Page 28 of Alien Rescue

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “But warriors are superior?”

“Of course.”

If he didn’t see it as a caste system, she wasn’t going to argue with him further. “What makes a warrior different?”

“We go through three changes which allows us to become fully grown within five human years.” There was something strange in his voice, like a discordant tone in a song.

It took a moment for the implication to hit her. “Oh wow, an instant army in no time.” Dismay filled her. This was really bad news for the human race. Ten years from now, they could overrun Earth with sheer numbers. She thought uneasily about Zacar’s threat of fifty babies. It made a lot more sense now. Did he really say that just to scare her, or had there been some truth in his words?

“Yes.”

“What happens if a warrior doesn’t want to be a warrior? Can you do another job if you want?”

“No warrior would want to be a citizen,” he said with pure disdain, then, “Sometimes the Parenadorz can demote a warrior to citizen for a while. But they are still superior to normal citizens.” She had the feeling he spoke from personal experience. Did his emperor demote him?

“So, the warriors are the elite and citizens have less prestige in your society?” And she had no doubt that women were at the bottom of the pile.

“Yes.”

“Well, okay then.” They needed someone to shake them up. It sounded like they were doing all the right things to breed revolutionaries into their culture.

They both sat staring into the fire until the alien suddenly said, “I was born small and weak, my hands deformed.” He spread out his hands. Apart from the fact that they looked more like claws than a human hand, they didn’t look deformed to her.

“Your hands look fine to me.”

He made a strange grimace. “I grew out of it.”

“Did your parents try to get help? You seem to have pretty advanced medicine.” Though they could do with doctors with better bedside manners.

He glanced at her and then at the fire, sat brooding for a time. “It was our custom in older times to abandon small ones, who are born weak, in the desert. Sometimes small warriors were given the chance to become strong after their second change. But if they were still weak, they were left in the desert without food or water. It is frowned upon and discouraged by the Parenadorz but it still happens.”

Her stomach turned at the thought of a little baby left in the desert to die a horrible, cruel death. She was getting a bad vibe from this story. Her mind didn’t want to comprehend the horror of what he was saying. “Tell me more about these changes you go through. Does it hurt?”

“We go through three changes. After our third change we are warriors.”

“You mean like snakes, shedding your skin and everything?”

“No, we shed our skin once, but we are warriors—nothing we do is like Earth snakes.”

Okay, time to move on. She didn’t see how they are different, but she wasn’t going to argue about it. “Do all people on your planet go through these changes?”

“Citizens go through one change after birth. Only warriors go through three changes.”

“Why only warriors?” It gave them a huge advantage.

He didn’t answer.

“So, does it hurt?” Shedding your skin had to hurt. She’d never thought about it before. Even when she watched docu’s about snakes.

He stared into the fire, and just when she thought he wouldn’t say anymore, he said, “The third change hurt the most.” He said it as if admitting to experiencing pain was a sin.

They sat in silence for a while, and then the horrific reason he was telling her this hit her like a punch in her gut.

“Did your family abandon you after your second change?” Even before she asked the question, she knew the answer. He wouldn’t be this worked up if his parents decided to keep him. He tried to hide his agitation, but his shoulders were tense, his hands clenched. If that wasn’t a big enough giveaway, those blazing red eyes told their own story.

“No.”

Relief made her shoulders sag. Somehow, she couldn’t stomach the thought of him abandoned as a child. She’d been prepared for some terrible revelation, but if they’d abandoned him in a desert, he wouldn’t be here now.

---