Chapter 4: Holding Dizyntk

Virathea Tzilank was an emotional wreck. Not that anyone would be able to tell it by looking at her. She was performing her duties flawlessly as usual. The fact remained that she was dreading going to the human settlement today. A small part of her was also looking forward to it.

She was a major in the Royal Guard and would soon be twenty-two cyankas old. She was not bonded, which was unusual for a Dizyntk of her age. It was not that she was unattractive. She was tall for a female of her race at five feet two inches. Her fur was light brown with just a few hints of auburn swirled in. Her eyes were the bright green of a peridot in which it was hard to see the silver flecking when in bright light. When it was darker it became obvious that her eyes had a high concentration of this flecking. Her eyes at these times seemed to shimmer. She kept her hair, which was the same color as her fur, cut fairly short. It fell just past her shoulders, which was short for a Dizyntk female. Her tail was a bit longer than most, as would be expected since she was tall. She was also in extremely good shape. This was only to be expected of one who served in the Sapphire Royal Guard. All in all she would be considered very pretty by any Dizyntk.

Virathea had friends, even a few close ones. She occasionally had sex with these close friends, but she had never met anyone that she thought she loved. Mostly this had to do with scent, not unusual for her people. This had all changed just a week ago. She had been helping replace a panel on one of the human ships. She had only done so because Ariarisha had asked her to. It was then that she had caught a scent that almost made her drop the panel she was holding. Normally, Virathea thought that she had no good use for humans. So you can imagine her confusion when she realized that this scent that had caused her mouth to water had come from one of these humans. It did not help that she had to admit that the human in question was attractive. Virathea had never been this conflicted in her entire life. She did not like humans but she was suddenly attracted to, and aroused by, one of them. The only question was what was she going to do about it?

Ariarisha and Lilavasi had been spending more and more time at the human settlement. The reasons were simple. Aria's parents had become quite busy trying to deal with the sudden crises on the border with the Protectorate. Aria had therefore taken to spending her time getting to know this race that her father belonged to. Vasi was just content to be with Aria no matter where they were. Normally the only other Dizyntk accompanying them on these trips was Virathea. Today was different. Today Velakari had decided to visit these humans. While Aria and Vasi would have normally spent time with the human children, they were touring the settlement with Kari now. This was because Velakari did not speak the human language that well. Aria was with her to act as a translator.

As they walked along and greeted the various humans, Virathea saw the human that was causing her current problem. For just a moment Virathea froze at the sight. She felt her breath catch in her throat. For the barest of moments her eyes went wide as she remembered how good the human had smelled. Most Dizyntk would not have noticed her slight lapse. Velakari was not most Dizyntk.

Velakari looked at Virathea and wondered what was wrong. She saw her eyes widen and her breath stop. It had only been for a second but it was there. She had seen Virathea's normally stern composure slip. Kari had known the other Dizyntk for three cyankas. Since Virathea was head of the personal guard for Feya's family, Kari had gotten to know her quite well. She knew that Virathea had no serious relationships of any kind. At that moment she realized that this might change. The look that Kari saw on Virathea's face in that brief moment was, she suddenly knew, a look of desire. The realization caused a smile to form on Kari's lips. Kari knew that only an overwhelming emotion could cause Virathea's well disciplined mind to let such a look slip to her face, even for a moment. She saw that they were close to the field where the human children were playing. She whispered to Aria, who was standing next to her, to go ahead and play with them if she wished.

Aria looked at her for a moment and asked in a whisper, "Are you sure? There is still more of the settlement to see."

"Very sure", she answered. "I have something to discuss with Virathea."

Aria thought for a second and nodded. She took Vasi's hand and the two of them trotted towards the children.

Virathea had heard this last comment and looked at Kari with a bit of confusion. What could she want to discuss with her?

After Aria and Vasi left, Kari looked at Virathea and smiled. Virathea was suddenly very nervous.

"I would never have guessed that you, of all Dizyntk, would feel desire towards a human." Kari said gently to her.

Virathea's breath stopped and her eyes went wide. Suddenly she looked away from Kari and stammered, "I ... I ... do not know what ... what you mean."

Kari took a step closer to Virathea. She was no longer smiling but had a look of concern on her face.

"You know exactly what I mean, Virathea." Kari said to her softly.

Kari then gestured to a small group of humans standing not far away. "I saw that look cross your face while you were looking at that group of them over there."

Virathea was suddenly angry, not really at Kari but at herself. She snapped, "What business is it of yours?!!!"

Her hands flew to her mouth as she realized what she had said and how she had said it. It was, in fact, part of a priestess' job to act as a councilor in matters of affection in Dizyntk culture, if a Dizyntk needed it. This was usually done by the priestess that was best known to the Dizyntk in question. There was certainly no priestess that knew Virathea better than Velakari and Virathea knew it. On top of this, she knew that it was wrong to yell at a priestess. She felt very ashamed of herself at that moment.

Virathea crossed her arms over her chest, with a hand on each shoulder as if she were praying. Then she dropped to her knees and closed her eyes.

"Forgive me for my rudeness, Sister." she said in a whisper.

Velakari took another step and was now right in front of Virathea. She put one hand gently on her head.

"You are confused and scared. Why is this, Virathea?" Kari asked her softly.

Virathea did not really want to answer. Virathea had never been a very open Dizyntk. Her family had been a warrior family for generations. She had trained to be the best fighter that she could be. She had also disciplined her mind so that her emotions would not show in her face or her actions. As she thought of her unexpected attraction to a human and her sudden outburst towards a priestess, the emotional walls in her mind weakened slightly. When Kari touched her head, these walls dissolved completely. It was if she could almost feel Velakari in her mind. She had heard that a rare few priestesses were capable of doing this. She had no idea that Kari could be one of these. The effect was immediate. Virathea could feel the tears start to trickle down her face.

"I have never liked humans" she said in a quiet voice that was not like her. "Why do I have to be attracted to one of them?"

Velakari closed her eyes and concentrated. "You do not like them?" she asked. "Have you ever known any of them other than my mate?"

"No, but what difference does that make?" she asked. "They are still enemies!"

Kari smiled at this. "Enemies? Michael is not your enemy. He is trusted by the Empress and loved by your Princess. Some of them may be your enemies, but that does not mean all of them are."

Kari kept her hand on Virathea's head as she thought about this comment.

The ability that some priestesses possessed was a subtle but powerful one. It erased any resistance a Dizyntk felt towards expressing emotions while at the same time it gently restrained their ability to move. It was also quite effective at causing a Dizyntk to speak truthfully even if they did not want to. In truth there were many Dizyntk who could learn to use this ability. Only priestesses were allowed to be trained however. The training was only done, coincidently, on Lilac. It just took five or six cyankas of intense twelve hour a day training. Training that included absolutely no physical contact with anyone for all but the last cyanka. Most Dizyntk, priestesses included, would be unwilling to undergo that. Hence very few priestesses possessed it.

It required the simplest physical contact and concentration but once mastered was not difficult to use. Virathea herself had only finished her training in it three weeks before Feya had first returned to Sapphire. This was the very first time that she had actually used it on someone other than her instructor. Part of the training had included being taught how to know when it was needed. Until today Kari had never been in a position where she thought it was necessary. She was happy that she found it was still easy for her to activate it.

Virathea wanted to look up at Kari. She knew that she could not. She thought about what Kari had just said.

"I suppose you are right. Not all of them may be enemies." she said.

"Do you want to talk to this human that you are attracted to?" Kari asked softly.

"Yes, but I cannot." Velakari replied as her tears increased. "I do not speak their language and I doubt that she speaks ours."

Velakari smiled again in understanding. "She? That is the real source of the problem is it not? It is a female."

"Yes. I know that human culture does not permit such things. That is why I am scared to ask to get know her." she answered.

"Ask her anyway. The worst that can happen is that she refuses. You will never know otherwise." Kari said to her. "You are a warrior who knows no fear of battle yet you are scared of your own heart. Open it this one time and use you courage for something other than fighting."

Velakari removed her hand from Virathea. She opened her eyes and looked down at her. She felt a little bad at using the power on Virathea. She had never seen her cry. She also knew that it had been necessary.

Virathea looked up at Kari and, in an almost meek voice, asked, "Will you introduce me to her, Sister?"

Kari was confused by this. "Do I know her?"

Virathea nodded. "She is the one that is friends with Michael."

Kari's eyes widened at this. "Cynthia? The human who has attracted you is Cynthia?"

Virathea closed her eyes and nodded.

Velakari looked at the six humans that were standing and talking about thirty meters away. She had not paid attention to it before but, sure enough, Cynthia was among them. She was pretty, Kari thought. She was also not very tall, only about two inches taller than Virathea.

She looked back to Virathea and held her hands out to her. Virathea took them and Kari helped her stand.

"I do not speak their language all that well myself." Kari said. "But there is one with us that speaks it quite well."

Velakari shook her head a bit. "I could not ask Ariarisha to do something like that."

Kari smiled and tilted her head in amusement. "Why is that? She is very mature when she wants to be and she is quite fond of you."

Virathea thought on this for a few seconds. It was true that Aria was fond of her. The girl had spent almost half of her young life around Virathea. Anytime that Aria went someplace by herself she always asked if Virathea could be her guard. Even on the many trips Aria had made over the cyankas to Dizyn in order to visit Lilavasi, Virathea had always accompanied her.

Virathea closed her eyes and nodded in agreement.

Kari smiled and said, "Wait here for minute."

Velakari walked over to the field where Aria was now playing. She knelt down next to Lilavasi and asked her if she could call Aria over. She did so and Aria came running up.

"Are you ready to continue looking at the settlement, Velakari?" Aria asked, smiling.

Kari shook her head. "I need your help with something else Aria. Something important and serious."

Aria stopped smiling and asked, "What is it, is something wrong?"

"Not really wrong." Kari replied. "Virathea seems to have found herself attracted to one of the humans."

Aria's eyes went wide and Vasi gasped a bit.

"Virathea likes a human?" Aria asked in wonder.

"Yes. Well, she is aroused by her scent anyway." Kari answered.

Vasi blushed a bit at this. She well understood the problem. That was how she had been attracted to Aria when they first met.

Kari went on to explain what Virathea had told her.

"She likes Cynthia?" Aria asked with a smile

"Yes, apparently she does. Will you help introduce her?" Kari asked. "I will stay here with Lilavasi."

Aria nodded and ran off to where Velakari was standing.

Michael had spent the past week talking to the various leaders of the human refugees in the Trellken system. One had been a government official from Tau Epsilon. He had been surprised but happy that a human was acting as the representative for the Dizyntk. He was able to fill Michael in on what had been happening between his system and the Protectorate. About this time, a Dizyntk messenger ship arrived with the news that an official representative of the three rebelling systems had arrived at the border requesting negotiations with the Imperium.

Michael arrived at the designated coordinates on board a Dizyntk battle cruiser and saw on the scanners that a single human vessel was there, surrounded by three Dizyntk destroyers. He ordered an audio channel opened to the human ship. He identified himself as the Dizyntk Ambassador and requested that three representatives be sent to his ship for negotiations.

Michelle Kirtland was surprised that the voice she heard was speaking English and not through a translator device. She was pleased about it however. If some of the Dizyntk had learned to speak the most common of human languages then it would make talking with them that much easier. Michelle herself had a rough grasp of Dizyntilin and thanked them for the invitation in their language. She then told them that they would be there in thirty minutes.

Michelle Kirtland, her assistant David Hostler and Doctor Mueller exited their shuttle and stepped aboard the Dizyntk ship. All three of them were nervous but also excited. No humans had talked with the Dizyntk face to face in over fifty years. No humans had ever been aboard a Dizyntk ship of any kind, much less a warship, as far as they knew. All three of them had access to more accurate records of Dizyntk appearance, including a few pictures, than the general populace or even the majority of military and government personnel. Thus they were unsurprised at how they looked when they saw them. Even so, Michelle was quite taken by them. In truth, she had been since the first time she had seen one of the pictures. She had always believed that the Protectorate should have done more to try and get along with the Dizyntk. She had, in her fifteen years of government service, never been given a satisfactory answer as to why they had not.

"Well screw the Protectorate." she thought, smiling to herself. "I am here now and I AM going to talk with them."

Dr Veronika Mueller was not used to working outside of a laboratory or classroom. She had accepted the government's offer to be on this team because she wanted to meet a Dizyntk. She had studied them, theorized about them and examined what few biological samples that humans had collected from them. Other than theories, she had run out of things to study about them and this frustrated her. She could tell that, despite some physical differences, the Dizyntk were very similar to humans. That being said, it only made sense to her that their technology might be compatible with ours. There was no telling what might be accomplished if the two races could learn to get along with each other. It was only on a lark that, three years ago, she had decided to test whether or not Dizyntk and human genes and DNA were compatible. She was shocked when her results came back. It still astounded her that she had been the first scientist to ever bother to check this.

"I wonder if the Dizyntk realize this yet?" she asked herself as they stepped aboard the Dizyntk ship.

The three of them were met by a pair of guards and a male Dizyntk who was not dressed in military attire. He bowed slightly to them. "Which of you is the Ambassador?" he asked them.

Michelle stepped forward and gave a slight bow of her head. "I am Ambassador Kirtland. Are you the Dizyntk ambassador?"

He shook his head slightly. "No Miss Kirtland, I am Drasdenalian, the Ambassador's assistant. If the three of you would kindly follow me, I will take you to meet him."

Michelle introduced her companions. After greetings were exchanged, Drasdenalian led them into the ship.

As they walked through the Dizyntk ship, the three humans were impressed by its construction. Human ships, especially warships, tended to be very functional with little thought given to aesthetics. This ship, however, seemed very attractive. Its curved and rounded architecture and decorative touches seemed closer to a passenger liner than the warship which it was. They finally arrived at the meeting room where the talks were to be held.

Michael stood up as the three humans entered. He had watched their progress on a monitor and already knew who they were.

"Ambassador Kirtland, Dr Mueller, Mr. Hostler, welcome. I am Michael Christopher, Ambassador from her Imperial Majesty, Empress Ziniadyra." he said while extending his hand.

It took Michelle a couple of seconds to recover from her shock at seeing a human here before taking his hand.

"I must say, the last thing I was expecting was a human to be representing the Dizyntk." she said with a bit of a smile.

Michael nodded. "I know that it is unusual to say the least. I will explain the details later. Right now I think that we should get started. The situation is stable for the time being, but there is no telling how much longer that will last."

Michelle was more than happy to do this. Despite her curiosity, she was a professional.

After several hours of negotiating, Michael and Michelle came to a tentative agreement. The first offer was not what Michelle really wanted.

In exchange for allowing the Dizyntk mining rights on the mineral rich, and lightly populated, world of Berringer, the Dizyntk would recognize the Tri-Systems Alliance. Michelle had tried to get full military assistance from the Imperium. Michael told her that he would need more than minerals to risk going to war with the Protectorate.

Michelle Kirtland was stuck and she knew it. She had not really expected the Dizyntk to send in their fleet just for a small mining colony on Berringer. Finally she laid the only real offer she had brought with her on the table, an offer that the Alliance become a semi-autonomous part of the Imperium.

Michael agreed on the condition that the Protectorate state religion be eradicated from the three worlds.

Michelle now had to send the agreement to be approved by the heads of the three planets she represented. While Michael sent it to the closest Dizyntk who could conditionally approve it, his mate, Feyalisa.

The next several weeks would be very tense ones between the Imperium and the Protectorate. Feyalisa, upon receiving the proposed treaty, ordered two-hundred Dizyntk warships into the Tau Epsilon system. The immediate effect was to cause the Protectorate fleet that had begun to approach the system to retreat after two battles. The heads of the three human worlds realized that they had little choice in the matter. If the Protectorate retook the systems, they would be executed. They agreed to be annexed by the Dizyntk Imperium.