by Maia Starr
Alexa shifted uncomfortably while Temal and I bantered, and I realized that she might feel left out of the conversation.
“Temal is my cousin,” I said brightly. “We were raised together because her ranking as a keeper of house and home had been decided not long after I was chosen to become Commander of the Fleet. It paired comfortably with mine, and we got along well enough to agree to be matched together.”
Unfortunately, my explanation seemed to confuse Alexa more than ever, and I backtracked. “When we are young, it is decided by a sort of lottery what we will end up doing in our futures. Because of the coveted jobs available mostly to males, the Thressl’n began to favor male children, and fewer females were born. That is why we need the women of Earth.”
“And here I was thinking you were such an advanced species,” Alexa said. Was that bitterness in her voice? Or maybe sarcasm?
“We accept our fates,” Temal interjected, looking sourly at Alexa. “We wouldn’t want to devolve into the type of chaos you are subjected to on Earth. Why do you think so few choose to frequent that side of the universe, human?”
I put my hand on Temal’s shoulder to silence her, and did my best to smile pleasantly. “We all have a lot to learn about each other. Let’s get off to a good start, shall we?”
Temal glowered and nodded her head, and Alexa smiled at me innocently. I knew that Temal didn’t like humans. She never had. Every time we received a broadcast from Earth, she fumed about it for days. And on top of that, she was one of the Thressl’n women who were considered the lowest rungs of society. There were two camps of Thressl’n females: women who were considered nurturers and powerhouses that guided business, and the women who cleaned up after those in power and were expected to smile about it. Unfortunately, my cousin was in the second camp.
Most government tasks were assigned to males, and I didn’t see the trend changing anytime soon, despite the consequences of that preference. Especially not when men like Supreme Leader Aloitus and Zod were leading the Thressl’n. Although it was highly unfair to the women on our planet, sometimes unfair was just the way people wanted it.
“Would you females like to join me for a walk through the gardens before I leave tonight? It’s going to be a few days before I return.”
Temal glanced at Alexa and wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Actually, I have a lot of work to do in the house today. My day off left a lot to be desired. And apparently, there’s a horrifying mess in the kitchen.”
Alexa and I couldn’t help but laugh. Our attempt at cooking together had been delightfully disastrous. I hadn’t taken into consideration, however, how that might affect Temal. I had done my best to clean up, but the Thressl’n women in the house and home profession could see things that the naked eye often could not. It was all part of their training.
“My apologies, Temal. I will try to bring you something nice from Kelroa when I return.”
This brightened Temal’s face, as I knew it would, and she bowed deeply at me before retreating to the kitchen.
“I take it she’s not a fan of Earth,” Alexa said quietly.
“No, not really,” I admitted, though it pained me to have to do so.
“I guess I’m not much of a fan of Earth either,” Alexa said with a sigh. “Otherwise I would have chosen a different career path.”
“What career path did you choose?” I asked, my curiosity overwhelming. I had never considered the option of choosing one’s ranking in society. It seemed both startlingly unsure and exciting.
“Investigative journalist,” Alexa said.
“Ah…I don’t know what that is. Perhaps you would like to accompany me for a walk in the gardens? But if you do, maybe you should bring a parasol; the weather is hot today.”
Alexa smiled at me in a way that made the heat rise to my face. Again, I thought to myself how no creature here, or in any other universe, might compare to her beauty.
“That sounds nice,” she said. “Do you have a parasol I could borrow then?”
“Of course,” I stammered, walking briskly to the closet and retrieving one for her. “Please, take this.”
“That’s grandmother’s!” Temal exclaimed from the kitchen doorway. I looked sternly at her.
“Mind your rank!”
Temal’s eyes widened, surprised. I usually didn’t like to pull rank on her, but the way she was treating Alexa was starting to get on my nerves. You couldn’t judge a whole race of people based on singular events pushed forward by singularly greedy people. I had learned that the hard way as Commander of the Fleet, and soon I would be learning a whole lot more.
“Apologies to you,” Temal said bitterly, bowing deeply at me. She turned her back before I could give her my words of forgiveness and disappeared into the kitchen. A few moments later, I could hear her scrubbing the floor furiously, and I sighed deeply.
“Just give her some time,” Alexa said, linking my hand with hers and squeezing it gently. A sudden peace washed over me, and the heat from Alexa’s hands seemed to warm my entire body. How had I ever lived without this female in my life?
“The gardens are this way,” I said, not acknowledging my cousin’s emotional outburst. I would have to have a talk with her privately. If she continued to treat the human poorly, I would have to fire her.
“It’s so beautiful!”
Alexa’s clear hazel eyes were wide in wonderment as she gazed at all of the lush greenery of Jenal’k. Much of my collection was exotic and had come from Mount Zennith, and even I had to express amazement at the beauty of my garden. I had forsaken a large house so that I would have space for my huge sanctuary of plants, though most men in my position would have built a palace instead.
“This is my sanctuary,” I said, smiling at Alexa. “I’m gone from home so much that when I come back, I don’t need a lot of rooms in a fancy house. I need a place where I can unwind and be comfortable.”
“I love it,” Alexa said, turning her dazzling eyes on me. Her face was radiant with pleasure, and a fleeting, forbidden thought drove me to wonder just what it might look like when other types of pleasure flickered across it.
“Anyway, you still haven’t told me,” I said, trying to shove the forbidden thoughts out of my mind. It was surprisingly difficult. “What is an investigative journalist?”
Alexa looked down at her hands and laughed quietly. “It’s someone who goes around uncovering mysteries and conspiracies. Corruption in places where people are getting hurt because of other people’s greed.”
“So then…you choose to go against the wishes of your people?” I asked, surprised that one might decide on such a risky career path.
“Only the people with something to hide and more power than they deserve,” Alexa said, jutting her chin out defiantly.
“And who determines who deserves power and who doesn’t?” I asked, finding myself at odds with her words. My planet’s philosophy would dictate that we accept what we are fated with or suffer.
“How you use your power should determine whether or not you deserve to have it,” Alexa said confidently. “Some people take advantage of what they’re given and profit at the expense of others.”
“That’s no different than Earth’s concept of capitalism,” I pointed out, cleverly I thought. Alexa ignored the point though, and continued speaking. I had never heard a female so passionate about something before. It was attractive.
“Well, I think that’s wrong. There’s an unspoken moral code that one should follow, and when the people in power are doing things that hurt others for their own profit, and then lying about it, that’s when an investigative journalist should get involved and expose those lies so that nobody else falls victim to them. Are you trying to tell me that there is no such thing as corruption on Jenal’k?”
“Well, no, it’s just that we listen to our leaders. They are chosen by Fate, you understand. There are divinities that we hold very dear and who guide our way. And until recently, everything has run very smoothly upon listen
ing to their guidance. So I don’t see any reason to—”
“Wait a second. You said ‘until recently,’ which means there is a problem with the system. When there is a problem with the system, it’s somebody’s job to speak up about it, don’t you think?” Alexa was staring hard at me, and raising questions in my mind that made me feel very uncomfortable.
I hesitated to answer. My job was to protect the secrecy of the men above me and command ships in a war that, to my knowledge, nobody on Jenal’k understood. Why the war was happening was simple, but the reasons were left obscured by distance and time. It was to the point that nobody was asking, “Why is the war happening in the Kalron territory,” and instead they would say things such as, “I hear there was a Thressl’n casualty in the war on the other side of the galaxy. What a shame.”
The Thressl’n enlisted to fight had been carefully selected. They were men with nothing to lose, or men with nothing to gain from the career paths they were already on. It was a dangerous time to be living in, but nobody knew just how little safety they had to rely on. And if I didn’t do my job right, Jenal’k itself could end up being a target.
All because Supreme Leader Aloitus was after something the Kalron had. Something I wasn’t sure was worth the lives of countless casualties.
“I don’t think I want to talk about this right now,” I said finally, clearing my throat. “But I wonder…of all the paths you could have chosen, why this one? Isn’t it dangerous? Earthlings aren’t huge fans of the truth, are they?”
Alexa laughed softly, and I noticed suddenly the way her cheeks formed into shallow, alluring dimples when she smiled. I had to tear my eyes away before she caught me staring.
“No, the truth is a difficult concept on Earth because they’ve made it such a subjective thing. It’s different for everybody.”
“But facts are facts,” I said. There was clearly a lot I had to learn about Earth.
Alexa shrugged. “I chose the path I’m on because I wanted to help people. And I love photography. It was a great way to combine two of my passions: sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong, and taking pictures.”
I grinned. “Taking pictures?”
“It probably seems silly to you. Thressl’n technology is so advanced that I doubt you would ever covet photography like I do.”
“It is a rather primitive art form, don’t you think? There are satellite feeds you can insert location points into and get a feed of an image from any date or time. Isn’t that good enough?”
Alexa looked at me as if I were the biggest idiot in the world.
“You don’t think the people doing corrupt things and owning satellites could alter images to keep themselves out of trouble?” she exclaimed. “I want my own camera.”
“You want a camera, huh?” I asked, chuckling and shaking my head. “Well, I’m not sure what to tell you about that.”
Alexa smiled at me, and all of the tension I was feeling from the conversation melted away. “That’s okay. I think I can keep myself occupied here.”
She was just so unbelievably beautiful.
“I hope so. Will you be okay while I’m gone?”
“I should be fine, though I don’t know what I’m going to eat,” she laughed.
I grinned. “That shouldn’t be a problem. I will arrange meals to be delivered if you aren’t confident after yesterday’s lesson.”
“Would you be?” she exclaimed. We both laughed. It had been a pleasant disaster.
“Like I said, meals will be arranged. But don’t let anybody inside with you. There is a lot of hostility about the humans, kind of what you’ve seen with my cousin. It would be safer if you stayed inside and kept to yourself. I would take you with me if I could.”
“Where are you going?”
“To war,” I said without thinking.
“What? I thought you guys were relatively peaceful. I mean, despite kidnapping hundreds of women and forcing them into camps where people like Zod can abduct them.”
“Zod?” I asked, thrown off-guard at the mention of him.
Alexa’s cheeks reddened deeply, and she looked quickly to the ground.
“Well, you know, he seems so arrogant. Like some of the men on Earth. So I can only imagine how he might treat a human woman if he got his hands on her.”
“He was particularly eager to claim his female,” I agreed.
Alexa glowered darkly at the row of flowers in front of us. “I’m sure he was.”
“Are you okay?” I asked, reaching out to touch her on the shoulder. She seemed to relax under my touch, and she turned to face me.
“Chaz’z, there’s something I should tell you,” Alexa said. “I—”
“Commander!”
The bangle on my arm barked at me, and I sighed.
“Apologies to you,” I said to Alexa, turning away to speak to Supreme Leader Aloitus.
“Yes, sir?”
“Take off has been moved to three rotations from now. You are expected at headquarters immediately.”
“But—”
“Are you questioning my command?!”
“No, sir! I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“That’s what I thought.”
I pursed my lips in irritation and turned to face Alexa.
“I’m afraid I will have to leave sooner than was thought. Please look after the home for me. I will be back as soon as I can.”
Without thinking, I embraced Alexa. She gasped at the feeling of my arms around her waist and craned her neck up to look at me. It was as if our bodies had a mind of their own, and without thinking twice, I leaned over and kissed Alexa, lightly at first, but soon a passionate fire was ignited. Waves of desire washed over me as I drank in the sweetness of her supple lips, and she gripped the cloth over my shoulders. We were both breathless when we broke away from each other, and Alexa wrapped her arms around herself and looked down modestly at the ground.
“Stay safe,” she whispered, her clear eyes shimmering with the same strange clear liquid as I had seen once before.
“That means you are sad!” I exclaimed happily, proud that I understood this strange human phenomenon.
Alexa gave me a strange look, and the smile on my face faltered.
“I am sorry,” I stammered. “Was that not appropriate?”
To my relief, the attractive dimple returned to her cheek, and her captivating eyes drew me in, deeper than I thought I could ever look into somebody else.
“It’s not offensive,” Alexa said quietly. “Because I don’t think you would ever find real pleasure in my pain.”
Alexa’s lips parted into the most dazzling smile I had ever seen, and my hearts hammered hard in my chest. I would have stared at her all day, mesmerized, were it not for the communications device around my arm.
“Commander!” Zod’s voice agitated me immediately. “You need to pick up the St’arghach for the offering! Someone forgot it! Do you want to tempt fate, Rog?!”
“I’m sorry, Captain Zod,” Rog’s muffled voice said. I sighed deeply.
“I’ll pick it up.”
“Zod’s going too?” Alexa asked, her brow creasing.
“Yes, but we should be stationed in different areas, so I will survive,” I said with a dismissive laugh. The worry didn’t leave her eyes, and she smiled unconvincingly at me. “It will be all right.”
“Sure…” Alexa said. “You’d better go.”
“I’d best,” I said, reluctant, for some reason, to part with her. Why did it feel like I was risking everything by leaving her? She would still be here when I got back, wouldn’t she?
I did my best to smile at Alexa one last time, fighting the foreboding in my chest. One way or another, I would have to go. Whether I liked it or not, Alexa would have to stay on Jenal’k. I would just have to trust that when I returned, things would be just as I’d left them.
Chapter 5
Alexa Thomas (Investigative Journalist)
The first night without Chaz’z in t
he house was difficult. I kept expecting to run into him, or hear his soothing voice speaking into his communications device. I had grown quite fond of his little home. It was comfortable but luxurious. Seeing the gardens had been magical, and it seemed like the perfect touch for his already incredible dwelling.
He had seemed surprised that I liked it though, and again I felt anger and irritation toward my twin, who had undoubtedly snubbed Chaz’z’s kindness. In a way, I felt like she had Zod’s temper coming to her. But she was still my sister. I couldn’t just leave her there.
I waited until Temal had left and then roamed through the house quietly. If I was going to do this, I would have to do it right. Since I couldn’t trust that Zod would ever feed me, I would have to make sure my basic needs were met myself. At least, for as long as they possibly could be.
“Don’t worry Sam; I’m coming,” I whispered as I rummaged through the drawers in Chaz’z’s house. They didn’t give me much to work with, until I found a needle and thread stuffed far in the back of one drawer.
I used it to sew pockets inside my clothing so that I could hide food inside of them, and then went into the kitchen to rummage through it. There weren’t many dried goods, so I had to settle for strange packages of things I couldn’t recognize. Who knew what they were? Still, it would be better than leaving unprepared.
I rushed out the front door as quickly as I could, closing my eyes in an attempt to recall which direction Zod lived in. I would have to try to remain hidden for this to work.
Thankfully, it was a small neighborhood full of elite Thressl’n men, and most of them were gone, if the absence of a hovercraft was any indication. The neighborhood was small enough that it was easy to find my way to Zod’s home. I recognized it immediately and felt sick to my stomach at the sight of it. I couldn’t believe I was going back. And willingly. But I knew it was safe. He wouldn’t be there for another few days. It would be enough time to switch back with Samantha and save her.
***
“Alexa! What the hell are you doing here?!” Samantha exclaimed. I had been tapping on the window for at least five minutes, and had almost given up. “What if Zod catches you?”
