Chapter 19
Agent Cupid shoved my head down behind the hedges. His sharp green eyes never left the mated pair. “Take out your camera and start recording. Be as silent as you can and don’t interrupt them.”
The fire’s constant low roar was interrupted with an angry hiss as waterfalls shot out from the emergency pipes. I looked up to the plume of dark smoke blotting out the sky.
Electric-blue feathers flapped in front of my face. “That’s because you have no vision! Record!”
I pulled out my camera and steadied it on the pair.
Agent Cupid pulled out a microphone and kept his voice low.
“Behind me is the mated pair Subject 12 and S 52. Subject S 52 is the leader of the Pink Basin settlement and has held the position since the Sankado males’ release on this planet ten years prior.
We have no way of knowing if he held a similar title before his rescue.
What we do know is the life of a dominant Sankado male is not one of ease.
Fighting off rival clans is a tiring business, but wooing a disinterested female is another challenge altogether. ”
The female’s face contorted into a sneer, and I zoomed the camera in on the blade clenched in her fist. Blood pooled around its tip where it met the male’s chest. I bit my cheek, wondering if I should abandon my orders in favor of ensuring the male did not come to harm, yet Agent Cupid was the only one at the BCI who had seen human and Sankado mating habits up close.
Maybe blood sport was simply the way these mammals got to it.
“After several days of displaying his fitness by fending off competitors and engaging the female in acts of conversation, the male is ready to try his luck.”
There was a shocking lack of dancing on the male’s part for him to move on to mating so quickly.
At no point during his time at The Crucible did Subject S 52 even attempt to put together any kind of choreography so she could ascertain his agility.
Nor did he provide a nest for her to lay.
I was honestly stunned a human female would put up with such a lackluster courtship. Yet life finds a way…
Slowly, Agent Cupid crept closer to the pair and motioned for me to follow. “He has offered his potential mate a weapon to distract her long enough for the second phase of his courtship.”
The weapon in question sank deeper into the male’s chest as he drew closer to inspect her body.
“Take note of the male’s tail,” Agent Cupid said.
The camera zoomed in on the long appendage.
Subject S 52 kept it low to the ground as it swayed back and forth.
A nearly invisible mist rose from the fire escape valves that lined the top of the tail.
The scent of tobacco and something else I couldn’t place interrupted the smell of burning in the building around us.
“Sankado males have pheromone glands at the mouth of their tail, each with their own individual scent. The heat stored in the male’s fire sacks can be used to release a vapor, permeating his scent through the air.
An act most Sankado females find irresistible. ”
Subject 12’s head tilted back as her suitor traced his lips along her throat. Her grip on the knife lessened, and the male seized the opportunity to drag her body closer to his.
“He draws her closer, enveloping her fully into his mist. These vapors serve a dual purpose. Not only do these pheromones encourage the female to enter estrus, but the scent also seeps into the female’s clothing and hair—”
Subject 12 froze. Her head snapped to Agent Cupid, eyes wide.
Seemingly oblivious, Agent Cupid continued. “Effectively marking her as his territory. This serves as a chemical warning sign to any other males that he is at the peak of his game.”
Subject S 52 was shoved to the ground. His potential mate shot to her feet and roared, “YOU’RE DOING WHAT TO MY HAIR?”
“Nothing!” S 52 cried. He raised a hand in supplication, but the enraged female raised her knife and lunged at him with an ear-piercing shriek.
“Zorblax!” Agent Cupid cursed. “SOMEBODY GET THE SLEEP DARTS!”