Chapter 6: A Night with the Doctor

“Oh ... she’s finally here...,” Serrein said with a lack of enthusiasm in her voice. She almost rolled her eyes.

“Yes, I am, sister,” Cordeina addressed her back.

“Half-sister,” she almost snapped back at her gritting her shark-like teeth to her. She shook her head and wandered back to her hoverbike.

“Cordeina, it is good to see you,” Vala’rein said as she gave a daunting glare at Serrein.

“At least somebody from my family still has some respect for me,” Cordeina replied with some sincerity. “I finally get to see my new potential mate.”

Neo could see the entire scene unfurl as he looked upon the three Shal’rein women. Cordeina had let go of him as she lifted her fin-covered arms over her head. She was showing a genuine sense of gratitude and happiness from her face before she lowered her arms down again. Vala’rein was not overly expressive upon seeing Cordeina. It wasn’t to say that she wasn’t happy to see her, but the way Serrein had delivered her greeting to Cordeina was something almost mutually shared with Vala’rein. Regardless, Vala’rein had provided a half-smile upon the surprise of seeing a member of her family.

“Cordeina, it’s good to finally get a chance to meet you,” Neo said as he pulled away from her. “We need to get our vehicles brought back to the tents.”

“Of course,” Cordeina replied with a slight amount of enthusiasm.

There was a need and desire to keep moving forward. Neo was happy to finally see Cordeina, but they had to get their vehicles put away. The doctor’s arrival was not precisely the perfect time to do so, but it was a welcome surprise in any case. The distant crowds from the track were beginning to disperse a little bit as the race was over. An adrenaline-filled track had ended with some things that everyone had to take note of.

“Agh ... that was intense,” Neo remarked.

“That is easy for you to say,” Vala’rein replied with a lack of enthusiasm. She still seemed somewhat saddened to hit last place. Both Neo and Vala’rein disengaged the parking brakes of their vehicles as they began to push their bikes back to the shop gently. Serrein remained at a distance as if she purposely wanted to keep space. Cordeina watched Neo and Vala’rein closely. The way she walked was different than her siblings that Neo had noticed. Her tail would remain almost still, but she moved with a certain grace. Even her tone in how she spoke was just different.

“I loved the race,” Cordeina said. “You all did great.”

“It was too short,” Vala’rein remarked. “I would have done better if we had more laps.”

“I agree,” Neo said.

“More laps?” Serrein jumped into the conversation. “You couldn’t even beat your own mate.”

Vala’rein gritted her teeth upon hearing it. It wasn’t so much as an insult, but more for the fact that she was trying to reduce Neo as inferior. She said nothing but instead shook her head upon hearing it.

“No...” Neo remarked. “There is supposed to be more laps in the UWALVR. Typical races actually have five laps or more when we did it in the past ... at least ... according to the track we would race on. The reason why they are so short this time is because of the alliance.”

“They don’t know if we could handle it or not? Ha,” Serrein laughed with a series of clicks in her voice.

“More like that these are going to be the racing committees desire in seeing if these new races will work or not.”

“I think it’s wonderful,” Cordeina said with a smile. They were all approaching the tents as Serrein pushed her hoverbike further and further towards the beach. The great ocean was hard to see with the exception of the massive lights that helped illuminate the rocky shores of some areas. The distant cruise liners also helped show more as well. The crashing waves were continuous in the background.

“I think it’s stupid,” Serrein tried to add, but it was barely heard.

“You are the one to say that?” Vala’rein told her. “You did better than both of us.”

“Because I’m just better.”

“Now you’re just sounding like Meifen,” Neo replied.

“I’m nothing like that ... how you humans word it? ... a ‘bitch?’ No ... she just got lucky.”

“It’s no one’s fault,” Neo said as he paused in pushing his motorcycle. “How many races do you two do at night?”

“Little,” Vala’rein answered

“How many races involve you in a large urban city?”

“Little.”

“And what does that supposed to mean?” Serrein replied with a snide remark. “It’s no excuse.”

“That’s my point,” Neo told her as he showed a stern look at her. He even walked up to her and pointed his finger at her. “You get all uppity because you got third place. Then you act all high and mighty when you’re just as pissed that you didn’t get first. Guess what, sometimes the humans do win the challenges after all. You lost, get over it.”

“Hmmm...” Vala’rein commented. “He has a point.”

Serrein only bared her teeth a little bit at Neo. She then took a step forward and shoved Neo’s hand away.

“I don’t care ... I’ll beat her and that little Yutilian next time,” Serrein said before she turned to look at Cordeina. “And as for you ... half-sister ... good that you’re finally here ... now go ... fuck his brains out. He gets enough of it from Vala’rein as it is. I want none of it.”

Neo was taken aback by what she had just said. The Shal’rein only grimaced as she gave a dirty look towards Vala’rein.

“You have not taken him as your mate?” Cordeina asked her.

“No. I don’t want him.”

Cordeina had a surprised look on her face. “You were part of the UWAN dating network. You didn’t have to be a part of it if you had ill feelings about it.”

“So what?” Serrein turned her head towards her. Her angry tone remained steady.

“You made an oath. You can’t just join the program and do this. It can dishonor you.”

“I’m not fucking him!” she raised her voice at her. “I won’t be partnered up with my ... Kerein’Shaltara of a half-sister.” She pointed her finger at her. “I know the word in the English language. You know what you’re called in the human language?”

“Serrein...” Vala’rein raised her voice at her. Cordeina seemed to remain neutral as if she was expecting her half-sister to say it.

“She is a slut ... a whore ... that’s what she is.”

“That’s enough!” Vala’rein snapped at her. She started to walk towards her as Serrein waved her off. Cordeina seemed to sigh to herself quietly. She momentarily looked away and played with the back of her neck.

“Go ahead, Vala’rein,” Serrein said. “Attack me ... I’ll bite one of your ears off so hard that you won’t be to walk again. Your mate will have to feed you with a straw.”

Neo shook his head at her. “I don’t know what is wrong with you and why you’re like this. Something crawled up your ass and died.”

“Sister, you don’t have to be like this. I’m sorry that I hadn’t been here sooner.”

“Why? Banging all the humans on Cebravis?” Serrein said. She had folded her arms as she would give brief threatening notions with her hand.

“Research, Serrein ... ah...” Cordeina put her hand to her forehead. There was a brief pause as Serrein only shook her head in disgust at her. Neo could see that the sibling rivalry was worse than expected. There was a strong hint of bad blood that had been developing, and he knew that he was only a part of the process.

“I know what hurts you so much, sister,” Cordeina continued. “Many of us have had to deal with it in our own way. You don’t have to keep it so bottled in.”

“Dargh!” Serrein waved her hand at her again. “Don’t you dare bring it up!”

With that, Serrein moved her hoverbike away. She practically kept her attention focused on the beach while ignoring the others talking to her. Neo was genuinely curious as to what it was that Cordeina had said just now. It was something difficult that even Vala’rein refused to talk much about.

“Agh...,” Cordeina remarked. “I really came at a bad time, didn’t I? I’m so sorry ... I just wanted to meet Neo for the first time.”

“Hmmm...” Vala’rein said as she looked at Neo. There was a brief smile on her face as she looked down at the human.

Neo decided to ignore the influx of negative emotions that Serrein had brought up. With her leaving the scene, things began to calm down as he focused upon the almost scantily clad Shal’rein.

“I apologize for everything that happened,” Neo said. “We just finished up a rather difficult race.”

“It’s ok,” Cordeina said. She watched as Vala’rein had pushed her large vehicle into the tent. “I know my arrival could have been sooner.”

Neo leaned on his motorcycle as it still remained near the entrance of the tent. “So tell me about yourself, Cordeina. You’re a doctor ... and a rather ... odd one.”

“Really?” Cordeina responded with a smile. “What type of doctor am I?”

“A sex doctor?”

“Ha, ha,” she laughed a little bit. “The correct term you are looking for is ‘sexologist,’ I’m a specialist that works with reproduction, sexual behavior, and psychological behaviors in all Itreans and now...” Cordeina put her hand to her chest. “Humans.”

“You ... actually, make a living off of that?” Neo asked as his brow lifted.

“Of course, I do.” Her tail waved around a little bit. “You humans have it too.”

“Well, I mean that the Itreans have them?”

“Yes, we do. Sex is a very important part of our lives, even if there are those that don’t admit it. We are all here because our parents decided to have sex and produce a child.”

“It makes sense. So, you are the half-sister? What happened?”

“Yes,” Cordeina answered. “I was born from a different father. How much did Vala’rein tell you?”

“Some of it. I know that you are supposed to be the youngest.”

“By about eleven years. Vala’rein and Serrein’s father died in an accident. Uik’lotorein ultimately took on another mate, and they decided to have another child ... me...”

“You seem so much different,” he continued to note upon her. “You look very much like your sisters, but your personality. Even your accent is almost nonexistent. I don’t even hear a click in your voice.”

“Thank you,” she said with great affirmation she said as she played with her long hair. “I have my reasons...”

“So ... what’s going to happen? Like, you’re supposed to be busy and all that.”

“Yes ... my job requires me to study and work on various research projects. I tend to work long hours in the day.”

“Neo,” Vala’rein said as she exited the tent. “Go and spend some time with Cordeina. I need some time to check my vehicle and study what went wrong in this race.”

“It’s alright,” Neo told her. “I know you’ll do better in the upcoming races. This track was not one that you could do well on no matter what. I need to get my motorcycle moved in.”

“I’ll take care of it. You two go and be together.”

Neo gave the nod to her as he looked up to Cordeina. Vala’rein kept up a mild form of content on her face. He gestured for the doctor to follow him as they began to walk away from the tent. He looked at Serrein that had put a proper amount of distance between them.

“We’ll be back,” Cordeina told Vala’rein. “I’ll take good care of him.”

“You better make sure that he is in good shape for tonight.”

Cordeina gave an almost sly look at her sister as she gave a very brief wave to her. Neo felt a slight stir of excitement in him. Although, emotionally, the idea of somebody that operated primarily with this particular profession had made him slightly uneasy. At least, from what he could see, Cordeina didn’t seem to be outrageous in any way. They began their walk down the beach sand together while keeping the great city to their left. The smell of the ocean water continued to fill his nostrils, and the cool breeze felt wonderful as it always did. It would be here that he could really analyze her behavior.

“It’s ... so weird for me,” Neo said.

“What is?” Cordeina asked.

“The whole UWAN dating thing ... the way that the Itreans just ... take up a mate and all.”

“It was an adjustment for me to witness. I noticed that humans tend to be serious in their romances, but there are others that simply take up sex as a way to fulfill their natural desires. It is the result of a civilization that takes so long in the fulfillment of finding a mate. However...” She held her finger up. “If it means anything to you, we do have cases where Itreans become mates to each other too quickly. They use sex as a way to break up the disinterest in being together, but it reduces sex as a simple way to solve problems instead of the heart of the problem, the couple that got together, to begin with.”

“So, there is the case of rushing headlong into a marriage without having a chance to think twice about it?”

Cordeina nodded her head. “Yes. The problem is that once the mateship is declared, they can’t pull out of it unless one of the mates has become insane or is deliberately trying to bring harm to the other. We call this the ‘Okio’kan’po,’ or the trapped, unhappy mateship. There is no real resolution to this, but our society is well aware of it.”

“But what about you? Serrein called you a... ‘Karen’ shaltra?’”

“Karein’Shaltara,” Cordeina corrected her. She gestured to her tattoo. “That’s what I am ... or ... was.”

“What are they?”

“Hmm ... there is no exact way of telling you what it is,” she tried to explain it. “We are sometimes called the ‘People outside mateship,’ but there is more to it than just that.”

“Serrein had made a rather ... derogatory remark about it. Is it true?”

Cordeina shook her head. “To us, sex is art. Sex is beautiful, and we enjoy it. The Karein Shal’tara are a religion dedicated to sex. We see the issues that society has, and we are the cure to those problems.”

There was a deep passion in how she said it, that Neo took note of it. She spoke it objectively and not some depraved woman. It seemed that she had years upon years of having to talk in this manner. It actually had his interest in her go up.

“Really? How so?” he asked her.

“The Karein Shal’tara view sex as an important part of a mateship. They see it as the road that leads to children and as a basic means of holding love together. We also see it as the path of peace and harmony. A Karein Shal’tara can never become a mate, and we instead become a third part of another mateship. When a mated pair has a significant problem with their mateship or if there is another that can’t find a mate, then we are sent to relieve them of their burdens. Serrein is only partially right. We tend to view ourselves more as you humans would refer to as the ‘oiran’ or ‘courtesans.’ We never made money from our work or were referred to as prostitutes. The most we ever gained was happiness from doing our work, and we were treated well by the hosts that we were with.”

“So, you became a sexologist because of your religion?”

“Yes,” she said as she looked down at him and smiled.

“But ... what about your vow? You just said that you can’t get into a mateship because of the ... creed of the Karein’Shaltara.”

She momentarily hesitated but answered quickly. “No ... I don’t really view myself as that anymore. Some of the Karein’Shaltara are no more. It all changed and ... and...”

“What is it?” he asked her.

Cordeina seemed almost to bite the top portion of her lip. “So much as changed ... so much ... even Serrein was never like this...”

“Vala’rein had briefly mentioned about the impact of Zilik’s Disease. What happened?”

“Never had I seen death in such a horrific scale. It was such a powerful disease. It spared none of the males. The brotherhood of the Karein’Shaltara were dead in a couple of weeks, leaving the sisterhood in ruins. Half of the populations of all the Itrean worlds were gone in less than a month. Suddenly everything in our society was fearing the worst. Some of the females couldn’t take the loss of their mates ... others ended their lives thinking that all of the Itreans were going to perish or out of grief. Everything in our society was flipped upside down. Only the hatred of the others and blaming the others for causing it was the only thing that seemed to work still. I myself just remembered that everything that I was was now in question. Do I still serve the religion? By then, I had become a doctor in tried to work in the medical field. I instead watched as society thought it was best to introduce ... the ivon ... the solution to the loss of males ... it was a horrible solution. I was spared and so were my sisters, but others were not so lucky.”

“The Ivon ... what are they?”

She shook her head. “Females that are given male parts ... so that we could ... have a mateship.”

“Shit...” Neo realized it when he heard of it. “That was why there were so many of them on UWAN dating sites. I could have ended up taking an ivon for a mate by accident...”

“No,” Cordeina corrected him. “I mean, yes, but there is more to it. The ivon can have their surgery changed back if they take up a human mate, but only if they take up a mate. I myself did reverse surgeries ... unless you were the type that preferred...”

“No, it’s alright, but I didn’t know about it either. At least they can reverse that ... that sucks, though. Being forced to become another gender like that.”

“It’s what happened with the Karein’Shaltara. I decided to remain with them, but they now had to work with new mateships ... ones that now involved the ivon. I remember it time after time again ... those that had such a hard time having to make love to another that was the same gender as you. We had no choice, and I had to adapt to it and try to see the benefits of keeping a society happy. I admit, though, that I started to lose my interest in my religion and instead tried to look into research. Maybe ... there were ways to defeat this ... somehow ... maybe there was a cure to Zilik’s Disease that we hadn’t looked into. Nothing seemed to work. Zilik was so obsessed with coming up with the perfect disease that it took her over thirty years to create it. It was so effective in how it worked. Not even the sons survived in the wombs or eggs.

“Wow...” Neo shook his head. “Seeing how bad those diseases get. I’m just glad that the Aksren clan never dropped that bio bomb that they supposedly had.”

“You did get the booster shots, though, right?” She asked with some concern.

“Yes, I did. I wasn’t going to be stupid if they still tried. I still see some people complain about getting it. Better than nothing at all. Plus, it’s required for one of the racetracks coming up.”

“One of the racetracks?”

“Yeah, we will be going to New Atrea for track 5 in a couple of weeks. Part of this whole alliance.”

“Really?” Cordeina asked with some excitement. “You get to see one of our worlds then?”

Neo nodded with a hint of a smile on his face. “Yep, it’s going to be an adjustment for me.”

“Oh, that’s going to be so interesting. How long have you been a racer?”

“Since I was a kid, but I would say professional racing since these last few months.”

“So, it was very recent. You must be happy to make it this far.”

He gave a subtle smile as he thought about it. “Yeah, but it’s challenging. I’m within the top three of my bracket, but I can’t beat Meifen or Oluchi. Having three other champions from the T’rintar clan pretty much puts me at the weakest link.”

“I saw the race, though,” she countered. “You still managed to beat your mate.”

“Yeah ... I just hope that she didn’t throw the race for my benefit.”

Cordeina shook her head. “I know her. She wouldn’t do that.”

“Hmmm...” Neo mainly seemed convinced. “Fine.”

“How does the point system work with your races?”

“Oh, it’s pretty simple. First place gets ten points. Second place gets eight points. Third, six points. Four points for fourth. Two points for fifth. One point for last and zero points for not finishing.”

“It’s different than how we do it.”

“Yeah, Vala’rein already told me this. Apparently, you get medals for each track completion and a trophy for the most amount of medals,” Neo commented. “We still give attention to those that beat certain tracks over others, so there is still some recognition for it.”

“So, there is still a chance for all of you to win?”

“This will be a shorter championship ... yeah, it’s possible.”

“Your motorcycle looks so wonderful.”

“My Bandigara? It’s just a bike.”

“Bandi ... Bandara?” She tried to mutter back.

“Bandigara,” he corrected.

“What does that name mean?”

“I don’t know. It’s supposed to be a motorcycle for the UHN. I know that Oshun named their military motorcycles after some sort of creature on former Earth. I heard that they were called “horses” or something. I don’t know what they were, but they are all extinct now anyway. I never grew up on the planet.”

There was a period of time where things were quiet. They walked for less than a minute as Cordeina admired the waves of the oceans that came and went. By now, the workshop tents were becoming a distant speck, and they could see the end of the track where the vehicles would turn to the long straightaway. By now, the clean-up crews were taking care of anything that the people had left behind. It would be another hour before the barricades would be moved, and traffic in the area would be allowed to recommence.

“So crowded...” Neo remarked as he looked at the city.

“You’re doing the right thing in expanding into the ocean with your underwater districts,” she said.

“You’ve been to Low Cairo?”

“The area below this continent. Yes. It’s so wonderful. Underwater apartments and the ability to see the great ocean wildlife.”

“Nah ... not for me.

Cordeina stopped walking as she put her hand up to stop him. “You are with Shal’rein. If you are going to have us as mates, then you must have an enjoyment of the water. We are the water people for a reason, now aren’t we?”

Neo looked down for a little bit. “That isn’t what I mean. I can’t exactly breathe underwater. I grew up in an ocean-covered world. The surface just feels nice.”

The doctor seemed to analyze him and what he had just said. She seemed to be convinced of something just now that she took careful note on.

“No ... you don’t like being in compressed places ... that’s why,” she said. She lowered her hand at him. He displayed a look of surprise at her comment.

“Yeah ... good observation. I guess it makes sense since you’re a doctor and all,” he replied.

“I went and did a little research on you. Important when it comes to taking up a mate, but I know what happened with you.”

Neo seemed uncomfortable. He looked away from her as if he tried to avoid the conversation.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“You should,” she said. “I understand the torment that you had to go through. I saw the recording of your race before this.”

He shook his head. “Yeah ... me yelling at another Shal’rein...”

“No,” she put her hand on his shoulder. “I saw both of the videos. I looked up the record, and it only made sense.”

“Yeah, that I would make a shitty husband ... one that holds resentment towards the people that took my leg. I guess you know about that too.”

“No, I think it is brave of you to fight your past like this. You’ve already taken up my sister as a mate. You wish to be a father. I think that’s the best way to fight against your past.”

“You do?” he asked with some disbelief.

Cordeina smiled as they resumed their walk. “I do. Some of the Itreans choose to hate and hate. They don’t embrace love. They choose to hold their anger against those that aren’t their species. At least with the T’rintar, they try to encourage cohabitation with the others. At a time when there are less of us, we should try to stop fighting one another.”

Neo didn’t say anything in response. He simply resumed his walk alongside her. He took note of the other few individuals that walked around the beaches at night. Most were couples that were enjoying the night stroll. Despite the crowded environment, far fewer people naturally walked around at this time of day. The couples that he noticed were a reflection of himself. Humans that were either holding hands with other humans or humans that were holding hands with Itrean women.

“It’s so strange...” Neo remarked as he looked at one couple that was walking closer to the water. It was a shorter statured man that had his arm wrapped around a short Yutilian. “A year ago, I would have never imagined this ... even to be in bed with Vala’rein.”

“I believed it long ago,” Cordeina said. “Almost a year from now.”

“That would be before we even made the alliance.”

“No,” she momentarily hesitated in going further but simply decided to reveal the truth. “I was there ... I worked with them.”

“Worked with who?” his curiosity peaked.

“I ... was part of the research team that worked with the captives taken from Eutera.”

“What?” Neo gave a surprising look at the towering Shal’rein.

“It’s true ... I was one of several scientists that worked with the T’rintar clan’s research division.”

“I know enough about that whole story. People that were taken against their will. I know that they were returned, but ... you were a part of that whole thing?”

Cordeina wasn’t poorly flustered, but she didn’t notice that Neo was taken aback a little bit upon such a revelation.

“I might have been to blame as well. When we got the report about a new alien race, I wrote a paper about the possibility that there could be different genders amongst your kind. If that were the case, then it might be possible to interbreed. It suddenly dawned on me that finding a race like yours might be what we needed to stop Zilik’s Disease. I had others that agreed with me. It spread through the chain of command like a flame.”

“You’re saying that you instigated it?” he asked.

“I don’t know if it did, but it might have pushed them to doing it. I heard the story that the clan was going to launch an assault and take Eutera. I tried to encourage them not to do so ... but I ... hesitated too.”

“Because of the disease?”

She nodded her head. “We had to find a way to stop it, by any means ... I seen enough death that it caused ... too much ... too much for many to witness...” Her voice seemed toned down and regretful. She shook her head. “I was thankful that Ambassador Ifra and many of her team were open to everything. I had a chance to talk to her. I might not have been in charge of the whole thing, but she listened to my words. I learned the English language and began to talk to the captives. I explained everything to them that the attack on their world was not necessary.”

“Not necessary? Some people died from that attack.”

“I know, but I wasn’t the one firing the guns either. We really know about your people. We had no idea if you were violent like we were. It didn’t take long before we saw that you were mostly peaceful. Many of the people from Eutera were nice and understood why we took them. A few even offered their DNA by their choice. They wanted to help us find a cure. It made me so happy. I remember even my supervisor that wanted to ensure that the Euterans were treated well. We all began to do our research, and it didn’t take long before we found out that a simple little procedure could allow you, humans, to create the sperm necessary to impregnate us. Of course...” she smiled a little bit as she put her hand on his shoulder. “There was only one way to verify it all...”

“Some of them became mates to you...”

She nodded her head. “A few of them agreed to it. I think it was at least thirty out of the thousands who volunteered. It didn’t happen overnight. I and the others had to make adjustments to the procedures. Eventually ... one of the Yutilians became pregnant.”

“And let me guess ... you were one of them that had sex.”

Cordeina gave a sly look at him. “I would have taken a mate, otherwise ... no ... but I watched and always took notes.”

“I can only imagine that whole prospect.”

“It was a ... fun experiment, and it led to a wonderful outcome. The few that turned out pregnant that had sons ... they were alive. Zilik’s Disease couldn’t target the human genome that was in it. Male babies were thriving in the wombs ... it was such a joyous moment. Even the most resentful of my kind had smiles on their faces. It was hope ... so much hope out of such a long period of darkness. I saw some of the former Itrean mothers that cried and wept on the ground with the idea that we had finally found a way to defeat this disease. It became a salvation to me. My faith had been returned. Everything that I wanted to be had paid off. Love and sex were the answer to peace ... it always was. As promised, we returned the rest of the Euterans to your people ... an alliance was made ... all thanks to those people that decided that love was more important than fear and war.”

There was so much passion in how she said it that Neo felt inclined to hold onto Cordeina’s hand. He resisted it but had watched her. Even the sadness that she had on her face was filled with joy.