Page 2 of Her Alien Delegate
“You have enough compatibility that it is likely you will trigger a rut with the warrior. You are functioning properly to mate, are you not?”
“I—I,” I choked on my own spit as I gulped with embarrassment. Of course, I was physically able to do the sheet tango, but it was always understood that I was in charge of when I felt comfortable to do that. She was saying that I would trigger a frenzy, and that frightened me so much that I froze.
She bent over and held my cheeks in her warm hands to get my attention back to her. “Evie, that is your name, is it not? You will have a few Earth weeks to contact your future mate before you meet in the flesh. Get to know him, begin your bond here,” she placed her palm to my head, “and here." Her jeweled fingers cupped together over my heart and glowed. She wasn't a trill, and I didn't know what kind of species she was, but she was beautiful and being around her kept the chill from the air away.
"The next ship to Necias Prime will leave in seven sleeps. We will stay in a private room here in the Blue District until departure where I can teach you about the necia customs."
I nodded, as we entered a dome-like building, though when we passed the sliding doors we were scanned by a laser.
"It's verifying our identities," she assured before we passed through another door that had a wall of masks and a screen of options in the trill language that I definitely couldn't read, but the pictures were enough to make me anxious. There was a slide show of what I assumed were different alien genitalia on display. When I squeaked, my escort hurriedly looked around as if there were a threat in the room that startled me until she glanced between the screen and me then sighed. "Many of these rooms are filled with those seeking to pleasure themselves. They come for the thrill of being chosen or the thrill of the hunt, but our room is not accessible to anyone else. It is simply the least likely place anyone will look for a human before your transport."
"We're hiding?"
"Just until the next shipment of human exchanges arrive from Earth. Word will spread of a human seen at the bazaar. And in this district, we can't be too careful that others won't try to take you."
"Right…" I said with a shiver. Heat seemed to radiate off of her, so I knew it wasn't the chill of the air. My future was in the hands of this unknown alien woman that worked for the Galactic Authority, as far as I knew.
We passed by door after door along a glowing hallway with red lights above each one until we came to the end where a few blue lit doors remained and an open door that led to what appeared to be an elevator. My escort stopped at one of the blue doors and pressed her hand into the scanner outside. Air wheezed as the door decompressed and slid open.
She pointed to the door to reassure me. "Blue is occupied and not accepting visitors. No one can enter but the one that rests here. Please place your hand on the scanner."
I lifted it like she did and the blue light blinked before flashing red, then blue again.
"It is now your room," she explained. "I must leave you to attend to my duties, but will return to check on you. Remain in your room for your safety. All necessary needs are provided inside, as well as a tablet that you may use to reach me, as well as your future mate. You may uplink those contacts to your implant for future needs. This is the safest place to be until your transport. No one may enter without your approval, but please be careful. This place may not divulge who or what you are, but it knows and will still sell your scent and even the sounds you make for other's enjoyment. Do not give your approval for anything."
I gulped as the door slid closed behind me and the sound of locking mechanisms clicked in place. What was this place?
"Welcome to the Blue District," my implant spoke. I assumed the facility connected with my implant when it scanned me. "We hold the largest selection of species for your pleasure, company, and research. Please utilize the screen to your right as you wish. Masks are most common for sampling different scents with more precision. One is provided in every room to filter scents by room.
"Any room with a golden glow is open; simply apply your biomarker to enter and it will change the room's glow to blue to signal occupied. There are a few species that prefer to scan your metrics for compatibility before entering; these rooms are identified with a green glow."
Blue was the color of an occupied room, and the corridors I'd seen on entry were mostly golden, a few green, and towards the end many were blue. The halls were in several shades of blue, both from the glow of lights, and the color of the doors, a blueish-purple metal.
The voice returned to my implant as I approached the screen to the right and said, "Please enjoy your stay here and follow the laws of the Blue District. Damaging any species while on the premises is strictly forbidden. We understand there are varying degrees of what is considered damaging among species, so please refer to the species chart for clarification, accessed through all implants during your stay. Your implant has been approved for this single room for seven sleep cycles, including reentries, no time limits. Several floors are currently under construction. Please remain on floors six through thirty-four should you decide to browse our selected services. This floor is reserved for long-term tenants and must not be disturbed without pre-authorization from your terminal."
There was a lot to unpack from this greeting. I stared at tablet on the wall in shock for longer than I cared to admit.
Welcome to the Blue District, indeed.
Chapter two
Broma
Blood dripped down my jaw where my very own adornment weaved through my ormete braid was used to tear into my scalp, hoping to cut off its source. That was my fault for thinking I could throw the duel without consequences.
He was my brother, in more than name, but blood from our mother ran through his veins as well. He would not accept the commission of the tribes without my full effort in this duel to prove he was worthy of protecting our interests across the entire planet of AsunGor. Mother had no daughters to give the commission to, and so the top candidates would fight. As her blood, I had no right to refuse and must fight my way towards the honored role of leadership. But I did not want such responsibility.
It was unfortunate to have my first duel be against Brakaun. Even more unfortunate that he did not wish to win by my disinterest alone. He would threaten my ormete and a future with any delegate by cutting it from my scalp. The only thing that kept me from killing him immediately was that he had tried to do it with a sharpened bone from my first groka hunt as a youngling, attached to the end of my ormete. This meant he was warning me what he would do if I didn't take the duel seriously, but he knew he would not be able to follow through with the threat with such a dull instrument. The last time I sharpened that bone was the day I added it to my braid. It was dull from too many cycles passed.
"You would threaten to dishonor me?" I seethed.
"I do nothing that you weren't willing to do to me. Is it not dishonorable to throw a duel with such importance as Commissioner of AsunGor?"
My ormete wrapped around his hand, preventing him from continuing to put pressure on the bone pressed to my forehead. The strain from disuse was a disadvantage, but a duel among unGor was never just about the strength of our ormete, but in how we handled struggle. Many of my brothers have forgotten this, but not Brakaun. He was honorable and wanted a just win.
Slipping under the assault, I released my ormete when I was out of the way, allowing the bone to cut across my foreheadbefore Brakaun's fist plunged forward through the air. His palm dripped from the force he held the bone as it slid through his grip. This was a sign that he too was merciful and just in his decisions, because he could have held firm and torn through my ormete's flesh by keeping the bone in his fist. The bone would have torn through, cutting my ormete in half from where it was pierced through towards the ends. The damage wouldn't have ripped my ormete from the root, but it would have made that part of my braid unusable for many cycles as it healed. It would mean I would not be able to duel again for this commission.
Two times he has shown our mother and the elders of his firm yet merciful leadership, while I have shown them first that I did not wish to rule and was willing to be humiliated to concede my power to a worthy warrior. What kind of leader would that make me? I wondered as his own ormete swung out to wrap around my neck. His first adornment was from a curved tooth of a nephek shark, as he was favored by our finest sea merchant, learning the art of battle while within our underground cenote.
