“I understand,” Ada Jane said, her mind reeling from all the information she’d taken in.
A tone sounded from outside Dr. Cavanaugh’s office door, and he rose to answer it. “I believe that’s our lunch,” he said, smiling at Ada Jane.
He opened the door and peered out before standing back and inviting in a purple hued gentleman in a pale ivory colored uniform pushing a cart. The gentleman glanced inside the office, then on deciding it was too small to get his cart into comfortably, lifted the covered plates and brought them to Dr. Cavanaugh’s desk. “Will this work for you?” he asked Dr. Cavanaugh.
“That’ll be fine.”
The gentleman went back to the cart several times and brought back more dishes, drinks, and condiments. His final trip he left silverware wrapped in cloth napkins. “That’s it, then. Enjoy your meal. I’ll leave the cart outside your door against the wall. Just put your dishes back on it when you’re done, and I’ll be back for them a little later.”
“Thank you. We will,” Dr. Cavanaugh answered. He closed the door behind the purple gentleman who’d delivered their food and turned to smile at Ada. “Smells delicious, doesn’t it?” he asked.
“It does. I’m starving,” she admitted.
“Well, don’t wait on me. Dig in,” he said, making his way around his desk to get to his own plate.
Ada Jane removed the stainless steel dome from her meal and moaned. “Oh, my. That looks wonderful! I haven’t had a real burger in years,” she said, picking up a French fry and popping it into her mouth. She moaned again. “Ohhh,” she said, as she chewed her fry and reached for her burger.
Dr. Cavanaugh watched and smiled as Ada Jane enjoyed her first real Earth food in what was if he calculated right, one-hundred-thirty-five years.
Ada took a bite of her burger and chewed it slowly. “I don’t know if I’ll ever eat anything else. This is just amazing,” she said, quickly taking another bite. “Is it just me, Dr. Cavanaugh? Or is this not the best burger you’ve ever had?” she asked.
Dr. Cavanaugh watched Ada Jane as she sat across from him, thoroughly enjoying her lunch. He couldn’t imagine being in her position, and here she was, handling it like a champ, finding pleasure in the simplest of things — a cheeseburger and fries. He’d been surprised to find himself admiring her beauty when she first stepped from the ship that had returned her to earth, but now he found himself admiring her courage, her strength and her grace in addition to her beauty.
Ada Jane looked up at him and smiled beautifully at him.
Yeah, he definitely admired her a great deal more than was professionally acceptable. He’d have to do something about that.
“You know what? Instead of Dr. Cavanaugh, call me Jason.”
Ada Jane met his eyes over her burger. “Jason?” she asked.
“That’s my given name. For some reason, with you, Dr. Cavanaugh feels too stuffy.”
Ada smiled at him. “Okay. Jason it is.”
“So, if you don’t mind, I have so many questions. How do you appear to be in your twenties, when you are more than a century old. No matter where you were, you should have aged. The doctor in me just can’t let it go,” Jason said.
Ada looked down at the burger in her hands. She didn’t raise her eyes to Jason’s. The memories he was asking her to share were beyond anything she was equipped to handle at the moment. She took a deep breath and considered his question. She understood his curiosity, but she wasn’t willing to revisit the pain. “Stasis,” she said simply.
“Ah! So you were in stasis for a great deal of the time. I understand those stasis beds are wonderful things — you awake feeling like you’ve only been asleep for a few hours,” he said, taking a bite of his burger.
“I wouldn’t know. I was forced into a viscous, green liquid and forced to breathe it into my lungs until I fell unconscious and hung in limbo until my presence was desired again,” Ada Jane said forcefully.
Jason’s mouth fell open and he realized there was much about her past he had no right asking. “I’m sorry, Ada Jane. I was only trying to make conversation. I certainly didn’t mean to have you relive anything that caused you pain.”
Ada Jane stared at him for a moment longer. Then she seemed to shake herself free of the memory. “Agree to not discuss it?” she offered.
“Absolutely,” Jason replied.
Chapter 3
Kol sat across the U-shaped table from a room full of obvious military personnel from several different planets. His plate was piled high with foods he didn’t recognize, and the conversation all around him echoed with the accents of multiple species. He was flanked on one side by Viceroy Buchanan and Patroon Zhuxi, with Elisher on the other.
Consul Diskastes sat at the head of the table, at the tip of the curve of the U-shape in the table so that he could look out over all the males dining with him. Kol decided he most likely considered himself above everyone else at the table. Viceroy Pomrance sat beside the Consul and surveyed everyone at the table much the same way Diskastes did. He laughed a little too loud at all the Consul’s attempts at humor, and was a little too animated when responding to anything the Consul may have said.
Kol quickly wrote them both off as useless. There were several males he hadn’t been introduced to yet, and for the most part, they seemed decent. And there were several others who were so far up the Consul’s ass that it was hard to tell where the Consul’s ass began and their heads stopped.
Kol paid particular attention to Elisher to determine how to eat the long boned foods on his plate. Elisher picked up his knife and fork and began to slice away at small strips of meat lining the bones.
Kol reached for his knife and fork, both of them feeling awkward in his hands, and paused before beginning to try to slice the meat off the bones. Surely they could find an animal with a little more meat to butcher instead of whatever creature only offered this meager amount of protein on such large bones.
“No, Kol. He eats everything with a knife and fork,” Buchanan said. “Just pick it up. It’s a rib. Like this,” he said, holding the bone at each end and using his teeth to pull the meat from the bone itself.
Kol followed suit, chewed for a moment, then glanced up at Buchanan before taking another, and another bite quickly.
“I know,” Buchanan said. “Tasty isn’t it?”
“This is the best Earth food I’ve ever had!” Kol said. “It is better even than bargurs and paste!” he exclaimed.
Buchanan glanced at him, before going back to his own plate of ribs. “I’m not sure what bargurs are, but if you’ve been eating paste, I can assure you it is not a food.”
“Try the corn,” Zhuxi urged, indicating the long tube with small yellow and white pearls on it.
“This?” Kol asked, pointing at the ear of corn.
“Yes. Here,” he said, passing a small glass container to Buchanan, “give him the melted butter to put on his corn.”
Buchanan just reached over Kol’s plate and poured a yellow tinted clear liquid over the tube of yellow and white pearls. “There ya go. Try that.”
Kol looked from the yellow and white food to Buchanan, who picked up his own and held it with the tips of his fingers while taking a bite.
Kol mimicked his actions, then his brows came down over his eyes. “I will no longer eat bargurs and paste. This is the best food,” he said, nodding his head for emphasis.
“It’s barbecued ribs, grilled corn on the cob, and when we’re finished, we have strawberry shortcake for dessert.”
“What is a short cake. Is it a tiny, little, sweet cake?” he asked.
“Not exactly, but you’ll see,” Buchanan said.
“Do you feast like this each day?” Kol asked.
“Pretty much. We’re in Texas, so you can almost always find some kind or another of barbecue,” Buchanan explained.
“Here, would you like some cornbread?” Elisher asked, holding the serving platter out to Kol.
Cornbread Kol knew. “My Siren
a loves Earth cornbread. She has us make it in many forms. She says we have come close, but not quite exactly the same as she remembers from Earth,” Kol said, taking two pieces of cornbread. He took a bite of one and chewed. He grinned then popped the rest of the first piece in his mouth. Once he swallowed, he spoke. “Yes, she is correct. Yours is much better than ours. I shall have to be sure to bring some home to her when I return.”
“Is that your wife?” Buchanan asked.
“Don’t be silly,” Elisher said. “His Sirena is the mate of the heir-apparent of his planet. Her name is Vivian. Surely you remember the blowup discovering her caused.”
“Oh, yeah, I do as a matter of fact. I didn’t realize you meant the one and the same. Apologies,” Buchanan said. “I tend to remain more focused on things going on here on Earth. There are more than enough men vying for control of all the space around us. I figure I’ll let them worry about that.”
“No apologies required. She is my friend. She would think it funny that you thought her my wife. Her mate… he would not think it funny, though he’s been my friend since childhood.”
“You’re royalty, then” Zhuxi said.
“Not at all. I am merely a childhood friend of Sire Zha Quin Tha Tel Mo’ Kok. I am by no means royalty or even nobility for that matter. I’ve earned every accommodation I’ve received.”
“Speaking of accommodations,” a voice from the head of the table called.
Kol turned his attention to Consul Diskastes.
“How did you manage to come by an Ambassadorship on Earth. It was my understanding that the Cruestaci were a warring people. A people we planned to keep off the surface of the planet, just in case,” Diskastes said.
Kol could have easily taken the bait, in fact he wanted to, but he couldn’t cause trouble. He needed to find Ada Jane, and whipping the Consul’s ass right after arrival most likely wouldn’t gain any assistance from anyone at the table.
“Fucking asshole,” Kol heard mumbled to his right. He glanced at Buchanan and found him glaring at Diskastes. Kol knew well what ‘fucking asshole’ meant. Vivi had used it more than a time or two in his presence.
Well, maybe one of them would still assist him, he thought to himself before answering. “We are a warring people only when necessary. We do not shy away from conflict of any type. However, we do not court it either. Unless of course, we are provoked,” Kol said.
“Why are you here? What do you hope to achieve?” Diskastes asked.
“We have been brought in to oversee the safety and operations of those assisting the females we helped repatriate onto Earth. We are also investigating claims that other females are continuously captured here and sold into slavery in universal markets not only in this solar system but in several neighboring systems as well. Perhaps you’re not fully aware of our Sirena Vivian Tel Mo’ Kok’s story. She was taken from this planet many years ago, and has a personal interest in all females of every planet being freed, repatriated — to any world they wish, and respected. She is a personal friend and I intend to see her wishes through.”
“Well, that’s just a waste of time. Sight-see while you’re here, but you may as well cut your losses and return to your planet. Your oversight is not needed.”
“Or welcomed,” Pomrance said, giggling.
“Silence!” Diskastes hissed at Pomrance.
Pomrance immediately stopped all giggling and any other sound at all.
“Don’t misunderstand me, Ambassador, it’s not that you’re not welcome. It’s just that it’s a complete waste of your time. There is no reason to bring in a diplomat to oversee an operation that’s already being overseen. It is a misuse of your expertise, I’m sure.”
“Perhaps, or perhaps not. Still, it is my assignment. But, make no mistake,” Kol said, taking one of his rib bones in both hands, and snapping it in half as though it was no more than a pretzel stick, before nibbling on the meat. “I am not a diplomat in any form of the word. I am a highly trained Elite Commander of Special Forces for a warring people, as you’ve just described my people yourself. If there is a problem, I will find it. I will eliminate it, then I’ll bring in other warring people who are diplomats and let them make it right after I’ve removed the problem,” he said with slow, precise, clipped pronunciation of each word.
“I will be here for three Earth years. I will be tracing and interviewing all females repatriated back to Earth since the last political administration took office. Both those we’ve returned to Earth, and those others have returned. If there is a problem supplying me with the information I need to perform my job properly, let me know now and I’ll contact Chairman Bartholomew just to be sure we can get started on the right path.”
Kol stopped talking and glared at Consul Diskastes.
Consul Diskastes glared back at him. Finally after an uncomfortable amount of time passed in silence, Consul Diskastes lifted his napkin from the table beside his plate and dabbed at all four of his lips. “I do not foresee any problem supplying you with the information you require.”
“I didn’t think you would,” Kol answered, still frozen in place not having moved an inch, and glaring at Diskastes.
“If you gentlemen will excuse me. I have a great deal of work to complete,” Diskastes said, breaking eye contact and rising to his feet. “Enjoy your meal, and welcome to Earth Base 28.” Diskastes performed a minute imitation of a bow then turned on his heel and shuffled away, with Pomrance and their security details in tow.
Kol waited until the male was completely out of the dining room before tearing his eyes away from the door they’d gone through. Then he glanced over at Zhuxi, and Buchanan.
They both simply sat grinning at him.
He looked to his left and found Elisher spellbound.
“Is there a problem?” Kol asked.
“No, sir. Not at all,” Elisher said with a feminine smile on his face.
Kol took another good look at Elisher and noticed just how feminine the small male was. “Then why are you looking at me like that?” he asked.
“It’s just that, I’m going to enjoy working for you while you’re here,” Elisher said.
“Thank you. I think,” Kol said, still a little confused.
“We’re all going to enjoy working with you while you’re here,” Buchanan said.
“Most certainly,” Zhuxi added.
“Is there a problem I’m not aware of?” Kol asked.
“No, not exactly. But, Diskastes runs this base like he’s a king and we’re all his subjects. The only damn reason there isn’t a problem is myself and Zhuxi. If not for us, I have no doubt the male would be doing whatever he wanted to whomever he wanted,” Buchanan said.
“I’m not so sure he’s not already taking advantage of some. But at least now, we have you,” Zhuxi added.
Kol shook his head. “You do not understand. I’m here for one reason only, and it is not to keep your Consul from breaking your laws.”
“Perhaps that’s true. But if keeping him under control, and possibly finding out how he’s breaking our laws, would be beneficial to your particular focus, would you not be interested?” Zhuxi asked.
“If it’s just financial…”
“It’s not. Food supplies go missing from our people on a regular basis. Any of the citizens living in our sector could be called in at any time to explain any communications that may have been monitored on their devices. This is supposed to be illegal in the United States, so why is it happening in our sector?” Buchanan asked.
“I’m not even sure some of those who are brought in for questioning even have devices,” Elisher admitted.
“Why does no one stop him?” Kol asked, his voice giving away his irritation at learning of these things.
“We do what we can. We manage to get them released without a prison term. We aren’t able to keep them from being brought in, but we do get them released,” Buchanan said.
“Most of them,” Elisher added quietly.
“Why has he n
ot been removed?” Kol asked.
“He’s a member of the ruling class, third son of the ruler of Quisles. A prince believe it or not. As he has no real inheritance, he was guaranteed a diplomatic title here on Earth. It would take moving heaven and hell to remove him, so instead, we run damage control where we can,” Buchanan explained.
Kol reached for another piece of cornbread and sat back in his chair staring at the door Diskastes and his entourage had disappeared through. “Perhaps I will have more than one mission while here,” he said thoughtfully.
Buchanan and Elisher shared a smile. Then Buchanan looked to his right and smiled when Zhuxi inclined his head discreetly.
This male, it seemed, was turning out to be a godsend. Hopefully he would be the one to help them with the problem they’d been struggling in vain to contain.
Chapter 4
Kol stood in the quarters he’d been assigned. The second set of quarters actually. The first Elisher had taken one look at and shaken his head. “Nope. No. You are not staying in here. Follow me, please.”
They’d arrived at a much larger room with an extra bedroom, an accompanying sitting room with two sofas — one longer and one smaller, as well as an oval table and chairs, and a kitchenette. As Kol followed him in, Elisher used his handheld device to sweep the rooms. “What are you looking for?” he asked.
“Making sure there are no listening or recording devices in your quarters, sir. I don’t think there will be since I changed your assignment without warning. But still… doesn’t hurt to check.”
“Thank you, Elisher. You do realize I’ll communicate with my people through a secured channel anyway,” Kol said intentionally, waiting to see what his new assistant would say.
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