Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The crazy elevator thing dropped us off in another busy hallway, but we didn’t have to go far.
Right in front of us was a set of double doors that Aster guided me to.
No guards outside the door like the ships down on Earth.
No security measures that I could see. The doors opened after Aster pressed his hand to a panel next to it, and it opened into what looked like a cross between a conference room and a command center.
“Woah.”
The room itself was circular, with windows giving the most amazing view of Earth.
I was there for the flight and everything, but it didn’t really hit me that I was in space until I was staring at Earth from above it.
My stomach clenched, and a bubble of excitement worked its way up, spilling out of my mouth and making me sound like an idiot. “Holy shit. I’m in fucking space!”
Aster’s brows drew together, but he looked like he was fighting off a smile when he said, “Yes. That’s what the journey was before.”
I glanced at him to give him a sour look before my gaze dragged back to the view again. I’d never seen anything that gorgeous before. Even the pictures I saw online didn’t do it justice.
“It is not as pretty as it could be,” a solemn voice said from beside us.
A taller Krezikian with a slim build came to stand next to us.
They were just like Aster in that they were half-human and half-octopus-looking, but what made them special was that they didn’t have colors like the Krezikians I’d met so far.
Their skin was almost like an opal, pale and shimmering with different colors in the light.
Their hair was also a pale, almost white color, tied in complicated designs trailing down their back, a lot like Aster wore his.
The only dark part about them was their eyes, which were almost unnervingly black and seemed to stare right through you.
But their smile was kind when they turned to face us. “???t?rv??t. You are looking well.”
“Thank you, Lord KГ?dit???. May I introduce Staff Sergeant Enzo Rozzee? He is the liaison to the humans.”
Aster’s translator was getting a lot better. He almost sounded fluent in English. But there were just some words he couldn’t seem to get a handle on. Including my last name. It was a little funny, and I didn’t want to correct him in front of his leader, so I just rolled with it.
“Just Enzo is fine,” I said, offering the leader my hand. I realized my blunder when he tipped his head, his light eyebrows drawing together slowly.
“Why are you offering me your hand?”
Embarrassment swept through me, but before I could draw away, Aster spoke up, smiling brightly at his leader. “It is a human greeting custom. They clasp hands and wiggle them in greeting. It is considered polite.”
“Oh!” The leader, whose name I couldn’t even hope to pronounce, gently took my hand and wiggled it like a fish. I twisted my mouth, fighting back a laugh. That’s one way to do it, I guess.
“It is nice to meet you, Enzo Rozzee. We viewed the message you sent to the other ships. We appreciate your honesty on the matter. We wish your leaders were that receptive to our message. We are only here to help.”
“I know. Aster told me. Like I was telling him, I don’t think it’ll work how you want it to–”
“Is that a human?”
“Yes! How exciting!”
“Look at how small his limbs are!”
“He only has four! So strange!”
A gaggle of voices interrupted us, and I suddenly found myself surrounded by a group of Krezikians who were similar in coloring to the leader we were speaking to.
Different shades of opal. Some darker, some lighter, but all seemed to give off different flashes of color depending on the angle you looked at them.
Four in total, all hovering around me and asking me questions.
I felt a few tentacles poking at my legs and arms. One even tried to lift me to see if I was hiding more limbs somewhere.
It was so overwhelming, I hadn’t noticed that they’d shoved Aster out of the way until he let out a feral snarl.
“Put. Him. Down.”
His voice, which was normally soft and friendly, deepened and roughened until it was almost unrecognizable.
The group immediately released me and backed away, giving Aster curious looks.
He stormed past them, grabbing my elbow and shoving me partway behind him as he glared at the group.
I couldn’t figure out if he was being protective or possessive.
Either way, my heart skipped a beat, and I felt the back of my neck flush.
The one we had spoken to first tipped his head again, his creepy black eyes narrowing slightly. “???t?rv??t?”
Aster lifted his chin, still seething. “With greatest respect, my lordships. Don’t touch.”
The word ‘mine’ was basically lit up in bright lights at the end of that sentence. Butterflies exploded in my stomach, and I felt myself burn even hotter as a few of the newcomers leered at Aster and me.
“Getting cozy with the locals, ???t?rv??t?”
“We have only been here a week. You move quickly.”
“Was that why he was so impassioned to defend us? You sly creature.”
The more comments they made, the more irritated Aster seemed to get.
His hands clenched into his fists at his sides, and he was grinding his teeth so hard, I could hear it.
They didn’t seem to be making the comments to be cruel.
They were teasing him, and their expressions seemed friendly.
But Aster didn’t seem to take it that way, and I felt more than one of his tentacles wrap around my waist and up my leg almost possessively.
Why, oh why, did that have to turn me on?
Before I could embarrass myself by getting a hard-on or Aster could lose his temper, the first leader put up a hand, stalling the comments of the others.
“Enough. They did not come here for your teasing.” He gave them a scolding look before turning back to Aster. “Be at ease, ???t?rv??t. Your brothers mean no harm.”
“Brothers?”
I asked that out loud without thinking about it and winced internally. Probably shouldn’t be getting nosy right now. I could’ve asked Aster to clarify later.
The Krezikian with more lavender in their skin bobbed their head with a bright smile.
“Our youngest brother. He is quite spoiled with his new position. He is still young by Krezikian standards. He hasn’t even come into his coloring yet.
He should not have been made ship leader before his fiftieth solar cycle. ”
“Evu!” Aster protested loudly.
Evu only grinned.
Another one, with more of a light green tint, shook their head with a sigh. “Evu likes to cause trouble. He forgets that had he not been related to our father, he would not have his position either.”
The comment made Evu gasp indignantly, but he didn't have time to protest before the light green one spoke again.
“I am Sh??d. Let me introduce you to my family. You have met Evu and KГ?dit???. Tan?th is there.” He pointed to the Krezikian beside him with pale red, almost pink undertones to his opal skin.
He was the biggest in terms of muscle but not the tallest. That was the first one.
He was taller and calmer than the rest. “And this little one is I?nki. He is smallest but not youngest.”
Yeah, no shit. He was about the same size as Landu. And unlike his brothers, his skin was pitch black with sparks of color.
“We make up the Krezikian governing council,” he continued. “We are pleased to meet you…”
He waited for me to supply my name and I realized belatedly that I’d introduced myself to the first one, but not the whole group.
“Oh, uh, Lorenzo Rossi. And you’re…” I let their names roll around in my mouth for a second before attempting to reproduce them.
I hadn’t practiced my Krezikian as much as I probably should have, and names were hard.
“Ee-voo. Sha-ed. Tan-eth. Ee-en-key. And Crow-dee-tus?”
That sounded worse than it had in my head, and they all looked amused by my pathetic attempt at reproducing their names. My neck burned from embarrassment, and I rubbed it awkwardly to hide the reaction. “Sorry.”
Aster came to my rescue, waving his hand dismissively. “You did fine. Humans with difficult names create smaller names to make it easier to say them. He is called Lor-Enzo, but he made it shorter for ease of pronunciation. He calls me Aster.”
“Oh! That sounds like fun!” Evu said brightly. “You may call me Voo. Voo sounds fun.”
The green one nodded slowly. “I suppose our names are difficult for the human tongue. A smaller name for me can be Shae.” He looked at the others.
The red one made a face and shook his head quickly.“I like my name. He pronounced it fine,” he grouched.
The black one just shrugged. “I don’t know what to call me. Anything is fine.”
“Ian?” I suggested. It sort of sounded like the start of his name.
He bobbed his head, his lips pursed. “Okay.”
He was just as easygoing as Aster was.
They all looked at the first one, who smiled softly. “I would be honored if Enzo could choose my name as well. I feel we will be interacting often, and I do not wish to have you struggle with my name.”
Unlike the others, who seemed down to earth, like Aster, the white-haired one seemed to stand out as a true leader. If I had to make a guess, he would be the eldest. It felt wrong to give a nickname to someone in power like that, but I didn't want to offend him by refusing. “Um… Crow?”
He seemed happy with that and smiled softly at me. “Now that we have all been introduced, why don’t we sit? It is nearing mealtime.”
He gestured to a table in the middle of the room.
It was long, made of the same material as the ship itself, and could probably fit at least a dozen people if needed.
We all crowded around one end, though, with me sitting on Crow’s left and Aster right beside me.
He had calmed a little since his brothers had surrounded me, but he still hovered, and there was a layer of tension in his shoulders.
The rest all sat, with Shae across from me, Taneth next to him, and Ian farther down.
Voo sat beside Aster, and I couldn’t decide if that was deliberate or not. He seemed to get a kick out of teasing Aster. “So, Enzo. Have you ever heard of tentacle porn?”
I’d just taken a drink of water, and I choked so hard, it came out my nose. My eyes watered, and I coughed and spluttered, desperately trying to breathe normally. Of all the things Aster’s leaders could ask me about, I didn’t think it’d be that.
Aster hovered, a worried frown on his face as he gently patted my back.
He offered me something similar to a handkerchief, and I used it to mop up my face.
When I could finally breathe, I glanced up to find several of the brothers glaring at Voo.
He had a sheepish look on his face at least, so he probably didn’t mean to make me choke.
“Apologies, Enzo,” Crow said softly, giving Voo a disapproving frown. “Voo enjoys surprising others. He is not called a troublemaker affectionately.”
Voo made an indignant sound, but he seemed to feel guilty for making me choke because instead of arguing, he leaned around Aster and gave me a small smile. “I apologize. Next time, I will wait until you have finished your drink.”
Of course, he would. He didn't feel bad about the question, only about the timing. This guy was supposed to be one of the leaders of the Krezikians?
I cleared my throat before answering, my voice still a little strained. “Uh, it’s fine. It was an accident. Um… Why do you know about that?”
His smile turned mischievous, but it was Shae who answered for him.
“Before each mission, those going to the surface are encouraged to learn all they can about the species we will be visiting. My brothers and I are usually focused on the planet itself, but your planet was an unusual circumstance, as we don’t normally assist species still so young in their evolution.
We thought it prevalent to know more about humans before we arrived.
That research, as well as the conversations we’ve had with your kind, gave us enough knowledge to shut down your nuclear weapons so we could do our jobs safely. ”
“And… tentacle porn was part of that?” I asked uneasily.
Voo beamed at me. “It was! I thought it surprising that humans were said to not be ready for us to visit, and yet they glorified intimacy with our kind. Perhaps if we shared that we are aware of it, they would be more willing to work with us? I have a few videos I can send to your world leaders that are quite tantalizing.”
My face was on fire. I did not think going to meet with Aster’s leaders would end up with me talking about tentacle porn.
Who even were these guys?