The Alien Commander's Surrogate

Episode Two

Salex

I stood in my office, staring out into the inky darkness. In the distance, a cluster of stars denoted where we'd send the rescue crew. They had reported early today, and were moving as quickly as they possibly could. THey knew what the implications of not finding empirical help would be for us and the hundred other souls that were all stationed on board here.

My Trenzian superiors had contacted me several times today, asking for clarifications on the update. Apparently my sacrificial pact to open my surrogates pod was garnering a lot of attention. If we were closer to home and not stranded I would think that my supervisors were clearly pinning favoritism on me.

I'd made it abundantly clear. I didn't want this. I didn't want to feel that draw, teh pull that I already did. Many males did, warriors occasionally. They were drawn to the women they utilized for reproduction. Some even got too attached to the pleasure workers who serviced them. Perhaps the curse of being a male dominant race. We had very few options. Not when the mate bond was all but gone from our society.

Which was good, I assumed. I could barely keep order on a ship full of alpha minded warriors. I Didn't need their love to be sick and obsessed. Not when the empire needed us in fighting form.

There was a soft beep from the wristband on my left hand. I tilted it up, triggering an open line. My assistant's voice came through, clear and concise, just like he always was.

"Commander, the lab is ready for you."

I blinked back at the stars, "Thank you, Ghantlan. And her room?"
"We are happy to have her," he said. The roommaster had mentioned that rooms were being consolidated due to the state of the oxygen and heat levels. Many of the Losskee crew members were already bunking two or three to a room to help conserve energy. When I mentioned the concern, the roommaster had mentioned my assistant as a potential roommate for her. Ghantlan was not only still considered youth in our culture, on loan to me from the Trenizan training academy, but he was also most equipped with the room furthest from my own.

I trusted the young Trenzian more than anyone else on the ship, except maybe Adra. It made sense.

At least that's what I told myself as I stood in my office, frustration still lacing the edges of my mind. I forcibly relaxed my shoulders, reaching my five-fingered hand back to wind my stalis together. I preferred them braided and tied back, the sensitive skinned appendages were a powerful ally but in a ship like this, they were more likely to brush up against someone, bombarding my brain with a nearly unending variety of information about the individual who had touched me.

I didn't need to know what Adra was feeling, or what he'd last eaten or cleansed himself. My stalis were highly evolved, the pores soaking up each one of those things, and more. My father had once told me as a child that they could be my greatest asset, a brush against an enemy would give me hints about their weaknesses, their strengths,e everything.

But then, now they were just annoying.

I tied them off, turning for the office door before I could second guess myself.

"I'm on my way."

Ghantlan cut off the communication line with another matching beep. Opening my door I found a variety of loitering crewmen stationed around the exterior of my rooms. I stopped, staring around at them.

The realization quickly came over me.

"She's not here, crewman, and we should've been here either." I gave them a harsh look, letting my fangs flash a little as my claws clicked against each other. "Am I clear?"

They scattered away, muttered apologies and a few bared necks enough to quiet the rampant pounding of my heart. My title isn't all show, I was alpha, in a way that only our instincts understood. While we were a powerful race, I had won out, received this position by blood and war.

I would not be spied on.

Mumbling angrily I moved through the Losskee, making my way back towards the lab. The pods were stored directly in the room behind and I knew that the moment Hillary was free of the pod, they would move her there for observation. My youngling was less than halfway through his gestation, and would be monitored closely as well. As soon as they were clear to leave the lab, they would be moved to Ghantlan's room.

Far from me.

Raising my shin, I swiped my palm over the door to the labs and entered complete chaos.

***

AUTHORS NOTE:

She's almost awake!  What do you think Salex will do when he meets the human carrying his youngling? 

Please follow if you want to read more of their story! It's going to be a spicy, sweet tale.