Chapter 3

Fox

"Commander," Lev, our resident anthropologist, enters my office. "Have you read my proposition?"

"Briefly."

"You've not read it."

"I read the title," I reply bringing it up on my computer between us. "You can tell me the gist of it now."

"You should go to Oktoberfest in Germany to find a wife."

"Why? What about Sweden? Your wife has that single friend, what's her name?"

Lev shakes his head. "No. She'd never agree to the lifestyle you have to offer, and you're short on time. Swedish women don't move quickly and you've only got seven weeks left."

This is true. By the conditions of my assignment on Alliance Force, I must marry a human woman before my fiftieth birthday. "Why Germany?"

Lev's green eyes sparkle now. He enjoys sharing information about human cultures. "From my research, German women are the most pragmatic on Earth. And almost any woman you meet at Oktoberfest will enjoy beer and singing and…"

"I enjoy beer and singing," I say, catching his meaning.

"Exactly. You'll meet a woman while you're doing something you both enjoy, so you'll at least have two things in common from the beginning."

"When do you think is the ideal time to tell her I'm an alien or, rather, she's an alien to me?"

"This is the beauty of German culture. Do it immediately. She might not believe you, but she'll remember you said it."

"And she'll definitely think I need mental help."

"Possibly, but then that one is probably not the woman for you. Look, you're short on time, and from my research, honesty is best with this culture, and if German women are inclined they can be quite spontaneous meaning if a woman likes you then she'd be inclined to go for a quick marriage."

It's not that I don't believe Lev, it's just that I've seen more human women pass through this base than years he's been studying humans and there's one universal truth I've noticed in all this time: Humans are very uncomfortable with the idea that there are aliens in the galaxy. But Lev might be right here; the best way to help them get through their awkwardness about not being alone in the galaxy may be to dump them in the galactic deep end. As Lev well knows, no number of slow-going hints ever prepares a human to hear they are not alone. His wife certainly didn't believe him at first.

"Any other recommendations?" I ask.

"Don't try to find out everything you can about a human woman you like straight away. Let her tell you about herself. Human women don't find us studying and memorizing every detail about them attractive. Also, see the doctor about a German implant so you can speak her language and wear traditional clothing. I've sent you some options. They're in the same message."

As I flip through Lev's lengthy report, I only wish I could be as excited by this as he is. The truth is, I have so many other obligations that should take precedence over my personal life that I don't feel comfortable prioritizing myself in what feels like it's going to be a fun holiday on Earth. But I remind myself again of my duty to the Empire and the urgency of this matter. I must do this or I won't be Commander any longer. I find the details of the clothing Lev expects me to wear and I look over at him. His green eyes are only enthusiastic. "Are you serious?"

"Yes. I know they look a bit…"

"Ridiculous." I've hardly ever worn anything but black in my entire life, and now I'm expected to wear a shirt with red and white squares on it and brown shorts with suspenders? And, I check the image again, knee socks.

"But I guarantee you've a better chance of finding a wife at Oktoberfest dressed like this."

"And if I don't, I'm holding you responsible." I'm only half kidding. I'll make Lev dress like this for a night if I don't find a wife at Oktoberfest. Or if I find a wife who thinks I look absurd but likes me anyway.

On my way to the medical center, I pass the shrine and stop in to make a prayer to the goddess of home that I find a wife at Oktoberfest. I'm alone when I enter. I kneel before her statue and light a white candle. But my mind refuses to focus on a wife. My eyes keep darting over to the god of war's mighty statue. I feel like he wonders why I'm wasting my time with romance when there are humans still to defend.

It doesn't help that every time humanity sends out official messages to meet aliens, the GC gives its members two days of free passage to visit Earth. It's an old tradition that needs to be abolished. Centuries ago it was a chance to study humans and return them. It wasn't right, but that was the justification. Now it's used as a free for all to abduct them. I do my best to stop every ship carrying a human when humanity makes these calls out into the void, but there are too many. Always too many.

"Ouch." I drop what's left of the prayer candle and try to shake off the melted wax on my fingers. I look up at the goddess's green jeweled eyes and say, "Help me so I can continue serving my life's mission to protect the Lost People. She doesn't need to be regal or cunning. She doesn't need to be anything but accepting of me and the humble life I have to offer." As I speak, I realize what I say is actually what's in my heart. I've never had a romantic relationship with a woman. This isn't to say I don't find women attractive. I do. But you've always put your work first , my inner voice reminds me. And before I joined Alliance Force, it was my House and my mother.

I've a complicated relationship with my mother. Less complicated now that I've left the Empire. But I had to. She was suffocating me with her ambitions. Our biggest fallout was when she wanted me to marry the Empress. I refused so ardently I declined the invitation to enter myself in the imperial courting pool, which, thanks to the new laws, a man has to do himself. A century before, my mother could have completely controlled who I married. But by not entering the imperial courting pool it would also be next to impossible for me to marry a woman of my class. Perhaps it was fate. It's unlikely that I would've been chosen for Alliance Force had I been seen as a ‘promising young man for the Empire.'

I let the incense in the shrine surround me, reveling in the calmness here. Then I hear two human women passing outside. They aren't talking about anything of importance, just pleasantries, and I think, Hopefully I'll be able to add to their numbers .

I enter the medical center. It's mostly quiet now. I find my chief medical officer in his office. I'm relieved that Nurse Caroline isn't here. We've a complicated relationship. As she was the first human on the base, I've relied on her more than I should have, and now I'm finding someone without any experience to take over a lot of what she has done for me and the Alliance Force for decades. But I owe it to everyone as their Commander, including Caroline, to fulfill my requirements to the Empire with a suitable woman to take on all the duties of Consort to the Commander. It's a title that was specifically created for my wife, meaning that she'll not only have the same rights and powers I have here but also the same rights as an Alliance woman in the Empire. The High Priestess and High Council thought it prudent that at least one woman, even a human, must be able to wield control of the base in case us menfolk get too out of hand.

But because I've left it so long to find a wife, I'm going to have to blindly trust in the goddesses and choose a woman who may or may not be fit for her position as Consort to the Commander. I chide myself that that's not good leadership, and I'm uncomfortable with it because usually I'm prepared for everything. But at the end of the day, this is how things have turned out, and I can't say I've wasted my time these last decades. I've saved so many humans instead of romancing a woman. Surely fate and the goddesses will recognize that and will have saved, if not my true other half, at least someone I'm compatible with to be my wife.

"Commander." The doctor stands.

"I'm here on a personal matter. I need a language implant."

"I wondered when you'd come in. I was expecting that it would be in the last hour. Lev has already sent me the details of what you need. And I have to warn you even though I know you know this the implant will give you headaches that I can do nothing about."

I follow him over to a medical bed. "I know. But Lev says it's important I can speak the human woman's language without a translator."

"Have you met the woman yet?"

"No. Lev has suggested I attend a long celebration of beer and music."

"That sounds like as good as place as any to meet a wife."

"How long should I make it for?" the doctor asks. Language implants are like viruses and are programmed to dissipate after a certain amount of time.

"Two weeks. I'll come back if I need it for longer."

The doctor begins preparing the computer and his instruments. "Just a slight pressure now."

I feel as if a sledgehammer is pounding against my skull from the inside. I resist the urge to scream. This is why people don't get specific language implants often because it hurts.

"There. Now say something in German."

I open my eyes and look at the ceiling. I try to access the German. It's strange to have another language in my head. I open my mouth and begin. No wait, that's Alliance. I try again. I utter some words. "Vielen Dank, Herr Doktor."

"Good," says the doctor. "You should spend a day in the place where they speak this language so you can acclimate yourself to using it. And remember, it's not as accurate as your embedded translator."

"Thanks," I say in Alliance as I get up.

"And, Commander, I speak for all of us when I say, I hope you find your true other half. May the goddesses light your path."

My head is hammering from the implant but I reply sincerely with my finger over my heart, "I will allow them to guide me through every moment."

Back in my quarters, Axl, Lev, and Anna join me in trying on traditional Bavarian clothing. Thankfully we're drinking wine while we do this, otherwise I don't think I could stop laughing as I look at Axl.

"You look positively absurd," I say to him, taking in his blue and white flowered shirt.

"This is their culture," Lev says, reminding us to be respectful.

"Your future wife's culture, Commander," Axl says with false seriousness.

"I think you all look sweet," Anna comments. "You should see the Swedish men's traditional clothing; it's not nearly as manly as this."

"And do you wear that?" I ask Lev point blank.

"I never said I was Swedish," he says with a smile. "It's going to be easier for you to meet a German woman if you blend in and she thinks you're German to begin with."

"Until I tell her I'm an alien in disguise," I add.

"Well, you would've at least told her early on," Anna says, and I can tell she and Lev have discussed this at length. "If she finds you charming, she might just think you're quirky. But when she finds out it's true, if you get to that stage, at least you can say you never lied to her." Anna gives Lev a telling look then, which Axl and I don't miss.

Axl can't resist stirring the fire. "So, Lev, you wouldn't recommend waiting?"

The look on Lev's face makes us all laugh again. He and Anna have been married long enough that we all know Anna has forgiven him for lying about his true origins.

"Don't give me that look," Axl says. "I told Georgiana from the moment I met her I wasn't from her planet. She just didn't believe me."

"No," Lev agrees. "She thought she was in a computer simulation."

I change the subject back to clothing. Unlike Lev, Axl still feels guilty about Georgiana not believing him. "I suppose this will look better when I have my holo on." I walk over to my desk and grab the small necklace. I put it on and activate it. Then I look in the mirror. Now I have the appearance of a red-headed human man with cream and pink colored skin. It looks better with the clothing but it's still strange not wearing black.

Anna brings over a shirt with blue and white squares and hands it to me. "I think this color might look better with your red hair. Or you can change the red to brown."

"No, I like the red. If I'm going to look human, I'm going to go all the way."

"Then I'd recommend not wearing red. Blues, greens, and browns are okay. Red on red isn't going to suit you."

I put on the blue shirt. It still looks very colorful and silly to my eyes. I look over to Anna for her approval and she nods.

"Much better. But you also need to remove your jewelry. Not all of it but most of it. Human men in Europe rarely wear so much."

"I can keep wearing my rings, right?" These signify my special achievements and I'd feel strange not wearing them.

"If you can leave some of them here, I would," Anna recommends. "But rings are more acceptable on men than necklaces, in my opinion." Seeing all of our offended face expressions, Anna backtracks, "I'm just saying in human society. You all look lovely with your jewelry, but it's part of the whole Alliance package when you're in Alliance clothing."

Then I ask the question I must ask. "Anna, as a human woman, how attractive am I as a man?"

I can feel Lev giving me a death stare, but he knows I'm not interested in stealing Anna away from him. I just want to know whether I look like a forest troll or not.

Anna's blue eyes scrutinize me up and down. "It's difficult to separate the man I know as the Commander from your physical body. But I'd say, although you're not my type, I think most single women will find you attractive in a dangerous kind of way."

Lev and Axl circle me.

"He doesn't look dangerous in shorts," Axl says.

"How does he look dangerous, Wife?" Lev asks as he circles me. "Fox looks like a sensible German man. That's what we're going for. No woman wants a dangerous man."

Anna shrugs nonchalantly. "Speak for yourself. You don't know human women and I'm not the only human woman on the base. We could take a picture and open it up to a vote with the other wives?"

"No," I say adamantly.

"See," she says talking more to Lev than me or Axl. "How is it that you all are fine being naked and even having naked pictures of yourselves hanging around, but you don't want to find out the truth about your appearances that might be useful information?"

"Pride," I say honestly. "But thank you for your private input, Anna. Now at least I know where I'm starting from."

"And me? How do I look to human eyes, Anna?" Axl asks jokingly.

"Only Georgiana knows," Anna replies diplomatically. No one wants to get involved between those two. Their arguments are already legendary.

Axl and I have packed two weeks' worth of Oktoberfest clothing and have booked a humble human hotel in the city of Munich, perfect for holidays as it's in the hotel's name. There are, of course, secret places owned by Alliance Force where we could have stayed, but I want to do everything by the book given the current political climate. I'm going to assume I'm being spied on by the Empire until I marry.

Axl has also gotten a German implant, so it'll be easier to meet people together. Sem is going to fly us down and drop us off. When I arrive at the docking bay, I'm surprised to see all my officers there. They all make a sign of good luck and bow to me as I pass. It's a reminder of how much we all have riding on this mission of love. And it really is appropriate to use the word love because that will be the only emotion that's going to allow a human woman to leave everything behind and marry me so quickly. Otherwise it's a sacred word I try to use sparingly. I'm moved by my officers' support and say, "I will follow the goddesses' path and accept what they present to me. I hope you will also accept my fate."

I board the transport first, followed by Axl and Sem. We're all quiet as we depart. I look back as we cross the threshold between the base and space. I hope this won't be the last time I'm leaving as the Commander here. I only allow myself two seconds to think that before looking ahead as we fly toward Earth. A planet I spend every day protecting but a place I rarely visit, and Axl's comment, although made in jest, passes through my mind as we hit Earth's atmosphere. "Your future wife's culture."

And all I can think as our windows momentarily turn red with the heat from entry, will the goddesses grant me a wife?