by Eden Ember
“Blaire, the Hjotts are closely akin to humans. Do you realize that several of the Qetesh agents have already chosen Hjotts as their mates?”
She didn’t have time for this. She knew of Queen Chera, the human who married the Hjott king. “Okay, so what?”
“You’re smarter than that. Biology is biology, I dare say the alien organisms aren’t that removed from what you have been doing here. I would think that this would be right up your alley. And what an opportunity! You’ll have the best of technology and laboratory equipment at your disposal.” Lawson wasn’t giving in at all.
Blaire nodded, he was right. Humanity, or whatever, pulled at her heart to help a system in desperate need of her expertise. Still, she couldn’t help but roll her eyes a little. “It’s just very difficult for me to believe that there’s no one between here and the Vada System who could do this,” she replied.
“They’ve searched everywhere. Blaire, you’re unique on Earth and in the galaxy. You can say no, but I’m here to push you to say yes,” Lawson said. His brow lifted.
“Just so we’re clear, I’ll go to serve a civic duty to humans, or other beings, but as soon as I am finished I would be returning to Earth. I don’t plan to stay gone any longer than I would be needed,” she told him.
For several years Blaire Brock has eaten, slept, and dreamed of her work in the laboratory. She hasn’t had time for love or relationships of any sort. It never crossed her mind. Not a man out there has caught her eye, though many have tried. She politely turned down all potential suitors in the name of science. There have been too many experiments for Blaire to maintain her focus on anything else.
The lab held so many works in progress; she didn’t know where to begin. Cataloging her progress was the first line of action when she agreed to go to the Vada System.
“Have you taken care of things in the lab yet?” Lawson asked two days later.
Blaire looked intently at a test tube before jotting something onto her clipboard and then shoved it into a storage case. “No, this is more important,” she said absent-mindedly.
"Getting your things in order is not important? Do you have pets? Do you have someone who will miss you while you're gone?" Lawson asked.
"Lawson, you know who my friends are. I don't have time for relationships and I don't have a pet," Blaire replied.
Lawson came over and placed his hand on her arm, stopping her as she started on another set of test tubes. She finally paused and looked at the man. "You will be away for quite a while. We can’t even put a time limit on this. We don't know how long it will take for you to do the things that you need to do to help them. Plus, traveling there and traveling back takes some time. I suggest that you go home and get things in order. You might even want to sublet your place until you’re in close enough range to let us know that you're heading back," suggested Lawson.
"Worry not, I'm taking care of things," she promised.
Blaire breathed a sigh as Lawson chuckled and she turned to address her lab partners, Tressa and Warren. They stood by silently listening as she told them exactly what needed to be done in her absence. Blaire almost sounded as if she expected to be back within a month or two.
"Lawson said you will be away at least six months if not longer," Tressa told her.
Blaire angrily glared at her. "Not if I have anything to do with it. If they think that I'm so good at this, I'll create the virus on the way there that will bind to one cyborg and uplink it to all of them and come right back," she said.
"I don't think it will be as easy as that. He will want you to stay there until they completely resolve their problems with the cyborg army," Warren observed.
For the next couple of weeks, Blaire worked with Tressa and Warren and showed them how to operate the laboratory in her absence, even if that absence was extended. What if the godforsaken spaceship blew up while traveling between the systems through the wormholes?
All too soon the time came when Blaire needed to leave. She packed her bags, the few that she could take with her, and had them ready at the airlock. She still fretted about the laboratory, trying to catalog the last remaining experiment she had going on there. Blaire looked helplessly at the plants that she had growing in the box and doubted anyone else could care of them the way she had, but she had no choice.
Lawson walked into the room followed by the dignitaries who would lead her to the alien to take her to the Vada System. Blaire couldn't stand them, as they were like puppies following a bag of bones. She reluctantly let go of her cataloging clipboard, shoved it into the filing cabinet, and locked it. She handed the key to Tressa, trusting her with it. After nodding, she turned and followed Lawson. Blaire grabbed her bags and made her way to meet her traveling companion.
Lawson smiled as he cleared his throat and the giant alien turned around, his hulking presence foreboding to everyone. He stood head and shoulders taller than any man in the place, and yet he looked strikingly human, albeit a human with massive muscle mass. Blaire took a deep breath as she looked into the deepest violet eyes she'd ever seen. They were mesmerizing eyes, an uncommon color for human beings. Swallowing hard, she held out her hand in a very human gesture of greeting. He took hold of her and his six fingers engulfed her small hand in a vigorous shake.
"Nice to meet you, Blaire," Kezon the alien said.
Chapter 3
Kezon
The Terran’s frail features caught Kezon off-guard. He had had little interaction with the Terran females back on Jatra, and this was the first time he'd ever been this close to one. The biologist, Blaire Brock, looked up at him with her soft hazel-green eyes, large and beautiful. Her full lips and beautiful golden hair that flowed softly below her shoulders filled his eyes. Her beauty was striking compared to any other female being he'd ever known. She shook his hand with such authority that it caught him off guard. He had heard so many things about how Blaire was incredibly intelligent, probably more so than any Hjott he'd ever known.
"Pleased to meet you too," she told him. Her soft voice sent a slow shiver up his spine. Oh no, his chest warmed for the first time ever. In fact, it shook him so violently that he had to regain his composure. He'd heard Kedun talk about how it had happened with him, and here he was staring at a beautiful Terran who shook him to the core in very much the same way as described.
Kezon pivoted quickly with Blaire on his heels and boarded the Gamma Tracker. She was very businesslike, a little cool on the surface. She fastened her belt and took a deep breath as she shook. It had taken two days to load her equipment into the Tracker and take it up to the Gamma Revolution. He thought she'd be ready for the adventure ahead.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"I’m fine. I'm just not accustomed to traveling in a spaceship. I'm much more accustomed to being in my lab," she replied.
Once on board the Gamma Revolution, Blaire became very involved in how her equipment was prepared for her. She demanded that things be set up in a certain way. She angrily glared at Kezon. "If you want me to do this, I need to have my equipment put together in the way I work best. And please make certain that once it's set up like I want it that I am left alone. I work best by myself," she told him curtly.
Kezon winced at her suddenly caustic attitude. She was so small compared to him and the other Hjotts on the ship, but Blaire didn't allow that difference to stand in the way of what she expected. She was very controlling, and it caused him to appreciate her all the more. The warrior inside him wanted to get to know her better, to discover what made the Terran tick. She was so authoritative and stand-offish that he was having a difficult time getting to know her. Kezon ignored the burning in his chest, realizing that she would be a cold one to approach. He wished that she would be more like Treasure, who was very curious about the Hjotts and about other life in general.
Once Blaire finished setting up the lab, Kezon showed her around the Gamma Revolution. "This is Vada’s finest," he said with pride.
She nodded. "I'm sure that
it is. I'll let you know if it is up to my expectations after I work for a day or two in the laboratory."
"You don’t sound too happy to be going along on this mission," Kezon replied.
"I have accepted this mission because I felt compelled to do so. Once it's over, I will expect to be brought back at once. And if you leave me alone and let me do my work, I will make certain that it is completed correctly the first time around.”
Kezon winced at Blaire’s indifference. Not an ounce of warmth seemed to dwell inside her, or so he thought. They had a long journey ahead of them, and they needed to try to get along. He'd rather have someone easier to talk to than someone who was simply stiff and unfriendly.
"Why don't you rest first and then get to work? Trust me, you have plenty of time to work here before we make it to Arthexei. I don't want you to tire yourself before we get there," Kezon suggested.
Blaire sighed with obvious annoyance. "If it's all the same to you, this is not a pleasure trip for me. This is serious business, so I would prefer to get straight to work. You don't know me very well, but I'm not exactly the type to simply lie around and rest. I don't know what you think about human beings or Terrans, as you call us, but I am not the type of person who needs to be pampered and babied with lots of rest. I'm a very hard-working scientist, and I'm keen to get started. It will take some time to get to know my lab in this new environment as well as finish prepping the equipment I have. I have just left the lab that I’ve known for many years, so if you don't mind, I'd like to get to work. Let's just remove all the so-called pleasantries," she stated flatly.
"I assure you, Blaire, I am not trying to keep you from doing your job. It's just that I don't think humans and Hjotts are all that different in their need to take time to acclimate to new conditions. I'm merely trying to save you from any burnout you might experience later on. You need to trust me in this. I’m trained in behavioral sciences along with extensive warrior training," Kezon replied.
"Look, I appreciate your concern for me. Right now, I’m eager to get the lab setup and to work on my experiments. I don't want to get to our destination and not have a workable solution. I'm very obsessive-compulsive about this sort of thing," Blaire told him.
Kezon tried to be understanding as he shook his head. "What is obsessive-compulsive?" he asked.
She chuckled slightly as she nodded her head. "Obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD, means that I'm very thorough in what I do or maybe you would see it more as being a super perfectionist. I want to make sure everything is exactly the way it is supposed to be. Until I get my equipment fully set up, I'll be too anxious to do anything else. Please, Kezon, if you give me a bit of time to set the lab up and start my experiments I promise that I will sit down with you and talk to you more. At least, once I feel acclimated to the new lab," she said.
He nodded. "Okay, I think I understand now. We may have a little communication deficit between the two of us, but this is a long trip and we will have plenty of time to get to know one another. I'll leave you to it for now, but I will hold you to your promise to sit down and talk to me as well as for you to rest. I insist that you observe the rest hours on the ship which will be to your health and benefit," Kezon replied.
Again, Blaire signed as she looked at him and nodded. "Okay, okay. You drive a tough bargain. But I understand where you're coming from," she told him with a slight smirk.
"As the commander of the ship, I expect everyone to do as I ask. I give you as much leeway and freedom as you need to work in your lab, but I also expect you to do what you can to take care of yourself. I will be back in a day or two to insist upon that little conversation with you.” Kezon bowed his head and turned to leave Blaire to her work. There was little else to be said between them for now, but there would be a time soon when he could spend more time with the scientist.
Once Kezon reached the bridge, he shook his head at Uza. "That’s one fiery Terran," he told him as he thumbed back toward the hall that led to the lab.
Uza lifted his thick brow and chuckled. He was an older Hjott, one who happily took second command beneath Kezon. "But she's a Terran female, and you never know about them," he said as he grabbed Kezon's arm and chuckled.
Kezon worried that Uza could see his uxormea glowing underneath his tunic. It had been difficult to hide it from the crew. He didn't want anyone to know what had happened to him.
After two days of continued arguing with Blaire and insisting that she take her sleep leave, Kezon finally felt forced to program the laboratory lights to shut off at a certain time and to not come on again until the Terran scientist had enough time to rest. Perhaps she was more Hjott than Terran, and she liked to work all the time and needed very little sleep. Kezon walked into Blairs lab as she was busy leaning over her tiny plants. She looked up at him and smiled slightly.
"I would like to ask you to accompany me to dinner tonight. We'll have dinner in my front room so that we can discuss the upcoming mission," he said to Blaire. Really, it wasn't a request, but was more of an order. He hoped that his tone conveyed that.
"Okay, Kezon, I can't keep avoiding this, can I?" she said as she continued to smile.
Chapter 4
Blaire
After Kezon reiterated that his dinner invitation wasn't a choice but an order, Blaire felt compelled, once again, to do something for the aliens. Blaire didn’t have time to make nice and be civil with her hosts. Solitude and silence pleased her much more. Though if she were honest with herself, she would admit to the curiosity she had about the alien. He wasn't human, but he seemed almost human in many ways.
She took off for the day and went back to her room. It was a small room, with more of a cot for a bed. The tiny washroom held a small shower, a small sink, and what served as a toilet. At least it was something similar to what she would expect to see at a campground back home. Blaire quickly showered and changed into her best brick red suit. Before she left Earth, the Qetesh had given her an entire wardrobe to wear. The outfits were more like jumpsuits, with pockets everywhere and places to put things like weapons. While she had some training to use weapons and had been given some to take with her, the scientist kept those locked away inside her trunk. Her education and training didn’t include full combat. However, she certainly could release a violent and very ugly AI-altered organism into the water system that would take out many enemies. That line of thought caused her to chuckle as she brushed her hair. Blaire had worn it back in a ponytail all day and enjoyed the chance to finally let it hang free.
Kezon had the table prepared in his sitting room and not in the ship’s dining hall. A crew member brought the food, and Blaire looked at the warmed goods that had been brought from Earth. Human food was something that would whet her appetite more than the food typically offered on the ship. Unfortunately, she knew that at some point it would run out and she would have to learn how to eat the new food.
Kezon smiled as they ate the meal. Even though it was human food, Blaire was not as hungry as she thought she would be and forced the small bites down to keep up her strength. She glanced up at the alien and again thought about how strikingly human he seemed to be. Kezon was large, and what struck her as most intriguing were his eyes. They were the deepest and most intense violet color she'd ever seen. It was almost as if he had amethysts for eyes. He more than likely would make the strongest of men on Earth jealous with his physique. Yet, the Hjotts didn't work to gain muscle as humans did. They were just born that way. Blaire felt a twinge of desire deep within her as she peered at him, finding him very attractive.
Kezon kept staring at her, making her feel uneasy. Blaire finally put down her fork and spoke to her host. "I'm sorry, Kezon, but did you want to discuss the mission?" she asked.
"Do you have everything that you need in your lab? We haven't quite reached hyper-speed yet, nor have we gone through the wormholes. I'm hoping this won't disrupt any of the experiments that you're trying in there," Kezon replied.
"Trust me, I've already pu
t my experiments through different scenarios including what happens to the cells while going through wormholes and going faster than the speed of light. Everything I'm doing will be just fine," Blaire answered confidently.
"If you need anything, just ask.”
She laughed. "It’s a little too late if there's something I'm missing now.”
"We will pass a few star systems along the way that have space stations and outposts. We could pick up supplies at any of those," he told her.
Blaire had already considered how she was leaving her own solar system and how she would pass by many other star systems. To Kezon, it was probably like stopping by the convenience store to pick up a loaf of bread. But to an Earth woman it was much more amazing. Excitement grew within her about seeing the sights outside her small corner of the galaxy.
Kezon left her with plenty to think about as Blaire tried to fall asleep later that night. She groaned as she rolled over on the uncomfortable cot, but she was certain that after a few nights she would get used to it. When she came into the lab the next day, Kezon was at first not there. However, he soon showed up and watched her as she worked. Having an audience made her very uncomfortable. Pausing what she was doing at the moment, Blaire looked up at him.
"Can I help you with anything?" she asked.
Kezon chuckled. "Does my presence bother you? We're floating through space and getting ready to approach hyper-speed to reach the first wormhole, so there’s nothing for me to do on the bridge. I thought I'd come in here to see what you're doing. I find your work fascinating, so I hope that you don't mind that I'm here," he said.
Blaire blinked slowly as she took a deep breath. Lawson had implored her to be diplomatic and civil. He further promised that she would get to know the alien very well in her time with him. The scientist smiled as she nodded. "Suit yourself. You're the commander of the ship. I can work with anyone watching or not," she said as she turned her back to the alien and pretended that he wasn't there.
