Chapter One

“Felids shouldn’t have been using them for food. They have far more value.”

Rupex turned to face Marcus, a scrawny specimen of a Leonid with a scraggly, graying mane and slender paws more accustomed to manipulating data than the firing mechanisms on starcrafts or assault weapons.

“Only the poorest prides on the extreme outer rims eat humans. That’s primitive nonsense. Probably just rumors.” Rupex paced with a sickened sneer, his long tawny tail tapping on the floor of his craft as it swished between his black boots. Humans. Too stupid to negotiate with their betters properly. Selling themselves into contracts that spoke of “whatever service deemed necessary.” Ha. Some Felids deemed a meal a necessary service of their employees.

“I’ve heard plenty of prides on the outer fringes do it. But if my data is correct—and it usually is—human females can be far more beneficial to our species as mates rather than meals.” Marcus hurried forward, personal computing device outstretched. “Look. One minor chromosome booster delivered in the female’s heat cycle makes human eggs compatible with Leonid sperm.”

Rupex paused in his pacing. A ripple of disgust ran down his spine, forcing his thick yellow-brown fur to a constricted stand under his protective black suit. “What... what sickness made you consider such an experiment?” Rupex demanded, his voice slick and threatening, a snarl in every word.

Marcus met his eyes over thick spectacles perched on his graying muzzle. “You know very well what sickness, Ru.”

Rupex took a step back, eyes wide.

No one liked to talk about the Queen Fever.

SIX YEARS AGO...

Marcus spoke to Rupex and the rest of the crew, ten Queens and three Knights. Ru, as commander of the ship, was considered the King of the pride, at least until they docked and disbanded.

“I do not recommend we resupply at Tigerite-Three, sir. There are rumors of a contagious infection that doesn’t respond to any treatment.”

“This Queen flu? Males are immune, is that correct?”

“No, sir, it isn’t that males are immune.” Marcus’ voice was suddenly thin and tight. “It’s that males don’t die. They get the fever, but it seems to pass harmlessly within a few days.”

“Then why would it impact a female differently?” Silvia demanded, striding forward, her black uniform highlighting the magenta waves of fur that trailed down her neck. “That makes no sense.”

“It could have something to do with the females’ heat cycles. Males don’t have them. When a female is in her heat—”

“Enough of the school cub lectures, Marcus!” Rupex quickly shut his medical officer down. “We need supplies. Only males will go on-world and get what we need. We’ll be in and out of port in a day. Queens, males will quarantine on A-Deck. You will assign yourselves to rooms on B-Deck. There will be no fraternizing for the entire heat cycle, just to be on the safe side.”

PRESENT

Rupex sat in his captain’s chair and looked out at the sprinkled black and purple vista ahead of him.

Marcus had been right. Queen Fever did have something to do with heat cycles. And it was incredibly contagious. They’d soon realized there was only one option to prevent death once a Queen caught it—an immediate removal of her reproductive organs to stop the heat cycle that seemed to turn the fever into a lethal illness. Sometimes it was already too late. If her hormone levels had started to build, nothing could be done. Even injections of male hormones and prophylactic pills didn’t fool the virus.

Within six years, most females of cub-bearing age had been sterilized. The only female Leonids who would be able to bear children were still children themselves. Girls who hadn’t entered their first heat were safe.

“Now we have a vaccine, sir. But in the meantime...”

Ru nodded. People on certain planets complained about the population. They begged couples to cease reproducing with incentives and contraceptives. Ru had a special bitterness for those worlds. They had no idea what they were really asking for.

Imagine having no new births for six straight years aside from a rare litter here and there. And imagine most of the females of your kind disappearing within a few months of the disease breaking out. They’d only thought of surgery after the first few waves had swept through the Felix Orbus Galaxy.

The situation was desperate indeed.

“It would only be a temporary measure. I thought you ought to know. If we could test it here, I’d report my findings. It could be a stop-gap solution, just until the younger generation of females matures.”

“Hm,” Ru answered with a single grunt, raking his paws through his dark, honey-colored mane. It wasn’t that Leonid hybrids didn’t exist. The Leonids were old-fashioned about their pride structures, but within the pride, interspecies couples were common. There were mostly Felix-Leonid couples, but in a few cases, the pairings were more unusual. Why, his own sister had raised eyebrows when she married a Canid from the Sirius Federation.

But that was for love.

And it was never with a human. Sapien planets (all measly three of them) still had the unevolved mammalian, avian, reptilian, and aquatic species. Human interactions with those species seemed to be permanently ingrained within most of them. They were unaccepting of different social structures. The ones he had met years ago still seemed to consider Leonids and Canids dumb animals they needed to condescend to, even while taking their money for trade and contracts.

There was the whole human “structure” to consider, too.