by Alma Nilsson
After the ceremony, Jane returned to House Human and was immediately bombarded by a long line of human women who all wanted advice about one thing or another. Thankfully, she had had a lot of zota at the reception, so she patiently sat down with a glass of wine and listened to them all in the dining room, one by one. Jane almost felt like she was a queen holding court, it was so odd. But she was grateful for the distraction as she had been so crestfallen that Jei had not even spoken to her at the reception at the Grand City Temple. And she had felt like a fool wearing the hairpin he had given to her. She tried to remind herself though, He gave it to you to be worn. Maybe nothing more? It’s fine. You’re not a blushing schoolgirl. But she didn’t feel good about it as she felt she might have misunderstood everything and that made her feel confused and embarrassed. And this made her feel even more ridiculous as she felt she was too old to have a man make her feel so uncertain of her actions. Jane felt like she should know better. However, after listening to her wards in House Human, she was reassured that she at least had gained some experience in the years she had lived as she wasn’t as silly or naïve as they were.
After Jane finished with the women who had sought her out, she had to send for Babette. She asked one of the surly slaves to find Babette and tell her to come to the dining room. After a lot of back and forth, the slave finally agreed and went to fetch Babette.
Jane watched as Babette entered the dining room, “You could at least look a little ashamed,” she said.
Babette replied as she sat down, “But I’m not ashamed. I’m human.”
“Yes, you are, but you have agreed to come here and follow the Alliance rules. You can’t go around kissing men, especially men, you are not even courting.”
“Why would I court someone before kissing them? There is no better way to know you love a man than to kiss him. You know you can have a crush on someone, and then you kiss them and poof,” she made a gesture with her hand, “the kiss proves that it was just a crush and it’s over.”
“Babette, your logic is sound, and this method is good for human men, but it’s not appropriate in the Alliance, and House Human cannot continue to pay these fines. You must find another method.”
Babette laughed, “Can you suggest one? What is more innocent or telling than a kiss?”
“I don’t know, but in the Alliance, kissing is not innocent.”
“It should be.”
“It’s not. You must stop. Think of something else.”
Babette had a pout.
Jane felt like such a House Mother then, “I’m sorry, but these are the rules. If you do it again, I will not pay the fine.”
“Then what will happen?”
“You will be sent to the High Priestess for physical punishment.”
“You wouldn’t.”
Jane nodded, “You must see that this is their culture, and you signed a contract saying that you would live by their rules, and you must do it or suffer their consequences. House Human is poor, we cannot afford these fines, especially if other women begin to follow suit. Am I making myself clear? No more kissing.”
“Yes, very clear,” said Babette, but in her heart, she knew she wouldn’t stop kissing men. It was the only way to know. Babette got up and walked out of the dining room.
Jane followed and went to her room and quickly got ready for bed. As she lay under the covers in the darkness, her mind wouldn’t let Babette’s words go, ‘There is no better way to know you love a man than to kiss him.’ And then her mind jumped to kissing Admiral Jei. She chided herself, How many times did he look at me today and say nothing? I’m a fool to continue this fantasy.
Jei was in his Alliance grand home in the Capital City in Residential Ring One. His real home was on Alliance Planet Two. However, he was in the Capital City so much that he had decided years ago to buy a residence here rather than use his quarters assigned to him by rank. It was also convenient because his sons used the house as well. But tonight, he was alone here thinking about Jane. He wished that he could invite her over. He hated the idea of her alone in her room at House Human. He had seen the images from the inside of that building, and it looked like a prison. But he suspected that was because no one really knew how the human women would behave in the Alliance, and there had been serious concerns that they would be too unruly. Hence the building could be easily transformed into a prison. Jei smiled, thinking, And how we’ve changed our opinions so quickly. The only human woman who seemed to be terribly unruly was Captain Kara. But Jei thought Tir was clever keeping her in his fleet and away from the Capital Planet for many reasons, most of all though so that she didn’t influence the other human women on the planet. And he liked to think that Jane had already benefitted from being away from Kara. And then his thoughts went back to Jane’s appearance that afternoon and how wonderful she looked and behaved. Just like an Alliance woman, he thought. His thoughts were interrupted by a chime on is IC.
Jei opened his IC, his son had messaged him,
Father, I never thought I would see you in the gossip columns over a human woman.
Jei frowned and then went to the Capital City Gossip and found the article about him.
Admiral Jei of House Rega received the highest honor at the Grand City Temple earlier today in the presence of the god of war. However, if you have already read the Day, you know that. We are mentioning it because there is a rumor that Admiral Jei and Lieutenant Commander Jane of House Human are secretly courting. At the reception, the couple were stealth and did not speak to one another, but Lieutenant Commander Jane was wearing a hairpin that was rumored to have been a gift from Admiral Jei some weeks ago, before her transfer to the Kzi. They are both still on the Capital Planet now, so we have our eyes and ears open to watch these two. Write in with what you think. Is this romance all in our heads?
Jei sighed and hoped that Jane would not be troubled by this article. He had heard a rumor that the humans’ ICs were blocked from any news about them unless it was reported in the Day. However, he did not know if that was true or not. He doubted that it would be true for Jane as she needed to keep moral tabs on all the women in her House. Jei looked at his IC and debated with himself whether or not to message her. In the end, he decided that she would be annoyed either way if she saw the article.
Jei messaged Jane,
Are you available to meet me for lunch at Leld in the Promenade Ring tomorrow?
Jane messaged back in real-time, it was disturbing for Jei to see that she was writing but to have not received the message yet. He was sure she was cross at being mentioned in the gossip columns. He wondered if she was in bed, and then his mind ran to her being naked, and he wondered what she would look like without clothing.
Jane was surprised to receive a message from Admiral Jei. At first, she began typing,
Is this an order?
As she was still a little hurt, he didn’t speak to her earlier today. But then she decided that she wasn’t that childish, and she was curious what he was going to say after his behavior today. Her heart leapt at the idea that there was a reason behind his ignoring her at the reception. So, she would be civil. But she sure wasn’t wearing the hairpin and making a fool out of herself again though so she simply replied,
I will meet you there.
Jei was relieved that she was at least going to meet him. He quickly arranged for a private room at Leld and looked forward to seeing her the next day. He chided himself though, Maybe I should have just invited her here? We are, after all, allowed to do that as widowers. But he couldn’t change it now, so he finished his cup of zota, rechecked the message to make sure she really said she was going to meet him and then went to bed himself.
He had forgotten that, of course, Vran, his slave artist would have come down to the planet as well and would be sleeping in his bed. Or not sleeping.
He entered his sizeable sleeping chamber, and he was going to tell her ‘not tonight’, but he was so wound up from the ceremony, and seeing Jane, he couldn’t resis
t Vran’s advances.
She was scantily dressed in green and had on a new perfume he assumed she bought during the day. Vran jumped up and began undressing him as soon as he walked into the bedroom. “I’m humbled to be with a man so honored by the god of war.” Vran purposely kissed and licked all of his wounds as she exposed his grey naked flesh.
Jei instantly was aroused by Vran’s attentions, the pleasure, and the pain she was giving him from his wounds. He let her undress him as she often did while onboard the Kzi. And when she had finished, he did the same to her, kissing her on her neck and down to her nipples, biting them gently the way that she liked. Then he moved down her slender grey body kissing everywhere, especially the bottom of her abdomen as he knew she loved that, and it gave her the shivers.
“The god of war has also blessed you with being a good lover,” Vran said breathlessly as Jei played with his tongue at the bottom of her abdomen, teasing where he might go next, where he had been a thousand times before but she never got tired of his tongue there.
“Has he?” Jei asked as he suddenly plunged a finger into her sex.
“Oh gods, yes,” she said at the welcome intrusion. “Should we be human?”
Jei didn’t stop moving his finger but looked down into Vran’s green eyes, “What do you mean, slave?”
“Enter me without my coming first?”
Jei withdrew his finger. He didn’t answer Vran but then moved his mouth directly on to her clitoris. He knew how to make her come in minutes. He had studied her body for years. Right before she climaxed, he moved away and then said, “Vran is this the punishment you want? To be brought so close and then left unfulfilled?”
“Jei, please, no. I just. Please,” she was begging him for release.
Jei looked at Vran and then bent his head to finish his task. Vran came so hard around him, his face was wet with her pleasure. Then he entered her and said consistently with his thrusts, “Humans are Alliance people and have lost the way of the gods. We will not be tempted by their perversions. If you ever ask that of me again, I will have you punished and banished.”
Vran loved his desperately hard thrusts. He was so angry, and she loved it when he was as rough as he was now. She would even have bruises tomorrow, but she loved it when he pounded into her with such force and determination. “I’ll never ask again. I’m sorry. I was misguided. Thank you.”
Jei turned Vran over onto her back and lifted her hips with his hands. He began plunging into her so deep with his throbbing penis, he thought he could never move fast enough. He imagined Jane then, thinking about how he would teach her the sexual Alliance ways and take her away from the wicked ways of human sexuality. He wanted to make Jane come again and again, the way it should be. He finally found his own release inside Vran. After a few minutes, he released her. He watched as she scooped up his warm sperm from her vagina and licked it seductively in front of him.
“Let me clean your penis with my tongue,” Vran said while she was still licking the sperm from her fingers.
Jei nodded.
“Goddess of fertility forgive me for what I’m going to do,” Vran said and then licked all around his penis and cleaned all evidence of their sexual encounter with her tongue.
When Vran had finished licking him clean, he went into the bathroom. He looked at himself in the mirror. His hair was grey, and he was older, but he still thought he looked good enough for a woman. But she is only 39 Earth years old. If she were Alliance, she would probably consider me too old. What am I thinking?
Vran knew better than to follow Jei into the bathroom. He liked to have his privacy there. However, he was in there for a long time, and she wondered what he was thinking about. She had heard the rumors of his infatuation with the human named, ‘Jane’. But she had been with Jei for many years now and knew his infatuation came and went. She doubted this plain human could replace her. Vran had purposely asked for him to take her like a human to weigh out his fantasies with Jane, and she was relieved that he had not wanted to. That there was nothing in their sex tonight out of the ordinary.
Jei waited impatiently in a private room at Leld for Jane. He hadn’t felt like this in decades. He liked Jane, an alien, a human, a member of the Lost People, so much, and he didn’t want to make a fool of himself and have her deny him because he is decades out of practice for courting.
Finally, the door opened, and Jane was escorted in. Jei noticed immediately she was not wearing the hairpin he gave her and asked himself, You expected she would be after that article in the gossip columns?
“Jane, thank the gods for the day.”
“They provide for us,” she replied, and then the hostess of middling class left them alone. Jane sat down across from Jei at the large but understated yellow stone table. “I’ve never been here before,” she admitted trying to make conversation.
“Then, you have been missing out on the best food the Capital Planet has to offer.”
“Not the Empire?” she asked with a smile.
“No, only the Capital Planet. Alliance Planet Two has much better food, in my humble opinion.”
“I’ve never been there and know little about it. Only what Doctor Rea has told me. I don’t even know, am I allowed to go there as a woman of the Alliance Capital Planet?”
He smiled, “You’re allowed to go as an officer in the fleet, but just don’t mention you are a woman when you are there.”
Jane smiled back, “Is it interesting enough that I should go through the trouble of getting a disguise or something?”
“I think to alien eyes, I mean to Lost People's eyes,” he paused to see if she was offended that he referred to her as an alien, but she didn’t react to it. He continued then, “It would seem the same to you as any of the Alliance homeworlds.”
“Do you think the differences would be too small for any alien to recognize, just humans or just me in particular?”
“Any alien,” he said honestly. “The differences are only slight, but those differences are very important to us on the Second Planet.”
“I’m Alliance now I should notice these differences, right?” Jane joked. She was still struggling with standard Alliance culture on the Capital Planet, the last thing she wanted to hear was that there were different variations of this confusing culture on the other Alliance homeworld planets.
“Of course, I misspoke. I’m still getting accustomed to the idea of humans being Alliance people.”
“Can you give me an example of a slight cultural difference from the Second Alliance Planet? I’m curious. Doctor Rea has told me some simple things, boring things really about food and architecture already.”
Jei smiled, “Our bathing practices are different. We actually schedule them, and we usually don’t shower. We prefer ancient baths with friends.”
Jane laughed, “What kind of friends?”
“The good kind,” Jei replied.
“Are you going home before we leave Alliance space again?”
“No, not this time. But another time I will of course, and if you would like, you should join me and then I can show you these slight cultural differences myself.” Jei’s mind was imagining her now in his large bathroom at his home on the Second Alliance Planet, the warm stones and her naked with him there.
Jane noticed his demeanor changed and that he was looking at her with lust in his eyes. She didn’t trust herself not to follow suit so she simply replied, “I would like that.” Then she was quiet. She looked around the fancy private room. It was beautiful and had a line of windows overlooking the Promenade where lots of people were walking. Jane wondered how many UCs this lunch was going to cost her, probably more than a month’s salary, she reckoned.
“People are talking about us,” Jei said seriously bringing her out of her own thoughts.
“I don’t care,” Jane lied. She couldn’t believe he was jumping to this topic so soon and after he had ignored her yesterday. Maybe he brought her here to tell her that there was never going to be anything
between them and that he will do his best to make sure the gossip stops. Her heart was pounding, and in that moment, she knew that Anu had been right, she did love him. She looked into his grey eyes and was waiting for his response. Expecting the worst but hoping for the best.
Jei had not expected that reply. His heart was overjoyed, but her face expression didn’t match her words, so he wondered if she meant something different. It annoyed him that she didn’t speak Alliance. Translators no matter how perfect were actually never one-hundred percent exact and now trying to speak about matters of the heart he felt like her translator wasn’t doing its duty. But then again, he reminded himself, you can have the perfect translation but if you don’t understand the culture you will miss its true meaning. “I’m more concerned for you than for myself.” He was trying to gauge her demeanor as she listened. Did she want to take their relationship further? he wondered. Or did she not care because she didn’t care about the gossip because she didn’t care for him? Surely not the latter.
“Why would you be more concerned for me? Because I’m a woman, human or part of your crew?”
“All, I guess.” He paused, then he took in the situation and decided he had to know. He reached across the table with one hand and stroked her cheek. His heart fluttered when she leaned into his touch wordlessly, “And most of all, because I’ve come to care for you a great deal, Jane from Earth.”
Jane felt electricity run through her body. This was a feeling that she thought she had never felt before. Her heart was beating so loud in her ears, she didn’t know how to reply to his admission. She was thrilled, but what should they do? There was no set protocol for their situation, her situation. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and then asked, “I think about you often. But I don’t know, what should we do about this?” She realized after she said it that she might have not sounded sincere about her inexperience but didn’t want to say more and ruin the moment. She was breathing fast and if he suggested they leave to go somewhere private she would agree without question.
