Chapter 27

Fox

"Oh, my sweet honest Helga," I say to her as we walk toward the medical center. "Don't worry, the pain will be over soon." I hold her as still as I can. Watching Axl whip her was not something I ever want to endure again. My heart hurt with every sound of pain that escaped her lips.

As I walk in, neither junior doctor is anywhere to be seen. "Hey ho," I say. And then suddenly the youngest one appears, walking in behind us. It's the middle of the night, past the Watching, and technically he's not on duty, but while we are on the Des , everyone is on duty. "Please attend to my wife. She's made a blood payment to the High Priestess." Despite the unfortunate situation, I reflect how much pleasure it gives me to say the words, my wife.

"Lay her down."

"Axl's work?"

"How did you know?"

"The marks are even and don't overlap." He touches Helga's arm, no doubt calming her with influence, but without another doctor around, I stop him.

"No. I won't have you using telepathy without another doctor around to monitor you."

The junior doctor immediately withdraws his hand. "I was only trying to help."

"Just heal her wounds. If she needs calming later, we'll return when you're not the only one here," I reply. I know I'm being extra cautious, but Helga is my wife now, and I don't want anyone interfering with the decision she's made to be with me. I know the High Priestess wasn't happy about our marriage. And until Helga settles in, the High Priestess may still try and replace me or Helga.

I watch as the doctor physically heals Helga's wounds with a laser. She's fading in and out of consciousness. When her wounds are completely healed, the doctor gives her a common sleeping medicine. "She needs rest. This will help her sleep for the next eight hours."

I pick up Helga and carry her back to our quarters. Her breathing is even and the color is returning to her face. She was so deathly pale before. I put her to bed and make her comfortable.

I'm exhausted too, but I can't sleep. We will arrive at the Alliance Force base in just a few hours, and I need to register our marriage as well as catch up on everything I missed. There was only so much Sem could do while I was away. And then, on top of all my regular duties, there's the question of allowing the humans already out in the galaxy a place in the Alliance Force.

Of course, from my point of view, this makes sense and I feel like, if these men could be integrated, it would solve a lot of my problems. However, the High Priestess and High Council will be opposed. They only like the right kind of humans. And these humans born from unholy unions of Alliance-pet situations are not the humans they say are the Lost People. So I need to find a loophole in the laws that allows me to integrate them without losing my position or my life.

I sit at the small desk while Helga sleeps and RVM Sem. It's the middle of the night but I need to bring him up to speed. He and I are connected like father and son. Sem answers, and it's clear he hadn't been sleeping either.

"The goddesses shine their light on you. May you have many daughters," Sem says when I tell him Helga and I have married. "You're amazing having managed a rescue and a marriage ceremony given the circumstances."

"All the credit goes to Helga," I say. "She's got a sharp mind and a clear vision of the future."

"She'll need it," Sem says seriously. "The High Council must have heard a rumor of our plans to integrate stateless humans. They're trying to pass a law that doesn't allow for any human or Alliance person born outside the Empire to take a job funded by the High Council or High Priestess."

"If that's the best they can do, we can easily find ways to pay these people without technically employing them."

"True, but the High Priestess won't like it."

A thought occurs to me then. "Perhaps we can spin that it goes against the goddesses to deny anyone of our genetics, no matter where they are born in the galaxy."

"How are you going to convince the High Priestess of that?"

"How is Earth so different from a random place in the galaxy? Earth isn't in the Empire, so why is its location better than any other arbitrary place?"

"It's a plausible argument," Sem says, considering. "But it'll need tweaking. I'll see what I can come up with."

"Good. Anything else I should be aware of?"

"We had a code three, but it was resolved."

Code three means an Alliance woman was caught coming to Earth to have sex with human men. We usually fine these women and secretly send them back to the Empire. It's against our custom for women to leave our planets, but more and more, Alliance women are curious about human men, and since they only see human women in the Empire, they decide to come to Earth illegally.

"Was it a first offense?"

"Yes," Sem replies. "And they were fined accordingly."

"Good."

"One more thing," Sem says as if he just remembered. "We've got an envoy of diplomats passing through shortly."

This isn't unusual. "I noticed."

"There's one name that's odd. Jai of House Kva."

"Oh?"

"It may be a mistake, but I think he's a top swordsman who makes his living fighting duels for others."

I bring up the list of delegates again. "They're on their way to Fire. I don't think we have anything to worry about."

"I have been going through everyone's recent misdemeanors just to make sure he wasn't going to challenge anyone here."

"And?"

"I couldn't come up with anyone. The only thing I could think of was you for not marrying, but you've done that now. And in any case, they would've known you weren't here when they set out."

Sem looks tired, and I've no doubt he's covered everyone's file at least a few times. "I'm sure it's fine," I reassure him. "We will be with you in a few hours. Walk in the goddesses' light and get some sleep."

"May they guide me," Sem says and then signs off.

I take a deep breath and then VM my mother. After the usual pageantry, I say, "Helga and I were married this evening. I wanted you to know before I registered it with the High Council. I will let you know when our first child is born." Then I end the message and hit send before I think about it too much.

The last thing I do is register my marriage with the High Council. The High Priestess has already done her part, which doesn't surprise me at all. I fill in Helga's and my information. I realize she doesn't have a GC number yet. I stop what I'm doing. I need to register her, but to do that, she needs to be conscious. I decide to finish this on the base.

I take off my clothing and lay down next to Helga. I run my fingers through her long hair. I'm so lucky to have her. I hope she likes living on the base. I'm not na?ve enough to think this will go smoothly. With every new human woman who marries and moves onto the base, there are ripples while everyone adjusts. Helga will make even bigger waves, not only because of who she is and her strong personality, but because she's my wife, and with that comes responsibility and leadership. Caroline has been unofficially playing this role for years, and I wonder if it will be easy for Caroline to step aside.

I don't know. I'd like to believe Caroline will honor the hierarchy we have, but no one ever knows when emotions and pride are involved. I don't want to see Caroline hurt, but at the same time, I will always champion Helga.

We arrive at the base on schedule, and I carry Helga to the medical center. I don't want her to wake up alone in my quarters—in our quarters, I correct myself. And I don't need to worry. I trust my chief medical officer and Nurse Caroline with my life. I reflect I might have been harsh on the junior doctor before, but he's only been with me for a few years, and with everything at stake, I have to be extra vigilant.

The doctor and Caroline are waiting for me when I walk in.

"You could have at least put her in some clothing," Caroline chastises me.

"She's sleeping," I explain. "No one sleeps in clothing except on Earth. And it's not as if she's naked, she's wrapped in the sheet."

"Lay her down here." Caroline directs me to one of the private medical beds in the rear. "We'll keep her monitored until she wakes up. Is there anything else you need to tell us?"

"Not that I can think of."

"No trauma from being sold, saved, married to you, then whipped for crimes against the goddesses?"

"You make it sound terrible."

Caroline raises her hands in frustration. "Either this woman really loves you or she's a masochist."

"She may be a bit frustrated about the way things happened," I admit. "But she's a clever and competent woman and has forgiven me for my sins."

I can see by the look in Caroline's grey eyes, she doesn't believe me. "So she's angry with you. Anything else?"

"She's not angry with me. Annoyed, possibly?"

"Have you spoken to her since her punishment?"

"No, the junior doctor healed her and put her to sleep directly."

"Okay. Go," says Caroline. "That's enough information from you. I can imagine what I'm in for when she wakes up. I'll keep you updated." As I walk away, I hear Caroline muttering something under her breath about Alliance men and their love of punishments.

Before going to the command center, I stop by my quarters. I want to change uniforms and make sure there's nothing out of place. I don't want Helga to think I live like a savage. When I'm content my quarters look inviting, I ask Sem to meet me in the conference room before I greet the diplomatic envoy that'll be passing through on their way to Fire.

I pass Axl along the way. He's dressed for sparring.

"Nothing better to do?" I ask, a bit irritated. He has work to do.

"It's all in the name of diplomacy, Commander," he tells me. "Jai of House Kva is onboard. He's an excellent swordsman and invited me to spar."

"See if you can find out who he's meant to challenge to a duel on Fire. Just out of curiosity's sake."

Axl shakes his head. "He's a professional. He won't tell me or anyone until it's been set."

"How do you know?"

"Do you forget what I used to do?" Axl asks me. And, of course, he knows this kind of person. He was involved in a lot of dodgy and under the radar activities before as well.

"Enjoy," I say and then begin walking again.

I enter the conference room and Sem is waiting for me. He rises and bows.

"The goddesses guide us," I say, and take a seat across from where he was sitting. "Tell me what you think about the delegation."

"They're asking a lot of questions for a simple envoy on their way to Fire. I've instructed all the humans onboard to answer their questions honestly, but to keep their answers as short as possible."

"It could be they're just more curious than others."

Sem gives me a look that says not-a-chance.

I acknowledge him by tapping my hand once on the table. "Why not introduce them to Anna? She'll end up lecturing them about how she views the Empire and asking them a million questions."

Sem smiles. "That's a good idea. I don't think it'd be difficult to arrange a ‘chance encounter.'"

"Now, about the humans. What have you discussed off the record?"

"I met with different groups on Earth in neutral locations to discuss options. They're not opposed to the idea of joining Alliance Force, but they have some demands of their own."

"As expected. What are they asking for?"

"They want to be a part of the Alliance Force for the stability it gives them but they don't want to be signed up for life or the lives of their children. They called it slavery."

"Slavery? Goddesses."

"I tried to explain that generational dedication to a mission is one of the highest honors in the Empire, but they weren't swayed."

"Perhaps we can come up with a clause to allow their children to be released from their commitments if certain requirements are met."

"Then make those requirements unattainable?" Sem asks.

"No. We don't need to do that, and I don't think they'd sign if we did. These people didn't survive on the fringes of the galaxy by luck, they're clever. But I believe that our cause is so righteous, even if we leave the door open, so to speak, they won't walk out and neither will their descendants. I can't imagine how they've been living all these years. Day to day not knowing whether they're going to live or die. I think they need us more than we need them."

"Did Helga say anything about the conditions she was held in?"

"Not much, but what she did say and the way she thought the Des was luxury made me think the human ships are not suitable for life."

"I'll talk with Lev and we will draft something."

"I want Helga in on it too."

Sem gives me a surprised look. "Don't you think it's a bit soon to be involving her?"

"She misled me to believe she was only a servant. The goddesses were testing my faith. Helga is actually a human rights lawyer. So she knows a lot about finding compromises and integration. And I think it'd be good to get her working on our causes as soon as possible. I gave her my word that she could do more good here for humanity than on Earth."

"Where is she now?"

"Still asleep in the medical center."

"I'll contact her when she wakes," Sem says. "The sooner we come back with an offer, the better. To get this done before the High Council passes any laws against it. And hopefully if all goes well, to protect us from any future law that may make it illegal."

"Yes, if we acknowledge these stateless humans as the Lost People before the High Council can officially say they're not, there'll be little they can do in our lifetimes to counter it."

"I'll make this my top priority," Sem says.