The Challenge (24 page)

“Macho man?”

“His I’m-always-in-charge, listen-to-me dominant attitude of the alpha male.”

“He was probably born that way,” Dora said. “I’ve transported several Rystani delegations. All Rystani men convey a superior attitude.”

“What about their women?” Tessa finished her salad and moved on to the pasta, staring once again at the holovid. Oh my. The woman picked a moment to pivot, stop, and display herself in a most provocative pose.

“On the rare occasions that the men travel, they leave their wives and daughters at home. So I’ve never met a Rystani woman.”

“Well, apparently I’m not what Kahn wants in a wife.” Tessa grinned, recalling the look on his face when she’d suggested that she’d like to kiss a certain part of his anatomy.

“You certainly look pleased.”

“The man still has issues. But he’s making progress.”

“In more ways than one. We’ve almost reached Zenon Prime.”

Tessa heard a hint of sadness in her friend’s voice. “Oh, Dora. Does this mean goodbye for us?”

“I don’t think so. I will be transporting you again. However, if you would like to stay in touch—”

“I would.”

“—while you are on the planet—”

“That’s possible?”

Machinery hummed and curious, Tessa placed her utensils in the disposal unit and peered into the materializer. Glistening black and white stones appeared.

“Take them and place the stones on your earlobes. The women on Usjar use them to keep in constant contact with their consorts.”

Tessa did as she asked, hoping the tiny devices would serve as both microphone and speaker. “Can you hear me?”

“Of course.” Dora’s voice vibrated in Tessa’s ear. “I’ve also implanted tiny cameras in the stones.”

“Can you induce privacy mode as well?”

“Yes, but you must take care to conceal all lip movements.”

“I understand. Thanks, Dora. You’re the best.”

“No problem.”

Tessa swallowed the last of her pasta with a grin. Dora loved to pick up slang, and she felt comforted with her computer friend nearby. With Zenon Prime this close, she was about to step onto a new world. As Earth’s first representative, she planned to make a favorable impression. Unfortunately, she’d never felt so ignorant. She didn’t know the customs here or what was expected of her, either. Kahn hadn’t been forthcoming on the subject, in fact, he hadn’t mentioned it, and Dora lacked adequate data. However, knowing that Dora was with her made her heart light and her mind eager to explore.

Now that Tessa could open the door to her chamber, she was ready to venture out. “Dora, where’s Kahn?”

“On the bridge.”

“Can you guide me there, please?”

“Compliance.”

Tessa followed a series of blinking lights to the bridge. The corridors all looked similar to her with their crystal machinery that reminded her more of art than technology. She saw no other rooms and surmised that the ship’s interior was filled mostly by gigantic engines to run the hyper drives.

The bridge wasn’t much larger than the shuttle. The circular cabin housed several viewscreens. The monitors to port, starboard, and stern showed a black sky with pinpoints of stars. The screen before Kahn revealed a planet that could have been drawn right from a Disney fantasy.

With three moons and two suns in the seven planet solar system, there were no shadows or dark areas. Rings around the fourth planet sparkled with ethereal crystal structures. Giant cables connected the rings to the planet below and vehicles that resembled train cars or giant elevators shot up and down the cables.

The planet had two emerald oceans both in the southern hemisphere. The clouds were pink and the landscape had slashes of rose. Streaks of violet desert between the giant domes of glass-like cities held her fascinated.

Kahn looked up from the console. He didn’t seem the least surprised to see her there, but pleased. Her new husband might not be big on words, but she was starting to read his moods. Tensions between them had eased, and while she wouldn’t yet classify their complicated relationship as friendly, she believed they understood one another well enough to work out their differences.

He gestured for her to come closer. “You slept straight through our hyper jump. Welcome to Zenon Prime.”

“Wow. Is this where the Challenge takes place?”

“No, but there’s an official welcoming ceremony waiting for you on the planet.” Kahn spoke to someone else through the communicator then docked the ship, smoothly maneuvering alongside one of the towers floating in the clouds.

Metal clanged on metal. The gravity changed ever so slightly, and Kahn stretched as if he had kinks in his muscles. One moment he wore his casual low-slung pants and vest and the next, he’d changed into a formal black suit with braid piping, long sleeves, and a v-neckline that made him look masculine and darkly dangerous, especially with the ceremonial knife in his belt.

He changed her clothes, too, and she gasped. An icy, diaphanous dress shimmered as the gorgeous fabric floated around her. Gossamer threads of silver, pink, and purple cellophane clouded the glassy translucence. Light, delicate and yet modest, the gown was the prettiest garment she’d ever worn. Tessa read admiration in Kahn’s eyes and was glad the bruise on her face had faded. And she managed to rein in her automatic protest of his choosing her attire, refusing to complain even about her high-heeled platform shoes.

Kahn snapped his fingers. “I almost forgot.” From a compartment he removed a pendant with a smoky red stone. “For you. It’s a star fire.”

She stared in awe. The stone sparkled like an opal, shimmered like a diamond, the color changing from crimson to scarlet, depending on the viewing angle. “It’s beautiful. Thank you.”

Kahn placed the jewelry around her neck, and the stone nestled between her breasts. “This is to remind you that during the welcoming ceremony on Zenon Prime, I will remain at your side and protect you. Some of the aliens will seem strange, even menacing, but you have nothing to fear. You aren’t expected to recognize the different cultures that you will meet or to know their customs. Just be yourself. There are only two races to worry about. First, the Endekians, who are my enemies. They are short, yellow skinned men with sharp teeth. Try to avoid looking them in the eyes as they will take it as a sign of sexual interest. Hopefully, Jypeg will not be here.”

She heard hatred in Kahn’s tone. “Jypeg?”

“The man who killed Lael.” Kahn took a deep breath and continued. “The other race you must try not to insult are the Osarians.”

The manner in which he’d phrased his statement sounded so strange to her—as if everyone insulted the Osarians. “Why or how would I insult them?”

“The Osarians are repulsive-looking creatures. Some candidates have run from the welcoming ceremonies in fear of the tentacled and powerful creatures.”

“I will not run,” she promised. After his lovely gift and declaration of protection, she felt petty complaining about the shoes. But the platform shoes with a heel way higher than one she was accustomed to left her clenching Kahn’s arm for balance, and for once, he didn’t complain about her touching him first.

She eyed him as he led her to the shuttle bay. “You like me clinging to you for support, don’t you?”

“All is as it should be.” His voice remained serene, but she caught a glint of amusement in his gaze.

“You won’t think this is so damn amusing if I fall flat on my face and embarrass us both.”

“You have extraordinary balance.”

“And patience,” she muttered as she tripped, then gripped his arm tighter.

Tessa repeatedly tried to modify the shoes, but he hadn’t simply used psi on her suit. He’d locked in his will by the use of the marriage bands he’d placed on her during their wedding ceremony, preventing her from overriding his decision. Forced to go clad according to his wishes in the lovely gown and shod in the ridiculous shoes, she supposed she should consider herself lucky that she wasn’t wearing some hideous outfit.

If only she could operate the suit’s null-grav, she could float. Perhaps that was the point. Kahn had a brilliant tactical mind, and she wouldn’t put it past him to use the ceremony and the uncomfortable shoes to frustrate her into using null-grav and teach her another psi lesson.

She sighed, followed Kahn into the shuttle, and vowed not to complain. However, she silently wondered why developing her psi always had to be so unpleasant.

Kahn skillfully piloted the shuttle downward, and Tessa stared in wonder at the purple vegetation. Cactus-like plants, hundreds of feet high, mushroomed from the lavender desert. The gigantic plants rimmed an enormous crater into which the shuttle descended.

Absorbed with the intriguing view of other aircraft, saucers, cigar-shaped and cylindrical, Tessa forgot the discomforts of her shoes. They plummeted swiftly into a controlled spiral, joining a busy traffic pattern. Below them runways, helipads. and hangars awaited the various aircraft of every imaginable size, shape, and color.

Her curiosity fired, she gazed at the city, longing to explore. “How long will we stay here?”

“Just a day or two. Then we go to Rystan where other people can help with your training.”

She could tell by his tone that he was already eager to leave and head for home. So she vowed to make the most of her short stay here.

In moments, they’d landed, and Kahn eased Tessa through the hatch into a bus-like vehicle where they were the only passengers. She stared out the window, disappointed at the lack of an alien view as they whisked through a darkened tunnel. By her internal clock, Tessa estimated fifteen minutes passed before they disembarked inside the tunnel and headed toward yet another vehicle.

“The Federation has provided a flit-glider,” Kahn spoke with satisfaction. The glider looked like a large torpedo with two seats. She sat behind Kahn, and they launched with a whoosh, and Kahn piloted them straight into an enormous cavern.

Tessa gaped at the overwhelming size of the underground city. Obviously the Zenon people here lived on every part of their world, including the planet’s rings as well as above and below the surface.

Artificial pink clouds hung in the domed ceiling which appeared to resemble a lavender “sky.” Alien buildings that looked like
bendar
created a delicately harmonious skyline in the domed, underground city. Dazzlingly magnificent sculptures decorated moving walkways, but she and Kahn remained too high to see the aliens below, who traveled past graceful waterfalls and picturesque gardens of the grand city. Clearly, the artistic balance of the Federation capital had been considered by the builders so everyone could enjoy its beauty.

“This city’s magnificent,” she said.

Kahn shrugged his large shoulders as if he’d been here many times over and was not impressed. “Zenon Prime is the capital of the Federation. This planet is the center of pride and progress, but only the most privileged live here.”

Kahn’s tone was clipped, difficult to read, and when he ended the short flight, landing upon an enormous stage, Tessa wondered if she was ready. A huge alien audience watched. Beings of different shapes, sizes and colors awaited, and Tessa suddenly realized they stood there to get a look at her. The flight around the dome had been her grand entrance. Her stomach knotted. Remembering his promise to protect her, she placed her hand over the star fire necklace, the stone reassuring her. Kahn had told her these beings weren’t hostile. They hadn’t contacted Earth and brought her halfway across the Milky Way to eat her, but to greet her.

Kahn popped the flitter’s canopy and held out his arm. Taking his arm to steady her nerves and aid her balance in the shoes, Tessa looked around and swallowed hard as hushed expectancy washed over the multitude of strangers.
Courage
. “You will do fine, woman,” Kahn whispered. “Just remember not to use sarcasm, please.”

“Hell, haven’t you heard of free speech in this galaxy?” she muttered, uneasy at being the focus of all those alien eyes. Still, she shot him her most brilliant smile as she stepped out of the flitter to a roar of cheers.

For the next several hours, Tessa stood in her uncomfortable shoes in a receiving line where Federation delegates welcomed her. As promised, Kahn didn’t leave her side.

At first, Tessa studied each alien, amazed by the different possibilities of humanoid construction. Most of them had a head set on their bodies. The genetic combinations seemed as varied as the number of planets in the galaxy. Most had eyes in their heads, but several possessed orbs on their appendages. Some had wings or tails, others orange tentacles, and one species changed colors as it “spoke.” Thanks to her suit’s translator, she could exchange welcoming small talk.

After a while, she lost count of the differences between the aliens. Instead of bodily appearance, Tessa amused herself by guessing at their personalities. Although Kahn didn’t speak, he sometimes leaned closer to her, and occasionally she sensed a tension in him as different species approached.

When a six-foot-tall, large-tentacled insectoid that reminded her of a giant daddy longlegs slithered closer, Tessa froze in order to avoid instinctive retreat. The friendly spider introduced itself as Bython, from the planet Whoollanzi, and its softly pleasant trilling sound calmed Tessa’s frazzled nerves, and she recalled she could speak to Dora through the earrings, moving her lips as little as possible.

“Dora?”

In privacy mode, her friend fed her information. “The Whoollanzi subdue their foes with that pleasant trilling before devouring their prey alive.”

“Didn’t need to know
that
,” Tessa muttered.

“Don’t worry. You are too large to be considered food.” The formidable line of aliens passed before Tessa slowly. Each Federation member had different customs. Some stared at her boldly, others humbly kneeled at her feet. No one offered to shake hands. One scratched under his armpit and another’s eyes actually rolled across its forehead.