Page 16 of Her Alien Delegate
"A new room has been procured; please proceed to the end of the hall where your scent can be masked before continuing," BOD addressed through the intercom.
"To your right," I whispered, seeing the floor light up towards what appeared to be an elevator.
Instead, he took a left. "The right," I repeated and tapped his shoulder in the direction.
"You have no reason to hide your scent when with me. Only others in isolation are allowed on my floor. Anyone looking for you will not be able to find you if you allow me to take you. Tell the AI that you will join my isolation unit." He paused and sighed at my hesitation. "I will not force you. You may follow the AI to the room provided and I will submit a new request to see you."
He started to lower me to the ground, and my arms tightened around his neck. I didn't want to let him go. I nodded into his chest.
"Under Blue District bylaws, you will be required to purchase the human's contract with the facility. Do you accept the terms?"
When he didn't answer, I waited until he whispered into my hair, "The AI is asking for your permission to end your contractwith them, and I will be responsible for paying the credits to sever the contract. Trillume is full of contract law, but you have not entered any contract with me by agreeing to sever the Blue District's right-to-work contract."
"I agree," I squeaked.
"Understood. Proceed to the isolation units on the next floor."
But the elevator was on the other side, wasn't it? One of the doors that looked like any other room opened and led to another hallway with more room doors. He stopped, and I watched as his hair seemed to lift like an invisible breeze controlled it. Then he turned and walked down the hall but stopped again when another door opened to an elevator. The whole facility was like a maze; any of the doors could have been a room, another hallway, or an elevator. They all looked the same on the outside, aside from the light above the door that was red, blue, or gold. The same blue light glowed along recessed under lighting, and every door looked like any other.
My finger kept tracing the black design on his shoulder, wondering what this scar represented for him. It seemed to avoid the muscle that flexed as he held me in his arms.
"Every unGor saves that spot for their mate to mark. It is a bad omen for our species to scar that area before mating."
"Oh," I gasped and snapped my finger back, not realizing I was doing something offensive to his species. I wasn't his mate, after all.
He wasn't in the Blue District to find a mate, I thought logically. He was a diplomat looking for a trill mate, not a human.
"I will procure the proper contracts for mating and return to AsunGor for the delegate ceremony," he explained, and this tightness in my chest clamped down.
"Of course," I said absently with a nod. My contract was traded with a necia warrior waiting for me to make the next ship off Trillume.
"Can you tell me about the unGor?" I added after an awkward silence. Not that the knowledge would help me with what my future held, but it didn't hurt to pretend for a night.
"A diplomatic answer would be to say we are excellent strategists and have valuable resources that many species have use for, but most of all, our ships are faster than even the best trill enforcers."
"And the nondiplomatic?" I asked curiously.
"Many unGors are used as bounty hunters, and though necia are known as the warriors of the Trillume Galaxy, the unGor are the enforcers of diplomacy due to our unmatched speed in both our ships and our skills."
"That's how you snuck up on Ter-ak," I mused. He was able to do all that while blinded by sap. It was impressive, and yet he moved so purposefully through the hallways. Each step was so measured and smooth; if I were watching from behind him, I wouldn't have guessed he couldn't see. Secretly, as we rode up in the elevator, I stuck my tongue out at him. His braids twitched, but I couldn't be certain it was related.
"Have your airways been obstructed from the poison?" he questioned with urgency as his arms squeezed a bit tighter around me.
I wheezed from his hold, slightly coughing on my own words, "No. I stuck my tongue out at you."
"Great moons," he growled and eased his hold on me while rolling his shoulders to ease the tension built up in his muscles.
Curious on if he could actually see me, I stuck my tongue out again, and this time he stopped breathing. The door opened on the elevator, but he remained still as a rock. He could have been mistaken for a statue.
"Tell me." He finally said with forced measure, "BOD, did she display her tongue to me again?"
"I'm right here," I pouted at him asking the AI.
"Confirmed," BOD replied. "The human has displayed her tongue to you twice now."
"According to the treaty agreement between AsunGor and Trillume, section ninety—" he stopped, like he was thinking of which article he was referring to but couldn't remember.
"Tongue displays are referenced in your treaty?" I wondered out loud.
