The Alien Commander's Surrogate

Episode Three

Salex

Lylta, the medic, was huddled in a corner while a very familiar set of spiked shoulders lunges across the room, directly into another male. Adra was already at their sides, his body positioned in between so that the two didn't land any blows. At least any more, I could smell the blood in the room as I lunged forward.

Catching my warrior, the one with the spikes lining his shoulders, Us'ia by the elbow, I thrust the big male back towards the door. His flesh, usually a pale green, was darkened with fury.

"What the fuck is going on here?"

Adra released the other warrior, which I quickly recognized as my weapons lead, a male slightly my elder, named Kahyne. He was a Volure cross as well and his stalis were free, whipping around his form as he growled at Us'ia.

"Report, now Kahyne." Kahyne had superiority in this situation, below myself and Adra. And besides that, Usia still looked like he might defer back to fighting at any moment. Kahyne straightened his spine, hands rising to fix the collar of his uniform.

"Alpha Commander," Kahyne begins with bright yellow eyes, a small smattering of blue blood at the corner of his mouth. "Us'ia and I had only a small miscommunication."

I stared between the two of them. The entry to the lab was in complete disarray. Lylta was only now getting off the floor, helped by his assistant, whose white hair was falling loose from the once-neat bun at the back of her neck.

"Before I sentence you to your punishment, I need to know what it was about."

Kahyne looks at Us'ia, then Adra thens slowly back to me. "The crewmen were mentioning you were waking up a pod, one of the surrogates. I came here to find out which one it was."

"Because?"

"My youngling is still quite young, I was very worried that waking up his surrogate might spark a health concern."

I looked past him to the room of pods. "You have a youngling coming soon?"

Kahyne raised his chin, defiance in every line of his sharp face. His stalis were reknitting themselves into a knot that he wore atop his head. "He was supposed to arrive just after we returned to Trenzian."

That would make the pregnancy quite new. The big male was worried about his youngling. I couldn't truly be upset about that, but nevertheless, I kept my face steady as I turned to Us'ia. Ever the picture of a Trenzian warrior, he panted from the doorway, his uniform torn in several places.

"And you?" I jerked my chin at him, "What's your problem?"

Us'ia's lips rose, as if he were to snarl back at me, but changed his mind. "I too have a youngling growing. I wanted to be sure you were making the right decision," his cool eyes swept over me, "For all of us."

"How dare you imply..." Adra stepped back towards Usia, claws extended.

I stepped in, throwing my arms out. "All of you, out. The only pod that will be turned off today is my own. I will take on those consequences as your leader."

Silence fell, broken only by the soft breaths of the warriors around me.

"Did I not make myself clear? Unless you were asked to be here, you must be out!"

Usia nodded jerkily then slipped back out the door. After a long moment Kahyne followed, going pointedly the opposite way down the hallway from Us'ia. The room quieted, the soft beeping from the pod room reminding me with every second that passed how important this was.

That the life systems in there, the human females inside were the carriers of a next generation of Trenzian.

My son.

"Medic Lylta please. If you can. Let's proceed."

The medic moved forward quickly, a nervous hand wiping down his jaw as he led the way across the room. Pausing at the door to press a few buttons. The lights dimmed, the air vents quieting as only the medic an dI approached.

Hillary–my surrogates window appeared different now. I wanted to pretend that I hadn't come down here week after week, watching the female that carried my youngling, but I had. And this was different. The air surrounding her now appeared misty, almost as if a gas were leaking in around her face.

She was twitching too. Nothing a passerby may have seen, but I could see the movement behind her eyelids, the thick lashes that coated the edges curling and tightening.

"She's dreaming," I said before I could stop myself.

"Many of them do, especially when they begin to wake back up."

"How will she be?"

The medic hesitates, his tablet making his face glow as he leaned over it. "She's been out for almost five months, and prior to this, she went to sleep thinking she would take up, already postpartum, safe in Trenzian and ready to catch a ship to wherever she wants. All expenses paid via your own finances."

I glared at the back of his head, where his human-like dark strands were braided back. medic was a human cross, part of the reason he had landed this job in the first place. "Speak frankly."

"She will be immensely confused. Scared. Possibly even panicked."

"What can we do to help?"

That wasn't my question, but Adra's. He leaned against the doorframe, keen eyes watching us.

The medic's black tipped fingers scratched at his neck. "Honestly, I just–."

"You should comfort her," the human assistant spoke up again.

"What?"

"Commander, she knows you. Know your face. All surrogates are involved in the selection process," the human paused, "And if the stories are true, your scent, your very genetic code will calm her. She won't understand the connection between you two, but it will calm her nevertheless."

I stiffened. "I need to remain as distant from her as possible, not to trigger the.." I coughed into my first, my claws biting into my palm as I felt the shame of having to explain such a blatant weakness, "Being close to her will trigger the bond if I'm not careful."

"Her panic and fear may also trigger negative effects on your young, Commander. I think it is worth the risk."

My throat expanded and I forced my hands to relax at my sides. "Understood. Please, continue."

The medic nodded then reached forward, passing his palm over the scanner at the front of the pod. The lights, which had been sitting at a bright red, slowly faded to blue.

Mist again filled the window. This time I understood, it was waking her up.

"Step back, Commander," the medic said. "Please, Catherine, prepare the stretcher."

The human stepped back, pulling a floating mattress closer to us both and then lowering it so that it hovered just below my waist level. I blinked, I had realized that my surrogate would be smaller than myself, but seeing it like this, made it even more significant.

I growled, stepping up and closer. Something deep in my bones pulled tight, like a wire strung too tight.

"Are you ready to meet your surrogate, Commander?"

"Open it."

***

AUTHORS NOTE:

It's all happening? Do you think his instincts are going to go totally nuts for her?