Page 40 of Malliko
“Some days I wish I never met him and other days, I wish he would come back.”
“I’m sorry, Tania. Have you been in contact with him since he visited?”
“No.” She turned to look at me. “I haven’t heard a word from him in all that time and I don’t think that I ever will.”
“Four Earth years doesn’t feel as long to an Eidron as it might do to you,” I said in an attempt to make her feel better, but it didn’t work.
“It’s long enough for me to know that he lied to me.” Turning, Tania raised her chin. “And it taught me not to trust Eidron men. You don’t believe in monogamy and Soros no doubt thinks of me as a fun distraction from his past while I…” She trailed off but didn’t have to finish her sentence for me to know that she still had strong feelings for the researcher.
“His name was Soros?”
“Yes. Do you know him?”
I saw the glimmer of hope in her eyes and quickly shook my head. “I’m afraid not. I only know one Soros and he is twice my age. I doubt he’s the man you’re talking about.”
Her shoulders fell. “No. He’s young like you.”
“I’m not that young, Tania.”
She gave me a critical look. “Maybe not in human years, but you look like a man in your thirties to me. That’s relatively young here on Earth.”
Looking down at the cup that she had picked up from the table, she walked to the kitchen and put it in the dishwasher, while declaring, “I’m really not trying to be rude. I just learned that it’s better to keep things professional between me and the researchers who come to visit.” She moved back to sit on the sofa. Pulling her legs under her, she hugged a yellow pillow to her stomach. “Soros taught me that the hard way.”
“Would you like me to deliver him a message when I go home? Maybe I could find him for you,” I offered.
Tania’s gaze once again went to the sky outside her windows. “We have a saying on Earth that I remind myself of when I miss him the most.”
“Another metaphor?” I asked.
“No. Not a metaphor. This saying is pretty straightforward. It says, if he wanted to, he would.”
I repeated with a frown. “If he wanted to, he would. What does that mean?”
“It means that if Soros wanted to see me or remain in contact with me, he would. I’m not stupid, Malliko. Eidrons are resourceful and intelligent.” She sighed. “I should just move on, and I’m trying to.”
“Anything I can do to help?”
She picked up the magazine again and used the same disinterested tone as earlier. “Just don’t make my life more difficult than it already is.”
It was clear that she wasn’t interested in any more small talk and so I closed the door between us and stayed in my apartment the rest of the night. My thoughts were on Clara’s calling me her friend. I didn’t want her to be as disappointed with me when I left to go back home as Tania was with Soros. It confirmed to me how important it was that Clara and I kept things between us platonic.
Going to my bedroom, I sat down on the bed and with my feet still on the floor, I lay back and looked up at sky outside. There was too much light from the city to see any stars, but I knew what was out there in the vast Universe. I was privileged enough to have lost count of the number of planets I had visited. It baffled me that humans could live in denial of the existence of intelligent life in space. Spreading out my arms I considered how lucky it was that humans were protected by the Federation.If they weren’t they would no doubt have been targeted by the Malbreeans and others like them.
As the captain of an elite unit with the Federation’s Cultural Defense team, I had helped free slaves many times. The Malbreeans in particularly made a business out of kidnapping a variety of species and locking them up in brothels that were nothing but hellholes for the poor souls kept there.
The thought that a woman like Clara could be kidnapped and mistreated made me cold inside. From the moment I saw her, I’d been fascinated with her complex personality and her beauty.
Her interest in sexology and openness to talk about kinks and fetishes stood in contrast to how reserved she’d been when it came to her own dating life. That first morning in her office, I had been fascinated with how expressive her large amber-colored eyes were. It made her appear vulnerable and cute in a way that spoke to my protective instincts.
Ever since applying for this job, I had studied all available information on humans. From everything I had learned it was clear that despite our shared biology, Eidrons and humans had developed very differently mentally and culturally. Maybe that’s why it had surprised me how affected I was by Clara.
It was easy to underestimate humans with their overall naïveté, lack of knowledge about the Universe, and inability to communicate telepathically. But Clara had opened my eyes to how complex humans were and how advanced they could be when it came to physical pleasure.
I didn’t blame myself for feeling enticed by Clara’s soft curves. My guess was that most male descendants of the doomed would be affected by a woman like Clara, no matter what planet they grew up on.
I wasn’t one of the people who looked down on cross-species couples in general, but humans were complicated. They were still kept in the dark about life on other planets and didn’tknow how the Federation protected them from invasion from malign alien species. Everything Clara knew about me was a lie. I wasn’t born on Earth. I didn’t come from Lichtenstein. I wasn’t engaged, and I wasn’t studying to be an anthropologist.
Rubbing my face, I wondered if supporting Clara on her journey of sexual exploration was a mistake. I had told myself it was all for professional reasons and that it would count as important field research, but wasn’t that just an excuse? Wasn’t part of my motivation based on a personal curiosity and attraction to Clara?
