What made them remarkable was they refused to blindly follow unethical commandments.
If a Sylph felt a command caused harm to another being they would decline to act, even unto torture and death.
Though impatient, Fiercely remained.
No doubt an explanation for the command would be demanded.
Disturbances during a sleep cycle were unacceptable.
Yes, the a’Rä’s body grew eager for rest, but its thoughts were ... disordered.
They were too focused on Venomous One’s mate.
Disconcertingly so.
The alien female is nauseating to my brille.
The hollow, pitching sensation while looking over her nudity could be naught but disgust.
Swallowing with difficulty, Fiercely shuddered.
How does Venomous One endure clutch with such an outlandish creature?
The female was stunted, and weak, and missing limbs, and possessed no natural defences and ... and ... she was not Rä.
How would she lay a strong egg?
More troublingly, Fiercely did not understand why the vision of her eyes going stark with fear as she clutched her Rä’Vek to her malformed chest kept cropping up.
The flash of uncertainty across Venomous One’s face, as if worried the rescue by his people was a threat to his female, disturbed Fiercely to the core.
“I did nothing wrong.”
Only followed orders as a good warrior.
So why was the accusation in the female’s expression before the sedation took effect so bothersome?
“Warrior!” He, Nāga Shadowed by the Bluest Moon stomped through the haze. His anima roused in a blend of colour betraying disquiet, and the material of his over robe swirled about his knees as the ventilation system pushed fresh air into the enclosure. “I refuse to operate on this female until she understands we mean her no harm.”
“You come to tell me you disobey a direct order?”
The male went rigid. “My request to have the female’s consent does not qualify as insubordination.”
“Refusal to obey me does.” Fiercely’s veiled gaze tore from the human to pin a look of censure on the riled male. “She is not adapting. It is clear her kind has not explored the galaxy and encountered sentient life beside their own. An adolescent race to be sure. It would be a travesty if this female did not reach home world alive.” Fiercely paused. “Venomous would kill us when he woke for not protecting her in his stead.”
“Thsst! I am not unaware of the circumstances. I wish the female a happy lifecycle with He, Venomous One. My hearts sing for his return. However, you ask me to bear the dishonour of forcibly implanting a foreign device into the body of this terrified creature. It is against the creed of the Healers Caste. More to the point, she will never forgive me. I will never forgive myself for such a heinous violation.”
“The dishonour is not ours. It belongs to the L’Odo who forced us into this position by implanting her with faulty technology. Venomous’ implant has been removed. How will they communicate? We cannot understand a word she babbles when she does break her silence. Her translator cannot link with what we do not wear. It must go, and our tongue implanted directly into her memory centres. He would want us to do this.” Fiercely gave the male his back ending the debate. “You have your orders.”
The healer stomped from the enclosure muttering curses to Grandmother under his breath.
Fiercely followed at a sedate pace.
From behind the shielding drone of the haze, a transparent force field, the a’Rä absorbedly watched the alien female fall unconscious as the enclosure filled with odourless vapour.
The floor rippled, a liquid metal puddle appearing in the centre.
Globules of silver dripped upwards and coalesced into a solid structure, flattening into an oval at the apex.
Shallow divots formed.
The examination slab would hug the alien female’s anatomy, the curvatures moulding to her musculature and ensuring absolute comfort.
A Sylph transferred the human from her cramped corner onto the glowing silver surface.
Robust features knotted, Nāga entered the enclosure then halted at her head.
Sighing as his device dove into her rounded ear, he waited until it bleeped then drew out the apparatus to let a thin, sharp needle extend.
Steady hands held the metallic rod still until the machine beeped again.
Nāga removed the old translator from behind her ear and crushed it.
The procedure was minimally invasive, and completed within nanosecs, so simplistic was the human’s cerebral cortex.
Curious, Fiercely crossed his lower arms, and used the upper to scrutinise her internal scans.
They were so unlike, yet alike, to Rä.
Simplistic did not always mean unintelligent, and the alien brain was proof of that canon.
The vibrant explosions of firing synapses dancing across the holograms were arresting sparkles of energy.
She was an emotional creature, and her species possessed the potential to reach the technological aptitude of the Rä.
They knew from what corner of the universe and galaxy she hailed from for it had been branded onto her arm.
The information would never be used.
Regardless of Rök’s insular society, its blood soaked past, the more adventurous a’Rä would consider travelling to her birth world to see if human females called forth their seed stems, for an ugly mate was better than no mate, but it would not be allowed, and the information suppressed.
Fiercely felt a twinge of pain at a longer study of the female, and an ominous sense of dread grew.
The trials to come were to be difficult.
Venomous One never succumbed to envy during the harsh training undertaken in their youth, as most did.
The battle for dominance to prove an a’Rä was Grandfather’s favourite seemed asinine to them both when acceptance into the Warriors Guild meant they already were the Great Serpent’s treasured ones.
The two of them had been close, as if they hatched from the same egg.
Venomous One had changed.
He had been a playful character, frivolous, quick to laugh and make jokes, but seeing him for the first time in solars, Fiercely glimpsed deeper and darker traits as he had cradled the female, and pledged himself to her.
Fiercely Comes the Night knew trying to lay claim to the fertile ground the male cherished more than his own life would see no peace between them.
Nāga’s terse voice came through the intercom. “The bio-implant has successfully assimilated into the alien brain tissue.”
“Give me an estimation of when the implant will reach full effect.”
“Nanosecs after waking. This species is unlike any I have encountered.”
Fiercely remained apathetic.
Rä were not impressed by other species as they were physically and intellectually superior to most.
“She is bipedal, as we are,” he stated knowing the healer waited for a response.
“Yesss, but there the comparison ends. She has a limited ocular range, but that lack is compensated by overdeveloped olfactory and vocal characteristics. Her body is covered in sensory receptors with no exoskeleton to regulate sensation. Pain must inundate this creature. Information as diminutive as a filament follicle changing direction is transmitted to her nervous system. The thin membrane covering her musculature, to a great extent less fibrous than our own, responds to pressure unlike anything I have experienced. Her skeleton is comprised of a rare structural protein and calcium. Fiercely, her bones are crushable.” The healer sounded fascinated. “The outer membrane is fragile, and moults at a rate far accelerated to even that of a Rä during a shedding. Her cells do not regenerate, but re-grow, the old layers detaching cell by cell, taking in the region of forty galactic rotations to complete. Scarring is of a high likelihood after the lower layers of membrane are breached. It must be noted ritual piercing is unadvised.”
Meaning this
female could not take part in the bonding practice used in Rä culture to tie her to her Rä’Na.
What a troubling revelation.
The ritual was not based on the glorification of pain.
The bloodletting was an intimate gesture of complete submission to bind the male and female.
If the creature could not consciously deaden sensation partaking in the honoured ceremony would be nigh on impossible.
How would she take Venomous One as her life mate before his kindred?
Perhaps the humans used verbal ceremonies as the more primitive species did.
Brow ridge pleating, Fiercely paid more attention to what was being said.
Once Venomous One and his Rä’Na had been rescued, Fiercely had transmitted the particulars to the Northern Senate.
The Elder’s had given strict orders to confirm the human had not enslaved Venomous with offworlder trickery.
In the meantime, they were to treat the female well, and keep her under close observation whilst isolated from her Rä’Vek.
After sedation, Venomous had been put under immobilisation, so he didn’t tear the Trekker apart looking for her.
Such behaviour was expected and understandable; it was a biological imperative he protect his mate.
Unfortunately, caution came before consideration of their feelings because of the precedent their mating set.
This was the first time in unknown aeons a Rä matured for an offworlder.
How worrying Nāga highlighted such vast anatomical differences between the human and her new people.
How would she survive the deadly environment on home world being so physically vulnerable?
“What of her reproductive compatibility?” Fiercely asked and wondered what offspring between the two would bear a resemblance to.
Nāga startled.
Had he forgotten she was not a scientific specimen, but a bonded Rä’Na?
His voice wavered. “Warrior?”
“Simple curiosity, Healer.”
“I suppose you would be concerned.” Nāga sounded less apprehensive. “The Warriors Guild grieved for He, Venomous One for solars. Reproduction between a human and others of her simian genus, saurian, felid, and a few others is theoretically possible. She is not compatible with many species, like those of arthropod origin, such as the Krael. They could copulate, but little else. Her species hasn’t evolved that far as yet. What the offspring will look like is debatable.”
“It is possible, and that is all that matters.”
If the human had not been compatible, she might have ended up despondent, weary of life, and ashamed to show herself in public, unable to do her duty and provide her Rä’Vek with offspring.
“This membrane is astonishing.” Nāga bent over double. His claws retracted, and he undulated his fingertips over the female’s prone body, various flashing, beeping devices held in his grip. “Not only is it incredibly sensitive to pressure, it responds and adapts to changes in temperature. She excretes liquid as a means of instant thermoregulation, and her cells produce a hormonal chemical to darken their pigmentation to filter prolonged exposure to sunlight. It is a peculiar contradiction. The membrane is multifunctional yet easily breached leaving her internal organs vulnerable. She has no natural armour plating aside from her skull bone under her membrane. Even that is brittle. That Venomous One kept her alive in that place is a miracle. The alien female is–”
“Delicate,” Fiercely murmured hands clenched into fists. What would it be like to have a Rä’Na like that? “How long until she regains consciousness?”
“Nanosecs from now.”
Grabbing a fresh water pouch, Fiercely re-entered the enclosure and stood beside the examination slab.
Tension threaded through the a’Rä’s body, coiling and bunching its muscles tight, but it did not know why.
Fiercely stared at the mass of coiling filaments sprouting from her head, and flowing across her neck and shoulders.
Venomous One had stroked them as they’d come aboard, unashamed to be handling his female intimately outside the privacy of their nest.
She seemed to take comfort from the petting rather than see it as a gross presumption, as a normal Rä’Na would.
So strange, so different.
Captivating.
It had been proven she held no chemical or psychological hold over Venomous.
Theirs was a true mating, and they would be reunited.
“Shall we shave her bald?” Fiercely asked. “Remove the filaments on her limbs and the fur between her legs to make her more attractive?”
“My data concludes humans grow membrane filaments as a means to reduce contamination by hostile microorganisms and viral pathogens. Much like the Verak. As mentioned, the filaments act as sensors, a biological defence mechanism adopted by her ancestors’ evolutionary path.” The healer’s hand hovered over the cranial mane, as if he longed to feel the strands. “I advise against removing them. She has a considerable adjustment to make. If we remove body parts designed to protect, she may become distressed, and fear we mean her harm. I do not think the human considers their removal necessary as part of grooming.”
“Venomous liked touching it when we brought them aboard.”
“I can imagine why. I enjoy the softness of my Rä’Na. This female is very soft.”
Fiercely sighed.
Some species were so strange, and so were some males.
The a’Rä often wondered if it would be a male.
I do not think I would like to be mounted as a female is.
“The unsightly fur may remain.”
Fiercely remained unconvinced it was the right choice, but was willing to concede to a professional opinion.
Nāga looked offended on behalf of his patient.
As he stared at her, the outer corners of his brille softened. “The human is fine. She is one of us now. Rä’Na. She is to be honoured.”
“You do not think her hideous,” Fiercely observed.
“I do not.” Nāga looked surprised at the unspoken suggestion the warrior did. “Unnerving at first sight, but appealing once you get over the shock. She is different. I find it exciting and intriguing. Such is my nature though. Venomous One is blessed. Only the closed minded will think otherwise.”
The human made a low sound, and her head rolled.
Soft membranes veiling her eyes slid up, remaining concealed, and round pupils were circled by a ring of smoky quartz Fiercely had previously only seen on rare gemstones at market.
This attribute of the alien the warrior found pleasing, much more so than all the hair.
Did Venomous find this and more attractive about the creature?
Her eyes slid from side to side, and the flimsy filaments on her arms lifted as they settled on the healer.
Her breathing increased, and her eyes leaked fluid.
“Peace, Human. Call me He, Nāga Shadowed by the Bluest Moon. I am a healer. I mean you no harm.” He smiled, flashing his sharp teeth. “Have your optical orbs sustained injury?”
Blinking, the alien female turned her head, fleshy lips parting. “Venom?” Her eyes connected with Fiercely’s. “No, you’re not him. You look like him, but you’re not him.” Her voice was accusatory, as if she thought they tried to deceive her.
“The Rä to your other side is Warrior Fiercely Comes the Night and guild kin to He, Venomous One. Fiercely is unmated, a’Rä, and commands all aboard until your mate is ready to assume authority.”
The alien jerked her gaze from Fiercely’s when Nāga reached to touch her.
In a graceful movement, she rolled from the slab then landed crouched.
Avoiding the healer, she fled to the corner.
Frustration built within Fiercely. “She speaks, but she does not understand us when we say we mean no harm. You told me the implant would activate immediately.”
“Scans indicated it would. It has. The procedure was perfect.” Nāga was confused. “Perhaps her eye injury makes her inconsolab
le.”
“You told me she was unbroken.”
“The scans–”
“I know what the scans say. She remains uncomprehending. Either she is dumb, or the procedure failed.”
At his raised voice the female pushed further into the corner, her eyes snapping between them.
Nāga sent him a look of reproach. “You scare her.”
“Thsst!” Taking a step forward with the intention of shaking sense into her, Fiercely backtracked when the female pushed back with such strength her head slammed against the wall.
Predators understood prey, and instinctively they lowered to appear less aggressive.
Fiercely felt a welling of shame at scaring one so small.
“Female, please, cease.” The healer held out his hands claws down to signal his peaceful intentions. “You will damage yourself.”
The rocking stopped.
“She understood you.” Fiercely thrust the pouch towards her. “Drink. You are dehydrated. Drink or you will die and Venomous will take my head.”
The alien glared.
“She does not like you.” Nāga chuckled. “If looks could kill you would be meeting your ancestors.”
Fiercely ignored the jibe.
If the female felt anger at her treatment then she grasped an understanding of her situation.
“Unlike our esteemed healer, I have no patience. If you do not drink this, I will strap you to the examination slab and intravenously force nutrition. Do you wish to be treated as a science experiment instead of Venomous’ honoured Rä’Na?”
She reached, took the pouch then drank, eerily intelligent eyes narrowed.
“Praise Zython.” The healer slumped. “I feared the human lost the will to live. I would not have liked to tell a warrior we were unable to care for his mate when we forced him into stasis.”
Fiercely grunted. “Bring food, and more sweet water. Also, bring uncut roots and a selection of raw meat. She does not trust us. We may reassure her by offering a meal that has not been tampered with. Did you run an allergy analysis?”
“The human may eat our produce except for the Zýt eggs. She will acquire the nutrients she needs to thrive. No additional supplements are necessary.” He hesitated. “It is worth mentioning while she was unconscious, I gave her a sequence of vaccinations. There is no longer a risk of her contracting harmful microbes from our native foodstuffs, and in preparation for arrival on home world, I coated her airway with a gel cartridge that will dissolve in increments and regulate her biochemical respirations. It will ease her into breathing our nitrogen rich atmosphere, and absorb any impurities. Otherwise, she would have had a dreadful time of it. She must have felt light-headed and muddled on the slave planet.”