Chapter 2

Nate woke up slowly, emerging from sleep to find himself entangled with the little alien girl. Ketri was still snoozing, her head resting on him. He held perfectly still, not wanting to disturb her. As though she could sense his thoughts, he felt her stir in his arms, and her eyes opened slowly. She beamed at him, and kissed him on the cheek.

“Good morning.” She purred, pushing her face into his neck and flexing her tail. He tousled her hair and stroked her behind her ears, eliciting more snuggling and purring from his ... mate? The word felt good to him, different from the Human “girlfriend” or the almost clinically sterile “significant other”.

“G’morning, Ketri.” He said, cracking his neck and shifting his legs. Her small, cool weight felt good against him, but his limbs were starting to tingle from lack of use. As he was about to suggest getting up, the door burst open and they found themselves staring at another alien. He was a Kodo, a large sapient species that had once been amphibious but had adapted to living primarily on land long ago. Around 7 feet tall and hairless, with dark greyish-green skin, a short neck, flat face, large hands and double-jointed legs, Kodo were physically imposing but not the brightest bulbs on the tree.

“WHAT THE FUCK!” The alien roared. “I KNEW IT! I FUCKING KNEW IT!”

“Calm down Drane...” Ketri said, starting to sit up.

“I TOLD THEM WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF THEY PUT HIM IN YOUR ROOM AND LEFT YOU ALONE WITH HIM!” The Kodo snapped back.

“He’s not hurting anyone!” She shouted. “He’s going to defect!”

“Sure, he’s not hurting anyone now, but what happens when you take your eyes off him and he calls his little Conglomerate friends? We’ll have a squad of Overlords descending to machine-gun everyone on this base! You’re not just useless, Ketri, you’re worse than useless! You’re a fucking liability, you little Sha’dee whore!” The Kodo, Drane apparently, sneered.

“HEY ASSHOLE!” Nate felt the bile rise in his throat at the insult to his mate, and sat up abruptly. “I don’t need an Overlord Suit to kick your ass, frogboy!”

“ANYTIME, ANYWHERE, PRIMATE!” Drane snarled.

“How about your homeworld, shithead?! Oh wait, we blew it up!” Nate hissed back.

“I’M GONNA WRING YOUR SMUG NECK, HUMAN!”

“BRING IT ON, E.T.!”

“BOTH OF YOU! SHUT! UP!” Ketri hissed, baring her teeth and surprising everyone. “Nate, LET ME HANDLE THIS! Drane, GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY ROOM!”

“You’ve crossed a line this time, Ketri! You’re not gonna get away with this! AND PUT SOME DAMN CLOTHES ON!”

Ketri scrambled to her feet and stalked towards him, swaying her hips as suggestively as possible.

“What’s wrong, big man? Do I make you uncomfortable?” She snarked, pouting sarcastically and planting her index finger on his chest. The Kodo shied away.

“Don’t touch me with that finger, who knows where it’s been?!”

“I’ll show you!” Ketri said, plunging two of her fingers into her pussy and wiping the resulting fluids across Drane’s face. The Kodo recoiled in disgust and horror, clutching his cheek.

“THAT’S FUCKING GROSS, KETRI!” He roared, backing out of the doorway as Ketri cackled in amusement. “I’m going to clean your filth off me! AND DON’T THINK THE CAPTAIN ISN’T GOING TO HEAR ABOUT THIS! YOU WON’T BE LAUGHING LONG YOU BITCH!”

Ketri chittered with laughter, and sank back into the bed with Nate.

“Holy shit, Ketri...” He chuckled. “That was ballsy...”

“Kodo fertilize their eggs externally.” Ketri explained with a toothy grin. “Sexual intercourse is revolting to them. When you’re a little Sha’dee in a galaxy of big aliens, you gotta use what you’ve got.”

“Maybe antagonizing him wasn’t the best idea...” Nate mused.

“Oh, don’t worry about Drane. He’s just salty because they pulled a “big nasty elite commando” like him off the frontlines for an injury, and now he’s stuck moving boxes for “little Sha’dee whores”. His bark is worse than his bite.” She crooned. “But ... We should probably get dressed and go see the Captain before Drane talks his ears off.” There was a hint of regret in her voice at the prospect of leaving bed.

Five minutes later, they were both dressed, and walking across the camp towards the command building. The desert sun was harsh, and Nate wished he had his helmet and visor, not to mention the cooling unit in his armor’s backpack. Ketri seemed to be doing fine; a dark-tinted pair of secondary eyelids had closed across her eyes, shielding them from the sun and blowing sand but still allowing her to see. This planet was pretty close to her species’ homeworld in terms of climate, Nate realized.

They arrived at the main building and entered. The ceilings were higher here, and it was better lit. It was also far tidier than Ketri’s quarters. She led him to a door marked “Captain Thoros”, and opened it a crack. Drane was already inside, speaking angrily with a male Sha’dee in an officer’s uniform seated behind a desk. He was older, colored a solid, deep red with grey-streaked hair, yellow irises and long ears faded from years spent under the sun. Like all Sha’dee he had no facial hair, but Nate couldn’t help imagining that a full beard would look fitting on him.

“I’ve heard enough, Drane. Considering your record, I’d rather get it from the horse’s mouth.” The Captain said, sounding bored as he lit a cigarillo.

“Good luck! They’re probably miles away by now!” Drane snapped. The Captain rolled his eyes.

“They’re right outside, actually.” He said dryly.

“HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?!”

“I’m a Sha’dee, Sargent. I can sense bioelectric signatures.” The Captain drawled. “Now go do your job or I’ll write you up. I have enough problems without you playing detective.”

Drane shoved the door open and brushed past them in a huff. Ketri sniggered and blew a raspberry at him.

“Don’t get too cocky, Ketri. You’re not off the hook yet.” The Captain said, beckoning them in. “Sit down, both of you.”

They pulled out chairs and took their seats across from him. Nate swallowed nervously.

“I’m disappointed in you, Ensign. You should know better than this. And DON’T try to tell me you’re in heat. That excuse might have worked on Captain Dross, but I can smell your pheromones and I know you’re not. Our ... guest here doesn’t seem immediately hostile, but being lucky doesn’t excuse your behavior.” The Captain berated Ketri, who ducked her head and flattened her ears in shame.

“I-i talked to him first, Captain, Sir. He convinced me he wouldn’t hurt anyone, I could sense he was being honest. Besides, I was armed...” She tried to explain.

“Our ability to perceive emotion isn’t absolute, Ensign, especially with Humans. You know that. And having sex with a prisoner? Are you sure that was the best decision? Just because this is an auxiliary outfit and relatively informal does not mean you can get away with bad judgement calls like that. However ... If he really isn’t a danger to anyone, I’m prepared to let you off with a written warning. I’d rather not feed Sargent Drane’s ego any more than I have to.”