Chapter 8: Delayed Reaction

The vibrations of the engines traveled up through Dennis’ seat as the pilot lowered the craft to the landing pad adjacent to the Patriarch’s ivory tower. The landing gear crunched in the fresh layer of snow, and as the exit ramp opened a chill wind flooded the passenger bay, the brisk breeze ruffling the downy fur of the Polars. Dennis tried to avoid slipping in the slush that the thrusters had melted as he left the stone landing pad, navigating the oversized steps and watching for ice. Ursi and her guards followed behind him, the party making their way down the spiral staircase and emerging into the deserted street below. Dennis turned in the direction of the embassy, and Ursi placed a heavy hand on his shoulder.

“Will you not be returning with me to my residence, Dennis?”

“Go ahead without me, I’ll catch up. I want to put the asylum request through. I might as well since we’re here.”

Ursi withdrew her hand and nodded approvingly.

“You’ll be able to find it again on your own?”

“Yeah, and the streets are empty, I should be perfectly safe.”

She turned down the opposite street, her guards trailing after her, and Dennis walked over to the embassy. He pushed open the heavy door, the slab of wood creaking on its massive hinges. It was dark inside, the dull, yellow light from the open doorway reflecting on the white marble floor. Was Xhe asleep? Hibernating? It was fairly warm inside the building, and he closed the door quickly so as not to let the cold creep in after him. His wet shoes squeaked on the polished floor as he made his way quietly towards his bedroom and the cumbersome computer console within.

He pushed the door open and moved over to the console, pulling up a chair and typing in the password on the jutting keyboard. The monitors flared to life, and cooling fans whirred as the device booted up, displaying lines of diagnostic information that illuminated the dark room in their white glow. He tapped into the orbiting FTL communications satellite and composed his message to the UN.

To:UNBorealisCommission From:CarlisleDennisSR106478237 Subject:Borealis Mission Update -BREAK- Mission proceeding as planned, relations with Patriarch Elysiedde positive and improving.

-BREAK- Have encountered indigenous sub-species of Borealan evolved for polar environment. Representative made official request for asylum on Earth. Recommend relocating small population to sparsely inhabited area with arctic climate. Siberia, Alaska, Greenland, etc.

-BREAK- Supply of technology to Elysia causing political schisms among territories, consider ramifications of supplying Patriarch with weapons and ships on local balance of power.

-MESSAGE ENDS-

He hit send, and the short, four-kilobyte message was dispatched through the FTL relay. It would arrive at a paired receiver on Earth in short order. The satellites used quantum entangled particles in order to relay data, they were paired in carefully sterilized clean-rooms on Earth and then had to be physically transported to their destination on a jump freighter. When a change was made in one, it would be reflected instantly in its sister satellite, regardless of their distance from one another. Instant communication across interstellar distances was a marvel of theoretical physics, but the length of the messages that could be sent was severely limited. Using arrays of entangled particles whose state would change when exposed to an electrical charge, simple binary information and short text messages could be conveyed.

Xhe was roused from her slumber. She stirred, pushing aside the pillows and blankets of her warm nest, raising her ears to the cool air. They twitched and swiveled, tracking footsteps in the marble hallway passing by her bedroom. It smelled like Dennis, what was he doing back so early? Not just Dennis, something else...

Her delicate nose wrinkled, smelling the Polar Regent’s perfume and her powerful, sexual musk creeping under the wooden door. Already annoyed at being woken, the scent assaulted her, aroused her. The Regent had marked Dennis as if he were her mate, coating him in her pungent scent. She must have been all over him for the last two days. Xhe was reminded of when Dennis had returned from his walk at the fishing village, standing before her cluelessly with the stink of that Royal Guard’s scent all over him. Dennis was able to recognize the smell of smoked fish but was somehow oblivious to musk of females. Could his dull human nose not detect the pheromones, or was he intentionally taunting her with his sexual exploits?

Anger flared in her groggy brain, fueled by the challenge of another Borealan’s scent. Xhe had been ordered not to touch the little bastard, not unless he requested it. At first she had dreaded the inevitable moment when he might make use of her as an Alpha, ordering her to lie back and open her legs so that he might probe her with his odd, alien organ. But rumors abounded as to the fun and relief that humans provided the soldiers on the Pinwheel when properly coaxed, reaffirmed by Chaka’s clumsy advances in the tavern. That woman hadn’t spared a moment when the opportunity to court a human arose. Just as Xhe had begun to grow curious, seriously entertaining the idea of lying with the little human, she had realized that he didn’t know how to make such a request. He had no clue of the rights and privileges that accompanied the role of an Alpha, or else he was willfully ignorant, the idea of using a subordinate for sexual relief somehow distasteful to him.

He was happy to lie with others, however. She had seen his arousal as Chaka had molested him, smelled the Royal Guard’s excitement staining his clothes at the fishing village, and now the Regent’s musk was all over him. It was a declaration of ownership that stung Xhe’s nose.

It wasn’t fair. Why was it only Xhe who had to adhere to such strict rules and codes of conduct when these strangers approached him as they pleased without consequence? She was the one who was forced to tolerate him every day, to endure his constant provocations, his insults and his humiliations. Not them. Did it make her a xenophile? No, how could it be morally wrong when even Regents were doing it? Half of the Borealans on the Pinwheel had fraternized with humans, it was almost an inevitability when humans and Borealans were placed in the same dorm room. The Patriarch’s own deviant daughter recommended it in private as an exercise for those who had the most trouble adapting to the demands of the integration program. Xhe remembered her humiliation at the hands of the Patriarch’s daughter all too well, how she had tried to save face and redeem herself in the eyes of the woman who had once been her Alpha, studying under her and trying to learn her ways. She had learned how to interact with humans from the foremost expert, how to suppress her urges, but no more...

A sudden impulse overcame her, a devious, sly idea. Her own audacity made her pause for a moment as she considered the possibility of disobeying the Patriarch’s orders. If he ever found out, he would give her a scar so deep and so ugly that it might never heal properly, but Dennis had not told Xhe about the Royal Guard who had disobeyed her orders not to interact with him. Coercion seemed to work, or perhaps the human was ashamed. While Xhe had drawn the Royal Guard’s disobedient blood for daring to think that she could deceive her superiors, the Patriarch need never know unless Dennis told him, and she was confident that she could ensure his silence.

A new excitement welled up inside her. She was tired and angry, yet somehow energized, giddy. Her loins began to burn in anticipation of what she was about to do, her boldness surprising even herself. It wasn’t that Dennis had broken her resolve, no, she was still in control. This was a calculated decision. She felt saliva pooling in her mouth, and she ran her rough tongue across her lips, wetting them. It simply did not make sense to follow the Patriarch’s orders anymore, what harm could it do? Nobody would ever find out. Her desires, the instincts that screamed for her to overcome Dennis and to punish him for the distress that he had caused her would be satisfied in the process.

He should hear back from the UN within twenty-four hours, and then Ursi would have her answer. Dennis rose from his chair and shut down the console, then turned to the door.

He yelped, there was a tall figure standing in the doorway, silhouetted in the darkness. As his eyes adjusted to the gloom, he realized that it was just Xhe. She was blocking his bedroom door, rubbing her eyes sleepily. She was wrapped in what looked like a bathrobe, probably some kind of insulated sleepwear to keep her warm in the cold.

“Oh, it’s just you, Xhe. I’m sorry, did I wake you?”

She stepped over the threshold, pulling the wooden door shut behind her with a click. Her expression was odd. She seemed surly, almost angry, with an underlying tiredness as if she had been roused from a deep sleep. She took another step forward, her claws clicking on the floor, and Dennis felt a pang of worry churn his stomach.

“Xhe, are you okay? It’s me, Dennis.”

“You smell like her,” she grumbled.

“What?” Dennis asked, becoming alarmed at her unusual behavior.

“You stink of the Regent’s perfume, and underneath that ... her sex.”

Dennis took a step away from her and banged the back of his leg against the console.

“I don’t ... what?”

“The guard too, when I took you to the fishing village. You thought you could wash off her come and I wouldn’t smell it on you? You think the stink doesn’t permeate your clothing?”

He edged around the computer console slowly, keeping his eyes on Xhe and putting it between them. He raised his finger, trying to assert himself as it trembled.

“Y-You’re out of line, Xhe.”

“No ... I’m the only one in line,” she replied.

He reached the back wall and picked up a lamp from his bedside table, brandishing it in what he doubted was an intimidating display.

“I’m warning you Xhe, keep your distance. What’s gotten into you?”

Her lips curled into a mocking smile and her reflective, amber eyes locked onto him.

“You’re doing it right now, and you don’t even realize it, do you? Provoking me, teasing me. You think you can come into my embassy, my house, stinking of other women? Do humans even have a sense of smell?” She took another step forward, boxing him into the corner. “Why must I keep my distance and bottle up my frustration when everyone else gets to have you? The damage is already done, what does it matter now?”

“Xhe!” Dennis ordered, trying his best to sound commanding, “I order you to back off, I am your Alpha, and-”

She leapt up onto the bed, her long legs propelling her into the air like coiled springs. The mattress sank under her weight as she landed heavily, the metal bedsprings screeching their displeasure. She loomed over him and he backed up, against the wall, beads of cold sweat beginning to form and rolling down his forehead. His fists whitened around the lamp as he held it to his chest as if it might somehow protect him from her.

Why was she doing this? She had always been so calm, so tolerant. Was it because he had woken her up? Something to do with the eclipse? He didn’t understand. Xhe leered at him, her pupils were dilated into large, dark circles that almost overpowered the gold of her eyes. Her unflinching gaze was predatory, Dennis shuddering instinctively. She bared her sharp teeth at him, and a string of thick saliva escaped her lips, she was practically foaming at the mouth.

She reached out a clawed hand as if to grasp at him, and he flailed the lamp to ward her off. He was too slow to make contact, and she withdrew her arm with an angry hiss, her long tail flicking back and forth impatiently. She tried again, and this time he swung the lamp into her wrist. The bulb shattered, and she flinched back, broken glass showering the floor between them.

She paused to examine her arm. A piece of jagged glass was embedded in her fur, and a trickle of crimson blood oozed from the wound, staining the white bedspread as it dripped. Dennis swallowed heavily, either the pain would snap her out of her strange trance, or he had just made everything a thousand times worse...

She gripped the shard in her thumb and forefinger, pulling it loose and discarding it on the floor. The wound did not look deep, but Dennis had surprised her. She dragged her tongue across the cut, sampling the blood. When her eyes once again met his, he knew that he was done for.

She swiped, lightning fast, and the lamp fell from Dennis’ hands in pieces. She had cut the wooden stand with her claws as if it were made of butter. He felt her fist close on his collar and she lifted him clear off the ground by his dress shirt. She flipped him over, slamming him down on the bed. He bounced as he settled on the mattress, stunned, and Xhe crouched over him like a gargoyle. She flexed her fingers in anticipation, deciding where she ought to cut him, perhaps?

Dennis was confused, rattled. He didn’t understand where her sudden aggression was coming from, he couldn’t process what was happening to him. Like the classic story of the faithful dog that was bitten by a rabid animal and turned feral, Xhe seemed out of her mind and out of control.

“Why are you doing this?” he wheezed as his breath returned to him.

“You really don’t know?” she hissed through clenched teeth. “All this time on Borealis and you’ve not figured it out yet?”

But he did know, he understood it now. Their strange culture and their strained interactions, the social hierarchy and the constant, unending struggle for dominance. Xhe had reached her limit, and based on the knowledge that he had gained over the week he had been on the planet, he was surprised she had lasted as long as she had. Their dynamic had been doomed from the start, no Borealan would tolerate being subordinate to someone like him for long, orders or otherwise. The knowledge was hard won and came at a price, there was no going back now.

But he wouldn’t just give in and submit, not in the way she wanted. She couldn’t seriously hurt him, it would be proof to the Patriarch that she had ignored his instructions. Yet he couldn’t call for help. Xhe was supposed to be protecting him, there were no other guards, and his cries would not travel beyond the stone walls of the embassy. That left only one logical course of action, that Xhe would attempt to dominate him without injuring him. Based on his prior experience the best way to do that was through sex.

He should be afraid, yet to his surprise, he felt strangely calm now. This was all familiar to him, he knew what to expect, where this would lead. The now all too recognizable pang of arousal stirred his loins, and he realized that he wanted her to do it. It was fruitless to try to deny it now, the damned Mad Cats had given him a taste for this kind of treatment. The admission sent a surge of guilty excitement through his body, and he began to tremble as he felt Xhe’s hot breath on his neck.

Xhe jammed her hand into his growing bulge, groping him through his pants. He gasped and squirmed, but she used her other hand to grip him by the neck, squeezing his windpipe shut with her powerful fingers as her curved claws pricked his skin. She chuckled and shot him a mocking look.

“You’re into this, aren’t you? Don’t tell me you’ve started to enjoy it...” She squeezed his neck, and he gagged, unable to reply as his face began to redden. “You stink of her, that furry bitch. I can barely smell you under her pheromones. She’s marked you, she’s saying that she owns you now. Did you know that? Did she tell you? Or did she just let you walk around giving off her stink?”

With her massive hand closed around his throat, he couldn’t reply. He raised his hands to her wrist and began to tug at it, starting to panic a little as she strangled him.

“I could choke you, Dennis. They made me your secretary, your underling, but you’re completely inferior to me. I could choke the life out of you right here, right now, and what could you do about it? Nothing.”

Dennis growled through his closed throat, a primal sound that he had never heard himself make before. He found the cut from the lamp’s bulb that he had broken on her wrist and jammed his thumb into the wound. Xhe yowled and withdrew her hand, clutching at her wrist as fresh blood soaked into the surrounding fur.

“That’s something I can do,” Dennis coughed, rubbing his neck where her hand had left a red indent in his skin. “You’re my goddamned secretary, I’m not afraid of you. I’m not afraid of any of you anymore.”

Xhe growled at him like an angry tiger, a low rumbling that set Dennis’ teeth on edge and raised the hairs on his arms. Millions of years of instincts were telling him to fear the dangerous animal, but he had Xhe figured out. He knew that she couldn’t seriously hurt him, she was too afraid of the Patriarch.

It was the simple truth of these brutish aliens, as big and bad as they were, there was always someone bigger and badder who they feared.

“I didn’t rat out the guard, and I won’t rat you out either,” he said. “That’s not the kind of guy I want to be, it’s not how I want to solve my problems.” Xhe cocked her head as if waiting for Dennis to make the first move. He rose to his feet and stood defiantly on the large bed, meeting Xhe at eye level as she crouched aggressively, the fur on her long tail puffed up like an angry cat. “You’re not going to get over this, I know that much now, so let’s fucking do it. Give me your best shot.”

She eyed him warily, hesitating. Had he confused her? Was she expecting some kind of trick? After a moment her lust got the better of her, and she pounced on him, forcing him down onto the mattress under her considerable weight. He fought and thrashed, but she closed her furry hands around his wrists and pinned him down, locking her steely thighs around his waist. He groaned as he felt her mound press down against his firm erection, squashing it against his belly.

“I’m gonna fuck you until I can’t smell that sneaky Polar whore anymore. I knew she was planning something when she showed up at the embassy uninvited, they’re always scheming...” The odd racial prejudice made Dennis chuckle, and Xhe watched him, confused by his reaction. “Are you not afraid of me?”

“Nope.”

Xhe snarled and pressed her teeth against the vulnerable flesh of his neck, letting strands of her warm saliva dampen his ruined collar. He bit his lip, and Xhe jumped as she sensed his cock throb underneath her.

“Not the reaction that you wanted, secretary?” he asked as he laughed at her quizzical expression.

“Don’t call me that!” she hissed angrily. “I’m bigger than you, stronger than you, you should ... you should be afraid of me.”

“Yeah, maybe if this was my first time. You’re late to the party, Xhe.”

She seethed, not just angry but seemingly aroused beyond reason. Her face was flushed red with blood, and he felt the heat from her loins radiating through his layers of clothing, along with a conspicuous dampness that was soaking through his underwear. His resistance aroused her, that must be it. Borealans were so quick to submit, to accept their social position. Humans, on the other hand, prolonged the encounter beyond reason. They continued to fight even though they had lost. It was as Cola had explained to him during their encounter. Without the leverage of physical violence, either because of human fragility or in this case the fear of being discovered by a superior, the only course of action left was to fuck a human until they begged for it to stop ... or for it to continue.

Xhe was shivering now, drooling, unsure of what to do to him. Her lust burned in her eyes as they played over his body. She came to a decision and began to pop the buttons off his shirt with her claws, exposing his naked chest as she moved down. Whatever, he thought, he had other shirts. She pulled his spider-fur tie up over his head and placed it on the bedside table, at least she was not so far gone as to forget its value. After all, it had been a gift from her in a way, much like his silverware. She had taken good care of him, and he regretted that it had come to this, that he had made her feel this way about him. It had taken him time to learn the customs and quirks of these aliens, it couldn’t have played out any differently, but Xhe deserved better. Maybe he would tell her that when she had worked through her frustration, it was the least he could do to thank her.