Page 21 of Spectacle

There’s an intense feeling of love in my heart as I watch my family get some quality one-on-one time in the bio level. Although the cats aren’t here with us, I understand their decision not to join us. I’m sure there will be plenty of more times like this to come.

Saxon and Xavier out did themselves with the food. There was all sorts of tasty treats, and as I stretch out on the blanket, my head in Tirrian’s lap, I smile as I watch the grandpas teach the children to feed the fish that are swimming in the pond. At one stage, Jack shifts and tries to climb in with them, and I laugh as William wrestles him to keep him out of it. All three of them look exhausted, and my worry was high, but in the last two hours, some of that worry has eased as they’ve taken a moment to enjoy time with our family. Even Bubby came for the meal, putting the ship on autopilot. Brannock promised he would give him a break in a few hours. The man certainly deserves a raise. He has gone above and beyond for us over the last few weeks. Usually it takes two of them to captain the ship, but Captain Lester never warmed up to me, and I always had an uneasy feeling about him. It’s why I voted not to bring him. The others agreed with me.

Tirrian’s hand brushes through my hair, and I feel his body tense beneath me. When I look up, I see him watching Cas, Link, Saxon, Brannock, Silac, and Xavier. They have a weird looking ball thing that is hexagonal in shape. It isn’t a solid object, but it flies through the air almost like a frisbee. They are divided into two teams and are throwing it back and forth and talking smack to one another.

“Go join them,” I encourage him, and he drags his attention away from them.

“Are you sure?” he asks, and I nod, looking at the two men who have remained on the blanket with me. Ghosie and Zeydan both declined to throw the ball around. Ghosie claimed it was way too much exercise for him. Zeydan didn’t say why, but I think he is still wary about all of this, not that I blame him.

“Yes, of course. I’m sure Zeydan would like to be my cushion.” I lift my head and raise a challenging eyebrow at him. Let’s see him turn me down.

He surprises me and quickly agrees. Tirrian gets up and waves an absent hand as he hurries over to join the rest of them, and Zeydan slides into his spot. He gathers my hair out of the way so it doesn’t get caught in his skirt as I lower my head into his lap. His tails are all snoozing under one of the trees. When Eric asked about them, Zeydan explained they were soaking in much needed energy from the surrounding nature, which they stored for him.

I asked why it wasn’t killing the plants like I did on Husadavia, and he explained it was a much slower process, and he only took small amounts from each plant. He said I would learn that in time, but that form was starved, which was why I killed everything. Our picnic blanket is actually sitting over the patch of grass I killed before we went to Husadavia. Some patches of green are returning, so I’m hoping it will make a comeback.

“This is really nice,” I murmur as he continues to stroke a hand through my hair. The artificial sun is shining, and the sounds of my family enjoying themselves soothes a part of me that was feeling jagged.

“Tell me about these automatons,” Zeydan requests, and when I crack my eyes open, he’s looking at a machine that is moving down one of the rows of plants. It’s not one I recognize, and I’m as clueless about the automatons as he is, so I can’t help him with that, but thankfully Ghosie has some mechanical knowledge.

“I think they are a subsidiary of Pleasure Bot Industries. They can be programed for certain tasks. I know there are some that can be programed for general household duties as well. My father has one in his household.”

“Tell me about yourself, Ghosie,” I say, wanting to learn more about the gorgeous bear, even if it means I grow more attached despite being unsure of where we stand. The attraction marks are still on both our bodies.

“What do you want to know?” he asks somewhat hesitantly.

“You grew up with your father? Was your mother in the picture?”

“The colony my father lives in is one of the few colonies that does have females. They are females of other species, but they have decided to make a life with a bear that asked them to be the mother of their children. They are all there willingly and have relationships with the male or sometimes groups of males.”

“How do they get around the fur thing?” I ask, hoping there might be a way for me to touch this obviously touch starved bear. He always looks so desperate every time he sees the rest of them show affection for one another.

“They only touch when they want to have sex. It’s not ideal, but neither is capturing and keeping women while they are pregnant and then disposing of them and their female children. Most of the residents of that colony are happy. My mother lives with my father and three other males. I have half-siblings, but I am my father’s only child.”

“Your species was cursed, is that correct?” Zeydan asks, also sounding curious, his hand pausing in my hair.

“Yes, just before the war. All of our females became males, and instead of our fur being an aphrodisiac on command like it used to be, we can’t be touched without it sending our partners into a lust craze. We have no females and rely on other species to bear our young. Any female children are born of the other species. In their desperation to see our species survive, our men became more and more inclined not to ask permission, because their fur had the effect it does. We became the pariahs of the galaxy, a whole species punished for one asshole’s mistake. No one would trade with us or employ us because our fur is problematic, and so we became space pirates to support ourselves.”

“You say it was a goddess that did the punishing?” I ask and shift my focus from the colorful bear to the god whose lap my head is in. He’s breathtakingly beautiful, and I can’t help but stare at his perfect features. “Can you help him or reverse the curse on the species?”

“A goddess cursed you?” Zeydan sounds confused.

“Yes. An old chieftain offered her a chance to warm his bed, and she laughed in his face and told him she was waiting to find her mate and wouldn’t lower herself, so he used his fur to manipulate her. When her mind cleared, she was furious and cursed our race… or that is the story I know.”

Zeydan purses his lips. “Well, that could have been any one of them, but my guess it was either Vivax or Sanshia. Both of them had tempers and could be vicious. Lilessa was a lot more benevolent.”

“Can you help him?” I ask again.

“A curse is usually placed on a single being. Once that being dies, the curse should end with them. I take it the chieftain is still alive?”

Ghosie shakes his head vigorously. “No, that was the first thing they tried. Somehow, the curse is linked to our DNA. Even medical intervention wasn’t able to help us have female children. They always change to male.”

“That is unusual. I can take a look, but I would guess the original goddess would need to lift it. Come here.” Zeydan gestures next to us, and Ghosie moves closer. I struggle to move out of his lap and give him room to work, but he places a hand on my breastbone.

“Stay. I don’t need you to move. I like you there.” I shiver at his commanding tone and instantly do as he asks, my inner animals practically purring at his dominance. Zeydan holds out one of his hands and gestures for Ghosie to take it.

Ghosie hesitates. “Will my fur affect you?”

Zeydan shrugs. “I guess we will find out.”

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