by A. C. Katt
“Where do they come in?” Anya asked.
Mark’s answer was both quiet and direct, “Tonas’s and Jonal’s people, the Sarrans, brought us the vaccine and antidote.” He continued, “Three cycles ago the same aliens that attacked Earth attacked Sarran.”
Anya’s body slammed back into the pillows, pulled under by a wave of grief and anguish. She smelled smoke and charred metal, a memory that wasn’t hers. Tonas’s chest heaved. His normal golden skin tone paled to a ghostly white. Jonal trembled. Her mind was awash in a sea of anger, guilt and despair. Then her vision cleared as the men at her side regained control. Anya knew she had some latent empathic ability; it was one of the reasons she became a physician. But that had been strong, beyond anything she had ever received before.
Tonas took up the narrative, his voice harsh. “The Zyptz made war on humanoids for centuries. They are an insectoid species unwilling or unable to share habitat, nesters, incompatible with humanoids. The Galactic Alliance negotiated and made treaties. They broke them all. We attempted containment. They became more aggressive. Finally, the Alliance decided to push them out of humanoid space and force their expansion in another direction. We had them on the run, but they found the ultimate weapon. They seeded our world with Plague. There was no vaccine.”
He turned slightly, to Jonal. Something passed between them. They were lovers. Anya couldn’t explain how she knew, she just did. She felt encompassed in their physical need for each other. Tonas’s eyes were suspiciously bright, he blinked and lowered his head. She felt, rather than heard, Jonal soothe him.
Where do I fit in all of this? she wondered.
Jonal picked up the story, giving Tonas time to recover. “It took the combined science of Sarran and the Galactic Alliance two cycles to find an antidote and a vaccine. It was difficult. All of our fems succumbed. The basso voice was tight, clipped. Another wave of emotion bathed her consciousness—emptiness, profound loss.
Anya’s mind spun. All of them, gone? How unimaginable, genocide on a planetary scale? Her brain roiled with questions. She watched the men. How did they cope? How did they deal with that kind of massive loss? It finally all clicked. Oh my God, Earth, the insects, they tried to do that to Earth.
“Mark, did Earth survive? Why did these insects attack us? Were we in the way?”
“It was biology,” Mark stated flatly. “Our DNA and reproductive functions are the closest to Sarran DNA of all the known humanoid populations.”
Tonas spoke gently, “Pa Channa, the Zyptz sought any race compatible with our people. We hoped we had time. You are in a remote corner…”
“We would have embraced death but for the existence of this planet, your species,” Jonal said. “It’s why we continued the research, found the vaccine. It gave us hope and a reason to continue. We knew they would look. It was a race, one we almost lost.”
“But we succeeded,” Tonas said. He picked up Anya’s hand brought it to his lips, and kissed the palm. Pure raw desire shot straight from Anya’s palm to her channel. Her body screamed for more. Anya straightened her back and shoulders to focus away from desire and back to the information. She needed to understand her situation.
She cleared her throat, snatched her hand from Tonas’s and placed it firmly back on Tigger. “So, the Sarran saved the people of Earth?” she asked the room at large.
“Yes, we lost very few on the planet,” Mark said, rather tentatively. “There were about 4500 ICU cases too far into flare to be saved by conventional means. They evacuated 4500 to the Brightstar. The Zyptz tailored the Plague virus to aggressively attack Sarran DNA. The differential between Sarran and other humanoid genetic code is psi talent. Any woman with latent or undeveloped psi talent was more susceptible to attack.”
Anya hardened her voice. “I understand that much, Mark. They saved us. I know I am aboard, I’m empathic, I fit the profile. Four thousand five hundred women with latent psi in their DNA needed advanced medical facilities, facilities Earth didn’t possess. I’m grateful I’m alive. That still doesn’t explain why I’m here in this bed rather than an infirmary. Could we get to the part where you explain why I’m naked in the harem with the two sultans, or is this the ICU crazies?”
Jonal attempted to pull Anya into his arms. He was soothing again. She felt it. Her ability to read these guys was expanding exponentially.
“Pa Mici, I told you before, you are sound of mind. You are right where you should be, with Tonas and me.” Anya jerked away from Jonal. Tigger hissed. She was caught between them.
“You may think I belong here but it’s what I think that counts. And I think the jury’s still out.” Anya tucked the robe around her and said in a tight voice, “The rest of it, Mark, now.” There was a connection here she wasn’t quite making. She knew she had a bad case of the hots for these two. The question remained: How did these guys make her hormones sing? What was this Bond business?
“The U.S. government had been in negotiation with the Sarrans since the eighth of July. The government caught the Zyptz contaminating the atmosphere from a spy satellite feed on July 4th. The Zyptz cloaked and were invisible to our technology until the Sarrans arrived early on the sixth and began blowing them out of the air. The Sarrans were a day behind them. It was no coincidence that the Zyptz found Earth. The Sarran Elders were worried about security. Brightstar fleet was aware their mission was probably compromised.”
“Too many people knew too much about our arrangements with the Alliance,” Tonas interjected, as he idly began to stroke her thigh. Anya took his arm and, with a sigh of exasperation, moved it away.
“Does Your Highness have trouble with the translation of the word no?” Anya asked sweetly. “Continue, please.”
::She, like her Tigger, has claws, My Light. We swim in deep waters,: Tonas sent to Jonal.
Aloud, Jonal picked up the narrative, “We chose your country, by tracing the satellite signal. From our own experience, we knew what to expect planetside. Since we traced the signal back, we knew we were expected. We could have come in cloaked, but we had no reason for subterfuge.”
As if finishing Jonal’s thought, Tonas continued, “After disabling the enemy, we attempted immediate contact with the signal source. Your government hailed us on all monitored channels.”
“Anya,” Mark said, “Jonal and Tonas were given a mission, not only to save Earth, but also to save the Sarrans. They offered our government the vaccine and antidote, no strings attached. They presented Earth with unlimited prospects for trade and technology transfer. Brightstar brought an invitation for Earth to join the Galactic Alliance, something that would not have been achieved by Earth in our lifetime, if not for the Zyptz. In return, the Sarrans only begged for the opportunity to present their situation to our women. They needed volunteers, women to go back to Sarran and help them repopulate the planet. Their Elders had thought this through; they had contracts prepared with very generous terms. Anyone who volunteered would have been amply rewarded.”
“The Elders felt we wouldn’t be able to link with Earthen fems, Pa Mici. They were wrong,” Jonal whispered.
“The White House refused their offer, flat out refused. So many women suffered. Dammit, Anya, it’s hard to explain this, fucking politics.” Mark exploded. “Finally, around July 14th, the epidemic had reached a point where the Government had to do something. Women were dying. It was evident, even to the politicians, that Earth would not survive without its female population. The Pentagon, at the behest of the executive branch, made a counter proposal. They would let the Sarrans take 4500 women. Those were the women who were already in ICUs across the country, with no hope of recovery other than Sarran medical facilities, if the Sarrans would provide the antidote to the rest of the population. The catch was that the whole operation had to be covert. Warriors in the Brightstar Fleet knew they had mates on the surface. Those women with talent broke through psi shields and broadcast their suffering. Fleet Warriors instinctively responded to compatible mates.”
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bsp; “We could not stand by and let it happen again, Pa Channa. Jonal and I, we felt you weaken. You were within the Goddess’s grasp. We couldn’t wait. We wanted to give you choice. There wasn’t time for any more negotiation. It went against all honor but…”
“There were the other Warriors, Pa Mici. We had to think of them, we had all lost mothers and sisters on Sarran. For once, honor be damned. Tonas and I knew that what they proposed, taking, instead of asking, was hypocrisy, a conspiracy of silence.” Jonal spat out his words in derision. “We couldn’t let our men watch, yet again. It wasn’t entirely selfish.” Jonal turned his face away.
Anya looked at the three men before her. Not one was comfortable with telling her the truth. “I gather that I called the two of you, no, don’t answer that yet.” She looked at Mark. The United States Government sold 4,500 women to the Sarrans in return for control of the vaccine that could save the Earth’s population. Did it save everyone, Mark? Did the bastards distribute it to the rest of the planet or are they holding them hostage?”
Mark tried to soothe her. “The Sarrans didn’t let them do that, Anya. The Sarrans weren’t that stupid. The assholes that tried to hijack the vaccine were out maneuvered before the negotiations concluded. As soon as the women were transported safely, they forced the U.S. government to distribute supplies of the vaccine and antidote plus the formula for its manufacture through the U.N. As soon as the Brightstar fleet reaches Sarran, preparations will be made for a return journey. The Sarrans will land under U.N. sponsorship, and the treaties and technology transfer will benefit all of mankind.” Mark smirked, “The Sarrans have bigger guns. I believe Congress is fine tuning the impeachment process.”
“So I get a ticket home, one round trip to the far reaches?”
“You already know that isn’t the way this is going to go down,” Mark replied. His word were stark, naked, the truth.
“In essence, 4,500 women are forfeit?” She finally got it. A breeder, she was to be a breeder. She’d been programmed.
“Initially, our government believed the women would be bred. The Sarrans on Brightstar never even considered that a possibility, once they realized they had fems on the surface capable of bonding. To a Sarran WarriorPair finding their fem, their female anchor, is the point of their existence. It’s very difficult to explain, but the Sarran fem has more respect, more freedom, more choice than any woman on earth ever imagined.”
“So, as long as I serve as a brood mare, all is right with the world? Mark, I came from a culture where women were considered either baby factories or nuns. You could do other things, but babies were your raison d’être. I will not go backward.” Anya spoke with anger and vehemence. The men beside her went very still. She sensed a conversation just beyond her grasp.
Tonas pulled her around to face him. “The Bond is genetic. It is real. It was not manufactured or programmed,” he said. “Had I or Jonal met you on your planet there would have been an instant attraction. Your scientists call it pheromones.”
“Mark, I need honesty here. Did the vaccine cause the Bond?”
Red-hot anger hit her in the face. Jonal stood and loomed over her. He enunciated every word. “You think that we would or could lie to you? You are our fem, the base of our Triad. Think you so little of our honor that we would subject you to abuse at our hands? We would cut them off before we abused you. We would lay the galaxy at your feet for just a smile. We loved you before we saw you. Your shape and features didn’t matter. Your essence called to us across space. How could you believe…?” Jonal turned on his heel and flung himself out of the room.
Tonas rose up as if to follow, his whole body tense. Just as abruptly as he left, Jonal appeared back at the entry. Tonas sat back down on the edge of the bed. He didn’t attempt physical contact. Despite her feelings of ill-usage, she was disappointed in a weird way.
He spoke to her quietly, “To answer your question honestly, yes, every woman on earth now carries some Sarran DNA. But that was necessary for the vaccine to be effective. Did we do this deliberately to gain an advantage over Earth? I don’t know. I am not an elder. However, I can say that our elders never expected the Earthen fems to be able to bond with our WarriorPairs. Knowing that, it is hard to believe that we would plan to take more fems than the minimum needed to begin re-population. For a WarriorPair to take a fem who is not their BondMate is an anathema to our civilization. I have to conclude that the inclusion of the DNA was not a political decision, rather a desperate scientific one.
Is that bit of DNA an advantage to Sarran? Yes and no. Yes, because it will give our Warriors a wider opportunity to bond. No, because some of the potential fems who could bond might be unwilling to try. Others won’t want to go to Sarran and will not complete their bond for that reason. The Warriors who BondStirred either type will be forever without a fem. I’ve seen WarriorPairs commit suicide after losing a fem. Some of or our Warriors may choose to stay Earthbound with their fem, which would be advantageous to Earth, but not to Sarran.
In addition, the Sarran WarriorPairs will have to compete with Earthen males. Some of your largest spiritual organizations will condemn us for our so-called deviations. According to some Earth standards we are immoral because we practice polygamy and homosexuality, even though both are practiced in all four corners of your Earth. We have seen your vids and read your publications, you deny these things but yet, they are done. For us, these things are natural, as I expect they will be to your population when you to evolve. We were made that way millennia ago by our genetic scientists, we are what we are and cannot change that, nor would we want to do so. But, Pa Channa, our bond with you is real.
I know this because Jonal and I felt the BondStir as soon as we pulled into Earth space before you were vaccinated. You reached out to us. You were frightened and alone. We made you a promise then, we said you would never be alone again. We kept our word. Since we first gained your side one of us has always been present. One of us slept in the infirmary. Since you’ve been in quarters, one of us has been beside you. You have never left our care.” Tonas looked at her with sadness. He rose again and put his hand out to Jonal. “Yes, we are lovers. For ten cycles. But you are part of us. As necessary to each of us as we are to each other.” They embraced. Tonas took Jonal’s chin between his finger and thumb, moving his face up for a kiss.
Anya was so fascinated by the Warriors that she had almost forgotten Mark until he spoke her name in that familiar cutting tone. “Anya! You are Bonded to Jonal and Tonas. From where I see it, it’s the best thing that’s ever happened in your narrow, constricted life. For once, keep an open mind. Forget your damn upbringing, go with your own inclinations. Learn about the Sarran people and the nature of a Bond. This isn’t a fucking perversion. This is their whole life and now, yours.”
“How do you know, Mark? You’re not a woman. You aren’t relocating permanently to an unknown culture. You aren’t being asked to consider sexually submitting to…”
“Did I mention that there were 4500 women and one man, Anya? Me. I’m the man. I am BondMate to Dr. Bane, a Sarran Warrior of the FireClan.” Mark spoke quietly, then he slipped out of the room.
Shamefaced, Anya peeked up at Jonal and Tonas. “I’m sorry, you’ve been nothing but kind. I didn’t understand. I didn’t know…”
You know us, Pa Mici; you just need to remember.
We have time, Pa Channa.
“You are in my mind. I hear you.”
::We have been since you first took ill, Pa Mici. Tonas and I never left you alone. You needed us. We are prepared to wait for you. Please, give us a chance.::
::We only ask that you sleep in our bed, with us. No one will approach you, unless you specifically ask, Pa Channa. We need to know you are safe.::
::Tonas that was your voice in my head. You call me Pa Channa, Jonal calls me Pa Mici.::
::Pa Mici means my beloved little one,:: Jonal sent.
::Pa Channa means my heart,:: Tonas told her in the same manner.
&
nbsp; “Oh…I’ve been horrible after all you have done for me. You even thought to bring Tigger. Please forgive me. I am so very sorry.”
::She begins to truly see and recognize us, Firefly. There is hope.:: Their relief at her contrition was palpable.
Tonas said, “Anya, you need to eat and you need time to yourself. There are robes in the armoire, but most of your clothing is in the dressing room beyond the cleansing unit. Some of your things are there but…”
Jonal interrupted, “The other garments are traditional Sarran attire. We hope you find them comfortable. We’ll get you better, handmade things when we get home.”
Tonas continued, “The other entry leads to the living and food preparation chambers of our quarters. Ask aloud for anything you want. We can replicate most anything, but it isn’t as good replicated as fresh. For fresh you need to go to the mess hall. You might want to go when you are stronger to speak to the other women.”
“My Light, let’s leave it thus, for now. If you need us, Anya, just call, we will hear you. Tonas, love, let’s give our fem some privacy. Your toilet things from your abode are set out with some additional things from Sarran.” His mind tone changed color brighter, more playful. “Pa Mici, I’m curious, what is the relationship of the muscles gluteus maximus to breakfast rolls?” With that, they both left the room.
Anya was in shock. They were both in my head. I don’t believe this. They heard me waxing poetic over the state of their buns. Shit. That means they heard everything. God damn. They know I’m hot for them. Fuck. Shit. Damn. They know everything I’ve thought for as long as I’ve been here. Fuck. Anya stopped. She was cursing in her head. If she could do it in her head, why not out loud.
Profanity was rather liberating. She had cursed more in the last two minutes than she had in twenty-six years. Mark was right. My upbringing has limited me. I was turning into a miniature of that self-righteous bitch, Sister Edwana, right down to the celibacy. Well, Sister Rose, a conscience, even a wee bit over developed one, is a good thing. However, Sister Edwana, let Consequences be damned.
