24. Chapter 24
Cooper wasn”t surprised by the demand but it did make him sigh. Old feuds died hard, it seemed, even centuries later on an alien planet.
”Not all of them, of course,” Ae-cha said. ”There are some who have done their best to leave the humans alone and keep to themselves. I think most of them would be willing to discuss terms to be left alone rather than fight.”
”And yet you”ve still attacked them when you wanted something,” Zoric said. ”You might have partnered with the humans to rescue some of their women but only as an excuse to raid your rivals.”
”The Dragor are dangerous and must be kept in check,” Ae-cha snapped. ”Any enclave harboring one is suspect.”
”Harboring?” Zoric”s anger was turning him colors Cooper hadn”t thought Chelion could turn. ”Enslaved to, maybe, terrorized, controlled.”
”Hardly,” Ae-cha scoffed. ”Tell yourselves what you want but there are more of us than there are of them. If you”d wanted to get rid of the Dragor, you would have ages ago.”
”While all of this is very interesting,” Cooper broke in. ”And I am very eager to hear all about how you came to be at this point. I think it would be prudent to point out that kidnapping a Marine, who also happens to be my mate, doesn”t exactly put you in the best position to demand much of anything from the people who rescued said Marine.”
”You”re the one who kidnapped her,” Ae-cha told him. ”We rescued her from you and tried to remove the hold you had on her before returning her to her people.”
”Something which, if you”ve listened to Zoric, could have resulted in her death,” Cooper said. ”I think you”re less righteous than you”d like to think and more looking at attempted murder.”
Ae-cha made no attempt to hide her outrage and Cooper could feel Marissa working hard not to cross the room and attack the lizard woman.
”That might be a slight exaggeration,” the Base Commander said. ”Though not much of one, it would seem. And I”m not exactly comfortable giving my support to an effort to wipe out people when I”ve seen no evidence of wrongdoing.”
Ae-cha opened her mouth to protest but the Commander cut her off.
”I believe they”re capable of it, but I know there are humans who are, as well. So, no, Ms. Da, your terms are not acceptable. Do you have any others?”
”That is all I was authorized to negotiate,” she said primly.
”Very well,” he motioned to the Marines standing guard outside the door. ”I”ll give you the opportunity to contact your superiors. If they won”t take a call, you may wait for their reply in the brig.”
”What?” Ae-cha Da exclaimed in disbelief. ”You can”t do that! I came here to negotiate in good faith.”
”And Major Ozark has identified you as the person responsible for her torture while she was in your people”s possession. You”re lucky you weren”t shot the minute you identified yourself,” the Commander said. ”Now, step outside, call your boss, and get me a better answer. And prepare to get real comfortable in the brig.”
”Commander, I don”t-” Cooper started.
”I appreciate your concern, Cooper,” the Commander said. ”I trust my men can and will carry out their duty without interference.”
Ae-cha stood and followed the guards down the hall, protest in every line of her body.
”Zoric?” the Base Commander asked.
”My men have already been alerted,” the lizard man said. ”They will stop her if she tries anything.”
”I appreciate it,” the Commander said.
”I imagine you have questions,” Zoric said, his posture straight and still.
”Several,” Cooper said dryly.
”Same,” Marissa agreed. ”Starting with why we should trust you.”
”I”ve already been briefed on the situation with Zoric and his people,” the Base Commander told them. ”But he can fill you in on anything he thinks is pertinent.”
Zoric took a deep breath and Cooper watched his muscles relax across his visible flesh. ”Ms. Da may be an awful person but she”s not entirely wrong. The Dragor are truly horrible and my people, until very recently, were controlled by one who did terrible things. And my people helped. I could attempt a defense and say that we were controlled, and in some part we were, but much of it was by our own free will. My only excuse is that we didn”t know a better way.”
”So what changed?” Cooper asked. He didn”t like what Ae-cha and Zoric were saying about the Dragor. In his experience, the Dragor were the brilliant scientists, inventors and rulers of society. It was only their intervention that had kept the Chelion from being wiped out by wars and bad breeding over the centuries. For them to do that, they had to exert a certain amount of control, true, but he”d never considered them monsters.
”A woman of surpassing beauty and bravery faced the monster who had tortured her and destroyed him,” Zoric said, his stiff features bending into a sad smile. ”After a long discussion where she told me the realities of the women who had been ripped from us. As much as I had mourned my loss when she”d been stolen away with the other women, I came to be thankful for the choice I”d made not to finish the match.”
”What do you mean?” Marissa asked.
”My master had chosen the woman for special attention during her time there. I don”t really understand all of his reasons why but I do know part of it was to punish me. She was a genetic match and ideal for his experiments but he also wanted to use her to torture me.” Zoric took a deep breath and let it out. ”I was too hard to control, questioned his methods, shielded my people when I could. I made the decision to not take the final steps to bind her to me so he couldn”t violate her.”
”You mean-”
”I mean I had my mate with me, had bound myself to her as deeply as I could to save her from the pain I knew she was going through, and refused to take the final step. When we were raided, she was taken from me, and I mourned my loss but I survived it. Many of my brothers did not. When she returned, she was stronger than I”d ever seen her, and I had to hide how much I rejoiced to see her again.”
”And then the rescue party came for her. Not just the soldiers, the Orvax pilot who had matched with her. She was so happy to see him, so grateful, I couldn”t hope to convince her to stay. Every day with me had caused her pain. Not at my hand but I had been powerless to stop it. So, I decided to do what I could to help my brothers and the others who had been wronged by my people. To give a hope for a better future for the few of our children we”d managed to hide away.”
”So it”s possible to survive breaking a match?” Cooper asked. He could feel Marissa”s protest but he needed to know for sure.
”Only if you haven”t consummated it,” Zoric said. ”You might be physically alive if you live through the first few days of loss but your mind will slip away until there”s nothing left but your still breathing shell.”
Marissa shivered and Cooper put a hand on her shoulder.
”Thank you,” he said. ”And I”m deeply sorry for your loss.”
”She is happy and healthy and willing to let me help instead of dwelling on my role in the place that hurt her,” Zoric said. ”For that, I am grateful.”
”And we are grateful for your assistance,” the Base Commander said. ”Do you have any other questions while we wait for word from Ms. Da?”
”So many questions,” Cooper said and sat down next to Marissa. ”And I think my first is going to be, why do you all have tails? Only children have tails, you”re obviously past your first skin.”
”What do you mean ”only children have tails”? They”re a structural necessity and connected to our spines,” Zoric said.
”Maybe it”s from interbreeding with humans?” Cooper asked. ”Do you have any children who are mostly Chelion?”
Zoric shook his head. ”Interbreeding with humans has given up some interesting adaptations but everything we”ve been able to find in the medical systems that have survived have indicated that the tail is necessary to being a fully developed Chelion. It”s where our second brains are.”
”Second brain?” Cooper”s mind reeled in shock then a strange static seemed to move through him.
”We”ve never really understood why we have them but damaging one is like damaging the parts of a human that keeps them from making rash decisions and gives them a clear definition of where their physical boundaries are. How do you survive without one?”
”Training,” Cooper said. ”Specialized training from the moment our tails fall off with our first skin and we move from the hatchery to the barracks.”
”Hatchery? Barracks? Who runs those?” Zoric asked. ”I knew the human influence had changed things but I”ve seen nothing about those in our records.”
”The Dragor scientists,” Cooper said.
The silence that filled the office filled him with dread and Cooper knew that something was very, very wrong.
”Sounds like you have some catching up to do,” the Base Commander said.
”Yes,” Cooper said. ”Though I think I”d like my ship back sooner rather than later for this conversation. And maybe someone who can follow the message I sent.”
”Understood. I think we”ve accomplished all we can with this meeting, don”t you?”
Cooper nodded.
”Permission to be excused, sir?” Marissa asked.
”Check in with the Doc and get a status report on your concussion,” the Commander said. ”We”ve got more doctors on the way but they”re still a few days out.”
”Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”
Marissa stood up and saluted then reached and hand out for his. Cooper took it. His mind was still reeling from everything Zoric had said.
Cooper?His mate”s mind reached out and gently stroked against his. She was getting better at using their connection. Are you in there?
I”m here, my love, he said and felt her flinch. It wasn”t as pronounced as the last time but he still hated that she did it.
Are you going to be okay?
That was the question, wasn”t it? He wanted to say he didn”t know but he did. As long as I have you, I”ll be fine. Together, I get the feeling we can do anything.