by J. S. Wilder
“You said I could leave, that I could return to Earth at any time.”
I nodded. “As we agreed.”
“Yet you held me here while you were gone.”
I blinked. “I simply asked that you wait until I returned so that we may discuss your leaving in person.”
“Right!” she said, her voice becoming hard. “As you said to give it a week when I first arrived. As you distracted me the second time. Now this! I ask to leave and again you ask me to wait. I feel like a prisoner. I don’t think you’re ever going to let me leave!”
I took a step back, my anger rising within me. She was questioning my word? “You forget your place,” I said, my voice low and hard with warning.
“My place? My… place?” she cried, her voice becoming loud and harsh. “My place was on Earth, where you kidnapped me! That was my fucking place!”
Had she been anyone else, I would have pulled my blade and we would have dueled to the death for how she was addressing me. I reined in my anger. “Return to your room. We will speak again tomorrow.”
“No! I want to go home! Now! Tonight!”
I glared at her. “Very well. If that’s what you wish. Return to your room. I will send for you when I have your payment ready.”
She whirled on her toe and stomped out the room. I stood and watched, then grabbed the table and flipped it over, the food, plates and serving dishes flying about. I stood, breathing hard until I had my rage under control. I didn’t want her to leave. Not only would the galaxy be losing a valuable asset, but I had been looking forward to learning a great many more things from her.
Once my rage died, a creeping sadness began to settle into my heart. Catherina was like no woman that I’d mated with. She’d shown me so many things. She’d shown me how there can be strength and softness together, how you can open yourself to another without displaying weakness. And most importantly, she’d shown me how to appreciate our differences and how our combined strength was greater than the sum of our parts. She’d made me stronger by showing me how to be gentle.
I opened a portal. “Kergah!”
“Yes, my Lord?” Kergah’s voice returned.
“Prepare a cubit of the industrial grindstones and deliver them to the receiving room as soon as possible. Catherina is returning home.”
There was a short pause and I knew Kergah was considering asking questions. “Yes, my Lord,” he finally said.
-oOo-
Catherina’s cubit of stones was sitting on the floor when Sereni escorted her into the receiving room. It appeared Catherina had been crying and she was wearing a simple disposable garment, used by technicians working it dirty places, that would dissolve the moment she removed it.
“Your diamonds, as agreed,” I said as I held her gaze. I looked at the technician. “Open the portal. Find a place she can arrive unseen.” I motioned another technician forward to deactivate her nanites. None of our technology could be allowed to arrive at earth.
I stepped back, my face hard. The only person in the room that didn’t seem upset was Sereni, her face a blank. Catherina stepped forward and handed me the mating blade, then ducked her head in submission. She stepped back and the technician placed a deactivator against her neck. It took only a moment, then the technician stepped back and nodded.
It was the same device used to allow a person to die with grace an honor. The nanites would began to shut down, allowing her body to return to its natural state, remaining her brain until the very last. As the machines shutdown, they would be flushed from her system through her sweat and waste. Within a couple of days, they would all be out of her system. All the repairs they’d made to her body would remain, but she would begin to age normally again. I smiled. My final gift to her. She should live a long and healthy life.
Almost immediately she began to breath harder and beads of sweat began to appear on her skin. Without the nanites constantly helping her body adjust, she struggled to cope with the heat and atmosphere.
“Tunnel ready,” the portal control technician said. “She will arrive in one of the parks in the city where we found her. It is night, and raining, there. No one will see her arrive.”
I nodded. “You are free to leave.”
“You’d let me go?” she panted.
“I gave you my word,” I said, my voice firm.
She bent and picked up the box, grunting and staggering under the weight. My hands went out to steady her, but she recovered and took two steps toward the portal, stopping just at the opening.
“You won’t ask me to stay?”
“No. I would like it very much if you would remain here, but if you wish to leave, then you may. I won’t try to change your mind.”
Catherina looked past me to Sereni and I saw Sereni’s faint smile disappear the instant I looked at her. Something was wrong. The sense I’d learned to trust, the one that spoke of dangers unseen, tickled my mind. I felt my eyes narrow. Catherina was one step from disappearing, but something about this was not right.
“Catherina, wait! Clear the room!” I ordered. She made like she was going to step through. “Hold!” I roared as if giving battle orders. “Leave the portal open! Clear the room, now!”
Everyone scrambled to obey, and Sereni had a stricken look on her face as she followed everyone out.
“Catherina,” I said softly. “You have to only take one step and you will be back home. I cannot possibly reach you in time to stop you. But before you go, tell me why. Why are you leaving?”
She stared at me for a long moment. “I don’t want to be your prisoner.”
I returned her stare, not understanding. “You were never my prisoner.”
“Why didn’t you let me leave when you first brought me here? You manipulated me into staying.”
She was sweating profusely now and her breath was coming in ragged gasps. The average temperature on Firaspatciti was approximately that of her planet’s hottest deserts, and she wasn’t well adapted to our atmosphere.
“I only asked that you stay.”
“You sent Quathaul to convince me to stay.”
“No. I sent you a companion so that you could explore our worlds and meet our people. There was no hidden agenda. Had you decided to leave after the week, I would have sent you home as we agreed.”
“When I wanted to leave the second time, you seduced me so that I would stay.”
That was a harder thing to deny. “Yes,” I finally replied, my voice soft. “I wanted you to stay. You had shown me so much… I wanted to learn much more.” Her back was beginning to bow under the weight of her stones. I drew myself up and spoke with authority. I wouldn’t deny my desire for her any longer. “Yes. I wanted you to stay. You are a great benefit to the galaxy… and I wanted you in my bed.”
“And while you were gone… I asked to… leave. You said… I had to… wait… until you returned,” she said, gasping for breath between her words.
“I didn’t realize you thought you were being held against your will. I wanted a chance to talk to you, to change your mind. I… don’t want you leave, Catherina.”
“Sereni said… you couldn’t… allow me to… leave. That I… was too… important. That’s why… you wouldn’t… allow me… to… use a portal… myself. So I… couldn’t escape.”
“Sereni…” I snarled. “When did she tell you this?”
“The day… you gave me… the… mating blade.”
I stared at her as my rage grew to a towering height. “Catherina, I want you to listen to me very carefully. I have mated with Sereni. She wanted to bond with me, but I refused. I asked her to purchase the mating blade on my behalf because I knew she would choose something simple and elegant, something I thought you would like, and it wouldn’t be publicly known that I was making the purchase. She didn’t know why I wanted it, or who I was giving it to.” I paused to let her work out the rest for herself.
She stared at me then staggered again before steadying. “You’re saying… she said… those t
hings… so I would… leave?” She stared at me a moment longer. “Because she… was jealous… of me?” She paused again. “That… fucking bitch!”
I moved to the control panel and slapped the control, closing the portal. “Lockdown!” I snarled and the blue warning light began to flash. “Injury in the receiving room!”
I hurried to Catherina’s side as she wavered, took her cubit of stones, and placed it aside. Relived of its weight, she steadied, but she was still gasping and sweat was pouring off her in rivulets. She was in no immediate danger of dying, but she had to be terribly uncomfortable, and I eased her down to sit on the floor.
“Nanites,” I ordered and stepped aside so the technician could inject the machines. The newly injected nanites would take over the regulation of her body and purge it of those deactivating. It would take several minutes for the nanites to stabilize Catherina’s blood gasses and adjust her body to the higher temperatures. As she recovered, I had other business to attend to.
“Where’s Sereni?” I demanded.
The technicians looked at each other in confusion. “She left for her station when the lockdown was announced.”
I gave a firm nod and opened a portal directly to the palace garrison commander. “Commander Garth!”
“My Lord! The lockdown order has been given! We are moving to situation blue! I repeat, situation blue! My troops are—”
“Stand down, Commander, there is no attack. I ordered the lockdown. Find Sereni Vaguthuarrithary and detain her immediately!”
“Yes, my Lord!”
I turned my attention back to Catherina. She was still sitting on the floor, her face was damp and pale, but she was no longer gasping for breath. She would recover much faster this time as the nanites didn’t have as much damage to repair as when she first arrived. She smiled up at me.
“I’m sorry I doubted you.”
I smiled. “You need to rest while the nanites finish their work.”
She nodded. “I’m feeling much better already. I didn’t think Firaspatciti could lie.”
I snorted. “Of course we can lie. How could we possible win a war if we always told our enemy the truth about what we were going to do? It’s considered dishonorable to lie for personal gain or to avoid the consequences of your actions.”
She nodded, then reached up. I took her hand and pulled her to her feet. Her color was returning and she was breathing easy again. She toed the cubit of diamonds.
“I don’t guess I’ll need those… just yet.”
I smiled. “Take them to your room. Keep them for when you’re ready to return to Earth. Tomorrow, Tarth will show you how to open a personal portal. When you’ve mastered that, he will instruct you on the use of this large portal, so you may return to Earth any time you wish.”
She smiled. “I can’t get there using a personal portal?”
I gave my head a small shake. “To dangerous. Do you remember when you first came here, how the portal opened, then closed again?”
She nodded.
“Earth is at the very end of the range of the personal portals. I thought I was going to be trapped there. If you decide to leave, use this fixed portal. Its range is much, much, farther.”
She smiled and looked down, her face twisting in sadness, but with a slight smile underneath. “Stevan… may I have my mating blade back? Please?”
I handed her the blade and then gazed into her eyes a moment before I pulled her into my arms and kissed her as I knew she liked. It was highly inappropriate for the Firaspatciti Lord to show such affection in public, but, as Catherina said, ‘fuck it.’ Who was going to reprimand me?
Chapter Fifteen
Catherina
I was working in my office. It had been two days since I’d almost returned to Earth. I’d delayed my instruction on portal use because I had other things to worry about and I no longer felt like I was being held against my will. I’d learn to use a portal eventually, to give myself some personal freedom, but I was no longer in such a hurry to return to Earth.
While Stevan had been off-planet, I had been putting into place what I needed to help the rest of the Peoples of the galaxy. It had been slow going… until Stevan had ordered that I be given any resources I needed. With hours, I had an entire building dedicated to my use, and Fires were arriving to help. It was total chaos, but I had put the bulk of the men and women to work spreading out through the galaxy to perform basic interviews so that we could begin to compile some rudimentary facts on each of the Peoples mating habits and rituals. It was amazing to me that there was so little information readily available.
The recording cubes were beginning to come back in and I would use the information they contained to begin working out who might like to mate with who, and what difficulties that might present. I smiled and shook my head. It was beginning to appear that Humans were the most sex obsessed race in the known galaxy. Maybe that’s what we would contribute to the galactic good… the desire to mate like Gorts, Snaths, Burghs, and the half a dozen other things I’d heard us compared to.
It was going to take some time to get the agency up and running, but requests were already pouring in for my help. HeartMatch, with its twenty-five employees and couple hundred clients… eat your heart out. I had a thousand people helping me and my client list numbered in the trillions. I wasn’t sure how I was going to manage it all, and it was going to be slow going at first, but every mighty river began with a trickle.
“Catherina? Everything to your satisfaction?” Kergah ask as he gave a quick bow of his head in respect.
“I’m overwhelmed, Kergah,” I said with a grimace. “I don’t know how to begin.”
“Don’t worry yourself, Catherina. As I told you before, this problem has been thousands of years in the making, and it will thousands more to solve. The people of the galaxy are behind you. You only need direct, not perform every task yourself.”
“I know. I’ve asked that the Aquallian and Firaspatciti pairs be assigned to me to help, but…” I waved my hand over the cubits of recording cubes. “So many asking for help, and so much I have to learn.”
He nodded. “You have an innate ability. I have every confidence you will prevail once again.”
I gave him a sideways grin. “Well, that makes one of us. Maybe if we brought a few more from Earth, that—”
“No. You need to put that out of your mind. That is forbidden.”
“But you brought me here.”
“Against our most scared law. So much so, there is a movement underway among the People to have you returned to Earth and Stevan removed from his position. The movement is small, but growing.”
“Then why did he do it?”
“I offered to go in his stead, so that I could take the dishonor and blame, and be killed for my act, but Stevan is a good man. He wouldn’t allow me to do what he would not.”
“So, again, why did he do it? If the law is that important?”
“There is a saying, ‘Great battles are only won with great risk.’ This is the greatest battle of them all, the fight for the very survival of all the Peoples of the galaxy. Stevan was willing to risk everything, his Lordship, his life, perhaps the lives of everyone on Firaspatciti, to save the Peoples of the galaxy.”
I looked at him, trying to understand his meaning. “What do you mean, ‘the lives of everyone on Fire?’”
“We could banished from the Peoples, our planet blocked from interacting with others. We would face the long darkness alone.”
I felt a chill of fear run down by back. “Would they do that?”
“It has never been done before, but it is the ultimate punishment.” He smiled. “Fear not. The Peoples are rallying around you. But to bring more Humans…” He shook his head and his smile faded. “No, that wouldn’t be wise.”
I shook my head, a leaden feeling in the pit of my stomach. I could understand their non-interference position. It seemed like a wise precaution, but the thought of billions being condemned to isolation because
of me made me feel sick.
“Fear not, Catherina. Stevan, with you at his side, are seen as the savior of the galaxy. Nothing will come of these malcontents. But now, we must go.”
I nodded. Kergah had explained to me what was going to happen to Sereni, and I was to be there. He and I had spoken at length, and without Stevan’s knowledge, we’d worked out plan. The fix was in. I couldn’t stand by and allow Sereni be killed for something as simple as a lie. I would gladly kick her ass for what she tried to do, except I knew she’d mop the floor with me, but her death would haunt me.
He opened a portal and we stepped into my room. A spectacular gown as lying on my bed, left under order of Kergah. Sentencing would take place in the Grand Hall, and I had to look the part.
When I was ready, he transported me directly to the Grand Hall, using his override code. Stevan was already there and I took my place beside him as was my right as the aggrieved.
He was dressed in a dazzling cloak of red and gold, with a high neck. Both our right arms were covered along with our lefts, in a show of power. By covering his sword arm, Stevan was demonstrating that he was confident no one would dare rise against him. I smiled. Seeing new customs for the first time was always interesting and made me wonder how they’d come to be.
“You look lovely, as always,” Stevan said quietly as I took my place to his left.
“And you, my Lord, are even more devastatingly handsome than normal.”
He leaned in close and whispered into my ear. “Have you considered my request?”
I flushed. I couldn’t believe he was asking me this, here, and now. But he was the Lord of the Fires and he deserved an answer.
“Yes, my Lord. My belongings will be moved to your quarters on your order.”
Stevan grinned. “Then there shall be no delay. Kergah!”
“Yes, my Lord.”
“Catherina has agreed to my request.”
Kergah bowed and smiled. “She is a wise and noble woman. It shall be done immediately.”
I felt completely squirmy inside. Stevan had asked me to share his bed the moment we were alone after I’d nearly left for Earth. He’d jokingly said it was to prevent any future misunderstandings, but his kiss had said something else.
