Page 3 of Her Alien Savior
“But I wouldn’t worry about it, having your file flagged even once makes you a more desirable candidate for placement. You’ll get an assignment within a day of being dismissed. There is a whole sector of aliens that will only choose from the flagged humans.”
“That seems odd, wouldn’t it make us less desirable to be chosen and then dismissed?” I wondered out loud.
For the first time, Joel smiled and lowered his voice. “Between you and me, every alien has different preferences, and even being considered for a Trillume placement makes others want you more. And really, all the aliens are obsessed with humans; it’s our government that regulates the H.E.T. and only allows a certain number of humans in and out. There is a strict no alien exchange in place until Earth is more comfortable that their laws would be followed, and no invasions like sci-fi horror stories would occur.”
I nodded. That made sense. There was probably a limit to how many humans were allowed to leave at any given time to any given planet. So Trillume was the most sought-after placement, and there weren’t many accepted. Could that be caused by humans deciding to stay in their placements longer than the exchange year?
The aliens that were in the reception area from Trillume were probably strictly monitored and only part of the exchange agreement to oversee the process.
“Do you know how many humans are allowed on Trillume per the treaty agreement?”
Joel shrugged. “They don’t release that kind of information to the public, or even the recruitment centers. The trill probably know, but they don’t talk to us much.”
So, he didn’t know, or he wasn’t going to tell me. I guess we weren’t all that chummy since he’d first decided on a single glance that I wasn’t worth his time. But someone on Trillume thought differently. This was my chance to finally have a new start.
To finish what my brother started.
Chapter two
Direl
Beingconsideredforadvancementwas everything I was waiting for. No more endless cycles drifting through space on the off chance of finding some idiot breaking Trillume Galactic Law. As much as I respected the Trillume way of allowing planets to run their own business, it only took one act of disrespect for them to turn feral and make you wish you’d listened the first time.
They’d send our best warriors to remind them what respect and honor meant.
I smiled at the thought, that was why my planet assimilated with them. They challenged our king and won. They were a worthy warrior to serve, and our king abandoned our planet like a coward, creating his new home on a barren land surviving on imports, trade, and from the rumors circulating about Necias Delta Fal… the alliances of outlaws.
This was the last mission before my promotion to less remote assignments. I’d served from the beginning, and I knew this was all a test of my honor to assure the council of my tribe’s intentions to comply with the treaty. Huffing out my exhaustion, we docked at the industrial epicenter of Necias Delta Fal. Meeting with Sylve was like having my failures stare back at me across the hall.
Had I tried harder to convince him to stay, to fight for our tribe, would things have been different? Betrayal still sat heavy in my chest, both my hearts strained even seeing his face. He’d chopped off his hair short the day he left, a sign of leaving our tribe and everything he stood for.
“Vox Direl, it’s a pleasure to have you visit Necias,” Sylve said through tight teeth, still sore about me not joining him in his exile. I was his second, and I could not follow his path when it would lead to the death of our tribe. We had to bide our time, understand what we were up against, and yet he chose to create a new planet for himself instead of lead the one he left.
“It’s Commander Direl,” I corrected. My epul shoulder bones stayed on display signaling I didn’t consider him my king, or deserving of my respect. This was not a social call, this was business. And this wasn’t Necias Prime, this was a barren parasite of a planet, surviving solely on imports, and dark trade. Even if I did withdraw my spikes, they would still show to some degree. My bones had grown too large to comfortably store them under my first skin as I once did. A sure sign of my leadership, and power.
Sylve still sported his spikes around the crown of his head peeking out from his shortened silver hair… Silver strands laced through all necia warriors, but his was consumed with it. It was not a sign of age. Once, I had thought of his coloring as a sign from the goddess that he would lead our tribe to many victories. He had, for a time.
“Commander, then. You were always one of my strongestmalewarriors.”
I grimaced hearing the emphasis on ‘male’. It was a slight he knew I’d pick up on. Not even the strongest of male warriors, just one of them, and pointedly remarking on the fact that any female warrior would have been considered stronger. Fine, if he wanted to be petty, then perhaps, I’d find some time to have a proper duel while I was here. My fists clenched and I tried to calm myself.
The gleam in Sylve’s eyes nearly undid me. He knew how to get under my skin, he was like a brother to me before he left.
“You always did have a temper,” he dismissed, leading me to his command center for this planet. “I have an assignment for you, Commander Direl.”
“I don’t take orders from you,” I grunted, recovering my senses. Something made my skin burn like the call to battle, toughening my scales around my forearms, thickening my dermis in preparation for danger.
“Oh,” Sylve quirked a brow and turned his back to me, “That wasn’t an order. This is a demand, in response to having complete control over your battle vessel.”
Now, I was the one at a loss for words as he continued walking ahead of me. There was no way he could have seized control of my ship. I took every precaution of leaving command to my second, Chuel, and explicit instructions not to disembark until things were secure.
“Without my authorization codes, I hardly think that’s a very intimidating threat,” I tried to call his bluff, but something in my very bones told me something was amiss.
“You see,” he continued as if I said nothing, “I have need of your Trillume-marked vessel. No one would dare interrupt its travels, and there’s been reports of a species that is compatible with all sorts of biology that could be the answer to my current troubles.”
“You’re going to have more trouble than you can handle if you’re planning on disrespecting the courtesy given by the Trillume to manage your own business. They will crawl so far up your ass there won’t be another planet that would touch you.”
“Such feisty threats, but see, the Trillume already plan on shoving their unmentionables up this whole sector’s ass if I don’t do something about it. That’s why you’re here, or didn’t they tell you? No? That’s a shame. They must not trust you enough to tell you that the moment you place that data core into my command station to ‘check’ on my dealings, they would seize complete control over this planet, and use your forces to keep a foot hold here until more of your fleets arrive.”
