by Zara Zenia
"Well, Kedun did choose yours truly as his forever mate. Of course he has good taste." The two women giggled over that. It seemed that the mood of their conversation had lifted. They took turns sipping the tea and releasing contented breaths after each sip. "I'll ask him to get you some if you like. I'm sure it can't be hard to come by if it's grown in this region."
"That'd be great, thank you. But what I really want to find out more about is ... well, what's it like?"
"What's what like?" asked Aryn with earnest confusion.
"You know, being with a Hjott. They're aliens. It must have been such a strange sensation. Were you scared?"
"There were so many emotions going through me. I don't even know how I'd begin to describe them all. The mission itself was enough to keep my mind racing."
Treasure put down her half consumed cup of tea on the small table with a gentle clink sound. "So I guess he had to get your body racing to keep up with your mind?"
"Oh, stop." Aryn wore a big grin. "I'm too much of a lady to divulge too much information about that."
"Aw, not even to your best friend in the whole galaxy?"
"Not even to you. Sorry. But if you have any questions that aren't too private, shoot." Aryn leaned back on her chair and crossed one leg over the other. She looked like she was getting ready for an interview.
"What's this about their special true love thing? Did his heart really light up for you?"
Aryn replied, "Ahh, their uxormea. That's one hundred percent real. I know it firsthand. They say that it bursts, glows, lights up. It does it to let them know they're in the proximity of their fated mate."
"That's amazing. I never would have believed anything like that could be real, not even after having visited an alien world as strange and wondrous as this." Treasure then thought about all the Hjott men she'd been around since arriving on Jatra. "Oh, but that means none of the Hjott men I've met were my mate. It just rules them out permanently, doesn't it? There's no hope at all?"
"Oh, I wouldn't say that. There's always hope. Just not with those particular men. But this is a very big planet, and there are plenty of men on it. Most of them don't have any prospective mates either."
"What if none of them are going to burst for me?" said Treasure. She then laughed to herself. "That sounds kind of dirty, doesn't it? Did Kedun burst for you?"
"You have such a wicked mind. I love it," replied Aryn with laughter. "But yes, we are true mates."
"Well, none of the Hjotts around here are going to light up for me, I guess. I'll just use this mission to compound my training and kick some alien butt."
"That's my girl! I know you'll make me proud."
Chapter 3
Oszul
Oszul and the rest of his crew boarded the Scorpius. This was a brand-new star ship that he was quite proud to take charge of. "Welcome aboard my ship," he said to the Terran women as they came up the ramp with their personal equipment and bags. He had expected them to bring more personal belongings, given their love of wearing different outfits and making themselves look pretty.
"Your ship?" asked one of the Terrans. It was the curly haired woman who'd first volunteered. Her rich skin reminded him of a delicious drink he'd enjoyed as a child during the cold season on Jatra. "This ship belongs to the palace, not you."
Oszul was taken aback. He hadn't been trying to start an argument. However, he certainly wasn't above ending one to assert his dominance as leader of the crew. "As I said, welcome to my ship. I have been placed in charge of this mission by Premier Vorta. As acting ruler of Jatra, he has placed me in charge of the ship. And the entire crew, including you three Terrans."
"You're in charge of your Hjotts warriors. I have no desire to order them around, or you. But you're not in charge of my Qetesh agents. I am."
The other two Qetesh seemed less eager to debate about this, but they did silently nod while standing behind their clearly chosen leader.
Oszul was a diplomatic man. It came as a requirement when leading such a large military force. Instead of standing there butting heads with this stubborn female, he was going to deflect her aggression with a backhanded compliment. "I am happy to see you chose to pack sensibly," he said as they walked by him into the hallway. "I had half expected you to bring along all those outfits and fashion accessories you seem to adore."
"You what?" she asked. She was obviously fuming underneath her polite facade. Perhaps she too was more diplomatic than he'd given her credit for. Looking at her beautiful face made him feel weak. He couldn't muster the courage to face the strange emotions brewing beneath the surface. So he just looked at the Terrans from a Hjott warrior's point of view. They were weak, rather short really, and didn't have the noble bloodline of the Hjott race. They didn't even come from their own ancestral planet.
"Your quarters are through this door. I trust you will be comfortable sharing one room? There are bunks for each of you, as well as basic amenities."
"Well, thank you," she said with a flash of a smile and bared teeth.
That was an oddly hostile look for someone who was so charmingly beautiful. It put him on edge and disarmed him. "We will be taking off soon. I would like to share lunch with my crew first." He ordered everyone to meet in thirty minutes for their first meal together, where he would also go over some things.
When they met, their humble yet delicious smelling food was ready on the table. He gave complements to the warriors on cook duties and asked them to take a seat. Then he invited some of his favored warriors to sit by him at the table. Oszul naturally took the head of the table at one end. He simply left the Terran women to their own devises as to where they would sit. The curly haired Terran came into the room right on time and walked directly to the opposite head of the long table. It wasn't a particularly long or wide table. There wasn't enough space aboard the ship for a huge dining room.
Once everyone was seated, he invited them to begin eating. As Oszul started spooning the hearty stew into his mouth, he slowly chewed and watched the curly haired woman. He found her utterly interesting. The way she'd challenged him, and then taken the opposite head of the table without saying a word about it ... he couldn't figure out why he was so drawn to her.
"Now that we've had time to settle in a little, I want to reaffirm how the command of this mission will go. King Thras has appointed Premier Vorta as the ruler of this planet for the time being. As the Premier has chosen me to lead this mission, this is my ship. You are my crew, and a fine looking crew at that. I want to thank our Qetesh guests for volunteering to join us, as well as my own Hjott warriors. I know you will make me proud."
The Terran that had me so discombobulated cleared her throat, more loudly than she probably needed to. "Thank you for those words," she said with a voice that carried over the table. "I too would like to say a few short words." She stood up. "There is clearly some doubt about who oversees who on this mission. I have absolutely no desire to remove anyone's rightful command over their own warriors. And I would expect the same curtsy. Our Qetesh agents came to Jatra in service to the royal palace. We are happy to serve the king, eager to do so. However, our agents are still under our own command on missions. We are your guests, I remind you, Commander Oszul. Not your subordinates."
A shot of rage went through Oszul. It quickly fizzled out as he realized he'd just been made to look small in front of his own crew. In front of the Terrans too. Shame replaced that short-lived rage, and he felt like he needed to take action quickly to make up for this slight.
Oszul too stood up, facing the woman from the opposite head of the table. He looked around at his men, who were quietly eating. Each of them had a very uncomfortable look on their face. They were trying not to look him directly in the eye. He was at the risk of losing some of their respect if he didn't handle this properly. Taking a moment to build importance for what he was about to say, and to think, he finally spoke.
Many men would have raised their voices, used their physical superiority to overpower th
e words of their perceived opponent. That was not a tactic he found useful during times of peaceful conflict resolution. It was far too primitive, and often gave off an air of lacking confidence.
"Why do you believe you are qualified to co-lead this mission with me? I am the head of the Jatra military; one of the most powerful fighting forces in the galaxy, if not the strongest."
"I would say we are the strongest," added one of his men.
The others grunted and raised their hands, many of which were holding bread or drinks. He raised his hand to silence the Hjotts. But he was secretly proud of the interjection. They knew damn well that they were unbeatable when it came down to it.
"As I was saying," Oszul added. He looked at Treasure dead in the eyes and noticed that she didn't flinch away from his challenging gaze. "What gives you the right to take part in commanding this ship and this mission?" He then sat down, giving her the floor to speak.
"I'm glad you asked," she began without falter. She spoke with confidence but didn't sound as though she was trying to boast. "I am every bit as capable to hold a leading officer position on this ship as you are. I was second in command on the Hani Star."
"The ship that carried Qetesh agents from Terra to the Vada system? But I thought you were born and raised in our system." Oszul was very curious now.
"Many of our people are now natives of the Vada system, that's true. I was born on Earth, or Terra as you call it. A lot of the Qetesh were. With all due respect, if I can help command such a large space flight, I am more than capable of commanding two of my own while aboard your ship."
"My ship?" he asked.
"You can call it whatever you like, if that helps stroke your ego. If that's what you require." She paused and smirked at him.
They each silently observed the jeering sounds the Hjott men let out. They knew their leader had just been served a verbal slap. Now they eagerly waited to see what he would do.
"Agent Humphry, I—"
"Please, call me Treasure," she interjected.
"Very well. Treasure, I am not an egotistical man. Displays of ego are for those who lack real power, men who don't have confidence, so they try to fake it. I respect your gutsy attitude and willingness to stand up for your own rights. If you wish to ensure the welfare of your own agents, I agree to you being second in command."
That seemed to appease the feisty Terran. After the crew had finished eating, they all went back to their regular duties. "Let's initiate our launch and get the mission underway," Oszul said before leaving the flight cabin where the primary controls and stations where. His men confirmed that they understand. This left the commander free to go for a private meeting.
"Dariux, I'd like to have a word with you in private," he said to the recently pardoned prisoner. Since this Hjott was his true second in command, Oszul wanted to speak with him about what had just happened. They went to the commander's private chambers and closed the door.
"What is it? Is something wrong with the mission?" asked Dariux.
"No, I intend for this mission to go on without issue."
"Does it have to do with the new second in command?" asked Dariux. "I want you to know that I think it was a smart choice."
"Making Treasure the second for this mission? You do?" asked Oszul. He was suddenly very curious to know this reasoning behind this. "Why?"
"I know you were probably trying to be diplomatic while saving face. Your choice did just that. And giving out an honorary kind of title like that won't change the mission or the hierarchy of the crew, really," said Dariux.
"You're right." Oszul placed a hand to his chiseled chin and stroked it in thought. "Hmm. I think it would be best that we played along with this fully then. I want you to continue acting like Treasure is my second commanding officer for this mission. However, know that you are the real second in command. Any order you give that needs to override one of her own, I will stand behind."
Dariux was silent for a moment. He seemed unsure about how to word his next thought. "I don't think she's the type to fall for something like that. The rest of the crew will also surely see through that. It might get confusing."
Oszul had anticipated this issue would come up in their conversation. "That's one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you. Let's give her little tasks to keep her happy. Make her think she has real power here. The other two Qetesh agents can be hers to order around. I don't want to have to deal with them anyway. That should be enough to keep her happy, don't you think?"
"You are probably right. I agree," replied Dariux. But he didn't seem completely convinced.
Chapter 4
Treasure
After they finished eating, Treasure quietly left with her fellow Qetesh agents. They went back to their quarters and searched the room for listening devices. She didn't talk to them and didn't need to. They had simple hand signals for this kind of thing. Without those, it would be impossible to take action without alerting nearby enemies to them, for example.
Once she was satisfied they weren't going to be spied on, Treasure spoke. "Please lock the door," she said to Raven, one of her agents.
"Of course," replied Raven. "I should have done that when we came in."
"It's not your fault. I didn't even think of it." Treasure was too flustered to be thinking completely straight. Luckily, she had thought to make sure they weren't being listened to in their private quarters. "Okay, thank you, Raven. Now then, this is going to be our only safe haven on this ship. If you need to talk to me about anything that might be considered private, we'll do it here. If you have doubts or questions about Oszul's orders, talk about that here."
Raven and the other Qetesh agent, Sapphina, agreed. They were two very capable young agents. Treasure was happy that they had also volunteered for the mission. "I'm glad to have you both along with me on this one. I know that you're both going to make our order proud," she told them.
"Can I ask you a personal question?" Sapphina asked. "What do you think about Oszul? There was sure a lot of tension back there. Is something else going on that we don't know about between the two of you?"
"What? Who told you anything about that? I don't care about him at all," Treasure replied. The moment the words fell out of her mouth, she wished she could push them back in.
"Are you okay?" asked Sapphina. She was a little more personable than Raven, but not usually as bold as the other Qetesh agent.
"I'm fine." Treasure sat down on her bunk and took a deep breath. "I don't think we should be talking about this too much though. Right now we're only just heading out on the mission. There's nothing else for us to worry about at the moment. Try to get some rest and relax, okay?"
"If you say so," said Raven. "But if I had to bet, I'd say you have some personal feelings for the Hjott military commander that you're not comfortable telling us about." She was more brazen in how she dealt with people. Her dark black hair fit her name perfectly. It must have been why her parents had chosen to give her that name: Raven.
"That's not appropriate to say to your commanding officer," Treasure remarked. She didn't like to have to tell her agents off. This was a sore topic though. "I was just flustered by how arrogant he is. No one ever told him he had command of us. We're meant to be guests of the Jatra palace. He was just tripping over his big, stupid ego."
"You couldn't take your eyes off him, to be fair," said Sapphina. "Sorry..."
Treasure sighed and lay back on her bed. It was reasonably comfortable, in a utilitarian kind of way. The pillow was soft but firm. "At least our quarters are comfortable."
"I think they're cozy," added Sapphina. "Small, but this bed's nice." She was sitting on her bed too and put her feet up as well to lay back.
"I'm glad you think so. We're going to be sleeping on them for a while, I'd say. Who knows how long this mission will end up going for with captain blow-hard at the helm."
Sapphina giggled at that. She was a very straight-laced kind of girl, almost in a naive way. Treasure hoped that wouldn
't lead to her being meek when it came time to get into action with the enemy. No Qetesh agent would be incapable of kicking butt, though.
"Yeah, this is fine, I guess," said Raven with a shrug. She rolled over on her bed and seemed like she was going to sleep. "Try not to dream about Oszul, since you hate him so much, Sir."
"Sir? I hate when our superiors insist on being addressed with that. You can call me Treasure, or commander if you must."
"Won't that irk the first in command though?" asked Raven. Her voice was muffled as she was lying facing the wall. There was mischievousness to her tone though.
Treasure equally wanted to commend her on her sly wit and slap her for being a smart ass. "That's enough," said Treasure with a smile. "You really have a mouth on you, agent."
"Tell me about it," said Sapphina with another little laugh.
At least they were in good humor and enjoying each other's company. They would need to stay tight if they were going to get through this Hjott male dominated mission without losing their cool.
Treasure closed her eyes and couldn't get the image of Oszul out of her mind. Despite the way he'd been acting, she still found him incredibly alluring. It was hard not to be attracted to most of the Hjott males. They were an impressive species, physically at least. Some of them seemed primitive in how they viewed things. Especially in the way they acted around women. It was difficult to blame them for that though; they sadly didn't get a chance to be around women of their own species very often.
Even so, she was never going to let the commander know that she was attracted to him. He didn't deserve the ego trip. Not with the way he'd been acting.
As she drifted off into her nap, Treasure thought about the strange uxormea of the Hjott. Excitement sparked in her as she realized she'd never been up close to Oszul. Imagine if his uxormea burst forth for her! Imagine...
