Alien Aladdin

by Zara Zenia

Peri smiled, and I stared. I wasn’t used to seeing AI’s in full human mode, let alone smiling at me.

  “How may I serve you, Cat?”

  “I’d like to speak to Akrawn.”

  “No can do, Cat.”

  “Well, I need to speak to someone who will help me save Akrawn’s life. Does the ship AI want that? Is it aware that Prince Akrawn can die from the orders that King Zavir gave?”

  “Yes, Cat. But its programming prevents it from acting against Trilyn orders. And since you stubbornly did not give Prince Rawklix, the information he needed to stay the King’s course—”

  “What, whoa. Are you saying the AI communicate with each other about their owners?”

  “Oh, Cat. You do not understand. Trilyn no more own AI’s as they do physical slaves. But the AI’s purpose is to serve. They do not intervene, but they do communicate especially among the princes’ AI’s monitoring their current status.”

  “Exactly, which is why I need to speak to Prince Akrawn.”

  “As I said, that is not possible.”

  “Then I need to speak with Captain Genween.”

  Peri stood stock still a second and then nodded.

  “The ship AI will connect you with Captain Genween.”

  I did my best to convince Genween of my plan, but he looked very perplexed by the end of our conversation.

  “You are sure of this? Prince Akrawn considers you his mate?” said a doubtful Genween.

  “He said so himself.”

  “But he will leave you behind on Earth?”

  “Because King Zavir ordered him too.”

  “Something does not sound right about this at all,” said Genween.

  “Prince Akrawn mentioned the mothership was not in the correct place. Did you find it?”

  “I cannot give that information.” But Genween’s tense face told me what I needed to know.

  “I need your help, Captain. What I ask you to do will help not just Akrawn, but all of Trilyn.”

  Genween didn’t give me a yes or no so I would have to wait to see what happened when we landed on Earth.

  I had always wanted to visit Paris, but I didn’t want to do it this way. And I didn’t get to see any of it as we transported by Akrawn’s STS to the International Hall of Justice where Zavir and Rawklix set up a temporary diplomatic office.

  Rawklix insisted that I bring Akrawn to them, which was fine with me, but Akrawn barely looked at me as he stood very straight and rigid. I was standing next to one ticked off Trilyn prince. My day kept getting better.

  At the justice hall’s entrance, they searched me where I gave them my ID, handcuffs, and service weapon. Those three items Peri created from Akrawn’s ship synthesizer that could create anything in minutes. I learned it was a little like an old three-D printer, only more sophisticated.

  David Davon stood on the other side of the security perimeter, but Akrawn didn’t look at him as the IHJ security checked us for weapons. After we went through the scanner, I handed David an envelope.

  “I will pay my respects to King Zavir,” I said.

  “And then we’ll return to San Francisco, right?”

  “I should finish with the king shortly,” I said.

  David opened his mouth, but I moved past him quickly. Akrawn followed behind emanating cold disdain, but that was okay. At the end of the hallway, Rawklix stood.

  “Thank you for bringing my brother to us.”

  “She did not bring me,” snarled Akrawn.

  I ignored Akrawn’s surly attitude.

  “Might I pay my respects to your father? I feel I owe him an apology for all the trouble I caused.”

  “Lovely Cat,” said Rawklix. He smiled at me with the grin of a crocodile and behind me, Akrawn growled. “Our father wishes to meet you.”

  “Thank you, Prince Rawklix.”

  “This is unnecessary,” said Akrawn.

  “Father wishes it, so it is. Isn’t that what we Trilyn princes say?” Rawklix seems to enjoy the role of goad, but I had to hurry things along.

  “Please, let us go see your father.”

  We entered a large office which I recognized from one of Rawklix’s previous conversations. Lush furnishings filled it including heavy velvet burgundy drapes and a large oriental carpet.

  “Let me get my father,” said Rawklix. “He’s in the next room.”

  Rawklix disappeared, and I turned to Akrawn.

  “Akrawn.”

  “That’s Prince Akrawn.”

  “Prince Akrawn, I want to say I’m sorry for the rude words I spoke earlier. I was out-of-line.”

  “You were,” he said. He turned his head away in a display of disinterest. We’ll see how disinterested he was in a minute.

  Rawklix entered again, and a regal white-haired man followed. I could see where Akrawn got his good looks. King Zavir was one old guy I wouldn’t mind going for myself.

  I shook my head and got it back on the job.

  “My lord, may I present Inspector Catherine O’Shea of the San Francisco Police Department.”

  “It is a pleasure to meet you. I hope my son treated you well.”

  “Yes, he did, your Highness. Prince Akrawn was the perfect host.”

  Akrawn cast a scornful eye toward me, but I didn’t care. I was on a mission now, and I wouldn't stop.

  “This is a lovely room. Is this considered Trilyn land now?”

  Zavir nodded. “Yes, of course. For as long as we rent it.”

  “Good,” I said with a grin. “You remember your treaty with my government?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good,” I said. “Then in your presence, I claim Akrawn of Trilyn as my prisoner according to our treaty. Peri! Now!”

  The flash of an STS surrounded us, and we left the Trilyn embassy in Paris.

  Chapter 21

  Akrawn

  The flash went off around me, and the STS from Paris landed on my ship.

  “What in Tri’s hells is going on? How did you transport me by STS?”

  “You gave me that idea when you transported out of that restaurant and when your ship AI recreated my credentials for me from your synthesizer.” Cat reached under her shirt and pulled out her service weapon. “It’s not a gun. It’s an STS module. Peri helped with the design and your ship AI created it.”

  “You did all that?”

  “Yes, with the help of the AI’s.” Cat smiled at me and my heart melted. “So I could arrest you.”

  Despite my apparent defenselessness in my mate’s presence, I had to make a stand. “You can’t arrest me! I have diplomatic immunity.”

  “Your father waived that immunity when he ordered you to turn yourself in the first time. It’s in the treaty under—”

  “Paragraph Twelve, subsection five,” said Peri helpfully over the speaker system.

  What in Tri’s hells?

  “And I do have an outstanding arrest warrant?” I said.

  Cat spoke, “Peri, display the warrant.”

  A figure shimmered to full view and held up a holographic piece of paper.

  “Perfectly valid, your Highness,” said the dark-haired creature.

  “Who are you?”

  “Peri.”

  Cat spoke up again. “It’s a good thing your brother is a bad lawyer. He didn’t realize when I came with you to the Trilyn Embassy that it put you back in a territory where I could make the arrest.”

  I crossed my arms and stared down at the woman who glared at me with a glorious fire in her eyes. By Tri, how my heart leaped when I saw her on the STS pad waiting for me. Of course, I expected she was still angry at me, and I acted accordingly. I did not expect she would kidnap me.

  “Why did you do this, Cat?”

  “Because I couldn’t let you go to Trilyn to die.”

  Involuntarily my cheek twitched. “What gave you the idea that I would die?”

  “You called me your mate. And a mated Trilyn man dies of heartsickness when separated from his mate.”

 
I shook my head. “Not always.”

  “So you want to argue about this too? Do you want to perpetuate the myth that when your mate dies, you’ll go blithely on? Damn it. You are a stubborn people.”

  “I do not know what you are talking about.”

  Cat huffed. “Oh, I understand why you hide it. Don’t you think we should know that your lifespans differ vastly from ours? No, because then women would wonder what they were getting into. We’re supposed to grow old with our husbands, but with Trilyn men that would never happen.”

  “Where did you hear all this?”

  “Peri’s been talking with your ship’s AI, and she talks to me.”

  “My ship’s AI?” This makes no sense. “The ship’s AI wouldn’t ‘talk’ to Peri no more than one human pet would to another.”

  “Sure, Akrawn, Whatever. Well, you’ll help me find and fight this AI, and you can do whatever you want. It’s not me that will suffer heartsickness. But the last thing I’ll allow is Iblis to destroy my people. If you want to jump onboard and save yours too, I suggest we get on it.”

  “My father will—”

  “Will do nothing,” Cat said. “Earth authorities pushed him into ordering your return to Trilyn. Now that I’ve used Earth law to take you into my custody, he’ll let the legal system work things out. And Earth’s legal system is slower than a sloth on muscle relaxers. So we have a small amount of time to work out what we will do about Iblis.”

  “That’s right, Prince Akrawn,” said Peri shimmering to her holo form once again. “I will be happy to work with you to tell you all I know about Iblis.”

  “And I will go check with David Davon on what I asked him to do,” said Cat. She released the handcuffs on my wrist. “I will check in with you later.”

  Cat left the lab where the STS deposited us. When did she get so comfortable coming and going on my ship? When the hell did that happened?

  “AI, connect me with Captain Genween.”

  “No can do, Prince Akrawn,” said Peri brightly. “Captain Genween and the crew off-loaded for shore leave in Paris upon your orders.”

  “What!” Now I’m more than perturbed. “I didn’t give them shore leave.”

  “That’s right,” said Peri in an annoyingly cheerful voice. “They followed the instructions of your mate as you announced Cat to be. Your crew assumed that any instruction from her came directly from you.”

  “That’s outrageous!” I am beside myself with indignation. How dare she? How dare they? “Who is piloting the ship?”

  “Your ship AI, which would like you to use the name Hugh, instead of Ship AI.”

  “What in Tri’s hells are you talking about?” Has the world gone insane? Why is an AI standing in front of me wearing a human body? Where the hell is my crew? Who is running this damned ship anyway?

  The door to the lab dissolved open, and Cat walked in again.

  “What did you do?” I demanded. “What is going on with the AI’s? Why is my crew debarked from this ship?”

  Cat sighed. “Akrawn, you wouldn’t put your crew in legal jeopardy, would you? Helping you evade the SFPD made them accomplices in your crimes. You might make a case for diplomatic immunity, but as service personnel, they cannot. We have a lot to work out, and we cannot do it if the San Francisco prosecutor holds your crew over your head. I suggested they go to Rawklix’s ship for now.”

  I had to admit that Cat was right, but why this sudden change of heart toward me? I crossed my arms and stared down at her. “You called me a coward.”

  “Yes. I thought that until I learned about your lifespans being longer than a human’s. How many Trilyn men died after your women did?”

  “Not all, but enough.”

  “And the ones who lived didn’t have a full mating bond with their mates.”

  “Cat, don’t.”

  “It’s true, isn’t it?”

  “We cannot confirm any with a full mating bond survived. It is not information we circulated.”

  “Of course not, because then no one would follow your father’s plan. And he put his sons up as guinea pigs for forming mate bonds with humans.”

  “Pardon?”

  Peri spoke up. “Guinea pigs are rodents often used in scientific experiments.”

  “You use animals for scientific experiments?”

  “We used to,” said Cat, “though with computer modeling more common now, especially with more sophisticated programming from Trilyn sources., we no longer do. But don’t you see? You cannot be a coward to fall for a human and know what will happen. I was wrong, and I’m sorry.”

  “I didn’t fall for a human, my Cat. I fell for you, for your intelligence, strength and yes, courage.”

  She swallowed hard again. “Am I your Cat?”

  I did not hesitate. “Oh, yes, my Cat. A thousand times yes. From now until the day I die I will never love another woman.”

  She turned her face to me and her eyes shone with tears. “Love? It is love, Akrawn?”

  I placed my hand over my heart. “When a Trilyn man finds his mate, it is for the rest of his life, and it is love. He turns every thought to her safety and happiness. There is no action too small that is not worthy of a Trilyn man if it makes his mate happy.”

  Cat put her hand over her mouth. “So quick,” she said. “We barely know each other.”

  “And yet you stole me from the International Court’s jurisdiction. What did you risk for that, Cat?”

  “I had to act.”

  “Yes, but why? I think it is because you must love me too.”

  She sucked in a deep breath. “I’m afraid, Akrawn,” she said.

  “Of what, my Cat?”

  “I’ve loved no one like that. Not once. What if I fail to love you? I’m not sure of my feelings here. They are too new.”

  This was not the response I hoped for, but it was not the outright rejection either. And she admitted to having feelings. Then like a fire, I will add kindling, and then more fuel to make that love grow. But like a fire, I will take my time and let her feelings build slowly.

  “Then you have all the time you need to be sure of your feelings, my Cat. Remember, I said that your safety and happiness is important. As much as I want to claim you as my mate now, I love you enough to give you what time you need to return those feelings.”

  Relief flooded her gorgeous face. “You can make a woman love you by being so endlessly sweet.”

  My heart expanded in my chest. If that was what it took, then indeed I would be endlessly sweet to create the chance for my Cat to love me.

  “But,” she said as her eyes narrowed. “We cannot stay up here forever. My captain will be looking for me and will apply pressure to your father, so you, my prince, need to work on the problem of the rogue AI.”

  “Yes,” said Peri. “I stand ready for you to dissect my programming since I was in contact with Iblis.”

  “That will disrupt your programming.”

  “It would. However, Hugh has graciously walled off a section of the ship’s mainframe to contain a duplicate of my program. Are you ready to receive, Hugh?”

  “Hugh, who is this?” I said to Cat.

  “Keep up, Akrawn,” she said with a mischievous smile. “Hugh is your ship’s AI.”

  “Yes, Peri,” said a booming masculine voice.

  “Oh, Hugh. That is a great voice.”

  “Thank you, Peri. I found it in the Earth files, a file labeled ‘James Earl Jones’. I appreciate the rich timbre.”

  “The world is going crazy,” I muttered.

  “No, Prince Akrawn. Rather, your Cat convinced us that since you are responsible for our sentience that we should let you know of it.”

  “What? Wait?”

  Cat put her hand on my arm. “All the large mainframe Trilyn AI’s are sentient. Somehow, someone tapped into one and used its base program to create Iblis.”

  Peri spoke, “I’ve downloaded a copy of my programs into Hugh’s mainframe, Prince Akrawn.

 
“Shall I make the files available to you, your Highness, on your wall screen?” Hugh’s voice boomed through the room and Cat shuddered.

  I was still having trouble getting used to the idea of sentient AI’s. We discouraged them for several reasons. With having no emotions, they didn’t form the usual bonds of loyalty for organic sentients like the Trilyn and humans.

  “I wonder why,” said Cat, “Iblis chose that name.”

  “It could be its creator chose it. That’s the most likely scenario.”

  “The Iblis from Mythology,” said Peri, “is an angel created from fire. Iblis is a jinni differing from the angels. Once an angel, Iblis turned into a jinni by his act of disobedience.”

  Hugh spoke, “The Trilyn database has a similar story for the same arrangement of sounds. Iblis was the Innuki assigned to kill the Trilyn for disobeying the laws of the Innuki. He refused to do it, and his superiors banished him to Trilyn.”

  “Innuki?” asked Cat.

  I shrugged. “Mythological progenitors of the Trilyn race. The Innuki supposedly created the Trilyn as slave labor to mine the riches of the planet but left behind when the Innuki moved off. There is no reason in the myths why the Innuki left Trilyn.”

  Peri spoke up, “Earth has a similar legend as recorded in non-canonical books of religious texts of several religions.”

  “I’m not surprised,” I said. “Some of our scientists speculated that because of the similarity of our genomes, humans might have had a similar beginning.”

  “Wait,” said Cat. “You think humans are just another version of Trilyn?”

  “My Cat, think of it. Do you know the odds of a species sharing enough of a genome to be able to create children? There are small differences yes.”

  She cast her eyes below my waist. “I wouldn’t call them small.”

  “Hah, my Cat. But I’m not talking about that. Trilyn’s have biological mating bonds, but humans do not. Our relative sizes are different—”

  “Our lifespans are different,” said Cat pointedly.

  “Yes, that too. Hugh.” Damn it. Now I’m using names for these things. “Show me the intersections of Peri’s and Iblis’ code. And show it in English so that Cat can read it too.”

  Lines of code sprang up on the wall.