Chapter 50 #2
“Love Hattie,” he said, taking her hand, squeezing it. “From first moment I saw, I love her. Want to spend rest of my life to love her. Beg you, sir, for permission to claim your daughter.”
“Tuvo…” Hattie’s voice was weak, wavering. His upper eye couldn’t stray from her, and he didn’t miss the way her eyes glistened as she stared at him.
Only for a moment, however, before her head whipped over to look at her dad. Checking to see what his response would be.
Larry wasn’t in any hurry to give him one. He stared at Tuvo, shorter than him but still somehow managing to look down his nose. Giving nothing away in his expression. Measuring him on some internal scale that Tuvo faced with squared shoulders, head high.
“You think you’re worthy of my daughter?” He finally asked, nothing in his tone.
“Strive to always be. Do anything for her. Honor and prize always.”
“What do you plan to do with her? What plan do you have for your future?”
Ah. Tuvo had been warned there might be questions, though they said that they couldn’t tell him what they might be, since they didn’t know. It differed from father to father what questions he might ask, if he even asked any questions.
The only rule, they said, was to answer honestly.
“Take home. Give proper den and nest. Expand kitchen for to cook. Love forever. Protect her and young.”
“Protect them, hm? You think you can?”
“Know I can,” he growled, tightening his grip on her hand. “Vow it. Forever.”
“You’re a strong guy, Tuvo,” Larry said, leaning back on his lounge. “And I’m not as young as I used to be. But if you ever hurt my baby, I’m sure I can find some way to take my revenge out of your flesh.”
“Daddy,” Hattie mumbled, shifting and lowering her head as though uncomfortable, but a smile on her pink face regardless.
“I fail, I give flesh willingly,” Tuvo responded honestly.
Larry’s face softened and he gave him a smile. “My baby girl deserves only the best. And I know she’s chosen well. I’ve seen and heard all the things you’ve done for her. I can’t imagine turning her over to anyone less worthy.”
Tuvo felt a grin pulling up on one corner of his mouth.
Larry saluted him in the domini style, a bit sloppy but earnest. “I’m happy to welcome you into our family. I give you my full permission to claim my daughter.”
A gentle sniff turned Tuvo’s attention back to Hattie. She was quickly wiping her eyes even as she was reaching for him, intending to give him a hug. One he was happy to accept, rubbing her back as her parents smiled indulgently.
“You asked my father for me?” She asked, breathless. “I can’t… Who even taught you that?”
“Alanna,” he said honestly, using his free hand to send a message over his combot while her face was buried in his chest. In Domtri, he said, “She told me that it’s a very old-fashioned tradition among your people, completely dead in some places, but she thought you’d appreciate it. Do you?”
“Yes! Of course. Thank you, Tuvo.” She beamed, sitting up straight. “I can’t believe you’d go through that trouble for me.”
“You deserve even more,” he assured her, smiling. If this was enough to bring her to tears, then the rest of his plans might be too much.
But no. This was what his female wanted. And he would give her anything.
Hattie was thanking her dad and expressing her love for both of them as her combot went off. She looked surprised, before answering it. Scarlet’s voice came through the floating device.
“Hey, Hattie,” she said in English, breathless with excitement. “You have to come to the portside viewing platform.”
“Huh, why?”
“Okay, so you know how they’re building a moon base to do the human experiments that they agreed on in the treaty, right?”
“Yeah. And we’re leaving the base for humanity once we’re done with it.”
“Exactly, that one. Well, the construction ship just dropped out of their subspace swing and they’re about to launch the first probes to scan the moon to determine the best place to start building. You’re not going to want to miss this! It’s going to be so cool!”
Before Hattie could ask anything further, Scarlet ended the comm.
“The construction ship?” Hattie looked at Tuvo.
“They want to start building base as soon as possible,” he told her in Domtri. “Shall we watch?”
“Oh,” she looked at the table and her family. Clearly reticent about finishing the family dinner.
But her mom smiled at Tuvo before standing. “Sounds like quite a show! Come on, Hattie. You don’t want to miss history like the first building on the moon, right?”
“Well, that’s true,” she said, getting to her feet. “We can finish this later.”
Tuvo smiled as he took her hand and pulled her along. Her parents followed behind as he led the way into the hall and down to the portside viewing platform.
The Stor was turned in such a way that one of the long sides was facing the moon.
They were orbiting just behind it, outside of human territory – which only extended as far as human technology had managed to put humans.
That was why the Coalition refused to offer membership to species that hadn’t breached their solar system.
It was a matter of safety, so that no one could claim territory inside someone else’s solar system.
The building being built on the moon was going to be engineered, constructed, and maintained by alien forces.
It was there for the express purpose of studying how humans could mate and breed with the domini, and if they could do it with other species.
It was being built in human territory so the humans being experimented on wouldn’t be forced to leave their space, and in return for permission to build on their moon, they had promised the base to the humans once they were done.
It was just going to be a shell by then, all the advanced technology would be removed, but even just having a construction like that on the moon would be more than humanity could do on their own for now. And having a base might be beneficial to them.
And since the Coalition species had a vested interest in figuring out just how fertile humans really were, they were eager to start building immediately.
The portside viewing platform was a large room, long and tall, with a massive window facing out over the moon taking up the entire side. There were low tables and lounge cushions, but they had all been pushed out of the way.
When they walked in, the others were already there. The abducted human females with their mates, paired up and smiling. They waved at Hattie and Tuvo but made no attempt to come in closer as he escorted her to the window.
Gasping, amazed, she released his arm to walk forward, entranced.
The human moon was very simple, as moons went. A large, dusty, white rock. It wasn’t particularly impressive, but it was a sight that humans had been gazing at and dreaming of since they had eyes to see and a brain to think.
It held Hattie’s attention as she put her hands on the glass.
It couldn’t be seen from here, but there was definitely a construction ship orbiting the same distance from the moon as the Jutiron Stor.
Tuvo opened his combot and sent out another message, telling them they were ready.