Taken (Calliston Series - Book 1) (8 page)

"True," Roger agreed, and shuddered.

"S'rea!" Tarn called out.

She looked back to her father. Beside him stood Harom, only recently recovered from the attack in the peacetalker's quarters just a few days ago. On his other side stood the peacetalker in question. Behind them were two of the surviving Lyrissian traitors and their U-man escorts. It angered her that her father's whole entourage, save for herself and Harom, had betrayed him. That did not bode well for what they might find in the Lyrissian government upon his return.

* * *

The shuttle left Callisto with no trouble and landed at the designated area, a roof, in the Lyrissian capital city. Viktor hadn't known what to expect when the doors opened. The hodge-podge of clay-colored buildings nestled amongst soaring skyscrapers, however, was not it.

"Ladies first," Viktor said to S'rea. He smiled when she turned her nose up at him. She had once again donned her long robes and veil, and he wondered why she would bother on her own planet.

Harom was the first to disembark, followed by S'rea and her father, and then Viktor. The prisoners would be escorted to holding cells somewhere, separately.

Several important-looking males greeted them at the rooftop entrance. They were full of fake pomp and ceremony, leaving Viktor with the distinct impression his presence was only being tolerated. He wondered if that meant the Lyrissian government were more in favor of aligning with the Orka. It was a thought that made his stomach turn.

Viktor gave his own fake smile to the dignitaries and exchanged a few words in their language. This seemed to impress some of them. One, though, was paying him no attention whatsoever. He was the youngest amongst them and at the back of the group. When Viktor followed the young male's line of vision, he found S'rea smack in the middle of it. S'rea seemed to be doing her best to ignore everyone there, which was easy since, aside from the young male, no one was paying her any attention.

Suddenly, as if unable to contain himself any longer, the one who had been fixated on S'rea pushed his way through the group and jumped on her.

Viktor let out a startled yell, and when no one moved to help, he decided to step in. The only assistance he could give was to the young male, when he reeled back from what looked to be a painful blow to the side of his head. Viktor caught him before he hit the ground and tried to right him when the male wrestled free, looked around as if seeing everyone for the first time and then ran away.

Viktor was left gaping after the fleeing male. Everyone else continued as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened.

"What the hell?" Viktor muttered, but was given no chance to find an answer to that question. He was quickly hustled away to meet other important Lyrissians. He glanced at S'rea to make sure she was fine after what to him had looked like an unprovoked attack. Other than being more alert, she seemed to be unaffected. Obviously this was a regular occurrence. He resolved to question her later. Now, though, he had to face off against an alien government.

* * *

S'rea was seated with two of her sisters and a niece in a private box in the government chambers. The small open room overlooked the main stage where her father, the U-man peacetalker and several other officials were posturing.

"He looks small," A'ea, S'rea's eldest sister, noted.

"Only compared to father," V'rea said. She was correct, of course, but that was mostly due to Tarn's girth as opposed to height. "He's so ugly."

"He's alien. Exotic," A'ea's daughter, Ne'a, said.

S'rea noticed the young female's attention was firmly riveted on the peacetalker. For some reason, that unsettled her. "His blood is red," she said, gaining their attention.

V'rea shuddered at the thought.

"What else is different?" Ne'a asked, rapt.

S'rea thought back to what she had observed. "He is confident like father but talks more. I believe he is sincere; however, he oversteps his boundaries. This may be due to his culture. The U-man culture is very different from our own. For example, he removes hair from his face but keeps that on his chest."

"You have seen his chest?"

Both V'rea and A'ea looked alarmed by that. A'ea clamped her hands over her daughter's ears and hissed to her younger sibling.

"S'rea, really? Think before you speak," A'ea said. "Ne'a does not need to hear such vile things about aliens before she mates."

"It was a scientific observation," S'rea told them.

"I can still hear you," Ne'a loudly informed them all.

S'rea's siblings shrank back from view when those on the stage looked up in their direction. S'rea remained in place, staring defiantly at the males below. They soon grew tired of her and resumed their discussions.

"Idiot female," one of them muttered. He was rewarded with glares from both her father and the U-man peacetalker. All of which S'rea observed, high above them.

* * *

Viktor snorted. It was a habit he had observed in Tarn. In this instance Viktor used it to show his displeasure at the comment just made. This seemed to draw some barks of laughter from a few Lyrissians in the audience; the rest remained unimpressed. That seemed to be the general consensus of him so far. He had overheard a lot of disparaging comments when he first arrived—that was, until they realized he could understand and even speak their language. He wasn't sure if that had helped him or not.

Viktor scratched his chin. He'd forgotten to shave, and that wasn't a good sign. A beard would only serve to further illustrate the differences between him and the naked-faced Lyrissian males. Viktor knew he would have to do more than just speak their language, eat raw meat and snort like Tarn if he hoped to win them over. On the bright side, he hadn't insulted anyone's parentage. At least not yet.

A question regarding the exchange of prisoners of war was directed to Viktor. He was about to respond when a disturbance at the other end of the auditorium drew everyone's attention. The double doors flung open and what Viktor could only describe as three ethereal beings glided into the room.

All eyes were inexplicably drawn to them. In Common, Viktor whispered to Tarn, "What is that?"

"The Orka," Tarn replied.

Viktor couldn't believe his eyes. "They don't look like any Orka I've seen," he muttered.

"They are the males," said Tarn.

"They're beautiful."

A small contingent of females fell into step behind them and the moment was shattered. The females were large and hideous by contrast. Viktor still had a hard time believing that these were even the same species. He made a note on his tablet to investigate this species further. He would need to know everything about his competition if he hoped to beat them.

A Lyrissian male stepped forward. He had been rendered almost invisible by the bright light emanating from the Orka males. He led the Orka onto the stage. His movements were confident and purposeful, his grin almost feral.

"Important members of the
lesser
government," he said by way of greeting. Then he acknowledged the rest in the room. "Fellow Lyrissians. Peacetalker Tarn. U-man peacetalker. May I present to you the Orka delegation, the three sons of their exalted leader, Vi, Iv and Ro. Oh, and some of his daughters."

A great show was made by all of welcoming the new delegation. Viktor noted he was outnumbered nine to one. Another way of looking at it was approximately six billion and nine to one. He plastered on a big smile and got his first proper look at his opposition. His first observation was correct. They were beautiful. He wasn't yet sure if the Lyrissians agreed; however, some of their number seemed more accepting of the Orka than of him. Instead of frowning, he widened his grin. He would not be beaten so easily.

* * *

The session was prematurely brought to an end for the day due to the unexpected arrival of the Orka. S'rea waited with Harom, her two sisters and niece for her father and the U-man. V'rea and A'ea were quietly sharing their opinions regarding Lyrissia's options with each other. S'rea pretended to ignore them while eavesdropping. She was saddened to hear her intelligent sisters thinking the Orka were the better option. How could females, ones she was related to by blood, even consider those bloodthirsty aggressors as the lesser evil?

S'rea was saved from opening her mouth and berating her sisters when her father arrived with the U-man in tow. He quickly made introductions and, as usual, he smiled warmly and made small talk. All was going fine until Ne'a opened her mouth.

"Can I see the hair on your chest?" she asked innocently.

A'ea grabbed her daughter and gave her a good scolding while Viktor raised an amused eyebrow at S'rea. "You're giving me a reputation," he said.

"I was merely providing them with my observations of you," S'rea told him as they walked to the waiting vehicle that would take them all to her father's home. "They asked."

"Of course," he said with a grin. When they reached the vehicle, he declared, "Ladies first."

S'rea's sisters looked at him blankly before turning to their sister for explanation. "He is allowing you to enter first. I do not know why he says it either."

"I'm not
allowing
," he told them. "I just thought they might like to choose the best seats."

Ne'a whooped and jumped into the vehicle without further prompting. She seated herself next to her grandfather. "I like him," she whispered quietly to Tarn.

"You have a fan," S'rea informed Viktor. The look on his face showed he had not heard Ne'a at all. She exhaled in frustration and blamed his inferior ears. Maybe, she conceded, she could see how the Orka were currently the more popular option.

When they had all climbed on board, Ne'a craned her head around and said to Viktor, "We are having a party. You are one of the guests of honor."

"Who are the others?" he asked. To S'rea, he seemed genuinely interested in his conversation with her young niece.

"Me!" she declared. "We are celebrating your arrival and my being ready to mate."

"Ne'a," her mother growled.

Viktor's smile faltered, but he caught himself. "Congratulations," he said, and glanced at S'rea. She foresaw answering a lot of questions later tonight.

* * *

For the first time in hours, Viktor found himself without someone to talk to. He seized the moment to escape outside. The climate on Lyrissia was mild, the sky a slightly different hue. Of course, that could have been due to being in the center of the city. It always surprised him when the Alliance found another earth-like planet that also sustained intelligent life. The odds always seemed too great in his mind.

He was brought out of his reverie when the door behind him opened. A glance over his shoulder confirmed that S'rea had followed him outside. Harom thankfully loitered nearby.

"You have a large family," he said when she joined him.

"You do not?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Only child."

"I am sorry," she said.

"I'm not," he said. "I don't think I could handle twelve sisters like you have."

"You are overwhelmed."

Viktor looked at her and smiled. "I'm outnumbered."

"I understand," she told him.

Viktor nodded. He supposed she would. "I have questions," he said, and when she didn't respond, he forged on. "Why do the Orka look so different? The males and females?"

"From what I have studied, I have hypothesized that the male gender are considered to be the intellectuals of the species and the females to be the best suited for brute force."

"That's the opposite of what most species believe," he said, and was almost rewarded with a smile from S'rea. She fought it, however.

"The females do not look like that from birth. They appear very similar to the males. After their childhood ends, they are divided up. Either they are used for breeding purposes or are artificially transformed into the creatures you saw today and encountered on the ship."

Viktor couldn't find words to describe his disgust. What the Orka did was barbaric and unethical. "They're evil," he finally said.

S'rea nodded in agreement. "My hypothesis is only based on genetic studies I have been able to conduct on captured Orka females. The alterations are remarkable, but they have clearly been tampered with on a genetic level."

"Do you have notes?" Viktor asked. He couldn't hope to understand everything, but he could at least try to.

"Of course," she sniffed, as if to suggest otherwise were an insult. "You are saying you want to read them?"

"Of course," he parroted with a grin. "I have to know my enemy if I hope to beat them."

"I will bring them to you tomorrow," she said.

"Good," he said. "Now, my other question. What the hell happened when we got off the shuttle?"

"When we-" S'rea started, but abruptly cut herself off. "I rejected an offer to mate."

"You what?" Viktor exclaimed. "In public?"

S'rea frowned. "Yes, in public. Offers are made anywhere. I am currently fertile. Unmated males are sensitive to this and either give in to the urge or control themselves. He was unable to control himself and, once rejected, removed himself in shame."

"And this happens all the time?"
 

"For approximately one month in every year," she replied.

"That's crazy. That's unnecessarily complicated," he said, turning her own observation on human mating rituals back on her.

"It is, unfortunately, the way it is," she said.

"But how do they know," he said, "that it's that time of the year?"

"Pheromones. All males are able to discern the scent; however, it is the unmated ones that are driven by it. I believe your olfactory sensors are not developed enough to be affected."

"I'm glad," he said, and then paused. "So both you and your niece are fertile?"
 

S'rea nodded. "As are several of my sisters."

Viktor groaned.

"Why?"

"They've all been flirting with me," he said. "At first I thought it was stupid given what you had told me about Lyrissian mating, but now…"

"Flirting?" S'rea asked.