2. Sten

Chapter 2

Sten

T his human Librarian is driving me crazy.

Why did this council send such a delicate being? I would be happier working on this project with only Hyrrokin.

My life has recently turned upside down. A landslide exposed the opening of a cave on my property wherein I discovered containers of crumbling print books and tablets that had been kept there since before modern times. It’s a complete mystery which ancient tribes left these and why—therefore I want them analyzed. I messaged Erid to show him pics, and that was when he referred this to the Intergalactic Antiquities Council, without asking me first. Now I’m busy running a successful ranch with the addition of these off-planet Librarians chasing me down.

And this one in particular is the worst.

Her beautiful blue eyes flash at me from behind odd glasses perched on her delicate nose. I plucked them off the ground after she fell on the transporter platform and handed them back to her. The thick flow of strange follicles that shine past her shoulders doesn’t bother me as much as they do on other humans. Hers look almost...attractive.

She’s crossed her arms, which lifts her enticing breasts. Is she doing this on purpose? And she’s limping, trying to elicit sympathy.

I don't like her attitude at all.

This human doesn't seem to understand what I mean when I say only a Hyrrokin should be working this position. She thinks I don’t want her here because she’s a female, which is preposterous. Although she does indeed appear much too young to be given such a serious position.

My childhood friend, Hugsen, an archeologist who specializes in the wildlands of Tarvos, should oversee this mission. He's not part of this crazy antiquities council but he’s highly qualified. I want Hugsen Blackstone to be in charge, because it's our ancestry. It's my family's ancestry and the ancestry of this area.

I hate the fact that this mysterious council is all up my ass. I’m funding this mission and some off-world agency swoops down and takes over everything. I'm still mad about it. I'm the one who found this cave. I've kept it sealed off and haven’t told anyone the exact location, to ward off the possibility of treasure hunters.

I frown and lift her luggage, accepting the fact that Taylor Dumas is here and can’t be sent back until her work is complete. Then I glance down at her bandages and a new thought enters my mind. If I get her wounds fixed fast, maybe I can get her out of here.

“Follow me.” I stride past her down the hall, not even monitoring if she is able to keep up.

And the worst part is I’d already planned for the Librarian who arrived to stay at my ranch. I also set up a shed for use on my property. This means the female who irritates me so much will be under my own roof. Taylor should quit this job and hand the project over to whichever Hyrrokin I employ. Even better, she should leave.

Humans are indeed a rare species but are not completely new to me. I’m used to them already. I have two humans who are my sisters-in-law, and I care about them very much. I understand their charm, but their planet is still primitive. Their species only recently became part of the four sectors. How can a human have the knowledge needed to correctly work this project? What if she accidentally destroys items during this restoration process? She claims that she was educated off planet. It’s still not good enough.

I assumed a Gravian Librarian would arrive and this was partially acceptable because they are well-known as academically minded. The multigod religion started on the Gravian planet. Gravians have the best universities and most of the intergalactic institutions are based on their homeworld. This is because they do not partake in wars, even between themselves. They always remain neutral, which makes their planet extremely safe. And because the widespread multigod religion started there and most species perform pilgrimages there at least once in their lifetime, all other planets protect Gravian as sacred.

Finally, I look back and see her valiantly limping along, far behind me, trying to keep up, still holding her odd human foot coverings in her small hands. This human is fantastically beautiful, with a small waist, wide hips and curvy legs. She wears too much fabric, as many off worlders do, but I can still see the outline of her large breasts under her top.

A growl rumbles in my chest because I believe she understands that she is incredibly beautiful and uses her sexual appeal as a weapon.

All humans are considered attractive to the Hyrrokin. The few I’ve met recently happen to be the bound of my brothers and friends. But there is something more about this female. My body heats up for her, which has never once happened to me before in the vicinity of a human. She is thick in all the right places. Her ass is flawlessly rounded and the shape of her breasts under her clothes looks neither too big nor small. They would fit perfectly in my claws.

How will she be able to ride a beast out to the mountains where the cave is located? She is too delicate for this mission. Why did they send her?

I exhale, walk back and scoop her up into my arms.

“Oh, you don’t need to do this,” she exclaims. “I’m fine. I’m slow but I can walk. I know I’m too heavy.”

“Too heavy? This is nonsense,” I growl, grab her suitcase, shift her in my arms and continue toward my destination with the female as well as her luggage in my arms.

Her tiny arms go around my neck. “Where are we going?” she asks brightly.

“I’m taking you to the med lab here in town so they can fix you. Then…we will go to the Sandstone ranch.”

“Oh. Will I be able to see the cave today?”

“Maybe.”

“Tomorrow? Will there be more beings going with us from the ranch?”

“No, you and I are the only ones who are going to the cave. The Sheriff isn’t available right now.”

“Oh. Will I meet your wife and children at the ranch? Will your mate want to go with us too?”

“I do not have a bound,” I growl. “And therefore, I have no offspring.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I assumed… I thought I’d read that you were mated. I apologize.”

I sigh because I do not want to answer more questions. I’m secretly planning how I will be rid of her within the hour. I want to fix her injuries and then return her to the transporter disk.

She narrows her eyes. “You know I’m not leaving. You cannot take me to the med lab and then return me to the transporter station and send me back and be rid of us.”

I blink with surprise. Is she reading my mind?

“I’m not reading your mind. It’s a common assumption from other beings we’ve contacted in the past. If you return me, the Head Librarian will send someone else tomorrow and if you return that Librarian, they will send another. You do not get to choose, because we need to standardize the practices.”

“Will they send another human to replace you?”

She tenses in my arms. “No, I’m the only human on the team. They will most likely send a Gravian or a Xylan.”

I grunt, processing this news. Then I kick open the exit door.

The Librarian blinks at the sunshine.

I carry her and her luggage to my utility vehicle, parked on the curb. She looks around eagerly at the tidy streets of Fire Creek because this is her first time on my planet. And for some reason this irritates me again, remembering that Taylor Dumas knows nothing about us, yet is here to take over the restoration of these texts. How can she be in charge when she isn’t Hyrrokin?

“Oh, the weather is glorious. The sky is so big. Look at those flowers.”

Normally I would give her a tour and explain the pleasant climate of our planet, which is often considered a paradise, but I remain silent. I do not want her making herself at home. I would usually be telling a visitor all the information about how my two brothers have adjoining ranches to mine and a hundred other details of our life here in the wildlands. I’ve given these types of tours to VIP visitors countless times and I’m good at it. This is why I am the Sandstone brother in charge of the main ranch, because normally I’m an excellent host and communication with strangers comes to me naturally. I enjoy having guests and showing off what generations of Sandstones have created.

But not this time.

I set her down in the passenger seat, place her luggage in back, start the vehicle and drive down the street.

Hyrrokin whisper and point, surprised at the arrival of a new human in Fire Creek. I know everyone in town and they know me, so it’s easy for them to identify newcomers. I don’t say a word to anyone, letting the gossip I started amongst the staff in the station do its work. I turn a corner and drive toward the med lab.

The female glances over at me. “I’m terrified of demons. I know it’s a little silly, but I was told a demonic story when I was little and remember it like it was yesterday. And, um, to me, the Hyrrokin features look demonic and this why I was initially scared.”

I grunt in response. “I’ve heard that other species in the four sectors think we look like whatever evil was invented in their mythology.”

“Does this bother you?” she questions.

“No, we consider this fear a powerful weapon in battle. Other species have put down their weapons and withdrawn at the sight of our powerful bodies. We are a proud species.” I park in front of the med lab. “We’re here.”

She attempts to step out of the vehicle on her own, but I carry the Librarian inside and greet the attendant who looks vaguely familiar. This Hyrrokin was not born here but I believe has lived in Fire Creek for many years.

“Good morning, Mr. Sandstone,” she greets. “Oh, who is this? A new human fiancée?”

The Librarian gasps with surprise and her cheeks turn pink. “No…no. Of course not. My name is Taylor Dumas and I am not his fiancée. I arrived on Tarvos a short while ago and was scared of…um, how everyone looked and then I accidentally tripped and fell…”

“And screamed and fainted,” I grouse as I set her on her feet.

“Yes, I fainted too. I guess I really hurt myself when I fell on the metal platform. They bandaged me up and gave me pain reliever, but I need…”

“She has many deep cuts that need to be fixed and possibly a sprained or broken ankle,” I explain.

The attendant smiles warmly at the frightened human I’ve brought with me. “Oh, no. Hyrrokin-fright syndrome. It happens to lots of beings. And I can understand how you were hurt so easily. Humans lack any claws or a tail and have very delicate skin. Lie here please and we’ll get you all fixed up.”

A message flashes on my tablet. The human obediently lies on the med lab bed and I step out into the hallway to see who has called.

It's that traitor Erid.

“The Librarian arrived on time?” he questions.

A growl rumbles in my chest, and I close the door behind me for privacy.

“I couldn't be there with you,” he tries to explain, “because there was a murder to investigate amongst those rich houses on the edge of the wildlands.”

“Heh. I heard all about it on the news services. But you should be here, considering you're the Sheriff and the one who told these Librarians about the cave. This is all your fault.”

“Sten, you found ancient textual artifacts on your property. The legality is clear. I’m supposed to report it, then it gets referenced to the Librarians. This project was always going to be referred to the Intergalactic Antiquities Council.”

“When you said Librarians, I thought you meant Hyrrokin.”

“No, I meant to an intergalactic library. How could you not have known that?”

“I’m a rancher, not a historian. Now I have to pay for everything, and they're all coming down here. I haven’t told anyone else about this because telling you was enough.”

“How big is the team who arrived today?

“One being stepped off the disk.”

Erid chuckles. “Just one? That’s not so bad. It doesn't sound like you have to pay for much. It won’t be difficult accommodating one Librarian for a short time.”

Gray smoke puffs from my nostrils. “They sent a human.”

“That is surprising. I assumed the Librarian would be a Gravian, just because the headquarters are on the Gravian home world.”

“I did too.”

“Is the human male or female? I've never met a male of their species…”

“A female.”

“Heh. Is she old or young?”

“Young. I think too young to be in charge of this mission.”

Erid is quiet for a moment. “Is she mated?”

My brow furrows. “I don't know.”

“Does she have a ring on her finger? Humans seem to like those to show a mating commitment.”

I think about it for a moment. “No, I don't think she does. But I know I don't like her.”

“What? That is unusual. You usually like most beings. What is wrong with her?”

“She screamed and fainted and fell and hurt herself in the transporter room.”

“Hyrrokin-fright syndrome? She had it bad?”

“Yes. I’m at the med lab right now, having her injuries fixed.”

“Well, that is a common occurance… It’s happened so often it’s now a named syndrome.”

Smoke churns in my chest as I pace in the hallway. “I do not like the fact that the being overseeing this project isn't Hyrrokin. I wasn't happy when I thought it was going to be a Gravian, but at least the Gravians are…are…”

“At least Gravians are, what? What were you about to say?”

“You know.”

“No, I don't know. Say it. Say it out loud.”

“At least Gravians are known to be smart and highly educated. Humans are primitive.”

“You have two human sisters-in-law. And Burl's bound is human. That's three humans in your vicinity all the time. You also have half-human nieces and nephews. What is wrong with you? You know that humans can be trusted.”

“Yes, they all live here, and they're wonderful, but their home world is not known for institutes of education. Not long ago, they were still enslaved, and I believe that they do not have the infrastructure yet to produce humans who can be elevated to positions of leadership in intergalactic organizations.”

Erid lets out a deep snort. “I think you wouldn't have liked anyone who came off that disc who wasn’t Hyrrokin.”

“I particularly do not like her because her personality is irritating. Also, on top of that, she's here to oversee something that is dear to my family, my culture and she doesn't speak the Hyrrokin language naturally, she just speaks it through a translator. And then she also screamed at the sight of us, which means she doesn’t like how we look. She says we appear like the darkest evil from New Earth mythology. We scare her so much she fell and hurt herself. This female can't behave in a professional manner.” I growl again and turn and look over my shoulder.

Taylor Dumas stands in the open doorway staring at me. The pigment of her face appears even more colorless than before.

Oh hells. “I have to go.”

“I will meet you at the house tomorrow morning,” Erid says, “and we will talk about this further.”

I turn off the tablet.