2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Renick

"Renick, when you get a moment could you please come here?" I heard my human assistant, Leah, call from the other room. I pressed the button on the intercom. Is it an emergency? I'm in the middle of something."

"No, it's your mother."

"What about my mother? Is she all right?"

"She's fine, but this is the third time today she's called asking about your whereabouts."

I heaved a sigh. "She knows I'm in the middle of an assignment and I can't always respond when she needs me to."

Leah's high pitched voice filtered through the intercom. "Sir, I understand. She's not letting up though. This is even more unusual than her typical behavior."

"All right," I said. "I'll comm her now."

Without another word, Leah ended our conversation.

I sat down with the plans I was working on, locked the screen of my tablet, and poured myself a beverage from a bottle I kept hidden in the lower right drawer of my desk. I took a huge swig and called my mother making sure to use an encrypted transmission signal. To my surprise, she picked up after the second tone.

"You rang, mother?" I plastered a neutral look on my face. Knowing how overly dramatic my mother could be, I wanted to hear her out and end the conversation as cordially, and quickly, as possible.

"Renick, thank you so much for responding." The anxiety in my mother's voice belied her usual stoic appearance. Her hair, typically perfectly coiffed, hung disheveled around her ears with errant strands poking at odd angles around her head. Her oval face showed puffiness in her cheeks, a telltale sign she had been crying.

"Mother? Tell me what's wrong," I demanded.

The tears rolled down her cheeks, and she only seemed to sob harder. "It's your father, Renick. You need to come home."

"Mother, we've been through this many times. I cannot leave my post. You must tell me what it is and have one of my brothers attend to it. Is it a leak in the attic? A wild animal in the garden?" Underneath my desk, my fists clenched. What a waste of my time.

"No, Renick. Your father's been in a horrible accident. They can't find his body. The building he's working in collapsed. Don't you listen to the news out there?"

I felt the blood rush from my body. Air whooshed in my ears. Had I not already been seated, my legs would have given out from under me. My mother's voice seemed to come from underwater. When my head stopped spinning, I asked, "Wait, Mother, are you sure it was Father's building?"

My father worked for the Intergalactic Council as one of the representatives of the Abrane, our species. He was a senior member of our species entourage, and he held a deciding vote for our people in interspecies and galactic matters.

"Yes, Renick, that's exactly what I'm saying. Your father is missing." My mother began to sob in earnest, and a heavy thud came from my door. It took me a few heartbeats to realize somebody was pounding on the door demanding entry.

"Now's not a good time," I called out with a hiss. The door lock override engaged and my commanding officer, Napol, a hybrid Klagan Warrior, marched into my office.

"Sir," I said, scrambling to my feet and saluting. I crossed both my arms over my chest and bowed.

"Renick. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I've just received word that the consulate back on your Tenap, our home planet, has been destroyed. All lives are presumed lost. There's nothing left but a pile of rubble."

"Sir, I," I tried to interject.

"You know what that means." His voice remained level. My shoulders slumped. "I am sorry for the loss of your father, but congratulations are in order on your new position, Sir." My commanding officer kneeled in front of me. "As your father's oldest son, you are the heir, and take his place on the council effective immediately."

"Sir, I have no desire. You know my priority is to be a tactician."

"I understand, however, your circumstances are now different."

Commander Napol turned, and upon seeing my mother's face on the view screen, blanched. "I am sorry for your loss, my lady. I hereby release Renick of his duties, effective immediately. He will leave tonight. His priority is to be with his family."

I opened my mouth to protest.

"Oh, thank you Commander," my mother said. "I am making the arrangements now for Renicks installation ceremony."

"Mother," I protested.

"You know." She cut me off with the wave of her hand. "You always knew this was a possibility. Your father's position is now yours."

My mouth formed an O and I could barely form words. I knew she was right, this was the way of our people. As the eldest son of the oldest son, becoming chairman fell to me whether or not I wanted it.

"Renick, please clean the files, change the passwords over. I will take charge of your duties," Commander Napol said. "Your priority now is to get home and be with our people. While you are packing, I will arrange for your transportation home. Good luck and may the stars guide the way.

Commander Napol strode to the door, and left. The door closed with the same whoosh before the locking mechanism engaged again. I was left with my mother's distraught face on the view screen. "Mother, I wasn't prepared for this."

"I know you feel that way. Everyone thinks they have more time than they do. That's why we must live life to the fullest, but you are wrong. You've been preparing your whole life for this moment. I will see you soon so we can share in our grief together.

I hustled to the transport, burdened with three bags containing all my worldly possessions from the ship.

"That's it?" one of my closest friends, a Temerlan Warrior, Arik, asked. Soft brown fur, his species trademark, covered his body. He wore his mane slicked back away from his feline eyes and wore only a sash, not the military issued shirt we were bound to wear while on duty.

I arched my eyebrow at him. "Don't look at me like that," he said. "I was put on leave so I could take you to your home planet. It's not like I'm going back to Temer - I just have to go to Tenap. Maybe I'll find a good looking purple female of your ilk. They might even like me. I've heard I'm one of the more sexy Temerlans out here." He shimmied his shoulders.

I groaned, grateful my (now) former commanding officer sent one of my good friends with me on this journey so I did not grieve alone with my thoughts. Arik knew how to have a good time and I felt confident there would be no shortage of laughter while he was with me. He was also a fantastic pilot and I knew our unit would miss him greatly while he was with me piloting the small-distance ship.

Arik hustled to the pilot's seat calling out on his way to the cockpit. "Make yourself comfortable. I already claimed the largest room. You'll be living in the lap of luxury soon enough. The least you could do is take the smaller bedroom while I do all the heavy lifting."

"Yeah, it's not like I have a personal grooming routine like you do," I called back. The engine rumbled to life and before I realized it we were jutting into the darkness of space back to the Tenap I hoped I didn't have to see for a long time. Our journey would take a few days even traveling as fast as Arik dared to push the engines, so I didn't bother to unpack. I figured my current uniform and the two spares I had packed in the rucksack the military made us carry for overnight missions would do. Anything else I had of note, was best stored in the trunks and opened when I returned to my mothers home.

While Arik charted our passage and maneuvered into a safe location to put the ship on autopilot, I made my way to the galley to grab a military-issued prepared meal. I ate the tasteless ration bar in silence. Lost in my thoughts as to what the future would bring I hadn't noticed Arik entered and sat across the thin metal table from me. "Huh?" I asked, noticing Arik snapping his fingers in my general direction, his black claws making a clicking sound instead of a snap. "What was that?" I asked.

"I asked if you had any perspectives on a bride right now."

I sneered. "Why would I need a mate?"

"I said, if you're going to be a counselor, every counselor is mated. I looked it up. Your people don't trust counselors without a mate to guide them."

"Yet another problem I didn't need." I put my head in my hands. "Father never prepared me for this. He didn't expect to die so young."

"No one does," Arik said. "But if you're willing, I think I have a way to help you. He slid his tablet over to me. "In a few rotations there's going to be an auction."

"An auction?" I parrotted.

"Yes you can buy your bride."

My head throbbed. "Buy a bride? How can I buy a living thing? A sentient creature?"

"Part of the money goes to the auction house, the rest to the bride's family. It's similar to a mail-order bride service, but the males are vetted before they bid."

I paused, tapping my fingers on the table. This could be a way to fulfill one part of my duties.