by J. S. Wilder
English was a complicated language with subtly that often felt like I was missing, and despaired ever understanding. For example, despite her numerous attempts to explain it to me, I couldn’t fully understand the difference between sex, fucking, and making love. She appeared to use them interchangeably, yet she insisted there was a difference. Why were there so many words for the same thing? She’d once laughingly told me there were hundreds, if not thousands of ways to say mating in English. Banging. Sleep with, even though it had nothing to do with sleeping. Fornicate. Pound. Screw. Shag. I smiled to myself. The Humans were truly obsessed with mating, but that was exactly what the universe needed right now.
I glanced at the portal showing the empty stage, then returned to my task and forced myself to focus on the reports in front of me. It was much more pleasant to think about mating with Catherina than the latest reports on hath or grain production, or the various requests for the assistance of the Firaspatciti guard.
Every planet had a policing force, charged with keeping the peace, but the guard could be called in if necessary. In my tenure as Lord, the guard had only been dispatched for assistance in keeping order during natural disasters or to aid in the tracking down and capturing the dregs of the Peoples preying on others. Only the Firaspatciti had the authority to engage in police or military actions on a planet other than our own. It was a sacred trust given to us by the other Peoples, and by tradition and law, I had to approve each request. It seemed rather pointless and silly because I never denied the assistance, but our law and the trust given to us by the Peoples forbade the sending of the guard to another planet without the express approval of the Lord.
Movement caught my eye and I glanced up and watched as Catherina took the stage. I enabled the nanite frequency and suddenly the babble of the Boforous language became Firaspatciti.
“Thank you for inviting me here!” Catherina said as she stepped onto the stage.
I smiled. She was a rock star, and this was her gig. To the best of my understanding, that meant she was extremely popular and this was what she did. I smiled again. She was a woman that often spoke in riddles and could hold two conflicting opinions at the same time. She was confusing, infuriating, and the most remarkable woman in the universe, and I knew I would never fully understand her… but, oh, how I looked forward to trying.
I paused to watch her for a few minutes, listening to her speech. Like all her speeches, it was full of hope, humor, and enthusiasm. Even though I’d seen her do it dozens of times, it never ceased to amaze me how she so easily connected to the Peoples, no matter who they were.
I was just about to turn back to my tasks, boring as they were when the portal suddenly closed. With a frown, I tried to reestablish the tunnel, but the portal refused to open. Portals don’t just close. They work using the natural laws of the universe, and until the universe itself stopped operating, the portals would work. It was almost as if… I felt a chill of dread. I opened a portal to the grand hall, to make sure my portal device wasn’t faulty. The portal opened. I tried to open a portal at another location on Boforous and it opened as well. I tried again at Catherina’s location. When the portal failed to open, my dread grew. I was using the commercial portal that nearly every citizen of the universe had, but my portal device and all of the large, fixed portals on Firaspatciti were special. By the authority given to us by the Peoples of the universe, we could bypass a portal damping field. I changed the mode on my device and tried again. The portal opened and my blood ran cold.
As I watched, a surge of men was mounting the stage as Tokalas and Peval skidded to a stop beside Catherina.
“Run!” Peval screamed as she began to engage the men.
“Guards to Lady Catherina! Guards to Lady Catherina!” Tokalas yelled as he took a stance and prepared to meet the attack.
Something was very wrong. I spun the portal and the guards assigned to Catherina were milling about in confusion as if they were unsure of what to do. I slammed my hand down on the desk, activating the palace alarm.
“Blue emergency! Blue emergency!” I yelled, alerting the palace garrison commander. “Lady Catherina is under attack!”
I knew Catherina was tracked and within moments, additional guards would begin pouring through portals in aid.
“The stage!” a guard yelled. “To the stage!” With roars of rage, her security force began charging toward the stage. They were providing security at the outer edge and it would take time for them to get there as they roughly shoved their way through the crowd.
It had only been seconds since the group of men charged the stage. I shifted the portal back to the stage. Peval and Tokalas were in mortal combat with ten times their number, slashing and thrusting with short and long blades. I changed the portal to allow me to pass and charged through. I only had my short blade, but I had to help Catherina.
I landed on the stage in the melee. “Catherina! To me!” I screamed as I began to thrust and hack.
She didn’t move, staring at me with wide eyes. Peval and Tokalas, realizing that I had arrived to aid them, changed their tactic, trying to break the wave of the attacking horde so I could reach her.
We were being overwhelmed, unable to kill the attackers fast enough. A man got past Peval, and though I saw it, I was helpless to prevent it.
“Catherina! Run!” I screamed. Again, she didn’t move, then at the last moment, she saw the man charging at her with his blade in the attack position.
I dispatched another of the murderous bastards with a vicious slash to the throat, then spared a glance to see her slide under his attack in a classic Firaspatciti move and draw her blade across his throat as he passed.
I roared with rage, as our bubble of protection began to collapse. I felt the searing burn of a blade plunging into my side, unable to block the thrust of man’s knife as I was dealing with another. Peval screamed as blood gushed from a wound on her shoulder just as she removed a man’s head from his body with a vicious cut of her long blade.
Tokalas took a step back and turned, bringing his blade down to sever the arm of a man that had slipped past our defense as he tried to plunge his blade into Catherina. That left him exposed and before he could recover, another attacker buried a blade in his back.
Catherina ducked under another man’s cut, driving her blade into his stomach as Tokalas went to his knees, cutting the legs from another that tried to pass as he did. He bellowed again as another plunged his blade into his chest, but he grabbed the man and pulled him down onto his short blade as he fell.
“No!” she screamed as another blade plunged into my shoulder from a thrust I wasn’t fully able to block.
I recognized the word as English, but I didn’t know what it meant. That was why she hadn’t run. The nanites translations were being blocked and she couldn’t understand us. I should have realized that when the guard didn’t immediately respond to Tokalas’s cry for help. Without the nanites transmitting his call, they hadn’t heard him. If only I could reach her, I could open a portal and get her away.
I’d just blocked another thrust when the rest of her security detail arrived, swarming the stage. Attacked from the rear, the attackers were thrown into confusion and the tide began to turn. Peval and I pressed our advantage, trying to protect Tokalas and Catherina. An instant later, palace guard began pouring through portals, surrounding us, and the battle was over.
It had felt like hours, but as I staggered, panting in exhaustion, I knew it had been only seconds. Blood was gushing from my side and shoulder, but the nanites were already hard at work, suppressing the pain and repairing the damage. I would live.
“My Lord!” Bruth said, arriving at my side. “We have to get you away!”
“Catherina,” I panted.
“Stevan!” she cried, rushing to my side, but the rest of her words were a jumble of sounds. “…I can’t understand what anyone is saying! Please, Stevan! Oh my God! Please, you have to help him! Please, please, please,” she cried grasping at me and then
pulling her hands back before she touched me, only to reach for me again.
“Shhh…” I whispered. “It’s okay.”
She threw herself into my arms and I hissed. The nanites only dulled the pain, they didn’t completely remove it.
“I was so scared! I couldn’t understand what anyone was saying, and I didn’t know what to do! Peval and Tokalas always said stay with them and—”
I held her as medics worked on Tokalas and Peval. They’d just have to wait to start on me for I needed this far worse than I needed medical care.
“You’re safe now,” I said, holding her head to my shoulder.
The guard was getting control of the situation, moving people out and establishing a perimeter around us with the assistance of the Boforous security force.
“My Lord, you need medical care,” Jarurel said softly.
I slowly released Catherina and another medic pulled her aside to make sure she was uninjured. As Jarurel applied specialized nanites to my wounds to speed the healing and stop the bleeding, I looked at the carnage. The stage was littered with bodies of our fallen enemies. Peval and Tokalas had fought like a pair of cornered keggars. They’d held off ten times their number long enough for help to arrive, and had paid dearly for it. I looked around again. Someone was going to answer for this.
“My Lord, I thought you’d want to know. Lady Catherina is uninjured,” the medic that had worked on her reported.
I sagged in relief. Peval was on her feet, the clots of nanites on her shoulder, leg, and arm clearly visible, but Tokalas was being carried on a litter.
“Tokalas?” I asked.
“Gravely injured, my Lord. We got to him in time and injected him with medical nanites. It will take some time, but he will recover fully.”
I gripped Jarurel on the shoulder and smiled grimly. I looked at my wounds. The lacerations had completely disappeared under the clot of nanites as the millions of tiny machines worked their way through the injury, sealing blood vessels, repairing nerve damage and knitting muscle.
In a couple of days, even the scar would be gone, but it will take much more than nanites to soothe my rage and quench my wrath.
Thirteen
Catherina
“Lady Catherina! Are you well! We heard of the attack on Boforous!”
I smiled. It had been two days since the attack and I was still shaken, though I was beginning to recover. Having Stevan hold me during the night, stroking my hair and whispering to me how everything was going to be okay, had done much to quieten the nightmares.
I’d visited Tokalas the following day and was gratified to see Henmop, the Peragin I’d paired him with, sitting at his side as he slept. For someone who had their spinal cord severed by a blade plunging into their back, and another blade that had punctured his heart, not to mention the three deep cuts on his torso, he was doing remarkably well. It would be several more days before he would regain the use of his legs, and days more before he returned to full strength, but he would have died three times over with same wounds on Earth, so convalescing for a couple of weeks was a small price to pay.
“I’m fine Jhilu, thank you for asking.”
I was back on Estaan, though with a considerably beefed up security detail. Peval was with me, along with five others functioning as my personal guard. Outside the building, another fifty palace guards patrolled the parameter.
Previously, my guard detail was fairly relaxed. They’d function more as honor guard and crowd control, but they were deadly serious now. The look of imminent death was in their eyes, their hands at rest on the hilt of their short blades. By now everyone in the universe knew of the attack, and it was well known the ferocity and deadliness of the Firaspatciti, so few dared approach them.
The attack had galvanized the universe. Even those calling for punishment of Stevan had come out strongly in condemnation of the attack and had distanced themselves from those lobbying for the Peoples to allow fate takes its course. The outpouring of support had been amazing with millions of messages arriving every day in support.
“Is it true you killed two of the attackers yourself?”
I shuddered at the thought. When we’d returned to the palace, I’d spent a long time cleaning my hands, sobbing while having the nanites clean them again and again, even though the blood had been removed the first time.
“Yes, Jhilu, it’s true. It’s not something I’m proud of.”
Jhilu nodded. “I understand, but no one will fault you for protecting yourself.” She paused and gave me a small smile. “I always thought there was a lot of Estaan in you, but now I can see there is Firaspatciti as well.” Her smile widened slightly. “It must be true.”
“What?”
“That there is a little bit of all the Peoples in you. That’s how you can so easily understand us. Are all Humans like you?”
I smiled slightly. “Yes, I would say so.”
She shook her head in amazement. “Humans must be a remarkable People indeed. I hope, in the future, we can meet more of you.”
“I hope so too, Jhilu.”
As the room began to fill, everyone wanted to hear my story, so I finally told them I would tell everyone, all at once, when everyone arrived. I did.
When I’d finished, Quillat stood at the back of the room. Like with the Hedordians and the Fires, I’d forced the Estaans and Waters to mix by forcing them to sit in alternating seats, but today, the Waters had ignored that and had clustered together.
“Lady Catherina, may I speak freely?”
It took me a moment to respond because that was the boldest, most aggressive thing I’d seen any of these men do since I’d started working with them.
“Of course, Quillat, always.”
He swallowed hard and was clearly forcing himself to do this. “After the attack on you, we discussed what happened,” he began, gesturing to the other Waters around him. “Not only do we condemn the actions of those against you in the strongest possible way… we have agreed that if you are willing to risk so much for us, to give so much for us, the Peoples of the universe, we decided… that we must risk and give much as well. We… have agreed to redouble our efforts to learn from you and…” he paused and looked down, clearly uncomfortable.
“Go on, Quillat. I’d like to hear what you have to say.”
He looked up and held my gaze. “And we realize that perhaps we too should do our part to help the Peoples of the universe.” He looked at Garretu. “Garretu… I… would you like… will you join me for an evening meal?”
Every woman in the room, myself included, looked at Quillat in slack-jawed amazement. Only the Waters seemed unsurprised by the boldness of Quillat.
Garretu smiled. “I would love to, Quillat. Thank you for asking.”
Quillat seemed stymied over what to do next. “Would you like to suggest a time and place?” I asked softly, trying desperately to keep the momentum going.
He smiled in embarrassment. “Yes of course. Uh, seventeenth hour, today?”
Garretu smiled. “I’ll be ready. I’ll message you my location. You can meet with me there.”
I couldn’t hand hold him through the entire date so I stood silent, wanting to scream at him to say yes.
“It would be my pleasure,” he finally said and smiled.
I was still trying to decide what to say when Quosson stood as Quillat sat. “Jhilu… would you like to accompany me to Taluh Face tomorrow?”
Jhilu’s face split into a wide smile. “I would enjoy that very much, Quosson. I’ve never seen it. Thank you for asking me.”
He dipped his head. “Thank you. I will arrive at your location at tenth hour.”
That was only minutes from now. The Peoples of the universe seemed able to keep track of planetary rotations and adjust for the various times with ease, but it was a skill I hadn’t acquired yet. Tomorrow was an off day for them, which was probably why he’d asked her for a date tomorrow instead of today, or tonight, or whatever.
“Would y
ou two like to be excused from today’s class?” I asked, not wanting to let this opportunity pass.
Jhilu looked at Quosson, her eyes begging him to say yes.
He paused, looking between me and Jhilu. “By your leave, my Lady,” he finally said.
Like the breakthrough with the Water women over a year ago, I wanted to step outside the room and run in circles while screaming my excitement for all the world to hear, but this time I didn’t. As Quosson stepped toward Jhilu, she rose and extended her hand. He took it with a smile, then looked at me. He looked terrified but determined.
“Have fun,” I said, trying not to cry.
Quosson and Jhilu hadn’t even let the room before Quorin rose. “Gurthu, will you join me at Folu Rain?”
Gurthu rose and swayed her way to him. “I would be delighted.”
“Would you like to leave now?” I asked.
“No, my Lady. Folu Rain is much more romantic at sunrise,” he said, holding Gurthu’s gaze with his enormous eyes.
“Perhaps we should spend the night together at Folu Rain,” Gurthu purred, “so as to not miss even the first rays of light.”
Quorin looked like he wanted to run, but then he smiled. “I will make the arrangements.”
Several more Waters stood and asked for dates, and I had to work hard to hold my tears. The Aquallians were stepping outside their comfort zone in a show of unity with the rest of the Peoples of the universe. When it was down to the last five pairs and the remaining Waters didn’t stand, the Estaans looked disappointed. I didn’t blame them. It hurt to not be wanted, but these were Waters, and maybe they just needed a little bit of help.
Everyone had stayed with the exception of Quosson and Jhilu, but the room had shuffled, and those that had dates were sitting together.
I picked the Estaan closest to me. “Bleu? Do you have something to say?”
