Alien Caller (20 page)

“How soon?”

“It’ll already
be out there. This is a first. A major event in interspecies
intercourse, sexual relations and even reproductive biology. Those
who publish it will become famous. They’ll be rushing to air as
fast as they can dictate their reports, and damn the consequences.”
Once again he found his hopes crashing, and tried not to cringe at
the thought of thousands, maybe millions of her people watching
video of them making love across the universe.

“Oh God, I’m
sorry.” He suddenly realized he was probably being selfish. For the
one place it would never be seen was Earth. Cyrea wasn’t so lucky.
She had to return, he guessed to that. He held her tight,
apologizing for his thoughtlessness. She shrugged, resigned
apparently to her fate.

“It’s not the
first time this sort of thing has happened, though it is my first
time in the public eye. I’ll survive I guess, and sooner or later
something else will be the big news. Besides I have nothing to be
ashamed of.” And as she said it, he knew she was speaking the
truth. She had told him several times before about her people’s
beliefs. Leinians had no concept of racism, which was something
humans could also well do without. This might be embarrassing but
none would hold it against her.

“No you don’t.
You fought really bravely, and loved even better. Plus your body is
simply perfection. I can see a lot of very jealous women out there,
all wishing they were half the woman you are.” He kissed her a few
more times for good measure, making sure she knew he was being
totally honest.

“Thank you.”
She was smiling from head to toe. “With compliments like that I can
see you getting lucky again very soon. And you’re right, those
women will be jealous. Of my good fortune in finding you.”

“Not when they
get a good look at the footage, and see my great white backside
featuring so prominently in the picture! I mean if I’d known I
would have gone on a diet, perhaps done some more exercise and sun
bathing.”

“I like your
backside. In fact I’m very attached to it!” They both laughed.

Of course there
was a funny side to the whole mess when David thought of it, - even
as he started laughing. “You know, I can just see Alice’s face and
hear her talking down to us again.”

“Two highly
trained intelligence officers, masters of espionage and covert
operations, and we somehow managed to have sex directly in front of
a surveillance device.” He mimicked her voice, well enough and the
laughter became infectious.

“You think she
still thinks of us as children? Very naughty children perhaps? And
will she ever be able to look me in the face again?” Tears began
running out his eyes as the laughter grew to epidemic
proportions.

“Then let’s not
forget that millions of viewers may well have the pleasure of
watching me, a combat specialist, having my balls and everything
else nearly bitten off. – A very clever move by the way. I never
expected it. You practically turned me into a lump of quivering
jelly.” He wasn’t angry, just horrified at the thought of what
they’d recorded, and still trying not to curl up into a foetal
position at the memory of what had happened. But Cyrea wasn’t too
happy at the thought. Judging her expressions as best he could she
almost looked ashamed of it.

“I’m so sorry
about that. I really am. I wouldn’t really have bitten you. But I
was very mad at the way you kept beating me so easily, and it was
the only way I could see to win, even if it’s cheating. I knew you
were going so very easy on me, deliberately playing by the rules,
but I couldn’t help myself. It felt so good to finally have you
literally where I wanted you. And when you panicked it was pure
bliss. I was very tempted not to let you go, at least for a while.
But I wouldn’t have bitten you. And you did taste so very good.”
Her hand had started playing with him, telling him that she was
indeed very glad she hadn’t devoured him, and they both smiled.

“It wasn’t that
easy, believe me. You’re very good, and very unpredictable. Several
times I thought you had me, and given you were learning so fast I
knew that soon you would. Very soon. So I was just trying to upset
you. To keep you off balance. It was the only way I could control
the situation.” Together they started telling one another how well
they had both fought and how tough it had been for them. Then they
both had to apologize for having been so mean.

Cyrea laughed
suddenly, and she had the most indecent smile on her face. “When
you think about it, it is sort of ironic. I mean you did all that
absolutely perfectly. You managed to keep me off balance, and you
controlled the situation perfectly, and as a direct consequence, I
have had you!” The laughter came from deep down, and just bubbled
through them both. Neither of them could stop until tears streamed
down their faces. Finally there was no more war between them.
Especially when there was serious life returning to his manhood,
and they both knew it.

“So have you
seen the bedroom yet? It’s got a wonderful view of the lake, and a
great big bed.” The bug was smashed, the tension between them gone,
and the blood was starting to flow to vital areas again. David was
thinking once more like a horny little teenager.

“Are you trying
to seduce me Sir?” The strange thing was how well she carried off
the almost indignant tones of an ageing English spinster,
especially when she was still playing with him.

“Absolutely. Is
it working?”

“Absolutely.
Especially the part about the bed. Is it soft? Because that couch
of yours is anything but, and the floor worse. I’d really like to
sleep in a nice soft bed. I’d do anything for a nice soft
mattress.” She had no eye lashes but she would have been batting
them if she had.

“Anything? Oh I
like the sound of that. It’s a very nice bed with a lovely soft
mattress. You’ll love it. But I don’t think we’ll be doing much
sleeping.” At least not until they collapsed from exhaustion if he
was lucky. Worrying done with, he stood up and scooped her up into
his arms before carrying her back to his bedroom. But just before
they got there he stopped and turned back.

“Oh and Alice,
if you’re still watching out there, thank you. And for your
information we both won.” He declared it to the remains of the
bread box lying in the rubbish bin, while Cyrea looked on and
laughed some more.

He stopped in
the doorway between the lounge and bedroom, letting her get a good
view of what awaited, while he desperately tried to think whether
there could be any more of his neighbour’s presents in there. He
couldn’t see anything.

“Well my lady,
this may not be another first grand step in inter-species sexual
relations, but at least we can make love in comfort. Besides, this
time they won’t be able to watch us and write a book about it
afterwards.”

“You were
right. It’s a very nice looking bed. You’ll be very comfortable
while I ride.” He looked at her, caught off guard.

“Well you’ve
had your way with me, now it’s my turn. Fair is fair after all. But
I’ll be gentle, and afterwards, when you’re up to it, you can have
another ride.” She was smiling, but also totally serious and he
knew he was in for a long night.

He slammed the
door behind them as a not too subtle warning to any other would be
voyeurs.

Chapter
Seven.

“By Mother Lei
you look done!” Myra came over to Cyrea as she sat on one of the
benches in the common area of the ship feeling sorry for herself.
She probably should have been enjoying the artificial sunlight, an
exact match for that of home, and drinking her hot andara berry
juice, and for the most part relaxing as ordered, but she was too
tense for that. So instead she had been sitting there for probably
half a standard Earth hour, the hot drink all but forgotten in her
hands, and simply trying not to give in to her natural instincts
and scream, or cry, or something else. She didn’t quite know what
she was supposed to do. It had already been a long day.

First, she had
woken up in bed with David, her mate. After the euphoria of the
previous day and night that had been a shock, like having a bucket
of cold water thrown in her face, and yet it wasn’t completely
terrible. Once as a child, she’d eaten a whole bunch of purple
andara berries, and the taste, the sweetness and the tart so
beautifully mixed, had been joyous. But the next morning, when the
aches and pains had hit, she had learned first hand why you never
ate the purples unripe and uncooked. This was strangely like that
day, twenty years before. But unlike that day, a long lie in in bed
and some medicine from the doctor was not going to return
everything to the way it had been. She had a mate, not a stomach
bug.

She had not
expected to find a mate at all, let alone among the humans. But it
was awkward, difficult and embarrassing, as she tried to work out
what to do, what to say. And he wasn’t much better, standing there
in the morning, looking both happy and confused. It just wasn’t
right. There should have been months if not years of getting to
know one another, of families meeting, and shared dinners. And by
the time the mating had been made official, there should have been
no surprises.

It should have
been the most natural thing in the world. But instead it was a
shock from start to finish. Though a good one. Certainly before
she’d fully awoken that morning, before she’d had a chance to
really think about what had happened, she’d felt happy. Satisfied
in a way she hadn’t ever known before. But then came the memories,
the questions and the doubts, as they both lay there like star
struck fools, wondering what they were supposed to do next.

Breakfast had
been a silent affair as neither of them had known quite what to
say. Yet even before that, just getting up, showering and dressing;
things that should be perfectly natural between mates, had been so
very unnatural. They didn’t know whether to cover up, whether to
look at one another, or to look away.

In the end
escaping back to the ship for some clean clothes had been an
excuse, but a necessary one. She’d needed time to think, and David
did too she guessed. But of course she should have remembered peace
was the last thing she’d get that day.

First had come
the talk with her mother, a long, shocked, tearful and confusing
conversation that made no sense to either of them. But then the
situation made no sense, and her family had a right to be shocked
and confused when they saw the records of her and David. Full
contact combat followed by wild sweaty sex. That had almost never
happened before, at least in the public view, and the fact that it
was with a human had just made it more sensational. Their mating
was on every channel. It probably would be for months. And to add
to her humiliation, they were being studied and examined like
specimens under a microscope.

Already learned
specialists in everything from psychiatry to medicine were
discussing the encounter in excruciating detail, while she’d just
had to watch their endless panel discussions on the morning news
and somehow ignore the humiliation. No wonder her family were
shocked.

Then, claiming some sort of need after having witnessed their
fight, the doctors had called her in for an appointment, and then
scanned her from head to foot and made copious notes, most of them
also now public records. Some days she wondered if the humans had
it right and maybe there were things that should be kept private.
But at least the doctors had found nothing wrong and pronounced her
fit to return to work, not that she’d actually been
off work
.

After that
she’d had to face Lars. He was a good man, she knew that, but deep
down under his calm exterior he was shocked and uncertain like
everyone else. No doubt he’d never expected to face a situation
like this either. But he had given her the necessary time off as he
would for any officer beginning mating, and managed to say very
little else, except that he understood. He didn’t of course. How
could he when she didn’t? But at least he was trying to be a good
boss and a friend.

But of course
he was also a security officer, and even his good intentions had
been undermined by his duty. He had asked her some pointed
questions about David, already knowing that she was the best placed
of his officers to find out. And they had some serious questions
about him, another reason to wonder at her insanity of the previous
night.

They already
knew he was an agent, but the disturbing series of missing records
and security measures taken to protect his past suggested that he
was more than he’d admitted to. Much more. After all, no one went
to such extraordinary lengths to hide everything about themselves
unless they had something to hide. That was not good, especially
when he now knew about them. Being asked to make enquiries with her
mate though, that was worse. It made her feel guilty and
treacherous, and she hadn’t yet agreed to do anything at all, other
than her duty of course. And she would have to ask him. But how did
you ask your mate if he was dangerous? If he was going to turn your
people over to the authorities? If he was some kind of danger to
them? Who he was? It was something that just didn’t happen.