than that.”

  “WHAT?!”

  “I couldn’t spend all that I have if I wanted to.”

  “Why do you care about insurance on some dinky ship, then?”

  “It’s the principle!” Ramses retorted, “And, she cost about…”

  “About what?”

  “Doing the conversions. Hold on…”

  He paused for a

  second or two.

  “Around one trillion dollars, in our dollars of course.”

  “Dare I ask how much that is in Earth dollars?”

  “I don’t think it would make a difference.”

  “You’re… You’re rich!”

  “Yes.”

  “Stinking rich! I never thought about it. I mean… I’m rich. Well, I thought I was. But… I’m a peasant!”

  Ramses chuckled.

  “No! You are not a peasant. Nor are you a slave girl. You’re mine… My Rory Blackmore.”

  “When you say that, it sounds romantic.”

  “Good. I mean it that way.”

  He leaned down and kissed Rory. She kissed back, desperate to feel his fangs again, desperate to succumb to him. He was frustrated, she understood that, but she could think of a way to ease his frustration.

  Rory stroked the base of his tail, where the long series of bone and muscle joined with the base of his spine. That was yet another one of his secret spots.

  “All this talk of money has made me excited.”

  “It’s only natural,” he whispered, “Come. Let me have you.”

  Rory squealed as he lifted her off the ground and pressed her body against the wall. She wrapped her legs around him and squeezed. He felt good, even just his strong warrior torso pressed between her thighs. Rory kissed him again and when she pulled away, she ran her hands through his long black hair.

  “Let me see your teeth,” she whispered.

  “You’ll only cut yourself on them,” Ramses chided.

  “I ma

  y be seventy years younger than you, but I can handle myself around your fangs.”

  “Fine.”

  Ramses opened his mouth wide. Rory’s pulse quickened when she saw his fangs. These teeth delivered a drug better than any other — Ramses’ lust pumped directly into her bloodstream. The sight of them could make her instantly wet. They were a clear-ish white and Rory licked her lips with desire as she could see the anesthetic sloshing about the tip of his fangs.