The Alien Commander's Surrogate

Episode One

Salex

"That is my youngling," The rattle in my throat was loud enough I knew everyone in the chamber could hear me. I didn't care about the flagrant display of my instinctual need showing through. No one here would contest me. Not when any Trenzian male would be in exactly the same state. My stalis twitched, threatening to come free of the thick braid that hung down to my waist, yet another display of just how distressed I was.

"We understand, Commander," The fearful looking male before me cowered every closer to the softly glowing floors. "But we've run every test, every protocol. This is the way it has to be."

"Silence," I snarled, rage mixing with fear in my gut in a disgusting cocktail that tasted unfamiliar on my tongue. I pointed a claw-tipped finger at his second, a quiet human female whose silver hair denoted both her age and experience. In my culture, age was applauded, as most warriors would never have the opportunity to live that long. "You. Human. Speak."

The female, a woman they were called, quivered for a moment, then straightened under my boiling stare. Her fingers whipped across the tablet in her arms and a projection appeared above it, one I was not familiar with.

"The ship if we continue as we are, waiting for the closest legion to come rescue us." Light blue eyes met mine, before dropping again. Her fingers typed something in. "This is what it would look like if we turn off all stasis pods."

I flinched internally, but kept my features carefully blank. Under my rib cage, my hearts raced. "And...."

"That's all, Commander," she wavered a little, her voice heightening as I broadened my stance. "We've not found any other options."

I blinked at them, forcing myself to keep my eyes off the status pod that was suddenly so close. The contents more precious than all the credits in the universe. "What about progression, one female at a time. Could we do that?"

The human woman bowed her head over her table, short fingers moving rapidly across the screen. After a long minute, I let the frustrated rattle slip free again. Time was a currency I couldn't deal in. Not now.

My chest ached. Not when it mattered so much.

"Here is the update with the Commander's idea," the woman said, casting the projection up between us. The glowing energy levels, which were currently running at a dangerous red level. I grunted at her, and she pressed just one button. "This is with five pods reopened." The model updated itself.

Better, I thought as I eyed the improvement. It would buy us a few weeks.

"And with three?"

She nodded, pressing the button again. The levels dropped, but held above the danger level.

"And one?"

The tension in the room was palatable, but she again brought the levels, this time they were just above the warning level, a soft yellow glow. I shifted, the soles of my boots squeaking slightly against the freshly washed floors. It wasn't much. It might buy us a week, maybe two.

"Do it," I grunted.
The medic, his nametag said he was called Lylta,  swept forward again, practically shoving the older human to the side. "Commander, you are damning us, let us just open them all, we will have weeks before the rescue mission reaches us."

I stepped up, watching his glowing yellow eyes, the common shade in my species, widen as I loomed over him. Taking in the absence of his stalis and the three fingered grip that still clutched his tablet, I would assume he was crossed with a newer breed, probably bred to be exactly what he was, intelligent and useful.

I smiled coldly. I was bred to be cunning and strong. My Trenzian blood was a coveted blend of pure blood trenzians and a rare species called the Volure which lived a rather remote life far outside the empire's control. I had never been there, never needed to. My Volture mother, a surrogate, had left me with my father the moment her contract was up, probably as close to my birth as medically allowed.