4
“Oh, please, call me Visha, at least in this kind of less regal, less formal setting.” She studies first me and then Rachel. “Wait, I’ve seen you before.” A frown marks her forehead. “Haven’t I?”
I glance at Rachel, and she does the same with me. We remember seeing Visha on Earth, that last moment before she was drugged and forcibly boarded despite her loud protestations. It was not the most dignified exit from her home planet.
“Oh fuck,” she mutters and steps farther away from the other guests, gesturing for us to follow. “It was you, wasn’t it? You and a few others who were there when I totally lost it and changed my mind about flying. I totally freaked out, what a scene.”
I nod. “Yes, we were there, we were last to board and you dashed past us.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through that…Visha.” Rachel touches her arm. “It must have been horrible to be so panicked.”
“I just…I just thought what the hell have I done,” she says quietly. “That this is madness, certain death awaits at the very best and then I thought of all I was leaving behind. It wasn’t perfect but it was my life at least.”
“I think we all had those thoughts I say, but we were lucky, there were four of us, to support each other.”
“Four of you, you are lucky. And you still have each other here, light years away.”
“Yes, my twin is mated with Ar-Hagan’s sibling, so Tammy and I live together still.”
“That is good, I am pleased. The king makes his matches with lots of thought. I will look forward to meeting her.”
“How does it feel now that you are here and queen?” Rachel says, leaning in even closer.
I am aware of the king, of the rest of the table watching our little huddle.
“No more or less crazy than everything else on Planet Hade,” Visha says, and then a smile tugs her lips. “At least Athos and I are compatible, for that I have to be thankful.”
“I am pleased for you,” Rachel says, “for these are complicated men, big men, not without faults but ultimately loyal, intelligent, loving and so grateful to have us.”
“I wish to spend more time with you, after this dinner party.” Visha nods determinedly. “We have much to discuss, including this breeding program.” She points to the table. “But now please, sit, drink and soon we will eat.”
We walk to the table, our gowns sliding on the shiny floor.
The queen’s is the largest and is heavy with jewels right down to the hemline, like mine it’s backless and has thin shoulder straps.
Her crown is magnificent atop her flowing blonde hair, steepled and elegant and engraved with exquisite detail.
We take our seats, I am opposite Ar-Hagan and seated beside Rachel’s mate, Tr-Argan and a stunning black woman named Zuri who had curious golden bangles on each wrist in the shape of birds, the wings fanning her flesh and the beaks extending over the tops of her hands.
“Now we are all here we should toast propose,” King Athos says, holding up his wine goblet.
“Propose a toast,” Visha smiles at him and holds up her drink.
“Ah yes, forgive me, this dinner party plan is new to me.” The king smiles and touches her cheek tenderly. “Let us propose a toast to us.” He looks around the table. “To all of us, to being here, to surviving long journeys and being brave enough to set out on them in the first place.”
Visha bites on her bottom lip and raises her eyebrows at me.
I guess she hasn’t confessed just how she’d got aboard Vortex One.
“Candice,” Visha says. “Thank you for accepting this invitation, we only met very briefly when we arrived but I appreciated your support.”
“It is an honor to be invited to the palace,” Candice says.
“And please, introduce me to your mate.” The queen nods at him.
“This.” Candice places her hand on the arm of the tall, slender alien at her side. His hair is military short, his neck tattooed with some kind of triangle symbol and his eyes are sharp and intelligent. “Is Cy-Ray, we are pleased to have been matched, we are a good fit for one another.”
“Perfect match,” he says, his voice deeper than I was expecting. “We thank the king for his wisdom in pairing us.”
King Athos holds up his drink in acknowledgement.
“And what do you do?” Visha directs at Cy-Ray.
“I am a general in His Majestie’s military.”
“Ah yes, of course, I knew that.” Visha smiles. “We thank you for your service.”
“Protecting Planet Hade, and Mimis, along with the surrounding areas is my destiny. We have many foes, some we can see, some we can’t.” Cy-Ray nods seriously.
“What do you mean?” I ask, “Some we can’t.”
“Virus, bacteria, prions, they are all invisible to the naked eyes. We had fifty percent of our population wiped out once we will not let it happen again.”
“What can you do to prevent that?” Rachel asks.
“They have sniffer dogs, or rather sniffer qurin,” Visha says, “Not for drugs like on Earth, but for viruses.”
“Wow, really, that’s clever,” I say.
“It is one of our ways to keep enemies at bay, our scientists,” Cy-Ray nods at Tr-Argan, “have many brilliant ideas and inventions to protect our way of life from everything that could or wants to do us harm.”
“What else do we need protecting against?” I ask. “Other than viruses and that.”
A tension seems to stiffen the male’s shoulders. The king’s fists clench on the table.
“What?” I ask Ar-Hagan.
He shakes his head a little.