Chapter 48
She was curled up in my arms.
I brushed a strand of hair out of her sleeping face.
My heart was content.
My mate was back with me.
Not that she had ever left, but her heart had pulled away from me while I was too busy worrying about the tangled web I had built for myself in my head.
The fact that she delighted in my position and wealth didn't take away from the fact that she also saw who I was down to my core and loved me for it.
I rose from the bed, not wanting to leave her, but knowing there was work to be done.
We should be approaching the intercept point for the unknown fleet that was approaching my space station. I needed to be ready.
I opened up one of the wall panels and pulled out clothing. Tight and black, I enjoyed outfits I could move in. Over that, I put a robe with woven platinum and white gold, ornate enough to support my status, but easy to remove and toss to the side.
Not that there would be any physical fighting.
If there was an altercation, the other ships in my own fleet would be the first to intercept.
I was not going to put my mate, or my unborn young, at risk in an unknown contact situation.
My mate lifted her head from the pillow.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"I have work that needs to be done," I replied, articulating my thoughts into words.
"Can I help you?" she asked. "I don't want to be left alone again."
Could she help me?
The question resonated in the air between us.
I was the Emperor.
This little alien, this little hoomon who I had taken for my mate, wanted to know if she could help me with my role as the ruler of an entire galactic empire.
How adorable.
That thought caught in my mind, an abrasion that scratched against who I was brought up to be and who I wanted to become.
Why couldn’t she help me?
How could I tell if that was something she was able to do or not?
"I don't know if you can help," I said softly. "But you can come with me and see what it is that I am doing. You are welcome to join in if you see a space that fits you well."
"I will!" she said, quickly sliding out of bed and putting on a silky outfit of her own. She chose a silver and black dress that matched what I had on.
I led her through the double doors to the command center.
I took a seat and tapped on one of the panels to my left.
My mate looked around for a moment.
"I will have another seat installed in here," I offered.
"That isn't necessary." She smiled at me. "There is a space that fits me well right here."
Then she slid into my lap.
I wrapped my arm around her as she perched on my thigh, a warm rumble going through my body. This was all I wanted. Someone who had the audacity to take what she wanted from me, rather than waiting quietly for me to guess what was in her mind. She told me what she wanted. She took what she wanted.
All I had to do was step back and let her, and she would make herself happy with me.
She would tell me what she needed from me so I could give it to her.
The panel to my left lit up.
My eyes scrolled over the information, and then I opened up the video link to the operations center.
"Report," I commanded.
"The advanced ships in the fleet have reached the contact point with the alien fleet," my communications officer relayed. "We have identified their communications channels. They have already sent a request for a video contact."
"Open the channel," I commanded.
The wall in front of me flicked on with the massive image of the inside of the alien ship.
It was the Shek'invitali.
They were projecting a full view of the inside of their main command room. Several of their horned males stood around various stations.
"I am Emperor Belirious of the Norratar Empire," I sang out, letting my authority rumble through my entire being. She wiggled in my lap at the sound, and let out a small little sound of pleasure. "State your intentions."
"Greetings," the large horned man in the center of the room began.
A small golden-haired hoomon stood next to him, bounding on the balls of her feet, her mouth pulled wide in a threat display.
“I am Prince Rambo of the Shek’invitali.
We were passing on the outskirts of your territory on a different mission when we found that one of our ships had been detained in your territory.
Their last message outlined their detainment, and included an information packet about your language and species. We have come to investigate."
"Entering our territory with a fleet of that size will be considered a declaration of war," I growled.
"Wow, that is so serious. You're all like," my mate said from my lap. She lowered her tone an octave. "Enter my territory and die." She shook her head. "It's super hot and all, but I think attacking someone named Rambo is not a great idea."
"It isn't," the golden-haired hoomon replied.
"Plus, is fighting really necessary? We are on our way home right now, and a space battle does not sound like much fun, so let's not do that.
I'm Silva, by the way. I just want to know where Tiffany's ship went.
As long as they are fine, we're good and won't mess with you guys. "
"Oh, she is totally fine," my mate replied, her words coming quickly as she replied to the other hoomon.
"They are on some big ass moon city. The other lady was freaking out about studying some flying dinosaur chicken velociraptors, so they likely haven't left yet.
I bet you could send in a small ship to check on them if you aren't able to message them from here. Are you not able to message them?"
I leaned back in my chair and watched my small hoomon.
No one had interrupted me like this before.
It was a unique experience.
Especially because she was going ahead and making offers to these aliens. She was my mate, and if I intended to let her have political power, I needed to know how she was going to use it. Testing her out on aliens before having her interact with the bulk of my population seemed like a fine idea.
"We aren't close enough to contact them," Silva said.
I suppressed a smile.
My mate had already identified a weakness in the Shek'invitali communications. Their long-range capabilities were significantly substandard in comparison to ours.
"I'll ask my friend Arnina to have them check in if you guys don't want to send a ship in," my mate said. "I'm guessing you're another cryo pod lady if you are friends with Tiffany. Me too! What were you guys up to?"
"I wanted to check on Earth." Silva offered the information freely.
The horned prince didn't interrupt her despite her giving information to a superior fleet that had just threatened them.
I glanced back and forth between the hoomon and the horned Prince, absolutely fascinated by the exchange.
"The information from the Terran Republic was not making any sense, so we decided to check it out for ourselves. "
"What did you find?" Lorelei asked. "Tiffany said it was a bureaucratic nightmare, and none of us were allowed to visit at all."
"They've been lying!" Silva exclaimed, the volume of her voice rising. "Earth isn't even in their control!"
"What?" Lorelei exclaimed. "Who controls it?"
"Apparently, this other species owns it or something, and won't let any humans near it!
From what we can gather, Earth still has humans on it, but they are completely cut off from everything," Silva said.
"We got a bunch of information on their forces, and we're heading home to figure out what we want to do about it.
We're a group that makes decisions together. "
"Send it to me," Lorelei demanded.
The other human hesitated.
"No offense, but we just met," Silva said. "I don't really know you or anything about the species you are… with."
"I'm a Gemini, I have a degree in economics, and for the last several years before I got put in a pod, I worked as a stripper instead of getting a corporate job because of a mental health hiccup," she said.
"I love coffee and long walks on the beach.
At least, I used to until I got abducted off of one.
Oh, and I'm totally the Empress of the Norratar Empire, and my mate here is definitely going to support me reclaiming Earth if the military logistics work out - right? "
She looked at me with huge eyes.
There was more than one question in that sentence.
"Yes, you are my Empress," I said, acknowledging the fullness of that truth in my heart. "And are you asking me if I will wage a war to claim a planet for you?"
"Yes," she replied.
That question didn't require any thought.
"Then I will," I replied. "If I believe victory is likely. I will not waste the lives of my military for an unwinnable war."
My mate nodded and turned her attention back to the screen.
"Is that good enough for you?" she asked. "Give me the information so we can go fuck some shit up and claim a planet."
"Uh," the other woman replied. "If you do that, will you commit to giving full access to Earth to the Shek'invitali Human Council of Queens and all the humans we oversee?"
"Toats, my goats," Lorelei replied. "Though not right away."
That didn't make any sense to me. What did small farm animals have to do with this? Why carry them around in a type of bag? Was the hoomon going to bring small farm animals onto a spaceship?
It apparently made sense to the other human, as she nodded.
"We're going to do this formally and in writing," Silva replied.
"You got it," Lorelei replied. "How about we work out the details over brown caffeinated beverage?"
The translator was providing a lot of words for what was a single word in the hoomon’s language.
"I would love to try some Norratar brown caffeinated beverage," Silva replied.
My mate laughed.
"Oh no," she giggled. "They have nothing, but I know you do! I was absolutely inviting myself over to help myself to your stash."
The audacity of her.
Heat rose in my heart, a warmth that glowed in the presence of a woman who seemed to see no difference between my position and hers. She acted as an Empress without thought or insecurity. She was beautiful in the way that she identified what she wanted and found the fastest path to get it.
"Great, we would love to have you over for brown caffeinated beverage and a treaty," Silva said.
"We will meet on our Tevintith Garr space station," I finally interjected.
"Oooh, a space station," my mate replied. "Super cool."
What did temperature have to do with it?