Chapter 34
Survii
Atem was going to claw his throat out.
And he found it absolutely hilarious.
Just to needle him further, Survii tightened his grip around Alanna’s shoulders, bringing her deeper into his side, against his chest, where she rested on him.
Atem was grinding his teeth, fangs flashing, though his growl was absent as Peony ran her fingers through his hair without even turning from the conversation she was having with Hattie.
They were all gathered in the conference room again. Enjoying a short break from negotiations. The humans on the other end of the call had asked for it – probably to talk amongst themselves before they came back and finally ended this.
And Survii was sure that they were ready to end this. They had settled nearly everything. All that was left was for the final approval to be given.
Earth would be open for trade at a space sport that the ratchi would help them build on Earth that connected to a customs hub in an orbiting station around the planet that humanity would not be allowed to enter as it would hold advanced technology.
The location for the planetside station and who would be operating it was still to be determined, but that wasn’t Survii’s problem.
He had given the humans access to trade through the Coalition, and that was all he needed to do.
He had also secured an agreement for the scientific exploration.
That would be paid for by the vir – as recompense for crimes one of their kind committed against Scarlet.
It would be headed by Donivi and Scarlet with assistance by any other Coalition species that wanted to lend aid or personnel to their efforts.
They had agreed to allow a human to oversee the wellbeing of the humans who volunteered for experimentation, and to allow a few, select human scientists to join.
Not to be involved directly with the experiments, but to lend their expertise and discuss results only.
That scientific facility would not be allowed on Earth.
One of the things the humans had stepped away to discuss was allowing the Coalition to build a base on their moon to host the experiments.
It would be cheaper than trying to do it on an orbiting ship, but the moon was considered human territory as they had stepped foot there, so permission was needed.
Humans could reach their moon, but not easily, and once they finished their experiments, all advanced equipment would be cleared out.
The humans, he had no doubt, were going to ask for the base to remain in place for their use when they were done.
He had no problems agreeing to that, but he was letting them suggest it, so it seemed like he was giving into a demand of theirs.
As for mating, the human leaders had finally agreed to allow their people to mate aliens.
But it had to be done on a strictly volunteer basis and could not interfere with human religions.
Something they added, he was sure, so that specific groups of people could forbid their members from cross species mating.
The females told him that wasn’t surprising as there were religions also forbid same gender mating for some odd reason.
He didn’t like that stipulation, but it was one the humans absolutely refused to bend on, so he had no choice but to grant it to them.
They made sure to specify that males and females would, equally, be allowed to mate aliens. Since there were only females with them, he understood why they thought it needed to be stated outright.
There was a small problem in getting humans to meet aliens that had come up at the end.
Humans were not allowed off their planet unless mated to an alien species.
And the humans were already being very possessive of their Earth and had made obtaining visas – to visit or to live or just to work – a requirement for any alien wishing to land.
The hurdle seemed impassible, and Survii rather thought that was on purpose. Some of the leaders looked a little too smug when it seemed like they had made it impossible for aliens and humans to meet on a scale large enough to ensure matings.
Romival was already in discussion with Coalition scholars about how to correct that problem.
They were talking about creating a matching service of some kind wherein humans could enter themselves into some kind of database on Earth, while everyone else entered themselves onto the subnet, and then, from there, they could be crossmatched.
That was also not Survii’s problem, however. He had gotten Earth to agree to let their people become alien mates. How that happened was up to others.
The very last detail they had added, and the last one that the humans, no doubt, were debating over now, was an addition to all human laws.
They had to adjust their justice systems so that all current laws that referred to humans referred, instead, to any sapient person.
Human laws were human specific and so, technically, if a human killed an alien on Earth, it wouldn’t be illegal because it could be argued that, legally, murder was defined as a human killing another human.
That had to change before aliens were allowed down on the surface to work or visit.
It was a simple law that just retroactively made all current laws apply to any sapient, but it was a vital change that needed to be made going forward.
Such a change was a common one for first contact since, unless the planet included more than one sapient species, they never needed to craft laws in regard to anyone that wasn’t their own people.
He was just waiting for Secretary General Lie to come back with their final answer on those last few details. And until they did, he was snuggling Alanna and annoying Atem at the same time.
All in all, he was having a good day.
They were going to wrap this up soon. Sign the agreement on Earth paper and through Coalition digital biosignatures, and consider it done.
Then, he would probably spend a little time on Earth. With Alanna’s family. He didn’t want to take her away so quickly, and he knew the other males felt the same. And just reaching the agreement wasn’t the end of the work for them, so they might as well stay close.
But after that, he was going to take Alanna around a tour of the universe.
He already told her about some of his favorite planets and described a few of his alien friends and how he was sure they would adore her.
He told her about places he wanted her to see and experience and with each new story, her eyes grew bigger and brighter and her smile more excited.
There were so many things he knew she would love to see. He was eager to show it all to her. And the universe was so big, they could do it for the rest of their lifetimes and still only see a fraction of it. He knew she loved that too.
Of course, before all that, he had to claim her from Atem. Her brother was very much not happy that Survii was touching his sister so blatantly without having claimed her. Which, naturally, made it that much more fun to do so.
He would need to prepare a feast to gorge her and prepare nesting material for her to make their bed with. The ring that fulfilled her human cultural expectations was already hanging around his neck, but he needed to get them both traditional claiming attire.
And, of course, there was the problem of when he was going to do it.
He was tempted to do it on the way back to Turv, or maybe on Turv itself, but then there were so many amazing planets and moons and stations to choose from.
Or even his own ship. That would likely be the best place since the den he took her to after the claiming would actually be his and not a temporary one like his otherwise identical room aboard the Stor.
A lot to consider and decide upon. But they had the rest of their lives, and both of them were just fine taking this at a slow pace.
And annoying Atem like this, while the other females worked to keep him from charging at Survii immediately, was not a chance he would ever have again. He had to enjoy it while it lasted.
Alanna didn’t even seem to notice the malicious joy he was taking.
She had moved to sit in his lap shortly after the connection had been terminated, then began petting his forearm at some point, and that turned into her drawing her dull, thin little claws along his skin – a truly delightful sensation.
She had just been doing that for a while, completely lost in the sensation of stroking him and resting against his body.
He let her enjoy herself right until the net link reconnected and he was forced to turn his arm, breaking the endless circling of her fingers and her dissociation at the same time. She blinked a bit, confused, and he stroked his hand along her belly while she reoriented herself.
He had timed it perfectly. By the time the secretary general was ready to talk, she was back in her own seat and ready to translate again.
“We’ve discussed things,” he said in a stiff voice that betrayed nothing. “We have agreed that you can build a base upon the moon for the scientific venture, but we would like for you to give it to us after you’re done with it.”
Survii pretended to think, fighting back a smirk. “Very well. We will have to remove any advanced technologies, but you’re welcome to have the shell and anything we can’t remove.”
Secretary General Lie grinned like he had gotten something worthwhile – it was just an empty building; it wouldn’t even have energy once it had been emptied. But giving was an important part of this process and Survii grinned at the other male’s sense of victory.
“What about the changes to laws regarding sapient species?”
“This will be done. Of course, you realize, that means that any aliens that come to Earth must abide by Earth laws as well. And should they break those laws, they will be subject to Earth punishment.”