Chapter 13
Scarlet
“Our biggest problem is going to be Char Tsok,” Alanna said, gesturing at her combot and bringing up a picture of the furry male in question.
She made a slideshow presentation.
Well, to be strictly technical, it wasn’t exactly a slideshow because it wasn’t that kind of software, but it was a presentation with pictures and information on individual displays, so it was a slideshow.
Scarlet sat back in her lounge beside Peony – who was on the edge of her bed, wrapped up in the blankets of her nest – and they watched as Alanna ran through the list she had created last night.
It was a ranking of every representative she met at the feast. There were over two hundred.
She not only had them all ranked in order of most to least likely to side with them, but she also had reasons why they were ranked that way, complete with quotes.
“I can see the law school on her now,” Peony said in an aside to Scarlet.
“And yet, still the hippie flower child at the same time,” Scarlet said, amazed. Because part of the ranking and reasons were her opinions on their vibes and auras.
She had started with their allies and worked her way down. Atem, of course, was at the top, followed by Elder Haviss of the ratchi, then down and down it went to their number one opponent – the dark furred male Char Tsok. Even his picture looked grumpy.
“His people believe in earning everything,” Alanna said, pointing to a quote from a representative whose name Scarlet didn't recognize that basically said just that. “They don’t really give gifts like we think of and the gifts they do give are never material. It’s more things like love and time and joy and stuff like that.
Those are considered gifts, which is adorable and precious, by the way. ”
“You just like them because they look like big saber-toothed cats,” Peony said, grinning.
“Be that as it may,” Alanna put her nose primly in the air, “it doesn’t change the facts.
The way to get into the Coalition is to earn a seat by breaching your solar system in a successful, manned flight.
Tsok does not believe that we should get a seat handed to us.
Though, technically, if we are granted protectorate status, we don’t have a seat.
Any complaints we want to bring up with the Coalition would have to be made through whoever our protector is which, in this case, is Atem.
But that status is still considered too much of a ‘give me’ for him, so he’s a hard no. Like, not even close to wavering.”
“But everyone beneath him on the ranking is open to change?” Scarlet asked.
“In increasing increments, yes. So, the guy below him, he’s a solid no, but not a hard no.
And so on and so forth. The point is, don’t bother trying to convince this guy.
I managed to make him grin last night – which, by the way, is also a gift.
Making people laugh is considered a gift to them, that’s so cute – but that’s not enough.
We haven’t earned our spot; therefore, we should not get a spot.
Even an ancillary one like that of a protectorate. ”
“But there are rules for a protectorate planet in the bylaws of the Coalition,” Peony pointed out. “It’s been done before.”
“Yes, but never on so small a scale.” Alanna made a face.
“The other species that started off as protectorates, it wasn’t just five females taken.
The entire planet was threatened. A species, Coalition or not, had already landed and was subjugating the people.
An accident happened and the planet was damaged because of something the Coalition did.
The species or planet was in danger of extinction and, though they couldn’t get out of their system, they were still advanced enough to know of the Coalition and put out a call for help.
These are all real examples, by the way.
All three of these species started out as protectorates but now have full member status.
“Taking five females might be a crime, but it’s not worth annexing an entire planet.
That’s the general consensus I got from our opponents last night.
There’s no risk to any humans besides us, which specifically does not qualify as large scale enough for protectorate status.
Our people don’t know of the Coalition and can’t ask for help.
And as advanced as we are, we’re still a long way off from breaking through our solar system in a manned flight.
So, as far as the Coalition laws are concerned, unless something terrible and tragic and horrific is threatening our people, they can’t intervene. ”
“Unless we can get the vote cast in our favor,” Scarlet said, thinking about their proponents. It was a decent number, but it wasn’t fifty percent. There were a lot more people on Alanna’s rank that were either undecided or outright unknown.
“Exactly.” Alanna shut down her combot, setting it back to floating around her head. “We must be charming and friendly and intelligent. Scarlet, that means you’re the star here.”
“Huh? Why me?”
“Well, everyone was talking about you last night. Even the aliens agree you’re the cutest human,” she laughed. “Besides, haven’t you seen the news?”
Scarlet frowned. “I haven’t checked it yet, no. Why?”
“Girl, where have you been?” Alanna motioned towards her combot. It only took a moment to bring up what she was referring to, and Scarlet looked on in shock.
Not only was everyone talking about the single cheek kiss she had given Havali, but there was also footage of them being cute and cozy behind the column last night.
You couldn’t see her, and you could only barely see him, but they had footage of them sneaking behind the column and, without being able to see them clearly, it looked like they were making out.
“You two are hot shit!” Alanna laughed, gesturing to the video clips. “Everyone is talking about it and, even better, everyone is shipping it!”
“Shipping?” Peony frowned. “What the heck is that?”
“It’s when you support a relationship, duh.
You and Atem are already together, so that’s not as fun, but according to the information we released to the media, you two are supposed to be the only mated pair here.
” She gestured to Scarlet. “Her being courted by Havali is hot stuff. Everyone wants to know more. Everyone is getting invested. There are entire forums dedicated to the cheek kiss and what it might mean and the odds of her getting pregnant by the end of the gathering.”
“Exactly zero,” Scarlet crossed her arms, frowning at the images of the two of them. “I could go have sex with a football team right now-”
“Trikball,” Alanna corrected.
“-and I still wouldn’t get pregnant. I turned off my ovulation on the way here. I’m safe. And why is everyone up in my business anyway?’
“So,” Peony gave her a searching look, “there is, in fact, business to get up into here?”
Scarlet glowered at her.
“Havali has been attached to her at the hip,” Alanna giggled. “Tuvo has even noticed and he’s as dense as a brick.”
“Oh, Atem isn’t going to like this,” Peony snickered.
Atem, as their brother, was highly protective of them.
That included fulfilling the traditional domini role of a guardian.
It was his job to protect their little clan, including demanding that any would-be suitors prove themselves in literal combat.
Instinctively, he did not like unproven suitors around them and had nearly gone nuts when Romival had started sniffing around Holly.
But Scarlet shook her head. “We haven’t even gone on our date yet and-”
“There’s a date?” Peony’s head popped up from her blankets, beaming eagerly. “You didn't tell us about this!”
Alanna snickered. “Yeah, Scarlet. Why are you keeping secrets? Are you afraid if Atem finds out, he’s going to pound Havali into the dirt?”
“No. I mean, yes, that’s a concern, but it’s not even a thing yet. I don’t know why everyone has to be concerned with what we’re doing like this,” she turned from the holovid, not wanting to see anymore of the flagrant privacy intrusion.
“Aliens love gossip. Just like humans do.” Alanna obligingly turned off the feeds.
“And we’re the hot topic right now. There may be over two hundred member species of the Coalition, but that number grew over thousands of years.
A new species potentially joining, even as a protectorate, is big news.
Tsok’s people were the last to be granted admission, and that was over fifty standard years ago.
And standard years are longer than Earth years. ”
“Humans are all the rage,” Peony wiggled her hips on the bed.
“We’re cute and we’re sexy and we’re the shiniest new toy.
Of course, we’re going to be their main interest. Especially if we can cross reproduce, and especially, especially if they might get to see such a thing unfold right in front of their eyes.
Face it, Scarlet. Your romance is in the public domain. ”
“It’s not even a romance yet,” she muttered unhappily under her breath.
Their date was tonight, and she had been looking forward to it.
Havali had sent her a list of clothing styles that would be appropriate for her to choose from without actually telling her where they were going.
A nice way to maintain the surprise, but also ease any worry she had about being properly dressed.
She had a pickup time – which was in just a couple marks – and a vague idea of what they might be doing based on the clothing options. But that was it.
And she was excited. She had actually woken up eager to face the strange, sweeping re-introduction of light that counted as a sunrise on the Ring.
And now all she could think about was the fact that everyone was going to try to be up in her business and potentially steal private, romantic moments from her.
Did Havali know? She was sure he must know. He was probably just as concerned as she was.