by Lily Anton
Now she was pissed at herself for having hurt his fucking feelings and accidentally pushing him away.
On top of that, what bothered her the most was how upset she was with herself for being fucking upset about it.
Her stomach chose that moment to growl, reminding her that he had come back with a reason.
Back in the bedroom she spotted what looked like a basket, along with a tablet and some sort of electronic device.
A small piece of paper was beside it, the crisp lettering and straight lines very much like their owner.
Tablet is for your use. Tap screen.
If you need anything, contact Nelo - tap green button on communication unit.
I have procured some human food. I hope it is to your liking.
Rest well.
Ezon.
The words blurred on the paper in her hands. No one was around to see her cry, but she hastily wiped the tears from her face, sniffling as she tried to get herself together.
“It’s fine. It’s going to be fine. You’ll fix this.” She repeated to herself over and over again. Her appetite was gone, as it usually was when she was anxious or upset, but she pulled the cloth back on the basket anyways.
Croissants, danishes, and what looked like half a baguette were inside.
She laughed despite her tears, forcing herself to pick something up and eat. Despite not having an appetite, she managed to put away three of the danishes before going back to the kitchen to grab another glass of cold water.
Now that she actually had something in her system, her mind felt clearer, despite the lack of sleep. She had no idea how long she had slept for, but considering he had returned with food, it couldn’t have been very long.
Using the bathroom, she took a moment to wash her face, trying to think through what she should do. Going back to sleep would be a pointless endeavor, and she was already trying to forget the fact that she had just cried over a man for the most ridiculous reason. It was just so stupid. She swept it away, justifying it as a perfectly reasonable response to being taken away from Earth and the stress and anxiety that had been a result.
For the next hour she browsed the tablet he had left her, everything somehow set to English, which was a surprise although it shouldn’t have been since why else would he have left it for her? There was no internet access (at least, not one she could figure out), but the icons on it had each been attached to subject matter pertaining to his species.
It served as a pretty good distraction, her eyes scanning over information about Ezon’s planet which to no surprise whatsoever, was more water than land.
They had a parliamentary type system which had a King and Queen serving as figureheads as well as serving as occasional tie-breakers.
Overall, they appeared to be a race keen on peace and diplomacy, although Leila was well aware of the fact that information about Debiraan and its people being written by those same people would probably be biased. Still, there was so much to learn and so much she wanted to review but it was like drinking water from a firehose; she wouldn’t be able to learn it all, especially not in a single read through.
There was definitely a pattern emerging though: water played a huge role in their lives, both practically and culturally. They also appeared to be a mostly matriarchal society in terms of lineage.
A lot of content also revolved around a race called Baza, who were apparently a ruthless and opportunistic species, one that the Debir had made it their mission to defend against. A large and bloody war had taken place, somehow affecting the population of Debir in such a way that was still being felt to this day.
She found herself picking up another danish, absentmindedly eating it as she read on, wiping the crumbs from her lips.
Her finger hovered over the icon for Debir Anatomy, and she briefly wondered why she was hesitating as she clicked on the button.
Immediately her eyes glued to the sub-section header in the center of the screen.
The Calling
She braced herself for whatever she was about to read on the subject, the lines of text underneath beginning with the Holy Waters of Azulan, which she recalled Nelo telling her about during their walk through the park.
As she continued to read, a frown crossed her lips. For something that was listed under the Debir Anatomy section, there wasn’t really any sort of medical explanation. There were the words ‘compatibility’ and ‘bondmate’ and ‘huerta’ thrown around a lot, and there was mention of melodies or songs drawing people to each other, but the reasoning as to why was unclear.
The only concrete information there was, related to Debir’s eyes flashing silver as a clear indicator their 'huertas' had been identified. Apparently, despite all their varieties in terms of eye color, silver was the one that no Debir naturally possessed.
The rest of the text read like it was such a surefire thing: ‘Hey you! Did you experience The Calling? Great! Here’s what to do next!’
That did not help her at all.
The Calling and Reproduction
Leila eyes widened as some things became quite clear in the next section. For one thing, there were actually two types of ‘reproduction’ and The Calling seemed to be the only way for there to be ‘offspring’ versus a ‘clutch’.
The terminology threw her for a loop, until she saw the phrase ‘approximately four to five eggs per clutch’ and ‘fertilization of a single egg producing offspring’ and noped the fuck out of all that real quick, literally tossing the tablet away from her onto the bed.
Her baby-making bits were strictly off limits. To Humans and Debirs.
The Human/Debir Initiative immediately came to mind, and she wondered just exactly the human women had signed up for. Were they given information to review? Were they told everything it would entail? Or were the Debir simply preying on vulnerable people or those that were desperate?
She shook her head, her thoughts all over the place and not sorting through it all fast enough.
Was that what Ezon had meant when he said it was the Calling? That she was supposed to just...lay back and willingly let herself be impregnated?
The thought made her angry, and she eyed the tablet like it was now the enemy.
Was that why Opho had asked her about her fertility levels when they first met? He said it was standard, but...?
Suddenly, being confined to Ezon’s quarters felt like she was in a jail cell. A very luxurious jail cell, but a jail cell nonetheless.
Maybe it was a good thing that he had left her when he did.
If she paid close enough attention, she could hear the beautiful melody whispering its song in the back of her mind.
Leila purposefully ignored it; she was the master of her own body and would not allow this Calling to turn her into something she wasn’t.
Her hand was grabbing for the comm link he left her, turning it to the side. It looked too large to fit properly into her ear, but she tapped the green button as Ezon’s note had instructed, hearing the now familiar chirp as she held it up to the side of her head.
The smooth flowing words that came from the other end held an undercurrent of annoyance. Unfortunately, she had no idea what was being said.
“Nelo?” She was fairly certain it was him, but his tone had her second-guessing.
The faint sounds of voices in the background grew distant as Nelo was clearly trying to go somewhere less busy.
“Leila?” Somehow he had recognized her voice immediately.
“Are you well?”
“I-Yes” She fumbled a bit trying to get her thoughts in order. “Ezon left me this comm unit and told me to contact you if I need something but it sounds like you’re busy.”
“It is alright,” he said, not denying that he was probably doing a million other important things right now. “How may I help you?”
That was a good question.
“I’m sure Ezon would like his room back himself at some point so I wondering if I could-”
Raised voices in the b
ackground interrupted their conversation, Leila straining to hear what was going on. They sounded surprisingly female and despite it not sounding English, Leila was fairly certain it was an Earth language that was being shouted.
“Leila, would you be willing to put your cross-cultural skills to use right now?” Nelo asked, sounding mildly exasperated. “We have a situation with the humans and you might be able to help.”
“Me?” What could she possibly do?
“Yes. I think you are one of the few humans on board who has remained calm during this whole situation.”
“Nelo, I don’t even know what the situation actually is right now,” she countered.
“And yet you are still calm,” he pointed out.
She wasn’t about to tell him that that wasn’t quite true.
“I-”
“Please,” his voice took on a tinge of pleading. “There is a lot of...crying.”
“Did something happen?” Leila was already trying to dress herself one-handed, keeping the comm unit up to her ear.
“I will explain when you get here.”
There was just one problem with that. “I wouldn’t even know where to go. And the door is locked.”
She heard Nelo grumble something but didn’t bother trying to figure it out. “I am sending someone to come get you. I-” Nelo cut himself off, speaking with someone off to the side.
He was clearly out of his depth somehow. What the hell was going on with the other humans? Did she even want to involve herself blindly in a situation that was clearly making Nelo all but beg for help?
The answer to that was no, but as far as she knew, she was the only human separated from the group, and there was perhaps a safety in numbers if she were able to get back to them.
“Leila, I’ll see you shortly. I must go.”
Having a problem to solve for, or at least attempt to solve for, was a blessed distraction and she was dressed and ready to go by the time she heard the main doors hiss open, and a pale blue Debir wearing a sharp looking black tailcoat with three gold starfish shaped medals pinned to his chest.
She stood up immediately from where she’d been waiting on the couch, the male Debir’s shoulder length hair filled with small individual braids that ran along both sides of his head.
“You must be Leila!” the Debir’s proud bearing gave way to a friendly smile, his hand outstretched before Leila had even uttered a word.
She smiled and shook his hand, his grip firm yet polite. It gave the impression he had interacted with humans before. “I am, yes. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“I am Atens. Nelo requested I come get you. Any help you could provide would be appreciated.”
Leila nodded. “Of course. You can fill me in on the way.”
It was a relief to be out of Ezon’s quarters, and without the initial fear and stress weighing her down, she now was able to pay closer attention to the ship’s interior as they walked.
Atens was extremely personable although obviously exasperated with the situation.
“We’ve separated them into six groups in order to make things more manageable, but many are now protesting their supposed imprisonment on the ship. We even took them to Section 10!” he said, as if that would explain things.
“What’s in Section 10?” she asked, finding herself being led into some sort of pod that looked connected to a track that led into a tunnel ahead.
“Ah, forgive me. I forget.” He smiled sheepishly as he pressed a button, the pod door closing on them and suddenly they were being whisked down a tunnel, the blue interior lighting of the pod switching on. “The Tyrrhenian is divided into forty-two sections. Sections 10 through 15 are usually reserved for visiting dignitaries and family members. We would have put them in 12 but our Chief Steward is refusing to house the humans there and arguing with him would only make things worse.”
“Well he certainly sounds lovely,” she replied, earning her what sounded suspiciously like a snort.
“Quite. Nevertheless, Section 10 has enough rooms for all the humans currently on board, not to mention its own medical wing and food storage. We keep trying to prioritize what they need but the calm few are being drowned out by the angry and scared many.”
Leila nodded. “I don’t know if they’ll listen to me. I’m only one of the calm few,” she pointed out.
“We’re hoping that seeing a human speaking on our behalf would help establish trust. We do not wish to force them into rooms against their will but…”
With their journey in the pod already at end, she stepped out, finding the massive corridor in front of them laid out with water fountains running alongside either side of the walls. A familiar floral scent permeated the air and grew stronger as they walked.
The corridor had led them to what was obviously the center of Section 10, a large waterfall roaring from several stories above.
A large man-made lake filled with the bluest water she had ever seen immediately caught her attention, its borders surrounded with various trees and topiary.
“Wow…”
That clearly answered her previous question of whether Ezon’s room was luxurious because of his position on board or whether it was a Debir thing.
It was very obviously a Debir thing.
“This way,” Atens pointed down a corridor at the far end, slowing down just enough so that Leila could look up at the levels above them.
She’d try and find time later to enjoy it. “Right. My understanding of what’s happening is limited. I’ve only been told that an emergency protocol was triggered and that meant a return to the ship. If we have a timeline that would help.”
Atens shook his head. “We do not. But it is unlikely to be for very long. We don’t want to give them an estimated time on the chance things take longer than they should. For now we want to just make sure they have what they need.
Thankfully Debirs that were stationed in satellite offices have been helping deal with any language barriers across the group although we’re having all translator units uploaded with the relevant human languages. That will take some time.”
Leila appreciated the rundown, but as soon as a pair of doors opened off to their side, she was assaulted with the noise of a large crowd. Hundreds of humans were inside; some sitting, some standing, some alone and some in pairs or in groups.
The chiming of bells echoed around the room, a gentle way of silencing the crowd.
Nelo appeared at that very moment, shooting her a look of relief before taking his place at the front to address the room.
“I understand there is fear and mistrust, but we are attempting to-”
“I need to get back to Earth!”
“I have a wife and kids!”
“I demand to speak with my lawyer!”
That last one made her want to roll her eyes, but she kept herself from reacting, standing at Atens’ side and watching Nelo try in vain to get people to just listen.
“They all speak English?” Leila murmured, surprised that she hadn’t heard any other languages so far.
Atens hummed in affirmation. “In this room, yes. I will take you to the other rooms after this.”
Fuck. She’d almost forgotten that this was only one of six rooms.
Suddenly, Nelo was motioning for her to come join him at the front, and as the others saw a human being brought up, began to quiet down, curiosity evident on many of their faces.
She had no idea what the fuck she was supposed to do, but the best plan was pretending that she had every reason to be up there. So with that in mind, she plastered a polite smile on her face and stood beside Ezon’s brother.
“This is Leila,” Nelo announced.
A man about her age in a rumpled suit forced his way to the front. “And who are you supposed to be?!”
His voice sounded very similar to the one that had been demanding a lawyer. Considering all these humans had either been at the embassy or similar locations before this, Leila was honestly surprised by the animosity and
mistrust.
Leila opened her mouth, preparing to reiterate the circumstances.
“Leila is the Human Ambassador to Debiraan,” Nelo answered for her.
‘What?!’, she thought wildly, keeping her face impassive.
